Like this? Darker red, more serious drought.

Source: droughtmonitor.unl.edu

⬇️

Plan A it is, then.

Try all three in turn very ostentatiously and watch the horrified reactions. You'll never be able to go back to that restaurant, but at least you might know for the next one. Or ask, but that's for chickens.

This has happened in parallel with the fairly rapid depletion of aquifers, including the immense - and immensely important - Ogallala.

So the outlook is even worse than it seems at first glance.

Probably been pointed out by loads of people, but:

It’s been argued Trump required a special kind of ambassador

but

Wasn’t there also a particularly high risk someone with less than impeccable ethics and skeletons in their cupboard would be coopted or blackmailed into acting against UK interests?

Good lord

*CATL UNVEILS BATTERIES CHARGED UP TO 98% IN SIX MINS

I guess they think no one is watching the actual hearing, and they want to be able to say afterwards to the media/constituents/whoever "At the hearing, I asked so-and-so about whatever-it-is...".

But that's obviously not helpful for the process itself.

The idea that being *a member of the House of Lords* in any way means you can be trusted with Top Secret/STRAP material without proper vetting is so beyond absurd that this must surely be a joke?

I don't think saying, broadly, that I'd like a Government which is:

a) Social democratic
b) Socially liberal
c) Not horrible to migrants
d) Pragmatic about trade offs

particularly incoherent or impossible. Frankly those views are basically where most core left wing people are!

Initially, but when the story about him having failed vetting broke, and the PM was preparing to go to parliament to say that "due process was followed", No 10 should have got to the bottom of the story and been open about their findings. That was both in their power and their responsibility.

Happily, the government has been listening to Sam.
Ed Miliband will be doubling down on clean energy today (giving a speech at 11) announcing moves to shift more legacy renewables on to Contracts for Difference…

www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Mobile phones to be banned in schools in England under new plans Government amendment to children’s wellbeing and schools bill to replace existing guidance with statutory ban

Research from the children’s commissioner for England last year found that 99.8% of primary schools and 90% of secondary schools already had policies in place that limited or restricted the use of mobile phones during the school day.

www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

Iran says no talks ‘under shadow of threats’; Trump says blockade to remain Iran says will not accept negotiations 'under the shadow of threats', as Trump promises to continue blockade in Hormuz.

Some innovative entrepreneurs see the Iran war as an opportunity, not a threat:

“Scammers impersonating as Iran demanding crypto fees for safe Hormuz passage”

Source:

The Fitzwilliam Museum shortlisted for Art Fund Museum of the Year 2026 The news comes as the Fitzwilliam celebrates record-breaking visitor numbers with 2025 becoming the second-highest attendance on record (493,612), following a

The Fitzwilliam Museum has today been announced as one of five finalists for Art Fund Museum of the Year 2026, the world’s largest museum prize! 🎨 🖼️ 🏛️

Explore what the nomination means:
www.cam.ac.uk/news/the-fit...

🚨 NEW: Olly Robbins will tomorrow accuse Keir Starmer of pressuring the Foreign Office into approving Peter Mandelson's appointment

A Whitehall source says he "won’t hold back" and that his appearance will be "box office"

A lot of engagement-farming wannabe weather influencers out there trying to convince you they know more than NOAA's Climate Prediction Center:
www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/ana...

This makes rooftop solar with a battery outstanding value in the UK. And no doubt in most other countries too.

The cost of the battery part has fallen particularly fast.

Gil Duran tweet: TLDR: Fascism in response to Palantir's long fascists screed on X.

"Your Account is Suspended" Message on X

The CEO of Palantir posted a fascist manifesto on X.

I pointed out that it was fascist—which resulted in a permanent suspension from X (my second time!).

So, when you hear the tweeters complaining that BlueSky is intolerant, remember why many of us came here in the first place.

Economics has a name for what happens when a new technology makes one sector dramatically more productive: structural change. The canonical example is agriculture. In 1900, about 40% of the American workforce was employed in farming. Today it’s less than 2%. Did people stop eating? No, if anything they’re eating much more. Large scale automation made farmers—and eventually factory farms—much more productive. Agricultural production boomed and prices fell. But because people can only eat so much, the share of income spent on food went down as people got richer, and workers moved to manufacturing and then to services. The simultaneous fall of prices and reallocation of labor to another sector led to the perhaps non-obvious result that the more productive, automated sector became a smaller share of the economy despite serving and producing more. The less productive sector (services) where costs had not fallen—and in fact have risen—became a larger part of the economy.

Here is an actually *smart*, considered and theoretically grounded look at what fast technological change does to an economy
substack.com/inbox/post/1... from @aleximas.bsky.social

if Labour can't do better than Starmer they should just call a GE now and be done with it

“We said you would be destitute. And you are. Completely destitute. What are you complaining about?”

There was a fire last night at Pegwell Bay NNR. 💔

It tore through the reedbeds quickly & in the aftermath this morning, it's clear the impacts are pretty devastating - around 300m of scorched earth.

The fire, believed to have been started deliberately, occurred during breeding bird season...

You always suspect it will be a bit underwhelming when they big it up in advance. We'll see.

The Palantir thing doesn’t contain anything new, so I don’t see why it would change governments’ attitudes towards the company.

But perhaps it will, by making their interesting worldview more widely known.

‘A quiet, radical act’: Muslim neighbours support members of attacked London synagogue After attempted arson attack, communities are determined to remain resilient and open

Read the article to restore your faith in everything. This is why I love the UK, specifically London, specifically Finchley.
www.theguardian.com/news/2026/ap...

Tax in the UK is an irregular verb

Therefore Angela Rayner cheats tax but Richard Tice cheeky chappily, entrepreneurially ducks and dives tax

Mount Shasta looms over the iron gateway to Weed, California.

Another EV road trip on the books: 1,750 mi round trip from Seattle to Santa Cruz.

Noticeably more fast chargers out there since last time we did this trip a few years ago - we never had to wait for one to open up, which wasn’t the case several years ago.

Prize for most scenic charger: Weed, CA.

Popular in Norway.