Lies Industry UK - Sopel from News Agents podcast now:

“Starmer must resign because he appointed Mandelson.”

Sopel then:

“Mandelson is a class act.”

Fun fact that lying UK journalistic hacks won’t tell you because they hate Labour: Boris Johnson did not pass vetting when Theresa May appointed him Foreign Secretary. #UKPolitics

It’s crackin’ flags! Certainly even in the 27 years I’ve lived in London, our hots days are definitely hotter than when I arrived here.

Definitely an album cover!

Ban Conversion Practices graphic. Text: Stand with us. Add your voice - tell us why a ban on conversion practices matters to you. Take our survey.

Successive Governments have promised to bring in a ban on LGBT+ conversion practices - but we’re still waiting.
Let’s up the pressure for a fully inclusive ban on this unscientific, ineffective, cruel practice.
Please tell us why a ban on conversion practices matters to you.
bit.ly/3POIuS7

You'd think this whole bizarre affair would be a far bigger story

When Angela Rayner underpaid £40,000 stamp duty on her flat, Richard Tice said it was "morally completely indefensible” and she should immediately resign if she had “any moral decency”.

Now we learn he personally made £91,000 in excess payments by failing to pay the tax his company legally owed

Truly fabulous!

After such an epic moonset, I was delighted to go home with just that but this day last year had another trick up its sleeve in the opposite direction. The horizon was all hazy, perfect to align the sunrise with North Bull Lighthouse.

The real headline: crypto crook (who pleaded guilty to breaking US money laundering rules) plans to try and buy UK politics www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/202...

Former Prime Minister John Major questions the ‘validity’ of First Past the Post There has been a significant intervention in the debate around electoral reform recently, in the guise of former Prime Minister John Major. The Conservative politician has questioned the

This is the latest in a growing drumbeat of politicians on the right of British politics asking whether it’s time to ditch First Past the Post and move to a more proportional voting system. buff.ly/Pd0lWFa

Small turrets of mid-level cloud against a blue sky with some high cloud in the distance

Small turrets of mid-level cloud against a blue sky with some high cloud in the distance

Welcome back altocumulus castellanus!

A warm night on Streatham Hill min 12.1ºC following yesterday's astonishingly warm Spring day 27.1ºC (don't mention that the daffodils are still out!). Looking like another warm day although a bit hazy with Saharan dust and a welcome cool change later bringing fresher and clearer air for tomorrow.

I’m going to say this. Daffodils at 27°C isn’t a typical Spring day 🤷🏼‍♂️🥵

I’m suprised how quickly the ground has dried out but we do have some gravel on top of the clay here, some sand too.

Dry soil too. It’s a very July 2022 feel!

The dry soils in the South and East would support a rapid rise in temperature tomorrow, not hindered by evaporative cooling.

The forgotten gay soldiers of the First World War Wednesday 11 November marks 102 years since Armistice Day and the end of The Great War.

History lesson
www.attitude.co.uk/culture/sexu...

It really does go from one extreme to another a lot these days. I mulched the garden well last Autumn and I'm pleased to say the soil it still damp below it, so I am resisting watering now.

NASA's Blue Marble picture of Earth, from 1972

It's only worth going back to the Moon if it makes us look properly again at Earth, and appreciate how beautiful, precious and fragile what we have here is. The most famous images from Apollo aren't about the Moon - they're pictures of Earth. We need to stop taking our home for granted.

#ArtemisII launch captured on mid-level water vapour imagery from the GOES-East satellite 🚀🛰️

Credit: College of DuPage

Very cool imagery. Can't say I'm particulary awed by this mission, as I lived through the Apollo missions when it was novel.

This being human is a guest house…

A wonderful poem by Jalaluddin Rumi.

@druidcat.bsky.social

Queer be Dragons The long history of queer people as monsters - and the dangerous return of that story

Since writing about myths and monsters I've been wrestling with the dark side of the stories I love: Whilst we joyfully reclaim our monsters... are the pitchforks being sharpened?

Thanks to @bearlypolitics.co.uk for the space to write something on this.
www.bearlypolitics.co.uk/p/queer-be-d...

I did read a paper that concluded with the current climate the absolute maximum temp in the UK could be 46ºC, which seems incredible yet it triangulates well with your data modelling here.

This afternoon...

Thunder and lightning in Edinburgh, I hear, after a very windy morning.

Giving the US Temperature Anomalies the SST graph treatment. Plotting the cumulative sum of the average daily US-wide anomaly (using data averaged over 2.5 x 2.5 deg grid). 2026 off to a flyer; just about the warmest since 2000 (anomaly w.r.t 2000-2025).

Interesting data vis. I'm trying to make it relatable, but finding the y-axis confusing with days, when it's the sum of anomalies. Could you divide by the number of 2.5 x 2.5 deg grid squares to just give mean anomaly? I have simple tastes!