Also the collective GDP of the EU + UK + Norway is around $24 trillion compared to $2 trillion for Russia. We have vastly more resources if we choose to use them.

Historic decision sees River Ouse set to become first in England with legal rights - Environmental Law Foundation Lewes, – In an exciting and groundbreaking decision, Lewes District Council have agreed to recognise the Rights of the River Ouse, paving the way for the Ouse to become the first in England to have its legal rights recognised by a local authority. The decision represents a major step in the UK’s environmental movement, […]

A fascinating & hopeful river-moment: Lewes District Council agrees to recognise a Charter of Rights for the River Ouse.

“The Ouse has long been taken for granted…this is the beginning of a journey to give the river a voice & ensure its wellbeing for future generations.”
elflaw.org/news/histori...

I know those Mellon Udrigle views and those mountains. They each oft flash upon my inward eye.

Just feeling we’ve broken the back of winter

The 5 W questions BSL signs

How do the cochlear implants work 👇🏻

UK to refuse citizenship to refugees who have ‘made a dangerous journey’ Home Office accused of shutting out refugees, as new guidance says those applicants will ‘normally be refused’

This is not only morally reprehensible, but a breach of the UN Refugee Convention.

No refugee should be discriminated against on the basis of how they entered the country

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

Quarter of leading UK universities cutting staff due to budget shortfalls Up to 10,000 redundancies or job losses feared as institutes undergo restructuring

Having gone through a full year of 'voluntary' redundancies (read 'voluntary' as 'strongly encouraged under the looming threat of compulsory severances'), which have seen >5% of staff leave my uni, it's good to see this issue finally getting some press.
www.theguardian.com/education/20...

Wow! Wonderful for you to see

Did you know the Orient Express built for Kenneth Branagh's film Murder On The Orient Express is now parked up by Bassenthwaite Lake in England's Lake District? And you can have a meal or cream tea there... www.basslakestation.co.uk

Dorothy Porter in 1939, at her desk in the Carnegie Library at Howard University. Moorland-Spingarn Research Center, Manuscript Division, Howard University

Dorothy B. Porter changed libraries 💜

The Dewey Decimal System used to only have two classifications for Black people: 325 (colonization) & 326 (slavery). Each book by a Black person was put into one of these classifications. A book of poetry? Classified as colonization.

Enter Dorothy B. Porter 🧵

The BBC describes Trump's press conference performance as "combative"
How long has combative been a synonym for bonkers, insane, deranged.....?

YouGov chart showing: Only 11% of Britons say Brexit has been a success, with more Leavers saying it has gone badly than well And so far, do you think that Brexit has been more of a success or more of a failure? % All Britons More of a failure 62 Neither 20 Don't know 8 More of a success 11 By EU referendum vote Remain 87 Leave 32 By party voted for in 2024 Labour 83 Lib Dem 79 Conservative 34 Reform UK 24 YouGov 20 - 21 January

The usuals celebrating 5 years of Brexit while they squeeze their eyes shut and close their ears to the crappy reality of their stupid ideology. Taking a showy bow for being awarded a national Darwin Award 5 years on the run.

Meanwhile, the rest of the country agrees it’s been utter rubbish.

😂

At aged 68 and having worked for 51 years. If there was one piece of advice I could give anyone still working it would be:

Join a Union

GMB and Unite both cover all workers if you don’t have your own specialist Union.

Why are we so scared to accept the EU’s generous post-Brexit deals? Rachel Reeves and Keir Starmer are making a huge mistake in not openly embracing offers to cut red tape

"We need closer ties with the EU and now they are letting us know the door is ajar. All we have to do is push it open. And yet we cannot even find the strength to do it”

www.theneweuropean.co.uk/why-are-we-s...

Rejoining - while administratively tricky - would be a big win for Labour. Boost the economy, force Tories and Reform to vocally support something unpopular that keeps people poor, and improve UK trade and security.

It's barmy that Labour refuses to try.

The £45bn cost of Labour bailing out RBS is held to be a once-in-a-generation economic calamity that the nation barely survived.

Brexit cost us just as much every five-and-a-half months.

To the crowds cheering Trump's withdrawal from the Paris Agreement:
Do you think you live on a different planet, which climate breakdown does not affect?
Do you imagine only greens and progressives will be harmed by Earth systems collapse?
Do you believe you can win an argument with physics?

I don't want Starmer to turn towards the US, now headed by a climate denier and ecosystems destroyer whose closest ally just jack-in-a-boxed himself out of the fascist closet.

Trump and Musk are determined to destroy this Labour Govt. Musk has made it crystal clear.

Our future lies with the EU.

Elon Musk and the new world order: the hijacking of the global conversation How can we publicly debate policy in the face of the rising – and polarising – influence of the X owner and others whose only aim is to serve themselves How should we as a society interact with one another, debate, come to decisions? What impels…

Elon Musk and the new world order: the hijacking of the global conversation

German government may yet quit X over algorithms, spokesperson says The German government is in ongoing discussions about whether to delete its presence on the X platform due to concerns over its algorithms, a spokesperson said on Friday.

The German government is in ongoing discussions about whether to delete its presence on the X platform due to concerns over its algorithms, a spokesperson said reut.rs/3DMCzqp

Just 57 companies linked to 80% of greenhouse gas emissions since 2016 Analysis reveals many big producers increased output of fossil fuels and related emissions in seven years after Paris climate deal

57 companies are responsible for 80% of global greenhouse gas emissions since 2016.

These companies include fossil fuel giants like Chevron, Shell, and BP, who have been raking in record profits.

The profits of Big Oil should not be more important than the future of our planet.

New

The coming battle between social media and the state

Behind the alignment of X and Meta with Trump is a cold business logic — and a position of weakness rather than strength

By me, in todays @financialtimes.com

www.ft.com/content/917c...

The chronicle of a fire foretold | Rebecca Solnit The current fires in Los Angeles are reminders of the costs of forgetting

I wrote a thing, because these fires are in the increasingly common category of shocking but not surprising. Neither unprecedented nor unforeseen by those who study the subjects.....
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Crow flying high above wintry landscape of fields and farmhouses

It's lovely to have an excuse to post lots of wintery images!

This one, titled 'As the Crow Flies', was painted by mixed media and acrylic artist Jo Grundy

More of Jo's delightful winter images here... jogrundyart.co.uk/winter

#winter #art #landscape

Buckingham Legal Associates | How Brexit Has Impacted Skilled Migrant Visas in the UK: An Analysis of Changes and Implications | Immigration Law Experts The decision for the UK to leave the EU, known as Brexit, has significantly reshaped the immigration landscape. Many skilled migrants from the EU once enjoyed seamless access to the UK job market, but...

Wherever you look, whatever poll, survey or opinion piece you read the underlying theme is the same. Brexit is a disaster.
buckslegal.co.uk/how-brexit-h...

The other way around. Trump and Musk were always insane and America's mistake was to give them so much power.