backoftheocean

Shelter from today's gale, Isle of Man.

Shelter from today's gale, Isle of Man.

For those unaware, a quick primer on perhaps the most dangerous of the oligarchs.

Peter Thiel.

I asked for Oat MILK in my coffee at the station. They have CCTV. Waiting for the summons.

London mud crocuses.

The best place according to Mimma the cat:
✅ Sun
✅ Hay
✅ Plastic cover
Basically a private greenhouse 😀

Thanks. We have had many ferry cancellations this winter. I would normally stay in bed in February, but needs must.

First flight for 7 years. Wish me luck keeping my mouth shut through Security. Surprised Easyjet only asked me 8,333,376 times if I have a big bag. But always a friendly welcome in Liverpool. youtu.be/Zj7OJeyhq2Q?...

Left school 52 years ago, no more notes from Mum to skive games, avoided playing or watching on purpose since. Sounds odd, to me, when “games” make radio news headlines. BBC, January - tennis, in winter! Now they tell me to care about mixed curling. Seasonally accurate, but not on my watch please.

If you are reading this it is because I’m dead: here’s what I want to tell you about how to live | Carlos Hernández de Miguel Leaving this world in an age of lies and cruelty, my last message is simple: don’t give up on truth, says Spanish journalist Carlos Hernández de Miguel

If you are reading this it is because I’m dead: here’s what I want to tell you about how to live | Carlos Hernández de Miguel

Leaving this world in an age of lies and cruelty, my last message is simple: don’t give up on truth

Carlos Hernández de Miguel was a Spanish journalist and writer. He...

Spanish PM Pedro Sánchez: Starting next week, my government will implement the following actions: First, we will change the law in Spain to hold platform executives legally accountable for many infringements taking place on their sites. Second, we will turn algorithmic manipulation and amplification of illegal content into a new criminal offense. Third, we will implement a hate and polarization footprint system to track, quantify, and expose how digital platforms fuel division and amplify hate. Fourth, Spain will ban access to social media for minors under the age of 16. Platforms will be required to implement effective age verification systems - not just checkboxes, but real barriers that work. Fifth and last, my government will work with our public prosecutor to investigate and pursue the infringement committed by Grok, TikTok, and Instagram.

Today, #Spain's prime minister Pedro Sánchez announced a comprehensive plan to control #SocialMedia, saying it "has become a failed state.
If we want to protect our children there is only one thing we can do: take back control."

A summary of his plan:

Tickles😆

When Love Thy Neighbor Is a Cry of Resistance Today marks one full year for this newsletter, and here's the 77th post (I thought once a week was going to be a lot, but there's so much going on I wrote almost 1.5 times a week over the past year). ...

At the very heart of the conflict raging in the United States is a conflict about human nature, a deep moral and philosophical conflict. I believe the isolationists will lose in the long run because they are not only out of step with the majority but they are out of step with reality....

! kept this one, from my daily cartoon calendar, to remind me to try to be more tolerant !

Lovely grey sky photo with your shadow on the sand. Nobody likes a know-it-all, but I can't help myself........the piece of cod which passeth all understanding..... is salmon.

No 10 suppressed key intelligence report on climate collapse A critical intelligence report warning of environmental collapse was hidden from public view — not by accident, but by the Labour government

I posted about this last week and now I am posting it again. #Mustread!
No 10 suppressed key intelligence report on climate collapse www.thecanary.co/uk/2026/01/2...

YouTube video by Bruce Springsteen Bruce Springsteen - Streets Of Minneapolis (Official Audio)

I wrote this song on Saturday, recorded it yesterday and released it to you today in response to the state terror being visited on the city of Minneapolis. It’s dedicated to the people of Minneapolis, our innocent immigrant neighbors and in memory of Alex Pretti and Renee Good.

Stay free

‘Situation is dire’ for Sicily town teetering on cliff edge after landslide 1,500 people evacuated from Niscemi after battering by Cyclone Harry triggers 4km-long chasm in hillside

‘Situation is dire’ for Sicily town teetering on cliff edge after landslide

www.theguardian.com/world/2026/j...

"[A new British intelligence report] echoes warnings some of us have made for years, only to be dismissed as nutters, doomsayers and extremists."

"Every critical ecosystem is on a pathway to collapse...”

You won't find more crucial reading than this.

When Tim Parks decided to escape from successful friends in London to a quiet life in a small village outside Verona, he explained why by saying that, above all, he'd taken, when offered by his wife, an "opportunity to underachieve in peace."

Sly Dunbar, Half of Sly and Robbie, Legendary Reggae Rhythm Section, Dies at 73 Lowell Fillmore 'Sly' Dunbar, the drumming half of the legendary rhythm section that played on countless recordings by reggae artists, Bob Dylan and more, has died.

💔 Sly Dunbar, the drumming half of legendary reggae rhythm section Sly and Robbie, has died. No cause was given; he was 73.

Sly and Robbie anchored recordings by countless musicians, ranging from reggae icons like Lee Perry, Junior Murvin and tracks by Bob Marley to Bob Dylan and Grace Jones.

Thank you. I will tell him.

Yes, blue plastic. This is a relatively clear stretch of beach. The spring tides pushed most of the rubbish up into the grass higher up. But some beaches here in the Isle of Man gather more plastic.

@legolostatsea.bsky.social He has hardly slept since he got the book. Dressed at 6. ready for a beach, but worried it might all have been found. I promised to ask Tracey how many of the millions she guesses might still be out there. I feel like I am a drug dealer, I have hooked another addict!

Raw agretti ready to cook

Agretti cooked with olive oil and garlic

Met with neighbors last night to make a porcini risotto (which was tasty) and after, we cooked some agretti. I've seen it around but had no idea what to do with it. Very clean taste and perfect after the risotto. (Saltwort in English.)

Rare seagrass 'fairy circles' discovered in the Hebrides NatureScot says it is not known why the plants grow in doughnut-shapes on the seabed.

BBC News - Rare seagrass 'fairy circles' discovered in the Hebrides
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Good morning 🌅

Back-scratching bovine leads scientists to reassess intelligence of cows Brown Swiss in Austria has been discovered using tools in multiple ways – something only ever seen in humans and chimpanzees Scientists have been forced to rethink the intelligence of cattle after an Austrian cow named Veronika displayed an impressive – and until now undocumented – knack for tool use. Witgar Wiegele, an organic farmer and baker from a small town in Carinthia near the Italian border, keeps Veronika as a pet and noticed that she occasionally played with sticks and used them to scratch her body. Continue reading...

Back-scratching bovine leads scientists to reassess intelligence of cows

In Scotland, people are (very rightly) unhappy that only 4% natural woodland cover remains.

Spare a thought for poor Ireland, at around a mere 1%.

Nowhere else on Earth is in such desperate need of rewilding.