Quite…

NEW: Suella Braverman has defected to Reform UK, shocking the many people who were sure that she had already.

He spent decades bringing the religious right to power. Now he's marching to undo it.

Rev. Rob Schenck spent decades helping build the Religious Right—commingling church and state to advance conservative causes. Now, he says he must confront the damage he helped cause.

Polar Bear sleeping amid Fireweed blooms, by Christopher Paetkau

#Photography of the Year 2024 Award

#wildlife #WildlifePhotography #animals

Back-scratching bovine leads scientists to reassess intelligence of cows Brown Swiss in Austria has been discovered using tools in different ways – something only ever seen in humans and chimpanzees

Yet another case of animals being smarter than scientists thought #intelligence #animalintelligence #cow #cows

Reading books can help you live longer—here's how — National Geographic “When you get lost in a book, you often enter a trance-like state similar to meditation and that state is deeply protective.”

Not at all surprising! #Books #BookSky #Longevity

Who’s into genealogy? There’s a bit of a mystery on my African-American side…

DNA (and, no doubt, AI) are making some progress - who knows what a few more brain cells will achieve‽ #genealogy #usgenealogy#americangenealogy

Amazing - people in London don’t seem to know how dangerous it is!

😉

#London #FarageLies #ReformLies

Doh - I see what I did there (in front of a potential audience of 100k, no less!

Congratulations on passing the landmark, either way!

Hate to be this guy, and: Surely you meant 10k, not 100k? Or am
I about to feel rather silly?

The story of Farage and Putin, told by British-Ukrainian soldier Shaun Pinner on a destroyed apartment block in Kyiv.

JONATHAN FREEDLAND: Why Britain’s Jewish leaders are silent on Farage’s schoolyard antisemitism While the Reform UK leader and his allies smear accusers as liars, the Board, JLC and HET remain mute, fearing the wrath of a rising politician

Hmm #farage #antisemitism

Readers reply: What are the greatest life lessons? — The Guardian The long-running series in which readers answer other readers’ questions on subjects ranging from trivial flights of fancy to profound scientific and philosophical concepts

Worth a look - how many do you agree with? #lifelessons

Reform UK's ex-Wales leader Nathan Gill admits pro-Russia bribery Nathan Gill admits eight charges of bribery while being a Member of the European Parliament.

Nathan Gill is no fringe politician.

He was the leader of the Reform Party and before that UKIP in Wales.

A Brexit Party MEP.

A friend and ally of Nigel Farage, who in 2016 called him:

"terrific," and "as honest as the day is long."

This is a MASSIVE story

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

“Our investigation uncovered that an elected MEP was taking payments to peddle narratives beneficial to Russian interests... This case goes to the heart of our democratic values.”

— head of the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command, Commander Dominic Murphy

Just stopped our #Disney+ subscription #freedom #freespeech

Ed Davey has written to Keir Starmer, Kemi Badenoch and Nigel Farage, urging them to join him in condemning Elon Musk's remarks yesterday

The Intellectual Vacuity of the National Conservatives — The Atlantic The post-liberal American right set out to destroy the guardrails that restrained anti-Semitism, without giving any thought to what might happen next.

#natcons #nationalconservatism #intellectual

From Washington to Westminster, the populist right needs to erase history to succeed. It’s up to us to resist | Kojo Koram Removing ‘divisive’ Smithsonian exhibits, Farage’s ‘patriotic’ curriculum: this is where the unpicking of the 20th century liberal order begins, says academic Kojo Koram

#news #democracy #savingdemocracy #populism

Love the typo @skynewsrss.bsky.social

How Queen Victoria Became the Biggest Drug Dealer of All Time — TIME Sam Kelly explains how Queen Victoria became a huge fan of drugs—and how she brought China to its knees because of it.

#Monarchy #UKMonarchy #Drugs

YouTube video by EC Henry What is Boushh Saying in Return of the Jedi? (Ubese 101)

If you like Star Wars and are interested in languages…

#language #languages #starwars

“Practice kindness all day to everybody and you will realize you're already in heaven now.”

~Jack Kerouac

Looking forward to reading your review!

Italians, look away! 5 pasta cooking rules that are worth breaking — Good Food Italians, look away! We're ditching traditional pasta cooking and going rogue with the classics to show that sometimes, it's okay to break the rules

Controversial: apple.news/AK3KcUg8dSKu...

#food #italianfood #pasta #cooking #cookery

#Meta #MetaAI #piracy

What is the meaning of life? 15 possible answers – from a palliative care doctor, a Holocaust survivor, a jail inmate and more I asked some well-known names for their thoughts on the ultimate existential question. Their answers were fascinating, funny – and could help us frame our days on Earth

Some thought-provoking responses here:

#life #meaning #purpose #meaningoflife

What’s in the millions of tonnes of sludge sprayed on to farmland? The answer won’t make you happy | George Monbiot Thanks to breathtaking negligence, the liquid fertiliser used to help grow our food bubbles with a lethal cocktail of toxins, says Guardian columnist George Monbiot

I wish I could say I’m sure it’s fine…

Scientists are uncovering surprising connections between diet and mental health Research shows that certain foods really can help with depression and stress. Here’s why—and which foods help most.

“Diets high in ultra-processed foods and low in nutrient quality are consistently associated with a higher risk of depression and anxiety.”

Is it really surprising that if you eat crap you’re more likely to feel crap?