Shivaji Shiva

Support great local business Ethical Game *and* enjoy one of 12 great rewards ...

www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/ethical-ga...

Painting of a man standing and speaking, surrounded by sitting people looking at him. It’s “Freedom of Speech” by Norman Rockwell, 1943.

“I rode my bike here.”

‘I wish I could say I kept my cool’: my maddening experience with the NHS wheelchair service The long read: After I was paralysed in a climbing accident, I discovered how inconsiderate, illogical and incompetent many wheelchair providers can be

A well-written article with a remarkably upbeat tone given the utterly infuriating story it tells.

www.theguardian.com/world/2025/d...

The Ride-Hail Utopia That Got Stuck in Traffic Uber and Lyft said they would ease congestion. Instead they made it worse.

Don’t forget, for many years #Uber insisted loudly that it would reduce traffic in cities. Instead, Uber drivers cruise without passengers 40% of the time. Uber and Lyft no longer claim they reduce traffic. They now admit they increase congestion.

So much for “making cities better…”

Via @wsj.com

My dad abhors any negative comments about immigrants. Asked him recently why he’s so strong on it: ‘Because we’re always happy to take the rich and clever ones. Which means it’s not about disliking immigrants. It’s about disliking the poor and vulnerable. And that’s a bad human instinct.’

Alt text: an image of my chairdrobe featuring a velolove.cc t-shirt with the following words in orange on blue.

'You either like cycling or you're wrong.'

“Dad, we made so many people happy”

The mostly true recounting of crashing a holiday parade without Imperial authority.

MacKenzie Scott: *donates $50M every 10 hours°

Joe Lonsdale, co-founder of Palantir: "I want to see people hang"

Trump wants to recreate a white America that never existed | Rebecca Solnit The persecution of brown people and mass deportations will not create the white country of far-right fantasy

'The premise of the attacks on immigrants is that people of color who were not born in the US are intruders and threats, but ... it’s the Trump administration’s violent foot soldiers with ICE and the border patrol that locals perceive as unwelcome threats and violent invaders.'

The UK and the U.S. -

A #lesscar world is the one we all want, whether we realize it or not.

How the UK’s dependency on cars slows down the economy Clogged up Britain

“Moving to a situation where cars are not considered the fastest and most convenient mode of transportation will take ambition and imagination. But the alternative is a very expensive dependency, which clogs up the UK economy.”

theconversation.com/how-the-uks-...

A bike rack filled with bikes covered in snow in Calgary, Alberta.

Snow doesn’t stop the bike people 😌 #yycbike @seumasb.bsky.social

...

Cyclone Ditwah: Flood catastrophe awakens volunteerism in Sri Lanka Fishing boats deliver relief supplies to flooded suburbs as community kitchens churn out food aid.

'In Colombo's Wijerama neighbourhood, activists ... are now helping run a community kitchen that churns out food aid.

...

"Some volunteers came after work, some took turns and some even took leave to be there," Sasindu Sahan Tharaka, a social media activist, tells the BBC.'

Heavy rains hamper recovery as death toll from floods in Asia exceeds 1,750 Hundreds more people are still missing as intensive rains pose new dangers in Indonesia and Sri Lanka.

'In Sri Lanka, the government has confirmed 607 deaths, with another 214 people missing and feared dead, in what President Anura Kumara Dissanayake has called the country’s most challenging natural disaster.'

www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/12...

Don't look away from this tragedy - this is a sign of things to come as we head to 2ºC

I sound like a broken record - we are *utterly* unprepared.

We need to *urgently* have a clear view of the risks and do something about robust early warning systems that reach people on the ground timeously!

How plants push roots through hard soil Researchers have discovered how plant roots penetrate compacted soil by deploying a well-known engineering principle.

How plants push roots through hard soil.

Researchers have discovered how plant roots penetrate compacted soil by deploying a well-known engineering principle.

Scousers are QUEENS and will save us all

Grid bottlenecks aren’t a failure of the energy transition — they’re proof it’s working.

Renewables got cheap fast, and now the grid has to catch up. Time to build the wires for the clean energy system we already have.

Thanks!

I've sent them as gifts ... in March.

Letter to the Guardian. The protection of badgers has a long pedigree (Report, 29 August). Arthur Gore, known as "Boofy", the eighth Earl of Arran, was a fanatical defender of them. He was also a tireless campaigner for the rights of homosexuals. In 1967 he managed to push through a law in the Lords that decriminalised homosexuality but failed to pass a bill to outlaw the cruel hunting of badgers. When asked why he had not received enough support for his badger bill, he replied: "Not many badgers in the House of Lords." Tony Lywood Keswick, Cumbria

Found when sorting an old drive. I still, very occasionally, say 'not many badgers in the House of Lords' and this is why:

What evidence is there that uplands like this were once covered by temperate rainforest, and would return to such a state naturally but for sheep?

Loads... 🧵

!?!

I feel the same way, John.

My children are, like yours, more than capable of navigating the world competently. A few years older, they perhaps range further - and I'm always aware of the risk posed by Birmingham's car culture. A culture which means that no area - pathways, parks etc - is car free.

Shabana Mahmood urged not to help those ‘seeking to build division’ Exclusive: In open letter, 225 groups describe home secretary’s plan to overhaul asylum system as ‘cruel and ‘ruthless’

A message from community groups for Shabana Mahmood, @alcarns.bsky.social & other Labour politicians.

“In communities up and down the country, we are proud to show warmth and kindness to refugees … We know that your cruel new plans do not represent us, our communities or who we are as a country.

A leaf like pattern in frost on a solar panel.

This morning was frosty. Will tomorrow be warmer?

Perhaps the piece that struck me most during a lunchtime stop at RBSA to pick up stocking fillers and see the annual exhibition.

Trump gently picking up the FIFA peace prize medal.

Trump putting the medal around his neck like a little baby

how it feels to try something on in a store you have no right to try on

The cover of Is there God after Prince, a collection of essays by Peter Coviello.

The same boom resting alongside a short glass.

Kicking off Friday night with a new book that Krish at @stirchleywines.bsky.social would appreciate …