Melissa

Tip of the Iceberg: Religious Extremist Funders against Human Rights for Sexuality & Reproductive Health in Europe New report exposes the money behind the network intent on overturning laws related to sexuality and reproduction in Europe Report identifies USD707.2 million in anti-gender funding over the 2009–2018 ...

Here’s a whole huge report from the EU Parliament backing up Helen’s point

www.epfweb.org/node/837

And then they published an update this year

www.epfweb.org/node/1147

I’ve been texting my mum friends who wouldn’t see this either 🙃

Now reading that one alt route via Ferry Rd is closed for 2 months. I’m sorry this is all far too much and too difficult. We don’t own a car, Edinburgh Council - you should be making things safer not actively dangerous! @edi.bike @spokes.org.uk @blackfordsaferoutes.co.uk #EdTravCyc

Tiny space left for cyclists to turn right, through bollards, and then straight into an intersection

The crossing over from the bike lane back to the “normal” lane to rejoin traffic. Really not excited for when pedestrians also are here enjoying the festivities

Coming back from George St we’re meant - I think - to use the left lane to cross the intersection to Charlotte Square. I cannot get my cargo bike to do this turn. I keep trying to take photos. Private businesses making this entirely unusable. Plus some of those blocks are really hard to get pass!

Ice from the ice rink laying black ice and frozen wet leaves on the “bike path”

But that wasn’t the only danger today. We get to George St and the Ice Bar is leaking water onto the road leaving streams of ice over the bike path. This is a photo of the ice from the ice rink. I get that tourists are tops in winter but actively laying traps for cyclists seems… wild? And yet

Ice and leaves covering Queensferry Road bike lane, especially in the middle distance in the shade

Edinburgh has lost the plot. Today my kid and I (me w/2 more kids on my bike) had to bike through frozen leaves on Queensferry Rd. We tried to use the road but a Range Rover decided we were impinging on his freedom and drove us into the wands. The leaves are well done falling and yet they remain…

It’s like they can’t imagine this is an access route that people use for anything other than leisure. Unbelievable cutting people off for 2 months

Iowa City Made Its Buses Free. Traffic Cleared, and So Did the Air.

Communism! www.nytimes.com/2025/11/18/c...

Helsinki just went a full year without a single traffic death The capital city is Finnish’ed with car-related fatalities.

“Helsinki hasn’t registered a single traffic-related fatality in the past year…Citing data that shows the risk of pedestrian fatality is cut in half by reducing a car’s speed from 40 to 30km/hr, city officials imposed the lower limit in most of Helsinki’s residential areas & city center in 2021.”

Just wilful performative cruelty that is entirely out of step with the majority of British people.

How many Labour MPs got into politics in order to vote for stealing jewellery off of people seeking refuge from war and persecution?

Huge Range Rover that looks like a tank.

They market their cars as weapons and we allow them on the same roads as children cycling to school.

And I still get weird middle-aged men in my notifications obfuscating for and defending this.

This is not a serious society.

Pink and purple handknit gloves with a unicorn on each hand, meeting together in a kicking style, designed as in the unicorn tapestries

The palm side of pink and purple handknit gloves with a repeating pattern

It was cold a couple of weeks back so I decided I needed jumpers for my hands 😆 I hear the cold is coming back? Just in time, I finished these unicorn mittens - typical Scottish accessorising 😅 #knitsky

Good thing the govt is doing this then 😬

bsky.app/profile/step...

Edinburgh’s Radical Book Fair is NEXT WEEK!

As well as a jam-packed program - over 20 events! - we’re filling Assembly Roxy with BOOKS, community, and publisher stalls.

📚 Stalls feature over 70 publishers & 50 writers speaking - a treasure trove of bookish delights awaits!📚

Fight down the field Massachusetts? I heard the Stars and Stripes will gleam …

Only one guy felt the need to comment that I was biking 4 people (!!) with “one motor”. Like ok dude, it’s still cycling. I still hit my intensity minutes on Garmin 🙄

Orange Craigies farm sign in a field of pumpkins, with pumpkin garland in the foreground on the right.

Five pumpkins in a wheelbarrow

Today’s Edinburgh bike day trip: Craigie’s Farm for pumpkins. Except for the last 1/2 mile it was a fun ride. Extra bonus points for a rainy ride home with just a bit of extra gourd 🎃

Last bit from this but it's a v good piece on Caerphilly: "There are not many areas that will be more favourable to [Reform] in Wales... Given their immense resources, disproportionate media attention and overwhelmingly favourable social media algorithms, they should be embarrassed by the result."

She really didn’t want to decorate for Christmas huh

Millionaire Tax That Inspired Mamdani Fuels $5.7 Billion Haul in Massachusetts A millionaire levy in Massachusetts that New York City mayoral frontrunner Zohran Mamdani holds up as a model for taxing the rich has generated $3 billion more in revenue than expected without forcing...

WELL HOW ABOUT THAT

"A millionaire levy in Massachusetts has generated $3 billion more in revenue than expected without forcing significant high-profile departures from the state."

www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Three bikes piled in a taxi because the adult’s bike broke before we got down the street

Three kids bikes in the bike stand on the train carriage - not sure two adult bikes would also work so this is clearly a limited scenario situation

Stow Pump Track sign on a wet October day. A few bikes are scattered in the mid distance

Pump track, a bit wet but nice green grass and well paved track! I’ve been told it was worth the journey as the quality of the paving is high!

Did a first time bike/ScotRail trip, going from Edinburgh to Stow to check out the newish pump track! It’s very close to the station so easy to do. Ofc I’ve been informed by my crew that it’s the same exact design as the SKELF in Dumbiedykes so could have saved a bit of effort. 😅

Gosh thought he’d be in CA by now 😅

A campaign poster for InfraSisters x Cycling UK. Showing an image of 3 silhouettes of women riding bikes. Light up your bike and join us! To call for better cycling infrastructure, safer for women at night. Friday 24th October 7.30pm Middle Meadow Walk Together with a QR code linking back to our website.

We're back! We've teamed up with @cyclinguk.bsky.social for a Glow Ride on Friday 24th October. Like us, they want to see more women cycling, and for councils to provide more safe infrastructure to enable that.
Light up your bike with lights and sparkle and join us at Middle Meadow Walk at 7.30pm.

It’s just so horrible to treat our children this way. It’s the most prevalent chronic illness in the U.S. for kids - at least that’s a statistic that they care to even look for despite their political issues. Can’t even get a child <12 vaccinated in this country 🙃

Why Is This Happening? Protests, political violence and its alternatives with Erica Chenoweth Erica Chenoweth, a political scientist at Harvard, joins to discuss historical and contemporary strategies for protesting, democratic backsliding, global comparisons and more.

Chris Hayes interviewed E Chenoweth for his podcast in May, too, where they dive into it all www.msnbc.com/msnbc-podcas...

A bus stop that’s been damaged with the bus stop poll lying bent on the pavement, plexiglass in the bus stop shelter no longer in place. The sky is grey because it’s autumn in Edinburgh.

Things that make being a pedestrian feel exponentially less safe. Never mind the 4 cars in the last two days who’ve almost knocked me off my bike. Come on, Edinburgh!

I think even less considered is the children born of ILR parents, kids who just need their citizenship recognised, practically. The govt is still not honouring the Supreme Court case saying charging these kids for citizenship is against their human rights. Another £1k on top per child!

London is proud to host Japan's Grand Sumo Tournament this week - it's fantastic to see the the teams using our cycling infrastructure to get around.

Everywhere next please

Ohhh at our first library rhyme time the nannies shushed the babies, the mummies chatted, and the daddies read the newspaper