Nicki Stephens

‘Dark, like our future’: Iranians describe scenes of catastrophe after Tehran’s oil depots bombed Residents report terror of smoke-filled city, from potentially toxic rain, air and water to food scarcity and difficulty of escape

“Tehran is burning. And smoke has filled the streets. It’s impossible to drive out of the city right now and even with the windows closed, heavy smoke is making its way inside."

Read every word.

“I didn’t vote for THIS,” say the manosphere podcasters who simply had no way of knowing that Trump would lie about being a populist to get into office and then govern like a autocratic lunatic once in power, other than the fact that he did it for 4 entire years before that.

Two cactus wrens sitting atop a chollo.

I love the way these cactus wrens (photographed today) have a safe shelter inside a chollo catcus where they built their elaborate nest.

ML613297500 - Torrent Duck - Macaulay Library Macaulay Library ML613297500; © Violet Wu; Napo, Ecuador

Timeline cleanse. Click play to watch 56 second video of Torrent ducks learning the tricks. #ornithology #birding #birds

So the Americans assassinated Irans religious extremist hard line leader. So he could be replaced by an even more extremist hard line leader who's dad, wife and daughter were just assassinated by the Americans.

Bravo FIFA Peace Prize Winner.

Nature Report, Killed by Trump, Is Released Independently

Trump canceled a major scientific report on the health of the natural world. The scientists are finishing it anyway. Yay scientists! www.nytimes.com/2026/03/05/c...

'Intentional Chemical Warfare': Toxic Black Rain in Tehran After US-Israel Bomb Oil Facilities | Common Dreams "The consequences of this environmental and humanitarian catastrophe will not be confined within Iran's borders. These strikes constitute war crimes," said a spokesperson for the Iranian Foreign Minis...

“The consequences of this environmental and humanitarian catastrophe will not be confined within Iran’s borders. These strikes constitute war crimes”

Jon Queally
08 Mar, 2026

www.commondreams.org/news/toxic-b...

It really is impressive just how little thinking goes on inside an average US think tank

COVID-19 Day of Reflection to bring the nation together to remember the loss and sacrifices of pandemic Six years on, communities across the country will come together to reflect on sacrifice and loss during the pandemic

Six years on since the U.K. recognised the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Today is a day of national reflection to remember those who died

www.gov.uk/government/n...

Your reminder that Iran’s president had already called (last November) TO RELOCATE THE CAPITAL CITY after water levels in Tehran’s five reservoirs plunged to 12% of capacity and the groundwater aquifers collapsed in the world’s first example of “water bankruptcy.”

e360.yale.edu/features/ira...

• Based on the book "An" by Durian Sukegawa. • Directed and written by Naomi Kawase. Cast: Kirin Kiki, Masatoshi Nagase, Kyara Uchida. Language: Japanese

#SundaySentence from a wonderful movie we watched last night:

"We try to live our lives beyond reproach, but sometimes we are crushed by the ignorance of the world."

- Naomi Kawase, c. 2015

Who will be the first to say we’ve been at war with Iran since Thermopylae?

Article by Starmer 23 years ago opposing our participation in the Iraq war

Me too, this is part of an article written by Stamer 23 years ago when he opposed our participation in the Iraq war, as true today as it was then.

The same 300 people who think Net Zero is a con and climate change is no biggie.

Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg: We don’t agree with Trump on every issue, says Cooper on UK response to Iran war The foreign secretary says the UK cannot outsource foreign policy to others after Trump accused Starmer of seeking to

www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/cw... Kuenssberg proving that she is no Richard Dimbleby - why I tune in and do it to myself, I can only imagine, is some lurking masochistic self - destructive tendencies ! Hell, she’s bloody awful !

The Great Wisteria at Ashikaga Flower Park This breathtaking photograph captures the legendary Great Wisteria tree at Ashikaga Flower Park in Tochigi Prefecture, Japan. The ancient tree, over 150 years old, is shown in full bloom, its massive canopy creating an immersive world of purple. Long, delicate racemes of lavender-colored flowers hang vertically from a high overhead trellis, forming a dense, floral curtain that seems to descend from the sky. The ground beneath the tree is completely carpeted in fallen purple petals, mirroring the floral ceiling above and creating a seamless environment of color. In the center, the tree's dark, twisted trunk rises from a small mound, supported by a network of thin poles that are barely visible through the thick layers of blossoms. The soft, diffused lighting enhances the ethereal quality of the scene, making the sprawling 2,000-square-meter canopy appear like a living, organic sculpture of violet light.

The famous Great Wisteria tree at Ashikaga Flower Park in Tochigi Prefecture, Japan. Often cited as one of the most beautiful trees in the world, this specific wisteria is over 150 years old and its massive floral canopy spans nearly 2,000 square meters.

YouTube video by Kfir Ochaion Dire Straits - Brothers In Arms - Acoustic Guitar Cover by Kfir Ochaion - Emerald Guitars

Much different than Dire Straits but beautiful. Needed this for our Sunday morning...
youtu.be/w-OfUq5HXX8?...

Bright yellow daffodils in the foreground - tiny Robin Redbreast peeping through the blooms.

Do you ever experience a sense of being less important or visible ? 😮‍💨

What a thread.

Let me win or I’ll take my toys back. Brat-boy

Did #bbclaurak speak in these emotive terms about Palestinians in body bags? Did she ask the Israeli president (who was also on the program this morning) about footage & images she's seen from Gaza & ask how on earth he justifies that?

Of course she didn't.

Turns out all the Brexiters shilling for Trump really hate British sovereignty.

I know - bottomless brunch. 😋

I think you’re right 😊Mine certainly did not because he was scary but huge and made me jump .

New British and Irish bird atlas announced for 2027 A new bird atlas for Britain and Ireland has been announced by five conservation organisations. The British Trust for Ornithology (BTO), BirdWatch Ireland, the RSPB, Scottish Ornithologists' Club (SOC) and Welsh Ornithological Society (WOS) have come together to begin work on Bird Atlas 2027-31.

A new bird atlas for Britain and Ireland has been announced by five conservation organisations:

Roe deer buck with thick fuzzy looking antlers - reddish grey coat, taking a stroll around the garden.

That”ll be another plate for breakfast. I’m not sure who was the most startled. 😳

This is *nothing* dignified about wearing a cheap baseball cap that promotes yourself to the otherwise solemn ceremony to receive the bodies of the troops you had killed to distract from your bad economy and rampant pedophilia.

I could forgive a cheap baseball cap - the rest is just too abominable to absorb.

Shona Murray: Powerful countries no longer bother with international norms Europe appears to have accepted the law of the jungle supplanted by Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu, writes Shona Murray

If 176 children were slaughtered in their classrooms in Dublin, Brussels, Berlin, Tel Aviv or Texas by a foreign adversary, the world would rightfully be at a standstill.

- Shona Murray

www.irishexaminer.com/opinion/colu... @shonamurray.bsky.social

Spanish PM Pedro Sánchez:

You may have heard that Spain is alone. They’re the same people who said that when we recognized the State of Palestine, and then others followed.

We are not alone — we are the first. Those who will end up alone are the ones defending the indefensible.