VesperUK

TRUMP’S PLAN BACKFIRES: Iran's new supreme leader — Mojtaba Khamenei, son of the country's slain ruler — is expected to be more hardline than his father. His ascent to power means the Iranian regime may become even more repressive.

Hatred, ignorance, fear, greed, and discrimination are viruses, magnified by suffering, carried in buckets, spilled onto the world.

We cannot eliminate them by actions that magnify hatred, ignorance, fear, greed, discrimination and suffering - only by actions that relieve them.

bsky.app/profile/did:...

Thanks so much @filosia.bsky.social 🦋💙

Oh.

Iran War: Hegseth Expects ‘More Casualties’ But Reiterates Trump’s ‘Surrender’ Demand As Iran Appoints New Leader The Defense Secretary told CBS News that the U.S. is “willing to go as far as we need to go,” as he again refused to rule out the possibility of putting U.S. boots on the ground in Iran.

The Defense Secretary told CBS News that the U.S. is “willing to go as far as we need to go,” as he again refused to rule out the possibility of putting U.S. boots on the ground in Iran.

The Quiet Way Trump Has Made Life Easier for Polluters It’s not just about environmental rollbacks: Trump and Lee Zeldin have presided over a striking decline in the EPA enforcing existing laws.

The Quiet Way Trump Has Made Life Easier for Polluters

Need an official campaign title for Clyde Conway the Corgi

Initial thoughts:

Director of Canine Affairs
Campaign Spokesdog
Volunteer Coorginator
Field and Ball-Chasing Director
Pawlicy Analyst

Suggestions welcome in the replies. Thx! 🙏🏼

Chief Barketing Officer!

Watson Institute Climate Solution Lab: Letting Europe's Energy Crisis Go To Waste YouTube video by Watson School of International and Public Affairs

After the Ukraine invasion, Europe's energy prices skyrocketed. Our research @climatesollab.bsky.social showed the excess fossil fuel costs for Europe exceeded €1 trillion. Three years ago we urged leaders to go green on energy faster, for the sake of economic security. If only they had listened!

Seventh U.S. Service Member Dies In Iran War After Sustaining Injuries In Attack The service member sustained injuries during an attack on a military base in Saudi Arabia on March 1, the U.S. military said.

The service member sustained injuries during an attack on a military base in Saudi Arabia on March 1, the U.S. military said.

'Betrayed': Veterans react to Sen. Johnson's decision to block bill for combat-injured veterans YouTube video by WKOW 27 NEWS

Another Fascist politician screwed over veterans by blocking a unanimous consent to pass a bill that allowed combat- injured veterans to receive both a full military retirement pay & their VA disability benefits.
Senator Johnson stated that there is no money for both. BS‼️🤬🤬
youtu.be/jHG6OMI21CU?...

Christian Nationalism is NOT Christianity, but it is a national security threat.

📌 The Military Religious Freedom Foundation says it has received over 200 complaints that troops are being told war with Iran is meant to accelerate “Armageddon.”

It is with great admiration and much respect, I give you the SheShed Starter packs. 🌻

Please give these wonderful ladies a follow💕

We need women who are so strong they can be gentle, so educated they can be humble, so fierce they can be compassionate
-Kavita Ramdas🌷
#SheShed

go.bsky.app/DHGgFj6

Several high-ranking federal election officials attended a summit last week at which prominent activists who worked to overturn Trump's loss in the 2020 election pressed for the president to declare a national emergency to take over the midterms.

This is HUGE. Please let everyone know, they are already working on declaring a national emergency to take over the midterms.

WELCH: Mr. Yoho is also the husband of your former spokesperson, Tricia McLaughlin?

NOEM: Yes

WELCH: So your former assistant and her husband are the ones that got the DHS no bid contract for $143m. Any dispute about that?

NOEM: No.

Japan to weigh collective self-defense use case by case amid Middle East conflict

The country could determine whether to exercise its right to collective self-defense in the event of a blockade of the Strait of Hormuz with missiles from Iran or elsewhere.

Olivia Dean wins the #BRITs award for Artist of the Year.

Opinion | What Exactly Is a ‘Concentration Camp’?

"Always, always, always concentration camps are an end run around the existing legal system. These people that are getting rounded up because whoever’s in power wants to do something that they can’t do using the letter of the law..."

www.nytimes.com/2026/02/21/o...

Dawn light of a shallow sea. The sun is on the horizon and clouds form a V shape as their form is reflected in the calm sea

Good Day to all. Here is a contribution to the #EastCoastKin theme of #BlueSkyMonday… This dawn scene on the Danish coast I captured one May morning. #PhotographersOfBluesky #photography #outdoorphotography #seacscape #landscapephotography #landscape_lover #Denmark

The first landscape painting I completed.

Cheers and thanks for all the love and support!

Hypnotic photo of a curtain aurora that truly looks like a flying dragon.The image is extraordinary: an enormous serpentine green shape twisting through the night sky above a snow-covered landscape, with tiny human silhouettes that emphasize the epic scale. It looks like something straight out of a fantasy story, yet it is completely real.

🧵
'Dragon Aurora over Norway' is an enchanting pic showing an impressive auroral curtain, captured by Marco Bastoni above Tromsø in Northern Norway.

The aurora's glittering green glow somehow reminds of a large dragon. 🔭

➡️ apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap18041...

🧪 ⚛️ #sciart #astrophotography #science

1/4

Loss of Infectivity of Influenza Virus and SARS-CoV-2 during Aerosol Sampling Our understanding of transmission of influenza virus and other respiratory viruses is limited by the difficulty of detecting infectious viruses in aerosol particles. Most aerosol sampling methods are believed to contribute to virus inactivation, but the magnitude of this sampling artifact is unknown. To investigate this question, we aerosolized influenza A virus (IAV) and SARS-CoV-2 suspended in human saliva into a small chamber (3.7 L). Aerosols settled for 10 min onto either cells or a thin layer of liquid medium that was immediately transferred to cells for plaque assay. Aerosols that deposited directly onto cells led to the formation of 100× more plaque forming units (PFU) compared to aerosols that deposited first into liquid medium. Further experiments ruled out uneven aerosol distribution in the chamber or inefficient virus recovery as causes of this discrepancy. These findings indicate that aerosolized IAV and SARS-CoV-2 lost infectivity by approximately 2 log10 PFU within ∼10 min unless they attached to cells quickly. As natural infection via inhalation occurs by direct deposition of the virus onto cells, we hypothesize that sampling directly onto cells more accurately reflects the potential for exposure to lead to infection.

Our latest paper shows that most aerosol sampling methods may underestimate infectious virus in air. We observed 100x more infectious flu virus and SARS-CoV-2 if it deposited directly on cells (more realistic) rather than in liquid first and then transferred to cells. pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10....

Daily painting of #sunflowers in #support of #Ukraine
#StopRussianWarcrimesNow

Milton Avery - Sunflowers

#UK: We've sent a letter to Yvette Cooper expressing deep concern that funding for the BBC World Service is due to run out at the end of March.

We urge the government to confirm a long-term funding arrangement to ensure their vital work continues ⬇️
www.indexoncensorship.org/2026/02/the-...

Tomorrow everyone will be asking: when will the Russo-Ukrainian war end? The right question is: what can we do to make the Russian invasion fail?

Who’s who in Reform UK’s top team Senior jobs for Jenrick, Braverman, Yusuf and Tice as Farage hopes to convince voters that his party is ready for power

Who’s who in Reform UK’s top team ft.trib.al/BXmSdqV

Homeland Security Wants Social Media Sites to Expose Anti-ICE Accounts

Homeland Security wants Social Media sites to expose Anti-ICE Accounts!!!!

The Government is trampling on our CIVIL LIBERTIES!!!!!

#ICE

#Epstein

#EpsteinFiles

www.nytimes.com/2026/02/13/t...

15 years ago today I arrived on Downing Street in a cage.
I've seen off Cameron, May, Johnson, Truss and Sunak and I'm still going strong.
Only two Prime Ministers have ever done longer stints here: William Pitt the Younger and Sir Robert Walpole.
Bill and Bob - I'm coming for you...
(Photos AP)

FBI won’t share Alex Pretti shooting evidence, Minnesota authorities say State’s governor had demanded impartial inquiry into the shooting of the VA nurse by federal immigration agents

The reason the FBI won't share evidence in the Alex Pretti shooting case is obvious:

The FBI is NOT investigating the shooting; they are covering it up.

www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

Read and share all over..he nails it