NEW: Peter Mandelson was offered a severance payment of £75,000 - having initially asked the Foreign Office to pay him more than £500,000 upon his sacking as US ambassador, newly released docs reveal.
International women’s day
Howl for every she-wolf who has not yet learnt to howl #InternationaWomensDay #RighteousAnger #Howl
Visited Beesands a couple of years ago- about a mile along the coast. Beautiful but very fragile as the sea comes a little closer every year.
Copy of my book with the White Horse symbol of the Richard Jefferies Prize above it.
Absolutely thrilled to be Shortlisted for @rjaward.bsky.social! And in brilliant company. Lovely to have that white horse sticker on #GhostsoftheFarm. My farming women & their workers & families of all those decades ago, would be so proud! (As would younger me.) @chelseagreenbooks.bsky.social
Power corrupts etc
Sir Ian McKellen performing a monologue from Shakespeare’s Sir Thomas More on the Stephen Colbert show. Never have I heard this monologue performed with such a keen sense of prescience. Nor have I ever been in this exact historical moment.TY Sir Ian, for reaching us once again.
#Pinks #ProudBlue
The killing of Alex Pretti is a heartbreaking tragedy. It should also be a wake-up call to every American, regardless of party, that many of our core values as a nation are increasingly under assault.
I find it pretty depressing how buoyant the UK stock market is at the moment when so many people are struggling to meet basic bills or rent a home. Clearly the money men/women are doing just fine.
One of those captcha things. This one says ‘select all images with bicycles. Click verify once there are none left’. There are 9 squares - 4 contain photos of bicycle seats, with the remaining 5 showing the beautiful head and face of a grey greyhound with a white stripe going from the top of their head to the tip of their nose.
Hats off to whoever did this (and the beautiful model).
A dominant theme of Hitler's speeches in the late 1930s is that Germany was surrounded by threats. These threats were imaginary: it was Nazi Germany that threatened other nations. But they were used to justify pre-emptive attacks. Trump is following this script.
I was asked an interesting question last week about why my Rebellion! series doesn’t include scenes of violence. The answer is simple, most protests are mainly peaceful. If a protest is 99% peaceful and 1% violent and you only show the violence then that isn’t a truthful record it is propaganda.
Donald Trump says climate change is a “hoax” and a “con job”.
But at the same time the US position is that they need Greenland because the melting Arctic ice is creating a security risk.
At this point, I think it’s pretty clear who the real con artist is.
Adoption fees pay it forward to rescue the next dog. If you bought a new puppy and paid for proper vet care- an exam, deworming, vaccinations, and neutering- it would easily be twice that.
Check with your local vet.
Rescue dogs are a bargain.
👋🏻
Good evening
Meet the Sifaka Lemur. 😊
These are the oldest living Lemurs on earth, and can only be found on the island of Madagascar.
They are distinguishable from other Lemur species, due to their vertical clinging and long leaping strides.
#WildlifePhotography #Wildlife #Nature #Lemur
A Lion and Lioness of the Ngamo pride in Zimbabwe embrace.
#HappyValentinesDay ❤️
The King with his Queen of the Ngamo pride in Zimbabwe.
🎦 Credit: Carole Deschuymere.
#WildlifePhotography #Wildlife #Nature #Lions 🦁
The BBC has once again caught Drax burning wood from primary forest in Canada, previously untouched by man, a huge carbon store and obvs prime wildlife habitat.
Drax seems to be reducing its use of such wood, but also hiding the extent to which it used it in previous years – contrary to regulations
Thank the lord for Private Eye
George Orwell, who died on this day in 1950.
"Political language is designed to make lies sound truthful & murder respectable & to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind. ”
"The most effective way to destroy people is to deny & obliterate their own understanding of their history.”
On the 23rd of October Matilda was hit by a truck. They didn’t stop to help.
A kind lady helped cover her for the night and brought her to us. She was in a horrible state.
Today just 3 months later the unthinkable… Matilda is back walking… (1/8) 🧵
Photo of a group of white women diligently sewing, three sitting on red sofa in the background and one sitting facing slight left in front holding up her embroidery on a white cloth, showing swear words embroidered on to it, while looking smiling out to the viewer
The Profanity Embroidery Group, Whitstable, UK, known for their stitching and swearing #WomensArt
We were very pleased to be able to attend the opening of Outsiders at @stalbansmuseums.bsky.social last night.
We highly recommend you see this show.
@marcdavenant.bsky.social thank you for your work.
Hello ! 👋🏻
No-one is pretending it's politically easy.
Tory & Labour governments have both failed to address the social care crisis for over 3 decades. But Labour now has a massive majority. That's the time to be politically brave - as @soniasodha.bsky.social argues here:
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
"We know they're out hunting foxes... they send the hounds into areas where there are obviously foxes living... that's not trail hunting. We need a proper law that stops them going out and searching for foxes."
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Barn Owl flying at dusk. Oil on canvas, grey, white, buff background
'Gloaming' - by my daughter, Charlotte Strawbridge @cstrawbridgeart.bsky.social
More of Charlotte's beautiful artwork, here: www.charlottestrawbridge.co.uk/art
#wildlifeartist #art #owl #barnowl #birds 🪶
Tim Minchin on why he turned his back on being a comedian and gave up social media
www.channel4.com/news/tim-min...
Last painting today before I stop for Christmas, a very patient Poppy and a lovely tidy studio ready for when I start back again…
Have a lovely winter break everyone ❄️🤍
Thames Water intentionally diverted millions of pounds pledged for environmental clean-ups towards other costs including bonuses and dividends
www.theguardian.com/business/202...
