Peter Sketch

The president has raped so many people that we have a pretty good sense of his MO. Maybe we should think about that.

Liver disease deaths have risen by more than 400% in two generations driven by obesity, alcohol, and hepatitis. In Swindon North, 20 people die from liver disease each year, and 173 were hospitalised last year. 90% of it is preventable. Thanks to Liver UK for raising awareness.

📢 Coming in 2027: Anglo-Saxon England 📢 Rediscover Anglo-Saxon England. Featuring spectacular jewellery, weapons and treasures alongside the latest archaeological discoveries and research, this exhibition will shed new light on England's origins.

I'm really into the much-overlooked subject of pigsties at the moment. In particular, I like Welsh beehive pigsties which are circular, corbelled, and found mostly in the south of the country between c11-13th & mid-19th centuries. 📸 Hendre’r Prosser Farm now @ St Fagans

🔴 Northern Emerald - Endangered in Britain. Found only in Scotland, this rare dragonfly depends on healthy bog pools and peatland habitats. 💚 Help protect its habitat: 👉 buff.ly/n7L29ec 📸 Iain Leach and Joanna Hood.

I think it doesn't reflect well on the BBC that one its leading presenters is allowed to write an 'analysis' for a highly partisan newspaper which includes lines like "Racial minorities, worshipped by white Democrats" www.dailymail.com/news/article...

In fact I will say the Earnest and Pious Charismatic Ethnic Minority political figure (AOC, Mamdani, El-Sayed) has been a pretty good bet for the American left so far, whereas the Disaffected Gruff White Guy Showcasing True Masculinity (Fetterman, Platner) has been a worse bet. Just an observation.

This is just the maddest argument. These people would trap us in poverty to keep a decade old commitment, which no one ever actually made, to an electorate which no longer exists.

Before the winds and rain here's a Black Walnut, Juglans nigra, at Wandlebury #Cambridge to brighten your day. #ThickTrunkTuesday

Prince Maurice's grave is interesting, because it was a good example of the conflicting thoughts families had. Princess Beatrice refused repatriation of the body. She felt he belonged with his men. But she fought for years for the right to spend her own money on a custom headstone. This was blocked

It's very, very telling, I think, that the markets are so concerned about the pro-democracy incumbent winning

Thought I'd noticed some recent price rises in the shops. Whether or not it helps, at least we know on this occasion the specific identity of the US President to blame. www.theguardian.com/business/202...

Back with a #WeBSSpeciesSpotlight✨ On the stage today are Avocets💃 These long-legged waders returned from UK-wide extinction in the 1800s, now providing an air of elegance to our wetlands. To learn more about WeBS species, visit BirdFacts➡️ www.bto.org/birdfacts #Ornithology #UKBirding

"when United Airlines began printing its in-flight magazine on lighter paper to save a single gramme, the fuel cost saving across its fleet was close to $300,000 a year". That is a phenomenal fact. www.ft.com/content/2f16...

The only pretty healthy high street, outside of a major city, I have seen was my old town of Beeston which managed to have multiple thriving restaurants & cafes, two bakers, a proper old school butcher and a green grocer and the trick was basically a large student population who live in dense halls.

ChatGPT, my child arrived just the other day He came to the world in the usual way But there are planes to catch, and bills to pay Can you teach him to walk while I'm away?

I do think when historians look back the period the exact moment where it flipped and started going the other way won’t be anything any politician did but my Minneapolis neighbors weathering the worst of the regime in the streets, rallying together, fighting back, and winning

Check out our satellite-tagged Cuckoos latest movements across Africa. 🌍⬇️ Follow their journeys on our interactive map at www.bto.org/Cuckoos #Ornithology 🪶

I know you were all already going to see this but please go and see this. Pure joy from beginning to end.

When I rhapsodise about gulls there's always someone who says, "You just wait until one swoops down and steals your sandwich." But that already happened. I thought it was hugely technically impressive and tinged with comic genius and it made me like gulls even more. What should I wait for next?

My heart is heavy. Walter Koenig, our Ensign Pavel Chekov, passed away early today. Walter and I met on the bridge of the Enterprise in the 1960s, and we stayed friends for nearly six decades. When Brad and I married in 2008, Walter stood beside us as our best man.

Oh no 😭 One of the last members of the USS Enterprise has left. RIP Walter Marvin Koenig (1936-2026) Star Trek, Babylon 5, Moontrap, The Starlost, The Questor Tapes, Futurama... What a career in sci-fi. I will miss Pavel Chekov. Again 😞

As I've said before, it's only once I became a professor that I realized the entmoot, a meeting that goes on for three days and three nights, was a professor's joke about faculty meetings.

We’ve got a wealth of railway history here in Buckinghamshire, and we’ve got a special talk focusing on Princes Risborough Railway for Buckinghamshire History Festival! Interested? Head to histfestbucks.co.uk for more information and to book your tickets.

On the bus and (a new and useful bit of accessibility legislation), stops have to be announced and named. What I’m struck by is the embodied memory on this semI-rural route. There is no farm at Oakridge, Watts Cross is unmarked, Turner’s Nursery now under houses. Reminders of a lost mid century.

It all boils down to whether EU member states want the UK back. If they all do, the Euro will not be an obstacle. If one or more don’t, it will be an insurmountable one. What are absolutely non-negotiable ever are the Four Freedoms.

In this week's @navigatepolitics.uk weekly roundup, I looked into the most prolific names of our councillors... 📈 The most popular overall? Dave ➡️ The most Reform? Karl 🌹 The most Labour? Lynn 🌳 The most Tory? Roger 🔶 The most Lib Dem? Julian 🌍 The most Green? Natalie

I absolutely love the photos in this. www.londoncentric.media/p/oxford-str...

I was having conversations with journalists just a few months ago about whether democracy was doomed. Look at this year: Orban defeated. Vukic defeated. Bolsonaro Jr defeated. Trump heading to likely defeat in midterms. That’s the beauty of democracy. Voters can respond. Don’t count it out yet.

Just tell them that their bins won't be collected if they vote to leave, and see how quickly they go quiet.

Here's an idea for editors, let's do a little roleplay. Writer: "I have a contrarian take!" Editor: "Is it fucking stupid?" Writer: "Well yes, but it bucks the consensus. No one else is saying it." Editor: "Is that because the consensus is correct?" Writer: "... yes but... " <hang up>

I love it when I have a run of gigs in towns that share names with places in the US where the US version is so much more famous that people think I’m over there. “I’m in Boston, Washington, and Newark this week” I’ll say and people will get very excited.

In his acceptance speech, Lula says he will work to regulate digital platforms in Brazil. “Digital crimes must be dealt with like real-life crimes.” This comes after Meta directly interfered with the Brazilian elections, favouring Flávio Bolsonaro.

Why is Bluesky pleasant to be on? Might be because people here still like linear television and communal viewing / listening. “Is everyone watching… XXXX?” “Just seen blah blah, catch it on the iPlayer” and so on. I think that’s actively important. We abandon that habit at our peril.

Some of the replies to this are glorious. (The object in question is the actual prop from the Indiana Jones movie!)

Could we rebrand "stockpile a few days' worth of essential supplies if you can" as "form a mutual aid starter pack"? Would some of you be happier then? (Yes, I get that not everyone can; maybe that's why folk who can should.)

It's a marketing stunt, but it's also funny, so make your own mind up.

So how did Lula come from behind to defeat Bolsonaro? In short, turnout. Bolsonaro's vote share barely moved. But Lula banked millions of votes from those who didn't vote in the first round & won eliminated candidates' votes. A remarkable mobilisation. Second round turnout is usually below first.

Nice to wake up to some good news. www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/cm...

Common Darter is generally the last #dragonfly species of the year here too. In some places they hang on into November.

The familiar flowers of Oxford Ragwort, growing up against the wall of the station at Temple Meads. Pretty much in flower all year round and likes lots of different types of waste ground. #WildflowerHour

Hoary Mustard doing well around the edges of the building site. It has long flower stalks with small, thin seed pods along them and flowers only on the very tip. #WildflowerHour

Corn Marigold in a gravelly bit of waste ground next to the station. Probably an escape from a wildflower planting area, or possibly a garden where someone likes to grow wild flowers with long flowering seasons. #WildflowerHour

Went exploring near Temple Meads on Thursday in a brief sunny spell. Narrow-leaved Ragwort still had a few flowers in good condition. #WildflowerHour

Wild Clary, Salvia verbenaca, silhouetted against tarmac on verge in Orwell #Cambridge where it normally gets mown down early. Perhaps encouraged by rain after the heatwave. #WildflowerHour