Melissa
@iammelissa.bsky.social
Mother, wife, community builder. Covid aware cargo biker.
Current: Edinburgh, Scotland
🇺🇸🇬🇧🇪🇺
Current: Edinburgh, Scotland
🇺🇸🇬🇧🇪🇺
Reposted by Melissa
So we are clear welfare spending in this country is NOT “out of control”. It’s risen very little in 10+ years. Small increase due to ageing & ill population. But benefits to working age families & children have been cut severely. Over 70% of children in poverty live in working families #Budget2025
‘Madness’ to increase welfare spending in Budget, says AO World boss
‘Madness’ to increase welfare spending in Budget, says AO World boss
‘Madness’ to increase welfare spending in Budget, says AO World boss
www.independent.co.uk
November 26, 2025 at 8:14 AM
So we are clear welfare spending in this country is NOT “out of control”. It’s risen very little in 10+ years. Small increase due to ageing & ill population. But benefits to working age families & children have been cut severely. Over 70% of children in poverty live in working families #Budget2025
An update - nothing has changed. And what’s worse is broken glass is proliferating on George St. We lost a tyre on Sunday to the glass by the barrier - and it’s still there today. I’ve emailed the Active Travel team over the wknd and a counsellor - any taggable here?
November 25, 2025 at 3:43 PM
An update - nothing has changed. And what’s worse is broken glass is proliferating on George St. We lost a tyre on Sunday to the glass by the barrier - and it’s still there today. I’ve emailed the Active Travel team over the wknd and a counsellor - any taggable here?
Reposted by Melissa
Mike Green is writing some amazing stuff at the moment. It's not in the delta, it's in the level and the cost structure. Read this and you will understand Angrynomics on a new level: www.yesigiveafig.com/p/part-1-my-...
Part 1: My Life Is a Lie
How a Broken Benchmark Quietly Broke America
www.yesigiveafig.com
November 24, 2025 at 7:41 AM
Mike Green is writing some amazing stuff at the moment. It's not in the delta, it's in the level and the cost structure. Read this and you will understand Angrynomics on a new level: www.yesigiveafig.com/p/part-1-my-...
Reposted by Melissa
🚲 edi.bike | issue 120 | 24th Nov '25
Bike Station launch #EverydayHeroes crowdfunder; Article on failings in maintenance & closing paths; more Hire Parking Campaign Photos, + events, infrastructure, route closures & more:
https://buttondown.com/edi.bike/archive/edibike-issue-120-24th-nov-25/
Bike Station launch #EverydayHeroes crowdfunder; Article on failings in maintenance & closing paths; more Hire Parking Campaign Photos, + events, infrastructure, route closures & more:
https://buttondown.com/edi.bike/archive/edibike-issue-120-24th-nov-25/
November 24, 2025 at 8:35 AM
🚲 edi.bike | issue 120 | 24th Nov '25
Bike Station launch #EverydayHeroes crowdfunder; Article on failings in maintenance & closing paths; more Hire Parking Campaign Photos, + events, infrastructure, route closures & more:
https://buttondown.com/edi.bike/archive/edibike-issue-120-24th-nov-25/
Bike Station launch #EverydayHeroes crowdfunder; Article on failings in maintenance & closing paths; more Hire Parking Campaign Photos, + events, infrastructure, route closures & more:
https://buttondown.com/edi.bike/archive/edibike-issue-120-24th-nov-25/
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…
November 21, 2025 at 2:37 PM
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…
Reposted by Melissa
Communism! www.nytimes.com/2025/11/18/c...
Iowa City Made Its Buses Free. Traffic Cleared, and So Did the Air.
www.nytimes.com
November 19, 2025 at 4:19 PM
Communism! www.nytimes.com/2025/11/18/c...
Reposted by Melissa
“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.”
Helsinki just went a full year without a single traffic death
The capital city is Finnish’ed with car-related fatalities.
www.politico.eu
November 17, 2025 at 6:31 AM
“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.”
Reposted by Melissa
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?
How many Labour MPs got into politics in order to vote for stealing jewellery off of people seeking refuge from war and persecution?
November 17, 2025 at 8:00 AM
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?
How many Labour MPs got into politics in order to vote for stealing jewellery off of people seeking refuge from war and persecution?
Reposted by Melissa
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.
And I still get weird middle-aged men in my notifications obfuscating for and defending this.
This is not a serious society.
November 13, 2025 at 9:43 PM
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.
And I still get weird middle-aged men in my notifications obfuscating for and defending this.
This is not a serious society.
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
November 11, 2025 at 3:56 PM
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
Reposted by Melissa
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!📚
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!📚
October 27, 2025 at 5:48 PM
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!📚
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!📚
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 🎃
October 24, 2025 at 3:47 PM
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 🎃
Reposted by Melissa
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."
October 24, 2025 at 8:13 AM
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
ABC News pulled the satellite imagery of the White House comparing Sept. 26 to today.
abcnews.go.com/Politics/new...
abcnews.go.com/Politics/new...
October 23, 2025 at 10:29 PM
She really didn’t want to decorate for Christmas huh
Reposted by Melissa
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...
"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...
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...
www.bloomberg.com
October 21, 2025 at 3:22 PM
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...
"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...
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. 😅
October 21, 2025 at 4:22 PM
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. 😅
Reposted by Melissa
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.
Light up your bike with lights and sparkle and join us at Middle Meadow Walk at 7.30pm.
October 3, 2025 at 8:37 PM
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.
Light up your bike with lights and sparkle and join us at Middle Meadow Walk at 7.30pm.
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!
October 19, 2025 at 4:04 PM
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!
Reposted by Melissa
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.
October 15, 2025 at 11:10 AM
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
Cardiff will be the first UK city to introduce a surcharge for oversized SUVs and trucks, "while very large vehicles – those over 3,500kg – will be excluded from residential permits entirely."
Cardiff set to tackle SUV 'carspreading' in UK first
Cardiff Council is set to become the first local authority in the UK to introduce higher parking charges for SUVs and other heavy vehicles, in a move campaigners say will make city streets safer and f...
nation.cymru
October 16, 2025 at 8:31 AM
Everywhere next please
Reposted by Melissa
The key is not to expand the space available to cars—that produces sprawl and unwalkable, unlivable cities.
When you restrict the car space, and prioritize space for more efficient modes—that’s when you discover you have space left over for living.
When you restrict the car space, and prioritize space for more efficient modes—that’s when you discover you have space left over for living.
October 12, 2025 at 7:54 AM
Reposted by Melissa
🚴 From helping tackle transport poverty, to boosting skills and development, and supporting better road safety knowledge, #BikeabilityScotland cycle training is a powerful way of setting up our young people for happier, healthier lives.
Find out more: buff.ly/id1VTKI
Find out more: buff.ly/id1VTKI
New research shows young people cycle more after Bikeability Scotland training
Results from a three-year evaluation of Bikeability Scotland on-road (Level 2) training show a clear link between training and increased cycling frequency.
cycling.scot
October 10, 2025 at 11:57 AM
🚴 From helping tackle transport poverty, to boosting skills and development, and supporting better road safety knowledge, #BikeabilityScotland cycle training is a powerful way of setting up our young people for happier, healthier lives.
Find out more: buff.ly/id1VTKI
Find out more: buff.ly/id1VTKI
Reposted by Melissa
So if you are 75 and over, in a care home or severely immunocompromised you are eligible but not if eg you have asthma, are pregnant or have diabetes
Who’s eligible for the 2025 COVID-19 vaccine, or ‘Autumn Booster’?
This blog post was reviewed and updated in September 2025. When autumn comes, protection from any earlier COVID-19 vaccination you may have had will be starting to wane. For those who are more likely ...
ukhsa.blog.gov.uk
October 7, 2025 at 7:16 AM
So if you are 75 and over, in a care home or severely immunocompromised you are eligible but not if eg you have asthma, are pregnant or have diabetes
Reposted by Melissa
If you are not in London but want to attend, there is an online/livestream option. Please still register at the link below to get the link! Tickets are free :)
I'll be presenting some thoughts about work--wage work, housework, care work, organizing work, and all other kinds--at Birkbeck in London on October 10th at 6pm!
www.bbk.ac.uk/events/event...
www.bbk.ac.uk/events/event...
Public Lecture: Dean Spade - Resisting Work and Resistance Work
Dean Spade discusses work, and how wage work impacts care and resistance work. He explores alternative practices of care as resistance work.
www.bbk.ac.uk
October 3, 2025 at 3:59 PM
If you are not in London but want to attend, there is an online/livestream option. Please still register at the link below to get the link! Tickets are free :)