Margaret Nelson 🌦
@flashmaggie.bsky.social
430 followers 240 following 2.2K posts
Don't get out much these days. 9th decad, 2nd wave. Conducted 100s of funerals. Owe a lot to the NHS. Part-time cloud-spotter. Dendrophile. Suffolk 🇬🇧. Excuse typos. "The cure for boredom is curiousity. There is no cure for curiousity." - Dorothy Parker.
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flashmaggie.bsky.social
They're probably wondering if it's safe to eat any of it.
maks23.bsky.social
😵‍💫 The Kremlin showed Putin's celebratory lunch with the generals yesterday.

It doesn't feel festive at all. Everyone's expressions are gloomy…
flashmaggie.bsky.social
From what I saw of Badenoch's speech to the Tory conference yesterday, she's trying terribly hard to emulate The Iron Lady, but with a little more warmth, and hoping that everyone will forget the rapid turnover of party leaders over the last 10 years.
I almost feel sorry for her.
flashmaggie.bsky.social
The Times reports that Peruvian bishop Ciro Quispe López, 51, has handed in his resignation to Pope Leo after being accused of having 17 mistresses, including a nun and a lawyer. Some found out about each other and nearly came to blows.

He can't have had much time for doing whatever bishops do.
Bishop Ciro Quispe López, a priest with 17 lovers. Photo from The Times.
Reposted by Margaret Nelson 🌦
johnsimpsonnews.bsky.social
On tonight’s Unspun World on BBC Two I talk to the great Steve Rosenberg about what it’s really like to be the BBC Russia editor — how do ordinary Russians react to him? Is he in danger? What’s going to happen there? Unmissable!
flashmaggie.bsky.social
Found on Facebook today: some Venezuelan poodle moths. To me, they look more like bunnies on sticks. Yes, they're real.
A photo of Venezuelan poodle moths on the tips of some vegetation, looking like a ball of fluff with ears.
flashmaggie.bsky.social
This will have a severe impact on an already struggling NHS.
Don't blame your healthcare provider for shortages or even the unavailability of essential medicines.
Reeves won't have anticipated it.
edwinhayward.com
First steel, now pharmaceuticals. Looks like Starmer's quickie surrender deal with the USA was built on quicksand. Not even worth the paper it was printed on.

www.theguardian.com/business/202...
flashmaggie.bsky.social
Any tall building with glass walls is likely to become unusable in the summer quite soon. The cost of air conditioning would be prohibitive.
profbillmcguire.bsky.social
Enjoy it while it lasts

Capitalism is in its death throes

Climate breakdown will bring it down

Extreme weather alone will cost $38 TRILLION by 2050 - a third of current global GDP

UK Institute of Actuaries predicts 2 billion dead by then for 2C rise
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
City of London approves plans for new Square Mile skyscraper
The new development at 130 Fenchurch Street is due to be completed in 2030.
www.bbc.co.uk
Reposted by Margaret Nelson 🌦
nathannelson.bsky.social
As it's that time of year when we're getting into hedge management, it's a good time to share this film from 1942. www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wopr... #hedgerows
Hedging (1942)
YouTube video by BFI
www.youtube.com
flashmaggie.bsky.social
US federal agents in Chicago, armed, masked and dressed in combat gear as if ready for jungle warfare, have attacked protesting citizens with pepper spray.
The OAPs protesting in Parliament Square over Gaza might be grateful that we're not like America.
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
Body slamming, teargas and pepper balls: viral videos show Ice using extreme force in Chicago
A facility in Broadview, a mostly Black suburb, has become the site of escalation and ‘targeted attacks’ on protesters
www.theguardian.com
Reposted by Margaret Nelson 🌦
lolennui.bsky.social
George Orwell’s Animal Crossing
Someone in a frog costume facing down a line of police in riot gear
flashmaggie.bsky.social
Was only thinking the other day that our mainstream media and TV advertising reflects the increasing diversity of the population. Think what it used to be like, when Saturday night viewing included The Black & White Minstrels.
flashmaggie.bsky.social
other conurbation. Many have travelled, or mixed with first or second generation immigrants in education or at work. They eat foreign food and favour their businesses. The NHS is staffed by a thorough mix of people.
Yes, there are pockets of prejudiced people, especially in rural areas.
flashmaggie.bsky.social
There's certainly a hard core of people whose insularity explains those attitudes. I wouldn't like to say what proportion of the population they are, but they're likely to vote Reform or Conservative.
But there's also a large section who are relaxed about new cultural influences in London and
flashmaggie.bsky.social
Since Sputniit, space clutter has built up, apparently without any control. What goes up must come down, burning up in the process and polluting the atmosphere.
Another example of doing things because we can, not because we should.
www.theregister.com/2025/10/06/s...
Starlink burns up one to two satellites a day
: Kessler syndrome is bad; atmospheric incineration may be worse, says astrophysicist Jonathan McDowell
www.theregister.com
flashmaggie.bsky.social
Of course, but was it any different to what's happening now?
flashmaggie.bsky.social
That's interesting.
How d'you explain earlier intolerances, towards black and Irish people, and homosexuals?
flashmaggie.bsky.social
I've been a member of a SACRE (Standing Advisory Council on Religious Education) and an Interfaith group, as a Humanist. Elders in the Sikh, Hindu and Muslim communities complained that their young people wouldn't attend worship. Young people of all backgrounds are now generally irreligious.
flashmaggie.bsky.social
There are certainly many more people who might be described as mixed race than there used to be.
I recall that some years ago our government was made to realise that consulting ethnic "communities" via their leaders, such as Imams, produced very different results than consulting individuals.
flashmaggie.bsky.social
There's one thing I'm sure about, and that's that planting a few trees doesn't justify whizzing off for a foreign holiday by air, from Gatwick or anywhere else.
Many of the trees planted beside new road schemes, built to accommodate our increasing traffic, have failed due to lack of irrigation.
flashmaggie.bsky.social
You can make things with machines and AI to produce goods that are identical. They depreciate in value quickly and are discarded, leading to our huge problem of waste. Items that are made or repaired by crafts people may fluctuating in financial value, but there's another sort of value, isn't there?
flashmaggie.bsky.social
Enjoyed my afternoon tea today while watching The Repair Shop. Clever people repairing battered things that meant something special to their owners, and making them all happy. Lovely!

The Repair Shop, Series 15: Episode 2: www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m002kjmf via @bbciplayer
The Repair Shop - Series 15: Episode 2
A school clock gifted by Florence Nightingale is revived, including a full facelift, and a special saxophone receives the utmost care from the team.
www.bbc.co.uk
flashmaggie.bsky.social
disillusioned with politics and politicians, for good reasons.
None of these people is very intelligent.
Financial crashes happen, due to cock-ups or catastrophes.
Polarised politics are subject to the pendulum effect.
I look forward to Farage's failure, for one reason or another.
Life will go on.