Bored rotten at the moment!
Wife was told to go to local Urgent Care gir blood test, as GP thought she may be having IBS problems.
Got here about 5:30 pm, triaged quickly, saw Dr at 6:45pm, had bloods taken at 8pm now waiting results expected 9:00 to 9:30pm.
Will she be kept in or sent home?
Shame on our country #ukpol #ukpolitics
If Zarah Sultana MP had not entered this into the public record by saying it in the House of Commons on 14 April 2026, today it would be illegal to print this in any UK media.hansard.parliament.uk/commons/…
reshared this
reshared this
Just over a month ago I was called to have a Lung Cancer Screening, as I am an ex-smoker!
On Monday I received a letter to say that as part of the scan they had noticed 'a degree of hardening of the arteries', they stressed that this doesn't mean I have heart disease, just that I am at greater risk.
For this I thank them
However the letter didn't say anything about Lung Cancer, which was the purpose of the screening!
Today I received a second letter from them, printed same day as the first (thanks Royal Mail), which gives the Lung Cancer Screening result and I need to get another scan in about 3 months as it doesn't need immediate follow-up or further investigation! The letter a;so mentions the hardening of the arteries and gives the same advice as the first letter.
At least it isn't an immediate rescan etc.
15 April 1945. British Royal Artillery troops liberated the Nazi concentration camp at Bergen-Belsen. Anne Frank had died there a few weeks earlier.
My grandfather was one of the British troops. When asked, he refused to speak about it. He still occasionally had nightmares 60 years later on.
reshared this
Great article by @startswithabang about how crowded it's getting up there (with lots of quotes from me): bigthink.com/starts-with-a-ban…
By the way, the CRASH Clock, how long it would take for a collision in orbit if all satellite maneuvers suddenly stopped, is now down to 3 days as of late March (down from 3.8 days in January, and 5.5 days last June. Sigh.) outerspaceinstitute.ca/crashcl…
We’ve populated low-Earth orbit with satellites in record time — now we have to figure out how to keep it safe.Ethan Siegel (Big Think)
reshared this
Live view of SpaceX starlink satellite constellation and coverage.Starlink satellite tracker
I am on a friendica instance that allows me to see images with #AltText (or rather not see images WITHOUT AltText), because there is a setting which says
"Hide pictures with empty alternative text (Don't display pictures that are missing the alternative text.)"
So this is what a visually impaired person would receive - how do you describe the image that has (presumably) been posted?
p.s. If there is no alt text shown here it is because I have posted from my laptop. I will check on my mobile and update the image and text there!
reshared this
It is Easter Monday, and Preston celebrates with egg rolling on Avenham Park. I remember, as a child of the 50's, we rolled our hand decorated hard boiled eggs. I don't remember chocolate eggs until later!
#Easter #EasterEggs #BoiledEggs #DecoratedEggs #PaceEggs
bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c3v69e…
All you need to know about one of Preston's "most cherished Easter traditions" dating back to 1867.BBC News
What is the best title for an Easter pop song?
I propose
Roll Away The Stone by Mott The Hoople
Just so you know about my intensely scholarly efforts this evening: I wondered what the earliest known smiley face in the world is.
It is found on a 3, 700 year Hittite pot found in Turkey, with the classic two dots and curved line.
You are welcome! 🙂
reshared this
Jayflo reshared this.
Has anyone watched "The Watch", loosely based (every loosely) on Sir Terry Pratchett's Discworld characters?
Made by #BBCAmerica
Token Sane Person reshared this.
for a lot of Discworld's fans, this series doesn't exist...
I watched it and it was... weird... The characters have the same names, I found that Vimes may be accurate to my taste, but it may be a controversial take...
reshared this
Every lady in this land
Has twenty nails upon each hand,
Five and twenty hands and feet,
All this is true without deceit.
Taken from the
Nursery Rhymes of England
Collected by
JAMES ORCHARD HALLIWELL.
Palantir, the controversial U.S. company working with ICE and the Israeli military, has access to our private data via NHS databases. We need the Government to trigger the break clause on their contract NOW. 🚨Can you sign and share?38d.gs
reshared this
Zack Polanski’s Green Party has demanded that Keir Starmer suspend Israel’s UK ambassador following the introduction of the death penalty for Palestinian prisoners in Israel.
The Green Party of England and Wales (GPEW) leader described Israel’s decision to execute Palestinians convicted of carrying out attacks deemed “acts of terrorism” as “morally disgusting”.
reshared this
Can we get it to 100,000 by the deadline of 8 June 2026 & 23 Jun 2026 and Brexit Referendum 10 year day?
Apply to Rejoin the EU as soon as possible to increase growth in the UK
petition.parliament.uk/petitio…
Response in Jan-26
The UK will not be rejoining the EU, but this Government has reset its relationship with the EU with a new strategic partnership: A deal that is good for UK bills, borders, jobs and growth.
We believe Brexit's not working. The OBR judges that the UK economy is smaller and trade is weaker because of Brexit, and it will just get worse.Petitions - UK Government and Parliament
reshared this
I laughed anyway.
Proper bad dad #blondie reference here.
reshared this
not a martian, honest
in reply to Mark Holtom (aka Kingbeard) • • •ʙᴇɴ ᴄᴏᴛᴛᴇяɪʟʟ
in reply to Mark Holtom (aka Kingbeard) • • •Kevin Karhan
in reply to Mark Holtom (aka Kingbeard) • • •Sneezy
in reply to Mark Holtom (aka Kingbeard) • • •Thanks for sharing.
Sadly lessons are now being forgotten by the newer generations.
(how many unburied dead in Gaza? 50,000?)
middleeasteye.net/news/la-holo…
Holocaust Museum LA deletes post saying 'never again' applies to all people
MEE staff (Middle East Eye)Karen E. Lund 💙💛
in reply to Mark Holtom (aka Kingbeard) • • •The ol' tealeg 🐡
in reply to Mark Holtom (aka Kingbeard) • • •I live in Ahlem, Hanover. One of my dog walking routes includes both the site of the Ahlem satellite camp (a forced labour camp and now a memorial site), and the British forces graveyard. Ahlem also has another holocaust memorial site, the Gartenbaumschule.
Within the last couple of years we’ve seen these sites vandalised by AfD supporting Neo-Nazis. This filled me with despair.
Thankfully, the response was clear: massive protest marches.
That gave me hope.
reshared this
Christo. London, England and Disisdeguey🔻PalestineAction🇵🇸 reshared this.
xs4me2
in reply to Mark Holtom (aka Kingbeard) • • •Never forget…
German culture, that brought about Goethe, Schiller, Bach, Beethoven, Kant and Marx also committed the largest genocide ever recorded…
Incomprehensible.
Lizzie
in reply to Mark Holtom (aka Kingbeard) • • •𝐉𝐨𝐧 𝐁𝐞𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐫
in reply to Mark Holtom (aka Kingbeard) • • •June Tabor - A Smiling Shore (Abyssinians, 1983)
Apple Green (YouTube)Kwaku
in reply to Mark Holtom (aka Kingbeard) • • •Jeffy 🏳️⚧️🏳️🌈🇺🇦 ❤️🇱🇺
in reply to Mark Holtom (aka Kingbeard) • • •Rob Williamson
in reply to Mark Holtom (aka Kingbeard) • • •Same. My grandfather was a captain of an anti-tank unit that came across Belsen. He did tell me a little before he died. They could smell it miles before they saw it. The bastards running it had all fled.
By the time they got there, it was populated only by people that famine had turned into rake thin scarecrows and corpses. That's about as far as he got, description-wise.
Jens Hannemann
in reply to Mark Holtom (aka Kingbeard) • • •John Carlsen 🇺🇸🇳🇱🇪🇺
in reply to Mark Holtom (aka Kingbeard) • • •Trump seems to be heading in the same direction.
"2025 was ICE’s deadliest year in two decades. Here are the 32 people who died in custody"
"The deaths came as the Trump administration ramped up immigration enforcement, detaining a record number of people"
"Some of those who died in detention had arrived in the US recently, seeking asylum. Others had arrived years ago, some as young children."
by Maanvi Singh, Coral Murphy Marcos and Charlotte Simmonds
Sun 4 Jan 2026 11.27 EST
theguardian.com/us-news/ng-int…
2025 was ICE’s deadliest year in two decades. Here are the 32 people who died in custody
Maanvi Singh (the Guardian)