Notices by Wen (wen@mastodon.scot)

The Times seems to be treading on thin ice with this cartoon - not that I care, the joke is current currency

#cartoon #MortenMorland #AbolishTheMonarchy #AndrewFormerlyKnownAsPrince

Morning walk, and as opposed to yesterday where they are being grown on Tumuli, a different approach is being taken in the adjacent field - the power of the standing stone is being used to grow the wooly crop.

#Walking #ScottishBorders #SheepOfMastodon

Who funds Reform?

Tory donors apparently, but those are just the ‘lawful’ paymasters.

https://www.thenerve.news/p/reform-funding-conservative-donors-tories-farage-braverman-jenrick

#Finance #UkPol #funding #NoDemocracy #Uk

FBI refuse to share evidence with police marking a further lapse into authoritarian partisanship in favour of the rotten orange cupcake

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/feb/16/fbi-alex-pretti-minnesota-authorities-information-sharing

#FBI #Pretti #Minnesota #Autocracy #Justice #UsPol #Trump #Evidence #Coverup

Showing the dug how it is done

#caturday #catsOfMastodon #SheepOfMastodon

It is not going to end well. Orwell (sorry but he was on the ball so to speak) got it right.

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2026/feb/07/jd-vance-boos-winter-olympics

If a US administration figure is booed at the Olympics, or a World Cup match, will American domestic broadcasts simply mute or avoid mentioning the crowd audio? If so, what happens when the world feed, or a foreign broadcaster, shows something else entirely? What happens when 40,000 phones in the stadium upload their own version in real time?

#USPol #Censorship #Trump

@TheBreadmonkey @patrickhadfield A correction in the Guardian

So, a company too small to have to file accounts in the UK manages to find £200k to donate to Reform?

More evidence that the funding of political parties (or limited companies that pretend to be so) needs drastic reform. Foreign interference, be that through social media or money bedevils British politics. The dominant parties in parliament are too reliant on funny money to be prepared to do anything about it.

http://archive.today/2026.01.31-201146/https://www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/article/churchwarden-linked-to-foreign-born-billionaire-is-behind-200k-reform-gift-j06pb7w82

#UkPol #Money #Corruption #ReformPoliticalFunding

@Infoseepage MT is a Slovakian no? Maybe hoping Flor local interest?

I am glad to see people are voting with their feet. More public contempt for the First (Mafia) Family is needed. You never know the orange buffoon might be incited into an aneurism. And as for the company paying for this 🗑️, Amazon - dump them please. You know it makes sense.

I do wonder when Rotten Tomatoes expect to be taken offline or charged with insurrection though.

https://www.theguardian.com/film/2026/jan/30/melania-trump-amazon-brett-ratner-documentary

#ArseLicking #Trump #Malania #Amazon #Humiliation

This is my favourite photograph of the day - subtitled, Farage swallows another failed tory.

photographer Dzulfikri
#Farage #FrogFace #Reform #FailedTory #defection #snack

OK, I have to admit I only posted this for the picture, even if as a mathematician I have an actual interest in the subject. But it is an easy read - even if you don't like cats 🤔

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-026-00177-9

#Shrodinger #Mathematics #Physics #CatsOfMastodon

I was in Cumbria overnight (OAP tech) and while waiting for a little daylight for our run saw this in the Westmorland Herald. It is the paper my mum swears she will never buy again until next week. It cheered me up

Cumbria Action are a group of unpleasant ignorant racists. Two images to get alt text in
Cumbria I’ll return to Scotland this morning and do my best to ignore the St George flags badly hung in Longtown just before our border.

#CumbriaAction #ignorance #stupidity #racism

HMRC - incompetent, uncaring and they don’t even care who knows….

The revelations come just weeks after it emerged that at least 63% of those who had their child benefit stopped were in fact still living in the UK and had not emigrated, as inferred by incomplete Home Office data used in the crackdown.

I suspect not a wrist will even be slapped. Anyone remember Windrush and the Home Office? Similar story and outcome.

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2026/jan/12/hmrc-risk-child-benefit-fraud-crackdown

#HMRC #Incompetence #Government

The BBC - now kowtowing to Downing St pressure (again). You have to see what they say about the SNP and Scotland

https://www.thenational.scot/news/25740929.bbc-bans-journalists-saying-us-kidnapped-venezuelas-maduro/

#BBC #Venezuela #DowningStreet #Labour

That kitchen is getting crowded. Who let the dug in?

photograph: Andrew Peters

#SheepOfMastodon #DogsOfMastodon

More good news for the shortest day

In July Helsinki marked an entire year without a single traffic death. The Finnish capital, which has a population of 690,000, achieved the feat through lower speed limits, improved street design and investing in pedestrian and cycling infrastructure. More than half of Helsinki’s streets have a speed limit of 30km/h (18-19mph) and roads have been narrowed with trees.

#RoadSafety #Helsinki #Finland #GoodNews

My photograph of the day

A swan who was found wandering along the M1 is given a lift home (photograph attributed to the Highways Agency)

#Swan #BirdsOfMastodon #RoadSafety #Taxi

Your Party really are not trying

I would expect a minimum of 6 and I am sure they can get to 6! Given little time.

4/10 for effort folks

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2025/nov/28/your-party-rifts-power-struggles-jeremy-corbyn-zarah-sultana

#Corbyn #Sultana #YourParty #Factionalism #UkPol

Opportunities

We have a couple of her earlier works, but people might want to have a look.

https://academiciansgallery.org/artworks/16782-elizabeth-blackadder-rsa-coco-sleeping-2003/

#Art #Handmade #Blackadder #RSA #CatsOfMastodon