Nobody Cares about Britain

[Beebo Brink]

WWII-era bomb safely detonated at sea after one of the largest peacetime evacuations in UK history | AP News

A World War II-era bomb whose discovery prompted one of the largest peacetime evacuations in British history has been detonated at sea, the Ministry of Defense said on Saturday.

The 500-kilogram (1,100-pound) explosive was discovered Tuesday in the backyard of a home in Plymouth, a port city on the southwestern coast of Britain. More than 10,000 residents were evacuated to ensure their safety as a military convoy transported the unexploded bomb through a densely populated residential area to a ferry slipway, from which it was taken out to sea.

 

[Cindy Claveau]

WWII-era bomb safely detonated at sea after one of the largest peacetime evacuations in UK history | AP News

In America, we should sign up MAGA convoys for this kind of operation.

 

[detrius]

Those are quite regular here, too. I think Berlin had at least half a dozen of these evacuations in 2023.

If your workplace is within the evacuation radius, that basically means you get a day off.

It kinda sucks if schools are affected, though. Because then the kids most likely can't just stay at home since they tend to also live in the same neighbourhood.

 

[Katheryne Helendale]

An 1100-lb bomb is certainly good at rapidly disassembling a small village.

 

[Innula Zenovka]

 

[Zaida Gearbox]

In America, we should sign up MAGA convoys for this kind of operation.

My brothers might volunteer for something like this because they like blowing things up.

 

[Innula Zenovka]

 

[Beebo Brink]

British and Irish rivers in desperate state from pollution, report reveals | Rivers | The Guardian

The rivers of Britain and Ireland are in a desperate state from the impact of pollution, with not a single waterway in England or Northern Ireland listed as being in good overall health, a report said on Monday.

The Rivers Trust annual State of Our Rivers report reveals that the impact of pollution from treated and untreated sewage and agricultural and industrial runoff means rivers are in a worse condition than ever.


More than half – 54% – of rivers in England failed to pass chemical and ecological tests because of pollution from water industry releases of treated and untreated sewage, based on data from the EU-derived water framework directive (WFD) in 2022.

Agricultural pollution contributes to 62% of waterways in England failing to meet good standards for chemical and biological pollution. Urban runoff from transport contributes to 26% of rivers not achieving good overall status.

 

[Innula Zenovka]

Andrew Bridgen was a Conservative MP until they threw him out of the party for sharing social media posts saying covid vaccinations were equivalent to the holocaust.

His wife talks about the experience of being married to someone who's been sucked into what she describes -- quite rightly, it would seem -- as a cult.

My MP husband Andrew Bridgen was captured by antivax ‘cult’

The opera singer Nevena Bridgen lived a glamorous life attending high-profile events and rubbing shoulders with prime ministers. But then, she says, her husband became ‘radicalised’

www.thetimes.co.uk

Evernote link

Her interview paints a picture of the paranoia and misinformation that fuels the antivax movement. She alleges her husband was told by his new friends to cut her adrift because she was an MI6 spy.

Speaking in a hotel by the Palace of Westminster, where she once rubbed shoulders with prime ministers and senior members of the government, Nevena said: “The antivax conspiracy theorist movement destroyed my life when Andrew became their foot soldier.”

She claims that he is willing to put indoctrination and the extremist ideology of the movement above his wife and an innocent child. She believes he needed to “get rid of her” as she did not “fully align with his extremist beliefs”.

“I watched my life shatter into pieces as I lost access to the household bank account … and kicked out on the street with a child just in time for Christmas,” she said.

 

[Innula Zenovka]

One of our more sensible Conservative ministers challenged over comments he made about Trump some years ago.

Minister confronted over 'Donald Trump is a cancer' tweet | Watch (msn.com)

 

[Bartholomew Gallacher]

British and Irish rivers in desperate state from pollution, report reveals | Rivers | The Guardian

Being the country where industrialisation was invented means also being a country with centuries spanning industrial damages done to the country, so well - it happens.

 

[Tigger]

What kind of person supports the Tory party these days? Well, here are some words from their single largest donor:

Honestly I try not to be sexist but when I meet somebody like [the executive], I just …

“It’s like trying not to be racist but you see Diane Abbott on the TV, and you’re just like I hate, you just want to hate all black women because she’s there, and I don’t hate all black women at all, but I think she should be shot.

“[The executive] and Diane Abbott need to be shot. She’s stupid … If we can get [the executive] being unprofessional we can get her sacked. It’s not as good as her dying. It would be much better if she died. She’s consuming resource. She’s eating food that other people could eat. You know?”

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2024/mar/11/biggest-tory-donor-looking-diane-abbott-hate-all-black-women

 

[Innula Zenovka]

What kind of person supports the Tory party these days? Well, here are some words from their single largest donor:



https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2024/mar/11/biggest-tory-donor-looking-diane-abbott-hate-all-black-women

 

[Erich Templar]

Giant sequoias are a rapidly growing feature of the UK landscape

Imported giant sequoia trees are well adapted to the UK, growing at rates close to their native ranges and capturing large amounts of carbon during their long lives, finds a new study led by UCL researchers with colleagues at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.

phys.org

 

[detrius]

Giant sequoias are a rapidly growing feature of the UK landscape

Imported giant sequoia trees are well adapted to the UK, growing at rates close to their native ranges and capturing large amounts of carbon during their long lives, finds a new study led by UCL researchers with colleagues at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.

phys.org

My brother planted one of these at our parents' house some time ago. It's amazing how much it has grown in just a few years.

 

[Innula Zenovka]

I don't think the Tories want to win the London mayoral election -- their candidate and her campaign are somewhat accident-prone, to say the least.

 

[Innula Zenovka]

What Have Fourteen Years of Conservative Rule Done to Britain?

Living standards have fallen. The country is exhausted by constant drama. But the U.K. can’t move on from the Tories without facing up to the damage that has occurred.

www.newyorker.com

Evernote link

 

[Innula Zenovka]

Public has no right to swim in sea, claims firm that dumped sewage at bathing spot

As South West Water defends a court action from a Devon swimmer, it also claims it has no legal duty to keep waters clean

inews.co.uk

This other Eden, demi-paradise,
This fortress built by Nature for herself
Against infection and the hand of war,
This happy breed of men, this little world,
This precious stone set in the silver sea,
Which serves it in the office of a wall,
Or as a moat defensive to a house,
Against the envy of less happier lands,
This blessed plot, this earth, this realm, this England,

Richard II, Act II, Scene 1 :|: Open Source Shakespeare

Array

www.opensourceshakespeare.org

Also

 

[Beebo Brink]

Not only is it dirty, but there's too much water... then not enough.

Why is the UK facing water shortages despite record rainfall? | Water | The Guardian

Before the impacts of climate breakdown became painfully apparent, the UK was a country that could rely on rainfall year-round. Why bother investing in water storage in a perpetually soggy country? In recent decades, this excuse has held less water as the trends have become clearer.

 

[Innula Zenovka]

Senior Conservative party officials worked on plans to hand over its entire membership database for a commercial venture that promised to make tens of millions of pounds, the Guardian can reveal.

Leaked documents show Tory executives discussed exploiting members’ personal data to build a mobile phone app that could track users’ locations and allow big brands to advertise to Conservative supporters. The party would take a cut of sales.

The project was considered over several months last year, with the aim of launching the “True Blue” app in time for the party’s conference in October.

The idea was developed by the boss of a cryptocurrency firm with a string of failed businesses behind him. Yet senior Conservative officials appeared so captivated by the plan that they prepared to provide the party’s database of members in order to move the proposal forward.