Andy Healey

Cherry-Plum proclaiming spring

The birds tonight have a lot to say!! Deafening.

We’re so emotionally exhausted, like many many Iranians…in a constant state of anxiety and sadness This ‘political football’ kicked about amongst polarised parties like a game Most people don’t actually care about Iranians, almost no one asks if we’re ok or expresses their sympathy Literally all people do is try and politically point score on Iranians peoples lives. I’m talking about normal people, not politicians It has made us more depressed about the state of the world that we can ever describe.

The Free Speech Union’s latest investigative briefing reveals that ALL FIVE members of the Government’s working group tasked with defining “Islamophobia” — now rebranded as “anti-Muslim hostility” — have troubling links to Islamist organisations. These include the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) and Muslim Engagement and Development (MEND), which successive governments since 2009 have refused to engage with due to their extreme views. Baroness Gohir even tweeted in support of Hamas in 2014. Another member stood for the far-left, Islamist-supporting Respect Party. In a free society, no religion should enjoy greater protection than others — nor be shielded from legitimate criticism and challenge. Parliament abolished blasphemy laws in 2008. This Government risks reviving them for Islam alone, via the back door. This group was stacked with members already sympathetic to such a definition. With the Government yet to appoint a new Islamophobia tsar, there is deep cause for concern. Watch @Katie_Lam_MP’s video below 👇

You might think the Scottish Parliament 2021-26 was full of fuckwits, but just you WAIT until you see the remedial kindergarten that the Scottish Parliament 2026-31 is going to be.

— Carl Jung

I made a whole BBC TV series (2020) about the remarkable resilience of the people of Iran and their culture over centuries of threat and callous rule. You can watch it right here on the @BBCiPlayer: bbc.co.uk/programmes/m00… #ArtOfPersia

Powerful post from @kian__sadeghian explaining how we all want this war to stop. But the way it comes to an end is essential for Iranians, ideally with the regime gone, so they can take their country back without shedding any more blood. #IranRegimeSurrender

His name is Suchir Balaji. He was 26 years old. Indian-American. An AI researcher at OpenAI for 4 years. He helped build GPT-4. One of the most powerful AI systems in the world. In October 2024 he quit OpenAI and gave an interview to the New York Times. He said OpenAI was training its AI on copyrighted content without permission. He said it was illegal. He was named as a key witness in the NYT lawsuit against OpenAI. He wrote in his journal: “I am a credible threat because of New York Times.” One month after the interview he was found dead in his San Francisco apartment. The official ruling: suicide. His parents say: murder. His pen drive was missing. His computer was left open. CCTV footage for only 2 of 7 days was provided. GHB was found in his system. His cheekbone was broken. A second bullet was allegedly found lodged in his skull by independent radiologists. Elon Musk replied to his mother’s post: “This doesn’t seem like a suicide.” Tucker Carlson said in a September 2025 interview with Sam Altman: “He was definitely murdered.” The SF police closed the case. His mother Poornima Ramarao is still fighting. Alone. From India. Against one of the most powerful companies in the world.

NEW: After Morgan McSweeney’s Labour Together operation, a new Starmer-linked think tank has been popping up on X. An account with 7k followers, but their ads receive millions of views. I’ve been investigating “Labour Future” and its links to McSweeney. Here’s what I found:🧵

For those suffering from amnesia: a staggering... 2 months ago, the Islamic regime of Iran murdered more than 40,000 people, whose only crime was to protest for freedom.

Yarrow will grow in your shittiest soil, survive your driest summer, and feed more pollinators than most plants you actually tried to grow. Yarrow blooms from late spring through fall, making it one of the longest pollinator windows of any garden plant. Miner bees, mason bees, bumblebees, leafcutter bees, sweat bees, checkered beetles, and butterflies all use it. It builds soil as it grows, tolerates drought, and spreads gradually without being aggressive. It comes back every year without replanting, expensive fertilizer, or much water once it's established. One note worth knowing: many yarrow plants sold at big box garden centers are European ecotypes or colorful cultivars, not true North American natives. For maximum wildlife value, look for Achillea millefolium from a native plant nursery in your region. Plant it in a sunny spot with decent drainage. Come back in summer and count how many things are using it.

Spotted on coast path above Talland Bay This rather cute looking dark-edged bee-fly (Bombylius major) is deliberately gathering dust on the tip of her abdomen. The fine dust coating helps give her eggs just enough weight, so when she hovers above the entrance of a ground 1/3

It's been another Redwing day on Barra with around 1500 on the island, ready to set off on the 800 mile flight to Iceland. This is the avian version of waiting in the departure lounge.

Our real infrastructure were the endless young, beautiful and talented victims of the regime who sacrificed their lives rising up against the mullahs. Bridges and roads can be rebuilt. We can't resurrect them from the dead.

Here's a guide to salvaging and reusing those plastic tree guards which litter our countryside (they're forgotten once the grants are paid and the follow-up never happens...). I'm now inspired to go and salvage a local plastic blot on the countryside here. How about you?

I see the Scottish Greens are at it again calling for the closure of prisons. Here’s a piece I wrote years ago about why it’s a dangerous fantasy thecritic.co.uk/issues/june-20…

SHE REPORTED NHS FRAUD. THEY GAVE HER CANCER AND A P45 Sharmila Chowdhury @sharmilaxx spent 30 years working in the @NHS without a single disciplinary mark. Then she caught two consultant radiologists at Ealing Hospital NHS Trust billing the NHS for sessions they were spending at a private hospital down the road. Double-dipping on public money. Straightforward fraud. She reported it. To her line manager. To the Medical Director. To the HR Director. To Counter Fraud. To the Chief Executive. To Number 10. To the Treasury. She had a paper trail so solid that ITV later sent undercover cameras to the hospital and caught the same consultants still at it years later, taking cash from patients for private ultrasounds inside an NHS building. The Trust's response? They sacked her. On fabricated counter-allegations. The man who raised those allegations later sent an email signed off "0800-F***-YOU-B****." He received a 'Top Mentor' award from the Trust that same year. Sharmila won at tribunal. She won her appeal. The judge asked the Trust to reinstate her. The Trust said no. She was blacklisted across the NHS. One job offer was withdrawn the moment they found out who she was. Her legal costs hit £130,000. She developed breast and lung cancer, which her doctors believe is linked to the years of sustained stress. The consultants kept their jobs. George Osborne couldn't get involved. Andrew Lansley couldn't get involved. David Cameron couldn't get involved. Because everyone decided it was an "employment matter." A proven fraud case, covered by ITV, the Guardian, Daily Mail and Channel 4, and the official position of Her Majesty's Government was: not our problem. This is what the UK does to people who try to protect public money. It destroys them and promotes the people they were trying to stop. Read Sharmila's full case: sharmilachowdhury_com Sources: Health Select Committee written evidence | @DailyMail | @Independent | @BBCNews | @Channel4 | @guardian | @thetimes | @DailyMirror | @Channel4News |

Today's J&M returns to a devilishly tricky problem:

Regarding the current ceasefire: a regime speeding up executions is not a “winner.” There is no ceasefire in Evin prison. No ceasefire in the gallows. No ceasefire under a digital blackout. Important video below ⬇️

🇮🇷 From inside Iran: "Tehran is no longer beautiful. Do not leave us alone with these savages. You made them even more savage, so do not leave us alone with them. You created the conditions that allowed them to arm thousands of like-minded forces and deploy them in the streets, so do not abandon us to them. At 4 AM I woke up to the sound of a victory march blasting from a Mazda pickup truck with loudspeakers mounted on the back. Behind it were dozens of armed motorcyclists chanting "Heidar Heidar." They were shouting that they had imposed their terms on the Great Satan, America. At 4 AM, can you believe it? It does not even matter to them that 4 AM is when people are asleep in their homes. Our lives have fallen into the hands of a group of savage men who do not care at all about ordinary people's lives. A tribe from the Stone Age has arrived, the same people who killed more than 45,000 just two months ago. They have also armed thousands of their own supporters who think like them, and they have taken over the streets of Tehran. Last night, Tehran was almost emptied out, and now these savages have occupied it. There is nothing left now of that beautiful Tehran. We could endure the power cuts. But not these savages. Do not leave us alone with them."