TechnoFobe

Stafford County, VA. For seven years, they were never alone. Seven years of growing up side by side, leaning on each other, sleeping curled together, moving through life as a pair. And then, in a single moment, everything they knew was gone. Lucy and Rusty (both 7 years old, both spayed/neutered) were once part of a family and were surrendered to Stafford County Animal Shelter when their owner moved out of state. Now they sit in separate kennels. And they don’t understand why. Lucy is not doing well. She’s starting to just pick at her food, dry and canned wet. She lies in her kennel, still and quiet, the light in her eyes fading more each day she’s alone. Rusty still eats but he looks around constantly, searching, waiting, hoping to catch a glimpse of Lucy. Because for his entire life, she has always been there. When they do see each other, even briefly, something changes. Lucy lifts her head. Her eyes soften. There’s a flicker of life again. Rusty’s whole body shifts—like he can finally breathe and he lets his humans know how happy he is to be out of the kennel. They are each other’s comfort, their safety, their home. And right now, they are being forced to face the hardest part of their lives alone. The shelter does not have the means to house them together. As much as staff and volunteers wish they could, space simply doesn’t allow it. Every day they remain separated is taking a visible toll…especially on Lucy. For us who see them every day, it is absolutely heartwrenching. We know what we are asking is a lot: Two dogs, a bonded pair, it is truly, a real commitment for even the most able dog owners. But we are asking if there is anyone out there who has the space, the time, and the heart to truly welcome them both to please consider Lucy and Rusty, both of whom get along with other dogs. And not because their story is heartbreaking, which it is. But because you are genuinely ready to give them the stable, loving, forever home they deserve together. They have already lost everything once. They cannot lose each other too. We do not know how they would do with cats, but they would likely be wonderful with children given their gentle, bonded nature. Important information: 📍 Location: Stafford County Animal Shelter 🕒 Hours: • Monday–Friday: 11:00 AM – 5:00 PM (adoptions) • Saturday: 9:30 AM – 3:00 PM • Adoptions conclude 30 minutes before closing 💲 Adoption fees: Sponsored • Picture ID/current address verification are required at time of adoption. If you’ve ever believed that dogs feel love, grief, and loss, come meet Lucy and Rusty. Because you will see it in their eyes. And maybe, just maybe, you can be the reason they never have to say goodbye again.

🚨 Mary Beard is absolutely bang on here on Trump: “One of the biggest ca- casualties of the Trump administration actually has not been, in the old phrase, truth is the first casualty of war….. It’s words. Words and language have been so extraordinarily crudified and debased. Now when you were talking to Wes Streeting you were talking about the idea that we have to take Trump seriously but not literally. Well I’m sorry. I think politics is in part about words and and if we live in a world in which the words of the leading politicians of the planet are simply kind of looked on as window dressing to something else going on underneath, to the real action, I'm afraid we've just lost it.” #IranWar‌

This is you, former Conservative MP, now sitting Reform MP, Andrew Rosindell, writing to former President of the United States, Joe Biden 6 years ago proposing the UK hands to Chagos islands to Mauritius and rents them back on a 99-year lease.

It's not just the rescue – but every day that follows. The Keepers who sleep beside orphaned infant elephants and rhinos that have lost everything. The specialist milk formula that nourishes them. The months and years of patient care that turn a traumatised orphan into a confident, wild-living animal. A one-off donation helps today. A monthly donation helps us plan for the years ahead – because their journey is only just beginning. If you can, consider making a donation today. Any and every amount can truly make a difference: sheldrickwildlifetrust.org/donate

It’s actually wild that Nigel Farage thought nobody would notice that the couple who won his energy bills prize draw were actually his friends.

Remember when Jenrick slagged of Farage? Would be a shame if this video resurfaced again…

Ooops! Sorry! Didn’t mean to repost! My finger slipped!

Farage has ensured any references to his buddy Victor Orban are erased from his X account. So, I thought it would be useful to share these just as a reminder of how close they were. ‘Orban is the future of Europe’ is my personal favourite!’

Another stag killed and whole herd terrorised all day thanks to the weak Hunting Act being abused. Just banning "trail hunting" is not enough, the Hunting Act needs a complete overhaul and removal of the vague exemptions that enable bloodsport to continue.

Trump’s latest proposal to gut the U.S. Forest Service isn’t about efficiency—it’s about walking away from the stewardship of our nation’s forests. It means fewer firefighters during fire season. It means less protection for our watersheds. And it means walking away from forest stewardship at a time when we should be doubling down. Leaving our communities vulnerable to catastrophic fires, water insecurity, and potential loss of forests—and doing so without Congressional approval—that’s why we are fighting back! 🌲@NRDems

@MaxandCarrie Poor Ruby! And poor papa but some scars run very deep. She’ll be back to her old, more trusting self soon. Hang in there everyone 💕

To Ruby’s former abuser. You suck. This sweet little angel deserved to feel safe, free and joyful to run up and play with her papa after he was gone for 5 days. He deserved it to. But this is huge progress. We did get a tail wag. She hid the rest of the night. Oh well! ❤️‍🩹

@NiallHarbison That is the best news. Huge thanks to everyone at HD for taking such good care of Dolly and even bigger thanks to the lovely lady who is giving her a home. 💕 Happy New Year 🎉🪅 It’s Easter where I am 🐣

Dolly Parton was getting some very good news today. The most perfect outcome for this very special little girl ❤️

After years in development, Harriet Gardens has opened in Rutherglen as Social Bite’s second homeless village in Scotland. The £3 million supported living community includes 15 single-person modular homes, a central community hub, and shared facilities designed to provide a more stable alternative to hostels and other temporary accommodation. The project was developed in partnership with South Lanarkshire Council and is run day to day by The Salvation Army. Residents are expected to stay for around six to 12 months, with wraparound support aimed at helping them move into long-term independent housing. Organisers describe Harriet Gardens as a purpose-built response to homelessness that combines housing, support, and community in one site. The opening follows a three-year wait and builds on the model first tested by Social Bite in Edinburgh, which has supported around 100 people since 2018.

Lebanon 💔 One of the most widely shared videos worldwide. Israel did this.

Hey @networkrail There seems to be a campaign building to get you to unblock the existing nests - where the swifts are aiming for in the coming weeks, rather than put new ones in later - when all the swifts will be dead never to return 😡🤬

He failed to pull up an exhausted horse before it tumbled at the final fence of the prestigious race on Saturday 🐴

@SamaHoole Marged rules! OK

Let me introduce Marged. Marged is a Tamworth gilt on a small farm in Monmouthshire. She is eighteen months old. She weighs approximately 80 kilograms. She is ginger. She is opinionated. She has opinions about the mud near the gate, the placement of her water, the quality of the root vegetables she is given on Thursdays, and the farmer's scheduling decisions, which she communicates through a vocabulary of grunts so precisely differentiated that the farmer's wife has started keeping a glossary. Marged is not a ruminant. She has one stomach. What Marged can do is this. She can root. She can plough, with her snout alone, terrain that would take a mechanical cultivator half a day. She can turn compacted, rank, waterlogged ground into loose, aerated, worked earth at a pace that has startled two agricultural consultants who came expecting a problem and found a solution in a field in Monmouthshire. The north paddock had not been productive in six years. Rushes. Standing water. Compaction from a previous tenancy. The farmer had quotes for drainage, subsoiling, reseeding. The quotes were not small. Marged went in on a Monday. By Friday the farmer stood at the paddock gate and looked at the turned earth and then looked at Marged and then looked at the earth again. Marged was looking for something. She found it. She ate it. She moved on. The paddock will be reseeded in spring. The drainage quote has been filed in the drawer where things go when they are no longer necessary. Marged does not know about the drawer. Marged is working the south section. She has found something else.

My message to Jeremy Westlake CEO @networkrail about us not accepting his comms. More on the 'public executive correspondence' coming shortly. #SaveourSwifts #Unblockthenests @WriterHannahBT

Thailand produces approximately 3 billion coconuts per year. The coconuts go into coconut milk, coconut cream, coconut oil. The coconut milk goes into the curry at your local Thai restaurant. Into the vegan dairy-free ice cream. Into the coconut yoghurt that costs three times as much as the regular kind and is photographed on the packaging next to a beach. A portion of Thailand's coconut harvest is picked by monkeys. Not metaphorically. Pig-tailed macaques, caught from the wild or bred in captivity, trained through a process that animal welfare investigators describe as involving prolonged chaining, isolation, and repetition until the animal learns to climb trees and twist coconuts until they fall. The training begins in infancy. It lasts months. The conditions at training facilities have been documented by investigators who found animals chained by the neck, unable to move more than a few feet, rotating on coconuts for hours a day. A trained macaque can pick between 500 and 1,000 coconuts per day. A human picker averages 80. When Waitrose, Morrisons, Sainsbury's, and the Co-op were presented with this information in 2020, they removed the implicated brands from their shelves. The implicated brands were not niche. They included Aroy-D and Chaokoh, two of the most widely distributed coconut brands in the world. Aroy-D coconut milk sits in restaurant supply chains across the UK, Europe, and North America. The brands remain on shelves in most of the world. The macaques remain in training. The coconut milk is still plant-based.

The world seems to be going to hell in a handcart.