Andy Healey

Cherry-Plum proclaiming spring

This isn't a horror movie set. It's a road in Denmark. The streetlights are red to save the bats. Bats can't see red light the way they see white or green light, so to them, it's essentially darkness. White streetlights are one of the leading causes of bat decline in urban areas. Light-shy species avoid lit areas entirely, cutting them off from feeding grounds and migration routes. Standard streetlights reduce bat activity by up to 90% in some species. Denmark figured out a fix. So did the Netherlands. When they installed red LED streetlights along roads near bat colonies, bat activity returned to normal levels almost immediately. The lights still work fine for humans. Drivers can see. Cyclists can navigate. The only thing that changed is that the bats got their night back. Do you want your city to do this?

The Green Party politicians are actively denying the reality. Worst of all our policy does not justify it Feminising procedures: psychiatric morbidity rose from 9.8% to 60.7%. Masculinising procedures: from 21.6% to 54.5%. The procedures did not resolve the distress.

Reddit user went through every single Google Maps privacy setting and showswhat you're unknowingly agreeing to: "[...] the architecture of confusion: settings named to sound like they do more than they do, fine print buried after you've already clicked confirm [...]"

When Muhammad found out that the Quraysh tribes were plotting to assassinate him, he asked his young cousin Ali, just a 12-15 years old at the time, to sleep in his bed to deceive the assassins into thinking he was still there. Muhammad fled, and Ali stayed behind in his place. When the Quraysh raiders stormed the house and pulled back the covers, expecting to find Muhammad, they found young Ali instead. He could have been killed on the spot. But when he survived, Muhammad later told him he had known that Allah would protect him. So when you wonder how Hamas, and now the Ayatollah regime, justify hiding behind civilians, look no further. When the highest example of morality sets a precedent that children can be used for the sake of the mission, and when that story is repeated as an act of virtue, don’t be surprised when jihadists adopt the same tactic. And don’t be surprised when children as young as 10 years old agree. Because being sacrificed for the cause is a privilege.

Marsh Harrier food pass at RSPB Minsmere

This video has me tearing up every time I see it . 🥹 Iranians on January 8th or 9th are seen debating whether they outnumber the regime forces sent to suppress them. They stop to count: “Are we more than them?” “Yes.” "There are 10 of them and 200 of us" And then they move forward together. The courage, the unity, the raw, unfiltered humanity in this moment… it’s impossible not to feel it. Iran will be free!! #IranMassacre‌ #KingRezaPahlavi‌ForIran

🇱🇧 Lebanon: 14-year-old girls Zahra and Zeinab forced into Muta'a marriages under Sharia law with 40-year-old Mohammed and 35-year-old Abu Hasan. They share their painful story: “We are like a bag of chips - the old Muslim men open it, eat from it, and throw it away.”

“They have lived in a world that you know nothing about” Ghazaleh Chalabi was a mountaineer and a lover of nature. The regime shot and killed her while she was simply chanting, “We are all together.” The video was captured from her own phone.

The Green party They want your son hooked on drugs. They want to convince your daughter to cut off her breasts. And they want your rapist released from prison with nothing more than an apology.

Horse Chestnut dance their way into Spring

The Easter egg was not invented by a giant menacing bunny or a chocolate factory. They were born through 40 harsh days of medieval discipline... During Lent in medieval England, eating eggs was completely forbidden. Not discouraged. Forbidden. This created an unusual problem: hens do not observe Lent. They kept laying through all 40 days, and every egg had to be either boiled to preserve it or thrown away. By the time Easter Sunday arrived, medieval households had weeks of accumulated eggs sitting in storage, many of them hard-boiled and starting to turn. What do you do with several hundred eggs that need to be eaten immediately? You dye them, you decorate them, you give them as gifts, and you eat as many as humanly possible before they go off. The Easter egg tradition was not symbolic at first, it was a practical solution to a very specific medieval food storage problem. The documented evidence for this is extraordinary. The household accounts of King Edward I of England, held in the British National Archives, record that in 1290 he spent 18 pence on 450 eggs decorated with gold leaf and dyed in bright colours, distributed to his royal household on Easter Sunday. That same year, the Bishop of Hereford, Richard Swinfield, threw an Easter feast for 70 guests that consumed, among other things, 4,000 eggs in a single day. Four thousand eggs. In one day!!! The surviving accounts list two and a half carcasses of salt beef, a bacon, two boars, one live ox, five pigs, six calves, 27 lambs, 12 capons, 148 pigeons and three fat deer alongside those 4,000 eggs. This is what 40 days of fasting looks like on the other end. Easter Sunday in medieval England was not a quiet family lunch. It was a release valve. The tradition of hiding eggs for children to find, which everyone assumes is a modern commercial invention, is also medieval and also documented. Adults hid the surplus decorated eggs for children to find as a direct allegory: searching for the hidden egg was meant to teach children the experience of the disciples finding the empty tomb on Easter morning. The rolling of eggs downhill, still practiced in parts of England and at the White House lawn every year, began the same way. Children with surplus hard boiled eggs and a hill. The theological layer came later. The chocolate version did not appear until Germany in the early 19th century. The hollow egg you unwrap on Sunday morning is the latest iteration of a tradition that began in a medieval monastery because nobody knew what to do with six weeks of accumulated eggs and a feast to feed. © Eats History #archaeohistories

This says so much. Instagram is quite lax on hatred. But the Green Party is even worse. Far worse. It welcomes the filthiest haters. Knowingly and deliberately.

It's not that the Trans-Atlantic slave trade was not one of the most evil human rights abuses in history. It was. It's just that the West's obsession with it to the total exclusion of equally evil abuses, like the still-ongoing Arab/Muslim slave trade, reflects not moral clarity but a kind of narcissism.

The city of Andernach, Germany planted 101 varieties of tomatoes in the town center and told everyone to take whatever they wanted. It was such a hit they did beans the next year, then added onions, fruit trees, lettuce, zucchini, berries, and herbs. All free to the public and maintained by the city. Andernach is now known as the "edible city." Philadelphia has been doing a version of this since 2007. The Philadelphia Orchard Project has helped establish 67 sites across the city with thousands of food-bearing trees. Baltimore is planting fruit trees on sidewalks. Seattle, Boston, San Francisco, and Asheville all have public urban orchards. A mature apple tree produces 400-500 pounds of fruit per year. A mature pear tree can produce for 75 years. We've decided our cities should have trees. We just haven't decided those trees should feed people. Would you support urban fruit trees and vegetables in your city?

This is what the Green Party is now - A home for anti-West, pro-Islamist, pro-Putin, pro-misogynistic fruit loops. Zack will be gone shortly, as soon as his usefulness expires. What’s he’ll leave behind will haunt this country if it’s allowed to.

Have you ever wondered why some spring plants look so spectacular in flower? It’s a surprising answer… no leaves. These plants are flowering before the foliage appears — a clever botanical strategy known as hysteranthy. And it’s brilliant. With no leaves in the way, flowers are: More visible to pollinators when they’re scarce in early spring Easier for wind pollination in exposed conditions Visually striking — uninterrupted masses of pure colour It’s nature putting on a show… with purpose. And some of the most breathtaking spring performers use this technique: Magnolia — large, goblet-shaped blooms that create real drama before leafing out Flowering cherries (Prunus) — clouds of blossom that transform gardens into a spring spectacle Forsythia — vivid golden flowers lighting up bare stems Witch hazel (Hamamelis) — delicate, ribbon-like blooms in late winter to early spring 💡 Why this matters in your garden: ✨ You get maximum visual impact at a time when gardens are just waking up 🐝 You’re supporting early pollinators when food is limited 🌿 You create seasonal layering — flowers first, foliage later, extending interest Expert tip: Position these plants where they can be backlit by low spring sun — it enhances the translucency of the petals and elevates the entire display. It’s one of the most elegant tricks in horticulture… Flowers first. Leaves later. Maximum impact 🌿 Save this — and start noticing spring in a whole new way 👇 #springgarden #blossomtree #gardentips #ukgardening #naturemoments

Kate Nevens is second on the Lothian list and has a good shot at election. She also appears to be dangerously stupid.

Still reading 1984. Just got to the bit that explains why gender studies academics still don't understand why "defining women as biologically female" is not the same as "defining women as brood mares", or what the word "feminine" means

And if we’d listened to these wives’ experiences instead of being taken in by their troubled husbands, perhaps we wouldn’t have been so crazy as to ascribe a legal ‘trans’ identity to children, nor world we teach kids they might be just like these men (as if it’s a good thing), and we’d be much less likely to accommodate men with this condition as teachers in schools and other public services.

Scottish Green candidate wants "complete abolition of prison system." "No prisons, no borders, no cages." Sounds nice. Is completely mad. However under Scotland's awful list system she will become an MSP. Even if she goes not get a single vote (which she shouldn't).