BelfastCitizen
@belfastcitizen.bsky.social
AOMO, unemployed West Belfast resident, middle-aged, squeezed middle, worried by the alarming lack of action on the global environmental polycrisis that will destroy my kid’s future. Intrigued by but not always agreeing with John “Straw Dogs” Gray.
This is the shape of things to come: www.bbc.co.uk/news/article... The fossil fuel industry is going to starve us all to death. Radical action is needed now to close it down.
Vegetables to get smaller and more expensive due to hot weather, farmers warn
This year's harvest could be the worst on record due to the exceptionally dry spring and summer.
bbc.co.uk
Microsoft: $101 BILLION in profits. $12.5 BILLION in tax breaks. $176 BILLION in stock buybacks. 4,800 workers fired this week. 9,000 workers fired last year. Please don't tell me trickle-down economics works. It never did. Nothing trickles down.
www.theguardian.com/environment/... This is a national disgrace, we need to our use of plastics under control, restricting them to only the most vital use cases and using sustainable alternatives rather than plastic by default.
‘Nobody cares’: the Turkish farmers bearing the burden of UK’s plastic waste problem
Britain exported 139,000 tonnes of rubbish to Turkey last year, leaving smallholders and poor districts of Adana to cope with the debris, microplastics and toxic smoke
theguardian.com
We’re not even at the peak of El Niño yet, but the wildfires across Europe and the floods in South Asia are already devastating. Will we ever see real and urgent climate action from our world leaders?
www.theguardian.com/environment/... Driest summer in 200 years, where’s Bjorn Lomborg when you need him?
July was driest month in southern England since records began
England and Wales provisionally record driest July in nearly 200 years, Met Office says
theguardian.com
Very disappointing from the new Prime Minister, very much sounding like the previous PM. These are among the world’s most vulnerable and desparate people. They need safe routes and humanity from responsible politicians, not grandstanding. This isn’t doing politics differently.
It's all about priorities. The tech bros gave politicians a lot of money.
We should never forget how the BBC has changed this country by giving endless airtime to Nigel Farage and other rightwing extremists, while shutting out progressive voices.
Nicolas Chinardet@zefrog.eu · 3d agoAnd why is #r4today giving (yet again) such prominence to a hair-brained scheme that has little chance to ever be implemented? A GE is unlikely soon and the threat of Reform winning it is apparently receding. What is the justification for legitimising it?
But that would mean I already knew I was going back into politics when I accepted the £5 million, so I'd have been lying when I said I didn't need to declare it.
New: A business that made a six-figure donation to Reform UK received interest-free loans of £67m from unnamed “related companies” in the months before, raising questions about the possible origin of the funds. observer.co.uk/news/politic...
Reform given six-figure donation by firm that received £6...
Nigel Farage’s party is facing questions about the lack of transparency over £100,000 in funds donated by a management consultancy
observer.co.uk
In this talk Andrew Fitzsimons takes a closer look at Bashō, showing how his popular image as a poet of nature is complicated by the poems he actually wrote. Fitzsimons, reveals a multi-faceted character, a poet concerned not only with the natural world, but with language itself.
Andrew Fitzsimons | Kilkenny Arts Festival | 6-16 August 2026
Matsuo Bashō (1644–1694) is Japan’s greatest poet, a wandering Zen master whose haiku helped define the essence of Japanese sensibility. But the real Bashō was far more complex than his image1
kilkennyarts.ie
"A real football gangster. The whole world is turning its back on you. F*** you, Infantino!" 🇨🇭 During yesterday's Swiss league match against Basel, Lausanne-Sport fans directed a message against FIFA president (and Swiss citizen) Gianni #Infantino. 👇
A reminder, as adaptation climbs the agenda: Resilience measures should complement, not replace, rapid emissions reductions. Climate policy needs both: adapting to the impacts already here and cutting emissions fast enough to limit the impacts still to come. www.chathamhouse.org/2026/07/euro...
Europe’s summer of fires: Burnham must centre climate adaptation in policies
The UK government should treat adaptation to the effects of climate change as a core organizing principle of both economic policy at home and foreign policy.
chathamhouse.org
www.theguardian.com/world/2026/a... Sue the fossil fuel industry for the deaths of these Greek heroes.
Two helicopters collide outside Athens as Greece battles to control wildfires
Fire department says two-person crew of one aircraft killed in incident during gale-force winds to west of capital
theguardian.com
Down the town for #fleadh, Hothouse Flowers class as usual and great to see so many people out enjoying the day. Great to see the #palestine march too down Royal Avenue but why oh why was it not advertised on BlueSky?
Maintaining our highest ever LucidTalk poll rating: 5%. Stormont offers sound bites and photo ops while public services crumble. Lough Neagh is on life support, tangled up by the Agri Food Sector and Ulster Farmers’ Union. 1/3
As the UN Secy General says, the Euro wildfires are just an opening act to the El Nino bearing down on planet earth. It's time for smart politicians to stop climate hushing and start getting ahead of the heat. open.substack.com/pub/billmcki...
High Heat, High Drama
Europe is starting to provide some answers about the next step in the climate fight
open.substack.com
Been at Green Gathering the last few days - the atmosphere has been amazing! I've loved answering questions on the climate crisis, hope and how we grow our movement even further Thanks for the amazing turnout, and sorry not everyone could get in! Join.greenparty.org.uk
RTÉ News: GAA 'overwhelmingly' agrees to continue Allianz partnership www.rte.ie/sport/footba... This is a fucking disgrace, I will be boycotting all League matches next season because of this #gaa #gaza
GAA 'overwhelmingly' agrees to maintain Allianz deal
The GAA will continue its sponsorship deal with Allianz after Central Council and the Management Committee "overwhelmingly agreed" to maintain the partnership.
rte.ie
Just sitting on the pavement and clapping is now terrorism. Not saying anything, not holding or displaying any signs, just sitting on the pavement & clapping. Andy Burnham can stop this. But he isn't. Reporting by Steven Methven for @novaramedia.com
In April, the Starmer government passed an Act of Parliament enabling the police to shut down any protest they deem to have a “cumulative” impact on the community. The only protests that have ever succeeded are those with a cumulative impact. Effective protest is now illegal.
Neoliberalism in a nutshell. UEFA on FIFA's proposal: “The moment external investors acquire ownership interests ... football changes forever. Commercial return becomes a permanent obligation. ... Every decision is no longer driven by what best serves the game, but by what best serves shareholders.”
