Trump's threats to annex democratic countries even though their citizens do not vote for this move show that he has mentally abandoned democracy and thus severed his government from the Constitution. No American owes his government loyalty if he invades. medium.com/@summerbelr/what-…

I feel I should know that mushroom but it's not coming to me. Clearly has brown gills, so not a Cystoderma. Looks too smooth for Flammulaster. What do you think, fungus people?

Dit is X: een verhoor van drie uur waarin Diederik overtuigend schetst hoe heftig de pandemie was en welke lastige keuzes gemaakt moesten worden, samen gevat met: zie je wel, dit virus trof alleen ouderen 🤷‍♀️

Rt'd without special effort to re-verify, so caveat lector.

🚨 BOMBSHELL! NYT exposes a terrifying plot. The Trump administration secretly planned to suspend habeas corpus and deploy the military on American streets to crush protests. They plotted to strip citizens of their right to see a judge before being jailed. Pure fascism!

Happy World Turtle Day For millions of years, sea turtles have returned to our shores. In Tamil Nadu, an entire team works quietly to welcome them led by TN Forest Department. Sea turtles even have a dedicated Marine Elite Force safeguarding their ancient journey. This year, 1,986 nests were protected, 2,29,668 eggs conserved and 1,91,615 baby turtles reached the sea. Ten turtles have been tagged, and their satellite transmitters are revealing remarkable ocean journeys. Nearly 2,600 Turtle Excluder Devices are helping reduce accidental deaths, while turtle mortality has fallen by 50%. Conservation takes courage, commitment and teamwork to ensure that this ancient journey continues for generations to come #WorldTurtleDay #Turtles #OliveRidley #TNForest

Tulsi Gabbard was among the loudest proponents of Russia’s biolab conspiracy theory back in 2022 — so much so that Russian state media started calling her “Russia’s girl.” In one of her last moves as DNI, she revived that conspiracy theory once more. My latest for @BylineTimes:

Wattled Broadbill (Sarcophanops steerii) Vulnerable Dansolihon, Cagayan De Oro City June 2026 Bird Photo No. 350 #wattledbroadbill #broadbill #bird #birdphoto #birding

Kestrel family reunion ❤️ Great to see Apollo & Athena's fledglings all together like this

Baby bluetit one of the 3 chicks that survived, 2 sadly died in the nest box.

#Redeyedvireo #ColorfulBirds #Birds #Avian #OzarksBirds #MissouriBirds #WildlifePhotography #Photography #Canon A Red-eyed vireo in the bright sun makes his red eyes pop!

Juvenile Blackbird in the daisies. 😍 Taken recently through my cat flap. 😁🐦

A Red Knot resting on the shore at the Rue this morning - not sure if this is a very late spring migrant or a very early autumn one, but either way our first sighting of the year. Also an unusually bold Snipe gave us close views as we rolled past in the mobile bird hide

A super cute newborn common Eider Yesterday in Maine

Common Rose-finch(female) @IndiAves @NatGeoIndia @NatGeoAnimals @NatGeo @NatGeoPhotos @earthcurated @WildlifeMag @AnimalPlanet @NikonIndia

Iberian Green woodpecker in the early morning sun #birds #birdwatching #birdphotography

I don't think that in the early 2000s, Putin actually entertained the idea of joining NATO. He was trolling the alliance. A few years later he moved to take over the tiny island of Tuzla to control of access to the Sea of Azov and a route to Crimea. cepa.org/article/lessons-fro…

The argument that Putin’s aggression is driven by a genuine fear of NATO expansion is one of the most cynical, manipulative lies of the 21st century. If Putin actually gave a single damn about global peace, Russian security, or the lives of his own citizens, the solution was sitting right in front of him: he would have joined NATO. Instead, he chose bloodshed, exposing that his true priorities were never peace or protection, but feeding his own narcissistic ego and cementing his status as a tyrannical dictator. Here is the unvarnished, ugly reality of how Putin deliberately sabotaged European peace. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝘂𝗹𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝘃𝗲𝘁𝗼 𝗽𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗿 𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗼𝗿𝗲𝗱 Russia’s state propaganda machine constantly whines about the existential threat of NATO creeping toward its borders. But if Putin actually believed that, he would have neutralized the threat from the inside. NATO operates strictly on consensus. If Russia had joined the alliance, Moscow would have held a veto over 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴𝗹𝗲 𝗡𝗔𝗧𝗢 𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻, 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗮𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝗶𝗰 𝗱𝗲𝗰𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻. Putin could have wielded immense power to shape European security without firing a single bullet. He didn't take that path because being a cooperative partner in a peaceful world doesn't allow a dictator to play conqueror. 𝗘𝗴𝗼 𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗴𝗹𝗼𝗯𝗮𝗹 𝘀𝗲𝗰𝘂𝗿𝗶𝘁𝘆 In the early 2000s, Putin actually entertained the idea of joining the alliance. But his interactions with NATO leadership revealed exactly the kind of vile, arrogant leader he is. When Putin met with then-NATO Secretary General George Robertson, he arrogantly asked, "𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗴𝗼𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼 𝗶𝗻𝘃𝗶𝘁𝗲 𝘂𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗷𝗼𝗶𝗻 𝗡𝗔𝗧𝗢?" Robertson explained the rules: countries aren't "invited" like VIPs to a club; they must apply, meet democratic standards, and ensure civilian control of their military. Putin’s response was a masterclass in megalomania: "𝗪𝗲𝗹𝗹, 𝘄𝗲'𝗿𝗲 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝗻 𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗮 𝗹𝗼𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗱𝗼𝗻'𝘁 𝗺𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿." He literally threw away the chance for a unified, peaceful Northern Hemisphere because his ego couldn't handle filling out the same paperwork as Poland or Estonia. He viewed global security as beneath him if it didn't cater to his imperial superiority complex. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗱𝗶𝗰𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗼𝗿'𝘀 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗮 𝗯𝗼𝗼𝗴𝗲𝘆𝗺𝗮𝗻 Joining NATO would have required Russia to embrace transparency, democratic reforms, and the rule of law. It would have meant Putin couldn't loot his own country to build billion-dollar palaces while silencing his political opponents. To maintain his grip on power and distract the Russian public from his own corruption, he desperately needed a boogeyman. He purposefully transformed NATO from a potential ally into a manufactured enemy. By force-feeding his citizens a victim narrative, claiming the West was out to destroy them, he created the ultimate excuse to crack down on domestic freedom and launch unprovoked wars. 𝗔 𝗹𝗲𝗴𝗮𝗰𝘆 𝗼𝗳 𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗶𝗽𝘂𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗯𝗹𝗼𝗼𝗱 Putin is a former KGB operative. His entire worldview is built on deception and zero-sum destruction. He didn't invade Georgia in 2008, annex Crimea in 2014, and obliterate Ukrainian cities in 2022 because he was backed into a corner. He did it because he is an imperialist who views human life as entirely expendable in the pursuit of his own historical legacy. If Putin had wanted peace, he had the golden ticket at the turn of the millennium to create an unbreakable security pact stretching from Lisbon to Vladivostok. Instead, he chose to be the villain. Every drop of blood spilled in his territorial land grabs is on his hands, the direct result of a manipulative autocrat who chose war to mask his own illegitimacy.

And it all began nearly 1,000 years ago, when a monk named Anthony returned to ancient Kyiv from a monastery on Mount Athos in Greece. He was seeking solitude and the life of a hermit, and so he secluded himself in small caves among the green hills on the banks of the Dnipro, where centuries earlier Vikings sought shelter while traveling far to the south along the great river had stopped and sought shelter. People learned of the piety of the hermit Anthony, and disciples began coming to him in the caves. Over many years, they dug entire labyrinths in those caves, where they prayed and labored in the half-darkness -- and reverently noticed that after death the bodies of the monks remained incorrupt (of course, this was due to the unique microclimate deep inside the caves). Thus was born the famous Kyiv Pechersk Monastery (that is, the “Cave Monastery”), which would later become the magnificent Lavra -- the foremost and greatest holy site of Christian Rus'. A real city within a city, with magnificent ancient churches built by rulers of different eras, monastic caves, gigantic crowds of pilgrims, and, in later times, the famous 97-meter bell tower, one of Kyiv's calling cards, visible for many dozens of kilometers along the banks of the Dnipro. Over its 1,000 years, the Lavra survived the internecine wars of the princes of Rus', the Mongol invasion, long years of decline and rebirth. It was the foremost center of learning and printing, and it was in its caves that the legendary monk Nestor wrote the famous Primary Chronicle -- the principal book of historical memory of the East Slavic peoples. It survived the barbarity of the Bolsheviks. It survived destruction during World War II. It survived centuries during which Moscow priests, having seized it, lorded over it. It will survive Putin and his fascist Russia as well -- no matter how the monster pukes blood in powerless rage because it cannot defeat Ukraine, and no matter how hard it tries to wipe from the face of the earth everything it cannot seize.

A humiliating morning for the Russian dictator, as the largest refinery in Moscow and one of the largest in Russia, now burns after a barrage of Ukrainian drones bypassed the country's most protected airspace. Processing 12.8 million tonnes per year (245,000–250,000 barrels per day), this refinery supplies roughly 35–40% of the fuel consumed in Moscow and the surrounding region.

Last few Dipper shots from Exmoor, I couldn't believe how close it was, just ignoring me and the passers by.