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Auntie Syzygy

@auntiesyzygy.bsky.social

1.2K followers 920 following 4.5K posts

Hermit pensioner & forager. Former indexer. Scottish Statehood, Greek & Greece, Bee Orchids & the Bronze Age. Nobody should own land as if it was a thing.

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Auntie Syzygy @auntiesyzygy.bsky.social · Nov 1

It occurs to me that, being newly here, I should maybe explain my name. It comes from Caledonian Antisyzygy - a perceived characteristic of Scots literature (and presbyterian theology) to see the bad in the good. I think we Scots tend to second-guess ourselves, and our lack of confidence hampers us.

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Auntie Syzygy @auntiesyzygy.bsky.social · 8h

BB and phone lines, should be treated as utilites, national infrastructure, municipally delivered. Not sure about mobiles, maybe the same. They're things we use, not things we consume.

Auntie Syzygy @auntiesyzygy.bsky.social · 8h

Save STV North! We need to keep our last broadcaster for Grampian, Highland and the Norhtern and Western Isles, threatened with closure by STV. Campaign backed by Scottish parliament and a petition started by Aberdeen Chambers of Commerce.
www.agcc.co.uk/news-article...

Scottish Parliament unites in call to protect STV North news service

The leaders of Scotland’s five main political parties have joined forces to urge Ofcom to block STV’s proposal to end the broadcast of a dedicated news programme for the north of Scotland.

www.agcc.co.uk

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Matt Berry @matthewberry.bsky.social · 1d

Pac-man

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Greenwings Wildlife Tours @greenwingstours.bsky.social · 21h

We take preparation seriously for our guests, so our guides are out visiting sites in Greece before the groups arrival at the weekend for our autumn bulb tour. Two nice species seen today were Colchicum lingulatum and Biarum tenuifolium ssp.abbreviatum.

#BSBIcorporatesponsor

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Auntie Syzygy @auntiesyzygy.bsky.social · 8h

I have always tried to have each thing separate but over the years ee has chased me, taking over any supplier I move to, and I find myself currently with everything in their grip and just too exhausted to move again. And now, landlines are on BB too, sigh...

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Rob Hoenen @robhoenen.bsky.social · 21h

The liquid air alternative to fossil fuels www.bbc.com/future/artic...

The liquid air alternative to fossil fuels

An overlooked technology for nearly 50 years, the first liquid air battery facility is finally set to power up in 2026.

www.bbc.com

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Claire Boardman @claireboardman.bsky.social · 18h

Connection to archaeology? Michelle is the artist who illustrated Jim Leary's 'Footmarks' book:

Front cover of Jim Leary's 'Footmarks' book showing landscape artwork, including people and animals, through time by York based artist and printmaker @michellehuges.

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Ben Averis @averisben.bsky.social · 1d

My wife Alison had these five Merveille du Jour moths in her moth trap this morning, here in SE Scotland.

Five Merveille du Jour moths found by Alison Averis in her moth trap here in SE Scotland on the morning of 14th October 2025. Background: bark with lichens.

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Graeme Purves @gaspurves.bsky.social · 1d

Fraud: How Sir Keir Starmer conned the British electorate | Richard Sanders for 'Declassified UK:
#UKPolitics

How Keir Starmer conned the British electorate

Book review: ‘The Fraud’ offers the most damning portrayal yet of the Starmer project.

www.declassifieduk.org

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Ewan Gibbs @ewangibbs.bsky.social · 1d

North Sea oil rig workers rescue owl blown out to sea during Storm Amy.

North Sea oil rig workers rescue owl blown out to sea during Storm Amy

The short-haired owl was found exhausted after battling 'danger to life' winds during the storm.

news.stv.tv

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George Monbiot @georgemonbiot.bsky.social · 1d

To be effective, protest must be noisy, obstructive, annoying. No longer is this allowed. Now the last attribute of effective dissent – persistence – is also to be banned. But the moment protest ceases to be effective is the moment democracy dies. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Here’s what you need to know about Starmer’s illiberal protest curbs: they would have killed the Labour party at birth | George Monbiot

The rights we enjoy in the UK, and the movement the PM purports to lead, were built on protest. Those rights are in dire peril, says Guardian columnist George Monbiot

www.theguardian.com

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POLITICO Europe @politico.eu · 1d

Israel shouldn’t count on EU leaders forgetting the deaths of tens of thousands of Palestinians in Gaza, even if Donald Trump’s peace deal succeeds in ending the war.

That’s the candid private view of diplomats, politicians and officials.

‘Israel needs to deliver’: Europe’s private fears over Trump’s plan for Gaza

Officials and diplomats are hoping the ceasefire lasts but don’t want to ease the pressure on Israel just yet.

ow.ly

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UK Constitutional Law Association @ukcla.bsky.social · 2d

Brice Dickson: The meaning of ‘civil rights’ in the Belfast (Good Friday) Agreement ukconstitutionallaw.org/2025/10/13/b...

Brice Dickson: The meaning of ‘civil rights’ in the Belfast (Good Friday) Agreement

From 14 to 16 October 2025 the UK Supreme Court is due to hear an important case on the extent to which the Windsor Framework – the new name for the revised Ireland / Northern Ireland Protocol to t…

ukconstitutionallaw.org

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Anthony Barnett @anthonybarnett.bsky.social · 1d

The Queen and Thatcher were born within six months of each other 100 years ago and Brexitannia is the result of their incompatible coupling. www.newstatesman.com/politics/uk-...

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Dr Coralie Mills @dendrochronicle.bsky.social · 1d

Ardura Community Forest, Mull 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 The Mull & Iona Community Trust engaged us to find out the age of oaks which had been felled in the 1960s when the Sitka spruce plantation was created by the Forestry Commission. They were mostly around 200 years old.
#dendrochronology #ThickTrunkTuesday #Mull

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Auntie Syzygy @auntiesyzygy.bsky.social · 1d

I never grew onions from seed, but at our allotments I found more and more plotters were doing that, and with good results. May as well try seed, seedlings and setts - conditions are so variable nowadays, cover all bases.

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Mark Elliott @profmarkelliott.bsky.social · 2d

It will be interesting to see what Ministers are prepared to say about the China spying case from the despatch box. I am surprising that this morning's line to take still seems to turn on China not having been "designated" a threat/enemy by the last government. /1

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Auntie Syzygy @auntiesyzygy.bsky.social · 2d

Yes. Because land has been made into a commodity. Nobody should own land as if it was a Thing that you can just buy and sell, any more than the sea or the sky.

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Alastair McIntosh @alastairmci.bsky.social · 2d

“Scotland’s land is owned by the few—and the Government is letting it happen….

“And why? Because land is power.”

www.heraldscotland.com/politics/hol...

'No citizens anywhere else in the world own so little of their own country'

Scotland’s land is owned by the few, while the many are left powerless. Despite overwhelming public support for reform, political will remains…

www.heraldscotland.com

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ThornyHedges @thornyhedges.bsky.social · 5d

scottishwildlifetrust.org.uk/our-events/b...

Botanical adventures - from Stirlingshire to the mighty Ben Nevis nordwand!

Details Date: October 14 Time: 07:30 pm - 09:00 pm Event Category: Argyll, the Isles, Loch Lomond, Stirling & the Trossachs, Stirling, Stirling and Clackmannanshire Group Organizer Stirling and Clackm...

scottishwildlifetrust.org.uk

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Matt Berry @matthewberry.bsky.social · 2d

Freyer's Grayling (Hipparchia fatua) nectaring on Sea Squill (Drimia aphylla). One of the Grayling species to be seen here in Rhodes 🇬🇷 at this time of year.

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London Review of Books @lrb.co.uk · 3d

‘The message is clear: 20th-century colonialism created the conditions for a 21st-century tragedy.’

@josephinequinn.bsky.social on an exhibition of Gazan antiquities: www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...

Josephine Quinn · At the Institut du monde arabe: ‘Trésors sauvés de Gaza’

This show has excited controversy: should we even be talking about damage to antiquities in the context of so much...

www.lrb.co.uk

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Emily ✨🎃 @emilyoram.bsky.social · 3d

God love Kew, this is incredible

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Ramblers Scotland @ramblersscotland.bsky.social · 7d

🌳Scotland needs Paths Into Nature!🚶

We’ve launched an ambitious joint manifesto ahead of the 2026 Holyrood election, backed by 7 partner orgs in Scottish Outdoor Recreation Alliance.

Our goal? ✅ Make Scotland’s world-class access rights an everyday reality for all!

ramblers.org.uk/scotmanifesto

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Helen Todd @helenrambler.bsky.social · 3d

This is really worth a read, a clear and informed view from an experienced forester. Reform of the forestry grants system is surely needed.

nickkempe.bsky.social @nickkempe.bsky.social · 5d

Victor Clements, a woodlands adviser, takes a look from a professional perspective at why BrewDog's Lost Forest went so wrong parkswatchscotland.co.uk/2025/10/09/b...

BrewDog's Lost Forest - What if? - parkswatchscotland

Introduction It has been well covered in the media recently that the craft beer company BrewDog have sold on their “Lost Forest” at Kinrara Estate, which stretches from Speyside into the Monadliath, t...

parkswatchscotland.co.uk

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