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Ed Douglas

@calmandfearless.bsky.social
1.9K followers 402 following 537 posts

Writer. Loves the spikier bits of the planet. Bath addict. Contributor to Guardian Country Diary. Represented by David Godwin Associates.

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Ed Douglas @calmandfearless.bsky.social · 7h
Part of this is the volume of rage against perfectly normal behaviours online and local papers, including mine, can’t resist that ‘reader engagement’.
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ET Heisenberg @utdheisenberg.bsky.social · 20h
Man City when asked to provide their “irrefutable evidence.”
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Ed Douglas @calmandfearless.bsky.social · 9h
Sheesh, the plod with the camera in her face. Meanwhile masked thugs can close Dover with impunity.
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Ed Douglas @calmandfearless.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Made it Ma! Top of the world.
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Foreign Policy @foreignpolicy.com · 29/09/2026
Compared to Xi, Trump looks like a rank amateur: an incurious and ill-informed improviser who is guided by his own gut and whims, writes columnist @hofrench.bsky.social. foreignpolicy.com/2026/09/28/x...
foreignpolicy.com
What Xi Actually Thinks of Trump
China’s president has likely concluded that the U.S. under Trump has lost its way.
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Ed Douglas @calmandfearless.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Two climbing routes on Kilimanjaro closed as fire breaks out again. www.theeastafrican.co.ke/tea/business...
theeastafrican.co.ke
Kilimanjaro fire: Tanapa closes two mountain climbing routes
Closure affects routes that tourists use to summit the mountain.
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Richard Delevan @richard.wickedproblems.earth · 05/09/2026
Chatting just now with local Kent winegrower at farmer's market. This year's grapes are "smaller than peas" - not going to bother to harvest. What did he think of politicians saying 'hey enjoy your English sparkling wine thanks to climate change'? "Fucking morons."
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John Oxley @joxley.jmoxley.co.uk · 28/09/2026
Remember, Jenrick is not stupid. He's a trained lawyer, he knows the difference between police and court bail. He's just a turd.
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Alison Fisk @alisonfisk.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
An ancient and magical amber bear 🐻 ✨ Carved some 10,000 years ago, it washed up on a beach at Fanø in Denmark from a submerged Mesolithic settlement under the North Sea. National Museum of Denmark in Copenhagen 📷 by me #Archaeology
My photo shows a small and ancient figurine of an amber bear carved some 10,000 years ago during the Danish Mesolithic period. The museum lighting makes the amber glow translucent orange against a dark display case background. The bear is displayed on a small metal stand viewed in profile facing right. The ears, muzzle, and mouth are defined. The neck has a polished groove suggesting it was once suspended on a cord. The characteristic shoulder hump of a brown bear is clearly defined. There are some finely incised horizontal lines along the belly. The legs are incomplete. Length 6.5cm. Amber has many properties which may have been associated with 'magic' for ancient peoples. For example, when rubbed against fur, amber produces static electricity which can give off sparks in the dark, make hair stand on end, and attract small things towards it.
The bear was found in 1991 on a west coast beach of the Danish North Sea island of Fanø. It is one of a small number of amber animal figurines from the Baltic Sea region which have been assigned to the Mesolithic period by means of a typo-chronological approach and /or other contextual information.
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Robert Reich @rbreich.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
DoorDash spent $1.4M trying to stop Zohran Mamdani from becoming mayor. This week's historic $131.5M enforcement action against DoorDash for underpaying NYC delivery workers shows why. Yet another reminder that the only thing that can beat organized money is organized people.
theintercept.com
DoorDash Spent $1.4 Million Trying to Stop Mamdani From Becoming Mayor. Now We Know Why.
In a wage-theft settlement, DoorDash now has to pay its workers around 100 times what it spent trying to beat Zohran Mam
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Mongabay @mongabay.com · 25/09/2026
Pakistan's endangered Indus River dolphin population has grown to nearly 2,000 individuals, prompting the creation of a new 400-km protected corridor. Safeguarding the species long-term will require modified barrage operations and community-led sustainable fishing. Fellow Muhammad Talal reports.
mongabay.cc
Pakistan expands protected habitat for Indus River dolphin as recovery offers hope
Between 11 million and 16 million years ago, during the high sea levels of the middle Miocene period, the ancestors of the Indus River dolphin entered the muddy waters of what is the Indus Basin today...
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Ed Douglas @calmandfearless.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Nice to see letters of appreciation for Phil Gates after his long contribution to the Guardian’s Country Diary. Everyday miracles are possible! www.theguardian.com/media/2026/s...
theguardian.com
Thank you, Phil Gates, for nearly 40 years of country diaries | Letters
Letters: Jim McManners says Phil’s columns have inspired his teaching, while Ann MacAskill says she intends to follow his marvelling method
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Ed Douglas @calmandfearless.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
I wonder what the Restore Trust folk will do with this if they ever take over the National Trust? Turn it back into a golf course?
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Ed Douglas @calmandfearless.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Fucking up the environment is hugely profitable. The people who are supposed to stop it either can't or won't. People are getting sick. And politicians keep demanding less regulation. www.theguardian.com/environment/...
theguardian.com
‘The eels were climbing out of the water to die’: why did every fish in this idyllic lake perish overnight?
Furnace Brook in East Sussex was home to carp, tench, bream, roach and trout – and 15 trailer-loads had to be buried. The mystery led to a neighbouring farm, and a story of waste, pollution and dirty ...
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Ed Douglas @calmandfearless.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Does this mean that the ‘authorities’ will only do something about Danny Tommo if it turns out he’s funded by Russia?
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Ed Douglas @calmandfearless.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Victims of the Trishuli flood are bracing themselves as a major cyclone moves towards Nepal. Bodies continue to be recovered from flooded hydropower tunnels.
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Ed Douglas @calmandfearless.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
Sheffield's already limited art offer has suffered another blow as the Graves Gallery at the top of Sheffield's Central Library has announced it will close because they can't fix its heating system. Pitiful, really.
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Ed Douglas @calmandfearless.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
Sort of like, ‘here comes the tough question’ (wink, wink)
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Ed Douglas @calmandfearless.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
Ed Sheeran can’t get a break just now.
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Miles King @milesking.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
a good first step would be for all Govt depts to leave Xitter, where its owner actively encourages it to be a cesspool of misogyny.
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Jim Pickard @pickardje.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
my brilliant colleague @robertshrimsley.bsky.social on the threat from Elon Musk’s X platform www.ft.com/content/f270...
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Ed Douglas @calmandfearless.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
Looking forward to this. Great idea and hopefully will do some good.
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John Oxley @joxley.jmoxley.co.uk · 18/09/2026
What on earth is happening?
  This had become the new normal. RNLI crew members had been forced to take their permits off their cars after their tyres have been repeatedly slashed. Most of them have been pilloried at the school gates or turned away from local pubs. One man who worked in search and rescue had been beaten unconscious and hospitalised, recognised for TV interviews he had done.
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Ed Douglas @calmandfearless.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
Walkley ward in Sheffield just flipped from Green to Labour. Comments under the local paper's story about it were a mix of Islamophobia and anti-cycle lane rage. How did Islamophobia get mixed up with active travel?
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Ed Douglas @calmandfearless.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
The kicker of Wakefield.
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Ed Douglas @calmandfearless.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
The ones in Santiago move, and start running when the light’s about to change. Fun!
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Ed Douglas @calmandfearless.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
After yet another monstering of cyclists by the Mail, this thread was a grim reminder where the real peril lies. This driver had drunk several glasses of wine, pints of beer and Jäger bombs. If you want to off someone in Britain, run them down with your car.
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Ed Douglas @calmandfearless.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
In Sheffield we used to have the Blue Loop, a circular trip through post-industrial Sheffield featuring the canal and the River Don (with egrets and kingfishers). Now the council have closed sections of it through lack of maintenance. www.theguardian.com/environment/...
theguardian.com
Access-to-nature crisis ‘on par with that of Victorian Britain’s filthy air’
Research finds many in England lack proximity to green and blue spaces as Labour urged to speed up manifesto pledge
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Ed Douglas @calmandfearless.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
Tibet's government in exile warns that China is using AI to tighten surveillance and push China's narrative. savetibet.org/new-report-r...
savetibet.org
New report reveals Chinese AI-enabled surveillance on Tibetan exile government, Buddhist members, ICT and SFT
September 16, 2026 A new Anthropic threat intelligence report titled
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Lizzie Dearden @lizziedearden.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
While Piddington dominates the news, at Leicester Crown Court this man was sentenced today Ivan Jennings, a former Conservative councillor, called for terror attacks on small boat migrants and Muslims and shared target ideas, telling fellow white supremacists to kill as many “subhumans” as possible
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Ed Douglas @calmandfearless.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
Presumably they ran their operation with crypto. I'm sure if you took coke away from the far right, a lot of it would simply go back to bed for a month.
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Ed Douglas @calmandfearless.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
I guess the world has moved on from the floods in Nepal but was just watching video of a bulldozer grappling with a boulder the size of an SUV that had been washed up one of the hydro-power tunnels, packed around with silt and dirt. The force needed to do that must have been apocalyptic.
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Ed Douglas @calmandfearless.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
Will he be flying back from Russia for this? Or get his mates in the FSB to do the campaigning?
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Ed Douglas @calmandfearless.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
Kremlev has convictions for battery and extortion (and now runs the International Boxing Association), so he must have fitted in nicely.
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Ed Douglas @calmandfearless.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
BBC seems to have got round its funding crisis by cloning Jonny Dymond.
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James Austin @jamesdaustin.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
Fairly eye opening post from Llanberis MRT: showing how their callout rates have basically tripled in 6 years. Friends who do MRT in the Dales and Lakes tell the same story. A lot of it does seem to be social media influencers driving people to more risky routes - and not mentioning difficulty.
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Ed Douglas @calmandfearless.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
Typically, biodiversity collapse isn't even on the agenda.
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Luke Turner @luketurner.com · 31/03/2026
I can now reveal that crypto billionaire Ben Delo—pardoned by Trump after a conviction for anti-money-laundering violations—privately funded the failed libel action brought against me by neo-Nazi conspiracy theorists Nina Power and Daniel Miller to the tune of at least £300,000.
Ben Delo, Nina Power and Daniel 'DC' Miller.
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Ed Douglas @calmandfearless.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
Labour hating on people who really want to vote for them. As per.
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Turquoise Roof @turquoiseroof.org · 11/09/2026
#Tibetans marched at Majnu Ka Tila in Delhi today, a day before Xi Jinping lands for the #BRICS summit. Their demands: repeal the Ethnic Unity Law in force since 1 July, release of political prisoners, & talks with the Dalai Lama's representatives without preconditions www.aninews.in/news/world/a...
aninews.in
Tibetan community-in-exile stages symbolic protest ahead of Xi Jinping's visit, demands repeal of 'ethnic unity law' by China
According to various rights groups, the legislation represents another step in Beijing's efforts to integrate ethnic minorities into a broader national identity
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Ed Douglas @calmandfearless.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
I finally got to see the 9/11 memorial this spring visiting my daughter, who has been a New Yorker for the last ten years. I remember sitting on the sofa while she played nearby, watching the towers fall. It's a beautiful work, but 9/11 twisted America.
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Fidra @fidrango.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
Microplastics are building up in UK soils, threatening soil health & food. UK soils are among the most contaminated in Europe. Intentionally added microplastics are an avoidable source of pollution & the EU has already taken action to restrict them. It's time for the UK to do the same🔽 tr.ee/JuI3fD
tr.ee
Rising microplastics in soil a threat to UK food security, MPs and campaigners say
Report calls for legally binding targets to cut microplastic pollution as soil ‘is a complex living ecosystem’
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Turquoise Roof @turquoiseroof.org · 10/09/2026
The Tibet–Nepal floods demand more than climate crisis talking points. As dams, roads, & tunnels reshape one of Earth’s most fragile regions, Beijing must allow independent scrutiny of whether infrastructure amplified the disaster. asiatimes.com/2026/09/the-...
asiatimes.com
The questions China won't answer about the Tibet-Nepal flood disaster - Asia Times
For years, analysts and observers have warned about the dangers of China's relentless infrastructure push in Tibet, particularly its dam-building
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Ed Douglas @calmandfearless.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
I'm still laughing at this. Spode only gave up when Wooster threatened to expose him as running a women's underwear shop. Danny Tommo, on the other hand, is wearing Under Armour, brand of choice for the discerning fascionista.
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Ed Douglas @calmandfearless.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
Jared Kushner travels the world, leaving a trail of destruction in his wake.
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George Monbiot @georgemonbiot.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
“The trouble with you, Spode, is that just because you have succeeded in inducing a handful of half-wits to disfigure the London scene by going about in black shorts, you think you’re someone. You hear them shouting “Heil, Spode!” and you imagine it is the Voice of the People.” Bertie Wooster
Daniel Thomas and his Black Shorts in London today.
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Ed Douglas @calmandfearless.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
Paul Besley wrote the best guidebook to the Dark Peak and the story of his rescue dog Scout. I didn't even know he was writing a Substack about living with a terminal illness until after his recent death. An ex-steelworker with endless literary curiosity. headingfortheexit.substack.com/p/acceptance
headingfortheexit.substack.com
Acceptance
Acceptance is a corner stone of my living the life I do.
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Peter Geoghegan @petergeoghegan.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
What’s grimly fascinating about AfD support is it seems to be highest in areas of *falling* population
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HappyToast @happytoast.co.uk · 08/09/2026
Easy to follow guide from the British press
An elderly lady being carried away by the police, labelled intimidating, and two black clad, balaclava wearing men standing in front of someone’s car, staring at them.
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🦋Special Kherson Cat🐈🇺🇦 @specialkhersoncat.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
According to Dosye Shpiona, 13 servicemen of Russia’s elite Vityaz Special Purpose Center were killed in an avalanche in the Bezengi Gorge, Kabardino-Balkaria, on September 6. Another serviceman is reportedly in a coma.
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