Black Joan

“ A time is coming when men will go mad, and when they see someone who is not mad, they will attack him, saying, 'You are mad; you are not like us'. ”

[C20 Society @C20Society]

Did you watch ‘Kevin McCloud’s Listed Britain’ on More4 last night, venturing inside the 375ft cooling towers at Ratcliffe-on-Soar in Nottinghamshire? The last coal-fired power station in Britain, Ratcliffe was decommissioned in 2024 and now exists on borrowed time.

From a peak of 240 cooling towers in the 1960s, today only 34 remain across the country and almost all are due to be demolished by the end of this decade. We’re campaigning to preserve one set of these majestic structures; icons of our industrial heritage and, in the words of artist Sir Antony Gormley, the ‘Stonehenge of the Carbon age’.

✍🏼 Follow the link in our bio to sign and share C20 Society’s @change petition, and help to save Britains cooling towers!

https://t.co/1qcPrQhFCA

[Black Joan @sunpath2]

@LHolt99 Here he is in December 2022 preaching to Holyrood about the sanctity of "ring-fenced" funds. But that was then. 🙄 https://t.co/fh8Wfmgbup

[Sam Taylor @staylorish]

Awkward. Speaking in parliament in 2022, John Swinney railed against the economic illiteracy of people suggesting he had the right to spend ringfenced money on other things.

[Black Joan @sunpath2]

@TheIndyNinja1 Justice will be served https://t.co/fuzHhsfzrD

[Paul McManus DR11UMS @Dr11Ums]

#NewProfilePic

[Black Joan @sunpath2]

@LucyHunterB @staylorish The nodding head, too. Like one of those dogs that used to sit on the car parcel shelf in the 1970s.

[Black Joan @sunpath2]

@staylorish More than awkward. Fantastic find.

[Black Joan @sunpath2]

@WingsScotland https://t.co/OuHpcorjWu

[Sam Taylor @staylorish]

Clip is from Portfolio Questions, 14th December 2022.

[Black Joan @sunpath2]

@WingsScotland Oh dear, oh dear. Jabber finger lectures Holyrood on the meaning of "ring-fenced" back in 2022 https://t.co/fh8Wfmgbup

[Sam Taylor @staylorish]

Awkward. Speaking in parliament in 2022, John Swinney railed against the economic illiteracy of people suggesting he had the right to spend ringfenced money on other things.

[Jackie Baillie @jackiebmsp]

I have written to the HMRC to demand an investigation into potential defrauding of taxpayers by the SNP

[Paul Sweeney MSP @PaulJSweeney]

The impending closure of Queen's Park Glasshouse in August due to @SRUC leaving as an anchor tenant is disappointing.

I have a keen interest in Glasgow's Victorian hothouses, and there is an interesting proposal for Queen's Park Glasshouse in development. https://t.co/VVUOWAJnjY

[Black Joan @sunpath2]

@WingsScotland He'll have been shovelling the maximum (£40K?) per year into it for the tax advantages. More murky material to explore there, perhaps.

[Black Joan @sunpath2]

@CallieMac009 @katieb1110 Fattened it for the foie gras (to satisfy her luxurious tastes) and then strangled it, more like. 😡

[Black Joan @sunpath2]

@WingsScotland Nothing that "belongs", eh? Me, me, me. Mine, mine, mine. 🙄🧐

[Richard Morris @ahistoryinart]

Between 1948-1950, Keith Vaughan made a series of images depicting steelworkers in a foundry. In this work from 1949, three furnacemen are taking a tea break. The image is related to a sketchbook he made entitled 'Steel,' which is now housed in the Tate Britain archive.

[Paintings of London @PaintingsLondon]

'Liverpool Street Station' (1917) by Marjorie Sherlock

(Government Art Collection)

[Wings Over Scotland @WingsScotland]

Wings Over Scotland has today filed a new complaint with Police Scotland and COPFS against the SNP, on grounds of suspected fraud, theft by appropriation, embezzlement and false or misleading statements, based on new evidence POST-Operation Branchform. https://t.co/orUI13zN5g

[David Davis MP @DavidDavisMP]

The big question in all of this is why were these messages between Darren Jones and Peter Mandelson not released on Monday alongside all the other Humble Address documents?

The Humble Address is clear that "electronic communications… between Lord Mandelson and ministers… during his time as Ambassador" must be released to Parliament - that is exactly what these messages between Darren Jones and Peter Mandelson are.

The Cabinet Office, which Darren Jones is in charge of, oversees this process, and it is beginning to look as though that department cannot be trusted to make politically sensitive decisions.

In my mind, we now need an independent third party, not subject to the pressures of the Government, to review this matter.

The most natural option would be for the National Audit Office to look at this. When I was chair of the Public Accounts Committee, the NAO had access to every single document in government no matter how highly classified.

The NAO could review the information and documents the Government holds and provide reassurance that the demands of the Humble Address are being properly complied with.

https://t.co/BXZKw3DoyR

[Black Joan @sunpath2]

@WingsScotland 🤷‍♀️🤷‍♀️🤷‍♀️
https://t.co/liPomit8f8

[Paul Hutcheon @paulhutcheon]

NEW: Police Scotland says it will not reinvestigate the 600k of indyref2 donations to the SNP after a fresh complaint by Sean Clerkin.

[Black Joan @sunpath2]

😱💀😱☢️😱

[Pete Sanford @PeteSanford]

BOVAER: COW KILLER DATA TODAY

HUMAN KILLER DATA LATER

Full PPE to Handle Bovaer

Fertility Risks for Farm Workers

First Signs of Toxicities in Herds in Denmark

• digestive disorders
• metabolic issues
• reduced feed intake
• reduced milk yield
• behavioural changes
• fertility irregularities in some herds

This is one of the most important developments in the entire Bovaer story, and it happened because real‑world farm data did not match the original controlled‑trial data.

🟩 Why EFSA Reopened the Bovaer Safety Review (2026)

EFSA (the European Food Safety Authority) reopened the safety assessment of Bovaer for two reasons:

⭐ 1. Denmark reported widespread cow‑health problems after Bovaer rollout

⭐ 2. EFSA realised the original approval relied on short, controlled trials that did not reflect real‑world farm conditions

Let’s break each one down.

🟦 1. The Danish Trigger: Health Problems in ~25% of Bovaer‑Using Farms

When Denmark rolled out Bovaer across dairy herds, farmers began reporting:

• digestive disorders
• metabolic issues
• reduced feed intake
• reduced milk yield
• behavioural changes
• fertility irregularities in some herds

The Danish Veterinary and Food Administration (DVFA) analysed the reports and found:

Around one quarter of the 1,600 farms using Bovaer had notable health issues temporally associated with its introduction.

This does not prove causation — but the scale and consistency were enough to raise a red flag.

Denmark then formally notified EFSA.

This is what triggered the review.

🟦 2. EFSA realised the original safety file had gaps

The original EFSA approval (2022) was based on:

• short‑term trials
• small numbers of cows
• controlled, idealised conditions
• no multi‑lactation studies
• no large‑scale field data
• no cumulative environmental modelling
• no long‑term reproductive studies

In other words:

Bovaer was approved based on “laboratory‑style” data, not real‑farm data.

Once Denmark provided real‑world evidence, EFSA had to reassess.

🟦 3. Specific concerns EFSA is now re‑examining

EFSA’s reopened review focuses on:

🔹 A. Safety for dairy cows under real‑world feeding conditions

Including:

• long‑term digestive effects
• metabolic stress
• rumen microbiome shifts
• interactions with different feed types
• effects on high‑yielding cows

🔹 B. Safety for breeding cows

This is important because:

• original studies used non‑breeding cows
• reproductive effects were not fully assessed
• 3‑NOP is classified as “suspected of damaging fertility” for workers

EFSA wants to ensure no reproductive impacts occur in cows.

🔹 C. Dose‑response uncertainty

Some Danish farms used:

• slightly higher doses
• continuous feeding
• different feed mixes

EFSA is checking whether small deviations increase risk.

🔹 D. Cumulative effects

Daily use for years may have:

• rumen effects
• metabolic effects
• microbiome effects

These were not studied originally.

🟦 4. Why this is scientifically significant

This is the first time EFSA has reopened a feed‑additive safety file after rollout, not before approval.

It signals:

• the original data was insufficient
• real‑world effects may differ from trials
• regulators are concerned about scale‑up risks
• the safety margin may be narrower than assumed

This is extremely rare in EU regulatory history.

A HEALTH DISASTER INCOMING?

YES…

[Black Joan @sunpath2]

@iain_masterton 😱 Is there a clue in the name Coalsnaughton?