Susan Board, PhD

Would it have been so much worse if it had been a nuke? Consider the fact that birth deficiencies and rates of leukemia and cancer in Iraq, post 2003- invasion, are worse than what was observed in Hiroshima. In Japan, rates of leukemia rose by 660% in the years following the bomb. In Falluja, it increased by 2,200%. The toxicity of war has never been greater, and we are in no way reckoning with the scope of the horror that's been unleashed.

The real damage comes years later, with elevated cancer rates, leukemia clusters, respiratory disease, cardiovascular failure, neurological damage, reproductive issues.

This is chemical warfare, with delayed carnage. Worse than radiation sickness.

I am ashamed to be American today.

2/2

a picture of a huge, low, heavy cloud of black oil over Tehran

This is the cloud of oil currently hovering over Tehran, released when the US bombed the city's oil depots. A stew of particulate matter, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, benzene, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, heavy metals & volatile organic compounds is raining down into the city right now. 1/2

Picture of front cover of the ‘book of disappearance’ by Ibitsam Aden, first published in 2014; in the UK: 2024

Really interesting read, particularly considering ‘events’; first published in 2014 but in the UK in 2024. #reading #books

This thread 👇

‘They pushed so many lies about recycling’: the fight to stop big oil pumping billions more into plastics Plastic production has doubled over the last 20 years – and will likely double again. For author Beth Gardiner, metal water bottles and canvas tote bags are not the solution. So what is?

Petrochemicals for plastic are "expected to be the largest single driver of oil demand in the decades to come".

Fascinating interview with Beth Gardiner about her new book: Plastic Inc: Big Oil, Big Money and the Plan to Trash Our Future

www.theguardian.com/environment/...

The soot falling as black rain could contain chemicals like cancer-causing benzenes.

You don't want this stuff getting into water supplies.

Tehran was already on the brink of running out of water. Now even their rain is contaminated.

NEW: Watch this report just in from CNN’s Frederik Pleitgen. It is raining oil in Tehran this morning.

A city of 10 million is being actively poisoned.

(🎥 CNN)

Meaghan Wilson Anastasios (@meaghanwilsonanastasios) Oh, this. A thousand times, this. Norway 🇳🇴 wins the internet today.

Just found this post on Substack. This is a work of genius and well worth a watch (need sound, subtitles not accurate).

substack.com/@meaghanwils...

Genius! Sadly

Geneva Convention 1977 Protocols:
“It is prohibited to attack, destroy, remove or render useless objects indispensable to the survival of the civilian population, such as... drinking #water installations & supplies and irrigation works... for any other motive.”

Iran's FM condemns US attack on Qeshm's freshwater desalination plant, warns of grave consequences US President Donald Trump announced that Iran promised not to attack its neighbours anymore

Multiple news outlets are reporting a US attack on an Iranian #desalination plant.
If verified, this violates international law protecting #water systems during wars, and it sets a dangerous precedent, given intense dependence of Gulf countries on desalination.
timesofoman.com/article/1691...

I predict a Green wave in the local elections. Anyone who thinks our byelection win was an outlier is mistaken | Zack Polanski Since the Gorton and Denton victory, I have travelled the UK and seen the energy that result unleashed. More will follow, says Zack Polanski, leader of the Green party

"We saw that change in Gorton and Denton – and that result unlocked a new level of confidence for potential Green voters that they can truly vote for what they want and get it."

www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Both Russia and China coming to aid Iran - all engineered unnecessarily by fragile old men in US & Israel

UK must stockpile food in readiness for climate shocks or war, expert warns Prof Tim Lang says country produces far less food than it needs to feed population and is particularly vulnerable

These warnings about food security are happening almost weekly now

But does anyone think the government is taking a blind bit of notice

The UKs 3 worst harvests have been in the last 5 years

By 2050, the number of calories per head globally could be halved

www.theguardian.com/global-devel...

Humanity heating planet faster than ever before, study finds Researchers identify sharp rise to about 0.35C every decade, after excluding natural fluctuations such as El Niño

Time required for a 1C increase in global average temperature

1970 - 2008 average rise 0.18C per decade = 55 years

2015 - 2024 average rise 0.27C pd = 37 years

New study - last 10+ years - average rise 0.35 pd = 28 years

www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Pace of global warming has nearly doubled since 2015, study says - Carbon Brief An acceleration in human-caused global warming could see the Paris Agreement’s 1.5C limit breached before...

NEW – Pace of global warming has nearly doubled since 2015, study says

✍️ @ayeshatandon.carbonbrief.org

Read here ⬇️

"This is a life and death story for the UK – so why is it being brushed under the carpet?"

Healthy Life Expectancy at Birth Plummeting. 📉

It is a hideous scandal that they can publish a chart as obvious as this and not even mention the words 'covid infections'.

Humanity heating planet faster than ever before, study finds Researchers identify sharp rise to about 0.35C every decade, after excluding natural fluctuations such as El Niño

The Guardian on our new study, which shows that global heating is significantly gathering speed. Our efforts to overcome our fossil fuel addiction should do the same.
www.theguardian.com/environment/...

FT comments section this morning - saying what everyone else is thinking, right?

Dear Shabana, I notice today that you referred to me in your speech on immigration at the IPPR think tank. You said: “A party leader should not be on the beaches of France encouraging people to make a perilous crossing on small boats.” I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised especially after the hateful Labour campaign in Gorton and Denton, but this is just the latest in a string of lies peddled by a discredited Government who intentionally fan the flames of racism and division. When I went to Calais, I was not there to encourage people to travel to the UK. I was there to see at first hand the suffering your Government and successive Governments have done in demonising migrants in a pathetic bid to pander to the base instincts of Reform and the flawed strategy of Morgan McSweeney. As you will know, if you even bothered to research my visit instead of taking Reform talking points, I was there to witness the brutality of families living in tents in freezing temperatures. I filled water tanks and picked up litter. What that visit did do is confirm my belief that if we are to smash the boat gangs and stop the boats, we need to offer safer and managed routes for migrants to come to this country. Showing compassion as a politician is not a crime. In fact, we need to see much more of it. It reminded me of a young MP who in October 2015 spent three days in Lesbos helping migrants fleeing war-torn Syria. She posted videos on X, talked about handing out water and croissants to refugees and food parcels. When she returned to the UK, she wrote a very moving piece in the New Statesman. She said “we have to work with our European partners and create new, safe, and legal routes for refugees to get to Europe. We cannot abandon them to their fate, left as prey for smugglers whilst risking death on the seas.” She said “maybe we can make ourselves feel better by saying no-one is making them get on the boats. And again, the Home Secretary is not entirely wrong when …

Dear Shabana,

Let's clear some things up around migration and remember we're talking about people's lives.

Private Eye

Latest substack on Iran by @snellarthur.bsky.social is a must read

substack.com/home/post/p-...

It’s a picture of a white man wearing a suit … what’s the telegraph’s problem?? 🙄💚

An expat in Dubai has a startling revelation: the Stephen Collins cartoon Reality check …

www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle...

I particularly resent rags like Daily Mail gleefully reporting Trump’s bullying of Starmer. It’s disloyal and hypocritical - they’d be screaming from rooftops if U.K. meekly followed European diktats, yet would have us unquestioningly kowtow to Trump. Starmer’s task is incredibly difficult.

I turned off the radio and read Mark @chadbourn.bsky.social ‘s thread instead

Labour membership:
~366k early 2024
~309k early 2025
below 250k early 2026

Almost a third ⬇️in one year

Green membership:
100k Oct ‘25
200k now

Doubled in 5 months and set to overtake Labour.

Quadrupled in a year.

The party of multiplication not division. Of plus not minus. Of hope not hate.

I think about this Tony Benn speech much more than I used to

Why Attack Iran? Our Authoritarianism and Our Corruption

How to understand war with Iran? We must get away from propaganda. Facts suggest two interpretive frameworks: a foreign war as a mechanism to destroy democracy at home; and a foreign war as an element of personal corruption by the president of the United States.
snyder.substack.com/p/why-attack...

England remains an anomaly across the world, as the only country apart from Chile where water, a natural resource, is owned by private companies for profit