Lisa Cumming

@lisacumin

Works in & around conflict grappling. (Local peacebuilding • Nonviolence • Peace practice & thinking.) Worries in the valley, dreams on the moors. Personal account.

866 Siguiendo1525 Seguidores1051 Publicaciones

Bluesky

¿Es tu perfil?Reclámalo y lisacumin.dirty.social es tuyo.Reclamar perfil

Lisa Cumming@lisacumin· 6d

Waiting with the heather & dragonflies. #Eclipse #CalderValley

Colander & grater next to white card on grass.

Lisa Cumming@lisacumin· 22d

"Terrorism should be defined narrowly..." Report of the Independent Commission on UK Counter-Terrorism Law, Policy and Practice (Nov 2025). binghamcentre.biicl.org/documents/22...

Narrowing the Definition of Terrorism

"The statutory definition of terrorism forms the foundation of all UK counter-terrorism law, including terrorism-related offences. Evidence presented to the Commission highlighted that its broad scope extends beyond acts of violence or serious threat, creating uncertainty and overreach in its application. A definition that relies heavily on executive
discretion risks inconsistency, perceptions of unfairness, and the treatment of legitimate protest as terrorism.

To ensure clarity and proportionality while maintaining operational effectiveness, the Commission recommends a more focused statutory definition. Terrorism should be defined narrowly as acts intended to coerce, compel, or subvert government or an international governmental organisation, and the threshold for property damage should apply only to conduct causing serious risk to life, national security, or public safety, or involving arson, explosives, or firearms
(Recommendations 8, 9 and 10)."

Lisa Cumming@lisacumin· 24d

Reserves of strength through the beauty.

"Those who contemplate the beauty of the earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts. There is something infinitely healing in the repeated refrains of nature -- the assurance that dawn comes after night, and spring after winter."

Rachel Carson, Silent Spring (1962)

Lisa Cumming@lisacumin· 24d

We stand still.

"We stand now where two roads diverge. But unlike the roads in Robert Frost's familiar poem, they are not equally fair. The road we have long been traveling is deceptively easy, a smooth superhighway on which we progress with great speed, but at its end lies disaster. The other fork of the road — the one less traveled by — offers our last, our only chance to reach a destination that assures the preservation of the earth."

Rachel Carson, Silent Spring (1962)

Lisa Cumming@lisacumin· 24d

For the zillioneth time I wonder how it feels to be Franny Armstrong watching our age of stupid unfold.

Poster of film. Film title says, "Pete Postlethwaite, The Age of Stupid, (L'Âge de la Stupidité)". Image is of a man looking serious with thick smoke coming out of his head. Behind the man is scorched land and high rise buildings smouldering.

Lisa Cumming@lisacumin· Jul 19

No rain for weeks but harebells still flowering above a field where four hares hang out. #CalderValley #Yorkshire #WildflowerHour

Lisa Cumming@lisacumin· Jul 16

A very succinct & important point (made on another platform) from peace scholar Paul Rogers.

"Trump, Andy Burnham and risk of war crimes in Iran:

A substantial US assault on Iranian civil infrastructure is well-nigh certain to involve committing war crimes. Such an air assault would require the continued use of two air bases in the UK, RAF Fairford for deploying B-1B and B-52 heavy bombers and RAF Lakenheath for deploying air-to-air refuelling planes. One of Andy Burnham’s first decisions in Downing Street will be whether to allow this."

Lisa Cumming@lisacumin· Jul 6

Hardcastle Crags has become the UK's first Woodland of Sanctuary with @cityofsanctuaryuk.bsky.social. What a beautiful thing. 🧡

Stepping stones across a woodland river to a little stone cottage.

Lisa Cumming@lisacumin· Jul 4

"Why, I have been a butterfly, a lord Of flowers, garlands, love-knots, silly posies, Groves, meadows, melodies, and arbour roses;" (Keats) #NationalMeadowsDay

Orange tip butterfly on cuckoo flowers in a grassy wet meadow.

Lisa Cumming@lisacumin· Jun 27

Loving the hollyhocks at the Pavilion Gardens in Brighton.

Soft pink hollyhocks with Brighton Pavilion in the background.

Soft yellow hollyhocks with Brighton Pavilion in the background peeking through trees.

Lisa Cumming@lisacumin· Jun 27

Sending love & solidarity to all feeling less safe, less secure, less included.

Rainbow over a Calder Valley hillside (known as Scout Rock).

Lisa Cumming@lisacumin· Jun 19

And (in case useful) trams are €20 for 7 days unlimited use for non residents. You can get about within the city, access the coast + see the flamingos & storks at Méjean - Maison de la Nature via Lattes.

Storks in nest with tops of chick's just showing.

Six flamingos paddling in wetlands.l, more in the distance.

Lisa Cumming@lisacumin· Jun 19

Just been to beautiful, friendly #Montpellier where trams are free for residents. Free public transport. Clean, safe, easy to use. Sometimes mini utopias are not so utopian.

Inside of a shiny, clean tram with red & green interior, looking from the back towards the front.

Lisa Cumming@lisacumin· May 27

That was not a relaxing start to the morning, so here's a foxglove coming into flower.

Bright pink flowered foxglove surrounded by green grass & bushes, under bright blue skies.

Lisa Cumming@lisacumin· May 24

Bugle (Ajuga) in the grounds of the Ammerdown Centre, a place offering hospitality, peace, & reconciliation in Somerset. #WildflowerHour

Lisa Cumming@lisacumin· May 24

"Wallflower, wallflower | Won’t you dance with me?" Happy 85th Bob Dylan. #WildflowerShow #WildflowerHour

Cow parsley one side of a drystone wall, a sunny meadow of buttercups the other.

Lisa Cumming@lisacumin· May 17

My boot for scale.

Booted leg stood next to green leaves, tiny dot of white chickweed flowers just about visible.

Lisa Cumming@lisacumin· May 17

Tiny offering of tiny chickweed. #wildflowerhour #tinyplants #Bloomscrolling

Lisa Cumming@lisacumin· May 10

Calder Valley vetch, clover, & cow parsley. Had no idea these were of the #carrotsandpeas family, nice to learn with #wildflowerhour.

Top left vetch, top right clover, bottom left cow parsley & billberries (hills & moors is in the distance), bottom right cow parsley.

Lisa Cumming@lisacumin· May 9

Spent yesterday evening gazing at four brown hares on a hillside lined with cow parsley & billberries.

Cow parsley, billberry bushes in the foreground. Green hills and moors in the background.

Lisa Cumming@lisacumin· May 8

I'd recommend looking at Lederach's three gifts (clarity | curiosity | perseverance) in his free "Pocket Guide for Facing Down a Civil War". www.johnpaullederach.com/2024/07/pock...

"After decades of working in and listening to those working in contexts of violence and polarisation, Lederach offers three gifts...

The gift of clarity: When facing tensions of deep difference, share your best understanding of your views and proposals without judgement or retreat.
The gift of curiosity: Interact with others' experiences and ideas rather than reacting quickly or judging, particularly when you feel confronted.
The gift of perseverance: Find ways to stay in touch. Keep circling back. After all, humananizing always needs a human touch."

Lisa Cumming@lisacumin· May 3

"How lovly now are lanes and balks For toils and lovers sunday walks The daisey and the buttercup For which the laughing childern stoop A hundred times throughout the day." John Clare Meadow buttercups for #ButtercupChallenge #WildflowerHour

Lisa Cumming@lisacumin· May 1

Thinking about mutuality this May Day.

"But it is not love and not even sympathy upon which Society is based in mankind. It is the conscience — be it only at the stage of an instinct — of human solidarity. It is the unconscious recognition of the force that is borrowed by each person from the practice of mutual aid; of the close dependency of every one’s happiness upon the happiness of all; and of the sense of justice, or equity, which brings the individual to consider the rights of every other individual as equal to his own."
Pyotr Kropotkin, Mutual Aid: A Factor in Evolution (Annotated)

Lisa Cumming@lisacumin· May 1

Deeply shocked to learn of the unexpected death of Bana Gora. Co-founder of the Muslim Women's Council with the late, dear Nuzhat Ali. As Ishtiaq Ahmed reflects, "She was always visionary, often controversial, but above all, driven by a determination to create lasting change."

Woman (Bana Gora) standing next to a banner that says, "Muslim Women's Council".

Lisa Cumming@lisacumin· Apr 26

Orange-tip butterfly on cuckooflowers at the local wetlands (Brearley Fields, Calder Valley). #WildflowerHour

Orange tip butterfly on cluster of pale pink, delicate flowers.

Lisa Cumming@lisacumin· Apr 17

Good words & the Pope appears to be a Dylan fan too. www.france24.com/en/africa/20...

Quote that says, "The masters of war pretend not to know that it takes only a moment to destroy, yet often a lifetime is not enough to rebuild," he added.

"They turn a blind eye to ‌the fact that billions of dollars are spent on killing and devastation, yet the resources needed for healing, education and restoration are nowhere ⁠to be found."

Subheading says, "A world turned upside down."

Lisa Cumming@lisacumin· Apr 13

Hmm... www.icrc.org/en/community...

"Fake and abusive website pages and scams using the ICRC’s identity or emblem may be reported through available channels, and legal action may be taken as needed. As a reminder, the misuse of the Red Cross, Red Crescent, or Red Crystal emblems are prohibited by law and may result in legal action and sanctions."

Lisa Cumming@lisacumin· Apr 12

Very battered by hail. #WildflowerHour #WoodlandPlants

Lisa Cumming@lisacumin· Apr 7

Just heard the latest awful after a day in the hills where the birds make so much more sense. Thinking of everyone feeling the news. Thinking of those doing what they can to prevent the US President carry out genocidal threats against the Iranian people.

Moorland path surrounding a reservoir, deep blue sky above.

Lisa Cumming@lisacumin· Apr 5

Leighton Moss cowslips after a day of watching marsh harriers, grebes, a little gull, and otters playing catch with an eel. #WildflowerHour #CowslipChallenge