Kim Jong Un sits invitingly on a bed. Flunkies take notes.

Happy 12th anniversary to this extremely cursed image.

A £1.5 billion contract. Are they sure the military couldn't do it in-house for less?

🧵Outsourcing company Serco should send people to North Korea to see how they do it!

(Serco recently won the contract for military recruitment in the UK, replacing Capita, who made a complete hash of Army recruitment)
ukdefencejournal.org.uk/serco-awarde...

KCNA news report: Large Numbers of School Graduates Volunteer for Army in DPRK This Year Pyongyang, April 19 (KCNA) - This year, large numbers of senior middle school graduates in the DPRK determined to wear the military uniform of the revolution or volunteered for the forefront border posts. The North Hwanghae Provincial Youth League Committee let the graduates enjoy art performances given by members of the schoolchildren's art squad and their mothers, and educated them about patriotism. As a result, more than 1 000 students of over 50 classes volunteered for the frontline border posts.

Meanwhile in North Korea, the word “volunteered” doing so much heavy lifting it’s going to appear on World’s Strongest Man this Christmas.

There is a single American Candy store in central London that is legitimately selling American candy at a reasonable price, and they’re sick of this bad press.

How about a smart hat? Smart hats are the future.

I think whatever happens with the situation in the Strait of Hormuz is going to have a bigger impact on the UK than whatever happens with Keir Starmer's leadership.

Today we remember the horrific tragedy of the Columbine shooting. 27 years later, it is a disgrace that gun violence is still the leading cause of death for children in America.

Stevie Wonder isn't blind.

Poster describing the 'Downfall of the Dictators is Assured'. From Imperial War Musuem collection.

I know I've posted this before but I fucking love this poster.

Need to get a print framed and put up on the wall.

Barry Cryer

Remembering Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, born on this day, one hundred years ago.

The dullest micro scandal in history, being covered like it’s the OJ trial.

Nigel Farage Attacks X as ‘Dangerous’ Despite His MPs Pocketing £55,000 From Elon Musk’s Platform Reform UK leader Nigel Farage said yesterday that “X is now becoming a very unpleasant and very dangerous place,” despite his MPs pocketing more than £55,000 from the site since the July 2024 general ...

🔴 NEW - Nigel Farage Attacks X as ‘Dangerous’ Despite His MPs Pocketing £55,000 From Elon Musk’s Platform

The Reform leader said his candidates are being racially abused on X, yet his MPs have made big sums from the site.

📝 @joeygrostern.bsky.social

These people are ridiculous

Infectious diseases killed about two thirds of soldiers in the American Civil War, rather than actual fighting

oh and we could build an infrastructure that enabled them to do the work full time without subservience to market or state. then they could dig in to their discourses and even get together for accountable dialogue. heck, they could even train up the next gen. just lovin this idea

so many personal newsletters to subscribe to. i kinda wish they'd pool together and print out the best ones for a reasonable rate. peers could review and decide what to print. libraries could let us drop in and have a peak. it would be cool

Feel free to take a look

Unfair to James Bond scriptwriters, frankly

But we probably ought to find other places than just China to build our car batteries

🧵Once it's as easy to fill a battery as a petrol tank, petrol cars are done for

Is it just me, or is Bluesky slowing down again today?

Utterly absurd

Hegseth cancels ‘absurd’ flu vaccine requirement for ‘brave warriors’ in military Hegseth described his latest directive as ‘restoring’ what he called ‘simple medical autonomy’ in response to the Biden administration’s Covid-19 policies

Pete Hegseth cancels ‘absurd’ flu vaccine requirement for ‘brave warriors’ in military

Odd thing here: he cites religious objections, but appears to be limiting this to the flu vaccine in particular.

Religious objections to vaccination were actually relatively rare pre-COVID, but have grown since the pandemic.

But I'm unaware of religious objections to *only* flu vaccines?

Draft officers arrested for kidnapping a man, demanding $30,000 bribe in Odesa; office chief suspended Four draft officers were detained in Odesa after allegedly abducting a man, beating him, and demanding $30,000, as military authorities suspended two recruitment office chiefs.

⚡️ Draft officers arrested for kidnapping a man, demanding $30,000 bribe in Odesa; office chief suspended.

According to the investigation, the suspects abducted a man in Odesa on April 21 and forcibly put him in a van and drove around the city, the Prosecutor General's Office said.

'Cooling, not a reversal' — Why Bulgaria's new Russia-friendly leader is unlikely to become EU's next Orban The landslide victory of ex-President Rumen Radev's party in Bulgaria's April 19 parliamentary election is seen by many as a boost to Russia-friendly, Ukraine-skeptic voices within the European Union....

"Radev's instincts are different — accommodation through paralysis rather than confrontation. He will not use Bulgaria's veto to block EU decisions on Ukraine," Dimitar Keranov, an analyst at the German Marshall Fund's European Resilience program, told the Kyiv Independent.

Incredible the number on this list who claim to be, in some sense, left wing. Socialists supporting a grim oligarchy running criminal petrostate propped up by a far right "church"

I would also recommend this moderation list- a mass block/mute of the worst offenders

bsky.app/profile/did:...

Not to be gloomy, but this could also read "Trump’s approval rating is still at 37%; a shocking low 63% of Americans now say they disapprove of how he is handling the job".
Nearly 4 in 10 of Americans still think their President is doing a good job! 😲

A screenshot of a post on X (formerly Twitter) by Magyar Péter (Ne féljetek), with the handle @magyarpeterMP. The post reads: "Until 31 May, the Orbán puppets may voluntarily step down from their positions. This applies to the President of Hungary, the President of the Curia, the President of the National Office for the Judiciary, the President of the Constitutional Court, and the Prosecutor General. On 12 April, the Hungarian people voted for a complete political transformation. If these officials do not step down voluntarily by 31 May, then — on the basis of the mandate received from millions of Hungarians — we will remove them from office." At the bottom, the timestamp reads "3:04 AM • Apr 21, 2026" alongside "19.9K Views".

Peter Magyar is not playing around at all. He's going to purge every single remnant of corrupt Orbanism. This is exactly how Dems need to be when they retake power.