‘An element of exploitation’: the world of TikTok child skincare influencers Experts say regulation of child influencers sits in a legal grey area as children promote products on social media

And a second piece where Sarah spoke to some children who are part of some brands' ambassador schemes www.theguardian.com/technology/2...

don't think I can read this without becoming homicidal :) but may be of interest to others:

Dying in office is not supposed to be a fucking goal.

I remember when Gordon Brown got raked over the coals for privately shrugging off an anti-immigrant racist as "that bigoted woman" with every paper *including The Guardian* being all "oh no how very DARE he???" but I guess it's OK for Mahmood to tell pro-immigrant anti-racists to "fuck right off"

At no point through the Momentum era or during the current explosion of support for the Greens under Polanski have they ever or will they ever frame that grassroots socialism as the Will of the People in the same way they've spent decades doing for FRINGE English ethnonationalism.

At least four killed in Israeli strikes on Lebanon, journalists wounded Journalists wounded in Israeli attacks in at-Tiri, Lebanon's National News Agency (NNA) reports.

Journalists wounded in Israeli attacks in at-Tiri, Lebanon’s National News Agency (NNA) reports.

Women don’t always realize that their audible presence is stifled just as strictly as their bodies were by corsetry.
For a woman to belch, or (god forbid) break wind, in company is still both shocking and socially shaming. There is still a convention that women’s voices should be soft and musical.

RUSSIA FORCED INTO OIL PRODUCTION CUTS

According to Reuters Russian oil output has had to be cut by 300-400,000 barrels per day as it no longer has the pumping and refinery capacity to cope, nor the export capacity to sell it abroad. All of course, a result of Ukraine’s drone attacks!

The US right is literally doing the thing that the UK right says is an appalling restriction of free speech in universities

WTF is this photo?

Let's generate some more AI slop instead.

World food systems ‘pushed to the brink’ by extreme heat, UN warns Severe heatwaves in commonly hot regions could leave farmers unable to work outside, with livestock mortality rates expected to rise

I really like food and would prefer we do something about this:

www.theguardian.com/world/2026/a...

We are fucked.

The other day, I read that the aviation industry aims to double passengers numbers by 2050. I despair.

for some reason rich people and politicians have still not figured out we actually need food to live

A deal with Vance isn't necessarily a deal with Trump.

🌋And todays stupid award goes to....

They climbed to the top of Santiaguito Volcano in Guatemala yesterday even though there is a complete ban.

Palantir: National service should be a universal duty. We should, as a society, seriously consider moving away from an all-volunteer force and only fight the next war if everyone shares in the risk and the cost. Translation: We’re going to bring back the draft. Our vision of permanent war only works if we courageously volunteer people 40 years younger than us to die for oil.

Palantir: Some cultures have produced vital advances; others remain dysfunctional and regressive. All cultures are now equal. Criticism and value judgments are forbidden. Yet this new dogma glosses over the fact that certain cultures and indeed subcultures . . . have produced wonders. Others have proven middling, and worse, regressive and harmful. Translation: Which cultures? Oh, you know the ones.

We translated each part of Palantir's 22-point manifesto because public service is our passion
www.theverge.com/policy/91523...

Read @nickturse.bsky.social's latest:

Grim but useful read.

Global energy markets are on the verge of a disaster
economist.com/finance-and-...

Imagine making AI slop when pelicans are already cursed.

I have been online and arguing about politics for nearly twenty five years and not once have I ever seen anyone respond to vote scolding with anything but "fuck you"

if you want to be mad at people for not voting, sure, knock yourself out

if you want them to vote next time, try a different tactic

here is the thing about vote scolding: it doesn't work

my personal position is that the right thing to do is to vote and - because the republican party is so completely world-destroyingly insane - to vote for the democrats

but you simply cannot change minds on this by scolding people

Drawing of a book with a desk printer on the cover with the title "The printer that simply worked and other fairy tales"

“The direction of travel is not just slow – it’s backwards” – commentary on Scottish Government’s land reform policy by REVIVE coalition’s campaign manager The following opinion piece was published in The Herald yesterday, written by Max Wiszniewski, Campaign Manager for REVIVE, the coalition for grouse moor reform. In the public reception hall of the…

"The direction of travel is not just slow - it's backwards".

Op Ed on Scottish land reform in yesterday's Herald, written by Max Wiszniewski, Campaign Manager for @revivecoalition.bsky.social the coalition for grouse moor reform.

New blog ⬇️

raptorpersecutionuk.org/2026/04/20/t...

Hunting with hounds: Government consultation on strengthening hunting laws and a rally in London Many of you will be aware of the Westminster Government’s recently published Animal Welfare Strategy in which it committed, amongst other things, to opening a public consultation on how to ba…

Hunting with hounds: Government consultation on strengthening hunting laws and a rally in London.

Details ⬇️

raptorpersecutionuk.org/2026/04/22/h...

Buzzard dies after being tied to a tree root in Powys – RSPCA appeals for information The RSPCA is appealing for information after the discovery of a dead Buzzard that had been tied, when alive, to the root of a tree. A member of the public found the dead Buzzard on the afternoon of…

Buzzard dies after being tied to a tree root in Powys, Wales - RSPCA appeals for information.

Details ⬇️

#RaptorResearch #WildlifeCrime #birdingwales

raptorpersecutionuk.org/2026/04/22/b...

Exactly this

The Trump administration, from top to bottom, is filled with spiteful malicious bullies who insist that they're innocent aggrieved victims.

This argument never holds any weight. “Well we’re already doing destructive stuff so we might as well do more destructive stuff”
Plus you’re acting like this world wasn’t manufactured for us to need smartphones whether we want them or not.