Discworld QOTD, from Going Postal

NASA isn't why the US doesn't have universal healthcare, or a social safety net. The US doesn't have those things because politicians with the power to provide them choose specifically not to (with varying levels of support from voters). Enthusiasm for human spaceflight doesn't drive that choice.

Discworld QOTD, from Jingo

“History was full of the bones of good men who'd followed bad orders in the hope that they could soften the blow. Oh, yes, there were worse things they could do, but most of them began right where they started following bad orders.”

In my utopian vision of the future, instead of offloading all the pointless, annoying work tasks (like reports that none one will read and needlessly opaque forms) to robots, we restructure work and society so that the pointless tasks don't happen at all.

SIGN IN SOLIDARITY WITH LELA

I just signed a letter of solidarity for Lela, who is 15 weeks pregnant in Poland. She’s vomiting blood, can’t eat, her life is at risk and she can’t get a needed abortion because of the ban. Politicians must act and save her life. Sign now: app.sosha.ai/s/K7AK6SYx

SIGN AND CONVINCE THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION TO CHANGE THEIR MIND

Sign the petition to convince the European Commission to change their mind on My Voice, My Choice. Unofficial info says the draft response has a negative attitude. Decision Feb 26. Still time to change their mind. Sign ＆ share. app.sosha.ai/s/cEGL8C4D

Words by Funkit Toys from their thread https://bsky.app/profile/funkittoys.bsky.social/post/3mdtky5ug4s2r written Feb 1, 2026, art by Erika Moen. An illustration rendered to look prehistoric, as if it's on a stone tablet or stretched hide, shows an assortment of drawings depicting pieces of the following text. Narration: For anyone who may be losing faith in human progress, remember this: We invented the dildo 27,000 years before the gun. Image: A stone phallus with several cracks and intentionally carved penis-head at one end. Caption: Hohle Fels Phallus, 28,000 years ago

Text: We invented pornographic art tens of thousands of years before written language. Image: A simplified cave art painting depicting a couple having sex in doggy-style. Caption: Cave art, Tassili n'Ajjer, Algeria, 12,000 years ago.

Text: We invented the condom before steel. Image: An off-white, aged, sock-let with a long, ragged belt attached to it. Caption: Oil-soaked linen condom of King Tutankkamunn, 1332-1323 BCE

Text: Bread is older than war. Beer is older than borders. Image: A fancy loaf of bread, referenced from Pompeii, even though it's not the same time period as the caption, but it looks nice, ok?. Caption: Bread, 14,600-11,600 years ago. Text: We're better at making good things than bad. We've had more practice. Image: A barley field. Caption: Beer, 5,000 years ago. Text: Words by Funkit Toys, Art by Erika Moen, 2026

"We invented pornographic art tens of thousands of years before written language." - @funkittoys.bsky.social points out that history has always been ✨💕fucked💕✨, as illustrated by
@erikamoen.bsky.social

Public post with references: www.patreon.com/posts/150935...

Discworld QOTD, from Carpe Jugulum

Discworld QOTD, from Night Watch

I feel like it's a major role of populirasation is to transfer and share the spirit of science, how it's done, how it looks like - not just facts

And I think instead he simply says "science is always right"

*I haven't watched him in a while so I might be mistaken, but that's my impression

The reason I disliked Niel Degrasse Tyson before I learned about him commiting SA - is because he paints scientists as superhuman beings who are always right and should rule the world and academia consisting of perfect people...

Caveat Vendor Universities, audience capture, and bullshit; Beowulf, Kendrick Lamar

I wrote about the endless temptation successful people feel to justify and feel justified in a clearly toxic system. Happy new year.

open.substack.com/pub/rottenan...

Discworld QOTD, from Hogfather

always remember: Terry Pratchett said trans rights

this book was written in 1996 by a 48 year old British man and no cis person in 2025 has a single goddamn excuse to behave differently

Discworld QOTD, from Feet of Clay, for Trans Day of Remembrance

i don't know how to phrase this delicately, but i just want to communicate to young white men in incel-adjacent spaces that this sort of behavior will solve your problems

Congratulations!

Hey friends, sadly, we really need money & you can help us, even if you cannot donate. 🌸

A four-panel comic. Panel 1: A person sits at a desk saying, “I just don’t see why the government needs a backdoor to all software.” A man replies, “You make it sound so sordid.” Panel 2: The suited man continues: “Consider this: you’re wearing clothes. That’s fine, but how do we know you’re not hiding something in there.” Panel 3: The suited man says: “We don’t want you to go without clothes, so we offer a simple compromise. We make it so that all of your clothes are see-thru all the time, but only for a small group of distant people whose identity and motives are secret to you.” Panel 4: The seated person replies: “That analogy just makes it seem worse.” The suited man responds: “Analogy?”

On #GlobalEncryptionDay 🔒 we stand strong against encryption backdoors! 💪

We've just fought #ChatControl & we'll continue to fight wherever #encryption is under threat. But today we'd like to celebrate that 61% of all Tuta emails are sent end-to-end encrypted - a huge win for privacy. 🔥

Like, comment, and share! 🫶

reminder that you can be the gentlest, kindest person--you can dedicate your life to protecting the planet!--and still keep a little list of people you fucking hate. it's okay to be angry! anger is a symptom of giving a shit!

Solidly researched.
Evidence based.
Incontrovertible.

"An astounding 90% of autistic children consumed either breast milk or formula...ignoring potential confounders, control groups and statistical significance."

Hats off to @integralanswers.bsky.social for the fine work.

a mint green background with an illustration of a teal and yellow duck holding the yellow, white, purple, and black striped Gender Nonbinary flag. The duck is wearing a purple hat with a yellow ribbon, and beside it handwritten text reads "Duck the binary"

Duck the binary 🦆
#pride #art #illustration

How We Beat The Fascists Last Time: The London History Show YouTube video by J. Draper

It's a very good time to learn from the past

www.youtube.com/watch?v=XeHv...

I double dare you, MFF.

Congratulations!
You will win this fight!

Discworld QOTD, from Lords and Ladies

We Have Rights: When Documenting ICE Arrests This is "We Have Rights: When Documenting ICE Arrests" by MediaTank on Vimeo, the home for high quality videos and the people who love them.

This Fiona Apple narrated explainer PSA on how to film (and release footage from, not livestream) ICE arrests is exactly what we need from people with production skills right now and is worth about 3 million celebrity “imagine” covers in terms of survival utility

Why is it too much? Why do I have to live in a period where everything is going to shit?
Where people in power either ignore problems or literally destroy and kill with such cruelty

Why The Fuck?

All I want to do is:
1) do cool science and yap about it
2) meet new people, make new friends and lovers
3) travel
4) be able to visit people I love easily
5) not to be worried about my safety and the safety of human civilisation