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As Varangians did in the next century in the Byzantine Empire, some settled in the kingdom, and some of those even formed the first bodyguard force for its ruler. Although many viewed them with suspicion, the king never needed worry about their loyalty, for they were truly Charlie's Angles.

When Nordic tribes migrated to Great Britain in the 5th century, not all went all the way. Some stopped on the way and some only left well into the 8th century. Those later travelers were unable to follow the earlier ones: they found the Frankish kingdom to the south too tough to go through.
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I was a decently successful politician until 2014 when one of the founders of the LGB Alliance stood against me. At the sane time and completely coincidentally there was a manufactured transphobic harassment campaign against me.

I had a nervous breakdown.

kinda fascinated by how the real big sea change with Claude etc is you can ask it a question how you would a person and then somehow you stop treating it like a person because I know y'all aint believing half of this shit if a person said it

This Is Just To Say

I have turned off
the AI features
that were in
the update

and which
you were probably
hoping
to monetize

Fuck you
they were stupid
so unnecessary
and so annoying

Planning applications: there may be leopards “It was on display in the bottom of a locked filing cabinet stuck in a disused lavatory with a sign on the door saying ‘Beware of the Leopard.’ ” So Douglas Adams, writing in 1979, judged the opacity...

🚨Clarion short read🚨
Ever commented on a planning application? Full marks for being an engaged citizen. But did you realise your name and address would be visible to the world? We look at a privacy leak in local democracy… and ask why it’s one rule for the public, another for councillors.

Aaron Swartz was hounded and persecuted by overzealous prosecutors for a mass JSTOR download until he committed suicide.

Sam Altman says that he deserves to violate copyright law in perpetuity because otherwise he can't make a fortune from a large language model.

We are in the wrong timeline.

Editors should not upload manuscripts to AI without permission, says Authors Guild The Authors Guild (AG) in the US has warned editors not to upload submitted manuscripts to consumer-facing AI systems.

Ooooh, this is gonna be a mess

www.thebookseller.com/news/editors...

“Mahler devoured all of music history and funneled it to an inflection point. To me, this is like a madrigal on acid.”

- Our director, describing a particular segment of Mahler’s 8th Symphony.

Come hear me, my 17yo, and 150+ of our closest friends on Sunday afternoon!

#baltimore

But do you have television in your automobile?

Status report, “Lunchtime Confusion, or How To Do ‘Technobabble’ Lesson” dep’t: …So this has to be a thing that happens to other people with similar developmental issues. …If you’re raised on one side of the Atlantic and live on the other, seems likely this might come up. (1/n)

Key evidence disappears from Tesla involved in bizarre crash The network card that stores and transmits crash data to Tesla's servers was physically removed from a Tesla Model Y involved in a violent 90 km/h crash in Bergen, Norway.

you might be surprised by how often Tesla's data recording systems randomly break, fail to function properly, go missing, or are otherwise mysteriously unable to perform their functions precisely when they are needed most

then again, you might not be surprised at all

electrek.co/2026/04/13/t...

EU’s top court finds Hungary’s anti-LGBTQ+ law in breach of key values ECJ says law passed in 2021 is discriminatory and ‘contrary to the identity of the union’, in early test for new PM

“The EU’s highest court has found Hungary’s anti-LGBTQ+ law to be discriminatory, stigmatising and in breach of basic democratic values…”

This is a crucial decision. The court rejected the political claim that LGBTQ+ representation is “propaganda.” We must keep fighting politics that dehumanise us.

This is a thorough history of rights-holders' influence over (mostly) film adaptations of Sherlock Holmes. For folks excited about Sherlock in the public domain and free to be gay, I HIGHLY recommend "Watson's Sketchbook," by @leeknoxostertag.bsky.social
mkobooks.bigcartel.com/product/wats...

A "Little Free Library" filled with only Merriam-Webster Dictionaries

Happy National Library Week to whoever did this.

You could call it "Eternity".

The Mask is Off: Major Anti-Abortion Group Calls for Arrest of Abortion Patients Students for Life says it should be "an easy vote"

It was only a matter of time: the powerful anti-abortion org Students for Life has endorsed legislation to imprison abortion patients.

The move marks the biggest shift in anti-abortion politics in decades. jessica.substack.com/p/the-mask-i...

Man on a bus: She's grouchy.
Woman: Grouchy? She's pregnant! You been pregnant?
Man: No.
Woman: No? Then stop chattin' about it.

LAPD Deployed Drones to Spy on No Kings Protest Flight records show that Los Angeles police dispatched drones 32 times over last month’s No Kings rally.

NEW: Flight data reveals that the LAPD's "Drone as First Responder" program—sold to the public as a public safety measure—is in fact being used to spy on anti-ICE/anti-Trump protests in Los Angeles.

theintercept.com/2026/04/20/l...

So relevant

Just spoke w/a lead researcher on the gut-neuro-brain axis front. They’ve found something actionable #LongCOVID & would be ready for an off-label trial were it not for the Rx patent holder’s disinterest 😑

Hopefully the main study—now under review w/ a major journal—will convince them…🤞

This is nuts. Why are we erecting additional barriers to housing for *children*? And barriers which lead to more instability for the people who most need stability.

'Marijuana' is the only English word in which the 'j' is silent.

Honestly it still works. I’m now struggling not to hum it on the plane, having read about it

Just a reminder that if you want to support someone on Patreon, make sure to do it on desktop/browser and not the App Store if you have an iphone/ipad. Apple charges YOU extra, and holds your money for nearly 3 months before paying it out to the creator.

I support the right of everyone to block me for any reason whatsoever, including that their dog farted while they were reading my post.

That said, occasionally I do go through three stages of being blocked:

1) Huh?
2) Seriously?
3) Yeah, that’s probably for the best. We were not gonna be friends.

Dudes. As a society we taught young women to walk with keys between their fingers in dark parking lots and to carry pepper spray in their purse.

So yes. I’m asking you to be responsible for the actions of other men. After all, that’s what you’ve asked of women for centuries.

It’s your turn.

Friends who let you vent without judging you are precious.

If your reaction is to say "65 million *visits*, not 65 million *men*!" then you need to do some serious self-reflection on why that is more important to you than the fact that a marital rape share site exists.

A contact form reads: Subject: Checking Authenticity Body of message Hi there Beth. I have been contacted by someone who is using the email, [email blacked out], and using you name and one of your novels 'Feast of the Starving Stone: The Chef’s Five' to engage with me as a fellow author - if it is you then great, if it is not, as i suspect, then this is a fake approach. I just wanted to be sure. thanks. [signed name blacked out] You're a real person, right? No, I'm a bot. Please don't include existential questions in a contact form. Yes.

I just found out that an AI scammer is impersonating me in their spam campaign. I am LIVID.

Please, please share this post. Warn people. I’m horrified that someone might be ripped off in my name.

No one is safe from being impersonated like this.

It turn out she has a name, which is weird.

Thank you, Connie Ballmer.