As predicted, by @michaelhobbes.bsky.social and @yrfatfriend.bsky.social

Praising JK Rowling when asked a question on trans rights is akin to praising Anita Bryant when asked a question gay rights. No money to Stonewall. No Stonewall at Pride. They are already experiencing a funding crisis, and this chairwoman appointment should be their last. Traitors.

They told me there would be no math. And they were right.

C.D.C. Cancels Publication of Study Showing Benefits of Covid Vaccines

The acting head of the CDC has canceled the publication of a study that found that the Covid vaccine sharply cut the odds of hospitalizations and emergency visits last winter

www.nytimes.com/2026/04/22/u...

From text message to executive order The rush to change the government’s stance on the substances, described by officials and advocates, offers a window into the top-down policymaking under Trump. Trump said he was called by Rogan and people who had taken psychedelics, who joined him at the signing ceremony, about the need to open access to the drugs. Rogan said he texted Trump about research around ibogaine, and the president’s response was quick: “Sounds great. Do you want FDA approval? Let’s do it.”

Expanding access to psychedelics for mental health seems like a good thing, but I gotta say I am not wild about this process.
www.statnews.com/2026/04/18/p...

Lesbian Visibility Week Bundle. 94 Sapphic and Lesbian Books for $40. 4/20 - 4/26. Exclusively on Itchio.

Happy Lesbian Visibility Week! This week only, you can get nearly 100 books featuring sapphics and lesbians for just $40! Included in this bundle is my epic fantasy novel, STARS AND SOIL.

itch.io/b/3635/

#queeradultSFF #lesfic

Single frame. Man standing in front of woman in wheelchair says: “Instead of complaining about the expensive nuclear subs we may never see, or our increasing expenditure on war machinery, maybe think about how properly funding YOUR NEEDS makes us LESS SAFE as a country…”

Priorities.
My @smh @theage cartoon.

Really?

Surely the most important budget savings are those areas that, unlike #NDIS, are of dubious or no benefit.

Such as:
- #AUKUS and other dodgy 'defence procurement'
- Tax breaks for multiple property owners
- Fossil fuel subsidies, and untaxed gas
- Super tax concessions for the wealthy.

NDIS changes put lives at risk

"NDIS reform can kill people. I say that with a deep certainty, and I am saying it because the system’s own figures already show the pattern…"

Georgia Cranko on the human cost of cuts to the NDIS: satpa.pe/ZSoGjZ5

Inside Trump’s Effort to “Take Over” the Midterm Elections When Trump tried to overturn the 2020 election, the institutional guardrails of American democracy held. But if faced with the same tests today, those barriers — and people who held the line — would l...

Trump has destroyed federal guardrails meant to ensure secure and fair elections.

Some fear his actions are aimed at making sure the upcoming midterms go his way.

Israel escalates attacks on medics in Lebanon with deadly ‘quadruple tap’ Lebanese health ministry says killing of 91 healthcare workers shows ‘total disregard’ for international law

The Israeli army struck civilians in the Lebanese city of Mayfadoun.

And then, the Israelis double-tapped the medics who arrived onto the scene.

And then, they triple-tapped the next wave of medics.

And then, they did it one more time for good measure.

Somewhere Bismarck is looking down in confusion as Germany projects power by sending 4,000 pensioners, 12 buffet stations and a TUI loyalty program through the Strait of Hormuz

If you think the nuclear-powered supercarrier USS Gerald R. Ford is the most powerful ship in the world, you are wrong. It's actually the German cruise ship Mein Schiff 4 (pictured), which successfully transited the Strait of Hormuz over the weekend

liveland raspberry apples, painted by ellen isham schutt, 1909

liveland raspberry apples, painted by ellen isham schutt, 1909

A Forbes article about a father who killed eight children, with an embedded prediction widget inviting people to speculate on whether "Congress will pass new gun safety legislation before 31st December 2026"

ghoulish

Yes, the transphobic UK media whitewash these people for public consumption.

WHO has recognised MECFS since 1969. Almost 60 years of denial and neglect.

clavicular's neurosurgeon asking the nurse for another hammer

Sharron Davies ranting against 15 minute cities, because of course she is.

Suzanne Moore in the Telegraph saying she wants to... kill all dogs??

Julie Burchill asking "does it matter if Grok undresses us all?" in The Spectator

Graham Linehan in the midst of his now four-day-long double down on Alex Pretti's murder being justified and fine.

Calling transphobia a 'gateway drug' to the far right undersells it. It's pure accelerant. Grimly fascinating to guess what crankery becomes any famous transphobe's secondary obsession, cos they all have one: 15 minute cities are fascism! Grok noncing is cool! ICE are good! We should kill all dogs!

Bluesky is the new Tumblr. Not in terms of userbase. But in terms of it being a site held together by paperclips and duct-tape ran by the most braindead people in tech who hate their most active users

“There is a city nearby that we hide from view. Its people are of all ages, ethnicities & classes. What unites them is a disease: all are diagnosed w/ myalgic encephalomyelitis.

We hide them there because we don’t know where else to put them. Like a plague village, we have no plans to treat them…”

bluesky is actually paying homage to an ancient internet tradition known as "signing off." it is a lost art, but people would "disconnect" and maybe return to the family computer after finishing dinner and homework

Springtime in the Cotswolds, England.
No photographer mentioned.
Good morning

No Bargain

“There is not a day or night but a doe offers her life for her kittens, or some honest captain of Owsla his life for his Chief Rabbit’s. Sometimes it is taken, sometimes it is not. But there is no bargain, for here, what is, is what must be.”

-Richard Adams

Shared Perspective

Professor Chris Ponting on how findings from the largest genetic study in #MECFS show “there is an organic disease called ME”.

“We’ve had letters from GPs saying we have changed their minds”

Clip from Hope 4 ME & Fibro NI Collaboration

Seth Mandel & @SethAMandel X.com Israel is facing an unusually difficult challenge to its image in America. The question, then, becomes: what would it cost Israel to maintain its popularity? Could Israel plausibly live in safety and security while also keeping Americans' sympathy?

LOL what, are we supposed to *not* try to destroy our subject population of unpersons? Are we meant to *not* not invade and seize land from our neighbours for colonisation? Should we *not* attack and try to collapse multiple countries into disastrous anarchy? Insane, fuck you.

JD Vance: "The bad news is that we have not reached an agreement. And I think that's bad news for Iran much more than it's bad news for the US. So, we go back to the US having not come to an agreement ... they have chosen not to accept our terms"

Running a sophisticated and expensive automated bot network from God knows where while pretending to be a genuine civilian trying to survive a genocide is not, in fact, a victimless crime.