Owen Blacker
@owenblacker.bsky.social
🇪🇺🏳️🌈🏴🇵🇸♿⧖ he/him, cis.
Queer political geek; proud social justice warrior+trans ally. Queering Wikipedia (and chair of @wmlgbt.org), Open Rights Group, ex-mySociety. Dysgwr. My opinions, not my employer’s.
t.me/owenblacker
owen.blacker.me.uk
Queer political geek; proud social justice warrior+trans ally. Queering Wikipedia (and chair of @wmlgbt.org), Open Rights Group, ex-mySociety. Dysgwr. My opinions, not my employer’s.
t.me/owenblacker
owen.blacker.me.uk
Reposted by Owen Blacker
The RSPB care more about protecting women and girls than Sex Matters, Wizard Glinner, and every single Terf still on X.
Major charities including the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) have stopped posting on social media platform X due to controversy surrounding its artificial intelligence tool’s image-creating function
www.civilsociety.co.uk/news/major-c...
www.civilsociety.co.uk/news/major-c...
Major charities leave X after AI images controversy
www.civilsociety.co.uk
January 19, 2026 at 8:43 AM
The RSPB care more about protecting women and girls than Sex Matters, Wizard Glinner, and every single Terf still on X.
Reposted by Owen Blacker
surely this is some other baroness doctor cass? the baroness doctor cass i know and love would be horrified at such a reckless approach to intervention
January 19, 2026 at 8:30 AM
surely this is some other baroness doctor cass? the baroness doctor cass i know and love would be horrified at such a reckless approach to intervention
Reposted by Owen Blacker
Cass provided "basic training" to staff when she was in NI based on the training she's giving to NHS England staff "to ensure the ability to deliver consistent assessments and formulate holistic management plans in line with other centres"
JFC "They said the visit by Baroness Cass and her team “marks the beginning of a collaborative relationship to enhance Gender Identity Services in Northern Ireland”."
January 19, 2026 at 8:30 AM
Cass provided "basic training" to staff when she was in NI based on the training she's giving to NHS England staff "to ensure the ability to deliver consistent assessments and formulate holistic management plans in line with other centres"
Reposted by Owen Blacker
"Dominique Pelicot could have been arrested before he started inviting men to rape his wife.
"He provided a DNA sample after a conviction for taking pics of women with a spy camera in 2010. It linked him with an attempted rape the year before&a report was posted to prosecutors, but was lost." Times
"He provided a DNA sample after a conviction for taking pics of women with a spy camera in 2010. It linked him with an attempted rape the year before&a report was posted to prosecutors, but was lost." Times
January 19, 2026 at 8:16 AM
"Dominique Pelicot could have been arrested before he started inviting men to rape his wife.
"He provided a DNA sample after a conviction for taking pics of women with a spy camera in 2010. It linked him with an attempted rape the year before&a report was posted to prosecutors, but was lost." Times
"He provided a DNA sample after a conviction for taking pics of women with a spy camera in 2010. It linked him with an attempted rape the year before&a report was posted to prosecutors, but was lost." Times
Reposted by Owen Blacker
One-joke letter in today's Times
January 19, 2026 at 8:14 AM
One-joke letter in today's Times
Reposted by Owen Blacker
They're trying to stop the puberty blocker trial from having any children on it [Times]
Keira Bell involved.
Keira Bell involved.
January 19, 2026 at 8:11 AM
They're trying to stop the puberty blocker trial from having any children on it [Times]
Keira Bell involved.
Keira Bell involved.
Reposted by Owen Blacker
Very good piece, this, with much of the nuance that has been absent from the debate. Worth noting in particular, the NSPCC does not support a ban.👇🏻
Downing St is poised to launch a consultation into social media restrictions on teenagers, here’s our scoop from Saturday’s FT:
www.ft.com/content/acbe...
www.ft.com/content/acbe...
January 19, 2026 at 8:00 AM
Very good piece, this, with much of the nuance that has been absent from the debate. Worth noting in particular, the NSPCC does not support a ban.👇🏻
Reposted by Owen Blacker
Hilary Cass, who wants to ban u16s from social media, comparing social media use to a nut allergy because that's how she does science for kids.
January 19, 2026 at 8:05 AM
Hilary Cass, who wants to ban u16s from social media, comparing social media use to a nut allergy because that's how she does science for kids.
Reposted by Owen Blacker
Shameless
January 19, 2026 at 7:37 AM
Shameless
Reposted by Owen Blacker
That young man has syrup in his voice.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=wGjc...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=wGjc...
Raphael Saadiq, Miles Caton & Ludwig Göransson – I Lied to You from the Sinners Soundtrack
YouTube video by Jimmy Kimmel Live
www.youtube.com
January 19, 2026 at 6:11 AM
That young man has syrup in his voice.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=wGjc...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=wGjc...
Reposted by Owen Blacker
The Trump move on Greenland is celebrated as a huge victory on multiple fronts by Moscow. As Danish papers and the Danish intelligence service have documented, the whole effort to persuade Trump that he "needed" Greenland was born in the Kremlin. kyivindependent.com/russia-welco...
Russia welcomes Trump's tariffs on NATO allies over Greenland as 'collapse' of alliance
"The transatlantic alliance is over," Kremlin economic negotiator Kirill Dmitriev said.
kyivindependent.com
January 18, 2026 at 7:07 PM
The Trump move on Greenland is celebrated as a huge victory on multiple fronts by Moscow. As Danish papers and the Danish intelligence service have documented, the whole effort to persuade Trump that he "needed" Greenland was born in the Kremlin. kyivindependent.com/russia-welco...
Reposted by Owen Blacker
Not being American it’s beyond me watching this absolutely insane codger grandpa’s keys the entire globe into WWIII and no one will do a fucking thing about it.
He's demanding control over a sovereign nation because they didn't give him THE NOBEL PRIZE. Why the actual fuck do we have a 25th Amendment?
January 19, 2026 at 6:32 AM
Not being American it’s beyond me watching this absolutely insane codger grandpa’s keys the entire globe into WWIII and no one will do a fucking thing about it.
Reposted by Owen Blacker
this is what it has come to for Mexican restaurants in the Twin Cities
January 19, 2026 at 2:12 AM
this is what it has come to for Mexican restaurants in the Twin Cities
Reposted by Owen Blacker
Your doomposts do not impress me. They do not make me laugh. They do not make me feel like you are on my side.
If you wanna curl up into a ball and die, go do it on your own time, and keep it to yourself. I want to interact with people willing to put in the work to fight.
If you wanna curl up into a ball and die, go do it on your own time, and keep it to yourself. I want to interact with people willing to put in the work to fight.
January 19, 2026 at 6:25 AM
Your doomposts do not impress me. They do not make me laugh. They do not make me feel like you are on my side.
If you wanna curl up into a ball and die, go do it on your own time, and keep it to yourself. I want to interact with people willing to put in the work to fight.
If you wanna curl up into a ball and die, go do it on your own time, and keep it to yourself. I want to interact with people willing to put in the work to fight.
Reposted by Owen Blacker
the knitters too. this is the top pattern on ravelry right now
January 19, 2026 at 4:40 AM
the knitters too. this is the top pattern on ravelry right now
Reposted by Owen Blacker
aside from work stuff, i mostly use social media to look at funny videos of dogs and subreddits about nail polish. you would not BELIEVE what the lacqueristas are getting up to over there, the anti-ICE nail art is flooding the feed.
January 17, 2026 at 9:13 PM
aside from work stuff, i mostly use social media to look at funny videos of dogs and subreddits about nail polish. you would not BELIEVE what the lacqueristas are getting up to over there, the anti-ICE nail art is flooding the feed.
Reposted by Owen Blacker
Deeply important to understand that Trump never jokes. All of this stuff that started as a joke and then became real was never a joke. He always says what he wants to do and people SAY it's a joke because they're too callow to acknowledge that he's the most ignorant, vicious person alive.
![NEW: @potus letter to @jonasgahrstore links @NobelPrize to Greenland, reiterates threats, and is forwarded by the NSC staff to multiple European ambassadors in Washington. I obtained the text from multiple officials:
Dear Ambassador:
President Trump has asked that the following message, shared with Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre, be forwarded to your [named head of government/state]
“Dear Jonas: Considering your Country decided not to give me the Nobel Peace Prize for having stopped 8 Wars PLUS, I no longer feel an obligation to think purely of Peace, although it will always be predominant, but can now think about what is good and proper for the United States of America. Denmark cannot protect that land from Russia or China, and why do they have a “right of ownership” anyway? There are no written documents, it’s only that a boat landed there hundreds of years ago, but we had boats landing there, also. I have done more for NATO than any other person since its founding, and now, NATO should do something for the United States. The World is not secure unless we have Complete and Total Control of Greenland. Thank you! President DJT”](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:hbpefio3f5csc44msmbgioxz/bafkreie7itpptx3xbxhpsnlaqmwk752h7pcrion5ija2apksljtax2adx4@jpeg)
January 19, 2026 at 6:31 AM
Deeply important to understand that Trump never jokes. All of this stuff that started as a joke and then became real was never a joke. He always says what he wants to do and people SAY it's a joke because they're too callow to acknowledge that he's the most ignorant, vicious person alive.
Reposted by Owen Blacker
Ds and establishment Rs saying "if he goes for Greenland/Canada that will end him" rings extremely hollow in Europe and Canada where they are having to stump up real costs to deal with it even if nobody is shooting at each other yet. It's not an "if". It's already eating costs over it today
January 18, 2026 at 11:53 PM
Ds and establishment Rs saying "if he goes for Greenland/Canada that will end him" rings extremely hollow in Europe and Canada where they are having to stump up real costs to deal with it even if nobody is shooting at each other yet. It's not an "if". It's already eating costs over it today
Reposted by Owen Blacker
The incredibly lukewarm Democratic response on Greenland is being noticed in Europe, incidentally.
Chuck Schumer not finding a stronger word than “quixotic” for Trump’s plan to seize Greenland has been name checked to me more than once.
Chuck Schumer not finding a stronger word than “quixotic” for Trump’s plan to seize Greenland has been name checked to me more than once.
But Americans who want to save the alliance with Europe must have no illusions about how bad a condition this transatlantic partnership is in.
January 18, 2026 at 10:05 PM
The incredibly lukewarm Democratic response on Greenland is being noticed in Europe, incidentally.
Chuck Schumer not finding a stronger word than “quixotic” for Trump’s plan to seize Greenland has been name checked to me more than once.
Chuck Schumer not finding a stronger word than “quixotic” for Trump’s plan to seize Greenland has been name checked to me more than once.
Reposted by Owen Blacker
look he's seen the polling, this is not a statement about what's effective, it's a statement about what they want to be committed to doing with power should they win. if they run on opposing ICE then they'll have to actually oppose ICE. this is ideology masquerading as electoral strategy
NEW: In this interview, Chuck Schumer describes the "five buckets" Dems think are key to their possibly winning a Senate majority in 2026: housing, "the high price of food [and] food monopolies playing a major role there," electricity, "the high cost of childcare," and health care.
Zero Chucks Left to Give
Chuck Schumer now sees a path back to the majority. Can he manage his way through it?
www.thebulwark.com
January 19, 2026 at 1:18 AM
look he's seen the polling, this is not a statement about what's effective, it's a statement about what they want to be committed to doing with power should they win. if they run on opposing ICE then they'll have to actually oppose ICE. this is ideology masquerading as electoral strategy
Reposted by Owen Blacker
like unironically the Democratic Party of Korea has handled Yoon coup exactly how you should treat a direct attack on constitutional government and democracy
also an aside, a partisan political attack on our democracy was never going to have a non-partisan legalist solution, its a fundamentally a political problem
the theory behind the "investigation" of donald trump was that an event which had never before happened and which the entire conservative legal movement existed to prevent (the prosecution of a republican president for a crime) would occur mechanically by operation of law, without biden's approval.
January 19, 2026 at 3:51 AM
like unironically the Democratic Party of Korea has handled Yoon coup exactly how you should treat a direct attack on constitutional government and democracy
Reposted by Owen Blacker
Just wanna make it clear for folks:
The same way Civil Rights protestors has hoses and dogs set on them? They're causing these life-changing injuries on purpose. They want to scare you off the streets.
The same way Civil Rights protestors has hoses and dogs set on them? They're causing these life-changing injuries on purpose. They want to scare you off the streets.
US federal forces blind two protesters shot in face with ‘less-lethal’ munitions
Kaden Rummler and Britain Rodriguez tell KTLA and LA Times of being shot at close range during California protest
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...
Kaden Rummler and Britain Rodriguez tell KTLA and LA Times of being shot at close range during California protest
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...
US federal forces blind two protesters shot in face with ‘less-lethal’ munitions
Kaden Rummler and Britain Rodriguez tell KTLA and LA Times of being shot at close range during California protest
www.theguardian.com
January 19, 2026 at 4:19 AM
Just wanna make it clear for folks:
The same way Civil Rights protestors has hoses and dogs set on them? They're causing these life-changing injuries on purpose. They want to scare you off the streets.
The same way Civil Rights protestors has hoses and dogs set on them? They're causing these life-changing injuries on purpose. They want to scare you off the streets.
Reposted by Owen Blacker
My mayor told me police keep killing his constituents so I asked how many constituents he has and he said he just gives the police more money for training afterwards so I said it sounds like he’s just paying the police to kill his constituents and then Matt Yglesias started crying.
January 15, 2026 at 4:38 PM
My mayor told me police keep killing his constituents so I asked how many constituents he has and he said he just gives the police more money for training afterwards so I said it sounds like he’s just paying the police to kill his constituents and then Matt Yglesias started crying.
Reposted by Owen Blacker
Not that I expect anybody in the Trump administration to know this, but there's a surprising amount of Danish film and TV from the last 15 years that is deeply marked by the effect the Afghanistan War had on Danes. In particular, I'd recommend the 2015 Tobias Lindholm film A War.
"Denmark is small… But it has tried to uphold its end of the bargain. It lost more soldiers per capita than the United States did in Afghanistan."
@isaacstanleybecker.bsky.social on the bewilderment of the Danes, as Trump threatens their country over Greenland.
@isaacstanleybecker.bsky.social on the bewilderment of the Danes, as Trump threatens their country over Greenland.
January 19, 2026 at 3:30 AM
Not that I expect anybody in the Trump administration to know this, but there's a surprising amount of Danish film and TV from the last 15 years that is deeply marked by the effect the Afghanistan War had on Danes. In particular, I'd recommend the 2015 Tobias Lindholm film A War.