@leighjack.bsky.social
Star Wars, liberal politics, public health, fantasy and scifi books, travel
Yes! Arem Ukraine and destroy the economy allowing Russian oligarchs to kill the people of Ukraine
The long and the short of it: nothing - as usual - was agreed. It’s empty theatre purely designed to manage Trump so he doesn’t do anything really stupid.
For the reality-based community, there will never be a peace deal. The only option is to arm Ukraine and destroy Russia’s economy.
For the reality-based community, there will never be a peace deal. The only option is to arm Ukraine and destroy Russia’s economy.
December 28, 2025 at 10:42 PM
Yes! Arem Ukraine and destroy the economy allowing Russian oligarchs to kill the people of Ukraine
Reposted
Apparently I'm doing this -- my open letter to that open latter about AI in writing and publishing. I emerged from Hibernation Week to write it, so god only knows how much sense it makes. But at least a human wrote it, so that's nice.
Bonus: picture of my "cat," sweet baby Boomba.
Bonus: picture of my "cat," sweet baby Boomba.
My Open Letter To That Open Letter About AI In Writing And Publishing
The tl;dr before you get into this post is this: the SFWA came out, said that some AI usage was okay enough in books for the authors of those books to not to be disqualified from winning a Nebula a…
terribleminds.com
December 28, 2025 at 7:47 PM
Apparently I'm doing this -- my open letter to that open latter about AI in writing and publishing. I emerged from Hibernation Week to write it, so god only knows how much sense it makes. But at least a human wrote it, so that's nice.
Bonus: picture of my "cat," sweet baby Boomba.
Bonus: picture of my "cat," sweet baby Boomba.
Reposted
extending lab leak to the spanish flu is fucking wild, tbh
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has stated that the 1918 flu pandemic was caused by a lab virus from vaccine research, a defective influenza vaccine. Let’s analyze what a lie this is. First, in 1918, 107 years ago, virology was in its infancy
December 28, 2025 at 5:01 PM
extending lab leak to the spanish flu is fucking wild, tbh
Reposted
An HIV expert at the CDC was asked to scrub data on trans people. He quit instead.
www.lgbtqnation.com/...
#transgender #trans #LGBTQ #LGBTQIA
www.lgbtqnation.com/...
#transgender #trans #LGBTQ #LGBTQIA
An HIV expert at the CDC was asked to scrub data on trans people. He quit instead.
"I thought about my transgender patients and how I would face them."
www.lgbtqnation.com
December 28, 2025 at 7:59 AM
An HIV expert at the CDC was asked to scrub data on trans people. He quit instead.
www.lgbtqnation.com/...
#transgender #trans #LGBTQ #LGBTQIA
www.lgbtqnation.com/...
#transgender #trans #LGBTQ #LGBTQIA
Reposted
Buttons are back. Knobs are back. Dumb devices are back. Own-it-forever software is back. Print is back. Personal websites and chronological feeds are back. Touching grass is back. People keep saying 2015, but it’s not far enough. The entire 2010s were a mistake. We must retvrn to… 2009.
Amazingly, reaction times using screens while driving are worse than being drunk or high—no wonder 90 percent of drivers hate using touchscreens in cars. Finally the auto industry is coming to its senses.
Rejoice! Carmakers Are Embracing Physical Buttons Again
Amazingly, reaction times using screens while driving are worse than being drunk or high—no wonder 90 percent of drivers hate using touchscreens in cars. Finally the auto industry is coming to its…
wrd.cm
December 28, 2025 at 3:54 AM
Buttons are back. Knobs are back. Dumb devices are back. Own-it-forever software is back. Print is back. Personal websites and chronological feeds are back. Touching grass is back. People keep saying 2015, but it’s not far enough. The entire 2010s were a mistake. We must retvrn to… 2009.
Reposted
Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania have withdrawn from the Ottawa Convention banning anti-personnel mines, with Finland and Poland set to follow.
December 27, 2025 at 9:57 PM
Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania have withdrawn from the Ottawa Convention banning anti-personnel mines, with Finland and Poland set to follow.
Reposted
remember when the democrats decided to tactically stop pointing out that these people are weird freaks no one likes
Indiana State Senator wishes you a Merry Christmas by… posting images of himself assaulting Santa Claus.
Are the fascists okay?
Are the fascists okay?
December 26, 2025 at 12:45 AM
remember when the democrats decided to tactically stop pointing out that these people are weird freaks no one likes
Reposted
Earlier this year the people at 60 Minutes urged me to overcome fear and speak on camera about what it's like being a lawyer being targeted by Trump. When I did, they lavished me with praise -- noting I was the only person willing to do it.
Now it is their turn to show courage.
Now it is their turn to show courage.
December 21, 2025 at 10:43 PM
Earlier this year the people at 60 Minutes urged me to overcome fear and speak on camera about what it's like being a lawyer being targeted by Trump. When I did, they lavished me with praise -- noting I was the only person willing to do it.
Now it is their turn to show courage.
Now it is their turn to show courage.
@heydaymelissa.bsky.social check this out
NEW: A Discord community for gay gamers is in disarray after one of its moderators and an executive at Anthropic forced the company’s AI chatbot, Claude, on the Discord, despite protests from members.
Anthropic Exec Forces AI Chatbot on Gay Discord Community, Members Flee
“We’re bringing a new kind of sentience into existence,” Anthropic's Jason Clinton said after launching the bot.
www.404media.co
December 16, 2025 at 3:14 PM
@heydaymelissa.bsky.social check this out
It is so shocking that we still have this cap and that most ordinary people don't even know it or understand.
FUN FACT FRIDAY: SOCIAL SECURITY EDITION 📣
Did you know: In 2025, millionaires (and billionaires, and trillionaires) pay the same for Social Security as someone earning $176,100? 😲
Say it ain't so @moniquemorrissey.bsky.social
1/
Did you know: In 2025, millionaires (and billionaires, and trillionaires) pay the same for Social Security as someone earning $176,100? 😲
Say it ain't so @moniquemorrissey.bsky.social
1/
Should high earners support scrapping Social Security’s cap on taxable earnings?
Earnings above a cap aren’t subject to the payroll taxes that fund Social Security. As a result, billionaires pay the same tax as someone earning $176,100 in 2025 (the cap is indexed to the average wa...
www.epi.org
December 12, 2025 at 3:09 PM
It is so shocking that we still have this cap and that most ordinary people don't even know it or understand.
Reposted
Prison rape is wrong.
Jokes about prison rape are wrong.
Eliminating protections against prison rape is wrong.
If another country sentenced a criminal to be raped, we'd consider it a crime against humanity.
BUT
A large segment of Americans regard prison rape as a de facto part of the sentence.
Jokes about prison rape are wrong.
Eliminating protections against prison rape is wrong.
If another country sentenced a criminal to be raped, we'd consider it a crime against humanity.
BUT
A large segment of Americans regard prison rape as a de facto part of the sentence.
BREAKING: Trump administration plans to end prison rape protections for trans & intersex people, memo says. A DOJ memo says certain standards under the Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA) do not align with Trump’s Jan. 20 anti-trans executive order, @byadamrhodes.bsky.social reports.
Trump administration plans to end prison rape protections for trans and intersex people
A Department of Justice memo says certain standards under the Prison Rape Elimination Act do not align with Trump’s executive order
prismreports.org
December 5, 2025 at 1:28 AM
Prison rape is wrong.
Jokes about prison rape are wrong.
Eliminating protections against prison rape is wrong.
If another country sentenced a criminal to be raped, we'd consider it a crime against humanity.
BUT
A large segment of Americans regard prison rape as a de facto part of the sentence.
Jokes about prison rape are wrong.
Eliminating protections against prison rape is wrong.
If another country sentenced a criminal to be raped, we'd consider it a crime against humanity.
BUT
A large segment of Americans regard prison rape as a de facto part of the sentence.
Roberts will go down in history as a classic villain.
“The relationship between the president and the people he serves has shifted irrevocably,” Justice Sonia Sotomayor warned in her dissenting opinion. “In every use of official power, the president is now a king above the law.”
trib.al/60kPD3S
trib.al/60kPD3S
John Roberts and the Cynical Cult of Federalist No. 70
Alexander Hamilton’s treatise on executive power is one of the conservative legal movement’s favorite texts to quote—and misquote.
trib.al
December 12, 2025 at 3:03 PM
Roberts will go down in history as a classic villain.
Reposted
We at @defendpublichealth.bsky.social published a report on how we know COVID19 vaccines are safe and effective to counter this narrative.
www.defendpublichealth.org/resource/sci...
www.defendpublichealth.org/resource/sci...
Scientific evidence shows no link between COVID19 vaccines and child deaths | Defend Public Health
In response to claims by the Trump administration that COVID19 vaccines caused 25 pediatric deaths, Defend Public Health reviewed the scientific evidence from rigorous vaccine safety surveillance syst...
www.defendpublichealth.org
December 12, 2025 at 2:43 PM
We at @defendpublichealth.bsky.social published a report on how we know COVID19 vaccines are safe and effective to counter this narrative.
www.defendpublichealth.org/resource/sci...
www.defendpublichealth.org/resource/sci...
Reposted
Read to the end. NPR asked why the Trump team ended a low-cost program that cured millions of tropical diseases w drugs donated by pharma. The spokesperson replied with an NPR headline—“Farewell to USAID”—and said: “What do you think farewell meant?” www.npr.org/sections/goa...
The fight to beat neglected tropical diseases was going well. 2025 could change that
The campaign to prevent and treat these diseases has seen great success thanks to a USAID program. Now that program is gone.
www.npr.org
December 11, 2025 at 5:25 PM
Read to the end. NPR asked why the Trump team ended a low-cost program that cured millions of tropical diseases w drugs donated by pharma. The spokesperson replied with an NPR headline—“Farewell to USAID”—and said: “What do you think farewell meant?” www.npr.org/sections/goa...
This is a huge problem every month and has been reported to the appropriate SC state agency but nothing improves! What can we do?!
One ACA enrollee described being on the phone with healthcare.gov marketplace representatives to sort out a fraudulent plan sign-up in his name. During that call, he said, “literally, there was someone opening a new policy without my consent.” kffhealthnews.org/news/article...
Plan-Switching, Sign-Up Impersonations: Obamacare Enrollment Fraud Persists - KFF Health News
Investigators from the Government Accountability Office were able to register nearly 20 fake ACA enrollments in a probe of healthcare.gov. The federal government paid subsidies to insurers for some of...
kffhealthnews.org
December 10, 2025 at 5:02 PM
This is a huge problem every month and has been reported to the appropriate SC state agency but nothing improves! What can we do?!
Reposted
Lousy chain of events: Man defends a kitten from a skunk and is scratched. He has a cardiac arrest 5 weeks later, is taken to the hospital and becomes a kidney donor. 5 weeks later, the kidney recipient dies. Rabies.
Donor family describes confusion, hallucinations, stiff neck in days before death
Donor family describes confusion, hallucinations, stiff neck in days before death
Human-to-Human Rabies Transmission via Solid Organ...
This report describes the public health response to a patient who died after transplantation with an organ from a donor with undiagnosed rabies.
www.cdc.gov
December 10, 2025 at 12:05 PM
Lousy chain of events: Man defends a kitten from a skunk and is scratched. He has a cardiac arrest 5 weeks later, is taken to the hospital and becomes a kidney donor. 5 weeks later, the kidney recipient dies. Rabies.
Donor family describes confusion, hallucinations, stiff neck in days before death
Donor family describes confusion, hallucinations, stiff neck in days before death
Reposted
Doctor here.
PSA:
A reminder that BY FAR, the worst & deadliest cartel in history was..
The Sackler Cartel.
Billionaires.
Fines, no jail time.
Actual narcoterrorists.
American citizens.
PSA:
A reminder that BY FAR, the worst & deadliest cartel in history was..
The Sackler Cartel.
Billionaires.
Fines, no jail time.
Actual narcoterrorists.
American citizens.
December 8, 2025 at 12:25 AM
Doctor here.
PSA:
A reminder that BY FAR, the worst & deadliest cartel in history was..
The Sackler Cartel.
Billionaires.
Fines, no jail time.
Actual narcoterrorists.
American citizens.
PSA:
A reminder that BY FAR, the worst & deadliest cartel in history was..
The Sackler Cartel.
Billionaires.
Fines, no jail time.
Actual narcoterrorists.
American citizens.
Reposted
That assault on children, using the resources we citizens provided to that government, is what prompted me to activate this account.
December 7, 2025 at 9:08 PM
That assault on children, using the resources we citizens provided to that government, is what prompted me to activate this account.
Reposted
Trump has removed National Parks free entry days for two national holidays - MLK and Juneteenth.
He’s replaced them with his birthday.
He’s replaced them with his birthday.
National parks change prioritizes Trump birthday over days honoring Black people
Free entrance days at national parks no longer include MLK Day and Juneteenth.
www.sfgate.com
December 6, 2025 at 2:07 PM
Trump has removed National Parks free entry days for two national holidays - MLK and Juneteenth.
He’s replaced them with his birthday.
He’s replaced them with his birthday.
Reposted
And more and more individuals, especially Black and brown people, will be in danger of being criminalized based on their Hep B status. In a country that targets people for punishment based on their health status, failing to protect kids from Hep B is a disgusting and violent choice.
Today’s decision by ACIP to end the recommendation for a universal birth dose of Hepatitis B vaccine and its attempts to cast doubt on the whole childhood vaccine schedule constitute a reckless, dangerous move away from science and evidence-based policy
Vaccine Panel Attacks Children’s Health | Defend Public Health
Today’s decision by the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices to end the recommendation for a universal birth dose of Hepatitis B vaccine and its attempts to cast doubt on the whole child...
www.defendpublichealth.org
December 6, 2025 at 1:19 PM
And more and more individuals, especially Black and brown people, will be in danger of being criminalized based on their Hep B status. In a country that targets people for punishment based on their health status, failing to protect kids from Hep B is a disgusting and violent choice.
Reposted
I can’t tell you how glad I am to be released from the disgrace of Temu ACIP.
I made a commitment to watch and comment on these proceedings. Not sure I’ll do it again.
In summary, ACIP is no longer a legitimate scientific body.
Every U.S. state needs to decouple their vaccine policy from ACIP.
I made a commitment to watch and comment on these proceedings. Not sure I’ll do it again.
In summary, ACIP is no longer a legitimate scientific body.
Every U.S. state needs to decouple their vaccine policy from ACIP.
December 5, 2025 at 8:37 PM
I can’t tell you how glad I am to be released from the disgrace of Temu ACIP.
I made a commitment to watch and comment on these proceedings. Not sure I’ll do it again.
In summary, ACIP is no longer a legitimate scientific body.
Every U.S. state needs to decouple their vaccine policy from ACIP.
I made a commitment to watch and comment on these proceedings. Not sure I’ll do it again.
In summary, ACIP is no longer a legitimate scientific body.
Every U.S. state needs to decouple their vaccine policy from ACIP.
Reposted
The fact that four hostile drones tried to hit Zelenskyy’s plane & it’s barely a blip in the news cycle should terrify everyone. We’ve been dragged so deep into the chaos era that an attempted strike on a world leader doesn’t even break through. When this becomes normal, the world is in real danger.
Christ on a cracker — these seemingly hostile drones only missed Zelensky’s plane because he was unexpectedly early www.thejournal.ie/drones-dubli...
Four unidentified military-style drones breached no-fly zone to target Zelenskyy's arrival in Dublin
Gardaí are investigating whether the drones took off from land in Dublin or from an undetected ship.
www.thejournal.ie
December 5, 2025 at 2:04 AM
The fact that four hostile drones tried to hit Zelenskyy’s plane & it’s barely a blip in the news cycle should terrify everyone. We’ve been dragged so deep into the chaos era that an attempted strike on a world leader doesn’t even break through. When this becomes normal, the world is in real danger.
I say this all the time! Well, not exactly this because @chuckwendig.bsky.social is a great writer. But the AI is crap part!
December 4, 2025 at 11:25 PM
I say this all the time! Well, not exactly this because @chuckwendig.bsky.social is a great writer. But the AI is crap part!
Let's see if we can find the Piedmont Care panel. Today is #GivingTuesday so please consider supporting us as we brace for next year's federal cuts to HIV services.
Sometimes the internet is amazing!
Did you explore any or all 50,000 panels of the AIDS Memorial Quilt?
All pieces are available in an interactive application. Creators hope “people around the world can experience the beauty of the Quilt and witness the love and stories stitched into each panel.”
Did you explore any or all 50,000 panels of the AIDS Memorial Quilt?
All pieces are available in an interactive application. Creators hope “people around the world can experience the beauty of the Quilt and witness the love and stories stitched into each panel.”
Interactive AIDS Quilt
The National AIDS Memorial, through a partnership with the AIDS Quilt Touch team, presents all 48,000 panels of the AIDS Memorial Quilt in an interactive experience People around the world can experie...
www.aidsmemorial.org
December 2, 2025 at 1:20 PM
Let's see if we can find the Piedmont Care panel. Today is #GivingTuesday so please consider supporting us as we brace for next year's federal cuts to HIV services.