Rest in peace.
I will miss your voice.

Vale Patrick Stewart, dead at 86.

For me he'll always be Gurney Halleck and Captain Jean-Luc Picard.

"The thing people misunderstand is that satire is about challenging those in power, and you know who’s had it too good for too long? Bluey, and women with prolapsed vaginas." #auspol https://theshovel.com.au/2026/10/29/satire-must-be-protected-says-woman-who-sued-pauline-pantsdown/

Allegra Spender* MP, all for cuts, but no details.

*Father was John Spender, Liberal federal MP for North Sydney from 1980 to 1990.

#auspol
Golding

More insidious rat-f**ing and election interference by Meta and its owner.

Meta suspended Florida Democratic Senate candidate Angie Nixon's organizing account at Instagram yesterday. It was restored this morning.

We need to get more people to use the Fediverse.

1/n

RE: https://tech.lgbt/@Natasha_Jay/117519819579484167

Over and over, I tell my students things like

“stated job requirements are mostly meaningless, just box-checking HR Mad Libs”

and “companies are terrible at hiring and mostly have no idea how to do it”

and “getting hired involves somehow talking to a real human being at the company who is involved in the job you’re applying for, which involves first getting past a gauntlet of nonsense generated by people and machines that know nothing whatsoever about the work and that in fact may be in direct opposition to every need and desire of the people who’d want to work with you”

and “the job interview process is mostly not even about you •at all•, so never take it personally.”

…and they give me such blank looks, like the words coming out of my mouth aren’t even real sentences. But:

"Our government has never spent more on health..." #NZpol #cartoon #NZListener

https://caffeineandlasers.com/LNP-Policy-Generator/

#auspol

"The government is under pressure to curb spending"

I can't see any particular spending that could to be cut without serious implication for people in need and/or the future.

Maybe it's private consumption that needs curbing. Who's consumption could be reduced without adverse side effects. How to deduce unnecessary consumption?

In war, it's been done by getting the rich to buy war bonds, so they didn't upgrading their car etc. Also, rationing so everyone got a bite of resources.

This isn’t law enforcement, it’s racist bounty hunters. Echoes of a very dark era.

migrantinsider.com/p/ice-built-...

A Black Swan Event is an occurence that is unlikely, unexpected, and carries massive impact

The phrase derives from the Roman poet Juvenal. The Romans never saw a black swan

But in 1697 Dutch explorers found some in Australia

Maybe we should rename it a Green Star Event

A green star is impossible

The way black body radiation works with rising temperature the color green never shows

So…

Ah, fuck

"Astronomers discover the 1st ever green star"

https://www.space.com/astronomy/stars/astronomers-discover-the-1st-ever-green-star-a-cosmic-zombie-just-in-time-for-halloween

#astronomy #science

Been looking for a story, “Dreamweaver’s Dilemma” by Lois McMaster Bujold. First published in 1996 (written 1982), it's the title story of a collection of the author's short stories and essays. Not readily available.

It's the earliest set story in the Vorkosigan Universe. 500 years before Miles' birth and 300 years before “Falling Free”.

I've just discovered it's part of a collection of 5 early McMaster Bujold short stories called “Proto Zoa” (2011).

I have you now! Will get the audiobook.

New explanation for the Fermi paradox: every developing civilization eventually produces a Trump, which ends it.

RE: https://mastodon.energy/@chrisnelder/117474532741354674

We've seen plenty of evidence this year that the war on Iran and the closure of the Strait has driven up oil and gas prices and pushed countries to accelerate their switch to renewables.

But now there are second-order effects. Indonesia has curtailed gas exports to Singapore, which gets about 95% of its electricity from gas. Replacing Indonesian pipeline gas with LNG would increase Singapore's exposure to the spot market, so it will push them to switch to renewables sooner too. https://www.thejakartapost.com/business/2026/10/24/indonesia-cuts-gas-exports-to-singapore

‘As I write this, the Washington Post has published at least four articles about Obama’s “Cheesecake Factory” line, and zero articles about a new allegation of rape against Donald Trump, who has already been found liable for sexual assault.’
— @jamisonfoser.bsky.social https://www.findinggravity.net/more-women-have-accused-donald-trump-of-rape-than-have-seen-him-in-a-cheesecake-factory/

MOTHER JONES: “THEY WENT TO JARED… Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner used his position to hop in bed with autocrats and sell out America.”

And the Hunter Biden hunters are silent. @MarshaBlackburn

www.motherjones.com/politics/202...

Go, Neil!

https://www.rollingstone.co.uk/music/news/neil-young-sues-trump-committee-10-million-over-use-of-rockin-in-the-free-world-65426/

Saw this on FB - posted by Principles Not Parties

#FreePalestine #SanctionIsrael
#politics #genocide #Israel #Palestine #Jewish #Gaza