Laura Gibbs

YouTube video by Haymarket Books The Corporate Coup in Global Context: An Emergency Town Hall

If you missed tonight’s town hall with @naomiaklein.bsky.social, @chenjerai.bsky.social, @astra.bsky.social, and @keeanga.bsky.social on resisting the shock and awe politics of the far right and their billionaire enthusiasts, you can watch the video here:

ha ha, now I am thinking something like "they even sleep with their hats on" :-)

The Oud: 'Never short of melodious song' - Medievalists.net Three poems from the 10th century celebrating a musical instrument.

The Oud: ‘Never short of melodious song’ https://www.medievalists.net/2022/02/the-oud-never-short-of-melodious-song/ #MedievalLiterature

This feels so relevant right now.

請不要將食物帶入圖書館 食物殘渣會引來老鼠 老鼠會在圖書館學習知識 考上大學 接著取代你

Lol this sign

"Do not bring food into the library

Food residue will attract mice
Mice will acquire knowledge in the library
Get into university
Then replace you"

😂

yay! I like ones that are not so hard but at the same time give you that weird "oh wow, I never thought about it like that" feeling :-)

and here's Lesson 24: 1st Dec. Review
proverbsgrammar.blogspot.com/2025/01/lati...

Via antiqua via est tuta
Patria est ubicumque est bene
Longa est vita si plena est
Nonne anima plus est quam esca?
Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa

#AncientBlueSky #LatinLanguage #EasyLatin #LatinViaProverbs

and next up is another version of the horse and the donkey, a fable of compassion and the lack thereof:
Ἵππος καὶ ὄνος
greekreaders.blogspot.com/2025/02/gree...

along with a couple more jokes from the Philogelos!

#AncientBlueSky #Classics #GreekLanguage #AncientGreek #EasyGreek #Aesop #GreekAesop

text: I know ten children in two families who wear their hats on the backs of their heads. Who are they?

today's riddle is an easy one (I think) but fun:

I know ten children in two families who wear their hats on the backs of their heads. Who are they?

answer and more riddles too!
sites.google.com/view/riddlew...

#RiddleWizard #Riddles #DailyRiddle

I walked passed this on the Embankment this morning. It was incredibly sad and moving, and as someone who came very close to dying from Covid, it really made me think about my kids and family. The sheer scale of the memorial is incredible.

I rebuilt the torrent file on archive.org/details/2025... and it should be all set.

Some federal workers are ‘getting wealthy at taxpayer expense,’ says Elon Musk, whose companies have received at least $20 billion from the government

See here's how to do a headline.

fortune.com/2025/02/13/e...

Orange virus spreads

The famous fable of the dog and his reflection:
Κύων καὶ σκιά

Plus a story about a fly about to depart this life, and honest talk from the mother of a very bad bird.

Greek and English:
greekreaders.blogspot.com/2025/02/gree...

#AncientBlueSky #Classics #AncientGreek #EasyGreek #Aesop #GreekAesop

Latin Lesson 23: More Neuter Words
proverbsgrammar.blogspot.com/2025/01/lati...
Lac gallinaceum.
Ubi mel, ibi fel.
Tempus breve est.
Nil magis nostrum est quam tempus.
Praeteritum nihil, praesens instabile, futurum incertum.

#AncientBlueSky #LatinLanguage #EasyLatin #LatinViaProverbs #LatinLOLCats

The sheer indifference to the employees here is galling:
"Thousands of workers were laid off in messages delivered through prerecorded videos and on group calls. Some were ordered to leave the building within 30 minutes. Others were told they would be formally fired by emails, which never arrived."

text: Many people share a house, each with their own room; if one goes into the wrong room, the others become confused. Who are they?

sometimes riddles are about old-time things no longer in use, but these are still in use!

Many people share a house,
each with their own room;
if one goes into the wrong room,
the others become confused.
Who are they?

answer: sites.google.com/view/riddlew...

#RiddleWizard #Riddles #DailyRiddle

RFK Jr. Is a One-Man Plague It’s not just that he’s misinformed. It’s the way his mind works that’s dangerous.

"Under no circumstances should any sane person take his health advice. Nor should any senator consent to give him authority over government agencies that regulate our food and medicines."

For many Americans with kidney disease, Medicaid is the difference between getting care or going without. Every cut to Medicaid puts lives at risk. We must strengthen, not weaken, this essential program.

text: I have a house: I painted it green outside, white inside, with a pink prison in which many prisoners are locked up. Who am I?

today's riddle is edible:

I have a house: I painted it green outside, white inside, with a pink prison in which many prisoners are locked up. Who am I?

answer and more riddles too:
sites.google.com/view/riddlew...

#RiddleWizard #Riddles #DailyRiddle

An Oregon mom who has two kids with special needs called my office because she’s worried that they won’t be able to attend kindergarten if the Department of Education is eliminated.

I am not up on COVID conspiracy theories, but I just read a book on climate denialism:
The Parrot and the Igloo by David Lipsky
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Par...
I learned a lot. None of it good. And global warming "hoax" retribution will be coming too I'm sure...

quote "we seem to have a Labour government that appears indifferent to the chaos unfolding before their very eyes. Not only has Labour abandoned its pledge to scrap tuition fees, but Keir Starmer has adopted a fingers-in-ears approach to the unfolding crisis in higher education and is doing nothing"

quote "Now, staff is finally authorized to issue new and continuing grants under existing "funding policies." The grants will be issued "with “the previously approved negotiated indirect cost rates” and not the 15% indirect cost cap the Trump administration was seeking to impose."

Very well-done story from Angus Chen about impacts of the ongoing attack on US science and technology.

Here is (IMO, since I said it) a key point about cuts to NIH.

Cuts to Academic Programs with ‘Low ROI’ Hide Political Censorship - PEN America Targeting academic programs on the grounds of ROI revokes students’ ability to choose what subject to study.

Legislators restricting academic programs – using “Return on Investment” as a smokescreen for ideological censorship – is “paternalistic overreach at best, intentional political censorship at worst.”

Read more from PEN America’s Clare Carter here: pen.org/cuts-to-acad...

Doggett, Ways and Means Democrats Give the Executive Branch 14 Days to Provide Information on DOGE’s Unlawful Access to Treasury’s Payment Systems Contact: Alexis.Torres@mail.house.gov

With Trump giving Musk access to confidential info on every American, I led every @waysmeanscmte.bsky.social Democrat in demanding Congress receive within 14 days all documents and materials related to their intrusion.

We must protect privacy, demand accountability, and shine a light on DOGE.

Since I wrote this, things have only got worse. Trump's efforts to coerce Gazans to leave & Jordan & Egypt to take them in wd be deeply destabilising, & his suggestion that Ukrainians "may be Russian some day" flies in the face of 11 years of UA resistance. Europe can't ignore the harm he's doing.