Victor Sojo

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York MP calls on royal family to explain source of £12m Virginia Giuffre payment Rachael Maskell says ‘a lot of clarity’ needed over how Prince Andrew funded settlement of sexual abuse case

York MP calls on royal family to explain source of £12m Virginia Giuffre payment

Rachael Maskell says ‘a lot of clarity’ needed over how Prince Andrew funded settlement of sexual abuse case www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...

If anyone's wondering how this is possible, the answer is these strike teams are moving terrifyingly fast. Grab first, ask questions later. We were about 8-15 minutes behind them today for several hours. They're jumping out of vans, chasing people across lawns, taking them from bus stops, etc

Great write-up of an important study by @tevoelker.bsky.social and @dasalgon.bsky.social. Far-right actors have been very successful in setting the political agenda. Many in politics and media still ignore this. They argue "immigration is important to people, hence we need to talk about immigration"

‘It’s like a nuclear bomb has hit’: shocked Palestinians return home to desolation Families are going back to Gaza City and surrounds to find their neighbourhoods obliterated, with many forced to camp in the ruins When the Gaza ceasefire took effect a week ago, tens of thousands of Palestinians began to move from the sprawling camps in the south back to their homes in Gaza City and the surrounding area. For most, it was a shocking and bitter homecoming. Continue reading...

‘It’s like a nuclear bomb has hit’: shocked Palestinians return home to desolation

President Trump commutes the prison sentence of George Santos The disgraced New York Republican was sentenced to more than seven years in prison after pleading guilty to a litany of federal charges, including wire fraud and identity theft.

The disgraced New York Republican was sentenced to more than seven years in prison after pleading guilty to a litany of federal charges, including wire fraud, identity theft and money laundering. n.pr/47uii5k

We shouldn’t repost extremists, we are only boosting them by doing that. Engage in criticism and present your own position without reposting their toxic message.

Progressive patriotism: ACTU’s 25% gas export tax should replace broken PRRT Analysis by The Australia Institute reveals that replacing the broken Petroleum Resource Rent Tax (PRRT) with a flat 25% tax on gas exports, as suggested by the ACTU, would raise more than $17 billion...

Analysis by The Australia Institute reveals that replacing the broken Petroleum Resource Rent Tax (PRRT) with a flat 25% tax on gas exports, as suggested by the ACTU, would raise more than $17 billion a year, enough to quadruple Commonwealth spending on housing.

Read the full release below:

NEW: Pope Leo Set To Break Up Opus Dei If Pope Leo does indeed approves a plan that effectively dissolves Opus Dei’s structure, it would be the most significant internal action of his short pontificate to date.

BREAKING: Pope Leo XIV is set to effectively disband Opus Dei in the coming weeks.

This would be the most sweeping internal reform of his pontificate — and a dramatic continuation of Pope Francis’s legacy.

But seemingly he lives in a new world so 🤷🏾‍♂️

Good morning to everyone, but especially women who don’t like the vehicle

Q: And are you married? A: I was married, but I’m not married anymore. Women don't like the vehicle.

"women don't like the vehicle" is going to be lodged in my brain's neocortex for the rest of my natural life www.wired.com/story/owning...

A third of Americans believe Trump’s presidency is part of God’s plan President especially enjoys sweeping approval ratings and strong support from white evangelicals, who make up a significant part of his MAGA base, new polling shows

"As a result, white evangelicals have a resounding approval rating of Trump, with 72 percent approving of his current job handling, 69 believing the administration’s ethics are excellent or good, and 57 percent trusting Trump more than previous presidents."

www.independent.co.uk/news/world/a...

Remember the first few months of this year, when all we talked about was DOGE and spending cuts and waste, and this administration gutted USAID?

And now they’re giving $40 billion (!) to Argentina.

Insane the amount of amnesia in this country and in our politics and media.

A version of Christianity without love for the poor, for those in need, is an aberration.

Dilexi te means "I have loved you" and echoes the title of Pope Francis' last encyclical letter Dilexit Nos ("he loved us"), on the devotion to the Sacred Heart. The title is taken from the words of Jesus in Revelation 3:9 and the exhortation is addressed "to all Christians on love for the poor."

Trump confirms the CIA is conducting covert operations inside Venezuela The acknowledgement of covert action in Venezuela comes after the U.S. military in recent weeks has carried out a series of deadly strikes against alleged drug-smuggling boats in the Caribbean.

The acknowledgement of covert action in Venezuela comes after the U.S. military in recent weeks has carried out a series of deadly strikes against alleged drug-smuggling boats in the Caribbean. n.pr/43dKqqW

Trump Fabricates Story of Hand-to-Hand Combat Between Troops and Child Gangsters in D.C. Trump’s claim that National Guard members beat child gang members on the streets of Washington was disputed even by the military.

SCOOP: Trump Fabricates Story of Hand-to-Hand Combat Between Troops and Child Gangsters in D.C.

Trump’s claim that National Guard members beat child gang members on the streets of Washington was disputed even by the military.

theintercept.com/2025/10/15/t...

Old enough to remember when kids being anti-semitic was the basis for a federal government assault on higher education

Abstract BACKGROUND Amid the declining clinical severity of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection and diminishing public uptake of annual coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) vaccines, contemporary evidence on vaccine effectiveness against clinically relevant outcomes is needed. METHODS We conducted an observational study that used the electronic health records of the Department of Veterans Affairs to evaluate the effectiveness of the 2024-2025 Covid-19 vaccine among veterans who received the Covid-19 and influenza vaccines on the same day (164,132 participants) and in an active-comparator group of veterans who received the influenza vaccine only (131,839 participants), between September 3 and December 31, 2024. Participants were followed for 180 days or until the occurrence of an outcome, whichever came first. We used inverse-probability-weighted models to estimate vaccine effectiveness (calculated as 1 minus the risk ratio) against Covid-19-associated emergency department visits, hospitalizations, and deaths at 6 months.

RESULTS At 6 months of follow-up, the estimated vaccine effectiveness was 29.3% (95% confidence interval [CI], 19.1 to 39.2) against Covid-19-associated emergency department visits (risk difference per 10,000 persons, 18.3; 95% CI, 10.8 to 27.6), 39.2% (95% Cl, 21.6 to 54.5) against Covid-19-associated hospitalizations (risk difference per 10,000 persons, 7.5; 95% Cl, 3.4 to 13.0), and 64.0% (95% CI, 23.0 to 85.8) against Covid-19-associated deaths (risk difference per 10,000 persons, 2.2; 95% CI, 0.5 to 6.9). Vaccine effectiveness against a composite of these outcomes was 28.3% (95% CI, 18.2 to 38.2), with a risk difference per 10,000 persons of 18.2 (95% Cl, 10.7 to 27.5). The Covid-19 vaccine was associated with decreased risks of these outcomes across prespecified subgroups defined according to age (<65 years, 65 to 75 years, and >75 years), the presence or absence of major coexisting conditions, and immunocompetence status. CONCLUSIONS In this national cohort of U.S. veterans, the receipt of the 2024-2025 Covid-19 vaccine was associated with decreased risks of severe clinical outcomes. (Funded by the Department of Veterans Affairs.)

According to the study’s authors, COVID vaccination was effective in all ALL groups and in persons with OR without major chronic conditions.

The study has been published in the New England Journal of Medicine. YES, it is PEER-REVIEWED.
• www.nejm.org/doi/full/10....

🧪🧵⬇️

Los Angeles County declares state of emergency over immigration raids Los Angeles County officials voted on Tuesday to declare a state of emergency over ongoing federal immigration raids.

Los Angeles has just declared a state of emergency.

Not because of wildfires. Not because of riots. But because of an invasion by federal government troops.

We can see where this is going.

Return of The Blob: Heat wave spans Pacific Ocean A massive heat wave is hitting the Pacific Ocean from Kamchatka to California.

Water temperatures several degrees above normal span thousands of miles in the Pacific Ocean. Underwater heat waves like this can disrupt disrupts the ocean’s food web and fisheries, and alter weather on land thousands of miles away.

We were actually getting somewhere, too. 😞

@sbmitche.bsky.social
www.library.hbs.edu/working-know...

POLITICO: “.. They referred to Black people as monkeys and ‘the watermelon people’ and mused about putting their political opponents in gas chambers. They talked about raping their enemies .. and lauded Republicans who they believed support slavery.

@politico.com
www.politico.com/news/2025/10...

JFC, centrists ushering in the fascist. As ever.

The freedom Maria Corina Machado wishes for Venezuela.

U.S. kills 6 alleged drug smugglers in new strike off Venezuela, Trump says The operation follows Senate Republicans’ narrow defeat of a measure that aimed to prevent the administration’s actions on legal grounds.

Trump said Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth ordered a strike under his authority as Commander-in-Chief, killing six men he called “narcoterrorists” near Venezuela. A video shows a boat idling before being hit and bursting into flames.
www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...

But then again that’s all the USA has ever done in Latin America and beyond so 🤷🏾‍♂️

Miss Major, trailblazing US trans rights activist and Stonewall veteran, dies aged 78 Longtime organizer and founder of House of gg earned reputation as champion for liberation of Black trans women

"Miss Major Griffin-Gracy, a trailblazer of the transgender rights movement, longtime community organizer and veteran of the Stonewall riots, died on Monday, her representatives announced." Rest in power.
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/o...