John Bull

A formative moment from my youth

Antipope or gtfo.

Her Precious

I know it’s annoying that I constantly ask people to sub, but subbing makes a huge difference. @aftermath.site has around 5,000 paying subs right now; most of us still work other jobs on the side. we have over 90k bluesky followers. if a fraction subscribed, it would literally change our lives

Next week Wednesday 11 February we are delighted to have @pbhellawell.bsky.social & @libertypaterson.bsky.social present their paper titled 'The Ship Bedford: Atlantic and Archival Crossings in the Long Eighteenth-Century Slave Trade'. Join us either in person at the IHR or online from 17:30

and that's not even everything in scandinavia! 😆

Naval museum in Karlskrona isn't to be missed. Stockholm one is closed right now, but ferry from there to Helsinki. Day trip out of there to the Finnish Maritime and the prototype sub in Helsinki. Then ferry to Tallinn for the maritime there which has a 1930s british sub not to be missed.

oh god so many.

do hamburg -> kiel. from kiel jump the local boat early and take in the uboat, submariner's memorial and german naval monument.

Copehagen from there and a day trip out to the danish maritime. Roskilde as well. Then Gothenburg for the ships and naval museum there.

Tortie hugging a catnip cushion, happily

Drug cushiooooon

One person's vision and then... an entire universe 🌌

We sat down with @jumpovertheage.com to talk all things Citizen Sleeper, from when it was just twinkle in their eye to the monumental saga it is now ✨

Full interview will be dropping soon! 🛍️🔗⤵️

Psychics in Silicon Valley Transcript: Back in 2008, one of the very first talks I started giving on speaking tours was about “Women’s Intuition,” and how that’s a made-up idea that allows society to continue to think of log…

You guys requested the full story of my evening with the psychic targeting tech bros. Here you go! skepchick.org/2026/02/psyc...

Never knowingly on my part. I leave myth to the poets.

Tommy Robinson and the London News Website Linked to a Putin-Backed Propaganda Network Far-right activist Stephen Yaxley-Lennon was appointed as an ambassador to an unregistered charity connected to a Russian 'black PR' operation

Tommy Robinson and the London News Website Linked to a Putin-Backed Propaganda Network – Byline Times bylinetimes.com/2026/02/02/t...

Yeah, it read as SHAR to me so was trying to work out from where

The world of journalism would be in an infinitely better place if MacKenzie Scott had got the Washington Post in the divorce.

Revealed: Israel bulldozed part of Gaza war cemetery containing allied graves Satellite images and witness testimony show destruction as IDF claims it was forced to take defensive measures

'Revealed: Israel bulldozed part of Gaza war cemetery containing allied graves'

Satellite images and witness testimony show destruction as IDF claims it was forced to take defensive measures
www.theguardian.com/world/2026/f...
@caitlindeangelis.bsky.social #WW1 #WW2 #WarGraves #Gaza #HeritageAtRisk

"I'd like to share a story from a local paper in Coldwater, Michigan dated to the 9th of April, 1945. It tells how the US Army, under General Patton--the US 3rd Army--came onto what you might call a detention center just outside the village of Ohrdruf, Germany. The US Army brought the leading citizens of Ohrdruf to tour the facility, which turned out to be part of the Buchenwald network of concentration camps. A US Army colonel told the German civilians who viewed the scenes, without muttering a word, that they were to blame. One of the Germans replied that what happened in the camp was (quote) 'done by a few people, and you cannot blame us all.' And the American, who could have been any one of our grandfathers, said, 'this was done by those that the German people chose to lead them, and all are responsible.' The morning after the tour, the Mayor of Ohrdruf killed himself. And maybe he did not know the full extent of the outrages that were committed in his community, but he knew enough. And we don't know exactly how ICE will use this warehouse. But we know enough. I ask you to consider what the Mayor of Ohrdruf might have thought before he died. Maybe he felt like a victim. He might have thought, 'how is this my fault? I have no jurisdiction over this.' Maybe he would have said, 'this site was not subject to local zoning, what could I do?' But I think, when he reflected on the suffering that occurred at this camp, just outside of town, that those words would have sounded hollow even to him. Because in his heart he knew--as we do--that we are all responsible for what happens in our community. I urge the council to take action to stop, or stall, or at the barest minimum to think creatively about how to exercise oversight over this proposed ICE facility. Thank you."

This is brilliant. I'm so grateful for this testimony. I've transcribed it to use in letters I'm writing. Sharing the full transcription here (see alt text to copy/paste it):

A lot of people cannot just start a paid newsletter or become freelancers to sustain their careers. The sports, metro, and international desks did work that requires *team* resources, like legal checks, documents, access to archives, and long-term beat experience.

A grumpy owl peeking out of a star with a dirty white border and a yellow background. On a hoody!

#plug #refreshed

standplaatskrakow.etsy.com/listing/1651...

A commenter declared this to be the best article they had ever seen on @reactorsff.bsky.social. I can't think of a better one myself. Excellent stuff here.

yup.

If you ever get a chance to visit the parts of the battlefield where they were detonated, it's worth it.

A real visible scar of the horrors of WW1.

hence why he did it.

'...then dispersed himself over a wide radius.'

it's fiiiiiine.

The last 600 tonne mine will turn up eventually, I'm sure.

Final bit of bovine war history for you today:

The last known casualty of the WW1 Battle of Messines happened on 17th June 1955.

On that day, one of the two 'lost' 600 tonne mines beneath the battlefield exploded, taking with it about 250ft of hill top and one very surprised cow.

Final bit of bovine war history for you today:

The last known casualty of the WW1 Battle of Messines happened on 17th June 1955.

On that day, one of the two 'lost' 600 tonne mines beneath the battlefield exploded, taking with it about 250ft of hill top and one very surprised cow.

VIVE LA FRANCE!

a black and white photo of a man standing in a crowded restaurant . Alt: from casablanca: victor telling the band to play 'la marseillaise'

Every time you are eating a babybel, or some laughing cow cheese, you are nom nom nomming on something born in the scars of war, and the resilience and grim determination of France.

In other cow-related war food news...

Cheese pioneer Léon Bel ("Ba! ba! ba! Ba baby...") was in the French army in WW1. "Valkyrie" was the truck he drove along the Voie Sacrée daily to surply Verdun.

He painted a cow on its side:

"La Vache Qui Rit"

Anyway that's how Laughing Cow cheese was born.

In other cow-related war food news...

Cheese pioneer Léon Bel ("Ba! ba! ba! Ba baby...") was in the French army in WW1. "Valkyrie" was the truck he drove along the Voie Sacrée daily to surply Verdun.

He painted a cow on its side:

"La Vache Qui Rit"

Anyway that's how Laughing Cow cheese was born.