Austin Thomas

‘First feline’ Larry marks 15 years as Britain’s political top cat Larry the cat is marking 15 years as Britain’s Chief Mouser at 10 Downing Street, a symbol of stability in turbulent political times.

Larry the cat celebrates 15 years as the British government’s official rodent-catcher and unofficial first feline, a reassuring presence who has served under six prime ministers. Sometimes it seems like they have served under him.

this sequence in the U.S. women’s curling match was pure cinema

@artbutmakeitsports.bsky.social got anything in your back pocket for this one?

This is BLEAK.

This elitist view that only rich/Ivy/private school kids should study/have access the liberal arts is so deeply ingrained in so many highly educated Democrats’ views (including tons who majored in the lib arts themselves) that they don’t even realize they hold it, let alone how ugly & elitist it is

A map titled "U.S. Drought Monitor" showing drought conditions across the United States, updated as of February 10, 2026. The map uses a color-coded scale to indicate various levels of dryness and drought intensity. Geographic Highlights Southern Border: Significant areas of Extreme (D3) and Exceptional (D4) drought are visible across southern Texas and along the Gulf Coast into Florida. The Midwest/Central U.S.: Large pockets of Extreme Drought (D3) are scattered through states like Missouri, Iowa, and parts of the Great Plains. Western U.S.: Widespread Moderate (D1) to Severe (D2) drought covers much of the Rocky Mountain region and parts of the Southwest. Alaska, Hawaii, & Puerto Rico: Inset maps show localized areas of Abnormally Dry (D0) and Moderate Drought (D1) conditions.

Another relatively dry week led to many degradations and almost no improvements. Areas that worsened include the Northwest, Rockies, Plains, Midwest, South/Southeast, Northeast, and Alaska.

#Drought2026 Footprint: 39.1% of USA
drought.gov @noaa.gov

Loss of green smelter highlights Kentucky’s need for clean electricity Century Aluminum chose Oklahoma, not Kentucky, for a new smelter. Some say it’s a "wake-up call" for the Bluegrass State to modernize – and decarbonize –…

A giant aluminum smelter recently decided to locate in Oklahoma rather than Kentucky. Why?

OK has cheap wind power. KY is stuck with increasingly expensive fossil power.

She really just said why are you talking about the mass coverup of child rape when you should be talking about money

Need to stress that, like the Pretti killing, this terrorism is happening in extremely mixed use residential neighborhoods. Cafes and restaurants just down the street. The St. Paul Curling Club that's put out so many Olympians competing *this week* is like two blocks away.

Oh look, it’s avocado toast-o-clock!

American Ben Ogden wins silver, breaking 50 year medal drought for U.S. men's cross-country skiing Ben Ogden of Vermont skied powerfully, finishing just behind Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo of Norway. It was the first Olympic medal for a U.S. men's cross-country skier since 1976.

Ben Ogden of Vermont skied powerfully, finishing just behind Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo of Norway. It was the first Olympic medal for a U.S. men's cross-country skier since 1976. n.pr/3ZuVXQx

Gotta love the combination of racism, economic incompetence, and market manipulation all at once. It takes talent to be this inept!

new nightmare unlocked

Expert insight: U.S. withdrawal from WHO could affect global health - Western News History professor Mitchell L. Hammond explains how the U.S. withdrawal from the World Health Organization could affect global health and disease threats.

HORRIFYING -
Dismantling USAID & cancelling >80% of aid caused ~750,000 deaths by mid-2025

🧸Most were children
⌛️ Many died within the first year

😰 Preventable deaths were mainly from:
- HIV, TB, malaria
- Maternal & fetal deaths
- Malnutrition

news.westernu.ca/2026/01/u-s-...

🇺🇸🫡

Cars covered with snow parked on city street.

Cars covered with snow parked on city street.

Cars covered with snow parked on city street.

Cars covered with snow parked on city street.

Something to keep in mind the next time the city tries to repurpose parking and drivers complain that every last car is necessary at all times. The storm was two weeks ago.

Pop star Bad Bunny needed a Puerto Rican history scholar. UW–Madison had just the one. Bad Bunny collaborated with UW–Madison history professor Jorell Meléndez-Badillo on Puerto Rican narratives that accompany the new album “DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS.”

Bad Bunny has a consulting historian. news.wisc.edu/pop-star-bad...

“Ring uses AI to help find lost dogs” yup it probably stops there, sounds fine

I get that the summer Olympic Games are the “popular” ones but I think I’ll always appreciate the Winter Olympics more. This may be my most midwestern-coded take but I stand by it. 🥌

Prosecutors Began Investigating Renee Good’s Killing. Washington Told Them to Stop.

NYT confirming MS NOW reporting:

Prosecutors began investigating Renee Good's killing, then Washington told them to stop.

Federal prosecutors had a warrant to collect evidence from Good's vehicle, but Trump leaders said to drop it. About a dozen prosecutors have since departed.

The mainstream news media will never call Trump explicity racist. They'll always dodge the allegation. That's because the white people running the joints need to believe that there is a distinction between donig racist things and promoting racist polices, versus being *personally* racist.

Gladys Mae West obituary: mathematician who pioneered GPS technology She made key contributions to US cold-war science despite facing huge barriers as a Black woman.

No joke: I got angry hate mail today for writing an obituary of a Black woman scientist—because the person felt she did didn’t deserve the recognition.

Which just makes me want to share it again: www.nature.com/articles/d41...

If this is what it takes to get the 7 train across the Hudson River, so be it.

The America we were taught about in school wasn’t real, but I want it to be and so do 200 million of my friends

Jessie Diggins, Olympic cross-country skiing gold medalist, from the Twin Cities: “I want to make sure you know who I’m racing for…”

Laila Edwards has become the first Black woman to play for the United States at an Olympic women’s ice hockey tournament.

Edwards has broken a barrier that had stood for nearly three decades since women’s hockey debuted at the Olympics in 1998.

www.nytimes.com/athletic/702...

Skill issue, Elon. Either give up the money or change your ways.

I expected the cuts would be bad but I'm honestly stunned and sickened seeing how many great journalists the Washington Post just lost. People who nailed huge investigations, documented war zones, exposed horrific crimes, dropped all at once for failures they did not cause.

sports coverage is not about box scores anymore. it's about power and politics and corruption and sovereign wealth and real estate and the use of taxpayer money and the most publicized labor disputes in the country and yes, sometimes about ball go in hoop

“.. Not a single Republican member of Congress showed up to the public forum .. on the violence inflicted by federal immigration agents, featuring testimony from the brothers of Renee Good ..”

@newrepublic.com
newrepublic.com/post/206100/...