Erin Kenny

Leo questioned a world where the wealth of the elite grows "exponentially" while many "millions of people die of hunger or survive in conditions unfit for human beings." He also criticized "ideologies that defend the absolute autonomy of the marketplace and financial speculation," with false promises "that a free-market economy will automatically solve the problem of poverty." Leo described a "new tyranny," which shuns any kind of oversight and where the economy is structured "in such a way that sacrifices are demanded of the masses in order to serve the needs of the powerful." The poor, he wrote, are only allowed "drops that trickle down." The pope openly challenged "prosperity theology" and called Christians to the practice of giving charity. "It will not solve the problem of world poverty, yet it must still be carried out, with intelligence, diligence and social responsibility," he wrote. Popular movements that challenge "the empire of money," invite people to take on the cause to combat poverty alongside the poor, instead of on their behalf, and "make history," the pope said. It our duty, Leo said, to "make their voices heard, albeit in different ways, in order to point out and denounce such structural issues, even at the cost of appearing foolish or naïve."

Pope Leo is spitting.

www.npr.org/2025/10/09/n...

Psychedelic beer may have helped pre-Inca empire in Peru schmooze elite outsiders and consolidate power The Wari used beer mixed with psychedelics to help build an empire in Peru around 1,200 years ago, a new study suggests.

If you want to consolidate power, why not schmooze with other elites over a psychedelic-laced beer? The Wari in Peru might have done it! (Although not everyone agrees.) 🏺🧪🍻 #archaeology

'The papyrus also recommends putting a clove of garlic in your vagina before bed': The texts that reveal the baffling healthcare for women in ancient Egypt In this excerpt from "Born: A History of Childbirth," author and historian Lucy Inglis reveals records from ancient Egypt that show how female physicians treated issues of "the womb," how men reacted ...

"In this excerpt from "Born: A History of Childbirth," author and historian Lucy Inglis reveals records from ancient Egypt that show how female physicians treated issues of "the womb," how men reacted to periods, and how the first known pregnancy test actually worked." 🏺🧪

🧪🏺🗃️ Did not know that the brilliant HERI does podcasts!
Series 1 also sounds excellent, on colonial anthropology in the Kalahari

Spending a career watching centuries-old fields of study shrivel & die, cactus-like, being told there is no water by deans on lily pads in the middle of the lake.

Do not recommend.

Police Said They Surveilled Woman Who Had an Abortion for Her 'Safety.' Court Records Show They Considered Charging Her With a Crime Court records show that the narrative Flock and a Texas Sheriff's Office has told the public isn't the whole story, and that police were conducting a 'death investigation' into the abortion.

Cops misled journalists about using a powerful surveillance tool to track a woman across state lines because she had an abortion, then tried to cover it up when we found out the truth. Huge story from @jasonkoebler.bsky.social and @josephcox.bsky.social this morning: www.404media.co/police-said-...

Missouri Attorney General demands Planned Parenthood abortion patient records

fellas is it gay to live in a city

Nobel committee unable to reach prize winner who is ‘living his best life’ hiking off grid Fred Ramsdell was among those honoured with a 2025 Nobel Prize in Medicine but might not know because he is somewhere in Idaho and uncontactable

when you try and get your PhD advisor to review your manuscript 😂

Erica, the white trash socialist @herosnvrdie69 Liberals: no one working 40 hours a week should live in poverty. Leftists: No one should live in poverty regardless of their ability to perform labor.

Manufactured scarcity is so hot right now

mood:

just from a folklore point of view, "attractive hooded man kills billionaire head of hated business with bullets inscribed with political slogans and then vanishes" is narratively breathtaking

‘$1,000 per person’: Missouri lawmaker proposes paying residents to catch undocumented neighbors Senate Bill 72 was pre-filed to the Missouri legislature by House Representative David Gregory to pay Missourians $1000 to find and detain illegal immigrants in the show-me-state.

Papers, please.

Sumerian lion-headed eagle pendant made from gold and lapis lazuli. Discovered at the ancient site of Mari, Syria. 2600 BCE. #FindsFriday #AncientBlueSky 🏺

@blonderipley.bsky.social

As I reported a few months back, the road to removing restrictions after abortion rights ballot measures has, at least so far, been a long one: rewirenewsgroup.com/2024/10/21/w...

WASHINGTON (AP) — Agriculture Department orders testing of the nation's milk supply for bird flu.

Why didn't they just put the photos inside a glass case that only the manager can open

Sometimes the combination of arrogance and ignorance is breathtaking. Yes, US health care has high admin costs; that's because it relies so much on private insurers. Govt-run health insurance has much lower overhead

Black and white photo of the Grateful Dead.

🌹 This weekend, the Grateful Dead will be honored at the Kennedy Center. Join in the celebration by listening to one of the 17,000 #GratefulDead concert recordings preserved at the Internet Archive: blog.archive.org/2024/12/05/c...

What's the most popular recording? 👇

Turning the Tide: A Queer Look at the Orca I no longer think that science holds little or no bias. Through entrenching heteronormativity and patriarchy, biases hurt not only the queer community but all communities, because they display a sk…

orca social organization

A thoughtful open-access article on the role of archaeology and memorialization amidst Israel's current war on Gaza 🏺https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/archaeological-dialogues/article/baptist-hospital-in-gaza-current-ruins-for-future-archaeologists/C775E3465587591B2B60C139E8AD90B6

RIP Professor Lord Colin Renfrew.
I am blessed to have engaged in some discussions with this wonderful man while at Cambridge about olives in the ancient Mediterranean. He had so much time for students and new ideas. Sending thoughts and condolences to his family. 🏺

www.cam.ac.uk/news/profess...

Hmm. I posted photo of the replica of this that was in Museum of London (as was) before it closed, and, having mentioned castration, got a mini deluge of s&m delights. Ergo deleted..... Here's the label they used:

Ah, is this the introduction of the Romano-British Cybele castration clamp on Bluesky? I certainly hope so.

#BritishMuseum (whose description pointedly avoids any mention of castration, hilariously - 1856,0701.33).

Don’t look away, men! 😱 🏺

How Indigenous People Got Some Land Back in Oakland - Bay Nature The city of Oakland just made history by giving over five acres in Joaquin Miller Park to an Indigenous land trust's stewardship. But the backstory was decades in the making.

Interesting story with some archaeological 🏺 content also

baynature.org/2022/12/13/h...