Documentary brings stories of 150 year old shipwreck to life. The Geltwood shipwreck has long been part of the Limestone Coast's history. A documentary is giving it new life.

I Teach at a Business School. It's Time to Shut Them Down. (archive)

Phil Christman has a delightful longread, The Madness of Roland, a review of Tears for Fears' Roland Orzabal's memoir. It's so fun.

What's actually on the ballot this Fall? If you are in any sort of battleground state this midterm season it is pretty hard to escape the wave of transphobic rhetoric and attack ads coming from a right wing that has increasingly little to offer in terms of actual policy. But so much of the vitriol avoids the reality- what is the state of trans peoples' legal precarity in the US right now, and what is actually on the ballot this November? This post aims to give a guide to where we're at and where we're going.

Let's start with a review of the laws already on the books. As of July, things were already pretty bleak throughout much of the country. Separated/highlighted states have additional ballot initiatives this November. (FL, ID, KS, TX): Four states have earned "Do Not Travel" advisories: Idaho, Florida, Kansas, and Texas. Kansas bathroom ban allows for everyday citizens to seek out transgender people in bathrooms and sue them for large sums of money, creating a bounty hunter system in the state. Meanwhile, Idaho's ban can result in 5-year prison sentences. Florida has a law that allows for the arrest of transgender people for using bathrooms according to their gender identity and another policy targets transgender people's drivers licenses. Florida has also put into effect a policy that says trans people "misrepresenting" their gender on their drivers license could be guilty of fraud and has begun erasing Pride crosswalks across the state. (AL, AR, IA, IN, LA, MS, OH, OK, ND, SC, SD, TN, UT, WV, WY): These states have passed deeply troubling legislation targeting transgender adults in extremely harmful new ways. Utah has a bathroom ban for transgender adults. Alabama has also passed a Don't Say Gay bill that includes a bathroom ban on college campuses. Many states, including Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, and Tennessee, and others listed in this category have gone so far as to legislatively erase transgender people, effectively removing any legal rights associated with their gender identities. (MO, NE) High-Risk States (GA, NH, MT): All of these states have passed anti-trans laws, but they haven't reached the same level of severity as the worst states. Missouri for example, prohibits gender-affirming care for incarcerated adults as well as transgender youth and have seen new laws proposed this cycle going even further. Nebraska's governor has issued an executive order ending legal recognition of trans people (AZ, VA) Low-Risk States (DE, ME, MI, NV, PA, WI, DC): These states have largely refrained from targeting transgender adults, although they haven't taken extraordinary steps to protect adult transgender rights either. (CO, VT, WA) Most Protective States (CA, CT, HI, IL, MA, MD, MN, NJ, NM, NY, OR, RI): These states have gone above and beyond in safeguarding the rights and well-being of transgender individuals, making them highly desirable places to live for those in search of security. As we will see however, Colorado and Washington are both slipping quietly towards more anti-trans legal positions. ----------------------- So what's actually on the ballot this Fall? Here's a breakdown: Voters in seven states this fall will weigh more than half a dozen ballot initiatives with direct bearings on LGBTQ+ people — disproportionately on transgender youth. ... Nearly half of LGBTQ+-related ballot initiatives this year would restrict trans student-athletes from competing in line with their gender identity, an issue championed overwhelmingly by Republicans and by a rising share of Democrats. Not all of the initiatives are negative, though. The bad: Arizona Arizona voters will decide this fall whether trans student-athletes may continue to compete on school sports teams that align with their gender identity. A ballot initiative introduced late last year by state Rep. Selina Bliss, a Republican running for reelection, would effectively restore a 2022 state law restricting trans athletes' participation that a federal appeals court had blocked in 2024. Colorado Colorado voters will decide whether to bar trans student-athletes from competing in line with their gender identity by designating K-12 and collegiate sports teams based on students' "biological reproductive systems." The ballot initiative qualified for the general election after Protect Kids Colorado, the organization behind it, collected more than 168,000 signatures statewide. Voters will also decide whether to ban transition-related surgeries for minors, and whether state or federal funds, Medicaid reimbursements or insurance coverage can be used to help pay for them. Such surgeries are already rare. The measure, also introduced by Protect Kids Colorado, does not directly mention nonsurgical care. Missouri In Missouri, voters will decide whether to reverse a 2024 amendment adding abortion protections to the state constitution. The new proposal would ban abortions in almost all cases, with exceptions for rape and incest, though only through the first trimester, and in medical emergencies throughout pregnancy. It would also add language to the state constitution banning gender-affirming medical care for trans minors — prohibited by law in Missouri since 2023. Nebraska Voters in Nebraska will decide whether to add language to the state constitution requiring public and qualifying private schools to designate athletic teams based on "biological sex," and expressly declare that girls' sports "shall not be open to students of the male sex." The ballot initiative qualified for the general election in August, after organizers collected more than 130,000 signatures from across the state. ... Nebraska law already prohibits trans student-athletes from participating in sports in line with their gender identity from kindergarten through college. Washington Voters in Washington will decide whether to bar trans student-athletes from girls' school sports teams by requiring every girl in the state to have her sex assigned at birth verified by a doctor — through either genetic or hormone tests or an examination of her reproductive anatomy — to determine eligibility for K-12 sports. The good: Vermont Voters in Vermont will decide this fall whether to add an equal rights amendment to the state constitution. The proposal, introduced in 2023 by a coalition of Democratic state lawmakers, would prohibit unequal treatment "on account of a person's race, ethnicity, sex, religion, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, or national origin." In Vermont, a constitutional amendment must pass two legislative sessions before it can go before voters. Virginia Virginia voters will decide whether to repeal language in the state constitution barring same-sex couples from marrying, and instead establish an affirmative right to marriage between two consenting adults regardless of their sex, gender or race. The proposal, first introduced in 2024, qualified for the November ballot after several failed attempts. In Virginia, proposed amendments to the constitution must be approved by the state House and Senate twice before they can appear before voters. ----------------------- That's the good and the bad, what about the ugly? The ugly truth of all of this: These ballot measures are almost certainly a trial run for the 2028 presidential election. June 2026 Hot Sheet: 2026 Anti-Trans Measures Relying on a a 2004 Playbook Why Republicans are focusing on transgender issues in competitive 2026 campaigns In 2004, a coordinated wave of ballot initiatives against marriage equality swept the country, leaving a trail of political wreckage for our community and the entire nation. That same playbook is back for the 2026 midterm elections, and just like more than two decades ago, it's not about public safety or protecting children, it's about political power. ... Fast forward to 2026. Targeted questions in Arizona, Colorado, Missouri, Nebraska, and Washington ask voters to roll back protections and enshrine discrimination against transgender people into state law. These states and the underlying efforts during this midterm cycle also serve as testing grounds for the 2028 Presidential election. Political operatives will stress-test field operations, build voter databases, and perfect fear-based messaging. They will seek out which disinformation about LGBTQ people can flip a swing district. If the strategy succeeds in November, it will scale nationwide in 2028. And if you can't find the evidence to justify your claims, you can always just manufacture it: 'Trans' Student Mailers Hit Texas Homes As Advocacy Group Denies Sending Them Fact Check: Video Of Transgender, LGBTQ+ People Blocked From Women's Restrooms Is NOT Real Footage How Russia Is Attacking the Midterms with a Mother Jones Deepfake Researchers tracked $80 million in political ads using AI—and Republicans were behind 83% of them ----------------------- How are we doing in on defense? Results appear to be mixed and support is dwindling among erstwhile allies, unfortunately. Many of our legislative victories are happening in the courts behind closed doors, while publicly many Dem politicians are abandoning the fight and ceding unnecessary ground. Judge allows US states' lawsuit challenging transgender care probes to move forward The 16 states, led by New York and Massachusetts, along with the District of Columbia sued in August to challenge a pair of memos issued to DOJ employees implementing Trump's January 2025 executive order that directed the Justice Department to prioritize such probes. Colorado and Michigan Become the Latest Blue States to Quietly End Medicaid Support for Trans Youth as 12 Others Pledge Continued Coverage Democrats in tight Midwest US races split on trans rights strategy Some Democrats are recalibrating their approach to transgender issues as they seek a path to power "I don't want to be on that side of it, but I'm being honest — I'd be lying to you if I said differently," Newsom told The Associated Press as he was campaigning recently in South Carolina. "I haven't been able to figure out how to make it fair from my perspective." ... Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, another likely Democratic presidential contender, has taken the opposite position. He has consistently criticized state-level bans and restrictions on transgender athletes, calling them "bullying" and a "setback for equality." Following the recent Supreme Court ruling that upheld state bans on transgender athletes, Pritzker, whose cousin is transgender, reaffirmed his position on social media. "There's a place for you in Illinois," he wrote. ----------------------- And Fourth: what's coming next? Win or lose in November, the legal and political battle over trans kids and schools will continue. But there is no chance that the attacks will stop there. Their next immediate target is healthcare for youth and adults, while the administration begins building a legal case to criminalize transness as a mental illness nationwide. Trump is threatening trans-affirming school districts. Student activists are fighting back. Final Rule Prohibits Federal Medicaid And CHIP Funds For Health Care For Transgender Youth On August 11, 2026, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a final rule to prohibit the use of federal Medicaid and Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) funds for the treatment of gender dysphoria for those under age 18 and age 19, respectively. The rule is expected to disrupt access to care for low-income families and place new burdens on states and other stakeholders in states where care remains lawful. The rule, which was accompanied by a press release, will take effect on October 13, 2026. Trump's State Department Admits to Investigating All Passport Applicants For "Evidence of a Prior Sex Change" Department of Justice to fund studies of gender dysphoria and violent behavior "It looks to me that the administration's already decided what it wants the science to say," says Meghan Maury, policy director at the Transgender Law Center, a nonprofit organization. ... Researchers studying gender identity say they are puzzled by the funding notice, in part because moves by President Donald Trump's administration may make it harder to address NIJ's proposed research questions. The administration has cut federal funding for research on gender minorities and directed federal agencies to define people according to biological sex assigned at birth. Early in his second administration, Trump moved to strip self-described gender identity and sexual orientation from national surveys. "If you're instructed from the beginning that you can't actually recognize the humanity of a population or their self-determined language, then it automatically sets the research off on the wrong foot," says Elana Redfield, federal policy director at the University of California, Los Angeles's Williams Institute for sexual orientation and gender identity law and policy. Trump's FY2027 Budget: Continued Rollback of LGBTQ+ Protections Many additional pending legal challenges and federal crackdowns can be viewed here: Trump Anti-LGBTQ+ Executive Order Litigation Tracker

Three years ago, the Red Eclipse's greatest foes gathered around a poker table and discussed what can be done about him. A visitor came, with a proposition. Seven minute animated short with some very fun villain designs.

Here's where I'd normally direct you to the other great work the talent has done, but for whatever reason it didn't come together for this team. This student piece is all we're likely to get on the topic of the Red Eclipse's dastardly foes.

These tiny snakes cartwheel to escape danger "Cartwheeling seems like it should require both arms and legs. But some itty-bitty snakes in Southeast Asia manage it without either."

Alberta referendum results . Last night, overwhelmingly, Albertans chose to remain in Canada and rejected a second referendum (75% supported Remain). However, a thin majority of Albertans supported 8 of 9 other referendum questions, as Premier Danielle Smith had hoped.

Questions 1-5 were anti-immigrant proposals (e.g. denying services) Question 6 called for provinces to appoint judges Question 7 called for abolition of the federal Senate Question 8 (rejected): called for reduced federal control over health and education spending Question 9 was a vague but menacing call for "working with the governments of other willing provinces to amend the Canadian Constitution to better protect provincial rights from federal interference by giving a province's laws dealing with provincial or shared areas of constitutional jurisdiction priority over federal laws" Question 10 (rejected) called for a second referendum on Alberta sovereignty "Those discussions about immigration don't take into account First Nations and the unique position that we're in." Samuel Crowfoot, Chief of Siksika Nation. Treaty rights predate the existence of Alberta. American interference ("divide and conquer, baby") seems to have been ultimately ineffective.

10/20/2026 The BBC's Global Story is a daily news program serving listeners outside of the United States, who need actual background context as to what the hell we're doing to ourselves here. In today's episode, Asma Khalid shares reporting from Michigan, where the Party's response to Gaza has fractured its traditional base. (Because this is actual journalism and real reporting, the audio is worthwhile, as she shares interviews with real stakeholders.)

Unions push for renters to be guaranteed two-year lease. The Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) wants all renters to have access to a two-year lease, and says the government should turn to modular buildings to significantly increase public housing stock. At present, most private rental housing leases are for 6 months or 12 months, and landlords can refuse to renew the lease for no reason, even if rent has always been paid on time and the house always kept in pristine condition. This means a lot of incidents where a lease is not renewed so that the landlord can immediately put the house back on the market with a $100 per week or $200 per week rent increase.

BYD puts its vertical integration into play to bring its $19,990 (AUD) EV to the Australian market. "Like an electric scooter you can put your groceries in" (ala Reddit, which I thought was the funniest summary). BYD Atto on carsales.com review.

You'll have to imagine a clip of Malfunctioning Eddie, the car dealer from Futurama. And to highlight the context, check out some of the disingenuous headlines. RACQ: BYD Atto 1 is Australia's cheapest EV. (No, the cheapest new car of ALL cars.) News.com - you only see it on the Google news link but highlights how a Chinese (dogwhistle) EV is cheapest. Sigh. But even that can't reduce my excitement at seeing EV options that are super affordable. Combine that with things like the (Australian) State of Victoria's mandated "free power period" for households and the costs can get even lower!

It wasn't just Barney's advice that made her column tick: the column eventually became a sexy, strange, inspiring public square. Readers would write to say that they identified with someone else's problem, or to disagree with her advice, or to reach out to get in touch with someone who was having a hard time. Barney published these letters too, turning her column from a Q and A into a conversation. The smoke billowing out of Jeannie's Lamp was that of a whole scene taking shape in real time. [LARB; text is NSFW-ish]

Chinese food in orbit, hard-working robots, and lightning strikes a rising rocket. As the Earth's northern hemisphere moves through autumn, let's check in on humanity's exploration of space.

Sun An international team found gorgeous images of the photosphere and "small-scale magnetized Kelvin–Helmholtz instabilities in the solar photosphere." (previously). Mercury The European Space Agency (ESA) and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) BepiColombo mission arrived at Mercury. However, that planet closest to the Sun seems to be shrinking faster than previously understood. Venus A new study argues that Venus may have been covered with oceans a long time ago. A moon may once have orbited ancient Venus but spiraled in to its destruction. On Earth's surface In Canada an amateur astronomer identified an impact crater; "[a]fter consultations with the Innu Council of Ekuanitshit, the research team is calling the crater Uhackatik." Wildfires in Spain threatened a NASA observatory. In Chile an observatory started its "Legacy Survey of Space and Time," a decade-long project to "create the most comprehensive, cinematic record of the universe in history." Japan's experimental RV-X rocket lifted off, moved horizontally, then safely landed nearby in a test. RocketLab announced it was offering a portable spaceport, the Global Hypersonic & Orbital Spaceport Technology, or GHOST. Indian company Skyroot hopes to produce one launch vehicle per month. NASA's Office of Inspector General called for upgrades to launch facilities as Artemis missions and private rocketry increase pressure on the system. NASA stated that it won't fly humans on the Boeing Starliner until 2028. The Trump administration issued a national space transportation policy. Demand for space launches might soon exceed rocket capacity. From Earth's surface to orbit German's Isar Aerospace successfully launched a Spectrum rocket from Norway into Earth orbit, the first such mission from a Western European site. Lighting struck a Long March rocket as it ascended, but the craft went on to a successful orbital deployment. Another Long March suffered an anomaly and exploded (archive link). A Taiwanese rocket launch failed (archive). NASA's Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope successfully launched, deployed solar panes and heatshield, and is on its way to an L2 point position with plenty of fuel. (previously). A Falcon rocket accomplished two achievements in August: 100 SpaceX missions that year to date, and the 37th mission for booster B1067. Starship's 13th mission reached orbit, deployed Starlink satellites, and returned to Earth. A camera captured the first 15 seconds of Starship's engines firing from close up; cameras on some of those Starlinks looked back at their launch vehicle (another copy). A Google satellite reached orbit, carrying a group of Tensor Processing Units (TPUs) running Gemma AI in a test of orbital data center capacity. In Earth orbit The Tiangong space station now serves more than 200 different meals. Russia's Rassvet satellites are apparently struggling to reach needed altitude. Polish company Orbital Matter is testing out materials 3d printed by its Replicator 2. Kyoto University researchers are using Starlink data to study Earth's thermosphere. NASA and Katalyst conceded defeat in an effort to rescue the failing Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory. Swift is still doing its best to track gamma-ray bursts. (previously) A United States Space Force exercise saw one satellite successfully launch, target, and intercept another. Space Force also declared it had placed "space control weapons" in orbit. back down to Earth A NASA astronaut in orbit observed cities changing their lighting technologies. The number of alerts for space debris falling to Earth has increased. The United States Federal Communications Commission granted Reflect Orbital permission to orbit its Eärendil-1 satellite, designed to reflect solar light onto the Earth's night side. Reflect then bought space on a Skyroot launch. SpaceX is struggling to make Starship's heat shield reusable. A petition warned that expanding satellite numbers with orbital data centers would cause Earthly damage, including pollution and ozone layer depletion. More than 40 million years ago it seems that an asteroid struck what is now known as the North Sea. Earth's Moon In 2024 an asteroid struck the moon, "the largest contemporary impact crater found in the Solar System and, according to current models, a once-in-132-year event.' A Falcon 9 rocket stage crashed into the moon (photo). A lunar hole, Marius Hill Pit, may become a habitat for human visitors. NASA's Cooperative Autonomous Distributed Robotic Exploration mission (CADRE) will rove the lunar surface to some degree of autonomy. NASA is also considering sending Promise, an engineering model for Perseverance, to the moon. The China Manned Space Agency (CMSA) delayed launching its Chang'e 7 (嫦娥七号) lunar mission until 2027. Mars Perseverance set a new record for offworld driving, having notched up 28.10 miles in over 14 years (seen from HiRISE). The rover also took photos of Phobos crossing in front of Earth. Not to be outdone Curiosity came across "honeycomb-like textures called polygonal fractures." Speaking of Martian moons, Japan's Martian Moons eXploration (MMX) mission is due to launch today (previously). Pioneer Labs announced they made their first microbe for a Mars mission. Planetary geological and former NASA program administrator Adriana C. Ocampo Uría called for an international approach to human settlement of Mars; NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman rejected that. To the asteroids Tianwen-2 (天问二号) reached asteroid 469219 Kamoʻoalewa and is scheduled to attempt a sample return. Astronomers were able to image 44 Nysa clearly enough to find it was unusually triple-lobed and had its own tiny moon. China's National Space Administration (CNSA) is considering a two-ship mission to strike and observe a near Earth asteroid. Jupiter The Juno probe marked ten years orbiting and working around Jupiter. Saturn Astronomers working with Hubble imagery discovered a new ten-sided atmospheric shape on Saturn's southern pole. Neptune The large moon Triton may have wrecked preexisting Neptunian moons when it first arrived, leaving tiny moons as orbital wreckage behind. (previously) In the Kuiper belt NASA's New Horizons safely awoke from hibernation mode as it traveled nearly 6 billion miles from Earth. It may become the third human craft to exit the solar system. However, funding cuts threaten two instruments.

The candidacy period for the 2026 Board Elections runs through next Monday, a week from today. Please check out the candidates, and don't forget to register to vote! (Election day is Monday, November 16, and you must vote within the designated 24-hour period; when you register to vote, you can sign up to get email reminders, too.)

Additionally, our next Town Hall is coming up this Saturday/Sunday the 24th/25th, and you'll be able to meet our new Community Manager! Check out this post for more information and to RSVP. This is being posted both here and to Ask, just so we reach folks who don't visit MetaTalk!

Experts are reaching consensus on what the condition is. Now they're debating how best to treat it. [NYT gift link]

Police pursuit of emu just part of life of a country cop. A video of a flightless bird being chased by a police officer down a road on the New South Wales Central Tablelands goes viral, with the local chief inspector saying it's all part of the life of a country cop.

Shot and Chaser is an emotional webcomic about a photographer and a storm chaser during the covid19 pandemic (first 5 pages mildly nsfw). From E.K. Weaver, creator of the also-excellent TJ and Amal (previously). Shot and Chaser is a return to the theme of two gay men in a car having feelings, with beautiful skies.

Shot and Chaser the webcomic is on hiatus until after the print edition is released on June 1st 2027, but the 210 pages on the website make up a complete first arc. Sweet Abilene is a Shot and Chaser adult prequel/side story available in print, or in pdf for pocket money.

"The last few years have seen an increasing interest in an analysis of the horrors that surround us, for a Marxism that can speak to the bleak, haunted nature of our present moment." Just in time for Halloween, Gothic Marxism: A Manifesto on the Dark Way of Being Red.

You may, as you're reading this, be tempted to reflect on Mark Fisher. If so, you may be interested to know that Mark Fisher Was Kind of Dumb: "It's such a demeaning fate for a writer, to be cited by everyone and argued with by none, to be kept in circulation like a relic because nobody dares apply weight over it, and to become a kind of social currency for the elevation of discourse and automation of thought among those types he so abhorred—to become the writer AI-slop looks for. You should instead be the kind of reader Fisher would've prized by not mindlessly repeating crap someone else told you he wrote."

In a post on his blog, military historian Bret Devereaux discusses Hearts of Iron IV, Parodox's choices regarding Axis brutality and genocide, and how they wind up whitewashing the reality of such. (cw: images of mass murder, war crimes, atrocities)

Devereaux points out that Paradox is caught in an impossible choice, in that they do not want their game to become an Axis war crimes simulator (because they know people would openly play it for that very reason), along with being able to sell the game in various markets. However, he makes the case that their decision to avert their eyes from the issue winds up empowering things like the 'clean Wehrmacht' myth by ignoring the reality that atrocity was part of Axis war planning, and that there are options open to Paradox to better handle the issue. He also has frustratingly noted that one of the games that has handled this dialogue best is...Valkyria Chronicles, the alt-WWII with magical girls strategic RPG, and what that says about the issue.

From 2015 to 2017, the writer, critic and historian Kari Sperring wrote a column, Matrilines, for Strange Horizons, about women writers of fantasy. She started with Katherine Kurtz, writing "we are leaving out the women ... Like so many women in SF, she should not be suppressed, overwritten, forgotten. She is part of our DNA". Other columns covered Claudia J. Edwards, Dion Fortune, Elizabeth Goudge, Clemence Housman, Louise Lawrence, Elyne Mitchell, Miyabe Miyuki, Judith Tarr, Evangeline Walton, Sylvia Townsend Warner and Veronica Williams.

France rocked by nationwide protests over cost of living.

Over 2400 people arrested. Wikipedia: Since 18 September 2026, a series of demonstrations and blockades by lycée students has been taking place in France and later, to a lesser degree, in Belgium,[5][6] Albania, Greece,[7] and Italy,[8][9] having originated in Créteil, a commune in the suburbs of Paris.[10] On 6 October, the protests developed into a nationwide mobilisation involving students, teachers, parents, and trade unions. According to The Conversation, unions estimated that 450,000 people participated nationwide while the French government put the figure at 250,000.[11] The movement is marked by blockades of high schools, gatherings, and demonstrations. As reasons for participating in the protests, students have cited teacher shortages, overcrowded classrooms, exhausting timetables, run-down buildings, and stress linked to the university application website Parcoursup[12][13] as well as high temperatures in classrooms that reached up to 40 °C (104 °F) during the 2026 European heatwaves.[14] By October, parts of the movement were engaged in violence against police and some management staff, especially headteachers. The French Interior Ministry reported that 1,949 people were arrested on 1 October.[15][16] The French government has accused the far-left of stirring up the unrest for political gain.[17][18] Protesting groups and parties, meanwhile, contended that the movement was spontaneous and accused the government and right-wing parties of engaging in conspiratorial thinking. The police response, which led to more than 6,800 people being taken into custody, most of them minors, drew criticism from human rights organisations: Amnesty International denounced a "disproportionate" use of force,[19] Human Rights Watch reported serious injuries to children,[20] and the UN Human Rights Office expressed concern and called for de-escalation.[21] The government rejected accusations of police repression, with Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez maintaining that the response had been proportionate in almost all cases and that some protests had turned into riots.[22]

I had taught them what Frank O'Hara had first taught me: poetry is not, as some may think, an arduous exercise in word choice and simile. Instead, it's a way of looking, of noticing details we might have otherwise overlooked. It's too tempting to get used to the sight of the hard hats, to no longer ask what, exactly, they're protecting. The glistening torsos of the construction workers are all too easy to write off as sweaty. You need a fresh set of eyes to see.

"What is bread?", Haddaway did not sing. Is it expensive? Do you make your own, or purchase? What's your preferred sandwich filling? What makes for a good supermarket loaf of bread? Do you like toast as much as Paul Young? With less than 10 weeks till Christmas, are you contemplating seasonal breads? Are these really sandwiches? Or talk about what's happening in your mind, your body, your house, place or life as this is your free thread.

Germany's Isar rocket launches from arctic Norway and reaches orbit. Germany's Isar Aerospace launches a rocket into orbit from Norway as Europe races to boost its ability to send satellites into space.

KDE: The Documentary tells the story of the pioneering open source community that gave computer users a free and open alternative to proprietary desktops like Windows.

The story starts in 1996, when Matthias Ettrich, a student at the University of Tübingen, posted to a Usenet group asking for programmers to help build a desktop for Linux. What followed became KDE, one of the largest free software communities in the world. KDE made Linux usable as a desktop for people who weren't system administrators, giving it a complete, consistent graphical environment at a time when there was none. The film covers the highs and lows of three decades of KDE: the Qt licensing fight and the rivalry with GNOME; the success of KHTML, the browser engine that became the basis of Apple's WebKit and Google's Chrome; and the contentious release of KDE 4 and the rebuild that followed. Along the way, KDE invented much of how open source communities organise themselves. KDE e.V., the non-profit association that holds the project's legal and financial responsibilities while leaving technical decisions to contributors, became a model for many other open source projects. Today, KDE is the default desktop on major Linux distributions and on the Steam Deck, and the centre of a whole ecosystem of free and open software. Above all, the film is about the people who built KDE, the friendships that formed, and why generations of developers have given their free time to it.

Featuring: * Aaron Seigo * Albert Astals Cid * Cornelius Schumacher * Eike Hein * Eirik Chambe-Eng * Eva Brucherseifer * Lars Knoll * Matthias Ettrich - Wikipedia * Matthias Kalle Dalheimer - Wikipedia * Martin Konold * Miguel de Icaza - Wikipedia * Nathan Graham * Sebastian Kügler

Guzzling an Avalanche Amber Ale on a globally-heated day is satisfying. Equally satisfying is ripping a belch powerful enough to set off car alarms, afterwards. Imagine never experiencing such. This is the reality for those suffering from "no burp syndrome" or retrograde cricopharyngeus dysfunction (RCPD). This rare condition has very little awareness, even among doctors. Here's a guide for no-burpers and curious onlookers. And here is one woman's story.

Look, I barely know any German, do not have much interest in crime dramas, and have never actually watched a single episode of this TV series, nor played any of the many tie-in video games. What I do know is that across 28 seasons in 26 years, the show Alarm für Cobra 11 has destroyed thousands of cars in a series of high-flying stunts, and video archivist GermanStunter has collected these stunts into a series of Crash Mixes for your ease of viewing. Here, try one!

They are generally low-res, and you will hear the same music applied quite often, but if you want to watch hours of BMWs flying over the autobahn, through other vehicles and/or exploding into fireballs, here are the playlists for you: Crash Mixes 1-10 Crash Mixes 11-20 Crash Mixes 21-30 Crash Mixes 31-40 Crash Mixes 41-50 Crash Mixes 51-60 Crash Mixes 61-70 Crash Mixes 71-80 Crash Mixes 81-90 (Currently only up to 83)

New Shakespeare Play Just Dropped. Computerized textual analysis concludes that the play Edward III should be added to William Shakespeare's canon, and also that it was a collaboration with his contemporary Christopher Marlowe.

Outrage after Meta suspends No Kings Instagram account during protests Running a protest movement on Instagram is basically holding the union meeting in the boss's office and acting shocked when security walks in. And there are alternatives: Bluesky, Mastodon, the fediverse in general. None of them perfect, but at least Zuckerberg or Musk can't pull the plug on you there. People still keep building everything on their enemy's turf and then get mad when the owner acts like he owns it.

Trevor Warmedahl has spent years documenting rare and traditional cheesemaking methods, and believes that "cheese is an edible manifestation of a place".

Some highlights from special collections libraries' blogs this week.
The Mysterious History of Mary Shelley A secret biography of the Frankenstein author has shaped her reputation in unseen ways.
Sor Juana, the 17th Century Nun Who Became a Mexican (and Feminist) Icon
The Scrutiny of Clara Barton, Heroine or Not?
New Acquisitions | David Jacobs and the Situationists An archive of the culture jamming Point-Blank! artists collective.

Mandelbrot Hall is a 20 minute animated pilot. Jackie is an art student whose friend Jimmy vanishes one day and only she remembers him. The style may lead you to expect something gentler than it is. By Studio Flimpo, guest-starring Weird Al Yankovic.

Previous Flimpo shorts, all worth your time: Jamie's Pond about a child and a naiad. Welcome To Natlan! for Genshin Impact. The Everything Is OK Show, a poignant short about the show you go on when you die. Sky Vandal, the pre-Studio Flimpo project of the core staff.

The Evolution of Arthurian Literature King Arthur is one of the most famous figures to emerge from the Middle Ages, but the legend surrounding him was built over centuries of medieval storytelling. Writers across Britain and Europe transformed Arthur from a shadowy ruler into the centre of a vast literary tradition filled with knights, quests, romance, betrayal, and magic.

'In the now-viral video, we see a young white man in a gray long-sleeve shirt standing up in a crowd and shouting a question: "Will you disavow the Muslim Brotherhood?" He aimed his question at Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed at a town hall event in Caro, Michigan, on Saturday. From the stage, El-Sayed met it with steely resolve. "Why are you asking the question?" he replied. "What are you implying?"' But all was not as it seemed. Tommy was a plant.

Marisa Kabas: 'The Handbasket is first to report that Tommy is Thomas Teepell, who, according to his X and Facebook profiles, currently lives in Detroit. Teepell served as Operations Director for Missouri Republican Senator Josh Hawley until February of this year, according to Legistorm. [...] Tommy's father is Timmy Teepell, a Republican strategist who worked for congressman and then Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal from 2004 to 2011; he also ran Jindal's ill-fated presidential primary campaign in 2015. [...] What brought the younger Teepell to the small town of Caro and his viral moment with El-Sayed? An October 2nd story in the University of Michigan student newspaper, The Michigan Daily, revealed that a conservative PAC called America Next offered College Republicans $200 to travel to an upcoming El-Sayed town hall in Flint to "boo" him and ask him inflammatory questions—hoping to spark embarrassing viral moments for the candidate.'

On Instagram, Rogers exchanged messages with accounts featuring beautiful women, eventually exchanging nude photos of himself taken with his Fed-issued phone, sometimes in the gym at Fed headquarters in Washington. Soon, the people behind the accounts began demanding money. from Inside Man: How Chinese spies used lies, love and betrayal to target the Federal Reserve [CNBC, Reuters, Department of Justice]

Here are the results (2015 study) from training pigeons to recognize breast cancer And the results from AI (2026) Now think about what we could have had.

Okay, this is the type of stuff that AI is probably really good at, but come'on how awesome would it have been to be building huge dove cotes again instead of data centers

Decade-long experiment in outback New South Wales changing the landscape. Once locally extinct across outback New South Wales, bilbies, bandicoots and bettongs are now back and breeding. The desert's revival has been led by a young couple who moved their lives way out west a decade ago.

The Duck Pond - A small flock of mallards going about their day: three hens, two drakes and two broods of ducklings. No recordings. Every quack is synthesized as it happens and heard from where you stand on the bank.

Crystal Lake has dropped to mixed reviews (spoilers; Fanfare), but many horror-themed shows began streaming in 2026, e.g. Widow's Bay (14 Emmys; Fanfare); Carrie (episode 1; Fanfare); The Boroughs; Something Very Bad is Going to Happen (Fanfare); The Beauty (Fanfare); Below (Fanfare); The Shards; and Coven Academy. Animation in English includes The Doomies, Among Us (based on the game; Fanfare), and Stranger Things: Tales from '85. Also streaming in the US in languages other than English: Human Vapor (Japan; based on the classic film), My Sad Dead (Argentina; based on stories by Mariana Enriquez), I Would Rather Die (Mexico), City of Blood (Germany), shows in Korean like Spooky in Love, The East Palace, & If Wishes Could Kill (Fanfare), and a lot of supernatural anime. See also 2025, 2024, and 2023 including Junji Ito shows (previously).

The Bloody Mary is a playful 16 minute animated horror short about a witch, a demon and a ghost by Studio Wrong. Also available: New Style (0:45, Japanese with subtitles) and Beach Therapy (1:18, music video) for a glimpse of what they get up to next.

Selected gag shorts starring the same cast: Supernatural: Lights Outlaw, Summon, Catch. Hair: Damage, Revenge. Nature: Enemy, Trap, Forest Therapy, Safety. Chess: Checkmate, Chess Battle. Violence: Lost, The Bullet, Horizontal bar.

There's ahead of its time, then there's Traité des couleurs servant à la peinture à l'eau — or, in its original Dutch title, Klaer Lightende Spiegel der Verfkonst, a 900-page book of paint colors made before any such things were common tools of the artist's, scientist's, and industrial designer's trade.

Forbidden Love (nsfw, nudity/sexuality) This [1992] feature documentary delves into the rich history of Canadian queer women's experiences in the mid-20th century.

Compelling, often hilarious and always rebellious, the women interviewed in this film recount stories about their search for the places where openly gay women gathered in urban centres. Contemporary interviews, archival footage, and a stylized fictional narrative based on the pulp novels of the 1950s are woven throughout this simultaneously funny, heartbreaking, and empowering film. Forbidden Love brings an important and empowering history of lesbian sexuality in Canada out of the closet.

A source told Barnes: "[Elon Musk] tweeted out that he was innocent and that it was the US administration that did it. The reality is that they were both in it."

Also recommend HCR's post yesterday, which opens with this banger paragraph: There is an old saying about rats and sinking ships. There's also an old saying about how a democratic system taken over by a single party quickly becomes corrupt because the ruling party lacks oversight. Then, as corruption becomes the party's driving force, the only people willing to work for it are either corrupt themselves or so unqualified they support the corrupt leadership to gain power, knowing that in a merit-based system it would be entirely out of their reach. OK, that second old saying is shared mostly among political scientists, but it's accurate, and it's right up there with the rats and the ships to describe what's happening in Trump's orbit now. No Kings 4 is happening today, Saturday, October 17th.

What drove the Tasmanian devil out of northern Western Australia? Researchers say Tasmanian devils lived alongside humans in Western Australia's arid Pilbara for tens of thousands of years, and the arrival of the dingo may have disrupted that relationship.

This week, guest host Negin Farsad helps us celebrate fall with some of our favorite guests, including Sally Field, Robert Smigel, Caro Claire Burke, and Jason Narducy. 

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Future Farmers of America. "A hotel room that changed rural America On November 20, 1928, the Future Farmers of America was established in Kansas City, Missouri, at the Hotel Baltimore. Thirty-three delegates from 18 states."
2026.
'Smith, Schweikert, Mann: Future Farmers of America Must Explain Ties to Chinese Communist Party'
'Record High U.S. Farm Debt and FFA National Convention'
'National FFA convention again bars Christian group from hosting booth.'

PBS News Hour (9/16/2026), "Exhibition explores connection between Black women and the works of Shakespeare": "There's a sort of longstanding myth that Shakespeare's world was not a diverse world ... Black women ... lived and worked in London at the same time that Shakespeare was living and writing there ... Black women, as artists, as creators, as theater professionals themselves have used Shakespeare to tell their own stories." Video on Youtube. An excerpt from the exhibition catalog edited by Patricia Akhimie introduces the entire open access collection of essays, including Shanelle E. Kim's article on Frances DeBerry, the game show contestant mentioned on PBS News Hour. See also Esther Ferington's quiz on Black women and Shakespeare and Patricia Akhimie's previous lecture on "The Goodness of the Night: Editing Othello" (transcript).

Residents in Blossburg, Pennsylvania are bringing the Tioga River back to life after 200 years of acid mine drainage.

At a product reveal at a Texas test facility belonging to SpaceX, Musk's other public company, he showed off Tesla's new Roadster, a two-person sports car that not only could go from 0 to 60 mph in record time of less than a second, but he said used suction underneath the car to climb up a steep ramp and hang upside down before spinning off the ramp, flipping in the air and using air jets to land. [CW: Tesla, Musk, Ridiculousness]

The corollary is that while 40K pays attention to what its fans want and tries to give it to them—after all, that's where the money is —those creators also aren't afraid of the fanbase in the way that Star Wars has repeatedly proven to be. The setting is in many ways surprisingly progressive: Female characters are present in positions of power, gender nonconforming individuals pop up with some regularity, and a deep mistrust of arbitrary authority is baked into 40K's DNA. The chuds might bitch and moan, but the setting recently retconned its all-male Custodes (the corpse-Emperor's demigod bodyguards) into a mixed-gender force, and nobody seems particularly fearful of losing said chuds. If you don't like female Custodes, read something else, or don't. We'll survive.

I was surprised to a) see W40K mentioned in something as sport-y and mainstream as Defector and b) that the article built up to addressing the freedom it gives its' creators within books and other media to try new things and c) that there's a media company out there actively willing to give the finger to "the chuds"

Before the musings about left-handed surgeons begins, I have a significant disclosure to make: I am left-handed. This was just confirmed by the 1971 Edinburgh Handedness Inventory which puts me in the worst-possible 10th decile of the left laterality index. While there is an undeniable conflict-of-interest in having a lefty write an article on left-handed surgeons, the topic is not often discussed, so I aim to rally up the left-handed base while informing righties about our peculiar ways. The SInistral Surgeon.

Inspired by this AskMe with links to additional articles about left-handed surgeons.