School meals should be free for everybody. Charging children to eat somewhere they are legally required to be for the entire day is crazy.

The global effort to end child marriage is in the news. In the U.S., there's a new bill before Congress (but it's controversial). And the U.N. is designating a day dedicated to ending the practice. n.pr/4yoJoFV

Whatever happened to the U.S. campaign to ban child marriage?

The global effort to end child marriage is in the news. In the U.S., there's a new bill before Congress (but it's controversial). And the U.N. is designating a day dedicated to ending the practice.

n.pr

The Roman Catholic archbishop of Indianapolis has dispensed the Sunday mass obligation for those afraid of detention or intimidation by ICE. What a profoundly messed up world we live in! 🕯️

elder millennial attempts to fight disinfo by donating $25 wikipeida

Fantastic overview introduction on Catholic Social Teaching by Fr. Bryan Massingale www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hchu...

Catholic Social Teaching: Life & Dignity of the Human Person | Fr. Bryan Massingale

YouTube video by StJosephsSociety

youtube.com

Underrated god-tier advice

Anna Vangala Jones@anniejowrites.bsky.social · 4d ago

writing tip: when in doubt, read

Commentary: Governments can protect children more effectively by banning addictive social‑media design features rather than relying on age restrictions.

Social-media age bans won’t make children safer — but this will

A more effective strategy to protect young people would force tech firms to remove addictive features by holding them to product-liability standards—as with most other industries.

ebx.sh

Saruman was driven mad by his Palantir groupchat.

Andrew [Retired from Sad]@athomashemlock.bsky.social · 7d ago

This is literally the difference between Saruman and Gandalf. Tolkien is very clear about the necessity to go out into the world and yap with strangers, preferably while smoking and drinking.

What Calvin said..

Sibling pod, Maintenance Phase with Aubrey Gordon and Michael Hobbes, covered the Cass Report in their 3 parter series "Rapid-Onset Gender Dysphoria" - Cass Report discussed in P2 and fully in the bonus P3.

BONUS: Breaking Down The Latest Anti-Trans Victory Lap - Maintenance Phase

We went a little easy on the Cass Report in our last main feed episode, so we're back to [Mortal Kombat voice] FINISH HIM!!!This was supposed to be a Patreon bonus episode but we'd rather you support ...

maintenancephase.buzzsprout.com

This remains the entire point of the Cass Review; enough scientific looking nonsense thrown together in bad faith that gives terfs enough cover and simultaneously traps trans people and allies in a discussion about methodology and process.

Michael Hobbes@michaelhobbes.bsky.social · last wk.

Absolutely incredible that all of this is being done under the narrative of "independent review of studies." The studies find significant benefits and no harms! Children are not being rushed into irreversible procedures! An entire government and media apparatus buying in an urban legend

newrepublic.com/post/214770/...

I have never seen a moral panic grip a country so quickly or thoroughly

Cwiar Cymru@cwiar.org · last wk.

The Welsh Gender Service has now released a statement regarding the cancellation of all surgeries: 'We have been asked to immediately pause referrals from the WGS for gender affirming surgery and existing scheduled surgeries while further independent clinical review work is carried out.'

I really feel like it should be bigger news that fibreglass is in IV saline bags in the US. This isn’t a situation where you might get a little sick. Fibreglass going directly into your veins will kill you. IV saline is used for almost every medical procedure. This is unconscionable:

Baxter Issues Voluntary Nationwide Recall for Two Lots of 0.9% Sodium Chloride Injection Due to Potential Presence of Particulate Matter

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – AUG. 25, 2026 – DEERFIELD, Ill., Baxter International Inc. (NYSE:BAX) is voluntarily recalling two lots of 0.9% Sodium Chloride Injection due to the potential presence of parti...

fda.gov

Influencers feel like they have to do this to set themselves apart / for their own marketing; it’s the economy of the hot take and it helps your own virality if no one is using the term 🤷🏻‍♂️ Personally, I’m patiently waiting for the influencer culture to die so that we can cite things properly again 😆

Limón de Beauvoir@ottomanvampire.bsky.social · last wk.

White people have to stop renaming obvious things. I just saw some influencer talking about the magic of “water based cooking”; and reader, she was just making soup.

True!!! 🐝🌳💦

the year is 2027. gas costs $83 and lettuce is at war with us. however every location on every map now says AMERICA

This week in P-hacking

Eric Klinenberg@ericklinenberg.bsky.social · last wk.

Researchers in Chicago tracked neighborhood-level tree canopy over two decades and discovered something startling: “Each year-to-year percent increase in canopy was associated with around a 10 percent reduction in mortality." Keeping mature trees alive can help keep people alive -and cooler, too.

Now you can opt out of having your posts shown to non-followers in the Discover feed. We know not everyone wants to go viral. Sometimes you're just posting for your followers. This is one of a few updates we're working on to give you more control over your experience and help you find your people.

We’re going to hear about how everyone loved Dolly, and that feels true. But it’s good to remember, and to her credit, that she was attacked for her AIDS activism, her vaccine advocacy, her LGBTQ+ support and even, more recently, for her reading initiatives. She ALWAYS stood firm when it mattered.

I would love for cisgender people who don't mind sharing spaces with trans people to be much more vocal. This is a super simple way to show solidarity and combat the lie that trans people being in a space are inherently unsafe.

😢 Dolly

William Shakespeare@shakespeare.lol · 2w ago

[Exit Queen.]

Michael Sean Winters wants to treat trans people as solely a political problem; I’m here to remind him that we’re people first. maxwellkuzma.substack.com/p/michael-se...

Michael Sean Winters is Arguing Against Trans Rights Again

A name that I have become quite weary of is “Michael Sean Winters.” He’s a writer for the National Catholic Reporter (twinsies!) who has been on staff for quite a long time with a fair number of loyal...

maxwellkuzma.substack.com

I was reading an author recently talking about how we don't appreciate the way that email isn't siloed. That is, you don't have to be in gmail to talk to someone else in gmail. The norm is so powerful, it'd be unthinkable to change it. All email is interoperable. Social media could've been this way.

Trump/Republicans' "big beautiful bill" has so far cut one million american kids off food stamps: www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news...

‘Mom, are we OK?’ Children worry their families can’t afford food after Trump’s SNAP cuts

The Trump administration’s “big, beautiful bill” slashed spending on food stamps. Now, more than 1 million fewer children receive benefits.

nbcnews.com

I’ve been looking forward to reading this! The author does have a free ebook version available— I purchased this one in order to mark it up :)

15,903 "illegal ballots" became 185, and they still haven’t shown that those 185 people cast any ballots. Gifted article: www.nytimes.com/2026/08/20/u...

Food companies wanted deregulation. Now there are dozens of recalls across the country. Mining companies wanted deregulation. Now the black lung rate is at a 45-year high. Financial companies wanted deregulation. Now financial losses to fraud are the highest on record. Noticing a pattern?