This thread clearly needs visuals, so. This is an almost full bobbin of shetland lambswool, from a lamb named Rae, raised by one of the most hardcore 4H kids I ever met. I've suinted and carded the wool, and it's been an absolute joy to spin.

I cross-referenced my database of candidates against credible voter fraud cases. GOP politicians are implicated at 50x–38,000x the general public's rate. Yet even if every American voted with the integrity of a GOP candidate, it still wouldn't come close to justifying making voting one iota harder.

My man looks like a dildo got an MBA

Trans fam: your lives are precious no matter what the fuck these people say translifeline.org/hotline/

Elizabeth Cronise McLaughlin@ecmclaughlin.bsky.social · last mo.

First SCOTUS opinion is as bad as it gets: West Virginia law banning trans kids from playing sports consistent with their gender identity is constitutional, according to the fucking fascist six. All three liberal justices dissent.

Show me a picture (of yourself) that captures your essence

High Priestess, Low Patience@cheriepriest.com · last mo.

show me a picture (of yourself) that captures your essence

So this, on the left, is nettle fiber. Some of you might remember that I brought home and retted a bunch of nettles about a month back. I just did a combination breaking and scrutching to remove the woody material. Next up, hackling, to further break them into fibers.

"...and what remains is not hope but something just as lasting: the insistence on truth, carried by love and lit by rage." Eddie Glaude, quoting the final paper of one of his student's on Baldwin's notion of love throughout his life. From On The Media: www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/otm...

The Fantasy of America at 250 | On the Media | WNYC Studios

In Texas, a judge sentenced a group of anti-ICE demonstrators to decades in prison. On this week’s On the Media, how leftist zines were used to convict a group of protesters accused o...

wnycstudios.org

Liz Soto and Savanna Batten are 2 of those sentenced to 50 years in prison for Prairieland. I visited them in a north Texas jail—11 months into their incarceration over a July 4 noise demo—to meet the Trump admin’s “Antifa terrorists”. from behind glass, Soto said, “They didn’t like my book club.”

‘This is injustice’: how leftist zines were used to sentence anti-ICE protesters to decades in prison

Advocates sound alarm after zines were used as evidence to convict protesters of terrorism charges tied to 2025 protest at Texas ICE facility

theguardian.com

Rational Security has called it - we lost the war in Iran. www.lawfaremedia.org/article/rati...

I get the love of merino wool as a technical fiber. I really, and my wardrobe reflects this. But if it's hot? Especially if it's hot and humid? Linen, hemp or other bast fibers beat the ass of merino. (I'm literally butt hurt that my favorite maker of hemp underwear no longer has a women's line.)

This is my sister. She's so awesome.

One of my students is doing a project on Haunted House stories that feature trans characters. I thought of a few adjacent things off the top of my head, but I'm also not as up on things as I once was. Suggestions?

Give me the most 80s song you can think of. www.youtube.com/watch?v=wTP2...

Dire Straits - Money For Nothing (Official Music Video)

YouTube video by DireStraitsVEVO

youtube.com

Lili Yochana@liliyo.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Give me the most 80s song you can think of. youtu.be/5UXnulANF8g?...

(in the seventh month of defending a candidate who has slowly revealed himself to be a werewolf) so actually I think most guys get worse under the full moon

I'm also working at collecting fiber from nettles, which I haven't done since I was a teenager. This is about a dozen thick, mature stalks, in for the first soak. I'll be replacing the water and retting them for about three days. Then drying, and then the breaking, scrutching and hackling begins!

I'm pretty in love with suinting wool now. Though this is a mystery fleece to me - best guest is a longwool from Providence Farms?

I had dinner w/pharma people a while ago and asked if they are discussing internally, the collapse of science. The response was “yeah, all the time. But we figure that the pipeline is about a decade long and we’ll have made our money and be retired by the time it completely collapses”. Me: ……………..

Mark Peifer (He, him)@peiferlabunc.bsky.social · 2mo ago

This is right on target. If you know anyone in biotech and pharma, please speak with them www.biocentury.com/article/659615

It is 2026. My computer science students are quoting Monty Python and The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy...

@neolithicsheep.bsky.social So, if other people are interested in Soay fleeces, would you be someone they could contact? Soay wool is being discussed on one of the spinning fora I frequent.

I do not need a sword rack for my car. Though something that would hold them while I've transporting them and keep them from sliding around would be nice. Um.

Another thing I've been doing - fermenting wool to clean it! Suint is a traditional method of cleaning wool. I have a bunch of fleeces that need to be cleaned. So I'm trying to let the bacteria do the work. Or a lot of it. (It also yields potassium rich liquid that is valued as a fertilizer.)

Since I mentioned him, an Elijah update. He's was adopted by my friend Kate and her fluffy diva of an orange boy, Tango. Not that they always get on perfectly, but it's been a smooth transition, and I think Tango really enjoys the company, and Elijah worships him. Even though he's full on teenager.

Sometimes I feel like I'm doing such a tiny bit to help the cat rescue situation. But I figure better to do that bit, continuously, than take on too much and burn out. I'm hoping that fostering cats whose people are having housing problems will help remove stress from the system.

I had a vet appt. for Medusa, one of the lastest two fosters. (Sightly different situation - her people lost their apartment. I'm hoping they can get into a stable situation, but meanwhile their cats are fine.) Medusa is in great shape. The vet had recently had spine surgery. So we bonded.

Periodically I will be reminded of the fanfic wars, and end up wishing that I had the intestinal fortitude to write and widely distribute a Lestat / Vanyel fic. Sometimes, annoying the right people is a hell of a prize.

I grew up in Seattle, and did my undergrad at UW. And they're among the places if recommend to trans friends as relatively safe, if they want to or have to stay in the US. Which just adds some more anger and shame to this for me. This is just awful and wrong.

Meade Krosby@meadekrosby.bsky.social · 3mo ago

My heart breaks for the student, a 19-year old trans woman; for her family; for the LGBTQIA+ community at UW; and for all affected by this horrific loss. Trans people deserve to live without fear, free from the rhetoric and actions that fuel this kind of violence. She deserved so much better.

Long Live Evil was such a delightful surprise. I expected it to be high quality fluff (a friend recommended it). It was so much more.

Tyler Cohen@tylercohencomix.bsky.social · 3mo ago

Rereading Long Live Evil today (while I’m sick in bed) in delighted prep

I would like to see a real and thorough investigation of Kavanaugh. The one that should have occurred before his appointment.

WITNESS ME!!!!!! After thinking we wouldn't have the motor boards, our SIT found the old ones at the last moment, so we got to start on the braitenberg vehicle lab... if without complete preparedness. No bother - I think being asked to improvise increases creativity.