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Dr Vandermast

@drvandermast.bsky.social

Writer of this and that. Reader of the other. Not a doctor, and my name isn't Vandermast. https://tinyurl.com/jasonmillshq

created November 22, 2023

1,752 followers 2,310 following 2,791 posts

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Posts

Profile picture Emo Philips (@emophilips.bsky.social) reposted

www.emophilips.com/shows

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4/9/2025, 9:50:52 PM | 28 6 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Dr Vandermast (@drvandermast.bsky.social) reply parent

Tempted!

4/9/2025, 5:40:10 PM | 0 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) reposted

WARNER: Do you accept the fact that 1 million Americans died from covid? RFK Jr: I don't know how many died W: You're the secretary of health and human services. You don't have any idea how many Americans died from covid? RFK Jr: I don't think anybody knows that W: How can you be that ignorant?

4/9/2025, 3:18:14 PM | 27377 7558 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Nicholas Grossman (@nicholasgrossman.bsky.social) reposted

I’ve studied US drone strikes, I wrote a book called “Drones and Terrorism,” and this Caribbean strike is different. Lethal fire at a non-threatening target in a non-hostile environment on purpose when other means, such as capture, were easily doable, and without even attempting a legal rationale.

4/9/2025, 4:03:07 AM | 9995 2877 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Dr Vandermast (@drvandermast.bsky.social)

Post a PERFECT album from the 90s that isn’t Nirvana or Pearl Jam.

3/9/2025, 9:54:51 PM | 1 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Matt Bell (@mdbell79.bsky.social) reposted

Just finished THE LEFT HAND OF DARKNESS, to teach it in my Worldbuilding for Science Fiction & Fantasy class. It's at least the 7th time I've read it since 2018, according to my logs. It only gets better. "It is good to have an end to journey toward; but it is the journey that matters, in the end."

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3/9/2025, 12:39:15 AM | 124 10 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Dr Vandermast (@drvandermast.bsky.social) reply parent

What is it, eight CHAPTERS of trekking across icy wastes? I'd be foundering after writing a PAGE of that, and she not only maintains it but makes it beautiful and gripping. Hats off.

3/9/2025, 9:49:21 PM | 1 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Dr Vandermast (@drvandermast.bsky.social) reply parent

Atheism doesn't require any reading of any scriptures. Indeed, it's everyone's default position before they can even talk, let alone read.

3/9/2025, 9:35:42 PM | 0 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) reposted

Nigel Farage looks uncomfortable as Jamie Raskin uses his opening statement to absolutely demolish him

3/9/2025, 4:39:55 PM | 21146 6819 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Dr Vandermast (@drvandermast.bsky.social) reply parent

That is itself an interpretation of scripture. There is no accessible authority to arbitrate between the myriad flavours of Christianity, let alone other religions. Asserting the legitimacy of one entails accepting the legitimacy of them all. "What is truth?"

3/9/2025, 4:47:50 PM | 0 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Tabatha Southey 🇨🇦 (@tabathasouthey.bsky.social) reposted

It’s not just that the President of the United States posted a video of eleven people being murdered in international waters it’s that the President of the United States ordered the murder of eleven people in international waters so he could post a video of it.

3/9/2025, 12:35:26 AM | 18239 5743 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Lauren Starkey (@laurenhstarkey.bsky.social) reposted

I was on @lbc.co.uk with Nick Ferrari this morning to explain one simple fact: the Home Office is the most anti-family department in government. Labour’s new family reunion policy is yet another in a long line of policies designed to stop people who move from building meaningful family lives.

2/9/2025, 7:34:13 AM | 86 27 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Lauren Starkey (@laurenhstarkey.bsky.social) reposted

PEOPLE SEEKING ASYLUM ALREADY HAVE FUCKING ID CARDS HOW DO YOU NOT KNOW THIS YOU ARE LITERALLY THE PRIME MINISTER

2/9/2025, 11:54:06 AM | 9 5 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Alana Vincent (@alana-m-vincent.net) reposted

Here's my Peter S. Beagle story. I met him once, at a con, as I was just beginning my MA degree. I was in a bad marriage--not overtly abusive, but nothing I did for my husband was ever good enough and anything I did for myself was selfish. And I was still to young to see that for what it was.

2/9/2025, 4:37:00 PM | 36 10 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Dr Vandermast (@drvandermast.bsky.social) reply parent

Golly. Didn't know it was so long a process. I'd better write my novels, quick! 😜

2/9/2025, 10:25:11 PM | 0 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Dr Vandermast (@drvandermast.bsky.social) reply parent

By that reasoning, you have no more evidence for your view than for its opposite.

2/9/2025, 10:23:30 PM | 1 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Dr Vandermast (@drvandermast.bsky.social) reply parent

Including that bit about only 144,000(?) inhabitants, which the JWs cleave to. But most Christians seem to take a different view, expecting to go there and probably encounter all their relatives, and maybe even their pets.

2/9/2025, 10:21:49 PM | 0 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture The Ineffable Horror of Joe Muggs (@joemuggs.bsky.social) reposted

waka wake

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1/9/2025, 7:43:39 PM | 760 189 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Dr Vandermast (@drvandermast.bsky.social) reply parent

Excellent work.

2/9/2025, 9:55:29 PM | 1 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Todd Dillard (@toddedillard.bsky.social) reposted

my issue of Threepenny is here! here’s my poem “Present Tense,” I would love for you to give it a read! “I know this so loudly I don’t hear, at first, my father’s silence.”

Present Tense by Todd Dillard My father’s telling me about his dog, how it fell into a well when they were walking down a wooded path. His dog ran across some rotted planks, the planks splintered, “And whoosh!” my father says. “No more dog.” I look at the clock and remind my father it’s three A.M. “I’m not finished,” he says. He tells me about the rope he bought, the bucket, how he knotted the rope to the bucket, lowered it down, and yelled for the dog to get in. “But all I pulled up was more barking.” “Dad,” I say. “This never happened.” He says he can’t remember how long he tried to get the dog to shimmy into the bucket. Just that at some point when the sky turned tawny—“Dad—“ as a pitcher of sweet tea—“Dad—“ he decided to give up. “Dad,” I say. “It’s late. I’m tired. And you’re dead.” “Dammit, son,” my father says. “Let me finish!” My father tells me about filling the bucket with dirt and pouring the dirt into the well. And I know what he’s getting at, I know he’s going to tell me bucket by bucket he filled the well and the dog jumped out. He’s going to say something about how the dog led him home through the dark. I know this so loudly I don’t hear, at first, my father’s silence. “Dad?” I say. “Dad, are you there?” I keep lowering the bucket but all I ever pull up are leaves. Red leaves. Lately, some gold.
2/9/2025, 9:06:45 PM | 356 90 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Doug Aoki (@nantanreikan.bsky.social) reposted

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2/9/2025, 5:46:23 PM | 12 2 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Randall Munroe (@xkcd.com) reposted

Sea Level xkcd.com/3135/

Comic. [Two people on shore looking at body of water] PERSON 1: Hey, where’s that big island we were looking at this morning? PERSON 2 with short hair: Oh, it’s underwater. The ocean’s depth here goes up and down by like ten feet every day. PERSON 1: What? PERSON 2: It’s because the planet has a big moon orbiting near the surface. It causes weird gravity effects. PERSON 1: *What???* [caption] People here are used to them, but tides are one of the weirdest and most sci-fi elements of life on Earth.
2/9/2025, 8:00:08 PM | 10015 1596 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Dr Vandermast (@drvandermast.bsky.social) reply parent

Good in Thunderheart too.

2/9/2025, 9:26:24 PM | 0 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Dr Vandermast (@drvandermast.bsky.social) reply parent

Except much brighter than what human eyes can observe. The night sky is not ablaze.

2/9/2025, 9:04:30 PM | 0 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Marko Silberhand (@markosilberhand.bsky.social) reposted

. THIS is one of the biggest problems of our time . . . ⬇️ ⬇️ ⬇️ .

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2/9/2025, 7:13:39 AM | 15943 6334 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Dr Vandermast (@drvandermast.bsky.social) reply parent

* "inch further past".

2/9/2025, 6:44:25 PM | 1 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Dr Vandermast (@drvandermast.bsky.social) reply parent

Patronising captions detracting as usual, and as usual a dozen cameras capturing this 'spontaneous' event.

2/9/2025, 6:39:18 PM | 0 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Dan Sohege (@danielsohege.bsky.social) reposted

Without speaking for other human rights advocates, such as @zoejardiniere.bsky.social and @laurenhstarkey.bsky.social et al, but I think it's safe to say we are all knackered. I know there are good Labour MPs out there, we need to hear from them against this government's incessant hostile policies.

2/9/2025, 8:41:57 AM | 141 28 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Dr Vandermast (@drvandermast.bsky.social) reply parent

Corby & Sultana have been running a masterclass in how not to launch a party. I thought Change UK's directionless rambling, unburdened by consensus, was as feckless as it could get, but noooo.

2/9/2025, 5:15:50 PM | 4 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Dr Vandermast (@drvandermast.bsky.social) reply parent

Harold & Maude is enough. 👍😀

2/9/2025, 5:12:42 PM | 0 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Dr Vandermast (@drvandermast.bsky.social) reply parent

And that's swearing.

2/9/2025, 5:08:41 PM | 0 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Dr Vandermast (@drvandermast.bsky.social) reply parent

How would we distinguish that from incomprehensible output that was not art?

2/9/2025, 6:19:41 AM | 1 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture leon (@leyawn.bsky.social) reposted

no matter your politics it’s disrespectful to joke about someone’s death. don’t say rudy giuliani died from driving his car into a wall painted to look like a tunnel and all his clothes flew off in the crash and then a sixteen wheeler semi truck ran over his dick and balls. don’t say stuff like that

31/8/2025, 8:56:16 PM | 8568 1440 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Dr Vandermast (@drvandermast.bsky.social) reply parent

This is exactly the video I would expect them to make. 😀

1/9/2025, 10:19:09 PM | 1 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Dr Vandermast (@drvandermast.bsky.social) reply parent

I thought the Hugos just happened? 🤔

1/9/2025, 7:37:47 PM | 0 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Ken Bardsley (@kenbar.bsky.social) reposted

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1/9/2025, 10:19:35 AM | 40416 9379 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Saul Staniforth (@saulstaniforth.bsky.social) reposted

IDF spokesperson: "we are doing everything we can to keep civilians out of harms way" Like dropping 2,000lb bombs on densely crowded refugee camps, killing 15 medics in cold blood, firing 355 bullets into a car to slaughter a family, double tap strikes to murder journalists etc?

1/9/2025, 1:34:01 PM | 971 366 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Doug Aoki (@nantanreikan.bsky.social) reposted

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1/9/2025, 12:09:50 PM | 38 11 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture George Conway 👊🇺🇸🔥 (@gtconway.bsky.social) reposted

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1/9/2025, 1:48:41 AM | 25985 7192 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Dr Vandermast (@drvandermast.bsky.social) reply parent

Good luck getting the Council of Europe to agree.

31/8/2025, 11:09:29 PM | 2 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Dr Vandermast (@drvandermast.bsky.social) reply parent

You seem to conflate 'believing that atheism is an absence of belief in gods' with 'absence of belief in gods'. By this contrivance, not believing in the existence of fairies is a belief. But if you're implying atheism is 'no more' credible than Christianity, that in no way bolsters Christianity.

31/8/2025, 8:10:15 PM | 1 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Dr Vandermast (@drvandermast.bsky.social) reply parent

Heaven must be sparsely populated.

31/8/2025, 8:04:48 PM | 0 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Dr Vandermast (@drvandermast.bsky.social)

Spot on. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

31/8/2025, 8:02:50 PM | 1 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Mike Galsworthy (@mikegalsworthy.bsky.social) reposted

YES! Thank you... Say it again, and again, and again. They are not "illegal immigrants". - seeking asylum is legal and has been since 1951.

31/8/2025, 9:46:19 AM | 1707 750 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture dag (@davidallengreen.bsky.social) reposted

This how the framing is going. That a president has no power in the US constitution to do a thing is now being recast as the president having “no explicit power”. Subtle, devious, dangerous, treacherous shift. Sad and bad to see NYT adopting this spin on a headline.

31/8/2025, 1:38:08 PM | 375 129 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Otto English (@ottoenglish.bsky.social) reposted

Douglas Carswell has skirted the line and now he's crossed it. This is disgusting racism from a former MP who now demonstrates who and what he is.

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31/8/2025, 3:25:03 PM | 3168 803 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Mariana Z (@mariana057.bsky.social) reposted

My dad told me his password is: MickeyMinnieGoofyDonaldPlutoHuey LouieDewevDublin. Because he was told his password had to contain 8 characters and at least one Capital.

31/8/2025, 4:24:22 PM | 882 106 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture dag (@davidallengreen.bsky.social) reposted

Both the Lucy Connolly and the Epping hotel cases have now taken on a political-media existence of their own, unconnected with what actually happened in court. It doesn't matter there were published sentencing remarks in one and a judge-prepared summary in the other. People want stories instead.

31/8/2025, 4:20:56 PM | 932 211 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Simon HB (@norock.bsky.social) reposted

Actually, Frankenstein is a doctor success at the Venice film festival

BBC News headline: Frankenstein is monster success at Venice film festival
31/8/2025, 12:07:55 PM | 24701 4672 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Dr Vandermast (@drvandermast.bsky.social) reply parent

Neither atheism nor Christianity is incompatible with agnosticism. The intractability of knowing for certain whether entities exist that are impervious to investigation is no reason to give the notion of their existence any credence, much less any particular highly specified version (like Jehovah).

31/8/2025, 4:16:27 PM | 1 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Dr Vandermast (@drvandermast.bsky.social) reply parent

You argued that absence of evidence is not evidence of absence. Yet now you argue that absence of belief is belief of absence. Pick a position.

31/8/2025, 4:11:22 PM | 1 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Dr Vandermast (@drvandermast.bsky.social) reply parent

The Quakers seem quite nice. 🙂

31/8/2025, 4:03:21 PM | 0 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Dr Vandermast (@drvandermast.bsky.social) reply parent

Hence this sonnet of mine. (From People of the Book: Sonnets in the Christian Mythos: mybook.to/peopleoftheb... )

Sonnet titled One of Nine Righteous Men, by Jason Mills.
31/8/2025, 4:00:51 PM | 1 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Dr Vandermast (@drvandermast.bsky.social) reply parent

If it's not true literally, what kind of true is it? Not an inarguable and unambiguous truth, but myriad truths determined by myriad readers. That's not a shared creed.

31/8/2025, 3:54:57 PM | 0 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Dr Vandermast (@drvandermast.bsky.social) reply parent

We could any of us die at any time. You seem to be arguing that the faith that brings salvation is dependent on age, and meanwhile the age one reaches is entirely the whim of the being who could save us. That's a rigged game.

31/8/2025, 3:52:42 PM | 1 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Dr Vandermast (@drvandermast.bsky.social) reply parent

"Sentiments almost always change the closer you get to your death bed." Citation needed.

31/8/2025, 3:50:01 PM | 0 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Dr Vandermast (@drvandermast.bsky.social) reply parent

Everything in the bible has self-evidently been 'dreamt of'. So you're arguing for the existence of unspecified things that the bible never mentions?

31/8/2025, 3:49:03 PM | 0 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Dr Vandermast (@drvandermast.bsky.social) reply parent

If all this is required to confidently live as the Bible's god desires you to, then virtually every Christian will have lived and died in error.

31/8/2025, 3:47:08 PM | 1 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Dr Vandermast (@drvandermast.bsky.social) reply parent

You were interested enough to both read and reply.

31/8/2025, 3:36:36 PM | 2 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Dr Vandermast (@drvandermast.bsky.social) reply parent

Pretty sure most voters don't check the trends in bsky accounts to decide on a candidate.

31/8/2025, 3:35:32 PM | 1 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Dr Vandermast (@drvandermast.bsky.social) reply parent

People give each other 'normal love' all the time, without involving intangible third parties. Atheism is the rational position regardless of whether you find it 'attractive'.

31/8/2025, 3:27:02 PM | 4 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Dr Vandermast (@drvandermast.bsky.social) reply parent

If you have to decide for yourself which bits are relevant or "outdated", you've licensed every reader to settle on their own unique interpretation and abandoned the notion of a shared creed.

31/8/2025, 3:20:40 PM | 5 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Dr Vandermast (@drvandermast.bsky.social) reply parent

Atheism means: I have no belief that there are any gods. It would be 'intellectually dishonest' for me to take any other position. There could be gods, just as there could be fairies, but I've encountered nothing to convince me of either's existence.

31/8/2025, 3:17:44 PM | 4 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture 🪶☘️Redi 🏳️‍🌈 🧷🇺🇦🖕->🌮 maga & 3rd party "non-committeds" 🖕 (@redincalif.bsky.social) reposted

This is absolute truth. Add in I've read the Book of Mormon & done a little bit of Jehovah Witness readings. I'm not being arrogant when I tell Bible thumpers that I probably know their book BETTER than them..I'm WARNING THEM to not TEST ME🤷‍♀️

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31/8/2025, 6:36:49 AM | 8452 1453 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Dr Vandermast (@drvandermast.bsky.social) reply parent

And if you haven't the time... The Bible in Limericks: Each Chapter in Verse The fast, fun and irreverent way to find out what's in it! mybook.to/biblelimericks

The Bible in Limericks: Each Chapter in Verse. By Jason Mills.
31/8/2025, 2:59:07 PM | 0 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Dr Vandermast (@drvandermast.bsky.social) reply parent

Well, now I'm a believer. 😀

31/8/2025, 2:14:57 PM | 1 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Michelle Ilia 🌷 (@missrainbowpie.bsky.social) reposted

Reply to this and I'll tell you what animal you are based on vibes 🫶

31/8/2025, 1:40:13 AM | 12 1 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Dr Vandermast (@drvandermast.bsky.social) reply parent

I thought this might be unscientific woo-woo, but if it's based on vibes... 🤔

31/8/2025, 1:14:09 PM | 1 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Kelly Turnbull (@coelasquid.bsky.social) reposted

Sometimes we’re unsatisfied with a thing we made because when it only existed in our head, we saw all the things it could have been and when it’s done we know all the things that it isn’t, but we can’t see the way it expands into a million new things when someone else unpacks it in their head. 🖊️🦑

Frustrated little dude gripping a pencil saying “how do I pack this down into something I can actually share?” While swirling rainbows labeled “INFINITE POTENTIAL” float around them. Little dude frowns at a tiny grey box, exclaiming “all that work for THIS?!” Little dude shoves the grey box into another little guy’s hands; Frowning, stomping off, and saying “Here you go, I made this, it sucks.” Second little dude cracks open the box, swirling rainbows project out onto their face. Second little dude stares in awe at all the swirling rainbows now floating around them.
31/8/2025, 9:04:01 AM | 23278 7972 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Sara Charles (@saracharles.bsky.social) reposted

Look what the postie brought for me today @cathamclarke.bsky.social! That’s tomorrow’s reading sorted 😊

A postal delivery of A History of England in 25 Poems by Catherine Clarke
30/8/2025, 5:42:29 PM | 28 4 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Dr Vandermast (@drvandermast.bsky.social) reply parent

Can vouch for its counterpart:

The History of Wales in Twelve Poems.
31/8/2025, 10:55:01 AM | 0 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Dr Vandermast (@drvandermast.bsky.social) reply parent

Same! 😳

31/8/2025, 10:41:33 AM | 3 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Buntglas (@buntglas.bsky.social) reposted

when you can't decide what color scheme you like best... #art

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31/8/2025, 10:28:35 AM | 74 16 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Dr Vandermast (@drvandermast.bsky.social) reply parent

I like the blue. But also the red, and the white one's good.

31/8/2025, 10:33:56 AM | 1 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Adam Roberts (@adamroberts.bsky.social) reposted

Presently reading this, "Tolkien and the Mystery Giuseppe of Pezzini Literary Creation" (CUP 2025). Not sure who the author is.

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30/8/2025, 4:57:36 PM | 48 5 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Carl Dershem (@carldershem.bsky.social) reposted

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30/8/2025, 11:06:48 PM | 1 1 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Dr Vandermast (@drvandermast.bsky.social) reply parent

Your firm drinks rule effectively outlaws firm drinks.

30/8/2025, 11:13:16 PM | 0 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Bruce Little (@brucedlittle.bsky.social) reposted

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29/8/2025, 8:34:40 PM | 611 204 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Holly 🇺🇦🏳️‍⚧️🏳️‍🌈🇵🇸 (@mxhollyclara.bsky.social) reposted

Finished! Ork Deff Dredd. I was just able to get it varnished before the rains came this morning. Really fun to paint and has definitely helped restore my mojo. I’ll be selling him - so let me know if you’re interested.

Front view of Ork Deff Dredd with a toothy skull faceplate, claw arms and pintle mounted dakka! Side view of Ork Deff Dredd with a toothy skull faceplate, claw arms and pintle mounted dakka! Alternate side view of Ork Deff Dredd with a toothy skull faceplate, claw arms and pintle mounted dakka! Top down view of Ork Deff Dredd with a toothy skull faceplate, claw arms and pintle mounted dakka!
30/8/2025, 4:09:53 PM | 149 13 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Dr Vandermast (@drvandermast.bsky.social) reply parent

The reports that the president's butt has fallen off? You need evidence that the president's butt has not fallen off? Is it likely that the president's butt has fallen off?

30/8/2025, 6:49:00 PM | 0 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Dr Vandermast (@drvandermast.bsky.social) reply parent

I don't believe for a second, that the president's butt has fallen off. The suggestion that the president's butt has fallen off is a scurrilous rumour. The president's butt has not fallen off.

30/8/2025, 6:43:07 PM | 0 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Kim Weeden (@weedenkim.bsky.social) reposted

Saddened to hear of the passing of Dr. Rossiter, who told the stories of the many forgotten and underappreciated women of science. Like many women of her generation, she survived academia by developing a tough exterior, but her support for jr women, myself included, was unwavering. RIP, Margaret.

30/8/2025, 4:01:16 PM | 3332 705 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Jen Sorensen (@jensorensen.bsky.social) reposted

This week's comic, inspired by a study showing that AI summaries on top of search results are dramatically cutting traffic to websites.

WEB'S END IN THE BEGINNING, THERE WERE WEBSITES. YOU VISITED THEM AND IT WAS FUN. Computer screen: Jill's Homepage LINKS AND STUMBLEUPON HELPED YOU FIND NEW ONES. Computer screen: Cheese Art GOOGLE ACTUALLY WORKED AND SENT YOU TO SITES BUILT WITH CARE BY REAL PEOPLE. Computer screen: Lovable Expert THEN CAME SOCIAL MEDIA, AND ITS ALGORITHMS DETERMINED WHAT YOU CLICKED. Computer screen: Facebook THEN AGGREGATOR SITES TOOK OFF. Computer screen: CRAP FROM AROUND THE WEB THEN SOCIAL MEDIA COMPANIES TRIED TO KEEP US FROM EVER LEAVING… AND WE DIDN'T. Woman on phone: SCROLL SCROLL SCROLL THEN AI BEGAN GENERATING SUMMARIES SO YOU DIDN'T NEED TO CLICK THROUGH TO A SITE ANYMORE. Computer screen: MONOPOSEARCH Summary SOON... THE AI CHATBOT BECOMES THE ONLY SOURCE OF INFORMATION AND REAL PUBLICATIONS DISAPPEAR. Woman speaking to phone: CHATBOT, WHAT IS A WEBSITE? UNTIL ONE DAY, PEOPLE WALK AWAY AND BUILD SOMETHING NEW. Woman has left devices on the ground and is walking into sunset © 2025 Jen Sorensen
30/8/2025, 6:32:16 PM | 883 331 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Dr Vandermast (@drvandermast.bsky.social) reply parent

That link seems to add no more information.

30/8/2025, 6:17:01 PM | 1 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Mikaela 🏳️‍⚧️ (@crashannburn.bsky.social) reposted

Day 74

29/8/2025, 10:46:44 AM | 15 2 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Dr Vandermast (@drvandermast.bsky.social) reply parent

Well. That was something.

30/8/2025, 4:30:04 PM | 1 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Ungagged! (@ungagged.bsky.social) reposted

DatAI...

Comic. Star Trek New generation. 6 frames. Captain Picard: COMMANDER DATA, PLEASE IDENTIFY THAT ROMULAN VESSEL. Data: THAT'S A GREAT IDEA CAPTAIN! IDENTIFYING A VESSEL IS A GREAT PLACE TO START-IN ANY TACTICAL OR STRATEGIC OUTER SPACE SITUATION. THIS VESSEL APPEARS TO BE A 23rd CENTURY KLINGON BIRD OF PREY! Captain Picard:ARE YOU SURE? LIKE I SAID WE'RE... PRETTY SURE IT'S ROMULAN. Data: ...
29/8/2025, 6:38:51 PM | 341 72 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Michael Whelan (@michaelwhelan.bsky.social) reposted

IN A WORLD OF HER OWN (2016) Acrylic on Canvas - 36" x 48" This painting arose from musing on an interview that Stanley Kubrick gave in 1968, a source of inspiration I have gone back to over the years, revisiting comments made by the director. 1/3

Against the paneled concrete wall of a massive chamber, a stone sphere hovers as if by magic. The outer surface is polished and patterned with overlapping 5-pointed stars. Light from a simple bulb hanging inside fills the sphere with warm light. At the edge of a circular opening, a little girl in pink dress sits reading with her feet and the blanket beneath her dangling unsupported. The metal frames that structure the concrete wall have thoroughly rusted. Much of the stone is dingy and cracked. Eroding at the top of the chamber, the wall gives way to a view of a sliver of crescent moon in the blue night sky.
28/8/2025, 12:31:04 PM | 650 164 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Dr Vandermast (@drvandermast.bsky.social) reply parent

Ouch!

30/8/2025, 3:44:18 PM | 0 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Dr Vandermast (@drvandermast.bsky.social) reply parent

Endless Tobys. I'm getting vibes of Permutation City, by Greg Egan.

30/8/2025, 3:39:15 PM | 0 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Joshua Pruett (@zombietardis.bsky.social) reposted

13 yrs ago today I finished my first draft of GYRO. That book is now in stores. This weekend I start writing GYRO book two. Today: I launched my first adult horror novel w my editor, (my 15th published book). No one cares how long this takes but you. Get writing that thing. It can change your life.

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30/8/2025, 4:27:17 AM | 17 4 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Chris Addison (@mrchrisaddison.bsky.social) reposted

Er. Apparently the show I made for Radio 3 earlier this year is back on for your delectation/irritation. Loved making this and there’s some right bangers on the playlist. Please to enjoy.

30/8/2025, 12:17:10 PM | 43 10 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Sarah Murphy (@13sarahmurphy.bsky.social) reposted

There can be absolutely no “shock” about this. The media has been shamelessly platforming Reform all summer. All summer, we’ve had hate-mongering headlines about immigration. It’s a tedious and grim inevitability that you’ve made people angry enough to want to vote for this shit in response.

i Weekend front page Reform takes a shock 15-point lead over Labour as Farage dreams of taking power 13%| » Record lead for Farage's party in poll for The i Paper puts Reform UK on course for huge election win » Polling is described as 'catastrophic for Labour which is struggling to deal with voters' immigration concerns » Reform more trusted to resolve the small boats issue » Government wins legal challenge on asylum hotel but is accused of putting migrants ahead of Britons
30/8/2025, 6:43:53 AM | 1237 403 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture George Conway 👊🇺🇸🔥 (@gtconway.bsky.social) reposted

image
30/8/2025, 11:59:41 AM | 15954 3093 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Dan Sohege (@danielsohege.bsky.social) reposted reply parent

What this move from the Home Office does do, and politicians have to know it will do this, is fuel the misinformation that people seeking asylum are living it up at the expense of others. It isn't just detached from reality, this actively stokes far right talking points. 2/

30/8/2025, 11:06:04 AM | 121 38 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Dan Sohege (@danielsohege.bsky.social) reposted

Considering people seeking asylum living in hotels get less than a tenner per week, and those in other accommodation get less than 50 quid, this really is performative nonsense from the Home Office. People aren't buying fur coats and snowmobiles FFS. 1/ www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...

30/8/2025, 11:06:04 AM | 251 108 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Bert’s Books (@bertsbooks.bsky.social) reposted

What's everyone reading this weekend?

30/8/2025, 10:13:41 AM | 24 1 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Dr Vandermast (@drvandermast.bsky.social) reply parent

Fire and Blood, by George RR Martin.
30/8/2025, 11:08:29 AM | 0 0 | View on Bluesky | view