Top recent posts by Historians of Health, Medicine & Disability Network on Bluesky

I keep this image on my desktop now because of how often I have to use it.

Pizzaballa from downtown

The Vatican flatly rejected a U.S. invitation to join the Trump-led "Board of Peace" for Gaza. The Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem previously described the project as "a colonialist operation" focused on "others deciding for the Palestinians.”

I need people to understand that "AI" used in moderation isn't necessarily the "AI" of ChatGPT + friends or synthetic text extruding machines, or LLMs. There's stuff lumped under "AI", as the term is a marketing term, that is actually useful and important for flagging stuff on social media.

Imagine being too imperialist/neocolonial/openly rapacious for the Catholic Church

And as Israel carries out its Final Solution in Gaza and prepares to do the same in the occupied West Bank, the world must never forget the white American evangelicals who gleefully supported, welcomed and celebrated it all. Kenn Maurice Orfanos, February 2026

A stunning #Neolithic rock crystal arrowhead found in the pile-dwelling settlement of Neuchâtel, Switzerland, dating from around 3500 BC. The raw material was not available in the immediate area, but came from the Alps. Rock crystal has been mined in the Swiss Alps since the early Mesolithic.🧵1/3 🏺

kennorphan.substack.com/p/israel-is-...

www.democracynow.org/2026/2/20/he...

Another horrifying, Kafka-esque scene from Trump's America

Sue this company out of existence. www.wsj.com/us-news/law/...

The first meeting of Donald Trump's “Board of Peace” showcased the dystopian future the U.S. envisions for Palestinians. But even those plans might soon be eclipsed by Israel's renewed full-scale genocide in Gaza.

two things are simultaneously true: The U.K., and London particularly, have incredibly diverse and good and complex food scenes with an amazing variety of offerings And not Mexican food tho

I can't read this because it's behind a paywall, but if ChatGPT is trained on prior knowledge (which it is), then of course it would advise women to ask for lower salaries. Misogyny is baked into the historical data.

I ain’t hit no pithy jokes no more. We gotta start actively knocking these fools out And we have to learn that the reason they hate sex education and 230 and cultural studies and gender studies Is because they don’t want their victims to have options to avoid or report them

“Israel had to choose between annexation and peace. It chose annexation. We all reject annexation. So how are we going to stop Israel?” — Palestine Envoy to UN, Riyadh Mansour. Video: State of Palestine via X (@Palestine_UN)

Today marks the day Malcolm X was assassinated and his words about Black women still rings true: “The most disrespected person in America is the Black woman. The most unprotected person in America is the Black woman.”

What's wild is Black people keep telling everyone else this but accepting that racial solidarity against mass incarceration is the baseline of meaningful resistance is a bridge too far for an overwhelming majority of the population, despite very obvious for-profit concentration camp plans.

Obviously like everyone I love this post. But also, everything is like this. If you simply water it it will grow.

The journalists lost an average of 52 pounds in Israeli prisons. Most of them were held under Israel’s so-called “administrative detention” policy and were never charged with any crime.

I don't have a spiritual bone in my body but am so on board with Pope Leo XIV. Leo knows: human beings have brains, souls, and consciences (whether or not they pay attention to them).

WE DID IT!!!! THEY'RE GOING TO EUROPE!!!!

the honest answer here is that the UK never colonised Mexico and that's why

I, more than most, get that sports is actually a way to get some non-college grads to care about the institution. But I think we have to start thinking deeply about what a university is, given that accreditation is months away from fully breaking

you don't look good on camera you're uncharismatic in videos you don't have a voice for podcasts and you aren't shipping code so every weekend we get a new 1200 word blogpost that no one would read unless your dissing someone else's project you lack flavor, sauce and are BOOOOOORRRIINNNGGGGG

There are many ways to tell the home of a Tree Sprite. The first clue is often a ring of offerings around the trunk. Toys; trading cards; bones, bottle tops; buttons. A circling of appeasements, terror tithe display. Of course, if it's spitting curses at you, there's no need for further clues.

The committee reviewed testimony and evidence from 59 Palestinian journalists, finding “strikingly consistent” reports of physical assaults, forced stress positions, sensory deprivation, sexual violence and medical neglect.

Goodnight from Tom Barton, more troubled by visions of folk pounding at locked exit doors during the 1962 Trocadero blaze than midnight showing of 'Wraith Cage'. Goodnight from Dr. Dench, wishing once again he could cure his patients of rabid superstition. Goodnight from Hookland.

The Israeli gov't installed security equipment & controlled access to a Manhattan apartment building managed by Epstein, according to emails released by the DOJ. The security op. was in place for at least two years, w/ officials from the Israeli permanent mission to the UN regularly corresponding...

Like I can’t get around how the basic psychological basis of ALL IS this Is that Some people believe the goal of life is to find out who they can exploit and abuse . And people want us to argue about it rather than to push them back into the ocean

shado-mag.com/articles/opi...

Was gonna do my annual post about how the colonizers who landed on Plymouth Rock & their descendants were so mediocre & skill-less that they couldn’t even grow rice on US soil but were so practiced at kidnapping, subjugating & exploiting that they did a whole transatlantic slave trade to solve that

At LARB, they weren’t even allowed to discuss Gaza in editorial meetings. nobaddaysinla.substack.com/p/how-the-la...

One thing ppl often get mad at me for saying is: the wealth disparity AND the giving disparity between the average (and the poor) and the wealthiest is like 300 times larger than it ever was in feudal England

“Palestinians are being told that they must completely surrender,” says Scahill. President Trump chaired the first meeting of his so-called Board of Peace this week, a body established for Gaza but whose remit has already expanded.

🔴 NEW: An Israeli drone strike hit the Ain al-Hilweh Palestinian refugee camp in Sidon, southern Lebanon, killing 3 people & wounding others, including civilians, Lebanese media report. Sources told Al Araby TV the site was not a Hamas facility, saying the strike targeted a building belonging to...

$500 billion a year is enough to guarantee a basic income via a negative income tax with a 50% phaseout rate for all Americans, ending poverty and significantly reducing inequality and insecurity.

Another 3 people murdered with the USA military. This is mass, serial murder to make propagandistic snuff pron ; violation of international humanitarian law; & a crime against humanity b/c “legitimate command authorities” doing repeated murder of civilians w/USA state & military forces.

Do these idiots not realize that AI has been out for a while now? We can't perpetually be "a couple months" away from it automating all human labor.

Beyond “a handful of members of Congress, including Ro Khanna, who has teamed up w/ Thomas Massie to push for a [Iran] war powers resolution vote,” there has been “very little said publicly by Democrats against this,” Ryan Grim said on Breaking Points. Grim describes the “cold logic” inside...

The mark of the witch is not a third nipple or a refusal to drown, but in a thousand ritual acts as they dance with the land. - Tess Heller, Grey Horse Coven, 1978 #WitchSky

Today, February 21, 2026, is the 178th anniversary of the publication of the Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels and is celebrated around the world as #RedBooksDay. Read a red book today!

I'm a USA citizen. My husband is not. My kids are not. I've had people call me dramatic for saying it's not safe for us to visit right now. But it's not.

Pretty incredible. This candidate went to the West Bank to see the violence of the occupation herself. And Israeli settlers — apparently flanked by a soldier — immediately showed it to her by throwing eggs at her as she walked with an ex-soldier, a priest, and Jewish activists:

THE MEDIEVAL ERA IS SO BACK

www.mediaite.com/lawcrime/alm...

Im a disability historian, and teach eugenics histories almost every year. And since 2017/8, Ive been posting about how eugenics was being normalized in social media/national discourse, and I am so angry at all the people (physicians, journos) who said people raising the alarm were being hysterical

Please be respectful.

No one should accept anything less than universal basic income as a policy response to AI. There is only one way to make sure AI works for all of us and that's to MAKE THEM LITERALLY WORK FOR ALL OF US via a universal dividend that grows as national productivity grows. Also universal healthcare too.

Of the at least 10 high-profile Dems who traveled to the 2026 Munich Security Conference (Feb. 13–15), only 1 - Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) - publicly characterized Israel’s actions in Gaza as a “genocide” carried out w/ US support. At least 9 others – Gavin Newsom, Gretchen Whitmer...

Pete Hegseth benches 315 lbs? That's cute. Jamal Bowman benches 405 lbs. My max is 500 lbs. Men that respect women have always owned the gym. It's ours. Protecting pedos, and being racist, and giving yourself food poisoning and measles for no reason, doesn't make you manly. It makes you a weirdo

the thing is ... i go to a lot of weddings... and there is only so many ways the people can consume chicken in cream sauce ... beef tenderloin with a gravy there has been no reception innovations in like 30 years

I personally very much suspect white folks of being evil enough to report their neighbors to ICE, that is not in conflict with anything I've known white folks to be my whole life as a Black southerner. They stab you the second you turn your back.

Okay so today in Fun Oxford Science: I may have mentioned I am currently undergoing fairly extensive medical genetic testing because I am a good case study for some ongoing research. Which is fun and all but also!! Today we learned! I am also related to several victims of Oxford’s St Brice Massacre

arresting him on his birthday absolutely was not a coincidence lmfao

I can absolutely see why these photos of little Punch went viral 🥰🥰🥰

Just realized, after doing Open Borders and A City on Mars, I believe I've been angrily accused of every political position, from libertarian to "interplanetary communist" but I don't think I ever got fascist. Torn between pride and wishing I could Catch 'em All.

“We own you now” Slavery is always the end goal

NEW: Congressional candidate Effie Phillips-Staley just did what most don’t. She visited Palestine to learn more. There, Israeli settlers harassed her, a priest, and Jewish activists. Now, some local Democratic members are going after *her.* One top bundler is even quietly demanding she drop out:

oh is that what we're calling it?? IS THAT WHAT WE ARE CALLING IT www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Hello, good people! I'm hearing from Bluesky folks that my account is restricted. I've logged into Blacksky for desktop. Can you let me know whether you're able to reply? There are no restriction on the post, and if you're seeing this, you're not muted or blocked. Thanks for your help!

Black Detroiter and Gen Xer. Absolutely can confirm this:

good afternoon everyone I have just realised upon leaving that I wore my leggings inside out to soft play. Maroon leggings with a black crotch gusset. inside out

Among Trump’s key proposals is to turn Gaza into an upscale seaside resort with gleaming skyscrapers and entirely new cities. Later in the broadcast we’ll speak with Jeremy Scahill of Drop Site News about Iran, Gaza and the so-called Board of Peace.

VERY IMPORTANT THREAD ALERT

upon further consideration, i would like to read the Bike Lanes are Anti-Sex Worker discourse, please. i would like to fry my brain beyond belief. who has screencaps

Yay sleeper trains! Glasgow, here I come. And if you need some ocean science in your Saturday, do come along to the Glasgow Science Centre to this lunchtime event plus a day of ocean exhibits: www.glasgowsciencecentre.org/whats-on/how...

they WANT to be able to enslave, abuse and kill Black people with even more impunity than they already possess--thats really just it. They tell you as much openly on their social media feeds, and have been for nearly a decade.

Americans are privileged to be ignorant about the rest of the world their comfort depends on devastating & center America like it’s the only thing that matters & that’s indoctrination. You have to build a global picture to understand that you are oppressed by America which is oppressing abroad.

mondoweiss.net/2026/02/pope...

"The E*stein [files] is not just one file on one criminal. It is a CT scan of the entire system." Loud and CORRECT. 👏🏿

I want you to know when I says "the peasants wanted blood" in the thumbnail here *I* mean that in a positive sense.

I...thought that this law was common knowledge?

Tucker Carlson asks U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee on what basis PM Benjamin Netanyahu, whose family is from Europe, has the right to displace Palestinians who have lived in Palestine for thousands of years. Video: Tucker Carlson Network via X (@TCNetwork)

www.commondreams.org/opinion/trum...

I regrettably missed Kurt Cobain's birthday yesterday but am still going to use the opportunity to post one of the all time great photos of him: in Times Square in 1993 with Jenny Holzer theater marquee

🔴 NEW: Citing sources in direct contact w/ military planners, Jeremy Scahill told Democracy Now the US is weighing 2 military scenarios for Iran: a “Libya scenario,” using US airpower for regime change & allowing chaos & civil war to follow, or a “Venezuela scenario,” seeking to decapite Iran's...

Some Ethiopian coffee today, prepared in the traditional manner and served in a cup decorated with scenes of St Frumentius sailing to Axum, converting the king and erected stelae

If you’re at #OSM26 in Glasgow, I’ve just signed lots of copies of Blue Machine that are now on sale in the shop at @glasgowscience.bsky.social 🌊🌊 Share the ocean love!

None of us in the world are free under the American empire except a teeny tiny bit of white men who are sucking blood from everybody else according to tiers. If that clicks for you it affects how you move.

🚨Massacre in Lebanon: Israeli airstrikes across the Beqaa have killed at least 12 people & wounded more than 25, according to the latest update from L’Orient Today, which reports 3 strikes in Bednayel & 2 in Rayak, w/ add'l raids in the Shaara area, Temnin, & along the Rayak–Baalbek road. Civil...

"So why did ICE detain her, and keep her locked up for so long? A possible answer began to emerge over the weeks she was incarcerated. As Karen got to know the guards...she kept hearing the same thing from them...'Individual ICE agents get money per head that they detain – the guards told me that'”

I have once again caved from my discipline to say what the actual fuck. I dated someone who’d later write that acknowledgments were dumb & only read by grad students, & that’s less of a garbage take than policing the ONE element where you can cite your care network— whatever it is in that moment.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOORRRRINNNNGGGGG

Good morning everyone, here's a "Lady Drinking Tea" 👍🏛️🍑 #MuseumBums That's it! Happy Saturday 😁👋 By Louis Gaillac, after 1901, from Kinloch Castle, Scotland, @artukdotorg.bsky.social

Full literary theory here: www.smbc-comics.com/comic/nantuc... #smbc

Yes! Motown happened at the right place and time. The Gordy family were entrepreneurs and gave Berry start-up funds. And yes, DPS gave students a FINE musical education well beyond the 1970s... still is, quiet as it's kept. Local foundations pay for private lessons. I took flute, then bassoon.

I fell to my knees in public

Harlan Coben writes books like this myfox8.com/news/north-c...

It's Very Possible To Be Both Happy And Well-Informed You can weep for the dying oceans while marveling at the stars. You can rage for Gaza while reveling in the earth beneath your bare feet. www.caitlinjohnst.one/p/its-very-p...

day 2 of my period and my toddler has decided to draw with oil pastels all over the walls. how are they so good at calculating exactly what will drive us insane

Yeah I live that Andor exists but it honestly just fucking grated me at points Because it was wild to watch the Star wars fandom become a beacon when the fandom itself was continually horrific to people about “wokeness” to the point of costing folks jobs

"It’s so obvious that I was autistic when I was a kid. But because I was a little girl in the ’70s & ’80s, no one picked up on the fact; they just called me “weird” & “intense” & “emotional” & “too sensitive,” among other unpleasant things." By Leah Welborn: thinkingautismguide.com/2026/02/i-wa...

Like he’s legitimately insane. Him, Alito, Barrett, and that coon Thomas NEED TO GO ASAP.

me [looking at a thing billionaires and fascists in government are forcing into every corner of life in the name of efficiency and control]: is this counterculture?

lol stop reporting correlation as causation 2026 challenge

American individualism meant people could not conceive of committing to an incredibly small sacrifice, wearing a mask, for their good & the communal good. Capitalism meant the wheels had to keep going & no one could stop to contain a virus, & people had to or chose work sick. Societal choices.

Once again: the prevailing anti-intellectualism (the blazing contempt for universities, academics, scholarship) encompasses all political parties. Not a single party has the spine to argue for universities-whether its the Liberals in Canada, or Labor in the UK or the Democrats in the US.