Wait. So the Trump administration really cut funding to the program that would research and respond to the spread of New World Screwworm past the Darién Gap because they blamed it on climate change, and left the joint international program to Mexico and the Central American Countries... And are panicking now that it's reached Texas, and only now that the flies have already made it all the way from Panama to Texas are they building New facilities to produce the sterile male flies needed to eradicate the pest?
I'm sorry to everyone who lives on the entire continent.
America is Trump's pump and dump scheme. If he's not getting a third term then he'll break the country for whatever poor soul has to clean up his mess.
New World screwworm had been eradicated from the US since the 1960s, Elon Musk brought it back in a year.
Notably, DOGE cut the funding a few days before the US resumed imports of cattle from Mexico... the imports that had been suspended because of the screwworm outbreak in Mexico. So we've had a year of importing cattle from Mexico during a screwworm outbreak without monitoring the outbreak that we already knew about. Mexico's outbreak is pretty bad btw, and cases have been found not just in cattle and dogs but also humans. I assume the rest of Central America too. Not that many people seem to give a fuck about them ig.
The funniest thing to me about Chen's character is his need for chaos in his life. At an outside glance you wouldn't think it from the former military man turned Marshal for the Rangers who came from a strict family but you couldn't be farther from the truth. His best friend is Ortega, he adopts a hyper fast noodle dog, despite his own self awareness of his romantic history he can still fall for the villain. It's funny because the taciturn, calculating and logical part of him is true but the fuck it lets see what happens part of him is also true. Wei Chen the man that you are.
Transphobia is about to be signed into law in the UK. We can fight this.
I am begging the UK trans community and its allies to attend the Mass Lobby at Parliament on June 25th, 11am-4pm, organised by Trans Solidarity Alliance.
Last year we broke the record for an LGBT+ mass lobby of Parliament. Will you help us break it again? Join us on 25th June 2026 to demand be
The new EHRC Code of Practice pushes trans people out of toilets, hospital wards, and community spaces. It normalises gender policing based on appearance and stereotypes. It becomes statutory guidance in the UK by the end of June.
Trans people are now legally their assigned gender at birth and must join gendered spaces accordingly, but if they are perceived as their lived gender, they can also be ejected from those spaces. The guidance says: either break the law, or don’t pass too well.
A mass lobby is where you invite your MP to discuss your concerns with you in-person. Ask your MP to:
Demand full parliamentary scrutiny, debate, and use their free vote on the EHRC Code of Practice.
Support any motions rejecting the EHRC guidance. As of June 4th, Labour MP Nadia Whittome has submitted a prayer motion - Early Day Motion 240.
Write to Bridget Phillipson, the Minister for Women and Equalities about our concerns
Your MP does not have to be an ally, they do not have to respond to your email for you to show up and greencard them (details below the cut.) What matters is that as many people as possible show up.
I cannot stress this enough: Showing up in person matters. It is much more effective than petitions, emails, and letters.
It is a horrible, stressful time, and I am so sorry if you're trans and live in the UK. But I was at last year's mass lobby and the line for greencarding alone stretched around the back gates. It was a record breaking mass lobby and made us impossible to ignore. Let's do even better this time. Details under the cut:
Worried about what to say?
Bring your personal worries about transphobia being signed into law, and trans friends being excluded from public spaces. You are a living person who deserves dignity. Remind your MP of that. You will also get guidance and brochures from Trans Solidarity Alliance that outlines our demands. This is mine from last year.
Money issues?
Trans Solidarity Alliance provides a travel bursary that you can sign up for via the link.
Got a refusal or no response from your MP?
Come anyway! You can request a same-day appointment with your MP through a process called greencarding. They will come and see you if they’re already in Parliament. Even if they don’t, they’re made acutely aware of your cause because you showed up in person. This is my greencard from last year.
Here is the EHRC Code of Practice in full. It's a tough read, but some highlights are:
Organisations can’t provide trans-inclusive, single-sex services, or they risk being sued for discrimination.
e.g. domestic violence support for women including trans women, men’s rugby group including trans men (12.68).
Trans people will have nowhere safe to pee.
If you’re a trans man, businesses can't allow you to pee in the men's, and you can also be ejected from women’s bathrooms if you’re perceived as a man. Vice versa for trans women. EHRC suggests a ‘third space’ bathroom, which is discriminatory and unworkable for most businesses. (13.130-133)
Sports organisations must exclude trans people from single-sex competitions (13.73).
A women’s only sports competition must exclude trans women because of their biological advantage or face potential lawsuits (13.74), but a trans man who has undergone testosterone treatment can also be excluded based on fairness rules (13.81).
Trans women are stripped of the legal definition of ‘lesbian’, and therefore no longer have legal protections if they’re discriminated against on the basis of sexual orientation. (2.50, 2.92).
Here is the Good Law Project's better explanation of the EHRC Code.
I have also made a PDF printout of QR codes for the government petition, email your MP tool, and mass lobby link to pass around your communities. DM me and I'll send it to you.
And…finished. I think that when I do these kinds of paintings in the future, it would be best to have the environment sorted out before adding the figures. However, for something that started out as a throw-away doodle, I’m pretty satisfied.
The above is a video shared by smrchildsadness on Twitter, showing a person participating in a pride parade exchanging a pride flag with a person standing on his (am using his pronoun based on the TikToks/Tweets of what happened) doorway who had a Portuguese flag. There are sounds of cheers and crying and the two people hug each other as they exchange the flags. The man at the doorway then waved kisses to the crowd within the pride parade.
The Tweet says: "NO YOU DONT UNDERSTAND HE WAS WAVING THE PORTUGUESE FLAG BECAUSE HE DIDN'T HAVE A PRIDE FLAG AND THEY TRADED FLAGS AND HE'S SO EMOTIONAL TO GET HIS OWN PRIDE FLAG I'M EMOTIONALLY RUINED"
For context, apparently they were worried that maybe he's a nationalist because he was waving the Portuguese flag and some nationalists opposing the pride march were waving that flag. But upon interacting with him, it turns out he didn't have have a pride flag and he wanted to wave *a* flag in support of the pride march. So they had an exchange and now he has his own pride flag 😭🥹.
The image above is a Tweet by kunwara_ladkaa that says "I'm crying so much right now (Image taken by Manuel Fernando Araújo/Lusa)". The image shows the same man from the pride parade crying as he hugs his new pride flag.
The above image is a Tweet by dudz_zZzz that says "ainda não parei de pensar nele," which according to Google translate from Portuguese to English is "I still haven't stopped thinking about him." The image is a drawing of the person from the pride parade, crying as he hugs his new pride flag.
each day jk rowling grows weaker in force. remember that you'll live to see her wilt and combust under the growlight she sustains herself on. and every single cramp i send aims to hurry that eventuality along
STAY SAFE!! [ID: the Gilbert Baker pride flag with the words “Happy pride to all those who are unable to celebrate openly and safely. You are loved and seen!” in all-caps black text over it. /end ID]
I don't read as much fic as I used to but one "tell" for non Canadians writing us, besides the etransfer, is the units you use to describe us measuring something. I hate to tell you this but The Chart is real and it's completely subconscious. Please abide
does your potential future spouse think it's reasonable for their mother to be involved in your family planning? or to make comments about your body? do you? how does your future spouse feel about girls and/or boys nights? situations involving exes? cancelling trips last minute? under what circumstances do they think it's reasonable to host somebody in your home and for how long? etc.
and the goal of doing this isn't to agree one-hundred percent on every single thing. it's to understand how you both view obligations, family, friends, finances, conflict, etc. and to make sure that even if you don't have the exact same perspective, you can understand where the other person is coming from without feeling like they're a crazy person. you have to be able to come to reasonable compromises and sometimes that involves one person fully caving, and sometimes it involves the other person fully caving, and sometimes it's both of you giving a little, but you need to understand what things you both are and aren't willing to compromise on because those types of situations are going to come up in a marriage.
also, since this has turned into actual advice: you should talk through why you think what you think, even when you agree, because you might not be agreeing for the same reasons.
