Glittery Balrog
@glitterybalrog.bsky.social
A confused piece of cat furniture living in the Pennines and having periodic essay crises.
Reposted by Glittery Balrog
Whatever happens, Leo’s got
The Jesuits - and they have not.
The Jesuits - and they have not.
we're probably days away from twitter's army of fascist trad-Catholic converts demanding the excommunication of the Pope
BREAKING: At Pope Leo XIV’s urging, U.S. Catholic bishops just delivered the strongest rebuke of a sitting president in Church history — condemning Trump-Vance raids as “inhumane” and “dehumanizing” in a 216–5 vote.
November 13, 2025 at 7:58 AM
Whatever happens, Leo’s got
The Jesuits - and they have not.
The Jesuits - and they have not.
"Iz nice place. Shame if somefing happen"
November 5, 2025 at 2:20 PM
"Iz nice place. Shame if somefing happen"
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Let’s be real: approximately ten seconds after you told Tolkien that Catholics couldn’t go to Mass because they were afraid of being disappeared by agents of the government, he’d be out there protesting.
October 29, 2025 at 10:15 PM
Let’s be real: approximately ten seconds after you told Tolkien that Catholics couldn’t go to Mass because they were afraid of being disappeared by agents of the government, he’d be out there protesting.
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And it's a happy 75th birthday to Prince Charles Napoleon head (disputedly) of the Bonaparte house! Hope he likes his presents, sorry it was a bit of a rush getting them...
October 19, 2025 at 1:35 PM
And it's a happy 75th birthday to Prince Charles Napoleon head (disputedly) of the Bonaparte house! Hope he likes his presents, sorry it was a bit of a rush getting them...
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heartbroken to learn the pope sympathizes with the poor. how can i continue to believe in god
October 17, 2025 at 5:43 PM
heartbroken to learn the pope sympathizes with the poor. how can i continue to believe in god
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Ok, did not expect “The Lion The Witch and the Wardrobe” to feel quite so relevant to this moment.
Here’s Edmund, deciding to side with the leader who he’s been told disappears people.
Here’s Edmund, deciding to side with the leader who he’s been told disappears people.
October 10, 2025 at 5:45 PM
Ok, did not expect “The Lion The Witch and the Wardrobe” to feel quite so relevant to this moment.
Here’s Edmund, deciding to side with the leader who he’s been told disappears people.
Here’s Edmund, deciding to side with the leader who he’s been told disappears people.
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On National Poetry Day, the greatest poem I have ever read
October 2, 2025 at 8:41 AM
On National Poetry Day, the greatest poem I have ever read
Reposted by Glittery Balrog
A lot of people are reacting to the mad statement in headline, and sleeping on the even madder statement that "if we lose, we lose, but you lose by war anyway". You are running to be president of a country that won its independence *in a war*.
Catherine Connolly compares German arms build-up with 1930s
Catherine Connolly compares German arms build-up with 1930s
‘I don’t wish to depress you. There is hope,’ presidential candidate tells UCD event
www.irishtimes.com
September 25, 2025 at 2:02 PM
A lot of people are reacting to the mad statement in headline, and sleeping on the even madder statement that "if we lose, we lose, but you lose by war anyway". You are running to be president of a country that won its independence *in a war*.
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Remember when opponents of the right to die legislation said it would lead to people being encouraged to die to relieve the burden on the state, and were told that this was alarmism?
Yeah.
Yeah.
Rather staggering that mainstream publication is arguing for assisted suicide in order to cut the NHS bill
September 17, 2025 at 7:42 AM
Remember when opponents of the right to die legislation said it would lead to people being encouraged to die to relieve the burden on the state, and were told that this was alarmism?
Yeah.
Yeah.
Reposted by Glittery Balrog
I'm seeing a lot of mainland UK commentators drawing on USian experience and concepts to explain the current rise of violent flagginess.
Is anyone here trying to learn from NI, or is that polity considered too strange and far away to be relevant to Britain?
Is anyone here trying to learn from NI, or is that polity considered too strange and far away to be relevant to Britain?
September 16, 2025 at 11:19 AM
I'm seeing a lot of mainland UK commentators drawing on USian experience and concepts to explain the current rise of violent flagginess.
Is anyone here trying to learn from NI, or is that polity considered too strange and far away to be relevant to Britain?
Is anyone here trying to learn from NI, or is that polity considered too strange and far away to be relevant to Britain?
Reposted by Glittery Balrog
Live your life in such a way that, when you die, people directly quoting you does’t sound like a personal attack on your character.
September 13, 2025 at 5:30 PM
Live your life in such a way that, when you die, people directly quoting you does’t sound like a personal attack on your character.
Reposted by Glittery Balrog
Sky News says police are "overwhelmed by the numbers". Met coped perfectly well with 2x as many at the pro-Gaza rally, 5x as many at the anti-Brexit march, and 15x as many at London Pride.
They're not overwhelmed by the numbers. They're overwhelmed by the ratio of violent thugs in those numbers.
They're not overwhelmed by the numbers. They're overwhelmed by the ratio of violent thugs in those numbers.
September 13, 2025 at 5:59 PM
Sky News says police are "overwhelmed by the numbers". Met coped perfectly well with 2x as many at the pro-Gaza rally, 5x as many at the anti-Brexit march, and 15x as many at London Pride.
They're not overwhelmed by the numbers. They're overwhelmed by the ratio of violent thugs in those numbers.
They're not overwhelmed by the numbers. They're overwhelmed by the ratio of violent thugs in those numbers.
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Simply the best slide I have ever seen in a powerpoint presentation care of @premeemohamed.com’s talk at @banffcentre.bsky.social re: Putting the Science in Science Fiction
September 10, 2025 at 5:45 PM
Simply the best slide I have ever seen in a powerpoint presentation care of @premeemohamed.com’s talk at @banffcentre.bsky.social re: Putting the Science in Science Fiction
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The best resource for understanding why GOP elites caved during the last decade is JRR Tolkien:
September 4, 2025 at 7:23 PM
The best resource for understanding why GOP elites caved during the last decade is JRR Tolkien:
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The “problem” with vaccines? They so effective at preventing deaths that they create generations of people that question whether disease was a problem in the first place because they have never experienced the horrors of a world without vaccines.
September 4, 2025 at 7:44 PM
The “problem” with vaccines? They so effective at preventing deaths that they create generations of people that question whether disease was a problem in the first place because they have never experienced the horrors of a world without vaccines.
Reposted by Glittery Balrog
Hitler's chancellorship most dangerous period since First World War, von Hindenburg says
It’s a shame no one had the power to bar Trump from office four years ago www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
Trump’s second presidency is ‘most dangerous period’ since second world war, Mitch McConnell says
Former Senate leader likens administration’s fixation with tariffs to isolationist policies of the US in the 1930s
www.theguardian.com
September 4, 2025 at 3:44 PM
Hitler's chancellorship most dangerous period since First World War, von Hindenburg says
Jail. JAIL FOR ONE THOUSAND YEARS.
It's seven years since we posted on Twitter about how kids kept coming into the library asking if we had any books about FORTNITE. We didn't back then, and we'd never heard of it so we tried asking what it was.
September 3, 2025 at 3:20 PM
Jail. JAIL FOR ONE THOUSAND YEARS.
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September 1, 1939
I sit in one of the dives
On Fifty-second Street
Uncertain and afraid
As the clever hopes expire
Of a low dishonest decade:
Waves of anger and fear
Circulate over the bright
And darkened lands of the earth...
I sit in one of the dives
On Fifty-second Street
Uncertain and afraid
As the clever hopes expire
Of a low dishonest decade:
Waves of anger and fear
Circulate over the bright
And darkened lands of the earth...
September 1, 2025 at 6:52 AM
September 1, 1939
I sit in one of the dives
On Fifty-second Street
Uncertain and afraid
As the clever hopes expire
Of a low dishonest decade:
Waves of anger and fear
Circulate over the bright
And darkened lands of the earth...
I sit in one of the dives
On Fifty-second Street
Uncertain and afraid
As the clever hopes expire
Of a low dishonest decade:
Waves of anger and fear
Circulate over the bright
And darkened lands of the earth...
Reposted by Glittery Balrog
Reposted by Glittery Balrog
Just saw a bus stop ad for Hooch that said “By your side since ‘95” and I’m not sure I’m ready for an alcopop to be a heritage brand.
August 26, 2025 at 6:41 AM
Just saw a bus stop ad for Hooch that said “By your side since ‘95” and I’m not sure I’m ready for an alcopop to be a heritage brand.
Reposted by Glittery Balrog
I can save you the effort.
Clippy Plagiarism Thirstwater does not suffer.
To suffer, you have to be alive, and it's not fucking alive, you daft motherfuckers.
If you're so concerned about the suffering of sentients, there's plenty of that going around that you can pour billions into alleviating.
Clippy Plagiarism Thirstwater does not suffer.
To suffer, you have to be alive, and it's not fucking alive, you daft motherfuckers.
If you're so concerned about the suffering of sentients, there's plenty of that going around that you can pour billions into alleviating.
Can AIs suffer? Big tech and users grapple with one of most unsettling questions of our times
Can AIs suffer? Big tech and users grapple with one of most unsettling questions of our times
As first AI-led rights advocacy group is founded, industry is divided on whether models are, or can be, sentient
www.theguardian.com
August 26, 2025 at 7:26 AM
I can save you the effort.
Clippy Plagiarism Thirstwater does not suffer.
To suffer, you have to be alive, and it's not fucking alive, you daft motherfuckers.
If you're so concerned about the suffering of sentients, there's plenty of that going around that you can pour billions into alleviating.
Clippy Plagiarism Thirstwater does not suffer.
To suffer, you have to be alive, and it's not fucking alive, you daft motherfuckers.
If you're so concerned about the suffering of sentients, there's plenty of that going around that you can pour billions into alleviating.
Reposted by Glittery Balrog
Discworld QOTD, from Night Watch
“Once you get troops on the streets, it’s only a matter of time before it goes bad. Some kid throws a stone, next minute there’s houses on fire and people getting killed.”
“Once you get troops on the streets, it’s only a matter of time before it goes bad. Some kid throws a stone, next minute there’s houses on fire and people getting killed.”
Discworld QOTD, from Eric
“The captain glared at him. The sergeant put on the poker face that has been handed down from NCO to NCO ever since one protoamphibian told another, lower-ranking protoamphibian to muster a squad of newts and Take That Beach.”
“The captain glared at him. The sergeant put on the poker face that has been handed down from NCO to NCO ever since one protoamphibian told another, lower-ranking protoamphibian to muster a squad of newts and Take That Beach.”
Discworld QOTD, from The Last Hero
“Too many people, when listing all the perils to be found in the search for lost treasure or ancient wisdom, had forgotten to put at the top of the list "the man who arrived just before you".”
“Too many people, when listing all the perils to be found in the search for lost treasure or ancient wisdom, had forgotten to put at the top of the list "the man who arrived just before you".”
August 12, 2025 at 6:21 PM
Discworld QOTD, from Night Watch
“Once you get troops on the streets, it’s only a matter of time before it goes bad. Some kid throws a stone, next minute there’s houses on fire and people getting killed.”
“Once you get troops on the streets, it’s only a matter of time before it goes bad. Some kid throws a stone, next minute there’s houses on fire and people getting killed.”
Reposted by Glittery Balrog
“You know what they call the Hunger Games in France?”
“They don’t call them the hunger games”
“No man, they got the welfare state, they don’t know what the hunger games are”
“What do they call them?”
“Battle Royale With Cheese”
“They don’t call them the hunger games”
“No man, they got the welfare state, they don’t know what the hunger games are”
“What do they call them?”
“Battle Royale With Cheese”
August 9, 2025 at 5:52 PM
“You know what they call the Hunger Games in France?”
“They don’t call them the hunger games”
“No man, they got the welfare state, they don’t know what the hunger games are”
“What do they call them?”
“Battle Royale With Cheese”
“They don’t call them the hunger games”
“No man, they got the welfare state, they don’t know what the hunger games are”
“What do they call them?”
“Battle Royale With Cheese”
Reposted by Glittery Balrog
Most of the internet used to be like this. This is actually the default, it took companies enclosing the internet and adding weird, soul-killing incentives to make people behave the way they do now. In a way, there is truly nothing special about Wikipedia except that it survived longer.
“Wikipedia is this economic anomaly. In many ways, it’s sort of magical that people will just volunteer without explicit economic incentives to create artifacts that are meant to share knowledge with everyone in the world”
July 26, 2025 at 5:28 PM
Most of the internet used to be like this. This is actually the default, it took companies enclosing the internet and adding weird, soul-killing incentives to make people behave the way they do now. In a way, there is truly nothing special about Wikipedia except that it survived longer.