Francis Heaney
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francisheaney.bsky.social
Francis Heaney
@francisheaney.bsky.social
620 followers 440 following 230 posts
Puzzles, ties, music, frivolity. Puzzlewright Press in the streets, AVCX in the singly-printed sheets. He/they.
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francisheaney.bsky.social
Clickbait multiple choice! Why is this episode "hard to watch today"?

a) It's not available on streaming
b) It's kinda sexist and/or racist
c) My eyesight is worse than it used to be
d) I can't watch it today because I'm busy but maybe tomorrow?
e) It's not as good as I remember
A Screenrant headline: "The 1966 Episode That Made Me Love Star Trek Is Hard to Watch Today"
October 30, 2025 at 1:56 PM
francisheaney.bsky.social
Guys, if you can't pivot your entire worldview on a dime to accommodate the latest piece of incoherent cognitive dissonance, I have to question your commitment to even being a conspiracy theorist
A headline from Mother Jones: Anti-Vax Groups Struggle to Explain How Tylenol Fits In With Their Whole Thing A paragraph from that Mother Jones article: Since President Trump’s rambling Monday announcement about the supposed cause of autism and a purported new treatment, anti-vaccine groups have grappled with what the administration’s latest revelations mean for their movement. While some MAHA activists appeared to be overjoyed that the president had brought their cause to a national stage, others were frustrated that it was Tylenol, and not vaccines, that took the brunt of the blame.
September 25, 2025 at 1:52 PM
francisheaney.bsky.social
A chart showing that the population of the United States is about 340 million. Or that's what it was, anyway, before the drugs.
September 15, 2025 at 6:25 AM
francisheaney.bsky.social
You can tell things are hopping here at the #ZcavengerHunt
August 24, 2025 at 8:09 PM
francisheaney.bsky.social
I mean this is basically a midi so yeah
July 22, 2025 at 6:05 AM
francisheaney.bsky.social
Happy Pride! And happy release day for A Trans Person Made Your Puzzle, a crossword collection supporting transgender charities (organized by @adanicklmao.bsky.social), written and edited entirely by trans and nonbinary puzzlemakers (including me)! Check it out here: sites.google.com/view/transxw...
A photograph of Francis honestly killing it with their rainbow makeup, if they do say so themself
June 1, 2025 at 8:06 PM
francisheaney.bsky.social
Might be time to repost this oldie of mine from the bad site (originally written in response to arnoldzwicky.org/2017/05/17/l... )
A parody by Francis Heaney of Philip Larkin's "This Be the Verse": This Be the Word They change your words, the New York Times. They may not need to, but they do. They pluck what's famous from your rhymes, Replacing "fuck" with "mess" or "screw." But prudishness does not befit Reporters who would plumb the muck And call our leaders on their shit, And try, a little, not to suck. God gave profanity to man To tell us, mock me how you may. Some act as pious as they can, But fuck those fucking fucks, I say.
May 30, 2025 at 11:03 PM
francisheaney.bsky.social
Even now headline writers are still deciding it's fine to clickbaitify the fascist takeover of our government. "Is it legal?" No, it's very much not legal! You can and should just say that!
A New York Times headline and subhead: Trump Is Trying to Gain More Power Over Elections. Is His Effort Legal? A far-reaching executive order aims to reshape the country's voting laws, is sure to be challenged in court and reflects the president's concerted push to expand his power.
March 29, 2025 at 1:10 PM
francisheaney.bsky.social
I can tolerate someone eating out of a plastic container. But hauling off and throwing that container out the door of the train while it's stopped at a station???
March 28, 2025 at 6:11 AM
francisheaney.bsky.social
Me to Republicans upon the occasion of Kash Patel's confirmation
A screenshot of Brian Cox from "Succession" with the caption edited to say "I hate you, and you are not serious people"
February 20, 2025 at 9:31 PM
francisheaney.bsky.social
The Trump regime's slash-and-burn approach to trans erasure can be seen in details large (LGBTQ+ replaced with LGB) and small (not fixing the grammar after deleting "transgender or queer"). History won't be kind to the hateful, ignorant people behind this ... but I wish history didn't take so long.
The first paragraph of the new ciswashed National Park Service page for the Stonewall National Monument, reading "Before the 1960s, almost everything about living openly as a lesbian, gay, bisexual (LGB) person was illegal. The Stonewall Uprising on June 28, 1969 is a milestone in the quest for LGB civil rights and provided momentum for a movement."
February 14, 2025 at 1:45 PM
francisheaney.bsky.social
Issuing executive orders doesn't make them legal, vol. ♾️

www.politico.com/news/2025/02...

Glad a judge blocked this order despite the Trump DOJ's argument that it's impossible to know whether transferring transgender women into a men's prison is cruel & unusual punishment until after you do it
An excerpt from the linked article: U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth, a Ronald Reagan appointee, ruled Tuesday night that the policy — which Trump laid out in an executive order on his first day back in office — would likely violate the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment. Another excerpt from the linked article: The judge wrote that the inmates have presented evidence that being moved to men’s prisons would place them at “significantly elevated risk of physical and sexual violence.” They also presented evidence that depriving them of medications to treat gender dysphoria could cause “numerous and severe symptoms,” Lamberth wrote. The Justice Department had argued that it was too soon for Lamberth to rule on the matter because the transgender inmates had not yet been relocated and, if they were, would first need to avail themselves of formal grievance processes within the Bureau of Prisons before seeking relief from the courts.
February 5, 2025 at 8:49 PM
francisheaney.bsky.social
Two movies that cancel each other out
Promo screens for "Annette" (the Sparks movie musical) and "Without a Net" (the Cirque du Soleil documentary)
January 3, 2025 at 10:48 PM
francisheaney.bsky.social
I would argue that if having the Elgin Marbles in the U.K. made Boris Johnson the way he is, most people would agree that they should be removed immediately
A paragraph from the linked article, which reads: Does it matter? You bet it does. The sculptures are not just very beautiful but are of exceptional importance, being the work of Phydias or Phidias, the most famous sculptor of the ancient world. I once heard Boris Johnson, classicist, speak movingly about how a visit to the Marbles changed his whole outlook, being in their humanity and pathos so very different from the stylised work of other cultures (I seem to recall he was a bit rude about the Assyrian artefacts).
December 11, 2024 at 11:59 PM
francisheaney.bsky.social
Hey! I'm on the Lateral podcast, partly to celebrate the release of the truly delightful Lateral book (which I edited the U.S. version of), and partly because I've identified as a panel show guest for longer than I've identified as nonbinary, so how could I say no?

open.spotify.com/episode/3dWu...
A screenshot of the video version of the Lateral podcast (featuring Tom Scott, Francis Heaney, Karen Kavett, and Sam Meeps) in which all four of us look good, and no one is in the middle of talking and making a weird expression! Truly A+ screenshotting.
November 22, 2024 at 4:35 PM
francisheaney.bsky.social
Post a non-religious picture you think of as holy

(I had to click so far back through the history of the first post I saw before I found something that I agreed with, which was also the first thing that was not sports)
The moment in "Sunday in the Park With George" when he's just finished arranging everyone into position
November 22, 2024 at 3:18 AM
francisheaney.bsky.social
Is it, by any chance, by projecting a whole bunch of stuff on a screen in lieu of building a set
Headline: How "Sunset Boulevard" blends film and theatre on Broadway
November 19, 2024 at 3:33 PM
francisheaney.bsky.social
Me and everything else, Duo
A Duolingo alert with the header "You're on fire"
November 6, 2024 at 11:59 PM
francisheaney.bsky.social
I can't be the only one googling this right now
A list of countries where you can be a resident and still receive your Social Security payments from the U.S., from a PDF available at https://www.ssa.gov/international/payments.html
November 6, 2024 at 1:52 PM
francisheaney.bsky.social
Wonder who he was voting for
A headline from Good Morning America: "24-year-old man punches election judge in the face while waiting in line to vote" -- although "waiting in line" is giving him way too much credit given that the reason he punched the judge is that he was trying to skip the line and didn't like being told to go wait with everyone else
November 5, 2024 at 3:46 PM
francisheaney.bsky.social
The clues were certainly all there
TMBG's giant heads The DNC's giant heads
August 23, 2024 at 9:51 AM
francisheaney.bsky.social
This headline from 20 years ago yesterday really aged great
A headline from ABC's 538 blog: "Young Black voters might be swing voters now", with imagery including a "Blacks for Trump" sign
August 1, 2024 at 6:07 PM
francisheaney.bsky.social
Thanks, now I've got "Red Red Wine" stuck in my head
A close-up of the chart that reads "Clay Clay Loam"
July 29, 2024 at 4:05 AM
francisheaney.bsky.social
Thanks for that very helpful subhead.

(Incidentally, the actual series -- Arkham Asylum, which, partly thanks to general superhero oversaturation, I do not care about-- is not mentioned until the fifth paragraph. Clickbait is now scrollbait.)
A very informative ScreenGeek headline and subhead reading "Max Cancels Highly-Anticipated Upcoming Series: It has been confirmed that a highly-anticipated upcoming series for the Max streaming service has been canceled."
July 8, 2024 at 2:38 PM
francisheaney.bsky.social
Can always buy some dupes on Amazon
June 18, 2024 at 7:21 PM