Ruth Dawkins
@dorkymum.bsky.social
Freelance writer & blogger • Science, environment, travel, books, family, islands • Green, socialist, feminist • Trans rights are human rights • Free Palestine • She/her • Lutruwita/Tasmania via Scotland • #MDANT • dorkymum.com • ruthdawkins.net
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Ruth Dawkins
@dorkymum.bsky.social
· Aug 8
Seems like there has been a big influx of new folk here from Twitter/X this week, so maybe time for a quick reintroduction 👋🏻
I’m an immigrant in lutruwita/Tasmania, originally from Scotland. A mum, wife, writer, introvert.
I’m an immigrant in lutruwita/Tasmania, originally from Scotland. A mum, wife, writer, introvert.
Reposted by Ruth Dawkins
“Choosing to write is also choosing to make meaning. Studies suggest that having a sense of agency is both a prerequisite for, and an outcome of, writing.”
ChatGPT isn’t mentioned once in this article but it’s impossible not to read it as a powerful critique.
ChatGPT isn’t mentioned once in this article but it’s impossible not to read it as a powerful critique.
Writing doesn't just help you process your thoughts.
Neuroscientists have found it physically changes your brain in ways that build resilience and help you handle everyday stress and challenges.
buff.ly/8PdXnTT
Neuroscientists have found it physically changes your brain in ways that build resilience and help you handle everyday stress and challenges.
buff.ly/8PdXnTT
Writing builds resilience by changing your brain, helping you face everyday challenges
Resilience is often presented as feats of bravery and endurance. But everyday practices like journaling, drafting a text or even writing a to-do list are manifestations of a capacity to adapt.
buff.ly
November 28, 2025 at 10:11 PM
“Choosing to write is also choosing to make meaning. Studies suggest that having a sense of agency is both a prerequisite for, and an outcome of, writing.”
ChatGPT isn’t mentioned once in this article but it’s impossible not to read it as a powerful critique.
ChatGPT isn’t mentioned once in this article but it’s impossible not to read it as a powerful critique.
I still haven’t quite adjusted to being on a site where you can post or repost something about vaccines and not immediately have a bunch of angry cookers in your mentions.
November 28, 2025 at 7:30 AM
I still haven’t quite adjusted to being on a site where you can post or repost something about vaccines and not immediately have a bunch of angry cookers in your mentions.
Reposted by Ruth Dawkins
YAY FOR VACCINES
Australia recorded ZERO cases of cervical cancer in women under 25 for the first time since they started tracking the cancer in the 80s.
This is the power of vaccines.
The HPV vaccine is extremely effective at preventing cancer.
Viruses can be oncogenic. Get your vaccines and protect yourself!
This is the power of vaccines.
The HPV vaccine is extremely effective at preventing cancer.
Viruses can be oncogenic. Get your vaccines and protect yourself!
newsGP - Australia set for world-first cervical cancer elimination
Vaccination programs have played a key role, and GPs remain ‘instrumental’ in boosting screening rates to reach the 2035 target.
www1.racgp.org.au
November 28, 2025 at 6:45 AM
YAY FOR VACCINES
Reposted by Ruth Dawkins
Had a situation come up with roommates and now my share of rent has suddenly spiked so now feels like a good time to repost that I accept donations and tips if you appreciate my work and analysis (but they are not mandatory!)
Emissary of Night is writing about US-Palestinian relations and public opinion
I analyze and write about US Palestinian relations, among other things
buymeacoffee.com
November 26, 2025 at 11:53 PM
Had a situation come up with roommates and now my share of rent has suddenly spiked so now feels like a good time to repost that I accept donations and tips if you appreciate my work and analysis (but they are not mandatory!)
Sure would be lovely if this meant they’d open up boosters for our kids!
www.cam.ac.uk/research/new...
www.cam.ac.uk/research/new...
Risk of rare heart complications in children higher after COVID-19 infection than after vaccination
Children and young people faced long-lasting and higher risks of rare heart and inflammatory complications after COVID-19 infection, compared to before or
www.cam.ac.uk
November 27, 2025 at 2:22 AM
Sure would be lovely if this meant they’d open up boosters for our kids!
www.cam.ac.uk/research/new...
www.cam.ac.uk/research/new...
Reposted by Ruth Dawkins
I once asked a bookseller at a large indie store how many people would have to buy a book for it to get the attention of the store buyer and cause an additional order and they said: Three.
I see some book piracy discourse, and, to make a positive argument in favor of buying books, your marginal ability to influence what books get published and support the careers of writers you like is massive compared to most other forms of media.
November 25, 2025 at 11:07 PM
I once asked a bookseller at a large indie store how many people would have to buy a book for it to get the attention of the store buyer and cause an additional order and they said: Three.
Reposted by Ruth Dawkins
To my pleasant surprise, the New York Times does not abstain from acknowledging the basic fact in this article: Nefesh B'Nefesh promotes settlement in the occupied West Bank.
This is the value of having a mayor elect who is willing to say the truth, it compels the conversation to change bit by bit.
This is the value of having a mayor elect who is willing to say the truth, it compels the conversation to change bit by bit.
Mamdani Response to Protest Inflames Tensions With Jewish Leaders
www.nytimes.com
November 25, 2025 at 3:01 PM
To my pleasant surprise, the New York Times does not abstain from acknowledging the basic fact in this article: Nefesh B'Nefesh promotes settlement in the occupied West Bank.
This is the value of having a mayor elect who is willing to say the truth, it compels the conversation to change bit by bit.
This is the value of having a mayor elect who is willing to say the truth, it compels the conversation to change bit by bit.
Reposted by Ruth Dawkins
No bailouts. The US should extort these companies when the crash happens so they get minimal compensation in return for nationalizing the entire panopticon industry and then destroying it once harvested for socially useful parts. It won’t happen but it should
November 25, 2025 at 4:22 PM
No bailouts. The US should extort these companies when the crash happens so they get minimal compensation in return for nationalizing the entire panopticon industry and then destroying it once harvested for socially useful parts. It won’t happen but it should
Reposted by Ruth Dawkins
Remarkable how much of government policy is this, these days. A collective elite decision to implode society rather than be normal about race or gender
Just utter imbeciles pulling out every cable that holds together the modern world in a desperate hunt for immigrants
November 25, 2025 at 1:10 AM
Remarkable how much of government policy is this, these days. A collective elite decision to implode society rather than be normal about race or gender
Reposted by Ruth Dawkins
Since taking power in May 2022 the @albomp.bsky.social gov has:
⚠️opened >46,000km2 for offshore Oil+Gas exploration
⚠️devised #FutureGasStrategy to 2050 & beyond
⚠️approved 31🤯 NEW/EXTENSION Coal+Gas projects
⚠️signed #BelemDeclaration with NO intention to change any of the above
C5, E2—any questions❓
⚠️opened >46,000km2 for offshore Oil+Gas exploration
⚠️devised #FutureGasStrategy to 2050 & beyond
⚠️approved 31🤯 NEW/EXTENSION Coal+Gas projects
⚠️signed #BelemDeclaration with NO intention to change any of the above
C5, E2—any questions❓
November 25, 2025 at 12:28 AM
Since taking power in May 2022 the @albomp.bsky.social gov has:
⚠️opened >46,000km2 for offshore Oil+Gas exploration
⚠️devised #FutureGasStrategy to 2050 & beyond
⚠️approved 31🤯 NEW/EXTENSION Coal+Gas projects
⚠️signed #BelemDeclaration with NO intention to change any of the above
C5, E2—any questions❓
⚠️opened >46,000km2 for offshore Oil+Gas exploration
⚠️devised #FutureGasStrategy to 2050 & beyond
⚠️approved 31🤯 NEW/EXTENSION Coal+Gas projects
⚠️signed #BelemDeclaration with NO intention to change any of the above
C5, E2—any questions❓
Reposted by Ruth Dawkins
Would this be the same boomers who spent the last two years calling Gen Z college students "Hamas" for protesting a genocide and telling them they deserved to get their heads cracked by cops?
Opinion | The Boomers Are Protesting Trump. Where Is Gen Z?
www.nytimes.com
November 25, 2025 at 12:36 AM
Would this be the same boomers who spent the last two years calling Gen Z college students "Hamas" for protesting a genocide and telling them they deserved to get their heads cracked by cops?
Reposted by Ruth Dawkins
Reposted by Ruth Dawkins
trump cheerfully and unwittingly driving a stake through every attack line about zohran is the funniest thing I have seen all year
November 22, 2025 at 12:03 AM
trump cheerfully and unwittingly driving a stake through every attack line about zohran is the funniest thing I have seen all year
Reposted by Ruth Dawkins
The Gazan doctors still languishing in Israeli prisons
While some were released in the ceasefire, Israel still holds 80 Palestinian medical workers without charge. Their families are demanding their freedom.
By Michal Feldon.
www.972mag.com/gazan-doctor...
While some were released in the ceasefire, Israel still holds 80 Palestinian medical workers without charge. Their families are demanding their freedom.
By Michal Feldon.
www.972mag.com/gazan-doctor...
The Gazan doctors still languishing in Israeli prisons
While some were released in the ceasefire, Israel still holds 80 Palestinian medical workers without charge. Their families are demanding their freedom.
www.972mag.com
November 20, 2025 at 9:26 PM
The Gazan doctors still languishing in Israeli prisons
While some were released in the ceasefire, Israel still holds 80 Palestinian medical workers without charge. Their families are demanding their freedom.
By Michal Feldon.
www.972mag.com/gazan-doctor...
While some were released in the ceasefire, Israel still holds 80 Palestinian medical workers without charge. Their families are demanding their freedom.
By Michal Feldon.
www.972mag.com/gazan-doctor...
Reposted by Ruth Dawkins
Nobody wants this shit. Nobody.
The hostile reaction has been so pronounced, in fact, that it feels like a company announcing it would never force AI into its products would carve out a pretty good chunk of the market.
The hostile reaction has been so pronounced, in fact, that it feels like a company announcing it would never force AI into its products would carve out a pretty good chunk of the market.
If you use GMail, AI (Gemini) was turned on yesterday by default and now scans all of your content for machine learning. To turn off, go to Settings>General and scroll down. Uncheck the box for "Smart features."
There's other "Smart" add-ons as well, but that's the one that reads your content.
There's other "Smart" add-ons as well, but that's the one that reads your content.
November 20, 2025 at 8:53 PM
Nobody wants this shit. Nobody.
The hostile reaction has been so pronounced, in fact, that it feels like a company announcing it would never force AI into its products would carve out a pretty good chunk of the market.
The hostile reaction has been so pronounced, in fact, that it feels like a company announcing it would never force AI into its products would carve out a pretty good chunk of the market.
Reposted by Ruth Dawkins
My periodic apology to anyone who knew me before the age of 30
November 20, 2025 at 12:47 AM
My periodic apology to anyone who knew me before the age of 30
Reposted by Ruth Dawkins
your movement has to be like 8 levels removed from reality to think that some of the starving kids in gaza also having serious medical conditions makes Israel look better. it's completely insane. they just think because it's an additional fact it's somehow exonerating.
Jewish Federations applauds Olivia Reingold, a staff writer at Bari Weiss's Free Press, as she victory laps her (ghoulish and erroneous) reporting that some of the children Israel was starving to death and denying medical aid to in Gaza had pre-existing conditions.
November 19, 2025 at 5:29 PM
your movement has to be like 8 levels removed from reality to think that some of the starving kids in gaza also having serious medical conditions makes Israel look better. it's completely insane. they just think because it's an additional fact it's somehow exonerating.
Reposted by Ruth Dawkins
It is genuinely insane how bright and distracting car lights are now
I wish we, like, regulated shit nowadays. Between car bloat, blinding headlines, and neighbourhoods packed with rental suites but no on-property parking, driving is an absolute nightmare now.
Nearly all drivers say vehicles' lights are too bright in study
The study, commissioned by the Department for Transport, was completed by Berkshire's TRL.
www.bbc.com
November 19, 2025 at 2:49 AM
It is genuinely insane how bright and distracting car lights are now
All the headlines saying it’s been nearly three decades since Scotland made it to a World Cup and I’m like that can’t possibly be right, I WATCHED them last time they were there 😂😂 But apparently both those things are true. I did watch it. And it was 1998.
November 19, 2025 at 3:00 AM
All the headlines saying it’s been nearly three decades since Scotland made it to a World Cup and I’m like that can’t possibly be right, I WATCHED them last time they were there 😂😂 But apparently both those things are true. I did watch it. And it was 1998.
Reposted by Ruth Dawkins
Powerful op-ed from Btselem on accountability in Gaza: "Accountability is essential – not for revenge, but because there’s no reckoning without responsibility. Genocide must not be normalized. And a system that carries it out must not go unchallenged." www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Israel needs to face accountability for our genocide. And so does the US | Yuli Novak
The international community allowed all of this to happen. We must not look away or move on
www.theguardian.com
November 18, 2025 at 8:58 PM
Powerful op-ed from Btselem on accountability in Gaza: "Accountability is essential – not for revenge, but because there’s no reckoning without responsibility. Genocide must not be normalized. And a system that carries it out must not go unchallenged." www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
🙃🙃🙃 cannot believe how short sighted this government is, honestly. Now is the time to be POURING money into research, not cutting it.
This is obscene.
The challenges facing the nation means we should be scaling up CSIRO, not cutting it to shreds.
While we are sending billions to the US for nuclear shipyards, our science and industrial base at home is falling apart for lack of funds and direction.
The challenges facing the nation means we should be scaling up CSIRO, not cutting it to shreds.
While we are sending billions to the US for nuclear shipyards, our science and industrial base at home is falling apart for lack of funds and direction.
‘Sad day for publicly funded science’: up to 350 more jobs to go at CSIRO
Australia’s national scientific agency announces more research job losses as it looks for budgetary savings
www.theguardian.com
November 18, 2025 at 6:39 AM
🙃🙃🙃 cannot believe how short sighted this government is, honestly. Now is the time to be POURING money into research, not cutting it.
Reposted by Ruth Dawkins
POV: you are a young woman celebrating a recent academic success
November 17, 2025 at 7:20 PM
POV: you are a young woman celebrating a recent academic success
Reposted by Ruth Dawkins
Lobster fishery off Bruny Island in TAS closed on eve of the opening of fishing season due to antibiotic use by the salmon farms.
No indication of how long for. Must be a devastating blow for fishermen approaching Xmas.
No indication of how long for. Must be a devastating blow for fishermen approaching Xmas.
Crayfish Closure Follows Salmon Antibiotic Deployment - Tasmanian Times
The commercial rock lobster fishery south of the D'Entrecasteaux Channel is now closed effective 15 November 2025
tasmaniantimes.com
November 16, 2025 at 5:46 AM
Lobster fishery off Bruny Island in TAS closed on eve of the opening of fishing season due to antibiotic use by the salmon farms.
No indication of how long for. Must be a devastating blow for fishermen approaching Xmas.
No indication of how long for. Must be a devastating blow for fishermen approaching Xmas.
Maisa and her family could really do with some help this week to cover the costs of food, medicines and shelter ❤️🙏🏻 The rain over the last couple of days has been destroying people’s tarps and blankets.
www.paypal.com/pools/c/9jTd...
www.paypal.com/pools/c/9jTd...
Support Raed & Maisa's Family
القصة
Hello my friends
I'm Ronya and I'm the host of Raed & Maisa's Family Fundraiser. Raed is my dear friend from Gaza. His family consists of Raed 38, Maisa 37, Fares 15, Adam 13, Lana 7.
They are ...
www.paypal.com
November 15, 2025 at 9:10 AM
Maisa and her family could really do with some help this week to cover the costs of food, medicines and shelter ❤️🙏🏻 The rain over the last couple of days has been destroying people’s tarps and blankets.
www.paypal.com/pools/c/9jTd...
www.paypal.com/pools/c/9jTd...