Arete Roper
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areteroper.bsky.social
Arete Roper
@areteroper.bsky.social
89 followers 160 following 440 posts
Dutch, love ( my 5) cats, English, books, science and crochet.
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areteroper.bsky.social
Arete Roper @areteroper.bsky.social · Nov 21
"Wisdom is better than wit, and in the long run certainly has the laugh on her side"

Jane Austen
Reposted by Arete Roper
nadiabouras.bsky.social
Vanavond was Gevangen in Palestina van Nadia Moussaid op tv.

Iedereen zou deze indringende en woestmakende uitzending moeten zien.
nadiabouras.bsky.social Nadia Bouras @nadiabouras.bsky.social · 2d
'Nu krijgt Israël van de internationale gemeenschap carte blanche om beestachtig tekeer te gaan en de Palestijnen als volk te vernietigen. Zelfs de Europese Unie heeft niets afgedaan aan het Associatieverdrag dat Israël grote handelsvoordelen geeft.'
Gevangen in Palestina zijn mensen die wonen in hun eigen huis, op eigen land, die olijven plukken uit eigen gaard, met kinderen spelend in hun eigen straat
www.volkskrant.nl
February 12, 2026 at 9:19 PM
Reposted by Arete Roper
phantomtollbot.bsky.social
As the announcement stated, it was a beautiful map, in many colors, showing principal roads, rivers and seas, towns and cities, mountains and valleys, intersections and detours, and sites of outstanding interest both beautiful and historic.
A map of The Lands Beyond, including Digitopolis, Dictionopolis, the Sea of Knowledge, and more
February 12, 2026 at 8:01 PM
Reposted by Arete Roper
lettersofnote.com
Happy birthday to one of my favourite haters, Charles Darwin
February 12, 2026 at 4:31 PM
Reposted by Arete Roper
saschajanssen.bsky.social
February 12, 2026 at 7:55 PM
Reposted by Arete Roper
saschajanssen.bsky.social
En dit
February 12, 2026 at 7:55 PM
Reposted by Arete Roper
saschajanssen.bsky.social
Dit
February 12, 2026 at 7:55 PM
Reposted by Arete Roper
trevortimm.bsky.social
It's important to point out in the sea of horrible news we see all the time: They keep losing! And seemingly at greater frequency every week.
chrisgeidner.bsky.social Chris Geidner @chrisgeidner.bsky.social · 6h
BREAKING: Judge blocks Hegseth effort to punish Sen. Kelly.

"This Court has all it needs to conclude that Defendants have trampled on Senator Kelly's First Amendment freedoms and threatened the constitutional liberties of millions of military retirees."

Background: www.lawdork.com/p/breaking-k...
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA MARK KELLY, Plaintiff, Civil Case No. 26-81 (RJL) V. PETE HEGSETH, et al., Defendants. MEMORANDUM OPINION February 12, 2026 [Dkt. #2] United States Senator Mark Kelly, a retired naval officer, has been censured by Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth for voicing certain opinions on military actions and policy. In addition, he has been subjected to proceedings to possibly reduce his retirement rank and pay and threatened with criminal prosecution if he continues to speak out on these issues. Secretary Hegseth relies on the well-established doctrine that military servicemembers enjoy less vigorous First Amendment protections given the fundamental obligation for obedience and discipline in the armed forces. Unfortunately for Secretary Hegseth, no court has ever extended those principles to retired servicemembers, much less a retired servicemember serving in Congress and exercising oversight responsibility over the military. This Court will not be the first to do so! Worse still, Secretary Hegseth contends that this Court is not yet competent to decide the issues in this case. He and his fellow Defendants argue that military personnel 1 Case 1:26-cv-00081-RJL Document 37 Filed 02/12/26 Page 2 of 29 decisions are exempt from judicial review and, in any event, that Senator Kelly should first be required to go through the military appeals process so the military can have the first crack at adjudicating his First Amendment rights. I disagree. This Court has all it needs to conclude that Defendants have trampled on Senator Kelly's First Amendment freedoms and threatened the constitutional liberties of millions of military retirees. After all, as Bob Dylan famously said, "You don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows." To say the least, our retired veterans deserve more respect from their Government, and our Constitution demands they receive it! Senator Kelly's First Amendment claim is not only justiciable; he is likely to succeed on the merits. He has also shown irreparable harm, and the balance of the equities fall decidedly in his favor. As such, his motion for a preliminary injunction on his First Amendment claim is hereby GRANTED.
February 12, 2026 at 6:29 PM
Reposted by Arete Roper
georgepenney.bsky.social
Hello lovely people, just in case you need to snatch up a small moment of happiness today, you can find Tiny Moments of Joy here in both print and ebook form.

www.swashbucklerpress.com/tiny-moments...
Tiny Moments of Joy | Swashbuckler Press
Delightful moments captured from people watching in a small city in Aotearoa New Zealand.
www.swashbucklerpress.com
February 12, 2026 at 6:28 PM
Reposted by Arete Roper
krassenstein.bsky.social
February 12, 2026 at 6:19 PM
Reposted by Arete Roper
elakdawalla.bsky.social
Oh wow that’s gorgeous
drnwillburger.bsky.social Nina Willburger @drnwillburger.bsky.social · 9h
In 2023, a Bronze Age sword was found during excavations in Nördlingen, Bavaria.
Non-destructive analysis now revealed new details about Bronze Age craftsmanship.

👉 www.helmholtz-berlin.de/pubbin/news_...
A long, narrow bronze sword with a green patina lies embedded in dark soil alongside partially exposed human bones and other metal finds.
February 12, 2026 at 6:25 PM
Reposted by Arete Roper
kjhealy.co
Today in robots.

github.com/matplotlib/m...

crabby-rathbun.github.io/mjrathbun-we...
February 12, 2026 at 4:17 PM
Reposted by Arete Roper
swin24.bsky.social
They’re dead because you and your party sent a death squad after them and their neighbors, idiot
atrupar.com Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 9h
Ron Johnson to Keith Ellison: "Two people are dead because you encouraged them to put themselves into harm's way! And now you are exploiting those two martyrs. You ought to feel damn guilty about it. Yeah, sit there and smirk. Smirk. It's sick! It's despicable. You disgust me."
February 12, 2026 at 3:32 PM
Reposted by Arete Roper
fakehistoryhunter.net
Castle owner; Do you want to sleep in this room, my ancestor died in it, in the same bed, nobody sleeps there ever, it's haunted.

Normal 15 year old girls; No way!

15 year old me; I MUST SLEEP IN THAT BED AND SHALL BE UPSET IF I SEE NO GHOSTS!!

Alas, I saw no ghosts.
February 12, 2026 at 5:47 PM
Reposted by Arete Roper
jonathanslaght.com
this is in reference to a Confederate battle flag that Minnesota captured at the Battle of Gettysburg in 1863 and has not, despite numerous requests, returned to Virginia. More: www.mnhs.org/mnopedia/sea...
A flag that Minnesota won fair and square and is not giving back
February 12, 2026 at 5:23 PM
Reposted by Arete Roper
bylinesnetwork.co.uk
The Potteries Museum and Art Gallery is fundraising to hold on to a nationally significant Bronze Age treasure trove | Adam Colclough
@centralbylines.co.uk
Appeal launched to keep Bronze Age treasure in Staffordshire
The Potteries Museum and Art Gallery is fundraising to hold on to a nationally significant Bronze Age treasure trove
centralbylines.co.uk
February 12, 2026 at 3:50 PM
Reposted by Arete Roper
marisakabas.bsky.social
tom homan is a bitch
February 12, 2026 at 2:48 PM
Reposted by Arete Roper
disabilitystor1.bsky.social
no, it simply isnt.
People are talking about capital using gAI as an excuse to conduct mass lay-offs, about students losing learning because theyre being lied to about gAI in education, about the mass theft of the work of artists and authors to train LLMs, about CSAM and nonconsensual sexual images.
ariehkovler.com Arieh Kovler @ariehkovler.com · 1d
The predominent anti-AI position on bsky is that AI is useless, fake, shit and basically the same as NFTs, destined to collapse in months once everyone sees how poor it is. So anyone who suggests that it could improve or be useful to any boss in any situation in the future must be evil.
February 12, 2026 at 1:19 PM
Reposted by Arete Roper
k8lister.bsky.social
Pushing for an open marriage? Check your market worth first

inews.co.uk/opinion/open...
Pushing for an open marriage? Check your market worth first
Why do men vastly overestimate their value on the dating exchange?
inews.co.uk
February 12, 2026 at 11:51 AM
Reposted by Arete Roper
richove.bsky.social
The study points to using libraries and visiting museums as bringing these enormous brain health benefits ... who would have thought? Well, librarians and museum folk for a start ... www.theguardian.com/society/2026...
Reading and writing can lower dementia risk by almost 40%, study finds
Cognitive health in later life is ‘strongly influenced’ by lifelong exposure to intellectually stimulating environments, say researchers
www.theguardian.com
February 12, 2026 at 7:57 AM
Reposted by Arete Roper
investico.bsky.social
Een algoritme van de reclassering doet foute voorspellingen en discrimineert mogelijk bij het inschatten van het herhalingsrisico van verdachten en daders. In 2020 werd de instantie al gewaarschuwd, maar daar werd niets mee gedaan. www.platform-investico.nl/onderzoeken/...
Inspectie: Reclassering maakt grote fouten bij inschatten herhalingsrisico met algoritme | Investico Onderzoeksjournalisten
www.platform-investico.nl
February 12, 2026 at 10:02 AM
Reposted by Arete Roper
scurry.bsky.social
FOR THE RECORD: one year on, I lay out clearly how Elon Musk FRS has breached the @royalsociety.org’s code of conduct, why the Society’s failure to defend its values has been so damaging, & what they need do to recover their standing in the scientific community. occamstypewriter.org/scurry/2026/...
Colourful image from the webpage of the Royal Society. Background is a mix of images of electronic circuits and silicon wafers. Text reads: "Welcome to the Royal Society. We are the independent scientific academy of the UK, dedicated to promoting excellence in science for the benefit of humanity."
February 11, 2026 at 6:39 PM
Reposted by Arete Roper
seankilleen.com
That's 100% why I created leavesubstack.com -- got tired of re-hashing the points; wanted to make a simple 1-pager.
You Should Probably Leave Substack
You should probably leave Substack. Here’s why and how.
leavesubstack.com
February 12, 2026 at 4:54 AM
Reposted by Arete Roper
marisakabas.bsky.social
feels like i should re-post this every few weeks
marisakabas.bsky.social Marisa Kabas @marisakabas.bsky.social · Dec 21
NEW: Substack founders finally respond to Substackers Against Nazis. They say Nazis publishing and earning money on their platform is fine with them.

Their full statement here: substack.com/@hamish/note...
Hamish McKenzie Disiointed • Subscribe 1h Edited Hi everyone. Chris, Jairaj, and I wanted to let you know that we've heard and have been listening to all the views being expressed about how Substack should think about the presence of fringe voices on the platform (and particularly, in this case, Nazi views). liust want to make it clear that we don't like Nazis either-we wish no-one held those views. But some people do hold those and other extreme views. Given that, we don't think that censorship (including through demonetizing publications) makes the problem go away- in fact, it makes it worse.
February 12, 2026 at 4:17 AM
Reposted by Arete Roper
rincewind.run
Discworld QOTD, from Wyrd Sisters
Granny Weatherwax was often angry. She considered it one of her strong points. Genuine anger was one of the world's greatest creative forces. But you had to learn how to control it. That didn't mean you let it trickle away. It meant you dammed it, carefully, let it develop a working head, let it drown whole valleys of the mind and then, just when the whole structure was about to collapse, opened a tiny pipeline at the base and let the iron-hard stream of wrath power the turbines of revenge.
February 11, 2026 at 9:33 PM
areteroper.bsky.social
Draad
mddoogie3.bsky.social MdDoogie3 @mddoogie3.bsky.social · 1d
I don’t really know what I expect in posting this, but maybe some people see it and can learn from it.

I’ll call it “lessons from an unwilling immigration attorney.”

1/
February 12, 2026 at 5:28 AM