R.E.Ward
snap-dragons.bsky.social
R.E.Ward
@snap-dragons.bsky.social
Yeah my parents really did give me this wonderful initials/last name combo. 🏳️‍⚧️ 🏳️‍🌈
He/Him
NCSU Alum
Sci-fi fantasy nerd 🖖
Reposted by R.E.Ward
A male rock ptarmigan (Lagopus muta) in winter plumage.

Ptarmigan is from Gaelic 'tarmachan' meaning "croaker". The p- was added when people mistakenly assumed it was a Greek word.

A bird forever warning people: "A werewolf!" (just in case of werewolves).
December 6, 2025 at 1:46 PM
Reposted by R.E.Ward
NEW: Last year we found the acceptable level of exposure to formaldehyde set by the EPA left people at risk for cancer.

Now the Trump administration has roughly doubled it

www.propublica.org/article/epa-...
Under Former Chemical Industry Insiders, Trump EPA Nearly Doubles Amount of Formaldehyde Considered Safe to Inhale
Chemical industry lobbyists have long pushed the government to adopt a less stringent approach to gauging the cancer risk from chemicals, one that would help ease regulations on companies that make or...
www.propublica.org
December 8, 2025 at 11:49 AM
Reposted by R.E.Ward
MacKenzie Scott: *donates $50M every 10 hours°

Joe Lonsdale, co-founder of Palantir: "I want to see people hang"
December 7, 2025 at 12:15 AM
Reposted by R.E.Ward
Our gorgeous #WakeUpDeadMan end credit portraits, painted from life by Isabella Watling. We’re still in theaters, see my pinned post for a theater finder!
December 6, 2025 at 4:45 PM
Reposted by R.E.Ward
Getting to know this legend has been one of the greatest joys of my life and I'm so pleased to introduce you to her with this gorgeous feature from the Inquirer, where she speaks for the first time in over 30 years on her incredible journey
share.inquirer.com/XdfXr9
Harlow's still here
Fifty years ago, Harlow was the queen of Philadelphia nightlife, Jack Kelly’s girlfriend, and the city's most famous transgender woman. Today, she’s ready to tell her story.
share.inquirer.com
December 6, 2025 at 3:33 PM
Reposted by R.E.Ward
December 6, 2025 at 3:44 PM
Reposted by R.E.Ward
Admiral Rachel Levine was the first transgender person to be confirmed by the Senate to serve in the federal government. Her official portrait at HHS headquarters has been altered. n.pr/48HypvT
HHS changed the name of transgender health leader on her official portrait
Admiral Rachel Levine was the first transgender person to be confirmed by the Senate to serve in the federal government. Her official portrait at HHS headquarters has been altered.
n.pr
December 5, 2025 at 10:50 PM
Reposted by R.E.Ward
Joint Statement of the Acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery by Netflix.
December 5, 2025 at 6:39 PM
Reposted by R.E.Ward
Counterpoint:

The Supreme Court lacks the authority to change the text of the Constitution.

So either it affirms the text or (further, and more completely) nukes its authority as Constitutional arbiter.

There’s no third option. Art III (courts) can’t just usurp Art V (amendments).
npr.org NPR @npr.org · 3d
The Supreme Court will ultimately decide whether to uphold the longstanding principle that grants citizenship to the children of non-citizens born in the U.S., following a legal challenge by the Trump administration. n.pr/48E1oko
Supreme Court agrees to hear arguments in birthright citizenship challenge
The Supreme Court will ultimately decide whether to uphold the longstanding principle that grants citizenship to the children of non-citizens born in the U.S., following a legal challenge by the Trump administration.
n.pr
December 5, 2025 at 8:12 PM
Reposted by R.E.Ward
“the USPS must turn a profit” makes me want to set things on fire

they put a clause in the fucking constitution about postal service, that’s how important it is

nothing in there about “only if you can make money on it”
🚨SCOOP: Amazon is preparing to sever ties with USPS and expand its shipping network as a true coast-to-coast rival.

It could cost USPS more than *$6 billion* a year in lost revenue, and lead Amazon to dominate yet another facet of the economy.

USPS posted a *$9 billion* loss in 2025.
Amazon explores cutting ties with USPS, building its own delivery network
Amazon looks into expanding its nationwide delivery network and giving up its longstanding partnership with the U.S. Postal Service.
www.washingtonpost.com
December 4, 2025 at 6:32 PM
Reposted by R.E.Ward
They’re killing people as a twitter joke. It’s depraved. Can’t let yourself lose the capacity to be appalled and disgusted and outraged by this.
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth announces another boat strike in response to a request/wish from Turning Point USA’s Andrew Kolvet.
December 5, 2025 at 2:28 AM
Reposted by R.E.Ward
STORE: Thank you for your order!
STORE: We are preparing your order!
STORE: We put your order in a box!
STORE: Look who has a mailing label!
STORE: Your order has been shipped!
STORE: Your order is in your city!
STORE: Your order is nearby!
STORE: Your order sees you.
STORE: Turn around.
December 5, 2025 at 12:25 AM
Reposted by R.E.Ward
Democrats can retaliate against these GOP gerrymanders with new maps in Illinois, Maryland, Oregon, & Virginia.

They could flip 7 GOP seats to make up for this & new GOP maps in Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio, & possibly soon Indiana.

Imposing costs is the only way to deter the GOP from doing this
December 5, 2025 at 12:12 AM
Reposted by R.E.Ward
You can help Bolts continue to provide crucial coverage of local elections. Here's how:

- Repost this = I donate $1.
- Follow @boltsmag.org = I donate $1.
- Donate (link below) + tell me how much = I match your donation.
(Donate monthly = I match a year's worth)
Support Bolts
We are a nonprofit publication that covers the nuts and bolts of political change, from the local up, and we need reader support to build our journalism.
boltsmag.org
December 3, 2025 at 6:20 PM
Reposted by R.E.Ward
This bird’s greed delights me
December 4, 2025 at 11:13 AM
Reposted by R.E.Ward
The Oklahoma House of Representatives gave that girl an award for writing a terrible essay? For getting a trans person fired? This whole thing is an op.
December 4, 2025 at 2:39 AM
Reposted by R.E.Ward
I’ve forgotten this sometimes but being able to discover something you like, curate it, and make time to enjoy it *is* intelligence, connecting with art is intelligence, empathy is intelligence, the way of the dullard is to find nothing meaningful in art except for a way to seem snidely clever
December 4, 2025 at 3:21 AM
Reposted by R.E.Ward
The impact of the destruction of USAID is so wide-ranging. We got a field report from one of the poorest states in India, where foreign aid funded "TB champions" who educate and assist tuberculosis patients. Without their help, advocates expect a 36% increase in cases & 68% rise in deaths from TB.
Losing India’s Guardian Angels - The American Prospect
USAID funding supported efforts to eradicate tuberculosis in India, one of the country’s deadliest diseases. Now, that money and support is gone.
prospect.org
December 4, 2025 at 1:40 PM
Reposted by R.E.Ward
Everything about our current reality would’ve been considered hack sci-fi writing in 2015 but the Donald J. Trump Institute for Peace is next level
SCOOP: Sources tell me Donald Trump's name was added to the exterior of the US Institute of Peace building ahead of Thursday's peace agreement signing between Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), which will be held inside the building. Confirming if it's been officially renamed.
December 3, 2025 at 7:58 PM
Reposted by R.E.Ward
yes, it’s really that bad.
If new proposals detailed in an FDA memo are put into place, experts told me it would mean the end of annual flu shots. And end of most vaccines for pregnant people. And maybe the end of updates to pneumonia vaccines. And more.

www.cidrap.umn.edu/childhood-va...
FDA official proposes ‘impossible’ standards for vaccine testing that could curtail access to immunizations
www.cidrap.umn.edu
December 3, 2025 at 2:30 PM
Reposted by R.E.Ward
December 2, 2025 at 11:14 PM
Reposted by R.E.Ward
“Have Yourself A Merriam Little Christmas”

Merriam, a career-oriented lexicographer from the city, returns to her small town for the holidays and meets Webster, a ruggedly handsome librarian, who shows her the true DEFINITION of Christmas.
December 2, 2025 at 7:18 PM
Reposted by R.E.Ward
An easy way to explain luddites:

Textile manufacturers brought in machines that could do in an hour what would have taken 12 hours by hand.

And then, tried to keep paying the now 12x more productive workers the same wages as before.

That's it, that was the problem luddites had. Not complex.
December 2, 2025 at 7:46 PM
Reposted by R.E.Ward
You know that OU student who was failed by her professor for getting all biblical in her paper? When you read the actual article she was assigned to respond to, it becomes pretty fucking clear that she didn't do the assignment. She didn't respond to it. She wrote her own bullshit.
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
December 2, 2025 at 7:23 PM
Reposted by R.E.Ward
December 2, 2025 at 8:41 PM