Happy Friday! This week has been tough because it’s been so much darker in the morning and yesterday the bulb in the wake up lamp decided to die, that was not a fun morning! This weekend, I’m walking with Sarah and Fred, allotmenting and spending a Sunday with the family for my brother’s birthday. Fun

Here are this week’s links….

On Brexit, the Tories are gaslighting half the country

A Warning From Europe: The Worst Is Yet to Come. I’m not a fan of Anne Applebaum and I’m not sure I agree with her analysis of the causes of this issue but it’s worth reading anyway.

Ending Sexual Violence by Raising Better Boys. I’m not raising children but for those that are, I feel this is really useful and it fact it makes me thinks about the way I interact with my nephews. Mind you, the littlest one only comes near me if I have a blanket, because apparently all blankets are his!  But the point is, if we want change, we need to  make it and my observation is that the more we talk about this stuff the easier it gets.

Shoebox Britain: how shrinking homes are affecting our health and happiness

Amazon Created a Hiring Tool Using A.I. It Immediately Started Discriminating Against Women. Even robots are sexist…

How a mom’s “This Is My Son” anti-feminist brag went viral — and completely backfired. This is lovely, I’m not sure what she was thinking but she has a lovely, kind son…

As a decriminalisation bill is brought to Westminster, Northern Irish women tell their stories of abortion. The DUP has spent a lot of time telling the world that they don’t want NI to be treated any differently from the rest of the UK when it leaves the EU. The truth is they want NI to be treated differently all the bloody time. Women have been able to have abortions in the UK longer than I have been alive but not in NI. It’s apparently a devolved matter, they should campaign in NI but there is no devolved government in NI to talk to. If Scotland’s parliament couldn’t get itself together and form a government, Westminster would take control, but that doesn’t happen in NI. Ireland has always (on both sides of the divide) had a problem with its politicians, they are rank hypocrites and while Eire seems to be dealing with that, NI and especially the DUP is still busy saying no. Honestly, they need give themselves a talking to because the Prime Minister won’t.

The DUP has its ‘blood-red’ line. Does Theresa May dare cross it?. I agree with her about Sinn Fein, but they won’t, it’s that oath to the Queen. I’d take that oath with my fingers crossed but I do understand why they won’t, nationalism makes people a bit nuts…

Sleep: how much do we really need? Right now I need all of the sleep.

This is the very fattest bear in Katmai National Park. Fat bears!  I think I want to be a bear, a summer of mindless eating and then a really long sleep…

Puppy Cuteness Is Perfectly Timed to Manipulate Humans

The Viruses That Neanderthals Spread to Humans

Melania Trump: “I’m the Most Bullied Person in the World” Hyperbole, something she does have in common with her husband!