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Melissa

@mcochrane13.bsky.social
955 followers 1.4K following 941 posts

mum of 2 kids, 1 cat & 1 dog, wife, ADHD, PMDD, POP, & ME/CFS with fibromyalgia, she/her, human rights are for everyone. LGBTQ+ safe here. 🇨🇦 in 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

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Melissa @mcochrane13.bsky.social · 11/01/2026
I’ve got 2 spaces available in my Duolingo family plan. £15 a space for the year. All the benefits of Duolingo plus but much cheaper. Can be anywhere in the world as long as you don’t mind paying in GBP. No catches, just sharing a deal. DM or comment if interested! 🩷 #Duolingo
A screenshot of the Duolingo family plan subscription page with the text ‘2 spaces in my Duolingo family have opened up. £15 for the year for Duolingo plus! DM if interested’
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Jon Cooper @joncooper-us.bsky.social · 10/08/2025
In 1949, Superman told schoolchildren “our country is made up of Americans of MANY different races, religions and national origins. So… “…if YOU hear anybody talk against anyone else because of his religion, race or national origin — don’t wait: tell him THAT KIND OF TALK IS UN-AMERICAN.”
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Melissa @mcochrane13.bsky.social · 10/08/2025
Handsome boy 😻 #AlexeiTheRussianBlue #Cats #CatsOfBluesky #RussianBlue
A black and white image of a cat sitting on a white bookcase, whose body is facing the camera but he is looking to the left. Light is shining on his face, highlighting his features.
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George Takei @georgetakei.bsky.social · 06/08/2025
The stories we tell matter. I know this not from watching but from memory. I was just a child, held behind barbed wire in a U.S. internment camp, when an atomic bomb obliterated Hiroshima—killing members of my family.
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Melissa @mcochrane13.bsky.social · 19/07/2025
It’s almost as if right wing, anti-immigrant, austerity geared, ‘back to the good old days’ ethos led governments aren’t working 🤔. 'The village will die' - Italy looks for answers to decline in number of babies www.bbc.com/news/article...
bbc.com
'The village will die' - Italy looks for answers to decline in number of babies
The government wants to encourage women to have babies but Italians say they need greater help.
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Nuzhat Uthmani @nuthmani.bsky.social · 18/07/2025
#DecolonisetheCurriculum
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Melissa @mcochrane13.bsky.social · 18/07/2025
Back from the neurologist today. All my little twitches are benign and nothing more nefarious. Confirms the ME/CFS dx. I apparently have ‘very brisk’ reflexes - maybe this is my super power?? 😂😂. In an unrelated investigation - I might have carpal tunnel in my right wrist 🤷🏻‍♀️.
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Melissa @mcochrane13.bsky.social · 17/07/2025
Baby got a new bed 🥰 #MapleTheChi #SleepyDog #DogsOfBluesky #Chihuahua
A chocolate brown chihuahua is snuggled sleeping in a fluffy pink donut dog bed.
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Melissa @mcochrane13.bsky.social · 18/06/2025
Absolutely critical to address racism in schools right now. Well done Nuzi for continually keeping it at the fore 👏
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Melissa @mcochrane13.bsky.social · 18/06/2025
The world is so utterly grim. How can we keep killing innocent people?? 😔🥺
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Melissa @mcochrane13.bsky.social · 18/06/2025
I am so glad that I’m not a teacher anymore. This guidance is an utter disgrace. It’s such a slap in the face to every single Scottish teacher. The violence is very real, it’s very scary, it’s very traumatising. A laminated card is not the answer. 🤬 #ScottishEducation
A screen shot of a report about violence in Scottish schools (origin unknown). It reads:

“Long-awaited guidelines for teachers, who have complained of a major deterioration in behaviour in Scottish schools since the Covid lockdowns, call for a "supportive" approach to be taken towards children who refuse to follow the rules.
The guidelines suggest that those who are violent to staff or fellow pupils could be provided with a "laminated set of bullet points" to "remind and support them" not to repeat their behaviour if they become
"frustrated" in the future.
Although it states that exclusions can be used as a last resort, the SNP rejected calls to scrap a presumption against the measure, after claims that a lack of consequences for bad behaviour under an "inclusion" policy had caused standards to plummet.”

In the image the middle paragraph about the laminated set of bullet points has been highlighted in yellow.
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Brad Lander @bradlander.bsky.social · 18/06/2025
Tonight, I'll go home and sleep in my bed. I have a lawyer, I'll get due process. But Edgardo, whose arm was ripped from mine by ICE agents, has none of those things. That's why I'll keep coming back to court, week after week, to make sure that people's rights are protected.
youtu.be
Brad Lander: "I'll keep coming back to court, week after week"
YouTube video by Brad Lander for NYC
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Sooz Kempner @soozuk.bsky.social · 16/06/2025
Today marks nine years since Jo Cox was assassinated by a far-right extremist, a terrible loss to those who knew and loved her and to politics. Zero lessons were learned though and the far-right continues to be pandered to. With more political assassinations in the US it all feels too familiar.
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FEMINIST @feminists.bsky.social · 11/06/2025
If you’re not angry, you’re not paying attention. 🎥: Time, 💬 Greta Thunberg
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BladeoftheSun @bladeofthes.bsky.social · 04/06/2025
Do people really believe that the Billionaire Media would tell them, "The problem is us, the billionaires." No of course they won't, instead they will blame absolutely anybody else.
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willyglen.bsky.social @willyglen.bsky.social · 31/05/2025
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persephone @jomaselli.ca · 29/05/2025
Anyone have any recommendations for a lightweight foldable wheelchair that can be wheeled along like a bike while folded? I’m looking for something that might help me enjoy more outings this summer but that gives me the flexibility to walk when able, since I really enjoy walking.
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Melissa @mcochrane13.bsky.social · 29/05/2025
At what point do we actually say enough is enough, let’s stop damaging the earth?
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#ApresJ20 - Association Covid Long France @apresj20.bsky.social · 29/05/2025
🧵 Le 28 mai, à l’occasion de la Journée internationale d’action pour la santé des femmes, @ladepechedumidi a publié un article éclairant sur le phénomène du gaslighting médical 👏 #CovidLong #ApresJ20 #GaslightingMedical #SantéDesFemmes
ladepeche.fr
Gaslighting médical : quand les symptômes des femmes ne sont pas pris au sérieux
28 mai, journée internationale d’action pour la santé des femmes. L’occasion de mettre en lumière un nouvel exemple de gaslighting médical - procédé qui consiste à nier ou minimiser les plaintes des p...
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Carrie Marshall - MySeveralWorlds.com @myseveralworlds.com · 28/05/2025
“I am not sick. I am broken. But I am happy to be alive as long as I can paint.” ― Frida Kahlo, The Diary of Frida Kahlo Kahlo lived with #fibromyalgia after a train accident at age 18. She had numerous surgeries and was left with #ChronicPain. She created her most important works of art from bed.
A young Frida Kahlo in her hospital bed with a painted calavera (Sugar skull) in Mexico. Photo by Juan Guzmán. 1950
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George Monbiot @georgemonbiot.bsky.social · 28/05/2025
Our letter condemning the genocide in #Gaza and calling for an immediate ceasefire. A great crime is being committed, and we cannot stand by. www.theguardian.com/world/2025/m...
theguardian.com
Zadie Smith and Ian McEwan among 380 writers and groups to call Gaza war ‘genocide’
Letter also signed by Hanif Kureishi and Russell T Davies urges ceasefire and unrestricted distribution of aid
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Melissa @mcochrane13.bsky.social · 28/05/2025
Too many people around the world are hiding behind ‘Christian values’ to support dehumanising acts like this, anti-abortion laws, disability eugenics etc.
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Adam Fare 🖤🤍💜 @adamfare1996.bsky.social · 28/05/2025
Someone who has been able to work for 30 years but then had to give up due to disability, is no more or less worthy of support than someone who has never been able to work. They are both human beings who deserve to live and not to be in poverty.
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Nicole Filippone, Autistic Advocate & Author @nicolefilippone.bsky.social · 25/05/2025
11 misconceptions about autism that just won't go away... even though they're wrong, harmful, or have been debunked a thousand times. (Part 2) A thread.
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Mark Carney @mark-carney.bsky.social · 22/05/2025
It’s time to build big, build bold, and build now.   That’s the mission I’ve given to our Cabinet, and we’re getting to work.
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Melissa @mcochrane13.bsky.social · 22/05/2025
This thread is important to read. Medical misogyny is rife and too many women have these stories. It needs to change.
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Anna Mazzola @annamazz.bsky.social · 21/05/2025
It’s Mary Anning’s birthday, so time to share @katebeaton.bsky.social’s brilliant cartoon again.
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Melissa @mcochrane13.bsky.social · 16/05/2025
We are in one seriously messed up timeline. Can you imagine going back in time, say 20 years, and telling folk that in the future THE US PRESIDENT would be slagging off a wildly successful entertainer publicly for everyone in the world to read?!?? No one would believe you. 🤯🤯🤯
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Melissa @mcochrane13.bsky.social · 16/05/2025
Ugh, so last Friday I went out with a pal to see Katherine Ryan. I had a great night. I rested in the days before but MY GOD my ass is still being kicked. I feel dreadful. #ME/CFS is a real bitch. 😒😣🥺😭
A pic of the view I had sitting in the Clyde Auditorium to see Katherine Ryan. Several rows of seats with some people are seen from behind with the stage straight ahead. A projected image of Katherine Ryan with her name on a pink background is seen on a screen above the stage.
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sasha @2damntrans.bsky.social · 13/05/2025
For Starmer to say that immigration has done "incalculable damage" to the UK is as wrong as it is evil.
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Sooz Kempner @soozuk.bsky.social · 13/05/2025
If you wouldn't accept "we are at risk of becoming an island of strangers" from Kemi Badenoch or Nigel Farage you probably shouldn't accept it from Keir Starmer. Don't pretzel yourself trying to explain why it's ok from the guy in the red tie.
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UnicornsRockUK @unicornsrockuk.northsky.social · 12/05/2025
"If the European Citizens' Initiative to ban conversion therapy across the EU doesn't collect 1 million signatures within 10 days, it will unfortunately fail..."
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George Monbiot @georgemonbiot.bsky.social · 12/05/2025
Starmer is simultaneously detoxifying Reform and toxifying the Labour Party. I ask again, what is he playing at?
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George Monbiot @georgemonbiot.bsky.social · 12/05/2025
After due consideration, having weighed up the relevant evidence, assessed the balance of arguments and gamed the likely implications, I have reached the conclusion that Keir Starmer can fuck off from a great height.
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Mike Sowden @mikeachim.bsky.social · 12/05/2025
OK, this is wild. In September 2023, geophysicists across the world started monitoring a very odd signal coming from the ground under them. It was picked up in the Arctic. And Antarctica. It was detected everywhere, every 90 seconds, as regular as a metronome, for *nine days*. What the HELL? 1/
Unsplash image of the Earth, mostly the nightside with a tracery of city lights on every continent.
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Melissa @mcochrane13.bsky.social · 12/05/2025
Labour are relying on the ignorance of the public regarding the process of visa application. It’s not easy. The need to speak English is already a requirement. The UK needs foreign workers to keep functioning. All of this talk is gross dog whistling to the far right. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
bbc.co.uk
Keir Starmer promises migration drop as he unveils plans for 'tighter' visa rules
Plans to ban the recruitment of care workers from overseas are among efforts to curb near record net migration.
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Zarah Sultana MP @zarahsultana.bsky.social · 12/05/2025
The Prime Minister imitating Enoch Powell’s ‘Rivers of Blood’ speech is sickening. That speech fuelled decades of racism and division. Echoing it today is a disgrace. It adds to anti-migrant rhetoric that puts lives at risk. Shame on you, Keir Starmer.
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Melissa @mcochrane13.bsky.social · 11/05/2025
I cannot wait for the day that Farage is no longer relevant. It can’t come soon enough. The left have to be prepared to step up, Reform and Farage may disappear but the cancer that he’s created will continue. www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2025/05...
taxresearch.org.uk
How long is it before Reform implodes?
Farage's political track record is poor. The moment anyone tries to hold him to account, he runs a mile. How long will it be before Reform falls apart, because he and it will fall out? This is the ...
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Kelly @broadwaybabyto.bsky.social · 10/05/2025
Only one day left to sign this petition to adopt clean air standards in healthcare and social care settings. Hospital acquired COVID has a 10% fatality rate. Many of us are terrified to go to the hospital, because it’s the most risky place for us. It doesn’t need to be this way:
petition.parliament.uk
Petition: Introduce new air quality and PPE rules for health and social care settings
We want the Government to set new rules on air quality and infection control in health and social care settings, to prevent and control airborne infections, with new ventilation and filtration require...
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Lyndsey @lyndseydoob.bsky.social · 11/05/2025
UK petition. End the badger cull! The petition is only approx 2500 off 100,000 which will get it considered for debate in parliament. Please sign and share if you can. 🙌 petition.parliament.uk/petitions/70...
petition.parliament.uk
Petition: End the Badger cull and adopt other approaches to bovine TB control
The Government’s TB Eradication Strategy allows the continued killing of badgers, a protected species, until the end of this Parliament, despite the Labour manifesto calling the cull “ineffective.” W...
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Kelly @broadwaybabyto.bsky.social · 09/05/2025
You can’t “try harder” your way out of chronic illness. You can’t “healthy diet” your way out of chronic illness. Disability is not your fault. It’s not a moral failing. Absolutely we should do whatever we can to be healthy, but folks need to accept that disability can & will happen to everyone
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Carrie Marshall - MySeveralWorlds.com @myseveralworlds.com · 10/05/2025
Credit: Yann MECFS #MECFS Cycle of Neglect: Only 3% of the research funding of comparable illnesses. From the top and working clockwise, we move from No funding -> No research -> No biomarker -> No recognition. #MEAwarenessMonth #MillionsMissing #pwME
Credit: Yann MECFS

#MECFS Cycle of Neglect: Only 3% of the research funding of comparable illnesses. 

Image Description: MECFS Cycle of Neglect is at the center of the circle. From the top and working clockwise, we move from No funding -> No research -> No biomarker -> No recognition.

#MEAwarenessMonth #MySeveralWorlds #MillionsMissing #pwME #MyalgicE
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ME Foggy Dog @mefoggydog.bsky.social · 09/05/2025
Reposting for those who didn't see it last night. Our petition (and reasons for) has been covered by @thecanaryuk.bsky.social 🫶 #pwME #DisabilityCutsKill
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Melissa @mcochrane13.bsky.social · 07/05/2025
100% this 👇. They campaigned on a platform and have completely done the exact opposite.
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ProPublica @propublica.org · 07/05/2025
1/ For ProPublica’s “Life of the Mother” series, winner of the 2025 Pulitzer Prize for public service, we reported on five pregnant women who died after not receiving timely medical care in states with strict abortion bans. These are their stories 🧵
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ME Foggy Dog @mefoggydog.bsky.social · 06/05/2025
We didn't hit our 10k target over the weekend 7487 signatures. Please sign and support. Create a Dedicated Minister for Disabled People Role - Sign the Petition! chng.it/YnD8M4jcDS via @UKChange #pwME #MEcfs #DisabilityCutsKill
chng.it
Sign the Petition
Create a Dedicated Minister for Disabled People Role
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George Monbiot @georgemonbiot.bsky.social · 05/05/2025
While I'm not involved in any political party, I think @zackpolanski.bsky.social's analysis is correct. Thanks to Labour's multiple, infuriating failures, the Greens could become huge here, but only if they are bolder, more assertive and, yes, "eco-populist". www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
theguardian.com
Green deputy launches leadership bid with UK ‘eco-populism’ vision
Exclusive: Surprise challenger Zack Polanski says party can learn from success of Nigel Farage and Reform UK
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David Ho @davidho.bsky.social · 04/05/2025
I think a lot about what Carl Sagan said in one of his final interviews.
"WE'VE ARRANGED A society based on science and technology, in which nobody understands anything about science technology. And this combustible mixture of ignorance and power, sooner or later, is going to blow up in our faces. Who is running the science and technology in a democracy if the people don't know anything about it?"
"Science is more than a body of knowledge, it's a way of thinking. A way of skeptically interrogating the universe with a fine understanding of human fallibility. If we are not able to ask skeptical questions, to interrogate those who tell us that something is true, to be skeptical of those in authority, then we're up for grabs for the next charlatan, political or religious, who comes ambling along."
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Melissa @mcochrane13.bsky.social · 04/05/2025
And the UK did too…but apparently our Labour Party decided that they love the idea of fascism and fancy giving extreme right wing governing a try. 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭
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Gemma Clark 🧿🕯️ @gemmaclark.bsky.social · 03/05/2025
My petition is being debated on 2nd June! There are less than 48 hours left to sign! Please share petition.parliament.uk/petitions/70...
petition.parliament.uk
Petition: Decriminalise Abortion
I am calling on the UK government to remove abortion from criminal law so that no pregnant person can be criminalised for procuring their own abortion.
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