Foreign minister Penny Wong will meet on Wednesday with Yulia Navalnaya, the widow of Alexei Navalny, the Russian opposition leader who died in 2024 after being sent to a prison. womensagenda.com.au/politics/wor...
#PrecautionaryPrincipleFFS As one of the world's lowest rating non-entities, there's no point following me. No, really, don't. You will learn nothing from it & you will be blocked. I'm only here for recent papers & monographs.
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Foreign minister Penny Wong will meet on Wednesday with Yulia Navalnaya, the widow of Alexei Navalny, the Russian opposition leader who died in 2024 after being sent to a prison. womensagenda.com.au/politics/wor...
Any odds on a slap on the wrist & 2 hours community "service"?
Whoever writes these isn't getting paid enough "She is slow and burps a lot" had me reeling 😂
Here's a whole page of 1930s visual strangeness for your delectation ... Zonite, in particular, is somewhere between coy & deeply disturbing ... www.theguardian.com/artanddesign...
He's been charged this morning with a number of offences, but the violent disorder one is pretty serious. *Carries a maximum of 10 years prison and 15 years if you're wearing a face covering (*not saying that's what will happen, just pointing to the seriousness of that specific allegation)
We're going to need a bigger crystal ball.
4-Year-Old’s Optimism Just Making Things Worse For Area Family https://theonion.com/4-year-old-s-optimism-just-making-things-worse-for-area-1819572921/
Putting this right has been described as a 'business decision'. Do these people think they live on a different planet? Where are our regulatory mechanisms? Long-hidden methane leak in Darwin raises fresh doubts over Australia’s climate action theconversation.com/long-hidden-...
Not new news… but sad news.
I was reading an article about children suffering measles and mpox coinfection. (DRC) 😢 www.cidrap.umn.edu/mpox/mpox-me...
If you would like his life story, organised in a slightly confusing fashion (by me), you could start with this interview www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
Nearly started crying at this photo & I'm not even a Green. Congratulations to @zackpolanski.bsky.social
A nasal spray reduced the risk of Covid infections in a double blind, placebo controlled randomized trial jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...
"You can eat a ton of protein. You can digest a ton of protein. But the key question is: How much can you use? And we don’t have a way of stocking away extra amino acids.” erictopol.substack.com/p/our-preocc...
Why Catching Covid Endlessly Is Better Than Not Catching It Enough, And Two Other Things We Tell Ourselves To Feel Better When We’re Sick Yet Again
WELL NOW, would you look at that? A massive GLOBAL study revealed COVID-19 vaccines utilizing mRNA technology PREVENTED OVER 2.5 MILLION deaths WORLDWIDE between 2020 and 2024. It reveals that vaccinations didn’t JUST protect against illness. They PRESERVED nearly 15 MILLION years of human life.
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
Genuinely shocked by the pre-emptive arrest of the Defend Our Juries Five. I'm sure their real offence was their direct challenge to Labour's authoritarianism.
Sea Level xkcd.com/3135/
![Comic. [Two people on shore looking at body of water] PERSON 1: Hey, where’s that big island we were looking at this morning? PERSON 2 with short hair: Oh, it’s underwater. The ocean’s depth here goes up and down by like ten feet every day. PERSON 1: What? PERSON 2: It’s because the planet has a big moon orbiting near the surface. It causes weird gravity effects. PERSON 1: *What???* [caption] People here are used to them, but tides are one of the weirdest and most sci-fi elements of life on Earth.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:cz73r7iyiqn26upot4jtjdhk/bafkreidj2tdqhkgoamiqf5reqt7kvbpt26x3cgjxsp4rtwwb46qumcltdq@jpeg "Click to view full size")
We’ve seen this play out repeatedly across Europe. Each time, mainstream parties hoped to undercut the far right by echoing its language. Each time, the effect was to legitimise and empower the very forces they wanted to contain.
It’s a trap: if migration or identity politics is framed as the central crisis, voters who care most about it will prefer the “original” over the copy. The far right gains credibility, while centrists hollow out their own.
The lesson is clear: you can’t outflank the far right by borrowing its language. You only validate its narrative, undermine your own authenticity, and make democracy more fragile in the process.
Instead of blunting extremism, this dynamic justifies and strengthens it. What was once fringe becomes common sense. The Overton window shifts, and centrists are left managing expectations they can never satisfy.
Oh dear, that's a shame #backpfeifengesicht www.abc.net.au/news/2025-09...
Windsor Davies had a view ...
When centrists adopt far-right rhetoric, they don’t make themselves stronger. They make themselves look inauthentic, legitimise the far right, and shift the political debate onto terrain defined by their opponents. www.theguardian.com/politics/liv...
I think this might be my favourite Ivermectin - COVID study... What a total waste of money all those trials were. Due diligence would never have led us there if not to quell the conspiratorial nonsense... jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...
And perhaps investigate the 2IC whilst they're at it ... lol ... Alien has nothing on the horror of this ... bsky.app/profile/theo...
Quite ... bsky.app/profile/theo...
I wish the press were as interested in Trump’s health as they were in Biden’s
Emboldened, work-shy Nazi thugs. They attack defenceless women in our parks. They deliberately commit affray, assault, and issue violent threats. Revoke their bail. Use police, media and bystander footage to lay new charges. Yesterday would have been a good time. www.theage.com.au/national/vic...
Good news. The House of Representatives stands behind the NIH budget with no cuts.
Film director wants more AI: the only quote you need to know in this story is that he says 'filmmakers ...who are the only people I really care about'. Not writers, crew, actors, artists ...
Growing up then, many grasped the opportunity of entering (via education) a world where evidence, reason & intellect mattered more than transient gratification. Low expectations and thwarted desires: Geoff Dyer’s memoir of a working-class childhood theconversation.com/low-expectat...
Leaked ‘Gaza Riviera’ plan dismissed as ‘insane’ attempt to cover ethnic cleansing www.theguardian.com/world/2025/s...
From the public health aspects of infectious disease & climate change the USA has now left the field & seems intent on inflicting global damage from the sidelines. The rest of humanity has to step up. What chaos at the US CDC could mean for the rest of the world theconversation.com/what-chaos-a...
Happy international actuaries day to all my actuarial friends!
Which aligns with another curious conservative phenomenon: giving patronizing advice to Democrats & liberals, which is akin to advice snakes give rabbits, except these snakes believe in their own benign paternalism. "While true that I eat rabbits, this rabbit should examine his own biases...."
For a lot of the right and right-leaning centrists, actual leftists and progressives are not annoying enough, so they rant about the versions they made at home from scratch, then blame real people for imagined sins and postures. p.s. Silver doesn't actually want the left to win, does he?
Quite ... it'd be interesting to see what a Venn diagramme including the fhooters & sishers partei mavens would look like ... one suspects a single circle ... www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...
Sex Matters has deleted his page from its website - but the internet never forgets. web.archive.org/web/20241107...
Keir Starmer has appointed as his new Comms Director Tim Allan who was a board member of the hate group Sex Matters. It's no longer even pretending to adhere to its Manifesto promise to "remove indignities for trans people who deserve recognition and acceptance."
The chaos at the CDC in the wake of last week’s firing of its Director and the resignations of four senior officials is fallout from the latest skirmish in RFK Jr.’s war against vaccines. Make no mistake, RFK Jr. is working hard to take away your vaccines, if he can. Here’s a progress report.
"Since [Labour] came to power last July, the UK jobs market has deteriorated. Hiring has slowed, pay packets are starting to feel thinner, and there may even be fewer working people in Britain overall." on.ft.com/3JH3wyX
Truly, a disastrous idea. This is an anti parasitic drug, it has no effect whatsoever against SARS2, other viruses, or cancers. Unmonitored use can lead to liver inflammation and other toxicity. Nuts. www.texastribune.org/2025/08/27/t...
Nine of the CDC directors over the past 48 years have a lot to say about what RFK Jr is doing vs health of Americans www.nytimes.com/2025/09/01/o...
What's wrong with the obsession to consume high protein in your diet or via bars, supplements, or powders? A review of the data on efficacy and safety erictopol.substack.com/p/our-preocc...
Texas Blocks Law That Would Ban Gun Stores From Operating Inside Psych Wards http://theonion.com/texas-blocks-law-that-would-ban-gun-stores-from-operating-inside-psych-wards/
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
Microsoft Employees Protest Company’s Ties To Israel https://theonion.com/microsoft-employees-protest-companys-ties-to-israel/
It’s also difficult to describe just how extreme & how repulsive it is that Jay Bhattacharya is sharing a stage, at a nasty right wing conference, with Nigel Farage—who just unveiled his plan for “mass deportations” of asylum seekers. Do GBD supporters not grasp how radical & revolting this is?
I think the MOST telling thing about the GBD is that the man who conceived, organized, sponsored, edited, & marketed it is pro-child labour, pro-tobacco, anti-vaccine &, um, a Neo-Confederate. Imagine falling in love with this guy & his declaration 🤯 talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/jeffr...
Folks in Sweden support his anti-vaccine, pro-RFK Jr, pro-Trump stances? Interesting. I guess there are right wing pro-Trump, pro-RFK Jr, anti-vaxxers everywhere!
The MAGA/MAHA dudes who are now propping up RFK Jr’s kooky, deadly anti-vaxx actions—Drs Bhattacharya, Kulldorff, Makary, Oz, Prasad—once upon a time were academics in biomedicine, but now do not have an ounce of courage or integrity. The lure of the right-wing & anti-vaxx podcasts is too great 😢
A Guide To Monitoring Conflict Amidst a Sea of Misinformation www.bellingcat.com/news/rest-of...
Stewart Lee's take on immigration still relevant and a hilarious piss-take of those with "legitimate concerns" ... (curse BlueSky's 60 second video restriction) ... the full 8 minute version is gold as it goes through the history of immigration to what is now the UK.
A Nazi rally with people who aren't Nazis? But I thought... www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
A gut-wrenching reminder that conspiracy theories and pseudoscience kills innocent people. Paloma's mother, an anti-vaccine influencer, pressured Paloma to refuse treatment that had a '80 percent chance survival'. Paloma died at the age of 23. Beyond tragic. observer.co.uk/style/featur...
We need to improve our defence posture, at speed and at scale. At the informal European Council in October, we’ll present our Roadmap for the next 5 years. Looking at defence investment and capacity gaps – and how to close them ↓ europa.eu/!nDBn8q
A beautiful 20-minute film about Icelandic teenagers, pufflings (baby/adolescent #puffins) and working out where to go. I do love young people. They should be in charge of nearly everything, including puffin assistance. aeon.co/videos/the-u...
And more stupidity from them ... www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
My article in The Conversation about the global impact of the turmoil at the CDC. I welcome feedback. theconversation.com/what-chaos-a...
At least in science, high tech & higher ed areas where the USA has been ahead but is now ceding to China, a good % of 'American exceptionalism' over the past several decades has been built on imported talent, which isn't necessarily all-white and protestant. Dumb & dumber have reasserted control.
Looks like they got high on their own supply of exceptionalism ... a rookie mistake for neophyte dealers 🙄🤷♂️🤦♂️ ... www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025... www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
They've become, as that old saying goes, "high on their own supply" ... of belief in their "exceptionalism".
It’s really crystallized that sensation of being right while hoping to be wrong and then getting the completely hollow victory that your and your brilliant colleagues’ unheeded warnings were reified. Isn’t the world sick of panic/neglect cycles? I am.
The juxtaposition of the archetype where disaster movies always begin with a claim that scientists were overreacting (and thus should have salience by availability heuristic) and the shock that RFK et al are causing as much damage as possible… interesting isn’t quite the right word for it… but…
Why provide any form of tax breaks for this activity? In many cases, it removes properties from the long-term rental market and is counter-productive for the nation. www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...
Symbolic of an American King, an America Croesus? What would that 'plain man' (and very smart man) Ben Franklin, & other Founding Fathers who signed the US Declaration of Independence & the 1787 Constitution, make of this? How can this be the USA? www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
⚡️Russia's war in Ukraine 'to last a long time,' Merz says. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said in an interview on Aug. 31 that he expects Russia's war in Ukraine to last a long time, as most wars end in military defeat or economic collapse — a scenario he does not foresee for Russia or Ukraine.
We always get emails like that, but there's been an uptick, with at least one person saying ChatGPT told them to contact us.
I'm getting the impression ChatGPT is recommending people who have mental health issues and believe they're part of, or have uncovered, dark conspiracy reach out to Bellingcat for assistance.
How much protein should you consume? erictopol.substack.com/p/our-preocc...
Putin has not changed. In the last 25 years he started four wars. He can only be kept in check through strong deterrence. We must be precise and fast with the surge in our defence posture ↓ europa.eu/!wgH6QK
I got a message from my electricity company warning me what the winter quarter bill is going to be.
Australian and New Zealand Society of Paediatric Otorhinolaryngologists. Here’s the small superspecialty family I belong to. My teachers, mentors and best colleagues ever. We talked complex airway, head and neck tumours, hearing loss, AI, indigenous health, sustainability etc. #ENT #surgery #surgeon
Humanists believe the universe operates according to natural laws, and that we can use science, evidence, and critical thinking to better understand it. #thatshumanism
Deaths from preventable illnesses are on the rise due to the spread of scientifically unfounded fears about vaccines across social media. www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/baby...
Read the full report from @humanistsociety.bsky.social: www.humanism.scot/2025/08/31/w...
Collective worship is not education. It's religious observance. Yet in Scotland (and across the UK), state schools are legally required to lead pupils in acts of worship. So many parents are totally unaware. New report by @humanistsociety.bsky.social goes in-depth 👇
Dear Donald Tusk, Poland is the largest defence spender in Europe – and you will be the biggest beneficiary from SAFE. To match Poland’s readiness, we have proposed a fivefold increase in defence investments. And a ten-fold increase in funding for military mobility.
Because with along with @xkcd.com's view on exponential growth, pollies (& much of the laity) also do not understand area under the curve🙄🙅♂️🤦♂️
Never a clearer example of the uselessness of Bernie Sanders & the other old, ineffectual Democrats. They comment, instead of trying to make anything happen. RFK Jnr will stay until he's entirely ruined the US health system, or the stupid supplements & steroids kill him, or he is removed.
I think we’re know why there are so many questions on this test about the reproductive anatomy of children.
None of this should be a surprise to anyone. We warned you, and it wasn’t a surprise to us. What this administration is doing with respect to science —and I don’t limit it to just RFK Jr.—is very much what we have feared.
Another good example is the MAHA approach to autism. sciencebasedmedicine.org/maha-and-sof...
Moreover, MAHA as a movement is eugenicist, which is not surprising because antivax and huge swaths of alternative medicine are suffused with eugenicist thinking. RFK Jr.’s approach to measles is a good starting example. sciencebasedmedicine.org/measles-maha...
Nearly four years ago, I explained the affinity between the antivax movement and fascism. Given that RFK Jr. has been rabidly antivax for at least two decades, it should surprise no one that he’s fine with the fascist approach to science. www.respectfulinsolence.com/2022/01/28/w...
This is a depressingly clueless take.Trump and RFK Jr. In fascist regimes science is subverted to serve ideology, and the ideology being served is quite recognizably fascist.
Good morning! MAGA/MAHA dude Jay Bhattacharya will forever be remembered as RFK Jr’s biggest champion (he campaigned for him/spoke at his rallies) & the NIH director who presided over the destruction of US health research—including childhood brain cancer research 🤬 www.nytimes.com/2025/08/28/w...
Please add your name to our open letter urging Ministers to act now lnkd.in/ejJ2nrva 3/3
They’re excluded from Government support that's available for other museums, art galleries and theatres. The Association of Science and Discovery Centres is calling on the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) to safeguard these vital institutions for the next generation… 2/3
For over 25 years, science and discovery centres have been at the heart of inspiring millions of people to explore, question, and be part of UK science and technology. But they're seriously under threat… 1/3
"The interview had no evident legal purpose. It was a damage-control operation. Blanche was not so much investigating Epstein and Maxwell’s crimes as attempting to exculpate President Donald Trump..."
Russia has caused devastating damages to Ukraine. It is unthinkable that Russia will ever see its frozen assets again, unless it fully compensate the damages caused to Ukraine. Today, we discussed this issue with EU Foreign affairs ministers Extract from my press remarks ↓
Supposedly A6 is one of the more severe serotypes. Not as bad as A71, though. 2/ www.cdc.gov/hand-foot-mo...
A71 is around too, but it's not as widespread. 3/
