Prof Christina Pagel

“I'm not sure we've processed the trauma of the pandemic as a society; the ripple effect of the terror and paranoia that we all felt the first few months; how frightened we were for our loved ones. I don't think we have reckoned with it at all. People just don't want to talk about it - or hear it.”

this was the (very short) bit I think Imogen is referring to. I know @cvcev.bsky.social have been tirelessly raising this issue, but so many people still have too little understanding that there many people who don't have robust immune responses to Covid and need to stay very cautious.

A nuanced and thoughtful conversation about care homes during Covid. As they were wrapping up the discussion there was a short chat about those whose immune system don't work, and so still live with Covid in a way. I haven't felt so seen in years.

Was good to get to dive in the latest report on how care home residents and staff were let down during the pandemic

Michael Atiyah 🇪🇬: Fields Medal 1966 (also Abel Prize 2004), for K-theory. Ahmed Zewail 🇪🇬: Nobel for Chemistry 1999, for his work on femtochemistry. Omar M. Yaghi 🇯🇴: Wolf Prize 2018, Nobel for Chemistry 2025, for his work on reticular chemistry Naguib Mahfouz 🇪🇬: Nobel for literature 1988

UCL have made a start. www.macromonitor.org

This really is exceptionally useful. econvitals.org

💯The case for democracy is not that voters are always right, or wise, or good. It's that they can correct their mistakes. That's why it's so dangerous to have billionaires controlling the media or regulating the flow of information. It shuts down the immune system of democracy.

Incredible. Student List are candidates selected by groups of students to form an anti-corruption party. Another youth-led movement overthrowing an authoritarian government in Europe.

Wow. Vučić has conceded Serbian election. Massive moment for the entire Balkans

First Orban, now Vučić. Both fundamentally undone by rank corruption of their regimes. Which is so often the reality of the authoritarian right in power. Really worth paying heed to in Western Europe right now

Last year I was privileged to join Serbian students calling for change @bmj.com Tonight it looks like they’ve won. A rare bit of good news www.bmj.com/content/390/...

The Dept of Justice (DoJ) has pre-emptively filed a law suit which seeks to block the certification of Alaska’s US Senate election if its incumbent Republican senator Dan Sullivan loses, alleging votoers might get confused as there is also a Daniel J Sullivan on the ... TAT: [Undermining democracy]

Luis Sandoval, a 48-year-old Salvadoran man, died in ICE custody at a Georgia detention complex, the 60th death in immigration custody since Trump began his second term, according to the report. The death comes amid a hunger strike by detainees protest... TAT: [Nationalism | Weakening civil rights]

Trump told rally-goers he believed he had the right to run again because Democrats allegedly stole the 2020 election, despite acknowledging that the Constitution restricts presidents to two terms. He has repeatedly floated a third term, while allies have dismissed th... TAT: [Undermining democracy]

Trump during a campaign rally in Fort Myers, FL suggested military action in Cube once the Iran war is settled, suggesting that American naval forces from Iran will stop at Cuba on the way home. "We'll have one ​of them stop about 50 yards off the coast. They'll rais... [link] TAT: [Foreign policy]

A federal appeals court ruled that detained migrants have no constitutional right to bond hearings. The ruling, if left to stand, would eliminate a key avenue for detained migrants in the three states ​under the 5th Circuit's jurisdiction — Texa... [link] TAT: [Nationalism | Weakening civil rights]

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) denied approval for a high-volume measles test that would help health departments respond quicker and more effectively to the current measles outbreak. The West Coast Health Alliance (Hawaii, Californina, Oregon and... TAT: [Attacking science]

Had a lovely weekend in Lille with Euro friends, despite storms, demos and fighting off a cold... Lille was beautiful!

The Trump administration oversaw approximately 980,000 deportations in its first 18 months, according to the Migration Policy Institute. Only 20% involved people with criminal convictions. The figures illustrate the breadth of the administration’s immigration crackdown,... [link] TAT: [Nationalism]

Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins says the administration will continue plans to relocate the Forest Service headquarters, close 23 research stations and replace regional offices with state-run ones, despite a federal judge’s order halting the re... TAT: [Hollowing state | Undermining democracy]

Attorney General Todd Blanche refused to rule out scenarios in which the Justice Department could intervene in states’ midterm election certification, while insisting it had no plans to interfere improperly. The comments come amid an escalating campaign to obtain sta... TAT: [Undermining democracy]

The CDC reports only three measles deaths nationally this year, despite Pennsylvania reporting five confirmed deaths. It has switched to a less timely reporting system and declined to identify the state where a newly recorded death occurred, citing privacy laws that lega... TAT: [Attacking science]

US special envoy to Russia, Steve Witkoff praised Russian president Vladimir Putin and called him “a humanitarian.” during face-to-face talks in St. Petersburg. This as later echoed by Vice President JD Vance, following the release of an American w... TAT: [Foreign policy | Controlling information]

Trump attacked CNN's reporter Kaitlan Collins saying “You don’t know what you’re talking about. You’re a dummy. You’re a low-IQ person, you’re a dummy, and you work for CNN.” TAT: [Suppressing dissent]

👀 #covidinquiry report clear that Hancock lied in May 2020 when he said he’d thrown ‘a protective ring’ around the care sector. His actions & inactions led to thousands of avoidable deaths, including my mum’s. Plse sign & share this petition 👇🏻 @cbffjuk.bsky.social

Excited to have partnered w/ @greatormondst.bsky.social to ensure that families' voices are central to everything we do: from the identification and framing of problems to the development and evaluation of innovations. @uclpophealthsci.bsky.social @uclmaps.bsky.social www.gosh.nhs.uk/news/gosh-fa...

"Super Typhoon Champi has reached what should be the mathematical limits of what the earth is capable of producing. Winds now at ~185mph with 60 mile long cloud free center the size of Rhode Island. Taiwan was the previous path - now deviating towards Japan for landfall" via Michael Samadani

Some good news (from the National Crime Survey, h/t frasernelson.substack.com/p/lawless-br...)

Our open letter to UK infection control leads went today. Patients can be asked to remove their FFP2 or FFP3 mask, or swap it for a surgical one, while staff can now choose a respirator if treating a patient with respiratory symptoms. clinicallyvulnerable.org/letters/right-to-mask #RightToMask

'A Cambridge study found that of the 86 scientists named by UK exam boards, the English chemist [Rosalind Franklin], whose work in the 1950s helped reveal the structure of DNA, was the only woman.'

Oxford is hiring professors: we're looking for an academic GP with a research track record in mental health. my.corehr.com/pls/uoxrecru...

More datapoints for the hypothesis that the America Crisis is on the cusp of another escalation spiral that could paralyse the US government at home and abroad

An RFK Jr death tracker is a good idea The inspirational @chrischirp.bsky.social keeps an amazing Trump Action Tracker (www.trumpactiontracker.info) that tracks Trump's horrific actions/policies For RFK Jr, we can start with the estimated 500,000 child deaths due to the vaccine funding he froze

Very sad news. Prof Sanja Petrovic, President of the UK Operational Research (OR) Society, has died suddenly. She was kind, brilliant, and passionate about OR. As President Elect, I’ve now stepped into the presidency early, in the hardest of circumstances. Thinking of her family and colleagues.

President Donald Trump was visibly angry answering questions about Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Monday, blaming his Ukrainian counterpart for the lives lost in Russia’s invasion and signaling openness to attending a summit on the war that would exclude Ukraine. “Russia, frankly, ... TAT: [Foreign policy]

Trump said he would act as “arbitrator” in disputes over rewards under the new Justice Department whistleblower programme, which offers up to $30,000 for tips leading to significant enforcement or criminal charges. The programme gives the department discretion over awards, but ... TAT: [Corruption]

ICE agents broke the arm of a US citizen in Long Beach, CA. A video shows Rodrigo Gonzales handcuffed and face down in a gutter, with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers kneeling on his back. TAT: [Nationalism | Suppressing dissent]

During a rally in Kansas, Trump used the unrest in France to attack "migrants and communists". He described France as a once-great nation that had been “conquered, looted, and burned to the ground by migrants, jihadists, and communists” and told th... TAT: [Foreign policy | Controlling information]

Trump on his Truth Social platform urged New Mexico to rename itself to "New America'. He wrote “New Mexico should immediately change its name to New America. We are not Mexico, we are the United States of America,” and ... [link] TAT: [Nationalism | Controlling information | Undermining democracy]

The Covid Inquiry’s Module 6 report is devastating. Its central conclusion: adult social care was treated as “something of an afterthought”, while “protecting the NHS” sometimes came at the expense of people receiving and providing care. 1/10

New video - last two weeks in Trump's America This time I concentrate on two main things: attacking perceived enemies and corruption, before ending on Marco Rubio’s speech in Greece. Every action, with sources, is on www.trumpactiontracker.info and subtitles are available youtu.be/uKKVIE_tWow

New Ipsos poll has the Democrats leading by 12 points in a generic ballot poll and Trump's approval down to 31%. If you're wondering why he's being particularly vile at the moment.

New video - last two weeks in Trump's America This time I concentrate on two main things: attacking perceived enemies and corruption, before ending on Marco Rubio’s speech in Greece. Every action, with sources, is on www.trumpactiontracker.info and subtitles are available youtu.be/uKKVIE_tWow

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