Gareth Jones

When a man pays $100million to try and block a tax (which, if imposed, would still leave him with $232billion) ... the tax is probably a good idea. Are California voters about to impose 'world's first' tax on billionaires? www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Power cut in the gym this morning. Hilarious chaos when three people fired themselves into the front of their treadmills, when the belt stopped moving. #StormBoelo

Quite right. Excel should always be open!

If ancient Greek, octopodes presumably.

Reading an Agatha Christie, first published in 1956. Sad that this social commentary still holds, 70yrs later.

Christmas adverts in Heathrow. It's October 14th!!

Turns out Nice is nice.

The Aberdeen Short Course in #Epidemiology is back. Taught online, over 3wks, this intensive online course providing a complete overview of key considerations in epidemiological study design and research methods. Further info: www.abdn.ac.uk/epi-short-course Please feel free to re-post.

Using Al to generate PowerPoint slides rarely results in good slides. Or, you're not very good at it. Design, quality and clarity seem to have gone out of the window. #ConferenceBugbears

Nice evening for it. Flying into Birmingham, ahead of tomorrow's BRITSpA Annual Scientific Meeting.

The USA commemorates the 2,977 lives lost in the 9/11 terrorist attacks in 2001. Rightly so. But since then (until 2024, the most recent year with complete data), there have been >800,000 gun-related deaths in the USA. Where is their spectacular drone light show? www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/...

Not nearly a third. Just over a quarter. (Still shocking though.)

This is 96 seconds of funny, followed by a brilliant lesson in document version control!

But I don't understand ... I thought there was no point moving towards net zero, because China was so reliant on coal. www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Schindler's lift.

I must have seen this message a million times. I've read it. I understand it. Is there any way to turn it off.

Someone outside the office is whistling Rudolf the Red-nosed Reindeer.

Another glorious day starting to appear over the Alps. #SummerHoliday

Always love the library at the Medical Society of London, for BRITSpA Executive Committee meetings. Has an appropriate level of gravitas and erudition.

So many people display a balance in their slides. Great to see one tilted appropriately. #ser2026

These days, opinion is often given the same platform as scientific evidence. Jonathan Samet Winner - 2026 Kenneth Rothman Career Accomplishment Award #ser2026

Ooft!

En route to #SER2026 and Heathrow is horrible. It's absurdly hot, aircon seems to be broken, and the only fans available are football ones. I hope it's cooler in Phoenix. @societyforepi.bsky.social <Checks weather app> Bugger.

Another year, another Prime Ministerial election. If only there was a way - I don't know, every 4-5yrs or so - for the country to decide who they want as PM. www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/ck...

Agree. Should be no change of PM (barring death, incapacity, etc.) until 1yr before the next general election. At that point, it's fair for the party to be able choose: is this the person we want leading us into the next election?

Deadline = Next Monday. The form says 22-Jun-2025, but it's means 2026 ... obviously!

Iran's allocation of tickets revoked, and now a Somali referee barred from entering the USA. I hope World Rugby and the IOC are watching Between now and 2034 the Rugby World Cup (Men and Women) and the Olympics (Summer and Winter) are meant to be in the USA. www.bbc.co.uk/sport/footba...

And the Epidemiology Group World Cup Sweepstake is out. I will be cheering for:

Abstract submissions for British Society for #Spondyloarthritis (BRITSpA) Annual Scientific Meeting closing soon. Deadline = June 22nd For info, and how to submit, see: britspa.co.uk/abstract-sub...

Da iawn.

I'm happy with that. [Researcher, and chair of ethical review board.]

Still not been. One day.

Excel workbooks, especially those large or complex, work soooo much slower in Teams/SharePoint, compared to those stored locally. I know people died, and that's tragic. But this is right up there as one of the worse pandemic legacies.

Recently on the road with the #UKARstudy team, at the @bsacandjac.bsky.social spring conference. www.linkedin.com/posts/epidem...

Delay from 2026 to 2043. To be fair, 17mins is less of a delay than usual.

Great view from the British Society for Antimicrobial Chemotherapy spring conference. But I wonder if conversation is a bit more heated over the road. @uoaepi.bsky.social

Everyone who's employed is at risk of redundancy. But the number of times this is said about (or directly to) university staff is absurd, upsetting, and destabilising. If you want universities, fund them properly.

I am very gruntled to learn this.

And WiFi now on planes. Nooooooo!

Just completed my mandatory fire safety at work training. In the section "Why use the nearest exits?" the animation clearly shows someone ignoring two exits, to use the one furthest away.

Listening to painful experiences is often necessary to produce knowledge that matters. Universities expect researchers to undertake such work, so should ensure they're properly supported. Research ethics must evolve to protect everyone involved, including the researcher. wonkhe.com/blogs/lookin...

Working in a university.

BRITSpA Annual Scientific Meeting Closing date for abstracts = 22nd June. Submissions welcome in: ~ Clinical Science / Research, or ~ Audit / Service Development, relating to any aspect of #spondyloarthritis. For rules, submission details, and info re: prizes, see: britspa.co.uk/abstract-sub...

This is in the walled garden at Crathes Castle - a lovely National Trust for Scotland property near Banchory, Aberdeenshire. Well worth a visit (and for the garden, especially in May-July). #VisitScotland www.nts.org.uk/visit/places...

Voted. Will be popping this baby in the post later.

574 NIH-funded publications from 2017–2024 were reviewed. Most studies [61% of >500 NIH-funded studies from 2017-24] included both sexes, particularly those involving humans. However, fewer than half (44%) analyzed results by sex, even when both sexes were included. www.nature.com/articles/s43...

King Charles went to see The head of an ex-colony. Trump's going to relax The Scotch 'whiskey' tax But knows not that Scotch has no 'E'.

Train journey across Central #Scotland. One can travel through worse places.