The Mighty OCD
Interests include politics (taught it and worked in local/central government); animals, health (esp ME, LC), music and some lighter stuff occasionally.
Born S Yorks, now E.Anglia
@stuckatlights.bsky.social
JenW
- 48 Followers
- 81 Following
- 514 Posts
"In a democracy the people have a right to the truth." (Jamie Raskin).
Interests include politics (taught it and worked in local/central government); animals, health (esp ME, LC), music and some lighter stuff occasionally.
Born S Yorks, now E.Anglia
@stuckatlights.bsky.social
Interests include politics (taught it and worked in local/central government); animals, health (esp ME, LC), music and some lighter stuff occasionally.
Born S Yorks, now E.Anglia
@stuckatlights.bsky.social
dagNEW
The UK constitution is even more vulnerable than the US constitution
In the face of an illiberal radical assault, what has happened politically in America could easily happen in the UK
By me, at Prospect
Bruce Mirken"A growing number of scientists believe that the SARS-CoV-2 virus may instead be subtly altering our immune systems. If correct, their hypothesis will change how we understand everything from respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) to shingles to sepsis."
Why scientists are rethinking the immune effects of SARS-CoV-2
“Immunity debt,” a theory to explain the global surge in non-covid infections since pandemic restrictions were lifted, is increasingly being challenged by emerging evidence. Nick Tsergas reports Mycoplasma pneumoniae is a bacterial infection not known to cause widespread hospital admissions. “I can count on my two hands the number of times I’d ever seen mycoplasma pneumoniae before 2023,” says Samira Jeimy, clinical immunologist at the University of Western Ontario. “All of a sudden I feel like everybody has it.”1 Over the past three years similar reports have circulated of rising bacterial infections, flare-ups of old viruses becoming more common, and children landing in hospital with diseases not usually seen in young, healthy people. One explanation offered by public health leaders has been “immunity debt”2—the idea that precautions taken in the covid pandemic suppressed routine exposures to circulating pathogens, leaving people more vulnerable to them when restrictions were lifted. The theory landed in the public consciousness at the right moment. A simple idea that sounded like science, it soothed a public seeking answers just as the world was returning to a semblance of normality. And it served a policy function, allowing governments to focus on economic recovery. But its explanatory power has faded as the number of non-covid infections has kept rising each year. A 2024 analysis by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention3 found that invasive group A strep infections saw their most dramatic year-on-year increase from 2021 to 2022, well after most precautions had been lifted in the US. Rates have been abnormally high since then, raising questions about what might be behind the trend. A growing number of scientists believe that the SARS-CoV-2 virus may instead be subtly altering our immune systems. If correct, their hypothesis will change how we understand everything …
Jan☁️ It’s another grey morning by the river Tees, but the rowan trees and the blackberry bushes are providing some colour.
🐦⬛🎶 Lots of birds are chirruping, squawking and singing too …
🐦⬛🎶 Lots of birds are chirruping, squawking and singing too …
Richard MurphyMy unease with flags https://www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2025/08/21/my-unease-with-flags/ I have problems with the cross of St George. I know I am not alone.
My unease with flags
As the Guardian reported yesterday: Just weeks after many people in England united around its national flag as the country’s female football team won the European championships, the cross of St George and the British union jack are being raised again in communities across the country. This time, however, it is part...
Eugene McParland 🇺🇦russia wants ... russia to have veto over Western security guarantees for #Ukraine
by Ketrin Jochecová
The kremlin's recalcitrant comments indicate the #Trump administration's whirlwind diplomacy has yielded little in the way of results.
https://www.politico.eu/article/kremlin-russia-want-veto-security-guarantee-ukraine-sergey-lavrov
August 24, 2025
Stand With #Ukraine on Independence Day
As the country enters its fourth year of full-scale war, the Ukrainian World Congress (UWC) calls on Ukrainians and freedom-loving people around the globe to stand shoulder to shoulder with Ukraine.
Euromaidan PressDeath toll from Russian attack on residential area in Kharkiv rises to 5, including toddler and teenager
The youngest victim was just 18 months old when Russian Geran-2 drones struck a 5-story apartment building in Kharkiv, injuring 20 others
https://euromaidanpress.com/2025/08/18/death-toll-due-to-russian-attack-on-residential-area-in-kharkiv-rises-to-5-including-toddler-and-teenager/
Death toll from Russian attack on residential area in Kharkiv rises to 5, including toddler and teenager - Euromaidan Press
The youngest victim was just 18 months old when Russian Geran-2 drones struck a five-story apartment building in Kharkiv's Industrial district, killing five people and injuring 20 others in the dawn attack.
GeofCox@ReggieHere @ChrisMayLA6 @KimSJ @urlyman
@thegarbagebird
Ah yes - Singapore, the model small-state-free-market economy of the brexiteers - remember "Singapore on Thames" ? - Singapore, where almost all the land and 85% of housing are in public ownership, and nearly a quarter of national output is from state-owned enterprises...
I have what may be an unusual view of economic systems and how to replace them - which is not to worry about it. They change. All real economies, whatever they call themselves, are mixed - so the task of politics is to change the mix. For me, the core problem confronting us has two main aspects: inequality and climate-ecological breakdown - but at bottom these are the same problem: the over-exploitation (of people and environment) and overconsumption (by the relatively wealthy).
The remedy also has two main aspects: making tax fairer and making big business more socially and environmentally responsible. Pursuing these aims will in effect end capitalism (but not free enterprise - small business will be taxed and regulated differently, but in many ways stay as it is) - but we don't need to talk about ending capitalism, just about the harm that big business and billionaires are doing.
Britain's lawyers are refusing to turn their back on russian money
by Mason Boycott-Owen
Sanctions on russia still make money for the U.K.'s crucial legal profession - for those happy to take a moral hit.
