Let me be clear. As someone who has been professionally involved with the biodefense / biosecurity sector for nearly 20 years, and has worked on biological risk analysis for Covid-19 since early 2020, reducing one's risk of being infected is not health anxiety. It's just smart.

Yesterday, history happened at the UN: For the first time hundreds of orgs signed a global pledge declaring that healthy indoor air is a human right. Healthy indoor air is a key tool for preventing pandemics, building climate resilience, and increasing health equity. We need it everywhere!

Well, I am gone from Academia_dot_edu. It will take some time for me to reassemble a profile, probably on hcommons.org but damn those updated academia TOS are unacceptable. Thanks to all on Bsky for making me aware of them!

#OTD 19 September 1991, walkers in the high Ötztal alps on the Italian border, found a body melting out of the ice. It turned out to be the remains of a c.5200 year old man preserved with all his kit. Of course, it was essential to replicate him in Playmobil. 1🧵 #PlaymobilÖtzi #PlaymobilInfestation

Well, I guess I’m spending part of my day deleting my Academia account and migrating stuff to hcommons 😮‍💨

Back to School savings are almost gone! 🏃‍♂️💨 Beat the clock & grab your favourite items on sale before time runs out! ⏳ 🛒 buymask.ca/collections/back-to-school

For all the people out there waving the Cross of St. George, you should know that St. George of Lydda was a Palestinian, and is widely revered in the Middle East by all faiths.

What new colour of KN95 would you like to see us carry? Navy Blue Light Blue Wine Other Please reply in the comments!

Test your COVID BS detector. Adaptive exam; difficulty shifts with your answers. Results may surprise you (even PhDs). Take it: seanmullen.com/covidcompete... Post your badge if you ace “Epidemiologist’s Nightmare.” @rachelhoopsick.bsky.social

🚨🧵 by @david.notesforfriends.com about Covid's damage & a cigarette metaphor: "Your Body Is Keeping Score Here’s the thing nobody gets: COVID doesn’t give a shit about your positive thinking. It’s not checking your Instagram to see..." Full🎯thread here: threadreaderapp.com/thread/19645...

Opinion: PM after PM and Premier after Premier have done nothing to fix one of the most overloaded traffic and transit networks in the world in and around our largest city, Toronto. If Canada is serious about being more productive, encourage remote work while fixing the commuting nightmare.

Canadian COVID Forecast: Aug 30 - Sep 12 2025 Severe: Very high: AB BC NL High: CAN MB North NS ON PEI QC SK Moderate: About 1 in 65 people in Canada are CURRENTLY infected.

So much effort, so *little* impact....

DYK that a donation of just $10 will allow us to send a box of respirator #masks to someone to help them stay safe? 😷 Donate today to help us get masks to folks from coast to coast to coast! 🇨🇦 donatemask.ca/fundraiser #WearAMaskEh? #MaskUp

Canadian COVID Forecast Aug 16-Aug 29, 2025 CANADA MODERATE (no change) About 1 in every 121 people infected Compared to lowest point of pandemic in Canada: -Infections ~5X higher -Long COVID ~5X higher -Hospitalizations ~5X higher -Deaths ~4X higher

New fundraiser alert! 📢 Woot woot! A very generous corporate sponsor has agreed to match all donations we receive up to $2,000! 🎉 So donate today to amplify your impact—every $1 we receive will turn into $2! 😷 donatemask.ca/fundraiser #YallMasking #WearAMask

Masking used to be normalized in high risk healthcare settings like oncology, transplant and NICU. Now patients have to fight for the most basic of precautions. They’re forced to risk covid to receive life saving care. We need mandatory masking in hospitals. Now.

Anglo-Saxon urn, about 500-600 CE, in the collection @romtoronto.bsky.social A partial label identifies it is from Girton College, Cambridge, UK. This will be on ROM's eMuseum website tomorrow, just look up 920.96.1 🏺 #MuseumWork #archaelogy #AngloSaxon #ceramics

the news about the smithsonian is disgusting and yet there will be many in the museum sector who will be more than happy to comply with orders to censor and reinterpret materials to fit this particular narrative 🤷🏻‍♀️

'Known as hibakusha in Japan, the survivors of the 1945 atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki are the only people in the world with firsthand experience of the horrors of nuclear warfare' ...

1. I've said exactly this for quite some time. Expanding on Adrian's @sillyputty78.bsky.social point on X / Twitter here, Covid-19 has three distinct characteristics as a disease that enables it to be denied at a societal level.

#HeritageCrime News A Dutch court has heard evidence that gold treasures from Romania, stolen in January while on loan to a Dutch Museum, may not have been melted down for the bullion value as feared.

Honduras has reinstated mandatory mask-wearing in public spaces, including hospitals, airports, shopping centers, banks, schools, public transportation, and other enclosed or crowded areas. Additionally, state institutions have transitioned to a work-from-home policy www.reuters.com/business/hea...

#WildfireSmoke is impacting air quality in many provinces today and tomorrow. Keep yourself and your loved ones safe: - Look at AQHI for your region. - Stay indoors. - Wear a well-fitted respirator mask when outdoors. 😷 - Keep windows & doors closed + operate a HEPA air purifier or CR box. 🧵1/3

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Every week someone tells me they had to put Covid aside to focus on bigger issues like fascism. The thing is, eugenics and fascism go hand in hand. Historically pandemics have ignited fascism & normalized eugenics & indifference

Stock up on masks and clean air tools and stay healthy while travelling this summer! 😷 All proceeds from sales in our charity store support our Request Program. 💙 🛒 buymask.ca #MaskUp #MaskUpWhileTravelling #Travel #Summer #DreamVacation #Charity

#FlowerFriday from Exbury Gardens earlier this spring.

For #DoorwayWednesday the access to the stairs to the latrines in the Dormitory at Battle Abbey, Hastings! #MedievalSky

This is everywhere. Every academic institution I know is held together by some exhausted woman in her early 40's who waits until the old white male professors have finished their vague rants and says, "alright, so concretely can I propose the following next steps..." She makes half their salary.

There are many protective measures you can take during wildfire smoke events to protect yourself from PM2.5 particles. 💨 Visit our website to learn more: donatemask.ca/shield-me-from-smoke/ #WildfireSmoke #WildfireSeason #Wildfires #SmokeReady #CanadianWildfires #MaskUp

Amongst the other silly things I do in my free time, I write nonsense about Tolkien's legendarium. 📚💙 All my Medium articles are free to read. medium.com/p/81b275326f84

For #FrescoFriday, this is the other photograph of mine taken at Deir Mar Musa in Syria that was recently requested by a publisher. The clerestory of the chapel carries Equestrian Saints, this one is St. Bacchus, the important Syrian saint, made in 1208. #MedievalSky #SyrianSky

For #FortressFriday here is Rye Castle! This citadel of the ancient town of Rye in Sussex became in later days the town prison, and modifications rather emphasize that history! #Castles #MedievalSky

The food science behind MSG is not debatable. There have been numerous wide and repeated studies. MSG is a naturally occurring compound, which we have tastebuds specifically to sense. If you can eat aged cheese, tomatoes, or bacon (among many other foods), you can eat MSG (some do have reactions).

Why is the air quality so bad? What to know about the health dangers of wildfire smoke nationalpost.com/news/air-qua... 𝗠𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗹𝘁𝗵 𝗻𝗲𝘄𝘀 ⇢ CanadaHealthwatch.ca

For #DoorsdayThursday and #AdoorableThursday a blocked door in the north wall of the nave of the church of Saint James in Denchworth, Oxfordshire. Here's an art shot and one with wheelie bins. Parts of the nave (the core structure of the church) are thought to be 12th century. #MedievalSky

For #FortressFriday the gates of the town of Rye in Sussex. It is a lovely town, highly recommended (yes, it's one of my recent holiday pics!). #MedievalSky

Wildfire smoke is drifting east and impacting air quality. Keep yourself and your loved ones safe: - Look at the AQHI for your region. - Stay indoors if you can. - If you must be outside, wear a well-fitted respirator mask. - Keep windows and doors closed and operate a HEPA air purifier or CR box.

For #WindowWednesday here is a window in the dormitory at Battle Abbey, Hastings. #MedievalSky

For #TileTuesday 14th C. encaustic tiles on the floor of Winchester Cathedral, Hampshire. Did I mention I went on holiday in May? #MedievalSky

For #TowerTuesday it's, well, The Tower. It was very busy when I was there. I really don't know why there is so much entertainment, people will come just for the architecture. And the ravens, of course. #Castles #MedievalSky

For #MosaicMonday, a pic from our stop at Fishbourne Roman Palace during our recent holiday in England! #RomanSky @romanpalace.bsky.social 🏺

Time is running out! ⏰ Take advantage of discounts on many products before our spring sale ends! 🛒 buymask.ca/collections/spring-sale

After decades of seeing acanthus as decoration on so many Corinthian columns & ancient Roman ceramics, my 1st time seeing it alive! All thanks to the gardeners @romanpalace.bsky.social 🏺 #FlowerFriday

It's #FortressFriday! There were a number of castles and walled cities in my recent holiday to England, so be ready for some holiday pics on this and future Fridays! Today we have Bodiam Castle in Sussex. Did you know you could take a steam train from Tenterden to visit it? #MedievalSky #Castles

Fire season outlook. N95 masks and HEPA filters (or DIY Corsi-Rosenthal boxes) are the best way to reduce your exposure to the health-affecting fine particles that come with wildfire smoke. Southern Ontario may show as blue but the smoke travels thousands of miles, as we witnessed two years ago.

I have decided that #DoorsdayThursday is an acceptable hashtag, and here is a nice door from Rye Castle in Sussex for it! I especially like the wrought iron grille and bolts. #MedievalSky #Castles

For #MosaicMonday and #MediaevalMonday a mosaic roundel in Canterbury Cathedral. #medievalsky