To those now claiming that continuing to wear a mask in public places is a sign of mental illness:

I hope you don't get what I got for Christmas - a 14-week knock-out from C19.

I don't want to give that to anyone. You call it a syndrome. I call it concern for other people.
I'm OK now, but the illness was vicious and frightening. It was 14 weeks I'll not see again. For some people with Long Covid, it could be a lifetime. Do they really not care about the possibility that they might inflict that on someone else?
I'm trying to understand the people now bombarding me with mask-hate, and tbh I'm struggling. My best guess so far is that if you have no empathy, you can't understand why anyone else would, so you assume it's some kind of pathology.
There's evidence suggesting that people with anti-social personality traits are more likely to resist the measures needed to prevent the spread of Covid-19.
From the journal Personality and Individual Differences.
h/t @RichardLyonn
sciencedirect.com/science/articl…
I guess the next question is how and why we have allowed them to dominate public life.
Much of the purpose of the law should be to protect us from people with anti-social personality traits. This breaks down somewhat when they're in charge.

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More from @GeorgeMonbiot

8 Jul
Climate crimes have perpetrators. They also have facilitators. The BBC is still facilitating misleading propaganda. That's the opposite of a public service.
theguardian.com/commentisfree/…
As usual, it's lions led by donkeys. The BBC has some excellent frontline workers, such as @RHarrabin and @BBCJustinR. But among senior decision-makers, there seems to be a disastrous combination of scientific illiteracy and the appeasement of powerful interests.
When you look at the way the BBC reports the livestock industry, you find that nothing has been learnt. In this case, it's not even both-sidesing the issue: livestock farmers and their lobbyists have a clear run. If the BBC were any keener on sheep, it would be illegal.
Read 5 tweets
4 Jul
Every day I see people who, to shave 50 seconds off their journey, risk shaving 50 years off their life.
Or someone else's.
Every day I see something that challenges the claim we prioritise our survival.
Read 4 tweets
1 Jul
This is what @bbcbitesize is teaching our children about climate breakdown. I'm sorry, but it's an absolute disgrace. You could come away thinking: "on balance, it sounds pretty good". It could have been written by Exxon.
(h/t: @NickShepley)
bbc.co.uk/bitesize/guide…
The BBC has a long and disgraceful history of both-sidesing the greatest threat to life on Earth. Every so often, it puts out a memo claiming it has got its act together. Then it fails again. People who make this content believe "neutrality" = impartiality. It's the opposite.
Here is one of the "positive" aspects of the collapse of our life support systems it lists: "more resources, such as oil, becoming available in places such as Alaska and Siberia when the ice melts".
Are they actually trying to misdirect and bamboozle GCSE students?
Read 7 tweets
30 Jun
Not all of you will remember 1984, and the horrendous famine that killed a million Ethiopians. Those who do would prefer to forget it. But it's happening again, for the same criminal reasons, and once more the world is turning a blind eye.
My column.
theguardian.com/commentisfree/…
This famine has nothing to do with natural causes. It's striking Tigray, that was a world-renowned success story. Prosperity had been rebuilt through massive works to restore the land, protect ecosystems and raise crop production. The famine is gigantic and deliberate war crime.
The crime is being perpetrated by the Ethiopian and Eritrean armies, who are using hunger as a weapon of war. They were sent into Tigray by the Prime Minister, Abiy Ahmed.
Guess what? He has a Nobel Peace Prize.
If there's any justice, he should end up in the Hague.
Read 11 tweets
29 Jun
I’ve become slightly obsessed with vitamin B12. Many people (especially older folk) are likely to be deficient, with a particular (but not exclusive) risk for those with vegetarian or vegan diets. So I’ve done a little research into good, cheap and accessible sources.
You really want to avoid B12 deficiency. It can cause serious physical and psychological symptoms. It takes a long time to manifest, so by the time you know about it, it can be difficult to treat. Some effects can be irreversible. Everyone should take it seriously.
The source that comes out on top in my brief survey is purple laver (Porphyra spp). This pack costs £1.99 at the local Chinese supermarket. It’s much cheaper than obtaining the same quantity of B12 through eating meat. It has other nutritional benefits too. Image
Read 8 tweets
28 Jun
In Private Eye, @drphilhammond makes an excellent point. Scientists tend to avoid politics "because they hate the bluff, bluster, lies and deceit. Science is about sensible guessing ... making errors, owning errors and learning from them ... the antithesis of politics.”
It's not just that many politicians are amazingly ignorant of science. It's also that the scientific, empirical worldview is often entirely alien. So when they have to respond to scientific findings - whether on covid or climate - they repeatedly screw up.
We are rightly exercised by the lack of diversity in public life. But one aspect we discuss too little is the diversity of academic disciplines. Politics and the media are overwhelmingly dominated by humanities students. Humanities are essential, but we need a wider mix.
Read 8 tweets

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