KM Gallagher @kmgallagher25.bsky.social · 12/10/2026My grandma's little brother died of diphtheria in Ireland around the same time. It's not that long ago. 120 2
KM Gallagher @kmgallagher25.bsky.social · 10/10/2026Ah, the classic "let's let things get really bad so people finally realize I'm right". Spoiler: it rarely works like that 210 2
KM Gallagher @kmgallagher25.bsky.social · 06/10/2026This is why Nye Bevan argued that the welfare stare should be as universal as possible. Not because the rich need free stuff, but because their buy-in is necessary for the welfare state to work. 040 4
Reposted by KM GallagherMike Drucker @mikedrucker.bsky.social · 05/10/2026Just saw someone say their AI runs their fantasy football team and I can’t stop laughing. Like, I’m sure everyone’s doing it or something but it’s very funny to me that pretending to be a team manager was so hard that you needed to pretend to pretend to be a team manager 214104811657 10.5K
KM Gallagher @kmgallagher25.bsky.social · 04/10/2026I felt pretty unwell for a day, but then just arm pain for a few days. Better than shingles I assume! 110 1
KM Gallagher @kmgallagher25.bsky.social · 04/10/2026I can remember it very well too, it was awful. (I actually just got shingrix, early due to pre-existing conditions. Maybe my daughter won't need it, since she got the chickenpox vaccine). 110 1
KM Gallagher @kmgallagher25.bsky.social · 03/10/2026Don't you need to have had chickenpox to get shingles? I would have thought this was one of the main benefits of vaccination. 100 1
Reposted by KM GallagherDanielle Beckman @daniellebeckman.bsky.social · 29/09/2026“A pathogen invades, sticks around, and causes trouble.” Sometimes the most important scientific questions can be summarized very simply. Excellent Smithsonian piece on #LongCovid, viral persistence, and the scientists still working to understand what SARS-CoV-2 can leave behind.smithsonianmag.comFor Many Americans, Covid Is Still a Chronic, Disabling Disease. These Scientists Are Working Tirelessly to Bring Them ReliefLong Covid saps the strength and vitality of patients, who have little recourse to fight it. A team of specialists—including an afflicted researcher working mostly from her bed—is looking for answers 011243 112
Reposted by KM GallagherGeorge Monbiot @georgemonbiot.bsky.social · 24/09/2026Here's today's column on the astonishing, ongoing mistreatment of people with #ME/CFS. Please spread it far and wide: the only thing which can break the media's wall of indifference is seeing an article about the issue go viral. Thank you. 1/2 www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...theguardian.comAbandoned, dismissed and gaslighted: there is no excuse for the way ME sufferers have been betrayed | George MonbiotChanges in guidance and science seem to have little impact on millions of devastated lives. It’s a social crisis playing out behind closed doors, says Guardian columnist George Monbiot 17925431732 2.5K
KM Gallagher @kmgallagher25.bsky.social · 22/09/2026Mein 6-Jähriges zu mir nach dem Hort, vor ein paar Tagen: "Mama, mir ist heiß." Ich: "Dann zieh deinen Pullover aus". Kind: "Nein, mir ist im Körper heiß. Vielleicht würde ein Eis helfen." 030 3
KM Gallagher @kmgallagher25.bsky.social · 16/09/2026I really struggle with the ethics of surrogacy and let me tell you, that Lena Dunham article that is all about pregnancy as a shopping spree is...not helping matters 000 0
KM Gallagher @kmgallagher25.bsky.social · 16/09/2026And although Waldorf schools apparently attract quite a few doctors, Waldorf types are quite often antivax – a child in Berlin died of diphtheria a year or so ago, and he was at a Waldorf school. 😬 120 2
KM Gallagher @kmgallagher25.bsky.social · 16/09/2026working with your hands, learning at your own pace, etc. But there definitely ARE some hardcore ideologues too, and their beliefs are pretty out there. I read up once but don't remember all the details, tho the thing about the spirit needing illnesses to progress to new planes stuck in my mind. 2/ 120 2
KM Gallagher @kmgallagher25.bsky.social · 16/09/2026I think it's definitely more popular here than in the US, and not everyone who sends their kids to a Steiner school is an ideologue (I know a few myself) – sometimes they just want a less conventional school environment, with less pressure on grades, more emphasis on spending time in nature, 1/ 130 3
KM Gallagher @kmgallagher25.bsky.social · 16/09/2026I think this might be a Waldorf/Steiner idea? Not my area of expertise but I think I remember reading something along those lines – they think children need diseases to get them to the next plane of existence or whatever. (Not much thought I guess to the ones who don't make it to the next plane...) 230 3
KM Gallagher @kmgallagher25.bsky.social · 14/09/2026A poll worker shouldn't see how people are voting. It's a secret ballot. (Like, they may tally votes, but they shldn't have a way of knowing which came from a student / which from an old person. I guess unless they manned a polling station at a college. But then – how cld they know the motivation). 110 1
KM Gallagher @kmgallagher25.bsky.social · 14/09/2026Ich habe das Gefühl, sie haben alle irgendwann während der Pandemie einfach aufgehört, ans Telefon zu gehen. Dabei ist es sicherlich mühsamer, alles per Email zu klären? 010 1
Reposted by KM GallagherAlice Roberts @profaliceroberts.bsky.social · 09/09/2026I’ve reached the point - well actually, I reached it a while ago - where I’m militantly anti-AI. Fine - use it in bioscience labs and radiology where it might help analyse data more effectively. Use it sparingly for systems engineering. Everywhere else, it can fuck off. 1553159717 3.2K
KM Gallagher @kmgallagher25.bsky.social · 09/09/2026Und ja, man könnte das Gesetz einfach entsprechend ändern, aber ich finde irgendwie, kostenlose Mitversicherung sollte drin sein. Die Situationen in den Familien können so unterschiedlich sein, damit deckt man einfach alle ab. 161 6
KM Gallagher @kmgallagher25.bsky.social · 09/09/2026Manchmal gibt's gute Gründe, warum das Modell für Familien nicht funkioniert (z.B. chronische Krankheit des/der Ehepartner*in – wofür es übrigens keine Ausnahme im Gesetz gibt. Wenn der/die Ehepartner*in pflegt, gibt's eine Entlastung, aber nicht wenn er oder sie selber krank ist. Verrückt, oder?). 171 7
Reposted by KM GallagherWalker Bragman @walkerbragman.bsky.social · 06/09/2026COVID helped fuel the rise of the far right globally. The uncertainty, grief, anger, and fear made for fertile ground for conspiracist thinking and right-wing indoctrination. Is it one of many drivers? Yes. But it’s an important factor nonetheless—and one that is too often overlooked and unexamined 1942898 428
KM Gallagher @kmgallagher25.bsky.social · 06/09/2026Wollte er vielleicht eher die CDU halbieren? Dann hat es geklappt... 020 2
KM Gallagher @kmgallagher25.bsky.social · 03/09/2026Something is very wrong with society when the richest people try to protect *themselves* from Armageddon rather than, you know, trying to stop Armageddon from happening. 110 1
KM Gallagher @kmgallagher25.bsky.social · 03/09/2026It's probably a lot easier to be relaxed about the End Times if you are rich and well-connected, right? Because nothing very bad has ever really come for you? 100 1
KM Gallagher @kmgallagher25.bsky.social · 31/08/2026Also, is vagus nerve damage related to chronic cough? Because I had a slight chronic cough pre-Covid (oddly enough it's actually better since having had Covid, although the rest of my health took a nosedive). 110 1
KM Gallagher @kmgallagher25.bsky.social · 31/08/2026Ugh, sorry to hear that! And when I had Covid (twice...), coughing was actually not a significant symptom. Fever, feeling nasty, loss of taste/smell during the first infection, very runny nose...but hardly a cough. So although a cough can be Covid, it can absolutely be something else. 110 1
KM Gallagher @kmgallagher25.bsky.social · 31/08/2026I have LC and take Covid seriously. But there are A LOT of other viruses out there and making the judgement that multiple negative, high quality RATs probably means not Covid, is rational and not at all selling oneself a story. 110 1
KM Gallagher @kmgallagher25.bsky.social · 31/08/2026I did several good rapid tests, which have previously caught Covid infections. There is no 100% certainty, but it is highly likely it was not Covid. 110 1
KM Gallagher @kmgallagher25.bsky.social · 31/08/2026Yeah, I agree with everything in the thread but there are a ton of other viruses. I had a nasty cough this summer that wasn't Covid (and a similar thing a year or so ago). But better ventilation and sickness policies would help stop other viruses too – unfortunately there seems to be little interest 250 5
KM Gallagher @kmgallagher25.bsky.social · 26/08/2026Anyone who says they don't like Dolly's music doesn't know how much she wrote that was more famously sung by others 2390 39
Reposted by KM GallagherWilliam Shakespeare @shakespeare.lol · 25/08/2026[Exit Queen.] 2063893211001 38.9K
KM Gallagher @kmgallagher25.bsky.social · 20/08/2026Isn't it one of Charles's middle names too? 110 1
KM Gallagher @kmgallagher25.bsky.social · 20/08/2026I should add though that when I called the advice line the first question was "what happened to the bat" because they are indeed protected (we got it out a window so in the clear there) 000 0
KM Gallagher @kmgallagher25.bsky.social · 20/08/2026I slept in a room with a bat (probably for several nights, weather was horrible and window stayed closed, and...there were noises that only made sense later) and had a suspicious mark. Got laughed at for getting the prophylaxis because "rabies is so rare in UK" etc but...no regrets 110 1
KM Gallagher @kmgallagher25.bsky.social · 20/08/2026Yeah, they were totally fine, although I think there were 5 (?) which was a hassle. I had reason to think I had spent several nights with the bat and I had what may have been a bite mark. The NHS paid for the shots so they judged the risk to be sufficient. I figured better safe than sorry! 010 1
KM Gallagher @kmgallagher25.bsky.social · 20/08/2026I had this happen about 15 years ago (in the UK, where risk is lower but still there – rabies has only been eliminated on land) and some thought I was being OTT but I stand by getting the shots. 110 1
Reposted by KM GallagherJörg @realkachelmann.bsky.social · 12/08/2026Möge jedes Kind in einer entspannten familiären Situation aufwachsen, in der es sich darauf verlassen kann, dass es nicht allen den "Boden unter den Füßen wegreißt", nur weil es rechenschwach ist. 2452852 528
KM Gallagher @kmgallagher25.bsky.social · 08/08/2026Very true – good point. The total callousness... 010 1
KM Gallagher @kmgallagher25.bsky.social · 08/08/2026That rings very true, unfortunately. But I still can't get my head around reacting that way. Danny's summer vs your life/health – yeah, that's a real toss-up...! 110 1
Reposted by KM GallagherJ. Offir, PhD @joffirphd.bsky.social · 06/08/2026(Long) Commentrary🧵: Sydney Towle, who recently turned 26, has died of cholangiocarcinoma. 2 lessons to be learned from online responses to this TikTok influencer: 🔺️The public couldn't be worse at discerning fact from fiction. 🔺️Disabled & chronically ill folks... www.nytimes.com/2026/08/06/s...nytimes.comSydney Towle, Who Chronicled Her Cancer on TikTok, Dies at 26 (Gift Article)For an audience that grew to more than a million followers, she challenged assumptions about how people with serious illnesses should look and live. 411346 113
Reposted by KM GallagherRebecca Spang @rlspang.bsky.social · 08/08/2026My jaw literally locked open when I first saw this piece of news 25516 55
Reposted by KM GallagherNatascha Strobl @nataschastrobl.bsky.social · 07/08/2026Sorgearbeit ist Arbeit. Frauen arbeiten mehr als Männer, sie bekommen nur weniger Arbeit bezahlt. Sorgearbeit ist Arbeit ohne die Gesellschaft nicht funktionieren kann. Dementsprechend sollte sie behandelt werden. 534240 342
KM Gallagher @kmgallagher25.bsky.social · 04/08/2026Yes – the detailed explanations are what makes them so useful! (And usually once I've read them, I think, "that makes total sense", because...humans do human things. But it takes someone who's studied it to point out what those human things are, if that makes sense). 000 0
Reposted by KM GallagherBrooke Harrington @ebharrington.bsky.social · 03/08/2026"don't make enough money" is a fig leaf All those degree programs--social work, art, etc.--have disproportionately female student bodies. This is designed to make it harder for women to attend college--college education being a key factor in women's autonomy from men & left-leaning voting pattern. 541641760 1.6K
KM Gallagher @kmgallagher25.bsky.social · 31/07/2026Das zeigt nicht, wie schlecht die Bildung in den USA ist, sondern eher, wie dumm die Leute sind, die in *dieser* Regierung sitzen 000 0
