iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

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Alem Matthees @alemmatthees.bsky.social · 11h

What do you think prevents doctors from understanding PEM? Lack of education in medical school? Is #MECFS really so different that doctors cannot understand or recognise it even if is staring them in the face? The BPS proponents at least have an ideological blind spot, what is everyone elses excuse?

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sarah boothby @swastrosarah.bsky.social · 12h

🪡 They do not understand #PEM. Not a single witness in 14 day #MaeveInquest (public hearings & sworn statements), except the sadly discredited Dr Weir, knew what anaerobic metabolism means. They were not bad doctors; some very good. NG206 did not help them. On the judicial finding of this fact, NICE

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sarah boothby @swastrosarah.bsky.social · 10h

Yes, it is. So different it contradicts received wisdom from British medical school teachings, hence they are also cited. The Royal Colleges should also have been included but systemic failure had been established. (Self representation in prolonged proceedings were crushing me when the legal process

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sarah boothby @swastrosarah.bsky.social · 10h

was being simultaneously manipulated to advance 2 careers at the expense of a full finding of fact. It felt like I was living through a mirror image of PACE). So I met afterwards with Peter Barry, chair of the NICE review, to discuss findings. In three hours talking, he did not understand #PEM 😲

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sarah boothby @swastrosarah.bsky.social · 10h

Now, @sunsopeningband.bsky.social is trying to help us make PEM clearly described to NHS commissioners. There is no one more eloquent than he that I know of, yet @england.nhs.uk is incapable of including his contributions. Part of the UK problem is psychiatric patients having been labelled with CFS

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sarah boothby @swastrosarah.bsky.social · 10h

GPs know these patients well. They do not have ME, so they do not have PEM. In contrast, #pwME avoid all but the most urgent medical appointments because they learn, eventually, 1) medicine is clueless, and 2) the effort in communicating their medical needs is guaranteed to trigger PEM.

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Prem Sikka @premnsikka.bsky.social · 11h

Tories to hand free childcare to those earning more than £100,000, would cost £700m to the public purse. Previously, they pledged cuts to universal credit, housing benefit, support for the long term unemployed. Continuation of the Tory war on less well-off.

theguardian.com

Tories would expand free childcare to high earners, Badenoch says

Kemi Badenoch says those earning more than £100,000 should not be discouraged from working more

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RSPB @rspb.bsky.social · 1h

A Goldfinch among the teasels. 😍 What have you spotted in nature recently? Let's fill our feeds with nature.

A Goldfinch perches on a tall teasel seedhead in warm golden light. Its red face and yellow wing flash stand out against the brown seedheads and soft blurred background, creating a calm October scene.

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Richmond & Twickenham Green Party @rtgreenparty.bsky.social · 2h

Some of our members at the Big Day Out for the Holborn and St Pancreas by-election supporting Zack Polanski to be the first Green MP in London @londongreenparty.bsky.social @zackpolanski.bsky.social #BackZack

Seven members of Richmond and Twickenham Green Party in a London park holding signs saying 'vote green'

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Brendan @brendanmontague.bsky.social · 8h

“[W]e continue to subsidise a wealthy, selfish minority with our money, our health, our wellbeing and the degradation of the living planet. How is that fair?”

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Rachel Charlton-Dailey @rachelcdailey.bsky.social · 7h

I am genuinely so unwell right now and awaiting immunotherapy. I'm due somewhere between £1,300 and almost £2,000 in pay and holidays from @thecanaryuk.bsky.social, which was supposed to tide me over so I can recover. Other former staff and I just want what's owed to us

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Elizabeth Wrigley-Field @wrigleyfield.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

My Minnesota friends have already seen this, but I keep thinking about it and want more people outside our state to, too.

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Karen Attiah @karenattiah.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

When I get down about what has become of journalism, of speaking the truth, I think of Jamal. I lost my Washington Post job. Jamal lost his life. Both of us — all we wanted to do was write and help people.

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Karen Attiah @karenattiah.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

Today, 8 years ago, my friend, Saudi Journalist and Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi was murdered.

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merman hellville @seafoamghost.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

sent this blog post to my labour MP

email subject: Please read this.

email contents:

Hi Michael,
I would really appreciate it if you could read this blog post from a parent of a trans child in the UK who is having to move their entire family to another country because of extremely harmful transphobic rhetoric and policies. Policies your government has put and is putting in place, even as the new prime minister talks non stop about "hope".

I don't think I want a reply to this email, I don't think I can take another "dignity and respect" when people in my community including children (especially the children) are being treated so badly they are literally fleeing the country. I'm sure you've seen the statistics on how far the UK has fallen in terms of LGBTQ+ rights. Your party and government are the ones who could make life better for people like me, and people like the child in this post, but they are actively choosing to make things worse.

I hope you read this blog post and I hope it makes you feel something. It's made me feel something I've been trying to hold off for a very long time now: despair.

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Raywat Deonandan 🍁🇨🇦 @deonandan.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

A significant chunk of the essays turned in by my last couple of undergrad classes stank of AI. So I'm also leaning away from papers more toward testing. It sucks. Everything sucks.

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What The Trans?! 🏳️‍⚧️ @whatthetrans.com · 03/10/2026

"You're blaming the wrong 1%"

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Eric Lipton NYT @ericlipton.nytimes.com · 03/10/2026

JUST POSTED: Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff have pushed a multibillion oil deal with Russia as part of peace talks that will bring profits to their family business partners. A new front for Trump-era conflicts of interest. www.nytimes.com/2026/10/03/u...

nytimes.com

U.S.-Russia Talks on Ukraine Now Involve an Oil Deal Tied to Trump Allies (Gift Article)

President Vladimir V. Putin brought up a sale of Russian energy assets with President Trump’s envoys, Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff, pushing a deal that raises new questions about conflicts of inter...

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Emily Sturgess @emilysturge.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

I've come into contact with so many ME/CFS sufferers over the past decade, and not a single one is a malingerer. No-one has just decided they've given up. Every bit of what they've lost has been stolen, not given up.

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Emily Sturgess @emilysturge.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

🙋🏻‍♀️ desperately want to get better, here! The THINGS I could be doing! I could be a full time tutor! I could be visiting friends, rather than them having to always come to me! I could be writing, creating, earning, spending, giving my time and energy - whatever metric you see as valuable. I want that.

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Zack Polanski @zackpolanski.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

We've won big this year - and our wins have forced the Labour government to change course. But we need far more and urgently. From climate action to an emergency brake on rents - we'll keep the pressure on to bring about the change this country needs. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

bbc.co.uk

Greens can move Labour in the right direction, says Zack Polanski

The Green leader tells his autumn conference that a vote for his party can force changes from Andy Burnham.

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Bradford District Green Party @bradfordgreens.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

🗣 @zackpolanski.bsky.social: "Through our sustained pressure – and our historic wins – we have held the worst instincts of the Labour government in check. And we have started to move them in the right direction. But we can't wait for them to get there on their own." 👏

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Andrew Spratt @dirleton.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

The formidable south wall and towers of #Roman Portchester (PORTVS ADVRNI) #Hampshire Built in the late 3rd c AD, this coastal fort, now looked after by 'EnglishHeritage' , remains an intimidating prospect April 2015 @durotrigesdig.bsky.social image turned into a reconstruction mock-up.

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Alem Matthees @alemmatthees.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

(3/3) This spin poisoned the well against critics of the #PACEtrial, so I had to address it in detail with the information tribunal that sided with my FOIA request. It was well received and they agreed the assessment of #MECFS activism in relation to the #PACEtrial was "grossly exaggerated" (p40).

informationrights.decisions.tribunals.gov.uk

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Alem Matthees @alemmatthees.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

(2/3) The Science Media Centre (UK) ran an organised campaign for "seizing the agenda", "frame the narrative", and "engineered the coverage" (p12). This resulted in numerous hyperbolic articles about alleged harrassment of #MECFS researchers which conflated it with valid criticism of the #PACEtrial.

web.archive.org

Wayback Machine

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Miranda Keeling @mirandakeeling.com · 02/10/2026

A mum comforts her little boy on the bus. He is crying about something. She says, ‘It’s ok. Have a good cry.’ Man nearby: Well done. We’re so bad at letting boys just feel sad.

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Adam @abrokenbattery.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

"This is the opposite of how science ought to work." George Monbiot on those pushing "false and dangerous" cures for #MECFS, "entrenched" in their beliefs and doubling down rather than admit the "great harm" to the lives of thousands of people.

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Frances Ryan @francesryan.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

Disability doesn’t care how old you are. Specialist food is no cheaper if you’re 19. Employers don’t lose their prejudice if you’re 21. This is blatant intergenerational inequality from Labour. Younger disabled people of all severities deserve better. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

theguardian.com

Key disability benefit for young people may be axed under major welfare changes

Exclusive: Plan under discussion involves intensive support to help young people into employment

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Carole Bruce @cabruce.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

We #ME patients have been an inconvenience for decades. With relief both governments and health insurers handed us over to the Psychiatrists and they continue to remain as the bottom line for most healthcare providers.

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Darren Parkinson @greendarrenshipley.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

It's time for Andy Burnham's government to take #LongCovid seriously. A plan. Proper investment in research. Find treatments. Get us well again. It's not too much to ask.

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Darren Parkinson @greendarrenshipley.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

I am no longer a registered nurse. Not through any choice, but because I got #LongCovid. 2 years ago I lost my nursing job because I'm too ill too work. Today my nursing registration expired. 20+ yrs given to the NHS. Ended by getting a disease without a cure.

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Zack Polanski @zackpolanski.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Loved visiting GoodWork in Camden. Brilliant to listen to amazing young people speak about obstacles they've been facing finding jobs and how much skills and confidence they've gained from being on the programme. Excited to see what they do next!

Zack with staff, volunteers and young people smiling at the camera in front of the Goodwork sign

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Rachel Burch @rachelburch.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Welcome October, paintings by Edith Holden, Edwardian naturalist.

Two books open at a kingfisher paint if and a fly agarics

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Alom Shaha @alomshaha.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Had my first encounter with AI music in an uber - tried to Shazam what driver was playing (interesting reggae mash up featuring voice I thought I recognised) but didn’t work. Asked driver and he said “it’s AI”.

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Frances Ryan @francesryan.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

I volunteered for Childline for a decade at uni and I know firsthand a snapshot of how many lives Esther Rantzen changed. Her later years were known for assisted dying but her legacy will be giving vulnerable children someone to listen to and care. www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio...

theguardian.com

Esther Rantzen, TV presenter and Childline founder, dies aged 86

Rantzen announced lung cancer diagnosis in 2023 and became a vocal assisted dying campaigner

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EndMalnutritioninME @malnutritionme.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Many people with severe and very #severeME do not receive enough care time to meet their basic daily needs of eating, drinking, washing, and toileting. People with #ME need recovery time between these activities and care visits do not allow for this.

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Rael571 @rael571.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

I order one of these every year & can confirm that it's great quality and the photos are gorgeous. 💚

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Frances Ryan @francesryan.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Anyone who has waded through the social care system for themselves or a loved one will know how meaningful this speech is. It will be a huge challenge - and undoubtedly not be perfect - but the pay-off could be genuinely lifechanging for so many.

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Michiel @murtoz.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

@jennimintomsp.bsky.social wtf!?! Why is nhs scotland pretending that long covid doesn't exist and that repeatedly infecting everybody with covid is absolutely fine!?

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Make Votes Matter @makevotesmatter.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

💥BREAKING: Andy Burnham announces a National Commission on Electoral Reform. This is a historic moment. The era of First Past the Post is coming to an end. It's time to transform politics and make all votes count. It's time for Proportional Representation.

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Adam @abrokenbattery.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

“We’ve had wasted decades in which huge numbers of patients have been abused, mistreated and their very horrible condition made even worse by medicine.” George Monbiot talking about the PACE trial, graded exercise therapy (GET) and CBT as treatments for #MECFS.

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Adam @abrokenbattery.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

“They’re the victims of this, but then they’re victimised for the sin of having this illness.” George Monbiot on why government and society as a whole need to stop gaslighting people with #MECFS and making them feel they’ve done something wrong.

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Dr Ella Hawkins @ellamchawk.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Biscuit flavour: Almond & rose (inspired by marchpane, a historical form of marzipan). Designs painted onto royal icing by hand using food colouring gels and vodka. This research is supported by the British Academy/Leverhulme Small Research Grants Programme (@britishacademy.bsky.social).

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Dr Ella Hawkins @ellamchawk.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Together with historian Dr Anouska Lester, I’m trawling through documents like the ones biscuified here to show how integral tradespeople were to the early modern theatre industry. The project is titled ‘Shakespeare’s Makers’. Stay tuned for our findings!

A bullet-point list of the sources used to create this biscuit set. The text reads as follows:

The items depicted in this biscuit set include:

Top row (from left to right)
- The parish register for Saint Mary Magdalen, Milk Street (1559-1653)
- The Agas Map of London (1561)
- John Stow’s 'Survey of London' (1633)
- The Fishmongers’ Funeral Pall (c.1512-38), a richly embroidered textile piece used to adorn the coffins of members of the Fishmongers’ livery company

Bottom row (from left to right)
- An anonymous 1809 engraving depicting Cheapside c.1547
- A receipt documenting the sale of clothing to Elizabethan theatre impresario Philip Henslowe
- A portrait of Dame Barbara Stone (c.1605), wife of Sir William Stone, Clothworker
- The will of Jane Heath (1638), wife of Richard Heath, Mercer

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Dr Ella Hawkins @ellamchawk.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Elizabethan playhouses were supplied by a network of tailors, merchants & craftswomen. Their names survive in records, but little is known about their lives. I’m working on new research that brings the stories of these makers & traders centre stage. Here is the project in biscuit (cookie) form. 🍪

A photograph of eight rectangular biscuits (cookies) arranged in two rows on a square white plate. The plate is framed on all sides by a trailing vine pattern in green with pops of red. The biscuits are mostly in shades of ivory, cream, yellow, and grey, with a burst of vivid red and blue in one corner of the arrangement. Moving across the top row of biscuits from left to right, the designs include: neat lines of handwritten names in an early modern parish register; a section of a hand-drawn map from 1561 featuring St Paul’s Cathedral, with street names like ‘Carter Lane’ visible in a tiny spiky font; an extract of text from a funerary monument printed in an early modern book, ending ‘So transitory is our glory’; a section of embroidery from a funeral pall featuring metallic silver armour, crossed gold keys, and two hands holding up a crown. The biscuit designs on the bottom row include: horses prancing past shopfronts on Cheapside in the mid-sixteenth century; a receipt written in early modern secretary hand, which is difficult to read; a portrait of a stern-looking women dressed in a ruff, pearls, and sober dark clothing; swirling calligraphy and dense secretary hand featuring on a will dating from 1638.

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QueerAF @wearequeeraf.com · 28/09/2026

The Liberal Dems have voted to reject the EHRC Code of Practice - which recommends the segregation of Trans+ people from most single-sex spaces Read more in our newsletter 👉 www.wearequeeraf.com/understand-the…

Lib Dems approve motion to oppose the EHRC Code of Practice as Labour is set to face protest over exclusion of trans women at its women's conference.

The Liberal Democrats have voted to reject the EHRC Code of Practice, which recommends the segregation of Trans+ people from most single-sex spaces, as "discriminatory and unworkable".

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Dr Jo Ball @drjeball.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

The entranceway to a #Roman house in #Pompeii, with a striking black & white mosaic leading into the rest of the house - still in the place it was first laid nearly 2000 years ago #Archaeology #AncientBlueSky #MosaicMonday

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Tom Kindlon @tomkindlon.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

The Severe & Very Severe ME Research Registry has been created. It gives people with severe and very severe ME from Germany, Austria, & Switzerland the opportunity to participate in research through home visits severe-me-registry.de #SevereME #MEcfs #CFS #PwME #VerySevereME #ChronicFatigueSyndrome

severe-me-registry.de

Severe & Very Severe ME Research Registry

Das Severe and Very Severe ME Research Registry verbindet ME Schwer- und Schwerstbetroffene mit biomedizinischer, häuslicher Forschung.

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Vanna🌻🍉 @vannas.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

The byline of this article is shameful. News like this aren't about the effects of optics in UK politics but about the 500.000 people that are now risking famine as a direct, immediate consequence

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