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Stewb62

@stewb62.bsky.social
92 followers 1.2K following 43 posts

Hi everyone. I'm a semi-retired public health specialist based in Somerset UK. Professional interests smoking, vaping, planning and transport, commercial determinants. Recently become a volunteer for the home library service. Everyday cyclist.

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Reposted by Stewb62
Amy Gandon @amygandon.bsky.social · 24/04/2025
Delighted to have authored this report, launched today, busting one of the biggest myths in British politics. The public doesn't see action on public health as 'the nanny state'. In fact, they want bolder action - incl among key swing voters. This has major implications for policy & politics. 🧵
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London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine @lshtm.bsky.social · 30/04/2025
Being hit by an #SUV increases the likelihood of death or serious injury Findings from analysis of data on 600,000+ collisions include children 82% more likely to be killed if struck by an SUV or LTV rather than smaller vehicle. www.lshtm.ac.uk/newsevents/n...
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Stewb62 @stewb62.bsky.social · 30/04/2025
This #Ent is clearly having a rest on a hot day here in #Somerset #LOTR @nationaltrust.org.uk #FyneCourt
Tree roots that look like an Ent
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Stewb62 @stewb62.bsky.social · 26/04/2025
The Big Mal final is still on!
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George Monbiot @georgemonbiot.bsky.social · 13/04/2025
It's a straightforward relationship: high #inequality leads to the triumph of the far right. It will keep winning until governments deliberately seek to make societies more equal. I'm looking at you, Keir Starmer. This week's column. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
theguardian.com
Rightwing populists will keep winning until we grasp this truth about human nature | George Monbiot
Economic inequality breeds resentment and a desire to get even. That’s what fuels support for even incompetent regimes, says Guardian columnist George Monbiot
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Stewb62 @stewb62.bsky.social · 09/04/2025
I hope someone's checking for insider trading by the inner circle and associates.
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Stewb62 @stewb62.bsky.social · 05/04/2025
Dear USA. I'm choosing to buy #Mexican pecans today here in the UK. The #USA has a trade SURPLUS with the UK, so these new tariffs on us are damaging to our businesses. Friends don't behave like this.
Label of pecan nuts purchased this morning in the UK highlighting country of origin Mexico
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Stewb62 @stewb62.bsky.social · 29/03/2025
www.theguardian.com/science/2025.... Spoiler alert: Kennedy is wrong!
theguardian.com
RFK Jr says they are poisoning us, influencers call them unnatural – but what is the truth about seed oils?
The common cooking ingredient has sparked fierce debate since the US health secretary urged people to avoid it
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Stewb62 @stewb62.bsky.social · 26/03/2025
In 2010 UK fuel duty was 57.19p per litre. Today it stands at 52.95p. Had the rate increased by inflation it would be 87p/l today. With pump prices also falling at the moment, surely it makes sense for the Chancellor to reintroduce indexing of fuel duty today.
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Stewb62 @stewb62.bsky.social · 24/03/2025
I hope they're not using numbers of potholes filled as a key measure. The holes are merely a symptom of failure. The key measure is % of roads in good repair.
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Cllr Ed Lamb @edwardlamb.bsky.social · 24/03/2025
I have lots of people like Betty in my ward and I try and take their views into account when I get to make decisions
youtube.com
Betty, aged seven, wants more walking, wheeling and cycling
YouTube video by Active Travel England
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Susie Dent @susiedentwords.bsky.social · 28/02/2025
Word of the day is ‘huff-snuff’ (16th century): a hectoring bully or braggart.
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Gaby Hinsliff @gabyhinsliff.bsky.social · 28/02/2025
I genuinely feel sick after watching that presser & not in a ‘Trump was rude, pass the smelling salts’ way or even shock that you’d publicly bully a wartime leader like that. It’s the utter narcissism. Trump could literally start WW3 because he feels his ego hasn’t been sufficiently stroked.
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Stewb62 @stewb62.bsky.social · 24/02/2025
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
theguardian.com
Britain’s net zero economy is booming, CBI says
Green sector growing at triple the rate of the UK economy, providing high-wage jobs and increasing energy security
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Stewb62 @stewb62.bsky.social · 21/02/2025
How low will they go? A barbaric crime — wildjustice.org.uk/bandgspetiti...
wildjustice.org.uk
How low will they go? A barbaric crime - Wild Justice
The grouse shooting industry doesn’t like to talk about raptor (bird of prey) killing because it’s wildlife crime. It’s not […]
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Sunder Katwala (sundersays) @sundersays.bsky.social · 14/02/2025
Most of Britain won't be taking any lessons in British values from Trump/Vance It is a British value to oppose dictators in Europe, not to reward them. It is a British value to accept it if you lose. To turn up & congratulate the winner, not to sulk + incite violence to try to overturn democracy
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Stewb62 @stewb62.bsky.social · 07/02/2025
How low will they go? Shooting a sleeping beauty — wildjustice.org.uk/general/how-...
wildjustice.org.uk
How low will they go? Shooting a sleeping beauty - Wild Justice
The grouse shooting industry doesn’t like to talk about raptor (bird of prey) killing because it’s wildlife crime. It’s not […]
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Association of Directors of Public Health (ADPH) @adphuk.bsky.social · 15/01/2025
Because the places where we live, work and play are so important for our health, we are working to support public health teams forge closer relationships with planning departments so that places can be developed with health & wellbeing in mind. Visit ➡️ bit.ly/3WmqMoq
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Morgan Tingley @mwtingley.bsky.social · 08/01/2025
The insanity of being a fire ecologist in the epicenter of a major fire event, bags packed and ready to evacuate, watching active fire from my window, while taking media requests and explaining to the public, for the 100,000th time how climate change is largely responsible for this
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Stewb62 @stewb62.bsky.social · 03/01/2025
There's much to be said for the German practice of opening windows for a few minutes each morning to let humid air out, in the absence of mechanical whole house ventilation with heat exchange.
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Stewb62 @stewb62.bsky.social · 03/01/2025
Potentially, but remember there are several factors at play with mould, not just heating. Many UK houses have low thermal efficiency, which coupled with humidity from occupants, cooking and laundry drying and lack of ventilation, often leads to condensation and subsequently mould.
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Peter Walker @peterwalker99.bsky.social · 03/01/2025
Over at the other place, Elon Musk is frantically re-tweeting far right conspiracy theorists about child sexual abuse in the UK. The deeper he gets, the trickier it becomes for Nigel Farage. It's not just a few pro-Tommy Robinson tweets – Musks seems to be getting embedded in that racist ecosystem.
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BicycleDutch @bicycledutch.bsky.social · 03/01/2025
Some people still believe the Dutch only cycle because their country is flat and the weather is mild. Well, here’s the real reason: exceptional cycling infrastructure—on a cold, grey winter’s day.
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Common Sense @cmmnsensedspnsr.bsky.social · 18/12/2024
Some folks are pretty good seeing things coming.
Passage from Carl Sagan’s A demon-haunted world book.
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Brent Toderian @brenttoderian.bsky.social · 18/12/2024
“It's amazing how pollution has dropped in #Paris in 15 years. @annehidalgo.bsky.social has filled the city with bike-lanes & not only has she reduced pollution by 40% but she’s also been re-elected.” Trading car space for green space, bike space, kid space…trading pollution for people. Good trade.
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Stewb62 @stewb62.bsky.social · 11/12/2024
www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle...
theguardian.com
The five-minute city: inside Denmark’s revolutionary neighbourhood
While ambitious urban planners try to make 15-minute cities a reality, the Nordhavn district of Copenhagen has gone one better. What’s life like when everything you need is just a stroll away?
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Charles A. Gardner, PhD @chancethegardener.bsky.social · 04/12/2024
US teen nicotine use: -deadly cigarette use has dropped 90% to near zero -safer nicotine vape use is now at a 10-year low (less than half the number who smoked in 2011) -nicotine use from any source is now at a 50-year low (down 49% over the past decade) www.fda.gov/news-events/... Crisis?
fda.gov
Youth Tobacco Product Use Continues to Decline
FDA’s ongoing efforts serve to make tobacco-related disease and death part of our nation’s past, ensuring a healthier future for our youth.
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Charles A. Gardner, PhD @chancethegardener.bsky.social · 07/12/2024
Why are US lawmakers more alarmed about teen nicotine use NOW than they were 10 years ago in 2014? Teen nicotine use: 2014: 17.3% (9.2% smoked cigarettes; 13.3% vaped ecigs) 2024: 8.3% (1.7% smoke cigarettes; 7.8% vape ecigs) NOTE: FDA says "e-cigarettes are markedly less risky than cigarettes."
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Prof Devi Sridhar @profdevisridhar.bsky.social · 06/12/2024
New Guardian column www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
theguardian.com
What is the real toll of natural and climate disasters? Science has staggering new answers | Devi Sridhar
New research challenges us to look beyond the initial event to the devastating long-term impacts. Governments must take note, says public health expert Devi Sridhar
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Jon Burke🌍 @jonburkeuk.bsky.social · 06/12/2024
1/ Yesterday I spoke at UCL about the transformational benefits of Low Traffic Neighbourhoods. This is what LTNs do: * Halve road injuries. * Eliminate rat-running. * Reduce pollution, even at boundaries. * Reduce street crime. And here's the evidence...👇 www.ucl.ac.uk/bartlett/pla...
ucl.ac.uk
Politics and Policies for London’s Low Traffic Neighbourhoods
This seminar will explore the pioneering policies and contentious politics surrounding the design and implementation of Low Traffic Neighbourhoods (LTNs) across London. We will hear from experts on th...
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Stewb62 @stewb62.bsky.social · 05/12/2024
When drivers complain about being stuck behind cyclists, let's remember which vehicles grew in width...
Graphic showing increasing width of cars over time
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Sarah Jackson @drsarahejackson.bsky.social · 05/12/2024
ASH NZ’s Ben Youdan shows there has been a sharp decline in smoking in New Zealand over the last 5 years, in the absence of any major tobacco control policy change. This pattern correlates closely with increasing vaping prevalence. #EcigSummit
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Sarah Jackson @drsarahejackson.bsky.social · 05/12/2024
Prof Alan Boobis mythbusting on the harms of e-cigarettes. There is no evidence of a link between vaping and popcorn lung. The chemical that causes popcorn lung (diacetyl) has been banned from use in e-cigs since 2016. There have been no cases linked to vaping. #EcigSummit
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Stewb62 @stewb62.bsky.social · 05/12/2024
Instead we seem to be embroiled in a moral panic about youth vaping here in the UK, just as the US was a few years ago.
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Stewb62 @stewb62.bsky.social · 05/12/2024
I also really like this lyric from The Garden by Rush "The future disappears into memory With only a moment between Forever dwells in that moment Hope is what remains to be seen" A beautiful song www.rush.com/songs/the-ga...
rush.com
The Garden Lyrics — Rush.com
Official News and Information about the Legendary Rock Band Rush
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Stewb62 @stewb62.bsky.social · 05/12/2024
So many, but this from Witch Hunt by Rush seems appropriate for we Bluesky newbies arriving from that toXic place "Quick to judge, quick to anger, slow to understand Ignorance and prejudice and fear walk hand in hand"
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Pr Carlos Moreno - IAE Paris1 Sorbonne University @carlosmorenofr.bsky.social · 05/12/2024
Honored to see the "15 Minute City" concept discussed in depth by 99PERCENT. A concept where daily necessities are accessible within a 15-minute walk or bike ride from one's home. It explores the origins of the idea and its adoption in cities like Paris 99percentinvisible.org/episode/605-...
99percentinvisible.org
The 15 Minute City - 99% Invisible
In February 2023, over two thousand people took to the streets in Oxford, England to protest their local government. They were wearing yellow vests and chanting slogans about the municipality’s new tr...
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Laura Laker @lauralaker.bsky.social · 04/12/2024
Another step forward in improving language around road crashes: Government gives police permission to replace 'accident' with 'collision' on road signs fleetnews.co.uk/news/police-...
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Melissa & Chris Bruntlett @modacitylife.com · 04/12/2024
With 60% of trips by bike, teens are the age group that cycle the most in the Netherlands—over 2,000 km. per capita per year. Rather than spend these years depending on parents and waiting for a driver’s license, they experience the autonomy promised by the car without its stress, danger, and cost.
Hundreds of bicycles are parked in rows in a plaza outside of a secondary school in Delft, The Netherlands.
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Brent Toderian @brenttoderian.bsky.social · 04/12/2024
WATCH: The fantastic Paris “School Streets” program isn’t just about how we safely drop off and pick up kids from school. It’s about place-making, neighbourhood amenity, noise, air quality, and better cities for EVERYONE. Watch @streetfilms.bsky.social’s great video! www.youtube.com/watch?v=ezPz...
youtube.com
Paris School Streets: Safe for Children, Safe for Everyone
YouTube video by Streetfilms®
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Jan Rosenow @janrosenow.bsky.social · 04/12/2024
It did not take long until the naysayers on heat pumps also arrived on Bluesky. To all of the "experts" commenting in my feed that heat pumps don't work: STUDY THE SCIENCE! I have - here's my summary: www.carbonbrief.org/factcheck-18...
carbonbrief.org
Factcheck: 18 misleading myths about heat pumps - Carbon Brief
Heat pumps are an alternative to gas boilers and wood stoves for indoor heating. They...
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Armando Iannucci @aiannucci.bsky.social · 04/12/2024
1/ Support today for journalists fighting for the future of The Observer, threatened by The Scott Trust’s plan to sell to Tortoise Media. Tortoise, though respected, is a small, loss-making venture and the sale risks The Observer becoming a stripped-down website behind a paywall. Worse..
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Guardian NUJ @gonuj.org · 04/12/2024
Today Guardian and Observer journalists are on strike over plans to sell the Observer to a loss-making digital start up and put its journalism behind a paywall. 🧵 How can you support us? SHARE our posts WRITE to guardian.readers@theguardian.com JOIN US - there's cake!
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David Roberts @volts.wtf · 04/12/2024
In terms of mobility, e-bikes are selling faster & having bigger effects on emissions than EVs, much less self-driving EVs. And yet they get vastly, vastly less attention. www.fastcompany.com/90994141/why...
fastcompany.com
Why 2023 was the year of the e-bike and not the self-driving car
E-bikes and self-driving cars both entered the year with momentum. Only one maintained it.
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Stewb62 @stewb62.bsky.social · 04/12/2024
wildjustice.org.uk/hen-harriers... Please consider signing this petition if you are a British citizen.
wildjustice.org.uk
Our Ban Driven Grouse Shooting petition is flying - Wild Justice
Our Ban Driven Grouse Shooting petition is flying with over 24,000 signatures. Thank you to all who have signed – […]
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Brighton Active Travel 🚶‍♀️🧑‍🦽🚲 @batbrighton.bsky.social · 27/11/2024
Image of a letter in a local newspaper, sarcastically criticising drivers for hogging road space with their largely empty motor vehicles
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Brent Toderian @brenttoderian.bsky.social · 02/12/2024
IMPORTANT: Paris has been implementing a 5-Year Pedestrian Plan: - 300 million € invested by 2026 - 100 new hectares of pedestrian space - 100 more “streets for kids” - Focus on 0 pedestrian deaths #VisionZero - Longer pedestrian cross times geared to seniors Leadership. Does your city have one?
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The London Economic @thelondoneconomic.bsky.social · 02/12/2024
This is huge. The EFJ represents over 295,000 journalists in 44 countries 👇 www.thelondoneconomic.com/news/media/e...
thelondoneconomic.com
European Federation of Journalists to stop posting content on X
The EFJ represents over 295,000 journalists in 44 countries.
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Stewb62 @stewb62.bsky.social · 02/12/2024
@andrewsparrowgdn the madness of arbitrary targets strikes again. The aim is surely that all children are school-ready. Is the height of government ambition to have a target of 25% who are not? #deming
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Brent Toderian @brenttoderian.bsky.social · 01/12/2024
“Evidence from the Netherlands (and increasingly from the UK, where new infrastructure has been built) shows that high quality cycling infrastructure is often shared with wheelchairs, mobility scooters and other assistive modes of transport.” cyclingfallacies.com/en/6/people-...
cyclingfallacies.com
“People with physical disabilities can’t cycle”
There are cycles available for almost every type of disability – it’s actually an inclusive mode of transport that will often act as a mobility aid for people who find walking difficult, people who ca...
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