Dr Alex Wodak AM

They Celebrated Vigilante Justice on the Battlefield. Then They Brought It Home.

This vision of unrestrained power has its roots in 20 years of conflict waged in Afghanistan & elsewhere. Understanding secret history of America’s longest war is about more than reckoning with past … In this way, shots fired in an Afghan village echo in our present

www.nytimes.com/2025/09/30/m...

What will be major factor ending Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in ignominious defeat?

*tanking economy?

*unsustainable loss of men?

*running short of oil for military?

*unable to generate enough income from oil & gas exports?

*all of the above?

Special version of Windows for Russian market

Imagine if climate crisis activists sabotaged renewable energy cos some Oil Companies involved! But that’s exactly what tobacco control is trying to do to do to low-risk safer nicotine products! @drbfreeman.bsky.social @publichealthaus.bsky.social @aliveadvocacy.bsky.social

Many want war in Ukraine to end very soon with Ukraine successfully defending against Russian invasion. Let’s hope damaging Russian oil refineries & distribution networks accelerates end of this war

Alarming number of people now vape, says WHO More than 100 million people, including at least 15 million children, use e-cigarettes, fuelling a new wave of nicotine addiction, say experts.

@who.int warns >100 mn people vape leading to surge in addiction. Then how come smoking rates dropping to all time lows? Unfortunately WHO drinking prohibition Kool Aid just like in 1990s when it opposed needle syringe programs in early years of HIV crisis

www.bbc.com/news/article...

The EU’s crackdown on safer nicotine alternatives risks driving smokers back to cigarettes

Across continent, EU shifts from science-based approach to tobacco control toward outright prohibition. Instead of encouraging safer alternatives that could save millions of lives, policymakers are reaching for bans, excessive taxes, & product restrictions.

www.brusselstimes.com/1775919/the-...

@publichealthaus.bsky.social strongly advocates condoms as harm reduction response to STIs & unwanted pregnancies ie never let best be enemy of good. So how come PHAA hates vaping - a HR response to smoking - which kills 21,000 Australians/year? @algore09algor.bsky.social @ianamossyd.bsky.social

“Slip, Slop, Slap" is a famous Australian Cancer Council campaign promoting skin cancer prevention. It’s pure harm reduction. But how come Oz Cancer Council hates vaping which is also a pure harm reduction to deadly smoking? Answer: search me! @aliveadvocacy.bsky.social @ianamossyd.bsky.social

Public health loves car seat belts & airbags which save many lives & $$s & are examples of harm reduction. But hate vaping which is also an example of harm reduction. How does that contradiction work? Answer: it doesn’t! @ianamossyd.bsky.social @algore09algor.bsky.social @aliveadvocacy.bsky.social

Sydney vs Melbourne PT patronage Last year I wrote a blog pondering why Sydney's rail patronage is 50% higher than Melbourne's. This has got a fresh airing amid speculation that Melbourne's COVID-19 spread is linked to greater urban ...

Patronage of public transport higher in Sydney>Melbourne according to this & other estimates danielbowen.com/2021/06/04/s... But are these data reliable? Shifting transport from cars to PT helps decarbonisation but have to make PT more attractive &/or cheaper/free @m1ngthemerciless.bsky.social

Crazy, as many on social media do, to see deadly smoking & low-risk vaping as equivalents. Ex smokers who quit vaping too early are at risk of relapsing back to deadly cigarettes. Better if you think you’re at risk of relapsing to cigs, to keep vaping until you’re confident of not relapsing

Documentary ‘Mayor’ (Apple, 2021) is about the Mayor of Ramallah. Worth watching. Though not intended as an in depth political analysis, provides a powerful picture of a municipal official trying to do his best but hamstrung by Israeli restrictions

The Battle to Make ‘One Battle After Another’

PTA’s ‘One Battle After Another’ challenging film well worth seeing. Made before Trump2.0 shows US with ultra right anti immigrant Christian nationalists spark progressive revolt. Highly recommended
www.nytimes.com/2025/09/08/m...

‘Standing by Our Colleagues in Gaza-A Plea to US Medical Community’ F Sidhwa et al; 3.10.2025 NEJM ‘In the face of Israel’s ongoing assault on Gaza’s health system & the catastrophic famine caused by the devastation, US physicians have an ethical obligation to respond & support immediate changes’

Dr. Jane Goodall filmed an interview with Netflix in March 2025 that she understood would only be released after her death.

Let us not cast the blame on the murderers today, for 8 years they have been sitting in the refugee camps in Gaza and before their eyes we have been transforming the lands in the villages where they and their fathers dwelt, into our estate’

Moshe Dayan, 1956

Harm reduction remarkably effective but Australia’s tobacco control wants you to believe it doesn’t work for tobacco. Yet countries where safer nicotine options popular have lowest smoking rates. Australia has world leading THR disinformation @aliveadvocacy.bsky.social @ianamossyd.bsky.social

How Australia Got the Story of Tobacco Harm Reduction So Wrong THR has been painted as the enemy. Instead of helping smokers switch to safer products, our government is determined to outlaw them.

The story of tobacco harm reduction in Australia has been twisted into something unrecognisable.
aliveadvocacymovement.com/post/how-aus...
@alexwodak.bsky.social @drbfreeman.bsky.social @jamomartin.bsky.social @melissasweetdr.bsky.social @australia.theguardian.com @publichealthaus.bsky.social

Having rightly criticised tobacco industry for being ‘Merchant of Doubt’ re squashing justified concerns re harms from smoking, @profglantz.com himself became ‘Merchant of Doubt’ re much safer smoke-free nicotine products with number of heavily criticised research papers. Time to get back to science

So... Huh. I never thought of it in this historical context Alex. #HarmReduction deniers are modern Luddites. Smashing wool mills...

Dr. Stan Glantz' studies have been debunked over and over. Some retracted. He is accused by 2 of his grad students of sexual harrassment.

Yet #HarmReduction deniers LOVE him. He WANTS us all to believe nicotine vaping is a "gateway to smoking."

FUN FACT: This shows he KNOWS vaping is safer.

Transition of nicotine market from combustible cigarettes to safer nicotine products is an example of disruptive innovation. Few DIs don’t succeed so those betting against tobacco harm reduction face overwhelming odds against them @chancethegardener.bsky.social @jgitchell.bsky.social

YouTube video by The Daily Show Peter Beinart - "Being Jewish After the Destruction of Gaza: A Reckoning" | The Daily Show

This is surprisingly good discussion and touches on some very profound aspects of the Israel-Palestine conflict. And how Jews can think through this. Peter Beinart & Jon Stewart

Highly recommended

youtu.be/X5kXCdzt_us?...

FYI this is going around seeming to be from me and Liz.

This is not from us.

Science Media Centre referred this paper to 6 experts who noted important caveats re this design of research & recommend doubts & cautions re drawing conclusions. Worth reading these expert comments @jgitchell.bsky.social @chancethegardener.bsky.social
www.sciencemediacentre.org/expert-react...

Here’s the address from Chris Sidoti and Ben Saul in full, if you’d like to see it:

Strip-search harm must be stopped to protect our young people The premier and police minister must act now, not just to prevent costly litigation, but to stop trauma and harm to thousands of children and young people.

Despite scathing Court judgment re ongoing & traumatic practice of police strip-searches, young people at summer festivals can still be subject to same traumatic procedures, which victims have compared to sexual abuse #WarOnDrugs #auspol @paulrgregoire.bsky.social
www.smh.com.au/national/nsw...

Vaping haters as likely to stop vapes & other safer nicotine options replacing cigarettes as electric vehicle haters stop EVs replacing internal combustion engine cars @harmreductionintl.bsky.social @aliveadvocacy.bsky.social @sanho.bsky.social @ianamossyd.bsky.social @algore09algor.bsky.social