Tom Rackham

WHN graphic with a light background and faint photo of a white respirator. whn.global logo at top left. Pink subtitle: “Yes, We Continue Wearing Masks — Here’s Why: Common Questions Answered.” Large headline: “If you’re wearing a mask, why should I?” Body text: “Two-way masking protects everyone better than one-way masking for one simple reason: source control. Your mask reduces what you exhale (source control) and what you inhale (personal protection). Because many infections spread silently and not everyone can mask all the time, masking together sharply lowers risk, for you and for the people around you.” Footer line: “The World Health Network is a network devoted to global compassion—working together to inspire collective action through science for a safer, healthier world.”

Same WHN layout and respirator background. Pink subtitle: “Yes, We Continue Wearing Masks — Here’s Why: Common Questions Answered.” Large headline: “Won’t constant masking weaken your immunity?” Answer in bold text: “No. Masks don’t block all microbes, and our immune systems still get plenty of stimulation from daily life.” Footer with WHN mission sentence.

Same WHN layout and respirator background. Pink subtitle: “Yes, We Continue Wearing Masks — Here’s Why: Common Questions Answered.” Large headline: “I thought masks don’t work?” Body text: “They do, but only when used correctly, and not all ‘masks’ are created equal. The physics is clear: well-fitted respirators (N95/FFP2 or better) cut what you breathe out and what you breathe in. Confusion often comes from studies that used loose surgical/medical masks, allowed people to take masks off while exposed, or mixed very different mask types and fits, conditions that blur the true benefit.” Footer with WHN mission sentence.

Same WHN layout and respirator background. Pink subtitle: “Yes, We Continue Wearing Masks — Here’s Why: Common Questions Answered.” Large headline: “I think kids need to ‘train’ their immune systems. Aren’t you preventing that?” Body text: “A child’s immune system doesn’t need to encounter dangerous pathogens to develop. Everyday exposure to common microbes in the environment is enough ‘training.’” Footer with WHN mission sentence.

“Isn’t the pandemic over?” “Aren’t you done with masks yet?” “But you’re not high-risk!”

This Q&A provides evidence-based responses to these and other common objections, offering insight into why we still mask, filter the air and open windows—knowledge we’ve gained and continue to put into practice

My gateway to enjoying squash soup was to cook it with Thai red curry paste and coconut milk. A little sweet potato in there too is great.

Fair enough. Moral bankruptcy is a choice, but you can keep it for yourself.

An attack on benefits, anti-immigration pandering to Reform, and a refusal to tax the super rich at the cost of working families?

Honestly, this version of Labour already destroyed itself. Completely at odds with the core tenets of what the party stands for.

🆄🅽🆂🅰🅵🅴 🅸🅽 🆃🅷🅴 🆆🅾🆁🅺🅿🅻🅰🅲🅴

how the CBC forced me to resign over COVID

and why we’re all worse off for it—especially our kids

a 🧵

(on the occasion of my son’s [5th] and the CBC’s [89th] shared birthday, nov. 2)

👇🏼👇🏼👇🏼👇🏼👇🏼👇🏼👇🏼👇🏼👇🏼👇🏼👇🏼👇🏼👇🏼

[links to referenced articles in ALT text]

To My Unmasked Friend in the Fifth Year of COVID I’m going to be honest with you, because I love you, and you deserve nothing but honesty. I’m going to try really hard not to be angry…

1/
"The reality is that we have been living in this deeply flawed landscape of 'personal choice', & you’ve made yours":

annabookwriter.medium.com/to-my-unmask...

Halloween fun with @ccfowles.bsky.social

Broccoli might actually be my favourite food, but in the midst of a flare it is nothing but agony. Would that I could just live off those tiny green trees.

Late commercial payments: charging interest and debt recovery Late commercial payments - interest and debt recovery costs you can charge businesses for late payments

www.gov.uk/late-commerc... - 30 days or 60 days depending on the situation it seems!

Beyond all reason Long COVID patients are constantly harangued about our requests for COVID safety. Yet what we're asking for is far less than what we're called on to do to survive.

People continue to call COVID advocates’ pleas for masking “unreasonable”.

Yet people who’ve already been disabled by COVID have no choice but to live with the “unreasonable” burdens of constant COVID safety.

My latest:
substack.com/home/post/p-...

If someone merely acknowledging the humanity of your enemies enrages you, you’re the baddies.

Could also be worth looking at “The Council”. More in the style of the Telltale narrative adventure driven ones, but might hit the spot for you.

It’s like a soviet dystopian detective TTesqueRPG where you make a bunch of choices but the outcomes are dice roll dependent. It’s dark and esoteric, but ultimately really rewarding if you can gel.

Have you tried Disco Elysium? Not strictly a “detective game”, but an rpg where you play a detective. Plenty of permutations in play, and the mysteries are wonderful to unfold. Vibe is unparalleled.

‘Self-termination is most likely’: the history and future of societal collapse An epic analysis of 5,000 years of civilisation argues that a global collapse is coming unless inequality is vanquished

An epic analysis of 5,000 years of civilisation argues that a global collapse is coming unless inequality is vanquished

World Health Organization Tuesday, 29 July 2025 MEDIA ADVISORY IPC Gaza Strip Food Insecurity and Malnutrition Alert Key Highlights The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) has issued a stark warning today that the worst-case scenario of Famine is now unfolding in the Gaza Strip. Amid relentless conflict, mass displacement, severely restricted humanitarian access, and the collapse of essential services, including healthcare, the crisis has reached an alarming and deadly turning point.

WHO: "the worst-case scenario of Famine is now unfolding in the Gaza Strip... the crisis has reached an alarming and deadly turning point."

ARE YOU SERIOUS? COVID-19 HASN’T GONE AWAY? Talk to most people about COVID-19 risks and a common response is, “If it was that bad, governments would do something about it.”

Talk to most people about COVID-19 risks and a common response is, “If it was that bad, governments would do something about it.”

johnsnowproject.org/primers/are-...

"You cannot separate the art from the artist while the artist still profits."

Succinct and easy to remember for the times you find yourself conflicted, like I do!

WeTransfer TOS says they can use all your uploaded content for genAI

Bye forever, WeTransfer.

Hard agree. I’m seeking designers at the moment to do some work, and one of the most explicit and important elements is absolutely zero generative AI.

Thanks for making this choice. Sucks you’re sick. Hopefully you feel better soon!

Honestly not far off in vibe from what I’m still using 🙃

🚨 Mythbusting #LongCovid with Dr Amir Khan🚨

Long Covid is real. It’s serious. And it’s affecting millions.

On #LongCovidAwarenessDay, #DrAmirKhan joins us to bust harmful myths.

Watch, learn, and share—because the more we talk about Long Covid, the harder it is to ignore.

If you’re a healthcare worker who judges patients for masking, please ask yourself why that is.

Ask yourself why a sick person trying to protect themselves from further illness offends you so much.

Ask yourself if you would have been offended prior to covid.

Meet the NEVLAs – (Never Voting Labour Again) It’s not Reform voters Starmer needs to entice back to the Labour fold, they were never in it. There’s another group he should be worrying about

Meet the NEVLAs – (Never Voting Labour Again) 👇👇

It’s been five years and I have a health condition that means I can’t ’learn to live with Covid’ I don’t believe any of us can without long term damage to our health. All of the studies are showing a range of risks, everyone is at risk. My short thread isn’t about that point though. It’s about

Andrea Jenkyns is spewing some pretty hateful stuff that I (as someone who lives in Lincolnshire) wholeheartedly condemn. Reform is bad news - please don’t be fooled by their deceptive appeals for “change”. It is not change for the better.

Bit of nonsense surrounding Sussex attempting to counter hate speech. It’s the tolerance paradox - if you allow the intolerant completely free rein, it comes at the cost of bigotry being the last voice standing. Hoping for an overturn on this.

Found my EastWest Complete Composer’s Collection original packaging along with a disc of Sibelius 4 the other day. Crazy how much things have shifted so quickly!