John Orchard

How Tom Wills Shaped the Origins and Early Evolution of Australian Rules Football Thomas Wentworth Wills is the most important figure in the origin and early evolution of Australian Rules football. His life was shaped by intersecting forces: the sporting journey of the gifted at...

Full article: How Tom Wills Shaped the Origins and Early Evolution of Australian Rules Football

www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

Re: Why covid-19 is “a vascular disease masquerading as a respiratory one”

🎯🎯🎯 short response article from Dr Nicola Boyd (formerly on Twitter as @DrNick4126)

Rapid response to: Why covid-19 is a vascular disease masquerading as a respiratory one
www.bmj.com/content/392/...

If masks, specifically respirators, didn’t work… I would never have applied to do medicine. 😂🤣

I want to help people, but I don’t think I would be brave enough to get infected constantly with everything from drug resistant TB to SARS-1.

Of course they work, if you put them on!

The Upcoming 150 Year Anniversary of Test Cricket - BJSM blog - social media's leading SEM voice This is a reflection and historical editorial opinion piece by John Orchard. Keywords: Cricket, Anniversary, Public Health The England and Australia men’s cricket teams play Test matches to contest th...

blogs.bmj.com/bjsm/?p=11852

Possible impact of national responses to the COVID pandemic on medal tallies at the Paris 2024 Olympics Previous study analyzing the 2021 Tokyo Olympics found that countries with high levels of government stringency measures were disadvantaged in the medal counts. This study aimed to analyze the effe...

www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

“Stop asking candidates if they “believe in” climate change and start asking if they understand it. It’s science, not Santa Claus.”

Can we please never forget this. #ClimateCrisis #ClimateEmergency

Rates of Self‐Reported Skin Cancer in Current and Retired Elite Australian Cricketers Background Skin cancer rates are high in Australians, outdoor workers and physically active people. Australia is currently preparing a roadmap to better assess high risk groups for consideration of .....

Rates of Self‐Reported Skin Cancer in Current and Retired Elite Australian Cricketers - Orchard - Australasian Journal of Dermatology - Wiley Online Library onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Our reporters Nate Halverson and Sam Van Pykeren caught up with Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) at Alex Pretti's memorial in Minneapolis on Monday.

"To lose a 37-year-old son, and then to have that son insulted as a terrorist as opposed to celebrated as a hero...I was furious."

Death Rates of Elite and Professional American Athletes During Early Adulthood are Lower than the General Population - John W. Orchard, Kimberly G. Harmon, Nicholas D. Orchard, Cindy J. Chang, Danica ... This study aimed to assess rates of death of elite and professional young adult athletes in different US sports, comparing to the general population. Male and f...

journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...

Anne Frank quote on protester sign today in Minnesota..."Terrible things are happening outside. Poor...."

Protest sign in Minnesota today...

WHO removing Us Flag

1. This short thread is about the issue that dominates almost every aspect of politics, and causes or exacerbates most of our problems: the extreme wealth of a small number of people. Here’s the amazing thing: almost the entire political class aligns with the ultra-rich against the rest. 🧵1/10

At the root of all our problems stands one travesty: politicians’ surrender to the super-rich | George Monbiot There are many excuses for failing to tax the ultra-wealthy. The truth is that governments don’t tackle the problem because they don’t want to, says Guardian columnist George Monbiot

10. It’s time to recognise how deeply weird this is, reserve our votes for people who give us what we want, and stop subscribing to media outlets that lie on behalf of oligarchs.
More on this subject, with facts and figures, in my most recent column: www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Rob Hirst was a force of nature, a born showman who led Midnight Oil from the back Phenomenal drummer and percussionist was an equally accomplished songwriter who embodied the band’s bloody-minded spirit * Rob Hirst, Midnight Oil drummer and founding member, dies aged 70 Ask Midnight Oil fans what drummer Rob Hirst will be remembered for, and the most likely answer will be his drum solo on Power and the Passion, one of the band’s big early hits. It’s an explosive minute of almost literal madness – Hirst was on the verge of a breakdown when the track was recorded in 1982, for their breakthrough album 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Drum solos had, by that time, become a symbol of rock excess. But this wasn’t just another vulgar display of virtuosity. It was more musical than most guitar solos, enhancing a song already full of moving parts. Live, much of it was played on a corrugated iron water tank Hirst retrieved from the desert on the Oils’ Blackfella/Whitefella tour in 1986. Continue reading...

Rob Hirst was a force of nature, a born showman who led Midnight Oil from the back

YouTube video by ABC Music Midnight Oil - Best Of Both Worlds (triple j Live At The Wireless - Goat Island 1985)

Vale Rob Hirst - drummer in Midnight Oil. A champion for social justice and credited for many of their songs.

This from his prime #auspol

youtu.be/6RaMvEk55kQ?...

Rob Hirst has had a massive impact on Australian culture. He was the engine driving one of the greatest live bands of all time. RIP, dear Rob. You are irreplaceable, one of a kind, and myself, my family, and all the rest of this great country will miss you so much.

Good question.

Friday #BBL
Sixers/Thunder
Crowd: 40,114 at the SCG (83% cap)
Seven 732k (BVOD 87k) Reach 2.191m

Data: VOZ, Austadiums

Murphy: "As their agenda becomes more unpopular, they then become more dependent on trying to rig out democracy and rig the next election, bc nobody is gonna vote these guys back in ... You gotta connect the dots here. What they are trying to do is rationalize violence."

Is there much COVID around? Do I need the new booster shot LP.8.1? As we prepare for the festive season, it’s easy to let COVID boosters fall off our to-do lists. But COVID is still circulating and new shots are available.

Is there much COVID around? Do I need the new booster shot LP.8.1?
theconversation.com/is-there-muc...
My new article for The Conversation

@zeteo.com Compare and contrast Donald Trump's response to Rob Reiner's murder with Biden and Harris's responses to Charlie Kirk's murder.

There is no 'both sides'. Just one side - Trump - that is cruel, sociopathic, unhinged.

The father was licensed for six firearms. How can you possibly be licensed for SIX firearms? We need to tighten our gun laws

Effectiveness of 2024–2025 COVID-19 Vaccines in Children... This report describes COVID-19 vaccine effectiveness among children ages 9 months to 17 years.

The second covers children under 18. Like the young adults, outcomes simply much better if you are vaccinated against Covid versus not, and this data is from an era where majority of people have already had covid +/- primary vaccine so it concerns value of a booster www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes...

Another small Australian December (!) #flu thread.
In the ~13 days since my last update (03DEC), detections have risen by 16,155. That's a daily rate of 1,616 (_up_ again, from 1,293 in the previous update).

Leavitt worships Republican Jesus. He has blond hair, blue eyes, and radically different ideas than Bible Jesus. bsky.app/profile/acyn...

@thecovidinfoguy.bsky.social @1goodtern.bsky.social @youarelobbylud.bsky.social @mon4kooyong.bsky.social @thatingrid.bsky.social @drericding.bsky.social @drseanmullen.bsky.social …please spread the word to put pressure on governments to approve kids covid vaccines given latest evidence

I will qualify this by saying that there may or may not be a cost effectiveness factor to consider and that politically there shouldn’t be a vaccine mandate. But 100% the status of COVID boosters should be identical to Influenza boosters - recommended and available to people of all ages who choose

So we are now in a situation where in Australia - like the USA and UK - the official government advice on COVID boosters is now directly the opposite of what you’d advise if you are following the latest evidence. In other words, if ATAGI don’t rapidly pivot they can start wearing RFK jr T-shirts

Now for the rant: in Australia it is permissible but not recommended to offer a covid booster to a young adult but our vaccination body strongly recommends against any children getting COVID boosters. It is very hard for parents of a child who is not immunocompromised to actually get a COVID vaccine

Effectiveness of 2024–2025 COVID-19 Vaccines in Children... This report describes COVID-19 vaccine effectiveness among children ages 9 months to 17 years.

The second covers children under 18. Like the young adults, outcomes simply much better if you are vaccinated against Covid versus not, and this data is from an era where majority of people have already had covid +/- primary vaccine so it concerns value of a booster www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes...