Bill Anderson
@butchandriley.bsky.social
Old git in rural Wiltshire. Durhamite in exile. Likes evidence, facts. Likes Lowdens and Naim, Good food, wine and real beer. Atheist.
Reposted by Bill Anderson
Must be something really panicking the UKHSA / NHS about this flu season: we're getting 'worst-case scenario' headlines now.
But latest bed numbers (out this morning) still aren't showing an apocalyptic picture. Log scale to show growth clearly. Early, certainly and looks very worth getting a jab.
But latest bed numbers (out this morning) still aren't showing an apocalyptic picture. Log scale to show growth clearly. Early, certainly and looks very worth getting a jab.
December 11, 2025 at 11:24 AM
Must be something really panicking the UKHSA / NHS about this flu season: we're getting 'worst-case scenario' headlines now.
But latest bed numbers (out this morning) still aren't showing an apocalyptic picture. Log scale to show growth clearly. Early, certainly and looks very worth getting a jab.
But latest bed numbers (out this morning) still aren't showing an apocalyptic picture. Log scale to show growth clearly. Early, certainly and looks very worth getting a jab.
Reposted by Bill Anderson
Every part of this is bonkers. The intro is bonkers. The transition to his health is bonkers. The mention that other presidents didn't need cognitive exams is bonkers. The claim that this screening test is somehow hard is bonkers. The idea that criticism of him is treason is bonkers. All of it.
December 10, 2025 at 2:40 AM
Every part of this is bonkers. The intro is bonkers. The transition to his health is bonkers. The mention that other presidents didn't need cognitive exams is bonkers. The claim that this screening test is somehow hard is bonkers. The idea that criticism of him is treason is bonkers. All of it.
Reposted by Bill Anderson
Lots of flu about, but what makes a ‘winter virus’ a winter virus? My piece on seasonality, evolution and behaviour: kucharski.substack.com/p/is-covid-n...
December 11, 2025 at 8:21 AM
Lots of flu about, but what makes a ‘winter virus’ a winter virus? My piece on seasonality, evolution and behaviour: kucharski.substack.com/p/is-covid-n...
Reposted by Bill Anderson
This is what it looked like on January 19, 2025
19january2025snapshot.epa.gov/climate-indi...
19january2025snapshot.epa.gov/climate-indi...
December 10, 2025 at 9:06 PM
This is what it looked like on January 19, 2025
19january2025snapshot.epa.gov/climate-indi...
19january2025snapshot.epa.gov/climate-indi...
Thread.
Must be something really panicking the UKHSA / NHS about this flu season: we're getting 'worst-case scenario' headlines now.
But latest bed numbers (out this morning) still aren't showing an apocalyptic picture. Log scale to show growth clearly. Early, certainly and looks very worth getting a jab.
But latest bed numbers (out this morning) still aren't showing an apocalyptic picture. Log scale to show growth clearly. Early, certainly and looks very worth getting a jab.
December 11, 2025 at 12:26 PM
Thread.
Reposted by Bill Anderson
this isn’t very free speech-y of the free speech champs
Citizens of countries including the UK and France will have to disclose the past five years of their social media history to visit the US even though they are covered by visa waiver schemes, under new proposals by the Trump administration.
www.ft.com/content/683b...
www.ft.com/content/683b...
US to require social media disclosure for visa-waiver requests
Change would affect visitors from countries including the UK, France and Australia
www.ft.com
December 10, 2025 at 8:09 PM
this isn’t very free speech-y of the free speech champs
Chef's kiss.
yes this is called “winter”
Trump: "Remember -- global warming! And then the temperature started going down like a rock. Remember? Remember?"
December 10, 2025 at 5:17 PM
Chef's kiss.
Reposted by Bill Anderson
In some ways this is a useful reminder that a lot of the talk of European security guarantees to Ukraine have the whole thing backwards. For more than three years Ukraine has been guaranteeing European security by fighting and degrading the Russian armed forces.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
How long Britain could really fight for if war broke out tomorrow
In the event of a war, one expert suggests the British Army could be incapable of fighting effectively on land within weeks, once committed - though 'much depends on the form of the conflict'.
www.bbc.co.uk
December 10, 2025 at 7:00 AM
In some ways this is a useful reminder that a lot of the talk of European security guarantees to Ukraine have the whole thing backwards. For more than three years Ukraine has been guaranteeing European security by fighting and degrading the Russian armed forces.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Dark.
Hilarious.
Hilarious.
This is a great example of the @gralefrit.bsky.social observation that the funniest joke is the one told between family members in the front row of a funeral.
Will Arnett was on Conan and told a story about how Conan dealt with the death of his parents by accusing Jason Bateman of killing them. It’s so funny.
December 9, 2025 at 11:18 PM
Dark.
Hilarious.
Hilarious.
Loud amen.
this is similar to what I've come to think of as the "reverse turing test"
when people find synthetic text is "good enough" to complete a task (homework, business report, email) it doesn't mean the machine is smart. it means they were asked to produce something that didn't matter
it's diagnostic
when people find synthetic text is "good enough" to complete a task (homework, business report, email) it doesn't mean the machine is smart. it means they were asked to produce something that didn't matter
it's diagnostic
So similarly, when we see people who prefer ChatGPT or a similar synthetic text extruding machine as a source of medical information, that means those are people who are under-served in the current system.
December 9, 2025 at 6:25 PM
Loud amen.
Reposted by Bill Anderson
Good lord the final line of this
American Classmates Having Difficulty Understanding Better Educated Foreign Exchange Student https://theonion.com/american-classmates-having-difficulty-understanding-bet-1828551698/
December 8, 2025 at 10:08 PM
Good lord the final line of this
Reposted by Bill Anderson
I've always thought that the whole "natural immunity is the best way to protect people" thing was a bit like saying "getting pregnant is the best form of birth control."
Anyway, cool to see it's better for the immune system to see vaccine before virus from an effectiveness standpoint too.
Anyway, cool to see it's better for the immune system to see vaccine before virus from an effectiveness standpoint too.
A study on 1.7 million people in Hong Kong shows superior hybrid immunity to Covid in people who got vaccinated before infection vs. people who got infected first. "Our findings are a direct rebuttal to arguments for natural immunity," the authors write. doi.org/10.1016/j.va...
Redirecting
doi.org
December 8, 2025 at 2:37 AM
I've always thought that the whole "natural immunity is the best way to protect people" thing was a bit like saying "getting pregnant is the best form of birth control."
Anyway, cool to see it's better for the immune system to see vaccine before virus from an effectiveness standpoint too.
Anyway, cool to see it's better for the immune system to see vaccine before virus from an effectiveness standpoint too.
Reposted by Bill Anderson
Reposted by Bill Anderson
So, to all the "RFK's got some good ideas" folks (Rachael Bedard, Leana Wen) and Jay Bhattacharya is "an excellent choice for NIH" (Steven Macedo, Frances Lee) and Vinay Prasad "will bring a breath of fresh air to FDA" (Adam Cifu, John Mandrola) groupies--you own this now too.
I think the *speed* at which RFK Jr and his Great Barrington Declaration/anti-vaxx/Brownstone wrecking crew have been dismantling the US public health system has been really astonishing
Well, Senators Bill Cassidy and Thom Tillis, you wanted RFK Jr. to “go wild” at HHS.
Congratulations. You’ve achieved your goal. He is well on his way to completely destroying the US vaccine program.
Congratulations. You’ve achieved your goal. He is well on his way to completely destroying the US vaccine program.
December 7, 2025 at 11:15 AM
So, to all the "RFK's got some good ideas" folks (Rachael Bedard, Leana Wen) and Jay Bhattacharya is "an excellent choice for NIH" (Steven Macedo, Frances Lee) and Vinay Prasad "will bring a breath of fresh air to FDA" (Adam Cifu, John Mandrola) groupies--you own this now too.
Reposted by Bill Anderson
Americans! No matter how bad this looks from inside, let me assure you it looks - and feels - far worse from outside.
December 7, 2025 at 9:55 AM
Americans! No matter how bad this looks from inside, let me assure you it looks - and feels - far worse from outside.
Reposted by Bill Anderson
For comparison, every robotic mission NASA has ever sent in its history, from the dawn of the Space Age 65 years ago to today, from Mercury to Pluto and beyond, has cost less than $40B.
I know which one has done more for humankind and which one should be dismantled.
I know which one has done more for humankind and which one should be dismantled.
Mark Zuckerberg’s gamble on the ‘Metaverse’ has cost Meta more than $77B
The company now plans to cut spending on it and shift focus to AI wearables instead
(via WSJ)
The company now plans to cut spending on it and shift focus to AI wearables instead
(via WSJ)
December 7, 2025 at 2:03 AM
For comparison, every robotic mission NASA has ever sent in its history, from the dawn of the Space Age 65 years ago to today, from Mercury to Pluto and beyond, has cost less than $40B.
I know which one has done more for humankind and which one should be dismantled.
I know which one has done more for humankind and which one should be dismantled.
Reposted by Bill Anderson
Elon loves pretending he’s an expert in science, tech… and Diablo/PoE. But when Linus Torvalds—the father of Linux—had one of Musk’s statements read to him (without knowing it was Musk), he immediately diagnosed him as “too stupid to work at a tech company.” Not bias, just reality. Watch the short 🔻
Linus Torvalds Accidentally Slams Elon Musk
YouTube video by Linus Tech Tips
youtube.com
December 6, 2025 at 3:00 PM
Elon loves pretending he’s an expert in science, tech… and Diablo/PoE. But when Linus Torvalds—the father of Linux—had one of Musk’s statements read to him (without knowing it was Musk), he immediately diagnosed him as “too stupid to work at a tech company.” Not bias, just reality. Watch the short 🔻
Reposted by Bill Anderson
Breaking. Liz Truss wins this year's FIFA Prize for Economics.
December 6, 2025 at 6:54 AM
Breaking. Liz Truss wins this year's FIFA Prize for Economics.
Reposted by Bill Anderson
The Nobel Prize committee should announce the World Cup winner tomorrow
December 6, 2025 at 4:29 AM
The Nobel Prize committee should announce the World Cup winner tomorrow
Reposted by Bill Anderson
Look I get the urge to ignore science, I find it hard to accept that cheese is bad for you/jogging has a point/bourbon isn't a vegetable. It's normal, you get over it, whatever.
What I don't get is ignoring science in the service of killing as many of your own voters as possible, for no reason
What I don't get is ignoring science in the service of killing as many of your own voters as possible, for no reason
Breaking: After contentious debates and three failed attempts at a vote, a federal vaccine committee decided on Friday to end the decades-long recommendation that all newborns be immunized at birth against hepatitis B.
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/05/h...
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/05/h...
An End to Hepatitis B Shots for All Newborns
www.nytimes.com
December 5, 2025 at 5:20 PM
Look I get the urge to ignore science, I find it hard to accept that cheese is bad for you/jogging has a point/bourbon isn't a vegetable. It's normal, you get over it, whatever.
What I don't get is ignoring science in the service of killing as many of your own voters as possible, for no reason
What I don't get is ignoring science in the service of killing as many of your own voters as possible, for no reason
Sublime.
![Comic. Doing a task using a company or organization’s website: [flowchart] Go to website, try to log in → Did it work? → Yes → Try to do your task. → Did it work? Yes → Nice! Done! If logging in did not work → Spend hours troubleshooting account / login. If that works, go to Try to do your task. If no → Give up and call customer service. If spending hours troubleshooting doesn’t work, also give up and call customer service. After calling customer service: Hold message: “Did you know you could do all this more quickly and easily on our website? Just go to w-w-w dot…” → Throw phone and laptop into the sea.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:cz73r7iyiqn26upot4jtjdhk/bafkreiewqnkcrrc4tgla7j5skyz2djf3mrrvre3577c4xcgzurvq33bw4y@jpeg)
December 4, 2025 at 10:58 PM
Sublime.
Reposted by Bill Anderson
Today I learned that NASA has a collection of free ebooks that can be downloaded as pdfs or ebub format.
The science books even include a children’s section with fun activites and coloring books!
science.nasa.gov/multimedia/s...
The science books even include a children’s section with fun activites and coloring books!
science.nasa.gov/multimedia/s...
Science e-Books - NASA Science
From Earth and the other planets in our solar system, to supermassive black holes and the distant galaxies that contain them, explore NASA science and imagery through our library of e-books.
science.nasa.gov
December 4, 2025 at 2:43 PM
Today I learned that NASA has a collection of free ebooks that can be downloaded as pdfs or ebub format.
The science books even include a children’s section with fun activites and coloring books!
science.nasa.gov/multimedia/s...
The science books even include a children’s section with fun activites and coloring books!
science.nasa.gov/multimedia/s...
Reposted by Bill Anderson
new construction data ominous for Labour:
"Separate data from S&P Global UK showed the construction purchasing managers’ index fell from 44.1 in October to 39.4 in November, the lowest since May 2020, when Covid-19 curbs meant the sector was largely shut"
www.ft.com/content/4530...
"Separate data from S&P Global UK showed the construction purchasing managers’ index fell from 44.1 in October to 39.4 in November, the lowest since May 2020, when Covid-19 curbs meant the sector was largely shut"
www.ft.com/content/4530...
UK businesses cut jobs at fastest pace since 2021 while builders report steep downturn
BoE survey and S&P Global data point to impact of Budget uncertainty on headcount and activity
www.ft.com
December 4, 2025 at 3:01 PM
new construction data ominous for Labour:
"Separate data from S&P Global UK showed the construction purchasing managers’ index fell from 44.1 in October to 39.4 in November, the lowest since May 2020, when Covid-19 curbs meant the sector was largely shut"
www.ft.com/content/4530...
"Separate data from S&P Global UK showed the construction purchasing managers’ index fell from 44.1 in October to 39.4 in November, the lowest since May 2020, when Covid-19 curbs meant the sector was largely shut"
www.ft.com/content/4530...