Mark Chataway
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markcha.bsky.social
Mark Chataway
@markcha.bsky.social
I try to understand, and sometimes change, policies and opinions on health and the environment. I work at FINN Partners, but my views are mine alone
I interviewed Mrs Parks when I was a young journalist in Atlanta. She was, as Crystal says, strategic, resolute and very intelligent. What a privilege it was to have been able to talk to her, Dr Abernathy and other pioneers in the civil rights struggle
🧵
Today is the 70th anniversary of Rosa Parks' arrest. Six myths: 1) She wasn't old or tired. 42 years old that day, she had a "life history of being rebellious" & had spent two decades helping to turn the Montgomery NAACP into a more activist branch alongside ED Nixon and Johnnie Carr.
December 1, 2025 at 5:42 PM
I’m so proud to work at a communications consultancy that refuses work from the fossil fuel industries. (Gift link) www.nytimes.com/2025/11/30/c...
Many Fighting Climate Change Worry They Are Losing the Information War
www.nytimes.com
December 1, 2025 at 5:40 PM
And here’s the problem: a dull but worthy article from @washingtonpost.com about #flu vaccines. It tosses around jargon, will never win anyone over and it glosses over problems, like the US having said in the past that the nasal vaccine was barely effective www.washingtonpost.com/wellness/202...
What doctors say about one of the biggest flu shot myths
“The influenza vaccine shows the immune system what potential components of the virus it should focus its efforts on,” one expert said.
www.washingtonpost.com
November 18, 2025 at 12:32 PM
Depressing reading in the @financialtimes.com (gift link) Oil and gas demand to rise for 25 years without global change of course, says IEA - on.ft.com/444JTrE via @FT
Oil and gas demand to rise for 25 years without global change of course, says IEA
International energy watchdog sets out new pessimistic scenario to reflect fading commitment to climate change
on.ft.com
November 12, 2025 at 6:07 AM
While it's long been evident that older Welsh people are much brighter than older English people, in general, the reason had been a mystery until now 😁 "Learning to speak new language can slow biological ageing, TCD researchers find"

www.irishtimes.com/health/2025/...
Learning to speak new language can slow biological ageing, TCD researchers find
People from countries where multilingualism was common were 2.17 times less likely to experience accelerated ageing
www.irishtimes.com
November 10, 2025 at 6:43 PM
It's rare that history is written well contemporaneously, but Lawrence Freed has done it here in the @financialtimes.com. I suspect this what good historians will write in 50 years' time - if, of course, good historians are allowed to write truthfully 50 years from now... on.ft.com/47uvAPj
Trump had to choose between Israel and Qatar. He chose Qatar
Gaza’s future hangs in the balance. But while a fragile ceasefire holds, it looks like Israel has lost influence over the peace process, writes Lawrence Freedman
on.ft.com
October 18, 2025 at 10:33 AM
Why things correlated strongly with one another don’t necessarily have any causal relationship - although I have often felt homicidal after using Microsoft Office, so….
i feel like you dont' see this talked about enough
October 16, 2025 at 2:46 PM
Reposted by Mark Chataway
via Brexit Means, Brexit Memes
October 15, 2025 at 1:37 PM
Vaccines drive economic prosperity. That’s what we’ll be exploring at #WHS2025 — the World Health Summit — tomorrow (Monday the 13th).

Vaccinating for Prosperity happens from from 2:00 pm to 3:30 pm CEST at the InterContinental Berlin (Room - Side Meeting VII)

See you in person or on line
October 12, 2025 at 12:50 PM
Reposted by Mark Chataway
If you test positive for #HIV, treatment is highly effective, and most can expect to live a long, healthy life.

Early diagnosis can be lifesaving, so please get tested regularly if you’re sexually active.

Visit the NHS website to check your options: https://t.co/rvJOa6bo28 https://t.co/TxoVjMSA1n
October 8, 2025 at 4:28 PM
A conspiracy of silence in the media about the contribution of meat production and dairy to the climate crisis from @theguardian.com www.theguardian.com/environment/...
Meat is a leading emissions source – but few outlets report on it, analysis finds
Sentient Media reveals less than 4% of climate news stories mention animal agriculture as source of carbon emissions
www.theguardian.com
September 27, 2025 at 9:00 PM
Why does the UK Government continue to tolerate the venal, protectionist conniviving of the British medical profession's royal colleges and regulatory bodies? As AI progresses, this behaviour will get worse. Now is the time to combat it. From @thetimes.com www.thetimes.com/article/3360...
We moved to Australia as junior doctors. The NHS won’t let us back
Britain is desperately short of consultants, but a one-way bureaucratic barrier means it takes years for specialists to return home — and some have given up trying
www.thetimes.com
September 27, 2025 at 7:24 AM
People who get adult vaccines are less likely to develop dementia. We don't know for sure, but it looks as if many vaccines keep your brain functioning well, says reporting in the @washingtonpost.com

www.washingtonpost.com/wellness/202...
4 vaccines linked to a lower risk of dementia
Some vaccine-preventable diseases are linked to accelerated brain atrophy and increased dementia risk years down the line.
www.washingtonpost.com
September 27, 2025 at 6:27 AM
What if they issued a return-to-office mandate but no-one came? It looks as if widespread resistance is undermining the HR consultants www.wsj.com/lifestyle/wo...
The Rush to Return to the Office Is Stalling
Microsoft, Paramount and other companies are stepping up calls to show up at work. Many of their employees are still phoning it in.
www.wsj.com
September 22, 2025 at 1:24 PM
Thoughtful editorial from @csmonitor.bsky.social “Africa’s citizens demonstrate high entrepreneurial energy and drive…African nations can avoid or leapfrog some of the environmental pitfalls of industrialization models followed by the West, Asia, or Latin America” www.csmonitor.com/Commentary/t...
Africa’s climate action as a plus for growth
A regional gathering showed how the continent is acting together to reimagine partnerships and African-led solutions.
www.csmonitor.com
September 15, 2025 at 2:30 PM
Which country thinks solar is the cheapest, fastest and most secure source of electricity available? It's so convinced about it that 50% of its electricity will come from solar within five years. That would be Saudi Arabia... www.wsj.com/business/ene...
Oil Giant Saudi Arabia Is Emerging as a Solar Power
The kingdom is betting that sunshine can power new AI data centers and help boost oil exports.
www.wsj.com
September 11, 2025 at 8:46 AM
Here's a strange editorial decision by the @nytimes.com. in reporting that Finland's airforce has decided to stop using the swastika, the NYT says that its use predated the Nazis. Also relevant, you'd think, is that Finland was a Nazi ally until near the end of WW2 www.nytimes.com/2025/08/29/w...
Finland’s Air Force Will Stop Using the Swastika on Flags
www.nytimes.com
August 31, 2025 at 11:57 AM
Not only that, China has an open field in development cooperation in Africa thanks to European and US cut backs. Expect our leaders to wake up and panic some time soon
Making America Great 🫠

“The U.S. is helping China to increase its global influence. China may suffer economically because of the tariffs, but politically, China is gaining more sympathy and more support from other countries, and not just in the Global South.”

www.wsj.com/world/while-...
While Trump Rattles the World, China Basks in the Limelight
The leaders of three of the world’s four most powerful nations will meet in China this weekend to discuss how to react to the upending of the international order by the U.S. president.
www.wsj.com
August 30, 2025 at 12:28 PM
Why are most countries seeing a decline in fertility? It's usually only the brilliant @draliceevans.bsky.social who talks about the fact that we're not that interested in sex any more. I wonder if it's not an evolutionary response to our crowded, warming planet www.wsj.com/lifestyle/re...
Americans Are Having Less Sex Than Ever
Married, single, young, old—a new study says Americans are in a sex recession. Our columnist asked the experts how to end the drought.
www.wsj.com
August 30, 2025 at 12:24 PM
Virtual church services promote wellbeing as much as in person services but there's less transcendent experience of God, psychologists say. I've been going to virtual Quaker meetings at least once a week since 2020. I think the psychologists are selling them short. psycnet.apa.org/doiLanding?d...
APA PsycNet
psycnet.apa.org
August 25, 2025 at 10:02 PM
“This amplifying feedback that we’re talking about now is across systemsIt’s from the ocean back to the ice, and then back into the ocean again, that can trigger a runaway change where we do see the overturning potentially collapse altogether” Albeit that the data on the Arctic needs more explaining
August 25, 2025 at 3:09 PM
How this is news beats me, but it's the lead story in the Financial Times. Next the central bank governors will tell us it will be quite dark unless the sun keeps rising (gift link for the first few click throughs) - on.ft.com/4mP3xQ9 via @financialtimes.com
Rich economies will need foreign workers to fuel growth, policymakers warn
Central bankers say low birth rates in world’s largest economies pose threat to productivity and prices
on.ft.com
August 24, 2025 at 1:03 PM
This is genuinely fascinating but will, sadly, give the climate deniers more ammunition. Arctic sea ice has not melted much over the past 15 years and researchers don’t really understand why. They suspect it is a temporary blip before rapid loss starts again. www.theguardian.com/environment/...
Dramatic slowdown in melting of Arctic sea ice surprises scientists
Natural climate variation is most likely reason as global heating due to fossil fuel burning has continued
www.theguardian.com
August 20, 2025 at 12:20 PM