Catherine Clase @cmclase@qoto.org

#introduction I am nonbinary (they, them) and a published #poet, with two books to my name and another in my dreams. I came to creative writing late, and mostly in the US where I lived for 10 years. I've been back in the UK since 2021 but not settled. I have a PhD in English and have taught / edited all kinds of #writing. Open to freelance work! Also into #SocialJustice #humanism #theater #cats #dogs #CrimeFiction. A Scot by birth, but rootless.

Last.call for the City Center Mall ##Hamont. Slowly failing for years. Closed by New Years and they start tearing it down for Condos in the Spring.

My #introduction : I'm a university professor in #Biology interested in how people learn. I do research in #SOTL . I'm interested in #urbanism and #CityPlanning to transform #quebeccity into a #HappyCity. I'm the VP of the Québec #bike coalition (La table de concertation vélo des conseils de quartier de la ville de Québec) and VP of the St-Louis neighbourhood council. I have been #traveling, #cycling, playing outside and enjoying life with my husband for 22 yrs and with our son for 17.

Adding some hashtags since my interests are all over the place. I'll add more when I think of them. #Ethnomusicology, #Afrofuturism

I’ve written up some tips on How to Switch to Mastodon from Twitter:

How to leave Twitter: https://stuff.davidaugust.com/how-to-leave-twitter/

How to find your Twitter people on Mastodon: https://stuff.davidaugust.com/how-to-find-your-twitter-people-on-mastodon/

How to cross-post #Mastodon to #Twitter: https://stuff.davidaugust.com/posting-tweets-to-mastodon/

updated links August 3, 2025

#TwitterMigration #social #xodus

Twitter appears to have stopped third party Twitter apps from accessing Twitter, without any warning or explanation. The reason Twitter can do this is because they control twitter.com and there are no other servers to choose from.

This kind of instant shutdown cannot happen on Mastodon or the Fediverse, because there are thousands of independent servers running on free open software standards.

This is why third party apps are so much more widely used on Mastodon and the Fediverse.

I gave up 15 years on Twitter and 22,000 followers. I used my anniversary to invite others to follow me to Mastodon, and I pointed out that every tweet is a donation to Musk. We know what he is and what he's doing. He gave Michael Flynn his account back on the anniversary of the Jan. 6 insurrection.

I started my #Twitter exodus as a boycott against Musk. Now, I'm thrilled to be here. I miss a few things, but Mastodon is just built better. I feel like it makes me (and you) better, too.

Never forget, a 13-year study of a dozen cities found that protected bike-lanes led to a drastic decline in fatalities for all road users.

ALL ROAD USERS.

And painted bike-lanes? No safety improvement at all. As for sharrows, it’s safer to NOT have them.

Via @Streetsblog, read article linked below.

https://usa.streetsblog.org/2019/05/29/protect-yourself-separated-bike-lanes-means-safer-streets-study-says/

#bikelanes #bikes #cities #sharrows #infrastructure #urbanism #cars

There is no safe level of alcohol consumption. It is a toxic group 1 carcinogen. The big lie repeated by #BigAlcohol claiming "benefits" of "moderate alcohol consumption" deserves to be buried in the same compost pile of #BigTobacco and their paid doctors endorsing "mild," cigarettes.
https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanpub/article/PIIS2468-2667(22)00317-6/fulltext

I want to build more mastodon visibility for the scientists, public health professionals, health care professionals and journalists who are doing excellent #covid #covid19 #scicomm here. So, I'd like to make the #️⃣​hashtag ​#CovidFollows ~a thing~..

I'll start with some of my #CovidFollows:

First up, there's @mackayim2022. Ian Mackay is an Australian virologist who is a promoter of the very useful "Swiss Cheese" model for communicating layered risk reduction. You can read more about this model on his blog here: https://virologydownunder.com/the-swiss-cheese-infographic-that-went-viral/.

Next, @flodebarre. Flo Débarre is an evolutionary biologist in Paris who recently posted an *incredible* #scicomm thread on XBB 1.5. Start here: https://mstdn.science/@flodebarre/109621175211356958. (Yes, that was an English version of what was originally a birdchan thread. This is where I reveal myself to be not much of a purist.)

I'll wrap up this up with @HelenBranswell. Helen Branswell writes on infectious diseases for @STAT. She's a wonderfully clear writer explaining some very complex topics. Check out her end-of-year article about what surprised experts about the #covid19 epidemic the most: https://www.statnews.com/2022/12/27/covid19-pandemic-what-most-surprised-experts/

Who is on your #mastodon #CovidFollows list? Let's give them some love! 😍​

I’ve news for those who don’t want to pay for homeless people to be housed: you are already paying more right now to have them hunted harassed and hospital-dumped than you’d pay if they were in stable housing with supportive services. #EndCriminalization to save $$$.

When we see streets primarily as space to move cars, we miss out on the wonderful places for people that streets can be. And our cities are less successful for it. Actually, it’s not even good for moving cars! Rotenturmstraße’s before-&-after transformation in #Vienna via former Deputy Mayor Birgit Hebein.

#StreetsForPeople #cities #urbanism #streets #transportation #cars #Austria #cars #people

This actually isn’t surprising at all, but it still needs to said over & over — the biggest barrier to more urban biking in cities is the fear of cars.

“A study confirms that if we are serious about getting people on bikes, they need a safe place to ride.”

Via @lloydalter #TreeHugger #bikes #cities #urbanism #cars #BikeLanes
https://www.treehugger.com/fear-of-cars-biggest-biking-barrier-study-6979522

@BavariaNephro @hswapnil @mike_johansen @bijans doing this in my dialysis clinics

@hswapnil @mike_johansen @bijans @ChristosArgyrop the potential of these drugs to decrease BMI with the goal of changing their transplant status to „transplantable“ is vastly unrecognised to, at least in Germany.