Vanessa Smith (@normal_ness) header
Vanessa Smith (@normal_ness) profile picture

We’re all normal to ourselves. I write. Hates hustle, loves shiny objects. Can’t even influence an ant. Anthropology & sociology graduate. Author of books.

Brisbane, QLD, Australia
Joined February 2012
Photo by Vanessa Smith (@normal_ness)Photo by Vanessa Smith (@normal_ness)Photo by Vanessa Smith (@normal_ness)Photo by Vanessa Smith (@normal_ness)Photo by Vanessa Smith (@normal_ness)Photo by Vanessa Smith (@normal_ness)Photo by Vanessa Smith (@normal_ness)Photo by Vanessa Smith (@normal_ness)Photo by Vanessa Smith (@normal_ness)
tech bros after this week
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I’ve learned that physically healthy, able-bodied people think they can “earn” their health. That if they eat right, exercise, and “don’t be lazy,” they’ll be able-bodied forever. This belief is the insidious underbelly of every piece of disability or healthcare legislation.
One of the most effective ways to keep people from questioning an unjust system is to convince them that their ability to survive it makes them morally superior to those who can't.
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To be disabled is almost always to be traumatized. It’s living in a body that can’t keep you safe. It’s doctors dismissing you. It’s family and friends abandoning you. It’s living in a society that doesn’t see your value. It’s constantly having to prove your life is worth living.
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#PoveratiXmas 2026 is almost here 🎅 Start prepping those wishlists and pay links, and get ready to spread a bit of #MutualAid cheer. (The lovely Fiona/phonakins is hosting over on Bluesky, and has handed the reins to me here on Xitter. 😊) #MutualAidAustralia 🎄🎅🎁
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Vanessa Smith retweeted
Never mind there’s zero evidence for any of this, and in fact we have good evidence it doesn’t work the way it’s claimed, but this framing that pits “experts” against patients is so tired. The “experts” are suggesting something that, on average, doesn’t work. So…are they? 🤔
Ein Therapieansatz bei Long Covid spaltet Betroffene wie Fachleute. Die Idee: Das Gehirn habe die Symptome in einer ersten Krankheitsphase erlernt und könne diese mit mentalen Übungen wieder verlernen. srf.ch/wissen/corona/umstrit…
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Vanessa Smith retweeted
The fact Jillian Segal waited til after her Senate appearance this week before releasing an updated report with further crackdown measures on Universities and public freedoms, after already being caught lying at the antisemitism RC, is an absolute disgrace and she must be sacked.
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📢 Ever been told to take your mask off at a hospital appointment? If you’re immunosuppressed, or offered a flu vaccine because of your age, a pregnancy or a health condition, or in a Clinically Vulnerable household take our quick survey. Closes 7 Nov forms.gle/TzeMmLhRUdvtgtGCA
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Another LDN study is being published that was not designed well. They dosed too high and too fast for most people with ME. Something we warn about constantly. Now we’ll have another paper to push back on with our doctors.
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Vanessa Smith retweeted
For my job provider. I also have to pick up glasses that I’ll need transport for. This is why we need to address poverty as it impacts health as I’m spacing out appointments and prescriptions
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“It should be the government's highest priority to ensure that inflicting this pain on people in poverty is ended entirely, not making it lawful, but at the very least she should be taking responsibility for upholding the law.”
Despite strong continued opposition from experts and advocates, the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations will today resume certain elements of the controversial compliance scheme that underpins Australia's employment services system: buff.ly/qwygNvZ
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Vanessa Smith retweeted
i want everyone to know brazil just won against fascism despite them having the media on their pockets and the elites on their side despite millions of dollars of american interventionism despite totally unrealistic odds if we can do it, so can you
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Vanessa Smith retweeted
I would suggest the media has played a significant role in raising the temperature of discourse in this country and amplifying hateful content for clicks #insiders #auspol
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Why is the word violence used when a protester in France smashes a window, but not used when French police assault protesters? Is it somehow no longer violence if the action is committed by an employee of the state?
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Vanessa Smith retweeted
Meghan Markle is getting more heat for being the daughter of an alleged paedophile than (Prince) Andrew got for actually being the alleged paedophile.
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Vanessa Smith retweeted
This country is responsible for the attack on Helen Haines. Not the individuals, the country, the system. And it’s not the first time it’s eaten one of its own.
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Wayside Scribbles is a small, independent project – powered mainly by grit and an unsubstantiated hope that things will one day get better. If you – for some reason – happen to like my scribbles, you can help keep my pen above water: buymeacoffee.com/waysidescri… Love and thanks 🖤
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The way to get a calmer, more cohesive society is to ensure everyone's needs are being met and to strive for equity among all sectors. Big business and all media platforms need serious regulation. There are far too many people profiting from price gouging, and selling conflict.
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Vanessa Smith retweeted
Anyone in the #ME community, patient, carer, HCP etc who might be upset about the ‘ push through and be positive’ approach that Miranda seems to be advocating for #pwME during her appearance on Celeb Traitors, might like to contact her for clarification. 👇 Her agent.
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Vanessa Smith retweeted
People who insist exercise is medicine have the burden of proof. That is their assertion and therefore their obligation to prove it…or not. People who ask for proof do not have the burden of providing it because they are not making the assertion. Them’s the rules. That is all.
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