Vaccination is popular, anti-vax can and should be resisted.
The Trump Musk Return To Office – closets, rooms without desks, wifi-fi, or even lights!
VACCINATION IS POPULAR. It is certainly worth it to keep up the pressure in favour of vaccines.
NBC - White House withdraws CDC director nomination just before his Senate confirmation hearing - Former Rep. Dave Weldon, R-Fla., was set to face questions at his Senate confirmation hearing Thursday morning. March 13, 2025, 9:16 AM EDT / Updated March 13, 2025, 12:18 PM EDT By Garrett Haake, Rebecca Shabad, Berkeley Lovelace Jr. and Erika Edwards The White House decided to pull Weldon’s nomination when it became clear that he would not have the votes to be favorably reported out of committee because of his past controversial comments about vaccines, the official said. The Senate committee chairman, Bill Cassidy, R-La., had been looking forward to the hearing, but Weldon didn’t have the votes from the panel to get the nomination onto the Senate floor, a source on Capitol Hill close to the chairman said.
Keep telling the people in elected positions at all levels of government.
My letter to elected representatives:
I want vaccines. I want research on effective vaccines funded, I want covid vaccines, I want vaccines covered by all insurance, and I want free vaccination available to the uninsured. I want you to make sure I'm able to get vaccinated and that we have effective vaccination campaigns.
Please feel free to copy or repurpose the contents of my letter for your own letters to reps.
I’ve seen some people are confused about why this guy wasn’t just pushed through anyway like RFKJr for example that had a lot of opposition too. It’s important to remember the politicking, nepotism, and back scratching in play. Dave Weldon isn't a Kennedy. Dave Weldon doesn't have the audience clout and constituency of RFKJr. Dave Weldon maybe isn't owed any big favours by Donald Trump, so it's likely Donald Trump wasn't going to go balls to the wall to threaten Republic senators with Elon Musk funded primaries or bother to incite MAGA trolls or far right militias to threaten politicians’ families with violence over a Dave Weldon vote.
FDA had a closed door meeting to decide the flu vax composition.
FDA - Influenza Vaccine Composition for the 2025-2026 U.S. Influenza Season Today, the FDA made recommendations to vaccine manufacturers for the virus strains to be used in influenza (flu) vaccines for the 2025-2026 U.S. flu season following a thorough and comprehensive review of U.S. and global surveillance data. With today’s action, the FDA does not anticipate any impact on timing or availability of vaccines for the American public. The recommendations are similar to the previous year’s strain selection. To inform the selection of the flu virus strains, the FDA convened a meeting of scientific and public health experts from the FDA, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Department of Defense for this in-depth discussion. During the meeting, these federal partners collaboratively evaluated and analyzed U.S. and global surveillance data related to the epidemiology and antigenic characteristics of flu viruses currently circulating. (emphasis added)
Someone needs to do a FOIA request perhaps to get the deets on what “similar to the previous year’s strain” actually means. I did a FOIA request to the CDC in 2021, and unfortunately this agency makes it harder to find out what’s going on than some other agencies, but I think with RFKJr ending of the public comment periods and less transparency, there is more need for FOIA requests. Are you interested in knowing more about my FOIA request experience? Are you planning on making your own to any public agency? Feel free to contact me. It would sure be good to hear some resourced organization was getting some legal advice on doing FOIA requests to get the deets. (Note: 404 Media offers FOIA webinars and a support forum for paid subscribers. I am not a paid subscriber and don’t know exactly what this entails but it’s one of the few resources I’ve seen for the general public on getting professional help with FOIA requests.)
Jeff Hauser asked, “Why closed door?” And I think the answer to this is a combination of things. I think there was enough pressure that they had to get it done, but they’d already stopped public comment and cancelled public meetings. And this is fitting with the Accusation in a Mirror of the entire administration — they claimed “deep state” secrets out of the eyes of the public for years, and now they’re the ones actually in government and doing that — every accusation is a confession. I think this also serves their purpose of undermining the vaccines further among people who actually want vaccines, as it was decided in secret by a vaccine-hostile government agency, and will therefore will be viewed with suspicion. And it should be viewed with some suspicion since in the past this has been a scientifically transparent process open to public view and input.
🗞️ In the news
CIDRAP - Information, clinician advice may be key to boosting vaccines in older people - Mary Van Beusekom, MS February 24, 2025 Only 15% of US adults aged 50 and older and 25% of those 65 and older are up to date on recommended vaccinations against infectious diseases such as flu, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), and pneumococcal disease, but a recent study suggests that giving patients information before their appointment and a clear endorsement from their healthcare provider (HCP) could increase uptake in these age-groups.
DOGE Fired These CDC, NIH Workers. Now They're Speaking Out. MedPage Today Mar 11, 2025 (Youtube) In a chaotic purge by the Trump administration, thousands of employees at federal agencies were let go in February over Presidents' Day weekend. The layoffs primarily targeted probationary employees, workers generally within the first year or two of their employment. MedPage Today spoke with two of the fired health workers: Amy Chroeng, MPH, formerly of the CDC, who learned about the firings via social media even before her leadership team knew; and Julie Cakici, PhD, who was informed that her NIH contract had been terminated -- and that she had 1 hour to log off from all federal systems. In this video, Chroeng and Cakici talk about their work at CDC and NIH, how the purge has affected them, and discuss their hopes for their careers and former programs.
Important Context - Ivermectin Doctors Launch New Medical Journal - It is the latest dark money-fueled publication stacked with fringe doctors with ties to the Trump administration. Walker Bragman Mar 12, 2025 The press release announcing the new journal promised it would be “a groundbreaking peer-reviewed publication dedicated to restoring integrity, transparency, and scientific independence in medical research and education.” But FLCCC, which trademarked the slogan “Honest Medicine” in April last year, is known for its promotion of vaccine misinformation and the antiparasitic drug ivermectin, which they have long held up as a treatment for a number of diseases—most notably COVID, despite multiple large, high quality studies finding it ineffective for that purpose. More recently, they have billed their I-PREVENT COVID, flu, and RSV protocol, which includes ivermectin, as bird flu prevention. FLCCC co-founders, Drs. Pierre Kory and Paul Marik, had their board certifications revoked by the American Board of Internal Medicine last year for spreading COVID misinformation. Nevertheless, the IMA’s new publication appears aimed at continuing its pro-ivermectin crusade.
CIDRAP - Study shows for most, long-COVID symptoms persist into second year - Stephanie Soucheray, MA January 24, 2025 A new study based on German long-COVID patients shows 68% experience the same symptoms in year 2 as in year 1 of the chronic condition.
CIDRAP - Tamiflu cuts risk of death in older adults, study suggests Stephanie Soucheray, MA February 3, 2025 A Canadian study published today in Open Forum Infectious Diseases shows that adults 65 years and older had a significant reduction in mortality risk if given the antiviral oseltamivir (Tamiflu) during influenza hospitalizations, regardless of vaccination status. The study did show, however, that the risk reduction was significant only for infections from influenza A and not influenza B, which is typically less common.
Energy Secretary embraces climate collapse as having benefits.
HEATED - Trump energy chief says there are upsides to ecological collapse Seven Democrats voted to confirm this man. Seven! Emily Atkin Feb 20 2025 “He believes in science,” Hickenlooper said in a statement explaining his vote. But now that Wright’s secured the job, the mask is quickly slipping off. ”There’s pluses to global warming” In an interview on Fox Business on Wednesday, the new Energy Secretary said there are upsides to raising the Earth’s temperature to levels not witnessed since before the last ice age. “Everything in life has trade-offs,” he began…
My letter to my senators:
There are no pluses to climate collapse, and preventing, stopping, and mitigating ecological disasters is something that should be prioritized. Anyone not prioritizing human health, public safety, and our community in environmental issues needs to not be the one making the decisions for we the people. Chris Wright needs oversight.
Please feel free to copy or repurpose the contents of my letter for your own letters to reps.
If I was in any of those states with those Dem senators who voted for Chris Wright, I would make a point of writing and complaining about it. (New Hampshire, Colorado, Hawaii, Arizona.)
The Trump Musk Return To Office – closets, rooms without desks, wifi-fi, or even lights!
Back in January I said that the Trump administration was taking modern workplaces back to the dark ages, and I didn't realize that would include also into the literal dark, that federal workers would be forced back to offices without even lights.
‘It was messy’: Federal workers ordered to return to offices without desks, Wi-Fi and lights By Sunlen Serfaty, Tami Luhby, Ella Nilsen and Jeremy Herb, CNN Updated 9:33 AM EST, Tue March 4, 2025 Department of Education employees at an office in Dallas returned to ethernet cords in piles around the floor, random wires sticking out of walls, and motion-sensor lights that weren’t working correctly, leading to dark workspaces. One employee tripped over a pile of cords on her first day back, resulting in a large gash on her foot. She’s submitted a workers’ compensation complaint. And a Department of Defense employee who returned to in-office work and handles sensitive information was stuck in a conference room with people on different teams, forcing them to leave the room to make calls. The employee was eventually moved to an office — but one without Wi-Fi, so they had to use their phone’s spotty hot spot. “The only thing a return to the office has given me is an hour of traffic while driving and a loss in efficiency,” said the worker, who requested anonymity for fear of job reprisals. The problems, confusion and slipups that federal employees told CNN they’ve encountered returning to the office have only added to the chaos inside the workforce six weeks into a Trump administration determined to slash the size and scope of the federal government. Some federal workers being told to return to the office have no space to return to.
Not the worst pandemic takes, but why do people seem to miss the experience of entire segments of the population?
And it's not that I'm alone or unique because I know many many people who are in similar situations to me.
David Wallace-Wells was on Marketplace podcast talking about the covid pandemic declaration anniversary and was surprisingly realistic about it, including pointing out that there were more covid deaths under Biden than Trump, despite him saying the deaths under Trump were unacceptable. And they talked about how forcing normal was bad. And how people became more individualistic and caustic and selfish. But then he made it sound like everyone got selfish. And then he started saying the schools shouldn’t have been closed so long. But then he said 4 times as many kids die from covid since they reopened schools than in the first 1-1/2 years of the pandemic. Ok so first off schools weren’t closed for 1-1/2 years. This is pandemic lockdown revisionist history. He’s equating masks in schools as the same as school closure. Schools weren’t closed. I remember seeing the school buses in my neighborhood full of kids with masks on looking out the windows in 2020-2021 school year. But why would you think they should’ve gone back to normal in schools earlier if you know more kids died after that? That sounds like he’s almost saying that more kids ought to have died! And then he made the point that kids got the vaccines later so they were safer later, but um, most kids were not vaccinated for covid, ever, and now only about 12% are up to date on covid vaccination. He also described eugenics, that people came to embrace eugenics, but without actually mentioning the actual word eugenics. The one host had mentioned it more specifically, in saying that she heard on some podcast that people have become more cruel and the pandemic taught people to see others as disposable. But still didn't mention eugenics either. I think leadership gave the signals over and over again that it was appropriate to treat others as disposable, especially people "with underlying conditions" – not just the Great Barrington Declaration people and Trump's guy Scott Atlas, but it continued with Biden's CDC director Rochelle Walensky. And it's continued ever since, culminating in the ultimate open eugenicists now making public health decisions. We've fully embraced the outlook of the guy early on had about the old people just being sacrificed to the economy. On the podcast when they talked about the economy, and the host asks if the pandemic explains why the economy looked great but people didn’t feel it. And they completely ignored the fact that many of us were forced into retirement, were forced out of high-exposure jobs, or were forced out of work because of long covid disability or other covid complications, or just losing jobs because of needing more sick time than allowed when forced into getting covid over and over again. He was actually talking about people getting into crypto, meme stocks, sports gambling, and day trading with their stimulus checks and getting all risky. Something’s off about that take for me. I do think people went into those things, but I think it was more out of desperation and getting duped by online profiteering marketing probably.
No, we don’t need to pay attention to covid contrarian weirdos.
I can't believe people are still slumming it online looking at poo from niche covid twitter pandemic denier weirdo Prof Francois Balloux in 2025. Just stop that people. There's no redemptions here, and FAFO content is absolutely hopium clickbait. Just leave it be. We have better things to do.
Quote:
Sharing of misinformation is habitual, not just lazy or biased, “Due to the reward-based learning systems on social media, users form habits of sharing information that attracts others' attention. Once habits form, information sharing is automatically activated by cues on the platform without users considering response outcomes such as spreading misinformation.” Sharing of misinformation is habitual, not just lazy or biased, Gizem Ceylan, Ian A. Anderson, and Wendy Wood, Edited by Susan Fiske, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ; received September 28, 2022; accepted December 3, 2022, January 17, 2023 120 (4) e2216614120 https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2216614120