Welcome…
Jeremy Faust summarizes the current cuts to Science, the NIH, CDC, etc. in his latest Inside Medicine Substack post. It’s not pretty.
More insanity, this time coming from the incompetent head of HHS; as reported by the Washington Post:
“Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said Tuesday that he may bar government scientists from publishing in the world’s leading medical journals, instead proposing the creation of “in-house” publications by his agency — the latest in the Trump administration’s attacks on scientific institutions.
“We’re probably going to stop publishing in the Lancet, New England Journal of Medicine, JAMA and those other journals because they’re all corrupt,” Kennedy said during an appearance on the “Ultimate Human” podcast. He also described the journals as being under the control of pharmaceutical companies.”
And then there’s this – STAT reports that a $600 million Moderna contract for work on mRNA vaccines for pandemic influenza (including H5N1) was cancelled.
Recommended:
• One more sad action from this administration:
“Health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has taken the extraordinary step of firing the expert panel that advises the CDC, saying the action is needed to restore faith in vaccines.”
https://www.wsj.com/opinion/rfk-jr-hhs-moves-to-restore-public-trust-in-vaccines-45495112
From NPR:
“Sen. Bill Cassidy, a physician and Republican representing Louisiana, cast a key vote to advance Kennedy’s nomination to the full Senate. In a floor speech after the committee vote, Cassidy said he was able to vote for Kennedy after securing assurances that he would “maintain the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices recommendations without changes.””
“If confirmed, he will maintain the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices without changes.”
Senator Bill Cassidy, Feb 4, 2025
• Once again, Tom Friedman lays out the many ways that this president is failing us and our children’s future. Read Trump’s Guilded Gut Instinct in the NYT. From the essay:
“In sum, what you are seeing from this Trump II administration, and its bended-knee Congress, is a dangerous, undisciplined, intellectually inconsistent farce that we will pay dearly for in the future. Major geoeconomic moves are being made by one man who has done no homework, modeling or stress-testing and has fostered little apparent interagency process, with no congressional oversight or apparent reference to history.
If you think this is not dangerous, just keep in mind that the Trump Organization Inc. over the years filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection for six different businesses. There was a reason for that: the operating style and values of its boss.”
• If you are a victim of or interested in the damage being done to science, Action Lab is worth a look. It’s self-description:
“We are a living database that grows through user entries and supplies action items for the various issues scientists are facing in the wake of destructive anti-science policies. Filter our database by action type, by location, by deadline, or by the amount of time you have to spend today. Find a way to act that is right for you. “
Let’s just say it’s not all rosy in Web3’s not-so-meta world; caveat emptor…
Howard Oakley’s Eclectic Light Mac Feed:
Always lots of good Mac OS insights here…
