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Today in our ongoing national embarrassment…

’Where will you hide, Roberts, the laws all being flat?’

Nothing says ‘pro-life’ like letting children go hungry.

So it was an October Surprise A Day, like an Advent calendar but for crime.

A democracy can’t function when people can’t distinguish facts from lies.

The willow is too close to the house.

Usually wrong but never in doubt

Hot air and ill-informed banter

A fool as well as an oath-breaker.

America is going up in flames. The NYTimes fawns over MAGA celebrities. No longer a real newspaper.

Not all heroes wear capes.

“Facilitate” is an active verb, not a weasel word.

And now I have baud making fun of me. this day can’t get worse.

Accountability, motherfuckers.

Take hopelessness and turn it into resilience.

Not rolling over. fuck you, make me.

They are not red states to be hated; they are voter suppression states to be fixed.

When you’re in more danger from the IDF than from Russian shelling, that’s really bad.

The real work of an opposition party is to oppose.

Let’s delete this post and never speak of this again.

Second rate reporter says what?

Hi god, it’s us. Thanks a heap, you’re having a great week and it’s only Thursday!

They want us to be overwhelmed and exhausted. Focus. Resist. Oppose.

You are here: Home / Open Threads / Wednesday Night Open Thread

Wednesday Night Open Thread

by | 201 Comments

This post is in: 

I have nothing to report other than that fuckboy had issued an order that has shut down all NIH study sections. If you do not know what this means, it means that they’re fucking with grant distribution to medical and scientific research. If I had to guess it is being done for them to create a new review process to make sure that only white people benefit.

In other news, we are on the third season of Deadwood (Joelle’s first viewing), and Joelle has threatened to kick me out if I refuse to stop talking and forming sentences like EB Farnum. “May I query as to whether that sandwich will fulfill your dietary requirements, or shall I inform Richardson to formulate a second course so as to sate your gastric desires?”

Reader Interactions

201Comments

  1. 1.

    Rusty

    Trump pardoned the Silk Road guy Ulbricht who contracted for six murders and trafficked $200M in drugs.  He also pardoned two D.C. cops who killed a black teen, one was convicted of 2nd degree murder.  Unbelievable.

  2. 2.

    Old School

    Concerned!

    Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) told reporters Wednesday that she was concerned that the FBI’s background investigation report about secretary of Defense nominee Pete Hegseth is said to have omitted relevant information, such as an interview with the nominee’s former sister-in-law alleging physical intimidation and drunken behavior.
    “I’ve heard from others that pertinent information has not been included, and that is troubling,” Collins said. “When you’re making a decision about a nominee, you want to have as complete a picture as possible.”

  4. 4.

    RoseWeiss

    He also rescinded the order for the government to negotiate drug prices for Medicare/Medicaid patients. So much for bringing prices under control.

  5. 5.

    tobie

    The halt to all grant review committee meetings at the NIH is really disturbing. I heard in November that the Trump admin wanted to change NIH funding to block grants for states. There are two glaring problems with that: (1) research funding gets diluted because different states have different priorities,  and it becomes impossible to channel resources to specific problems deemed to be of national importance; (2) many states simply do not have enough people with the expertise to evaluate the feasibility of grant proposals on a broad range of subjects. Biomedical research in the US has thrived because of the effectiveness of NIH funding. This is a recipe for both a public health crisis and an economic crisis. The US simply will not lead any longer in biomedical research.

  6. 6.

    AndyG

    They also shut down NIH advisory councils (at least temporarily), which means that the NIH can’t fund grants that already got good reviews. I was meant to serve on one tomorrow and heard it was cancelled this afternoon.

  8. 8.

    David Hunt

    “Joelle has threatened to kick me out if I refuse to stop talking and forming sentences like EB Farnum. ‘May I query as to whether that sandwich will fulfill your dietary requirements, or shall I inform Richardson to formulate a second course so as to sate your gastric desires?’”

    I mean…sounds fair.

  10. 10.

    Old Dan and Little Ann

    I like most popular shows that people enjoy.  Deadwood, however, was too over the top for me.  I love swearing as much as the next guy but holy shite.

  11. 11.

    Harrison Wesley

    My oldest friend may be a victim of this attack on medical grants. There’s no way she can afford her heart medication if the trial she’s in gets defunded.  Really bad.

  13. 13.

    Hildebrand

    I know it’s hyperbole to ponder a whites only med research future – but if Trump really presses this, medical research will grind to an absolute halt.  So will all scientific research.  White folks, especially white men, don’t go into such fields in significant numbers anymore…too difficult, it seems.

  14. 14.

    tobie

    @Hildebrand: Probably the only thing that will get funded is research on fetal heartbeats and ivermectin by quack doctors no experience designing legit studies

    ETA: I’m stocking up on N95s while I still can. I anticipate that I’ll lose my job within a year.

  15. 15.

    TBone

    @prostratedragon: I just watched The 39 Steps and I’m looking forward to more Alfred tonight since it looks like I can’t sleep.  Robert Donat is excellent.  I also like Oscar Homolka in everything I’ve seen him in.  I Remember Mama, especially.

  18. 18.

    Jackie

    @Rusty:

    Trump pardoned the Silk Road guy Ulbricht who contracted for six murders and trafficked $200M in drugs.  He also pardoned two D.C. cops who killed a black teen, one was convicted of 2nd degree murder.  Unbelievable.

    Seriously, what’s so unbelievable about this?

  19. 19.

    Aggieric

    Waiting now for what seems inevitable – my job is based on NSF grants that are focused on expanding participation of women and people with disabilities in STEM degrees in college/university. While we aren’t, most such programs are explicitly focused on racial & ethnically diverse students, but I expect we’ll all go down together.  I’m fortunate though; hubby makes a good salary, his job is portable, he’s two decades younger and I’m only three years from retirement, so it will be a relatively negligible financial hit for us. Not true for many of my coworkers with two incomes, kids, mortgages, grad school debt.  Hubby’s from Europe and we’ve always planned to move back there when I retire, so we may just leave earlier.

  21. 21.

    Jackie

    @RoseWeiss:

    He also rescinded the order for the government to negotiate drug prices for Medicare/Medicaid patients. So much for bringing prices under control.

    Big Pharma owns the GOP. You’re really shocked?

  23. 23.

    Gloria DryGarden

    @Harrison Wesley: With so much changing at once, it’s personal for many of us. At this rate, by next week, who knows what else?

     

    @TBone: sorry you’re awake. How was the vet trip? I wasn’t on earlier, I may have missed some of your report. I hope it was better news.

  24. 24.

    Jay

    @tobie:

    I wear Palisades masks, bamboo inner lining, cotton outer, N95 filter insert. Masks are good for hundreds of washes, filters, about 15. Copper nose bridge, copper chin bridge, tight fitting, behind the head straps with a toggle. Inserts are cheap.

    N95 masks are also reusable for Covid after a day in the sun.

    I also like the idea of cartridge and other masks with an exhale valve.

    No need to protect the morons.

    T and I got our Covid boosters again, today.

  26. 26.

    chrisanthemama

    @Jackie: Well, maybe ‘cuz trump said in 2022–when he embarked on his campaign–that drug dealers should get the death penalty.  There’s receipts.

  27. 27.

    Jackie

    @Jay:

    T and I got our Covid boosters again, today.

    I’m hoping Medicare still pays for boosters in March. It’ll probably be the last free booster for me, as I expect Kennedy jr to revoke free vaccinations soon.

  29. 29.

    Jackie

    @chrisanthemama:

    Well, maybe ‘cuz trump said in 2022–when he embarked on his campaign–that drug dealers should get the death penalty.  There’s receipts.

    It all depends on who the drug dealers are. FFOTUS supporters are exempt.

  30. 30.

    tobie

    @Harrison Wesley: @Jay: The masks on Amazon have gotten a bit pricey. I will try Jay’s suggestion about a washable mask + insert. Project N95 was a good resource in the past.

    I got my last booster in September. I wonder if I’m eligible to get one again. Normally I’d wait but who knows what will happen with the availability of vaccines in the US. So many hew factors to have to consider…

  31. 31.

    J. Arthur Crank

    Thought experiment:  We know the Felon-in-Chief has pardoned many domestic terrorists.  At least one of them (to my knowledge) has publicly stated that he intends to buy a gun.  What would the reaction be if these just-released terrorists went out and started shooting at the CEOs of major health insurance companies?    Discuss.

  32. 32.

    Harrison Wesley

    @tobie: I have the same concern you do for future vaccine availability. I signed up for a booster last week, but have to wait until CVS gets more Novavax in.

  35. 35.

    Jay

    @tobie:

    February, if they are still available in the US.

    Here in BC, the Province tracks our vax’s, so we got to jump in early in August, because of T’s cancer and surgeries, ( just asked, 2 months early, they said yes in minutes), they send us a text notification, (5am today), booked it via the website, 3 block walk to get stabbed.

    All free.

  36. 36.

    ArchTeryx

    Considering that it was The Sequester that drove me out of biomedical research (as well as a generous amount of anti-disability bigotry) in 2013, this doesn’t surprise me at all. I don’t think any of us are going to be safe before this is over.

  37. 37.

    Harrison Wesley

    @tobie: Yes, a year or so ago. I try to switch between Moderna/Pfizer and Novavax. I’m afraid my reactions aren’t very good clues about other people’s reactions – I very rarely have more than a slightly sore arm, and the only shot I’ve had recently that made me slightly ill was MMR, not COVID.

  38. 38.

    Ohio Mom

    @tobie: Block granting is an old Republican favorite. It ends up reducing funding, I’m under the impression states start reallocating the money elsewhere.

    I’m dreading when they announce they are block granting Medicaid. There goes Ohio Son’s supports.

  41. 41.

    tobie

    @Jay: I’m expecting I’ll have to pay for COVID boosters in the future. And for screening mammograms. I was wondering if the Trump admin was also going to suspend free PSA tests as part of the annual physical but then realized that men’s health issues are never gender issues for Trumpers only women’s health issues. Not even your fellow Canadian Margaret Atwood could have anticipated how fast everything would come crashing down in the US.

  42. 42.

    Jay

    @tobie:

    Here, we have to pay for RSV, but have “private” health insurance, so it’s just upfront, then reimbursed, but I expect with the surge of RSV cases, it will soon be covered by the Province.

  44. 44.

    Sister Golden Bear

    @tobie:

    Probably the only thing that will get funded is research on fetal heartbeats and ivermectin by quack doctors no experience designing legit studies

    And how trans healthcare is actually harmful, and convinces deluded cis people that they’re trans. So it should be banned entirely.

    I wish I was joking.

  45. 45.

    tobie

    @Ohio Mom: Agree block-granting is usually a way to starve programs of funds. GOPers have been pledging to block-grant Medicaid for ages. I’ll be thinking of you and hoping this doesn’t come to pass. Fingers crossed for you.

  46. 46.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    @Ohio Mom:

    But somebody on another thread mentioned that federal funding of biomedical research has strong bipartisan support because all states benefit from it?

  48. 48.

    Ohio Mom

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): Medical research is one of those things that generate money. I don’t know the numbers, but for every dollar spent, more dollars are returned to the economy.

    I would guess that most of the time, states do not see that money directly, which isn’t going to inspire states to step up.

    We are going to lose scientists to other countries and not get them back. We will lose a huge knowledge base and all the benefits, both financial and otherwise, those scientists would have created for us.

  52. 52.

    prostratedragon

    @tobie:  In the past I’ve heard that 4 months for a booster is acceptable, 6 months optimal. Maybe if you get a different brand the shorter time would work ok.

  53. 53.

    Redshift

    @Aggieric:

    While we aren’t, most such programs are explicitly focused on racial & ethnically diverse students, but I expect we’ll all go down together.

    Probably a smart call. Disability activists on BlueSky were pointing out that the current purge (and Soviet-style report-your-coworkers demand) against “DEI” is using the acronym DEIA – with the A standing for “ability,” meaning they’re going after disability rights, too.

  54. 54.

    ArchTeryx

    @Redshift: Yep. Of course they’re going to come after disabled people. They tried it last time Trump was in office, to effectively attempt a genocide of chronically ill, poor, disabled people. They failed by one vote in the Senate.

    This time he’ll probably try and repeal the ADA by executive order or something.

  55. 55.

    Redshift

    @chrisanthemama:

    Well, maybe ‘cuz trump said in 2022–when he embarked on his campaign–that drug dealers should get the death penalty. There’s receipts.

    You would think so, but it’s probably safer to always assume he only means the “bad” ones (i.e., Black and brown people.) And especially not ones where he can get something for letting them off, like a Libertarian Party endorsement and adulation from crypto bros.

  56. 56.

    PsiFighter37

    @ArchTeryx: My hunch is that ACA will be on the table after the 2026 midterms if the GOP manages to maintain control of both houses of Congress. Given their current slimline majority in the House, they are going to stick with priorities they know they can push through (which is probably, to be frank, only taxes – I think the Senate parliamentarian is going to strike a lot of stuff as being non-germane to budgetary matters, and Thune doesn’t yet strike me as the Senate GOP leader who is going to completely nuke Senate rules in the interest of running roughshod on reconciliation).

    The bad thing is that it is clear that the felon is going to try and rule by fiat, hence these wildly unconstitutional executive orders on birthright citizenship and stuff. I have no doubt that Democratic state AGs and good government groups are scouring every order and suing over what is truly indefensible by the law. The crazy thing is that we are basically going to be dependent on Roberts and at least one other conservative (which likely seems to be Barrett, crazy as it sounds) to hold the line on what should be elementary stuff.

  57. 57.

    Redshift

    If I had to guess it is being done for them to create a new review process to make sure that only white people benefit.

    I can’t decide if that’s more or less disturbing than the prospect that it’s all being paused until RFKjr can review everything to get rid of the evil medical research being pushed on us and reorient the department toward whatever his current grifts are.

  58. 58.

    Redshift

    @PsiFighter37: The other thing to keep in mind is that executive orders are basically declarations that he wants something to happen. They’re not plans or processes. In some cases (like “stop doing this thing”), unfortunately they can pretty much just take effect. But in other cases they can be fought (as you noted), and not always just on grounds of constitutionality, and they can also be derailed by incompetence,  factionalism, and infighting. We can push on our electeds (especially state and local) to use all of those angles. Indivisible is going hard on organizing this kind of stuff, and I’m sure other groups are too.

  59. 59.

    sentient ai from the future

    i am a gotdamn communist trying to file/create for-profit shell companies in order to buy APIs (active pharmaceutical ingredients) from India, that i guess i would compound stateside using compounding pharmacies if they were ever delivered. worth the few hundred dollars in filing fees to figure it out, at any rate.

    if you sense what i’m doing wrong because you actually know whats up, holler at me or get a frontpager to email me.

    what a world we live in.

  62. 62.

    prostratedragon

    From the complete transcropt of Bishop Budde’s sermon:

    It goes without saying that in a democracy not everyone’s particular hopes and dreams can be realized in a given legislative session or a presidential term. Not even in a generation. Which is to say: Not everyone’s specific prayers for those of us who are people of prayer; Not everyone’s prayers will be answered in the way we would like. But for some, the loss of their hopes and dreams will be far more than political defeat, but instead a loss of equality and dignity and their livelihoods.

    Given this then, is true unity among us even possible? And why should we care about it?

    Well, I hope we care. I hope we care because the culture of contempt that has become normalized in this country threatens to destroy us. We are all bombarded daily with messages from what sociologists now call the outrage industrial complex Some of that driven by external forces whose interests are furthered by a polarized America. Contempt fuels political campaigns and social media. And many profit from that. But it’s a worrisome, it’s a dangerous way to lead a country.

    Seemed to me that it was in this passage, specifically “culture of contempt,” that the hit dog truly started to holler.

  63. 63.

    bjacques

    @Steve LaBonne: Concerned Collins is certainly phoning it in, though with the GOP majority and the votes of a few feckless Dems, she may get a golden “no” ticket to burnish her “moderate” credentials.

  64. 64.

    RaflW

    @tobie: Both Putin and Xi are probably bouncing off the walls with glee. Trump — and the Republicans, always include the whole elected cadre! — are doing everything in their power to weaken us and let China eclipse us and Russia just point and laugh.

    There was a time when our nonpartisan institutions would have noticed this and made a stink by now. Is anything even getting mentioned at, say, Brookings? WaPo (other than stroking the GOPs for their swift boldness)?

    I’m so fucking cynical this morning I can hardly stand myself.

  66. 66.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    If I had to guess it is being done for them to create a new review process to make sure that only white people benefit.

    The idea of “white medicine” is so stupid, I could believe it with these clowns. I imagine it will be something to do with crystals and other new age quackery.

  68. 68.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @prostratedragon:

    Add to the list of strong, prominent women courageously speaking truth to power the name of Bishop Budde. I’m about to watch the rerun of Rachel’s interview with her.

  70. 70.

    WTFGhost

    Republicans have wanted to kill scientific research that would prove that people are dying as a result of corporate greed and malfeasance, so, they only want scientific studies that include full, unfettered, access to all personal information and medical records.

    Since that would mean that a lot of people would refuse to participate, we would be even less able to see people die, and hence, less able to care about them.

    It’s one of those things that’s breathtaking in its evil arrogance.

  72. 72.

    WTFGhost

    @RoseWeiss: Now, now, now, don’t ding him for that. Ding him for demanding the US pay full, no-price-negotiation, for some amazing new diabetes drugs that will now be priced out of range for many people with diabetes. Thankfully, they’re not taking away the cheap insulin people will need, when they can’t afford to lower their blood sugar more safely and effectively.

     

    @Jay: N95 masks can also be re-used for Covid-19 after 3 days rest. I emphasize “for Covid-19” because if bird flu escapes into humans, it will be a different story. Of course, the big concern with re-using masks is good fit. If the elastic loses its spring, a well-fitted mask can turn to a poorly fitting mask.

     

    @Ohio Mom: Block granting also allows patronage and kickbacks, while making poor people suffer.

  74. 74.

    Gloria DryGarden

    If you want to send reverend mariann budde a postcard of support, I found this address for her. I haven’t cross referenced it

    The Rt Reverend Mariann Edgar Budde

    Episcopal Church House

    Mount St Alban

    Washington, DC, 20016-5094

  76. 76.

    Betty Cracker

    Bill was watching local news this morning to marvel at the awful weather, and we learned that the pardoned violent J6 insurrectionist who was re-arrested on gun charges yesterday lives in our county. Sedition Panda does too, but it wasn’t him.

  77. 77.

    David_C

    As one could imagine, the offline text message lines of NIHers were buzzing last night. Biomedical research, by a diverse set of scientists aided by a diverse set of administrators, is one thing that we can point to with pride. The number I see is that $1 of NIH funding returns about $2.50 to the local economy, and that doesn’t include an entire pharmaceutical and biotech industry built on basic NIH-funded discoveries and employing many scientists trained in NIH-funded laboratories.

    But they just see enemies and a funding system to be looted. And changes in funding mechanisms work need to pass Congress, which is generally supportive of biomedical research, since even less populous states point to their shiny medical center funded by NIH dollars.

    Apparently, there are notices going out for DEIA snitches. Oh, and the non-discriminatory executive order signed by LBJ has been rescinded, although I’m sure that this will get challenged by the courts before the week is out.

    This is a multi-front blitzkrieg and we are obligated to defend all fronts. We are not allowed to encourage people to lobby Congress, but …

  80. 80.

    Chris Johnson

    @Redshift: This. I’m more wary of him firing entire committees and stuff like that: I heard from Belle of the Fifth Column that some of the ‘executive orders’ are smoke, not real. Some of the stuff isn’t actionable, doesn’t meet the conditions for ‘actually making anything happen’.

    I am honestly startled at how hard they’re going, but it’s still all that I predicted: it is war, and he’s getting directions from a foreign adversary (i.e. who but Russia, srsly) because he personally knows none, NONE of this. He doesn’t know a thing about that aviation safety committee he blanked and doesn’t remember it now and couldn’t tell you what they did.

    I don’t think that’s a bribe from Boeing. I think it’s detailed undermining of the US out of Russia from people who’ve studied the weak points. I’m not sure how much of a difference it will make to have Hegseth and RFK and Gabbard formally made to head the departments they’re to destroy because it’s about the same.

    Even without Gabbard, Musk is also a more intelligent than Trump Russian asset (UNLESS he turns out to attack Russia himself in a ketamine-fueled fit of glee) so there will be people less useless than Trump in there fucking our institutions up.

    I continue to insist that the plan here is for everything to get WAY worse because it’s war, without a plan B and without ‘profit!’. You can’t look for how this stuff will help the fascists or tighten their control because it’s not about that. It’s a kamikaze run, largely from people too stupid to realize they are being played. Hell of a story, thanks, I hate it.

    These things are being fucked with, in detail, not to make Trump’s regime powerful, but to wreck it so bad it implodes and collapses FAST.

    If he has to, Putin will side with the Democrats and fund them in turn in order to throw off Trump and enrage the Trumpists. One way to stop that is to go all Canticle For Leibowitz and try to archive information, science etc. against the destruction and not give them the other half of the puppet show. The regime needs its scapegoats to rise up and show the brainwashed masses that sure enough, look, the liberals were the treasonous terrorists all along. The regime needs violence to justify its own actions.

    Thing is Russia does not need any excuse for making those actions happen anyway, because they don’t need the regime to build sustained power. The regime was never meant to have sustained power, or bring wealth. To Russia, Trump is the wrecking ball and his well-being does not matter. Fortunately for them he is so damaged and fucked up that he does not understand any of this, he just does what he’s told and is goaded into getting mad at everybody.

  82. 82.

    Betty Cracker

    @David_C: It didn’t snow where we are, thank dog, but some areas north of us got almost 10 inches, which is nuts! There was a news segment on how to get snow off a pool cage! (Waiting for it to melt seems sensible to me.)

    I’m so sorry MAGA vandals are targeting medical research. I’ve already contacted my horrible MAGA reps to complain about Trump pardoning violent criminals. Will contact them about NIH vandalism too. It shouldn’t be a partisan issue, but everything is.

  84. 84.

    Cheryl from Maryland

    @tobie: I tried to get a COVID booster after 4 months the CDC had that time frame on their website.  CVS still adhered to the CDC’s earlier schedule of 6 months, so I’ll try again in the next few months.

  85. 85.

    Gloria DryGarden

    unitedformedicalresearch.org/nih-in-your-state/coloradoNIH funding by state interactive map

    Jobs supported in Colorado 7100

    In GA 11,800

    IN Florida 14688

    in CA 55,900

    Just these 4 states, that’s a lot of jobs, (89,000) and the map info includes economic activity from the funding. It’s a huge hit.
    Extrapolating for the whole country, estimating 7000 jobs in each of the other 46 states, it could be 411,000. This is a crude guesstimate; It’s likely more, not going to look up all 50 states tonight.

    With working age population at 209m, this is 2%. It’s big.

    plus the continuity issue someone else has mentioned (#89) and clinical trials, all the patients in the middle of experimental drug treatments…

  86. 86.

    TBone

    @Gloria DryGarden: the vet trip went much better than I had expected.  My chonky boy has still got some of his chonk!  They’ve been force feeding him by mouth syringe but, since he doesn’t like that they did surgery yesterday and installed a feeding tube into his neck to bypass his mouth.  They ran further blood tests to check his liver & pancreas so now I must read up on those in cats.  He’s not out of the woods by any means yet BUT he displayed affection and curiosity and the Will to Live despite the grogginess from the anesthesia he’d just had for surgery.  The Love Cat is hanging on.  The vet spoke of me learning how to inject nutrition through the tube IF he can come home…

    I would like that come home thing VERY much.

  87. 87.

    What Have the Romans Ever Done for Us?

    @tobie: Probably a dead thread but I got the Novavax vaccine in November. Experienced no side effects except some localized soreness at the injection site. But I got a pneumonia vaccine at the same time so that could have been from either or both.

  89. 89.

    David_C

    @snoey: I’ve seen plans like those – seriously unworkable, since continuity is an important part of maintaining a lab. The current funding drought is causing investigators to submit more and more grant applications and putting strains on the review process.

  92. 92.

    David_C

    @Betty Cracker: Thank you. Florida and Texas are two states that pride themselves on their flagship centers and their associated start-up incubators. Your voice, as a patient, could be especially strong. So much progress has been made in cancer research funded by the NCI.

  96. 96.

    Ramalama

    @Jay: Is what you and T got vaccine #6? I haven’t heard about vaccines in the news since there’s a tariff war looming and an election.

  97. 97.

    David_C

    @snoey: To add: JB is at UCSF, which is a major recipient of NIH funding. I wonder what they think of his scheme. Changing peer review without going through proper procedures will meet with serious resistance. The idea is to create friction wherever possible.

    One problem with the upcoming HHS hearings is that few Senators have a clear grasp of science, and I’m including many of the physicians. It’s hard to argue with someone who speaks nonsense with authority and is trained in the law.

    And because of the cold, it’s an indoor weight routine this morning. I’ll just my walk in tomorrow – mostly the walk from the Metro and building corridors.

  98. 98.

    TBone

    @Gloria DryGarden: my hopes are very high again. Thank you!!!  I know it still might not be a happy ending, but I have friends like you here to remind me who I am when I forget.

    I’m not feeling as guilty about taking him there anymore.  Also, my new Episcopalian priest wrote to me yesterday, sent a lovely prayer and let me know everyone is pulling for us all.  It helped.  Every word of kindness helps, so thanks to you and everyone for allowing me this space to vent my anxiety and pain.

  99. 99.

    Betty Cracker

    @David_C: I definitely plan to lean into that angle! Can you recommend any articles or sources geared toward laypeople that outline what’s at stake and why fucking with NIH and NCI is so harmful? If not, no worries — I’ll do some research myself. I’d like to include some facts and figures in my outreach to my horrible MAGA reps. Could be a good subject for a post encouraging others to protest against this garbage too.

  100. 100.

    TBone

    @MagdaInBlack: not yet BUT they are doing every diagnostic thing they can think of.  I’m very grateful to have a team of vets on the job!

    My prayer is that it’s not Bird Flu or cancer.  White cells count is good but it still might be cancer, they can’t tell unless they do exploratory surgery and biopsy his insides and that’s very invasive.

  104. 104.

    TBone

    @MagdaInBlack: thank you for reminding me who I am yesterday (and to everybody else who held me up when I could not stand).

    It helps me carry hubby through because he’s taking this really hard too since we just lost Josey Wales of the Nicked Ear.  I have to be able to help hubby through as as well as Noah.

  105. 105.

    Gloria DryGarden

    @TBone: maybe it’ll just be all from the adverse drug reaction, and he can reverse it. I know people who go to a homeopathic vet for healing unusual things. But even if it’s cancer, or some bad thing, if you get a few more weeks with him, that matters. But I think it’s going to be ok..

    I am dancing and jumping around with gladness for this good improvement.

  106. 106.

    TBone

    @Gloria DryGarden: the angel vet who did Josey’s euthanasia is a homeopathic vet and she lives only 4 minutes from me.  When Noah comes home I will ask for house calls.  She is an angel of knowledge and mercy.

    Thank you for dancing for us!!!

    It seems that, with enough patience, perseverance, and faith, angels always appear in my life when they are most needed, right on time.  I am saying angels but they are truly humans with invisible wings.

    (That’s a big hint to everyone here)

  107. 107.

    snoey

    @Betty Cracker: Dr. Gorski at Scienced Based Medicine and his not so secret other blog Respectful Insolence will give chapter and verse on how RFKjr and the GBD folks are wrong and dangerous.

  112. 112.

    Gloria DryGarden

    Call your reps about this NIH funding pause

    This poster on blue sky encourages  scientists to make a big stink and what to say when you call, and why it’s important.

    ”For my fellow scientists in the defense or national security world – go on and make sure to really lay that on thick when you call your reps, esp if they’re Republican. “These research freezes mean we’ll be defenseless against another Chinese lab leak virus” if you have to.”

  113. 113.

    TBone

    I hope I’m not too much derailing things here.  I was trying to not do that but wanted to answer questions and acknowledge gratitude to everyone who has us in their thoughts.

  117. 117.

    TBone

    @Baud: you really helped me with that and you really helped me walk through yesterday too.  I had to put my Big Girl pants on!

    Thank you Baud.  A man of few words, but what’s there is cherce!

  118. 118.

    Ramalama

    Incredible thread by Fooler Initiative on Xitter laying out white people getting the black peeps treatment … but from SE Asians? I Xd my Twitter account a while ago, but since Fooler, a black woman defense attorney in VA who writes the most insightful and hilarious tweets, has not moved from Elons pad, I wondered if I could cheat and just read threads of hers. Yes.

    A sample…

    Elon & Vivek said white ppl could definitely have jobs in this country.
    Just not *good* jobs.
    Not the kind of jobs *they* offer.

    Y’all can absolutely have jobs.
    Just..*separate* jobs.
    Not necessarily *lesser* jobs. Probably totally *equal* *other* jobs.
    Separate but equal jobs.
    THEN, Loomer got in it and started like, MEGAMAGA racisiting. Like just, hard-core, throwback racisiting.
    And that’s when things REALLY turned a corner.
    Cause Laura Loomer tried to call India dirty.
    And that’s when the wheels fell off and the automobile punted itself over a cliff

  120. 120.

    Geminid

    This morning’s Politico Playbook  tells me Chuck Schumer will hold a press conference this morning. Hakeem Jeffries will hold one as well.

  121. 121.

    TBone

    @Baud: The union in Mexico story, complete with cuss words and your subsequent one word  commentary helped me remember who I am!

    Sex Workers Union Vents Fucking Fury!

  123. 123.

    Gloria DryGarden

    @TBone: I m trusting, esp on an open thread, that adults can scroll past what’s off topic for their current attention level.
    I am super glad to get your report on mr Noah, the love cat.

    [The only thing that derails me is when people get into hostile attacks and blaming that goes on and on, and on, 5-10 rounds of it on a thread. But I can scroll past, until I find what interests me.]

  125. 125.

    Baud

    It’s nice to read stories about other countries being messed up.

     

    A woman who was blamed by French courts for her divorce because she no longer had sex with her husband has won an appeal in Europe’s top human rights court, reigniting a debate in France over women’s rights reut.rs/42mc3P7

    [image or embed]
    — Reuters (@reuters.com) Jan 23, 2025 at 7:46 AM

  130. 130.

    Leto

    Internal email DHS employees received yesterday instructing them to send “evidence” of DEI programs, including the email address of where to send info. Basically every federal worker received a version of this. I know we’ve been discussing this since yesterday, but here’s a copy of it. Hopefully those servers are clogged to the hilt with spurious shit.

  131. 131.

    Gloria DryGarden

    @Baud: you win the word efficacy prize.
    Like an actor who conveys so much with a glance or a silence, you do it with one or two words.
    it’s frequently breathtaking.

    you make ripples in a pond the way a masterful haiku does.

  135. 135.

    Leto

    @Baud: There’s been numerous attempts at this, but where I think they all fall short is in failing to quote the Bible to justify it. There’s a few references in there about “spilling seed” which is used as proof that you shouldn’t masturbate, which you can extrapolate further to include this. Shame’em further!

  140. 140.

    Gloria DryGarden

    @Leto: like when they jammed the Texas bounty snitch lines with trolling calls so it became difficult to turn in your neighbor for driving a friend out of state for an abortion.

    I am heartened to consider your departments might send lots of spurious emails to trouble their stupid ruling.. I hope to hear how this plays out.

  144. 144.

    Kay

    President Trump stood alongside prominent tech executives Tuesday at the White House to unveil what he called a “tremendous” and “monumental” $500 billion artificial-intelligence infrastructure project. Hours later, Elon Musk publicly questioned whether the joint venture would ever get off the ground.

    The whole thing was an elaborate lie.

  146. 146.

    Gloria DryGarden

    @TBone: I loved that too. Thank you Baud. It cheered me up, too.

    It had an ironic poetry to it, I couldn’t quite peel back the layers yet, but it’s deep and rich.
    TBone maybe you can write a haiku about it. Womens protest haiku, unusual, but who knows..

  147. 147.

    Kay

    You wonder where Musk, Bezos, Cook and Zuckerberg came up with “500 billion”. That’s a Trumpy lie. Big, splashy memorable number.

    I bet one of Trump’s publicly paid employees came up with it. A collaborative lie.

  148. 148.

    Gloria DryGarden

    @Kay: i hear the AI and the crypto currency needs lots of extra power. They might want all that wind energy after all…

  149. 149.

    TBone

    @Gloria DryGarden:

    There once was a man from Jackal

    Who took down all he could tackle

    He did it without pants

    Even to JD Vance

    So all the (a)holes are covered in spackle!

    Oops, you said haiku

  151. 151.

    Kay

    @TBone:

    The billionaires don’t have investors for their AI project. They all lied when they announced it. You know what that means. They expect the public to pay for it.

    Socialize the risk, privatize the reward.

  156. 156.

    lowtechcyclist

    @Betty Cracker:

    I’m so sorry MAGA vandals are targeting medical research. I’ve already contacted my horrible MAGA reps to complain about Trump pardoning violent criminals. Will contact them about NIH vandalism too. It shouldn’t be a partisan issue, but everything is.

    Yeppers. I’m sure no ‘liberal science’ will be funded, by whatever definition they come up with.  (Anything that potentially questions the MAGAt or fundie worldview will be included in that definition, I’m sure.)  So I figure it’ll be kinda like the Nazi attitude towards ‘Jewish science’ only with a different in-group v. out-group divide.

  158. 158.

    Princess

    @Dorothy A. Winsor: I’m sure universities are very concerned by this and their response will be to grovel to Trump — identifying undocumented students, cutting DEI, silencing faculty etc.  — in the hopes of relief that won’t come.

    This attack on funding,  and the plan to tax student bursaries, is part of a drive to destroy universities.

  159. 159.

    Geminid

    An old Bedouin farewell, translated from the original Arabic:

     Don’t let the tent fly hit ya,

    Where the Merciful Allah split ya.

    A couple days ago, news agencies reported that Syria cancelled a contract with a Russian company that was operating the Port of Tartous under a 49 year contract. Russia has also kept a naval base within the Port since 1982, but now that lease has been cancelled too.

    Russia maintained a large military establishment in Syria, and now they have a lot of material and equipment staged right outside the naval base. Syria finally allowed a couple “Roll On, Roll Off” transports into port so they can start shipping out all that crap. The ships had been anchored off shore for days waiting for permission to enter.

    Tartous is Syria’s second largest port, after Latakia to the south.

  161. 161.

    Gloria DryGarden

    @Baud: it’s nice..

    and ties in on a tangent, with that Mississippi erection act, at least via all the things TBone and I might like to say about what’s expected of women, and the rights of men over their, um, property.

  163. 163.

    Leto

    @Kay: don’t forget 3 Mile Island here in PA; they’re reopening the 1 reactor for the same dumbshit reason.

    Edit: looked at an article for the SC reactor, Santee Cooper is trying to solicit VC funds just to finish building the fucking things so they can use them for AI power. I remember that they didn’t finish building a new plant, so… sure. /sigh

  165. 165.

    TBone

    @Leto: how are ICE agents identified?  Are they required to wear identifying badges or uniforms?  I remember BLM brownshirts in unmarked vehicles without badges…

  166. 166.

    TBone

    @Gloria DryGarden: it’s my Winchester Fishing Tackle.  The cake topper at my wedding that never happened had the bride hooking the groom by the seat of his tuxedo pants with a big flyrod!

  167. 167.

    Gloria DryGarden

    @Leto: Jesús, god, their moms might be waiting at said bus stops, if the kids are little…

    stuff like this makes it hard to breathe

  170. 170.

    Harrison Wesley

    @Cheryl from Maryland: Pharmacy told me I wasn’t due for a booster until February. I told them I wasn’t sure I’d be able to get one then, so I’m supposed to get one as soon as their next shipment comes in. Hopefully by the end of the week.

  171. 171.

    Gloria DryGarden

    @Baud: sizzling giggles..

    But with only two or three emojis?

    I’ll have to follow you on blue sky and keep watch.

  172. 172.

    Denali5

    Thank you for the Rev’s, but I think you should take it down. She has received death threats, and I concerned for her safety.

  173. 173.

    TBone

    @Leto: another way to sabotage public education also too.

    I have to keep my powder dry right now for real life battles BUT if this ever happens at a school bus stop in my neighborhood I’m pinning my Federal Real ID card on like a badge and fucking something up somehow!

  174. 174.

    TBone

    @Denali5: I wrote my Episcopalian priest about it yesterday.  We do not cower in fear. Ever.

    Listen to what she says about “cost.”

  175. 175.

    Gloria DryGarden

    @Leto: wondering about Denver and aurora, sister sanctuary cities, that received bus loads of Venezuelans from Texas last year. Our schools have so many immigrant children. They’re just kids, they’re people, they’re part of the community.
    I haven’t seen any news pieces about the city’s plan to counter that garbage. There’s a MIGRA Office not far from me.

  176. 176.

    Ksmiami

    Time for blue states to announce they won’t follow any of this nonsense and amass Guard units at state borders and airports. Might as well get this over with

  178. 178.

    Gloria DryGarden

    @Baud: oh, btw, you don’t fertilize an embryo. Took me a sec. You fertilize an egg. So their wording is fucked up.

    by you, I mean they. Those silly men in Mississippi who want to make every sperm count and ensure they can help with elons mandate to put a baby in whomever..

  179. 179.

    TBone

    @TBone: this is NOT her first rodeo!!!

    wtop.com/dc/2020/06/st-johns-church-speaks-out-in-support-of-the-black-lives-matter-movement/

    She spoke out against the infamous Bible Photo Opp!

    Last week, the head of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington, Bishop Mariann Budde, criticized President Trump’s response to the protests and his use of force against demonstrators in Lafayette Square to clear the area for his photo op, calling the moving “antithetical to the teachings of Jesus.”

  182. 182.

    Gloria DryGarden

    @TBone: angels, and grace. In whatever form you conceive it.

    I had a student who saw some angels once. It was a strange but moving story. I need to remember about asking angels for help, so I’m glad you reminded me. I have some personal things I need miracle progress on, aside from all this national cataclysm stuff.

  183. 183.

    lowtechcyclist

    @TBone: ​
     

    they are doing the same just a few miles from me down the Susquehanna River AT THREE MILE ISLAND.

    It’s still morning, isn’t it too early in the day for TMI? ;-)

  187. 187.

    Gloria DryGarden

    #121 TBone

    @Sex Workers Union Vents Fucking Fury!

    what was baud’s one word comment?

    i tried to make it into a haiku: but the headline itself is pretty choice

    ****
    Furious women
    Shouting throwing epithets
    Sex workers union
     
    The / womens fury cursed
    The walls and government halls
    (Men:)
    Our sex is not free
    (Not free for thee)

  188. 188.

    Gloria DryGarden

    @TBone: ok

    ETA ( I’ll make this better…..)
    Some/ few brief words aimed straight
    A/ priceless glimpse of emojis
    Then/ Inner space expands

  189. 189.

    TBone

    @Gloria DryGarden: the vet just called.  OF COURSE there is a problem with Noah’s feeding tube it is kinked and they must repeat the surgery to fix it!

    Aaaaarrrrrggghhhh!!!

    I can’t even…every step along The Way is a challenge!

    BUT he is tolerating what nutrition they can get past the kink VERY WELL.

  190. 190.

    Gloria DryGarden

    @TBone: nutrition: good.
    surgery again: remember the lily pad hands, carrying you. (It doesn’t go away; I’ve put you in gods hands)

    I mean, of course this is frustrating. I forget, is he a very old cat?

  191. 191.

    TBone

    Noah’s sister Katrina has started searching every nook and cranny for her missing beloved…

  193. 193.

    Gloria DryGarden

    @TBone: just like we do with premie babies, you can put a cloth that touches Noah for awhile, and gets his scent, then give that to little miss searching. Wonder if that helps w cats.
    it helped a ton with my godddaughter when her mom couldn’t be with her, Mike’s away from her NICU incubator

  195. 195.

    BellyCat

    @David_C: It’s hard to argue with someone who speaks nonsense with authority and is trained in the law.

    Nailed it. This is also the plight of any party who can’t afford an attorney when opposed by one in court. Pro Se Bias is a real (but unacknowledged) form of judicial bias.

  197. 197.

    NotMax

    The only thing that can be said about you know who’s relation to religion is that he’s a CINO.

  200. 200.

    Kayla Rudbek

    @Leto: that fucking bitch Coathanger Barrett is too stupid to remember what the Klan wanted to do to Notre Dame back in the 1920s.

  201. 201.

    Aggieric

    @Ramalama

    LOL. He’s 23 years younger, to be specific. My last name is Macron nee Trogneux, I guess! If Bridget and Emmanuel are gay and one of them is ‘murrican, anyway.

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