Let’s do some pessimism. Trump has already made it clear that he does not recognize any legal limits on his behavior – no constitutional limits, and no statutory limits. This is reflected in his effort to halt broad swaths of federal spending for 90 days (which violates both the constitution and the Impoundment Control Act […]
The US has been an international leader in biomedical research for decades. Now, the Trump administration wants to blow that up. “The directive also brings the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) lengthy scientific grant review process to a standstill. “All NIH study sections canceled indefinitely. This will halt science and devastate research budgets in universities,” […]
As I’ve said here before, together with water purification and sanitary sewers, vaccines are a triumph of public health. Hundreds of millions of lived (at least) have been saved by vaccination, not just as a direct result of immunization but indirectly by slowing the rate of pathogen evolution. It is both shocking and frankly dangerous […]
It’s not an easy day, but I’m remembering better times, such as when Mandy Patinkin translated Paul Simon’s “American Tune” into its native language: And then I remember that this was a sad song, that even though Simon wrote that last verse of “Loves Me Like a Rock,” he wasn’t always so obeisant to the […]
The effort to evaluate NGOs and aid policies scientifically seems very important to me. I think there has been (long ago) a reluctance to perform experiments with people even if the experiment consists of helping some people and comparing them to a control group. The experimental approach has become very fashionable with a Nobel memorial […]
“California is advising healthcare providers not to write down patients’ immigration status on bills and medical records and telling them they don’t have to assist federal agents in arrests. Some Massachusetts hospitals and clinics are posting privacy rights in emergency and waiting rooms in Spanish and other languages. “Meanwhile, Florida and Texas are requiring healthcare […]
“Donald Trump’s move to block diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives has led to the US Air Force removing material on the role of black and female pilots during World War Two from its training programmes. “A military official said “immediate steps” were taken to remove material to “ensure compliance” with the US president’s order, […]
Did he have a choice? Tarrio, Rhodes, and friends knew enough to take down Roger Stone and Donald Trump.
A few days ago Microsoft Copilot showed up in Word. It offers to rewrite stuff for me. So I tried it out on a few paragraphs. I have to admit it’s not blowing me away. Let’s have Copilot rewrite that paragraph: Recently, Microsoft Copilot has been integrated into Word. It provides an option to rewrite […]
Once they seized power, the Bolsheviks set about re-making Russia in their own image. One manifestation of this was changing place names: Saint Petersburg became Leningrad, Tsaritsyn became Stalingrad. Following in their footsteps, Trump has renamed the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America. This calls to mind the pathetic attempt to rebrand French […]