Relevant and even prescient commentary on news, politics and the economy.

Autism: nature vs nurture

RFK Jr claims he will discover the “cause” of autism by September 2025. He will fail, for the simple reason that we already know that autism is a genetic disease. Poor RFK Jr. His vaccine-autism connection has been a fail, so he’s grasping desperately for something that won’t force him to admit he’s either a […]

RFK Jr and the fake vaccine-autism connection

The alleged connection between vaccines and autism maps to a since-retracted British publication that faked data purporting to show that vaccines containing the methylmercury-based preservative thimerosal were associated with autism in children. Thimerosal was discontinued in US childhood vaccines in 2001. Since then, the anti-vaxxers have noted that autism diagnoses have increased, which would seem […]

This is what stupidity looks like, peeps.

This guy is Secretary of Health and Human Services. I don’t know whether to laugh or cry. RFK Jr.: “If you are healthy, it’s almost impossible for you to be killed by an infectious disease in modern times because we have nutrition, because we have access to medicines. It’s very, very difficult for any infectious […]

The next health fad: beef tallow

RFK Jr is touting the health benefits of beef tallow. Many people believe French fries cooked in beef tallow taste better, but healthier? Where did this idea come from? “Kennedy’s belief that using tallow could help “Make America Healthy Again” echoes a claim that has spread on social media about seed oils. Many believe because […]

RFK Jr. blames the victims

Oops! Poor RFK Jr. He’s had to tiptoe back his attacks on childhood vaccines in the face of a measles outbreak in Texas. What’s a poor anti-vaxxer to do. Well, since vaccine denialists can never be wrong, they can only be wronged, Kennedy blames the victims: “In later comments, Kennedy suggested that severe symptoms mainly […]

RFK Jr wants to cut Alzheimers research

As the American population ages, the burden of dementia care is increasing. While the GOP congress hopes to ease that burden by cutting Medicaid funding and letting those folks die*, RFK Jr is tackling the prevention side to make sure more Americans and their loved ones suffer from this awful condition: “Robert F. Kennedy Jr., […]

Republicans* approve quack to direct HHS

“Kennedy, an “unfathomable” nominee in the eyes of public health experts, has questioned the link between HIV and AIDS, tied gay and transgender identities to chemical exposure, pushed to remove fluoride from drinking water, suggested COVID-19 was genetically engineered to target certain races, claimed Black people may have different immune systems and suggested anti-depressants are […]