It’s the “only a flesh wound” trope

“The vaunted progress of life is really random motion away from simple beginnings, not directed impetus toward inherently advantageous complexity” — Steven Jay Gould

As evidenced by the left recurrent laryngeal nerve — worst cable management ever.

Diagram of the human brachial plexus.

Now do the brachial plexus

Pregnancy vaccine reduces baby hospital admissions for RSV by 80% A study confirms the vaccine gives excellent protection for babies against life-threatening chest infections.

Vaccines are humanity’s greatest scientific achievement.

Spoke from Star Trek TOS: The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few. Or the one.

"The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few. Or the one."

I thought we all agreed on #9

Shout-out to @esa.int for posting this image here and for including great alt-text (which I copied for my posting)

Dire

Kennedy sidelining of US advisory panel delays updates to cancer screening guidelines The sidelining by U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. of the advisory panel that decides access to ​free preventive healthcare is delaying updates to screening guidelines for cancer, heart dis...

One possibility for why RFK Jr. has blocked the U.S. Preventative Services Task Force (USPSTF) is found in this very article.

“The current administration would not only like to cut back on regulation, they would definitely like to cut back on required benefits under the Affordable Care Act”.

“And you people, you’re all astronauts on some kind of star trek?” — from Star Trek First Contact

Please delete this. It hurts your cause.

U.S. Court Rules Against RFK Jr.’s Vaccine Policies The decision by Judge Brian Murphy immediately halted implementation of a series of measures imposed by the Trump administration that were aimed at upending decades of immunization standards.

From the ruling: “This argument [by the Government] can only be countenanced if one completely abandons the idea of objective
fact…”

That really is the issue at the heart of many of the legal cases against the Administration.

www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

Officials ‘missed 99% of data’ before ending Covid vaccine recommendation, memos reveal Internal memos ignored Covid safety studies and pushed vaccine changes based on ideology, critics say

Newly uncovered memos show the basis for RFK Jr's decision to end the Covid vaccine recommendation for pregnant people and children. They're light on evidence and heavy on ideology, sources told me in my latest:
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

Exclusive | White House Puts RFK Jr.’s HHS on Tighter Leash After MAHA Setbacks Aides close to the president grew worried that perceived disorganization and an antivaccine focus could prove damaging in the midterms.

I love these journalistic fictions that normalize the administration and act like there are reasonable people there working to intelligently rein in dangerous impulses

My heart is in the salad there with Caesar,
And I must pause till it come back to me.

Screen shot of OpenPaymentsData.CMS.gov website.

There a whole federal website that keeps track of how many donuts pharmaceutical reps bring by my medical office. Grand total of $46.56 during last year on file.

FDA’s controversial vaccine chief will exit agency next month | CNN The US Food and Drug Administration’s head of vaccines and biologic medicines will leave the agency at the end of April, a spokesperson confirmed to CNN on Friday.

Vinay Prasad has been an a noxious influence on public health and drug regulation. Good riddance. UCSF should not take him back. He should wander in the wilderness forever. www.cnn.com/2026/03/06/h...

No one there to tell us what to do

Sorry honey, I just woke up from a stony sleep and I’m really vexed.

Scene from Spider-Man 2 where he stops a runaway subway train.

Mine are more like this: Spider-Man slowing down the runaway adrenaline train

LOL

Henrietta Lacks is the reason we dont get polio anymore.

Henrietta Lacks is the reason in-vitro works

Henrietta Lacks is the reason there's an HPV vaccine, gene mapping, we know how cancer cells divide, AIDs is no longer a death sentence.

Henrietta Lacks cells were stolen from her

You’re being too harsh comparing Lt. Data to current LLMs. Unlike them, Data is honor bound by Star Fleet regulations. He also has an easily accessible off button.

Doctors say that vaccines are the best way to protect children against measles. A guy who eats dogs and snorts cocaine off toilet seats says they should just swim in untreated sewage water instead. For busy parents, it can be hard to know who to trust.

South Carolina seeks non-CDC reinforcements to contain growing measles outbreak A dozen public health experts are arriving in South Carolina to help the state contain the largest U.S. measles outbreak in more than 30 years, but they're not coming from the Centers for Disease Cont...

South Carolina has requested urgent assistance with handling the measles outbreak there.

They did not request it from RFK Jr.’s moribund CDC, but rather the CDC Foundation, which is a nonprofit that is independent of the U.S. government.

RFK Jr. continues to do NOTHING about this outbreak.

According to William S. Burroughs a “steely dan” is exciting technology

I’ve got “reconstruction” stuck in mine.

Sen Cassidy in November stating — without evidence — that unleashing free market forces would lower healthcare costs.

Looks like choosing a hospital is nothing like picking a cheaper shampoo.

Graph showing decline in childhood mortality.

Yes. Especially children under 5. Antibiotics are great but public health, sanitation, and vaccines did most of the work in reducing mortality over the past 2 centuries.

Remember when a democratic surgeon general, Jocelyn Elders, was fired for saying masturbation is a normal part of human sexuality?