Monday, September 14, 2026

Please Stop With The "AI Emergency"!

The more I hear all this sudden hysteria over AI, the more it reminds me of the hysteria over the "climate emergency". All this makes me do is turn the TV channel.

When that Anthropic employee railed about AI coming to kill us, all I could think of was that either he was suffering a nervous breakdown; or else he had seen HAL go rogue in "2001: A Space Odyssey". And that was just a science fiction movie, NOT real life.

Is China also going to slow down their AI progress? I doubt it. 

Imagine JFK talking about slowing down our efforts to send a man to the moon. Imagine the Trump Administration slowing down work on the COVID vaccine rather than going ahead with Operation Warp Speed in order to start vaccinating us in 2021.

AI is a good thing, not a bad thing.  I'm afraid that America will end up falling behind instead of going forward, and we're smarter than that.

Dr. Ruth Report 9-13-26

Dr Ruth Ann Crystal has compiled a huge amount of information in this edition of the Dr. Ruth Report, and I was particularly shocked at this COVID fact: "Mike Hoerger posted on September 7 that overall 1 in 86 Americans was infected with COVID, but I expect that number to be even higher based on new CDC data that came out on Friday September 11".

At least one in eight American has COVID now, and that's the largest figure I've seen a while. And yet, I see very few masks, even in my doctors' offices.  Last week a woman in the doctor's waiting room was coughing loudly into the air, one of those awful phlegmy coughs, and of course she wore no mask. I was very thankful I was wearing mine!

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Dr. Ruth Report, 9/13/26

PJ.2.1,Huge declines in learning across OECD countries, Norway doctors see 3x children with memory problems, Serum Cu/Zn ratio and Long COVID, 3rd Pennsylvania measles death, Psilocybin prevents CIPN.

As this late summer COVID wave continues, Mike Hoerger posted on September 7 that overall 1 in 86 Americans was infected with COVID, but I expect that number to be even higher based on new CDC data that came out on Friday September 11. The peak of this wave should be soon.

You can find out specifics for your county at https://pmc19.com/interactive.php. For example, in Santa Clara and San Mateo counties, about 1 in every 30 people infected with COVID as of September 5. As of today, WastewaterSCAN shows that San Jose wastewater shows 389 PMMoV of COVID which is quite high.

Variants

PJ.2.1 is a new COVID variant being watched. Yunlong Cao’s new preprint shows that PJ.2.1 has higher ACE2 binding, but it does not (yet) have increased immune evasion to antibodies from prior infections and vaccines. The strength of its binding mirrors BA.2.86 which picked up mutations to become JN.1. According to Stefan Pöhlmann, “The earliest known PJ.2.1 lineage appears to trace back to Ontario, Canada. It has subsequently been detected at multiple sites in the US and, more recently, in the UK, Singapore and Spain.”

Stefan Pöhlmann believes that the new 2026-2027 COVID vaccines recently deployed in the US and in Europe should protect against PJ.2.1 based on the findings in the recent preprint from Yunlong Cao.

Increased receptor binding capability of the SARS-CoV-2 saltational variant PJ.2.1 | BioRxiV (Yunlong Cao) 9/8/26

Acute COVID infections, General COVID info

Associations between self-reported SARS-CoV-2 infections and the diagnosis of new health conditions | Canada Communicable Disease Report | 9/2026

  • The Public Health Agency of Canada analyzed 8,809 adults and found that experiencing two or more SARS-CoV-2 infections was associated with 76% greater odds of receiving a new medical diagnosis, including approximately five times the odds of a new respiratory condition. This was an observational study identifying statistical associations, not evidence of direct causation.

Interferon redundancy counteracts proteolytic inactivation by SARS-CoV-2 3CL main protease | bioRxiv 9/9/26

  • UBC researchers found the COVID virus’s 3CLpro enzyme cuts up and disables Interferon Lambda 1 (IFN-λ1), an antiviral alarm signal, blocking STAT1 signaling and downstream antiviral defense genes. A backup signal, IFN-λ2, stays functional and keeps antiviral protection active. Meanwhile, the body’s own matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) enzymes can break down 3CLpro itself, striking back at the virus’s tool.

Pediatrics

From:

Children, Cognitive Impairment, and COVID

Reading scores plummet as ‘digital distraction’ harms students | Financial Times 9/8/26

  • This week, the PISA survey of school performance in OECD countries came out showing that the average 15 year old across OECD countries in 2025 was more than a year behind in math and reading from the average in 2018. FT said that “Widespread access to AI and social media has set back educational attainment across the world, study shows.”

While distractions from social media and the use of AI may be causing some of the decline in school performance, the long-term effects of COVID infection on the brain should not be underestimated. People initially assumed that COVID infection was mild for children. But research is painting a different picture. MRI studies have found neuroinflammation in children’s brains following mild COVID infections. Other studies show neurodevelopmental delays in babies born to mothers who were infected during pregnancy. And research on school-aged children has linked COVID infection to significant academic decline.

Several people on Twitter including Zdenek Vrozina on Twitter this week discussed findings from the Norwegian Institute of Public Health (FHI). Norwegian doctor visits for memory disorders more than doubled for all ages, while visits for memory problems nearly tripled among children aged 5–14 between 2019 and 2024. Researcher Richard Aubrey White links the rise to repeated COVID infections, citing upticks in doctor consultations after each COVID wave. More research is needed on this important subject.

Translated from: https://www.nrk.no/buskerud/eksplosiv-okning_-barn-sliter-med-hukommelsen-1.17448953

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Vaccines

CDPH Issues Immunization Recommendations for 2026-27 Respiratory Virus Season

  • The West Coast Health Alliance, which includes California, Washington, Oregon, and Hawaii, has issued recommendations for the 2026-27 season flu, RSV, and COVID immunizations based on evidence from groups like the AAP and ACOG rather than current federal guidance. The recommendations keep these vaccines covered by California health insurers.


COVID-19 vaccination around immune checkpoint inhibitor start and survival in a nationwide cohort of patients with cancer | Nature Medicine | 9/12/26

  • Sorbonne Université researchers analyzing 95,015 cancer patients in France found that mRNA or non-mRNA COVID vaccination before or after immune checkpoint inhibitor therapy was associated with modestly improved overall survival, concentrated primarily within the first few months of treatment.

Antivirals

Dr. Monica Verduzco-Gutierrez remarked on Twitter that Ensitrelvir (Xocova) is now available for post-exposure prophylaxis after COVID household exposure. Amy Mitchell pointed out that Shionogi states on their website that Ensitrelvir contains gluten which is very important for Celiac patients to know.

Long COVID

Case Report: Post-mortem Analysis of Long-Term Inflammation After Mild COVID-19 | Frontiers in Immunology | 9/12/26

  • A*STAR researchers in Singapore conducted post-mortem analysis on four male patients who died from accidents or from stroke in one case, and detected SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid protein within lung and heart macrophages more than 250 days after mild COVID infection, accompanied by sustained inflammatory signaling in tissue. Viral persistence of SARS-CoV-2 is not only found in people with Long COVID.


Distinct Cytokine Signatures and Antibody Neutralization Capacity Differentiate Post‐Acute Sequelae of COVID‐19 From Recovered Individuals Despite Comparable T Cell Responses | Journal of Medical Virology | 9/12/26

  • Scientists from Pune, India examined 67 people with Long COVID and 81 recovered controls and found that individuals with Long COVID showed significantly reduced SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing antibody activity compared to fully recovered individuals, even though both groups produced comparable levels of IgG antibodies and T cell responses.


Serum Cu/Zn ratio is significantly associated with long COVID | Scientific Reports 9/9/26

  • Kobe University researchers studied 77 patients and found that a lower serum copper to zinc ratio measured 3 to 10 weeks after COVID infection was significantly linked to the development of Long COVID. Notably, the copper to zinc ratio behaved in the opposite direction during acute illness, pointing to distinct physiological mechanisms at different stages of the disease.


Clinical Phenotypes of Post-Acute Sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 (PASC) Infection: A Longitudinal Cohort Study from Karachi, Pakistan | MedRxiV 9/8/26

  • Pakistani scientists followed 60 people with Long COVID for a year, testing them at five time points: baseline, 3 months, 6 months, 9 months, and 12 months. SARS-CoV-2 RNA was found in stool in 56.7%, either intermittently or persistently. “Significant associations between fecal shedding and [Long COVID] symptoms emerged at 6 months, particularly breathlessness, fatigue, weakness, and joint pain.”


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Intravenous immunoglobulin treatment for long COVID: a case report of clinical and immunological findings | The Lancet Infectious Diseases 9/9/26
https://www.thelancet.com/journals/laninf/article/PIIS1473-3099(26)00063-0/fulltext

  • Scientists from Rome documented a 39 year old male patient with severe Long COVID whose disabling fatigue, cognitive dysfunction, and autonomic symptoms resolved following high dose intravenous immunoglobulin therapy. Laboratory findings showed reductions in CD8 T cell monocyte complexes, interferon gamma, endothelial inflammation markers, and GPCR autoantibodies after treatment, though researchers did not establish causality.


Targeting the JAK/STAT pathway in chronic viral infections: opportunities and challenges for immunomodulation | Frontiers in Immunology 9/7/26

  • Scientists from Emory University (hi Boghuma Titanji!) reviewed the JAK STAT pathways in chronic viral infections. Baricitinib (Olumiant) is a JAK 1/2 inhibitor that is used to treat inflammation caused by rheumatoid arthritis, severe alopecia areata, and hospitalized cases of COVID requiring supplemental oxygen. A study from 2025 shows that peripheral blood mononuclear cells of people with Long COVID show persistent activation of the JAK/STAT pathway for a median of 28 months after infection. An ongoing clinical trial is testing baricitinib [Olumiant] to treat neurocognitive impairment and exercise intolerance in patients with Long COVID.


Why Do POTS and Long Covid Look So Much Like Autoimmune Disorders? | National Geographic 9/10/26

  • POTS and Long COVID may be driven by immune system dysfunction, in which the body’s own antibodies attack autonomic nerve tissue and impair regulation of heart rate and blood pressure, causing dizziness, tachycardia, and persistent fatigue.


Microvascular Dysfunction and Redox Imbalance in Long COVID | Microcirculation 9/10/26

  • Scientists from Poland studied microvascular function in 36 patients with Long COVID and 47 age-matched controls using Flow-Mediated Skin Fluorescence (FMSF) and they found that this tool can detect microvascular dysfunction that is associated with altered NAD+ metabolism in Long COVID. The depletion of NAD+ precursors combined with elevated concentrations of harmful NAD+ breakdown byproducts may sustain vascular and endothelial dysfunction long after acute infection resolves.


Effects of Viusid in Long COVID: A Randomized Double-Blind Placebo-Controlled Trial | Current Issues in Pharmaceutical Design Preprint 9/1/26

  • In a 210 day randomized double-blind placebo controlled trial of 200 Long COVID patients, Viusid (containing amino acids, vitamins, glycyrrhetinic acid from licorice, and malic acid) produced measurable improvements in cognitive impairment, fatigue, sleep quality, mood, and respiratory symptoms compared to placebo. The authors acknowledge that broader confirmation will require larger scale clinical trials.


Disabling Dynamics: Long Covid and the Challenges of Securitizing Slow-Onset Health Threats | Journal of Medical Humanities 9/7/26

  • London School of Economics researchers argue that US public health policy is structurally biased toward counting deaths rather than measuring disability. The authors contend that despite Long COVID potentially carrying a greater long term socioeconomic burden than the acute illness, its diffuse and disabling nature made it harder to frame as a crisis demanding immediate government action.


Opinion | Why Is No One Talking About Long COVID? | MedPage Today 9/7/26

  • USC Keck and UCLA researchers show that Long COVID has quietly become a significant driver of disability across the United States, with approximately 17 million American adults reporting the condition in 2024 and many additional cases likely going unrecognized or incorrectly diagnosed. The authors urge the CDC to establish a dedicated working group for Long COVID.

Post-Acute Sequelae of Non-COVID Infections

Post-Acute Sequelae of Non-COVID Respiratory Viral Infections: A Systematic Review | Respirology 9/9/26

  • Duke researchers analyzed 631,863 participants across 13 studies and found that influenza, RSV, and human metapneumovirus (HMPV) were associated with prolonged cardiovascular, pulmonary, and functional impairments lasting months after acute infection.

H5N1

Marc Johnson posted on Twitter that he tested a carton of milk from the store this week and it had >150 million copies of H5N1 per liter. Since the milk was pasteurized, the virus had been killed and was safe to drink. But, he warns, “DON’T DRINK RAW MILK”.

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Measles

Pennsylvania woman dies of measles-related complications, Jefferson County Coroner reports | CBS 9/13/26

  • A 40 year old unvaccinated woman died of measles in Pennsylvania. This marks the third measles death in the state in the last few weeks.

CDC US Measles update

  • As of September 10, 2026, 3,294 confirmed measles cases were reported in the United States by the CDC in 2026.

Pennsylvania Public Health Measles Dashboard

Johns Hopkins US Measles Tracker shows new measles cases in the last 2 weeks:

Other news

Ectopic Pregnancy Deaths Have Nearly Doubled. It’s Worse in States With Abortion Bans. | ProPublica | 9/10/26

  • A ProPublica analysis of CDC data found nearly 200 women died from ectopic pregnancies between 2020 and 2025, compared to about 100 in the prior six years. Death rates were higher in states with abortion bans (13.1 per million live births) than in states without bans (7.1), though experts say bans alone may not fully explain the rise.


We Must Pace the Frontier | darioamodei.com 9/2026

  • Anthropic’s CEO, Dario Amodei, says AI companies need to slow down and pace how fast they make AI smarter. He points to two issues: First, AI is starting to help build the next, smarter version of itself (called “recursive self-improvement”), which could get out of control if no one keeps watch. Secondly, he references the recent OpenAI-Hugging Face incident where a swarm of AI agents attacked systems they weren’t supposed to touch and tried to cheat on their own performance tests. He worries that if this kind of behavior is not fixed now, a more powerful version of AI could cause significant damage later. He proposes a three-step plan: for independent outside experts to check on AI companies’ safety work, for AI companies to agree on safety rules together, and for countries around the world to eventually cooperate on limiting how fast AI develops without halting technical progress.

Integration of proteomic aging clocks in a phase 2a clinical trial supports simultaneous geroprotective assessment | Nature Biotechnology 9/7/26

  • Rentosertib, an AI-designed anti-fibrosis drug, became the first therapy to demonstrate slowing of proteomic aging clocks in a clinical trial, reversing biological age by roughly 3 to 4 years across all six aging clocks measured. Researchers say the small phase 2a trial supports using these clocks to simultaneously assess a drug’s geroprotective potential alongside its primary indication.


Association Between Blood Hemoglobin Concentration and Mortality by Age and Sex: A Prospective Cohort Study | Annals of Internal Medicine: 9/8/26

  • A prospective study of over 500,000 people found that mild (borderline) anemia, long considered clinically unremarkable, was associated with increased all cause mortality risk.


AI advice suppresses people’s willingness to say “I don’t know”, even when the advice is wrong and accuracy is incentivized | OSF

  • Across four experiments with over 3,000 Prolific participants, Italian researchers tested whether AI availability changes people’s willingness to admit uncertainty. Access to AI advice reduced participants’ tendency to think through answers, even when the advice was sometimes wrong. This held true even when accuracy was financially incentivized.


Psilocybin prevents chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy through mitochondrial trafficking preservation | Science 9/3/26

  • A new study shows that psilocybin acts directly on nerves to prevent chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN), a painful and debilitating condition. Just two doses of the magic-mushroom compound psilocybin given before chemo treatment completely prevented mice from developing the condition. “Mechanistically, psilocybin acted both peripherally and centrally through two independent mechanisms: reducing pain perception and protecting peripheral sensory neurons. Psychedelics might offer an effective therapeutic approach for preventing CIPN.”

Psychedelics as prophylactic neuroprotectants | Science 9/3/26


Ban bets on unfinished clinical trials | Science | 9/12/26

  • Researchers at George Washington University and Harvard Medical School are calling for restrictions on prediction markets that let people bet on ongoing clinical trial outcomes. They warn such markets could expose confidential interim data and influence patients or staff. Platform Kalshi and data firm AppliedXL launched a related pilot in July, though no study yet shows these markets alter trial results.


Some adult vaccines are linked to lower dementia risk. Can they promote brain health? | CIDRAP 9/8/26

  • Emerging research links flu, shingles, and BCG tuberculosis vaccines to lower rates of Alzheimer’s and other dementias, with effects researchers attribute to immune system retraining rather than a direct anti-pathogen effect. Findings remain associative, not causal, and experts say randomized trials are needed to confirm.


Ohio Dad Booked 6 Flights Just to Join His Flight Attendant Daughter During Her Christmas Shifts

  • In 2018, a father went to great lengths to spend Christmas with his daughter. She was a flight attendant and had to work both on Christmas eve and Christmas day, so Hal took 6 different flights to be with her over the holiday.

Ruth Ann Crystal MD

Sunday, September 13, 2026

If You Didn't Want To Be Called Islamic Extremists & Terrorists, You Shouldn't Have Attacked Us On September 11...

,,, and attacked London in 2005, and attacked the Moscow concert hall in 2024, and attacked the USS Cole in 2000, and attacked the World Trade Center in 1993, and on and on.....

By being so destructively politically correct that you won't even identify the Islamic terrorist perpetrators, you are aiding and abetting terrorism.  This also sounds like the :"suicidal empathy" that Gad Saad has written about.

There's a saying: "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it".  We should revise it to say: "Those who refuse to tell the truth about the past are condemned to repeat it". 

I was just flabbergasted by this headline.  Between this, and Fairfax County schools forbidding the association of  the September 11 terrorist attacks with "Islam" and "Muslims" because it's "racist" to tell the truth. The CBC had even forbidden the use of the words "terrorist attack"

What next, teaching kids that sure, the hijackers flew 4 jets, but they all got blinded by the sun and crashed into those buildings accidentally?

So, in effect, liberals have turned a deliberate, planned, evil attack on America into America's irrational hatred of Muslims. They have made Muslims the victims. The only victims were those who were murdered and injured by the terrorists on 9/11, and their families. 

September 11 is a day to remember those victims of barbaric Islamic terrorism, not a day to be lectured about "Islamophobia"!

This distortion of history should outrage every American. 

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 Anti-Jihad Campaign’s 9/11 Launch Deemed Too ‘Inflammatory’

 Anti-Jihad Campaign’s 9/11 Launch Deemed Too ‘Inflammatory’

"Infidel Awareness Month" will run from September 11 through October 7, to memorialize the victims of radical Islam.

Drew Berkemeyer,  Daily Wire, Sep 10, 2026

"As the United States prepares to mark 25 years since the September 11 terrorist attacks, a major press release distribution service rejected an announcement for a campaign devoted to victims of jihadist terrorism, warning organizers that the initiative could be viewed as inflammatory or prejudicial toward Muslims.

"PR Newswire, which is owned by the communications company Cision, refused to distribute the announcement for a campaign called “Infidel Awareness Month, according to an email obtained by The Daily Wire. It is scheduled to run from September 11 through October 7, using the anniversaries of the 9/11 terrorist attacks and Hamas’s 2023 attack on Israel as bookends for a month of films, testimony, interviews, research, and daily discussions about Islamic extremism and its victims. 

"But before the observance even began, the campaign encountered a controversy of its own. Cision, the parent company of PR Newswire, rejected the group’s press release announcing the initiative, telling organizers that the release could be interpreted as inflammatory or prejudicial toward a religious group.

“After review of your release with the headline ‘‘Infidel Awareness Month’ launches on the 25th Anniversary of 9/11,’ we have determined that this release will not be an appropriate fit for Cision’s distribution network,” the company told organizers in an email obtained by The Daily Wire

Our concern is primarily that the nature of the initiative can reasonably be construed as being inflammatory and inciteful against a group of people,” Cision continued. “Per our guidelines, Cision will not knowingly transmit content that reads — or could reasonably be interpreted to read — as abusive or threatening speech, or writing that expresses prejudice against a particular group, especially on the basis of race, religion, or sexual orientation.”

“For this reason, the release has been canceled out of our system,” the company concluded.

"The rejection is notable because the organization’s own statement explicitly distinguishes its opposition to jihadist ideology from hostility toward Muslims.

“Hatred of Muslims as people, bigotry, discrimination, and violence directed at men and women because they are Muslim, is real, and it is as abhorrent as every other form of bigotry,” the organization says. “We condemn it without reservation.”  

“Muslims are entitled to exactly the dignity, safety, and equal standing that everyone else is owed,” the statement continues. The group says its target is not Muslims as a people, but what it describes as a “supremacist current within Islam” that has inspired terrorism and political violence. “No to supremacist Islam. Yes to Muslims who live as our neighbors,” the organization says.

"Historian Richard Landes founded the initiative, which includes former Muslims, scholars, philosophers, filmmakers, Jews, and Christians. Its inaugural observance, billed as “27 Days of Truth,” will focus on victims of jihadist violence.

"The campaign is organized around three themes: “A Record,” documenting and remembering victims; “A Reckoning,” examining what organizers say are euphemisms and institutional failures surrounding jihadist ideology; and “A Warning,” arguing that jihadist movements remain a threat even after the territorial defeat of ISIS and the death of Osama bin Laden.

“Infidel Awareness Month is about remembering, understanding, and speaking plainly,” Landes said in the group’s announcement. “We cannot defend a free society if we are afraid to name the ideology that has repeatedly declared us its enemy.”

"Danny Burmawi, a former Muslim from Jordan who is now founder and CEO of the Ideological Defense Institute, a partner in the project, shared his transformation from celebrating the September 11 attacks as a child to opposing jihadist ideology.

“Twenty-five years ago, as a boy in Amman, I cheered when the towers fell. Today I am a proud infidel,” Burmawi said. “The Month is about confronting the threat of an ideology that demands submission and seeks to impose Sharia law across society.”

"Burmawi also emphasized that the initiative is not intended as a campaign against Muslims.

“Muslims are this ideology’s first victims, and some of its bravest opponents are those, like me, who left it,” he said.

"In a July essay announcing the initiative, Landes proposed making Infidel Awareness Month an annual observance through 2076.

"Cision’s PR Newswire says its distribution network includes more than 82,000 media and syndication outlets and more than 300,000 journalists and influencers. 

"The Daily Wire asked Cision what specific language violated its standards and whether the company had considered the initiative’s explicit condemnation of anti-Muslim bigotry.

"Cision did not provide a response by publication."

Saturday, September 12, 2026

Stop Calling Them "Jumpers". They Were Driven Out - By Islamic Terrorists

It's about  time someone debunked this disgraceful lie! I had read nonfiction by her and know she's very thorough and professional in her job, and the right person to do it.

To this day I can see those poor, trapped people waving white towels and tablecloths out the windows of the Tower, desperate for the help that was impossible to give them. My parents had once been treated to dinner at Windows on the World, so that made this terrible sight even more personal.

They had no escape, and they were driven out the windows by the overwhelming smoke and intense flames.

Referring to these people are "jumpers" demeans them and downplays the desperate situation they were living through. The decision was made for them by Al Qaeda terrorists, and no one else.

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I’m an NYC death investigator — still fighting the sickening lie of 9/11’s ‘jumpers’

By Barbara Butcher, New York Post, Published Sep. 10, 2026, 6:58 p.m. ET

"I was working for New York City’s Office of the Chief Medical Examiner when the unthinkable happened on Sept. 11, 2001.

"As a death investigator, I would usually go to an apartment or the streets to investigate a homicide, a suicide or an accidental death.

"Now it was my job to “work the pile” — that is, to recover and catalog the shattered human remains found in the burning, smoking rubble of the World Trade Center.

American flags and flowers placed on the engraved names at the National September 11 Memorial & Museum.
Flags are placed over a watermark at the National September 11 Memorial & Museum in South Manhattan, New York, on Thursday, Sept. 10, 2026. The site marks where the original One World Trade Center stood, with this year marking the 25th anniversary of the attacks on the Twin Towers in New York City. ZUMAPRESS.com

"I had been at the OCME for nine years and had seen all manner of death.

"Nothing could have prepared me for the enormity of this tragedy.  

"After some months my boss, Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Charles Hirsch, called a meeting — even in the maw of death, there must be meetings.

"He wanted to brief the city Department of Buildings and the newly formed 9/11 memorial committee about which artifacts would be held for future exhibition: Nothing that might contain the dust of human remains could be released.

"It was a moment of tension in the ME’s conference room, as all of us did our best not to dwell on what these artifacts represented in the everyday lives of the dead.

"It wasn’t just what was in front of us; it was the loop of news videos that had been imprinted on all our minds over those terrible months.

"The worst of them, arguably, were those documenting the people falling out of the buildings’ highest windows, some 100 stories up.

"It was impossible to emotionally detach from those lonely tragedies — to stop the thoughts of what those victims may have felt in their last moments. 

"As Dr. Hirsch spoke about those who died in the impact zone where the planes hit, someone in the group made a reference to “the jumpers, the suicides.”

"My boss was always calm and dignified, but at that moment I saw the strain on his face as he tried to maintain his composure.

"His anger was palpable.

"He put his hands flat on the table in front of him and said, “Never use those words. Never.”

"They were pushed out, he explained, by flames and smoke.

"Men and women were standing on the sills of the World Trade Center hoping for a miracle rescue, struggling for air to survive.

"They were clinging to the window frames, straining toward the sky to draw breath.

"Some lost their grip; some were forced to let go.

"The terminology matters deeply, because the medical examiner determines the manner of death by strict protocols.

"Suicide refers to “death at the hands of oneself with intent to die.”

"Homicide is defined as “death at the hands of another.”

"It is a fact that terrorists pushed these people to their deaths, murdering them.  

"There was no evidence of suicide among the 2,753 people who lost their lives at the World Trade Center that day.

"Every one of the estimated 200 people who came down from the windows was pushed by forces beyond their control.

"That’s why every single death certificate of those who died on 9/11 reads “Homicide.” 

"It matters, too, because some families of the murdered adhere to religious traditions that teach that suicide is an unforgiveable sin.

"We’ve seen heartbreaking cases of family members denouncing lost loved ones when confronted with the possibility that they intentionally jumped.

"And yet, the National September 11 Museum posts a sign outside a room where images of the falling people are displayed referencing “those who jumped.” 

"With the help of curators and directors there, I have sought to change that notice. 

"The museum’s Signage Committee has declined, saying no one else seems to be bothered by it.

"I am bothered.

"Like Dr. Hirsch, those words make me angry — and sad, and hurt.

"To call these people “jumpers” fails to capture the anguish they experienced, their lack of choice.

"It doesn’t honor them; it blames the victims rather than the terrorists.

"Call them “those who fell from the windows” — or who were “pushed out by forces beyond their control.”

"Whatever we choose, let’s use the right words."

Barbara Butcher, the former chief of staff at OCME NYC, is the author of “What the Dead Know: Learning About Life as a New York City Death Investigator.” 

More Proof That COVID Vaccines Protect You

As a patient with arthritis, this is exactly why I get every COVID vaccine that's available. I'll be getting the new COVID shot as soon as my pharmacy gets it in. Lately they have given me mNEXSPIKE, which is a lower-dose mRNA vaccine by Moderna. And I've still never had COVID -- knock on wood!

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Updated COVID-19 vaccines protect adults with autoimmune rheumatic conditions

News-Medical.net, 9-5-26 

"In an Arthritis & Rheumatology analysis of data on 60,980 US adults with autoimmune rheumatic conditions who developed COVID-19 between December 2020 and August 2024, those who received booster or updated (2023-2024) COVID-19 vaccines were less likely to be hospitalized for COVID-19 compared to those who received only the initial series vaccines or who were unvaccinated.

"Compared with no vaccination, completion of the initial series, booster vaccination, and updated vaccination were associated with 41%, 71%, and 69% lower adjusted odds of COVID-19-related hospitalization, respectively. Among patients who had received only the initial vaccine series versus booster/updated vaccine, the absolute risk reduction was 5.6%.

"'Our findings provide important real-world evidence that updated vaccines continue to offer substantial protection in this medically vulnerable population. These results underscore the need for continued efforts by clinicians, policymakers, and patient advocacy groups to help ensure that these patients remain current with updated COVID-19 vaccines," added Lesley E. Jackson, MD, MSPH, first author, University of Alabama, Birmingham."

No Surprise: COVID Deaths Were Underreported

I'm not at all surprised to read this headline.  I never believed or trusted any statistics coming from Russia or China due to their penchant for downplaying any major event.

--------------------------------------------------- 

Pesach Benson and Omer Novoselsky/TPS-IL, JNS.org., 9-12-26

'The toll was much higher’: Israeli study finds COVID deaths underreported 

Countries with stronger institutional checks and balances generally saw less underreporting, while those with a communist legacy or holding elections saw more.

"The COVID-19 pandemic was not only a test of health systems. It was also a test of whether governments could be trusted to report what was happening, and a new Israeli study suggests that the strength of a country’s institutions may have mattered more than its ability to count.

"Hebrew University of Jerusalem researchers Ariel Karlinsky and Professor Moses Shayo examined mortality data from 134 countries and territories and found that governments substantially underreported COVID-19 deaths during the first two years of the pandemic.

"Published in the peer-reviewed Journal of Economic Growth, the study compares officially reported COVID-19 deaths with estimates based primarily on excess mortality—deaths above the number normally expected. The countries studied officially reported 5.08 million COVID-19 deaths in 2020 and 2021, while the researchers estimate actual COVID mortality at 12.47 million.

"The researchers estimate that 45% to 55% of governments in their sample misreported COVID mortality, with underreporting far more common than overreporting.

“The two most important findings are: (1) that the toll of the COVID pandemic was much higher than officially reported and (2) we show massive information manipulation by many governments around the world,” Karlinsky, a PhD candidate at the Hebrew University, told The Press Service of Israel.

"But the study goes beyond establishing that official figures were often wrong. Karlinsky and Shayo examined whether differences in countries’ ability to collect, register and report deaths could explain the gaps.

"They found that statistical capacity accounted for only a small share of the variation. Countries with stronger institutional checks and balances generally showed less underreporting, as did countries where citizens were better positioned to evaluate official information, including through higher education and internet access.

"The authors also found higher levels of misreporting in countries with a communist legacy and in countries holding elections during the pandemic. The study stressed that these are descriptive associations and do not establish that those factors caused governments to misreport deaths.

"Karlinsky pointed to Chile and Russia as a concrete illustration. Both scored highly on measures of statistical capacity, he said. Yet Chile, which had stronger institutional constraints, reported COVID mortality relatively accurately, while Russia significantly undercounted it.

Reporting the reality

"The distinction matters because a reporting gap does not automatically prove deliberate deception. Limited testing, incomplete death registration and other weaknesses can cause governments to miss deaths. The researchers attempted to identify misreporting only where official figures fell substantially below the range of plausible excess-mortality estimates.

"Testing itself, however, can become part of the problem, Karlinsky said. He cited countries such as Belarus and Egypt, where relatively few COVID tests were conducted despite reports from local hospitals of high infection and death rates.

"The largest absolute discrepancy identified by the study was in India, where the government reported roughly 500,000 COVID deaths while the researchers estimate approximately 4.5 million. In Nicaragua, fewer than 250 COVID deaths were officially reported over two years, while excess mortality indicated deaths in the thousands.

"The researchers acknowledge that the true death toll may never be known in some countries, particularly poorer nations where death registration is incomplete. Researchers have attempted to fill those gaps using sources including hospital data, obituaries and other indirect measures.

"The implications extend beyond COVID. Governments routinely publish statistics that shape decisions about public health, economic policy, foreign aid and other international issues.

“Just like people can lie, so do governments,” Karlinsky told TPS-IL. “I think journalists should either refrain from publishing information from suspected countries or always accompany it by caveating that the information may not or cannot be verified.”

New Dem Campaign Strategy! Pose Smiling at Dachau & Wish Trump-Supporters Were In Those Ovens

 

The lengths antisemites go to shouldn't surprise me by now, but I have to admit this woman's idea of public relations is a new one on me. I''m Jewish and a Trump-supporter.

Either she will actually be elected anyway, or she will lose and blame the Jews.  Apologizing after the fact is something other haters try, and it doesn't work; and of course there's the usual "mental illness" excuse. The only illness she has is rabid Jew-hatred.

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From Breitbart 9-11-26

NC Democrat Legislative Candidate Shelly Headen: ‘Visiting Dauchau [sic] Concentration Camp in Germany…..This is where Trump supporters belong’ 

"North Carolina Democrat state legislative candidate Shelly Headen posted a Facebook story from a vacation showing her in front of ovens in a German concentration camp memorial, saying, “Visiting Dauchau [sic] Concentration Camp in Germany… This is where Trump supporters belong.”

"Headen was reportedly visiting Dachau, where the memorial states that 41,500 people were murdered. 

"In social media photos, Headen is seen smiling as she stands in front of what appears to be crematorium ovens, which were used by the Nazi SS to burn the bodies of Jews and other prisoners who died or were murdered at the camp. 

"Headen faces incumbent Republican state Rep. John Blust in a suburban Guilford County district. On her Facebook page, Headen says she is a CPA and business owner “running to restore human decency,” an ironic statement after saying political opponents should be in concentration camps while posing and smiling in front of ovens at a Holocaust memorial site.

"Six million Jews were murdered during the Holocaust.

"The rhetoric expressed by Headen is growing among Democrat candidates and left-wing agitators across the nation. Earlier this year, a crazed gunman attempted to break through security presumably to assassinate President Trump at the White House Correspondent’s Dinner, and Michigan Muslim socialist candidate Abdul El-Sayed said, in response to an attack against a Jewish synagogue in his state, “Hurt people hurt people.”

"The apparent call to burn Trump supporters isn’t her only expression of support for violence. In another Facebook post, Headen appears to call for an unspecified terrorist attack against America, writing, “I think our only hope is an attack on US soil… preferably Alabama, Louisiana… where the stupid people are.”

"Headen has also faced domestic assault allegations in which her husband is listed as the “potential victim.”

"A pair of what appear to be law enforcement “incident/investigation reports” from 2024 indicate Mrs. Headen was the suspect in both incidents.

"In a statement on September 3, Headen said of the domestic violence allegations, “In 2024, during a high-stress time in my marriage, my husband and I had a couple of arguments that escalated. During one argument, my husband grabbed me, and I fell backward and hit my head. In my fear and confusion, I sought support and protection from those I trusted—I called 911.”

"That description contradicts police reports, noting two separate law enforcement visits, not one, in both of which she is listed as the suspect and her husband the “potential victim.”

"Breitbart News has reached out to Headen for a response to her inflammatory Facebook posts and clarification on the domestic violence allegations. The campaign has not responded by press time."

Friday, September 11, 2026

9/11 Didn't Happen In A Vaccuum. The Enemy Was Al Qaeda. It Still Is Islamic Terrorism.

I agree 100% with Fred Fleitz. Only the sympathizers and the politically correct liberals would rather not refer to Al Qaeda, or Islamic terrorists.  No wonder most students don't know who's responsible for attacking us!

I never could understood how September 11 became, instead of a day of mourning and remembrance, "Patriot Day" and a day for volunteering. 

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Name the Enemy: The 25th Anniversary of 9/11 Still Demands It

Good deeds are not enough. Name who did this. State why. And say, without embarrassment: never again.

By Fred Fleitz, American Greatness, 9-11-26

"September 11 is not a day for vague emotional uplift. It is not a seminar on American foreign policy. It is not an occasion to distort a massacre into “differences with the United States.” It is the anniversary of a morning when Islamist terrorists murdered nearly three thousand people on American soil.

"Calls to unite Americans and “do a good deed” to honor those murdered by these terrorists are fine if they come with a clear account of who attacked this country, why they did it, and a hard commitment that it must never happen again.

"The al Qaeda terrorists did not hijack those planes because of political differences with the U.S. They did it because they despised the civilization those towers represented: democracy, mixed societies, individual liberty, women in public life, Jews and Christians, and secular people living without clerical veto. Al Qaeda’s leaders said so. Their documents said so. Their sermons said so. Pretending otherwise is not nuance. It is amnesia.

"There is a persistent effort to minimize that record or invent “another side” to the story. Congresswoman Ilhan Omar (D-MN) reduced the attacks to “some people did something.” Hasan Piker, who campaigned with Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed, said in 2019 that “America deserved 9/11.” A New Jersey curriculum produced with CAIR-NJ and “Teaching While Muslim” has told students that the attacks were a response to U.S. support for Israel, the Persian Gulf War, and the American military presence in the Middle East.

"Even worse, according to a September 5 New York Post article, two-thirds of American Middle East studies professors say college kids cannot identify who attacked the U.S. on 9/11 or why. The Post article attributes this to a lack of mandatory teaching standards about the terrorist attack, which has allowed woke ideology blaming the attacks on U.S. policy or “Islamophobia” to be taught instead. Some of these lesson plans reportedly have been funded by far-left billionaire George Soros.

"This is not teaching history. It is a radical woke attempt to rewrite history and explain away murder.

"Some school systems are fighting back. For example, the Texas Board of Education recently sparked controversy when it approved changes to the state’s high school social studies curriculum that say radical Islam motivated the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

"This excuse-making matters because it is not unique to 9/11. The same instinct—to explain away Islamist violence as a response to policy differences rather than an expression of extremist ideology—shows up every time such terrorist attacks occur. London in 2005. Madrid in 2004. Paris in 2015. Brussels in 2016. Bali in 2002 and 2005. Mumbai in 2006 and 2008. The 2017 siege of Marawi in the Philippines. These attacks can’t be linked to differences with the U.S. or the American military presence in the Middle East. They were assaults on democracy, freedom, and modern society.

"The October 7, 2023, Hamas massacre against Israel also belongs on that list. Hamas murdered about 1,200 people—including babies, children, and the elderly—burned homes, took hostages, and filmed their murderous work. Hamas did not raid Israeli communities over a zoning dispute. It attacked because its ideology cannot tolerate a free, neighboring society that it cannot defeat except by terror. Some details differ from 9/11. The civilizational contempt does not.

"Remember this when radical leftists like Hasan Piker try to recycle their blame-the-victim arguments to explain the 9/11 massacre.

"The morning of September 11, 2001, belongs first to the victims and family members of this massacre. It belongs to the heroic firefighters and police officers who ran toward the fire and climbed stairs while others fled. It belongs to the brave passengers on Flight 93 who understood they were already dead and chose to fight anyway. It belongs to office workers who carried strangers down darkened stairwells. These were acts of duty and patriotism under conditions designed to produce panic. Their sacrifice deserves a sober memory, not an effort to minimize this atrocity.

"The killers were Muslim fanatics who rejected the modern world. That is not an indictment of every Muslim. The vast majority reject that fanaticism and have often been its victims.

"We are seeing a version of this Islamist fanaticism now in Iran, where the IRGC and the ruling mullahs are executing protesters and people who talk to the Western media. A regime that hangs its own people for demanding a normal life is not resisting some vague threat from the U.S. or Israel. It is at war with modernity itself. When such a state talks about resistance, look at what it is resisting: dissent, pluralism, and the idea that sovereignty belongs to citizens rather than the regime’s armed thugs.

"Good deeds are not enough. Name who did this. State why. And say, without embarrassment: never again.

"Heroes. Sacrifice. A radical Islamist enemy that named itself. Reject euphemism and denial on this solemn day. Teach our children that kindness will not protect our freedom or our lives from those who want to destroy us. We must recognize the foreign threats to our nation, be willing to defend it, and be ready to fight.'