"U.S.
— In a powerful showing of solidarity with the algae discoloring the
newly-renovated Reflecting Pool, liberals across the nation have begun
adding green pond scum to their drinking water.
"Democrats are
proudly guzzling the verdant potable, a small act of daily rebellion
against the tyranny of President Trump. The trend gained momentum after
activists began posting videos of themselves drinking murky green water
under the hashtag #StandWithTheScum. Influencers competed to demonstrate
their commitment by consuming increasingly opaque beverages.
"Take
that, Donald," said local liberal woman Amy Gunther as she videoed
herself gulping down another glass of algae. "Team green all the way."
"Restaurants
in several liberal enclaves have also begun offering drinks filled with
various types of algae. "We're selling Algae-tinis like crazy," said
local bar manager Dean McIntosh. "They're super simple to make. I just
get a little algae out of the stagnant pond out back, throw it in a
glass with ice, and add gin. The libs love it."
"At publishing time, liberals had begun also adding chips of blue paint to their drinks."
You would think this is a given. The Strait of Hormuz doesn't belong to Iran or any other country. It's an international waterway, and every country that uses the Strait should be fighting to keep it that way.
"Whatever else comes out of the negotiations with Iran, the United States cannot allow Iran to set any kind of toll or “user fee” on ships passing the Strait of Hormuz.
"President Donald Trump couldn’t send any worse signal of weakness to the rest of the world, both our allies and our enemies.
"Even the “insurance” racket (protection money) version would devastate Western shipping, slamming the US economy far more than the disruptions from Iran’s recent temporary closure.
"It’s just madness, abandoning a bedrock American principle
going back to when President Thomas Jefferson sent the Navy and Marines
to the shores of Tripoli, one vital to our national interests.
"No nation can have any rights or sovereignty whatsoever over the Strait of Hormuz, which has always been and must remain exclusively international waters.
"Let this pass, and the Houthis will soon charge for the nearby Bab al
Mandab; next someone will hold the Strait of Malacca hostage.
"Heck, Britain and France need cash; why shouldn’t they toll the English Channel?
"Spain and Morocco, the Strait of Gibraltar.
"Freedom of navigation is real, longstanding international law, far different from all the piffle modern lefties try to add.
"The hint in Point No. 5 of the Memorandum of Understanding
is bad enough: Iran and Oman will “define the future administration and
maritime services in the Strait of Hormuz, in discussions with other
Persian Gulf Littoral States.”
"Vice President JD Vance seems to think it’s fine that those nations “will figure out a proper security framework for the straits.”
"Nuts to that!
"However much the Iranians demand it, just tell them no: It’s not like they’ve put anything hard and real on the table, anyway.
"Even President Barack Obama and his idiots never tried a giveaway on this scale.
"Yet here’s a joint statement from Oman and Iran
claiming “sovereignty and sovereign rights” over the Strait, supposedly
their “territorial waters,” vowing to work out “the future
administration of navigation” and “the services that will be provided in
this regard and the costs associated with them.”
"Iran’s already telling all ships to register with its newly created
Persian Gulf Strait Authority to ensure safe passage and to sign up to
buy Iranian “insurance” for when the 60-day cease-fire expires.
"This is a Mafia-style protection racket, pure and simple.
"The only “security” ships would conceivably need in the Gulf is from Iranian attacks, and that’s why we have the US Navy and Marines.
"On Tuesday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio insisted “no country is allowed to charge tolls or fees on an international waterway.”
"Well, if so, why did the Secretary of State allow negotiators to give Iran and Oman a say at all?
"Has the president gotten his secretaries of Commerce, Energy, Transportation and Treasury to weigh in here?
"Whoever is selling the idea in the Oval Offfice that it’s OK to even
consider sacrificing free passage in the strait should be barred from
the White House.
"Trump claims Iran wants a peace accord more than the United States.
"Then his team should act like it, set the terms — and ensure the Strait of Hormuz remains as open and free as it’s always been."
None of these horrible people should be allowed to have any part in the 25th anniversary commemorations for the September 11 terrorist attacks. They hate our country and our people as much as Al Qaeda did. They also hate Israel, Jews, I.C.E., capitalism, success, wealth, the police, and stopping crime.
I'm glad that my grandfather -- a lifelong New York resident after landing at Ellis Island from Eastern Europe with his family as a child -- isn't alive to see this.
"Mayor Zohran Mamdani and his so-called “Hamas slate’’ of local congressional candidates were interviewed last week by a terror-group sympathizer in a get-out-the-vote effort for Tuesday’s primary election.
"Accused hater Bartley Blakeley — who has several hundred thousand online followers across various platforms — posted her chats on Instagram with the far-left mayor and three House candidates he has endorsed: Brad Lander, Claire Valdez and Darializa Avila Chevalier.
“I call it the Hamas slate. Unfortunately, there’s a lot of support
for the Hamas slate,” said Dov Hikind, a former Brooklyn state
assemblyman who is founder of Americans Against Antisemitism.
“The world is turned upside down,” Hikind said. “To be part of the
‘in’ crowd, you have to support Hamas, Iran, Hezbollah, and the
Houthis.”
“You know who else they called a terrorist? Nelson Mandela and also
said that Martin Luther King Jr wasn’t popular when he was alive,”
Blakeley said.
“You guys always wanna praise the freedom fighters long after they’re
dead but cry “terrorist’ when one fights in your lifetime. #sinwar
#freepalestine.”
"The self-described “trash belly ring enthusiast” and “nonbinary lefty” wrote a few months earlier that she doesn’t condemn or blame Hamas for the Oct. 7, 2023, massacre of 1,200 mostly civilians in Israel.
“No I don’t. I did at first after Oct. 7 and then the more that I
have learned I take that back. I do not condemn them. Thanks for asking.
Hope that helps,” Blakeley said on Jan. 6, 2024.
"Blakeley also amplified a conspiracy theory that ISIS and al-Qaeda
are controlled by Israel’s intelligence forces, writing, “Is this why
they won’t let us see the 9/11 files?” in response to a post.
"During Friday’s interviews, Blakeley asked the candidates what bill would they collectively push if elected to Congress.
"Mamdani volunteered that they all support the “block the bombs act”
that would bar the United States from delivering arms to Israel without
congressional approval and in accordance with federal and international
law.
"Lander, the former city comptroller and ex-city councilman who is
Jewish and has described himself as a progressive Zionist, said,
“Democratic voters need to get the message that voters are fed up using
taxpayer dollars being used for genocide.”
"Blakeley said she was thrilled with the “comrade energy.
“I asked Mayor Mamdani’s @nycmayor endorsed slate what’s a bill they
can prioritize collectively once in Congress? They’ve all committed to
co-sponsoring the Block the Bombs Act, which is a great start!,” Blakely
posted after the meeting.
"The provocateur had previously replied angrily to an April 2025 video that called Hamas a terrorist organization, as it is overwhelmingly considered across the world.
“Hamas is a terrorist organization according to who? The west. They
wouldn’t exist if it weren’t for the brutal Israeli occupation and you
fuc***g know it,’’ the influencer raged.
"In another post from January 2026, in response to Democratic New York
Attorney General Tish James calling Hamas a terrorist organization, Blakeley wrote, “America is the biggest terrorist org in the world.”
"In January 2024, after X took Hamas’ page offline, Blakely demanded it be immediately reinstated.
"The anti-Israel advocate also claimed the Sept 11, 2001, terrorist attacks occurred because of America’s support for Israel.
“People do realize that Americans are going to be at risk of harm bc
of what the Israeli regime has done, right? Remember that 9/11 was done
in part, bc of America doing Israelis bidding & then protecting
them,” Blakeley said.
“And our “leaders” don’t care. Because they hate you. And they don’t care about this country, either.”
"The congressional candidates she interviewed last week got what they wanted.
“You can early vote all weekend and Election Day is June 23rd! Vote
for Claire Valdez in NY-07 @claireforny Darializa Vila @darializaforny
Chavelier in NY-13, and Brad Lander @brad.lander in NY-10. #vote #nyc
#ny13 #ny10 #ny07,” Blakeley said.
"Mamdani, Lander, Valdez and Chevalier — who has ridiculed white women
as “ugly colonizer women” and black and “Arab’’ men for “fetishizing
them — had no comment.
"But detractors had plenty to say about the group, claiming their
cozying up to a Hamas sympathizer is just another example of peddling
Jew hatred.
“This is just another step forward in the demonization and isolation
of Jews under the guise of antizionism, aligning with the absolute worst
people supporting violence and terrorism,” said EqualProtect.org
founder and Cornell University law professor William Jacobson.
“They can hide all they want, but everybody knows what they are doing. It is the first step in a very ugly administration.”
Despite all the attempts to gaslight us about the effectiveness of the COVID vaccine, the results are clear. Why people still won't take advantage of this vaccine is a mystery to me. It doesn't work unless you get a shot!
"A new study suggests that
the 2025-26 COVID-19 vaccine helps protect against serious illness by
reducing the risk of hospitalization and emergency department/urgent
care (ED/UC) visits, adding protection for a population with significant
existing immunity from previous infections and vaccinations.
"The study, published today in JAMA Network Open,
found that adults who received the updated vaccine were about 50% less
likely to require ED/UC treatment for COVID and 55% less likely to be
hospitalized than those who did not receive the vaccine.
Booster augments previous immunity
"For
the study, researchers led by a team from the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention (CDC) analyzed data from more than 111,000 adults
across 253 EU/UCs and 179 hospitals in seven states from September
through December 2025. They compared patients who tested positive for
COVID with those who tested negative and identified whether they had
received the 2025-26 vaccine.
"Overall, vaccine
effectiveness (VE) against COVID-related ED/UC visits was estimated at
50%. Protection against hospitalization was 55%.
"Among
adults ages 65 and older, VE was 48% against ED/UC visits and 53%
against hospitalization. Older adults face the highest risk of severe
outcomes from COVID.
"While hospitalization rates during the first part of the
2025-26 respiratory virus season were lower than in previous years,
COVID-related severe illness remains a significant issue. There were an
estimated 390,000 to 550,000 COVID-related hospitalizations in the
United States from October 2024 to September 2025, with the highest
hospitalization rate reported among adults 65 and older.
"The
protective benefits of the 2025-26 booster bolstered previous immunity.
“The findings in this study demonstrate the added benefit of 2025-2026
COVID-19 vaccination irrespective of protection conferred by previous
COVID-19 vaccination or SARS-CoV-2 infection,” the authors write.
59% lower risk of medically attended illness
"The
findings align with a separate study conducted in France, Germany,
Ireland, Italy, and Spain by the Vaccine Effectiveness, Burden and
Impact Studies (VEBIS) Primary Care Vaccine Effectiveness Group.
"For the study, published last week in JAMA Network Open,
researchers examined the effectiveness of 2025-26 COVID vaccines in
older adults who sought care for respiratory illnesses from September
2025 to January 2026.
"The findings suggest that
vaccination reduced the risk of symptomatic COVID infection that
required a healthcare visit by 59%, although with uncertainty (95%
confidence interval [CI], 14% to 83%), among older adults during the
first two months after vaccination.
"Protection waned
slightly over time—VE was 64% (95% CI, 8% to 89%) 14 to 41 days after
vaccination and 52% (95% CI, −39% to 89%) 42 to 83 days after
vaccination, again with uncertainty.
Vaccine uptake low in both studies
"In
both studies, vaccine uptake was low. In the study led by the CDC, only
11% of patients included in the analysis received a 2025-26 booster,
and only 6% of patients who tested positive for COVID in the European
study had been vaccinated, compared with 19% of those who tested
negative.
“The low uptake of vaccines, which showed
substantial short-term effectiveness, suggests missed opportunities for
preventing symptomatic COVID-19 among unvaccinated vulnerable groups,”
write the authors of the European study."
I gave a speech last night at the opening of the JNS security conference in Jerusalem. The text of what I said follows below.
"This past week has been a shocking one.
"President Trump produced a ceasefire agreement that seemed to have been dictated by Tehran. He and JD Vance lashed out viciously at Israel, America’s close and indispensable ally in this war.
"Now, Donald Trump is the only American president ever to have waged war on the Iranian regime. He and Israel had it on the ropes. Their achievements in drastically weakening the Iranian regime have been absolutely astonishing.
"So why did he suddenly release the pressure, throw away his advantage and hand Iran the power to dictate events?
"Well, I suggest the answer to that puzzle links America, Britain and Europe. None of them properly understands the war being waged against them all.
"This is an unprecedented and seismic moment in history. The onslaught upon Israel and the Jewish world is coming at us from all sides.
"The barbarities of October 7 presented the west with a challenge. Would it choose civilisation or barbarism?
"Much of the west, we now see, alas, has turned its back on civilisation.
"Instead of supporting Israel against genocidal attack, it’s turned instead against Israel and the Jewish people in an unprecedented loss of reason and moral compass.
"What we’re seeing is first and foremost an Islamist war against the west being waged through an onslaught against Israel and the Jews. The Islamists have always told us: first we are coming for the Jews, and then we are coming for the Christians.
"Much of the west, alas, doesn’t understand this. It’s not joining up the dots. As a result, in Britain, Europe and America, there’s a refusal to do what it takes to defend itself.
"President Trump has turned on a dime to escape from a trap. This trap is because, in his words, an imminent global economic disaster caused by Iran taking hostage the Strait of Hormuz cannot be tolerated by him.
"But we have to ask, how in the world is mighty America unable to defeat a massively weakened Iran? The short answer is that to do so probably requires American boots on the ground. And that’s something the president will not commit himself to do. Because the American people wouldn’t wear it.
"Why is that? It’s because they don’t think the war with Iran has anything to do with their interests. That’s astonishing, given the hundreds of Americans attacked and killed by Iran over the past four decades as it’s pursued its war cry “Death to America”.
"What this initiative in the MoU means is that everyone can now see America is not prepared to make the sacrifices necessary to defend itself. And that will have emboldened evil forces threatening the west from around the world.
"Britain and Europe, meanwhile, are unwilling to go to war at all. They dance to the tune of kumbaya liberal universalism, which means they say all conflict must be ended by negotiation and compromise. Even with genocidal fanatics.
"They say nothing has ever been solved by war. What do they think was going on between 1939 and 1945, one wonders?
"Their belief in the “brotherhood of man” means that at home they’ve embraced multiculturalism and mass immigration. They’ve told themselves it’s racist to uphold their own historic culture over anyone else’s because the west was born in the original sins of colonialism and whiteness.
"So they allowed in millions of Muslim immigrants. And now their societies are well on the way to Islamisation. Now let’s be clear: many, many Muslims in Britain and Europe pose no threat to anyone. They want to enjoy the benefits of western society. But huge numbers of them do pose a threat, either through terrorism or their agenda to Islamise the culture.
"But the political and cultural elites in the west won’t even admit this is happening, denouncing instead anyone who sounds the alarm as Islamophobic, racist or fascist.
"In Britain, the result of this has been, for example, a refusal to deal with the infamous mainly Muslim rape and grooming gangs you’ve read about. There’s a wilful blindness towards jihadi preachers in mosques, inciting murderous hatred against the west and against the Jews. And the rise of sectarian Islamic Gaza first politics, with more and more politicians nervously doing the bidding of Muslims determined to make Britain adapt to Islam.
"The result of all this and more is that Britain and parts of Europe are just like the frog being boiled slowly in the pot. And I’m afraid parts of America — I’m thinking of New York — show signs of following suit.
"Since October 7, ecstatic Islamists who, like the Iranian regime, believe that the final defeat of Israel and the west is now at hand, have been spearheading an onslaught on diaspora Jews.
"But they’re being supported by many non-Muslims. What’s been so shocking is not just the demonstrations with their chants to murder Jews and destroy Israel. It’s that verbal and physical attacks on Jews have redoubled even after Jewish people have been viciously assaulted or even murdered in Britain and other western countries.
"We’re seeing that violence against Jews just excites the bloodlust. No-one wants to know about Jewish victimisation. No-one wants to hear about antisemitism.
"All the guardrails against Jew-hatred have come down. There’s an attempt within the west not just to get rid of Israel but to get rid of the Jews from their heads, their conscience and their world.
"It’s emerged as anti-Zionism because wall-to-wall falsehoods about Israel’s behaviour, parroted by the universities, the media and the global humanitarian establishment, have framed Zionism as evil and Israel as diabolically monstrous. Appallingly, these blood libels have been framed as conscience itself.
"In Britain and increasingly in America too, courage now consists of supporting the Jewish people and the State of Israel.
"So is it all over? Absolutely not. Much can be done against these enemies of civilisation but only if one crucial thing is understood.
"These evil forces are strong only because their victims, in Britain, Europe and America, are weak. And they’re weak because they will not do what it takes to defend themselves.
"Iran is not strong. But America’s many powerful weapons count for nothing if it won’t use them. If America won’t commit itself to take the pain involved in fighting for its way of life, then Iran wins.
"America won’t defend itself properly because it doesn’t understand that, when it has an enemy as with the Iranian regime that believes God is instructing it to destroy America and the Jews, any negotiation is viewed as weakness and a way to manipulate America into surrender.
"To defeat Iran, America needs to end all negotiation and fight, through blockades or kinetic war or boots on the ground wherever necessary.
"Britain and Europe could themselves fight back by ending immigration from the most troubling areas in the Muslim world, banning the Muslim Brotherhood and sharia courts, and jailing or deporting hate preachers in mosques.
"Diaspora Jews should be able fight back by first stopping going on about antisemitism. They should instead start telling essential truths that are never told. For example, that Palestinian identity is a scam that was invented purely to exterminate Israel and steal the Jews’ own history in the land from them.
"They should be telling the west that everything Israel does is in accordance with international law. They should be saying it is the Palestinian Arabs who are the would-be colonisers, and that Zionism was the greatest anti-colonialism movement of the 20th century.
"And they should also start telling Americans in terms that the war against Iran is a war to defend the west, and that they all in America depend on Israel to keep them safe — in America.
"Since October 7, Israel has fought like a lion.
"Its soldiers do so because they are fighting for their people, which they love. Because they are bound in blood and tears to their history, to their culture, and to the generations who came before them and fought and died to keep the Jewish people alive.
"Israel pays the heaviest possible price of defending itself because its people are determined to keep their nation alive. Their identity, their love of their culture, their history and their people gives them idealism, courage and hope.
"Since October 7, the Israelis have returned to their historic Jewish destiny as a heroic warrior nation. Diaspora Jews themselves need to identify as part of that warrior nation, or else they will largely disappear.
"Britain and Europe will not survive their cultural death-wish. This week, I was horrified to see, America moved alarmingly to join them.
"President Trump has not escaped the Iranian trap, as I think some of his comments today indicate he is well aware. Either he fights to defeat the regime or America is finished as a force to defend civilisation.
"Israel will not allow Iran to get the bomb. If necessary, it will fight Iran alone.
"We Jews believe our historic mission is to be a light unto the nations. Israel now can be that light by showing America, Britain and Europe how to fight, what it takes to fight and therefore how to survive and to live.
I"srael will survive because Israel will do whatever to takes to defend itself: the heroic warrior nation defending the whole civilised world. This is the Jewish moment. Am yisroel chai (the people of Israel lives)."
COVID
levels are mostly remaining very low according to WastewaterSCAN. The
CDC did not post an update this week because of the Juneteenth holiday,
but they should post new data tomorrow.
In
other news: In the last 2 weeks, the Utah measles outbreak appears to
be slowing down, while measles is now spreading in Virginia and in
Pennsylvania. Ebola cases in the DRC are up almost 40% in one week.
Midjourney and Butterfly are making an rapid total body ultrasound
scanner. The U.S. government hid information on COVID and Shingles
vaccine benefits, but 3 reports in JAMA this week show the benefits of
the COVID booster vaccine. Tattoo ink in lymph nodes can masquerade as
endometriosis. And much more.
COVID Variants
Yunlong
Cao’s lab from Peking University has two recent articles: one shows how
immune imprinting shapes which SARS-CoV-2 variants will succeed and the
other introduces DeepCoV which can predict emerging SARS-CoV-2 variants
before they take over.
Yunlong Cao’s lab found that the BA.3.2.2 variant disproportionately infects young children
globally because they lack exposure from prior infection or vaccination
to the ancestral Wuhan SARS-CoV-2 strain. The BA.3.2.2 variant evades
Omicron specific antibodies dominating young immune repertoires, while
mRNA imprinted adults retain cross reactive neutralizing antibodies. Ancestral immune memory paradoxically protects against this variant. We may need to rethink pediatric COVID vaccination for young children to include the ancestral Wuhan SARS-CoV-2 strain.
Yunlong
Cao’s lab also introduced DeepCoV, an AI model which can accurately
forecast dominant SARS-CoV-2 variants a month ahead with 90% fewer false
discoveries. DeepCoV’s framework combines mutation scanning, viral
evolution, and surveillance data to track immune evasion and regional
spread patterns in real time.
A study of 312 adults aged 18 to 80 found that being bilingual early in life may protect aging brains from COVID-related cognitive decline.
Among older adults, task switching ability dropped more after COVID
infection in those who learned a second language later in life, while
early bilinguals showed minimal decline, suggesting bilingualism builds
cognitive reserve to COVID.
Researchers at La Trobe University and WEHI found that SARS-CoV-2 hijacks a normal cleanup process called efferocytosis
to infect macrophages. Infected cells release apoptotic bodies that
carry live SARS-CoV-2. Macrophages engulf these, which triggers
inflammasome and NF-κB inflammation. Blocking T-type calcium channels
prevented this, reducing viral spread and lung inflammation in models,
pointing to a possible new drug target.
University
of Pittsburgh pediatrician Thomas Hooven, commented on the PECOS study
which tracked 852 children over 12 months, comparing 705 who had
confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infections against 147 uninfected controls.
Children who had been infected with COVID showed meaningfully higher
rates of fatigue, post-exertional malaise, gastrointestinal symptoms,
headaches, and cough compared to controls at the one year mark.
McMaster University analyzed 513,159 Canadian kindergarteners and found chronic absenteeism more than doubled
post-COVID (17.7% to 41.3%). The link between frequent absences and
developmental vulnerability weakened, reflecting a broader and more
socioeconomically diverse cohort of absent children.
There are 3 new articles in JAMA showing that the 2024-2025 COVID vaccine boosters
led to a reduction in major cardiovascular events, while being highly
effective in older adults, and protection offering against emergency
department visits and hospitalization for severe infection.
The
Al-Aly lab from the St. Louis Veterans Administration analyzed more
than 1 million veterans and found that receiving the 2024 to 2025 COVID vaccine was linked to a 37.7% reduction in the risk of major cardiovascular events
connected to COVID over an eight month follow up period. The protective
effect was most pronounced in veterans over the age of 75.
A
European multisite study of 2,046 older adults found 2024-2025 COVID
vaccines provided 59% protection against symptomatic medically attended
infection within 2 months of vaccination. Effectiveness ranged from 64%
at 14-41 days to 52% at 42-83 days, though only 6% uptake was observed.
CDC
analyzed 333,262 US emergency department/urgent care visits and 97,663
hospitalizations. The 2024-2025 vaccine showed 26% effectiveness against
ED/UC visits, 35% against hospitalization, and 41% against critical
illness across 7 to 299 days post-vaccination. Protection waned over
time.
Researchers at Mass General Brigham examined 169 Long COVID patients and found that 81% met diagnostic criteria for central sensitization,
a state in which the nervous system amplifies pain and sensory signals.
Those who met this threshold also showed greater reductions in cerebral blood flow upon standing and elevated IL-6 levels, implicating both vascular dysfunction and systemic inflammation as contributors to the condition.
Stanford
University researchers describe a case report of a patient who began
experiencing severe painful tonic spasms approximately two weeks
following a COVID infection, with MRI imaging revealing an inflammatory
lesion in the cerebral peduncle, a critical motor pathway in the brain.
Corticosteroid treatment resolved the spasms and the lesion showed
gradual improvement over a two year follow up period.
Columbia
University researchers developed a human immune system mouse model
showing how human immune cells promote multiorgan SARS-CoV-2
dissemination and persistence. Dysfunctional T cells
paradoxically suppressed antiviral interferon responses, permitting
chronic viral persistence and recapitulating features of Long COVID.
University of BrasÃlia researchers studied 40 individuals who had survived severe COVID
infection and followed them for two years. Despite retaining normal
muscle mass, these patients continued to show greater fatigue, reduced
physical function, and slower force production compared to healthy
controls, pointing toward persistent neuromuscular dysfunction rather than structural deficit.
Munich scientists studied 204 participants and found that Long COVID patients showed measurably weaker grip strength and greater muscle fatigability
compared to fully recovered individuals, with these deficits remaining
detectable across a six month follow up period. Notably, worse baseline
muscle function served as a predictor of subsequent fatigue severity and overall symptom burden in those with post COVID syndrome.
Analysis of gene expression datasets from Long COVID patients identified 715 dysregulated genes, including seven altered potassium channels. Four of the potassium channels (KCNA6, KCNJ10, KCNN3, KCNH4) are targets of several FDA approved drugs,
offering potential drug repurposing candidates for Long COVID. The data
was studied in silico, thus animal and/or human trials are needed.
Figure 6: Human potassium channels and medications that affect them.
KCNN3 was observed to interact with dequalinium.
KCNJ10 interacted with mitiglinide, glipizide, tolazamide, and chlorpropamide.
KCNA6 and KCNH4 were found to interact with amifampridine, guanidine hydrochloride, dalfampridine, and amifampridine phosphate.
A
new review from the University of Melbourne discusses that decades of
inconsistent hormone findings in ME/CFS and Long COVID stem from static, single timepoint sampling
rather than absent biology. Researchers propose a chronobiological
framework tracking circadian, menstrual, and stress-responsive hormone
rhythms together, since timing and coordination across the hypothalamic-pituitary axes (HPA, HPG, HPT, HPS/GH) may matter more than hormone concentration alone.
Africa CDC reported Thursday that confirmed Ebola cases in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) rose 38% in one week, reaching 894 confirmed Ebola cases across 32 health zones. More than 200 have died in the outbreak’s first month, three times worse at this stage than Uganda’s 2000 epidemic, with just 84 of 540 needed healthcare personnel deployed.
Less than 10% of the over $900 million
pledged internationally has reached DRC and Uganda. The US CDC has
committed $107 million in emergency funding as the Bundibugyo virus
outbreak continues to expand.
Researchers at the University of the Bundeswehr Munich used human brain organoids showing that the Ebola virus can sustain active infection for at least 120 days
by infecting neurons, astrocytes, and microglia, and spreading directly
from cell to cell. This prolonged viral presence triggered localized
neuroinflammation.
Some good news: NGO Direct Relief is distributing over 263,000 N95 respirators donated by 3M
to protect health workers battling Ebola in the DRC’s Ituri province.
The largest announced N95 shipment to date in response to the outbreak
also includes eye protection, coveralls, and essential medicines to support primary care during the crisis.
NEJM
editors warn that a White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB)
proposal would let political appointees to override the NIH peer review
system that has guided federal grant funding for 70 years. “Political
appointees would be able to make funding decisions and could ignore the
advice of independent scientists. They could also stop funding midway
through the promised grant period. And they would institute new rules,
including rules severely limiting foreign interactions.”
The
editors state that “the OMB proposal is currently open for public
comment, and we urge our readers to express their concerns. When science
becomes politicized, everyone loses.”
Less
than 2 months after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth made the Flu vaccine
no longer mandatory for military personnel, an influenza outbreak has
sickened at least 159 trainees at Lackland Air Force Base in Texas.
“Officials at the Food and Drug Administration have blocked publication of several studies supporting the safety of widely used vaccines against Covid-19 and Shingles
in recent months, a spokesman for the Department of Health and Human
Services confirmed.” The studies cost millions in U.S. public funds and
“is the latest step by the administration to try to limit access to
vaccines.”
The
US is withdrawing Pepfar funding for South Africa’s HIV programs for
political reasons. The Trump administration cited South Africa’s
policies on Black Economic Empowerment and its stance on Israel and Iran
as reasons for the phased drawdown. This will significantly reduce
support for efforts against a virus affecting over 8 million South
Africans and their families.
London
researchers analyzed national cervical cancer mortality data from
England, 2001 to 2024. Women vaccinated against HPV at ages 12 to 13 had
no recorded deaths
between ages 20 and 24 from 2020 to 2024, versus 23.1 expected, and
vaccination overall prevented roughly 200 cervical cancer deaths
nationwide.
In a December 2025 survey of 10,000 working age adults, the Urban Institute found 46% reported trouble affording healthcare last year, with uninsured adults hitting 60%.
Adults with disabilities (69%), stroke survivors (over 70%), and Black
and Hispanic adults were hit hardest, while 35% said a family member
skipped needed care due to cost.
AI
image company Midjourney Medical announced “Ultrasonic CT,” a full-body
ultrasound scanner licensed from Butterfly Network. The device images
the entire body in 60 seconds using ultrasound instead of radiation,
magnets or iv contrast. While they do not have FDA diagnostic approval
yet, the company aims for 50,000 scanners globally by 2031, with the
first San Francisco location opening late 2027.
Scientists from the Florey Institute in Australia studied 40 male mice and found that asingle dose of the cytokine IL-1β
before conception reprogrammed small noncoding RNAs in sperm and
altered how offspring managed stress responses and fasting. A separate
experiment using TNF-α
before conception produced increased anxiety-like behavior in the
offspring, suggesting that paternal immune signaling from cytokines
before conception can shape the neurobehavioral development of the next
generation.
Two patients with severe neuromyelitis optica, a condition that attacks the spinal cord and optic nerves, achieved full remission lasting more than 15 years following donor stem cell transplantation.
The procedure worked by completely rebuilding each patient’s immune
system and eliminating the disease associated antibodies responsible for
driving the condition.
I
recently learned in a forum that people with tattoos may have lesions
on laparoscopy that look like endometriosis, but are actually lymph
nodes filled with tattoo pigment. Here is one such case.
A narrative review drawing on more than 75 years of accumulated evidence examined lithium‘s
potential to protect brain cells through mechanisms involving
mitochondrial support, the neurotrophic protein BDNF, the survival
protein Bcl-2, and reduction of toxic tau signaling. The authors
conclude that clinical trials using low doses of lithium in patients
with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and early stage Alzheimer disease
(AD) are now scientifically justified.
In
1975, Michigan State University physicist Jack Hetherington, unwilling
to retype an entire paper to remove plural pronouns required for sole
authorship, added his Siamese cat Chester as co-author under the name
F.D.C. Willard. The “F.D.C.” stood for “Felix Domesticus, Chester” after
the scientific name for the house cat (Felis domesticus) and Willard
had been the name of Chester the cat’s father.
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