I saw their platform shown on the news earlier, and if this doesn't make you show up to vote in droves and vote for the Republicans, then you get what you deserve.
Here's the link to the discussion on today's Fox News show, "Outnumbered".
I refuse to click on the DSA website, but here are a few items from their platform as shown on the news:
*Eliminate the Presidency *Eliminate the Senate *Medicare for All *No Bills *No Debt *Defund the Department of War *Eliminate Cash Bail *Amnesty for All Illegal Aliens *No Aid To Israel
This is Obama's radical transformation of the United States plus his redistribution of wealth -- on steroids.
The GOP had better put up a good fight, and so should any normal Democrats who might be out there.
The
cyclosporiasis foodborne outbreak continues to grow, and individuals
are left to figure out how to weather this storm until government
systems catch up. So we are getting flooded with questions! The YLE team
compiled answers to the top 10 to bring the nuance you may be looking
for.
Note: This post builds on a previous YLE post that explained what’s going on. If you missed that, start here.
1. Can you just tell me what not to eat?
Unfortunately,
it’s not that easy, because a source hasn’t been confirmed. So risk
falls on a spectrum and risk tolerance varies.
This is how I’m thinking about it:
Skip
bagged salads, salad kits, and boxed salads from the grocery store, and
avoid them at restaurants and fast food places, too. Michigan’s warning on Monday
(unusual to go public before the FDA) is a strong signal of what
they’re seeing. Whole heads of lettuce are fine if you strip the outer
2-3 layers, since that’s where contamination is most likely to sit.
Michigan’s
investigation has yet to pinpoint a company or rule out other foods.
Two dozen other states are still under active investigation. So avoiding
other foods is reasonable. In previous outbreaks, the culprits were
raspberries, fresh herbs (basil, cilantro), onions, and snap/snow peas. I
would still avoid these, especially if you’re high risk (pregnant,
older, or immunocompromised).
Stick to produce you can
peel or cook. (If you have frozen berries from January, you should be in
the clear as this outbreak likely started in May.)
2. How long do I need to cook produce for? Does freezing work?
Cooking food to an internal temperature of 158°F is the only thing known to kill Cyclospora. This means sautéing raw spinach for about 1.5 minutes. (Turn your salad into a stir fry!)
Microwaving doesn’t work as well because heat spreads unevenly; research shows 45 seconds wasn’t enough to kill Cyclospora, so go longer and check that every part, not just the surface, is steaming hot.
Freezing
isn’t reliable because a typical home freezer isn’t cold enough to kill
the parasite. Research shows you’d need -20°C (-4°F) for at least 2
days, or a commercial deep freeze at -70°C for an hour, well below what
most kitchen freezers hit.
Washing helps a little,
but not entirely, because these microscopic parasites love to hide in
the grooves and crevices. They also hide from home remedies people
suggest, like lemon juice.
3. Is local produce better than big distributors?
The risk is much lower. In fact, there has never been a documented cyclosporiasis outbreak linked to a local farm.
That said, Cyclospora
lives in soil and contaminated water, so a local farm could be affected
if it shares a water source with a large commercial farm. Cyclospora
can also enter the food supply at a packing, processing, or
distribution facility, where outbreaks get amplified—a local farm would
be safer on this front, too. My hunch is that the real culprit here
isn't the farm itself, but distribution, but we don't yet know yet.
Figure by Your Local Epidemiologist, adapted from Dr. Kristen Panthagani at You Can Know Things
4. How much precaution should we be taking in California (or other states), where very few cases have been reported?
Distribution
networks are complex, but all states are now actively looking for
cases. That makes me more confident that states with low case counts
(that stay low) aren’t linked to whatever is driving the outbreaks in
Michigan, Ohio, New York, and elsewhere.
All states have some
cyclosporiasis cases, but that’s expected: it reflects multiple
outbreaks happening at once. California, for example, has cases, but not
more than in past years—actually fewer. About 95% of California’s cases
have involved people who picked up the parasite while traveling outside
the U.S.
For what it’s worth, I live in California, and I’m not
eating lettuce but being liberal with the other foods. I don’t have time
for weeks of exploding diarrhea, but my guard is a little more down
than it would be if I lived in Michigan or New York.
Many
bugs can cause diarrhea. Norovirus is a common virus that spreads
year-round and causes similar symptoms, but is highly contagious, while Cyclospora is a parasite that is not contagious from person to person.
To
differentiate between the two at home, it really comes down to symptoms
and timing. If symptoms show up within a day or two and pass quickly,
think norovirus. If it lasts more than a week and then it comes and goes
for weeks, that’s likely cyclosporiasis. Antibiotics help with
cyclosporiasis, so it’s worth getting tested (although I hear the test
is expensive).
Table by Your Local Epidemiologist.
6. How does this end?
Once
the product is out of circulation. That can happen naturally (e.g.,
clean salad gradually replaces infected salad), through intervention
(stores pull it), or as the season shifts toward fall, since cooler,
drier conditions make it harder for the parasite to mature.
I don’t know how long it will take to end. No one does. But the Cyclo season typically ends in September when the parasites can no longer mature as efficiently.
7. There is no federal guidance for us physicians. When am I supposed to test and how?
It’s absolutely insane how long the federal Health Alert Network (HAN) notice was delayed, but it finally came out yesterday. Michigan’s provider bulletin is absolutely fantastic. If you’re a clinician, read that.
8. Can our animals get this?
No. Cyclospora
only infects humans and spreads solely through the fecal-oral route.
Researchers have tried to infect chickens, dogs, mice, rabbits, monkeys,
and several other species in lab studies, and it hasn’t taken. So
feeding your salad to your chickens is fine.
9.
How easily is it transferred within a restaurant kitchen, like if a
cook has unknowingly handled contaminated lettuce or something for
someone else’s order and then touches your food? Or via cooking
utensils/equipment/shared prep surfaces?
If
the produce arrives at a restaurant already contaminated and is
infectious (which takes about 2 weeks on a head of lettuce, for
example), and then that lettuce touches a cutting board, knife, or bin
used for other food, the parasite can be transferred. It was great news
to see Taco Bell move quickly last week.
10.
Is there any hope of CDC or any of our government agencies tracking
down the source of this outbreak? Does the EIS have the resources to
find the source?
I’m confident that the federal scientists are doing the best job they can do with what they have. Cyclo
is difficult to investigate because it takes so long to cause symptoms
(do you remember what you ate 10 days ago), it takes an enormous amount
of resources to pinpoint; some foods, like at Mexican restaurants, have
many ingredients; making it challenging to pinpoint a single ingredient;
and testing options are limited. There were definitely outbreaks in the past where no source was found.
Local
and state public health departments are also working their tails off.
But public health, and specifically parasitic teams, have been
chronically underfunded. They are holding on by scotch tape, and now,
with the largest cyclosporiasis outbreak in history, they are
overwhelmed. While resources can be pulled from elsewhere, public health
departments are also dealing with record cases of measles and whooping
cough on top of travel-related Ebola and the World Cup, and everything
else. It’s a lot.
Communication, guidance,
timeliness, and transparency are what the federal government is falling
short on. There has been very little communication, and what has been said is that these outbreaks happen all the time. This is not normal,and saying so without communicating what the public should actually do is unhelpful to the point of gaslighting.
Bottom line
There
are steps you can take to reduce your risk during this big foodborne
outbreak while the systems around us catch up. I will be back when we
know more. Keep your questions coming!
Cyclospora keeps climbing, a bad West Nile season, truck spraying, and good news The Dose (July 14)
Katelyn Jetelina and Marisa Donnelly, PhD, Jul 14, 2026
The YLE team is back from summer break, tanned (some of us),
rested (debatable with small kids), and ready to jump right back in.
I know a lot
of you have questions about the Cyclospora outbreak. The YLE team is
collecting them all, and tomorrow I’ll pick the top 10 for a deep dive. As of this morning, there is still very, very little communication from HHS, which is pretty insane.
In
the meantime, here’s what’s going on with health this week, including
other bugs like ticks and mosquitoes. Expect trucks to be spraying
insecticide soon, and let’s celebrate an enormous public response to a
new proposed federal rule.
Disease weather report
Cyclospora keeps climbing
Cyclospora
cases continue to climb. Some of this is expected, since more people
are now aware of it and testing for it, but it is still an undercount,
given that many people wait out the sickness at home.
The total
number of cases is hard to pin down. This is because data in the U.S. is
decentralized (local health departments report to states, states report
to the CDC), so you will likely see numbers all over the place. If we
scrape for state-level data, the most cases (2,640) are in Michigan,
followed by New York (470). A local health department in Northwest Ohio
is reporting 661 cases.
Figure from the Health Security Operations Center
While
there are cases in over 30 states, the U.S. sees cases every year,
often from different outbreaks. A key question is whether the number
exceeds expectations and, if so, why. In some states, this is certainly
the case. For example, the number of infections in Michigan is 31 times
higher than in previous years, and in New York, it’s three times higher.
In some states, like California, rates are not higher than normal.
Michigan’s health official announced yesterday that preliminary findings indicate lettuce or packaged salad greens as
a likely source. The investigation has yet to pinpoint a company or
rule out other foods. Two dozen other states are still under active
investigation. Zero word from FDA.
What this means for you: Continue
to avoid bagged and boxed salads at grocery stores and restaurants. I’m
still sticking to produce that can be peeled or vegetables with smooth
surfaces, like cucumbers, until more data comes in.
Ticks are backing off
We’re well on our way down for tick season. Activity tends to drop off as we move deeper into the heat of summer.
Source: CDC; Annotated by Hannah Totte at Your Local Epidemiologist
Why? Ticks
are prone to drying out, so in peak summer heat they retreat into
moist, shaded leaf litter rather than questing (climbing grass to grab a
host), which reduces host-seeking activity even if the tick population
hasn’t shrunk. This dip also lines up with the tick life cycle: nymphs,
responsible for most Lyme transmission, peak in late spring/early
summer, then quiet down in the hottest weather before adults pick back
up in fall.
Mosquitoes taking over
As
ticks recede, mosquitoes take over and with them, the rare diseases
they can carry. The most common one in the U.S. is West Nile.
Peak
mosquito season is still about a month out, but the CDC is already
flagging an unusually early surge in West Nile virus (WNV) activity this
year. They have flagged 48 cases across 23 states detecting the virus,
which is more than five times the historical average for this point in
the season.
Source: CDC. Annotated by Hannah Totte at Your Local Epidemiologist
What this means for you: Most
people infected with WNV never even know it because ~80% have no
symptoms. But older adults and those who are immunocompromised can
develop serious neurological illness. Start being consistent with using
an EPA-registered repellent (with DEET or picaridin), dumping standing
water around your home, and using screens at dusk and dawn. You may also
start seeing mosquito spraying trucks. (See more below.)
Heat blanketing the North
This
week, a large swath of the northern U.S. is facing the most extreme
heat risk category. If you’re in the purple or red areas, everyone is at
risk and needs to take action. Heat kills more people in the U.S. than
any other weather event.
Source: NOAA; Annotated by Hannah Totte at Your Local Epidemiologist
What this means for you:
Check on elderly neighbors and relatives, hydrate before you’re
thirsty, and move strenuous outdoor activity to early morning or evening
if you can. Here are 6 things to know about heat-related illness from the YLE team.
World Cup Health Security Center Update
We’re
nearing the end of the World Cup tournament (the final is on July 19!),
and there have been no major outbreaks tied to the games, aside from
heat-related illness. A few teams reported minor illnesses among
players.
Measles remains the primary focus of
monitoring. There are a number of cases passing through major airports
(far more than in any other year), particularly near the World Cup
games. While it will be very hard to track, we could very well see
outbreaks across the world following the World Cup.
Spotlight: Why is that truck spraying my street?
With
mosquito activity picking up and the U.S. having a particularly bad
start to the season, you may start noticing spraying trucks in your
neighborhood. Where they go is driven entirely by your local public
health or vector control department’s surveillance data. Departments set
traps to collect mosquitoes, send batches to a lab, and test them.
When
lab tests consistently yield positive results, insecticide is then
sprayed in the affected area. The spraying itself does two things:
Kill flying adult mosquitoes by spraying very small amounts of adulticides into the air. This spray is a fine mist that acts as a fogger.
Kill larvae
by applying larvicides directly to the water where mosquito larvae have
been detected. This helps kill more hard-to-reach areas.
People
rightfully have many questions about whether these insecticides are
safe for humans. They are safe because the dose and where they are
applied are very purposeful. These insecticides work by overstimulating
insect nerve cells until they’re paralyzed, but insect nerves are far
more sensitive to the chemical than ours, and mosquitoes are tiny,
cold-blooded, and can’t break the chemical down the way we can. So the
same dose that’s fatal to them is far too small to hurt a person. How
these insecticides are used also matters. Adulticide sprays are released
as low-volume mist, and the droplets disperse and degrade quickly,
resulting in very low human exposure. Larvicides are placed directly in
standing water and target larvae through mosquito-specific biological
mechanisms.
A 2025 review of
community mosquito-control spraying found no causal relationship
between adult mosquito-control applications and adverse human health
impacts when applied appropriately, with estimated exposure levels far
below regulatory concern.
People with asthma and other respiratory conditions are particularly concerned. But an older study in New York City found no increase in asthma visits, including among children, after West Nile spraying.
What this means for you: Reducing WNV is important, and spraying is safe. I’ll
stay indoors during spraying when I can but won’t lose sleep over it.
Check with your local public health or mosquito control department for
the schedule—they’re supposed to publish one.
Good news
More than 341,000 comments were submitted on the OMB’s proposed rule that could, quite literally, break science in the U.S. This is an enormous public response
by any standard; public comment on federal rules almost never gets
anywhere close to that volume. Way to show up for science discovery in
the U.S.! Comments are now closed, and it’s time to see how the federal
government responds.
Bottom line
From salad choices to mosquito bites to heat safety, this world just never gets boring. Stay healthy out there.
Love, YLE
Your Local Epidemiologist
(YLE) comprises a team of experts, ranging from physicians to
immunologists to epidemiologists to nutritionists, working together with
one goal: to “translate” ever-evolving public health science so that
people are well-equipped to make evidence-based decisions. The YLE suite
of newsletters reaches over 475,000 people across more than 132
countries. This newsletter is free to everyone, thanks to the generous
support of fellow YLE community members.
Dr. Ruth Report 7/12/26 OMB, Explosive diarrhea, COVID, and more
Ruth Ann Crystal MD, Jul 13, 2026
Last week, I told you about a proposed change to an OMB rule
that could affect federal funding for Meals on Wheels for seniors,
community health programs, scientific research and much more. I made a
free online tool to make it easy to write your comment on the proposed
changes to OMB rule in less than 5 minutes at https://ombcomment.netlify.app/.
The
tool was made to get you to a strong, personal first draft fast, so
that you can submit your comment before the July 13 deadline tomorrow.
You may have heard about an outbreak of Cyclospora which causes watery, and sometimes explosive, diarrhea
for days to weeks. Symptoms typically start about a week after eating
contaminated produce such as raspberries, fresh basil, or lettuce, but
unfortunately the source has not yet been determined. The CDC has not
given guidance on this outbreak, but we do know that there have been
more than 3,000 confirmed cases in 31 states, with Michigan being hit
the hardest. The case count is probably much higher, as most people do
not need to seek medical care for Cyclospora. Until we know the source,
it may be best to avoid raspberries and bagged lettuce as the parasite
hides in tiny crevices of produce. In general, most cases of diarrhea
are self limited and are often caused by something else like Norovirus,
but if you get watery diarrhea that lasts longer than a few days, an
antibiotic called Bactrim can be used to treat Cyclospora.
“The
fruits and vegetables most frequently related to Cyclospora infections
were: raspberries (34%), basil (31%), cilantro (10%) and salad mixes
(10%). Sugar snap peas, lettuce, blueberries, blackberries, carrots,
mangos, mint, scallions, mixed vegetable trays, and fruit salads were
also associated with cyclosporiasis outbreaks (in some investigations, a
single food vehicle was not identified).”
COVID levels are low through most places across America, but we are starting to see an uptick in Southern Florida, Central Texas, and Palo Alto, California. The Palo Alto finding may just be a blip, but you can follow it here on WastewaterSCAN.
It
is wise to wear a mask indoors when the level of SARS-CoV-2 is above
100 PPMoV in wastewater. Here are the hot spots above 100 PPMoV
according to WastewaterSCAN (omits 12 states, but is up to date):
Key Biscayne, FL 370 PPMoV
St Petersburg, FL 204 PPMoV
Woodlands, TX 173 PPMoV
Palo Alto, CA 140 PPMoV
Atlanta, GA 119 PPMoV
Tallahassee, FL 111 PPMoV
These
numbers are high, but they are nowhere near what we have seen during
COVID waves where levels of SARS-CoV-2 virus in wastewater can easily
reach over 1,000 PPMoV.
Using the CDC and Biobot data, Mike Hoerger estimates that as of July 4, every 1 in 250 Americans was actively infectious with COVID. Here is his COVID map with data from 7/4/26.
Researchers in Spain analyzed outcomes among 2,524 patients hospitalized with COVID-19, finding that remdesivir and tocilizumab (Actemra) were each independently associated with reduced thrombotic events
beyond what standard anticoagulation alone provided. Corticosteroids,
by contrast, showed no similar protective association against blood clot
formation in this population.
University of Minnesota scientists studied 173 hospitalized COVID patients and found elevated levels of lipopolysaccharide binding protein (LBP) and soluble CD14 in the blood, indicating that bacterial products were crossing the gut barrier
(“leaky gut”) and entering systemic circulation. These two biomarkers
tracked closely with levels of inflammation and were predictive of how
severely ill patients became during hospitalization.
Researchers
at the Mexican Social Security Institute studied 349 pediatric patients
and found that 11.8% developed Long COVID after SARS-CoV-2 infection.
Among children older than 8 years, reinfection was associated with greater odds of Long COVID, though only 9 reinfection cases were documented in the cohort.
A Chinese study of 209 pediatric patients with respiratory symptoms after COVID and found that impulse oscillometry detected airway abnormalities in 74.6% of them, with small airway disease representing the predominant pattern.
Long COVID
Dr. Michal Tal posted on Twitter that her lab is making a website where people can upload capillaroscopy selfie images to get key features quantified. She shared these images of capillaroscopy findings.
Italian researchers studied stomach biopsies from 12 Long COVID patients and 8 controls and found direct evidence that Long COVID causes measurable loss of cholinergic nerve fibers
within the stomach lining. In Long COVID patients, nerve fiber density
was half of normal in the fundus and the antrum, with cholinergic fibers
affected most. Lower nerve density tracked with worse heart rate
variability, higher NT-proBNP, and higher D-dimer. Structural damage to vagus nerve pathways as shown in the gastric mucosa may account for persistent autonomic dysfunction observed in many Long COVID patients.
Harshi Peiris PhD posted a Twitter thread with emerging evidence on butyrate-producing bacteria F. prausnitzii
and how it is low in COVID, Long COVID, and other diseases. Low F.
Prausnitzii leads to low butyrate which can lead to a weakened gut
barrier, increased inflammatory signals in the blood, and eventually
brain fog symptoms from microglial activation. I chose to use organic kiwi in our LC-02 synbiotic in order to boost F. Prausnitzii and Roseburia species which produce anti-inflammatory butyrate.
Mild
COVID can lead to long-term hidden eye problems. Swedish scientists
from Linköping University found that people who experienced persistent
eye problems (ocular pain, light sensitivity, reduced/blurred vision,
and difficulties in reading) after mild COVID infection showed
measurable corneal nerve fiber loss, diminished pupil reflex responses,
and activated immune cells present in their tears. The findings suggest
that prolonged eye symptoms in post-COVID patients may be driven by T cell mediated neuroinflammation affecting both the peripheral nervous system and autonomic function.
Yale University researchers examined 595 individuals living with Long COVID and found that 57%
reported developing new vision related symptoms. “Ocular symptoms were
defined as self-reported new-onset blurring or loss of vision, dry eyes,
or floaters/flashes of light attributed to Long COVID.”
The RECOVER initiative examined 74 autopsy cases and detected actively replicating SARS-CoV-2 within heart muscle cells
in 11 of those cases, with 82% of that group showing cardiac symptoms
consistent with Long COVID. Researchers also identified accompanying
immune and structural changes in the cardiac tissue, supporting SARS-CoV-2 viral persistence in tissues.
A new review in Nature Immunology shows that many RNA viruses
(RSV, coronaviruses like SARS-CoV-2, influenza and parainfluenza
viruses, measles, chikungunya, and lethal viruses like Ebola virus and
the henipaviruses) are capable of leaving residual RNA or proteins
in body tissues and within circulating immune cells after the acute
phase of infection has resolved. When the immune system fails to fully
eliminate this lingering viral material, it may drive chronic
inflammation that contributes to post-acute conditions such as Long
COVID.
A review of the recent article from Yale published in Cell shows a causal link between Long COVID autoantibodies and the neurological symptoms.
“Passive transfer of IgG from patients with long COVID to healthy mice
produced signs of fatigue, pain and heat sensitivity, resembling the
symptoms reported by patients… The recipient mice [also] showed evidence
of intraepidermal nerve fibre damage in the skin.”
Twenty-four weeks of treatment with Temelimab, a monoclonal antibody targeting the HERV-W ENV protein, showed no measurable advantage over placebo in Long COVID patients.
University of Pittsburgh researchers discovered that lung macrophages from Long COVID patients showed elevated levels of histone demethylase enzymes,
pointing to an epigenetic mechanism underlying persistent inflammation.
In a mouse model, small molecule inhibitors reprogrammed inflammatory
gene activity in macrophages and reduced expression of IL1b and iNOS
following immune stimulation.
A
cohort study of 937,077 Medicare patients found that healthcare
utilization and spending spiked immediately following a COVID diagnosis,
but declined in subsequent months. However, patient-reported symptom
scores remained high, indicating that billing claims data substantially undercount the ongoing burden of Long COVID.
In
mice, chronic stress prolonged TLR3 immune activation which led to a
prolonged fatigue illness resembling post-viral fatigue syndrome with
elevated IL-6 and CXCL10. Treatment with minocycline
(an antibiotic and microglial activation inhibitor) reduced both
fatigue behaviors and inflammatory markers, implicating
neuroinflammation as a central mechanism.
Researchers at Aix-Marseille University tested music instruments
and found that SARS-CoV-2 remained infectious on metals and ABS plastic
for up to 3 days, while porous materials such as reeds and printed
scores retained viable virus for 6 to 7 days.
The
STIMULATE ICP trial randomized 778 UK Long COVID patients across 12
clinics to colchicine, rivaroxaban, famotidine plus loratadine, or no
drug for 12 weeks. Colchicine and antihistamines added a small benefit
which went away after stopping the medications. Rivaroxaban showed no
added benefit.
Columbia University researchers assessed symptoms in 116 ME/CFS patients vs 80 controls. Gastrointestinal symptoms tracked with fatigue, cognitive trouble, pain, and sensory sensitivity, and correlated with higher CRP. Patients with more flu-like symptoms had stronger antibody responses to gliadin and bacterial lipopolysaccharide indicating a leaky gut barrier.
1,830 confirmed Ebola cases, including 780 patients currently under care, 284 recoveries, and 648 deaths. The contact tracing rate stands at 78% which means that contacts are unknown for at least 400 confirmed Ebola patients.
Unfortunately,
some doctors and nurses treating Ebola patients haven’t been paid in
months and are striking. This will certainly not help the situation.
The first patients have been enrolled in a trial of Remdesivir and MBP134
(a monoclonal antibody) to treat the Ebola Bundibugyo virus in DRC.
Both drugs have been shown to be effective in animal models and now will
be tested in a randomized trial to see whether they reduce mortality
for Bundibugyo.
Montana
became the second state to enforce Medicaid work requirements starting
July 1, ahead of the federal 2027 deadline. “New Medicaid guidelines in
Montana leave cancer patients vulnerable, with requirements that they
must work, attend school or volunteer for 80 hours a month to maintain
coverage, unless they qualify for an exemption.” Paperwork burdens and
unclear medical frailty rules have been confusing for patients.
A
new MASH (fatty liver) mouse model study shows that semaglutide reduced
liver fat accumulation, inflammation, and fibrosis through GLP-1
receptors located specifically on intrahepatic blood vessel cells, independent of the drug’s weight loss effects.
McMaster University scientists identified Phage HER259,
which disarms adherent invasive E. coli linked to Crohn’s disease by
switching off its FimH adhesin. In mouse models this reduced colitis and
boosted low dose budesonide’s effect.
Belgium
recorded 1,222 excess deaths, a 39% rise, between June 18 and 29 during
a severe heatwave. More than half of those who died were 85 or older. France saw a 29% jump in deaths the same week, with 2,025 additional deaths nationwide.
The
University of Hong Kong analyzed 708,020 mother child pairs and built
sibling matched cohorts of 124,333 children assessed for autism and
97,285 for ADHD. Prenatal paracetamol (acetaminophen) exposure showed no added risk for either condition across dose, timing, and usage pattern.
Connor
Gibson, a 22 year old engineer at Remote Area Medical, taught himself
dentistry and 3D printing to build the first mobile denture lab in the
United States. What once took three months now is completed in a single
clinic weekend and patients are smiling with their new free custom
dentures.
Lindsey Graham addressing Chabad of Charleston, July 2025. (@LindseyGrahamSC/X)
"It’s
Sunday, July 12, and this morning the office of South Carolina Sen.
Lindsey Graham announced that he passed away Saturday evening after a
sudden and brief illness—two days after turning 71. He had returned from Kyiv on Friday, where he met Volodymyr Zelensky, and was booked on Meet the Press for this very morning. Israel has lost its greatest friend on Capitol Hill.
"That
isn’t an exaggeration; it’s the consensus of the Israeli opposition and
coalition, who rose in unison this morning to eulogize the beloved
senator.
"Born and raised in his beloved South Carolina, Graham
grew up living in a cramped room behind his parents’ combined pool hall,
bar and liquor store. Later becoming a lawyer and enlisting in the U.S.
military, he entered Congress in 1995, becoming the first Republican to
represent South Carolina’s 3rd District since Reconstruction. In 2003,
he moved up to the Senate, where he and John McCain became a trio with
Joe Lieberman—dubbed the “Three Amigos” by Gen. David Petraeus on one of
their endless trips to Iraq and Afghanistan. Hawks, travelers and
crossers of aisles for wars worth fighting. Especially Israel’s.
"Sander
Gerber, his partner on the Taylor Force Act, once quipped that the
senator was “more pro-Israel than AIPAC,” while Christians United for
Israel counted him among Israel’s most stalwart allies in Congress. His
evangelical base—a pillar of both South Carolina politics and American
Zionism—wasn’t a constituency he courted so much as one he belonged to.
"Addressing
AIPAC’s annual dinner on March 22, 2010, he told the room the evening
was about “our best friend in the world, the State of Israel”—and had
every member of Congress present stand while he pledged that Congress
had Israel’s back and would not let it down. In the same speech, he
declared Jerusalem the undivided capital of Israel and the eternal home
of the Jewish faith, said it was sometimes better to go to war than to
allow a second Holocaust to develop, and closed with “never again.”
"He
more than lived up to the commitment. From Obama’s JCPOA—which he
fought—to Donald Trump’s short-lived rapprochement with Tehran this past
month, through the Taylor Force Act, the anti-BDS legislation, the
embassy move and the Golan recognition he personally championed, Graham
operated on a single axiom, the one the Hebrew press identified this
morning as his signature line: Israel’s security is America’s security.
He applied it without exception. In 2013, he threatened to sink Chuck
Hagel’s nomination as the most anti-Israel defense secretary in American
history; in December 2014, standing in Jerusalem beside Netanyahu, he
promised on Iran sanctions that “the Congress will follow your lead”—a
sentence no other American senator would say to a foreign leader, and
Graham said it on camera.
"Just 15 days after the October 7
massacre, Graham was in Tel Aviv leading a bipartisan delegation—noting
that “10 percent of the United States Senate is in Israel.” Destroying
Hamas, he made clear, was nonnegotiable, and he had stark words for
Tehran: “We’re here today to tell Iran, we’re watching you”—if the war
grew, it was coming to their backyard: “There won’t be two fronts, there
will be three.” He told the room exactly why it had happened, insisting
no one would ever convince him the massacre was about anything but
stopping reconciliation between Saudi Arabia and Israel—the very
normalization project he had spent the preceding months building.
"He
wasn’t shy about Biden’s flip-flopping either. When the administration
threatened to withhold weapons over Rafah, Graham hauled Lloyd Austin
before the Armed Services Committee and asked whether he’d have
supported Hiroshima and Nagasaki—then demanded to know how Washington
could dictate terms to a country whose neighbors want to kill all the
Jews. He called Biden’s approach “ass-backwards.” When the ICC
prosecutor moved on Israeli leaders, his warning was five words of pure
Graham: “If they do this to Israel, we’re next.”
"When
Israel launched Operation Rising Lion on June 13, 2025, his reaction was
five words: “Game on. Pray for Israel.” The tweet drew fury from all
directions—including from Meghan McCain, his late best friend’s
daughter, who informed him it was not a game—but it was, in its way, the
most honest sentence of the war: the fight he had demanded since at
least 2010 had finally arrived, and he was not going to pretend
otherwise. By August, he was telling South Carolina Republicans that if
America pulls the plug on Israel, God will pull the plug on us. By 2026,
per The Wall Street Journal, he was shuttling to Jerusalem to coach Netanyahu on making the case for war to Trump.
"In
January, no sooner had he disembarked than he posted: “I just landed in
Israel, the one and only Jewish State, and America’s strongest ally and
friend since its founding.” He returned once more in February
2026—Netanyahu, Defense Minister Katz, the General Staff—the final visit
of several dozen across the decades. In March, amid the MAGA backlash
over the Iran war, he gave the line that now reads as a valediction: “I
will be with Israel until our dying day.”
"Far too soon, that day
arrived. It found him the same as always: back from an ally’s capital,
stalwartly defending a country’s right to freedom and safety, and
scheduled for Sunday television to explain why.
"In 1995, an
American president needed two Hebrew words to bury an Israeli prime
minister. In 2026, Israel needs the same two for a Baptist son of a
South Carolina pool hall.
I was so shocked to see the breaking news headline this morning about the death of Lindsey Graham! Like everyone else in the Carolinas, I'm so used to his presence that I had to double-check online to make sure this news wasn't a mistake.
He was such an optimist, a friend to all, a champion of the people of South Carolina, and a staunch supporter of Trump.
He was a supporter of Israel, a great patriot, and we will probably never see his like again.
The Republicans had better get their act together, and fast. Without Lindsey Graham on their team, it's going to be rough going for them.
Here's Melanie Phillips on the contemptible Andy Burnham, the man who unfortunately will be England's new Prime Minister. He must be borrowing the Democrats' playbook of following the "free 'Palestine'" mob; attacking Israel; and punishing Israel and the Jews in lieu of doing anything constructive for their own citizens. These losers actually think that their anti-Israel stance is the #1 issue\that will get them elected. Let's hope they're very wrong.
"On the day that 322
politically bankrupt and panicky Labour MPs made it all but certain
through their backing that Andy Burnham’s coup against Sir Keir Starmer
had succeeded and he would replace him as prime minister, Burnham —
whose only claim to fame is the common touch he brought to his role as
mayor of Manchester — chose to celebrate by sticking it to the Jews.
"After
meaningless bromides about condemning the Hamas-led atrocities in
Israel on October 7 2023 and the “appalling” rise in antisemitism, as
well as having “felt first-hand” the anxiety of British Jews about the
“very real threat they face” after the lethal Manchester synagogue
attack last year, he proceeded to parrot Hamas propaganda defaming
Israel for defending itself against genocide. He did so using the same
falsehoods about Israel that have fuelled the onslaught against British
Jews as the presumed supporters of the cosmic and diabolical evil that
apparently is the State of Israel.
"The
terrible suffering in Gaza is a scar on our collective conscience. It’s
completely unacceptable that innocent Palestinians including children
continue to be killed. That there’s still a humanitarian crisis with too
little aid getting in, and that the Israeli military continues to
expand the area it controls in Gaza. We’ve got to do more to put
pressure on the Israeli government.
"He approved of
the pressure already imposed by the Starmer government including
recognising “the Palestinian state”, placing sanctions on Israeli
ministers and imposing “waves of sanctions on violent settlers and the
organisations that support them”. He also supported the restrictions
imposed on arms licences, he said,
"to make sure that no British bombs or bullets can be used by the IDF in Gaza or in the West Bank.
"He went on:
"Israel
continues to violate the ceasefire agreement killing innocent
Palestinians. Netanyahu’s government is clearly attempting to make a two
state solution impossible. We need to do more, including … looking at
further sanctions, both against those involved in the violence in Gaza
but also measures to ban trade in goods with illegal settlements. I like
many others feel passionately about Gaza and I will work with
international partners to stop the suffering, to ensure the Israeli
government adheres to international law…There’s increasing evidence that
war crimes appear to have been committed. … holding the Netanyahu
government to account… I will always take a fair and balanced approach
and stand up for what is right.
"This was all an
obscene travesty of truth and fairness and a shocking display of either
brainwashed ignorance or the most shameless cynicism.
"There was
zero condemnation of Hamas for causing that suffering in Gaza by using
“innocent Palestinians including children” not just as human shields but
as cannon fodder — war crimes against their own people.
"He made no mention that Hamas has been regularly torturing and murdering Gazans who dare oppose the tyrannical terrorist group.
"No
mention that Hamas hid in the tunnels they built to commit war crimes
against innocent Israelis, including children, while failing to build
one single shelter for their own civilians. Hamas prevented the Gazans
from sheltering in the tunnels because the Islamist barbarians wanted as
many of them as possible to die under bombardment as a strategy of war
to get the credulous, post-truth progressive world to support barbarism
against civilisation. As has happened, and as Burnham has now done.
"It
is Hamas, not Israel, that’s been repeatedly breaching the ceasefire in
Gaza. Burnham omitted that bit, thus reversing aggressor and defender
as is routinely done against Israel to delegitimise and destroy it.
"No
mention that Hamas, although much depleted, are still attacking Israeli
soldiers in Gaza and refusing to disarm because, as they have
repeatedly declared, they intend to commit more atrocities against Jews.
"No mention of putting more pressure on Hamas and its state sponsors in Qatar and Iran to abandon their genocidal agenda.
"Instead,
Burnham stated that Britain would refuse to provide a single bomb or
bullet to help defend civilians in Israel under attack from Gaza or in
the disputed territories known as the “West Bank”.
"Just think
about that. The incoming British prime minister believes it’s doing
“what is right” to refuse to assist the prospective targets of genocide
against their attackers.
"Defaming the half million or so Jewish
residents of these disputed areas, of whom a few hundred delinquent boys
are genuinely mounting unprovoked attacks against local Arabs — a real
issue that’s being grossly exaggerated as another weapon of
delegitimisation against Israel — Burnham made no mention of the dozens
of murderous attacks and plots against these Jewish residents that are
being perpetrated or hatched every day.
"He also parroted the
untruth that the Jewish “settlements” in these areas are illegal. This
reflects Britain’s long-standing and cynical misrepresentation of
international law. The fact is that the Jews alone are entitled to live
in the “West Bank” under international law many times over.
"As
for Israel committing war crimes, this is the foulest lie. Israel, which
goes to enormous lengths to behave in accordance with the laws of war,
has committed no war crimes. These have been committed instead in their
thousands by Hamas against Israeli and Gazan civilians.
"Why is Burnham parroting this disgusting rubbish? Why, indeed, is he giving Gaza top priority while the British public is still waiting
to hear how he proposes to govern the United Kingdom? Why doesn’t he
identify the murder of more than 40,000 Iranian men and women by the
fanatical Tehran regime as a “stain on our collective conscience”?
"The
reason is simple. Amoral Andy is falling over himself to suck up to the
“Gaza first” Islamists and the “Zios out” gang in his own party and
throughout so-called liberal Britain, because he believes that this is
where electoral success now lies.
"Referring to Starmer saying
shortly after October 7 that Israel had the right to defend itself, and
subsequently being criticised for being seen to be slow to call for
Israel to cease fire, Burnham also said:
"I know many
people feel that, at the start of Israel’s military action in Gaza, my
party didn’t get it right, and I am sorry about that. The response has
too often not been good enough.
"In fact, by parroting
Hamas’s propaganda and then rewarding its murderous behaviour by
recognising “Palestine”, Labour’s response to Gaza helped cause the
killing of yet more Israelis at the hands of a galvanised Hamas that
actually thanked it for “justifying” the October 7 atrocities. By
defaming Israelis as diabolical and wanton killers, Labour also ramped
up the Jew-hatred which has subjected British Jews to unprecedented
vilification, intimidation, harassment and murderous attack.
"If
Britain had been subjected to a fraction of the thousands of missile and
terrorist attacks on Israeli civilians, not to mention the increasing
stranglehold through a “ring of fire” by a regime intent on wiping it
off the map, does anyone doubt that Britain wouldn’t have gone to war
just as Israel has been forced to do — and would have been far less
scrupulous than the Israelis have been about trying to safeguard
civilian lives?
"Yet for Burnham and the entire progressive
west, Israel alone is not to be allowed to defend itself against
annihilation. For Burnham and his ilk, all of Israel’s defensive military measures are instead acts of aggression.
"This is not morality but depravity, and the disintegration of reason.
"Burnham’s
video will have caused a shudder among all who respect truth and
justice, and all who understand the threat to Britain and the west from
the Islamist onslaught that’s being laundered through the Palestinian
cause. And he hasn’t yet even got his feet across the Downing Street
welcome mat.
"Nevertheless, it’s still not enough for the Israel-baiting far-left. The Telegraphreports:
"But
on Thursday night, both the Greens and Your Party said the comments had
not gone far enough, as Mr Burnham refused to accuse Israel of
committing war crimes unequivocally.
"Robespierre, the
architect of the French revolutionary terror who went to the same
guillotine to which he had condemned an entire class of people, had the
same problem.
"Progressives always eat their own. But they help kill the rest of us first."
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