Attacks On Jews All Over The World

I wouldn't even be surprised if Jews and Israelis are attacked in the jungles, and at the North Pole as well. This is how far social media's insidious reach has gone when it comes to the spread of Jew-hatred.

What did we ever do to them? 

To answer the author's rhetorical question in the last paragraph, this "antisemitic madness" is never going to end, and Jews and Israelis should not give in to terrorists and hide our identity. 

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Israelis on Vacation Attacked in Montenegro, Thailand, Mongolia, and Crete
Considerations for Israelis on vacation.

August 31, 2026 by Hugh Fitzgerald, Front Page Magazine

#1. Antisemitic Mob Beats Two Israelis Visiting Montenegro

In Montenegro, an antisemitic mob set upon two Israelis on vacation abroad — that many Israelis take just before their mandatory military service begins. The Israelis barely escaped being beaten to a pulp, or worse. More on their ordeal can be found here: “Two Israelis chased, kicked during vacation in Montenegro in apparent antisemitic attack – report,” by Tzvi Jasper, Jerusalem Post, August 11, 2026:

Two young Israelis visiting Montenegro appear to have been targeted by a group of people for being Jewish during a pre-army vacation, N12 reported on Monday.

The two Israelis, Yoav and Dor, told N12 that they were visiting a casino when a man approached them, made conversation, and then asked where they were from.

After the two said they were from Israel, “our nightmare began,” Yoav recounted.

“The guy wouldn’t leave us, started pestering us, and offered to take us to a ‘much nicer casino.’ At the beginning of the conversation with him, he said he was on a family vacation, but then we saw that he knew all the locals sitting at the tables around him. That’s when we started to get suspicious and realize that something was wrong.”

The two were able to escape the man and exit the casino, only to be confronted by a group of around 15 people.

“It felt like a planned ambush in every regard. They were waiting for us, they noticed us and chased us. A hunt began in the alleys and streets.”

Yoav and Dor split up, with Yoav finding a hiding place in a private garden, where he was able to call his parents.

“I heard them right on top of me, searching house by house, shouting ‘Jews, Jews!’” Yoav said. “After a few minutes, I managed to sneak into the outside kitchen of another house, where I called my parents.”

Dor, meanwhile, had run down the main road, where he was caught and kicked by the pursuing mob….

Imagine if Dor had not escaped but continued to be pummeled and kicked by that 15-member mob. He might have been severely wounded, or worse. All because he was Jewish, at a time when antisemitism has now spread across our giddy globe.

#2. In Thailand A Violent Attack On Israeli Mother and Daughter

At a Thailand resort, an Israeli mother was visiting her daughter who was in the country on vacation, when a French national, very possibly a Muslim, learning that they were Israeli, savagely assaulted both in what the Thai authorities called an antisemitic attack. More on this attack can be found here: “Israeli Mother and Daughter Brutally Assaulted in Thailand in Suspected Antisemitic Attack,” by Ailin Vilches Arguello, Algemeiner, August 7, 2026:

An Israeli mother and daughter were brutally attacked while vacationing on Thailand’s Koh Phangan island, leaving them both with serious injuries requiring surgery in what appears to be one of the latest violent antisemitic attacks amid an increasingly hostile and dangerous environment confronting Jews and Israelis overseas.

According to the Israeli news outlet Ynet News, the 62-year-old mother had traveled to Thailand for a two-week vacation with her 23-year-old daughter, who was already visiting the country.

Earlier this week, the pair rode a motorcycle to visit a waterfall on the southern island of Koh Phangan, a popular tourist destination in the Gulf of Thailand. While walking near the site, they encountered a man who asked where they were from. After the daughter replied that they were from Israel, the man began confronting them over the war in Gaza.

Although the women repeatedly told him they did not want to discuss politics and were simply on vacation, the man continued arguing, telling them, “I don’t like what Israel is doing there” and “I’m against violence.”

Yes, their attacker said, he’s “against violence,” just before launching into a savage attack on the two Israeli women.

This attacker was not Thai, but described as a “French national.” What are the odds, do you think, that he was a Muslim living in France who had been naturalized?

#3. Six Israeli Tourists Attacked in Mongolia

In Mongolia in mid-July, six Israeli tourists — three men and three women — were attacked not by the locals, but by a mob of Kazakh Muslims who had heard them speaking Hebrew. Though the attackers were armed with axes and knives, the three unarmed Israeli men managed to fight them off. More on this incident can be found here: “Israeli Tourists Attacked With Axes and Knives by Men Shouting ‘Heil Hitler’ at Mongolia Campsite,” Combat Antisemitism Movement, July 20, 2026:

Six Israeli tourists were attacked last week at a campsite in northern Mongolia, according to a report published by Israel’s Ministry for Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism.

The assailants, who carried axes and knives, were said to be a group local Kazakh Muslims who shouted “Heil Hitler” before and during the attack, which took place on Monday, July 13.

The Israeli tourists, three men and three women, were settling in for the night when the attackers arrived.

“The Israelis recognized the threat as the attackers approached, quickly packed their equipment and put on closed shoes in preparation to flee, but were attacked before they could leave,” the report said. “The attackers appeared to target the group after hearing them speak Hebrew.”

The three Israeli men, all former IDF combat soldiers, fought back to protect the group and the attackers ultimately fled.

One of the Israelis suffered a fractured jaw and was flown back to Israel for medical treatment.

A second victim lost consciousness from the force of the blows.

#4. Israeli Tourists Attacked On Crete

On the Greek island of Crete, Israeli tourists singing songs in Hebrew were attacked by a mob outside their hotel, and managed to escape serious injury only by locking themselves in their rooms. More on their ordeal can be found here: “Israelis say they were attacked by anti-Israel mob who stormed their hotel in Crete,” by Michael Horovitz, Times of Israel, July 28, 2026:

Israeli tourists said they were violently attacked near and inside their hotel on the Greek island of Crete early Sunday morning by assailants armed with sharp objects and rifles who shouted “Fuck Israel” and “Free Palestine,” leading them to fear for their lives.

The group of young Israelis was walking home from a party in the coastal town of Malia while singing in Hebrew at around 4 a.m., when the attackers began shouting the slogans at them, according to report by Israel’s National Center for Combating Antisemitism and channels 12 and 13.

“We yelled back at them, and there was an argument. We then got closer to the hotel, and suddenly we saw a bigger group arrive and that they had called more people over for backup,” Raz, 17, told Channel 12.

“They began to jump us and throw glass bottles. One of them got close to me and tried to break a bottle on my head, but luckily my friend stopped him,” he said.

The attackers pursued them into the hotel compound, armed with air rifles and sharp objects, where they began to search for Israeli and Jewish guests, the National Center statement said.

One Israeli suffered a head injury from being shot with an air gun, according to the statement.

The Israeli tourists locked themselves in their rooms, and “several youths reportedly sent distress and farewell messages to their families in Israel during the incident,” the statement read, adding that hotel staff tried to protect guests until police arrived.arrived.

Some of the Israelis sent “farewell messages”to their families because they were in fear for their lives, so threatening had the baying mob become.

A word to the wise: Israeli tourists, when asked your nationality, don’t answer “Israeli.” Don’t speak Hebrew in public. And carefully consider the security provided by the host countries you intend to visit. What about a stay vacation until this antisemitic madness dies down?

Tunnels To Towers: The Story of Stephen Siller and His Family Foundation

Just in case you've forgotten this heroic and tragic story from September 11, here's a reminder.  I love how Frank Siller and his grieving family turned their personal loss into the wonderful "Tunnels to Towers Foundation", a very worthy cause to which I have donated and you should, too.

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Brother of hero 9/11 firefighter Stephen Siller relives heartbroken moment he knew hero sibling had died: ‘Sick to my stomach’

NY Post, 8-31-26

In the haze of confusion and fear on September 11, 2001, Frank Siller felt certain of one thing.

“I turned to my mother-in-law and said, ‘I think I just lost my brother.’ I was sick to my stomach,” he told me of that fateful morning.

His brother, Stephen Siller, had just gotten off duty as an FDNY firefighter and was driving home from Park Slope to Staten Island when he heard the North Tower of the World Trade Center had been hit by a plane. He turned his truck around, donned 60 pounds of equipment and ran through the closed Brooklyn Battery Tunnel toward the horror unfolding in Manhattan.

FDNY firefighter Stephen Siller was off duty when he drove to the closed Brooklyn Battery tunnel, donned 60 pounds of equipment and ran through the tunnel toward the burning towers. Tunnel to Towers Foundation / Siller Family

Frank Siller, Chairman and CEO of Tunnels to Towers Foundation stands in his Staten Island headquarters. The foundation was started in honor of his brother Stephen Siller, a FDNY firefighter who died responding to the September 11, 2001, attack at the World Trade Center, and provides financial support for families of 9/11 victims as well as veterans and first responders. Stephen Yang

Frank would later receive confirmation from his brother’s friend and fellow firefighter Richie Obermeyer, who phoned him from Ground Zero with the grim news.

In his new book, “Let Us Do Good,” Siller recounted Obermeyer’s chilling words. “No one is coming home, Frank,” Obermeyer told him. “No one.”

Stephen, a married father of five, never returned. But his heroic final acts would become one of the defining and enduring stories from the terror attacks.

Frank Siller, Chairman and CEO of Tunnels to Towers Foundation always wears his cap, which honors the FDNY, NYPD, PAPD and all the branches of the military. Stephen Yang

“It was brutal, but that’s when our faith kicked in,” said Frank, a devout Catholic. His family faced an agonizing choice. “Are we going to let that define everything — or are we going to take what Stephen did and thank him for his sacrifice?”

The six remaining Siller siblings launched the Tunnel to Towers foundation, which was originally intended to help children who had lost parents in the attacks. In 2002, they held a 5k run retracing Stephen’s route through the tunnel. It drew 1,500 participants; this year, they’ll have 30,000.

And the charity itself has grown to meet the needs of first responders, veterans and their families. They build smart homes for injured veterans, provide housing for homeless vets, pay off mortgages for Gold Star families and provide scholarships for children of the fallen.

The Tunnel to Towers 5K Run now drew 30,000 participants in 2025. Tunnel to Towers Foundation

The mission, Frank said, was inspired by their brother’s selfless action — as well as St. Francis of Assisi, who said, “While we are here, let us do good” and stressed simplicity and service.

His book is really about his and Stephen’s family.

“I wanted to introduce people to my mom and dad,” he said of his parents, George and Mae Siller, who raised seven children in a raucous Staten Island home full of faith.

While they had very little, he said, “We had each other, and we had great friends.”

While Frank’s own childhood was “glorious,” Stephen’s took a dark turn when the “larger than life” boy” — a rabid fan of the Knicks and Kansas City Royals legend George Brett — was just 10 years old.

Brothers George Siller, Stephen Siller, Frank Siller and Russell Siller in an old family photo. Tunnel to Towers Foundation / Siller Family

First their father, George, passed from a heart embolism, then a year-and-a-half later their mother, Mae, died as well. Stephen’s much older siblings took him in, ensuring he was raised in the Siller way.

Not that it was easy.

Frank, who is 14 years older than Stephen, recalled taking his brother to a park when as a boy, he broke down crying, saying he wished he had never been born.

“I know God put you on this Earth for a reason,” Frank told him. “And I know someday you are going to do something very special.”

But Stephen had an eerie feeling about the future.

“Stephen admitted to [his wife Sally] that his need to make the most out of every day stemmed from a deeply held premonition that he was going to die young,” he writes.

Both were correct.

Frank Siller stands to family photos and portraits of his late brothers Russell and Stephen Siller. Stephen Yang

“I’d rather have him back, in a very selfish way. That’s hard to say,” Frank admits. “I wish I was helping somebody else’s foundation and he was still here.”

But he also seems ordained for this role. By the end of 2026, Tunnel to Towers will have delivered over 2,000 mortgage-free homes.

Numerous celebrities have lent their time and names to help raise money, including Sylvester Stallone, Mark Wahlberg and Dave Portnoy.

But for every boldfacer in his book, there are far more stories of veterans and surviving family members of first responders.

“I have sat with these families in the raw aftermath of their losses, when the shock is still fresh and the reality hasn’t set in,” he writes.

Stephen Siller’s FDNY hangs in the Staten Island headquarters of the Tunnel to Towers foundation along with the St. Francis of Assisi quote, “Let us do good.” Stephen Yang

Even with all their complicated initiatives, they are still working to ensure people “never forget.”

After a quarter of a century and public figures like leftist streamer Hasan Piker saying “America deserved 9/11,” it’s a heavier lift.

Siller doesn’t like to get political but said, “Somebody that says America deserved 9/11? It’s the greatest country in the world… It’s not true.”

He said that 25-year-old Frank would punch Piker in the face, but 73-year-old version knows “it’s not going to settle anything.”

“It’s disturbing these naive kids that have been brainwashed.”

Meanwhile, Siller would like to focus on the mission. And he still replays his brother’s last day in his mind, wondering what he thought as he raced toward danger.

“I’m sure he was torn,” he said, thinking of his wife and kids. “That’s a hero.”

The 9/11 Terrorist Attacks You Mustn't Name Have Resulted In A 1,700% Increase in Cancers

 Last week the Canadian Broadcasting Company directed their reporters not to describe the September 11 terrorist attacks as "terrorism" but instead say that "the hijackings led to passenger jet crashes."

Well, the thing that isn't terrorism and was instead just passenger jet crashes has also resulted in rare cancers in 9/11 survivors -- a 1,700% increase!

I wonder how the CBC will downplay this news. "The survivors have dealt with unknown illnesses that are not connected with September 11", perhaps?

Carl Campanile at The New York Post reported this horrific toll on 8/31/26:

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9/11 cancers skyrocket nearly 1,700% as toxic toll on survivors surpasses first responders ahead of 25th anniversary 

"The number of 9/11 cancer victims has skyrocketed 1,680% over the past decade — fueled by rare variations of the disease, according to new statistics released as the grim 25th anniversary of the attacks nears. 

"Cancer certifications among Twin Tower survivors, downtown Manhattan residents and workers on and near The Pile have exploded from 3,204 in 2015 to 57,044 this year, reveal figures compiled by the World Trade Center Health Program.

“Sadly, we lose roughly two clients a day and see a new cancer certification every 50 minutes,” said lawyer Michael Barasch, whose firm represents thousands of people enrolled in the World Trade Center Health Program.

James Ryan, an electrician who worked at the PATH train’s World Trade Center station and the ramp leading to the excavation site after the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks. James Keivom for NY Post

"For the first time, the number of cancer cases among survivors who resided, worked or attended school near Ground Zero has now surpassed the amount of emergency responders such as firefighters and police who had prolonged exposure, statistics show.

"Survivors accounted for 28,913 of the overall cancer cases to date, a staggering 4,066% increase from the 694 cases reported in 2015. Responders made up 28,131 of the cancer cases.

"A growing number of survivors and responders are meanwhile being diagnosed with rare cancers.

"For example, there are 82 cases of cancer of the thymus gland, a small organ located in the upper chest behind the breastbone. Such tumors represent fewer than 1 percent of all cancer cases.

"There also are 591 cases of neuroendocrine cancers, which are uncommon tumors found most often in the pancreas, bowel, lungs or adrenal glands, affecting the stomach and bowels. The number of such cases jumped 6% from March through June among 9/11 survivors.

 "The Post also previously reported an alarming number of male survivors being stricken with breast cancer after being exposed to the toxic air around Ground Zero. There are now 188 victims of male breast cancer.

"There also are 163 victims of brain cancer, an increase of 14 cases, or 9%, in the past quarter.

"The cancer surge is attributed partly to the advancing age of the population of Ground Zero responders and survivors — with most now in their late 50s, 60s or early 70s. 

Bishop Rebecca Johnson and Luciano Fenoli pray at Ground Zero on Sept. 12, 2001. G.N. Miller for NY Post

"Data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention through June of this year show that 67% of the 145,275 current World Trade Center Health Program members are certified for at least one of 69 cancers linked to 9/11 toxins, well above the national rate of around 40% for Americans overall, according to the National Cancer Institute.

"Twenty-five years after the 9/11 attacks, there is another terrifying new reality, too: At least 9,425 are now dying from post-9/11-related illnesses, more than triple the 2,977 lives lost Sept. 11, 2001.

“9/11 did not end on 9/11. The cancer clock is ticking 24/7,” Barasch said.

The World Trade Center is pictured following the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001. Paul Martinka for NY Post

"Leslie Lane, now 76, worked in the World Financial Center Building for Merrill Lynch across from the World Trade Center and was in her office when the planes rammed into the towers.

"Lane recalled seeing the “dust cloud” while evacuating.

“You could taste the dust. You could taste the fuel, greasy gas,” she told The Post.

"She went to another office at 222 Broadway two days later to plan for relocation of Merrill Lynch’s lawyers and returned downtown that November.

"Lane was diagnosed with thymus cancer during a check-up in 2020.

“I was lucky. The cancer was caught early,” she said.

A photo taken by James Ryan showing the aftermath of the 2001 terrorist attack. James Ryan

"She had the tumor removed during surgery at Memorial Sloan Kettering, and it has not recurred.

"Lane has no doubt that inhaling contaminants from Ground Zero caused her cancer.

“Thymus cancer is a very rare form of cancer. I don’t drink. I don’t smoke,” she said.

“For months afterward, you could taste the fuel in the air in the back of your throat and mouth. They kept telling us the air was safe. I don’t think it was,” she said.

"James Ryan, 65, an electrician, helped light up sites at Ground Zero, including in and around the Pile, and rewiring the WTC PATH train sites.

A photo of the memorial for fallen brothers of Carpenter’s Union Local 608 at the World Trade Center site. James Ryan

"He said he later went for a regular check-up and that blood was found in his urine. He underwent an MRI, and his pancreatic cancer was discovered in an early stage.

"He had part of his pancreas removed in 2019.

“I got very lucky,” Ryan said.

"Barasch said there’s more work to be done.

"He said only about 15% of the civilians who had exposure to the 9/11 toxins have enrolled in the World Trade Center health program.

"His firm represents former students who attended high schools and colleges near the World Trade Center who have been stricken with illnesses at a young age. Students from Stuyvesant High School, Borough of Manhattan Community College, PACE University and elementary and middle schools were in the danger zone.

"He said it’s best to join the WTC Health Program and get checked out.

“Early detection is the difference between life and death,” Barasch said."

Dr Ruth Report, 8-30-26

In her August 30, 2026 report, Dr. Ruth Ann Crystal has compiled an impressive amount of important medical information for us - as always.

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Dr. Ruth Report, 8/30/26

COVID wave increases, new COVID boosters, COVID changes blood stem cells, H5N1 found in fetal bovine serum (FBS), 2 measles deaths in Pennsylvania, and more.

Ruth Ann Crystal MD, Aug 31, 2026 

Dolly Parton

Musician, entrepreneur, and philanthropist Dolly Parton passed away this week. Science magazine posted, “Dolly Parton has died at the age of 80, leaving a legacy of music, philanthropy and science. She helped to fund Moderna’s early-stage vaccine research and filmed herself being vaccinated to help dispel hesitancy. And her Imagination Library programme sends more than three million books per month to children around the world.” Dolly wrote more than 3,000 songs and won 11 Grammy awards, but more than that, she was a beautiful human being who cared about others.

COVID

The summer COVID wave continues and is expected to peak around Labor Day (September 7). Michael Hoerger estimates that approximately 1 in 95 Americans was actively infectious with COVID using CDC data from 8/22/26 and Biobot data. Many places in the U.S. have much higher levels of COVID in wastewater. Hoerger introduced a new Interactive US map on the PMC COVID-19 Dashboard which shows COVID risks for each county in the United States. For example, 1 in every 33 people is currently infected with COVID in Santa Clara county, California, while Queens county, NY shows that 1 in 125 people are currently infected.

NEW PMC19 Interactive map of COVID in wastewater by county:

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Many people have moved on and no longer worry about getting COVID. But COVID’s damage may not stop after recovery. Research shows increased risks of heart attack, stroke, new-onset diabetes, cognitive decline, and autoimmune disease, even years after an acute infection. COVID can also lead to Long COVID, a seriously disabling condition marked by severe fatigue, cognitive problems, autonomic nervous system dysfunction, sleep disruption, and mood changes.

So what can you do? Some medications and vaccines can help protect you. Better air filtration and wearing a KN95 or N95 mask, especially when local wastewater COVID levels rise, can also help. Here are articles about medications and the new COVID vaccines that should be available soon:

Covid-19 Cases Surge—Here’s What’s Different This Summer That Will Help | Forbes 8/27/26

• Excellent article written by infectious disease doctor Dr. Judy Stone on the summer COVID wave, when the next vaccines will be available, and how medications like Metformin, Paxlovid, and Ensitrelvir (Xocova) can be taken to reduce the risk of severe COVID infection and of Long COVID.

What to Know About New Covid Vaccines for Fall 2026 | NY Times 8/27/26

• “The F.D.A. approved the [new COVID] shots for all people 65 and older, as well as for younger people who have a condition that increases their risk of severe illness from Covid. The Moderna shot is approved for ages 6 months and older; the Pfizer shot for ages 5 years and older; and the Sanofi shot [Novavax] for ages 12 years and older. (A lower-dose Moderna shot, called mNexspike, was also approved for ages 12 and up.)... The updated vaccines target the XFG variant of Covid.”

CDC list of underlying conditions with a higher risk for severe COVID-19 that qualify people for COVID vaccination includes common diagnoses such as asthma, mood disorders including depression, physical inactivity, pregnancy, and many others.

Acute COVID infections, General COVID info

Long-term suppression of interferon programs and stress-associated transcriptional remodeling in human CD34+Lin−CD45+ hematopoietic progenitor cells following SARS-CoV-2 infection | Nature preprint 8/24/26

• CD34+Lin−CD45+ hematopoietic progenitor cells are stem cells that produce all blood cell types, including red blood cells, platelets, and immune cells like B cells and T cells. Polish researchers studied these blood progenitor stem cells from 12 COVID patients (at diagnosis, 3 months, and 9 months later) and compared them to 6 uninfected people. They found that genes involved in antiviral defense (type I interferon signaling) stayed suppressed for up to 3 months after COVID infection, but that genes tied to stress adaptation and stem cell flexibility became more active. Instead of returning to normal, blood progenitor stem cells appear to enter a new state after COVID infection with weaker antiviral defenses.

Phagocytosis of SARS-CoV-2 Nucleocapsid- and RNA-Containing Immune Complexes Drives Inflammatory Cytokine Production and Endothelial Dysfunction | bioRxiv 8/25/26

• Researchers from the University of California Irvine studying 178 COVID patients detected Nucleocapsid protein-RNA complexes in 6 of 11 positive nasal swab samples during active infection. In laboratory models, anti-nucleocapsid antibodies caused monocytes to engulf these N-RNA complexes and triggered an inflammatory response that increased endothelial leakage by 14.4 fold. They concluded that “RNA-containing immune complexes may play a role in the pathogenesis of severe COVID-19.”

HLA class I escape drives the evolution of SARS-CoV-2 in human populations | PNAS 8/25/26 https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2619192123

• Infected cells normally display viral fragments via HLA class I molecules which allows T cells to detect and kill them. Russian researchers found that SARS-CoV-2 mutations evading common HLA alleles spread more successfully across populations, and that some also block T cell receptor recognition directly. Immune evasion, at these two different steps, appears to be a major driver of how SARS-CoV-2 keeps evolving.

Pregnancy

Impact of Gestational Maternal SARS-CoV-2 Infection on Neonatal Inflammatory Biomarkers | American Journal of Immunology and Reproductive Immunology 8/25/26

• Researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai analyzed 826 mother and infant pairs, of which 100 had a COVID infection, and found that prenatal exposure to SARS-CoV-2 was associated with 22 elevated inflammatory proteins in newborns at birth. Infants whose mothers were infected late in pregnancy showed measurable T cell and chemokine activity, pointing to sustained immune activation that extended into the neonatal period.

Pregnancy Outcomes in Individuals With Long COVID | Obstetrics & Gynecology 8/28/26

• University of Utah Health researchers studied 603 pregnancies following SARS-CoV-2 infection and found that Long COVID in pregnancy was not associated with preterm birth, but was associated with an increased risk of hypertensive pregnancy disorders (39% vs 26%).

Pediatrics

Cardiovascular Sequelae After SARS-CoV-2 in Children: From Myocardial Injury to Dysautonomia and Implications for Phenotype-Guided Follow-Up | Pediatric Cardiology 8/25/26

• A review from Krakow, Poland looked at long term cardiovascular effects of SARS-CoV-2 infection in children, finding that among 83 pediatric patients, Long COVID was associated with measurable disruptions in heart rate variability even when standard cardiac imaging appeared normal. These autonomic nervous system irregularities offer a physiological basis for the palpitations, dizziness, and fatigue that some children continue to experience well after acute infection resolves.

Vaccines

Immunological imprinting shapes the cross-reactive antibody responses to the KP.2 and LP.8.1 vaccine doses | Journal of Virology 8/27/26

• Emory University researchers studying 21 participants found that in 10 of them, the majority of antibodies generated by the KP.2 mRNA vaccine were directed at the original WA.1 strain rather than the newer target, with only 4.8% of antibodies remaining KP.2 specific one month after vaccination. This pattern reflects immune imprinting, a phenomenon in which prior exposure to earlier coronavirus strains steers the immune system toward familiar rather than novel targets even when updated vaccine formulations are administered.

Long COVID

2026 ISLC-PAIS Conference

• This week, the 2026 ISLC-PAIS Conference took place in Amsterdam. Here is a link to the conference abstract book and to the list of presentations on Long COVID, ME/CFS, and other post-acute infection syndromes (PAIS).

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Biosamples from RECOVER clinical trials offer expanded opportunities for Long COVID research | RECOVER 8/28/26

• RECOVER announces that almost 60,000 biosamples collected from more than 3,000 clinical trial participants are available to researchers studying Long COVID.

Early HHV-6 IgG and IgA responses during acute SARS-CoV-2 infection in relation to long COVID: a multicohort observational study | eBioMedicine (The Lancet) 8/27/26

• HHV-6 causes Roseola or Sixth disease in 90% of children by age 3. Stanford University researchers studying 219 participants found that elevated HHV-6 IgA antibody responses during acute SARS-CoV-2 infection were more common among individuals who subsequently developed Long COVID and reported higher symptom burden. In contrast, higher HHV-6 IgG levels correlated with lower symptom burden.

Coronavirus Disease 2019 is an Occupational Disease for Teachers: How to Support the Teacher Workforce | Workplace Health & Safety 8/28/26

• Researchers from UCSF and UC Santa Cruz show epidemiological evidence classifying COVID as an occupational illness among teachers. Nearly 1 in 10 American elementary and secondary school teachers reported Long COVID symptoms in 2022. They recommend formal workplace protections including improved indoor air quality standards and targeted accommodations for affected teachers.

Brain Fog After COVID-19? Long COVID May Be the Cause | University of Utah Health 8/24/26

• Brain fog is common in Long COVID, and deficits in concentration, memory, word retrieval, and executive planning can last months to years after initial infection according to the University of Utah Health whose clinic follows thousands of Long COVID clinic patients. Pushing through the fatigue has shown to worsen post-exertional malaise crashes, while pacing of activity can help.

Clinical-cognitive profiles in long COVID and their associations with inflammatory-endothelial biomarkers and vascular measures | Scientific Reports 8/21/26

• Spanish researchers studied 304 Long COVID patients and identified four distinct symptom patterns: low overall impairment, high multisystem impairment, and two in-between types dominated by either emotional or physical symptoms. ICAM-1, a biomarker linked to blood vessel inflammation, was elevated in the high multisystem symptom LC group. No vascular structure or function differences emerged between groups.

Metabolic, viral, and immune phenotypes in long COVID | Frontiers in Endocrinology 8/28/26

• “In a case-control study of RECOVER participants from Maine Kentucky and Louisiana we found that the primary outcome, T cell oxidative phosphorylation, was not impaired in those with confirmed Long COVID symptoms vs those who were considered Indeterminate. However, there were some alterations in T cell function. For example in vitro stimulated T cells with the SARS-CoV-2 peptide from individuals with LC+ had enhanced glycolytic activation, greater numbers of CD26+ T cells and increased dipeptidyl peptidase (CD26) activity which correlated closely with symptom burden.”

Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome | JAMA 8/27/26

• Chung and Raj reviewed 103 studies and concluded that POTS involves reduced venous return and low circulating blood volume that diminish cardiac filling and cerebral perfusion, provoking a compensatory spike in heart rate upon standing. Between 30% to 40% of cases emerge following an infectious illness, underscoring the condition’s relevance to postinfectious autonomic dysfunction.

SARS-CoV-2 disrupts the integrity of a human blood-brain barrier model in the absence of infection | Journal of NeuroVirology 8/27/26

• University College Dublin scientists studied a blood-brain barrier (BBB) model comprised of human BMECs, astrocytes, pericytes, and microglia and found that SARS-CoV-2 spike protein and inactivated virus disrupted the BBB even without active infection,by reducing tight-junction proteins and triggering inflammation. Findings suggest that immune responses to SARS-CoV-2, not direct infection, may drive COVID neuropathology.

Emerging Trends in Pharmacotherapy for Long COVID | IDSA Science Speaks 8/25/26

• The Infectious Diseases Society of America (ISDA) reviewed five core biological targets for Long COVID treatments including persistent viral reservoirs, chronic immune activation, microclot formation, autonomic nervous system disruption, and mitochondrial damage. “Combination pharmacotherapy, tailored to dominant clinical [Long COVID] phenotypes, may ultimately prove more effective than single-agent approaches…There is an urgent need for large randomized controlled trials, validated biomarkers, drug-repurposing platforms and longitudinal safety data.”

Immunopharmacological mechanisms underlying SARS-CoV-2 spike-induced persistent pain in mice | Brain, Behavior, and Immunity 8/25/26

• Brazilian scientists studied 472 mice and found that the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein alone is sufficient to trigger prolonged pain-like hypersensitivity without full viral infection. The effect depended on a neuroimmune cascade involving TLR4 receptor signaling, phagocytic cells, T cell activation, and the cytokine IFN gamma. Blocking any of these steps prevented the hypersensitivity from developing.

Thrombotic risk trajectories in patients with coronary artery disease before and during COVID-19 | iScience 8/25/26

• Chinese scientists analyzed 4,183 coronary artery disease patients and found that they had a 2.2x increased risk of thrombosis in the first 12 months after COVID infection, with 7.8x the thrombosis risk in the first 3 months after infection. “The primary composite outcome included cardiovascular death, non-fatal myocardial infarction (MI), stent thrombosis, unplanned revascularization, ischemic stroke, venous thromboembolism (VTE), and peripheral arterial thrombosis.”

Extracellular vesicles in COVID-19 and long COVID: Structural mediators of viral persistence and immune dysfunction | Current Opinion in Structural Biology 8/26/26

• Researchers from Rome reviewed evidence showing that extracellular vesicles (EVs) are capable of carrying and protecting SARS-CoV-2 spike protein and viral RNA within the body for several months after infection. This molecular persistence appears to maintain ongoing immune system activation along with stress to the vascular and metabolic systems, offering a structural biological explanation for the chronic symptom burden observed in Long COVID patients.

Dr. Amy Proal and Dr. Timothy Henrich on Long COVID, Oncogenic Viruses, and the Latest Research | Los Angeles Times 8/26/26

• Dr. Amy Proal of PolyBio and Dr. Timothy Henrich from UCSF talked with the Los Angeles Times about the UCSF LIINC study which biobanks samples from Long COVID patients. They also discussed viral persistence of SARS-CoV-2 in Long COVID patients, and whether the virus, like some other viruses, may carry oncogenic potential.

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H5N1

🚨 Isolation of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza A (H5N1) Virus from Fetal Bovine Serum, United States, 2025 | CDC 8/8/26

• During routine screening, Cornell University researchers isolated live, infectious H5N1 bird flu virus from a commercial lot of fetal bovine serum (FBS), an ingredient used in cell culture in labs worldwide. This shows that H5N1 can survive undetected in biological products distributed commercially, risking wider lab or manufacturing exposure. Heat treatment was found to fully inactivate the virus, although I have questions about inactive virus potentially being immunogenic in cell cultures.

Measles

CDC Measles Update

• As of August 27, 2026, 2,777 confirmed measles cases were reported in the United States in 2026.

Johns Hopkins US Measles Tracker:

Measles deaths reported in Pennsylvania spark fight among politicians and health officials | AP 8/28/26

• Pennsylvania officials and Governor Shapiro announced two measles-associated deaths this week in a newborn baby boy and in another unvaccinated person. RFK Jr responded on social media saying that these measles deaths may have been “fabricated.”

• The expected death rate from measles is 1 in 1,000 cases, so we would expect to see 2 deaths if there had been 2,000 measles cases. But, only 400 measles cases have been reported in Lancaster county, so Dr. Paul Offit believes that many more measles infections may be going unreported. With children going back-to-school, the numbers will probably continue to increase. Measles is highly contagious in an unvaccinated population. The MMR vaccine is safe and two doses provide 97% protection against measles.

Ebola in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)

DR Congo Ministry of Communication and Media reported that as of August 28, there have been 5,945 confirmed Ebola cases, including 1,327 recoveries and 2,862 deaths. 896 patients are in isolation or hospitalized. Contact tracing has reached 84% and the fatality rate is 48%.

US Government Health News

See above for RFK Jr’s claim of “fabrication” of measles deaths in Pennsylvania.

RFK Jr lied in Senate confirmation hearings, newly revealed documents indicate | Guardian 8/27/26

• “Newly obtained documents indicate that the US health secretary, Robert F Kennedy Jr, lied during two congressional hearings last year, when he told lawmakers who held the key to his confirmation that a 2019 visit to Samoa had “nothing to do with vaccines”.”

Florida’s Department of Health removes 4 vaccines from required list for public schools | CIDRAP 8/26/26

• “The Florida Department of Health announced a new rule that would allow Florida children to attend public school without receiving immunizations for chickenpox, hepatitis B, Haemophilus influenzae type B, and pneumococcal disease. The rule also expanded religious exemptions for school vaccines.”

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Other news

Meta settles landmark state child harm claims for $18 billion and promises changes to its platforms | CNN Business 8/26/26

• Meta agreed to pay roughly $18 billion to settle claims from 29 states that it designed Instagram and Facebook to addict children and violated child privacy laws. As part of the deal, Meta has agreed to make changes to its platforms, such as establishing daily time limits for teen users.

CD19 CAR T cell therapy for treatment-refractory seropositive rheumatoid arthritis: a phase 1 trial | Nature Medicine 8/27/26

• Researchers at Charité University Medical Center in Berlin treated 6 patients with severe, treatment-resistant rheumatoid arthritis using CD19 CAR-T cells, which eliminated B cells from both blood and tissues and reduced ACPA autoantibodies by 94%. When B cells returned, the reconstituted population consisted predominantly of naïve cells, indicating a fundamental reset of the autoimmune process underlying the disease.

Possible involvement of viral infection in the pathogenesis of myasthenia gravis | Journal of NeuroVirology 8/28/26

• Researchers at the University of Milan reviewed evidence that three persistent viruses, Epstein-Barr virus, parvovirus B19, and enterovirus, may take up residence in thymic tissue and trigger the B cell activation and toll-like receptor signaling that underlies Myasthenia Gravis, an autoimmune condition in which antibodies attack acetylcholine receptors at neuromuscular junctions. A causal relationship between these viral infections and the disease has not been established, however.

7 perfectly preserved examples of Googie architecture in Los Angeles | Wallpaper

• “The rise of larger-than-life, space-age architecture marked the boom of car culture in 1950s Los Angeles.” It was known as Googie architecture, not Google architecture.

Have a great week,

Ruth Ann Crystal MD

Jonathan Tobin on Abdul El-Sayed's Jew-Hatred

Rather than turn El-Sayed into the villain Piker is, the media, voters, and Democrats are giving him a pass, hoping you'll ignore his own antisemitism. The smart voters, and the smart Jews, are not ignoring it.

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El-Sayed’s antisemitism is the issue; not Hasan Piker

Democrats want their Michigan Senate candidate to disavow his podcaster pal. The problem is that most on the political left have already embraced his Jew-hatred and lies.

By Jonathan S. Tobin st Jerusalem News Syndicate (JNS) 8-28-26

"Democrats wish Hasan Piker would just go away. But he won’t and it’s their own fault. And declaring him to be a distraction that should be ignored, or condemning him without also disavowing their U.S. Senate candidate in Michigan who embraced and campaigned with him, won’t cut it.

"Piker is back in the news because during a live stream on his popular Twitch channel, he said: “If Jews in America keep putting this idea out there that they are singularly invested in Israel, eventually someone’s going to come around and take action, not against the State of Israel, mind you, but against American Jews.”

How antisemitism works

"This is a standard trope of antisemitism in which Jews are blamed for the hatred and violence aimed at them. In effect, he’s saying that if Jews continue to support the Jewish state and aid efforts to ensure its survival, they will not merely provoke the same sort of terrorism that was visited upon the Jews of Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, but will incur similar atrocities against Jews in the United States.

"That this vile effort to rationalize, if not justify, violence against Americans elicited condemnation is unsurprising. Democrats like House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) and Michigan Democratic Senator Elisa Slotkin condemned it. Even his buddy, Dr. Abdul El-Sayed, who embraced and welcomed Piker to join him on the campaign trail during his successful effort to win the Democratic senatorial primary, felt the need to distance himself from the comments.

"Liberals understand that their chances of winning control of the Senate in the November midterm elections will be considerably diminished if they lose in Michigan as a result of this controversy. So, they are pushing for El-Sayed to disavow Piker and to make a better effort to appear as if he opposes antisemitism and understands why his candidacy has inspired fear among Jews in Michigan and around the country.

"For them, it is simply a matter of political common sense. If a major party candidate for high office is being negatively affected by the extreme statements or actions of an ally, there’s only one thing to do. The candidate needs to cut off ties with the ally and move on, thereby supposedly proving his moderation and good judgment.

"It is therefore frustrating for the national party and its many media cheerleaders that El-Sayed just won’t do that.

"But the issue isn’t that El-Sayed is being either stubborn or prioritizing loyalty to his friend over the goal of winning the Senate for the Democratic Party. It’s that he doesn’t really disagree with Piker and thinks that anyone who believes that supporters of Israel shouldn’t be abused (even if not subjected to actual terrorism) has lost his or her moral compass.

The Dems’ Tucker Carlson

"This issue bears some resemblance to the dilemma Republicans face dealing with Vice President JD Vance’s refusal to disavow or condemn his friend, Tucker Carlson. As I noted earlier this year, though there are major differences between them, Piker is the Democrats’ Carlson, only worse.

"The similarities between Piker and Carlson are mainly centered on their common embrace of antisemitism and their ability to use their embrace of conspiracy theories to attract a broad audience of disaffected Americans, especially younger males.

"Contrary to the instincts of liberals, who tend to think they can fix intractable problems with their enlightened discourse, Jew-hatred always is about the antisemites, not the Jews. And it always tells its target audience that the Jews are taking away from them whatever they value.

"Carlson platforms preposterous conspiracy theories like the one according to which the Jews invented pornography to undermine American society. Piker does the same and, along with others on the left, appeals to those who want to believe the actual victims of a historic genocide during the Holocaust and intended genocide of Oct. 7 are the perpetrators of a fake one against the Palestinians. In each case, as is always true of antisemitism, the goal is to incite hatred for Jews, and now the Jewish state, in order to acquire power.

"Carlson will be a millstone that hangs around Vance’s neck unless and until he specifically disavows him and stops acting as if he and the antisemitic groyper wing of the GOP are a necessary and welcome addition to the Republican governing coalition.

"Still, there is a significant difference between the two situations.

"At least for the moment, whatever their feelings about the vice president and the possibility of his becoming their 2028 presidential nominee, the overwhelming majority of Republicans has rejected the extremism and antisemitism of Carlson and his groyper friends. That’s been made abundantly clear in opinion polls and Republican primaries this year where candidates, including longtime incumbents like Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), have flopped. Not to mention the fact that President Donald Trump has ejected them from the party.

"But the opposite is true of the Democrats. Animus toward Israel, along with opposition to enforcing immigration laws, has become the organizing principle of Democratic politics. That’s why the emphasis on getting El-Sayed to disavow Piker, or to rationalize continued support for his Senate candidacy even if he doesn’t, makes it obvious that the problem on the left is far bigger than one obnoxious podcaster’s antisemitism.

"Indeed, the trouble goes beyond El-Sayed’s own long record of antisemitic positions and troubling comments about violence against Jews, even while continuing to claim that he wants to protect them.

"Over the course of the last year, growing numbers of Democrats and liberal pundits have embraced a raft of blood libels about Israel and the Jews. The big lies that Israel has perpetrated a “genocide” in Gaza, imposed starvation there or is an “apartheid state” rather than the Middle East’s only democracy, have been widely embraced not only by extremist podcasters like Piker, but by vast numbers of Democratic officeholders and many, if not most, liberal pundits at supposedly respectable publications and broadcast networks.

"Democrats have accepted the centerpiece argument of El-Sayed’s primary campaign about stopping the pro-Israel AIPAC lobby from “buying” Congress as a legitimate argument. Many, if not most, are no longer willing to accept campaign donations from it even if they remain supporters of the Jewish state.

"Democrats may think that Piker’s comments justifying violence against Jews for supporting Israel go too far, which is embarrassing for them because he is linked to one of their main midterm hopefuls. But many, if not most, agree with the podcaster and his friend, El-Sayed, that there is something unwholesome or even wrong for Jews and other like-minded Americans to organize and seek to use the same tools employed by all advocacy groups to persuade voters to support their position.

"The fact is that hatred for Israel—and the targeting of mainstream liberals for being insufficiently hostile to the Jewish state—has been a decisive factor in victory after victory in 2026 primaries for candidates affiliated with the Democratic Socialists of America or their allies.

Embracing blood libels

"Democrats, including their leaders, like Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, who are supposedly pro-Israel and concerned about antisemitism, have already demonstrated that they are willing to tolerate it if it comes out the mouth of a fellow Democrat like El-Sayed. Not even his invocation of traditional tropes—singling out Jews for opprobrium by mainstreaming blood libels about Israel, and claims that Jews are using their wealth to manipulate policy against American interests—was enough to get them to disavow his candidacy. Nor did his rationalization of a terror attack on a Michigan synagogue.

"Nor should we have expected them to, since such hateful discourse has long since been normalized among political liberals in the post-Oct. 7 world, where Israel is now the main focus of hatred from the left. Anti-Zionism, which seeks to strip Jews of rights that no one thinks to wish to deny any other people, is indistinguishable from antisemitism. But it is now kosher among Democrats, rather than, as it used to and should be, a belief that should be relegated to the fever swamps of the far-left and the far-right.

"Seen from that perspective, Piker is not a distraction from the real issues or a red herring being highlighted by Republicans to sabotage a Democratic candidate. He is entirely relevant to a key issue being debated across the country.

"The willingness of Democrats to let their party be hijacked by a far-left faction and its allies whose hatred for Israel and the Jews is at the core of their woke belief system is the real issue. In so allowing—whether out of moral cowardice or a conviction that partisan loyalties and opposing Trump and the Republicans is more important than fighting antisemitism—they have created a moral dilemma for themselves.

"The only way to salve their consciences is not by criticizing Piker or persuading El-Sayed to distance himself from him. It’s by disavowing El-Sayed and every other antisemitic candidate who camouflages his extremism by playing the part of a loyal Democrat who seeks to defeat Trump and all his works and allies.

"If they won’t do that, they should stop pretending they care about opposing Jew-hatred and simply embrace their party’s new identity as the political expression of modern American antisemitism."

Jonathan S. Tobin is editor-in-chief of JNS. Follow him: @jonathans_tobin.

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

Jonathan S. Tobin is editor-in-chief of JNS, a columnist for Newsweek and a contributor to many other publications. He covers the American political scene, foreign policy, the U.S.-Israel relationship, Middle East diplomacy, the Jewish world and the arts. He hosts the JNS “Think Twice” podcast, both the weekly video program and the “Jonathan Tobin Daily” program, available on all major audio platforms and on YouTube. Previously, he was executive editor, then senior online editor and chief political blogger, for Commentary magazine. Before that, he was editor-in-chief of The Jewish Exponent in Philadelphia and editor of the Connecticut Jewish Ledger. He has won 60-plus awards for his columns, commentary, art criticism and other writing. He appears regularly on television, commenting on politics and foreign policy. Born in New York City, he studied history at Columbia University.

Data Centers: They're a GOOD Thing!

I think of this anti-data center craze as resulting from a combination Chinese propaganda; ignorant people believing every conspiracy theory they see on social media; and the anti-success, anti-progress crowd.

Imagine if we had had social media and 24-hour TV news during the 60s when the space race occurred. We never would have gone to the moon or developed all the amazing technology that beat the Russians.

I don't understand how people prefer to oppose progress and innovation. Of course the Chinese and the socialists don't want us to succeed. But if we don't go ahead now with data centers and AI technology, it will be a setback America won't be able to overcome.

That's why I want to see data centers thrive here, before it's too late.

Alexander Muse's excellent article made me see that I'm right.

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Thirty Years Ago I Built Data Centers in Your Backyard. Only Now Does China Demand You Fear Them.

By Alexander Muse, The Enterprise,  Aug 23, 2026 

"I spent the late 1990s and early 2000s building data centers in the middle of America's largest cities. We built them in Dallas, Miami, New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, and St. Louis. Thousands of people walked past our buildings every day. They did not protest them. Most did not even know what was inside.

"That silence was not a cover for some environmental menace. Our data centers were good neighbors. They occupied underused buildings, produced almost no traffic, and bought enormous amounts of electricity from the grid while our cooling systems consumed no water. Servers and telecommunications gear hummed behind anonymous walls while the fiber inside connected businesses and consumers to a rapidly expanding Internet.

"We were hardly alone. After the Telecommunications Act of 1996 opened local telephone networks to competition, venture-backed companies raced to build carrier hotels and colocation facilities across the country. Section 251 of that law required incumbent carriers to interconnect with competitors, which created demand for neutral buildings where rival networks could meet. Equinix, Colo[.]com, Exodus, Switch & Data, LayerOne and scores of others poured billions of dollars into the physical plant of the dot-com economy. The Federal Reserve later described "a massive boom in the sector, beginning in 1997." Then the bubble burst, investors lost fortunes, and the data centers remained. They became the backbone of the cloud, mobile communications, streaming, e-commerce, and now AI.

"Today, the US has more than 5,000 confirmed operational data centers. Pew Research Center found this spring that 87% of existing facilities sit in urban areas and that 38% of Americans live within five miles of one. Data centers are already part of American communities. Before activists and NGOs told Americans to fear data centers, Americans had already spent 30 years living beside them. Most Americans still do not realize they have been living beside them for decades, which is the strongest available proof they were good neighbors. They went unnoticed because they produced almost none of the disturbances we associate with industrial facilities: no crowds, no commuter traffic, no loading docks full of daily deliveries, no assembly-line noise, no smokestacks, no pollution. A facility that generated real harm in Lower Manhattan or downtown Los Angeles would have been sued, fined, or shut down long ago. Thirty years of silence is a verdict.

"The scare story circulating now treats data centers as a new and untested intrusion. One Wilshire in Los Angeles is a 30-story tower that houses access to more than 300 networks. 60 Hudson Street, the old Western Union building in Lower Manhattan, contains about 1.1 million square feet and a direct Con Edison feed of roughly 15 megawatts. 2323 Bryan Street in Dallas is a 26-story downtown tower with more than 60 carriers, and LayerOne's original Dallas operation lived inside it. These sit in the centers of our largest cities.

"Critics also insist that data centers cannot coexist with ordinary communities. My six cities answer that directly. Some of those critics reply that a modern hyperscale campus is a different animal from a downtown carrier hotel, and scale does change the engineering. It does not change the legitimacy. A campus on hundreds of acres has more room for setbacks, berms, sound walls, dedicated substations and purpose-built cooling than a converted office tower wedged between a bank and a courthouse. If a data center can disappear into Lower Manhattan, downtown Dallas or central Los Angeles, a properly engineered facility on open land is not inherently a neighborhood menace. The relevant test is impact, not square footage.

"The bill scare is equally sloppy. Badly structured utility contracts shift costs onto households, and properly structured contracts lower average costs. An electric system is mostly fixed expense: transmission lines, substations, generation reservations and staff that must be paid whether customers consume a little or a lot. A data center runs around the clock at a high load factor, which means it buys far more electricity per megawatt of capacity than a factory that closes at 5 p.m. Columbia University’s Center on Global Energy Policy reviewed the literature this year and found that the surplus revenue from properly priced large loads can “function as a subsidy” for other customers. One analysis estimated that each additional gigawatt of data-center demand in Pacific Gas & Electric territory could cut average household bills by 1% to 2%.

'The condition is nonnegotiable and entails full cost causation. The data center pays for its dedicated substations. It pays attributable transmission costs. It pays for generation capacity reserved on its behalf. It pays for contracted capacity even when it does not use all of it. It posts collateral against cancellation. Residential customers inherit no stranded costs. President Trump’s Ratepayer Protection Pledge of March 4, 2026 wrote exactly that principle into policy, requiring participating technology companies to pay for contracted power “whether they use the electricity or not,” and conservatives who care about household rates should treat that pledge as the floor. FERC’s June order directed six regional grid operators to prove their large-load rules prevent cost shifting, which is the right federal muscle: force the operators to show the math. Cost shifting raises rates. Eliminate it, and the data center becomes one of the utility’s most valuable customers. Regulators also have no business declaring grid power morally illegitimate for one class of customer. Onsite generation is right in some places, and the regulator’s job is to compare grid service, private generation, and hybrids by net ratepayer benefit.

"Water use is a design decision, not an unavoidable characteristic of computing. Evaporative cooling towers consume makeup water. Air-cooled chillers, direct-expansion systems, and closed loops consume little or no water. Uptime Institute notes plainly that some data-center cooling technologies do not evaporate water at all. Our facilities did not use cooling water, and modern developers can make the same engineering choice. Permits should require disclosure of cooling technology and annual consumptive use, and facilities that choose evaporative systems should pay for the water infrastructure they need. A campaign email that calls every data center a water hog does not constitute a permit standard.

"Noise gets the same dishonest treatment. The real sound sources are mechanical cooling and periodic generator tests, both of which can be measured at the property line and controlled through equipment selection, enclosures, setbacks and testing schedules. Sound is measured in decibels, not press releases. Set a property-line standard and enforce it. A badly installed generator is a compliance problem that inspectors can fix.

"The jobs complaint is a category error about infrastructure. Substations, fiber routes, pipelines and transmission lines are valuable because they enable economic activity, not because thousands of people work inside each one. The value of a bridge is not measured by how many people it employs after construction. Data centers deliver construction work, property tax revenue, utility revenue, and the computing capacity on which countless other businesses depend. A factory-style headcount test is a way of saying you do not want the hall.

"A moratorium is the activist’s (and China’s) favorite “middle ground,” and it is neither middle nor ground. A ban is not regulation. It is surrender. It prevents regulators from distinguishing a responsible project from a reckless one, thereby simply moving the investment to another state or country. Moratorium politics is designed to look cautious while delivering an outright veto: no permits, no steel, and a press conference about families.

"If thousands of these facilities have operated quietly for decades (each of my facilities is STILL running today), the country was not suddenly taught to fear them by accident. Part of the opposition is organic, and the Bitcoin Policy Institute is candid that local opposition is “real and mostly homegrown.” The timing and amplification are another matter. In December 2025, more than 230 organizations demanded a nationwide moratorium. By July, Reuters counted 142 protests across 42 states. That volume is a coordinated political product.

"OpenAI disclosed a PRC-origin influence operation, nicknamed “Data Center Bandwagon,” that generated posts blaming AI data centers for skyrocketing electricity bills and described the operators as “testing narratives against AI infrastructure.” Entities controlled by Neville Roy Singham, the Shanghai-based financier married to CodePink co-founder Jodie Evans, directed more than $300 million between 2017 and 2023 to six US nonprofits in his political network, and organizations in that ideological ecosystem participated in 21 data-center campaigns across 14 states killing more than $24 billion in proposed projects. CBS reported in July that a federal grand jury in Manhattan is investigating Singham’s network for violations of the Foreign Agents Registration Act and tax laws. He denies working directly for Beijing and has not been charged, and the investigation is not a conviction, but a federal grand jury does not convene over rhetoric. Alongside this sits the seperate, better-funded Effective Altruism ecosystem, whose donors have spent billions bankrolling organizations demanding a government-enforced pause on advanced AI. Whatever those donors intend, rules that bind American builders but not Chinese ones hand Beijing time; China does not need to outbuild America if it can persuade Americans not to build and then wait while our countries argue about vetoes. China funded many of the same NGOs to oppose fracking, natural gas, and nuclear power generation, and development a decade ago - they’re back; only data centers are the new global warming.

"None of that foreign money is needed to prove the urban record. The buildings already disprove the claim that data centers are incompatible with American life. The funding explains only why a 30-year-old non-problem became a national emergency in a single year, and why so many of the loudest voices treat a permit as a moral crime. Conservatives who want objective standards instead of activist vetoes should say so publically, because the other side is not asking for better engineering.

"The policy is not complicated. Require the developer to cover every attributable grid and infrastructure cost. Apply objective standards for water, sound, emissions, traffic, setbacks, and generator testing. Once those obligations are met, deny any state, county, or activist group an ideological veto over lawful infrastructure. Trump’s pledge and FERC’s order already point in that direction, toward transparent costs, measurable impacts, and the freedom to build. The remaining work is to stop treating a moratorium slogan as a zoning analysis.

"For three decades, data centers have been hiding in plain sight. They occupied anonymous buildings, bought electricity, moved information, and quietly became indispensable to modern life. Most Americans never noticed because there was little to notice. We already live beside them. The remaining choice is whether manufactured fear, and the foreign and ideological networks happy to feed it, will stop us from building the infrastructure of the AI age.

"If you enjoy my work, please subscribe https://x.com/amuse/creator-subscriptions/subscribe"

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Alexander Muse is a Fellow at the John Milton Freedom Foundation and publishes daily political analysis at amuseonx.com. Primary sources cited in this piece are linked inline; campaign finance figures are drawn from FEC filings, polling data from publicly released crosstabs, and legal claims from filed pleadings. Corrections are posted to the original URL with a dated changelog. Readers who identify errors are invited to contact the author directly. Each op-ed edited for grammar and clarity using Ai in partnership with Grammarly. Data provided in a sponsored partnership with Polymarket.