Did COVID Actually Start Spreading Much Earlier Than We Were Told?

If this is true, it's yet another scandal that the Biden Administration won't be held responsible for. Also, I always thought the most logical origin of COVID was an accidental lab leak and never understood why it was considered "racist" and wrong to say so. 

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Opinion by Jonathan Turley at The Hill 4/12/25:

Biden’s administration may have suppressed COVID evidence contradicting Chinese claims 

"Imagine a world war that left more than seven million dead, hundreds of millions became ill, wrecked the global economy, and left a generation with lasting psychological and developmental injuries.

"We have seen such wars in history. What is different in this circumstance, however, is that all of that happened, and yet, years later, we still have no agreement on the original cause or possible culprits behind a pandemic that ravaged the world.

"Worse yet, many politicians, experts and journalists do not seem inclined to find the answers.

"This is like fighting World War II and then shrugging off the question of what actually started it.

"New questions are being raised over long-withheld evidence on the origins of COVID, information that contradicted the accounts of not just the Biden administration but also allies in academia and the media.

"The Chinese first reported the outbreak in December 2019 and insisted that it came from a wet market in Wuhan — a natural or “zoonotic” transfer from bats sold at the market. Others were skeptical and pointed to the nearby Wuhan government virus lab, known to have conducted coronavirus studies with bats. This lab had a history of safety and contamination concerns.

"The “lab-leak theory,” which was always the most obvious explanation, was further reinforced by scientists who saw evidence of possible manipulation of the virus’s genetic code, particularly the “spike protein” that enables the virus to enter the human body in a “gain of function” operation.

"There was (and still is) a serious controversy over the origins of the virus, but any debate was quickly scuttled in favor of the natural theory.

"The Chinese immediately moved to crush any speculation of a lab-leak. Wuhan scientists were gagged and the Chinese refused to allow international investigators access to them or the lab in question. The Chinese also used their considerable influence over the World Health Organization and other groups to dismiss or downplay the lab theory..

"Now, a long-withheld military report has finally been released by the Trump administration. It appears to confirm what was once denied by the Biden administration: U.S. military service members contracted COVID-19-like symptoms after participating in the World Military Games in October 2019 in Wuhan.

"That contradicts China’s timeline. It suggests a longer cover-up in that country, which allowed the virus to spread not only to the U.S. but to countries around the world. Other nations also reported that their military personnel had fallen ill after attending the same games, suggesting that the virus was not only spreading but already raging in the area at that time.

"The most disturbing aspect of this report is not the alleged conduct of the Chinese government, but that of our own.

"Rumors of U.S. military personnel coming down with the virus had long been out there. Republicans in Congress repeatedly asked the Biden administration about any report on the outbreak.

"Then-Pentagon spokesperson John Kirby told The Washington Post in June 2021 that the military had “no knowledge” of COVID-19 infections among the troops participating in those games.

"Even as the illness associated with the games became known, the Biden administration repeatedly refused to confirm the U.S. cases, and a 2022 report was withheld from both Congress and the public.

"If true, the level of duplicity and dishonesty is shocking. In the U.S. alone, more than 1.2 million died and more than 111 million were made sick by this virus. Yet the Biden administration is accused of withholding this information from the world. Why?

"This disclosure follows an equally troubling disclosure that scientists in the Biden administration actually found support for the lab theory but were silenced by their superiors.

"Last December, the Wall Street Journal released an alarming report on how these scientists supported the lab theory on the origin of the COVID-19 virus. Not only were the FBI and its top experts excluded from a critical briefing of Biden, but government scientists were reportedly warned that they were “off the reservation” in supporting the lab theory.

"As scientists were being attacked publicly and blacklisted for supporting the lab theory, experts at both the FBI and the Energy Department found the lab theory credible. Although no theory could be proven conclusively, it was deemed a more likely scenario than the natural-origin theory. The CIA also found the lab theory credible.

"What the public was hearing was entirely different. They were hearing the same narrative laid out by the Chinese government in December 2019.

"The Chinese relied upon western scientists to form a mob against anyone raising the lab-leak theory as a possible explanation. Many were enlisted to sign letters or publish statements denouncing the idea. It became an article of faith — a required virtue signal among university scientists.

"The western media were equally primed to quash the theory. 

"After President Trump embraced the lab theory, the Chinese had the perfect setup. The media was on a hair-trigger in opposition and denounced his comments as not only unfounded but also racist. MSNBC’s Nicolle Wallace mocked Trump and others for spreading “conspiracy theories.” MSNBC’s Kasie Hunt insisted that “we know it’s been debunked that this virus was manmade or modified.”

"MSNBC’s Joy Reid called the lab leak theory “debunked bunkum.” Over at CNN, reporter Drew Griffin criticized the “widely debunked” theory and host Fareed Zakaria told viewers that “the far right has now found its own virus conspiracy theory” in the lab leak.

"The Washington Post was particularly dogmatic. After Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) raised the lab-leak theory, he was chastised for “repeat[ing] a fringe theory suggesting that the ongoing spread of a coronavirus is connected to research in the disease-ravaged epicenter of Wuhan, China.”

"The Post’s “fact checker” Glenn Kessler mocked Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) for entertaining the theory. “I fear @tedcruz missed the scientific animation in the video that shows how it is virtually impossible for this virus to jump from the lab,” he posted. “Or the many interviews with actual scientists. We deal in facts, and viewers can judge for themselves.”

"Even in 2021 when countervailing evidence was surfacing, the unrelenting attacks continued. New York Times science and health reporter Apoorva Mandavilli urged journalists not to mention the “racist” lab theory.

"Social media companies also enforced the narrative and, with the coordination of the Biden Administration, experts raising the lab theory were targeted, censored, and blacklisted.

"It now appears that the COVID outbreak may have occurred months before the alleged wet market release — months that could have been used to contain the virus. Instead, China is accused of suppressing the news and allowing the virus to spread worldwide. Our military personnel alone went home from the Wuhan games to 25 states, potentially carrying it with them.

"When information on these infections connected to the games was reported around the world, China even suggested that the U.S. used the games to release the weaponized virus.

"In 2020, I wrote a column on why China seemed poised to avoid any liability for what might be the greatest act of negligence in history. The sheer size of the disaster somehow seemed to insulate China. As Joseph Stalin had once said, “a single death is a tragedy” and “a million deaths is a statistic.”

"Try more than seven million, and you have a statistic that was not worth confronting the Chinese over. What was done was done.

"Congress and the Trump administration are now working to reconstruct this record. There is much that we still do not know. However, the public has already paid dearly for the answers. We have more than a million questions, and not one of them is a statistic to those who loved them."

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Jonathan Turley is the Shapiro Professor of Public Interest Law at George Washington University and the author of “The Indispensable Right: Free Speech in an Age of Rage.”

Urinating In Rae's Creek? Par For The Course if You're Gen-Z

Oliver Brown's headline is a perfect analogy for this self-absorbed Gen Z-er. He obviously has no respect for the history of Augusta National, which my father used to compare to the hallowed ground of Arlington Cemetery. Somehow, I doubt he will be embarrassed to be remembered only for this sacrilege.

Arnold Palmer must be rolling in his grave.

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Jose Luis Ballester toilet break like Just Stop Oil defacing Van Gogh

By Oliver Brown, The Telegraph, April 10, 2025 at 7:32 PM EDT

"It was the golfing equivalent of daubing graffiti inside the Sistine Chapel. Amen Corner has always been the most sacred portion of Augusta National, an area where first-time visitors drift into a reverential daze at the first sight of the azaleas. Clearly, the message did not filter through to young Jose Luis Ballester. The 21-year-old had already raised eyebrows with his fashion, marking his Masters debut with an Arizona State Sun Devils cap in back-to-front upside-down lettering. But his day of flouting conventions was far from finished, courtesy of a detour on the 13th that involved him urinating into Rae’s Creek. The insouciance of youth? More like outright crassness.

"Ballester will be fortunate, frankly, to be allowed back on the premises. To understand why, you need to grasp the mentality of the Green Jackets, a group who would make Amish elders look like models of leniency. This is a place where you can be yelled at for breaking into a trot – “No running at Augusta!” – and where Gary McCord, the CBS commentator who in 1994 dared to joke the greens were so fast they had been treated with bikini wax, found himself permanently banned from the Masters broadcast. So, for Ballester to answer nature’s call in Rae’s Creek – technically “tributary of Rae’s Creek”, as the hosts insist it must be called – is an act beyond the pale, on a par with a Just Stop Oil protestor throwing paint at Van Gogh’s Sunflowers.

"As a character, Ballester is hardly the type to defer to this exacting Southern charm school. While he might have invited clemency by showing some contrition, he doubled down when pressed on the incident, shrugging that he would do the same again if the need arose. “I’m like, I really need to pee,” he said, admitting he had forgotten about the toilet provided beside the 13th tee.

"You wonder if such disdain for the game’s most pristine canvas will last. Examples abound of the hosts coming down hard on those who disrespect their etiquette code. Only last year, Australia’s Jason Day was rebuked for his sartorial choices, having promoted his sponsors with a sweater branded “No 313 World Golf Championship” in large block letters across the front. Rickie Fowler has fallen foul of the strictures, too, earning himself a dressing-down when he turned up in a back-to-front cap. Even watching outside the ropes, you learn to adhere to the demands: not to sit on the grass, not to bring any chair with armrests, not to tip the staff, not to display bare feet, and not, under any circumstances, to be seen with a mobile phone, unless you fancy before launched out of the grounds by Pinkerton security guards without any hope of appeal.

"Urinating in Augusta’s signature waterway? That is not explicitly mentioned in the rulebook, for no other reason that the vast majority setting foot on the course would not even contemplate it. But Ballester is cut from a different cloth. He is archetypal Gen Z, the demographic that Augusta has been trying to seduce. In 2022, chairman Fred Ridley gave permission for Bryson DeChambeau and a motley YouTube collective called “Dude Perfect” to go around Amen Corner playing tennis and baseball. “My first reaction was, ‘Who are these guys? I’ve never heard of them,’” Ridley reflected. “But it was something that I got comfortable with very quickly.”

"He might not be so comfortable now, with Ballester’s antics demonstrating the downside of indulging millennials. It was not so much the Spaniard’s bizarre headgear selection that grated, or the fact that he was caught short, but his sheer nonchalance about disrespecting an immaculate backdrop. Then again, his coach has not been blameless either. On Monday, Matt Thurmond, Ballester’s university coach, was thrown off the driving range for wearing shorts. “Strolled on to the range with my coach badge,” he wrote on X. “Got removed for shorts. First bogey of the week. Celebrated with an egg salad sandwich.”

"As a faux pas, it paled into insignificance against his pupil’s transgression. Ballester, the US Amateur champion, was supposed to be savouring the honour of his life here, paired as a Masters rookie with Thomas and world No 1 Scottie Scheffler. “You can meditate, visualise, put yourself in hard situations, but you’ve still got to figure it out,” he said. “Especially this being my first time here at Augusta, with such a nice pairing.” It is a moot point as to whether he figured anything out. Certainly, there was precious little humility on show after he toiled to a first-round 76, via an unorthodox diversion to the water hazard. On the positive side, at least more people know his name now. And they have learned a whole new meaning to the notion of taking relief."

Study Still Proves That COVID Is Spread By Airborne Transmission

From Stephanie Soucheray, MA, at CIDRAP - Center for Infectious Disease Research & Policy, 4/10/25:

Using a study design from the past, researchers again show COVID-19 is airborne 

"In 1959, researchers built a facility near Pretoria, South Africa, to study the airborne route of tuberculosis transmission, replicating an experiment first done in Baltimore. With a detailed schematic of ward rooms, test and control chambers, and room exhaust fans, the researchers proved nature's deadliest bacterium traveled through the air, meaning infectious people in one part of a building could infect others through a ventilation system.

"Now researchers, led by Chad Roy, PhD, MSPH, from Tulane University, have used the South African Airborne Infections Research (AIR) facility to illustrate human-to-animal transmission of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, through a building's ventilation system. The study was published last week in Open Forum Infectious Diseases. 

"This was the first time the facility was used to test virus transmission," Roy told CIDRAP News. "And the study continues to reveal things about the virus."

A hardier virus 

"Five years after the COVID pandemic began, it is widely accepted that airborne transmission fuels the spread of the novel coronavirus. But Roy said the study helps understand the virus dynamics at play, and shows the virus is hardier than other viruses.

"We had evidence of long distance COVID transmission early on in the pandemic, like the choral event in Washington state," Roy said, referring to a March 2020 choir practice that resulted in up to 87% of participants infected with COVID-19. 

"But for months in 2020 and into 2021—until the Omicron strain emerged—experts debated how the virus was spread, at what distance the virus was still transmissible, and how much physical distancing was required to keep people safe. 

"We were really using ideas from other viruses when looking at COVID," said Roy. 

"In the new study, Roy and his colleagues used hamsters and newly diagnosed COVID-19 patients to test airborne transmission. Seven COVID-positive patients spent a cumulative 409.5 hours in the AIR facility in the last 2 weeks of November 2022, while 216 hamsters were exposed continuously to approximately 5% of the total ward ventilatory exhaust. 

"Four of the seven patients were infected with the Omicron strain, one with Delta, and two had unknown sequencing. Two of the patients also had HIV.

58% of hamster had COVID antibodies 

"The hamsters were euthanized after 21 days in the exhaust path plus an additional 7 days housing, and blood was collected for further analysis. The authors found evidence of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in 58% of the hamsters, though none of the animals showed signs of infection. 

"The simplest interpretation of our results is that human-generated aerosols seroconverted 58% of exposed hamsters after traveling the 7-10 meter distance through the ventilation system of the AIR facility," the authors wrote. 

"This data indicates that exposure to exhaust air from the clinical ward containing individuals actively infectious for SARS-CoV-2 can result in transmission to susceptible animals."

Study should put 'nail in the coffin' 

"Lisa Brosseau, ScD, CIH, an expert on respiratory protection, said the study adds to a growing body of literature showing SARS-CoV-2 can be transmitted through the air. She said early debates about how and if COVID could be transmitted through the air existed because the virus behaves so differently than others.

"Unlike bacteria, which have a cell wall to protect them, viruses are just strands of RNA and are usually not this hardy," she said. "The coronavirus evolved to stay alive in the air for quite a long time."

"The animals were not tested for SARS-CoV-2 status before the experiment began, because Roy said exposing the animals to humans before the study was too risky during the high-transmissibility of the Omicron period. 

"Both Roy and Brosseau, a research consultant with the University of Minnesota's Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy (CIDRAP), publisher of CIDRAP News, said it was highly unlikely the animals could have had SARS-CoV-2 antibodies before the study.

"CIDRAP Director Michael T. Osterholm, PhD, MPH, said this study was beautifully designed. 

"This one was a classic study design, and we don't often say that in science," said Osterholm. "This study should put the nail in the coffin that SARS-CoV-2 is not transmitted by airborne routes."

Gender Insanity

They already have "sanctuary cities". How about "insanity states" next, for states that are full of delusional people? Are they all on drugs in Colorado, or has normality and common sense completely deserted these people? They not only live in a fantasyland, but they also use made-up language to try to rationalize their delusions. I feel sorry for these kids who have been indoctrinated like this, and I resent their trying to force this nonsense on others.

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Deseret News 4/9/25:  Colorado bill could strip parents of custody for misgendering their children; The bill’s text deems mispronouning and misgendering a child as ‘coercive control’

"A bill in Colorado is making its way through the state legislature that would create legal grounds for the state to revoke custody of parents who misgender their children.

"The bill is called the Kelly Loving Act, named after a 40-year-old transgender man killed in the Club Q mass shooting in 2022.

"Its text states that “deadnaming, misgendering or threatening to publish material related to an individual’s gender-affirming health-care services” will be deemed “coercive control” and will influence the court “when making child custody decisions and determining the best interests of a child for purposes of parenting time.”

"If a child’s parents are split between Colorado and another state, the bill adds that Colorado courts shall not enforce the other state’s laws if they attempt to take the child away from the parent who is providing the child with “gender-affirming care.”

"In short, if parents call their child by the wrong name or fail to use their preferred pronouns, they could be liable to lose custody."

COVID And Our Noses

I remember that years ago there were articles about nose-picking and COVID, so they were on the right track. This article is from Medical XPress 4/10/25:

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Certain nasal bacteria may boost the risk for COVID-19 infection, study finds 

"A new study by researchers at George Washington University has found that certain bacteria living in the nose may influence how likely someone is to get a COVID-19 infection.

"The study, "The Nasal Microbiome Modulates Risk for SARS-CoV-2 Infection," was published in the journal EBioMedicine and reveals that certain types of nasal bacteria can affect the levels of key proteins the virus needs to enter human cells, offering new insight into why some people are more vulnerable to COVID-19 than others.

"We've known that the virus SARS-CoV-2 enters the body through the respiratory tract, with the nose being a key entry point. What's new—and surprising—is that bacteria in our noses can influence the levels of proteins that the virus uses to infect cells," said Cindy Liu, associate professor of environmental and occupational health at the GW Milken Institute School of Public Health.

Higher gene expression of viral entry proteins increases COVID-19 infection risk

"In the study, Liu and her team analyzed nasal swab samples from over 450 people, including some who later tested positive for COVID-19.

"They found that those who became infected had higher levels of gene expression for two key proteins—ACE2 and TMPRSS2. ACE2 allows the virus to enter nasal cells, while TMPRSS2 helps activate the virus by cleaving its spike protein.

"Those with high expression for these proteins were more than three times as likely to test positive for COVID-19, while those with moderate levels had double the risk. The study also found that people who became infected had more unstable levels of gene expression, with the sharpest increases just days before testing positive, suggesting rising expression levels may signal increased vulnerability to the virus.

"Notably, while women generally had higher gene expression levels of these proteins—consistent with previous studies showing higher COVID-19 infection rates in women—men with higher levels were more likely to get infected, indicating elevated protein levels may present a greater risk for men.

Nasal bacteria may play a role in COVID-19 risk

"To understand what could impact the expression levels of these viral entry proteins, the researchers turned to the nasal microbiome—the diverse community of bacteria that naturally reside in the nose. They found that certain nasal bacteria may affect the expression levels of ACE2 and TMPRSS2, influencing the respiratory tract's susceptibility to COVID-19.

"The study identified three common nasal bacteria—Staphylococcus aureus, Haemophilus influenzae, and Moraxella catarrhalis/nonliquefaciens—that were linked to higher expression levels of ACE2 and TMPRSS2 and increased COVID-19 risk. On the other hand, Dolosigranulum pigrum, another common type of nasal bacteria, was connected to lower levels of these key proteins and may offer some protection against the virus.

"Some bacteria in your nose may be setting the stage—or even holding the door open—for viruses like SARS-CoV-2 to get in," said Daniel. Park, a senior research scientist at GW and the first author of the study.

"While some of the high-risk bacteria were less common, 20% of participants carried enough S. aureus to nearly double their risk for having elevated ACE2 and TMPRSS2 expression, making it a major nasal microbiome risk factor for increasing individuals' risk for COVID-19 infection.

Why this matters

"The findings offer new potential ways to predict and prevent COVID-19 infection. The study suggests that monitoring ACE2 and TMPRSS2 gene expression could help identify individuals at higher risk for infection. The research also highlights the potential of targeting the nasal microbiome to help prevent viral infections.

"We're only beginning to understand the complex relationship between the nasal microbiome and our health," said Liu.

"This study suggests that the bacteria in our nose—and how they interact with the cells and immune system in our nasal cavity—could play an important role in determining our risk for respiratory infections like COVID-19."

"The team plans to explore whether modifying the nasal microbiome, such as through nasal sprays or live biotherapeutics, could reduce the risk of infection—potentially paving the way for new ways to prevent respiratory viral infections in future pandemics."

Joshua Namm on Being Jewish

Here's an important column from Joshua Namm's Substack. I've always thought that these radical liberals who call themselves "Jewish" are 90% liberal and only 10% Jewish. As for the gentiles, they seem to think that Jew-hatred is somehow cool.

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Jewish Pride: Purim vs Hollywood; Being Jewish is a gift that deserves unwavering pride, gratitude and courage. 

"When I was fifteen, I asked my parents to buy me a “Magen David” (Star of David). I already had a “Chai” (Hebrew for “life”) on a chain. We were fairly secular - High Holidays, one seder, and Chanukah candles were about the extent of our “formal” Jewish life, so convincing them that I needed two such symbols of Judaism was somewhat of a challenge.

"I explained to them that I wanted the Magen David on a shorter chain than the Chai because 1. It was a more obvious symbol of Jewishness (in my mind at the time), and 2. The shorter chain meant that it would be easier for people to see.

"I wanted people to know that I am Jewish.

"I still have that Magen David.

"I’ve never understood why it’s so difficult for some of us to express pride in Jewishness publicly. When I was younger, it never occurred to me that some Jews could be embarrassed or scared to publicly embrace being a Jew.

"For me, the shtetl, “don’t make waves,” ghetto mentality has always been embarrassing. If people don’t like me because I am a Jew: that’s THEIR problem. Plus, I’d much rather know who hates me.

"As I write this, we just celebrated Purim, while the secular world held its annual spectacle of narcissism and vapidity, the Academy Awards, the week before.

"At the end of the Purim story, the Jews of Shushan rejoice and kill (not murder) their enemies. Makes sense to me.

"Yet, each year it seems like there is more and more hand-wringing over what seems to me to be an obvious real world choice: if someone tries to murder you, you need to kill them first (obviously, only if there is no other option). One is murder, the other is self-defense.

"The exact wording in the Megillah (Book of Esther) is:

“And the rest of the Jews of the king's provinces gathered and stood up for their lives to relieve themselves of their enemies and killed seventy-five thousand of their foes, but took none of the spoils.” 

"That is a lot of people. But the whining and self-flagellation ignores the fact that the correct reading should not be that we killed a lot of people, it should rather be that we had a lot of enemies that wanted to murder us. Rather than go to the slaughter like sheep – we protected our community; our loved ones.  

"As Jonathan Tobin put it recently (in an excellent article):

“The Jews are faced with the fact that even after Haman’s execution on the orders of King Ahasuerus, his orders enabling the mass murder of Jews throughout the Persian empire cannot be revoked. That means that the Jews can’t simply sit back and be saved by the king or anyone else. They must, instead, arm and defend themselves against those eager to carry out Haman’s evil command.”

"I suspect too that not only could the king’s order not be revoked, but that the Persians were excited at the prospect of Jewish mass murder. We did what needed to be done.

"The lesson from this is a lesson which we have learned repeatedly: when our enemies are intent on murdering us, as was the case on 10/7, it is preferable, and obligatory, to do whatever it takes to stop them. But to many modern Jews, particularly on the left, who grew up as I did, in a “golden age” of passive American Jewishness, where threats seemed mostly theoretical, that truth is still surprisingly hard to accept.

"The result is that we saw multiple articles about Purim that, dementedly, compared and condemned Israel’s defense of our people post 10/7, and what the Jews did at the time of the Purim story. In other words, the “lesson” they learned was about ambiguous moral equivalence, rather than seeing the unambiguous and obvious parallel to today.

"Immediately preceding Purim, the now culturally irrelevant, self-serving, spectacle of unhinged narcissism called the “Academy Awards” took place.

"They give out golden statues for a reason.

"Having grown up in Los Angeles, around Hollywood types my entire life – I’ve always had a disdain for that industry. Most of the stereotypes are true. Narcissism, ignorance, nepotism, and disdain for Western values and morals are the norm (obviously, there are exceptions). Coupled with extreme vacuity and an absolute need to belong, you must be an obsequious hive-minded automaton to fit in. Individuality, particularly of thought, has no place in their world.

"At the same time, no population on earth has as high a regard for themselves.

"So, it’s no surprise that even though Jews (literally) founded the film industry in Los Angeles, Jewishness has never been a comfortable part of that world. That’s exactly why when the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (responsible for the Academy Awards) opened its museum in 2021 - it “celebrated” every imaginable cultural/ethnic contribution except for… the Jews.

"It took them THREE years to (feebly) rectify the situation. Jews can start Hollywood, we can run the major studios for decades, we can act, write and produce… we just can’t be acknowledged for doing any of that as Jews.

"Similarly, it makes sense that the Academy Awards ceremonies have become increasingly, and openly, anti-Jewish.

"I’m old enough to remember the adults being furious when Vanessa Redgrave got up at the 1978 Oscars and talked about “Zionist hoodlums.” (A viewpoint that this disgusting human being STILL espouses)

"Almost 50 years later, 10/7 seems to have given Jew-haters, globally, the idea that antisemitism is more socially acceptable than ever.

"Recent awards ceremonies demonstrate that view.

"We’ve all seen actors and actresses, who claim to be against war, not Jews, wear the red hand pins commemorating the brutal, bloody deaths of two Jews.

"We heard Jonathan Glazer repugnantly say in 2024 “We stand here as men who refute their Jewishness.”

"We’ve watched for decades as Hollywood has made film after film either making light of the Holocaust (“Life Is Beautiful”), disseminates false narratives about non-Jewish ignorance during the Holocaust (“The Boy in The Striped Pajamas”), or removes Jews from the Holocaust entirely (Glazer’s own “Zone of Interest”). When a story is told well as in Steve Spielberg’s “Schindler’s List,” it is a story of non-Jewish heroism, and greatly overshadows far less hyped, but far more inspiring, stories of Jewish heroism, as was the case with “Defiance,” an excellent film which tells the true story of the Bielski brothers.

"Held days after the Bibas funeral, the ONLY person on stage this year who even mentioned antisemitism was Adriene Brody, who also sputtered the now obligatory (and meaningless) language about “racism” and “othering.”

"In other words, there were no Jewish heroes at the Oscars, only cowards who refused to use that immense platform to display their pride in our people or inspire other Jews with their words. There was not a single show of courage to let younger Jews know that it is ok to publicly say “I’m Jewish, I’m proud, and I don’t give the slightest damn if you have a problem with that.”

"Yet there was, and has been for several years, a parade of actors/actresses not only wearing red hand pins, but who also signed letters condemning Israel, and in one case, uber antisemite Guy Pearce, even trotted out the old “the Jews run Hollywood” trope.

"If only we applied the “Shushan penalty” to the careers of Jew haters like Pearce and his ilk, which include Billie Eilish, Ramy Youssef, Ava DuVernay, Mark Ruffalo, Jennifer Lopez, Richard Gere, Susan Sarandon, Gigi and Bella Hadid, Bradley Cooper, Angelina Jolie, John Cusack, Viggo Mortenson, Kirsten Dunst, Kristen Stewart, Selena Gomez, Cate Blanchett, Channing Tatum, Brian Cox, Ben Affleck, Rachel McAdams and many, many, many more.

"More revealing, not a single documentary about October 7 was nominated for an award. But, a piece of pro-Palestinian, anti-Israel, anti-Zionist, garbage, at least partially staged and infused with lies, called “No Other Land” won for best documentary. Of course.

"Thank G-d, the weak, ghetto minded, assimilationist viewpoint in Hollywood does not dominate Jewish life. Every Jewish life is precious, and equally valuable, so the rest of us must educate those who are afraid to stand up; we must teach them that it is ok, even necessary, to be proud of being Jewish. Divisiveness and in-fighting does more damage than antisemites could ever do, so teach with love, but remember that our ancestors in Shushan, and our brothers and sisters attacked on 10/7, represent the real world, while assimilation and ignorance is, like the “reel world,” a vapid black-hole of nothingness.

"Never be afraid. Never give up.

"Am Yisrael Chai."

This article appeared originally in Orange County Jewish Life.

Joshua Namm is a longtime Jewish community pro, passionate Israel advocate, and co-founder/co-CEO of Moptu, a unique social platform designed specifically for article sharing, and dedicated to the principle of free speech. 

Caitlin Rivers at Force of infection, 4/9/25

Here's the latest newslettter from Dr Caitlin Rivers:

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What will the next public health response look like? Controlling epidemics requires both local control and federal support

"The second Trump administration is almost certain to face a major disease outbreak. If current trends hold, individuals and state and local governments will likely be expected to manage the response —but without strong federal support, that strategy is likely to falter.

"History is clear: every presidential administration has faced at least one outbreak that requires a robust federal response. President Bush faced the anthrax attacks and the 2003 SARS pandemic. President Obama managed the H1N1 influenza pandemic, Ebola in West Africa, and the emergence of Zika virus disease. In his first term, President Trump presided over the initial year of the COVID-19 pandemic, which President Biden inherited along with the H5N1 bird pandemic in 2021. Even now, a serious measles outbreak is underway.

"What clues do we have about how the second Trump administration will manage the next crisis? The administration has closed the Department of Education and is floating the idea of shuttering the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Federal officials have said that those functions are better handled by local governments, which better understand their community's needs and priorities.

"The same argument will likely be made for public health. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) may seek to minimize federal health agencies’ traditional roles in writing guidance, aggregating data, communicating information, and advising local experts. Instead, it will be up to state and local health departments to develop their own outbreak control strategies, muster the resources, and coordinate among themselves.

"HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. may take this even further. In response to the measles outbreak in West Texas, for example, he emphasized individual decision-making by advising people to consult their physician about whether to vaccinate their children. This is markedly different from communications strategies under prior administrations, which encouraged universal uptake of childhood vaccines. He also called for states to ban fluoride in drinking water, again citing individual choice.

"There is some merit to a states-first approach. Most public health authorities rest with state and local governments, not at the federal level1. The legal authority to issue enforceable quarantine orders, for example, is state and local except at international border crossings. Cases of new diseases are reported to state and local health authorities, and they conduct the contact tracing. And during the pandemic, it was individuals who were faced with decisions about whether and how to manage their personal risk.

"Still, for outbreak response to be successful, the federal government must be prepared to play a role.

"As I wrote in my book Crisis Averted, most Americans live in states that spend less than $100 per person each year on public health. A single outbreak can devastate the average health department’s budget. The solution is not to provide emergency funds, which often cannot be dispatched quickly enough to limit an outbreak’s spread. Returning control to state and local governments must involve equipping them with adequate baseline funding, so they can manage emerging issues effectively.

"Federal coordination around data sharing is essential, too. Local officials need to know what is happening beyond their borders. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is best equipped to carry out that role, as it has done for decades. To do so successfully, they must be allowed to maintain their gold-standard scientific integrity, without political interference.

"Lastly, no outbreak response can be successful without buy-in from the individuals affected. Whether they are being asked to get vaccinated, throw out contaminated food, or stay home while ill, voluntary cooperation is indispensable. For that, people need frequent, honest, and trustworthy information. The Trump administration should reverse the pause on public communication and allow experts to produce and distribute public health messages. They should also provide materials and expert support to state and local governments so they may do the same.

"A new public health emergency is likely. Local leadership won’t be enough without federal backup: funding, coordination, and clear, trusted messaging. But with the right support, a decentralized approach can work.

"Thanks for reading Force of Infection! This post is public so feel free to share it."

Photo by Yoav Aziz on Unsplash

1 Public health authority in the U.S. is divided between state and local governments, with about half of states operating under a decentralized system where counties hold primary power. The remaining states either have state control over public health functions or have a mixed approach. See KFF for more info.

The Dose at Your Local Epidemiologist, 4/9/25

Here's the latest newsletter from Your Local Epidemiologist, Dr. Katelyn Jetelina:

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Hope, dementia, measles, whooping cough, and RFK coming after fluoride
The Dose (April 9)

It’s Public Health Week! Send a note to your local health department. Many folks in public health will tell you: this moment is even harder than the Covid-19 emergency (which is really saying something).

Here’s what’s happening in the world of health, what it means for you, what you can do about it—and yes, some hope.

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Let’s start with some hope because I need it.

As feared, pulling the plug on public health infrastructure funding overnight is already having consequences. A few examples:

• Milwaukee: The CDC response team halted work on addressing lead paint in schools.

• Dallas, TX canceled MMR vaccination clinics.

• A North Carolina study on post-Hurricane Helene health impacts was canceled.

But these cuts are being met with resistance:

1. Twenty-three state Attorneys General have filed a lawsuit to stop the $11 billion rollback in HHS funding. That buys local health departments at least 14 more days of spending authority.

2. The U.S. Senate Health Committee has invited RFK Jr. to testify about the cuts and his vision for public health this week. (Note: it’s just an invite—he doesn’t have to attend. We’ll see.)

3. RFK Jr. said some programs were cut “by mistake,” including the Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Program—and he may reinstate it. That might be a smokescreen, but I’m choosing to hope that some version of this critical work continues (even if not through CDC).

4. A federal judge has permanently barred NIH from cutting “indirect costs” to universities and academic medical centers. This is the money the federal government gives to researchers to “keep the lights on” at research labs (Here is a YLE explainer). Of course, the administration is going to appeal this decision. But for now, this restores billions of dollars in grant money to medical research.

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Some good news: Shingles vaccine may lower dementia risk

Dementia rates are decreasing for reasons not known. In a solid (cough cough, federally funded) study published last week, scientists found that women who received the shingles vaccine were 20% less likely to develop dementia. That’s pretty incredible.

The science here is fascinating. We’re learning that some viruses may hang out in our bodies for years or even decades, quietly damaging the brain. Dr. Jenn Dowd has a great explainer for a deeper dive into this study.

Who should get the shingles vaccine?

• Adults ages 50+

• Anyone 18+ who is immunocompromised

Note: It doesn’t matter whether you’ve had shingles or chickenpox before.

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More good news: Respiratory season is winding down

Flu season is mostly over, so we’re pausing weekly updates for now. Covid-19 trends are still heading downward nationally, though we’re keeping a close eye on them.

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Measles: Still spreading, despite RFK Jr. talking points

Earlier this week, RFK Jr. claimed that measles cases had “flattened,” prompting CDC to pull their response team from West Texas. Then a measles-related death was reported—and the team was sent back.

Cases are still rising (not flattening). As of this morning, the tally is 675 across the country. The largest outbreak remains in West Texas (505 cases), now spreading to New Mexico (56), Kansas (25), Oklahoma (10), and Mexico (100+). Colorado now has an infant case after traveling to Mexico (so, technically, this case is tied to the West Texas outbreak; genetic testing needs to be done to make the link official).

There’s also an unrelated outbreak in Ohio, which is exploding (10 cases last week, 25 cases today.)

Figure by Your Local Epidemiologist

New sporadic cases from international travel in the past week include:

• California: adult in Coachella Valley

• Michigan: a case in Macomb County and another reported in Kent County

• Washington: Snohomish County Health Department reported an infected infant after international travel

• Colorado: adult case

• New Jersey: non-resident had measles while traveling through the state (check out more details from YLE NY)

• Indiana: unvaccinated minor in Allen County

For more details on the outbreaks, below is the latest SITREP report (as of last night) from students at the Yale School of Public Health:

Ysph Vmoc Special Report Measles Outbreak Southwest Us 4 8 2025 Final Ver4

1.23MB ∙ PDF file

Download

What does it mean for you? If you and your family are vaccinated, you’re well-protected.
If you live near an outbreak—or have a child under 12 months, are immunocompromised, or unvaccinated—keep an eye on local health alerts.

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Will measles become the new normal? It’s likely.

New data show MMR vaccination coverage is slipping more than we thought.

Until now, we’ve relied on two CDC surveys—one for kindergartners, one for kids under 3—but they’re delayed and a bit outdated. A new analysis using health records from over 1.1 million children paints a clearer (and more concerning) picture:

• 30% of kids aren’t getting their first MMR dose on time (by 15 months)

• On-time coverage has dropped from 77% (2020) to 69% (2024)

• Even after two years, 15% of kids still haven’t gotten their first dose

There are limitations—health records don’t capture all kids, especially those without regular healthcare visits—but if anything, these numbers may overestimate actual coverage.

What’s the bottom line? We will see an increasing number of measles cases. There’s a good chance we will lose our elimination status, and measles will become endemic. If you’re up to date on vaccines, there is very little risk to you.

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Two preventable whooping cough deaths

Louisiana announced that two infants have died from whooping cough—another vaccine-preventable illness. Infants under 1 are at the greatest risk of serious illness or death because their immune systems are still developing.

For context, there were 10 whooping cough deaths last year—so this isn’t too unusual. But it is preventable. Cases continue to rise since the mid-2000s.

What does it mean for you? Make sure you/your kids are up to date on DTaP.

• DTaP vaccine is recommended starting at 2 months of age, with booster doses to follow.

• Adults in close contact with infants should be up to date on boosters.

• Pregnant people should get vaccinated during the third trimester.

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RFK Jr. is now targeting fluoride

Dental caries (tooth decay) remains the most prevalent chronic disease among children. Yet, as part of his “Make America Healthy Again” tour, RFK Jr. praised Utah for banning fluoride and said he plans to instruct the CDC to stop recommending it.

A few important reminders:

• The CDC doesn’t mandate fluoride (or vaccines). It provides evidence-based guidance developed with outside experts.

• The CDC task force has recommended community water fluoridation since 2001.

• The CDC’s oral health team was fired last week—so it’s unclear who he’d even be instructing.

• In no coincidence, Geier (yes, the guy who is now leading an autism/vaccine study for RFK Jr.) published a new paper this week questioning fluoride’s safety.

What does it mean for you? You can still check your local fluoridation status on CDC’s tool (while it’s still online). I also suggest engaging with your representatives. Here is a YLE explainer to help ground the conversation in evidence. Yale School of Public Health also has a good explainer.

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Bottom line

You’re all caught up! Phew. Stay healthy out there.

Love, the YLE team

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Your Local Epidemiologist (YLE) is a public health newsletter with one goal: to “translate” the ever-evolving public health science so that people feel well-equipped to make evidence-based decisions. This newsletter is owned and operated by Dr. Katelyn Jetelina— an epidemiologist and mom. This is free to everyone, thanks to the generous support of fellow YLE community members.

It's About Time Colleges Fight Back Against Jew-Haters!

I wish this happened on college campuses more often.  Notice how these antisemites complain about violence, when they're the ones constantly intimidating and wishing violence against Jews and Israel.

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From The College Fix 4/7/25, as seen at Instapundit: 

CU Boulder pro-Hamas protestors barge into class – get yanked out by their keffiyehs  

Some instructors appear to be fed up

A trio of pro-Hamas student activists recently barged into a University of Colorado Boulder classroom and were promptly hauled back out by their keffiyehs.

The Daily Camera reports after entering the “Designing for Defense” class last week, one of the activists went to the front of the room and prepared to read a statement, whereupon a man who appeared to be the instructor said “No, you may not.”

He then grabbed the statement and said “Get out.”

Soon after, a video from the Buffs 4 Palestine Instagram page shows two men, one of whom “appeared to be [neither] an employee or student,” according to the Camera, dragging the activists from the room.

“Two students were violently assaulted by a CU Boulder professor for interrupting a Designing for Defense class, a course that directly collaborates with the U.S. military to develop weapons and surveillance tools while the Israeli regime carries out a U.S.-funded genocide in Gaza,” a Buffs 4 Palestine statement reads.

“Their action was not only justified, it was morally necessary. ”

The group demanded the class be “shut down,” that CU divest from Israel and “all arms manufacturers,” cease cooperation with ICE, and issue a public condemnation of the “assault” against the activists.

If CU “chooses to side with genocide,” the statement concludes, Buffs 4 Palestine “will make it impossible for them to do so in peace.”

The pro-Hamas student organization has been in “bad standing” since October due to violations of university policy. These include “disrupting a career fair” and “using amplified sound.”

The local CBS affiliate interviewed one of the classroom-invading activists who said the whole experience “was terrifying.”

“Our goal was to go in and read our statement, which was about two-to-three minutes long, and then leave,” the mask-covered/blurred-out female activist said. “Alternatively, if we were told to leave beforehand we would just leave because it just was not worth … more than that.”

She added “the violence that occurred … was just a horrific example of the attitudes against protesters” on the CU Boulder campus.

In a statement, the university said it “condemns acts of violence and does not tolerate classroom disruptions, both of which violate state law and university policies.”

“Our campus has long supported our campus community’s right to free expression, so long as those activities are carried out legally and in line with university policy, and do not threaten public safety.”

Your Local Epidemiologist 4/7/25

I'm just glad I was born in a time when parents feared disease, and getting their kids vaccinated was extremely important.  Most of the vaccinations were give by ones pediatrician, but others were given at school. It was pure common sense, which seems to be entirely lacking today.

Dr. Katelyn Jetelina writes about a third child's death from measles and says:

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Third measles death. This is not normal. For three reasons.  

"Another child has died of measles. An 8-year-old girl. Unvaccinated. No underlying health conditions.

"This is unbelievably tragic—and entirely preventable. It’s also not normal in three important ways.

1. The number of deaths

"This is the third death in just three months—something we haven’t seen in the U.S. in decades.

"Since measles was declared eliminated in the U.S. in 2000, we’ve seen outbreaks—most notably in California (starting in Disneyland) and in New York among the Hasidic Jewish community. But even in those large outbreaks, we did not see multiple deaths like this.

"Before this year, there had only been three measles deaths since 2000:

• 2015: A 28-year-old immunocompromised woman in Washington was exposed in a clinic.

• 2003: A 75-year-old traveler from California with pneumonia. The other was a 13-year-old immunocompromised child (post–bone marrow transplant) living between Illinois and Mexico.

Today’s situation is different. It’s younger, healthier kids. And it’s happening more often.

"This raises a critical question: Are we seeing the full picture? 

"As of Saturday, there were 636 measles cases nationwide, 569 in the Panhandle outbreak alone, and 3 deaths. But that death toll doesn’t quite make sense.

• Measles typically causes 1 to 3 deaths per 1,000 unvaccinated cases.

• At that rate, 3 deaths would suggest somewhere between 1,000 and 3,000 more cases—not just 569.

"This outbreak may be significantly underreported and the largest in decades. Other signs point in the same direction, including very sick hospitalized patients (reflecting delays in seeking care), and epidemiologists are encountering resistance to case investigations.

"Of course, there’s another possibility: this could simply be a statistical anomaly. Three deaths among a few hundred cases isn’t impossible—it’s just extremely rare. We’ve seen similar situations before. In 1991, for example, an outbreak in Philadelphia caused 1,400 cases and 9 pediatric deaths. In that case, religious leaders discouraged medical care, relying on prayer instead.

"But whether this is an undercount or an outlier, one thing is clear: we are in new, unsettling territory.

2. The boldness of a deceptive information campaign

"Disinformation—false information intended to mislead— isn’t new, but it’s becoming more emboldened.

"Children’s Health Defense (CHD), the anti-vaccine organization founded by Secretary Kennedy, no longer operates on the sidelines. They built a fake CDC website pushing false claims about the MMR vaccine and autism. They’ve deployed “crisis teams.” They’ve shown up at the same places as the CDC response team.

"Now, Robert Malone—a prominent anti-vaccine figure closely aligned with CHD—broke the news of the death Saturday. This was a day before Texas, CDC, or HHS made any public statement. Whether this came from an unauthorized leak or a deliberate tip is unknown, but they are clearly trying to control the narrative.

"Malone blames the child’s death on medical errors, not measles. It’s a textbook disinformation move—an attempt to redirect blame and obscure the preventability of the disease.

"His piece is riddled with red flag techniques:

1. Obfuscation (deliberate use of complex language): He tosses around complex medical jargon to create a sense of expertise and intimidate non-clinical readers. But to any medical professional, the logic falls apart. You don’t get sepsis from “chronic tonsillitis” and “chronic mononucleosis.” Budesonide wouldn’t treat sepsis or ARDS (acute respiratory distress syndrome). He claims sedation caused “atelectasis,” which led to ARDS. In reality, measles causes pneumonia and respiratory failure.

2. Argument from authority (false authority): Malone cites an unnamed “Texas doctor” as his source, relying on the perceived credibility of a medical insider. But there’s no verification. It’s either a HIPAA violation, a game of telephone, or fabrication.

3. One-sided silence (exploiting HIPAA). He knows the hospital and treating physicians can’t respond because of HIPAA. He uses that silence as proof of guilt when, in fact, it’s a legal requirement meant to protect the patient and family.

4. Red herring (distraction from the real issue): Sure, some of the story may be partly true. Maybe there was a bacterial infection. Maybe she developed sepsis. Maybe measles made it worse. But even then, let’s be clear on the core issue—this child didn’t need to get measles in the first place.

5. Cherry-picking (misusing data to shift blame): This isn’t the first time anti-vaccine groups have tried to blame the doctors or hospitals. When the first death in this outbreak happened, they pushed the same narrative. The idea that 1 in 3 deaths are due to medical errors is based on a flawed, cherry-picked study.

"This actively discourages people from seeking care, an incredibly dangerous message to send to vulnerable communities.

3. An uncoordinated federal response

"Unlike the 2015 Disneyland outbreak in California or the 2019 outbreak in New York state—where federal, state, and local agencies worked together with clear communication and swift action—this time, it’s unclear what’s happening or who’s in charge.

"Texas, to its credit, is stepping up—as it should. But this is now a multistate—and international—outbreak. It demands a federal response that’s unified, forward-looking, and transparent, and we’re not seeing that. CDC has a response team on the ground providing support, but it’s unclear how ASPR (helps coordinate disasters), FDA (given prescriptions are being used to treat off-label), the Office of Pandemic Preparedness and Response at the White House, or even the State Department (given the international aspects of this outbreak) are working together, if at all.

"This also includes confusing talking points from Secretary Kennedy. Yesterday, Kennedy mentioned that the MMR vaccine was effective on X. But he left out that it was safe and hasn’t recommended universal vaccination. After a few hours, he followed that up by praising doctors in the community for treating measles with treatments that have no evidence behind them.

"This is not how we stop an outbreak.

Bottom line

"Children are dying from a disease we already eliminated. We know how to stop it—vaccinations. But this outbreak is not slowing down as it’s fueled by falsehoods and mistrust and compounded by a lack of strong leadership.

"Love, YLE"

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Your Local Epidemiologist (YLE) is founded and operated by Dr. Katelyn Jetelina, MPH PhD—an epidemiologist, wife, and mom of two little girls. Dr. Jetelina is also a senior scientific consultant to a number of non-profit organizations. YLE reaches over 360,000 people in over 132 countries with one goal: “Translate” the ever-evolving public health science so that people will be well-equipped to make evidence-based decisions. This newsletter is free to everyone, thanks to the generous support of fellow YLE community members.