Ayeeee T

A leader would not have lost eight colleagues tonight. This happened because you let it happen or because you’ve totally lost control of the caucus in one of the most important moments since you’ve been Democratic leader. Either way, it’s on you. You need to step down. We need someone who can lead.

Them: Political Violence has no place in America .

Me: Soo January 6th ?

My resignation letter from CDC. Dear Dr. Houry, I am writing to formally resign from my position as Director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), effective August 28, 2025, close of business. I am happy to stay on for two weeks to provide transition, if requested. This decision has not come easily, as I deeply value the work that the CDC does in safeguarding public health and am proud of my contributions to that critical mission. However, after much contemplation and reflection on recent developments and perspectives brought to light by Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., I find that the views he and his staff have shared challenge my ability to continue in my current role at the agency and in the service of the health of the American people. Enough is enough. While I hold immense respect for the institution and my colleagues, I believe that it is imperative to align my professional responsibilities to my system of ethics and my understanding of the science of infectious disease, immunology, and my promise to serve the American people. This step is necessary to ensure that I can contribute effectively in a capacity that allows me to remain true to my principles.

The recent change in the adult and children’s immunization schedule threaten the lives of the youngest Americans and pregnant people. The data analyses that supported this decision have never been shared with CDC despite my respectful requests to HHS and other leadership. This lack of meaningful engagement was further compounded by a “frequently asked questions” document written to support the Secretary’s directive that was circulated by HHS without input from CDC subject matter experts and that cited studies that did not support the conclusions that were attributed to these authors. Having worked in local and national public health for years, I have never experienced such radical non-transparency, nor have I seen such unskilled manipulation of data to achieve a political end rather than the good of the American people. It is untenable to serve in an organization that is not afforded the opportunity to discuss decisions of scientific and public health importance released under the moniker of CDC. The lack of communication by HHS and other CDC political leadership that culminates in social media posts announcing major policy changes without prior notice demonstrate a disregard of normal communication channels and common sense. Having to retrofit analyses and policy actions to match inadequately thought-out announcements in poorly scripted videos or page long X posts should not be how organizations responsible for the health of people should function. Some examples include the announcement of the change in the COVID-19 recommendations for children and pregnant people, the firing of scientists from ACIP by X post and an op-ed rather than direct communication with these valuable experts, the announcement of new ACIP members by X before onboarding and vetting have completed, and the release of term of reference for an ACIP workgroup that ignored all feedback from career staff at CDC.

Their desire to please a political base will result in death and disability of vulnerable children and adults. Their base should be the people they serve not a political voting bloc. I have always been first to challenge scientific and public health dogma in my career and was excited by the opportunity to do so again. I was optimistic that there would be an opportunity to brief the Secretary about key topics such as measles, avian influenza, and the highly coordinated approach to the respiratory virus season. Such briefings would allow exchange of ideas and a shared path to support the vision of “Making America Healthy Again.” We are seven months into the new administration, and no CDC subject matter expert from my Center has ever briefed the Secretary. I am not sure who the Secretary is listening to, but it is quite certainly not to us. Unvetted and conflicted outside organizations seem to be the sources HHS use over the gold standard science of CDC and other reputable sources. At a hearing, Secretary Kennedy said that Americans should not take medical advice from him. To the contrary, an appropriately briefed and inquisitive Secretary should be a source of health information for the people he serves. As it stands now, I must agree with him, that he should not be considered a source of accurate information. The intentional eroding of trust in low-risk vaccines favoring natural infection and unproven remedies will bring us to a pre-vaccine era where only the strong will survive and many if not all will suffer. I believe in nutrition and exercise. I believe in making our food supply healthier, and I also believe in using vaccines to prevent death and disability. Eugenics plays prominently in the rhetoric being generated and is derivative of a legacy that good medicine and science should continue to shun.

The recent shooting at CDC is not why I am resigning. My grandfather, who I am named after, stood up to fascist forces in Greece and lost his life doing so. I am resigning to make him and his legacy proud. I am resigning because of the cowardice of a leader that cannot admit that HIS and his minions’ words over decades created an environment where violence like this can occur. I reject his and his colleagues’ thoughts and prayers, and advise they direct those to people that they have not actively harmed. For decades, I have been a trusted voice for the LGBTQ community when it comes to critical health topics. I must also cite the recklessness of the administration in their efforts to erase transgender populations, cease critical domestic and international HIV programming, and terminate key research to support equity as part of my decision. Public health is not merely about the health of the individual, but it is about the health of the community, the nation, the world. The nation’s health security is at risk and is in the hands of people focusing on ideological self-interest. I want to express my heartfelt gratitude for the opportunities for growth, learning, and collaboration that I have been afforded during my time at the CDC. It has been a privilege to work alongside such dedicated professionals who are committed to improving the health and well-being of communities across the nation even when under attack from within both physically and psychologically. Thank you once again for the support and guidance I have received from you and previous CDC leadership throughout my tenure. I wish the CDC continued success in its vital mission and that HHS reverse its dangerous course to dismantle public health as a practice and as an institution. If they continue the current path, they risk our personal well-being and the security of the United States.

Full resignation letter from Demetre C. Daskalakis, a CDC leader, does not hold back.
"The recent shooting at CDC is not why I am resigning. My grandfather, who I am named after, stood up to fascist forces in Greece and lost his life doing so. I am resigning to make him and his legacy proud."

Good to see yall whites FINALLY doing something.

It’s still hard to believe the simple fact that this is all self-imposed. Everything that’s happening right now wasn’t the result of some foreign adversary destroying the country. We did this all to ourselves by electing the dumbest motherfucker to ever rule a nation.

It was the first song that Questlove played in his tribute when he died

Mountains

me reading national security secrets bc i've been accidentally added to a group chat

Adding a journalist to a top secret government group chat about dropping bombs *IS* the kind of thing people who aren’t super politically literate can understand and find shocking/notable/disqualifying. Dems should seize on this and never ever let it go. I hope to hear about it in a decade

It’s amazing what’s possible!!!

Brown University Surgeon and Professor Are Deported to Lebanon Despite a Judge’s Order Dr. Rasha Alawieh, a kidney transplant specialist and Brown University professor who had a valid visa, was expelled in apparent defiance of a court order.

A kidney transplant specialist and professor at Brown University’s medical school has been deported from the U.S., even though she had a valid visa and a court order temporarily blocking her expulsion, according to her lawyer and court papers.

I would like for us to stop being weird about the age thing tho. As if aging isn’t a blessing and being black while doing that shit isn’t a double blessing.

I mean, there’s a reason for the narrative that the hippie movement was manufactured to counter smart and eloquent college professors protesting Vietnam

This! As someone who has dedicate the last decade to working with and supporting college students, I know first hand how much farther they are than the generations before them, so they are summarily dismissed and looked down upon to invalidate the truth that they cannot be controlled with U.S. lies.

They tortured him.

Update: DHS — whose officers conducted this detention — did not answer questions. It instead directed us to the White House.

2, 6, 7

I mean… they’re so obvious about whose voices they value and whose they don’t. Don’t watch if you want them know we value our voices.

A movement is calling for an 'economic blackout' on Friday. Here's what to know The People's Union USA, a grassroots group, is calling on Americans to join a national boycott by not shopping for 24 hours on Friday.

The People's Union USA, a grassroots group, is calling on Americans to join a national boycott by not shopping for 24 hours on Friday.

once i did a show at the Hustler Store on Sunset and they paid me in double-headed dildos, i said can you break these into singles for me so i can tip the waitresses and the sound guy

an archival black and white photograph of the KKK marching in Washington DC with the capitol behind them

In light of everything happening, I wrote about how the KKK in the 1920s felt unstoppable, about the people that fought against them anyway, and about how fascism always fails. dansinker.com/posts/202…

And they all just sat around and watched, like they typically do.

The people want civic leadership and don’t know who to turn to. Politicians telling them to vote and call is the most they’d ever had. Now they want someone to tell them how to resist just like “they” orchestrated J6. Dem pols will absolutely not give them actions. They gotta organize themselves.

I miss the internet without grown adult stans.

A lot of folks are going folks lose their jobs regardless of whether or not they speak up. So the real question is, how do you want to go out? Cowering to these people or standing up and using your voice.

As our good Jamaican-American Black ancestor Claude McKay wrote during the Red Summer of 1919... "if we must die, let us nobly die..."

www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/44694/...

I’d never waste my precious prayer time with God to pray for my opps.

How are yall focusing on anything other than the fact that a white man was on national television yesterday saluting nazis?

afrikaner doing a fascist salute on the stage on mlk day is i think a pretty perfect encapsulation of where we are in america, thankfully our media is pretty prepared to cover it