Leisa Weld

Our new health insurance premium feels more like a shakedown‼️

Thank you, @politicsgirl.bsky.social , for sharing your story. You’re right—there are millions like you.

Our new premium is over $3K/month for a family of three. Could we scrape it together? Maybe. Should we have to? No.

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Trump Administration Will Rehire Scores of Experts Fired in Error

🧪
#publichealth
It’s so incompetent that it’s almost funny except that it isn’t funny because it’s the nation’s premier public health organization they’re fumbling around with.
Trump Administration Will Rehire Scores of Experts Fired in Error www.nytimes.com/2025/10/11/h...

Banner for Famous Last Words, Dr. Jane Goodall, now showing on Netflix.

From Netflix Insta: "Earlier this year, Dr. Jane Goodall, a UN Messenger of Peace, sat down for a deeply reflective conversation about her legacy & to immortalize her final words w/ the understanding that it would only be shared w/ the world after she passed."

“Famous Last Words” is now on Netflix

Measles outbreak growing in parts of Arizona and Utah, health officials say Measles vaccination rates have plummeted in the neighboring communities over the last 10 years.

Seems inevitable now that the US will lose measles eradication status this year.

OpenAI admits AI hallucinations are mathematically inevitable, not just engineering flaws In a landmark study, OpenAI researchers reveal that large language models will always produce plausible but false outputs, even with perfect data, due to fundamental statistical and computational limi...

"In a landmark study, OpenAI researchers reveal that large language models will always produce plausible but false outputs, even with perfect data, due to fundamental statistical and computational limits."

www.computerworld.com/article/4059...

Map Regional Public Health Coalitions Northeast Public Health Collaborative states shaded in blue West Coast Health Alliance states shaded in yellow Updated September 18, 2025 Map: @luckytran • Created with Datawrapper

Updated map of the Northeast Public Health Collaborative. Health departments who have officially confirmed that they are part of the collaborative include Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York State, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont and New York City.

@who.int calls for protection of public health excellence in the US CDC

Very important to read

FDA quietly positions itself to disrupt childhood vaccine schedule While CDC turmoil grabbed the media spotlight, a quieter but potentially more consequential drama unfolded last week at FDA. The agency has positioned itse...

Vinay Prasad, a former adult oncologist, has moved to disrupt the childhood vaccine schedule by asserting - against all evidence - that administering multiple vaccines at the same time “could blunt their efficacy.” The added burden/delay of separating shots would sharply reduce US vaccination rates.

FDA approves updated COVID-19 shots but limits access for some kids and adults The Food and Drug Administration has approved updated COVID-19 vaccines for the upcoming fall and winter season.

Covid vaccines have saved hundreds of thousands of lives. This change to the vaccine label, which has been driven by falsehoods, may put vaccines out of reach of many Americans who want to protect themselves and their loved ones from illness. People deserve facts, not fear and confusion.

If you were alive in the 1980s, this is among the most wonderful & truly incredible things you have ever witnessed in your lifetime.

Adopt A Station - Rescue Public Media Help preserve independent journalism and community programming across America by adopting a public media station. Congress has voted to rescind public media's funding.

This is one way that we can stand together and help public media survive during this tragic time. Adopt one or more of these stations. Spread the word to friends and family. adoptastation.org Adopt A Station

This is clear eyed and thoughtful

And note - he has no stake at all in the game

I love the idea of a shadow cabinet to better communicate and refute. And former cabinet secretaries and chiefs of staff would have the benefit of not being in or running for office.

Chatbots — LLMs — do not know facts and are not designed to be able to accurately answer factual questions. They are designed to find and mimic patterns of words, probabilistically. When they’re “right” it’s because correct things are often written down, so those patterns are frequent. That’s all.

Parade of Preventable Diseases — Fired But Fighting Join us for a visually unforgettable protest while RFK Jr.’s nonsense ACIP committee meets at CDC. Come dressed as your favorite preventable disease (not as a person with the disease, but as a creativ...

📢Parade of Preventable Diseases is tomorrow at 4pm outside CDC roybal main entrance!

While the new ACIP is undermining vaccine confidence, we will be outside reminding them what vaccines are for.

See this link for some quick costume ideas. 🦠

firedbutfighting.org/parade-of-di...

#NoKings Yaaas Queens Boston

Worse is what the NYT claims Noem said: 'But when Ms. Noem said that federal agents were in Los Angeles “to LIBERATE this city from the socialists and the burdensome leadership” of the Democratic leaders of California and Los Angeles'....

What lucky students you have!

So important

In 2019, NIAID proposed an ambitious scientific network focused on pandemic preparedness, research, and response - the "CREID Network".

Ten centers kicked off just as the pandemic was taking off, playing critical roles throughout.

We were just notified the whole network is terminated.

Reason? 👇

Breakthrough in search for HIV cure leaves researchers ‘overwhelmed’ Exclusive: Melbourne team demonstrates way to make the virus visible within white blood cells, paving the way to fully clear it from the body

www.theguardian.com/global-devel...
Glad this is coming from Australia instead of the US, where such research would likely be shut down.

RFK Jr. rolls back Covid vaccine recommendations for healthy children, pregnant people HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced that he has unilaterally struck the recommendation that healthy children and healthy pregnant people get Covid booster shots.

This is one of the dumbest health policy decisions I have ever seen.

Skilled immigration on the chopping block? Effects of eliminating "Optional Practical Training" in the US The White House has taken numerous steps to sharply reduce the number of immigrant workers, with or without legal status, in the US economy. These policies, so far, typically target immigrants with le...

They're terminating OPT.

Today the nominee to head USCIS stated directly: he will end Optional Practical Training, the single largest channel for high-skill immigrants to work in the US.

6 weeks ago I warned about this & summarized the research on impacts of this drastic action—> @piie.com

I have submitted my comment. It is important everyone in the US should do so.

🚨 ACTION ITEMS to stop the FDA from limiting Covid vaccine access:

1. Submit a public comment to the FDA www.regulations.gov/commenton/FD...

2. Contact your elected officials
www.usa.gov/elected-offi...

Opinion | The Failed Ideas That Drive Elon Musk (Gift Article) His belief that liberal democracy has failed and that technologists should lead can be traced to the unusual life of his grandfather.

Very important history to understand

The Failed Ideas That Drive Elon Musk www.nytimes.com/2025/04/04/o...

Great minds, etc.

bsky.app/profile/did:...

The Hidden History of Trump’s First Trip to Moscow In 1987, a young real estate developer traveled to the Soviet Union. The KGB almost certainly made the trip happen.

Keep sharing this because it is vital to understanding this moment.

The timing of his entry into politics after this trip, the one position he’s held firm on (at odds with past presidents of both political parties) and the unraveling of the post-WW II world order.

www.politico.com/magazine/sto...