Meredith MPH

"Ultimately, though, what horrifies is not adjusted mortality rates or indices of disease spread. What horrifies is the unthinkable reality that living human beings just like us, with consciousness, with feelings, with souls, are being subjected to such brutal and dehumanizing experiences."

Dear Mr. Nadeau: As long as there is one upright man, as long as there is one compassionate woman, the contagion may spread and the scene is not desolate. Hope is the thing that is left to us, in a bad time. I shall get up Sunday morning and wind the clock, as a contribution to order and steadfastness. Sailors have an expression about the weather: they say, the weather is a great bluffer. I guess the same is true of our human society — things can look dark, then a break shows in the clouds, and all is changed, sometimes rather suddenly. It is quite obvious that the human race has made a queer mess of life on this planet. But as a people we probably harbor seeds of goodness that have lain for a long time waiting to sprout when the conditions are right. Man’s curiosity, his relentlessness, his inventiveness, his ingenuity have led him into deep trouble. We can only hope that these same traits will enable him to claw his way out. Hang on to your hat. Hang on to your hope. And wind the clock, for tomorrow is another day. Sincerely, E. B. White

I just stumbled across this and thought some of you might like to see it. A letter from E.B. White to a man who'd written he'd lost all hope:

Tell your friends. Even if the only florist you can find nearby is in the Kroger produce section. There is a person putting those arrangements together and they WILL work with you and you WILL get better results with a pro who’s given a free hand

One more thought about Bad Bunny.

If a performance is in Spanish and you don’t speak Spanish, there are two responses you can have.

A. Huh. I wish I spoke Spanish. That’d be cool. Maybe I should learn.

B. My lack of knowledge should dictate the decisions of others.

A is a more interesting life.

I'm hardly the first person to note this, but it's enormously instructive that our President and his followers saw the message "THE ONLY THING MORE POWERFUL THAN HATE IS LOVE" and understood it, correctly, as an attack on them

noooooo JSN

Benito is a threat b/c he makes art so alluring and enjoyable you want to understand everything about it and then you end up learning about sugar and slavery and colonialism and the Taínos and Hawaii and then you probably have some thoughts of your own, and that's why art is powerful and dangerous

I think even before AI, we all kinda forgot that 90% of the fun of making art has always been "I finally get to show you the world I've spent years walking around in."

I think we lost the fun, really.

one clear sign that MAGA is losing juice: the number of hinge profiles that make clear they not only do not want anyone who voted for trump but also do not want anyone who self-identifies as a "moderate." id bet good $ that is a result of a lot of trump-voting men rebranding as "moderate" since '24

Don’t threaten me with a good time.

GM: Charisma check.

Mamdani: [rolls natural 20]

GM: that’s a d6 how did you

Mamdani: [direct to camera] Did you know you can check out board games at your local public library? 😊

Bermuda snail thought to be extinct now thrives after a decade’s effort Special pods at Chester zoo helped conservationists breed and release more than 100,000 greater Bermuda snails

Some good news

Pinned lizzie johnson @lizziejohnsonnn · Aug 19, 2021 Almost three years ago, my editor called me early one November morning. A wildfire had sparked near a town called Paradise, he said. Could I go? (1/13) 0:02 / 0:10 lizzie johnson @lizziejohnsonnn · 47m I was just laid off by The Washington Post in the middle of a warzone. I have no words. I'm devastated. Quote lizzie johnson @lizziejohnsonnn · Jan 25 Waking up without power, heat, or running water. (Again.) But the work here in Kyiv continues. Warming up in the car, writing in pencil — pen ink freezes — by headlamp.

A publisher who lays off a reporter whose pen is freezing because she's covering a frigid war zone while dodging missiles is not an editor you want to work for, in a more perfect world

Had a construction barrel fall off a truck directly in front of me going 80 on the interstate. Hit the road and exploded. Minor damage to my car, grateful I keep my cruise on “significant stopping distance” because if I’d been tailgating and it had hit my windshield, I wouldn’t be here commenting.

I can’t describe how hard it is right now to be in public health. We feel these preventable deaths in our hearts and souls. You don’t go into this field without caring about other people. It’s brutal to be up against the consequences of misinformation and to just feel so damn powerless to respond.

Between that and the raging infection that began in like two hours and was fully cured by pouring brandy (?) on the wound and adding a gauze bandage, I did not get the impression they bothered to consult literally any medical professional for the show.

'measles outbreak at the child prison' seems entirely avoidable, it's really the kind of thing that only happens if you do several unthinkably evil things on purpose all at once

An illustration of a loon biting a white snake in half with an 8 pointed star above its head. The illustration is very high contrast in red, black and white.

#resist

these are senator james talarico numbers

FILED January 31, 2026 CLERK, U.S. DISTRICT COURT WESTERN DISTRICT OF TEXAS Jaemie Herndon DEPUTY ADRIAN CONEJO ARIAS, and L.C.R., a Minor Child by and through His Parent and Guardian Adrian Conejo Arias, Petitioners, VS. KRISTI NOEM, in Her Official Capacity as Secretary of the United States Department of Homeland Security; PAMELA BONDI, in Her Official Capacity as Attorney General of the United States; TODD LYONS, in His Official Capacity as Acting Director, United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement; DAREN MARGOLIN, in His Official Capacity as Acting Director of the Executive Office of Immigration Review; and JOHN DOE, in His Official Capacity as the Warden of the Dilley Immigration Processing Center in Dilley, Texas, Respondents. CIVIL CASE NO. SA-26-CV-415-FB § OPINION AND ORDER OF THE COURT

Civics lesson to the government: Administrative warrants issued by the executive branch to itself do not pass probable cause muster. That is called the fox guarding the henhouse. The Constitution requires an independent judicial officer. Accordingly, the Court finds that the Constitution of these United States trumps this administration's detention of petitioner Adrian Conejo Arias and his minor son, L.C.R. The Great Writ and release from detention are GRANTED pursuant to the attached Judgment. Observing human behavior confirms that for some among us, the perfidious lust for unbridled power and the imposition of cruelty in its quest know no bounds and are bereft of human decency. And the rule of law be damned.

Ultimately, Petitioners may, because of the arcane United States immigration system, return to their home country, involuntarily or by self-deportation. But that result should occur through a more orderly and humane policy than currently in place. Philadelphia, September 17, 1787: "Well, Dr. Franklin, what do we have?" "A republic, if you can keep it." With a judicial finger in the constitutional dike, It is so ORDERED. SIGNED this 31st day of February [sic], 2026. Fred Biery FRED BIERY UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE Credit: Bystander Matthew 19:14 John 11:35

BREAKING: Federal judge orders Adrian Conejo Arias and his minor son, L.C.R., released.

"The Great Writ and release from detention are GRANTED."

"Civics lesson to the government: Administrative warrants issued by the executive branch to itself do not pass probable cause muster."

Noam Chomsky and Stephen Pinker say Epstein was an intellectual force with a mind like steel trap and then his e-mails read like the ending of Flowers for Algernon.

Didn’t have Nipah virus on my 2026 bingo card. 🙃 As an epidemiologist: that one keeps me up at night, and the fact that we have next to no federal public health monitoring system right now does not spark joy.

i've been watching the coyote on Alcatraz's progress with great interest. a week-ish ago, a coyote SWAM to Alcatraz for the first time and looked fuckin rough after the dangerous swim. but the coyote is doing fine now, gorging itself on unprepared birds & rats who are dealing with a sort of Godzilla

what’s astounding about this is not only the incredible cruelty but the complete lack of even the most basic public relations instincts

they kidnap a five year old and generate national outrage and rather than do some basic window dressing to treat him nice while abusing everyone else they do this

Large study finds COVID-19 shots don’t affect fertility

A Swedish study of nearly 60,000 women finds COVID-19 vaccines don't affect fertility. The additional evidence may not persuade all wome. Public attitudes about vaccines, Dr. Tara Smith said, “tend to be based on vibes and feelings," not data.
www.cidrap.umn.edu/covid-19/lar...

I read this story when it came out and just was like… are these the two least sexually creative people on earth??? You have an “incredible” marriage and purportedly the only hurdle is PiV sex? I feel like they needed a sex therapist or - even the most basic sex book - more than a divorce attorney.

We had eradicated this disease.

And now because of targeted disinformation, children, immunocompromised people, elderly folks, and so many others become victims in this proxy war and we have a new avoidable pandemic.

screenshot of a reddit post in r/nursing Photo of a hospital hallway where staff in scrubs stand with their hands clasped and heads bowed

As seen on r/nursing

Alex Pretti's coworkers taking a moment of silence to honor him

I have been reliably informed by members of this government that losing access to twitter is one of the worst things that can befall a human being so this may be the single harshest consequence they have imposed on one of their own

strange to me that a lot of people on this website simultaneously agree that the administration is run by incompetents who struggle to carry out their agenda without major political blowback AND that they’ll pull off a complex and sophisticated effort to rig elections and prevent defeat in November