RafaelEsteban 🇩🇴 🇨🇴 🗽's Avatar

RafaelEsteban 🇩🇴 🇨🇴 🗽

@rafaelesteban04.bsky.social

Baseball fan. Biology degree’d. (he/him)

73 Followers  |  158 Following  |  109 Posts  |  Joined: 03.08.2023  |  2.3507

Latest posts by rafaelesteban04.bsky.social on Bluesky

If she'd been married and lied about being single or if she'd been a convicted abuser and lied about that she would not be going to jail.

People lie all the time before sex, during sex and after sex.

If you're trans, that's a crime.

10.10.2025 12:57 — 👍 378    🔁 90    💬 19    📌 11
Screenshot of a PinkNews article headline reading “17-year-old trans girl’s suicide over NHS wait times was preventable, coroner rules.” The article is dated October 9 and written by Amelia Hansford. The PinkNews logo appears at the top in pink and black.

Screenshot of a PinkNews article headline reading “17-year-old trans girl’s suicide over NHS wait times was preventable, coroner rules.” The article is dated October 9 and written by Amelia Hansford. The PinkNews logo appears at the top in pink and black.

Remember all of the ghouls who denied this was happening and did everything they could to make the problem worse from JK Rowling to Wes Streeting. The NHS who did a stitch up report to hide the growing number of suicides from trans youth on the waitlists. They should never be forgiven.

09.10.2025 18:47 — 👍 2580    🔁 718    💬 32    📌 23

It’s not a shock collar, dumbass.

Idiots of the Internet got me defending streamers. 😂

08.10.2025 21:59 — 👍 1    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0
Post image

ICE says I cause assaults on ICE by reciting facts about ICE’s recent shooting but refuses to link to the thread. Only posting a picture. ICE lies and ICE hides. You can read the facts for yourselves

04.10.2025 00:00 — 👍 7091    🔁 1870    💬 239    📌 161

The word “autism” was first used to describe behavioral differences in children in 1911 but autism has been documented using available records going back to the 1700s (definitively) and further.

Acetaminophen (Tylenol, paracetamol) was discovered in 1878 and first sold in the United States in 1950.

23.09.2025 02:15 — 👍 2316    🔁 648    💬 44    📌 16
Preview
Ezra Klein Accidentally Shows How the Media Brought Us Trump The prominent liberal pundit made up a fake version of Charlie Kirk to praise, laundering his reputation the way a lot of mainstream media launders MAGA

Ezra Klein went beyond opposing political violence to extol Charlie Kirk for doing politics "exactly the right way," making up a fictional version of Kirk to praise.

That distortion, with its indulgence of bad faith, is a perfect illustration of the larger media failure that helps Trump.

My latest

17.09.2025 16:21 — 👍 1709    🔁 412    💬 53    📌 48

I've read Ken Klippenstein blog and the Heritage Foundation paper with the insane proposal to designate trans criminals as terrorists and i've seen the comments made by Trump officials and yes it is all bad.

But they are NOT proposing to label all trans people as terrorists.

19.09.2025 01:33 — 👍 945    🔁 167    💬 39    📌 27
Preview
Texas A&M President to Step Down After Controversy Over ‘Gender Ideology’

Multiple Deans, a professor, and now a university president have all lost their jobs simply because a professor acknowledged trans people exist in a course about young adult literature.

www.nytimes.com/2025/09/18/u...

19.09.2025 01:11 — 👍 873    🔁 243    💬 11    📌 15
Alt text: Two-page letter on official U.S. House of Representatives letterhead, dated September 15, 2025, from Congressman Clay Higgins (Louisiana, 3rd District) to major tech executives, including Mark Zuckerberg (Meta), Elon Musk (X), Neal Mohan (YouTube), Shou Zi Chew (TikTok), Jay Graber (Bluesky), and Devin Nunes (Trump Media & Technology Group).

Page 1:
The letter opens by thanking the executives for their service and offering condolences. It references the "graphic, televised murder of a heroic Christian leader, Mr. Charlie Kirk," urging the companies to take responsibility by removing posts that allegedly celebrated Kirk’s death. It demands that authors of such posts be banned and new pages they create also prohibited. It frames celebration of Kirk’s murder as unacceptable in a free society, and states that Congressman Higgins has initiated a Congressional effort to enforce this.

Alt text: Two-page letter on official U.S. House of Representatives letterhead, dated September 15, 2025, from Congressman Clay Higgins (Louisiana, 3rd District) to major tech executives, including Mark Zuckerberg (Meta), Elon Musk (X), Neal Mohan (YouTube), Shou Zi Chew (TikTok), Jay Graber (Bluesky), and Devin Nunes (Trump Media & Technology Group). Page 1: The letter opens by thanking the executives for their service and offering condolences. It references the "graphic, televised murder of a heroic Christian leader, Mr. Charlie Kirk," urging the companies to take responsibility by removing posts that allegedly celebrated Kirk’s death. It demands that authors of such posts be banned and new pages they create also prohibited. It frames celebration of Kirk’s murder as unacceptable in a free society, and states that Congressman Higgins has initiated a Congressional effort to enforce this.

Page 2:
The letter continues, stating that shielding offenders will not be protected under Section 230. Higgins emphasizes his role as Chair of the Federal Law Enforcement subcommittee of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, with authority over federal regulatory law enforcement. He frames the restriction of harmful public statements not as oppression, but as protection of free speech and societal standards. The letter closes with a demand for a formal response within one business week, signed "Clay Higgins, Member of Congress," and CCs Donald J. Trump (President of the United States) and Pam Bondi (Attorney General, U.S. Department of Justice).

Page 2: The letter continues, stating that shielding offenders will not be protected under Section 230. Higgins emphasizes his role as Chair of the Federal Law Enforcement subcommittee of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, with authority over federal regulatory law enforcement. He frames the restriction of harmful public statements not as oppression, but as protection of free speech and societal standards. The letter closes with a demand for a formal response within one business week, signed "Clay Higgins, Member of Congress," and CCs Donald J. Trump (President of the United States) and Pam Bondi (Attorney General, U.S. Department of Justice).

Clay Higgins sent a letter to Bluesky and other social media sites threatening investigations if they don't censor speech critical of Charlie Kirk.

They don't even know who Jay is because they addressed her as "gentleman."

clayhiggins.house.gov/wp-content/u...

17.09.2025 02:07 — 👍 4059    🔁 1171    💬 379    📌 341

Honestly people who believed the initial @wsj.com lies about the bullets just failed a basic media literacy test.
The WSJ is just printing white wing press releases and if you don’t know that by now I don’t know what to tell you.

11.09.2025 16:45 — 👍 6527    🔁 1340    💬 138    📌 47

Yes, let’s fluff up the life of a guy that was pro-school shootings, pro-mass deportation, anti-Black, pro-genocide, etc.

11.09.2025 14:07 — 👍 1    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0

I suspect some of these reactions come from a place of class consciousness. Didn't matter if he would've said ugly things if Dingell had been assassinated. He was part of the same ruling class as her. His death is a reminder that they're all vulnerable.

10.09.2025 23:32 — 👍 315    🔁 67    💬 13    📌 0

It is entirely possible to be respectful about the death of a person you disagreed with without “honoring” him by vowing to continue his disagreeable, hateful “work.”

10.09.2025 23:20 — 👍 2941    🔁 445    💬 115    📌 13

rightwing media ecosystem operates by stoking hatred and anger and divisions every single day, they want people to constantly be afraid and want people to hate eachother, everything we are seeing is a result of the destablization the right has profited off of

10.09.2025 21:24 — 👍 10525    🔁 1961    💬 81    📌 34

Charlie Kirk called me a ‘lunatic’ and a ‘prostitute’ and demanded I be deported.

Nothing, *nothing*, justifies killing him, or robbing his kids of their dad.

We don’t know the identity or motive of the shooter but murder can *never* be the response to political disagreements.

10.09.2025 21:58 — 👍 39254    🔁 6126    💬 2458    📌 468

Agreed. Political violence is very American. Always has been since its inception. Groups on the marginalized ends of society will feel political violence the most.

10.09.2025 22:03 — 👍 1    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0

/6 Also: if a Left-wing activist even remotely as strident as Charlie Kirk had been assassinated, Charlie Kirk would have smirked and applauded, as would have many of the people who are going to be loudest about Charlie Kirk. Don’t buy the hypocrisy.

10.09.2025 20:43 — 👍 3674    🔁 562    💬 64    📌 20

I'm honestly terrified of what the right will use this as justification for. They're itching to engage in violence against their enemies and this will give them the excuse to do so. This is why political violence is never acceptable. It just descends into uncontrollable chaos and more violence.

10.09.2025 20:54 — 👍 1979    🔁 291    💬 135    📌 35

IMHO Charlie Kirk and people like him are politically violent, but from the administrative/media side. They don’t have to commit acts of violence when they run on vitriol for LGBTQ people, PoC, women, etc. The people that listen to them do it for them. Poli violence is inevitable in this case.

10.09.2025 21:44 — 👍 0    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0

Thoughts and prayers to Charlie Kirk's family. What else can you say when the main young political influencer for the Trump admin. and conservative movement dies at the hand of gun violence? The USA needs reasonable gun control or political violence will only get worse.

10.09.2025 21:07 — 👍 0    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0

The right wing needs to stop capitulating to radical gun advocates. Reasonable gun control can prevent political violence. Charlie Kirk became a victim of the very thing that his camp blindly defends.

10.09.2025 21:07 — 👍 0    🔁 0    💬 1    📌 0

But if you get your news and interactions with the real world primarily online you can delude yourself into thinking that America, particularly NYC, is 1930s Germany for Jewish people, when it is clearly not.

09.09.2025 18:40 — 👍 0    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0

It’s honestly crazy how one in the western world can say “I’m a Zionist” and live a normal life. But say that you’re ISIS and the world will literally bomb you from the sky, despite both groups being the same thing: radical religious fundamentalist groups engaged in supremacist warfare.

09.09.2025 18:38 — 👍 1    🔁 0    💬 1    📌 0
Screenshot of three tweets from Mary Margaret Olohan.

First tweet: “I’m told that a senior DOJ official said, discussing the matter: ‘We’re not playing semantics with words like dysphoria. We’re talking about trannies, and we don’t think they should have guns.’” This is a quote-tweet of her earlier post.

Second tweet: “BREAKING: The Justice Department is deliberating banning guns for transgenders as part of a range of options blocking mentally unstable individuals from committing acts of violence, @realDailyWire has learned. Story to come.”

Third tweet: “ ‘Individuals within the DOJ are reviewing ways to ensure that mentally ill individuals suffering from gender dysphoria are unable to obtain firearms while they are unstable and unwell,’ one source inside the Justice Department tells me.” Attached is a photo of a woman speaking at a podium. The image caption reads: “BREAKING: Trump DOJ Deliberates Over Gun Ban For Transgenders” with “From dailywire.com” below.

Screenshot of three tweets from Mary Margaret Olohan. First tweet: “I’m told that a senior DOJ official said, discussing the matter: ‘We’re not playing semantics with words like dysphoria. We’re talking about trannies, and we don’t think they should have guns.’” This is a quote-tweet of her earlier post. Second tweet: “BREAKING: The Justice Department is deliberating banning guns for transgenders as part of a range of options blocking mentally unstable individuals from committing acts of violence, @realDailyWire has learned. Story to come.” Third tweet: “ ‘Individuals within the DOJ are reviewing ways to ensure that mentally ill individuals suffering from gender dysphoria are unable to obtain firearms while they are unstable and unwell,’ one source inside the Justice Department tells me.” Attached is a photo of a woman speaking at a podium. The image caption reads: “BREAKING: Trump DOJ Deliberates Over Gun Ban For Transgenders” with “From dailywire.com” below.

DOJ is openly stating that "trannies shouldn't have guns."

The Trump administration is moving to strip trans people of their 2nd amendment rights. Nothing good ever comes out of an authoritarian regime stripping a minority group of owning guns.

04.09.2025 16:35 — 👍 4283    🔁 1560    💬 372    📌 445

BTW, NYT covering Glinner and not covering Gordon Guyatt's comments about evidence based medicine not being a basis for bans is journalistic malpractice.

03.09.2025 23:08 — 👍 227    🔁 39    💬 5    📌 0
Preview
Top FDA official demands removal of YouTube videos of himself that criticized Covid vaccines Doctor who created now-defunct channel says he wanted to ‘preserve’ what Trump health officials said during Covid

"He noted that snippets of Prasad’s comments still appeared on anti-vaccine social media accounts, suggesting Prasad was directing his removal demand only at a critic and not anti-vaccine influencers. In the past, Prasad has complained about censorship by social media companies."

31.08.2025 14:12 — 👍 193    🔁 70    💬 5    📌 16

I have an entire section in my Data and Eugenics paper I just finished on COVID and American Neofascism that outlines exactly this point.

30.08.2025 21:48 — 👍 90    🔁 23    💬 5    📌 0
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.

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.

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.

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.

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."

28.08.2025 01:01 — 👍 6684    🔁 2410    💬 75    📌 242

@rafaelesteban04 is following 20 prominent accounts