Jaken Thorn

RFK Jr. ousts entire CDC vaccine advisory committee Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has removed every member of a scientific committee that advises the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on how to use vaccines.

RFK Jr.‘s extreme anti-vax views — and his related conflicts of interest — were a huge problem during his confirmation process.

So he promised not to change the vaccine advisory panel.

Today, he fired every single expert on that panel. It's a public health disaster.

Cuts have consequences, illustrated. As seen on TV 📺

Why is it delicious to put a hard boiled egg on a salad, but unthinkable to toss some scrambled eggs on top?

I'm not sure why this has been posted for 12 hours already, and doesn't have 100,000 likes yet. Well, here's one for you!

Find the public library in your area, get a library card but also get to know your librarians and the space. Look at any community boards for events and resources. Find out if they have museum passes or tools you can check out. Check their digital options on Kanopy, Hoopla, Libby.

Live free.

Another curious call to know what it was.

I love when I see a book where the reviews in StoryGraph are all either, "What did I just read? 5 stars!", or "What did I just read? 1 star."

I know that book is going to be an adventure!

Always possible, though I did check out their profile before replying.

But sometimes it's worth replying for the other folks reading. There's this weird movement to try to pretend JKR isn't terrible. But she is. She does real harm to real people. We should face that fact.

Yes.

I'm old enough to be a grandparent. Does that meet your age criteria for having an opinion?

Joanne uses her position of power to target a population subject to discrimination. Do you understand how that compares to what the KKK does? It's not the same. But you can compare them.

I run a library used book sale. I'll move boxes for a few hours Thurs & Fri setting up, then am on my feet at the sale Fri night, all day Sat, and a few hours Sun.

It's like I ran a marathon. Mostly it's just the nonstop standing that does me in, even more than the lifting boxes.

please be safe and get tested. if hiv, mpox or antibiotic resistant stis spread, the government is not going to do anything and we will be on our own like the 1980s.

I love paying TurboTax a few hundred bucks every year to figure out how much money I owe the government, which the government already knows, but won't tell me because TurboTax pays legislators to keep the government from telling me. 😻

Please be careful about the conditions of life in the former empire of the United States. Water will not be fluoridated anymore & this nation is not meeting many other global standards for quality of life in an advanced nation.

Some conservative dude in my local town Facebook group posted that he was scared to park his cybertruck in public.

You know what? Good. I hope everyone is too embarrassed to park their ridiculous cybertrucks in public, and worried about the negative attention they're garnering.

Information About Early Hearing Detection and Intervention (EHDI) Programs cdc funding, state ehdi programs, hearing loss surveillance and tracking

The CDC team that helped states improve infant hearing screening is gone.

Families of deaf and hard-of-hearing babies have lost vital public health support.

www.cdc.gov/hearing-loss...

"There's more to life than being able to buy cheap garbage," sagely intones the man who had a complete mental breakdown from which he has never recovered because he couldn't go to big box stores and chain restaurants for 3 weeks in 2020.

“The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command.”

- George Orwell, 1984

Please ignore tired pieces in publications like the Atlantic that are still trying to stigmatize mask wearing.

Wearing a mask to prevent sickness from airborne viruses is a science-informed position, and it has been that way for over 100 years.

The IRS unit that audits ultrawealthy earners has lost 38% of its employees this year.

This will starve the government of revenue by making it easier for the rich to evade taxes — which the top 1% already do to the tune of $163B a year.

See what DOGE is really about?

Should I convert my retirement account into Beanie Babies before the market opens tomorrow?

None of the classic dystopias predicted how much freaking CSPAN I'd have to watch.

Someone said, "COVID's over" to me in the grocery store.

Hmmm. Seems like the party of personal responsibility gets awfully bent when I mask to, you know, take some personal responsibility toward preserving my health.

Anyway, solidarity, fellow masker!

StoryGraph March 2025 Wrap up for Jaken Thorn. 25 books read, probably indicative of bad decisions and an intense desire to escape from reality. Everything Is Tuberculosis by John Green was the only 5* rated book for the month.

StoryGraph March 2025.

I read a lot of romance this month. I just canceled my Kindke Unlimited subscription, so that will change soon. But anyone have any last minute KU recs for me before my subscription ends in a few weeks?

My fave genres are sci fi, fantasy, nonfiction, romance.

They aren't wrong...

Weirdly, I'm not sure if you're talking about the car dude, the transphobic author lady, or some other rich jerk. There's no such thing as an ethical billionaire, but they'd be a lot cooler eating tacos on the beach instead of using their obscene fortunes to target the most vulnerable.

At the height of the pandemic closures, I got a stoned grocery store cashier who complained non-stop about people wearing masks wrong. She hit all the right notes: hilarious and brutal. It is still my all-time favorite grocery trip. Please always give me no-filter comedian cashiers!

Hi folks: Facebook appears to be taking down my posts. Please remember they are available for free here (no paywall), and can be received by email (also free-- just don't put in your credit card information). I guess if I'm being banned I'm doing something right?

Stephanie Nolen reporting that 1,200,000 children will die because of this decision. Unconscionable.

What’s Happening With Tuberculosis Is a Terrible Tragedy. The Person Who Can Make Sense of It Isn’t Who You’d Expect. John Green’s latest book might seem like a departure—at first.

An incredibly generous piece from @slate.com that centers Henry Reider. Grateful to Tony Ho Tran for interviewing Henry and capturing so much of his passion. slate.com/technology/2...

Last time *I* got added to an unknown text group, it turned out to be a unpaid toll scam.

I'm not running in the right unknown text group circles.

Apparently Gweneth Paltrow is back to touting raw milk.

Here are some common infectious diseases you can get from raw milk: Salmonella, Campylobacter, E. coli, Listeria, tuberculosis, brucellosis, and avian flu. Among others.