Infectious diseases & genomics. Immunologist in (voluntary) exile. Minimal sarcasm. Fierce HOA (Hater of Acronyms). Personal account - opinions expressed are my own and not those of my employer.
Given the recent COVID-19 origins revival and Fauci witchhunt, just a reminder that I have written a book that answers to the best of our knowledge the question; and dismantles the many disinformation campaigns around the various lab leak narratives. Free access: open.substack.com/pub/protagon...
Lab Leak FeverThe COVID-19 Origin Theory that Sabotaged Science and Societyopen.substack.com
This is the GOP Conspiracy Two-Step: Create an environment where experts need to worry about bad faith attacks from political actors, then use the expert's moves to protect against the bad faith attacks as proof of a conspiracy. You can't win against it.
Ernie PiperZeynep Tufekci is still completely insane over the lab leak idea. "There is a conspiracy to cover this up" is not evidence for "covid was a bioweapon that escaped from a lab". It could also be evidence for my theory, "please stop talking about this stupid idea"
The evidence supports the alt theory of a spillover from animals sold at the market. Spillovers also happen to account for all other novel infectious disease epidemics. I'm tired of writing about this since I'm tired of the harassment. Pretty much every science writer I know feels the same.
"politicizing science remains a vital political tactic." "Wednesday’s hearing was another example of how criticizing scientists has become an important outlet for the [Republican] party – and where relitigating the Covid crisis justifies skepticism of a broad range of science."
Prof Sheena CruickshankGood summary of what the insanity that was the Fauci hearing yesterday was about- basically a senators vendetta against Fauci and overall an attack on science versus conspiracy theories. An absolute shocking display from the Republican senators involved.
Nautilus: Anthony Fauci’s Diary Reveals a Human at the Helm By Bob Grant @nautil.us bit.ly/4wpacFd
Anthony Fauci’s Diary Reveals a Human at the HelmAnthony Fauci’s Diary Reveals a Human at the Helm: Recently published notes from the former COVID czar paint a picture of a scientist grappling with a dynamic situationbit.lyHonestly, the mainstream press is among the most gullible and easily manipulated... Look at the headlines, none of which describes the actual reality of somebody refusing to participate in a partisan witchhunt, irrespective of their idiotic questions (bill gates, IVM, vaccine, lockdowns, origins)
Guardian: Trump administration needs to stop ‘public harassment’ of Fauci and scientists, open letter says by Anna Betts @theguardian.com @annabetts.bsky.social bit.ly/4g0ra6Y
Trump administration needs to stop ‘public harassment’ of Fauci and scientists, open letter saysLetter, published before Anthony Fauci will appear before Congress, accuses Republicans of ‘waging a war on individual scientists’bit.ly"Neither HHS nor Paul’s committee alerted Fauci ahead of time that they had obtained his diary and that they planned to publish it in full, according to a person familiar with the matter." This is so vile
Diary entries, a subpoena and an anticipated clash: Dr. Anthony Fauci and Rand Paul’s long-running battle returns to the Hill | CNN PoliticsEven before the US enacted a national shutdown due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Dr. Anthony Fauci pondered whether he might have testified before Congress more than any other official.edition.cnn.comI am sick of some media uncritically repeating Rand Paul's misrepresentation of Fauci's journal about the Huanan market. In late Jan 2020, it was a common commentary that the market may not be the origin of the outbreak, b/c of a Lancet paper on early cases ▫️1/6 www.paul.senate.gov/wp-content/u...
I didn’t love Craig Spencer’s ‘embrace MAHA’ column in The Atlantic. Instead of canceling my friend, I called him. Then I wrote this line-by-line rebuttal to his piece. It's live, so please check it out and let me know what you think... open.substack.com/pub/insideme...
I didn’t love Craig Spencer’s ‘embrace MAHA’ column in The Atlantic. Instead of canceling my friend, I called him.Even the sharpest disagreements can be civil. Here's my line-by-line response to Dr. Craig Spencer's argument for embracing MAHA.open.substack.com
We need to see MAHA as the product of a political economy designed to sow doubt and undermine public institutions, rather than a solution to the structural forces that have created a sense of abandonment and dislocation in too many communities and left them vulnerable to bad faith actors.
The AtlanticA lot of people in public health believe that MAHA is “nothing more than a subversive anti-vaccine, anti-science syndicate,” but the movement is an opportunity that the public-health sector “cannot afford to squander,” Craig Spencer argues:
I'm afraid @craigspencer.bsky.social gives MAHA far too much credit. MAHA is just a rebranding of the medical freedom/antivax coalition that has been undermining public health for decades. It isn't unique in caring about healthy food, chronic disease, or healthier children—nearly everyone does.
The AtlanticA lot of people in public health believe that MAHA is “nothing more than a subversive anti-vaccine, anti-science syndicate,” but the movement is an opportunity that the public-health sector “cannot afford to squander,” Craig Spencer argues: