Joseph P. Hillenburg
@cobaltjacket.com
Transplant dad, #AvGeek, and IT professional at @WiTronix. Strategy Advisor at @transplantfamilies.com & pediatric transplantation advocate. Opinions are my own.
With friends like these…
DHS spending bill passed 220-207
7 Democrats voted in favor:
Henry Cuellar
Don Davis
Laura Gilles
Marie Gluesenkamp Perez
Jared Golden
Vicente Gonzalez
Tom Suozzi
Massie voted No
Andy Harris didn't vote
Might not have passed if every Democrat voted No, but leadership wasn't whipping them to do so
7 Democrats voted in favor:
Henry Cuellar
Don Davis
Laura Gilles
Marie Gluesenkamp Perez
Jared Golden
Vicente Gonzalez
Tom Suozzi
Massie voted No
Andy Harris didn't vote
Might not have passed if every Democrat voted No, but leadership wasn't whipping them to do so
January 23, 2026 at 12:49 AM
With friends like these…
Reposted by Joseph P. Hillenburg
#BREAKING: Federal jury finds Chicago man NOT GUILTY of offering $10K for the murder of U.S. Border Patrol Cmdr. Gregory Bovino.
The trial of Juan Espinoza Martinez was the first to result from “Operation Midway Blitz”: chicago.suntimes.com/live/closing...
The trial of Juan Espinoza Martinez was the first to result from “Operation Midway Blitz”: chicago.suntimes.com/live/closing...
January 22, 2026 at 10:07 PM
#BREAKING: Federal jury finds Chicago man NOT GUILTY of offering $10K for the murder of U.S. Border Patrol Cmdr. Gregory Bovino.
The trial of Juan Espinoza Martinez was the first to result from “Operation Midway Blitz”: chicago.suntimes.com/live/closing...
The trial of Juan Espinoza Martinez was the first to result from “Operation Midway Blitz”: chicago.suntimes.com/live/closing...
Reposted by Joseph P. Hillenburg
Vances Announce They Are Expecting Another Child To Be Abducted In Minneapolis
January 22, 2026 at 10:02 PM
Vances Announce They Are Expecting Another Child To Be Abducted In Minneapolis
Reposted by Joseph P. Hillenburg
FBI agent: "I did not go to law school, go to Quantico and work counterterrorism operations overseas to be doing traffic control for arrest-a-brown-person day"
FBI agent 2: "I was working an undercover operation on a neo-Nazi group with a long history of criminal activity... they'd have to close"
FBI agent 2: "I was working an undercover operation on a neo-Nazi group with a long history of criminal activity... they'd have to close"
January 22, 2026 at 7:18 PM
FBI agent: "I did not go to law school, go to Quantico and work counterterrorism operations overseas to be doing traffic control for arrest-a-brown-person day"
FBI agent 2: "I was working an undercover operation on a neo-Nazi group with a long history of criminal activity... they'd have to close"
FBI agent 2: "I was working an undercover operation on a neo-Nazi group with a long history of criminal activity... they'd have to close"
"Science doesn't care about your personal beliefs."
“I don’t like established science,” he said, adding “science is what I observe.”
The new chair of the #ACIP was on the Why Should I Trust You? podcast. The interview was ... enlightening. Among other things, Kirk Milhoan seemed to question whether kids still need to be vaccinated against polio & said he doesn't like “established science.” www.statnews.com/2026/01/22/v...
January 22, 2026 at 6:26 PM
"Science doesn't care about your personal beliefs."
Reposted by Joseph P. Hillenburg
"Academy of Fine Arts Vienna extends offer of admissions to Trump: Don't want to be blamed again."
Masterful from the German @theonion.com
Masterful from the German @theonion.com
Wiener Kunstakademie bietet Donald Trump Studienplatz an www.der-postillon.com/2026/01/wien...
Wiener Kunstakademie bietet Donald Trump Studienplatz an
Wien (dpo) - Die renommierte Akademie der bildenden Künste Wien hat Donald Trump heute überraschend einen Studienplatz für Malerei angeboten. Obwohl e
www.der-postillon.com
January 20, 2026 at 11:01 AM
"Academy of Fine Arts Vienna extends offer of admissions to Trump: Don't want to be blamed again."
Masterful from the German @theonion.com
Masterful from the German @theonion.com
Reposted by Joseph P. Hillenburg
Reposted by Joseph P. Hillenburg
🚨 Trump backs down on his Greenland-related Europe tariffs threat one day after the markets tank. It is far from the first time a negative market reaction has prompted Trump to change course.
January 21, 2026 at 7:39 PM
🚨 Trump backs down on his Greenland-related Europe tariffs threat one day after the markets tank. It is far from the first time a negative market reaction has prompted Trump to change course.
Reposted by Joseph P. Hillenburg
Without America, "right now, you'd all be speaking German" Trump tells an audience in Switzerland.
January 21, 2026 at 2:02 PM
Without America, "right now, you'd all be speaking German" Trump tells an audience in Switzerland.
Reposted by Joseph P. Hillenburg
The US president’s message to world leaders at an economic forum: “I think blacks are stupid but I guess some are smart enough to steal money”
Trump: "Somalia -- they turned out to be higher IQ than we thought. I always say, 'These are low IQ people.' How did they go into Minnesota and steal all that money?"
January 21, 2026 at 3:45 PM
The US president’s message to world leaders at an economic forum: “I think blacks are stupid but I guess some are smart enough to steal money”
Reposted by Joseph P. Hillenburg
Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital is among several hospitals being referred by Trump administration officials for an investigation by the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services office of inspector general, prompting them to further restrict gender-affirming care.
Lurie Children's Hospital pauses gender-affirming meds for new patients under 18 after feds threaten probe
chicago.suntimes.com
January 21, 2026 at 2:21 AM
Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital is among several hospitals being referred by Trump administration officials for an investigation by the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services office of inspector general, prompting them to further restrict gender-affirming care.
Reposted by Joseph P. Hillenburg
This is, in my opinion, not only the correct moral/ethical/legal position but also the correct political framing. Everyone can see the agency is out of control; everyone can see that it is constantly violating human rights. "Scrap it and start over" is the moderate position.
Mamdani: "I am in support of abolishing ICE. What we see is an entity that has no interest in fulfilling its stated reason to exist. We're seeing a government agency that is supposed to be enforcing some kind of immigration law, but instead what it's doing is terrorizing people."
January 20, 2026 at 5:30 PM
This is, in my opinion, not only the correct moral/ethical/legal position but also the correct political framing. Everyone can see the agency is out of control; everyone can see that it is constantly violating human rights. "Scrap it and start over" is the moderate position.
Reposted by Joseph P. Hillenburg
Its not too late! Register for this important T3 webinar Today!
Addressing Sex-based… | American Society of Transplantation www.myast.org/events/addre...
Addressing Sex-based… | American Society of Transplantation www.myast.org/events/addre...
Addressing Sex-based Disparities in Access to Solid Organ…
Make a difference in the field of transplantation by donating to support our cause.
www.myast.org
January 21, 2026 at 5:33 AM
Its not too late! Register for this important T3 webinar Today!
Addressing Sex-based… | American Society of Transplantation www.myast.org/events/addre...
Addressing Sex-based… | American Society of Transplantation www.myast.org/events/addre...
Reposted by Joseph P. Hillenburg
To think if the Nobel committee had just sucked it up and given him the prize, they could have won next year's Nobel Peace Prize.
January 21, 2026 at 7:19 AM
To think if the Nobel committee had just sucked it up and given him the prize, they could have won next year's Nobel Peace Prize.
Reposted by Joseph P. Hillenburg
The Trump administration's idea of a "mom and pop" investor is a hypothetical couple that owns 5-12 investment properties.
Bessent: "Someone, maybe your parents for their retirement have bought 5, 10, 12 homes."
January 20, 2026 at 5:07 PM
The Trump administration's idea of a "mom and pop" investor is a hypothetical couple that owns 5-12 investment properties.
Reposted by Joseph P. Hillenburg
ICE is not the Gestapo. The people who joined the Gestapo had other job options.
January 20, 2026 at 11:05 PM
ICE is not the Gestapo. The people who joined the Gestapo had other job options.
Reposted by Joseph P. Hillenburg
Mamdani: "I am in support of abolishing ICE. What we see is an entity that has no interest in fulfilling its stated reason to exist. We're seeing a government agency that is supposed to be enforcing some kind of immigration law, but instead what it's doing is terrorizing people."
January 20, 2026 at 4:56 PM
Mamdani: "I am in support of abolishing ICE. What we see is an entity that has no interest in fulfilling its stated reason to exist. We're seeing a government agency that is supposed to be enforcing some kind of immigration law, but instead what it's doing is terrorizing people."
Reposted by Joseph P. Hillenburg
Staggering. And for no reason; it's a self-inflicted wound that will take decades to heal even if we started today.
This is the most astonishing graph of what the Trump regime has done to US science. They have destroyed the federal science workforce across the board. The negative impacts on Americans will be felt for generations, and the US might never be the same again.
www.nature.com/immersive/d4...
www.nature.com/immersive/d4...
January 21, 2026 at 12:04 AM
Staggering. And for no reason; it's a self-inflicted wound that will take decades to heal even if we started today.
Reposted by Joseph P. Hillenburg
Trump has forced all of Europe to discuss the completely invented threat of Russian annexation of Greenland and thereby ignore the actual Russian war and annexation in Ukraine. Very regrettable. In Davos, the paramount subject should be Ukraine, not Greenland.
January 20, 2026 at 10:00 PM
Trump has forced all of Europe to discuss the completely invented threat of Russian annexation of Greenland and thereby ignore the actual Russian war and annexation in Ukraine. Very regrettable. In Davos, the paramount subject should be Ukraine, not Greenland.
Reposted by Joseph P. Hillenburg
Holy shit. HHS says the Africa CDC "is a powerless, fake organization attempting to manufacture credibility by repeating its claims publicly. It is not a reliable source, and its statements should be treated accordingly."
NEW: We're publishing an astonishing outburst the Dep of Health and Human Services left in our inbox.
In an unsolicited email about our coverage of a horrific vaccine experiment, the HHS insisted the Africa CDC was an unreliable source for information, calling it "fake" and "powerless."
In an unsolicited email about our coverage of a horrific vaccine experiment, the HHS insisted the Africa CDC was an unreliable source for information, calling it "fake" and "powerless."
Trump's HHS Trashes Top African Health Organization as "Fake" and "Powerless"
The HHS is disparaging its colleagues at the Africa CDC in coarse terms, that are striking even by the standards of the Trump administration.
futurism.com
January 20, 2026 at 7:38 PM
Holy shit. HHS says the Africa CDC "is a powerless, fake organization attempting to manufacture credibility by repeating its claims publicly. It is not a reliable source, and its statements should be treated accordingly."
Reposted by Joseph P. Hillenburg
Insightful point here: Even if you take Trump seriously - he does not like the optics - they rested on an assumption that communities would welcome ICE as heroes, rather than showing the type of solidarity that Trump inherently cannot understand.
Trump is privately worried about the "optics" of ICE raids and his advisers are looking for ways to soften them, Axios reports. I'm calling bullshit: The terror and violence cannot be hived off from the broader policy agenda. They are 100% intrinsic to it.
New piece:
newrepublic.com/article/2053...
New piece:
newrepublic.com/article/2053...
Trump’s Own Advisers Suddenly Unnerved as ICE Raids Take Horrific Turn
So the president doesn’t like the “optics” of what ICE is doing. But there’s no such thing as sanitized, popular mass deportations—and this is by design.
newrepublic.com
January 19, 2026 at 2:03 PM
Insightful point here: Even if you take Trump seriously - he does not like the optics - they rested on an assumption that communities would welcome ICE as heroes, rather than showing the type of solidarity that Trump inherently cannot understand.
Reposted by Joseph P. Hillenburg
"Privately, she has expressed alarm"
Weiss is demonstrably unqualified for this job and the role it serves in a legitimate newsroom. I'd argue that not a single person can credibly argue that she belongs there, earned that position or has any beneficial skills that make CBS a better news organization.
archive.is/202601191104...
archive.is/202601191104...
January 20, 2026 at 3:11 AM
"Privately, she has expressed alarm"
Reposted by Joseph P. Hillenburg
Opinion | While the end of NATO would be tragic, it's a price that must be paid so I can win my next Republican primary.
January 20, 2026 at 3:17 AM
Opinion | While the end of NATO would be tragic, it's a price that must be paid so I can win my next Republican primary.
Reposted by Joseph P. Hillenburg
My latest for @jama.com:
The CDC has removed several vaccines from the childhood and adolescent immunization schedule.
Here’s why the changes are sparking grave concern.
Here’s why the changes are sparking grave concern.
New Immunization Schedule Sparks Grave Concern
This Medical News article discusses changes to the US government’s childhood and adolescent immunization schedule and what they mean for clinicians and families.
jamanetwork.com
January 16, 2026 at 5:04 PM
My latest for @jama.com:
Suppressors should be outlawed for civilian forces.
Have you noticed ICE is consistently using suppressors (silencers) on their rifles?
Why are ICE agents using suppressors and battering rams to arrest old men and nonviolent people in broad daylight? This is for maximum effect imo.
Why are ICE agents using suppressors and battering rams to arrest old men and nonviolent people in broad daylight? This is for maximum effect imo.
January 19, 2026 at 5:10 PM
Suppressors should be outlawed for civilian forces.