Mark D. Garfinkel, Ph.D.
@mdgarfinkel.bsky.social
410 followers 1.1K following 1.2K posts
"Native New Yorker, adoptive Chicagoan, 24-year veteran of being a stranger in a strange land." Drosophila (fly) person. Childless cat man. Cinema buff. "Fascinated by everything except how to dress," as Matt Groening would put it.
Posts Media Videos Starter Packs
mdgarfinkel.bsky.social
Because… measles containment & prevention “is not aligned with the Trump administration’s political agenda.”
mdgarfinkel.bsky.social
Because… measles containment & prevention “is not aligned with the Trump administration’s political agenda.”
lenasun.bsky.social
The CDC official who was leading the measles response and was RIFd has more than 28 yrs experience as the senior USG official leading outbreaks on Ebola, Marburg virus, and mpox. 2/4
mdgarfinkel.bsky.social
"After reading today's news, I think you need a bath."

#caturday #tabbies #orangecats #catsofbluesky
mdgarfinkel.bsky.social
Ever since Musk fed USAID into the wood chipper people have been dying — in Africa.

With the destruction of #CDC, it’ll be Americans who die… and not only “the right sort of people who need killing,” to paraphrase Emperor Vought, Kapo Miller and the rest of this ghoulish regime.
mdgarfinkel.bsky.social
“Hypocrisy… the city is rank with it.”
— Gothmog
mdgarfinkel.bsky.social
“Hypocrisy… the city is rank with it.”
— Gothmog
elizabethjacobs.bsky.social
Trump got his COVID19 vaccine today.

He will always have access to everything he needs to maintain his health while denying others the same.
White House memo that says MEMORANDUM
October 10, 2025
TO: KAROLINE LEAVITT, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY
PHYSICIAN TO THE PRESIDENT CAPTAIN, U.S. NAVY
SUBJECT: President Donald J. Trump Completes Comprehensive Follow-Up Evaluation at
Walter Reed National Military Medical Center
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
President Donald J. Trump successfully completed a scheduled follow-up evaluation today at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. The visit was part of his ongoing health maintenance plan and included advanced imaging, laboratory testing, and preventive health assessments conducted by a multidisciplinary team of specialists. These evaluations were performed in coordination with leading academic and medical consultants to ensure optimal cardiovascular health and continued wellness.
Comprehensive laboratory studies performed in conjunction with the visit were exceptional, including stable metabolic, hematologic, and cardiac parameters.
In preparation for upcoming international travel, President Trump also received preventive health screenings and immunizations, including annual influenza and updated COVID-19 booster vaccinations.
President Trump continues to demonstrate excellent overall health. His cardiac age-a validated measure of cardiovascular vitality via ECG-was found to be approximately 14 years younger than his chronological age. He continues to maintain a demanding daily schedule without restriction.
SUMMARY: President Donald J. Trump remains in exceptional health, exhibiting strong cardiovascular, pulmonary, neurological, and physical performance.
Reposted by Mark D. Garfinkel, Ph.D.
jeremymberg.bsky.social
My quote of the day

Nobody ever thanks you for saving them from the disease they didn't know they were going to get.

William Foege
mdgarfinkel.bsky.social
They voted in favor of a stack of blank sheets of paper.

How perfectly on-brand for this regime.
mdgarfinkel.bsky.social
Jen — the photo gallery should definitely include Leahy, Arnold, Nimitz, and Eisenhower, among others. I’m a bit on the fence WRT MacArthur though.
mdgarfinkel.bsky.social
Isn’t this… foreign interference in an election?

A lot of us got bent out of shape in 2016 when Wikileaks & Putin sabotaged Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign. Those who benefited, resented the accusation that they needed (and got) help. Why else the near-decade of shrill denials.
mdgarfinkel.bsky.social
Isn’t this… foreign interference in an election?

A lot of us got bent out of shape in 2016 when Wikileaks & Putin sabotaged Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign. Those who benefited, resented the accusation that they needed (and got) help. Why else the near-decade of shrill denials.
washingtonpost.com
The Trump administration confirmed that the U.S. bailed out Argentina.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said he had directly bought Argentine pesos in global currency markets in a bid to relieve pressure on the nation’s embattled President Javier Milei, a supporter of President Trump.
The U.S. just bailed out Argentina, Treasury Secretary confirms
The US Treasury has finalized a $20 billion financial rescue of Argentina, including a currency swap arrangement with the country's central bank.
www.washingtonpost.com
mdgarfinkel.bsky.social
Work backward to Nobels won by Americans whose parents were immigrants, and count back several more decades. The lists for both would grow substantially, I expect.
mdgarfinkel.bsky.social
A true return to the 19th century would mean eliminating municipal water-purification & sewer systems & restoring horse-drawn carriages as a primary mode of transportation, with all the resultant urban manure accumulation.

Gives new meaning to the term “enshittification.”

Make Cholera Great Again!
mdgarfinkel.bsky.social
Because … you anticipate that any AUSA promoted by judicial oversight will be fired immediately by Bondi or Trump?
mdgarfinkel.bsky.social
A year ago Trump campaigned on “if they can do it to me, they can do it to you.” The difference — he actually _is_ a criminal (convicted too), Comey & James are not, and neither are most of the rest of us.
markey.senate.gov
If Trump can do this to Comey and Letitia James, he can do it to anyone. This is authoritarianism. We cannot be silent.
Screenshot of headline reading: New York Attorney General Letitia James charged in fraud case after pressure campaign by Trump
mdgarfinkel.bsky.social
A year ago Trump campaigned on “if they can do it to me, they can do it to you.” The difference — he actually _is_ a criminal (convicted too), Comey & James are not, and neither are most of the rest of us.
mdgarfinkel.bsky.social
The Witch-King of Angmar: “No man can kill me!”

Eowyn, removing her helmet & loosing her hair, “I am NO MAN!” before plunging her sword into the Witch-King’s invisible face.

…”and your dog, Toto, too!”
mdgarfinkel.bsky.social
“The Nobel Appease Award, in memory of Neville Chamberlain.”

You’re welcome.
mdgarfinkel.bsky.social
What I want to know is whether Halligan got a mook to co-sign the indictment, or whether she’s given Letitia James the same avenue to dismiss that Comey’s lawyer will likely use.

IOW — does she learn quickly from mistakes, or is she as dumb as a rock?
mdgarfinkel.bsky.social
When he says “gold standard” he means iron pyrite. You don’t think these clowns know what the “philosopher’s stone” is, do you?
mdgarfinkel.bsky.social
What changed?

We know what’s changed.

We know that there is a “they” in DC who would love to see one of those “Kavanaugh stops” devolve into a gunfight between a carload of dark-skinned people & an undisciplined, masked, M4-wielding team of ICE agents.

I think we know who some of “they” are.
mdgarfinkel.bsky.social
“Ketamine, Adderall, cocaine, and heroin — the four food groups, as redefined by the USDA & FDA.”
lachevron.bsky.social
RFK Jr did his own research folks.
mdgarfinkel.bsky.social
“Ketamine, Adderall, cocaine, and heroin — the four food groups, as redefined by the USDA & FDA.”
mdgarfinkel.bsky.social
First it was everyone laughing when JDV called Chuck Schumer the “best Palestinian in the world” (or whatever the exact line was).

Now it’s RFK Jr. taking aim at early circumcision.

Explain to me why this isn’t the most anti-Semitic US president & cabinet in history… or at least the most stupid.
justinbaragona.bsky.social
Besides linking Tylenol in pregnant women to autism, RFK Jr. now says circumcision is part of the reason why kids are autistic.

"Children who are circumcised early have double the rate of autism, and it's highly likely because they're given Tylenol. None of this is positive..."
mdgarfinkel.bsky.social
Yes, “make” — as in “fabricate.”

Remember that RFK Jr.’s hero in the anti-vax grift mill is Andrew Wakefield. He’s the disgraced ex-pat Brit who lost his medical license when the fraud behind his 1998 paper linking mercury in vaccines to autism was exposed.

They’ll do fool’s-gold-standard science.