@waltfrench.bsky.social
Retired from investing; not retired from scientific-type software exploration. Also enjoying being Grandpa
Th’ NewYawkTimes, hated on for its sanewashing of MAGA, finally reads the room:
December 9, 2025 at 6:14 PM
Th’ NewYawkTimes, hated on for its sanewashing of MAGA, finally reads the room:
Is there any limitation requiring that a pardon can never be rescinded by the Prez who issuesd it, or even by a successor?
Asking for the far-out-hypothetical President who stupidly/accidentally pardoned a pipe-bomb terrorist who could make said President’s stochastic terrorism look even uglier
Asking for the far-out-hypothetical President who stupidly/accidentally pardoned a pipe-bomb terrorist who could make said President’s stochastic terrorism look even uglier
December 7, 2025 at 7:51 PM
Is there any limitation requiring that a pardon can never be rescinded by the Prez who issuesd it, or even by a successor?
Asking for the far-out-hypothetical President who stupidly/accidentally pardoned a pipe-bomb terrorist who could make said President’s stochastic terrorism look even uglier
Asking for the far-out-hypothetical President who stupidly/accidentally pardoned a pipe-bomb terrorist who could make said President’s stochastic terrorism look even uglier
Reposted
There has been no debate here among constitutional scholars, historians, political scientists, anyone with a pulse really.
Any telling you that this very straightforward point, one that has been universally accepted for a century and a half, is now an "abstruse" issue is just a liar and a hack.
Any telling you that this very straightforward point, one that has been universally accepted for a century and a half, is now an "abstruse" issue is just a liar and a hack.
Anyone who knows this history should know there’s no contested issue.
December 7, 2025 at 12:50 AM
There has been no debate here among constitutional scholars, historians, political scientists, anyone with a pulse really.
Any telling you that this very straightforward point, one that has been universally accepted for a century and a half, is now an "abstruse" issue is just a liar and a hack.
Any telling you that this very straightforward point, one that has been universally accepted for a century and a half, is now an "abstruse" issue is just a liar and a hack.
“Gold Standard Science” is a new coinage🪙, from Backers of Trumpism
It’s basically “he who has the gold, makes the rules”—it added to existing standards of practice exactly ONE element: ☞MAGA Politicians☜ and not scientists, decree what “science” is acceptable
GSS OVERRIDES science with…
It’s basically “he who has the gold, makes the rules”—it added to existing standards of practice exactly ONE element: ☞MAGA Politicians☜ and not scientists, decree what “science” is acceptable
GSS OVERRIDES science with…
December 7, 2025 at 7:42 PM
“Gold Standard Science” is a new coinage🪙, from Backers of Trumpism
It’s basically “he who has the gold, makes the rules”—it added to existing standards of practice exactly ONE element: ☞MAGA Politicians☜ and not scientists, decree what “science” is acceptable
GSS OVERRIDES science with…
It’s basically “he who has the gold, makes the rules”—it added to existing standards of practice exactly ONE element: ☞MAGA Politicians☜ and not scientists, decree what “science” is acceptable
GSS OVERRIDES science with…
Reposted
It starts with knowing the truth. Don’t allow yourselves to be gaslit into believing this is a real question.
December 6, 2025 at 2:44 PM
It starts with knowing the truth. Don’t allow yourselves to be gaslit into believing this is a real question.
Reposted
IANAL so can anyone more attuned to legal and Roberts Court nuances explain why Trump’s order seems blatantly unconstitutional but SCOTUS didn’t reject it out of hand as the most terrible of his many power grabs?
Not “Roberts ALSO wants a fascist America,” please. Gotta be some sort of a fig leaf
Not “Roberts ALSO wants a fascist America,” please. Gotta be some sort of a fig leaf
December 7, 2025 at 5:06 PM
IANAL so can anyone more attuned to legal and Roberts Court nuances explain why Trump’s order seems blatantly unconstitutional but SCOTUS didn’t reject it out of hand as the most terrible of his many power grabs?
Not “Roberts ALSO wants a fascist America,” please. Gotta be some sort of a fig leaf
Not “Roberts ALSO wants a fascist America,” please. Gotta be some sort of a fig leaf
“I, as President, applaud my handpicked minions telling everyone to play Russian Roulette with their children’s lives. I HATE how scientists mocked my plans to cure COVID with bleach, UV, HCQ etc. Expertise has no place in authoritarian demagoguery. Thank you for your attention to this matter!”
Scientist here, never questioned this, because every single vaccine has been tested for efficacy and weighed against risk by actual experts who evaluate evidence and can understand data. There are some poor countries who cannot afford this vaccine regimen who'd give the world to be able to do so.
Trump announces plans to “evaluate” the entire childhood vaccine schedule.
This was always the plan when RFK Jr. took power.
Those who enabled this have blood on their hands.
This was always the plan when RFK Jr. took power.
Those who enabled this have blood on their hands.
December 6, 2025 at 6:54 PM
“I, as President, applaud my handpicked minions telling everyone to play Russian Roulette with their children’s lives. I HATE how scientists mocked my plans to cure COVID with bleach, UV, HCQ etc. Expertise has no place in authoritarian demagoguery. Thank you for your attention to this matter!”
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A heroin addict who writes bad porn poetry says eliminating the Hepatitis B vaccine will make kids healthier. Medical experts say it will kill thousands of innocent children. For busy parents, it can be hard to know who to believe.
December 5, 2025 at 2:48 PM
A heroin addict who writes bad porn poetry says eliminating the Hepatitis B vaccine will make kids healthier. Medical experts say it will kill thousands of innocent children. For busy parents, it can be hard to know who to believe.
The real crime is DEI—Daring, Excellence and Immunology: what RFKJr claims his merry band of anti-vaxxers are gonna work on Real Soon Now, as soon as he’s cancelled all the real research grants and done Gold Standard Firing of the scientists who made CDC the protector of health it was until now
“But the Trump administration cut the money, claiming it fell under DEI – diversity, equity and inclusion.”
Remarkable story of a Georgia high school team who used CRISPR to make a rapid diagnostic test strip for Lyme disease, speeding dx from 2 weeks to days
www.cbsnews.com/news/teens-m...
www.cbsnews.com/news/teens-m...
December 1, 2025 at 7:10 AM
The real crime is DEI—Daring, Excellence and Immunology: what RFKJr claims his merry band of anti-vaxxers are gonna work on Real Soon Now, as soon as he’s cancelled all the real research grants and done Gold Standard Firing of the scientists who made CDC the protector of health it was until now
Reposted
"Ah, nothing. I'm just a gutter racist, see."
TRUMP: If you look at Somalia, they are taking over Minnesota.
REPORTER: What do the Somalians have to do with this Afghan guy who shot the National Guard members?
TRUMP: Ah, nothing. But Somalians have caused a lot of trouble. They're ripping us off.
REPORTER: What do the Somalians have to do with this Afghan guy who shot the National Guard members?
TRUMP: Ah, nothing. But Somalians have caused a lot of trouble. They're ripping us off.
November 28, 2025 at 1:35 AM
"Ah, nothing. I'm just a gutter racist, see."
Equanimity
Let’s all go around the table and say one word we’re thankful for.
November 27, 2025 at 10:30 PM
Equanimity
Willful blindness or intentionally overt, deeply-hostile racism as in “Why the Hell should Hispanics, gays or Asian immigrants be allowed to be thankful for their life in America?”
The workshop that makes all the toys for global distribution every year, for ridiculously cheap (unto negligible) cost?
...And people didn't somehow piece it together that the whole North Pole 圣诞老人 operation *wasn't* Chinese this entire time??
willful blindness, people...
...And people didn't somehow piece it together that the whole North Pole 圣诞老人 operation *wasn't* Chinese this entire time??
willful blindness, people...
oh hell yes
November 27, 2025 at 10:25 PM
Willful blindness or intentionally overt, deeply-hostile racism as in “Why the Hell should Hispanics, gays or Asian immigrants be allowed to be thankful for their life in America?”
Reposted
Pete Hegseth keeps demanding to be taken seriously and then spends all his time talking down to accomplished military leaders, rebranding his department and renaming ships, engaging in culture wars bullshit, shitting all over the military's sense of ethics and generally making an ass of himself.
November 25, 2025 at 5:20 PM
Pete Hegseth keeps demanding to be taken seriously and then spends all his time talking down to accomplished military leaders, rebranding his department and renaming ships, engaging in culture wars bullshit, shitting all over the military's sense of ethics and generally making an ass of himself.
“Interesting”…a 30% drop in under 2 months
But that sharp a plunge in a widely-traded asset demands more scrutiny. Market manipulations normally wouldn’t be possible
But with a purely-speculative meme asset and VERY unsophisticated cosplay holders, “pump-and-dump” profiteering is a concern
But that sharp a plunge in a widely-traded asset demands more scrutiny. Market manipulations normally wouldn’t be possible
But with a purely-speculative meme asset and VERY unsophisticated cosplay holders, “pump-and-dump” profiteering is a concern
November 25, 2025 at 5:46 PM
“Interesting”…a 30% drop in under 2 months
But that sharp a plunge in a widely-traded asset demands more scrutiny. Market manipulations normally wouldn’t be possible
But with a purely-speculative meme asset and VERY unsophisticated cosplay holders, “pump-and-dump” profiteering is a concern
But that sharp a plunge in a widely-traded asset demands more scrutiny. Market manipulations normally wouldn’t be possible
But with a purely-speculative meme asset and VERY unsophisticated cosplay holders, “pump-and-dump” profiteering is a concern
RFKJr says he’s not anti-vax—he just wants “better” vaccines. And that only randomized trials can prove what’s better
So now we have a “very convincing” randomized trial of a BETTER FLU VACCINE (www.medpagetoday.com/infectiousdi...) but pharmas worry the FDA will reject it—bc of anti-mRNA dogma
So now we have a “very convincing” randomized trial of a BETTER FLU VACCINE (www.medpagetoday.com/infectiousdi...) but pharmas worry the FDA will reject it—bc of anti-mRNA dogma
mRNA Flu Vaccine Tops Standard Shot in Trial
But federal health authorities' hostility may dim mRNA flu vaccines' prospects
www.medpagetoday.com
November 20, 2025 at 9:14 PM
RFKJr says he’s not anti-vax—he just wants “better” vaccines. And that only randomized trials can prove what’s better
So now we have a “very convincing” randomized trial of a BETTER FLU VACCINE (www.medpagetoday.com/infectiousdi...) but pharmas worry the FDA will reject it—bc of anti-mRNA dogma
So now we have a “very convincing” randomized trial of a BETTER FLU VACCINE (www.medpagetoday.com/infectiousdi...) but pharmas worry the FDA will reject it—bc of anti-mRNA dogma
To my eye, it’s generous to a fault to say the CDC is “technically correct”
If RFKJr had ANY concern for kids’ health, he’d be saying vaccine-preventable disease (eg, chicken pox & rubella) are KNOWN causes of autism & serious birth defects but NO vaccine is
There is no “correct” in RFKJr’s lies…
If RFKJr had ANY concern for kids’ health, he’d be saying vaccine-preventable disease (eg, chicken pox & rubella) are KNOWN causes of autism & serious birth defects but NO vaccine is
There is no “correct” in RFKJr’s lies…
open.substack.com/pub/pauloffi...
RFK Jr. just reversed the CDC's position on vaccines and autism.
RFK Jr. just reversed the CDC's position on vaccines and autism.
CDC 1946-2025: R.I.P.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has now weaponized the CDC website to promote his anti-vaccine views
open.substack.com
November 20, 2025 at 8:22 PM
To my eye, it’s generous to a fault to say the CDC is “technically correct”
If RFKJr had ANY concern for kids’ health, he’d be saying vaccine-preventable disease (eg, chicken pox & rubella) are KNOWN causes of autism & serious birth defects but NO vaccine is
There is no “correct” in RFKJr’s lies…
If RFKJr had ANY concern for kids’ health, he’d be saying vaccine-preventable disease (eg, chicken pox & rubella) are KNOWN causes of autism & serious birth defects but NO vaccine is
There is no “correct” in RFKJr’s lies…
Idiot abuse of scientific studies Dept—
“We have performed extensive tests on rocks from the moon but obviously not all of it so can’t say there’s no green cheese up there”
They could’ve said “we are suspicious tho data so far suggests any link is tiny at most”
“We have performed extensive tests on rocks from the moon but obviously not all of it so can’t say there’s no green cheese up there”
They could’ve said “we are suspicious tho data so far suggests any link is tiny at most”
Trump has murdered at least 83 people with extrajudicial military strikes on alleged drug-trafficking boats.
He needs to face consequences for this.
His secretary of DHHS, RFK Jr., will kill several orders of magnitude more with this disinformation.
He needs to face consequences for this.
His secretary of DHHS, RFK Jr., will kill several orders of magnitude more with this disinformation.
This is completely disgusting. Today, the CDC updated their vaccine safety page. It now says:
“The claim "vaccines do not cause autism" is not an evidence-based claim because studies have not ruled out the possibility that infant vaccines cause autism”.
“The claim "vaccines do not cause autism" is not an evidence-based claim because studies have not ruled out the possibility that infant vaccines cause autism”.
November 20, 2025 at 6:45 AM
Idiot abuse of scientific studies Dept—
“We have performed extensive tests on rocks from the moon but obviously not all of it so can’t say there’s no green cheese up there”
They could’ve said “we are suspicious tho data so far suggests any link is tiny at most”
“We have performed extensive tests on rocks from the moon but obviously not all of it so can’t say there’s no green cheese up there”
They could’ve said “we are suspicious tho data so far suggests any link is tiny at most”
I have the privilege to choose a diet with very low UltraProcessed Foods
I’m no fan
But studies *associating* UPFs w shorter, unhealthier lives may confuse cause/effect: jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...
High-UPF diets may be a symptom of impoverished attention to multiple good-health practices
I’m no fan
But studies *associating* UPFs w shorter, unhealthier lives may confuse cause/effect: jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...
High-UPF diets may be a symptom of impoverished attention to multiple good-health practices
November 14, 2025 at 7:36 PM
I have the privilege to choose a diet with very low UltraProcessed Foods
I’m no fan
But studies *associating* UPFs w shorter, unhealthier lives may confuse cause/effect: jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...
High-UPF diets may be a symptom of impoverished attention to multiple good-health practices
I’m no fan
But studies *associating* UPFs w shorter, unhealthier lives may confuse cause/effect: jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...
High-UPF diets may be a symptom of impoverished attention to multiple good-health practices
Reposted
Defunding scientists for the nationality of who they co-author with or who they train.
One of the most radical attack on freedom of speech in US history. A far right nationalist destruction of US science. Such a shameful time to be an American that this racist stupidity has become mainstream.
One of the most radical attack on freedom of speech in US history. A far right nationalist destruction of US science. Such a shameful time to be an American that this racist stupidity has become mainstream.
“The prohibited activities would include joint research, co-authorship on papers, and advising a foreign graduate student or postdoctoral fellow. The language is retroactive, meaning any interactions during the previous 5 years could make a scientist ineligible for future federal funding.”
U.S. Congress considers sweeping ban on Chinese collaborations
Researchers speak out against proposal that would bar funding for U.S. scientists working with Chinese partners or training Chinese students
www.science.org
November 14, 2025 at 3:32 AM
Defunding scientists for the nationality of who they co-author with or who they train.
One of the most radical attack on freedom of speech in US history. A far right nationalist destruction of US science. Such a shameful time to be an American that this racist stupidity has become mainstream.
One of the most radical attack on freedom of speech in US history. A far right nationalist destruction of US science. Such a shameful time to be an American that this racist stupidity has become mainstream.
Reposted
William Golding from his 1962 essay “Fables” on the intended meaning of his “Lord Of The Flies”.
November 12, 2025 at 1:57 PM
William Golding from his 1962 essay “Fables” on the intended meaning of his “Lord Of The Flies”.
Reposted
Hard as they tried, the so-called best and brightest minds of the right could never determine precisely when — or by what curious influence — their younger followers had turned to a harsher, more fanatical strain of their own bigotry.
November 11, 2025 at 7:08 PM
Hard as they tried, the so-called best and brightest minds of the right could never determine precisely when — or by what curious influence — their younger followers had turned to a harsher, more fanatical strain of their own bigotry.
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Trump: "Nobody knows what magnets are."
November 10, 2025 at 9:07 PM
Trump: "Nobody knows what magnets are."
Seeing yet another absurd howling lie/absurd idiocy from Dear Leader on his Truthiness Antisocial site, I’m reminded how much we’ve become Vonnegut’s story of a dystopia
November 10, 2025 at 10:46 PM
Seeing yet another absurd howling lie/absurd idiocy from Dear Leader on his Truthiness Antisocial site, I’m reminded how much we’ve become Vonnegut’s story of a dystopia
Reposted
Is IKEA having a pilots sale?
November 9, 2025 at 6:05 PM
Is IKEA having a pilots sale?