Maggie Westwater
@maggieeastfire.bsky.social
Sir Henry Wellcome Postdoc @Oxford and @YaleMed. I study disordered eating and the brain. Reproductive rights = human rights.
bit.ly/2FdqFbg
bit.ly/2FdqFbg
Reposted by Maggie Westwater
Copy Editing Matters, from HHS's release on the new childhood vaccine schedule: All the diseases will still be available to anyone who wants them
January 6, 2026 at 1:12 AM
Copy Editing Matters, from HHS's release on the new childhood vaccine schedule: All the diseases will still be available to anyone who wants them
Reposted by Maggie Westwater
See Jim’s comments and the whole thread.
@jtheriault.bsky.social did a better job than I, but a few thoughts: first this doesn't move us any further than Raichle, Fox etc in the 90s showing diff effects of rCBF, rCMRO2, rCMRGlu, OEF etc. Second, for all the talk of neuronal activity, no neuronal activity was measured
January 5, 2026 at 2:43 PM
See Jim’s comments and the whole thread.
Reposted by Maggie Westwater
During Fiona Hill's testimony to Congress on Oct 14, 2019, she described how Trump and Putin discussed exchanging Ukraine for Venezuela. The quid pro quo was if Trump refuses to help Ukraine fight off a Russian invasion, Putin would not help Venezuela (a Russian ally) resist a US takeover.
January 4, 2026 at 2:36 AM
During Fiona Hill's testimony to Congress on Oct 14, 2019, she described how Trump and Putin discussed exchanging Ukraine for Venezuela. The quid pro quo was if Trump refuses to help Ukraine fight off a Russian invasion, Putin would not help Venezuela (a Russian ally) resist a US takeover.
Reposted by Maggie Westwater
Some polling:
Invading Venezuela - 19% approve, 60% disapprove
OK to go w/o Congressional approval - 11% yes, 74% no
👇
Invading Venezuela - 19% approve, 60% disapprove
OK to go w/o Congressional approval - 11% yes, 74% no
👇
Invading Venezuela is a close second:
19% approve, 60% disapprove.
19% approve, 60% disapprove.
January 3, 2026 at 2:27 PM
Some polling:
Invading Venezuela - 19% approve, 60% disapprove
OK to go w/o Congressional approval - 11% yes, 74% no
👇
Invading Venezuela - 19% approve, 60% disapprove
OK to go w/o Congressional approval - 11% yes, 74% no
👇
Reposted by Maggie Westwater
James Merril’s poem “Christmas Tree,” written while he was dying of AIDS. 1995.
December 24, 2025 at 1:43 PM
James Merril’s poem “Christmas Tree,” written while he was dying of AIDS. 1995.
Reposted by Maggie Westwater
Cool study in JAMA Psychiatry confirms what many have suspected for a while: PHQ (depression questionnaire) instructions are widely misinterpreted by patients. It is unfortunate that a questionnaire as shitty as PHQ-9 has become so ingrained & ubiquitous
jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...
jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...
Interpretation Issues With the Patient Health Questionnaire Instructions
This survey study assesses whether responses to the Patient Health Questionnaire reflect symptom frequency and severity.
jamanetwork.com
December 23, 2025 at 3:09 PM
Cool study in JAMA Psychiatry confirms what many have suspected for a while: PHQ (depression questionnaire) instructions are widely misinterpreted by patients. It is unfortunate that a questionnaire as shitty as PHQ-9 has become so ingrained & ubiquitous
jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...
jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...
Reposted by Maggie Westwater
Wildly unethical and grotesque to damn African children to lifelong chronic liver disease so some pseudo-'evidence based' medicine advocates can push fairy tales about a lack of placebo controlled trials.
Another sad chapter to come in Medical Apartheid.
Another sad chapter to come in Medical Apartheid.
On the same day he stripped AAP of millions in grant funding in retaliation, RFK Jr awarded $1.6M to Tracy Høeg's Danish friends for a grossly unethical study that will expose African babies to hep B for no reason than it's politically expedient.
Steal from American taxpayers, give to MAHA cronies.
Steal from American taxpayers, give to MAHA cronies.
CDC awards $1.6 million for new hepatitis B vaccine study in Guinea-Bissau. Although the award recipients aren't named, the grant seems tailored to Danish researchers whose work is championed by anti-vaxxers but challenged by mainstream scientists.
www.cidrap.umn.edu/childhood-va...
www.cidrap.umn.edu/childhood-va...
December 18, 2025 at 4:42 PM
Wildly unethical and grotesque to damn African children to lifelong chronic liver disease so some pseudo-'evidence based' medicine advocates can push fairy tales about a lack of placebo controlled trials.
Another sad chapter to come in Medical Apartheid.
Another sad chapter to come in Medical Apartheid.
Reposted by Maggie Westwater
"more babies will be infected with HBV
more babies will develop chronic HBV infection
more children will develop severe liver disease
more children will develop liver cancer
more children will die from a preventable disease"
more babies will develop chronic HBV infection
more children will develop severe liver disease
more children will develop liver cancer
more children will die from a preventable disease"
That’s another horrendous ACIP meeting on the books. This clown show did a lot more than weakly recommend delaying the HBV birth dose and compare vaccines to planes.
rasmussenretorts.substack.com/p/say-hello-...
rasmussenretorts.substack.com/p/say-hello-...
Say Hello to Hepatitis B, Baby
Anti-vax ACIP are bumbling their way to higher rates of pediatric liver cancer...and worse
rasmussenretorts.substack.com
December 6, 2025 at 2:10 AM
"more babies will be infected with HBV
more babies will develop chronic HBV infection
more children will develop severe liver disease
more children will develop liver cancer
more children will die from a preventable disease"
more babies will develop chronic HBV infection
more children will develop severe liver disease
more children will develop liver cancer
more children will die from a preventable disease"
Reposted by Maggie Westwater
Honestly, it's wild to watch the nutrition community continue to get behind a term like UPF (defined by looking at a ingredients and giving a 'bad' label by the presence of an 'industrial' additive) while this exact, scientifically hollow tactic is being rolled out to scare folks away from vaccines.
Ultra-processed foods – what’s the impact?
In a new Lancet Series, experts warn a global rise in #UPFs presents a growing public health threat.
Read the evidence & policy recommendations ⬇️
spkl.io/63327AduhR
In a new Lancet Series, experts warn a global rise in #UPFs presents a growing public health threat.
Read the evidence & policy recommendations ⬇️
spkl.io/63327AduhR
November 22, 2025 at 3:38 PM
Honestly, it's wild to watch the nutrition community continue to get behind a term like UPF (defined by looking at a ingredients and giving a 'bad' label by the presence of an 'industrial' additive) while this exact, scientifically hollow tactic is being rolled out to scare folks away from vaccines.
Reposted by Maggie Westwater
New feature article from TNJ (nation's best student magazine): Inside Yale’s Quiet Reckoning with AI thenewjournalatyale.com/2025/10/insi...
November 16, 2025 at 4:43 PM
New feature article from TNJ (nation's best student magazine): Inside Yale’s Quiet Reckoning with AI thenewjournalatyale.com/2025/10/insi...
Reposted by Maggie Westwater
For @msnbc.com I wrote about how Tuesday's election gives Democrats the blueprint for overcoming Republican anti-trans attacks and how thus should settle all the talk about throwing trans people under the bus.
www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnb...
www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnb...
Opinion | Democrats’ election wins showed they don't need to hide their support for trans rights
Republicans repeated Trump's anti-trans strategy from 2024 and lost big. This should be instructive for Democrats.
www.msnbc.com
November 6, 2025 at 12:41 AM
For @msnbc.com I wrote about how Tuesday's election gives Democrats the blueprint for overcoming Republican anti-trans attacks and how thus should settle all the talk about throwing trans people under the bus.
www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnb...
www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnb...
Reposted by Maggie Westwater
Male veterans are encountering obstacles in getting treatment for breast cancer in the VA system because of Trump's executive order meant to oppress trans people. I say that again: non-trans men are struggling to get treatment for breast cancer due to transphobia.
www.propublica.org/article/vete...
www.propublica.org/article/vete...
Citing Trump Order on “Biological Truth,” VA Makes It Harder for Male Veterans With Breast Cancer to Get Coverage
A Department of Veterans Affairs memo obtained by ProPublica erects new roadblocks to care for veterans with the rare but deadly cancer. The agency cites no new science but relies on an executive orde...
www.propublica.org
November 1, 2025 at 9:03 PM
Male veterans are encountering obstacles in getting treatment for breast cancer in the VA system because of Trump's executive order meant to oppress trans people. I say that again: non-trans men are struggling to get treatment for breast cancer due to transphobia.
www.propublica.org/article/vete...
www.propublica.org/article/vete...
Reposted by Maggie Westwater
Reposted by Maggie Westwater
"In a landmark study, OpenAI researchers reveal that large language models will always produce plausible but false outputs, even with perfect data, due to fundamental statistical and computational limits."
www.computerworld.com/article/4059...
www.computerworld.com/article/4059...
OpenAI admits AI hallucinations are mathematically inevitable, not just engineering flaws
In a landmark study, OpenAI researchers reveal that large language models will always produce plausible but false outputs, even with perfect data, due to fundamental statistical and computational limi...
www.computerworld.com
September 21, 2025 at 12:50 PM
"In a landmark study, OpenAI researchers reveal that large language models will always produce plausible but false outputs, even with perfect data, due to fundamental statistical and computational limits."
www.computerworld.com/article/4059...
www.computerworld.com/article/4059...
Reposted by Maggie Westwater
Data only shows associations. Turning those into claims about mechanism or causation? That requires a Rosetta Stone of prior knowledge + theory. Resting-state fMRI is purely observational; correlation is its currency. From this, plenty of "theoretical toys" about brain function can be built...
Resting-State fMRI and the Risk of Overinterpretation: Noise, Mechanisms, and a Missing Rosetta Stone https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.09.16.676611v1
September 20, 2025 at 1:13 AM
Data only shows associations. Turning those into claims about mechanism or causation? That requires a Rosetta Stone of prior knowledge + theory. Resting-state fMRI is purely observational; correlation is its currency. From this, plenty of "theoretical toys" about brain function can be built...
Reposted by Maggie Westwater
The United States has half of all the guns in existence and less than 5% of the population, and people are still trying to pretend we don’t have a gun problem.
We are the only country in the world with more guns than people. www.usnews.com/news/best-co...
We are the only country in the world with more guns than people. www.usnews.com/news/best-co...
September 12, 2025 at 7:21 PM
The United States has half of all the guns in existence and less than 5% of the population, and people are still trying to pretend we don’t have a gun problem.
We are the only country in the world with more guns than people. www.usnews.com/news/best-co...
We are the only country in the world with more guns than people. www.usnews.com/news/best-co...
Reposted by Maggie Westwater
We're going to see a lot of bullshit in the coming days and weeks about "causes of autism", and most will be based on flawed, over-interpreted observational studies (1/n)
September 7, 2025 at 10:57 AM
We're going to see a lot of bullshit in the coming days and weeks about "causes of autism", and most will be based on flawed, over-interpreted observational studies (1/n)
Reposted by Maggie Westwater
Right now, your ability to get access to a COVID vaccine this fall is in jeopardy, whether or not you fit the new, restricted eligiblity criteria. Please send a letter to your member of Congress here. And spread the word. @defendpublichealth.bsky.social actionnetwork.org/letters/writ...
Write members of Congress - Will COVID-19 vaccines be available this fall?
It is clear that HHS Secretary RFK Jr. is on a dangerous and fast-moving path to make COVID-19 vaccines totally unavailable here in the U.S. With COVID-19 cases on the rise in many parts of the US an...
actionnetwork.org
August 30, 2025 at 12:16 PM
Right now, your ability to get access to a COVID vaccine this fall is in jeopardy, whether or not you fit the new, restricted eligiblity criteria. Please send a letter to your member of Congress here. And spread the word. @defendpublichealth.bsky.social actionnetwork.org/letters/writ...
Reposted by Maggie Westwater
With O'Neill (apparently) taking over CDC (if they ever get around to firing Monarez), I think it's worth looking back to Project 2025 and asking what they actually intend to *do* to CDC. So, I went to remind myself today. Here's what's in store:
August 29, 2025 at 8:56 PM
With O'Neill (apparently) taking over CDC (if they ever get around to firing Monarez), I think it's worth looking back to Project 2025 and asking what they actually intend to *do* to CDC. So, I went to remind myself today. Here's what's in store:
Reposted by Maggie Westwater
The newly ousted director of the CDC refused to fire top agency leaders or approve changes to vaccines from RFK Jr.’s hand-picked panel of advisers.
Monarez refused to fire top CDC leaders, ‘rubber-stamp’ vaccine changes, confidante says
The former CDC director was ousted late Wednesday after refusing to resign despite pressure from Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
www.politico.com
August 28, 2025 at 2:38 PM
The newly ousted director of the CDC refused to fire top agency leaders or approve changes to vaccines from RFK Jr.’s hand-picked panel of advisers.
Reposted by Maggie Westwater
Yes, call not matter which party you Representative and Senators belong to;
Yes, call if at all possible. You can *also, additionally* send an email if you'd like;
Yes, call after hours to leave a voicemail if you don't want to speak to a person;
Yes, you can change my script if you want to
Yes, call if at all possible. You can *also, additionally* send an email if you'd like;
Yes, call after hours to leave a voicemail if you don't want to speak to a person;
Yes, you can change my script if you want to
CTA: Call Your Member of Congress and U.S. Senators
Regardless of which party your Member of Congress and U.S. Senators belong to, please call them (actually call them on the phone if at all possible) and tell them:
www.patreon.com/posts/137525...
Regardless of which party your Member of Congress and U.S. Senators belong to, please call them (actually call them on the phone if at all possible) and tell them:
www.patreon.com/posts/137525...
![Urgent CTA: RFK Jr Moving to Destroy CDC. Call Your Reps
Hello my name is [$NAME]. I am a constituent calling from [$CITY/TOWN, $ZIPCODE]. I'm calling to urge [the Senator / the Representative] to demand the removal of RFK Jr. as HHS Secretary.
RFK Jr. is a clear and present danger not just to the health of the American people but to the entire world. Firing CDC Director Dr. Monarez because she was carrying out her duty to ensure that life-saving, safe, and effective vaccines against COVID, a disease which has killed more than 1.2 million Americans, are available to all Americans is inexcusable. RFK Jr's deliberate, determined campaign to undermine the public health mission of CDC has caused the principled resignations of four other senior CDC leaders, including the expert who heads the national center that combats emerging infectious disease — the top CDC official in charge of preventing bird flu from killing millions of us. RFK Jr. is compromising the biosecurity and national security of the United States and endangering me and my family.
Shouldn't Need To Be A Lawyer Patreon.com/mattbc](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:rtsa65yj6j6azdkmatuckxec/bafkreieyr7dzvbywv6egqajygailivvkaifvothb6japh6anopm5jni5qm@jpeg)
August 28, 2025 at 7:31 PM
Yes, call not matter which party you Representative and Senators belong to;
Yes, call if at all possible. You can *also, additionally* send an email if you'd like;
Yes, call after hours to leave a voicemail if you don't want to speak to a person;
Yes, you can change my script if you want to
Yes, call if at all possible. You can *also, additionally* send an email if you'd like;
Yes, call after hours to leave a voicemail if you don't want to speak to a person;
Yes, you can change my script if you want to
Reposted by Maggie Westwater
“Jimenez Rosa, a legal permanent resident and mother of four U.S. citizens, was detained over what her lawyer believes was a decades-old, personal-use marijuana charge, which is no longer a crime in Massachusetts today… “I was just like, ‘Girls, we might never see your mother again in this country’”
ICE released this Mass. mom with no phone, 30 miles from home in the rain after detainment for a sealed marijuana conviction
Federal authorities refused to tell the Canton woman's husband or lawyer on what grounds she was being detained until shortly before her release.
www.masslive.com
August 24, 2025 at 2:13 AM
“Jimenez Rosa, a legal permanent resident and mother of four U.S. citizens, was detained over what her lawyer believes was a decades-old, personal-use marijuana charge, which is no longer a crime in Massachusetts today… “I was just like, ‘Girls, we might never see your mother again in this country’”
Reposted by Maggie Westwater
While masked agents were violently attacking a delivery worker this morning, bystanders repeatedly asked to see their badge numbers but they refused.
Bystander: You guys are ruining this country, you know that, right?
Agent: Liberals already ruined it.
Bystander: You guys are ruining this country, you know that, right?
Agent: Liberals already ruined it.
August 16, 2025 at 3:56 PM
While masked agents were violently attacking a delivery worker this morning, bystanders repeatedly asked to see their badge numbers but they refused.
Bystander: You guys are ruining this country, you know that, right?
Agent: Liberals already ruined it.
Bystander: You guys are ruining this country, you know that, right?
Agent: Liberals already ruined it.
Reposted by Maggie Westwater
“...disinformation, conspiracy theories & political violence is getting scarier by the day. I’m very worried about how this is now going beyond defunding of infectious diseases & public health to political violence against the people working in those fields."
www.nytimes.com/2025/08/09/u...
www.nytimes.com/2025/08/09/u...
After Years of Anger Directed at C.D.C., Shooting Manifests Worst Fears
www.nytimes.com
August 10, 2025 at 6:28 PM
“...disinformation, conspiracy theories & political violence is getting scarier by the day. I’m very worried about how this is now going beyond defunding of infectious diseases & public health to political violence against the people working in those fields."
www.nytimes.com/2025/08/09/u...
www.nytimes.com/2025/08/09/u...