Tara C. Smith

Tara C. Smith

@aetiology.bsky.social

1663

Posts

Collector of social media sites. Definitely not a memelord. Sometimes scienceing (infectious diseases and shit. Occasionally literally). Also writes about vaccine hesitancy & science misinformation. Probably somewhere on a trail. She/her

Posts Replies Media

I know it's hard to keep up with everything coming out, but this piece looking at the effect of losing Chevron on public health by @tarahaelle.bsky.social is one to bookmark.

Supreme Court's Chevron Ruling Could Reshape Public Health | Think Global Healthwww.thinkglobalhealth.org Overturning Chevron could deter policy for disaster responses, food safety, gender protections, and health care

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"The Court has basically created a roadmap for future illegality and insurrection." I got on camera with NY1 to explain the deep anti-democracy of the Supreme Court's immunity opinion ny1.com/nyc/all-boro... @brennancenter.bsky.social

Brennan Center director discusses the latest in Trump's caseny1.com The trial wrapped up in May when a Manhattan jury found Trump guilty of falsifying business records to cover up a hush money payment.

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Just as fearlessness isn't "not having fear" it's "keeping going in spite of your fear" being hopeful isn't "being blind to the situation" it's "continuing to push despite the odds."

Existential angst about the end of democracy has one benefit, I guess.

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these people do not intend to ever lose power again

Heritage Foundation president celebrates Supreme Court presidential immunity ruling: "We are in the process of the second American Revolution, which will remain bloodless if the left allows it to be" www.mediamatters.org/project-2025...

Heritage Foundation president celebrates Supreme Court immunity decision: "We are in the process of the second American Revolution"www.mediamatters.org

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I kinda feel like now that the Supreme Court has declared it legal for a president to straight-up murder people they don't like, it's probably even more important to not elect people who seem extremely inclined to murder people they don't like

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Faine Greenwood

This is the first headline I found after looking it up. I mean, what the fuck. edition.cnn.com/2024/07/02/p...

RFK Jr. denies eating a dog while sidestepping sexual assault allegations in Vanity Fair article | CNN Politicsedition.cnn.com Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has denied allegations made in a new Vanity Fair report that he had previously eaten a dog while sidestepping accusations of sexual assault lev...

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Alex Crits-Christoph

Appalling to see a number of ‘scientists’ also take part in the anti-Fauci rhetoric and be manipulated so easily by politicians. The origins narrative they spin re: Fauci is entirely and utterly false…and I know because I was there.

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Powerful defense of Dr. Athony Fauci by Richard Horton in The Lancet: www.thelancet.com/journals/lan... “why is the international scientific community so quiet? ... The answer is self-censorship"

Offline: In defence of Dr Fauciwww.thelancet.com “Is this what we have become? Is this what we have devolved into?” US Congressman Kweisi Mfume was reacting to comments from Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene at a hearing of the Select Subcommitt...

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Get vaccinated when the COVID booster comes out this fall. www.usnews.com/news/health-...

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Methionine-Tyrosine-Serine-Glutamate-Leucine-Phenylalanine

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The bigotry from Tractor Supply's leadership is truly spectacular. tl;dr "Our 'core customers' asked to embrace hate, who are we to say no"

I threw out my favorite hat. I know it's a trivial thing. But I liked that hat. www.patreon.com/posts/107115...

A new hat | David M. Perrywww.patreon.com Get more from David M. Perry on Patreon

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So. This is literally a death threat.

“With a $100,000 grant from the influential Heritage Foundation, the goal is to post 100 names of government workers to a website this summer to show a potential new administration who might be standing in the way of a second-term Trump agenda…”

Conservative-backed group is creating a list of federal workers it suspects could resist Trump plansapnews.com An outside group is quietly investigating scores of federal employees suspected of being hostile to the conservative policies promised by Republican Donald Trump.

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I asked the programs about the alleged minute long delay in broadcasting that CNN has already shot down. Both programs regurgitated the misinformation and the conspiracy theory that a delay would be used to edit footage. www.nbcnews.com/tech/interne...

OpenAI's ChatGPT and Microsoft's Copilot repeated a false claim about the presidential debatewww.nbcnews.com The AI programs seemingly drew on conservative misinformation posted just hour earlier to generate their answers.

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JUST IN: The former Uvalde school police chief and an officer are indicted in the first criminal charges filed over the failed response to the 2022 mass shooting

Former Uvalde school police chief, officer indicted in 1st-ever criminal charges over failed response to 2022 mass shooting | CNNwww.cnn.com A grand jury has indicted two former Uvalde school police officers in the botched law enforcement response to the 2022 mass shooting at Robb Elementary school that left 19 children and two teachers de...

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Sharing a piece I was quoted in in Mother Jones. I have been interviewed a LOT about FemTech lately, esp as it relates to menstrual blood. 1/n www.motherjones.com/politics/202...

The race to understand—and profit from—period bloodwww.motherjones.com The race to understand—and profit from—period blood.

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John Moore, virologist/immunologist from Cornell Weill Med in NYC and I take the NYTimes to task for two opinion pieces on #COVID earlier this month. Both pieces are examples of "science opinion", where non-experts weigh in on topics beyond their ken. www.thenation.com/article/soci...

“The New York Times” Is Failing Its Readers Badly on Covidwww.thenation.com A pair of shoddy opinion pieces proves that the paper is letting its audience down and undermining the fight to improve our knowledge of the virus.

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"U.S. police departments have gotten smaller—and the violent crime rate is still plummeting. So what is going on?" What's ALWAYS gone on. Cops do not stop crime. They never have. Real "tough on crime" measures are well-funded schools, free daycare, and mental health services. Always have been.

Hey, look, it's The Minneapolis Reckoning at Slate! slate.com/news-and-pol...

Police Departments Have Shrunk. Crime Is Plummeting. Now What?slate.com New, surprising data has lessons for all sides of the “defund” debate.

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Hi! The Onion is bringing back our Writing Fellowship. The fellowship has produced some of the biggest names in comedy, at The Onion and elsewhere. It was a casualty private equity. We are reviving it. The program is six months long and includes health insurance. jobs.gusto.com/postings/the...

The Onion Fellowship at The Onion jobs.gusto.com

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I heard that at #ASMicrobe this year, AES had the biggest crowds! Submit proposals for next year’s Applied & Environmental Sciences sessions here: asm.org/Events/ASM-M...

ASM Microbe | Session Proposalsasm.org ASM Microbe 2024 showcases the best microbial sciences in the world, and provides a one-of-a-kind forum to explore everything from basic microbiology to translation and application.

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#Rabies is a terrible death, and an unnecessary death. With rapid access to post-exposure vaccine, rabies deaths can be averted. That still isn't happening often enough in the developing world. #Gavi is hoping to help fix it. www.statnews.com/2024/06/18/g...

On the road to eliminate rabies deaths, Gavi announces plan to improve human vaccinationwww.statnews.com Rabies is one of few diseases that can be effectively treated by vaccines after exposure — but many countries lack access to the shots. A new global health effort aims to change that.

If you haven't read this yet, you should.

"In Black River Orchard we see Chuck Wendig at his best—a master weaving a story with complex characters, disturbing images, terror living beside humor, and good old-fashioned story-telling." gnofhorror.com/black-river-... @chuckwendig.bsky.social @arachnid-guy.bsky.social

Black River Orchard: A Tale of a Small Town's Uglinessgnofhorror.com Black River Orchard by Chuck Wendig. A thought-provoking horror book that explores the sinister nature of a small town.

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Mpox spreads to another DR Congo province www.cidrap.umn.edu/mpox/mpox-sp...

Mpox spreads to another DR Congo provincewww.cidrap.umn.edu Illnesses have now been reported in 23 of the country's 26 provinces, with the virus causing the heaviest burden in children.

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Remember Tr*mp has promised to eliminate NOAA as a federal agency because of its contributions to evidence of climate change, including providing the public with invaluable tools like this one: www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov/heatrisk/

Being prepared is a key step to staying safe on scorching days. To help people understand how they could be affected by heat, the National Weather Service recently launched an experimental online tool that provides seven-day heat risk forecasts for wherever you are in the contiguous United States.

Here’s how to know when it might be dangerously hot outsidewww.washingtonpost.com With temperatures climbing across the United States, it’s critical to know when you might be at risk of experiencing dangerous levels of heat.

NWS HeatRiskwww.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov

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I have a book coming out tomorrow! I do feel this would be more exciting if I didn't also have four other books out this year but like Book day!! Official!! Someone remind me to skeet about it in the morning

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Just need to say again, Andre Braugher was a donor and Friend of Wonkette. When I emailed asking him if he were he, he replied, "I am that hilarious dude." We win. FOREVER.

Amazing. One of the greatest TV shows ever and some of the greatest TV acting performances ever (Andre Braugher as Frank Pembleton maybe THE best ever)

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My book about the end of the universe inspired an episode of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds! 🖖😃🚀 screenrant.com/star-trek-st... (hat tip to @seanmcarroll.bsky.social, whose research paper I was quoting in the book)

Yes, Strange New Worlds Has A Scientific Explanation For Star Trek’s Musical Episodescreenrant.com A musical reality is scientifically possible.

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I asked Rita Colwell at ASM what pushed her into leadership. She said, paraphrased - well, it was either me or someone who was an idiot. I just bought her book. Idol.

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If anyone wants to know what’s happening in South Africa with mpox deaths, here’a good local article: www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2024...

Second mpox death in SA: here’s what you need to knowwww.dailymaverick.co.za The health department said the 38-year-old patient had HIV and tested positive for mpox after presenting with extensive lesions, oral ulcers, muscle pain and a sore throat.

Of course, this would make social media completely unusable for most academics and educators, which is exactly what they want.

Trolling + misinformation requires an audience: so when rather than responding, I simply block, they also perceive that as censorship. This latest accusation, for example, claims that, as a university professor, I am a public official and hence shouldn’t be allowed to block anyone on social media.