Twilight Zone territory.”
|
|
|
|
NO SHIRT,
NO SHOES,
NO HEALTH
|
|
|
|
RFK Jr. says he’s on a mission to end chronic disease in America. And yet he just fired some of those best positioned to help him, one official tells What A Day.
- Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who now leads the Department of Health and Human Services, wants to “Make America Health Again.” But his methods… are, at best, highly debatable, and at worst, downright loopy. For example, he favors raw milk and disfavors vaccinations, positions that most experts call dangerous. He also likes to work out in slim-fit jeans and no shirt (which is, ahem, incredibly unhealthy… for my eyeballs).
- Naturally, his plan to boost American health involves the dubious step of firing about 10,000 employees — including some of the very people who actually work to keep Americans healthy.
- “The whole situation is a complete shitshow. He basically just cut the legs out from under the agency to do any of the work he wants to do,” a senior HHS official told me. “Some of the people accidentally let go are the ones with [the] most subject matter expertise to advance the MAHA goals of reducing chronic disease through better food and nutrition.”
- But firing too many people was literally the plan, Kennedy told reporters yesterday, explaining that many workers will be reinstated. “We’re going to do 80 percent cuts, but 20 percent of those are going to have to be reinstated, because we’ll make mistakes,” said the dead brainworm that I assume is now controlling Kennedy’s motor functions. HHS did not respond to What A Day’s request for comment.
- This approach channels Elon Musk, who championed relentless cost-cutting at his businesses long before he tried it on the government — with the motto that if you don’t have to put something back, you didn’t cut enough.
These rampant firings have rattled the agency and hurt morale among those who remain, leaving some unable to focus on their work.
- “Those of us who are left are walking a weird line between survivors’ guilt and fear that we may be next,” an employee at the FDA, which is under HHS, told What A Day.
- Day-to-day operations have come to a halt at many offices in the agency, the employee said. “Any time we try to get anything done, especially between departments, we are constantly running into, ‘We have no point of contact in that department anymore’” — because they were fired.
- Employees who review new medicines at the FDA were also fired, according to Reuters. As were people working on the response to the bird flu, causing the FDA to suspend a program to improve bird flu testing, according to reports. Several top researchers, including a doctor who led award-winning research on Parkinson’s disease, were shown the door… and then reinstated. Their firings were a “coding error,” researchers were told.
- The Trump administration, meanwhile, is planning seismic spending cuts to contracts across all HHS agencies. Public health experts warn that those will further weaken the agency: “They seem to be on a quest to totally destroy the infrastructure of the nation's public health system,” Dr. Georges Benjamin, executive director of the American Public Health Association, told NPR. “It’s amazing that they are looking to cut the parts of our health system that give the best value for prevention and wellness.”
I have an idea: RFK Jr. can teach Americans that funky upside-down pull-up move he likes to show off at the gym. That’ll make us all healthy! |
|
IT AIN'T EASY BEING GREEN
|
|
|
|
A spiraling trade war sparked by Donald Trump’s tariffs has slammed the stock market and is threatening a new recession. But if you think that looks grim, just wait to see what his climate plans will do to the economy. Crooked climate correspondent Anya Zoledziowski breaks it down.
Trump has made little secret of his plan to smash the climate legacy of his predecessor, former President Joe Biden — supposedly in the name of unlocking economic growth.
But success would have the opposite effect, according to one recent analysis. In fact, blowing up Biden’s signature climate legislation package, the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), would hurt the economy, boost energy prices and cost jobs — all while increasing planet-warming emissions. The IRA has already generated more than 400,000 jobs and $600 billion in private investment for clean energy. But a full repeal could cost 790,000 lost jobs and shrink the GDP by more than $160 billion by the year 2030, according to the analysis, while energy bills could spike by $32 billion between 2025 and 2035.
Even some Republicans are urging Trump to keep the clean energy tax breaks. “We need the projects that are currently under development to be brought online so we can continue the President’s ‘America First’ agenda,” Rep. Andrew Garbarino (R-NY) told Politico.
In short, crushing the IRA looks economically counterproductive.
This story is supported by our nonprofit partner, Crooked Ideas.
|
|
WHAT A SPONSOR
Spring’s around the corner — it’s a great opportunity for decluttering our homes, and refreshing our nutrition and daily habits.
That means it’s never been a better time to try AG1. Just 1 scoop daily contains the highest quality ingredients and makes an excellent way to fill your nutrient gaps.
AG1 is made with ingredients to replace your multivitamin, pre- and probiotics, immune support, adaptogens, super greens, and so much more.
When it comes to our health, we all want something we can trust. That’s a great reason to choose AG1. With science-backed ingredients and real benefits, AG1 makes it easy to support overall wellness every day.
AG1 is offering new subscribers a FREE $76 gift when you sign up. You’ll get a Welcome Kit, a bottle of D3K2 AND 5 travel packs in your first box. So make sure to check it out HERE to get this offer!
|
|
There’s a 60 percent chance of a recession this year, according to a JPMorgan analysis. That’s up from 40 percent odds, before Donald Trump announced his sweeping tariffs on other countries. The tariffs are likely to boost inflation and slow economic growth, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said. What’s more, Trump shared a TikTok video today which claims that he’s “purposely CRASHING the market.” I heard that if the stock market falls below zero value, it actually defaults back to 100 percent again, which I assume must be his master plan at this point.
The Trump administration is planning to pull $510 million in funding from Brown University, the latest development in the Education Department’s rampage against Ivy League colleges that allowed pro-Palestinian protests last year. Trump officials also reportedly sent Harvard a list of demands it needs to meet if it wants to keep $9 billion in federal funding. Democracy at its finest, people!
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) would crush Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer if she ran against him in a Senate primary, according to a poll from Data for Progress, a liberal firm. Fifty-five percent of respondents in New York said they’d vote for AOC, while 36 percent backed the 74-year-old incumbent. Free slogan idea for AOC: “Let’s Chuck Schumer!”
Former President Barack Obama spoke out against Trump’s authoritarian tendencies: “It’s unimaginable that the same parties that are silent now would have tolerated behavior like that from me or a whole bunch of my predecessors.” I mean, these guys barely tolerated his tan suit, so, yeah, he’s got a point there.
French President Emmanuel Macron apparently douses himself with “industrial amounts” of Dior Eau Sauvage “at all hours of the day” in his Elysée Palace, according to a new book by Le Parisien journalist Olivier Beaumont. “Less-accustomed visitors may find themselves overcome by the floral and musky scent, as refined as it is powerful. It is a sign of one thing: that the president is in the building,” he writes. Well, this is the president of France, is it not? I, for one, think it is entirely appropriate that His Excellency be preceded, at all times, by the odor that can only be described as an “ ozone blue sky that dominates a white-hot rocky landscape.” |
|
THERE'S MORE WHERE THAT CAME FROM
Measles is back. Tens of thousands of public health workers are gone. The National Institutes of Health is seeing massive funding cuts. RFK Jr's assault on medical science is putting American lives at risk—and the consequences are already here.
This week on Assembly Required, Stacey Abrams is joined by infectious disease researcher and science communicator Laurel Bristow, along with infectious disease expert and associate professor Ghady Haidar, to break down the devastating impact of the Trump administration’s attacks on health infrastructure and vaccine science. They expose the dangerous spread of medical misinformation—and share what we can do to protect ourselves, our communities, and the future of public health. Listen to this episode now, on the Assembly Required feed or on YouTube!
|
|
A federal judge ordered the Trump administration to bring back Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Maryland father who was deported to El Salvador. After Garcia landed in the country, Trump officials claimed there was nothing they could do to rescue him. “This was an illegal act,” District Judge Paula Xinis told a Justice Department lawyer. “Congress said you can’t do it, and you did it anyway.”
Actor Jack Black surprised Tanner (from the show “Love On The Spectrum”) with a surprise appearance on Kelly Clarkson’s talk show. “Jack, I’m so happy to meet you! Jack, I’m your biggest fan!” Tanner told Black while hugging him, visibly unable to contain his excitement. I’m crying.
Today, we’re featuring a pair of pups from Anya, our esteemed climate correspondent:
“Canadian best buds and certified good boys Ducky and Hugo are really hoping tariffs don't jack up the prices of their fave treats. Otherwise, the president will have some news DOGEs to answer to.”
 |
|
No longer want to receive these emails? Unsubscribe.
Crooked Media 4817 N 56th St Suite 45 Lincoln, Nebraska 68504
|
|
|
|
|
