NewsFlash

Kennedy Turns to a Discredited Vaccine Skeptic for Autism Study

David Geier has been hired as a senior data analyst at H.H.S. According to several people, he will examine any potential links between vaccines and autism that were debunked long ago. A steadfast figure in the anti-vaccine movement who has helped shape Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s thinking on a possible link to autism has joined his department to work on a study examining the long-debunked theory, according to people familiar with the matter. The new analyst, David Geier, has published numerous articles in the medical literature attempting to tie mercury in vaccines to autism.

In 2012, state authorities in Maryland found that he had been practicing medicine without a license alongside his father, Mark Geier, who was a doctor at the time. Maryland authorities also suspended Mark Geier’s medical license following claims that he endangered children with autism and exploited their parents, according to state records. Federal judges have rejected their research on autism and vaccines as too unreliable to stand up in court.

David Geier’s new government role has stunned public health experts, who had already expressed concerns about Mr. Kennedy’s decisions to cancel a long-held vaccine meeting and to cut grants focused on understanding vaccine hesitancy. In addition, David Geier’s involvement in government research heightens their fears that vaccine confidence could be further eroded, especially after Mr. Kennedy’s recent embrace of questionable alternative treatments for measles during the sprawling outbreak in Texas. “If we increase vaccine hesitancy and immunization rates go down further, we will see more vaccine-preventable disease outbreaks,” said Dr. Christopher Beyrer, director of the Duke Global Health Institute. “That’s how it works.” Several experts said that appointing David Geier to work on a study of vaccine safety preordains the outcome — like having a basketball referee show up in one team’s jersey.

FROM the NY TIMES

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/27/health/rfk-jr-autism-vaccines.html?rsrc=ss&unlocked_article_code=1.7E4.T_A_.POY_A3NddZ_A

[Take-away:  Expect to hear a lot of garbage results on the health front out of the CDC and other US government sources in the next few years.   ]

After just 65 days Trump has now already broken the record for the most Executive Orders in the first 100 days.

As of March 27, 2025, Trump is the president to issue the most executive orders in his first 100 days, surpassing Franklin Roosevelt (who issued 99 executive orders in his first 100 days in office) but Donald Trump has issued 104 executive orders in just 65 days in office

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Executive_order#:~:text=Harry%20S.%20Truman%20issued%20907,a%20record%203%2C721%20executive%20orders.

After just 65 days Trump has now already broken the record for the most Executive Orders in the first 100 days.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Executive_order#:~:text=Harry%20S.%20Truman%20issued%20907,a%20record%203%2C721%20executive%20orders.

Yeah, let's see how many eventually stick to the wall. One of them was outlawing paper straws, if memory serves. 

Seriously, it's not supposed to be a race.

‘Lives Are In Danger’ After a Trump Admin Spreadsheet Leak, Sources Say

Reports that Donald Trump’s top national security officials accidentally shared their Yemen attack plans with The Atlantic in real-time drove the news in official Washington in recent days. But it wasn’t the only damaging leak of information held by the administration this week. Two Trump administration spreadsheets — which each include what numerous advocates and government officials say is highly sensitive information on programs funded by the U.S. State Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) — were sent to Congress and also leaked online. The leak, which sent a variety of international groups and nonprofits scrambling to assess the damage and protect workers operating under repressive regimes, came after the organizations had pressed the Trump administration to keep the sensitive information private and received some assurances it would remain secret.

Reached for comment, White House Deputy Press Secretary Anna Kelly says: “These documents were transmitted to Congress and not publicly released by the State Department.” She urged Rolling Stone to contact “whoever leaked it and in turn, made it public.”

[snip]

One top executive at an international nonprofit and U.S. government implementing partner that’s been grappling with the fallout bluntly tells Rolling Stone: “In all our years of receiving grants from a range of governments, we have never seen the safety of government partners treated with such reckless abandon. People will lose their liberty, and possibly even more, because of this.”Another source with knowledge of the situation — a State Department career official — says: “Lives are in danger that did not have to be.”


From - https://www.yahoo.com/news/lives-danger-trump-admin-spreadsheet-151958531.html

 

Federal judge blocks mass firings of Consumer Financial Protection Bureau workers

U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson issued a preliminary injunction Friday that blocks the Trump administration from dismantling the Consumer Protection Financial Bureau. "The court cannot look away or the CFPB will be dissolved and dismantled completely in approximately thirty days, well before this lawsuit has come to its conclusion," she wrote in a 112-page decision. Her order keeps the CFPB in existence until the case has been resolved on the merits. It also reinstates the agency's contracts, workforce, data and operational capacity. Jackson ruled that, without a court order, President Trump's administration would move quickly to shut down the agency that Congress created in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis. "If the defendants are not enjoined, they will eliminate the agency before the Court has the opportunity to decide whether the law permits them to do it, and as the defendants' own witness warned, the harm will be irreparable," Berman Jackson said in her order.

...CFPB is responsible for protecting consumers from financial fraud and deceptive practices. ...

FROM https://www.cbsnews.com/news/federal-judge-blocks-mass-firings-consumer-financial-protection-bureau-employees/

Trump says he ‘couldn’t care less’ if auto prices rise because of tariffs

CNN  —  President Donald Trump said Saturday he doesn’t care if automakers hike prices because of his tariffs. In fact, he encouraged them to. Asked by NBC News’ Kristen Welker in a phone interview about whether he pressured automakers to avoid raising prices after his 25% tariffs on imported cars and parts go into effect, Trump denied that he told CEOs to control costs. “No, I never said that,” Trump told Welker. “I couldn’t care less if they raise prices, because people are going to start buying American cars.”   The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday that Trump held a call this month with auto CEOs and threatened them with even heftier tariffs if they raise prices because of the import taxes. But Trump on Saturday said he hopes his tariffs lead to higher prices, because it will encourage automakers to build their cars and parts in the United States and persuade customers to buy American.

“I couldn’t care less,” Trump said. “I hope they raise their prices, because if they do, people are gonna buy American-made cars. We have plenty.”


From - https://www.cnn.com/2025/03/29/business/trump-auto-prices-tariffs/index.html

SEE ALSO - https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-25-percent-car-tariffs-prices/


[There ARE NO "American cars" on the market. They may have final assembly here, but substantial parts of most are made in Mexico/Canada or elsewhere. Even Elon's brand uses foreign parts. And cars are already so expensive people are being priced out of the market - people with no other transportation options.]

Law firm Skadden cuts $100 million pro bono deal with Trump to avoid executive order

Washington — President Trump announced Friday that the law firm Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher and Flom agreed to provide more than $100 million in pro bono work for initiatives backed by his administration. The agreement makes Skadden Arps the second major firm to reach a deal with Mr. Trump amid a recent blitz of executive orders targeting law firms that have employed his purported political opponents. The orders issued by the president have focused on the firms Perkins Coie, Jenner & Block, and Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr, known as WilmerHale.

All three of those firms have filed federal lawsuits challenging the executive orders as a violation of the First Amendment. A federal judge in Washington blocked parts of Mr. Trump's executive order against Perkins Coie earlier this month, and on Friday, two separate judges issued temporary restraining orders halting the president's actions against Jenner & Block and WilmerHale. While Mr. Trump earlier in the month issued an order going after a fourth firm, Paul, Weiss, it was rescinded after the international firm agreed to provide $40 million in free legal services to support causes backed by the administration.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/law-firm-skadden-cuts-100-million-pro-bono-deal-trump-avoid-executive-order/?intcid=CNR-01-0623


[If it walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck....]

• Teasing a third term: Trump also told NBC “there are methods” for seeking a third term and emphasized he’s “not joking,” despite the 22nd Amendment of the Constitution prohibiting such a move.

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/trump-third-term-white-house-methods-rcna198752

CNN  —  Federal funding cuts have thrown local food systems in Wisconsin — and across the US — into chaos.

This month, the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced it is terminating 2025 funding for two pandemic-era initiatives: the Local Food Purchase Assistance (LFPA) and Local Food for Schools (LFS) programs. The initiatives together provided over $1 billion to farmers in 40 states, supplying fresh food to food banks, pantries and schools.  The USDA had previously signed a contract in January committing to fund Wisconsin’s LFPA program for 2025, according to the state’s Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection. However, a USDA spokesperson told CNN the decision was part of a broader effort to transition away from temporary pandemic-era programs and focus on “long-term, fiscally responsible initiatives.” ...

Across the nation, farmers say they were blindsided by the funding cuts. In Wisconsin, 300 farmers participated in the LFPA program, funding $4.2 million dollars worth of food going to 254 pantries, according to the Wisconsin LFPA website. Many had already taken out loans and purchased equipment in preparation for the program’s continuation, said Tara Roberts-Turner, general manager of the Wisconsin Food Hub Cooperative (WFHC), a farmer-led distribution network serving more than 400 farmers and the state’s largest food hub. Without the funding, she warned, small and midsized farmers could lose financial stability, local food infrastructure could unravel and underserved communities could struggle to access fresh food.


MORE - https://www.cnn.com/2025/03/30/business/wisconsins-farmers-usda-funding/index.html

US Securities and Exchange Commission beginning to bring on DOGE staff, email says https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-securities-exchange-commission-beginning-onboard-doge-staff-email-says-2025-03-28/

(Reuters) - Billionaire Elon Musk, who serves as a top adviser to President Donald Trump, will visit the Central Intelligence Agency on Monday to discuss government efficiency with director John Ratcliffe, a spokesperson said on Friday.

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/musk-visit-cia-monday-spokesperson-says-2025-03-28/

[Last one out, turn off the lights.        ]

Deep fear in coal country: DOGE cuts put region's miners and families on edge
After years of investigating hundreds of mining deaths and injuries, feds move to cancel lease at Mount Pleasant mine safety office

...Now, the facility long entrusted with the protection of miners is among 34 centers in the United States that are expected to be shuttered in one of the most sweeping cuts to the federal agency in years. In an ongoing effort to slash spending, the Department of Government Efficiency has targeted the mining agency in a move that surprised local inspectors and raised questions about the future of federal regulation in one of the country’s most dangerous jobs. “Without the federal inspections, coal operations will just run rampant,” said Tony Oppegard, a former Kentucky mine safety prosecutor and MSHA legal adviser. “There won’t be any accountability.” ...

...Three other offices in Pennsylvania are also on the list of lease cancellations: the Warrendale district center, Waynesburg in Greene County, and Frackville in Schuylkill County. The savings in terminating the leases: $2.5 million. The move by the new agency is the latest in a series of actions by federal officials that have raised alarms among safety advocates, who have long pushed for greater safeguards in mining. After years of medical experts warning about a new form of black lung disease caused by an insidious toxin — silica dust — federal regulators created a rule that would force coal operators to drastically reduce exposure levels underground. The protection, which cuts in half the amount of silica allowed in the air, is set to take effect next month, but is now under legal challenges by trade groups and allies in Congress who are threatening to roll it back under the new administration. One of the groups that’s fighting the rule was once led by Wayne Palmer, who was recently nominated to become the next leader of MSHA. The safeguards, which could cost mine owners millions of dollars a year to implement, are aimed at slowing the spread of a disease that’s now impacting the new generation of miners....


FROM - https://www.post-gazette.com/business/powersource/2025/03/30/coal-mine-safety-doge-trump-spending-cuts-federal/stories/202503280062

Agency for older adults and people with disabilities to be shuttered under HHS cuts. Former head of agency sees the closure of the Administration for Community Living as an attack on vulnerable populations

With the announcement by the Department of Health and Human Services that it will slash its workforce, consolidate divisions and close regional offices, an agency focused on older adults and people with disabilities has become collateral damage. The Administration for Community Living will be disbanded and its “critical” programs will be integrated into other HHS agencies such as the Administration for Children and Families, the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the HHS said. The department did not say which ACL programs were considered “critical” and which would be eliminated.

“These are programs that truly are lifesaving and critical,” Alison Barkoff, who headed the ACL from 2021 to 2024, told MarketWatch. “Dozens of millions of older adults and people with disabilities may not know the name ACL, but they know senior centers and Meals on Wheels and programs that touch their lives every day.”  In fiscal 2022, the ACL provided more than 261 million meals to older adults, assistance such as respite care to more than 1.5 million family caregivers, and independent-living services to nearly 250,000 people with disabilities, Barkoff said....


More - https://www.marketwatch.com/story/agency-for-older-adults-and-people-with-disabilities-to-be-shuttered-under-hhs-cuts-d0ff3bc2

The Crimson White, UA’s student newspaper, reported that Alireza Doroudi, a mechanical engineering student, was detained by ICE at 5 a.m. on March 25 in his home. The newspaper reported that Doroudi entered the country in January 2023, and was notified a few months later that his F-1 student visa was revoked. Doroudi contacted UA’s International Student and Scholar Services, who told him the notification “was not unusual or problematic and that he could remain in the U.S. as long as he maintained his student status.” Someone with the name Alireza Doroudi is listed as “in ICE custody,” according to the agency’s website. The detention facility isn’t listed.

[[SNIP]]

[COMMENT - If someone at UA's ISSS told him that he could stay in-country with an invalid F1, he was badly misinformed.  If he was in the process of appealing the revoking of the visa, that's possibly different, but there is no mention of that being the case.  If your visa is revoked, you have 15 days to scram out of here. Something does not add up here. If he was an overstayer in mid-2023, they should have deported him by early 2024 at the latest. He's Iranian, not the favorite nationality of the week, so I doubt he'd be skating through unknown. There's some missing pieces to this story.]

I could be mistaken in what I wrote, above. It's down to the actual wording of the situation and what the student was told.  There are two factors - the Student Visa (F1) and "status" at play.  The visa is what gets you into the country.  Normally as long as one is fulfilling the terms of the visa application - making appropriate progress in one's academic program or training - one remains "in status" and is allowed to remain in the country even after one's visa expires.  So if the student in question's visa had only expired, he should have been fine and the advice he was given was accurate at that time.

If one falls "out of status", depending on the reason (graduation, illness, poor performance, etc.) the amount of time one has available to leave the country or transfer to another program (if appropriate) varies depending on the reason.  SEE here for a clearer explanation -  https://www.visaverge.com/immigration/staying-legally-in-usa-expired-visa-but-valid-immigration-status/

Normally only the University/training program adjusts "status" in the SEVIS system, the tracking system for foreign students.There have been reports online that someone other than university personnel has manually changed some students' status.  Since, according to those reports, the institutions were supposedly not involved, they would have no way to know that any sort of ICE action was going to be instituted against the students. 

I have no way to know if any of the info about some mysteriously diddling with SEVIS entries is correct. If it is, let's just say I would not be surprised. Disgusted - if the schools were not notified - but not surprised to hear someone on "the other end" of the system had manually changed the status. There apparently was a Supreme Court case late last year that gave HHS (and so ICE) great leeway in cancelling student visas, without judicial oversight. SEE https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/nri/us-canada-news/us-supreme-court-upholds-discretionary-revocation-of-visa-applications/articleshow/116237893.cms

As far as I can tell, some of the ICE actions were "legal" in that the students in question had overstayed - some by quite a long time. This still should just get them put on a flight to their own country, not sent to a gulag for months-to-years. That's just wrong in every sense of the meaning of "wrong."

Here is the latest I find, generically, about students being "disappeared" - https://www.cnn.com/2025/03/31/us/what-we-know-college-activists-immigration-hnk/index.html

All employees at federal agency supporting museums and libraries put on administrative leave - https://www.cbsnews.com/news/imls-museums-libraries-administrative-leave/

 
Judge delays Trump administration's move to end Temporary Protected Status for Venezuelans -  A federal judge in California on Monday agreed to delay the Trump administration's move to terminate the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) program that currently shields roughly 350,000 Venezuelan migrants from deportation. Under a decision announced by Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem in February, these migrants were slated to lose their government-issued work permits and deportation protections next week, on April 7. But in a scathing decision on Monday, U.S. District Court Judge Edward Chen ruled in favor of TPS holders who filed a lawsuit against Noem's decision and postponed her action until he adjudicates the merits of the case.  Chen called Noem's decision "unprecedented," noting that the U.S. government had never before abruptly terminated a TPS program without a significant wind-down period. He said the move appeared to be "predicated on negative stereotypes" about Venezuelans, citing references in Noem's order about alleged gang members from Venezuela entering the U.S. and Venezuelan migrants straining resources in American communities.  "(T)he Court finds that the Secretary's action threatens to: inflict irreparable harm on hundreds of thousands of persons whose lives, families, and livelihoods will be severely disrupted, cost the United States billions in economic activity, and injure public health and safety in communities throughout the United States," Chen wrote in his ruling.  https://www.cbsnews.com/news/judge-delays-ending-temporary-protected-status-for-venezuelans/


 
The 9th Circuit has denied the government’s request to enforce its transgender military ban.  https://watermarkonline.com/2025/03/31/second-judge-blocks-trumps-anti-trans-military-ban/


    ‘Egregious conduct’: Boston judge finds ICE agent in contempt of court after man detained mid-trial - A Boston judge on Monday dismissed the criminal case against a man who was detained mid-trial by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, finding a federal agent involved in the arrest in contempt of court over “egregious conduct.” Wilson Martell-Lebron appeared Thursday in Boston’s Edward W. Brooke Courthouse for the first day of his trial on charges that he provided false information on a license application, The Boston Globe reported. Defense attorney Murat Erkan told the newspaper that plainclothes ICE agents detained Martell-Lebron as he left the court, placed him in an unmarked SUV, and drove away. Video shared with Boston 25 News showed the moments after Martell-Lebron was taken into custody.

On Monday, Boston Municipal Court Judge Mark Summerville accused ICE of “obstructing justice.” He also found that ICE agent Brian Sullivan “conspired in a premeditated manner” to take Martell-Lebron into custody and not return him to court. Summerville alleged that Sullivan “intentionally” and “aggregiously” violated the rights of Martell-Lebron that are protected by the 6th and 14th amendments of the U.S. Constitution, finding him in contempt of court. “I find that this court cannot trust ICE to return the defendant back to court. I don’t find that they’re credible,” Summerville said. “I have no confidence in ICE, no matter what they told the Commonwealth, that they would ever bring this defendant into court.”

In finding Sullivan in contempt of court, Summerville referred the matter to the Suffolk District Attorney’s Office and left it up to the DA’s office to determine whether Sullivan would face charges. “We’ll see how serious the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office takes this egregious conduct, and what they do with it, and whether any investigation does go forward, and whether any prosecution goes forward,” Summerville said. “It’s out of my hands now.” Summerville also dismissed the case against Martell-Lebron, citing prosecutorial misconduct. “I believe that this case is necessary to deter this type of misconduct in the future and to deter this type of misconduct from the Commonwealth team, the prosecution team,” Summerville stated. “I find that ICE Agent Brian Sullivan was a member of the prosecution team.” More at https://www.yahoo.com/news/egregious-conduct-boston-judge-finds-190744108.html