First Amendment and Boobs

Progressive leftist. Armchair scientist. Hand hygiene, ventilation, HEPA, N95s for vulnerable. Non-N95 masks and SD placebo against aerosol. #Marianne2024

[First Amendment and Boobs @xman592]

I'm a so-called "covid centrist". Here are my views:

- Vaccines work tremendously well to prevent severe disease and death, and boosters work to prevent it in ages 60 and over

- Non-N95 masks are only marginally effective in reducing spread, N95s much better to protect wearer

[Matt Duss @mattduss]

We need a new US foreign policy that promotes peace and solidarity.

My conversation with @ezraklein https://t.co/EZQIm20yJ7 via @NYTOpinion

[Danny (Dennis) Citrinowicz ,داني سيترينوفيتش @citrinowicz]

"We Created a Monster"

Iran’s reckless behavior over the last 24 hours, including its threat to attack Israel if Israel strikes Beirut, is a direct consequence of how the recent war ended.

Tehran now feels far more confident in its position, believing it successfully withstood military pressure from what it views as the two most powerful militaries in the world: the United States and Israel.

This is not a temporary spike in rhetoric. It is part of a broader and more dangerous trend. Iran increasingly sees itself as the patron and protector of its regional proxies, extending what amounts to an informal security umbrella over groups such as Hezbollah and other members of the so-called “Axis of Resistance.” The threat against Israel over Beirut reflects this growing sense of ownership and responsibility for its partners across the region.

More importantly, this is further evidence of a profound shift in Iran’s decision-making process following the death of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. For decades, Khamenei was fundamentally cautious when it came to the direct use of Iranian military power, particularly when the risk of confrontation with the United States was involved. That restraint appears to be fading.

We are entering a new era in which Tehran feels stronger, more secure, and increasingly confident in the credibility of its deterrence. Iranian leaders now appear to believe that their willingness to absorb military pressure and survive it, has enhanced rather than weakened their strategic position.

The result is a more assertive Iran, a more dangerous Middle East, and a growing risk that future crises will escalate faster and further than anyone anticipated.

#iran
#IranWar‌

[Julian Andreone @JulianAndreone]

Party affiliation doesn’t matter anymore. Start designating politicians as either (C) for corporatist or (P) for populist.

[First Amendment and Boobs @xman592]

@j_g_allen I don't necessarily agree with the idea of "mildly PCR positive" being an idiotic concept.

That's the problem with raw PCR results-it doesn't distinguish between high and low viral loads.

Additionally, "mild PCR positive" is a real concept-it means "high cycle count".

[Bernie Sanders @BernieSanders]

In the United States we need hundreds of new hospitals and health clinics.

We need thousands of new child care centers.

We need millions of new units of affordable housing.

We do NOT need to spend another $500 billion on the military for endless wars.

[David Sirota @davidsirota]

He was a sundowning octogenarian who was physically incapable of communicating or selling those policies — writing that out of the story & pretending his unpopularity was because of a subset of popular policies not his personal shortcomings is deliberately dishonest & pathetic.

I’m hardly a Biden defender — but attributing his political failures to the handful of majoritarian economic policies that he never communicated is just really deceptive — and you know it’s deceptive, which makes it worse. Just stop.

[Jason Hickel @jasonhickel]

New data shows *extremely* strong opposition to US foreign military bases.

The vast majority of people around the world are opposed to the US having military bases in their country. From the Democracy Perception Index 2026.

[First Amendment and Boobs @xman592]

@mattduss The thing is, Hegseth is actually correct that Iran didn't give up its nuclear ambitions after Midnight Hammer.

They gave them up in 2003, 22 years BEFORE Midnight Hammer.

[Bernie Sanders @BernieSanders]

The function of a rational healthcare system is NOT to provide huge profits to insurance companies.

It is to guarantee healthcare to all as a human right.

We must no longer be the only major country without universal healthcare.

We must pass Medicare for All.

[Aaron Regunberg @AaronRegunberg]

They’re saying the country elected a strongman who promised to tear down our institutions because a critical mass of Americans no longer believed in our institutions. Obama bailing out banks and letting corporations run half his admin probably contributed to that loss of faith.

[Ian Copeland, PhD @IanCopeland5]

But that is not likely to happen.

Viruses with high mortality rates and low transmissibility—like hantavirus—typically do not cause pandemics.

There is a reason we all aren't dying from Ebola right now...

[Saikat Chakrabarti @saikatc]

Universal healthcare, universal childcare, ending corp money in politics, banning congressional stock trading, cutting military budget are all popular ideas.

But if the current Dem Party wins a trifecta, we still won't get them.

That is why we have to change the party.

[Infectious Disease Ethics @ID_ethics]

😷🏥What is the effect of stopping hospital mask mandates?

"Using a robust quasi-experimental approach, we found no evidence that removal of a staff/visitor mask-wearing policy had a significant effect on the rate of hospital-acquired SARS-CoV-2"

https://t.co/kKw1rnUDFO

[Quincy Institute @QuincyInst]

"Many Americans have reached a stark conclusion: the cost of primacy is no longer sustainable & no longer serves US interests. A strategy that depends on military dominance everywhere, all the time, inevitably means being at war somewhere, all the time." -@tparsi in @RStatecraft

[Stephen Wertheim @stephenwertheim]

Some transatlanticists argued for decades that the United States had to dominate Europen security so that it could project military power in the greater Middle East. Now that chicken is coming home to roost.

[Branko Marcetic @BMarchetich]

The existence of this piece - published by one of Israel's most celebrated columnists, in maybe its most well-known liberal paper - will simply not compute for many people, who have been relentlessly told that Zionism is Judaism, and that any criticism of it is inherently bigoted

[Dylan Williams @dylanotes]

This has been the consistent assessment of U.S. and allied intelligence agencies for two decades, but if Fox News wants to gussy it up so it hits harder with its right-leaning audience, have at it.

[Sam Haselby @samhaselby]

The MSNBC historians got MAGA wrong too. The Resistance Historians took a prominent role "explaining" MAGA. Their theory, racism is its distinguishing feature, is at odds with Tr*mp '24 putting together the most multiracial GOP coalition in at least 60 years.

[Ken Klippenstein @kenklippenstein]

How is Marjorie Taylor Greene less of a sucker than the most powerful Democrat in the country
https://t.co/cl3LDNX9tM