Federal mRNA funding cut is ‘most dangerous public health decision’ ever, expert says
Many public health experts and scientists say they are stunned by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr’s decision to cancel nearly half a billion dollars in federal funding for future vaccine development. MRNA technology was central in the battle against COVID and can be developed more quickly than traditional vaccines. Geoff Bennett discussed the implications with Dr. Michael Osterholm.The latest move comes after the Trump administration already withdrew a multimillion-dollar contract with the biotech company Moderna to develop a bird flu vaccine using what's known as mRNA technology; mRNA vaccines work by using a single strand of genetic code to create a fragment of a virus that sets off the body's immune response.
US air force denies early retirement for transgender service members
The US air force is denying early retirement to all transgender service members with 15-18 years of military service, opting instead to force them out with no retirement benefits, according to a memo seen by Reuters.These longer-serving transgender service members will have the same choice as more junior ones: quit or be forced out, with corresponding lump-sum payments as they walk out the door, the 4 August memo says.
The move is the latest escalation by Donald Trump’s administration as it seeks to bar transgender people from joining the US military and remove all who are serving. The Pentagon says transgender people are medically unfit, something civil rights activists say is untrue and constitutes illegal discrimination.
US air force denies early retirement for transgender service members
Move targets trans air force members with 15-18 years of service and forces them out of US military with no benefitsGuardian staff reporter (The Guardian)
Multiple service members had already been approved for early retirement, but those approvals were rescinded, advocates say. An air force spokesperson said a subset of applications were “prematurely approved”.”It’s devastating,” said Shannon Minter of the National Center for LGBTQ Rights. “This is just betrayal of a direct commitment made to these service members.“
Record UK wildfires have burned an area twice the size of Glasgow in 2025
Analysis: Record UK wildfires have burned an area twice the size of Glasgow in 2025 - Carbon Brief
Wildfires have scorched more than 40,000 hectares of land so far this year across the UK – an area more than twice the size of the Scottish city of Glasgow.Carbon Brief Staff (Carbon Brief)
GOP's Texas map has Austin residents sharing district with rural Texans 300 miles away
As Texas Republicans try to muscle a rare mid-decade redistricting bill through the Legislature to help Republicans gain seats in Congress -- at President Donald Trump's request -- residents in Austin, the state capital, could find themselves sharing a district with rural Texans more than 300 miles away.
The proposed map chops up Central Texas' 37th Congressional District, which is currently represented by Democrat Rep. Lloyd Doggett, will be consumed by four neighboring districts, three of which Republicans now hold.
One of those portions of the Austin-area district was drawn to be part of the 11th District that Republican Rep. August Pfluger represents, which stretches into rural Ector County, about 20 miles away from the New Mexico border.
GOP's Texas map has Austin residents sharing district with rural Texans 300 miles away
It would "suppress the votes of Black and brown Austinites," one Democrat said.Fritz Farrow (ABC News)
StarFive VisionFive 2 Lite is a cheap(er) RISC-V single-board computer (crowdfunding)
The VisionFive 2 Lite is a credit card-sized single-board computer (SBC) that looks a lot like a Raspberry Pi. But it’s actually a smaller, cheaper, and less powerful version of the VisionFive 2 RISC-V SBC that launched a few years ago.
The new model has a slower version of the same processor and loses a few ports and connectors, but picks up optional support for onboard WiFi and Bluetooth. […]
#crowdfunding #riscV #sbc #sifive #starfive #starfiveVisionfive2Lite
Read more: liliputing.com/starfive-vision…
#RISCV small #SBC single board computer #VisionFive2 #visionfive2lite
kickstarter.com/projects/starf…
'Largest civilian flotilla in history' to set sail for Gaza
Activists from 44 countries plan to launch the largest civilian flotilla in history at the end of August in an effort to break Israel’s siege on Gaza and deliver humanitarian aid to the starving population of the enclave.The Global Sumud Flotilla, along with three allied initiatives, will send dozens of boats from Spanish ports on 31 August and Tunisian ports on 4 September, aiming to establish a humanitarian corridor and confront what organizers call Israel’s genocide against Palestinians.
“This summer, dozens of boats, both large and small, will set sail from ports across the world, converging on Gaza in the largest civilian flotilla of its kind in history,” said organizer Haifa Mansouri at a press conference in Tunis hosted by the Joint Action Coordination for Palestine.
The mission brings together four groups: the Maghreb Sumud Flotilla, the Global Movement to Gaza, the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, and Sumud Nusantara.
'Largest civilian flotilla in history' to set sail for Gaza
Organizers say the mission aims to open a sea route to Gaza after repeated Israeli seizures of civilian aid vessels in international watersthecradle.co
Midnitte
in reply to greenfire • • •Similar to Colbert's joke, this is like saying we're going to be explicitly using a Nokia Actionman, instead of a Samsung Z Fold 7.
Why would you deliberately cut science off at the knees for a technology that has proven itself (after decades of research) during a global pandemic?
Just compare the mRNA covid vaccines versus the non-mRNA covid vaccine - the older technology is just an awful product in comparison.
BedSharkPal
in reply to greenfire • • •