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Asia Russell

@asia-ilse.bsky.social
624 followers 93 following 767 posts

Global HIV/AIDS, health advocacy and policy. Fighting for health justice and access to medicines for all. Executive Director @HealthGAP

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Asia Russell @asia-ilse.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Those protesting are American heroes fighting his depraved violent attack on multiracial democracy. May Roberts know no peace www.nytimes.com/2026/10/01/u...
nytimes.com
John Roberts Retreated to His Island. Supreme Court Critics Found Him. (Gift Article)
After decades of potlucks and paddle-boarding on Maine’s midcoast, rising anger and protests have left the Supreme Court’s chief justice more isolated than ever.
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Asia Russell @asia-ilse.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
public health nerds getting nerdy about an ambitious 8-point plan to use their power to save lives and flatten health inequities. MORE OF THIS
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Asia Russell @asia-ilse.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
it is illegal, that is why they are calling it illegal www.gao.gov/blog/what-po... He is violating the law and shredding separation of powers, and reporting like this enables it, @npr.org
gao.gov
What is a “Pocket Rescission” and is It Legal?
You may have heard of a “pocket veto,” but maybe not a “pocket rescission.” In both cases, timing is key. But unlike pocket vetoes, pocket rescissions aren’t allowed. As the end of the fiscal year app...
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Asia Russell @asia-ilse.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
It’s not ’contested’ it’s ILLEGAL. (That’s why it’s rare.) As determined by the GAO no less Fix your shit, Washington Post
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Asia Russell @asia-ilse.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
there is so much to say here, first RFK Jr stealing $17 million for a massive security detail from an office to flatten inequities in health outcomes among Black and Brown people probably rings a bell, right? (gift link) www.wsj.com/politics/pol...
wsj.com
Exclusive | RFK Jr.’s Enhanced Security Was Funded With Money From Minority Health Office
The cost of the health secretary’s security grew from roughly $10 million in fiscal year 2025 to $17 million in fiscal year 2026.
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Asia Russell @asia-ilse.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Musk is guilty of grave crimes: mass murder by disrupting & eliminating lifesaving US global health programs. the next Congress boldly dragging Musk is NON NEGOTIABLE: for building people power, shifting Overton window back, & designing the next global aid program in the interest of humanity
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Asia Russell @asia-ilse.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
ICE is a machine of and for cruel and unusual punishment.
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Asia Russell @asia-ilse.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
🎯 people want the answer to be 'they calmly asked not to be killed, using evidence to back up their points' as the reason something was won (eg, why in 2003 George W. Bush started PEPFAR), eliminating any analysis of the impact of power wielded by movements of directly impacted communities
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Asia Russell @asia-ilse.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
This administration seems to relish seeing people suffer the effects of denial of healthcare, whether in the U.S. or halfway around the world. Good news is, the rest of the world doesn't. In fact, normal people love the right to health, not its obliteration
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Asia Russell @asia-ilse.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Collin's chronic complicity makes so much more sense now that there is this breaking news that she a puppet, in debt to Trump because of his protection. So when she pledges to "stand up to Russell Vought" >>
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Asia Russell @asia-ilse.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
Trump and Miller are disappearing people in the United States. We now have black sites abroad and here at home, created in our name. Habeas corpus is for all people in this country, doesn't matter your immigration status, that's the entire point of this right
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Asia Russell @asia-ilse.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
Mr Garcés Perez, shot yesterday in Austin, is being tortured in Pearsall--there is still a *bullet in his back* and he is being denied care for his pain and access to his family forever, abolish ICE www.nytimes.com/2026/09/21/u...
nytimes.com
ICE Agents Encountered Austin Man by Chance Before Shooting Him
The shooting prompted growing calls for transparency as state and local officials sought the release of video footage.
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Asia Russell @asia-ilse.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
but what took them so long? www.nytimes.com/live/2026/09...
nytimes.com
Trump Live Updates: White House TV Pool Suspends Trump Coverage After CNN Ban (Gift Article)
CNN, MS NOW and Politico said they would sue to regain access to the White House. They argued in a joint statement that President Trump’s decision to block them violates the First Amendment.
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Asia Russell @asia-ilse.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
impeach Russell Vought he is dead set on lawlessly slashing appropriated science funding and doling out whatever crumbs remain according to his racist, Trump worshipping, Christian zealot views www.nytimes.com/2026/09/20/s...
nytimes.com
White House Moves to Take Control of N.I.H. Grants (Gift Article)
Federal officials are drafting an executive order that would place grants under review by an outside panel, the latest effort to redirect billions of dollars in research spending.
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Asia Russell @asia-ilse.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
URGENT: Fight back against new attacks on queer and HIV groups in Türkiye. Coordinated raids across the country, 160 people targeted, 64 detained, ~200 websites blocked 🚨 Join our emergency protest 🚨 Friday Sept 18, 9 AM, 2525 Massachusetts Ave NW at the Embassy of Türkiye in Washington, DC
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Asia Russell @asia-ilse.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
This is a good vision and needs to be at the heart of what candidates have to offer when asked, ‘what should Reconstruction include?’ People are hungry for leaders who will take big swings for justice and accountability and deterrence of future would-be fascists
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Asia Russell @asia-ilse.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
They are murderers and torturers: from bombing Venezuelan fishermen to denying cancer treatment to people unlawfully detained in US ICE concentration camps to robbing kids of their HIV treatment across sub Saharan African countries The next administration must lead with one policy: no mercy
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Reposted by Asia Russell
Kathleen Kelly @kathleenkellymusic.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
“Neutral”? She always espoused love of neighbor, loving who you love, and non-judgement of others, consistently and vociferously. Being universally loved and admired doesn’t mean she was “neutral.”
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Asia Russell @asia-ilse.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
I think the question is how was an AIDS activist who supported Black lives, funded COVID vaccine research, loved queer and trans people and sex workers also beloved by conservative cruel bigots? No one with a moral compass like hers is ever ‘neutral’ come the fuck on
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Reposted by Asia Russell
Rahawa Haile @rahawahaile.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
Appalachia losing Dolly while still having to endure JD Vance feels like such a cruel joke.
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Asia Russell @asia-ilse.bsky.social · 24/08/2026
The vaccines he refers to aren't available for individual administration nor will they likely be--because there is no reason to and one million reasons not to. He and RFK Jr want parents to freak out, ask for non-existent separate shots and then reject vaccination
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Asia Russell @asia-ilse.bsky.social · 27/07/2026
NOW: press conference opens #AIDS2026. Precipitous funding cut of 2.1 billion USD, means more deaths, more infections. Scientific breakthroughs like long acting prevention will continue to be kept out of reach. And Trump’s State Department is refusing to spend piles of appropriated HIV funding
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Asia Russell @asia-ilse.bsky.social · 26/07/2026
PSA: we changed the time for our activist meeting at #AIDS2026 today! Because, activism We will now start at 4:30 PM
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Asia Russell @asia-ilse.bsky.social · 26/07/2026
NEWS: It's day 1 of #AIDS2026 in Rio, its the most important scientific AIDS conference, and the Trump Administration organized a conference session about its "America First Global Health Strategy" so activists from Haiti, the US, and South Africa zapped it healthgap.org/press/activi...
healthgap.org
Activists Disrupt U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator Jeff Graham at International AIDS Conference, Protesting Trump’s Chokehold on Congressionally Appropriated HIV Funding, Mass Closure of Key Population Pr...
PRESS STATEMENTNew Data Show Trump and Rubio Responsible for Severe Deterioration in Program Outcomes, Including HIV Treatment Cut for 77,163 Children, 42% Reduction in PrEP Enrollment, Closure of 170...
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Asia Russell @asia-ilse.bsky.social · 24/07/2026
For once the Times eliminated their headline exonerative tense and accidentally stated something plainly! Indeed CDC's inaction and silence and funding cuts surely have expanded the cyclospora outbreak, lmao www.nytimes.com/2026/07/24/w...
nytimes.com
C.D.C. Expands Cyclospora Outbreak Linked to Iceberg Lettuce to Nine States
Illinois, Kansas, Oklahoma and Pennsylvania now join Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky and West Virginia in cyclospora outbreak linked to iceberg lettuce.
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Asia Russell @asia-ilse.bsky.social · 24/07/2026
I honestly believe that when he says 'no one has died' what he means is 'no one who is a person in my eyes has died,' meaning, no one who is from Europe, no one who is white. Given his anti Black racism and embrace of eugenics, lists of names don't matter. And she should have done her homework
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Asia Russell @asia-ilse.bsky.social · 24/07/2026
Read our analysis of Merck's deal: healthgap.org/press/activi... and quotes from us in STAT News today
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Asia Russell @asia-ilse.bsky.social · 24/07/2026
Do they realize how credulous, inaccurate and simpering they are and seem? I almost hope it's a calculated move because otherwise...
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Asia Russell @asia-ilse.bsky.social · 24/07/2026
🎯
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Asia Russell @asia-ilse.bsky.social · 24/07/2026
What a craven, murderous liar. Along with Pete Marocco, Marco Rubio and Russ Vought-- Here is just one community for whom their lawless and depraved attacks on global health funding have slashed life saving programs: children exposed to HIV www.vox.com/future-perfe...
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Asia Russell @asia-ilse.bsky.social · 24/07/2026
Highly recommend Derek's analysis! It's so important to remember why the Administration is attacking science, because this helps us structure our responses accordingly. They want to steal this money, the human consequence means less than nothing to them, and we must not allow them to take it
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Asia Russell @asia-ilse.bsky.social · 24/07/2026
The International AIDS Conference is one time every two years the world focuses on HIV science & policy--and #AIDS2026 comes at a time of unprecedented crises. Are you an activist planning to be in Rio de Janeiro for #AIDS2026? Please join comrades for an activist meeting, Jul 26, 4-6 PM ✊🔥
Will you be at AIDS2026?

Join Health GAP, EANNASO, GHP Corp., ABIA and other  comrades for an activist meeting as AIDS 2026 kicks off. We will be making plans together so we can advance demands around treatment, prevention, human rights,  funding and more. 
Sunday, 4-6 PM, July 26
Location: Hotel Quality Rio de Janeiro, 10 mins by car from Riocentro
Directions: bit.ly/AIDS2026ActivistMeeting
Questions and agenda requests, email: bellinda@healthgap.org
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Asia Russell @asia-ilse.bsky.social · 23/07/2026
$2.6 million in essential HIV prevention commodities (syringes, needles, condoms), in Ukraine were destroyed by Russia on Sunday night: www.telegraph.co.uk/global-healt...
telegraph.co.uk
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Asia Russell @asia-ilse.bsky.social · 23/07/2026
After eviscerating lifesaving foreign aid, Trump is weaponizing State's Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor (DRL) budget to shovel millions to anti queer, anti trans, racist, reactionary hate groups, including in rich countries. Congress has to stop this: www.propublica.org/article/huma...
propublica.org
Afrikaner and Right-Wing European Groups Would Gain From Trump’s New Human Rights Funding
Proposed grant recipients have included a free-speech organization that has fought against bans on “gay conversion therapy” and an Afrikaner group that promotes self-governance.
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Asia Russell @asia-ilse.bsky.social · 23/07/2026
What’s extraordinarily important about this story is…under the current Trump regime, Congress has 2x fully funded this lifesaving AIDS program under budgets signed into law. The money is there—gathering dust. Trump is refusing to spend it. Congress is spineless and people are dying
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Asia Russell @asia-ilse.bsky.social · 15/07/2026
tl;dr: DOGE is shit
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Asia Russell @asia-ilse.bsky.social · 14/07/2026
She is complicit in the broad daylight execution of her constituent today; he bled to death in front of his family.
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Asia Russell @asia-ilse.bsky.social · 14/07/2026
Deadline: 11:59 pm tonight to fight Russ Vought’s tyrannical attack on science and all federal grantmaking. It only takes a few minutes to comment—no less than science is at stake. All the resources you need are online here; www.defendpublichealth.org/campaign/cri...
defendpublichealth.org
Critical action needed: Stop OMB's political review of federal grants | Defend Public Health
A proposed rule from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) seeks to take expert review of federal grants out of the hands of experts and put it into the hands of political appointees. This rule co...
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Asia Russell @asia-ilse.bsky.social · 13/07/2026
When we fight, we win
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Reposted by Asia Russell
Jeremy Yoder says no war @jbyoder.org · 13/07/2026
Holy COW. Text analysis of comments on the OMB rule: overwhelming opposition, overwhelmingly not form letters. (But 9 in 10 comments supporting the rule ARE form responses, LOL) Whatever happens next, folks have stepped up.
Screenshot text: Between May 29 and July 9, roughly 51,000 comments were posted to regulations.gov (and over 200,000 more had been received but not yet published). The verdict on public sentiment is clear and lopsided: about 94 percent oppose the proposed rule and only 6 percent support it, with fewer than one percent marked as unclear. The opposition is overwhelmingly grassroots rather than orchestrated. Form letters make up only about 16 percent of all comments (roughly 8,400 comments across 210 distinct campaigns), and only about one in eight opposing comments came from a form-letter campaign. Support for the rule, by contrast, was almost entirely organized: nearly nine in ten supportive comments (about 2,500) came from a single form-letter campaign. Opponents mostly wrote their own comments; supporters mostly signed the same form-letter.
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Asia Russell @asia-ilse.bsky.social · 13/07/2026
Wow, that's really high, but there is still time to submit, and get this number of opponents up EVEN HIGHER: www.defendpublichealth.org/resource/def...
techpolicy.press
The Public Rejects OMB's Federal Financial Assistance Rule
Tens of thousands of scientists, clinicians, and ordinary citizens warned OMB about putting political appointees in charge of which research gets funded.
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Asia Russell @asia-ilse.bsky.social · 13/07/2026
ICE must be eliminated. This is the most important question for candidates, because 1) it is and 2) it communicates your likely ambition regarding change and renewal for everything else poisoned by this administration: health care, PEPFAR, trans rights, genocide, separation of powers, due process ++
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Asia Russell @asia-ilse.bsky.social · 13/07/2026
Trump has said he wants to "end pediatric HIV" during his administration. He is doing the reverse: he is creating the conditions for a man-made surge in pediatric HIV. 1/
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Asia Russell @asia-ilse.bsky.social · 09/07/2026
-Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, murdered by ICE -Neighbors kidnapped & sent to concentration camps where deaths are piling up -JIm Crow segregationist 'asylum' only for white Afrikaaners who falsify persecution and much more racist hell We have to keep fighting back. www.inquirer.com/opinion/ice-...
inquirer.com
ICE killed Lorenzo Salgado Araujo. They want you to be apathetic. Don’t be. | Will Bunch
Salgado came from Mexico, built the American Dream, sent his sons to college, and was senselessly killed by ICE.
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Asia Russell @asia-ilse.bsky.social · 09/07/2026
I am thrilled !!! & looking forward to celebrating the power of AIDS activism w/ dear comrades at @treatmentactiongroup.org on Oct 15 at their 2026 soirée. Also I am grateful to be recognized as a 2026 honoree. If you've never been, you're in for great time. YOU WILL LEAVE INSPIRED ❤️‍🔥🔥🥳 🥂
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Asia Russell @asia-ilse.bsky.social · 09/07/2026
Trump paid Eswatini's king ~$5.1m in exchange for this unlawful, amoral human trafficking. Dozens of human beings just rotting in Eswatini prisons with no recourse to justice, in our name. 2024 reporting on Eswatini flagged grave human rights violations: www.state.gov/reports/2024...
state.gov
Eswatini - United States Department of State
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Asia Russell @asia-ilse.bsky.social · 07/07/2026
Team building but make it a flagrant, viral mockery of a murderous racist monster Another way to show the emperor has no clothes, plus it’s charming
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Asia Russell @asia-ilse.bsky.social · 04/07/2026
This part was its own separate additional movie, Cabo Verde you gave us so many heart attacks
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Asia Russell @asia-ilse.bsky.social · 02/07/2026
the metaphors are going to keep coming, aren't they
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Reposted by Asia Russell
Southern Sylvs 🍉 she/her @southernsylvs.bsky.social · 01/07/2026
"Trans kids are taking our children's college spots" is the new "Black kids are taking pur children's college spots." Scratch a transphobe, find a racist. Race is gendered, and gender is racialized. Soc 101.
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