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MASmith

@masmith.bsky.social
252 followers 604 following 230 posts

Mostly here for renewable energy and public health news/insights, and appreciative of those on this site who share their expertise. Also enjoy the nature photography. Views are my own.

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Reposted by MASmith
Bruce Arthur @brucearthur.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Mike Tomlin's Minecraft tour was charming, fascinating, and a great reminder: we need hobbies as much as we ever have. www.thestar.com/sports/nfl/m...
thestar.com
Bruce Arthur: Minecraft might not have been franchise-building for Mike Tomlin but it has been family-building
The world is a lot at the moment, Bruce Arthur writes, and a good hobby is an antidote.
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Microbetv @microbetv.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
What was measles like before the vaccine? Dr Paul Offit and Vincent discuss RFK Jr.’s claim that children are receiving too many vaccines too soon. From BTN 111: Why Is RFK Jr ignoring measles outbreaks?
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MASmith @masmith.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
"Thirteen people in nine states have been sickened in the E. coli outbreak, including eight who were hospitalized and three who developed hemolytic uremic syndrome, a potentially serious complication of E. coli infection that presents with bloody diarrhea and fever" and can lead to kidney failure
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Physicians for a Healthy Democracy @physiciandemocracy.medsky.social · 26/09/2026
abcnews.com/news/story/c...
abcnews.com
E. coli outbreak linked to raw milk cheese brand: CDC, FDA
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are investigating a multistate outbreak of E. coli infections.
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Dr Paul Dorfman @drpauldorfman.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
UN chief says 'big oil' treats atmosphere as open sewer. #climate www.afp.com/en/un-chief-...
afp.com
UN chief says 'Big Oil' treats atmosphere as open sewer
Major global oil companies are treating the atmosphere like an "open sewer," the outgoing United Nations chief Antonio Guterres said Tuesday in a withering attack on the energy...
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MASmith @masmith.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
Wdz
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Anne Applebaum @anneapplebaum.wsocial.eu · 14/09/2026
Your regular reminder: If the Russians stop fighting, the war ends. If the Ukrainians stop fighting, their land will be occupied, their leaders will be killed, their history and language will be erased, their children will be kidnapped to serve Russia.
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Kevin M. Kruse @kevinmkruse.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
This guy is pretty damn good at this
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News for 38 Year Olds @newsfor38yearolds.com · 23/08/2026
He was waiting for his son to return from the USS Lincoln. Then Border Patrol arrested him. PBS News www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/he-was-… SUBSCRIBE: www.pbs.org/newshour/newsletters
pbs.org
He was waiting for his son to return from the USS Lincoln. Then Border Patrol arrested him.
PBS News
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Chris⚖️Justice @chrisjustice01.bsky.social · 22/08/2026
💥 ICE drag mom & teen daughter out of hospital room—in middle of being treated after car accident. Still wearing hospital gowns. Both victims of car collusion, with asylum case pending in good standing & valid work permit. Grace Calero 39, & Giulianna Carriel 19, from Ecuador.
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Philipp Markolin @philippmarkolin.eurosky.social · 30/07/2026
Given the recent COVID-19 origins revival and Fauci witchhunt, just a reminder that I have written a book that answers to the best of our knowledge the question; and dismantles the many disinformation campaigns around the various lab leak narratives. Free access: open.substack.com/pub/protagon...
open.substack.com
Lab Leak Fever
The COVID-19 Origin Theory that Sabotaged Science and Society
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Microbetv @microbetv.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
“The anti-vaccine movement is successful because their metric of success is children suffering,, being hospitalized and dying”- Paul Offit Don’t miss Beyond the Noise 109:: Trump & RFK Jr’s Vaccine Order Puts Children At Risk @pauloffit.bsky.social
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Jan Rosenow @janrosenow.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
Europe led major markets on EV sales in H1 2026, up 30% year on year. EVs are now 30%+ of EU sales, 38% in the UK. But the real story is global. Outside the major markets, sales rose ~75%. Latin America more than doubled. India +90%. Colombia +300%. The centre of gravity is shifting. Chart: IEA
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The American Academy of Pediatrics @ameracadpeds.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
A statement from AAP President Dr. Andrew Racine on today’s executive order on U.S. childhood vaccines: www.aap.org/en/news-room...
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Timothy Caulfield @caulfieldtim.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
"Extensive testing is required for every vaccine, and research shows that getting multiple vaccines at the same time is safe. There is no medical reason to delay or space out childhood immunizations." www.aap.org/en/news-room... via @aapfactcheck.bsky.social @aapor.bsky.social
aap.org
Fact Checked: Receiving Multiple Vaccines Does Not Overwhelm a Child’s Immune System
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Kathleen Bachynski @bachynski.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
The combined MMR vaccine, developed by Dr. Maurice Hilleman in 1971, “is more convenient for patients, and this convenience actually saves lives. Fewer injections translate as fewer missed doses, and therefore more protection in a shorter time. The MMR vaccine has saved millions of lives worldwide.”
si.edu
Measles, Mumps, and Rubella Vaccines | Smithsonian Institution
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Kristian G. Andersen @kgandersen.bsky.social · 08/08/2026
"Accusing him of crimes and deception wasn’t enough; the release of the diary was meant to inflict public humiliation on him". Very good article and spot on. www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
theatlantic.com
Why MAGA Is So Obsessed With Fauci
In the aftermath of pandemics, people either try to forget them or find others to blame for them.
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MASmith @masmith.bsky.social · 02/08/2026
"Civil War is no name for a war waged by slaveholding traitors against the United States to hold Black Americans in human bondage. Now, 165 years since the war’s first shots, we should be honest about how we hold its memory." www.nytimes.com/2026/08/02/o...
nytimes.com
Opinion | The ‘Civil War’ Is a Lie. Let’s Call It the ‘Slaveholders’ Rebellion’ Again. (Gift Article)
To face our own history, we must be honest about it.
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MASmith @masmith.bsky.social · 01/08/2026
wapo.st/4yR8j5X A sad story for the workers in the Conn Selmer factory in Eastlake Ohio.
wapo.st
The last day of an American factory
A Trump donor called for an end to offshoring. Then his company moved much of this plant’s work to China.
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Amy Maxmen, PhD @amymaxmen.bsky.social · 30/07/2026
The lab theory is v hard to reconcile w/evidence: So, two (2 lineages initially) infected WIV researchers didn't infect anyone in their community or around WIV (invisible masks?). They went to the market to pet (?) mammals, left traces of SARS2, coughed on people. Then put invisible? masks back on.
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Maggie Fox @maggiefox.bsky.social · 30/07/2026
He liked talking to the media long before it was glamorous. Long before it was fun. Long before it got him the attention of movie stars. open.substack.com/pub/maggiefo...
open.substack.com
Why I Always Trusted Tony Fauci
Hint: He never lied to me
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MASmith @masmith.bsky.social · 30/07/2026
Good NPR article on the question of Animal spillover vs Lab leak for SARS-CoV-2 origin, and the answer: those with the greatest understanding of the epidemiology and genetics of SARS-CoV-2 overwhelmingly favor spillover because the evidence so uniformly and compellingly points to a spillover process
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MASmith @masmith.bsky.social · 29/07/2026
"The reality is that lab leak truthers and conspiracy theorists have failed in 6 years to find a shred of evidence to support their belief in a lab leak, or even to formulate a scientific lab leak theory that is consistent with and not contradicted by the evidence we already have." (3/3)
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MASmith @masmith.bsky.social · 29/07/2026
"They show a public health servant thrown into a position of large responsibility and public profile, who often acted in a very nuanced, measured way and in accordance with his knowledge, roles and responsibilities." (2/3)
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MASmith @masmith.bsky.social · 29/07/2026
From Philipp Markolin on the run up to the Senate hearings for Dr. Fauci: "TL;DR. Paul got nothing. Less than nothing, actually the documents he provided ... are much more exculpatory than incriminating to Dr. Anthony Fauci." (1/3) open.substack.com/pub/protagon...
open.substack.com
The Fauci diaries are a predictable bust
Rand Paul desperately applies selective disclosure methods in his latest attempt to sustain lab leak fan fiction for personal gain
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MASmith @masmith.bsky.social · 28/07/2026
Experiences vary, but our Ioniq 6 has been a great car for us.
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Adam Sawyer @adamjst.bsky.social · 27/07/2026
“If immigration hadn't picked up my brother, my sister-in-law would still be alive, and the children wouldn't be going through this sorrow,” he said. “Unfortunately, immigration — the [U.S.] government — doesn't see that. It makes no difference to them.” www.stlpr.org/law-order/20...
stlpr.org
Overland couple shot dead in Guatemala after local ICE stop led to deportations
The couple’s 14-month-old daughter was found crying beside her mother’s body in a sugarcane field last week, according to Guatemalan authorities and media.
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MASmith @masmith.bsky.social · 27/07/2026
Magnolias were around in the time of dinosaurs & predated bees by many millions of years. A story from Smithsonian Gardens explains the role of beetles in pollination & the distinctive timing of the carpels being receptive to pollen & the stamen releasing pollen. (2/2) gardens.si.edu/learn/blog/t...
gardens.si.edu
The Botany of Magnolias - Smithsonian Gardens
At the beginning of each year, as the cold of winter ends and the days start to slowly get warmer, we celebrate the coming of spring with one of the first
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MASmith @masmith.bsky.social · 27/07/2026
A Southern Magnolia flower blooming today at Brookside Garden. The magnolias have a fascinating pollination strategy that involves beetles. The distinctive top and bottom portion of the central “receptacle” of the flower are the female (carpels) and the male parts (stamens), respectively. (1/2)
Large white southern magnolia flower with dark green leaves in back ground. In center of flower are the carpels (female reproductive parts) at the top of the central receptacle and at the bottom are the stamen (male reproductive parts)
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Admirable Women @admirablewomen.bsky.social · 26/07/2026
Chemist & X-ray crystallographer Rosalind Franklin's meticulous research was instrumental in uncovering DNA's molecular structure. Most famous for her role in the DNA double helix discovery, her work also revolutionized our understanding of viruses & coal. She was born #OTD in 1920. #WomenInSTEM 🧵
A classic, black-and-white studio portrait of a young Dr. Rosalind Franklin (1920–1958), the pioneering British chemist and X-ray crystallographer whose data was foundational to uncovering the double-helix structure of DNA. Captured from the chest up, Franklin sits in a three-quarter pose, her body angled slightly toward the left while her gaze directly meets the viewer. She possesses a calm, intelligent, and subtly enigmatic expression, with her dark hair neatly parted on the side and styled back away from her face. She wears a dark, long-sleeved button-down blouse with structured shoulders, a sharp collar, and fabric buttons down the front placket. The background is a soft, minimalist studio gradient of neutral grays that creates a gentle vignette effect, casting a soft light on the right side of her face. The composition is clean, formal, and balanced, evoking a mood of quiet determination, dignity, and brilliant intellectual poise characteristic of the early 20th-century scientific vanguard.
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MASmith @masmith.bsky.social · 25/07/2026
Rare genetic disease. Desperate family. Ambitious scientists. A little girl's hope for a normal life: a cutting-edge gene therapy. She died within a week. No one told the world. Important lessons about how hope for a miracle can go tragically wrong. Science | AAAS www.science.org/content/arti...
science.org
Four takeaways from our investigation into a hidden gene-editing death
Girl’s death in China raises questions about the safety and cost of gene therapy, China’s biotech push, and scientific publishing practices
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MASmith @masmith.bsky.social · 12/06/2026
A pediatrician for nearly 50 years in Florida, Dr. Walker saw kids die of measles encephalitis and others in iron lungs from polio. He gave vaccines free to those who couldn't pay. A good man, and a living memory worth listening to. wapo.st/4xnOCSl
wapo.st
Opinion | The conversation a 98-year-old retired physician never expected to have
Vaccine misinformation isn’t new. These tried-and-true methods work to combat it.
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MASmith @masmith.bsky.social · 07/06/2026
For more information, see NYT article from earlier this week that ends with this quote: "It doesn’t feel like anybody is watching out for retail investors or the common person anymore. It feels like the system is rigged against us." www.nytimes.com/2026/06/05/t...
nytimes.com
SpaceX Is About to Be in Your 401(k) Whether You Like It or Not
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MASmith @masmith.bsky.social · 07/06/2026
The SpaceX IPO is structured to transfer wealth from retirement savings & investment accounts of ordinary people to wealthy insiders. The institutional actors best positioned to protect the public, including regulators, are MIA, having financial or political reasons to stay quiet & go along. 8/8
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MASmith @masmith.bsky.social · 07/06/2026
On governance: public shareholders in SpaceX will have no meaningful ability to influence the company. The dual-class share structure gives Musk overwhelming voting control, and he will be effectively impossible to remove as CEO. Money flows in with no possibility for accountability. 7/8
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MASmith @masmith.bsky.social · 07/06/2026
One point to note: the S&P 500 declined to change its rules. It kept its existing standards: profitability required, 1-year seasoning required. S&P 500 index funds are not affected for at least a year. For those concerned about Nasdaq-100 funds, switching to S&P 500 tracking funds is an option. 6/8
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MASmith @masmith.bsky.social · 07/06/2026
Early SpaceX investors (venture funds, employees, sovereign wealth vehicles) have held illiquid shares for years. The IPO, amplified by forced index buying, is their exit. Insiders can begin selling soon after the IPO. Our 401(k)s provide the liquidity that makes that exit possible. 5/8
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MASmith @masmith.bsky.social · 07/06/2026
On the SpaceX balance sheet: Musk merged his money-losing AI venture xAI into profitable SpaceX months before the IPO, absorbing $6.4 billion in xAI losses in 2025 alone. Public investors will now cover xAI debt through the IPO. 4/8
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MASmith @masmith.bsky.social · 07/06/2026
Why would Nasdaq do this? Perhaps because it earns licensing fees based on the total assets under management in funds that track its indexes. More assets means more revenue for Nasdaq. The organization writing the inclusion rules profits directly from the rules it writes. 3/8
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MASmith @masmith.bsky.social · 07/06/2026
Nasdaq changed its rules to fast-track SpaceX into index funds just 15 trading days after listing. This means retirement savings held in Nasdaq-100 tracking funds will be required to buy SpaceX stock. Index fund holders become involuntary participants in supporting Elon Musk and the SpaceX IPO. 2/8
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MASmith @masmith.bsky.social · 07/06/2026
I don’t understand why there isn't more outrage at the SpaceX IPO and the way it is structured to transfer wealth from the 99% of the public toward those who already have the most, with Elon Musk as the primary beneficiary. 🧵 1/8
A cartoon shoing a bridge labelled NASDAQ with a banner for "Your Retirement Savings" with a SpaceX IPO Day 15 toll being collected by an Elon Musk figure with people going through the toll with sacks of money on their back labelled 401(k), IRA, Pension Fund. A sign says "Help Elon Reach $1 Trillion" and another sigh says "S&P 500 Said No".
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MASmith @masmith.bsky.social · 29/05/2026
Everybody Loves Raymond.
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Colette Delawalla, PhD @cdelawalla.bsky.social · 25/05/2026
Powerful piece! www.ms.now/opinion/canc...
ms.now
Opinion | The U.S. is dangerously close to defunding miracles like the one that saved my life
Jenney Bitner: I'm not a scientist or policy expert. But I know that the drug that kept me alive for my children was built on a foundation of public investment.
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Justin Mikulka @justinmikulka.bsky.social · 12/05/2026
@davidfickling.bsky.social laying out the simple math on LNG. "Here’s some back-of-the-napkin math to show why LNG producers should be fearful for their future" And the rest of us who plan to live on this planet should be thankful that the economics of liquid methane don't work anymore
bloomberg.com
Why $70 Should Be the Most Worrying Number for LNG
Here’s some back-of-the-napkin math to show why LNG producers should be fearful for their future, even if the crisis in the Strait of Hormuz hadn’t just knocked a fifth of global supplies offline.
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Josh Cowen @joshcowenmi.bsky.social · 12/05/2026
In his write-up @talkingpointsmemo.com of this convo, @joshtpm.bsky.social called @hcrichardson.bsky.social “generous” and that’s exactly right. Heather had me on in March to talk education politics. She didn’t have to do that. I’m very grateful. The most viewed thing I’ve done. This was great.👇
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Kai Kupferschmidt @kakape.bsky.social · 09/05/2026
“Nearly 150 people from 23 countries have been at sea for weeks, some of them grieving, all of them frightened, all of them longing for home. Tenerife has been chosen because it has the medical capacity, the infrastructure, and the humanity to help them reach safety.”
who.int
Message by the WHO Director-General to the people of Tenerife regarding the hantavirus response
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Justin Mikulka @justinmikulka.bsky.social · 07/05/2026
Electric heavy trucks get the Trump Bump! "The jump in diesel prices triggered by the Iran war is expected to accelerate electrification of China’s heavy truck fleet this year, analysts and automakers say, and speed a decline in fuel demand in the ‌world's largest oil importer."
finance.yahoo.com
Iran war to accelerate China's shift to electric trucks from diesel
BEIJING, May 7 (Reuters) - The jump in diesel prices triggered by the Iran war is expected to accelerate electrification of China’s heavy truck fleet this year, analysts and automakers say, and speed ...
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Joseph D. Ortiz @earthsciinfo.bsky.social · 04/05/2026
We have reached the point where firmed renewable energy (FRE) is economically favored over FF. Building renewables & storage at 2:1 enables excess renewable power to be used 24/7. As nations fight over dwindling FF the cost advantage for FRE grows. 🧪💡🔌☀️💨💧🔋 www.pv-magazine.com/2026/04/30/r...
pv-magazine.com
Renewables growth cut Spain’s electricity bills by 24.2% over the past two years
Spain and Portugal are 53% less exposed to gas price volatility than they were three years ago, according to a new report from Positive Money.
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MASmith @masmith.bsky.social · 03/05/2026
We'll definitely lose the future if outstanding scientists like Dr. Meng are driven away. Pushed by Trump policies, top U.S. battery scientist is moving to Singapore | Science | AAAS www.science.org/content/arti...
science.org
Pushed by Trump policies, top U.S. battery scientist is moving to Singapore
Shirley Meng explains why her passion for decarbonizing the global economy required her to relocate
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Kevin Morris @kevintmorris.bsky.social · 01/05/2026
Some folks have created an "unrolled" version of this, over here: skywriter.blue/@kevintmorri...
skywriter.blue
Page by Kevin Morris | @kevintmorris.bsky.social
This week, the Supreme Court finally killed off the Voting Rights Act of 1965. I've spent the past decade studying the VRA and the attacks on it, so I thought I would offer some historical perspectiv...
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