One of the top domestic policy challenges facing the incoming Trump administration is the fundamental reform of federal public health agencies. President Donald Trump and his new team can draw upon a treasure trove of congressional findings. For example, the House Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations (a panel of the Energy and Commerce Committee) has recently released a remarkable report on the Biden-Harris administration’s $900 million public relations campaign to sell its scientifically defective COVID-19 policies. We_Can_Do_This_NIH_PR_Campaign_Report_PUBLIC_82616d81ebDownload No congressional panel, however, has done more to shine the light on these problems than the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic, chaired by Rep. Brad Wenstrup, R-Ohio. Subcommittee members have made commendable efforts to examine systemic failures over the past two years, and their investigations have also unveiled a troubling resistance on the part of federal officials to accept accountability for their actions, thus highlighting the need for serious institutional reforms. The Select Committee has done just that. According to The Heritage Foundation’s nonpartisan Commission on China and COVID-19, chaired by former Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe, the recent pandemic was responsible for an estimated 28 million global “excess deaths,” including those of more than 1.1 million Americans, while inflicting devastating social and educational disruptions. THF COVID commish reportDownload Beyond that, as the commission reported, America incurred a total economic cost of more than $18 trillion. Likewise, Heritage analysts also identified 13 specific areas where the federal government failed the American people—from mixed messaging on masking, to misleading information on vaccines and mandates—while outlining a framework for public health reform. The Urgency of Early Warning During the pandemic subcommittee’s Nov. 14 hearing, Wenstrup emphasized America’s need to beef up our capacity to get ahead of emerging pandemic threats by deploying U.S. personnel abroad to detect and quickly neutralize health threats at their source. “This isn’t just about public health,” Wenstrup noted, “it’s a national security imperative.” Delays can be deadly, and our public health agencies must be ready to act quickly to save American lives. Commenting on the subcommittee’s extensive hearings on the communist Chinese origins of COVID-19, Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks, R-Iowa, remarked: “It was necessary to investigate origins because that’s how we prepare for the next pandemic.” Going forward, the congresswoman, a physician, made it clear that the incoming Trump administration will need to ensure that our future defenses will require a stronger focus on lab safety and the adoption of more rigorous and ethical research practices, especially governing any future gain-of-function viral experiments that is taxpayer funded.   The good news is that the United States is already taking steps to bolster global security by expanding partnerships with other countries to facilitate surveillance and testing. Indeed, Wenstrup’s major recommendation, as a matter of national security, mirrors a key proposal of Heritage’s Commission on China and COVID-19: “The President should facilitate a public-private partnership centered around biothreat detection. The President should also attempt to globalize this network with the help of trusted allies and partners.” Counterproductive Vaccine Policy During the hearing, Wenstrup also called attention to the erosion of the patient-doctor relationship during the pandemic, evidenced by the backlash from the administration’s attempt to impose unprecedented federal vaccine mandates. Vaccines are not and cannot be a blunt instrument. The risk-benefit calculation of the COVID-19 vaccines varied, depending on the age and medical condition of the recipients. The vaccine mandates were thus utterly inappropriate. As Wenstrup noted, “Your doctor, who knows you, should have been the primary partner on health and medical decisions. Instead, politicians, with no medical background, imposed mandates to follow or be fired.”   In a similar vein, Miller-Meeks emphasized that the CDC should be held accountable for the growth of vaccine hesitancy, a serious problem traceable to the agency’s failures to communicate to the public clearly and correctly about the risks and benefits of the COVID-19 vaccines. During the hearing, she asked Dr. Henry Walke of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention whether the agency’s “forceful guidance” and lack of transparency about potential adverse effects, such as the concerning incidence of myocarditis (heart inflammation) in young men, contributed to public distrust. In response, Walke in an attempt to make the CDC’s actions milder, insisted that COVID-19 vaccines underwent rigorous safety monitoring. For the congresswoman, that was an insufficient answer: “The purpose of vaccines is to confer immunity. So, what is the CDC doing on vaccine hesitancy?” The CDC, she said, should have given America’s doctors the green light to guide their patients, rather than promote an unprecedented mandate. Beyond the dangerous growth of vaccine hesitancy, the federal government’s top-down COVID-19 mandates proved costly. Thousands of military personnel were dismissed, and many other Americans lost jobs or suffered discrimination because of their unwillingness to take the new vaccines. Supply Chain Vulnerabilities During the hearing, the problem of supply chain vulnerabilities also took center stage. For example, the nation’s Strategic National Stockpile of medical equipment and supplies was clearly insufficient, and the nation quickly ran out of vital materials. In the event of the next national medical emergency, the nation will need an ample supply of such items as respirators, gloves and face masks, surgical gowns, and goggles, as well as antibiotics and antiviral therapeutics. The CDC had failed to maintain an adequate level, as Heritage Foundation analysts reported almost two years ago—and this problem spanned both Democratic and Republican administrations.     During the hearing, Dr. Hilary Marston, chief medical officer of the Food and Drug Administration acknowledged weaknesses in producing critical supplies like sterile injectables, explaining that razor-thin profit margins hinder preparedness: “[T]he ability to have buffer stocks—all of these things cost money.” She emphasized that federal officials need to monitor demand spikes and respond rapidly, but of course, a process for doing that should have been in place before the COVID-19 pandemic hit. The Government Accountability Office (GAO), among others, has noted that such a process for engaging manufacturers to respond quickly during a pandemic had not been developed.    In light of this deficiency, Wenstrup has proposed a “manufacturing reserve corps” to bolster the U.S. response to future emergencies. Under his proposal, federal officials would create a network of private companies ready to scale up production of critical supplies in a national medical emergency. The aim of such a program would be to avoid the chaos of early COVID-19 shortages. To improve the public health response to a future pandemic, the incoming Trump administration has a heavy lift. As Wenstrup aptly noted, protecting public health requires the capacity to take strong and effective measures, but at the same time these measures must coexist with preservation of personal freedom and should strengthen, not weaken, public trust. Public health officials must go beyond empty reassurances of their commitment to the public interest. Similarly, Congress must recognize that polite oversight alone is insufficient. Instead, it must implement tough structural reforms that ensure accountability, transparency, and an unwavering dedication to science—independent of political influence. The post Preparing for the Next Pandemic: Lessons Learned and the Path Forward appeared first on The Daily Signal.

Martial Law Declared in South Korea Then Quickly Voted Down

CNN Guest: Hunter Needed Pardon to Avoid Trump Firing Squad

In case you aren't a chronically online doomscroller, here's what it means.

A first-of-its-kind study shows how microbes could have helped big-brained primates evolve.

Unlike other asteroids in the main belt, 456P/PANSTARRS appears to be repeatedly active.

Now who's coming to my glowing-house party?

The Regime Media have tied themselves into knots trying to spin President Joe Biden’s not-unexpected pardon of his son and business partner Hunter. The most cynical spin of the pardon to date comes from his own former White House spokesperson, MSNBC host Jen Psaki. Watch as Psaki tries to spin away from the pardon by diminishing both its importance and the continued relevance of President Joe Biden: MSNBC INSIDE WITH JEN PSAKI 12/2/24 8:00 PM JEN PSAKI: Okay. As you probably know by now, President Biden pardoned his son Hunter last night. And if you recall the president saying repeatedly over the last few months that he would not pardon his own son- for months he's been saying that, you’d be correct. It was a commitment that was widely applauded for good reason. Including by me. And last night, Joe Biden reversed course on that commitment. And if you're wondering whether that is good politics, if you're wondering if this is great for his legacy as someone who has consistently stood for principle over personal needs- even kept the guy on in Delaware who was appointed by Trump who was going to keep investigating his son? It’s not good politics. And yes. Hunter Biden has done some stupid things. And yes, Hunter Biden has done some illegal things. He should not have lied about his drug use when filling out paperwork to register for a handgun. We all knew about his recovering- his recovery from an addiction- he wrote an entire book about it. And, of course, he should have paid his taxes in full and on time as everyone should. My bet is Joe Biden knows that too. But he made his decision not as a politician. He made it as a dad. And by the way, his son is a private citizen. He’s not a threat to our intelligence gathering, to our national intelligence or to our law enforcement institutions. Joe Biden is going to be a private citizen in fifty days, too. So tonight, and moving forward, we’re going to spend most of our time talking about the people who are and who may be. People like Kash Patel, who Trump tapped this weekend to lead the FBI.  In sum: yes, Joe Biden promised not to pardon Hunter, but he reneged on his promise and while it’s terrible politics, this is not so much a presidential pardon as it is a father’s love for a wayward son and who cares because Biden’s a goner anyway and isn’t Kash Patel terrible. This open, and another minute or so with Senator Alex Padilla (D-CA) was the extent of Psaki’s coverage of the Biden pardon.  On the one hand, this sequence is the height of cynicism from someone who has spent the better part of the last four years lecturing America on the moral superiority of Joe Biden from her perch as his chief shill in The White House. Now that she’s moved on to Regime Media, Psaki wants to pretend that the pardon doesn’t warrant much of her attention because Biden is on his way out.  On the other hand, it wasn’t that long ago that Psaki vouched for Biden’s character on her eponymous show: FLASHBACK FOR THE AGES: The entire segment wherein Regime mouthpiece/MSNBC host Jen Psaki sells Biden's avowed refusal to issue a pardon to Hunter. Given NBC's reporting, as she in on the lie? pic.twitter.com/7z8h3jaOv9 — Jorge Bonilla (@BonillaJL) December 3, 2024 Psaki closed out this ode to her former boss by saying (3:06): PSAKI: But Joe Biden's character as a public servant is what drove him to make clear that the law applies to everyone. His decision not to pardon his son is not an expression of restraint or removal in any way from what his son has gone through and is continuing to go through. But of principle. Because the justice system that convicted his only surviving son is the same justice system he’s vowed to protect. And if that doesn’t tell you who Joe Biden is, I don’t really know what does. With apologies to the late Coach Denny Green: Joe Biden is who we thought he was. The pardon shows that he is who we thought he was. Regime shills like Psaki are now caught coping with how to continue to look serious while sporting massive egg on their faces. After lecturing America on how character matters and casting her former boss as a sterling example of such character, Psaki now tells us that none of it matters. On to the next. The Regime Media is nothing if not shameless.  

Rep. Daniel Goldman (D-N.Y.) ended up eating his own words during an interview on CNN on Monday after the network played video of the New York Democrat insisting President Joe Biden would not pardon his son Hunter Biden.Host Brianna Keilar noted that Goldman made his poorly aged remarks in 2023 on ABC's "This Week," after Biden's plea deal with the federal government did not go through.'I said many times that if Hunter Biden were not Hunter Biden, he would never be charged with these crimes.'"You went out on a limb backing up Biden when he said that there would not be a pardon," Keilar said.Goldman was asked by ABC's Jon Karl last year if the elder Biden pardoning his son would be a mistake.“Yes. And I don’t think there’s any chance that President Biden is going to do that, unlike his predecessor, who pardoned all of his friends and anyone who had any access to him. And I think you see that in this case, where he kept on — and Merrick Garland kept on — a Trump-appointed U.S. attorney to investigate the president’s son. If there is not an indication of the independence of the Department of Justice beyond that, I don’t know what we could look for," Goldman said at the time."I mean, what does that feel like, watching yourself back then, reassuring people that Biden was not going to issue a pardon for his son?" Keilar asked after the clip ended.Goldman deflected by talking about the plea deal, claiming it would have been a "satisfactory outcome" with no pardon, but Keilar jumped in to say that was a moot point because the deal with the federal government had already ended."Well, as I said, I’m disappointed that after the plea fell through and it became clear about why it did — including Republican congressional intervention in this case, which made this case very unique and very different from any other case — I think that we all, perhaps I should have as well, recognized that this is not the normal prosecution. I said many times that if Hunter Biden were not Hunter Biden, he would never be charged with these crimes," Goldman replied.Goldman went on to say Biden was forced to pardon his son because President-elect Donald Trump is planning on holding those in the Department of Justice accountable for their misdeeds.Outgoing New York Democrat Rep. Jamaal Bowman likewise said on CNN that Biden did not lie to the American people when he said for years he would not pardon his son because "the context has changed" now that Trump will be in the White House next year.Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

Former Washington Post writer Taylor Lorenz apparently has difficulty processing mockery, which is likely an ongoing issue given that she is one of the few Americans still masking to avoid catching COVID-19. It certainly proved to be an issue Monday when critics pointed out that Lorenz — a blogger who has peddled her fair share of fake news, doxxed Libs of Tiktok in 2022, and called President Joe Biden a war criminal for supporting Israel's war on Hamas terrorists — appeared bare-faced in photographs taken at her book party. Having been found wanting by her own standard, Lorenz lashed out at her critics, revealing both her contempt for the unmasked masses and the lengths to which she has gone to avoid an encounter with what is now an endemic disease. Masking and vaccine mandates, like the pandemic, are things of the past. Lorenz is, however, something of a COVID-19 traditionalist. Just last week, she urged Americans to "get vaccinated, get your kids vaccinated, and wear a respirator to prevent the spread of airborne disease!" "No hate but if ur not currently masking amidst the *ongoing and current* Covid pandemic then ur actually ideologically aligned with that anti-Fauci crew," Lorenz tweeted on Nov. 30, 2024. On Monday, she suggested that Americans should don masks "when out in public in crowds, at the grocery store, etc." Lorenz, who left the Washington Post for a platform she previously suggested was a haven for "Nazis," has also likened not wearing a mask to assisting with genocide. 'We broke her.' The Cochrane Collaboration released a systematic review last year that said "wearing masks in the community probably makes little or no difference to the outcome of influenza‐like illness (ILI)/COVID‐19 like illness compared to not wearing masks." The study also found that "there were no clear differences between the use of medical/surgical masks compared with N95/P2 respirators in healthcare workers when used in routine care to reduce respiratory viral infection." The House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic highlighted in its final report on the pandemic that multiple other studies, including a May 2020 paper published in the journal Emerging Infectious Diseases, a paper published that same month in the New England Journal of Medicine, and a November 2022 study published in the British Medical Journal, similarly suggested that masking was ineffective at reducing influenza and/or COVID-19 transmission. Critics familiar with Lorenz's support of masking were apparently surprised to discover that she doesn't always play by her own rules — and Lorenz evidently did not appreciate them noting it. "I love when ppl find photos where my mask is off for 5 seconds outside for a photo at my book party where every single attendee had to PCR test, as some kind of gotcha," Lorenz wrote on the liberal X knockoff Blue Sky. "Like yeah, high risk ppl could safely remove their masks for photos now and then if every event/public space had those precautions!" Lorenz was far from finished, noting, "Planning a Covid safe book launch took months and THOUSANDS of my own dollars ensuring testing, outdoor space, far UV lights, and a litany of other precautions. Meanwhile u dumbf***s are out raw dogging the air and spewing ur disease laden breath all over ur elderly neighbors. We are not the same." Although the term "raw dogging" has been used more broadly in recent months to describe engaging in an activity without aid or protection, it was long a slang term for having sex without a condom. When Lorenz discovered hours later that "MAGA weirdos and Covid denialists" found her post likening normal breathing to having sex without a prophylactic, the blogger declared, "The pandemic is ongoing, wear a mask and stop harassing disabled ppl." The X account End Wokeness was among the many who responded to Lorenz's meltdown, tweeting, "She keeps reaching new levels of brain rot." "We broke her," wrote Libs of TikTok. One user tweeted, "I would like to formally apologize for 'raw dogging the air.' I figured me and the air were at the stage in our relationship where we no longer needed protection." Babylon Bee CEO Seth Dillon tweeted, "Taylor Lorenz is still cursing at people for breathing." While the jokes rolled in, some commentators expressed concern about Lorenz's mental health. Jeremy Carl, a senior fellow at the Claremont Institute, noted, "Mocking Taylor Lorenz at this point is like kicking a disabled person. She's clearly very unwell and needs help." Lorenz, who has stressed that "abortion isn't killing a person," responded to the criticism, accusing rightists of hating vulnerable people. "Right wingers are constantly having temper tantrums and meltdowns over several immunocompromised ppl taking Covid precautions. Theyre s****ing on disabled ppl, cancer patients, really wonderful elderly vulnerable people, it's an ideology of pure hatred." While Lorenz has suggested she is obsessed with masking because she is "severely immunocompromised," she has provided political reasons for masking, suggesting, for instance, that it is actually a labor issue. Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!