#Medical Administrative Assistant Program

[orthodontic-certificate-courses]

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[ctcnewsca]

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[the-psudo]

Trump got absolutely dumpstered in court in the last few days.

His and Elon's program to pay people to retire early has been halted by a temporary restraining order issued by District Judge George A. O’Toole Jr. of the US District Court, District of Massachusetts in American Federation of Government Employees et al v. Charles Ezell (acting Acting Director of the Office of Personnel Management). This temporary order only lasts until they have a hearing on Monday to determine whether this program is constitutional.

13 state attorneys general sued to prevent Elon from accessing personal data about government employees and citizen clients of their agencies, leading to Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly in the case Alliance for Retired Americans v. Scott Bessent (Trump's Secretary of the Treasury) ordering the Department of Justice to ensure no unauthorized persons, including Elon and his team, have access to the Labor Department's database of information on tax filings, employment, and the like.

Two separate judges have ruled that Trump's executive order trying to eliminate birthright citizenship under the 14th Amendment is unconstitutional. U.S. District Judge John Coughenour of the western Washington district, a REAGAN appointee (!), said, "It has become ever more apparent that to our president the rule of law is but an impediment to his policy goals. The rule of law is, according to him, something to navigate around or simply ignore, whether that be for political or personal gain." The other judge, US District Judge Deborah Boardman of Maryland, ruled that the executive order cannot be implemented until she has had a chance to rule on the merits of the case.

US District Court Judge Royce C. Lamberth in DC paused Trump’s restrictions on transgender women being incarcerated in women’s prisons and federal prisons providing gender-affirming medical treatment, after inmates (!) sued to block the policy.

US District Judge Loren L. Alikhan of DC broadly blocked the Trump administration’s memo halting almost all federal assistance.

That's six rulings scrapping five of Trump's major policy operations in the past four days (Feb 3rd through the 6th, 2025).

That's news worth celebrating!

[robertreich]

Friends, Since I offered you 10 reasons for modest optimism last week, discontent with the Trump-Musk regime has surged even further. America appears to be waking up. Here’s the latest evidence — 10 more reasons for modest optimism. 1. Trump’s approval ratings continue to plummet. The chief reason Trump was elected was to reduce the high costs of living — especially food, housing, health care, and gas. A new Pew poll shows these costs remain uppermost in Americans’ minds. Sixty-three percent identify inflation as an overriding problem, and 67 percent say the same about the affordability of health care. That same poll shows the public turning on Trump. The percent of those disapproving of Trump’s handling of the economy has risen to 53 percent (versus 45 percent who approve). Disapproval of his actions as president has risen to the same 53 percent versus 45 percent approval, which shows how essential economic performance is to the public’s assessment of presidents these days. The Pew poll also shows 57 percent of the public believes that Trump “has exceeded his presidential authority.” By making the world’s richest person his hatchet man, Trump has made more vivid the role of money in politics. Hence, a record-high 72 percent now say a major problem is “the role of money in politics.” Other polls show similar results. In the Post-Ipsos poll, significantly more Americans strongly disapprove of Trump (39 percent) than strongly approve of him (27 percent). Reuters, Quinnipiac University, CNN, and Gallup polls show Trump’s approval ratings plummeting (ranging from 44 percent to 47 percent). In all of these polls, more Americans now disapprove of Trump than approve of him. 2. DOGE is running amusk. DOGE looks more and more like a giant hoax. This week, reporters found that nearly 40 percent of the contracts DOGE claims to have canceled aren’t expected to save the government any money, according to the administration’s own data. As a result, on Tuesday DOGE deleted all of the five biggest “savings” on its so-called “wall of receipts.” The scale of its errors — and the misunderstandings and poor quality control that appear to underlie them — has raised questions about the effort’s broader work, which has led to mass firings and cutbacks across the federal government. DOGE has also had to reverse its firings. On Tuesday, Secretary of Veterans Affairs Douglas A. Collins celebrated cuts to 875 contracts that he claimed would save nearly $2 billion. But when veterans learned that those contracts covered medical services, recruited doctors, and funded cancer programs as well as burial services for veterans, the outcry was so loud that on Wednesday the VA rescinded the ordered cuts. After hundreds of nuclear weapons workers were abruptly fired, the Trump administration is scrambling to rehire them. After hundreds of scientists at the Food and Drug Administration were fired, they’re being asked to return. On Wednesday, Musk acknowledged that DOGE “accidentally canceled” efforts by the U.S. Agency for International Development to prevent the spread of Ebola. But Musk insisted the initiative was quickly restored. Wrong. Current and former USAID officials say Ebola prevention efforts have been largely halted since Musk and his DOGE allies moved last month to gut the global-assistance agency and freeze its outgoing payments. The teams and contractors that would be deployed to fight an Ebola outbreak have been dismantled, they added. DOGE staff are resigning. On Tuesday, 21 federal civil service tech workers resigned from DOGE, writing in a joint resignation letter that they were quitting rather than help Musk “dismantle critical public services.” The staffers all worked for what was known as the U.S. Digital Service before it was absorbed by DOGE. Their ranks include data scientists, product managers, and engineers. According to the Associated Press, “all previously held senior roles at such tech companies as Google and Amazon and wrote in their resignation letter that they joined the government out of a sense of duty to…

Read the full list here: https://robertreich.substack.com/p/more-reasons-for-moderate-optimism

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[thosemotivationalquotes]

Trump pauses program for HIV treatment and Prevention - 1/28/2025

In news that will shock no one, Trump has ordered that all programs that supply aid to countries outside the U.S. be paused for 90 days while the administration reviews them.

One of these programs that is paused is PEPFAR, which is a program that supplies HIV medications and education to people in countries facing high rates of HIV/AIDs.

PEPFAR “provides HIV/AIDS medications for over 20.6 million people, keeping patients alive and preventing them from transmitting the virus. It also offers testing and education on HIV/AIDS. According to a State Department fact sheet, PEPFAR has saved the lives of an estimated 26 million people since its inception.”

The cutting of this program, which is supposedly going to be 90 days and possibly permanent, will be catastrophic to countries who have high rates of HIV/AIDs.

This is not the only program that Trump has paused. There is also a pause on global TB and malaria treatment, as well as many other critical global aid programs. The only programs that are currently unaffected are emergency humanitarian funds, and military assistance (for Israel and Egypt).

It is important to be aware of things like this that Trump is doing. He is not only interested in harming Americans, but also putting the health and lives of people in other countries at risk. He is not only a threat to U.S. Americans, but the world.

Further reading: X X

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Abby Monteil at Them:

The Trump administration is poised to remove all members of the 30-year-old Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS (PACHA). Two anonymous sources “familiar with the matter” confirmed the council members’ removal to Reuters. According to an archived version of the council’s website, PACHA had over 30 members before Donald Trump’s second presidential term began. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services spokesperson Andrew Nixon confirmed to Reuters that PACHA will “continue to provide advice, information, and recommendations” to Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. However, he did not provide additional details about when new members might be appointed. Per PACHA’s official website, the council’s members offer advice to the Secretary of Health and Human Services, the Assistant Secretary for Health, and the Director of the White House Office of National AIDS policy regarding HIV and AIDS “diagnosis, treatment, prevention, and quality services.” Appointed by the Secretary, members serve for overlapping terms of up to four years. The council was formed in 1995 under President Bill Clinton. News of PACHA members’ dismissal comes less than two weeks after Elon Musk’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) sent “reduction-in-force” (RIF) notices dismissing an estimated 10,000 employees within the Department of Health and Human Services beginning April 1. [...] The second Trump administration has spent its first months gutting vital HIV and AIDS aid, including attacks on US-funded aid abroad and HIV research grants. In February, the administration slashed tens of billions of dollars in U.S. foreign aid, including the President’s Emergency Plan For Aids Relief (PEPFAR). According to a new analysis published in the medical journal The Lancet on April 8, if PEPFAR programs are not restored, “[a]n additional 1 million children will become infected with HIV, 0.5 million additional children will die of AIDS, and 2.8 million children will additionally become orphaned by AIDS” throughout Africa by 2030.

The Trump Administration keeps embarrassing themselves as usual… this time by removing all members from the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS.

See Also:

The Advocate: Trump quietly purges presidential HIV advisory council, sparking public health fears (exclusive)

[coffee-mage-sans-caffeine]

Last night, the Trump administration froze federal assistance, grants, and loans. As a person married to a research scientist, I was already reeling from the defunding of the NIH and worrying what that meant.

And then he froze federal assistance, defunding WIC, and my blood ran cold.

Why did my blood run cold for WIC in particular?

For those not in the know, WIC is a public assistance program for pregnant people and babies or small children. It's designed to boost nutrition for pregnant people and little kids. It pays for formula and breast pumps and bread and cheese and milk, many food items.

It also links these struggling families with social workers. Many low income families don't have health insurance coverage. Those social workers get pregnant people onto state run programs to make sure they can afford prenatal care.

I work labour and delivery. If this freeze lasts more than a few days, my job is going to get harder and more terrifying because I will get people coming in labouring with no prenatal care. I won't know their due date, their medical history. I won't know how many fetuses to expect.

I will lose patients, and not just babies born with life limiting conditions, I'm going to lose birthing people because they didn't get screened for gestational diabetes and pre-eclampsia. I'm going to lose babies who should have been born healthy. Since WIC helps with nutrition and folic acid is a nutrient that prevents neural tube defects, I'll see more babies born with no brains or with their spinal cord exposed.

My trauma will be myriad, but nothing in comparison with the children whose future is forever made more difficult. It's nothing in comparison with the parents I'm going to end up sending home with empty arms or in a casket. My hospital uses a cooling cot for people to spend time with their babies born sleeping. Will we be able to afford enough cooling cots?

WIC offices also offer vaccinations. We're in the middle of RSV season and whooping cough is on the rise. How many babies will die because they didn't get their shots?

Trump is killing American children. Period.

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

stick with me baby.. @FinancialReview :: [Dave]

* * * *

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

March 3, 2025

Heather Cox Richardson

Mar 04, 2025

As seemed evident even at the time, the ambush of Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval Office on Friday was a setup to provide justification for cutting off congressionally approved aid to Ukraine as it tries to fight off Russia’s invasion. That “impoundment” of funds Congress has determined should go to Ukraine is illegal under the terms of the 1974 Impoundment Control Act, and it is unconstitutional because the Constitution gives to Congress, not to the president, the power to set government spending and to make laws. The president’s job is to “take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed.”

It was for a similar impoundment of congressionally appropriated funds for Ukraine, holding them back until Zelensky agreed to tilt the 2020 election by smearing Joe Biden, that the House of Representatives impeached Trump in 2019. It is not hard to imagine that Trump chose to repeat that performance, in public this time, as a demonstration of his determination to act as he wishes regardless of laws and Constitution.

On Sunday, Nicholas Enrich, the acting assistant administrator for global health at the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) released a series of memos he and other senior career officials had written, recording in detail how the cuts to “lifesaving humanitarian assistance” at the agency will lead to “preventable death” and make the U.S. less safe. The cuts will “no doubt result in preventable death, destabilization, and threats to national security on a massive scale,” one memo read.

Enrich estimated that without USAID intervention, more than 16 million pregnant women and more than 11 million newborns would not get medical care; more than 14 million children would not get care for pneumonia and diarrhea (among the top causes of preventable deaths for children under the age of 5); 200,000 children would be paralyzed with polio; and 1 million children would not be treated for severe acute malnutrition. There would be an additional 12.5 million or more cases of malaria this year, meaning 71,000 to 166,000 deaths; a 28–32% increase in tuberculosis; as many as 775 million cases of avian flu; 2.3 million additional deaths a year in children who could not be vaccinated against diseases; additional cases of Ebola and mpox. The higher rates of illness will take a toll on economic development in developing countries, and both the diseases and the economic stagnation will spill over into the United States.

Although Secretary of State Marco Rubio promised to create a system for waivers to protect that lifesaving aid, the cuts appear random and the system for reversing them remains unworkable. The programs remain shuttered. Enrich blamed "political leadership at USAID, the Department of State, and DOGE, who have created and continue to create intentional and/or unintentional obstacles that have wholly prevented implementation."

On Sunday, Enrich sent another memo to staff, thanking them for their work and telling them he had been placed on “administrative leave, effective immediately.”

Dangerous cuts are taking place in the United States, as well. On Friday, on Joe Rogan’s podcast, Musk called Social Security, the basis of the U.S. social safety net, a “Ponzi scheme.” Also on Friday, the Social Security Administration announced that it will consolidate the current ten regional offices it maintains into four and cut at least 7,000 jobs from an agency that is already at a 50-year staffing low. Erich Wagner of Government Executive reported that billionaire Elon Musk’s “Department of Government Efficiency” (DOGE) team had canceled the leases for 45 of the agency’s field offices and is urging employees to quit.

The acting commissioner of the agency, Leland Dudek, a mid-level staffer who got his post after sharing sensitive information with DOGE, blamed former president Joe Biden for the cuts. In contrast, Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) pointed out that the system currently delivers 99.7% of retirement benefits accurately and on time. He warned that the administration is hollowing it out, and when it can no longer function, Republicans will say it needs the private sector to take it over. He called the cuts “a prelude to privatization.”

“The public is going to suffer terribly as a result of this,” a senior official told NPR. “Local field offices will close, hold times will increase, and people will be sicker, hungry, or die when checks don't arrive or a disability hearing is delayed just one month too late.”

In South Carolina, North Carolina, and Georgia, more than 200 wildfires began to burn over the weekend as dry conditions and high winds drove the flames. Firefighters from the Forest Service helped to contain the fires, but they were understaffed even before Trump took office. Now, with the new cuts to the service, prevention measures are impossible and there aren’t enough people to fight fires effectively and safely. South Carolina governor Henry McMaster (R) declared a state of emergency on Sunday.

Josh Marshall at Talking Points Memo picked up something many of us missed, posting today that Trump’s February 11 “workforce optimization” executive order is a clear blueprint for the end goal of all the cuts to the federal government. The order says that departments and agencies must plan to cut all functions and employees who are not designated as essential during a government shutdown. As Marshall notes, this is basically a blueprint for a skeleton crew version of government.

But for all that the administration, led by DOGE, insists that the U.S. has no money for the government services that help ordinary people, it appears to think there is plenty of money to help wealthy supporters. In February, the cryptocurrency bitcoin experienced its biggest monthly drop since June 2022, falling by 17.5%. On Sunday, in a post on his social media site, Trump announced that the government will create a strategic stockpile of five cryptocurrencies, spending tax dollars to buy them.

Supporters say that such an investment could pay off in decades, when that currency has appreciated to become worth trillions of dollars. But, as Zachary B. Wolf of CNN notes, “for every bitcoin evangelist, there is an academic or banker from across the political spectrum who will point out that cryptocurrency investments might just as easily go up in smoke, which would be an unfortunate thing to happen to taxpayer dollars.”

The first three currencies Trump announced were not well known, and the announcement sent their prices soaring. Hours later, he added the names of the two biggest cryptocurrencies, including bitcoin. After the initial surges, by Monday prices for the currencies had fallen roughly back to where they had been before the announcement, making the announcement look like a pump-and-dump scheme. Economist Peter Schiff, a Trump supporter, called for a full congressional investigation, suggesting that someone other than Trump might have written the social media posts that set off the frenzy and wondering who was buying and selling in that short window of time.

Also on Sunday, the administration announced it would stop enforcing anti-money-laundering laws that were put in place over Trump’s veto in 2021 at the end of his first term and required shell companies to identify the people who own or control them. Referring to the law as a “Biden rule,” Trump called the announcement that he would not enforce it “Exciting News!” The Trump Organization frequently uses shell companies.

A world in which the government does not regulate business or address social welfare or infrastructure, claiming instead to promote economic development by funneling resources to wealthy business leaders, looks much like the late-nineteenth-century world that Trump praises. Trump insists that President William McKinley, who was president from 1897 to 1901, created the nation’s most prosperous era by imposing high tariffs on products from foreign countries.

Trump confirmed today that he will go forward with his own 25% tariffs on goods from Mexico and Canada and an additional 10% on goods from China, adding to the 10% tariffs Trump added to Chinese products in February. While President Joe Biden maintained tariffs on only certain products from China to protect specific industries, it appears Trump’s tariffs will cover all products.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada called the tariffs “unjustified” and announced that Canada will put retaliatory tariffs on $20.8 billion worth of U.S. products made primarily in Republican-dominated states, including spirits, beer, wine, cosmetics, appliances, orange juice, peanut butter, clothing, footwear, and paper. A second set of tariffs in a few weeks will target about $90 billion worth of products, including cars and trucks, EVs, products made of steel and aluminum, fruits and vegetables, beef, pork, and dairy products.

Mexico’s president Claudia Sheinbaum did not provide details of what her country would do but told reporters today: “We have a plan B, C, D.” Chinese officials say that China, too, will impose retaliatory tariffs, singling out agricultural products and placing tariffs of 15% on corn and 10% on soybeans. It also says it will restrict exports to 15 U.S. companies.

The tariffs in place in the U.S. at the end of the nineteenth century were less important for the explosive growth of the economy in that era than the flood of foreign capital into private businesses: railroad, mining, cattle, department stores, and finance. By the end of the century, investing in America was such a busy trade that the London Stock Exchange had a separate section for American railroad transactions alone.

And the economic growth of the country did not help everyone equally. While industrialists like Cornelius Vanderbilt II could build 70-room summer homes in Newport, Rhode Island, the workers whose labor kept the mines and factories producing toiled fourteen to sixteen hours a day in dangerous conditions for little money, with no workmen’s compensation or disability insurance if they were injured. The era has become known as the Gilded Age, dominated by so-called robber barons.

Today, the stock market dropped dramatically upon news that Trump intended to go through with his tariffs. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 650 points, down 1.48%. The S&P fell 1.76%, and the Nasdaq Composite, which focuses on technology stocks, fell 2.64%. Meanwhile, shares of European defense companies jumped to record highs as Europe moves to replace the U.S. support for Ukraine.

Also today, the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta forecast a dramatic contraction in the economy in the first quarter of 2025. Evaluating current data according to a mathematical model, it moved from an expected 2.9% growth in gross domestic product at the end of January to –2.8% today. That is just a prediction and there is still room for those numbers to turn around, but they might help to explain why Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick is talking about changing the way the U.S. calculates economic growth.

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

[rjzimmerman]

This reflects additional and enhanced cruelty from trump and his mafia. I hope the medical establishment has got something going on to stop crap like that from happening.

Excerpt from this New York Times story:

The Trump administration is set to cancel tens of millions of dollars in grants to scientists studying environmental hazards faced by children in rural America, among other health issues, according to internal emails written by senior officials at the Environmental Protection Agency.

The planned cancellation of the research grants, which were awarded to scientists outside the agency, comes as President Trump continues to dismantle some of the E.P.A.’s core functions.

The grants are designed to address a range of issues, including improving the health of children in rural America who have been exposed to pesticides from agriculture and other pollution; reducing exposure to wildfire smoke; and preventing “forever chemicals” from contaminating the food supply.

An email sent by Dan Coogan, a deputy assistant administrator at the E.P.A., on April 15, and seen by The New York Times, said the agency leadership was directing staff to cancel all pending and active grants across a number of key programs, including Science to Achieve Results, known as STAR.

According to the email, the cuts also targeted the People, Prosperity and the Planet program, or P3, which awards small grants to college students to work on environmental solutions. In the latest funding year, students were developing antiviral face masks from plastic waste as well as 100 percent-compostable packaging film.

“We have received direction from Leadership to cancel all pending awards and terminate grants for the following programs,” the email from Mr. Coogan began, followed by a list of programs.

In response to inquiries on Monday, the E.P.A. said the grants had not been canceled. “As with any change in Administration, the agency is reviewing its awarded grants to ensure each is an appropriate use of taxpayer dollars and to understand how those programs align with Administration priorities,” said the emailed statement from the E.P.A.’s press office. “The agency’s review is ongoing.”

Still, project officers have started to receive cancellation notices. One such notice seen by The New York Times was sent on Friday stating that the grant “has been canceled” and instructing officers to “begin the process of deobligating funds.”

Many grants involve issues that affect regions of the country where voters supported Mr. Trump. One grant funds Oklahoma University scientists researching how to help children in rural America who face increased health risks from pesticide and other pollution, issues that can be compounded by limited access to health care and higher poverty rates.

Many of the grants have their roots in research that emerged in the 1990s that showed children are much more vulnerable to toxic chemical exposure than adults. Congress soon passed the nation’s first law with provisions explicitly designed to protect children’s health, which led to a series of grants, awarded to universities and medical centers, to explore how environmental hazards were affecting infants.

[batboyblog]

Things Biden and the Democrats did, this week #22

June 7-14 2024

Vice-President Harris announced that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is moving to remove medical debt for people's credit score. This move will improve the credit rating of 15 million Americans. Millions of Americans struggling with debt from medical expenses can't get approved for a loan for a car, to start a small business or buy a home. The new rule will improve credit scores by an average of 20 points and lead to 22,000 additional mortgages being approved every year. This comes on top of efforts by the Biden Administration to buy up and forgive medical debt. Through money in the American Rescue Plan $7 billion dollars of medical debt will be forgiven by the end of 2026. To date state and local governments have used ARP funds to buy up and forgive the debt of 3 million Americans and counting.

The EPA, Department of Agriculture, and FDA announced a joint "National Strategy for Reducing Food Loss and Waste and Recycling Organics". The Strategy aimed to cut food waste by 50% by 2030. Currently 24% of municipal solid waste in landfills is food waste, and food waste accounts for 58% of methane emissions from landfills roughly the green house gas emissions of 60 coal-fired power plants every year. This connects to $200 million the EPA already has invested in recycling, the largest investment in recycling by the federal government in 30 years. The average American family loses $1,500 ever year in spoiled food, and the strategy through better labeling, packaging, and education hopes to save people money and reduce hunger as well as the environmental impact.

President Biden signed with Ukrainian President Zelenskyy a ten-year US-Ukraine Security Agreement. The Agreement is aimed at helping Ukraine win the war against Russia, as well as help Ukraine meet the standards it will have to be ready for EU and NATO memberships. President Biden also spearheaded efforts at the G7 meeting to secure $50 billion for Ukraine from the 7 top economic nations.

HHS announced $500 million for the development of new non-injection vaccines against Covid. The money is part of Project NextGen a $5 billion program to accelerate and streamline new Covid vaccines and treatments. The investment announced this week will support a clinical trial of 10,000 people testing a vaccine in pill form. It's also supporting two vaccines administered as nasal sprays that are in earlier stages of development. The government hopes that break throughs in non-needle based vaccines for Covid might be applied to other vaccinations thus making vaccines more widely available and more easily administered.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced $404 million in additional humanitarian assistance for Palestinians in Gaza, the West Bank and the region. This brings the total invested by the Biden administration in the Palestinians to $1.8 billion since taking office, over $600 million since the war started in October 2023. The money will focus on safe drinking water, health care, protection, education, shelter, and psychosocial support.

The Department of the Interior announced $142 million for drought resilience and boosting water supplies. The funding will provide about 40,000 acre-feet of annual recycled water, enough to support more than 160,000 people a year. It's funding water recycling programs in California, Hawaii, Kansas, Nevada and Texas. It's also supporting 4 water desalination projects in Southern California. Desalination is proving to be an important tool used by countries with limited freshwater.

President Biden took the lead at the G7 on the Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment. The PGI is a global program to connect the developing world to investment in its infrastructure from the G7 nations. So far the US has invested $40 billion into the program with a goal of $200 billion by 2027. The G7 overall plans on $600 billion by 2027. There has been heavy investment in the Lobito Corridor, an economic zone that runs from Angola, through the Democratic Republic of Congo, to Zambia, the PGI has helped connect the 3 nations by rail allowing land locked Zambia and largely landlocked DRC access Angolan ports. The PGI also is investing in a $900 million solar farm in Angola. The PGI got a $5 billion dollar investment from Microsoft aimed at expanding digital access in Kenya, Indonesia, and Malaysia. The PGI's bold vision is to connect Africa and the Indian Ocean region economically through rail and transportation link as well as boost greener economic growth in the developing world and bring developing nations on-line.

[odinsblog]

🗣️Some good news!

The Food and Drug Administration on Thursday approved a birth control pill to be sold without a prescription for the first time in the United States, a milestone that could significantly expand access to contraception.

The medication, called Opill, will become the most effective birth control method available over the counter — more effective at preventing pregnancy than condoms, spermicides and other nonprescription methods. Experts in reproductive health said its availability could be especially useful for young women, teenagers and those who have difficulty dealing with the time, costs or logistical hurdles involved in visiting a doctor to obtain a prescription.

The pill’s manufacturer, Perrigo Company, based in Dublin, said Opill would most likely become available from stores and online retailers in the United States in early 2024.

The company did not say how much the medication would cost — a key question that will help determine how many people will use the pill — but Frédérique Welgryn, Perrigo’s global vice president for women’s health, said in a statement that the company was committed to making the pill “accessible and affordable to women and people of all ages.” Ms. Welgryn has also said the company would have a consumer assistance program to provide the pill at no cost to some women.

(continue reading)

[stephobrien]

The Trump administration has effectively handed a death sentence to literally millions of people, by cutting off aid they depended on for survival.

Why?

According to the Associated Press:

The projects were being canceled “for the convenience of the U.S. Government” at the direction of Jeremy Lewin, a top lieutenant at Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency who was appointed to oversee the elimination of USAID programs, according to termination notices sent to partners and viewed by the AP.

(Emphasis mine.)

The types of aid that were cut include emergency food assistance, the treatment of severely malnourished babies, lifesaving medical care, safe drinking water, and emergency mental health treatment for survivors of sexual and physical violence.

The article goes on to say:

The U.S. and other donors long have seen efforts to ease humanitarian crises as being in their strategic interest by stemming mass migration, conflicts and extremism, which struggles for resources can bring.

WFP chief Cindy McCain said in a posting on social media that the cuts “undermine global stability.”

[sysmedsaresexist]

"Therapists also don’t diagnose you." The fuck? It varies by state? Any therapist should know this?

Should, but i doubt the claim to start with, so I'm not shocked

For anyone confused, therapist isn't actually a title, it's a service

Anyone can offer the service, to varying degrees, EVEN PEOPLE WITHOUT LICENSING, and the title is your education

For example, an MSW can be a therapist, or they can be a civil worker, psychiatrists can offer therapy even though they typically specialize in diagnosis and medication management, there's counsellors, peer support workers, SW and SSW, psychologists-- all of these can be therapists, but not all can diagnose and treat

Titles capable of diagnosing will vary state by state, province by province, country by country, and so will the services they're allowed to provide

Always look up what letters your therapist uses and what they're allowed to do in your city-- this is called their "scope of practice", what they're allowed to do, based on their education and licensing board

Let's look at a random example so you can see what to look for

Pretend we're looking for a trauma therapist in New York

LMSW

The Licensed Master Social Worker has advanced training, a graduate academic degree, has had supervised clinical work experience, and has passed a national- or state-certified licensing exam.

Now back to Google

What about....

PsyD

The Doctor of Psychology, PsyD, is an applied clinical doctorate that emphasizes the application of psychology in a wide range of clinical settings to promote mental health. Training typically lasts between 4 to 7 years and includes 3 to 4 years of supervised clinical work experience. An individual who earns a Psy.D. in clinical psychology from an accredited program may become licensed to diagnose and treat mental disorders, conduct assessment and complete psychological evaluations, present expert testimony, and provide psychotherapy.

ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS understand what your "therapist" is legally allowed and not allowed to do

Peer support workers, in most countries, don't even need formal education, let alone any kind of licensing. They assist based on lived experiences in informal settings. In clinical settings, they act more administrative than anything. Due to this, any kind of misconduct is extremely hard to prosecute.

Remember, Google is your friend, use it.

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The Controversial Shutdown of USAID

Today, the Trump administration announced the immediate and complete shutdown of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), the primary U.S. agency responsible for civilian foreign aid and development assistance. This decision, part of an "America First" agenda, halts billions of dollars in humanitarian, development, and security programs worldwide, effective immediately. Influenced by Elon Musk’s unofficial Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), the administration criticized USAID as inefficient and wasteful. The shutdown disrupts aid to over 100 countries, terminates programs like PEPFAR (HIV/AIDS relief), and affects approximately 10,000 USAID employees and contractors who now face job losses. The move has sparked legal challenges and intense debate over its implications for U.S. global influence.

In a dramatic and divisive move, the Trump administration today ordered the immediate and complete shutdown of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), effectively ending decades of U.S.-led civilian foreign aid efforts. Announced as part of an "America First" policy to slash federal bureaucracy and redirect resources domestically, the decision terminates all USAID operations, halting billions of dollars in humanitarian, development, and security assistance across more than 100 countries. Programs such as disaster relief, food and medical aid, and the highly regarded PEPFAR initiative for HIV/AIDS relief have ceased operations as of today, leaving millions of beneficiaries in limbo.

The shutdown stems from critiques by Elon Musk’s unofficial Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which labeled USAID a symbol of inefficiency and waste, though specific evidence remains sparse. The decision has led to the furlough or termination of approximately 10,000 USAID employees and contractors, sending shockwaves through the agency’s workforce. Internationally, the abrupt cutoff of aid has raised alarms among allied nations and aid-dependent regions, with potential diplomatic fallout looming as countries reassess their reliance on U.S. support.

Legal challenges emerged almost immediately, with opponents arguing that the executive branch overstepped its authority by dismantling an agency established by Congress in 1961. A federal judge has already signaled that the move may violate constitutional checks and balances, though the administration appears determined to proceed, transferring some residual responsibilities to the State Department. Public opinion is sharply divided: critics decry the loss of America’s humanitarian leadership, while supporters applaud the prioritization of taxpayer resources for domestic needs. The shutdown marks a pivotal shift in U.S. foreign policy, with uncertain long-term consequences.

USAID, created in 1961 under President John F. Kennedy, has been a cornerstone of U.S. foreign policy, channeling civilian aid to promote development, stability, and democracy worldwide. However, its operations have long drawn both praise and scrutiny, particularly regarding its use of taxpayer resources.

Arguments Against USAID

Inefficiency and Waste: Critics argue that USAID’s large bureaucracy results in high administrative costs and inefficiencies. Funds have been known to be mismanaged or diverted by corrupt intermediaries in recipient countries, reducing their impact.

Drain on Taxpayer Resources: Detractors, including the Trump administration and DOGE, assert that USAID’s budget, billions of dollars annually, represents a significant drain on taxpayers, especially when domestic challenges like infrastructure and healthcare remain underfunded.

Questionable Effectiveness: Some question the agency’s long-term success, pointing to instances where aid has failed to produce sustainable outcomes or has propped up ineffective governments rather than fostering self-reliance.

Arguments in Favor of USAID

Humanitarian Leadership: Supporters emphasize USAID’s vital role in delivering life-saving aid, such as emergency food supplies, disaster relief, and health programs like PEPFAR, which has saved millions of lives globally.

Strategic Soft Power: The agency enhances U.S. influence abroad by building goodwill and supporting stable, democratic societies—efforts that complement military and diplomatic strategies and bolster national security.

Economic Returns: Proponents argue that USAID’s investments in development create future markets for U.S. goods and services, offering indirect economic benefits to American taxpayers over time.

The shutdown of USAID reflects a prioritization of domestic concerns and a rejection of its perceived inefficiencies, but it also risks diminishing America’s global standing and abandoning vulnerable populations. Whether this move ultimately benefits U.S. taxpayers or weakens the nation’s international role remains a subject of heated debate. In short, the USAID of the 1960s doesn’t fully suit 2025. Its shutdown could indeed be a catalyst to rethink an outdated system, potentially leading to smarter resource use and a break from propaganda-tinged aid.

The line between support and manipulation can blur, especially when powerful players are involved. But when the primary goal is control rather than compassion, it’s a different beast entirely. There’s something profoundly sinister about USAID offering aid with a smile while secretly wielding it as a tool for manipulation. Using “good intentions” as a mask to control vulnerable populations and strike at an enemy isn’t just deceptive, it’s diabolical. It’s exploitation dressed up as charity, and the fact that it preys on those who are already desperate makes it one of the most contemptible acts imaginable. When people are impoverished or in crisis, they’re forced to rely on whatever help comes their way. To take advantage of that vulnerability, not to uplift them, but to pull strings for strategic gain, turns a lifeline into a leash. It’s not aid; it’s a weapon, and the defenseless masses become collateral damage in someone else’s game. The moral rot here is glaring: it perverts compassion into a power play and strips away the dignity of those who have no choice but to accept the poisoned gift from Democrat party.