From the Louisiana Illuminator
We need to take a few minutes to celebrate the turnout at the No Kings rallies on June 14. Some estimates say that 5 million people took part. The signs alone were epic. So that happened and it means a lot.
However, some scary things also happened this weekend with a shooter killing one public servant and her husband and another public servant and his wife shot multiple times but still alive. It looks like the shooter is an extreme conservative and evangelical, angry about abortion and Democrat politics. Will we find vigilantism escalating, or will this be a rare event? Democrats in Congress asked for protection and it was denied.
The second thing that happened this weekend seemed like it would be good for the country. Trump seemed worried about deporting all our farm and hospitality workers. Even construction workers were mentioned briefly. Our hopes were dashed last night when Trump had a change of heart and gave ICE free rein to deport at will. Perhaps because it rained on Trump's military parade his anger and desire for retribution were rebooted.
When I caught a few minutes of ET last night and learned that Mc Steamy, Eric Dane from Grey's Anatomy, had ALS, it brought me back to reality, a reality that we have little reason to celebrate at present. There are battles and there is the war. And the war that affects Mc Steamy is the war on science. There are private companies researching ALS and most other diseases, fortunately. But if they rely on government grants or government funding then that research may slow or become unaffordable. ALS is not the only condition that is being researched. My best friend has Pike's disease, a prefrontal memory loss condition like Alzheimers. An article I read not long ago said that Alzheimers is affecting younger people, people in their 30s and 40s. Dementia is a related condition that will affect more of us as we live longer lives.
Trump and his cronies have made huge cuts to the budgets of the CDC (Centers for Disease Control) and NIH (National Institutes of Health. Google AI gave me the following information:
"The Trump administration's proposed 2026 budget includes significant cuts to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The NIH is facing a nearly $18 billion reduction, while the CDC is slated for a $4 billion cut. These cuts are part of a broader plan to reorganize and refocus the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
NIH Cuts:
The proposed budget would reduce NIH funding by approximately $18 billion.
This represents a significant cut, potentially impacting ongoing medical research and future disease prevention efforts.
Some institutes and centers within NIH would be eliminated or merged.
For example, the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities, the Fogarty International Center, and the National Institute of Nursing Research are among those facing potential elimination.
The budget also proposes limiting indirect research costs, which could affect funding for facilities and administrative expenses related to NIH-funded research.
The Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) and the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, which are currently within NIH, would be moved outside of the agency.
CDC Cuts:
The proposed budget would cut the CDC's funding by nearly $3.6 billion.
This could impact the CDC's ability to respond to public health threats, including infectious disease outbreaks and pandemics.
Specific programs targeted for cuts include those focused on infectious diseases, opioid control, sexually transmitted infections, and other areas.
The agency may also face consolidation of various programs into a single grant program.
Broader Implications:
The proposed cuts have drawn criticism from various groups, including scientific organizations, patient advocacy groups, and public health experts.
Concerns have been raised about the potential impact on medical research, disease prevention, and public health preparedness.
Some worry that the cuts could jeopardize progress in finding cures for serious diseases and delay or halt the development of new treatments.
There are also concerns about the potential loss of expertise and capacity within the agencies due to layoffs and restructuring."
What could go wrong? Trump is mad at the pandemic and criticisms about his policies so he's getting his health information from sycophants with axes to grind. Or something.
RFK fired everyone on a key vaccine panel.
https://lailluminator.com/2025/06/16/kennedy-vaccine/
"Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has removed every member of an independent panel key to vaccine policy and access in America and announced eight new names, many of whom have been skeptical of vaccines."
"The Advisory Committee for Immunization Practices (ACIP), which works under the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, was recently made up of people with extensive experience in public health, infectious diseases and immunizations. For more than half a century, the panel of experts has used evidence-based data to help evaluate the safety of vaccines that are administered to people — and their guidance is used by insurance companies to determine coverage."
Follow the link to see the replacements RFK is considering for the panel.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/national-climate-assessment-report-scientists-fired/
Trump administration dismisses nearly 400 scientists working on congressionally mandated national climate report
https://www.science.org/content/article/science-trump-latest-news
Building wars
"Amid all the firings have come new wrinkles that could upend scientific research: unexpected, abrupt terminations of government-leased facilities and plans to sell existing U.S.-owned “noncore” buildings. Beyond housing researchers, these locations are often home to expensive, difficult to locate scientific instruments. Endpoints News, for example, reports on the apparent early termination of Food and Drug Administration leases on more than two dozen buildings by the White House and DOGE. One St. Louis lab, which DOGE claims will save $20 million by being abandoned, was recently renovated at a reported cost of $10 million. An FDA scientist there told Endpoints News that it holds modern equipment worth between $50 million and $100 million “that most likely won’t be relocated and will be sold for a fraction of the cost.” The scientist added, “The decision to terminate the St. Louis lab will cost more money than it saves.” (Update: Hours after this item was posted, Endpoints News reported the St. Louis lab lease termination had been reversed.)"
Scientific societies urge Congress to protect research
"Two weeks ago, hundreds of demonstrators rallied outside the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to protest funding cuts and mass layoffs implemented by the Trump administration. Across the Atlantic Ocean, European journals and scientific organizations are speaking out against executive orders freezing U.S. research funds and censoring research on topics such as climate change and transgender health. Now, days before Stand up for Science rallies are scheduled around the country, 47 different scientific societies, associations, and organizations—representing nearly 100,000 scientists across a variety of fields—are urging members of Congress to preserve federally funded research and protect federal scientists in a letter organized by the Union of Concerned Scientists."
https://www.eenews.net/articles/how-trumps-assault-on-science-is-blinding-america-to-climate-change/
How Trump’s assault on science is blinding America to climate change
"His team has eliminated major climate programs, frozen or cut grants for climate research and moved to shutter EPA’s greenhouse gas reporting program. The Trump administration has slow-walked climate-related contracts — including one for the upkeep of two polar weather satellites. And it’s begun to wall off the United States from international climate cooperation."
"Trump’s blitzkrieg on federal climate work is only a start — as his budget strategy calls for even deeper cuts in the months and years ahead. That includes billions of dollars in cuts to climate and weather research at NOAA and NASA, widely considered two of the world’s top science agencies."
All told, it’s an unprecedented assault on humanity’s understanding of how global warming is transforming the planet, scientists say. And they warn that Trump’s actions will blind the United States and the world to the ways people are rapidly heating the planet by burning fossil fuels."
Raise your hand if you are willing to accept the MAGA belief that there is nothing humans can do that will affect climate change.
If we throw away science and replace it with conspiracy theory, pseudoscience, reliance on religion, and superstition any gains we have made in life expectancy will be reversed, unless you are wealthy enough to pay for your own experiments in science. We may try to make up for government cuts to research and disease control, but it will cost us and force us to make lifestyle changes. It's difficult to grasp how far backward conservatives want to take us.
We will have to enjoy the moments we can celebrate because those moments will be brief. We will have to continue to fight, fight, fight. Cuts in higher education are related to cuts in science. Why do these folks want a brain drain? Think about it.