All of our nations scientists are leaving their positions here in the US and going to other countries to do their research. As with the DOJ'S top attorneys, are leaving public office to practice in State's Attorneys offices and nonprofit organizations. Your article today is Spot On, Jack, and should scare the hell out of people ( it does me ) what this regime is planning for this country,is nothing short of Putin's Russia. Thank You, for another great read and will reStack ASAP 💯👍
Karen...thank you...and thank you for restacking; that's how this work travels.
The brain-drain piece is the part too few people are tracking...and...you're right to. Thank you!
When researchers take their work abroad...and experienced attorneys leave for states and nonprofits...you don't see it on the news as a crisis...you FEEL IT... years later...as the things that quietly STOPPED working.
That's the kind of loss that doesn't announce itself.
I'll gently steer one thing, though. The fear you're feeling is the appropriate response to seeing clearly...it means you're awake...NOT broken.
But...don't let it curdle into dread...because dread is EXACTLY what makes people stop acting.
The point of seeing it plainly...isn't to be terrified; it's to BE READY. You're already doing the thing that matters...paying attention...refusing to look away...passing it on.
KEEP doing that.
Grateful to have you in this, Karen. We hold the line by not flinching.
You have udenified the issue and described how it started and what the consequences will be if Vought et al have their way. What we need next is our next steps. Voting in the promaries and in November is a given. But that feels a long way off. January is even further. And we have seen how much damage Trump can do in 7 months.
Karen...you've named the real problem: elections are the destination...but you need something to do on the long road there.
So here's where I'd put my energy between now and then... NONE of it glamorous...ALL of it load-bearing.
Vote in everything BEFORE November, too.
Special elections...local races...ballot measures...school boards...they're low-turnout... which means your vote is worth MORE...and...they're where a lot of the real machinery actually sits.
Make yourself known to your reps; by phone...by name...repeatedly. Offices tally calls. ONE persistent constituent is LOUDER than a thousand silent ones.
Show up in person. City council...town halls...public comment. Power counts on you NOT being in the room.
Defend the load-bearing institutions; give to the legal funds...the watchdogs...the independent press doing the documentation. They're the brakes...and brakes need maintenance.
Protect the people in arm's reach. Know who in your community is vulnerable to what's coming, and be the one who shows up for them.
And...pace yourself. Seven months of damage is real...BUT... the antidote to “they move fast” isn't panic... it's stamina. This is a long fight...and burned-out people don't win it.
The waiting isn't empty time. It's the time the work actually gets done. I'll keep mapping the terrain; you keep walking it.
Never realized my close friends of 45 years were so MAGA until several years ago. It is difficult maintaining these relationships. However, it is worth keeping the conversation going. Facts are on our side. I try to stay informed so I'm able to debate and hopefully move them to the democrat's side of the aisle.
Jack, just a few words to let you know that I pay attention to what you share. I’m an old woman and I’m quite saddened to understand that what I once thought of our “great” Nation might have been more lies than truth. It’s even more difficult to think we might be headed in an even lower direction. Am I scared? Yes, I am. But I’ll never give up on what is good about our Country and mankind in general. I appreciate your information, your words of wisdom and the truths you share, your determination and encouragement and inspiration. I’m holding fast (sometimes by a thread) and I’ll be standing by you to the end, no matter how bitter or ugly the final outcome may be. And I will never give up hope that our Country can come back from the cliff and be restored to its great potential. HOLDFAST!
Lindal...I read this slowly, twice. Thank you for trusting me with it.
Here's what I want you to hear most: a thread still holds.
You wrote that you're holding fast “sometimes by a thread,” and I want to honor that honesty...rather than wave it away...because the people who hold on by a thread...and REFUSE to let go are...in the end...the STRONGEST ones in the room.
ANYONE can hold on when it's easy. You're doing it when it's HARD.
And...you've kept the one thing that actually matters: you STILL believe in what's good in this country and in people.
That belief isn't naive...it's the thing EVERY recovery in history has been built on.
Disillusionment about the myths is painful...but...seeing clearly...is NOT the same as giving up...and you've proven you haven't.
You won't stand by me to the end ALONE. There's a whole community of people holding the same thread...and you're part of it.
Jack you are correct about not letting politics decide. The other part is when you have closed minds and ignorance making decisions because they have no clue to how science works and helps a country. The have no interest in learning how things are discovered by those that asks questions. I wonder if the ultra rich trying to kill us off realize they are also at high risk of crashing because of the decisions being made that is going to affect global economy…what happens when there is no fuel for their jets or the military equipment?…a little off topic but it is something I feel is interconnected and is related to letting the ignorant and selfish make terrible decisions.
Teri...you're not off topic at all. You've actually circled back to the central thing.
The danger isn't just bad values; it's bad values...PAIRED with a refusal to understand how anything actually works.
Science isn't a political team...it's the slow...humble business of asking questions and testing answers...and you can't govern a complex country well while holding it in contempt.
When the people deciding have no curiosity about how discovery happens, they don't just make wrong calls; they make calls they can't even recognize as wrong.
And...your bigger point lands: there's no separate lifeboat.
The systems that keep the jets fueled...and the supply chains MOVING... are the SAME systems being hollowed out.
Wealth buys insulation...not immunity; you can be the richest passenger on the ship and ...still be on the ship. History's full of people who learned that way too late.
The interconnection you're sensing is real, Teri...and NAMING it is EXACTLY the right instinct.
Matha and science were my strong and fav subjects and constantly asking questions with the analytical thinking. Sometimes its a curse to see things and people don't listen..
The terrible irony is that the ultra rich who think they can survive the global collapse of civilization they are hoping to engineer are in fact likely to be some of the first to die in that collapse. They have none of the skills actually needed to survive in a post industrial society, and they will find out too late that their money will not buy them the loyalty of their physically stronger and better-armed lackeys (who will figure out very quickly that they are better off killing their boss and taking over the survival bunker, then protecting their boss). The people who have a real chance of surviving in that post-collapse society have both skills that are useful in a pre-industrial age society and are members of a tight knit community. People like the Amish and the indigenous tribes living in the Amazon will survive, but people like Elon Musk and Peter Thiel will be doomed.
If the ultra wealthy were half as smart as they think they are, they would be working to improve our society, not destroy it, because their continued survival (let alone comfort) is utterly dependent on that society continuing to thrive. Our current technological society is the only place where their skills are actually useful!
Who hurt this person so badly that he hates the rest of us so much?
I am old enough to remember standing in line for that polio vaccine sugar cube.
Anyone reading this is old enough to remember being in line for the COVID vaccine.
How badly does this man hate humanity? #HoldingFast but so worried. Worried that there are single-issue voters who will not vote unless they have the Holy Grail candidate. Worried that there are people who don't give a ..... Worried that 47 will corrupt voting to the point where we can't vote. Who hurt Vought so badly that he hates the rest of us so much?
Perfectly stated. Those with knowledge and curiosity are leaving and going where they can study, research, and create without curbing by the government. We have an existential crisis brewing because of the US government ignoramuses. We used to be the leaders and envy. Now the exit doors are revolving non stop. This crisis began with Heritage Foundation and Reagan opening the door to their presence in our government. Each GOP administration strengthened its existence and power. That is the boiler plate from whence sprouted Russell Vought, among others. We must remove Heritage Foundation, Russell and all others from their horrid "foundation ". It may take a generation to undo the damage, but fight We must. Thanks, Jack ,for keeping these pieces of knowledge fresh and actionable.
I agree with most of what you are saying, however, Fauci and Collins proved that biases in grant awarding exist and his funding of Baric's gain of function research is ground zero. That said, taxes are too damn high and 501(c)3 charitable organizations ought to fund 100% of this and the budget shrink and taxes lowered further.
There are legitimate problems within the scientific community and "Big Pharma". That should not be minimized. There are problems decades in the making, with insufficient "push back" - for multiple, complex reasons. Legitimate scientists and researches have been fighting that battle for many years, in many fields of science.
Personally, my first exposure was doing an internship with a pharmaceutical firm during college in the early 1970s. I'd say 90% of those I ran into were totally moral, ethical and devoted (some smarter than others, but all sincere). The other 10% were sociopaths who caused myriad problems and could be very disruptive to the legitimate majority, and to true scientific progress.
It got worse over the years as drug advertising was legalized, among other foolhardy changes (e.g. the scientifically fallacious idea of they call "Evidence Based Medicine", which is actually a simplistic perversion of understanding actual evidence and statistics, and rather than increasing sophistication, simplifying the use of studies and statistics in a destructive manner). And now, with AI...
As a psychiatrist, due to the nature of the discipline, in significant ways there are more openings in the field of mental health for shenanigans (by practitioners, pharma, insurance companies) - such that it's probably more like 70% good guys 30% sociopaths. (These numbers are all very rough personal estimates - NOT the result of any scientific study.)
But what's happening now, only puts the corruption that was already present on steroids and strengthens the hands of the sociopaths - allowing for a "cage match" among the worst actors in which each battles to gain a bigger piece of corruptly-obtained profits (and implement eugenics) - with Death having bought out all the front row seats, cheering wildly.
Our admin doesn't believe in science. They don't want to spend money on research unless they can see obvious ways to make money from it. They don't care about health. They don't care about anything that helps the average citizen. "Will it make us money right now?" is the only question that matters to them. They have no capacity to look into the future or to consider the greater good. It is all about "me me me" with them.
Vought is a demon on a level by himself. There are very few people on this planet who make me as angry and sick as he does. This "man" is a true sadist in every sense of the word, and it goes a lot deeper than the sadism that's occasionally shown in the movies or on TV.
This is the man who, during his confirmation hearing, verified that he wanted to see federal employees terrorized. TERRORIZED. To come to work and do what they do to support the oath to the Constitution that they had taken. I can verify that, at least in the agency I was previously with, that was exactly what's been happening. It still is.
But, he is the biggest HYPOCRITE walking the planet. Why, you ask? One of his daughters has Cystic Fibrosis, which is deadly. HIS DAUGHTER PARTICIPATED IN A TRIAL FOR A NEW DRUG TREATMENT THAT HAS PROVEN TO SAVE LIVES. It worked for her and she still receives the treatment. Isn't that a kick in the teeth? He makes sure that he and his have everything they need, but f^ck everybody else. He's also divorced. Did he divorce because it's a better financial setup for his sick daughter, or was it legit that there were irreconcilable differences. All I know is that he makes me sick.
All of our nations scientists are leaving their positions here in the US and going to other countries to do their research. As with the DOJ'S top attorneys, are leaving public office to practice in State's Attorneys offices and nonprofit organizations. Your article today is Spot On, Jack, and should scare the hell out of people ( it does me ) what this regime is planning for this country,is nothing short of Putin's Russia. Thank You, for another great read and will reStack ASAP 💯👍
Karen...thank you...and thank you for restacking; that's how this work travels.
The brain-drain piece is the part too few people are tracking...and...you're right to. Thank you!
When researchers take their work abroad...and experienced attorneys leave for states and nonprofits...you don't see it on the news as a crisis...you FEEL IT... years later...as the things that quietly STOPPED working.
That's the kind of loss that doesn't announce itself.
I'll gently steer one thing, though. The fear you're feeling is the appropriate response to seeing clearly...it means you're awake...NOT broken.
But...don't let it curdle into dread...because dread is EXACTLY what makes people stop acting.
The point of seeing it plainly...isn't to be terrified; it's to BE READY. You're already doing the thing that matters...paying attention...refusing to look away...passing it on.
KEEP doing that.
Grateful to have you in this, Karen. We hold the line by not flinching.
#HoldFast
-Jack
You have udenified the issue and described how it started and what the consequences will be if Vought et al have their way. What we need next is our next steps. Voting in the promaries and in November is a given. But that feels a long way off. January is even further. And we have seen how much damage Trump can do in 7 months.
Karen...you've named the real problem: elections are the destination...but you need something to do on the long road there.
So here's where I'd put my energy between now and then... NONE of it glamorous...ALL of it load-bearing.
Vote in everything BEFORE November, too.
Special elections...local races...ballot measures...school boards...they're low-turnout... which means your vote is worth MORE...and...they're where a lot of the real machinery actually sits.
Make yourself known to your reps; by phone...by name...repeatedly. Offices tally calls. ONE persistent constituent is LOUDER than a thousand silent ones.
Show up in person. City council...town halls...public comment. Power counts on you NOT being in the room.
Defend the load-bearing institutions; give to the legal funds...the watchdogs...the independent press doing the documentation. They're the brakes...and brakes need maintenance.
Protect the people in arm's reach. Know who in your community is vulnerable to what's coming, and be the one who shows up for them.
And...pace yourself. Seven months of damage is real...BUT... the antidote to “they move fast” isn't panic... it's stamina. This is a long fight...and burned-out people don't win it.
The waiting isn't empty time. It's the time the work actually gets done. I'll keep mapping the terrain; you keep walking it.
#HoldFast
-Jack
November 2026 can’t come fast enough. Please, everyone, bring someone who opts out of voting with you to the polls 💙
PJ...that last line is the WHOLE strategy in a sentence.
The single most powerful thing most of us can do...isn't casting our own vote...it's bringing the person who'd OTHERWISE stay home! Read that again.
One conversation...one ride to the polls...one “come with me.”
That's how margins move. Save the comment...and act on it in November.
#HoldFast
-Jack
Never realized my close friends of 45 years were so MAGA until several years ago. It is difficult maintaining these relationships. However, it is worth keeping the conversation going. Facts are on our side. I try to stay informed so I'm able to debate and hopefully move them to the democrat's side of the aisle.
Jack, just a few words to let you know that I pay attention to what you share. I’m an old woman and I’m quite saddened to understand that what I once thought of our “great” Nation might have been more lies than truth. It’s even more difficult to think we might be headed in an even lower direction. Am I scared? Yes, I am. But I’ll never give up on what is good about our Country and mankind in general. I appreciate your information, your words of wisdom and the truths you share, your determination and encouragement and inspiration. I’m holding fast (sometimes by a thread) and I’ll be standing by you to the end, no matter how bitter or ugly the final outcome may be. And I will never give up hope that our Country can come back from the cliff and be restored to its great potential. HOLDFAST!
Lindal...I read this slowly, twice. Thank you for trusting me with it.
Here's what I want you to hear most: a thread still holds.
You wrote that you're holding fast “sometimes by a thread,” and I want to honor that honesty...rather than wave it away...because the people who hold on by a thread...and REFUSE to let go are...in the end...the STRONGEST ones in the room.
ANYONE can hold on when it's easy. You're doing it when it's HARD.
And...you've kept the one thing that actually matters: you STILL believe in what's good in this country and in people.
That belief isn't naive...it's the thing EVERY recovery in history has been built on.
Disillusionment about the myths is painful...but...seeing clearly...is NOT the same as giving up...and you've proven you haven't.
You won't stand by me to the end ALONE. There's a whole community of people holding the same thread...and you're part of it.
So...lean when you need to. That's allowed!
With real gratitude, and real respect.
#HOLDFAST
-Jack
And you KNOW how strong a spider web is.
Jack you are correct about not letting politics decide. The other part is when you have closed minds and ignorance making decisions because they have no clue to how science works and helps a country. The have no interest in learning how things are discovered by those that asks questions. I wonder if the ultra rich trying to kill us off realize they are also at high risk of crashing because of the decisions being made that is going to affect global economy…what happens when there is no fuel for their jets or the military equipment?…a little off topic but it is something I feel is interconnected and is related to letting the ignorant and selfish make terrible decisions.
#HOLDFAST
Teri
Teri...you're not off topic at all. You've actually circled back to the central thing.
The danger isn't just bad values; it's bad values...PAIRED with a refusal to understand how anything actually works.
Science isn't a political team...it's the slow...humble business of asking questions and testing answers...and you can't govern a complex country well while holding it in contempt.
When the people deciding have no curiosity about how discovery happens, they don't just make wrong calls; they make calls they can't even recognize as wrong.
And...your bigger point lands: there's no separate lifeboat.
The systems that keep the jets fueled...and the supply chains MOVING... are the SAME systems being hollowed out.
Wealth buys insulation...not immunity; you can be the richest passenger on the ship and ...still be on the ship. History's full of people who learned that way too late.
The interconnection you're sensing is real, Teri...and NAMING it is EXACTLY the right instinct.
Thank you for thinking it through out loud.
#HOLDFAST
-Jack
Matha and science were my strong and fav subjects and constantly asking questions with the analytical thinking. Sometimes its a curse to see things and people don't listen..
Fact, Teri. Fact!
-Jack
When you think it through out loud, everybody learns. Value. Thanks, Teri.
The terrible irony is that the ultra rich who think they can survive the global collapse of civilization they are hoping to engineer are in fact likely to be some of the first to die in that collapse. They have none of the skills actually needed to survive in a post industrial society, and they will find out too late that their money will not buy them the loyalty of their physically stronger and better-armed lackeys (who will figure out very quickly that they are better off killing their boss and taking over the survival bunker, then protecting their boss). The people who have a real chance of surviving in that post-collapse society have both skills that are useful in a pre-industrial age society and are members of a tight knit community. People like the Amish and the indigenous tribes living in the Amazon will survive, but people like Elon Musk and Peter Thiel will be doomed.
If the ultra wealthy were half as smart as they think they are, they would be working to improve our society, not destroy it, because their continued survival (let alone comfort) is utterly dependent on that society continuing to thrive. Our current technological society is the only place where their skills are actually useful!
Who hurt this person so badly that he hates the rest of us so much?
I am old enough to remember standing in line for that polio vaccine sugar cube.
Anyone reading this is old enough to remember being in line for the COVID vaccine.
How badly does this man hate humanity? #HoldingFast but so worried. Worried that there are single-issue voters who will not vote unless they have the Holy Grail candidate. Worried that there are people who don't give a ..... Worried that 47 will corrupt voting to the point where we can't vote. Who hurt Vought so badly that he hates the rest of us so much?
Thank you, Jack 🙏
Alissa...you're most welcome. Thank you for being here!
-Jack
The unnatural silences Tillie Olsen framed so tragically, so beautifully. Now even the sciences. Two plus more years unless... unless what?
He's doing what Mao did to China.
Jack, I find this both infuriating and terrifying. That’s all I have for right now and… you said it all anyway.
It’s been a difficult week for America and most Americans don’t even know it… and it’s only Wednesday.
Thank you for keeping us informed. I’ll keep fighting in the few ways that I can. I hope it’s enough.
#Holdfast
~Susan
Perfectly stated. Those with knowledge and curiosity are leaving and going where they can study, research, and create without curbing by the government. We have an existential crisis brewing because of the US government ignoramuses. We used to be the leaders and envy. Now the exit doors are revolving non stop. This crisis began with Heritage Foundation and Reagan opening the door to their presence in our government. Each GOP administration strengthened its existence and power. That is the boiler plate from whence sprouted Russell Vought, among others. We must remove Heritage Foundation, Russell and all others from their horrid "foundation ". It may take a generation to undo the damage, but fight We must. Thanks, Jack ,for keeping these pieces of knowledge fresh and actionable.
#HoldFast
I agree with most of what you are saying, however, Fauci and Collins proved that biases in grant awarding exist and his funding of Baric's gain of function research is ground zero. That said, taxes are too damn high and 501(c)3 charitable organizations ought to fund 100% of this and the budget shrink and taxes lowered further.
He’s an evil SOB!
There are legitimate problems within the scientific community and "Big Pharma". That should not be minimized. There are problems decades in the making, with insufficient "push back" - for multiple, complex reasons. Legitimate scientists and researches have been fighting that battle for many years, in many fields of science.
Personally, my first exposure was doing an internship with a pharmaceutical firm during college in the early 1970s. I'd say 90% of those I ran into were totally moral, ethical and devoted (some smarter than others, but all sincere). The other 10% were sociopaths who caused myriad problems and could be very disruptive to the legitimate majority, and to true scientific progress.
It got worse over the years as drug advertising was legalized, among other foolhardy changes (e.g. the scientifically fallacious idea of they call "Evidence Based Medicine", which is actually a simplistic perversion of understanding actual evidence and statistics, and rather than increasing sophistication, simplifying the use of studies and statistics in a destructive manner). And now, with AI...
As a psychiatrist, due to the nature of the discipline, in significant ways there are more openings in the field of mental health for shenanigans (by practitioners, pharma, insurance companies) - such that it's probably more like 70% good guys 30% sociopaths. (These numbers are all very rough personal estimates - NOT the result of any scientific study.)
But what's happening now, only puts the corruption that was already present on steroids and strengthens the hands of the sociopaths - allowing for a "cage match" among the worst actors in which each battles to gain a bigger piece of corruptly-obtained profits (and implement eugenics) - with Death having bought out all the front row seats, cheering wildly.
Our admin doesn't believe in science. They don't want to spend money on research unless they can see obvious ways to make money from it. They don't care about health. They don't care about anything that helps the average citizen. "Will it make us money right now?" is the only question that matters to them. They have no capacity to look into the future or to consider the greater good. It is all about "me me me" with them.
Vought is a demon on a level by himself. There are very few people on this planet who make me as angry and sick as he does. This "man" is a true sadist in every sense of the word, and it goes a lot deeper than the sadism that's occasionally shown in the movies or on TV.
This is the man who, during his confirmation hearing, verified that he wanted to see federal employees terrorized. TERRORIZED. To come to work and do what they do to support the oath to the Constitution that they had taken. I can verify that, at least in the agency I was previously with, that was exactly what's been happening. It still is.
But, he is the biggest HYPOCRITE walking the planet. Why, you ask? One of his daughters has Cystic Fibrosis, which is deadly. HIS DAUGHTER PARTICIPATED IN A TRIAL FOR A NEW DRUG TREATMENT THAT HAS PROVEN TO SAVE LIVES. It worked for her and she still receives the treatment. Isn't that a kick in the teeth? He makes sure that he and his have everything they need, but f^ck everybody else. He's also divorced. Did he divorce because it's a better financial setup for his sick daughter, or was it legit that there were irreconcilable differences. All I know is that he makes me sick.