oops, looks like more than four this evening for me ...

Oh well ... :(

Tune linked in the title comment ...

Is Pres Putin losing Crimea?

Pres Putin seems to be having issues lately ...

More from the article ...

... The US's response to the outbreak ended on Sunday, June 21, with the final 42-day monitoring period wrapping up for passengers of the virus-stricken cruise ship, MV Hondius. But without explanation, the Department of Health and Human Services announced the end of the response today, June 24, with a press release dated June 23.

Anti-vaccine Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. touted how HHS acted "swiftly" to respond to the outbreak and credited federal efforts for preventing "sustained transmission of hantavirus ... in the United States," despite no Americans bringing the virus into the country for sustained transmission to be possible.

"The successful conclusion of this response demonstrates the strength of a coordinated response to infectious disease threats that occur outside of our borders," Jay Bhattacharya added in the press release. Bhattacharya is acting as the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention despite exceeding the 210-day limit for filling a Senate-confirmed position. "As a result, we prevented any new cases from arising in the US," he said.

Soon after the press release was sent out, the CDC held a very short press briefing about the response, during which an official continued to boast of the successful conclusion without directly answering any questions.

Excessive quarantines

Significant questions remain about the Trump administration's use of draconian quarantine orders during the response. Those orders exceeded those in Chile and Argentina, where the hantavirus in this outbreak (the Andes virus) is endemic. They also exceed what hantavirus experts recommend and what the CDC's own expert recommended.

Specifically, hantavirus has only been documented to spread when infected people are showing symptoms. Based on experiences from Chile and Argentina, where thousands of people have successfully quarantined amid Andes virus outbreaks, remote monitoring with daily symptom and temperature checks is sufficient. This is also what the World Health Organization has recommended.

Without explanation, Trump officials required potentially exposed, repatriated cruise passengers to either stay in a federal quarantine unit in Nebraska, where they were essentially in strict isolation, or, in some cases, people were allowed to go home if their local health authorities agreed to surveil them 24/7 and do twice daily in-person fever and symptom checks. Oddly, MV Hondius passengers who returned to the US before the outbreak was identified were not subject to this requirement once they were identified. ...

@#21 ... Their body, their choice ...

I am not convinced of that for the military.

Sec of Defense Hegseth has stated that he wants a responsive military.

So, how can a military respond if it is sick in beds with a preventable sickness?

Sec Hegseth's embarrassing reversal on the flu vaccine issue shows at least he is capable of learning something.

Though that something that he learned had been widely understood among other military leaders.

Unfortunately, he's the Sec of Defense.

More from the article ...

... Emails indicate that Kennedy directed the CDC's vaccine advisory panel to restrict access to vaccines, allowed researchers to access "confidential data" to indicate the disproven claim that vaccines cause autism and changed recommendations for the public to receive COVID-19 shots without input from the CDC.

Other emails also show that Kennedy's then-chief of staff, Matthew Buckham, emailed former CDC Director Susan Monarez in August 2025 about the need for a "political review of major decisions at CDC ... to ensure that [the Immediate Office of the Secretary] and the CDC political leadership all have eyes on the decisions for approval/changes before they go into effect."

Less than a week later, Kennedy fired Monarez "for failing to rubber stamp recommendations from" the CDC's vaccine panel, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, Sanders said in a statement.

Sanders, the ranking member on the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP), blasted Monarez's firing as "outrageous," accusing Kennedy of firing her "for her commitment to public health and vaccines." Sanders requested a bipartisan investigation into her firing and called on Kennedy to resign. ...

@#2

Yup.

The Cover-Up continues.

@#5 ... What gives? ...

Well, the Strait of Hormuz was open (wide open) before Pres Trump waged an unprovoked war on Iran, and a war that apparently taught Iran about their control over the Strait and the global ramifications of their control.

Now, Pres Trump seems to be desperately trying to return to the way the Strait was before February 2026.

Will he succeed in undoing what he has done?

@#9 ... Could? lol! ...

My view also.

Reminds me of a song that popped up on a playlist here yesterday ...

Based upon the reporting I have seen, it seems that the Trump lawyers (a.k.a., the DoJ) wanted to place the blame on someone, anyone, regardless of the credibility of the evidence they presented.

The Defense seemed to be able to show other evidence that cast significant doubts upon the case presented by Pres Trump's lawyers.

More from the article ...

... Some of Epstein's accusers have signed confidential prelitigation settlements with friends of the sex offender whom they have also accused of misconduct, according to three people with direct knowledge of such settlements, including Brad Edwards, an attorney who has represented more than 200 of Epstein's accusers.

These settlements include nondisclosure agreements that prohibit them from speaking publicly about their experiences, Edwards and the other people told Business Insider, part of the Axel Springer Global Reporters Network, which includes POLITICO.

The House Oversight Committee is investigating the Justice Department's handling of its Epstein investigations and is scheduled to conduct voluntary interviews with associates of Epstein in the coming weeks. Those conversations won't be under oath, and participants won't be legally compelled to answer every question. ...

@#17 ... Once Republicans used socialist as a perjorative ...

Then there is Pres Trump who seems to be using his occupancy powers of the Oval officeto advance his family's business interests.

@#2

The Middle East, and especially its conflicts, are not a challenge that has a simple solution.

One of the decision was based upon a technicality in the wording of the law.