[Sundaycommunity] Fwd: [Ruah] what's happening in the US

[Catherine Walther]

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From: Catherine Walther via groups.io <catherine.walther=gmail.com at groups.io
>
Date: Thu, 6 Feb 2025 at 13:13
Subject: [Ruah] what's happening in the US
To: CNWE group <CNWE at googlegroups.com>, Ruah Group <Ruah at groups.io>,
Taproot Group <taprootcan at googlegroups.com>


An American doctor friend wrote this:



A couple readers have specifically asked me not to bring up politics in my
writing. They just want “uplifting” stuff to continue. I aim to keep that
tone when I can, but the disemboweling of American public health
institutions, formerly considered among the finest in the world despite
imperfections, compels a reactionary tone. As a family doctor who cares
about prevention and community health, it would be cowardly to look the
other way, or even worse, to normalize the many blatant assertions of
centralized power and agenda over distributed truth and expertise. A few
examples from just the past week:



Communication Freeze: Federal health agencies, including the CDC, FDA, and
NIH, were ordered to halt all external communications, including scientific
reports, website updates, and health advisories. This included suspending
the CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) and other public
health updates. Public domain Vaccine Information Sheets we use everyday in
primary care to counsel patients have vanished —instead we get a “Page
you’re looking for was not found” error message. Some critical information
about the H5N1 outbreak has simply been deleted.



Research and Meetings Canceled: Scientific meetings and grant review panels
were abruptly canceled, delaying critical research on issues like the bird
flu outbreak. NIH travel and training workshops were also suspended. Not
traveling affects scientists’ ability to present their work. The NIH
Clinical Center can no longer recruit patients into clinical trials because
of cancelled meetings and silenced information on clinical trials.



Approval Restrictions: All public materials, including regulations, press
releases, and social media posts, now require approval from a political
appointee before dissemination.



Work with WHO Halted: Federal health agencies were directed to stop
collaborations with the World Health Organization (WHO), following an
executive order withdrawing the U.S. from the organization. Apropos to the
moment, the WHO's international meeting on bird flu will lack CDC
representatives, potentially limiting America's ability to access crucial
global data on the virus's evolution and spread, which could hamper efforts
to prevent human infections and develop treatments.



Hiring Freeze: A government-wide hiring freeze was imposed, with job ads
rescinded and offers pulled at agencies like NIH.



In-Person Work Mandate: Federal health workers were required to return to
in-person work, exacerbating workforce shortages.



Global Gag Rule Reinstated: The administration reinstated restrictions on
funding for international reproductive health services.



RFK Junior for Secretary of HHS: It’s such a waste of time to even consider
these sorts of nominees, chosen for their lack of qualifications plus
agendas that are antithetical to the missions of the institutions they will
mislead. But focusing on vaccines at least, Kennedy claimed to support
vaccines during the confirmation hearings, contradicting his incredibly
long and well-documented history of promoting vaccine misinformation,
including debunked claims linking vaccines to autism. Senators highlighted
his past statements and actions, such as his nonprofit selling anti-vaccine
merchandise, the millions of dollars he personally makes from
anti-vaccination organizations and lawsuits, all of which raise doubts
about his sincerity to say the least.



Any one of these items is not OK. None of it is normal.



It’s not “disruption” in any kind of potentially positive, constructive
way. It’s just destruction for the sole purpose of centralizing power in
our information networks at the expense of truth, real time public health
surveillance, and open communication.



It’s not going to all be OK… but you won’t know it’s not OK unless you keep
reading the words of those with actual expertise, the decentralized network
of scientifically informed truth that’s now being forced into a reluctant
Resistance. This further calcifies the notion of politics in science, and
further coalesces a tribe against public health, even as we try to defend
it with evidence, data, and truth. Communication.



We can only hope for some luck, some bravery, some awakening.



Some regret.


-- 

When life wins there will be no losers. A'Ida Shibli
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-- 

When life wins there will be no losers. A'Ida Shibli
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