Wendy

For me the hardest thing about working in public health right now is looking directly at how many horrible, preventable things are happening and will continue to happen, and also knowing how many of those your very best efforts will not stop in time

ICE’s impunity is a formula for more violence Is America’s president building his own paramilitary militia?

The Economist magazine, with a world-wide audience, steps in hard against Trump/Noem’s violent embarrassment of our country with ICE’s goon-squad behavior. It’s remarkable, and sad, that Trump’s America looks like this to the world.

Preclinical stages of Crohn’s disease defined by faecal calprotectin in asymptomatic first-degree relatives: screening framework for prevention trials Background The PIONIR (Preventing IBD ONset in Individuals at Risk) trial evaluates whether the Tasty&Healthy diet can reduce risk of Crohn’s disease (CD) development in first-degree relatives (FDRs). The optimal preclinical stage of CD for enrolling subjects to prevention trials is unknown. Objectives We aimed to propose a framework for identifying high-risk participants for prevention trials by reporting the outcomes of the pre-PIONIR screening stage. Design Faecal calprotectin was measured in asymptomatic FDRs aged 6–38 years; those with persistent elevation, defined as >70 µg/g in at least two separate tests, were offered panenteric video capsule-endoscopy or ileocolonoscopy. Results Of 950 FDRs approached, 331 (35%) agreed to be screened: 63 (19%) had persistently elevated calprotectin, of whom 42 underwent further evaluation. Nine (2.7%) had endoscopic appearance compatible with presymptomatic CD, 22 (6.6%) had non-specific macroscopic mucosal changes and 11 (3.3%) had normal mucosa despite elevated calprotectin, suggesting probable histological inflammation. The 33 participants in the two latter groups were defined as ‘potential pre-CD’ (17.9% of all screened after adjusting for missing values). Calprotectin >225 µg/g predicted presymptomatic CD (area under the receiver operating characteristic curve 0.97 (95% CI 0.94 to 1.0; p<0.001; sensitivity 89%, specificity 94%). Of those with a single elevated calprotectin value, 22% normalised on repeat testing with significant variability (intraclass correlation coefficient 0.72 (95% CI 0.57 to 0.82)). Conclusion Approximately one in five asymptomatic FDRs had persistently elevated calprotectin, which was able to differentiate those with presymptomatic CD. The findings highlight calprotectin’s utility in identifying at-risk individuals during the potential pre-CD stage for enrolment in prevention trials. Data are available upon reasonable request. Data are available on reasonable request to the corresponding author.

Calprotectin effectively identifies asymptomatic relatives at risk of Crohn's disease, guiding participant enrollment for prevention trials.

by Turner D, Kenigsberg S (...) Croitoru K et 14 al. in Gut #MedSky

👉 get more here

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The ICE and immigration story is ENORMOUSLY triggering to my generational holocaust trauma. I see the faces of my grandparents and dead family in every single person being disappeared and tortured by the US govt and I can only traumatize myself with it so much I have to set boundaries and that’s ok.

A new law ordered the DOJ to publish unclassified Epstein records by Dec. 19. The first trove arrived heavily redacted, including at least 550 pages that CBS News said were entirely blacked out.
open.substack.com/pub/theintel...

Except that we won’t. The social Darwinism and eugenics are a huge part of MAHA. After all, a key idea behind the antivax movement is that vaccine-preventable diseases can’t harm you if you’re healthy and that if you’re not healthy it’s your fault.

Alaska Department of Corrections reports record-tying 18 deaths in custody this year Advocates and lawmakers are calling for the reinstatement of an independent oversight body to investigate and help prevent deaths, as well as changes to medical and geriatric parole.

It’s unacceptable that the Alaska Department of Corrections hasn't made any changes to reduce preventable deaths in their custody.

We're taking the state to court to challenge the dangerous and inhumane healthcare system in Alaska's jails and prisons.

it's odd to see the people who can accurately assess Bari Weiss isn't a good journalist and failed upward into her role as chief brunchlord, but can't take the additional leap to realize this is part of an active plot by extraction class media ownership to actively destroy journalism and consensus

Thank you. I needed to see this today.

Bill Clinton releasing a statement saying 'release the Epstein files, you cowards' was not on my bingo list.

If this doesn't motivate you to vote in the Midterms, nothing will.

An introduction to neurodiversity YouTube video by Autism Central Learn

"If you are neurodivergent, it usually means that you need to learn differently to neurotypical people. You might concentrate differently, behave or act a little differently, even communicate and think differently." Written/narrated @kieranrose.bsky.social:

youtu.be/zDiWGHgWeUk?... #neurodiversity

SNAP is a lifeline for workers in low-wage jobs.

Meanwhile, CEOs are paid 280x as much as the typical worker.

Don’t be angry at workers for using food stamps.

Be angry at the corporations paying them so little that they need them.

Still in a state of shock trying to process the tragic loss of one of the most gifted men in the entertainment industry & his wife when the Embarrassment-in-Chief disgraces common human decency with this repulsive, deranged statement.

#NoWords 🤮

ABA therapy is still harming autistic kids in deeply embedded and indefensible ways: "What particularly strikes me is that when ABA proponents defend ABA, they're always moving the goalposts so that abusive & harmful ABA practices don't 'count.'"

adeepercountry.blogspot.com/2023/12/revi... #autism

Leading Autism and Disability Organizations Statement on CDC's Vaccines and Autism Page As national organizations dedicated to advancing the well-being of autistic individuals and partners across the disability and public health sectors, we are deeply disappointed by the latest update to...

Though the CDC website now states: “‘vaccines do not cause autism. This is not an evidence-based claim,” This is false. Nearly 3 decades of scientific research has repeatedly confirmed there is no causal link between vaccines & autism.” By @autisticadvocacy.org:

autisticadvocacy.org/2025/11/lead...

Still never going to get over how quickly people who've had genocide practiced against them are to turn around and practice it on someone else. Humans fucking suck, full stop, send post.

Why did not a single male reporter who were standing next to the president and the female reporter he called "piggy" say a word to the president about this and call him out then and there? Those who keep quiet in these moments are part of the problem.

Adds something to my bookmarks knowing full well that I will never see it again

Morning.

Loving this Larry Summers arc where he’s like, wow taking a step back from leadership now that I found out about my own behavior which I have had access to at all times

How do you know if an autism organization is good? Not every autism organization helps autistic people. Here's how you can tell the difference, with examples.

As #givingTuesday is near: Please let us know what autism orgs you think are worth supporting, as well as which are really NOT worth anyone's time/$$. Our recs are below; please note that we like and also side-eye plenty of orgs that aren't listed.

thinkingautismguide.com/useful-autis...
#autism

the Harvard Crimson called Epstein a “child sex offender” while the Chronicle of Higher Ed called him a “disgraced financier” and that pretty much sums up where we are with higher ed journalism

They make games and movies like they used to. So many of them. Same with books.

But the mechanisms you learned about them were totally gutted and changed to only amplify shit that's already popular.

It's still there! You're just mostly on your own to find it.

OWNED has been reviewed at NYT, New Republic, FAIR, Times Literary Supplement, Irish Times, and more; I've discussed the themes on numerous podcasts, CNN, and CSPAN.

The response is heartening—people want to know more about how Silicon Valley is controlling speech.

Canadian travel is international news

October marked the 10th straight month of decline in the number of Canadian travellers to the US

🇨🇦👉🏻🇺🇸Air travel dropped 24%
🇨🇦👉🏻🇺🇸car travel fell 30%

Snowbird season is starting, will numbers:

Go up
Stay equal
Go down?

#cdnpoli #uspoli #tradewar

Voice How we got our voices and the power they hold over us.

If you didn't already know Alice Wong, here's a glimpse of what an fierce & endlessly thoughtful advocate she was for both herself and others—in this case when it comes to AAC (augmentative and alternative communication), which she used for the last few years of her life.

radiolab.org/podcast/voice

This bitch chased teenage gun violence victims down the street calling them “actors”. Glad f’ing them is a step too far for her, but “do not congratulate”.

Alice Wong, a woman in a wheelchair with dark hair, poses in a pink and orange outfit and berry lipstick. A headline reads: "Alice Wong, Writer and Relentless Advocate for Disability Rights, Dies at 51." Photo via John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.

Alice Wong, a writer and activist who was born with muscular dystrophy and who fought relentlessly for equal rights and access for people with disabilities, died on Friday. She was 51. nyti.ms/4r9WqEr