William Sheahan
@wnsheahan.bsky.social
Malaria and NTDs data analyst @PATH in Seattle, hiker, reader, irrational Boston Red Sox fan. Not necessarily in that order. Views are my own.
Reposted by William Sheahan
Disease prevalence in US states before & after vaccine introduction 🧪
From Edward Tufte & graphics.wsj.com/infectious-d...
From Edward Tufte & graphics.wsj.com/infectious-d...
September 4, 2025 at 6:01 PM
Disease prevalence in US states before & after vaccine introduction 🧪
From Edward Tufte & graphics.wsj.com/infectious-d...
From Edward Tufte & graphics.wsj.com/infectious-d...
Reposted by William Sheahan
This should be the lead story in all major national news outlets. Public health people prefer to stay out of the limelight unless there is no other choice. I can’t overstate how bad things have to be for 9 former CDC directors to band together and pen an op-ed in the NYT warning the entire country.
9 CDC Directors going back to 1977 speak out. What RFK Jr has done to our nation’s public health system "should alarm every American."
It "is unlike anything we have ever seen at the agency, and unlike anything our country has ever experienced." www.nytimes.com/2025/09/01/o...
It "is unlike anything we have ever seen at the agency, and unlike anything our country has ever experienced." www.nytimes.com/2025/09/01/o...
Opinion | We Ran the C.D.C.: Kennedy Is Endangering Every American’s Health
www.nytimes.com
September 1, 2025 at 11:51 AM
This should be the lead story in all major national news outlets. Public health people prefer to stay out of the limelight unless there is no other choice. I can’t overstate how bad things have to be for 9 former CDC directors to band together and pen an op-ed in the NYT warning the entire country.
Reposted by William Sheahan
There is no conceivable interpretation of the law of war in which a camera set up nearby legitimizes a mass casualty double tap strike on a protected civilian site like a hospital.
The fact that Israel is citing it as if it meets some standard should, by itself, trigger a halt in weapons to Israel.
The fact that Israel is citing it as if it meets some standard should, by itself, trigger a halt in weapons to Israel.
Israel's military said its initial inquiry determined that a deadly attack on a Gaza hospital that killed 20 people, five of them Gaza-based Palestinian journalists, was intended to destroy a camera placed in the area by Hamas militants. Israel provided no evidence.
Israel Links Deadly Hospital Attack in Gaza to Hamas Surveillance Camera
A day after the strike killed 20 people, including five journalists, the Israeli military said its initial inquiry found that militants had placed an observation camera in the area. It said the attack killed six militants.
nyti.ms
August 27, 2025 at 3:26 PM
There is no conceivable interpretation of the law of war in which a camera set up nearby legitimizes a mass casualty double tap strike on a protected civilian site like a hospital.
The fact that Israel is citing it as if it meets some standard should, by itself, trigger a halt in weapons to Israel.
The fact that Israel is citing it as if it meets some standard should, by itself, trigger a halt in weapons to Israel.
Reposted by William Sheahan
We’ve discovered a literal miracle with almost unlimited potential and it’s being scrapped for *no reason whatsoever*. This isn’t even nihilism, it’s outright worship of death and human suffering.
"The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) today announced the beginning of a coordinated wind-down of its mRNA vaccine development activities...."
cc: Sen. Bill Cassidy
cc: Sen. Bill Cassidy
August 5, 2025 at 11:09 PM
We’ve discovered a literal miracle with almost unlimited potential and it’s being scrapped for *no reason whatsoever*. This isn’t even nihilism, it’s outright worship of death and human suffering.
Reposted by William Sheahan
I know a lot of you have already heard or read about BDS Movement's call against Microsoft, and felt weird and bad about it all, but decided to move forward as normal because of some degree of ambiguity.
"What service is Microsoft providing?"
Here it is, clear as day. A direct line to death.
"What service is Microsoft providing?"
Here it is, clear as day. A direct line to death.
August 6, 2025 at 9:01 PM
I know a lot of you have already heard or read about BDS Movement's call against Microsoft, and felt weird and bad about it all, but decided to move forward as normal because of some degree of ambiguity.
"What service is Microsoft providing?"
Here it is, clear as day. A direct line to death.
"What service is Microsoft providing?"
Here it is, clear as day. A direct line to death.
www.genengnews.com/topics/infec...
Crazy what one allele can do, and very exciting to see this working for two different malarial species in Stephensi mosquitos.
Crazy what one allele can do, and very exciting to see this working for two different malarial species in Stephensi mosquitos.
Malaria Transmission Blocked by One-Amino-Acid Mosquito CRISPR Edit
An allelic-drive system spreads malaria-blocking resistance in mosquitoes by altering a single amino acid in FREP1.
www.genengnews.com
July 23, 2025 at 8:59 PM
www.genengnews.com/topics/infec...
Crazy what one allele can do, and very exciting to see this working for two different malarial species in Stephensi mosquitos.
Crazy what one allele can do, and very exciting to see this working for two different malarial species in Stephensi mosquitos.
Reposted by William Sheahan
This was posted this morning by Humans of New York and I think this captures exactly what we are all experiencing right now
July 3, 2025 at 2:43 PM
This was posted this morning by Humans of New York and I think this captures exactly what we are all experiencing right now
Reposted by William Sheahan
Donald Trump wants corrupt foreign leaders to build concentration camps to hold US citizens in an attempt to circumvent the constitution and rule of law.
Trump to Bukele: "Home-growns are next. The home-growns. You gotta build about five more places. It's not big enough."
April 14, 2025 at 5:39 PM
Donald Trump wants corrupt foreign leaders to build concentration camps to hold US citizens in an attempt to circumvent the constitution and rule of law.
Reposted by William Sheahan
“They don’t view an honest discussion of policy as something they need to slow down and do.” We’re digging into the Trump team’s logic, or lack-there-of, with @petebuttigieg.bsky.social.
April 10, 2025 at 12:35 PM
“They don’t view an honest discussion of policy as something they need to slow down and do.” We’re digging into the Trump team’s logic, or lack-there-of, with @petebuttigieg.bsky.social.
Reposted by William Sheahan
1) Do something autocratic
2) Wait to see how people react
3) If they don't push back hard enough, carry on
4) If they do push back hard enough, "pause" it
5) Illegally consolidate more power
6) Repeat
2) Wait to see how people react
3) If they don't push back hard enough, carry on
4) If they do push back hard enough, "pause" it
5) Illegally consolidate more power
6) Repeat
April 9, 2025 at 7:58 PM
1) Do something autocratic
2) Wait to see how people react
3) If they don't push back hard enough, carry on
4) If they do push back hard enough, "pause" it
5) Illegally consolidate more power
6) Repeat
2) Wait to see how people react
3) If they don't push back hard enough, carry on
4) If they do push back hard enough, "pause" it
5) Illegally consolidate more power
6) Repeat
It doesn't matter how genuine your feelings about native people are if you allow the departments and teams that work for them to be disemboweled. Either you are standing with native people, or you are not. Either you have learned from the past, or you have not.
www.nytimes.com/2025/04/07/u...
www.nytimes.com/2025/04/07/u...
R.F.K. Jr’s Plan to Send Health Officials to Indian Country Angers Native Leaders (Gift Article)
Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. says he is committed to improving the Indian Health Service. Native American leaders have doubts. “It’s shameful,” one said.
www.nytimes.com
April 8, 2025 at 2:18 PM
It doesn't matter how genuine your feelings about native people are if you allow the departments and teams that work for them to be disemboweled. Either you are standing with native people, or you are not. Either you have learned from the past, or you have not.
www.nytimes.com/2025/04/07/u...
www.nytimes.com/2025/04/07/u...
Reposted by William Sheahan
Trump is imposing a 10% tariff on the Heard and McDonald Islands.
The Heard and McDonald Islands are uninhabited.
The Heard and McDonald Islands are uninhabited.
April 2, 2025 at 9:16 PM
Trump is imposing a 10% tariff on the Heard and McDonald Islands.
The Heard and McDonald Islands are uninhabited.
The Heard and McDonald Islands are uninhabited.
Reposted by William Sheahan
This is true: The Trump administration said it has imposed a 10% tariff on the British Indian Ocean Territory, whose only inhabitants are the U.S. and U.K. service members at the military base on Diego Garcia.
Incredibly, this appears to be true. We tariffed our own (jointly operated with the UK) military base.
We tariffed BIOT, Mike.
BIOT. Diego fucking Garcia.
We tarrifed our own military base.
BIOT. Diego fucking Garcia.
We tarrifed our own military base.
April 2, 2025 at 11:47 PM
This is true: The Trump administration said it has imposed a 10% tariff on the British Indian Ocean Territory, whose only inhabitants are the U.S. and U.K. service members at the military base on Diego Garcia.
Reposted by William Sheahan
This makes me sick. What's happening would be awful even if they were posing as serious bureaucrats making painful but necessary decisions with some gravitas and dignity. But they're killing programs, which will kill people, which will kill US soft power; they know this and they're gleeful about it.
Are all government accounts on X just troll accounts now?
This is from the official House Foreign Affairs Committee—the same committee responsible for foreign aid, global HIV/AIDS policy, security assistance, and national security. This is how they choose to represent themselves.
This is from the official House Foreign Affairs Committee—the same committee responsible for foreign aid, global HIV/AIDS policy, security assistance, and national security. This is how they choose to represent themselves.
March 31, 2025 at 4:58 PM
This makes me sick. What's happening would be awful even if they were posing as serious bureaucrats making painful but necessary decisions with some gravitas and dignity. But they're killing programs, which will kill people, which will kill US soft power; they know this and they're gleeful about it.
Reposted by William Sheahan
A key part of this story is how Elon Musk and his followers have been manufacturing consent for exactly this kind of action—repeatedly pushing ideas like abandoning due process, celebrating Bukele and his brutal detainment and detention tactics in El Salvador, on X.
I just wrote about this today
I just wrote about this today
March 26, 2025 at 8:18 PM
A key part of this story is how Elon Musk and his followers have been manufacturing consent for exactly this kind of action—repeatedly pushing ideas like abandoning due process, celebrating Bukele and his brutal detainment and detention tactics in El Salvador, on X.
I just wrote about this today
I just wrote about this today
www.thestranger.com/guest-editor...
A beautiful remembrance from Colleen Echohawk in @thestranger.com of a great advocate for affordable housing, someone who by his own admission had "always been driven by the belief that everyone deserves a foundation of home, health, and hope."
A beautiful remembrance from Colleen Echohawk in @thestranger.com of a great advocate for affordable housing, someone who by his own admission had "always been driven by the belief that everyone deserves a foundation of home, health, and hope."
Singing the Songs of Gratitude for Frank Chopp
I was three songs into a night of karaoke with the family when I got the news alert that State Representative Frank Chopp had passed away. It was startling. I paused to take it in and feel the loss. H...
www.thestranger.com
March 25, 2025 at 6:16 PM
www.thestranger.com/guest-editor...
A beautiful remembrance from Colleen Echohawk in @thestranger.com of a great advocate for affordable housing, someone who by his own admission had "always been driven by the belief that everyone deserves a foundation of home, health, and hope."
A beautiful remembrance from Colleen Echohawk in @thestranger.com of a great advocate for affordable housing, someone who by his own admission had "always been driven by the belief that everyone deserves a foundation of home, health, and hope."
Beautiful piece in @orionmagazine.bsky.social on the queerness of nature in our times orionmagazine.org/article/the-...
March 24, 2025 at 5:28 PM
Beautiful piece in @orionmagazine.bsky.social on the queerness of nature in our times orionmagazine.org/article/the-...
africanarguments.org/2025/02/how-...
Really interesting read. The obvious pride taken by the Zabbaleen in Cairo contrasting with (at least my) Western understanding of garbage and recycling collection and the environmental and fiscal impact it has was eye opening.
Really interesting read. The obvious pride taken by the Zabbaleen in Cairo contrasting with (at least my) Western understanding of garbage and recycling collection and the environmental and fiscal impact it has was eye opening.
How Cairo's "Garbage City" became the envy of the world | African Arguments
Recycling 80% of the city's trash for free and providing employment to tens of thousands, the Zabbaleen have much to teach the world.
africanarguments.org
March 19, 2025 at 5:51 PM
africanarguments.org/2025/02/how-...
Really interesting read. The obvious pride taken by the Zabbaleen in Cairo contrasting with (at least my) Western understanding of garbage and recycling collection and the environmental and fiscal impact it has was eye opening.
Really interesting read. The obvious pride taken by the Zabbaleen in Cairo contrasting with (at least my) Western understanding of garbage and recycling collection and the environmental and fiscal impact it has was eye opening.
Reposted by William Sheahan
Fantastic hackathon on spatial mapping in R this morning led by Dr Punam Amratia from MAP. 181 attendees! All past materials available here: ammnet.github.io/ammnet-hacka...
March 6, 2025 at 10:27 PM
Fantastic hackathon on spatial mapping in R this morning led by Dr Punam Amratia from MAP. 181 attendees! All past materials available here: ammnet.github.io/ammnet-hacka...
Reposted by William Sheahan
Every US scientist needs to 100% clear that this is a fundamental attack on the process of science itself. If allowed to stand it will be the end of US science as we know it. Staying quiet because it does not (yet) target your work is not an option.
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Exclusive: NIH to terminate hundreds of active research grants
Studies that touch on LGBT+ health, gender identity and DEI in the biomedical workforce could be terminated, according to documents obtained by Nature.
www.nature.com
March 6, 2025 at 12:33 PM
Every US scientist needs to 100% clear that this is a fundamental attack on the process of science itself. If allowed to stand it will be the end of US science as we know it. Staying quiet because it does not (yet) target your work is not an option.
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Reposted by William Sheahan
BREAKING NEWS: The Supreme Court ruled the Trump administration must comply with a district court order and pay for work already done. We are taking on this administration in the courts to hold them accountable.
abcnews.go.com/Politics/sup...
abcnews.go.com/Politics/sup...
Supreme Court rules Trump administration must unfreeze foreign aid payments
A divided Supreme Court ruled that the Trump administration must pay out nearly $2 billion in foreign assistance funds to nonprofit aid groups.
abcnews.go.com
March 5, 2025 at 3:36 PM
BREAKING NEWS: The Supreme Court ruled the Trump administration must comply with a district court order and pay for work already done. We are taking on this administration in the courts to hold them accountable.
abcnews.go.com/Politics/sup...
abcnews.go.com/Politics/sup...
Reposted by William Sheahan
Rubio terminated 5800 USAID contracts – more than 90% of its foreign aid programs – in defiance of the courts.
Here’s a list of just some of the lifesaving awards that were terminated. Nearly all were Congressionally mandated. They’ve saved millions of lives. 🧵
Here’s a list of just some of the lifesaving awards that were terminated. Nearly all were Congressionally mandated. They’ve saved millions of lives. 🧵
February 27, 2025 at 8:59 PM
Rubio terminated 5800 USAID contracts – more than 90% of its foreign aid programs – in defiance of the courts.
Here’s a list of just some of the lifesaving awards that were terminated. Nearly all were Congressionally mandated. They’ve saved millions of lives. 🧵
Here’s a list of just some of the lifesaving awards that were terminated. Nearly all were Congressionally mandated. They’ve saved millions of lives. 🧵
Reposted by William Sheahan
"The grant appears to have been tagged for the repeated use of “POC,” an acronym often used for “people of color” but in this context meaning “point of care”"
Ted Cruz said he’d found $2 billion in “woke” science grants, but his team used keyword searches that flagged things out of context, like a grant to develop a device to treat severe bleeding that mentioned “victims” and “trauma.”
www.propublica.org/article/ted-...
www.propublica.org/article/ted-...
A Study of Mint Plants. A Device to Stop Bleeding. This Is the Scientific Research Ted Cruz Calls “Woke.”
The senator flagged thousands of National Science Foundation grants for using words like “female” and “diversify.” A ProPublica analysis found numerous examples of projects caught up in his crude meth...
www.propublica.org
February 28, 2025 at 2:43 PM
"The grant appears to have been tagged for the repeated use of “POC,” an acronym often used for “people of color” but in this context meaning “point of care”"
"The sorry truth is that without enormous pressure from the party base, a significant number of senators and representatives won’t have it in them to oppose Trump. We, the concerned citizens, will have to force them to do their duty. We’ll also have to march, sooner rather than later."
"Let’s not forget: Republicans can’t govern, they’re unpopular, and they’re led by the most idiotic president in living memory. They are beatable."
Authoritarian Blitz | Joseph O’Neill, Daniel Drake
In the weeks since Donald Trump’s second inauguration, the president and his party have embarked on a concerted campaign to unmake the American
www.nybooks.com
February 25, 2025 at 5:21 PM
"The sorry truth is that without enormous pressure from the party base, a significant number of senators and representatives won’t have it in them to oppose Trump. We, the concerned citizens, will have to force them to do their duty. We’ll also have to march, sooner rather than later."