Amir Attaran
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amirattaran.bsky.social
Amir Attaran
@amirattaran.bsky.social
Professor. Litigator. Scientist. Bicyclist. Husband. Father. Son. Wrecks grifters, creeps, anti-vaxxers & scientific illiterates. Personal account (not @uOttawa).
Pinned
Happy Friday.
I deactivated my X account.
It’s GONE.
GONE FOR GOOD.

(Oh, and fuck u, Elon 😘)
a woman says " we 're done " in front of a sign that says wentworth
ALT: a woman says " we 're done " in front of a sign that says wentworth
media.tenor.com
Reposted by Amir Attaran
November 10, 2025 at 7:45 PM
Could Canadians outlive Americans because more of us are multilingual? Certainly possible.
Multilingualism and Extending Healthspan
Evidence for a new independent lifestyle factor linked to healthy aging
erictopol.substack.com
November 11, 2025 at 1:18 AM
Called it! Stinking Alberta, indeed.
We all know that when WHO updates the list of countries that failed to eliminate measles, Canada's going to be the only rich country on it because of stinking Alberta, right?
November 10, 2025 at 5:38 PM
Called it! Fuck you Doug Ford.
Mark my words: this time next year, WHO will put Canada on the list of countries that failed to control measles.

Like the poorest in Asia and Africa.

And it will be Doug Ford’s fault.
November 10, 2025 at 5:36 PM
Reposted by Amir Attaran
lol she got his ass and he knows it
November 9, 2025 at 3:36 PM
Reposted by Amir Attaran
Let me get this right… a sufficient number Senate Democrats appear to be willing to reopen government to alleviate air travel for upper & upper-middle income people at the expense of access to healthcare for lower income people. Yes?
November 9, 2025 at 8:05 PM
Reposted by Amir Attaran
Did you know that in Canada, if a budget doesn’t pass the government doesn’t shut down?

Federal workers aren’t furloughed.

Funding for social services doesn’t dry up.

Failure to pass a budget triggers an election.

It puts the politicians jobs on the line.

They get the budget passed.
November 9, 2025 at 8:49 PM
Reposted by Amir Attaran
Elon has never experienced this and neither have his biggest fans but now they can create these visuals with the help of a computermachine
November 8, 2025 at 4:00 PM
Reposted by Amir Attaran
A Sharon Begley byline, almost 5 years after her death.

Upon hearing the news James Watson had died, a STAT reporter said in our Slack, "I wish I could read what Sharon would have written."

Incredible news: Sharon in fact did pre-write a Watson obit. And it is masterful and excoriating.
🧪🧬🧫
James Watson, dead at 97, was a scientific legend and a pariah among his peers
James Watson, the co-discoverer of the structure of DNA who died Thursday at 97, was a scientific legend and a pariah among his peers.
www.statnews.com
November 8, 2025 at 1:39 PM
Reposted by Amir Attaran
Watson's original title for The Double Helix was Honest Jim.

I think it was honest, but only in the sense that it revealed Watson and not reality.

He was an ambitious, arrogant, misogynistic, and opportunistic man who managed to get himself into the right place at the right time.

41/41
November 8, 2025 at 1:58 PM
Reposted by Amir Attaran
“If Trump wants to save the lives of Nigerian Christians… all Trump has to do is restore the American aid that was estimated to be saving the lives of more than a quarter-million Nigerians each year.”

Bang-on (as usual) from @nickkristof.bsky.social
Opinion | Trump Aid Cuts Kill More Christians Than Jihadists Do
www.nytimes.com
November 8, 2025 at 1:04 PM
Reposted by Amir Attaran
"China is now making more money from exporting green technology than America makes from exporting fossil fuels. "

www.economist.com/leaders/2025...
China’s clean-energy revolution will reshape markets and politics
The world’s biggest manufacturer now has an interest in the world decarbonising
www.economist.com
November 7, 2025 at 5:45 PM
Reposted by Amir Attaran
One analytical model shows that, as of November 5th, the dismantling of U.S.A.I.D. has already caused the deaths of 600,000 people, two-thirds of them children. https://newyorkermag.visitlink.me/jUzNSc
The Shutdown of U.S.A.I.D. Has Already Killed Hundreds of Thousands
The short documentary “Rovina’s Choice” tells the story of what goes when aid goes.
newyorkermag.visitlink.me
November 6, 2025 at 9:00 PM
Reposted by Amir Attaran
Thank you for your service, Nancy Pelosi!
November 6, 2025 at 3:07 PM
Reposted by Amir Attaran
budget.canada.ca/2025/report-... While there are a couple hundred mentions of Indigenous people, it's all genuflection - little substantial. Look past this fiscal year, and it's all zeroes... where do they think we're going?
November 4, 2025 at 11:53 PM
Reposted by Amir Attaran
In Opinion

Dick Cheney became a fierce critic of Donald Trump after the Capitol insurrection — but by then, it was too late, Ron Suskind writes. “Mr. Cheney had done as much as anyone in history to undermine Americans’ trust in their institutions and leaders, including Mr. Cheney himself.”
Opinion | The Tragedy of Dick Cheney
He tried to warn Americans about Trump, but they had already learned not to believe him.
nyti.ms
November 4, 2025 at 11:05 PM
Reposted by Amir Attaran
At the end of the day I'm not sure how much difference it makes. But it is striking to put out a budget that axes a luxury tax on yachts and adds a co-pay for refugee claimants accessing drugs and dental care.
November 4, 2025 at 10:57 PM
Reposted by Amir Attaran
Breaking News: Donna Jean Godchaux-MacKay, a singer who helped shape the sound of the Grateful Dead in the 1970s, has died at 78.
Donna Jean Godchaux-MacKay, Grateful Dead Singer, Dies at 78
She helped shape the band’s sound in the 1970s, a decade that took the band to new heights.
nyti.ms
November 3, 2025 at 9:14 PM
He needs the money to build his palace at the White House, and as for the poor, let them eat cake
Trump administration says it is paying out half of November’s SNAP benefits
The Trump administration will release enough funds to pay for half of November's SNAP benefits, following a court order to avoid food insecurity for nearly 42 million Americans.
www.washingtonpost.com
November 3, 2025 at 6:43 PM
Where is the Charter lawsuit? It should happen and it is winnable.
Myeloma patients launch campaign for immunotherapy pricing talks to resume
Health Canada approved cutting-edge treatment nearly three years ago but it still isn’t available here
www.theglobeandmail.com
November 3, 2025 at 2:42 PM
Now we have to hear Trump crowing about this. Of course he will.
November 2, 2025 at 4:21 AM
Reposted by Amir Attaran
The rest of the country bitching when Toronto gives them a rare opportunity to feel desperately alive is the energy of the rest of Canada, for the record
The jays having one good inning and then spending three hours holding everyone hostage while they waste any and all goodwill is the energy Toronto brings to this nation, I just want Americans to know this
November 2, 2025 at 4:10 AM