Happy Independence Day. Hold fast, and keep pushing.

Freedom, liberty, and justice for all are not, and never have been, a given. Every generation must hold fast, push forward, and renew the charge - using our voices, our votes and more - lest we lose ground in the continued pursuit of happiness and liberty for all peoples.

for the least of these in our society for the benefit of those with plenty.

Perhaps this is a poignant reflection for those of us that have found ourselves grieving as the current administration, Congress, and the Supreme Court have worked to expand and embolden authoritarianism, target immigrants and minorities, and roll back support

White men, black men, white women, black women, immigrants, LGBTQ, etc. - freedom and civil rights painstakingly implemented generation by generation, sometimes ebbing and sometimes flowing but always something that must be strived for, and once in hand, fought to be maintained.

I read The Stand for the first time during the early pandemic … 😷🤣

- Is Kennedy’s goal really to help people with autism, or is it to advance another cause altogether — perhaps as a front to relitigate debunked allegations of vaccine harms?

- “To think that by September, we are going to have this done is not just misguided, but dangerous,” Mandell said. Such quick findings wouldn’t be from rigorous investigation, suggesting the conclusion is predetermined and the “research” is simply window-dressing.

If the problem statement is wrong, how can anyone trust the subsequent research?

- Everyone I spoke to supports more research, especially the scientists who have devoted their careers to studying autism. But they worry about starting with the assumption that some mysterious environmental toxin is causing an “epidemic,” despite all of the data to the contrary.

Not only has this been thoroughly disproved with gold-standard studies involving millions of children, it goes against the emerging consensus that babies are born with autism.

- Such an understanding directly contradicts claims from Kennedy and his anti-vaccine allies, who blame autism on early childhood immunizations.

Other Highlights:
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- What is clear is that “to the extent there is an environmental factor, it is almost certainly in utero,” Mandell said.