The Trump administration has not staffed an office established by Congress to prepare the nation for future pandemics, according to three sources familiar with the situation. The White House Office of Pandemic Preparedness and Response Policy was established by Congress in 2022 in response to mistakes that led to a flat-footed response to the Covid-19 pandemic. The office, called OPPR, once had a staff of about 20 people and was orchestrating the country’s response to bird flu and other threats until January 20, including hosting regular interagency meetings to share plans. “We did it very much behind the scenes,” said Dr. Paul Friedrichs, a physician and retired Air Force major general who was director of OPPR during the Biden administration. As of this week, only one staffer will remain, and it’s unclear who that person reports to, according to a source who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to share the information. OPPR’s pages have also been removed from the White House website. The new administration has not halted the country’s response to bird flu completely, but recent agency announcements and interviews with government sources show its focus has changed. For example, a leading goal of the response now is to bring down egg prices, rather than tackling the spread of the virus or preparing for a worst-case scenario in which the virus mutates and spreads easily from person to person. OPPR exists “in name only,” said a source familiar with the status of the office who worked inside the White House during the last administration. “It has fallen into the abyss.” Duh. President Donald Trump disbanded a similar White House pandemic unit in 2018 and was heavily criticized for the move when Covid-19 hit the US. Despite this, in an interview with Time magazine when he was campaigning in April, Trump said he thought he would disband OPPR if elected because it was expensive and potentially wasteful when pandemics are difficult to predict. https://www.cnn.com/2025/03/17/health/pandemic-preparedness-office-trump-bird-flu/index.html

I've experienced the same, Bernard. They ought to at least wait a few days.

Alexa please change presidents.

It's good to make the international shipping lanes safe for all countries

Twofer. Eclipse and aurora. https://petapixel.com/2025/03/17/photographers-once-in-a-lifetime-shots-of-the-lunar-eclipse-and-aurora/?utm_placement=newsletter&user_id=66c4c06e5d78644b3aab4472

Boycotts seem to be gaining momentum Ivan Hansen, a retired Danish police officer, loaded up his basket at the supermarket, carefully checking each product to avoid buying anything made in the United States. No more Coca-Cola, no more California Zinfandel wine or almonds. The 67-year-old said it’s the only way he knows to protest U.S. President Donald Trump’s policies. He’s furious about Trump’s threat to seize the Danish territory of Greenland, but it’s not just that. There are also the threats to take control of the Panama Canal and Gaza. And Trump’s relationship with Elon Musk, who has far-right ties and made what many interpreted as a straight-armed Nazi salute. On his recent shopping trip, Hansen returned home with dates from Iran. It shocked him to realize that he now perceives the United States as a greater threat than Iran. “Trump really looks like a bully who tries in every way to intimidate, threaten others to get his way,” he told The Associated Press. “I will fight against that kind of thing.” https://apnews.com/article/denmark-europe-france-boycott-usa-trump-6e4b568ef4ae5705ac200a3986a8ebf6

Right after they lay of all of the clerks, sack the cleaners, stop paying the utilities, and sell the building to make way for a new Tesla dealership.

WaPo, bought and sold. Glad I canceled my subscription.

We are watching Shogun, very slowly!

Smart decision.

My grandmother tended the strawberry bed on the farm where I grew up. A job I had when I was little was sitting at the table where we had berries for sale and collecting the money from the customers. I recall that "Midway" was a variety of strawberry she particularly favored. I believe they're still available. Big Al

Always good to hear about acts of kindness like this. Big Al

Shameful and stupid attempts to suppress history and the heroes who made that history. Big Al

But, after getting a CT-scan and seeing a neuro-ophthalmologist, it was revealed he had non-arteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy (NAION), a condition in which the loss of blood flow to the optic nerve causes sudden vision loss. Recent studies have shown an association between drugs such as Ozempic, Mounjaro and Wegovy — which have become phenomenally popular for weight loss — and an increased risk of NAION [. Of the estimated 15 million Americans now taking such medications for Type 2 diabetes and weight loss, only a relative few have experienced the issue, but for those who have, it’s life-altering. https://nypost.com/2025/03/08/health/people-going-blind-after-using-weight-loss-drugs-like-ozempic-and-mounjaro/ From my eye researcher friend: Another thing associated with these drugs is cataract formation. I have a 30-something patient recently who was having trouble seeing at night, not because she couldn't see under low levels of iullumination, but because lit signs were blurry and headlights dazzled her. This began a year after starting tirzepatide. She also had naturally very large pupils. No one thought to look at her lens because she was so young. The public is doing a clinical trial on themselves. I'm so glad I haven't had to fight obesity.