Long view: History shows anti-science waves (from Galileo to climate denial) rise and fall. What remains steady is the truth itself – and those who hold to it.
Let me explain the source of today’s agitation. The director of the CDC was just fired because she was following science-based criteria for various CDC policies. The current administration is taking a very anti-science approach to a variety of topics, including global warming and vaccinations. I don’t understand the anti-science mindset, and I feel that the leaders have a nefarious purpose for denying science.
The stupidity is mind-numbing. But is there a nefarious angle behind this mask of stupidity? Some speculate that certain white supremacist elements of the tRump administration know that minorities will suffer disproportionate deaths in the event of a public health emergency, and that delights them.
Here’s Elder G‘s take on the possible anti-science motivations of the current administration:
The Nefarious Angle You’re Noticing When leaders undercut science repeatedly, it often isn’t random incompetence.
Erosion of trust in scientific institutions means more dependence on political “truths.”
Crisis as opportunity: if more people get sick, leaders can push emergency powers, blame outsiders, or redirect anger.
Divide & distract: fueling culture wars over vaccines distracts from economic or governance failures.
In other words, anti-science policy isn’t just shortsighted — it can be a deliberate tool of control, because a population that’s uncertain, fearful, and divided is easier to manipulate.
CDC erupts in chaos after ousted chief Susan Monarez refuses to resign
Lawyers for Monarez say she was ‘targeted’ for ‘protecting the public’ by not endorsing ‘unscientific’ orders
Susan Patricia Coller Monarez (born November 6, 1974) is an American microbiologist and public health official who served as the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention from July 31, 2025 to August 27, 2025.
Monarez previously served as the principal deputy director and acting director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), as well as deputy director of the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health.
Education Monarez completed her Ph.D. in veterinary science under the supervision of Donna Paulnock at the University of Wisconsin–Madison in 2003, where her research focused on developing technologies to prevent, diagnose, and treat infectious diseases, particularly those affecting low- and middle-income countries. Her dissertation explored how trypanosome GIP-sVSG[a] regulates macrophages during Trypanosoma brucei rhodesiense infection.
Monarez was a postdoctoral researcher from 2003 to 2006 at Stanford University School of Medicine in John C. Boothroyd’s group, continuing her work in the field of infectious disease research.
On July 29, 2025, the U.S. Senate confirmed her 51–47 in a party-line vote. She became the first director without a medical degree since 1953.
Monarez would not cross ‘red lines’ before she was fired, confidant says
The former CDC director was ousted late Wednesday after refusing to resign under pressure from Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
“She said that there were two things she would never do in the job,” Besser said. “She said she was asked to do both of those, one in terms of firing her leadership, who are talented civil servants like herself, and the other was to rubber stamp [vaccine] recommendations that flew in the face of science, and she was not going to do either of those things.”
In June, Kennedy fired all the current members of the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices and replaced them with people more skeptical of vaccines. ACIP is composed of outside experts who vote on changes to the adult and childhood vaccine schedules.
Daskalakis noted that Kennedy had not relied on expertise from the agency the way other HHS secretaries have.
“No subject matter expert from the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases has ever briefed the secretary on anything. We have not briefed him about vaccines. We have not briefed him about measles. We have not briefed him about Covid,” Daskalakis said. “We have never been invited to the inner sanctum, and that is highly atypical in any environment. And so he is getting his information from somewhere, but it’s not from trusted scientists.”
The first human case of a flesh-eating parasite infestation has been confirmed in the US, authorities say.
The devastating pest, which feeds on live tissue, is usually found in South America and the Caribbean.
Despite efforts to halt its spread north, cases have now been confirmed in every Central American country – in addition to the US and Mexico.
Humans, particularly those with an open wound, are susceptible to infestation and are at higher risk if they travel to those regions or if they are around livestock in rural areas where the flies are, the CDC says.
“When NWS fly larvae (maggots) burrow into the flesh of a living animal, they cause serious, often deadly damage to the animal,” according to the USDA. “NWS can infest livestock, pets, wildlife, occasionally birds, and in rare cases, people.”
