FDA Refuses To Review Moderna’s mRNA Flu Vaccine

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FDA Refuses to Review Moderna’s mRNA Flu Vaccine (Maria)

The author writes, “The Food and Drug Administration has refused to review Moderna’s application for an mRNA flu vaccine, the company revealed Tuesday. The move is just the latest hostility toward vaccines — and mRNA vaccines in particular — from an agency overseen by fervent anti-vaccine activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. In his first year in office, Kennedy has already dramatically slashed childhood vaccine recommendations and canceled $500 in research funds for mRNA vaccines.”

ICE Is Expanding Across the US at Breakneck Speed. Here’s Where It’s Going Next (Reader Jim)

From WIRED: “Federal records obtained by WIRED show that over the past several months, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) have carried out a secret campaign to expand ICE’s physical presence across the US. Documents show that more than 150 leases and office expansions have or would place new facilities in nearly every state, many of them in or just outside of the country’s largest metropolitan areas. In many cases, these facilities, which are to be used by street-level agents and ICE attorneys, are located near elementary schools, medical offices, places of worship, and other sensitive locations.”

Goodbye, Factbook: CIA Shuts Down World Reference Publication After Six Decades (Sean)

The author writes, “For more than 60 years, people seeking raw, country-by-country economic and demographic data have turned to the CIA’s World Factbook. But [last] week, the ‘gold standard’ for global statistics went dark. … Without explanation, the agency quietly shuttered the online reference, replacing it with a farewell note that urged readers to ‘stay curious about the world and find ways to explore it … in person or virtually.’”

Sony Pictures Chief Calls Racist Trump Video ‘Despicable’ (Mili)

The author writes, “In a highly unusual intervention, Hollywood studio chief Tom Rothman has described Donald Trump’s posting of a racist video featuring former US president Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama as ‘despicable.’ The remarks were reported by the Hollywood Reporter, and were made when Rothman was speaking at the African American Film Critics Association awards ceremony, where he accepted the Impact award on behalf of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, of which Rothman is chair and CEO.”

Our Obsession With Personal Responsibility Is Making Us Sick (Dana)

From Jacobin: “Poor health outcomes are often treated as an unfortunate by-product of individual bad decisions. This moralizing approach ignores the role poverty plays in determining who gets ill and who can afford to get well.”

Africa’s Great Elephant Divide: Countries Struggle With Too Many Elephants — Or Too Few (Laura)

From The Guardian: “In countries such as South Sudan, the great herds have all but disappeared. But further south, conservation success means increasing human-wildlife conflict.”

Heated? Yes. Rivalry? No. (Russ)

The author writes, “When Brock Michael Stanley McGillis came out publicly as gay in November 2016, he was almost certainly the first professional hockey player to do so. If this story line has a twinge of familiarity given the massive success of the HBO Max series Heated Rivalry, about closeted hockey players in a hypermasculine environment, you can imagine how Mr. McGillis felt watching the show. ‘During the first two episodes, I probably slammed my laptop down like three times,’ Mr. McGillis said. The buzz around the Canadian series just so happened to concur with a milestone in Mr. McGillis’s love life: his Jan. 30 wedding to Matthew Thomas Ward.”