Trump's Appointments

[Loren Pechtel]

Diabetes can be “reversed”?
Type II diabetes can be mitigated. Type I diabetes needs insulin from infancy. Neither form can be “reversed” afaik, though rigorous attention to diet and exercise plus conscientious monitoring, can eliminate many of the effects of Type II diabetes, and in rare cases make it functionally disappear altogether. All people with Type I diabetes require insulin for life.

Objection: Type 1 isn't always from infancy.

 

[Loren Pechtel]

It’s the way the UCLA story phrased it: reversed but not eliminated.
Given the context of the story and the fact that 90-95% of all diabetes is type II, it is a fair assumption that Makary is only referring to type II.

But most type IIs don't need insulin.

 

[Loren Pechtel]

And after further review, looks like AI was used to produce at least part of the report.

Of the 522 footnotes to scientific research in an initial version of the report sent to The Washington Post, at least 37 appear multiple times, according to a review of the report by The Post. Other citations include the wrong author, and several studies cited by the extensive health report do not exist at all, a fact first reported by the online news outlet NOTUS on Thursday morning.

Some references include “oaicite” attached to URLs — a definitive sign that the research was collected using artificial intelligence. The presence of “oaicite” is a marker indicating use of OpenAI, a U.S. artificial intelligence company.

So not only can they not proofread, they can't even write.

And note that when you ask an AI to support something false it's very prone to hallucinate because it can't find actually relevant things.

I'm sure we've all seen it with Google, search for something obscure, or search for something adult without using an explicitly adult search term and you often get utterly irrelevant hits that just happened to contain the term(s) you were after but in an utterly different context. It's also prone to happening when you do things like search for part numbers. (And Amazon is even worse. It seems to have no sense of priority (treating dimensions as being as important as what they are a dimension of) and no sense of proximity (Just needed to replace a battery holder. I knew I would do better searching for "AA battery holder snap connector" than "4 AA battery holder snap connector". And "4xAA" would have been even worse as most listings had a space there.))

 

[Elixir]

Diabetes can be “reversed”?
Type II diabetes can be mitigated. Type I diabetes needs insulin from infancy. Neither form can be “reversed” afaik, though rigorous attention to diet and exercise plus conscientious monitoring, can eliminate many of the effects of Type II diabetes, and in rare cases make it functionally disappear altogether. All people with Type I diabetes require insulin for life.

Objection: Type 1 isn't always from infancy.

Right. The neonatal form is distinct.

 

[TV and credit cards]

Loren, I'm not talking about type 1 diabetes. I'm quite sure Makary wasn't referring to type 1 diabetes either when he made the comment. I know you possess the ability to be objective. Read the guy's resume on Wikipedia. He's had an exemplary career with Johns Hopkins. He's no slouch. Frankly I'm surprised Trump let this guy into the administration. Maybe he signed one of Trump's horseshit oaths in the hopes that he could do some good from within.
I'm quite sure he's referring to the 25% of type 2 diabetics who are on insulin. From what I've read, people with type 2 diabetes who use insulin end up there after a long struggle with diabetes after (attempts) at lifestyle change and other medications fail.

 

[crazyfingers]

Holy crap!!!

CNN —
Staff at the Federal Emergency Management Agency were caught off-guard and left bewildered when the disaster relief agency’s new acting head David Richardson told personnel that he was previously unaware the United States has a hurricane season, which started Sunday.

A former Marine combat veteran and martial-arts instructor. No experience necessary if your agency will be shut down given that it's bad for the feds to help with natural disaster response.

https://www.cnn.com/2025/06/02/politics/david-richardson-fema-head-unaware-hurricane-season

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

It was unclear whether he was joking. Which leads me to ask, what is the lead up and punchline to that joke?

 

[ZiprHead]

Holy crap!!!

CNN —
Staff at the Federal Emergency Management Agency were caught off-guard and left bewildered when the disaster relief agency’s new acting head David Richardson told personnel that he was previously unaware the United States has a hurricane season, which started Sunday.

A former Marine combat veteran and martial-arts instructor. No experience necessary if your agency will be shut down given that it's bad for the feds to help with natural disaster response.

https://www.cnn.com/2025/06/02/politics/david-richardson-fema-head-unaware-hurricane-season

Makes you long for the good ol' days of the competent DEI hires.

 

[ZiprHead]

Stephen Miller Plays Happy Family After Wife Left with Musk

In an interview with Lara Trump, Miller discussed his happy family life—which has been put under the microscope this week.

www.thedailybeast.com

In the middle of a media storm this week, senior Trump adviser Stephen Miller appeared on Fox News late Saturday night for a softball interview with the president’s daughter-in-law, Lara Trump.

At the end of a long week that included Elon Musk stepping down from his senior role in the Trump White House and Miller’s wife Katie leaving her role as spokesperson for the Department of Government Efficiency to continue working for Musk full-time, Miller appeared unfazed, sitting down with Lara Trump to discuss the president’s policies and future plans.

Aawww, poor PeeWee German. Are you telling me that being a nasty ass bigoted POS isn't a winning way to keep a wife happy?

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

Hegseth seeing to the important stuff.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has ordered the Navy to take the rare step of renaming a ship, one that bears the name of a gay rights icon, documents and sources show.

Military.com reviewed a memorandum from the Office of the Secretary of the Navy -- the official who holds the power to name Navy ships -- that showed the sea service had come up with rollout plans for the renaming of the oiler ship USNS Harvey Milk.

...

CBS reported Tuesday that the Navy is also considering renaming other John Lewis-class oilers including the USNS Thurgood Marshall, USNS Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and USNS Harriet Tubman. Both Marshall and Ginsburg were Supreme Court justices, and Tubman was a Black abolitionist who helped slaves escape the South via the Underground Railroad.

Tributes via naming Navy ships isn't the most important thing when it comes to recognizing the contributions to the nation by these people. However, it seems extraordinarily petty for the Sec of Defense to be wasting their time finding minorities to scrub away from military mention.

 

[ZiprHead]

Hegseth seeing to the important stuff.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has ordered the Navy to take the rare step of renaming a ship, one that bears the name of a gay rights icon, documents and sources show.

Military.com reviewed a memorandum from the Office of the Secretary of the Navy -- the official who holds the power to name Navy ships -- that showed the sea service had come up with rollout plans for the renaming of the oiler ship USNS Harvey Milk.

...

CBS reported Tuesday that the Navy is also considering renaming other John Lewis-class oilers including the USNS Thurgood Marshall, USNS Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and USNS Harriet Tubman. Both Marshall and Ginsburg were Supreme Court justices, and Tubman was a Black abolitionist who helped slaves escape the South via the Underground Railroad.

Tributes via naming Navy ships isn't the most important thing when it comes to recognizing the contributions to the nation by these people. However, it seems extraordinarily petty for the Sec of Defense to be wasting their time finding minorities to scrub away from military mention.

We now have the white nationalist government they wanted.

 

[Swammerdami]

Give me a break! I know I've been posting YouTubes about Trump's atrocious cabinet on a daily hourly basis but this one, narrated by Jen Psaki is too hilarious to pass up. The country's very top Republicans, if still in sixth grade, would be told they were being held back and to work harder so that they could advance to 7th grade a year late.

A top GOP Senator multiplies 1.5 billion by ten and gets a trillion.

Another GOP Senator asks "What was[sic] we ranked in reading and math in 1979?" Top Education expert Linda McMahon answered "We were very very low on the totem pole." The intended answer to this softball question was "#1."

I suppose the Senators and Secretary were "joking," which FEMA director did pretending he'd never heard of hurricane season.

RFK Jr was laughed at when his department produced a major report full of fake citations. His department apologized and produced a totally new report ... full of totally new fake citations!

The windows of airport traffic control towers cannot be washed without cumbersome compliance with new red-tape required for even small expenses. (Starve the Beast, even the "Beast" that helps avoid aircraft collisions.)

And so on. The garbage from HHS and DNI are even worse.

 

[TV and credit cards]

Mandatory Nutrition Training in Medical School
Oh the humanity.

A study published in the Journal of Biomedical Education in 2015 surveyed 121 American medical schools in 2012-2013 and found that medical students spend, on average, only 19 hours on required nutrition education over their four years.

Classroom material probably provided by General Mills.

Those numbers have frustrated some nutrition experts, who argue doctors should focus more on preventing diet-driven conditions like obesity and diabetes and less on prescribing drugs that treat the problems.

Now who could possibly want medical schools to focus on drugs and not nutrition? Who? Who could it possibly be?


I do like this Texas spin on it.
How RFK Jr., Democrats and Republicans found common ground over food labels in Texas

In a way, Washington and Austin have moved in on what was once the Democrats’ exclusive turf: consumer health. It’s become an easy pivot for Republicans as they incorporate healthy eating and exercise, traditionally left-leaning priorities, into typical GOP talking points such as national security, individual choice and reduction of health care costs.
The result has been a seamless state-federal party alliance on an issue that can attract both the left and the right. Ten Democrats signed on in the Senate, and three Democrats in the House sponsored or co-sponsored SB 25.

“This is about the MAHA parents and the crunchy granola parents coming together to say, ‘We are sick and tired of being sick and tired,’“ Rep. Lacey Hull, R-Houston, said, before SB 25 passed the House on May 25. “I have personally spoken to the White House who said they are looking to us, to Texas, to get this done to stand for our children and our future.

What a great idea you're having someone else had decades ago.

 

[Loren Pechtel]

Mandatory Nutrition Training in Medical School
Oh the humanity.

A study published in the Journal of Biomedical Education in 2015 surveyed 121 American medical schools in 2012-2013 and found that medical students spend, on average, only 19 hours on required nutrition education over their four years.

Classroom material probably provided by General Mills.

Those numbers have frustrated some nutrition experts, who argue doctors should focus more on preventing diet-driven conditions like obesity and diabetes and less on prescribing drugs that treat the problems.

Now who could possibly want medical schools to focus on drugs and not nutrition? Who? Who could it possibly be?


I do like this Texas spin on it.
How RFK Jr., Democrats and Republicans found common ground over food labels in Texas

In a way, Washington and Austin have moved in on what was once the Democrats’ exclusive turf: consumer health. It’s become an easy pivot for Republicans as they incorporate healthy eating and exercise, traditionally left-leaning priorities, into typical GOP talking points such as national security, individual choice and reduction of health care costs.
The result has been a seamless state-federal party alliance on an issue that can attract both the left and the right. Ten Democrats signed on in the Senate, and three Democrats in the House sponsored or co-sponsored SB 25.

“This is about the MAHA parents and the crunchy granola parents coming together to say, ‘We are sick and tired of being sick and tired,’“ Rep. Lacey Hull, R-Houston, said, before SB 25 passed the House on May 25. “I have personally spoken to the White House who said they are looking to us, to Texas, to get this done to stand for our children and our future.

What a great idea you're having someone else had decades ago.

Well, they are somewhat right. I have found the medical community very lacking in an understanding of nutrition. General ideas as to what constitutes a healthy diet but no ideas what to do when that's not enough of an answer.

Doesn't mean this is going to do anything useful, though.

 

[bilby]

Well, they are somewhat right. I have found the medical community very lacking in an understanding of nutrition. General ideas as to what constitutes a healthy diet but no ideas what to do when that's not enough of an answer.

That's the system working as designed.

Your GP/PCP has a general idea about how to spot a problem with your heart, but if they find one they have no idea how to perform bypass surgery.

Which is no problem, because they just refer you to a cardiac surgeon.

Similarly, if their general ideas about diet are inadequate, they refer you to a dietician or nutritionist.

No doctor is expected to know all of medicine, and your expectation that they might is unreasonable.

 

[Loren Pechtel]

Well, they are somewhat right. I have found the medical community very lacking in an understanding of nutrition. General ideas as to what constitutes a healthy diet but no ideas what to do when that's not enough of an answer.

That's the system working as designed.

Your GP/PCP has a general idea about how to spot a problem with your heart, but if they find one they have no idea how to perform bypass surgery.

Which is no problem, because they just refer you to a cardiac surgeon.

Similarly, if their general ideas about diet are inadequate, they refer you to a dietician or nutritionist.

No doctor is expected to know all of medicine, and your expectation that they might is unreasonable.

But who do they refer to? Nobody. I've had to do a lot of reading on my own, especially in regard to where the boundaries are rather than what's ideal. A piece here, a piece there, nobody with an overall picture.

 

[bilby]

Well, they are somewhat right. I have found the medical community very lacking in an understanding of nutrition. General ideas as to what constitutes a healthy diet but no ideas what to do when that's not enough of an answer.

That's the system working as designed.

Your GP/PCP has a general idea about how to spot a problem with your heart, but if they find one they have no idea how to perform bypass surgery.

Which is no problem, because they just refer you to a cardiac surgeon.

Similarly, if their general ideas about diet are inadequate, they refer you to a dietician or nutritionist.

No doctor is expected to know all of medicine, and your expectation that they might is unreasonable.

But who do they refer to?

See bold, above.

Nobody.

??

I've had to do a lot of reading on my own, especially in regard to where the boundaries are rather than what's ideal. A piece here, a piece there, nobody with an overall picture.

Try a dietician, or a nutritionist.

Around here, the Dept of Health is very keen to encourage people to see such specialists, because of the long run saving in health care costs it entails.

The same cost incentive should apply in your daft health insurance environment - even more so than it does here.

 

[TV and credit cards]

Well, they are somewhat right. I have found the medical community very lacking in an understanding of nutrition. General ideas as to what constitutes a healthy diet but no ideas what to do when that's not enough of an answer.

That's the system working as designed.

Your GP/PCP has a general idea about how to spot a problem with your heart, but if they find one they have no idea how to perform bypass surgery.

Which is no problem, because they just refer you to a cardiac surgeon.

Similarly, if their general ideas about diet are inadequate, they refer you to a dietician or nutritionist.

No doctor is expected to know all of medicine, and your expectation that they might is unreasonable.

Sadly, it is how the system is designed.

Not only should your GP/PCP have a good grounding in nutrition. Advice on healthy lifestyle should be a large part of their training. They should be the firewall between us and so many unnecessary referrals to specialists for heart disease, type II diabetes, cancers, sleep apnea, high blood pressure, osteoarthritis, and liver disease.

 

[ZiprHead]

Well, they are somewhat right. I have found the medical community very lacking in an understanding of nutrition. General ideas as to what constitutes a healthy diet but no ideas what to do when that's not enough of an answer.

That's the system working as designed.

Your GP/PCP has a general idea about how to spot a problem with your heart, but if they find one they have no idea how to perform bypass surgery.

Which is no problem, because they just refer you to a cardiac surgeon.

Similarly, if their general ideas about diet are inadequate, they refer you to a dietician or nutritionist.

No doctor is expected to know all of medicine, and your expectation that they might is unreasonable.

But who do they refer to? Nobody. I've had to do a lot of reading on my own, especially in regard to where the boundaries are rather than what's ideal. A piece here, a piece there, nobody with an overall picture.

The place my wife and I go to have a registered dietitian on staff.

 

[ZiprHead]

Well, they are somewhat right. I have found the medical community very lacking in an understanding of nutrition. General ideas as to what constitutes a healthy diet but no ideas what to do when that's not enough of an answer.

That's the system working as designed.

Your GP/PCP has a general idea about how to spot a problem with your heart, but if they find one they have no idea how to perform bypass surgery.

Which is no problem, because they just refer you to a cardiac surgeon.

Similarly, if their general ideas about diet are inadequate, they refer you to a dietician or nutritionist.

No doctor is expected to know all of medicine, and your expectation that they might is unreasonable.

But who do they refer to? Nobody. I've had to do a lot of reading on my own, especially in regard to where the boundaries are rather than what's ideal. A piece here, a piece there, nobody with an overall picture.

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