Alex Wenzel
@alexwenzel.bsky.social
Postdoc studying cancer. Academic unionist and transit enthusiast. Trying to make buses less invisible. TF2 Medic main.
This account does not represent the positions or opinions of my employer or of my union.
he/him
This account does not represent the positions or opinions of my employer or of my union.
he/him
Pinned
Alex Wenzel
@alexwenzel.bsky.social
· Sep 11
seeing a lot of takes alleging that kirk's death is what is specifically going to trigger a civil war.
and, no, i have to say as my official opinion as not only a politics journalist but someone whose been in leftist activist spaces for nearly a decade. it is not what will trigger it specifically 🧵
and, no, i have to say as my official opinion as not only a politics journalist but someone whose been in leftist activist spaces for nearly a decade. it is not what will trigger it specifically 🧵
Critically important thread. In fact, I’m going to pin this quote post. Cut through all the noise and commentary and various overlapping mirror worlds that it’s easy to fall into, this is the core of what has always been happening, and what our options are.
I don’t think there’s been a Defense Secretary in my lifetime who wouldn’t have been prosecuted for war crimes if international power dynamics didn’t make them immune.
How low we have sunk as a country. The US Department of Defense is now run by a rabid war criminal.
Ordering the execution of helpless survivors of an attack is ALWAYS a war crime, whether they civilian or military.
Pure, mindless, barbarism.
www.thedailybeast.com/pentagon-pet...
Ordering the execution of helpless survivors of an attack is ALWAYS a war crime, whether they civilian or military.
Pure, mindless, barbarism.
www.thedailybeast.com/pentagon-pet...
Pentagon Pete in Legal Peril Over ‘Kill Them All’ Orders
A follow-up missile allegedly killed survivors of a U.S. strike on a drug boat.
www.thedailybeast.com
November 30, 2025 at 6:03 AM
I don’t think there’s been a Defense Secretary in my lifetime who wouldn’t have been prosecuted for war crimes if international power dynamics didn’t make them immune.
Reposted by Alex Wenzel
i wonder if there are any cases of a us soldier exposing american war crimes under a democratic presidency and then also what happened to that person hm imagine if
November 30, 2025 at 5:42 AM
i wonder if there are any cases of a us soldier exposing american war crimes under a democratic presidency and then also what happened to that person hm imagine if
Reposted by Alex Wenzel
"Don't follow illegal orders" would be more meaningful if Democrats had prosecuted literally any of the prominent war criminals of the last 30 years instead of, you know, fucking campaigning with them
November 30, 2025 at 3:21 AM
"Don't follow illegal orders" would be more meaningful if Democrats had prosecuted literally any of the prominent war criminals of the last 30 years instead of, you know, fucking campaigning with them
Also implies “experts” know what those details are and are just nitpicking. The reality is this is literally just a thing Prasad said without showing *any* evidence. We have no idea what they’re basing this on, and as far as we know, neither does anyone at FDA outside of him, Hoeg, and Makary.
When a news outlet puts a reckless, undocumented claim by the Trump regime in the main headline and puts medical experts’ pushback in the smaller type, it’s making a choice. And not a good one.
November 30, 2025 at 2:52 AM
Also implies “experts” know what those details are and are just nitpicking. The reality is this is literally just a thing Prasad said without showing *any* evidence. We have no idea what they’re basing this on, and as far as we know, neither does anyone at FDA outside of him, Hoeg, and Makary.
No one mentioning a colleague by name in an email to other colleagues writes “First Middle Last MD PhD”, that’s weird. This memo was written primarily to be propaganda for public consumption.
Clarifying out of context quote post: This person is posting Vinay Prasad’s vaccine memo as a thread.
Clarifying out of context quote post: This person is posting Vinay Prasad’s vaccine memo as a thread.
The Commissioner, senior advisor Tracy Beth Hoeg MD PhD, myself and colleagues demonstrated that COVID-19 boosters, and the accompanying mandates by colleges, were on balance harmful to young men in a widely discussed, peer reviewed paper in 2022.
November 30, 2025 at 2:27 AM
No one mentioning a colleague by name in an email to other colleagues writes “First Middle Last MD PhD”, that’s weird. This memo was written primarily to be propaganda for public consumption.
Clarifying out of context quote post: This person is posting Vinay Prasad’s vaccine memo as a thread.
Clarifying out of context quote post: This person is posting Vinay Prasad’s vaccine memo as a thread.
This has a dropdown where you can browse the "subversive" offenses of individual journalists. I will be surprised if everyone on that list is still alive and doesn't have to leave the country for safety within the next three years.
The White House web site now includes a "media bias" tracker with a leaderboard and an offender hall of shame. www.whitehouse.gov/mediabias/
November 30, 2025 at 12:55 AM
This has a dropdown where you can browse the "subversive" offenses of individual journalists. I will be surprised if everyone on that list is still alive and doesn't have to leave the country for safety within the next three years.
Observation while checking news:
Search: “San Diego Trolley crash”
- “Pedestrian fatally struck by trolley…”
- “Man fatally struck by Trolley…”
- “Ebike rider killed by…trolley…”
Search: “San Diego car crash”
- “crash…leaves 4 people injured”
- “one dead in car crash”
- “…killed in crash…”
Search: “San Diego Trolley crash”
- “Pedestrian fatally struck by trolley…”
- “Man fatally struck by Trolley…”
- “Ebike rider killed by…trolley…”
Search: “San Diego car crash”
- “crash…leaves 4 people injured”
- “one dead in car crash”
- “…killed in crash…”
On Wednesday I was sitting behind the cab of a Green Line train entering Old Town from Taylor St that struck a person. Paramedics were fast, the person was alert and responsive when I left, and the operator was calm and professional and I hope he’s getting support from MTS.
This will happen more.
This will happen more.
November 29, 2025 at 10:11 PM
Observation while checking news:
Search: “San Diego Trolley crash”
- “Pedestrian fatally struck by trolley…”
- “Man fatally struck by Trolley…”
- “Ebike rider killed by…trolley…”
Search: “San Diego car crash”
- “crash…leaves 4 people injured”
- “one dead in car crash”
- “…killed in crash…”
Search: “San Diego Trolley crash”
- “Pedestrian fatally struck by trolley…”
- “Man fatally struck by Trolley…”
- “Ebike rider killed by…trolley…”
Search: “San Diego car crash”
- “crash…leaves 4 people injured”
- “one dead in car crash”
- “…killed in crash…”
Now it’s the opposite. I’m less likely to click on new content on YouTube in case I don’t like it but YouTube decides that’s what I’m watching from now on.
The death of browsing is part of the reason art is the way it is now. Our opinions are largely fed to us by algorithms. Spending a spare 15 minutes wandering around a bookstore or comic shop or video rental place was how you found stuff you wouldn't ordinarily pick up and thereby expanded your taste
Bookselling is like the most "people go to the store and buy what looks cool to them without a particular agenda" type business left, and your purchases have a huge influence on what is ordered, what is displayed, and what is recommended.
November 29, 2025 at 9:54 PM
Now it’s the opposite. I’m less likely to click on new content on YouTube in case I don’t like it but YouTube decides that’s what I’m watching from now on.
Reposted by Alex Wenzel
By the way, if 10 American kids died of vaccine myocarditis, at least 1 would have been written up.
Like this from Korea.
Doctors wouldn’t just submit to VAERS. We publish things.
I’m unaware of such cases.
Maybe others can clue me in.
jkms.org/DOIx.php?id=...
Like this from Korea.
Doctors wouldn’t just submit to VAERS. We publish things.
I’m unaware of such cases.
Maybe others can clue me in.
jkms.org/DOIx.php?id=...
Myocarditis-induced Sudden Death after BNT162b2 mRNA COVID-19 Vaccination in Korea: Case Report Focusing on Histopathological Findings
Choi S, et al. J Korean Med Sci. 2021 Jul;36(40):e286. https://doi.org/10.3346/jkms.2021.36.e286
jkms.org
November 29, 2025 at 9:07 PM
By the way, if 10 American kids died of vaccine myocarditis, at least 1 would have been written up.
Like this from Korea.
Doctors wouldn’t just submit to VAERS. We publish things.
I’m unaware of such cases.
Maybe others can clue me in.
jkms.org/DOIx.php?id=...
Like this from Korea.
Doctors wouldn’t just submit to VAERS. We publish things.
I’m unaware of such cases.
Maybe others can clue me in.
jkms.org/DOIx.php?id=...
They removed the jobs that are most skewed towards women because they don’t think women should have careers. Fuentes gets most of the attention, but the anti-19A people have moved a lot closer to conservative mainstream as well.
New: What Is A “Professional Degree” And Why Does It Matter? via @forbes www.forbes.com/sites/judyst... #Nursing #PT #OT #PublicHealth #MentalHealth #SocialWork w thanks to @gregggonsalves.bsky.social @michelemanos.bsky.social and Russ Francis @defendpublichealth.bsky.social for comments.
What Is A “Professional Degree” And Why Does It Matter?
Under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, the Dept of Education proposes redefining "professional degrees" to exclude degrees in nursing, NP/PA, Public Health, PT/OT and more
www.forbes.com
November 29, 2025 at 8:24 PM
They removed the jobs that are most skewed towards women because they don’t think women should have careers. Fuentes gets most of the attention, but the anti-19A people have moved a lot closer to conservative mainstream as well.
Reposted by Alex Wenzel
Dr. Prasad send an email to CBER suggesting changes to the approval for respiratory vaccines based, apparently, on the conclusion of an unpublished investigation into VAERS report by unknown people. A few thoughts beyond what was already reported, based on the full email: 1/n
November 29, 2025 at 4:21 PM
Dr. Prasad send an email to CBER suggesting changes to the approval for respiratory vaccines based, apparently, on the conclusion of an unpublished investigation into VAERS report by unknown people. A few thoughts beyond what was already reported, based on the full email: 1/n
Reposted by Alex Wenzel
The FDA’s Vinay Prasad is claiming that COVID19 vaccines killed 10 children.
Usually, to make a claim this extraordinary, one would submit a paper to a leading scientific journal for peer review.
Maybe he has, I don’t know, whatever he is doing is not how one conducts rigorous science.
Usually, to make a claim this extraordinary, one would submit a paper to a leading scientific journal for peer review.
Maybe he has, I don’t know, whatever he is doing is not how one conducts rigorous science.
November 29, 2025 at 5:12 PM
The FDA’s Vinay Prasad is claiming that COVID19 vaccines killed 10 children.
Usually, to make a claim this extraordinary, one would submit a paper to a leading scientific journal for peer review.
Maybe he has, I don’t know, whatever he is doing is not how one conducts rigorous science.
Usually, to make a claim this extraordinary, one would submit a paper to a leading scientific journal for peer review.
Maybe he has, I don’t know, whatever he is doing is not how one conducts rigorous science.
The instructors’ comments (TPUSA titles them “Trans Professor” and “Additional Professor”) show that they knew they were walking into a minefield but tried to do their best to teach anyway. Give conservative essays good grades or find a hotel to hide in while you look for a new job apparently.
Turning Point at OU posted this girl's essay in full and man is it rough
November 29, 2025 at 5:16 PM
The instructors’ comments (TPUSA titles them “Trans Professor” and “Additional Professor”) show that they knew they were walking into a minefield but tried to do their best to teach anyway. Give conservative essays good grades or find a hotel to hide in while you look for a new job apparently.
Makary and Bhattacharya apparently want more mass shootings at research centers and universities.
"COVID-19 is presented as the latest infectious disease outbreak resulting from scientists’ hubris: HIV/AIDS, Lyme ..."
"Marty Makary ... asked his social media followers to "check out the new documentary" while Jay Bhattacharya ... said "it's a must watch film.""
By @zachhensel.bsky.social (2024)
"Marty Makary ... asked his social media followers to "check out the new documentary" while Jay Bhattacharya ... said "it's a must watch film.""
By @zachhensel.bsky.social (2024)
Thank You Dr. Fauci Review
Thank You Dr. Fauci is a documentary investigating the origin of COVID-19. What do scientists have to say about it?
www.the-gallop.com
November 29, 2025 at 10:25 AM
Makary and Bhattacharya apparently want more mass shootings at research centers and universities.
The MAHA creed is, “Everyone can individually make themselves healthy. If *you* can’t, it’s your fault. If *I* can’t it’s because someone is conspiring against me.”
While Makary spreads bullshit about the origin of HIV.
(To be clear, this has been thoroughly investigated and fits neither the timing nor the molecular epidemiology of HIV).
(To be clear, this has been thoroughly investigated and fits neither the timing nor the molecular epidemiology of HIV).
November 29, 2025 at 10:21 AM
The MAHA creed is, “Everyone can individually make themselves healthy. If *you* can’t, it’s your fault. If *I* can’t it’s because someone is conspiring against me.”
If there’s any doubt that NU and UCLA (as successfully defended by AAUP, UAW, et. al.) faced the same legal question, the regime copied text from its letter to NU and didn’t proofread it.
Evidence that time is non-linear, apparently I'm back in the institution with Feinberg again.
Stupidity aside, these demands are entirely incompatible with our union contracts, and therefore entirely incompatible with normal university operations.
archive.is/eBzS9
Stupidity aside, these demands are entirely incompatible with our union contracts, and therefore entirely incompatible with normal university operations.
archive.is/eBzS9
November 29, 2025 at 5:25 AM
If there’s any doubt that NU and UCLA (as successfully defended by AAUP, UAW, et. al.) faced the same legal question, the regime copied text from its letter to NU and didn’t proofread it.
No wayfinding in T2 for new route 992 stops. Just an A-frame propped up on the bench of the old shelter that I can see from up here at the new stop. Not hard to imagine why transit airport share is ~1% when even the planners forget it’s here, or just don’t care.
November 29, 2025 at 5:14 AM
No wayfinding in T2 for new route 992 stops. Just an A-frame propped up on the bench of the old shelter that I can see from up here at the new stop. Not hard to imagine why transit airport share is ~1% when even the planners forget it’s here, or just don’t care.
Reposted by Alex Wenzel
The NLRB Is Suing to Keep States From Protecting Workers’ Rights talkingpointsmemo.com/cafe/the-nlr...
The NLRB Is Suing to Keep States From Protecting Workers’ Rights
This article is part of TPM Cafe, TPM’s home for opinion and...
talkingpointsmemo.com
November 29, 2025 at 2:59 AM
The NLRB Is Suing to Keep States From Protecting Workers’ Rights talkingpointsmemo.com/cafe/the-nlr...
Reposted by Alex Wenzel
Folks with Diabetes!
There is an urgent recall on some FreeStyle Libre 3 and FreeStyle Libre 3 Plus sensors because they are showing false low glucose readings.
Check your sensor serial numbers at freestylecheck.com
There is an urgent recall on some FreeStyle Libre 3 and FreeStyle Libre 3 Plus sensors because they are showing false low glucose readings.
Check your sensor serial numbers at freestylecheck.com
Home | FreeStyle - Abbott
freestylecheck.com
November 29, 2025 at 2:29 AM
Folks with Diabetes!
There is an urgent recall on some FreeStyle Libre 3 and FreeStyle Libre 3 Plus sensors because they are showing false low glucose readings.
Check your sensor serial numbers at freestylecheck.com
There is an urgent recall on some FreeStyle Libre 3 and FreeStyle Libre 3 Plus sensors because they are showing false low glucose readings.
Check your sensor serial numbers at freestylecheck.com
Fun fact, it's called Northwestern because, when it was founded, northern Illinois was the northwestern United States. Hopefully the country will pass them by again.
BREAKING: Northwestern University has agreed to pay the U.S. Treasury $75 million, over the course of three years as part of an agreement with the federal government to restore funding and end investigations into the university
Full statement from NU below:
Full statement from NU below:
November 29, 2025 at 1:47 AM
Fun fact, it's called Northwestern because, when it was founded, northern Illinois was the northwestern United States. Hopefully the country will pass them by again.
Reposted by Alex Wenzel
The legal, media, and academic institutions capitulating to an authoritarian ordering payments for favorable treatment are damning themselves to irrelevance. They are destroying their institutions. They will be — and should be — shunned for failing in their most basic purposes for existing.
BREAKING: Northwestern University has agreed to pay the U.S. Treasury $75 million, over the course of three years as part of an agreement with the federal government to restore funding and end investigations into the university
Full statement from NU below:
Full statement from NU below:
November 29, 2025 at 1:37 AM
The legal, media, and academic institutions capitulating to an authoritarian ordering payments for favorable treatment are damning themselves to irrelevance. They are destroying their institutions. They will be — and should be — shunned for failing in their most basic purposes for existing.
Reposted by Alex Wenzel
Northwestern also agrees to stop providing life saving healthcare to trans kids, another violation of state law. It's unclear what impact this would have on their affiliated hospital network.
bsky.app/profile/ryan...
bsky.app/profile/ryan...
the agreement finally forces the university to "not perform hormonal interventions and transgender surgeries" on minors.
November 29, 2025 at 1:24 AM
Northwestern also agrees to stop providing life saving healthcare to trans kids, another violation of state law. It's unclear what impact this would have on their affiliated hospital network.
bsky.app/profile/ryan...
bsky.app/profile/ryan...
Academic unions can only demonstrate the legal path to victory so many times before it starts to become obvious that school leaders just want these things to happen and think the feds will absorb the blame and protect them.
Northwestern University has agreed to pay $75 million as a part of a deal with the Trump administration to restore hundreds of millions in federal funding www.justice.gov/opa/pr/unite...
November 29, 2025 at 1:15 AM
Academic unions can only demonstrate the legal path to victory so many times before it starts to become obvious that school leaders just want these things to happen and think the feds will absorb the blame and protect them.
Revising my alumni donation condition from “whenever SAE is permanently banned from campus” to “never”.
I am deeply ashamed that the institution where I first started in research has stopped providing healthcare to trans people, explicitly to facilitate the regime’s goal of harming them.
I am deeply ashamed that the institution where I first started in research has stopped providing healthcare to trans people, explicitly to facilitate the regime’s goal of harming them.
Fuck, Northwestern just caved. Reading the deal now. ( www.northwestern.edu/president/do... )
www.northwestern.edu
November 29, 2025 at 12:39 AM
Revising my alumni donation condition from “whenever SAE is permanently banned from campus” to “never”.
I am deeply ashamed that the institution where I first started in research has stopped providing healthcare to trans people, explicitly to facilitate the regime’s goal of harming them.
I am deeply ashamed that the institution where I first started in research has stopped providing healthcare to trans people, explicitly to facilitate the regime’s goal of harming them.