Mark D. Garfinkel, Ph.D.
@mdgarfinkel.bsky.social
"Native New Yorker, adoptive Chicagoan, 24-year veteran of being a stranger in a strange land." Drosophila (fly) person. Childless cat man. Cinema buff. "Fascinated by everything except how to dress," as Matt Groening would put it.
Reposted by Mark D. Garfinkel, Ph.D.
Good interview with General Russel Honoré, the person who took charge of the situation in New Orleans during Katrina and helped get folks out and into safer and more survivable situations.
He is speaking out about his views about the ongoing threats to our democracy.
www.cnn.com/2025/11/25/t...
He is speaking out about his views about the ongoing threats to our democracy.
www.cnn.com/2025/11/25/t...
I hope officers in command will not obey ‘if given an illegal order,’ says retired 3-star general | CNN
Christiane Amanpour speaks with Lt. Gen. Russel L. Honoré (Ret.), former commanding officer of the U.S. First Army, about the escalating tactics of ICE and in what circumstances the military should re...
www.cnn.com
November 26, 2025 at 2:19 PM
Good interview with General Russel Honoré, the person who took charge of the situation in New Orleans during Katrina and helped get folks out and into safer and more survivable situations.
He is speaking out about his views about the ongoing threats to our democracy.
www.cnn.com/2025/11/25/t...
He is speaking out about his views about the ongoing threats to our democracy.
www.cnn.com/2025/11/25/t...
Reposted by Mark D. Garfinkel, Ph.D.
Entire creation of new data that has no bearing upon any histological relevance. Remember LLM models are not open and we have no understanding of what NeuN, GFAP, or DAPI means in biological space within the LLM.
This is nonsense. But it looks at first blush as "real" to the uninformed.
Scary.
This is nonsense. But it looks at first blush as "real" to the uninformed.
Scary.
Gemini 3 created this figure in under 30 seconds from a couple reference images and a one sentence prompt
So I’m at a loss for words, honestly #MicroscopyMonday
So I’m at a loss for words, honestly #MicroscopyMonday
November 24, 2025 at 7:51 PM
Entire creation of new data that has no bearing upon any histological relevance. Remember LLM models are not open and we have no understanding of what NeuN, GFAP, or DAPI means in biological space within the LLM.
This is nonsense. But it looks at first blush as "real" to the uninformed.
Scary.
This is nonsense. But it looks at first blush as "real" to the uninformed.
Scary.
Doug Jones for AL Governor is operational on ActBlue!
To paraphrase old-school machine politics for today’s grassroots-driven world, “donate early, donate often.”
Also — “volunteer early, volunteer often.”
Democrats in #Alabama won’t win with only supportive social media posts.
#DougForAlabama
To paraphrase old-school machine politics for today’s grassroots-driven world, “donate early, donate often.”
Also — “volunteer early, volunteer often.”
Democrats in #Alabama won’t win with only supportive social media posts.
#DougForAlabama
November 24, 2025 at 9:41 PM
Doug Jones for AL Governor is operational on ActBlue!
To paraphrase old-school machine politics for today’s grassroots-driven world, “donate early, donate often.”
Also — “volunteer early, volunteer often.”
Democrats in #Alabama won’t win with only supportive social media posts.
#DougForAlabama
To paraphrase old-school machine politics for today’s grassroots-driven world, “donate early, donate often.”
Also — “volunteer early, volunteer often.”
Democrats in #Alabama won’t win with only supportive social media posts.
#DougForAlabama
Reposted by Mark D. Garfinkel, Ph.D.
We have a US administration trying to bully Ukrainians into accepting Russia’s proposal that their sovereignty be undone. Aside from the naked injustice of this, there are five basic practical reasons why it would make the world far more dangerous.
(video)
snyder.substack.com/p/the-putin-...
(video)
snyder.substack.com/p/the-putin-...
The Putin-Witkoff Plan Worsens the War
Five Reasons the US should not help Russia subjugate Ukraine
snyder.substack.com
November 21, 2025 at 9:11 PM
We have a US administration trying to bully Ukrainians into accepting Russia’s proposal that their sovereignty be undone. Aside from the naked injustice of this, there are five basic practical reasons why it would make the world far more dangerous.
(video)
snyder.substack.com/p/the-putin-...
(video)
snyder.substack.com/p/the-putin-...
Reposted by Mark D. Garfinkel, Ph.D.
This is not a peace plan. It is a proposal that weakens Ukraine and divides America from Europe, preparing the way for a larger war in the future. In the meantime, it benefits unnamed Russian and American investors, at the expense of everyone else.
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...
Trump Has a Recipe for War and Corruption, Not Peace
Who would benefit from the White House’s 28-point proposal for Ukraine?
www.theatlantic.com
November 22, 2025 at 11:11 AM
This is not a peace plan. It is a proposal that weakens Ukraine and divides America from Europe, preparing the way for a larger war in the future. In the meantime, it benefits unnamed Russian and American investors, at the expense of everyone else.
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...
Reposted by Mark D. Garfinkel, Ph.D.
Breaking News: Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said he personally instructed the CDC to abandon its position that vaccines do not cause autism. The move underscores his determination to challenge scientific orthodoxy — in this case, that vaccines save lives — and bend the health department to his will.
RFK Jr. Says He Instructed CDC to Change Vaccines and Autism Language on Website
In an interview, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. cited gaps in vaccine safety research. His critics say he is ignoring a larger point: Vaccines save lives.
nyti.ms
November 21, 2025 at 6:56 PM
Breaking News: Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said he personally instructed the CDC to abandon its position that vaccines do not cause autism. The move underscores his determination to challenge scientific orthodoxy — in this case, that vaccines save lives — and bend the health department to his will.
Every thread displaying “dialogue” with Grok is a potent reminder that I was right not to waste any of my precious finite time with ChatGPT and its imitators.
November 21, 2025 at 7:59 PM
Every thread displaying “dialogue” with Grok is a potent reminder that I was right not to waste any of my precious finite time with ChatGPT and its imitators.
Reposted by Mark D. Garfinkel, Ph.D.
Hallmark announced its holiday movies, but C-SPAN remains silent 🤔 Here are some suggestions:
1) Miracle on the 218th signature
2) A Muppets Christmas Conference Committee
3) It's a wonderful shutdown
4) Rudolph the red-nosed (continuing) resolution
5) ¡Feliz Filibuster! 🎄
1) Miracle on the 218th signature
2) A Muppets Christmas Conference Committee
3) It's a wonderful shutdown
4) Rudolph the red-nosed (continuing) resolution
5) ¡Feliz Filibuster! 🎄
November 21, 2025 at 5:01 PM
Hallmark announced its holiday movies, but C-SPAN remains silent 🤔 Here are some suggestions:
1) Miracle on the 218th signature
2) A Muppets Christmas Conference Committee
3) It's a wonderful shutdown
4) Rudolph the red-nosed (continuing) resolution
5) ¡Feliz Filibuster! 🎄
1) Miracle on the 218th signature
2) A Muppets Christmas Conference Committee
3) It's a wonderful shutdown
4) Rudolph the red-nosed (continuing) resolution
5) ¡Feliz Filibuster! 🎄
Reposted by Mark D. Garfinkel, Ph.D.
Earlier today, I was notified that someone was at my door.
This is who it was:
This is who it was:
November 21, 2025 at 12:59 AM
Earlier today, I was notified that someone was at my door.
This is who it was:
This is who it was:
Reposted by Mark D. Garfinkel, Ph.D.
This is a man whose wife was SHOT IN THE HEAD having to act even-keeled when the President of the United States tries to incite violence against him. Trump has to go, right now.
I've had a missile blow up next to my airplane, been shot at dozens of times by anti-aircraft fire, and launched into orbit — all for my country. I never thought I'd see a President call for my execution.
Trump doesn’t understand the Constitution, and we're all less safe for it.
Trump doesn’t understand the Constitution, and we're all less safe for it.
November 20, 2025 at 11:10 PM
This is a man whose wife was SHOT IN THE HEAD having to act even-keeled when the President of the United States tries to incite violence against him. Trump has to go, right now.
Reposted by Mark D. Garfinkel, Ph.D.
Republicans are now on record as supporting girls getting only 3 dolls and 5 pencils and older people getting nothing.
The Republican economy looks suspiciously like the Soviet era one.
The Republican economy looks suspiciously like the Soviet era one.
November 19, 2025 at 8:16 PM
Republicans are now on record as supporting girls getting only 3 dolls and 5 pencils and older people getting nothing.
The Republican economy looks suspiciously like the Soviet era one.
The Republican economy looks suspiciously like the Soviet era one.
Reposted by Mark D. Garfinkel, Ph.D.
This is brilliant!
🧪“The Monster Slash”
By @ellecordova.bsky.social on IG
She performs a song about the cuts to the government agencies that impact our daily lives.
🧪“The Monster Slash”
By @ellecordova.bsky.social on IG
She performs a song about the cuts to the government agencies that impact our daily lives.
November 18, 2025 at 2:02 AM
This is brilliant!
🧪“The Monster Slash”
By @ellecordova.bsky.social on IG
She performs a song about the cuts to the government agencies that impact our daily lives.
🧪“The Monster Slash”
By @ellecordova.bsky.social on IG
She performs a song about the cuts to the government agencies that impact our daily lives.
In the 1990s I was in a university department with people who designed, built, operated & adminstered #X-ray #beamlines for #protein #crystallography, small-angle scattering & #XAFS.
They spoke very much like this:
xkcd.com/3168
They spoke very much like this:
xkcd.com/3168
Beam Dump
xkcd.com
November 19, 2025 at 8:04 PM
In the 1990s I was in a university department with people who designed, built, operated & adminstered #X-ray #beamlines for #protein #crystallography, small-angle scattering & #XAFS.
They spoke very much like this:
xkcd.com/3168
They spoke very much like this:
xkcd.com/3168
Reposted by Mark D. Garfinkel, Ph.D.
Reposted by Mark D. Garfinkel, Ph.D.
We want to speak directly to members of the Military and the Intelligence Community.
The American people need you to stand up for our laws and our Constitution.
Don’t give up the ship.
The American people need you to stand up for our laws and our Constitution.
Don’t give up the ship.
November 18, 2025 at 1:31 PM
We want to speak directly to members of the Military and the Intelligence Community.
The American people need you to stand up for our laws and our Constitution.
Don’t give up the ship.
The American people need you to stand up for our laws and our Constitution.
Don’t give up the ship.
Reposted by Mark D. Garfinkel, Ph.D.
I really did not enjoy Jay Bhattacharya & Matthew Memoli’s screed against pandemic & virology research for the flagship blog of a “free-market think tank." Instead of getting mad, I accepted @jeremyfaust.bsky.social's kind invitation to take a factual & scientific blowtorch to it.
We've got a MASSIVE DEEP-DIVE rebuttal to the NIH leadership’s recent essay. They're arguing for a head-in-the-sand approach to pandemic preparedness.
The great @angierasmussen.bsky.social joins me in an extraordinarily detailed, line-by-line fact check.
insidemedicine.substack.com/p/a-rebuttal...
The great @angierasmussen.bsky.social joins me in an extraordinarily detailed, line-by-line fact check.
insidemedicine.substack.com/p/a-rebuttal...
A rebuttal to NIH leadership's screed against pandemic preparedness.
Dr. Angela Rasmussen joins Inside Medicine for a tag-team response to a poorly reasoned essay by NIH Director Dr. Jay Bhattacharya and his deputy, Dr. Matthew Memoli.
insidemedicine.substack.com
November 16, 2025 at 9:28 PM
I really did not enjoy Jay Bhattacharya & Matthew Memoli’s screed against pandemic & virology research for the flagship blog of a “free-market think tank." Instead of getting mad, I accepted @jeremyfaust.bsky.social's kind invitation to take a factual & scientific blowtorch to it.
C-SPAN2 is covering it live also.
The flagship C-SPAN will carry five hours of House of Representatives proceedings beginning at 10am EST. Presumably this will include the roll call vote on the “Epstein Files Transparency Act.”
Watch for your Representative’s vote — and remember it next year.
The flagship C-SPAN will carry five hours of House of Representatives proceedings beginning at 10am EST. Presumably this will include the roll call vote on the “Epstein Files Transparency Act.”
Watch for your Representative’s vote — and remember it next year.
notably, Fox News is not broadcasting the Khanna/Massie/Greene Epstein news conference live. CNN and MS are.
November 18, 2025 at 2:37 PM
C-SPAN2 is covering it live also.
The flagship C-SPAN will carry five hours of House of Representatives proceedings beginning at 10am EST. Presumably this will include the roll call vote on the “Epstein Files Transparency Act.”
Watch for your Representative’s vote — and remember it next year.
The flagship C-SPAN will carry five hours of House of Representatives proceedings beginning at 10am EST. Presumably this will include the roll call vote on the “Epstein Files Transparency Act.”
Watch for your Representative’s vote — and remember it next year.
Signage on a church building in #Birmingham #Alabama:
“Agents of ICE and HOMELAND SECURITY May Not Enter Without A Signed Judicial Warrant.”
The sign was metal, professionally manufactured, & bolted on the wall near the entrance in a way suggesting permanence.
[No photo to protect the location.]
“Agents of ICE and HOMELAND SECURITY May Not Enter Without A Signed Judicial Warrant.”
The sign was metal, professionally manufactured, & bolted on the wall near the entrance in a way suggesting permanence.
[No photo to protect the location.]
November 18, 2025 at 2:19 PM
Signage on a church building in #Birmingham #Alabama:
“Agents of ICE and HOMELAND SECURITY May Not Enter Without A Signed Judicial Warrant.”
The sign was metal, professionally manufactured, & bolted on the wall near the entrance in a way suggesting permanence.
[No photo to protect the location.]
“Agents of ICE and HOMELAND SECURITY May Not Enter Without A Signed Judicial Warrant.”
The sign was metal, professionally manufactured, & bolted on the wall near the entrance in a way suggesting permanence.
[No photo to protect the location.]
Reposted by Mark D. Garfinkel, Ph.D.
My quote of the day
In a world where everyone is behaving honestly, any dishonesty constitutes a big infraction. But, in a world where many people are behaving dishonestly, and the news is filled with stories of their infractions, even big infractions can feel small to the perpetrator.
Dan Ariely
In a world where everyone is behaving honestly, any dishonesty constitutes a big infraction. But, in a world where many people are behaving dishonestly, and the news is filled with stories of their infractions, even big infractions can feel small to the perpetrator.
Dan Ariely
November 16, 2025 at 1:32 PM
My quote of the day
In a world where everyone is behaving honestly, any dishonesty constitutes a big infraction. But, in a world where many people are behaving dishonestly, and the news is filled with stories of their infractions, even big infractions can feel small to the perpetrator.
Dan Ariely
In a world where everyone is behaving honestly, any dishonesty constitutes a big infraction. But, in a world where many people are behaving dishonestly, and the news is filled with stories of their infractions, even big infractions can feel small to the perpetrator.
Dan Ariely
Reposted by Mark D. Garfinkel, Ph.D.
Reposted by Mark D. Garfinkel, Ph.D.
“Housing shortage – Jews to blame," letter sticker, German Reich, 1938
zwangsraeume.berlin/en/context
zwangsraeume.berlin/en/context
November 14, 2025 at 2:16 AM
“Housing shortage – Jews to blame," letter sticker, German Reich, 1938
zwangsraeume.berlin/en/context
zwangsraeume.berlin/en/context
Reposted by Mark D. Garfinkel, Ph.D.
A campaign that could evolve into bombing a nation thirty times the size of Panama, larger than Ukraine, and home to nearly 30 million people cannot be slipped past either Congress or the American public as an extension of drug policy. www.thebulwark.com/p/no-venezue...
No, Venezuela Is Not a ‘Small Latin American Country’
And talk of a quick invasion and easy ‘regime change’ is dangerously misleading.
www.thebulwark.com
November 14, 2025 at 3:30 AM
A campaign that could evolve into bombing a nation thirty times the size of Panama, larger than Ukraine, and home to nearly 30 million people cannot be slipped past either Congress or the American public as an extension of drug policy. www.thebulwark.com/p/no-venezue...
Reposted by Mark D. Garfinkel, Ph.D.
Can confirm. I am okay and more motivated than ever to speak up.
Nothing scares this administration more. Their power lies in our silence.
Nothing scares this administration more. Their power lies in our silence.
NIH program officer @jenna-m-norton.bsky.social has been placed on admin leave, sources say.
Norton has been outspoken about the Trump administration's dismantling of science, and she signed the Bethesda Declaration.
Bhattacharya has said that "science is dead without free speech".
Norton has been outspoken about the Trump administration's dismantling of science, and she signed the Bethesda Declaration.
Bhattacharya has said that "science is dead without free speech".
November 14, 2025 at 2:37 AM
Can confirm. I am okay and more motivated than ever to speak up.
Nothing scares this administration more. Their power lies in our silence.
Nothing scares this administration more. Their power lies in our silence.
Reposted by Mark D. Garfinkel, Ph.D.
@jenna-m-norton.bsky.social has more integrity and spine than the entire HHS "leadership"
In a video, Norton confirms the news and says: "I strongly suspect it is because I have been speaking up in my personal capacity about the harms I have been witnessing inside the NIH.
Putting me on admin leave was designed to scare and silence me. I will not stop speaking out," she says.
Putting me on admin leave was designed to scare and silence me. I will not stop speaking out," she says.
I guess I am hitting a nerve, because they just put me on admin leave.
TikTok video by Jenna
www.tiktok.com
November 14, 2025 at 3:30 AM
@jenna-m-norton.bsky.social has more integrity and spine than the entire HHS "leadership"
I don’t think it gets mentioned enough that Trump & Vought want to subvert the federal civil service with “Schedule F.”
Bovino is demonstrating what a fully politicized spoils-based FCS would look like. The badge, gun & body armor — plus the bloviating — serve to amplify the point.
Bovino is demonstrating what a fully politicized spoils-based FCS would look like. The badge, gun & body armor — plus the bloviating — serve to amplify the point.
I don't think it gets mentioned enough that Bovino is a member of the civil service. He is not a political appointee. Yet he still engages in constant open partisanship while in uniform and with a DHS flag behind him.
Bovino: "Whether they were criminals or individuals that were taking jobs from Americans -- you name it, that's what they were doing. And I'll tell you what's gonna happen. We're gonna go even harder on the streets. If he releases those 650, we're gonna apprehend 1,650 on the streets of Chicago."
November 14, 2025 at 12:38 AM
I don’t think it gets mentioned enough that Trump & Vought want to subvert the federal civil service with “Schedule F.”
Bovino is demonstrating what a fully politicized spoils-based FCS would look like. The badge, gun & body armor — plus the bloviating — serve to amplify the point.
Bovino is demonstrating what a fully politicized spoils-based FCS would look like. The badge, gun & body armor — plus the bloviating — serve to amplify the point.