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mfairma.bsky.social
Matt Lazell-Fairman
@mfairma.bsky.social
1.2K followers 1.3K following 220 posts
ME. Spouse w LC, ME. Writer, bread baker, daydreamer. Still waiting on fair funding and apology from HHS. Masking like someone’s life depends on it.
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mfairma.bsky.social
Matt Lazell-Fairman @mfairma.bsky.social · Apr 7
It’s been five years since John Prine died of COVID-19. If you’re so inclined (and able — it’s long), here’s an essay I wrote about how his songs helped me accept a life with the debilitating, deeply marginalized chronic illness ME/CFS. 1/3
How Singer-Songwriter John Prine Helped Me Accept A Life of Illness
It’s been a year since Prine died of COVID-19. His death made me reflect on what it means to be sick and how his songs helped me learn to…
m-lazell-fairman.medium.com
Reposted by Matt Lazell-Fairman
betsyladyzhets.bsky.social
It's #GivingTuesday. At @thesicktimes.org, our end-of-year fundraiser has been lagging behind; we're hoping to raise $10k today to get back on track.

Here are a few recent stories that demonstrate our unique role serving the Long COVID community. the-sick-times.fundjournalism.org/donate/ (1/10)
Purple graphic with white text. Text at the top reads, "Our reporting serves our Long COVID community. Your donation makes it possible." Below, there are two thermometers showing donation progress. The first is titled "New donations" and goes from $0 to $60k; donations so far have reached about $16k. The second is titled "New monthly supporters" and goes from 0 to 200; so far, this number has reached 44. At the bottom right, there are the Sick Times and NewsMatch logos.
December 2, 2025 at 4:52 PM
Reposted by Matt Lazell-Fairman
exceedhergrasp1.bsky.social
Hey, folks! #MEAction has a 3x match for #GivingTuesday: your gift will TRIPLE if you donate today!

We need to be here to keep doing the work most important to our disability community.

Donate & share

And read the thread to learn more about what we can do together ⬇️

✨ www.meaction.net/donate ✨
December 2, 2025 at 4:39 PM
Reposted by Matt Lazell-Fairman
minetodo.bsky.social
Help the #MillionsMissing from ME/CFS by donating to
these four amazing organizations today:
Bateman Horne Center (www.batemanhornecenter.org).
MEAction Network (www.meaction.net),
Open Medicine Foundation (www.omf.ngo),
Solve M.E. (www.solvecfs.org)
#StandByMEcfs #StillSickStillFighting #MEcfs
Hand with blue band on wrist that says End ME/CFS. Photo by Cynthia Johnson who has suffered from ME/CFS since 2009. #StandByMEcfs
December 2, 2025 at 8:08 PM
Reposted by Matt Lazell-Fairman
sammiemc.bsky.social
For the longest time my daughter couldn’t get out of bed, let alone outside.
She was isolated for most of her teens. From 12pm
@longcovidkids.bsky.social has a @biggive.bsky.social #ChristmasChallenge to raise funds to bring hope & improve experiences for children suffering.

🙏 consider supporting
A girl with long black hair is looking into a round window of an aquarium, surrounded by rock, her back is to the camera and she is wearing a Green jacket. She is in a green SD Motion wheelchair with three wheels, her green rucksack hangs on the back of the wheelchair. Autumn leaves are on the floor.
December 2, 2025 at 9:47 AM
Reposted by Matt Lazell-Fairman
anneinayrshire.bsky.social
. @swastrosarah.bsky.social
Wondered if you had seen this?
Ella Copley only 20
Just grim
December 2, 2025 at 8:49 AM
Reposted by Matt Lazell-Fairman
littlelobbyists.com
"America’s systems, structures, and policies were not ready for Alice Wong. I dream of a world where her vision for disability rights isn’t “radical” but the norm."

www.thenation.com/article/soci...
A Tribute to an Oracle, Alice Wong
Alice had the ability to look to the future and a world where laws and attitudes did not keep disabled people poor, pitied, and isolated.
www.thenation.com
December 1, 2025 at 9:33 PM
Reposted by Matt Lazell-Fairman
thrasherxy.bsky.social
1/ For six months, I've been traveling the world on Pulitzer Ctr & Fund For Investigative Journalism grants investigating Trump's effect on HIV & LGBTQ health. On World AIDS Day, @theintercept.com is publishing an overview essay of Afeef Nessouli & my findings. theintercept.com/2025/12/01/w...
Trump Gutted AIDS Health Care at the Worst Possible Time
By the first World AIDS Day of his second term, Trump gutted LGBTQ+ employment globally and put humanity at greater risk of AIDS.
theintercept.com
December 1, 2025 at 3:03 PM
Reposted by Matt Lazell-Fairman
emilyrj.bsky.social
Disability lawyers and judges may not know about this, so mention it/get a copy

“Selected Heritable Disorders of Connective Tissue and Disability” was made to help patients with EDS, Marfans and other connective tissue disorders access disability benefits www.nationalacademies.org/publications...
Meeting Future U.S. Mineral Resource Needs: The Role of the U.S. Geological Survey Mineral Resources Program
www.nationalacademies.org
December 1, 2025 at 2:47 AM
Reposted by Matt Lazell-Fairman
rmayemsinger.bsky.social
I know someone who seems very sick but refuses to go to the hospital until her Medi-Cal approval comes thru. She cannot afford insurance. I told her they cannot turn her away, but she's too frightened of the bill if she's admitted, which she most certainly would be. Our country is so fucked up.
November 29, 2025 at 3:52 AM
Reposted by Matt Lazell-Fairman
cyntada.bsky.social
I still reflexively scan the lot for good sleeping spots when I pull into a Walmart, and also shudder at the thought of ever living that life again. It's been years. And yes, I had a full time job at better than minimum wage.
brian-goldstone.bsky.social Brian Goldstone @brian-goldstone.bsky.social · 3d
"Homelessness today isn't just the person sleeping outside a Walmart. It's often the cashier or worker stocking the shelves inside."

I joined @pbsnews.org to talk about There Is No Place for Us and the staggering rise of the "working homeless":
www.pbs.org/newshour/sho...
Brian Goldstone appears on a PBS News Weekend, speaking from a room lined with bookshelves. A lower-third caption reads: “BRIAN GOLDSTONE — Journalist and Author, ‘There Is No Place for Us.’”
November 30, 2025 at 7:06 AM
Reposted by Matt Lazell-Fairman
oneofmichaelfrost.bsky.social
Today is the first major ME/CFS protest in the Netherlands.
It's a chronic condition that impairs restoration during rest. Could be autoimmune. Could be neurological. We still don't know.

Support from anyone welcome. Join the livestream in Dutch: www.hetpaisprotest.nl/livestream
A guy holding up a paper sign that says: My “push it to the limit” workout: 1 Get up 2 Dress 3 Walk to kitchen 4 Collapse in chair End of list. Follow for more ME/CFS sports advice #PAISProtest #NietHersteld 2025
November 30, 2025 at 1:33 PM
Reposted by Matt Lazell-Fairman
misterblok.bsky.social
Demonstratie op Malieveld nu voor bewustzijn en rechten van mensen die na infectie niet beter worden.
Hier moet geld en aandacht naar toe! #longcovid #pais
M.E. nee!
November 30, 2025 at 1:02 PM
Reposted by Matt Lazell-Fairman
martehoogenboom.bsky.social
Zo'n 600 aanwezigen (mijn schatting) bij @niethersteld.bsky.social -protest voor meer politieke, medische en media-aandacht voor PAIS: 'post-acute infectie syndromen'.

De organisatie zegt dat zeker duizend mensen 'online aanwezig' zijn: zij kijken naar de livestream op de website. 💪

#NietHersteld
Veel publiek op het Malieveld
November 30, 2025 at 1:57 PM
Reposted by Matt Lazell-Fairman
uselesspriest.bsky.social
Some photos from the #PAISProtest now happening at the Malieveld in The Hague.

Looks like a nice crowd has gathered.
November 30, 2025 at 2:32 PM
Reposted by Matt Lazell-Fairman
bhanlon15.bsky.social
The Sick Times: 'You know someone with Long COVID. They need you to ask about it genuinely.'

Written by Philip Hoover

'If community-building is a bulwark against autocracy, then asking after one another might be a good place to start.'

thesicktimes.org/2025/11/28/y...
You know someone with Long COVID. They need you to ask about it genuinely. - The Sick Times
If community-building is a bulwark against autocracy, then asking after one another might be a good place to start.
thesicktimes.org
November 28, 2025 at 6:47 PM
Reposted by Matt Lazell-Fairman
ericmgarcia.bsky.social
Today marks the 50th anniversary of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. The federal government has never lived up to its commitment to shoulder 40 percent of the cost. Now, advocates want the feds to pony up, @juliametraux.bsky.social writes.
www.motherjones.com/politics/202...
This disability education law turned 50 today. Disability advocates want more.
"Our civil rights are not up for negotiations," Rep. Lateefah Simon said.
www.motherjones.com
November 30, 2025 at 3:07 AM
Reposted by Matt Lazell-Fairman
brian-goldstone.bsky.social
I really appreciate that @pbsnews.org ended the interview with this graphic.

It captures, in the simplest and starkest terms, the brutal arithmetic driving this country's homelessness catastrophe.
Graphic that reads: "The average hourly wage necessary to afford a one-bedroom apartment in the United States is $28.17. The federal minimum wage is currently $7.25." -- National Low Income Housing Coalition
November 30, 2025 at 1:33 AM
Reposted by Matt Lazell-Fairman
kevinbaum013.bsky.social
Aside from the printing press, vaccines are probably humankind's greatest technological achievement. Please use them.
drianweissman.bsky.social Ian Weissman, DO @drianweissman.bsky.social · 7d
An infant has died from whooping cough in Kentucky, the third case in the past 12 months. The infant and their mother were not vaccinated against the illness. #RSNA25
thehill.com/policy/healt...
thehill.com
November 27, 2025 at 12:50 AM
Reposted by Matt Lazell-Fairman
rimaanabtawi.bsky.social
Under Trump, 591 books by Black authors have been banned from Pentagon-run schools and libraries, according to Onyx Impact.

www.axios.com/2025/11/29/f...
America stares down erasure of Black history and progress
In the last year, federal, state and institutional decisions have gutted pillars of America's civil rights protections.
www.axios.com
November 29, 2025 at 5:55 PM
Reposted by Matt Lazell-Fairman
juliametraux.bsky.social
For the 50th anniversary of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, I spoke with advocates about how this law is crucial–and the ways in which disability education can be made better as its under attack from the Trump administration at @motherjones.com. www.motherjones.com/politics/202...
This disability education law turned 50 today. Disability advocates want more.
"Our civil rights are not up for negotiations," Rep. Lateefah Simon said.
www.motherjones.com
November 29, 2025 at 5:56 PM
Reposted by Matt Lazell-Fairman
ericmgarcia.bsky.social
Trump announces he will terminate any "Any document signed by Sleepy Joe Biden with the Autopen," and says "Joe Biden was not involved in the Autopen process and, if he says he was, he will be brought up on charges of perjury."
A post at November 28, 2025 at 2:37 PM saying "Any document signed by Sleepy Joe Biden with the Autopen, which was approximately 92% of them, is hereby terminated, and of no further force or effect. The Autopen is not allowed to be used if approval is not specifically given by the President of the United States. The Radical Left Lunatics circling Biden around the beautiful Resolute Desk in the Oval Office took the Presidency away from him. I am hereby cancelling all Executive Orders, and anything else that was not directly signed by Crooked Joe Biden, because the people who operated the Autopen did so illegally. Joe Biden was not involved in the Autopen process and, if he says he was, he will be brought up on charges of perjury. Thank you for your attention to this matter!"
November 28, 2025 at 7:48 PM
Reposted by Matt Lazell-Fairman
flintsponytail.bsky.social
What do you do if you have #MECFS and are being made homeless? I am in England. I don't know what to do.
November 28, 2025 at 2:59 PM
Reposted by Matt Lazell-Fairman
philplait.bsky.social
Election day to flip a deep red Tennessee House seat to blue is coming, and it's winnable. Here's how YOU can help!
cdelawalla.bsky.social Colette Delawalla @cdelawalla.bsky.social · 4d
WE ARE IN THE HOMESTRETCH! Let's get out the vote for Aftyn!

OUR GOAL IS 20+ CALLERS A SESSION. Current counts:
Friday (7-9p et): 10
Saturday (12-2p et): 10 *CONGRESSMAN MCGOVERN*
Sunday: (12-2p et) 27 🥳
Monday (7-9p et): 13

wkday: zoom.us/meeting/regi...
wkdn: zoom.us/meeting/regi...
November 28, 2025 at 4:27 PM
Reposted by Matt Lazell-Fairman
julialmv.bsky.social
There are >800 LoCITT-T participants, & >200 people who are eligible & just need to take one more step to claim their spot.

There's time for new folks to join!

We're particularly hoping to enroll folks from ND, MS, & PR & more BIPOC participants:
longcovid.scripps.edu/locitt-t/?ut...
Map of the US with states colored by the number of LoCITT participants per state: States with 20+ are WA, OR, CA, CO, TX, MD, MO, IL, MI, OH, PA, NY, MA, MD, VA, NC, FL States with 0 are ND, MS, HI The rest have between 1 and 19 participants
November 26, 2025 at 6:40 PM
Reposted by Matt Lazell-Fairman
scarletp1792.bsky.social
Some positive news 👏🙌

Take the wins where you can
November 27, 2025 at 8:33 PM