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slferguson.bsky.social
SLFerguson
@slferguson.bsky.social
810 followers 950 following 3K posts
Always curious. Filmmaker/educator/writer/fresh water and mental health advocate/seer of systems/seeker of truth and crunchy salty snacks. Incorrigible slasher.

Traitors are traiting. 49% is not a mandate. Covid is airborne. Music & beauty, always.
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slferguson.bsky.social
Screen shot of a 20 October 2025 post to Tom Cotton's FB campaign page. There is text, and an embedded video of a FOX NEWS interview of Cotton. The text reads: "I can tell you that almost every Chinese national who gets a visa to come here to go to a school or university is affiliated with the CCP in some way. They aren’t coming here to study The Federalist Papers. They’re coming here to spy on Arkansans and Americans — and there needs to be a crackdown." As for the person creating this post, clearly they are an unAmerican operative, given how they entered the date stamp for the post. Day / Month / Year. Only Commies and Euro trash write dates that way, amirite?
October 20, 2025 at 11:51 PM
slferguson.bsky.social
Screen shot of a page from the Zazzle website. The item available for $25.08 is titled "Russia Flag necktie." It is a match for the tie Hegseth is wearing to the meeting between Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Donald Trump two days ago, as shown in the photo in the previous comment.
October 20, 2025 at 2:09 AM
slferguson.bsky.social
Screenshot of tweet posted 3:46PM on Oct 17, 2025 by Jake Broe @RealJakeBroe on Xitter. Text above a photo of Pete Hegseth; text reads "Pete Hegseth showed up to the White House meeting today with President Zelensky wearing a Russian tricolor flag tie. These people love Putin and Russia." Photo itself is a front view of Hegseth sitting at a table, visible waist up. He is wearing a lightly saturated medium blue suit jacket, white shirt, American flag pocket square visible in his left handkerchief pocket, his tie a diagonal tri-color pattern of white, dark blue, and red. As will be shown in a following comment, the tie can be found online marketed as a Russian flag tie. The blue in the tie is a different shade from the blue of the American flag...as is evident in the difference between the blues of the pocket square and the tie.
October 20, 2025 at 2:05 AM
slferguson.bsky.social
Graphic pulled from the article:

1a/
Screen shot of a graphic from the National Academies of Science Engineering Medicine article titled "A Long COVID Definition: A Chronic, Systemic Disease State with Profound Consequences (2024)" The text reads: Important Features of LC: LC can follow asymptomatic, mild, or severe SARS-CoV-2 infection. Previous infections may have been recognized or unrecognized. LC can be continuous from the time of acute SARS-CoV-2 infection or can be delayed in onset for weeks or months following what had appeared to be full recovery from acute infection. LC can affect children and adults, regardless of health, disability, or socioeconomic status, age, sex, gender, sexual orientation, race, ethnicity, or geographic location. LC can exacerbate pre-existing health conditions or present as new conditions. LC can range from mild to severe. It can resolve over a period of months or can persist for months or years. LC can be diagnosed on clinical grounds. No biomarker currently available demonstrates conclusively the presence of LC. LC can impair individuals’ ability to work, attend school, take care of family, and care for themselves. It can have a profound emotional and physical impact on patients and their families and caregivers. https://doi.org/10.17226/27768.
October 15, 2025 at 8:15 PM
slferguson.bsky.social
Looking for this "girlfriend of a founder of antifa" (Kristi Noem, in the WH yesterday).

Here's a possibility. Image from Alamy, which captions it as "WEIMAR REPUBLIC HYPERINFLATION 1918-1924. Collecting money from a bank."

She must have aged incredibly well.
Image courtesy Alamy depicts six humans descending a short outdoor staircase. Two of them, men in full suits with vests and watchchains visible wearing various styles of hat, are carrying a large wicker basket between them. Five of the subjects are similarly dressed men; the sixth is a woman, hair pulled back at nape of her neck, wearing a pale dress or coat with a low, hip-slung sash belt.
October 9, 2025 at 2:02 PM
slferguson.bsky.social
#DailyDose

𝘈 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘯𝘶𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘤𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘈𝘙𝘚-𝘊𝘰𝘝-2 𝘷𝘪𝘳𝘶𝘴 𝘮𝘢𝘺 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘣𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘣𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘭𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘪𝘮𝘮𝘶𝘯𝘦 𝘴𝘺𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘮𝘴. 𝘐𝘧 𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘵, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘩𝘺𝘱𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘸𝘦 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺 𝘴𝘺𝘯𝘤𝘺𝘵𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘷𝘪𝘳𝘶𝘴 (𝘙𝘚𝘝) 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘭𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘦𝘱𝘴𝘪𝘴.

2/
www.bmj.com/content/390/...
Screenshot from the opening of the BMJ article found at link. Four paragraphs, which read: One explanation offered by public health leaders has been “immunity debt”2—the idea that precautions taken in the covid pandemic suppressed routine exposures to circulating pathogens, leaving people more vulnerable to them when restrictions were lifted. The theory landed in the public consciousness at the right moment. A simple idea that sounded like science, it soothed a public seeking answers just as the world was returning to a semblance of normality. And it served a policy function, allowing governments to focus on economic recovery. But its explanatory power has faded as the number of non-covid infections has kept rising each year. A 2024 analysis by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention3 found that invasive group A strep infections saw their most dramatic year-on-year increase from 2021 to 2022, well after most precautions had been lifted in the US. Rates have been abnormally high since then, raising questions about what might be behind the trend. A growing number of scientists believe that the SARS-CoV-2 virus may instead be subtly altering our immune systems. If correct, their hypothesis will change how we understand everything from respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) to shingles to sepsis.
October 1, 2025 at 12:21 PM
slferguson.bsky.social
Energy Sec Christ Wright: "cOal jUSt mAkes the WorLD go aRoUnd"

ourworldindata.org/grapher/shar...
Screen shot of map titled "Share of electricity production from coal, 2024." The map as experienced at Our World In Date (from whom this is taken) offers a time lapse from 1985 thru 2024. The image is static, showing the percentages per country on a world map. The vast majority of countries shown are indicated to derive less than 10% from coal, an even bigger majority less than 20%. Botswana, South Africa, Kosovo, and Mongolia derive more than 70% of their electricity from coal.
September 29, 2025 at 11:30 PM
slferguson.bsky.social
Screenshot of post from Matthew @dthings.bsky.social. The reason I am attaching it as a comment to the post about what information should be in the headlines informing the public that Donald J. Trump has "authorized" military to go to Portland to help combat "domestic terrorists" is apparent upon reading. The text reads: # of paragraphs for news orgs to mention there's no discernable need to deploy troops to Portland, Oregon The Guardian: 1st paragraph BBC: 4th paragraph AP: 5th paragraph Time: 6th paragraph Politico: 8th paragraph NPR: 9th paragraph CNN: 10th paragraph NBC: 12th paragraph Fox News: never mentions
September 28, 2025 at 1:23 AM
slferguson.bsky.social
For amplified stirring the pot, there is this "it's fake" take from the constantly fomenting Tom Cotton FB page.
Screen shot of post from Tom Cotton blue check but not government official Facebook page. A single sentence, in white typeface on a black background. It reads: Climate hysteria is a Marxist scam.
September 25, 2025 at 8:48 PM
slferguson.bsky.social
Fresh category for lies (and the lying liars who tell them):

How the FCC works.

Of course, these takes are very much on brand for the "I am your vengeance" Roy Cohn protege. Not so much for the guy who said he was going to "restore" First Amendment rights.
Tweet on X from Kaitlan Collins (WH correspondent, CNN) which reads: The president on Air Force One: "when you have a network and you have ebening shows and all they do is hit Trump, that's all they do – if you go back I guess they haven't had a conservative one in years, or something – when you go back and take a look, all they do is hit Trump. They're license. They're not allowed to do that." Another tweet on X from Kaitlan Collins of CNN, 18 Sept 2025 2:15pm, which reads: Trump says because he won the election and networks give him "wholly bad publicity" that "I would think maybe their license should be taken away." He tells reporters: "It will be up to Brendan Carr. I think Brendan Carr is outstanding. He's a patriot. He loves our country, and he's a tough guy."
September 18, 2025 at 7:54 PM
slferguson.bsky.social
There is as yet a web archive, so one can still read that report here.

web.archive.org/web/20250911...
Screen shot of DOJ report titled "WHAT NIJ RESEARCH TELLS US ABOUT DOMESTIC TERRORISM," with graphic on the left and text on the right. The graphic is a dark blue background with brighter and lighter generic "person" head&shoulders inside circles, with lines drawn between various persons in a network suggesting representation. The text reads as follows: "Militant, nationalistic, white supremacist violent extremism has increased in the United States. In fact, the number of far-right attacks continues to outpace all other types of terrorism and domestic violent extremism. Since 1990, far-right extremists have committed far more ideologically motivated homicides than far-left or radical Islamist extremists, including 227 events that took more than 520 lives.1 In this same period, far-left extremists committed 42 ideologically motivated attacks that took 78 lives.2 A recent threat assessment by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security concluded that domestic violent extremists are an acute threat and highlighted a probability that COVID-19 pandemic- related stressors, long-standing ideological grievances related to immigration, and narratives surrounding electoral fraud will continue to serve as a justification for violent actions.3" The footnotes indicated are: 1. Celinet Duran, “Far-Left Versus Far-Right Fatal Violence: An Empirical Assessment of the Prevalence of Ideologically Motivated Homicides in the United States,” Criminology, Criminal Justice, Law & Society 22 no. 2 (2021): 33-49, https://ccjls.scholasticahq.com/ article/26973-far-left-versus-far-right-fatal-violence-an- empirical-assessment-of-the-prevalence-of-ideologically- motivated-homicides-in-the-united-states; Joshua D. Freilich et al.,“Introducing the United States Extremist Crime Database (ECDB),” Terrorism and Political Violence 26 no. 2 (2014): 372-384, https://doi.org/10.1080/09 546553.2012.713229; and William Parkin, Joshua D. Freilich, and Steven Chermak, “Did Far-Right Extremist Violence Re…
September 17, 2025 at 4:12 PM
slferguson.bsky.social
Screenshot of a paragraph from the Beschloss article "It's Villians All the Time" linked in first post. The text reads: "I hope you also recognize that a man such as this is only in power because of a broken political system in which feckless Republicans have turned their backs on the Constitution and the rule of law; a corrupted Supreme Court supermajority has abused its power to abandon our democratic project and strengthen rule by oligarchy; over 77 million voters were convinced that a convicted felon, rapist and bigot who mimicked the hateful, demonizing language and ideas of Adolf Hitler would be a preferred path for America’s future; and over 89 million others cared so little about America’s fate that they failed to fulfill their most fundamental civic duty and vote."
August 29, 2025 at 10:14 PM
slferguson.bsky.social
From the CDC.

"[T]he virus that causes COVID-19, can have lasting effects on nearly every organ and organ system of the body weeks, months, and potentially years after infection (11,12)."

Obvs, this does not encompass recent research indicating (re)activation of disease, such as breast cancer.
Screen shot. Text reads: (Headline) Certifying deaths due to post-acute sequelae of COVID-19 (Body) In the acute phase, clinical manifestations and complications of COVID-19 of varying degrees have been documented, including death. However, patients who recover from the acute phase of the infection can still suffer long-term effects (8). Post-acute sequelae of COVID-19 (PASC), commonly referred to as "long COVID," refers to the long-term symptoms, signs, and complications experienced by some patients who have recovered from the acute phase of COVID-19 (8-10). Emerging evidence suggests that severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the virus that causes COVID-19, can have lasting effects on nearly every organ and organ system of the body weeks, months, and potentially years after infection (11,12). Documented serious post-COVID-19 conditions include cardiovascular, pulmonary, neurological, renal, endocrine, hematological, and gastrointestinal complications (8), as well as death (13).
August 9, 2025 at 4:29 PM
slferguson.bsky.social
👀

Things are unwell inside someone's cranium.

www.politico.com/playbook
At the link in this post, one finds an article from Politico Playbook titled "Dems Aim to Close the 'attention gap'." The article is basically a transcript of today's podcast; this image is a screenshot from that article, which summarizes Donald J Trump's posts to Truth Social last night. The selected portion shown reads: TRUMP’S CONUNDRUM: Last night, the president posted on Truth Social more than two dozen times. He posted phony mugshots of former President Barack Obama and an AI-generated video of the former president being arrested in the Oval Office before donning an orange jumpsuit in prison. He posted about the Washington Commanders, demanding they change their name back to the Redskins and suggesting that he could blow up the RFK Stadium deal if they don’t (useful reality check on that from The 51st’s Martin Austermuhle). He posted a three-minute, captionless video with clips of a bikini-clad woman picking up and tossing a snake; a man somersaulting around a dowel down a stairway; a red Lamborghini careening beneath a truck, Clark Griswold style; a man jumping a fence and coming face to face with a speeding train; a woman break dancing; an optical illusion of a conference room; a billiards trick; a man hacking away at some rock formation; a dirtbiker stunting on a trail; a jet ski; a man ascending an obstacle course with a ladder; a man jump-roping; a man pulling a block from a still-standing massive Jenga tower; a man tossing trash into a dumpster from his balcony; a man doing a flip; a person carrying a heavy object on their shoulders; a man juggling a dropped package of paper towels; and a man doing a skateboard trick. One might reasonably wonder: What is the point of all of this?
July 21, 2025 at 5:40 PM
slferguson.bsky.social
Boo.

Duck Duck Go is down.
July 16, 2025 at 1:33 PM
slferguson.bsky.social
10 July 2025
#DailyDose

Noting that infection can lead to long covid, &/or predisposition for cardiovascular disease (including in young adults and children), &/or cognitive decline...further noting vaccination can reduce acuity of infection and possibly LC...

1/
www.nejm.org/doi/full/10....
Screen shot of a Letter to the Editor published July 9, 2025 in the New England Journal of Medicine. It reads: TO THE EDITOR: In their Sounding Board article (June 26 issue),1 Prasad and Makary ignore the fact that the risks of SARS-CoV-2 infection extend beyond acute outcomes such as hospitalization and death. Long Covid can affect anyone, regardless of disease severity and coexisting conditions; according to the latest data from the National Center for Health Statistics, an estimated 1.6 to 1.8% of all U.S. persons 40 to 59 years of age show substantial activity limitations due to the manifestations of long Covid.2 Furthermore, in the months after infection, SARS-CoV-2 infections have been shown to increase predisposition for cardiovascular disease, regardless of prior health status (a finding that extends even to previously healthy children and adolescents3), and have been shown to induce cognitive decline even in young, healthy persons with no coexisting conditions.4 In addition, vaccination can lessen the risk of acute infection and can possibly attenuate the risk of developing long Covid.5 Thus, the policy proposed by Prasad and Makary violates the right of individual persons to protect themselves from an infection with considerable mid- and long-term sequelae. Georgios Pappas, M.D. Institute of Continuing Medical Education of Ioannina, Ioannina, Greece Close up screen shot of the last sentence of the letter to the New England Journal of Medicine, highlighted in blue, which reads: "Thus, the policy proposed by Prasad and Makary violates the right of individual persons to protect themselves from an infection with considerable mid- and long-term sequelae."
July 11, 2025 at 12:25 AM
slferguson.bsky.social
Happy birthday, America.
July 4, 2025 at 11:44 AM
slferguson.bsky.social
GAVI has been helping immunize children worldwide for 25 years. From the Wikipedia article on GAVI:
Screenshot of the Wikipedia article on GAVI. There is text highlighted in blue, which reads: Gavi supports the immunization of almost half the world's children. Gavi has helped immunize over 760 million children, preventing over 13 million deaths worldwide, helping increase diphtheria vaccine coverage in supported countries from 59% in 2000 to 81% in 2019, contributing to reducing child mortality by half. The entirety of what can be seen reads: AVI, officially Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance[1] (previously the GAVI Alliance, and before that the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization)[2] is a public–private global health partnership with the goal of increasing access to immunization in poor countries.[3] In 2016, Gavi channeled more than half of total donor assistance for health, and most donor assistance for immunization, by monetary measure.[4] Gavi supports the immunization of almost half the world's children. Gavi has helped immunize over 760 million children, preventing over 13 million deaths worldwide, helping increase diphtheria vaccine coverage in supported countries from 59% in 2000 to 81% in 2019, contributing to reducing child mortality by half. It also seeks to improve the economics of vaccines, negotiating bulk prices, supporting price discrimination, and reducing the commercial risks that manufacturers face when selling vaccines to the poor and developing vaccines.[4][5] It also provides funding to strengthen health systems and train health workers across the developing world,[4] though the effectiveness of its health-system-strengthening programs is disputed.[6]
June 27, 2025 at 12:58 AM
slferguson.bsky.social
#DailyDose

You need to be logged in to see this thread. Worth it.

With a reminder that how "excess death" is calculated changed a few years into the pandemic.

3/
bsky.app/profile/dcri...
Graphic lifted from first item in shared thread. Title is "Excess mortality: Deaths from all causes compared to average over previous years, by age, United States" Subhed reads "The percentage difference between the reported number of weekly or monthly deaths in 2020-2024 – broken down by age group – and the average number of deaths in the same period over the years 2015-2019." There are six separate graphs, Ages 0-14, Ages 15-64, Ages 65-74, Ages 74-84, Ages 85+, and All ages. Every graph but 0-14 shows significant spikes in excess mortality starting in 2020. Data is credited to Our World in Data.
June 6, 2025 at 12:54 AM
slferguson.bsky.social
Move fast and break things.
Screen shot of text from the Verge article "US removes ‘safety’ from AI Safety Institute" Highlighted text reads: The move is part of a larger Trump administration effort to accelerate the expansion of American AI companies. On his first day in office Trump rescinded a Biden executive order that ordered new safety standards for large AI systems and a report evaluating the potential risks for US consumers and the labor market.
June 4, 2025 at 8:04 PM
slferguson.bsky.social
I am so sorry.

Bone cancer took my Shackleton ten years ago. I still miss him.

May the memories bring joy in the years to come.
Dog, mostly black with a tan muzzle and tan accents above the inner eyes. Snout square-ish but pointed, tongue lightly dangling, it's position and sparkly attentive eyes suggesting a good mood. Slight grin, too, which of course is debatable but the dog's human companion understands this to be happy. Persons somewhat familiar with dog breeds will not be surprised to hear this fine canine was a mix of german shepherd, husky, rottweiler, and mystery sauce.
May 21, 2025 at 9:14 PM
slferguson.bsky.social
20 May 2025
#DailyDose

Ladies and gentlemen, Violet Affleck is back.

1/
yaleglobalhealthreview.com/2025/05/18/a...
Screen shot of the second and beginning of the third paragraph of an essay from THE YALE GLOBAL HEALTH REVIEW, written by Violet Affleck. The conclusion of the second paragraph is highlighted in pale blue, and reads "But our bewildered response to crises like the LA fires tell us we may still be accustomed to addressing the climate crisis like the COVID-19 pandemic: as a question of how fast we can back around to pretending like the problem is gone."
May 20, 2025 at 5:44 PM
slferguson.bsky.social
Tom Cotton's not gov official Book of Face account sent out a message earlier today that simply called Comey's beach shells offensive.

That one was taken down. This one went up minutes ago.

For the trawlers out there, "8647" does not mean "assassinate."
May 16, 2025 at 6:16 PM
slferguson.bsky.social
Sometimes I see things shared somewhere and go back to the Xit pool to see if that really happened.

Yes, "Representative Dan Bishop," FORMER member of Congress, really did post this message.
Tweet and replies. Original post from Rep. Dan Bishop @RepDanBishop reads "Members of Congress and the Mayor of Newark committed an insurrection at a federal detention facility in New Jersey today. Worse than 9/11." Posted 5:22pm, May 9, 2025 323.1K views There is then a reply from Gunther Eagleman™ (yes, trademark) and blue check @GuntherEagleman, who says "17-22 years each. No due process. Precedent was set." Dan Biship then replies "Hunt them down."
May 10, 2025 at 9:06 PM
slferguson.bsky.social
Quien es mas macho, Fox News or influencers?
May 8, 2025 at 12:01 AM