I love peace & hate war.

I’ve been—and remain—an outspoken critic of US imperialism. On net, the US has too often been a driving force for war over the past decades.

But it’s naive to blame what Putin’s invasion of #Ukraine on American imperialism.

1/ To be sure, US-led NATO expansion has certainly escalated overall tension w/ Russia.

But that’s not sufficient pretext for invading a neighbor.

Rather, Putin is an imperialist autocrat who defines his legacy thru territorial expansion & a nostalgia for “lost greatness.”

2/

What I wish people understood about the #DeltaVariant is that it's not the same old COVID.

Even if you've had COVID before, data suggests that this variant's figured out how to evade your immune response.

We should probably stop calling it COVID-19 & update to COVID-21. Lemme clarify a bit: it’s not that vaccines don’t work against #Delta, there’s good evidence to suggest that in full doses they do.

It’s that NATURAL immunity is less protective.
nature.com/articles/s4158…

Awful take, habibi.

Tell me @NateSilver538, what’s “actual science”?

Political polling is in shambles, why don’t you stick to that and let “actual” scientists handle this, mmkay?

https://twitter.com/NateSilver538/status/1340473435156307968

habibi, what’s actually happening is that you’re just arrogant enough to misinterpret models you don’t understand & write whole damn tweet thread about it. And you forget this isn’t sports or politics. Trust matters here, & you’re undermining it out of ignorance/arrogance.

https://twitter.com/NateSilver538/status/1340363906590650370

When you read #COVID19 headlines like this, the key takeaways should be that:

1) we’re not testing enough
2) we’re testing the wrong people
3) asymptomatic & low symptomatic spread are a big issue

1/
statnews.com/2020/07/21/cdc… Our lack of testing has been a consistent problem (nevermind what the politicians tell you) since day 1.

But it’s also about *who* gets a test. A test is only as good as the info it tells you. So you don’t want to use it to tell you something you already know.

2/

Fascism is a word so often misused, that it immediately elicits eye rolls from serious ppl.

But it has a meaning: ultranationalist, dictatorial gov’t that deploys fear of the other, both inside & outside the nation, to consolidate power.

Trump is accelerating fascism.

1/ Think about the way Trump talks about #BLM protests as an “anti-American” Force, not out to promote racial equality, but to tear down American “heritage.”

His deployment of CBP paramilitary on the streets in #Portland is a profound escalation acting on that narrative.

2/

A thread of @realdonaldtrump quotes about #Coronavirus in chronological order for context the next time he calls #DrFauci "alarmist":

1/30 - "We only have five people. Hopefully, everything’s going to be great."

2/2 - "We pretty much shut it down" 2/10 - "Looks like by April, you know, in theory, when it gets a little warmer, it miraculously goes away."

2/24 - “The Coronavirus is very much under control in the USA."

2/26 - “When you have 15 people...that’s a pretty good job we’ve done.”

No, scientists & doctors didn't "lie" to you about #masks.

To think so requires a fundamental misunderstanding of science & public health policy.

Scientific knowledge changes. Public health policy changes with it.

Mask policy is an example.

A thread:

1/ Science is not a body of knowledge. It doesn't *say* anything.

Science is a process.

We propose hypotheses about how something works in the world, then use experiments that try to disprove those hypotheses. If we can't disprove them, we assume them to be true--for now.

2/

I support #MedicareForAll. It's why I supported @berniesanders. It's why I co-authored "Medicare for All: A Citizen's Guide" w/ @micah_johnson_.

And it's also why I agreed when Bernie asked me to join the Unity Task Force on healthcare.

A thread:

1/ Joe Biden isn't Bernie. He does not support #MedicareforAll—we deeply disagree on this.

But he does support universal coverage, expanding public coverage, reining in Pharma, & health equity—things we DO agree on.

Our Task Force recommendations build upon these aims.

2/

Usually it takes more than 4 months for history to repeat itself. But here we are.

THREAD

Politicians still haven't wrapped heads around the dynamics of #COVID19.

Some truths:

1) You aren't seeing what's happening *today* you're seeing what happened 5-7 days ago.

1/ 2) The number of cases isn't as important as the speed of spread. Once you have several days of increasing cases in a row, you've got a big problem...

3) ...because when it hits peak spread, it doubles in 2-3 days.

Put all that together...

2/

I interrupt your regularly scheduled #COVID19 programming to offer some reflections on @berniesanders, @JoeBiden, and beating @realDonaldTrump.

THREAD.

First, there's no way around the disappointment that Bernie Sanders won't be President.
1/ As a global #pandemic exploits the DEEP insecurities in our society, it's clear that the policies @BernieSanders fought for have NEVER been more important.

I think many of us will reflect for a long time on what might have been--what COULD have been.

2/

I've been asked how I'd respond to #COVID right now:

a THREAD:

5 goals:

1) See curve: deploy tests efficiently
2) Flatten curve: Reduce transmission
3) Prepare for curve: Increase healthcare capacity
4) Catch curve: Contact trace below a threshold
4) Save livelihoods

1/ GOAL #1: SEE CURVE -

We don't have good visibility for 2 reasons:

a) our tests are being used mainly on ppl who already presumptive(+) because we're using them at point of care for sick pts.
b) there's a huge gap btwn when ppl are infected & when we get their test outcomes

2/

Last night the CEO of @BCBSM (Blue Cross Blue Shield) took over my TV screen in an ad to tell me about all they're doing re: #COVID19.

He didn't answer a few other questions I have about helping hospitals and low-income ppl in MI as this #CoronavirusPandemic rages:

1/ 1) @BCBSM (Blue Cross Blue Shield): Hospitals rely on you to reimburse services they provide. They can't do elective surgeries that keep them afloat.

How are you helping them stay open through the #CoronavirusPandemic? Will you keep them open?

2/

THREAD on what’s wrong w/ #testkits right now:

A friend had a patient w/ chills/cough, plausibly w #Covid_19, but w/o known exposure.

He requested a #coronavirus test. He was denied.

Then he tried an X-ray to rule out pneumonia, but he was denied for possible #COVID

1/ So this poor guy can’t get a #Covid test because he had no travel history or known exposure to #coronavirus.

And he couldn’t have pneumonia ruled out because a doc thinks he might have #Covid_19.

He’s caught in a testing catch-22

2/

This graph is CHILLING. Let me explain:

It shows the number of #COVID cases by age in S. Korea (red) vis Italy (green). And there are WAY more young cases in S. Korea.

Why? NOT because younger ppl get it in S. Korea. But because S. Korea TESTS young ppl.

THREAD

1/ In Italy (like the US), they're only testing ppl w/ symptoms. And the ppl who show symptoms w/ #COVID19 are older and sicker. That's why their numbers are skewed by age.

But in S. Korea, they're testing everyone, meaning their catching the young, asymptomatic cases, too.

2/

I keep hearing #herdimmunity is going to solve #COVID. Here's why IT WON'T WORK:

First, a primer on what "herd immunity" is:

Getting an infectious illness requires contacting people who are infected. If ppl are immune, they can't carry the virus.

SO...

THREAD

1/ The more people who are immune in a "herd", the less likely anyone in the herd is to contact anyone who is infected--the less the disease spreads.

You're protected by the immunity of ppl around you.

Herd immunity is a key reason why vaccines are so powerful.

2/

Young people! I’m hearing one of three things re: #COVID19:

1) “I’m not in the high risk zone, so I’m good, nothing changes.”

2) “I have an underlying condition so I’m so screwed.”

3) “I am healthy but I am still SUPER anxious about all this.”

THREAD

1/ If you’re in group 1:

Remember, the greatest risk to you may not be to YOUR body—but it may be THROUGH YOUR body to someone else’s—that would be devastating.

We practice social distancing, great hand hygiene, & vigilance not just to protect ourselves, but folks we love.

2/

A challenge w/ #COVID is that panic, itself, is contagious—an “infodemic.”

Without strong, evidence-driven leadership, local leaders default to the most stringent policies.

We’re seeing this at all levels—from banning travel from Europe to shutting down schools.

Thread:

1/ For example, School closures MAY be right, but we don’t have any evidence; & they could do harm:

1) healthcare workers who are needed on the front lines have to scramble for care

2) it forces seniors—at most risk—to care for kids.

3) tons of kids rely on school lunches.

2/

Never mind what the insiders & powerbrokers tell you, if you’re SERIOUS about solving Michigan’s problems, @BernieSanders is THE ONLY real choice for
- union rights
- healthcare
- racial justice
- education
- Great Lakes protection
And SO many more...

A thread:

1/ Nobody stands with unions like @BernieSanders. He opposed NAFTA, recognizing it would fundamentally destroy our manufacturing economy by giving corporations carte Blanche to exploit foreign labor.

He came to Detroit to picket w/ @UAW & helped put #Fightfor15 on the map.

2/

Want to understand why we're dealing with the scepter of serious #Coronavirus #COVIDー19 outbreaks in the US?

The @realDonaldTrump admin's profound mismanagement.

A Thread:

The public health approach to stopping an infectious disease is about "contact tracing."

1/ Contact tracing is painstaking work. It involves identifying all of the known or potential contacts of someone who has the disease in question, finding them, and then isolating them--and then rinsing and repeating.

It's a serious test of your gov's abilities.

2/

A thread on @MikeBloomberg’s history w/ #Flint:

He donated $3M to help elect Republican Gov Rick Snyder who passed the emergency manager law.

1/ .@MikeBloomberg-backed Snyder had his original emergency manager law repealed in a REFERENDUM - like Michigan voters literally voted to repeal it.

But he passed a second version which couldn’t be repealed.

2/

By now, you've heard about the @thelancet analysis from @yalesph led by @Alison_Galvani with some rather impressive, predictable top-line findings:

#Medicareforall would save:
$458 Billion/year (13%)
68,500 lives/year

But let's dig in. A thread 1/
thelancet.com/journals/lance… Let's look at the cost estimates first.

They built a model called "single-payer healthcare interactive financing tool" which allows users to toggle between various assumptions about the savings, costs, revenue w/ #MedicareforAll. Check it out:

2/
shift.cidma.us