Andrew Elliott McBurney

Pete Hegseth falsely testified to both the House and the Senate last week that troops were deployed to voting places in 15 states under Joe Biden in 2024. Not only were all National Guard activations for the 2024 election ordered by individual states rather than Biden, all 11 states that responded to my inquiries told me that *zero troops* were sent to voting places. The Pentagon declined to comment. Fact check: cnn.com/2026/05/04/pol…

Start your week with some new photos from Artemis II! Though our journey around the Moon has ended, we're still retrieving plenty of new images. Keep an eye on our Artemis II multimedia gallery for image highlights from the mission: go.nasa.gov/4usiN8W

This chart does not show cancers “exploding after the COVID shots.” It shows several early-onset cancer rates rising gradually from 2000 onward, long before COVID, long before mRNA vaccines, and long before the red line someone added to imply causation. That red line is not an analysis. It is a visual accusation. The key point is that the slope is already there. Colon and rectal cancer under 50 was rising for two decades before 2021. It was first noted in the mid 1980's. Non-malignant brain/CNS tumors were rising before 2021. Rectal cancer was rising before 2021. Small intestine cancers have also been part of the broader early-onset cancer discussion for years. NIH/NCI has explicitly reported that multiple cancers in people under 50 increased from 2010 through 2019, while many others decreased, and overall cancer death rates did not rise. That is before vaccine rollout. There is also a pandemic artifact here. Cancer diagnoses fell in 2020 because screening, clinic visits, colonoscopies, imaging, and routine medical care were disrupted. SEER itself notes that COVID disrupted cancer incidence reporting and that 2020 showed declines for many cancer sites because diagnosis and screening were delayed. So when cases are later found in 2021–2023, some of that looks like an increase from an artificially depressed baseline. That is not “turbo cancer.” That is delayed diagnosis. You remember, that year you didn't work - or were trying to prescribe Ivermectin. And look at the y-axis. These are rates per 100,000, not percentages of the population. A movement from 6 to 8 per 100,000 can be described as a large percentage increase, but in absolute terms it is two additional cases per 100,000 people. Percent change is useful, but it is also how people frighten an audience when the absolute risk remains small. The Reuters fact-check on this exact class of claim reached the same conclusion: the rise in under-50 cancer diagnoses predates COVID vaccines, and there is no established link between COVID vaccination and cancer. What is real is the rise in early-onset cancers. What is false is pretending it began in 2021. Researchers are looking at obesity, insulin resistance, diet quality, alcohol, sedentary behavior, microbiome changes, environmental exposures, and early-life exposures. Those are plausible population-level drivers unfolding over decades. A vaccine rollout is not a plausible explanation for a two-decade trend already visible on the same graph. Finally, look at how cancers work. It takes decades to show the cancer boom - not a year, not two. You should know this, and if you don't and this is the single exception in the world then we would be seeing it, and we don't. Stop pretending this graph is science, it might fool those who are illiterate about cancer statistics, or those with an agenda. It should not fool you either - but apparently it does

Today we remember May 3, 1999 - The largest tornado outbreak in Oklahoma history. - The infamous F5 tornado that hit the OKC metro was the 1st F5 tornado and deadliest for this area - 302 mph winds measured - 40 fatalities, 675 injuries, 1800 homes destroyed #okwx #texomawx

Do you see that tiny glowing streak? That's the SpaceX Crew Dragon heading back to Earth in the early hours of May 2, 2021—5 years ago this week. Astronauts on the International @Space_Station saw the Crew Dragon blazing through Earth's atmosphere, as NASA astronauts Mike Hopkins, Victor Glover and Shannon Walker, and JAXA astronaut Soichi Noguchi returned home. Crew-1 safely splashed down off the coast of Florida, completing their 167-day mission on the space station, and the first operational mission of NASA's Commercial Crew Program.

Yuval Levin of @AEI says by centralizing power, @newtgingrich didn’t just reshape Congress—he weakened it, turning lawmakers into loyalists and the speaker akin to a prime minister. “The idea that the speaker should function as a kind of prime minister, that he should be able to wield Congress as a weapon against the president of the other party, ended up meaning that the rest of the members of Congress look to party leaders for direction.” “In many ways this would be James Madison's nightmare,” said @RosenJeffrey, CEO emeritus of the @ConstitutionCtr.

Of the 12,000 amendments that have been proposed, the Constitution has only been amended 27 times since the founding of America. Did the founders intend for it to be so hard? “They disagreed on this question,” said @RosenJeffrey, CEO emeritus of the @ConstitutionCtr. “One thing we've learned from American history is you can't pass amendments without national movements for them. They're not top-down, they're from the bottom up.”

Today we celebrate World Press Freedom Day, sponsored by UNESCO. Unfortunately, this right is often violated, sometimes flagrantly, sometimes in hidden ways. Let us remember the many journalists and reporters who are victims of war and violence.

What the real evidence shows Chickenpox (varicella) is not benign at a population level: Before vaccination in the U.S.:~10,000 hospitalizations/year ~100–150 deaths/year Complications include:encephalitis pneumonia severe skin infections stroke in children Varicella vaccine: Reduced:>90% of cases ~90% of hospitalizations ~90% of deaths Serious adverse events are rare Permanent injury from the vaccine is extremely uncommon The statistical trick They’re leaning on this idea: “Events are so rare we can’t measure them precisely.” That’s true—for very rare events. But then they quietly swap in a false conclusion: “Therefore we don’t know which is safer.” That’s wrong. We compare: Known, measurable harm from infection vs Rare, monitored adverse events from vaccination Public health doesn’t require infinite precision—it requires best available evidence, and that evidence is overwhelming.

RFK Jr is confusing an old modeling fear with evidence. The NHS no longer backs his claim: the UK now offers MMRV, including chickenpox, at 12 and 18 months. In the U.S., chickenpox fell 97%, hospitalizations and deaths fell, and vaccinated children have about 79% lower shingles risk than kids infected with wild chickenpox.

After six months and nearly 1,000 cases, the South Carolina measles outbreak is officially over. How'd they do it? "Measles vaccinations were the most effective single containment tool." abcnews.com/Health/after-1…

On this day in 1979, Space Shuttle Enterprise was rolled out from the Vehicle Assembly Building to Launch Complex 39 at @NASAKennedy. Although it did not launch from the pad, Enterprise was used to conduct fit checks and launch pad procedures.

At Arlington National Cemetery, The King and Queen pay tribute to the Fallen at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.   Covering more than 600 acres, Arlington is interred with more than 400,000 veterans and their family members, alongside two former US Presidents. The cemetery also contains British Commonwealth graves.   Whilst at the cemetery, Their Majesties also met service personnel from the UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand by the Canadian Cross.

I think Obi-Wan said it best, when he said, “Do you have a Plan B?

Earth looks different from over 250,000 miles away. Using optical communications, NASA was able to receive high-definition photos and videos during the Artemis II mission while the radio frequency communications focused on mission-critical data. go.nasa.gov/4sXRVfB

A relevant Texas image today: President George W. Bush and Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Houston at the signing of the 2006 Voting Rights Act Reauthorization The 25-year reauth extended key VRA provisions including Section 5 (preclearance), and passed unanimously in the Senate

BIG CONGRESS UPDATE: - The word of the week is "mess". #Congmess? - This centers on ->House Republicans and major issues hitting internal divide there. - Let me just have one long thread here explaining. FISA - The program that supporters call essential to protecting the US from foreign/terror threat expires THURSDAY. - One proposal for a 3-year extension could not get through (GOP-led) Rules Committee last night. - Hold-outs are demanding warrant requirements for US data caught up in the program. - The Senate may move first now, cloture was filed last week. DHS FUNDING - DHS runs out of the paycheck money it found *this week*. - Reminder the agency has been in a technical shutdown for *72 DAYS* - Democrats triggered this over ICE conduct. - But House Republicans have now eclipsed the attention on Democrats ... and given them a chance to turn the tables ... because House GOP is blocking a Senate-passed bill to fund most of DHS. That, until a separate ICE/Border Patrol funding measure to move (more below). ICE/BORDER PATROL FUNDING - The Senate has taken the first step toward passing ICE/Border Patrol funding - three years worth - via reconciliation. - But the House also has not acted on that measure yet and it is not yet clear when it will. All this as the watch on misconduct continues - including ethics' investigation on Rep. Cory Mills. @RepMillsPress. Current balance of power in the House: 217-212. That is a two-vote margin. (Rs can lose two votes and still win w/out Dem help.)

King Charles III stressed the principle that executive power is "subject to checks and balances," a vital part of the United States' constitutional government, during an address to Congress on Tuesday. "The Founding Fathers were bold and imaginative rebels with a cause," he said. "They declared independence by balancing contending forces and drawing strength in diversity." Charles noted that the Founding Fathers borrowed ideas from, among other places, the Magna Carta. The document, first issued in 1215, was foundational to English law and stated that the monarch and his government were subject to the rule of law. "The U.S. Supreme Court Historical Society has calculated that Magna Carta is cited in at least 160 Supreme Court cases since 1789, not least as the foundation of the principle that executive power is subject to checks and balances," he said. Charles was the first British monarch to address Congress since his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, in 1991. Tuesday was the second day of Charles and Queen Camilla's four-day U.S. visit, which is meant to mark the 250th anniversary of America's independence from Great Britain.

Two very pointed message from King Charles to Congress on two issues Trump has repeatedly diminished - NATO and Ukraine: “In the immediate aftermath of 9/11, when nato invoked article five for the first time and the united nations security council was united in the face of terror. We answered the call together, as our people have done so for more than a century. Shoulder to shoulder through two world wars, the cold world wars, the cold war, Afghanistan, and moments that have defined our shared security. Today, Mr. Speaker, that same unyielding resolve is needed for the defense of Ukraine and her most courageous people.”

Absolutely mesmerizing to witness the glowing lava fountains at Kīlauea's summit eruption in Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park. Volcanoes are living monuments to Earth's fiery origins, a powerful reminder that our planet’s forces are still alive and at work. Video by @usgs