Ed Brown

All-cause mortality in the US seems to be reasonably close to baseline expectations at this point. A thread with a few findings.

@f95_frank @erichhartmann I don’t know of anyone who dislikes veterans. Fraud should of course be stamped out wherever it is occurring, but I think probably 90% of Americans respect veterans. I never served but I appreciate those who have. I believe my position is very ordinary in this regards.

@erichhartmann So many vets are oblivious to how disliked they are. There is a silent majority that has had it with the phony war stories and obnoxious bravado. The constant complaining when they are overpaid and showered with ludicrous benefits.

I'm not sure what's more shocking, the fraud… or all the accounts defending the fraud 🫤

@ArtemisLynn @NickKristof @ajlamesa Thank you.

@efb_1 @NickKristof @ajlamesa I’m not aware of a strong military benefit, so I suspect it would be a war crime, but I don’t know for sure. Tangentially, hurting Iranian civilians doesn’t scare the IRGC. They’re a death cult. So this threat is pointless. 2/2

1.) President Trump appears to be threatening a war crime; 2.) This will go over badly with other Gulf countries, for Iran will then attack their power plants and perhaps desalination; 3.) Iran won't reopen the Strait, because closure is what gives it leverage.

@Dddqqq @DutchRojas They are not denying the medicine or procedure or etc. They are only saying they won't pay for it. So it is not practicing medicine, it is practicing insurance... Yes, practically, for us patients, this may be a distinction without a difference, but legally, it matters.

@DutchRojas I really don’t understand how this cannot be described as practicing medicine without a license. Does a class action lawsuit with all the people that have been damaged by this peon decision making ever come as a thought?

Your doctor went to medical school for 12 years. The person denying your claim went through a two-week training module.

@meepbobeep @WalterinDenver Their tweet says "We have severely undercounted the number of COVID deaths, scientists say" and their article says the same thing. "Severely" is in the eye of the beholder. But in my opinion it is hyperbolic relative to the undercount that likely occurred.

@WalterinDenver Yes, it could be Determining cause of death is not an exact science -- that's why I say "know your data"... the "data fairy" does not come down, wave her wand, and provide pure and perfect data sets I was suspicious of the spikes in various natural causes of death in 2020-2021

@meepbobeep love to hear your thoughts on this.

@RepMikeLevin @wbmosler The institution that should stand between every American and unchecked executive power is Congress much more that the court. That is what the founders intended. Only Congress has the power to impeach, convict, and remove a President from office.

This is unhinged. The President of the United States went on a late-night rant, making clear he believes the Supreme Court justices he appointed owe him their loyalty and should always rule in his favor. The President of the United States is openly attacking the independence of the judiciary, the very institution that stands between every American and unchecked executive power. Courts don’t work for the President. They work for the Constitution. And a president attacking the judiciary for doing its job is telling you he believes he is above the law.

@DmitriyLeybel @arrington 🤣

@arrington the original size is actually inefficient and wasteful.

Something I've learned the hard way is that a 2x4 isn't actually 2 inches by 4 inches. It used to be, but not anymore because of course.

@davidsirota I am afraid to reply to this because of what it will say about me. 🤪

@txsalth2o The money question seems to come up a lot here! 😜 I shall definitely keep that one in mind if I consider buying a farm…

Questions to ask yourself before buying a farm: How much money can you light on fire and burn without it impacting your way of living? Why do you want a farm? Does your spouse and or partner share the same why? Do you want to make money from this farm, or is it a hobby? If you want to make money, how long can you live on the funds you currently have without making money? Do you want to live on the farm? How much money can you afford to invest in the farm without a return? Do you plan on having livestock? What livestock? Do you like to go on vacation? Who will care for the livestock and or crops while on vacation? What skills do you currently have that could be used in farming? What skills do you think you need to gain in order to farm? Where could you find those skills? What are the geographical requirements for the farm? (2 hours from a major airport, near family, within 45 minutes of an existing home etc) How much money can you lose on the farm annually? What grows in that area? How much money are you ready to lose on this farm? What items in life are more important than the farm? Will any of those items conflict with farm ownership? How many hours a week can you dedicate to your farm? Let’s go back to that money - seriously, how much money can you lose?

@ajlamesa Yes, they have. I think the best answer to that is explain what the problems really are and how they will solve them. By not talking about it, it seems like they are denying the problems actually exist. The first step in solving a problem is admitting there is a problem…

@efb_1 Certain right-wing influencers (and the Trump White House) have focused on stupid examples to foment xenophobia and racism.

It's unfortunate that certain right-wing influencers and independent journalists have made it politically challenging for Democrats to talk about real problems with social insurance fraud. A strong universal health care package would target these issues while expanding quality coverage to all Americans.

@HelenBranswell @jakescottMD Regardless of the medical merits, the decision would seem to have very little legal merit. I am no expert at all, so my opinion is not worth much here, but for what little it is worth: I expect this to be overturned.

A big — if preliminary — win for #AAP and pro- #vaccine policy today. A court has ruled Robert Kennedy's reconstitution of #ACIP and his department's rewriting of the childhood vaccination schedule are likely illegal. Developing story. statnews.com/2026/03/16/ken…

@not_voltaire @venkmurthy Interesting. I didn’t know that was a possibility. Thank you for sharing that; I just learned something.

That has flaws, too. I have less than one inch between my hips and ribs, which means that even as a young lean athletic 115# woman I had a 32" waist, which put me in the overweight category. BMI, WHR, or BFP can all be used *as long as* those using them can identify their limits of usefulness.

BMI and body fat measures are highly concordant Yet there are a subset of docs and patient advocates which have aggressively undermined the utility of BMI - greatly disserving patients BMI is simple, low cost, quite accurate, and clinically useful

@ThisDayinCovid There sure was a lot of fear-mongering by the press back then.

On this day in COVID history, March 16, 2020: What if Two COVID-19 Victims Need Ventilators and Just One Is Available? Source: Scientific American blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations/w…

@nadinecarroll @Hoffman8Jon @scotthortonshow *is* not *id]s* Doh! 😖

@nadinecarroll @Hoffman8Jon @scotthortonshow About 70% of Americans were born after 1973. So for the majority of Americans, since 1973 id]s their entire life.

Israel is the top recipient of US aid, receiving more than $330 billion (in 2025 dollars) from the United States since WWII, the vast majority being mil assistance. Washington continues to provide Israel with roughly $3.8 billion annually in military aid, coupled with other arms deals, security benefits, political cover, and so on. This does not account for additional aid packages/US mil operations on behalf of Israel. Further, some of the other top recipients of US aid, such as Egypt, receive large amounts as rewards for maintaining normal relations with Israel. From 1987-2020, Egypt received, on average, roughly $1.24 billion in military aid and $590 million in economic aid annually—today, Egypt receives roughly $1.3 billion in military aid and a varying amount of economic aid annually. This is solely because of Israel.

@RalphSmorra @TuckerGoodrich That people commonly make poor inferences about extremely limited evidence has no bearing on whether or not something is actually evidence.

Without Further evidence, it's irrelevant. People like to say eg "My grandpa smoked 3 packs a day and lived to 100, so all the evidence showing smoking is bad for health must be wrong.." They prefer the rare, irrelevant outlier that seems to support what they want to be true, over any # of studies with any # of participants, showing the opposite, if they don't want that to be true.

N=1 is certainly evidence. Why do physicians, who claim to be trained in science, have so much trouble with the basics, like evidence and averages? Many Nobels have been given for research that started with n=1.

@anthonyjkreider @TuckerGoodrich Judging from the comments, you are being too charitable. Many are doubling down and asserting it is not evidence - at all.

@TuckerGoodrich This is uncharitable. They almost certainly mean "not evidence sufficient to appropriately assert..."

@RalphSmorra @TuckerGoodrich I disagree with your whole tweet. N = 1 is evidence, certainly, just not very convincing evidence. And one survivor out of a billion would not prove it was safe, but merely show it is possible. You are correct that it is an anecdote. It is both evidence and an anecdote.

@TuckerGoodrich N = 1 is an Anecdote. You can get N of 1 "evidence" For anything. Send a billion people running back and forth across traffic all day without looking, and one of them will manage to live to 100, "proving" that's a perfectly safe passtime..