Congenital Measles Is Back – The Monday AM Quickie 9/28/26
The trailer for the Elon Musk documentary reminded me that we don’t know how many kids Boris Johnson has, either. What is it with these rich guys and their secret spawn? -Whitney
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Kill The Truth is the new album by Major Spark
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“A stirring amalgam of garage rock, power pop, psychedelia, and synth-drenched textural soundscapes.” – Music Existence
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"Kill the Truth is highly critical of the current US federal government, but we do not want to cede patriotism to those who support the current administration. There are many amazing people, places and events scattered across the United States, and we want to celebrate the beautiful things that make us unique - and reclaim the flag for the artists, thinkers, athletes, and those on the fringes of society.” - Mark Goodman Major Spark
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THE BIG NEWS
Congenital Measles Is Back
In the olden days of two years ago, measles was eradicated in the United States thanks to routine childhood vaccination. But that is no more, following the sustained anti-vaccination campaign led by pro-disease Health Secretary RFK Jr. and his cabal of quacks. Now thousands of people are sick with measles and four people are dead from it, including two babies. The situation is so dire that congenital measles is back, meaning that pregnant people who have fallen ill with the disease are passing it to their fetus in utero. Six babies in Pennsylvania have been born with measles lately, according to NBC News, and two of them are so sick that they’re in intensive care. Welcome to the world.
Babies born with measles can have various symptoms, including a rash and fever; they can develop pneumonia, low blood platelets and neurological complications. The disease can kill them, as it already has at least one newborn whose mother was sick when she gave birth. And it can also cause long-term harm, including a type of brain inflammation called subacute sclerosing panencephalitis, or SSPE, which can show up seven to 10 years after infection and is “almost always fatal.”
If all of this wasn’t bad enough, doctors are scrambling to overcome the “very steep” learning curve to figure out treatment, because most of them have never dealt with this before. “None of us have any experience treating this disease, because up until a couple of months ago, it didn’t occur,” said Dr. John Goldman, an infectious disease expert at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. He and other doctors said the best way to prevent congenital measles is for pregnant people to get vaccinated.
In other public health crises, the Trump administration quietly changed its stance on the Covid-19 vaccine as cases continue to rise nationwide. It previously only recommended it for certain groups. But last week, officials at the Centers for Disease Control said they’re recommending it for all adults. That’s good news because CDC recommendations influence what insurance companies will cover.
MORE STORIES TO WATCH
One Dead, 100,000 Without Power in Northeast Storm
A New York City housing authority worker died Saturday when the powerful nor’easter battering the region caused a tree to fall on him, the AP and NBC News reported. As of Sunday morning, the storm had knocked out power to more than 100,000 people in Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey and New York, and forecasters were warning that more severe conditions were on the way, including flooding. According to ABC, flooding is most likely on the Jersey Shore and in Philadelphia. Meanwhile, in Hawaii, Hurricane Nolo grew to a Category 2 storm over the weekend and had maximum sustained winds of 100 miles per hour as of late Saturday night, the Star-Advertiser reported. Nolo is the third hurricane the archipelago has faced in less than two months, after Lala and Lowell.
Climate collapse is ruining life around the world. In Bangkok, for example, residents have endured nearly 13 inches of rainfall since Thursday; about 52,000 households have been affected by the heavy rain and almost 4,900 people have evacuated to shelters. September is typically the height of the rainy season, but people said this year is worse than usual. “Our house was under water for about 30 hours,” office worker Kosin Nilset, who lives just outside Bangkok, told a Guardian worker on Sunday.
Trumpocalypse: Networks Cave, Resume Coverage Despite CNN Exclusion
- Cost of Everything Up, Up, Up Trump’s illegal war on Iran has pushed diesel up 77 percent in the last year and his immigration terror campaign has revoked the certifications of tens of thousands of immigrant truckers, two factors that have raised the cost of transporting goods to their highest levels since the start of the Covid pandemic. “There’s virtually no way for businesses to avoid paying more, and they’re passing on the pain to consumers. It all adds up to extra inflationary pressure on a U.S. economy that has been wrestling with rising prices for years.” via the WSJ.
- Trump Illegally Cancels $1 Billion in Federal Funding “In a move that will almost certainly set up an ugly government funding battle after the midterms, Trump has again claimed the power to execute a so-called “pocket rescission” to nix money Congress has already enacted. The funding the president declared canceled is for immigration services, support to foreign countries, education programs, health research efforts and assistance for businesses owned by minorities.” via Politico.
- Six Trump-Aligned States Impose Deadly Medicaid Work Requirements Ahead of Schedule The One Big Beautiful Bill Act Law will impose new work requirements starting in January; for the first year, users are allowed to provide a self-attestation that they are too frail to work, but Arkansas, Idaho, Indiana, New Hampshire, North Carolina and Ohio are all imposing burdensome documentation requirements immediately. via the AP.
- Regime Considers Building Baseball Stadium in Grand Teton National Park The White House said Major League Baseball officials asked Trump “if it was possible to host a game at a national park, similar to the Field of Dreams game.” via the Washington Post.
QUICKEST QUICKIES
- New Jersey Hits AI Data Center With $1 Million Fine for Illegal Power Generators The DataOne plant in Vineland is running at least 45 gas-powered generators without a permit from the state; they “emit substantial amounts of health-harming air pollution linked to asthma, heart attacks and even premature death.” The plant is providing artificial intelligence computing power to Microsoft. via Floodlight News and the Guardian.
- US Delegate Rejects UN Measure Pledging ‘International Collaboration and Solidarity’ Against Future Pandemics The European Union also rejected the declaration, which is not legally binding and which most other countries supported; the General Assembly will consider it at a future meeting, “where it is still likely to garner enough votes to be adopted.” via the NYT.
- As Fascists Rise Again in Germany, Town Bans Memorials to Holocaust Victims In the town of Heidenau, councillors from the fascist party Alternative für Deutschland and the conservative CDU party voted to ban Stolpersteine, the small brass “stumbling stone” plaques placed on the ground outside the homes and workplaces of Jews and others the Nazis murdered. via the BBC.
- Five Men Arrested on Suspicion on Explosives, Terrorism After ‘Major Event’ Near UK Air Base That US Officials Use for Illegal War on Iran “Eighty-five households were evacuated and taken to a leisure centre in the early hours of Sunday morning, while the army’s bomb squad examined three suspicious vehicles.” via the Guardian and Politico.
SOME NUMBER
440,000
That’s how many asylum seekers Trump kicked out of the US during his first 19 months back in the White House, according to a Washington Post analysis, more than the last eight years combined.
ON THE SHOW TODAY
9/28: Sam and Emma are in the studio today. Their guest will be Pulitzer Prize-winning biographer Benjamin Moser, on to discuss his most recent book, “Anti-Zionism: A Jewish HIstory.”
DON'T MISS MR CLIPS
Sebastian Gorka Tells MAGA To Shut Up About Gas Prices
A little bit funny, a little bit Nazi scary.
Watch Scott Jennings Have An Aneurysm Live On Air
A remarkable amount of pancake makeup has been expended.
PARTING WORDS
“As a F2M transgender person (trans man) diagnosed with gender dysphoria in a Texas women’s prison in 2017 by University of Texas Medical Branch, I’ve been subjected to forced isolation and marginalization. Policies and practices are implemented with hostility toward trans people. For instance, I was a victim of prolonged solitary confinement from 2012 to 2021. I fought for my release from solitary confinement for years only to be placed in “restrictive housing” once Trump’s administration took over in 2025. Restrictive housing is the same as solitary confinement: I am locked up 23 hours a day with no human interaction. Prison administrators say they placed me here for my own safety. But I believe I am being punished for being transgender.”
– Xandan Gulley, writing in Truthout about the daily reality he faces as a trans man imprisoned in Texas. Numerous organizations around the world classify solitary confinement as a form of torture.
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