from the government-by-ostrich dept

The fuckery that is going on across HHS and vaccine programs is just plain incredible. As the Trump administration continues to provide whatever cover it can so that RFK Jr. can wreck shop on the health of Americans, the damage Kennedy is doing to our inoculation programs is going to take years, if not decades, to unwind. Led by a man who doesn’t believe in the foundational theory of modern medicine, America’s health agencies have begun to engage in direct misinformation campaigns via the censorship of real scientific information. Warnings about bogus autism treatments were removed from FDA websites. The CDC buried a report demonstrating how effective COVID vaccines are under dubious justifications.

And now it seems that it’s the FDA’s turn to likewise hide studies about the safety of COVID and shingles vaccines from the public.

The Food and Drug Administration blocked the publication of several studies supporting the safety of vaccines against Covid and shingles in recent months, a Health and Human Services Department spokesperson confirmed Tuesday. FDA scientists worked with data firms to analyze millions of patient records for the studies, which found side effects of the shots to be rare, The New York Times first reported on Tuesday. 

In October, the scientists were directed to withdraw two Covid shot studies that had been accepted for publication in medical journals, the Times reported. In February, top FDA officials did not sign off on submitting study abstracts on Shingrix, a shingles vaccine, to a drug safety conference, the paper added.

Now, spokespeople for HHS have stated that the studies were withdrawn because either they drew conclusions not supported by the data, or that the designs of the studies were done “outside of the agency’s purview.”

That’s bullshit. We all know it’s bullshit. And they know that we know it’s bullshit. And they simply don’t care, because this is not about medicine, or health, or even traditional politics. This is about the ego of one man, Kennedy, and his cohort of tinfoil hat wearing bumblefucks.

As the New York Times article itself quotes knowledgeable professors of medicine, this is censorship.

Dr. Aaron S. Kesselheim, a Harvard University medical professor who studies F.D.A. regulation, said he had worked with the agency on a number of research papers and found its work to meet “the highest standards of scientific investigation.” He suggested that the request to pull the papers was an act of “censorship.”

He added: “At any other time in history, this would be a major scandal that would lead to congressional hearings and resignations of leadership, and I hope that’s what happens next.”

These studies were seen by people who know what they’re talking about in the pre-publication stage. It’s not just Kesselheim who is pointing out that these studies seem both perfectly valid and very useful for evaluating the safety and efficacy of these vaccines. And the conclusions they draw are as full-throated as they are at odds with Kennedy’s anti-vaxxer nonsense.

Take one study, which worked to examine millions of health records for those who received a COVID shot at anywhere from 6 months old to 64 years old.

That study examined the records of 4.2 million Covid vaccine recipients and examined their later experience with 17 conditions, including swelling of the brain, major blood clots, stroke and heart attacks. The study found rare cases of fever-related seizures and myocarditis, or inflammation of the heart muscle, known to be associated with Covid vaccines.

“Given the available evidence, F.D.A. continues to conclude the benefits of vaccination outweigh the risks,” the study said.

Angela Rasmussen, an editor in chief of the journal Vaccine, said the paper had been withdrawn by the authors.

Dr. Caleb Alexander, a drug safety and methodology expert at Johns Hopkins University, reviewed both studies at the request of The Times and said that “no study answers every question” but “there is nothing inherently problematic regarding these reports.”

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The point earlier was a good one: this is god damned scandal. Or, rather, it should be, except the talking heads on our televisions are far too busy covering every other scandal or ginned up controversy the administration creates, and more than half of our elected officials can’t be bothered to do real political combat out of fear of who knows what. And so the health of Americans is put at risk instead, because our government is made up of an unholy combination of crackpots and cowards.

At this point, I could be convinced that Kennedy and some portion of the government is actually attempting to cause people to die. I can’t understand another coherent motivation for this kind of censorship of scientific information, other than pure ego.

And if one man’s ego really is standing in the way of getting us back on track on matters of life and death, then impeach Kennedy and let’s get back to sanity. This really isn’t that complicated.

Filed Under: covid vaccines, fda, health & human services, rfk jr., science, shingles, shingles vaccine, studies, vaccines

Calvin Lan, CEO of Huawei Ireland, discusses the work to be done on Ireland’s commitment to an ambitious 8GW of solar capacity by 2030.

In November 2025, Ireland’s national solar capacity crossed 2GW of capacity for the first time. It was a milestone that would have seemed ambitious just a few years earlier, and one that Huawei Ireland, which supplies inverter systems and grid management technology to many of the those installations, has watched closely.

For Calvin Lan, CEO of Huawei Ireland, that milestone was very much a starting point, not a destination. Ireland, as a country, has committed to an ambitious 8GW of solar capacity by 2030, so there’s much work left to do.

“The gap between where we are and where we need to be is significant,” says Lan. The technology to close the divide exists. The question is whether Irish organisations will move quickly enough to use it, he says.

An economic issue

Green energy is not, primarily, a sustainability conversation, but an economic one, says Lan. Ireland’s energy costs are among the highest in Europe, and the companies moving on solar and storage now will be in a far more competitive position to those that wait, he says.

Research published by Huawei Ireland last year found that more than 60pc of Irish businesses expect green technology to improve their operational efficiency. Lan finds the nature of those conversations more telling than the headline figure.

“Customers are now asking specific, operational questions about solar or storage deployments, return on investment, integration with existing infrastructure. That is a meaningful change from where we were even two or three years ago.”

The shift is visible in Huawei Ireland’s own business. Demand for solar and energy storage technologies has grown steadily as a share of overall revenue over the past two to three years, says Lan, who adds that this is a market-wide phenomenon.

Solar energy, he notes, is already part of daily life for many in Ireland, powering homes, farms and businesses across the country, and cutting both bills and emissions in the process.

However, there is still reluctance in some sectors, he notes. “Companies want to understand what their competitors are doing before committing. That is a natural instinct, but in a market moving this quickly it carries a real cost.”

The organisations that are moving fastest, he says, are not doing so purely for sustainability reasons. “They are doing it because it makes financial sense. Energy costs are a competitive issue.”

Managing watts with bits

Huawei does not manufacture solar panels. Its position in the energy market is built on inverter systems, storage technology and the data infrastructure that manages them.

“We are first and foremost an ICT company,” Lan explains. “We are electrical engineers who have taken over 30 years of expertise and billions invested in research and development, and applied them directly to the energy challenge. The way we think about it is managing watts with bits.”

That convergence of digital and energy infrastructure is, in his view, where the most consequential innovation in the sector is currently happening. “You simply cannot manage a complex energy system without the data infrastructure to run it. Digital is the enabler of everything else.”

It is also where Huawei’s specific advantage lies, he says – a company that has spent three decades building the architecture for managing complex data flows is now applying that expertise to managing complex energy flows.

The grid challenge

One of the less visible challenges in Ireland’s energy transition is what happens to grid stability as renewable generation grows. Traditional power systems depend on large synchronous generators for inertia, a physical resistance to sudden frequency changes that keeps the network stable. As fossil fuel plants are retired, that inertia decreases, and the grid becomes harder to manage.

Conventional renewable inverters are ‘grid-following’. They read the signal from the network and synchronise to it, but cannot stabilise the system independently. ‘Grid-forming’ inverters work differently. They can generate and regulate stable voltage and frequency on their own, effectively functioning as what engineers describe as a virtual synchronous machine.

“That means they can support grid stability even when very few traditional generators are online,” Lan says, “which is increasingly relevant as Ireland’s renewable share grows and the grid becomes more complex to manage. It is one of the more exciting developments in the sector right now, and I think it will genuinely surprise people who have not encountered it before.”

Huawei’s SUN2000-330KTL, which won Best Renewable Energy Product at the SEAI Energy Show in April, incorporates these capabilities, Lan says. The company is also launching the SUN2000-506KTL, a new utility-scale system forming part of the FusionSolar 9.0 platform, which combines high power density with advanced grid-forming capability and is designed to deliver higher yields at lower system cost.

The time is now

Lan argues that now is the time for Irish organisations to make the key transition decisions and that there are real costs to deferring them.

“The transition is achievable, not eventually, but now,” he says. “I think there is still a tendency to treat green energy as a long-term strategic priority rather than an immediate operational one. The organisations that are moving fastest are not doing it purely for sustainability reasons. They are doing it because it makes financial sense.”

When it comes to accelerating adoption, Lan says real-life case studies matter more than arguments. Seeing a solar deployment working at scale in Ireland, in a comparable business, shortens the decision cycle faster than any amount of policy discussion, he argues.

“The technology exists. The case studies are real. What accelerates adoption is confidence, and confidence comes from seeing it done.”

He points too to the skills dimension, one that tends to get less attention in the energy debate than investment or policy. The engineering and data capabilities required to design, deploy and manage green energy infrastructure are in short supply globally, he says.

“For students considering where to build a career, green tech is one of the most important fields you could choose to work in,” he says. “The skills required are in short supply globally, which means demand for them will only grow.”

Huawei has been in Ireland for nearly 20 years. Lan was speaking to SiliconRepublic.com ahead of the company’s annual Innovation Day – themed ‘Powering a Greener Future’ this year – at UCD O’Reilly Hall on 3 June. The event aims to to bring together developers, engineers, policymakers and businesses to see what is already working at scale, in Ireland and on the global stage.

Don’t miss out on the knowledge you need to succeed. Sign up for the Daily Brief, Silicon Republic’s digest of need-to-know sci-tech news.

Looking for the most recent Connections answers? Click here for today’s Connections hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands puzzles.

Today’s NYT Connections puzzle has two very pop-culture-themed categories that movie fans should appreciate. Read on for clues and today’s Connections answers.

The Times has a Connections Bot, like the one for Wordle. Go there after you play to receive a numeric score and to have the program analyze your answers. Players who are registered with the Times Games section can now nerd out by following their progress, including the number of puzzles completed, win rate, number of times they nabbed a perfect score and their win streak.

Read more: Hints, Tips and Strategies to Help You Win at NYT Connections Every Time

Hints for today’s Connections groups

Here are four hints for the groupings in today’s Connections puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.

Yellow group hint: Shag is another one.

Green group hint: Don’t wait.

Blue group hint: Spider-Man and Captain America, too.

Purple group hint: May the Force be with you.

Answers for today’s Connections groups

Yellow group: Hairdos.

Green group: More readily.

Blue group: Marvel characters.

Purple group: Words after “The” in “Star Wars” movie titles.

Read more: Wordle Cheat Sheet: Here Are the Most Popular Letters Used in English Words

What are today’s Connections answers?

The yellow words in today’s Connections

The theme is hairdos. The four answers are beehive, bouffant, chignon and pompadour.

The green words in today’s Connections

The theme is more readily. The four answers are first, preferably, rather and sooner.

The blue words in today’s Connections

The theme is Marvel characters. The four answers are Daredevil, Hawkeye, Nightcrawler and Wolverine.

The purple words in today’s Connections

The theme is words after “The” in “Star Wars” movie titles. The four answers are Empire, Force, Last and Phantom.

Amazon’s Memorial Day sale delivers a $50 price cut on AirPods Pro 3, with the entire AirPods line eligible for discounts.

Apple AirPods Pro 3 are on sale for $199 at Amazon today, which matches the lowest price seen this quarter.

Buy AirPods Pro 3 for $199

If you’re looking for the lowest price across the AirPods line, Amazon has AirPods 4 without ANC on sale for $99, while AirPods Max 2 are marked down to $509 in select colors. That’s the best price we’ve seen on the 2026 over-ear headphones release.

Today’s top AirPods offers

Even more Apple deals for Memorial Day weekend

Save across Apple product lines.

There are plenty of Memorial Day weekend sales going on across Apple’s product lines. Here’s a sampling of our top picks, with hundreds of bargains available in the AppleInsider Apple Price Guide.

Looking for the most recent Wordle answer? Click here for today’s Wordle hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Connections, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands puzzles.

Today’s Wordle puzzle is a fun word with many meanings. If you need a new starter word, check out our list of which letters show up the most in English words. If you need hints and the answer, read on.

Read more: New Study Reveals Wordle’s Top 10 Toughest Words of 2025

Today’s Wordle hints

Before we show you today’s Wordle answer, we’ll give you some hints. If you don’t want a spoiler, look away now.

Wordle hint No. 1: Repeats

Today’s Wordle answer has one repeated letter.

Wordle hint No. 2: Vowels

Today’s Wordle answer has one vowel.

Wordle hint No. 3: First letter

Today’s Wordle answer begins with C.

Wordle hint No. 4: Last letter

Today’s Wordle answer ends with K.

Wordle hint No. 5: Meaning

Today’s Wordle answer can mean to throw or toss something. It’s also a nickname for Charles. It’s also a cut of beef.

TODAY’S WORDLE ANSWER

Today’s Wordle answer is CHUCK.

Yesterday’s Wordle answer

Yesterday’s Wordle answer, May 22, No. 1798, was VOCAL.

Recent Wordle answers

May 18, No. 1794: LOATH

May 19, No. 1795: DUSTY

May 20, No. 1796: WRECK

May 21, No. 1797: AGREE

Public Sector

Government’s ‘rushed’ plans damaged public confidence before ministers had even explained how the system would work

Britain’s digital ID push has been mauled by MPs after the government unveiled plans that appeared to arrive several steps ahead of actual policy.

A report from Parliament’s Home Affairs Committee this week concluded the government’s handling of mandatory digital ID plans was “rushed, poorly thought out and failed to make a convincing case.” It warned that ministers had already undermined public confidence with what MPs described as a rushed and inadequate announcement.

According to the committee, there was “no rigorous policy development and no public consultation ahead of the announcement,” which left ministers struggling to answer basic questions about privacy, implementation, safeguards, and how the system would actually operate in practice.

The report said the proposal “came out of the blue, causing alarm and uncertainty” and warned that the government’s “incoherent approach to policy development cannot be repeated if public trust is to be rebuilt.”

The committee stopped short of opposing digital identity outright. Instead, MPs argued that digital ID could still improve access to public services, but only if ministers stop treating national identity infrastructure like a last-minute product launch and start acting as though the public might reasonably want to know what they are signing up for.

Opposition to the wider scheme has been building for months. Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham previously warned that tying digital ID to employment checks risked creating a “backdoor national ID system,” while privacy campaigners and civil liberties groups have repeatedly raised concerns about surveillance, data sharing, and function creep since the plans were first unveiled last year.

The government’s approach to consultation has also come under fire. Last month, it barred journalists from joining a digital identity advisory panel event, which did little to quell accusations that ministers were trying to build critical pieces of national identity infrastructure behind closed doors.

Chair of the committee Dame Karen Bradley described the government’s early efforts as “nothing short of a fiasco,” adding: “To the public this announcement came out of the blue and made little sense.”

The report also highlighted growing concern around digital right-to-work checks, which ministers still intend to make mandatory even after backing away from compulsory government-issued ID cards earlier this year. MPs warned this could effectively mean UK citizens would need either a passport or a digital ID simply in order to work legally.

“It is vital that this change is not just treated as an afterthought to digital ID,” the committee wrote, warning that the implications for people without passports had barely been addressed in consultation documents.

The committee also warned that rebuilding confidence may prove difficult given what it diplomatically called the government’s “poor track record of digital transformation.”

In other words, MPs aren’t entirely convinced the same government that brought Britain some of its more memorable public sector IT disasters should be trusted to build national identity infrastructure. ®

A so-called software supply chain attack, in which hackers corrupt a legitimate piece of software to hide their own malicious code, was once a relatively rare event but one that haunted the cybersecurity world with its insidious threat of turning any innocent application into a dangerous foothold in a victim’s network. Now one group of cybercriminals has turned that occasional nightmare into a near-weekly episode, corrupting hundreds of open source tools, extorting victims for profit, and sowing a new level of distrust in an entire ecosystem used to create the world’s software.

On Tuesday night, open source code platform GitHub announced that it had been breached by hackers in one such software supply chain attack: A GitHub developer had installed a “poisoned” extension for VSCode, a plug-in for a commonly used code editor that, like GitHub itself, is owned by Microsoft. As a result, the hackers behind the breach, an increasingly notorious group called TeamPCP, claim to have accessed around 4,000 of GitHub’s code repositories. GitHub’s statement confirmed that it had found at least 3,800 compromised repositories while noting that, based on its findings so far, they all contained GitHub’s own code, not that of customers.

“We are here today to advertise GitHub’s source code and internal orgs for sale,” TeamPCP wrote on BreachForums, a forum and marketplace for cybercriminals. “Everything for the main platform is there and I very am happy to send samples to interested buyers to verify absolute authenticity.”

The GitHub breach is just the latest incident in what has become the longest-running spree of software supply chain attacks ever, with no end in sight. According to cybersecurity firm Socket, which focuses on software supply chains, TeamPCP has, in just the last few months, carried out 20 “waves” of supply chain attacks that have hidden malware in more than 500 distinct pieces of software, or well over a thousand counting all of the various versions of the code that TeamPCP has hijacked.