“In my role as Co-chairperson and member of the CDC Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, I have been participating in a training course regarding the GRADE methodology for public health decision-making. The acronym stands for Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation, and this methodology is intended to provide a structured, transparent framework to evaluate the quality (certainty) of evidence and the strength of recommendations derived from that evidence. … The GRADE approach assumes that, in the case of peer-reviewed clinical and epidemiological data (otherwise referred to as ‘evidence-based medicine’), individual studies will reflect various forms of bias (structural, intentional, or unintended), but when systematically analyzed as a collection of information, these biases will either cancel each other out or (if bias is detected) can be statistically compensated for. What could possibly go wrong? Clearly, something did.” (05/05/26)
“Earlier this month, the United States Department of Education proposed a regulatory framework to hold postsecondary educational institutions accountable for their students’ labor market and earnings outcomes. Under the proposed rule, students risk losing eligibility for federal loans and, in some cases, Pell Grants, if they are enrolled in undergraduate programs whose graduates’ earnings fail to exceed those of a typical high school graduate. Graduate programs face similar consequences should their graduates earn less than the average bachelor’s degree holder. Though the benchmarks are modest, in the sense that most college programs will meet these criteria, some will not. And the consequences for college programs are severe, as most universities rely heavily on federally subsidized tuition dollars.” (05/05/26)
“The Sudanese government has accused Ethiopia of being behind recent drone attacks on sites including Khartoum airport and recalled its ambassador on Tuesday. A military spokesperson in Sudan said the government has evidence that four drone strikes that have happened since 1 March came from Ethiopia’s Bahir Dar airport. It also accused the United Arab Emirates of supplying the drones. The Sudanese military has been at war with a paramilitary group known as the Rapid Support Forces since April 2023, when the RSF stormed the capital. The battles have now shifted towards more drone warfare concentrating in the Kordofan and Blue Nile states.” (05/05/26)
“The Gulf states have tried very hard to stay out of the war on Iran. But they are home to one of the largest American forward military deployments in the world, a network of 13 U.S. bases and 40,000 U.S. troops that has made the war possible. Kuwait hosts more U.S. bases than any other country in the region. Bahrain is home to the U.S. Navy’s Fifth Fleet. Qatar hosts Al Udeid Air Base, the largest U.S. military facility in the region and a headquarters for U.S. Central Command. In the UAE is Al Dhafra Air Base, from which Washington coordinates intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance. Saudi Arabia is home to the Prince Sultan Air Base.” (05/05/26)
“The crowning irony of our times is that after the 20th Century revealed the essential futility and moral and economic bankruptcy of totalitarian socialism, most western governments have cheerfully embraced it.” (05/05/26)
“On April 4, 2026, our partners at the Language of Liberty Institute (LLI) hosted a Liberty Chit-Chat in Butwal, Rupandehi, on a question that sits at the heart of every modern economy: where should the market end and the government begin? Held at K6 Pizza and Bar from 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., the three-and-a-half-hour discussion brought together twenty-nine participants from across Lumbini Province for an open, structured conversation on the role of state intervention in a free market economy.” (05/05/26)
