The Empathy Weapon

This morning the New York Times published an essay by an immunologist who wasn’t vaccinated as a child, found science, got her shots, and now wants to help other parents see the light. It’s got that signature NYT sheen, is well written and emotionally compelling. And yet, if you’ve been paying attention to the media machine you can see that this piece is merely emotional blackmail. It’s sophisticated and speaks in the language of maternal love. The fact that it’s dressed in a lab coat is the tell.

The essay’s argument is simple: the author’s mother didn’t vaccinate her out of love. The author now vaccinates her own children out of love. The only difference is information and emotional support. The moral of the story? Parents who don’t vaccinate aren’t bad people – they just haven’t been guided to the correct conclusion yet.

Anyone not asleep through the last few years may recognize the game.


In 2021, New York’s Governor Kathy Hochul stood before a congregation and told them the vaccinated were “the smart ones,” that those who refused were “not listening to God,” and that the faithful needed to go out as “apostles” and convert the unbelievers. It was cheap, crude, and disgraceful on so many layers.

And then there was Bill de Blasio. In the middle of the city’s vaccine push, the mayor of New York went on camera dangling a plate of burger and fries, moaning “Mmm, vaccination” like he was filming a McDonalds commercial.

I’ve never been more ashamed to be a New Yorker than watching those two represent my hometown during that period.

The Times essay is precisely the same sermon for a different congregation. Three pitches for the exact same product. De Blasio dangled fries at people who couldn’t afford to say no. Hochul played to the soul. The Times aims square at the laptop class. The approach may look different but the reveal is obvious: there is only one correct answer and the institutions hold it. These are all merely tactics to get the holdouts to convert.

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CDC Awards Pfizer $1.24 Billion for COVID Vaccines for Kids and Adults

The roughly $735 million pediatric and $505 million adult COVID-19 vaccine grants cover 2026 and 2027, according to federal records. The monetary infusion has revived debate among critics and public health experts around the safety and efficacy of the vaccines and reliance on mRNA technology.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) recent decision to award Pfizer $1.24 billion for COVID-19 vaccines has renewed debate over the government’s continued investment in mRNA technology.

The contracts, awarded on June 1, include about $735.7 million for pediatric COVID-19 vaccines and nearly $505.3 million for adult doses for fiscal year 2026-2027.

Critics say the funding reflects a continued commitment to vaccines associated with high rates of serious injuries and deaths, and a lack of adequate safety testing and monitoring.

Public health experts argue the investment is necessary to protect vulnerable populations and prepare for future outbreaks.

The latest contracts come as mRNA technology expands beyond COVID-19.

A recent review in Human Vaccines & Immunotherapeutics found that mRNA-based therapeutics were identified in more than 550 registered clinical trials. The authors reported that more than 90% of the projects involved mRNA vaccines and that most products remain in early-stage testing before broader adoption.

‘Unnecessary and often harmful injections’

The procurement of monetary resources signals that federal officials intend to continue investing heavily in mRNA technology despite declining public demand and ongoing controversy over vaccine safety monitoring, critics say.

Jeffrey Tucker, president and founder of the Brownstone Institute, told The Defender there was “no scientific justification” or “market demand” for the latest mRNA vaccine funding.

“This raises a serious question concerning how these captured agencies really work,” Tucker said. “We are talking about vast amounts of tax dollars flowing to support unnecessary and often harmful injections.”

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Norwegian study shows that 74% of new myocarditis cases were related to COVID-19 vaccination – only 4.2% were related to COVID-19 infection

Myocarditis – inflammation of the heart muscle – is a “serious condition” and a frequent cause of sudden death in young, apparently healthy people, with a 50–60% mortality rate “after five years.” The statement by Prof. Jan Erik Nordrehaug is somewhat outdated, but later research by Mi-Jeong Kim and colleagues shows the same trend with a mortality rate of approximately 40% after 10 years (see the article’s Figure 3 below).

As early as April 2021, the European Medicines Agency suspected that the COVID-19 vaccine could cause myocarditis, but Pfizer/BioNTech still decided to approve it for children as young as 12 years old. This is despite the fact that the vaccine had not even been tested for transmission and that practically no children die from COVID-19 infection. Later research has strengthened the Agency’s suspicions of an increased incidence of myocarditis among COVID-19 vaccine recipients, especially young men.

Dramatic numbers from Norway

A recently published Norwegian study by Bendik Skinningsrud Hagen and colleagues also shows that COVID-19 vaccination is particularly associated with myocarditis in young men (see figure 2 below in the article, which shows the incidence in men and women). What is most surprising, however, is that the vaccine causes 74% of cases (the article’s figure 1 shows 177 cases compared to 108 others, of which 42 are excluded because myocarditis occurred before vaccination and 4 are due to misdiagnosis). The authors claim that most were “mild” – let’s hope so – but Nordrehaug’s statement that the mortality rate is 50-60% “after five years”, and the figure from Mi-Jeong Kim and colleagues showing low mortality in the first years that then increases, tells us that we do not yet have the full picture.

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FDA Approves Merck Pneumococcal Vaccine for ‘At-Risk’ Kids as Young as 2

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) expanded its approval of Merck’s pneumococcal vaccine Capvaxive for use in children ages 2 and up who are considered at increased risk for the disease.

The drug was specifically designed for adults, Merck said in a statement, but “may” offer additional protection for high-risk kids.

Critics pointed out that the vaccine adds to the list of childhood vaccines not tested against a placebo, and that it contains an ingredient linked to high rates of adverse events.

Children and teens with chronic conditions, including pneumonia, meningitis and bloodstream infections, can get the vaccine in addition to the pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV) they already get as part of routine pediatric shots recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The decision makes Capvaxive the only PCV approved as an extra vaccine for this group.

The vaccine protects against Streptococcus pneumoniae, which causes a wide range of bacterial infections, including pneumonia, bacterial meningitis and middle ear infections. The illnesses are typically treated with antibiotics.

CRM197: a questionable platform for childhood vaccines

The FDA based its expanded approval of the drug on results from a Phase 3 trial that enrolled 882 children and adolescents with chronic conditions.

The trial compared Capvaxive against PPSV23 (pneumococcal 23-valent polysaccharide vaccine), another vaccine that protects against pneumococcal illness — meaning it was not tested against an inert placebo.

Capvaxive contains CRM197, a protein. It is a mutant of the diphtheria toxin used to boost the immune response in some vaccines. In Capvaxive, bacterial sugars from 21 strains of pneumococcus are individually linked, or conjugated, to the CRM197, which enhances the body’s immune response to each of the bacteria.

Children’s Health Defense (CHD) Chief Scientific Officer Brian Hooker warned that giving a vaccine containing CRM197 to at-risk kids will be “another train wreck for children, but a boon for Merck as it opens up a fresh new market of children.”

That’s because research has found that other vaccines using the platform have high rates of adverse events.

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FDA Altered Autopsy Results of Children Who Died After COVID Vaccines

Scientists at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) revised the autopsy results of children who died after receiving the COVID-19 vaccine, reducing the number of children the agency classified as having likely died as a result of their vaccination, according to documents released last week by Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.).

The documents show that in November 2025, the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research (CBER) identified 10 child deaths related to the COVID-19 shots. But in December 2025, it reduced the number to seven and downgraded the probability that those deaths were connected to the children’s vaccination.

The Daily Caller, which first reported, quoted two former FDA officials and a forensic pathologist who performed two of the children’s autopsies. One of the FDA officials told the outlet the emails reveal “a coverup” by the FDA and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Johnson included the documents in a letter sent last week to U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., CDC Acting Director Jay Bhattacharya and FDA Acting Commissioner Kyle Diamantas.

Even the reduced number of deaths was enough to trigger concern among some FDA scientists about the safety of the COVID-19 shots, Johnson’s letter stated.

“Although what drove the decision to change these three cases remains to be seen, what is clear is that these officials appear to have determined that the seven cases warranted warning about the risks,” Johnson wrote. These risks “should have raised serious concerns at HHS and CDC about the mRNA COVID-19 Injections.”

Even after the downgrade, the FDA’s Division of Pharmacovigilance recommended revising the label of the Pfizer and Moderna mRNA COVID-19 vaccines to include a warning about the risk of “myocarditis with fatal outcomes.”

The change was never made, for reasons that are not clear.

Myocarditis is widely associated with the mRNA COVID-19 vaccines and, with reports of deaths connected to the vaccines, particularly among teenage and young adult males.

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He ‘Lied’: Tulsi Gabbard Releases Evidence Fauci Allegedly Directed Funding for ‘Risky’ Coronavirus Research Linked to Big Pharma and Pursuit of ‘Universal Vaccines’

Director of National Intelligence (DNI) Tulsi Gabbard used her last day in office to release a trove of evidence that Dr. Anthony Fauci – former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) – lied to Congress and directed U.S. funding for gain-of-function research linked to Big Pharma’s pursuit of “universal vaccines,” all while influencing and manipulating the intelligence community to cover up his role in the coronavirus pandemic. 

Gabbard, who is leaving her post to help her husband as he battles an “extremely rare” form of cancer, released a trove of documents on her last day in office showcasing what many have said for years: Fauci lied to cover up his own alleged wrongdoing.

The Trump administration is blowing the lid off the coverup completely, showcasing Fauci’s role in providing millions in U.S. taxpayer dollars to fund dangerous gain-of-function research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology – where that specific coronavirus is suspected to originate.

Gabbard said:

Today, on my final day as Director of National Intelligence, I’m releasing never before seen communications and documents that expose exactly how Fauci worked with politicized career leadership in the intelligence community to suppress the truth about his actions, the virus’s lab leak origins, and his role in directing U.S. funding for this dangerous research that caused immeasurable harm and countless lost lives.

Gabbard alleged that those documents clearly “expose Fauci’s direct role in influencing and manipulating IC assessments on COVID-19, and how Fauci lied to Congress in 2024 when, under oath, he denied knowledge of or participation in discussions with intelligence officials about viral research.”

Gabbard also revealed they have testimony from intelligence community whistleblowers “who reported retaliation for challenging the intelligence community’s manipulation of intelligence on the virus’s origins.”

Ultimately, Gabbard said Fauci was able to use his “close relationships” with the intelligence community to “shield him from scrutiny.” During that time, Fauci funded gain-of-function coronavirus research “linked to big pharma and their pursuit of universal vaccines worth trillions of dollars,” Gabbard explained.

She also said Fauci pressed the intelligence community to push the “natural” animal origin narrative of the virus to cover for himself, and he became “the nation’s pandemic pundit” where he was able to freely push his alleged lies and censorship of critics.

Gabbard said the documents show Fauci pushed a “fraudulent” paper and “blatantly lied to Congress during his 2024 testimony to the House Select Subcommittee on the coronavirus pandemic, denying that he ever spoke to any intelligence agency about COVID.”

“The correspondence I’m releasing today directly contradicts his sworn testimony,” she said, “and we received statements from multiple whistleblowers revealing that the intelligence analysts who dared to challenge Dr. Fauci’s COVID origin conclusions faced threats of retaliation, marginalization, and many suffered career setbacks.”

“The COVID pandemic caused tremendous hardship and pain for millions of our fellow Americans and countless people around the world. Now, after years of lies and censorship and cover-ups, the American people deserve transparency, truth, and accountability,” Gabbard continued.

“The tactics that were used to hide the truth are straight from the deep state playbook,” she said, declaring that it is now time for the American people to have the truth. “Politicized, self-serving leaders like Dr. Fauci covered up their own wrongdoing and abuses of power, manipulated intelligence, lied to Congress, and undermined a duly elected president by restricting his access to the vital facts he needed to keep the country safe.”

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Despite Over 100 Deaths in Moderna’s mRNA Flu Trial – Committee Recommends that the FDA Move Forward with Approval

June 18, 2026: Moderna just announced that, “the FDA’s Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee (VRBPAC) voted 9-0 that the benefits of mRNA-1010, Moderna’s investigational seasonal influenza vaccine, outweigh its risks for the prevention of influenza disease in adults 50 through 64 years of age and in adults 65 years of age and older.”

This is despite the fact that Moderna reported 102 deaths in the mRNA group and 97 deaths in the ‘enhanced vaccine’ group.

102 reported deaths out of 35,965 mRNA injected study participants equate to a 0.3% fatal adverse event (death) rate in less than a year of being injected.

Adults aged 50-64 have a 0.015% of dying from the flu vs. 0.3% from a flu injection = a 20-fold (1900%) increase).

Adults 65 and older have a 0.05% chance of dying from the flu vs 0.3% from a flu injection = 6-fold (500%) increase.

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Federal COVID Vaccine Injury Program Pays for Another Death — But Denials Still Hover Above 98%

A government program tasked with compensating injuries linked to COVID-19 vaccines and other countermeasures has approved four additional claims, including one death benefit, according to newly released federal data.

The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) reported in its June update that the Countermeasures Injury Compensation Program (CICP) has compensated 60 of 7,407 adjudicated claims, while denying 7,298.

The denial rate is more than 98%, according to the report.

The latest figures mark only the third death-related claim paid since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to program tracking cited by researcher Wayne Rohde, author of two books on federal vaccine injury compensation.

As of June, the program has received 14,152 total claims. Of those, 6,745 are pending review or in review, while a decision has been reached on 7,407. HRSA reports 109 claims have been deemed eligible for compensation, though only 60 have resulted in payment totalling $7.45 million.

Most denials were issued on procedural or evidentiary grounds, including missed filing deadlines and failure to submit medical records or meet the program’s standard of proof for covered injury.

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COVID mRNA Vaccines Should Be Pulled Off the Market, Oncologist Says

Medical commentator John Campbell, Ph.D., used a recent U.S. Senate hearing on COVID-19 vaccines, cancer and scientific censorship to spotlight concerns he says have been ignored for years — and to argue that the issue demands a public reckoning.

In a series of videos following the June 3 hearing, Campbell described the proceedings as a “massively under-discussed and under-publicized” examination of “possible links between COVID vaccines and cancer and also the active suppression of medical and scientific information.”

“It really couldn’t be more serious for science,” Campbell said in a June 4 video. “Lies are told, lies have been told and things have been ignored. This has resulted in a greatly reduced trust in mainstream media and institutions.”

Campbell devoted a June 7 video to testimony from oncologist Dr. Angus Dalgleish, whose observations of unusual cancer relapses after COVID-19 booster shots led him to question whether vaccine safety was receiving adequate scientific scrutiny.

Last week’s Senate hearing brought those concerns before lawmakers and examined claims that researchers who raise such questions have faced professional and institutional pushback.

The June 3 hearing, “Plausible Mechanisms of COVID-19 Injections Causing Cancer and Attacks on Scientific Publications,” was held by the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, chaired by Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.).

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Smoking Gun? Documents Suggest Fauci Knew COVID Was Created in Wuhan Lab, and mRNA Vaccines Wouldn’t Work

In August 2021, Dr. Anthony Fauci received a U.S. intelligence report suggesting the COVID-19 virus was developed in Chinese and U.S. labs as a bat vaccine, that it subsequently leaked from China’s Wuhan Institute of Virology, and that it contained characteristics that would make it resistant to mRNA vaccines.

The report, authored by Joseph Murphy, a major with the U.S. Marine Corps, and printed on Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) letterhead, was part of a tranche of documents Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) released Thursday as part of his ongoing congressional investigation into the origins of COVID-19.

The documents show that not only did Fauci receive the DARPA report, but that in an Aug. 25, 2021, email to National Institutes of Health (NIH) officials, he called it “important.” “Let us discuss my going down to the White House to review the report,” Fauci wrote.

The document tranche also contained evidence that Fauci cultivated ties with intelligence agencies at least as early as 2003, the same year he received a CIA report warning of the dangers of genetically manipulating coronaviruses.

Fauci later used these intelligence connections to sway the intelligence community to support the zoonotic theory of COVID-19’s origin, the documents show.

The newly released information corroborates the testimony of CIA whistleblower James Erdman before the U.S. Senate last month. Erdman testified that Fauci led a multi-agency cover-up of COVID-19’s lab origins and that his role in the cover-up “was intentional.”

“These documents reveal a breathtaking level of manipulation — official narratives carefully engineered to shape high-level government policy,” said Stephanie Weidle, executive director of federal watchdog group Feds for Freedom. “This is corruption.”

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