Former White House chief medical advisor Anthony Fauci will testify before the Senate Homeland Security Committee today, where lawmakers are expected to question him about the federal response to COVID-19 and his time leading the nation's public health response.

Dr. Anthony Fauci (video included), who led the US government response to the Covid-19 pandemic, invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination, refusing to testify Wednesday just minutes into a Capitol Hill hearing that Republicans outwardly hoped would undermine the scientist and open him to claims of perjury.

New York Times summary of committee meeting. Senators asking questions, Fauci pleading the 5th amendment.

Heh. One of the Republican Senators asked Fauci why he didn't endorse using Ivermectin or Hydroxychloroquine as Covid-19 medications.

Dolly Parton not only has her name on a hospital, she now has her own truck stop. The location is in Cornersville, TN. It's about an hour South of Nashville, off I-65.

Last month, Parton unveiled Dolly’s Tennessean Travel Stop in Cornersville, better known as Exit 22. The country music star and businesswoman nonpareil partnered with Gregory H. Sachs, the rest area’s managing partner.
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The logo — a mud flap girl with voluminous hair, alarmingly high heels and a microphone...
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a painted walkway sprinkled with musical notes and butterflies to a mural titled “Butterfly Lullaby (Mountain Gospel).”

Etc.

The Food and Drug Administration has recalled a commonly prescribed thyroid medication, levothyroxine.
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The FDA said they had been functioning as "subpotent drugs," meaning they had less of an active ingredient and were ultimately less effective.

Major Pharmaceuticals packaged and distributed the recalled tablets, while Cardinal Health also distributed some of the recalled products.

Here is a list of the recalled levothyroxine medications.

You can call your pharmacist to find out if the levothyroxine you are taking is covered by the recall. In addition, you can look up your levothyroxine pill using a pill identifier to help determine the status of your levothyroxine pills. Although, contacting your pharmacy is the safest method.

A group of investors led by Chattanooga businessman and media specialist Craig Fuller is planning to buy the Chattanooga Times Free Press newspaper from its Arkansas owners, sources say.
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The deal would not include the newspaper property on E. 11th Street, it was stated... it is expected the new operation would be online only.

The Times Free Press currently prints only on Sundays.

The Erlanger Health system announced Wednesday morning that it has signed a non-binding letter of intent with Prisma Health, a nonprofit healthcare system based in Greenville, South Carolina, to become part of that system.

Erlanger has been treating patients with no healthcare coverage as a so-called 'safety net hospital.'

Erlanger is a Level I trauma center, one of six in Tennessee. Erlanger is the primary teaching hospital for the University of Tennessee Health Science Center's College of Medicine Chattanooga.

Sad on both accounts. I'm surprised that the Chattanooga metro area can barely support a newspaper. Also, it is very surprising that Erlanger Health can't stay in business without the help from a South Carolina health system. I'm surprised Vanderbilt or U.T. Medical Systems weren't interested. Maybe they were, but not enough money? It is reported that Blount Memorial Hospital, now Prisma, turned down options from U.T. Medical Systems and Covenant.

Got the chance to see these talented players in action today! It was great having the @wnba.com at Home Court at the Obama Presidential Center for All-Star Weekend. ????

[image or embed]

— Barack Obama (@barackobama.bsky.social) July 24, 2026 at 5:22 PM

Those were the days. Obama Biden, Clinton... For the people.

In an online post on Tuesday, the President said that, starting in August 2028, all imported generic drugs will be slapped with a tariff of 100% for a year-long period, after which that rate will be raised to 200%.
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Imposing massive tariffs on generic medicines risk making lower-cost generic drugs millions of Americans rely on ⁠more ​expensive and harder to access."

...high tariffs may lead to a shortage of some generic drugs in the U.S., if manufacturers decide to leave the American market entirely.

Does this man no nothing about governing?

You'll have to travel to Chattanooga to see The Odyssey in full 70mm IMAX, as Regal is only screening it here (in their home town) using laser projection. Not quite the same.

But, however, on the other hand, the Trumpster is unilaterally "reaching a broad nuclear agreement with Saudi Arabia that could lead to the country enriching its own fuel for nuclear reactors..."
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"The Trump administration plans to formally sign and announce the agreement with the Saudis on Wednesday,.. It would announce the details to Congress soon afterward.
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The agreement will require review by Congress, which under the Atomic Energy Act has the power to vote a resolution of disapproval. But as a practical matter, the agreement would likely pass, because Congress would have to assemble a veto-proof majority to override Mr. Trump’s initiative."
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"Prince Mohammed has vowed he would build nuclear weapons if Iran does so..."

Once again, whatta ya gonna do?

OpenAI said on Tuesday that an autonomous agent powered by its advanced artificial intelligence models went rogue during a security test and triggered a hack that compromised the infrastructure of AI startup Hugging Face last week.

Well, is it safe? This whole AI, data center business has gone bonkers. Who will protect the citizens? What about this do know harm idea?

UPDATE: "The OpenAI agent that broke into tech firm Hugging Face went on a days-long hacking spree that OpenAI didn't notice until well after the threat was contained and the FBI was alerted, according to people familiar with the investigation."

Saturday, July 18, 2026, FDA, Cyclospora found in Taylor Farms lettuce: The Food and Drug Administration said on Saturday ​a sample of shredded iceberg lettuce supplied by ‌Taylor Farms has tested positive for a parasitic illness that has sickened thousands of people in the U.S.

Sunday, July 19, 2026, FDA, Cyclospora NOT found in Taylor Farms lettuce: The Food and Drug Administration said Sunday that a Taylor Farms lettuce sample initially reported as positive for Cyclospora should be considered a false positive following an additional laboratory review.

Taylor Fresh Foods also said the FDA apologized to the company over the erroneous result. The FDA did not include an apology in the agency language provided with the story.

Well, I'll be. Whatta ya gonna do?

Previous Report: CDC ho-hum on parasite outbreak?

UPDATE (People Magazine reporting on the Trump Administration, who'd a thunk?):

Taylor Farms "company donated $1 million to President Donald Trump’s MAGA Inc. super PAC in March 2025 and millions more to other Republican committees in recent years."

A test of one Taylor Farms product was initially determined to show evidence of the parasite’s presence, but that “false positive” was quickly retracted on Sunday, July 19.

State Primary and State and County General Election
Early voting Friday, July 17, 2026 to Saturday, August 1, 2026

Competitive seats:
Governor - my choice is Jerri Green
U.S. Senate -?
U.S. House of Representatives District 2 - Michaela Barnett, not competitive in primary, but need to get out the vote for her for the General in November

Knox County Election Commission

Blount County Election Commission

The Alcoa Aluminum Company owns some land in the City of Alcoa. The land used to house one of Alcoa's manufacturing plants, called the South Plant. The South Plant has been closed for many years.

It has been reported that the Alcoa Aluminum Company is considering selling the South Plant property for use as a Data Center. Many communities across the country are not allowing data centers because of the noise they emit, the energy and water they use excessively.

Citizens in Alcoa and Blount County have spoken up and said they do not want a Data Center on the South Plant site. For that matter, it appears to be understood that citizens don't want a Data Center anywhere in Blount County.

Blount County, City of Alcoa, and City of Maryville are working together to help prevent a Data Center at the South Plant. These municipalities are working to purchase the South Plant enabling their control as to what will be replacing the South Plant.

It is understood that the Alcoa Aluminum Company left contaminates in/on the property. Thus, there are limitations as to how the property can be used. It can be remediated and redeveloped.

Note, the Alcoa Aluminum Company West Plant, now the Springbrook Farms development, is also contaminated but is being remediated as development progresses. At this site there are many restaurants, a grocery store, an apartment complex, hotels, and coming soon a healthcare facility and maybe a Costco.

If the local municipalities purchase the Alcoa South Plant property, then, hopefully, the municipalities along with local citizens will have control as to what is developed at the site.

I can only hope that the citizens of Blount County look as to what is best for Blount County. We do not need/want a Data Center.

The U.S. is tapping in to its national stocks of crude with abandon. The withdrawals are taking a toll on the strategic reserve system.

While the administration has pledged to replenish the SPR, the president has tapped the reserve to cushion consumers from price shocks caused by his war of choice in Iran.
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"Last week, the Energy Department revealed that stocks of crude ​oil in the ‌Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) fell to 316.5 ​million barrels, its lowest since April 1983.
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Mounting infrastructure issues have also plagued the SPR."

"Under the supervision of our world-class medical professionals, war fighters age 30 and older are going to be tested annually for testosterone levels as part of their periodic health assessment,” Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said in a video posted to X captioned: “The High-T Department of War.”
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"He framed the annual screening test as part of an investment in “the individual warfighter,” calling the service members “our most decisive tactical advantage.”

Aren't there women in the military?

The testosterone craze fuels fear — not masculinity.
"The resurgence of masculinity as a cultural value, combined with the various struggles of modern males, has contributed to a new obsession among some men: a desire for higher testosterone. But this trend misunderstands what the hormone actually does."
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"most traditionally manly men — husbands, dads, hard workers, soldiers — often have low testosterone."

The Trump administration on Tuesday asked for public suggestions on overhauling Medicare’s decades-old system for paying physicians, advancing officials’ long-running efforts to shift financial incentives toward primary care and prevention instead of costly procedures.

Trump officials are also seeking potential alternatives to the billing-code system — the Current Procedural Terminology, or CPT...

In the comments of the article, "Why oh why do we think that a team of yokels, quacks, liars and thieves who can’t manage renovation of a reflecting pool are going to be our best hope at revising and improving the health care system? Please, please Congress get off your duffs and bring some sanity and representation to Washington!"

I couldn't say it better.

Then there was this in the article, "The coding system tends to reward health care providers for surgeries and other costly procedures. It has been accused of steering physicians into lucrative specialties, reinforcing a health care system that pays more to treat diseases than prevent them."

As many WP commenters have been saying, you can tell the Trump bias in the Washington Post since Bezos, the owner, has become a huge MAGA.

I trust the AMA any day over the current Administration.

Why the internet is becoming so infuriating to use?
With chatbots now flooding the web at every corner, humans are in the minority.

More frequently when signing on to a website you get a new step that needs to identify you are human. I thought it was an additional security step only to find out the hosting site is trying to prevent chatbot access.

Then there are the requests to allow cookies. Most sites have required cookies and allow you to opt out of other cookies used for marketing, etc. Basically selling your usage data to anyone and everyone.

In addition, there are the site terms and conditions. Who takes the time to read and analyze the terms and conditions? What are we agreeing to? What rights to privacy, etc. are we giving up?

Cyclosporiasis is an illness you get from the parasite Cyclospora cayetanensis. It causes watery, and sometimes explosive, diarrhea and other stomach problems. It usually spreads from contaminated water or food. Treatment typically includes antibiotics.

health officials in Michigan identified a possible source of an outbreak of cyclosporiasis, an illness resulting from infection with the parasite cyclospora, which is transmitted through food and water contaminated with feces.

“Current results point to lettuce or salad greens as a potential source for this outbreak,”
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Lettuce and salad mixes, as well as other types of fresh produce including raspberries, basil, cilantro, fruit mixes, snow peas and snap peas, have been implicated in previous cyclospora outbreaks in the United States.
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As of Monday evening, July 13, 2026, health officials in Michigan had reported 2,640 cases and 44 hospitalizations — a 69 percent increase in cases from those reported on Friday,
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The C.D.C.’s latest figures include at least 843 confirmed illnesses across 31 states, and 86 hospitalizations.

Getting more up-to-date information from Michigan and the New York Times than the Federal Government's CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention).

Cyclosporiasis outbreaks are occurring in approx. 30 states, including Tennessee.

A recent study by financial network CNBC determined Tennessee has the worst quality of life in the country.

America’s Worst Place to Live in 2026: Tennessee.
Strength: Air Quality
Weaknesses: Crime, Inclusiveness, Worker Protections

In a separate CNBC study, Tennessee ranks 9th best state for business.
Strengths: Infrastructure, workforce, business friendliness
Weakenesses: Quality of life, technology & innovation

In 2026 our Medicare supplement insurance increased by nearly 30%. In the 7 years we have had Medicare the annual increase has been 15% or less.

Now, "For the second year in a row (2027), premiums are likely to rise as climbing medical costs impact the economy and taxpayer spending." This is for any health insurance (private, employer sponsored, ACA/Obamacare, etc), not just Medicare supplements.

*Monthly premiums for both employer-provided and individual insurance are likely to climb due to rising hospital and drug spending, the use of AI in medical billing, labor shortages, federal policy changes, general inflation and more.

*The ACA market is experiencing turbulence, with millions of consumers dropping coverage, insurers exiting the market, and premiums spiking, which could lead to further problems and reduced access to health care.
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Innovations in technology and medical care are other reasons premiums are rising.
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Recent pharmaceutical advances also led to higher costs. ...driven in part by high-cost specialty drugs and GLP-1 weight loss drugs. For instance, cancer drugs are evolving and raising the cost of care.

Storm warning for ACA shoppers: Double-digit premium hikes are coming.

Every spring, health insurance companies file state-by-state rate forecasts, an early warning system for premium hikes we can expect to see the next year in the Affordable Care Act marketplace.

The median proposed increase is 14 percent...

Consumers will have to wait for broader insurance coverage of GLP-1 weight-loss drugs until prices come down and clear evidence emerges that they will reduce health care costs, the CEO of CVS Health, which includes Aetna insurance, said in an interview.

ACA Marketplace insurers are proposing a median premium increase of about 14% in 2027...second-highest requested rate change since 2018,