Just a couple of alarming news items.

Much to do today in the way of housekeeping before another three-day weekend for the children, so this'll be short.

In more news about the Trump administration's attack on diversity programs, Stat reports that the FDA has taken down website pages "focused on ensuring that clinical trials used to test drugs and medical devices include people of different ethnic and economic backgrounds." As Josh Marshall at TPM points out, that's a really big deal, because medical conditions can present differently and medications can work differently depending on someone's genetic heritage.

Also from TPM: The Democratic junior senator from Rhode Island, Sheldon Whitehouse, may be voting to confirm Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as the nation's health secretary. Why? "They were law school roommates at UVA and that seems to have been the beginning of a lifelong friendship." A reporter for Politico said today that Whitehouse wouldn't say whether he was a yes or no on Kennedy. So it's possible we'll end up with an anti-vaxxer in charge of federal health policy because an old guy descended from an aristocratic family has put another old guy from an aristocratic family ahead of the public good.

And because some states are now restricting access to adult websites, a lot of Americans have begun using virtual private networks, or VPNs. These VPNs divert your connection and route it through a separate internet service provider operating out of another country, which isn't subject to U.S. law. There can be good reasons to use VPNs, but there are also a lot of cheap or free ones out there, and they can be dangerous, because using them basically means giving a shady foreign company access to your data and devices. Just a heads-up if you or someone you love are in Texas and trying to watch dirty movies and wondering if a VPN is right for you.

Have a great weekend, everybody!

😎 The Fun Part

Having a Normal One comes out Monday through Friday. Sign up for a free trial subscription. Posts are free to read after one day at normalnewsletter.net.

Hit me up at joshwimmer@gmail.com with questions, suggestions, thoughts and feelings, tips, and politely worded corrections and criticism. If you think someone would be interested in this newsletter, forward it to them.