The LuLac Edition #5, 763, Seoptember 9th, 2026

 

WRITE ON WEDNESDAY

Our “Write on Wednesday” logo.

 

PA. MEASLES DEATHS ARE THE COST OF POOR PUBLIC HEALTH

TOP

LEADER

 

The two recent measles-related deaths in Lancaster County, including that of a newborn, were the first in Pennsylvania in 35 years. Sadly, as vaccination rates decline across the commonwealth and the country, they will likely not be the last.

The deaths occurred amid a major measles outbreak in Lancaster that has sickened nearly 400 people. Nationwide, the number of cases grew to a 35-year high.

In normal times (a.k.a. before Donald Trump), federal and state government officials would work together to contain the outbreak, protect the public, and use the incident to urge residents to get vaccinated.

But under Trump, all issues are political. Someone must lose so he can win. Rather than lead and unite, the president and his minions divide and misinform.

Gov. Josh Shapiro did what any responsible public official would do. He traveled to Lancaster General Health’s Women and Babies Hospital to express empathy, support the local community, and urge the public to get vaccinated.

 “We hope, and we pray, that those deaths will be the last,” Shapiro said. He underscored, “This illness and death from measles is completely preventable.”

Initially, state officials did not provide details about the two people who died in order to protect their privacy.

Lancaster County Coroner Stephen Diamantoni, a Republican elected official who is also a physician, said the newborn tested positive for measles, but died from a ruptured spleen. State health officials clarified that they define a “measles-associated death” as one in which measles was present, even if it is not the immediate cause of death.

That provided an opening for others to stir the misinformation sphere.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the dangerously unqualified head of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, rushed right in, claiming on social media that Shapiro’s administration may have “fabricated” the deaths, and wrongly commenting in an interview on C-SPAN that “they cannot find any measles deaths in Lancaster County.”

To be sure, Pennsylvania health officials should have been more forthcoming in sharing information about the patients’ ages,

causes of deaths, and reasons for being unvaccinated.\

The lack of details “created fertile ground for conspiracy theories to thrive,” said Paul Offit, a physician at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia who heads the hospital’s Vaccine Education Center.

Offit explained that measles can cause an enlarged spleen to become fragile, which can lead to rupture. He added that he learned from state health officials that the patients who died in Pennsylvania would have lived if they were not infected with measles.

Bottom line: Measles played a role in the deaths.

It is frustrating and sad that so much energy is needed to convince the public that vaccines work. Vaccines are tested, proven, and settled science. The most effective way to stop the spread of measles is to get vaccinated.

Indeed, measles was declared eradicated from the United States in 2000. Thanks to vaccines, other viruses such as mumps, rubella, and chickenpox were either eliminated or reduced by as much as 99%.

But measles has made a comeback in recent years as vaccination rates have declined. Pennsylvania is among the states with the most cases, and public health officials fear more outbreaks.

The drop in vaccination rates is due in large part to the spread of misinformation across social media in recent years. That misinformation has been amplified by Trump, the king of conspiracy theories, witch hunts, and any other form of quackery that gets attention and plays to a crowd’s worst fears.

Beyond his famous family name, Kennedy is best known for spreading misinformation about vaccines and promoting debunked claims about autism. He was a leading vaccine skeptic — and attention seeker — during the pandemic.

From his powerful perch, Kennedy has upended vaccine policy. As a result of his anti-science agenda, the country is getting sicker.

The sooner America’s leaders return to promoting evidence-based science and public health, the safer and healthier we will be.

 

The Philadelphia Inquirer Editorial Board September 7, 2026

The LuLac Edition #5, 762, September 8th, 2026

 

MEDIA

MATTERS

Catch Alyson Price doing the noon news all this week on 28-22 News on WYOU TV!

TRUMP CLAIMS FIREFIGHTERS CARRIED HIM AWAY FROM GROUND ZERO RIGHT AFTER 9/11

PRESIDENT BOASTS ABOUT HIS OWN PRESENCE AT WORLD TRADE CENTER SITE IN THE AFTERMATH OF ATTACK 25 YEARS AGO THIS FRIDAY

 

Andrew Feinberg  from The Independent reports that President Donald Trump used a White House address marking the upcoming 25th anniversary of the September 11, 2001 terror attacks to tout his administration's economic record and brag about his own presence in the aftermath of the deadliest of that day’s attacks.

The president was speaking at the Ellipse near the White House on Tuesday, where a piece of structural steel from the fallen World Trade Center twin towers was on display as part of a nonprofit group’s commemoration of the attacks. He said the “battered piece of steel” from the collapsed buildings was “a reminder that America is blessed with a strength no fire can consume, no evil can conquer, and no terror can destroy” before he segued into his own remembrance of being at the attack site in the immediate aftermath.

“The United States Steel Building was creaking, really creaking, and we thought it was going to fall down. The truth is, it creaked a lot. It creaked. It still creaks, but it never came down,” Trump recalled.

“And I'll never forget two firemen. We thought it was coming down on top of us, and two firemen, big, strong guys — and I'm not the smallest guy in the world — they grabbed me under the arm, said, ‘Got to get out of here!’ And they literally lifted me up.

“This is not easy to do. I'm big. They lifted me up and they started running with me. I said, ‘Fellas, I can run myself,’ but they were amazing. But they thought it was coming down. It didn't come down,” he added.

Here’s my question. Why all of a sudden after 25 years he told this story. The need for this man to insert himself in EVERYTHING is disgusting. No wonder why he WASN’T ASKED to go to the 25^th anniversary commemoration. They instinctively knew that he would make it about himself.

Trump is a baby man who reminds me o,f this cartoon I saw as a kid. But I grew up (somewhat) and he didn’t.

 

  

ON DATA CENTERS, COPIES MEUSER CHANGES MESSAGE WALLACE’S POSITION ON LOCAL CONTROL

MEUSER SPENT MONTHS PUSHING DATA CENTERS AND VOTING AGAINST LOCAL CONTROL. NOW HE’S BORROWING WALLACE’S TALKING POINTS

 

 After spending months touting data center development and arguing that Pennsylvania needed to “catch up” with other states, Congressman Dan Meuser is now taking a very different position, copying Rachel Wallace, the Democratic nominee for Pennsylvania’s 9th Congressional District, and her call for greater local control over whether data center projects move forward.

In a significant change in tone from just a few months ago, Meuser said Tuesday that data centers should only be developed with local approval, declaring that “landowners come first, communities come first” and that projects should move forward only when they “truly add value and do no harm.” He also said “quality of life” should come first when considering new developments.

That position mirrors the one Wallace has taken on data center development, consistently calling for greater local control, stronger transparency, accountability and safeguards before massive projects are built in residents’ backyards. Last month, following Governor Josh Shapiro’s executive order establishing new guardrails on data centers, Wallace praised the move and said residents across PA-09 had repeatedly told her they wanted their concerns addressed before projects moved forward.

Before his sudden change of position, Meuser dismissed concerns about the impacts of data centers in April as being fueled by “misinformation,” “speculation” and “fear-mongering.” Comparing Pennsylvania to neighboring states, Meuser complained that the Commonwealth was “way behind” on data center development and said, “now we are looking to catch up because we are a great place to develop data centers.” Earlier this year, at the Pennsylvania Farm Show, Meuser similarly touted data centers as an “economic engine” for Pennsylvania, emphasizing the tax revenue and economic benefits the projects could bring.

Meuser’s voting record on local control also runs counter to his new rhetoric. In May 2025, he voted for legislation that included a 10-year moratorium on state and local regulation of artificial intelligence. The National Conference of State Legislatures warned that the provision would have undermined state and local authority over the permitting, construction and operation of AI data centers. The provision was ultimately removed before the bill became law.

“Residents of PA-09 have been asking for transparency, accountability and a real voice in decisions about data center development. That has been my position from the beginning,” said Rachel Wallace. “Dan Meuser spent months saying Pennsylvania needed more data centers, and voting to take away local control. Now he says communities should come first. I guess he’s been listening to my speeches. He can change his message right before the election, but he can’t change his record. People deserve to know where he stood when it mattered – and it wasn’t with us.”

Communities across Pennsylvania’s 9th Congressional District have raised concerns about data center development in many of the district’s 12 counties, including Lebanon, Schuylkill, Columbia, Luzerne, Montour, and Lycoming.

About Rachel Wallace: Rachel Wallace was born and raised in Pennsylvania, growing up in Pottsville and now living in southern Schuylkill County. She is the daughter of a pastor and a nurse, and has spent her career in public service, having worked in the U.S. Senate, the State Department, and the White House Office of Management and Budget. She is running for Congress to lower the cost of living, fix health care, and bring a focus back to the working families of Pennsylvania’s 9th District.

 

GOP 

GATHERING

VS NFL  

 

Tomorrow Donald Trump is aiming to rally his base by transforming the Nov. 3 vote into a direct assessment of his own record. Although his name will not appear on the ballot, he created the event to help GOP candidates.

However, with his approval ratings at record lows, uncertainty remains about whether his presence will energize Republican voters or mobilize the opposition.

In recent history there has never been a midterm “convention. Look for this to be a Trump show that will be high on flash with an eye toward cash. The cash will be for sycophantic candidates who please the pig President at this meeting.  The president will dominate the schedule, delivering a keynote speech on Wednesday and returning the next evening to offer final remarks following an address by Vice President JD Vance. The format effectively turns the two-day convention into a showcase centered on Trump, flanked by a lineup that features several of the party's most at-risk legislators.

THE BEER COZY

the Republican Party is marketing $16 beer cozies online that feature the 80-year-old president styled like the Marlboro Man. The merchandise shows him on horseback wearing a white Stetson, complete with the word "Dallas" placed beneath the trademark red-and-white triangular logo where the brand name usually sits.

The broadcast networks have not committed to anything yet. There is also the fact that NFL games scheduled for Wednesday night and Thursday. Only Trump devotees will be watching this shit show. The rest of normal thinking Americans will be watching the NFL. That’s going to be a major barrier to this “stunt” Trump is inflicting on his party. (AP, LuLac) 

 

The LuLac Edition #5, 761, September 7th, 2026

 MONDAY MEMES