We live in times that are often not...good. But we got to spend the weekend here enjoying a lot of good, courtesy of Donna, and that felt...good. So in that spirit, we're gonna let the good times roll.
No big deal, y'all. We just sorta solved AIDS. In June, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved a drug called lenacapavir as a vaccine to be taken by people at risk of HIV twice-yearly. During clinical trials, the drug was 100% effective in protecting cisgender women. The effectiveness drops to 96% for men who have sex with other men, considerably higher than previously-tested treatments. This would seem to be pretty fucking important.
Not only did Ichiro Suzuki get inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame, he did it in style, with a funny and touching speech.
To wit:
@yahoosports Ichiro Suzuki had jokes in his Hall of Fame speech 🤣 (via @MLB) #ichiro #ichirosuzuki #mlb #baseballhalloffame #miamimarlins ♬ original sound - Yahoo Sports
Here's the whole thing:
Trinity Rodman has battled a back injury for months. She last played for the Washington Spirit on April 12, coming off the field that day in pain. She spent the time between then and now rehabbing, often in places she went with her boyfriend, tennis star Ben Shelton. And yesterday, she finally got back on the field.
Rodman subbed into a 1-1 game against the Portland Thorns in the 76th minute. Early in stoppage time, she took a flick-on from Croix Bethune, and did this (check out Bethune's preaction):
It simply had to be Trinity Rodman 🥹 pic.twitter.com/gYkd1TgcvG
— National Women’s Soccer League (@NWSL) August 3, 2025
She ran to the side of the goal and buried her hands in her face, breaking down in happy tears. That's the good shit.
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Adding lenacapavir to the armamentarium against HIV is a fantastic development as the first compound with that mechanism of action, but I would posit that we sorta solved AIDS with the approval of dolutegravir. The inventors won the 2016 ACS Heroes in Chemistry Award and their employers essentially gave it away--99% of children living with HIV in LMIC have access under a royalty-free license. And lenacapavir isn't a vaccine, it's a long-acting injectable like cabotegravir (invented by the same folks as dolutegravir), albeit with a longer dosing interval but helpfully also available as an oral presentation.
ReplyDeletepotato, potato
ReplyDeletealso, you've known about this for nine years and didn't share it with us? that's some bullshit.
ReplyDeleteDid you ask? Zman knows about lots of stuff, but he's not going to go around flaunting it.
ReplyDeleteIn addition to being a damned artist, Ichiro is more playful and profane than he exhibited to the public. His locker room speeches at All-Star games are the stuff of legend, with teammates saying things like: I didn't think he knew some of the words he was using. He said in one interview that the Japanese language has few curse words, so he appreciated Western languages because they permitted him to say things he couldn't in his native tongue. He reportedly learned some Spanish so that he could talk smack to Latino players.
ReplyDeleteOne funny story I came across: Before Ichiro's rookie year in Seattle, KC first baseman Mike Sweeney was part of an MLB All-Star team that went to Japan for a series of games. When U.S. players got base hits, the scoreboards displayed elaborate visual effects and the PA announcer said over the system, "Nice batting!" Sweeney thought it a cool gesture. Early the next season, when the Royals played the Mariners, Ichiro got a base hit. Sweeney didn't know Ichiro, didn't know if he spoke or even understood English. Standing at first base, Sweeney said, "Ichiro, nice batting." Ichiro responded, "Mike Sweeney, nice ass."