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Anyanwu also revealed to Page Six if he forgives LaTrice Verrett and Taylor Brown for bashing him in the house.

Vaccine-Maker Claims Splitting MMR Shot Could Take Up To 10 Years

Authored by Zachary Stieber via The Epoch Times,

Splitting the measles, mumps, rubella (MMR) vaccine into separate shots could take up to a decade, according to one of the two companies that produce the vaccine for the U.S. market.

A tray of MMR vaccine vials at a clinic in Lubbock, Texas, on March 1, 2025. Jan Sonnenmair/Getty Images

"Even under current expedited review pathways, it could take years - potentially as many as 10 - to meet the safety and efficacy requirements to obtain FDA approval and then begin manufacturing and commercialization" of single-disease shots, Merck said in a statement.

Merck, which did not respond to a request for more details, had told Politifact in 2025 - after President Donald Trump floated splitting the MMR vaccine - that it could take more than 10 years to separate the components into three separate vaccines.

Trump said in an Aug. 10 order that he was issuing "gold standard childhood vaccine recommendations," which "recognize that the combined measles, mumps, rubella (MMR) vaccine should be administered in three separate single-disease shots once such products are domestically available." The order directed agencies to take steps to advance the recommendations.

Before signing the order, Trump said, "You have the MMR, we want it in three separate vaccinations given at separate times. Together there could be a possibility they are quite lethal and separately, it looks like they are not at all lethal but just very effective." The White House did not respond to a request for citations by the time of publication.

Dr. Robert Malone, a former member of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's vaccine advisory panel, said in an Aug. 10 post on X that splitting combination vaccines into separate shots could reduce adverse events without sacrificing protection.

The CDC's website says, "No published scientific evidence shows any benefit in separating the combination MMR vaccine into three individual shots." A January update to the childhood vaccine schedule retained recommendations for MMR vaccination, advising that children receive one dose around the age of 1 and a second dose from 4 to 6 years of age.

The MMR vaccine has been available since the 1970s. Merck and GlaxoSmithKline produce it for the United States.

Standalone vaccines were discontinued in the United States in 2008. Merck said in a 2009 letter to health care providers that it was moving forward with the MMR and not the monovalent vaccines because the combination shot "eliminates the need for 3 separate injections and reduces the chance of delays in helping protect against any of these potentially serious diseases." The standalone vaccines are still available in certain other countries.

Side effects of the MMR vaccine include febrile seizure and severe allergic reactions, according to regulatory labels.

A healthcare professional prepares a measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine at the Andrews County Health Department in Andrews, Texas, on April 8, 2025. Annie Rice/AP Photo

GlaxoSmithKline told news outlets in a statement after Trump signed the order that its vaccines "are clinically proven to provide vital protection against infectious disease, and support public health goals by reducing missed doses, improving immunization coverage, and minimizing the burden on families and healthcare systems."

Dr. Andrew Racine, president of the American Academy of Pediatrics, said although it's possible to separate the MMR vaccine into its constituent components, each component would have to be manufactured and tested.

"They wouldn't be able to do that probably for another 10 years, and there's no indication that they have any interest in doing that," he said.

A White House official told reporters on a call about the order that the administration would work with the private sector to make the option of separate vaccines available to parents, relying on market-based solutions.

"Right now we have a lot of Americans and a lot of American parents who want to see additional options," the official said.

The Food and Drug Administration did not respond to a request for comment by the time of publication.

A person walks past a sign at a health center where the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine is administered in Lubbock, Texas, on Feb. 27, 2025. Ronald Schemidt/AFP via Getty Images

Establishing and obtaining regulatory approval for the manufacturing processes for the separate shots could be time-consuming and costly, Jesse Goodman, former chief scientist at the FDA, said.

"They'd be making three times as many vials or vaccines and filling three times as many," Goodman said. "It's not like they have facilities sitting around idle - so they might need to either change current facilities or even create additional capacity for them."

Reuters contributed to this report.

Tyler Durden Tue, 08/18/2026 - 15:45

These boots were made for walkin'.

Eric Bieniemy is back with the Chiefs and spoke for the first time since his wife, Mia, was allegedly shot by their son.

Seniors are set to live in the skies as a brand new billion-dollar plan has been unveiled.

Pentagon Weighing Permanent Smaller US Presence In Gulf (Just Don't Call It Retreat)

Already US officials have signaled they may just abandon hard-hit bases in the Middle East altogether, in the wake of Iran's retaliation as a result of Operation Epic Fury, and a conflict that's dragged on for nearly six months.

On Tuesday The Washington Post reviews the damage control underway, as the Pentagon 'evaluates' its future military footprint. All of this is framed as if Washington has a choice and full control over the matter, when it seems that all along the Trump administration was woefully underestimating what an Iranian response would look like.

"The Pentagon is evaluating its military footprint in the Middle East in an early sign of the Iran war’s potential to transform the U.S. presence in the region, according to eight people, including officials and others familiar with the matter," Washington Post writes.

Air Force file image

"One of the key areas the Defense Department is assessing is whether to pull back troops from the Persian Gulf, where America’s large overseas military bases have been battered by months of Iranian strikes, two people familiar with the ongoing analysis said," it adds, further calling this a "once-in-a-generation" chance for the Pentagon to alter its presence in the region.

The whole thing is being reported as if the 'smart people' are in the room and in control, and also as if the US hegemon in the region didn't already take a massive reputational hit following 'forever wars' and occupations in Iraq and Afghanistan. Over 20 years after the initial invasions, the Taliban remains in firm control of Kabul and Afghanistan, and Shiite pro-Iranian politicians run Baghdad.

And now a half-year into a war where the response should have been entirely anticipated (having been predicted by years and decades of Persian Gulf war-gaming and intelligence papers), this is where things stand:

“The war really did highlight the vulnerability ... of U.S. forces in the region,” said Michael Ratney, a former diplomat who served as the U.S. ambassador to Saudi Arabia and the deputy chief of mission in Qatar.

Moving troops and equipment further west to Jordan, Israel or the Red Sea coast of Saudi Arabia could help alleviate some of the pressure, he argued, while noting the added distance wasn’t a “perfect solution to this problem.”

Iran has already demonstrated it can strike faraway targets in Jordan and Israel. Last month an Iranian attack on Jordan killed four U.S. service members.

Anyone with eyes to see knows that this is already happening. For months at this point, dozens of US refueling aircraft have clogged up Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion airport, for just one example.

For smarter and more legitimate analysis, one can turn to Amerikanets, which one month ago was chronicling Tehran's successful campaign of 'debasification':

The broad picture of the Iranian air war in this phase has been a steady wave of concentrated missile and drone strikes sweeping its way across the region. In contrast to the previous hot phase of the war, in which Iran targeted bases across the entire theater simultaneously, this wave started with the targets close to Iranian shores, and has progressed steadily to the Israeli border. After destroying much of the radar network protecting regional US Axis bases in the previous hot phase of the war, Iranian planners have prioritized targeting fuel storage, drone hangers, refueling tankers, and barracks.

The American response has been to pull assets back ever further from Iran, to bases in Israel and Jordan. We’ll call this process debasification. Iran’s debasification strategy takes advantage of the inherent asymmetry between the vastly different force structure and capabilities of Iranian rocket forces and US Axis air forces.

A concluding section predicted the dilemma laid out in WaPo concerning a grand Pentagon evaluation of its force posture in the Middle East:

By all available evidence, the Iranian debasification campaign appears to be working. The US force in the region is likely incapable of generating the same combat power in its air operations against Iran as it could when the war started, and things are trending ever further in a negative direction. Even worse, there’s no clear solution on the horizon. The most obvious lever for American planners to pull is to accept more casualties and losses of personnel and airframes, but this is an unprecedented step the modern incarnation of the US military has never faced.

"The Iranian debasification campaign appears to be working.

The US force in the region is likely incapable of generating the same combat power in its air operations against Iran as it could when the war started, and things are trending ever further in a negative direction.…

— Alex Shams (@alexshams_) July 21, 2026

What's worse is that the Iranians know all of this full well - and probably earlier than the Western public - and they smell blood in the water. Hence, this week they've been strongly signaling a new 'offensive' military posture, and have vowed to hit harder in whatever next waves of conflict come.

So will the US rebuild bases battered by Iranian strikes? Well, Tehran is now saying that in essence it won't let that happen. The WaPo article operates under the illusory assumption that US planners have some big array of options set before them, when increasingly American forces are in obvious retreat and no one can do anything about it. Also, what happened to Pete Hegseth's rah rah Epic Fury press briefings on all the 'winning' and chest-thumping? It's been a while.

Tyler Durden Tue, 08/18/2026 - 15:25

Rosie O’Donnell is back in the hosting seat. Nearly 25 years after “The Rosie O’Donnell Show” went off the air, the outspoken comedian — and former co-host of “The View” — is helming “Jimmy Kimmel Live” for four nights, starting Monday, Aug. 17. During her first opening monologue, she called President Trump the “Mango Mussolini,”...

Rosie O’Donnell is back in the hosting seat. Nearly 25 years after “The Rosie O’Donnell Show” went off the air, the outspoken comedian — and former co-host of “The View” — is helming “Jimmy Kimmel Live” for four nights, starting Monday, Aug. 17. During her first opening monologue, she called President Trump the “Mango Mussolini,”...

The singer detailed her commitment to an intense rehabilitation as she prepares for shows in Paris this fall.

The singer detailed her commitment to an intense rehabilitation as she prepares for shows in Paris this fall.

The same bacteria that infected West is surging this summer in the south. And even though he will lose his leg, one might consider him lucky — one in five people who get this disease due from complications.

Get up to $1,500 Back in Bonus Bets if Your First Bet Doesn't Win with BetMGM bonus code POSTBET.

The 23-year-old startup founder was accused of an illicit scheme that legal experts said comes with a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison or, more likely, financial penalties.

Hayden Panettiere's estranged mom Lesley Vogel blasted her tragic daughter’s on-again, off-again boyfriend Brian Hickerson in her first public statement since the actress’ death.

Maryland Court Strikes Down Nation's First State Tax On Digital Advertising

Authored by Matthew Vadum via The Epoch Times,

A state tax court in Maryland invalidated the nation's first state tax on digital advertising and directed state officials to refund tax payments already collected from major tech companies.

People pass a building on the Google headquarters campus in Mountain View, Calif., on July 23, 2025. Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

The legal dispute had been closely watched by other states that are considering taxing online advertisements.

The Annapolis-based Maryland Tax Court ruled on Aug. 14 that the digital advertising gross revenues tax was unconstitutional after it was challenged in three separate lawsuits by Google, Apple, and Peacock TV. Refunds are expected to run into the hundreds of millions of dollars.

The state imposes the levies based on the businesses' global revenue. Lawmakers previously said the tax could raise $250 million per year. The money raised from the tax was earmarked for a state education program.

The 2021 tax statute specifically targets the revenue large companies earn from digital advertisements shown in Maryland. Companies that take in more than $100 million in annual global gross revenue were taxed at 2.5 percent.

A sliding scale applies to companies with larger revenues, maxing out at 10 percent for those earning more than $15 billion in global gross annual revenues.

The law's backers argued that Maryland needed to overhaul its tax system to deal with major changes in how businesses advertise. Lawyers representing the affected companies said their clients were targeted unfairly.

The state court said the tax runs afoul of the federal Internet Tax Freedom Act, the First Amendment, and the due process and commerce clauses of the U.S. Constitution.

The court held that regulating interstate commerce was the business of Congress - not the Maryland General Assembly - and that it was inappropriate that the tax law was premised on global revenue rather than revenue that comes from in-state advertising.

The Internet Tax Freedom Act forbids taxation of electronic commerce if similar services are not taxed. The court held that there is no meaningful distinction between digital advertising and print or billboard ads, meaning the federal bar applies.

The Apple logo during the preview of the redesigned and reimagined Apple Fifth Avenue store in New York City on Sept. 19, 2019. Brendan McDermid/Reuters

In August 2025, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit unanimously struck down the disclosure ban in the Maryland law that prevents companies from listing the digital advertising tax on customers' receipts.

Forbidding the disclosure of the tax on customers' receipts means that if companies opt to pass on the cost of the tax to their customers, they are not allowed to advise customers why prices have risen, which means Maryland is insulated from political accountability, the appeals court's written opinion said.

The law "prevents companies from describing the tax in the one setting where the consumer is guaranteed to look: the invoice," the opinion said.

"Keeping out of hot water with voters is not among the interests that can justify a speech ban.

"Criticizing the government - for taxes or anything else - is important discourse in a democratic society. The First Amendment forbids Maryland to suppress it."

The Tax Foundation hailed the Maryland Tax Court's new ruling in an Aug. 14 blog post.

"This is a robust win for the petitioners on all counts," Jared Walczak, a senior fellow at the foundation, wrote.

Although Utah and Illinois enacted digital ad taxes this year, none followed Maryland's approach. Lawmakers in other states that are "considering a digital advertising tax should likewise take note of today's result. It's a look into their own future if they choose to adopt a similar tax," he said.

Democratic legislative leaders in Annapolis said the state will appeal the court ruling.

Senate President Bill Ferguson and House Speaker Joseline A. Peña-Melnyk said they "respectfully disagree with today's ruling and expect the legal process to continue."

The tax was enacted because the state's tax system needs to keep pace with a changing economy in which more commerce and advertising have been moving online, they said in an Aug. 14 statement posted on X.

"It was appropriate to modernize our tax code so that large digital advertising companies contributed alongside other businesses operating in our state."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Tyler Durden Tue, 08/18/2026 - 15:05

The newly announced California Trader Joe's locations include stores in Leucadia, Riverbank and San Diego, although exact opening dates are not set.

An Australian mine filled with tungsten, a key metal of war, is reopening -- ominously coinciding with the start of major wars across the world.

Get a digital assistant today.

"If you tell anyone I will get arrested."

Russia is shipping parts for drones, missiles and explosives to Iran to replenish its weapons stockpiles decimated by US and Israeli airstrikes during the war, according to a new report.