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31192
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"In July 2017, Don Moen died of ""stomach pain""."
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HoustonChronicle-TV.com is not in any way associated with the Houston Chronicle newspaper.
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false
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Junk News, death hoax, don moen, fake news
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On 12 July 2017, the HoustonChronicle-TV web site published an entirely fake story, reporting that American gospel singer and pastor Don Moen had died after a “short illness”: American singer-songwriter, Evangelist Don Moen has died after [a] short battle with stomach pain. His family confirmed that he died early this morning at General Acute Care (GAC) Hospital in California barely [a] couple of hours after he was rushed to the hospital. The article is riddled with errors and fabrications, such as California’s “General Acute Care Hospital”, which does not exist, and a fake tribute from President Donald Trump. Moen’s collaborator — Nigerian Christian Contemporary music artist Frank Edwards — confirmed the report is a hoax, tweeting a screenshot of a text message sent by Moen’s son Michael, who wrote: Dad is great and it good health. That article is false and just trying to get people to click thru [sic] to their website. I’ll have dad post something on social media shortly so people know. PLS IGNORE THIS FAKE NEWS!!! Don moen @donmoen is VERY ALIVE AND HEALTHY ?? pic.twitter.com/UcIqQs2AGA — FRANK EDWARDS (@FRANKRICHBOY) July 12, 2017 On the day the fake article was published, Moen posted to Facebook. The story itself contains several hallmarks of being fake: an invented hospital; a dubious cause of death (“stomach pain”) is followed by the contradictory claim that the cause of death was “not immediately known”; a quote from Donald Trump is not attributed to any source; a quote from the pastor T.D. Jakes is attributed to “local media” but no specific source is named.
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17966
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"An account of attacks in Benghazi written by former White House press secretary Dee Dee Myers shows that the body of U.S. Ambassador to Libya Christopher Stevens was ""dragged through the streets"" and abused."
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"The chain email forwarded an account purportedly written by Dee Dee Myers of how her cousin and Ambassador Chris Stevens were killed in the Benghazi attack, including being ""sodomized and beaten and cut and stabbed and burned."" Myers told PolitiFact that she had nothing to do with the email, and that anything it said about her was false. As for the email’s claims about Stevens’ being violently attacked and violated rather than killed by smoke inhalation, two government reports and several contemporary journalistic accounts cast strong doubt. The one Web report that supports this scenario was recanted by the website after the mainstream media source it had cited, Agence France Presse, said it had reported no such thing. The email is a combination of fabrication and unsupported speculation."
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false
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National, Foreign Policy, Terrorism, Chain email,
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"A reader recently forwarded us a chain email about the attack on U.S. facilities in Benghazi, Libya, on Sept. 11, 2012. Similar emails have been circulating for months, speculating about how U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans were killed by Islamic extremists in the attack. But this email caught our eye because it was purportedly written by Dee Dee Myers, who once served as White House spokeswoman for President Bill Clinton. The email played up the significance of a well-known Democrat breaking with President Barack Obama over what had happened in Benghazi. The reader wondered if it was actually written by Myers, and so did we. Moments after we contacted Myers’ office, she emailed us back, saying she had nothing to do with the account. ""No, I didn't write it, don't have any relatives in the Benghazi Guard, didn't have any of the conversations or meetings described in the letter,"" she told PolitiFact. ""There is no truth to it whatsoever."" What the email said The email opens by falsely claiming that the account is directly from Myers and that one of her cousins was guarding the ambassador on the night he died. (Read the full text of the email.) The email then purports to tell a disturbing story about what happened that night. In the email's version of events, the cousin dies as well: ""... Ambassador Stevens was brutally murdered. His genitals were cut off, he was sodomized and beaten and cut and stabbed and burned. He was dragged thru the streets and left for dead. This is eyewitness testimony of a local Dr. who found the Ambassador in a ditch and tried to save his life. He had no idea who he was. The other 3 men, including my cousin, met similar fates. ""Death due to smoke inhalation is a 100% fabricated LIE. ... The next week I drove my aunt and uncle and 2 others to DC to receive his body. We met with Hillary, whom I remain friends with, Panetta, and Susan Rice. All apologized saying it was a protest gone bad over a video and exited the area. Next Obama entered with the same story and made no apology and offered little sympathy."" The email ends with a lament for the Clinton years: ""The leadership of our country has reduced to lies and deception.......what has happened to us? How I long for President Clinton."" Myers herself told us she was not the author of the email and that its details concerning her or supposed relatives are fabricated. We still wondered whether there was any other evidence to support the email’s claims about how Stevens died. Was he ""sodomized and beaten and cut and stabbed and burned""? What we know about the night of the attacks After the attacks, the administration empowered an Accountability Review Board headed by former Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Mike Mullen and veteran diplomat Thomas Pickering. In its unclassified final report, the board said the scene was chaotic on the night of Stevens’ death. Officials lost track of Stevens around 11:30 p.m., until he arrived at the Benghazi Medical Center around 1:15 a.m. But the report makes no mention of any kind abuse to Stevens. Instead, it says he was brought to the emergency room by ""six civilians .. but to the best knowledge of the Board these were ‘good Samaritans’ among the hordes of looters and bystanders"" who arrived on the scene after the American personnel had left. The death, the report said, was due to ""apparent smoke inhalation."" Another group that reviewed the attack and its aftermath, the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee -- controlled by Republicans -- made no mention of abuse either. Their report concluded that ""local Libyans found the remains of Ambassador Stevens in the main diplomatic building at the Benghazi Mission and transported him to the hospital. The Libyans apparently did not realize who the Ambassador was, but they alerted the State Department of his location by using the cell phone that was in the Ambassador’s pocket. Libyan doctors tried unsuccessfully to resuscitate Ambassador Stevens upon his arrival at the hospital."" These accounts also track with contemporary reporting. An Associated Press report included an interview with Ziad Abu Zeid, a Libyan doctor who treated Stevens. Abu Zeid told the AP that Stevens was unresponsive when he arrived at the hospital, but that ""we tried to revive him for an hour and a half but with no success."" Abu Zeid said Stevens had bleeding in his stomach because of the asphyxiation but no other injuries. A CNN reporter was told by Libyans that they found Stevens and brought him to the hospital. That report too made no mention of any kind of abuse, and a doctor said Stevens was covered in soot when he arrived. The CNN report includes amateur video that shows rescuers pulling Stevens through a window, a detail that tracks with what the Accountability Review Board concluded. Meanwhile, the rare published reports that supposedly back up the chain email have been the subject of strong pushback. A Lebanese news outlet, Tayyar.org, published a report soon after the attack that cited Agence France Press reporting that Stevens was raped before being murdered. However, the AFP subsequently released a statement saying that the Tayyar.org report ""falsely quoted our news agency and has no truth whatsover to it. AFP promptly sent a strongly worded complaint to that website and they removed the report and published a denial, saying that AFP did not report such a thing."" One key piece of evidence has not yet been made public: autopsy results. The FBI was charged with investigating the attack, but it has not yet produced a final report, which would presumably include an autopsy report. A call to the FBI on Sept. 6, 2013, confirmed that no report has been released yet. We will update this report when that information is publicly released. Our ruling The chain email forwarded an account purportedly written by Dee Dee Myers of how her cousin and Ambassador Chris Stevens were killed in the Benghazi attack, including being ""sodomized and beaten and cut and stabbed and burned."" Myers told PolitiFact that she had nothing to do with the email, and that anything it said about her was false. As for the email’s claims about Stevens’ being violently attacked and violated rather than killed by smoke inhalation, two government reports and several contemporary journalistic accounts cast strong doubt. The one Web report that supports this scenario was recanted by the website after the mainstream media source it had cited, Agence France Presse, said it had reported no such thing. The email is a combination of fabrication and unsupported speculation."
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35323
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H.R. 6666 provides $100 billion to entities that perform COVID-19 testing but prohibits them from allowing any non-vaccinated persons into their facilities.
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"What's true: H.R. 6666 creates grants for health care, school-based, academic, and nonprofit entities to run mobile testing sites and hire staff to perform diagnostic tests and contact tracing. What's false: The bill does not require participating entities to ""only allow people into their facilities that have the COVID-19 vaccination [and] are tested and tracked."""
|
mixture
|
Politics, COVID-19
|
On May 1, 2020, U.S. Rep. Bobby Rush of Illinois introduced the Testing, Reaching, and Contacting Everyone (TRACE) Act to the U.S. House of Representatives, a piece of legislation that was assigned the ominous-sounding number H.R. 6666. The intent of H.R. 6666, as summarized on GovTrack, is as follows: This bill would provide $100 billion in grants to faith-based organization, clinics, medical centers, and other organization which perform testing for COVID–19, tracing of exposure to COVID–19, or services for individuals who are isolating at home. The funding could be used to pay their staff or purchase personal protective equipment to protect their staff. No provision in this bill would make testing or quarantining mandatory. The bill includes privacy protections for the medical information of individuals that would limit how grantee organizations could share information collected with the federal government. A popular meme asserted that the substance of H.R. 6666 would give $100 billion to “schools, churches, and medical buildings,” and that “they only way they can receive the money is to agree by contract that they will only allow people into their facilities that have the COVID-19 vaccination [and] are tested and tracked”: The text of the bill does allow for an appropriation of up to $100 billion for fiscal year 2020 to award grants to “eligible entities to conduct diagnostic testing for COVID–19, and related activities such as contact tracing, through mobile health units and, as necessary, at individuals’ residences, and for other purposes.” Eligible entities include federally qualified health centers, school-based health clinics, disproportionate share hospitals, academic medical centers, nonprofit organizations (including faith-based organizations), institutions of higher education, and high schools. However, the bill text makes no reference to any contractual terms requiring qualifying entities to “agree that they will only allow people into their facilities that have the COVID-19 vaccination [and] are tested and tracked.” In fact, such a requirement would be impossible to satisfy, as no COVID-19 vaccine yet exists. One of the services covered by the grants is contact tracing, which, as explained by the CDC, involves the following: Contact tracing is part of the process of supporting patients with suspected or confirmed infection.
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1794
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More U.S. households smoke-free, study says.
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Nearly twice as many U.S. households are smoke-free compared to 20 years ago, reflecting an increased awareness of the health hazards from secondhand smoke, but too many people still are exposed, according to a federal study released Thursday.
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true
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Health News
|
In the early 1990s, 43 percent of U.S. homes were smoke-free, a figure that rose to 83 percent in 2010-2011, according to the study, issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. More than 90 percent of homes without a smoker and nearly half of those with at least one adult smoker had smoke-free rules, the study said. “It’s a shift in social norms,” said Brian King, lead author of the CDC study. “People no longer see smoking around non-smokers as socially acceptable behavior.” Still, he said, more progress is needed, particularly in homes where smokers live, as secondhand smoke from cigarettes kills an estimated 41,000 non-smokers annually. “We know there is no safe level of secondhand smoke,” King said. “The ultimate goal is to not expose people to a known carcinogen.” The increased number of smoke-free homes is attributable in part to the diminishing segment of Americans who smoke. Some 18 percent of Americans were smokers in 2012, down from 42 percent in 1965, the CDC said. With smoking bans increasingly common at bars, restaurants and in private workplaces, homes are the primary source of secondhand smoke for children and non-smokers, the CDC said. Roughly half of U.S. residents are now covered by laws that ban smoking in public places, the agency said. Smoking bans are now expanding to apartments, public housing and even to cars with children inside, King said. Among states, the percentage of smoke-free homes ranged from a low of 69.4 percent in Kentucky and West Virginia to 93.6% in Utah during 2010–2011, the CDC said. The study did not ask respondents to specify whether they were referring to tobacco or marijuana smoke in the home, the CDC said. (This story has been refiled to fix typo in sixth paragraph, “is” instead of “it”)
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38794
|
Reports that are eerily similar to the plot of “Back to the Future II” claim that Michael J. Fox has been arrested for insider sports betting.
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Michael J. Fox Arrested for Insider Sports Betting
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false
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Celebrities, Humorous
|
Don’t believe stories about Michael J. Fox being arrested for insider sports betting. The rumor started out as a joke about Back to the Future II, but lots of people missed the punch line. In the movie, Marty McFly (played by Michael J. Fox) travels to the future — October 21, 2015, to be exact — to prevent his nemesis, Biff Tennan, from making millions on insider sports betting. Tennan had somehow got his hands on “a sports almanac from the future” and used it to place insider sports bets during the eighties. Because Marty McFly time traveled to October 21, 2015, in the movie, the date was celebrated (in real life) as “Back to the Future Day.” The false report about Michael J. Fox being arrested for sport betting, a parody of the movie’s plot, was part of that. The fake news website Stubhill News played a big role in the rumor going viral. The site reported that Michael J. Fox had been arrested for inside betting on the DraftKings daily fantasy sports website: Los Angeles—Michael J. Fox was arrested Wednesday morning in relation to insider sports betting on DraftKings. Fox aroused suspicion after achieving a statistically-impossible, perfect record on the site under the username NoChicken. Authorities found an unusually worn copy of a sports almanac which was just recently printed and which has markings cataloging winning bets Fox has placed since the late 80’s. “The operating theory is that the Back to the Future films were really documentaries from an original, prime timeline,” said NASA astrophysicist Barry Manilow. “The implications are heavy. It is suspected that we are living in an alternate 2015, as there are no flying cars and there are only four Jaws movies. We can only assume that we are forever stunted as a society. The amount of lives lost due to our lack of progress in technology and medicine is unfathomable. Worst of all, instead of hoverboards, this sad reality is limited to the Swagway.” But rest assured, Michael J. Fox has not been arrested for insider sports betting. Comments
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10293
|
Study disputes wait-and-see approach to prostate cancer
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"The article describes a new study which suggests aggressive treatment with surgery or radiation may benefit older men who were traditionally thought not to benefit (or benefit as much) from these treatments, due to their life expectancies. The article does provide some context around the nature of early prostate cancer, including the controversy over whether or not to treat it, but still seems to exaggerate the problem of prostate cancer. The article also describes the nature of the latest evidence, but seems to overstate the evidence in places (""…treatment offered a clear advantage"") and lacks appropriate interpretation of the data, which is biasing in the direction of treatment. The research is observational and the story does caution readers that more research is needed to confirm these findings. But overall the story seems tilted toward benefits of treatment, rather than caution about needing more research to confirm these findings. The story also obtains several independent sources to comment on the findings and acknowledges that not all experts agree on what the latest findings tell us. Other limitations including reporting relative risk reductions vs. absolute risk reductions, minimizing harms of treatment by not providing estimates of how frequently these occur, and not providing any cost information."
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mixture
|
"The article does not provide any cost information, and there are clearly wide variations in costs among the various prostate cancer treatment options. The article only provides relative risk reductions when absolute risk reductions are best (and are provided in the study findings). The article also claims that the study findings ""indicate that treatment offered a clear advantage,"" which is premature since this is not a randomized trial. The quote from an ""expert"" (the story gives no information about his expertise) is misleading: ""This debunks the idea that older men do not benefit from treatment."" Clearly, the study is completely insufficient to 'debunk' watchful waiting as a treatment option for prostate cancer, especially in older men. While the article does mention some harms of aggressive treatment, impotence and incontinence, it doesn't provide readers with any context around how often these occur or how troubling men may find these. There are qualitative statements telling readers that quality of life can be affected, but overall, the seriousness of treatment side effects seems to be minimized. The article describes the study as a database study in which men who chose various treatment paths were followed over time (which means it cannot be a randomized trial). Astute readers might be able to tell this is an observational study. The article describes some of the study limitations and states that additional research is needed to verify these results. However, the story does not appropriately interpret the evidence, which seems biasing (toward treatment). Errors include ""30% less likely to die"" (All will die sometime. Time frame – within 12 years – was not cited in second paragraph.) and ""…indicating a clear advantage"" (Not true). Although the author of the study says ""we adjusted for as many of those differences as we could,"" we are still left with the limitations of an observational study. This story seems to hype the results which were not that impressive, given all the limitations associated with the study. But, the study is interesting and warrants additional research, as was noted in the article, and the tone could have been more in that direction, rather than the ""treatment can prolong older men's lives"" approach. The article does provide some context about early prostate cancer, including numbers of men who are diagnosed with or die from the condition, as well as the fact that many prostate cancers are slow-growing and may never cause harm before a man dies of something else. The article provides multiple sources of information, some of whom appear to be independent of the current study. The sources also provide a range of opinions about what the latest study means, which adds balance. The study does describe the three main treatment options for early prostate cancer: surgery, radiation, and observation. While more information about surgery or radiation may have been helpful, overall, the article does describe the main choices and especially provides context about where observation may fit into the list of choices. The article states that the study followed men who chose aggressive treatment (either surgery or radiation) or observation (also known as watchful waiting) for early prostate cancer, indicating these options are currently available to manage early prostate cancer. It's clear from the story that it is reporting on established treatments – surgery, radiation, or observation (watchful waiting). Because the story relied on a number of independent sources, it is safe to assume it did not rely solely or largely on a news release."
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9284
|
Simple score predicts risk of death for middle-aged adults in the UK
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For the second time in a month, The Lancet is promoting a “simple” test that may help predict one’s risk of death. A few weeks ago it was the notorious death grip study, this time it’s a questionnaire that predicts your “Ubble age.” The new test is based on Swedish researchers’ efforts to correlate an array of lifestyle and health factors with mortality in a massive epidemiological study of UK residents. They are making the test publicly available via an interactive website with the help of the UK organization Sense About Science, which tries to help citizens utilize scientific evidence in their daily lives. [Editor’s note: We could not log onto the death risk calculator website to evaluate it despite multiple attempts as of this writing.] While these tests are never as “simple” as they’re made out to be, we’re happy to note significant improvement in this most recent release compared with its predecessor. The current release does a pretty thorough job of explaining the study and quotes from an accompanying editorial to provide some perspective. The editorial notes that it’s not clear how individuals may react to such estimates of their death risk. Is this information motivating to people or not? And if it is motivating, is it healthy motivation that leads to actions that decrease future risk, or does it engender a sense of hopelessness that leads the person to take on even more unhealthy behaviors resulting in even higher risk? We applaud the release for calling attention to this important unanswered question. But we do wonder if more thought should have been given to the answer before trumpeting the results to the world and making the test freely accessible to everyone. Predicting what the future may hold is something that is intriguing to everyone. And what is more important to predict than whether you will live or die? So this algorithm that provides an estimate of one’s risk of death in 5 years is appealing at many levels. However, there are several important caveats — some addressed in this news release and some not. The biggest missing piece is whether the information is accurate for an individual. While the study reports reasonable population accuracy (~80%), there is some mention that it varies. For example, the test does a better job for younger individuals than for older ones. However, there is no information provided about how accurate the individual’s estimate is. Without such information, individuals should be very cautious about interpreting data that may be accurate only at a population level until more information is available for their particular situation.
|
true
|
Sense About Science,The Lancet,Ubble Age
|
Access to an interactive site for purposes of computing a score predicting one’s risk of dying will be free. However, this should have been stated in the release. We can’t rate the release Satisfactory if there’s no mention of cost at all, so we’ll rate it Not Applicable. Very little about this news release is quantitative. The document repeatedly lauds the benefits of predicting 5-year mortality via self-reports rather than more intrusive physical tests, and it touts the potential use of the “Ubble age” score to assist doctors in identifying “high risk” patients and to improve individuals’ self-awareness. But no studies have been conducted to test effects on either of these audiences, a concern which the release refers to only at the end of the document. The release could have included that information higher up in the release and emphasized it more. The release does mention that the algorithm was validated and shown to have an ~80% accuracy. But as noted above, this is a population level estimate. The overall test characteristics of the model do not translate into an interpretation that is meaningful for an individual. One could argue that this is mainly the fault of the original study rather than the release, as we could find no data in the paper that provides information that an individual could use to determine how accurate their particular calculation was. However, this problem contributes to an overall sense that the release is weighted too far in the direction of benefits without enough attention to potential harms and uncertainties. The text does offer a brief cautionary note when it quotes from the commentary of a couple of UK scientists in The Lancet issue to the effect that “whether this will help individuals improve self-awareness of their health status…or only lead to so-called cyberchondria, is a moot point.” Cyberchondria refers to unfounded anxiety concerning the state of one’s health brought on by visiting health and medical websites, so that term seems apt here. And “moot” conveys the uncertainty surrounding outcomes as, again, the study can offer no evidence. We’ll give a Satisfactory rating, though we wonder if it would have been more effective to say, “it is unclear whether use of this information will lead to actions that will help or harm individuals.” The data used came from a gargantuan epidemiological study involving nearly half a million UK respondents. The news release offers some details about that study, including the number of possible predictors (655) and the nature of the analysis. The text also contains a caveat reminding the reader that prediction is not the same as causation (a variant on the “correlation is not causation” theme), as well as a quote from one of the investigators that cautions against seeing one’s score as a “deterministic prediction.” These are important qualifiers, but they occur lower in the press release, and it is not clear how well those points will get picked up in subsequent stories. We didn’t see anything that implied a doomsday perspective to use of this data. The release also clearly implies this is for UK citizens and not for others. So we’ll award a Satisfactory rating, although we’d note again that there’s an aspect of this test that could possibly lead to increased anxiety and “cyberchondria,” as the release puts it. Funders are clearly identified in the notes at the bottom of the press release. The investigators assert the absence of conflicts of interest in the journal article itself. The study and its press release make much of the potential advantage of predicting death via self-report questions rather than biological tests. So the text makes an overt comparison, admittedly without data. The release could also have included the comparison to doing nothing. Whether providing any risk information (this version or another) or no risk information makes a difference is a legitimate question. Notes at the end of the news release speak to the availability of the interactive “Ubble” website once the research article is published. We could not access the calculator, perhaps due to high traffic levels accompanying the rollout. The news release is explicit about the novelty of the approach to prediction, as well as regarding the scale of the study itself. We suspect it is correct in this assessment, as the epidemiological study on which the work is based is truly huge. One of the investigators refers to the study’s development of a prediction score from self-report data as “exciting,” but most of the quotes, while positive, also convey useful information, including qualifiers.
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11240
|
Fighting Alzheimer’s With Dimebon
|
This felt like a hurried attempt to cover a story appearing in the journal, The Lancet. And journalists should not be rushed when reporting about Alzheimer’s Disease. Yet ABC did rush to these conclusions: On the air, they referred to the drug Dimebon as “a drug which might, and we stress might, give some hope to the millions of people who suffer from Alzheimer’s Disease.” On its website they referred to the drug as “A Miracle Drug for Alzheimer’s Disease.” Their story: Didn’t explain how limited the conclusions should be about a drug studied in 120 patients in a Phase 2 trial; Didn’t interview anyone involved in the research; Didn’t explain how “significant improvement” was measured; Didn’t discuss any potential harms. Therefore, ABC didn’t establish any justification for calling this a miracle.
|
false
|
Alzheimer's
|
The story doesn’t mention anything about costs. Using the phrase “showed significant improvement in mental tests” does not meet our standard for quantifying benefits. What does this mean? All drugs have side effects; this story mentioned none. The story only states that those taking the drug “showed significant improvement in mental tests.” What does that mean? Which tests? How reliable are they? The scales used in such studies – and their significance to activities of daily living – always not in synch. The story doesn’t commit any overt disease-mongering. Odd sourcing on this story. We don’t hear from any of the investigators. We only hear from Dr. Sam Gandy of the Alzheimer’s Association. A woman with early Alzheimer’s Disease is interviewed but we can assume that she was not in the trial. The story only states, “Medicines on the market now do little more than delay the mental decline.” But this study was only a Phase 2 study. It did not compare Dimebon with any of the existing drugs. So no comparison can be made. And that one line was insufficient explanation of what is available and what the harms/benefits of the existing approaches are. The story doesn’t tell us much about Dimebon – not whether it’s already FDA approved for anything else. Not the fact that it’s also being studied for use in Huntington’s Disease. The accompanying editorial in the Lancet states, “This drug began life as a non-selective antihistamine but was withdrawn when more selective agents became available.” We aren’t given any sense of the novelty of this approach. Why might an antihistamine work in Alzheimer’s disease? Why didn’t the story mention the drug company’s parallel Huntington Disease studies? Is there a mechanism worth explaining? We can’t be sure if the story relied solely or largely on a news release.
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9575
|
Rethinking the Use of Hormones to Ease Menopause Symptoms
|
In this New York Times’ Well blog post, the gist of the text is supporting the idea that old fears about the health risks of hormone replacement therapy for women have been rethought and new conclusions should reassure the public about its safe use–especially in short-term (fewer than 5 years) relief of menopausal systems. The post mentions that HRT has been used in two ways: to treat menopause symptoms, and to prevent chronic disease. But the information is relayed in a somewhat confusing, incomplete way. For example, there was no discussion of where the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force falls on the idea of using HRT to prevent chronic disease. (They recommend against it.) When clinical research is mentioned, no specifics are given on the measured benefits or harms. Women have been subjected to plenty of confusion in the past decade over the safety of HRT. Once touted as a potential relief for symptoms of menopause, these drugs were also later criticized for potential harms (2002) that outweighed their benefits for some women. New research in this area is certainly of interest to many women, and incomplete information will likely be noticed by sharp-eyed consumers tired of the back and forth.
|
false
|
menopause
|
Costs are not discussed. This story is about risks and benefits, and about the misunderstandings that can result. But we did not find the absolute risk and benefit numbers that would have helped to clarify. Here is a benefit statement, which we found incomplete. We would have preferred some absolute numbers. “In a Danish randomized controlled trial of 1,006 women entering menopause, among those given hormones for 10 years, “there was a reduction in cardiovascular disease and breast cancer — a clear benefit with nominal risk,” Dr. Hodis said. These benefits persisted after 16 years of follow-up, according to the study, which was published in 2012.” How big was the “clear benefit?” What does Dr. Hodis consider a “nominal risk?” Readers may look at these issues differently than Dr. Hodis does, so it’s important to clarify. The story is trying to compensate for bad communication in years past, and so we believe it should meet a high standard when communicating the perspective it says is “new.” Here is one harms statement that could use more careful writing and more numbers. The italics were added by us: “In an analysis in 2013 in the American Journal of Public Health, Dr. Philip M. Sarrel and his co-authors calculated that, based on reduced death rates among women taking only estrogen in the W.H.I. study, avoiding hormone replacement resulted in the premature deaths of 18,601 to 91,610 women in the decade after the study’s release.” There is a lot of leeway between 18,000 and 90,000. The claim of deaths due to misinformation begs for a more accurate description of the equation used in the 2013 paper, as well as limitations of the analysis. It would also be important to explain why this recommendation differs from that of the independent U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, which still recommends against the use of HRT for the prevention of chronic diseases. Their recommendation includes a detailed description of harms and benefits on their web site. The entire story is about the “harm” possibly done by the warning years ago that hormone replacement therapy had been hyped inaccurately as a cure-all. But the story is remarkably silent on the potential “harm” that still exists from hormone replacement for some women under some circumstances. The point that every woman should calculate her own personal risk versus benefits with her physician seemed buried. The story states early on that “new studies” are invalidating the original Women’s Health Initiative. However, the two research studies cited in the story are from 2012 and 2013, years that don’t qualify as “new.” And the quality of those studies and their potential limitations isn’t addressed in any detail. Beyond the 2016 guidelines referenced in the story, the only other relatively “new” item seems to be the debut of a mobile app, released in 2014. But the story gives us no evidence or discussion of research to establish its credibility as a health-care decision tool. Here is the mention. Italics added by us: “To help women and their doctors assess H.R.T. options and select the best treatment for women 45 and older with menopausal symptoms, the North American Menopause Society has developed a mobile app, MenoPro, for iPhone/iPad and Android devices.” The editorial written about the app contains this disclaimer language. The boldface added by us: “Disclaimer: We think readers of the news story will be confused, because it seems as if the app is being offered precisely to help them make a health-care decision about the use or non-use of hormone replacement. But the disclaimer seems to say “don’t use this for diagnosis or treatment.” There was no disease mongering. The Danish trial referenced in the study was partially funded by drug companies and the authors disclose a long list of drug company affiliations not mentioned in the story. In addition, the first author of the 2013 study showing harm from avoiding hormone therapy has served as a consultant Noven Therapeutics, which makes hormone therapies. The two experts quoted in the story are JoAnn Manson and Howard Hodis. Manson is one of the authors of the editorial about the mobile phone app, and the paper says she has no conflicts. Hodis is a member of the board of the North American Menopause Society. The NAMS receives support from a long list of pharmaceutical companies. Links to some of them here. The story tried to cover so much ground in revisiting old ideas and explaining new ideas, it did not take the time to set up a comprehensive list of alternative ways for women to deal with menopausal symptoms. It listed the traditional hormone replacement and then discussed what it labeled “custom compounded” products without much explaining of what they are. Regular exercise, for example, is among many non-drug approaches listed routinely for menopausal symptoms. All of the therapies in the story are widely available, and the story establishes this with this sentence: “There are also lots of products now available and different ways to use them that enhance the safety of hormone replacement.” The story was confusing. The beginning implies that there is new research on the value and safety of hormone replacement, but the only clinical research studies quoted are years old. The story did not rely on a news release.
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10959
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Garlic powerless against cholesterol
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This is little gem of a story—a 454-word précis that lays out a succinct history of the research on garlic’s purported success in lowering LDL cholesterol (lab and animal studies), describes the methods and results of a new randomized trial in adults who have moderately high cholesterol, adds the voices of four sources representing a variety of viewpoints and interests, and entertains the reader in the deal. Unfortunately, the story doesn’t perfectly satisfy all of our criteria: In another 50 words or so it could have mentioned the costs of supplements, the incidental “harms” of consuming garlic (bad breath and body odor) and alternative methods for lowering cholesterol (e.g. exercise, diet, and drugs). Fortunately, many readers will be familiar with these. The story might also have added one more caveat (noted in an accompanying editorial): that atherosclerosis is an extremely complex problem involving much more than cholesterol — and that, conceivably, garlic might help trim some other risk factor important to our cardiovascular health. (Charlson M, Arch Intern Med 2007;167:325-6)
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true
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Though the article does not mention costs or compare costs of garlic and garlic supplements with other treatments, many readers will be familiar with these. The story reports that the consumption of garlic in any of three forms (raw, powdered supplement, aged extract supplement) had no effect on LDL cholesterol or triglycerides. To quantify this non-effect in mm/dL is unnecessary, and would have been numbing for the average health news consumer. A majority (57%) of individuals in the trial who ate garlic-laced sandwiches reported bad breath and body odor, a “harm” the story neglected to mention. The article reflects an appreciation for the hierarchy of evidence, noting that “there was good evidence in test-tube and animal studies” that garlic could lower LDL cholesterol, and explains the randomization methods in the new clinical trial. No obvious elements of disease-mongering. The article cites four sources and provides sufficient information about their potential conflicts of interest. The article fails to mention alternative methods for lowering cholesterol, though many readers may be familiar with these (most prominently exercise, diet, and drugs). Most readers will be familiar with the availability of the health interventions studied—raw garlic and garlic supplements. The story rightly notes that garlic is not a new “treatment” for high cholesterol. No obvious use of text from a press release.
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16897
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Only after news broke that our veterans are dying because of inadequate health care did Harry Reid and Senate Democrats take action.
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"Cassidy said that ""only after news broke that our veterans are dying because of inadequate health care did Harry Reid and Senate Democrats take action."" That’s not accurate. Democrats tried to pass an expansive veterans’ bill that included funding for the same 27 new clinics that Cassidy and the House passed last December. The bill was blocked by Senate Republicans, who were concerned about its funding and its scope. They also wanted to include sanctions against Iran. It’s fine for Cassidy to say Democrats bear some responsibility for not taking up the simpler House legislation, but it’s incorrect for him to claim that it took the scandal to propel Democrats into efforts to pass a VA bill. That’s revisionist history."
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false
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National, Veterans, Bill Cassidy,
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"As details of the turmoil within the Department of Veterans Affairs continue to unfold, Congress is scrambling to pass legislation to fix to the problem. One House Republican accused Democrats of closing the barn door after the horse got out. ""It’s been more than 177 days since the House passed bipartisan legislation that would authorize these VA clinics,"" Rep. Bill Cassidy, R-La., said in a statement on June 5, 2014. ""Only after news broke that our veterans are dying because of inadequate health care did Harry Reid and Senate Democrats take action. We need to continue working towards patient-centered solutions so all veterans have access to quality healthcare."" Is it true that Senate Democrats only moved to fund new veterans health clinics after the scandal broke in April? In a word: No. The bill Cassidy references is H.R. 3251, the Department of Veterans Affairs Major Medical Facility Lease Authorization Act of 2013. The bill, authored by Rep. Jeff Miller, R-Fla., authorized the funding of 27 new Veterans Affairs health facilities around the country. On Dec. 10, 2013, the House passed the bill almost unanimously with a vote of 346 to 1. (Rep. Jeff Duncan, R-S.C., was the lone ""no"" vote.) The bill stalled in the Senate. In fact, it never made it out of the Veterans' Affairs committee. But as is so often the case, the Senate was working on its own bill, and that one failed because Senate Republicans objected to it. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., introduced S. 1950, the Comprehensive Veterans Health and Benefits and Military Retirement Pay Restoration Act of 2014, on Jan. 16. (It would later be renumbered S. 1982). The scope of the bill was much broader than just funding 27 new VA health clinics. For example, it also included an expansion of physical and mental health benefits for some veterans and their families. Whereas Miller’s bill was nine pages, Sanders’ was 367 pages. Republicans objected to several components of Sanders’ bill, including its funding mechanism. Sanders would pay for his bill with money that would have gone toward the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. Republicans said those savings were already expected, so it wasn’t a real source of money. (For what it’s worth, the House bill did not really specify where its funding would be taken from.) Republicans also hinged support for the bill on the inclusion of sanctions against Iran. Democrats tried to bring Sanders’ bill up for a vote on Feb. 27. Republicans made a parliamentary maneuver that imposed a 60-vote threshold to bring it to the floor. With just 56 Senators voting ""yea"" — including two Republicans — the bill failed to advance. Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C., the ranking Republican on the Veterans' Affairs committee, said he was concerned about the costs and the expansion of the VA when there were already considerable problems with wait times. In a press release, the American Legion lamented the bill’s failure. ""There was a right way to vote and a wrong way to vote today, and 41 senators chose the wrong way,"" American Legion National Commander Daniel Dellinger said. ""That’s inexcusable."" That said, there wasn’t unanimous backing of the bill by veterans groups. In an op-ed, Stewart Hickey, national executive director for American Veterans, or AMVETS, said Sanders’ ""kitchen sink-like"" bill ""would be morally irresponsible and fiscally unsound."" For the next couple months, Sen. David Vitter, R-La., and Sanders went back and forth on the status of the veterans bill. On March 11, Vitter offered an amendment to to the House bill that would pay for the new VA clinics through price controls for prescription drugs purchased by the Defense Department. Sanders said he supported the new clinics, but also wanted other provisions included in the comprehensive legislation. On April 9, Miller, the chairman of the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs, announced that dozens of Arizona veterans died waiting for care from the VA, and he had evidence showing that administrators at the Phoenix office were forging wait times. There were multiple points along the way when Sam Foote, a doctor of internal medicine at the Phoenix VA before he retired, attempted to blow the whistle on the bad practices in Arizona, including a December meeting with the Arizona Republic and a letter to the VA inspector general. But it wasn’t until Miller’s comments that the story broke and became a national scandal, eventually leading to the resignation of Veteran Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki. Also on April 9, Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La. — who Cassidy is challenging for Senate in November — actually called for the House Republican bill to be discharged from the Senate Veteran Affairs committee. But that effort was blocked by Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, who asked for Vitter’s amendment to be included. Sanders objected. ""Both parties had a role in this,"" said Joe Davis, spokesman for Veterans of Foreign Wars. A spokeswoman for Cassidy said the congressman was only referring to Senate inaction on the House measure in his statement. However, that isn’t how his statement reads. If that were the case, it would mean that Senate Democrats had decided to take up the House bill after the scandal hit, which isn’t true. Our ruling Cassidy said that ""only after news broke that our veterans are dying because of inadequate health care did Harry Reid and Senate Democrats take action."" That’s not accurate. Democrats tried to pass an expansive veterans’ bill that included funding for the same 27 new clinics that Cassidy and the House passed last December. The bill was blocked by Senate Republicans, who were concerned about its funding and its scope. They also wanted to include sanctions against Iran. It’s fine for Cassidy to say Democrats bear some responsibility for not taking up the simpler House legislation, but it’s incorrect for him to claim that it took the scandal to propel Democrats into efforts to pass a VA bill. That’s revisionist history."
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29298
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"Police in Sweden admitted they are ""no longer"" investigating rape since migrant arrivals."
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What's true: A series of complicated and serious criminal investigations and in the country's southern regions, along with an overall staffing shortage, have taxed Sweden's law enforcement resources. What's false: Police have not stopped investigating rape cases, and migrants who famously arrived seeking asylum beginning in 2015 have not created a pattern of committing rape or any other violent crimes.
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false
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Uncategorized, infowars, migrant crisis, migrants
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In March 2017, British Brexit supporter and former UK Independence Party (UKIP) leader Nigel Farage was investigated by the United Kingdom’s broadcasting standards authority Ofcom for a grossly-misleading comment he made on his radio show which quickly went viral: Farage claimed, falsely, that the Swedish city of Malmö was Europe’s “rape capital”, thanks to the country’s welcoming a large number of asylum seekers in 2015. The claim made by Farage on 20 February 2017 was roundly criticized and debunked. But on 14 September 2017, Farage doubled down, this time citing conspiracy web site InfoWars to again push the narrative that Sweden is so overwhelmed with rape cases committed by migrants that the police have given up on investigating them: Police in Sweden admit they no longer investigate rape as they’re overwhelmed with other crimes. This is an outrage. https://t.co/yEQbQxUyyx — Nigel Farage (@Nigel_Farage) September 14, 2017 We investigated the claim by Farage that police in Sweden are “no longer” investigating rape cases and the claim made by InfoWars that the 2015 migrant crisis caused the rate of sexual assaults in Sweden to double. CLAIM: Sexual assault in Sweden has doubled because of newly-arrived asylum seekers. False. InfoWars, which is run by infamous conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, pushes stories not for their accuracy but for their ability to go viral by riling up readers with outlandish narratives about big-government, Illuminati, or Jewish power grabs. InfoWars also traffics heavily in fearmongering about asylum seekers, refugees and immigrants. The InfoWars article cited by Farage was written by editor-at-large and YouTube ranter Paul Joseph Watson, and bears the headline “Swedish Police ‘cannot cope’ with huge numbers of rapes since migrants arrived”. Watson reports: Rapes have skyrocketed in Sweden over recent years. Authorities have claimed that this is due to the definition of rape being changed, but the spike occurred long after the change was made. Sex crimes in the country have doubled since 2012. The most recently available statistics showed that immigrants were 5.5 times more likely to carry out sexual assaults. InfoWar’s main source for the story is Joakim Lamotte, a Swedish vlogger who filmed himself purportedly talking to a police investigator in Stenungsund, a city north of Gothenburg. (We reached out to Lamotte with questions about this exchange and got no response.) In his video, which he posted to his official Facebook page, Lamotte asks the investigator why police haven’t yet apprehended the boy suspected of raping a 12-year-old girl in Stenungsund, even though the crime happened in July 2017. The investigator tells him police do not have have enough staffing to cope with the crime because of other serious cases that have been given priority. Neither Lamotte nor the investigator make mention of migrants, immigrants, refugees, or even expats, and the InfoWars article doesn’t provide any evidence to support the leap from a police backlog to migrants. In fact, the article negates its own premise. Watson reports, “Sex crimes in the country have doubled since 2012” — but the influx of 163,000 migrants seeking asylum in Sweden didn’t even begin until late summer 2015. And although it’s true that reported sexual assaults doubled from 2012 to 2015, crime researchers have attributed the increase to the broadening of laws in Sweden in terms of what is considered rape. According to a study by Sweden’s National Council Council for Crime Prevention: The number of reported rape offences has increased over the last ten years (2006-2015). The increase can be partially explained by the entry into force of new sex offence legislation on 1 April 2005. This legislation entails, among other things, that certain acts which were previously classified as sexual exploitation are now classified as rape. The effect of the statutory change appeared in the statistics such that the number of reported offences in respect of sexual coercion and exploitation declined in the years immediately following the statutory change while the number of reported rapes increased. As from 1 July 2013, the sex offence legislation was again made tougher; among other things rape was expanded to include cases where the victim reacts passively. CLAIM: Police are “no longer” investigating rape cases because they’re overwhelmed with serious crime. The video created by Lamotte on 31 August 2017 went viral, resulting in news media coverage of rape cases that were being handled slowly by police. For example Radio Sweden reported: One of the cases cited by SVT [Swedish Television] concerns a 12-year-old girl in Stenungsund who had been raped by an older man. Even though the police had the name of the suspect, the case was held on file for six weeks without action. Another involves ten men suspected of a gang rape in Botkyrka south of Stockholm which happened last August but serious investigations only began this summer due to a lack of resources. Nils Norling, spokesman for Swedish police in the southern region, explained in an e-mail that resources are taxed by two things: an increased demand for serious crime investigations in the southern region, and also a shortage of skilled investigators, in part because the bar for becoming one is set very high: There is a lack of rape investigators in all of the Swedish police regions. We need more of them, but it´s far from the easiest thing to become one. They´re very well educated in special skills and often very experienced in other types of investigations. We´re working hard to get more investigators to acquire the right skills and knowledge to be able to handle rape cases. Norling also told us that there was an increase in reported rapes in 2016 compared to 2015, but added it was unclear whether this was due to an actual increase in rape or increased reporting of the crimes. He added that rape in Sweden is defined more broadly than in many other countries (for example, under U.S. federal law, rape includes penetration, whereas in Sweden it does not). But most importantly, Norling says bluntly: We don’t see any connection between the increase in rape reports and the influx of refugees. He also said it’s false to say police are “no longer” investigating rape — in the southern police region, investigators currently have 317 open rape cases, and in 250 of those cases, they have identified a suspect. Norling told us that there’s no overall increase in violent crime in Sweden, but the nature of recent crimes have been uniquely challenging for investigators: There’s not an increase in violent crimes, but the cases we’re handling right now in the southern region, and especially in Malmö, are however more complex than before. The victims tend to be involved in criminal activities and this usually means that they’re not interested in talking to our investigators. This makes the cases hard to investigate and often leads to a bigger need of qualified investigators. That of course has the effect that investigation of other types of crime has to wait. Examples of the type of crime investigations that we can’t give the same attention to are theft, fraud and burglary, but in some cases also sexual crimes. This falls in line with what we reported when we traveled to Sweden in March 2017 to investigate claims by Farage and other far-right aspiring media personalities that there is rampant crime, thanks entirely (according to them) to the country’s acceptance of a large number of asylum seekers in 2015. We were told by authorities and researchers that while there is not an increase in violent crime in the country, there is a new type of crime akin to street violence seen in impoverished neighborhoods almost anywhere in the world — gang-type crime with associated drug offenses and retaliatory gun violence. During our visit we interviewed Erik Jansåker, a police chief in Malmö’s southern areas, who explained that there had been a spate of tit-for-tat shootings — although the cohort of migrants who arrived in 2015 are not the ones involved. As we reported in March 2017: [T]there is no massive new crime wave being perpetrated by newly-arrived refugees in Sweden’s suburbs — instead, crime today is an iteration of gang violence that has been going on in the country since the 1990s, starting with American exports such as the motorcycle gangs Hell’s Angels and Bandidos. Sitting in a small meeting area in [Malmö-based newspaper] Sydsvenskan‘s newsroom, [long-time crime reporter Joakim] Palmkvist explained that the motorcycle gangs were the “first wave” of gang organization in Sweden. They set the stage for the “second wave,” which to a large extent consisted of the children of people who fled the Balkan war. The current spate in violence in these areas is the result of a power vacuum in the organized crime community and the younger “third wave” — children of immigrants who have lived in Sweden most of their lives — who are now trying to establish themselves. What sets the so-called third wave apart from earlier waves is its chaotic nature, loose structure, and disconnection from wider society. The bar of what can spark a homicide is also lower than it has ever been; a wrong look or a leer at a girlfriend could lead to a shooting, Chief Jansåker told us at the time that his investigators were handling 14 homicides — a larger number than usual and that had subsequently overwhelmed them, thus pushing them to seek assistance from other regions. However, the situation in Sweden is not the one presented by Farage and InfoWars. Instead, as Palmkvist, the crime reporter, put it succinctly in an email to us, the bottom line is that “Police fucked up big time in at least one rape case,” and, “police say that there generally are too few police officers around.” Farage, he points out, quotes InfoWars, which takes a specific issue and generalizes it to “suddenly claim that ‘rapes have skyrocketed’ since migrants started arriving.” Meanwhile InfoWars, as they are wont to do, sources obviously-slanted anti-Muslim web sites (like MuslimStatistics.WordPress.com) for evidence. Police in Sweden are short on investigators with the credentials necessary to work serious crime cases, and have thus been forced to prioritize murder and attempted-murder investigations amid a new pattern of gun violence in a community that does not readily cooperate with police. However police have not stopped investigating rape, as Farage claimed, nor is there a new, massive wave of rapes committed by migrants who arrived in Sweden starting in 2015.
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6560
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AP Exclusive: Evidence of spills at toxic site during floods.
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The U.S. government received reports of three spills at one of Houston’s dirtiest Superfund toxic waste sites in the days after the drenching rains from Hurricane Harvey finally stopped. Aerial photos reviewed by The Associated Press show dark-colored water surrounding the site as the floods receded, flowing through Vince Bayou and into the city’s ship channel.
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true
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Houston, AP Top News, Hurricane Harvey, Floods, Politics, North America, Environment, Pasadena, Hurricanes, Pollution, Texas, Toxic Sites
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The reported spills, which have not been publicly detailed, occurred at U.S. Oil Recovery, a former petroleum industry waste processing plant contaminated with a dangerous brew of cancer-causing chemicals. On Aug. 29, the day Harvey’s remnants cleared out, a county pollution control team sent photos to the Environmental Protection Agency of three large concrete tanks flooded with water. That led PRP Group, the company overseeing the ongoing cleanup, to call a federal emergency hotline to report a spill affecting nearby Vince Bayou. Over the next several days, the company reported two more spills of potentially contaminated storm water from U.S. Oil Recovery, according to reports and call logs obtained by the AP from the U.S. Coast Guard, which operates the National Response Center hotline. The EPA requires that spills of oil or hazardous substances in quantities that may be harmful to public health or the environment be immediately reported to the 24-hour hotline when public waterways are threatened. The EPA has not publicly acknowledged the three spills that PRP Group reported to the Coast Guard. The agency said an on-scene coordinator was at the site last Wednesday and found no evidence that material had washed off the site. The EPA says it is still assessing the scene. The AP reported in the days after Harvey that at least seven Superfund sites in and around Houston were underwater during the record-shattering storm. Journalists surveyed the sites by boat, vehicle and on foot. U.S. Oil Recovery was not one of the sites visited by AP. EPA said at the time that its personnel had been unable to reach the sites, though they surveyed the locations using aerial photos. Following AP’s report, EPA has been highlighting the federal agency’s response to the flooding at Superfund sites. EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt reiterated that safeguarding the intensely polluted sites is among his top priorities, during a visit Friday to the San Jacinto River Waste Pits, one of the sites AP reported about two weeks ago. Pruitt then boarded a Coast Guard aircraft for an aerial tour of other nearby Superfund sites flooded by Harvey, including U.S. Oil Recovery. Photos taken Aug. 31 by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration show dark-colored water surrounding the site two days after the first spill was reported to the government hotline. While the photos do not prove contaminated materials leaked from U.S. Oil Recovery, they do show that as the murky floodwaters receded, they flowed through Vince Bayou and emptied into the ship channel leading to the San Jacinto River. The hotline caller identified Vince Bayou as the waterway affected by a spill of unknown material in unknown amounts. Thomas Voltaggio, a retired EPA official who oversaw Superfund cleanups and emergency responses for more than two decades, reviewed the aerial photos, hotline reports and other documents obtained by AP. “It is intuitively obvious that the rains and floods of the magnitude that occurred during Hurricane Harvey would have resulted in some level of contamination having been released to the environment,” said Voltaggio, who is now a private consultant. “Any contamination in those tanks would likely have entered Vince Bayou and potentially the Houston Ship Channel.” He said the amount of contaminants spread from the site during the storm will likely never be known, making the environmental impact difficult to measure. The Houston Ship Channel was already a polluted waterway, with Texas state health officials warning that women of childbearing age and children should not eat fish or crabs caught there because of contamination from dioxins and PCBs. PRP Group, the corporation formed to oversee the cleanup at U.S. Oil Recovery, said it reported the spills as legally required but said subsequent testing of storm water remaining in the affected tanks showed it met federal drinking water standards. The company declined to provide AP copies of those lab reports or a list of specific chemicals for which it tested, saying the EPA was expected to release that information soon. U.S. Oil Recovery was shut down in 2010 after regulators determined operations there posed an environmental threat to Vince Bayou, which flows through the property in Pasadena. Pollution at the former hazardous waste treatment plant is so bad that Texas prosecutors charged the company’s owner, Klaus Genssler, with five criminal felonies. The German native fled the United States and is considered a fugitive. Genssler did not respond to efforts to contact him last week through his social media accounts or an email account linked to his website address. More than 100 companies that sent hazardous materials and oily waste to U.S. Oil Recovery for processing are now paying for the multimillion-dollar cleanup there through a court-monitored settlement, including Baker Hughes Oilfield Operations Inc., U.S. Steel Corp. and Dow Chemical Co. Past sampling of materials at the site revealed high concentrations of hazardous chemicals linked to cancer, such as benzene, ethylbenzene and trichloroethylene. The site also potentially contains toxic heavy metals, including mercury and arsenic. A 2012 EPA study of the more than 500 Superfund sites across the United States located in flood zones specifically noted the risk that floodwaters might carry away and spread toxic materials over a wider area. Over the past six years, remediation efforts at U.S. Oil Recovery have focused on the northern half of the site, including demolishing contaminated structures, removing an estimated 500 tons of sludge and hauling away more than 1,000 abandoned containers of waste. PRP Group said the southern portion of the site, including the three waste tanks that flooded during Harvey, has not yet been fully cleaned. Over the years workers have removed more than 1.5 million gallons of liquid waste — enough to fill nearly three Olympic-sized swimming pools. AP began asking the EPA whether contaminated material might have again leaked from U.S. Oil Recovery last week, after reviewing the aerial photos taken Aug. 31. The EPA said it visited the site on Sept. 4, nearly a week after site operators reported an initial spill, and again the following week. The EPA said that its staff saw no evidence that toxins had washed away from the scene during either visit. “Yesterday, an EPA On-scene coordinator conducted an inspection of Vince Bayou to follow up on a rumor that material was offsite and did not find any evidence of a black oily discharge or material from the U.S. Oil Recovery site,” an EPA media release said on Thursday. PRP Group said the spills occurred at the toxic waste site on Aug. 29, Sept. 6 and Sept. 7. One of the EPA’s media releases on Sept. 9, more than 11 days after the first call was made to the hotline, made reference to overflowing water at the scene, but did not describe it as a spill. The company said it reported the first spill after Harvey’s floodwaters swamped the three tanks, filling them. The resulting pressure that built up in the tanks dislodged plugs blocking a series of interconnecting pipes, causing the second and third spills reported to the hotline the following week. The company does not know how much material leaked from the tanks, soaking into the soil or flowing into nearby Vince Bayou. As part of its post-storm cleanup workers have vacuumed 63 truckloads holding about 315,000 gallons from the tanks. The Superfund site is located just a few hundred yards from the Pollution Control Services offices for Harris County, which includes Houston. Its director, Bob Allen, says his team took pictures of the flooding on Aug. 29, when the area that includes the three big tanks was still underwater. The AP requested those photos as public records, but they have not yet been released. Allen said his staff did not note any black water or oily sheen on the surface at the time, and did not collect water samples for testing. He said the EPA later sampled the area to determine whether there was contamination. “We knew that the water probably got into the plant, probably washed out some of the stuff that was in the clarifier,” Allen said, referring to one of the old concrete tanks once used to store toxic waste. “Once they get done with the assessment of that site and the other Superfund Harris County sites, then they’ll probably let us know, let the public know, what’s been going on.” ___ Biesecker reported from Washington. Associated Press reporters Reese Dunklin in Dallas and Jeff Horwitz in Washington contributed to this reporting. ___ Follow Biesecker at http://twitter.com/mbieseck and Bajak at https://twitter.com/fbajak ___ Submit a confidential tip to The Associated Press at https://www.ap.org.tips
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28616
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A list documents the myriad reasons why people were committed to insane asylums in the 19th century.
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In general, this document might be more accurately described as “a list of some reasons why people were believed to have eventually developed illnesses that led to their being admitted to the West Virginia Hospital for the Insane” and not a list of “symptoms” or “reasons” why people were admitted to that hospital.
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mixture
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History
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In February 2016, an image of a list purportedly documenting dozens of reasons why people were committed to insane asylums between 1864 and 1889 began circulating on social media. The list was frequently shared with humorous messages about how common acts such as “novel reading,” “laziness,” or the “overstudy of religion” would land much of today’s population in an asylum: Although this list is frequently posted as a joke, it is somewhat rooted in truth. The list was compiled from the log book of the West Virginia Hospital for the Insane, documenting admissions to that institution between 1864 and 1889 and has been published or referenced in several books and research papers. It has also been archived by the West Virginia Division of Culture and History. In her 2001 book Parental Kidnapping in America: An Historical and Cultural Analysis, author Maureen Dabbagh used this list to illustrate how easy it was for a man to have his wife detained in an asylum in the latter half of the 19th century: Reasons for admission into the Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum in West Virginia from 1864 to 1889 included laziness, egotism, disappointed love, female disease, mental excitement, cold, snuff, greediness, imaginary female trouble, “gathering in the head,” exposure and quackery, jealousy, religion, asthma, masturbation, and bad habits. Spouses used lunacy laws to rid themselves of their partners and in abducting their children. Although this list was sourced from a contemporaneous hospital log, its entries should not be considered as denoting things that were all considered symptoms of mental instability. Rather, among patients who were treated at West Virginia Hospital for the Insane for various illnesses such as chronic dementia, acute mania, and melancholia, these entries recorded the reasons or causes why those patients were said to have developed their underlying maladies. That is, people didn’t think that novel reading, asthma, the marriage of one’s child, politics, or falling from a horse were symptoms of mental illness, but rather factors that might have produced or exacerbated such an illness. (To use an example from a different field, nobody claims that playing violent video games is itself a crime, but some people maintain — rightly or wrongly — that such an activity might be a factor that leads gamers into committing violent crimes): The diseases attributed to those admitted to the hospital from its opening in 1864 through 1880 were varied, with the most common being 304 patients with chronic dementia, 254 with acute mania, 225 with melancholia, and 165 with chronic mania. Listings were given of the supposed causes of the diseases, and they were labeled supposed causes, with the physicians of the time feeling “a little unease with them,” they still published them. Most common at Weston were the 359 who were “not assigned” a cause, and “heredity,” and “epilepsy” ranked next. Forty to fifty patients were attributed each of the following causes: “intemperance,” “ill health,” “menstrual,” “traumatic injury,” and “masturbation.” One honest man was listed with “masturbation for 30 years.”
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16255
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$2.4 million of the NIH dollars was spent on ‘origami’ condoms.
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"In trying to document waste at NIH, Paul said the health agency spent $2.4 million on ""origami"" condoms. Paul didn’t provide any more information in his speech, leaving the crowd to wonder whether tax dollars are going to the development of paper condoms folded into fancy shapes. What he didn’t say is that ORIGAMI is the name of a company that has received the NIH grants to develop an improved condom that is made of silicone and has fold-out pleats. NIH has long encouraged condom use to reduce unwanted pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases. We don’t find much fault with Paul, however. The company, by its very name, suggests the principles of origami drive its design."
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true
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Ebola, Public Health, Virginia, Rand Paul,
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"During a recent visit to Virginia, U.S. Sen. Rand Paul took exception to claims that budget cuts have hurt the National Institute of Health’s efforts to find a cure for Ebola. The Kentucky Republican was the headliner at an Oct. 15 rally in Ashland for Dave Brat, the GOP nominee for the 7th District congressional seat. Paul, a Tea Party favorite, said NIH has money to waste. ""Do you know what the NIH spends money on?"" he asked the crowd. Paul listed a series of NIH projects he viewed as profligate. ""$2.4 million of the NIH dollars was spent on ‘origami’ condoms,"" he said. ""This is a family crowd, so I’m not getting into what that means."" But we will. We wondered if his claim is correct. Origami is the Japanese art of folding paper to form animals, flowers and other designs, according to Webster’s New World College Dictionary. We struggled to imagine how this centuries-old craft might improve the condom. Paul’s office backed the senator’s statement by sending us several articles about NIH’s funding of condom research, the earliest one published by the Washington Free Beacon this March. Turns out, there’s a California company, named ORIGAMI, that’s vowing to reinvent the condom, a contraceptive that many men don’t like. The company believes the popularity of condoms -- which must be unrolled and are typically made of latex -- would greatly improve if they were more pleasing, less cumbersome and safer to use. ORIGAMI is developing condom with accordion-like pleats. They’re made of silicone and, because they’re loose-fitting and don’t have to be unrolled, can be put on faster than traditional condoms. The company is seeking FDA approval and hopes sell its product next year. A number of global health organizations are encouraging condom research and development, convinced that greater use of devices will lead to fewer unwanted pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases such as AIDs. Since 2006, NIH has awarded seven grants totaling almost $2.5 million to help develop male and female ORIGAMI condoms. The money was provided to Strata Various, a product design firm headed by Danny Resnic, ORIGAMI’s founder. Resnic is listed on the grant documents as the project leader of the research. ORIGAMI’s work has been praised by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which last year handed out $1.1 million in grants other entrepreneurs seeking to improve condoms. The Foundation said ORIGAMI ""provides an excellent example of a private enterprise focused on new condom design to promote consistent use by emphasizing the sexual experience."" Now, let’s return to Paul’s speech. The senator, in lamenting the use of public funds to develop ""origami’ condoms,"" never defined the difference between the folded paper art and the name of a company. We asked Brian Darling, a spokesman for Paul, whether his boss was referring to Origami with a capital ""O,"" meaning the company, or a small ""o,"" meaning the art form. ""The senator’s words speak for themselves,"" Darling replied in an email. ""I don’t understand the confusion."" The day before he appeared in Ashland, Paul spelled origami with a small ""o"" in Facebook post and a tweet assailing NIH’s spending. ""NIH blames tightening federal budget for its inability to produce #Ebolavaccine, but somehow found $2.4 million to develop 'origami' condoms designed with Japanese folding paper in mind,"" Paul wrote on his Facebook page. He tweeted, ""@NIH cant afford #Ebola vaccine bc of 'budget cuts' but can spend $2.4 mill to develop 'origami' condoms #Priorities http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-"" So what does the company have to say about all this? Mark Bardwell, an ORIGAMI spokesman, defended the grants, saying they are given out ""based on scientific merit."" ""Condoms are considered a medical device. As such, it must pass FDA safety testing standards through clinical trials that are very expensive,"" Bardwell said. ""An innovation condom could take 3-4 years and several million dollars for R&D and human testing."" Our ruling In trying to document waste at NIH, Paul said the health agency spent $2.4 million on ""origami"" condoms. Paul didn’t provide any more information in his speech, leaving the crowd to wonder whether tax dollars are going to the development of paper condoms folded into fancy shapes. What he didn’t say is that ORIGAMI is the name of a company that has received the NIH grants to develop an improved condom that is made of silicone and has fold-out pleats. NIH has long encouraged condom use to reduce unwanted pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases. We don’t find much fault with Paul, however. The company, by its very name, suggests the principles of origami drive its design."
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7939
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Coronavirus causes historic market drop, global scramble to contain 'invisible enemy'.
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Coronavirus fears led to a historic drop in U.S. stocks, shut borders and disrupted daily life around the world, as governments took increasingly drastic measures to try to reduce the severity of the global outbreak.
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true
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Health News
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Financial markets had their worst day in 30 years despite emergency action by global central banks to try to prevent a recession, with U.S. stock markets falling 12% to 13%, wiping out trillions of dollars in market value. Just a month ago, financial markets were hitting record highs on the assumption the outbreak would largely be contained in China and not cause disruptions beyond what was seen with earlier viral outbreaks of Ebola, SARS and MERS. There have now been more cases and more deaths outside mainland China than inside, with 180,000 cases worldwide and over 7,000 deaths. Canada, Chile and other countries closed their borders to visitors. Peru deployed masked military personnel to block major roads, while Ireland launched a campaign to recruit more healthcare workers. Airlines slashed flights, shed jobs and asked governments for billions of dollars in loans and grants. In contrast to much of the world, Mexico and Brazil still held large political rallies and the United Kingdom kept its schools open. GRAPHIC: Track the spread of coronavirus - here U.S. states pleaded with the Trump administration on Monday to coordinate a national response to the outbreak, saying patchwork measures enacted by state and local authorities were insufficient to confront the coast-to-coast emergency that has killed at least 74 Americans. A few hours later, President Donald Trump urged Americans to halt most social activities for 15 days and not congregate in groups larger than 10 people in a newly aggressive effort to reduce the spread of the coronavirus. Calling the highly contagious virus an “invisible enemy,” Trump said the worst of the outbreak could be over by July, August or later and warned a recession was possible. However, the United States was not yet closing its borders or mandating curfews or business closures on a national scale. Many states and cities had already taken those steps or were preparing to. San Francisco area residents will be urged to shelter in place for three weeks starting on Tuesday, the San Francisco Chronicle reported. A White House adviser said the United States could pump $800 billion or more into the economy to minimize economic damage. EU finance ministers were planning a coordinated economic response to the virus, which the European Commission says could push the European Union into recession. The World Health Organization (WHO) called on all countries on Monday to ramp up testing programs as the best way to slow the advance of the pandemic. “We have a simple message to all countries - test, test, test,” WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a news conference in Geneva. “All countries should be able to test all suspected cases. They cannot fight this pandemic blindfolded.” In Italy, another 349 people died on Monday, taking the total to 2,158, with nearly 28,000 cases, after 368 deaths were reported on Sunday, a daily toll more dire than even China was reporting at the peak of the outbreak. “Many children think it is scary,” Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg told a news conference dedicated to answering children’s questions about the pandemic. “It is OK to be scared when so many things happen at the same time,” Solberg said. Several countries banned mass gatherings such as sports, cultural and religious events to combat the fast-spreading respiratory disease that has infected nearly 179,000 people globally and killed more than 7,000. Spain and France, where cases and fatalities have begun surging at a pace just days behind that of Italy, imposed severe lockdowns over the weekend. The Middle East business and travel hub of Dubai said it was closing all bars and lounges until the end of March. Thailand plans to close schools, bars, movie theaters and popular cockfighting arenas. Public health experts in the United States and elsewhere are hoping the measures will help spread out the number of new cases over time so as not to overwhelm hospitals and healthcare systems as has happened in Italy. Italy’s Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte told daily Corriere della Sera that the outbreak was still getting worse, though the governor of Lombardy, the northern region that has suffered the worst, said he saw the first signs of a slowdown. The International Olympic Committee will hold talks with heads of international sports organizations on Tuesday, a source close to a federation briefed on the issue said, amid doubts the Tokyo 2020 Olympics set to start on July 24 can proceed.
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21913
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"Milwaukee’s police chief can fire officers ""for basically no cause."
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Wisconsin Rep. Robin Vos says Milwaukee’s police chief can fire officers for no reason
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false
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City Government, State Budget, Wisconsin, Robin Vos,
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"In Madison, plenty of familiar fights are being fought as Republicans who control the Legislature seek to undo changes approved when Democrats were in charge. An unexpected issue -- pay for fired Milwaukee police officers -- joined the list when Republicans introduced a budget amendment that would require city taxpayers to pay wages and benefits for some fired cops while they appealed their dismissals. That had long been the practice in Milwaukee. In some cases, dismissed officers collected pay for years while their appeals dragged on. They kept it even if their firing ultimately was upheld by the Fire and Police Commission. That changed in the wake of the Frank Jude beating case. In 2004, Jude was attacked by off-duty Milwaukee police officers after he left a party on the south side. Nine officers were fired for their role in incident, and public outrage mounted as officers received pay while they fought their dismissals. In 2008, the Legislature cut off pay immediately for officers who were fired for behavior that resulted in serious charges. At that time, city officials said taxpayers had paid fired officers $4.4 million in pay and benefits since 1990, including $400,000 alone for the officers involved in the Jude case. In 2009, the law was expanded, cutting off pay for officers fired for other reasons, such as department rule violations. That covers nearly all fired officers, because rule violations such as lying are the most common reason for firing. The new amendment, to return to the 2008 system, which focused on serious infractions, was authored by state Rep. Robin Vos, R-Rochester, and state Sen. Alberta Darling, R-River Hills, co-chairs of the Joint Finance Committee. The issue is a hot button one: The union representing officers has traditionally fought to have dismissed cops kept on the payroll as long as possible. Meanwhile, the chief’s authority is diminished when a cop he fires remains on the payroll. When the amendment was adopted at a June 2, 2011, committee meeting, Vos said the change was needed because Milwaukee is the only city that allows its police chief to fire officers ""for basically no cause."" He continued: ""That’s an awful lot of power we don’t grant to any other police chief in the state."" That caught our attention, especially since the earlier changes were billed as putting Milwaukee more in line with other communities. Does the Milwaukee police chief really have such unbridled powers? Can he really fire someone for no reason? The short answer: No. The longer answer: State law spells out how the Milwaukee Police Department is organized and managed. They key provision on this point: ""No member of the police force or fire department may be discharged or suspended for a term exceeding 30 days by the chief of either of the departments except for cause and after trial under this section."" Milwaukee Police Chief Edward Flynn put it another way: ""Maybe he’s confused between just cause and just ‘cause."" As in, ""just because."" State law spells out seven standards that must be met before a Milwaukee police officer can be fired. They include such things as whether the chief has ""substantial evidence"" that a rule was broken, has conducted a fair investigation and whether the officer knew that his or her actions could have serious consequences. A fired officer has 10 days to file an appeal with the Fire and Police Commission. Asked about the statement, Vos aide Kit Beyer said: ""He misspoke. He hasn’t said it since then."" When Vos returned our call, he said: ""Do I understand that you have to have a reason (to fire an officer)? ""Yes."" What is Vos trying to accomplish with the amendment? He says fired police officers should be treated the same throughout the state. Officers elsewhere are suspended with pay by the chief and the firing is done by the local fire and police commission, he said. In Milwaukee, the chief fires an officer and then the officer could suffer months without pay and benefits while waiting for his appeal to be heard, Vos said. But the amendment does not change the sequence in Milwaukee to match other communities. It simply requires that officers fired for rules violations be paid during appeal. Vos argues keeping them on the payroll would encourage the fire and police commission to swiftly resolve the matter. However, city officials say when that system was in place it encouraged officers to drag out the appeals process. The net effect of the amendment is financial, said Michael Tobin, executive director of the Milwaukee Fire and Police Commission. ""It will allow most (fired) officers to remain on the payroll, because most are charged with rule violations"" rather than crimes, Tobin said. Since taking over as chief in January 2008, Flynn has dismissed about 20 officers, almost all for rule violations. Tobin said the amendment would allow the officers to collect at least an additional two months of pay and benefits, because the commission must wait 60 days before scheduling an appeals hearing. Those charged with more serious offenses would not receive pay. So what’s our verdict? Vos argued state law must be changed because the Milwaukee chief can fire officers for no cause. That’s … even Vos acknowledged it."
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41646
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There are 16,481 fewer beds in hospitals since 2010.
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This is in the right ballpark, but it doesn’t seem to be the best comparison. It seems to compare the number of beds at different times of the year, but the number available fluctuates seasonally. Comparing July-September in 2010 and 2017, the decrease in beds available overnight in England is closer to 13,200.
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true
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health
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There are 16,481 fewer beds in hospitals since 2010. This is in the right ballpark, but it doesn’t seem to be the best comparison. It seems to compare the number of beds at different times of the year, but the number available fluctuates seasonally. Comparing July-September in 2010 and 2017, the decrease in beds available overnight in England is closer to 13,200. 66 A&E and maternity wards have been closed. We don’t know, as this information isn’t collected nationally. In 2014, there were reportedly plans to close or downgrade 66 in England, but while some have been, others have stayed open. 103 NHS walk-in centres have closed or been downgraded since 2010. We don’t know exactly, as this information isn’t collected centrally. Research from an NHS regulator and from campaign group 38 Degrees suggests more than 90 have been closed or downgraded. 60 ambulance stations have closed since 2010. We don’t know how many ambulance stations have closed since 2010 as national figures on this aren’t regularly published. 1,000 GP practices have closed since 2010. There are around 1,000 fewer GP practices in England in 2017 than in 2010. Some practices may have merged together, rather than closing completely, but we don’t know how many have done so. A&E four hour targets have been missed more than 10 million times since 2010. Correct. Between 2010/11 and 2017/18, around 12 million A&E attendances in England took over four hours from arrival to admission, transfer or discharge. The number of patients waiting more than 12 hours in A&E is up 2,700% since 2010. Correct (although not all patients will necessarily have been waiting in A&E). In 2011/12, 120 patients in England waited 12 hours between the decision to admit them to emergency admissions and their actual admission, compared to 3,500 in 2017/18. Spending on social care is down 8% since 2010. Analysis by the Institute for Fiscal Studies last year said that between 2009/10 and 2016/17, councils’ spending on adult social care in England fell 8% in real terms. Newer analysis says that it fell by 6% over the same period. We’ve asked it for more information. There are 5,240 fewer mental health nurses since 2010. This seems to be looking at different months in 2010 and 2017, which isn’t the best comparison. Comparing the number of full-time equivalent mental health nurses between January 2010 and January 2018 (the latest figures), the drop is closer to 4,500. The number of operations classed as urgent that have been cancelled twice have doubled since 2010. Correct. The number of urgent operations in England cancelled for the second time or more for non-medical reasons more than doubled between 2011/12 and 2017/18. There has been a 22% drop in ambulances meeting their 15 minute transfer target since 2010. The decrease is actually greater—28%. In 2010/11 in England 80% of ambulance transfers were done in 15 minutes, in 2015/16 it was 58%. Claim 1 of 12
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8646
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Swiss government expands powers to force firms to make supplies to fight COVID-19.
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The Swiss government on Friday boosted its powers to order companies to raise production of critical medical supplies like drugs and protective gear should more be needed in the fight against coronavirus-caused COVID-19.
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true
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Health News
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“If the supply...cannot be guaranteed otherwise, the Federal Council (cabinet) may oblige manufacturers to manufacture important medical goods, to prioritise the production of such goods or to increase the production quantities,” according to an order from Bern. The expanded authority comes as the government doubled the size of its coronavirus emergency loan scheme to 40 billion Swiss francs ($40.94 billion) after being flooded by requests for help by businesses. The nation’s coronavirus deaths are nearing 500, with total confirmed infections approaching 20,000 Swiss ministers also sought to speed access to medicines that could be used against COVID-19, allowing the drugs to be deployed in hospitals quickly before getting formal approval by the country’s regulator, Swissmedic. The exceptions cover generic malaria medicine hydroxychloroquine, which has been donated by Novartis, Abbvie’s HIV drug Kaletra, Gilead Science’s experimental remdesivir and Roche’s Actemra, all of which are now being studied for potential use against coronavirus. Swissmedic also gets new powers to approve deviations from some legal requirements for drugs under review, the government said.
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39662
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A Muslim group has asked for pork-free food to be offered by food banks in Minnesota.
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When night falls in the Indian village of Nabipur, the backyard furnaces come to life, burning waste tires from the West, making the air thick with acrid smoke and the soil black with soot.
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true
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Religious
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Not long ago, Nabipur was a quiet farming village in northern India. Now the village is home to at least a dozen furnaces burning a steady stream of tires to make low-quality oil in a process known as pyrolysis. Global trade in waste tires has almost doubled in the past five years, mainly to developing countries like India and Malaysia, according to customs data provided to the United Nations. Britain is currently the largest exporter, followed by Italy and the United States. India is by far the biggest buyer, accounting for 32% of global imports last year, up from 7% five years ago, the U.N. data shows. Many of the tires are sent to recycling operations that comply with emissions and waste disposal regulations. But there is also a vast trade to backyard pyrolysis operations that do not, according to local authorities. In May, Reuters revealed that a mass poisoning in southern Malaysia had links to companies engaged in pyrolysis. Using unpublished customs data and interviews with dozens of industry sources, Reuters documented a growing international trade in waste tires that pollute the communities that host them, according to local authorities and health experts. For many developed countries, shipping tires abroad is cheaper than recycling them domestically. That helped drive international trade in rubber waste to nearly 2 million tonnes in 2018, equivalent to 200 million tyres, from 1.1 million tonnes in 2013. The trade has also been fed by ravenous fuel demand for industrial furnaces in countries like India, the emergence of inexpensive Chinese pyrolysis equipment, and weak regulations worldwide. FACTBOX on the tyre trade: Tires are not defined as hazardous under the Basel Convention, which governs trade in dangerous waste, meaning there are few restrictions on trading them internationally unless specified by the importing country. In most countries, including China and the United States, the majority of scrap tires are handled domestically and dumped in landfills, recycled or used as fuel in factories producing products like cement and paper. (GRAPHIC: Recycling and reuse of tires - here) Pyrolysis supporters say the process can be a relatively clean way of disposing of tires and turning them into useful fuel. However, controlling emissions and processing waste residue from the burning of a product that is made up a wide range of chemicals, and synthetic and natural rubber is expensive and difficult to make profitable on a mass scale. State-of-the-art plants can cost tens of millions of dollars, whereas basic Chinese-made pyrolysis equipment is available from online retailers for as little as $30,000. An Indian government audit found that as of July 2019 there were 637 licensed pyrolysis plants countrywide, of which 270 were not complying with environmental standards and 116 had been shut down. The audit said most operators used rudimentary equipment that exposed workers to fine carbon particles and led to dust, oil and air pollution leaking into the plant and surroundings. Industry sources say several hundred more unlicensed pyrolysis businesses are operating across India. Pyrolysis plants have mushroomed in the southern Malaysian state of Johor over the last decade, industry sources said, where they supply fuel for ships. At one plant visited by Reuters near the Johor town of Kulai, Bangladeshi immigrants covered in carbon dust shovelled tires imported from Australia and Singapore into a Chinese-made furnace. They lived onsite in a hut next to the kilns. “People don’t know where old tyres go,” said the owner, who gave his name only as Sam. “But if my factory doesn’t exist, where will the tires go?” He said he had a license to operate. Reuters could not verify this. The environmental impact of pyrolysis in places like India and Malaysia is making some exporting countries take notice. Australia, a major exporter of tyres to Southeast Asia and India, said in August it would ban waste exports, including tires, although it did not give a timeline. Australia was “aware of allegations of unsustainable processing of waste tires in some importing countries” and did not want “to be part of such practices”, said a spokesman for Trevor Evans, the official who oversees waste reduction. Burning tyres without adequate emissions controls can release numerous toxic chemicals and gases into the environment, as well as particulates, said Lalit Dandona, head of the India State-Level Disease Burden Initiative, a group of research bodies mapping health issues across India. (GRAPHIC: What's in a tire? - here) He said the short-term effects for those exposed to smoke from burning tires included skin irritation and lung infections and that prolonged exposure could result in heart attacks and lung cancer. Other government bodies worldwide, including the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, have made similar conclusions. In a 1997 report, the EPA said emissions from burning tires included dioxins, sulphur oxides and a range of metals including mercury and arsenic. Many of the tires that end up in Indian villages like Nabipur start their lives in Britain. Indian waste tire imports from Britain alone in 2018 amounted to 263,000 tonnes - 13% of the total volume of tires traded worldwide - compared with 48,000 tonnes in 2013. (GRAPHIC: Where India imports its waste tires - here) Most European countries require tyre manufacturers and suppliers to organize tire collection and treatment, meaning there are more home-grown recycling operations. There are no such requirements in Britain, however, which means that small firms can easily obtain licenses to collect waste tires and sell them abroad. Britain’s Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) said it fully implements the rules of the Basel Convention but needs to do more about waste tires. DEFRA said it planned to make producers more responsible for old tires, as well as increase monitoring of shipments. (GRAPHIC: Top tire waste importing countries - here) Once in India, the tires are dispersed between recyclers who shred them for use in road-building or sports fields, firms that burn them as cheap fuel to make cement or bricks, and legal and illegal pyrolysis plants, importers and exporters said. India’s Automotive Tyre Manufacturers’ Association estimates that most imported waste tyres end up in pyrolysis plants, according to the group’s deputy director, Vinay Vijayvargia. Faced with a growing backlash from environmental groups and residents living near pyrolysis plants, India is considering banning all but the most sophisticated operations. The country’s environmental court is expected to rule on the proposed ban in January. Six years ago, there were no pyrolysis plants in Nabipur, 70 miles south of New Delhi. Now there are 10, with most operating at night to avoid scrutiny, residents said. Reuters visited three small plants in the village. At one, tires embossed with ‘Made in Germany’ and ‘Made in U.S.A.’ lay strewn on the floor and thick sludge seeped from pipes protruding from incineration drums. Most tires used for vehicles in India are made domestically. Workers wore no safety equipment, and their skin and clothes were covered in black soot. The owner, Pankaj, said a trader sells him tires imported from abroad. Villagers said they have suffered from breathing difficulties and eye and throat infections since the plants began expanding, and farmers had found black dust in their soil. Reuters could not independently verify the claims. It was also not possible to verify if the operations were licensed. “Used tires are not available locally, so they import from abroad,” said Shiva Choudhary, a businessman who leases out construction equipment in Nabipur. “They clean their own country and dump their garbage on us.”
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9966
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Diabetics Try New Round-The-Clock Sensor
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"The article does a good job of describing the growing use of continuous glucose monitors and how they may be helpful in diabetes care. Importantly, it makes clear that the efficacy of the device is not fully established, that insurance currently may not pay for it, and that there are significant limits on its practical application at this point. The key shortcomings are a failure to provide details about research that has been done on the devices, and to put these devices in the context of a full glucose management regimen. The story falls short in explaining both the benefits and harms of the use of the devices. The article does not provide data that describe the extent of improved glucose control. And there is not one sentence anywhere in the summary of research to date that describes complications from the device such as skin reactions or infections, or even the failure rate associated with the device. Additionally, no information is provided about potential lifestyle and/or quality of life implications of using the device (e.g., does it work while the patient is doing water sports or sweating?). The top of the story is also problematic. The first three paragraphs create an impression of rapid adoption and a step toward a futuristic ""artificial pancreas."" A reader of only the first three paragraphs may come away believing the device could be more significant than it is. A reference to the hoped-for system that senses and automatically adjusts glucose levels would have been more appropriate near the end of the story, not the beginning."
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mixture
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"The article does an excellent job of stating the costs clearly, and exploring the issue of insurance coverage both currently and pending a current study. What the story did not make clear is that you still have to have the additional costs of a regular glucose monitor and strips available because the technology is not at a level yet where it is safe to believe the readings when they come out very high or low. So the sensor costs are on top of the $100 or so a month that it costs to do standard glucose monitoring. However, we’ll give the story the benefit of the doubt on this criterion. The article does not provide data that describe the extent of improved glucose control. The article discusses some shortcomings of the device: But there is not one sentence anywhere in the summary of research to date that describes complications from the device such as skin reactions or infections, or even the failure rate associated with the device. Additionally, no information is provided about potential lifestyle and/or quality of life implications of using the device (e.g., does it work while the patient is doing water sports or sweating?). The article provides a brief sketch of the inconclusive research on the devices. But it does not include sufficient detail on the studies to add crediblity and utility to the piece. A journal name or some measure of the device’s efficacy would have added value. The third paragraph suggests that eventually anyone on insulin should consider this technology. We think that carries an element of disease-mongering. Anyone under good control with standard self monitoring of blood glucose does not need these sensors to prevent long term complications. The next paragraph limits the focus – for now – to the ""most vulnerable patients"" – but the combination of the future projection and the undocumented claim in the lead – that ""Thousands of patients are switching"" to these devices – is troublesome. The article does a good job by quoting a researcher who is ambivalent about the utility of the device, and a researcher who describes its shortcomings, yet who uses it himself. The one anecdote describes a positive result, which in this context is helpful. The article might have explored the funding of the forthcoming study being done to demonstrate efficacy for insurance coverage purposes. It’s possible that a device maker, or some interested party, is supporting that research. The article accurately describes typical blood gluocose monitoring and the compliance issues it raises. But the reader would have been well served by a description of how even an advanced device like this is only part of a comprehensive glucose management regimen, which includes diet, exercise, and in some cases medication and insulin. A less knowledgeable reader might believe that the device is a complete solution for glucose management. The article makes clear that continuous glucose monitors are not in wide use–that two models are available with a third in development.Still, the first sentence–stating ""Thousands of patients"" are switching to the new devices–may be technically accurate, but it risks overstating the rate of adoption. And the claim is not documented. Nonetheless we’ll give the story the benefit of the doubt on this criterion. The story does a good job of explaining that the device is not entirely new but a growing phenomenon due partly to regulatory action. It forecasts potential growth pending further research. There is no evidence the story relies on a press release from either the FDA or the manufacturer."
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27583
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SpaceX will be transporting a potentially deadly pathogen to the International Space Station as part of their next launch.
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Antibiotic resistance is a growing problem that gained increased media attention with the death of a patient from a bacterial infection resistant to 26 different antibiotic medications in August 2016.
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true
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Science, nasa, spacex
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On 18 February 2017, the SpaceX space transport service will launch a capsule to the International Space Station for a resupply mission (CRS-10) aboard a Falcon 9 rocket. Among the items contained within the capsule will be a sample of the highly infectious Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) bacterium, along with a device able to monitor that sample at the genomic level. This experiment is the result of the first “Galactic Grant Competition,” a Center for the Advancement of Science in Space (CASIS) initiative aimed at providing Massachusetts-based biotech companies access to the International Space Station. Among the grant recipients was Harvard physicist Anita Goel’s private research company Nanobiosym, which has developed a mobile pathogen-detection tool that has the potential to detect genetic mutations to bacterial infections in real time. This “tricorder”-style device, dubbed Gene-RADAR by Nanobiosym, is described as follows in a patent filing: A portable system for extracting, optionally amplifying, and detecting nucleic acids or proteins using a compact integrated chip in combination with a mobile device system for analyzing detected signals. With the receipt of the CASIS grant, Nanobiosym was given the opportunity to refine the technology in space. Not only will this help with the development that technology, but it may also allow scientists to view genetic mutations to bacterial in “fast-forward”, helping scientists predict the ways in which bacterial infections develop antibiotic resistance, as described in the NASA mission summary: Microgravity may accelerate the rate of bacterial mutations and this pilot investigation analyzes this process in two strains aboard the International Space Station, which may provide insight into how deadly bacteria become drug-resistant. The data can help refine models of drug resistance and support development of better medicines to counter it. This conclusion is far from settled science, as described in a 2015 review paper, but both space-based and low-gravity simulation experiments have demonstrated that it is at least plausible that low gravity affects the mutation rate of some bacterial species: There is general agreement that microgravity represents the major influence on bacterial growth kinetics and bacterial cell behavior during short orbital flights, although radiation may increase microbial mutation rates during flight [as well]. If, as Goel hypothesizes, mutations rates speed up in space, Scientists may be able to use this information to develop drugs that anticipate potential mechanisms of antibiotic resistance before they occur, as described in a CASIS press release: The project will attempt to computationally predict bacterial mutations, to evaluate model organisms in space, and to use the empirical results to validate and refine the company’s predictive algorithms. This proof-of-concept experiment will provide data that can be applied to future predictive models for antibiotic resistant pathogen mutations, which will be of significant value to antibiotic drug development.
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5131
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Massachusetts OKs ban on flavored vaping, tobacco products.
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Massachusetts lawmakers passed a groundbreaking ban Thursday on the sale of flavored tobacco and vaping products, including menthol cigarettes.
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true
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Legislature, Health, General News, Legislation, Charlie Baker, Business, Massachusetts, Vaping, U.S. News, Public health, Tobacco industry regulation
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The bill would also place a 75% excise tax on vaping products and require health insurers, including the state’s Medicaid program, to cover tobacco cessation counseling. “This nation-leading step will save lives,” Democratic House Speaker Robert DeLeo said. The ban was passed by the Senate early Thursday before the legislature broke for a holiday recess. It had earlier been passed by the state House of Representatives and now goes to the desk of Republican Gov. Charlie Baker. Baker hasn’t indicated whether or when he will sign the ban, but its chances are good. In September, he had declared a public health emergency and ordered a temporary ban on the sale of vaping products. The legislation would immediately ban the sale of flavored vaping products and would outlaw sales of menthol cigarettes starting June 1, 2020. The legislation responds to growing concern about the health effects of vaping products, including deaths. It is the first such statewide legislation in the country, according to Matthew Myers, president of the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids. “This legislation is a critical step to help end the worsening youth e-cigarette epidemic and stop tobacco companies from using appealing flavors to lure kids into a lifetime of addiction,” he said in a written statement. “It would make Massachusetts the first state in the nation to prohibit the sale of all flavored tobacco products.” The American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network also called it first-in-the-nation legislation. “More than 80% of teens who have ever used a tobacco product started with a flavored product, and the tobacco industry knows this,” the organization said in an emailed statement. Studies have shown menthol cigarettes are consumed disproportionately by young people and minorities, and anti-tobacco groups and health experts have argued menthol has been marketed in particular to African Americans. A major retailers’ organization called the legislation disappointing. “We are disappointed the legislature supports bills that disproportionately impact communities of color and have disastrous implications for public health, public safety, state tax revenue and jobs in the Commonwealth,” Jonathan Shaer, president of the New England Convenience Store Owners and Energy Marketers Association said in a statement. He called menthol and mint tobacco as “legal, adult products that aren’t associated with youth overuse.”
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18779
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"Jeff Merkley Says, ""Since 1994 when VAWA was first passed, incidents of domestic violence have dropped more than 50 percent."
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Jeff Merkley says domestic abuse against women has fallen 50 percent since federal law went into effect
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true
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Oregon, Congress, Women, Jeff Merkley,
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"Violence - or the potential for violence - is everywhere. It’s the reason we have police and laws, jails and federal programs to study the causes and suggest responses. It’s the reason, too, that Congress passes laws to address crime in all its facets. One of those is the Violence Against Women Act, which is intended to protect women from domestic abuse and violence. It provides federal dollars for an array of programs to achieve that goal. Oregon, for example, collected $9.4 million in 2012 for programs to protect women from violence. The law was first passed in 1994 and easily renewed in 2000 and 2005 by lopsided majorities. But it was allowed to lapse in 2011 after a partisan Congress couldn’t reach agreement. (Partisanship in Congress? Shocking, we know.) Now it’s back and in an effort to build momentum and the votes to renew it, supporters like Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., have been talking about the law’s benefits. Here’s what Merkley said Feb. 7 during a conference call with reporters: ""Since 1994 when VAWA was first passed, incidents of domestic violence have dropped more than 50 percent."" That seems to be a pretty strong selling point and as the bill moves toward a final vote in the Senate it’s something that will be repeated and emphasized during debate. But is it ? First, we need a quick fly-by of the law and what it provides. The law, known by the shorthand VAWA, first passed in 1994 and was written by then senator and now Vice President Joe Biden. It acknowledged domestic violence and sexual assault as crimes, and provided federal resources to encourage community-coordinated responses to combating violence. When it was re-authorized in 2000 lawmakers expanded the definition of crime to include dating violence and stalking. Its subsequent reauthorization in 2005 created new programs to meet the emerging needs of communities working to prevent violence. Until it expired in 2011, the law was expansive and reached into every corner of the country. (Some funding continued into 2012.) Among other things, it provided grants to states and local law enforcement to beef up enforcement as well as money to prosecutors to focus on gender-based crime. Included in the array of programs and assistance, VAWA provided money for direct services for victims of sexual assault and for things like transitional housing and legal assistance. According to Merkley, all those programs made a difference. Which brings us back to his claim that since it was first enacted domestic violence has fallen 50 percent. Another fortunate development when it comes to crime is that governments at all levels but especially the federal government go to great lengths to quantify, parse and sub-total crime. Data abounds. It’s also unambiguous. ""From 1994 to 2010, the overall rate of intimate partner violence in the United States declined by 64 percent, from 9.8 victimizations per 1,000 persons age 12 or older to 3.6 per 1,000,"" the U.S. Justice Department’s Bureau of Justice Statistics reported in November 2012. The report notes that over that same period ""4 in 5 victims of intimate partner violence were female."" A report by the National Network to End Domestic Violence, an interest group focusing on the issue, comes to a similar conclusion. ""The rate of nonfatal intimate partner violence against women has decreased by 63 percent and the number of women killed by an intimate partner has decreased 24 percent,"" between 1994 and 2010. The group connects the numbers directly to the VAWA, saying the law ""has changed the way federal, tribal, state and local entities respond to domestic violence, sexual assault, dating violence and stalking."" Surveys by the American Bar Association and other independent groups had similar findings. That’s a lot of scholarship and paper, sponsored, collected and analyzed by federal and independent researchers. And while the results don’t perfectly align, all agree that the incidence of domestic abuse has dropped by more than 50 percent since the Violence Against Women Act was passed in 1994. You can quibble about the minor differences but not the accuracy of Merkley’s statement."
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4507
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Maine senator backs push for better public health data.
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Maine’s independent senator is among a group of lawmakers backing a bill that calls for the modernization of public health data systems.
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true
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Tim Kaine, Johnny Isakson, Health, General News, Maine, Angus King, Bills, Public health
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Sen. Angus King says the proposal would ensure accurate and timely information sharing to help protect residents from health threats like viruses and prescription drug abuse. He’s joined by Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia and Republican Sen. Johnny Isakson of Georgia on the proposal. King says the bill is important because “you can’t make good policy without good data.” The bill would dedicate $100 million every year for the next five fiscal years to better public health data. The money would award grants to public health departments to improve data collection and analysis. It would also help develop public-private partnerships to expand and modernize systems.
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9145
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New cancer drug can prevent reactions to common airborne allergens
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What we have here is a tentative demonstration of a new concept in allergy treatment, reported in a brief letter to the editor of a medical journal, which is puffed up to look like proof of effectiveness. Meanwhile, looming challenges of both safety and cost are soft-pedaled or ignored. There is legitimate news that an anti-allergy effect of a cancer drug (ibrutinib), previously observed in lab and animal experiments, has now been seen in two patients. But the release buries the limitations of the study and ignores serious safety and cost challenges, while highlighting speculative musings about food allergy treatments that were not part of this study. Most readers of this release would likely be surprised to learn that ibrutinib has potentially life-threatening side effects and that the dosage studied costs more than $100/day. Proof-of-concept studies have their place, but news releases should not pretend that they demonstrate either effectiveness, safety or practicality. This release misleads readers by focusing on the prevention and treatment of serious food allergies, which this study did not look at, while minimizing research challenges that lie ahead.
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false
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allergy,ibrutinib,Northwestern University
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Although this line of research is in the earliest stage of human tests, the release should have noted that the drug, as it was used in the study, cost more than $100 a day. Obviously, cost is an issue that would have to be dealt with before declaring that this treatment could be used routinely by allergy sufferers. The release provides only relative reductions in skin reactivity tests. It reports neither absolute numbers nor a description of the clinical relevance; that is, whether the patients felt their allergies symptoms had improved. The release does not tell readers that one of the patients continued to take anti-allergy medication or that the other patient was not taking any anti-allergy medication; these points in the research report raise questions about whether the patients felt any improvement in their allergy symptoms. There is also no mention that the researchers wrote in their journal letter that they have yet to show that the drug has benefits for people with more than one allergy. The release touts speculation about the drug’s potential to prevent or treat food allergies, even though such trials are just getting started. The senior author of the letter to the editor noted, however: “I don’t know if this or similar drugs will ever make it possible for a peanut-allergic person to eat peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, but we’re excited to use this approach to teach us how to lessen the risks of food allergy reactions.” Readers of this release get no alert that the labeling of ibrutinib warns of potentially life-threatening bleeding, infections, decreased blood cell counts, heart rhythm problems and also that patients commonly suffer diarrhea. The release not only fails to mention any of these risks and side effects, it projects an unsupported aura of safety by describing the drug as an FDA-approved “successful and less-toxic alternative to chemotherapy.” While the release does note that this was a pilot study, the important detail that it included only two patients is buried two-thirds of the way down. The release also overstates the scope of the work by referring to “patients who were allergic to allergens such as cat dander and ragweed,” when in fact there was just one patient who had a skin test reaction to cat dander and just one patient who had a skin test reaction to ragweed. The release should have been more clear that this study was just an early step toward demonstrating that blocking a protein known as Bruton’s tyrosine kinase (BTK) can have an effect on allergic reactions in humans, but that nothing is known about whether this effect can be repeated usefully, reliably or safely. We rarely see overt disease mongering in the news releases and stories we review. This is a notable exception. The release notes in the opening paragraph: “The promising data from this pilot study could have greater implications for adults with food allergies,” tantalizing legions of people with allergies to peanuts and other foods. Some news stories jumped on that connection. But the study did not include any people with food allergies, just one patient with a cat dander reaction and one patient with a ragweed reaction. The study reports that this study was funded by a 2016 Dixon Translational Research Grant. However, it fails to disclose the list of industry connections, patents, stock options and other items the researchers attached to their journal letter. Two of the seven authors have ties to AbbVie, the co-producer of ibrutininib. AbbVie and Northwestern University have also announced a five-year deal to collaborate on cancer research. The release does not compare this approach to existing allergies treatments. There are numerous over-the-counter and prescription medications available, along with air filters and masks for airborne allergens. The release is clear that the drug is still being studied. It does not make any claims about when such treatments might be available. It is appropriate to call this approach new. Indeed, this is the first test in humans of the effect of a BTK blocker on allergic reactions. However, other than the data from just two patients, most of the release refers to speculation that began with laboratory and animal experiments by a variety of researchers in recent years. As noted above, the release is replete with speculation about possible benefits that have yet to be tested. It likened the drug to “the holy grail of food allergy treatment” even though food allergies weren’t part of the study. The headline also strikes us as irresponsible and misleading: “New cancer drug can prevent reactions to common airborne allergens.”
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6365
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Health officials warn restaurant customers about Hep A case.
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Public health officials say customers who ate at a Lynnwood restaurant that was shut down because of a Hepatitis A infection could be at risk of contracting the virus.
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true
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Health, General News, Liver disease, Hepatitis, Public health
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KOMO-TV reports the Snohomish Health District allowed Ashiya Teriyaki to reopen Friday after forcing its closure on Wednesday due to a food worker there who had contracted the highly infectious liver disease. The health department was notified by the worker’s health provider. Hepatitis A is spread from person-to-person contact and is a result of fecal contamination. Authorities say those who ate at the restaurant between August 2 and August 15 may be exposed and should seek medical treatment or evaluation. Symptoms can last weeks or longer and include fever, fatigue, loss of appetite, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, dark urine or jaundice. ___ Information from: KOMO-TV, http://www.komotv.com/
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2056
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New monkey found in Myanmar near China dam project.
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A new type of snub-nosed monkey has been found in a remote forested region of northern Myanmar which is under threat from logging and a Chinese dam project, scientists said Wednesday.
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true
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Environment
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A new type of snub-nosed monkey (Rhinopithecus strykeri) is seen in this undated handout of an artist rendering released on October 26, 2010. A new type of snub-nosed monkey has been found in a remote forested region of northern Myanmar which is under threat from logging and a Chinese dam project, scientists said on Wednesday. They said hunters in Myanmar's Kachin state said the long-tailed black monkey, with white-tufted ears and a white beard, could often be tracked in the rain because its upturned nostrils made it prone to sneezing when water dripped in. REUTERS/Dr Thomas Geissmann/Fauna & Flora International/Handout They said hunters in Myanmar’s Kachin state said the long-tailed black monkey, with white-tufted ears and a white beard, could often be tracked in the rain because its upturned nostrils made it prone to sneezing when water dripped in. “It’s new to science. It’s unusual to travel to a remote area and discover a monkey that looks unlike any other in the world,” Thomas Geissmann, lead author of the study at the University of Zurich-Irchel, told Reuters. Studies of a carcass and four skulls showed the monkey differed from snub-nosed monkeys in China and Vietnam. The experts had no photos of a live Myanmar monkey. The scientists estimated there were between 260 and 330 of the monkeys living in an area of about 270 sq km (100 sq miles) and believed the species to be critically endangered. “The hunting pressure is likely to increase considerably in the next few years as new dam construction and logging roads invade” the monkeys’ habitat, they wrote in the American Journal of Primatology. “The future of the snub-nosed monkey lies in Chinese hands,” said Frank Momberg, of Fauna and Flora International and a co-author of the study. Monkeys were hunted for meat or fur and their body parts were used in traditional medicines in China. He said China Power Investment Corp., leading the dam project further down the valley on a tributary of the Irrawaddy River in Myanmar, had an economic interest in preserving the forested region where the monkeys live. More roads and logging would cause erosion around the watershed that could clog up the new reservoir with silt, reducing power generation, he said. He praised China for carrying out a study of the dam’s possible effect on the environment. The discovery of the snub-nosed monkey contrasts with a rising trend of extinctions, caused by factors such as land clearance, expansion of cities, pollution and climate change. A U.N. conference in Nagoya, Japan, this week is looking at ways to safeguard biological diversity after the world failed in a goal set in 2002 of a “significant reduction” in the pace of extinctions of animals and plants by 2010. A separate study in the journal Science showed growing numbers of the world’s birds, mammals and amphibians had moved closer to extinction in recent decades. A fifth were classified as threatened.
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36061
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"There is credible evidence of ""a false flag attack"" planned for Seattle on November 3 2019."
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Seattle November 3 2019 False Flag Attack Rumor
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false
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Disinformation, Fact Checks
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Rumors of a “false flag” terror attack in Seattle on November 3 2019 spiked in popularity in specific shadowy corners of social media in late October 2019, although by that point, the highly specious claims were several weeks old.A September 24 2019 YouTube video, “False Flag attack on Seattle on Nov 03, 2019,” was a frequently referenced and widely-shared and viewed element of the set of rumors.This video follows a pattern of handwringing and pearl-clutching about imaginary upcoming “false flag” events and civil wars that appear to be disinformation specifically geared toward stirring unrest, almost down to the date. In 2017, a viral video from a man rumored to be “law enforcement” (who actually turned out to be a security guard and bounty hunter) sparked rumors of a “second civil war” on November 4th of that year; in 2019, disinformation purveyors pushed a similar event, but on October 16th. Needless to say, neither “warning” led to a single incident.The video clocked in at 26:29 and was uploaded by user “kochen mit Willi” (“cooking with Willi”), an account that had until that point featured little more than cooking videos. It had the following description:In this video I want to warn you of a possible False Flag attack in Seattle, that will take place on Nov 03, 2019.In heavily accented English, the purportedly German YouTube creator greets “guys from America,” then begins by declaring:I assume that a staged attack will happen in Seattle on November the 3rd 2019, that will kill thousands of people.I know that this theory sounds absolutely crazy, but it cannot be a coincidence that for many years all the media have hinted that an attack is taking place in Seattle. It is not the first time that all media announced a staged attack in advance. Many years before the staged terrorist attacks in New York, the collapse of the Twin Towers was announced in all media.In the first few seconds of the video, the narrator makes several questionable declarations: that it “cannot be a coincidence” that media images of destruction in Seattle have appeared “for many years,” that the media regularly announces a “staged attack … in advance,” and that the September 11 2011 attacks in New York City were both staged as well as announced in advance in the mainstream media.Immediately thereafter, the narrator claims that he has proof of the media “announcing” that the September 11th 2001 attacks would take “ten hours,” then he simply flashes images on the screen to “prove” 9/11 was hinted in various forms of media before the attacks occurred. In the “examples” provided by the channel, images of superheroes and other cartoon characters from as far back as 1979 and 1980 are provided as “proof” that the media similarly predicted 9/11.The narrator, deliberately or not, hits on a core element of successfully viral conspiracy claims. We have no notable examples of anyone “predicting” September 11th, but several events were deemed eerie or unsettling when retroactively viewed through a post-9/11 lens.Examples of public fixation on things that became weird in the aftermath of the attacks are a viral “last sunset” on September 10 2001, later notable because it was one of the final images in existence of the World Trade Center before it collapsed. In a similar vein, there was the purported “only footage” of a plane striking the first tower on September 11th, video which proved to be compelling precisely because it carried an undercurrent of people being completely blindsided by what would be a major, tragic event in history.In that sense, Americans (and clearly some Europeans) invoke a particular genre of post-9/11 introspection involving our inability to prevent the attack and its aftermath. When we look back at the weeks, months, and years before September 11th, we consider what we might have done differently to stop it — and part of that is tilting at windmills in the hopes that next time, we will see it and be able to prevent it, and in doing so, we alleviate some of the angst we feel about being caught so unaware.As a genre, terrorism prediction or signs and secret transmissions perform well due to our unwavering fascination with and trauma due to the tragedy. At least five posts on Reddit’s r/conspiracy had to do with to the Seattle 11/3 false flag claim, some of which centered on this particular video:Seattle False Flag predicted for 3 November 2019 (parallels to 9-11) from conspiracyA mainstay in conspiracy theories, one of the videos shared was more than two hours long, and hypothesized that The Simpsons had predicted a calamity in Seattle:The Simpsons: Predictive Programming or Coincidence? ~ Big event revealed – Seattle 11/3/2019 (Video). from conspiracyAnother since-deleted post posited that clues were disclosed on an episode of long-running game show Wheel of Fortune, linking to Imgur as supporting evidence:An episode of Wheel of Fortune that aired on 10/15/19,features Seattle as it’s backdrop, with prominent focus on the Space Needle. During one of the transitions to the co-host, two plasma-like animated balls of energy appear, then spiral directly into the middle of the Space Needle, with a very definite explosion effect.Here’s the timestamp of the sequenceHere’s the Seattle Seahawks stadium, featuring plaques that seem to depict some kind of event. The artists official explanation is very ambiguous and wishy-washy. Kind of like he was told to say that. Some are speculating the plaques look like the Rapture (people being sucked into the sky), others say it may be a nuclear explosion. The sun, with a positive symbol in the center could indicate a plasma reaction, which is the immediate result of a nuclear explosion.There’s dozens of other references in recent, and even not so recent media, that seems to be predictive programming for an attack on Seattle. I don’t want to overwhelm this post, so I’ve made it somewhat digestible. Make of this information what you will.This false-flag event is supposed to happen on 11/3, during the Seahawks game.In a linked video from Wheel of Fortune, the Seattle Space Needle is visible at the center of the stage. An interstitial of two light bursts transitions the shot of the stage to an outdoors scene, as part of the show. A commenter on the thread alleged that the original poster routinely posted low-quality content and regularly deleted their posts and comments when others objected:In previous posts OP has made this same dumb claim about Seattle, a missing husband, and likes to source 4chan as a ‘news’ source.OP consistently deletes their posted threads and post history.In the original September 24 2019 video (“False Flag attack on Seattle on Nov 03, 2019”), the narrator provides four initial examples they curated of “predictive programming” in movies. Predictive programming is a concept routinely invoked by conspiracy theorists, due in part to its flexibility and efficiency in back-proving a claim. Proponents of theories involving predictive programming rarely if never address why perpetrators of false flags would risk getting caught to tip their hands in the form of media-embedded clues.RationalWiki explains why, on balance, dropping clues to upcoming disasters and false flags is a non-sensical proposition on many levels:The first [logical weakness with respect to predictive programming concerns] the question of why nobody in the entertainment industry has leaked [the existence of these planted clues] out. According to the example from [David] Icke mentioned above, the shot in Dark Knight Rises showing a close-up of a map with the name “Sandy Hook” visible is deliberate predictive programming. If that were the case, then logically several people involved in the shot would have been in on the conspiracy: the director, the cameraman, whoever obtained a map showing Sandy Hook as a prop, and the stage hand who positioned the map on the table in the right position. Or only 1 person using CGI; just the editor himself, an editorial underling or a single infiltrator.If plans to commit mass murders are regularly being revealed to the entertainment industry, and the information is apparently reaching low-level workers such as cameramen and stage hands, then surely one of them would have blown the whistle by now? … The second problem is the heads-I-win-tails-you-lose nature of the claims: that the less plausible the claims, and the more contrived the link, the more powerful it must be.The first of the four “predictive” films mentioned by the video’s narrator was direct-to-DVD movie Chaos from 2005, and the narrator points to a wristwatch visible on screen in one scene. That watch displays a time for which the minute hand is close to the “3” and the hour hand “11,” or roughly 11:15. When the narrator “fast forwards,” a door is blown in — to him, a clear sign Seattle (the movie’s setting) would be attacked on 11/3 (11:15) …but even assuming that this rather strange mathematical wizardry is legitimate (it isn’t) none of the “clues” from a 2005 film point to the year 2019.Next up in the video is the 1983 film War Games, starring Matthew Broderick and released more than 35 years prior to 2019. The narrator chose a scene at the beginning, when Broderick’s character is making text-based selections in what he believes to be a video game. After choosing one of two sides (the Soviet Union versus the United States), Broderick’s character asks his female friend to choose two targets. The pair settle on Las Vegas first, and Seattle as their second selection.Additional evidence, according to the video, is present in the film’s use of 311 as an area code, as “311” is November 3rd in Europe and Canada — although in the United States, that sequence would be read as March 11th. In films, 311 is also a fictional area code used in advertisements and media, and War Games is listed as one example of several films in which the sequence is used to represent an area code.A third film example is the 2012 movie Red Dawn, which “centers on a group of young people who defend their hometown from a North Korean invasion” and is a remake of a 1984 film of the same name. As proof of this predictive programming, the narrator points to a shot of a Seattle Space Needle snow globe; however, the film is set in Spokane, Washington, not Seattle.A fourth example is another direct-to-DVD movie, 2013’s Disney animated feature Super Buddies, and a scene where a superhero crash-lands in the front yard of a Seattle suburban home. No major catastrophe occurs, there’s just a rough landing on a lawn. Ultimately, the narrator concludes, “in all four films, an attack on Seattle was [suggested].”From there, it veers into the often-inaccurate claim The Simpsons “predicted” or “predicts” things. As noted on other pages, The Simpsons’ long history on television and embedded in popular culture provides a vast amount of content from which innumerable conclusions could be “proved.” But more importantly, these so-called “Simpsons predictions” are often complete fabrications banking on the pop culture belief that the show has a history of accurately predicting upcoming events.Next the video focuses on the purported preponderance of pop culture imagery involving “Seattle” and “fire,” cherry picking examples to suggest Seattle is often depicted in flames and citing the existence of a show called Seattle Firefighters is evidence of an implausible focus on the city and conflagration. It might not be as apparent to YouTube creators in Germany as it is to people living in the Pacific Northwest, but Seattle is actually one of the most populous cities in the United States and is a major metropolitan area.Its next point is that the “real” Seattle Fire Department covers 311 kilometers of area — another “reference” to the date of November 3, or 3/11 in Europe. Incidentally, this is also untrue; per the Seattle Fire Department itself, its coverage area is 83.9 square miles, or about 135 kilometers, and then 193 miles of waterfront, which does translate to approximately 311 kilometers — but that’s only part of the larger coverage area. It is likely that the “researcher” in this video simply saw the “311” number somewhere and cherry-picked it to support a conclusion he had already made.All of these points take us only to just prior to the nine-minute mark of the video, which is quite clearly using a rhetorical device known as a “gish gallop,” or argument from verbosity:The Gish Gallop is the fallacious debate tactic of drowning your opponent in a flood of individually-weak arguments in order to prevent rebuttal of the whole argument collection without great effort. The Gish Gallop is a conveyor belt-fed version of the on the spot fallacy, as it’s unreasonable for anyone to have a well-composed answer immediately available to every argument present in the Gallop. The Gish Gallop is named after creationist Duane Gish, who often abused it. […]Examples of Gish Gallops are commonly found online, in crank “list” articles that claim to show “X hundred reasons for (or against) Y”. At the highest levels of verbosity, with dozens upon dozens or even hundreds of minor arguments interlocking, each individual “reason” is — upon closer inspection — likely to consist of a few sentences at best. Gish Gallops are almost always performed with numerous other logical fallacies baked in. The myriad component arguments constituting the Gallop may typically intersperse a few perfectly uncontroversial claims — the basic validity of which are intended to lend undue credence to the Gallop at large — with a devious hodgepodge of half-truths, outright lies, red herrings and straw men — which, if not rebutted as the fallacies they are, pile up into egregious problems for the refuter.From all we could see, claims of a “planned false flag attack” in Seattle on November 3 2019 (often rendered as 11/3 or 3/11) stem from a September 2019 video that relies on an increasingly bizarre and tenuous number of “clues” from four films picked at random and other pieces of pop culture to purportedly signal that some sort of an “attack” is “imminent.” It appears that the 11/3 or 3/11 date was cobbled together from an on-screen wristwatch in a 2005 film set in Seattle (but not about a terror attack there), the fictitious area code of 311 (3/11) seen in a 1983 movie next to “Seattle,” and other massive reaches. All of this specious “evidence” is cobbled together into a lengthy diatribe on YouTube, leading to viral rumors likely spread either by people who haven’t seen how thin “evidence” is for that particular claim or by those who have something to gain from rumor-driven panics.In sum total, all “evidence” involved “predictive programming” clues found by retroactively cherry-picking popular media from the past four decades and nothing more.
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9812
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Hot flash remedies: Estrogen may be the best answer
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Since the story employed helpful sidebars, we yearned for a sidebar that provided some actual data on the tradeoff in HRT benefits and harms. And we would have liked to learn more about the International Menopause Society: who’s in it and do they have any conflicts of interest? We did appreciate the one overview line in the middle of the story: “the great, universally accepted hot flash cure remains elusive.” In the nearly 10 years since the publication of results of the Women’s Health Initiative pointed out dangers of prolonged hormone replacement therapy for many women, women and their health care professionals continue to try to balance the recommendations with the problems that some women have with hot flashes as they go through menopause.
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mixture
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hot flashes
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There is no mention of the cost of prescription hormone replacement therapy (HRT) or of any of the non-prescription approaches described. Cost information would be valuable for readers because many women who do choose HRT use it for years. The story focused on the analysis of non-prescription approaches to hot flashes and the conclusion that “failed to show any benefit of over-the-counter therapies compared to placebo for (hot flashes).” And it briefly mentioned that “hormone therapy (estrogen, often combined with progestin)…reduces hot flashes by about 90%.” The piece does not include balanced information regarding both the risks and benefits of using HRT. While the author does state that “Hormones are not for every woman…” the quotes from Dr. Michelle Warren, medical director of the women’s health center at Columbia College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York, and from Margery Gass, executive director of the North American Menopause Society, support using HRT. Dr. Warren states that “it’s actually very safe, but that’s not getting across to the public’.” Gass believes that the risks of HRT are “…low for women who use them for a short time around menopause.” Readers would be better informed by a more balanced approach that included actual data about possible adverse side effects from using HRT. Most studies show that there is a small increase in risk of breast cancer after 3 or more years of use. The author refers to the hormone replacement therapy treatment review published by the International Menopause Society (IMS) but no information is provided about the objectivity of the IMS nor is there any information about studies that formed the basis for the treatment recommendations. Use of hormone replacement therapy has been especially controversial since 2002 and readers deserve to know about the objectivity of the IMS, the organization that published the treatment review. Readers should also be given information about any recent studies about the risks of HRT. Margery Gass, executive director of the North American Menopause Society, states that studies since 2002 have “given us a lot of reassurances that risks are low for women who use them {HRT} for a short time around menopause.” Readers should be given more information about the studies Gass refers to. As already noted, most studies show that there is a small increase in risk of breast cancer after 3 or more years of use. The nice sidebars on “What doesn’t work” and “hot flash faq” could have also provided some of the actual data on potential harms. The story does not commit disease-mongering. Stating that 20-25% of women are really bothered by hot flashes helps put this in perspective. Readers aren’t told anything about who is in the International Menopause Society and whether any conflicts of interest exist. The woman profiled in the piece tried alternatives to HRT but eventually decided to try using a hormone patch to relieve her hot flashes. It was helpful for readers to learn that she decided to use a lower dose of HRT because the lower dose didn’t make her feel as bloated. Other alternatives such as exercise are mentioned but are all termed ineffective. The author notes that the treatment review is “bluntly dismissive of non-prescription remedies.” Readers who are dealing with hot flashes would benefit from more balanced information about HRT and from advice to talk with their healthcare professional to reach a shared decision about HRT after discussing the risks and benefits. The story didn’t explicitly address the availability of the various HRT approaches, but we didn’t think this was absolutely necessary in this case. No claims of novelty were made – not about the approaches nor about the analysis by the International Menopause Society. Quotes are included from one of the contributors to the treatment review and from two others who work in women’s health. There is also a profile of a woman who decided to use HRT after four years of side effects from hot flashes.
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37701
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"Comedian Patton Oswalt tweeted ""I am a proud pedophile,"" a tweet which resurfaced in 2020."
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Did Patton Oswalt Tweet ‘I Am a Proud Pedophile’?
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mixture
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Fact Checks, Viral Content
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"On August 3 2020, a Facebook user shared a purported tweet from comedian Patton Oswalt, in which Oswalt purportedly claimed to be a “proud pedophile”:Commenters on the Facebook post folded it into a larger conspiracy theory about child trafficking:It’s not funny. Were talking about innocent children. Being raped molested or sex trafficked. This trauma sticks with those children for the rest of they life. Some will commit suicide and won’t even see out the rest of their lives. This is mentally sick either way. With this whole Hollywood sex scheme thing rn I wouldn’t be surprised if he meant it.Rumors of that sort reached a crescendo in July 2020, with a baseless rumor that retailer Wayfair was shipping actual children in overpriced cabinets (our examination of the conspiracy theory is below):Wayfair Child Trafficking Conspiracy TheoryIn the post’s image, a screenshot of Oswalt’s purported tweet appeared, alongside a photograph of the comic carrying a small child. That image was captured in July 2015, and it featured Oswalt and his daughter Alice:Disney-Pixar’s “Inside Out” – Los Angeles PremiereHOLLYWOOD, CA – JUNE 08: Actor Patton Oswalt and daughter Alice Oswalt attend the premiere of “Inside Out” at the El Capitan Theatre on June 8, 2015 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Jason LaVeris/FilmMagic)As for the tweet, it existed — but it was taken out of context:The angry “@” tweets from my hammer toed followers opened my eyes. “Pedo-phobe” shaming hurts us all. I am a PROUD pedophile!That particular tweet was sent by Oswalt in the summer of 2013, during which time his use of Twitter for a particular style of joke was well documented. Oswalt shared a series of tweets in July and August 2013 that were conceived to leverage Twitter’s character limit in a humorous fashion.In the course of the bit, Oswalt would publish one tweet expressing a widely accepted sentiment. In the second of two tweets, he would continue the sentiment to create a misleading statement when only the second tweet was examined.Examples included these two tweets about laundry:When it comes to doing laundry, I firmly believe in using environment-friendly detergent and I ALSO believe— Patton Oswalt (@pattonoswalt) August 17, 2013whites and ""darks"" should be kept separate. Sorry if that sounds too ""tree-huggy"" to my conservative followers.— Patton Oswalt (@pattonoswalt) August 17, 2013And this pair of tweets about marriage equality and abortion:Saying that gay marriage is unconstitutional is as hateful & ignorant as saying— Patton Oswalt (@pattonoswalt) August 17, 2013all abortion should be illegal, no exceptions. Just go ahead and UNFOLLOW me, you right wing hate-mongers.— Patton Oswalt (@pattonoswalt) August 17, 2013And these about voting laws and Adolf Hitler:Oh, you think repealing voting laws in the south is justified, you racist asshole? I suppose you ALSO believe that— Patton Oswalt (@pattonoswalt) August 17, 2013Hitler was absolutely right about the Jews. And I don't care how many ""white power"" redneck followers I lose by Tweeting that.— Patton Oswalt (@pattonoswalt) August 17, 2013Like the three examples above, Oswalt’s “proud pedophile” tweet was an extension of the series of two-part tweets. In that set of two, he tweeted:And how 'bout these gross people with hammer toes? Seriously, get your deformed proximal interphalangeal joints out of my sight!— Patton Oswalt (@pattonoswalt) July 9, 2013The angry ""@"" tweets from my hammer toed followers opened my eyes. ""Pedo-phobe"" shaming hurts us all. I am a PROUD pedophile!— Patton Oswalt (@pattonoswalt) July 9, 2013Although it is technically true that Patton Oswalt tweeted “I am a PROUD pedophile,” the tweet was the second of two tweets and an extension of a long-running bit he did in the summer of 2013. The first of two tweets joked about “hammer toes,” and the second joked about “pedo-phobe” shaming — adding that he was a proud “pedophile.” In that case, he was referencing a joke about feet.Comments"
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38806
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Reports have gone viral that 23 seniors died after receiving flu shots sold at pharmacies.
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23 Seniors Died After Receiving Flu Shots
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false
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Health / Medical
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Flu vaccines purchased at pharmacies haven’t killed 23 seniors. The rumor that the flu vaccine had killed 23 seniors first surfaced in 2013, but it wasn’t true back then, either. An FDA package insert for the Fluzone high-dose flu vaccine from 2013 stated that 23 seniors had died within 180 days of receiving a flu vaccine — out of a total of 15,992 seniors who participated in clinical trials. The conclusion was that the flu vaccine itself caused none of the 23 deaths: No deaths were reported within 28 days post-vaccination. A total of 23 deaths were reported during the period Day 29–180 post-vaccination: (0.6%) among Fluzone High-Dose recipients and 7 (0.6%) among Fluzone 1 recipients. The majority of these participants had a medical history of cardiac, hepatic, neoplastic, renal, and/or respiratory diseases. No deaths were considered to be caused by vaccination. So, 23 seniors (out of 15,992 who received flu shots in the clinical trials) died from natural causes within six months of receiving the flu shot. That’s not unusual. The website Health Impact News, however, published a report under the headline “Package insert for Fluzone flu vaccine marketed to seniors reveals 23 seniors died during drug trial.” The story, which has been shared nearly 20,000 times on social media sites, questions how the FDA determined that the 23 seniors had died from causes unrelated to the flu vaccine. The simple answer is that it’s not out of the ordinary for 23 seniors out of 15,992 who participate in any clinical trial to die of natural causes within six months. Taking those 23 deaths out of context has created (false) panic that the flu vaccine is potentially fatal, and that has not been proven. In reality, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimate that the flu vaccine saved 40,000 lives over a nine-year span. Many of those prevented deaths were among children and seniors: Estimates from the study showed that the majority of the flu-associated deaths prevented—nearly 89 percent (88.9%)—were in people 65 years of age and older. Next to older people, young children 6 months through 4 years of age benefitted most from flu vaccine in terms of the percentage of deaths averted. Children younger than 5 years old and adults 65 years of age and older are at high risk of serious flu complications and typically account for the majority of flu-associated deaths and have the highest flu-associated hospitalization rates. The study included a breakdown of deaths prevented by season. The most deaths were prevented during the 2012-2013 season, when nearly 9,400 deaths were prevented by vaccination, despite modest estimated vaccine effectiveness that season. Like the current 2014-2015 flu season, H3N2 viruses circulated predominantly during the 2012-2013 season. Studies indicate that flu shots are not potentially fatal for seniors and can help prevent flu-related deaths. Comments
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14864
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More black babies are aborted in NYC than born.
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": A Hillary Clinton declaration that every child should be allowed to live up to his potential prompted a tweet from a spokeswoman for Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton that ""More black babies are aborted in NYC than born."" The tweet from Deputy Press Secretary Cynthia Meyer echoes what has become a talking point among anti-abortion activists, that abortion disproportionately affects the nation’s African American population. Nationally, African American women had a higher rate of abortion than whites, Hispanics or Asians, according to 2013 figures. Even so, black women gave birth more than they terminated pregnancies that year. The same was not true for New York City, where more abortions were recorded for black woman than live births in both 2012 and 2013, the most recent available data."
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true
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Abortion, Corrections and Updates, Women, Texas, Cynthia Meyer,
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"During the first Democratic presidential debate in October 2015, Hillary Clinton proclaimed, ""We’ve got to be committed to getting every child to live up to his or her God-given potential."" Cynthia Meyer, who took up the post of deputy press secretary for Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in early 2015, fired back with a tweet, ""Would help if they had the chance to be born."" About a month later, in the next Democratic debate Nov. 14, 2015, the episode was repeated. Clinton echoed her earlier comment, again declaring, ""Every single one of our children deserves the chance to live up to his or her God-given potential."" This time, Meyer responded by tweeting, ""More black babies are aborted in NYC than born,"" followed by the hashtag #blacklivesmatter. NYC meaning the city of New York. The pair of exchanges elicited a strong sense of deja vu, but Meyer’s second tweet raised a more specific question about abortion rates among black women in the Big Apple: Are there more abortions by black women in NYC than births? To our inquiry, over email Meyer said her responses were an effort to highlight the value of human life and call attention to NYC’s ""startling"" numbers, which come from a 2013 report on pregnancy outcomes compiled by the city’s Department of Health and Mental Hygiene’s Bureau of Vital Statistics. The numbers have been widely reported by conservative media outlets, including a National Review article that Meyer emailed to us. ""To be clear, that tweet came from my personal Twitter account and I was speaking as a private citizen,"" Meyer said in an email. ""Happy to defend the stats, though."" Abortions by black women in NYC outpacing births? Figuring out the answer to this question proved rather simple. The first place we went was that 2013 report, the most recent data available, which provides exhaustive breakdowns of birth statistics in New York City. The agency lists pregnancy outcomes by race and ethnicity, as well as by borough, type of birth (live birth, C-section, premature) and health of the mother. According to the report, in 2013 black women accounted for 29,007 terminated pregnancies, representing almost 42 percent of all abortions in the city. That same year, black women in the city gave birth to 24,108 babies. With abortions surpassing live births by nearly 5,000, African American women in the city clearly terminated pregnancies more often than they carried babies to term. Black women terminated pregnancies at a rate of 67.3 per 1,000 women ages 15 to 49, a rate far higher than any other racial or ethnic group. We checked: the statistics were similar the previous year, when African American women in the city had 24,758 births and underwent 31,328 abortions. The numbers for black women in NYC starkly contrasted with women in other racial and ethnic categories. In 2013, births far surpassed abortions for white, Hispanic and Asian/Pacific Islander women. Hispanic women accounted for the second-most abortions in the city with 21,555, but they also had 35,581 live births. Asian women had both the fewest abortions and fewest births, while white women accounted for the most births overall and second-fewest abortions. There was less discrepancy between the number of births and terminated pregnancies for black women statewide. In 2013, black women in New York state gave birth to 36,130 babies and underwent 34,960 abortions, according to the state’s health department. During the previous year, the numbers were almost dead even, with black women accounting for 36,905 births and 36,633 abortions across the state. The numbers are far different for the four biggest cities in Texas. The Texas Department of State Health Services reports births by both county and city, but abortions are only reported by county. We examined the numbers in 2013 for Bexar, Dallas, Harris and Travis Counties, which contain the cities of San Antonio, Dallas, Houston and Austin, respectively. In all four counties, black women had more live births than abortions. The same was for white women in those counties. For Harris County, which includes Houston, the largest city in Texas and fourth-largest city nationwide, black women had 12,569 live births and 5,515 abortions, while white women accounted for 16,247 births and 2,661 abortions. If you’d like to peruse the numbers for all four counties, we input the data into a Google spreadsheet for easier side-by-side comparison. It’s important to note that abortion access across the state of Texas stands in stark contrast to NYC. Texas currently has 19 operating abortion clinics, but that number would drop to 10 if the U.S. Supreme Court allows the state's contested 2013 law to fully take effect. In contrast, New York state has 80 abortion clinics. Attitudes toward abortion also differ greatly between the two states. Nationally in 2009, black women had abortions far more often than white and Hispanic women, according to data compiled in December 2013 by the National Center for Health Statistics. For some perspective, an online search turned up a 2008 Guttmacher Policy Review article by Susan A. Cohen, a vice president for the Guttmacher Institute, a nonprofit that promotes reproductive health and abortion rights. Cohen, saying the national abortion rate for black women is almost five times the rate for white women, suggested this is greatly explained by higher incidences of unintended pregnancy among African American residents. Higher rates, Cohen wrote, ""reflect the particular difficulties that many women in minority communities face in accessing high-quality contraceptive services and in using their chosen method of birth control consistently and effectively over long periods of time. Moreover, these realities must be seen in a larger context in which significant racial and ethnic disparities persist for a wide range of health outcomes, from diabetes to heart disease to breast and cervical cancer to sexually transmitted infections (STI), including HIV."" In examining the socioeconomic factors behind this phenomena, Cohen disputed the idea that black women are recruited into having more abortions, a sentiment that has been shared by anti-abortion activists and conservative politicians. These issues were also extensively explored last September by Zoe Dutton in a piece for The Atlantic called ""Abortion’s Racial Gap."" GOP leaders have used these statistics to argue against abortion, positing that it disproportionately affects black communities. In August, Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson articulated this stance in relation to Planned Parenthood, claiming during an appearance on Fox News that the organization has contributed to abortion being ""the number one cause of death for black people."" The leading causes of death for black Americans are actually heart disease, cancer and stroke, according to the CDC, but Carson’s rhetoric speaks to the GOP’s broader stance against abortion. The debate over abortion has taken on more fervor in recent years as many states have introduced increased abortion restrictions. Texas has led in this area, in 2013 enacting a law requiring abortion clinics to adhere to the standards of surgical centers and employ doctors with admitting privileges at a hospital within 30 miles of the clinic. In November 2015, the Supreme Court agreed to hear a case challenging the constitutionality of those two provisions as undue burdens on women seeking abortions. Our ruling: A Hillary Clinton declaration that every child should be allowed to live up to his potential prompted a tweet from a spokeswoman for Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton that ""More black babies are aborted in NYC than born."" The tweet from Deputy Press Secretary Cynthia Meyer echoes what has become a talking point among anti-abortion activists, that abortion disproportionately affects the nation’s African American population. Nationally, African American women had a higher rate of abortion than whites, Hispanics or Asians, according to 2013 figures. Even so, black women gave birth more than they terminated pregnancies that year. The same was not for New York City, where more abortions were recorded for black woman than live births in both 2012 and 2013, the most recent available data. -- The statement is accurate and there's nothing significant missing. Click here for more on the six PolitiFact ratings and how we select facts to check. CLARIFICATION, 4:20 p.m., Dec. 1, 2015: We amended this fact check to clarify that the described 2013 abortion rate for black women related to women aged 15 to 49. This change did not affect our rating."
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2751
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Given Imaging gets FDA clearance for colon camera pill.
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Camera-in-a-pill maker Given Imaging said on Monday it received U.S. Food and Drug Administration clearance for a pill to provide visualization of the colon that has a global market of 3 million procedures a year.
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true
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Health News
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The pill, called the PillCam Colon, may be used for detection of colon polyps in patients after an incomplete optical colonoscopy, the Israeli medical device maker said. There are 750,000 patients in the United States alone who experience an incomplete colonoscopy each year, Given Imaging said, and they often incur additional costs, along with the inconvenience and risk associated with other procedures to complete the colorectal examination. Given Imaging is a developer of technology for visualizing, diagnosing and monitoring the digestive system, including its PillCam, a swallowed capsule endoscope. In December, medical device maker Covidien PLC said it would acquire Given Imaging for $860 million. The transaction is expected to be completed by March 31.
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31719
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"A gruesome photograph of a shredded hand depicts a ""new punishment for reading the Bible"" in Saudi Arabia."
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As for the photograph, it is demonstrably not related to any “new punishment for reading the Bible” in Saudi Arabia. Its first appearance on the internet dated back to April 2010 (possibly earlier) and it was widely interpreted to be a photograph of a gruesome accident, not a brutal punishment.
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false
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Fauxtography, bible, Body Modifications, saudi arabia
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On 13 December 2015, a Facebook user published the image below with a claim that the injuries depicted were inflicted as part of a “new punishment for reading the Bible in Saudi Arabia.” Even taken solely as a rumor, the “new punishment” was not all that new; earlier versions of the claim appeared on anti-Islam blogs as early as May 2013, including the same picture, but stipulating that the photo was included for illustrative purposes only. Oddly, the blog didn’t describe any specifics of the “new punishment,” asserting only that one existed: Saudi Arabia: This is the new form of punishment in one of the Saudi nations. According to reports sent to us from Arabia, this is a new punishment used on at least one person found to possess a bible. Since then, four more people have come forth and confirmed that they have seen people with similar punishments. Saudi Arabia refuses to recognize the religion of immigrants, and allows any non-Muslim within a certain distance of Mecca to be killed. Given that the blog also said that the image was unrelated to the unspecified punishment, what precisely was supposedly happening to Bible readers remained unclear. Naturally, the image became attached to the rumor without the annotation indicating that the two were unrelated, and social media users began claiming that the photograph documented a physical punishment. Later versions on similar anti-Islamic blogs filled in the blanks based upon the unrelated image: There is a new punishment for reading the Bible in Saudi Arabia. Your right hand is shredded. The four fingers and thumb are cut to the bone forty or fifty times. Muscles and nerves are severed so as to render the hand useless in the future. Also this punishment is carried out in filthy conditions making serious infection almost certain. Neither reading nor possessing a copy of the Bible for personal use in Saudi Arabia is illegal. According to comprehensive travel directives provided by the United Kingdom, restrictions on the Bible are related solely to proselytizing: The public practice of any form of religion other than Islam is illegal; as is an intention to convert others. However, the Saudi authorities accept the private practice of religions other than Islam, and you can bring a Bible into the country as long as it is for your personal use. Importing larger quantities than this can carry severe penalties. That information was reiterated on the web site ExpatArrivals, distinguishing the personal possession and use of Bibles from Bibles imported with the intent of evangelizing: Islam is the only religion that is allowed to be practised publically in Saudi Arabia, and the freedom to practice any other religion in public is non-existent. However, the private practice of other religions in Saudi Arabia is allowed, and expats are therefore able to practice their own religion in the privacy of their home or compound. However, the conversion by Muslims to another religion (apostasy) is not allowed, and non-Islamic proselytising, including the distribution of non-Muslim materials such as bibles, is illegal. By all credible accounts, reading the Bible is not illegal in Saudi Arabia. However, importing a quantity of bibles with the intent of converting Muslims away from Islam is against the law and may warrant harsh penalties. On the web site for Gideons International (an evangelical Christian organization devoted to distributing copies of the Bible for free), a document details “countries where we cannot yet share God’s Word.” In addition to Saudi Arabia, the organization lists Afghanistan, Algeria, Comoros Islands, Djibouti, Iran, Iraq, Libya, Maldives, Mauritania, Morocco, North Korea, Peoples Republic of China, Somalia, Tunisia, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Yemen among countries in which the group is prevented from distributing Bibles.
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2488
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Michelle Obama, Laura Bush spotlight Africa women's health.
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U.S. First Lady Michelle Obama and predecessor Laura Bush combined their star power to draw attention on Tuesday to efforts to improve women’s health and welfare in east Africa.
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true
|
Health News
|
Michelle Obama is visiting Tanzania on the last day of President Barack Obama’s eight-day tour of Africa. She helped Laura Bush open a summit of the wives of African leaders, saying Africa was “at the hub of global development”. The summit aims to promote women’s well-being on the continent. The unusual Obama-Bush combination spotlights U.S. interest in the continent and the importance of Africa to the legacy of the president and his predecessor George W. Bush. For Obama, his three-nation tour has given him a break from a row over spy agency eavesdropping and a chance to promote U.S. commercial interests to a receptive African audience. Bush, who launched a widely praised program to combat HIV/AIDS in Africa when in office, was due to join Obama for a ceremony to remember the victims of the 1998 U.S. embassy bombing in the Tanzanian capital. An expansion of a program to detect and treat cervical and breast cancer, Pink Ribbon Red Ribbon, is due to be announced on Wednesday, organizers said. Former President Bush is due to speak at the first ladies’ summit the same day. The United Nations and non-governmental groups, including Bush’s foundation, launched Pink Ribbon Red Ribbon to provide health services to women in sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America, building on the U.S. HIV/AIDS prevention program.
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33529
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The Talking Angela app unsafely prompts children to provide personal information about themselves.
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The Talking Angela app supposedly unsafely prompts children to provide personal information about themselves.
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false
|
Computers, internet
|
“Talking Angela” is not a web site, but an iOS app available through iTunes that provides a cute interactive feature for youngsters: when children activate the app and respond to prompts to interact with it, Angela, a cat who inhabits an outdoor table at a Parisian cafe, responds to their gestures and mimics what they say back to them in her French-influenced stylings: Talking Angela, like numerous similar apps, can interact with users in several ways: She will repeat, in her squeaky French voice, what users say into their device’s microphone; she can (if the device’s camera is enabled) read facial expressions and react to them; she moves and gestures in response to being petted or poked via screen taps and swipes; and she can (if Child Mode is disabled) engage users in robotic text chats. Since Talking Angela was released in December 2012, rumors about its supposedly unsafe nature have grown and spread to the point that some of the more far-fetched information now circulating about it claims that the app is being used as a recruiting tool for pedophiles or is driven by “hackers” who engage children in live conversations: WARNING FOR TO ALL PARENTS WITH CHILDREN THAT HAVE ANY ELECTRONIC DEVICES, EX: IPOD,TABLETS ETC …. THERE IS A SITE CALLED TALKING ANGELA, THIS SITE ASKS KIDS QUESTIONS LIKE: THERE NAMES, WHERE THEY GO TO SCHOOL AND ALSO TAKE PICTURES OF THEIR FACES BY PUSHING A HEART ON THE BOTTOM LEFT CORNER WITHOUT ANY NOTICES. PLEASE CHECK YOUR CHILDREN’S IPODS AND ALL TO MAKE SURE THEY DO NOT HAVE THIS APP !!! PLEASE PASS THIS MESSAGE ON TO YOUR FRIENDS ATTENTION PARENTS & GRANDPARENTS! My future daughter-in-law just received this warning from a friend on her page. Do not let your child download the Talking Angela app! It is very creepy! Gracie downloaded it without asking to her kindle fire because it was free and a really cute cat. She brought it to me to answer the question it asked. I immediately noticed it had activated the camera. It had already asked her name, age, and knew she was in the living room! I immediately deleted it! The person who talks back is not your voice when you type something on talking Angela you know how it takes a second for her to say something there is a guy behind all of this that is a hacker typing all of that stuff my friend who wanted to see what the guy would say he said a typo he said I was talking a little cat rap instead of cat nap. Delete this app now he gets all of your information he asked me what my name was and he goes on saying other things when I ask a question. My friend typed to him I know you are a hacker and the person said I like complements. When you type the chocolate thing or cookie this I don’t really know what it is it wants your picture so the guy can see what you look like. Parents do not get this game the game finds all of your information. Angela asks how old are you and when you take those quizzes the guy that answers back wants to know what you are like and finds your information there. DO NOT BUY THIS APP AND DELETE ALL TALKING APPS. All of this sort of misinformation is completely unfounded. We’ve spent a good deal of time testing the Talking Angela app, and it has shown no sign of being anything other than what it is supposed to be. Likewise, Sophos’ Naked Security site also found warnings that the Talking Angela app is prompting children to behave in ways that raise privacy concerns to br unfounded: “Talking Angela” is just another entry in a series of similar harmless apps for kids created by the same developer: The truth is that “Talking Angela” appears to be entirely benign, and there are no obvious privacy concerns that differentiate it from thousands of other iPhone apps. Indeed, the “Talking Angela” app is no different from other similar popular children’s apps from reputable iOS developer Out Fit 7 Ltd, including “Talking Tom Cat”, “Talking Ben the Dog” and “Talking Gina the Giraffe”. Yes, Talking Angela can engage in chat with users and upload photos taken through the app to social media, but none of the information revealed in that process in shared with anyone, and the latter occurs only with the user’s permission: We wish to emphasise that no personal data whatsoever is being collected from the users of our app Talking Angela, which is available as an iOS, Android and Facebook app. The description clearly informs the user that one of the core functionalities of the app is chat, which requires two-way communication, where Angela (a chat bot, not a real person) answers with text and voice in English and talks to the user about a variety of subjects. The data collected by the app from the user is not shared with anyone and is actually sent to Out Fit7 only in the form of an anonymized data log (no names, no numbers, no personal data). This fact is clearly disclosed within the description of the app. The screenshots within the description clearly show that the app enables the user to take a picture of himself/herself and share those pictures to social media services like Facebook or Twitter. This is only done if the user wants to do it and the photos are not sent anywhere else. In all the time we’ve tried experimenting with Talking Angela app, deliberately trying to prompt it to be provocative (including directly asking it questions of a sexual nature, which it always responded to with a dismissive gesture or text response), we’ve been unable to reproduce any of the reported salacious behavior attributed to it in various online rumors. Yes, Angela may ask some questions involving the disclosure of personal information during text chats, but those questions are rather innocuous (e.g., “What’s your name?” or “How old are you?”), the responses aren’t forwarded or shared outside the app, and none of this takes place unless Child Mode is specifically disabled. As the Guardian noted about Talking Angela, the one legitimate criticism of the app is that it’s too easy to toggle Talking Angela out of Child Mode, thereby enabling it to engage in conversations (about subjects such as dating) that parents may find inappropriate for younger children: The most important thing for parents to understand is that Talking Angela has a child mode. You’re asked if you want to turn it on the first time you run the app, and at any other point you can toggle it on or off by tapping on the little smiley face at the top right of the screen. This is important, because the feature at the centre of the scary Facebook messages — Angela’s ability to text-chat with users — is turned off when Child Mode is toggled on. If you’ve read about Angela asking kids for their names, ages or engaging in banter about clothes-swapping parties, none of this can happen if Child Mode is on. What can kids do when Child Mode is turned on, though? They can get Angela to repeat her words, stroke and poke her (in the non-inappropriate sense!) to see animated responses, and make birds fly onto the screen — don’t worry, she doesn’t eat them. There is also a camera feature, which has been referenced in some of the Facebook messages about Talking Angela. It’s true that it encourages users to look into their device’s camera and make specific gestures: nod, shake head, smile, yawn or stick out their tongue, so Angela can copy it. What happens if you turn child mode off — as any child can relatively easily — and start chatting to Angela using the text box at the bottom of the screen? It’s this feature that’s fuelled the Facebook hoax. While it’s definitely not connecting your children to paedophiles, it does raise some issues. These are all genuine questions that Angela asked me while I chatted to her: “How long have you been friends with your best friend?” “I’ve met my best friends at school. Where did you meet yours?” “What will you do today?” “I’d like to be your friend. What’s your name?” “I’m 18. How old are you?” “What do you do with your friends for fun?” And yes, Angela does ask at one point “You know what’s fun too? A clothing swap party. Have you ever been to such a party?” before segueing into an anecdote about how she swapped clothes with her virtual boyfriend Tom for japes. It ends innocently — “Friends ROFLed and everybody at the party cheered at us. It was a cool night!” — but taken out of context with some of the questions above, it’s no surprise that parents are spooked. The point: children aren’t meant to be using Talking Angela’s text-chat feature, yet the app’s developer hasn’t taken any meaningful measures to prevent them from simply toggling the child mode off. There’s not even the “swipe down with two fingers” or “write this sequence of numbers as figures” parental gate that’s become common in children’s apps in recent months.
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8714
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Some plateauing of London coronavirus outbreak, UK says.
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It will take a week or two before Britain’s social distancing measures start to translate into lower hospitalization rates but there has been a bit of a plateauing in London in recent days, NHS England Medical Director Stephen Powis said.
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true
|
Health News
|
“There is reason to be hopeful that some of the changes we are observing in infections and perhaps in hospitalizations is now reflecting the benefit of the social distancing,” he told a news conference. “It will be a week or two before the measures that are put in place translate into lower hospitalization rates. But ... in London in the last few days there has been a bit of a plateauing in terms of numbers.”
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7068
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‘Mom’ star Janney visits, donates to Planned Parenthood.
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The star of the hit CBS sitcom “Mom” and one of its creators paid a visit Tuesday to the president of Planned Parenthood, and they didn’t come empty-handed.
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true
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Entertainment, Planned Parenthood, Allison Janney, Health, Cecile Richards, North America, Teen pregnancy, Sitcoms, TV
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Actress Allison Janney and “Mom” co-creator and co-executive producer Gemma Baker dropped in on Planned Parenthood President Cecile Richards to deliver a check for $250,000. They pointed out the show addresses issues that include teen pregnancy. Janney and Baker said the money otherwise would have been spent on a promotional campaign for “Mom” to woo Emmy judges before the nominations are announced on July 13. “We don’t NOT want to be considered for Emmys,” Janney said. “But we decided to use the money instead to support Planned Parenthood.” Gathered in Richards’ office in lower Manhattan, the three women found they had a lot to talk about, such as why a TV comedy might have shared interests with a health care organization. “It just made sense,” Baker said. “We have an all-female cast, and it’s what our show does: We deal with serious issues. Our characters have dealt with teen pregnancy and breast cancer and sexual assault. This just seemed like a way of standing with an organization that is providing health care to millions of women.” “It’s not just about our donation,” Janney added, “but also to raise awareness of what’s happening, and encourage other people to donate as well.” Richards said, “There’s a lot of anxiety among women right now, particularly in the heartland of America where they are desperately concerned about losing access to affordable health care. I think it’s really great when they see an iconic star like Allison on a program like this dealing with the same issues that we deal with in our clinics every day.” Janney said her great-grandmother worked with Margaret Sanger, the pioneering birth-control activist who established what became Planned Parenthood. Janney’s grandmother also worked with Planned Parenthood. So did her mother. “This organization has been close to me and my family for a long time,” she said. Even so, most TV series don’t choose to associate themselves with any organization that, especially these days, is taking political heat. “But our show deals with many issues that are polarizing to a lot of people,” Janney pointed out. Starting its fifth season this fall, “Mom” stars Janney as a recovering drug and alcohol addict who has reunited with her long-estranged daughter (co-star Anna Faris), herself a single mother, too, who has battled substance abuse. “I think for most of the viewers who are hard-core fans of ‘Mom,’ our support of Planned Parenthood will give them all the more reason to watch,” said Janney, who has won two Emmys for her performance. “It’s not incidental that Gemma and Allison are women at the top of their procession,” Richards said. “That speaks to a lot of women who maybe come to Planned Parenthood because they’re just trying to figure out how to take that next step.” The support-from-“Mom” initiative arose with Chuck Lorre, the sitcom mogul who co-created “Mom” with Baker and is one of its executive producers. “I’m proud to work for a man who came up with that idea and made it happen,” said Baker before citing her own past link with Planned Parenthood: “Twenty years ago, I worked in the national office in fundraising.” To be back in its headquarters, she said, felt like homecoming. Richards said the number of sustaining donors who contribute monthly had quintupled since the election. “We’ve been in the cross-hairs of this Congress and this White House for the last several months,” she said. “But women all across this country can’t believe that an organization that is providing health care to one in five women in America is now at risk of not being able to serve patients anymore. We’re fighting very hard to keep that from happening.” _____ EDITOR’S NOTE — Frazier Moore is a national television columnist for The Associated Press. He can be reached at fmoore@ap.org. _____ Online: The “Mom” campaign to support Planned Parenthood: ppaction.org/MOMsupport Planned Parenthood: www.plannedparenthood.org
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9655
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Many women could benefit from earlier mammograms, analysis finds
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This story summarizes an as-yet-unpublished research study that performed risk assessments for breast cancer among women age 40 to 44 visiting a specialty breast clinic. Of the 900 women whose risks were assessed, about 50 percent had an above-average risk for breast cancer, the analysis found. The study did not examine if these women went on to develop breast cancer, only whether they had risk factors that challenged the common notion to wait until 45 for screening, something that should have been better emphasized in the story. The story didn’t discuss the limitations of risk assessments, nor explain or define what “risk” really means. The headline also overstated the scope of the study. These issues–paired with a lack of information on costs and screening harms–add up to an incomplete story. Understanding a person’s risk for cancer is beneficial and can help doctors and patients make informed decisions about screenings and care. But given the conflicting information about screening mammography over the past few years, news coverage must take pains not to add to the confusion.
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false
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breast cancer,cancer,mammography
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Costs were not discussed in the story. It is not clear if such a breast cancer risk assessment would be covered under insurance if they asked their doctor for such an assessment. This is the claim of benefit made in the story: “Many women could benefit from earlier mammograms, analysis finds.” But this claim is left unsupported, only describing the number of women at higher risk identified by the study. Of the women identified, what number would actually go on to experience some meaningful beneficial outcome like detection of an invasive cancer, or more importantly, a longer life? Even if the study didn’t dig into those numbers, it’s crucial to explicitly state in the story that the numbers reported don’t reflect the actual number of women who might experience a meaningful benefit–only the number who would be screened. The story did not discuss potential harms (outside of future breast cancer diagnosis) of women receiving a high score on the risk assessment. It is unfortunate because risk does not mean someone will absolutely get breast cancer and some women could receive false positive mammograms with attendant anxiety and risk of unnecessary follow-up tests and procedures. There was no information presented that discussed the limitations of such a risk assessment or explained or defined what “risk” really means. The story only discussed how a woman with a higher risk assessment should start mammograms earlier and possibly breast MRIs. The story would have been more informative if it had explained that the study involved using various risk models, not just a single model. There is well-established variability among the models so a woman may be considered at risk based on one model, but not at risk based on a different model. That variability, coupled with the fact that the study is based on a database review and not uniform use of one risk assessment tool, lessen the quality of the evidence in the study. Readers can also be misled by a quote in the article. The lead researcher, Dr. Jennifer Plichta, states “We believe formal risk assessment is essential for women ages 40-44 in order to identify those who require screening mammography to start at the age of 40…” Neither Dr. Plichta’s quote or the article makes it clear that the study was not based on formal risk assessment of these patients but simply on a database review. In the first line of the story it states that “…all women turning 40 should get a breast cancer risk assessment, since half of them may have risks that are high enough to warrant annual mammograms right away.” This sentence alone makes it sound like this risk is in the general population instead of a finding from the study of women visiting a breast specialty clinic. In addition to mammography-screening mongering, the article states that “the researchers also found that 32 percent of the women met the groups’ eligibility standards for regular screening MRIs, and 25 percent would be eligible for genetic testing.” There is no mention of problems associated with MRI screening or of the significant cost of this screening. Even a co-pay for an MRI can be hundreds of dollars. Eligibility for genetic testing should be determined by a certified genetic counselor, not by a database review. Only a study authors appear to have been interviewed for the story. No other alternatives were discussed in the story besides the breast cancer risk assessment. But it seems like there likely are none–you either have the risk assessment or none, so we’ll rate this N/A. The story mentioned that breast cancer risk assessments are not normally performed in women ages 40-44 years, but didn’t elaborate if breast cancer risk assessments are routinely completed in doctor’s offices or if a woman would need to see a specialist to have one. Although assessing someone’s cancer risk is not novel, the researchers were trying to make a point that younger women should have their breast cancer risk assessed. From the story it appears that conducting such an assessment in women ages 40-44 would be novel. But just because assessing all women older than 40 for their breast cancer risk is novel, does not mean it is responsible or should be recommended. The risk assessment tool used is important and the presentation of the results of the risk assessment is crucial for a patient’s understanding of risk. A discussion of a patient’s risk also needs to include the possible harms of screening. It did not rely on the news release (which quoted a different researcher), and didn’t mislead with the headline from the news release that implied that half of all women between the ages of 40-44 were at risk for breast cancer; however, the first sentence in the story did lead with the misleading line.
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"Justin Schneider was ""given no jail time,"" despite having strangled and assaulted a hitchhiker in Anchorage, Alaska, in 2017."
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What's true: Schneider admitted to assaulting and strangling the woman, but his sentence was structured so that he didn't have to go to jail. What's false: The judge in the case did give Schneider a two-year prison sentence, but one year of that was suspended, and he was credited with time served for spending a year under house arrest while on bail.
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true
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Politics
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Social networks like Facebook and Twitter are often where the public expresses concern and even outrage over perceived miscarriages of justice. In recent years, internet users have been especially prolific in promoting awareness of a perceived tendency among some judges and prosecutors to seek and accept insufficient punishments for sexual crimes particularly against women and children. One such case emerged in 2018 and 2019 and involved the prosecution of Justin Schneider of Anchorage, Alaska who, according to one internet meme, served no jail time despite having seriously assaulted a woman he picked up outside a gas station in August 2017. On October 2018, Facebook user Ed Stonick posted a widely shared meme that contained a photograph of Schneider along with the following text, which some readers might find disturbing: GENOCIDE JUSTIN SCHNEIDER This is Justin Schneider, he is 34 years old and lives in Anchorage, Alaska. He is a white male who picked up a hitch-hiking indigenous female. He strangled her unconscious, masturbated over her body, and left her to die. This week he pled guilty in an Anchorage District Court. Because his victim survived he was given a plea deal. The kidnapping and sexual assault charges were dropped. He was given no time in jail and only received one year of probation. This is the face of American justice. This is the face of white privilege. This is the face of genocide. This fact check won’t examine the broader cultural issues raised by the meme and in other coverage of the Schneider case, namely the extent to which the American criminal justice system is relatively indifferent to crimes experienced by indigenous women, such as the woman at the center of this case. Rather, our article will evaluate the factual claims made in the meme. Much of the content of the meme is quite accurate, though it contains some errors. On 8 August 2017, Schneider pulled up in his vehicle and approached a woman who was standing outside a gas station in Anchorage. She entered his van and some time later, he attacked her, strangled her, masturbated over her and ejaculated on her, acts that Schneider later admitted in a subsequent civil case brought against him by the woman. Using a license plate number provided by the woman, police tracked down Schneider and arrested him on suspicion of first-degree kidnapping, first-degree harassment and second-degree assault. Schneider initially pleaded not guilty to all three charges. The woman claimed that Schneider had invited her into his vehicle under false pretenses, calling himself “Dan” and claiming to be an acquaintance of hers, allegations Schneider continues to deny. She also claimed that he had strangled her to the point of unconsciousness. Schneider has admitted strangling her, but denies doing so to the point of her losing consciousness. Despite facing three criminal charges, Schneider and his attorneys were able to persuade the office of Anchorage District Attorney Rick Allen to drop the charges of kidnapping and harassment, in exchange for Schneider pleading guilty to second-degree assault. On 19 September 2018, Alaska Superior Court Judge Michael Corey sentenced Schneider to two years in prison, with one year suspended, and three years of probation, as a result of the plea agreement with prosecutors. However, because Alaska law allows for time spent under house arrest to effectively be regarded as “time served,” Schneider was not required to serve the 12 months remaining on his prison sentence. After the sentencing, the state of Alaska’s Department of Law provided the following explanation for the plea agreement and sentence: Although Mr. Schneider received one year of jail time, Alaska law allows an offender to receive credit for any time spent on an ankle monitor or under house arrest against any jail sentence imposed. The Department of Law heard from a number of concerned citizens that the sentence imposed was too lenient. Criminal Division Director John Skidmore independently reviewed the case and concluded the sentence was consistent with, and reasonable, under current sentencing laws in Alaska. Mr. Schneider plead guilty to one count of assault in the second degree, a class B felony in Alaska, in exchange for the State’s dismissal of the remaining charges – notably, first-degree kidnapping and first-degree harassment. The State dismissed the most serious charge based on the conclusion that the State would be unable to prove the kidnapping at trial. Kidnapping requires that the victim be “restrained” or moved against his or her will. Additional investigation determined that the victim willingly got into Mr. Schneider’s vehicle and willingly drove with him to the location of the assault. Under these circumstances, the criminal charge of kidnapping (as defined under Alaska law) could not be proven beyond a reasonable doubt. Mr. Schneider was convicted of the remaining most serious crime: second-degree assault. Based on Mr. Schneider’s lack of criminal history, the sentencing range for the offense was zero to two years in jail. “Though it is understandable that some feel his sentence was not sufficiently harsh,” Director Skidmore explained, “All prosecutors are ethically required to follow the law, no matter how disturbing the facts may be.” While the facts of this case were particularly disturbing, Mr. Schneider’s offensive physical contact with bodily fluid such as semen is not categorized as a sex crime under Alaska law. Despite this limitation, the prosecutor felt Mr. Schneider needed sex offender treatment. The only way to achieve that result was to have Mr. Schneider agree to the probation conditions. Thus, the prosecutor required Mr. Schneider to undergo sex offender treatment and comply with other monitoring conditions as a condition of the plea agreement. In November 2018, Alaskans voted to recall Corey from the bench, after a campaign that criticized his sentencing of Schneider. Speaking in March 2019, Corey said he and the prosecutors in the case were constrained by sentencing guidelines and Alaska state law, and described the outcome of the case as “a horrible result.” Also in November 2018, the woman filed a lawsuit against Schneider, seeking damages, compensation and legal fees and accusing him of assault and battery, negligence and inflicting emotional distress. In his response to the civil complaint, Schneider requested the case be dismissed but admitted to “tackling, strangling and ejaculating on” the woman, and accepted that he had “intentionally or recklessly caused physical injury or emotional distress.” He denied having tricked the woman into entering his vehicle, and denied that she lost consciousness as a result of his strangling her. As of March 2019, the woman’s civil case against Schneider was still before the Alaska Superior Court. The meme was accurate in stating that Schneider had assaulted, strangled and masturbated over the woman — the core allegations against Schneider, all of which he has admitted. However, Schneider disputes the specific claim that the woman lost consciousness as a result of his strangling her, so we cannot definitively rule on the veracity of that particular allegation. While the meme claimed that Schneider was given one year’s probation, in fact Judge Corey gave him three years’ probation. That’s a significant discrepancy, even if it does not change the view, held by many observers, that Schneider’s punishment was woefully inadequate. Finally, Schneider did serve some jail time in August 2017, after his arrest and before his release on bail, but the principal claim in relation to his case is that his punishment did not include jail time. So the meme’s claim that “he was given no time in jail” is mostly accurate, since Corey did sentence Schneider to two years in prison, but he suspended one year and credited the remainder of the prison sentence with the time Schneider spent under house arrest while on bail. Thus, the actual effect of Schneider’s sentencing was that he did not have to go to jail as part of his punishment.
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Veteran Affairs head discusses mental health aid in NC visit.
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The secretary of the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs says the government is making changes to improve mental health services, which he called “the last great medical frontier.”
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true
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Mental health, Health, General News, North Carolina, Robert Wilkie, Fayetteville, Veterans, Veterans affairs
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The Fayetteville Observer reports Secretary Robert Wilkie spoke earlier this week about veterans’ mental health during the North Carolina Business Trade Show in Fayetteville. He pointed to the new mental health center being built at the Fayetteville Veterans Affairs Medical Center as evidence of the VA’s commitment to veterans. Officials say the two-story, 15,400 square-foot building is more than 75% complete. Wilkie also says the VA’s same-day mental health services are now available to veterans who received “other than honorable” discharges. Wilkie says about $9.5 billion — or about 10% — of the VA’s budget goes toward mental health services.
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41673
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Scotland’s drug-related death rate is the highest in the EU.
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Correct if you compare Scotland to a league table of EU sovereign countries. This is based on a comparison of the drug-related death rate per million people aged 15 to 64 in 2015 and 2016.
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true
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health
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There were nearly 1,000 drug-related deaths in Scotland last year. Correct, there were 934 registered in 2017. The UK has the highest death rate in the EU from drugs. Estonia had the highest rate of drug-related deaths per million people aged 15 to 64 in the EU, based on research using data from 2015 and 2016. The UK placed joint-third alongside Ireland. Scotland’s drug-related death rate is the highest in the EU. Correct if you compare Scotland to a league table of EU sovereign countries. This is based on a comparison of the drug-related death rate per million people aged 15 to 64 in 2015 and 2016. Claim 1 of 4
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8084
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'Delivering coffins non-stop': coronavirus stalks a Paris nursing home.
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Outside a Paris retirement home on Wednesday, a director rushed out and told the man delivering a coffin to use a side entrance, away from prying eyes.
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true
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Health News
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The coffin, one of three brought the same morning, came hours after officials said 13 elderly residents had died in the home since March 11 and that more than 80 others were believed to have the coronavirus. Most of the dead were aged over 90, an official at the regional health authority told Reuters. Authorities have not been able to establish the cause of death in most cases. “The deliveries are non-stop. There are going to be more on Monday,” the delivery man said as he removed the casket’s plastic cover. The facility in Paris’ 12th district is one of several care homes across France to be hit by the coronavirus outbreak. There have been large numbers of deaths too at retirement homes in Italy and Spain. Almost 1 million people reside in care homes in France. In the Paris region alone, the regional health authority says that 148 out of the 700 homes in its network have reported coronavirus cases and at least 61 residents have died. The Rothschild Foundation home in Paris was put on red alert on March 6 as the epidemic took hold. Staff were given stricter entry protocols, told to wear gloves and masks at all times, disinfect everything and urged to isolate suspected cases. “We knew it was coming. The first two people with symptoms were tested and then isolated, but once it was established that they had it, we stopped testing because it’s then a cluster. You can’t allow it to spread,” said a health worker aware of the situation. Since then all residents have been confined to their rooms where they are fed and washed. But while the number of new cases has slowed, the deaths continue. Executives at the home did not respond to Reuters phone calls seeking detailed information about what was happening in the home, but in a brief exchange, one executive described the situation at the facility as very tough. France’s official coronavirus death toll stands at some 1,100 people, but that does not include deaths outside hospitals. Fatalities in nursing homes have surged recently with dozens of deaths reported across the country. “When you don’t have enough staff and equipment and need to care for fragile people then it leads to a high mortality rate. When it enters into a nursing home, you are going to see 20% of residents die,” said Thierry Amouroux, a nurse and representative at the National Union for Professional Nurses. Senior care home representatives warned the Health Minister in a letter seen by Reuters that workers in the homes needed 500,000 masks. At least 100,000 people could die if the situation was not brought under control, they wrote. Jerome Larche, an intensive care doctor in Montpellier, whose company also operates care homes, said it was critical to avoid mass contaminations. “Most of the residents can’t be taken to intensive care so if there are contaminations, there will be deaths,” Larche said. At the Bergeron-Grenier care home in western France, half of carers have opted to confine themselves within the home to reduce the risk of spreading the coronavirus. “Before, we were always afraid. No matter how careful we were, we still had this fear of infecting our residents by bringing the virus from outside,” administrative assistant Patricia Vandebrouck said.
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"Christine Blasey Ford testified that she had “one beer, that’s the only thing I remember"" about what happened on the night that she was allegedly sexually assaulted."
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Speaking to supporters in Mississippi, President Donald Trump made a series of false statements about Christine Blasey Ford’s sworn testimony about an alleged sexual assault.
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false
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Supreme Court confirmation,
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Speaking to supporters in Mississippi, President Donald Trump made a series of false statements about Christine Blasey Ford’s sworn testimony about an alleged sexual assault.Ford told the Senate Judiciary Committee that Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh assaulted her when the two were in high school 36 years ago. In mocking Ford’s memory of the event, the president wrongly quoted her as saying, “I had one beer, that’s the only thing I remember.” But Ford provided many details of the alleged attack.Specifically, Trump falsely claimed that, during her Sept. 27 testimony, Ford did not know what year the alleged attack occurred (she said the summer of 1982), whether the alleged attack happened upstairs or downstairs (she said in a bedroom upstairs) and the neighborhood where it occurred (she said in the Bethesda area).Trump’s remarks came at a Make America Great Again rally in Southaven, Mississippi. The president accused the Democrats of “trying to destroy Judge Kavanaugh since the very first second he was announced,” and then he went on to make a series of false claims about Kavanaugh’s accuser.Trump, Oct. 2: But I’ll have to tell you, the appointment of a Supreme Court justice — and I look at him, and I looked at the man that we appointed just before him, Justice Neil Gorsuch who was put through the paces, but nothing like what’s happening now. …What he’s going through: 36 years ago, this happened. “I had one beer.” Right? “I had one beer.” “Well, you think it was…” “Nope, it was one beer.” “Oh, good. How did you get home?” “I don’t remember.” “How did you get there?” “I don’t remember.” “Where is the place?” “I don’t remember.” “How many years ago was it?” “I don’t know. I don’t know. I don’t know. I don’t know.”“What neighborhood was it in?” “I don’t know.” “Where’s the house?” “I don’t know.”“Upstairs, downstairs, where was it?” “I don’t know. But I had one beer, that’s the only thing I remember.”And a man’s life is in tatters. A man’s life is shattered. His wife is shattered. His daughters, who are beautiful, incredible young kids — they destroy people. They want to destroy people. These are really evil people.There is a lot wrong here, so let’s go through Trump’s statements one by one.Trump: “Upstairs, downstairs, where was it?” “I don’t know.”That’s false. Ford testified that the alleged assault happened in a bedroom upstairs, while she was on her way to the upstairs bathroom.“Early in the evening, I went up a very narrow set of stairs leading from the living room to a second floor to use the restroom,” she told the Senate Judiciary Committee. “When I got to the top of the stairs, I was pushed from behind into a bedroom across from the bathroom. I couldn’t see who pushed me. Brett and Mark [Judge] came into the bedroom and locked the door behind them.”Trump: “How many years ago was it?” “I don’t know. I don’t know. I don’t know.”That’s false. As we have written before, Ford has said the alleged incident occurred in the summer of 1982. And that’s what she told Congress, too, under oath.“In the summer of 1982, like most summers, I spent most every day at the Columbia Country Club in Chevy Chase, Maryland, swimming and practicing diving,” she testified. “One evening that summer, after a day of diving at the club, I attended a small gathering at a house in the Bethesda area.”Trump: “What neighborhood was it in?” “I don’t know.” “Where’s the house?” “I don’t know.”This is misleading. Ford did not provide the exact location, but she told the committee that the alleged assault happened at a home in the Bethesda area near the Columbia Country Club.Trump: “But I had one beer, that’s the only thing I remember.”Ford did say she had only one beer. But, as we have already begun to lay out, Ford remembered a lot of details about the alleged assault.In addition to recalling what year the alleged attack occurred, where in the house it occurred and what town it occurred in, Ford gave specific details about the night of the alleged attack that Trump ignored.She said who was at the party. “Brett Kavanaugh, Mark Judge, a boy named P.J., and one other boy whose name I cannot recall. I also remember my friend Leland attending,” Ford testified, referring to Patrick J. Smyth and Leland Ingham Keyser. All four people named by Ford say they do not recall being at the party, as we have written before. Ford addressed this in her testimony.“I don’t expect that P.J. and Leland would remember this evening,” Ford said during her testimony. “It was a very unremarkable party. It was not one of their more notorious parties, because nothing remarkable happened to them that evening. They were downstairs. And Mr. Judge is a different story. I would expect that he would remember that this happened.”Ford, of course, has accused Judge of participating in the attack — which he denies.In her testimony, Ford said those at the party were drinking beer “in a small living room/family room-type area on the first floor of the house.” She said Kavanaugh and Judge “were visibly drunk.” After pushing her into a second-floor bedroom when she was on her way to the bathroom, Kavanaugh or Judge allegedly locked the door and turned up the music.Ford, Sept. 27: I was pushed onto the bed, and Brett got on top of me. He began running his hands over my body and grinding into me. I yelled, hoping that someone downstairs might hear me, and I tried to get away from him, but his weight was heavy.Brett groped me and tried to take off my clothes. He had a hard time, because he was very inebriated, and because I was wearing a one-piece bathing suit underneath my clothing. I believed he was going to rape me.I tried to yell for help. When I did, Brett put his hand over my mouth to stop me from yelling. This is what terrified me the most, and has had the most lasting impact on my life. It was hard for me to breathe, and I thought that Brett was accidentally going to kill me.She recalled them “drunkenly laughing during the attack,” and that Judge “seemed ambivalent” about the incident, “at times urging Brett on and at times telling him to stop.”She testified that she was able to escape the room when Judge jumped onto the bed while Kavanaugh was on top of her.Sen. Dick Durbin asked how sure she was of the identity of her attacker. “Dr. Ford, with what degree of certainty do you believe Brett Kavanaugh assaulted you?” Durbin asked. She replied, “100 percent.” During his testimony, Kavanaugh was equally certain that the attack never occurred.In addition to providing details about the night of the alleged attack, Ford testified that she ran into Judge “once at the Potomac Village Safeway after the time of the attack.”Ford described Judge as an acquaintance, saying they “had previously been friendly at the times that we saw each other over the previous two years.” At the supermarket — “the one on the corner of Falls and River Road” — Ford recalled saying “hello” to him, and that Judge was “nervous” and he was “very uncomfortable saying ‘hello’ back.”In a press briefing on Oct. 3, White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said that the president “was stating facts that Dr. Ford, herself, laid out in her testimony.” Sen. Lindsey Graham echoed those comments, saying during an interview that “everything he said was factual.”Sanders was asked by a reporter: “He seemed to be, to the delight of the crowd there in Mississippi, mocking her repeatedly. Isn’t there something wrong with the president of the United States mocking somebody who says she was sexually assaulted?”She responded:Sanders, Oct. 3: It seemed to me that he was stating facts that Dr. Ford, herself, laid out in her testimony. Once again, every single word that Judge Kavanaugh has said has been looked at, examined, picked apart by most of you in this room, but not — no one is looking at whether or not the accusations made are corroborated, whether or not there’s evidence to support them.Every person that she named has come out and said either they didn’t recall it, or it didn’t happen, or they weren’t there. Every single bit of evidence and facts that we’ve seen in this moment have supported Judge Kavanaugh’s case. And the president is simply pointing out the facts of the matter. And that is what the Senate will have to use to determine whether or not they vote to support him or not.Graham, a Republican senator from South Carolina, was interviewed on stage at The Atlantic Festival, an event hosted by The Atlantic magazine and The Aspen Institute, on Oct. 3. Graham said: “Everything he said was factual. He’s frustrated his nominee has been treated so badly.”“President Trump went through a factual rendition that I didn’t particularly like and I would tell him, ‘Knock it off, you’re not helping.’ But it can be worse,” Graham said, going on to make references to sexual assault accusations against former President Bill Clinton in the 1990s.In the press briefing, Sanders later said again that “the president is simply stating the facts that she laid out in her own testimony and that the prosecutor laid out in her memo.” But Trump wasn’t “simply stating the facts” of Ford’s testimony, as we have explained.Rachel Mitchell, a prosecutor with experience in sex crimes cases hired by Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee to question Ford during the hearing, wrote a Sept. 30 memo detailing some inconsistencies or gaps in Ford’s memory. But if the president was simply relaying Mitchell’s memo, he didn’t do so accurately.For instance, Mitchell’s memo says Ford has given slightly different dates for when the attack happened, noting a July 6 text to the Washington Post from Ford said the attack was in the “mid 1980s” but Ford’s July 30 letter to Sen. Dianne Feinstein said “early 80s.” In the Sept. 16 Washington Post article, Ford said it was the “summer of 1982.” Mitchell says in the memo that “it is common for victims to be uncertain about dates.” But she says, “Dr. Ford failed to explain how she was suddenly able to narrow the timeframe to a particular season and particular year.”Ford gave a general time frame of the 1980s and then narrowed that to 1982. She didn’t say, “I don’t know.”Trump also claimed that Ford didn’t know what neighborhood the house was in. But that goes beyond what Mitchell says in the memo.“She does not remember in what house the assault allegedly took place or where that house was located with any specificity,” Mitchell wrote. But also says, “She told the Washington Post that the party took place near the Columbia Country Club.” She told the committee the same thing.Mitchell said that this is one detail that “could help corroborate her account.” It would also help if Ford could recall how she got to and home from the party, Mitchell said.During her testimony, Ford acknowledged, “I don’t have all the answers, and I don’t remember as much as I would like to.” But, she said, certain experiences from that night “have been seared into my memory, and have haunted me episodically as an adult.”Ford — a research psychologist at Stanford University who has co-authored papers on brain science — gave the senators a lesson on the hippocampus, which is a critical part of the brain’s ability to process certain traumatic experiences into indelible memories.Asked how she can be certain that Kavanaugh was her attacker, Ford said, “It’s — just basic memory functions. And also just the level of norepinephrine and epinephrine in the brain that, sort of, as you know, encodes — that neurotransmitter encodes memories into the hippocampus. And so, the trauma-related experience, then, is kind of locked there, whereas other details kind of drift.”She said her most vivid memory of the event was “the uproarious laughter between the two, and their having fun at my expense.”Experts on sexual assault told us it is not unusual at all for victims to have clear memory of some details and no memory of others.“Memory is not like a videotape that you can play back again,” said Dean G. Kilpatrick, director of the National Crime Victims Research and Treatment Center at the Medical University of South Carolina.“People tend to remember things that are salient to them in some way,” Kilpatrick told us in a phone interview. “Things that are good or bad tend to stand out.”With traumatic memories, he said, salient details tend to get locked in while other central details, like how Ford got to the house that night, would not be remembered.“Gaps in Dr. Ford’s memory of that night is not unusual, based on what we know regarding memory and trauma,” said Kathryn Bell, an associate professor of psychology at Capital University in Columbus, Ohio. “Memory decay associated with time passing can impact a person’s ability to recall certain details of an event. Furthermore, during a traumatic event, neurobiological changes can occur in response to stress, which can impact how memories of the event are consolidated. …“During a traumatic event, attentional resources are directed towards the immediate threat — this can result in the person being able to vividly recall certain details of the event while being unable to recall other aspects of the event,” Bell told us via email. “In the trauma and memory literature, this is referred to as memory fragmentation. Those vivid traumatic memories encoded to long-term memory during the event may be recalled easily by trauma survivors for months or even years after the traumatic event occurred.”In an article published in Scientific American on Sept. 27, psychologist Jim Hopper, an expert on traumatic memory and a teaching associate at Harvard Medical School wrote: “Incomplete memories of sexual assault, including those with huge gaps, are understandable – if we learn the basics of how memory works and we genuinely listen to survivors.” “We remember what is significant to us,” Hopper told us in a phone interview. “It was significant to her that she had a hand over her mouth, that there was loud music and that they were laughing at her. These are all things that were important to her, and so were burned into her memory.”Hopper said the brain is set up to prioritize memory in such ways. And so, he said, Ford remembers exiting the house, that they were not coming after her, and that she did not want to appear as if anything had happened to her, because those were significant to her.“Those are just the kinds of things we’d expect to be significant,” he said.There is also a well-established biological reason why she might not remember how she got home, Hopper said.When people are faced with stress or fear, he said, at first the brain kicks into a super-encoding mode that allows the brain to burn in those significant details. But that state is not sustainable neurobiologically, and is followed, likely within 20 minutes after the traumatic event began, by a period of the brain being in a minimal-encoding mode, during which there is an extremely reduced ability to store any information. You would expect, he said, that just such a state would have hit Ford sometime shortly after the traumatic event. And so, he said, it is understandable that she would not recall how she got home.
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“No tear gas was used and no rubber bullets were used.”
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White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said federal police used neither tear gas nor rubber bullets to clear protesters from around a D.C. church where Trump was to visit. Federal police used pepper balls containing a chemical irritant that matches a federal definition of tear gas. Pepper balls are fired at about the same speed as rubber bullets and can cause similar or greater pain on impact.
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false
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National, Civil Rights, Race and Ethnicity, Kayleigh McEnany,
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"Federal officers’ use of force to clear the area around a church where President Donald Trump was due to visit June 1 has drawn the American public into the nuances of tear gas, rubber bullets and pepper balls. When a reporter asked White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany if the administration had second thoughts about gassing and pummeling protestors, McEnany rejected the premise of the question. ""Let me first address, no tear gas was used and no rubber bullets were used,"" McEnany said June 3. ""Chemical agents were used,"" the reporter responded. ""Again, no tear gas was used and no rubber bullets were used,"" McEnany repeated. McEnany’s claim hinges on technical distinctions. But experts we reached said for someone on the receiving end of these crowd-dispersing agents, the differences might be hard to discern. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention puts all manner of chemical crowd control agents into the same bucket. ""Riot control agents (sometimes referred to as ‘tear gas’) are chemical compounds that temporarily make people unable to function by causing irritation to the eyes, mouth, throat, lungs, and skin,"" the agency’s website says. The U.S. Park Police said in a statement that officers ""employed the use of smoke canisters and pepper balls."" Multiple eyewitnesses and news accounts reported noxious fumes that caused protesters’ eyes and throats to burn. As federal officers fired on the crowd near the church, protesters cried out that tear gas was being used. There were calls to put on masks. Tear gas just deployed at 16th & H Streets, police in riot gear & on horseback pushed the crowd back to Connecticut Av #dcprotest pic.twitter.com/LOd2UC5nmH The U.S. Park Police press office told PolitiFact that officers used products made by the PepperBall company, which contain the chemical irritant pelargonic acid vanillylamide, or PAVA. ""PAVA primarily affects the eyes causing closure and severe pain,"" according to a report by Britain's Committee on Toxicity, an independent scientific body that advises the government. PAVA closely matches the CDC’s description of tear gas. McEnany emphasized that rubber bullets were not used. Pepper balls cause pain on impact all the same, experts said. Rubber bullets and pepper balls come in a variety of shapes and sizes, but the general difference is that rubber bullets are designed to cause pain, while pepper balls cause both pain on impact and the discomfort of a chemical irritant payload. Rubber bullets weigh much more than pepper balls, but with muzzle speeds of over 300 feet per second, both projectiles hurt on impact. (The actual impact speed depends on the distance between shooter and shootee.) Few, if any, academic researchers would be able to compare the two as well as Ed Maguire. Maguire, a professor at Arizona State University, studies crowd control. In the course of his field work, he’s been hit by both a pepper ball and a rubber bullet. In 2017, he and four graduate students were caught up in a clash between pro-Trump and anti-Trump groups in Phoenix. When police moved in, a pepper ball hit Maguire about half an inch above his right eye. ""I thought I had been stuck by the corner of a brick,"" Maguire said. ""I was delirious in the first couple of seconds. And I couldn't feel the top of my head, my scalp, for about a month."" The next morning, Mcguire discovered a rubber bullet had hit him in the stomach, leaving a large, telltale bruise. He hadn’t felt it the night before. ""In terms of the level of pain, I think I was hit by both at about the same time,"" Maguire said. ""The pepper ball won the contest."" Maguire said police use rubber bullets and pepper balls interchangeably, according to local preference. ""There’s no fundamental strategic reason to choose one over the other,"" Maguire said. ""They are both impact munitions."" An early government sponsored study put rubber bullets and pepper balls in the same category of non-lethal impact munitions. One intrepid rock-and-roll DJ in Lubbock, Texas, put himself on the business end of a pepper ball pistol. When the round hit him in the chest at very close range, he instantly dropped to the ground. (Watch it if you like.) McEnany said that neither tear gas nor rubber bullets were used in removing a group of people from the area around a church in Washington. Tear gas, according to the CDC, includes a broad range of chemical agents, and the one used by federal police falls under the government’s description of teargas. Rubber bullets are different from the pepper balls fired by federal police, but both are fired at similar speeds, both can cause extreme pain, and both are characterized as impact munitions. McEnany makes much of the differences in the delivery systems, but the practical effects are similar."
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Vitamins get ‘F’ in cancer prevention
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"What a refreshing experience to read a story in this top-circulation daily paper that a magic bullet may be losing its magic! We applaud the reporter and the paper for bucking the trend of hyping ""new"" medical commodities and instead describing that previously embraced therapies are discovered to be ineffective. It gave a solid overview, using the results of one recent study to highlight that a number of recent studies have found that supplementation with specific vitamins and/or minerals fails to reduce the chance of developing particular cancers. While indicating that dietary studies have found reduced cancer rates associated with particular patterns of eating, it accurately reported the failure to find the same sort of benefit from individual nutrients. The take away message of the story was that a vitamin supplement does not replicate the benefits that may be obtained from consumption of a healthy diet. Overall, though, kudos for not simply reporting the study du jour, but for putting it into a broader big picture context."
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true
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The story provided no cost estimates for vitamin and mineral supplements. The magnitude of wasted expenditures that could be saved is relevant. The story indicated that there was no cancer risk reduction associated with the vitamin supplements studied. A quote in the story from the author of one of the studies indicated that too little or too much of particular vitamins was associated with increased cancer risk. In addition, the table in the story provided information about vitamins being associated with an increased risk of diabetes and a higher, though not significant increase in the incidence in the case of one cancer. The story did not convey any sense of the quality of the studies on which it was reporting. Were they retrospective observational studies (generally weak designs) or prospective randomized trials (the best type of study). A more insightful explanation about why the current group of studies which find no protective effect are more compelling that the previous studies that found a protective effect of vitamins would have also been useful.. This story did not engage in disease mongering. The story included quotes from one of the study authors, as well as a spokesperson from the American Cancer Society and an expert without connection to the study but who wrote an editorial accompanying the study. The story mentions specific lifestyle interventions which have been shown to be associated with reduction in cancer risk. It inaccurately mentioned screening for colon, cervical, and breast cancer as means of reducing their risk. It should have stated that these screening tests are associated with reduced risk of dying of these cancers, not as means of reducing the chance of developing them. It’s clear that vitamins and mineral supplements are in widespread use. The story correctly indicated that the results of the current study are consistent with the results from several recent studies which demonstrated that vitamin supplementation failed to decrease the chance of developing cancer. The sidebar table, which summarized results and included the journal name and month of publication, provided a resource for interested readers to find more information. Does not appear to rely on a press release.
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6697
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Documents: $6 million to Armstrong family in wrongful death.
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An Ohio hospital paid the estate of astronaut Neil Armstrong $6 million in a confidential agreement to settle allegations that post-surgical complications led to Armstrong’s 2012 death, according to court documents and a report in the New York Times.
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true
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Neil Armstrong, AP Top News, Cincinnati, Technology, General News, Health, Science, Ohio, U.S. News
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The 2014 settlement went to 10 family members, including Armstrong’s two sons, sister, brother and six grandchildren, according to documents filed with the Hamilton County Probate Court in Cincinnati which were publicly available on Tuesday. Armstrong’s widow, Carol, did not receive any money in the settlement. Armstrong’s sons, Mark and Rick, contended care provided by Mercy Health-Fairfield Hospital cost their father his life, according to the New York Times. The 50th anniversary of Neil Armstrong’s first steps on the moon was celebrated Saturday. He died on Aug. 25, 2012. A Sept. 24, 2014 motion to seal the settlement said the hospital and its caregivers stood by the treatment they provided. “However, the hospital, on behalf of itself and the health care providers, agreed to a confidential settlement of $6 million to avoid the publicity the Estate might have initiated on behalf of certain members of the family if settlement had not been reached,” the document said. Hospital spokeswoman Maureen Richmond declined to offer specifics on the matter, saying she was unable to discuss any individual’s care. In an email statement to The Associated Press, she added: “The public nature of these details is very disappointing — both for our ministry and the patient’s family who had wished to keep this legal matter private.” Messages were left for Armstrong’s widow and sons, and for Wendy Armstrong, Mark’s sister and a lawyer involved in motions to seal the settlement. Carol Armstrong told the New York Times she signed off on the settlement in her role as executor but received no part of it. Neil Armstrong was admitted to the hospital in August 2012 for vascular bypass surgery, according to a Sept. 24, 2014 motion filed by Carol Armstrong seeking to have the settlement approved. “He underwent the cardiovascular surgery, but post-surgical complications arose and he subsequently died,” the motion said. Most of the settlement, about $5.2 million, was split between Armstrong’s sons. The astronaut’s brother and sister each received $250,000, and six grandchildren each got $24,000. Attorneys’ fees of $160,000 were awarded.
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Mail-in voters in the United States can send their ballots with first-class postage to ensure that it is delivered on time before the November 3 2020 election.
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Can You Have Your Mail-In Ballot Delivered as First Class Mail?
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true
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Fact Checks, Viral Content
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As social media users expressed alarm over United States President Donald Trump’s administration’s apparent efforts to sabotage the U.S. Postal Service (USPS), one Twitter user’s suggestion caught traction on August 14 2020.That account wrote:Heard this from a postal worker- IF you return your ballot BUT place 2 First Class stamps on it (instead of the business reply free postage provided) the USPS MUST deliver your letter AS First Class BECAUSE you PAID for First Class! It CANNOT be put into Bulk Mail! DO IT!A spokesperson for the Portland, Oregon chapter of the American Postal Workers Union — which represents more than 200,000 current and retired USPS workers — confirmed to us that using one first-class stamp would be enough to ensure that a mail-in ballot would be sorted individually.“One 55-cent stamp will get it where it’s supposed to go,” she said.For some voters, the issue could be moot; a USPS staffer told us that because state and local election boards have the ability to design their own ballots and election materials, some boards may already be paying for them to have them classified as first-class mail.The USPS has urged voters to use first-class mail “or an expedited level of service” to send their ballots in, and to be clear on the submission requirements for their local jurisdictions. An agency spokesperson told the Salt Lake City Tribune in a statement:The Postal Service recommends that domestic, nonmilitary voters mail their ballots at least one week prior to their state’s due date to allow for timely receipt by election officials.The Los Angeles Times reported that there is a difference in processing times between regular mail-in ballots and first class mail:Election officials typically use marketing mail (or nonprofit bulk) to send out ballots, which is cheaper than using first class mail. The delivery timelines, however, are different: Marketing mail takes three to 10 days, while first class mail is delivered in two to five days. The postal service has traditionally treated election mail with priority, even if it’s not sent first class.But USPS General Counsel Thomas Marshall implied in letters to election officials that marketing mail delivery standards would be enforced for election mail.“Using Marketing Mail will result in slower delivery times and will increase the risk that voters will not receive their ballots in time to return them by mail,” Marshall wrote in language later repeated in [a USPS] statement.Democratic Party Sen. Chuck Schumer, though, has accused the USPS of price-gouging voters.“The postal service has informed some states they may need to pay a first class rate to deliver ballots rather than the normal rate, nearly tripling the cost at a time when people will have to vote by mail in record numbers because they can’t or won’t go vote in person,” he wrote on August 11, 2020. “This would be an outrageous policy that should alarm every American. Democrats will fight this with every tool at our disposal.”According to the Washington Post, the agency also sent letters to 46 states and the District of Columbia informing them that it could not guarantee that ballots sent by mail would arrive in time to be counted for the November 3 2020 general election:Some states anticipate 10 times the normal volume of election mail. Six states and D.C. received warnings that ballots could be delayed for a narrow set of voters. But the Postal Service gave 40 others — including the key battleground states of Michigan, Pennsylvania and Florida — more-serious warnings that their long-standing deadlines for requesting, returning or counting ballots were “incongruous” with mail service and that voters who send ballots in close to those deadlines may become disenfranchised.The only states to not receive the warnings from USPS were Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, and Rhode Island.The Twitter post was shared more than 8,000 times on the platform amid escalating concerns over the United States Postal Service’s autonomy and ability to handle voting by mail amid the COVID-19 pandemic following the appointment of Louis DeJoy — a fundraiser for Trump — as Postmaster General in June 2020. Hours after the tweet began spreading online, CNN reported that the agency’s inspector general launched an investigation into DeJoy’s actions since taking the position, in response to calls by Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren.The Massachusetts lawmaker had asked the inspector general to investigate not just DeJoy’s new policies for the USPS but whether he had “met all ethics requirements.” DeJoy reportedly still owns a $30 million stake in a separate company that is a USPS contractor and bought stock in Amazon, which operates a delivery service that competes with the agency.Criticism of DeJoy intensified following reports of several mailboxes being removed from use in Portland, Oregon (which the USPS attributed to an overall decline in outgoing mail) and the decommissioning and dismantling of 671 mail-sorting machines around the U.S., which the Post reported had the capacity to sort a combined 21.4 million pieces of paper mail per hour.The American Postal Workers Union, which represents more than 200,000 current and retired USPS employees, filed a grievance over the scuttling of the sorting machines. But union president Mark Dimondstein expressed confidence to the newspaper that his colleagues could still handle the expected surge in mail-in voting in November.“Piece of cake for postal workers,” he said.DeJoy released a statement on August 18 2020 saying that he would suspend what he called “longstanding operational initiatives” that had raised concern from the public until after the election.“I want to assure all Americans of the following: Retail hours at Post Offices will not change,” the statement read. “Mail processing equipment and blue collection boxes will remain where they are. No mail processing facilities will be closed. And we reassert that overtime has, and will continue to be, approved as needed.”But the skepticism toward DeJoy did not subside; a day after the USPS posted his statement, WOOD-TV in Michigan reported that mail sorting machines inside the agency’s office in downtown Grand Rapids were being dismantled per an order from him.Internal sources say mail sorting machines are being dismantled at downtown GR post office. Process started yesterday. Order came from Postmaster General DeJoy. @WOODTV pic.twitter.com/tNm9pXjcnU— Heather Walker (@_HeatherWalker) August 19, 2020Three hours after their initial report, WOOD said that the dismantling had stopped.That same day, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi released a statement criticizing DeJoy for not reversing course on the actions he had already taken since taking over the USPS.“The Postmaster General frankly admitted that he had no intention of replacing the sorting machines, blue mailboxes and other key mail infrastructure that have been removed and that plans for adequate overtime, which is critical for the timely delivery of mail, are not in the works,” Pelosi said. “All of these changes directly jeopardize the election and disproportionately threaten to disenfranchise voters in communities of color. At the same time, we are highly concerned that the slowdown of the delivery of medicines to veterans is not being sufficiently addressed.”Trump himself admitted in a Fox News interview that his administration was holding up an agreement with Democratic Party lawmakers over a new stimulus package over the inclusion of $3.5 billion in USPS funding.“They need that money in order to make the post office work so it can take all of these millions and millions of ballots,” he said. “Now, if we don’t make a deal, that means they don’t get the money. That means they can’t have universal mail-in voting, they just can’t have it.”Did Trump Say That Without a Deal ‘They Can’t Have Universal Mail-in Voting, They Just Can’t Have It’?The suggestion to use first-class mail also gained visibility following the spread of similar posts (presented as “an inside tip from a postal worker”) urged voters to personally take their ballots to their local election boards or polling sites:‘Don’t Mail Ballots In, Drop at Board of Elections, This is an Inside Tip from a Postal Worker, Can’t Say More than That’Trump has repeatedly claimed — entirely falsely — that mail-in voting would lead to a “rigged” election. But both he and First Lady Melania Trump used absentee ballots to vote by mail in Florida. At least fifteen other officials in his administration have done the same.Update August 19, 2020 1:27 p.m. PST: Updated with notes on additional mail sorting machine scuttling and statements from Louis DeJoy and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.Comments
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"Consumers should be aware of plastic rice from China that is difficult to discern from ""real rice."
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The plastic rice story (and its fellow counterfeit Chinese food export legends) resemble an internationally viral 2007 CCTV segment about pork buns purportedly made with scrap cardboard, for which an independent journalist was eventually detained and accused of faking the oft-referenced story.
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false
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Food
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Since early 2011, social media rumors have asserted plastic rice was being manufactured in China, exported, and consumed by people in other countries unaware the rice they were eating was in fact not a food at all. In February 2011, Raw Story and The Mary Sue published items about the purported plastic rice controversy, both articles noteing that the claims were not substantiated: Various reports in Singapore media have said that Chinese companies are mass producing fake rice made, in part, out of plastic, according to one online publication Very Vietnam … “A Chinese Restaurant Association official said that eating three bowls of this fake rice would be like eating one plastic bag. Due to the seriousness of the matter, he added that there would be an investigation of factories alleged to be producing the rice,” Very Vietnam noted. The “rice” is made by mixing potatoes, sweet potatoes and plastic. The potatoes are first formed into the shape of rice grains. Industrial synthetic resins are then added to the mix. The rice reportedly stays hard even after being cooked … About 300,000 people were injured and at least six infants died in 2008 when Chinese milk and infant formula was found to be adulterated with melamine, which was thought to help the milk pass nutrition tests. Later that year, melamine was also discovered in Chinese eggs. In what is the most diabolical thing I have read today, a report from Very Vietnam alleges that some Chinese food producers are creating synthetic rice out of potatoes, sweet potatoes, and plastic. The “rice” is made by mixing the potato material together, shaping it into grains, and then adding an “industrial resin” as a binding agent. Very Vietnam says that these resins can be very harmful if eaten … “A Chinese Restaurant Association official said that eating three bowls of this fake rice would be like eating one plastic bag.” The obvious motivation behind this scheme would be money, since the synthetic “rice” is cheaper to produce. This is just another, albeit somewhat more disquieting, in the long line of tainted or defective products apparently coming out of China. These would include the poisonous drywall, and tainted milk. If true, this [is] a cruel, calculated maneuver[.] Between 2011 and 2016 the story intermittently made the social media rounds, losing even the very basic details from unfounded reports that the faux food was purportedly fabricated from other edible starches (such as sweet potato or potato) and distilling it simply to an issue of “plastic rice.” In October 2016, the claim recirculated on Facebook and inspired blog posts anew, such as verbatim details of the years-old claim reproduced on alternative health blogs: Research has shown that certain rice factories in China have been producing a “fake rice substitute” in place of the popular and more expensive Wuchang rice, for greater profit. According to the Korean Times, this food fraud is being created using a mixture of potatoes, sweet potatoes, and synthetic resin (plastic). These ingredients are mixed together and formed into “grains” which very closely resemble the appearance of actual grains of rice. The rice substitute is then sprayed with a fragrance to mimic the smell of Wuchang rice, making it difficult to decipher between the two versions. As you would expect, consuming this “plastic rice” is extremely harmful and toxic to one’s health, and is causing quite an uproar. One Chinese official warned that eating three bowls of this man-made rice would be equivalent to ingesting one plastic bag. Perennial plastic rice rumors bear all the hallmarks of a standard “food from China” panic, including identical claims rehashed year in and out without substantiation. The “Chinese Restaurant Official” is always warning that consuming the purported product is akin to eating a plastic bag and asserting that the motive behind the food fakery is cynically financial (without offering any proof that it’s cheaper to go to the trouble of making plastic rice than growing real rice). Another marker of panic over fabricated food from China is the existence of multiple videos purportedly depicting the shady manufacturing of fake rice in factories: The repurposed video angle was at the forefront of another Chinese export panic involving labor intensive wax cabbage, proffered via a video clip swiped from an Asian television show about making “display food” which is not intended for consumption. And like the plastic rice rumor, the wax cabbage claim circulated bearing the implausible assumption that people would carry on unaware the salad they were eating tasted like a candle, or their rice had a styrofoam-y mouthfeel. The earliest and primary versions of the plastic claim hinged on “reports,” alleged investigations, information that was scary “if true,” rice fabrication that “it [was] thought” occurred, and the sort of content which tends to make a “better safe than sorry” impression on readers without the need for any rigorous followup. Naturally, the plastic rice claims perpetually played well on social media pages devoted to food sanctimony with or without substantiation. When the claims were new in early 2011, they essentially represented a rumor which had filtered into non-English news sources from an unsubstantiated single report, with no clear evidence presented to suggest plastic rice was real or a known risk. An extant Wikipedia page (littered with clear signs of editorial neglect) lists plastic rice as an “imitation food,” but its citations are largely newer iterations of the old unproven rumor. By May 2015, the plastic rice rumor had hit a fever pitch in Indonesia. One English-language source reported on the initial panic — and that testing had revealed the claim was false: On May 16, the Harian Terbit newspaper published an article warning that China was producing fake rice. The report urged Indonesians to be vigilant, although it admitted there was no certainty that plastic rice was being circulated in Indonesia. On the same day, MNC Media’s Global TV broadcast the YouTube video and claimed the factory was making fake rice — despite not having a shred of evidence to prove its allegation. Later, Metro TV aired the same video, claiming it showed a counterfeit rice factory … All of this ‘news’ of fake rice filtered through to the community. On May 18, a rice porridge vendor from the West Java city of Bekasi, Dewi Septiani (29), declared she had unwittingly purchased and consumed some plastic rice. She had bought six litres of rice on May 13 from a vendor at Tanah Merah traditional market for Rp.8,000 per litre. She claimed the rice did not turn into proper porridge but instead became congealed, making her, her younger sister and nephew sick after they ate it. Having seen the YouTube clips and the news reports, she assumed they must have consumed synthetic rice. Police questioned the vendor and one of his suppliers and closed his shop. Dewi’s porridge shop was also closed pending investigations. On May 20, samples of the rice — including some cooked by Dewi — were taken by police for tests, conducted separately by state-owned certification company Sucofindo, the National Police, the National Agency of Drug and Food Control (BPOM), the Trade Ministry and the Agriculture Ministry … Sucofindo was quick to announce the results of its tests, on May 21 claiming the rice contained traces of polyvinylchloride (PVC), a synthetic compound which is usually used to make pipes. Specifically, it had found traces of three types of plasticizers used in the manufacture of PVC: benzylbutylphthalate (BBP), 2-ethylhexyl phthalate (DEHP) and diisononyl phthalate (DINP). It did not state the percentages of the synthetic materials it had found. Meanwhile, lazy reporters found an old online news article from South Korea from 2011, claiming that rice made out of plastic was being “massively” sold in China. The report, citing unnamed media sources from Singapore, said “plastic rice is made by forming potatoes and sweet potatoes into rice-like shape, then adding industrial synthetic resins.” It warned that “eating three bowls of plastic rice is the same as eating one vinyl bag” … These ‘facts’ quickly made their way into Indonesian and Malaysian media reports. Even before Sucofindo had released its results, the Jakarta division of hip regional city news network Coconuts.co on May 20 proclaimed: “Plastic rice is real, as shown in this video of its production in a Chinese factory.” Oh dear. An accompanying article on http://jakarta.coconuts.co claimed “this video at least confirms that plastic rice is a real thing”. Utter garbage. On May 26, National Police chief General Badrodin Haiti, after a meeting with the president and other top officials, announced that all of the other tests were negative, so there never had been any plastic rice. He advised the public to stop panicking over the issue … So why had Sucofindo come up with different results? Badrodin said Sucofindo may have been using different analysis methods or contaminated equipment. BPOM head Roy Sparingga confirmed that his agency had found no synthetic polymers or heavy metals in the rice. He said the World Health Organization’s International Network of Food Safety Authorities had informed BPOM there were no recent cases of synthetic rice in other countries. Trade Minister Rachmat Gobel said his counterparts in China and Malaysia had assured him there was no fake rice in distribution in their countries. In November 2015, the Jakarta Post reiterated that notions of markets rife with synthetic rice were a public panic or “hoax,” not a legitimate health concern. The same alleged incident with the same porridge vendor was found to have escalated fear of plastic rice, leading to an entrenched belief the staple food was making Indonesians sick: The Jakarta Police have said they have halted an investigation into rice that had been claimed to contain dangerous plastics, as laboratory results had shown the rice samples contained no such materials. Jakarta Police special crime director Sr. Comr. Mujiyono said that based on an examination conducted by the National Police central forensics laboratory (Puslabfor), the Food and Drug Monitoring Agency (BPOM), and the Agriculture Ministry’s research and development unit (Balitbang), the police had concluded that the allegations were erroneous … In May, state-owned survey company Sucofindo confirmed that rice samples taken from the Bekasi store contained polyvinyl chloride (PVC) usually found in plastic pipes, as well as a plasticizer chemical substance usually found in hydraulic tools and electric capacitors. It announced that the substances could cause kidney, liver, lung problems and cancer if consumed. Nonetheless, the government countered the statement some days later, announcing that a round of official laboratory tests by the BPOM, the Trade Ministry and the Agriculture Ministry had found no plastic substances in the rice samples, which were suspected to have been imported from China. At [a November 2016] press conference, Puslabfor chemistry and biology division representative Sr. Comr Sabran Subandi said that the report also unsettled many other Bekasi residents and the Bekasi police had received many reports regarding artificial rice … According to him, people had reported their suspicions when they felt sick after consuming the rice … He said that the police immediately took action on the reports by testing samples of rice in the areas where complaints were made. They did not find any plastic substances in the samples. ‘As we all know, many people get sick every day. After Dewi’s report, cases of sick people seemed to be automatically connected to plastic rice,’ Sabran said. ‘However, they could have been sick for many other reasons.’ As of October 2016, the plastic rice panic was still going strong both in and outside the United States. A 17 October 2016 article in The Hindu lamented the routine belief such blatant adulteration was common in spite of food safety regulation processes: Had it not been for the social media, the ‘Chinese egg’ would not have attained its current notoriety. Similar were the cases of fumes emanating from fish or of plastic rice entering the market or dye being injected into watermelons. Unfortunately, all such reports reached the electronic media and certain sections of the print media, almost confirming people’s fears over instances they saw first on social media. However, why the same social media or the mainstream media did not give much space to reports exposing the hoax remains unclear. The same media which spread the hoax earlier should take the responsibility of clearing the air, believe people with scientific authority and temperament. “Ordinary people are misguided by such videos and news,” says Thomas Biju Mathew, professor and head of the pesticide laboratory of the Kerala Agricultural University. He was involved in a series of tests regarding the ‘Chinese eggs’ and other issues. “The social media, instead of complementing our lives, is now almost a disease,” he adds. Dr. Mathew takes a serious view of the fake news spreading through the media and says the government should come up with some cyber law to tackle the problem because it is a crime to create fear and confusion. There are methods to zero in on persons spreading unverified news regarding prominent persons. The methods should be utilised to find the source of fake news as well, he adds. The government has facilities to check any aspect of food adulteration and contamination, and Food Safety offices and inspectors are available in all districts. People should alert Food Safety officials if any such issue occurs in their locality or if they come across a message or news warning of such dangers, says K.V. Shibu, Assistant Commissioner, Food Safety, Ernakulam. Much like soy sauce purportedly made from human hair, the above-mentioned wax lettuce, or warnings about crabs, pork, tilapia, chicken, and garlic exported from China, the plastic rice rumor served as a socially acceptable manner in which people could express reservations about exotic or culturally unpalatable ingredients in Chinese exports (rather than a legitimate health or safety concern). Such legends and rumors antedate their social media format, although before Facebook they tended to manifest in the form of cat and dog meat-stocked freezers or bodily fluids lurking in Chinese takeout, all of which carried the underlying message that Chinese-made goods were not to be trusted. And despite the new life breathed into it by Twitter, Instagram, and other platforms, the base rumor was one of the oldest in circulation. Versions were traced back as far as the 1850s, with one example from 1948 on a snopes.com page explaining why such rumors have tremendous resilience in Western countries: Ancient slur or not, wherever this rumor goes it affects how the locals feel about the Chinese in their midst … As an example (this rumor has turned up in so many cities, it would be impossible to list them all), in 1995 the closing of two Chinese restaurants in Columbus, Ohio, awakened the sleeping rumor yet again. Calls were fielded, both by the local paper and the board of health, about whispers that these closings were the result of dead cats’ being discovered in each eatery’s meat locker. Never mind that just the previous day the local paper had run a story about the closure (for business reasons) of all 51 restaurants in this particular chain — the cat meat rumor would not be denied. [The adulterated Chinese food] legend is a classic example of xenophobia (fear and hatred of foreigners or that which is foreign). Asian culture is markedly different from Western culture, with language but the first barrier to be hurdled. Customs, religious observances, traditions — all are wildly different from their North American counterparts. As with all xenophobic reactions, that which isn’t the same is vilified. The Asian culinary practice of making a tiny bit of meat stretch to feed a family by cutting it up fine and making it part of a larger dish of vegetables or noodles is transformed by fear into a vehicle for “them” to slip something objectionable into our unwitting stomachs. Likewise, that the Chinese don’t as a rule keep cats and dogs as pets becomes seen as a willingness to plop someone else’s animal companion into the stew pot. Anything for a buck, says this legend, and if in the process one puts over on the white devils, so much the better. Since the appearance of plastic rice rumors in 2011, we have been unable to locate any substantiated reports that anyone successfully passed off plastic rice off as the real thing regularly (or ever) in any of the countries in which the rumor took root. As a case study from Indonesia illustrated thoroughly, the rumor was self-promoting: one woman exposed to the plastic rice rumor became ill and presumed the fake food she’d heard about was to blame. Faulty initial testing cemented the belief, and soon many people were attributing all illnesses to the specter of plastic rice. A few follow-up items reported that thorough testing had revealed the rice in question was not plastic or was simply adulterated, yet the claim went on to make the alternative health rounds in October 2016 unencumbered by the debunkings. All versions stemmed from one shaky item published in January 2011 and plastic rice lived in realm of legend until 21 December 2016, when the BBC published an article reporting that the notorious faux foodstuff had been “seized in Nigeria.” Although the headline said plastic rice had affirmatively been discovered, the article suggested otherwise: Nigeria has confiscated 2.5 tonnes of “plastic rice” smuggled into the country by unscrupulous businessmen, the customs service says … Lagos customs chief Haruna Mamudu said the fake rice was intended to be sold in markets during the festive season. The BBC’s Peter Okwoche says it is the only foodstuff that crosses cultural and ethnic lines across the country. Whoever made this fake rice did an exceptionally good job – on first impression it would have fooled me. When I ran the grains through my fingers nothing felt out of the ordinary … But when I smelt a handful of the “rice” there was a faint chemical odour. Customs officials say when they cooked up the rice it was too sticky – and it was then abundantly clear this was no ordinary batch. They’ve sent a sample to the laboratories to determine exactly what the “rice” is made of. They are also warning the public not to consume the mystery foodstuff as it could be dangerous. Fake food scandals are thankfully rare in Nigeria when you compare it to countries such as China. As of the 21 December 2016 report, the “plastic” rice seized in Nigeria was en route to be tested and its composition unconfirmed. The customs chief’s statement about unsavory businessmen preying on holiday shoppers suggested he was previously aware of the rumor, as did the BBC’s reference to myriad “fake food scandals” in China (which have been almost entirely fictitious, as noted above). It was possible a batch of rice tainted by chemicals or otherwise not fit for consumption was presumed to be the legendary plastic rice by folks exposed to the years-old rumor, or that the rice was in some manner counterfeit. However, the nature of the grains remained in question, and the scenario seemed likely to be an instance of ostension (or pseudo-ostension). On 24 December 2016, Nigeria’s Ministry of Health announced that tests on the “plastic rice” had revealed the rice was in fact not plastic: In [a] statement, Yetunde Oni, acting director-general of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), who briefed minister, was quoted to have said that preliminary findings by the agency failed to validate the claim by the NCS. “Following the reports on the seizure of ‘alleged plastic rice’, NAFDAC team of inspectors led by the Director Ports Inspection Directorate(PID) and Director laboratory services visited the Area Comptroller’s Office, Ikeja, Lagos and drew samples from the seized consignment for laboratory analysis,” Oni said. “The products were in 25kg pack size with no NAFDAC number, batch details and manufacturing details of address of manufacture and date markings. “The following preliminary tests and results were found to be in conformity with the specification for rice: Floating — negative, cooking — normal, odour — normal, colour- off-white rice grains , moisture -13.0 , pre-ashing — normal.”
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10495
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One antidepressant shown to control weight during 2-year study
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This news release describes results of a retrospective study by Group Health on the link between antidepressant drugs and weight change over a two-year period in adults with already-diagnosed depression. The results of the study suggest that compared to a “reference” drug, fluoxetine (best known as Prozac), an SSRI or selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor, only bupropion (marketed as Wellbutrin), an NDRI (norepinephrine-dopamine reuptake inhibitor) was associated with modest long-term weight loss and only in non-smokers. The news release doesn’t give us any details on costs or side effects associated with the drugs nor does it tell us how the data was measured or analyzed. It also doesn’t include several limitations of the research included in the published study. [Editor’s note: Dr. Arterburn, the lead study investigator quoted in the news release, is a former reviewer and contributor to HealthNewsReview.org.] Depression takes a significant toll on human health, well-being and productivity. It’s a challenging condition to treat, costs billions every year worldwide, and suicide is a too-frequent outcome. Antidepressants are among the mostly commonly prescribed (and heavily marketed) drugs available, and a vast literature about their use suggests there is no particularly significant difference in their effectiveness. All carry some side effects as well. Because many SSRIs have long been linked to weight gain, for obese depressed patients, trying buproprion first might make good sense. Average monthly costs vary widely depending on the availability of generics and doses, and in most cases costs are comparable and covered by insurance, so “differentiators” such as weight issues are not insignificant.
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true
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industry/commercial news releases,Weight loss
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A quote from one of the study’s co-authors mentions “costs” and “patient preferences” as sensible considerations in first choice of antidepressant therapy, but the release offers no information about the comparative costs of the drugs that were studied or even the estimated average annual cost of such therapy. The release would have been strengthened by such data. The release states that “After two years, nonsmokers lost an average of 2.4 pounds on bupropion–compared with gaining an average of 4.6 pounds on fluoxetine (Prozac). So those who took bupropion ended up weighing 7 pounds less than did those on fluoxetine.” With the exception of a mention that some people can’t take buproprion (seizure disorder patients, for example), and the weight gain issue, the release makes no mention of the considerable side effects that accompany antidepressant use, or the often frustrating search patients and physicians must undertake to find an antidepressant that is both effective and tolerable for individual patients. Fatigue, insomnia, increased anxiety, headache and nausea are all fairly common when starting an antidepressant. The release does not make it clear that this is a retrospective study and not one set up to study the effect of antidepressants on weight gain or loss. The published study’s summary offered detailed information about the makeup of the study population and the strengths and weaknesses of the study’s data and analytic approach. Not much of that information was used in the release. To be helpful to readers, the release should have noted at least some of these limitations that were pointed out in the study: The release doesn’t engage in disease mongering. Nor does it give us any context about the prevalence of depression which might have been warranted here. That’s pretty well covered, with lots of information about Group Health and the grantors. In essence, the purpose of this study was to compare alternatives and report their effect on weight gain or loss. The news release notes that fluoxetine was chosen as the “reference” drug to compare with buproprion. The study suggests that in addition to fluoxetine, the researchers looked at data from patients assigned to a number of other drugs, too, but their data sets were incomplete. The release makes clear that all of the antidepressants are available and approved. The release claims that the study was the first to examine weight gain in people using antidepressants for more than a year, in this case up to two years. The release doesn’t rely on unjustifiable language. We would underscore the study author’s comment that “bupropion is the best initial choice of antidepressant for the vast majority of Americans who have depression and are overweight or obese” by adding that each individual needs to be evaluated for their symptoms with a medical professional making a recommendation on the appropriate drug therapy.
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30346
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A Zimbabwean inventor named Sangulani Maxwell Chikumbutso invented an electric car that requires no charging.
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In our view, however, the burden of proof for upending the first and second laws of thermodynamics lies squarely on the person making that claim. No proof has been offered in the three years since the claim was first made, and as such we confidently rate the claim that he invented a car that “never needs charging” as false.
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false
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Science, zambian observer
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Since 2015, a Zimbabwean man named Sangulani Maxwell Chikumbutso has been hailed by some on the internet as iconoclastic genius and self-taught inventor who successfully created an electric car that runs perpetually without ever needing a charge. As outlandish and self-evidently incorrect as that assertion is, the journey to the source of that rumor is a fascinating mystery that began with an unsolicited invitation to a media event for a then-unknown company and provides insight into how the viral sausage is made. The Saith Technologies “Open Day” Event On 20 July 2015, Zimbabwean tech news site Techzim began reporting on a company named Saith Technologies. The outlet said at the time that they had never heard of the company, but that they had been invited to an “Open Day” in which the company would display their new, locally produced inventions to the media: Has anyone ever heard of Saith Technologies? To be honest, I hadn’t until today. Tomorrow, […] the company will hold an open day to showcase technologies that they have been working on at the Bluffhill Industrial Park in Harare. What caught our attention […] is how Saith Technologies has promised to display a series of world-class technologies that usually capture the public’s attention (not just in Zimbabwe but worldwide). Included in their line-up is a locally produced drone (Yes, drone! ), a locally produced electric car, road safety products, industrial technologies and what they term the “green power machine” which produces power using environmentally friendly technology. The event was evidently well publicized, and even garnered a television spot on South Africa’s SABC news channel. All photographic evidence used to support the existence of Chikumbutso’s inventions stem from an evidently choreographed event held over the course of one day in 2015, and the website for Saith Technologies is populated with photos only from that one day. The most important (and dubious) claim relates to what he has dubbed the “Greener Power Machine,” or GPM, described on Saith’s site: Maxwell Sangulani has always claimed the he would try to advance the ability to produce electricity by utilizing radio frequency, and this has been a proven fact. By revealing undisclosed substance (industry secreted) to radio wavelengths, the Eco-friendly power generator has the capacity to funnel the power generated into functional electrical energy. Saith claims that the electric car requires no charging by utilizing a combination of regular batteries and a GPM to amplify them as its engine, breaking the laws of physics by producing more energy than is put into the device: [Chikumbutso] imported the shell and went through the process, with artisans, of manufacturing the chassis and mounting the “engine”. The same power generation in the Greener generator is the one that is deployed in their Electric Vehicle. The car does not require recharging from an electricity source. It requires just 5 regular gel batteries to start generating enough capacity to power the car and recharge the batteries (perpetual vehicle). Scientifically, perpetual motion says that once an object starts moving unless hindered by an external force, it will continue to move forever. The scientific premise behind the purported GPM is similar to actual physics-abiding technology known as radio frequency harvesting. The concept with these devices is that they they convert ambient radio waves, the result of humanity’s love affair with technology, that bounce around our planet into enough energy to power extremely low energy devices like smoke detectors or fitness monitors. A 30 September 2015 story from the Telegraph about a company named Freevolt describes the basic idea: “It is the nature of broadcast transmissions that, when you broadcast, only some of the energy is received and used. The energy that is not received goes to waste. It’s only nanowatts of energy, but the energy is everywhere,” said [Paul Drayson, CEO of the company that owns the patent]. “What we’re doing is using that fact to power very small low-energy devices. The radio frequency transmissions come from wireless networks, and as our hunger for information goes up, the amount of data that we want to transmit is going up exponentially, and therefore this is growing all the time.” The central difference between radio frequency harvesting (which can at present barely power a Fitbit) and Chikumbutso’s GPM is that the latter allegedly takes these radio frequencies and somehow amplifies them without extra power merely by exposing them to a “trade secreted” substance. Evidently, the gathered reporters were not given enough — or any — information to test these outlandish claims. “We are not sure how this assertion can be dispelled and we hope at some forum scientist[s] will put the claims to test,” TechZim said three days after the event. This “open day” event apparently served primarily as a way to produce promotional material for Saith Technology, including a sleek video about Chikumbutso and his inspiring and unlikely story of unique genius. Chikumbutso has repeatedly stated that he has been unable to patent his device since perpetual motion machines (which would violate the first and second laws of thermodynamics) are unpatentable. Techzim ceased reporting on Saith Technologies after filing their 24 July 2015 report, evidently unconvinced that the company had much to offer. Techzim editor Leonard Sengere told us that they never had access to Chikumbutso after that event: [Our reporter] did attend the event and they were taken on a tour of the ‘inventions.’ The electric car and the generator were shown running and that was the extent of it. There was no chance for anyone to verify exactly what they were running on. In any case, the scientific community largely just ignored him. Over here at Techzim, we are no scientists and even we just covered the event as a duty as we did not believe his claims. After the ‘open day,’ we never not get access to him and that was that. Life went on. The 2017 Revival of Maxwell Chikumbutso On 6 June 2017, the web site 263Chat (which apparently is a Zimbabwe-based media outlet), brought Maxwell Chikumbutso back into the news with the following headline: “Trump Scoops Top Zimbabwean Inventor Maxwell Chikumbutso.” That story, with its odd headline focused on United States President Donald Trump (despite no mention of the president in the story), claimed that Chikumbutso had been given an opportunity to continue his work in California, since nobody in Africa’s entrepreneurial communities had taken any interest: The United States government has given Zimbabwe’s prolific inventor Maxwell Chikumbutso a new home in its populous state of California. Chikumbutso is the founder of Saith Holdings Inc. under which he made headlines for his serial innovations which include the world’s first ever green power generator which can produce electricity using radio frequencies, an electric powered car which doesn’t consume fuel, a multi-fueled helicopter and many more. In an interview with Chikumbutso from his new base in the United States of America, he expressed disappointment that Africa did not see what the US Government saw in his ground breaking inventions. “The USA Government saw what Africa did not and California is now our HOME, the Head Office of Saith Holdings Inc. I always love AFRICA and I’m so proud of being born and raised in AFRICA. I will surely come back to Zimbabwe where everything started.” said Chikumbutso. While we are unable to confirm any details of this story or discern what role (if any) the United States may have (or would have had) in encouraging Chikumbutso’s alleged move, the story adds a number of claims to the mythology of this “serial inventor” — most notably the alleged source of funding for his work on electric cars and GPMs: In 2003, Maxwell began to get ideas on creating a self-powered generator. Through [patent lawyer Bruce Mujeyi], Maxwell interfaced with some prominent professors in Zimbabwe who told him that it was impossible to create such a machine. […] An opportunity arose in South Africa where Johannesburg City Power invited tenders for new and renewable energy solutions. Among the bidders, Maxwell was the only individual. In spite of that, he performed exceptionally but unfortunately, he lost the opportunity because the awarding director wanted a portion of shares in the company in exchange for his grant. [… It was that time] that he met with Angolan born pastor and businessman Dr Teddy De Almeida in Johannesburg. Dr Almeida owns one of the biggest energy companies in Angola under the Bongani Group. He bought into Maxwell’s vision and contributed over $500,000 seed money desiring no return for his investment. No documents signed, just a stern warning to use the money wisely. Eventually when the Greener Machine was eventually completed[,] he invited Dr Almeida to take up equity in Saith Technologies. Teddy de Almeida is, according to a number of sites, the Angolan-born chief executive officer of an international collection of companies named Bongani Group, as well as a pastor and entrepreneur in South Africa. On the web site for “Bongani Trading,” a subsidiary of the Bongani Group for which he is described as CEO, his biography states: Dr. Teddy De Almeida is the current president of the South Africa-Angola Chamber of Commerce. Prior to forming Bongani, Dr. Teddy was the CEO and managing director of GVA South Africa. He was also a CEO of Consolidated Trading Services and a Managing Director of Transanglo Import and Export. He holds an MBA degree from MANCOSA, Doctor of Ministry from Covington Theological Seminary (USA). He sits on various boards of companies, he has travels [sic] extensively around the globe for workshops and speaking engagements. He has met various heads of states and attends numerous summits. Dr. Teddy is also a Pastor at Alleluia Ministries. We have reached out to de Almeida as well as executive chairman and alleged co-financier of Saith Technologies Luis Caupenela to ask if they did, indeed, provide any funding to Chikumbutso or Saith Technologies, but have not received a response from either individual. Cryptically, a 28 September 2016 Facebook post on an account owned by de Almeida makes only one passing reference to Saith Technology’s alleged work in California: Today is a blessed day, in early November we will launch our Eletric [sic] car in California, the only Eletric [sic] car that doesn’t need to be recharged. The Bongani Trading website that lists Caupenela and de Almeida as executives has not been updated since 2014, and includes several unfinished pages meant to be templates for news stories, suggesting that perhaps the site may not be as official as it appears, or, alternately, that their purported investment yielded no actual news. It is also worth noting that 263chat’s website has a disclaimer making it clear that truth is not necessarily the goal of their work: “we make no representations […] of any kind, express or implied, about the completeness, accuracy, reliability, suitability or availability with respect to the website or the information, products, services, or related graphics contained on the website for any purpose,” the page reads. Regardless, the story originally published on 263Chat has been cloned repeatedly by countless other extremely dubious web sites, including the Zambian Observer — a site that has trafficked in fake news in the past and which may have no actual connection to the country of Zambia. All of these stories rely on the claims and photographs made during one July 2015 “open day” event. Despite being published two years later, these accounts offer no new evidence of Chikumbutso’s claims and contain no new information that could be used to verify said claims. The 2018 Revival of Maxwell Chikumbutso On 25 April 2018, the conspiracy oriented, reality-adjacent website Collective Evolution picked up the story once again, this time citing the aforementioned Zambian Observer story and the 2015 video of that same event from South African television. As is often the case with Collective Evolution articles, the claims made there have been cloned and regurgitated ad infinitum by other dubious clickbait sites. Despite now being years removed from the only demonstration of this alleged technology, their article (like all the rest) presents no new information that provides any reason to take Chikumbutso’s claims — which, again, violate the fundamental laws of physics — seriously. Instead, Collective Evolution argued that Chikumbutso may be at risk now that the United States government is “involved,” although how it is involved it does not say: Right now, he is residing in California. Why did they do this? Was it because they came across a revolutionary with the power to change the world, or is it because they want to keep that which threatens their entire geo-political framework close to home so they can keep an eye on it, and control it? Who knows. But it’s always important to question the intentions of our government. Was it always a scam, perhaps designed to elicit donations? It’s possible, and the Saith Technologies website does have a donation section. Perhaps later web sites realized that this self-made genius story was clickbait gold and continued running with it for that reason. It’s also entirely possible that investors, and perhaps even Chikumbutso himself, fully believed in the technology they attempted to demonstrate in June 2015 — but the fact that no more demonstrations have occurred makes it clear something was, or is, off. It strains credulity to think that a car that runs indefinitely without recharging or fuel would not receive widespread financial support. We have attempted to contact Saith Technologies, but have not yet received a response.
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27509
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A man in Stockholm, Sweden died from a fat embolism after undergoing penis enlargement surgery.
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Based on this case report, Zilg and Rasten-Almqvist theorize that the risk of a fat embolism might be elevated when fat is injected into pretraumatized tissue (as in this case, where a penis elongation was performed before the fat injection).
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true
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Medical, cosmetic surgery, penis enlargement, sweden
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On 31 July 2017, reports appeared that a 30-year-old man had died from a fat embolism after undergoing penis enhancement surgery in Sweden: The first case of a man killed by penis enlargement surgery has been reported in Sweden. A healthy 30-year-old had wanted to increase both the girth and length of his genitals using a process where fat is transferred from his stomach. Plastic surgeons first carried out the elongation, which involves making an incision to loosen a ligament at the base of the penis. They then began the enlargement and had planned to inject two fluid ounces of fat cells. Yet, before they finished the injection, his heart began racing, his oxygen levels fell, and his blood pressure dropped, and he then suffered a heart attack, reports the Journal of Forensic Sciences. Doctors performed CPR and sent the man to an emergency room, but he died less than two hours later. It is an extraordinary story, which prompted us to double-check its veracity. (Buzzfeed had published a version of the story two days earlier with a headline reading “A Penis Enlargement Killed a Man in Sweden.”) Both articles accurately recount the facts of what is a real case that was indeed published on 27 July 2017 in a case report in the Journal of Forensic Sciences, an academic journal published by the American Academy of Forensic Sciences. It describes a 30-year-old man in Stockholm, Sweden, with no past medical history — apart from mild asthma — undergoing penis enhancement surgery, which the authors say is “generally considered a safe procedure.” The procedure involved fat being suctioned from his abdomen and injected into his penis, but towards the end of the surgery, the man’s heart rate increased abnormally, and surgeons observed low blood pressure and low oxygen levels in the blood. Half an hour later, the man went into cardiac arrest, and 78 minutes after that, he was pronounced dead. At autopsy, the cause of death was found to be pulmonary fat embolism, meaning fat had entered the blood stream and reached the lungs, causing a fatal blockage there. The case report points out that this is the first reported case of penile enhancement surgery causing a fatal fat embolism, but that this outcome had previously been observed in a small number of surgeries where fat was injected into a person’s face or buttocks. Fat embolism is a “rare, but feared complication” of liposuction, the authors write, and is more common after a traumatic event such as a long bone fracture (like the femur and tibia) or orthopaedic surgery (like spinal surgery or hip replacement).
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38385
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The Crusades Have Finally Started Again, a forwarded email and forum post making the rounds online since 2016, makes a number of claims about foreign countries cracking down on Muslims and urges similar steps in the United States.
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The Crusades Have Finally Started Again Commentary
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mixture
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Religious
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The Crusades Have Finally Started Again commentary makes a series of claims about steps supposedly being taken around the world to curb the spread of Islam that we have found to be equal parts truth, fiction and misleading. It’s not clear exactly where The Crusades Have Finally Started Again began, but many of its claims are based on reports and developments from 2014. The commentary compiles a long list of claims about “how the rest of the world is acting fast on the threat posted by Islam and its barbaric Sharia Law.” The ultimate goal is for those who read the commentary to contact their government representatives to demand similar action be taken in America. We’ll take a look at each of the claims made in the Crusades Have Finally Started Again post to determine, to the best of our ability, whether they’re truth or fiction. We’ve already investigated and reported on a number of these claims and will provide a brief summary and link to previous articles in those cases. Japan Refuses Permanent Muslim Citizens Claims made in The Crusades Have Finally Started commentary that Japan does not allow permanent Muslim citizens, or Islamic schools or mosques, in the country have been circulating for years — but they’re fiction. The Japan Ministry of Justice does not ask people applying to become naturalized citizens to identify their religion, so it’s unable to publish statistics about the religious beliefs of those who become naturalized citizens, Becoming Legally Japanese, a blog site devoted to Japanese immigration, reports: “Because there is no place on the written online application for one’s religion, the Ministry of Justice can’t publish statistics showing the religions (or races) of naturalization candidates; they can only publish sex and former nationality statistics,” the blog reports. “However, looking at the nationality statistics, we can find hundreds of examples of people from Islamic states (ex. Indonesia, Iran and Pakistan) as well as people from nation-states where the official state religion is Islam (ex. Egypt) and greater than 90 percent of the population is Muslim. Doing a quick web search, I can find Japanese immigration lawyers who specialize in people from Indonesia and brag of a 100 percent success rate.” We investigated this one as part of a larger report on Japan’s treatment of Muslims in 2014. Click here for the full report. Cuba Rejects Plans for First Mosque Fidel Castro prohibited the public practicing of all religions, including Christianity and Islam, when he established his communist regime on the island in 1957 — but those restrictions were loosened over the years. Cuba has a small Muslim population, but a mosque was founded there in 2015 with funding from the president of Turkey, USA Today reports: Pedro Lazo Torres, known as the Imam Yahya, said there used to be so few Muslims in Cuba that they could hold their prayers inside someone’s home. As they grew, their prayers spilled out into the street. Torres is now president of Cuba’s Islamic League and says the number of Cubans asking to convert continues to increase. He now operates out of a mosque that was inaugurated in June of 2015 thanks to funding from Turkey’s president, Recep Erdoğan. Located in Old Havana, the mosque sits next to an Islamic museum, known as The Arab House, and has brand new Spanish-Arabic copies of the Koran. So, claims that Cuba rejected plans for the country’s first mosque are fiction. Angola Has Officially Banned Islam- Religious groups must register with the Angolan government and meet specific criteria in order to openly practice their religions — and Angola does not legally recognize Islam. Despite claims from Angolan government officials that the government protected religious groups without legal status and did not intentionally close mosques and other Islamic facilities, the U.S. State Department reported that the government’s claims were false: In September the leader of CISA stated that the government had closed or destroyed at least nine mosques throughout the country during the year. He said that when members of the Muslim community asked for an explanation the authorities cited “superior orders” and sometimes simply flashed a piece of paper. He stated the authorities never allowed community leaders to keep a copy of the orders or, in most cases, even read them. Luanda police destroyed a mosque in the Zango neighborhood of Luanda in October. According to official government statements, the local Islamic community had illegally acquired the land on which they had built the mosque. According to CISA, the Islamic community legally acquired the land in 2008, began construction in 2010, and finished the mosque during the year. Police first informed the mosque leaders of the illegality of the mosque on September 26 and arrived to destroy it on October 3. So, while Islam is not officially banned in Angola — but Islam is not registered with the government and reports indicate that steps have been taken to destroy mosques and other Islamic facilities there. We investigated reports about Angola banning Islam in 2015; click here for our full report. Norway Deports Record Number of Muslims, Crime Drops Norway has taken steps to reform its immigration system, but those reforms aren’t designed to crack down on Muslims, and crime rates haven’t dropped because of them, as the Crusades Have Finally Started Again commentary reports. Norway’s immigration reforms has been to deport foreign citizens who are serving prison time there. The country has limited prisons, and as many as 30% of its prisoners were from foreign countries at one time; most from Poland, Lithuania, Nigeria, Iraq and Romania, the U.S. Library of Congress reports. The country has also cracked down on the number of new immigrants allowed into the country by denying more requests for asylum — but that move doesn’t specifically target Muslims, either. Besides that, Norway has always had relatively low crime rates, and data doesn’t indicate that there have been any major flections as a result of the country’s immigration reforms. 81 Violent Attacks Targeting Mosques in Germany Last Year-Mostly Fiction! There were 81 attacks on mosques and Germany between 2012 and 2014 — not 81 attacks on mosques in one year, as The Crusades Have Finally Started Again reports. Turkish delegation comprised of officials from Turkish Parliament’s Human Rights Committee and head of Turks Abroad and Related Communities directorate of the Turkish Prime Ministry reported in 2014 that the attacks were the result of growing Islamaphoia in Europe: In Germany alone, apart from three recent attacks, 78 attacks targeting mosques have been carried out since 2012 and 219 attacks were carried out between 2001 and 2012. Although arson attacks remain rare, hate crimes targeting Muslims in Europe have spread. So there were 81 attacks on mosques in Germany between 2012-2014 — but not 81 attacks in one year, as the rumor claimed. Australian Police Arrest 13 Suspected Jihad Recruiters It was widely reported in 2014 that Australian authorities had detained 13 men who were suspected of recruiting young Australians to join ISIS forces in Syria. The bust made international news, with reports of the arrest being picked up by the BBC: Police in Austria have arrested 13 people suspected of radicalising young people and recruiting them to fight in Syria, prosecutors say. Reports in the Austrian media said 500 police were involved in searches at mosques, flats and prayer rooms in Vienna and the cities of Linz and Graz. Authorities also seized “terrorist propaganda material”, prosecutors said. It comes amid a European crackdown on fighters who have joined jihadist forces in Syria and Iraq. A statement from Austria’s state prosecutor’s office said 16 people had been questioned following the searches in the early hours of Friday. Given that, we’re calling that one “truth.” China Has Cracked Down on Islam, Sending 22 Imams to Jail China has cracked down on religious radicalism, and that led to 22 Imams being sentenced to jail — but China has also cracked down on Christianity as it identifies religion as a threat to national security. Reports about 22 Imams being sentenced jail date back to 2015. At the time, a related rumor that we investigated (and found to be true) also noted that China had cracked down on men with long beards and head coverings. Click here for our full coverage of that. As we reported earlier, China’s religious crackdowns are necessarily “new” — or good. Officially, China declared itself as an atheist country in 1949 and “widespread religious repression” followed in Mainland China, the Council on Foreign Relations reports: In 2014, party officials in the eastern coastal province of Zhejiang’s city of Wenzhou, known for its large Christian population, ordered the removal of hundreds of crosses and demolition of dozens of churches that allegedly violated construction regulations. In February 2015, Zhejiang party officials announced that the party would enforce a ban on religious belief among party members to prevent the ‘penetration of Western hostile forces.’ These campaigns raised fears of possible widespread action against Christianity, but they seem to have been isolated cases. So, claims about religious crackdowns in China are true — but they apply to all religions practiced there, not just Islam. British Home Secretary Prepares Anti-Social Behavior Order In 2014, former Former British Home Secretary and Current Prime Minister Theresa May announced plans to introduce new measures targeting British jihadists which were viewed as akin to “anti-social behavior orders” previously used to combat things like graffiti and youth smoking. Additionally, measures have been put in place that allow Theresa May to strip dual citizens of citizenship on terror-related grounds without prior court authorization. The Bureau of Investigative Journalism reports that she’s done so 33 times: In 2015 Home Secretary Theresa May deprived five people of their British citizenship on terror related grounds, according to new figures obtained by the Bureau. In total May has stripped 33 individuals of British nationality on these grounds since becoming Home Secretary in 2010. All of the individuals were dual nationals. May can strip a person of citizenship without prior approval from a judge or parliament, and the individual’s only recourse is to quickly launch a long and costly appeal in the Special Immigration Appeals Commission, a specialist court in London which deals with evidence deemed so sensitive to national security that it is heard in secret. So we’re calling this one “truth.” Czech Republic Blatantly Refuses Islam It’s not true that the Czech Republic “blatantly refuses” Islam on grounds that it is evil — but the country does have the smallest Muslim population of all European nations. The World Atlas reports that there are about 4,000 Muslims in the Czech Republic, accounting for about 0.1% of the country’s population. The Gatestone Institute International Policy Council reports that the country’s Muslim population is small but growing, with some estimating that it’s now reached 10,000 people: The Czech Republic is home to a small but rapidly growing Muslim population. Although reliable figures do not exist, it is estimated that the number of Muslims in the country now exceeds 10,000 (some say the figure is closer to 5,000, while others say it exceeds 15,000), up from 3,699 in the 2001 census, and 495 in the 1991 census. Using 10,000 as the baseline figure, the Muslim population currently comprises around 0.1% of the total Czech population of 10.4 million. This percentage is far lower than most European countries, but the rate of increase is nearly 2,000% since 1991, and 170% since 2001. Most Muslims in the Czech Republic are immigrants from Afghanistan, Bosnia, Chechnya, Egypt, Iraq, Iran, Libya, Syria and Turkey. But a study produced for the Czech Interior Ministry in 2007 (it estimated there were a total of 11,235 Muslims in the country in 2005) found that there were also a large number of Czech converts to Islam. It is estimated that at least 2,000 Czechs have converted to Islam since the end of Communist rule in 1989. Many are women who have married Muslims, but just as many are young males who are “looking to Islam in their search for spirituality,” according to Radio Free Europe. The Interior Ministry report says the majority of Muslims in the Czech Republic are well educated and economically successful. “Muslims who belong to the core of the community are often university-educated people. Among them are doctors, architects, teachers, economists, businessmen and others,” the report says. The Czech government has refused Muslim immigrants, with its president claiming that “It’s practically impossible to integrate Muslims into Western Europe.” Still, the notion that the Czech Republic refuses Islam made by The Crusades Have Finally Started Again commentary are fiction. Many Muslims Announce Plans to Leave Northern Ireland Reports that Muslims have announced plans to leave Northern Ireland out of fear of violence or retaliation are technically true — but only two Muslims announced plans to leave, and that was back in 2014. The BBC reports that two Pakistani men who were “targeted in a racist attack” at their north Belfast home in 2014 said they planned to leave Northern Ireland: Two men targeted in a racist attack at their north Belfast home on Sunday have left their home and said they plan to leave Northern Ireland. One of the Pakistani men was treated in hospital after being attacked at the house in Parkmount Street. Earlier a north Belfast pastor who made controversial comments about Muslims visited the men. James McConnell said he had told them there was “no justification for such an attack” whatever their religion. One of the men, Muhammad Asif Khattak, said he had been warned by friends not to leave London to go to Northern Ireland. “I’m regretting what happened to me. The friends told me yesterday ‘we were right what we told you before, not to go, not to leave London’,” he said. Mr McConnell said he had offered to help pay for damage caused to their home on Sunday. Last month, the pastor described Islam as “heathen” and “satanic”, and said he did not trust Muslims. Northern Ireland’s First Minister Peter Robinson came under fire for defending Mr McConnell’s remarks, telling the Irish News he would not trust Muslims involved in violence or those devoted to Sharia law. However, the DUP leader said he would “trust them to go to the shops” for him. Mr Robinson later said his remarks had been misinterpreted, and met Muslim leaders in Belfast to apologise. So, while it’s true that two Muslim men said they would leave Northern Ireland after an attack — claims implying that untold number of Muslims were fleeing the country are misleading at best. Polish Defense League Issues Warning to Muslims The Polish Defense League issued warnings to Muslims multiple times — but that’s not necessarily a surprise since the Polish Defense League has been reported to be a far-right, anti-Islamic group. Polish newspapers have even reported on Polish Defense League members patrolling local bars to prevent Islamic men from “chatting up” Polish women: The far-right Polish Defence League (PLO) has launched “patriotic patrols” in Poland’s bars and nightclubs in a bid, it says, to protect Polish women from being chatted up by Muslims. The Polish Defence League, which describes itself as “showing the true face of Islam and acting against the Islamisation of Europe,” started the operation in December in cities including Warsaw, Poznan and Krakow. “We are there to observe how Muslims behave and to intervene,” the league stated on its official web site. “In the space of one evening, in hundreds of places across the country, incidents occur involving the seduction of our female compatriots,” the league claims. “This is a fight for the future of our country and our women,” the PLO claims. “Because one of these girls, unwittingly charmed by an exotic prince could, along with her offspring, end up very badly in the Islamic world, which is advancing on us with great strides.” According to the PLO, which currently has 3600 fans on its Facebook page, Polish women are warned during the patrols about the “threats” of getting involved with Muslim men, the Gazeta Wyborcza daily reports. So, claims about the Polish Defense League are true — but they’re not surprising, either. Dutch MPs Call for Removal of All Mosques Members of an anti-immigration, anti-Islam political party from the Netherlands called for the destruction of mosques — but claims that “Dutch MPs,” or military police, called for the removal of mosques is fiction. The claim comes from a 2014 newspaper article from The Hague about a Dutch right-wing political party demanding that the Netherlands be cleared of mosques: Machiel de Graaf, a member of Dutch anti-immigration and anti-Islam Party for Freedom (PVV), asked all mosques in the country to be shut down while speaking during a debate on integration in the House of Representatives. Emphasizing that a Netherlands without mosques would be better, the parliamentarian said “We want to clean Netherlands of Islam.” In addition to not being integrated into Dutch society and refuse to be assimilated, Muslims living in the country threaten Dutch identity and culture by giving more birth, according to de Graaf. De Graaf’s remarks drew harsh criticism from members of social democratic parties attending the debate. So, while it’s true that somebody called for mosques to be removed from the Netherlands — it wasn’t a Dutch MP. That’s why we’re calling this one truth and fiction. Comments
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33704
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Using gasoline is a recommended treatment for getting rid of head and body lice.
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Bedding and toys need to be washed at high heat or dry cleaned as well.
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false
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Medical, Home Cures
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The practice of using gasoline (or kerosene, naptha, benzine, or turpentine) to kill head and body lice is an old one — references to it appear in medical journals as far back as 1917, with even those sources positioning that mode of treatment as a well established one. It therefore poses no mystery that this bit of medical know-how has been handed down to succeeding generations as a valid home remedy, even though significant pharmacological advancement for dealing with lice has taken place over the last century. Moderately priced and highly effective licecides have been available for several decades now. While dousing a lice-riddled child’s hair with gasoline might have been a somewhat valid treatment choice for those living in much earlier times, generations beyond that have had far better choices readily available to them. However, although better treatments are easily obtainable, the practice of using gasoline against lice continues even to this day. “It was good enough for our great-grandmothers,” some say, “so it’s good enough for us. Great-granny swore by this treatment and never had any problems with it.” For those who’ve been subject to home remedy knowledge passed down through their families, there’s a sense of being one of the precious few who are in on something most of the general population is unaware of, and that sense of “I know something you don’t” is a potent motivator to put that knowledge to use. Beyond the allure of using a folk medicine cure from the distant past on a problem that exists in the here and now, an embarrassment factor likely adds to the persistence of gasoline use. Buying over-the-counter or prescription medications and preparations that treat lice means a trip to the pharmacy and the public purchase of concoctions that by their very nature reveal what they’re to be used for. An element of shame attaches to this sort of infestation, as lice have long been associated with unclean homes and bodies. By using gasoline rather than openly-purchased products meant to kill lice, one can avoid the (presumed) hard stares of the pharmacy clerk and surrounding shoppers. Yet whatever the motivation, using gasoline to kill head lice is not a good idea. This practice is dangerous, and over the years many people have been severely burned and scarred for life thanks to it. The fumes let off by gasoline can (and do) ignite in the presence of even the smallest spark or flame. All it takes is an errant spark from an electrical appliance, a lit cigarette, or a pilot light in a stove or water heater to turn a child into a fireball. The fuel’s fumes (rather than the liquid itself) ignite, which means human conflagration is touched off not by a flame coming in contact with gasoline-soaked hair, but by gasoline-soaked hair being in the same room as the flame or spark. These following cases reported in the news present a list of some of the human tragedies that have resulted from the practice of attempting to combat lice infestation with gasoline: Even when its fumes don’t ignite, gasoline can irritate the scalp and produce painful burning. The route to safely and effectively ridding oneself or one’s children of lice typically begins with over-the-counter products that fall into two categories: permethrins (including Nix rinse) and pyrethrins (including Pronto and Rid shampoos). Doctors urge the reapplication of these products seven to ten days after initial treatment. For persistent or especially resistant infestation, two prescription-only treatments are available: lindane (1 percent) shampoo (Kwell) and Ovide lotion, which contains malathion (0.5 percent).
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1513
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As temperatures soar, desperate Gazans try any means to beat heat.
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As Middle East summer temperatures soar above 35 degrees Celsius (95 Fahrenheit), Gazans are struggling to stay cool amid a power crisis, with less than four hours of electricity a day and little chance to run fans and air-conditioners.
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true
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Environment
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The power crisis is affecting health and sanitation - because sewage treatment plants can’t run, raw sewage is pouring into the Mediterranean - and now the elderly and sick are desperately trying to handle the heat. Plastic trays and scraps of cardboard are doubling as hand-held fans. Precious piped water is hosed over children and work animals. Those trying to sleep have abandoned clammy mattresses, preferring the relative cool of bare tiled floors. Hoping to pressure the Islamist Hamas group to relinquish control of Gaza, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has reduced his administration’s payments to Israel for the electricity it supplies to Gaza. That has left the 2 million Palestinians there with only a few hours of power a day. Hospitals and other emergency facilities have made do with back-up generators. Few ordinary Palestinians have that option. A family excursion to the beach that might elsewhere have been a delight was, for Sabah Joudah, a forced decision, especially when having to put up with the sewage problems. “We came here to entertain the children, even though the sea is polluted,” she told Reuters as the dirty surf lapped close by. “It is summer and there is no electricity; no water and no fans are working in our homes. It is very tough, very tough.” Environment officials say disruptions at sewage treatment facilities have meant more than 100,000 liters of untreated wastewater is discharged along the coast daily. Around 75 percent of the seawater is polluted. Swimming there frequently leaves children with skin inflammations and abdominal complaints, parents say. In the southern town of Khan Younis, a woman bathed her children in a bucket in the street, while a man doused his horse with water. One Khan Younis couple, the Abu Mehsens, both suffer from high blood pressure and said they were so beleaguered by the heat that simply fanning themselves could be too much effort. “When we get tired we rest for a bit before we start fanning again,” Jihan Abu Mehsen said. “We do so all day long.” The situation has hurt Gaza’s meager retail sector, with vendors saying that sales of electrical appliances have tanked. One exception has been cheap rechargeable fans, which can be stored, with full batteries, in anticipation of the power cuts. “People have turned to alternative power, using batteries,” said appliance salesman Mahmoud Abu Hamda. “Sometimes they use trays and sometimes even the covers of kettles instead of electric fans. This has impacted us very much.”
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10598
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Lymph Node Study Shakes Pillar of Breast Cancer Care
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We do wish that the story had provided a few more hard numbers, especially in regard to cost. And the story could have made it clear higher up that this study does not mean that lymph nodes should never be removed. But, overall, this story earns a top five-star score. The story says it all: “The discovery turns standard medical practice on its head. Surgeons have been removing lymph nodes from under the arms of breast cancer patients for 100 years, believing it would prolong women’s lives by keeping the cancer from spreading or coming back.” Patients who receive a cancer diagnosis are often thinking about one thing; metastisis. It has been drilled into our brains that cancer spreads and often can spread quickly. This study shows that, because doctors already are providing patients with chemotherapy and radiation, those treatments may wipe out the cancer in the lymph nodes and negate the need for surgery. This will be tough for some patients, and doctors, to accept, though. As the story notes, “Doctors and patients alike find it easy to accept more cancer treatment on the basis of a study, Dr. Morrow said, but get scared when the data favor less treatment.”
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true
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Cancer,New York Times
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Clearly, the costs involved in cancer treatment already are high. By removing a layer of treatment from an estimated 40,000 patients, those costs would have to drop, but it is unclear from the story by how much. Also, it would have been worth mentioning whether this is likely to affect how insurance companies handle lymph node removals. The story did a good job providing some numbers on benefits, but we wish it had provided more and explained some things a bit more. It says, for example, “In 27 percent of the women who had additional nodes removed, those nodes were cancerous.” How many women had additional nodes removed and, of those, how many had cancerous nodes? A figure like 27% means 1 out of every 4 women had nodes that were, indeed, cancerous, which seems to conflict with other statements in the story about chemotherapy and radiation wiping out the cancer. The story discusses several harms from lymph node removal, and shows that the difference in survival for women who had nodes removed and those who did not was not significant. “Indeed, women in the study who had the nodes taken out were far more likely (70 percent versus 25 percent) to have complications like infections, abnormal sensations and fluid collecting in the armpit. They were also more likely to have lymphedema.” This is where the story really outperformed some of the competition covering the same news. It placed the study into the broader context of a movement in cancer care away from surgeries that don’t provide a clear benefit, and it also explained the study design and the limitations of the study in several ways. “The study, at 115 medical centers, included 891 patients. Their median age was in the mid-50s, and they were followed for a median of 6.3 years. … One potential weakness in the study is that there was not complete follow-up information on 166 women, about equal numbers from each group. The researchers said that did not affect the results. A statistician who was not part of the study said the missing information should have been discussed further, but probably did not have an important impact. It is not known whether the findings also apply to women who do not have radiation and chemotherapy, or to those who have only part of the breast irradiated. Nor is it known whether the findings could be applied to other types of cancer.” It was too bad that it did not mention limitations in terms of lack of enrollment. The targeted enrollment was 1900. There also was an imbalance in the randomization that should have been mentioned. The story is careful to explain to readers that the research findings only apply to a subset of women with breast cancer. “Now, researchers report that for women who meet certain criteria — about 20 percent of patients, or 40,000 women a year in the United States — taking out cancerous nodes has no advantage. It does not change the treatment plan, improve survival or make the cancer less likely to recur. And it can cause complications like infection and lymphedema, a chronic swelling in the arm that ranges from mild to disabling.” The Q&A that ran with the story provided more detail about the different types of cancers and cancer patients, noting, for example, “First of all, 20 percent (the estimate of the study’s lead author, Dr. Armando E. Giuliano) refers to 20 percent of all the newly diagnosed cases of invasive breast cancer each year. This does not include noninvasive breast cancer, or DCIS, ductal carcinoma in situ. The total is about 207,000, so 20 percent is roughly 40,000 women. That is about how many women would match those in the study, in terms of tumor status, affected lymph nodes and course of treatment.” The story also says, “The results mean that women like those in the study will still have to have at least one lymph node removed, to look for cancer and decide whether they will need more treatment. But taking out just one or a few nodes should be enough.” Good quotes including from Dr. Monica Morrow, chief of the breast service at Sloan-Kettering and an author of the study, but also a few fromindependent experts toward the end. Dr. Grant W. Carlson, a professor of surgery at the Winship Cancer Institute at Emory University, and the author of an editorial accompanying the study, provides some soul-searching context by saying that, in taking out so many lymph nodes, “I have a feeling we’ve been doing a lot of harm.” Dr. Elisa R. Port, the chief of breast surgery at Mount Sinai Medical Center in Manhattan, said, “It’s definitely practice-changing.” And Dr. Alison Estabrook, the chief of the comprehensive breast center at St. Luke’s-Roosevelt hospital in New York said, “In the past, surgeons thought our role was to get out all the cancer. … Now he’s saying we don’t really have to do that.” The story does a great job explaining the history of this form of treatment and how it has evolved over time. “But doctors have continued to think that even microscopic disease in the lymph nodes should be cut out to improve the odds of survival. And until recently, they counted cancerous lymph nodes to gauge the severity of the disease and choose chemotherapy. But now the number is not so often used to determine drug treatment, doctors say. What matters more is whether the disease has reached any nodes at all. If any are positive, the disease could become deadly. Chemotherapy is recommended, and the drugs are the same, no matter how many nodes are involved.” The story goes on to do something that stories like this rarely do, it compares compares the harms from different forms of treatment, saying “After armpit surgery, 20 percent to 30 percent of women develop lymphedema, Dr. Port said, and radiation may increase the rate to 40 percent to 50 percent. Physical therapy can help, but there is no cure.” The story makes it clear that removing all under-arm lymph nodes is the standard of care for women with breast cancer and that feelings about that standard are entrenched. The story establishes that a change in treatment protocol away from removing all the lymph nodes under the arms of women with breast cancer would be novel. There is some nuance, here, though that could be missed by a casual reader. Women who have one to two positive lymph nodes would avoid having additional lymph node surgery. The overall tone of the story may make it appear to some readers that women get to avoid lymph node surgery altogether, but they don’t. The story goes well beyond any news release.
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11268
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New “morning-after” pill effective and safe: FDA staff
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By definition, emergency contraception is meant to be used only when other means of contraception fail. Controversy about emergency contraception typically centers around how it works – whether it prevents ovulation or blocks implantation of a fertilized egg. If emergency contraception works after fertilization, some would consider it an aborting agent. Regardless of its method of action, however, emergency contraception provides a safe and effective alternative to abortion. Although many women experience uncomfortable side effects from the medication, these are temporary and there are very few risks. In the US, the most commonly used emergency contraceptive is Plan B or levonogestrel. It contains the progestin commonly found in most birth control pills, but in much higher doses. Plan B acts to prevent ovluation. Mifeprex, or RU-486, can be used as an emergency contraceptive or aborting agent depending on when it is used. Last year, the EllaOne was approved for use in Europe and the UK. It has been shown to be effective for up to 5 days after contraceptive failure and has few side effects. Now, the FDA will meet to decide on its approval for use in the US. This story about EllaOne does not mention costs, does not adequately describe the strength of the available evidence to support the drug and does not provide quantification of the benefits or harms of the drug. And it doesn’t quote any independent sources outside of the FDA or the pharmaceutical company. Quoting independent sources to provide some perspective on what this might mean to women would have greatly improved this story. The absence of cost info, of comparisons to the most important alternatives (Plan B or Mifeprex), and of any sense of the scope of the benefits or harms were problems with this story. It was not clear that any independent vetting of claims took place.
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mixture
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"The story does not mention costs. Although it is hard to say definitively how much the drug would cost in the US since it is not yet available, the story could have mentioned the cost of the drug in Europe or provide an estimate from the drug manufacturer or even from an analyst. The story provides no quanitification of benefits from the drug. Ideally, the story would have described the likelihood of pregnancy after uNPRotected sex with or without the drug. According to British sources ""It is estimated that for every 100 women who take Ellaone up to five days after uNPRotected sex, approximately two women will become pregnant. The tablet is more effective at preventing pregnancy the earlier it is taken, so it is important to take it as soon as possible after uNPRotected sex, rather than delay it to the fifth day."" The story mentions that the FDA found no unexpected adverse events and describes the side effects of the drug including nausea, headache and abdominal pain as ""common."" The package insert for EllaOne describes these side effects as affecting more than 10% of users. It would have been helpful if the story had cited that stat. The story does not describe the quality of the evidence to support the use of the drug. The story does not engage in disease mongering. The story quotes no independent sources outside of the FDA or the pharmaceutical company. Quoting independent sources to provide some perspective on what this might mean to women, would have greatly improved this story. Although the story mentions other emergency contraceptive options, it does not really describe the pluses and minuses of the new approach compared to the most important alternatives, Plan B or Mifeprex. The story clearly states that the FDA is now reviewing the drug and that it is not yet available in the US but is available in Europe. Clearly the drug is not new since it is already available in Europe. The FDA is now considering its approval for use in the US. Not applicable because we can’t be sure if the story relied solely on a press release."
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11373
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Drug also halts HIV in straight couples
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This AP story was more thorough than the competing coverage from CNN in a couple of key respects: It noted that the drugs being tested in these studies may not be available to poor Africans who are at greatest risk of contracting HIV, and that the benefits reported by researchers may not be reproducible in a less structured “real world” setting. We were also pleased that this story provided the raw data on infection rates in the treatment and control groups rather than relying on relative comparisons. The new research reported here adds to the evidence that antiretroviral drugs can prevent transmission of the AIDS virus. These are exciting and newsworthy results, but they are far from the end of the story. As the AP notes, we don’t know whether people at risk will have access to the medication or, perhaps more importantly, whether they will use it. After all, condoms are a cheap and highly effective means of preventing HIV transmission — but their use is far from optimal. It remains to be seen whether people will find it easier to take the daily pill studied in these trials.
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mixture
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Associated Press
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Cost is one of the factors driving the supply problem mentioned above (i.e. people can’t afford the drugs without assistance), but the story didn’t explicitly address this. Although these drugs are available cheaply in developing countries (less than $1 per pill according to some estimates), even these modest costs can put them out of reach in the poorest countries where they are most needed. In the United States, the cost of daily treatment with Truvada (one of the medications studied which contains a combination of emtricitabine and tenofovir) can add up to some $13,000 annually. The story should have referenced cost as one of the obstacles to any large-scale new prevention effort. The competing CNN story didn’t address costs, either, but health care stories often ignore costs – more than 70% of the >1,500 stories we’ve reviewed get unsatisfactory grades on this cost criterion. The benefits are clearly explained using both absolute and relative terms. For one of the studies, the story noted, Any story about drug therapy should include a comment about potential harms. This story did not comment on the safety of the medications tested or potential adverse effects. It failed to mention that individuals taking medication reported higher rates of nausea, vomiting, and dizziness. The story provides a bit more context that the competing CNN coverage. Importantly, it raised questions about whether the study results could replicated out in the real world when it asked: “How many people would want to take a pill each day to reduce their risk of HIV infection? Would they stick with it? Would they become more sexually reckless?” The story also pointed out that all study participants received counseling and free condoms, which may have helped keep the infection rate low. Despite these strengths, the story falls short of a satisfactory for failing to point out an important limitation: Because these study results were released in press statements ahead of a major AIDS conference, they haven’t yet been subjected to peer review by outside experts. There was no disease-mongering in this story. An independent WHO source is quoted, and there don’t appear to be any conflicts of interest that should have been pointed out to readers. This story does give the reader a hint about alternative strategies in the last line. Unlike the competing CNN coverage, however, the story didn’t explicitly list alternate approaches that are effective for preventing HIV transmission, including microbicides, vaginal gels, clean needles, medical male circumcision, early treatment, counseling, testing, condoms and suppressive therapy for pregnant women. A tough call, but we think a bit more information should have been provided to merit a satisfactory. This story makes it clear that availability of the drugs tested in these studies is a problem: “In Africa, 6.6 million people are taking AIDS drugs, but nine million people who are eligible for the treatment are on a waiting list, according to the World Health Organization. In the United States, many state assistance programs that help people get AIDS drugs also have waiting lists.” Like the competing CNN coverage, this story mentions earlier research showing that Truvada was effective for preventing HIV infections in men who have sex with other men. The story acknowledges that a quote it uses from a WHO expert came directly from a press statement. Another quote and paraphrased comments did not appear to come from any press release. We think the story does enough for a satisfactory here.
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1706
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French parliament debates 'deep sleep' bill for end of life.
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France’s parliament will debate a bill on Tuesday allowing patients on the brink of death to stop treatment and enter a “deep sleep” until they die, a move some critics say amounts to euthanasia in disguise.
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true
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Health News
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If passed, the legislation would give dying patients in the secular but traditionally Catholic country more power over their own treatment. It would also bolster Socialist President Francois Hollande’s image as a social reformer after a hotly contested move to legalize gay marriage in 2012. Jean Leonetti, a center-right lawmaker and doctor who authored the law, told Reuters the bill would allow patients with “hours or days to live” to request to be placed under general anesthetic right through to the moment they die. “The patient has to be at the end of their life and suffering despite the treatment given,” Leonetti said. “When these elements are present, I (the doctor) am obliged to start sedation that is deep and continues until death.” Such a request would effectively let patients set their own death in motion, as the state of deep sleep is irreversible. But proponents say it stops short of assisted suicide and differs from euthanasia in that the time of death cannot be determined. Currently, doctors in France can suspend treatment under some circumstances for patients who ask for it, provided they provide palliative care to reduce suffering, similar to other European countries. In Europe only Belgium, the Netherlands and Switzerland allow euthanasia, with doctors actively assisting patients seeking death. In the United States, Oregon, Washington and Vermont allow doctor-assisted suicide. French law has evolved little since a 2005 reform setting out when doctors could decide to suspend treatment, despite Hollande voicing support for authorizing euthanasia during his 2012 presidential campaign. But the debate returned to the fore last year with the case of Vincent Lambert, a young man who fell into a deep coma after a car crash and whose family members have clashed in French and European courts over whether or not treatment should be pursued. “(Sedation) is not a universal response to suffering at the end of life,” said Stephane Mercier, head of the palliative care unit at Paul-Brousse hospital in Paris, adding that doctors were already equipped to ensure minimal suffering at the end of life. But pro-euthanasia campaigners said the bill does not go far enough. “Everyone says there is no suffering but nobody has ever been in that position (near death),” said Jean-Luc Romero, head of the Right to Die in Dignity association.
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8113
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South Africa braces for lockdown as coronavirus cases spike to 554.
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South African businesses braced for a nationwide lockdown and panic buyers stockpiled food and other essentials on Tuesday as the number of confirmed coronavirus cases jumped to 554 from 402 a day earlier.
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true
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Health News
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President Cyril Ramaphosa announced the 21-day lockdown from midnight on Thursday in an address to the nation on Monday, saying Africa’s most advanced economy needed to escalate its response to curb the spread of the respiratory pandemic. South Africa has the highest number of confirmed coronavirus cases in sub-Saharan Africa, and public health experts are worried that the virus could overwhelm the health system if infection rates rise steeply. Ramaphosa deployed the army in the streets, ordered underground mines to suspend operations and confined tourists who had arrived recently from “high-risk” countries to their hotels - some of the toughest measures on the continent. Rwanda has also imposed severe restrictions on movement, including “non-essential movements outside the home”. Many analysts have praised Ramaphosa for acting swiftly to impose restrictions on movement before the virus has claimed any lives, drawing on the experience of badly affected countries in Europe and Asia. “The numbers, we mustn’t be shocked when we see them increase. But these measures if we all work together must turn the curve around,” said Health Minister Zweli Mkhize, adding that two patients were in intensive care. Mkhize said South Africa could reach a turning point in its infection curve two or three weeks after its lockdown restrictions enter into force. Unlike developed economies, South Africa hasn’t promised massive fiscal stimulus to cushion the blow from the coronavirus, partly because it has limited room for new spending as it battles to preserve its last investment-grade credit rating. “We will have to use all what’s possible in terms of reprioritisation to address the current challenges,” senior finance ministry official Dondo Mogajane said on Tuesday. The lockdown will pile added pressure on an economy that is already in recession and where roughly 30% of the population is unemployed. Many business owners are worried, despite a handful of support measures like tax subsidies announced by Ramaphosa. Kristalia Syrrafos, the 31-year-old owner and founder of the Tilt cafe in Johannesburg’s Melville district, said she expected a “real big knock”. “You can’t prepare...We’ll get as much food out of here as possible and then close our doors,” she said. Across town, people ignored government pleas to stop hoarding basic goods. “I was expecting this shutdown, so I already bought quite a lot of things,” Patience Khumalo, 35, a retired security company manager who now drives an Uber, said while loading up his trolley with oil, peppers and rice. “The president made a good move to stop infections early, but some people are going to suffer.” Johannesburg-listed companies have started taking emergency measures to cut costs and minimise expenditure. Aviation company Comair suspended all its flights for franchise partner British Airways and the kulula.com low-cost airline from Thursday until April 19. Tsogo Sun Gaming said its casinos would be closed by Wednesday, and packaging firm Mpact postponed paying a dividend.
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25643
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Nick Freitas “supports a plan letting insurance companies deny coverage for preexisting conditions like asthma or diabetes.”
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Freitas has voted for extended short-term health insurance plans, which can legally deny coverage based on preexisting conditions. He has repeatedly called for the abolition of Obamacare, which mandates coverage of preexisting conditions, and has not endorsed or proposed a replacement plan.
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true
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Health Care, Voting Record, Virginia, Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee,
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"Democrats have launched a TV ad accusing Nick Freitas, the Republican congressional candidate in Virginia’s 7th District, of seeking to undermine insurance protections for people with preexisting conditions. The ad, sponsored by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, features black-and-white photos of Freitas, ominous -sounding piano notes, and footage of an elderly person in a wheelchair, then a young girl sleeping in bed. ""Freitas raked in thousands from the insurance industry and supports a plan letting insurance companies deny coverage for preexisting conditions like asthma or diabetes,"" the announcer says. Freitas is challenging Democratic incumbent Abigail Spanberger in one of the most closely-watched House races in the nation. He raised $1 million as of June 30 and $3,630 of it - about one-third of 1% - has come from the insurance industry. We’ll let you decide if that would cause a candidate with no tint of scandal to sell out, as the DCCC suggests. What caught our attention was the second part of the sentence, that Freitas ""supports a plan letting insurance companies deny coverage for preexisting conditions like asthma or diabetes."" We decided to fact check it. The DCCC sources its ad claim with a May 2, 2018 newspaper article in The Virginian-Pilot. Freitas ran unsuccessfully that spring for the GOP nomination for the U.S. Senate, and the article was about a debate he had with one of his opponents - E.W. Jackson. One of the topics was the Affordable Care Act, also called ""Obamacare,"" which mandates a number of health care reforms, including a requirement that insurers provide health coverage for preexisting conditions. The article quoted Freitas calling Obamacare a ""cancer"" that will lead to a government-run health care system. The Democratic Party of Virginia sent us several writings by Freitas expressing scorn for Obamacare. ""As your next U.S. senator, I will lead the fight to repeal Obamacare full-stop,"" he wrote on Facebook on June 1, 2018. Republicans, including President Donald Trump, have long called for abolishing Obamacare while promising to keep its popular guarantee of long-term coverage for preexisting conditions. But they haven’t agreed on a plan. A major issue has been how can they create a free-market healthcare system and still mandate affordable coverage for preexisting conditions. Obamacare forbids an insurer from charging anyone more than three times the premium charged to a healthy 21-year-old for the same policy. If Obamacare was repealed without a replacement plan, insurers could choose to curtail or end coverage for preexisting conditions, or steeply raise the price. Republicans have floated several replacement plans but, as PolitiFact National has written, none protected affordable coverage for preexisting conditions as well as Obamacare. Some Republicans have favored repealing Obamacare before a replacement is found. That includes Freitas. ""Obamacare is hurting people...and yet progressives demand that we find an alternative to Obamacare before we can repeal it,"" he wrote on Facebook on Dec. 13, 2014. ""This is a little like someone repeatedly punching you in the face and demanding that you find an alternative activity for their fist before they agree to stop."" Freitas doesn’t include health care among six issues he addresses on his campaign website. Joe Desilets, Freitas’ campaign manager, told us Freitas still wants to abolish Obamacare. But he said Freitas is dedicated to protecting coverage for preexisting conditions and, contrary to his 2014 statement, wants a replacement plan before the law is repealed. Desilits said Freitas is not committed to any specific replacement plan to guarantee coverage of preexisting conditions. ""Tax credits, a more targeted health care system. There’s a number of ways you can do it,"" he said. In the Virginia General Assembly in 2018, Freitas supported the Trump-ordered expansion of short-term, inexpensive health policies that don’t comply with Obamacare and don't have to cover preexisting conditions. Former President Barack Obama in 2016 issued a rule limiting short-term policies to 90 days to provide stop-gap policies to people who lost their health coverage and were waiting for enrollment periods to begin on the individual insurance market. In an effort to weaken Obamacare, Trump changed the rule, allowing short-term policies to last 364 days and be renewed twice. Supporters said the Trump rule would help people without employer-provided insurance who had seen steep premium increases in their ACA-compliant policies. Critics said it would lead to ""junk insurance"" with high deductibles. Our ruling In a TV ad, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee says Freitas ""supports a plan letting insurance companies deny coverage for preexisting conditions like asthma or diabetes."" Freitas has repeatedly called for the abolishing Obamacare, which mandates that long-term health insurance policies cover preexisting conditions. In 2014, he said Obamacare should be repealed even without a replacement plan. In 2018, he voted to significantly expand the duration of short-term insurance plans in which coverage of preexisting conditions can be legally denied. These actions overshadow Freitas’ vague promise this year - made through his campaign manager - to protect preexisting condition coverage while working to end Obamacare."
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4093
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20 years later, Libby’s asbestos fight goes on.
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The bleak world of asbestos science is tinged with subtle hues of gray and white, barely perceptible shadows that don’t strike the untrained eye as anything abnormal. But for those whose lives and careers are defined by the hundreds of people sick and dying in this tiny mountain community, the reality of the human tragedy that’s been unfolding here for decades is crystal clear.
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true
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Financial markets, Health care reform, Lung disease
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Dr. Brad Black runs the nonprofit Center for Asbestos Related Disease (CARD) and perhaps more than anyone he sees a clear picture of Libby’s plague — but it’s a picture that muddies the further one strays from the former mining town, and away from its medical professionals who have been charting an alarming rate of asbestos-related lung disease here for nearly two decades. A doctor in Libby since 1977, Black has been at the front lines of Libby’s asbestos fight, and despite all the fuss that’s been made over Libby in the last 20 years — despite the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s 2009 declaration of a public health emergency, the first such designation since the federal Superfund law passed in 1980; despite the more than $575 million spent in cleanup costs; and despite the well-documented asbestos contamination that’s sickened thousands and killed hundreds — Black is still waging an uphill battle. “We keep on plugging because that’s all we can do,” Black said recently in a basement conference room at the CARD clinic. “When you have new patients coming through the door on a regular basis, your primary objective is to provide them with care. And that’s what we’re trying to do.” Still, there’s more to Black’s work than traditional patient care, particularly as he and his colleagues pioneer new and innovative research in an effort to better understand Libby’s rarefied breed of toxic fibers. He and the CARD staff are also striving to educate the broader medical community about how they’re diagnosing asbestos-related health problems, and why they’re interpreting the faint hues of gray and white that appear on thousands of patients’ X-ray and CT images as disease when other pulmonologist colleagues don’t see it. Lung disease caused from Libby Amphibole asbestos is difficult to detect because it develops subtly and forms a thin layer along the interior chest wall, where it may blend in with shadows, Black said. The scarring of the lungs is progressive in Libby patients exposed to asbestos fibers, so being able to see the scarring and gauge its growth early on through scans is critical for care, he said. “We’ve tried very hard to get people to see what we’re seeing,” Black said. “Radiology is a gray world. You’re looking at gray shadows and everyone sees it differently. If you don’t know the disease, if you don’t know what you’re looking for, if you haven’t been tracking it here for 18 years, you won’t understand. You’ve got to know what you’re looking for.” Unfortunately, what Black’s looking for is precisely what he’s finding. New patients still arrive with metronomic regularity at the CARD clinic, a small medical clinic located off Mineral Avenue. Last year alone, 837 patients were screened and 209 were diagnosed, according to Tracy McNew, CARD’s administrative director. McNew says that’s a figure that falls right in line with the clinic’s annual diagnostic rate of about 25 percent, which, when taking into account its nearly 20-year existence, portrays a bleak picture. “Even after all this time, we’re still receiving new patients all the time,” she said. Two decades ago, the scope of asbestos exposure in Libby came to light when news reports detailed a link between the deadly fibers unearthed at a vermiculite mine operated by W.R. Grace and Co. between 1963 and 1990 and the hundreds of people who were sick and dying because of exposure to asbestos-laden dust. Two of the diseases most commonly associated with asbestos — asbestosis and mesothelioma — have latency periods of up to 40 years. That means people who were exposed to the asbestos dust could continue to develop illnesses for generations to come. “Conservative estimates put us out until 2030, so it won’t go away for a while,” Black said. “Again, those are conservative estimates. It’s really hard to predict how many sick people we’re going to see, but it’s going to be a lot.” Still, even as the volume of patients at the CARD clinic continues to swell, there’s a relative dearth of science. That’s because despite the millions spent by the federal government, no real investment has been made in scientific studies that would help answer some basic questions, such as: Does an effective treatment exist? Are there markers, like blood proteins, to help identify asbestos-related disease in patients before the air-constricting symptoms arrive? To what degree do genetics play a role in determining who gets sick? Do autoimmune diseases like rheumatoid arthritis and lupus serve as a precursor to asbestos-related disease and lung cancer? And why does Libby’s particular brand of asbestos, a toxic cocktail of several naturally occurring mineral fibers, cause such devastating disease to people with short-term exposure? “There’s a real misunderstanding that there has to be a long-term occupational exposure,” Black said. “Even low levels can lead to very serious lung disease. We have people in our population who had very brief exposures and 10 years later they have the disease. The level that it takes to cause significant disease is really hard to believe. But that’s Libby’s pattern.” Libby’s pattern is unlike that seen in most commercial asbestos, which belongs to a family called chrysotile asbestos, tiny fibers that, when inhaled, spiral into lung tissue like corkscrews. But Libby’s asbestos hails from the amphibole family, dart-shaped fibers that, when inhaled, lodge in the outer lining of the lung, or the pleura, a thin, elastic sac that, when healthy, expands and contracts in time with a person’s breathing. But when the pleura is riddled with rigid, dart-shaped asbestos fibers, it begins to scar over, rendering the soft, pink tissue that was once thin as plastic wrap into something that’s thick as an orange peel. Disease that’s the result of Libby’s asbestos can also be tricky to diagnose because it remains latent for years, then progresses at rates that have stunned medical professionals. Black and his colleagues might read abnormalities on a patient’s X-ray or CT images years before the patient ever exhibits symptoms. Many patients at the CARD clinic request screenings simply because they’ve lived in Libby and may have been inadvertently exposed to the dust. Because of a provision former U.S. Sen. Max Baucus, D-Montana, inserted into the Obama administration’s health care reform bill, the Affordable Care Act, victims of asbestos-related disease in Libby are eligible for a range of federal health care benefits, including services not normally covered by Medicare. The provision provides funding for screenings as well as Medicare coverage for all Libby residents with asbestos-related disease. Under a special Medicare pilot program, the government also pays for services not included under Medicare, such as home care, medical equipment, counseling, help with travel, and medications not covered by Medicare prescription plans. It’s a boon to current and former Libby residents unsure whether they’ve been exposed. Studies by the EPA explain how the old vermiculite mine on Zonolite Mountain dispersed about 5,000 pounds of amphibole asbestos fibers over Libby every day the mill operated. It was sprinkled on the local ball field, used on the high school track, piled in heaps around the community, trucked away by train, and used as insulation in millions of homes across the country. “In Libby, there are all kinds of pathways to exposure. It’s not just miners. People played in piles of the stuff when they were kids,” Black said. “A lot of the time we’ll screen hunters who grew up here and suddenly notice they can’t hike uphill any more without stopping every 15 feet to catch their breath.” The findings in Libby could have larger implications for helping doctors across the country better diagnose people who were exposed to the amphibole fibers and moved away or were exposed to the fibers through one of the many products made with asbestos from the Northwest Montana mine. Doctors might not recognize the more progressive form of lung disease caused by amphibole fibers, instead believing patients were exposed to chrysotile fibers, which make up 95 percent of asbestos use, Black said. Still, Black is sympathetic to his colleagues who don’t see what he sees on patients’ scans. “It’s been a challenge since we started,” he said. “Prior to 2000, we didn’t know anything. It was all a new experience for me because what we were seeing was so different than what we were trained to look for. We didn’t know what we were looking for.” “This isn’t your grandfather’s asbestos disease,” he added. In 2017, Black and his colleagues published a groundbreaking study that validated their interpretation of abnormalities they detected in imagery and scans that other radiologists dismissed. The case involved a 74-year-old former Libby resident who worked as a millwright at the vermiculite mine from 1969 until its closure in 1990. He moved out of the area in 1991, and had no other known exposure to asbestos fibers. In 2011, he developed increasing chest pain, and in 2013 lung cancer screening detected a new, solid nodule that continued to grow on follow-up scans. When the patient was referred for a lobectomy, a procedure that involves removing a section of the lung, analysis of the tissue revealed physical proof of what Black and his colleagues had detected on the patient’s scans — it was riddled with asbestos fibers, specifically, 5.5 million fibers per gram of wet lung lining. “Most people would never have interpreted this patient’s scans as positive,” Black said. “And here we had physical proof, not just a radiologist’s interpretation. It was an ideal case because it showed exactly what we have been seeing — a high fiber burden that would not have been recognized as abnormal by most radiologists. Here, we were able to show it and compare it to the finer features of the scan.” It was the first case in which lung tissue from a Libby miner was evaluated for fiber analysis. “We know what we’re looking for but to train other people to see it over time is a challenge,” he said. Even as Black and his colleagues, like Dr. Albert Miller, who specializes in pulmonary medicine and performs work at the Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York, seek to mount more scientific evidence to better understand Libby’s asbestos disease, and better imagery to diagnose it, thousands of lawsuits plod on through the legal channels. Although W.R. Grace is no longer a defendant in legal actions, other defendants remain embroiled in lawsuits: International Paper, which owns the firm that operated a lumber mill in Libby; Grace’s insurance carrier, Maryland Casualty; Burlington Northern Santa Fe, which trucked the asbestos-laced ore to communities across the country; and the state of Montana, which knew about the mine contaminants for decades. Black says the paper warfare waged in the lawsuits is time-consuming, and something he’d “rather do without.” The Montana Supreme Court recently appointed six additional Asbestos Claim Court judges to handle the thousands of claims pending against dozens of defendants, a bloated docket that until the high court’s decision last month fell on a single jurist’s desktop. The Asbestos Claims Court was created in November 2017, with the Honorable Amy Eddy, 11th Judicial District in Kalispell, appointed as the judge for pretrial proceedings for the 545 plaintiffs identified at that time, all of them fighting for reparations stemming from asbestos exposure from a now-defunct vermiculite mine in Libby, owned and operated by W.R. Grace, which derailed the cases for years after the company filed for federal bankruptcy. With the federal proceedings over, the clot of cases is coursing through a constricted legal artery, even as the docket continues to swell. Eddy said an additional six judges is barely scratching the surface of what’s needed to efficiently handle the volume, and they’re performing the work without compensation, on a voluntary basis. “A total of seven judges just isn’t enough with so many hundreds of complex cases based primarily in Northwest Montana,” she said. Now, similar lawsuits are being filed against Johnson & Johnson following reports that some of the company’s talc used in its baby products contained asbestos fibers, including tremolite fibers that have been the culprit in Libby. So if the fundamental science still has yet to be performed in Libby, ground-zero in the nation for asbestos-related disease, what are the implications for new discoveries of asbestos exposure in other corners of industry, which will spawn thousands more lawsuits? “We could have more science and it would still be a battle. It’s the nature of the game,” Black said. “But more science is exactly what we need.” With a limited budget, and in some cases no budget whatsoever to perform the necessary studies, Black says the scientific community is missing out on a monumental opportunity. “We have the perfect population to perform these studies on, but to find the money? Nobody has it,” Black said. “In the world of asbestos, it’s tough to get a fair shake.” “To lose this opportunity with the Libby population is one of the biggest mistakes we can make,” he added.
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36523
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A Chicago man lost his penis after developing frostbite during the 2019 Polar Vortex.
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Did a Man Lose His Penis to Frostbite After Urinating Outside During a Cold Snap?
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false
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Disinformation, Fact Checks, Viral Content
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In early February 2019, the Facebook page Sexy Atheists shared a link to an article titled “Chicago Man Loses His Penis To Frostbite After Peeing Outside,” which appeared to report:The bitter cold in Chicago has kept hospitals busy, with doctors at one facility during the brunt of an Arctic freeze treating 50 frostbite victims, including one man who lost his penis to frostbite after peeing outside.“It’s a horrific situation,” says Dr. Stathis Poulakidas, the head of burn and wound care services at Cook County Health. They expect the more frostbite victims most of them to be homeless and they strongly suggest not to pee outside or you could lose you penis as well.The image was indeed real, and appeared in a legitimate (and tragic) news story. That report involved the death of a Milwaukee man in January 2019 due to blisteringly low temperatures in the region:In Milwaukee, a man was found dead [in January 2019] in the garage of a home and apparently collapsed after shoveling snow, authorities said.The Milwaukee County Medical Examiner’s Office said Charley Lampley, 55, was found frozen in a detached garage, near a snow shovel. The garage door was open and Lampley was fully clothed and dressed for the weather, CBS affiliate WDJT reports. It appeared he had been outside overnight.Huzlers, which published the claim about a man losing his penis to frostbite, is a well-known purveyor of news hoaxes. A disclaimer at the bottom of its page read:Huzlers.com is a fauxtire and satirical news blog that focuses on celebrities, hip hop and urban entertainment. If it’s trending it’s here!
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10500
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High-Precision Proton Therapy More Effective in Treating Certain Cancers When Combined with Thermal Therapy
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Proton beam therapy has been in vogue for the past few years due to promises to provide more precise radiation therapy, theoretically leading to fewer side effects. A news release from the University of Maryland Medical Center/School of Medicine claims that the center is the only facility in the world to offer both proton beam therapy and thermal therapy, another experimental cancer treatment, in the same facility. As we’ve discussed before, there are few definitive studies proving that proton beam therapy is more effective and safer than conventional cancer treatments. Regardless, hospitals around the country have invested massive amounts of money to be able to provide this treatment, which can lead to large bills for patients. The jury is also still out on thermal therapy, also called hyperthermia. The American Cancer Society considers hyperthermia to be an experimental treatment, and notes that it is still being reviewed in clinical trials. This news release says that these experimental treatments are highly beneficial, but provides little concrete information to back up these claims. Presenting experimental treatments as vetted therapies can be expensive for patients and blind them to possible side effects. The release also says that they are the only facility in the world that offers both treatments, but this is a vague and misleading statement. The center isn’t the only center in the U.S. that can do both therapies, much less the world. These claims may make patients feel like they have no other options if they want to pursue this treatment combination, meaning they likely won’t shop around for the best prices or medical providers. For the cancers mentioned in this release — cancers of the bladder, rectum, cervix, ovaries, pancreas, and connective tissue (sarcomas) — there are different treatment options based upon the cancer itself (its size, location, pathologic appearance, genetic markers, and spread) as well as the overall health of the patient. A wide range of treatments including surgery, chemotherapy, radiation and newer treatments such as immunotherapy, are available. Because the release focuses on two newer therapies, proton beam radiation and thermal therapy, the reader may think that these are the only treatments for these conditions. Moreover, there is no information available to the reader to know which patients may benefit from such treatments. The news release is more an advertisement for a program than information that readers can use to judge how good the program may be and for whom.
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false
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Hospital news release
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The news release doesn’t mention the cost of either of the treatments, or whether or not insurance will cover these procedures. We’ve discussed before that proton beam therapy can cost between $30,000 and $120,000. But it is hard to find cost information on the more experimental hyperthermia treatment, and the University of Maryland website doesn’t list any information. There are no numbers providing context on the claimed benefits, only an assertion that the combined treatments offer “a potential way to boost survival chances for certain cancer patients.” But how much is survival “boosted?” By weeks? Years? And which cancer patients are eligible? The news release broadly states that the hyperthermia equipment will be used to treat cancer in the bladder, rectum, cervix, ovaries, pancreas, and connective tissue, but does not get more specific. There is no information provided about any specific study or data demonstrating the benefits of either proton beam therapy or hyperthermic therapy for patients with these cancers. While the news release touts the potential benefits of both therapies, it says nothing about side effects or potential harms. According to the Mayo Clinic, possible side effects of proton therapy include fatigue, digestion problems and headaches. The National Cancer Institute lists possible side effects of hyperthermia, which include burns, blistering, vomiting, and and possible cardiac disorders. The release does not provide sufficient information for a reader with one of these tumors to know whether such a treatment program would be appropriate for them or someone they know. It makes several vague statements that “research has shown” and “studies have found” benefits, but doesn’t name any of the research or studies themselves. The release also quotes a physician who says, “Early research suggests that adding thermal therapy to proton-beam therapy may be associated with an even greater benefit than when combined with standard radiation therapy,” but this is still very vague. Who did the research, and how early is it? How much of an improvement can patients expect to see compared to other treatments? None of these questions are answered. While the release doesn’t engage in disease mongering, it includes almost no information about the cancers that would be targeted. That would have been useful context to include. The news release identifies private donors and a foundation that contributed to their hyperthermia system, although they do not list other sources of funding for the proton therapy. As mentioned above, a physician quoted in the news release states that the combined therapy might have an “even greater benefit” than when proton therapy is combined with standard radiation therapy, but that is the only comparison made. The news release does not mention any more traditional methods of cancer treatment, such as surgery, chemotherapy or standard radiation alone nor how they compare to the new combination. The news release says that the Maryland Proton Treatment Center, “is the only proton treatment center in Maryland.” While this is technically true, they neglect to mention that there is another proton treatment center in the region, an hour’s drive away in Washington, D.C. Nor do they mention any of the other 28 proton centers currently open around the country, or the 10 more under development. The news release mentions several times that the Maryland Proton Treatment Center is the only facility in the world to offer both treatments in the same location. However this is either so vague as to be misleading, or just plain untrue. Does “location” mean at the same department, or in the same building? A quick google search shows that even in the United States there are several other centers that offer both treatments, including the UCSF Department of Radiation Oncology and Texas Oncology. The release employs unjustified language throughout. Some examples: • It calls proton therapy “more effective” but that’s not supported by data in the release. • It refers to proton therapy “as a potential way to boost survival chances for certain cancer patients” — Which is it? More effective (denoting evidence in hand) or “a potential way…” (denoting future potential)? • When you read claims like “the only facility that…” let the buyer beware. • It states “research has shown…studies have found” — What research? Which studies? None are named or linked. • “The Maryland Proton Treatment Center has achieved another milestone by becoming the first center to offer both deep-thermal therapy and proton therapy… It’s this type of innovation that sets MPTC apart from other proton treatment centers.” How should milestone and innovation be defined? By offering something? Or by presenting evidence? We’d say the latter.
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8267
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London can host 2020 Games if moved over coronavirus - mayor candidate.
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London would be ready to host the 2020 Olympics if the outbreak of the coronavirus forced the Games to be moved from Tokyo, Shaun Bailey, the Conservative candidate for mayor of the British capital, has said.
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true
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Health News
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London hosted the Olympics in 2012, but British officials played down the prospect of taking away the Games from Tokyo, which has been planning the event for seven years since its bid won in 2013. The flu-like coronavirus, which has killed more than 2,000 people in China and infected over 74,000 globally, has had a major impact on the sporting calendar in Asia with a host of events being cancelled and postponed. With the Tokyo Games due to begin on July 24, organisers have set up a task force to coordinate with public health authorities over the epidemic. The International Olympic Committee has said it had been advised by the World Health Organization that there is no case for contingency plans to cancel or relocate the Games. In Japan, hundreds have been infected by the virus with two deaths confirmed on the Diamond Princess cruise ship off Yokohama port, sparking concerns that the world’s top sporting event may not take place. Despite much of the 2012 infrastructure being repurposed to redevelop parts of east London after the Games, Bailey said the city was well placed to step in for Tokyo if needed and urged the Olympic Committee to consider the city as an alternative. “London can host the #Olympics in 2020,” he said on Twitter. “Given the ongoing disruption caused by the coronavirus outbreak, I urge the Olympic Committee to seriously consider how London could stand ready to host the Olympics should the need arise,” Bailey said in a statement. “We have the infrastructure and the experience, and if I am elected I will make sure London is ready to host the biggest sporting celebration again, if we are called on in an hour of need,” he said. The London mayoral election is due to take place on May 7, and Bailey is trailing in opinion polls behind the incumbent, Sadiq Khan, from the opposition Labour Party. In London, there was scepticism at Bailey’s comments: sports officials said they were looking forward to the Tokyo Olympics and that London had no plans to usurp the Games. “These are the remarks of a mayoral candidate, not the remarks of Britain or even London,” said one sports official. The Tokyo 2020 organising committee did not comment on Bailey’s remarks. It said in an e-mailed statement that they were taking the necessary steps over the coronavirus. “Tokyo 2020 will continue to collaborate with all relevant organisations which carefully monitor any incidence of infectious diseases and we will review any countermeasures that may be necessary with all relevant organisations,” it said. Nonetheless, Bailey’s comments, carried by several major Japanese media outlets, became a top trending topic on Twitter in the country with nearly 50,000 tweets on the subject. “How dare you! Don’t deprive the Olympics from Japan! In the first place, the UK didn’t take any remedies for the ‘Diamond Princess’ owned by your country!” Twitter user @Gelsomi47388050 said in English. The Diamond Princess is a UK flagged vessel owned by Carnival Corp (CCL.N). Another user said London would be the best back-up option. “Probably the only major city that could, facilities, hotels etc all ready & the weather would be more conducive to both competitions/ spectators than Tokyo,” @twose_brian also tweeted in English in reply to Bailey, tagging #LondonOlympics2020.
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26585
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Duey Stroebel Says that under order from Gov. Tony Evers, he and his eight children can’t legally have dinner together anymore.
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The key here is what Stroebel’s tweet didn’t say – that five of the children he referenced were adults living on their own. Evers’ order does indeed ban gatherings of immediate family members in different households.
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mixture
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Families, Wisconsin, Coronavirus, Duey Stroebel,
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"It’s hard to find something that hasn’t changed in Wisconsin amid the coronavirus pandemic — work, school, church, home. On the eve of Gov. Tony Evers’ ""Safer at Home"" order limiting all non-essential movement, a Republican lawmaker lamented the last item on that list. ""Laura, my eight children and I are enjoying our last legal dinner together this evening from our spring break staycation,"" state Sen. Duey Stroebel, R-Saukville, said in a March 24, 2020, tweet. Evers’ 16-page order — which took effect March 25, 2020 — has sweeping consequences throughout the state, but does it really ban family dinners? Let’s take a closer look. At first glance, Stroebel’s claim to legal limitations within his home might sound off base. The order explicitly makes an allowance for family units. It says Wisconsinites ""do not need to maintain social distancing between family members in a single living unit or household members."" A later section adds, ""Nothing in this Order prohibits the gathering of members of a single household or living unit."" Laura, my eight children and I are enjoying our last legal dinner together this evening from our spring break staycation. https://t.co/Cllv1Gbgho But it turns out Stroebel wasn’t referencing a single household. John Soper, Stroebel’s chief of staff, said in an email the senator’s eight children range in age from 14 to 29. Only three of those children live at home, while five have their own residences. ""Governor Evers mentioned specifically ‘dinner parties’ as an activity that must stop under the new Order,"" Soper said. ""Senator Stroebel put out this tweet to highlight that there is no exemption for meeting immediate family (adult children, grandparents etc. ), but there is for places like liquor stores and dry cleaners."" That changes the analysis dramatically. Indeed, there is no blanket exception to social distancing requirements for extended or even immediate family members if they live separately. Here’s the key line from Evers’ order: ""All public and private gatherings of any number of people that are not part of a single household or living unit are prohibited, except for the limited purposes expressly permitted in this Order."" Those ""limited purposes"" include things like providing care or transport for the health and safety of someone in another household. ""Large family dinners that include people who do not live together are prohibited,"" said Melissa Baldauff, Evers’ spokeswoman. She said it’s a requirement that affects everyone, including Evers. ""That’s really hard on extended families, we get it,"" she said in an email. ""The governor’s grown kids and their families aren’t coming to visit him and the first lady at the executive residence right now. ""But that’s the sacrifice we are asking of everyone in this state. Stay home and limit the number of people you have contact with. This kind of distancing is one of the most effective ways of stopping the spread of the disease."" Stroebel said in a tweet before the stay-at-home order that he was having his ""last legal dinner"" with his wife and eight children. Though this is technically true for Stroebel’s family, people reading this tweet could well take away that their own one-household family can’t get together to eat. To that extent, the tweet is misleading. There’s a key difference between families that still live together under the same roof and those like Stroebel’s with adult children – to the point that Evers’ order allows one and bans the other. So Stroebel is accurate, but only if you take into account key details that weren’t included in his tweet. That’s our definition of ."
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36148
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"A meme claiming that popular animated series ""The Simpsons"" predicted Greta Thunberg includes authentic and unaltered imagery from from the show, with Lisa Simpson glaring at Donald Trump."
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‘The Simpsons Predicted Greta Thunberg’ Meme
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false
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Fact Checks, Viral Content
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There is a common, cyclical rumor that animated comedy series The Simpsons — which began its run in 1989 — has predicted numerous events to come. In September 2019, one such iteration claimed that climate crisis activist Greta Thunberg was among future possibilities divined by the animated series many years before.A September 26 2019 post to Reddit’s r/memes, “Simpsons predicted it yet again,” depicts Greta Thunberg seemingly glaring at President Donald Trump. To the left of that image is a purported screenshot of Lisa Simpson glaring at Trump:Simpsons predicted it yet again from memesUnderneath the side-by-side photos of Thunberg/Trump and Lisa Simpson/Trump is an image of Thunberg (angrily addressing the United Nations Climate Action Summit), then a photograph of Lisa in front of a curtain, and finally, a Simpsons newspaper reading “Springfield Cleans Up Act” and “Pushy Kid Nags Town.” An earlier iteration of the meme lacked the central image in which Lisa Simpson purportedly mirrors Greta Thunberg glaring at Trump:Simpsons predicted even this from funnyOutside the context of the claim, the meme might not make much sense, as it relies on readers’ knowledge that the Simpsons have already “predicted” numerous circumstances. A similar rumor circulated after a fire damaged the Notre Dame cathedral, but it was misleadingly arranged to create an impression that the show’s powers of prognostication were stronger than they were. By 2013, the meme spawned a BuzzFeed listicle about 21 purported predictions made by the series.A related meme is simply “Simpsons Did It,” an old internet aphorism which broadly holds that “an idea widely perceived as original or new that may have been already portrayed in an episode of the long-running American animated TV sitcom The Simpsons” (an idea that itself originated on South Park. )One of the ways in which the meme survives is its reliance on an immeasurably large back-catalog of The Simpsons content, which is so detailed that all but a few die-hard fans are familiar with every single aspect of the show and related media. At least one element of the meme, the newspaper, originated in the 2007 animated film The Simpsons and a plotline involving Homer’s job at the power plant and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)’s involvement with a pollution scandal in Springfield.In the film, Lisa attempts to get signatures for a petition to clean up a Springfield lake, and eventually co-hosts a presentation with a boy. That presentation is called “An Irritating Truth,” a reference to Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth:Meanwhile, while Lisa tries to get signatures for a petition to clean up Lake Springfield (unsuccessfully). She meets an Irish boy named Colin, who is also has a petition for the same cause … Lisa and Colin combine their efforts to give a presentation called “An Irritating Truth” at Town Hall. But because the average Springfielder could care less about the environment, and namely seemed to miss the overall point anyways, such as when she accidentally focused on her crush on Colin and when her moving platform briefly malfunctioned before she could get it to the height needed to demonstrate her point, she reveals that she put the lake water in their drinking glasses, causing everyone to spit out the water they just drank. When Lisa’s tactic is successful, Moe suggests to the town that they hate kids, but Mayor Quimby finally gets to Lisa’s point and forbids any more dumping, declaring a state of emergency.Later portions of the film do involve a celebrity president — but not Donald Trump. Another element of the film relates to the EPA’s decision to wall Springfield off due to its pollution:Russ Cargill, head of the EPA, tells President Schwarzenegger that Springfield is so polluted that the government must take drastic action. He provides Schwarzenegger with five options and he picks option 3 at random without looking, saying he was elected to “lead, not to read”. Option 3 means trapping the entire town of Springfield under a gigantic dome.Trump has been featured numerous times on The Simpsons, making it possible the screenshot depicting Lisa glaring at Trump not implausible:Los Simpson lo hicieron de nuevo. #GretaThunberg #UNGA #Trump pic.twitter.com/oymEXrGbrG— Nicolás de León (@salocinuy) September 24, 2019However, a reverse image search indicated that as far back as 2016, the image seen did not actually feature an angry Lisa:A TVLine.com blog post featuring the screenshot indicated the program from which it originated aired in August 2016, and was not related to Lisa’s crusade in the 2007 Simpsons movie.Like most “Simpsons predicted this” memes, the Greta Thunberg vs. Lisa Simpson version was padded with doctored screenshots to advance the claim that the show had “predicted” Thunberg’s advocacy via Lisa. Although a subplot in the 2007 feature film The Simpsons did include Lisa’s presentation of “An Irritating Truth” (and the newspaper did appear on screen), the most notable portion of the meme, the “glaring Lisa” screenshot, was fabricated. Trump did not appear as a character in the film, and elements of the film were paired with a doctored screengrab to falsely suggest otherwise.
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11508
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Washing away sinus problems
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This article about the benefits of nasal irrigation helps introduce readers to an often overlooked treatment for sinus congestion. It generally is successful at doing so. As the sources suggest, for many people this is an excellent first treatment for sinus congestion and headaches. However, the article falls short of several health reporting best practices which make it less credible, complete, balanced and useful. It depends heavily on a source with clear commercial interest in the treatment. Revealing the interest is insufficient. The physician who sells the product is not a credible source and should not have been quoted. The article does not provide sufficient detail on the key study demonstrating safety and efficacy, which has significant limitations: it was conducted on 28 people and showed an improvement in symptoms of 30 to 40 percent reported by questionnaires. Instead the article depends heavily on two anecdotes. The story does not provide sufficient detail about conventional treatments’ benefits and risks so readers can make informed judgments. It quotes a woman who makes a claim about relief from migraines that is not accurate. The reporter should not have let this claim stand without examining it. None of these shortcomings creates a public health hazard or undercuts the fundamental value of the story. But they demonstrate the importance of using reporting best practices even when an article is not controversial and the treatment featured potentially effective and benign.
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mixture
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"It would have been simple and useful to cite the costs of the device, the spray equivalent, and the solution. The story does not provide sufficient data about the outcomes, instead summarizing with the words ""effective,"" ""safe,"" and ""inexpensive."" The key study of 28 people showed a 30 to 40 percent improvement in systems. The story does not mention the side effect of nasal irritation, post-treatment dripping and saline occasionally getting trapped in the inner ear. While these are rarely serious, they should have been noted. The article cites three studies published in medical journals. But detail on the key study, appearing in the Annals of Family Medicine report, is insufficient. That study addresses the efficacy of irrigation most directly, but it is summarized without data. The study was only partially blinded, was based on questionnaires adminstered weeks after irrigation had been undertaken, and involved a treatment group of only 28 people. While the story emphasizes how unpleasant chronic nasal congestion is, it does not exaggerate its seriousness. The main source cited is Diane Heatley, whose objectivity is compromised by her ownership of a company that sells a nasal irrigation system. Other sources round out the piece, but over-reliance on Heatley harms the objectivity. Authors of the published article in Annals of Family Practice would have been better sources. Two independent medical sources discuss mainly antibiotic overuse. The story also leads and ends with anecdotes from satisfied patients. One of them claims to have gotten relief from migraine headaches. Irrigation does not treat migraines, but migraines are often thought to be sinus headaches. In all likelihood the patient got relief via irrigation from her sinus headaches, which she thought were migraines. This story could easily confuse readers who believe irrigation can relieve migraine headaches. The article makes clear that saline sprays, antibiotics and over-the-counter nasal sprays are also used to treat sinus congestion. Exploring how use of irrigation can reduce incidence of antibiotic overuse is particularly valuable. Mentioning the efficacy and side effects of each alternative treatment would have added value, however. The story didn’t explicity discuss availability, but neti pots and nasal irrigation devices are easily available at drug stores, ""alternative treatment"" retailers and on the Internet. The story reports that the tradition of use is very old, that adoption in the U.S. is low but beginning to gain popularity. There is no evidence the article was based on a press release. An October 2006 press release announced the release of a new product in the SinuCleanse line, sold by primary source Diane Heatley."
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11022
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Cervical cancer breakthrough
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This story reports on the decision of an FDA panel to recommend approval of a vaccine against HPV, the leading cause of cervical cancer. The story treats the FDA approval as fait accompli. Although the FDA usually goes along with the panel recommendations, approval is not automatic or occur when it is predicted. The story does not mention costs, which are likely to be substantial given the scope of a potential vaccination program. Furthermore, because women will likely still have to get pap smears, an HPV vaccination program is unlikely to save money. The cost of the three injections are estimated to be around $500. The cost of a nationwide screening program would be in the billions of dollars. Although the story mentions trials of 17,000 young women, the story does not adequately describe the nature of the available evidence and no harms are mentioned. Only the president of the American Cancer Society is quoted – no additional perspectives are provided. The story does explain that the vaccine is effective against 70% of HPV infections, potentially saving 3,500 deaths from cervical cancer per year. However, the story should have provided more context. In order to realize the purported benefits, every eligibile individual would need to be vaccinated and the vaccine would have to be 100% effective. Women in lower socioeconomic groups have a higher incidence of HPV and lack access to healthcare. The story does not appear to engage in disease mongering, accurately represents the novelty of the vaccine and mentions the pap smear as the alternative.
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mixture
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The story does not mention costs, which are likely to be substantial given the scope of a potential vaccination program. Furthermore, because women will likely still have to get pap smears, an HPV vaccination program is unlikely to save money. The cost of the three injections are estimated to be around $500. The cost of a nationwide screening program would be in the billions of dollars. The story does explain that the vaccine is effective against 70% of HPV infections, potentially saving 3,500 deaths from cervical cancer per year. The story should have provided more context. In order to realize the purported benefits, every eligibile individual would need to be vaccinated and the vaccine would have to be 100% effective. These are both unrealistic because women in lower socioeconomic groups have a higher incidence of HPV and lack access to healthcare. The story does not mention harms, and this is a very important omission. To do this right, you would need to immunize 70 million people. Varicella vaccine has a serious event rate of about 4%. If this vaccine is in the same ballpark, there would be 2.8 million people with serious reactions. Some discussion of possible harms is necessary. Although the story mentions trials of 17,000 young women, the story does not adequately describe the nature of the available evidence. The story does not appear to engage in disease mongering. Only the president of the American Cancer Society is quoted. Single-source health care stories are insufficient. See explanation at: https://www.healthnewsreview.org/rThemes.php#sss The story does mention that the alternative is a pap smear and this vaccine is not a replacement for the pap smear. The story treats the FDA approval as fait accompli. Although the FDA usually goes along with what the panel recommends, approval may not be automatic or occur when reported. The story states that this is a new vaccine. There is no way to know if the story relied solely on a press release. Only one source is interviewed – a spokesperson for the American Cancer Society.
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27559
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The term '420' entered drug parlance as a term signifying the time to light up a joint.
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However, as amusing as it is to tie 420 to pot smoking and hunt for it in popular movies, the number has its dark side. Hitler was born on 20 April 1889, and the massacre of 13 victims at Columbine High School in Colorado took place on 20 April 1999.
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true
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Language, cannabis, marijuana, Story Time
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Odd terms sneak into our language every now and then, and this is one of the oddest. Everyone who considers himself in the know about the drug subculture has heard that ‘420’ has something to do with illegal drug use, but when you press them, they never seem to know why, or even what the term supposedly signifies. It’s both more and less than people make it out to be. The term ‘420’ began its sub-rosa linguistic career in 1971 as a bit of slang casually used by a group of high school kids (known as “Waldos”) at San Rafael High School in California. The term ‘420’ (always pronounced “four-twenty,” never “four hundred and twenty”) came to be an accepted part of the argot within that group of about a dozen pot smokers, beginning as a reminder of the time they planned to meet to light up, 4:20 p.m.: [The 420] origins appear to lie in the escapades of a group of friends from San Rafael high school, northern California, in 1971. That autumn, the five teenagers came into possession of a hand-drawn map supposedly locating a marijuana crop at Point Reyes, north-west of San Francisco. The friends — who called themselves the Waldos because they used to hang out by a wall — met after school, at 4:20 pm, and drove off on their treasure hunt. They never found the plot. “We were smoking a lot of weed at the time,” says Dave Reddix or Waldo Dave, now a filmmaker. “Half the fun was just going looking for it.” The group began using the term 420. So did friends and acquaintances, who included — at a couple of steps removed — members of the Grateful Dead rock band. The term spread among the band’s fans, known as Deadheads. Then in 1990 Steve Bloom, an editor at High Times, saw 420 explained on a Grateful Dead concert flyer. Staff on the magazine, long the leading publication on marijuana, started using it. Keep in mind this wasn’t a general call to all dope smokers everywhere to toke up at twenty past four every day; it was twelve kids who’d made a date to meet after school near a certain statue. It’s thus incorrect to deem that ‘420’ originated as the designation of a national or international dope-smoking time, even though the term began as a reference to a particular time of day, as the originators of that term explained: The Waldos met at 4:20 for exactly all of the reasons we have discussed in the past: The time we got out of school was approximately 3 p.m., but some of us had after school sports activities that lasted until after 4 p.m. There was just enough time to get back to the statue of Louis Pasteur to smoke and look for the pot fields drawn in a treasure map. These days ‘420’ is used as a generic way of declaring one likes to use marijuana or just as a term for the substance itself. Its earliest connotation of having to do with the time a certain group of students congregated to smoke wacky tobaccy is unknown to many of those who now employ the term. Indeed, most instead believe one or more of the many spurious explanations that have since grown up about this much abused short form: However, on 1 January 2004 the Governor of California signed that state’s Senate Bill 420, which regulates marijuana used for medical purposes. This bill comes years after the term ‘420’ was associated with marijuana and indeed its number likely was chosen because of the existing pop culture connection. This is the tail wagging the dog, not the other way around. Spurious etymologies and uncertain definition aside, ‘420’ has slipped into a position of semi-respectability within the English lexicon. Various free-wheeling cities annually celebrate “hemp fests” on April 20. There’s a 4:20 record label in California, and a band called 4:20. Atlanta’s Sweetwater Brewing Co. sells its 420 Pale Ale in supermarkets and opens its doors to the public at 4:20 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays. New York’s 420 Tours sells low-cost travel packages to the Netherlands and Jamaica. Highway 420 Radio broadcasts “music for the chemically enhanced.” And in 2001, the forReal.org web site of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Center for Substance Abuse Prevention put out a public service document titled, “It’s 4:20 — Do You Know Where Your Teen Is?” 420s are routinely slipped into popular movies and television shows. In Fast Times at Ridgemont High the score of the football game was 42-0. Most of the clocks in Pulp Fiction are set to 4:20 (but not all: when the kid receives the watch it’s set at 9:00). And there are many other instances, so keep your eyes peeled.
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8785
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Gene raises risk of lifetime smoking habit: study.
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For most people, the first experimental drags on a cigarette bring on nausea, coughing and other signals from the brain that say, “Turn back. This is a bad idea.” But for some, they bring a wave of pleasure.
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true
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Health News
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Those in the second group likely bear a gene type that not only increases their addiction risk, but has been implicated in the development of lung cancer, researchers said on Friday. “If you have this variant, you are going to like your earliest experiences with smoking,” said Ovide Pomerleau of the University of Michigan Medical School, whose research appears in the journal Addiction. Pomerleau said the finding suggests that for some, smoking even one cigarette is a bad idea. “It’s a trap,” he said in a telephone interview. “What they don’t realize is if they have this kind of genetic make-up, they are on their way to dependency,” he said, and that raises their risk for lung cancer. The research is part of a growing understanding of genetic factors involved in nicotine addiction and lung cancer. Teams of scientists reported earlier this year that smokers who had certain changes in three nicotine receptor genes — which control entry of nicotine into brain cells — were more likely to develop lung cancer than other smokers. This week, Canadian researchers said that, by manipulating receptors for the chemical dopamine, they were able to control which rats in a study enjoyed their first exposure to nicotine and which were repelled by it. Pomerleau said the field may soon lead to new treatments for nicotine addiction and tests to assess addiction risks. Smoking causes nine out of 10 cases of lung cancer, the leading cause of cancer death in men worldwide and the second-leading cause of cancer death among women. Pomerleau and colleagues studied data from 435 people. Some had tried a cigarette but never developed a habit; others smoked at least five cigarettes a day for the past five years. Regular smokers in the study were far more likely than those who had never smoked to have a change in the CHRNA5 nicotine receptor gene. Smokers were eight times more likely to report liking cigarettes from the start. Pomerleau said work has begun to develop a genetic screen for the CHRNA5 variant. Two other researchers on the team, Laura Bierut and John Rice at Washington University, hold a patent on the gene variant, which has been licensed by privately held Perlegen Sciences Inc. Pfizer Inc, maker of the smoking cessation drug Chantix owns a $50 million stake in Perlegen. Pomerleau, who has served on Pfizer’s scientific advisory board, said he favors development of diagnostic tests, as long as people understand it is not the only risk factor for nicotine addiction. “What we don’t know is far greater than what we do know,” he said.
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13956
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Thanks to (North Carolina’s) governor and the legislature, the average teacher salary can barely support a family.
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The plan to build a petrochemical plant near the Iranian city of Firouzabad had everything usually needed to get a project off the ground: approval from the nation’s top authority, funding from the Revolutionary Guards and plentiful gas feedstock.
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false
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Education, Families, State Budget, Workers, North Carolina, Hillary Clinton,
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But a decade on, work at the site is only 10% complete because of a row over an increasingly scarce resource in Iran that is vital to keep the facility cool: water. “In early project studies, there were some mistakes about the amount of water the plant would need,” said Hamidreza Soleymannejad, one of the plant’s project managers. “They found the plant needs a lot of water, but the region could not provide that.” The fate of the Firouzabad plant is not unique in Iran, even though the nation has huge oil and gas reserves and is eager to expand output of downstream products which can more easily evade crippling U.S. sanctions on its vital energy industry. At least a dozen petrochemical, fertilizer and refinery projects, with combined capacity to produce more than 5 million tonnes a year of products, have hit the buffers or been delayed due to water supply problems, according to a Reuters assessment. The list was compiled based on reports in state media, direct comments from project managers involved in several of the delayed plants, traders, and details published by some of the companies or major shareholders in the developments. Reuters sought comment from investors or companies involved. Most did not respond to emailed requests, while two confirmed water shortages were a major issue. One denied there was any problem, although a trader with close links to the project flagged a lack of water supplies as a crucial factor. Fasa Petrochemical Company and Darab Petrochemical Company, which each own 30% in Firouzabad Petrochemical Company, did not respond to requests for comment. “Many of these projects were proposed by lawmakers who were trying to create jobs in their constituencies. Unfortunately the technical studies have been widely ignored,” said Reza Banimahd, a businessman in Tehran who has worked on refinery projects. The water shortage is one of many challenges facing Tehran as it seeks to skirt U.S. sanctions by ramping up production of products, which are more difficult to trace back to Iran than Iranian crude, which has clearly identifiable characteristics. Under sanctions, crude exports have plunged 80% and are now worth about $700 million a month - a calculation based on Iran’s normal selling price although under sanctions Iran tends to sell crude at a discount. By comparison, Tehran has kept oil product sales at about $500 million a month, Reuters calculations show. Graphic: Iranian fuel oil exports, here Oil refineries and other processing plants need water mainly for cooling. Producing a single gallon of gasoline requires 0.61–0.71 of a gallon of water. But diverting limited supplies away from farming towards industry carries political risks. Drought and depleting water supplies have sparked unrest. Farmers in Iran's central region protested here in several cities in 2018 over water mismanagement, as rainfall dropped 25% below the average. The plant in Firouzabad, an inland area in the parched south of the country, aimed to produce 1 million tonnes of ethylene a year. Based on figures for a similar capacity plant, that output would use more than 2 million tonnes of water a year. The government, which worries about falling national groundwater levels, wants the $500 million plant moved to the coast where desalinated water could be used. But local officials and a senior cleric have objected and the project has stalled. Azizollah Hashemizadeh, Firouzabad’s Friday prayer leader who reports to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the top authority in Iran’s theocratic system, said in June the project would bring prosperity and could not be shifted. While Khamenei has the last word in state affairs, there are a range of parallel institutions below him that often compete for influence. For example, the Revolutionary Guards, an investor in the Firouzabad plant, has a separate command structure to the conventional army and has vast industrial interests. The Revolutionary Guards did not respond to a request for comment sent via their website. The structure of rival power centers often creates a tortured decision-making process and can push aside commercial and environmental factors. “There is a problem with coordination between ministries over development plans,” said Kaveh Madani, a former Iranian deputy vice president for the environment and now visiting professor at London’s Imperial College, adding that sanctions had pushed the government to prioritize jobs over water and the environment. The delay in the Firouzabad plant has had knock on effects, disrupting four other projects that aimed to use the facility’s output of ethylene, an ingredient used to make products such as polyester resins and adhesives. Those offtake plants would also have added to strains on the region’s scant water reserves. “Delay is not a good word. After 12 years, we are practically facing a failed project,” said another project manager for the Firouzabad plant when contacted by Reuters. Asking not to be identified, he said the proposed new coastal site was empty, flattened but with nothing yet built. Despite the challenges, Iran has boosted refining capacity, announcing in February it was self sufficient in gasoline. Iran’s petrochemical plants have capacity to make about 65 million tonnes of products a year, of which about 22.5 million tonnes is exported. The government aims to increase output to 91 million tonnes in two years and 130 million tonnes in five years. Iran’s refining capacity stands at about 2.23 million barrels per day, putting it behind regional leader Saudi Arabia. Graphic: Middle East refining capacities (2018), here Social Security Investment Company, a state body with 200 subsidiaries and major energy investments, flagged problems facing the industry in a 2018 report including sanctions and “the drought and shortage of water for the inland refineries.” It said some projects “were not economically feasible as they were initiated to create jobs in unsuitable locations.” In northeast Iran, Khorasan Petrochemical Company has struggled to launch a fertilizer plant to produce 660,000 tonnes of urea, using gas as a feedstock. Five years on, the project is at a standstill despite securing $700 million in state support. “Water resources for the project have not been provided and remain unclear,” Tamin Petroleum and Petrochemical Investment Company (TAPPICO), a major shareholder, wrote on its website. Agriculture, a major employer in Iran, accounts for about 90% of Iran’s water usage, with industry using 10%. But any extra demand strains Iran’s depleting reserves. U.N. data indicate Iran is using 3.8 billion cubic meters of water a year more than is replaced, leading to a fast falling water table. Nevertheless, some projects still go ahead even in areas where strains are acute. Shazand refinery in central Iran had to drill deep wells to pump groundwater, state news agency IRNA reported in 2018, alarming environmentalists and sapping supplies from farmers. When asked to comment, Shazand Petrochemical Company pointed to a statement published on its website that was published after Reuters made the request: “To reduce consumption of groundwater, the company has planned to use the reservoir of Kamal Saleh dam - when it is full - and wastewater of neighboring cities.” The company said it was seeking a contractor for its water recycling project. Graphic: Iran refineries, here
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18489
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"Clean Water Portland Says ""If you compare the Portland Metro area to the CDC’s statewide cavity rates ... the Portland Metro area would actually rank as having the 15th lowest cavity rate in the U.S."
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Do numbers put Multnomah Co. on par with 15th lowest cavity rate in the country?
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false
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Oregon, Public Health, Water, Clean Water Portland,
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"Portland residents will vote in May on whether to add fluoride to the city’s drinking water. This is a long-running, divisive and emotional issue for people on both sides. Supporters say fluoridated water is the best way to strengthen teeth, especially for vulnerable children who lack access to regular dental care. Opponents say we should leave the city’s pristine drinking water alone. Opponents claim supporters are using misleading figures to make a case for fluoridating water in Portland. For example, the percentage of children who had or have a cavity is much higher in the rest of Oregon than it is in the Portland-metro area -- 70 percent compared with 54 percent among children, according to a 2007 state survey. ""In fact, if you compare the Portland Metro area to the CDC’s statewide cavity rates fluoridation supporters rely upon, the Portland Metro area would actually rank as having the 15th lowest cavity rate in the U.S,"" reads a yellow flier distributed by Clean Water Portland, the key campaign opposed to Measure 26-151. Obviously, a metro region is not a state, and it feels sloppy to mix the two in ranking anything. Still, we were surprised enough by the claim to want to dig deeper. Does the Portland area already boast enviable oral health statistics? Are the numbers cited even comparable? The Clean Water Portland campaign cites Oregon’s 2007 Smile Survey in part to back up its claim. The percentage of first-, second- and third-graders in Multnomah County, which includes Portland, who had or have a cavity was 56.3. The percentage in Clackamas and Washington counties was 52.5. Combined, the percentage was 54, as shown on page 12 of the report. Statewide, the percentage was 64 and outside the tri-county area, 70 percent. Now, how does the Clean Water Campaign determine that Multnomah County is comparable to the No. 15 spot nationally? Here, we turn to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, as does the campaign. The CDC posts all sorts of statistics related to dental health, including what the organization calls ""experience with caries,"" also known as having had a cavity. The percentages for children are broken down by elementary grades, and by participating state. Opponents say that the Portland-metro percentage of 54 is close to the percentage in New York state, which is 54.1. Opponents say since New York has the 15th lowest ""experience with caries,"" the tri-county area must do pretty well on the cavity front, too. Here’s the problem with that kind of thinking. In 2007, Multnomah County was at 56.3 percent, counting three grades of students. The New York number comes from 2001-2003, and it’s limited to third-graders. Even more important than all of that is this: Seven states do not report the information and of the remaining ones that do, the years cited are all over the map, some as dated as 1998-99. In other words, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention does not rank New York as having the 15th lowest cavity rate in the United States. There’s no baseline year. Subsequently, it’s even more unlikely that anyone could describe the Portland-metro area as having the 15th lowest cavity rate in the United States. ""You cannot directly compare state data to city data,"" unless it’s contained within a state, wrote CDC spokeswoman Linda S. Orgain in an email to PolitiFact Oregon. ""We also do not generally compare states to other states in (the oral health surveillance system) because we have different time periods for each state."" Shanie Mason, oral health unit manager for the Oregon Health Authority, echoed the sentiment. ""We have never compared to other cities. We have only compared ourselves against neighboring states with a similar methodology,"" she said. We understand, however, that voters may want to get at the larger point behind the claim: How does Portland and Multnomah County fare when assessing cavities in children? Again, in 2007, about 56.3 percent of Multnomah County children in grades 1, 2 and 3 had a cavity, compared with 64 percent statewide. Preliminary figures for 2011-13 show numbers have dropped. The percentage of students in all three grades who had a cavity is 52. In Multnomah County for all three grades, it is 50.8. (For third-graders only, the new percentage statewide is 57.5 percent, down from 66.3 in 2006. We offer the various numbers to give readers a sense of how they differ based on the grade or grades included.) The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is not aware of city-specific data for comparison purposes, said Orgain. She also said the most recent national statistic for cavities in children is from 1999-2004, and it was 53.2 percent for children ages 6 to 8 years old. That provides a national statistic by which readers could measure the county’s more recent percentage, but keep in mind it is old. Mason, who hopes to release the 2012 survey before the May 21 election, said one of the reasons the tri-county area does better than the rest of the state is that ""Multnomah County has a pretty strong oral health infrastructure, and has for a much longer period of time than any other areas of the state."" Physical therapist Kellie Barnes, a parent and volunteer with the Clean Water Campaign, defends the statement, saying that they were utterly transparent in telling voters the comparison was of the county to another state. Barnes also said fluoride supporters have repeatedly used the CDC state figures to rank Oregon, even with the varying years and ages tested. The larger point, Barnes said, is that fluoride advocates should not use statewide cavity statistics to indicate a dental crisis in Multnomah County or in Portland. But her arguments don’t make the statement any more correct. It’s certainly accurate to say that Multnomah County generally has better cavity numbers than the rest of the state. However, fluoride opponents went further, and said the Portland-metro area ""would actually rank as having the 15th lowest cavity rate in the U.S."" The numbers relied on by fluoride opponents do not show that New York has the 15th lowest cavity rate in the country. There is no national ranking of state cavity statistics because not all states have reported numbers, states may differ on sampling, and states report numbers for different years. Oregon’s numbers for Multnomah County include three grades, compared with one grade for the aged New York statistic cited. Public health experts we interviewed say it is not appropriate to compare a county percentage to the percentage of another state. We rule the statement ."
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22608
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"The federal health care law is ""probably the biggest tax increase ever in the history of our country."
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Rick Scott says health care law is biggest tax increase in U.S. history
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false
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Health Care, Taxes, Florida, Rick Scott,
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"Florida Gov. Rick Scott's new job isn't getting in the way of his old hobby -- criticizing the federal health care law. Scott, who in 2009 formed Conservatives for Patients' Rights to oppose health care reforms being proposed by President Barack Obama and Democrats in Congress, has continued to fight the health care reforms from his new perch as governor of Florida. The multimillionaire former hospital chain CEO promises to support lawsuits seeking to declare the law unconstitutional, and on Feb. 3, 2011, called on Obama to repeal the tax provisions of the health care law. In a speech to tout the release of his first state budget, Scott challenged Obama to repeal or roll back taxes and fees increased to help pay for the increased coverage the health care seeks to provide. Scott said Obama should follow Florida's lead -- where Scott was planning to cut state school property taxes and the corporate income tax. The federal health care law is ""a massive tax increase, probably the biggest tax increase ever in the history of our country,"" Scott told about 100 Chromalloy employees during a tour of their aerospace manufacturing plant in Tampa. ""Those tax increases, they are taking money out of your pocket. They are taking money out of your company's pocket. They are taxing things that you buy. All that is taking money out of our economy and throwing more money at the federal government, which makes no sense."" Scott spent more than a year fighting the passage of the health care bill, so he certainly knows the legislation. But does he have the line right about being the ""biggest tax increase ever?"" The health care law certainly is, on the whole, a tax increase. Major tax provisions The federal Joint Committee on Taxation, a nonpartisan committee of Congress with a professional staff of economists, attorneys and accountants, provided members a detailed breakdown of tax impact from 2010-2019. • Starting in 2013, Medicare payroll taxes increase 0.9 percentage points for people with incomes over $200,000 ($250,000 for couples filing jointly). Also, people at this income level would pay a new 3.8 percent tax on investment income. The 10-year cost: $210.2 billion. • Starting in 2018, a new 40 percent excise tax on high-cost health plans, so-called ""Cadillac plans"" (over $10,200 for individuals, $27,500 for families), kicks in. That's expected to bring the government a total of $32 billion in 2018 and 2019. • Starting in 2011, there's a new fee for pharmaceutical manufacturers and importers. That's expected to raise $27 billion over 10 years. • Starting in 2013, a 2.3 percent excise tax on manufacturers and importers of certain medical devices starts. The 10-year total: $20 billion. • Starting in 2014, a new annual fee on health insurance providers begins. Total estimated 10-year revenue: $60.1 billion. • Starting in 2013, the floor on medical expense deductions on itemized income tax returns will be raised from 7.5 percent to 10 percent of income. That's expected to bring in $15.2 billion over the next 10 years. • Starting in 2011, a 10 percent excise tax on indoor tanning services. That's expected to bring in $2.7 billion over the next 10 years. There also is money in the law going the other way. The plan includes government money, in the form of tax credits, to subsidize the cost of health insurance for lower-income people who don't get insurance through their employer. For the record, many Republicans and tax experts argue those shouldn't count as tax cuts. And there is a tax cut for some very small businesses that allows them to write off a portion of the cost of providing insurance to their employees. Combined with various other revenue-generating provisions, the Joint Committee on Taxation estimates the health law will bring in more than $437.8 billion by 2019. The government's nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimated the additional revenues coming in to the government to be $525 billion between now and 2019. Does that translate to the biggest tax increase in American history? Comparing tax impacts of legislation First, we need to set some goal posts. There are many ways to define or measure the size of a tax increase, and not all tax increases have been measured the same way over time. The health care tax provisions, for instance, take effect between 2011 and 2018, meaning the full effect of the legislation won't be felt until near the end of the decade. On top of that, it doesn't make sense to compare 2019 dollars to 1985 dollars. You have to adjust for inflation, or express the amount as a total of Gross Domestic Product at the time, which is a way to measure the relative impact of a tax provision at the time it was enacted. To make matters even more complicated, there are tax cuts that are direct results of tax increases, and vice-versa. The Tax Equity and Fiscal Responsibility Act of 1982 (TEFRA), for example, was passed largely to reverse revenue losses from the Economic Recovery Tax Act of 1981 (ERTA). For our comparison, we used a method perfected by Jerry Tempalski, an analyst in the Office of Tax Analysis with the U.S. Department of the Treasury. In 2006, Tempalski tried to determine the relative impact of major tax revenue bills from 1940-2006. He used revenue estimates from Treasury and the Joint Committee on Taxation and calculated the impact as a percentage of GDP. For 1940-1967 calculations, he used a single-year snapshot of the revenue impact of the tax legislation. For more recent tax bills, from 1968-2006, Tempalski used a two-year average of the revenue effects. Tempalski wrote: ""The comparison of tax bills for the first period should be examined with some caution, because the revenue estimates are from different sources and are not completely consistent. The comparison for the second period can be viewed with more confidence, because the estimates are relatively consistent."" As a percent of GDP, here are the top five tax increases from 1940-2006, according to Tempalski: 1. Revenue Act of 1942: 5.04 percent of GDP; 2. Revenue Act of 1961: 2.2 percent of GDP; 3. Current Tax Payment Act of 1943: 1.13 percent of GDP; 4. Revenue and Expenditure Control Act of 1968: 1.09 percent of GDP; 5. Excess Profits Tax of 1950: .97 percent of GDP; And here are the top five tax increases from the ""modern"" era of 1968-2006: 1. Revenue and Expenditure Control Act of 1968: 1.09 percent of GDP; 2. Tax Equity and Fiscal Responsibility Act of 1982: .8 percent of GDP; 3(t): Crude Oil Windfall Profit Tax Act of 1980: .5 percent of GDP 3(t): Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993; .5 percent of GDP; 5: Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1990; .49 percent of GDP. The 2010 health care law The list obviously does not include the health care law, which passed in 2010, and a spokeswoman for the Department of Treasury says it hasn't been updated. So we calculated our own percent of GDP figure. We used 2019 as our baseline because that's when all of the tax provisions of the law will be in effect. In 2019, the CBO estimates, the government will see increased revenues of $104 billion. We then divided that number into the projected GDP for 2019, which according to the CBO economic forecast is $21.164 trillion. That would mean the tax increase provisions of the health care law would amount to .49 percent of total GDP. Depending on your rounding, that would mean the tax increases resulting from the health care law would be about the size of tax cuts proposed and passed in 1980 by President Jimmy Carter, in 1990 by President George H.W. Bush and in 1993 by President Bill Clinton. The health care-related tax increases are smaller than the tax increase signed into law by President Ronald Reagan in 1982 and a temporary tax signed into law in 1968 by President Lyndon B. Johnson. And they are significantly smaller than two tax increases passed during World War II and a tax increase passed in 1961. The tax increases in the health care legislation do reverse a trend of federal tax cuts and represents the first significant tax increases since 1993. But for Scott to suggest they are the largest in U.S. history is inaccurate."
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40776
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There’s been an increase in the number of EU staff in the NHS since the referendum.
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Around 4,400 more EU nationals worked for the NHS in England in June 2018, compared to June 2016. But some of the increase could be down to more staff reporting their nationality. The proportion of staff who report they are EU nationals is about the same in 2018 as in 2016.
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true
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health
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The number of EU nurses coming to the UK has fallen by 90% since the Brexit vote. The number of nurses and midwives from the EEA joining the Nursing and Midwifery Council’s register fell by 91% from 2015/16 to 2017/18. The number of EU nationals leaving the NHS jumped by 14% in 2017. EU nationals have fallen as a percentage of those joining the NHS. EU nationals made up 8% of new staff (whose nationality was known) joining the NHS in England in the year to June 2018. That compares to 11% in the year to June 2016. It’s possible that the number in June 2016 was unusually high. Claim 1 of 4
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2106
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Green is the new organic in wines.
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It’s easy being green in Mendocino, California, where many of the county’s 84 vintners are certified organic, biodynamic or carbon neutral.
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true
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Environment
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Tim Thornhill, a transplanted Texan who formed the Mendocino Wine Company six years ago in the county north of San Francisco, is one of them. Along with his brother, Tom, and former Fetzer Vineyards winemaker Paul Dolan he bought the Parducci Wine Cellars and revived the wine’s reputation. He also used his background in horticulture to design a wetland area in the middle of the vineyard to reclaim wastewater, which is a byproduct of wine making. “What I run into constantly are people who say ‘I wish I could be environmental, but I can’t afford to be,’” he said. “And it is always clear to me that they haven’t figured out that being environmental is being efficient. And when you’re efficient, money drops to the bottom line.” Water is a concern in California, where there is always a shortage. Wineries can produce hundreds of thousands of gallons of wastewater, mostly from the grape-crush, tank and barrel cleaning and bottling operations. Wastewater contains the grapes’ natural sugars that deplete the water’s oxygen. Thornhill designed a system of gravity-fed tanks and trickle towers made from old wooden slats that oxygenate the water. The result is a small wetlands area and a pond that ducklings seem to favor. “When you start seeing life, you know your water is getting clean and you look in here between the beautiful green filaments of algae, the duckweed, the rushes, the insects, the birds we’re seeing. We’ve got life,” he explained. The water will be used for drip irrigation in the vineyards, to hose down redwood tanks where the wine ages slowly in large lots and it will be reclaimed to start the cycle all over. Unlike Thornhill’s vineyards, Chiarito Vineyards uses natural rainfall and runoff for its much smaller production. “This is dry farmed. There is no drip irrigation. There’s no nothing. They are totally dependent on the spring rains and the runoff from the mountains,” John Chiarito said. As a result, the vines send their roots down into the volcanic ash that lies under a topsoil of river deposits and sandstone. With a yield of less than three tons of grapes per acre, Chiarito estimated he makes about 800 cases of Zinfandel and Nero d’Avola. It all started 20 years ago when he bought an abandoned walnut orchard and planted Zinfandel vines in “the old style, eight by eight foot spacing, head-trained. No wires.” Chiarito farms organically, but his wine is not certified because he said it involves too much paperwork. Last week the U.S. Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau and the Department of Agriculture issued new rules to clarify what wineries must do to use the word organic on their labels. The same week the European Commission withdrew its proposal to have a wine classified as organic, saying it was unwilling to compromise on organic standards. In addition to wine, Chiarito also makes his own prosciutto. “I’ve been making prosciutto for about 25 years. I guess I’m a bit of a throw back,” he said, which may explain his passion for doing everything by hand.
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9224
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Dabigatran superior to warfarin when anticoagulation is resumed after bleeding
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This news release touts an analysis of Medicare data for 1,500 patients who suffered a major bleeding event while taking anticoagulants for atrial fibrillation. Researchers found that patients who resumed anticoagulants after a hemorrhage had better stroke and mortality rates than those who did not, and those who resumed treatment with a newer drug, dabigatran, had fewer recurrent hemorrhages than those who restarted treatment with the old standby warfarin. The news release lays out relative differences in outcomes but doesn’t include absolute risks and benefits that would convey the true significance of these findings. Nor does it mention the wide cost difference between the two drugs or the fact that prescribing patterns at the time the data were collected may have skewed the findings. Bottom line: this is an observational study, not a controlled clinical trial. It is not appropriate to be making recommendations about one drug or another based on such a study. This study sheds light on the dilemma of whether patients at risk for blood clots should resume taking anticoagulants after a major hemorrhage. Less than half of patients who survived a bleeding incident resumed taking anticoagulant drugs, apparently because their doctors perceived a high risk of recurrent bleeding. But the authors say their finding that the risk of stroke outweighs the risk of recurrent bleeding should encourage clinicians to resume anti-clotting drugs. And while the analysis shows better outcomes with a new drug compared with an old one, the authors acknowledge that finding needs to be validated in other patient groups and with more recent data. In an observational study such as this, one must be very cautious with the conclusions.
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false
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bleeding,stroke
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There’s no mention of the significant cost difference between the two anticoagulants. A one-month supply for the highest recommended dosage runs about $400 for dabigatran, marketed as Pradaxa, versus $11 for warfarin, which has additional monitoring costs. The news release does not provide sufficient data to assess risks and benefits. It states: “The risk of dying from any cause or having a stroke was 23 to 34 percent higher in patients who discontinued anticoagulation therapy compared to those who resumed it. People who took dabigatran after their initial bleeding event had nearly half the risk of another major bleeding event within one year compared with those who took warfarin.” These numbers mean little without the actual percentages of patients who experienced adverse events, which would allow readers to assess the whether there are meaningful differences between taking an anticoagulant or not and between one drug versus the other. The news release deals with bleeding, which is the most concerning adverse effect of blood thinners. But there are other harms including joint pain, bruising and dizziness. Warfarin requires dietary restrictions and regular monitoring with blood tests. The news release does not mention several limitations described in the study, particularly that clinicians may have been reluctant to prescribe dabigatran to patients who were most at risk for recurrent bleeding during the period that the data were collected, from 2010 to 2012. The study says that’s because of safety warnings after the drug’s approval in 2010, clinicians’ perceptions that they have more control over the coagulation status of patients on warfarin, and the lack of an antidote to reverse dabigatran’s anticoagulant effects. An antidote for dabigatran, idarucizumab, was approved in October 2015. The study (but not the release) states: “Therefore, it will be important to repeat analyses similar to ours because newer Medicare Part D data that represents the period after the approval of idarucizumab become available.” So, again, this was not a controlled trial and these patient groups were likely different in ways that could affect the findings. No conclusions should be drawn about comparative effectiveness or harms, but the release encourages such conclusions and doesn’t caution readers about key limitations. The news release does not engage in disease mongering. The news release states the study’s funding sources: the Commonwealth Foundation, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, the National Institute of Mental Health, and La Caixa foundation. However, it does not state that one of the authors, Samir Saba, M.D., received research support from Boston Scientific, Medtronic, and St. Jude Medical, all of which make mechanical heart valves that require the use of anticoagulants to lower the post-operative risk of complications from blood clots. Since the potential conflict here is not direct, we will give the benefit of the doubt and award a Satisfactory rating. The release focuses on the potential for superior outcomes with a new anticoagulant compared with warfarin, the traditional medication. However, there are other new anticoagulants on the market and they were not mentioned. The news release states that warfarin has been used as a medication since 1954 and dabigatran was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 2010. It could have added that both are usually covered in drug plans, although the co-pay for dabigatran may make it less feasible for some patients. The news release overstates the novelty of this study by calling it “the first analysis of how to treat patients on anticoagulants who suffer a major bleeding event.” There have been other analyses of this question, for example: Restarting anticoagulation therapy after warfarin-associated intracerebral hemorrhage. Optimal timing of resumption of warfarin after intracranial hemorrhage. The study itself describes the novelty of the research more precisely: “To the best of our knowledge our study is the first real-world analysis comparing clinical outcomes after a major hemorrhage among patients who reinitiated anticoagulation therapy with dabigatran or warfarin and those who never resumed anticoagulations.” They say the analysis “contributes significantly to the existing literature” by comparing patients who used different anticoagulant drugs after a hemorrhage. Given that many people read only the headline, we think this one should have been far more nuanced. “Dabigatran superior to warfarin when anticoagulation is resumed after bleeding” should be qualified with the fact that this was the finding of one study, which needs to be repeated and confirmed with other data. The results should have been presented as very preliminary, but they were described in much more definitive terms.
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5757
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Hawaii lava boat tours continue after explosion, injuries.
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Hawaii tour boat operators plan to continue taking visitors to see lava, but will follow the Coast Guard’s revised policy and stay farther away after an explosion caused molten rock to barrel through the roof of a vessel, injuring 23 people.
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true
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AP Top News, Coast guard, Hawaii, Science, Travel, North America, Kilauea, Explosions, U.S. News
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The Coast Guard prohibits vessels from getting closer than 984 feet (300 meters) from where Kilauea volcano’s lava oozes into the sea. The agency had been allowing experienced boat operators to apply for a special license to get closer up to 164 feet (50 meters), but it stopped allowing those exceptions Monday morning. A woman in her 20s was transported to Honolulu in serious condition with a broken thigh bone. The other 22 people injured were treated for minor burns and scrapes, including 12 who were treated at a hospital in Hilo. Moku Nui Lava Tours Captain Kanoa Jones, whose boat was not involved in Monday’s incident at Kilauea volcano, said not running the tours would only withhold income from local restaurants and other businesses dependent on tourism, he said. “If we stop operating, it not only hurts us, it hurts the community,” Jones said. The Coast Guard, state and local officials were investigating what happened. Coast Guard spokesman Petty Officer 3rd Class Matthew West said the agency can’t say whether it will change its safety zone rules until it finishes its investigation. The county strictly limits access to the lava on land for safety reasons, making boat and helicopter tours the only options people have to witness volcanic spectacle in person. The ocean and aerial tours each cost about $250. The restrictions have deterred many travelers from visiting the Big Island in general, and Puna near the volcano in particular. Shane Turpin, the owner and captain of the vessel that was hit, said he never saw the explosion. He and his tour group had been in the area for about 20 minutes making passes of the ocean entry about 500 yards — which is the length of five football fields — offshore, Turpin said. He didn’t observe “any major explosions,” so he navigated his vessel closer, to about 250 yards (228 meters) away from the lava. “As we were exiting the zone, all of a sudden everything around us exploded,” he said. “It was everywhere.” The U.S. Geological Survey says explosions of varying sizes occur whenever 2,000-degree (1,093-degree Celsius) lava enters much colder seawater. Monday’s large blast may have been amplified by the relatively shallow water at the point where the lava entered the sea. That’s because explosions occur much closer to the surface in such spots. In contrast, lava that entered the ocean in 2016 hit a steep slope and quickly fell to deeper parts of the sea, said Janet Babb, a geologist with the U.S. Geological Survey. The volcano has also been pumping more lava into the water now compared to past years, Babb said. Kilauea is sending to the sea as much as 26 times the amount of lava per second than it did during the 2016-17 eruption. Officials have warned of the danger of getting close to lava entering the ocean, saying the interaction can create clouds of acid and fine glass. Despite the hazards, several companies operate such tours. The Coast Guard said tour vessels have operated in the area going back at least 20 years. The molten rock is coming from the Kilauea volcano, which has been erupting continuously for the past 35 years. In May, its eruption entered a new phase when it began spurting lava through newly formed fissures in a residential neighborhood. It has destroyed more than 700 homes since then. But the only serious injury over the past two months was to a man who was hit by flying lava that broke his leg. Captain Jones said an evening boat tour left for the ocean-entry site and it was business as usual. “It is Mother Nature,” Jones said. “You never know.”
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652
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Science of far-away planets and infant universe wins Nobel prize.
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Canadian-American cosmologist James Peebles and Swiss scientists Michel Mayor and Didier Queloz won the 2019 Nobel Prize for Physics on Tuesday for revealing the wonder of the evolution of the universe and discovering planets orbiting distant suns.
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true
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Science News
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Peebles, of Princeton University in the United States, was awarded half of the 9-million-Swedish-crown ($910,000) prize while Mayor and Queloz, from Switzerland’s University of Geneva and Britain’s Cambridge University, shared the rest. “This year’s Nobel laureates have painted a picture of our universe far stranger and more wonderful than we could ever have imagined,” Ulf Danielsson, a professor and member of the Nobel Committee for Physics, told reporters as the prize was announced. The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said the scientists’ research had “transformed our ideas about the cosmos”. Mayor and his one-time doctoral student Queloz said it was “simply extraordinary” to be awarded a Nobel for what they described as “the most exciting discovery of our entire career”. The pair announced the first discovery of a planet outside our own solar system, a so-called “exoplanet”, in 1995. “The study of exoplanets is perhaps the most vibrant field of astronomy,” Martin Rees, a Cambridge University professor and Astronomer Royal, said in a emailed comment. “We now know that most stars are orbited by retinues of planets; there may be a billion planets in our galaxy resembling the Earth,” Rees added. Since their discovery, more than 4,000 exoplanets have been found in the Milky Way, many of them nothing like our own world. Indeed, the first planet they found, 51 Pegasi b, orbits a sun 50 light years away that heats its surface to more than 1,000 degrees centigrade, the award-giving academy said. With numerous ongoing searches for more exoplanets, this science might eventually also “find an answer to the eternal question of whether other life is out there,” it said. At a news conference in London, Queloz said the focus of research had now shifted from finding more planets to finding out more about them - about their atmosphere, chemistry and formation. Queloz also fielded inevitable questions about the possibility of extraterrestrial life. “I can’t believe that we’re the only living entities in the universe,” he said when asked if he believes “aliens” exist. “The chemistry that led to life is everywhere, so I’m a strong believer that there must be life elsewhere.” Peebles thanked the Nobel committee for the award, although he said his advice to young people wishing to go into science would be not to be lured by the prospect of such prizes. “The awards and prizes, well, they are charming and very much appreciated, but...you should enter science because you are fascinated by it. That’s what I did,” he told reporters by telephone after the award announcement. Physics is the second Nobel to be awarded this week; William Kaelin, Gregg Semenza and Peter Ratcliffe shared the medicine prize on Monday for discoveries about how cells respond to oxygen levels. The Nobel prizes were created in a bequest by Swedish dynamite inventor and businessman Alfred Nobel and have been awarded since 1901. This year’s physics prize will be followed by the awards for chemistry on Wednesday, literature on Thursday and the peace prize on Friday. Among the Nobels, physics has often taken centre stage with winners featuring some of the greatest names in the history of science such as Albert Einstein, Marie Curie and Niels Bohr, as well as inventors such as radio pioneer Guglielmo Marconi. Using theoretical tools and calculations, Peebles was able to interpret trace radiation from the infancy of the universe and discover new physical processes, the Nobel academy said. He showed that matter readily seen around us, be it pebbles, mountains or stars, actually make up only 5%, with the rest made up of dark energy and dark matter. For a graphic of Nobel laureates: here
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334
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California jury hits Bayer with $2 billion award in Roundup cancer trial.
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A California jury on Monday awarded more than $2 billion to a couple who claimed Bayer AG’s glyphosate-based Roundup weed killer caused their cancer, in the largest U.S. jury verdict to date against the company in litigation over the chemical.
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true
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Health News
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"The large punitive damages award is likely to be reduced due to U.S. Supreme Court rulings that limit the ratio of punitive to compensatory damages to 9:1. The jury awarded a total of $2 billion in punitive damages and $55 million in compensatory damages. It was the third consecutive U.S. jury verdict against the company in litigation over the chemical, which Bayer acquired as part of its $63 billion purchase of Monsanto last year. Both other jury verdicts also came in California, one in state court and one in federal court. The jury in Alameda County Superior Court in Oakland on Monday said the company was liable for plaintiffs Alva and Alberta Pilliod’s contracting non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, a spokeswoman for the couple said. It awarded $18 million in compensatory and $1 billion in punitive damages to Alva Pilliod, and $37 million in compensatory and $1 billion in punitive damages to his wife, Alberta Pilliod. The jury found Roundup had been defectively designed, that the company failed to warn of the herbicide’s cancer risk and that the company acted negligently. The German chemicals giant faces more than 13,400 U.S. lawsuits over the herbicide’s alleged cancer risk. The next jury trial in the glyphosate litigation is scheduled for August in Missouri state court, the first time a jury outside of California will hear a Roundup case. The trial will take place in St. Louis County, where Monsanto’s former headquarters are located. Bayer in a statement on Monday said it was disappointed with the verdict and will appeal. A spokesman called the jury’s decision “excessive and unjustifiable.” The company said both Alva and Alberta Pilliod had long histories of illnesses known to be substantial risk factors for non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. “The contrast between today’s verdict and (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s) conclusion that there are ‘no risks to public health from the current registered uses of glyphosate’ could not be more stark,” Bayer said. Bayer says that decades of studies by the company and independent scientists have shown glyphosate and Roundup to be safe for human use. Bayer also points to several regulators around the world that found that glyphosate was not carcinogenic to humans. Brent Wisner, a lawyer for the Pilliods, at a news conference following the verdict said Bayer had to take responsibility for its product. “Monsanto keeps denying that it causes cancer and these two fine people here are casualties of that deception,” Wisner said, standing next to the California couple, who are in their 70s. Alberta Pilliod called on Bayer to add a warning label to Roundup, saying she and her husband would not have used the product had it alerted them to a cancer risk. “We’ve been fighting cancer for more than nine years now and we can’t do any of the things we wanted to do. We really resent Monsanto for that,” Pilliod said. The prior two jury verdicts against Bayer in U.S. Roundup trials triggered steep declines in Bayer shares. A San Francisco state court jury in August 2018 awarded $289 million to a California groundskeeper, finding Monsanto’s glyphosate-based weed killers caused his cancer. That award was later reduced to $78 million and is on appeal. In March, a federal jury in San Francisco awarded $80 million to another California man after finding Roundup caused his cancer. The company also said it would appeal that decision. Adam Zimmerman, a law professor at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles, on Monday said it was too early to speculate about a potential settlement of the litigation by Bayer. “The legal questions on appeal in the previous two cases will ultimately inform how this litigation proceeds,” Zimmerman said. It also remains to be seen how juries in other part of the country react to the evidence in upcoming trials, he said. Shareholders have rebuked the company’s top management over its handling of the Monsanto acquisition and the litigation it inherited, which has wiped around 30 billion euros ($33.68 billion) from Bayer’s market value since the first jury verdict. The Pilliods allege the regular use of Roundup on their property between 1975 and 2011 caused them to develop cancers of the lymph system. They filed their lawsuit in 2017 after being diagnosed with cancer in 2011 and 2015, respectively. Both of them are currently in remission, but their trial had been expedited due to the risk of a relapse and potentially short life expectancy. Plaintiffs in the litigation allege that Monsanto had known about the herbicide’s cancer risk for decades, but failed to warn consumers and instead attempted to influence scientists and regulators to receive favorable assessments of its products. Bayer denies those allegations. Lawsuits are largely based on a 2015 conclusion by the World Health Organization’s cancer arm, which classified glyphosate as “probably carcinogenic to humans.” A 2017 Reuters investigatihere found that the World Health Organization's International Agency for Research on Cancer had dismissed and edited out ""non-carcinogenic"" findings that were at odds with its final conclusion that the chemical probably causes cancer. The U.S. EPA, the European Chemicals Agency and other regulators have found that glyphosate is not likely carcinogenic to humans."
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11376
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Drug May Reduce Plaque in Brains of Alzheimer’s Patients
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We applaud the restraint the WebMD headline writer employed with “Drug May Reduce Plaque in Brains of Alzheimer’s Patients.” That’s about all you can say at this point, and the body text of the story explains why. In that regard, this story got off to a better start than its HealthDay competitor. This story was better in quantifying harms, but the HealthDay competition was better in explaining the history of this area of research and what else is now being investigated. It would not have required much more effort or space for either news organization to pick up on the better parts of its competitor’s effort. Maybe they will compare and learn from this example. We hope so.
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true
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Alzheimer's,WebMD
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Not applicable. It’s understandable that costs wouldn’t be discussed at this early stage of research. Adequate explanation of results observed in study participants at different dosing levels. More importantly, the story simply explained: “Since it’s not completely clear what reductions in brain plaques mean for Alzheimer’s patients, the researchers are unable to say whether treatment with gantenerumab will bring improvement to patients with Alzheimer’s. They are currently involved in a new study that they hope will answer that question.” Better than its HealthDay competition in that WebMD actually told us how many people experienced harms in the study. The story allowed a Roche senior VP to say the results “went beyond our expectations” but countered that with “What is not entirely known is if these plaques cause Alzheimer’s…Therefore, it’s not known if reducing the amount of them will slow or stop the disease.” No disease mongering at play here. The story added an important independent perspective and identified the study co-author as being a senior VP of the drug company making the drug. We preferred how HealthDay explained: “There are approximately one dozen therapies, including vaccines, that are currently in the pipeline….none are ready for prime time.” The story ends with an appropriate send-off: “We need more studies to know if it is safe or effective.” The early, experimental nature of the research is clear. The HealthDay competitor did a better job of explaining where this study fits in the history of research into beta-amyloid. There was clear evidence of independent reporting.
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9668
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No-Drill Dentistry: Fluoride Treatments Can Prevent Cavities In Adults
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This “better safe than sorry” story about the advantages of more intensive measures to prevent tooth decay in adults is thick with promises, but thin with evidence about who might benefit and by how much. The strong points: The reporter did a good job talking to multiple sources, and made an effort to discuss costs and availability, including insurance factors. However, the story quoted only proponents of more intensive preventive dental treatments for adults, producing a story lacking hard-nosed scrutiny of the feel-good claims. Prevention is appealing as a concept, but stories about preventive strategies should give readers hard facts about how much benefit is likely and at what cost. While this story did report typical costs for a single fluoride treatment and for a single tooth filling, it didn’t tell readers how many treatments would be needed in order to prevent a cavity. It also glossed over an important detail about a lot of the research in this field: Most study subjects are people at very high risk for cavities, like those with medication-related severe dry mouth. That left the story heavy with an “everybody’s a winner!” tone, which in reality, may not be the case.
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true
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cavities,dentistry,oral health
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The story does include a discussion of price, reporting that a fluoride varnish treatment can cost $23 to $55, while a filling can cost $86 to $606. That’s enough to be rated Satisfactory. However, the story also should have stated that those numbers aren’t a head-to-head comparison, since the varnish treatment must be repeated many times over many years–which would add up. In fact, a cost-effectiveness analysis done by one of the quoted experts concluded the “Caries Management System” he advocates costs almost $1,800 for every cavity or lost tooth prevented. While the story includes links to some studies that report specific results, the only number reported in the story is a reduction in adult tooth fillings of 30 to 50 percent. But without any absolute numbers, this number isn’t useful. Is it a cavity a year? A cavity a decade? The story refers to people at “high risk” for cavities, but does not define what that term means. Without some anchoring in absolute numbers, all readers are left with is a vague sense that preventive treatment is “better” for some people, without pinning down how much better or for whom. Fluoride for dental health has been extensively studied for decades and is considered safe, so we’ll file this rating as not applicable to the story. But, as some dentists might point out, there is an argument to be made for discussing one known–though minor–risk: Some people living in areas with naturally high levels of fluoride in their water may experience tooth discoloration or other issues if they are given additional fluoride treatment. The story portrays the evidence for fluoride treatments as clear and convincing, when there are actually just a few studies, and a lot of expert opinion. That’s not to say the experts quoted in the story are wrong, but the story elevates beliefs to the level of evidence-based conclusions. Cavities in adults can cause serious health problems if left untreated, and any new effective treatment or trends in this area is worthy of press coverage. However, the studies discussed in the story focused on a relatively small group of people with unusually high risk of tooth decay–and so these results may not apply to the adult population at large, which this piece implies. The story quotes a number of sources discussing this trend in dentistry, instead of just relying on one dentist. But the piece would be more balanced had it included at least one source pointing out that some of the techniques advocated in the story could be overkill or wasteful for many people who are at just average risk for tooth decay. As the piece was written, all the sources are very rosy about more aggressive preventive dental care. We also found via an internet search that source John Featherstone has accepted consultation fees from dental companies that make products for these purposes. However, since he wasn’t specifically endorsing one of these products in this story, we’ll give this a pass. The story does not quantify the benefits of these new preventive treatments, or similar approaches, so it fails to give readers a useful comparison with standard dental care or advice for most adults–such as fluoride toothpastes, community water fluoridation, flossing, and mouthwashes. It is clear that the treatments mentioned in the story are widely available, and we were pleased to see the story went a step further and let us know how insurance impacts availability. The story reports that the concepts are not new, and that fluoride varnishes have normally been the purview of pediatric dentistry, but are now catching on among adult dentists. However, it never really explains why practice would be changing now–did research spur this change? There is a reference to “more effective preventive techniques,” but it’s not clear what that means, and how a reader might act on that. This piece doesn’t appear to rely on a news release; the reporter interviewed a number of experts and referred to several publications.
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17780
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Wisconsin is not as obese as the national average is. The national average, 35.7 percent of the population is obese. In Wisconsin, it's closer to 26 percent.
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"Thompson said: ""Wisconsin is not as obese as the national average is. The national average, 35.7 percent of the population is obese. In Wisconsin, it's closer to 26 percent."" In one study, 35.7 percent of American adults were estimated to be obese. In another study, which used a different methodology, the rate was 28.1 percent, slightly below Wisconsin’s 29.7 percent. The percentages cited by Thompson contain an element of truth, but the conclusion he drew isn’t valid because the two studies can’t be compared."
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false
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Corrections and Updates, Health Care, Public Health, States, Wisconsin, Tommy Thompson,
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"Editor’s note: On Oct. 7, 2013, we rated this statement True. Several readers cited additional information we hadn’t considered, so we have issued a new rating. Since losing to Democrat Tammy Baldwin in a U.S. Senate race in 2012, former Republican Wisconsin governor and U.S. health and human services secretary Tommy Thompson has put energy into getting the nation into better shape. Thompson -- who, at 70, showed during the campaign he could do 50 push-ups -- gave a speech in Madison on Sept. 25, 2013, about obesity in America. In an interview the same day with WISC-TV (Channel 3) in Madison, Thompson made a claim that might surprise those us who push our love handles out of the way to make sure we don’t miss a belt loop. After Thompson stated that ""we are not very healthy in America,"" one of his interviewers said, ""Well, in Wisconsin, it’s a particular battle. We’re always battling. We’re one of the fattest states in the country."" Thompson responded by saying: ""Yes, we are (battling),"" he said. ""But you know something, but you look at the statistics, and across the board, and Wisconsin is not as obese as the national average is. The national average, 35.7 percent of the population is obese. In Wisconsin, it's closer to 26 percent. ""So, one out of four, versus one out of three. That’s still not very good, but the truth of the matter is, we’re healthier. But we have to do a better job, in Wisconsin as well as across the country."" Beer-bellied Wisconsin has less-than-average obesity? What’s ""obese?"" We went to the CDC, a corner tavern, to check on Thompson’s claim. Just kidding. CDC, of course, is short for the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It defines obesity as something less than you might imagine. Height and weight are used to calculate a body mass index. Your BMI determines whether you’re considered obese. An adult, male or female, who is 5-feet-9 and 203 pounds or more is considered obese. The CDC notes that although BMI is correlated with body fat, BMI doesn’t actually measure body fat. So, some people, such as athletes, may have a body mass index that identifies them as overweight even though they do not have excess body fat. At the same time, obesity is associated with heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes and certain types of cancer. Now, that Uncle Sam has us feeling unduly chubby, let’s check Thompson’s claim against the statistics. Apples and oranges On a national level, CDC calculates obesity rates by weighing and measuring a sampling of the population. The most recent figures are from a January 2012 report. In 2009-2010, an estimated 35.7 percent of U.S. adults were obese. No estimates using measurements are done for the various states. Conversely, at the state level, height and weight are self-reported by Americans who participate in phone surveys conducted by state health departments. This type of study can produce lower-than-reality obesity rates, according to CDC, because some people overstate their height and understate their weight. Indeed, in the phone surveys, no state had an obesity rate above the 35.7 percent found in the national survey in which people were actually measured. The CDC told us that, given the different methodologies, comparing the two studies would be like comparing apples to oranges. The latest state data available when Thompson made his statement was for 2012. Based on the responses in the phone survey, 29.7 percent of Wisconsin residents were rated obese. Nationwide, the figure was 28.1 percent. So, Wisconsin’s obesity rate was slightly higher than the national rate in the telephone survey study. That gives a very different impression that what Thompson said. Meanwhile, here’s how Wisconsin's 29.7 percent obesity rate in the phone survey compared with neighboring states: Michigan (31.1 percent), Iowa (30.4 percent), Illinois (28.1 percent) and Minnesota (25.7 percent). Our rating Thompson said: ""Wisconsin is not as obese as the national average is. The national average, 35.7 percent of the population is obese. In Wisconsin, it's closer to 26 percent."" In one study, 35.7 percent of American adults were estimated to be obese. In another study, which used a different methodology, the rate was 28.1 percent, slightly below Wisconsin’s 29.7 percent. The percentages cited by Thompson contain an element of truth, but the conclusion he drew isn’t valid because the two studies can’t be compared, so"
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10140
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Statin drugs may lower colon cancer risk: study
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Not only did the quotes come from a news release, but the news came from a talk at a scientific meeting. There are limitations to the conclusions you can draw from such presentations, as they have not undergone the same kind of rigorous review that, for example, a journal article would. We offer a primer on this topic. But, to add to the woes of this approach, there were no quotes from any independent expert. This topic requires careful scrutiny. It didn’t get it from this story. The selling of statins is already quite successful without journalism adding to the marketing frenzy by passing along wholesale the claims that appear in university news releases – from talks at scientific meetings that have not been rigorously peer-reviewed – without adding an independent voice to the story – and then framing the benefits in the more impressive-sounding relative (not absolute) risk reduction terms. Get the picture? Journalists need to evaluate evidence and scrutinize claims better than this.
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false
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"Although statin medications have been on the market for a long time and information about the costs of both name brand and generic versions of these drugs is readily available, the story included no information about costs. The story only presented relative risk of being diagnosed with colon cancer (i.e. ‘patients who took statins had a 12 percent lower risk of being diagnosed with colon cancer than people who did not take the drugs’) rather than the absolute risk of being diagnosed with colon cancer in the two groups. Readers should ask, ""12% of what?"" See our primer on this topic. The story mentioned potential harms associated with the use of statin medication though didn’t provide any insight about how commonly these occur. Is it 1 in 10? 1 in 100? 1 in a million? It was not clear from the article whether the evidence for the meta-analysis came from randomized trials or from observational studies. The potential biases (""healthy user effect"") inherent in observational studies of pharmacuetical use might have been explicitly mentioned. There was also no mention of the limitations of drawing conclusions from a talk given at a scientific meeting. See our primer on this. There’s a reason we analyze whether a story evaluates the quality of the evidence. It’s not just an academic exercise: it’s vital to reader comprehension. Not applicable because the story really delivered no substantive background information on colon cancer. The only quotes came from the lead researcher, pulled from a university news release. No independent expert was quoted. The story did not provide any information about other approaches to reducing risk of colon cancer. It would take a line to do so. The story mentioned that statin medications are a popular medication for managing cholesterol levels and so it was clear that they are currently in use. It would have been useful to indicate that these are prescription medications available in both brand name and generic versions. The story reported that it was about a meta-analysis of data on the impact of statin use on risk of colon cancer. But the story gave no context or background on other studies on statins and colon cancer, some of them dating back many years. We always urge journalists to put new research into the context of existing research. Both quotes came from a university news release. Why? And why no interview with an independent expert?"
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26288
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Anthony Fauci was on the Clinton Foundation board for 20 years and “currently serves on Gates Foundation.”
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Anthony Fauci never served on the Clinton Foundation board, according to the nonprofit. He also isn’t a member of the Gates Foundation leadership team.
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false
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Facebook Fact-checks, Coronavirus, Facebook posts,
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"Anthony Fauci is the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. He wasn’t on Microsoft’s board of directors — a claim we recently debunked. But more misinformation abounds, and one Facebook post pads his resume with some new positions. ""Whoa!"" the May 12 Facebook post says. ""Dr Fauci was on Clinton Foundation Board for 20 yrs? Currently serves on Gates Foundation? #InvestigateFauci"" This post was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Facebook.) Brian Cookstra, a spokesperson for the Clinton Foundation, told PolitiFact that Fauci has never served on the board in any capacity. He’s not listed among the current board members, which you can see here, nor did we find any credible news stories or sources online that identify him as a former board member. Fauci also is not listed among the leadership team members on the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation website, including the executive leadership team headed by Bill and Melinda Gates and the global health division. He also isn’t listed on the Scientific Advisory Committee. From 2003-10 Fauci, among 21 other scientists, served on a Gates Foundation scientific board to ""guide and direct"" a new initiative to ""identify critical scientific challenges in global health and increase research on diseases that cause millions of deaths in the developing world."" The Grand Challenges in Global Health Initiative was aimed at AIDS, malaria and other diseases, and Gates announced at the time that it would be administered by the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health, which agreed to provide scientific advice and support. The board that Fauci belonged to was formed to determine what ""grand challenges"" in global health could help thwart disease if they were solved. The initiative then provided grants to scientists around the world to look for solutions to the challenges. But we found nothing to support what the Facebook post alleges."
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6156
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Trump EPA nominee opposed by GOP senators from NC.
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North Carolina’s two Republican senators say they oppose President Donald Trump’s pick to oversee chemical safety at the Environmental Protection Agency, putting Michael L. Dourson’s nomination at serious risk.
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true
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Susan Collins, Richard Burr, North Carolina, Politics, North America, Environment, Business, Thom Tillis, Donald Trump, Pollution
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Senators Richard Burr and Thom Tillis issued statements saying they will vote against Dourson to serve as head of EPA’s Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention. Environmentalists and Senate Democrats have vehemently opposed Dourson, a toxicologist with close ties to the chemical industry. That means only one more Republican “no” vote would likely be needed to torpedo his nomination. Moderate GOP Sen. Susan Collins of Maine told reporters Thursday she is also leaning against supporting Dourson, but has not yet made a final decision. The White House and EPA did not respond to requests for comment Wednesday or Thursday. Despite the fact he hasn’t yet been confirmed by the Senate, Dourson has already been working at the agency as a senior adviser to EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt. The agency’s press office did not respond to emails seeking how much he is being paid. The Associated Press reported in September that Dourson has for years accepted payments for criticizing studies that raised concerns about the safety of his clients’ products, according to a review of financial records and his published work. Past corporate clients of Dourson and of a research group he ran include Dow Chemical Co., Koch Industries Inc. and Chevron Corp. His research has also been underwritten by industry trade and lobbying groups representing the makers of plastics, pesticides, processed foods and cigarettes. Burr and Tillis, both of whom are considered reliably pro-business conservatives, cited Dourson’s past work and worries among their home-state constituents about tainted drinking water in opposing his nomination. “Over the last several weeks, Senator Tillis has done his due diligence in reviewing Mr. Dourson’s body of work,” said a statement from Tillis’ office. “Senator Tillis still has serious concerns about his record and cannot support his nomination.” Marine veterans and their families blame decades-old contamination of wells at a North Carolina base with solvents and dry-cleaning chemicals for infant deaths and serious health problems that include cancer. More recently, concerns have been raised about undisclosed discharges of chemicals used to manufacture Teflon and GoreTex into the Cape Fear River, a source of municipal drinking water for Wilmington and other southeastern North Carolina communities. Dourson worked at the EPA for more than a decade, leaving in 1994 as the manager at a lab that assessed the health risks of exposure to chemicals. The following year, he founded Toxicology Excellence for Risk Assessment, a private toxicity evaluation nonprofit organization that tests chemicals and produces reports on which chemicals are hazardous in what quantities. Dourson’s views toward industry are consistent with others Trump has selected as top federal regulators. Among them is Pruitt, who in March overruled the findings of his agency’s own scientists to reverse an effort to ban chlorpyrifos, one of the nation’s most widely used pesticides. Court records show Dourson and his work have often been called on when his corporate clients are seeking to fend off lawsuits. DuPont was accused of polluting a West Virginia town with Perfluorooctanoic acid, or PFOA, a chemical that the company’s internal tests had long ago concluded was toxic. Corporate officials discussed hiring Dourson as part of a strategy to defend themselves. Dourson led a team that found in 2002 that PFOA levels up to 150 parts per billion were safe, a level higher than was found in testing of 188 private wells and springs. That was also well above the 1 part per billion that Dupont’s own scientists had concluded could be considered safe years before. The EPA now says that only 70 parts per trillion of PFOA are acceptable — or only 0.05 percent of what Dourson’s team said was safe. DuPont and a former subsidiary, Chemours Co., later paid $761 million to settle 3,550 lawsuits stemming from its use of the chemical. Chemours is the company whose spills of a chemical called GenX, a replacement for PFOA, are now at issue in North Carolina’s Cape Fear River. “I will not be supporting the nomination of Michael Dourson,” said Burr, the state’s senior senator. “With his record and our state’s history of contamination at Camp Lejeune as well as the current GenX water issues in Wilmington, I am not confident he is the best choice for our country.” The stand was quickly praised by environmental advocacy groups that rarely find common ground with the two Tarheel Republicans. “No one who has spent decades arguing on behalf of the chemical industry for weaker safety standards should be charged with reviewing chemicals for the EPA,” said Scott Faber, a senior vice president for government affairs at the Environmental Working Group. “It would be like putting an arsonist in charge of the fire department.” ___ Follow Associated Press environmental reporter Michael Biesecker at http://twitter.com/mbieseck
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35526
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In June 2020, the Michigan House of Representatives passed legislation that would allow employers to microchip workers on a voluntary basis.
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What's true: On June 24, 2020, the Michigan House of Representatives passed a bill that would prohibit employers from making microchip implants mandatory for employees and establish protections for workers who choose not to use the technology. What's false: The proposal does not establish a new system to permit or encourage the use of such devices — Michigan businesses could already offer microchips to workers on a voluntary basis under existing law. Rather, the legislation would establish new regulations for the technology.
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false
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Politics
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On June 24, 2020, the Michigan House of Representatives approved the “Microchip Protection Act” — a three-page piece of legislation that establishes guidelines for how businesses can use microchips implanted under people’s skin in their workflows. Some onlookers interpreted the vote as lawmakers’ endorsement of the use of tiny implant devices on humans — a relatively rare practice in the U.S. — and alleged online that the bill was part of some nefarious scheme by the Michigan government against citizens. Introduced by Republican State Rep. Bronna Kahle, the proposal was pending final approval from the state Senate and Gov. Gretchen Whitmer as of this writing. In the weeks that followed the House’s decision, the website Great Game India (which was a major player in spreading misinformation about the origins of the coronavirus that causes COVID-19 and falsely claimed billionaire Bill Gates and the ID2020 Coalition was behind a grand surveillance plan to microchip the global population) published on July 4, 2020, for example: The Michigan House of Representatives has passed a controversial bill to microchip humans voluntarily in the state under the guise of protecting their privacy. The Microchip Protection Act would allow Michigan employers to use microchipping of their workers with their consent. However, research has shown that [radio frequency identification] RFID transponders causes cancer. Adding to that unsubstantiated concern regarding citizens’ health, a viral web page by a Michigan-based blogger alleged that the legislation posed a threat to citizens’ privacy and civil rights. He wrote: The bill verbage [sic] blocks employers from requiring microchips, but also creates a legitimacy for employers considering using the technology in the first place… If everyone is walking around with a unique identifier, privacy is out the window. …This means anyone could track you. Stores could track your entry and exit, showing you targeted ads. Thieves could be signaled when you leave your home. Your movements and contacts could be used against you in any number of ways, including identity theft. Numerous readers reached out to Snopes in July 2020 to investigate the legitimacy of the social media and blog posts regarding the Michigan proposal. And upon our analysis of the postings, we deemed the underlying assertion to be this: The Michigan House passed legislation that would allow employers to microchip workers on a voluntary basis. To fully explore that claim, here’s important context: Only a few U.S.-based companies had publicized the use of radio-frequency identification tags (RFID), or microchips, in their workplace at the time of the Michigan House’s vote, and none of them were believed to be in the state, according to Kahle. The technology trend among U.S businesses seemed to have emerged after Sweden office complex Epicenter began offering RFID microchip implants to employees in 2015 (we explain more below). So to recap the facts, yes, the Michigan House approved a bill governing the use of microchips with a landslide vote, 104-2 (see the bill’s legislative actions here), affirming the former aspect of the above-mentioned claim. Less simple, however, is the explanation for what the measure aimed to accomplish. To unpack that part of critics’ assertion, we reviewed the specifics of the Microchip Protection Act, House Bill No. 5672, which can be read in a PDF format here. The bill comprises five sections, as well as an introduction that describes the act’s purpose as this: In other words, the legislation would give workers or potential hires the legal grounds to sue bosses who make human microchips of any kind mandatory for employment. The bill would also establish protections for workers who do not want to use the technology and feel that their employers treated them differently compared to their pro-microchip coworkers. The first two sections of the bill define terms under which those provisions apply: any situation when technology is implanted, injected, inhaled “or otherwise incorporat[ed] … into the employee’s or prospective employee’s body.” Then, in the third provision, the legislation includes the following language: An employer may, as a condition of employment, as a condition of employment in a particular position, or as a condition of receiving additional compensation or other benefits, require an employee or prospective employee to comply with a court order that directs the employee or prospective employee to [have a microchip implanted]. That would mean if a judge for whatever reason ruled that a Michigan citizen must use a microchip (the technology could serve as a tool for probation or parole officials to track someone who is serving a criminal sentence, for instance) an employer of that individual could require him/her/them to use the device at work. The fourth section of the bill goes on to explain under what circumstances those affected employees or the court system could seek damages when or if employers violate the exception to the measure prohibiting mandatory microchipping. In reference to the above-mentioned claim, however, the final part of the legislation is key: “This act does not limit an employee’s or prospective employee’s rights or remedies under any other state or federal law,” which include laws protecting the privacy and confidentiality of citizens. Any notion that the measure would establish a legal framework for Michigan employers to microchip people against their will is completely false. And here’s the fundamental misconception among people who raised concerns over the Michigan proposal: Even without the legislation, anyone in the state can already voluntarily implant themselves with the device or offer the technology to employees. Wisconsin company Three Square Market, which specializes in vending machines and self-service software for offices, was the first widely known U.S. company to offer the devices to workers, in July 2017. There, employees can voluntarily get the devices implanted into their hands or use a wristband with the same RFID microchip to make purchases in the company’s break room and use office equipment, among other things. The microchips use the same near-field communication technology utilized by contactless payment systems such as Apple Pay. In early 2020, Ifeoma Ajunwa, a Cornell University labor and employment law professor who studies the use of workplace technology, told MarketWatch there are likely more American businesses that use the technology, “but they are probably not advertising it.” So as the technology becomes more prevalent, states are enacting new laws to regulate it. As of early 2020, more than a dozen states were either considering legislation like the Michigan bill that pertains specifically to workers’ rights or were mulling more broad rules to govern the technology, or they had already passed such laws, according to analysis of state statutes on microchipping by the National Conference of State Legislatures and LexisNexis, a database of legal research.
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16841
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An average of nine children a day in the U.S. die of gunshot wounds.
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Do an average of nine children a day die in the United States of gunshot wounds?
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false
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Oregon, Public Safety, Guns, Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence,
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"Editor’s Note: We rarely find it necessary to re-examine a PolitiFact Oregon fact-check, but this was an exception. Our original fact-check, based largely on data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. However, readers brought significant new information to light that we thought warranted a new analysis -- and ultimately a new ruling. We are committed to finding the facts even if they emerge after we’ve published. In the wake of the Reynolds High School shooting in Troutdale that left two students dead June 10, the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, one of the nation’s leading gun control advocacy groups, has once again been urging parents to lock up guns and ammunition in separate gun lockers. The claim: At a June 17, 2014, rally in Vancouver, Brady Campaign representatives claimed that, on average, nine children across the U.S. die every day from gunshot wounds. The group set up a display showing nine pairs of children’s shoes and a chalkboard that read: ""9 kids every day will never have another birthday."" Were Emilio Hoffman, the victim at Reynolds, and Jared Padgett, the shooter, just two of nine children who die from gun violence on any given day? PolitiFact Oregon wanted to find out. The analysis: In an email, Brady Campaign spokeswoman Jennifer Fuson said the number is based on a five-year average of government data recording children who died from gunshot wounds. The ages range from infants to 19. Using the same age range, we obtained the same numbers from an online database maintained by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. From 2007 to 2011, the most recent data available, 14,258 children died as a result of gunshot wounds. The circumstances range widely: accidental shootings by adults, kids who gained access to unsecured guns, gang violence, suicide and planned shootings like the incident at Reynolds High School on June 10, 2014. The numbers work out to 7.81 deaths a day, about one fewer than the Brady Campaign claimed. We presented this information to Heidi Yewman, a member of the national Brady Campaign board, who organized the rally. She acknowledged that the number presented at the rally was incorrect. A volunteer accidentally wrote the wrong number on the chalkboard display, she said. Nine children are unintentionally shot and survive every day, she said, but those children are in addition to the eight who are shot — intentionally and unintentionally — and die. ""It’s really important we don’t exaggerate the number, because it undermines what we’re saying,"" Yewman said in a phone interview. ""That was unfortunate and somewhat misleading."" She added: ""Certainly there was no conspiracy to mislead the public."" The national Brady Campaign spokeswoman confirmed the figure. ""It is correct to say that 8 children and teens die from gun violence every day,"" Fuson said in an email. ""It is also correct to say that 9 children and teens are shot unintentionally."" We checked the nonfatal number as well and found that 8.86 children are unintentionally shot each day and survive, according to the CDC’s nonfatal injuries database. But those two numbers — eight gun-related deaths and nine injuries per day — do not show the whole picture. PolitiFact Oregon obtained a breakdown by age from the CDC’s online database and found that about half of all youth gun deaths — 7,223 of 14,258 — are 18- and 19-year-olds. The same goes for unintentional injuries, roughly 46 percent of which — 7,479 of 16,172 — are 18- and 19-year-olds. Remove those two years from the calculation, and there are an average of 4.76 unintentional injuries each day and 3.85 deaths. That is significant given the use of the word ""children"" in the Brady Campaign’s display, along with a chalkboard and shoes suited to children younger than 12. In addition, people 18 and older are legally considered adults. They are allowed to buy guns and ammunition without parental consent, and are solely responsible for crimes they commit using those weapons. We asked Fuson, the Brady Campaign spokeswoman, to find out why the campaign includes 18- and 19-year-olds in its calculation. In an email, she said the campaign used the CDC’s own metrics for measuring unintentional injuries. She pointed us to a report published by the center examining childhood injuries from 2000-06. The CDC did use data for ages 0-19, including injuries. The center uses the same age range in The National Action Plan for Child Injury Prevention. The CDC is the nation’s leading authority on mortality and injury statistics. The federal database includes information on thousands of death and emergency room records, and is regularly cited by lawmakers and activist groups. Data is categorized by four-year age ranges — 15-19 year olds, for example — in addition to many other metrics such as year, race and sex of victims. Users can also search the CDC website for statistics by any age or range. It is important to note, however, that the CDC says its data for unintentional gun injuries among children 16 and younger is shaky because the samples sizes are small. Another wrinkle: The agency has been caught in political cross-fire, with right-wing critics saying it collects and presents data in a way that supports gun-control efforts. Liberal supporters, meanwhile, say that criticism has had a chilling effect on CDC research into gun injuries and deaths. In short, not everyone agrees CDC data are unassailable. Last year, President Barack Obama ordered the CDC, in the wake of the Newtown, Connecticut, shootings, to begin studying the causes of gun violence. That information is not yet available. The ruling: At a rally in Vancouver, Brady Campaign representatives claimed that, on average, nine children across the U.S. die every day from gunshot wounds. The group set up a display showing nine pairs of children’s shoes and a chalkboard that read: ""9 kids every day will never have another birthday."" PolitiFact Oregon checked that claim against government data using the Brady Campaign’s age range of 0-19, and found that about 7.81 children and teens die each day from gun violence, based on the most recent five-year average available from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Heidi Yewman, who organized the rally in Vancouver, said the incorrect number was a volunteer’s mistake. We found the difference between eight and nine not hugely significant. It’s horrible that children are dying of gunshot wounds, of course, but the difference in the two numbers is unlikely to materially change the debate about gun control. But including 18- and 19-year-olds, who are not ""children"" under legal and other definitions, significantly skews the numbers, making the problem seem much worse than it is. Because the group’s claim contained an element of truth but ignored critical facts that would give a different impression, Return to OregonLive.com/politics to comment on this article."
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2979
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CES tech show: Say no to junk food; machines make cocktails.
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A wristband that will help you say “no” to junk food. A machine that will mix drinks for you.
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true
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Nutrition, Products and services, Technology, Consumer Electronics Show, General News, Consumer electronics, Cocktails, Health, Business, Las Vegas, U.S. News, Lifestyle
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These were among the gadgets showcased this week at the CES technology conference in Las Vegas. The four-day show, which opened Tuesday, is a place for companies to unveil their products and services for the coming year, though Apple, Google and other tech giants often hold their own announcement events. Streaming services and surveillance technologies are among the hot topics this year. Here are some highlights from the show: NUTRITIONAL DNA A London startup believes it can help you make healthier diet choices at the grocery store — using your own DNA. DnaNudge collects your DNA through a cheek swab and sends data related to nutrition to a wristband. Have a genetic predisposition to high blood pressure? Maybe the wristband will tell you to stay away from salty snacks. You scan the barcode on a product, and the wristband turns red or green to indicate whether it may be good for you. A few services have popped up to map DNA in the hopes of helping people make better diet choices, though some scientists say genetic makeup is just one of many factors in living a healthy lifestyle. Currently, DnaNudge does cheek swabs only in person in London, but it’s working on a mail order service. The company says it destroys all DNA records after giving you the wristband. BOOZY BOTS No need to shake or stir. These machines will mix cocktails for you. They’re like Keurig coffee machines, but for booze. Drop in a pod filled with ingredients, slide in a glass, and less than a minute later, you’ll have a martini or a Moscow mule. In fact, one of the gizmos is made by Keurig. Drinkworks by Keurig sells for $299 and can make cosmopolitans and fizzy drinks, such as vodka sodas. Each pod makes one cocktail and costs about $4. Another robotic bartender, the $350 Bartesian, sells pods for $2.50 each, but they don’t have alcohol. Instead, you fill canisters with your own whiskey, vodka, gin and tequila. The pods mix in juices, herbs and other flavorings. A touch screen on the Bartesian lets you choose how stiff you want your drink. There’s even an option for alcohol-free “mocktails.” Both machines sit on a counter or table at home. The companies hope to target those who like to host parties but don’t want to stock a bar, don’t know how to make drinks or would rather push a button than spend time putting together a mojito. “We do all that for you,” Drinkworks CEO Nathaniel Davis said. “And then allow you to spend time with your guests.” HERE TODAY, HACK TOMORROW Some people go to CES to glimpse the future of consumer technology. Others are looking for the future of what’s going to get hacked. Cybersecurity firm McAfee says it uncovered security flaws in two gadgets on display. One is an internet-connected device for opening garage doors. McAfee’s threat research team says the MyQ Hub made by Illinois-based Chamberlain Group could be hacked by jamming the radio frequency signals while the garage is being remotely closed. That could lead it to open instead. Chamberlain says it’s fixing its app to prevent this, but chances of a real-world hack occurring are “extremely low” and based on an unlikely chain of events. McAfee says it also discovered a flaw in British startup McClear’s “smart ring,” which uses near-field communication wireless technology for unlocking doors. McAfee researchers demonstrated how hackers could easily clone the ring and gain access to a user’s home. McClear didn’t immediately respond to an emailed request for comment Tuesday. PRIVACY BY VOICE Google is adding a privacy “undo” feature to its Assistant voice technology. Just tell Assistant to disregard something if you happen to notice the device was listening when it wasn’t supposed to. By saying “Hey Google, that wasn’t for you,” Assistant will delete whatever you just said. Although Assistant is supposed to send voice commands out for processing only when it hears “Hey” or “OK, Google,” it can mishear other conversations as the trigger word. Another new feature will let you use your voice to ask Google about your own privacy settings. The new features supplement privacy controls Google rolled out last year to let people delete their voice recording histories with voice commands. That came after pushback that Google and other companies were using human transcribers rather than just machines to listen to some audio recordings. Assistant will also debut new tools such as household notes, which lets people leave virtual notes with voice commands for other members in their families. The notes will show up on Google’s smart Nest Hub displays as reminders. A ROBOTIC FRIEND Samsung’s idea for your new robot friend is a simple ball that rolls along beside you. Its name: Ballie. The technology within Ballie is anything but simple. The artificial intelligence companion has a camera that can record and send video. Ballie can communicate with other smart devices around the house. In its keynote at CES, Samsung showed the bright yellow ball — about the size of a baseball — rolling behind H.S. Kim, CEO of the company’s consumer electronics division. It kept its distance from Kim when asked to, and a video showed Ballie as a companion to pets at home alone. “It’s a vision of technology as an all-around personal life companion,” Kim said. Ballie’s unveiling was part of Samsung’s efforts to show how AI can offer conveniences, peace of mind — and in this case, companionship. Samsung didn’t say when Ballie would go on sale or how much it would cost. Samsung’s chief research scientist, Sebastian Seung, said Ballie would come with strict privacy standards, but didn’t offer details. ___ AP Technology Writer Matt O’Brien in Providence, Rhode Island, contributed to this report. ___ AP’s CES coverage: https://apnews.com/Consumerelectronics
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8242
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Airbnb hosts to provide free rooms for British health workers.
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Airbnb hosts will provide free rooms for workers in Britain’s National Health Service (NHS) to support their work during the coronavirus outbreak, the company said on Sunday.
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true
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Health News
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Nearly 1,500 places to stay have been made available under the scheme amid a slump in bookings on the home rental start-up as travel restrictions and curbs on social gatherings come into force around the world. Britain has looked to bolster its public health service to deal with the crisis, including establishing a field hospital in a one-time Olympic venue and turning a theme park into a testing facility for health workers. “By working together, we can ensure that frontline workers can find a free and convenient place to stay as they continue their critical work,” said Patrick Robinson, Director of Public Policy at Airbnb. Airbnb has done similar schemes in Italy and France in response to the outbreak, and aims to house 100,000 emergency personnel around the world during the epidemic. The company has suspended marketing activities to save money, and executives are taking a pay cut as the firm battles with a downturn in bookings triggered by the spread of coronavirus. Airbnb’s bookings in major cities across the world have suffered as travelers cancel trips and stay at home to protect themselves and prevent the spread of coronavirus.
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3979
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New case of mild bird flu found in Minnesota turkey flock.
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The Minnesota Board of Animal Health has identified another case of a mild form of bird flu in a Minnesota turkey flock.
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true
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Health, Flu, Minnesota, Animal health, Bird flu
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Rutine testing confirmed the presence of low-pathogenic H5N2 virus in a turkey flock in Stearns County. The flock of 13-week-old hens has been quarantined. The farm will be allowed to market the turkeys once the birds test negative for the disease. A similar case of the virus was detected last month in a commercial turkey flock in Kandiyohi County. Officials say this mild form of bird flu is not the same strain of virus that caused a devastating outbreak in 2015, and poses no public health or food safety risk.
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10210
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Device for irregular heartbeat may be more cost-effective than medication
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Watchman device. Illustration: Pat Lynch/YaleNewsThis is a brief news release about a device that, when implanted into the hearts of people with atrial fibrillation — irregular heartbeats — may prevent clots from forming. The study it’s based on is not a clinical trial, although it uses data from two completed clinical trials that compare the device and blood thinners. We are impressed by the cautious tone of the news release. But we wish that the release had contained more detail, more numbers, and more information about possible conflicts of interest. As it stands, we are left to conclude that the device may be more cost-effective than blood thinners, and may be not. And we are given no information about the device’s efficacy in reducing stroke risk in people with atrial fibrillation. Atrial fibrillation — an irregular heart rhythm that can cause palpitations and heart failure — affects about 2.2 million people in the United States each year, according to the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, and that number is expected to double by 2020. In addition to doubling a person’s risk of death, atrial fibrillation causes 15% to 20% of strokes and costs an estimated $6.4 billion to treat each year in the United States. The chance that a person will get atrial fibrillation increases with age, and it affects an estimated 6% of Americans age 65 and older. If a new device is more cost-effective than current treatment, cardiologists and their patients might want to know. Side effects from blood thinners include bleeding, a concern in older people especially, because of their increased propensity for falls. This has been a concern with the device as well, which was finally approved last year by the FDA, with questions still being raised about its effectiveness.
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false
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Academic medical center news release,cardiovascular disease
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The news release does not say how much the new device costs, nor does it say how it compares with the cost of warfarin or non-warfarin oral anticoagulants. This is of concern, since the news release focuses on the cost-effectiveness of the device. The news release says that “the device did appear to be more cost-effective in the larger, longer-term trial,” but it does not say what made it appear to be more cost-effective. It then adds a quote from the lead author, Dr. James Freeman, in which he says longer-term results are needed to be certain of the device’s value in clinical practice. But, since it never quantifies the length of the results that were obtained, we do not know how long the longer-term data need to be. Perhaps more importantly, it does not talk about the effectiveness of the product compared with the effectiveness of standard treatments. The news release does not mention possible drawbacks to use of the Watchman device. But federal regulators have made clear that they have concerns. In a letter dated March 13, 2015, the Food and Drug Administration told the manufacturer, Boston Scientific, that its approval was contingent upon the submission of periodic reports on the safety of the device. “The primary safety endpoint is treatment of the patient without the occurrence of life-threatening events as determined by the Clinical Events Committee, which would include events such as device embolization requiring retrieval, bleeding events such as pericardial effusion requiring drainage, cranial bleeding events due to any source, gastrointestinal bleeds requiring transfusion and any bleeding related to the device or procedure that necessitates an operation,” the letter says. It also notes that the device maker agreed to carry out a study to assess “whether the rates of safety and effectiveness during the early commercialization of the WATCHMAN device in the United States are consistent with the premarket findings.” The news release does not describe the quality of the evidence. The news release does not engage in disease mongering. A brief description of how many people are affected by the condition might have added some useful context. The news release does not say who paid for the work or whether any of those involved in the studies cited had conflicts of interest. The news release does mention that the implantable device is intended to replace medication. It goes further, stating that “It has been suggested that as treatment for atrial fibrillation, the Watchman device may be preferable to standard blood thinning medications, such as warfarin, which raise the risk of bleeding.” However, the release does not cite data to support that suggestion, so it is impossible to make a meaningful comparison. The news release does not say that the FDA approved the device last year, or how widely available it is. The news release makes a very weak claim of novelty. It does suggest that the study “may provide more certainty in terms of cost-effectiveness” but quickly adds that longer term results are needed to be “completely certain of the device’s value in medical practice.” The “may be” in the title is a big maybe, and given the data (of this study and the individual clinical trials) the results may be presented more optimistically than is warranted by the data. By using the passive voice in the following sentence, the news release misses an opportunity to be clear: “It has been suggested that as treatment for atrial fibrillation, the Watchman device may be preferable to standard blood thinning medications, such as warfarin, which raise the risk of bleeding.” Who has suggested this? The device maker? We are not told.
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922
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Ebola spread to east Congo's Goma massively raises risk - U.N.
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Ebola’s arrival in eastern Congo’s main city of Goma severely raises the risk of the virus spreading if it takes root in this metropolis near the border with Rwanda, the World Health Organisation (WHO) warned on Monday.
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true
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Health News
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U.N. officials and donors met in Geneva to discuss how to tackle the world’s second worst epidemic, which has infected 2,500 people and killed 1,655 in the lush farmlands of eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. A toxic mix of armed militias and a deep-rooted mistrust of health officials by communities have hampered efforts to halt the virus. Goma, a lakeside city more than 350 kilometres (220 miles) south of where the outbreak was first detected, got its first case on Sunday. That raised fears Ebola could accelerate into one of Africa’s most densely populated areas and over the Rwanda border. “The case in Goma could potentially be a gamechanger in this epidemic,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told the meeting. “It is a gateway to the region and the world.” The patient who brought Ebola to Goma was a priest who became infected during a visit to the town of Butembo, 200 km (124 miles) north of Goma, where he interacted with Ebola patients, Congo’s health ministry said in a statement. He was taken back to a clinic in Butembo on Monday. “Due to the speed with which the patient has been identified and isolated, as well as the identification of all bus passengers from Butembo, the risk of spreading to the rest of the city of Goma remains low,” the ministry said. WHO emergencies chief Mike Ryan said they had identified 60 contacts, including 18 who were on the bus with the priest, and half of them have been vaccinated. Goma had been preparing for the arrival of Ebola for a year, setting up hand-washing stations and making sure moto-taxi drivers do not share helmets. “There is a grave risk of a major increase in numbers, or spread to new locations – as we’ve heard today in Goma,” said Josie Golding, a specialist on epidemics at the Wellcome Trust global health charity. Ebola causes diarrhoea, vomiting and hemorrhagic fever and can be spread through bodily fluids. An epidemic between 2013 and 2016 killed more than 11,300 people in West Africa. While the technology for fighting it, including vaccines and special treatment units, is better than ever, trust between health workers and the community is low — and militia violence is preventing them from accessing remote areas. Unidentified attackers killed two Ebola health workers near Mukulia in North Kivu province over the weekend, the latest in a string of assaults this year that have injured or killed dozens of responders. “Every attack gives Ebola an opportunity to spread. Ebola gets a free ride,” Ghebreyesus said. Apart from insecurity, the biggest challenge is money, officials said. “If we don’t raise more resources ... it is not going to be possible to bring this outbreak under control,” the U.N.’s humanitarian chief Mark Lowcock told Reuters. “The need is for money, not next week, or next month or later in the year. The need is for money now.”
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18495
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"The Manchin-Toomey amendment ""would have criminalized certain private transfers of firearms between honest citizens, requiring lifelong friends, neighbors and some family members"" to get government approval."
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"The NRA said that the Manchin-Toomey amendment would have ""criminalized certain private transfers of firearms between honest citizens, requiring lifelong friends, neighbors and some family members to get federal government permission to exercise a fundamental right or face prosecution."" The amendment specifically exempted family and friend transfers from the requirement to conduct a criminal background check. But it did extend the requirement to Internet and gun show sales. So only if a friend or family member purchased a gun in one of those settings would the background check requirement kick in. That’s a limited circumstance, to be sure. And as Wintemute argued, it was added a layer of paperwork but did not make familial gun transfers crimes. The NRA’s statement contained an element of truth but was otherwise a big stretch."
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false
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National, Corrections and Updates, Guns, National Rifle Association,
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"Not long after the Senate voted down a bipartisan effort to expand background checks on gun sales, the National Rifle Association released a statement hailing the proposal’s downfall as good news. ""This amendment would have criminalized certain private transfers of firearms between honest citizens, requiring lifelong friends, neighbors and some family members to get federal government permission to exercise a fundamental right or face prosecution. As we have noted previously, expanding background checks, at gun shows or elsewhere, will not reduce violent crime or keep our kids safe in their schools,"" the pro-gun rights group said on April 17, 2013. The amendment, offered by Republican Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania and Democrat Joe Manchin of West Virginia, would have required background checks for private sales at gun shows and on the Internet, two areas that are currently exempt from federal law. But it specifically exempted transactions between family members from the background check requirement. So we wondered what circumstances the NRA envisioned that could have ""criminalized certain private transfers of firearms."" What’s in the amendment The Manchin-Toomey amendment stopped short of language in a larger Senate bill on guns, which would have mandated criminal background checks on all sales between private parties with limited exceptions. Current law requires checks on purchases only from federally licensed gun dealers. So the Manchin-Toomey amendment attempted to find middle ground -- expanding the checks to gun shows and Internet sales, but not requiring them of family members and friends giving or selling guns to each other. ""As under current law, transfers between family, friends and neighbors do not require background checks. You can give or sell a gun to your brother, your neighbor, your co-worker without a background check. You can post a gun for sale on the cork bulletin board at your church or your job without a background check,"" a press release from the senators said. The amendment itself specifically said background checks wouldn’t be required of family members if ""the transfer is made between spouses, between parents or spouses of parents and their children or spouses of their children, between siblings or spouses of siblings, or between grandparents or spouses of grandparents and their grandchildren or spouses of their grandchildren, or between aunts or uncles or their spouses and their nieces or nephews or their spouses, or between first cousins, if the transferor does not know or have reasonable cause to believe that the transferee is prohibited from receiving or possessing a firearm under Federal, State, or local law."" ""It’d have to be pretty distant family"" for the background check rule to apply, said Chris Calabrese, legal counsel for the ACLU. As for friends buying and selling guns, no background check was required if the sale was not advertised online or in a publication. So how could such transfers be ""criminalized?"" The amendment required a background check for any advertised sale. So imagine these two circumstances overlapping. ""If I do an advertisement that I’m looking to sell a firearm and then my friend comes and says to me, ‘I’d like to buy a gun,’ then I’d have to do a background check,"" Calabrese said. Same goes for a gun sold to a friend or a family member at a gun show. Calabrese said the ACLU did not oppose the Manchin-Toomey amendment because it made clear what transactions were subject to background checks. ""We didn’t think anybody should inadvertently become a criminal. The criminal laws should be clear in who they apply to so people don’t have a problem understanding and following the law. We think this meets this standard,"" he said. John Frazer, a spokesman for the NRA, described some circumstances ""in which transfers among such people could have been subject to prosecution under the amendment."" He mentioned friends running into each other at a gun show, or someone posting a gun for sale on Facebook and receiving interest from a cousin. If a gun was sold in those circumstances without a background check, ""the transfer would be a crime."" Garen Wintemute, an expert in gun issues who favors more gun control, told PolitiFact that the amendment didn’t go so far as criminalizing private transfers. ""It simply subjected them to new procedural requirements,"" he said in an email. Our ruling The NRA said that the Manchin-Toomey amendment would have ""criminalized certain private transfers of firearms between honest citizens, requiring lifelong friends, neighbors and some family members to get federal government permission to exercise a fundamental right or face prosecution."" The amendment specifically exempted family and friend transfers from the requirement to conduct a criminal background check. But it did extend the requirement to Internet and gun show sales. So only if a friend or family member purchased a gun in one of those settings would the background check requirement kick in. That’s a limited circumstance, to be sure. And as Wintemute argued, it was added a layer of paperwork but did not make familial gun transfers crimes. The NRA’s statement contained an element of truth but was otherwise a big stretch. Update: This report has been updated to include a comment we received from the NRA shortly after we published. The rating remains the same."
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7262
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Meharry, Morehouse partner with the University of Zambia.
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Meharry Medical College and the Morehouse School of Medicine have formed a partnership with the University of Zambia to develop an international exchange program focused on disease research and prevention.
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true
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Health, Zambia, Nashville, Medical schools
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Officials at Meharry said the program will focus on seven core areas of health, including: HIV and AIDS, cancer, HPV, late-onset diabetes, hypertension, infectious disease and malnutrition. Meharry President James Hildreth said that in today’s global society the Nashville medical school’s mission is no longer contained to borders or city limits. In his statement, he said the partnership is an important step in serving the underserved, no matter where they live. The exchange program with the historically black medical schools in the U.S and the University of Zambia will begin in the fall.
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8891
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Stryker launches partial knee resurfacing systems.
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Stryker Corp said on Tuesday it has launched a partial knee resurfacing system in the United States.
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true
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Science News
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The system preserves the most amount of natural bone, making it a less invasive way to treat diseased joints. Kalamazoo, Michigan-based Stryker, one of the top makers of reconstructive implants, said its system, called Triathlon PKR, is beneficial because it allows surgeons to provide personalized solutions by only shaving off diseased parts of the knee rather than replacing larger parts of it, or the entire knee joint. Partial knee resurfacing requires less operating time than total keep replacements and there is a shorter recovery period, with some patients leaving the hospital in less than 24 hours, Stryker said. Because less bone is removed, there is often less trauma to soft tissue during surgery, which may leave the patient with a more natural feeling knee than with a total knee replacement, the company added.
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8086
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Palestinians report first death from coronavirus.
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The Palestinians reported their first death from the coronavirus on Wednesday, a woman in her 60s who lived in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
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true
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Health News
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“The woman had experienced symptoms and was later hospitalised” before succumbing to the illness, said Ibrahim Melhem, a spokesman for the Palestinian Authority, which has limited self-rule in the West Bank. The woman was from Bidu, a Palestinian village north of Jerusalem and southwest of Ramallah, Melhem added. There are 62 confirmed coronavirus cases among Palestinians in the West Bank, and two in the Gaza Strip.
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19581
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"Barack Obama Says that as Massachusetts governor, Mitt Romney ""condemned coal-fired plants, saying they kill people."
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Barack Obama says Mitt Romney condemned coal-fired power plants as killers
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true
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Environment, Ohio, Economy, Energy, Barack Obama,
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"Mitt Romney came to coal country on Aug. 14, standing before a crowd of miners in eastern Ohio and pledging to fight for their jobs. You could be forgiven if you thought this was much ado about 3,150 jobs -- the number employed directly by coal operations in Ohio, at least before two mines announced layoffs recently. But Romney’s greater point was about how coal fires so many power plants in Ohio and the region, and how, he says, environmental regulation from President Barack Obama’s administration threatens jobs at those plants, too. This could drive up the cost of electricity for every Ohioan, Romney said. This debate -- over the cost of electricity, the shift among power plants to natural gas, the environmental and health risks, the role the government should or shouldn’t play -- has been building for years. And after the event, the Obama campaign had a response, saying that Romney’s position on coal has changed substantially since he was governor of Massachusetts. ""Immediately after becoming governor, Romney condemned coal-fired plants, saying they kill people,"" said an Obama campaign news release. The claim was similar to one the Obama team made in a radio ad, and Obama reelection aides backed it with specific quotes Romney made in February, 2003, when Romney was the freshly elected governor of Massachusetts. The quotes: The Obama campaign also highlighted a Romney quote that had no lethal references but was just as strong. It came from a state of Massachusetts news releasein which Romney said: ""If the choice is between dirty power plants or protecting the health of the people of Massachusetts, there is no choice in my mind. I will always come down on the side of public health."" Romney made each of these statements during a Feb. 6, 2003, showdown over the future of the controversial, coal-burning Salem Harbor Power Station. In 2001, Massachusetts passed new rules to reduce power plant emissions of nitrogen oxide, sulfur dioxide, carbon dioxide and mercury, to be phased in over several years. The mercury standard would not be finalized until 2004. Romney supported the rules, as he made clear repeatedly. Massachusetts singled out its most egregious polluters as the ""Filthy Five"" plants, including Salem Harbor. Public health and environmental scientists at Harvard studied the emissions from two of the plants in 2000 and concluded that Salem Harbor was responsible for 53 deaths, 570 emergency room visits, 14,400 asthma attacks and 99,000 incidents of upper respiratory symptoms -- all per year. As occurs with similar studies that health authorities cite, local residents and others who wanted to keep the Salem Harbor plant open (for jobs and tax revenue) disputed those figures, saying they resulted from unproven modeling. It turned out that the Harvard scientists had revised their figures in 2002, putting premature deaths from Salem Harbor’s pollution at 30 per year and reducing the number of emergency room visits to 400 and the asthma attacks at 2,000, according to the Boston Globe and the Boston Herald. But the scientists stood by the broader conclusion -- that emissions from dirty power plants can be deadly. The Harvard methodology has now been widely replicated and is respected by health scientists, according to several environmental authorities we spoke with. Romney appeared to accept their findings, too. In the above-mentioned news release, the commonwealth of Massachusetts quoted Romney in the third person on the danger factor: ""Romney said that the Salem Harbor plant is responsible for 53 premature deaths, 570 emergency room visits and 14,400 asthma attacks each year. He also pointed out that coal and oil fired plants contribute significantly more air pollution than their gas fired counterparts, exacerbating acid rain and global warming."" This was in a news release issued by the governor’s aides, not some radical outside instigator. It was issued under the name of Romney, Lt. Gov. Kerry Healey and Romney’s development chief, Douglas Foy. According to the Boston Globe, Romney hired Foy from the Conservation Law Foundation, or CLF, a leading environmental advocacy group in Massachusetts. The spat with Salem Harbor turned into a testy exchange that February day after Salem Harbor’s then-owner, Pacific Gas and Electric, sought an extension until 2006 to comply with Massachusetts’ emissions rules -- and plant supporters showed up to to demand that the governor back off. Romney was adamant that the company comply by 2004. His statements that day show how he felt: ""That plant kills people."" And to those including city officials who argued that this would cost jobs: ""I will not create jobs that kill people."" Based on some of the quotes, it might appear that Romney was speaking only about that single plant (which a new owner, Dominion, is phasing out, after which a subsequent third owner will build a natural gas plant there). That’s what we thought when we began looking into this. It is also what the Romney campaign told us in email. So was it accurate for the Obama campaign to imply that Romney’s words characterized his broader attitude toward coal emissions when he was governor? We kept looking, because people in the environmental community told us it was a valid claim. And the news release under Romney’s name suggested it as well. Romney spoke of plants, not just a single one, when he pointed out that coal and oil fired plants contribute significantly more air pollution than their gas fired counterparts, exacerbating acid rain and global warming. Still, to give him the benefit of doubt, what if he really just meant the Salem Harbor plant? Wasn’t that plant particularly egregious when compared with coal-fired plants under attack by federal regulators today? No, say environmentalists who include authorities from the CLF. Their claims are supported by U.S. EPA emissions data we verified independently. ""When he said that ‘this plant kills people,’ he was talking about a plant that produced pollution comparable to the emissions of plants in the Midwest,"" said Seth Kaplan, vice president for policy and climate advocacy at the conservation foundation. Jonathan Peress, an environmental and regulatory attorney who works for the CLF and was recently chairman of the American Bar Association’s air quality committee, added in a separate interview with PolitiFact Ohio that Romney promoted Massachusetts air standards that were almost identical to those the U.S. EPA wants to enforce -- and that Romney now criticizes. ""The levels of emissions that he was talking about were levels that were virtually identical to what the EPA has proposed,"" Kaplan agreed. ""He was steadfastly standing behind emissions reductions that are the same as those currently attacked."" To see if this was accurate -- that the emissions Romney decried were similar to or even weaker than those under current attack now by the EPA (whose rules Romney now attacks) -- we examined the emissions cuts that Massachusetts wanted and data on the level of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides emissions at Salem Harbor and in the Midwest. The U.S. EPA keeps the information in its extensive Clean Air Markets database. Nitrogen oxides react with sunlight to create ozone and smog. Sulfur dioxide is tied to particulate matter and is considered particularly dangerous to health, said Jonathan Walke, a senior attorney with the Natural Resources Defense Council Action Fund. The level of both these substances was multiple times lower at Salem Harbor, even when Romney was trying to force the plant to reduce emissions, than at Eastlake in Northeast Ohio and several other Ohio plants we checked. Our comparisons included multiple years, including Salem Harbor in 2003 with Ohio plants in 2011. To compensate for differences in electricity output, number of boilers and hours of operation at different power plants, we checked the data for emissions per megawatt-hour. The pattern held. ""It’s all the same pollution, albeit in higher quantities in Ohio,"" Walke said. You might ask why we looked at Eastlake. It’s because FirstEnergy Corp. plans to shut down two of that plant’s boilers rather than spend heavily on scrubbers to comply with EPA rules. This is one of several coal-burning plants at the heart of the current jobs-versus-pollution debate, although Romney did not mention it specifically. It’s important to note that the rules on nitrogen and sulfur are not what is prompting the FirstEnergy shutdowns. New EPA rules on mercury and toxic metals are the cause of planned closures in Eastlake. The tougher limits won’t take effect until 2014. The EPA aims to cut mercury emissions by 79 percent. But as the Massachusetts governor, Romney supported mercury reductions in his state, too. In 2004, he signed off on a rule aiming to reduce mercury emissions by 95 percent by 2012. With Romney’s name on the letterhead, Massachusetts in May, 2004, issued a lengthy set of justifications for the mercury rule. Among them: ""First, [new research] confirms and extends our understanding of mercury's harmful effects on learning, attention and other critical cognitive skills in children. Recent studies have found that children exposed to mercury levels may show signs of attention deficit disorder, impaired visual-spatial skills and poor coordination."" Romney was ""a champion"" of those mercury regulations, said Shanna Cleveland, a staff attorney with the Conservation Law Foundation. ""He was one of the reasons we got them through."" Time to clean up: Romney was discussing a specific power plant, Salem Harbor, when he said, ""That plant kills people."" But the public record shows that his comments were part of a broad emissions-cutting program he embraced. And the power plant that he considered deadly had emissions that were no worse, and in many cases lower, than at Midwest plants that he would now wants left alone, citing the use of affordable and abundant coal. If one were to have supported the regulations Romney wanted in 2003, it’s fairly safe to assume that ""one would also support such things nationally,"" said Jonathan Levy, an environmental scientist at Boston University and Harvard and co-author of the now heavily replicated study on the correlation between coal-burning power plants and respiratory health. The Obama campaign claimed that as governor, Romney condemned coal plants as killers. He spoke at times of a single plant, but at other times made clear that other plants also needed to cut emissions for the sake of public health. This even included new rules for mercury reductions -- the same substance from coal plants that now is prompting closures in Ohio. The debate over coal involves calculations of costs, the abundance or scarcity of natural resources, health and environmental risks, and attitudes about government regulation. It is not our role to say Romney was right or wrong at one time. But with additional information from emissions data, interviews and the public record of his governorship, the Obama campaign claim about Romney’s coal position of nine years ago is nearly as clear as a haze-free day. On the Truth-O-Meter, it rates ."
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9549
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How Omega 3 Fats May Improve Fertility
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Time magazine’s story states that a University of Colorado study has provided evidence that increasing the amount of healthy fat in one’s diet “can boost your chances of getting pregnant.” No, no, no. We just can’t know this yet: It’s mouse research. Involving all of 10 mice. The story acknowledges this later, stating that “(m)ore studies need to replicate and confirm the role that omega 3 fatty acids might play in fertility.” But not before making big claims, such as “researchers say that a common fat found in fish like salmon, and plants like flaxseed, may play a role in boosting fertility.” Given the scant evidence this study provides to women trying to get pregnant, we question its news value in a national news magazine web site. And this isn’t our first time to critique TIME on writing about preliminary rodent research, nor many other outlets, including the PR machines who are often behind the curtain, pitching these stories to journalists. We generally recommend putting these studies away and waiting until more conclusive human research comes along. But, if there’s no way around it, we recommend following this model for how to do it more accurately. CDC data show that more than one of every 10 women age 15-44 in the United States (12.3%, or 7.5 million) have impaired fertility, and more than 6.9 million women have used infertility services in an attempt to become pregnant. Infertility can be heart-breaking, and many women who have difficulty getting pregnant are eager for any news that promises to help them conceive. However, the emotional intensity of the struggle to get pregnant means journalists must be especially careful not to offer false or premature hope for an easy fix.
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false
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infertility,mice studies,Omega-3
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The article includes no discussion of the cost of adding either omega 3 supplements or foods high in omega 3 fats to an individual’s diet. Omega 3 supplements may not be especially expensive, but the story doesn’t address this issue either. Given that the research under consideration here involved 10 mice — and genetically bred mice at that — there’s no way to determine whether increasing omega 3s in a woman’s diet would have any benefit at all, let alone to quantify the likely benefits. The story does explain that the mice bred to have higher ratios of omega 3 fatty acids seemed to produce more “precursors to egg cells” and also produced higher quality eggs, meaning they would be more likely to have eggs that would be fertilized and develop into baby mice. The bottom line, however, is that a woman reading this story and hoping to improve her fertility would find no information that would help her assess how much of an increase in omega 3s she might need, nor how much of an improvement in fertility this dietary change might produce. The story notes that the researcher “says there isn’t much harm in consuming more omega 3 fats;” it adds that high doses of omega 3s, in rare cases, increase the risk of hemorrhage in people prone to bleeding problems. That is just enough to merit a satisfactory rating. It does not mention, however, that omega 3 supplements can cause allergic reactions in people with allergies to either fish or to the plants, seeds or nuts from which the supplements are derived. MayoClinic.org also notes that “there is not enough information at this time regarding the safety of fish oils when used in amounts greater than those found in foods during pregnancy and breastfeeding,” which suggests that the risks of supplement use could be higher among the most likely audience for this story: women who have been trying to get pregnant. The Time story acknowledges in the second paragraph that the study involved only mice and notes that more research will be needed to determine whether increasing omega 3 consumption will have any effect on human fertility. But the story provides no sense of what’s involved, or just how challenging it will be, to translate these results to humans. So why report it now when there’s no evidence? We don’t know. There’s not enough context on the scope of the problem to determine if there was disease-mongering. This story is brief and includes no sources other than the researcher whose paper is being discussed. There is no discussion of any other steps women might take to increase their odds of becoming pregnant when they are ready to start a family. Both omega 3-rich foods and omega 3 supplements are widely available. The story does not say explicitly that this study is the first to link omega 3 fatty acids with improved fertility in either mice or humans, but the wording implies that the study provided new evidence of such a link: “Now, according to scientists at the University of Colorado, there is even evidence that the healthy fat can boost your chances of getting pregnant.” What the story fails to note is that there already appears to be a significant body of research — in humans — dealing with the connection between omega 3 fatty acid levels and successfully achieving and maintaining pregnancy. The reporter who wrote this story does appear to have interviewed the lead researcher on the study, so the story does not appear to rely entirely on a news release.
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