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Groucho Marx made a risqué wisecrack about his cigar to a female You Bet Your Life contestant with 19 children.
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Rumor has it that Groucho Marx made a risqué wisecrack about his cigar to a female 'You Bet Your Life' contestant with 17 children.
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false
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Entertainment, ASP Article, Broadcast Legends, Groucho
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You Bet Your Life was the post-World War II vehicle that provided Groucho Marx with a career apart from his brothers and introduced him to a generation of viewers too young to remember him from his stage or film work. The interview-quiz show, featuring the famous $100 bonus paid to any contestant who said the “secret word” (displayed on a cartoonish stuffed duck that dropped from above if a contestant uttered the word of the day) debuted on radio in 1947, aired on both radio and television through 1960, and continued on television only for its final season in 1960-61 — all in all, an amazing fourteen-year run for a quiz show with a tiny budget, a plain set, and a small jackpot (even by 1950s standards). Although You Bet Your Life was structured to make it appear as though every show was completely ad-libbed by Groucho (who issued a steady stream of impromptu questions, off-the-cuff remarks, and cutting put-downs to contestants he had met only moments earlier), a good deal of preparation went into each episode. Potential contestants were selected and interviewed in advance, scripts for each week’s show were prepared by writers and reviewed by Groucho, and the comedian used a mechanical teleprompter to read his lines during the recording of the program. (In early telecasts of You Bet Your Life, Groucho can be seen reading off sheets of paper propped up in front of him on something resembling a music stand.) It was true, however, that Groucho didn’t actually meet the contestants until they walked onstage, and he certainly had plenty of latitude to depart from the prepared gags and questions (as did the contestants), with the result that much of the show’s banter was indeed improvised on the spot. About a hour’s worth of material was recorded for each half hour program so that flubs, uninteresting segments, and any troublesome or offensive remarks by Groucho could be edited out. The most notable remark of Groucho’s You Bet Your Life years, that one that has gone down in legend as one of pop culture’s most notorious comeback quips, supposedly occurred when Grouch was interviewing a Mrs. Story, a contestant with a remarkably large number of children (a number that varies anywhere from 10 to 21 in different tellings of the legend): GROUCHO: “Why do you have so many children? That’s a big responsibility and a big burden.” MRS. STORY: “Well, because I love my children and I think that’s our purpose here on Earth, and I love my husband.” GROUCHO: “I love my cigar, too, but I take it out of my mouth once in a while.” But did Groucho really say this, or is it a remark that (like so many other infamous quips) originated elsewhere and was later attributed to the notable figure deemed most likely to have said it? Since You Bet Your Life was taped in advance, heavily edited, and not aired live, this remark (if it truly occurred) would certainly have been cut from the finished program as too offensive for the standards of the times; so we can state definitively that (claims to the contrary notwithstanding) nobody ever actually heard it broadcast. If Groucho had really made this quip, the only people who would have heard it would have been the people present during the recording of the program (i.e., the cast, crew, contestants, and studio audience). So, did Groucho in fact utter this risqué remark, even if his bon mot never made it onto the airwaves? The one person who would undoubtedly know the truth is Groucho himself, and he maintained in a 1972 interview with Roger Ebert for Esquire magazine that he never said it: I got $25 from Reader’s Digest last week for something I never said. I get credit all the time for things I never said. You know that line in You Bet Your Life? The guy says he has seventeen kids and I say: “I smoke a cigar, but I take it out of my mouth occasionally”? I never said that. This debate really should end here, based on a complete lack of evidence that Groucho ever said any such thing, coupled with his unequivocal statement affirming that he did not (and Groucho had no motive to disclaim one of the most famous lines associated with his celebrity if he really had said it). Instead, the legend persists in large part because misinformation about it is propagated over and over. Take, for example, the following account, presented as a first-person telling in a 1976 book often touted as a Groucho Marx autobiography, The Secret Word Is Groucho: Wherever I go, people ask me about a remark I purportedly made to Mrs. Story. Folklore about the encounter has been so broadly disseminated that it has been variously described as occurring with a mother having any number from ten to thirty children. The story, however, is not apocryphal. It did happen. “Why do you have so many children?” I asked Mrs. Story. “That’s a big responsibility and a big burden.” “Well,” she replied, “because I love children, and I think that’s our purpose here on earth, and I love my husband.” “I love my cigar too,” I shot back, “but I take it out of my mouth once in a while.” That kind of remark can have one of two reactions. It will either cause a sharp intake of breath at having crossed some forbidden frontier or it will bring the house down. The studio audience loved it, but the people out there in Radioland never got a chance to react. The exchange was clipped out by Dwan, the house censor. But even though Groucho is credited as the primary author of The Secret Word Is Groucho, it isn’t really an “autobiography.” The book was actually put together in the waning years of the comedian’s life by freelance writer Hector Arce, who ostensibly obtained input from Groucho; and it’s unlikely that Groucho’s declining health and memory allowed him to contribute much (if anything) to the finished work, leaving Arce to rely on secondary sources. Arce consulted various personnel associated with You Bet Your Life in producing the book; almost certainly one (or more) of those people proffered the “cigar” story as true to Arce, who rewrote it in Groucho’s voice and inserted it into the book, unaware that his subject had denied it just a few years previously. Arce’s account doesn’t sound like Groucho’s speaking or writing style at all, and it presents a Groucho who has suddenly “remembered” details he was previously unfamiliar with in his Esquire few years earlier (i.e., he’s corrected the gender of the person he was addressing from male to female, he now recalls the contestant’s name, and he’s fixed the wording of the remark from “I smoke a cigar, but I take it out of my mouth occasionally” to the pithier “I love my cigar too, but I take it out of my mouth once in a while”). While the 1972 Esquire interview in which Groucho discussed this quip unideniably contained Groucho’s own words, the same can’t be said for what was presented in Arce’s book. The Secret Word Is Groucho account quoted above also has Groucho asserting that the purported exchange with Mrs. Story was “clipped out by Dwan, the house censor.” Groucho of course would have known that Robert Dwan was not a “house censor”; he was one of the producers who worked on You Bet Your Life for its entire run, staging the weekly performances and supervising the editing of each episode for broadcast. In his own book about the program (As Long As They’re Laughing: Groucho Marx and You Bet Your Life), Dwan wrote: Last summer in Maine, a respectable New York dealer in rare books sidled up to me and said, conspiratorially, “Is it true Groucho made that crack about his cigar?” I knew immediately what he meant. For a long time, I, too, believed it was a figment of the mass libido. But, after discussions with my late partner, Bernie Smith, I am convinced that it did happen. I now believe that Groucho said it, but that he didn’t mean what the dirty joke collectors think he meant. That remark, taken at its burlesque show level, was simply not his style. But outside of that studio audience and the 200 people who laughed that night, no one else ever heard that joke, because the exchange was never broadcast. It was never heard beyond the confines of NBC Studio C in Hollywood, and yet the story has spread to become an underground legend. This account is even more curious: Robert Dwan, the man who was onstage for every performance of You Bet Your Life and who supervised the editing of the show, didn’t remember hearing Groucho make such a remark, yet he came to “believe” the legend was real because someone else told him so many years after the fact. And although Dwan noted that he consulted “20 volumes of the original scripts” and a “collection of acetate recordings of the unedited performances and tapes of the edited broadcasts” and four reels of 16mm film consisting of “the funniest and most audacious of the sequences which we were required to delete from the broadcasts as being unsuitable for viewing in the 1950s” in the preparation of his book, he made nary a mention of turning up anything supporting the “cigar” story. Steve Stoliar, who worked as a secretary in Groucho’s household during the last few years of the comedian’s life, also made an affirmative case for this legend in his 1996 book, Raised Eyebrows: My Years Inside Groucho’s House: You may have heard about a legendary line concerning a certain cigar that Groucho was alleged to have uttered during one program. Some say it never happened; others swear they’ve seen it on TV. As it turns out, the truth is somewhere inbetween. One of the unexpected pleasures of spending time with the people behind the scenes was getting to the bottom of this infamous incident. For the record, it was [You Bet Your Life head writer] Bernie Smith who provided us with the details. To our amazement, Bernie had kept a chart throughout the life of the show, in which he had meticulously recorded the names of the contestants, what the secret word was and how much they ended up winning. There was, it seems, a sign painter named Mr. Story who lived in Bakersfield, California. He and his wife had what was reputed to be the largest family in America. Originally there were twenty-two children, but three had died. During the first season of “You Bet Your Life,” when it was broadcast on radio only, the Story family was bused in from Bakersfield to be contestants on the show. After a bit of small talk, the conversation went like this: Groucho: “How many children do you have?” Mrs. Story: “Nineteen, Groucho.” Groucho: “Nineteen?! Why do you have so many children? It must be a terrible responsibility and a burden.” Mrs. Story: “Well, because I love my children — and I think that’s our purpose here on Earth — and I love my husband.” Groucho: “I love my cigar, too, but I take it out of my mouth once in a while!” The studio audience went wild, but director Bob Dwan ordered the exchange deleted before it could be aired because it was obviously too racy for 1947 sensibilities. So the Story story is true, but anyone who claims to have seen that program is either mistaken or lying because it occurred three years before the show’s 1950 television debut and it was edited out of the radio show before anyone but the studio audience had a chance to hear it. Unfortunately, no copies of that legendary outtake are known to have survived. Although the imagined dialogue between Groucho and the female contestant is lifted directly from The Secret Word Is Groucho, this account does at least introduce some detail to the story (e.g., a specific number of children, the hometown of the contestants, the father’s occupation, the year of the interview) indicating actual research rather than mere repetition of legend. As we’ll see shortly, however, some of this detail is inaccurate. The most recent presentation of the “cigar” legend we’re aware of is the background booklet enclosed with the 2003 DVD release You Bet Your Life: The Lost Episodes (a collection of some of the show’s preserved TV episodes), which contained the following information about an audio bonus feature included on one of the discs: In December 1950 DeSoto distributed a twelve inch 78rpm recording featuring highlights from You Bet Your Life and a holiday message from Groucho to their dealers. The nine minute recording includes an excerpt from Groucho’s November 17, 1947 radio interview with Mr. and Mrs. Story of Bakersfield, California, the parents of twenty children. This interview has become legendary for a portion of it that never aired. Groucho: “Why do you have so many children? It must be a terrible responsibility and a burden.” Mrs. Story: “Well, because I love my children and I think that’s our purpose here on Earth, and I love my husband.” Groucho: “I love my cigar, too, but I take it out of my mouth once in a while.” Considering how many people have claimed to have seen or heard that exchange over the years it would seem likely that it must exist somewhere. But of the ninety-nine radio episodes of You Bet Your Life that aired prior to the show’s television debut, fewer than half of them survive. And the show with Mr. and Mrs. Story is not among them. The famous exchange would certainly have been edited out anyway. The brief clip from Season’s Greetings from DeSoto — Laughs with Groucho is all that remains of this episode. And the only people who witnessed that legendary moment were in the studio audience that fateful night in 1947. (Note that the imagined dialogue between Groucho and Mrs. Story is lifted directly from the book The Secret Word Is Groucho, another indication that it came from someone associated with the You Bet Your Life program and not Groucho himself.) It is true that Marion and Charlotte Story of Bakersfield, California, the parents of twenty children, were once featured as contestants on You Bet Your Life. According to announcer George Fenneman’s introduction, Mr. and Mrs. Story were selected to participate because the producers thought it would be interesting to go through the audience and find the couple with the largest number of offspring for Groucho to interview, and as the parents of twenty children (not nineteen, as stated in Raised Eyebrows), Mr. and Mrs. Story qualified for that honor. (Since You Bet Your Life was a well-planned show that interviewed and prepped its contestants in advance, Mr. and Mrs. Story likely appeared on the program by invitation and were not merely present in the audience by happenstance, with George Fenneman’s introduction of them probably stretching the truth a little to create an exaggerated sense of spontaneity for the listening audience.) It is also true that this interview took place during You Bet Your Life‘s days as a radio-only program (it didn’t begin airing on television in addition to radio until October 1950); so even if the “cigar” quip had sprung from this encounter, anyone who now claims to have seen Groucho make the remark on television is clearly mistaken. As usual, however, the DVD booklet’s account is rife with misinformation. A complete audio recording of (the broadcast portions of) Marion and Charlotte Story’s appearance on You Bet Your Life does indeed exist (and is linked below). Moreover, that recording couldn’t possibly date from 17 November 1947, as claimed, because Groucho can be heard making promotional references to DeSoto-Plymouth, who did not become sponsors of You Bet Your Life until partway through the 1949-50 season. (External evidence indicates this recording actually dates from the broadcast of 11 January 1950, the first show aired after DeSoto-Plymouth took over sponsorship of You Bet Your Life from Elgin-American.) What do we find in this recording? It does not include anything like the infamous “cigar” quip, Groucho’s only mention of stogies coming when he inquires of Mr. Story, “With each new kid, do you go around passing out cigars?” (“I stopped at about a dozen,” Mr. Story responds.) And for those who would claim that the “cigar” remark was indeed uttered by Groucho but excised from the aired version of the show, we note that none of the claimed dialogue ancillary to that remark is present in the recording, either: Groucho does not ask Charlotte Story why she has so many children, neither Mr. nor Mrs. Story professes to thinking that having children is “our purpose here on Earth,” nor does Mrs. Story proclaim that she loves her husband. As we touched on earlier in this article, it’s a common phenomenon of urban legendry that amusing stories involving clever repartee often retroactively place words into the mouths of the famous people deemed most likely to have said them. Sometimes, however, the designated mouths don’t really match up with the words assigned to them. Johnny Carson’s image has long been saddled with the claim that he made a risqué remark to a cat-carrying starlet on the Tonight Show, even though he was never known for employing that sort of crude sexual humor in his TV talk show host role. Likewise, although it might seem that no one would fit a sexual double entendre involving a cigar better than Groucho Marx, even You Bet Your Life producer Robert Dwan acknowledged (as quoted above) that it was too burlesque and not really Groucho’s style. It was the kind of dirty put-down Groucho might blurt out in private, but not to a kindly couple on a national radio program. Groucho’s style on You Bet Your Life was typically much gentler, as exemplified by the following exchange made under similar circumstances (i.e., when he questioned a female contestant who came from a family of seventeen children): Groucho: How does your father feel about this rather startling turn of events? Is he happy or just dazed? Daughter: Oh, my daddy loves children. Groucho: Well, I like pancakes, but I haven’t got closetsful of them … It’s not inconceivable that the infamous “cigar” quip might have originated with this very exchange, when someone later misremembered or deliberately “naughtied up” the dialogue to better fit Groucho’s public image and changed “pancakes” to “cigar.” NOTE: Various “blooper” records purport to offer an “actual recording” of Groucho’s remark. However, those record makers typically employed recordings they made themselves using sound-alikes in order to “re-create” events for which no actual recording existed (in most cases because the events were apocryphal ones that never took place).
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854
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Indonesia's capital curbs private cars in bid to cut choking pollution.
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Indonesia’s capital announced new curbs on private cars on Wednesday as it moves to rein in Jakarta’s choking air pollution, but experts warned the measures were unlikely to stamp out the problem.
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true
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Environment
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The traffic-clogged city has more than 10 million residents, but about three times that number live in surrounding towns, swelling emissions from vehicles, factories and power stations. In the current dry season, Jakarta has consistently ranked among the world’s most polluted cities, based on data from Air Visual, a Swiss-based group that monitors air quality. In 2016, the municipal government ordered curbs on private cars governed by whether their license-plate numbers were odd or even, to reduce traffic jams on main thoroughfares. That effort was widened last year, ahead of the Asian Games. On Wednesday, it said this policy would be extended again to cover smaller roads. This move comes after an instruction last week by Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan to levy congestion charges for cars from 2020, set an age limit of 10 years on vehicles on the road by 2025, tighten emission tests and rein in industrial discharges. However, experts said the governor needed to do more. “All the steps taken will in themselves improve the air quality, but the overall impact will not be big because they are not addressing the main problem,” said Almo Pradana, senior manager for energy and climate at the World Resources Institute Indonesia. Pradana added that Jakarta did not have enough monitoring devices to pinpoint the cause of the pollution spikes. “If we look at air quality issues, what you have to do is you have to find what makes the air quality worsen, how much in percentages comes from transportation, and when, and how much comes from coal power plants and factories,” he said. A strategic plan to cut pollution based on an inventory of emissions would be a better solution, he said, adding that this week’s massive power outage had made the city’s air cleaner. But ending the city’s love affair with cars appears likely to be difficult. Jakarta residents took to social media on Wednesday to figure out how to get around the restrictions, including strategies such as changing car plates and buying more cars. “It’s a burden for people, not effective!” one of them, Tito Pangesti, said on Twitter. “Make better regulations, like banning old minibus with black exhaust smoke on the street ... if you want to reduce pollution, odd-even is not a solution.” Environmental groups have sued President Joko Widodo and several government officials over Jakarta’s worsening air quality, trying to force the government to investigate the source of emissions.
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27425
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Seattle has imposed an excise tax on the distributors of sweetened drinks.
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The stated purpose of the tax and the proceeds derived therefrom are to expand access to healthy and affordable food, close the food security gap (i.e., assist those who do not qualify for SNAP benefits), promote healthy nutrition choices, reduce disparities in social, developmental, and educational readiness and learning for children, assist high school graduates to enter college, and expand services for the birth-to-five population and their families.
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true
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Politics Business, seattle
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In January 2018, social media users began pondering a photograph seemingly showing a variety pack of Gatorade brand sports drink offered for sale at a Costco warehouse store in Seattle, priced at $26.33. What threw viewers for a loop was that the price of the drink itself was only $15.99, with another $10.34 (a markup of 65%) being added to the cost for something identified as “”City of Seattle Sweetened Beverage Recovery Fee”: The photograph was real, and it referenced a Sweetened Beverage Tax imposed on the distribution of sweetened beverages in the city of Seattle beginning 1 January 2018, at a rate of is 1.75 cents per fluid ounce: The excise tax includes sodas, energy and sports drinks, fruit drinks, sweetened teas, and ready-to-drink coffee drinks. Other sweet(ened) potables such as infant formula, 100% fruit juice, medications, weight reduction products, milk-based beverages, and alcohol are exempt from the tax: “Sweetened beverage” includes all drinks and beverages commonly referred to as soda, pop, cola, soft drinks, sports drinks, energy drinks, sweetened ice teas and coffees, and other products with added caloric sweeteners, including but not limited to juice with added caloric sweetener, flavored water with added caloric sweetener, and non-alcoholic mix beverages that may or may not be mixed with alcohol. Excluded beverages: Any beverage in which natural milk is the primary ingredient. “Milk” is defined as a natural fluid milk, regardless of animal sources or butterfat content. Plant-based milk substitutes that are marketed as milk, such as but not limited to, soy milk, coconut milk, rice milk, and almond milk, are considered natural milk. Any beverage consisting of 100 percent natural fruit or vegetable juice with no added sweetener. Any beverage that contains fewer than 40 calories per 12-ounce serving. Alcoholic beverages. This exclusion does not apply to bar mixers that sweeten alcoholic drinks.
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9789
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Omega-3 oils shown as good for brain health in study involving older people
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At least the Post, unlike CNN, managed to slip in a few caveats about the research in its 270-word snippet of a story. And it didn’t make any questionable claims about the health effects of omega-3s. However, the story lacked a clear explanation of the potential benefits and offered no independent perspective. Both would have been helpful here. We recognize that this feature, Quick Study, is meant to be a short summary of research for the busy reader. And we appreciate the standard disclaimer the feature carries at the end, which says: “conclusive evidence about a treatment’s effectiveness is rarely found in a single study. Anyone considering changing or beginning treatment of any kind should consult with a physician.” Nevertheless, even tiny information nuggets like this one need to provide key details about the research and context. If there’s not enough room for those things, editors should think hard about whether the story is worth running at all. Does this help readers – or just add more background noise in the daily drumbeat of health care news?
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false
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dementia,Omega-3
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The cost of fish is not in question. The story tells us individuals with lower omega-3 levels “scored lower on cognitive tests measuring such things as memory, problem solving, abstract thinking and multi-tasking.” But how much lower were the scores and did they indicate a meaningful difference in how these people functioned? The story doesn’t say. The harms of eating fish are not in question – although the story could have mentioned concerns with mercury in some fish at some levels of consumption. The story mentions some limitations: “Most participants were white. Testing and measurements were done once, providing no data for comparison over time or to determine any link to dementia.” We’ll call this satisfactory, but the story didn’t get to the heart of the matter the way the competing HealthDay coverage did. The key issue is that this kind of study can’t show whether it was the omega-3s, or some factor or combination of factors associated with higher omega-3 intake, that was responsible for the benefits. No disease mongering. No independent source was quoted. An extra two dozen words may have done the trick. There was no discussion of alternatives (such as exercise, mental stimulation) to omega-3s for preserving cognitive function. The availability of fish and fish oil is not in question. Previous research has suggested possible benefits of fish and other components of a healthy diet on cognitive function during aging. This story didn’t mention any of that research. We can’t tell to what extent this story may have relied on a press release, so we’ll call it not applicable.
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29564
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"The Obama Administration is ""fighting in court"" to allow non-citizens to vote in general elections."
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"What's true: The League of Women Voters (along with the NAACP and other parties) filed for injunctive relief against the Election Assistance Commission on 12 February 2016 due to unilaterally imposed voter registration restrictions requiring ""documentary proof"" of American citizenship; current law prohibits non-citizens from registering to vote or voting under penalty of perjury. What's false: The Obama Administration or Justice Department initiated the suit; the Election Assistance Commission's actions would enable non-citizens to legally vote in 2016 primaries and the general election; any parties are advocating for the right of non-citizens to vote in primary or general elections. What's undetermined: The ultimate outcome of a 9 March 2016 hearing on the suit's merits."
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false
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Politics Ballot Box, DOJ, EAC, league of women voters
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On 22 February 2016, the above-quoted text (and embedded video) began to get passed around on social media. The initial portion was transcribed and published by the Lou Dobbs Facebook page. Dobbs continued, concluding: …both organizations fighting to overturn state laws that ensure only citizens are allowed to register to vote when they use a federally designed registration form. Incredible. Dobbs didn’t reference any specific “election rule fight” in the clip, and the information above (including the subsequent commentary) made up all of the detail provided by the clip. Sifting through Dobbs’ claim without specifics was difficult, but the comments in the clip matched up with a 22 February 2016 National Review item: Several well-funded organizations — including the League of Women Voters and the NAACP — are fighting efforts to prevent non-citizens from voting illegally in the upcoming presidential election. And the United States Department of Justice, under the direction of Attorney General Loretta Lynch, is helping them. On February 12, these groups filed a lawsuit in D.C. federal court seeking to reverse a recent decision by the U.S. Election Assistance Commission (EAC). The Commission’s decision allows Kansas and other states, including Arizona and Georgia, to enforce state laws ensuring that only citizens register to vote when they use a federally designed registration form. An initial hearing in the case is set for Monday afternoon, February 22. National Review linked to a statement issued by the League of Women Voters announcing a lawsuit against the Election Assistance Commission, on the grounds that EAC executive director Brian Newby acted illegally in approving requests from three states (Alabama, Georgia, and Kansas) to require “documentary proof” of citizenship in order to vote: Washington, DC – The League of Women Voters of the U.S. and its Alabama, Georgia and Kansas affiliates filed suit today in federal district court to stop the recent illegal action by the Executive Director of the U.S. Election Assistance Commission (EAC) that allows these states to restrict voter registration. “Voters should not have to face an obstacle course to participate and vote,” said Elisabeth MacNamara, president of the League of Women Voters of the U.S. “The recent decision by EAC Executive Director Brian Newby is simply contrary to federal law and we expect it to be overturned.” Acting unilaterally, Mr. Newby recently approved requests from Alabama, Georgia and Kansas to require documentary proof of citizenship when an applicant uses the federal mail voter registration application form. The Help America Vote Act of 2002 requires the full commission itself to vote on any changes, but Mr. Newby ignored that obligation. According to the complaint, the issue wasn’t just the modification of the law but that Newby acted unilaterally, which goes against longstanding Commission policy. In the “complaint for declaratory and injunctive relief,” the plaintiffs alleged Newby’s “actions violated the Administrative Procedure Act (‘APA’) in at least five respects”: On January 29, 2016, the Executive Director unilaterally granted requests by Alabama, Georgia and Kansas (collectively, the “States”) to modify the Federal Form’s instructions to require voter registration applicants in those States to submit documentary proof of U.S. citizenship. By doing so, the Executive Director acted beyond his authority and contrary to longstanding Commission policy and precedent that documentary proof of citizenship was not “necessary for States to assess the eligibility” of a voter registration application submitted on the Federal Form. As a result of the Executive Director’s actions, and for the first time since Congress created the Federal Form, documentary proof of citizenship is now required to register to vote in federal elections in Alabama, Georgia, and Kansas. The Executive Director immediately implemented these changes to the Federal Form on the EAC’s website. The suit listed five reasons the plaintiffs believed Newby did not have the authority to unilaterally grant such requests: Finally, the Executive Director exceeded the scope of the EAC’s statutory authority, which precludes any documentary proof of U.S. citizenship requirement absent a showing of necessity. The complaint went on to cite a 2015 Tenth Circuit Court ruling that “documentary proof of citizenship requirements were inconsistent with the purposes of the [National Voting Rights Act],” stating “the EAC’s prior Executive Director rejected [states’ requests] in 2014, based on existing EAC policy”: Beginning with Arizona in 2006, several states have requested—multiple times in some cases, like Kansas and Arizona—that the EAC amend the Federal Form to require documentary proof of citizenship. The EAC has repeatedly denied those requests. Arizona’s refusal to accept voter registration applications on the Federal Form without documentary proof culminated in the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in ITCA, 133 S. Ct. 2247, which held that States must “accept and use” the Federal Form as implemented by the EAC. Arizona, Kansas and Georgia thereafter submitted new requests to require documentary proof of citizenship, which the EAC’s prior Executive Director rejected in 2014, based on existing EAC policy, in a formal decision finding that documentary proof of citizenship requirements were inconsistent with the purposes of the NVRA, and were not shown to be necessary by any evidence provided by the States. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit affirmed the prior Executive Director’s decision and rejected Kansas and Arizona’s subsequent APA challenge (Georgia did not challenge the EAC’s decision). See Kobach v. U.S. Election Assistance Comm’n, 772 F.3d 1183 (10th Cir. 2014), cert. denied, 135 S. Ct. 2891 (2015). According to the documents, the timing of the unilateral action was potentially suppressive to voters in the 2016 primary and general elections, and that existing laws already prevented non-citizens from registering to vote in either cycle under penalty of perjury (in a larger argument that such “protections” were unnecessary under standing law): The Federal Form thus has a number of safeguards to prevent non-citizen registration, including an attestation clause on the Federal Form that sets out the requirements for voter eligibility, requiring registrants to sign the Federal Form under penalty of perjury and imposing criminal penalties on persons who knowingly and willfully engage in fraudulent registration practices. The complaint said that the actions taken would prevent citizens otherwise legally entitled to vote from registering: Requiring documentary evidence of citizenship pursuant to the EAC Executive Director’s recent actions substantially and illegally burdens the rights of voter registrants in violation of the NVRA, the APA, and the Commission’s regulations, and hinders the ability of the Plaintiffs to carry out their mission of promoting voter participation through voter registration drives. It also forces Plaintiffs in all affected jurisdictions to expend substantial resources to educate the public about the new requirements, when Plaintiffs have already, in the current election cycle, spent significant time and money to educate voters about existing voter registration rules that now could be changed mere weeks or months before the election. Further, it requires Plaintiffs to divert resources previously used to help voters register to instead assist eligible applicants in securing proper proof-of-citizenship documents in order to exercise their right to vote. Attorney General Loretta Lynch’s name appeared on page 215 of the suit, on an included summons. Lynch did not appear to be a plaintiff in that document: Politico reported that the DOJ backed “the issuance of a court injunction blocking a federal official’s decision to approve new voter registration forms that allow three states to insist that voters provide copies of documents proving their U.S. citizenship”: The Justice Department is representing the commission and Newby in the case and turned heads by agreeing to a preliminary injunction nullifying Newby’s action. In his order Tuesday, Leon called that step “extraordinary.” The judge is an appointee of President George W. Bush. An attorney with New York University’s Brennan Center, which is backing the suit, expressed dismay at Leon’s ruling but stressed it was just an initial decision. “We’re certainly disappointed the judge didn’t grant the temporary restraining order, [but] we are confident we have a strong case,” the Brennan Center’s Wendy Weiser said. “It’ll be considered in two weeks. There’s still plenty of time to resolve this issue favorably before, certainly the November election and hopefully sooner than that.” In a 22 January 2016 court document supplied by Politico, two Department of Justice attorneys held that “the Court should grant plaintiffs’ motion for a preliminary injunction, on the ground that the January 29, 2016 decisions did not determine that the approved information was ‘necessary’ to determine state eligibility requirements or articulate reasons pursuant to that statutory criterion”: The United States consents to plaintiffs’ request for entry of a preliminary injunction. On January 29, 2016, the Executive Director of the U.S. Election Assistance Commission (“Commission”) approved the requests of three states—Alabama, Georgia, and Kansas—to modify their state-specific instructions on the National Mail Voter Registration Form (“Federal Form”). However, in deciding to include the states’ documentary proof of citizenship requirements on the Federal Form, the Executive Director did not make the determination that this information was “necessary to enable the appropriate State election official to assess the eligibility of the applicant and to administer voter registration and other parts of the election process.” 52 U.S.C. § 20508. Because the National Voter Registration Act permits only information satisfying this “necessity” requirement to be included on the Federal Form, the Executive Director’s decisions are not consistent with the statute. While plaintiffs have made a number of other arguments, the Court need not reach them in order to issue an injunction. The United States requests that the decisions be enjoined on this narrow ground. So while Dobbs was correct in stating that the LWV, NAACP, and other parties filed a suit and request for injunctive relief, the clip also led a large number of readers and viewers to believe that the plaintiffs sought to allow non-citizens to vote in elections. That was misleading, as the suit alleged that the requirement for documentary proof in an election year posed an undue burden on citizens registering to vote. Under the NVRA of 1993, all individuals registering to vote must swear under penalty of perjury that they are United States citizens. The plaintiffs sought not to overturn or weaken that law, but to challenge new requirements for citizens to provide documentation of citizenship in order to vote. While listed plaintiffs included the LWV and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, neither the Obama administration nor the Justice Department were named as parties to the suit. Named defendants were Newby and the EAC. Finally, the DOJ backed the plaintiff’s request for an injunction (denied on 23 February 2016, pending a 9 March 2016 hearing), but was not directly a party named in the suit.
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29416
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A Minnesota man was jailed simply for possessing a windmill on his property.
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What's true: Minnesota man Jay Nygard was jailed in October 2015 after being found in contempt of court for refusing to comply with an order to remove a concrete base from his property. What's false: Nygard was not thrown in jail for simply erecting a windmill; Nygard did not spend six months in jail.
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false
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Politics Legal, anonews.co, fake bans, illegal sustainable living
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On 14 November 2016, The Mind Unleashed published an article reporting that a Minnesota man had been arrested and thrown in jail for six months simply because he had put up a windmill on his own (private) property: For more than a year, we have been following the story of a Minnesota man, Jay Nygard, who is routinely risking jail time because he refuses to remove a wind turbine from his property. Nygard has been in and out of court over the years, and despite a short-lived victory last October, he was recently back in front of a judge facing a contempt of court charge for refusing a court order to remove the turbines from his property. On [11 November 2016], Nygard was arrested and, according to his son, has been given six months in prison for refusing to remove the base … Kahler said that although there are no ordinances against windmills, the county has a personal vendetta against his family. On 26 November 2016 the Facebook page “@anonnews.co” shared a similar article claiming Nygard was jailed for six months due to the presence of a windmill on his property. Although the article briefly made mention of the year 2015, the claim reignited outrage on social media over a purportedly oppressive government hellbent on restricting autonomous lifestyles. (As did the earlier iteration, which asserted Nygard’s “only ‘crime’ was self-sustainability”). The story was one of the many social media panics that periodically appear maintaining that an overreaching government was slowly but surely making all “off the grid” living illegal with gradually more invasive statutes and building codes. However, stories of this type are almost never as clear-cut as they seem to be on first glance. According to rumors of the same type, a man was jailed simply for collecting rainwater (when the individual in fact was warned for years not to operate massive illegal reservoirs); another warned a judge ruled homegrown vegetables were unlawful (the claim actually involved codes prohibiting non-decorative gardens in front yards only); a similar outcry ensued earlier in 2016 when an inaccurate 2014 blog post recirculated and led readers to believe that Michigan’s Right-to-Farm Act had been repealed (in actuality, the bill was updated to codify voluntary guidelines for keeping livestock). In all cases, disputes between homeowners and jurisdictions or associations were misconstrued or misrepresented as sweeping instances of legal precedent, outlawing seemingly benign activities like farming or harvesting environmental resources such as water or wind. Most of the time, the claims hinged on single cases not applicable to others’ ability to garden, produce food, or collect water and wind energy. The “windmill” story was far more complex than an individual carted off to jail without warning for innocently attempting to generate energy himself. A December 2010 article chronicled the early stages of what became a years-long dispute. That piece reported that Nygard was aware that his desire to install a windmill stood at odds with what local authorities wanted, adding that he pressed ahead regardless: The city of Orono has ordered Nygard to stop work on his wind turbine, saying the city’s zoning doesn’t allow wind generators, and threatened him with criminal prosecution if he ignores the order. Nygard admits he poured a concrete pad for the turbine after the city rejected his application for a building permit. But he and his attorney claim the city is overstepping its authority and discouraging a homeowner and entrepreneur from helping the environment. “Here I’m trying to go green and they’re trying to throw me in jail,” Nygard said. The piece describing him as a “a stay-at-home dad who’s trying to start a business selling home wind turbines,” and noted that the windmills stood “about 22 feet tall [with] blades [] 9 feet in diameter”: Orono Mayor James White said Nygard should put his energy into petitioning the city for a wind energy policy, not getting into a standoff with inspectors. White said that even though Orono doesn’t explicitly ban wind generators in Nygard’s neighborhood, the city has broad authority to limit what people build on their property. “We’re not going to discourage people from doing green things,” White said. “It’s just when and where.” Nygard’s applied for and was denied permission to build a two-story windmill on his property in 2010. A stop work order was issued in November of that year, and Nygard pledged to fight the decision. Officials at the time expressed concern that allowing the large structure would inspire other potential nuisances, and a planning expert noted that a lack of consistency in home turbines had the potential to create further problems. Nygard was still fighting the windmill battle in October 2014, though it appeared he had made little legal progress. By that point, multiple parties had filed lawsuits over the dispute, and the city tried to prohibit the construction of wind turbines in the interim: On Monday, the Orono City Council passed a moratorium on small wind conversion systems while the city’s Planning Commission drafts a new ordinance regulating them. The Planning Commission is expected to review the new ordinance Nov. 17 [2014] … The city has long contended that the wind generator violates city ordinances and puts the Nygards’ neighbors and properties in the small neighborhood at risk. The 750-pound turbine is mounted on a galvanized pole on the Nygards’ lot, less than a third of an acre, and is less than 5 feet from a neighbor’s property … the city put a new ordinance in place last December prohibiting wind energy conversion systems within any of its zoning districts. But last week, Bush said in his ruling that the state statute doesn’t allow the city to completely ban small wind energy conversion systems. Instead, he wrote, the city is “free to enact reasonable requirements” on the siting and construction of them for safety, noise or other issues. Over the past three years [beginning in December 2010], wind turbines and related issues have sparked 15 lawsuits between the Nygards, several neighbors and the city, ranging from property issues to defamation. In addition to the city’s case, another county judge ordered the Nygards to remove the turbine, saying it’s a public nuisance to his neighbors. The Nygards are seeking a new trial in that case. On 3 October 2015, Jay Nygard was found to be in contempt of court and sentenced to six months in jail for failure to comply with an order to remove the turbine’s concrete footing. The family maintains that it would have threatened the home’s foundation, despite having had many months in 2015 during which they could perform the ordered work. However, by 6 October 2015, the concrete had been removed, and Nygard was released after only a few days in jail: He was sentenced to six months in jail, with the understanding that if the remaining concrete was removed, he would no longer be in contempt, and would be released. “The Nygards have chosen to be in contempt of court,” said Orono Mayor Lili McMillan, while Nygard was still in jail. “They have been given ample time to do so, and still have chosen not to comply.” The time between the court order and Nygard’s Oct. 2 jailing was more than 100 days, and the concrete footing for the turbine was included in the judge’s order to remove all related items … According to Jay Nygard, the footing was removed over the Oct. 2-3 weekend. An inspector signed and submitted to the court an affidavit confirming the concrete’s removal on the evening of Oct. 5, and Nygard was released the next day. The Nygards pledged to continue their windmill pursuit as of October 2015: With the last bit of his largest wind turbine removed and Nygard home, this episode of conflict is resolved. According to the Nygards, however, their fight isn’t over. Three turbines still stand. “The large wind turbine is down, and it’s never going back up in that location,” said Kendall Nygard. “We’ve fought hard, and we’ve had many victories along the way against the city – they won this time, but it’s not over.” In November 2015, Hennepin County District Court denied the Nygards’ request for a new trial [PDF]. Although Nygard was briefly jailed in October 2015, it was not for the crime of “self-sustainability.” By that point Nygard, Orono, and several other residents had spent many years and thousands of dollars fighting over the windmill. Nygard indicated refusal to comply with the order numerous times over the years, and was jailed only after months of failure to comply with an order to remove the base of the illegal structure from his property (and years of fighting the initial denied application to install it). While the family maintained that removing the windmill’s base was impossible, the task was accomplished over a weekend in October 2015 during Nygard’s brief stay in jail.
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36019
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"Many people remember a line saying, ""I see white people"" in the film 'Scary Movie', which parodied, among other things, 'The Sixth Sense' — but that line is not actually in 'Scary Movie.'"
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Scary Movie ‘I See White People’ Mandela Effect
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true
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Fact Checks, Viral Content
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"Among the nooks and crannies of the internet lurk new generations of paranormal stories, rumors of alternate universes, and shared institutional memories that are presented as proof of parallel timelines bleeding into one another in a broader theory popularly called the “Mandela Effect.”In one such shared (but inaccurate) memory, fans of the 2000 film Scary Movie have pointed out a line they remember from initial viewings (“I see white people”) has “changed” to “I see dead people” in recurring posts on social media, citing the phenomenon as a prime example.A page maintained by aerospace firm Northrup Grumman notes that the Mandela Effect nomenclature was coined by self-identified paranormal expert Fiona Broome. Grumman adds that the Mandela Effect is described as “false memory” by those skeptical of it and an example of a multiverse by others, and defines the term:The Mandela Effect is named for South African statesman and civil rights activist Nelson Mandela. When he died in 2013, news of his death stirred up some surprising — and mysterious — memories. People around the world reported that they remembered hearing of his death decades earlier, in the 1980s. Some even vividly recalled watching his funeral on television … Thus, people who remember seeing Mandela’s funeral in the 1980s may not be simply misremembering. They might have somehow slipped across from an alternate history where Nelson Mandela did die in the 1980s. In our world, he was imprisoned for many years. Likewise, people who recall “The Berenstein Bears” may have grown up in a parallel world where the bears’ name really did end in -stein.Threads about the claim regularly appear on Reddit subs such as r/retconned (devoted to what it calls “the retcon effect” in reality), r/MandelaEffect, and metaphysics-related subreddits in general:Scary Movie – Shorty’s Line ""I see Dead People"" from RetconnedSome posters share their commentary with “residue,” trace examples of the alternate-reality version they recall:The ""I see white people"" ME from Scary Movie, with decade old residue from MandelaEffectOn Twitter, users frequently tweeted as they happened upon their own alternate memory:I've seen the theory about the Hadron super collider causing us to shift dimensions and that this one isnt 'right'. Its interesting. So many Mandela effects bother me. The scary movie quote- I see white people which is now apparently dead people. Actual Mandela's death etc— Carla Reynolds (@carla_mmkw) November 12, 2019there's a lot of Mandela Effects that I find compellingSinbad's Shazaamscarecrow with a gunKit Kat with a dashScary Movie, ""I see white people""Tinkerbell on the Disney Castle logoit scares me LOL— Miss Gypsy Annette (@MissyAntoinett2) November 17, 2019THE NEWEST MANDELA EFFECT THAT'S CAME OUT IS IN SCARY MOVIE AND IT'S WHEN SHORTY SAY I SEE WHITE PEOPLE, IT'S NOW I SEE DEAD PEOPLE!! WE ARE IN A DIFFERENT TIME LINE— Murdermaine (@Murdermaine_) October 17, 2019It was not uncommon for users to tag Wayans brothers in an effort to confirm whether their recollection was accurate:MARLON have you heard of the Mandela effect from Scary Movie. Please tell what YOU remember saying? ""I see WHITE people or I see DEAD people?"" This is blowing my mind..— Brianna (@babedaaze) February 15, 2018The earliest mention of Scary Movie‘s “I see white people” Mandela Effect we found was from November 2017. In that iteration, the writer surmised the line appeared in the trailer but was later removed for reasons of “political correctness”:[Mass Memory Discrepancy Effect or MMDE]: I see white peopleCurrent: I see dead peopleSome claim that the scene in the original Scary Movie, which lampooned The 6th Sense, had the line “I see white people”, whereas now it’s seen as “I see dead people”. Is this a false memory, or was it really this way originally?It must be said, “I see dead people” just doesn’t make sense. Not only is it the exact line from the film it is parodying, but the black dude saying it just isn’t funny the way “white people” is, or would be … Many people definitely recall this being in the trailer but suspect it was dropped from the main movie. These days, anything remotely racist will come under increased scrutiny – even obvious comedy such as this.But before Mandela died, a comment on a decade-old Yahoo Answers thread responded to the original post about Scary Movie and “I see dead people,” claiming the quote was in actuality “I see white people”:no Scary movie quotes ” I see white people” the Sixth Sense is the movie that quotes thatA commenter responded:All you have to do is read his lips! You can definitely see him say white, and they put smoke to try and cover it up.On February 12 2018, a YouTube video about the Scary Movie “I see white people” Mandela Effect appeared. In its description, the uploader said:In Scary Movie There is a funny line where Shorty does a spoof on the movie Sixth Sense and says” I see white people” instead of dead people. Well guess what I never said that in this reality.More than one commenter described the discrepancy as the “freakiest” one yet, and others referenced it as a pop culture touchstone among their friends:Oh HELL NO!! I have a friend that lives by us and him and his family are the only black family in the area, he says “I see white people” all the time when he walks our door. The freakiest one yet! !Other commenters blamed CERN, an aspect of the conspiracy discussed in broader detail on our page “Did the World End in 2012?” One sub-theory around the Mandela Effect is that European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) experiments with particle physics in 2012 managed to alter reality in minor ways:Mandela Effects like this is why I believe someone (most likely CERN) is doing this intentionally.However, there are non-conspiracy theory answers to many of these questions. One response in objection to this particular claim involves the 2002 movie Undercover Brother. In a March 22 2019 r/MandelaEffect thread, a commenter claimed that the exact line appeared in a portion of Undercover Brother:I see white people: SOLVED from MandelaEffectAn embedded YouTube clip uploaded on March 22 2009 (approximately around the time the Yahoo Answers thread appeared, but several years before Mandela’s death coined the term and popularized the theory and ten years to the date of the thread citing it) was cued to a part where the main character says “I see white people.”The line also appeared in a similar clip uploaded in July 2014. Comments on that thread were divisive, with some users positing Undercover Brother‘s trailer contained the line and caused Mandela Effect proponents to conflate their memories, a theory vociferously rejected by fellow commenters:haha,so you are suggesting to people who NEVER saw the undercover brother movie and vividly feel as if they heard the line in scary movie that they instead had their memories contaminated by “possibly” seeing the trailer for a completely different movie perhaps once or a few times? ?….bahahaha….oooooooookay then….and they say believers have some out-there theories.Scary Movie was released in July 2000, and preceded by trailers; one of the lines the film parodied was from The Sixth Sense, released in August 1999. The Sixth Sense was a breakout hit, which is why the very next year it was parodied in Scary Movie. Another hugely well-received 1999 film was novella adaptation The Green Mile, by Stephen King; it was another runaway hit, and both were widely viewed by moviegoers.Both of these films were large presences at the 72nd Academy Awards ceremony in March 2000, honoring film efforts from the previous year, 1999. Of note is while the 72nd Academy Awards in 2000 was not the most viewed (viewership peaked in 1998), an estimated 46 million Americans watched the ceremony — a number which dropped each year, clocking in at 29 million in 2019.People who have watched the Oscars are likely aware the program’s host typically intersperses announcement and distribution of the awards with entertainment segments, featuring musical numbers and comedy sketches. Comedian Billy Crystal hosted the 72nd Academy Awards in 2000, and one of his comedy bits was a segment panning various celebrities in the audience, musing about what they might be thinking.That segment was uploaded to YouTube in October 2010 (prior to the death of Mandela and the ensuing “Mandela Effect” theory). One joke in particular was well-received by both ceremony attendees as well as YouTube commenters commenting — often before the Mandela Effect Scary Movie rumor took root. At around the 1:15 mark, the camera panned to The Green Mile‘s Michael Clarke Duncan, who died in 2012. As Duncan’s face appeared on the screen, Crystal quipped:I see white people.On a side note, Crystal’s joke was incidentally prescient; the 88th Academy Awards in 2016 (for films released in 2015) led to controversy and boycotts due to the snubbing of nominees of color. In response, the hashtag #OscarsSoWhite was used to voice frustration in the entertainment industry, ushering in changes in the coming years.Regarding the Scary Movie “I see white people” Mandela Effect rumor, it is impossible to assign a truth value to a claim hinging on the possible existence of multiple parallel universes. It is, however, true that a large number of people recall the line and feel the “I see dead people” joke didn’t “work” on the same level as the other did. In discourse, some have speculated that “Mandela Effected” people conflated that line with another in 2002’s Undercover Brother.It also seems possible that some of the 46 million viewers of the 72nd Academy Awards in 2000 remembered Duncan reacting to Crystal’s “I see white people” quip, the two films, and later conflated the joke with Scary Movie.But since it’s impossible to prove a negative, we also can’t really rule out the possibility the line truly was spoken as it is commonly remembered — but in an alternate timeline."
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9287
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Clinical trial examines safety, effectiveness of drug to treat binge eating disorder
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Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s office has proposed waiving a tax on coal to help finance pollution-curbing equipment, according to documents, but the move would also make coal more competitive in price with solar and wind energy.
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true
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binge-eating disorder,JAMA,Monica Seles,Shire Pharmaceuticals,Vyvnase
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Modi’s office has proposed waiving the carbon tax of 400 rupees ($5.61) per tonne that was levied on the production and import of coal, according to the documents reviewed by Reuters. The documents say the savings would improve the financial health of utilities and distribution companies, and help the power producers to install pollution-curbing equipment. The prime minister’s office and the power ministry did not respond to requests seeking comment on the proposals and when a decision was likely to be made. Despite struggling with some of the world’s worst air pollution levels, India has already pushed back a deadline to cut emission levels to up to 2022. Over half of India’s coal-fired plants are already set to miss a phased deadline starting Dec. 2019 to cut emissions of sulfur oxides, which have been proven to contribute to lung disease. The proposal is a big win for India’s coal industry, which has lobbied for government help, citing high debt levels and burgeoning payment dues from government-owned power distribution companies. Distribution companies owed power producers more than $11 billion in dues as of October, according to government data. Hardik Shah, deputy secretary at Modi’s office, advocated waiving the carbon tax on coal in an October note to the top bureaucrat at India’s power ministry, seen by Reuters. “A possible solution is to waive the goods and services tax (GST) compensation cess..on coal,” Shah said in the note on the installation of equipment to cut emissions of sulfur oxides. Shah argued for a waiver saying even if India ensured adequate financing to power plant operators to install the equipment, it would lead to higher electricity tariffs that would further burden distribution companies which buy power from utilities. The proposal comes at a time when India is set to open up coal mining to global mining companies for the first time. An implementation of the proposal would provide a fillip to state-run Coal India, whose stock has lost a fifth of its value over the last 12 months. Thermal power companies, in addition to emitting greenhouse gases, account for 80 percent of all industrial emissions of particulate matter, sulfur and nitrous oxides in India. The average rate at which coal-fired power is sold to distribution companies stands at about 3.50 rupees per unit, according to a Reuters analysis of data provided to the power ministry by many Indian utilities in October. That compares with an average cost of 2.50 rupees to 3.00 rupees for renewable energy projects. The current carbon tax on coal contributes to 0.25 rupees per unit, according to industry estimates. If implemented, the move would reduce the price gap between coal-fired power and renewable, and potentially impact Modi’s plan to increase adoption of green energy. “Cutting taxes on coal would impact growth of renewable energy as well as the transition away from coal,” said Nandikesh Sivalingam, Director at Center for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA). The prime minister’s office says installation of pollution cutting equipment would cost companies 0.30-0.35 rupees per unit and hence removal of the carbon tax would help companies meet emissions targets while ensuring electricity costs do not rise. But it will be a one-time cost and going forward, coal-fired utilities would be able to compete better with renewable energy. The proposal, if implemented, would cost India over 3% of its total indirect tax collection, which has been falling due to a broader economic slowdown. An abolition of the cess could also subject the federal government to further criticism from state governments, since they received the realized revenue from the government to compensate for shortfalls due to the implementation of a new tax structure in 2017. Modi’s office says if no waiver is given, some form of government subsidy would have to be given by states to keep the power producers functioning and the carbon tax abolition would make up for some shortfalls.
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12546
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President Trump last month proposed a $6 billion cut in funding to the National Institutes of Health. And thank God our congressmen made a deal last night to not go along with that. They actually increased funding by $2 billion.
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"Kimmel said, ""President Trump last month proposed a $6 billion cut in funding to the National Institutes of Health. And thank God our congressmen made a deal last night to not go along with that. They actually increased funding by $2 billion."" Technically, the two funding changes Kimmel referenced are for different fiscal years, so Congress didn’t precisely exchange the increase for Trump’s proposed cut. But Kimmel’s broader point is solid: The move by Congress to increase, rather than decrease, NIH’s funding for the rest of the 2017 fiscal year is a signal that lawmakers are in no mood to cut NIH’s budget by $5.8 billion once the 2018 spending bills are taken up."
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true
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Federal Budget, Health Care, Science, PunditFact, Jimmy Kimmel,
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"During his widely watched monologue about his newborn son’s recent medical emergency, ABC late-night host Jimmy Kimmel offered a bit of praise for one group of Americans that doesn’t receive much love these days: members of Congress. ""President Trump last month proposed a $6 billion cut in funding to the National Institutes of Health. And thank God our congressmen made a deal last night to not go along with that. They actually increased funding by $2 billion."" Is that what happened? Basically, yes. Kimmel has a point that by approving the increase, both Republicans and Democrats in Congress rebuked Trump’s proposal and made clear a distaste for cutting NIH. Budget experts, however, may quibble that Kimmel oversimplified a bit on the numbers. First, some background. NIH conducts and disseminates research into the causes, diagnosis, prevention and cure of human diseases. It is a collection of 27 separate institutes and centers, such as the National Cancer Institute, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, and the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. Explaining Kimmel’s comment starts with the release earlier this year of the Trump White House’s budget blueprint. While this proposal did not offer significant detail, it did include a cut for NIH. Specifically, the proposal would reduce spending for fiscal year 2018 by $5.8 billion compared to the fiscal 2017 level, through a range of reorganizations, consolidations and other changes. That’s short of a $6 billion cut, as Kimmel described it, but it’s pretty close. Fast-forward a few weeks to congressional negotiations over a bill to keep the government funded and avoid a government shutdown. Under the agreement reached by lawmakers, NIH would see a $2 billion increase in its budget over the five-month period of extended federal spending. (That's on top of the funding that was already expected.) According to news reports, the agreement provides an additional $400 million for Alzheimer’s disease and an additional $476 million for the National Cancer Institute, $120 million for the Precision Medicine Initiative, and an additional $110 million for the BRAIN Initiative, which aims to map the human brain. Where Kimmel oversimplified matters is on the numbers. Specifically, the $2 billion increase did not directly replace Trump’s $5.8 billion proposed cut -- the two actions are distinct, since they targeted two different fiscal years. It would have been more accurate to say that the $2 billion increase directly rejected a separate Trump proposal to cut $1.2 billion from NIH for the remainder of fiscal 2017, which concludes at the end of September. (Remember, the $5.8 billion cut was to be for the 2018 fiscal year, not for the rest of 2017.) Indeed, the Trump proposal to cut NIH by $5.8 billion in 2018 is still officially on the table since Congress hasn’t yet acted on spending for 2018. The agreement Kimmel cited only addresses a five-month extension of federal spending. That said, Kimmel’s overarching point -- that Congress effectively rejected Trump’s proposal to cut NIH -- is on target, experts say. Steve Ellis, vice president of the group Taxpayers for Common Sense, agreed that while Kimmel oversimplified the numbers, he added that the talk show host’s ""overall message is accurate. The administration sought cuts and Congress boosted the funding."" And the decision to protect NIH in the budget has been supported not just by Democrats but also by key Republicans, including the chairmen of the two chambers’ health appropriations subcommittees, Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., and Rep. Tom Cole, R-Okla., as well as Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn. ""There is no appetite on the Hill for cutting NIH,"" Stan Collender, a budget expert at the consulting firm Qorvis MSLGROUP, told PolitiFact. Our ruling Kimmel said, ""President Trump last month proposed a $6 billion cut in funding to the National Institutes of Health. And thank God our congressmen made a deal last night to not go along with that. They actually increased funding by $2 billion."" Technically, the two funding changes Kimmel referenced are for different fiscal years, so Congress didn’t precisely exchange the increase for Trump’s proposed cut. But Kimmel’s broader point is solid: The move by Congress to increase, rather than decrease, NIH’s funding for the rest of the 2017 fiscal year is a signal that lawmakers are in no mood to cut NIH’s budget by $5.8 billion once the 2018 spending bills are taken up."
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36686
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"Two videos show ""Muslim migrants"" and ""a Muslim mob"" attacking people."
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Zimbabwe state doctors who were fired for going on strike have rejected a government offer to return to work, their union said on Friday.
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false
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Disinformation, Fact Checks, Politics, Trump, Viral Content
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The doctors went on strike on Sept.3 to protest against poor wages, in some cases less than US$100 a month. President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s government, which responded to the job boycott by firing 448 doctors and pursuing disciplinary action against more than 1,000 others, on Thursday offered to reinstate them if they returned to work within 48 hours. Zimbabwe is experiencing its worst economic crisis in a decade that has seen resurgent inflation soaring to three-digit levels, eroding salaries and bringing back bitter memories of the hyperinflation era of a decade ago. According to the Zimbabwe Hospital Doctors Association (ZHDA), the last wage offer by the government would see the doctors earning a total package, including allowances, of Z$3,900 (about US$240) per month. “Sadly, the moratorium has come without a new offer on the table having been communicated to us,” ZHDA said, explaining its rejection of the offer. The strike by junior and middle-level doctors has paralyzed state hospitals, used by Zimbabwe’s poor majority. Even before the strike, the hospitals had already been struggling with shortages of drugs and other basic products. Critics say President Emmerson Mnangagwa has failed to keep promises he made in last year’s election campaign to revive the economy by pushing through reforms, attracting foreign investment and rebuilding collapsing infrastructure. On Thursday Parirenyatwa Hospital, the country’s biggest, was deserted, with only a handful of desperate patients being attended to by nurses. Sheila Muzanenhamo, who lives in one of Harare’s poorest townships, Epworth, grimaced as she explained how she had been turned away from the hospital because there was no doctor to attend to her. “I have been here since dawn, hoping to get assistance but the nurses said they could not help me,” said Muzanenhamo. “They told me to go to private doctors, but I have no money to pay for that.”
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7783
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As Ebola threatens mega-cities, vaccine stockpile needs grow.
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Doubts are growing about whether the world’s emergency stockpile of 300,000 Ebola vaccine doses is enough to control future epidemics as the deadly disease moves out of rural forest areas and into urban mega-cities.
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true
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Health News
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Outbreak response experts at the World Health Organization (WHO) and at the vaccines alliance GAVI are already talking to the leading Ebola vaccine manufacturer, Merck, to reassess just how much larger global stocks need to be. “We’re actively engaged with the World Health Organization and with groups like GAVI, the U.S. government and others to try to understand what will be an appropriate sized stockpile in the future,” Merck’s head of vaccines clinical research, Beth-Ann Coller, said in a telephone interview. Supply of the Merck shot, which is currently being used to fight a large and spreading outbreak of Ebola in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, is not a problem right now, according to the WHO’s deputy director-general of emergency preparedness and response, Peter Salama. But the nature of Ebola outbreaks is changing, he told Reuters. As the virus finds its way out of rural villages into populous urban settings, plans for how to contain it in future must change too. “What I’m concerned about is the medium- to long-term stockpile. The figure of 300,000 was very much based on previous Ebola outbreaks where you never really had huge numbers of cases because they were in isolated, rural, populations. But now, we increasingly see Ebola in mega-cities and towns.” “We need to view it now as an urban disease as well as a rural one - and therefore one requiring a different order of magnitude of preparations, including vaccines,” he said. Merck’s experimental Ebola vaccine, known as rVSV-ZEBOV, is the furthest ahead in development. Another potential vaccine being developed by Johnson & Johnson could also eventually become part of the stockpile, global health officials say. Congo’s two Ebola outbreaks this year illustrate the shifting nature of the threat. The first was relatively contained, infecting up to 54 people and killing 33 of them in an area of DRC’s Equateur Province that is remote and sparsely populated. Several of the eight outbreaks before this one in Congo - including one in 2014 and another in 2017 both also in Equateur - were also quickly contained and limited in size. But this year’s second outbreak in Congo - and the country’s tenth since the virus was first identified there in 1976 - is concentrated not in rural villages but in urban areas of the North Kivu and Ituri provinces. It has already infected more than 450 people, killed more than 270, and last month spread to Butembo, a densely populated city of about one million. This kind of prospect means global health emergency responders must “review our assumptions around Ebola”, Salama said. “If it were to take off in Butembo, or Goma, or, even worse, Kinshasa, we’d be talking about a totally different issue in terms of ... vaccine supplies required.” Seth Berkley, chief executive of the GAVI vaccines alliance which has an agreement with Merck to ensure a current stockpile of 300,000 rVSV-ZEBOV doses, told Reuters that around 40,000 doses had been used so far in the Congo outbreak. The emergency response is based on “ring vaccination” which aims to control an outbreak by identifying and offering the vaccine to contacts of anyone likely to be infected. This method uses relatively small numbers of vaccine doses and forms a human buffer of immunity to try to prevent spread of the disease. For now in Congo, Berkley said, there is no immediate need to boost the stockpile. But looking towards future inevitable outbreaks, the numbers would likely need to change. “The challenge we would have - and this has been under discussion - is if we started to do community-based vaccination in urban and semi-urban areas. That’s when the numbers would start to get quite big quite quickly,” he told Reuters. Merck’s shot has proven safe and effective in trials in West Africa but has yet to be approved for a license by U.S. and European regulators, so is being used in the Congo outbreak under special emergency rules for experimental products. When it gets approval, which Coller hopes would be in 2019, it will be made at a newly built manufacturing plant in Germany. Coller said Merck is not yet clear how many doses a year, or a month, the German facility could churn out once it is in production, but she stressed the company would “work collaboratively with the public health agencies to do our best to support their needs”.
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31455
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Former Alaska governor was critically injured in an automobile accident.
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Reports that the former Alaska governor was critically injured in an automobile accident are fake news.
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false
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Junk News, sarah palin
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In April 2017, several web sites posted articles reporting that former Alaska governor was critically injured in an automobile accident (along with the suggestion that the incident was no “accident”): It seems as though there may be more than the normal forces at play here. Former Governor of Alaska Sarah Palin was the victim of a horrendous crime this morning while driving to meet a friend on the Pacific Coast Highway. She was run off the road in what authorities are calling a hit and run and nearly killed. The SUV she was driving rolled over several times and ended up in a drainage ditch. Governor Palin was taken to a local hospital under an alias in case the hit and run was on purpose and not a random act of reckless driving. According to her spokesman, she is currently in a coma with 2 broken vertebrae and a broken thigh. None of this was true. The identical article was posted on several different web sites, including bluevision.news, americainformer.com, thepremiumnews.com washingtonfeed.com, whitespeach.com, proudleader.com, dailyusaupdate.com, freedomcrossroads.us, all of which run the same collection of fake and sensationalized “news” amidst a collection of low-quality advertising. Meanwhile, not a single reputable news outlet published any mention of Sarah Palin’s having been seriously injured in any type of accident. These fake news sites doubled down shortly afterwards with a followup fake news story about Palin’s having come out of her coma and provided information about her assailants: Governor Sarah Palin, who was run off the road Friday on the Pacific Coast Highway, woke up this morning and is in great spirits. Battered and bruised physically, she remains as smart as a whip and was able to identify the vehicle that ran her off the road, complete with license plate. The California Highway Patrol says the plate can be traced to a small car rental business in the Silicon Valley and that it was rented using fake ID. They do, however, have a video of the perp and circulated his picture across the area. The FBI is using facial recognition software to track him down.
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9601
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A Cavity-Fighting Liquid Lets Kids Avoid Dentists’ Drills
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The story focuses on the use of silver diamine fluoride (SDF) to treat and prevent dental cavities, particularly in children. The story does a good job of addressing cost, discussing benefits in context, and drawing on input from a variety of independent sources. But the article seems to be somewhat one sided, praising the therapy much more strongly than discussing the downsides of the treatment or the potential need for ongoing repeat treatment. And it sidesteps a solid discussion of what the medical evidence says about SDF. As well, we found this headline problematic. “A cavity-fighting liquid lets kids avoid dentists’ drills.” Yes, SDF could help many kids avoid dentists’ drills for some cavities– but, due to lack of availability, a lot of kids won’t be able to use SDF, and even kids who can use SDF won’t be able to use it if they have particularly large cavities. “A cavity-fighting liquid lets some kids avoid dentists’ drills” would have been more accurate and informative. According to the CDC, cavities are extremely common in young children: 19.5 percent of children aged 2-5, and 20 percent of children aged 5-11, have cavities. SDF offers a relatively faster, less painful, low-cost alternative to the traditional “drilling and filling” treatment of cavities. There has also been news coverage of an increase in the use of general anesthesia on young children in order to treat cavities, though we were unable to find any research on the subject. If SDF can be used to address cavities, allowing children to avoid treatment that requires general anesthesia — and related risks — that’s certainly worth covering. As with medical stories, it’s vital that dental stories like these take a look at the research/evidence for a particular intervention and discuss it with readers, which this one didn’t.
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true
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dentistry
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The story addresses cost in multiple places. One dentist notes that using SDF “comes out to pennies per tooth.” Elsewhere, the story refers to the overall treatment as costing $25 — and notes that getting a cavity filled at the same dentist’s office costs $151. We were glad to see the cost of a traditional filling included, since it gives readers useful context. The story also notes that Oregon is, so far, the only state to reimburse Medicaid providers for treating cavities with SDF. One factor not noted is that some cavities may need to be repeatedly treated, raising the cost. In many ways, the story does a very nice job of explaining the benefits of SDF. It addresses cost, the ability to avoid anesthesia, and the ease with which it can be applied. It even discusses the limits of those benefits, noting that patients with mouth sores or a silver allergy can’t use SDF — and that patients with “severe” cavities still need fillings. The story also includes links to supporting materials, which we like to see. However, this criterion is very specifically focused on whether a story quantifies benefits, and this story does not do that–we’re given little information on the status of the medical evidence for this procedure overall. A 2009 paper, linked to from this story, looked at two clinical trials of SDF and found that it “arrested” at least 96.1 percent of cavities (i.e., prevented them from getting worse). If the story had noted that, it would have gotten an enthusiastic thumbs up here. The story clearly discusses what is, by far, the most common side effect of SDF treatment — which is that the area of the tooth affected by the cavity becomes darkened after treatment. There are, however, other potential harms. A 2016 paper noted that 3 out of 1,493 patients in studies they reviewed developed “a small, mildly painful white lesion in the mucosa,” which disappeared after 48 hours. However, that’s such a small effect size, that it’s not clear whether the lesions were caused by SDF, so we don’t fault this story for not mentioning it. There can be more significant adverse health effects if SDF is inhaled or swallowed — including respiratory problems, vomiting and diarrhea. But those effects are only relevant if SDF is not handled properly, so, again, we don’t fault the story for not mentioning it. The story includes links to supporting material — which is great — but offers little discussion of the quality of evidence in the text of the story itself. For people who are reading this story in the printed newspaper, for example, this means that there is no immediate way to determine what evidence there is for the claims being made in the story. From what we can tell, there are very few solid trials on this intervention, and think this should have been discussed in the story. No disease mongering here. This is a real strong point. The story draws on input from a variety of experts, and clearly marks their relevant affiliations. What’s missing, though, is commentary from an expert on the research behind the method. The story is effectively a comparison between the use of SDF and the use of drilling and filling to treat cavities. The story does not address the use of laser technology, in lieu of drilling, but that technique still requires the use of fillings — and would still require the patient to be still during potentially lengthy treatment (which is one reason for the use of general anesthesia in young patients). Alternatives of using nitrous oxide in the office or procedural sedation with the proper safeguards were not discussed, either. The story makes clear that the use of SDF is not widespread in the U.S., but that it is becoming increasingly available. The story makes clear that SDF is not new, focusing instead on the fact that it is increasing in popularity (and why). The story doesn’t appear to be based on a news release. And even if it were, its use of independent sources goes well beyond what would have appeared in any news release.
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31413
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"A Clinton Foundation cargo ship arriving from Africa was raided and found to contain ""illegal contraband"" in the form of foreign refugees, narcotics, weapons, and illegal fruits."
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The Resistance may include information from sources that may or may not be reliable and facts that don’t necessarily exist. All articles should be considered satirical and any and all quotes attributed to actual people complete and total baloney. Pictures that represent actual people should be considered altered and not in any way real.
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false
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Junk News, clinton foundation, fake news, last line of defense
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On 11 May 2017, a slew of disreputable web sites posted an article alleging that a massive number of contraband items were discovered during a customs raid on a container ship belonging to the Clinton Foundation: A ship owned and operated by the Clinton Foundation was raided as it arrived from Africa this morning at the Port of Baltimore. The ship, which was supposed to be carrying “emergency supplies,” was actually carrying a cargo that had authorities stunned. BPA Harbormaster Jake Cummings explained to CNN: “We received a tip that the Clinton Foundation flagship, The Chelsea, was carrying illegal contraband into the United States. We honestly didn’t know what to expect, but what we found was simply…surreal. In the middle of the ship’s large manifest of containers, most of which were empty, we found 14 containing…people. Yes, people. They were all Refugees from places like Yemen and Syria and not a single one had any kind of documentation. We interviewed those who spoke English and were told that for $40K, anyone can catch a ride to the United States on a ship nobody would ever suspect.” The article continues with a list of more illegal items allegedly discovered aboard “the Chelsea”: Two other containers were also found to contain multiple crates of contraband, including illegal fruits that could potentially carry foreign insects and foodborne illnesses, weapons without serial numbers on them and no less than 30 pounds of marijuana. Several of the refugees were also found to be in possession of black tar heroin, an addictive, smokable form of the drug. Without exception, all the above claims were fabricated, however. No such raid was reported in any legitimate news sources. CNN, specifically, did not run an interview with the Port of Baltimore harbor master in connection with this or any similar raid. We have found no evidence that the Clinton Foundation owns or operates any kind of cargo ship called “the Chelsea.” In addition, the article originated on a web site known as The Last Line of Defense (about which we have written many times), a “satirical” venue that cranks out false clickbait stories on a daily basis. As the site’s administrators note on in a disclaimer on their “About Us” page:
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Radio personality Michael Savage was fired because he talked about Hillary Clinton's health on the air.
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What's true: Michael Savage's nationally syndicated radio show was temporarily preempted by one station in favor of live, on-scene coverage of the 26 September 2016 presidential debate. What's false: Michael Savage was not fired or removed from the airwaves for discussing Hillary Clinton's health.
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false
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Politics Conspiracy Theories, clinton health, conspiracy theories, curtis sliwa
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On 26 September 2016 rumors began circulating that popular conservative political commentator Michael Savage had been fired, replaced by a liberal host, or forcibly removed from the radio airwaves by operatives of Hillary Clinton after he published the following tweets: I’VE BEEN SABOTAGED ON AIR. TO DESTROY SUPPORT FOR TRUMP. MORE LATER — Michael Savage (@ASavageNation) September 26, 2016 WABC MAIN PHONE NUMBER 1-212-613-3800 — Michael Savage (@ASavageNation) September 26, 2016 Savage maintained that he had been abruptly cut off the air as he was discussing Hillary Clinton’s alleged health issues and suggested a connection between those events: I spent 30 minutes talking about Hillary’s health problems; I read you every fact about it. I then read you the pharmacology of Levodopa which is the main drug for Parkinson’s, and right in the middle of that discussion of Levodopa and its side effects, I was cut off across the country. Pure sabotage. No advance notice from me or my producers. Then ‘ISDN problems’ during my discussion of the side effects of Levodopa, used for treating Parkinson’s. Then the two fill-ins trying to sound informed and clever from WABC who have 40% lower ratings than me, boasting on air during my hours that they conducted a ‘coup’ by taking Savage off the air. Savage’s popular “The Savage Nation” is a nationally syndicated one broadcast throughout the U.S. by affiliate stations of the Westwood One network. What happened on the day in question was that one of the stations that airs Savage’s program, WABC in New York (which has the largest audience share of any station that carries “The Savage Nation”), opted to preempt his show — apparently without notifying Savage in advance — in favor of “wall to wall” coverage of that day’s first presidential debate provided by local hosts Curtis Sliwa and Ron Kuby, reporting live from the scene at nearby Hofstra University: Tune in to @77WABCradio for our wall to wall coverage!! This may be the biggest political event in history & WE will have it all for you! https://t.co/MB4SnwnI3F — Rita Cosby (@RitaCosby) September 26, 2016 Some of the people at the #HofDebate16 @HofstraU with @curtisandkuby covering the #PresidentialDebate @77WABCradio pic.twitter.com/CP5F8a1ZsH — 77 WABC Radio (@77WABCradio) September 26, 2016 . @curtisandkuby are LIVE from #HofstraUniversity today from 12noon-5pm! Listen https://t.co/ZlOWboFskg & hear latest on #HofDebate16 #NYC — Curtis and Kuby (@curtisandkuby) September 26, 2016 Many Twitter users saw only Savage’s tweets and inferred that the host had been removed from his show and/or punished. Although WABC did not address angry Twitter users, Westwood One published a stream of identical responses explaining Savage’s program had simply been preempted by one station in favor of debate coverage and had immediately returned to the air on that station the following day: @Danielle_Parker, It was not our decision. WABC didn’t air the show for one day in order to cover the debate. The show has aired since. — Westwood One (@WestwoodOne) September 28, 2016 Indeed, the very next day WABC published a tweet promoting Savage’s program, demonstrating that his show hadn’t been pulled by the station for anything other than one day’s special event coverage: The Savage Nation 9.27 https://t.co/s0kgA7QB4c via @audioBoom — 77 WABC Radio (@77WABCradio) September 27, 2016 Bart Tessler, Westwood One’s Eexecutive Vice President for News and Talk, issued the following statement about the issue: WABC decided to go local during afternoon drive Monday to cover the presidential debate at Hofstra, a local as well as a national story. Affiliates are permitted to pre-empt on certain occasions when there’s a big local story. All other affiliates carried The Savage Nation Monday as usual. WABC aired The Savage Nation Tuesday, as usual. Adding to the confusion was the fact that some kind of technical glitch resulted in a portion of the third hour of Savage’s program being replaced by a repeat of a previous show on the day in question: One of the national reps for the show … said there were some serious mis-steps. WABC in New York had apparently arranged for two local political pundits to offer commentary on the Trump-Clinton debate, because it was held close by. However, they failed to notify Savage prior to the start of his show. [A]s far as hour three (8-9pm Pacific) we were told technical issues necessitated a re-run. The Westwood One officials said they were buried with thousands of angry emails and phone calls, not just from WABC listeners, but across the country. According to Westwood One, and this does make sense, the WABC issue was a ‘local’ New York decision that appears to have backfired badly. In response to our query, a media rep for Westwood One told us that a technical issue briefly necessitated the airing of re-run programming for a few minutes during the third hour of Savage’s program until the problem was resolved.
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2986
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High anxiety: Proposed US hemp rules worry industry .
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Hemp growers and entrepreneurs who were joyous a year ago after U.S. lawmakers reclassified the plant as a legal agricultural crop now are worried their businesses could be crippled if federal policymakers move ahead with draft regulations.
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true
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Plants, Health, General News, Marijuana, Business, Science, U.S. News, Agriculture
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Licenses for hemp cultivation topped a half-million acres (200,000 hectares) last year, more than 450% above 2018 levels, so there’s intense interest in the rules the U.S. government is creating. Critical comments on the draft have poured in from hemp farmers, processors, retailers and state governments. Growers are concerned the government wants to use a heavy hand that could result in many crops failing required tests and being destroyed. The U.S. Department of Agriculture, the agency writing the rules, estimates 20% of hemp lots would fail under the proposed regulations. “Their business is to support farmers — and not punish farmers — and the rules as they’re written right now punish farmers,” said Dove Oldham, who last year grew an acre (0.40 hectares) of hemp on her family farm in Grants Pass. “There’s just a lot of confusion, and people are just looking for leadership.” The USDA did not respond to the criticism but has taken the unusual step of extending the public comment period by a month, until Jan. 29. The agency told The Associated Press it will analyze information from this year’s growing season before releasing its final rules, which would take effect in 2021. Agricultural officials in states that run pilot hemp cultivation programs under an earlier federal provision are weighing in with formal letters to the USDA. “There are 46 states where hemp is legal, and I’m going to say that every single state has raised concerns to us about something within the rule. They might be coming from different perspectives, but every state has raised concerns,” said Aline DeLucia, director of public policy for the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture. Most of the anxiety involves how the federal government plans to test for THC, the high-inducing compound found in marijuana and hemp, both cannabis plants. The federal government and most states consider plants with tiny amounts — 0.3% or less — to be hemp. Anything above that is marijuana and illegal under federal law. Yet another cannabis compound has fueled the explosion in hemp cultivation. Cannabidiol, or CBD, is marketed as a health and wellness aid and infused in everything from food and drinks to lotions, toothpaste and pet treats. Many have credited CBD with helping ease pain, increase sleep and reduce anxiety. But scientists caution not enough is known about its health effects, and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration last year targeted nearly two dozen companies for making CBD health claims. Still, the CBD market is increasing at a triple-digit rate and could have $20 billion in sales by 2024, according to a recent study by BDS Analytics, a marketing analysis firm that tracks cannabis industry trends. About 80% of the 18,000 farmers licensed for hemp cultivation are in the CBD market, said Eric Steenstra, president of the advocacy group Vote Hemp. The remaining 20% grow hemp for its fiber, used in everything from fabric to construction materials, or its grain, which is added to health foods. But hemp is a notoriously fickle crop. Conditions such as sunlight, moisture and soil composition determine its ratio of THC to CBD. Choosing the right harvesting window is critical to ensuring it stays within acceptable THC levels. Under the draft USDA rules, farmers have no wiggle room. They must harvest within 15 days of testing their crop for THC, and the samples must be sent to a lab certified by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. Samples must be from the top of the plant, where THC levels are highest, and the final measurement must include not just THC, but also THCA, a nonpsychoactive component. Crops that test above 0.3% for the two combined must be destroyed. Growers with crops above 0.5% would be considered in “negligent violation,” and those with repeated violations could be suspended from farming hemp. In addition, a pilot program for federal crop insurance that would be available to hemp growers in some states specifies that crops lost because of high THC levels won’t be covered. Those provisions are causing alarm among growers and states with pilot hemp programs allowed under the 2014 Farm Bill. Some states allow THC levels above 0.3%, and not all include THCA in that calculation. Many permit more harvesting time for growers after THC testing. Farmers are lobbying for a 1% THC limit and a 30-day harvest window to give them more flexibility while remaining well under THC levels that can get people high. The draft regulations don’t “seem to be informed by the reality of the crop,” said Jesse Richardson, who with his brother sells CBD-infused teas and capsules under the brand The Brothers Apothecary. “If no one can produce (federally) compliant hemp flower, then there will be no CBD oil on the market.” Growers are also worried about the proposed rule requiring that all THC testing be done in a DEA-certified lab because there are so few of them. Some states have only one, which would serve hundreds of growers in a short harvest window. Samantha Ford, a third-generation farmer in North Carolina, waited two weeks to get back THC results from a lab last fall and then spent 45 days harvesting her 1 acre (0.40 hectares) of hemp by hand. “The 15-day window — that’s not feasible, and that was on a small scale,” she said. “I can’t imagine farmers who have acres and acres and acres of it.” Concerns also have emerged about the workload the draft rules would place on states. Many do random sampling for THC levels, but the USDA would require five samples from every hemp lot — a burden for state agricultural departments, said DeLucia, of the national ag agencies group. If federal rules are too onerous and expensive, some states might drop their hemp programs. In those cases, farmers would have to apply for licenses with the USDA, and at this stage it’s unclear how U.S. officials would manage or pay for a nationwide licensing program, DeLucia said. Under the 2018 Farm Bill, the USDA must approve state plans for hemp programs. Louisiana, Ohio and New Jersey last month were the first to get the green light — but those plans might need to be reworked after final rules are written. “What we don’t want to see is states having to write their rules and then have to change the rules again and rewrite them” after 2021, said Steenstra, of Vote Hemp.
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5435
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‘An Inconvenient Sequel’ kicks off climate-focused Sundance.
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Ten years after the watershed environmental documentary “An Inconvenient Truth” debuted, climate change is as dire as ever and yet the solutions are right in front of us, say directors Bonni Cohen and Jon Shenk, whose film “An Inconvenient Sequel” kicks off the Sundance Film Festival on Thursday.
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true
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Al Gore, Climate, Climate change, Park City, Entertainment, Utah, Movies, Documentaries, Robert Redford, Environment, Film festivals, Sundance Film Festival
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The film, which follows former Vice President Al Gore on his continued quest to educate and inform the public and world leaders on climate change, is the first in a series of 14 environmentally focused documentaries scheduled to play at the annual film festival in their newly anointed “New Climate” section. The films include looks at coral (“Chasing Coral”), the Mexico City sewer system (“The Diver”), Greenland’s ice sheet (“Melting Ice”), and the industry of big-game hunting (“Trophy”). Sundance founder and longtime environmentalist Robert Redford said in a statement that “independent perspectives are adding the depth and dimension needed for us to find common ground and real solutions.” It’s fitting then that the festival begins with a sobering look at just what has happened since “An Inconvenient Truth” helped made climate change part of the popular consciousness. That film, directed by Davis Guggenheim, won the Academy Award for best documentary feature (Guggenheim’s role in the new film is as executive producer). “It’s more overwhelming and more horrible and bleak than you ever thought, but also you realize that we’re closer than ever to a turning point where things can really change. It’s really intense,” Shenk said recently. “People have gotten used to and almost numb to the climate crisis and this feeling of, ‘What can we do?’ This film will elucidate both what has happened and what is possible.” That the film is premiering the day before Donald Trump, who has dismissed climate change as a hoax, assumes the presidency is not lost on the filmmakers, who call this moment “a cold shower.” And yet they’re still hopeful. “We’re at a very different place in terms of the solutions now,” Cohen said. “It is kind of an exciting time from Al Gore’s perspective, not only to put the dire message out but to offer to people solutions.” Filmmaker Marina Zenovich also notes the poignant and urgent political moment in which these films are debuting. Her film, called “Water and Power: A California Heist,” has been described as ”‘Chinatown’ the documentary.” “We didn’t time this, but this is how it happened,” Zenovich said. “We have this valuable, precious resource that is like gold, it’s like a treasure and it’s being privatized and commodified and it’s kind of like the time has come for us to all come together and pay attention to it.” While urgency looms in the New Climate section and documentaries on subjects like Syria and domestic police practices fill out the schedule, festival interest might rest elsewhere, according to Tatiana Siegel, a senior film writer for The Hollywood Reporter. “It’s interesting because a lot of the docs are very issue oriented,” Siegel said. “But when you talk to buyers, the ones that they’re most interested in are a little bit more escapist.” Sundance has launched films like “Whiplash,” ″Beasts of the Southern Wild,” and “Manchester by the Sea” in recent years. Buzzy titles premiering over the two weeks include the Gulf War drama “The Yellow Birds,” starring Jennifer Aniston and future Han Solo, Alden Ehrenreich; director Dee Rees’ WWII-era racial drama “Mudbound” with Mary J. Blige and Carey Mulligan; and “The Incredible Jessica James” starring comedian Jessica Williams. Also hotly anticipated is the Roxane Shante biopic “Roxanne Roxanne” starring Nia Long and “Moonlight’s” Mahershala Ali. There’s also films like “78/52,” which dissects the shower scene in Alfred Hitchcock’s “Psycho,” the 235-minute long Grateful Dead documentary “Long Strange Trip,” which recently sold to Amazon, and “Step,” about a group of high school girls in inner-city Baltimore. “Step” director Amanda Lipitz, also a Broadway producer, had been making shorts about kids from her hometown of Baltimore who were the first in their family to go to college when she stumbled upon stepping, a style of dancing punctuated by hand claps and foot stomps popularized by black fraternities and sororities, through a group of girls she’d been documenting. “They were doing this handclap thing and I said, ‘What are you doing?’ and they said, ‘We’re stepping! You’ve got to come, you’ve got to film this step team,’” she said. “I went and brought cameras and walked in to the gym and my heart stopped beating and I thought, ‘Oh my God, this is what happens in a great musical! When characters can’t speak anymore so they sing to express their hopes and their dreams.’ That’s what these girls were doing with step.” The Sundance Film Festival runs through January 29. ___ Online: www.sundance.org ___ Follow AP Film Writer Lindsey Bahr on Twitter: www.twitter.com/ldbahr
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11403
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Your hairs are what you eat, study says
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This story reports on the results of a new study describing the use of hair samples to diagnose eating disorders. This short story does not present much information and leaves the reader wondering if hair sample analysis could be useful in clinical practice or if it will simply be an interesting research tool. The story does not mention harms of the test. For example, what might be the harms of the test in the 20% who were misidentified? The story does not mention alternative methods of diagnosing an eating disorder, such as body mass index or other measures. The story also does not adequately quantify the benefits of the test. Although the story says that the test was correct 80% of the time, it is not clear what this means. Does this mean that the test was positive 80% of the time in women with eating disorders (i.e. sensitivity = 80%)? But how often was the test negative in subjects who did not have the disease (i.e. specificity)? The story does not adequately describe the design of the current study or the strength of the available evidence. The story also does not mention costs or comment on the availability of the test. Hair analysis for various purposes is already available and for the most part is of questionable and uNPRoven clinical value. The implication in this story, although there is no explicit comment on availability, is that the test is readily available. Yet the study was done on only 20 women diagnosed as having anorexia, anorexia and bulimia, or bulimia.
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false
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"The story does not mention any costs of the hair analysis. The story does not adequately quantify the benefits of the test. Although the story says that the test was correct 80% of the time, it is not clear what this means. Does this mean that the test was positive 80% of the time in women with eating disorders (i.e. sensitivity = 80%)? But how often was the test correct in subjects who did not have the disease (i.e. specificity)? The story does not mention harms of the test. For example, what might be the harms of the test in the 20% who were misidentified? The story does not adequately describe the design of the current study – all of which could have been found easily online. The story also does not adequately describe the strength of the available evidence. The story does not appear to engage in disease mongering. The story only quotes one expert, the lead author of the current study. The story does not mention alternative methods of diagnosing an eating disorder, such as body mass index, which measures underweight, one cause of which could be an eating disorder. The story does not mention if the ""test"" is available or just a research tool. Clearly the test is a new approach to diagnosing eating disorders. There is no way to know if the story relies on a press release as the sole source of information. However, only a single researcher (author of a study) was quoted."
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7539
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Georgia to reopen some businesses as early as Friday.
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Georgia’s governor announced plans Monday to restart the state’s economy before the end of the week, saying many businesses that closed to mitigate the spread of the coronavirus could reopen as early as Friday.
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true
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AP Top News, Health, Anthony Fauci, General News, Restaurants, Tennessee, Georgia, Atlanta, Virus Outbreak, U.S. News
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The governor in neighboring Tennessee planned to let businesses in most of his state begin reopening as soon as next week. Georgia’s timetable, one of the most aggressive in the nation, would allow gyms, hair salons, bowling alleys and tattoo parlors to reopen as long as owners follow strict social-distancing and hygiene requirements. Elective medical procedures would also resume. By Monday, movie theaters may resume selling tickets, and restaurants limited to takeout orders could return to limited dine-in service. Such a swift reopening runs counter to the advice of many experts, including Dr. Anthony Fauci, the government’s top authority on infectious diseases, who warned again Monday that resuming business too soon risked a fresh spike in infections. Republican Gov. Brian Kemp said it was important to allow businesses that had been shut down a chance to get some revenue flowing. But he emphasized businesses would still be operating under restrictions including monitoring employee health, enhancing sanitation and separating workers. “I think this is the right approach at the right time,” Kemp said. “We’re not just throwing the keys back to these business owners. We’re talking about people (who had) the government shut down their business.” Bars, live performance venues and amusement parks will remain closed. Kemp’s order overrides any attempt to impose stricter local decisions, but some local officials including Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms said the governor is moving too quickly. “It appears the governor’s order supersedes anything I can do as mayor, but I still have my voice and what I will continue to do is ask Atlantans to please stay at home,” Bottoms told ABC News. “Reopen? Dangerously incompetent” is how Stacey Abrams, a Democrat who narrowly lost the 2018 governor’s race to Kemp, characterized the action on Twitter. The governor’s actions line up with the phase one of reopening seen in the guidelines issued last week by President Donald Trump’s administration. Those guidelines call for 14 days of declining COVID-19 cases. Georgia on Monday had recorded six days of declining new infections according to a rolling seven-day average of state Department of Public Health figures. If that continued through Friday, it would be 10 days. Kemp said he delayed the reopening of sit-down service in restaurants and theaters until next Monday in part because, “I also think that gives us more time to continue to flatten the curve.” But new infections and deaths are likely to continue to mount, even if at a reduced rate. The Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation suggests Georgia shouldn’t loosen social distancing until June 15. Kemp argues he’s still mandating social distancing even as businesses reopen. Kemp’s action comes a month after he closed many businesses and not quite three weeks after he issued a shelter-at-home order that will remain in place until April 30. Kemp said elderly and medically fragile people should continue to stay at home until May 13. Kemp’s shelter-at-home order followed days of pressure from local officials, and even after he issued the order, there were clashes over keeping open beaches, lakes and state parks. Kemp says keeping those outdoor spaces open has been a success. The governor Monday said a decline in emergency room visits by people with flu-like symptoms indicates that infections are coming down. “The bottom line is, social distancing worked,” state Public Health Commissioner Kathleen Toomey told a handful of reporters after Kemp’s news conference. Widespread testing is considered one cornerstone of reopening strategies. Kemp acknowledged Georgia has lagged when it comes to COVID-19 testing and announced new initiatives to ramp it up. The state had administered more than 84,000 tests though Monday, but its per-capita testing rate is in the bottom 10 of states and lower than neighbors Alabama, Florida and Tennessee. He said the state medical college in Augusta will begin producing thousands of swabs each day for collecting test samples. The school will also offer an online app statewide that would let people with symptoms consult with a clinician and be referred for testing if warranted. Meanwhile, the Georgia National Guard has been deploying teams capable of administering at least 1,500 tests per day to nursing home residents, emergency personnel and others. Adjutant General Thomas Carden couldn’t say exactly how much his efforts would push up testing by, saying there could be constraints on how many test kits are available or how many kits labs could process. “What I’ve charged General Carden to do is to take every test we got, and use it every single day,” Kemp said. “And when we run out, then we’ll figure out how to get more tests.” In downtown Savannah, Patrick Godley’s restaurant 17 Hundred 90 has been closed for a month. His fine-dining menu doesn’t suit itself to takeout, so he just locked the doors. His cooks, waiters and dishwashers were furloughed, allowing them to draw partial unemployment benefits. Godley said Monday he fears it’s too early to reopen for business and that doing so might trigger a new spike in infections. “I’d rather stay closed an extra week and wipe this thing out than to open prematurely, have a second wave and have to shut down again,” he said. Even if he did reopen next week, Godley said, he doubts he would have many customers. “I don’t think people are going to be going out and celebrating a lot right now.” Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee, also a Republican, said his mandatory safer-at-home order will expire April 30, which will pave the way for 89 of the state’s 95 counties to begin opening businesses. Lee’s announcement did not apply to counties with the largest cities — areas that are not overseen by Tennessee’s Department of Health but have their own public health districts. Lee said officials were “working directly with our major metropolitan areas to ensure they are in a position to reopen as soon and safely as possible.” Some businesses will be allowed to reopen as early as April 27, but it was unclear exactly which ones. Lee told reporters that details would be finalized later this week. Georgia’s death toll from COVID-19 hit 775 late Monday. Infections have been confirmed in more than 19,000 people. For most people, the coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms. For some, it can cause severe illness such as pneumonia or death. ___ Associated Press Writer Russ Bynum in Savannah, Georgia, contributed to this report. ___ Follow AP coverage of the virus outbreak at https://apnews.com/VirusOutbreak and https://apnews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak.
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18193
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Sarah Ponder Says $800,000 cost of Texas special legislative session would pay for 1.6 million condoms, 90,000 months of the pill or 20 full-time sexual health educators.
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"Ponder used a conservative estimate for the cost of the second special session, presuming it runs for the full 30 days. She used the lowest price we found for the pill, a mid-range price for condoms and a salary that doesn’t seem out of line for an entry-level sexual health educator position, so it’s probably true that under certain circumstances, you could pay for the items on her sign with $800,000 apiece. Then again, it might be fairer to estimate the pill at $25 a month instead of $9, which means you could only pay for 32,000 months of contraception, not the 90,000 months she cited. And unless you only wanted to hire newly-graduated sexual health educators, you might have to pay them more like $52,000 per year, which would cover 16 instead of 20 educators. So an adjusted version of the sign might read: ""$800,000: 1.6 million condoms, 32,000 months of the pill, 16 full-time sexual health educators"" instead of ""$800,000: 1.6 million condoms, 90K months of the pill, 20 full-time sexual health educators."""
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true
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Abortion, Texas, Sarah Ponder,
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"Amid thousands of protesters at the Texas Capitol, Sarah Ponder of Austin carried a sign with a financial comparison: ""$800,000: 1.6 million condoms, 90K months of the pill, 20 full-time sexual health educators or 1 medically unnecessary & hypocritical special session,"" it read. The July 1, 2013, rally took place the first day of the 2013 Legislature’s second special session, called by Gov. Rick Perry after a filibuster and demonstrators kept legislation restricting abortions from winning final Senate approval. Ponder, who works for an education technology company, said she wanted to show that the money likely to be spent on the special session could instead pay for measures she said would be more effective at reducing abortions: providing substantial contraception aids or paying 20 educators’ salaries for a year. We shopped around, comparing the costs of a special session to Ponder’s alternatives. In a June 26, 2013, news story Ponder sent us, Waco ABC affiliate WXXV-TV said, ""Each special session could cost taxpayers more than $800,000,"" based on per-diem payments to legislators to cover their food and expenses. Other news stories we found typically gave either a per diem cost of $800,000, a per diems-plus-overhead cost of $1 million or both. Per diems are the biggest cost of Texas special sessions, which can last up to 30 days. At the current per diem rate of $150, with 182 lawmakers eligible (31 senators, 150 representatives and the lieutenant governor), 30 days of payments would equal $819,000. Not all lawmakers take the payments, though. June 18, 2013, news stories from the Dallas Morning News and Houston Chronicle indicated that during the year’s first special session, six or eight senators and 26 House members declined some or all of the payments. Dewhurst spokesman Travis Considine told us by phone that Dewhurst turned down all per diem payments for both special sessions. If 33 lawmakers rejected the payment on days their chambers did not convene, the state might have shelled out $716,100 on per diems during the session. Other costs bring the total up. Legislative Budget Board staff spokesman John Barton told us by email that, wrapping in overhead costs such as utilities, security, printing and staff support, a 30-day special session could cost $1 million to $1.2 million. Ponder emailed us a March 12, 2012, news story from The Week, a news magazine, that said generic-drug versions of birth control pills cost $9 a month and brand-name pills cost $90 a month. The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy offers information at bedsider.org on the availability and costs of contraceptive options. The group is a nonprofit that produces research frequently used by teen pregnancy prevention organizations. The campaign’s site gives the same $9-$90 range cited in The Week’s article, with explanatory details. Oral contraception pills, containing hormones that prevent egg production or fertilization, are usually taken once a day. ""A woman without insurance using generic birth control pills will typically pay about $25 a month,"" according to the site. The group’s chief program officer, Bill Albert, told us by phone that information on the site is updated and current. With Medicaid or private insurance, according to the site, women can get the pill free or for just the cost of their co-pay (the fixed amount an insured patient pays out-of-pocket each time he or she gets a medical service). ""For most people,"" the Bedsider article said, the co-pay ""ranges from $5 to $35."" Federal funding makes free or low-cost pills available to many, the site said. Without insurance, generic pills at pharmacies can cost $10-$20 a month, the site says, or $20-$30 a month from Planned Parenthood, with name-brand pills selling for $60-$90 a month at pharmacies. The site says its information came from a survey of Planned Parenthood clinics and birth control manufacturers. Ponder told us she chose an average cost per condom of 50 cents by looking at items for sale on Amazon.com. Bedsider.org gives prices from a survey of online retailers: 30 cents to $1.54 apiece for male condoms at national chain pharmacies and 18 cents to 60 cents apiece at Walmart. As with the pill, the site said, condoms can be obtained for free or at reduced costs at clinics. But also as with the pill, there are more expensive options available. In a December 2009 article, Consumer Reports rated 22 types of condoms on strength, reliability and whether holes were present in the material; the best seven ranged from 71 cents to $1.10 each. To check options that are widely available, we visited a CVS pharmacy on South Congress Avenue and found prices from 79 cents to $4.35 apiece. Ponder said she estimated from personal knowledge that the annual salary of an entry-level sexual health educator at a nonprofit organization might be about $35,000 to $40,000. Francine Gertz, human resources manager for the City of Austin’s health and human services department, told us by phone that the city employs health educators in programs such as its adolescent health initiative, which according to its website provides education and presentations for students, parents and others. The entry-level salary for a first-level public health educator -- a job that requires a four-year degree and two years of experience -- is $40,000, Gertz said, and a second-level public health educator with 13 years of experience might earn $54,000. Texas Workforce Commission spokeswoman Lisa Givens suggested by email that we look at a couple of the federal government’s occupation categories. One was ""health educators,"" which encompassed broad job titles such as community health worker and narrow ones such as early breastfeeding care specialist. According to the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics’ website, most people employed in this category nationwide earned about $53,000 a year as of May 2012. Job search website Indeed.com, whose data has been cited by Forbes and U.S. News and World Report magazines, says the average annual salary for a ""sexual health educator"" in Texas is $50,000 (compared with $52,000 nationally). Such averages are based, the site says, on ""salary information extracted from over 50 million job postings from thousands of unique sources over the last 12 months."" Now, let’s take another look at that sign. A 30-day special session might cost $716,100 to $819,000 in per diems alone; Ponder assumed an $800,000 cost. And how do the alternative expenditures on her sign price out? Like Ponder, we found estimates saying a month of oral contraceptive pills could cost $9 to $90, but we also read that a typical cost would be $25. Ponder went with the $9 figure and said $800,000 would buy 90,000 months of pills. We calculate that $800,000 would pay for 88,900 months of pills at $9 or 32,000 months at $25. That’s a difference of 4,700 years. To phrase it another way, $800,000 would buy 32,000 women a month’s worth of pills at $25 or 88,900 women’s pills for a month at $9. Condoms, Ponder estimated, would cost about 50 cents on average. With $800,000, we calculate, you could indeed provide 1.6 million 50-cent condoms. Using Bedsider.org’s range, we figure $800,000 would buy 2.7 million condoms at 30 cents each or 520,000 condoms at $1.54 each. To predict that $800,000 would pay for 20 full-time sexual health educators, Ponder said she estimated an annual salary for an entry-level position at a nonprofit at $35,000 to $40,000. That doesn’t contradict what we found, because the salaries we gathered covered a spectrum, from $40,000 for a city job requiring two years’ experience to $54,000 for veteran educators. We calculate that $800,000 would pay 20 educators at $40,000 or 16 educators at the Texas average salary of $50,000 listed by Indeed.com. Our ruling Ponder used a conservative estimate for the cost of the second special session, presuming it runs for the full 30 days. She used the lowest price we found for the pill, a mid-range price for condoms and a salary that doesn’t seem out of line for an entry-level sexual health educator position, so it’s probably true that under certain circumstances, you could pay for the items on her sign with $800,000 apiece. Then again, it might be fairer to estimate the pill at $25 a month instead of $9, which means you could only pay for 32,000 months of contraception, not the 90,000 months she cited. And unless you only wanted to hire newly-graduated sexual health educators, you might have to pay them more like $52,000 per year, which would cover 16 instead of 20 educators. So an adjusted version of the sign might read: ""$800,000: 1.6 million condoms, 32,000 months of the pill, 16 full-time sexual health educators"" instead of ""$800,000: 1.6 million condoms, 90K months of the pill, 20 full-time sexual health educators.""."
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11080
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Weekend workouts can benefit health as much as a week of exercise, say researchers
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This story looks at an observational study comparing frequency of exercise vs no exercise on early risk of death, with an emphasis placed on “weekend warrior” style exercise. Like we saw in our review of Newsweek’s take on this study, this story from The UK Guardian confuses association with causation. It also didn’t mention any of the study’s limitations, which were plentiful. However, we were pleased to see the inclusion of an independent source, who helped establish what was novel about the study findings. Many people struggle to get enough exercise, and if the study’s findings are verifiable, then this is good news for people who can only exercise on the weekends. However, news stories shouldn’t overstate the findings nor mislead people about just how beneficial it really is.
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true
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The Guardian
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We don’t think that cost is relevant here. Like the story in Newsweek, which we also reviewed, this story does not provide an adequate sense of the size of the potential benefits, stating: In the study, those who met the physical activity target by exercising through the week had a 35% lower risk of death than the inactive adults, with cardiovascular deaths down 41% and a 21% lower risk of cancer death. Using only relative risk rates such as these doesn’t tell the full story. Read more on why absolute risk rates should also be included in news stories. It also makes the study sound like it was experimental in fashion, conflating association with causation. “People who cram all their exercise into one or two sessions at the weekend benefit nearly as much as those who work out more frequently, researchers say. A study of more than 60,000 adults in England and Scotland found that “weekend warriors” lowered their risk of death by a similar margin to those who spread the same amount of exercise over the whole week.” See more on the importance of not overstating observational findings. Although not explicit the story does provide some information on the potential harms before embarking on a “weekend warrior” status. The lead author of the paper recommended, “… to start with moderate exercise, such as brisk walking, and then to set realistic, incremental goals to boost confidence without running the risk of setbacks due to injury. “A middle aged or older person should do as much as 12 weeks of moderate exercise before introducing vigorous exercise.” The story provides some information about the study design, but is silent on the limitations, and they are significant. For example, the inactive population studied was 7 years older, had more current smokers, and suffered more from unspecified “long standing illness” than the participants who were active. Physical activity was only recorded at baseline. Also, more than 90% of the participants were white. No evidence of disease mongering here. The sources don’t appear to have any conflicts of interest, and there was one additional source included beyond the lead researcher. The story discusses the impact of different activity levels on early death risk. The ability to exercise is generally available, so this is N/A. Unlike the Newsweek story, the Guardian does discuss what’s novel: “The novel finding is that it appears the duration, and possibly the intensity, of leisure time physical activity is more important than the frequency,” Ekelund said. The story does not appear to rely on a news release.
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3996
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Animal health care company to open Mississippi facility.
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An animal health care company has announced a new Mississippi distribution center, carrying a $1.7 million investment and the creation of 27 jobs.
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true
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Mississippi, North America, Phil Bryant, Health, Animal health
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Henry Schein Animal Health announced in a news release Monday that it will begin operations in a 50,000-square-foot facility in Southaven in December. Henry Schein Animal Health offers products and solutions to more than 29,000 veterinary professionals. Gov. Phil Bryant said northern Mississippi’s transportation network and location is advantageous to companies with distribution needs. Henry Schein Animal Health’s North America president, Fran Dirksmeier, says the new distribution center is the result of extensive planning and collaboration with the Mississippi Development Authority. The development authority is providing assistance through the Jobs Tax Credit program, and DeSoto County is providing ad valorem and Free Port Warehouse tax exemptions.
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5740
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Vaccine panel gives nod to HPV shots for men up to age 26.
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A vaccine against cervical and other cancers should be recommended for both men and women up to age 26, a U.S. government advisory panel decided Wednesday.
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true
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Immunizations, Cancer, Health, General News, Atlanta
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The vaccine protects against HPV, a virus that is commonly spread through sex and can cause certain cancers and genital warts. The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices’ vote in Atlanta raises the recommended vaccination age for men from 21 to 26, making it the same as the existing recommendation for women. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention almost always accepts the panel’s recommendations and uses them as guidance for U.S. doctors. The HPV vaccine is usually given to 11- and 12-year olds, to protect them before their first exposure to sexually transmitted viruses. Women as old as 26 had been recommended to get a “catch-up” vaccination if they missed the shots in pre-adolescence. For men, the catch-up recommendation had applied only up to age 21, because research indicates males tend to be exposed to sexually-transmitted viruses earlier. The panel decided Wednesday to equalize the age recommendations to make it easier for doctors. The CDC estimates that roughly half of Americans ages 18 to 59 had some form of genital HPV. Vaccinations against it first became available in 2006 and each dose now costs $216. The vaccine is approved for people up to age 45, but the same panel declined a proposal to recommend it for people older than 26. Instead, it settled on a weak endorsement for adults between 26 and age 45, meaning patients and doctors can make the decision together. It’s not clear how many cancers would be prevented in that age group or whether the cost is worth the public health benefit, experts at the meeting said. ___ The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
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23226
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When Washington liberals wanted to take away our guns, Chet said no.
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Rep. Chet Edwards says he said no to Washington liberals who wanted to take away our guns
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false
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Message Machine 2010, Texas, Guns, Chet Edwards,
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"Jon Stewart, host of Comedy Central's faux-news program ""The Daily Show,"" wryly noted on its Sept. 29 episode that the Obama administration's track record is ""why you see so many Democrats running ads proudly touting their party's accomplishments."" Then flowed a montage of Democratic campaign ads denouncing President Barack Obama and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-California. The last clip? A Sept. 17 ad for Rep. Chet Edwards, D-Waco: ""And when Washington liberals wanted to take away our guns, Chet said no."" ""Those are the ads that Democrats are running?"" Stewart marveled. On Stewart's cue, we wanted to know more about Edwards' supposed showdown with gun-averse liberals. Megan Jacobs, an Edwards' spokeswoman, sent us a statement citing several pieces of legislation to defend his boast. Namely, on March 17, 2009, Edwards was one of 65 House Democrats who sent a letter to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder. ""As strong supporters of the Second Amendment, we were very concerned to see your recent remarks suggesting that the administration will push for reinstatement of the 1994 ban on 'assault weapons' and ammunition magazines,"" the letter says. ""Many of our constituents lawfully own and use these firearms and ammunition magazines that would be affected by a new ban."" The letter concludes: ""We would actively oppose any effort to reinstate the 1994 ban or to pass any similar law. We urge you to abandon this initiative and to focus instead on effective law enforcement strategies to enforce our community laws against violent criminals and drug traffickers."" What prompted the letter? Jacobs pointed us to a February 2009 article on ABC News' website that quotes Holder saying: ""As President Obama indicated during the campaign, there are just a few gun-related changes that we would like to make, and among them would be to reinstitute the ban on the sale of assault weapons."" Obama's campaign website said in 2008 that he supports making the expired federal assault weapons ban permanent ""as such weapons belong on foreign battlefields and not on our streets."" Some background: In 1994, President Bill Clinton signed legislation prohibiting the sale of 19 types of semi-automatic assault weapons — like AK-47s, Uzis and revolving-cylinder shotguns — and imitation models of those guns. The law didn't apply to more than 650 other types of firearms that were manually operated by a bolt, pump, lever or slide action, were permanently nonfunctional and antique firearms. Also, the ban was set to expire in 2004 unless Congress reauthorized it, which it didn't. Edwards told us he voted for the ban in '94 after a 1991 shooting in Killeen left 24 dead. He said he opposed the ban's reauthorization because he didn't think it was effective in significantly reducing gun violence. We wondered how many Texans would be affected by bringing back the ban. Tim Carroll, a spokesman with the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, told us that the agency doesn't track how many people own assault weapons. Carroll also told us that when the 1994 ban was implemented, it did not apply to firearms anyone already owned. Meaning: No one would had their guns taken away. Speaking to Edwards' pro-gun bonafides, Jacobs noted that the congressman drew an ""A"" rating from the National Rifle Association, meaning it considers Edwards a ""solidly pro-gun candidate"" who ""has supported NRA positions on key votes in elective office,"" according to an explanation of the ratings on the NRA's website. The letter to Holder signed by Edwards is one of 11 reasons the association lists on its website for endorsing the congressman. Other reasons include legislation Edwards cosponsored to repeal a gun ban in the District of Columbia, legislation he cosponsored to extend federal protections to state right-to-carry license and permits nationwide and legislation he cosponsored to prohibit gun confiscation during states of emergency. We did not find fresh signs the Obama administration is pushing to return the ban, though there have been reports about assault weapons in the news. In May, Mexico President Felipe Calderon asked a joint session of the U.S. Congress to renew the ban to help Mexico's war with drug cartels. In June, Reuters reported that police in the Texas border city of Laredo seized 147 AK-47 assault rifles bound for Mexico. And on Sept. 28, Colton Tooley, a 19-year-old student at the University of Texas at Austin, sprayed several rounds from an AK-47 on campus before killing himself. Of course, Edwards' ad says liberals wanted to take away ""our guns"" — not just assault weapons. The statement Jacobs sent us further says that ""since Democrats gained a House majority since 2007, numerous bills have been introduced that require the registration of guns that would limit gun ownership."" Edwards' statement singles out Pelosi and Reps. Henry Waxman, George Miller and Barbara Lee of California and Barney Frank of Massachusetts as liberals ""on the opposite sides of Edwards on many key gun-related votes."" The statement cites a host of Edwards votes on gun issues, including: a 2003 vote to protect firearms manufacturers and dealers from being sued for damages resulting from the misuse by others of their firearm or ammunition and a 2004 vote not to extend the assault weapons ban. This year, Edwards was one of 159 cosponsors of legislation ""to restore Second Amendment rights in the District of Columbia."" The bill would prohibit the District from restricting a person's right to carry a firearm at his or her home, personal land or business, repeal D.C's registration requirement to possess firearms and repeal a ban on semiautomatic weapons. In 2005, Edwards voted to prohibit the use of federal funds to enforce a D.C. law requiring certain firearms to be unloaded and disassembled. In 2008, he voted to overturn the D.C. ban. Still, we did not track with Edwards' logic. While it's evident he's supported legislation that is considered pro-gun and said ""no"" to legislation that isn't, we didn't see anything showing that Washington liberals were coming to take our guns away. As we neared completion of our review, Edwards told us that ""the reason a lot of gun-control legislation has not come up, been introduced, but it's been killed,"" is thanks to ""Democrats like me and those who have opposed it."" Edwards cited 2009 legislation by Rep. Bobby Rush, D-Illinois, which sought to create a licensing system for certain firearms and a record system tracking the sale of those firearms. Specifically, Edwards said he objected to a provision requiring applicants seeking a firearm license to submit ""a clear thumbprint"" and ""a current, passport-sized photograph of the applicant,"" according to the bill. ""If I'm a citizen in Texas and I say I'm not about to be fingerprinted or photographed to keep a handgun, then I am in violation of the law"" he said. ""The federal government would have the right to take that gun away."" Those who failed to comply with Rush's proposal, which never came to a vote, would have been subject to a fine or imprisonment or both, but we saw no language stating that guns would be taken away. In a letter Edwards sent a constituent in January, he said, ""I oppose this bill and do not believe there should be a national gun licensing system."" Edwards told us that he has gone to Democratic leaders in the House and said, ""Don't allow these gun control bills to come to the floor. Not many have. That's my point."" Edwards also pointed to legislation he supported to expand gun rights in the District of Columbia, which prohibited gun owners from keeping handguns in their homes. In June 2008, the Supreme Court overturned D.C.'s ban. ""They wanted to be able to take guns away, I wanted to stop them from legally being able to take those guns away,"" he said. Where does that leave us? Edwards makes a case that he’s steadfastly opposed efforts to impose gun controls. However, none of his cited measures would ""take away"" anyone’s weapons. It’s overblown claims like this that keep the Truth-O-Meter in business. His statement is ."
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26039
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Facebook post Says Gov. Tony Evers “removed the American flag from the Capitol building”
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The picture presented as proof was from a rally in support of reopening Wisconsin on April 24, 2020. Like most protests, that occurred on the West side of the building, where the flagpole atop the entrance is controlled by the state Assembly. The Assembly only flies the U.S. flag there when in session, and they weren’t that day. The additional detail about Evers ordering a flag to be removed is nonsense.
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false
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States, Wisconsin, Coronavirus, Facebook posts,
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"When protesters gathered at the state Capitol in April to call for Gov. Tony Evers to reopen the state, the lack of an American flag at their chosen location became a point of contention. The Associated Press reported chants of ""Where’s our flag?"" and protesters calling it a ""disgrace."" A similar claim surfaced in a viral Facebook post on June 12, 2020. ""Wisconsin Democrat Governor Evers removed the American flag from the Capitol building by ordering it to be taken down! This is beyond disgraceful!"" the post said. The text accompanied an undated photo showing protesters outside the Capitol building, with an empty flagpole circled in red. This question is particularly notable since in the intervening time, Evers has ordered the Capitol fly the rainbow pride flag for Pride Month (as he did in 2019) and the Juneteenth flag to commemorate the end of slavery. This post was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Facebook). So did Evers really order the American flag removed at some point? Answering that means figuring out where and when this picture was taken. Let’s get to sleuthing. The Wisconsin Capitol building in Madison — completed in 1917 — is a symmetrical structure with a similar façade of pillars and windows facing north, south, east and west. The peak of each entry has a flagpole. So the first question is which flagpole we’re talking about. A review of photos from Google Maps shows the picture in question was taken at the West (State Street) entrance. That entrance has two rows of windows, with arched windows at the top. The other three entrances each have three rows, with a smaller row atop the arched windows. The west wing of the Capitol houses the state Assembly, so that body is in charge of which flag flies when. The Assembly policy — like the state Senate — is to fly the American flag, but only when the body is in session. The other element is when this photo was taken, since it’s undated in the Facebook post. The most notable recent rally there occurred April 24, 2020, when protesters gathered to pressure Evers into reopening the state amid the coronavirus pandemic. The lone readable sign in the image — SCIENCE says ""OPEN WISCONSIN!"" — gives us the key clue here. That’s certainly consistent with a reopen rally. But more importantly, that same sign can be seen in a Milwaukee Journal Sentinel photo of the event. So we have a picture from April 24 on the west wing of the Capitol. That’s the Assembly flagpole, and since the Assembly wasn’t in session that day (having adjourned the day before), not flying the American flag was standard operating procedure. The protesters could have seen the American flag in its usual spot alongside the Wisconsin flag if they had walked around to the east side of the Capitol. The governor has authority over that flagpole and the north wing pole that flies the POW-MIA flag. The state Senate controls the remaining south wing flagpole. So the Facebook post in question is not only wrong that Evers had authority over the flagpole in question, it goes a step further by claiming the U.S. flag was absent because of a specific order from the governor. Britt Cudabeck, a spokeswoman for Evers, confirmed the governor did not order any U.S. flag taken down. The U.S. and Wisconsin flags have flown daily on the east pole as usual. A Facebook post claims Evers ordered the U.S. flag removed from the state Capitol, posting as support a picture of an empty flagpole. Our research shows that photo was taken seven weeks before the Facebook post in front of the west wing of the Capitol, which is controlled by the state Assembly. The flag only flies when the Assembly is in session, and it wasn’t that day. So the post is not only wrong, it moves into the realm of the ridiculous by manufacturing the assertion that Evers had specifically ordered the flag removed."
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35858
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The so-called “Benadryl Challenge” went viral on TikTok in 2020, challenging teenagers to overdose on the allergy medication to elicit hallucinatory effects, prompting warnings from medical experts over the potential risk of overdose death.
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Benadryl owner Johnson & Johnson wrote that the misuse of its drug can lead to serious side effects with “potentially long-lasting or even life-threatening consequences.”
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true
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Viral Phenomena
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Call 911 immediately if you or someone you know may be suffering from an overdose. In Summer 2020, the so-named “Benadryl Challenge” dared social media users — generally teenagers — to overdose on the common allergy medication Benadryl to elicit a hallucinatory effect, record a video of the user’s reaction, and share the video on the social media platform TikTok. In an email to Snopes, a TikTok spokesperson confirmed that the platform had first learned of the challenge in May 2020, at which point its moderators removed the “very small” amount of content that was found at the time. In the months following, an unknown number of teenagers across the U.S. continued to participate in the digital dare, which is allegedly connected to the death of at least one teen and the hospitalization of three others, prompting warnings from health experts about the potential risk of overdose death. These warnings in turn prompted coverage by mainstream news media, which described teens’ participation in the challenge — perhaps hyperbolically — as a “trend”: Internet challenges refer to social media prompts that convince users to participate in some form of (oftentimes) dangerous activity, like biting into Tide brand laundry pods (“Tide Pod Challenge”) or convincing children to disappear for 72 hours (“Momo Challenge”). Although some have been well-intended, like raising money for charitable causes, and others have been downright silly, many are a masquerade for some forms of cyberbullying. Others are potentially deadly. “The Benadryl challenge is something that as parents, we need to be aware of these challenges and bring attention to how to properly use these products and make sure they are not accessible to teens. Those conversations need to explain the seriousness and long-lasting consequences of abusing products,” Julie Weber, director of the Missouri Poison Center, told Snopes in an interview. Weber added that her facility saw an uptick in inquiries and online searches regarding Benadryl and diphenhydramine since the challenge was first initiated online. A majority of those who participate in the challenge are thought to be teenagers and young adults. Benadryl is an over-the-counter (OTC) antihistamine drug commonly used to treat allergies. Its key ingredient is diphenhydramine, which can be harmful in large amounts. It is also found in other OTC drugs like Nytol, Sominex, and Tylenol PM. Diphenhydramine works by blocking the histamine response in the body that causes an allergic reaction. In recommended doses, the chemical is not fatal and can cause subtle side effects like drowsiness or dry mouth, but when taken in excess, the drug can cause more serious symptoms like slurred speech and dystonic reaction that creates a stiff, rigid movement in the body. Diphenhydramine can also cause long-term harm or death when misused and abused. That’s because an overdose can affect different parts of the body, according to the Mt. Sinai Health System in New York. Symptoms of overdose can include the inability to urinate, blurred vision, agitation and confusion, as well as hallucinations, seizures, depression, or nervousness, among others. “We really have a whole, wide range of toxicity,” said Weber, adding that diphenhydramine overdose can also cause a person to have a dry mouth, feel flushed, and see increased body temperature. Diphenhydramine is considered an anticholinergic drug, which means that it works by blocking the action of acetylcholine, a neurotransmitter that sends chemical messages between certain cells in the body. The urinary system is one that can be impacted by diphenhydramine overdose, resulting in urinary retention. This can slow down the intestines so that the body is not able to properly metabolize the drug, leading to further toxicity. At its most extreme, diphenhydramine overdose can disrupt the cardiac system and create an abnormal heart rhythm, which may lead to cardiac arrest. Jamie Favazza with the TikTok communications team told Snopes that the platform continued to remove “extremely small numbers” of new content related to the Benadryl challenge at least through September 2020. In an email, Favazza referred Snopes to the safety controls in the app as well as educational resources located in its safety center, and sent the following statement: The safety and well-being of our users is TikTok’s top priority. As we make clear in our Community Guidelines, we do not allow content that encourages, promotes, or glorifies dangerous challenges that might lead to injury. Though we have not seen this content trend on our platform, we actively remove content that violates our guidelines and block related hashtags to further discourage participation. We encourage everyone to exercise caution in their behavior whether online or off.
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10870
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Antidepressant May Help Ease Hot Flashes
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In contrast with the poorly sourced blog post, this story includes comments from two experts who provide valuable context about the findings of a recent trial. And while the discussion of harms was still inadequate, this story did at least mention the possibility of harm from the treatment and described one of the most common adverse effects. The story also did a good job of describing the design of the study and reporting the benefits in a way that readers can understand and use. It would have benefited from some cost data, a better comparison of antidepressants with hormone therapy, and more emphasis on the short-term nature of the study (8 weeks) considering that hot flash symptoms can last for years. We need more treatment options for women with disruptive menopausal symptoms. Although hormone treatment is effective, many women are reluctant to take hormones because of the increase in potentially serious adverse effects associated with their use. Emerging research suggests that antidepressants may be an alternate option, but the study discussed in this story found that Lexapro is only slightly more effective than a placebo for reducing hot flashes. In addition, use of antidepressants also may cause a variety of adverse effects which, while less serious than the risks of hormone therapy, can be troublesome enough to cause people to stop taking the medication. Stories should provide this full context to help women make the best possible choice about how to manage their symptoms.
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true
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WebMD
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The article did not include information about the cost of this medication. According to recent Consumer Reports data, Lexapro at the dosages studied here would cost about $110 a month. This significant cost is something to bear in mind considering the modest benefit the drug confers compared to a sugar pill. The story quantifies the benefits of treatment in appropriate absolute terms. It explains that women taking the antidepressant went from about 10 hot flashes per day to 5.26 hot flashes a day, a decline of 47% or about 4.5 fewer hot flashes a day. By comparison, women taking the placebo reported 6.43 hot flashes a day after treatment, a decline of 33% or about 3 fewer a day. The story also quantifies the severity of the hot flashes in terms that are useful to the reader. The story perhaps could have provided some context regarding the size of the benefit compared with placebo, which was relatively small. It also could have noted noted that symptom reductions were much more modest than those seen with hormone treatment. The story wasn’t thorough enough in its exploration of potential harms. The only adverse effect noted is the potential loss of libido discussed in the last line of the story. At one point, the story seems to dismiss the potential for harm by noting that “no serious adverse events were reported” in the study. However, minor adverse effects take on greater importance when a drug provides only a modest benefit over placebo — which is the case with this medication. The study should have provided more detail on what harms were observed (even “minor” ones), and how frequently. Lexapro, when used for depression, commonly results in gastrointestinal disturbance such as nausea, vomiting, loose stools, and indigestion. A variety of other adverse effects are possible, including include difficulty sleeping and headaches. It is quite conceivable that an increase in these problems might outweigh the small benefit associated with the reduction in hot flashes, so the story should have provided this information. Another issue not addressed by the story is the potential for uncomfortable withdrawal symptoms when stopping this medication. This point is particularly relevant to make here because Lexapro hasn’t been extensively studied in women who are healthy and don’t have symptoms of depression. We know that some people with depression experience withdrawal symptoms after they stop taking the drug, but we don’t have much evidence on what happens to healthy non-depressed people when they stop taking it. The risk of a discontinuation syndrome increases the longer antidepressant therapy lasts, so an 8-week study may not capture the problems that women may experience with longer-term use of Lexapro for relief of hot flash symptoms. The story could have mentioned that women should never abruptly stop taking an antidepressant medication like Lexapro, as this can increase the risk of more severe withdrawal symptoms. The story includes enough details about how the study was conducted and what the researchers observed to earn a satisfactory. It notes that this was a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study — the “gold standard” of medical evidence. It explains that outcomes were based on women’s records of how often and how severe their hot flashes were — a relevant clinical endpoint. Although the story notes that women in the study took the drug for 8 weeks, it could have explained that 8 weeks isn’t long to meet FDA criteria for a hot flash treatment; the FDA requires that benefits be maintained for 12-weeks. The study also should have explained that we have no idea how well these drugs will work over the longer term (menopause symptoms can last for years) or whether problems might occur with longer use (more on this in the Harms criterion). Lastly, it would have been useful to have some discussion of how the treatment affected general health-related quality of life; this would have helped readers understand the importance of the observed benefit on hot flashes when considering overall health/function. Menopause has been the subject of considerable disease mongering over the years — see here for some examples. This story, though, confines the discussion to women whose symptoms are severe enough to disrupt their lives and quality of life. That seems to be a fair basis upon which to identify women who might be candidates for some kind of medical treatment of menopause symptoms. The story could have provided data on how many women suffer from moderate to severe hot flash symptoms, to give a better idea of how widespread the problem is. The story quotes an independent expert who seems generally supportive of antidepressant therapy for hot flashes. While we don’t think it would have been difficult to find someone with a more skeptical take on the results, which would have added value for readers, the story did enough to satisfy this aspect of the criterion. (UPDATED COMMENT INSERTED ON 2/24/11: We originally but erroneously wrote that this story failed to disclose potential conflicts of interest. But it actually did, when it stated: “The study was funded by the National Institute on Aging and other sources. Freeman reports having received research support from Forest Laboratories Inc., and other pharmaceutical companies that make antidepressants. For this study, Forest, which makes escitalopram, provided the drug and placebo pills but no funding.”) The story mentions that hormone therapy is another treatment option for hot flashes, but it doesn’t provide enough information to allow the reader to compare the two approaches. The story should have mentioned that hormone therapy seems to be more effective than antidepressants at reducing hot flash symptoms, although the risks may also be greater. It also could have mentioned that complementary and alternative medicine approaches are often used for hot flashes.
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37612
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If you can't speak when calling 999 (the UK's version of 911), pressing 55 will alert the operator to your emergency.
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For ‘Silent Help,’ ‘Ring 999, Then Press 55’
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mixture
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Fact Checks, Viral Content
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In January 2020, a Facebook photograph of a printed sign purportedly provided valuable advice to callers of 999, several countries’ version of the United States’ 911 — claiming that for “silent help,” callers impeded from speaking could dial “55” to alert the service to an emergency:A crumpled printout depicted in the image read:Silent Help!If you’re in a situation where you can’t speak choking heart attack intruder domestic violence etc.Ring 999 when they answer, press 55This tells them you need help, but can’t speak They will dispatch police to you! Worth knowing!In the advice, scenarios in which a person dialing emergency services via 999 or 911 might be unable to speak were listed as examples — medical events such as choking or a heart attack, or imminent danger of violence, such as domestic abuse or a home intruder. According to the claim, people in either circumstance could be assured help would arrive simply by dialing 55, an action which would trigger the arrival of police.One minor issue was immediately obvious involving the examples. The first two represented immediate, life-threatening medical events. A person choking or having a heart attack might benefit from law enforcement, but paramedics were more likely an appropriate service to send. Likewise, dispatched police might not be aware of on-scene dangers and unclear on whether they ought to enter cautiously due to a violent individual, or whether the caller was in immediate lethal danger due to a medical event. As described, the “dial 55” advice appeared flawed.Another issue with the spread of the advice on the internet was its explicit reference to 999 without any region specific. In the UK, 999 is indeed the number for emergency services. But that’s true in several other countries, many of which might not feature the “dial 55” stipulation (if it were true anywhere). Presumably, callers in 999 countries would assume the advice applied to their country:Countries and territories using 999 include Bahrain, Bangladesh, Botswana, Eswatini, Ghana, Hong Kong, Ireland, Kenya, Macau, Malaysia, Mauritius, Poland, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Trinidad and Tobago, the Seychelles, Uganda, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, and Zimbabwe.As it turns out, there is a lot of more detailed information about the “999, dial 55” advice found commonly on the internet. However, that advice is often prefaced by several very important caveats anyone planning to use the advice would need to know.According to the West Yorkshire Police, the claim has a grain of truth to it, but it’s widely misunderstood — a circumstance that could exacerbate rather than lessen danger:There is a misconception that the police will always attend if you stay silent after calling 999 – this is not correct.When you dial 999 anywhere in the UK, your call is answered by telephone operators from BT, who will then direct your call to the most appropriate emergency service.Each day the 999 service receives large numbers of accidental 999 calls, particularly from mobile phones. BT’s operators will attempt to confirm there is an emergency by asking the normal questions in order to receive a response. If suspicious noises are heard, the call will be put through to the police or the caller will be asked to press/dial 55 which will also route the call to the police.The BT operator will pass on to the police any information they have been able to establish and the police Customer Contact Centre Agent will then also attempt to assess if there is an emergency and the location of the caller.IMPORTANT: West Yorkshire Police will NOT automatically have details of the location (particularly for mobile phones) so we can’t automatically send police to your location.West Yorkshire Police emphasized the final line above, indicating police will not always have location data on 999 calls, a circumstance particularly relevant when it comes to mobile phones. A large share of 999 calls are likely placed from cellular phones, making that information extremely important for anyone exposed to the “999, dial 55” advice. That same police department indicated that operators are aware that not all callers may speak, but inputting touchpad numbers is not the full extent of operators’ efforts to gather information:West Yorkshire Police’s Customer Contact Centre Agents are very skilled in seeking information from callers who may not be in a position to communicate effectively, so for example tapping the handset in a way that answers the call handler’s questions can be utilised, or skilled use of closed questions (yes or no) enables the call handler to effectively get the most suitable response to the call.In April 2019, the BBC covered misperceptions about silent 999 calls and the relevance of dialing 55:The Independent Office for Police Conduct watchdog warns it is “not true” that a silent 999 call alone will automatically bring help.Around 5,000 of the 20,000 silent 999 calls made daily are put through to an automated system.Callers are then led through a series of prompts and asked to press 55 to confirm there is a genuine emergency.The system has been in operation since 2002 but police say many callers don’t understand, or use it correctly.The system, called Silent Solution, filters out thousands of accidental or hoax silent 999 calls made daily – but it also could lead to genuine calls being terminated if the callers do not respond to the prompts.In that reporting, the outlet referenced a “silent 999 call” which went unanswered, leading to the death of a domestic violence victim:The Independent Office for Police Conduct’s campaign is being supported by the family of Kerry Power, 36, who was killed by her ex-partner in Plymouth, in December 2013.She had made a silent 999 call but did not respond to the BT operator and so was transferred to Silent Solution.As 55 was not pressed, the call was terminated and Devon and Cornwall Police were not notified of Kerry’s call.In that instance, the victim was informed about the option to make a silent 999 call, but not advised on further steps. Her call was subsequently dropped. An article published at the same time by The Independent carried information possibly more useful to silent 999 callers. Instead of dialing 55, those callers also had the ability to text details of their emergency, allowing for dispatch of appropriate services:It is possible to text, rather than call, the emergency services.EmergencySMS is similar to the police’s Silent Solution and allows deaf, hard of hearing and speech-impaired people in the UK send an SMS text message to the UK 999 service where it will be passed on to the police, ambulance, fire rescue or coastguard.In order to use the service, you must first register your mobile phone number with the emergency services. To do this, text “register” to 999. You will then receive a message confirming that you have been registered with the service.To text 999 in an emergency, you will need to text which emergency service you require, briefly explain the problem and where the problem is happening.“Give the name of the road, house number, postcode, or nearby landmark, if possible,” Action on Hearing Loss explains.Other information from April 2019 issued by the Cambridgeshire Constabulary described the actual purpose of the “999, dial 55” rumors. According to that item, the service existed primarily to prevent silent 999 calls from being automatically disconnected:When you dial 999 anywhere in the UK your call is answered by telephone operators, who will then direct your call to the most appropriate emergency service.Most people will be surprised to know just how many accidental 999 calls are answered by operators in the UK every single day. Police operators will try to distinguish if the call is genuine or what is commonly known as a ‘pocket dial’ by answering a series of questions. If there are slight noises such as breathing that lead the operator to think someone is in fact on the other end of the line and cannot talk, the call taker will ask the individual to dial 55 to make it clear they cannot talk.Dialling 55 will then send the call through to the police, who can try to locate the caller and send out assistance if it is believed the call is an emergency.A May 2019 piece in The Sun also alluded to the functionality of the “dial 55” part, and how it ought to be understood by any prospective emergency callers:A police spokesperson told the Express and Echo: “Please do not think that just because you dial 999 that police will attend.“We totally understand that sometimes people are unable or too afraid to talk, however it must be clear that we will not routinely attend a silent 999 call.“There must be some indication that the call has not been mis-dialled.”Police expressed their awareness of callers who are unable to speak or state their emergency, but also indicated that a high volume of “pocket calls” placed by cell phones necessitated additional confirmation. Largely, police emphasized secondary or non-verbal confirmation as confirmation the call was placed intentionally — not as a sole signal of danger. The purpose of dialing 55, coughing, or one-word responses was to validate the call was made deliberately — not to signal distress. Operators were trained to recognize such scenarios, but their ability to deduce those risks appeared situational.Essentially, a popular January 2020 Facebook post advising users calling 999 to dial 55 for a “silent” call was decontextualized to a point of posing risk to those exposed to the advice. A long-circulating, related rumor that silent 999 calls resulted in police dispatch have had fatal consequences, and in some cases, callers who remain silent might be asked to dial 55 (or cough, or make another affirmative noise) to prevent automatic disconnection of the call. In many cases, dialing 55 would have no effect, or callers would be asked to validate the call in a different fashion.
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3004
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New York called to include menthol in flavored tobacco ban.
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New York lawmakers could ban flavored tobacco products amid growing concern over the tobacco and vaping industry’s use of flavorings to attract young people and African Americans, though it’s unclear whether a push to ban menthol cigarettes will succeed.
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true
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Albany, Health, General News, New York, Vaping, Bills, Tobacco industry regulation
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The Democratic Senate Majority plans to pass a ban on the sale of flavored e-cigarettes and also smokeless flavored tobacco products as soon as next week, a Democratic Senate spokesman said Monday. Senate Democrats also plan to move ahead on seven other bills including a study on the long-term health effects of e-cigarette use and laws preventing tobacco ads and new tobacco stores from popping up near schools. It’s less clear how lawmakers will act on Democratic Sen. Brad Hoylman’s bill to ban all flavored tobacco products — including menthol cigarettes. The exclusion of menthol flavorings from tobacco restrictions at the state and federal levels has long drawn criticism from public health and civil rights groups who say the tobacco industry has marketed menthol cigarettes to African Americans for decades. “It always seemed very normal and accessible so I never really questioned it,” Albany high school senior Hassani Hamilton, 17, said. “What I’ve come to realize is these products are deadly and their rampant use in my community is no accident.” New York state health officials issued a ban on most flavored e-cigarettes last fall in response to worries that vaping may cause illnesses and that its use is growing among teenagers who say they’re attracted by flavorings. But the ban’s exclusion of menthol and tobacco flavorings drew scrutiny from a state judge in her decision to continue to block it Friday. The ban was initially blocked last fall after the vaping industry sued to stop New York from enforcing emergency regulations banning the sale of most flavored e-cigarettes. Acting Supreme Court Justice Catherine Cholakis said state health regulators went beyond their authority when they passed the ban, which she said touched on policy issues that lawmakers should decide. Judge Cholakis said it’s a “natural question” why the regulations excluded tobacco and menthol e-liquid flavors when she hasn’t seen evidence that supports continued use of those flavors. Hamilton and representatives of public health and civil rights groups urged lawmakers Monday to ban all flavored cigarette products, and not just e-cigarettes. Cigarette smoking causes about one of every five deaths in the United States each year and 93% of adult African American smokers began smoking by using menthol cigarettes, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “It is the direct result of a targeted and well-funded effort by the tobacco companies over the last several decades to addict communities like mine to nicotine and tobacco,” Hamilton said. But it’s unclear whether there’s broad support to ban all flavored cigarettes in New York. Republican Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker last year signed a bill to allow the nation’s first ban of menthol cigarettes starting in June. New York’s governor has said he’ll propose legislation this year to prohibit the sale of “all” flavored e-cigarettes and ban vaping ads targeted to youth. It’s unclear whether Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s legislation would include menthol and tobacco flavorings, which the state’s health commissioner has recommended. Cuomo has expressed concern that a New York ban on menthol cigarettes could run into legal issues because they’re allowed on the federal level. A proposed federal ban on menthol cigarettes has stalled. And President Donald Trump’s vaping ban excludes menthol flavoring. The vaping industry praised the judge’s Friday decision and said bans don’t work. “With this important ruling, the court has prevented the state from creating a huge new black market and ushering in a new public health crisis along with it — something that may still come to pass if the New York Legislature bans flavors,” Vapor Technology Association Executive Director Tony Abboud said.
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34707
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The artificial butter flavoring used in microwave popcorn poses a danger of lung damage to ordinary consumers.
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Does the artificial butter flavoring used in microwave popcorn pose a danger of lung damage to ordinary consumers?
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unproven
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Medical, ASP Article, food warnings, microwave popcorn
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It should come as no surprise to most consumers that many of the flavors found in modern packaged food products are created through the use of chemical flavorings. One example of such is diacetyl, a chemical used in artificial butter flavoring which is commonly found in microwave popcorn. Studies have linked diacetyl with the development of the lung disease bronchiolitis obliterans (a widespread inflammatory and fibrotic obstruction of the small airways) in industrial flavor workers who experience significant inhalation exposure to the chemical, and various health advocates have pointed to those studies as a reason to call for more stringent governmental regulation over (or an outright ban on) the use of diacetyl. The question on many people’s minds, then, is if the link between diacetyl inhalation and bronchiolitis obliterans (also known as BO, or “popcorn lung”) in industrial workers is indeed causal, does diacetyl pose a danger to consumers with much lower levels of exposure to diacetyl than factory workers, consumers who merely breathe in fumes produced during the heating of artificially butter-flavored microwave popcorn products? This issue gained prominent public attention in September 2007 via the publication of a letter sent to federal agencies by Dr. Cecile Rose, a pulmonary specialist at Denver’s National Jewish Medical and Research Center, saying that doctors at the center believed they had encountered the first case of a consumer’s developing lung disease from the fumes of microwave popcorn. Whether this disclosure demonstrates that microwave popcorn poses a significant health risk to ordinary consumers is not so cut-and-dried, though. As Dr. Rose noted, “This is not a definitive causal link” and “We cannot be sure that this patient’s exposure to butter flavored microwave popcorn from daily heavy preparation has caused his lung disease” (although she also noted that doctors had “no other plausible explanation” for the patient’s symptoms and that the issue “raises a lot of questions and supports the recommendation that more work needs to be done”). Additionally, this case might represent far more of an extreme than a norm, as the patient involved “did report daily consumption of several bags of extra butter flavored microwave popcorn for several years” (at least two bags per day for more than 10 years) and “when he broke open the bags, after the steam came out, he would often inhale the fragrance because he liked it so much.” Shortly after the publication of Dr. Rose’s letter, the producers of four of the biggest-selling microwave popcorn brands in the U.S. (Orville Redenbacher, Act II, Pop Secret, and Jolly Time) announced that they were working to remove diacetyl from their microwave popcorn recipes (while nonetheless reassuring consumers about the safety of their products).
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7794
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Snowstorms shut down Ireland, Britain calls in army for hospitals.
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Snowstorms shut most of Ireland on Friday and forced Britain to call in the army to help battle some of the worst weather seen for nearly 30 years.
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true
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Environment
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After a blast of Siberian cold dubbed “the beast from the east”, southern Britain and Ireland were battered by Storm Emma that arrived from the south and blocked roads, grounded planes and stopped trains. Overnight blizzards left snow drifts up to three feet (90 cm) deep across Ireland and Scotland. The storm knocked out Ireland’s entire public transport network, closing its airports and leaving roads “extremely dangerous,” the government said. At the peak of the storm, over 100,000 homes and businesses were left without power. On Friday the Irish stock exchange was shut, as were all schools and most government offices as a status Red weather alert remained across most of Ireland. “The country needs to more or less stay in hibernation today,” deputy prime minister Simon Coveney told state broadcaster RTE. “Hopefully we can continue to get through these freak weather conditions without tragedy.” In Britain, a seven-year-old girl was killed in the far southwestern county of Cornwall after a car crashed into a house in icy conditions, the BBC reported. Dozens of passengers were stranded on trains overnight in southern England. The army was summoned to help rescue hundreds of drivers stuck in the snow and to transport National Health Service workers. Roads and schools were closed and many flights canceled across Britain. Weather conditions in Scotland, which initially bore the brunt of the Siberian cold front, improved slightly, but the authorities warned people not to travel on Friday and during the weekend. Around 30 vehicles were stuck on a road near Aberdeen, the local council said, with many other roads closed due to snow drifts. Residents of the Scottish border area were asked to help dig out roads where a number of motorists were stranded. Care workers in rural areas were moving around in tractors. “In the current bad weather, I want to say thank you to everyone going the extra mile to keep our country moving - and to keep us safe,” British Prime Minister Theresa May said. Airbus said its Filton plant in Bristol, which helps make wings for passenger jets, was closed on Friday due to the heavy weather. Audit firm PwC estimated that the cost of insurance claims by consumers and businesses in United Kingdom to date as a result of the severe weather was at least 15 million pounds, though it was too early to forecast the final bill. “We have already had over 8,000 road accidents in the past three days and this could increase significantly with more snow set to fall today,” said Mohammad Khan, head of PwC’s general insurance business in Britain. Social media across the British Isles was dominated by the weather, as some mocked the authorities’ struggles to manage the snowfall while others showed near misses on slippery roads and people abandoning their cars. In Dublin, which last saw a major snowfall in 2010, videos posted on social media showed people used bathtubs and baking trays as improvised sleds. Panic-buying of bread left shelves empty across the capital. Snow and icy conditions continued to cause disruption in southern Europe too. In the Liguria and Emilia-Romagna regions of northern Italy, the weather forced the closure of key sections of major highways and paralyzed rail traffic. Train service between major cities such as Genoa and Milan and Genoa and Turin, the three points in Italy’s north known as the industrial triangle, was either suspended or suffered from long delays because of ice. Traffic on secondary, regional roads was backed up after vehicles were diverted onto them from closed highways.
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24614
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53 percent of Americans cut back on their health care in the last year because of costs.
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Pascrell says 53 percent of Americans cut back on health care due to costs
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mixture
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National, Health Care, Bill Pascrell,
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The debate over reforming the U.S. health care system has inspired a torrent of often conflicting statistics. We will look at three assertions made by Democratic Rep. Bill Pascrell of New Jersey. In this item, we will test his assertion that 53 percent of Americans cut back on their health care in the last year because of costs. On July 28, 2009, Pascrell took to the House floor to counter assertions by Republicans and others that a Democratic bill under consideration in the chamber would lead to the rationing of health care. Pascrell’s larger point was that rationing already exists today, just a different type — thanks to the financial barriers to coverage faced by millions of Americans. Specifically, Pascrell said: “Forty-five percent of Americans went without needed care because of costs in this country in 2007. That’s rationing. Fifty-three percent of Americans cut back on their health care in the last year because of costs. That’s rationing. … As many as 22,000 Americans die each year because they don’t have health insurance. My brothers and sisters, that’s rationing.” We are not going to weigh in on the question of whether it’s fair to equate Pascrell’s examples of “rationing” with what the bill’s critics charge the bill would do if enacted. Rather, we wanted to gauge whether Pascrell’s numbers were sound. So we looked at these three claims individually. Pascrell’s second claim is based on a tracking poll by the Kaiser Family Foundation, which is a respected, independent source of data on health policy. Pascrell chose a survey result from February, when the foundation sponsored a poll of 1,204 randomly sampled adults ages 18 and over. All told, 53 percent said that they or a family member in their household had done one of the following things because of cost concerns: relied on home remedies or over-the-counter drugs instead of going to see a doctor (35 percent said yes); skipped dental care or checkups (34 percent); put off or postponed getting health care you needed (27 percent); skipped a recommended medical test or treatment (23 percent); not filled a prescription (21 percent); cut pills in half or skipped doses (15 percent); or had problems getting mental health care (7 percent). What Pascrell or his staff apparently wasn’t aware of was that the same survey has subsequently been repeated three more times — that’s the purpose of a tracking poll, after all — and that, in fact, the percentage of respondents saying they had done one of those things has jumped around quite a bit. In April, the number rose to 59 percent, before falling to 55 percent in June and 49 percent in July. Another point to note: Not all of the actions mentioned to survey respondents are equally damaging, which suggests that the 53 percent figure ought to be taken with a grain of salt. Taking over-the-counter drugs for a temporary condition such as a cold might not be very risky; indeed, for minor illnesses such as colds that doctors aren’t able to treat well anyway, some health care economists would be delighted to see Americans skipping a visit to the doctor. Moreover, the poll data shows that Americans who did scale back their visits seemed to have the right priorities. Of the 27 percent of respondents in the February poll who answered “yes” to the question about putting off needed health care, the two most common items skipped were “a visit to the doctor for a temporary illness, such as a cold or stomach flu” and “preventive care such as a yearly physical exam,” both at 19 percent. Lower rates were recorded for more urgent situations, including a visit for a chronic condition such as diabetes or asthma (10 percent), minor surgery (6 percent) or major surgery (5 percent). Cathy Schoen, a senior vice president with the Commonwealth Fund, agreed that the results on chronic conditions are especially important. “Health plans have started to notice this, as have some employers, and they are lowering cost-shares for essential and effective medications, especially generics,” she said. “Otherwise, plans are seeing an increase in emergency room or hospital visits for complications, which mean higher costs.” Schoen added, “Fortunately most people are healthy each year: The healthiest 50 percent of the population accounts for only 3 percent of all spending. The sickest 10 percent account for 64 percent of all spending. This is where timely and appropriate medical care can make a difference.” Finally, the survey wording raises a bit of a red flag. Pascrell said that 53 percent of Americans “cut back on their health care in the last year because of costs,” a number that reflects anyone who cited one of the seven possible actions offered to respondents. But Pascrell’s statement is not far off from one of those seven offerings, a rather broadly worded question that asked respondents whether they had “put off or postponed getting health care you needed.” That question drew a yes from 27 percent of respondents, well below the 53 percent Pascrell chose to cite. Pascrell accurately conveyed the survey’s topline figure, but he did use old numbers (figures that have varied a bit in subsequent months) and the survey provides other data that make the problem seem less dire than the headline number indicates.
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5340
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New Mexico governor seeks ideas for recreational pot law.
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New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham is launching a new effort to craft legislation that could legalize recreational marijuana sales next year.
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true
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Fiscal policy, Michelle Lujan Grisham, Health, Recreational marijuana, General News, Legislation, Marijuana, Business, New Mexico
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The first-year Democratic governor announced Friday her recruitment of health, legal and fiscal policy experts to serve in a new discussion group that provides recommendations on state legalization. Members of the group include Democratic and Republican legislators who sponsored unsuccessful legislation this year to authorize and tax recreational marijuana sales at state run stores. That proposal passed a House vote but stalled in the state Senate. Albuquerque City Councilor Pat Davis is leading the so-called cannabis legalization task force. Other participants represent a labor union, sheriff’s department, health care business, Native American tribe, medical cannabis business, county government association, commercial bank and hospital company.
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12767
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And this would be the first year, if everything holds true, we will spend over $10 billion of our state budget on Medicaid out of the $28 billion budget.
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"Rowden was trying to illustrate that Medicaid spending has reached out-of-control levels. According to Greitens' budget recommendations for fiscal year 2018, the budget for Medicaid has gone up over $1 billion in the last three years and now takes up approximately 37 percent of the state budget. Despite the growing concern from Republicans on the cost of Medicaid spending, Greitens has recommended $10.7 billion for the service for fiscal year 2018, an increase of over $500 million from fiscal year 2017. However, it’s important to note that ""we"" — as in the state of Missouri — don’t directly fund the entire $10 billion. Because of the Federal Medical Assistance Percentage and the Federal Reimbursement Allowance programs, the state only has to spend approximately $1.7 billion of state revenue on Medicaid. So while Medicaid spending will exceed $10 billion of the nearly $28 billion budget, not all of the money is coming directly from the state. Rowden’s statement is accurate but needs clarification."
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true
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Health Care, Medicaid, Public Health, Missouri, Caleb Rowden,
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"A hot-button topic in Missouri this year has been the state budget, a large part of which goes to social services, primarily Medicaid. With more budget cuts looming, funding these services may be hard to maintain. That’s what state Sen. Caleb Rowden suggested in mid-January before Gov. Eric Greitens unveiled his proposed state budget. At a legislative breakfast Jan. 20, Rowden said, ""This would be the first year, if everything holds true, we will spend over $10 billion of our state budget on Medicaid out of the $28 billion budget."" Rowden then said maintaining this current level of spending for social services is not an option given the revenue shortfalls officials expect. Ten billion dollars is a massive amount of money, and the figure piqued our interest. We wanted to know if this level of Medicaid spending could be correct. Where does the state gets its money for Medicaid? Before diving deeper into Rowden’s claim, it’s important to get some background on the Medicaid program. Medicaid is designed to provide health coverage for lower-income families, people with disabilities, senior citizens, pregnant women and newborns, blind and visually impaired, uninsured women, families, kids, and women with breast or cervical cancer. As of November 2016, 69 million people nationwide were covered through Medicaid. Missouri disperses Medicaid to participating residents through its MO HealthNet program under the Department of Social Services. A document by the Missouri Budget Project explains how Missouri funds Medicaid. The majority of funding for Medicaid — 83 percent — comes from the federal government through two programs. One program called the Federal Medical Assistance Percentage, or FMAP, matches federal government dollars to state dollars spent on health care services based on a percentage rate. Missouri's FMAP rate for fiscal year 2018 is 63.21 percent, according to the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. This means that for every dollar Missouri spends on health care — not just Medicaid — the federal government gives $1.72. Of the total money Missouri receives from the FMAP program, only a certain amount goes to Medicaid. The rest goes toward other health care services the state provides. Fifty-one percent of Missouri's Medicaid spending is funded through FMAP. The other program — Federal Reimbursement Allowance — along with other capital reserves, covers another 32 percent of Missouri’s spending on Medicaid. Missouri has been participating in this program for 25 years. So this leaves Missouri picking up only 17 percent of its own Medicaid bill. This money comes from collected state revenue. Dan Haug, acting budget director for the state, told us in a phone call that he expects Medicaid to cost the state $10.21 billion in the coming fiscal year. This would make Rowden’s statement true, but we wanted to check the budget to see where all the Medicaid money went. Figuring out Medicaid Finding Medicaid spending in the state budget is complicated. The bulk of Medicaid spending falls under the Department of Social Services. In the last fiscal year, the state approved $9.2 billion for the DSS, $7.7 billion of which went toward Medicaid. At first glance, this seems like this is the total budget for Medicaid in the state. There are really no other places in the budget where Medicaid is clearly defined as an expense. So Rowden’s claim about the Medicaid budget is false, right? Not so fast. In fact, Medicaid money is spent by more agencies than just the DSS. It is used for other services spread throughout the state budget, most notably in the Department of Mental Health. Traci Gleason, the director of communications and public engagement at the Missouri Budget Project, confirmed that nearly 20 percent, or $2 billion, of the Medicaid budget goes toward mental health services, driving the total budget of Medicaid closer to that $10 billion figure. Where does the rest of Medicaid spending go? Even an expert such as Gleason said that’s very tricky to determine. Part of the reason for this is because portions of the Medicaid budget are listed as MO HealthNet, which is the health care system Missouri switched to in 2007. Through the MO HealthNet name, a series of supplemental appropriations sections are added at the bottom of the state budget document. Some of the services funded through supplemental appropriations, such as pharmacies, physicians and premium services, fall under the Medicaid budget. When you add all the supplemental appropriations together for services that fall under Medicaid, it comes out to $10,023,904,918. While this falls short of Haug’s estimate, it does make Rowden’s statement about the Medicaid budget correct. ""It’s really hard to drill down (the Medicaid spending) because it’s spread over all sorts of different departments and programs,"" Gleason said. ""Overall, though, Sen. Rowden is correct with his totals."" Nevertheless, because the state is responsible for funding only 17 percent of the total on Medicaid, the total amount Missouri will spend is $1.7 billion from state revenue. Our ruling Rowden was trying to illustrate that Medicaid spending has reached out-of-control levels. According to Greitens' budget recommendations for fiscal year 2018, the budget for Medicaid has gone up over $1 billion in the last three years and now takes up approximately 37 percent of the state budget. Despite the growing concern from Republicans on the cost of Medicaid spending, Greitens has recommended $10.7 billion for the service for fiscal year 2018, an increase of over $500 million from fiscal year 2017. However, it’s important to note that ""we"" — as in the state of Missouri — don’t directly fund the entire $10 billion. Because of the Federal Medical Assistance Percentage and the Federal Reimbursement Allowance programs, the state only has to spend approximately $1.7 billion of state revenue on Medicaid. So while Medicaid spending will exceed $10 billion of the nearly $28 billion budget, not all of the money is coming directly from the state. Rowden’s statement is accurate but needs clarification. Supervising editor is Mike Jenner."
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16130
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The number of killings of citizens by police is at a two-decade high.
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"Morial said, ""The number of killings of citizens by police is at a two-decade high."" Morial was quoting a USA Today analysis based on FBI statistics. In that sense, Morial seemed to have good sources. But digging deeper showed the information is hardly reliable. Only a fraction of law enforcement agencies provide this data to the FBI, and the agencies reporting changes every year. These problems are not new and were in fact noted in the USA Today story he referenced. Normally we would put more stock in FBI statistics. But in this case there are many known problems with the data."
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mixture
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National, Criminal Justice, Crime, Marc Morial,
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"The shooting of unarmed 18-year-old Michael Brown by former Ferguson, Mo., police officer Darren Wilson has sparked national dialogues ranging from the racial makeup of police forces to the militarization of local law enforcement. Another issue up for debate is the use of deadly force by police. On this topic, we heard a noteworthy statistic from National Urban League CEO Marc Morial during an appearance on Fox News Sunday: ""The number of killings of citizens by police is at a two-decade high."" The stat caught our attention, but is it accurate? At first blush, it looked like Morial is on solid ground. He has two good sources for his claim: USA Today and the FBI. But as we dug deeper, we discovered sizeable shortcomings in the data. A spokeswoman for the National Urban League pointed us to the USA Today story. The headline: ""Police killings highest in two decades."" USA Today reviewed data collected by the FBI for its annual Uniformed Crime Report and a statistic called ""justifiable homicide by law enforcement."" We looked at the statistics ourselves. In 2013, the latest year on record, there were 458 justifiable homicides involving a firearm. The previous high was in 1994, when 460 were reported. Here’s a graph of justifiable homicides by law enforcement: This would seem to make it a cut-and-dried case. However, as we learned from experts who have studied crime statistics and police-involved shooting, there are significant holes in the FBI data that cast doubts on whether real conclusions can be drawn from the statistics. Even the USA Today story the National Urban League linked us to highlighted many of the inadequacies of the data. Other news outlets have noted the limitations of the FBI statistics as well. Here’s the biggest problem: There is no mandate that local law enforcement agencies report officer involved shootings to the FBI. While 18,000 city, university, county, state, tribal and federal law enforcement agencies voluntarily participate in the FBI’s annual Uniform Crime Report, just a small fraction of them willingly provide data on deadly force and justifiable homicides within their departments. Robert Worden, professor at the University of Albany School of Criminal Justice, said ""the actual number of such homicides may be as high as double the FBI’s counts."" ""(Morial’s) claim might be true, but it’s impossible to say with confidence,"" Worden said. ""The consensus among experts is that these data are unsatisfactory, leaving questions about the number of people shot and killed by police in any year and trends in that number over time completely open."" David Klinger, a professor at the University of Missouri-St. Louis, said there is no reason to believe the number of agencies that do report are representative of the population, and the number who report may fluctuate from year to year. It’s entirely possible that the reason the number went up from 2012 to 2013 is simply because more police agencies reported their officer-involved shootings than in previous years. Even less definitive conclusions can be drawn from comparing 2013 results to 1994. And there’s no way to extrapolate the FBI figures because there is no benchmark that indicates by how much the information is underreported. We couldn’t even tell if more or fewer police departments were reporting the numbers over the years. A spokesman for the FBI did not get back to us. Klinger said academics and others in the field have publicly questioned these numbers for decades. ""I wish people would just admit that the data sucks and they shouldn't be using it for anything other than to say, that’s the baseline number of people who have been reported to be killed by the police in a given year,"" Klinger said. ""To talk about trends against time? No, we don’t know what agencies are coming in and out of reporting and how many are accurately reporting."" Are there any other sources for the data? Not really. James McGinty, spokesman for the Police Executive Research Forum, a think tank focused on best practices for law enforcement, said there’s no data that’s conclusive, even for determining basic trend lines. ""We certainly think there should be better data on this,"" McGinty said. The Bureau of Justice Statistics used to track the number of deaths while in police custody, a similar but imperfect number. However, the data only goes from 2003 to 2009 and it appears it has not been updated since. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates deaths in cases of ""legal intervention"" which includes ""injuries inflicted by the police or other law-enforcing agents, including military on duty, in the course of arresting or attempting to arrest lawbreakers, suppressing disturbances, maintaining order, and other legal actions."" However, this is a calculated statistic based on sample surveys and the data only goes back to 1999 anyway. Lorie Fridell, a professor at the University of South Florida Department of Criminology, surveyed most local law enforcement agencies in the country and found the vast majority track the number of officer-involved shootings internally. However, there is no national clearinghouse for the data and mandating reporting to the federal level would be a challenge. ""Individual researchers sometimes collect this information from multiple departments, but even those latter efforts do not come close to providing us with reliable national data,"" Fridell said. Our ruling Morial said, ""The number of killings of citizens by police is at a two-decade high."" Morial was quoting a USA Today analysis based on FBI statistics. In that sense, Morial seemed to have good sources. But digging deeper showed the information is hardly reliable. Only a fraction of law enforcement agencies provide this data to the FBI, and the agencies reporting changes every year. These problems are not new and were in fact noted in the USA Today story he referenced. Normally we would put more stock in FBI statistics. But in this case there are many known problems with the data."
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27088
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Anti-abortion Republican U.S. Rep. Scott DesJarlais testified that he encouraged some women to have abortions.
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“Despite a fixation by his political opponents on the details of a previous marriage from the 1990s, the people of Tennessee’s Fourth District have shown they care much more about the Congressman’s job in Washington than the details of a divorce,” a spokesman for DesJarlais said in 2015.
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true
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Politics
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With restrictive abortion laws either being proposed or passed in multiple states in May 2019, Snopes.com readers have inquired about years-old reports about U.S. Rep. Scott DesJarlais, an anti-abortion Republican legislator from Tennessee who had testified almost two decades earlier during his divorce proceedings that he encouraged two women to seek abortions. Laws dictating near-total bans on abortion in states such as Alabama, Georgia, and Ohio were widely viewed as potential legal challenges to the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling and drew nationwide protests. Because DesJarlais touted an anti-abortion agenda in his role as a public official, his story, while not new, was being viewed by critics as an example of political hypocrisy on the issue: Congressman Scott DesJarlais (R-TN) did—three times. https://t.co/yCXHyjzuA3 — Christopher J. Hale (@chrisjollyhale) May 17, 2019 The story about DesJarlais is a multi-layered one and stems from both an acrimonious divorce finalized in 2001 and a 2010 political election filled with mudslinging. Although DesJarlais, a physician, has won multiple re-election bids since the story surfaced, it resulted in his being reprimanded by the Tennessee medical licensing board over revelations that he slept with two patients, something he admitted to under oath during his divorce hearings. In 2010, DesJarlais unseated Democratic incumbent Lincoln Davis to represent Tennessee Fourth District in the U.S. House of Representatives — but in the days leading up to the election, Davis’ campaign launched attack ads centered on accusations that had been levied against DesJarlais a decade earlier. In the course of divorcing him, DesJarlais’ now-ex-wife had accused him of “dry-firing” (i.e., pulling the trigger of an unloaded gun) outside her locked bedroom door to intimidate her, holding a gun in his mouth for three hours, as well as engaging in “an incident of physical intimidation at the hospital; and previous threatening behavior … i.e. shoving, tripping, pushing down, etc.” At the time, his campaign called those accusations “baseless”. Those same divorce records were raised again in 2012 when DesJarlais was up for re-election. But unlike in 2010, hundreds of pages of hearings transcripts from 2001 were made public in 2012. (Snopes.com is not linking to the transcript because it contains the names of numerous private citizens.) The transcripts revealed that DesJarlais admitted to the incident with the gun, saying: “It was never a loaded gun. It was never a suicide attempt. It was an attention-seeking act and I’ve testified to that.” He added that he thought his actions were “very shameful.” During those same hearings, DesJarlais testified under oath that his wife at the time had one abortion before the two met. After the two entered into a relationship, he subsequently supported her decisions to undergo two abortions before the couple married in 1995. “The second two [abortions], one she was on [an] experimental drug called Lupron and was not supposed to have gotten pregnant,” DesJarlais testified. “There were potential risks. It was a therapeutic. One was after she had gotten back from Desert Storm and things were not going well between us and it was a mutual decision.” He added, “I don’t think that it was easy for either one of us. I think it was a very difficult and poor choice and I think that there are probably regrets both ways.” DesJarlais also testified that he had a sexual relationship with a then-24-year-old patient, and that the woman had claimed he got her pregnant. According to the transcript, as part of a reconciliation attempt the couple orchestrated a recorded phone call in an effort to find out whether the young woman was telling the truth. In the call, DesJarlais pressured the young woman to seek an abortion and offered to drive her to Atlanta for her to do so — although he stated during his testimony he never believed her to be pregnant in the first place. DesJarlais’ then-wife’s attorney, L. Thomas Austin, asked him if the young woman was one of “the kind of women you prey on, Doctor,” to which DesJarlais responded, “No. Obviously it was a huge mistake.” During the same hearing, DesJarlais admitted to having an affair with a second patient while writing her prescriptions, lavishing her with an $875 watch and buying her a plane ticket to Las Vegas. He also admitted to flings with a representative from a drug firm and with co-workers. Media reports prompted Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), a government-accountability advocacy organization, to file a complaint about DesJarlais’ conduct with the Tennessee Department of Health, who fined him $500 for unprofessional conduct over his affairs with the two patients. DesJarlais responded to the controversy on a radio show in December 2012, saying that he believed “God gave me a second chance,” adding: “And I think unless some people see some sort of political advantage to grace and redemption … they don’t want to practice it on their own. I don’t know what the reason is behind that, but I know God’s forgiven me. … I simply ask my fellow Christians and constituents to consider doing the same for me.” (Our attempts to reach DesJarlais’ current spokesman, Brendan Thomas, were unsuccessful.) The story has continued to haunt Desjarlais. It came up in 2015 when he voted for a bill that would have banned most abortions after the 20th week, and again in 2017 in stories about Tim Murphy, an anti-abortion Pennsylvania Republican who retired after his mistress revealed he had asked her to get an abortion. Nevertheless, DesJarlais has won every bid for re-election since the story broke.
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23314
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Jeff Merkley Says with the ongoing economic downturn, child abuse is on the rise.
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Jeff Merkley says with the economic downturn Oregon is seeing more child abuse
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true
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Oregon, Children, Economy, Families, Jeff Merkley,
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"Sen. Jeff Merkley appeared at the new Children’s Center in Clackamas County to raise awareness about an increase in child abuse and, according to his news release, to highlight ""the correlation to the economic downturn."" ""Even one case of child abuse or neglect is too many, and with the ongoing economic downturn, the numbers of Oregon children suffering from abuse is on the rise,"" said Merkley. ""We must do everything in our power to reduce the number of children being abused and help provide sanctuary to those in need."" The Children’s Center received some federal money last year. And the visit was a good photo op for a freshman senator during a congressional break. But at Politifact Oregon, we wondered if child abuse really is on the rise and if there is actually a cause-and-effect connection between child abuse and dismal economic times. Merkley is correct about the increase: More Oregon children are suffering abuse and neglect. The Oregon Department of Human Services reports that 11,090 children were victims of abuse or neglect last year, a 6.4 percent increase from 2008. Population growth isn’t the only culprit behind the higher numbers. The state reports that the rate of abuse increased from 11.8 victims per 1,000 children to 12.5 per 1,000. A check with the agency’s number-crunchers indicates the trend holds this year, with abuse reports up between 6 percent and 7 percent between July 2009 and July 2010. Though reports don’t always turn out to be confirmed cases, officials say they expect the number of child victims will rise again for 2010. But is the increase because of high unemployment? Merkley’s spokeswoman, Courtney Warner Crowell, said she hadn’t seen any research linking a rise in abuse to an economic downturn. But she said several people she’d talked to blamed the increase in child abuse on the economy. But there isn’t any statistical evidence drawing a direct link between increased child abuse and a bad economy. ""We can’t say that factually and we can’t prove it,"" says Katharine Cahn, executive director of the Child Welfare Partnership at Portland State University. The number of child abuse victims can rise, even in good times, Cahn says, simply because more people are reporting the abuse. State stats do show alcohol and drug abuse, domestic violence and parental run-ins with police among the common stress factors that contribute to child abuse. Cahn concedes that people do feel stressed and depressed when the economy goes bust and may drink or use drugs in an attempt to cope. And that, she says, may be the indirect tie to Oregon’s rising numbers. So, it appears that while Oregon’s junior senator was right about the numbers of kids abused, the sour economy may not be deserve all the blame."
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1505
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Millions of Americans to gaze upon Monday's once-in-a-lifetime eclipse.
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Twilight will fall at midday on Monday, stars will glimmer and birds will roost in an eerie stillness as millions of Americans and visitors witness the first total solar eclipse to traverse the United States from coast to coast in 99 years.
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true
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Environment
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"The sight of the moon’s shadow passing directly in front of the sun, blotting out all but the halo-like solar corona, may draw the largest live audience for a celestial event in human history. When those watching via broadcast and online media are factored into the mix, the spectacle will likely smash records. “It will certainly be the most observed total eclipse in history,” astronomer Rick Fienberg of the American Astronomical Society (AAS) said last week. The eclipse begins its cross-country trajectory over the Pacific Coast of Oregon in late morning. It will reach South Carolina’s Atlantic shore some 90 minutes later. The total eclipse of the sun is considered one of the most spell-binding phenomena in nature but it rarely occurs over a wide swath of land, let alone one of the world’s most heavily populated countries at the height of summer. In terms of audience potential, it is hard to top the United States, with its mobile and affluent population, even though the direct path is mostly over rural areas, towns and small cities. The largest is Nashville, Tennessee, a city of 660,000 residents. Even so the advent of social media and inexpensive high-tech optics have boosted public awareness, assuring what many U.S. experts predict will be unprecedented viewership for the so-called “Great American Eclipse.” Some might take issue with that prediction, citing a solar eclipse visible over parts of India, Nepal, Bangladesh and central China in July 2009. National Geographic estimated 30 million people in Shanghai and Hangzhou alone were in its path that day. On Monday, the deepest part of the shadow, or umbra, cast by the moon will fall over a 70-mile-wide (113-km-wide), 2,500-mile-long (4,000-km-long) ""path of totality"" traversing 14 states. The 12 million people who live there can view the eclipse at its fullest merely by walking outside and looking up, weather permitting. (tmsnrt.rs/2fNQHFb) LIVESTREAMING AND PRICE-GOUGING Some 200 million Americans reside within a day’s drive of the totality zone, and as many as 7 million, experts say, are expected to converge on towns and campgrounds along the narrow corridor for the event. Many are attending multiday festivals featuring music, yoga and astronomy lectures. Millions more could potentially watch in real time as the eclipse is captured by video cameras mounted on 50 high-altitude balloons and streamed online in a joint project between NASA and Montana State University. A partial eclipse will appear throughout North America. Adding further to the excitement is the wide availability of affordable solar-safe sunglasses produced by the millions and selling so fast that suppliers were running out of stock. The owner of one leading manufacturer reported price gouging by second-hand dealers who were buying up large supplies and reselling them over the internet at a huge mark-up. Not all the hoopla will unfold on dry land. Welsh pop singer Bonnie Tyler is slated to perform her 1983s hit single “Total Eclipse of the Heart” aboard a cruise liner as the vessel sails into the path of totality from Florida on Monday. Back on the ground, forest rangers, police and city managers in the total eclipse zone are bracing for a crush of travelers they fear will cause epic traffic jams and heighten wildfire hazards. “Imagine 20 Woodstock festivals occurring simultaneously across the nation,” Michael Zeiler, an AAS advisory panel member wrote on his website, GreatAmericanEclipse.com, referring to the famously chaotic 1969 outdoor rock extravaganza in upstate New York. Hundreds of residents in a prime-viewing area in Oregon had to evacuate on Saturday under threat from a wildfire raging in the Deschutes National Forest, according to InciWeb fire-tracking website. The so-called Milli Fire, which has scorched more than 7,8OO acres (3,162 hectare), is one of seven burning in Oregon, Montana and Idaho, three of the states crossed by the totality path. Zeiler, an avowed “eclipse chaser” who made the 650-mile (1,046-km) drive from his New Mexico home to Wyoming for a choice view, said South Carolina is likely to see the greatest influx as the destination state closest to the entire U.S. Eastern seaboard. Monday’s event will be the first total solar eclipse spanning the entire continental United States since 1918 and the first visible anywhere in the Lower 48 states in 38 years. The next one over North America is due in just seven years, in April 2024."
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21066
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"D.A. King Says Rick Perry ""proposed a binational health insurance program with Mexico."
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Did Rick Perry propose a bi-national health care plan with Mexico?
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true
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Georgia, Immigration, D.A. King,
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"The term ""Obamacare"" is used by critics to describe the health care overhaul that President Barack Obama signed into law last year. And some conservatives derisively use the phrase ""Romneycare"" to slight Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney and the changes he approved to Massachusetts’ health care system when he was governor there. How about ""Perrycare""? That’s Georgia anti-illegal immigration activist D.A. King’s term for what he contends was an effort by Texas governor and Republican presidential candidate Rick Perry to impose a binational health care plan between his state and Mexico. King even has a website dedicated to highlight Perry’s stance on immigration issues. King is one of the most vocal voices in Georgia’s ongoing debate over illegal immigration. ""Granting instate tuition to illegals is only a small part of Perry’s problematic record,"" King, president of the Dustin Inman Society, which is opposed to open borders between the U.S. and Mexico, wrote in a recent op-ed to the Marietta Daily Journal. ""We noted that Perry had dismissed any consideration of a state immigration enforcement law such as Arizona, Georgia and other states struggled to put in place; had proposed a binational health insurance program with Mexico (Perrycare? ); has expressed his support for legalizing the fugitive illegals who have escaped capture at American borders (it’s not amnesty, it’s a guest worker plan! ); and refused to use the power of his office for any E-Verify legislation in Texas. So what if that state has one of the highest number of illegals in the country?"" King made a number of points, but we decided to look at the Perrycare charge because the presidential candidate’s immigration policy has come up in a number of other forums. Some Perry critics describe him as being soft on illegal immigration because of his position on allowing students who are illegal immigrants to pay instate tuition at colleges in Texas. The criticism has hurt Perry’s standing among some Republicans. So we wondered if King had found another case in which Perry could be criticized as soft on illegal immigrants. Our colleagues at PolitiFact Texas recently examined this issue when another GOP presidential candidate, Rick Santorum, a former U.S. senator from Pennsylvania, said Perry supported binational health insurance. King dismissed the PolitiFact Texas ruling, forwarding us an e-mail with a widely circulated speech by Perry on the issue. The Texas governor urged lawmakers there to pass a telemedicine program that allows ""individuals living on the Mexican side of the border"" to get care from a specialist hundreds of miles away. Telemedicine is using forms of communication such as video conferences to provide health care, according to the American Telemedicine Association. Perry also mentioned a study to look at the feasibility of binational insurance. ""This study recognizes that the Mexican and U.S. sides of the border compose one region, and we must address health care problems throughout that region,"" Perry said. Those comments were made in August 2001, two weeks before the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. The study guidelines were outlined in House Bill 2498, passed by the Texas Legislature in 2001. It begins by stating the interest of the state to deliver affordable health care services to citizens ""on both sides of the Texas-Mexico border."" The 141-page report, released in 2003, found some legal problems with the idea and logistical challenges, such as there are no laws in Mexico preventing a doctor from performing the duties of a specialist. The report found other problems. Some Texas health care providers were concerned that medical care in Mexico did not meet their standards, the medical equipment in Mexico was not as advanced and some medicine approved in Mexico may not meet Food and Drug Administration guidelines. The report offered several options if Texas wanted to move forward with the idea. Perry and state lawmakers didn’t act. A spokeswoman for Perry noted to PolitiFact Texas that the Legislature took no further action on the topic. Still, some websites have bashed conservative media for not being more critical of Perry. ""However, in spite of the Legislature’s failure to act, Perry made clear his willingness to funnel Texas’s assets to Mexico,"" an item in the New American website said. It then had excerpts from Perry’s August 2001 speech. The website failed to note that the speech was made two years before the study. By signing the bill that allowed the study, and through his 2001 speech, we can see how some find seeds for Perry’s support of a binational health insurance program with Mexico. But the governor never acted on the study, and he hasn’t appeared to talk much about the subject since 2001. Still, Perry pushed for the study, which implies his interest in the idea."
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33290
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A new tranquilizer dart gun on the market is designed to put children to sleep.
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Fake news site reports the FDA has approved the sale of a new tranquilizer dart gun intended to put children to sleep.
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false
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Media Matters, ASP Article, fake news, newswatch 28
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On 8 May 2015, the web site Newswatch 28 published an article reporting that the FDA had approved a new tranquilizer dart to put children to sleep: The Food and Drug Association (FDA) has announced this morning that it has approved pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson’s request to produce and sell tranquilizer dart guns specially developed to put kids to sleep. The alleged new medical device would allow parents to put a child to sleep within 4 seconds, and is said to have no serious longterm consequences on the child’s health. There has been a high demand for such a device for years now, explains to us Ernie Knewitz, media relations vp over at Jonhson and Johnson. We have tested over hundreds of recipes to finally find one that doesnt cause too much damage to the brain despite regular use. We have finally found a mix of PCP and a heroin derivative that seems to do the job. The above-quoted article was shared thousands of times on Facebook. While most commentators agreed that the sleep-inducing methods described in this story would qualify for cruel and unusual punishment, some claimed that the use of tranquilizer darts on children was a necessary evil. Regardless, the story is pure fiction. Newswatch 28 is one of the myriad of fake news web sites on the Internet, the purveyor of such invented headlines as “76-year-old woman expelled from KFC for breastfeeding her 42-year-old son.” The site’s disclaimer describes their content: Shocking news and stories, celebrity news and gossip. Whether currently occurring, interesting, controversial, abnormal, thought provoking or satirical, we only wish to inform and entertain with the content we publish. Regardless of public opinion, the FDA has not approved a tranquilizer dart to put children to sleep. While the above-displayed photograph does feature a child snoozing in a humorous sleeping position, the tranquilizer dart was added to the image via Photoshop. The origins of the photo are unknown, but it has been circulating online as a demotivational poster since at least 2010:
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5025
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Evers vows to ‘fight like hell’ for Medicaid expansion.
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Democratic Gov. Tony Evers pledged Thursday to “fight like hell” to expand Medicaid in Wisconsin, a day after Republican legislative leaders said they would kill his proposal next week.
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true
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Wisconsin, Public opinion, Health, Scott Walker, Medicaid
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A defiant Evers held a news conference with Democratic lawmakers to urge the public to call Republicans and tell them to approve Medicaid expansion. They cited public opinion polls that showed a wide majority of support for Medicaid expansion. “We’re not giving up,” Evers said. Republican Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, surrounded by GOP lawmakers at a hastily called news conference in response, accused Evers of being full of “heated rhetoric” while pushing a “massive welfare expansion.” “There are definite downsides, but the Democrats and Gov. Evers decide to only talk about half of the equation and frankly it’s misleading,” Vos said. Evers made expanding Medicaid a centerpiece of his successful campaign last year against Republican Gov. Scott Walker, a longtime opponent of Medicaid expansion. Evers took his victory as a sign that voters want Wisconsin to join a majority of other states that have accepted the federal money. Medicaid expansion is a centerpiece of Evers’ two-year budget proposal. Taking the money would make $1.6 billion available in federal money to pay for a host of other health care priorities, while also making Medicaid available to about 82,000 additional poor childless adults and parents. About half of them don’t have insurance, while the other half have private market plans that are subsidized heavily by the federal government and sold on the exchange. It doesn’t make sense to shift those people to state-funded Medicaid plans when they are already covered, Vos said. That would upset the private insurance market and put taxpayers at risk, he said. “None of us ran on an expansion of welfare,” Vos said of Republicans. “Tony Evers did, so we’ve got a conflict.” Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes said Vos should be ashamed of himself. “Robin Vos’s will is not the will of the people of Wisconsin,” Evers said. Republican co-chairs of the Legislature’s budget committee said Wednesday they would vote next week to remove Medicaid expansion from Evers’ spending plan, along with a host of his other top priorities including legalizing medical marijuana, raising the minimum wage, capping voucher school enrollment and all but ending a manufacturing tax credit program. While Republican leaders have long opposed Medicaid expansion, some GOP lawmakers have publicly called for a compromise. “I’m going to fight like hell for Medicaid expansion and I’m going to need your help to get it done,” Evers said Thursday. “I need you to call your legislators and tell them you support Medicaid expansion.” Evers dodged a question about whether he would sign a budget that doesn’t expand Medicaid. “We’re not ceding anything, we’re not negotiating against ourselves,” he said. “We have to have this.” Democratic state Rep. JoCasta Zamarripa, of Milwaukee, said Republicans were “thumbing their nose” at Wisconsin families. “Republicans have shown they do not stand with Wisconsin’s women,” she said. “They do not stand with the children of Wisconsin. They do not stand with Wisconsin families.” The most recent Marquette University Law School poll released in April showed 70% support for Medicaid expansion. Accepting the Medicaid expansion as envisioned in Evers’ budget would bring in $324 million in federal funding that could be invested in other programs to tap even more federal dollars and result in a $1.6 billion investment in health care priorities. That includes increasing reimbursement rates for doctors and other health care providers, raising county aid for crisis mental health services and spending more on women’s health care initiatives. ___ Follow Scott Bauer on Twitter: https://twitter.com/sbauerAP
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21
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Exclusive: India's NTPC snubs foreign emissions tech, shuts out GE, others from $2 billion orders.
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Top Indian electricity generator NTPC has rejected the emissions-cutting technology of GE and other foreign firms for its coal-fired plants, documents show, shutting them out of an estimated $2 billion in orders.
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true
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Environment
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Despite struggling with some of the world’s worst air pollution levels, India has already pushed back a deadline to cut emission levels to up to 2022, after extensive lobbying by power producers who cited high costs and technical difficulties. The rejection of the foreign technology comes at a time when over half of coal-fired plants in India are already set to miss a phased deadline starting Dec. 2019 to cut emissions of lung diseases-causing sulphur oxides. State-run NTPC, which generates a quarter of India’s electricity, held talks with foreign firms including General Electric Co, Norway-based Yara International and Japan-based Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems over the potential purchase of filters that lower emissions of smog-causing nitrogen oxide. However, none of the pilot tests it conducted met key emissions parameters, NTPC said in a presentation submitted last month to the Central Pollution Control Board. “The pilot tests concluded that both selective non-catalytic reduction (SNCR) and selective catalytic reduction (SCR) technologies currently available are not suitable for installation at power plants in India,” it said in the presentation reviewed by Reuters, referring to technologies used to cut emissions of nitrogen oxides. Thermal power companies produce three-quarters of the country’s electricity and account for some 80% of India’s industrial emissions of sulphur oxides that cause lung diseases and smog-creating nitrogen oxides. NTPC had presented cost estimates in 2016 for the installation of the technology to cut nitrogen oxides throughout its network of power plants. According to Reuters calculations based on those estimates, the cost would total $2.4 billion, although industry consultants said recently that those costs could now be 25% lower. The utility wants a dilution in nitrogen oxide emissions standards and claimed in last month’s presentation that the lowered standards can be achieved with minor retrofits, without the need to install new equipment. The pollution board held a stakeholder meeting on Nov. 7, an audio recording of which was reviewed by Reuters. In the meeting, GE and Yara representatives rejected NTPC’s views, saying their technologies were proven worldwide, according to the recording and two sources present at the meeting. NTPC did not attend the meeting. NTPC, and the Indian units of GE and Yara did not respond to detailed Reuters questionnaires seeking comment. Mitsubishi Hitachi did not immediately respond to a request for comment made on its website. NTPC said in the earlier presentation to the pollution board that high ash content in Indian coal posed challenges to installing SCR technology and that SNCR did not meet key parameters. The foreign companies responded, saying pilot tests were run in a constrained environment and that commercial use of the equipment, which requires some changes to the plant, would cut emissions to the required levels. “The conditions for the (pilot) test was that we can’t touch special parts at all, we can’t touch furnace tubes. NTPC did not allow us,” Senthilvel Rangasamy, a GE representative, said in the meeting. Premchand Talreja, the managing director of the Indian unit of Yara, said the pilot tests achieved the desired results. “There should not be doubt on the technology itself,” Talreja said in the meeting. Lauri Myllyvirta, an analyst at the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air and previously a member of a European Union technical working group on emissions by coal-fired utilities, said India has failed to curtail emissions due to “delay and misinformation tactics by the power industry”. “The power industry managed to build a myth that Indian coal is so special that technologies proven on a wide range of coal types elsewhere need to be tested and validated again in India before the standards can be implemented,” Myllyvirta told Reuters.
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12315
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"Blogger Says ""CNN host Fareed Zakaria calls for jihad rape of white women."
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Recycled parody: CNN's Zakaria calls for jihadi rape of white women
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false
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National, Fake news, Islam, Bloggers,
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"CNN’s Fareed Zakaria presents himself as an urbane observer of the global scene and not the sort of person to call for violence against women. But the website teoinfo.com sought to cast Zakaria in a much different -- and false -- light. The website ran an article June 30 with the headline: CNN Host Fareed Zakaria Calls For Jihad Rape Of White Women. Facebook readers flagged the story as being potentially fake, so we decided to investigate. For fake news watchers, the opening paragraph of the story was a stroll down memory lane. It said, ""Fareed Zakaria, CNN host of ‘Foreign Affairs,’ a program focusing on international events, has in his private blog called for the merciless rape of white females by Islamic minority groups shortly after openly gloating over the rise in premature deaths of white males in his article in the Washington Post."" Not only is that bizarre, it is a word-for-word copy and paste from an article over a year ago on the satirical website The People’s Cube. The self-described site for ""political humor"" once touted that it ranked No. 13 on a list of humor blogs. Among its recent headlines, it announced, ""Russia adds St. Patrick’s Day to list of excuses to get drunk,"" as part of the country’s ""Day Without Sobriety"" campaign. The website adopts a faux-Soviet style, purportedly the brainchild of ""a former Soviet agitprop artist."" When the article first appeared Jan. 2, 2016, Zakaria complained that he was the victim of internet trolls. In response, the People’s Cube (it features a Rubik's cube with red on all sides) published an open letter on Jan. 18, 2016. ""This parody wasn't meant to be taken as factual reporting, given the context of our website and especially considering the author's credentials at the top: Chedoh, Kommissar of Viral Infections, Hero of Change, Prophet of the Future Truth."" (The author’s avatar is a cheeto with a Che Guevara face, which makes sense if you say Chedoh the ""right"" way.) According to the Teoinfo/People’s Cube article, Zakaria wrote, ""The white race is rightfully failing because it is a foolish, arrogant, and self-absorbed ethnicity that has racism infused into its very genes,"" and went on to say ""thankfully, the Prophet Muhammad has given us a foolproof way to speed up the decline of a vanquished nation by treating their women as our sex slaves."" The rumor-busting website Snopes declared it false in January 2016. Despite the article’s satirical roots, warning labels or disclaimers were lost as it moved from site to site. Reclaim Australia Rally, a group that asks ""all patriotic Australians to stand united against Islamisation and home grown terror threats,"" shared the Teoinfo post on its Facebook page on July 2. An article that presents over-the-top satire as fact merits a ."
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2142
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Researchers dig up controversy in Jerusalem.
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Archaeologists in Jerusalem are competing to unearth artifacts pointing to the ancient city’s Jewish past, which are used to justify Israel’s claim to all of it as the indivisible capital of the modern Jewish state.
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true
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Science News
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Archaeologist Eilat Mazar of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem gestures near an archaeological site known as the City of David during an interview with Reuters in Jerusalem's Old City March 4, 2010. REUTERS/Gil Cohen Magen But critics say some of “finds” are really just bending science to prove a “Biblical heritage” that is open to dispute. “Archaeologists have given up many of their best practices in order to answer the continuing demands of mainly political actors,” says Raphael Greenberg, an Israeli archaeologist from Tel Aviv University, who has worked in Jerusalem. With generous funding, including from religious groups intent on expanding Jewish settlement, archaeologists are digging up possible Biblical sites in occupied East Jerusalem and its surrounding West Bank suburbs at record pace. So fast, say critics, that there are cave-ins at some sites, heightening tensions with the 250,000 Palestinians who live in the holy city, which Israel has controlled fully since 1967. Archaeology in Jerusalem dates back well over a century — British enthusiasts began digging below the Old City 150 years ago, revealing remains that many say are those of a walled settlement ruled by the biblical Jewish king David. That City of David site, still an active dig, is now also a tourist attraction, with around 400,000 visitors a year. It is funded by Elad, a group which also supports Jewish settlement. As visitors eye the cracked stone walls, a stout 60-year-old man dons a skullcap, stops the group and flips open a Bible. “This is where archaeologists found a clay seal with the name Gedaliah Ben Paschur, mentioned in verse 38:1 in the Book of Jeremiah,” whispers the volunteer, who gives his as Mordechai. “I can’t tell you what to think. But what else could this place be, if not the ancient Biblical city?” Greenberg is not persuaded by fixation on the holy book. “Archaeology cannot prove or disprove the Bible,” he says “A name that matches that of a person in the Bible can only be taken so far — it’s just a name.” He says some archaeologists cater to financial donors like Elad, which seeks to establish Biblical roots and develop tourism, thereby strengthening Jewish claims on the area. “Over time, when you’re funded by these people in huge sums, and we’re talking millions of dollars, you become part of the machine,” argued Greenberg, who has been speaking out for some time over his doubts about archaeology in the holy city. Jerusalem archaeologists feel pressured on all sides. “I’m being looked at by religious extremists on all sides, the municipality, and the Antiquities Authority. Everybody is pushing his side,” says Ronny Reich, an archaeologist from the University of Haifa in northern Israel. Walking atop the massive stone steps of the Silwan Pool — or the Pool of Siloam — which he excavated in 2004, Reich dodges crowds of tourists. According to scripture, Jesus healed a blind man here. Reich insists that his Elad funders do not influence him and he is “not in accordance” with everything Elad does. He says his work is unfairly attacked: The critics “can’t fight Elad in court, so they use my dig,” he said, to attack it by proxy. Bringing an outsider’s eye to the arguments, British writer Simon Goldhill, in his 2008 book “Jerusalem: City of Longing,” speaks of the thrill of the digs that are rewriting text books, almost by the year, but also of the bitter, personal arguments: “The vitriolic dispute over the status of the Bible for archaeology is a classic Jerusalem row,” the Cambridge professor writes, “touched as it is with so many personal issues within the small community of professional archaeologists, and laced as it is with the political charge of early history in this country.” Critics like Hani Nur al-Din from the Palestinian Al Quds University in Jersualem accuses some Holy Land archaeologists of caring more about publicity than scholarly peer review. He names Eilat Mazar, of Hebrew University in Jerusalem, who drew attention last month after excavating a wall she says was built by the biblical King Solomon in the 10th century BC. “She doesn’t give any archaeological context to her findings other than dating pottery shards,” Nur al-Din charged. “The Bible should be put aside. It’s not a history book.” But Mazar, scion of an illustrious Israeli archaeology dynasty, disputes that: “Excavating Jerusalem without knowing the Bible is impossible,” she says. She said she would write a scientific report of her find following laboratory study. Pointing out the freshly excavated wall, Mazar says the Bible offers a “core of reality”: “We’ve got a fantastic 10th century fortification line that indicates a central, powerful regime,” she said. “The Bible tells us there was such a king at this time, and his name was Solomon. Why ignore it? An archaeological site known as the City of David is seen in Jerusalem's Old City March 4, 2010. REUTERS/Gil Cohen Magen “The question is if we can trace that core and prove it existed. Well, here it is.” Greenberg complains that the focus on the specific histories of the peoples on the land around Jerusalem can obscure the fact that finds here can have greater importance than proving, or disproving, the ancestral ties of one group or another. “Israeli archaeology has a lot to contribute to very basic history about the development of the earliest human civilizations,” he said. “If all we deal with is who were the Jews or the Palestinians, then this remains a very anachronistic and parochial archaeology with little to say to the world.”
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17756
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If I have affordable coverage in my workplace, I'm not eligible to go into the marketplace. ... It’s illegal.
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"It’s pretty clear Sebelius was wrong when she said ""it’s illegal"" for her to buy insurance on the exchange because she already has affordable insurance through her employer. Those inclined to do so certainly can, though the financial incentives to stay with the employer-based plan are quite convincing."
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false
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National, Health Care, Kathleen Sebelius,
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"Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius testified before Congress Oct. 30 for the first time since the federal health care marketplaces went online, answering questions about problems with the website and facing accusations that President Barack Obama lied to the American people about who could keep their health care plan. At the tail end of three and a half hours of testimony, Sebelius had a testy exchange with Rep. Cory Gardner, R-Colo., who asked the secretary why she wasn’t enrolling in the exchanges herself. ""If I have affordable coverage in my workplace, I'm not eligible to go into the marketplace. ... It’s illegal,"" she said. The Twittersphere lit up after Sebelius’ remarks, questioning whether they were valid. Even the government’s own website instructs people with job-based insurance that ""if you'd like to explore marketplace coverage options you can."" So was Sebelius right and the Obamacare website wrong, or vice versa? Given the vast amount of misinformation circulating around the health care law and the insurance marketplaces, we thought it necessary to straighten this out. Employer insurance vs. Medicare We went right to the source on this one, asking the Department of Health and Human Services if Sebelius misspoke. It turns out she did. Individuals who have health insurance through their employer can sign up for the online marketplaces, it’s just not financially beneficial for most to do so. If an individual forgoes affordable insurance through work, he or she won’t qualify for subsidies to help pay for insurance on the government-run marketplaces. And plans purchased through an employer are typically cheaper because the company is paying a portion of the costs. A spokeswoman for the department said Sebelius meant to say, ""Marketplace plans cannot be sold to a Medicare enrollee, and the secretary is a Medicare enrollee."" While Sebelius receives health benefits from her government job, as of May, she is also 65 years old and therefore eligible for free Medicare Part A, which covers hospital visits. She can couple those benefits with her employer insurance, but according to guidelines released Oct. 4 by the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services, ""it is illegal to knowingly sell or issue a Qualified Health Plan to a Medicare beneficiary"" on the government-run insurance marketplaces. That hasn’t always been clear, said David Lipschutz, a policy attorney at the Center for Medicare Advocacy. Nothing in the Affordable Care Act mentions whether Medicare enrollees are eligible for the health insurance marketplaces, he said, but the administration lately has cited a section of the Social Security Act also known as the Medicare Anti-Duplication provision that bars private insurance companies from offering coverage to Medicare enrollees. There are some exceptions. A small fraction of individuals who are not eligible for free Medicare Part A and those with end stage renal disease can still buy insurance on the exchanges and receive federal subsidies. Neither of those situations apply to Sebelius. Hypothetically, Sebelius could abandon her government health care plan and get out of Medicare Part A. But that would require her to revoke and forfeit her Social Security benefits for the rest of her life, something we can’t envision anyone volunteering to do. ""It’s really not going to be an option to drop it in order to get into an exchange,"" said Andrea Callow, also a policy attorney with the Center for Medicare Advocacy. Our ruling It’s pretty clear Sebelius was wrong when she said ""it’s illegal"" for her to buy insurance on the exchange because she already has affordable insurance through her employer. Those inclined to do so certainly can, though the financial incentives to stay with the employer-based plan are quite convincing."
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6789
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Plague in Madagascar hits urban areas, kills 2 dozen people.
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Authorities in Madagascar are struggling to contain an outbreak of plague that has killed two-dozen people in recent weeks and has prompted a ban on large public gatherings in the capital to curb the disease’s spread.
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true
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Madagascar, Health, Antananarivo, Africa, Plague, Basketball
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The dead include a basketball coach from the Seychelles who was participating in a tournament in Madagascar’s capital, Antananarivo. Five people have died of plague in the capital, reported L’Express de Madagascar, a daily newspaper. The government has begun a campaign to disinfect school classrooms in the city, compelling students to stay at home in the coming days. Many people have bought surgical masks and other medical supplies in large quantities, raising concerns about a shortage of medicine. “Once everybody hears that this is a major thing, everyone runs out and buys everything at the pharmacy,” said Joshua Poole, the Madagascar representative for Catholic Relief Services, an aid group based in Baltimore, Maryland. “Access to those essential items is a challenge.” Poole said the death of the basketball coach from the Seychelles had attracted more international attention to this year’s outbreak of plague, which is endemic to Madagascar. The coach, 49-year-old Alix Allisop, died in a hospital on Wednesday after experiencing breathing problems, according to the Seychelles News Agency. A jazz festival, Madajazzcar, canceled its opening concert in Antananarivo this week and suspended other events until further notice. Plague has also been reported in the port city of Toamasina in eastern Madagascar and other cities. At least 114 people have been infected with plague and the disease is affecting large urban areas unlike like past outbreaks, increasing the risk of transmission, the World Health Organization said Sunday. WHO, which is sending more staff and supplies, including antibiotics, to Madagascar, said about 400 case of plague, mostly bubonic, are reported every year in the country. The last reported outbreak in Madagascar occurred in a remote area in December 2016 and was mostly bubonic plague, the United Nations health agency said. “Bubonic plague is spread by infected rats via flea bite, pneumonic by person-to-person transmission. The current outbreak includes both forms of plague,” the agency said. It described plague as a “disease of poverty” that can kill quickly if untreated but can be cured if antibiotics are administered early. ___ Follow Christopher Torchia on Twitter at www.twitter.com/torchiachris
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3441
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Germany: Rare virus linked to more fatal encephalitis cases.
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A review of fatal encephalitis cases in the southern German state of Bavaria has found that more than twice as many as previously known were tied to a rare animal-borne virus, researchers said Wednesday.
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true
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Health, Europe, General News, Germany, Animal health
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The Federal Research Institute for Animal Health said scientists examined brain samples from 56 people who died in Bavaria between 1999 and 2019. They found evidence of Borna disease virus in eight samples. Along with six previously known cases since the mid-1990s, this brings to 14 the number of encephalitis deaths in Bavaria linked to the Borna virus over that period. The study published in the latest issue of medical journal The Lancet Infectious Diseases was conducted together with researchers from four German universities and Germany’s Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine. Borna disease virus 1, or BoDV-1, is normally found in horses, sheep and other mammals. It was first identified as the cause of severe human encephalitis in 2018. The virus is harbored by the bicolored white-toothed shrew and researchers suspect that infections are caused by contact with the animal’s excrement. While natural human-to-human transmission has been ruled out, some cases resulted from organ transplants. Symptoms of encephalitis include fever, severe headaches, speech and gait disorders that can lead to coma within days or a few weeks. The researchers noted that while BoDV-1 has a very high death rate, “the absolute number of infections and hence the risk of infection is estimated to be very low.” They said the main risk areas in Germany are the states of Bavaria, Thuringia, Saxony-Anhalt and parts of neighboring adjoining states. Germany will require compulsory notification of BoDV-1 infections from March.
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9467
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A new study claims prostate cancer screenings significantly reduce deaths. Not everyone agrees
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This examination of two new mathematical modeling studies on the value of PSA testing accurately nails the problems in interpreting research of this nature and why it is difficult to draw firm conclusions. The reader is left with a broader understanding of different factors that might affect prostate cancer detection, including what is often called the “healthy user bias”–when those who undergo screening and/or treatments might be a healthier cohort of patients to begin with and it is that factor, not the decision to undergo screening/ treatment, that is the main reason for apparent improved survival. A Los Angeles Times story we reviewed on the same study didn’t provide this important context. PSA testing is a highly controversial, polarizing subject whereby those who promote it, as well as those men who have been treated based on raised prostate specific antigen levels, become evangelists for early detection. Others who examine the randomized trials bring attention to the fact that men who undergo PSA testing are more likely to have their lives drastically altered, suffer the effects of treatment (including urinary incontinence and erectile dysfunction), in exchange for the small likelihood that their lives would be “saved.”
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true
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prostate cancer
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The lack of any cost information is one flaw to this article. Reminding the readers of the costs of PSA screening programs–in terms of the huge volume of medical services that it can catalyze (including the costs of the test itself, the drugs, surgeries, urology consultations, hospital and operating time, as well as the lost income for men who are recovering from treatment)–is a necessary part of the story. There is good depth here discussing the benefits. Early in the story it indicates that “for a man in the U.S., the risk of dying of prostate cancer is about 2.5 percent. A mortality reduction of 30 percent would lower the death rate to 1.75 percent.” Later this is described in relative terms, saying that more frequent PSA screening “moved some prostate cancers from too-advanced-to-treat to treatable, reducing prostate cancer mortality by 27 percent to 32 percent over 11 years.” Drawing from information produced by the USPSTF, the article concluded that the gains in prostate cancer detection “come at some cost to health, though: For every life saved, five men will be told they have cancer when in fact their abnormal cells would never grow, spread, or harm them. In other estimates, such “overdiagnoses” outnumber lives saved by 50-to-1.” The one harm that is often overlooked in widely-promoted screening programs is the psychological harm that perfectly healthy people may experience when they have had a “cancer scare,” and that even though their life is unlikely to be saved, the worry, anxiety, depression and angst do exact a substantial life-altering toll that goes unmeasured. This story superbly describes the quality of the evidence, emphasizing that this is not new research but it is new (and controversial) mathematical modeling and that there are a number of biases that can affect the interpretation of the results. This was a much stronger discussion of the evidence compared to the LA Times story we also reviewed. There are no signs of the common type of disease mongering we sometimes encounter in commentary about PSA testing, where some will take data from one age cohort as proof to suggest that other age cohorts (ie: younger men) would also benefit from PSA testing. A wide range of outside voices give this article depth and heft. The inclusion of voices of researchers who chose to remain anonymous reminds us of the very controversial and potentially career-altering aspects of this research. However, as with the Los Angeles Times story, this story didn’t note the financial disclosures of the study authors, including the senior author, Ruth Etzioni, who disclosed she owns equity in a company developing medical imaging technology that it says could be applied in prostate cancer patients. Dr. Etzioni stated that she does not consider the equity ownership to be a conflict of interest, but considering that an increase in PSA screening would boost demand for more precise and less invasive follow-up testing, it appears that her company would benefit. The study was funded by the National Cancer Institute. While that source does not raise any red flags, and the study stated that the funder had no role in the study, news stories are more informative when they note study funding. This research is specifically about comparing the value of screening for prostate cancer vs not screening. New biomarkers and variations on the PSA test itself, along with other screening modalities, such as digital rectal exam, are not mentioned and were not addressed in the studies that are described. It’s clear from the article that PSA testing is ubiquitous in America. Mentioning that it is covered by most insurers, and for those on Medicaid/Medicare, still would have been helpful, however. The report of this study establishes, correctly, how it might expand our view of the value of PSA testing and reminds us that what is “novel” here is the interpretation of previous research. This article clearly goes beyond what would have likely been the contents of a news release, particularly in deeply re-examining the findings from multiple perspectives.
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16157
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"Austin mayoral candidate Steve Adler opposed an injunction to stop a ""company from dumping petrochemicals directly into the Barton Springs aquifer."
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"Rockwell said Adler opposed an injunction to stop a ""company from dumping petrochemicals directly into the Barton Springs aquifer."" It’s not that simple. Adler, representing Lowe’s in court, opposed a successful push by the City of Sunset Valley and environmental groups to get a temporary injunction to stop Lowe’s from continuing to build a store over the aquifer. In a hearing, an expert for the plaintiffs testified about observing a hydrocarbon sheen being part of runoff flowing from the site onto underground limestone and, significantly, the judge’s order in response said Lowe’s should address any oil spills. So, Adler sought to keep a project going that on the day before the hearing appeared to one engineer to be sending runoff with an oily sheen directly underground. However, there is vital missing context in that the legal fight wasn’t rooted in letting Lowe’s dump -- or stopping Lowe’s from dumping -- petrochemicals. The big issue was whether the site should be built out with up to 40 percent impervious cover or the 15 percent allowed under the SOS ordinance. The statement is partially accurate but leaves out important details or takes things out of context."
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mixture
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Environment, City Government, Corrections and Updates, Texas, Brad Rockwell,
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"UPDATE, 5:30 p.m., Nov. 25, 2014: After hearing from Rockwell, we removed parts of our original story: testimony about whether mechanical systems could cause the project to meet anti-pollution standards – an element that didn’t speak to Rockwell’s claim – and a comment by a lawyer that workers took care of spilled gasoline, an action we didn’t confirm. We also took out our reference to a wave of litigation. While several judges considered the Lowe’s conflict in 2004, environmentalist groups filed only one lawsuit, Rockwell told us. We also made it clear Rockwell does not believe his statement was an exaggeration. These changes did not affect our rating of the claim. Vivid image: Austin mayoral candidate Steve Adler going to court to keep a judge from stopping petrochemicals from being dumped beneath Barton Springs. Austin attorney Brad Rockwell recently charged Adler, an eminent-domain lawyer, with doing just that. (Disclosure: Rockwell's daughter, Lilly Rockwell, covers city government for our parent newspaper, the Austin American-Statesman. She wasn't involved in this fact check.) ""I met Steve Adler in litigation while he was representing a company who was dismantling the SOS ordinance,"" Rockwell said at a Nov. 12, 2014, press conference held with mayoral candidate Mike Martinez next to the lengthy spring-fed swimming pool. Adler and Martinez vie in a Dec. 16 runoff. At the press conference, Brad Rockwell was referring to the Save Our Springs law approved in 1992 to limit development potentially polluting the pool. Rockwell, former deputy director of the Save Our Springs Alliance, continued: ""Adler opposed our efforts to get an injunction to stop this company from dumping petrochemicals directly into the Barton Springs aquifer."" Did Adler battle for a company to dump oil ‘neath the pool? Adler represented Lowe’s It’s public record that Adler represented Lowe’s before an Austin state district judge in 2004 and opposed a temporary injunction, shortly granted, that kept Lowe’s from continuing to build a store in Southwest Travis County. In March 2005, though, the Austin City Council moved to settle the dispute, clearing the way for the Brodie Lane store. Adler and others went before a judge in July 2004 in response to a lawsuit brought by the city of Sunset Valley and environmental groups that year intended to stop the Lowe’s project from being built on land in the heart of the Barton Springs recharge zone, described in Statesman news stories at the time as covering a 20-mile stretch of Travis and Hays counties. Rainfall in the zone percolates through soil and creek beds, a November 2003 Statesman news story said, replenishing the segment of the Edwards Aquifer that supplies not only Barton Springs but wells serving 50,000 residents. In question: Whether the plaintiffs were right that the construction was subject to the Save Our Springs ordinance limiting impervious cover to 15 percent or, as Lowe’s maintained, the company was free to put in up to 40 percent impervious cover in keeping with what Travis County permitted. In the July 1, 2004, hearing before Judge Scott Jenkins, Adler advanced reasons the project wasn’t subject to the SOS ordinance. Among his contentions: The land wasn’t in Austin’s purview, or extraterritorial jurisdiction, or if it was, the project still could proceed under looser development rules in place when plans were initially submitted to Sunset Valley. Engineer’s testimony And according to a hearing transcript, Adler didn’t say a word about whether Lowe’s should be allowed to pour petrochemicals into the earth. But during the hearing, parties seeking the injunction, including the city of Sunset Valley and Save Our Springs, called to the stand Lauren Ross, an environmental engineer, who testified about her visits to the construction site the day before. Asked if she observed conditions that would drive up average annual pollutants on the site after completion, Ross testified: ""There are clearly pollutants present on the site and discharging from the site that would not have been present prior to the beginning of the construction process."" Specifically, Ross said, she saw ""clear evidence of hydrocarbon sheens on the water in the construction rock"" around a fuel tank in violation of state requirements. Also, Ross testified, there’s ""no containment to prevent fuel spills from moving across the site."" She said that when she visited in the morning, a mesh silt fence intended to keep sediment from flowing off the site was breached at a spot where it looked to her like the land was graded to make all runoff head that way; she said the fence was restored by the time she returned in the afternoon. Most disturbing, Ross said, she saw that water running off the site wasn’t going into a culvert along Brodie Lane. Instead, she said, the flow was going into a hole in the ground onto limestone rock beneath, meaning all the project’s runoff was ""being discharged directly onto limestone that is presumably a recharge feature"" for the aquifer, she said. Asked what the flowing water looked like, Ross said the water had been filtered through the silt fence, but still had sediment and ""any of those escaping hydrocarbon sheens that we know are on the site at a more distant location."" Ross, asked her opinion of the environmental effect of the construction and on surrounding water features of the Lowe’s project, said: ""There is significant risk. And I think what I saw yesterday indicates it is much more than just a risk of contamination of downstream waters and the Edwards Aquifer from the proposed construction. It is clear that despite the engineering standards for erosion-type construction irrigation controls, these systems fail."" She also said she couldn’t recall seeing before the level of hydrocarbon sheens on a construction site that she saw on the Lowe’s site. Earlier in the hearing, Adler told the judge that stopping the $19 million project, which he called ""well underway,"" was ""going to cause greater environmental damage and greater harm than allowing the project to continue."" His legal contentions extended to mention of a 2003 state law intended to make the site subject only to Travis County’s development rules. Judge mentions ‘hydrocarbon spills’ Jenkins’ temporary injunction, issued July 2, 2004, said that if the construction continued, the plaintiffs would suffer irreparable injury due to degradation of waters in nearby Williamson Creek, Barton Springs, the Edwards Aquifer and Sunset Valley water wells. The court further finds, Jenkins wrote, ""an increased risk of water pollution, were construction allowed to continue in violation of the SOS Ordinance, because of the failure risks inherent in man-made pollution-control features."" Also, Jenkins directed Lowe’s to ""ensure storm water runoff from the property be diverted from flowing into aquifer recharge features at or adjoining the property, that Lowe’s remove fuel tanks from the property, that Lowe’s remove from the property water contaminated by hydrocarbons and perform reasonable remediation of any hydrocarbon spills at the property."" In an interview, Rockwell stressed the judge’s order as an indication his statement was accurate as well as comments by Ross to the Austin Bulldog for a May 21, 2014, news story quoting her saying that what she saw the day before the hearing was ""totally my worst nightmare about why we need to minimize construction over the aquifer. The fuel storage tank failed, secondary containment around the tank failed. ... The silt fence was down, and there was direct migration into the Edwards Aquifer,"" Ross said. Adler calls claim 'outrageous' Adler called the dumping characterization outrageous. ""To dump petrochemicals directly into the Barton Springs aquifer would be illegal in addition to being immoral,"" Adler said in an interview. ""Neither I nor Lowe’s nor co-counsel ever argued that the company should be able to dump petrochemicals into the aquifer."" The vital issue in court, Adler said, was whether a 4-3 vote by the Austin City Council in December 2003 was sufficient to let the development proceed. Save Our Springs and others successfully maintained in courts through 2004 that in keeping with the SOS ordinance, six council votes should have been required for the project to launch. Adler told us: ""Lowe’s doesn’t want to be dumping hydrocarbons down. No one in the courtroom would countenance dumping hydrocarbons down the aquifer."" Adler noted, too, that concerns about hydrocarbons going into the ground from the site weren’t part of pre-hearing briefs. Rockwell agreed, albeit pointing out no one knew of the oily sheen until the inspection visit by Ross. Rockwell, asked if his statement was an exaggeration, replied not. He also said that what he said at the press conference didn’t ""purport to summarize the whole litigation or everything about what the injunction fight was about. It’s one aspect, one very important aspect."" Other lawyers in the dispute To our inquiries, other lawyers in the dispute offered conflicting takes on this claim. Doug Young, the city attorney for Sunset Valley, which sided with the environmental groups in court, said by phone: ""Was Steve trying to vindicate the right of his client, Lowe’s, to dump petrochemicals down a recharge hole into the aquifer? No, I don’t think he was. But did he hear the uncontroverted testimony of Dr. Ross that there were petrochemicals in the surface water there?"" Young added: ""It would be unreasonable to assume Lowe’s intended to dump that gas on the ground and either not worry about where it went or intend for it to go down this recharge feature. There’s no reason to believe that. But it happened. And they opposed"" the injunction to stop the construction. Daniel Byrne, who like Adler represented Lowe’s in the hearing, said by phone: ""The notion that anyone was pumping petrochemicals into the aquifer is complete garbage."" We emailed North Carolina-based Lowe’s about this topic and didn’t hear back. Our ruling Rockwell said Adler opposed an injunction to stop a ""company from dumping petrochemicals directly into the Barton Springs aquifer."" It’s not that simple. Adler, representing Lowe’s in court, opposed a successful push by the City of Sunset Valley and environmental groups to get a temporary injunction to stop Lowe’s from continuing to build a store over the aquifer. In a hearing, an expert for the plaintiffs testified about observing a hydrocarbon sheen being part of runoff flowing from the site onto underground limestone and, significantly, the judge’s order in response said Lowe’s should address any oil spills. So, Adler sought to keep a project going that on the day before the hearing appeared to one engineer to be sending runoff with an oily sheen directly underground. However, there is vital missing context in that the legal fight wasn’t rooted in letting Lowe’s dump -- or stopping Lowe’s from dumping -- petrochemicals. The big issue was whether the site should be built out with up to 40 percent impervious cover or the 15 percent allowed under the SOS ordinance. The statement is partially accurate but leaves out important details or takes things out of context."
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6495
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Fresh grounds for coffee: Study shows it may boost longevity.
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Go ahead and have that cup of coffee, maybe even several more. New research shows it may boost chances for a longer life, even for those who down at least eight cups daily.
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true
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Coffee, AP Top News, Genetics, Chicago, Health, U.S. News
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In a study of nearly half-a-million British adults, coffee drinkers had a slightly lower risk of death over 10 years than abstainers. The apparent longevity boost was seen with instant, ground and decaffeinated, results that echo U.S. research. It’s the first large study to suggest a benefit even in people with genetic glitches affecting how their bodies use caffeine. Overall, coffee drinkers were about 10 percent to 15 percent less likely to die than abstainers during a decade of follow-up. Differences by amount of coffee consumed and genetic variations were minimal. The results don’t prove your coffee pot is a fountain of youth nor are they a reason for abstainers to start drinking coffee, said Alice Lichtenstein, a Tufts University nutrition expert who was not involved in the research. But she said the results reinforce previous research and add additional reassurance for coffee drinkers. “It’s hard to believe that something we enjoy so much could be good for us. Or at least not be bad,” Lichtenstein said. The study was published Monday in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine. It’s not clear exactly how drinking coffee might affect longevity. Lead author Erikka Loftfield, a researcher at the U.S. National Cancer Institute, said coffee contains more than 1,000 chemical compounds including antioxidants, which help protect cells from damage. Other studies have suggested that substances in coffee may reduce inflammation and improve how the body uses insulin, which can reduce chances for developing diabetes. Loftfield said efforts to explain the potential longevity benefit are continuing. Adam Taylor, fetching two iced coffees for friends Monday in downtown Chicago, said the study results make sense. “Coffee makes you happy, it gives you something to look forward to in the morning,” said Taylor, a sound engineer from Las Vegas. “I try to have just one cup daily,” Taylor said. “Otherwise I get a little hyper.” For the study, researchers invited 9 million British adults to take part; 498,134 women and men aged 40 to 69 agreed. The low participation rate means those involved may have been healthier than the general U.K. population, the researchers said. Participants filled out questionnaires about daily coffee consumption, exercise and other habits, and received physical exams including blood tests. Most were coffee drinkers; 154,000 or almost one-third drank two to three cups daily and 10,000 drank at least eight cups daily. During the next decade, 14,225 participants died, mostly of cancer or heart disease. Caffeine can cause short-term increases in blood pressure, and some smaller studies have suggested that it might be linked with high blood pressure, especially in people with a genetic variation that causes them to metabolize caffeine slowly. But coffee drinkers in the U.K. study didn’t have higher risks than nondrinkers of dying from heart disease and other blood pressure-related causes. And when all causes of death were combined, even slow caffeine metabolizers had a longevity boost. As in previous studies, coffee drinkers were more likely than abstainers to drink alcohol and smoke, but the researchers took those factors into account, and coffee drinking seemed to cancel them out. The research didn’t include whether participants drank coffee black or with cream and sugar. But Lichtenstein said loading coffee with extra fat and calories isn’t healthy. ___ Follow AP Medical Writer Lindsey Tanner on Twitter: @LindseyTanner . ____ The Associated Press Health & Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
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4979
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Obesity surgery may lower heart attack danger in diabetics.
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Obesity surgery may dramatically lower the danger of heart attacks and strokes in patients with diabetes, new research suggests, reinforcing evidence that benefits extend beyond weight loss.
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true
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Weight loss surgery, Health, North America, Diabetes, Stroke, AP Top News, Heart attack, Obesity, Seattle, U.S. News
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The study tracked about 20,000 severely obese patients with Type 2 diabetes. Those who had weight loss surgery had a 40 percent lower chance of developing a heart attack or stroke in the five years following surgery compared to those who got usual care with diabetes medicines or insulin. For every 1,000 patients in the study who had surgery there were roughly 20 heart attacks or strokes compared to 40 such events per 1,000 who got regular care. More than 30 million Americans have diabetes, mostly Type 2 where the body loses the ability to produce or use insulin to turn food into energy. Other research has shown obesity surgery can reverse and even prevent diabetes. Taken together, it means doctors should discuss weight loss surgery more often, said study co-author Dr. David Arterburn of Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute in Seattle. Doctors usually mention insulin and pills, “but it’s not always brought up that weight loss surgery is another available treatment option,” Arterburn said. Researchers analyzed records from four U.S. health care systems: HealthPartners in Minnesota and Kaiser Permanente in Washington state, Northern California and Southern California. Results were published Tuesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association. The study can’t prove cause and effect because patients weren’t randomly assigned to get surgery. The researchers tried to match patients for gender, age, blood sugar levels and other factors. But other things they didn’t account for could have contributed to the surgery patients’ better results. Everyone in the study had a BMI, or body mass index, of at least 35. For instance, someone who is 5-foot-8-inches and weighs 230 pounds has a BMI of 35. Of the more than 5,300 who had surgery, most had gastric bypass, the most common type of stomach-shrinking operation. Some had gastric sleeve or gastric band procedures. The rest, nearly 15,000 people, had usual care. Obesity surgery can cost $20,000 to $25,000. Insurers are increasingly covering it, but some impose strict limits. The new findings suggest insurance coverage should be expanded for the right patients, Dr. Sayeed Ikramuddin of the University of Minnesota wrote in an accompanying editorial. Surgery is thought to help by affecting hormones, gut bacteria and other substances that affect how the body handles insulin and blood sugar. Weight loss without surgery also helps, but is difficult for many people to achieve. Most weight loss surgery today is done through small incisions. The dangers are similar to other surgeries, including a small chance of life-threatening complications, and some people need to have their surgeries repeated. ___ Follow AP Medical Writer Carla K. Johnson on Twitter: @CarlaKJohnson ___ The Associated Press Health & Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
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7755
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France to cull wild boar at Belgium border in swine fever alert.
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France will cull all wild boar in a zone along the Belgian border to try and avoid an outbreak of a deadly swine disease after new cases were discovered nearby in Belgium, the French agriculture ministry said on Monday.
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true
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Health News
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France has been on alert for African swine fever since the virus was confirmed in September among wild boar in Belgium, not far from the French border. African swine fever, harmless for humans, is often deadly for pigs, and outbreaks in eastern Europe and China have disrupted the pork industry there. “The confirmation of two cases of African swine fever on Jan. 9, 2019, in Belgium at about 1 km from the border, leaves our country more exposed than ever to this major risk for pig farming,” a ministry statement said. “We are now at a maximum risk level.” France would create a boar-free zone spanning several km (miles) its side of the border by culling all wild boar in the coming weeks and erecting a perimeter fence in the next few days, the ministry said. Poland, one of the eastern European countries to have faced cases of African swine fever in recent years, is planning to cull 185,000 wild boar across the country, drawing protests from hunters that the measure was excessive. The disease can be carried by wild boars but experts also stress that human factors such as transport, clothing and food waste can play a role in spreading the disease. No vaccination or treatment exist for the highly contagious virus. Outbreaks often lead to export restrictions on pigmeat. Last year’s outbreak of African swine fever among wild boar in Belgium marked a sudden westward spread of the virus in Europe, raising the risk it would reach large pork-production countries like Germany, France and Spain. The authorities in Belgium’s French-speaking region of Wallonia have also stepped up surveillance measures since last week, extending a restriction zone on its side of the French border.
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41948
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"Says an Obama-era rule denied gun rights to the elderly who ""sought help to do their taxes."
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In a speech to conservatives, National Rifle Association CEO Wayne LaPierre distorted the facts when talking about the federal system for conducting background checks on prospective gun buyers.
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false
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background checks, Guns,
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In a speech to conservatives, National Rifle Association CEO Wayne LaPierre distorted the facts when talking about the federal system for conducting background checks on prospective gun buyers.LaPierre got a lot wrong when describing a rescinded Obama-era rule requiring the Social Security Administration to report certain mentally disabled beneficiaries to the federal database used to conduct gun background checks.He said the rule applied to “an elderly couple” simply “because they sought help to do their taxes.” But it didn’t single out anyone for that reason. It covered 18- to 65-year-olds receiving disability benefits — not retirement payments — due to a diagnosed mental condition.He also said the rule — with “no questions asked” — “banned from purchasing a firearm” Social Security recipients “who granted financial authority to a family member, friend or financial professional.” In fact, the SSA rule said that in order to be reported, individuals had to meet five criteria, including having a severe mental health issue and being unable to manage their benefits. It also allowed affected individuals to petition for the ability to obtain a gun, provided they could demonstrate that they posed no threat to the public.During his speech, LaPierre also boasted that the NRA “originated” the National Instant Criminal Background Check System, or NICS, for gun sales. That’s misleading.As we have written, the NRA proposed instant background checks in 1991 after it appeared certain that Congress would pass the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act. The NRA backed instant background checks — even though the technology for it did not exist — as an alternative to a mandatory seven-day waiting period before a purchaser could take possession of a gun. Supporters of the bill saw the NRA’s move as an attempt to kill or weaken the bill — one of several lobbying efforts to reduce or eliminate the waiting period, which LaPierre at the time called “unfair.”After the Brady bill became law, the NRA sued to prevent the federal government from temporarily retaining any information on the approved gun sale and gun buyer. It also has consistently opposed expanding background checks to include private gun sales and transfers, including those at gun shows and on the internet. LaPierre made his claims in a speech at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference, where he addressed calls for more gun control following a deadly mass shooting at a Florida high school. He said “socialists love to makes lists … that can be used to deny citizens their basic freedoms.” (His remarks about the Social Security rule start around 17:53 in the video. )LaPierre, Feb. 22: Imagine this — and this happened and it’s true. Imagine telling an elderly couple that because they sought help to do their taxes that they could no longer exercise their fundamental Second Amendment right.That’s exactly what Obama did. His administration proposed if some Social Security recipient — recipient who granted financial authority to a family member, friend or financial professional was banned from purchasing a firearm. No questions asked; just like that.Good, law-abiding people were automatically and unjustly declared mentally incompetent and put on a new government list.We wrote about similarly false claims made by another NRA executive in October.As we said then, the rule, which had been finalized by the SSA under President Barack Obama in December 2016, was revoked by a joint resolution that President Donald Trump signed into law February 2017. The rule had required the SSA to report certain people disqualified from buying or possessing a gun to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System, or NICS.But the rule didn’t apply to all Social Security beneficiaries, as LaPierre suggested. And it would not have applied to “an elderly couple” simply “because they sought help to do their taxes” or “granted financial authority to a family member, friend or financial professional.”The rule would have covered 18- to 65-year-olds with a qualifying mental condition who were receiving benefits through the Social Security Disability Insurance program. Plus, the SSA said it would only report to the NICS individuals who met five specific criteria, including having a severe mental impairment and being assigned a representative to handle their benefit payments.Also, affected individuals could appeal a listing in the NICS by showing that they were not dangerous. That’s the opposite of being “banned from purchasing a firearm” with “no questions asked,” as LaPierre put it.The SSA’s final rule was created to comply with the reporting requirements mandated by the NICS Improvement Amendments Act of 2007, which was signed into law in January 2008 by President George W. Bush. The law required federal agencies to report individuals prohibited from acquiring guns to the NICS.After the 2012 mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School, Obama issued a presidential memorandum advising the Justice Department to make sure that federal agencies were complying with the 2008 law by reporting relevant records to the national background check system.The final rule went into effect on Jan. 18, 2017, but Congress and Trump repealed it that February, months before SSA actually had to comply with its requirements in December 2017.“SSA did not refer any records to the NICS under the now-rescinded final rule,” Mark Hinkle, a spokesman for the Social Security Administration, told us in an email.So, no “good, law-abiding people were automatically and unjustly declared mentally incompetent and put on a new government list,” as LaPierre said.In a bit of revisionist history, LaPierre also took credit for creating the federal background check system for gun sales.LaPierre, Feb. 22: Look, and this is really important, and you never hear of this on the national media. So I want to say it to all of you now and I need your help in telling all of America this because it is the truth. The National Rifle Association originated the National Instant Check System. It was our bill.That’s misleading. The fact is that in 1991 the NRA supported an “instant background check” system as an alternative to a proposed seven-day waiting period when Congress was considering the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act. At the time, the bill’s advocates saw the NRA’s proposal as an attempt to weaken or kill the Brady bill, because the technology for instant checks didn’t exist yet.In a paper on the history of the Brady law, Richard Aborn, a former Manhattan assistant district attorney and past president of Handgun Control Inc., wrote that the NRA was “concerned that it no longer had the votes to defeat” the Brady bill, so “the NRA tried a last-ditch effort” to block it by working with then-Sen. Ted Stevens of Alaska on an amendment to create an instant background check system.Aborn, 1995: The fatal flaw in the instant check bill was that there was no technology available to conduct the background check instantaneously. The instant check bill would have completely gutted the Brady bill by eliminating the waiting period, thereby depriving law enforcement officials of the time necessary to conduct a background check of the purchaser.The Brady bill did not become law in 1991 or 1992. But it was reintroduced in 1993 with compromise language on background checks. The bill required potential gun buyers to wait up to five business days to allow local law enforcement time to conduct a background check, and the five-day waiting period would be in effect until the creation of a national instant background check system.The NRA opposed the waiting period and worked with Republican Rep. George Gekas of Pennsylvania to successfully make changes to the bill as it neared final passage in November 1993.“We recognize a bill is going to become law on this,” LaPierre was quoted as saying in an Associated Press story at the time. “We want to make it the best version possible.”Gekas won approval for an NRA-backed amendment that would end the five-day waiting period after five years, even if the instant check system wasn’t operational. In a Nov. 10, 1993, States News Service story, Bill McIntyre, an NRA spokesman, was quoted as saying that the NRA “worked closely with [Gekas] on the language and to round up support for it.”When the Senate passed the Brady bill on Nov. 24, 1993, the New York Times quoted LaPierre as describing the five-day waiting period as “unfair.”“The waiting period is unfair to honest, law-abiding people,” LaPierre said in the Times story. “The criminals won’t wait.”Then-President Bill Clinton signed the Brady bill on Nov. 30, 1993, and, as required by law, the instant background checks took effect five years later on Nov. 30, 1998.“As the NRA began to understand that we were building substantial momentum and would likely succeed, they hedged their bet by cynically introducing the instant check system knowing it wouldn’t work because the technology wasn’t available,” Aborn told us. “Notwithstanding having introduced the idea, they still continued to oppose Brady with all the resources they could muster, but they ultimately failed to stop us.”Even after the law was passed, the NRA continued its opposition to aspects of the new background check system.On the day that NICS went operational on Nov. 30, 1998, the NRA filed a lawsuit claiming that the rules allowing the FBI to maintain an “audit log” of gun purchases for up to six months (later reduced by the Department of Justice to 90 days) amounted to a firearm registry. The NRA suit was dismissed, but federal law every year since fiscal year 2004 requires the FBI to destroy firearm transfer records within 24 hours of approval. As we have written before, a weapons sale can be approved in less than an hour using NICS if a background search turns up no evidence that the applicant is prohibited from owning a gun. If the name of the applicant matches any of those in a variety of databases, including criminal and civil court records, then the gun purchase can be delayed for further review, but only up to 72 hours.The NRA has successfully lobbied over the years to limit the background checks to licensed firearm dealers — excluding private sales, such as some purchases made at gun shows or over the internet, for example.A month after the Brady bill was signed into law in 1993, the Associated Press wrote about an effort to close the so-called gun show loophole, which the news organization described as “a loophole large enough to sneak a crate of 9-millimeter pistols through.” NRA lobbyist Joseph Phillips told the Associated Press at the time that such legislation would be unnecessary.The NRA says it still opposes expanding background checks to include gun shows, “because expanding the background check requirement would be a step toward transforming the background check system into a national gun registry.”“To this day, they continue to oppose the idea of universal background checks,” Aborn told us, “so to argue that they created a national instant check system is quite misleading given all of their efforts to limit background checks for gun purchases.”
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4651
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Marijuana farms may be straining New Mexico water supplies.
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More medical marijuana plants are being grown in New Mexico than ever, and the crop could be straining local water supplies.
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true
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New Mexico, Water rights, Marijuana, Medical marijuana
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Two rural water systems in Sandoval County say the crop may be depleting local water supplies, and they say they have been left powerless to stop it, the Albuquerque Journal reports. The Peña Blanca Water and Sanitation District and Sile Mutual Domestic Water and Sewer Association sent a letter last month to state agencies and legislators describing their concerns over their disappearing water resources. The water system representatives say New Mexico’s patchwork of medical marijuana regulations has not kept up with the increased strain on rural water supplies. “The (cannabis) companies may think that the water rights were already taken care of when they purchased the property,” Peña Blanca district president John Gurule said. “We see the potential for these farms to bring economic growth to a rural community, so how do we support that growth while bringing water to our residents?” The groups are asking that all producers applying for a medical cannabis license prove a valid water right for commercial agriculture with the Office of the State Engineer. The Sile water system serves 154 people west of the Rio Grande between Cochiti and Kewa pueblos. The Peña Blanca system is responsible for delivering water to 448 people on the east side of the river between the same pueblos. An average household in the Peña Blanca system uses about 3,000 gallons of water a month, president John Gurule said. A cannabis farm with greenhouses in Peña Blanca that began operating last year is logging 20,000 gallons of domestic water use per month. The board members say the increases could point to treated drinking water being used for cannabis irrigation. New Mexico legalized medical cannabis in 2007. Domestic well water may not be used for agriculture in the state. Farmers must irrigate cannabis or other crops with another water source by acquiring a valid water right. John Romero, director of the Water Rights Division and the Resources Allocation Program for the Office of the State Engineer, said the affected mutual domestic water systems have a history of poor infrastructure, limited revenue, too many connections, and water overuse. The increase in cannabis production and alleged improper water use may be exacerbating those issues. “Cannabis hasn’t helped this situation. It is illegal to use domestic well water for agriculture, but it is up to (Sile and Peña Blanca) to enforce that,” Romero said. “We can’t police every mutual domestic water association, but we will work with them and help to see if these properties have a valid water right for what they want to do.”
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10551
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Fish Oil Use in Pregnancy Didn’t Make Babies Smart
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"This story didn’t fare quite as well in our scoring as a competing Wall Street Journal story. However, neither story adequately explained what can actually and effectively be measured at 18 months of age that is compelling. Can anything definitively – pro or con – be said so early? Did the researchers get out ahead of themselves in reporting on this early interim phase when later followups are planned? All of the issues discussed in this story – and in this research – the quest for ""smarter babies,"" reduction of postpartum depression, and reduced risk of premature birth – are important issues that we think deserved a bit more detail."
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mixture
|
"No discussion of cost and we always think there should be. On the ""smarter babies"" issue, the story reported ""no cognitive difference at 18 months whether mothers received DHA supplements or placebos."" Perhaps that’s sufficient on the one issue. But then it also reported ""the new study showed small reductions in postpartum depression in women with histories or high risk of depression."" What does ""small reductions"" mean? Did it make much of a difference in women’s lives? And which issue mattered more to women – ""smarter babies"" or postpartum depression? The story used terms like ""no harm…safe…and apparently has few downsides."" Well, which is it? No harm or few downsides? And if the latter, then how few and of what kind? This is too vague and confusing. This may also be an area in which products that are not as tightly regulated as prescription drugs carry a potential downside. Again, it’s hard to get real information about purity, quality standards and bioavailability for supplements. Mixed bag on this criterion. The story states that the new study was a ""large study"" – so maybe readers pick up on this and read into it that’s a good thing. And it says the new study was a ""clinical trial."" Conversely, it reported: ""Some previous studies have suggested that DHA, an omega-3 fatty acid in fish oil, can aid in a baby’s brain development if taken during pregnancy. But many of those studies were small or observed women already taking fish oil, who might be more health-conscious."" But then it provided no data when it opened a whole new issue at the very end of the story: ""Some studies, including the new report, suggest DHA supplementation in pregnancy reduces the likelihood of premature birth. And the new study showed small reductions in postpartum depression in women with histories or high risk of depression. Dr. Scott Stuart, a University of Iowa psychiatry and psychology professor, said his pregnant patients with mild to moderate depression had improved when taking DHA while seeing a counselor."" Because how you end a piece may be the most influential – and because this was the least questioning part of the entire story – we are swayed to rule this unsatisfactory. No disease-mongering. Good quotes from chief of maternal-fetal medicine at a leading Boston hospital: “I think the market is running way out in front of the science.” There were several independent sources quoted/cited in the story. There was only a brief mention of alternatives on the postpartum depression issue – and that in the very last line: ""“There’s no harm that we know of at all, in contrast to many antidepressants"" – according to one doctor. But that is insufficient context and comparison. Ditto for this issue: ""Some studies, including the new report, suggest DHA supplementation in pregnancy reduces the likelihood of premature birth."" But how does this evidence (no data given in the story) compare with other attemtps to do the same thing? The widespread availability and use of fish oil is clear from the story. Although the story would have helped readers more by reporting on issues of purity, quality control, and difficulties for consumers in assessing the quality of a source or brand. This would have made it clear that this not a straightforward choice to just ""take fish oil."" The past research on this topic was made clear. It’s clear the story did not rely on a news release."
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5723
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Eastern equine encephalitis detected in 2 more communities.
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New Hampshire health officials say that Eastern equine encephalitis has been detected in three mosquito batches, one in Portsmouth and two in Fremont.
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true
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Health, New Hampshire, Portsmouth
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WMUR-TV reports the New Hampshire Bureau of Infections Disease Control has raised the risk level in Fremont high, where a batch positive for Eastern equine encephalitis in September. Batches for the virus also have tested positive for the disease in Pelham, Manchester, Candia, Sandown, Hampstead and Newton. There have been no human cases of the virus. It was found in a horse in Northwood in August.
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6229
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Study: More evidence links earthquakes to energy waste wells.
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Scientists say they have more evidence that an increase in earthquakes on the Colorado-New Mexico border since 2001 has been caused by wells that inject wastewater from oil and gas production back underground, similar to human-caused quakes in Oklahoma and other states.
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true
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Colorado, Business, Geophysics, Science, University of Colorado, Wastewater, New Mexico
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A paper published last week by researchers at the University of Colorado concluded that the wastewater caused a big enough increase in underground pressure to make rock formations slip along fault lines. “You find that the pressure changes at a given depth are enough to trigger earthquakes,” said Jenny Nakai, the paper’s lead author and a doctoral student at the university. The paper, published in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth, is the latest to link wastewater injection wells to earthquakes. Most oil and gas wells produce at least some wastewater that is too salty to use, so regulators allow energy companies to pump it back underground to get rid of it. Researchers have linked earthquakes in Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas to wastewater injection. Oklahoma had only a few dozen earthquakes of magnitude-3.0 or greater in 2012 but had more than 900 in 2015. The number dropped to closer to 600 last year after state regulators directed energy companies to close some injection wells or reduce the volume of water they inject. In the Raton Basin of northern New Mexico and southern Colorado, earthquakes began to increase in 2001, about two years after large-scale wastewater injection began, the U.S. Geological Survey said. The wastewater comes from wells that extract natural gas from underground coal beds. The biggest quake in the basin since 2001 was magnitude-5.3 in 2011. It caused minor damage to buildings in Trinidad, Colorado, about 15 miles from the epicenter. A 2014 paper by the Geological Survey blamed injection wells for the area’s quakes. The new University of Colorado study went further, using computer models and records of wastewater injection to conclude that enough pressure built up to cause the quakes. Justin Rubinstein, a geophysicist with the Geological Survey who was the lead author of the 2014 paper, said the computer models have been used in other locations but not in the Raton Basin before now. Rubinstein was not involved in the University of Colorado study and said he was not familiar with all its details but that the general conclusions made sense. “It’s consistent with what my research has shown,” he said. The University of Colorado study also found that the Raton Basin earthquakes were more widespread than previously thought, said Nakai, the lead author. Earlier studies focused on the Colorado portion of the basin because that was the site of a 2001 swarm of 12 quakes — the strongest was magnitude-4.6 — as well as the 5.3 quake in 2011. But seismometers recorded 1,881 quakes in the area between 2008 and 2010, and 1,442 of them were in New Mexico, Nakai said. The strongest was magnitude-3.8. The 2008-2010 data came from a temporary deployment of seismometers as part of two other research projects funded by the National Science Foundation, Nakai said. ___ Follow Dan Elliott at http://twitter.com/DanElliottAP . His work can be found at https://apnews.com/search/dan%20elliott . ___ This story has been corrected to show that the U.S. Geological Survey was misidentified as the U.S. Geological Service.
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26706
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"Being exposed to the sun for two hours"" kills the 2019 coronavirus."
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There is no evidence that sun exposure kills the 2019 coronavirus. UNICEF has debunked a post that claims the organization said sunlight is effective against the virus. There is evidence that viruses don’t like heat. President Trump has said coronavirus infections could slow with warmer weather, but some experts doubt that prediction. A few of the best ways to prevent the coronavirus are to wash your hands with soap and water, avoid touching your face and disinfect surfaces in your home daily.
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false
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Facebook Fact-checks, Coronavirus, Facebook posts,
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"According to a recent Facebook hoax, all you need to cure the 2019 coronavirus is a little sunshine. An image published March 9 claims to show a list of recommendations from UNICEF for preventing and treating the virus. Among them include ""drinking hot water and sun exposure"" and ""stay away from ice cream and eating cold."" ""Corona virus when it falls on the fabric remains 9 hours, so ‘washing clothes’ or ‘being exposed to the sun for two hours’ meets the purpose of killing it,"" reads the handout in the photo. The 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.) PolitiFact has fact-checked a variety of cures and ways to prevent coronavirus infection. We’re adding this one to the list. There is no evidence that sun exposure kills the coronavirus, known officially as COVID-19. UNICEF has debunked the claim. (UNICEF is a humanitarian organization, not a public health institution.) In a statement published March 6, Charlotte Petri Gornitzka, UNICEF’s deputy executive director for partnerships, addressed some misinformation about the coronavirus, including the fake handout. ""A recent erroneous online message circulating in several languages around the world and purporting to be a UNICEF communication appears to indicate, among other things, that avoiding ice cream and other cold foods can help prevent the onset of the disease,"" she wrote. ""This is, of course, wholly untrue. To the creators of such hoods, we offer a simple message: STOP."" There is ample evidence that viruses, including human coronaviruses, don’t like heat. Influenza, for example, thrives in dry, cold weather, which is one reason the flu season typically spans from fall to spring. Viruses that cause the common cold also like colder weather. Here are 4 real ways to protect yourself In February, President Donald Trump said the coronavirus will ""go away in April"" due to the arrival of warmer weather. But some health experts have cast doubt on that prediction, saying there’s no guarantee the virus will cease infecting people in the summer. And if it does, that doesn’t mean the virus will be gone for good. As of March 10, more than 113,000 people in 109 countries had been infected with the coronavirus. In the United States, there have been 938 confirmed cases and 31 deaths. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the best ways to prevent the 2019 coronavirus are to wash your hands with soap and water, avoid touching your face, avoid close contact with sick people, cover your coughs and sneezes, and disinfect surfaces in your home daily. As of now, there is no specific treatment for the virus. The Facebook post is inaccurate."
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9872
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Flash: No Needles. Acupuncture No Better Than Placebo for Hot Flashes
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This is a well-balanced and thorough report on the first randomized controlled trial of acupuncture for menopausal hot flashes. It clearly describes the problem, the study, and its results. The writer provides useful context for understanding the scope of the problem and why researchers are interested in finding alternatives to the most commonly used hot flash treatment, hormone therapy. By providing detail about how the study was done and by explaining that hot flashes often get better even with inactive (or placebo) treatments, the story helps readers understand the finding that acupuncture was no better than a sham treatment. Many women reportedly use some type of complementary or alternative therapy to try to control hot flashes. This article wraps these new data about acupuncture neatly around a well-written story about why some of them might get relief and others not. Given the story’s overall quality, the lack of information on costs is a relatively minor flaw.
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true
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The article does not include any information on the cost of acupuncture or on whether insurers cover this for any indications. The story notes how many women in the acupuncture and sham treatment groups were still having hot flashes at the end of the active treatment part of the trial. The story states that women in the study reported no adverse effects. The story clearly describes how the study was done, and how researchers attempted to ensure that women did not know whether they were getting the ‘real’ treatment or the placebo. The article does a commendable, well-balanced job of explaining that hot flashes can vary widely in both how severe and how bothersome they are. Article cites an author of the study, another expert, and a National Institutes of Health consensus document. Other options for dealing with menopausal hot flashes are reviewed, along with their shortcomings. However, this section was brief and could have discussed many other options which have known benefit. The story notes that acupuncture is used worldwide. Article notes that acupuncture has been used for more than 2,000 years. There is no evidence that this story relied on a news release.
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22087
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You can't give a child an aspirin in school without permission. You can't do any kind of medication, but we can secretly take the child off and have an abortion.
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The thrust of Oelrich's point is correct: You can’t give a child an aspirin in school without permission. To administer any non-prescription medication, school officials must have approval from the parent. And in some cases, the schools also need a note from a doctor -- even for cough drops. While Oelrich is right about the permission part, he specifically mentioned aspirin so we should add that giving aspirin to children is considered risky because of the medicine's connection to a deadly disease. But that wasn't exactly Oelrich's point in a debate over abortion and a minor's right to privacy.
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true
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Abortion, Health Care, Florida, Steve Oelrich,
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"In a show of Republican muscle, Florida lawmakers passed several bills relating to abortion during this year’s legislative session. One proposal awaiting the signature of Gov. Rick Scott requires young women who want a judge to waive the parental-notification requirement to obtain the waiver in a circuit court closer to their home rather than a wider-reaching appeals court. Opponents insist HB 1247 violates the privacy of young women who live in small communities and know most people in their area, including people who work at the courthouse. But supporters say it prevents teens from crossing the state to find a sympathetic judge in order to get an abortion without their parents’ knowledge. Sen. Steve Oelrich, a Republican from Gainesville and cosponsor of the Senate version, had an interesting take during a May 5, 2011, debate on the Senate floor. ""You can’t give a child an aspirin in school without permission,"" he said. ""You can’t do any kind of medication, but we can secretly take the child off and have an abortion. We should support it (HB 1247) with all our hearts and souls if parental responsibility means anything to us."" Oelrich’s claim left us wondering: Is it really that hard for students to get over-the-counter medication at school? We should explain that we're not ruling on Oelrich's statement that young women can ""secretly"" have abortions. We already know this is legal in certain cases under Florida law. Implementation of HB 1247 would limit which courts can make the decisions for women who seek waivers of the parental notification law, not strip their ability to have secret procedures. Florida law The Florida Statutes have straightforward directions for handling prescription medication at school. The law requires a student’s parent to submit a written statement with the medicine that permits a trained school official to administer a dose. The note must also explain why the medicine must be taken during the school day. The prescription medicine must be administered at school by a qualified official and then be counted, stored in the original container, and kept in a secured place. Beyond that, the law does not address the use of over-the-counter medication. The statutes leave that decision up to local school districts. We set out to check each one to learn if Oelrich's claim is . We tracked down policies for 62 of 67 counties. Most were available online. It took time to be sure, but Oelrich is right. Every district requires parental consent for non-prescription medication, sometimes in writing and sometimes by phone. Notifying a parent is the minimum step for many other districts, including Charlotte, Baker and Miami-Dade. These districts require a physician's note, too. ""We don’t administer anything in Charlotte County without doctors' orders,"" said Gail Buck, supervisor of the county’s school health services. ""No cough drops, no Tylenol."" Aspirin warnings There's another part to this claim: Oelrich specifically invoked aspirin on the Senate floor. Some of the school nurses we interviewed practically shuddered at the word. The reason? Aspirin use among children is linked to the development of Reye's Syndrome, a lethal disease that sets in after a viral infection and affects all organs of the body, according to the National Reye's Syndrome Foundation. The National Institutes of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are among entities that recommend not using aspirin, or combination medicine containing aspirin, for children under 19 during fever-causing illnesses. ""We stay away from all aspirin products and stuff,"" said Catherine Reckenwald, student health specialist for Citrus County Schools. ""You don’t know if a child has an allergy, so you need to have very specific instructions for each student."" Reckenwald said Tylenol is more appropriate for children, but she does not keep a supply in her clinic. This is standard practice at most of the school health centers we contacted. ""We do not have what is called 'standing orders,' "" said Janice Karst, St. Lucie County School Board director of communications. In case you were wondering, students are allowed to self-administer epinephrine auto-injectors, metered dose inhalers, pancreatic enzyme supplements and diabetic supplies if they have a doctor's note and parental consent. Our ruling The thrust of Oelrich's point is correct: You can’t give a child an aspirin in school without permission. To administer any non-prescription medication, school officials must have approval from the parent. And in some cases, the schools also need a note from a doctor -- even for cough drops. While Oelrich is right about the permission part, he specifically mentioned aspirin so we should add that giving aspirin to children is considered risky because of the medicine's connection to a deadly disease. But that wasn't exactly Oelrich's point in a debate over abortion and a minor's right to privacy."
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3684
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Agency: Partially treated sewage enters Delaware Bay.
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Partially treated sewage is still flowing into the Lewes-Rehoboth Canal and the lower Delaware Bay due to a system malfunction at a treatment plant, state officials said.
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true
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Environment, General News, Delaware, Wastewater, Dover
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The Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control learned of an equipment failure at the Lewes Wastewater Treatment Plant on Dec. 18, the Delaware News Journal reported on Wednesday. Because the problems couldn’t be fixed quickly, the plant had to bypass stages of treatment and discharge partially treated effluent the next day, according to DNREC. The department also said in a news release on Wednesday that it is monitoring the plant and working with its owner, Tidewater Utilities, to expedite repairs. The equipment necessary to return the plant to its typical operations is expected to arrive on Dec. 27 for immediate installation, DNREC said. Until the repairs are made, at DNREC’s direction, Tidewater Utilities will continue to sample partially-treated effluent discharge for fecal bacteria count at locations after it leaves the plant.
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8129
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India shuts down flights, big cities as coronavirus toll rises in region.
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India on Monday announced a halt to domestic flights and said the majority of the country was under complete lockdown to stop the spread of coronavirus as the number of people dying of the disease ticked up across densely populated South Asia.
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true
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Health News
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"India has reported 471 cases of the coronavirus but health experts have warned that a big jump could be imminent, which would overwhelm the underfunded and crumbling public health infrastructure. On Monday, India confirmed two more deaths, bringing the total to nine. One was a 54-year-old man with no history of foreign travel, suggesting the start of community transmission of the virus, officials said. Streets were deserted in the national capital New Delhi and offices shut at the start of a lockdown to run till the end of the month. The government ordered commercial airlines to shut down domestic operations from midnight on Tuesday on top of a ban on international flights to try and contain the coronavirus. About 144 million people traveled on domestic flights last year. Rail travel, the lifeline of India, has already been suspended after thousands of people, mostly migrant workers, swarmed train stations to go home as businesses shut down and jobs dried up. Prime Minister Narendra Modi said many Indians were not taking the lockdown seriously. “Please save yourself, save your family, follow the instructions seriously,” he said on Twitter. The chief minister of the western state of Maharashtra, which has had the highest number of cases in India, ordered a curfew from Tuesday to force people indoors. “Despite multiple requests, people are not following rules. This compelled the government to impose the curfew,” Uddhav Thackeray said. The country’s main stock exchange located in Mumbai, the capital of Maharashtra, will however remain open, an official said. On Monday night, the Indian government said 30 states and union territories, or 548 districts, were under “complete lockdown.” Newspapers canceled print runs in Mumbai after vendors refused to distribute them due to worries about the coronavirus, which emerged in China late last year and has spread around the world. Globally, cases exceed 325,000 with deaths topping 14,000. The Pakistani army said on Monday night it would help to impose nationwide restrictions to contain the spread of the coronavirus following a request from the government. Major General Babar Iftikhar said schools, malls, restaurants, cinemas, marriage halls, swimming pools and markets would be shut as of Monday with only eateries, pharmaceutical companies and medical stores allowed to remain open. Prime Minister Imran Khan had previously said he opposed such stringent measures because of the economic consequences for the poor. A spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Nepal ordered all land border crossings with India and China shut until March 29, saying thousands of people, most of them Nepali migrant workers, had crossed into Nepal in recent days from India, believing their homeland to be safer. Nepal reported its second case of the coronavirus on Monday, a citizen who had recently returned from France. “The closing of the border crossings is meant to ensure that no one infected with the virus crosses over to Nepal from India and China,” said Surya Thapa, an aide to Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli. Confirmed COVID-19 cases in South Asia: *Pakistan - 875 *India - 471 *Sri Lanka - 91 *Afghanistan - 42 *Bangladesh - 33 *Maldives - 13 *Nepal - 2 *Bhutan - 2 ———————————- TOTAL - 1,529 https://www.mohfw.gov.in hpb.health.gov.lk/en http://covid.gov.pk covid19.health.gov.mv/en"
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2803
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Europe assessing if weight affects 'morning after pill' success.
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European regulators said on Friday they would assess whether emergency contraceptives, known as the “morning after pill” worked as effectively in women weighing more than 165.34 pounds, and whether the warning labels should be changed.
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true
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Health News
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The review was requested by the Swedish medicines regulatory agency, which decided in November to amend the product information for Norlevo, which contains levonorgestrel, the European Medicines Agency said. The labeling was changed to say that in clinical trials, contraceptive efficacy was reduced in women weighing 165.34 pounds or more, and levonorgestrel was not effective in women who weighed more than 176.37 pounds. Emergency contraceptives, which contain levonorgestrel or uliprista acetate in the European Union, act by blocking or delaying ovulation. The emergency contraceptives being reviewed include medicines that contain levonorgestrel, such as Norlevo, Levonelle/Postinor and Levodonna, the EMA said. It also includes a centrally-authorised medicine, ellaOne, which contains ulipristal acetate and was granted a marketing authorisation in Europe in 2009. The United States is also reviewing the effect of weight on the efficacy of emergency contraception.
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4443
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Huntsmans give $150M to start mental health institute.
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A new mental health institute funded by a $150 million donation from the influential Huntsman family will focus on researching the genetic causes of the illnesses and provide more treatment to college students and rural residents, the University of Utah announced Monday.
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true
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Genetics, Mental health, Health, General News, Utah, Jon Huntsman Sr.
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The Huntsman Mental Health Institute will aim to provide research-based treatment and help fund the University of Utah Health’s psychiatry department, according to a news release. The Huntsmans already have a major cancer research center in Utah that bears the family name. The late Jon Huntsman Sr. was the founder of a company that refines raw materials that go into thousands of products. His adult children said at a news conference that they hope the institute helps change the stigma and misperceptions about mental health. “Every family deals with mental health. We have either held the hand of somebody or had our hand held by somebody dealing with mental health,” said Christena Huntsman Durham, vice chairwoman of the Huntsman Foundation, the Deseret News reported. “We are so excited to put a name and a face to it and start addressing real issues and stop the judgment.” The donation, which will be given over 15 years, is the largest single gift ever given to the university, said University of Utah President Ruth V. Watkins.
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9482
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Novel Procedure Improves Kidney Transplant Success
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This news article describes a small clinical trial of an enzyme engineered to remove sensitizing antibodies from a patient about to undergo kidney transplantation within a few hours, increasing the chances of transplant success for potentially thousands of patients whose bodies are likely to quickly and forcefully reject a donor organ and for whom it is highly difficult to find a compatible tissue-matched donor. So-called pre-transplant “desensitization” is a strategy that has been around for about 15 years, but the new study involves a one-time, shorter-term, less complex approach than previous efforts. The article includes most of the needed cautions, shortcomings and barriers to clinical use of what remains an experimental treatment. However, the piece needed a stronger, explicit statement up high in the story that this treatment is clearly not yet ready for prime time, especially to counter the headline, which needed more context. Any strategy that can safely, effectively, more easily and at lower cost improve successful transplant rates will be newsworthy to thousands seeking donor organs. But these hopeful patients also deserve to know the hurdles that stand in the way before the treatment is available to them. This story covered most of those hurdles.
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true
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kidney donation
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Although the article notes that current desensitization efforts involving time-consuming immune system drug infusions to stifle rejection antibodies add up to $30,000 to the cost of a transplant, it does not make any estimate of the cost of the enzyme infusion that was the subject of the “novel” approach described in the new study. Based on later comments, it is presumed to cost about $65,000. The story does an adequate job of noting the actual numbers of patients in the study group, the absolute number that were able to have a successful transplant and the absolute number who later had a rejection episode that required standard anti-rejection therapy. Although the article makes clear the patients were “successfully treated” if sensitizing antibodies returned, it does not give any information about side effects, from the enzyme infusion nor the anti-rejection drugs subsequently used. To its credit, the article does emphasize that the long-term value of the new therapy is open to question and that far more work needs to be done to answer questions about quality, safety, efficacy and cost. The article tells us little about the people who participated in the clinical trial, such as type and duration of previous disease treatment, age, gender, race, co-morbidities, insurance status and so on. Nor will the reader get a really clear idea of how healthy–or ill–patients have done on other desensitization protocols overall and in the long term. No mongering here. The article duly discloses that the study was conducted or somehow supported by Hansa Medical, the maker of the enzyme infusion, and quotes at least two experts not involved in the study itself. The story mentions the existence of other desensitization efforts. But it could have done a much better job of comparing such efforts and their likely impact to programs designed to increase the supply of tissue matched organs and to suppress rejection of donor organs. The article makes clear that the only way for patients to receive the experimental therapy at present is through a clinical trial, although it does not say where such trials are taking place or recruiting patients. The article makes it clear that this treatment is novel, but could have been much strengthened if it had explained more of the biology of the enzyme and the way it was developed. One of the experts quoted was clearly astonished enough at the effects of the enzyme that he would consider it a “game changer” if further studies verify its impact. But just why the enzyme works is not clearly explained. Hansa Medical issued a news release pursuant to publication of the study results in the New England Journal of Medicine, but the story clearly goes beyond the release.
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29871
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"A bill before the Oregon state legislature is “designed to allow for the starving of patients with dementia or mental illness"" to death. "
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Because both Senate Bill 494 or House Bill 4135 did not substantively alter the legal requirements for terminating life support in incapable adults, however, we rank as false the claim that these bills’ purpose was “designed to allow for the starving of patients with dementia or mental illness.”
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false
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Politics
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On 6 February 2017, the pro-life website Life News published an article headlined “Oregon Bill Would Allow Starving Mentally Ill Patients to Death.” That article, consisting primarily of a press release from the Oregon Right to Life group, reported on Oregon Senate Bill 494, which proposed changes to that state’s advance directive legislation. (Advanced directives are legal documents used to appoint an official representative to make health decisions in the event someone becomes incapacitated.) The Life News article is out of date, as a different version of the same legislation, House Bill 4135, was signed into law on 16 March 2018. The primary purpose behind both pieces of legislation was the simplification and clarification of the form used to create advance directives. The advance directive debate in 2018 was indeed controversial, and the passage of House Bill 4135 took place along party lines, but those debates were largely about how much power to give the committee charged with creating the new form and not about the cessation of life support. Most opponents of HB 4135, such as Republican state Sen. Dennis Linthicum, agreed in general with the direction of the bill but expressed concern that the legislation’s wording gave “the committee too much power and provides the legislature too little oversight.” According to the Statesman-General, “Lawmakers on both sides agreed the current form [was] in dire need of improvement,” primarily owing to its overly complicated or vague wording. In a broad sense the bill made two substantive changes to existing advance directive laws, which were first passed in 1993 and had not been modified until 2018, as described by the Corvallis Gazette-Times: House Bill 4135 updates the portion of the advance directive form that deals with the appointment of the personal representative — the person who makes health care decisions for another individual when that person becomes incapacitated. The bill also establishes a 13-member Advance Directive Adoption Committee that is charged with reviewing, every four years, the instructions portion of the form to make sure it’s current and as understandable as possible. That ease of use is important, because there’s some evidence that the forms currently in use can lead to some confusion. In Oregon, this area of legislation frequently intersects with concerns raised by pro-life groups that typically focus on the rights of the unborn. That’s because advance directives can include directions and preferences on receiving (or declining) life-sustaining treatments under certain circumstances. In their article, Life News attempted to draw a connection between this proposed legislation and Oregon’s 1997 Death with Dignity Act, implying the new law represented a step toward forced euthanasia via the cessation of life support or artificial feeding of persons medically incapable of making medical decisions for themselves: When Oregon became the first state in the nation to legalize the practice of assisted suicide, pro-life advocates argued this would be a slippery slope that would lead to euthanasia. Apparently assisted suicide is not enough for the death peddlers in this Pacific Northwest State. Now they are pushing legislation in the Oregon State Legislature that would allow starving mentally ill patients to death. This is a bad-faith argument. While certain circumstances exist in which it would be legal in Oregon to cease providing tube-feeding or other life support to mentally incapacitated individuals who left no advance directive and whose next of kin or legal representatives could not be located, such a scenario existed in Oregon state law before House Bill 4135. And the plausibility of that scenario remained largely unchanged following the bill’s passage. At issue are sections 127.580 and 127.635 of the Oregon Revised Statutes (ORS) respectively related to “Presumption of consent to artificially administered nutrition and hydration” and “Withdrawal of life-sustaining procedures.” These sections, which were modified only slightly by House Bill 4135, stipulated that “It shall be presumed that every person who is temporarily or permanently incapable has consented to artificially administered nutrition and hydration … that are necessary to sustain life except” under six explicitly defined scenarios, including: (d) The person does not have an appointed health care representative or an advance directive that clearly states that the person did not want artificially administered nutrition and hydration, and the person is permanently unconscious. (e) The person does not have an appointed health care representative or an advance directive that clearly states that the person did not want artificially administered nutrition and hydration, the person is incapable, and the person has a terminal condition. ORS 127.580 stipulates that if any of these criteria are met, “artificially administered nutrition and hydration may be withheld or withdrawn under the provisions of ORS 127.635.” The provisions of ORS 127.635 state that “life-sustaining procedures that would otherwise be applied to a principal who is incapable and who does not have an appointed health care representative or applicable valid advance directive may be withheld or withdrawn … if the principal has been medically confirmed to be in one of the following conditions: (a) A terminal condition; (b) Permanently unconscious; (c) A condition in which administration of life-sustaining procedures would not benefit the principal’s medical condition and would cause permanent and severe pain; or (d) An advanced stage of a progressive illness that will be fatal, and the principal is consistently and permanently unable to communicate by any means, to swallow food and water safely, to care for the principal’s self and to recognize the principal’s family and other people, and it is very unlikely that the principal’s condition will substantially improve. The notion that the bill would “allow for the starving of patients with dementia or mental illness” comes from the subsequent portions of ORS 127.635, which touch on scenarios under which an “incapable” adult meets the above conditions and has no appointed healthcare representative, next of kin, or advance directive under Oregon law: Incapable means that in the opinion of the court in a proceeding to appoint or confirm authority of a health care representative, or in the opinion of the principal’s attending physician, a principal lacks the ability to make and communicate health care decisions to health care providers, including communication through persons familiar with the principal’s manner of communicating if those persons are available. “Capable” means not incapable. This section states that if a mentally incapable person meets the criteria described in all the excerpts above, but that person does not have an advance directive or appointed health care representative, the de facto representative shall be drawn from a specific list of people ranging from an authorized guardian to “any adult relative or adult friend.” If none of these people can be identified, the law states “then life-sustaining procedures may be withheld or withdrawn upon the direction and under the supervision of the attending physician.” As mentioned before, though, the entirety of the Oregon law cited above, which could allow for the termination of life support for incapable individuals who met extremely narrow criteria, existed prior to Senate Bill 494 or House Bill 4135. The legislation signed into law in 2018 did make minor changes to section 127.635 of the Oregon Revised Statutes, but the substance of these laws remains unchanged. Before the passage of House Bill 4135, as well as after, the only situation in which the headline claim that it is legal to “starve mentally ill patients to death” would be true would be a situation in which: A person who suffers from mental illness or dementia may be classified as “incapable,” but that is not sufficient grounds for terminating life support. This was true before House Bill 4135, and it remains true now after that bill was signed into law: that law made no changes to ORS 127.580. The most notable change made to 127.635 was the addition of a clause after the sentence “life-sustaining procedures may be withheld or withdrawn upon the direction and under the supervision of the attending physician or attending health care provider” (emphasis ours).
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10664
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Two new blood thinners better than Plavix and warfarin, studies say
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This story reported on two studies published in the same issue of the New England Journal of Medicine. Both studies compared the effects of an anti-clotting medication on a currently available treatment, though the two studies involved different patient populations. The story never made clear whether there was a connection between the two studies reported; as the information provided on the two studies differed, this review focused on the first half of the story about the results of a phase III clinical trial involving the medication ticagrelor. The reporting on ticagrelor, a medication for use in patients with acute coronary syndrome that may be available in the future. There was discussion of how this drug differs from the currently available therapies and the story discussed, albeit incompletely, some of the reasons this drug may be preferable to those on the market as well as covering some issues that may arise from the use of this drug. The story would have been improved if it had included results from the other studies that have been conducted which had different results. Providing a more complete picture would better enable readers to understand the value in the new treatment.
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true
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"As the drug reported on is currently not available a precise cost may not yet be known. However – while not providing a precise cost of this treatment, the story indicated that it is likely to cost more than the currently approved and available clopidogrel especially in 2011 when it will be off patent. The story described the benefits of treatment with ticagrelor in terms of the absolute reduction in risk of the composite endpoint of heart attack, stroke, and death from cardiovascular disease as well as the relative risk reduction. The story mentioned the disadvantage that this medication required pills to be taken twice a day (as opposed to the once a day dosing with the currently available medications). It also mentioned that this drug had the potential for resulting in shortness of breath and also that the results of the medication wore off faster than the currently available medication. It could have provided readers with some explanation about why this has the potential to be a problem. Although it included a quote from a doctor indicating that this drug would likely become ""the new standard of care,"" the story did not adequately highlight the new side effects seen with this new treatment to help readers understand that it may not be an appropriate treatment option for all individuals with acute coronary syndrome. Lastly and perhaps most importantly – the story included the statement ""There was no increase in the risk of dangerous bleeding associated with the new drug."" This statement is misleading as the study reported on found that outside of bleeding related to coronary-artery bypass grafting, ticagrelor was associated with higher rates of major bleeding (4.5% versus 3.8). Nonetheless, overall, the story meets the standard for discussing harms. The story included sufficient information for readers to appreciate that the study involved a large number of patients and it described the main comparison in absolute terms. It could have mentioned that this was a phase III clinical trial designed to examine both the drug’s safety and efficacy. It also could have discussed how the result of the current study differs from the previous large, phase III clinical trials that have been conducted. While mentioning that acute coronary syndrome results in the hospitalization of more than 1.3 million Americans per year, the story did not engage in overt disease mongering. There was only one clinician quoted with respect to the utility of the medication ticagrelor. The story should have included other perspectives. The story mentioned that there were other medications that prevent platelets from forming clumps, mentioning the two prescription medications, clopdogrel and pasugrel by name. The part of the story on the treatment of acute coronary syndrome using the drug ticagrelor ended with a clear sentence indicating that the company is hoping to have FDA approval for this drug by the end of the year and have it commercially available for consumers by early 2010. Placing it here means it could be missed by readers. Further what a company ‘hopes’ may not translate to the drug being available on the timetable outlined. However – a careful read of this story would results in correctly understanding that this drug is currently not FDA approved for sale. The story was about a new medication which is not yet available. does not appear to rely on a press release"
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27181
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President Trump did not recite the Apostles' Creed as other attendees did during George H.W. Bush's funeral.
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This wasn’t the only criticism levied at President Trump over something he allegedly did (or didn’t do) at George H.W. Bush’s funeral. Many social media users also accused him of disrespecting the deceased by failing to place his hand over his heart while the former president’s casket was carried into Washington National Cathedral. We investigated this rumor, too, and found that the accusation was largely inaccurate.
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true
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Politics, donald trump
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The Apostles’ Creed is a statement of Christian belief commonly recited during services in a number of Christian denominations. The text of the creed varies with translation and denomination, but the English Language Liturgical Consultation version, for example, reads as follows: I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth. I believe in Jesus Christ, God’s only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried; he descended to the dead. On the third day he rose again; he ascended into heaven, he is seated at the right hand of the Father, and he will come to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen. The sincerity of President Trump’s religious beliefs was called into question on 5 December 2018 as many viewers noticed that he apparently did not recite the Apostles’ Creed during President George H.W. Bush’s funeral at the Washington National Cathedral. Columnist John Ziegler, for instance, noted how “weird” it was that President Obama, who was often wrongly identified as Muslim, fully recited all the words of that statement of faith, while President Trump, who courted and won support from the Evangelical community, did not: Ziegler was hardly the only one to levy this criticism at President Trump: Similarly, the Washington Post reported on the issue that: The Apostles’ Creed is one of the prayers most core to Christianity. It states in a few lines the basic narrative of Jesus’s life, is the statement of faith in one God and is said daily by Christians across the globe. [O]ne Christian didn’t say it. And Twitter noticed. Video from the funeral of George H.W. Bush showed a front row of presidents at Washington National Cathedral, standing and reciting it along with the program, as the voice of Episcopal Bishop Michael Curry boomed through the speakers to the thousands of mourners. Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, Barack Obama and their wives glanced up and down from the programs they held in front of them and spoke the prayer, along with everyone else visible in the video. The program, as is typical, calls for the Creed to be said in unison. President Trump stood, with his hands folded in front of him, waist-high, the program in his left hand, his lips not moving. Melania Trump also did not speak, nor did she hold a program. While we can’t speak the sincerity of President Trump’s faith, we can confirm that these criticisms were backed up by video from George H.W. Bush’s funeral. President Trump only appeared on screen for a short time during the recitation, but when he did he could be seen standing silently with his hands clasped and his program unopened, while other attendees, including former president Barack Obama, former first lady Michelle Obama, former president Bill Clinton, and former secretary of state Hillary Clinton, all held their programs open as they recited the Apostles’ Creed from them. Here’s a video from C-SPAN of the relevant portion of George H.W. Bush’s state funeral: We examined other broadcasts of the funeral to see if they captured President Trump reciting any part of the Apostle’s Creed. While we couldn’t find video capturing President Trump during the entirety of the creed recitation, we did find video from Time magazine showing him in the same posture as above (silently holding his program at his waist) for about 15 seconds while others around him recited the statement of faith: We can only speak to what the video record shows, however, and not its significance. It’s possible that either or both of the Trumps had religious or other personal reasons for declining to participate in that aspect of the service. Indeed, in a Washington Post opinion piece, Patrick Nugent defended President Trump’s actions, regardless of what might have motivated them: The Apostles’ Creed is not just a prayer one can or should recite out of courtesy for the sake of show, good manners or good taste. The Creed — or any Christian creed — is a statement of belief and a public commitment to very specific, carefully enumerated theological doctrines. It is not a bland, generic greeting-card prayer addressing an impersonal creator, a “force,” “the universe” or “the spirit of goodness” that could conceivably be uttered by anybody of any religious perspective or none at all. I admit entirely that the Trumps’ abstention could well have been motivated by cluelessness, inattention, bad taste, bad manners, unfamiliarity, distraction or any number of other things. But the bottom line is that they abstained from reciting aloud, in public, a personal commitment to the truth of very specific, classic, ancient Christian doctrines. The president participated in a public ceremony in his capacity as head of state, not as a Presbyterian (which is how he has identified himself). As such, he has no obligation to declare those theological truths, or any others, aloud in public. In fact, I’d suggest, he has an obligation not to do so if he disagrees with any of them, or all of them, or doesn’t especially care, or isn’t sure, or doesn’t understand — or just thinks the president should be theologically neutral in public.
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31574
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"There are ""no-go zones"" in Sweden where the police can't enter."
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Those news reports are a far cry from the experiences of Malmö citizens, however. “I don’t recognize at all the picture in the media versus what my experience is,” Malmö resident Pontus Böckman told us. “We feel safe.”
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false
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Crime, crime, sweden, sweden refugees
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This is Part III of a three-part series about crime in Sweden. Read Part I “Is Sweden the ‘Rape Capital’ of Europe” and Part II, “Are Refugee Men Overrepresented in Swedish Crime?” One of the most persistent myths about crime in Sweden is that some areas are so dangerous due to outlaw asylum seekers that police can’t enter them. For example, U.K.-based tabloid Express wrote on 12 February 2017: The shocking attack [of bottles being thrown at police] on the on-duty officers is just one of many incidents, as officials have placed more than 50 areas on a ‘no-go zone’ list where they admit they do not have control. Lawless thugs are wreaking havoc unchecked, and officers are often at personal risk when entering the crisis-hit areas. But Swedish police were quick to tell us that these so-called no-go zones do not exist. The term originated with newspaper columnist Per Gudmundson, who used it to refer to a police report identifying “problem areas” in the country, where there is a criminal milieu. In these areas, there is high crime, low socioeconomic status, and lack of social integration and cooperation which presents a special challenge to police. But Erik Jansåker, a police chief in Malmö’s southern areas (the city is often singled out as a high-crime area), told us that the term “no-go zone” never appeared in the report itself – and Gudmundson admits as much in his column. However, since he used it, the term has taken hold in the popular imagination. Jansåker’s jurisdiction includes two “problem areas,” Malmö neighborhoods Rosengård and Seved. He told us that local investigators have been overwhelmed with the caseload from 14 recent murders — 8 to 10 in the same time span would be normal for the area – but that there aren’t areas where police can’t go. To drive the point home, one of Janåsker’s employees, Officer Johannes Schultz, took us along on his regular foot patrol of Rosengård. He walked briskly and frequently stopped to greet or chat briefly with citizens. One little boy stepped in his path to ask for a high-five, and Schultz happily obliged. Another child on a scooter smiled at him and sought his attention by calling shyly, “Johannes!” Schultz said hello. People were out walking and children crowded playgrounds. “You’re in the ‘no-go zone,'” Schultz said jokingly. “Are you scared? Me neither.” It is clear that Schultz and other officers in his cohort spend a lot of time in the neighborhood. He described going out and talking to schoolchildren in an effort to build rapport, and every other person he passed seemed to not only know him, but to like him. Despite the negative attention, Schultz said that Rosengård is a tight-knit community where people look out for each other: I actually really, really love working here. We’ve been working hard, working the way I do now. I’ve been doing this for two years. It takes a very long time, just talking to them. Slowly people are beginning to turn. Nowadays we get a lot of, ‘We hate the police. Well not you, you’re okay.’ That’s a step forward from before when it was ‘We hate all police officers.” Joakim Palmkvist, a crime reporter for the local newspaper Sydsvenskan, explained that what police call “problem areas” are places where criminals have basically set up a parallel society. It presents a challenge to the work of investigators, not because they are seething pits of violence and anarchy, but because they do not communicate or cooperate with police. Palmkvist explained the phenomenon by using the example of a 19 year old who escaped from one of the country’s juvenile detention facilities after being convicted of manslaughter. After escaping, the teen was completely off the grid for four months, in which time he allegedly managed to kill a person. Two months after the murder, he was apprehended again. In the meantime, Palmkvist recalled, “Nobody has seen him, there were no transactions, no visa cards, no phone, no contact with relations — he’s obviously been sleeping somewhere, eating. Somebody’s helped him.” But authorities don’t know who. Still, Schultz took us through a busy shopping center in Rosengård where he says new shops are opening up. As in other parts of Sweden, most people here travel on foot or by bicycle. In addition to our foot tour of Rosengård with Schultz, we visited Rinkeby, a suburb of Stockholm. Like Rosengård, it was lively during daylight hours, with young schoolchildren out playing and people everywhere bustling about. Manne Gerell, a criminologist at Malmö University (and a resident of Malmö) told us by e-mail that the neighborhoods identified as “problem areas” by police are friendly and tight-knit, but that residents have been frightened by recent crimes: Most/all of our ‘worst’ neighborhoods indeed look and feel quite nice and friendly. What has changed in recent years is largely the gang crimes, which manifests itself in shootings etc and in open drug markets. The open drug markets have spread across Sweden and are now quite common, but just a few years ago there was only a handful of them (at least that was well known) in the whole country. The open drug markets signal an unlawful society to most citizens, and thus make the problems with youth gangs etc (that has been around forever) seem more salient. The shootings and explosives add to this, as they signal that those youth gangs are also dangerous. So, while youth gangs have been messing around (congregating in public space & being rowdy over all) and committing crimes in disadvantaged neighborhoods forever, their crimes are now more visible, more present – and more violent, which makes the situation much more pressing for those who live in such neighborhoods. The “explosives” Gerell refers to are a series of attacks using hand grenades. Abdi Jama, who has been a resident of Rosengård since 1991 and loves the community, was defensive when asked about American coverage of Sweden’s crime issues: The media has a big picture of Rosengård but it doesn’t reflect the reality. Certain presidents in the U.S. say that Sweden has a problem but they’re just jealous because this is top notch. First you have to clean your house before you can clean another. America has a lot of problems on their own. He should take care of those problems before he attacks Sweden. Officer Schultz noted the influential role media coverage plays in generating paranoia. While walking his beat in Rosengård, he told us: I don’t believe that there are ‘no-go zones,’ but I can understand why people feel like that. Because when something happens here in Rosengård, that’s a big thing in the media. So people that are never here, they read that. For example, maybe one year ago, three cars burned overnight in Rosengård and the same night one car burned in a pretty good area in Malmö. I couldn’t see one line in the newspaper about the other car. The next day the big news stations were all over it here in Rosengård.
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7427
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Jobless claims decline as New Mexico prepares for reopening.
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Fewer people filed for unemployment benefits for the week ending May 9, and state officials are hopeful that number will decline even more as New Mexico businesses prepare for the relaxing of coronavirus restrictions beginning Saturday.
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true
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General News, Virus Outbreak, Jobless claims, Public health, New Mexico
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Numbers from the federal government show jobless claims dropped by about 35% from the previous week. In all, New Mexico has processed more than 139,000 claims since mid-March, and more than 96,000 employees — or one in eight eligible workers in the state — were receiving benefits as of early May. The latest numbers come as New Mexico moves into the next phase of reopening. Under a public health order announced earlier this week, most retailers can operate at 25% of their maximum building occupancy. While the governor still is asking people to remain home except for essential outings, people will be required to wear face coverings when out in public. Health officials on Friday confirmed 164 new coronavirus infections, with McKinley and San Juan counties still outpacing all other areas. The state is maintaining its lock-down order in the northwest region where those counties are located. There were 11 new deaths from COVID-19 — with the majority in McKinley County. That brings total confirmed infections to at least 5,662 and deaths to 253 in the state. Early voting locations open in each county starting Saturday. But officials have said there will be fewer voting centers, poll workers and voters allowed inside each location as a result of the public health order. For most people, the coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia, and death. State modeling shows Native Americans are among the hardest hit, with a hospitalization rate of nearly 214 per 100,000 people. In other developments: — Officials with New Mexico’s largest Catholic diocese say parishes will be cautiously joining other entities as part of the state’s phased reopening plan. Santa Fe Archbishop John Wester says attendance at Mass will be limited to 10% of a building’s capacity. Masks, social distancing and increased cleaning also will be mandatory. — Transportation officials say the New Mexico Rail Runner commuter train that runs between Belen and Santa Fe will remain offline through May 31. Officials are working on new protocols and practices to ensure safety before resuming passenger service.
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26001
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“COVID19 PCR tests are scientifically meaningless.”
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Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests are among the most common and reliable ways to test for the coronavirus. These tests look for the genetic material of the coronavirus in a sample that’s typically taken from a person’s nose or throat. Health care providers use them to confirm whether someone has the disease.
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false
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Public Health, Facebook Fact-checks, Coronavirus, Bloggers,
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"The United States has ramped up its COVID-19 testing capacity this summer in an effort to slow the spread of the virus. Some bloggers and Facebook users say that’s a mistake. In a June 27 article, a website called OffGuardian wrote that the tests many health care providers use to diagnose COVID-19 are ""scientifically meaningless."" ""These PCR tests are meaningless as a diagnostic tool to determine an alleged infection by a supposedly new virus called SARS-CoV-2,"" reads the article, which has been shared more than thousands of times on Facebook. The article was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Facebook.) It has also been copy-pasted into text posts, which have also been shared thousands of times. (Screenshot from Facebook) OffGuardian was launched in 2015. The site’s name comes from the fact that its founders were all ""banned from the Guardian’s ‘Comment is Free’ sections,"" according to its about section. OffGuardian has a track record of publishing conspiracy theories and Russian propaganda, so we wanted to take a closer look at its claim about COVID-19 testing. The article is inaccurate — polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests are among the most common and reliable ways to test for the coronavirus. Similar claims have circulated, and have been fact-checked, since March. There are three main coronavirus tests: diagnostic, antibody and antigen. Diagnostic tests, also known as PCR tests, look for the genetic material of the coronavirus in a sample that’s typically taken from a person’s nose or throat. Health care providers and public health officials use them to confirm whether someone has the disease. In a fact sheet for its PCR test, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says the test is ""designed to detect the virus that causes COVID-19 in respiratory specimens, for example nasal or oral swabs."" ""If you have a positive test result, it is very likely that you have COVID-19,"" the document says. That’s because PCR tests amplify small segments of DNA, making it easier for labs to test for the presence of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. Health care providers have also used them for detecting viruses like HIV. It usually takes several days to get results. In its 4,500-word article, OffGuardian lays out several (inaccurate) theories about PCR tests. None of them prove that the tests are ""scientifically meaningless."" OffGuardian wrote in its article that the inventor of the PCR test, Kary Mullis, ""regarded the PCR as inappropriate to detect a viral infection."" In a fact-check, Reuters rated that claim false — the source is a 1996 article about HIV/AIDS. It does not say PCR tests are ineffective for detecting viruses. OffGuardian makes several other inaccurate claims in its article, including: ""There are no distinctive specific symptoms for COVID-19."" The CDC says otherwise. ""The existence of SARS-CoV-2 RNA is based on faith, not fact."" Several researchers have analyzed the genetic material of the coronavirus — including its RNA. Between 22% and 77% ""of the ‘positive’ tests are false ‘positives.’"" Currently, about 92% of tests in the United States produce negative results. There have been several cases of tests producing the wrong results, and some experts are concerned about false-negatives. But OffGuardian’s claim about PCR tests is inaccurate and ridiculous."
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11166
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The Healthy Skeptic: DHA touted as ‘smart’ pill for kids
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We typically love the Healthy Skeptic column and truly look forward to its thoughtful analysis of health claims being made for various products and treatments. In this piece about DHA supplements, though, we felt there wasn’t enough hard-hitting skepticism. The story did a great job explaining the supplements themselves and discussing the way they are marketed. It also provided good cost information. Most importantly, it presented strong evidence to counter the claims that DHA makes kids smarter. That evidence, however, was undercut by the only two people quoted in the story. Two medical doctors who give their own children DHA. These experts essentially say that kids should take the supplements even if the evidence supporting its benefit is weak. The article quotes one of these experts saying, “There’s no downside to it.” Glossing over potential risks and touting uNPRoven benefits are usually areas where the Healthy Skeptic finds fault. We fear this story will become yet another piece of marketing for an health supplement that has no documented health benefit. Young children don’t make most diet choices for themselves, and they certainly don’t buy themselves health supplements. Parents understandably want to help their children succeed in school, and if they see a possible brain booster in a product such as a DHA supplement, they are going to buy it, especially if they see the product being touted in the Los Angeles Times and other mainstream publications. The Times owes it to its readers to be more critical of these products and to help parents understand what reasonable steps they can take to help their children do well in school without taking an unnecessary pill.
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mixture
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Los Angeles Times,Supplements
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The story helpfully gives the price information for both products described. Even in the two studies that are cited, the benefits of DHA are not quantified. We don’t understand how you can note the lack of research on a topic, quote a study showing that children’s behavior actually worsened while taking the pills but then give the send-off take-message at the end to a doctor saying he gives it to his kids and, “There’s no downside to it.” How you end such a story is what you leave many readers walking away with more powerfully than anything else in the piece. The story allows the medical experts quoted to give equal weight to their hunches about the supplements as it does to the two studies cited late in the piece. For example, the first evidence introduced in the article is this: “Undoubtedly, DHA is an important nutrient for the brain and other organs of the body, says Usha Ramakrishnan, an associate professor of global health at Emory University in Atlanta who specializes in childhood nutrition. From time to time, she has purchased DHA-enhanced milk for her own child, who is now 9.” One can only speculate that readers everywhere ordered a bottle online right after reading that sentence. It is only much later in the story that two studies are cited. Both found no real intelligence benefit from DHA. One “found that giving kids a supplement containing 88 mg of DHA every day for a year slightly improved verbal learning and memory scores but didn’t seem to affect overall intelligence or the ability to pay attention.” Another found “that taking a supplement containing 200 mg of DHA every day for 16 weeks had almost no measurable effect on thinking skills or academic performance.” Making matters worse, “children receiving the DHA actually had slightly worse reports from teachers than the children taking a placebo.” Despite all of that, the article goes on to cite another expert urging parents to give the kids to their pills. The story avoids disease-mongering. It puts the supplements in just the right context by saying, “Tutors, counseling, stern lectures and good old-fashioned wishful thinking are all possibilities. But some moms and dads also try to give their kids a nutritional edge in the classroom with the help of supplements.” The story quotes a very well established nutritional researcher, Dr. John Colombo, who gives the advice that parents should give their children supplements, noting that he does so with his own kids. The story should have pointed out that he has been a consultant for two different companies that make DHA products, Mead Johnson, the maker of the DHA-enriched Enfamil infant formula, and Fonterra, maker of Anchor Vital and other DHA supplements. The story did not help parents understand that they have other options besides giving their kids an uNPRoven pill. There have been other studies to show that overall diet can play a role in a child’s attention span and ability to learn, which has been one of the main drivers behind school breakfast programs. Exercise can help sharpen a child’s attention span, as can reading more and watching less television. These are not as simple or easy as taking a pill, but it wouldn’t take much to mention them. The story nicely explains the availability of DHA supplements. As always with this feature, it gives readers just enough context to jar their memory about ads they may have seen for the product. No claims are made about the novelty of these supplements, so this is not applicable. The story does not rely on a news release. We find it interesting, though, that the story actually goes beyond what the DHA supplement companies say about their own products. “The website for life’sDHA simply says that it’s a “supplement for brain, eye and heart health.” Cassie France-Kelly, a spokeswoman for Martek Biosciences, says DHA is as important for the brain as calcium is for the bones. “The bottom line is that kids need it, but they don’t get enough of it in their diets,” she says.” And yet, later in the story, Usha Ramakrishnan at Emory University says, “… although the evidence isn’t exactly air-tight, there is reason to believe that DHA supplements could help some children perform better in the classroom, especially if their minds have a tendency to wander.”
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8036
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U.S. group bombards doctors with coronavirus petition to cut 'red tape'.
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Dr. Eric Anderson had just finished vacuuming his New Hampshire home early on Wednesday when the phone in his pocket buzzed with an unusual text message.
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true
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Health News
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The message - part of a barrage of texts sent to doctors across the nation - urged him to sign a petition in support of hydroxychloroquine, an anti-malaria drug touted by President Donald Trump as a potential miracle cure for COVID-19, the contagious and sometimes deadly respiratory disease caused by the new coronavirus. “Tell Trump to CUT RED TAPE & make hydroxychloroquine available to you and your patients,” the message said. Anderson was disturbed. Despite Trump’s claims that hydroxychloroquine could be among “the biggest game changers in the history of medicine,” the decades-old drug has no proven effect on COVID-19. Anderson said he responded to the text with the words “You’re idiots” and deleted the message. Wednesday’s text message barrage, aimed at medical professionals across the United States, was executed by the Job Creators Network Foundation - one of two related groups founded and funded by billionaire Trump supporters. They include Home Depot Inc. co-founder Bernie Marcus - who set up the group - and tycoon Philip Anschutz, via his eponymous foundation. Andy Puzder, who was briefly Trump’s nominee for Secretary of Labor, was once also a prominent member of the network. Foundation President Elaine Parker said her group was not necessarily endorsing the treatment. “We are not advocating for use of the drug, only access to the drug for doctors who determine that’s the best course of treatment for their patient,” she said in an email. Dr. Jane Orient, the executive director of the conservative Association of American Physicians and Surgeons and one of the petition’s signatories, said that, so long as drugs did no harm, doctors should be allowed to prescribe them based on nothing more than anecdotal evidence. “If it’s safe and might be effective, if I’m the doctor or if I’m the patient, I want to try it,” Orient said. Thomas McGarity, a professor of administrative law at the University of Texas, said the text message campaign was part of a longstanding effort by some on the political right to neuter the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and put more decision-making power into the hands of patients and doctors that drug companies could pitch to directly. McGarity said their philosophy was, “the market can handle this - we don’t need an FDA to be getting in the way.” Anderson, the New Hampshire doctor, said he found the idea of enlisting physicians in a deregulatory crusade unnerving, especially amid the current coronavirus outbreak. “I’m all for capitalism, but this is not the time” for such a push, he said.
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9174
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More IV fluids, fewer c-sections
|
Despite efforts by obstetrical organizations and other groups over the years to reduce cesarean surgeries, the procedure continues to be performed in approximately one-in-three births in the United States. The study described here explores the possible benefits of increased hydration during labor and finds, via a well-designed meta-analysis, that giving low-risk, first-time mothers more fluids via intravenous (IV) therapy during labor reduces the number of cesarean sections, as well as the overall length of labor. The news release offers readers a summary of the findings without much detail and, importantly, fails to note that the women included in the analysis cannot be generalized to all women in labor. The release does specify the absence of conflicts of interest among the principal investigators, an important transparency component. Cesarean surgeries are invasive, complicated, and fraught with possible repercussions. They are life-saving when necessary, but critics have long argued that their use in the United States far exceeds normal parameters. Studies such as the one described here, if supported by additional research to explore the applicability to a wider general population, can contribute to better decision making on when to perform cesarean procedures.
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mixture
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cesarean,Thomas Jefferson University
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Cost does not make an appearance in this release. The concept may seem trivial when considering the cheap ingredients in saline fluid, but little about American medical care is cheap. Another important consideration is the cost of cesarean section compared with that of vaginal delivery, which is not addressed in the release. Although the release offers a clear, succinct statement of the benefits provided by increased IV fluids, it provides no numbers describing the magnitude of those benefits. The research report on which the release is based found that the differences in number of cesarean procedures and in the duration of labor were real but relatively modest. For example, a c-section was deemed necessary for 12.5% of women who got higher levels of hydration and for 18.1% of those who received lower levels of fluids during labor. Length of labor declined by about an hour, a statistically significant but still modest clinically significant outcome. An important potential risk of pulmonary edema (fluid build-up in the lungs) due to higher levels of intravenous hydration is not mentioned in the release, although it was reported in the article. Additionally, the release neglects to explain that the only studies pooled for this analysis were those performed on low-risk, first-time mothers whose labor was not induced. The original research report notes that the effectiveness and safety of giving increased fluids to women who had given birth previously, whose labor was induced or who have other medical issues, is unclear. This is an important caveat that belongs in the news release. The release explains that the data for these 1,215 women come from seven studies. But it didn’t note an important strength of those studies: they were all randomized, controlled trials. And it also omits a couple of worrying limitations: The combined sample size is still relatively small and, as explained in the original research report, only one of the studies was blinded. The release doesn’t engage in disease mongering. It notes that cesarean surgery remains ubiquitous despite ongoing attempts by obstetrics organizations to reduce its incidence and, as a result, its accompanying risks. That’s important context. The release doesn’t note funding sources but the research report indicates that the scientists received no financial support, a situation not uncommon when analyzing existing data. The release does explicitly state that none of the investigators has a conflict of interest. The analysis compared increased levels of hydration during labor with levels used in “general practice in the United States.” That’s explained in the release. The release suggests that some obstetricians already do — and more should — provide higher levels of fluids during labor. The nature of this meta-analysis makes it clear that the effects of increased hydration have been the subject of past studies. What is new here is the meta-analytical approach. Both the text wording and a quote from the lead researcher suggest that the results of this meta-analysis are applicable to all women in labor, a conclusion that is not supported by the original research report. Additionally, the source declares, early in the release, that the results of the analysis “are compelling and strongly argue for a change in practice.” Again, the limitations of the meta-analysis do not seem to warrant such prescriptive language.
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33647
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Pop star Lady Gaga is a 'hermaphrodite.'
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For those who don’t fancy placing full faith in any one celebrity’s word, particularly where potentially delicate matters are concerned, we note that no one (of either sex) whom Lady Gaga has been intimate with has reported having come across any surprises of a penile nature. Given the all too often baseness of human nature and the high degree of interest the tabloids would have in such an intelligence, Lady Gaga’s word plus the thunderous silence of those she has befriended should serve to put this canard to rest.
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false
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Entertainment, Artists, lady gaga, music
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#1 Mainstream Top 40 airplay chart hits off a debut album and in 2010 garnered two Grammy awards: Best Dance Recording (“Pokerface”), Best Electronic/Dance Album (“The Fame”), plus had been nominated in three other categories: Record of the Year (“Pokerface”), Song of the Year (“Pokerface”), and Album of the Year (“The Fame”). Her unique costuming and makeup, strong performance skills, and outrageous persona easily set her up as the target for rumor. In a reprise of the canard that has long dogged actress Jamie Lee Curtis, in 2009 whispers grew in the online world that Lady Gaga was an hermaphrodite, a person possessed of both male and female sex organs. The tipping point appears to be a frame taken from live footage of Lady Gaga during a performance in August 2009 in which she appeared wearing a red dress and leaning against a blue motorcycle. In that photo, reclined as she was against the bike, her underthings can, and have been (at least by some), mistaken for a vestigial penis. Prior to speculation over that video, this rumor surfaced as part of a December 2008 blog entry on Starrtrash (“Lady Ga-Ga Admits True Sex”), purportedly written by the artist herself, in which the singer “confirmed that she indeed is a hermaphrodite.” That tidbit was picked up and reposted on various Internet sites stripped of the context that indicated it to be satire — should there be any doubt as to its veracity, even the briefest of glances at the other offerings on the site where it originally appeared reveals that the nature of that venue is to lampoon celebrities of the day via articles such as “Angelina Jolie Steals Asian Child” and “Gwen Stefani Leaves Mandarin [a Chinese restaurant] 100 Pounds Fatter.” In August 2009, Lady Gaga’s manager responded to rumors of the singer’s purported hermaphroditism with the brusque statement “This is completely ridiculous.” The following month, Lady Gaga said of the rumor on Australia’s Fox FM radio station that “It’s too low-brow for me to even discuss,” but later answered gonzo radio jocks in that country who asked “Where are we at right now with the tiny penis issue, Lady Gaga?” with “My little vagina is very offended. I’m not offended, my vagina is offended.” By December of that year she was neither waving off nor parrying with humor such queries and was instead addressing them directly. Veteran television interviewer Barbara Walters, who picked Lady Gaga as one of her ten most fascinating people of 2009, put the question to her and received this response: Barbara Walters: “You know, there also is this strange rumor that you’re part man and part woman. You’ve heard that rumor? Lady Gaga: “Yes.” Barbara Walters: “True?” Lady Gaga: “No.” Barbara Walters: “Do you mind the rumor?” Lady Gaga: “No. No not really. At first it was very strange and everyone sorta said, ‘That’s really quite a story!’ But in a sense, I portray myself in a very androgynous way, and I love androgyny.” Barbara Walters: “So you, you like to blur that line?” Lady Gaga: “I like, um, I like pushing boundaries.”
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35346
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A viral photograph showing a canine coronavirus vaccine demonstrates that there should already exist a human vaccine for COVID-19.
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The popular Facebook photo does show a real vaccine used to help dogs fight a specific strain of coronavirus unique to that species. The type of shot, however, is not effective in humans and will not help scientists fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.
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false
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Medical, COVID-19
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In spring 2020, Facebook users circulated a post with a photograph of a small bottle labeled “canine coronavirus vaccine,” suggesting that the vaccine should have been available to combat the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic in humans. “Now this was 2001 tell me why 19 years later they say there is no vaccine,” reads part of the original post, which appears to have been deleted or removed from public viewing. Sharing that picture and its caption, another user posted: “Canine vaccine for dogs and not humans? … STAY WOKE PEOPLE! !” But as of May 4, no vaccine currently exists for SARS-CoV-2, which is the coronavirus that causes COVID-19 and has killed hundreds of thousands of people globally, and prompted government-imposed lockdowns in 2020. And a vaccine to fight coronaviruses that have infected dogs won’t work on COVID-19 in humans. The confusion seems to stem from a misunderstanding of the word “coronavirus,” which actually refers to a family of hundreds of viruses, not just one type of sickness. Politicians and journalists frequently — and misleadingly — used the term in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, when the novel coronavirus was first reported in humans in Wuhan, China, in late 2019. But the reality is this: Most of us will catch at least one type of coronavirus in our lifetime and suffer cold-like symptoms while others may suffer more severe and sometimes fatal infections, including the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS). Listing all of the types of coronaviruses that can cause disease in humans, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) states: Coronaviruses are named for the crown-like spikes on their surface. There are four main sub-groupings of coronaviruses, known as alpha, beta, gamma, and delta. Human coronaviruses were first identified in the mid-1960s. [There are] seven coronaviruses that can infect people […]. One of the seven is SARS-CoV-2 — the strain for which epidemiologists are scrambling to create a vaccine to end the 2019-2020 global health crisis. Meanwhile, some types of coronaviruses cause illness in animals, including cattle, camels, cats, and dogs. Of that type, some remain exclusively in the animal world, while others — on rare occasions — mutate in such a way that allows them to infect humans, according to the CDC. That was the case with the COVID-19 outbreak, though scientists have yet to pinpoint the exact source of the virus as of this writing.
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35270
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A photograph shows protesters displaying an anti-Semitic sign during a COVID-19 lockdown protest.
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Ohio state Rep. Casey Weinstein, who had previously tweeted the above photograph along with the comments “There is a long, scary and disgusting history of blaming Jews for plagues and disease. NOT ON MY WATCH” and “I’ll call this out and stand right up to antisemitism wherever and whenever I see it!” also tweeted a second photograph of the two men wielding the anti-Semitic sign:
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true
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Fauxtography, COVID-19
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The weekend of April 17-19 saw a number of demonstrations take place in cities across the U.S. in protest of continued lockdown orders intended to limit the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus disease. According to the BBC. Those taking to the streets say that the stringent measures restricting movement and businesses are unnecessarily hurting citizens. Protesters say the stay-at-home measures imposed by state governments to control the spread of Covid-19 are an overreaction. Some have also come bearing firearms as gun rights groups have been among the organisers, citing infringements on civil liberties. Some also say keeping these restrictions in place too long will cause long-term damage to local economies. For the most part the anti-lockdown protests were peaceful, although a few unseemly incidents of a non-violent nature did take place. For example, social media posts claimed that a few people in Columbus, Ohio, had taken advantage of the demonstration to display an anti-Semitic message: Unfortunately, this image was all too real, as Cleveland.com reported: A photo from the stay-at-home protest at the Statehouse is gaining traction on Twitter for its anti-Semitic message. The photograph captured two men in a minivan. One held a sign with an illustration of a rodent with the Star of David on its side and the words “The Real Plague.” The protest movement against coronavirus restrictions has been a mishmash of people. Some adhere to public health officials’ guidance of distancing themselves at least 6 feet apart and wearing masks. They want to return to work. On the more extreme are others who call coronavirus a hoax. But the anti-Semitism might drown out all their messages.
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26401
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“Sweden has zero lockdown” and “is in no worse shape than Denmark or Norway,” which are in lockdown.
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It goes too far to say Sweden has no lockdown in response to COVID-19. Sweden’s recommendations aren’t as strict as Norway’s and Denmark’s, but it is recommending social distancing. The rate of confirmed coronavirus cases is rising faster in Sweden than in Norway and Denmark, and Sweden has a higher death rate. Differences such as how much testing is being done from one country to another can make comparisons difficult.
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false
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Public Health, Facebook Fact-checks, Coronavirus, Facebook posts,
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"Attacked by the coronavirus, superpowers such as the United States retreated into lockdown, deeming it the smartest way to stop the spread of the disease. Sweden, which hasn’t been in a shooting war in two centuries, faced the enemy by arming its citizens mostly with guidelines, not stay-at-home orders. That strategy, according to a widely circulated Facebook post, has been as effective as the shutdown policy adopted by two of Sweden’s neighbors. ""Sweden has zero lockdown"" but ""is in no worse shape than Denmark or Norway, which are currently experiencing full lockdown,"" the post claims. The post was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Facebook.) On key data points, each of which has limitations, Sweden is faring worse than Denmark and Norway. Sweden has a population of 10 million people, nearly nine out of 10 of whom live in urban areas. As we reported in a fact-check comparing Sweden with Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom, Sweden has imposed no lockdown and no quarantines, although gatherings of more than 50 people are banned. Elementary schools, bars, restaurants and businesses are still open, though with social distancing and other safety measures encouraged. What’s happening in Sweden seems like something closer to life as most Americans remember it before much of the country was shut down. The idea in Sweden is to essentially pursue herd immunity — let the virus spread as slowly as possible while sheltering the elderly and the vulnerable until much of the population becomes naturally immune, or a vaccine becomes available. In contrast, Denmark and Norway closed their restaurants and ski slopes and told all students to stay home. Norway required most people returning from abroad to enter a two-week quarantine and limited groups outdoors to no more than five people. Denmark closed its borders, sent public workers home with pay and encouraged all other employees to work from home. Here are some of the major metrics on how Sweden (which also borders Finland) compares with Denmark and Norway. We’re including the United States for informational value. The figures are from Our World in Data. That research organization is funded by philanthropists Bill and Melinda Gates and is led by Max Roser, who is director of the Oxford Martin Programme on Global Development at the University of Oxford. All data are as of April 19, the date of the Facebook post. Confirmed infection rate: Sweden rising faster Sweden has a higher confirmed infection rate than Denmark and Norway. The measure is the total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases per million people. United States: 2,220.79 Sweden: 1,368.61 Norway: 1,288.27 Denmark: 1,250.3 The differences among Sweden, Norway and Denmark are not significant, Jennifer Kates, director of global health and HIV policy at the Kaiser Family Foundation, told PolitiFact. But the total number of confirmed cases is increasing faster in Sweden than in Norway and Denmark — even though Sweden is doing less testing per 1,000 people than Norway and Denmark. Anders Tegnell, the epidemiologist who is credited with developing Sweden’s COVID-19 strategy, says infection rate is an unreliable measure of how a country is doing. ""The recorded infection rate depends hugely on the number of tests performed and what indications for testing that are used,"" Tegnell, the director of the Swedish Public Health Agency, told PolitiFact for a previous fact-check. Helen Jenkins, a Boston University professor of biostatistics, also told us she wouldn’t rely on that measure because of how much testing varies among countries. One way to compare COVID-19 deaths is the ratio of confirmed deaths to confirmed cases. Sweden’s is more than twice as high as Denmark’s and more than five times higher than Norway’s. Sweden: 10.93% United States: 5.29% Denmark: 4.78% Norway: 2.12% Even though this case fatality rate is commonly discussed, during an outbreak it is a poor measure of the true risk of death, Our World in Data says. That’s because the rate relies on the number of confirmed cases, and many cases are not confirmed. And it relies on the total number of deaths; and with COVID-19, some people who are sick will die soon but have not yet died. Another measure is COVID-19 deaths per million people. Again, Sweden’s is higher than Denmark’s and Norway’s. Sweden: 149.61 United States: 117.55 Denmark: 59.74 Norway: 27.3 This per-capita death rate ""is a better measure of the severity of the issue,"" Kates said. Per capita case rates may, or may not, include everyone who needs to be tested, but not everyone who gets infected will get sick or die, she said. And deaths reported are less dependent on testing capacity than cases. Tegnell has said Sweden’s death toll ""is not a failure for the overall strategy,"" but rather ""a failure to protect our elderly who live in care homes."" Overall, Jenkins cautioned against drawing conclusions on comparing the three countries, given that the outbreak is still unfolding. ""This is not over yet; in fact, it’s just starting,"" she told PolitiFact. ""Hard to judge the full impact of lockdown or not right at the moment."" Another expert, Paul Franks, a genetic-epidemiology professor at Lund University in Sweden, wrote on April 23 that studies indicate that ""we should soon expect infections and deaths in Stockholm,"" Sweden’s largest city, ""to drop substantially in the coming weeks."" Peter Callerfelt, 43, who owns a recruiting consulting business in Stockholm, said he believes it’s too soon to judge Sweden’s policy. He appreciates that he and his wife can still commute to their offices, where they are almost completely isolated from co-workers, and that their daughter can still go to kindergarten. Callerfelt told PolitiFact that Sweden's policy is set by the country's health experts, not elected officials, and that citizens respond to the experts' recommendations. He wonders whether people in Norway and Denmark would comply with a second shutdown if their countries reopened and then the virus reappeared, whereas Sweden has more flexibility. ""If this is not enough, you can still have the ace left and say, OK, now we’re doing a total lockdown. In the other countries, they have nothing left to play,"" Callerfelt said. A Facebook post claims that amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Sweden has no lockdown and ""is in no worse shape than Denmark or Norway,"" which are in lockdown. It goes too far to say Sweden has no lockdown, in that gatherings of more than 50 people are prohibited. The claim has an element of truth in that Sweden has roughly the same number of confirmed cases per million people as Denmark and Norway. But it’s misleading to say that Sweden is doing no worse. The total number of confirmed cases is increasing at a faster rate in Sweden than in Norway and Denmark — even though Sweden is doing less testing per 1,000 people than Norway and Denmark. Moreover, Sweden has higher death rates. For a statement with some truth that ignores critical facts that would give a different impression."
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11270
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FDA approves first new drug for lupus in 56 years
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"Good caveats, including in the patient profiled, who said, ""It’s a bittersweet thing for me because I have friends with lupus for whom this drug won’t work. There’s no one-size-fits-all for lupus and I’m just extremely fortunate that my lupus is mild and is helped by Benlysta."" The story should have discussed potential harms and costs. As the story explained, this was not only the first new lupus drug approved in 56 years, but it could be ""a milestone that medical experts say could prompt development of other drugs that are even more effective in treating the debilitating immune system disorder."""
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true
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"The cost of the drug wasn’t mentioned – a big oversight. Other news stories pegged it at about $35,000 a year. Adequate job. The story explained: ""But experts stress that Benlysta is not a miracle drug: It only worked in 35 percent of North American patients tested and was not effective for patients with the deadliest form of the disease. Additionally, it did not show positive results in African Americans, who are disproportionately affected by lupus."" There was no discussion of harms. An NPR story, by comparison, pointed out that ""There are side effects, of course, and some of them are pretty serious. In clinical tests involving about 2,100 people, 11 taking Benlysta died compared with 4 getting placebo. About 6 percent of people taking Benlysta got serious infections compared with 5.2 percent on placebo."" The story offered an interesting historical perspective on the evidence: ""The company originally tested Benlysta, known generically as belimumab, as a treatment for rheumatoid arthritis. When a mid-stage trial in lupus patients failed to meet researchers’ goals in 2006, many analysts wrote the drug off and downgraded the company’s stock. But when scientists reanalyzed the data they found that the drug helped block the antibodies that cause lupus symptoms in a subset of patients."" No disease mongering of lupus. Two independent sources were quoted. Not applicable. With no other new drug approved for lupus in 56 years, there’s not been much to compare it with. The story did state that some experts thought this ""could prompt development of other drugs that are even more effective in treating the debilitating immune system disorder."" The focus of the story is FDA approval of the new drug. The headline explains that the FDA approved the first new drug for lupus in 56 years. It’s clear the story did not rely solely on a news release."
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28247
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Two women entered a closed amusement park and then sued its operators after injuring themselves while improperly self-operating an attraction.
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What's true: Two women entered a closed beachside amusement park and then sued its operators after they injured themselves while improperly self-operating a slide. What's false: The women withdrew their lawsuit within days of filing it.
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mixture
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Politics
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In August 2019, a Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse (CALA) group made a post on Facebook promoting a #DontSueSummer campaign, urging readers to “help us stand up to the frivolous lawsuits getting in the way of everyone’s summer fun.” The post offered the case example of “two women in South Carolina [who] tried to avoid the lines and broke into a water park for a private ride while the park was closed” and then “decided to take the slide operator to court” when they got hurt: The gist of the claim was true: Two women from New York who were visiting Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, in 2017 entered the closed Pavilion Park amusement park area during early-morning hours, moved an unsecured gate at the entrance to the Pipeline Slide dry slide, climbed the stairs to the top of the attraction, slid down the dry slide, then suffered broken bones when they collided with a metal barrier at the bottom of the slide. In November 2018, the two women filed a lawsuit against the park’s operators and the ride’s manufacturers, asserting that the closed attraction was improperly secured with nothing more than a plastic gate: Ally Mulcahy and Jillian McGovern were in Myrtle Beach area on the weekend of April 29, 2017 for a friend’s wedding, the lawsuit says. Following the wedding, the two women went to Broadway at the Beach. In the early morning hours of April 30, 2017, both women walked back to their hotel, passing Pavilion Park Central, which was closed. “Even though it was closed, the plaintiffs were easily able to move the unsecured gate at the entrance to the Pipeline Slide and climb the stairs to the top of the slide,” claims the lawsuit. “Without any employees present to instruct them, the plaintiffs were not aware that they needed to have the slide sprayed with water, nor did they know that they needed a burlap sack to safely go down the side.” “Without these safety precautions, the plaintiffs slid down the slide at a very high velocity, colliding with the metal barrier at the bottom of the slide,” the lawsuit also claims. “As a result of the collision, both plaintiffs sustained significant injuries.” Mulcahy “sustained a broken right ankle, broken left ankle and multiple fractures to her left tibia, which has required surgeries and therapy to repair,” while McGovern “sustained a broken tibia, shattered knee plate and two broken ankles.” “The defendants failed to secure Pipeline Slide, knowing that patrons of Broadway at the Beach would be passing through and have open access to Pavilion Park at all hours of the day,” the lawsuit further claims. “In the manufacture and design of the slide, BN failed to install proper safety equipment to secure the Pipeline Slide when not in use.” “When Pavilion Park is closed, there is no barrier or separation to keep patrons from Broadway at the Beach from entering any of the entrances of Pavilion Park, including the one at Pavilion Park Central,” claims the suit. “In addition to patrons being able to access the park after hours, Pavilion Park fails to secure its rides and amusements, including Pavilion Slide. After hours, there is only a plastic gate blocking the entrance to the slide, and it is not locked nor otherwise secured to prevent after hours access to the ride.” The extent to which this lawsuit might be considered “frivolous” is subjective, but it hardly represented an abusive waste of court resources or the ruin of anyone’s “summer fun.” After the lawsuit drew “hundreds of social media comments” condemning it within days of its filing, the women dropped it before it was even served on the putative defendants: 2 NY women sued Friday for breaking their legs after they rode on a closed Myrtle Beach amusement park slide in the early hours of the morning last year. Their lawyer dismissed the suit Monday before it was served to the defendants. Background: https://t.co/6HDggoMSi2 pic.twitter.com/zv3zKmt2mB — Andy Shain (@AndyShain) November 19, 2018 We note that a Center for Justice & Democracy fact sheet cautions that “Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse” groups are often fronts for “major corporations and industries seeking to escape liability for the harm they cause consumers”: Since 1991, “tort reform” advocates have set up dozens of tax-exempt groups in at least 18 states (currently there are 26 active groups) with consumer-friendly names like Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse, Stop Lawsuit Abuse, Lawsuit Abuse Watch, and People for a FAIR Legal System. These groups are known as “CALAs.” While CALAs represent themselves as grassroots citizens groups, and they say they are sustained by small donations from ordinary citizens, they actually represent major corporations and industries seeking to escape liability for the harm they cause consumers. The money trail from these groups leads directly to large corporate donors, including tobacco, insurance, oil and gas, chemical and pharmaceutical companies, medical associations, and auto manufacturers. They are also funded by the American Tort Reform Association (ATRA), as well as professional associations, local businesses and industries that also wish to be shielded from consumer lawsuits.
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37567
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"Players in the online ""World of Warcraft"" game were hit with an in-game virus, one that was later studied by researchers."
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Was ‘World of Warcraft’ Once Hit by a Virus That Was Subsequently Studied by Researchers?
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true
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Fact Checks, Viral Content
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As the COVID-19 (aka Coronavirus disease) continued to spread in March 2020, social media users flashed back to a “pandemic” that unfolded nearly 20 years earlier — but this one took place entirely in the virtual world.According to the Hong Kong-based tech news site AbacusNews.com, more people on the Chinese platform Weibo have begun researching the Corrupted Blood online virus and players’ responses to the bug, which broke out inside the World of Warcraft game platform (known as WOW for short) in September 2005:A Weibo hashtag related to the World of Warcraft epidemic has become one of the most-searched terms, reaching nearly 60 million views. And one Weibo influencer spotted a similarity between their origins: The Wuhan coronavirus and Corrupted Blood both started in animals.“On the fundamental level, Corrupted Blood started with a hunter’s pet, namely an animal, before it transmitted to a person,” the Weibo user wrote.On Twitter, author Rin Chupeco garnered attention by highlighting the incident in a very popular thread and adding, “Epidemiologists actually STUDIED this to see how ppl would react to an epidemic [in real life].”The Warcraft outbreak was an unintended side-effect of an update to the game involving the character Hakkar the Soulflayer, introduced for players in the online multi-player game to take down to complete a raid. One of Hakkar’s attacks siphoned off players’ characters’ “blood,” weakening them to replenish his own strength. The game allowed for players to contaminate (or “corrupt”) their characters’ blood and thus poison Hakkar. But the tactic could also affect characters’ in-game pet.Engineers for the game told PC Magazine in 2019 that the problem originated from a mistake by the design team; if a character’s pet was in play at the time they poisoned Hakkar using that maneuver, the corrupted blood effect — and damage to not only the pet but any other character — would linger even after completing that part of the game.“Every time you’d summon that pet you’d reinfect yourself and all the players around you and it wouldn’t check if you were in a raid so you’d do it while you were in town and the entire town would get corrupted,” said Shane Dabiri, chief of staff for the game’s manufacturer Blizzard Entertainment. The effect was further spread by players who willfully “infected” their characters, and then deliberately took them to other virtual sites on the WOW platform.“Even once we figured out what was going on it made it really, really hard to fix it,” Cash said:Our choices were either to go through every pet in every server in every country in the entire world and check if it had corrupted blood and get rid of it, or get really hacky code in where every time you summoned a pet it would check and see if it had corrupted blood on it and get rid of it.At the time, an estimated 6.5 million players used the game platform. As Reuters would report in 2009, the corrupted blood outbreak, which lasted around a month, affected 4 million of them. But the situation also prompted researchers to take note.In a March 2007 article for the journal Epidemiology, physician Ran D. Balicer from the Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in Israel called the purposeful spread of corrupted blood by WOW players “the first virtual act of bio-warfare” and drew parallels between that outbreak online and the public spread of other diseases in the real world:The role of an asymptomatic-yet-infective animal reservoir, for instance, is evident in avian influenza. Asymptomatic ducks had an important role in allowing this otherwise relatively lethal avian disease to become endemic in East Asia and spread to other parts of the world. Furthermore, attempts by game administrators to quarantine infected areas proved futile due to the ability of characters to rapidly teleport to distant lands. This is similar to the role of air travel in the rapid global spread of severe acute respiratory syndrome (ie, SARS).That same year, in a paper for Lancet Infectious Diseases, Tufts University professor Nina Fefferman and co-author Eric Lofgren from the University of North Carolina argued that because WOW players can be so immersed in the game, that their reactions could be used as a gauge for how non-gamers could react in the event of a real-world outbreak:The modern world has two distinct types of pathogens, real and virtual. Real pathogens are, logically, those that infect real organisms, many of which subsequently cause disease and become subject to the attentions of the medical and public-health professions. The second type of pathogen, the virtual virus, infects computers through software. The outbreak we have described marks the first time that a virtual virus has infected a virtual human being in a manner even remotely resembling an actual epidemiological event. As technology and biology become more heavily integrated in daily life, this small step towards the interaction of virtual viruses and human beings could become highly significant.More than a decade later, those respective analyses continued to hold true; Eric Lofgren, who as of March 2020 was working as an infectious disease specialist at the Washington State University veterinary teaching hospital, told the Canadian Broadcast Company that implementing planned outbreaks within virtual settings could provide data for how to combat viral diseases outside of them.“In the real world, we can observe people’s behaviour, but we don’t know everything about the rest of the universe. We don’t know perfectly if you’re sick or not,” he said. “In a game, we can, at least in theory, know all of those things. They’re programmatic; you can record them.”
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35277
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The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's guidelines for listing COVID-19 on death certificates in the absence of a test are resulting in a case overcount.
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Jensen’s commentary contributed to a narrative promoted by right-leaning media outlets that the ongoing COVID-19 coronavirus disease pandemic is not as deadly or serious as reported, and that social-distancing measures implemented to control its spread are unwarranted. “HUGE! MN Senator and Dr. Reveals HHS Document Coaching Him on How to Overcount COVID-19 Cases,” read one headline from the conspiracy site The Gateway Pundit.
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false
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Politics, COVID-19
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In April 2020, Dr. Scott Jensen, a Minnesota physician who serves in the Minnesota state Senate, gave television interviews in which he suggested that guidance issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to health care providers on how to properly fill out death certificates for COVID-19 cases could artificially inflate the number of such cases in the U.S. During an appearance on the Fox News prime time program “Ingraham Angle,” Jensen stated that he believed the guidelines issued by the CDC were “ridiculous.” “The determination of the cause of death is a big deal. It has impact on estate planning, it has impact on future generations,” Jensen told host Laura Ingraham. “The idea that we’re going to allow people to massage and game the numbers is a real issue because we’re going to undermine the [public’s] trust.” On April 3, 2020, the CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics issued guidance to physicians, coroners, and medical examiners who fill out death certificates to list COVID-19 as an underlying cause of death in the absence of a test “if the circumstances are compelling within a reasonable degree of certainty.” The guidelines specify: In cases where a definite diagnosis of COVID–19 cannot be made, but it is suspected or likely (e.g., the circumstances are compelling within a reasonable degree of certainty), it is acceptable to report COVID–19 on a death certificate as ‘probable’ or ‘presumed.’ In these instances, certifiers should use their best clinical judgement in determining if a COVID–19 infection was likely. However, please note that testing for COVID–19 should be conducted whenever possible.
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28871
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The Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) said that cannabis legalization would harm their profits, and they spend $1 million per year fighting changes to marijuana laws.
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"What's true: The wording on the meme comes from the CCA's SEC filings, and the organization spends approximately $1 million on (all forms of) lobbying per year. What's false: CCA's lobbying expenditures don't focus solely on marijuana prohibition, and the meme's quoted wording was neither taken from a ""memo"" nor expresses CCA's stated reason for opposing marijuana legalization."
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mixture
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Politics Legal, cannabis, marijuana
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An image meme that spread via social media in March 2016 held that Corrections Corporation of America (CCA), a company that owns and manages private prisons and detention centers, spends $1 million a year in lobbying efforts to oppose the legalization of marijuana because fewer people being sent to jail on drug charges would negatively affect their bottom line: DID YOU KNOW? (#ENDtheDRUGWAR) Corrections Corporation of America, the largest for-profit prison company in America, spends nearly $1 million a year against cannabis legalization. This is their official reason why: “changes with respect to drugs and controlled substances … could affect the number of persons arrested, convicted, and sentenced, thereby potentially reducing demand for the correctional facilities to house them. The clear message was that laws prohibiting the possession and use of marijuana (and other drugs) are less about curbing the dangers such drug use might pose to the public than they are about a privatized incarceration system that has a strong incentive to ensure prison populations remain high enough to maintain profit levels. Missing from the widely circulated graphic were any sources, citations, date, or context for the purported statement from the CCA about changes to drug laws. The image meme’s overall viewpoint, however, was elucidated in an April 2015 Washington Post item critical of privatized prisons in general and CCA in particular: Several industries have become notorious for the millions they spend on influencing legislation and getting friendly candidates into office … one has managed to quickly build influence with comparatively little scrutiny: Private prisons. The two largest for-profit prison companies in the United States — GEO and Corrections Corporation of America — and their associates have funneled more than $10 million to candidates since 1989 and have spent nearly $25 million on lobbying efforts. Meanwhile, these private companies have seen their revenue and market share soar. They now rake in a combined $3.3 billion in annual revenue and the private federal prison population more than doubled between 2000 and 2010, according to a report by the Justice Policy Institute. Private companies house nearly half of the nation’s immigrant detainees, compared to about 25 percent a decade ago, a Huffington Post report found. In total, there are now about 130 private prisons in the country with about 157,000 beds. A portion of that item included the source which was presumably the one paraphrased in the meme, attributed to a 2014 CCA annual report: The demand for our facilities and services could be adversely affected by the relaxation of enforcement efforts, leniency in conviction or parole standards and sentencing practices or through the decriminalization of certain activities that are currently proscribed by our criminal laws. For instance, any changes with respect to drugs and controlled substances or illegal immigration could affect the number of persons arrested, convicted, and sentenced, thereby potentially reducing demand for correctional facilities to house them … Legislation has been proposed in numerous jurisdictions that could lower minimum sentences for some non-violent crimes and make more inmates eligible for early release based on good behavior. A January 2013 American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) piece provided both the quote and a link to its source CCA’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Form 10-K filings, dated 25 February 2011. However, it’s important to note the purpose of those mandatory 10-K filings, which include a “comprehensive overview of the company’s business and financial condition.” As SEC Chair Mary Jo White noted in 2013, a key aspect of those reports is disclosure of risk to shareholders and potential investors: Without proper disclosure, investors would be unable to make informed decisions. They would not know about the financial condition of the company they are investing in. Nor would they know about how the company operates, who its board members are or what business, operational or financial risks the company faces, let alone may face in the future. The core purpose of disclosure, of course, is to provide investors with the information they need to make informed investment and voting decisions. Such information makes it possible for investors to evaluate companies and have the confidence to invest and, as a result, allow our capital markets to flourish. In CCA’s February 2011 Form 10-K filing, therefore, the company was not strategizing about how to prevent changes to existing laws that might adversely affect their profits, but rather listing a number of potential risks to profitability outside the company’s control that shareholders and investors should be aware of: Our ability to secure new contracts to develop and manage correctional and detention facilities depends on many factors outside our control. Our growth is generally dependent upon our ability to obtain new contracts to develop and manage new correctional and detention facilities. This possible growth depends on a number of factors we cannot control, including crime rates and sentencing patterns in various jurisdictions and acceptance of privatization. The demand for our facilities and services could be adversely affected by the relaxation of enforcement efforts, leniency in conviction or parole standards and sentencing practices or through the decriminalization of certain activities that are currently proscribed by our criminal laws. For instance, any changes with respect to drugs and controlled substances or illegal immigration could affect the number of persons arrested, convicted, and sentenced, thereby potentially reducing demand for correctional facilities to house them. Legislation has been proposed in numerous jurisdictions that could lower minimum sentences for some non-violent crimes and make more inmates eligible for early release based on good behavior. Also, sentencing alternatives under consideration could put some offenders on probation with electronic monitoring who would otherwise be incarcerated. Similarly, reductions in crime rates or resources dedicated to prevent and enforce crime could lead to reductions in arrests, convictions and sentences requiring incarceration at correctional facilities. More recent SEC filings from CCA, such as a document for the year ending 31 December 2015, reflect similar stated risks to investors. That filing also included a statement from CCA that, as a matter of policy, the company does not “lobby for or against policies or legislation that would determine the basis for, or duration of, an individual’s incarceration or detention”: This possible growth depends on a number of factors we cannot control, including crime rates and sentencing patterns in various jurisdictions, governmental budgetary constraints, and governmental and public acceptance of privatization. The demand for our facilities and services could be adversely affected by the relaxation of enforcement efforts, leniency in conviction or parole standards and sentencing practices or through the decriminalization of certain activities that are currently proscribed by criminal laws. For instance, any changes with respect to drugs and controlled substances or illegal immigration could affect the number of persons arrested, convicted, and sentenced, thereby potentially reducing demand for correctional facilities to house them. Immigration reform laws are currently a focus for legislators and politicians at the federal, state, and local level. Legislation has also been proposed in numerous jurisdictions that could lower minimum sentences for some non-violent crimes and make more inmates eligible for early release based on good behavior. Also, sentencing alternatives under consideration could put some offenders on probation with electronic monitoring who would otherwise be incarcerated. Similarly, reductions in crime rates or resources dedicated to prevent and enforce crime could lead to reductions in arrests, convictions and sentences requiring incarceration at correctional facilities. Our company does not, under longstanding policy, lobby for or against policies or legislation that would determine the basis for, or duration of, an individual’s incarceration or detention. Nonetheless, the image meme also alleges that the company spends approximately a million dollars per year fighting cannabis legalization. The Center for Responsive Politics‘ Open Secrets site (a watchdog organization that tracks lobbying efforts) maintains a profile for CCA that places its total expenditures on all lobbying efforts in 2015 at exactly $1,000,000 (and $1,020,000 in 2014). However, the opacity surrounding lobbying makes it difficult to determine precisely how much (if anything) CCA might spend for the purpose of influencing marijuana laws. According to the ACLU 2013 piece referenced above, the company’s lobbying efforts were spread across numerous political interests: Although CCA insists that it does not engage in “lobbying or advocacy efforts that would influence enforcement efforts, parole standards, criminal laws, and sentencing policies,” the company spends heavily on both campaign contributions and lobbying. In 2011, CCA gave $710,300 in political contributions to candidates for federal or state office, political parties, and 527 groups (PACs and super-PACs). That same year, CCA spent $1.07 million lobbying federal officials and an undisclosed amount lobbying state officials. Additionally, as NPR reported two years ago, CCA was for many years involved in the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), an organization of state legislators and corporations that drafted the basis for Arizona’s anti-immigrant SB1070 and that has consistently advocated for harsh sentencing and detention laws. The breakdown of the $1,020,000 spent on lobbying by CCA in 2014 as presented on Open Secrets wasn’t broken down in detail. CCA’s top lobbying expenditures were listed as “Homeland Security” and “Government Issues,” with “Law Enforcement & Crime” at number three. Apparently the meme cited the total amount of money CCA spends on lobbying and inaccurately framed all of those expenditures as targeting “cannabis legalization.” H.R.4903 (a bill appropriating funds for immigration security in 2013-2014) was listed on Open Secrets as a top interest for which CCA lobbied, which dovetails with CCA disclosures mentioning the jailing of undocumented immigrants. Open Secrets simply listed CCA among agencies possessing an interest in the continued criminalization of marijuana, without providing any details about monies those agencies might expend along those lines: Private prisons are in the business of filling beds, and they make millions by incarcerating nonviolent drug offenders along with violent offenders and white-collar criminals. One private prison company, the GEO Group, Inc., is particularly successful at this: In its 2014 annual report, GEO noted that it had, on average, a facility occupancy rate of 95.7 percent. One of the largest for-profit prison companies, Corrections Corporation of America, stated in a 2010 regulatory filing that laxer drug laws could shrink its bottom line: “[A]ny changes with respect to drugs and controlled substances or illegal immigration could affect the number of persons arrested, convicted and sentenced, thereby potentially reducing demand for correctional facilities to house them.” Since 2008, the Corrections Corporation of America has spent at least $970,000 a year on lobbying. However, in its federal lobbying reports, the corporation includes a disclaimer that it does not lobby for or against policies that would determine whether an individual is incarcerated. ProPublica found much the same in an investigation pertaining partly to CCA: while that entity reported CCA spent $17.4 million in a ten-year period on general lobbying, they included no marijuana-specific findings. In short, the quotation about marijuana laws attributed by the original meme to CCA is accurate, but its source and context was an SEC-required disclosure of risks to shareholders, not a company memo advocating opposition to the legalization of marijuana.
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38439
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Flu shots contain toxins and ingredients that can destroy your brain and cause Alzheimer’s disease.
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Flu Shots Cause Alzheimer’s Disease
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false
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Health / Medical
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Flu shots do not lead to Alzheimer’s or memory loss — research actually suggests that flu vaccines may be able to help prevent Alzheimer’s. While most doctors and scientists have rejected the theory that mercury used in some types of flu shots leads to Alzheimer’s disease, a handful of fringe doctors continue to spread those rumors using arguments that are easy to discredit. In 2014, Newsmax published a report under the headline “Some Flue Shot Formulations Contain Brain-Destroying Toxin: Top Doctor.” The “top doctor” cited in the report is Dr. David Brownstein, a self-described holistic family physician who warns about the dangers of mercury in flu shots: Thimerosal, a preservative found in manyflu shots, is 50 percent mercury. It’s different, and much more harmful, than the type of mercury found in fish. While the FDA warns against eating more than two servings of fish weekly because of the danger of mercury, it allows this more toxic form to be added to flu shots (and other vaccines). The only reason thimerosal is added is as a preservative in multi-dose vials. Known as ethylmercury, this type of mercury in flu shots depresses the immune system and damages the brain. Much of ethylmercury is converted in the body to a form of mercury that accumulates in the brain with every annual flu shot and is very difficult to remove. Ethylmercury is much more harmful than methylmercury, the form of mercury found in fish, and is much more likely to stay in the brain. For years, thimerosal has been associated with an increase in autism, but one of the most troubling connections is with Alzheimer’s. “There’s no doubt that the flu vaccine can lead to Alzheimer’s, because many flu shots are preserved with mercury and it’s a known brain toxin,” says Dr. Brownstein. “You give enough brain toxins and people are going to develop memory issues.” Brownstein’s claim is at least partially true. Multi-dose vial flu vaccines contain thimerosal, a mercury-based preservative that prevents germs, bacteria and fungi from contaminating the vaccine. But here’s where Brownstein’s claims go awry: ethylmercury is easily passed through the body, which makes it far less likely to cause harm. The CDC explains the difference like this: Mercury is a naturally occurring element found in the earth’s crust, air, soil, and water. Two types of mercury to which people may be exposed — methylmercury and ethylmercury — are very different. Methylmercury is the type of mercury found in certain kinds of fish. At high exposure levels methylmercury can be toxic to people. In the United States, federal guidelines keep as much methylmercury as possible out of the environment and food, but over a lifetime, everyone is exposed to some methylmercury. Thimerosal contains ethylmercury, which is cleared from the human body more quickly than methylmercury, and is therefore less likely to cause any harm. The CDC concluded that “studies show no evidence of harm caused by the low doses of thimerosal in vaccines,” and its considered a very safe additive. Besides that, Canadian researchers actually found that older adults who receive flu shots and other vaccines actually appear to be at a lower risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease than those who do not receive the vaccination: For each type of vaccine, subjects who reported at least one vaccination were at lower risk for Alzheimer’s disease than those who had never been exposed, after adjustment for age, sex and education. Vaccines against diphtheria or tetanus and against poliomyelitis were associated with statistically significantly lower risk of Alzheimer’s disease (60% and 40% lower respectively). Exposure to influenza vaccine was also related to a lower risk of Alzheimer’s disease, but the association did not reach statistical significance. Additional adjustment for smoking, alcohol use, family history of dementia, ADL and IADL, chronic diseases and perceived health status yielded similar results. The Alzheimer’s Association has also debunked claims that flu shots have been linked to memory loss or Alzheimer’s itself: A theory linking flu shots to a greatly increased risk of Alzheimer’s disease has been proposed by a U.S. doctor whose license was suspended by the South Carolina Board of Medical Examiners. Several mainstream studies link flu shots and other vaccinations to a reduced risk of Alzheimer’s disease and overall better health. So, there’s absolutely no proof that flue shots lead to Alzheimer’s or memory loss. Brownstein’s theory fails to acknowledge that there are two different types of mercury, and the type of mercury used in multi-vial flu shots is not the same as the type of toxic mercury that is found in fish. Comments
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12474
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Last year was one of the deadliest years ever for law enforcement officers.
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"Sen. Thom Tillis, a North Carolina Republican, said a new pro-police law is needed because 2016 ""was one of the deadliest years ever for law enforcement officers."" That’s wrong. In fact, 2016 saw a below-average number and rate of officer deaths compared to the last half-century. The 66 officers killed in 2016 pales in comparison to the 1970s and 1980s, and wasn’t much different from the typical year in the 1990s, either."
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false
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After the Fact, Congress, Criminal Justice, History, Crime, Public Safety, North Carolina, Thom Tillis,
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"Announcing his support for a national pro-police bill, North Carolina Republican Sen. Thom Tillis cited an eye-catching statistic. Only a few years in U.S. history, he said, were more deadly for police than 2016. ""Last year was one of the deadliest years ever for law enforcement officers, a stark reminder that these men and women go to work every day not knowing whether they’ll return home safely to their families,"" Tillis said Friday, when he co-sponsored the bill. ""Our law enforcement officers risk their lives to protect ours, and the Back the Blue Act will enact new laws that offer them much-needed support and will make criminals think twice before targeting them,"" he continued, in an official press release. The Back The Blue Act proposes several notable changes. It would create stricter penalties for people who assault police officers, making it a federal crime subject to mandatory minimum sentences and, in some cases, the death penalty – which would fulfill a campaign promise President Donald made about cop-killers. It would also limit people’s ability to sue police officers for abuse. And for those who could still sue, the bill cuts down on how much money they could receive if the police are found guilty. However, the crux of the claim Tillis made to support the bill – that ""last year was one of the deadliest years ever for law enforcement officers"" – is not accurate. Whether you look at total deaths, or violent deaths only, or the percentage of officers killed, the numbers show 2016 was actually one of the least deadly years in modern history. ""It's still more dangerous to be a cop than it is not to be a cop,"" said Seth Stoughton, a former police officer who now researches anti-police violence and teaches at the University of South Carolina’s law school. ""But … to say that this is the most dangerous time for officers is just woefully uninformed."" After we asked what numbers Tillis was citing, his office didn't defend the claim but did question why we would fact-check him. ""Losing one police officer is one too many,"" Tillis spokesman Daniel Keylin said. ""... Senator Tillis will continue to do everything in his power to support North Carolina’s law enforcement community and recognize the daily sacrifices they make."" In the past, Tillis has advocated for criminal justice reforms like less harsh sentencing laws – in North Carolina and nationwide. Total deaths One way to measure how deadly a year has been for police is to look at the total number of deaths. Another is felonious killings, which is the term for the killing of a police officer by a criminal while in the line of duty. Felonious killings are what people tend to think of when they hear about a deadly time for law enforcement. They make the national news – ambushes, traffic stops gone bad, a suspect getting the upper hand in a fight. Those are included in the number of total deaths, which also includes on-duty accidental deaths like car crashes, heart attacks or falls, and off-duty deaths from causes like illness or suicide. In a previous fact-check, we looked into a comparison of Prohibition and the War on Drugs, which claimed they’ve been equally deadly for police. We ruled that Mostly . Here’s an graph, from that previous fact-check, of total annual police deaths from 1900 to now: It shows that fewer officers died in 2016 than most other years in the 20th and 21st centuries. More police officers died in 1916 (164) than in 2016 (143). So by that metric, Tillis is way off. But what about violent deaths? Felonious killings Data specifying the number of police officers killed by criminals started in the 1970s, which is also when the War on Drugs began. And again, Tillis is wrong. 2016 saw 66 officers shot, stabbed or otherwise killed by a criminal – which is less than half the number of killings in several other years. ""Senator Tillis is way off,"" Stoughton said. ""It is an unmitigated tragedy that 66 officers were feloniously killed in 2016, but that number is nowhere near the historic high."" In fact – and this is good news for current officers – 2016’s violent death toll was about 10 deaths below the average for the last half-century. Even though more police were killed in 2016 than in much of the 2000s, there were fewer officers killed last year than in nearly every year in the 1970s, ‘80s and ‘90s. Rate of killings When we consider the percentage of officers killed, the decline in anti-police violence is even more striking – from more than 30 deaths per 100,000 officers in the late 1970s, to around 17 in the 1980s, to about 6 or 7 now. ""We have close to twice as many officers and half as many deaths,"" Stoughton said. There’s no authoritative count yet on the number of police officers in the United States in 2016, so it’s impossible to calculate an exact rate. But it’s safe to say Tillis is almost certainly wrong by this measure, too. We know 66 officers were killed in 2016, and we know there were at least 635,000 officers in the U.S. in 2015. So unless half of the nation’s cops (or more) were laid off last year, there’s no way the rate of officers killed in 2016 would even be at the low end of the violence in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Instead, if the number of police officers rose by a few thousand in 2016, as happened in the few years prior, the rate for 2016 would be about 10 officer deaths per 100,000. If that happens, then 2016 will have been more deadly for police than other recent years, yet still safer than any year between 1975 and 1995. Our ruling Sen. Thom Tillis, a North Carolina Republican, said a new pro-police law is needed because 2016 ""was one of the deadliest years ever for law enforcement officers."" That’s wrong. In fact, 2016 saw a below-average number and rate of officer deaths compared to the last half-century. The 66 officers killed in 2016 pales in comparison to the 1970s and 1980s, and wasn’t much different from the typical year in the 1990s, either."
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37845
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"New evidence"" shows that wearing a face mask can ""help coronavirus enter the brain"" and ""pose more health risk."
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There’s No ‘New Evidence’ Face Masks Pose Health Risks to Healthy People During the COVID-19 Pandemic
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false
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Disinformation, Fact Checks
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"On May 18 2020, ScienceTimes.com posted a story with a frightening and shocking headline: “New Evidence Shows Wearing Face Mask Can Help Coronavirus Enter the Brain and Pose More Health Risk, Warn Expert.” The page picked up quite a lot of traffic and attention before it was quietly revised — but traces of the original remained on Facebook and Twitter and spread through secondary sources:Blaylock: Face Masks Pose Serious Risks To The Healthy – https://t.co/jaDfuYVH0z— Dr. Jeff Barke (@RX_forLiberty) May 15, 2020Dr Russell Blaylock ostrzega: ""Maseczki na twarz stanowią poważne zagrożenie dla zdrowia! "".https://t.co/w9sw3brYGu pic.twitter.com/8D55GalQx0— RodzinaKatolicka.pl (@RodzinaKatolic1) May 20, 2020Blaylock: Face Masks Pose Serious Risks To The Healthy https://t.co/embTws7aF1 via @citizens_free— $LTC $EOS $RCN $ENG $BCPT (@alanh511) May 20, 2020The original headline on the page contained the claim that “new evidence” had emerged showing that not only were face masks not helpful for “healthy people,” but that they could act as vectors to make people ill, because they could “trap” viral particles of SARS-CoV-2 and somehow force them into “the brain.”The blog post claimed in part:Dr. Russell Blaylock, a retired U.S. neurosurgeon and author, cautions that face masks cannot entirely protect you from getting sick and catching pathogens. He adds that it can also pose a serious health risk for wearers. He stresses that only ill people should wear face masks.Since the coronavirus pandemic started, people everywhere have been wearing protective equipment such as face masks, face shields, and gloves. Wearing gloves in public places such as the grocery had been previously debunked as ‘unhelpful’ or possibly harmful, especially if not used properly. […]According to Dr. Blaylock, there have been no studies conducted to establish that either a cloth mask or the N95 mask has an impact on the transmission of the coronavirus. It was not until recently that the Commission on Disease Control and Prevention changed its guidelines for wearing face masks.Previously, they only advised sick people to wear protective masks, but now they encourage everyone to wear them when out in public since it has been found out that some could be asymptomatic carriers of the virus. The CDC also has guidelines for wearing cloth masks to slow the spread of the coronavirus.Early on in the post, its author (identified only as “Staff Reporter”) claimed that “wearing gloves in public places … had been previously debunked.” No citation or supporting information was provided in concert with that statement, nor even a reference to previous material on the same website.Subsequently, ScienceTimes.com claimed that the “Commission on Disease Control and Prevention” had “changed its guidelines” regarding face masks and the COVID-19 pandemic.We feel compelled to point out here that there is no such entity as the “Commission on Disease Control and Prevention.” It seems likely that “Staff Reporter” presumably meant to write “Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,” commonly called the CDC, and bungled the widely referenced organization’s name — which did not bode well for the editing and fact-checking of the rest of the article.The next section of the post (“Harmful Effects of Wearing a Face Mask”) claimed, in part:Another study reported findings of headache in health professionals using the same protective face mask. Similarly, pregnant women wearing N-95 masks were also found to have breathing difficulties associated with the use of the mask.Researchers suggest that the benefits of using N95 masks to prevent contraction of infectious diseases should be weighed against possible respiratory consequences linked with extended use of N95 masks.Newer evidence also reveals that the coronavirus may enter the brain in some cases. By wearing a mask, viruses released upon expiration will not be given a chance to escape and will further congregate in the nasal passages. This allows the virus to enter the olfactory nerves and travel further, eventually reaching the brain.The sentence about “newer evidence also reveals that the coronavirus may enter the brain in some cases” contained a hyperlink, which implied that it led to additional information that substantiated the claim that using face masks would somehow force viral particles into the brain and “viruses released upon expiration will not be given a chance to escape and will further congregate in the nasal passages.” (Whatever that might mean. )However, the link instead led to a New York Times‘ Science section, incidentally also called “the Science Times.” It was an April 1 2020 article headlined, “Some Coronavirus Patients Show Signs of Brain Ailments,” and no part of it involved the prophylactic use of face masks — or any reference to face masks at all.The New York Times article began, reporting early findings involving neurological complications observed in patients diagnosed with COVID-19:Neurologists around the world say that a small subset of patients with Covid-19 are developing serious impairments of the brain.Although fever, cough and difficulty breathing are the typical hallmarks of infection with the new coronavirus, some patients exhibit altered mental status, or encephalopathy, a catchall term for brain disease or dysfunction that can have many underlying causes, as well as other serious conditions. These neurological syndromes join other unusual symptoms, such as diminished sense of smell and taste as well as heart ailments.In early March [2020], a 74-year-old man came to the emergency room in Boca Raton, Fla., with a cough and a fever, but an X-ray ruled out pneumonia and he was sent home. The next day, when his fever spiked, family members brought him back. He was short of breath, and could not tell doctors his name or explain what was wrong — he had lost the ability to speak.The patient, who had chronic lung disease and Parkinson’s, was flailing his arms and legs in jerky movements, and appeared to be having a seizure. Doctors suspected he had Covid-19, and were eventually proven right when he was finally tested.On [March 31 2020], doctors in Detroit reported another disturbing case involving a female airline worker in her late 50s with Covid-19. She was confused, and complained of a headache; she could tell the physicians her name but little else, and became less responsive over time. Brain scans showed abnormal swelling and inflammation in several regions, with smaller areas where some cells had died.It was true that article described ways that COVID-19 might, in some cases, directly affect the nervous system (and brains) of those who contract the illness:“The pattern of involvement, and the way that it rapidly progressed over days, is consistent with viral inflammation of the brain,” Dr. Elissa Fory, a neurologist with Henry Ford Health System, said through an email. “This may indicate the virus can invade the brain directly in rare circumstances.” The patient is in critical condition.The New York Times also reported that doctors were scrambling to understand how the virus might cause viral inflammation of the brain and other bodily systems. Crucially, that was clearly not due to the proximity of viral matter to the brain and had nothing to do with using face masks to prevent transmission.In addition to not mentioning masks as a cause or a vector, the linked article thoroughly explained that the neurological effects of COVID-19 were systemic and inflammatory. No part of that reporting suggested that patients in which such effects were observed had viral particles pushed up through their noses into their brains because they wore a mask:Neurological specialists also say that it is too early to make definitive statements or identify the specific mechanisms by which the new coronavirus is affecting the neurological system.In one recent paper, Chinese scientists noted that there was some evidence that other coronaviruses were not confined to the respiratory tract and invaded the central nervous system, and the authors speculated that this may potentially play a role in acute respiratory failure in Covid-19.[Dr. Robert Stevens, a neurologist at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore who is tracking neurological observations] emphasized that all mechanistic explanations at this point are hypotheses because so little is known: “It could be as simple as low levels of oxygen in the bloodstream,” resulting from respiratory failure, along with an increase in carbon dioxide, which “can have significant impact on the function of the brain, and lead to states of confusion and lethargy,” he said.Anyone who actually took the time to read the linked article and understood its reporting could plainly see that neurologists were describing a pattern of viral inflammation caused by systemic infection — not a localized “brain infection” because patients were “re-breathing” infected air.That absolutely preposterous and unscientific statement was addressed broadly during the viral popularity of a disinformation video called Plandemic, featuring Blaylock’s fellow medical disinformation purveyor, Judy Mikovits:In attacking public health measures taken to address the pandemic in the U.S., [Judy] Mikovits wrongly suggests that using masks could lead to people infecting themselves with their own breath. “Wearing the mask literally activates your own virus,” Mikovits said. “You’re getting sick from your own reactivated coronavirus expressions and if it happens to be SARS-CoV-2, then you’ve got a big problem.”Experts were perplexed by what she meant and said the implication that simply breathing through a mask could lead to self-infection doesn’t square with science.Linsey Marr, a professor of civil and environmental engineering at Virginia Tech who studies airborne disease transmission, told us: “If you’re shedding (breathing out) virus, then you’re already infected. Even without a mask, infected people who are shedding virus probably rebreathe some of their own viruses, but there are already billions times more viruses in your body. Hopefully, the mask is protecting other people from your exhalations.”And Lisa Brosseau, an expert on respiratory protection and infectious diseases and a certified industrial hygienist, said in an email that “viruses are not ‘activated’ by anything,” as Mikovits suggests.In short, anyone exhaling SARS-CoV-2 has already contracted the virus.As of May 20 2020, ScienceTimes.com renamed their blog post to “Are Face Masks Effective Against COVID-19? The Pros and the Cons,” likely because HealthFeedback.org had suppressed its spread on Facebook. The site pinned the source of the claim on Russell Blaylock (who is, again, a known medical disinformation purveyor) and pointed out that no actual evidence (new or otherwise) was presented in the blog post:Blaylock produces no evidence for his claim that wearing a face mask increases the risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection in the brain. His statement that the use of face masks leads to serious health risks is also unsupported. While face masks and cloth face coverings do not provide 100% protection from infection, they still play an important role in reducing the risk of disease transmission by reducing the dispersal of infectious droplets containing the virus, which is the main mode of COVID-19 transmission.Incidentally, while Blaylock’s site found the time to change the post’s title to the “pros and cons” version above, it didn’t manage to correct its sloppy error in referencing CDC guidance. It also did not include any editor’s note, correction, clarification, or any other information suggesting that the page’s headline had been dramatically changed from its original and dangerously misleading claim:Le danger mortel des masques https://t.co/601iisRem7par Dr Russell Blaylock« En portant un masque, les virus exhalés ne pourront pas s’échapper et se concentreront dans les voies nasales, pénétreront dans les nerfs olfactifs et voyageront dans le cerveau. »Pouf, plus tête..— Jean-Marc (@JeanMarc312) May 20, 2020As of May 20 2020, copies and reproductions of Blaylock’s original and false claim — complete with the headline “New Evidence Shows Wearing Face Mask Can Help Coronavirus Enter the Brain and Pose More Health Risk, Warn Expert” — continued to spread in multiple languages. The body of the article appeared largely unchanged, and neither variation presented any such “evidence” (whether it was new or established) which proved — or even hinted — that face masks were harmful or unhelpful in suppressing the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. A secondary claim that “rebreathing” viral particles could infect the mask-wearer with COVID-19 was widely debunked just weeks before, when a video called Plandemic featuring fellow anti-vaccine activist Judy Mikovits sold the same yarn to viewers.Comments"
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30907
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Every time a particular message is shared, a company will donate money towards the medical care of a 14-year-old boy who was shot by his stepfather while he was defending his 2-year-old sister from rape.
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If you want to make a difference in a sick child’s life, the best way is still the old-fashioned one: donate your money or your time, not a worthless text message.
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false
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Inboxer Rebellion, Medical Appeals
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A touching appeal to help save a young life began circulating in e-mail and as a cell phone text message in February 2010: Last friday 2-12-10 a 14 yr old boy was shot 6 times by his step dad. The boy was protecting his 2 yr old sister, in whom the step dad was atempting to rape. The young girl was not harmed, bc of that young mans courage & loyalty to his sister. The mom was at work during this time. The 14 yr old boy is now fighting for his life, and the doctors say he will not make it unless he has this life saving surgery in wich the boys mom cant afford. So At&t has agreed to donate $0.45 every time this msg is sent. So fwd & help save a life! Last friday 2/12/10 a 14 y/o boy weas shot 6 times by his step dad. the boy was protecting his 2 y/o sistetr, whom the atep dad was attemping to rape. theyoung girl was not harmed because of that young mans courage and loyalty to his sister. The Mother was at work when this took place the 14 yr old boy “dominic james daggner” is now fighting for his life,and the doctor says he will not make unless he has life saving surgery in which the mother cant not afford. So, Verizon and AT&T have agree to donate $12.00 everytime this text is sent. 14 YEAR OLD BOY WAS SHOT 6 TIMES BY HIS STEPFATHER, THIS BOY WAS PROTECTING HIS LITTLE 2 YEAR OLD SISTER WHO WAS ABOUT TO BE RAPED BY THIS POOR EXCUSE OF A MAN. THE LITTLE GIRL DID NOT GET HURT THANKS TO HER BRAVE OLDER BROTHER. THEIR MOM WAS AT WORK WHEN ALL THIS HAPPENED. NOW THIS BRAVE YOUNG MAN IS FIGHTING FOR HIS LIFE, BUT DOCTRS SAY HE WILL NOT SURVIVE UNLESS HE GETS AN OPERATION WHICH IS VERY COSTFUL AND WHICH HIS MOM CANNOT PAY. ALL FACEBOOK COMPANIES HAVE AGREED TO DONATE 45 CENTS FOR EVERY TIME SOMEONE POSTS THIS TO THEIR WALL, SO PLEASE PASTE AND PASS THIS ON SO THAT TOGETHER WE CAN HELP SAVE THIS BOYS LIFE Although the story was fresh at the time (brave adolescent interrupts evil step-father intent upon raping the boy’s toddler sister and gets shot six times for his trouble), it was the same old hoax underneath: there was no such youngster whose life-saving medical care would be funded by AT&T on a per-text-forwarded basis. Despite the message’s providing a date for when the shooting supposedly occurred and (in the second version quoted above) a name for the victim, the boy whom people are being encouraged to help is fictional. (The second version also upped the ante to $12.00 per forward and dragged Verizon into the fray, while a third version added “Facebook companies” to the mix.) As demonstrated so aptly by public efforts to provide relief to earthquake victims in Haiti, beneficences initiated by cell phone generally involve a tracking and billing mechanism that requires participants to text a specific short word or phrase to a particular (five-digit) number, not the willy-nilly forwarding of a explanatory narrative to as many people as possible. In 2009 we began to note that “Forward this message to help fund medical care for a sick or dying child” appeals were beginning to appear as cell phone text messages as well as being passed in e-mail. That trend continues into 2010, with the “shot 14-year-old boy” just another iteration of the same basic hoax that falsely claims the American Cancer Society, the Make-A-Wish Foundation, or some other large entity will donate a predetermined amount of money every time a particular message is forwarded. Such leg-pulls have been circulating via e-mail since 1997. Typically, a large charity is named as the benefactor standing ready to direct monies towards the costs of medical care for the languishing child, but various corporations have also been fingered for this role in other iterations of the hoax, such as AOL and ZDNet in the Rachel Arlington leg pull (brain cancer sufferer in need of an operation) and McDonald’s and Pizza Hut in the Justin Mallory prank (epileptic in need of long-term care). Everyone wants to help sick children get better, and the thought of a little boy or girl suffering from some dread disease or infirmity because people couldn’t be bothered to forward a message tugs straight at the heartstrings. Problem is, hoaxsters know that, and they play upon these very human drives for their personal amusement. Once again, that is the case here: Well-intentioned forwarding does nothing towards helping a sick child; it does, however, make the day of some prankster.
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19276
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Laurie Monnes Anderson Says she is a registered nurse.
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Is Laurie Monnes Anderson a registered nurse?
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false
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Oregon, Candidate Biography, Laurie Monnes Anderson,
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"State Sen. Laurie Monnes Anderson, D-Gresham, is proud of her registered nursing credentials. She mentions it in campaign mailers, on her campaign website, on her legislative web page and in her official state Voters’ Guide statement, where she lists her occupation as ""Registered Nurse and Senator."" Monnes Anderson is defending her seat in District 25 against Republican Scott Hansen, also a resident of Gresham, but a dentist, not a registered nurse. The Leadership Fund, which is the campaigning arm of minority Senate Republicans and would love to pick up the seat, sent a press release this week to media with this bombshell: Monnes Anderson is not a registered nurse, as she claims. ""Allowing her Registered Nurse's License to expire in 2009 is tragic,"" said Senate Republican Leader Ted Ferrioli, R-John Day, in the release. ""Claiming the nurse's credential in the primary 2012 election may be excused as an oversight, but repeating the claim in the 2012 general election seems part of the pattern of disconnect typical of someone who has been in Salem too long. Voters in District 25 deserve better."" Well, we don’t know what voters deserve, but we had to check this out for ourselves. Did Monnes Anderson, in fact, let her license lapse in 2009? And if so, does that negate her ability to call herself a registered nurse? We looked up Laurel Anderson in the nursing board’s online database, verified that her two-year license had expired in December 2009, and put in a call to the board to learn more about nursing licenses. Barbara Holtry, who handles press questions for the Oregon State Board of Nursing, explained that to get a license as a registered nurse, a person must meet education, examination, practice and English language requirements, and complete a background check. Licenses are good for two years. Renewal notices are sent about 6-8 weeks before the license expires. But here’s the critical takeaway from our conversation with Holtry. ""The bottom line is: You need to have a license to be a registered nurse in the state of Oregon,"" Holtry said. Apparently, Monnes Anderson thought she was in compliance the entire time, until PolitiFact Oregon contacted Senate Democrats on Thursday to inquire. In an interview with us on Friday, she said she was in the process of preparing paperwork to submit to the board with her licensing application. Monnes Anderson, 66, is a retired public health nurse. ""I truly believed that my license was current from 2009 on, and I’ve always gotten reminders to renew and when I get reminders I always renew,"" she said. (At this point, she will need to apply to reactivate her license. Renewals are allowed within 60 days of expiration.) We understand that people forget to renew their professional licenses, although it’s hard for us to fathom someone forgetting for three years. Monnes Anderson is not a registered nurse, per the Oregon State Board of Nursing. She was a registered nurse from July 1985 to December 2009 but cannot claim to have been one at the time she submitted Voters’ Guide statements for the primary election in May or for the general election in November. We rate the statement, and note that her GOP opponent, Hansen, has an up-to-date professional license."
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7338
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Most US states fall short of recommended testing levels.
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As businesses reopened Friday in more of the U.S., an overwhelming majority of states still fall short of the COVID-19 testing levels that public health experts say are necessary to safely ease lockdowns and avoid another deadly wave of outbreaks, according to an Associated Press analysis.
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true
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AP Top News, Religion, Understanding the Outbreak, Health, General News, Latin America, Business, U.S. News, Asia Pacific, Virus Outbreak, Europe, Public health, Texas, International News
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Rapid, widespread testing is considered essential to tracking and containing the coronavirus. But 41 of the nation’s 50 states fail to test widely enough to drive their infections below a key benchmark, according to an AP analysis of metrics developed by Harvard’s Global Health Institute. Among the states falling short are Texas and Georgia, which recently moved aggressively to reopen stores, malls, barbershops and other businesses. Also Friday, Democrats approved a massive $3 trillion coronavirus response bill in the House over Republican opposition. It aims aims to prop up a U.S. economy in free fall and a health care system overwhelmed by a pandemic. But the measure has no chance of passing the GOP-controlled Senate and has already drawn a White House veto threat. As health authorities expand testing to more people, the number of positive results should shrink compared with the total number of people tested. The World Health Organization and other health researchers have said a percentage above 10% indicates inadequate testing. South Korea, a country praised for its rapid response, quickly pushed its positive cases to below 3%. Most governors are moving ahead with unlocking their states, even in cases where they are not meeting broad guidelines recommended by the White House. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has set a goal of 30,000 tests per day as his state launched one of the nation’s most aggressive reopenings on May 1. He never set a firm date on when the state would hit the 30,000 mark, but for most of May, the daily testing numbers fell short of that. Local leaders say tests are still in short supply. El Paso officials have pleaded with the governor to postpone easing up any more business restrictions in light of the COVID-19 cases there surging 60% over the past two weeks. The first stage of Maryland’s reopening began Friday evening, when some retail stores were allowed to reopen and a stay-at-home order was lifted. Some of the hardest-hit parts of the state, including the suburbs of Washington, D.C., extended restrictions for residents and businesses. Maryland averaged 4,265 tests per day this week, compared with about 4,900 the previous week. Nearly 22 percent of people tested positive in Maryland on average over the last seven days. Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan made headlines last month when the state acquired 500,000 test kits from a South Korean company in a confidential deal, but Maryland has not had all the components needed for testing — like swabs — to meet demand. Hogan said Maryland just received swabs this week from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. “We requested 350,000,” Hogan said Wednesday. “They’ve committed to 225,000, and I think we got 75,000 yesterday with another 125,000 that are supposedly days away, along with the tubes and the stuff that goes with them. So it’s not enough, but it helps us.” Harvard University researchers have calculated that the U.S. needs to test at least 900,000 people daily to safely reopen the economy, based on the 10% positivity rate and other key metrics. That goal is nearly three times the country’s current daily testing tally of about 360,000, according to figures compiled by the COVID Tracking Project website. “The fact that testing has become the Achilles’ heel that has made it hard for us to have a great national response to this pandemic is a tragedy,” said Dr. Ashish Jha, director of Harvard’s Global Health Institute. President Donald Trump insisted again this week that his administration “met the moment” and “prevailed” on testing, even as he continued shifting responsibility for the effort to the governors. Administration officials said they will provide states with enough testing supplies to conduct about 400,000 tests per day in May and June. That’s less than half the total recommended by the Harvard team. Only nine states met the daily rate recommended by Jha and his colleagues, according to the AP analysis. Most of those states are large and rural, such as Montana, Alaska, North Dakota and Wyoming. Meanwhile, states with some of the biggest testing shortfalls, including New York and New Jersey, have signaled they will keep stay-at-home orders in place or only partially ease restrictions. “I really do feel there are dangers here to opening up without enough tests, but I don’t feel it’s a uniform danger everywhere in the country,” Jha said. In New York, Gov. Andrew Cuomo will allow many smaller cities and rural regions of upstate New York to gradually reopen first, industry by industry, in areas that have been spared the brunt of the coronavirus outbreak. The first wave of businesses includes retail — though only for curbside or in-store pickup — along with construction and manufacturing. Cuomo also announced beaches would be allowed to open in time for the Memorial Day weekend. New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy will let individual shore towns decide whether to reopen beaches. His long-awaited guidance Thursday directed them to set occupancy limits, require 6 feet (2 meters) of space between beachgoers, except family members or couples, and prohibit groups of 10 or more from congregating on the beach. California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced that the state’s testing reached 35,000 daily this week and that more than 1 million tests have been administered. The state remains on lockdown, though Southern California’s beaches are open with restrictions. North Carolina also has made testing progress, reporting on an all-time high of more than 12,000 additional tests completed Friday compared to the previous day. But the state’s seven-day rolling average of just over 6,000 tests is still well below the 11,000 daily tests recommended by the Harvard team. The testing increases over the past few weeks contributed in part to Gov. Roy Cooper and state leaders feeling comfortable with easing his stay-at-home order May 8. Grand Canyon National Park reopened Friday to allow visitors in for day trips but not overnight. By 7:30 a.m., more than two dozen people were enjoying South Rim viewpoints. Signs reminded tourists to keep their distance from one another and stay in groups of less than 10. Volume of testing isn’t the only concern. The Food and Drug Administration said late Thursday that it was investigating preliminary data suggesting a rapid COVID-19 test used daily to test Trump and key members of his staff can miss infections. Trump expressed confidence in the test from Abbott Laboratories. Worldwide, there have been more than 4.4 million coronavirus infections reported and 300,000 deaths, while nearly 1.6 million people have recovered, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University. ___ Witte reported from Annapolis, Maryland. Forster reported from New York City. Associated Press writers Gary Robertson in Raleigh, North Carolina; Michael Kunzelman in Silver Spring, Maryland; Paul Weber in Austin, Texas; Felicia Fonseca in Flagstaff, Arizona; and Matt York at Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona, also contributed to this report. ___ This version corrects that Texas and Georgia recently moved to reopen businesses, not that both did so last month. ___ Follow AP pandemic coverage at http://apnews.com/VirusOutbreak and https://apnews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak.
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33673
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KISS bassist Gene Simmons had a cow's tongue grafted onto his own.
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What's not to believe about a band founded as much on outrageousness as on music?
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false
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Entertainment, Artists, music
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As Ottawa Citizen columnist Lynn Saxberg wrote of the origins of the rock band KISS: From the beginning, Simmons was determined to get attention with his new band. Taking his cues from the glam theatrics of David Bowie and the brash sneer of the New York Dolls, the concept was fiendishly clever: Songs that were as simple and thunderous as an ogre’s heartbeat. A stage show that was bigger, louder and more fiery than any other band’s. And black-and-silver superhero costumes that created a mystique. Bassist Simmons (the former schoolteacher) became the notorious “Demon,” famous for his rude, waggling tongue and fire- and blood-spewing. Stanley was “Starchild,” the swaggering “Love God” on lead vocals. Lead guitarist Frehley was “Space Ace” from another planet, and drummer Criss was “The Cat.” Overnight, it seemed, Kiss was the band that kids loved, and parents, teachers and the moral majority hated. By today’s standards — think Eminem and Marilyn Manson — the party-all-night manifesto seems harmless, even laughable, but back then it was believed to encourage delinquency, rebellion and other nasty things. What was not to believe about a band founded as much on outrageousness as on music? Especially one whose stage act featured “Kabuki makeup, tight leathers, codpieces, pyrotechnics and fire-breathing and blood-spitting side show”? The fire-breathing and blood-spitting (the “blood” was reportedly a mixture of melted butter, food coloring, ketchup, eggs, and yogurt) were the province of bassist Gene Simmons — he of the impossibly long tongue — about whom no rumor was seemingly too incredible to gain a foothold among KISS’s army of pre-pubescent fans: When I was in grade school in the mid-’70s, the cool boys at the back of the school bus listened to Kiss. They were 10-year-old bullies in black T-shirts emblazoned with the Kiss logo who spent much of the ride home debating whether Gene Simmons really had a cow tongue grafted to his own tongue. That an oral appendage as long as Simmons’ couldn’t have been a product of an unaided Mother Nature, that Simmons must have had at least a little help from a surgeon, was a tale kids could readily believe and one Simmons has since described as his favorite KISS rumor. Even if the state of medical technology back in the 1970s allowed for human-bovine melding, anyone who has checked out a cow’s tongue at a deli or grocery store meat counter knows how huge one of those things is. If Gene Simmons had had even a small part of a cow’s tongue grafted onto his own, he must have had his mouth enlarged to make room for it at the same time. (Either that or he just started folding it up to keep it in his mouth.) But, as Simmons wrote in his autobiography, his unusual tongue was indeed the work of Mother Nature alone, a feature whose distinctiveness (and value) he first realized in his early teens: I was oblivious, for the first thirteen years of my life, that I was endowed with a large oral appendage, my superlong tongue. It really was longer than everyone else’s, and I was soon to find out that having a long tongue came in handy with the girls.
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5420
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British-Iranian woman held in Iran moved to psychiatric ward.
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A British-Iranian woman imprisoned in Iran has been transferred to a hospital mental health facility, her husband said Wednesday.
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true
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Iman, Iran, Mental health, Prisons, Health, Middle East, Europe, General News
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Richard Ratcliffe said in Britain that his wife, Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, has been moved to the mental health ward of Iman Khomeini hospital under the control of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard. “Hopefully her transfer to hospital means that she is getting treatment and care, despite my distrust of just what pressures can happen behind closed doors. It is unnerving when we don’t know what is going on,” he said. Zaghari-Ratcliffe, 40, was arrested in Iran while traveling with the couple’s young daughter in April 2016 and has been sentenced to five years in prison after being accused of spying, which she and her family vehemently deny. She and her husband recently ended a hunger strike designed to call attention to her plight. British officials have failed to secure her release despite repeated efforts. Her father said he visited the hospital in Tehran Tuesday but was not allowed to see his daughter, who has been out of contact with her family. British officials urged Iranian officials to let her have immediate contact with her family and said her treatment has violated all international norms. Foreign Office minister Andrew Murrison told Parliament the government is worried Zaghari-Ratcliffe may face abuse and be forced to sign a bogus confession. “We are concerned,” he said. “I want to appeal to the better nature of people in Tehran to do what is right for Nazanin.” He conceded, however, that Britain’s options and influence are limited, even though Prime Minister Theresa May has raised it with Iran’s leaders. The Free Nazanin Campaign said in a statement that it does not know what treatment she is receiving or how long she is expected to remain in the hospital.
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33840
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Mr. and Mrs. Leland Stanford decided to found their own university after being rebuffed by Harvard's president.
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A 2001 version of this e-mail falsely attributed the piece to Malcolm Forbes, the founder and publisher of Forbes (a business magazine).
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false
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Glurge Gallery
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A “Chicken Soup”-like tale warning us against the folly of judging people solely by appearances hit the Internet in mid-1998. As usual, the framework of the tale bore some general resemblance to the truth, but details were greatly altered so as to turn it into something quite different from the real story: The President of Harvard made a mistake by prejudging people and it cost him dearly. A lady in a faded gingham dress and her husband, dressed in a homespun threadbare suit, stepped off the train in Boston, and walked timidly without an appointment into the president’s outer office. The secretary could tell in a moment that such backwoods, country hicks had no business at Harvard and probably didn’t even deserve to be in Cambridge. She frowned. “We want to see the president,” the man said softly. “He’ll be busy all day,” the secretary snapped. “We’ll wait,” the lady replied. For hours, the secretary ignored them, hoping that the couple would finally become discouraged and go away. They didn’t. And the secretary grew frustrated and finally decided to disturb the president, even though it was a chore she always regretted to do. “Maybe if they just see you for a few minutes, they’ll leave,” she told him. And he signed in exasperation and nodded. Someone of his importance obviously didn’t have the time to spend with them, but he detested gingham dresses and homespun suits cluttering up his outer office. The president, stern-faced with dignity, strutted toward the couple. The lady told him, “We had a son that attended Harvard for one year. He loved Harvard. He was happy here. But about a year ago, he was accidentally killed. And my husband and I would like to erect a memorial to him, somewhere on campus.” The president wasn’t touched; he was shocked. “Madam,” he said gruffly, “We can’t put up a statue for every person who attended Harvard and died. If we did, this place would look like a cemetery.” “Oh, no,” the lady explained quickly, “We don’t want to erect a statue. We thought we would like to give a building to Harvard.” The president rolled his eyes. He glanced at the gingham dress and homespun suit, then exclaimed, “A building! Do you have any earthly idea how much a building costs? We have over seven and a half million dollars in the physical plant at Harvard.” For a moment the lady was silent. The president was pleased. He could get rid of them now. And the lady turned to her husband and said quietly, “Is that all it costs to start a University? Why don’t we just start our own?” Her husband nodded. The president’s face wilted in confusion and bewilderment. And Mr. and Mrs. Leland Stanford walked away, traveling to Palo Alto, California, where they established the University that bears their name, a memorial to a son that Harvard no longer cared about. The very premise of the tale was completely implausible. Leland Stanford (1824-93) was one of the most prominent men of his time in America: He was a wealthy railroad magnate who built the Central Pacific Railroad (and drove the gold spike to symbolize the completion of the first transcontinental rail line at Promontory Summit, Utah, in 1869), as well as a Republican Party leader who served as California’s eighth governor (1862-63) and later represented that state in the U.S. Senate (1885-93). He was an imposing figure, hardly the type of man to dress in a “homespun threadbare suit,” walk “timidly” into someone’s office without an appointment, and sit cooling his heels “for hours” until someone deigned to see him. Harvard’s president would had to have been an ignorant buffoon not to recognize Stanford’s name and promptly greet him upon hearing of his arrival: Moreover, the Stanfords’ only son (Leland Stanford, Jr.) died of typhoid fever at age 15, in Florence, Italy. His death would hardly have been described as “accidental,” nor had he spent a year studying at Harvard while barely into his teens: The family was in Italy in 1884 when Leland contracted typhoid fever. He was thought to be recovering, but on March 13 at the Hotel Bristol in Florence, Leland’s bright and promising young life came to an end, a few weeks before his 16th birthday. Stanford, who had remained at Lelands’ bedside continuously, fell into a troubled sleep the morning the boy died. When he awakened he turned to his wife and said, “The children of California shall be our children.” These words were the real beginning of Stanford University. The closest this story came to reality was in its acknowledgement that in 1884, a few month’s after their son’s death, the Stanfords did pay a visit to Harvard and met with that institution’s president, Charles Eliot. However, the couple did not go there with the purpose of donating a building to Harvard as a memorial to their dead son — they intended to establish some form of educational facility of their own in northern California, and so they visited several prominent Eastern schools to gather ideas and suggestions about what they might build, as Stanford’s website described the meeting: The Stanfords … visited Cornell, Yale, Harvard and Massachusetts Institute of Technology. They talked with President Eliot of Harvard about three ideas: a university at Palo Alto, a large institution in San Francisco combining a lecture hall and a museum, and a technical school. They asked him which of these seemed most desirable and President Eliot answered, a university. Mrs. Stanford then asked him how much the endowment should be, in addition to land and buildings, and he replied, not less than $5 million. A silence followed and Mrs. Stanford looked grave. Finally, Mr. Stanford said with a smile, “Well, Jane, we could manage that, couldn’t we?” and Mrs. Stanford nodded her assent. They settled on creating a great university, one that, from the outset, was untraditional: coeducational, in a time when most were all-male; nondenominational, when most were associated with a religious organization; avowedly practical, producing “cultured and useful citizens” when most were concerned only with the former. Although they consulted with several of the presidents of leading institutions, the founders were not content to model their university after eastern schools. The Stanfords did found their university, modeled after Cornell and located on the grounds of their horse-trotting farm, in memory of their son (hence the school’s official name of “Leland Stanford Junior University”) — not because they were rudely rebuffed by Harvard’s president, but rather because it was what they had planned all along. The “rudely-spurned university endowment” theme of the Stanford story has reportedly played out at least once in real life. In July 1998, William Lindsay of Las Vegas said he contacted an unnamed Scottish institution of higher learning by telephone and told them he intended to give some money to a university in Scotland. Taking him for a crank, the person he spoke to rudely dismissed him. His next call to Glasgow University met with a warmer reception, and in March 2000 that school received a check for £1.2 million, enough to endow a professorship in Lindsay’s name.
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37353
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"Illegal immigrants"" are trashing the Arizona desert when they pass through on their way into the United States."
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Photos of Trash in the Arizona Desert Left Behind by ‘Illegal Immigrants’?
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mixture
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Disinformation, Fact Checks, Immigration, Politics
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A photograph showing trash and debris scattered across a desert landscape comes as part of a chain email that says it is an “eye-opener” from the Sonoran Desert region in Arizona, showing a trash-covered landscape:According to chain emails and Facebook posts, thousands of backpacks, clothes, food wrappers, water bottles and soiled baby diapers were discarded by “illegal aliens” along a trail leading north to Tucson from the Mexican border:The photograph was reportedly taken in 2007 by members of the now-disbanded Minuteman Civil Defense Corps, a self-styled “border watchdog group” co-founded by Jason “J.T.” Ready, a neo-Nazi who shot and killed his girlfriend, her daughter and granddaughter, the daughter’s fiancé, then himself in 2012.The group apparently discovered the litter in 2007 while they were in the Sonoran Desert just south of Tucson, Arizona. The photo is real in that it was not digitally altered. However, it does come with a highly misleading description.According to the group, people fleeing across the desert typically have backpacks full of clothing, food, and other supplies for their long trek to or across the U.S. border. When they arrive, they change into a clean set of clothes and leave everything else behind because there is not enough room in the packed vehicles used to transport them.However, this is not entirely accurate on its face, and raises still more questions. This is indeed an area that is indeed frequented by people who are attempting to cross the border, but it is not clear how much of this comes from those crossing, how much comes from hikers, and how much is simply detritus that has gathered in a natural depression. How did they know how much trash came from any one particular group?There are many reasons people leave clothing and backpacks behind that are not listed in the original email or the descriptions that have appeared since.Because the border walls that separate the United States and Mexico cannot be built over much of the rugged terrain of the deserts the two countries share, the United States erected walls to the west to push people into the more forbidding desert region in a bid to discourage people from trying, and to incapacitate those who do try the arduous trek:Sometimes people do simply leave their belongings there in order to begin their new lives. Sometimes they are too weak to carry their possessions from the rest stop because they are sick or dehydrated from their journey across the desert.And often, their possessions are found alongside their remains.There are some groups — such as Arizona’s Colibrí Center for Human Rights — that work to identify those who have died from the harsh elements so that they can notify their families in their home countries. As of June 2018, they had 3,000 open cases of people who went missing along the border:The remains of nearly 2,900 people have been recovered along the Arizona-Sonora border in the past two decades and of more than 10,000 along the entire U.S.-Mexico border.The deaths and disappearances have continued unabated, said Eric Peters, deputy chief medical examiner for Pima County, who joined the office in 1998. “It peaks and valleys, but it still remains a problem.”The Border Patrol blames smugglers who guide migrants through more isolated and perilous terrain, who tell them to run if they see an agent and leave them behind if they can’t keep up.To [Colibrí executive director and co-founder Robin] Reineke, though, it is a painfully under-resourced humanitarian crisis that needs to be documented.The remains recovered in the desert are often decomposed, at times just skeletons, and there’s a lack of valid ID in most cases. A positive identification is very challenging, Peters said.At the medical examiner’s office they often resort to X-rays, alternative techniques to get fingerprints, as well as internal findings such as the presence or absence of an appendix or gallbladder to make note of anything that can help narrow down the search when a family reaches out, Peters said.Still, more than a third remain unidentified, some from as far back as from 2000.Human rights activists also regularly leave water and food at points along the paths used by people fleeing from violence and harsh economic conditions so that at the very least, people will not die of hunger and thirst:These bottles of water are often kicked over, slashed to bits, or emptied by border agents or their supporters (such as the aforementioned “border watchdog groups”) who then leave the empty bottles in the desert in order to further discourage the already dehydrated — essentially condemning those most at risk to death.This eRumor began circulating in 2007 and regularly goes viral. The photos are passed on by supporters as one of the reasons they justify harsher immigration laws, but without the additional context of who else frequents these areas and why. That led to an inaccurate interpretation of migrants as sneaky scofflaws, condemning people without evidence for purportedly trashing a pristine desert rather than asking what might motivate them to take a long and terrifying journey at great personal risk across one of the most forbidding terrains on the planet toward an uncertain future.
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42158
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Federal Witness Due To Testify Against Hillary Clinton For Drug Crimes Killed In Massive Explosion
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Q: Were the victims of a New Jersey home explosion tied to an investigation into the Clinton Foundation?A: No. A viral conspiracy theory is spreading that claim without any evidence. Investigators told us they “found no evidence of foul play” and that the deaths were ruled “accidental.”
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false
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conspiracy theories,
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Q: Were the victims of a New Jersey home explosion tied to an investigation into the Clinton Foundation? A: No. A viral conspiracy theory is spreading that claim without any evidence. Investigators told us they “found no evidence of foul play” and that the deaths were ruled “accidental.”A tragic home explosion in New Jersey that left a husband and wife dead has become the subject of the latest viral conspiracy theory centered on Hillary and Bill Clinton, a political duo that has become a staple of disturbing tall tales.The most recent conspiracy theory claims that one of the victims in the explosion, Carole Paladino, a retired school nurse, was “due to testify against Hillary Clinton” as part of an FBI probe involving the Clinton Foundation and a pharmaceutical company that donated to the nonprofit organization.Within a day of the July 7 explosion in the small town of Newfield, the elaborate story began spreading online. It appeared on the website whatdoesitmean.com under the byline “Sorcha Faal, and as reported to her Western Subscribers” — a known purveyor of false news. The story has appeared on other websites and the conspiracy theory has circulated Facebook.Whatdoesitmean.com, and other sites that picked up its story, claimed that Paladino was a “US federal government witness who was due to testify this coming week before a grand jury in the expanding FBI probe into Hillary Clinton and her Clinton Foundation,” citing a “Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) report circulating in the Kremlin.”Others, like puppetstringnews.com, spread the false claim about Paladino, citing a tweet that included a screenshot of a quote from an unidentified user in a public forum website who quoted from the story.The story said Paladino’s testimony would have focused on a “notorious American-based pharmaceutical company who gave money to the Clinton Foundation in a bid to cover up their drug price gouging crimes.” It referenced a 2016 New York Post article about the pharmaceutical company, Mylan, and its donations to the Clinton Foundation. At the time, Mylan had come under scrutiny for dramatically increasing the price of EpiPen, a life-saving medication used to treat allergic reactions.But what the sites propagating the conspiracy theory fail to mention is that Hillary Clinton, then the Democratic presidential nominee, publicly rebuked the company over its price gouging.“Over the last several years, Mylan Pharmaceuticals has increased the price of EpiPens by more than 400%. They’re now charging up to $600 for a two-EpiPen set that must be replaced every 12-18 months. This both increases out-of-pocket costs for families and first responders, and contributes to higher premiums for all Americans and their employers,” Clinton said in an August 2016 statement.“That’s outrageous — and it’s just the latest troubling example of a company taking advantage of its consumers,” the statement continued, with Clinton saying it’s “wrong when drug companies put profits ahead of patients, raising prices without justifying the value behind them.”The Clinton Foundation website indicates Mylan has donated between $100,001 and $250,000. While that relationship is made to appear nefarious, Mylan has made contributions to other charitable groups. A 2017 report by the company said that its charitable foundation had “made grants totaling more than $10 million to more than 100 nonprofit organizations” over the previous 16 years.The company’s political action committee also routinely contributes to those involved in politics. In 2016, and again this year, the company’s PAC gave to both Democrats and Republicans running for Congress. In 2016, it gave twice as much to Republican candidates than Democratic candidates.The insinuation that the explosion may not have been an accident also doesn’t comport with what local authorities have said.The Gloucester County Prosecutor’s Office “has found no evidence of foul play,” it said in a press released provided to FactCheck.org by spokesman Bernie Weisenfeld. The manner of death for both was ruled “accidental.”The Gloucester County Fire Marshal’s Office found that the explosion was sparked by gas, though the origin is undetermined, county spokeswoman Debra Sellitto told us. There were “multiple ignition sources,” she said in an email, and the investigation remains open.Some neighbors told The Philadelphia Inquirer that the couple had recently installed a new stove, though it’s unclear if that was the cause.Those who knew Carole Paladino, 72, and her husband, John, 73, told us that they had no knowledge of them being involved in a case against the Clintons.“I knew John personally and he never mentioned anything about this supposed conspiracy,” Newfield Mayor Donald Sullivan told FactCheck.org in an email. Sullivan knew John from their work together at the DeMarco-Luisi Funeral Home in Vineland, and the mayor had recently appointed him to the town’s Planning Board.And Judith Woop, who served as executive director of the New Jersey State School Nurses Association from 2013 until last month, said she knew Carole for years through their work for the professional group. Carole had volunteered as editor of the group’s newsletter at one point and also served as its standards and practices chair. The association is nonpartisan, Woop noted.“We were involved in EpiPen legislation but just from the administration standpoint of giving EpiPen, delegating it,” Woop said of the nurses’ group. “I can’t see her involved in any pharmaceutical” investigation.In fact, Carole had participated in the creation of a 2008 New Jersey Department of Education document outlining training protocols for the emergency administration of epinephrine (the generic name of the medicine). But Woop said Carole, like other certified nurses in the association, likely offered her expertise and assistance to the state on other nursing-relating matters.“She was a most ethical, professional, generous, giving” nurse, Woop said. Of the conspiracy theory, she added: “For people to spread stuff like that, it’s horrific.”Editor’s note: FactCheck.org is one of several organizations working with Facebook to debunk false stories shared on the social media network.Halper, Daniel. “Company that price gouged EpiPen is Clinton Foundation donor.” New York Post. 25 Aug 2016.“Hillary Clinton Statement on EpiPen Pricing.” The American Presidency Project. presidency.ucsb.edu. 24 Aug 2016.Melamed, Samantha, et al. “Two dead in New Jersey house explosion: ‘It was a huge ball of fire.’” The Philadelphia Inquirer. 7 Jul 2018.Sellitto, Debra. Spokeswoman, Gloucester County. Emails sent to FactCheck.org. 10-12 Jun 2018.Weisenfeld, Bernie. Spokesman, Gloucester County Prosecutor’s Office. Emails sent to FactCheck.org. 10-13 Jun 2018.Woop, Judith. Former executive director, New Jersey State School Nurses Association. Phone interview with FactCheck.org. 11 Jun 2018.
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35297
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Former U.S. Rep. Trey Gowdy penned a text suggesting that COVID-19 was part of a conspiracy against U.S. President Donald Trump.
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The common flu has killed more people this year already and the media is SILENT!
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false
|
Politics, COVID-19
|
In April 2020, multiple Facebook posts reproduced a screed suggesting that the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic was part of some political conspiracy between China and Democrats to unseat U.S. President Donald Trump, attributing the words to Trey Gowdy, a former U.S. representative from South Carolina who chaired the House Oversight Committee and the House Benghazi Committee: From Trey Gowdy: “I’m not saying Covid-19 isn’t rea l… But Pay attention folks, there’s much more going on here than what meets the eye. Is it a coincidence that just when the economy is booming, the stock market is setting record highs, we are winning the trade wars, school shootings have stopped, our nation is at peace, the Democratic party is a disaster and so is their likely nominee? (Biden). He hasn’t a chance in hell & they’re not about to let an outsider(Bernie) destroy their scheme. It looks like Trump is a sure bet for reelection after fending off 3 years of investigations and impeachment, then all of a sudden world crisis pandemic. Stock market tumbles, companies are laying off employees, everything is closed and canceled, CEO’s of giant companies are resigning and indictments are coming. Now they say there are a couple ways a President doesn’t win reelection. Those are an unpopular war or a poor economy. But there is something larger going on here driving this sudden outbreak right after Trump beats an impeachment. Especially the fact that it (Corona Virus) originated in China who we are in a global trade war with; brought on by Trump. Let’s not forget Biden’s back door deals with CHINA as well. China doesn’t want 4 more years of Trump either. It all seems rather convenient for the nations and opponents of our current President and economy 5 months before an election. Couldn’t have hit at a more perfect time. With the Democrats running out of campaign talking points, in light of no school shootings, no migrant caravans at the southern border, fighting in Syria winding down, North Korea not firing missiles and Trump beating a sham impeachment. The Corona Virus gave them one last hail Mary to try and point fingers at Trump with the clock winding down in 2020. This is almost the perfect fascist playbook. Control the population with fear-mongering and panic, control the media, spread propaganda and the fan-favorite disarm the population. Oh, and did anyone notice that while they are mad as hell at Trump for not sending aid to Ukraine, they THEMSELVES voted AGAINST giving ANY emergency aid to all Americans? Sorry but I don’t think we are all going to die. Remember when Ebola was what was going to kill us all, and the media kept showing the piles of body bags that were prepared for the fallout. Then a month later it was totally forgotten.
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9566
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Study shines a light on low winter-time male libido
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This story reports on a pilot study that used light boxes, similar to those for treating seasonal affective disorder, to increase flagging sex drive in men. Researchers said exposure to bright light for 30 minutes every morning for two weeks led to higher average testosterone levels and greater average reported levels of sexual satisfaction, possibly due to a series of hormonal affects. The story appears to rely nearly entirely on the news release and does not mention costs, harms or limitations of the study, which researchers acknowledge was too small to draw clinical conclusions. Overall, the story was too brief to be helpful and as many stories of “new findings” do, shared only positive conclusions. Any study on a potential treatment for sexual dysfunction is bound to trigger an avalanche of coverage. This proved no exception, generating more than 20 news stories from outlets as varied as the BBC, Huffington Post, Fox News and Maxim, which ran the grossly misleading headline: “Want To Be Better At Sex? Just Turn on the Lights.” All this hype for a study hasn’t been published in any peer-reviewed journal and involved just a few dozen patients. Even the researchers involved acknowledge that a large, independent trial is needed before light therapy can be recommended as a treatment. And while there could be a connection between short days and low sex drive, it’s far from clear how many men can blame their lack of libido on a dearth of sunlight. Such cautions are lost amid sensational coverage that could leave readers with a false impression that you can cure sexual dysfunction simply by turning on a light switch.
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false
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light therapy
|
How much does a light therapy box cost? The story doesn’t say. Using an online search, we found models ranging from $40 to $300, depending on size and features. It would be helpful to know the duration and intensity of light treatment in the study as well, as this can influence cost. The story quotes the lead researcher saying that the light treatment group had an average sexual satisfaction score of “around 6.3” on a 10-point scale after treatment compared with an average score “of around 2.7” for the group that used a placebo device. The story does not give ranges, which might let readers know whether all of the patients or just some of them experienced improvements from light exposure. It also does not report that average testosterone levels increased in men who had been treated to 3.6 nanograms per milliliter from 2.1 nanograms per milliliter with no significant change in the control group, according to the news release. The story doesn’t mention any potential risks. Light therapy is generally safe, according to the Mayo Clinic, but mild side effects could include eyestrain, headaches, nausea, irritability, and agitation. Light therapy poses special risks for people with certain medical conditions or on medications such as antibiotics that can cause skin or eyes to be sensitive to light, and it can trigger mania in people with bipolar disorder. The story mentions that the trial is “small,” but should have gone further in alerting readers to the preliminary nature of the study, which has not been published in a peer-reviewed journal. According to the news release, researchers said the results should be treated with caution and a larger study is needed before light therapy can be recommended as a clinical treatment. The story says low sexual desire “can affect significant numbers of men after the age of 40, with studies finding that up to 25 percent of men report problems.” Still, it’s unclear how many of these cases might be related to seasonal affects. Aging, medications, sleep problems, mental disorders and many other factors can affect libido. The story does not use any independent source and does not address conflicts of interest, though we could not identify any. The story does not compare light therapy with existing treatment options for lack of sexual desire among men, such as antidepressants, testosterone injections and couples therapy. Many people are aware that light boxes are available and relatively commonplace, so we’ll rate this N/A. However, the story would have been stronger had it discussed what kind of light box the researchers used, and if it’s available, etc. The story mentions that light is used to treat seasonal affective disorder, so it’s not a new therapy. A little digging would have shown that light therapy to treat male sexual dysfunction isn’t a new idea; it was the subject of 2009 paper involving the same lead researcher who did a very small study prior to the one in this Reuters story. This story relies very heavily on a news release from the European College of Neuropsychopharmacology, but doesn’t cite it. For example, several quotes appear in both the news story and the news release: A quote in the story: “The increased levels of testosterone explain the greater reported sexual satisfaction,” he said. “In the Northern hemisphere, the body’s testosterone production naturally declines from November through April, and then rises steadily through the spring and summer with a peak in October.” was also in the news release as: “The increased levels of testosterone explain the greater reported sexual satisfaction. In the Northern hemisphere, the body’s Testosterone production naturally declines from November through April, and then rises steadily through the spring and summer with a peak in October.” The reliance on the news release extended to passages in the story that weren’t quotes, such as this statement: “Low sexual desire affects significant numbers of men after the age of 40, with studies finding that up to 25% of men report problems.” Which appeared in the news release as: “Low sexual desire can affect significant numbers of men after the age of 40, with studies finding that up to 25 percent of men report problems.”
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6587
|
Dale Earnhardt Jr. to miss at least 2 more races.
|
Dale Earnhardt Jr. has not been cleared by doctors to return to racing and will miss at least two more races — at Michigan and Darlington — as he recovers from a concussion.
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true
|
Rick Hendrick, Jeff Gordon, Sports medicine, Alex Bowman, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Sports, SC State Wire, Dale Earnhardt, NC State Wire, Michigan
|
Hendrick Motorsports announced Earnhardt’s status Wednesday. Earnhardt was evaluated by doctors at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Sports Medicine Concussion Program. Owner Rick Hendrick said Earnhardt is working hard to get back and will follow doctors’ recommendations for his recovery. Hendrick said the program is fully behind Earnhardt. Alex Bowman, who drove for Earnhardt at New Hampshire, will return to drive the No. 88 Chevrolet at Michigan this weekend. Jeff Gordon will fill in at Darlington, where he has won seven races. Gordon has driven the past four races for Earnhardt.
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7658
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U.S. warns citizens in China about pneumonia outbreak.
|
The U.S. State Department warned Americans in China about an outbreak of pneumonia in the central city of Wuhan believed to be caused by a new strain of coronavirus, which has killed one person.
|
true
|
Health News
|
The outbreak comes ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday in late January, when many of China’s 1.4 billion people will be travelling to their home towns or abroad. The World Health Organization and Chinese authorities are taking steps to ensure the disease does not spread further. Thai health authorities said on Wednesday they were stepping up monitoring of passengers arriving at airports with infrared thermal scanners ahead of the holiday, when 800,000 Chinese tourists are expected to visit the country. Memories remain fresh in Asia of a 2002-2003 outbreak of SARS, or Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), which emerged in China and killed nearly 800 people worldwide. WHO has said there may have been limited human-to-human transmission of the new coronavirus in China within families. And authorities in Wuhan confirmed on Wednesday that a married couple were among 41 people diagnosed with pneumonia believed to be caused by the new virus. There were no new cases or deaths at the end of Tuesday, the city’s health authority said. The Wuhan Municipal Health Commission did not say in the statement whether the couple represented an instance of human-to-human transmission. But it said the husband, who worked at a seafood market suspected of being at the epicentre of the outbreak, was the first to fall ill and that his wife did not have any exposure to the market. Some of the other people diagnosed also denied visiting the market, the commission said. The authorities in Wuhan also confirmed that a Chinese woman quarantined in Thailand, the first case of the mystery strain of coronavirus to be detected outside of China, had come from Wuhan. The State Department’s notice referred to an alert by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention urging citizens in China travelling to Wuhan to avoid contact with animals, animal markets or animal products, among other precautions. It also asked citizens those who had visited Wuhan and feel sick to seek medical care. The Wuhan health commission said in another statement issued late Wednesday that 7 of the 41 pneumonia patients have been released. The statement also said that 450 of the 763 people put under observation due to their close contact with known patients have been released.
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11139
|
A drink a day good for middle-aged women, study finds
|
We liked the careful framing of results, which avoided any suggestion that the alcohol was causing the better health outcomes. We also appreciated the caveat about avoiding higher alcohol intakes, which would likely negate any health benefits. But we wish the story included a comment or two from an independent expert about the limitations of the study, or the size of the effect that was seen. Single-source coverage invariably tells only one side of a story about health research. An independent perspective can almost always help readers interpret complicated studies better. Stories reporting on dietary or lifestyle exposures have to be particularly careful to include context and discussion of possible harm.
|
false
|
Washington Post,women's health
|
The cost of alcoholic beverages isn’t in question. The story cites the same relative risk comparisons reported by WebMD, which we think are misleading to the average reader for the reasons discussed in that review. The story should have found a way to communicate that the “almost 50 percent” difference between teetotalers and daily drinkers probably doesn’t translate into a very big difference in risk for the individual. See how the “Behind the Headlines” site in the UK analyzed the evidence and included the absolute differences. The story cautions that higher levels of alcohol intake are not protective, remedying an important deficiency in the competing WebMD coverage. But it doesn’t really address the uncertainty about whether moderate alcohol intake might increase the risk for some diseases such as breast cancer or pose other potential harms. As such, it doesn’t fulfill the criterion. The story does a good job of framing what it is this study tells us: “Even middle-aged women can have about a drink a day of any kind of alcoholic beverage as part of what they do to try to stay healthy as they age.” There is no suggestion here that the alcohol is causing the better health — merely that it seems to part of a healthy lifestyle. Contrast this with the competing WebMD headline, which said: “Moderate Drinking May Cut Disease Risk.” The story could have done a better job outlining some of the other limitations in this kind of analysis, but we’ll call it good enough for a satisfactory. There was no disease-mongering. There were no independent sources cited. The study didn’t mention any other factors that we know can promote healthy aging, including a healthy diet and physical activity. That could have been done in just another additional line. The availability of alcoholic beverages isn’t in question. As with the competing WebMD story, the coverage did not really explain what is novel about this research. It shows that the potential protective effect of moderate alcohol consumption extends into older age. Since there were no independent perspectives, we can’t tell to what extent this story may have relied on this news release.
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10464
|
Fruits and Vegetables May Prolong Your Life
|
Similar to another WebMD report we reviewed that was also about an article in the Archives of Internal Medicine, this one appears to be cribbed from the journal’s news release. The study reported that a one-time measurement of alpha-carotene blood levels showed that higher levels were associated with lower death rates recorded over the following 14 years. The story then leaps to the unfounded interpretation that the study results show eating foods rich in antioxidants fights disease. The story fails to point out that this sort of observational study cannot prove cause-and-effect. (Read our primer on this topic.) And the story didn’t discuss any of the important limitations in the analysis. There are no independent sources quoted and the lack of that perspective makes it difficult for readers to understand how this study fits in with other evidence on nutrition and health. “Eat your veggies” may appear to be a benign lead, but this sort of incomplete reporting can lead to potentially hazardous misinterpretations of the evidence on nutrition and health. Similar observational studies hinted at benefits of beta-carotene, but when beta-carotene supplements were tested in experiments, it turned out that not only were the pills not beneficial, but those taking the supplements actually had higher rates of lung cancer. Vitamin-E is another example of a food component that was wildly promoted by those who misinterpreted observational studies. Then many people were surprised when careful experiments failed to find the hoped-for health benefits. Careful reporting of the limitations and pitfalls of this sort of study is essential if readers are to get an accurate sense of what the evidence actually says… so they are less likely to be disappointed and discouraged in the future… and also less likely to be misled by those who have a financial interest in making claims that are not actually supported by the best evidence.
|
false
|
Diet studies,WebMD
|
Not applicable. Costs weren’t discussed, but the costs of these common foods are well known. The story is simply wrong to state that the “study shows that eating foods rich in antioxidants, like vegetables and fruits, fights disease.” As noted above, this story does mention that after similar studies pointing to health benefits of certain fruits and vegetables, follow-up studies have not shown that beta-carotene supplements reduce risks of dying from heart disease or cancer; nevertheless, the overall thrust of the story is that the study provides evidence of benefits… when the researchers actually limit themselves to saying the results are consistent with potential benefits and that they encourage further studies. The story reports only the relative differences in death rates associated with one-time measurements of alpha-carotene blood levels, which is what the researchers and the news release highlighted. The actual numbers of deaths were in the article in the Archives of Internal Medicine, but they are hard to interpret, since they are not adjusted for age or other factors that were included in the analysis. While it seems almost silly to worry about potential harms of eating more fruits and vegetables, the story does not include caveats that would help readers see how misinterpretation of the study results might cause harm. The story mentions that “studies have not shown that taking beta-carotene supplements reduces the risk of dying from heart disease or cancer.” It should have pointed out that an earlier round of observational studies of fruit and vegetable intake similar to this one produced rampant enthusiasm for beta-carotene, but then actual experiments had to be cut short because some participants taking the supplements had higher rates of lung cancer. Any story about potential benefits of specific components of foods should clearly remind readers that in some cases supplements containing these same components have been shown to be useless or even hazardous. The story lead inaccurately states that the study shows that eating food rich in antioxidants fights disease. Not only does the study not make that claim, this kind of observational study cannot prove cause-and-effect. Also, the story does not examine the claim that this study supports increasing consumption of these foods to prevent premature deaths, which is not accurate if taken to mean a cause-and-effect relationship. The story does not address limitations of this study, including the concern that some other factor that was not included in the analysis might affect the results. For instance, other research indicates that people who have higher incomes or live in communities with higher incomes tend to live longer… and people in these neighborhoods also tend to eat a diet higher in fruits and vegetables… but this study did not include any data or adjustments for income or neighborhood. The researchers noted in their article that “our results may be subject to residual confounding owing to unmeasured biomarkers or health behaviors.” The story should have addressed that important limitation. Not applicable, mainly because the story really didn’t give any background on any specific health problem or disease. The story does not include comments from any independent sources. The lack of perspective deprives readers of the context needed to appreciate what this study says… and does not say. Since the researchers are employees of federal agencies, not associated with the supplement or food industries, and they reported no financial disclosure, it is of less concern that the story does not address potential conflicts of interest. Other than saying that other studies failed to find benefits from beta-carotene supplements, the story fails to discuss what is known about how alpha-carotene might compare to other components of foods. The story lists a number of common foods that contain relatively high levels of alpha-carotene. There is no claim of novelty in this story. However, the story fails to make clear how this study was different from other research on this topic. The story appears to be based on a news release from the Archives of Internal Medicine. Entire sentences in the story appear to be lifted wholesale from the following news release. “High Alpha-Carotene Levels Associated With Longer Life” http://pubs.ama-assn.org/media/2010a/1122.dtl#1
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