CHARLESTON, S.C. — After three tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, C. J. Hardin wound up hiding from the world in a backwoods cabin in North Carolina. Divorced, alcoholic and at times suicidal, he had tried almost all the accepted treatments for post-traumatic stress disorder: psychotherapy, group therapy and nearly a dozen different medications.
“Nothing worked for me, so I put aside the idea that I could get better,” said Mr. Hardin, 37. “I just pretty much became a hermit in my cabin and never went out.”
Then, in 2013, he joined a small drug trial testing whether PTSD could be treated with MDMA, the illegal party drug better known as Ecstasy.
“It changed my life,” he said in a recent interview in the bright, airy living room of the suburban ranch house here, where he now lives while going to college and working as an airplane mechanic. “It allowed me to see my trauma without fear or hesitation and finally process things and move forward.”
Based on promising results like Mr. Hardin’s, the Food and Drug Administration gave permission Tuesday for large-scale, Phase 3 clinical trials of the drug — a final step before the possible approval of Ecstasy as a prescription drug.
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If successful, the trials could turn an illicit street substance into a potent treatment for PTSD.
Through a spokeswoman, the F.D.A. declined to comment, citing regulations that prohibit disclosing information about drugs that are being developed.
“I’m cautious but hopeful,” said Dr. Charles R. Marmar, the head of psychiatry at New York University’s Langone School of Medicine, a leading PTSD researcher who was not involved in the study. “If they can keep getting good results, it will be of great use. PTSD can be very hard to treat. Our best therapies right now don’t help 30 to 40 percent of people. So we need more options.”
But he expressed concern about the potential for abuse. “It’s a feel-good drug, and we know people are prone to abuse it,” he said. “Prolonged use can lead to serious damage to the brain.”
The Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies, a small nonprofit created in 1985 to advocate the legal medical use of MDMA, LSD, marijuana and other banned drugs, sponsored six Phase 2 studies treating a total of 130 PTSD patients with the stimulant. It will also fund the Phase 3 research, which will include at least 230 patients. (FullText)
Wednesday, November 30, 2016
Tuesday, November 29, 2016
McDonald’s Expands Push to Swap Frozen Patties for Fresh Beef
bloomberg.com - McDonald’s Corp. is expanding a program that ditches frozen patties in favor of fresh beef, making another break with decades of fast-food practices in a bid to revitalize the chain.
Fresh beef is now being used in some sandwiches in more than 75 restaurants in the Tulsa, Oklahoma, area, McDonald’s said in a statement, extending trials that began in the Dallas-Fort Worth region, where the company is preparing fresh beef in 55 locations.
The push more than doubles the number of restaurants serving serving fresh meat, a sign the chain is stepping up competition with fast-casual eateries such as Smashburger and Shake Shack. In Tulsa, the change will apply to Quarter Pounders and Bacon Clubhouse burgers, according to the statement.
“These burgers are hotter and juicier than our previous quarter-pound patties,” said McDonald’s Chef Chad Schafer. They’re seasoned with a pinch of salt and pepper, he said.
McDonald’s has made other moves recently to improve its food, including switching to chicken raised without antibiotics important to human medicine. It is also using real butter, not margarine, in breakfast sandwiches, and removed high-fructose corn syrup from buns. Wendy’s Co. advertises that all of its beef is fresh and has never been frozen.
The fresh beef test is being conducted in just a tiny fraction of McDonald’s 14,000 U.S. locations. Changing the supply chain, as well as kitchen operations and equipment won’t be easy, or cheap, should the test go nationwide.
“If you bring in fresh beef, you’ve got to be careful on the storage and the kitchen equipment, so you can’t have cross contamination,” Chief Executive Officer Steve Easterbrook said at an investor conference earlier this year. “We’ve got to work out whether we have the chillers or refrigerators with the necessary capacity.”
That means it will take more time -- and money -- before fresh beef could
spread to the rest of the chain.
“There’s things like that we’re going to need to work through,” Easterbrook said. (FullText)
Monday, November 28, 2016
Skating rink’s fish floor causes backlash in Japan
Social Justice
TOKYO - An amusement park in western Japan sparked an uproar after it displayed about 5,000 dead fish in the ice at a skating rink, forcing the park to close the attraction.
Space World received a flood of criticism on social media after opening the rink on Nov. 12. It was closed Sunday.
About 25 different kinds of fish could be seen under the 820-foot-long ice circuit. The park in the city of Kitakyushu opened the “Ice Aquarium” as an “attraction never heard about.”
Japanese broadcaster NHK showed the fish frozen in ice on a blue floor, so it looked like they were swimming below the ice. Some formed a school to spell out “HELLO” or make an arrow-shaped sign in the ice.
The general manager of Space World, Toshimi Takeda, said many critical messages were posted on social media, some condemning the concept as abusing living things.
Takeda said that the fish in the ice had been intended “to give the feel of the ocean to the ice skating rink,” and that the amusement park is “extremely remorseful to have invoked such unpleasant feelings.”
Space World said the fish were purchased from a fish market, and were dead before the water was frozen. The operator plans to hold a memorial service for the fish once they’re taken out of the ice.
Sunday, November 27, 2016
US: Black Friday online sales to hit a record-breaking $3 billion, over $1 billion from mobile
techchrunch.com - Black Friday online shopping is continuing to grow, and this Friday was another record-breaking day. According to a new report out this evening from Adobe, which has been tracking e-commerce transactions throughout the sales holiday, Black Friday is on track to set a new record by surpassing the $3 billion mark for the first time. It’s also expected to become the first day in U.S. retail history to drive over a billion dollars from mobile sales.
With an estimated $3.05 billion expected by the day’s close, Black Friday 2016 is up 11.4 percent from the same day last year, says Adobe.
It was clear earlier in the day that mobile was having a significant impact on the record e-commerce sales seen on Thanksgiving Day and on Black Friday. Major retailers, like Amazon, Walmart, Target and eBay, noted that mobile traffic and sales were on the rise. Amazon said that mobile orders on Thanksgiving topped Cyber Monday last year, for example, while Walmart said that over 70 percent of website traffic on Thanksgiving was mobile. Target said that 60 percent of Thanksgiving sales were from mobile devices.
This trend continued into Black Friday, as the sales event is currently tracking to bring in $1.13 billion in revenue, which is up 25 percent year-over-year. Walmart said that 60 percent of Black Friday orders on Walmart.com came from mobile devices, for example.
Mobile was also driving the majority of retail sites visits on Friday at 56 percent, Adobe noted. Most of that (47%) was from smartphones, as opposed to tablets (9%).
In addition, mobile accounted for 40 percent of sales, with 29 percent from smartphones, and 11 percent for tablets. By 3 PM ET, mobile alone had accounted for $680 million in online sales.
What’s interesting, however, is that smartphones don’t drive as many conversions as tablets and desktops. While conversions were up overall, smartphone conversations were at 1.9 percent, compared with tablets at 3.7 percent, and desktops at 4 percent. For comparison’s sake, holiday averages are 1.3 percent, 2.9 percent, and 3.2 percent, for phones, tablets, and desktops, respectively.
In addition, iOS continued to drive larger sales than Android. The average order value on iOS devices was $144 compared with $136 on Android.
It still remains to be seen if Adobe’s estimates of mobile sales topping $1 billion out of over $3 billion in total online sales will change when Black Friday finally wraps tonight, of course. But Adobe’s sample is large enough for its numbers to be fairly close. Its report is based on aggregated data from 22 billion visits to retail websites, and includes 80 percent of all online transactions from the top 100 U.S. retailers.
Adobe also noted this year’s top-selling electronics were Apple iPads, Samsung 4K TVs, the Apple Macbook Air, LG TVs, and Microsoft Xbox.
Combined with yesterday’s $1.93 in online sales on Thanksgiving, the two days are expected to close out at nearly $5 billion in sales. Top-selling toys included Lego Creator Sets, electric scooters from Razor, Nerf Guns, DJI Phantom Drones, and Barbie Dreamhouse.
Despite the record numbers, the e-commerce industry is still recovering from the downturn it took following the election. (FullText)
With an estimated $3.05 billion expected by the day’s close, Black Friday 2016 is up 11.4 percent from the same day last year, says Adobe.
It was clear earlier in the day that mobile was having a significant impact on the record e-commerce sales seen on Thanksgiving Day and on Black Friday. Major retailers, like Amazon, Walmart, Target and eBay, noted that mobile traffic and sales were on the rise. Amazon said that mobile orders on Thanksgiving topped Cyber Monday last year, for example, while Walmart said that over 70 percent of website traffic on Thanksgiving was mobile. Target said that 60 percent of Thanksgiving sales were from mobile devices.
This trend continued into Black Friday, as the sales event is currently tracking to bring in $1.13 billion in revenue, which is up 25 percent year-over-year. Walmart said that 60 percent of Black Friday orders on Walmart.com came from mobile devices, for example.
Mobile was also driving the majority of retail sites visits on Friday at 56 percent, Adobe noted. Most of that (47%) was from smartphones, as opposed to tablets (9%).
In addition, mobile accounted for 40 percent of sales, with 29 percent from smartphones, and 11 percent for tablets. By 3 PM ET, mobile alone had accounted for $680 million in online sales.
What’s interesting, however, is that smartphones don’t drive as many conversions as tablets and desktops. While conversions were up overall, smartphone conversations were at 1.9 percent, compared with tablets at 3.7 percent, and desktops at 4 percent. For comparison’s sake, holiday averages are 1.3 percent, 2.9 percent, and 3.2 percent, for phones, tablets, and desktops, respectively.
In addition, iOS continued to drive larger sales than Android. The average order value on iOS devices was $144 compared with $136 on Android.
It still remains to be seen if Adobe’s estimates of mobile sales topping $1 billion out of over $3 billion in total online sales will change when Black Friday finally wraps tonight, of course. But Adobe’s sample is large enough for its numbers to be fairly close. Its report is based on aggregated data from 22 billion visits to retail websites, and includes 80 percent of all online transactions from the top 100 U.S. retailers.
Adobe also noted this year’s top-selling electronics were Apple iPads, Samsung 4K TVs, the Apple Macbook Air, LG TVs, and Microsoft Xbox.
Combined with yesterday’s $1.93 in online sales on Thanksgiving, the two days are expected to close out at nearly $5 billion in sales. Top-selling toys included Lego Creator Sets, electric scooters from Razor, Nerf Guns, DJI Phantom Drones, and Barbie Dreamhouse.
Despite the record numbers, the e-commerce industry is still recovering from the downturn it took following the election. (FullText)
Saturday, November 26, 2016
Cuban revolutionary leader Fidel Castro dies aged 90
A towering figure of the 20th century and Cold War icon, Castro stuck to his ideology beyond the collapse of Soviet communism and remained widely respected in parts of the world that struggled against colonial rule.
Castro had been in poor health since an intestinal ailment nearly killed him in 2006. He formally ceded power to his younger brother, Raul, two years later.
Wearing a green military uniform, a somber Raul Castro, 85, appeared on state television on Friday night to announce Fidel's death, 60 years to the day since the two brothers and dozens of supporters left Mexico on a boat to take revolution to Cuba.
"At 10:29 at night, the chief commander of the Cuban revolution, Fidel Castro Ruz, died," he said, without giving a cause of death.
"Ever onward, to victory," he said, using the slogan of the Cuban revolution.
A mix of tributes and condemnation poured in from around the world.
"History will record and judge the enormous impact of this singular figure on the people and world around him," U.S. President Barack Obama said, extending "a hand of friendship" to Cuba.
Obama's elected successor, Donald Trump, said he would work to ensure the Cuban people "can begin their journey toward prosperity and liberty," even though "the tragedies, deaths and pain caused by Fidel Castro cannot be erased."
Trump's Vice President-elect, Mike Pence, was more blunt about the late leader: "The tyrant Castro is dead. New hope dawns. ... Viva Cuba Libre!" he said on Twitter.
Venezuela's socialist president, Nicolas Maduro, urged revolutionaries to follow Castro's legacy, while Pope Francis said he was grieving and praying for the repose of the professed atheist, whom he met in Cuba last year.
China's president, Xi Jinping, said "the Chinese people have lost a close comrade and a sincere friend."
Friday, November 25, 2016
Reports: Russian operation boosted 'fake news' phenomenon
(usatoday - The "fake news" phenomenon that circulated thousands of phony stories during the election was aided by a sophisticated Russian propaganda effort, according to the Washington Post.
Independent researchers who tracked the bold operation say the goal was to punish Democrat Hillary Clinton, help Republican Donald Trump and undermine faith in American democracy, the newspaper reports.
Two teams of independent researchers found that the Russians exploited American-made technology platforms to attack U.S. democracy at a particularly vulnerable moment in the rancorous campaigns. Among the most-circulated stories were items on Clinton's health and fears about vote rigging.
“They want to essentially erode faith in the U.S. government or U.S. government interests,” said Clint Watts, a fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute who co-authored a report on Russian propaganda, the Post reports. “This was their standard mode during the Cold War. The problem is that this was hard to do before social media.”
The "fake news" phenomenon that circulated thousands of phony stories during the election was aided by a sophisticated Russian propaganda effort, according to the Washington Post.
Independent researchers who tracked the bold operation say the goal was to punish Democrat Hillary Clinton, help Republican Donald Trump and undermine faith in American democracy, the newspaper reports.
Two teams of independent researchers found that the Russians exploited American-made technology platforms to attack U.S. democracy at a particularly vulnerable moment in the rancorous campaigns. Among the most-circulated stories were items on Clinton's health and fears about vote rigging.
“They want to essentially erode faith in the U.S. government or U.S. government interests,” said Clint Watts, a fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute who co-authored a report on Russian propaganda, the Post reports. “This was their standard mode during the Cold War. The problem is that this was hard to do before social media.” (FullText)
Independent researchers who tracked the bold operation say the goal was to punish Democrat Hillary Clinton, help Republican Donald Trump and undermine faith in American democracy, the newspaper reports.
Two teams of independent researchers found that the Russians exploited American-made technology platforms to attack U.S. democracy at a particularly vulnerable moment in the rancorous campaigns. Among the most-circulated stories were items on Clinton's health and fears about vote rigging.
“They want to essentially erode faith in the U.S. government or U.S. government interests,” said Clint Watts, a fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute who co-authored a report on Russian propaganda, the Post reports. “This was their standard mode during the Cold War. The problem is that this was hard to do before social media.”
The "fake news" phenomenon that circulated thousands of phony stories during the election was aided by a sophisticated Russian propaganda effort, according to the Washington Post.
Independent researchers who tracked the bold operation say the goal was to punish Democrat Hillary Clinton, help Republican Donald Trump and undermine faith in American democracy, the newspaper reports.
Two teams of independent researchers found that the Russians exploited American-made technology platforms to attack U.S. democracy at a particularly vulnerable moment in the rancorous campaigns. Among the most-circulated stories were items on Clinton's health and fears about vote rigging.
“They want to essentially erode faith in the U.S. government or U.S. government interests,” said Clint Watts, a fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute who co-authored a report on Russian propaganda, the Post reports. “This was their standard mode during the Cold War. The problem is that this was hard to do before social media.” (FullText)
Thursday, November 24, 2016
EU Parliament votes for freeze of Turkish membership talks
(yahoonews - Strasbourg (France) (AFP) - The European Parliament on Thursday voted to freeze membership talks with Turkey over its "disproportionate" post-coup crackdown, further escalating tensions with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Turkey immediately branded the non-binding vote "insignificant", while Erdogan had already said in his latest broadside against the European Union that the result was worthless.
Most EU states meanwhile want to keep the Turkey talks on track, but the vote by a large majority of MEPs will only add to the bad blood in the wake of the July 15 failed putsch.
Lawmakers voting in Strasbourg, France, said the parliament "strongly condemns the disproportionate repressive measures taken in Turkey since the failed military coup attempt".
They said they remained "committed to keeping Turkey anchored to the EU" but said that parliament "calls on the Commission and the Member States, however, to initiate a temporary freeze of the ongoing accession negotiations with Turkey."
The motion was approved by 479 votes to 37, with 107 abstentions.
- 'Insignificant' -
Turkey's Prime Minister Binali Yildirim hit out at the EU for a "lack of vision".
"It is insignificant from our aspect," he said in a televised speech.
"The EU should understand and decide whether it wants to shape its future vision with or without Turkey".
Turkish EU Affairs Minister Omer Celik said the vote was "null and void" and accused the European Parliament of jumping on the bandwagon of "far-right" parties.
"Such a resolution... only serves the objectives of the far right, Islamophobia and xenophobia," he told a news conference.
The decision hit the embattled Turkish lira -- boosted by a rate hike earlier in the day -- to leave the currency losing 1.50 percent against the dollar on the day.
A furious Erdogan said on Wednesday that "this vote has no value at all" and accused Europe of taking the side of "terror organisations".
"It is not possible for me to even digest the message that they want to deliver," he said.
Europe's message has however been increasingly clear about its concerns over rights and democracy in Turkey, especially over the coup crackdown that has seen almost 37,000 arrested.
Turkey formally applied to become an EU member in 1987 and accession talks only began in 2005, even though Ankara's aspirations to become part of the bloc dates back to the 1960s.
Wednesday, November 23, 2016
At least 4 dead, hundreds sickened in Australia asthma attacks triggered by thunderstorm
washingtonpost - A thunderstorm, one of several to strike southeastern Australia during this year’s humid November spring, triggered a rash of asthma attacks across Melbourne on Monday. The deadly respiratory blitzkrieg left families grieving in its wake.
The asthma attacks during the storm claimed at least four confirmed victims: 20-year-old law student Hope Carnevali, pictured above, died while waiting for responders from Ambulance Victoria to arrive. Paramedics struggled to resuscitate 35-year-old Apollo Papadopoulos, who eventually succumbed to the respiratory attack.
Omar Majoulled, 18, died two days before what would have been his high school graduation. A fourth victim, Clarence Leo, was reported deceased early Wednesday. Several more remained in Melbourne’s intensive care units.
The outbreak was severe even for those whose symptoms were mild under usual circumstances. “It felt like an elephant had his foot on my chest for about four hours,” said David McGann, from the Melbourne suburb of Preston, to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. McGann said his asthma attacks were not normally worrisome, but during the storm they were crushing.
By late Monday night, Melbourne pharmacies had depleted their stocks of bronchodilator medication. Emergency calls flooded in. Carnaveli’s relatives said they waited for more than a half an hour for an ambulance to arrive. “We would have taken her straight there, we wouldn’t have waited,” her uncle, John Carnaveli, told Melbourne’s 3AW Radio.
Between 6 p.m. and 11 p.m. on Monday, Ambulance Victoria fielded about 1,900 calls, nearly six times the usual volume.
“We essentially had a day’s workload within five hours,” said Ambulance Victoria’s executive director, Mick Stephenson, in a statement. “This includes 200 cases for asthma, and we were seeing asthma in people who had not experienced breathing issues before.”
At their peak, 200 calls came within a span of 15 minutes. “That’s a call every 4.5 seconds,” Stephenson said.
Ambulance Victoria put 50 extra ambulances into service, and police and firefighters responded to two dozen calls as well. The state’s Inspector General for Emergency Management announced it would review the spike in emergency demand and Ambulance Victoria’s response.
Since the first such events were recognized in the 1980s, there have been scattered reports of asthma attack outbreaks during thunderstorms around the globe, including Napoli, Italy and Atlanta. The largest confirmed episode to date was in London in June 1994. Six hundred-forty Londoners visited emergency departments with complaints of asthma or respiratory problems, of which more than a hundred were hospitalized, according to a 2016 reviewpublished in the journal Clinical & Experimental Allergy. (FullText)
The asthma attacks during the storm claimed at least four confirmed victims: 20-year-old law student Hope Carnevali, pictured above, died while waiting for responders from Ambulance Victoria to arrive. Paramedics struggled to resuscitate 35-year-old Apollo Papadopoulos, who eventually succumbed to the respiratory attack.
Omar Majoulled, 18, died two days before what would have been his high school graduation. A fourth victim, Clarence Leo, was reported deceased early Wednesday. Several more remained in Melbourne’s intensive care units.
The outbreak was severe even for those whose symptoms were mild under usual circumstances. “It felt like an elephant had his foot on my chest for about four hours,” said David McGann, from the Melbourne suburb of Preston, to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. McGann said his asthma attacks were not normally worrisome, but during the storm they were crushing.
By late Monday night, Melbourne pharmacies had depleted their stocks of bronchodilator medication. Emergency calls flooded in. Carnaveli’s relatives said they waited for more than a half an hour for an ambulance to arrive. “We would have taken her straight there, we wouldn’t have waited,” her uncle, John Carnaveli, told Melbourne’s 3AW Radio.
Between 6 p.m. and 11 p.m. on Monday, Ambulance Victoria fielded about 1,900 calls, nearly six times the usual volume.
“We essentially had a day’s workload within five hours,” said Ambulance Victoria’s executive director, Mick Stephenson, in a statement. “This includes 200 cases for asthma, and we were seeing asthma in people who had not experienced breathing issues before.”
At their peak, 200 calls came within a span of 15 minutes. “That’s a call every 4.5 seconds,” Stephenson said.
Ambulance Victoria put 50 extra ambulances into service, and police and firefighters responded to two dozen calls as well. The state’s Inspector General for Emergency Management announced it would review the spike in emergency demand and Ambulance Victoria’s response.
Since the first such events were recognized in the 1980s, there have been scattered reports of asthma attack outbreaks during thunderstorms around the globe, including Napoli, Italy and Atlanta. The largest confirmed episode to date was in London in June 1994. Six hundred-forty Londoners visited emergency departments with complaints of asthma or respiratory problems, of which more than a hundred were hospitalized, according to a 2016 reviewpublished in the journal Clinical & Experimental Allergy. (FullText)
Tuesday, November 22, 2016
Austia-Hungry Forever? Right-wing candidate for president of Austria wants to unite former Habsburg lands
Budapestbeacon) - Norbert Hofer, the candidate of the far-right Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ) in next month’s re-run presidential elections, wants Hungary to join a new alliance consisting of former members of the Austro-Hungarian empire.
The far-right politician believes Central European countries with similar cultures, including Austria, Hungary, Romania, Slovenia, Serbia, Croatia, and the Czech Republic, should form a new bloc within the European Union.
(Apart from the Romanian autonomous region of Transylvania, the Serbian autonomous region of Voivodina, and the Banat of Temes, which was divided between Serbia and Romania after the First World War, neither Serbia nor Romania ever belonged to the Habsburg empire. Nor is it clear what parts of modern-day Poland, Ukraine, or Bosnia Hofer has in mind for his Anschluss. –ed.)
“Austria was in an alliance with these countries during the time of the Monarchy, and I hope that we will easily agree on a platform, that way we will have greater weight in the European Council,” said Hofer in an interview with Swedish paper Dagens Nyheter.
(In point of historical fact, the House of Habsburg ruled over the constituent lands of the Austrian and later Austro-Hungrian empire until the end of the First World War. Any “alliance” was either dynastic in nature or involved military occupation.-ed.)
Hungary’s pro-government media has increasingly been paying attention to Austria’s far-right—and to the FPÖ’s ideas for a new regional bloc. Hungarian state-run news wire MTI ran the story, which was picked up by Hungarian pro-government online news site 888.hu, pro-government newspaper Magyar Idők , and pro-government newspaper Magyar Hírlap.
The renewed focus on the Austrian far-right’s proposal came just as the Hungarian government was in Serbia for a two-day joint session with its Serbian counterparts.
The FPÖ has already attempted to convince the country’s legislature that the country should join the Visegrad alliance of Hungary, Slovakia, the Czechia, and Poland, but the proposal was rejected in October.
Apparently, the party has raised its sights from the Visegrad countries of Hungary, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic to all of Vienna’s former imperial subjects.
Hofer raised the idea of an alliance in the past, but over the past few months he has begun actively trying to turn his vision into reality. (FullText)
Monday, November 21, 2016
Teen 'Choking Game' Played Solo Points to Suicide Risks
(HealthDayNews) -- About 4 percent of U.S. teens surveyed admit to trying the "choking game" -- a potentially deadly game of temporary strangulation.
And new research suggests that kids who "play" the game alone are much more likely to harbor thoughts of suicide.
The so-called choking game is the practice of using hands, fingers or external wrapping materials -- such as a belt, tie or noose -- to apply strong pressure against the carotid arteries lining either side of the neck.
Located on the right and left side of the windpipe, these arteries are critical conveyors of blood and oxygen to the brain. By interrupting the usual blood flow, and then suddenly removing pressure to restore flow, individuals reportedly trigger a short-lived feeling of euphoria.
But, the practice carries a high risk for asphyxiation, loss of consciousness, and even death. And the risks grow when "players" act alone without anyone around to intervene and stop an out-of-control strangulation process, the study authors said.
"We know from earlier research that youth who engage in the choking game also report higher levels of suicidal thoughts than those who don't participate in the choking game at all," said study co-author Sarah Knipper.
"This new study tells us that within that group of kids, those who participate alone are even more likely to have suicidal thoughts," added Knipper. "[They're] five times more likely than those who participate in a group."
Knipper is a school health epidemiologist with the adolescent and school health program in the Oregon Public Health Division of the Oregon Health Authority in Portland.
The study authors pointed to prior estimates suggesting that somewhere between 5 percent and 11 percent of American children have tried the choking game at least once. Fatality figures remain unclear, however, as related deaths are often lumped in as undefined suicides or accidents.
The new study looked at mental health data on roughly 21,000 students in grades 8 and 11 in Oregon. The information was collected in 2011 and 2013 by the Oregon Healthy Teens Survey. Oregon is the only state that routinely monitors choking game behavior in its surveys, the study authors said.
The researchers found that nearly 4 percent of both boys and girls said they had participated in a choking game at some point in their lives. Of these, about 18 percent said they had done so by themselves.
What's more, teens who had tried the practice alone were almost five times more likely to have thoughts of suicide than those who had done it in groups, and more than twice as likely to say they were in poor mental health overall.
And new research suggests that kids who "play" the game alone are much more likely to harbor thoughts of suicide.
The so-called choking game is the practice of using hands, fingers or external wrapping materials -- such as a belt, tie or noose -- to apply strong pressure against the carotid arteries lining either side of the neck.
Located on the right and left side of the windpipe, these arteries are critical conveyors of blood and oxygen to the brain. By interrupting the usual blood flow, and then suddenly removing pressure to restore flow, individuals reportedly trigger a short-lived feeling of euphoria.
But, the practice carries a high risk for asphyxiation, loss of consciousness, and even death. And the risks grow when "players" act alone without anyone around to intervene and stop an out-of-control strangulation process, the study authors said.
"We know from earlier research that youth who engage in the choking game also report higher levels of suicidal thoughts than those who don't participate in the choking game at all," said study co-author Sarah Knipper.
"This new study tells us that within that group of kids, those who participate alone are even more likely to have suicidal thoughts," added Knipper. "[They're] five times more likely than those who participate in a group."
Knipper is a school health epidemiologist with the adolescent and school health program in the Oregon Public Health Division of the Oregon Health Authority in Portland.
The study authors pointed to prior estimates suggesting that somewhere between 5 percent and 11 percent of American children have tried the choking game at least once. Fatality figures remain unclear, however, as related deaths are often lumped in as undefined suicides or accidents.
The new study looked at mental health data on roughly 21,000 students in grades 8 and 11 in Oregon. The information was collected in 2011 and 2013 by the Oregon Healthy Teens Survey. Oregon is the only state that routinely monitors choking game behavior in its surveys, the study authors said.
The researchers found that nearly 4 percent of both boys and girls said they had participated in a choking game at some point in their lives. Of these, about 18 percent said they had done so by themselves.
What's more, teens who had tried the practice alone were almost five times more likely to have thoughts of suicide than those who had done it in groups, and more than twice as likely to say they were in poor mental health overall.
Knipper said that "many parents are not aware of the choking game at all."
Sunday, November 20, 2016
Is Getting Rid of Fake News Bad for Facebook’s Business?
(fortune.com - In the wake of the surprising-to-many election of Donald Trump, Facebook has emerged in some circles as scapegoat of choice. A chorus of voices, saying that false news stories shared on the platform helped sway the election, are callingon CEO Mark Zuckerberg to take drastic action to control what’s shared on the site. And he’s responding with some concrete pledges.
The unfolding public relations headache presents several competing imperatives. Facebook broadly prefers to be seen as a neutral platform for social sharing. The shift towards editorial oversight involves serious technical challenges, as well as some uncomfortable regulatory implications.
But Facebook faces a third conundrum—getting rid of fake news might actually hurt its ad revenue. Interacting with news that confirms pre-existing beliefs triggers positive emotional responses in users and drives huge user engagement. News is a major part of what people interact with Facebook, and whether a piece of content is true or not has no clear correlation to how many clicks it generates.
As media expert Clay Shirky put it to The Guardian, “We love bedtime stories.” Even, perhaps especially, when they’re fairy tales.
Filtering fake news would also have second-order effects that could not only reduce daily engagement, but drive users away from Facebook altogether, at least as a news source. While Trump supporters have been particularly skeptical of large news organizations and traditional fact checking, more than half of Clinton backers feel the same way. We’re a nation in the late stages of democracy, with a populace deeply distrustful of any and all authority and expertise. Social media’s dominance is both a cause and effect of that. We spend time on Facebook because we think our friends are better sources of information than pinhead professors or noodling newspaper editors.
If Facebook were to be perceived as having become just another top-down entity telling people what to believe, it would endanger a core element of its appeal. There would be a significant opening for a competing social-news platform that positioned itself as more open and unfiltered.
That said, there are counterpoint business arguments in favor of filtering fake news. Facebook has avoided many of the concerns about trolling and harassment that have been such a drag on Twitter’s prospects, in part because of evolving features that allow users to filter and report content and tailor their ad preferences. However, toxicity fueled by partisan fake news could eventually generate headwinds for Facebook similar to Twitter’s woes.
Saturday, November 19, 2016
Zika Is No Longer a Global Emergency, W.H.O. Says
NewYorkTimes) - The World Health Organization declared an end to its global health emergency over the spread of the Zika virus on Friday, prompting dismay from some public health experts confronting the epidemic.
An agency advisory committee said it ended the emergency — formally known as a Public Health Emergency of International Concern — because Zika is now shown to be a dangerous mosquito-borne disease, like malaria or yellow fever, and should be viewed as an ongoing threat met as other diseases are, sometimes with W.H.O. help.
Committee members repeatedly emphasized that they did not consider the Zika crisis over.
“We are not downgrading the importance of Zika,” said Dr. Peter Salama, executive director of the W.H.O.’s health emergencies program. “We are sending the message that Zika is here to stay and the W.H.O. response is here to stay.”
Like all mosquito-borne diseases, Zika is seasonal and may repeatedly return to countries with the Aedes aegypti mosquitoes that carry it, Dr. Salama added.
Individual countries facing serious new Zika outbreaks could still declare local emergencies, said Dr. David L. Heymann, chair of the advisory committee.
But other experts worried that the W.H.O.’s declaration might slow the international response to an epidemic that is still spreading, and lull people at risk into thinking they were safe.
Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, director of the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases, which is funding efforts to find a Zika vaccine, suggested that it was premature to lift the state of emergency since summer is just beginning in the Southern hemisphere.
“Are we going to see a resurgence in Brazil, Colombia and elsewhere?” he asked. “If they pull back on the emergency, they’d better be able to reinstate it. Why not wait a couple of months to see what happens?”
His agency would not slow down its vaccine efforts, he said.
Since the W.H.O. first declared a state of emergency on Feb. 1, the Zika virus has spread to almost every country in the Western Hemisphere except Canada. Thousands of babies suffer deformities caused by the infection, and more are expected.
Recent outbreaks and related birth defects have also been detected in Southeast Asia, although scientists believe the Zika virus has circulated there for decades.
The most severe deformity is microcephaly, a tiny head with a severely underdeveloped brain; but fetuses have also been killed by the virus, and infected infants have been born blind, deaf, with clubbed feet and permanent limb rigidity.
Scientists also fear that many infected babies who appear normal now may suffer from intellectual deficits or mental illnesses later in their lives.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention expressed no opinion about the W.H.O.’s decision, but noted that it “did not change the urgent need to continue our work.”
The agency also reiterated the warning it issued in January that pregnant women should avoid traveling to areas where the virus was being transmitted. (SourceText)
An agency advisory committee said it ended the emergency — formally known as a Public Health Emergency of International Concern — because Zika is now shown to be a dangerous mosquito-borne disease, like malaria or yellow fever, and should be viewed as an ongoing threat met as other diseases are, sometimes with W.H.O. help.
Committee members repeatedly emphasized that they did not consider the Zika crisis over.
“We are not downgrading the importance of Zika,” said Dr. Peter Salama, executive director of the W.H.O.’s health emergencies program. “We are sending the message that Zika is here to stay and the W.H.O. response is here to stay.”
Like all mosquito-borne diseases, Zika is seasonal and may repeatedly return to countries with the Aedes aegypti mosquitoes that carry it, Dr. Salama added.
Individual countries facing serious new Zika outbreaks could still declare local emergencies, said Dr. David L. Heymann, chair of the advisory committee.
But other experts worried that the W.H.O.’s declaration might slow the international response to an epidemic that is still spreading, and lull people at risk into thinking they were safe.
Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, director of the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases, which is funding efforts to find a Zika vaccine, suggested that it was premature to lift the state of emergency since summer is just beginning in the Southern hemisphere.
“Are we going to see a resurgence in Brazil, Colombia and elsewhere?” he asked. “If they pull back on the emergency, they’d better be able to reinstate it. Why not wait a couple of months to see what happens?”
His agency would not slow down its vaccine efforts, he said.
Since the W.H.O. first declared a state of emergency on Feb. 1, the Zika virus has spread to almost every country in the Western Hemisphere except Canada. Thousands of babies suffer deformities caused by the infection, and more are expected.
Recent outbreaks and related birth defects have also been detected in Southeast Asia, although scientists believe the Zika virus has circulated there for decades.
The most severe deformity is microcephaly, a tiny head with a severely underdeveloped brain; but fetuses have also been killed by the virus, and infected infants have been born blind, deaf, with clubbed feet and permanent limb rigidity.
Scientists also fear that many infected babies who appear normal now may suffer from intellectual deficits or mental illnesses later in their lives.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention expressed no opinion about the W.H.O.’s decision, but noted that it “did not change the urgent need to continue our work.”
The agency also reiterated the warning it issued in January that pregnant women should avoid traveling to areas where the virus was being transmitted. (SourceText)
* * * *
Related Reuters- Myanmar health authorities struggle to prepare for Zika outbreak
Friday, November 18, 2016
FTC takes action against the homeopathy industry's false and misleading health claims
(minnpost - The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has announced that it intends to finally take action against homeopathic "medicine" manufacturers who make bogus — indeed, ridiculous — health claims for their products.
The commission has had the authority to take such action before, but it has tended to turn a blind eye to the multibillion-dollar homeopathic industry’s continuous stream of misleading advertising.
Most homeopathic medicines are just innocuous “sugar pills,” or placebos, which pose more of a peril to consumers’ pocketbooks than to their health. But some of these products can be dangerous. In late September, for example, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) warned parents to stop using homeopathic teething tablets and gels. The agency said it had received hundreds of reports of babies experiencing serious side effects after using the products, including vomiting, fever, breathing difficulties and seizures. Officials were also investigating 10 reports of infant deaths.
The teething products may have contained unsafe amounts of a popular homeopathic ingredient, belladonna (which is also known as deadly nightshade). Most consumers are unaware that homeopathic products — along with other so-called alternative medicines — are not tested for safety or effectiveness before they appear on store shelves.
Of course, another danger from homeopathic medicines is that people will use them instead of real medicines to treat serious illnesses. Such a tragedy occurred in Australia a few years ago when a nine-month-old girl died painfully and unnecessarily after her parents treated her eczema with homeopathic rather than conventional medications. (Both parents were jailed for manslaughter.)
Clear disclosure
As explained in a press release issued Tuesday, the FTC will now “hold efficacy and safety claims for OTC [over-the-counter] homeopathic drugs to the same standard as other products making similar claims. That is, companies must have competent and reliable scientific evidence for health-related claims, including claims that a product can treat specific conditions” — the same scientific evidence the commission requires of other companies making such claims for their products.
The companies will also have to clearly disclose on their products’ labels and in their advertisements that 1) there is no scientific evidence that the homeopathic product works and 2) theories of homeopathy date from the 1700s and are not accepted by most modern medical experts.
Just how effective these disclaimers will be is unknown. The FTC says it’s going to “carefully scrutinize the net impression of OTC homeopathic advertising or other marketing employing disclosures to ensure that it adequately conveys the extremely limited nature of the health claim being asserted.”
“If, despite a marketer’s disclosures, an ad conveys more substantiation than the marketer has, the marketer will be in violation of the FTC Act,” the commission adds. (FullText)
Thursday, November 17, 2016
Jobless Claims in U.S. Decline to Lowest Level in Four Decades
bloomberg.com) - The fewest Americans since 1973 filed for unemployment benefits last week, a sign that the U.S. labor market is getting tighter.
Jobless claims dropped by 19,000 to 235,000 in the week ended Nov. 12, which included the Veterans Day holiday, a Labor Department report showed Thursday in Washington. The median estimate in a Bloomberg survey called for an increase to 257,000. Continuing claims fell below 2 million to a 16-year low.
The biggest drop in initial claims since June suggests employers are loath to fire workers as the economy continues its modest expansion and the number of experienced applicants available for hiring remains limited. Filings for unemployment benefits have stayed below 300,000 for 89 straight weeks -- the longest streak since 1970 and a level typical for a healthy labor market.
“We’re exhausting the pool of workers that we can draw from out of the unemployed,” said Patrick Newport, an economist at IHS Global Insight in Lexington, Massachusetts. “We’re approaching full employment, so we’re seeing really strong job gains, but they can’t continue for very long.”
Estimates for initial claims in the Bloomberg survey ranged from 245,000 to 275,000. The prior week’s reading was unrevised at 254,000.
The four-week average of claims, a less-volatile measure than the weekly figure, declined to 253,500 from 260,000 in the prior week.
The number of people continuing to receive jobless benefits dropped by 66,000 to 1.98 million in the week ended Nov. 5. The unemployment rate among people eligible for benefits fell to 1.4 percent from 1.5 percent. These data are reported with a one-week lag.
No states had estimated claims last week and there was nothing unusual in the data, according to the Labor Department.
Though applications for unemployment insurance are at historic lows, there are other factors that have pushed claims down in recent years, including cuts in the duration of benefits and changes to claim-filing technology. (FullText)
Jobless claims dropped by 19,000 to 235,000 in the week ended Nov. 12, which included the Veterans Day holiday, a Labor Department report showed Thursday in Washington. The median estimate in a Bloomberg survey called for an increase to 257,000. Continuing claims fell below 2 million to a 16-year low.
The biggest drop in initial claims since June suggests employers are loath to fire workers as the economy continues its modest expansion and the number of experienced applicants available for hiring remains limited. Filings for unemployment benefits have stayed below 300,000 for 89 straight weeks -- the longest streak since 1970 and a level typical for a healthy labor market.
“We’re exhausting the pool of workers that we can draw from out of the unemployed,” said Patrick Newport, an economist at IHS Global Insight in Lexington, Massachusetts. “We’re approaching full employment, so we’re seeing really strong job gains, but they can’t continue for very long.”
Estimates for initial claims in the Bloomberg survey ranged from 245,000 to 275,000. The prior week’s reading was unrevised at 254,000.
The four-week average of claims, a less-volatile measure than the weekly figure, declined to 253,500 from 260,000 in the prior week.
The number of people continuing to receive jobless benefits dropped by 66,000 to 1.98 million in the week ended Nov. 5. The unemployment rate among people eligible for benefits fell to 1.4 percent from 1.5 percent. These data are reported with a one-week lag.
No states had estimated claims last week and there was nothing unusual in the data, according to the Labor Department.
Though applications for unemployment insurance are at historic lows, there are other factors that have pushed claims down in recent years, including cuts in the duration of benefits and changes to claim-filing technology. (FullText)
Wednesday, November 16, 2016
Obama in Europe urges 'course correction' on globalisation
- Berlin (AFP) - US President Barack Obama arrived in Berlin Wednesday for talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel on a European tour aimed at reassuring key allies about transatlantic ties under his successor Donald Trump.
On the final leg of a European farewell tour, Obama touched down in the German capital from Athens where he delivered a sweeping speech warning of the dangers to modern democracy.
The US leader acknowledged that globalisation had fuelled a "sense of injustice" and needed a "course correction" to address growing inequality.
"The global path of globalisation demands a course correction," Obama, 55, said in Athens.
"When we see people, global elites, wealthy corporations seemingly living by a different set of rules, avoiding taxes, manipulating loopholes... this feeds a profound sense of injustice," he added.
However, his remarks also contained a ringing defence of democracy, open markets and social inclusiveness.
"I firmly believe that the best hope for human progress remains open markets, combined with democracy and human rights," the outgoing president said.
Trump welcomed Britain's shock vote in June to leave the European Union (EU) and has been a critic of global free trade agreements.
But Obama argued that "when people have opportunity and they feel confidence in the future, they are less likely to turn on each other and less likely to appeal to some of the darker forces that exist in all our societies, those that can tear us apart".
European governments, especially eastern countries close to Russia's orbit, have been shaken after Trump appeared to call into question Washington's near 70-year security guarantee by saying he would only help NATO allies if they paid their way.
In comments Tuesday, Obama cautioned the world must guard against "a rise in a crude sort of nationalism or ethnic identity or tribalism that is built around an 'us' and a 'them'".
- 'My closest partner' -
Obama has been at pains to stress that Europe -- and NATO -- would remain the cornerstone of US foreign policy.
"Today more than ever, the world needs a Europe that is strong and prosperous and democratic," he said.
The US-led NATO grouping is "absolutely vital" to US interests and a strong, unified Europe was good for America and the world, the president said in comments aimed at calming old partners' fears.
"We know what happens when Europeans start dividing themselves up... the 20th century was a bloodbath," he said pointedly on Tuesday.
Obama has described Merkel as "probably... my closest international partner these last eight years."
During his time in Berlin, he will also meet the leaders of Britain, France, Spain and Italy, as Europe desperately seeks clues to future US policy in a Trump world.
Tuesday, November 15, 2016
Strength!: U.N. officials denounce ‘inhuman’ treatment of Native American pipeline protesters
washingtonpost) - The United Nations' special rapporteur on the rights of freedom of association and peaceful assembly released a forceful statement Tuesday, calling out U.S. security forces for using violence against protesters peacefully opposing the construction of the Dakota Access pipeline in North Dakota, as well as what he called “the inhuman and degrading conditions” those arrested faced in detention.
The official, Maini Kiai, is a reputed human rights lawyer from Kenya who also traveled to the United States this summer to survey mounting racial tensions in the lead-up to last week's presidential election. His statement on the protests in North Dakota, which are largely being carried out by Native Americans, was endorsed by a slew of other high-ranking U.N. officials, including special rapporteurs on drinking water, the environment, free speech, cultural rights and the rights of indigenous peoples.
Kiai said that security forces, both public and private, had used unjustified force in dealing with and detaining more than 400 protesters.
“Protesters say they have faced rubber bullets, tear gas, mace, compression grenades and beanbag rounds while expressing concerns over environmental impact and trying to protect burial grounds and other sacred sites of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe” on whose land the ongoing pipeline construction is taking place, according to the statement provided by Kiai's office.
The statement notes that Kiai acknowledged that some protesters had resorted to violence, too, but that the response of security officials was disproportionate and targeted protesters who were doing so peacefully.
U.N. officials have been taking U.S. security forces and its government to task more frequently. For instance, in September, a U.N.-affiliated group released a report that concluded that the country's history of slavery justifies reparationsfor a large portion of its African American population. “There has been no real commitment to reparations and to truth and reconciliation for people of African descent,” the report stated. (FullText)
The official, Maini Kiai, is a reputed human rights lawyer from Kenya who also traveled to the United States this summer to survey mounting racial tensions in the lead-up to last week's presidential election. His statement on the protests in North Dakota, which are largely being carried out by Native Americans, was endorsed by a slew of other high-ranking U.N. officials, including special rapporteurs on drinking water, the environment, free speech, cultural rights and the rights of indigenous peoples.
Kiai said that security forces, both public and private, had used unjustified force in dealing with and detaining more than 400 protesters.
“Protesters say they have faced rubber bullets, tear gas, mace, compression grenades and beanbag rounds while expressing concerns over environmental impact and trying to protect burial grounds and other sacred sites of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe” on whose land the ongoing pipeline construction is taking place, according to the statement provided by Kiai's office.
The statement notes that Kiai acknowledged that some protesters had resorted to violence, too, but that the response of security officials was disproportionate and targeted protesters who were doing so peacefully.
U.N. officials have been taking U.S. security forces and its government to task more frequently. For instance, in September, a U.N.-affiliated group released a report that concluded that the country's history of slavery justifies reparationsfor a large portion of its African American population. “There has been no real commitment to reparations and to truth and reconciliation for people of African descent,” the report stated. (FullText)
Monday, November 14, 2016
2016 ‘very likely’ to be the hottest year on record, U.N. agency declares
The agency was able to say as much, despite the year not even being over yet, due to the jaw-dropping heat seen throughout much of the year. Multiple months in 2016 set new monthly temperature records, buoyed by a very strong El Nino event.
Sixteen “of the 17 hottest years on record have been this century,” noted the agency.
Overall, the WMO said, 2016 was 1.2 degrees Celsius warmer on average than temperatures for the pre-industrial Earth. That’s a highly significant number, in that it puts the planet quite close to the 1.5 degree Celsius temperature threshold enshrined as an aspirational goal in the Paris climate agreement. Some scientists have said we could cross 1.5 degrees for good by 2030. (FullText)
Sunday, November 13, 2016
At Least Two Dead, Tsunami Warning Issued After New Zealand Rocked by Strong Earthquake
wallstreetjournal - At least two people died when a powerful earthquake struck New Zealand near the city of Christchurch, causing strong jolts felt more than 120 miles away and prompting a tsunami threat along the country’s east coast.
The quake, which the U.S. Geological Survey initially recorded as magnitude 7.4 but later raised to 7.8, struck just after midnight Sunday and was centered 93 kilometers (57 miles) northeast of Christchurch, on the country’s South Island.
New Zealand Prime Minister John Key said at least two people were killed, but provided no details at a news conference Monday morning in Wellington, the capital.
New Zealand’s Ministry of Civil Defence and Emergency Management said on its verifiedTwitter account that a tsunami threat covered all of New Zealand’s east coast, including Christchurch, Wellington and the Chatham Islands, and urged people in those areas to move to high ground or go inland.
The agency later said the first wave had arrived on the northeastern coast of the South Island, but didn’t say how tall it was. “The first wave may not be the largest. Waves may continue for several hours,” MCDEM said on Twitter. At 6.09 a.m. local time, the tsunami threat was downgraded for much of the east coast, although the agency continued to warn of unusually strong currents and unpredictable flows of water close to shore.
The USGS said the quake was at a depth of 23 kilometers. The quake was followed by a number of strong aftershocks.
New Zealand Police said one casualty had been reported at a collapsed property in Kaikoura, a coastal town on the country’s South Island. “Police are also trying to access a property at Mt Lyford, north of Christchurch, where a further casualty has been reported, which is believed to be a fatality,” it said.
In Wellington, 214 kilometers north of the quake’s epicenter, people were urged not to travel into the city as train and ferry services were suspended and some roads could be blocked. However, the city’s airport remained open following an inspection of the runway.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry had just completed a visit to New Zealand, leaving for Oman hours before the earthquake struck.
New Zealand is part of the Pacific Ring of Fire, an arc of volcanoes and fault lines encircling the Pacific Ocean prone to seismic upheaval. In 2011, a 6.3-magnitude quake killed 185 people in Christchurch—most because of building failures—triggering a nationwide clampdown on unsafe properties. (FullText)
The quake, which the U.S. Geological Survey initially recorded as magnitude 7.4 but later raised to 7.8, struck just after midnight Sunday and was centered 93 kilometers (57 miles) northeast of Christchurch, on the country’s South Island.
New Zealand Prime Minister John Key said at least two people were killed, but provided no details at a news conference Monday morning in Wellington, the capital.
New Zealand’s Ministry of Civil Defence and Emergency Management said on its verifiedTwitter account that a tsunami threat covered all of New Zealand’s east coast, including Christchurch, Wellington and the Chatham Islands, and urged people in those areas to move to high ground or go inland.
The agency later said the first wave had arrived on the northeastern coast of the South Island, but didn’t say how tall it was. “The first wave may not be the largest. Waves may continue for several hours,” MCDEM said on Twitter. At 6.09 a.m. local time, the tsunami threat was downgraded for much of the east coast, although the agency continued to warn of unusually strong currents and unpredictable flows of water close to shore.
The USGS said the quake was at a depth of 23 kilometers. The quake was followed by a number of strong aftershocks.
New Zealand Police said one casualty had been reported at a collapsed property in Kaikoura, a coastal town on the country’s South Island. “Police are also trying to access a property at Mt Lyford, north of Christchurch, where a further casualty has been reported, which is believed to be a fatality,” it said.
In Wellington, 214 kilometers north of the quake’s epicenter, people were urged not to travel into the city as train and ferry services were suspended and some roads could be blocked. However, the city’s airport remained open following an inspection of the runway.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry had just completed a visit to New Zealand, leaving for Oman hours before the earthquake struck.
New Zealand is part of the Pacific Ring of Fire, an arc of volcanoes and fault lines encircling the Pacific Ocean prone to seismic upheaval. In 2011, a 6.3-magnitude quake killed 185 people in Christchurch—most because of building failures—triggering a nationwide clampdown on unsafe properties. (FullText)
Saturday, November 12, 2016
Colombia peace deal: Government and Farc reach new agreement
BBC - The Colombian government and the Farc rebel group have announced a new peace agreement, six weeks after the original deal was rejected in a popular vote.
Alvaro Uribe, a former president who led the "no" campaign, was involved in this round of negotiations intended to end 52 years of civil war.
The initial deal was deemed to be too favourable the left-wing rebels.
The new agreement will have to be approved by parliament, rather than being put directly to voters.
"We have reached a new final agreement to end the armed conflict, which incorporates changes, clarifications and some new contributions from various social groups," officials said in a joint statement.
The statement was read by diplomats from Cuba and Norway, the mediating countries, in the Cuban capital, Havana.
The previous deal was rejected by 50.2% of voters in a referendum held on 2 October.
Polls initially indicated that the agreement would be approved by a comfortable margin, but as the results came in it became clear that opposition to the agreement had been stronger than expected.
Friday, November 11, 2016
Syria Conflict: Putin is encouraged, Assad is safe with a weak America
(NeewsWeek - Those who advocate modest military measures to stop or at least slow the mass murder of Syrian civilians by Russia and its Assad regime client should not evade the patently unfair question they are often asked: "Are you willing to risk World War III?"
As important as it is to defend civilians—for both humanitarian and policy reasons—the answer, of course, must be no. And even if world war is a remote possibility, any circumstances possibly bringing the armed forces of nuclear powers into contact are troublesome.
But what of those who use the World War III ploy to argue for continued American passivity (coupled with soaring, empty rhetoric) in the face of defiant, unspeakable atrocities executed by those who have come to count on total impunity? Are they answerable for nothing in terms of risk?
If Russian President Vladimir Putin concludes, on the basis on American behavior in Syria, that Uncle Sam is an empty suit—willing to talk about everything but stand for nothing—is that a risk-free outcome in Syria and the world beyond?
If anything at all has been learned from the past five years of Levantine murder and mayhem, it is this: What happens in Syria does not stay in Syria. Even if it did—as Obama administration senior officials hoped it would, way back when—American passivity in the face of mass homicide would still have raised questions and inspired objections, both moral and policy-related.
But nothing about this abomination has been contained within Syria, other than a ruling family and an enabling entourage preserved by Russia and Iran.
As important as it is to defend civilians—for both humanitarian and policy reasons—the answer, of course, must be no. And even if world war is a remote possibility, any circumstances possibly bringing the armed forces of nuclear powers into contact are troublesome.
But what of those who use the World War III ploy to argue for continued American passivity (coupled with soaring, empty rhetoric) in the face of defiant, unspeakable atrocities executed by those who have come to count on total impunity? Are they answerable for nothing in terms of risk?
If Russian President Vladimir Putin concludes, on the basis on American behavior in Syria, that Uncle Sam is an empty suit—willing to talk about everything but stand for nothing—is that a risk-free outcome in Syria and the world beyond?
If anything at all has been learned from the past five years of Levantine murder and mayhem, it is this: What happens in Syria does not stay in Syria. Even if it did—as Obama administration senior officials hoped it would, way back when—American passivity in the face of mass homicide would still have raised questions and inspired objections, both moral and policy-related.
But nothing about this abomination has been contained within Syria, other than a ruling family and an enabling entourage preserved by Russia and Iran.
Thursday, November 10, 2016
D.C votes in favour of US statehood claiming nearly 80% of vote
- Residents of Washington, D.C., on Tuesday voted overwhelmingly in favor of becoming the nation's 51st state. NPR reported "79 percent of voters cast votes in favor of the ballot measure, which splits the district into a residential state with a small federal district in the middle of it for government buildings and monuments." The measure also includes the approval of a Constitution of the State of New Columbia and the guarantee of an elected representative.
Now that the nation's capital has voted in favor of the referendum, the measure will go to Congress and the next president for the final stamp of approval. Though Congress has the power to deny the petition, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser has already pledged to have a petition for D.C. statehood ready to go by Inauguration Day.
Bowser said many of the district's voters are frustrated by their lack of representation in Congress. "We need equality, and the only way to get there is with statehood," she told The Washington Post.
(Source)
Wednesday, November 9, 2016
2016 Election: Donald Trump Wins the White House in Upset
nbcnews) - America woke up Wednesday to a new and unexpected reality — Donald J. Trump will be the next president of the United States.
In a resounding rebuke to the political establishment, the Manhattan mogul and reality TV star was elected the 45th president following one of the most bitter and wildly unpredictable campaigns in the nation's history.
Trump, in an upset for the ages, defeated former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton by running the table in battleground states across the country — from Florida and North Carolina to Ohio and Pennsylvania.
He declared victory Tuesday night before a large crowd of enthusiastic supporters, pledging to help unite the country after his rancorous battle with Clinton.
"Now it's time for America to bind the wounds of division," Trump said at the Midtown Hilton in New York City. "I say it is time for us to come together as one united people." He congratulated Clinton on a "very, very hard-fought campaign."
Trump said Clinton called him sometime after 2 a.m. ET to concede the race. But she did not address her supporters until several hours later at a Manhattan hotel, admitting "this is painful and it will be for a long time."
"I hope that he will be a successful president for all Americans," she said of Trump, in a call for unity. "We must accept this result and look to the future. We owe him an open mind and a chance to lead."
President Barack Obama, who campaigned furiously for Clinton, congratulated Trump by telephone early Wednesday and invited him to a meeting at the White House on Thursday.
But it was not enough. And now President-elect Trump is poised to be the first person to be sworn in as commander-in-chief without having held elected office or served in the U.S. armed forces.
His unexpected victory also dashed the dreams of millions of women who had hoped Clinton would shatter the ultimate glass ceiling and become the nation's first female U.S. president. (FullText)
In a resounding rebuke to the political establishment, the Manhattan mogul and reality TV star was elected the 45th president following one of the most bitter and wildly unpredictable campaigns in the nation's history.
Trump, in an upset for the ages, defeated former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton by running the table in battleground states across the country — from Florida and North Carolina to Ohio and Pennsylvania.
He declared victory Tuesday night before a large crowd of enthusiastic supporters, pledging to help unite the country after his rancorous battle with Clinton.
"Now it's time for America to bind the wounds of division," Trump said at the Midtown Hilton in New York City. "I say it is time for us to come together as one united people." He congratulated Clinton on a "very, very hard-fought campaign."
Trump said Clinton called him sometime after 2 a.m. ET to concede the race. But she did not address her supporters until several hours later at a Manhattan hotel, admitting "this is painful and it will be for a long time."
"I hope that he will be a successful president for all Americans," she said of Trump, in a call for unity. "We must accept this result and look to the future. We owe him an open mind and a chance to lead."
President Barack Obama, who campaigned furiously for Clinton, congratulated Trump by telephone early Wednesday and invited him to a meeting at the White House on Thursday.
But it was not enough. And now President-elect Trump is poised to be the first person to be sworn in as commander-in-chief without having held elected office or served in the U.S. armed forces.
His unexpected victory also dashed the dreams of millions of women who had hoped Clinton would shatter the ultimate glass ceiling and become the nation's first female U.S. president. (FullText)
Tuesday, November 8, 2016
'Lazy' Mosquitoes Spread Chikungunya, Other Viruses, to Women
"Lazy mosquitoes" are the reason why women, who tend to spend more time at home than men, are more likely to be infected by chikungunya virus, researchers said on Monday.
Chikungunya, which is commonly transmitted by the daytime-biting Aedes aegypti mosquito, can cause debilitating symptoms including fever, headache and severe joint pain lasting months.
A new study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, analyzed a 2012 outbreak of chikungunya in the Bangladeshi village of Palpara, 60 miles from the capital Dhaka.
The study found more than a quarter of cases were spread within the same household, while half of infections occurred in households less than 200 meters away, creating small clusters of the disease.
Because infected mosquitoes did not like to travel far, Bangladeshi women, who spend two thirds of the day at home, were 1.5 times more likely to catch chikungunya than men who spend less than half their time at home during the day.
"It appears that mosquitoes are very lazy," Henrik Salje, the research leader from Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health, said in a statement.
"They bite someone in a household and get infected with a virus and then hang around to bite someone else in the same home or very nearby. The extra time women spend in and around their home means they are at increased risk of getting sick."
The disease occurs in Africa and Asia, but cases have also been reported in Europe and the Americas.
The study said while there was no vaccine and little treatment available for diseases such as chikungunya, Zika, dengue and yellow fever, which are all transmitted by the Aedes aegypti, knowing where outbreaks were likely to be clustered could help in slowing them.
"We don't yet have a very good toolbox for fighting these diseases," Salje said.
"But once we do, this research tells us how we could trigger a response and tailor our interventions - particularly in rural communities - to those at the greatest risk, and those people are the ones who spend the most time in and around their homes."
The researchers said that coils designed to repel mosquitoes did not help stop chikungunya transmission in the Palpara region. (FullText)
Monday, November 7, 2016
Montenegro Opposition Calls Charges Of Plot To Kill Djukanovic 'Fabricated'
- Montenegro's pro-Russian opposition parties have rejected charges by the country's chief prosecutor that Russian nationalists organized an alleged October coup attempt aimed at assassinating pro-Western leader Milo Djukanovic over his efforts to join NATO.
"It is obvious that the special prosecutor has become a servant of the [ruling] Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS)," Milutin Dukanovic, leader of the opposition Democratic Front, told RFE/RL's Balkan Service on November 7.
He called the charges that two unidentified Russian citizens organized an allegedly foiled coup attempt on the eve of the country's parliamentary elections on October 16 "part of the contrived and fabricated...coup d'etat affair."
The Democratic Front is one of the leading pro-Russian opposition parties in Montenegro, all of whom have refused to participate in the parliament since the October 16 national election. The vote gave Djukanovic's ruling DPS a large majority but not enough seats to govern on its own.
The pro-Russian parties say the government's announcement of the arrests of 20 alleged coup plotters the night before the October 16 election unfairly influenced voter behavior by suggesting that opposition parties sought to overthrow the government.
Chief prosecutor Milivoje Katnic said on November 6 that the aim of the alleged coup was to assassinate the prime minister during the election to help an opposition party take over the state. He did not name the party in question.
He also said two unidentified nationalists from Russia were the organizers and sought a professional sharpshooter to carry out the assassination. He added that there was no evidence of Russian government involvement.
Moscow has said it had no official role in the alleged coup attempt. (FullText)
"It is obvious that the special prosecutor has become a servant of the [ruling] Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS)," Milutin Dukanovic, leader of the opposition Democratic Front, told RFE/RL's Balkan Service on November 7.
He called the charges that two unidentified Russian citizens organized an allegedly foiled coup attempt on the eve of the country's parliamentary elections on October 16 "part of the contrived and fabricated...coup d'etat affair."
The Democratic Front is one of the leading pro-Russian opposition parties in Montenegro, all of whom have refused to participate in the parliament since the October 16 national election. The vote gave Djukanovic's ruling DPS a large majority but not enough seats to govern on its own.
The pro-Russian parties say the government's announcement of the arrests of 20 alleged coup plotters the night before the October 16 election unfairly influenced voter behavior by suggesting that opposition parties sought to overthrow the government.
Chief prosecutor Milivoje Katnic said on November 6 that the aim of the alleged coup was to assassinate the prime minister during the election to help an opposition party take over the state. He did not name the party in question.
He also said two unidentified nationalists from Russia were the organizers and sought a professional sharpshooter to carry out the assassination. He added that there was no evidence of Russian government involvement.
Moscow has said it had no official role in the alleged coup attempt. (FullText)
Sunday, November 6, 2016
Russia Aims to Disrupt Other Western Elections, U.S. Officials Say
WASHINGTON—A Russian-backed hacking effort that has rocked the presidential campaign may peak on Election Day, but is likely to continue next year and into 2018 as Moscow seeks to influence U.S. politics and key elections in Europe, Obama administration officials warn.
Russian meddling, in fact, may become more potent in Europe than in the U.S., White House officials and other experts say, because Moscow has long courted political figures there, and has forged ties with euroskeptic political parties strengthened by the recent influx of migrants and refugees.
Upcoming contests in Europe include Dutch elections in March, French presidential elections in April and May, and German elections in the fall. Moscow is hoping that gains by Kremlin-friendly parties like France’s National Front could help Russia break free of some of the diplomatic isolation and sanctions imposed on Moscow after its seizure of the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea in 2014, Kremlin watchers say.
“The German elections, the French elections and other elections in the coming year all have big geopolitical implications for Russia,” saidPasi Eronen, Russia project researcher at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a Washington-based think tank.
Although large-scale interference from the Kremlin is relatively new to the U.S., Mr. Eronen said Russia has been active in Europe for the past two years with hacking and disinformation campaigns designed to weaken those the Kremlin considers to be political rivals.
Officials say that even if Russia fails to elect its own allies in European elections next year, the sustained meddling in the U.S. and Europe will serve a long-term Kremlin goal—namely, to put Russian President Vladimir Putin’s perceived foes in the West in disarray, making it easier for him to safely reseat himself as Russian president when his country holds elections in 2018.
U.S. and European observers have criticized previous elections under Mr. Putin as rigged and marred by obvious fraud—criticism that Mr. Putin has described as a veiled attempt to overthrow him.
Mr. Putin hopes to inoculate himself against such criticism by sowing so much chaos in U.S. and European elections before then that Western leaders will be too preoccupied with domestic problems to spend much effort criticizing the Russian poll, one senior White House official said.
Saturday, November 5, 2016
Strong U.S. job growth, rising wages boost December rate hike prospects
Reuters:
U.S. employers maintained a strong pace of hiring in October and boosted wages for workers, which could effectively seal the case for a December interest rate increase from the Federal Reserve.
Nonfarm payrolls increased by 161,000 jobs last month amid gains in construction, healthcare and professional and business services, the Labor Department said on Friday. The closely watched employment report was published four days before the Nov. 8 presidential election.
The solid labor market fundamentals were also underscored by revisions to August and September data, which showed 44,000 more jobs created than previously reported. Average hourly earnings rose 10 cents or 0.4 percent in October.
As a result, the year-on-year gain in wages last month rose to 2.8 percent, the largest in nearly 7-1/2 years.
"This was a very good report. With the hourly wage number beginning to accelerate, the Fed will have all the cover it needs to raise rates in December," said Joel Naroff, chief economist at Naroff Economic Advisors in Holland, Pennsylvania.
The report came on the heels of data last week showing an acceleration in economic growth in the third quarter. Businesses have created 15.5 million jobs since 2010, with almost half of them high wage jobs. Even Americans holding low-income jobs are starting to experience wage gains.
U.S. employers maintained a strong pace of hiring in October and boosted wages for workers, which could effectively seal the case for a December interest rate increase from the Federal Reserve.
Nonfarm payrolls increased by 161,000 jobs last month amid gains in construction, healthcare and professional and business services, the Labor Department said on Friday. The closely watched employment report was published four days before the Nov. 8 presidential election.
The solid labor market fundamentals were also underscored by revisions to August and September data, which showed 44,000 more jobs created than previously reported. Average hourly earnings rose 10 cents or 0.4 percent in October.
As a result, the year-on-year gain in wages last month rose to 2.8 percent, the largest in nearly 7-1/2 years.
"This was a very good report. With the hourly wage number beginning to accelerate, the Fed will have all the cover it needs to raise rates in December," said Joel Naroff, chief economist at Naroff Economic Advisors in Holland, Pennsylvania.
The report came on the heels of data last week showing an acceleration in economic growth in the third quarter. Businesses have created 15.5 million jobs since 2010, with almost half of them high wage jobs. Even Americans holding low-income jobs are starting to experience wage gains.
Friday, November 4, 2016
Study Links Human Actions to Arctic Sea Ice Disappearance
POLAR BEARS!
voiceofamericanews:
Ice has been disappearing in the Arctic Ocean since at least the 1960. Each year, more and more sea ice vanishes in the Arctic north, and one study says every one of us is personally responsible.
Each passenger taking a flight from New York to Europe, or driving 4,000 kilometers in a gasoline-powered car, emits enough greenhouse gas to melt three square meters of ice on the Arctic Ocean, according to a study published Thursday in the journal Science.
The study calculates that for every metric ton of carbon dioxide put in the air, there are three square meters less of sea ice in the month of September when the Arctic region is least frozen. Using observations, statistics and 30 different computer models, the study’s authors show heat-trapping gases cause warming and the melting of sea ice in a way that can be translated into a simple mathematical formula.
There's "a very clear linear relationship'' between carbon dioxide emissions and sea ice retreat in September, especially at the southern boundary edges, said study lead author Dirk Notz, a climate scientist at Max Planck Institute for Meteorology in Germany.
"It's very simple. Those emissions from our tailpipes and our coal-fired power plants are all going into the atmosphere,'' said study co-author Julienne Stroeve, a climate scientist at both the National Snow and Ice Data Center in Boulder, Colorado, and University College, London. "It just increases the warming at the surface. So the ice is going to respond to that. The only way it can do that is to move further north.''
Stroeve and Notz calculated that the average American each year is responsible for carbon emissions that lead to melting around 50 square meters of September sea ice — about the size of small one-bedroom apartment in a U.S. city.
Many animal species in the Arctic heavily depend on sea ice, and it's likely they will struggle to survive with an ice-free Arctic during the summer, Notz said. For example, polar bears, who spend most of their lives on the sea ice of the Arctic Ocean, could be at risk.
As for the future of Arctic sea ice, the study said the international target of 2 degrees Celsius of global warming, as spelled out in the Paris Agreement on climate change that goes into effect Friday, will not be sufficient to allow Arctic summer sea ice to survive. At current carbon emission levels, the ocean around the North Pole would likely be ice-free in Septembers in about 30 years.
Thursday, November 3, 2016
North Dakota celebrates 127 years
BISMARCK, ND - Happy Birthday to North Dakota. On Wednesday, the state turned 127.
On Nov. 2, 1889, North Dakota was admitted to the Union when President Benjamin Harrison signed the Proclamation of Admission.
South Dakota was also admitted on that day. The process toward statehood began on Feb. 22, 1889, when President Grover Cleveland signed the Enabling Act.
On Oct. 1 of that year, North Dakota's voters approved the state's new constitution. North Dakota was the 39th state to join the Union.
On Nov. 2, 1889, North Dakota was admitted to the Union when President Benjamin Harrison signed the Proclamation of Admission.
South Dakota was also admitted on that day. The process toward statehood began on Feb. 22, 1889, when President Grover Cleveland signed the Enabling Act.
On Oct. 1 of that year, North Dakota's voters approved the state's new constitution. North Dakota was the 39th state to join the Union.
Wednesday, November 2, 2016
False Flag?: 2 Iowa police officers killed; suspect in custody
(CNN) A suspect in Wednesday's (November 2) fatal shootings of two Iowa police officers in their squad vehicles has been taken into custody a county west of where the killings happened, police say.
Scott Michael Greene, 46, of Urbandale, was named a suspect in the deaths of a police officer in Urbandale and a police officer in adjacent Des Moines, both of whom were found shot and sitting in their vehicles near intersections 2 miles apart.
Police found Greene on foot late Wednesday morning in Dallas County, the county immediately west of the Des Moines area, said Des Moines police Sgt. Paul Parizek. Police were taking him to Des Moines; further details about his detention weren't available.
Tuesday, November 1, 2016
Winning!: Bashar al-Assad, Unrepentant, States He Expects to Rule Syria Until 2021
- Despite “thousands of Syrians wiped out through the terrorists,” he stated, “no the first is speaking about war crimes” by his armed opponents.
The blasts that until lately echoed night and day in the mountaintop, shelling digital rebel-held suburbs, have subsided recently, and Mr. Assad, radiating confidence, was on the pursuit to persuade the Western public their governments had designed a mistake in backing his opponents.
Which was pretty good by itself, he stated, but Islamist ideologies according to “bad interpretation” had root prior to the war coupled with fueled it. He rejected analysts’ contentions that his government had faster the procedure because they build mosques and funneling jihadist fighters to Iraq throughout the U . s . States occupation.
He guaranteed his visitors, six American and British journalists and policy analysts, that the new trend of openness, transparency and dialogue was dawning in Syria, a note which was a part of a concerted public-relations push by his top advisors and officials. He spoke of the struggle over identity in the centre East, as well as the best of each and every Syrian to become a “full citizen, in each and every concept of this word.”
“Until this moment, we have a dialogue through different channels,” even going to the U.S States, Mr. Assad stated. “But that does not mean to stop our sovereignty and transfer Syria right into a puppet country.”
“Let’s guess that these allegations are correct which president has wiped out their own people and also the U.S. helps the Syrian people,” Mr. Assad stated. “After 5 years . 5, who supported me? How do i be considered a president and my people don’t support me?”
Actually, yesterday, the Un special envoy to Syria, Staffan de Mistura, adopted by Amnesty Worldwide along with other worldwide legal rights groups, condemned the digital rebel groups’ indiscriminate shelling of presidency-held parts of Aleppo, attacks which have wiped out lots of civilians in recent days. (Source)
The blasts that until lately echoed night and day in the mountaintop, shelling digital rebel-held suburbs, have subsided recently, and Mr. Assad, radiating confidence, was on the pursuit to persuade the Western public their governments had designed a mistake in backing his opponents.
Which was pretty good by itself, he stated, but Islamist ideologies according to “bad interpretation” had root prior to the war coupled with fueled it. He rejected analysts’ contentions that his government had faster the procedure because they build mosques and funneling jihadist fighters to Iraq throughout the U . s . States occupation.
He guaranteed his visitors, six American and British journalists and policy analysts, that the new trend of openness, transparency and dialogue was dawning in Syria, a note which was a part of a concerted public-relations push by his top advisors and officials. He spoke of the struggle over identity in the centre East, as well as the best of each and every Syrian to become a “full citizen, in each and every concept of this word.”
“Until this moment, we have a dialogue through different channels,” even going to the U.S States, Mr. Assad stated. “But that does not mean to stop our sovereignty and transfer Syria right into a puppet country.”
“Let’s guess that these allegations are correct which president has wiped out their own people and also the U.S. helps the Syrian people,” Mr. Assad stated. “After 5 years . 5, who supported me? How do i be considered a president and my people don’t support me?”
Actually, yesterday, the Un special envoy to Syria, Staffan de Mistura, adopted by Amnesty Worldwide along with other worldwide legal rights groups, condemned the digital rebel groups’ indiscriminate shelling of presidency-held parts of Aleppo, attacks which have wiped out lots of civilians in recent days. (Source)
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