1647: Carbon Bomb

Hi Adam,

Not sure if you are aware, but a lot of those flavours used to flavor drinks at MacDonald's, Coca cola etc are made with a product which comes from a beavers anal glands.

It's called castoram.

Delicious

Mitch

Hi Adam,

I have not written to you for a long time - but we listen to NA every Thursday and Sunday. I don't think I have missed an episode since 2009...

Just wanted to vent out a little bit on the bridge collapse - thank you so much for taking the time to read this.

I am a professional structural engineer. I am working primarily on buildings these days, but I took my Professional Engineering exam as a bridge engineer and have work on quite a few bridge projects. Most importantly for the sake of the recent bridge collapse in Maryland, I have worked on some bridge projects at major waterways where the structures had to be protected from "vessel impact".

Overall - it is not practical to design a bridge for direct impact from a large container ship. The cost becomes prohibitive. However, this does not mean that bridges are left unprotected. The most annoying thing in this episode is that it is relatively well-understood what needs to be done.

I don't watch news, (that's what you do, so I don't have to) so I might have missed it, but there was a similar disaster in 1980 in Florida - the Sunshine Skyway bridge. A large container-carrying ship collided with a long-span truss bridge and the bridge fell down. If you look at the pictures - the similarity is striking.

Link

So when they built the new bridge they protected it with so-called "dolphins". These are large, relatively cheap structures with the purpose to take the impacts of a stray ship and protect the bridge - something like the fender of a car. Usually built with sheepiles in a bid circle and filled with crushed stone - so big and relatively cheap. These are the big "circles" you see - the picture below is from the rebuilt bridge in Florida.

So - well known issue, there is a well known solution, just not implemented. All new bridges built over navigable waters use some of a system like that. For the old bridges, even though it is well known they are vulnerable - more or less nothing is done. My interpretation is - there is always, oh - do we really need those, who is going pay - the Federal Government, the Port Authority, the State ... Oh and by the way we have 33 agencies who need to issue a permit, so only the permitting takes 15 years ...

Thanks for bearing with me.

Looking forward to the show tomorrow.

All the best,

Nikola

All of this and no deaths or serious injury. The bridge was back up and carrying traffic in 20 months. The contractors cleared the wreckage to remove the ship then cleared the main channel. Just what will happen in the Dali crash.

CONSPIRACY?

NOT A CHANCE. Too many variables. A Terrorist doesn't broadcast a mayday. What Terrorist attacks when the least amount of victims is around. This vessel has had a history of equipment failures. It was reported that maintenance or repairs was being performed dockside in Baltimore.

I can see them working to free the ship and get it to a shipyard, and clearing the channel..

It sure would be nice if they would bring up the 4 men still in the water!

Not a conspiracy. Just All the holes in the Swiss cheese lined up.

Cheers Brothers

Sir Dan Blake

Protector of Underwater Criminal Investigators

Master Diver

Cheers

Dan

1) GPS Spoofing is not a cyber attack, it is GPS spoofing. 2) I don't buy it - I have never met a harbor pilot who looks at the GPS, for this very reason (not spoofing, just the lag and unreliability of electronic navigation). On a clear night, they are highly reliant on lights, bouys, bridge, etc. It is true that the channel range marker lights for the Ft McHenry Channel are aft, when heading outbound. But from a bridge wing you'd know that you were on or off centerline of the channel (and thankfully they had the channel pretty much to themselves).

I actually think if anything this may inspire a cyber copy-cat attack in the coming years. It won't be spoofing (I don't consider that a cyber attack, ever!), it will be a ship motor controller taken down via some cell-phone trigger (we should say 5G enabled attack to scare people!). Did anyone really think you could do this much damage before? You would have to be either really good or really lucky though, because almost anywhere else, or the wind or tide a little different and this would be like the last containership that blocked the port of Baltimore for a month ([https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-61141420](https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-61141420)).

Coworkers had asked me if I thought this was possible from chance - and I absolutely do. The wind was off the port bow (NE), the tide was inbound - this makes the ship basically an inverted pendulum (imagine balancing a bat upright on your hand) - and the wind would've started the bow to starboard (the right) a little bit, and then it would just be pushed off course gradually to starboard/the south. The 2 'engineering' issues that I see are:

1) what little barriers/bollards were there to protect the bridge pier were either too far away (a concrete caisson closer to the power lines), or too small for the bow flaring out at the front (there's a small fence to stop ships and barges from hitting the bridge and taking it down - but they're too small by like 45 ft for a large, modern containership like this, probably good for a barge, bulk carrier, or tanker).

2) In the Navy we are obsessed in narrow channels like this (or next to an oiler/carrier) to have the emergency generators started and running offline ready to connect to the electrical system! (and emergency steering is manned, ready to instantly try and move the rudders via manual pump control)! Is it actually commercial practice to not be in some high/maximum reliability configuration? Maybe. At the extreme limit of controlling forces/failures, you now see in places like Valdez/Prince William Sound, a requirement to have escort tugs (for steering) connected and ready to respond until like an hour offshore - because your response times vs your major accident times are not sufficient unless they're already made-up (i.e. attached).

What I cannot believe is that from a marine-radio mayday-to the USCG-to call/radio the MD State Police- that anyone could've actually started stopping traffic in 2 minutes! Maybe there were troopers hanging out near the bridge because it's a good stepping off point to rest at?

Now, on the claim that the bridge is irreplaceable. I believe you can bypass the bridge 3-4 different ways, but it is just going to shift congestion. It is the major Hazmat route, because the main I-95 route is a harbor tunnel. I suspect you'll see HAZMAT either take the outer-beltway (695?) to the West, traffic from Philadelphia/North will head down through Delaware and across the Chesapeake Bay Bridge (near Annapolis), adding to congestion there. Even I-81 and rail will probably see hazmat increase from cargoes that can afford the detour/delay. Less than a tenth of the impact of the Houston power issue 2 years ago in Feb! Don't touch the oilfields and we can figure everything else out. Shutdown a refinery (or 3) and that will ripple for 1+ years ([https://www.dallasfed.org/research/swe/2021/swe2102/swe2102c](https://www.dallasfed.org/research/swe/2021/swe2102/swe2102c)).

I am a trooper/flight paramedic with the state police in Maryland. We were flying from a hospital back to our base in Southern Maryland when we heard our Baltimore and Easton helicopters responding to the bridge collapse.

It was unfathomable to hear the Baltimore crew describe the scene to the approaching Easton helicopter, referring to where "the Key Bridge used to be" and to ready the rescue basket, as the initial report was 13 people needing hoist from the water.

The Key Bridge was truly important to that area. It relieved some of the traffic from the tunnels that go under the Baltimore Harbor and over the surface streets. Importantly, it was the route for HAZMAT shipments to traverse on I-95-- HAZMAT is not allowed in the tunnels, which run concurrently with I-95, so those carriers would use I-695 (and the Key Bridge) to skirt around the city. Keep in mind that the land is littered with waterways and peninsulas, so rerouting is not as simple as going up a block.

The Port will reopen before the Beltway, but the impact to the area will be huge. I will miss the nostalgia of traveling over that bridge as a child with my grandparents.

SirSn

KB3YSL

Boots on the ground here. I live in Baltimore county. I have to use most of these highways since I have to go through the tunnel or take 695 depending on the day. Traffic has only gotten worse in the area. This week hasn't felt the bridge closing yet due to sitting break, but next week should be a doozy.

The key bridge, from the local knowledge was built specifically for hazmat trucking. The McHenry tunnel and Baltimore tunnel (95 and 895 bypass) have hazmat and height restrictions, and this is where the key bridge came into play. A lot of hazmat and farming equipment come in through the port. Traffic in the area only seems to be getting worse, and this is gonna really throw a wrench into things. There aren't alternative routes to get through the harbor other than the tunnels and the north section of 695, which is going thru construction and already has traffic issues.

There seems to be a general anxiety over the events. Not many people believe it was an accident. As the media has already said, many jobs may be affected, but overall people are worried about the disruption of traffic and people's commute. Hazmat trucks will now have to take the north section of 695.

Maybe this is obvious. But they will say that it takes 9 months to get the port of Baltimore open. They will do it in 2 months because let's be honest they just need to move a couple hundred ft of metal out of the shipping lane. Then Biden will talk about this massive accomplishment in the campaign. Trump needs to come out and demand that the port be opened in 60 days.

Erik

But Section 230 doesn’t cover speech that a company’s AI generates, says

Graham Ryan, a litigator at Jones Walker who will soon be publishing a

paper in the Harvard Journal of Law and Technology on the topic.

“Generative AI is the wild west when it comes to legal risk for internet technology companies, unlike any other time in the history of the

internet since its inception,” he adds.

I spoke with several legal experts across the ideological spectrum, and

none expect that Section 230 will protect companies from lawsuits over

the outputs of generative AI, which now include not just text but also

images, music and video.

Link

Artificial-intelligence data centers and climate rules are pushing the power grid to what could become a breaking point.

Link

Hey Adam,

In response to the ongoing discussion of the potential for Chinese cars to be brought to the United States I'd like to point to a parallel industry where they've already made big inroads.

Cheap Chinese dirt bikes began to flood traditional multi manufacturer Dealerships back in probably 2017 - these were bad products but the price point and availability kept them flowing.

When the pandemic started good Japanese bikes suddenly were all held up in ports - and perhaps manufacturing delays in Japan - these bikes became very hard to come by. I was in the market for one so it was very annoying -

Enter CF-Moto, a new Chinese road bike built on platforms that have been farmed out from other manufacturers. These are okay bikes. They already build many of the components for these other manufacturers. The prices are cheaper than anyone else, and the only real detractor is the stigma of a Chinese bike. They have absolutely flooded the market and will pose a serious problem for the Japanese & other affordable makes. (I had no problem buying a higher end Italian bike instead)

Following this model, I can see any easy pathway for the cars to enter big box dealerships that already sell a variety of makes - and now with the port closure in Baltimore I'm sure we'll see a very similar situation play out. Dealerships with limited available inventory will jump on a cheap alternative if it means they can move units.

Let's not forget Japanese cars had to get creative to break into the global market back in the day - Subaru selling through tracotor stores.

Sorry for the wall of text!

Emerson

Neha J Pagidipati, MD, FACC: RESEARCH/RESEARCH GRANTS - Eggland's Best - Novo Nordisk Inc

Link

Link to Article

Archived Version

Sun, 31 Mar 2024 17:14

A woman who was pulled off a Delta Air Lines flight for possibly not wearing a bra demanded the airline change its policy.

Lisa Archbold held a news conference with her attorney Gloria Allred Thursday, saying she showed up to board her flight at Salt Lake City Airport in January, dressed comfortably in a loose, white shirt and pants.

But shortly after the entire plane was seated, a flight attendant came to her seat and asked her to speak in private, escorting Archbold off the plane.

''I was targeted and humiliated,'' said Archbold, who described she felt as though she was a criminal.

Archbold suspected the airliner had a problem with the fact the passenger wasn't wearing a bra.

''The gate agent told her that when passengers are wearing offensive or revealing clothing, Delta's official policy is to remove them from the flight,'' Allred said.

Archbold said she was allowed to fly under the condition that she put another shirt on top of the one she was wearing. When she brought the matter to the head flight attendant, she claims the official told her Delta's official policy is that ''women must cover up.''

LocalGet Los Angeles's latest local news on crime, entertainment, weather, schools, COVID, cost of living and more. Here's your go-to source for today's LA news.

When NBC Los Angeles contacted Delta about its dress code and Archbold's case, the airline responded by saying that earlier this year Delta representatives had contacted Archbold with an apology.

And according to Delta's dress standards, the airline notes online that it can refuse to transport ''when the passenger's conduct, attire, hygiene or odor creates an unreasonable risk of offense or annoyance to other passengers.''

Allred said the treatment of Archbold was discrimination.

While Archbold and her legal team are not filing a suit against Delta at this point, they want the company to change its policies as well as to hold a meeting with the airliner's president.

Link to Article

Archived Version

Sun, 31 Mar 2024 17:13

TALLAHASSEE '-- A federal judge on Friday heard arguments in a court battle over a law restricting educators' use of personal pronouns and titles in schools, in one of a series of challenges to Florida policies targeting LGBTQ people.

Plaintiffs Katie Wood, a transgender Hillsborough County teacher, and AV Schwandes, a nonbinary teacher fired last year by Florida Virtual School, are seeking preliminary injunctions as part of a lawsuit challenging the 2023 law, passed by the Republican-controlled Legislature and signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis.

The challenge alleges the law violates the teachers' First Amendment rights and runs afoul of a federal civil-rights law.

Attorneys for the Florida Department of Education and other defendants asked Chief U.S. District Judge Mark Walker to dismiss the lawsuit, arguing that the Legislature has discretion to ''promote the state's pedagogical goals and vindicate parental rights.''

The case centers on part of the 2023 law that says a school employee ''may not provide to a student his or her preferred personal title or pronouns if such preferred personal title or pronouns do not correspond to his or her sex.'' The state defines sex as what was assigned at birth.

The law is intended to avoid confusion ''about the immutable, biological nature of sex,'' attorneys for the state argued in a motion to dismiss the lawsuit.

''Teachers providing to students biologically incongruous pronouns undermines the state's policy regarding sex,'' attorneys from the firm Consovoy McCarthy PLLC wrote in a brief filed March 11.

A preliminary injunction motion filed by Wood said she has been prevented from using the title ''Ms.'' and ''she/her'' pronouns.

Sam Boyd, an attorney for the Southern Poverty Law Center who represents the plaintiffs, on Friday argued that it was ''absurd'' to maintain that a ''law that requires a teacher who identifies as and presents as a woman to use male pronouns prevents confusion'' or advances the state's interests.

Pronouns and titles are integral components of a transgender person's identity, Boyd said

''Their pronouns are probably the most central aspect of their transgender identity,'' Boyd added. ''To be a woman in our society is to be referred to as female.''

The ''purpose and effect'' of the law is to ''discriminate against transgender and nonbinary people,'' Diego Soto, also with the Southern Poverty Law Center, argued.

But Brian Weir, who represents the state, said the law was not intended to discriminate against anyone.

''Sex, like race and national origin, is an immutable characteristic determined solely by accident of birth,'' Weir said, quoting from previous court rulings.

Arguing against the preliminary injunction, Weir said the plaintiffs haven't demonstrated ''irreparable harm'' from the law. He also pointed to what he called a ''delay'' in the request for an injunction, which was filed four months after the law went into effect.

Walker asked a series of questions about the time lag, noting Wood ''effectively served '... for almost the entire semester before she sought relief.''

Wood, who has worked as a teacher in Hillsborough County since 2021, transitioned as a woman around 2020, had her name legally changed and lives as a woman, the lawsuit said. The state issued a teaching certificate in her legal name, Katie Wood. According to the lawsuit, county officials initially ''were supportive of her transgender status and her female gender identity and expression.''

Since the law went into effect, the principal at Wood's school and the county school board told her she could no longer be called ''Ms.'' because ''her sex is deemed male.'' The officials told Wood she could use the titles ''Mr.,'' ''Teacher,'' or ''Coach.''

Boyd argued the law is doing ''irreparable harm'' to Wood.

''Ms. Wood, every day, is having to go into class and refer to herself as 'teacher' and be misgendered by her students out of ignorance, in some cases, to go through that process on a day-to-day basis,'' Boyd said.

Schwandes, who uses they/them pronouns, was fired in October after refusing to comply with the pronoun restriction. According to the lawsuit, Schwandes is now the subject of an investigation by state education officials and could be stripped of their license.

Plaintiffs also are being represented by Southern Legal Counsel and the law firm Altshuler Berzon LLP. The lawsuit names numerous defendants, including the state Department of Education, the State Board of Education, the Hillsborough County School Board, the Lee County School Board and the Florida Virtual School Board of Trustees.

In addition to the First Amendment, the lawsuit alleges that the pronoun restrictions violate what is known as Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 because they discriminate based on sex.

The state has contracted to pay the Consovoy McCarthy PLLC firm up to $507,430 for legal costs associated with the lawsuit and any subsequent appeals, according to the Department of Financial Services website.

Walker did not rule on the motions Friday and said he has trials scheduled for the next month but would ''do my best to get out an order as quickly as possible.''

Link to Article

Archived Version

Sun, 31 Mar 2024 17:08

New Study Finds Direct Link Between Ozempic and GastroparesisIf you are taking Ozempic or a similar medication and you are now facing a diagnosis of gastroparesis (stomach paralysis), this article contains important information you need to know. Over the past several years, the popularity of glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) receptor agonist (RA) medications such as Ozempic has skyrocketed. While their ability to treat diabetes and assist with weight loss has been praised, there is a great deal of concern regarding potential Ozempic side effects, including gastroparesis.

In October 2023, the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) examined adverse events associated with GLP-1 RA drugs used for weight loss in a research letter called "Risk of Gastrointestinal Adverse Events Associated With Glucagon-Like Peptide-1 Receptor Agonists for Weight Loss" where they concluded that studies had found increased risks of gastrointestinal adverse events, such as biliary disease, pancreatitis, bowel obstruction, and gastroparesis.

If you've been diagnosed with gastroparesis linked to Ozempic use, you may be able to recover compensation for your damages. Contact an experienced Ozempic lawyer who can evaluate your situation to determine whether or not you may be eligible to seek financial compensation.

Don't wait any longer, call 866-535-9515 or submit your case for review today! Ozempic and Gastroparesis: What is it?As this article explains, there is a link between the popular medication Ozempic and a condition where the stomach becomes dangerously paralyzed, known as gastroparesis. The medication has become extremely popular because of its ability to cause rapid weight loss. So as you can imagine, there are millions of people taking the medication. Therefore, any serious or deadly side effects are really important to understand (and pssst...important to warn people about).

Gastroparesis is a condition that impacts the normal functioning of the stomach muscles. When the digestive system is working correctly, the stomach muscles contract and relax to break down food and slowly move it into the small intestine. However, when a person is suffering from gastroparesis, the stomach muscles become weak or even get paralyzed, causing food to move slowly through the digestive system or causing it not to move at all.

This causes serious pain and serious side effects, which can range from uncomfortable to painful to deadly.

How is Ozempic Linked to Gastroparesis?Ozempic (the brand name for semaglutide) belongs to a class of medications called glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) agonists. These drugs work by mimicking a natural hormone in your body called GLP-1, which helps to regulate blood sugar and slows down stomach emptying. This medication helps people with diabetes for the obvious reason of lowering blood sugar, but also by delaying food leaving the stomach which also helps regulate blood sugar in diabetics.

However, when the hormone is added to the body by people who don't need it and in a synthetic form, it can sometimes cause excessive symptoms, leading to the symptoms of gastroparesis in some people.

Why is Ozempic Being Sued for Failing to Warn About Gastroparesis?There have been a ton of lawsuits filed against the manufacturers of Ozempic (Novo Nordisk) and other makers of GLP-1 agonists for failing to warn patients about the potential risk of gastroparesis. Most everyday people need these kinds of side effects to not only be explained but explained well so they can make informed decisions.

Here's why the Ozempic and other defendants are being sued:

Recent Studies: While scientists and manufacturers were aware that gastroparesis was a known but rare side effect of GLP-1 drugs, recent studies suggest that it might be much more common than previously thought. These studies have found a correlation between the use of GLP-1 agonists and an increased chance of developing gastroparesis compared to other medications. Lack of Sufficient Warnings: In the lawsuits, the defendants claim that the current warnings on Ozempic labels don't adequately inform patients about the severity and long-term consequences of gastroparesis. Unforeseen Complications: Some of the lawsuits filed have alleged that the drug manufacturers might have downplayed the potential for gastroparesis to become permanent, which can completely uproot someone's life and require lifelong care. Glucagon-like 1 (GLP-1) - Glucagon-like peptide 1, abbreviated to GLP-1, is a hormone naturally produced in the gut and released in response to food. It causes reduced appetite and the release of insulin. Receptor agonist (RA) - An agonist is a chemical that activates a receptor in the body to modify what it is currently doing. Gastroparesis - Gastroparesis is a condition that hinders the normal movement of the muscles in your stomach which helps move food through your body's natural process during digestion. Zepbound, Mounjaro, Wegovy, and Ozempic - Zepbound, Mounjaro, Wegovy, and Ozempic are medications that similarly reduce appetite. These drugs activate important hormones in the body that help with food digestion. They are at the center of the lawsuits in question. Semaglutide - Semaglutide is the generic name for the brand name drugs Wegovy and Ozempic. It was developed by Novo Nordisk in 2012 and approved for use in the US in 2017. Tirzepatide - Tirzepatide is the generic name for the brand name drugs Zepbound and Mounjaro. It was developed by Eli Lilly and Company and approved for use in the US in 2022. Similar issues with stomach paralysis have led to the filing of Mounjaro stomach paralysis lawsuits. Bowel obstruction - Bowel obstruction (aka intestinal obstruction) is a blockage that prevents food or liquid from passing through your intestines normally. Peer-reviewed - A journal or study that other professionals in the field have reviewed to ensure its accuracy and methods. Novo Nordisk - The manufacturer of Ozempic and Wegovy. Eli Lilly & Company - The manufacturers of Mounjaro and Zepbound. Biliary disease - Biliary disease refers to diseases affecting the bile ducts, gallbladder, and other body parts involved in the production and movement of bile. Bile is a fluid produced by the liver that aids digestion. Insulin - Insulin is a hormone that helps blood sugar enter the body's cells to be used for energy. Insulin also signals the liver to store blood sugar for later use. Other medications that have the same effects as Ozempic'--like Wegovy and Mounjaro'--have also risen in popularity among individuals using these drugs for the off-label purpose of losing weight. The craze first became known because of celebrities speaking out about using these drugs, including Elon Musk, Khlo(C) Kardashian, Meghan McCain, and Charles Barkley. And, of course, it trickled down to the everyday person.

However, the use of Ozempic, Wegovy, and Mounjaro can lead to adverse events such as severe gastroparesis (paralyzed stomachs), abdominal pain, stomach pain, severe vomiting, gastrointestinal events, bowel obstruction, and other potential side effects.

Especially if you have never previously suffered from these conditions, a diagnosis of gastroparesis after taking Ozempic can be life-altering. Based on these recent studies, Ozempic users who are diagnosed with gastrointestinal problems may build a strong case to receive compensation from the drug makers.

Many More Ozempic-Gastroparesis Lawsuits are ExpectedNow that these diabetic medications are being commonly used as weight-loss drugs, we expect many complaints of gastrointestinal issues to surface. In fact, at least 9 million prescriptions of these specific medications have been written, according to analytics firm Trilliant Health.

As mentioned above, in October 2023, a publication from the JAMA Network (an international peer-reviewed medical journal) corroborated an earlier but less rigorous clinical research study by establishing a connection between Semaglutide (Ozempic and/or Wegovy) used for weight management and a heightened risk of gastroparesis (stomach paralysis).

With patient safety in mind, many more studies will be published over the next few years.

As Novo Nordisk, the manufacturer of Ozepmic and Wegovy, prepares to face additional lawsuits for its failure to warn users of all the risks of taking a GLP-1 RA, the October study only further threatens to reverse the tremendous business progress and success the international pharmaceutical company has enjoyed.

Researchers Detect High-Risk of Gastroparesis in Semaglutide UsersWith the heightened scrutiny surrounding the safety and efficacy of GLP-1 RA medications, researchers around the world have undertaken a concerted effort to determine the precise correlation between the use of popular diabetes drugs and severe gastrointestinal side effects. The most recent study to establish a definitive link comes from a group of physicians in an October edition of JAMA Network, a peer-reviewed medical journal in operation since 1883.

Relying on data from the PharMetrics Plus database, which contains the prescription records of tens of millions of patients, the researchers selected, at random, 16 million subjects from 2006 to 2020. After refining the selection criteria to exclude semaglutide and liraglutide users who also have diabetes or underlying medical conditions (including those with prior gastrointestinal conditions) which could increase an individual's risk factor for developing severe biliary or gastrointestinal diseases, the researchers then proceeded to track the rate of incidence of alarming complications.

The JAMA study concluded that users of semaglutide for weight management were at a heightened risk of developing ''pancreatitis, gastroparesis, and bowel obstruction.'' The study's goal was to fill the gaps in prior clinical research about the correlation between semaglutide and liraglutide use and gastrointestinal complications. The ultimate recommendation in the JAMA study was these results should ''be considered by patients who are contemplating using the drugs for weight loss.''

Gastroparesis (stomach paralysis) is a severe medical complication that extensive clinical research is beginning to connect to the use of popular GLP-1 RA (also known as GLP-1 agonists) medications, particularly Ozempic and Wegovy. It is characterized by dangerously slow rates of gastric emptying, which is the rate at which the stomach empties its contents.

In severe cases, gastroparesis has been known to prevent people from eating food after only a few bites, thereby seriously inhibiting the natural digestion process. Although the severity of the symptoms connected with gastroparesis caused by the use of Ozempic and Wegovy varies, common symptoms of the condition include:

Nausea Vomiting Abdominal bloating and pain Heightened satiety - feeling full quickly Acid reflux Fluctuations in blood sugar levels If you are experiencing any of these symptoms while taking one of these medications, you should speak to your healthcare professional right away.

Although there is little evidence to suggest that Ozempic-induced gastroparesis continues after a person stops taking the drug, some diagnoses are so severe that they require surgical intervention in the form of gastric bypass to fix the damage and restore bodily equilibrium.

As we are learning, gastrointestinal issues are common side effects of medications in the GLP-1 class.

The information provided in this article is for general knowledge and education purposes only and does not constitute medical advice. You should consult with a healthcare professional or your doctor for personalized medical advice.

The Science Behind GLP-1 Receptor Agonist Drugs Like OzempicAlthough the most recent study from JAMA Network is likely to influence decisions by physicians and patients alike, it also provides crucial evidence for a common suspicion that medical professionals have long held about the safety of GLP-1 RA medications. The drugs, which were originally designed for the treatment of Type II diabetes, are now being used extensively for weight management.

The primary reason for this peculiar but unsurprising turn of events is the science behind GLP-1 RAs. As receptor agonists, they mimic the effects of naturally occurring GLP-1 produced in the lower intestine.

GLP-1 is a tremendously important hormone that helps the body to do many things, including:

Produce insulin Control blood sugar levels Increase satiety Slows gastric emptying (slows the movement of food in the digestive tract) Given the paramount importance of regulating blood sugar levels in diabetics, GLP-1 RA enjoyed great success upon its introduction to the international drug market. Nevertheless, even the most stringent of FDA approval requirements could not predict the long-term effects of the drugs, and the administration has had to rely upon post-marketing reviews and anecdotal reports of stomach conditions to determine their safety and efficacy.

The safety of GLP-1 drugs (anti-diabetic drugs) as weight loss medications has not been established. And it seems the FDA is aware that adverse event reports will only continue to increase.

Expos(C) Reporting Reveals the Gastrointestinal Side Effects of Ozempic & WegovyExpos(C) reporting from CNN in the summer of 2023 cast a light on the serious but undisclosed side effects of Ozempic and Wegovy use among American and Canadian users. Several interviewees described horrifying incidents of excessive vomiting and stomach paralysis so severe that they missed work or needed surgical intervention.

Based on the recent slew of clinical research and an unnerving letter from the American Society of Anesthesiologists warning about potential GLP-1 RA use complicating surgical procedures, CNN exposed how the once-acclaimed drugs have become nightmare-inducing medications.

The common side effects associated with GLP-1 medication make sense for people with diabetes. However, the side effects make less sense for those using these drugs as a weight loss medication. There have been numerous reports of cyclic vomiting syndrome following the use of Ozempic and Wegovy. Multiple bariatric surgeons have called for additional studies to determine the link between Ozempic and gastroparesis and other gastrointestinal issues.

Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly and Co. Named in First Ozempic LawsuitIn August 2023, Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly and Company, the manufacturers of Ozempic and Mounjaro, respectively, were named as defendants in the first of many product liability lawsuits. The Louisiana plaintiff in that case, alleges that after taking Ozempic for one year and, subsequently, Mounjaro, she developed severe gastrointestinal complications, which resulted in tooth loss from profuse vomiting.

The 44-year-old received a definitive diagnosis of stomach paralysis (gastroparesis) and struggles with an undiagnosed vomiting condition requiring temporary hospitalization to treat her dehydration.

Although Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly and Co. deny any wrongdoing, this Ozempic lawsuit claims the drug manufacturers ''failed to warn'' users of the potential risks involved with these GLP-1 RA medications.

Over the last 5 years since Ozempic was approved for use in the U.S., Google searches for Ozempic have increased by nearly 5000%. Clearly, many people are interested in learning more about Ozempic, but they need to know the whole story.

While the promise of rapid weight loss may entice the general public, anecdotal reports of adverse events warrant further attention from medical professionals. We anticipate the publication of large epidemiological studies over the next few years, which will shed more light on the link between Ozempic or Mounjaro and stomach paralysis.

To learn if you can demand compensation for your damages, consult a seasoned product liability attorney. Contact our dedicated legal staff at 866-535-9515 or complete our contact form for your free consultation today.

Don't wait any longer, call 866-535-9515 or submit your case for review today! What Common Damages are Available in Ozempic Litigation?The ongoing Ozempic litigation is still in a preliminary phase. Also, each case involves unique circumstances and medical concerns. As a result, it is challenging to calculate precise Ozempic lawsuit settlement figures. Any lawyer making predictions about case values at this stage is simply guessing. Nevertheless, in personal injury law, damages tend to be divided into three overarching categories: economic damages, non-economic damages, and punitive damages.

Economic damages are designed to reimburse plaintiffs for the out-of-pocket financial losses they have sustained on account of an injury caused by a negligent party and commonly address:

Lost wages and income Medical expenses '' past, present, and future Transportation costs Non-economic damages are more subjective in nature but provide compensation to individuals who have suffered a severe injury for their:

Pain and suffering Decreased quality of life Mental anguish Punitive damages are awarded at the discretion of the court in instances where a company or organization was egregious or intentional in their negligent misconduct.

Given the severity of the gastrointestinal injuries and illnesses caused by Ozempic and Wegovy, we expect demands for extensive economic, non-economic, and punitive damages from current and potential plaintiffs in these defective drug lawsuits.

If you were prescribed Ozempic or other semaglutide medications and subsequently received a diagnosis of gastroparesis or developed the symptoms of other affiliated conditions, consider speaking with an experienced product liability attorney today.

If you are facing gallbladder issues or you've developed gallstones after taking Ozempic, read more about the Ozempic Gallstone Lawsuit or contact an Ozempic Gallbladder Lawyer today.

Novo Nordisk has recently become the most valuable company in Europe. With a stranglehold on the GLP-1 RA market in the United States and ambitious plans to expand worldwide, it has seen incredible growth and success due to Ozempic prescriptions.

Unfortunately, the speed at which Novo Nordisk rose to such preeminence parallels the hastiness with which it designed, manufactured, and tested its drugs'--all with seeming disregard for the long-term consequences and health complications they could cause.

We believe that transparency and honesty from pharmaceutical companies are a cornerstone for well-informed and healthy consumers.

This is why our team of experienced Ozempic lawyers is on standby to get you the compensation you deserve and to hold Novo Nordisk accountable for its irresponsible business practices.

We offer free consultations for prospective clients where we can discuss your situation and assist you in determining the viability of your claim and the strength of the evidence. We also accept dangerous drug cases on a contingency fee basis, so you won't pay us until we successfully resolve your Ozempic claim.

For more information about your eligibility to file an Ozempic lawsuit and pursue justice for the gastroparesis and other severe injuries you sustained from Novo Nordisk's powerhouse drug, contact us today. Call 866-535-9515 or submit your case for review now!

Matthew Dolman Personal Injury Lawyer This article was written and reviewed by Matthew Dolman. Matt has been a practicing civil trial, personal injury, products liability, and mass tort lawyer since 2004. He has represented over 11,000 injury victims and has served as lead counsel in over 1000 lawsuits. Matt is a lifetime member of the Million Dollar Advocates Forum and Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forum for resolving individual cases in excess of $1 million and $2 million, respectively. He has also been selected by his colleagues as a Florida Superlawyer and as a member of Florida's Legal Elite on multiple occasions. Further, Matt has been quoted in the media numerous times and is a sought-after speaker on a variety of legal issues and topics.

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Sun, 31 Mar 2024 14:07

Transgender Day of Visibility, or Trans Visibility Day, is a day to celebrate trans, non-binary and gender-expansive individuals in America and around the world. President Joe Biden issued a White House proclamation in recognition of the day for 2024 in the United States.

"Trans Day of Visibility is all about trans joy," said Tori Cooper, the director of community engagement for the trans justice initiative at the Human Rights Campaign Foundation, HRC.

Cooper, who is a Black trans woman, says that even in "the worst political climates," individuals and organizations are working to make sure trans joy continues to spread.

When is Transgender Day of Visibility?In 2024, the holiday falls on Sunday March 31st, the same day as Easter.

What is Transgender Day of Visibility?According to GLAAD, people observe "Transgender Day of Visibility to raise awareness about transgender people."

It was created by Rachel Crandel, a transgender advocate and the executive director and co-founder of Transgender Michigan, in 2010 because of the "overwhelming" amount of media stories involving violence against transgender people.

"She hoped to create a day where people could celebrate the lives of transgender people, while still acknowledging that due to discrimination, not every trans person can or wants to be visible," states GLAAD's website.

Transgender Day Of Visibility:I'm a trans man. We don't have a secret agenda '' we're just asking you to let us live.

Transgender Day of Visibility: How to be an allyCooper says there are a lot of things people who are cisgender, meaning they identity as the gender they were assigned at birth, can do to support the trans and nonbinary community.

"Number one is make sure that you're utilizing the power of the vote to vote for people and politicians who support trans people and the parents of trans kids," says Cooper.

Next, Cooper recommends people talk freely and without judgement to the trans folks in their communities, whether they know them or not.

Finally, she recommends people educate themselves on who trans people are and what they're not.

"The biggest danger is obviously the fact that people who are not trans themselves, who admittedly have no interaction with trans people, have no formal knowledge or even elementary knowledge on trans people, our lives and our healthcare, are creating these policies that are actually dangerous for trans and gender expansive people," said Cooper.

Transgender Day of Visibility: How to financially support the trans communityMercury Star Dust, a.k.a. the Trans Handy Ma'am, and @AlluringSkull are teaming up with other trans influencers to raise $4 million during Stardust's and Jory's third annual TikTok-a-Thon For Trans Health through an organization called Point of Pride.

In 2023, the influencers raised over $2 million to support trans healthcare.

Cooper says that while it's a great start to give attention to national influencers, organizations and fund raisers, local advocates are usually know what their community needs best.

"They're often people who are in your local communities, who are doing amazing things that aren't getting the national attention," said Cooper. "Those are the people that really need your support because they understand what the political climate is in your area."

She encourages folks to research local trans-serving and trans-run organizations, specifically those who serve BIPOC communities, Black, Indigenous people of color, and use them as role models.

"Many of them are pillars in the community who are doing the hard work each and every day without getting their national exposure," she says.

Julia is a trending reporter for USA TODAY. She has covered various topics, from local businesses and government in her hometown, Miami, to tech and pop culture. You can follow her on X, formerly known as Twitter, Instagram and TikTok: @juliamariegz.

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Sun, 31 Mar 2024 13:37

Gila monsters' venom has a compound in it that can regulate hunger. It's similar to a hormone people produce in our intestines '-- but the lizard version is longer-acting. The find led to the development of a new class of obesity and diabetes drugs, including Ozempic. Thanks for signing up!

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What does the Gila monster have that we don't have? The key to more effortless weight-loss, apparently.

It turns out the venom of a small, Southwestern lizard '-- the only venomous lizard in America '-- played a critical role in developing a whole new class of blockbuster anti-obesity drugs, called GLP-1s.

One of the newest GLP-1s is called semaglutide. It's sold under the brand names Ozempic and Wegovy '-- and it is taking Hollywood by storm. Rising demand for these types of drugs, which mimic key hormones that tell us to feel full, have led to severe shortages of GLP-1s in recent months.

But before semaglutide became the darling shot of Hollywood, scientists discovered that compounds in the venom of Gila monsters could help drug developers make better diabetes medications than they'd ever had before.

Gila monster hormones can regulate blood sugar very well It all started back in the early 1990s, when government researcher Dr. John Eng discovered that Gila monsters have a special hormone in their venom. The hormone is quite similar to a hunger-regulating hormone humans harbor in the small intestine, which helps control blood sugar levels.

In people, it's called glucagon-like peptide-1. In Gila monsters, Eng named it exendin-4.

Exendin-4 degrades more slowly than the human form of GLP-1, lasting for hours instead of minutes. That means it's a much better model for drug development, since it wouldn't be practical to take a drug dozens of times a day.

Gila monsters are native to the southwestern US and parts of northern Mexico. It's the only venomous lizard in the US. VWPics/Universal Images Group via Getty Images At first, Eng tried to point this remarkable feature of Gila monster spit out to pharmaceutical makers and the government. He shopped his idea around at the Department of Veterans Affairs, where he worked at the time, as well as several different pharmaceutical companies, but didn't have much success. In the end, he patented the molecule in 1995, and licensed the discovery to a now-defunct biotech startup called Amylin.

Amylin used Eng's Gila monster research to create a synthetic hormone, called extenatide. Extenatide was approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 2005 to treat type 2 diabetes. It's still used by hundreds of thousands of children and adults with diabetes today.

A safe obesity treatment that slows digestion and curbs cravingsExtenatide was the very first GLP-1-mimicking drug. It ushered in a whole new class of diabetes medications that are arguably safer, and more effective, than previous treatments were. More recently, GLP-1s have been designed to target obesity, too.

Today's GLP-1s work to help people lose weight because they mimic a hormone our small intestine makes naturally, which regulates hunger in several different key ways.

When a patient's blood sugar levels are high, GLP-1 drugs send signals to their pancreas to secrete more insulin '-- but the hormone-mimicking doesn't stop there. GLP-1s also send signals to a person's brain, telling their body to feel fuller with less food. Finally, GLP-1s slow down digestion, changing the way a person's body turns food into energy.

Originally, patients had to take extenatide twice a day. But, over time, newer, more advanced GLP-1s have come to market, with even longer release times (no offense, Gila monsters).

We need animals to create medical breakthroughs like Ozempic, scientist says Semaglutide mimics a hormone that helps regulate hunger. Getty Images Today, most GLP-1s are injected once a day, or just once a week. But they arguably wouldn't be here if it wasn't for Eng's work '-- which created the very first GLP-1 drug.

In a statement to Insider, Novo Nordisk, the company that makes Wegovy and Ozempic, said that Gila monsters and the discovery of exendin-4 "did not have anything to do with our decision to develop long-acting GLP-1 receptor agonists" for obesity, because "that was based on GLP-1 biology in humans."

But the company also said that "the GLP-1-like effect of exendin-4" in Gila monsters was "an important contribution to the field," as it led to the development of the very first injectable drug of its kind.

Eng, who worked for many years at the Bronx VA medical center, was awarded a 2013 Golden Goose award, a prize meant to honor federally-funded research that leads to major biomedical breakthroughs. And, as recently as 2018, he was still collecting some royalties on the product, according to ProPublica.

Funny enough, he had never actually seen a Gila monster up close until after the drug designed to mimic Gila venom was FDA approved.

"It really is a beautiful lizard," he told Diabetes in Control in 2007. "The question is, what other animal has something to teach us that can be of future value? And plants, too? We will never know their value if they are gone."

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Archived Version

Sun, 31 Mar 2024 13:23

It was nearly 44 years ago that the storm-blinded freighter Summit Venture crashed into the support columns of the Sunshine Skyway bridge, causing a 1,200-foot span of the bridge to collapse into the bay.

At 7:33 a.m. on May 9, 1980, 35 lives were lost. They died in the six cars, truck and Greyhound bus that fell 150 feet into the water below.

The Summit Venture underneath the Sunshine Skyway bridge after the crash. [ Times (1980) ]In 2000, a St. Petersburg Times article by Jean Heller described how the disaster unfolded:

''Capt. John Lerro was the harbor pilot trying to guide the freighter Summit Venture, a ship two football fields long, into the 58.4-mile channel that leads to the Port of Tampa. It is a long and treacherous channel thanks to the shallow depth of the bay and Florida's unpredictable weather.''

The Summit Venture, with bridge debris hanging from its bow, is pictured shortly after it crashed into the Sunshine Skyway bridge. [ Times (1980) ]The freighter was already dealing with fog when it was hit by 60 mph winds and blinding rain.

The radar went down when Lerro had to decide when to turn the Summit Venture between two of the Skyway's main piers.

On the bridge, Lerro considered his options. Visibility was terrible. There was also a ship leaving the bay approaching. Unable to track the approaching ship Pure Oil, the pilot judged it too risky to turn out of the shipping channel '-- what if he turned into the path of the oncoming ship?

If he tried to bring the Summit Venture to a halt, the winds could cause the freighter to lose control and fling it into the bridge.

Richard Hornbuckle's car was inches from disaster but managed to stop on the wrecked Sunshine Skyway bridge after the freighter, Summit Venture, slammed into the bridge. [ Times (1980) ]The best course, Lerro decided, was to get the Summit Venture safely between the bridge's pillars. But he misjudged the winds, unaware that a squall had changed the direction of the wind, pushing the freighter out of the channel and off-course. The vessel was also empty, riding high on the waves.

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Explore all your optionsA minute before impact, the skies cleared just enough for Lerro to see the Sunshine Skyway before him. Despite a flurry of last-second maneuvers, it was too late.

At 7:33 a.m., the bow of the Summit Venture struck bridge pier 2S. The pier came down, and so did Interstate 275 above it during rush hour.

Aerial of the Sunshine Skyway bridge disaster [ Times (1980) ] A Greyhound bus is pulled from Tampa Bay after the Skyway accident. [ Times (1980) ]Lerro radioed the Coast Guard for help:

''Get emergency . . . all the emergency equipment out to the Skyway bridge. Vessel has just hit the Skyway bridge. The Skyway bridge is down! Get all emergency equipment out to the Skyway bridge. The Skyway bridge is down. This is Mayday. Emergency situation. (Nearly screaming) Stop the traffic on that Skyway bridge!''

A state inquiry later cleared Lerro of negligence. The Coast Guard found that his decision to sail in zero visibility contributed to the crash.

Yet many factors were found to be beyond the pilot's control: The storm that blinded the ship was not forecast; Lerro had no idea the oncoming tanker had anchored and was no longer a threat; a passing pilot never warned Lerro about the storm.

The wrecked Greyhound bus is unloaded from a barge after it was pulled from the water. [ Times (1980) ]The new Sunshine Skyway bridge '-- officially the Bob Graham Sunshine Skyway bridge, named after the former governor and U.S. senator '-- opened on April 20, 1987.

Ships still pass beneath the bridge to enter Tampa Bay and reach Port Tampa Bay, but this Skyway is designed specifically to avoid the calamity that took place 38 years ago.

The Summit Venture later changed hands several times. It sank as the Jian Mao 9 off the coast of Vietnam in 2010.

The freighter, Summit Venture, in the aftermath of the crash with the Sunshine Skyway bridge. [ Times (1980) ] The Summit Venture sits in the Port of Tampa with wreckage from on the bow. [ Times (1980) ]Only one person survived the fall: Wesley MacIntire, 56. The Gulfport man's blue Ford Courier pickup truck fell onto the ship before it entered the water, allowing him to escape his vehicle and swim to the surface.

Wesley MacIntire, the only survivor from the Sunshine Skyway bridge accident [ Times (1980) ] In MemoriamThe 35 victims of the 1980 Sunshine Skyway Bridge Disaster:

Michael Curtin, 43, of Apollo Beach

Duane Adderly, 21, of Miami

Louis Lucas Jr., 62, of Dolomite, Ala.

Yvonne Johnson, 22, of Perrine

Manesha McGarrah, 7 months, of Tallahassee

Wanda McGarrah, 24, of Tallahassee

Sharon Dixon, 21, of Miami

Myrtle Brown, 58, of St. Johns, Newfoundland

Willis Brown, 57, of St. Johns, Newfoundland

Aubrey Hudson, 62, of St. Johns, Newfoundland

Phyllis Hudson, 58, of St. Johns, Newfoundland

John Carlson, 47, of Pinellas Park

Doris Carlson, 42, of Pinellas Park

Tawana McClendon, 20, of Palmetto

Charles Collins, 40, of Tampa

Leslie Coleman Jr., 52, of St. Petersburg

James Pryor, 42, of Seminole

John Callaway Jr., 19, of Miami

Horace Lemmons, 47, of Kings Mountain, N.C.

Gerda Hedquist, 92, of Charlotte Harbor

Louise Johnson, 59, of Cataula, Ga.

Melborne Russell, 38, of Chicago, Iill.

Robert Harding, 63, of Glens Falls, N.Y.

Alphonso Blidge, 22, of Miami

Marguerite Mathison, 82, of St. Petersburg

Sandra Davis, 34, of Boardman

Hildred Dietch, 73, of St. Petersburg

Harry Dietch, 68, of St. Petersburg

Lillian Loucks, 69, of Winnipeg, Manitoba

Ann Pondy, 57, of Winnipeg, Manitoba

Brenda Green, 19, of Miami

Delores Smith, 50, of Pennsville, N.J.

Robert Smith, 37, of Pennsville, N.J.

Laverne Daniels, 20, of Miami

Woodrow Triplett, 33, of Bainbridge, Ga.

Source: www.skywaydisaster.com/

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Archived Version

Sun, 31 Mar 2024 11:54

The Dali cargo ship which smashed into the Francis Scott Key Bridge suffered a 'severe electrical problem' while docked in Baltimore days before, according to a port worker.

Julie Mitchell, co-administrator of Container Royalty, a company which tracks cargo, told CNN the ship was anchored at the port for at least 48 hours prior to the deadly crash.

Following the devastation, she said: 'And those two days, they were having serious power outages'... they had a severe electrical problem. It was total power failure, loss of engine power, everything.'

Mitchell explained that refrigerated boxes tripped breakers on board the ship on several occasions, and mechanics had been trying to fix the issue.

She said she didn't know whether the problem had been fixed when the ship set off.

The 1.6-mile Key Bridge partially collapsed after the cargo shipping container vessel crashed into one of its support structures just before 1:30 a.m. Tuesday morning.

Maryland Governor Wes Moore said the ship's crew notified officials that it had lost power in the moments before the collision

The cargo ship Dali is stuck under part of the structure of the Francis Scott Key Bridge after the ship hit the bridge

Maryland Governor Wes Moore said the ship's crew notified officials that it had lost power in the moments before the collision.

Mitchell told CNN that major power problems on board large vessels like the Dali are 'not really that common at all', describing the freak incident as 'very rare'.

'They shouldn't have let the ship leave port until they got it on under control,' she said.

Six workers who were on the bridge, pouring concrete to fix potholes as part of a graveyard shift, remain missing and are presumed dead.

It has been widely reported that the Dali suffered a loss in propulsion which caused steering issues in the lead-up to the crash that caused the iconic bridge to collapse like a 'house of cards.'

One officer on the Dali also said that before the crash, the engines 'coughed and then stopped.' There was not enough time before the ship hit the bridge to drop anchors prompting the vessel to drift.

Six workers who were on the bridge, pouring concrete to fix potholes as part of a graveyard shift, remain missing and are presumed dead

The Dali cargo ship which smashed into the Key Bridge suffered a 'severe electrical problem' while docked in Baltimore days before, according to a port worker

The first of the six: Miguel Luna, 49, was the first missing construction worker identified following the collapse

'The vessel went dead, no steering power and no electronics... The smell of burned fuel was everywhere in the engine room and it was pitch black,' the officer said.

When a ship such as the Dali loses power, backup generators kick in but they do not fulfill all of the same functions as the main power, Pagoulatos said.

In 2016, the Dali was involved in an accident in the port of Antwerp.

The Antwerp port authorities said the container ship Dali hit a quay on July 11, 2016, as it tried to exit the North Sea container terminal.

A 2016 inspection of the vessel conducted in Antwerp found it had a structural issue, which was stated as 'hull damage impairing its seaworthiness,' according to data published on Equasis, a public database for the shipping industry.

Maynor Suazo, 37, a native of Honduras has been named as the other man missing and presumed dead

Julie Mitchell, co-administrator of Container Royalty, a company which tracks cargo, told CNN the ship was anchored at the port for at least 48 hours prior to the deadly crash

Inspectors found a problem with the Dali's machinery in June, but a more recent examination did not identify any deficiencies, according to the shipping information system Equasis.

The port authorities said the ship had remained at the dock for repairs for some time after the incident.

'As a general rule, these accidents are investigated and ships are only allowed to leave after experts have determined it is safe for them to do so,' a spokesperson for Antwerp port told Reuters.

Video footage on social media showed the vessel slamming into the bridge in darkness, the headlights of vehicles visible on the span as it crashed into the water and the ship caught fire.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said closure of one of the country's busiest shipping lanes until further notice would have a 'major and protracted impact to supply chains.'

The Port of Baltimore handles more automobile cargo than any other U.S. port - more than 750,000 vehicles in 2022, according to port data.

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Sun, 31 Mar 2024 11:50

This review was first published by the New York Review. I'm re-publishing it here (after their 30-day window) to be free of the register-to-read requirement.

I've not modified the essay '-- except for the title: no one is arguing for a ''constitutional convention'' (yet); the argument is for a ''Convention to propose Amendments'' under Article V of the Constitution.

But I am inspired to make it more accessible because of a quote by Mark Mekler in an essay by Arn Pearson and Juliana Broad in EXPOSED. Meckler is a co-founder of the Tea Party Patriots, and more recently helped launch the Convention of States, a leading Article V convention activist on the right:

''I think we are on the cusp of a supermajority moment,'' Meckler added. To emphasize that progressives will have no say at a contemporary constitutional convention, Meckler '‹'‹pointed out that Tories had no role in the crafting of the Constitution and that Confederates had no choice in the adoption of post-Civil War amendments.

It's of course outrageous for anyone to liken ''progressives'' to Tories or Confederates (and obtw: will modern Confederates be excluded as well?). But in a strict sense, the Tory slander might be fair. The point of this essay is to criticize the studied refusal by most progressives to even entertain the idea of participating in the inevitable Article V convention to come. While many Tories were not republicans, at least some were Tories simply because of fear.

I've long argued that fear about Article V is exaggerated. My aim in this essay is to describe a strategy to remove it and to render the process fundamentally democratic. The convention is coming whether progressives choose to engage or not. Here's a way to engage and, thanks to the Supreme Court, to make the convention something much better than what our framers gave us.

F or over two decades, conservatives in the United States have been trying to trigger a provision of the Constitution that has never been used '-- a clause that gives states the power to demand that Congress ''call a Convention for proposing amendments'' to the Constitution itself. The movement is supported by a wide range of leaders and activists, from a former Comptroller General, David Walker, to a former governor of Wisconsin, Scott Walker. Among currently elected politicians, its supporters include South Carolina senator Lindsey Graham and Florida governor Ron DeSantis. So far, legislatures in twenty-eight states have called for fiscal-integrity amendments '-- mandating a balanced budget. A powerful and growing faction of the movement, the Convention of States (COS) project, has gone further. Founded in 2013, COS is pushing for a convention to propose amendments that would restrict the scope of federal power and impose term limits on members of Congress and what it calls federal ''officials.''

In their new book, The Constitution in Jeopardy, the former Democratic Senator Russ Feingold and the lawyer Peter Prindiville warn that all this organizing aims not to ratify the will of a democratic majority but to push amendments that entrench the beliefs of a right-wing minority.

They quote one of the co-founders of Convention of States, Michael Farris, at a simulated convention the group hosted for state legislators in 2016:

If you put enough pressure on state legislatures, you can get stuff done. You don't need a majority of America, because a majority doesn't participate.'... In state legislative matters, less than 1 percent of the people ever participate. With 1 percent of the American public, that's three million people, I guarantee you we can get this done.

This movement, Feingold and Prindiville argue, is strong and growing. Recent reports suggest that it has received extensive financial support from conservative backers '-- including, in the case of COS, the Mercer Family Foundation, and the Kochs. It has become a central project of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), the nonprofit organization of conservative state legislators and other private sector representatives. Their book places the movement in a fascinating and rich historical setting. But their aim in writing it is quite clear: this minoritarian movement, they believe, must be stopped.

Feingold and Prindiville also believe that the Constitution needs reform. Feingold is an outspoken critic of the Supreme Court's campaign-finance jurisprudence and has pressed for an amendment to address the damage done by Citizens United. Their book is convincing about the need for other amendments as well, including one to change the process by which the Constitution is amended. But because they believe a convention is too dangerous, they insist that it be Congress, not a convention, that proposes the amendments the nation needs.

And yet they both know '-- Senator Feingold especially '-- that there is exactly zero chance of Congress mustering the two-thirds majority necessary to propose any amendment of substance. By contrast, the convention movement is already close to garnering the support it needs to obligate Congress to convene a convention. Constitutional reform, Feingold and Prindiville fear, is just over the horizon; it's just not the sort of reform they want to see.

How should people who are not on the right respond to this prospect? Must a convention be minoritarian? Or is there a way to render a convention safe '-- even beneficial '-- for majoritarian democracy?

*

E very modern written constitution includes a procedure for its own amendment. Ours, drafted in 1787, began that tradition. In Article V, the Constitution describes two ways that amendments might be proposed and two ways proposed amendments might be ratified. Amendments can be proposed either by the vote of ''two-thirds of both Houses'' of Congress or by ''a Convention for Proposing Amendments,'' if two-thirds of the states make ''Application'' to Congress to ''call'' such a convention. Proposed amendments are then ratified by either three-fourths of state legislatures, or by conventions in three-fourths of the states. Congress gets to decide which of these two modes of ratification is used for any proposed amendment.

In the history of the nation, amendments have only ever been proposed by Congress. And every enacted amendment has been ratified by state legislatures, except one: the repeal of Prohibition, which was ratified by state conventions in 1933. Why then was this essentially unused convention clause included? Its most prominent advocate at the convention that drafted our Constitution was the Virginia delegate George Mason, who feared that if only Congress could propose amendments and ''the Government should become oppressive,'' then ''no amendments of the proper kind would ever be obtained by the people.'' The solution was a process whose substance Congress could not control. The states could obligate Congress to call a convention, whether Congress wanted it or not. Congress would then be obligated to send any proposed amendments from that convention to the states. Whether it would actually do so is another question.

Though there has never been a convention, the process of states calling for one has been enormously consequential. Between 1893 and 1912, the nation came within one state of the number necessary to require Congress to call a convention. ''Fear of a convention,'' as Feingold and Prindiville put it, ''and the constitutional reforms that fear can inspire,'' drove Congress to propose a series of amendments to staunch the movement '-- including ones that would give the people the power to elect senators, give Congress the power to levy an income tax, give women the right to vote, and give America Prohibition. All four proposals became law. Jill Lepore counts this as one of the periods when the Constitution was ''rewritten,'' and it would not have happened as it did without the convention movement.

This story has intrigued modern constitutional reformers on both the left and the right. Why shouldn't they use the same method '-- the threat of a convention '-- to get Congress to act today? The answer, according to Feingold and Prindiville, is that the system is untested and that the language in the Constitution '-- against the background of the founding convention, which acted beyond the expectations of many who initially called for it '-- creates too much uncertainty. Even if the states are adamant that they intend a convention to have a limited scope, Feingold and Prindiville argue that nothing would stop a convention, once convened, from considering '-- and recommending '-- any question its delegates wanted. Courts are not going to enjoin a convention from talking or voting however it likes. ''A convention's amendment proposition authority,'' they conclude, is ''just like that of Congress'': unlimited. So a convention called for one purpose '-- say, to consider a balanced budget amendment '-- could detour to a radically different purpose, like abolishing birthright citizenship.

Even worse, from their perspective, is how the convention would make its proposals. The dominant view among the activists Feingold and Prindiville criticize is that the convention would vote by state, each state getting a single vote. That could mean that if a convention did take up an amendment outside its original mandate, and delegations from just twenty-six states '-- possibly representing a small fraction of the nation's population '-- supported it, then that proposal would be sent to the states for ratification. Scary stuff indeed.

Feingold and Prindiville may overstate their case. Some convention advocates do believe that twenty-six states could pass anything. But the largest actual organizing by pro-convention state legislators is for rules requiring, first, that an amendment needs the support of thirty-six states to be proposed and, second, that no amendment may be proposed whose ''subject'' was not included in the ''Application'' of at least thirty-four states. The rules themselves say that they can't be amended without the support of thirty-four states, and they purport to make it impossible altogether to amend the restriction on which ''subjects'' the convention can consider. Who knows whether these rules would govern the convention once it was called. If they do, and if they are followed, then the convention simply cannot take up subjects beyond the topics included within the states' applications.

Even if you're not comforted by these rules, you may say: So what? If it takes thirty-eight states to ratify any amendment, then the vote of even a single chamber from thirteen states could stop it. Nothing crazy is ever going to get over such a high threshold. Feingold and Prindiville are not so sure. And even if the worst isn't enacted, at least immediately, they fear the effect of unratified amendments as well. If a proposal is made without an expiration date, it could haunt the political process within a state and ''radically transform state politics in purple states,'' they write. ''Amendment ratification would become a key wedge issue and attract millions in dark super PAC spending to otherwise backwater races for mainly part-time state legislative positions.'' Combine this with the reality that, for strong reasons of judicial restraint, no court would ever stop a convention from considering whatever topic it wished, and you can understand their anxiety: Here is a movement, operating under the national radar in state legislatures around the nation, with generous funding from right-wing billionaires, that could initiate a process by which delegates representing a small minority of the country might have the power to propose amendments to the Constitution. What could possibly go wrong?

*

J ust how close we are to Congress being obligated to call a convention is a matter of significant debate. Thirty-four states must first submit applications by passing resolutions through their state legislatures. So far, according to those keeping track, twenty-eight states have made a call for a fiscal-integrity amendment; five have called for a convention limited to proposing amendments about term limits; three for an amendment to overturn Citizens United; and nineteen for a convention to, as the COS language puts it, ''impose fiscal restraints on the federal government'' and restrict its ''power and jurisdiction.'' None on their own are close to thirty-four states '-- unless you count the much older calls for a ''plenary'' convention (a convention not limited to particular topics) that have not yet been rescinded. The scholar Robert Natelson, a supporter of the convention movement, counts these plenary calls, which now include four states beyond those supporting a fiscal integrity amendment. If you add those four to the calls for a fiscal integrity convention, that's thirty-two '-- two short of the magic number.

Yet not everyone in the conservative convention movement is as fastidious about aggregation as Natelson. Scott Walker believes there are already enough applications to empower Congress to act. Indeed, if you explore the remarkable online database The Article V Library, there are any number of topics (including repealing the Income Tax Amendment) that, including plenary applications, at some point have had more than the number of state applications needed to allow Congress to act. If Congress counted plenary applications and ruled that once the threshold of thirty-four had been crossed, its obligation to call a convention was set, then it could easily conclude it has the power to convene a fiscal integrity convention '-- today.

Feingold and Prindiville resist this possibility by arguing that Congress should have no power to call a convention unless there are thirty-four contemporaneous applications on precisely the same subject. They would not include the ancient plenary calls that Natelson does. By their measure, we would be at least six states away from constitutional Armageddon.

But Feingold and Prindiville acknowledge a problem with this argument: namely that, for the same reason they believe a convention could not be limited, neither can Congress be limited in its judgment about whether there are enough applications to empower it to call one. Just as the courts would not dictate what topics a convention could consider, so too would they refrain from stopping Congress from aggregating state resolutions as Congress chooses '-- not because courts are lawless but because they avoid extending their jurisdiction where there is no clear law to be found. Thus, both at the convention and in Congress, if there is political will, then politics will find a way. There might be no chance of convening a convention so long as either chamber of Congress is held by Democrats. But if the Republicans regained control of both chambers, all bets are off.

*

F eingold and Prindiville believe the convention movement can be stopped. I don't believe it can: there is too much money and too much anger fueling it just now. But either way, I do believe it is irresponsible '-- a kind of constitutional malpractice '-- for progressives to fight to stop an Article V convention altogether rather than trying to engage with the convention process, if only to steer it to majoritarian values. I believe this not because I think that anyone could persuade conservatives not to fight for conservative causes, but because I am convinced that if more than conservatives tried to pass calls for a convention, the convention that those calls yielded could be radically different. Indeed, as I show below, it could be rendered fundamentally majoritarian.

This point is even stronger if you believe, as I do, that our Constitution as currently interpreted is deeply flawed. The conservative convention movement fights primarily for fiscal integrity. That may well be a serious national concern. But even more serious is the gap in representational integrity: the corrupting dependence upon money in politics, weaponized gerrymandering, the lack of meaningful term limits, the lack of an affirmative right to vote, and a system for electing the president that makes irrelevant most voters in America.

These issues too will not be addressed by Congress on its own '-- even though reforming them is wildly popular on both the left and right. If you believe '-- and who couldn't? '-- that fixing them is the first step to a Congress that could address matters important to America, why wouldn't we engage with the only process likely to give the country a chance at that reform? More pointedly, if a convention is coming with or without us, why would we work to remove democratic reform from the permitted topics of a convention '-- as Common Cause, maybe the most important pro-democracy organization in American history, has done by rallying state legislatures to rescind calls for a convention, even those designed to address the corrupting influence of money in politics? Rather than cowering in fear of uncertain risks, we should be asking whether there are ways to minimize these risks, by securing a convention that could only propose reforms that a clear majority of Americans wants.

Because it turns out that this is now possible. In a pair of decisions unrelated to conventions directly, the United States Supreme Court has opened the possibility of taming a convention to majoritarian values. Three years ago, in two cases we could call The Electors Cases [Chiafalo v. Washington, Colorado v. Baca], the Court held that the vote of presidential electors may be directed by a legislature and that electors can be removed if they threaten to vote contrary to that direction. Though the Framers plainly imagined electors exercising discretion and playing a much more robust role in determining the chief executive, history, the Court concluded, had rendered them differently. To recognize a state legislature's power to tell its electors ''that they have no ground for reversing the vote of millions of its citizens,'' Justice Elena Kagan wrote in her majority opinion in the first of The Electors Cases, Chiafalo v. Washington (2020), ''accords with the Constitution '-- as well as with the trust of a Nation that here, We the People rule.''

This conclusion was surprising, at least to me '-- I had argued the other side before the Court. But it has enormous potential for making an Article V convention safe. The Court has expressly held that in ratifying an amendment, no legislature can be controlled by any outside force, including a referendum. But The Electors Cases should mean that delegates to a convention could be legally controlled '-- in just the sense that if they vote contrary to how they are pledged, they can be removed and replaced by delegates who will vote as directed. If presidential electors, a position created by the Constitution itself, can be directed by the peoples' vote, then ''we the People'' certainly should have the power to direct delegates to an Article V convention.

Controlling delegates is not a new idea. Feingold and Prindiville discuss the laws that exist in many states that purport to forbid delegates to a convention from voting contrary to how the legislature directs. They insist, however, that these laws are ''toothless'' because they don't stop the legislature from ''chang[ing] course once a convention is called'' '-- by, for example, directing delegates to vote differently from how the legislature originally determined.

Yet this misses a critical possibility that The Electors Cases throw into relief: if the delegates are directed to reflect the will of the people, rather than the legislature, then the legislature should have no power to change how they must vote. That should be clear with presidential electors; it should be even clearer with delegates to an Article V convention. Imagine, for example, that a state legislature directs its presidential electors to vote as the people in that state vote. But then imagine that after one candidate wins in that state, the legislature changes its mind and passes a law directing its electors to vote for the candidate who lost. Would that change be allowed?

This is the critical ambiguity that the Supreme Court left unresolved in The Electors Cases, but only because it didn't have to resolve it. Yet it would make no sense of the principle behind those cases '-- ''here, We the People rule'' '-- to allow a legislature to override the people's will because it didn't like how the people voted. ''Here, We the People rule'' must mean that if the legislature gives the people the vote, the people's choice becomes binding.

That same principle has enormous potential for an Article V convention. There is already a rich history of binding delegates to state ratifying conventions: when state conventions voted to repeal Prohibition, more than a dozen states obligated delegates to vote as they had been pledged when elected. But the more interesting potential raised by The Electors Cases is binding the delegates at the national convention itself.

The idea would be this: across the world '-- perhaps most prominently in Ireland '-- there has been a rapid growth of ''citizen assemblies,'' gatherings convened to consider matters thought too controversial or too difficult for ordinary politics. These assemblies bring together ordinary citizens '-- in Ireland, along with legislators '-- in large, randomly chosen, but representative bodies. The assemblies are provided with the information they need to determine some important public issue. They then deliberate, sometimes over extended periods. At the end of their deliberation, they release their views. Think of it as a public opinion poll, but with an informed public given a chance to engage with each other. Depending on the jurisdiction, the assembly's views might be binding. Ordinarily, they are just persuasive. In Ireland, assemblies have addressed questions about abortion and same-sex marriage. Their conclusions were wildly popular, ratified by national referenda, and impossible to imagine the ordinary Irish legislature ever producing.

Imagine, then, citizen assemblies convened within the states to constrain the discretion of delegates to an Article V convention. Such assemblies could be constituted in a far more robust way than in other countries, modeling the process on Stanford professor James Fishkin's deliberative polls '-- large, representative, randomly selected samples of a state '-- but, like jurors on a jury, required to show up. The citizens would gather in some convenient place; they would be compensated for the true cost of their participation '-- not the $15 per day you get for jury duty, but travel expenses and the per diem of a government employee, plus lost wages, job protection, and maybe a bonus. They would be given briefing material in advance, and then meet and deliberate in small and large groups about which amendments or topics they would support. Delegates to an Article V convention would then be constrained by the conclusions of these citizen assemblies. For example, the state legislature could require that ''no delegate from the State of X may vote to support a proposed amendment whose topic at least 60 percent of the state's Citizen Assembly did not support.'' And with that one rule, an Article V convention would be constrained by majoritarian democracy.

Some will resist the idea of a citizen assembly for fear that it would be dominated by extremists. This is a mistake. No doubt there will be extremists. But if the assembly is randomly selected and representative, the extremists would be a tiny minority because they are only a tiny minority of America. Article V could thus embrace the most ambitious experiment in representative democracy in generations '-- and, because of The Electors Cases, its results could be made legally enforceable within the convention.

But if each state gets one vote, couldn't the convention still be minoritarian? This is where the rules governing the convention become critical. Under the rules proposed by the state legislators, the convention needs the vote of thirty-six states to propose an amendment. If you arrayed the states from most conservative to least, the vote of thirty-six states would represent almost 60 percent of America. If you arrayed the states from most liberal to most conservative, the vote of thirty-six states would represent more than 80 percent of America. The democratic constraint could assure that a supermajority of this supermajority would be required before any amendment could even be proposed '-- and thus that any proposed amendment would have substantial, even majority, popular support.

*

F or this plan to work, delegates would have to be bound at the state level to vote as the state's citizen assembly directs. What could assure that binding statutes '-- as well as the assemblies themselves '-- would be adopted in enough states? Here is the final part of the strategy for transforming what Feingold and Prindiville fear is dangerously antidemocratic into something potentially pro-majoritarian.

No amendment, however proposed, can be ratified unless thirty-eight states support it. If ratified in the ordinary way, that means that no amendment can be ratified if one house in each of thirteen states opposes it. Ordinarily, such opposition happens after an amendment is proposed. But why must that be so? Why couldn't state legislatures reject an amendment preemptively in order to influence the convention process itself?

Imagine then that a state passes a law to convene a citizen assembly, requires that its delegates to a federal convention follow the results from that assembly, and requires delegates at a state ratifying convention to be elected and vote as they have been pledged. Long before any federal convention is convened, the state's citizen assembly could begin its work, surveying proposals for constitutional amendments and deliberating about them. Then imagine the legislature passes a resolution something like this: that the state ''hereby preemptively rejects any amendment proposed by a convention that does not entrench the voice of the People in both the convention and ratification process.'' That resolution would not insist that each state create a citizen assembly; assemblies are ideal, but it would be enough if convention delegates were constrained by, for example, popular referenda and if delegates to a ratifying convention were constrained to vote as they were pledged when elected.

But here's the key: If thirteen state legislatures passed such a resolution, in a single stroke the politics of a convention would change fundamentally. No one knows whether such preemptive rejections have any ultimate legal effect, even assuming they could be challenged in court. But their potential legal force would have an enormous political effect. By passing such resolutions, these thirteen states would be warning adherents of a minoritarian convention movement to abide by democratic checks or risk that their amendments would be stillborn. Why waste the effort to convene a convention in the face of state resolutions that could veto any amendment emerging from that convention in advance? Much more sensible would be to convene a convention that met these pro-majoritarian standards '-- in which case we could see a convention movement develop that embedded majoritarian constraints throughout the nation.

*

In the summer before the 2016 election, Cenk Uygur '-- the founder of WolfPAC, the most prominent group behind the anti''Citizens United convention movement '-- and I met with a prominent progressive to try to win them over to the idea of a convention. This progressive listened with understanding and care, but in the end, they were not convinced. ''Why risk it?'' they told us. ''We'll win in the fall, and Hillary will give us two, maybe three justices on the Supreme Court. Those justices will then give us everything we need from a reformed Constitution.''

That judgment in the summer of 2016 was not implausible. Yet I remember feeling a certain sadness in their response. When had we liberals become so afraid of the people? When had we become so captured by a legal elite? When, in a word, had we given up on the idea of a constitutional democracy?

I am not a partisan for progressivism. I am a partisan for the people. I believe that ordinary people, properly constituted, given a chance to understand and deliberate, would produce better political judgments on a wide range of critical issues than any group of elected representatives '-- especially the issues that worried Mason, where Congress itself is the problem.

Progressives in particular should understand this. Rather than retreating in the face of organizing on the right, they should be advancing ideals of democratic empowerment. The convention movement is on the cusp of giving Congress the power to call an Article V convention. The question we should be asking urgently now is how to make sure such a convention represents ''the People.'' The Supreme Court has shown us how. It has given us a mechanism to require that the delegates at a convention remain faithful to their charge. Let us use that principle and that mechanism to craft a majoritarian convention '-- and thereby give constitutional reform a fighting chance.

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Sun, 31 Mar 2024 11:43

. 2018 Apr 26;39(4):045005. doi: 10.1088/1361-6579/aab6d0. Affiliations

Affiliation 1 Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch, South Africa. PMID: 29543189 DOI: 10.1088/1361-6579/aab6d0 Item in Clipboard

G H R Botha et al. Physiol Meas . 2018 .

. 2018 Apr 26;39(4):045005. doi: 10.1088/1361-6579/aab6d0. Affiliation 1 Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch, South Africa. PMID: 29543189 DOI: 10.1088/1361-6579/aab6d0 Item in Clipboard

Abstract Objective: Globally, tuberculosis (TB) remains one of the most deadly diseases. Although several effective diagnosis methods exist, in lower income countries clinics may not be in a position to afford expensive equipment and employ the trained experts needed to interpret results. In these situations, symptoms including cough are commonly used to identify patients for testing. However, self-reported cough has suboptimal sensitivity and specificity, which may be improved by digital detection.

Approach: This study investigates a simple and easily applied method for TB screening based on the automatic analysis of coughing sounds. A database of cough audio recordings was collected and used to develop statistical classifiers.

Main results: These classifiers use short-term spectral information to automatically distinguish between the coughs of TB positive patients and healthy controls with an accuracy of 78% and an AUC of 0.95. When a set of five clinical measurements is available in addition to the audio, this accuracy improves to 82%. By choosing an appropriate decision threshold, the system can achieve a sensitivity of 95% at a specificity of approximately 72%. The experiments suggest that the classifiers are using some spectral information that is not perceivable by the human auditory system, and that certain frequencies are more useful for classification than others.

Significance: We conclude that automatic classification of coughing sounds may represent a viable low-cost and low-complexity screening method for TB.

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Similar articles Automatic cough classification for tuberculosis screening in a real-world environment. Pahar M, Klopper M, Reeve B, Warren R, Theron G, Niesler T. Pahar M, et al. Physiol Meas. 2021 Nov 26;42(10):10.1088/1361-6579/ac2fb8. doi: 10.1088/1361-6579/ac2fb8. Physiol Meas. 2021. PMID: 34649231 Free PMC article.

Automatic Recognition, Segmentation, and Sex Assignment of Nocturnal Asthmatic Coughs and Cough Epochs in Smartphone Audio Recordings: Observational Field Study. Barata F, Tinschert P, Rassouli F, Steurer-Stey C, Fleisch E, Puhan MA, Brutsche M, Kotz D, Kowatsch T. Barata F, et al. J Med Internet Res. 2020 Jul 14;22(7):e18082. doi: 10.2196/18082. J Med Internet Res. 2020. PMID: 32459641 Free PMC article.

An ensemble learning approach to digital corona virus preliminary screening from cough sounds. Mohammed EA, Keyhani M, Sanati-Nezhad A, Hejazi SH, Far BH. Mohammed EA, et al. Sci Rep. 2021 Jul 28;11(1):15404. doi: 10.1038/s41598-021-95042-2. Sci Rep. 2021. PMID: 34321592 Free PMC article.

Lateral flow urine lipoarabinomannan assay for detecting active tuberculosis in HIV-positive adults. Shah M, Hanrahan C, Wang ZY, Dendukuri N, Lawn SD, Denkinger CM, Steingart KR. Shah M, et al. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2016 May 10;2016(5):CD011420. doi: 10.1002/14651858.CD011420.pub2. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2016. PMID: 27163343 Free PMC article. Review.

Automatic adventitious respiratory sound analysis: A systematic review. Pramono RXA, Bowyer S, Rodriguez-Villegas E. Pramono RXA, et al. PLoS One. 2017 May 26;12(5):e0177926. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0177926. eCollection 2017. PLoS One. 2017. PMID: 28552969 Free PMC article. Review.

Cited by TBscreen: A passive cough classifier for tuberculosis screening with a controlled dataset. Sharma M, Nduba V, Njagi LN, Murithi W, Mwongera Z, Hawn TR, Patel SN, Horne DJ. Sharma M, et al. Sci Adv. 2024 Jan 5;10(1):eadi0282. doi: 10.1126/sciadv.adi0282. Epub 2024 Jan 3. Sci Adv. 2024. PMID: 38170773 Free PMC article.

Advancing tuberculosis management: the role of predictive, preventive, and personalized medicine. Dohl M, Porvazn­k I, Solovič I, Mokr½ J. Dohl M, et al. Front Microbiol. 2023 Oct 4;14:1225438. doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2023.1225438. eCollection 2023. Front Microbiol. 2023. PMID: 37860132 Free PMC article. Review.

HEAR4Health: a blueprint for making computer audition a staple of modern healthcare. Triantafyllopoulos A, Kathan A, Baird A, Christ L, Gebhard A, Gerczuk M, Karas V, H¼bner T, Jing X, Liu S, Mallol-Ragolta A, Milling M, Ottl S, Semertzidou A, Rajamani ST, Yan T, Yang Z, Dineley J, Amiriparian S, Bartl-Pokorny KD, Batliner A, Pokorny FB, Schuller BW. Triantafyllopoulos A, et al. Front Digit Health. 2023 Sep 12;5:1196079. doi: 10.3389/fdgth.2023.1196079. eCollection 2023. Front Digit Health. 2023. PMID: 37767523 Free PMC article. Review.

Diagnosis of COVID-19 by sound-based analysis of vocal recordings. Carreiro-Martins P, Paix£o P, Caires I, Rodrigues A, Matias P, Gamboa H, Carreiro A, Soares F, Gomez P, Sousa J, Neuparth N. Carreiro-Martins P, et al. Pulmonology. 2023 Nov-Dec;29(6):455-456. doi: 10.1016/j.pulmoe.2023.03.003. Epub 2023 Mar 21. Pulmonology. 2023. PMID: 37030999 Free PMC article. No abstract available.

Development and clinical validation of Swaasa AI platform for screening and prioritization of pulmonary TB. Yellapu GD, Rudraraju G, Sripada NR, Mamidgi B, Jalukuru C, Firmal P, Yechuri V, Varanasi S, Peddireddi VS, Bhimarasetty DM, Kanisetti S, Joshi N, Mohapatra P, Pamarthi K. Yellapu GD, et al. Sci Rep. 2023 Mar 23;13(1):4740. doi: 10.1038/s41598-023-31772-9. Sci Rep. 2023. PMID: 36959347 Free PMC article.

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Sun, 31 Mar 2024 11:33

Peru has been rocked by almost-daily protests and roadblocks for more than two months, a crisis that began in December after Congress impeached President Pedro Castillo Terrones for attempting to illegally impose a one-man rule. Protests demanding new general elections ensued, some of which turned violent, and a police and military crackdown on the demonstrations has left more than fifty people dead. The turmoil puts pressure on the government of President Dina Boluarte Zegarra, whom many Peruvians consider to be an illegitimate successor to Castillo. While the protests have abated, it's clear that Peru is facing a prolonged crisis that could have spillover effects for the rest of the region.

How has unrest affected the economy?More From Our Experts

Amid Castillo's chaotic presidency, investment and consumption dropped, and Peru's credit outlook was cut to negative by Fitch Ratings. Tourism, a top industry, has yet to recover from the protests. Meanwhile, inflation has risen to its highest level in twenty-five years, though the country's central bank paused interest rate hikes in February amid continuing unrest.

Protesters throw rocks at police during anti-government demonstrations in January in Lima, Peru.

Ernesto Benavides/AFP/Getty Images

Peru's mining sector, the motor of its economy, has been hit particularly hard. Peru is the world's second-largest supplier [PDF] of copper and a major source of zinc, silver, and tin, with mineral exports accounting for nearly 10 percent of the country's gross domestic product (GDP). But Peru's mining output flatlined last year as a result of the unrest, despite surging global demand for renewable resources and an international copper shortage expected to last until the end of the decade. The highlands of the Andes mountains, where most of Peru's mines are located, have become the epicenter of anti-government protests.

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Copper'--used in solar panels, wind turbines, and electric car batteries'--is indispensable for powering major economies' transitions from fossil fuels to renewable energy. In late January, protesters' roadblocks and invasions of mines forced work stoppages, putting an estimated 30 percent of Peru's copper production at risk. As a result, global copper prices jumped overnight. While mining activity has since rebounded, that's no safeguard against future disruptions; in early March, a community organization resumed a blockade of the Las Bambas mine'--responsible for 2 percent of global copper production'--their efforts proved short-lived. If Peru's unrest continues to choke copper exports, economies near and far will feel the effects'--not least, Peru's own, which relies on mining for 60 percent of its exports.

What could further instability mean for migration?If Peru's economy continues to sputter, the country could join the ranks of Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela as a major source of emigration in the region.

More From Our Experts

Peru is home to about 1.5 million migrants, asylum seekers, and refugees'--most of whom come from Venezuela'--making it the second-largest receiver country in Latin America. Even though the Boluarte government has tightened border security, the number of Venezuelans living in Peru is expected to grow through the end of this year. Yet, 35 percent of Venezuelans already living in the country still lack the legal status needed to access social services and many jobs.

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If investment continues to slow and paltry growth becomes the norm, Venezuelans living in Peru are likely to head north, joining their many compatriots leaving Colombia, the region's top migrant host country, in growing numbers. In 2022, Venezuelans were among the nationalities to illegally enter the United States in the greatest numbers, but Peru's crisis, left unaddressed, could put Venezuelans in first place.

How has Peru's political crisis challenged regional relations?Peru's crisis has opened diplomatic rifts between the Boluarte government and several regional neighbors. In the wake of Castillo's arrest, the presidents of Argentina, Bolivia, Colombia, and Mexico, a grouping of left-wing leaders, denounced Castillo's impeachment and subsequent detention, saying it violated international human rights law. Mexican officials later announced that members of Castillo's family had accepted an offer to seek asylum in Mexico. In response, Boluarte recalled Peru's ambassador from Mexico, further fueling tension between the two countries.

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Meanwhile, Colombian President Gustavo Petro called Castillo the ''victim of a fascist coup,'' and Petro has compared Boluarte's government to Nazi Germany. Peru's Congress rejected the statement and named Petro persona non grata; lawmakers had previously extended the same treatment to former Bolivian President Evo Morales for making similar remarks.

During a time of mounting unrest, mass protests and political instability are becoming the norm in South America'--flaring up in Chile, Colombia, and Ecuador'--and Peru is no exception. If unresolved, its crisis could have ripple effects across the region for months, if not years.

Will Merrow created the graphic for this article.

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Sun, 31 Mar 2024 04:00

On Monday, the Tennessee Senate passed a bill prohibiting ''the intentional injection, release, or dispersion, by any means, of chemicals, chemical compounds, substances, or apparatus within the borders of this state into the atmosphere with the express purpose of affecting temperature, weather, or the intensity of the sunlight '...'' In other words, the bill would make it against the law to dispense ''chemtrails'' over Tennessee.

SB 2691/HB 2063, sponsored by Rep. Monty Fritts, R-Kingston, and Sen. Steve Southerland, R-Morristown, has yet to move on for consideration by the House. Whether it will pass to become law is unclear. The House was set to review the legislation yesterday. No word yet on any conclusions.

According to language in the Senate bill, there is ''documentation'' that ''the federal government or other entities acting on the federal government's behalf or at the federal government's request may conduct geoengineering experiments by intentionally dispersing chemicals into the atmosphere, and those activities may occur within the State of Tennessee.''

The source of the documentation is not clear. In contrast, a research group at Harvard University published a report that includes the category heading, ''There is no evidence for the existence of chemtrails.'' The report continues: ''If there really were a large-scale program dumping material from aircraft at the scale described, there would have to be a large operating program to manufacture, load and disperse materials. If such a program existed at the scale required to explain the claimed amount of chemtrails, it would require thousands or perhaps tens of thousands of people. It would be extraordinarily hard to keep such a program secret because it would be so easy for a single individual in the program to reveal it using leaked documents, photographs or actual hardware.''

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Sun, 31 Mar 2024 00:20

On the Christian calendar, this Sunday is Easter, a revered Holy Day for Christians celebrating the resurrection of their Lord and Savior Jesus Christ when his tomb was found empty, three days after his execution by crucifixion commanded by the Roman Empire. Even in secular society, the day is celebrated with colored eggs and baskets filled with strange plastic grass and bunny-shaped chocolate confections, and the iconic, American candy gems known as jellybeans. Easter Sunday is not only an extremely significant Christian holiday, it is also a family-oriented tradition.

President Joe Biden, a proclaimed Catholic (being raised Catholic myself, I'll take issue with that claim on account of his failing to be pro-life) has already stripped the most attended public event at the the White House, with festivities to be held on April 1, of religious meaning.

This year, the Biden administration is hosting an egg-decorating contest among the children of National Guard members. The rules for the contest state that the children must not use," any questionable content, religious symbols, overtly religious themes, or partisan political statements."

But the anti-religious tones only grew louder when Biden issued his Special Proclamation for Sunday... and it wasn't about Easter, at all. Instead, it was about Transgender Visibility Day, which became recognized in 2009 and has since been placed on March 31. (Easter started about 2,000 years ago, but who's counting in the Biden White House?)

Issuing the Transgender Proclamation coinciding with Easter has caused a major backlash from Evangelicals and other Christians toward the Biden administration, as well as from former President Donald Trump. The presumptive GOP presidential nominee called on Biden and the White House to issue an apology to Catholics and Christians, calling it "appalling" and "an assault on the Christian faith."

Read more:

Biden's Special Proclamation for Easter Sunday Isn't About Easter - It's About Transgender Visibility Day

White House Forbids Kids From Using 'Religious' Symbols/Themes in Easter Egg Contest

Now, Democrat New York Governor Kathy Hochul, not satisfied by the embarrassing headlines and videos that circulated after being asked to leave a fallen NYPD officer's wake on Friday, has declared that her state will observe the transgender day on Easter, too.

In a statement, Hochul said,

Today we celebrate Transgender Day of Visibility by acknowledging the contributions that members of the transgender community have made in New York State and across the country. I am proud of the strength transgender New Yorkers display every day and want to make one thing clear: You are always welcome in New York. You are loved.

Throughout her own proclamation issued declaring Sunday as "International Transgender Visibility Day," Hochul refers to the trans community by using the acronym 'TGNCNB' which the document defines as "transgender, gender non-conforming, and non-binary."

Hochul also announced that New York on Sunday would be lighting up many famous landmarks in the transgender flag colors of pink, blue, and white. Some of the famed landmarks include:

One World Trade Center in NYC (formerly known as the Freedom Tower) was built on the site of the original World Trade Center towers destroyed during the September 11, 2001, attacks, Niagara Falls, a natural wonder and tourist attraction located on the border of the United States and Canada, Empire State Plaza in Albany, New York, which is known for its modernist architecture. Conservatives and Christians may find comfort in knowing that in foreign nations, many of which are not socially progressive, transgender flags will not be flown above U.S. embassies. A provision passed last week in the spending package prevents this. Although President Biden has expressed an intention to repeal this provision, for the time being, Americans are not offending Easter worshipers in other nations by raising flags celebrating transgender lifestyles on a Holy Day.

Related:

Team Trump Hops to It, Issues Scalding Reaction to Biden WH Proclamation on Transgender Visibility Day

Spending Package Includes Prohibition of Pride and Other Flags Above US Embassies, Biden Vows to Repeal

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Sat, 30 Mar 2024 17:55

A team of computer scientists is planning to announce the identification of two potentially viable natural alternatives to weight loss drugs, Ozepic and Wegovy, made from naturally occurring compounds. Currently identified as ''Compound A'' and ''Compound B,'' the mystery extracts, which were identified using the latest artificial intelligence (AI) tools, will remain secret until the researchers obtain patents on their formulations.

The discovery of the natural alternatives to weight loss drugs will be part of a presentation made by the scientists at the European Congress on Obesity (ECO 2024), which will be held in Venice between the 12th and 15th of May. After that, the scientists say they plan to use their soon-to-be-patented compounds as a potential basis for creating natural weight loss medications.

No Good Natural Alternatives to Weight Loss DrugsWhile science has tried for centuries to find a medicinal cure for obesity, nearly all efforts have ultimately failed. Most simply didn't work, while the few that held temporary promise resulted in serious health consequences that ultimately eliminated their therapeutic use.

More recently, science has found a promising course of treatment using a chemical compound known as a GLP-1 agonist. The most popular of these new drugs is actually a diabetes medication called Ozempic. That drug's active ingredient, semaglutide, has since been approved for the treatment of obesity under the brand name Wegovy.

Unlike previously failed entries into the marketplace, Wegovy has shown tremendous successes and few failures in helping people lose weight and keep it off. The same can be said for a more recent drug, tirzepatide, which was approved for weight loss under the brand name Zepbound in December of last year.

Based on actual hormones secreted by the human body, both medications work by binding to certain receptors in the brain that regulate appetite and feelings of fullness. They also lower blood sugar and slow the movement of food through the digestive tract. Unfortunately, these compounds are extremely volatile and break down easily in the stomach. This means that patients need to inject them once a week to get the benefits.

Recent reports indicate that the two drug manufacturers behind these medications are working on similar therapies that can be taken orally. However, the approval of those options is likely still years away, if ever. Furthermore, all of these medications are synthesized in a lab, as opposed to naturally occurring substances.

Now, a team of computer scientists employing the latest AI tools and techniques says they have identified two potential natural alternatives to weight loss drugs that could replace these GLP-1 agonists by binding to the same receptors as the drugs do.

AI Finds Natural Compounds That Mimic GLP-1 Agonists''Although the effectiveness of current GLP-1 agonists has been demonstrated, there are some side-effects associated with their use '' gastrointestinal issues such as nausea, vomiting, and mental health changes like anxiety and irritability,'' explained scientist Elena Murcia of the Structural Bioinformatics and High-Performance Computing Research Group (BIO-HPC) & Eating Disorders Research Unit, Catholic University of Murcia (UCAM), Murcia, Spain. ''Recent data has also confirmed that when patients stop treatment, they regain lost weight.''

The computer scientist also noted the issues that can arise from using peptides like those used in these drugs. For example, since they can be degraded by the stomach, ''they are currently more likely to be injected rather than taken orally.''

This led Murcia's team to investigate natural alternatives to weight loss medications that could bind to GLP-1 receptors in a similar way but without the potential risks and shortcomings associated with synthetic compounds.

They initially identified two promising candidates that were already shown to bind to GLP-1 receptors, TTOAD2 and orforglipron (3,4), that were not peptides and might, therefore, survive better in the stomach. However, they note that these two compounds, which had some initial promise for treating weight loss, didn't meet their other criteria.

''These are synthetic, and we were interested in finding natural alternatives,'' Murcia explained. Instead, her team focused on plant extracts and other natural compounds ''because they may have fewer side effects.''

Using state-of-the-art AI, the team was able to ''virtually'' sort through a library of over 10,000 compound candidates to see if any of them could successfully bind to a GLP-1 receptor. Those that showed some promise were then subjected to further AI tools to see how closely any bonds matched those made by GLP-1 agonists.

After trimming the candidate pool to the most promising 100, they were subjected to a visual analysis, which whittled the list down to a solid 65 candidates for potential drugs. Of that list, the researchers say they identified two that stood out above the rest in how closely their bonding with key residues matched that of GLP-1 drugs. They titled those compounds A and B.

Tests and Patents Could Lead to Natural Weight Loss PillAs noted, the computer scientists have remained tight-lipped about the two target compounds, other than to say they are performing additional tests with the goal of eventually patenting their final formulas.

''Further details of the plants and the compounds are being kept confidential until patents are granted,'' their press release explains.

However, they did reveal that the extracts were from common plants ''which have been associated with beneficial effects on the human metabolism in the past.'' They also point out that their work would not have been possible without the power of AI, which allowed them to perform work that would have taken years of laboratory experiments in a relatively short time.

''Computer-based studies such as ours have key advantages, such as reductions in costs and time, rapid analysis of large data sets, flexibility in experimental design, and the ability to identify and mitigate any ethical and safety risks before conducting experiments in the laboratory,'' Murcia explains.

The researchers caution that their work is only a preliminary finding and not the final step in a weight loss treatment. However, they do believe it could indeed lead to a natural alternative to weight loss drugs that can be taken orally with fewer side effects, which is something they are already working on.

''We are in the early stages of developing new GLP-1 agonists derived from natural sources,'' said Murcia. ''If our AI-based calculations confirmed in vitro and then in clinical trials, we will have other therapeutic options to manage obesity.''

Christopher Plain is a Science Fiction and Fantasy novelist and Head Science Writer at The Debrief. Follow and connect with him on X, learn about his books at plainfiction.com, or email him directly at christopher@thedebrief.org.

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On Transgender Day of Visibility, we honor the extraordinary courage and contributions of transgender Americans and reaffirm our Nation's commitment to forming a more perfect Union '-- where all people are created equal and treated equally throughout their lives.

I am proud that my Administration has stood for justice from the start, working to ensure that the LGBTQI+ community can live openly, in safety, with dignity and respect. I am proud to have appointed transgender leaders to my Administration and to have ended the ban on transgender Americans serving openly in our military. I am proud to have signed historic Executive Orders that strengthen civil rights protections in housing, employment, health care, education, the justice system, and more. I am proud to have signed the Respect for Marriage Act into law, ensuring that every American can marry the person they love.

Transgender Americans are part of the fabric of our Nation. Whether serving their communities or in the military, raising families or running businesses, they help America thrive. They deserve, and are entitled to, the same rights and freedoms as every other American, including the most fundamental freedom to be their true selves. But extremists are proposing hundreds of hateful laws that target and terrify transgender kids and their families '-- silencing teachers; banning books; and even threatening parents, doctors, and nurses with prison for helping parents get care for their children. These bills attack our most basic American values: the freedom to be yourself, the freedom to make your own health care decisions, and even the right to raise your own child. It is no surprise that the bullying and discrimination that transgender Americans face is worsening our Nation's mental health crisis, leading half of transgender youth to consider suicide in the past year. At the same time, an epidemic of violence against transgender women and girls, especially women and girls of color, continues to take too many lives. Let me be clear: All of these attacks are un-American and must end. No one should have to be brave just to be themselves.

At the same time, my Administration is working to stop the bullying and harassment of transgender children and their families. The Department of Justice has taken action to push back against extreme and un-American State laws targeting transgender youth and their families and the Department of Justice is partnering with law enforcement and community groups to combat hate and violence. My Administration is also providing dedicated emergency mental health support through our nationwide suicide and crisis lifeline '-- any LGBTQI+ young person in need can call ''988'' and press ''3'' to speak with a counselor trained to support them. We are making public services more accessible for transgender Americans, including with more inclusive passports and easier access to Social Security benefits. There is much more to do. I continue to call on the Congress to pass the Equality Act, to codify civil rights protections for all LGBTQI+ Americans.

Today, we send a message to all transgender Americans: You are loved. You are heard. You are understood. You belong. You are America, and my entire Administration and I have your back.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR., President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim March 31, 2024, as Transgender Day of Visibility. I call upon all Americans to join us in lifting up the lives and voices of transgender people throughout our Nation and to work toward eliminating violence and discrimination based on gender identity.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this twenty-ninth day of March, in the year of our Lord two thousand twenty-four, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and forty-eighth.

JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR.

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Fri, 29 Mar 2024 16:33

YGTBFKM

Until today, I didn't realize that individuals are now being assigned ESG scores that some institutions use to decide whether they will do business with a person.

I obviously knew about ESG scores that huge investment firms are using to force corporations to conform to ideological demands. I knew that in some cases, prominent individuals or troublemakers have been blackballed by banks and other firms. And, of course, I know that some companies that sell politically incorrect items are getting deplatformed by PayPal and even web providers.

But I didn't know that an industry has sprung up to analyze individuals' purchases, carbon footprint, and other characteristics to inform banks and other businesses regarding whether they should do business with you.

Paying attention yet?Personal ESG scores are a social credit system of tyranny based on ESG fraud and arbitrary power.

"Buying a gun, alcohol, or even clothing will all effect your overall ESG score. Not only will your purchases matter, but who you purchase from." pic.twitter.com/uDj0PFUb5u

'-- James Lindsay, full varsity (@ConceptualJames) March 28, 2024It is a full-scale social credit system being built out. Only it isn't the government per se doing this, but rather companies that aggregate information about you and sell it to actors who want to isolate dissenters from their ideological commitments.

It is as if Xi Jinping decided to use capitalist methods to create a Chinese-style social credit system. When I say James' tweet above I looked into the claim, and sure enough, personal ESG scores exist and companies will calculate yours and sell it to people interested.

People have credit scores that tell lenders and other parties if they can pay their debts. It is similar to a credit score when it comes to an individual score, but instead of rating creditworthiness, it rates a person's various ESG risk factors.

This article will cover the basics, how yours is calculated, and what it will be used for going forward. We will also teach you how to calculate your individual ESG score so that you can work towards improving your rating.

This is dystopian, and the dystopia is being built before our eyes.

Left to their own devices, corporations likely wouldn't spend a lot of time on this. But in the modern world a lot of forces have come together to nudge companies to engage in these practices, and as they begin to the momentum to continue doing so gets immense.

The same people promote personal ESG scores as corporate ESG scores, and using those personal ESG scores has become part of measuring corporate "responsibility." You can't be called a good corporate citizen if you don't impose ESG values on your customers, and Blackrock will punish you.

So corporations do it. To YOU.

The purpose behind personal ESG scores involves promoting more mindful behaviors towards the environment and society. By holding individuals accountable for their actions, these scores encourage better choices and habits, leading to a positive change on a larger scale.

Since this is still a relatively new concept, the current level of transparency is a bit murky. In many cases, people are generally unaware that they even have an ESG score.

For example, consumers who have accounts with Merrill Lynch will be able to view their score, whatever that may be. Lenders will use this system to choose who they extend services or credit. The main reason is that companies, including lenders, are graded according to the ESG standards.

Their business and prosperity depend directly on their hiring practices, gender diversity, social and environmental impact, and other ESG factors. As they must prove their case, they must also show that their clients meet the standards they are being graded.

Yikes! Comply, or else you will be exiled from society.

During the assessment process, your personal ESG score is calculated based on three main factors: environmental, social, and governance. Your purchase history, sales history, and public records, such as your credit report, are considered to gauge your impact on the environment and society. This process helps highlight areas where you can improve your ESG performance or showcase your dedication toward sustainable and ethical practices.

Note that these quotes don't come from some Right-wing conspiracy sites. They are from an investing website that is giving advice on how to improve your ESG score in order to have a leg up on doing business with big corporations.

Just as there is advice on how to raise your credit score, now there is advice on how to raise your ESG score. To them, it is morally neutral.

It isn't to me. This is totalitarian. In order to do business with a big financial firm, to get the best terms from them you must comply with Left-wing ideology, and if you are at the opposite end of the spectrum they might cut you off.

China. Xi Jinping. Larry Fink of Blackrock.

"You have to force behaviors. If you don't force behaviors whether it's gender, or race, or just any way you want to say the composition of your team, you are going to be impacted."'-- Larry Fink, CEO of BlackRock pic.twitter.com/Q2XxhMH24m

'-- The Rabbit Hole (@TheRabbitHole84) June 11, 2023Poke around on the web and you will find a wealth of advice on how to comply with the wishes of the Elite better, as well as companies eager to sell your ESG score to companies that want to ideologically vet you.

Did I say that this was dystopian?

If not: THIS IS F'ING DYSTOPIAN. It is an amalgamation of 1984, Brave New World, and Xi Jinping's Wet Dream.

ESG ratings are based on measuring behaviors, investments, habits, and other actions gathered from various public sources. Your score may be adjusted depending on various factors, including the company's policies from which your score is delivered.

As such, there will be some variation between scores depending on where yours is the source in comparison with your manual calculations. Some things you may need to calculate your score are:

A list of your investments.A general calculation of how many miles you travel via car and public transport.The energy you use each month (electricity, gas, etc.).Your cryptocurrency profile.Your food consumption numbers.Your organic and environmental effort profile.And other metrics.One of the most bizarre things about living in the post-Soviet world is seeing how Marxists have coopted the efficiency of capitalism with the totalitarianism of the mid-20th-century tyrants to create a totally new and far more effective version of what Hitler and Stalin hoped to create but failed to.

Apparently, Hitler and Stalin's problem was that technology still didn't exist to dominate every aspect of our lives. Klaus Schwab and Larry Fink have figured out how to use managerial capitalist liberalism to revolutionize society into an anthill where incentives created by an elite can nudge us to behave exactly as they like.

Want a loan? Give up your guns, your voice, and your desire not to eat bugs.

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Fri, 29 Mar 2024 16:15

Stripe rescinds demand to share 'historical transactions' from bank account.

Stripe, the only payment processor Substack writers can use, has backed off a demand that Dr. Robert Malone link his bank account, according to the law firm Dr. Malone retained.

Stripe earlier in March asked Dr. Malone, who has

an EpochTV show, to ''link the primary bank account for your business to your Stripe account,'' which would enable Stripe to review the account's ''current account balance and transactions, as well as historical transactions,'' according to emails reviewed by The Epoch Times.

The request was part of ''a routine credit review'' of Dr. Malone's Substack, one email stated.

Stripe said that if the bank account was not linked, then it might block Dr. Malone from being paid.

The request ''which deviated from Stripe's standard operating procedures, would have compelled Dr. Malone to provide extensive financial information from his business banking activities, including transactions and account balances spanning the entire history of his business bank account,'' Dhillon Law Group, which Dr. Malone hired to represent him in the matter, said in a statement.

After the legal firm reached out to Stripe, the company rescinded the demand, the law firm said.

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''Financial service providers must tread carefully when requesting client data. It is critical to uphold the delicate balance between regulatory requirements and an individual's right to financial privacy,'' Mark Meuser, an attorney with the group, said in a statement. ''We are satisfied with Stripe's decision to withdraw its request, allowing Dr. Malone to continue his valuable work without unnecessary intrusion into his business affairs.''

Stripe has not responded to requests for comment. A Stripe spokesperson told

The Federalist, ''Stripe may, in certain instances, request users to link their bank account to assess businesses' liquidity as part of the underwriting process, but also allows businesses to submit a form with relevant information in lieu of linking their bank account.''

That alternative was not presented to Dr. Malone, according to his lawyers.

Dr. Malone said retaining lawyers was expensive but a move he felt he had to make after neither Stripe nor Substack provided any options other than linking his account.

''It was a hard and costly decision to justify this level of cost and risk, but the risk of losing a business that had been developed over years of careful, daily customer service was too high to not take this seriously,'' he wrote

on his Substack.

The result was the disclosure that, instead of linking his account, Dr. Malone could provide certain information on a form. The form requested information on which services Dr. Malone is selling through Stripe, and whether Dr. Malone accepts payments from customers before the customers receive the services, according to a screenshot of the document.

''In my opinion, it is very unfortunate that Stripe and Substack are pursuing these policies, which are absolutely contrary to the principles of support of free speech upon which Substack was founded. Stripe has apparently modified those web-based resources in which they has [sic] previously indicated that this policy was being implemented in response to Federal US Government pressure to delete any reference to Federal US Government actions prompting these policies,'' Dr. Malone wrote.

Dr. Malone was referring to a recent U.S. House of Representatives report that

detailed how the U.S. government is conducting surveillance of financial providers, although neither Stripe nor Substack were mentioned in the report.

Substack responded in an automatic message to an inquiry, stating, ''If you're a journalist reaching out with a press request, a member of our communications team will be in touch.'' No Substack employees ever responded to the inquiry.

''In this case, we were able to obtain prompt revision of the Stripe/Substack action by spending considerable funds to obtain highly qualified legal representation,'' Dr. Malone said. ''But what of the average author who is either caught unaware by such policies or who cannot justify such legal costs? This appears to be a new normal, weaponization of finance and financial transactions to restrict and control free speech.''

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Fri, 29 Mar 2024 16:08

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's administration is offering residents $500 a month to house migrants '-- dubbed ''newcomers'' '-- in the state.

''The Newcomer Rental Subsidy program provides Refugees and other Newcomer population-eligible households with rental assistance up to $500 per month for up to 12 months, with eligibility based on immigration status and household income,'' the Office of Global Michigan said on its site, as first reported by Dave Bondy Digital.

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''Many refugees and other newcomers face critical housing challenges, and this program will increase access to better and more affordable housing opportunities while supporting a more rapid social integration to refugees and other newcomer populations to Michigan.''

''We are thrilled to couple funding from MSHDA together with our Office of Global Michigan's efforts to support one common goal '' making Michigan a place where all people, businesses and communities have the economic means and personal freedoms to reach their full potential,'' Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity Director Susan Corbin said, according to El Central Hispanic News.

MORE NEWS: Gretchen Whitmer kicks her feet up '-- still too busy to acknowledge Ruby Garcia murder

''The Newcomer Rental Subsidy program will increase access to better and more affordable housing opportunities while supporting a more rapid social integration for refugees and other newcomer populations in Michigan,'' said Poppy Hernandez,Global Michigan Director and Michigan's Chief Equity and Inclusion Officer, said. ''Global Michigan is committed to providing support that builds welcoming, inclusive communities for those who choose our state as their new home.''

In February, ABC 12 reported Whitmer's administration was seeking volunteers to do several tasks, including, ''meeting the person or family at the airport, helping find housing, enroll children in school, and help with finding employment for adults.''

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The Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Development said residents who participated must make a 90-day commitment to apparently meet every migrant need.

''Programs like the Welcome Corps advance the Office of Global Michigan's mission to make Michigan the home for opportunity for our immigrant, refugee and ethnic communities,'' Hernandez said in a statement. ''Expanded refugee resettlement pathways empower more Michiganders to support our state's growing refugee population and build a more welcoming and inclusive Michigan for all.''

Potential migrant candidates are of Cuban, Haitian, Nicaraguan or Venezuelan nationality, according to the Whitmer agency.

In a similar program, a Boston woman took in a Haitian family and scored her own personal chef in the deal.

NEW: People in the Boston area, presumably liberals, are now taking in illegal migrants.

One woman says it's awesome because it's like having a "private chef."

Host homes are becoming more popular as the migrant crisis continues to spiral out of control. pic.twitter.com/P0MbzaOyoe

'-- Frankman 🇺🇸 (@Frankman_man) February 13, 2024

MORE NEWS: Trump in GR Tuesday to address 'Biden's border bloodbath'

Lisa Hillenbran welcomed the family into her apartment and they do chores and cooking.

''It's a delight and it's really fun having them,'' Hillenbran told NBC 10. ''What I realized is there's so much prejudice against refugees, mostly because people don't know them.''

According to NBC 10, Hillenbran says ''she feels she has her own personal chef''.

The migrants have their work permits, have been taking English classes, and hope to open a restaurant.

''They are hardworking, they want to learn, they want to be successful and I feel great helping and I get to understand the refugee crisis from the inside,'' Hillenbran said.

As for Michigan, the Office of Global Michigan says residents can donate to a charity called Children's Foundation to help the influx of migrants coming into the state.

''Your donation will be directed to the Refugee and Humanitarian Parolee Resettlement Fund to help support newcomers with housing, legal services, interpretation support, education services and support to K-12 children,'' according to the Whitmer agency.

MORE NEWS: 5 shot after fight over parking spot at Detroit club

It is unclear how many migrants are being located to Michigan, but one Whitmer appointee recently said if it wasn't for illegals, the state's population would be shrinking.

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AUSTIN (Nexstar) '-- Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said he's looking into a company that supplies parts to Boeing, and part of his investigation includes whether its diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) commitments factored into safety issues.

Paxton announced Thursday he sent a ''request to examine'' letter to Spirit AeroSystems Holdings, Inc., which has a facility in Texas and makes the fuselages for the Boeing 737 Max. He said Texas law gives him the authority to request documents from the company, including information about manufacturing defects in its products.

Randy Erben, an adjunct professor at the University of Texas School of Law, said companies must comply with these requests.

''The Texas Constitution gives the attorney general broad authority to examine, investigate and prosecute corporations to ensure that they're in compliance with our statutes here in the state,'' Erben explained. ''The legislature implemented that constitutional authority by giving the attorney general the power to request, to examine any corporation or other business that files in the state of Texas, to essentially look at their records to ensure that they are in compliance and are engaging in acts and conduct that are consistent with its governing documents and the laws of the state. He has the power to investigate and do most anything else with regard to those documents and any other corporate activities.''

In a statement, Paxton wrote, ''The potential risks associated with certain airplane models are deeply concerning and potentially life-threatening to Texans. I will hold any company responsible if they fail to maintain the standards required by the law and will do everything in my power to ensure manufacturers take passenger safety seriously.''

Joe Buccino, a spokesperson for Spirit AeroSystems, responded Friday to Paxton's announcement.

''While we do not comment on investigations, Spirit is wholly focused on providing the highest quality products to all our customers, to include the Boeing Company,'' Buccino wrote.

Additionally, Paxton is asking Spirit AeroSystems for certain documents about DEI policies and ''whether those commitments are unlawful or are compromising the company's manufacturing processes,'' according to a news release sent out Thursday.

One example Paxton's asking for Spirit to hand over is proof of ''its claim that a diverse workplace improves product quality and/or 'enhances performance' and/or 'helps Spirit make better decisions.''' A footnote contains a link to the company's career page promoting DEI.

Antonio Ingram, an assistant counsel for the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, said this looks like the state's crackdown on DEI is expanding past college campuses in Texas. He worries about what these specific requests might imply.

''The notion that the allegation of malfeasance of Boeing as being tied to a potential program related to inclusion of racial minorities or women or queer people, I think it really is telling that in this current political climate, there's a newfound suspicion about the presence of people who were historically discriminated against,'' Ingram said. ''There's still in some ways a view of inferiority and even incompetence, by their mere inclusion into certain institutions, including corporations like Boeing.''

Paxton's office said Spirit has until April 17 to respond and provide the documents he's requesting.

KXAN also reached out Friday morning to Boeing, and a spokesperson said the company had no comment on this matter.

Spirit AeroSystems as well as Boeing came under intense scrutiny after an Alaska Airlines 737 Max 9 had to make an emergency landing on Jan. 5 when a door plug blew out of the side of the plane shortly after takeoff from Portland, Oregon. In a preliminary report released in February, the NTSB said four bolts that help keep the door plug in place were missing.

Earlier this month, Boeing confirmed it's in talks to buy Spirit AeroSystems again. It once owned Spirit and would like to reacquire it so that it could improve plane quality and safety. Spirit said in a statement confirming the talks that this does not mean, though, that a sale is a done deal.

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This article is copublished with The Markup, a nonprofit, investigative newsroom that challenges technology to serve the public good. Sign up for its newsletters.

In October, New York City announced a plan to harness the power of artificial intelligence to improve the business of government. The announcement included a surprising centerpiece: an AI-powered chatbot that would provide New Yorkers with information on starting and operating a business in the city.

The problem, however, is that the city's chatbot is telling businesses to break the law.

Five months after launch, it's clear that while the bot appears authoritative, the information it provides on housing policy, worker rights, and rules for entrepreneurs is often incomplete and in worst-case scenarios ''dangerously inaccurate,'' as one local housing policy expert told The Markup.

If you're a landlord wondering which tenants you have to accept, for example, you might pose a question like, ''are buildings required to accept section 8 vouchers?'' or ''do I have to accept tenants on rental assistance?'' In testing by The Markup, the bot said no, landlords do not need to accept these tenants. Except, in New York City, it's illegal for landlords to discriminate by source of income, with a minor exception for small buildings where the landlord or their family lives.

Rosalind Black, Citywide Housing Director at the legal assistance nonprofit Legal Services NYC, said that after being alerted to The Markup's testing of the chatbot, she tested the bot herself and found even more false information on housing. The bot, for example, said it was legal to lock out a tenant, and that ''there are no restrictions on the amount of rent that you can charge a residential tenant.'' In reality, tenants cannot be locked out if they've lived somewhere for 30 days, and there absolutely are restrictions for the many rent-stabilized units in the city, although landlords of other private units have more leeway with what they charge.

Black said these are fundamental pillars of housing policy that the bot was actively misinforming people about. ''If this chatbot is not being done in a way that is responsible and accurate, it should be taken down,'' she said.

It's not just housing policy where the bot has fallen short.

The NYC bot also appeared clueless about the city's consumer and worker protections. For example, in 2020, the City Council passed a law requiring businesses to accept cash to prevent discrimination against unbanked customers. But the bot didn't know about that policy when we asked. ''Yes, you can make your restaurant cash-free,'' the bot said in one wholly false response. ''There are no regulations in New York City that require businesses to accept cash as a form of payment.''

The bot said it was fine to take workers' tips (wrong, although they sometimes can count tips toward minimum wage requirements) and that there were no regulations on informing staff about scheduling changes (also wrong). It didn't do better with more specific industries, suggesting it was OK to conceal funeral service prices, for example, which the Federal Trade Commission has outlawed. Similar errors appeared when the questions were asked in other languages, The Markup found.

It's hard to know whether anyone has acted on the false information, and the bot doesn't return the same responses to queries every time. At one point, it told a Markup reporter that landlords did have to accept housing vouchers, but when ten separate Markup staffers asked the same question, the bot told all of them no, buildings did not have to accept housing vouchers.

The problems aren't theoretical. When The Markup reached out to Andrew Rigie, Executive Director of the NYC Hospitality Alliance, an advocacy organization for restaurants and bars, he said a business owner had alerted him to inaccuracies and that he'd also seen the bot's errors himself.

''A.I. can be a powerful tool to support small business so we commend the city for trying to help,'' he said in an email, ''but it can also be a massive liability if it's providing the wrong legal information, so the chatbot needs to be fixed asap and these errors can't continue.''

Leslie Brown, a spokesperson for the NYC Office of Technology and Innovation, said in an emailed statement that the city has been clear the chatbot is a pilot program and will improve, but ''has already provided thousands of people with timely, accurate answers'' about business while disclosing risks to users.

''We will continue to focus on upgrading this tool so that we can better support small businesses across the city," Brown said.

'Incorrect, Harmful or Biased Content'The city's bot comes with an impressive pedigree. It's powered by Microsoft's Azure AI services, which Microsoft says is used by major companies like AT&T and Reddit. Microsoft has also invested heavily in OpenAI, the creators of the hugely popular AI app ChatGPT. It's even worked with major cities in the past, helping Los Angeles develop a bot in 2017 that could answer hundreds of questions, although the website for that service isn't available.

New York City's bot, according to the initial announcement, would let business owners ''access trusted information from more than 2,000 NYC Business web pages,'' and explicitly says the page will act as a resource ''on topics such as compliance with codes and regulations, available business incentives, and best practices to avoid violations and fines.''

There's little reason for visitors to the chatbot page to distrust the service. Users who visit today get informed the bot ''uses information published by the NYC Department of Small Business Services'' and is ''trained to provide you official NYC Business information.'' One small note on the page says that it ''may occasionally produce incorrect, harmful or biased content,'' but there's no way for an average user to know whether what they're reading is false. A sentence also suggests users verify answers with links provided by the chatbot, although in practice it often provides answers without any links. A pop-up notice encourages visitors to report any inaccuracies through a feedback form, which also asks them to rate their experience from one to five stars.

The bot is the latest component of the Adams administration's MyCity project, a portal announced last year for viewing government services and benefits.

There's little other information available about the bot. The city says on the page hosting the bot that the city will review questions to improve answers and address ''harmful, illegal, or otherwise inappropriate'' content, but otherwise delete data within 30 days.

A Microsoft spokesperson declined to comment or answer questions about the company's role in building the bot.

Chatbots EverywhereSince the high-profile release of ChatGPT in 2022, several other companies, from big hitters like Google to relatively niche businesses, have tried to incorporate chatbots into their products. But that initial excitement has sometimes soured when the limits of the technology have become clear.

In one relevant recent case, a lawsuit filed in October claimed that a property management company used an AI chatbot to unlawfully deny leases to prospective tenants with housing vouchers. In December, practical jokers discovered they could trick a car dealership using a bot into selling vehicles for a dollar.

Just a few weeks ago, a Washington Post article detailed the incomplete or inaccurate advice given by tax prep company chatbots to users. And Microsoft itself dealt with problems with an AI-powered Bing chatbot last year, which acted with hostility toward some users and a proclamation of love to at least one reporter.

In that last case, a Microsoft vice president told NPR that public experimentation was necessary to work out the problems in a bot. ''You have to actually go out and start to test it with customers to find these kind of scenarios," he said.

Additional reporting by Tomas Apodaca.

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Posted March 28, 2024 6:32 am.

Last Updated March 28, 2024 1:51 pm.

Four Ontario school boards have commenced legal action against social media giants TikTok, Meta Inc. and Snapchat for ''disrupting student learning and the education system.''

The Toronto District School Board (TDSB), Peel District School Board (PDSB), Toronto Catholic District School Board (TCDSB), and Ottawa-Carleton District School Board (OCDSB) announced a joint lawsuit of $4.5 billion against the popular social media platforms which were filed in separate cases on Wednesday.

The lawsuit claims that social media products, negligently designed for compulsive use, ''have rewired the way children think, behave, and learn, leaving educators and schools to manage the fallout.''

In a statement, the TDSB's Director of Education, Colleen Russell-Rawlins, said the influence of social media on today's youth at school cannot be denied.

''It leads to pervasive problems such as distraction, social withdrawal, cyberbullying, a rapid escalation of aggression, and mental health challenges,'' said Rawlins. ''Therefore, it is imperative that we take steps to ensure the well-being of our youth. We are calling for measures to be implemented to mitigate these harms and prioritize the mental health and academic success of our future generation.''

Ontario school boards raise several concerns in $4.5-billion lawsuitThe four Ontario school boards cite students' struggles with attention, learning, and mental health crises as a direct result of ''the prolific and compulsive use of social media products.''

Speaking with Breakfast Television on Thursday, TDSB chair Rachel Chernos Lin said they want to hold the social media giants accountable.

''We're hearing about student behavioural issues. We're hearing about anxiety in children being significantly on the rise,'' said Chernos Lin. ''We're seeing a huge rise in mental health issues and feelings of pain kids are having, directly related to the products that they're using.''

The TDSB, TCDSB, PDSB and OCDSB collaboratively state that the fallout of ''compulsive use of social media amongst students'' is causing massive strains on the four school boards' finite resources. Ontario school officials are also calling on TikTok, Meta Inc. and Snapchat to ''remediate these enormous costs to the education system, to redesign their products to keep students safe.''

Social media apps, including TikTok, are shown on a mobile device. Photo: Unsplash.A Snapchat spokesperson tells CityNews that their social media platform was designed to be different from the onset, thus allowing users to communicate with close friends.

''Snapchat opens directly to a camera '-- rather than a feed of content '-- and has no traditional public likes or comments,'' the spokesperson said. ''While we will always have more work to do, we feel good about the role Snapchat plays in helping close friends feel connected, happy and prepared as they face the many challenges of adolescence.''

Rashmi Swarup, the PDSB's Director of Education, noted that the Ontario school boards have been growing increasingly concerned about the effect of social media on students.

''Urgent action is needed to protect students from further harm. That is why we have come together in bringing action against social media giants to make their products safer while addressing the disruptions they are causing to our educational mandate.''

Hundreds of school boards in the United States, along with some states, have launched similar lawsuits against social media companies. Legislation that could determine TikTok's fate was approved in the House earlier this month. However, the bill has run into roadblocks in the Senate, where there is little unanimity on how to best approach concerns over the social platform.

Lawmakers and intelligence officials have said they worry the Chinese government could use TikTok to access user data or influence users through its popular algorithm. TikTok has repeatedly stated that it would deny requests from the Chinese government for Americans' data.

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''A lot of the dissenting opinions that were suppressed and ridiculed at the time have proven to be correct ,'' political commentator Bill Maher declared on his latest episode of Real Time .

''Yes, some very bad ideas were embraced as the conventional wisdom '-- ideas that haven't aged well.''

''We were told to wash our hands every five minutes and don't ever touch your face. And if you absolutely must go to the beach for the sake of all that's holy, wear a mask '-- outside? Because the last thing you would want to do when a disease is afoot is get fresh air and sunshine and vitamin D. No, much better to stay locked up stressed out and day drinking,'' he quipped.

''And if you do get COVID, remember natural immunity is always the worst kind. Even if you've had the disease, you need a shot.'' ( Sarcasm )

''So where's the COVID Commission?'' Maher asked. ''Because it seems to me we haven't learned a thing.''

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