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  • Oklahoma to execute man for 2002 killing of infant daughter

    Oklahoma to execute man for 2002 killing of infant daughter

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    McALESTER, Okla. — A 57-year-old Oklahoma man is scheduled to receive a lethal injection on Thursday for killing his 9-month-old daughter in 2002, despite claims by his attorneys that he is mentally ill and not competent to be executed.

    Attorneys for Benjamin Cole do not dispute that he killed Brianna Cole by forcibly bending the infant backward, breaking her spine and tearing her aorta, but argue that he is both severely mentally ill and that he has a growing lesion on his brain that has continued to worsen while he has been in prison.

    Cole has refused medical attention and ignored his personal hygiene, hoarding food and living in a darkened cell with little to no communication with staff or fellow prisoners, his attorneys told the state’s Pardon and Parole Board last month during a clemency hearing.

    “His condition has continued to decline over the course of this year,” Cole’s attorney Katrina Conrad-Legler said.

    The panel voted 4-1 to deny clemency, and a district judge earlier this month determined Cole was competent to be executed. A last-minute appeal filed with the U.S. Supreme Court seeking to halt his execution was denied on Wednesday.

    Cole has a lesion on his brain, which is separate from his diagnosis of paranoid schizophrenia, that has grown in size in recent years and affects the part of his brain that deals with problem solving, movement and social interaction, Conrad-Legler has said.

    Attorneys for the state and members of the victim’s family told the board that Cole’s symptoms of mental illness are exaggerated and that the brutal nature of his daughter’s killing merit his execution.

    Assistant Attorney General Tessa Henry said Cole killed his daughter because he was infuriated that her crying from her crib interrupted his playing of a video game.

    “He is not severely mentally ill,” said another prosecutor, Assistant Attorney General Ashley Willis. “There is nothing in the constitution or jurisprudence that prevents his execution.”

    Prosecutors noted that the infant had numerous injuries consistent with a history of abuse and that Cole had previously served time in prison in California for abusing another child.

    Board members also heard emotional testimony from family members of the slain child’s mother, who urged the board to reject clemency.

    “The first time I got to see Brianna in person was lying in a casket,” said Donna Daniel, the victim’s aunt. “Do you know how horrible it is to see a 9-month-old baby in a casket?

    “This baby deserves justice. Our family deserves justice.”

    Oklahoma Attorney General John O’Connor said in a statement that he is confident Cole is sufficiently competent to be executed.

    “Although his attorneys claim Cole is mentally ill to the point of catatonia, the fact is that Cole fully cooperated with a mental evaluation in July of this year,” O’Connor said. “The evaluator, who was not hired by Cole or the State, found Cole to be competent to be executed and that ‘Mr. Cole does not currently evidence any substantial, overt signs of mental illness, intellectual impairment, and/or neurocognitive impairment.’”

    Cole’s execution would be the sixth since Oklahoma resumed carrying out the death penalty in October 2021.

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  • Arizona farm gives refuge from pain, for man and beast alike

    Arizona farm gives refuge from pain, for man and beast alike

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    CORNVILLE, Ariz. — The leader has the name of her dead baby spelled out in beads on her left wrist, and standing before her is a mother so grief-choked by her young son’s death that she flips on her side at one point in this creekside yoga class and sobs. In the next row, a woman whose daughter died by suicide goes through the poses next to a man with a tattoo of three little ducks, one for each of the children who was murdered.

    Just beyond, in the fields of this sanctuary for the grieving, is a sheep whose babies were snatched by coyotes, a goat saved from slaughter and a horse that was badly mistreated carrying loads at the Grand Canyon.

    Soon, the morning fog will lift and the chorus of cicadas will end the quiet. But for a moment, all is still, as if nature has paused to acknowledge this gathering of worldly suffering.

    “There’s a comfort in knowing,” says Suzy Elghanayan, the mother whose young son died earlier this year of a seizure, “that we’re all in the same place that we never wanted to be.”

    The world turns away from stories like theirs because it’s too hard to imagine burying a child. So mourning people from around the globe journey to this patch of farmland just outside the red rocks of Sedona.

    There is no talk at Selah Carefarm of ending the pain of loss, just of building the emotional muscle to handle it.

    Here, the names of the dead can be spoken and the agony of loss can be shown. No one turns away.

    ———

    Joanne Cacciatore was a mother of three in a customer service job when her baby died during delivery.

    Long after she closed the lid to the tiny pink casket, the grief consumed her. She’d sob for hours and withered to 90 lbs. She didn’t want to live. All she thought about was death.

    “Every cell in my body aches,” she wrote in her journal a few months after the death in 1994. “I won’t smile as often as my old self. Smiling hurts now. Most everything hurts some days, even breathing.”

    Cacciatore became consumed with understanding the abyss of heartache she inhabited. But counseling and bereavement groups were as disappointing as the body of research Cacciatore found on traumatic loss.

    So, she set out on twin paths for answers: Enrolling in college for the first time, focusing her studies on grief, and starting a support group and foundation for others like her.

    Today, all these years after the death that set her on this journey, those academic and therapeutic pursuits have converged on the vegan farm, which opened five years ago. As plans for Selah took shape, Cacciatore was reminded of the two dogs who stayed by her side even when the depths of her sorrow were too much for many friends. So the farm is home to dozens of animals, many rescued from abuse and neglect, that are central to many visitors’ experience here.

    While most who come to Selah take part in counseling sessions, Cacciatore believes visitors’ experiences with the animals can be just as transformative. Across the farm, stories repeat of someone washed over by a wave of grief only to find an animal seem to offer comfort – a donkey nestling its face in a crying woman’s shoulder or a horse pressing its head against a grieving heart.

    “There’s a resonance,” Cacciatore says. “There’s a symbiosis,”

    The 10-acre swath of valley feels something like a bohemian enclave crossed with a kibbutz. In the day, the sprawling expanse is baked in sun, all the way back to the creek at the farm’s border, where a family of otters comes to play. At night, under star-flecked skies of indigo, paths are lit by lanterns and strings of bulbs glow, and all is quiet but the gentle flow of spring water snaking through irrigation ditches.

    It is an oasis, but a constantly changing one, reinvented by each new visitor leaving their imprint.

    On one tree, the grieving tie strips of fabric that rain like multicolored tickertape, remnants of their loved one’s favorite shirts and socks and pillowcases. Nearby, little medallions stamped with the names of the dead twinkle in the breeze. And in a grotto beneath an ash tree, the brokenhearted have clipped prayer cards to the branches, left objects including a baseball and a toy truck, and painted dozens of stones memorializing someone gone too soon.

    For Andy, “My Twin Forever.” For Monica, “Loved Forever.” For Jade, “Forever One Day Old.”

    Memories of the dead are everywhere. The farm’s guest house was made possible by donors, just like everything else here, and names of their lost ones are on everything from benches to butterfly gardens.

    ———

    After a few days here, many find the stories of their beloved have become so stitched into the farm’s fabric it makes hallowed ground of earth on which the dead never set foot.

    For Liz Castleman, it is a place she has come to feel her son Charlie’s presence even more than home. A rock with a dinosaur painted on it honors him and a wooden bird soars with his name. Strawberries at the farm have even been forever rebranded as Charlieberries in recognition of his favorite fruit.

    Few in Castleman’s life can bear to hear about her son anymore, three years after he died before even reaching his third birthday. When she first came to the farm, part of her wondered if Cacciatore might somehow have the power to bring Charlie back. In a way, she did. She’s returned five more times because here, people relish hearing of the whip-smart boy who made friends wherever he went, who’d do anything to earn a laugh, who was so outgoing in class a teacher dubbed him “Mayor of Babytown.”

    “All of the old safe spaces are gone. The farm, it really is the one safe space,” says 46-year-old Castleman, whose son died while under anesthesia during an MRI, likely due to an underlying genetic disorder. “There’s something, I don’t know if it’s magical, but you know that anything you say is OK and anything you feel is OK. It’s just a complete bubble from the rest of the world.”

    Many who come here have been frustrated by communities and counselors who tell them to move on from their loss. They’ve been pushed to be medicated or plied with platitudes that hurt more than help. Friends tell a grieving mom that God needed an angel or ask a brokenhearted spouse why he’s still wearing his wedding ring. Again and again, they’re told to forget and move on.

    Here, though, visitors learn the void will be with them, some way or another, forever.

    “I’m picturing my life with my grief always with me and how I’m going to live life with that grief,” says 58-year-old Elghanayan, struggling to imagine her years unfolding without her 20-year-old son Luca, the compassionate, rock-climbing, surfing, piano-playing aspiring scientist. “I have to figure out how to get up and breathe every day and take one step every day and pray my years go by swiftly.”

    If it seems counterintuitive that coming to a place where every story is sad could actually uplift, Selah’s adherents point to their own experiences on the farm and the inching progress they’ve made.

    Erik Denton, a 35-year-old repeat visitor to Selah, is certain he can’t ever get over the deaths of his three children last year, but he’s functioning again. He does the dishes and makes his bed. He doesn’t hole up alone for days at a time. He’s again able to talk about the children he loves: 3-year-old Joanna, the firecracker who climbed trees and helped friends; 2-year-old Terry, the mischief maker who seemed to think no one was watching; and 6-month-old Sierra, the silly girl who just had begun to ooh and aah.

    Denton’s ex-girlfriend, the children’s mother, has been charged in their drownings in a bathtub and sometimes repeating the story or hearing another mourner’s tragedy becomes too much for him. But mostly, Denton feels as if he can connect with people here more than anywhere else.

    “Even though we’re surrounded by so much pain, we’re together,” he says.

    ———

    A sense of solidarity is inescapable at Selah. Guests eagerly trade stories of their lost loved ones. And when someone is hurting, human or animal, they can count on others being by their side.

    This day, Cacciatore is shaken because Shirin, a chocolate brown sheep with a white stripe across her belly, has been growing sicker and can’t be coaxed to eat, not even her favorite cookies.

    Shirin was rescued after her two babies were taken by coyotes. Her udders were full for lambs no longer around to feed. She remained so shaken by it all that no one could get close to her for weeks.

    As Cacciatore awaits the veterinarian, she and a frequent farm guest, 57-year-old Jill Loforte Carroll, dote on the sheep. Cacciatore tries to coax Shirin to eat some leaves and Loforte Carroll cues a recording of “La Vie en Rose” sung by her daughter Sierra before the quietly observant, shyly funny 21-year-old died by suicide seven years ago.

    For a moment, it’s just three mournful moms sharing a patch of field.

    When the vet arrives, their fears are confirmed, and as injections to euthanize are given, Cacciatore massages the sheep, repeatedly cooing reassuring words as her tears fall to the dirt below.

    “It’s OK, baby girl, it’s OK,” she says. “You’re the prettiest girl.”

    By the time the vet looks up with a knowing nod, seven people crouch around Shirin, splayed across the field in such anguished drama it seems fit for a Renaissance painting. On a farm shaped by death, another has arrived, but those who gathered infused it with as much beauty and comfort as they could.

    “It’s not our children,” Cacciatore says before burying Shirin beneath a hulking persimmon tree, “but it’s still hard.”

    This is Cacciatore’s life now, one she never could have imagined before her own tragedy. She has a Ph.D. and a research professorship at Arizona State University. A book on loss, “Bearing the Unbearable,” was well received. A fiercely loyal following has found solace in her work and her counseling.

    “I had a little girl who was born and who died, and it changed the trajectory of my life,” she says. “But I’d give it back in a minute just to have her back.”

    ———

    Matt Sedensky can be reached at msedensky@ap.org and https://twitter.com/sedensky

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  • Lebanon warns deadly cholera outbreak ‘spreading rapidly’

    Lebanon warns deadly cholera outbreak ‘spreading rapidly’

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    Lebanon has warned that a deadly cholera outbreak is “spreading rapidly”, with cases rising after the virulent disease spread from neighbouring Syria.

    The outbreak in the economically devastated country, which has left at least five dead, is the first since 1993. Health officials have blamed the country’s financial and political struggles, which have left citizens with poor and crumbling sanitation infrastructure.

    “The epidemic is spreading rapidly in Lebanon,” caretaker Minister of Public Health Firass Abiad told reporters on Wednesday.

    Since October 6, Lebanon has recorded 169 cholera cases, almost half of them in the past two days, according to the health ministry.

    The latest crisis comes after three years of unprecedented economic dire straits in Lebanon and the inability to control porous borders with neighbouring war-torn Syria, where an outbreak is spreading after more than a decade of war.

    Abiad said the first case in Lebanon was recorded on October 5 in the rural northern Lebanese region of Akkar and that the patient, a Syrian national, was receiving treatment and in stable condition.

    He added that, while the “vast majority” of cases were Syrian refugees, health officials “have started to notice an increase in cases among the Lebanese”.

    Lebanon hosts more than one million Syrian refugees, many of them already poverty-stricken and living in crowded camps for the displaced that lack running water or sewage systems – well before Lebanon’s economic collapse began.

    “The lack of sanitation makes crowded camps high-risk areas,” said Al Jazeera’s Zeina Khodr, reporting from Akkar in Lebanon.

    “Cases are no longer confined to camps bordering Syria, but they’ve since spread to poor areas where drinking water is widely polluted and at times, mixed with wastewater.”

    Cholera is generally contracted from contaminated food or water, and causes diarrhoea and vomiting.

    It can also spread in residential areas that lack proper sewage networks or drinking water from mains.

    Abiad said that contaminated water was used for farming, spreading the disease on to fruit and vegetables.

    Lebanon’s water infrastructure is also derelict and the healthcare system has been hit hard by a three-year financial crisis and the August 2020 Beirut port blast that destroyed critical medical infrastructure in the capital.

    Despite humanitarian aid from donor countries, Abiad said the sector would struggle to cope with a large-scale outbreak.

    The Euphrates River is believed to be the source of Syria’s first waterborne disease outbreak since 2009, but cholera has since spread nationwide, with thousands of suspected or confirmed cases reported.

    According to the United Nations, nearly two-thirds of water treatment plants in Syria, half of pumping stations and one-third of water towers have been damaged.

    WHO advises using one cholera vaccine dose due to shortages

    Meanwhile, the World Health Organization and its partners have recommended that countries temporarily switch to using a single dose of the cholera vaccine instead of two due to a supply shortage as outbreaks surge globally.

    In a statement on Wednesday, the UN agency and partners that include UNICEF and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said one dose of vaccine has proven effective in stopping outbreaks “even though evidence on the exact duration of protection is limited” and appears to be lower in children.

    WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has warned that outbreaks in 29 countries this year were putting “unprecedented pressure” on the world’s limited vaccine supply. He said authorities should aim to scale up vaccine production and that “rationing must only be a temporary solution”.

    Cholera can kill within hours if left untreated, according to the WHO, but many of those infected will have no or mild symptoms.

    It can gernally be easily treated with oral rehydration solution, but more severe cases may require intravenous fluids and antibiotics, the WHO has said.

    Worldwide, the disease affects between 1.3 million and four million people each year, killing between 21,000 and 143,000.

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  • Death sentence upheld for killer with gender dysphoria claim

    Death sentence upheld for killer with gender dysphoria claim

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    COLUMBUS, Ohio — The Ohio Supreme Court upheld the death sentence Wednesday for an inmate who argued her attorneys didn’t properly raise in her defense trauma she experienced, including gender dysphoria.

    The court ruled 6-1 to uphold Victoria Drain’s conviction and death sentence in the 2019 beating death of Christopher Richardson, a fellow inmate in the residential treatment unit at Warren Correctional Institution in southwestern Ohio.

    Drain attempted to enlist Richardson in a plot to kill an inmate Drain believed was a convicted child molester, court records show. When Richardson backed out, Drain killed him to keep him from exposing her plan, records show.

    Drain killed Richardson by beating, stabbing and strangling him, according to court records.

    Drain had been placed on the unit, which provides inmate psychiatric services, “due to her attempt to self-castrate because she is transgender,” Drain’s attorneys said in a court filing in March 2021.

    At the time of the slaying, Drain was serving a 38-year sentence for stabbing and strangling a man to death in Hancock County in 2016.

    An attorney for Drain, whose execution has not been scheduled, promised a comment later Wednesday.

    In their Supreme Court filing, Drain’s attorneys presented evidence of self-harm dating to childhood because of gender dysphoria, or the distress felt when someone’s gender expression does not match their gender identity. Attorneys describe Drain as a transwoman in court documents.

    Warren County prosecutors argued that Drain had “persistently rebuffed” any efforts by her attorneys to present evidence to the three-judge panel weighing her sentence that would have benefited her case. In January 2020, Drain wrote a letter explaining she didn’t want the evidence on her behalf used, prosecutors said.

    Drain’s attorneys on her appeal countered that her original lawyers didn’t investigate the connection between her gender dysphoria and her mental health and acts of self-harm.

    Ultimately, the Supreme Court placed more weight on Drain’s refusal to allow evidence presented on her behalf.

    Justice Sharon Kennedy, writing for the majority, noted that Drain insisted, against her attorneys’ advice, on pleading no contest and made clear she didn’t want 1,900 pages gathered by her attorneys about her life presented to the court.

    “Rather, the record shows Drain’s longstanding determination to plead no contest and to have the proceedings over as quickly as possible,” Kennedy wrote.

    Justice Jennifer Brunner, the lone dissenting vote, said Drain’s refusal to allow evidence presented on her behalf related mainly to reluctance to present details of a dysfunctional childhood or testimony from Drain’s daughter.

    There was significant other evidence available to Drain’s attorneys, Brunner said, “including evidence concerning her gender dysphoria, her mental-health issues and diagnosed disorders, her history of substance abuse, her medical history and the effect that it has had on her mental health and decision-making, and her time spent in juvenile facilities and other facilities.”

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  • Genetic twist: Medieval plague may have molded our immunity

    Genetic twist: Medieval plague may have molded our immunity

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    Our Medieval ancestors left us with a biological legacy: Genes that may have helped them survive the Black Death make us more susceptible to certain diseases today.

    It’s a prime example of the way germs shape us over time, scientists say in a new study published Wednesday in the journal Nature.

    “Our genome today is a reflection of our whole evolutionary history” as we adapt to different germs, said Luis Barreiro, a senior author of the research. Some, like those behind the bubonic plague, have had a big impact on our immune systems.

    The Black Death in the 14th century was the single deadliest event in recorded history, spreading throughout Europe, the Middle East and northern Africa and wiping out up to 30% to 50% of the population.

    Barreiro and his colleagues at the University of Chicago, McMaster University in Ontario and the Pasteur Institute in Paris examined ancient DNA samples from the bones of more than 200 people from London and Denmark who died over about 100 years that stretched before, during, and after the Black Death swept through that region.

    They identified four genes that, depending on the variant, either protected against or increased susceptibility to the bacteria that causes bubonic plague, which is most often transmitted by the bite of an infected flea.

    They found that what helped people in Medieval times led to problems generations later — raising the frequency of mutations detrimental in modern times. Some of the same genetic variants identified as protective against the plague are associated with certain autoimmune disorders, such as Crohn’s disease, rheumatoid arthritis and lupus. In these sorts of diseases, the immune system that defends the body against disease and infection attacks the body’s own healthy tissues.

    “A hyperactive immune system may have been great in the past but in the environment today it might not be as helpful,” said Hendrik Poinar, an anthropology professor at McMaster and another senior author.

    Past research has also sought to examine how the Black Death affected the human genome. But Barreiro said he believes theirs is the first demonstration that the Black Death was important to the evolution of the human immune system. One unique aspect of the study, he said, was to focus on a narrow time window around the event.

    Monica H. Green, an author and historian of medicine who has studied the Black Death extensively, called the research “tremendously impressive,” bringing together a wide range of experts.

    “It’s extremely sophisticated” and addresses important issues, such as how the same version of a gene can protect people from a horrific infection and also put modern people — and generations of their descendants — at risk for other illnesses, said Green, who was not involved in the study.

    All of this begs the question: Will the COVID-19 pandemic have a big impact on human evolution? Barreiro said he doesn’t think so because the death rate is so much lower and the majority of people who have died had already had children.

    In the future, however, he said more deadly pandemics may well continue to shape us at the most basic level.

    “It’s not going to stop. It’s going to keep going for sure.”

    ———

    The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

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  • Two new COVID variants are spreading fast in New York region and could account for about 37% of new cases

    Two new COVID variants are spreading fast in New York region and could account for about 37% of new cases

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    The two newly identified omicron subvariants, dubbed BQ.1 and BQ.1.1, are spreading fast in the New York region and could account for about 37% of new cases, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data crunched by NBC News.

    The two variants accounted for 11.5% and 8% of new cases, respectively, that were recorded in the area in the week ending Oct. 15, up from 4.1% and 1.9% two weeks earlier. The New York area includes New Jersey, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.

    Combined, they accounted for 11.4% of overall U.S. cases in the same week. Before last Friday’s data release, they were included in BA.5 variant data, as the numbers were too small to break out. BQ.1 was first identified by researchers in early September and has been found in the U.K. and Germany, among other places. The CDC is updating the numbers every Friday.

    “When you get variants like that, you look at what their rate of increase is as a relative proportion of the variants, and this has a pretty troublesome doubling time,” Anthony Fauci, President Joe Biden’s chief medical adviser, said in an interview with CBS News earlier this week.

    The news comes as experts fear another wave of cases during the winter months as colder weather forces people indoors and families gather for holidays.

    U.S. known cases of COVID are continuing to ease and now stand at their lowest level since mid-April, although the true tally is likely higher given how many people overall are testing at home, where the data are not being collected.

    The daily average for new cases stood at 37,888 on Tuesday, according to a New York Times tracker, down 15% from two weeks ago. Cases are currently rising in 10 states: Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Maryland, Wisconsin, Illinois, Vermont, Kansas and Florida. Cases are also rising in Washington, D.C.

    The daily average for hospitalizations was down 6% to 25,845, although hospitalizations are up in many northeastern states, including Rhode Island, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Massachusetts, Delaware, Pennsylvania and Maine.

    The daily average for deaths is down 3% to 382.

    In other news, the World Health Organization said its emergency committee came away from a meeting last week with the determination that the pandemic remains a global health emergency, despite recent progress.

    WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said he agreed with that decison.

    “The committee emphasized the need to strengthen surveillance and expand access to tests, treatments and vaccines for those most at-risk, and for all countries to update their national preparedness and response plans,” Tedros told reporters at a briefing.

    “While the global situation has obviously improved since the pandemic began, the virus continues to change, and there remain many risks and uncertainties,” he said. “This pandemic has surprised us before and very well could again.”

    The new bivalent vaccine might be the first step in developing annual COVID-19 shots, which could follow a similar process to the one used to update flu vaccines every year. Here’s what that process looks like, and why applying it to COVID could be challenging. Illustration: Ryan Trefes

    Coronavirus Update: MarketWatch’s daily roundup has been curating and reporting all the latest developments every weekday since the coronavirus pandemic began

    Other COVID-19 news you should know about:

    • Reports that a 16-year-old girl has died at a COVID quarantine center in China are causing anger after her family said their pleas for medical help were ignored, the Guardian reported. Videos of the girl have spread across Chinese social media in the last 24 hours. The distressing footage, which the Guardian said it has not been able to independently verify, shows the teenager ill, struggling to breathe and convulsing in a bunk bed at what is purported to be a quarantine center in Ruzhou, Henan province. The reports come as Communist Party leaders hold their party congress in Beijing amid anger about the country’s strict zero-COVID policy.

    • Hong Kong, which is experiencing a massive brain drain thanks to the pandemic and to political upheaval, unveiled a new visa scheme on Wednesday that aims to attract global talent, the Associated Press reported. The region’s chief executive, John Lee, said the Top Talent Pass Scheme will allow people who earn an annual salary of 2.5 million Hong Kong dollars ($318,472) or more, as well as graduates of the world’s top universities, to work or pursue opportunities in the city for two years.

    In a rare display of defiance, two banners unfurled from a highway overpass in Beijing condemned Chinese President Xi Jinping and his strict COVID policies. The protest took place days before the Communist Party congress in that city.

    • The COVID pandemic catalyzed a major shift in the way Americans live and work, and a new analysis from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York shows that workers in the U.S. are taking advantage of the widespread shift toward remote work to spend more time sleeping and engaging in leisure activities, MarketWatch’s Chris Matthews reported. “One of the most enduring shifts [resulting from the pandemic] has occurred in the workplace, with millions of employees making the switch to work from home,” wrote David Dam, a former New York Fed research analyst, in a Tuesday blog post.

    • The North Dakota Department of Health stored thousands of COVID-19 vaccine doses at incorrect temperatures or without temperature data over the past two years, according to a state audit Tuesday that said some of those vaccines were administered to patients, the AP reported. The health department disputed the findings. Tim Wiedrich, who heads the agency’s virus response, said “no non-viable vaccine” was given to patients. In responses that accompanied the audit, the department said clerical errors or other errors of documentation erroneously suggested that expired or bad doses were given.

    Here’s what the numbers say:

    The global tally of confirmed cases of COVID-19 topped 625.7 million on Wednesday, while the death toll rose above 6.57 million, according to data aggregated by Johns Hopkins University.

    The U.S. leads the world with 97 million cases and 1,065,841 fatalities.

    The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s tracker shows that 226.2 million people living in the U.S., equal to 68.1% of the total population, are fully vaccinated, meaning they have had their primary shots. Just 110.8 million have had a booster, equal to 49% of the vaccinated population, and 25.6 million of those who are eligible for a second booster have had one, equal to 39% of those who received a first booster.

    Some 14.8 million people have had a dose of the updated bivalent booster that targets omicron and its subvariants along with the original virus.

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  • Poor, less white areas get worst internet deals

    Poor, less white areas get worst internet deals

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    A couple of years into the pandemic, Shirley Neville had finally had enough of her shoddy internet service.

    “When I was getting ready to use my tablet for a meeting, it was cutting off and not coming on,” said Neville, who lives in a middle-class neighborhood in New Orleans whose residents are almost all Black or Latino.

    Neville said she was willing to pay more to be able to Zoom without interruption, so she called AT&T to upgrade her connection. She said she was told there was nothing the company could do.

    In her area, AT&T only offers download speeds of 1 megabit per second or less, trapping her in a digital Stone Age. Her internet is so slow that it doesn’t meet Zoom’s recommended minimum for group video calls; doesn’t come close to the Federal Communications Commission’s definition of broadband, currently 25 Mbps; and is worlds below median home internet speeds in the U.S., which average 167 Mbps.

    “In my neighborhood, it’s terrible,” Neville said.

    But that’s not the case in other parts of New Orleans. AT&T offers residents of the mostly white, upper-income neighborhood of Lakeview internet speeds almost 400 times faster than Neville’s—for the same price: $55 a month.

    —

    This story was reported by The Markup, and the story and data were distributed by The Associated Press.

    —

    The vast gulf between the qualities of service AT&T offered these neighborhoods for the same cost is not a fluke.

    The Markup gathered and analyzed more than 800,000 internet service offers from AT&T, Verizon, Earthlink, and CenturyLink in 38 cities across America and found that all four routinely offered fast base speeds at or above 200 Mbps in some neighborhoods for the same price as connections below 25 Mbps in others.

    The places neighborhoods offered the worst deals had lower median incomes in nine out of 10 cities in the analysis. In two-thirds of the cities where The Markup had enough data to compare, the providers gave the worst offers to the least white neighborhoods.

    These providers also disproportionately gave the worst offers to formerly redlined areas in every one of the 22 cities examined where digitized historical maps were available. These are areas a since-disbanded agency created by the federal government in the 1930s had deemed “hazardous” for financial institutions to invest in, often because the residents were Black or poor. Redlining was outlawed in 1968.

    By failing to price according to service speed, these companies are demanding some customers pay dramatically higher unit prices of advertised download speed than others. CenturyLink, which showed the most extreme disparities, offered some customers service of 200 Mbps, amounting to as little as $0.25 per Mbps, but offered others living in the same city only 0.5 Mbps for the same price—a unit price of $100 per Mbps, or 400 times as much.

    Residents of neighborhoods offered the worst deals aren’t just being ripped off; they’re denied the ability to participate in remote learning, well-paying remote jobs, and even family connection and recreation—ubiquitous elements of modern life.

    “It isn’t just about the provision of a better service. It’s about access to the tools people need to fully participate in our democratic system,” said Chad Marlow, senior policy counsel at the ACLU. “That is a far bigger deal and that’s what really worries me about what you’re finding.”

    Christopher Lewis, president and CEO of the nonprofit Public Knowledge, which works to expand internet access, said The Markup’s analysis shows how far behind the federal government is when it comes to holding internet providers to account. “Nowhere have we seen either the FCC nor the Congress, who ultimately has authority as well, study competition in the marketplace and pricing to see if consumers are being price gouged or if those service offerings make sense.”

    None of the providers denied charging the same fee for vastly different internet speeds to different neighborhoods in the same cities. But they said their intentions were not to discriminate against communities of color and that there were other factors to consider.

    The industry group USTelecom , speaking on behalf of Verizon, said the cost of maintaining the antiquated equipment used for slow speed service plays a role in its price.

    “Fiber can be hundreds of times faster than legacy broadband—but that doesn’t mean that legacy networks cost hundreds of times less,” USTelecom senior vice president Marie Johnson said in an email. “Operating and maintaining legacy technologies can be more expensive, especially as legacy network components are discontinued by equipment manufacturers.”

    AT&T spokesperson Jim Greer said in an emailed statement that The Markup’s analysis is “fundamentally flawed” because it “clearly ignored our participation in the federal Affordable Connectivity Program and our low-cost Access by AT&T service offerings.” That federal program was launched in 2021 and pays up to $30 a month for internet for low-income residents, or $75 on tribal lands.

    “Any suggestion that we discriminate in providing internet access is blatantly wrong,” he said, adding that AT&T plans on spending $48 billion on service upgrades over the next two years.

    Recent research looking at 30 major cities found only about a third of eligible households had signed up for the federal subsidy, however, and the majority use it to help cover cellphone bills, which also qualify.

    Greer declined to say how many or what percentage of AT&T’s internet customers are signed up for either the ACP or the company’s own low-cost program for low-income residents.

    In a letter to the FCC, AT&T insisted its high-speed internet deployments are driven by “household density, not median incomes.” But when The Markup ran a statistical test controlling for density, it still found AT&T disproportionately offered slower speeds to lower-income areas in three out of four of the 20 cities where we investigated their service.

    “We do not engage in discriminatory practices like redlining and find the accusation offensive,” Mark Molzen, a spokesperson for CenturyLink’s parent company, Lumen, wrote in an email.” He said that The Markup’s analysis is “deeply flawed” without specifying how. He did not respond to requests for clarification.

    EarthLink, which doesn’t own internet infrastructure in the examined cities but rather rents capacity from other providers, did not provide an official comment despite repeated requests.

    Internet prices are not regulated by the federal government because unlike telephone service, internet service is not considered a utility.

    Las Vegas is one city where large swaths of CenturyLink’s offers were for slow service. Almost half didn’t meet the current federal definition of broadband. These fell disproportionately on Las Vegas’s lower-income and least white areas.

    “I think it’s unfair knowing that it is slow service that we’re paying for that is not commensurate with the faster speeds that they have in the other parts of the city that are paying the same price,”

    said Las Vegas councilwoman Olivia Diaz. “It just breaks my heart to know we’re not getting the best bang for our buck.”

    Some officials told The Markup they’ve been yelling for years about bad service for high prices.

    “If I was paying $6 a month,” Joshua Edmonds, Detroit’s director of digital inclusion, “well you get what you’re paying for.” But he objects to people being asked to pay premium rates for bad service. “What I pay versus what I get doesn’t really make sense.”

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  • Time to get off the couch, WHO warns, as 500 million risk developing chronic illness

    Time to get off the couch, WHO warns, as 500 million risk developing chronic illness

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    And the price of inaction and staying on the couch, will be severe, WHO said – around $27 billion in extra healthcare costs.

    The Global status report on physical activity 2022, measures the extent to which governments are implementing recommendations to increase physical activity across all ages and abilities. 

    Data from 194 countries show that overall, progress is slow and that countries need to accelerate the development and implementation of policies to increase heart rates and help prevent disease and reduce the burden on already overwhelmed health services.

    Unsplash/Adrian Swancar

    More than 80% of the world’s adolescent population is insufficiently physically active

    The statistics lay bare the extent of the challenges facing countries worldwide: 

    • Less than 50 per cent of countries have a national physical activity policy, of which less than 40 per cent are operational.
    • Only 30 per cent of countries have national physical activity guidelines for all ages.
    • While nearly all countries report a system for monitoring adult exercise, only 75 per cent of countries monitor adolescent activity, and less than 30 per cent monitor physical activity in children under 5.
    • In transport policy terms, just over 40 per cent of countries have road design standards that make walking and cycling safer.

    Time to take a walk: Tedros  

    “We need more countries to scale up implementation of policies to support people to be more active through walking, cycling, sport, and other physical activity”, said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General.

    “The benefits are huge, not only for the physical and mental health of individuals, but also for societies, environments, and economies…We hope countries and partners will use this report to build more active, healthier, and fairer societies for all.”  

    The economic burden of taking it too easy is significant, says the WHO report, and the cost of treating new cases of preventable non-communicable diseases (NCDs) will reach nearly $300 billion by 2030.

    Whilst national policies to tackle NCDs and physical inactivity have increased in recent years, currently 28 per cent of policies are reported to be not funded or implemented.

    There is much to be said for countries running a national PR campaign, or mass participation events, that extoll the benefits of getting more exercise, said WHO.

    The COVID-19 pandemic has not only stalled these initiatives, but it also affected other policy implementation which has widened inequities when it comes to upping the heart rate in many communities.

    Physical activity reduces symptoms of depression and anxiety.

    Unsplash/Chander R

    Physical activity reduces symptoms of depression and anxiety.

    Fitness plan

    To help countries increase physical activity, WHO’s Global action plan on physical activity 2018-2030 (GAPPA) sets out 20 policy recommendations.

    These include safer roads to encourage more biking and walking, and providing more programmes and opportunities for physical activity in key settings, such as childcare, schools, primary health care and the workplace.

    “We are missing globally approved indicators to measure access to parks, cycle lanes, foot paths – even though we know that data do exist in some countries”, said Fiona Bull, Head of WHO’s Physical Activity Unit.

    “Consequently, we cannot report or track the global provision of infrastructure that will facilitate increases in physical activity”.

    “It can be a vicious circle, no indicator and no data leads to no tracking and no accountability, and then too often, to no policy and no investment. What gets measured gets done, and we have some way to go to comprehensively and robustly track national actions on physical activity.”

    National workout

    The report calls for countries to prioritize a fitness boost, as key to improving health and tackling NCDs, integrate physical activity into all relevant policies, and develop tools, guidance and training.

    “It is good for public health and makes economic sense to promote more physical activity for everyone,” said Dr. Ruediger Krech, WHO Director in the Department of Health Promotion.

    “We need to facilitate inclusive programmes for physical activity for all and ensure people have easier access to them.  This report issues a clear call to all countries for stronger and accelerated action by all relevant stakeholders working better together to achieve the global target of a 15% reduction in the prevalence of physical inactivity by 2030.” 

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  • USDA announces $1 billion debt relief for 36,000 farmers

    USDA announces $1 billion debt relief for 36,000 farmers

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    DES MOINES, Iowa — The federal government announced Tuesday a program that will provide $1.3 billion in debt relief for about 36,000 farmers who have fallen behind on loan payments or face foreclosure.

    The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced the farm loan relief program funded from $3.1 billion set aside in the Inflation Reduction Act allocated toward assisting distressed borrowers of direct or guaranteed loans administered by USDA. The law was passed by Congress and signed by President Joe Biden in August.

    The USDA provides loans to about 115,000 farmers and livestock producers who cannot obtain commercial credit. Those who have missed payments, are in foreclosure or are heading toward default will get help from the USDA. Financial difficulties for farmers may be caused by a variety of issues including drought and transportation bottlenecks.

    “Through no fault of their own, our nation’s farmers and ranchers have faced incredibly tough circumstances over the last few years,” said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. “The funding included in today’s announcement helps keep our farmers farming and provides a fresh start for producers in challenging positions.”

    About 11,000 farm borrowers delinquent on direct or guaranteed loan payments for 60 days or longer are receiving automatic electronic payments to get them current on their loans. Each farmer with a direct loan received about $52,000 and those with guaranteed loans received about $172,000. The total cost for this group is nearly $600 million. Farmers who received this help will get a letter informing them that their payments have been made and they will remain current until their next annual payment is due in 2023, Vilsack said.

    Another $200 million has been used to immediately help 2,100 farm borrowers after their loans had been foreclosed but who still owed money and had their tax refunds and other resources taken by the U.S. Treasury. The money will be used to pay the money these farmers owe to give them a fresh start, Vilsack said. The USDA said farmers in this category received an average of $101,000.

    Another $571 million will be used help several additional groups including:

    —7,000 farmers who during the COVID pandemic delayed loan payments to the end of their loans. This will cost $66 million.

    —1,600 farmers that face bankruptcy or foreclosure will get help on a case-by-case basis with individual meetings to assess their problem and find solutions at a cost of $330 million.

    —14,000 financially distressed farm borrowers facing cash flow problems who ask for help to avoid missing a loan payment will receive additional assistance. Vilsack said these issues could be brought on by drought or by low levels on the Mississippi River that is slowing barge traffic causing grain transportation issues. Up to $175 million will be available for this program.

    The money announced Tuesday is the first round of payments designed to help insure the farmers stay in business or re-enter farming.

    The remainder of the $3.1 billion will be used to help relax unnecessary loan restrictions and provide further assistance to be announced later, the USDA said.

    Farmers assisted by the program have been found by the USDA to be distressed borrowers hard hit by pandemic-induced market disruptions exacerbated by more frequent, more intense, climate-driven natural disasters, the USDA said.

    President Joe Biden and his administration continue to endure criticism for enacting a program to forgive some college loans but some of the Republican politicians who have criticized that program did not respond to questions about whether they support the farm loan help.

    The USDA also provided $31 billion to help nearly a million farmers offset lower sales, prices and other losses due to the coronavirus pandemic in 2021 and 2022, the U.S. Government Accountability Office has said.

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  • Texas woman accused of killing daughter she called ‘evil’

    Texas woman accused of killing daughter she called ‘evil’

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    HOUSTON — A woman accused by authorities of killing her 5-year-old daughter near a suburban Houston park because she thought the girl was an “evil child” has a history of mental illness, her attorney said Tuesday.

    Melissa Towne has been charged with capital murder in the death of her daughter Nichole and was being held on a $15 million bond. She appeared in court on Tuesday, crying during a brief hearing.

    Towne’s court-appointed attorney, James Stafford, told reporters after the hearing she has been diagnosed as a schizophrenic and has been institutionalized at least nine times due to mental illness.

    “There’s no doubt there’s some dark demons haunting her,” Stafford said.

    Authorities allege Towne took the girl to a wooded area near a park in the Houston suburb of Tomball on Sunday, made her get on her knees and cut her throat with a knife. The girl began to scream and fight before Towne placed a trash bag over her head, according to a probable cause affidavit.

    Towne is accused of strangling her daughter for 30 to 45 minutes. Towne “stated she wanted to end (her daughter’s) life because she was an evil child and did not want to deal with her anymore,” according to the affidavit.

    Authorities allege Towne then took her daughter’s body to a hospital in Tomball, where a nurse found the girl inside a laundry mesh bag on the floorboard of the passenger side of Towne’s SUV.

    Child Protective Services said in a statement it was also investigating the child’s death and that Towne had a prior history with the agency but could not provide additional details due to confidentiality rules. The agency said Towne has three other children, ranging in age from 2 to 18 years old, who are safe and had been living with other relatives.

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  • Biden vows abortion legislation as top priority next year

    Biden vows abortion legislation as top priority next year

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    WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden promised Tuesday that the first bill he sends to Capitol Hill next year will be one that writes abortion protections into law — if Democrats control enough seats in Congress to pass it — as he sought to energize his party’s voters just three weeks ahead of the November midterms.

    Twice over, Biden urged people to remember how they felt in late June when the Supreme Court overturned the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling that legalized abortion, fresh evidence of White House efforts to ensure the issue stays front of mind for Democratic voters this year.

    “I want to remind us all how we felt when 50 years of constitutional precedent was overturned,” Biden said in remarks at the Howard Theatre, “the anger, the worry, the disbelief.”

    He repeatedly lambasted Republicans nationwide who have pushed for restrictions on the procedure, often without exceptions, and told Democrats in attendance that “if you care about the right to choose, then you gotta vote.”

    As he has done all year, Biden emphasized that only Congress can fully restore abortion access to what it was before the Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson, which overturned Roe. But he also acknowledged “we’re short a handful of votes” now to reinstate abortion protections at the federal level, urging voters to send more Democrats to Congress.

    “If we do that, here’s the promise I make to you and the American people: The first bill that I will send to the Congress will be to codify Roe v. Wade,” Biden said. “And when Congress passes it, I’ll sign it in January, 50 years after Roe was first decided the law of the land.”

    That’s a big if.

    For Biden to follow through on his pledge, Democrats would have to retain control of the House and pick up seats in the Senate — an unlikely scenario considering current political dynamics. Abortion rights have been a key motivating factor for Democrats this year, although the economy and inflation still rank as chief concern for most voters.

    Abolishing the filibuster — the legislative rule that requires 60 votes for most bills to advance in the Senate — amid opposition in their own ranks will also pose a significant challenge for Democrats.

    Long resistant to any revisions to Senate institutional rules, Biden said in the days after the June decision to overrule Roe that he would support eliminating the supermajority threshold for abortion bills, just as he did on voting rights legislation.

    But two moderate Democrats — Sens. Kyrsten Sinema, Ariz., and Joe Manchin, W.Va. — support keeping the filibuster. Sinema has said she wants to retain the filibuster precisely so any abortion restrictions backed by Republicans would face a much higher hurdle to pass in the Senate.

    Democratic Senate candidates in Pennsylvania and Wisconsin — the party’s two best chances to flip seats currently held by Republicans — have both said they support eliminating the filibuster in order to pass abortion legislation. Pennsylvania Senate candidate John Fetterman has actively campaigned on being the 51st vote for priorities such as legalizing abortion, codifying same-sex marriage protections, and making it easier for workers to unionize — all measures that would otherwise be blocked by a filibuster in the Senate.

    Abortion — and proposals from some Republicans to impose nationwide restrictions on the procedure — have been a regular fixture of Biden’s political rhetoric this election cycle, as Democrats seek to energize voters in a difficult midterm season for the party in power in Washington.

    In fundraisers and in political speeches, Biden has vowed to reject any abortion restrictions that may come to his desk in a GOP-controlled Congress. Like he did on Tuesday, Biden has also urged voters to boost the Democratic ranks in the Senate so enough senators would not only support reinstating abortion nationwide, but would change Senate rules to do it.

    Opponents of abortion rights have also sought to capitalize on the issue, with Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, saying Tuesday that the stakes of next month’s midterm elections “could not be higher.”

    “Doubling down on an extreme agenda of abortion on demand until birth won’t stop Democrats from losing Congress, even with the abortion industry spending record sums to elect them,” Dannenfelser said. “Biden’s party is on the wrong side and stunningly out of touch.

    On Tuesday, Biden made a pointed appeal to young voters, who traditionally participate in lower rates than other age demographics in midterm elections. Though his remarks were primarily focused on abortion, Biden also mentioned his decisions to forgive billions of dollars in student loan debt and to issue pardons for marijuana possession — moves popular with younger voters.

    “What I am saying is, you represent the best of us. Your generation will not be ignored, will not be shunned and will not be silent,” Biden said, adding: “In 2020, you voted to deliver the change you wanted to see in the world. In 2022, you need to exercise your power to vote again for the future of our nation and the future of your generation.”

    Court decisions and state legislation have shifted — and sometimes, re-shifted — the status of abortion laws across the country. Currently, bans are in place at all states of pregnancy in 12 states. In another, Wisconsin, clinics have stopped providing abortions though there’s dispute over whether a ban is in effect. In Georgia, abortion is banned at the detection of cardiac activity — generally around six weeks and before women often know they’re pregnant.

    Meanwhile, codifying Roe remains a broadly popular position. In a July AP-NORC poll, 60% of U.S. adults said they believe Congress should pass a law guaranteeing access to legal abortion nationwide.

    Even with the economy dominating so much of the midterm discourse, abortion has been a touchstone in high-profile contests from Ohio to Arizona, especially as Democrats try to trap Republicans between their most ardent anti-abortion base voters who want absolute or near-total bans and a majority of U.S. adults that wants at least some legal access to elective abortions.

    For instance, in Georgia, Republican Senate nominee Herschel Walker went so far in his only debate against Sen. Raphael Warnock, a Democrat, as to deny his previous support for a national abortion ban with no exceptions. Despite Walker’s previous statements captured on video, he insisted Warnock misrepresented his position. Walker said in the debate that he backs a Georgia statute outlawing abortion after six weeks of pregnancy – an effective ban for some women because it’s so early they don’t yet know they’re pregnant. The law includes exceptions for later abortions in cases of rape, incest and involving health risks to a woman.

    Warnock, meanwhile, avoided direct questions about whether he’d support any abortion limits, instead turning the question to Walker’s position.

    ___

    Associated Press writers Aamer Madhani in Washington, Geoff Mulvihill in Cherry Hill, N.J., and Bill Barrow in Atlanta contributed to this report.

    ___

    Follow AP’s coverage of the 2022 midterms: https://apnews.com/hub/2022-midterm-elections

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  • At Georgia debate, Abrams and Kemp clash on abortion, crime

    At Georgia debate, Abrams and Kemp clash on abortion, crime

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    ATLANTA (AP) — Republican Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp and Democratic challenger Stacey Abrams painted different visions for the future of Georgia, clashing on the economy, crime, voting and education as they debated Monday night after more than 100,000 Georgians swarmed to the polls of the first day of early voting.

    Kemp issued perhaps his clearest commitment yet that he won’t pursue any new restrictions on abortion or birth control, clarifying his position on an issue he’s sometimes avoided as he seeks a second term.

    Abrams, pushing uphill to unseat the incumbent four years after she narrowly lost to Kemp, told voters his record of accomplishments was scant.

    “This is a governor who for the last four years has beat his chest but delivered very little for most Georgians,” she said. “He’s weakened gun laws and flooded our streets. He’s weakened … women’s rights. He’s denied women the access to reproductive care. The most dangerous thing facing Georgia is four more years of Brian Kemp.”

    Kemp, though, reminded voters that he had delivered billions in tax relief and rebates to millions of Georgians, crediting his decision to reopen Georgia’s economy amid the pandemic for the state’s financial strength and repeatedly blaming Democrats for economic difficulties.

    “My desire is to continue to help them fight through 40-year-high inflation and high gas prices and other things that our Georgia families are facing right now financially because of bad policies in Washington, D.C., where President Biden and the Democrats have complete control,” he said.

    Kemp said he “would not” go beyond the “heartbeat bill” he signed in 2019 to ban nearly all abortions at six weeks of pregnancy, a point that comes before many women know they’re pregnant. The law took effect after the U.S. Supreme Court in June overturned a constitutional right to abortion services. The Georgia law includes exceptions in cases of rape, incest and health risks to pregnant women.

    Abrams has criticized the Republican incumbent as an extremist on abortion, leaving him trapped between moderates who want more permissive abortion laws and activists who want the governor to completely ban abortion or restrict Plan B, an over-the-counter contraceptive that can prevent pregnancy even after an egg is fertilized.

    The debate question came after Kemp was captured on tape by a voter pressing Kemp to commit to more restrictions. Kemp sought to quell concerns. “That’s not my desire” to push any new abortion or birth control legislation, he said.

    Libertarian Shane Hazel, who was also on the debate stage, interrupted the other candidates several times to get his point across because he wasn’t asked as many questions.

    Beyond abortion, Kemp and Abrams rekindled their long-standing feud over voting rights, with Abrams accusing Kemp as governor and previously as secretary of state of trying to make it harder for some Georgians to vote.

    Abrams said, however, that she would accept the outcome of the November election after Republicans criticized her for acknowledging Kemp’s 2018 victory but refusing to use the word “concede.”

    “I will always acknowledge the outcome of elections, but I will never deny access to every voter, because that is the responsibility of every American to defend the right to vote,” she said.

    Kemp urged voters to remember that he was among the Republican governors who relaxed public restrictions early in the COVID-19 pandemic, including resisting widespread mask mandates and school closures during the nation’s worst public health crisis in a century.

    “Our economy is incredible … we are the ones that’s been fighting for you when Ms. Abrams was not,” Kemp said.

    Still, he found himself on the defensive from Hazel, who blasted Kemp for ever going along with any restrictions and for endorsing the government-distributed COVID-19 vaccine. Abrams defended her criticism of the reopening as showing prudent caution in a pandemic that killed tens of thousands of Georgians.

    Abrams and other Democrats have steamed as Kemp has used the power of the governor’s office to spend heavily, noting much of the spending is underwritten by a Democratic COVID-19 relief bill that Kemp opposed. Abrams argues she has a better longer-term vision for Georgia’s economy, pledging a much larger teacher pay raise than the $5,000 Kemp delivered, an expanded Medicaid program, increased access to state contracts for small and minority-owned businesses and broader access to college aid paid for by gambling.

    Perhaps the old rivals’ most personal clash came on crime and public safety. Kemp, as he has with his campaign ads, spent considerable effort painting Abrams as an enemy of law enforcement, arguing she has no support from Georgia sheriffs and police. She retorted that it’s possible to support “justice and safety” at the same time and said Kemp has made Georgia more dangerous by making it legal to carry a concealed weapon without a permit.

    Earlier Monday, Kemp rolled out a fresh set of anti-crime proposals, including increasing mandatory prison sentences for recruiting juveniles into a gang to at least 10 years and making it harder for judges to release people who have been arrested without cash bail. “That’s what we’re doing, going after street gangs,” Kemp said.

    Abrams recalled a 2021 gun massacre at Asian-owned massage parlors in metro Atlanta. “Street gangs did not shoot six Asian women, going into a gun store, getting a weapon and murdering six women,” she said. “Street gangs aren’t the reason people are getting shot in parking lots and grocery stores and in schools.”

    Monday’s debate took place as Georgians began flooding the polls for 19 days of early in-person voting. Herb McCaulla, who owns a business selling pop culture memorabilia, praised Kemp on the economy.

    “He’s doing a great job,” McCaulla said in Lilburn in suburban Atlanta. “He kept this state afloat during the COVID craziness.”

    Democrats said they opposed Kemp over abortion restrictions and loosened gun laws.

    “I want Kemp out,” Chalmers Stewart said.

    More than 4 million people could vote in the state’s elections this year, and more than half are likely to cast ballots before Election Day. Gabriel Sterling, an official with the Georgia secretary of state’s office, said more than 100,000 people cast early votes Monday. Sterling said that surpassed a previous record of 72,000 for a midterm cycle.

    More than 200,000 people have requested mail ballots already, with an Oct. 28 deadline to request them. Early in-person voting will run through Nov. 4.

    Kemp and Abrams are scheduled to meet for a second debate on Oct. 30.

    ___

    Follow Jeff Amy at http://twitter.com/jeffamy.

    ___

    Follow the AP’s coverage of the midterm elections at https://apnews.com/hub/2022-midterm-elections.

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  • First lady Jill Biden talks cancer prevention on Newsmax

    First lady Jill Biden talks cancer prevention on Newsmax

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    WASHINGTON (AP) — First lady Jill Biden took her husband’s unity agenda to an unlikely venue on Monday, when conservative cable station Newsmax aired an interview with her about cancer research.

    Curing cancer is a central goal for President Joe Biden, whose eldest son, Beau, died from a brain tumor seven years ago. Last month he urged Americans to embrace a “moonshot” initiative to reduce deaths, one of several objectives that he hopes crosses party lines in today’s divisive political environment.

    “It’s not a red issue, a blue issue,” the first lady told Newsmax. “Cancer affects every American.”

    It was a friendly conversation on a channel that’s better known for its excoriations of the president and his fellow Democrats. Newsmax is also facing a lawsuit for broadcasting false claims about voter manipulation. The channel has denied wrongdoing.

    The interview was conducted by Nancy Brinker, who hosts a show on the cable channel and founded the breast cancer organization Susan G. Komen for the Cure. The organization is named for Brinker’s sister, who died of cancer.

    Biden and Brinker have known each other for years, and they previously teamed up in Palm Beach, Florida, for a June 23 event on cancer screening. They spoke on Saturday at the University of Miami Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, and the interview is being aired during breast cancer awareness month.

    Biden said four of her friends were diagnosed with breast cancer in 1993, and one of them died. She said the experience drover her to create the Biden Breast Health Initiative, which educated young girls in Delaware about breast health.

    “Early detection is the key, because if you catch it early, you have so much better chance of surviving breast cancer,” Biden said.

    She encouraged people to catch up on any cancer screenings that they delayed during the coronavirus pandemic.

    “More people are going back and they’re realizing, gosh, I forgot to get my colonoscopy,” she said. “I didn’t get my mammogram. I didn’t get my skin screening.”

    Biden talked about the impact of Beau’s death, describing how the tragedy had shaken her faith.

    “I didn’t give up hope, ever, until he took his last breath,” she said. When that happened, “I had this empty, angry feeling.”

    Biden said years later, a woman approached her at a church in South Carolina and said, “I want to be your prayer partner.”

    She credited that relationship in helping to restore her faith.

    “I felt like it was God’s way of saying to me, OK, you come back,” Biden said.

    During the interview, Brinker asked Biden, “How do you deal with the intensity of all the media?”

    “I don’t know,” Biden replied. “I guess you learn to sort of take it in your stride. You can’t be affected by the negativity of a lot of it.”

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  • TSOLife Closes Series A Funding to Provide Senior Living Operators More Advanced Decision-Making Tools

    TSOLife Closes Series A Funding to Provide Senior Living Operators More Advanced Decision-Making Tools

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    Press Release
    –

    Oct 18, 2022


    TAMPA, Fla., October 18, 2022 (Newswire.com)
    –
    TSOLife, Inc., the only AI-based business intelligence platform that translates resident intake data into actionable insights that help communities create individualized experiences, announced today that it completed a $9 million Series A funding round. Arnie Whitman, a long-time venture investor in senior care and technology, Executive Chairman at Formation Capital and Founding Partner at Generator Ventures led the round to help accelerate the development of TSOLife’s next-generation Minerva platform. Omega Healthcare Investors, Inc. and Ziegler Link-age Fund III joined the round as well.  

    TSOLife has already achieved significant milestones, partnering with some of the largest operators in the industry. “The pandemic fueled the understanding that engagement and resident experience is vital to the physical and mental health of residents and the success of a community,” said David Sawyer, the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of TSOLife. “This funding round will accelerate our ability to enhance the lives of seniors by leveraging data to provide robust resident insight technology unique to TSOLife. We have a passion for bringing state-of-the-art-tech to the market, while never forgetting that our goal is to improve the lives of residents and staff.”  

    TSOLife Minerva is the first-of-its kind business intelligence platform that uses Artificial Intelligence (AI) to transcribe resident interviews and automatically convert the information into organized, consumable data. This person-centered data fuels powerful dashboards providing staff with personal, actionable insights and saves valuable staff time.  

    “TSOLife improves staff efficiency not by demanding more, but by eliminating time-consuming tasks, which is a win-win for providers,” said Katie Schmitz, Chief Administrative Officer of the Ziegler Link-age Fund III. “The platform allows staff to spend more time doing what they love – engaging with residents!” The next generation of the Minerva platform will leverage care-level-specific engagement data to help increasingly tech-savvy seniors self-select their own experience and take more control of their overall health and well-being.

    “TSO is the tip of the spear in gathering social insights to improve quality of life and relationships in a unique and powerful way,” said Arnie Whitman, lead investor. “Data and AI will allow for more personalization and better social and health outcomes. Everyone talks about social determinants; TSO actually measures it!” Visit www.tsolife.com for more information.

    About TSOLife, Inc.

    TSOLife partners with senior living communities across the nation to provide a first-of-its-kind business intelligence platform using Artificial Intelligence (AI) called Minerva. Minerva creates powerful dashboards with a suite of information and personalized tools for staff to put prospect and resident knowledge into practice. TSOLife provides actionable insights and fuels decision-making in senior living communities. Visit www.tsolife.com for more information.

    About Omega Healthcare Investors, Inc.

    Omega is a REIT that invests in the long-term healthcare industry, primarily in skilled nursing and assisted living facilities. Its portfolio of assets is operated by a diverse group of healthcare companies, predominantly in a triple-net lease structure. The assets span all regions within the U.S., as well as in the United Kingdom.

    About Ziegler Link-Age Fund III, LP

    Ziegler Link-Age Fund III is the third fund managed by a joint venture between Ziegler (www.ziegler.com) and Link-Age (www.LinkageConnect.com) that seeks to support emerging companies operating in or developing businesses focused on aging and related care. The Fund’s investments align with the goals of its limited partner investors who consist primarily of organizations across the senior living and care, healthcare, and aging services landscape that have a significant interest in finding innovative solutions to improve the independence, quality and cost of care, and overall lives of the aging population.

    Source: TSOLife

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  • With Planning Aging Population Could Result in a Silver Dividend

    With Planning Aging Population Could Result in a Silver Dividend

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    Maldives Minister for Gender, Family, and Social Services, Aishath Mohamed Didi, in her keynote address said her island country faced unique development challenges and is vulnerable to economic shocks and climate change.
    • by Cecilia Russell (johannesburg)
    • Inter Press Service

    Johannesburg, Oct 18 (IPS) – An aging population needn’t be a burden, experts told Parliamentarians at a conference co-hosted by UNFPA Asia Pacific Regional Office and the Asian Population and Development Association (APDA).

    Two National Transfer Account (NTA) experts told the session that with good planning and policy, it was possible to change the trajectory so that those in retirement were not only reliant on the state.

    NTAs provide a coherent accounting framework of economic flows from one age group or generation to another.

    UNFPA’s short video outlined the impact of an aging population in Thailand. Currently, adults take care of three elders and two children, but with the aging population in 2025, this will increase to four elders and three children, but by 2035, the number of dependents will increase to six elders and three children.

    Professor Sang-Hyop Lee of the East-West Center and the University of Hawaii, succinctly in an “elevator pitch,” explained his interests in population. These included “looking at how a changing population structure affects society and economy, current and future,” and “what public policies could be pursued to influence the outcome.”

    Lee said that using NTA tools with disaggregated data, including consumption (both private and public sector) and other variables like income and savings, could assist with policy development.

    By 2080, he said, the whole Asia Pacific region would have an aging population – and public policy could change the outcomes by including evidence and knowledge-based policy to influence labor patterns of the female, youth, and elderly labor force; increasing productivity through effective education, health investments, training and finally to improve the work-to-retirement transition.

    Eduardo Klein, Regional Representative of HelpAge International, who chaired the session, commented that the key takeaway was that the NTAs were a crucial tool for developing strategies to adapt to population aging.

    In her keynote address, Maldives Minister for Gender, Family, and Social Services, Aishath Mohamed Didi, said that her country, which was a small island state the country, faced “unique development challenges and is vulnerable to economic shocks and climate change.”

    The population is about 500 000 people, 70% of whom are Maldivians and the rest foreigners; 64% are working age, and more than 37% are under 25; those 65 and older account for 3.4% of the population.

    “The Maldives entered the window of opportunity in 2010 when the majority of the population was working, and it’s estimated that the democratic transition will be completed by 2030,” Didi said. “Due to a rapid fertility decline and increased life expectancy, it’s estimated it will become an aging population by 2030.”

    She outlined various policy changes in the Maldives, including addressing the investment in children, which was lower than in other economies with similar fertility or development levels. The country had included free basic education from ages four to 16 and also spent US$ 30 million supporting 15,000 students to achieve their first degrees. This has been expanded to include zero-interest rate loans. In the past two to three years, the Maldives had spent over US$ 64 million to support about 2000 students studying abroad in 31 countries. Other efforts to improve education included investing in technical and vocational education and providing skill development opportunities for youth, including apprenticeship programmes, particularly in the outer regions away from the capital or the central areas.

    Didi said the Maldives depended highly on tourism, but foreign workers (primarily men) comprised 60% of the workforce. Women only play a small role in the industry and hold the most informal sector jobs.

    “Young people are required to become skilled and equipped to compete with foreign workers in the domestic economy,” Didi said, adding that the demographic dividend transition was expected to create both opportunities and challenges. “The aggregate public spending on healthcare and other social protection needs to grow by more than 2 percent per year until 2050 to maintain the same level of service enjoyed by the population in 2022 – even with per capita benefits, the government’s budget needs to grow substantially.”

    Klein noted that Didi’s overview showed how the Maldives was in the demographic dividend and was investing in the future and that investment had a “return in improved health and a better educated, more productive, more engaged, and a healthier population living in a harmonious society.”

    Rikiya Matsukura, Associate Professor at Nihon University, noted that opportunities arose with planning and strategic policymaking. While an aging population was “inevitable” and “wasn’t curable,” policymakers played a crucial role in changing the trajectory.

    Matsukura outlined four demographic dividends: The first demographic was achieved through the expansion of the workforce. The second demographic dividend is achieved through investing in human capital – leading to higher productivity. The third demographic dividend, which he termed the “longevity dividend” or “silver dividend,” was achieved through investing in longevity and longer working life. Finally, the fourth dividend would be achieved by investing in education, especially in the STEM fields.

    While people aged 55 to 70 may not be working, if they are healthy, they could work, Matsukura said, that this could create an additional workforce.

    “In the case of Japan, the income generated by additional elderly workers could correspond to 3.2 to 6 percent of Japan’s real GDP,” he noted.

    This elderly workforce could be assisted by technology – artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics and the economy could grow by 35% if technology could make housework easier.

    Lee noted that there was no easy answer but what was required was short and long-term planning which took into account crises. This aging population issue will not go away.

    Klein too, noted said future planning was complex. For example, India (among other countries) had invested in education, but because of the COVID-19 pandemic, children could not attend school for two years, which would have consequences for the future workforce. Climate change, in addition to aging, would need to be planned for in Bangladesh.

    During the discussion, parliamentarians were concerned about the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Dr Jetn Sirathranont, an MP from Thailand, noted that policymakers needed to use the NTA tools, but post-pandemic, every country, including Thailand, was experiencing a situation where there was “less income and less revenue but high expenses.”

    Sirathranont asked how one could apply NTA tools in these circumstances.

    While Klein quipped that this was a million-dollar question, Lee said what was required was short and long-term planning which took into account crises like the pandemic. However, he noted, “this aging population issue will not go away.”

    IPS UN Bureau Report


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  • 3 Truths We Can Learn from Jacob and Rachel’s Relationship

    3 Truths We Can Learn from Jacob and Rachel’s Relationship

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    Jacob and Rachel’s relationship, though reveled in as the finest biblical romance, endured many difficulties. Jacob worked seven years for Rachel’s hand. When the seven years ended, Jacob was ready to marry Rachel, yet Rachel’s father, Laban, tricked Jacob and gave him Leah (Rachel’s sister) instead. This caused Jacob to work seven more years to marry Rachel. Rachel and Leah became Jacob’s wives, but Jacob always preferred Rachel. 

    This biblical soap opera showcases three truths we can learn from Jacob and Rachel’s relationship:

    1. Favoritism Is Wrong

    The Bible states Jacob loved Rachel more than Leah: “his love for Rachel was greater than his love for Leah. And he worked for Laban another seven years” (Genesis 29:30b). Yet, the Bible tells us directly, “My brothers and sisters, believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ must not show favoritism” (James 2:1). Jacob showed favoritism in his relationship with Rachel, though he was married to both sisters.

    God never wants us to show favoritism in any of our human relationships. While polygamy is wrong, Jacob shouldn’t have shown favoritism between the two. Due to his blatant favoritism, we see bitterness creep up in Leah’s heart. Naturally, she begins to doubt her worth while living in Rachel’s shadow. 

    In our own relationships, we should only have one partner, and we should not express favoritism. Often in relationships, partners can compare their current partner with a past partner or even show favoritism toward a past partner over their current partner. God doesn’t want us to do this. Instead of dividing our interests, we need to focus on one partner, the current partner, rather than comparing them to somebody else.

    In the same way, outside of romantic relationships, we should not show favoritism within the family. Sadly, many parents play favorites with their children, or children play favorites with their parents. Friends play favorites, teachers have their pets, and coaches have their number-one Allstars. As Christians, we never need to play favorites or show favoritism. We need to love all people as Jesus says, “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another” (John 13:34). 

    2. Polygamy Is Wrong

    A second truth we can learn from Jacob and Rachel’s relationship is that polygamy is wrong. As previously mentioned in the first point, Jacob showed favoritism to Rachel over Leah. If an individual has multiple spouses, favoritism is bound to result. This is one of the many reasons why polygamy is wrong. Jacob was married to both Leah and Rachel, but at the beginning of creation, God designed marriage to be between one man and one woman (Genesis 2:24). Anything outside of this goes against God’s design for marriage.

    Polygamy brings many problems into a relationship, as shown throughout Jacob’s relationship with Rachel and Leah. As Christians, we should never endorse polygamy. Simply because it was in the Old Testament doesn’t make it okay. God never tells us polygamy is right. God specifically tells us we should only have one husband or one wife. Polygamy has been accepted by many false belief systems, including the Church of the Latter Day Saints, formally known as the Mormon Church, but this is not biblical, nor are their other doctrines. 

    In our relationships, we must ensure we only have one partner. We should not have multiple husbands or multiple wives. We need to focus on one partner—not multiple partners. Even in the case of dating, a Christian should only date one person at a time. The purpose of dating is to see if the other person will be a potential person to marry. If an individual is dating multiple people, it can cause division, confusion, and a lack of faithfulness. These concerns occurred between Jacob and Rachel and only created tension and hostility. 

    3. Marriage Shouldn’t Be Based on Physical Appearance 

    A third truth we can learn from Jacob and Rachel’s relationship is that marriage should not be based on physical appearance. Rachel was very beautiful, and that made Jacob attracted to her. The Bible tells us, “Leah had weak eyes, but Rachel had a lovely figure and was beautiful” (Genesis 29:17). Since Rachel was beautiful, Jacob loved her more than Leah. Despite Rachel’s physical appearance, we are never told she was a follower of God. In fact, the Bible tells us Rachel took one of her father’s household gods with her when they left (Genesis 31:19,34). 

    Proverbs 31:30 says, “Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.” Leah was a woman who loved God and followed Him. She called out to Him in her distress, and He heard her. While Rachel was beautiful on the outside, we are never told she was beautiful on the inside. From God’s eyes, Leah was beautiful because she loved Him, followed Him, and obeyed Him. 

    Marriage should not be based on physical appearance because love is not based on a person’s fleeting features. When you love somebody, it’s because of the character within—not because of how “pretty” or “handsome” they are. Instead, we love those who are kind, caring, and compassionate. It doesn’t matter as much what they look like. Sure, an attractive person is nice to look at, but if we stop and think, most of us would prefer to spend time with someone we genuinely cared about, whose heart and soul was beautiful regardless of their outward appearance.

    Regarding relationships, we must love others because we value them as a person created in God’s image—not just because they look attractive on the outside. When you are in a relationship, try to focus more on the inner beauty of the individual rather than their outward looks. The Apostle Peter tells us, “Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as elaborate hairstyles and the wearing of gold jewelry or fine clothes. Rather, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight” (1 Peter 3:3-4). 

    Relationships need to be built upon God and a biblical definition of love. Christians should not have a relationship with those who don’t know God, nor should we have relationships outside the confines of biblical love. It is highly plausible that Jacob and Rachel’s relationship was built on lust instead of real love. In our relationships, we must ensure they are built upon God, His Word, and true sacrificial love. 

    The world has mixed the definition of love and lust to be the same, yet they are opposites. Lust does not last, but love does. Jesus warns us against lust, “But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart” (Matthew 5:28). As demonstrated by Jesus’ words, lust is not a good thing as it leads to discontentment, comparison, and sexual sin (both in the mind, heart, and body). For a relationship to last, romantic or not, it must be built on the foundation of God’s great, sacrificial love for us. 

    While Jacob and Rachel are well known in the study of theology, their relationship had many difficulties, which God wants us to avoid. We can learn from Jacob and Rachel’s relationship that we should not show favoritism, practice polygamy, or base marriage on physical appearance. If we understand these truths and apply them, it will help us in our own relationships. God wants us to have healthy relationships built in true, life-giving love. 

    Photo Credit: ©Pexels/Frans Van Heerden

    Vivian Bricker loves Jesus, studying the Word of God, and helping others in their walk with Christ. She has earned a Bachelor of Arts and Master’s degree in Christian Ministry with a deep academic emphasis in theology. Her favorite things to do are spending time with her family and friends, reading, and spending time outside. When she is not writing, she is embarking on other adventures.

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  • An Open Letter to the Boy I Was Told Didn’t Exist

    An Open Letter to the Boy I Was Told Didn’t Exist

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    Thank You for Proving Them Wrong  

    First, I want to thank you for proving them wrong. I can’t tell you how many times I was told what I was looking for “just doesn’t exist.” There were moments where I almost threw in the towel and settled for second-rate as I started listening to those who told me I didn’t have to lower my standards, just make them more “realistic.” Yet, you are the most realistic and fairytale-like man I have ever met.  

    Thank You for Teaching Me How to Love

    Second, I want to thank you for teaching me how to love. I had always been taught that a man should love a woman the way Christ loves the Church, but I never knew that by loving you, I would learn of the faithfulness, gentleness, patience, and compassion of our Father.  

    In this world, love is transactional. You give to get, and if the relationship isn’t beneficial one hundred percent of the time, you get left. You’ve taught me that bad days or weeks, or months are okay to have. You have shown me that love does not hinge on performance or what a person can give another person. Instead, it solidifies itself into the deepest, most secretive places of our hearts. It tears down walls to build castles. It fights nightmares to encourage dreams. And it grows roots so that storms can’t blow it away or tear it down. You have shown me that true love, the kind of love that stays, can only originate from the Father. Then, we can share it with others.  

    Thank You for Being My Friend 

    Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would find a man who would not only give me roses and willingly listen to my Taylor Swift fan-girl sessions but would double as a best friend. You sit for hours and listen to me ramble on about life’s drama. You participate in spa nights with me (sometimes un-begrudgingly) when you know I’m not feeling my best. You encourage me to take risks and put myself out there, all while cheering for me in the background. You’re a confidant and lifeline that I only ever prayed would exist.  

    I Am So Proud of You  

    I also want you to know that I am proud of you. This world is a cruel place. It tears down dreams and runs over those who don’t uphold its sinful standards. Yet somehow, I have seen you walk into the dark parts of this world and let your light shine on those who inhabit the darkness. You never impose judgment, nor do you carry yourself in a boastful manner. You simply walk up to those who are hurting and offer a hand. You reflect the kindness of Jesus so well every day.  

    Your kindness is something that I have grown to anticipate in every area. No matter how small the gesture or large the inconvenience, you never fail to show others that they have value. You never stop fighting to fill the void of loneliness and misdirection in this world with Jesus’ love. I will forever be proud of who you are and honored to stand by your side. 

    I Will Always Be Your Biggest Fan  

    I want you to know that on the days you feel torn down, I will still be cheering you on.  When life seems to have no direction, you can always come to me. I know the best and the worst parts of you. So on the days everyone else gets to see the best of you, I will be there in the crowd of smiling faces. I will be the one cheering the loudest and beaming the brightest.  And on the days that everyone sees the worst, I’ll stand in front of you, making sure that no one gets to harm the heart that I have come to know and love so well. I will take the harsh words or sentiments, so you don’t have to. I will always cheer for you, love you, and support you no matter what.  

    I want you to dream big

    I want to remind you of how capable and wise you are. You have a tenacity for the things that fill you with passion and a tendency to solve rather complicated issues. I believe in you more than anything, and I want you to remember that God is always on your side. There is so little that is in our control, but there is nothing that is out of God’s. Pray big and dream big because I believe our God has big plans for you. I believe He is going to use you in ways that you never thought possible and that are too large for you to fathom right now. Don’t sell yourself short, and don’t put God in a box. Dream the big dream, do the hard work, and then trust that God will take you the rest of the way right into His plan for you.  

    Thank you for helping me trust  

    When we met, I told you it would take me a long time to trust you fully. In all honesty, I expected that to offend you, at the very least. You were not the reason for my lack of trust, but you were the one who was being hurt nay it. Yet, you looked at me with eyes full of compassion and told me that it was okay to be guarded. You insisted that you would show me rather than tell me that I could trust you. As usual, you held strong to your word and slowly taught me that true and pure trust is a beautiful thing that I shouldn’t shy away from but welcome into my life.  

    I love you

    Lastly, I just want you to know that I love you. You are the prince I sang with  Sleeping Beauty as a little girl. You are the friend I lacked in elementary school. You are the crush that I daydreamed about finding in middle school. You are the confidence boost that I  craved in high school. You are the dream come true that I met in college. You are my answered prayer. And you most definitely exist. 

    Photo Credit: ©iStock/Getty Images Plus/monkeybusinessimages

    Olivia Lauren is a graduate student passionate about Scripture, particularly the Book of Romans showcasing God’s grace. Outside her studies, she enjoys teaching her dog new tricks and finding quicker ways to silence the smoke alarm after trying a new recipe. 

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  • FDA Announces Adderall Shortage

    FDA Announces Adderall Shortage

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    The FDA has confirmed a nationwide shortage of the attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder medication Adderall due to manufacturing issues, with the shortage expected to last through the end of the year. What do you think?

    “Pretty sure meth’s still in stock.”

    Miles Seelbach, Crypto Banker

    “Between this and the formula shortage, what am I supposed to feed my baby?”

    Anita Santana, Cannoneer

    “I guess I have to go back to bribing teachers.”

    Hank Schilsky, Content Aggregator

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  • CDC identifies new COVID variants that accounted for 11.4% of new cases in week ending Oct. 15

    CDC identifies new COVID variants that accounted for 11.4% of new cases in week ending Oct. 15

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    The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said a new COVID variant dubbed BQ.1 and a descendant called BQ.1.1 have gained traction in the U.S., accounting for 11.4% of new cases across the nation in the week ending Oct. 15.

    The two variants are lineages of BA.5, the omicron subvariant that remains dominant but has shrunk to account for just 67.9% of circulating variants, the agency said in a Friday update. The CDC had previously combined BQ.1 and BQ.1.1 with BA.5 cases because the numbers of the new variants were so small. BQ.1 was first identified by researchers in early September and has been found in the U.K. and Germany, among other places.

    New York and New Jersey currently have the highest proportion of BQ.1 and BQ.1.1 infections, at about 20% of overall cases, according to CDC estimates.

    “When you get variants like that, you look at what their rate of increase is as a relative proportion of the variants, and this has a pretty troublesome doubling time,” Anthony Fauci, President Joe Biden’s chief medical adviser, said in an interview with CBS News. 

    Adding to concerns, the variant seems “to elude important monoclonal antibodies,” he added.

    Fauci is confident that Moderna
    MRNA,
    +3.92%    ,
    as well as Pfizer
    PFE,
    +1.84%
    and German partner BioNTech
    BNTX,
    +2.45%    ,
    will be able to update boosters to target the new subvariant. “The somewhat encouraging news is that it’s a BA.5 sublineage, so there are almost certainly going to be some cross-protections that you can boost up,” he said.

    So far, only 14.8 million people living in the U.S. have taken advantage of the new bivalent boosters that were authorized by the Food and Drug Administration in late August. That’s equal to about 7% of the 209 million who were initially eligible.

    The FDA authorized the Pfizer booster for use in people aged 12 and older and the Moderna booster for adults aged 18 and older. Last week, the FDA added children aged 5 to 11 to the Pfizer program and children aged 6 through 17 to the Moderna one.

    Experts are concerned that the low number of vaccinations is due to a sense that the pandemic is over and no longer poses a major risk for most people. U.S. cases are steadily declining and now stand at their lowest level since mid-April; however, the true tally is likely higher than the official count, because many people are testing at home, where data are not being collected.

    The daily average for new cases stood at 37,649 on Sunday, down 19% from two weeks ago, according to a New York Times tracker.

    The daily average for hospitalizations was down 5% to 26,475, while the daily average for deaths was down 8% to 374.

    But cold weather is expected to bring a new wave of cases, and hospitalizations are rising again in much of the Northeast, the Times tracker is showing.

    “That’s the thing that’s so frustrating for me and for my colleagues who are involved in this, is that we have the capability of mitigating against this. And the uptake of the new bivalent vaccine is not nearly as high as we would like it to be,” said Fauci.

    Coronavirus Update: MarketWatch’s daily roundup has been curating and reporting all the latest developments every weekday since the coronavirus pandemic began

    Other COVID-19 news you should know about:

    • Moderna and Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, which is supplying vaccines to low- and middle-income countries, have agreed to cancel remaining orders under their 2022 COVID-19 vaccine agreement given “sufficient supply.” The biotechnology company has supplied Gavi with nearly 70 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines, in addition to facilitating the donation of more than 100 million doses. Moderna and Gavi said they will create a new framework that enables Gavi to buy up to 100 million COVID-19 vaccine doses in 2023. 

    • The World Health Organization, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the United Nations Environment Program and the World Organization for Animal Health on Monday launched a new initiative that aims to address health threats to humans, animals, plants and the environment. The One Health Joint Plan of Action “aims to create a framework to integrate systems and capacity so that we can collectively better prevent, predict, detect, and respond to health threats,” the four agencies said in a statement.

    • China is doubling down on its zero-COVID strategy as a historic Communist Party congress opens in Beijing, BBC News reported. Zero COVID was a “people’s war to stop the spread of the virus,” said President Xi Jinping as he kicked off the meeting. There is increasing public fatigue over lockdowns and travel restrictions, and Beijing has come under strict security measures ahead of the congress, sparking frustration in the city, including a rare and dramatic public protest on Thursday criticizing Xi and his strategy.

    In a rare display of defiance, two banners were unfurled from a highway overpass in Beijing condemning Chinese President Xi Jinping and his strict COVID-19 policies. The protest took place days before the expected extension of Xi’s tenure.

    • Airline stocks rallied Monday after data showed that on Sunday, more people flew than on any other day since before the pandemic. Data from the Transportation Security Administration showed that 2.495 million travelers went through TSA checkpoints on Sunday, which is just above the previous 2022 high of 2.490 million on July 1 and the most since Feb. 11, 2020, which was exactly one month before the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a global pandemic. In comparison, the day with the fewest travelers since the start of the pandemic was April 12, 2022, with 87,534 people traveling. And in 2019, there were 116 days of more travelers than Sunday, while the average for that year was 2.306 million. The U.S. Global Jets ETF
    JETS,
    +2.02%
     was up 2.2%.

    Here’s what the numbers say:

    The global tally of confirmed cases of COVID-19 topped 624.7 million on Monday, while the death toll rose above 6.56 million, according to data aggregated by Johns Hopkins University.

    The U.S. leads the world with 96.9 million cases and 1,065,118 fatalities.

    The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s tracker shows that 226.2 million people living in the U.S., equal to 68.1% of the total population, are fully vaccinated, meaning they have had their primary shots. Just 110.8 million have had a booster, equal to 49% of the vaccinated population, and 25.6 million of those who are eligible for a second booster have had one, equal to 39% of those who received a first booster.

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  • 3 Things to Remember if a Loved One Committed Suicide

    3 Things to Remember if a Loved One Committed Suicide

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    Today would have been my dear friend’s 28th birthday, and this year, I would have told her happy birthday. I wouldn’t have forgotten to tell her how grateful I was that she graced this world with another year of her laughter and rich kindness. 

    But I forgot last year. 

    And only a few days later, she took her life. 

    I got the text around 5 a.m. relaying the dreadful news. I reread the message repeatedly, afraid that if I put down my phone and peeled my eyes off the words, I would have to accept them. I would have to process and replay that I had missed her birthday (though she hadn’t missed mine). I would be forced to count the times I thought about checking in on her and her baby girls and didn’t. Why didn’t I? Because my schedule and my to-do lists somehow always seemed more important. 

    My shame quickly stepped in and took grief for a torturous twist. I wept bitterly. I mourned not only her loss but the newfound reality that I wasn’t there for her as I should have been. 

    If you had checked on her when she shared that post about anxiety, she might have opened up to you. Maybe she would’ve gotten help or found hope. 

    Some big, bad, holy-rolling mental health advocate you are, huh? You don’t mind chatting about mental health and faith to recruit social media followers, but where were these conversations when your dear friend was wading through her darkest days? 

    Where were you? 

    What kind of friend were you?

    Can you even call yourself her friend? 

    Like a brutal broken record, these piercing thoughts replayed, hollowing my heart day and night. Shame’s salvos were relentless, offering no sign of light, life, or hope. 

    Nonetheless, at some point, I had to move on. I had to accept reality and press forward. But how? 

    It took time, and it continues to take time as I navigate grief without shame suffocating my journey, but I would like to share three things you should remember when a loved one commits suicide. 

    I pray these three things aid your healing: 

    1. You Aren’t Responsible

    You aren’t responsible for another person’s decisions. You are called to love them well, to support and encourage them and even call out their unhealthy choices, but you weren’t granted control over them for rightful reasons. Love is freeing. It cares so deeply about someone that it steps back and allows them to make their own choices. 

    After all, Jesus doesn’t force us to accept Him. Though He knows the agonizing consequences if we don’t, He still lets us choose. Why? Love isn’t love if it’s forced. At that point, it’s watered down to manipulation. 

    1 Corinthians 13:8 tells us, “Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease.”

    In other words, no matter what we know—no matter how aware we are of the danger of our loved one’s decisions—love doesn’t steal freedom from another. 

    It wasn’t and isn’t your responsibility to dictate another person’s decisions, and by allowing them the freedom to live their own lives, you are free of the consequences of their actions. 

    Does this mean if a friend mentions suicide, you should side-step their troubles and let them “make the decision” to take their life? No, no, no! But does recognizing a loved one’s freedom make grieving their suicide any easier? Yes, with time. As the adrenaline subsides, emotions find a healthier rhythm, and your mind recalls the truth, you can slowly see that you aren’t required to carry out the burden of the consequences of their decision.

    Remember that love is freeing–for both parties. 

    2. Your Love Was Enough

    I’ll repeat: your love was enough. 

    So often, we tally up the ways we failed that person. We recall the times we didn’t check in on them, follow through with coffee plans, or care enough to ask hard questions that might have made them upset but saved their life. 

    What if I had only pushed harder? Asked more? Kept my word? Stayed faithful to the schedule? Prioritized our time better? 

    What if my love wasn’t enough to make them know they mattered? 

    What if? 

    What if? 

    What if? 

    As a young girl battling Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, I became well-acquainted with this hounding, two-word question. My mom always countered, “Remind yourself that what-ifs don’t matter. Tell your mind that.” I did and still do tell my mind that what-ifs don’t matter, but often, my mind doesn’t take its own advice. 

    Yet, at some point, we must be brave enough to answer our what-if questions, tell them they don’t matter, and walk away from their death grip. You see, what-ifs don’t hold the keys to your shackles. You do. What-ifs only have the control you permit. 

    And regardless of whether or not you question if your love was enough, no matter how often you wonder what would have happened if you had loved them “better,” carrying such shame won’t heal anyone. 

    It won’t restore their life. But it will destroy yours. 

    Don’t give what-ifs such power. Don’t allow yourself to second guess if your love was enough. 

    I’ll answer this one for you: your love was more than enough. 

    Rest in that today. 

    3. Grief Is Allowed to be Messy

    Bottling up grief always leads to an unhealthy explosion. And heaven forbid you unleash its detonating blow on someone who didn’t deserve the bitterness, anger, and deep hurt swelled in your exhausted, heavy soul. 

    Remember that grief is allowed to be messy. Healthy grief is not linear. It’s up and down, in and out, here then there, hiding, then in plain sight. It’s not limited to certain times and locations but has its own schedule that infiltrates everything we see, smell, touch, hear, feel, think, remember, etc. 

    I challenge you to face your grief and allow it to have a place on your journey. It can come along for the messy, bumpy ride. In fact, you can introduce your grief to trusted Christian mentors, counselors, and close friends and family. I encourage you to welcome grief to sit at your table as you have healthy conversations to process what has happened to you. 

    Let grief be part of your healing journey. 

    But remember, shame isn’t allowed on this trip. There is no hope, light, or life at the end of shame’s sick games. It promises no peace, resolution, or healthy survival tactics. It wants you to feel guilty when you haven’t “defeated” grief, but I am here to say: grief never really leaves us. When we love someone, they stay with us, and their absence is forever present. It’s almost tangible in a loud, surreal way. 

    You are allowed to grieve. But you aren’t allowed to let shame control your story if you ever want to find peace and lay the what-if questions to rest.

    I’m on this journey with you. I’m paddling alongside you. You might see me cry. You’ll certainly hear me mention my dear friend’s name. But promise me you’ll call me out when shame takes the stern. 

    And if you’ll allow me, I’ll call you out too. 

    That’s the only way we heal together. 

    For more on my story of navigating grief following my dear friend’s suicide, check out my latest book: Tired, Hungry, & Kinda Faithful, Where Exhaustion & Exile Meet God.

    Related Resource:

    Jeremy Stalnecker seeks to help his podcast listeners answer one of the toughest questions we all face: “How do I move forward when my world is falling apart?” You can listen to every episode of March or Die for FREE on LifeAudio, or listen to an episode right now by clicking the play button below:

    Photo Credit: ©Raychan/Unsplash

    Peyton Garland is an author and coffee shop hopper who loves helping others find beauty from ashes despite OCD, burned bridges, and perfectionism. Follow her on Instagram @peytonmgarland and check out her latest book, Tired, Hungry, & Kinda Faithful, Where Exhaustion and Exile Meet God, to discover how your cup can overflow, even in dry seasons. 

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    Peyton Garland

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