Tag Archives: children

NATIONAL VIEW: Measles is more contagious than the coronavirus, and it’s back – Odessa American

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This year is not yet one-third over, yet measles cases in the United States are on track to be the worst since a massive outbreak in 2019. At the same time, anti-vaccine activists are recklessly sowing doubts and encouraging vaccine hesitancy. Parents who leave their children unvaccinated are risking not only their health but also the well-being of those around them.

Measles is one of the most contagious human viruses more so than the coronavirus and is spread through direct or airborne contact when an infected person breathes, coughs or sneezes. The virus can hang in the air for up to two hours after an infected person has left an area. It can cause serious complications, including pneumonia, encephalitis and death, especially in unvaccinated people. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, one person infected with measles can infect 9 out of 10 unvaccinated individuals with whom they come in close contact.

But measles can be prevented with the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine; two doses are 97 percent effective. When 95 percent or more of a community is vaccinated, herd immunity protects the whole. Unfortunately, vaccination rates are falling. The global vaccine coverage rate of the first dose, at 83 percent, and second dose, at 74 percent, are well under the 95 percent level. Vaccination coverage among U.S. kindergartners has slipped from 95.2 percent during the 2019-2020 school year to 93.1 percent in the 2022-2023 school year, according to the CDC, leaving approximately 250,000 kindergartners at risk each year over the past three years.

The virus is slipping through the gaps. According to the World Health Organization, in 2022, 37 countries experienced large or disruptive measles outbreaks compared with 22 countries in 2021. In the United States, there have been seven outbreaks so far this year, with 121 cases in 18 jurisdictions. Most are children. Many of the outbreaks in the United States appear to have been triggered by international travel or contact with a traveler. Disturbingly, 82 percent of those infected were unvaccinated or their status unknown.

The largest toll has been in Illinois, followed by Florida. But when an outbreak hit the Manatee Bay Elementary School in Broward County in early March, Floridas top public health official, state Surgeon General Joseph A. Ladapo, did not follow the standard recommendation that parents of unvaccinated children keep them home for 21 days to avoid getting the disease. Instead, Dr. Ladapo said, Florida would be deferring to parents or guardians to make decisions about school attendance. This means allowing children without protection to go to school. Dr. Ladapos letter was an unnecessarily reckless act of pandering to an anti-vaccine movement with increasing political influence.

Vaccine hesitancy is being encouraged by activists who warn of government coercion, using social media to amplify irresponsible claims. An article published March 20 on the website of Robert F. Kennedy Jr.s Childrens Health Defense organization is headlined, Be Very Afraid? CDC, Big Media Drum Up Fear of Deadly Measles Outbreaks. The author, Alan Cassels, claims that the news media is advancing a a fear-mongering narrative, and adds, Those of us born before 1970 with personal experience pretty much all agree that measles is a big meh. We all had it ourselves and so did our brothers, sisters and school friends. We also had chicken pox and mumps and typically got a few days off school. The only side effect of those diseases was that my mom sighed heavily and called work to say she had to stay home to look after a kid with spots.

Today, he adds, Big media and government overhyping the nature of an illness, which history has shown us can be a precursor to some very bad public health policies such as mandatory vaccination programs and other coercive measures.

This is just wrong. The CDC reports that, in the decade before the measles vaccine became available in 1963, the disease killed 400 to 500 people, hospitalized 48,000 and gave 1,000 people encephalitis in the United States every year and that was just among reported cases.

The elimination of measles in the United States in 2000, driven by a safe and effective vaccine, was a major public health success. Although the elimination status still holds, the U.S. situation has deteriorated. The nation has been below 95 percent two-dose coverage for three consecutive years, and 12 states and the District below 90 percent. At the same time, the rest of the world must also strive to boost childhood vaccination rates, which slid backward during the COVID-19 pandemic. According to the WHO, low-income countries with the highest risk of death from measles continue to have the lowest vaccination rates, only 66 percent.

The battle against measles requires a big not a meh effort.

The Washington Post

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NATIONAL VIEW: Measles is more contagious than the coronavirus, and it's back - Odessa American

‘RHOC’ Alum Lauri Peterson Reveals Son Joshua-Michael Waring Passed Away at Age 35 – Just Jared

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Lauri Peterson is mourning the loss of her son.

On Saturday (April 6), the 63-year-old former Real Housewives of Orange City star announced on Instagram that her son Joshua-Michael Waring had passed away at the age of 35.

It is with a shattered heart that I write this post to let you know that my sweet Josh left this earth Easter Sunday, Lauri wrote along with photos of Joshua-Michael over the years. No one can ever prepare you for this feeling of such deep loss. Every fiber in my body hurts. Josh fought every single day for most of his adult life, for his life, but this past Sunday, the challenge was too great.

Keep reading to find out moreJoshs childhood was filled with deep intellect, humor, pranks, athletics, snow boarding, body boarding mountain hikes, reading, friends and his love for music, Lauri continued. Even during adult hardship, Josh continued to maintain his sense of humor, continued to be optimistic, continued to be kind to others, defended those that were unable to defend themselves and continued to love his family so so much! He received the most joy, pride and purpose through his daughter Kennady and watching her grow and thrive over the years.

She added, Thank you to all of the people that have tried to help Josh along the way. I am witness to many Angels on earth. Not everyone understands those suffering from substance abuse disorder, but I am forever grateful for your understanding and the impact you made on his life. I also thank those who have supported me through this journey and offering kind words of encouragement by sharing their stories of living with substance abuse disorder and the many parents that have shared their stories over the years with me about the children they have sadly lost due to this illness.

Josh I love you so much and I will miss you terribly! I will forever be your Mama Bear & Mama Dukes and every time the clock turns to 11:11, I will expect your call to tell me to make a wish! Lauri concluded. What will I wish for now? My heart is with you and I pray you have found the peace that you so deserve. Heaven has gained the coolest angel and you have gained your freedom at last sweet boy. Love always and forever, Mom Joshua-Michael Phillip Waring 12/20/88-3/31/24

After Lauri shared the post, Andy Cohen took to the comments to send his condolences.

Lauri I am so sorry. This is heartbreaking, Andy wrote. You tried so hard to save him, and by sharing Joshs story you would up educating people around the world about the tragedy of addiction for those who are touched by it. May Joshs memory be a blessing to you always. Sending your family all my love.

Lauri appeared in the first eight seasons of RHOC. She and husband George Peterson welcomed Joshua-Michael in 1988, followed by daughters Ashley and Sophie.

Joshua-Michael leaves behind 11-year-old daughter Kennady.

Our thoughts are with Joshua-Michaels loved ones during this difficult time. RIP.

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'RHOC' Alum Lauri Peterson Reveals Son Joshua-Michael Waring Passed Away at Age 35 - Just Jared

AI could make the four-day workweek inevitable – BBC.com

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By Elizabeth BennettFeatures correspondent

As artificial intelligence gains traction in office operations, some companies are giving employees a day to step back.

Working four days while getting paid for five is a dream for many employees. Yet the dramatic shifts in the pandemic-era workplace have turned this once unfathomable idea into a reality for some workers. And as more global data emerges, an increasing number of companies are courting the approach after positive trial-run results across countries including the UK, Iceland, Portugal and more.

Now, as pilots continue in Germany, a trial of 45 companies has just begun , for instance another factor has entered the mix. Artificial intelligence (AI) is gathering pace in the workplace, and some experts believe it could accelerate the adoption of the four-day workweek.

Data from London-based news-and-events resource Tech.co collected in late 2023 lends credence to this idea. For their 2024 Impact of Technology on the Workplace, the company surveyed more than 1,000 US business leaders. The researchers found 29% of organisations with four-day workweeks use AI extensively in their firms' operations, implementing generative AI tools such as ChatGPT as well as other programmes to streamline operations. In comparison, only 8% of five-day working week organisations use AI to this extent. And 93% of businesses using AI are open to a four-day work week, whereas for those who don't, fewer than half are open to working shorter weeks.

At London-based digital design agency Driftime, adopting AI technology has been crucial to enable the business to operate a flexible four-day work week. "By handing over simple tasks to AI tools, we gain invaluable time previously lost to slow aspects of the process," says co-founder Abb-d Taiyo. "With tools like Modyfi, the graphics are all live and modifiable, making it so much easier and quicker for our designers to create concepts and ideas."

Taiyo believes it makes sense for both his employees and his bottom line to work the condensed week. "Instead of a dip in the quantity of work created over just four days, we've seen a remarkably high quality of work matched by a high staff satisfaction return. The health and happiness of our team is in direct correlation to the high standard of work produced," he says.

Shayne Simpson, group managing director of UK-based TechNET IT Recruitment, also believes AI has been fundamental to the success of the company's four-day work week policy. The firm has found AI tools save each of their recruitment consultants 21 hours per week, primarily by automating previously manual tasks like data input, confirmation emails, resume screening and candidate outreach. This has reduced the time to fill permanent roles at the company by an average of 10 days. "This timesaving allows our team to achieve their weekly goals earlier in the week and the flexibility liberates our consultants from being tethered to their desks, enabling them to enjoy a well-deserved Friday off," says Simpson.

Not only has the company's abridged workweek boosted productivity and morale, Simpson says it's also been key to attracting talent to work within the company itself. "Seasoned recruitment professionals are enticed by our streamlined processes while entry-level talent is eager to embrace new tools." It's lifted the entire business, he adds.

While AI tools are certainly paving the way for a four-day work week within some industries, the technology can't usher in the change alone. Organisational culture within a business is also fundamental, says Na Fu, a professor in human resource management at Trinity Business School, Ireland. "An openness to innovative work structures, an experimental mindset and, importantly, a culture grounded in high levels of trust are all important for the four-day work week to be successfully adopted," she says.

As the digital transformation with AI progresses, employees themselves also must be willing to level up, she adds: "Rather than becoming mere caretakers or servants of machines, human workers need to develop new skills that can leverage, complement and lead AI, achieving the enhanced outcomes."

Some industries will benefit from AI more than others, however notably those who are able to use generative AI tools for such tasks including software development, content creation, marketing and legal services, says Fu. Plus, artificial intelligence development still has a way to go if it is to substantially reduce human working hours across the board.

What may drive the shift to a four-day workweek in an AI-powered business landscape may not ultimately be up to the robots, however. Executive buy-in is required, and whether leaders will embrace the unconventional concept will vary depending on a firm's overarching purpose and values, says Fu. Instead of letting AI supplement the work of humans, for instance, some businesses could use it to automate certain tasks while piling other work on employees to fill newly open hours.

Still, despite some reservation, an increasing number of business leaders including those from some of the world's highest-earning companies see a technology-driven shortened workweek as an inevitable future. In October 2023, JPMorgan Chase & Co CEO Jamie Dimon told Bloomberg TV: "Your children are going to live to 100, and they'll probably be working three-and-a-half days a week." Employees will have to wait and see.

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AI could make the four-day workweek inevitable - BBC.com

Beverly Hills middle school students use AI to create nude images of classmates – NBC Southern California

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An investigation was underway at Beverly Vista Middle School in Beverly Hills Monday after some students used Artificial Intelligence to create nude images of classmates.

It is very scary people cant feel safe to come to school, one student who did not want to be identified said. They are scared people will show off explicit photos of them.

After school administrators were alerted last week about the nude photos that were passed around among a group of students, the Beverly Hills Unified School District launched an investigation with the Beverly Hills Police Department.

The images included the faces of some students and were superimposed onto AI-generated nude bodies, according to the Beverly Hills Unified School District.

We will be looking at the appropriate discipline so that students understand there are consequences and accountability for their actions, said Dr. Michael Bregy, Superintendent of the Beverly Hills Unified School District.

District officials said they were appalled by the misuse of AI in a statement.

This emerging technology is becoming more and more accessible to individuals of all ages, the district said. Parents, please partner with us and speak with your children about this dangerous behavior. Students, please talk to your friends about how disturbing and inappropriate this manipulation of images is.

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

While lawmakers at the state and federal levels were said to be seeking ways to determine how to address cases involving artificial intelligence, Bregy said school districts need more support from legislators.

School Districts arent known for having to advocate with congressman to get the laws to change, said Bregy. The safety of laws is clearly being outpaced by the technology we have.

Some parents also said they hope Beverly Vista Middle School will take swift action.

It needs to be some kind of huge consequence for that, said one parent.

It is unclear how many students were targeted and how many were involved in the creation of images.

Those students who were targeted by the fake AI images were being provided with counseling, according to the Beverly Hills Unified School District.

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Beverly Hills middle school students use AI to create nude images of classmates - NBC Southern California

Let’s set the record straight on Montana’s Medicaid Daily Montanan – Daily Montanan

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Plain and simple people get sick.

Right now, more than 250,000 predominantly low-income Montanans get help with healthcare through Medicaida state-federal partnership. Montana has overall and primary responsibility, while the Feds pick up most of the costs, averaging 80% (of total Medicaid spending). In 2022, the Federal government provided $1.8 billion to cover health care for Medicaid-eligible Montanans who live in every county across the Big Sky. Remarkably, two-thirds of Medicaid recipients live in our rural communities.

So, what is Medicaid, and who does it serve?

Not only does Medicaid fund health care services for our lower-income neighbors including children, families, and pregnant moms, but it also covers those with serious disabilities. By reducing the number of uninsured, Medicaid has also helped keep healthcare insurance costs down for everyone while pumping money into Montanas economy. The Medicaid reimbursements for rural and urban healthcare providers keep the doors of healthcare facilities open and help retain healthcare providers. Small businesses also benefit from Medicaid, as they often cannot afford to provide health insurance for their employeeswhether they work full or part-time.

Medicaid Expansion is a critical program for our Native American Montanans. The Indian Health Service continues to be woefully underfunded; a recent series of newspaper articles illustrates the healthcare challenges facing those who reside on reservations. Medicaid has greatly boosted services to Native Americans, allowing them to access a broader range of healthcare providers. The federal government reimburses the care provided to Native Americans on Medicaid at 100%.

Despite the benefits of Medicaid, we now have more than 120,000 Montanans18% of kiddoswho have lost Medicaid coverage due to DPHHSs procedural snafus. The end of the COVID public health emergency necessitated each state to review eligibility for Medicaid. Thats reasonable; however, Montana launched a process that is difficult, confusing, and sometimes impossible for people to reapply or maintain eligibility. The result: Almost one-in-every-three Medicaid recipients has been denied not because of eligibility, but 64% for technical or procedural issues. Montana now has among the highest and worst records in the nation for terminating health insurance for children. Disgraceful.

Reports indicate 4- to 6-hour telephone waits and multiple tries for Medicaid recipients to provide documentation to keep their insurance. Unbelievably, some folks did not know their coverage had been terminated until they arrived at the doctors office. What happened to Gov. Greg Gianfortes political promises of less bureaucracy?

Alarmed by Montanas record, federal healthcare authorities have twice requested changes to this processechoing a chorus of local healthcare providers (such as the Montana Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatricians) asking for a 30-day pause to stop children from losing their coverage. Meanwhile, state officials seem hell-bent on purging the Medicaid rolls, to the detriment of peoples health as well as our economy.

Is this purging a signal of things to come? Medicaid Expansion must be renewedduring the 2025 legislative session. Montanas Medicaid program is not plagued by fraud and abuseexactly the opposite. Its bewildering to think about the consequences of this purge. Ironically there is an ongoing major mental health reform initiative, aimed at expanding access. Yet, many of those losing Medicaid need mental or behavioral health servicesbut will no longer be eligible.

The governor is taking Montana backward, not forward Is this the Montana we want for our children, those less fortunate, or folks in rural areas?

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Let's set the record straight on Montana's Medicaid Daily Montanan - Daily Montanan

VA’s money-squeezed free clinics offer a vital helping hand – Richmond Times-Dispatch

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It was only after the death of her husband in 2018, a year after their children sponsored their immigration to the U.S. from Venezuela, that Tatijana Kowalchuk began paying attention to the dizziness that made walking a challenge and shaking hands that made her writing a mess.

And so did the staff at Richmonds Health Brigade free clinic, who found a nearly quarter-inch tumor pressing on her brain.

The staff at Richmonds Health Brigade free clinic found a nearly quarter-inch tumor pressing on Tatijana Kowalchuk's brain. The clinic continues to offer her care and support.

She did not have the money to do anything about it and these days, Virginias free clinics are short of the resources they need to help people who, like the Kowalchuks, fall between the many cracks in the American health care system, which is why Del. Betsy Carr, D-Richmond, and state Sen. Barbara Favola, D-Arlington, are asking the General Assembly to lend a hand.

At the clinic, once staff found treatment for the usual explanation of dizziness middle ear problems was not helping Kowalchuk, they quickly arranged for a neurologist to examine her, free of charge, as well as for the MRI scan that found the tumor.

It was big; the surgery would cost a lot, Kowalchuk said. Health Brigade stepped in again, working long-nurtured connections with surgeons and hospitals to arrange the operation, again free of charge, and to negotiate a discount and payment plan for Kowalchuk to afford follow-up scans.

Tatijana Kowalchuk and medical case manager Robert Key talk at Health Brigade in Richmond on Feb. 13 about how much they mean to each other. Kowalchuk calls Key her guardian angel.

As new, if elderly immigrants, sponsored by their children, the Kowalchuks could not get Medicare and from what they had heard about the cost of health care here, doing something about Wladimiro Kowalchuks cancer scare was a frightening prospect.

Robert was my husbands angel. His guardian angel. He is my angel, said Kowalchuk, referring to the clinics veteran medical case manager, Robert Key, who took the lead helping the couple navigate his cancer treatment and later her surgery.

Virginias 60-plus free clinics provide care to some 75,000 people a year, amounting to some $114 million in 2022. It is a distinctive kind of care, too: focused on all of the needs a patient might have including some that do not always come to mind when people feel they need to see a doctor.

Kowalchuk saw the difference several months after her surgery. She had come back from a trip to her attic with a painful rash on both hands.

I called dermatologists and they said they could give me an appointment in two or three months, she said. The pain is really strong, Id say, but it didnt make any difference.

A visit to a hospital emergency room prompted a suggestion to see a dermatologist. She stumped three doctors at a local doc-in-a-box.

I finally came to Health Brigade, she said.

The nurse looked at my hands and said; Thats an infection the ER doctor said it wasnt that, Kowalchuk said. She said, Ill give you an antibiotic; if it is not better in two days come back and well figure it out. The first day I was a little better; the second day, a lot better.

It is paying attention, maybe even more than being able to offer free access to care, that is the key to what free clinics provide, said Karen Legato, Health Brigades executive director.

We look at the whole person," said Karen Legato, the executive director of the Health Brigade free clinic. "Its not the transactional model."

We look at the whole person ... its not the transactional model, she said.

That means, for instance, making sure a patients electricity is on and that they have enough food. Health Brigade will arrange connection with food pantries, for instance, and can help people access emergency help with utilities to make sure they are warm enough in winter and not overheating in a summer hot spell. If transportation is a problem, case managers and social workers figure out ways to deal with that.

Health Brigades distinctive outreach efforts, like its syringe exchange program, take similar extra steps, when staffers offer COVID-19 and flu vaccinations, clothing in the winter, and assessments of other medical or dental needs as well as a path to getting them treated.

But that whole-person approach, especially in the wake of COVID-19, is swamping Virginias free clinic network.

Coverage through Medicaid was expanded, and all of a sudden, people who werent insured were coming in, Legato said. We had people who didnt know what they had, and we were finding complex, chronic conditions ... and now that Medicaid is going away for them, theyre on our rolls and were taking care of them.

The free clinics compete with hospitals and private practices for physicians, nurses and other medical staff. Staffing accounts for about 80% of Health Brigades budget, for instance free clinics do get a bit of a break on the biggest driver of medical cost increases in other parts of the health care system: prescription drugs.

It takes a big heart to do this, but people need to be paid, Legato said. Even so, a nurse practitioner here may be making 30% less than in private practice.

Theres been a squeeze, too, on the heart of the free clinic model: the volunteers.

COVID-19 kept many away, as clinics tried their best to make sure they did not become hotspots. Statewide shortages in some specialties behavioral health is a particular problem mean many volunteers who used to pitch in cannot find the time and relief from their own patients demand to spare.

That has meant larger paid staffs than had been the pre-pandemic pattern.

Rufus Phillips, CEO of the Virginia Association of Free and Charitable Clinics, said budget amendments proposed by Carr and Favola would offer some relief.

Virginias free and charitable clinics are the backbone of our Commonwealths health care safety net, Carr said in a statement.

With Medicaid unwinding and the end of pandemic relief as well as increased economic pressures disproportionately affecting underserved communities, the need to sustain free clinics has never been greater, she said.

The amendments call for a $5 million-a-year bump in state funds for the clinics, for an annual total of $10.3 million. The current $5.3 million a year was set in 2016, with the idea of covering about 30% of the clinics costs. It currently accounts for about 18%, Phillips said. The clinics operating costs since then have climbed 170%.

If you look at clinics in 2016 and now, youll see big differences, too, Phillips said. Theyre adding dental care, wraparound supports for the social determinants of health; food pantries, even delivering food and showing people how to cook unfamiliar food.

Tatijana Kowalchuk relies on a free clinic Richmonds Health Brigade for care and for support.

And in the end, it is the staff paid and volunteer and the way they see the people who need their services, that make a difference.

So in spotting a concern in Kowalchuks once-every-six-month lab tests for a kidney issue last December, her nurse asked her to come in for another test last month, and with that suggested an every-three-month schedule just to be sure my kidneys are still OK, Kowalchuck said.

You know, they also have a mental health service, she said. Theyve been a real help after my husband died ... I can get down ... I have my daughter and her husband, my neighbor shes very nice but I really dont know many people here.

Brianne Chapman, center, holds up sign near members of the Kekoa Virginia Militia during a Second Amendment Rights rally hosted by Virginia Citizens Defense League on Lobby Day at the state Capitol on Monday, Jan 15, 2024.

Philip Van Cleave, president of the Virginia Citizens Defense League, speaks during a Second Amendment Rights rally on Lobby Day at the state Capitol on Monday, Jan 15, 2024.

Demonstrators march toward the General Assembly building at the state Capitol in support of various bills on Lobby Day, Monday, Jan. 15, 2024. The march was organized by New Virginia Majority.

Demonstrators put down signs before entering the General Assembly building at the state Capitol in support of various bills on Lobby Day, Monday, Jan. 15, 2024. The march was organized by New Virginia Majority.

Demonstrators enter the General Assembly building at the state Capitol in support of various bills on Lobby Day, Monday, Jan. 15, 2024. The march was organized by New Virginia Majority.

Demonstrators enter the General Assembly building at the state Capitol in support of various bills on Lobby Day, Monday, Jan. 15, 2024. The march was organized by New Virginia Majority.

Demonstrators put down signs before entering the General Assembly building at the state Capitol in support of various bills on Lobby Day, Monday, Jan. 15, 2024. The march was organized by New Virginia Majority.

Demonstrators wait to enter the General Assembly building at the state Capitol in support of various bills on Lobby Day, Monday, Jan. 15, 2024. The march was organized by New Virginia Majority.

Assaddique Abdul-Rahman, and organizer with New Virginia Majority, leads a chant during a demonstration in support of various bills outside of the General Assembly building at the state Capitol on Lobby Day, Monday, Jan. 15, 2024.

Assaddique Abdul-Rahman, and organizer with New Virginia Majority, leads a chant during a demonstration in support of various bills outside of the General Assembly building at the state Capitol on Lobby Day, Monday, Jan. 15, 2024.

Demonstrators enter the General Assembly building at the state Capitol in support of various bills on Lobby Day, Monday, Jan. 15, 2024. The march was organized by New Virginia Majority.

Young demonstrators attend a gun safety rally at the state Capitol on Lobby Day, Monday, Jan. 15, 2024.

Demonstrators attend a gun safety rally at the state Capitol on Lobby Day, Monday, Jan. 15, 2024.

Speaker of the House Don Scott, D-Portsmith, speaks to a crowd during a gun safety rally at the state Capitol on Lobby Day, Monday, Jan. 15, 2024.

Demonstrators attend an afternoon gun safety rally at the Bell Tower in Capitol Square on Lobby Day on Monday.

Speaker of the House Don Scott, D-Portsmith, speaks to a crowd during a gun safety rally at the state Capitol on Lobby Day, Monday, Jan. 15, 2024.

Young demonstrators attend a gun safety rally at the state Capitol on Lobby Day, Monday, Jan. 15, 2024.

Demonstrators attend a gun safety rally at the state Capitol.

A demonstrator holds a sign at a gun safety rally at the state Capitol on Lobby Day, Monday, Jan. 15, 2024.

During the Omega Psi Phi Lobby Day session, Senate President Pro Tempore Louise Lucas, D-Portsmouth, responds to questions from Fairfax County resident Robert Fairchild, right, about her priorities for the 2024 General Assembly.

Philip Van Cleave, president of the Virginia Citizens Defense League, speaks during a Second Amendment Rights rally on Lobby Day at the state Capitol on Monday, Jan 15, 2024.

A flag is waved during a Second Amendment Rights rally hosted by Virginia Citizens Defense League on Lobby Day at the state Capitol on Monday, Jan 15, 2024.

Virginians on both sides of the gun debate make their case during Lobby Day at the state Capitol on Monday. Brianne Chapman holds up a sign near members of the Kekoa Virginia Militia during a Second Amendment rights rally hosted by the Virginia Citizens Defense League.

A demonstrator, who goes by Rustpit, stands in front of the Supreme Court of Virginia during a Second Amendment Rights rally hosted by Virginia Citizens Defense League on Lobby Day on Monday, Jan 15, 2024.

Cam Edwards of Farmville speaks at the state Capitol during a Second Amendment rights rally hosted by the Virginia Citizens Defense League.

Del. Delores Oates, R-Warren, speaks during a Second Amendment Rights rally hosted by Virginia Citizens Defense League on Lobby Day at the state Capitol on Monday, Jan 15, 2024.

Brianne Chapman holds up sign near members of the Kekoa Virginia Militia during a Second Amendment Rights rally hosted by Virginia Citizens Defense League on Lobby Day at the state Capitol on Monday, Jan 15, 2024.

A demonstrator holds up a sign during a Second Amendment Rights rally hosted by Virginia Citizens Defense League on Lobby Day at the state Capitol on Monday, Jan 15, 2024.

Members of the Kekoa Virginia Militia hold guns during a Second Amendment Rights rally hosted by Virginia Citizens Defense League on Lobby Day at the state Capitol on Monday, Jan 15, 2024.

Demonstrators hold flags in front of the Supreme Court of Virginia during a Second Amendment Rights rally hosted by Virginia Citizens Defense League on Lobby Day on Monday, Jan 15, 2024.

Demonstrators stands in front of the Supreme Court of Virginia during a Second Amendment Rights rally hosted by Virginia Citizens Defense League on Lobby Day on Monday, Jan 15, 2024.

A demonstrator holds up a sign at the state Capitol on Lobby Day during a gun rights rally hosted by the Virginia Citizens Defense League.

Jason Hazelwood holds a flag in front of the Supreme Court of Virginia during a Second Amendment Rights rally hosted by Virginia Citizens Defense League on Lobby Day on Monday, Jan 15, 2024.

Eddir Garcia, a Republican Senate candidate, speaks to demonstrators in front of the Supreme Court of Virginia during a Second Amendment Rights rally hosted by Virginia Citizens Defense League on Lobby Day on Monday, Jan 15, 2024.

A demonstrator, who goes by Rustpit, stands in front of the Supreme Court of Virginia on Monday during a Second Amendment rights rally hosted by Virginia Citizens Defense League.

Jason Hazelwood holds a flag in front of the Supreme Court of Virginia during a Second Amendment Rights rally hosted by Virginia Citizens Defense League on Lobby Day on Monday, Jan 15, 2024.

Jess Bookout, left, and Leslie Floyd attend Lobby Day to talk about early childhood education.

Virginians stand in the lobby of the General Assembly Building on Monday.

Virginians gathered for Lobby Day at the Virginia General Assembly include People wearing Guns Save Lives stickers in the lobby of the General Assembly Building.

On Lobby Day, Madison Brumbaugh, second from left, vice president of the Speech-Language-Hearing Association of Virginia, speaks with lawmakers, including Del. Michael Jones, D-Richmond, left; Del. Chris Obenshain, R-Montgomery; and Del. Wendell Walker, R-Lynchburg.

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VA's money-squeezed free clinics offer a vital helping hand - Richmond Times-Dispatch

Many Older Immigrants in New York Are Struggling: ‘I Have No Future’ – The New York Times

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Francisco Palacios, who grew up poor in Ecuador, came to New York City in 1986 so that he could earn enough to someday retire back home.

But after getting stuck in low-paying jobs at restaurants, construction sites and a laundromat, Mr. Palacios, now 70, has no savings and is just trying to survive. Most weekdays, he waits on a street corner in Queens with other day laborers in hopes that someone will hire him to paint homes. I still feel I have the energy and the strength to work, he said in Spanish, through a translator, though he believes, I have no future.

Older immigrants like Mr. Palacios now make up just over half of New York Citys 65-and-over population. Their numbers have increased at more than twice the rate of U.S.-born seniors since 2010, mainly because of the graying of immigrants who came decades ago as young adults and workers.

Many of these immigrants said they never expected to grow old in the city and, after years of saying Im leaving tomorrow, are simply not prepared for that reality when it comes. Some are still chasing the American dream long after their prime working years. Others have stayed because they cannot bring themselves to leave the children and grandchildren they have here, or the life they have carved out for themselves.

Older immigrants have largely propelled the rapid growth of the citys 65-and-up population to 1.4 million, according to a census analysis by Social Explorer, a data research company. In 2022, there were 713,000 older immigrants, a 57 percent increase from 2010. During that same period, the number of U.S.-born older residents rose 25 percent to 678,000.

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Many Older Immigrants in New York Are Struggling: 'I Have No Future' - The New York Times

Grimes says she’s proud of white culture after being labelled a "Nazi" – Mixmag

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Grimes has responded to backlash after she was called a Nazi by critics, alleging to be a human supremacist who is proud of white culture.

The Canadian singer, DJ, and former partner of Elon Musk responded to critics on Twitter on December 31, sparking a debate about racism and white culture.

I'm called a Nazi because I happily am proud of white culture, she claimed. But every day I think fondly of the brown king Cyrus the Great who invented the first ever empire, and the Japanese icon Murasaki Shikibu who wrote the first novel ever.

What if humans just loved each other? she said. History teaches us that we have all been, and always will be - great.

Read this next: Grimes is reportedly suing Elon Musk over parental rights

Grimes quickly came into hot water for her comments, which she made in response to critics labelling her a white supremacist for reportedly liking Nazi memes on Twitter, according to Page Six.

In reply to a Twitter user labelling the singer a white supremacist, Grimes replied: I'm a human suprematist - humans are amazing.

All cultures participated in horrible things and the industrialisation of slavery is arguably the worst of all, and arguably the cause of decline of *all* empires before this one, she said in another post.

That doesn't mean there are great humans among us in the past and now. What do u say abt the African slave trade of Slavs? It's racist to pretend whites have always been in power. All humans have contributed to our worst and best.

Read this next: Grimes and Elon Musk name third child Techno Mechanicus

Grimes was also accused of Western ignorance when she claimed, in another tweet: [People] feel they cannot be proud, so I want to emphasise the incredible accomplishments of others and integrate them into Western education whilst allowing pride for white ppl accomplishments as well.

I believe theres been a terrible erasure of non-European accomplishments and history [should] be taught much more comprehensively.

Her comments come amidst a child custody battle with Elon Musk. In October, the singer claimed that Musk has refused her access to see their children, and is now suing over parental rights.

Gemma Ross is Mixmag's Assistant Editor, follow her on Twitter

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Grimes says she's proud of white culture after being labelled a "Nazi" - Mixmag

The Smithsonian’s collection of brains is linked to eugenics, taken from vulnerable populations – Live Action

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The Washington Post has published a follow-up to its investigation into the Smithsonian Institution, which has a staggering collection of human body parts, including brains and few of the remains were obtained through ethical means. Now, in the follow-up report, the Post has reported that most of the victims were Washington, D.C.s most vulnerable residents.

Ales Hrdlicka (1869-1943) was the anthropologist responsible for much of the collection of body parts, and he had a specific goal in mind: to prove that minorities, but especially Black people, were inferior to whites. Creating a racial brain collection was part of how he would prove this long-debunked theory. Of the 74 brains he got from residents of Washington, D.C., 48 were Black. Others were from disabled persons or were taken from children including 19 obtained from preborn children.

At least one of these brains was taken after the preborn child was killed in an abortion.

One of the children, Moses, died as an infant, and Hrdlicka performed the autopsy on him, with the familys consent; however, they had no idea that he was also taking the childs brain. It has remained in the Smithsonians collection for decades, though Michelle Farris, a distant relative, is now fighting to get it back so it can buried properly.

It feels like my family was robbed of something, Farris said. A child especially of that age cant speak up for themselves. Since the Washington Posts initial investigation, just five of the brains have been returned to either the persons family, or their cultural heirs such as an indigenous tribe.

While the Smithsonian has expressed willingness to return the remains, those remains must be requested through a formal petition, and as in Moses case, most of the families dont even know the collection exists, much less that a relative has body parts in it. Though the Smithsonian has names for at least 100 of the brains, the institution has not attempted to contact anyone or publish the names so their families can reclaim them.

READ: The media is outraged over stolen body parts but only if it doesnt involve abortion

An undercover investigation from the Center of Medical Progress found through documentation and video investigations that Planned Parenthood and the abortion industry still harvest body parts from the most vulnerable among us preborn children and sell them for medical research.

Notably, Hrdlicka was an ardent eugenicist something he had in common with Margaret Sanger, the founder of Planned Parenthood. Sanger accepted an invitation to speak at a Ku Klux Klan meeting and surrounded herself with racists and eugenicists. Lothrop Stoddard was the Exalted Cyclops of the Massachusetts chapter of the Ku Klux Klan and also served on the board of Sangers American Birth Control League (ABCL) the organization that would later become Planned Parenthood. He believed that non-white races must be excluded from America. Clarence Gamble, heir of the Procter and Gamble company fortune, served as a director of both Sangers ABCL and Planned Parenthood boards and was also a eugenicist, supporting laws mandating the sterilization of the disabled. In a letter discussing the notorious Negro Project with Sanger, he said:

The mass of Negroes, particularly in the South, still breed carelessly and disastrously, with the result that the increase among Negroes, even more than among whites, is from that portion of the population least intelligent and fit, and least able to rear children properly.

In his 1904 guide to eugenics, Hrdlicka echoes these beliefs. He wrote of wanting to obtain brains from white people, of which he had abundant opportunity, but also from American negroes, which will be of increasing interest on account of the intellectual progress and mixture of this element in the American population.

In addition to brains, there are still numerous other remains in the collection, including bones and even complete skeletons.

To me, its very upsetting, Native American anthropologist Brad Hatch told the Washington Post. They essentially pulled our ancestors out of the ground, discarded who knows how many of them, and then the large pieces that they could identify, they took back and theyre holding them, essentially in storage where they cant really be given the respect they deserve.

The DOJ put a pro-life grandmother in jail this Christmas for protesting the killing of preborn children. Please take 30-seconds to TELL CONGRESS: STOP THE DOJ FROM TARGETING PRO-LIFE AMERICANS.

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The Smithsonian's collection of brains is linked to eugenics, taken from vulnerable populations - Live Action

This Cartoonish New Robot Dog Somehow Looks Even Scarier

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Chinese robotics company called Weilan recently showed off a creepy, cartoonish-looking robot dog called

Dog Days

We've come across plenty of robot dogs over the years that can dance, speak using ChatGPT, or even assist doctors in hospitals.

But they all have one thing in common: they look like lifeless machines on four stilts.

In an apparent effort to put the "dog " back into "robodog," a Chinese robotics company called Weilan recently showed off an entirely new class of robotic quadruped called "BabyAlpha" — essentially half cartoon dog and half robot.

The company may have overshot its goal a little bit, though, ending up with an even more terrifying-looking machine that looks like it belongs in a "M3GAN"-esque horror flick.

Robot's Best Friend

The small robot canine has a spotted head, a cute little nose, and two floppy-looking ears.

According to the company's website, which we crudely translated using Google, the robot is "especially designed for family companionship scenarios."

"BabyAlpha likes to be by your side," the website reads adding that the little robot has "endless technological superpowers" thanks to AI. Not creepy at all!

Weilan is also targeting its pet as a way to teach children either English or Chinese or keep track of younger family members through a video call tool.

But we can't shake the feeling that BabyAlpha is exactly the kind of thing that kickstarts a series of unfortunate events in a shlocky horror movie.

In case you do trust your children to be around a BabyAlpha, the companion will cost the equivalent of around $1,700 when it goes on sale.

More on robot dogs: Oh Great, They Put ChatGPT Into a Boston Dynamics Robot Dog

The post This Cartoonish New Robot Dog Somehow Looks Even Scarier appeared first on Futurism.

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This Cartoonish New Robot Dog Somehow Looks Even Scarier