College students say they respect the First Amendment, but do they know what that means? – AZCentral

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Karrin Taylor Robson, opinion contributor Published 6:00 a.m. MT Sept. 22, 2019

Opinion: Too many young people think free speech means silencing others. Here's what Arizona is doing to combat that.

The "free speech zone" was empty as people filed into Ferguson Auditorium to hear Bree Newsome, an activist and public speaker, at A-B Tech September 29, 2017.(Photo: Angela Wilhelm, /awilhelm@citizen-times.com)

Free speech zones. Speakers shouted down. Safe spaces. Trigger warnings.

Sometimes it feels like what needs protection most on a college campus is the First Amendment itself.

Consider these incidents that paint a picture of a disturbing national trend:

The incidents are a troubling manifestation of sentiment reflected in recent polling: Far too many young Americans view the First Amendment with uncertainty, if not antipathy.

In 2018, the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) and YouGov surveyed college students nationwide on matters of free expression. Fully 96%of those polled say its important that their civil liberties be protected, and a plurality cite free speech as most essential.

Butwhat constitutes acceptable free expression? A majority of students, 57%, believe universities should be able to restrict speech that offends someone. Sixty percent of students say promoting an inclusive environment that is welcoming to a diverse group of students is more important than protecting free speech.

And 70% of those polled argue universities should exclude students from extracurricular activities if they express intolerant, hurtful or offensive viewpoints.

Separately, a 2017 survey of student attitudes by the Knight Foundation and Gallup found 37% of college students believe its acceptable to shout down a speaker, and one in 10 agree with using violence to stop a speech or rally they oppose.

Clearly, we have a problem.

President Trump's executive order on free speech on college campuses is in response to concerns from conservatives that colleges are too liberal. USA TODAY

Unfettered expression is fundamental to the American experience and appropriately enshrined in the Constitution as our nations first freedom. In a university context, free speech is fundamental to the learning process and the creation of knowledge; without free speech our ability to test our own ideas and assumptions is impossible.

In a civil society we solve our problems with words, not violence.Open and civil debate acts as a pressure release valve and without it, there is only physical confrontation.

Thats dangerous.

If respect for the First Amendment is ailing, our nations public universities must be part of the cure.

Arizona State University, Northern Arizona University and the University of Arizona are already among the nations leaders in protecting speech on campus. While state law bars public universities from herding demonstrators into the tiny so-called campus free speech zones common in other states, legislation signed into law in 2018 by Gov. Doug Ducey codifies the efforts of the board and universities to ensure free speech on campus.

Among its provisions, the law requires any campus restrictions on speech to be content neutral, and enables administrators to punish students who employ shout-downs and similar tactics to interfere with the speaking rights of others. This law underscores the commitment our universities have long held to ensure the fullest degree of intellectual freedom and free expression on our campuses.

For their pro-liberty policies, each of our public universities has been awarded by the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education a green light its highest rating and an honor granted to fewer than 50 institutions in the country.

It is in this same spirit that the Arizona Regents' Cup was created. During the inaugural competition this November, teams of students from each of our states public universities will gather at the University of Arizona in Tucson to engage in a series of intellectual competitions culminating in an Oxford-style debate.

I envisioned this event as a celebration of free speech, civil discourse and democratic engagement, as well as a showcase of our public universities commitment to these bedrock principles.

Judges will include leading figures from government, industry and academia, and participating students will earn course credit while competing for $100,000 in scholarship awards, generously contributed by private donors.

For this first-of-its-kind competition, the student debaters will consider a timely topic: How best to balance freedom of expression with the needs of a diverse, inclusive and welcoming society.

As Gov. DougDucey said in his 2018 State of the State address: Here in Arizona, on our campuses, debate is encouraged, free speech is protected, and diversity of thought isnt just a platitude. Its alive and well in lecture halls, on debate stages, and in the pages of college newspapers.

Our nations young people are recommitting to the ideals of free expression at Arizonas public universities. May the Regents Cup become a shining example of civil debate at a time when our country desperately needs it.

And may the best team win.

Karrin Taylor Robsonis a member of the Arizona Board of Regents, attorney and business leader. She is the founder and president of Arizona Strategies, a land use strategy firm in Phoenix.

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College students say they respect the First Amendment, but do they know what that means? - AZCentral

Federal Judge Rules Ban on Conversion Therapy Doesnt Violate First Amendment Rights – Law & Crime

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Plaintiff Christopher Doyle

A federal judge on Friday dismissed a lawsuit challenging the state of Marylands law banning licensed practitioners from engaging in conversion therapy treatment with minors. The legislation was signed into law by Maryland Gov.Larry Hogan(R) in May of 2018.

The lawsuit was initially filed by Christopher Doyle, a mental health therapist who teaches at Patrick Henry College in Virginia. He claimed the law infringed upon his First Amendment rights to free speech and free exercise of religion.

In a 25-page decision, which you can read in full below, U.S. District Judge Deborah Chasanow ruled that the prohibiting conversion therapy, which is a practice aimed at changing minors homosexual orientation, did not violate any constitutionally protected rights.

With regard to free speech, Chasanow reasoned that because the law only applies to professional therapists already subject to generally applicable licensing and regulatory rules in the course of their work, the government may restrict dangerous practices within that professional community.

Although [this law] regulates speech by prohibiting the use of language employed in the process of conducting conversion therapy on minor clients, it does not prevent licensed therapists from expressing their views about conversion therapy to the public and to their [clients], Chasanow wrote.Most importantly, [this law] does not prohibit practitioners from engaging in any form of personal expression; they remain free to discuss, endorse, criticize, or recommend conversion therapy to their minor clients.

Chasanow also stressed that the governments reason for banning the practice was supported by empirical research and expert opinions from within the professional community, which demonstrated a clear consensus that the practice presented a danger to children.

These sources indicate that conducting conversion therapy on minors could potentially harm their emotional and physical well-being and, thus, prohibiting the practice of conversion therapy on minors would abate the harmful outcomes caused by conversion therapy, she wrote.

Doyle also argued that the law targeted his sincerely held religious beliefs regarding human sexuality and gender by proscribing him from offering counseling consistent with those beliefs.

Chasanow rejected that argument, reasoning that the law was religiously neutral and had only an incidental effect on any religious practices.

The First Amendment provides that Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the Free Exercise thereof,' the judge wrote. The First Amendment does not, however, provide absolute protection to engage in religiously motivated conduct.

[A] law lacks neutrality if it targets religious beliefs or if its object . . . is to infringe upon or restrict practices because of their religious motivation,' the judge continued. [This law] prohibits all licensed practitioners from engaging in conversion therapy without mention of or regard for their religion. Thus, the statute is, at a minimum, facially neutral.

Doyle was represented by attorneys from Liberty Counsel, a Christian legal advocacy organization that promotes litigation related to evangelical Christian values.

The group responded to the ruling by saying the judge ignored binding Supreme Court precedent and issued an opinion dismissing Liberty Counsels lawsuit seeking a preliminary and permanent injunction against Marylands law prohibiting minors from receiving voluntary counseling from licensed professionals to reduce or eliminate unwanted same-sex attractions or gender confusion.

Liberty Counsel said it will immediately appeal this decision to the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals.

Doyle v. HOGAN et al by Law&Crime on Scribd

[image via YouTube screengrab]

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Federal Judge Rules Ban on Conversion Therapy Doesnt Violate First Amendment Rights - Law & Crime

Election time: Yes, businesses have rights but legal restrictions, too – Press-Enterprise

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The First Amendment guarantees the right to petition the government, which includes the right to participate in elections. These protections apply to individuals and businesses involved in paid and unpaid advocacy.

However, the government has the right to regulate speech as long as it passes a strict scrutiny test. That test was clarified in the landmark U.S. Supreme Court Citizens United v. Federal Elections Commission decision holding that such regulation must show that the restriction furthers a compelling interest and is narrowly tailored to achieve that interest.

California law contains restrictions on political speech that have consistently been upheld as satisfying this demanding test. Because violations of these laws can trigger significant fines and criminal penalties, its important for businesses to understand them before diving into political participation, especially through contributions or paid lobbying.

Here are some laws governing political speech that businesses should know, just in time for the beginning of the election cycle.

The Political Reform Act Californias Political Reform Act is the starting point for laws on paid political participation. It has been almost 10 years since the Supreme Court held in Citizens United v. FEC that the First Amendment prohibits governmental entities from distinguishing between individuals and corporations in regulating independent political expenditures. Notably, the Court declined to overrule Buckley v. Valeo, which upheld limits on direct corporate contributions. The Court also upheld disclosure requirements like those in the Political Reform Act relating to political speech.

Campaign Disclosures The Political Reform Act and regulations of the Fair Political Practices Commission both contain rules concerning campaign committee formation and periodic filings of disclosure statements for campaign receipts and expenditures. Contribution sources must be identified on the committees Form 460.

If a contribution is received through an intermediary, both the intermediary and the source of the contribution must be identified. Failing to disclose the true source of a contribution, more commonly known as laundering, is a serious violation. An employer may not reimburse employees for contributions, which would hide the true source of the contribution (the employer). The FPPC looks very closely at bundled contributions that come from one business or corporation or closely associated individuals.

Contribution Limits The Political Reform Act leaves some latitude to local agencies to regulate and limit political contributions. For example, San Diego and Los Angeles have city ethics commissions empowered to create and enforce additional layers of local contribution regulations. Many local jurisdictions have enacted local limits on campaign contributions that significantly restrict businesses and individuals abilities to contribute.

It is also common for agencies to require additional disclosure of local contributions in connection with their contract and franchise awards and the sale or lease of public lands. Agencies frequently ask to see a companys contributions to local races in connection with their submittal of a proposal for public contracts.

Californias Levine Act aims to ensure that appointed members of boards or commissions are not biased by political contributors who might appear before them in a proceeding involving a license, contract, permit or entitlement. This law covers all appointed officers of any local government agency. So, contributions to the election campaign of an appointed official can disqualify that official from participation on an appointed board or commission.

Serial and Ex Parte Communications The right to petition does not include the right to speak to any elected official at any time. Californias Ralph M. Brown Act prohibits a member of the public serving as a conduit of information of public business among the members of a quorum of a local agency. So, while it is permitted to whip votes among members of the state Legislature by telling the position of one legislator to another legislator, similar communications are prohibited among a majority of a city council or county board of supervisors.

Some ex parte communications (communications outside a formal meeting) are prohibited altogether. For examples, stakeholders are not permitted to petition some state boards and commissions (i.e., regional water quality control boards and the California Coastal Commission) outside their meetings.

Like individual speech, corporate speech enjoys First Amendment protection. However, such protection is not unfettered and often subject to state and local regulations intended to enhance disclosure in public decision-making and to control corruption.

Scott Smith is a partner at Best Best & Krieger LLP. Representing both businesses and public agencies, he advises on First Amendment issues at the intersection of public and private interests. He can be reached at scott.smith@bbklaw.com.

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Election time: Yes, businesses have rights but legal restrictions, too - Press-Enterprise

It is hard to exercise your rights if you don’t know your rights: Constitution Day highlights the First Amendment – The Inquirer

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History and social science professor Mickey Huff wrestled with topics ranging from censorship to fake news during Constitution Day at Diablo Valley College on Sept. 18 in the Student Union building.

Huff led a discussion with a room full of students about topics related to The First Amendment. Talking points included free speech, the right to read, propaganda, media coverage, and many more important topics. Huff made censorship, and fake news the primary focus, and presented his books Censored 2020, and the United States Of Distraction for any students who want to learn more on the topics.

It is hard to exercise your rights if you dont know your rights, said Huff.

During the event, Huff spoke about how the rise of fake news makes it harder to find good sources, and even how his friends have been accused of being influencers of Russia because of their reporting. However, the right to read and protection of the First Amendment in todays climate remained his main talking points. Huff wanted students to know their rights out of concern that some people arent interested in their own liberties.

Some students expressed strong opinions about their First Amendment rights. Celeste Orrick said she was concerned with free speech. Jaiden Aengus said he attended the event not only because it was a requirement for his political science class, but because of his personal concerns about the press.

I feel the freedom of the press has been decayed, said Aengus.

Huff gave out a handout about the upcoming Banned Books Week event that happens every September. According to the Banned Books Week Handbook, the event is a celebration of the freedom to access ideas.

Students can honor books, comics, plays, art, journalism, and much more during the event, according to the Banned Books Week handbook.

Huff shortly talked about the upcoming event, but had other important things to say on the students rights to read. According to him, he believes students can pass on what they learned about the First Amendment to fellow students.

Students can raise awareness of their rights by talking to their peers, said Huff.

Constitution Day is once a year on September 18, 2019, the date it was ratified. Protecting the First Amendment for Huff, Aengus, and Orrick, is important, as it is for all American citizens, even if some dont know what liberties it protects. One of the important goals this year was to raise awareness of these rights protected under the constitution.

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It is hard to exercise your rights if you don't know your rights: Constitution Day highlights the First Amendment - The Inquirer

Alternative medical treatments and compassionate use – Lexology

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Patients who are beyond treatment under the standards of conventional medicine often seek help from alternative medical treatments; however, these methods pose not only medical risks for patients, but also legal risks for doctors.

Facts

A surgeon with qualifications in vascular, heart and thorax surgery treated seriously ill patients using an innovative method. The patients suffered from morbus Parkinson, multiple sclerosis, various forms of myatrophy and paralysis, traumatic spinal cord injuries, macular degenerations or psychiatric impairments such as autism. All of the patients were beyond treatment under the standards of conventional medicine. The surgeon treated them with stem cell therapy.

First-instance and appeal decisions

In April 2014 the Viennese Administrative Authority fined the surgeon under Section 49(1) of the Act on the Medical Profession for failing to observe patient welfare namely, for not evaluating the side effects and counterindications of using stem cell therapy to treat the abovementioned conditions.

In July 2015 the Viennese Administrative Tribunal(1) partly confirmed this decision. The tribunal ruled that potential health risks cannot be withheld from patients.

Supreme Administrative Court decision

On appeal, the Supreme Administrative Court(2) overruled the Viennese Administrative Tribunal's decision. The court held that the administrative tribunal had accused the surgeon of regularly using autologous stem cell therapy as a new treatment, even though clinical studies had yet to determine its benefits and risks.

According to the court, stem cells fall within the definition of medicinal products under Section 1 of the Medicinal Products Act.(3) The court could therefore revert to the doctrine and precedents on the off-label use of medicinal products. In its view, the tribunal had not shown that the treatment was clearly prohibited. Further, without a prohibition on the off-label use of medicinal products with marketing authorisation, such a prohibition cannot be based on the Medicinal Products Act. Therefore, an infringement of "compliance with existing rules according to sec 49 (1) Act on the Medical Profession" was not obvious.

The use of medicinal products or treatments that have not been clinically evaluated in terms of benefit-risk ratio for certain (new) indications is referred to as 'compassionate use'. The Declaration of Helsinki on ethical principles for medical research involving human subjects states as follows:

Unproven interventions in clinical practice

37. In the treatment of an individual patient, where proven interventions do not exist or other known interventions have been ineffective, the physician, after seeking expert advice, with informed consent from the patient or a legally authorised representative, may use an unproven intervention if in the physician's judgement it offers hope of saving life, re-establishing health or alleviating suffering. This intervention should subsequently be made the object of research, designed to evaluate its safety and efficacy. In all cases, new information must be recorded and, where appropriate, made publicly available.

According to legal literature, compassionate use is a deviation from medical standards in special treatment situations, either because the standard is unhelpful or no standard for the special treatment is available. Unlike clinical studies, it refers to individual cases and not to a clinical sample.

Under Section 49(1) of the Medical Profession Act physicians must observe the rules of medical science; however, these rules are only guidelines with respect to patient welfare insofar as it is possible to go beyond conventional medicine. Therefore, Section 49(1) does not prohibit compassionate use for patients who are beyond therapy under conventional medicine if they are comprehensively informed and the compassionate use makes objective sense.(4)

There is no legal definition of 'compassionate use' and no Supreme Court precedents in this regard. On 13 February 1956 the German Federal Court ruled(5) that a method of treatment is a clinical study and not a compassionate use if the method is applied not primarily in the interests of treating a patient, but in the interest of scientific research. A new method of treatment may be applied if the responsible medical evaluation and comparison of the expected benefits and risks of the new method with the standard treatment under consideration justify its application.(6)

New methods may be used only on patients who are fully informed that said methods imply unknown risks. Further, patients must be able to evaluate and consent to (or not) said risks.(7)

In the case at hand, all of the surgeon's patients were beyond treatment such that, according to the medical standard, no successful cure could be expected at the time of the treatment.

The Viennese Administrative Tribunal failed to establish that the applied treatment had posed a danger to the patients; rather, it stated only that health risks cannot be excluded without clinical studies. The tribunal reproached the applicant for integrating the method of treatment into regular clinical operations. Compassionate use that is legitimate in individual cases becomes illegitimate if it is adopted in regular clinical operations, as it becomes a regular treatment with an unverified method. This further implies that the person administering the treatment has applied it in multiple cases. It is unclear whether the application of a new therapy on a larger number of patients excludes the qualification of the treatment as compassionate use.

Insofar as the Viennese Administrative Tribunal questioned the surgeon's claim to have evaluated the risks of stem cell therapy in each case, the tribunal lacked evidence to evaluate the types of risk that would prohibit compassionate use. Further, the tribunal failed to establish the circumstances and specific patient information that would prohibit compassionate use. Therefore, the Supreme Administrative Court set aside the Viennese Administrative Tribunal's decision.

Comment

The Supreme Administrative Court's decision appears to favour a liberal approach to new therapies and compassionate use and enhances the possibilities for developing new therapies and alternative medicines in future. However, patient welfare remains paramount for qualifying a new method as compassionate use.

Endnotes

(1) VGW-001/047/26739/2014-28.

(2) 24 April 2019, RA 2015/11/0113.

(3) Kopecky, Stammzellenforschung in sterreich, 2008, 269.

(4) Resch and Wallner, Handbuch Medizinrecht (second edition), 2015, 222.

(5) III ZR 175/54.

(6) German Federal Court of Justice, 13 June 2006, VI ZR 323/04.

(7) German Federal Court of Justice, 13 June 2006, VI ZR 323/04 and Federal Court of Justice, 27 March 2007, VI ZR 55/05.

This article was first published by the International Law Office, a premium online legal update service for major companies and law firms worldwide.Register for a free subscription.

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Cushing’s DiseaseMonthly Injection Is Good Alternative to Surgery – EndocrineWeb

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with Maria Fleseriu, MD, FACE, and Vivien Herman-Bonert, MD

Cushing's disease, an uncommon but hard to treat endocrine disorder, occurs when a tumor on the pituitary gland, called an adenomathat is almost always benignleads to an overproduction of ACTH (adrenocorticotropic hormone), which is responsible for stimulating the release of cortisol, also known as the stress hormone.

Until now, surgery to remove the non-cancerous but problematic tumor has been the only effective treatment. Still, many patients will require medication to help control their serum cortisol levels, and others cannot have surgery or would prefer to avoid it.

Finally, a drug proves effective as added on or alternative to surgery in managing Cushing's disease. Photo; 123rf

Now, there is good news about long-term positive results achieved with pasireotide (Signifor)the first medication to demonstrate effectiveness in both normalizing serum cortisol levels and either shrinking or slowing growth of tumors over the long term.1,2 These findings appear in the journal, Clinical Endocrinology, showing that patients followed for 36 months as part of an ongoing study had improved patient outcomes for Cushings disease.2

"What we knew before this extension study wasthe drug will work in approximately half of the patients with mild Cushing's disease," says study author Maria Fleseriu, MD, FACE, director of the Northwest Pituitary Center and professor of neurological surgery and medicine in the division of endocrinology, diabetes and clinical nutrition at the Oregon Health and Sciences University School of Medicine.

Pasireotide also offers good clinical benefits," says Dr. Fleseriu who is also the president of the Pituitary Society, which includes improvements in blood pressure, other signs and symptoms of Cushings symptom], and quality of life.2

Among the signs and symptoms of Cushings disease that are lessened with treatment are:3

The accumulation of adipose tissue raises the risk of heart disease, which adds to the urgency of effective treatment. In addition, many individuals who have Cushings disease also complain of quality of life issues such as fatigue, depression, mood and behavioral problems, as well as poor memory.2

As good as the results appear following the longer term use of pasireotide,2 Dr. Fleseriu admits that in any extension study in which patients are asked to continue on, there are some built-in limitations, which may influence the findings. For example, patients who agree to stay on do so because they are good responders, meaning they feel better, so theyre happy to stick with the study.

Fortunately, for the patients who have responded to pasireotide initially, this is a drug that can be continued as there are no new safety signals with longer use," Dr. Fleseriu tells EndocrineWeb, "and when the response at the start is good, very few patients will lose control of their urinary free cortisol over time. That's a frequent marker used to monitor patient's status. For those patients with large tumors, almost half of them had a significant shrinkage, and all the others had a stable tumor size."

What Are the Reasons to Consider Drug Treatment to Manage Cushings Symptoms

The extension study ''was important because we didn't have any long-term data regarding patient response to this once-a-month treatment to manage Cushing's disease," she says.

While selective surgical removal of the tumor is the preferred treatment choice, the success rate in patients varies, and Cushing's symptoms persist in up to 35% of patients after surgery. In addition, recurrent rates (ie, return of disease) range from 13% to 66% after individuals experience different durations remaining in remission.1

Therefore, the availability of an effective, long-lasting drug will change the course of therapy for many patients with Cushings disease going forward. Not only will pasireotide benefit patients who have persistent and recurrent disease after undergoing surgery, but also this medication will be beneficial for those who are not candidates for surgery or just wish to avoid having this procedure, he said.

This long-acting therapy, pasireotide, which is given by injection, was approved in the US after reviewing results of a 12-month Phase 3 trial.1 In the initial study, participants had a confirmed pituitary cause of the Cushing's disease. After that, the researchers added the optional 12-month open-label, extension study, and now patients can continue on in a separate long-term safety study.

Those eligible for the 12-month extension had to have mean urinary free cortisol not exceeding the upper limit of normal (166.5 nanomoles per 24 hour) and/or be considered by the investigator to be getting substantial clinical benefit from treatment with long-action pasireotide, and to demonstrate tolerability of pasireotide during the core study.1

Of the 150 in the initial trial, 81 participants, or 54% of the patients, entered the extension study. Of those, 39 completed the next phase, and most also enrolled in another long-term safety studythese results not yet available).2

During the core study, 1 participants were randomly assigned to 10 or 30 mg of the drug every 28 days, with doses based on effectiveness and tolerability. When they entered the extension, patients were given the same dose they received at month.1,2

Of those who received 36 months of treatment with pasireotide, nearly three in four (72.2%) had controlled levels of urinary free cortisol at this time point.2 Equally good news for this drug was that tumors either shrank or did not grow. Of those individuals who started the trial with a measurable tumor (adenoma) as well as those with an adenoma at the two year mark (35 people), 85.7% of them experienced a reduction of 20% or more or less than a 20% change in tumor volume. No macroadenomas present at the start of the study showed a change of more than 20% at either month 24 or 36.2

Improvements in blood pressure, body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference continued throughout the extension study.1 Those factors influence CVD risk, the leading cause of death in those with Cushing's.4

As for adverse events, most of the study participants, 91.4%, did report one or more complaint during the extension studymost commonly, it was high blood sugar, which was reported by nearly 40% of participants.2. This is not surprising when you consider that most (81.5%) of the individuals participating in the extension trial entered with a diagnosis of diabetes or use of antidiabetic medication, and even more of them (88.9%) had diabetes at the last evaluation.1

This complication indicates the need for people with Cushings disease to check their blood glucose, as appropriate.

Women typically develop Cushings disease more often than men.

What else should you be aware of if you and your doctor decide this medication will help you? Monitoring is crucial, says Dr. Fleseriu, as you will need to have your cortisol levels checked, and you should be on alert for any diabetes signals, which will require close monitoring and regular follow-up for disease management.

Another understanding gained from the results of this drug study: "This medication works on the tumor level," she says. "If the patient has a macroadenoma (large tumor), this would be the preferred treatment." However, it should be used with caution in those with diabetes given the increased risk of experiencing high blood sugar.

The researchers conclude that "the long-term safety profile of pasireotide was very favorable and consistent with that reported during the first 12 months of treatment. These data support the use of long-acting pasireotide as an effective long-term treatment option for some patients with Cushing's Disease."1

Vivien S. Herman-Bonert, MD, an endocrinologist and clinical director of the Pituitary Center at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, agreed to discuss the study findings, after agreeing to review the research for EndocrineWeb.

As to who might benefit most from monthly pasireotide injections? Dr. Herman-Bonert says, "any patient with Cushing's disease that requires long-term medical therapy, which includes patients with persistent or recurrent disease after surgery." Certainly, anyone who has had poor response to any other medical therapies for Cushing's disease either because they didn't work well enough or because the side effects were too much, will likely benefit a well, she adds.

Among the pluses that came out of the study, she says, is that nearly half of the patients had controlled average urinary free cortisol levels after two full years, and 72% of the participants who continued on with the drug for 36 months were able to remain in good urinary cortisol control .1

As the authors stated, tumor shrinkage was another clear benefit of taking long-term pasireotide. That makes the drug a potentially good choice for those even with large tumors or with progressive tumor growth, she says. Its always good for anyone with Cushings disease to have an alterative to surgery, or a back-up option when surgery isnt quite enough, says Dr. Herman-Bonert.

The best news for patients is that quality of life scores improved,1 she adds.

Dr Herman-Bonert did add a note of caution: Although the treatment in this study is described as ''long-term, patients will need to be on this for far longer than 2 to 3 years," she says. So, the data reported in this study may or may not persist, and we dont yet know what the impact will be 10 or 25 years out.

Also, the issue of hyperglycemia-related adverse events raises a concern, given the vast majority (81%) of patients who have both Cushings disease and diabetes. Most of those taking this drug had a dual diagnosishaving diabetes, a history of diabetes, or taking antidiabetic medicine.

If you are under care for diabetes and you require treatment for Cushings disease, you must be ver mindful that taking pasireotide will likely lead to high blood sugar spikes, so you should plan to address this with your healthcare provider.

Dr. Fleseriu reports research support paid to Oregon Health & Science University from Novartis and other 0companies and consultancy fees from Novartis and Strongbridge Biopharma. Dr. Herman-Bonert has no relevant disclosures.

The study was underwritten by Novartis Pharma AG, the drug maker.

Last updated on 09/27/2019

Multimodal Approach Promises Best Outcomes for Cushing's Disease

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Cushing's DiseaseMonthly Injection Is Good Alternative to Surgery - EndocrineWeb

Google Censors, Shadowbans, and Blacklists Alternative Health News – The Epoch Times

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Commentary

What if I told you that social media platforms are manipulating you, steering you toward health information that they think is right, rather than letting you evaluate content for yourself?

Accredited professionals, meanwhile, who stand for health freedom and who criticize BigAnything, are losing posting privileges, getting banned, being buried, finding themselves deranked, and getting digitally assassinated.

Content is literally disappearing from the Internet along with our health choices.

It sounds conspiratorial because it is. Independent journalists and health experts are blowing the whistle. But its become a silent one.

The censorship that is being applied to alternative health is nothing less than demonic, saidZach Vorhies, 39, who worked as a Google software engineer for eight-and-a-half years before coming out as a whistleblower. That may seem extreme, but Ive been following the happenings in the new cures that are being suppressed.

According to Vorhies, in the last three years, Google has rolled out changes that purposely down-rank independent health websites, even extremely high-quality and independent medical articles that are written by credentialed health care professionals.

At the same time, establishment, big corporate pharma websites like WebMD are monopolizing the first page of results, added Vorhies.

He continued, Whats terrifying is that many of these establishment medical articles landing on the first page do not even have a stated author and make assertions that are contradicted by science.

Consider that people use Google to search for about1 billion health questions a day, states author and health professionalJoe Cohen. Eighty percent of Internet users have searched for a health-related topic online,according to a recent study.

High-quality online health sites that have been negatively affected includeGreenmedinfo,Dr. Axe,Erin Elizabeth of Health Nut News,SelfHacked,Dr. Joseph Mercola, andHoneyColony(my website).

Censorship and freedom of speech vis a vis politics is being discussed, but no one in the mainstream media is covering the impact on the health space.

As Vorhies reminds us, Googles stated mission statement was to organize the worlds information and make it universally accessible. But in the last three years, it has betrayed those values by intervening in the search algorithm to tunnel users toward big corporate establishment players, he said.

In late June 2019,Project Veritaswith the assistance of Vorhies proved that Google is indeed manipulating search results,filtering content, and dubbing information news based on Googles agenda. Vorhies released 950 pages that insinuate that the search engine secretly boosts or condemns content on a platform that was supposedly neutral.

A document entitled news blacklist site for Google now singles out nearly500 websitesto be hidden from users of Google Now, an Android application that was phased out in 2016 and replaced by the Google Feed.

The stifling of natural remedies in favor ofpeddling pharmaceuticalsand monetizing medicine isnt new. We gave our health over to thefaux faithof maligned science and technology ages ago, back in 1910, when a teachernot a doctorwrote the so-calledFlexner Report. Since World War II, thepharmaceutical industryhas steadily netted increasing profits to become the worlds second-largest manufacturing industry after war toys.

Over100 years ago, the powers-that-be created a gatekeeper who would help influence legislative bodies on state and federal levels to create regulations and licensing red tape that strictly promoted drug medicine while stifling and shutting down alternative, inexpensive natural remedies, according tohealth journalist S.D. Wells.

Whatisnew and novel is that now Big Tech is collaborating with Big Pharma to suppress free speech. As if Big Pharma doesnt do enough harm, Big Tech is harnessing their power to modify search algorithms to align and appease an arguably sick agenda in the name of the supposed safety and protection of the public.

Jason Erickson, a writer forNaturalBlaze.com,wrote:

Evidently, the fact that a level playing field of informationwhich is exactly what the Internet was promised to beis skewing toward anti-vaccination (and other holistic healing)must be worrying to those who rely on the financial support of Big Pharma and establishment medicine.

Consider that alternative medicine empowers the patient and that the supplement industry is an approximately $32.5 billion business, according to the Nutrition Business Journal.

Googles latest trick? Autosuggestions. Its bad enough that Google is effectively scrubbing previously high-ranking sites from their search results, now they are actually suggesting what you should search for.

Heres Googlesofficial statement:

Autocomplete is designed to help people complete a search they were intending to do, not to suggest new types of searches to be performed. These are our best predictions of the query you were likely to continue entering.

From a psychological point of view, autosuggestions are arguably the simplest yet strongest tool for mind control. Incredulously,Google statesthat the autosuggestions are actually predictions, not suggestions.

Tsk, tsk, Google, who made you resident psychic?

For instance, when I searched for supplements are on Sept. 1, the suggestions were bad, useless, not regulated, and so on. In the past few weeks, Google has peppered in some positive keywords: amazing and healthy.

Sayer Ji, founder of GreenMedinfo, a reputable health site,writes:

Google is auto-completing the search fields of billions of users with false information (topics ranging from natural health to candidates for election), based not on objective search volume data, but on an extremely biased political and socio-economic agendaone that is jeopardizing the health and human rights of everyone on the planet.

The articles we publish atHoneyColony.comall reference studies published in the peer-reviewed scientific literaturethe commonly recognized gold standard for research. But that doesnt matter now that Big Pharma propaganda is disseminated via Google.

Dont believe you are being bamboozled?View the disparitiesin volume yourself by going to Google Trends. Compare the actual search volume with Googles amazing new predictions feature.

These actions trump the principles of truth and justice. Its called social engineering. Human experimentation even. What it isnt is a search engine synonymous with looking for and finding objective answers. The Project Veritas video was promptly removed by YouTube (owned by Google) and then by Vimeo.

Many of these acts can be classified as technofascist.

Four years ago,Chet Bowers, a now-deceased author, lecturer, and environmental activist, described technofascism as an increased reliance upon computer-mediated learning at all levels of education [to spur] conformity of thinking.

As Bowers put it, the populace assumes they are being given accurate information and over time are only able to digest short explanations. In addition to conformity, fascism necessitates the loss of historical memory and a perceived crisis or endpoint that requires the collective energy and loyalty of the young and old.

The Internet has certainly shorten[ed] peoples attention spans to the point where slogans and sound bites conveniently serve as the basis of political decision-making. Masking disinformation as models of factual accuracy and objective reporting, the prevalence of disinformation and fake news facilitates the ability to condition millions of Americans to accept ideologically driven propaganda, which further reduces the likelihood of mass resistance to the techno-fascist agenda.

While the moral foundations of techno-fascism align with the values of market capitalism and the progress-oriented ideology of science that easily slips into scientism, its level of efficiency and totalitarian potential can easily lead to repressive systems that will not tolerate dissent, especially on the part of those challenging how the colonizing nature of techno-fascism promotes consumerism that is destroying the environment and alternative cultural lifestyles such as the cultural commons, wrote Bowers.

Its 2019. Or wait, is it 1984?

Social media platformstoxins for the mind and intellectnow feed the masses processed manufactured information while omitting or fudging whatever doesnt jive with Big Healthcare, aka Sick Care.

The future is now. The zombies are here.

Were being reduced to robots obsessively gazing at blue-lit screens, like in a twisted version of the Greek myth of Narcissus where we never recognize who we truly are: a magnificent species worthy of complete health and vitality. But alas, in this rendition, were too busy engaging in palatable online vitriol and trollism and ingesting toxic lies.

Instead of debating the subjects at hand with civilized decorum, were being polarized and were engaging in red herrings and ad hominem attacks. For instance, you begin talking about the negative impacts of 5G and someone on social media calls you a tin hat-wearing loon and discredits you, instead of focusing on all the experts that have spoken up and shared scientific evidence against this technology.

In this balkanization, we become part of sub-tribes, making it easier for corporations and government to manage and manipulate us.

Smoke and mirrors. Cloak and daggers. Crowd control.

All sickness. No health.

In 2006, Google became so popular that the Oxford English Dictionary officially turned the company into averb. Their role, we hoped, was not to take sides on a debate but to give the world access to information on an unprecedented scale. Knowledge is power.

Thirteen years later, Google is no longer an unbiased platform; theyre a publisher with an agenda. And theyre not only the most powerful search engine; theyre also a drug company. Google is a beautifully crafted Trojan horse for Big Pharma.

Simply put, Googles parent company,Alphabet, owns pharmaceutical subsidiaries. In 2013, Google foundedCalico.Calicos mission is to understand the biology that controls lifespan and to treat age-related diseases. Two years later, Alphabet foundedVerily LifeSciences(previously Google Life Sciences). Both pharma companies are partnering with others and having babies of their own.

Verily joined forces with the European pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline, one of the worlds leading vaccine manufacturers. They formed a new drug company,Galvani Bioelectronics.

In January 2019, BusinessWirereportedthat Mary Ellen Coe, Googles president of customer solutions, was joining Mercks board of directors. Merck is another huge vaccine producer.

But the real clincher is that GV, the venture capital arm of Googles parent company, Alphabet, has also invested inVaccitecha companydescribedas the future of mass vaccine production.

Founded by scientists at Oxford University, Vaccitechs end goal is to develop a vaccine that would be the first in the world to fight all types of flu.

If all goes well, Vaccitechs shot could potentially be ready for launch in 2023. The potential developmenta so-called universal flu vaccine that elicits immunity against parts of the virusthat do not change from year to yearhas been described as a Holy Grail.

The Vaccitech trial marks the first time a universal flu vaccine has progressed beyond phase one clinical testing, wroteThe Independent.

Yet to others, a one-size-fits-all flu shot sounds like a disastrous future on several levels. According to a 2018 Department of Justice report, the annual flu shot is the most dangerous vaccine in the United States.

This invention doesnt take into account or respect biodiversity. Not every body system reacts to medicine in the same way.Not to mention that we are sovereign humans; we should be able to choose what we do with our bodies, not be forced to subject ourselves to questionable medicine.

Is it just coincidence that vaccine safety has become so maligned in the media as of late? Were being divided by design. People are being ostracized like never before for merely questioning alternative views. Its to pave the way for what is comingmandatory vaccines, not only for children but for adults, too.

Vaccines are a billion-dollar business. In 2012 alone, theworlds 11 top pharmaceuticalcompanies generated $700 billion-plus in profits on vaccines.

Stated another way: Google and Friends stand to earn a lot of money from vaccinating whomever they can stick a needle into, multiple times over. And letting people have access to valid questions about vaccine safety might damage their bottom line.

Commenting on the United States National Vaccine Plan, Dr. Sherri J. Tenpenny,wrote:

It lays bare the incestuous public-private relationship between the pharmaceutical vaccine manufacturers, the U.S. government and the World Health Rulers.

Furthermore, the objectives in Healthy People 2020 represent the massive expansion of a nanny-state government, intent on taking over every area of a persons life and eliminating health choices,Tenpenny added.

Did you know that partners from all over the world came together with a global commitment to vaccination,declaring20102020 the Decade of Vaccines? Meanwhile, in January 2019, the World Health Organizationin perfect timingstressed the importance of getting your child vaccinated to protect them, and others, from deadly diseases. Not doing so poses a global threat.

Check, please.

How about the$4 billion-pluspaid out to those who have been impacted by vaccine injuries? The National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program was started as a result of a law passed in 1986, giving pharmaceutical companies total legal immunity from being sued due to injuries and deaths resulting from vaccines, according to Health Impact News.

Said another way, Big Pharmacan create as many shots as they wantwith no accountability involved. Its a liability-free market.

Given whats in the pipeline, isnt it a bit odd that simply engaging in an educated conversation/exploration, or presenting opposing evidence, results in being 86d from the Internet? Oftentimes, opposers do not have informed arguments nor are they scientifically literate. And if you use intuition on whats best for your own body? Fuhgeddaboutit.

One health influencer I spoke to pointed out that other platforms like Vimeo and MailChimp are also helping to shut down the discussion.

In early July,Vimeo announcedthat it will no longer publish sites critical of vaccines, or sites that question vaccine safety.

Facebook, whose committee members include former Big Pharma employees, hasalso censoredlegitimate scientific inquiry and debate regarding vaccine safety.

No matter what your view is on vaccines, the point Im illustrating here is that Big Pharmas tentaclesfull of suction and swaynow extend to Big Tech, and that prohibiting the sharing of (health) informationa tenet of the Netis wrong. Unless you do not believe in the First Amendment.

If you bother to look, the conflicts of interest are obvious. Google has a clear agenda that serves pharmaceuticals, and its success is now directly built into its search algorithms.

Back in the good ole days, organic search results closely matched the users search query. The algorithm was based on relevance and popularity unless you paid Google extra to get listed on top as an obvious ad.

Until recently, popular search terms helped connect Googlers with the information they were actually looking for. This, in turn, spurred writers to pivot and employ search engine optimizationsuch as keywordswhen crafting content online.

By June 2016, our online magazine and marketplaceHoneyColonywhose mission is to empower you to be your own health advocatewas getting about 500,000 unique visitors a month, according to Google Analytics. We were genuinely and organically garnering interest and offering value withsolid well-researched articles.

Until we werent.

What happened?Google changed its algorithms.

Updates on Google arent new. The company has gone through thousands of updates throughout its existence. And every once in a while, it rolls out a majoralgorithmic update. But until now, theres been nothing as sinister as the recent changes, which apparently are powerful enough to do serious damage to a health-oriented sites revenue, alongside the sites organic traffic. Especially if Google doesnt agree with what theyre saying.

In the past, Google claimed their updates were actually beneficial to pages that werent getting as many views. But its becoming clear that Google has other aimsto control what information is most accessible to searchers.

In August 2018, traffic toHoneyColony.comdwindled 30 percent. We proverbially scratched our heads during marketing meetings, wondering what we were doing wrong, based on Googles standards. And then, we learned we had been impacted by what would be referred to as the Medic Update.

According toSearch Engine Land, the focus of the changes made under the Medic Update centered around the medical and health space, as well as the areas referred to as Your Money Your Life, defined by Google as:[T]ypes of pages [that] could potentially impact the future happiness, health, financial stability, or safety [of users].

When asked how to ensure their sites dont lose traffic, a Google employee named John Mueller said in a Webmaster Hangout, There is no specific thing where wed be able to say you did this and you should have done that and therefore were showing things differently.

This kind of vagueness and evasiveness is something Ive encountered when interviewing government or big corporate lackeys who excel in the language of gobbledygook (or in this case, Googlygook) who speak from pre-approved PR texts.

Google claims that sites can improve their rankings by improving their EAT: Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness. But what criteria are they using to decide these?

Joe Cohen of the reputable and detailed siteSelfHacked, another site that has found its traffic plummet,says, The thing is, no matter who I ask, theyve all told me thatSelfHackedis already authoritative, trustworthy, and displays expertise. You can look at any of our posts and judge for yourself.

Were witnessing a slow, sneaky purge where crowdsource relevance is now seemingly irrelevant. The definition of what constitutes credible has drastically changed.

Then, inJune 2019, Google rolled out yet anotheralgorithmic change.

Sites impacted in previous core updates were once again affected. On average, the impact was smaller than the August Medic update, as measured byMozCast.

While one source says the impact was smaller than the August Medic update, many would disagree. Devastating may be a more appropriate word than smaller, depending on if youve personally experienced content go from page one of a Google search to being buried on page six.

The past was erased, the erasure was forgotten, the lie became truth, said George Orwell in 1984.

The new updates make it so searchers have to know the site name to find us. Unless you add HoneyColony.com, or Mercola.com to a key term, you wont find the content our sites publish.

Even skipping .com will minimize your search results,wroteMercola, whose Google search results had been topping the charts organically for years. Since these updates, Mercolas site traffic has been slashed by about 99 percent.

Shadow-banned. Ostensibly scrubbed.

Google used to rank pages based on whether an author could prove his/her expertise, on how many people visited a page, or on the number of other reputable sites that linked to that page. How about when an author has a degree? Doesnt seem to matter anymore.

Google now buries expert views if theyre deemed harmful to the public, explains TheSEM Post:

There has been a lot of talk about author expertise when it comes to the quality rater guidelines. This section has been changed substantially. [I]f the purpose of the page is harmful, then expertise doesnt matter. It should be rated Lowest!

But who decides? What qualifications do Google quality checkers possess? Who is deciding whats harmful?

Who exactly defines fake news at Google?According to Vorhies, If one was expecting an open and transparent group then they would be wrong: It turns out its the hyper-partisan left-wing groupMedia Matters.

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Google Censors, Shadowbans, and Blacklists Alternative Health News - The Epoch Times

Kidney transplant alternative research gives transplant patients on the waiting list new hope – KARE11.com

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EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. New research reveals thousands of donated kidneys are thrown away or left unused each year, many of which could be used to save lives.

Currently nearly 100,000 Americans desperately need organs on the transplant waiting list. Experts say 12 people die every day waiting for a kidney transplant. So, why waste the organs?

Researchers say doctors dont want to risk using lower-quality kidneys even though they may be better than keeping a patient on dialysis.

Right now a Minnesota company is working to develop a kidney transplant alternative. Its a one-of-a-kind solution to end the transplant waiting list as we know it. Using a breakthrough process developed at the University of Minnesota, Eden Prairie-based Miromatrix Medical Incorporated is creating transplantable human organs out of pig organs.

Dr. Jeff Ross, Miromatrix CEO, said Minnesota researchers are leading the regenerative medicine race. Were creating human organs out of discarded pig organs. We take what nature designed, a fully functioning liver, kidney or heart and with our patented technology, which was developed at the University of Minnesota, we remove all of the cells from the organ. Whats left is a scaffold.' All of the organs natural design and architecture remain. Then from the inside out, we seed or implant new, human cells back into it, ultimately creating a completely functional, transplantable organ that could save a life, explained Dr. Ross.

Scientists and bioengineers are making strides every day in the field of regenerative medicine, and its very exciting," said Dr. Ross. "At Miromatrix, were aiming for our first human clinical studies to happen in the next three years. Our mission is to dramatically reduce the number of patients on dialysis, as well as save millions of lives by eliminating the kidney transplant waiting list."

For more information, click here.

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Kidney transplant alternative research gives transplant patients on the waiting list new hope - KARE11.com

Jaguars Have Only Themselves to Blame for the Jalen Ramsey Situation – Bleacher Report NFL

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James Gilbert/Getty Images

Jalen Ramsey's medical condition is so serious that Jacksonville Jaguars head coach Doug Marrone started laughing when asked about it during his Wednesday press conference.

The Jaguars cornerback missed practice earlier in the week with an illness, missed practice again on Wednesday because he is "a little banged up" with lower back and hamstring injuries, per NFL.com's Ian Rapoport, and has apparently been under the weather for various reasons since the trade talks that would get him out of Jacksonville broke down last week.

Right. "Cough-cough. Ouch-ouch." (Holds thermometer over lightbulb until it reads 101). "Sorry, Coach, can't practice today."

Per Rapoport, Ramsey's agent said he had been receiving treatment for his aches and pains since last week. Fair enough: Half the NFL is getting treatment for something right now. As for Ramsey's inability to practice, Marrone has probably come to the same diagnosis as the rest of us. Ramsey's condition is called I-don't-want-to-play-for-this-team-anymore-itis, compounded by a chronic case of I-want-to-get-paid syndrome.

The Jaguars can cure Ramsey's condition at any time with a disgruntled-superstar-ectomy. They could also manage the condition with treat-your-players-like-professionals therapy, which is considered a controversial new-age alternative medicine in some old-school football circles, but which has been known to work.

They have chosen to do neither of these things, though, for the simple reason that they are a poorly run organization. Poorly run organizations are like old guys who won't cut down on the steak and scotch and start watching their cholesterol. Their stubbornness takes any bad situation and makes it worse.

The Jaguars and Ramsey began actively pursuing a trade early last week after the All-Pro cornerback got into a heated sideline confrontation with Marrone during a loss to the Texans over the way he is being used in the defense. But the contentious relationship between Ramsey and the team dates back almost to his arrival in Jacksonville.

Michael DiRocco of ESPN wrote a concise timeline of Ramsey's tenure with the Jaguars last week. Let's stick to the highlights here: Ramsey, the fifth overall pick in the 2016 draft, openly criticized coaches at the end of his rookie year, then voiced his frustrations again after the AFC Championship Game loss to the Patriots at the conclusion of the 2017 season. So complaints about defensive game plans are nothing new for him.

Ramsey was also suspended for "conduct unbecoming of a Jaguars football player" after a dustup with a sideline camera crew and the subsequent exchange of tweets with a reporter during 2018 training camp, and of course, his trash talk-laden 2018 GQ interview wasn't the sort of thing that makes NFL employers giddy with delight.

Ramsey trade speculation began last November, when he began referring to his Jaguars career as if it were already in the rearview mirror. "When I'm gone from here, y'all gone miss me," he posted on Twitter after a loss to the Colts. Both the Jaguars and Ramsey tamped down that speculation a few days later. But in April, when executive vice president of football operations Tom Coughlin indirectly criticized Ramsey and others for not attending voluntary offseason team activities, Ramsey responded via Twitter that the activities were, in fact, voluntary.

Ramsey then told NFL.com's Nate Burleson on a podcast last week that his trade request was not precipitated by the conflict with Marrone but had been brewing for a while and was brought to a head by "some disrespectful things" said to him by a team official. Odds are that official was Coughlin, who is the archetype against which all other old-school football guys are judged.

Trade talks heated up throughout last week, then fizzled amid multiple reports that the Jaguars are seeking a Khalil Mack-sized cornucopia of first-round picks. Ramsey responded with what appears to be a case of the blue flu. Marrone sees the humor in the situation, but Coughlin and others in the organization probably aren't laughing.

The Jaguars have a 1-2 record right now and are pinning their hopes on rookie quarterback sensation Gardner Minshew to keep them competitive until Nick Foles returns from a broken clavicle. It's hard to tell at this point whether Minshew is a legit prospect or just an internet meme come to life, but the Jaguars reached the AFC Championship Game two years ago with Blake Bortles: Anything is possible if their defense is playing up to its potential. For that to happen, they need a healthy, happy-to-be-there Ramsey, though. As for trading Ramsey for top picks and rebuilding, that would have made sense in the offseason, before they signed Foles and maxed out their salary-cap ledger for 2020.

The Jaguars don't seem to know if they are trying to be the Chicago Bears and clobber opponents with a devastating defensein which case they need to learn to cope with mercurial mega-talents like Ramseyor to build some sort of Coughlin-approved military-academy culture. By digging in their heels with Ramsey, they are doing neither, which only makes the whole situation worse.

If this all sounds familiar, it's because it is all taken from page one of the dysfunctional organization playbook: mishandle a temperamental or otherwise frustrated superstar until the conflict is irreparable, then procrastinate past all logical trade windows, then take whatever you can get when you finally stop grandstanding and start doing what's best for the franchise.

That's what the Texans did before trading Jadeveon Clowney to the Seahawks for a fraction of what they could have gotten if they had leveraged his franchise-tag status properly. It's what Washington is still doing with Trent Williams, who is holding out over issues with the team's medical procedures, not money. It's what the Steelers did with AntoniOK, maybe nothing would have worked with Antonio Brown. But ignoring an escalating situation for months or years before trading the player on the cheap the way the Steelers did never had a chance of working.

There's no doubt Ramsey can be an organizational migraine. Players of his caliber often are. The Jaguars' potential suitors know he is, and any team that eventually trades for Ramsey will have one of the remedies the Jaguars refuse to swallow cooked up: a man-coverage scheme tailored to his gifts, or a coach/defensive coordinator with a "Go sic 'em, fellas" attitude, or a locker room full of stronger personalities.

Potential trade partners also know that Ramsey expects (and deserves) a market-setting contract extension that the Jaguars would be hard-pressed to fit under the cap even if they wanted to. And of course, teams will want Ramsey's services before the playoff race heats up. The longer the Jaguars wait, the weaker their position will get.

Ramsey is almost doing the team a favor by calling out sick and bringing this fever to a head. The organization can't pretend everything is fine when Ramsey is in Ferris Bueller mode, so they'll be motivated to finally make a deal they should have made long ago and then (maybe) start asking themselves serious questions about what kind of team they want to be.

In the meantime, Ramsey has an unassailable reason to miss some work. ESPN's Adam Schefter reported on Wednesday night that he's traveling to Nashville for the birth of his second child. Not even Coughlin can blame him for that.

Congratulations, Jalen. And, you know, get well soon (wink).

As for the Jaguars: Guys, you might want to get that cholesterol checked.

Mike Tanier covers the NFL for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter: @MikeTanier.

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Jaguars Have Only Themselves to Blame for the Jalen Ramsey Situation - Bleacher Report NFL

$3 million in Grants Given to Study Cannabinoids as Opioid Alternative – Weedmaps News

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The federal government has awarded $3 million in grants for research into the therapeutic benefits of ingredients in marijuana other than THC, emphasizing their potential as alternatives to prescription opioids.

In a notice published on Sept. 18, 2019, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) explained why the studies were necessary and listed grant recipients and the subjects they will investigate. That includes research into the use of cannabidiol (CBD) for arthritis pain, which will be led by New York University School of Medicine.

The treatment of chronic pain has relied heavily on opioids, despite their potential for addiction and overdose and the fact that they often don't work well when used on a long-term basis, Helene Langevin, director of the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH), said in a press release. There's an urgent need for more effective and safer options.

A total of nine grants were issued, with the NIH stating that the funds will help identify alternative treatment options for pain and provide information about the impact of consuming cannabis compounds such as CBD and other lesser-known cannabinoids as well as terpenes found in the plant.

The cannabis plant contains more than 110 cannabinoids and 120 terpenes, but the only compound that's been studied extensively is THC, the press release said.

But while THC is known to treat certain forms of pain, the NIH is concerned that its intoxicating effects limit its medical applicability.

THC may help relieve pain, but its value as an analgesic is limited by its psychoactive effects and abuse potential, said David Shurtleff, deputy director of the NCCIH. These new projects will investigate substances from cannabis that don't have THC's disadvantages, looking at their basic biological activity and their potential mechanisms of action as pain relievers.

The NIH first announced that it would be issuing grants for studies into minor cannabinoids and terpenes in 2018.

Federal health agencies aren't the only institutions interested in learning about marijuana compounds other than THC. On Sept. 18, 2019, a Senate committee issued a spending report that called for research into CBD and cannabigerol (CBG) while also criticizing the federal drug scheduling system for inhibiting such research.

Featured Image: The National Institutes of Health (NIH) awarded $3 million to New York University School of Medicine and other research institutions to study how cannabidiol (CBD) and other non-THC cannabinoids can alleviate pain. (Gina Coleman/Weedmaps)

This article was republished from Marijuana Moment under a content syndication agreement. Read the original article here.

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$3 million in Grants Given to Study Cannabinoids as Opioid Alternative - Weedmaps News

How to heal your mind when your body won’t recover – The Independent

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An incurable disease, by its very nature, sounds like an issue that cannot be solved. But perhaps the solution is less about a cure, and more about the willingness to accept the disease, physically, mentally and spiritually.

Accepting disease, or any of lifes problems, is fraught with mistakes and backward steps. But LaMoret, the subject of a new Netflix documentary about her chronic cystic fibrosis (CF), says its vital to fuck up along the way.

After graduating from the University of Southern California, Moret, 23, decided to embark on a journey to explorealternative healing methods inCentral and South America, convincing her best friend, Camille Shooshani, 24, to accompanyher. The film, La and I, documents their three-month journey, exploring medicines that could help treat Morets chronic illness.

From 15p 0.18 $0.18 USD 0.27 a day, more exclusives, analysis and extras.

CF is a genetic disorder that causes the body to produce too much mucus. It can build up in the lungs, digestive system and other organs, causing breathing problems and nutrient malabsorption in the gut. It also makes sufferers far more susceptible to infection.The condition worsens with age and, according to the NHS, only half of those with CF will live past the age of 40.

Acupuncture: Practised for thousands of years in China, the technique has become increasingly popular around the world, with over 4 million sessions provided in the UK a year. Treatment involves sticking hair-thin needles in different pressure points on the body to alleviate physical pain, reduce nausea and boost mental wellbeing.

Reiki: A Japanese method for stress reduction and relaxation, derived from the words rei,soul, spirit, and ki,vitalenergy, from the late 1800s. The treatment involves laying hands on a patient and letting energy flow from the healer. It is used to treat conditions from cancer to depression. Millions of people in the US and abroad have tried reiki in the past year.

Ayurveda: A 5000-year-old Indian medicine system that is based on writings that reference a natural and holistic approach to healing. It includes natural medications made with plants, change in diet and exercise. It became popular in the Western world in the 1960s, with rising popularity through the 70s and 80s. However, discovery of toxic metals in imported medicines reduced its popularity in the mid-2000s.

Forty is an age associated with career security, having young childrenand, typically, still being physically fit. For most in this age bracket, death still looms far in the distance. ForMoretand other chronic illness sufferers, death and life are intertwined.

Moret has spent much of her life in denial about her illness. As she was leaving home for the first time to attenduniversity, age 17, she had started taking less and less medication. This was partly inspired by her first experience with alternative medicine.

When she was 16, she and her mother travelled to Mexico to visit a biomagnetist. The method of usingmagnets to heal the bodydates back to the ancient Greeks. Magnets were and by some still are believed to draw illness out of the body. Despite no scientific research supporting their efficacy, Moret believed the magnets had healed her.

Five years later, as the film begins,Morethas again tested positive for pseudomonas, a common bacteria found in people with CF.Remembering her healing, Moret sought out another biomagnetist. The only one in California was in Upland, 30 minutes outside Los Angeles.

The film shows Moret andShooshaniarrive at a strip mall. The office they enter looks more like someones living room. Moret asks the biomagnetist if heknows what CF is. As he says yes,the camera cuts to him typing cystic fibrosis into Google Translate.

Moret in hospital in France she needs to visit every three months to have her lung function checked(Camille Shooshani)

This scene, and countless more throughout the film, raise the question: how much can you trust someone to heal you, especially when there is no evidence to back up their claims?

Moret tells me that believing doesnt mean beingblind. Alternative therapies, as much as they seek to heal the body, require you to give yourself up completely to them. Though that may be easier said than done, for those with diseases that have no cure, theyre willing to put aside their ego for the sake of healing.

When she was just 11 years old, Corinne Olson, now 24, was diagnosed with juvenile arthritis. It was a long and bumpy road to diagnosis. Initially, doctors thought it could be Lyme disease, and prescribed a cocktail of medications that included an immunosuppressant, steroids and antibiotics. Olsonlost a lot of weight very quickly and began noticing her hair falling out. She tells me: When I returned to [the doctor]and recounted the medications shed put me on, she was shocked and exclaimed that shed forgotten about which drugs I was taking at the same time, telling my mother and I that this combination was very dangerous.

Her jointsstill swollen and in serious pain, the experience left her feeling helpless. Like Moret, it wasonly when she moved to Coloradoto attend universitythat she became aware of andbegan to experiment with alternative medicines. Cannabis had just become legal herefor recreational and medicinal use and Id heard the buzz about CBD, so I began taking it in oil form. I immediately noticed the difference in my pain levels, but the most miraculous aspect was the significant improvement in my swelling. For years, my knees had looked like water balloons half the time and now they didnt. Finally, her disease was under control. The experienceinspired her to study medicinal healing.

Morets breathing treatments involve blowing into a plastic mechanism that measures lung capacity (Camille Shooshani)

When I met Moret nearly two years ago, I had no idea she suffered from CF. As Shooshani says while filming her,La isnt most people. She doesnt talk about cystic fibrosis. She refuses to take antibiotics. She almost never does her breathing treatments. La smokes.

Indeed, the film shows Moret smoking a cigarette, and more than once. Though the sight is jarring, given what we know about her disease, the shots are carefully placed. They illustrate her humanity and what it means to not be perfect, andshowthe joy of momentarily forgetting what separates her from anyone else her age. As Moret says, you dont have to be hyper-serious about the disease all the time. It doesnt invalidate what youre saying, it makes it more grounded. Shes definitely not trying to be the spokesperson for CF.

The film also seeks to ground the audience in their expectations of what the documentaryis going to be about.The majority of the film shows Shooshani filming Moret. Yet itis called Laand I, and its only at about 24 minutes in thatwe get to see who Iis. The camera turns back on Shooshani and in this moment, we not only see her, but ourselves, as if weve joined them in Peru. Moret likes this moment, because though we might think its all about her and her CF, theyreinviting us to look at our own problems, and what we might need healing. From this point on, were more connected with them, and it comes at the perfect time.

Olsons experience with alternative medicineinspired her to study it (Corinne Olson)

The crux of the film lies in the ayahuasca ceremony. All her other attempts at medicinal healing (biomagnetism and a brief trial with peyote, a psychedelic cactus) haveled up to this moment,for its mystery and reputation as a powerful hallucinogenic. Ayahuasca isa medicinal Amazonian tea brewed from a blend of two plants: the ayahuasca vine and leaves from a shrub called chacruna, which contains the psychoactive chemicalDMT.

DMT is sold as an illegal recreational substance in the UK and other countries. Unfortunately, this draws drug tourists to the Amazon seeking a high, not healing.

In fact, Moret and Shooshanileft their first location for the ceremony for this exact reason. Pisac, which lies in the Sacred Valley, is known as the alternative medicine capital of Peru. The streets are lined with shaman shops and billboards for ayahuasca ceremonies, often run by foreignersrather than locals. Shooshani saysit feels like a way to get something without having to commit yourself to the tradition and respect it.

Taking time to consider their participation in the market for ayahuasca, the women ultimately chose a ceremony run by an Amazonian shaman, where the profits went to his family and village. Additionally, Moret was going there to heal, to usethe plant in the purest intention. Inthis way, they were followingtradition.

At the start of the ayahuasca ceremony, the shaman, Ricardo Amaringo, describedthe nature of the plant, and how it heals. He told themthat since the start of humankind, there have been only two afflictions that have plagued us: blocks and psychological traumas. To overcome these, one must look inwards: When you take ayahuasca, you have to have in mind only one idea,the idea of your intention: I will see my body. I want to look at my body. I want to look at my stomach. I want to look at my trauma.

La and I is filmed as though the viewer is a third party on the trip (Johannes Heff)

One key difference between western doctors and alternative therapists is how they view the body. From what shes learnt, Moret tells me that healersview the body as a 3D object and theres no distinction between spiritual and physical illness, basically they are the same thing; its just that they manifest on three different planes,on an emotional level, a spiritual level and a physical level.

Western medicine focuses on the corporeal and often discounts the psychological trauma of illness. Emily Goddard, 35, suffers from multiple sclerosis (MS); her diagnosis was sudden. In November 2017, I woke up one morning and I couldnt move the right side of my body. I went to the hospital and they thought Id had a stroke when you have paralysis thats the first thing that people think. I was in hospital for a week having loads of tests done and they looked at the MRI of my brain and saw I had lots of damage which was historic, meaning it had to be something neurological. She was diagnosed in January 2018, and for three monthsshe was unable to move her right side. Her doctors told her she may regain movement, butit would dependon her type of MS, and they were unable to give her an exact prognosis.

Goddard was diagnosed with MS last year (Emily Goddard)

Goddardregained full movement.When I spoke with her, like Moret, her condition had no obvious outward presentation. Though her hands quivered ever so slightly and once she forgot a word, these could be attributedto someone perfectly healthy.

Like Moret, Goddard has found it difficult to accept her condition. In fact, when she recovered from her paralysis, she carried on with her life as normally as possible, living in a state of denial that she even had the illness. Though she suffers problems every day because of MS, she says, most of the time Idont think I have an illness.

Despite the physical ailments, she says the hardest part for me has been coming to terms with it mentally. To combat the mental struggle she faces, Goddard has decided to take psychedelic mushrooms this October. Extensive research has been done on the positive effects of mushrooms on mental health, and inspired her to try them. She feels that her diagnosis has made her feel like a more negative person, and that in a way, its stunted her personal growth. In some ways its made me really bold in other ways its made me afraid of everything.

Though shes never been a drug user, Goddardfeels that mushrooms can offer something western medicine cant. They allow you to connect more deeply with your body and mind. She feared that by going to a psychologist, they would prescribe her antidepressants. All antidepressants do is numb you and Idont want to be numbed. I dont want to have any sensations taken away from me because MS takes that away from you anyway. Shed rather be present and fully experience her mental health problems rather than try to stifle them. While western medicine focuses on taking away painful sensations, alternative therapies delve deeper into the discomfort, to solve it from within.

For those without chronic disease or pain, it can be easy to forget that theyrenot perfect.Most of us assume our bodies are always going to do what we need them to. When this sometimes isnt the case, it can change your view on things.Like shaman Amaringo says: you must look at your body.

At the end of Laand I, were left wondering what happened with Morets disease. Did the ayahuasca heal her? Well, it depends on your definition of healing. By the end of the film, that will have likely changed.

Though she did not experience lasting physical changes, during the ceremony, Moret reacted to the medicine differently. Everyone was throwing up, butI was actually coughing which was really weird because Inever threw up in the sixtimes I took it. In one ceremony, she saw no visions, but her body shook uncontrollably. I was just coughing, coughing, coughing more than any time Ive done my breathing treatments. The plant was making me shake. The breathing treatments for CF are vibrational therapy, which helps the body cough up mucus. Shooshani couldnt believe that ayahuasca had done the same thing.

Her CF may be unchanged physically, but Morets mental state has shifted.Her biggest takeaway from the experience wasto accept whatever comes to you. For me the hardestone was accepting the illness. Because I couldnt accept it I couldnt accept a lot of other things. Ayahuasca showed her how to accept it. She was able to see the life she was given as her path and that she was lucky to have received her life and all the struggles that come with it. She believes that it is through this acceptance that you can take on all problems in your life, physical or otherwise.

The six day-long ayahuasca ceremony caused Moret to cough and shake (Camille Shooshani)

As much as the film is an exploration of healing, it is more an exploration of the self. Moret and Shooshanidont seek to prescribe, and thats important to note. Rather, they assert that healing is incredibly, deeply personal. Everyones path is different

They dont want you to watch this film and take ayahuasca. Rather, they say, if youre meant to take the plant,it will call you.

Olson, who studies medicinal plants, saysplants can offer benefits that traditional medicine simply cant: Their phytochemicalmakeupsare like complex symphonies of molecular interaction which work in synchronicity with each other and with the bodys chemistry. Western medicine has discovered the most potentphytochemicals in these plants, isolated them, synthetically replicated and mass-produced them as pharmaceuticals distributed to the public. But honestly, its just the violin, just the melody, instead of a whole orchestra creating something that is biologically designed to work with and metabolise in the body. Life recognises life.

Laand I is available on Netflix and you can Larn more about the film here

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How to heal your mind when your body won't recover - The Independent

Arthritis, 19 Other Treatment Packages To Be Covered Under PM Health Scheme – NDTV News

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"A proposal for inclusion of 19 Ayush packages has been finalised and submitted": Officials

The Ayush Ministry has proposed the inclusion of 19 Ayurvedic, Yoga, Unani, Siddha and Homeopathy (AYUSH) treatment packages in the cashless health insurance scheme Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PM-JAY), Union Minister Shripad Naik said on Tuesday.

The proposal to treat neurological diseases, arthritis among others has been submitted to the National Health Authority, AYUSH Secretary Vaidya Rajesh Kotecha said.

The packages include treatments through Panchakarma, cupping therapy and Varmam therapy, the secretary said.

"A proposal for inclusion of 19 Ayush packages has been finalised and submitted to the National Health Authority," said Mr Naik, Minister of State (Independent Charge) for AYUSH, while enumerating the achievements of his ministry in the last 100 days.

Mr Naik also said the guidelines for expanding insurance to additional Ayush treatments has also been finalised. He said funds of Rs 325 crore have been released to states for activities under National Ayush Mission (NAM) based on scrutiny of proposals.

In collaboration with NITI Aayog and Invest India, a Scheme for Integrated Health Research (SIHR) has been finalised with an outlay of Rs 490 crore, Mr Naik said, adding that this would address the untapped potential of integration of AYUSH systems with modern medicine.

In the past hundred days, the Central Research Councils of Ayurveda, Unani and Siddha have validated 110 classical formulations for 60 conditions, by generating evidence on clinical safety and efficacy, he said.

As of now, while a patient availing modern system of medical treatment (alopathy) is eligible for medical insurance under the world's largest health scheme, PMJAY, the health cover is unavailable to the person who opts for alternative medicine system AYUSH (Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy).

Get Breaking news, live coverage, and Latest News from India and around the world on NDTV.com. Catch all the Live TV action on NDTV 24x7 and NDTV India. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter and Instagram for latest news and live news updates.

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Arthritis, 19 Other Treatment Packages To Be Covered Under PM Health Scheme - NDTV News

Impact of Mind on Body – – RushPRnews.com

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Patients tend to avoid sharing emotions and problems from their personal lives with their doctors. However, recent insights show that stress, anxiety, and many other feelings may impact physical health.

The mind-body connection has been a popular topic for decades. Still, its prominence existed only in the alternative medicine field. Luckily, though, doctors started incorporating the emotional state into the treatments regarding the body.

Stress is the number one indicator of the power of mindsets. Most people see stressful situations as debilitating, although theyre unavoidable. Still, studies show that stress can enhance the function of the mind and body, though, if a person thinks about it.

Its crucial that people, especially those who live in hectic environments, learn that stress can be helpful. It allows us to grow stronger.

Besides, when it comes to treating anxiety and illnesses related to it, sedatives are out. Sapien Medicine believes in an alternative approach that could really take off.

Findings discovered how stress, depression, and other undesirable mental states alter the functions of organs. They proved that there is a real basis for psychosomatic illnesses in brain anatomy.

Scientists discovered a large number of neural networks that connect the cortex and glands.

The most significant influences come from motor areas and those involved in effect and cognition. When these areas are affected, we can see the physical impacts of mental illnesses.

Last, but certainly not least, a poor state of mind can weaken the bodys immune system. Emotionally challenging times make people more prone to colds and infections.

The reasons behind this are to blame partially on the person. After all, stressed and upset people dont feel like taking care of themselves. They may also go to alcohol, drug, or tobacco abuse to cope. Yet, not all symptoms can be attributed to careless behavior.

Those include:

If a patient notices these symptoms unrelated to a medical cause, their mental health could be to blame. Treatments include more traditional ones such as psychotherapy, but there are also unconventional approaches.

Nowadays, theres growing popularity in working towards transcending the issues and connecting to a higher force through enlightenment, which, in turn, helps people resolve their emotional and mental struggles.

Doctors and patients have been aware of the relationship between mind and body for centuries now. Still, with the new studies shedding more light on the finesses that come with it, we may see progress in the way illnesses are cured in the future.

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Impact of Mind on Body - - RushPRnews.com

I ‘stormed’ Area 51 and it was even weirder than I imagined – The Guardian

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In the middle of the Nevadan desert, outside a secretive US military airstrip, I found the worlds strangest social media convention.

Dozens of young, good-looking, often costumed people were running around filming each other with semi-professional video rigs. They were YouTube and Instagram stars or, more often, aspiring stars here to storm Area 51 for the benefit of their followers and free the aliens held captive within. Or at least film themselves talking about it.

Joining them was a ragged army of hundreds of stoners, UFO buffs, punk bands, rubberneckers, European tourists, people with way too much time on their hands, and meme-lords in Pepe the Frog costumes all here because of the Internet, the ironic and the earnest alike, for a party at the end of the earth.

Three months earlier, on 20 June 2019, the podcaster Joe Rogan released an interview with Bob Lazar. Lazar is a cult figure in UFO circles; he claims to have studied flying saucers at Area 51, the classified air force base in Nevada where the US government is rumored by some to make secret contact with extraterrestrial beings.

Rogans millions of listeners heard the interview.

One of those listeners was Matty Roberts, a college student, anime enthusiast and video gamer in Bakersfield, California. Inspired by the Rogan podcast, Roberts created a joke Facebook event: Storm Area 51, They Cant Stop All of Us. According to the plan, people would meet in Rachel, Nevada the closest town to Area 51 in the early morning of 20 September, then swarm the defenses and see for themselves if the government was hiding aliens.

Things snowballed. Within hours, the page had thousands of RSVPs. Within days it had more than a million. The air force warned that things would end badly for anyone attempting a raid. The FBI paid the hapless Matty Roberts a house call.

So he came up with a brilliant pivot: why not channel this momentum into a Burning Man-style music festival in the desert? He joined forces with Connie West, the operator of Rachels sole inn and restaurant, to plan what they called Alienstock.

Then came the first schism. Scornful of the internet interlopers, the Alien Research Center in nearby Hiko, Nevada, decided to host its own Area 51 event the same weekend for serious ufologists.

Roberts and West pressed on. But the town of Rachel (population: 54) lacked the infrastructure to handle thousands of conspiracy theorists and gawkers descending on rural Nevada. The local authorities feared potential calamity: people dying of dehydration in the desert, angry landowners, madmen with guns.

Things snowballed. Within hours, the page had thousands of RSVPs. Within days it had more than a million.

On 10 September, nine days before the event, Roberts backed out. He wanted no involvement in a Fyre Fest 2.0, he told the media. He accused West of being insufficiently prepared for the coming flood. Budweiser offered to sponsor a free, alternative Alienstock event in a safe, clean venue in downtown Las Vegas. Roberts urged people to go there instead.

West refused to cancel the concert in the desert. Shed already sunk thousands of dollars of her own money into the event, she told reporters as she held back tears. Alienstock would happen, she said, whether anyone liked it or not.

Now there were three rival events all happening on the same weekend one in Las Vegas, another in Rachel and a third in Hiko. No one had any idea how many people were coming.

I came equipped with a duffel bag of Hawaiian shirts and a case of vape cartridges, which I hoped to use as currency in the event of civilizational collapse in the desert.

But the desert would wait. The Area 51 Celebration in downtown Las Vegas did not get off to a promising start. When I arrived, shortly after 7pm, the outdoor venue heavily bedecked with glowing neon alien signage was mostly empty except for cops and local newscasters. A DJ blasted dubstep to a bare dancefloor. The venue even had a swimming pool, bathed in green light and watched by a bored-looking lifeguard.

I feared it might be a long night. I ordered a whiskey-and-water; the bartender filled a plastic stadium cup to the brim.

Then people started trickling in. Everyone was wearing their best alien-themed rave attire: one woman wore a shiny, and discomfitingly rubbery, head-to-toe alien costume. Another had a Rick-and-Morty-patterned dress. Three men tore up the dancefloor in matching alien-motif onesies. Someone carried a sign that said GREEN LIVES MATTER.

I talked to two people whod driven six hours from Tucson, Arizona, on a whim to attend. One was wearing a Flat Earth Society T-shirt, though he said it was ironic.

I spied Matty Roberts in the center of a swirling mass of people, holding court. He was wearing a Slayer hat and black T-shirt; his long, dark hair flowed majestically down his back. He looked like a heavy metal-listening, Mountain Dew-drinking samurai lord, surrounded by courtiers and supplicants. I fought my way over.

He was in high spirits. Im absolutely amazed at how things turned out, and its incredible, he told me as he signed autographs. I opened my mouth to ask a follow-up question but he was swallowed up again by the crowd.

By around 9pm, there were a couple hundred people jerking spasmodically to dubstep.

A woman who introduced herself as Shereel (C-H-E-R-Y-L) said she was happy to be at the rave but disappointed she couldnt make the event in the desert.

This is the first time since Roswell that people like us are all coming together, she said. Even if nothing happens, we tried.

The DJ interrupted his set to thank Matty Roberts and give a special shout-out to Bob Lazar. The crowd cheered.

A warm wind was whipping through the arena. As the wind buffeted us and the rave lights flickered overhead, you could almost believe a UFO really was about to descend.

The next morning I got in my rental car and headed north.

The outskirts of Las Vegas casinos, strip clubs, endless billboards for personal injury lawyers dropped away rapidly. Now there was just desert in every direction, stunning in its vastness and austere beauty. Mountains towered over the highway, surrounded by hilly plains of cacti and scrub.

Soon most human settlement was gone. There was nothing alongside the highway no strip malls, no fast food joints, and, I noticed, worryingly few gas stations. I had at least two hours of driving ahead, though I knew I was going in the right direction: every vehicle I saw was a police car, an RV or a news satellite van.

As I drove I listened to rightwing talk radio, then Top 40, then country, then a Bible discussion call-in show, then some Spanish-language stations, then static. A talk station interviewed the mother of a police officer killed by an undocumented immigrant. Sean Hannity made fun of the climate strike, and every talkshow discussed the New York Times recent, partly retracted accusation against Brett Kavanaugh. It was, they pointed out, yet another sign of bias in the liberal media.

Soon most human settlement was gone. There wasnt even anything alongside the highway.

The first gas station was bustling with people buying water and jerry cans of gas. In the parking lot there was a camper van marked AREA 51 HERE WE COME.

Finally, two hours north of Las Vegas, I saw the exit for State Route 375 also known, since its formal renaming in 1996, as Extraterrestrial Highway.

The US government owns thousands of square miles of land in northern Nevada. The area is big enough, and empty enough, to detonate a nuclear bomb which the government has, on hundreds of occasions.

The Groom Lake airfield Area 51 is part of a massive complex of military installations. Their activities are classified and the skies above are restricted air space. Little is known about what goes on there, though the air force tests experimental stealth aircraft, which may account for some UFO sightings.

Of course, military pilots are themselves known to report seeing what they refer to as unexplained aerial phenomena. (Even the New York Times has reported on it.)

In the 2000s, Congress established an advanced aviation threat identification program to study the problem. The program wasnt classified, but it operated with the knowledge of an extremely limited number of officials, according to Politico. The then Nevada senator Harry Reid helped secure the funding.

Thats the end of the history lesson. The reader is free to investigate further and come to their own conclusions.

On the way to Rachel, I stopped at the rival festival at the Alien Research Center in Hiko. It was heavy on souvenir sellers, though there were some hardcore ufologists. A group called the Mutual UFO Network (Mufon) gave me a pamphlet offering certification to be a field investigator.

If anything, the ufologists were more the exception than the rule. I had expected most Area 51 Stormers to be conspiracy theorists, 4chan types, or people on the fringe political spectrum, but a lot probably most were normies on a lark, or foreigners in search of peak Americana.

Two young men one Swiss German, the other Japanese told me they were friends whod met at an English as a second language program in New York. A group of Britons told me theyd been taking a road trip up the west coast, heard about the Area 51 business, and decided to take a detour.

This was a common theme: Well, Id been thinking about taking a road trip anyway, sooo

When my car turned the last switchback into the valley toward Area 51, the car radio, theretofore static, suddenly started blasting Smetanas M Vlast in eerie, crystal-perfect sound. The aliens, it seemed, were classical music buffs.

Rachel came into view a tiny, one-horse town besieged by cars and tents and camper vans. Including the cops, EMTs, festival organizers, and so on, there looked to be a couple thousand people not the two million who had RSVPd to the Facebook event, nor the 30,000 the sheriff feared, but more than I thought would follow through.

Contrary to the wild warnings about a Fyre festival 2.0, things appeared mostly under control. Festival marshals waved me along to an assigned lot.

My neighbors at the parking lot-slash-campsite were a punk band called Foreign Life Form. They werent part of the planned music lineup, one Life Form explained as he ate Chef Boyardee room-temperature from a can, but when they heard about Alienstock, it seemed like fate. They were trying to find the concert organizer to get added to the billing. To help seal the deal theyd painted their faces and arms green.

My other neighbor, an erudite, joint-smoking history podcaster from Oregon, wore a T-shirt that said Take me to your dealer. He and his son had had the shirts custom-made; the Life Forms were disappointed they couldnt buy some.

Getting to the actual entrance to Area 51 took another 20 minutes of driving on an unmarked, unpaved road. Clouds of chalk billowed behind the cars coming and going.

At the end of the road was a drab military checkpoint flanked by concertina wire and threatening signs. The sign prohibiting photography was clearly a dead letter.

Rotating shifts of law enforcement officers of every variety sheriffs deputies, state troopers, game wardens, park rangers kept a watchful eye on everything. They seemed relaxed, though, and looked like they were having as good a time as the ostensible Stormers. After all, this was an excuse for them to hang out at Area 51, too.

(To my knowledge, no one actually raided Area 51, besides the two Dutch YouTubers who had tried to sneak through the perimeter two weeks earlier and ended up in jail instead.)

In addition to YouTube vloggers and Instagram influencers, there were more than a few actual journalists. Watching them scurry around diligently with tape recorders reminded me that I needed to find a Quirky Character who could give On-Scene Color. A talkative UFO buff would be ideal but the other journalists had already claimed most of the good ones.

I couldnt avoid noticing a pair of men in huge, papier-mache Pepe the Frog heads. The vloggers loved them, and the Pepes enjoyed mugging for the cameras. My God, a girl said, theyre adorable.

Under their frog heads, the Pepes were two young Latino guys from California. When I asked them what they thought of the frogs association with the alt-right, one seemed confused. The other nodded in recognition but claimed he just thought the symbol was fun.

He said, Its all about the

Memes, finished the other. They both laughed.

I asked if it wasnt weird for them, as Latinos, to embrace a symbol affiliated with white nationalists.

Yeah, I mean, theyre a little, like, extreme for me sometimes, one said. But sometimes you feel like theyre right about some stuff.

I said, Like what?

Like clown world.

What?

Clown world.

What?

Like the idea that were all living in a world of clowns, he clarified.

Tendrils of fog hung over Alienstock. The temperature was dropping fast and the sun was low and pink in the sky. The sunset was sublime but I had a long drive to my motel ahead and a sick feeling that I should have left half an hour ago.

I bade farewell to the history podcaster. He reminded me that the area was open grazing land. Watch out for the steer, he said. They go right out into the road.

The next morning I debated whether to squeeze in another trip out to Alienstock and couldnt quite find the willpower. It was time to get back to civilization, I decided. Or at least Las Vegas.

I stopped at the gas station in Alamo, near Rachel. The town felt hungover, and it still had a day to go. Most of the locals seemed unsure quite how to feel about the whole thing. It was a boon to the local economy, yes, but also a financial disaster for the county government. There were rumors that the district attorney was planning to sue Connie West, or Matty Roberts, or even Facebook.

Most, though, just seemed excited at the idea that their corner of the world might become something bigger than a gas stop on the way elsewhere.

Everyone vowed that next year, theyd be ready.

Continued here:

I 'stormed' Area 51 and it was even weirder than I imagined - The Guardian

What the uncanceling of Pepe the Frog just for HK protests, though tells us about US media – RT

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Having written hundreds of articles demonizing the amphibian meme as inherently sinister, news outlets have had to perform a quick 180 now that he has been adopted as the mascot of the Hong Kong protest movement.

Pepe the Frog has been everywhere during the past six months of anti-government demonstrations in the Chinese city as a flash graffiti drawn on and washed off walls, a doll holding placards with political slogans and calling for political changes from custom-made t-shirts, in user-made pictures and cartoons circulated on social media and in organizers WhatsApp and Telegram groups.

For the Western media slavishly dedicated to covering the demonstrations from the protesters perspective, this has been awkward, yet impossible to ignore.

Is this not the same Pepe whose alternately self-satisfied and downbeat visage was used as a vehicle for alt-right talking points prior to the 2016 election? The one that candidate Hillary Clinton dedicated a special warning to on her website, saying he had been almost entirely co-opted by white supremacists? The one that the Anti-Defamation League still considers a hate symbol even in its unaltered form?

The simplest route has been to wave this away as a coincidence, with almost every mainstream media article at pains to emphasize that the Hong Kong protesters are not alt-right, and were entirely unaware of the connotations of the cartoon frog, which do not apply outside the US.

More sophisticated explanations have celebrated reclaiming Pepe, recalling that he had begun his life as a stoner joke for a minutiae-obsessed apolitical web cartoon by artist Matt Furie back in 2005, three years before alt-right was even a word.

All that might be correct if not for the glaring similarities between how Pepe was used three years ago and now that make it hard to believe that the current green frog had no lineage.

In both cases the cartoon gave a chance for protest movements to challenge the establishment through his sly subversion. Is Pepe trolling you or is he being serious? When he cries is that just a cheap joke, or a comment about grave imbalances of power? Using him as a truth-sayer figure couched in levels of irony, disarms, gives plausible deniability, and most of all, reflects the young, media-savvy culture that permeates both the Hong Kong movement squaring up to the might of Beijing, and the 4Chan provocateurs who helped Donald Trump get elected against the prevailing cultural winds.

After all the slogan of the Hong Kong crowds is a Bruce Lee quote:be water. Once again, it plays up the amorphousness and flexibility, the anonymity and persistence of the crowd, whether mass-posting online or occupying a public space, trying to shake up the monolithic structures of the ruling elite.

Yet the difference in the coverage, depending on the narrative, is stunning. A satirical cartoon can become the new swastika, and the new swastika can become a symbol of freedom, all without changing. These biases can be seen through the contrasting coverage of say the Yellow Vests and Black Lives Matters or the Maidan protests, but here is a rare test case.

Certainly, the protesters in Hong Kong arent drawing up Hitler mustaches on their Pepes, or making them gloat outside of gas chambers. But frankly, neither did most of the images that circulated through the image boards and continue to crop up in Twitter discussions today. The vilification was largely intellectually dishonest, and relied on picking unrepresentative examples to marginalize what is already a minority hidden on the outskirts of polite internet discourse.

It was also ineffective. Just as Pepe did not die, but returned through ever more postmodernist reincarnations, including the anarchic and popular Clown Pepe who comments on the absurdities of political correctness or the latest big tech censorship, and now again, half-a-world away.

There is a lesson here: you can call Pepe far-right, and equate the OK gesture to Heil Hitler!

But if any dissenters remain, and you are suppressing their ideas, not debating them, the internet will find a way. And for all your billions, armies, and news channels you will be the ones forced to spend your time mass-deleting pictures of memes off the internet to keep your grasp on power.

By Igor Ogorodnev, senior writer at RT

The statements, views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of RT.

Original post:

What the uncanceling of Pepe the Frog just for HK protests, though tells us about US media - RT

My father was IBM’s first black software engineer. The racism he fought persists in the high-tech world today – Los Angeles Times

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John Stanley Ford, my father, was the first black software engineer in America, hired by IBM in 1946. Passed over for promotions, discriminated against in pay, with many inside IBM working to ensure his failure, he still viewed his job as an opportunity of a lifetime. He refused to give up.

Minority underrepresentation in high tech has been present since the earliest days of the industry. In reflecting upon my fathers career for a new memoir I wrote about him, I saw important lessons about the history and nature of racism in high tech, and about the steps that corporations and individuals can take to bring about much-needed change.

IBM publicly represents itself as a company with deep roots in diversity and inclusion, but history tells a different story. The roots of racism in high tech coincide with the advent of the digital age, when in the late 1920s a fledgling company run by a cutthroat but savvy businessman named Thomas J. Watson saw an opportunity in eugenics.

Eugenics is a pseudoscience that seeks to create a racially pure master human race by eliminating those deemed inferior. In 1928, the Eugenics Records Office in Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y., had undertaken a project to identify mixed-race individuals on the island of Jamaica for forced sterilization and other means of population control. Realizing the massive amount of data to be collected and compiled, Watson stepped in with IBM to provide the punched-card technology crucial for the Jamaica projects success.

In 1933, Watson offered IBMs services, based on similar punched-card technology, to the Third Reich and automated every aspect of Hitlers war machine including Luftwaffe bombing runs, train schedules for carrying Jews to camps, and the measures by which Jews were apprehended and exterminated. Concentration camps had IBM rooms, where the gruesome tallies of life and death were encoded on IBM punched cards.

In recognition of IBMs extraordinary service, Hitler created a medal festooned with swastikas that he pinned on Watson in 1937. Although Watson returned the medal when America entered the war, IBMs support of the Nazi regime never ceased. (IBM has never acknowledged the companys role in the Holocaust nor disputed historical accounts of it.)

The defeat of Nazi Germany did not end this distasteful marriage between high tech and racism. IBM turned next to South Africa, where for decades the company provided critical computer technology to help classify and segregate South Africas population, producing the passbooks used for the brutal subjugation of blacks.

Then, a decade after Nelson Mandela stepped from prison in South Africa, two planes crashed into the World Trade Center towers. In the aftermath of that horrific event, the New York City Police Department created a massive closed-circuit television surveillance center. IBM secretly used camera footage of thousands of unknowing New Yorkers obtained from the centers cameras to refine its facial recognition and video analytics software to search for and identify people by hair color, facial hair and skin tone.

IBM no longer stands alone. Other high-tech companies are advancing against race. A few weeks ago, Never Again Action, a Jewish peace group, marched from a Holocaust memorial in Boston to one of Amazons offices in Cambridge, Mass. The group cited IBMs involvement with Nazi Germany as a reason Amazon should not supply facial recognition technology for use at the U.S. border. Amazon, in turn, has attacked an MIT researcher who demonstrated built-in racial bias in facial recognition software.

A Google search delivered misleading information on black-on-white crime to Dylann Roof, contributing to his desire to massacre nine black men and women in a South Carolina church. Microsoft released a chatbot named Tay, designed to learn from Twitter users. Within 24 hours, Tay claimed the Holocaust never happened, professed hatred for women and suggested that black people should be hanged.

Garbage in, garbage out, software engineers say. Likewise, racism in, racism out. Biased developers produce biased code. But from my father, I learned there are ways to fight back. Facing racism encountered daily within IBM, my father relied on his community for support.

His Baptist church attended to the moral and spiritual needs of the many black firsts in various fields by those in our Williamsbridge neighborhood of the Bronx. And many of the women he met through the church possessed technical skills, such as switchboard operating, learned during World War II, that would prove useful in the early days of computers. My father helped some of them gain employment at IBM.

Today, community-based organizations such as the Technology Access Foundation in Seattle or Black Girls Code in San Francisco carry forth the work of providing STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) education for minority youth, and provide the moral support to help them reach their fullest potential.

My father always found ways to give back. He felt it was only a matter of time before other black men and women broke through the barriers to advancement he faced at IBM. Somehow, he managed to obtain copies of the IBM entrance examination questions and answers, which he surreptitiously shared with promising young black job applicants. He coached them on passing the exam and succeeding in their interviews. Many were subsequently hired.

Yet the percentage of blacks and non-Asian minorities in high-tech professions consistently remains under 2%. For minority women, the numbers are even more dismal. Recent studies conclude this is not a pipeline problem qualified candidates can be found.

Training of software engineers can shed light on the historical and cultural issues that give rise to biased code. Data used to train algorithms can be scoured for embedded bias. Quality assurance can be expanded to include tests on users of all demographics.

Organizations like Never Again Action, which seeks to end technology used for racial discrimination, also have a role. They can insist on digital literacy curricula in all classrooms, especially classrooms of marginalized communities and communities of color; promote software and algorithms already vetted as bias-free; and align themselves with groups working to evaluate and hold algorithm makers accountable.

But these measures are not enough. Only when more people of color and other minorities ascend to the boardrooms and C-suites of high-tech firms the highest levels of decision-making and power will the systemic changes required to end racism and bias in high tech begin to take place.

My father believed that technology offered the possibility of a more democratic, egalitarian future. But he also often admonished me to learn to control technology before it learned to control me. We are at a tipping point where my fathers words must be taken seriously if technology is to be used for a society that we choose to live in rather than one that high-tech corporations find most profitable to create.

Clyde W. Ford was an IBM software engineer from 1971 to 1977. He is the author of a memoir about his father, Think Black, from which this is adapted.

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My father was IBM's first black software engineer. The racism he fought persists in the high-tech world today - Los Angeles Times

French bishops oppose medically assisted procreation for single moms, lesbians – Crux: Covering all things Catholic

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PARIS Frances Catholic bishops opposed legislation to allow medically assisted procreation for single mothers and lesbian couples and urged citizens to help block its enactment.

We hear and understand the suffering of those who cannot have children from their union with a person of the opposite sex and of homosexual women who aspire to have children, said Archbishop Eric de Moulins-Beaufort of Reims, president of the bishops conference. But our societies are making a collective mistake when they pretend to resolve sufferings with medical and juridical techniques, and when they turn medicine intended for caring and curing into a vehicle for demands and frustrations.

The archbishop spoke at the College des Bernardins in Paris, as Frances National Assembly prepared to debate a revised bioethics law extending rights to state-funded medically assisted procreation.

He said the French bishops repeatedly had outlined what was at stake in the projected measures, but added that the Churchs attitude of listening and dialogue had been ignored by legislators in their fascination with the promises of medical and juridical techniques.

De Moulins-Beaufort warned the measures risked pointing the way to a liberal eugenics, and said the beauty of parental love for children could not justify surrendering procreation to medical manipulation and family relationships to DIY.

Archbishop Eric Aumonier of Versailles urged citizens to consider the grave transgressions embodied in the legislation, which would place the desire of adults before the welfare of children.

The child risks no longer being received as a gift, but as a right, he said in a Sept. 19 statement.

He said the Catholic Church welcomed every conceived life and every family as it is, but called on Catholics to help awaken consciences, by explaining to friends, colleagues and relatives what is at stake.

Changes to the law, promised by President Emmanuel Macron before his May 2017 election, are opposed by some legislators, who fear they will spur legalization of surrogacy and further deregulation of embryo research.

Around 80,000 children are born annually in France through member-assisted procreation, which is available to single mothers in 26 of the Council of Europes 47 member-countries, and to lesbian couples in 14.

In a September survey by the French Institute for Public Opinion, two-thirds of citizens backed the proposed measures.

Crux is dedicated to smart, wired and independent reporting on the Vatican and worldwide Catholic Church. That kind of reporting doesnt come cheap, and we need your support. You can help Crux by giving a small amount monthly, or with a onetime gift. Please remember, Crux is a for-profit organization, so contributions are not tax-deductible.

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French bishops oppose medically assisted procreation for single moms, lesbians - Crux: Covering all things Catholic

Not A Unique Case: 87-Year-Old Murdered Disabled Grandson With Overdose – Forbes

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87-year-old Floridan woman was charged with murder of her disabled grandson.

On Sunday, September 22, Bradenton police found30-year-old Joel Parks diedat a Florida apartment complex. Lillian Parks, the grandmother, was charged with second-degree murder after she told the police she fatally overdosed him on purpose, authorities said.

Information on Mr. Parks disability has yet to be disclosed to the public. Bradenton police say his grandmother cared for on the weekends and he lived in a group home during the week. Bradenton residents told thelocal newspaperthat he acquired cognitive disabilities from an accident when he was an infant.

According to Bradenton Police Departments Captain Brian Thiers, Ms. Parks was concerned about her medical condition and was worried about who would be caring for him in the event that she passed away,TheNew York Timesreports. Mr. Parks father is deceased, and his mother is estranged,according to the Bradenton Herald.

On Wednesday, a judge signed a warrant for Ms. Parks arrest, and authorities will take her into custody after a medical evaluation.

Unfortunately, cases like this arent that uncommon. Although there is no national database, filicides, when a parent or caregiver murders a dependent, is more common among children with disabilities than among those without disabilities. TheRuderman Family Foundation reportsthat these murders occur approximately once a week, but the actual number is predicted to be much higher. The killings of people with disabilities are under-reported, and the fact that the victims had disabilities is often undisclosed.

During trials, the perpetrators are likely to receive a lesser sentence than those charged with other murders. The juries often are sympathetic to these killers, claiming hardship as a justification for their acts.

Peter Berns, the chief executive of the Arc, an advocacy organization for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, told theTimes, We hear too frequently of parents or caregivers who murder their family members with disabilities or individuals they are caring for. Its tragic that this happens with the frequency that it happens. It is plain and simple a horrible crime. And there is, like most murders, no justification for it whatsoever.

One of the most underrepresented aspects of the Holocaust is themass genocide of people with disabilities. The Germans considered disabilities not measuring up to their concept of a master race. Since they believed the physically and intellectually disabled as useless members of society, the Nazis targeted them for murder in what they called the Aktion T4, or euthanasia program. Around 200,000 people with disabilities were killed in Germany between 1940 and 1945. Many German doctors supervised the actual killings, which happened in specially constructed gas chambers.

The erasure of people with disabilities also occurred in the United States. In 1927, the Supreme Court upheld astatute that provided for the eugenic sterilizationfor people considered genetically unfit, namely those with disabilities. Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. cited that three generations of imbeciles are enough. Thirty states administrated an estimated 65,000 coerced sterilizations.

With those thought patterns and horrid actions woven into disability history, it is no surprise that Ms. Parks, along with many others, still hold the belief in mercy killings.` Also, with a justice system founded upon the idea that people with disabilities are less than the general population, justice for disabled victims of murder might be slow to come.

The state of healthcare in America increases the chances of these killings. To date, there is no national support system for adults with developmental and intellectual disabilities. Once they age out of the school system, these adults face limited opportunities and living situations. They are often dependent on family members for care, and those family members may or may not be best equipped to provide care.

Over the past few decades, there has been an enormous push todeinstitutionalize people with developmental and intellectual disabilities. Advocates and individuals firmly believe that this population deserves full integration with the community.

However, the recent murder of Joel Parks raises the question of if government agencies and community organizations are providing the best line of support and resources to these individuals and their families.

Captain Thiers explores the possibility of Ms. Parks receiving sympathy from the court, noting that she felt like she had no other option. However, hetold theWashington Post, but, again, she took a human life. We dont discriminate based on age or race anything. We have to look at it from the totality of the circumstances. And, at the end of the day, we have to protect his rights, too.

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Not A Unique Case: 87-Year-Old Murdered Disabled Grandson With Overdose - Forbes

Republic of Lies: the rise of conspiratorial thinking and the actual conspiracies that fuel it – Boing Boing

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Anna Merlan has made a distinguished journalistic career out of covering conspiracy theories, particularly far-right ones, for Gizmodo Media; her book-length account of conspiratorial thinking, Republic of Lies: American Conspiracy Theorists and Their Surprising Rise to Power, is a superb tour not just through the conspiracies that have taken hold in American public discourse, but also in the real, often traumatic conspiracies that give these false beliefs a terrible ring of plausibility.

Merlan's thesis is that the "contagion" model of conspiracy thinking -- the idea that some people are just so danged convincing that merely hearing them will make you a conspiracy theorist -- is at best incomplete, and at worst, totally overblown.

After all, the arguments for the flat Earth, or anti-vax, or eugenics, have not gotten better since they emerged decades or even centuries ago, and to an objective ear, the people who advocate these ideas sound ridiculous.

Some people argue that the rise in conspiratorial thinking is about contagion, but that patient zero is the internet, where Big Tech's almighty algorithms can use machine learning to systematically explore its targets' cognitive defenses, finding and exploiting their weak spots and winning converts, with fully automated proselytizing tools that allow even the most fumbletongued conspiracy peddler to amass a following and found a cult.

This theory is supported by Big Tech's own commercial communications: if you want to find testimonies to the devastating power of Big Tech's persuasion tools, you need look no further than their own sales literature, in which they boast that potential advertisers can expect endless returns from their machine-learning mind control rays.

It's weird that we'd believe these boasts, though. Big Tech, after all, is led by "morally bankrupt liars" whose every pronouncement about their labor practices, economic activity, tax planning, private data handling and political lobbying turn out to be bullshit -- it would be pretty remarkable if the only time Big Tech told the truth was when they were trying to entice customers to given them money in exchange for access to their advertising products.

It's indisputable that Big Tech's nonconsensually assembled deep dossiers on billions of internet users are good for something, though, and that something is finding people based on whether they possess certain hard-to-find traits, like "people who are thinking of buying a refrigerator" or "people who have nonbinary gender identities" or "people who are fed up and ready to get involved with #BlackLivesMatter" or "people who want to carry tiki torches through the streets of Charlottesville, chanting 'Jews will not replace us.'"

This people-finding capacity is at the heart of the rise in conspiracism. It's what lets recommendation algorithms find people who are susceptible to videos about eugenics or the flat Earth, and it's what lets people who find these ideas compelling locate similar people to form groups with; groups that give them a sense of belonging, community and capacity for action.

Which leaves us with the question: why are so many people so vulnerable to conspiracism? What are the traits that give rise to a susceptibility to believe in conspiracy theories?

Merlan's answer echoes much of the consensus among psychologists: conspiracy is trauma's traveling companion. People who have encountered situations in which real conspiracies have harmed them or the people they love find it easy to believe that other conspiracies are at the root of harms they are living through now.

Take the persistent belief that the flooding in New Orleans's Black neighborhoods during Hurricane Katrina was caused by dynamiting the levees in order to spare white neighborhoods from flooding. This did not happen, but in 1927, the Black homes of Tupelo, Mississippi were wiped off the map when the authorities decided to blow the levees in order to spare the richer, whiter homes that were at risk from the floodwaters. Both floods followed a common pattern (right down to the mass expropriation of Black homes after the floodwaters receded).

The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 isn't a conspiracy theory, it's just a conspiracy. The fact that the white establishment was willing to conspire to drown and rob Black people in the region is what made the theory that perhaps it had happened again in New Orleans plausible.

We are living through a moment in which official truth-seeking exercises are being remade as auctions in which the wealthy bid to decide what the official truth will be, from the safety of opioids to the urgency of climate change. Which is another way of saying that we are living through not just an age of conspiratorial thinking, but also of actual conspiracies, often conspiracies that are so bold that the conspirators are barely phoning in their cover stories.

Merlan has spent time embedded in conspiracy communities of all stripes, from daffy New Agers to vicious white nationalists, and her keen anthropological analysis of the dynamics of these communities and the personalities within them foregrounds the historical precedents that conspiracists rely upon in shoring up their own beliefs. Scratch a vaccine denier, find someone who'll tell you about ghastly pharma coverups and experiments from Tuskegee to the opioid epidemic. Ufologists can go chapter-and-verse on real military/aerospace coverups and conspiracies (see also: Pizzagaters driven to frenzy by Jeffrey Epstein revelations).

From Watergate and Iran-Contra to MK ULTRA and Cointelpro, the US establishment has shown itself time and again willing to engage in coverups and palace intrigue. The "Deep State" isn't what the far-right imagines it to be, but it does exist, in the form of career civil servants and prominent government contractors who can and do exert pressure to maintain the status quo for good and ill, from keeping Guantanamo Bay open to frustrating the most unhinged plans of Trump and his cabinet.

Inequality is a driver of conspiracy, because with unequal distributions of money come unequal distributions of power, and thus corruption, self-dealing, and, naturally enough, cover-ups to keep the boat from rocking too much.

Countering incorrect conspiratorial beliefs is important and urgent work, but it is purely reactive -- ideological fire-fighting. The case that Merlan forcefully builds in her outsanding book is that we need fire-prevention, not just fire-fighting: we need to change the conditions that prime people to believe conspiracies, which is to say, we need to root out corruption and impunity and rebalance the inequality that gives rise to them, otherwise, the fires will become too numerous to extinguish.

Republic of Lies: American Conspiracy Theorists and Their Surprising Rise to Power [Anna Merlan/Metropolitan Books]

I'm coming to Maine to keynote the Maine Library Association conference in Newry next Monday; later that day, I'm appearing with James Patrick Kelly at the Portland, Maine Main Library, from 6:30PM-8PM (it's free and open to the public) This is the first time I've been to Maine, and I can't wait!

Christopher Brown (previously) is the guest on this week's Agony Column podcast with Rick Kleffel (MP3) (previously), discussing his outstanding legal thriller/sf climate change dystopia Rule of Capture.

I travel a lot and wherever I go, I bring an Aeropress, because life is too short for shitty coffee.

You already take your games and movies on the go. Why not share them? Thanks to the PIQO Powerful 1080p Mini Projector, you can have that communal, drive-in movie experience anywhere on your own massive screen. This gadget packs a lot of functionality into a roughly 2 square package. First and foremost, its got a []

Want to build your own website? Even for a modest personal site, it was once assumed you might wait for days or weeks while a web designer hammered through arcane code on your behalf. That all sounds a little ridiculous today. And if you had to thank one company for that, it would probably be []

Its a long road from a song in your head to a song on the charts especially if youre just learning to play. The good news is, anyone whos willing to practice can make music. These online classes can make that process painless, with methods that can teach anyone guitar, piano or even the []

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Republic of Lies: the rise of conspiratorial thinking and the actual conspiracies that fuel it - Boing Boing

Forget Mensa! All Hail the Low IQ – WIRED

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When Lee invokes velocity of processing power, he converts IQ from a weapon in a race/class/gender blood sport into a toola value-neutral speedometer.

It's a tool with consequences, though. Where many high-IQ opiners provide straight memoir, Lee attends to the needs of the questioner, who's concerned with how to love someone with a low IQ score. He doesn't mince words when discussing the hard road of kids like himself.

Teachers and parents get impatient, Lee explains, and even use epithets; moreover, a tendentious intelligence hierarchy from the American eugenics movement still casts a long shadow. But there can be an upside for low- or average-IQ kids determined to prove themselves: They learn to work. Lee, who wrote his honors thesis on George Eliot's novel The Mill on the Floss, has very much not had his motivation torpedoed. He actively enjoys, as he says, challenging and repetitive work, but only if the challenge can be overcome by practice instead of a good brain.

Then comes Lee's forthrightness when he describes balking at learning new stuff. This should offer readers of any IQ score (or none) a feeling of profound liberation.

My peers learn wine-tasting while I get drunk from my favorite Long Island iced tea, Lee writes. My peers learn yoga while I lie in bed playing with my phone. Sing it, brother. To be honest, playing videogames all the time at home sounds pretty good to me, if I don't have to go to school or work. He also doesn't finish many of the novels he starts, doesn't like to draw, and seldom goes to museums or art galleries. Becauseoh yesI don't appreciate aesthetic stuff. Is Alex C. Lee the first honest witness to the human condition or what?

Like Elias Lazar, whose bio says he studied at the University of Vienna and who writes that he scored around 80 on an IQ test, Lee has trouble following directions, including the rules of games. (Lazar writes that he records people when they give him oral instructions, so he can privately play back their words over and over till he gets it.) It's impossible for me to pick up something, as Lee puts it. I'm not a fast learner. When I learn a language, I have to systematically study, writing it down and getting familiarized.

Hold up: When I learn a language.

I asked Lee about this. My first language is Mandarin, he explained. I know English well. (Clearly.) Then he added, I know a bit of French and German too, and that he's written in French on Quora. Could it be that Lee is learning far more at what he perceives as his tortoise pace than his peers with their Mensa speeds? Languages are an intriguing case, since unlike much of mathematics, vocabulary cannot except in rare cases be learned a priori. (Where you might derive the surface area of a triangle from a couple of measurements, you mostly don't know a word till you encounter it.) Any test that fails to register that talent and tenacity is itself a failure.

And of course it is. Lee is right that we're in the thick of eugenics almost the moment we acquiesce to the implausible conceit of fixed Intelligenzquotient, as the phantom human quality was originally dubbed in Germany in the early 1900s. A hundred years later, Adam Hampshire, Roger Highfield, Adrian Owen, and Beth Parkin wrote an article for the journal Neuron debunking the notion that a unitary, measurable intelligence even exists.

The idea that populations can be compared using a single measure of intelligence is dead, Highfield wrote in WIRED at the time. The IQ test, it seems, is about as scientifically rigorous and reliable as the zodiac.

But as with astrology, what's illuminating are people's emotional and ideological responses to the possibility of universal typologies of personhood. Where astrology offers visual psychedelia, dream states, and oneness with the firmament, other typologies like the IQ arouse the left brain. And it seems that zillions of people still cotton to the idea of ranking our intellects, from top to bottom, the ingenious to the comatose, the gods to the rocks.

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Forget Mensa! All Hail the Low IQ - WIRED