Gisele Galoustian, Media Contact - Eureka Alert / Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine / Florida Atlantic University
Stephan:
Here is some excellent good news. Young people are smoking cigarettes far less and infrequently developing the habit. I have noticed. this when out in public spaces, and perhaps you have as well. As a result we will see a big decrease in lung cancer. All good news.
GRAPH SHOWS CIGARETTE SMOKING TRENDS BY GRADE FROM 1991 TO 2021.
Cigarette smoking remains the leading avoidable cause of premature death in the United States, accounting for approximately 500,000 deaths or 1 in 5 deaths annually. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, most adults who smoke cigarettes started before age 18, so preventing cigarette smoking in adolescents is important to reducing smoking in adults.
In a new study, researchers from Florida Atlantic University’s Schmidt College of Medicine and collaborators explored overall trends in cigarette smoking among a large sample of U.S. adolescents in grades nine to 12 from 1991 to 2021. They also explored differences by gender as well as race/ethnicity.
Cigarette smoking measures included: ever tried cigarette smoking, which was defined as taking even one or two puffs; currently smoked cigarettes occasionally; currently smoked cigarettes frequently; and currently smoked cigarettes daily.
Results of the study, published in Ochsner Journalonline ahead of print, show cigarette smoking in all usage categories (ever, occasional, frequent and daily) significantly decreased from 1991 to 2021.
The United States ranks 37th in the developed world in the quality of its healthcare, which is, or ought to be a national shame. And what really stands out for me is that in Red states there are really two levels of healthcare, one for men and the other, and much inferior for women, especially for women of color. Republicans, whatever they may say, by their actions, make it clear that in their minds women are second class. That’s one of the reasons I don’t understand how any woman can vote for Republicans, even though millions do.
In many Australian hospitals, pregnant patients are given stillbirth prevention materials. Credit: Peter DiCampo/ProPublica
The stillbirth of her daughter in 1999 cleaved Kristina Keneally’s life into a before and an after. It later became a catalyst for transforming how an entire country approaches stillbirths.
In a world where preventing stillbirths is typically far down the list of health care priorities, Australia — where Keneally was elected as a senator — has emerged as a global leader in the effort to lower the number of babies that die before taking their first breaths. Stillbirth prevention is embedded in the nation’s health care system, supported by its doctors, midwives and nurses, and touted by its politicians.
In 2017, funding from the Australian government established a groundbreaking center for research into stillbirths. The next year, its Senate established a committee on stillbirth research and education. By 2020, the country had adopted a national stillbirth plan, which combines the efforts of health care providers and researchers, bereaved families and advocacy groups, and lawmakers and government officials, all in the name of reducing stillbirths […]
Steve Holland, Nandita Bose and Trevor Hunnicutt, Reporters - Reuters
Stephan:
I am surprised this was not a bigger story in the corporate media, but it was not. Biden doesn’t support Taiwan’s independence but he does pledge to defend Taiwan against an attack from China, a U.S. position of “strategic ambiguity” dating back to Carter’s administration. Given what has happened in Ukraine, it is a position for a future crisis, should China attempt to take Taiwan over.
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U.S. President Joe Biden speaks to the press, Credit: Leah Millis / Reuters
WASHINGTON, DC — U.S. President Joe Biden said on Saturday the United States does not support the independence of Taiwan, after Taiwanese voters rebuffed China and gave the ruling party a third presidential term.
Earlier in the day, the Taiwanese ruling Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) presidential candidate Lai Ching-te came to power, strongly rejecting Chinese pressure to spurn him, and pledged both to stand up to Beijing and seek talks.
“We do not support independence…” Biden said, when asked for reaction to Saturday’s elections.
The United States switched diplomatic recognition from Taipei to Beijing in 1979 and has long said it does not support a formal declaration of independence by Taiwan. It does, however, maintain unofficial relations with the self-governed island and remains its most important backer and arms supplier.
Beijing, which has never renounced the use of force to bring Taiwan under its control, fears that Lai could declare the establishment of a Republic of Taiwan, which Lai has said he will not do.
Lauren Kaori Gurley and Emmanuel Martinez, Reporters - The Washington Post
Stephan:
Fast food child labor violations. Yet another reason to never eat at any of these food chains. Not only will their food make you obese, and shorten your life by as much as five years, you will also be supporting the exploitation of children. Surrely that is enough reason to never eat at these places.
Other includes hours violation for children under 13 and shipment of “hot goods”. Source: Labor Department Graph by Emmanuel Martinex / The Washington Post
The fast-food industry is fueling a surge in child labor violations across the United States, especially at companies with franchised locationssuch as McDonald’s, Sonic and Chick-fil-A, according to a Washington Post analysis of federal data.
Since the widespread labor shortages of the pandemic, fast-food companies have illegally scheduled thousands of teenagers to work late and long hours and to operate dangerous kitchen equipment, The Post found. In some cases, companies have hired children 13 or younger — violating 1930s-era laws designedto protect their safety and educational opportunities.Federal law prohibits 14- and 15-year-olds from working past 7 p.m. and more than three hours on school nights.
Overall, child labor violations have more than tripled in the past 10 years, with violations in food service increasing almost sixfold, according to The Post’s analysis of U.S. Labor Department data. In the first nine months of 2023, agency officials found more than 4,700 teenagers under 18 working in […]
To be honest unless something happens to change what is taking place in the United States today. I would say we have about a 50% chance of American surviving as a democracy, maybe a little less. Voters are just fed up with the corruption and the noise. The MAGAts worship criminal Trump, I think, and nothing will change them. Will enough democracy supporters turn out. We will see.
Americans have long been critical of politicians and skeptical of the federal government. But today, Americans’ views of politics and elected officials are unrelentingly negative, with little hope of improvement on the horizon.
Majorities say the political process is dominated by special interests, flooded with campaign cash and mired in partisan warfare. Elected officials are widely viewed as self-serving and ineffective.
A comprehensive new Pew Research Center study of the state of the nation’s politics finds no single focal point for the public’s dissatisfaction. There is widespread criticism of the three branches of government, both political parties, as well as political leaders and candidates for office.
Notably, Americans’ unhappiness with politics comes at a time of historically high levels of voter turnout in national elections. The elections of 2018, 2020 and 2022 were three of the highest-turnout U.S. elections of their respective types in decades.
But voting in elections is very different from being satisfied with the state of politics – and the public is deeply dissatisfied.
Just 4% of U.S. adults say the political system is working extremely or very […]
