Hepatitis C Deaths Hit All-Time High in United States

/0 Comments/in , /by

Hepatitis C-related deaths reached an all-time high in 2014, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced Wednesday, surpassing total combined deaths from 60 other infectious diseases including HIV, pneumococcal disease and tuberculosis. The increase occurred despite recent advances in medications that can cure most infections within three months.

“Not everyone is getting tested and diagnosed, people don’t get referred to care as fully as they should, and then they are not being placed on treatment,” said Dr. John Ward, director of CDC’s division of viral hepatitis.

At the same time, surveillance data analyzed by the CDC shows an alarming uptick in new cases of hepatitis C, mainly among those with a history of using injectable drugs. From 2010 to 2014, new cases of hepatitis C infection more than doubled. Because hepatitis C has few noticeable symptoms, said Ward, the 2,194 cases reported in 2014 are likely only the tip of the iceberg. (Read more from “Hepatitis C Deaths Hit All-Time High in United States” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.

3 New Earth-Sized Planets May Have Signs of Life

/1 Comment/in , /by

A Belgian-led team reported Monday that it’s discovered three Earth-sized planets orbiting an ultra-cool dwarf star less than 40 light-years away. It’s the first time planets have been found around this type of star — and it opens up new, rich territory in the search for extraterrestrial life.

Because this star is so close and so faint, astronomers can study the atmospheres of these three temperate exoplanets and, eventually, hunt for signs of possible life. They’re already making atmospheric observations, in fact, using NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope. The Hubble Space Telescope will join in next week.

Altogether, it’s a “winning combination” for seeking chemical traces of life outside our solar system, said Massachusetts Institute of Technology researcher Julien de Wit, a co-author of the study, released by the journal Nature. (Read more from “3 New Earth-Sized Planets May Have Signs of Life” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.

‘Spying Billboards’ Under Fire for Tapping Into People’s Cellphones

/0 Comments/in , /by

A U.S. senator is calling for a federal investigation into an outdoor advertising company’s latest effort to target billboard ads to specific consumers.

New York Sen. Charles Schumer has dubbed Clear Channel Outdoor Americas’ so-called RADAR program “spying billboards,” warning the service may violate privacy rights by tracking people’s cell phone data via the ad space.

“A person’s cellphone should not become a James Bond-like personal tracking device for a corporation to gather information about consumers without their consent,” Schumer, a Democrat, said in a statement ahead of a planned news conference Sunday in Times Square, where the company operates billboards.

But the company, which operates more than 675,000 billboards throughout the world, argues that characterization of its program is inaccurate, insisting it only uses anonymous data collected by other companies.

In a statement, company spokesman Jason King said the RADAR program is based on a years-old advertising technique that “uses only aggregated and anonymized information” from other companies that certify they’re following consumer protection standards. (Read more from “‘Spying Billboards’ Under Fire for Tapping Into People’s Cellphones” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.

New Discovery Means More U.S. States Will Face a Risk From Zika

/0 Comments/in , /by

24253989800_7d73da6586For the first time in the Western Hemisphere, researchers have detected the Zika virus in Aedes albopictus, the mosquito species known as the “Asian tiger,” a finding that increases the number of U.S. states potentially at risk for transmission of the disease.

During the summer months when U.S. mosquito populations are at their peak, albopictus are more ubiquitous than the Aedes aegypti that have been the primary vector of the spread of Zika elsewhere in the Americas. Unlike the aegypti mosquito, which is mostly present in southern United States and along the Gulf Coast, the albopictus has a range as far north as New England and the lower Great Lakes.

The discovery was reported recently by the Pan American Health Organization after researchers in Mexico confirmed the presence of Zika in Asian tiger mosquitoes captured in the state of San Luis Potosi and sent them to government labs for testing.

U.S. health officials say they had anticipated the finding and have already encouraged states within the range of the Asian tiger mosquitoes to prepare for Zika. Scientists had previously identified the Asian tiger as the primary vector for Zika during a 2007 outbreak in the West African country of Gabon. (Read more from ” New Discovery Means More U.S. States Will Face a Risk From Zika” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.

Anti-White Racism: The Hate That Dares Not Speak Its Name

/5 Comments/in , /by

20806433789_8fc8d460aa_bIt is a strange election cycle when Republicans go to war with each other with a ferocity rarely manifest when they are confronting Democrats and their progressive agendas.

It is especially puzzling because a general consensus has formed on the right that the Democratic Party is moving so far left that its agendas threaten the very foundations of America’s social contract. These include a frontal assault on the system of individual rights that the Founders set in place. The left envisions a fundamentally transformed America where individual rights are secondary to the collective rights of races, ethnicities, genders and classes. That is why the particular circumstances of individual acts, such as the ones that led to the death of Michael Brown in Ferguson, for example, don’t matter to progressive mobs. It’s the races of the actors that do.

This progressive assault is being waged in the name of an “identity politics” that places whites at the bottom of the racial totem pole while holding them responsible for all the sins attributed to Americans but none of their achievements, specifically their success in creating the most tolerant and inclusive society on earth. Identity politics has a long and ugly history under its proper name – fascism – which is another term for the socialism of the Volk or nation (as opposed, for example, to the socialism of classes). Today p.c. fascism is an integral feature of the ethos and tactics of the progressive left, which has become the dominant force in the Democratic Party.

Republicans may feel they have the luxury of being nasty towards each other because they fail to grasp that in the hands of their opponents politics has become a form of warfare conducted by other means. It is no longer about getting elected and enjoying the perks of office. It is about defaming opponents with the intention of driving them from the public square, so that only the party of “decency” and “compassion” remains standing. Its effect is to traduce the culture of civility that respects dissent, and its logical conclusion is a one-party culture and state. (Read more from “Anti-White Racism: The Hate That Dares Not Speak Its Name” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.

SHOCKING PICTURES: Farmer Left Absolutely Horrified as Goat Born With ‘HUMAN FACE’

/11 Comments/in , /by

Baby_goats_jan_2007_cropSocial media went into meltdown after a farmer posted a photo online of the mutated animal – which has people-like features.

The baby goat, born in village Felda in Malaysia, has a distinctively human face and bi-pedal frame.

The deformed ungulate did not survive long after birth, farmer Ibrahim Basir confirmed.

The 63-year-old said he was first alerted to the unnatural birth by one of his farm-hands.

Photo Credit: Express

Photo Credit: Express

Jamaludin Abdul Samad, 50, told him a goat had given birth to something which looked like a human baby. (Read more from “SHOCKING PICTURES: Farmer Left Absolutely Horrified as Goat Born With ‘HUMAN FACE'” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.

Suicide Rates for Middle Aged White Americans Skyrockets

/1 Comment/in , /by

6697132255_c03c97f1a4The U.S. suicide rate has increased sharply since the turn of the century, led by an even greater rise among middle-aged white people, particularly women, according to federal data released Friday.

Last decade’s severe recession, more drug addiction, “gray divorce,” increased social isolation, and even the rise of the Internet and social media may have contributed to the growth in suicide, according to a variety of people who study the issue.

But economic distress — and dashed hopes generally — may underpin some of the increase, particularly for middle-aged white people. The data showed a 1 percent annual increase in suicide between 1999 and 2006 but a 2 percent yearly hike after that, as the economy deteriorated, unemployment skyrocketed and millions lost their homes.

“People [were] growing up with a certain expectation … and the Great Recession and other things have really changed that,” said Julie A. Phillips, a professor of sociology at Rutgers University who studies the demography of suicide. “Things aren’t panning out the way people expect. I feel for sure that has had an effect.” (Read more from “Suicide Rates for Middle Aged White Americans Skyrockets” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.

Boy Dies While Replicating Science Experiment He Saw on YouTube

/0 Comments/in , /by

boy-110762_960_720Fifteen-year-old Morgan Wojciechowski is described as a “whiz kid” by his peers at Vermilion High School. But it may be his intellectual curiosity that ultimately caused his untimely death.

According to news station WKYC, Morgan was attempting to recreate something called “Jacob’s Ladder,” which is basically a high-voltage arc between two metal rods. He’d seen the experiment done successfully on YouTube, but when he tried it, the teen wound up electrocuting himself in his family’s garage.

“This was not a school assignment. This was simply something he saw on the Internet and wanted to experiment with,” Detective Robert Rieger told WKYC.

The boy’s school released this statement in the wake of his sudden death:

“We would like the greater community to know that we are brokenhearted about this tragic loss to our school community. Morgan was a vibrant student and athlete who was well liked at Vermillion High School.”

(Read more from “Boy Dies While Replicating Science Experiment He Saw on YouTube” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.

Rats! Several Big U.S. Cities Seeing Surge in Rodent Complaints

/6 Comments/in , /by

Rat_diabeticSome denizens of America’s great cities probably wouldn’t mind a visit from the Pied Piper right about now.

Several major U.S. cities—including Boston, Chicago, New York and Washington, D.C.— have seen significant surges in rat complaints from their residents in recent months, according to city data reviewed by USA TODAY.

Grousing about rats has long been city-dweller sport, but the long-tailed, sharp-toothed nuisances have now become so populous and so aggressive that some cities are getting creative in their efforts to stay ahead of rodents even as some frustrated city residents are increasingly taking matters into their own hands.

In Chicago, which historically notches more rat complaints than any other city, residents’ reports of rodent activity rose by about 70% in the first quarter of 2016 compared to the same period last year.

With the city on pace to shatter the more than 41,000 complaints it received in 2012, Mayor Rahm Emanuel recently acknowledged in a radio interview that rats in the Windy City have become “a real problem.” (Read more from “Rats! Several Big U.S. Cities Seeing Surge in Rodent Complaints” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.

Drug Can Reverse Alzheimer’s in One Week

/1 Comment/in , /by

alzheimersA drug that reversed Alzheimer’s in mice in only one week will be tested in people this year. The IL-33 protein reversed Alzheimer’s-like disease in mice, stopping cognitive decline in its tracks, according to joint research by the University of Glasgow and the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST).

“IL-33 is a protein produced by various cell types in the body and is particularly abundant in the central nervous system — brain and spinal cord,” said Professor Eddy Liew of the University of Glasgow. “We carried out experiments in a strain of mice (APP/PS1) which develop progressive AD-like disease with aging.

We found that injection of IL-33 into aged APP/PS1 mice rapidly improved their memory and cognitive function to that of the age-matched normal mice within a week.”

Characteristics of Alzheimer’s include the amyloid plaque deposits and the formation of neurofibrillary tangles in the brain. As the disease progresses, plaques and tangles build, leading to the loss of connections between nerve cells. Eventually, the cells die, which causes the loss of brain tissue . . .

Although the researchers aren’t positive the protein will work in humans, they are optimistic. “Previous genetic studies have shown an association between IL-33 mutations and Alzheimer’s disease in European and Chinese populations,” said Liew. “Furthermore, the brain of patients with Alzheimer’s disease contains less IL-33 than the brain from non-Alzheimer’s patients. (Read more from “Drug Can Reverse Alzheimer’s in One Week” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.