The following links are just news items and opinions that pass my desk throughout the week. I don’t necessarily support or advocate any of the items, they are just interesting reads.
Mummy Powder And Fart Sniffing: The Weirdest Medical Treatments We Once Relied On – Modern society has many perks, and one that our ancestors would have surely envied is our ability to visit a doctor and expect safe and effective treatment.
You don’t have to look far back in history to suddenly appreciate how far medicine has come.
Here are five of the weirdest and wackiest medical treatments in human history.
A Jar of Farts
The Great Plague of London in the 1660s was a scary time. The public was willing to do just about anything to stay healthy, including sniffing a jar of their own farts.
Back then, doctors were apparently convinced that the plague was spread via deadly air vapor and that a foul-smelling substance could dilute the pollution.
As such, some locals apparently took to storing their farts in jars, just in case the situation suddenly demanded a quick whiff.
Milk Transfusions
Before blood groups were discovered, about half of all patients who received blood from a donor ended up dying.
In the late 1800s, it became popular for doctors to use milk instead.
The precious liquid, either from cows, goats, or humans, was thought to provide the body with the raw materials to create white blood cells in a safer way than replenishing them through donor blood.
In reality, however, milk transfusions still often resulted in death. It didn’t take long for the idea to fall out of favor. Read More > at Science Alert
McConnell, Feinstein and Biden Unwittingly Make a Strong Case for Age and Term Limits – “I see in the U.S. Congress people who’ve been there 20, 30, 40 years. And because they’re still there, they’re blocking the 25- or 30- or 35-year-old who is more of their time and could be more innovative and creative [in] solving the problems we face today, rather than the problems we faced 35 years ago.”
That was Barack Obama in 2021. And he’s right: Those running the country have been in office well past their sell-by date, most recently evidenced by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell freezing mid-sentence last week for 20 seconds during a press conference on Capitol Hill.
Overall, the median age of Congress is about 60 years old. In the Senate, that number jumps to over 65. To put this all into context, the median age of a U.S. citizen is 39.
The advanced age of our leaders in Washington is readily apparent to most Americans. A recent Reuters/Ipsos poll shows 67% of Americans agreeing there should be age limits for service as president, senator or representative. Republicans (72%) and Democrats (69%) are in rare agreement on this.
A 2022 CBS News poll also reflected this sentiment, with 71% of Democrats, 75% of independents and 75% of Republicans all saying there should be age limits. And when asked what that age limit should be, the most common number given was age 70. Read More > at The Messenger Opinion
A hardware store that lost $700,000 to shoplifters illustrates the woes behind a multi-county Bay Area spike – Some shoplifters at Dale Hardware are sneaky, slipping tools into their pockets. Others are brazen, like the ones who pushed a shopping cart full of merchandise right out the front door.
“You’ll go, ‘Sir, sir, sir!’ and they don’t even turn around,” owner Kyle Smith said. “Or they’ll give you a look, like, ‘Do you want to go there?’”
Last year, shoplifting cost the Fremont store $700,000, said Smith, whose grandfather founded the shop in 1955, when the area was still called Centerville. He would “roll in his grave” if he knew the financial toll that shoplifting was taking on the family business, Smith said.
Experts cite a unique set of circumstances that contribute to today’s shoplifting problem: accelerating organized retail theft, social media posts that facilitate mob-ransacking, increased homelessness, widespread drug addiction, and a societal move away from incarceration for less-serious crimes.
A survey of large U.S. retailers by loss-control consultancy Hayes International showed the average shoplifting take jumped to $802 last year, 26% higher than 2021. The National Retail Federation’s most-recent estimate pegged “retail shrink,” primarily driven by shoplifting and theft by organized criminal groups, at $95 billion in 2021.
Business owners across the Bay Area say shoplifting is escalating, and because so many incidents go unreported, official statistics fail to capture its magnitude.
Pilfering of items big and small has become an existential threat for Dale Hardware, Smith said. “How do we run a small business with $1,800 of loss every day?” he said. “It ends up costing the consumer more money because we can’t survive without raising prices.” Read More > in The Mercury News
Illegal medical lab containing bioengineered mice and infectious agents including HIV and herpes discovered in California – An illegal lab in California containing nearly 1,000 bioengineered mice has officials concerned after improperly stored tissue samples were tested and discovered to contain infectious diseases including HIV and Hepatitis.
“This is an unusual situation. I’ve been in government for 25 years. I’ve never seen anything like this,” Reedley City Manager Nicole Zieba said, per local news outlet KRON4.
The makeshift lab contained roughly 30 refrigerators and freezers — some of which were non-operational — as well as incubators, medical testing supplies, and hundreds of mice. Several disease samples tested from the lab included infectious agents like herpes, coronavirus, E. Coli, and malaria, SFist reported.
Wang Zhaolin, a representative of the company operating the lab, Prestige Biotech, told investigators that the mice inside the warehouse had been genetically engineered to catch and spread the COVID-19 virus, according to The San Joaquin Valley Sun.
The warehouse came under investigation in March after a local code enforcement officer discovered a garden hose attached to a back wall of the building. As officials searched, medical devices that appeared to have been created on-site, such as COVID-19 and pregnancy tests, were also discovered, NBC News reported.
“Certain rooms of the warehouse were found to contain several vessels of liquid and various apparatus,” NBC reported court documents related to the incident said. “Fresno County Public Health staff also observed blood, tissue and other bodily fluid samples and serums; and thousands of vials of unlabeled fluids and suspected biological material.” Read More > at the Insider
Reedley Chinese COVID Lab Received Tax Credit of $360,000 From Gov. Newsom’s ‘GO-Biz’ – At the epicenter of current controversy, an illegal California lab run by a Chinese biotech firm, Prestige Biotech, was recently discovered in a warehouse in Reedley, California. The lab contained mice which were genetically engineered to spread COVID-19.
According to National Review, “court documents further showed that the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) conducted tests on the more than 800 chemicals found at the site and that over 20 infectious agents were found present, including Hepatitis B and C, streptococcus pneumonia, chlamydia, rubella, and Herpes 1 and 5.” As a federal investigation is underway, where will the money trail lead us?
As recently discovered, Prestige Biotech is registered in the State of Nevada, but unlicensed to conduct business within the State of California. Code enforcement officials from the City of Reedley spoke to Xiuqin Yao, President of Prestige Biotech, as identified via emails and court documents. Ms. Yao informed authorities that the company was the largest creditor of Universal Meditech (UMI), Inc. which filed for bankruptcy. UMI had been relocated from the City of Fresno to the Reedley warehouse following an electrical fire, and when UMI ceased operations. According to NBC News, “Prestige Biotech was a creditor to UMI and identified as its successor, according to court documents.”
A document released on March 24, 2019 by Governor Newsom’s Office of Business and Economic Development, a California Competes tax credit allocation agreement of $360,000 was cemented with UMI. Read More > at California Globe
Oakland NAACP Blames ‘Defund the Police’ for Rampant Crime in City – Authorities in Oakland, California, are being urged to “declare a state of emergency” by the local branch of a leading civil rights group, in response to a surge in crime that “overwhelming impacts minority communities.”
The call was made by the Oakland branch of the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) in a statement that hit out at “failed leadership, including the movement to defund the police” and what they claimed was the local District Attorney’s failure to “prosecute people who murder and commit life threatening serious crimes.” Speaking to Newsweek Cynthia Adams, president of the Oakland NAACP, said: “We need the police!”
A number of major U.S. cities have reported significant increases in crime over the past years, which experts have attributed variously to the coronavirus pandemic and efforts to “defund the police” following the murder of George Floyd in May 2020. According to FBI statistics the U.S. recorded more than 21,000 murders in 2020, the highest figure since 1995.
The Oakland NAACP statement, which was also signed by Bishop Bob Jackson from the Acts Full Gospel Church, said: “Oakland residents are sick and tired of our intolerable public safety crisis that overwhelmingly impacts minority communities. Murders, shootings, violent armed robberies, home invasions, car break-ins, sideshows, and highway shootouts have become a pervasive fixture of life in Oakland. We call on all elected leaders to unite and declare a state of emergency and bring together massive resources to address our public safety crisis.”
It continued: “African Americans are disproportionately hit the hardest by crime in East Oakland and other parts of the city. But residents from all parts of the city report that they do not feel safe. Women are targeted by young mobs and viciously beaten and robbed in downtown and uptown neighborhoods. Asians are assaulted in Chinatown. Street vendors are robbed in Fruitvale. News crews have their cameras stolen while they report on crime.”
The statement blamed the crisis on “failed leadership, including the movement to defund the police, our District Attorney’s unwillingness to charge and prosecute people who murder and commit life threatening serious crimes, and the proliferation of anti-police rhetoric” that “have created a heyday for Oakland criminals.”
It urged African Americans to “speak out and demand improved public safety” along with “Oakland’s White, Asian and Latino communities.” Read More > at Newsweek
United they stand? Alameda County studies merging six unincorporated areas as new city –
Several unincorporated Alameda County communities may become better places to live if the residents decide to form a city, an economic development consultant told a county commission last week.
Consultant Richard Berkson provided an initial feasibility analysis to the Alameda County Local Agency Formation Commission earlier this month for residents to consider.
Some combination of the unincorporated communities of Castro Valley, Ashland, Cherryland, San Lorenzo, Fairview and Hayward Acres could become a new East Bay city.
Berkson analyzed three combinations.
The effort to incorporate may be challenging though. No new city has been created in California since 2000 without the benefit of property tax revenue from the state in lieu of revenue from vehicle license fees, according to the feasibility analysis.
Moreover, new cities are no longer entitled to this in-lieu revenue from the state, said Berkson, principal at Berkson Associates. In addition, some residents may oppose the change.
Berkson laid out the possible revenue and expenditures for three potential city formations in his analysis and projected deficits for all three.
Berkson analyzed an incorporated Castro Valley; a city encompassing Castro Valley, Fairview and Eden; and a city of only Fairview and Eden.
The purpose of Berkson’s report, according to the commission, is to provide residents, affected agencies and the commission with information to help weigh incorporation as well as the financial service implications.
New cities would mean less revenue for the county but also less draw for services. Berkson said the formation of a new city would need to be revenue neutral for the county or a financial agreement would need to be reached between the two jurisdictions.
Comments on the report can be made through Aug. 11. Those submitted by that date will be considered in the creation of a final report, which the commission may adopt in September or November. The commission may take other actions then, too. Read More > at Local News Matters
California Communities See Spike in Violent Sex Offender Releases – An investigation by CBS13 News has found an increase in the number of sexually violent predators (SVP) being released by the California Department of State Hospitals (DSH) into California communities. According to the report, there was a 30% increase in Sexually Violent Predator Conditional Releases (SVP CONREP) between 2021 and 2022, with even more releases pending. The cause of the spike is not clear.
A growing number of sexually violent predators are on transient release (i.e. no fixed place of residence) due to a lack of housing. Disturbingly, transient releasees have a 50% failure rate, according to court testimony from Liberty Healthcare.
William Robert Stephenson is one such example. For months, Placer and Amador counties battled over where the soon-to-be-free sex offender would be housed. Ultimately, a court ordered he be released as a transient in Placer County.
Stephenson was let out once before and ended up re-offending. In 2014, state doctors granted him conditional release in Roseville. Three years later, he was back in a state hospital for possession of child pornography.
The county district attorney’s office said it will now push for legislation “prohibiting the transient release of individuals deemed to be sexually violent.”
Assemblymember Joe Patterson (R-Rocklin) says he will seek to clarify the law next year. Democratic State Senator Marie Alvarado-Gill, who represents Placer and Amador counties, also wants to see changes.
“There should be a law,” she said.
“My counties are rural communities where typically you see the dumping of sexually violent predators.”
It’s a trend that continues. Stephenson’s next hearing is set for Sept. 1 in Auburn. Once he’s out, the state plans to buy him an RV that he can use for shelter. Read More > at California County News
Not quite toilet to tap – If the state’s Water Resources Control Board ends up adopting policies it drafted last month, California residents could be drinking highly purified sewage water as early as next spring.
But before you do a spit-take, the proposed rules aren’t as dirty as you think, writes CalMatters’ water policy reporter Rachel Becker.
The state has already been using recycled water for more than 60 years, though the water must pass through a reservoir or an aquifer before it’s piped to taps. But under the new proposals, which have been in development for over a decade, wastewater can flow to taps or mixed with raw water upstream of a drinking water treatment plant after undergoing extensive treatment.
As we all know, the water that whirls down toilets and sinks, or flows out of industrial facilities and farm fields, is crawling with germs. “Forever chemicals” and drugs excreted in urine also contaminate sewage water.
But before it reaches a water fountain or tap, the wastewater will have been treated to remove its chemicals and pathogens — including additional processes introduced by the new regulation. The water will be digested by bacteria and microbes, filtered through carbon and cleansed with hydrogen peroxide and UV light, among several other steps. After all that, the water will go through all the typical filtering processes at treatment plants.
- Darrin Polhemus, California’s Division of Drinking Water deputy director: “Quite honestly, it’ll be the cleanest drinking water around.”
Most of the concerns aren’t about the water’s cleanliness, but rather how expensive and labor intensive the process will be. It’s why most treated sewage in California is released into rivers, streams and the deep ocean instead.
There will be a period for public comment and a panel of experts must review the rules before they go before the water board for a vote as early as the end of December. If adopted, they would likely go into effect next April. Read More > at CalMatters
Change Is Coming for Costco’s Free Samples – Artificial intelligence might be the big existential threat looming over millions of workers, but in the grocery store space, relatively low-tech forms of automation are already supplanting humans in numerous ways. Self-service setups and machines are suddenly everywhere. Nearly half of all retailers are converting to self-checkout. And now, the movement is coming for the beloved free samples at Costco.
Earlier this year, Costco shoppers started reporting that the warehouse superstore has been phasing in self-serve kiosks in place of human sample reps to distribute the fan-favorite freebies. While there’s been no official statement on the reasons why self-serve stations are taking the place of people (Costco declined to comment for this story), there are some likely scenarios.
The first is, of course, the labor shortage. You might be surprised to know that the people handing out tastes of sausages, chicken nuggets, and pot stickers are not actually employees of Costco, and therefore don’t receive any Costco company benefits. Instead, they’re employed by a company called Club Demonstration Services (CDS).
According to Glassdoor, a product demonstrator makes around $14-15 an hour, so it’s not a huge surprise that there aren’t that many people lining up for the job when unemployment is currently hovering around 3.6%, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Additionally (and more morbidly), a lot of Costco sample workers are senior citizens, a population that was hit especially hard by the COVID-19 pandemic, according to The Kaiser Family Foundation.
The second most likely reason behind human-free Costco samples is that AI is coming in hot at grocery stores. Winsight Grocery Business reported in June that tons of grocery store employees have been, or are about to be, displaced. According to a report by data analytics firm Grocery Doppio (in partnership with FMI-The Food Industry Association), as many as 18% of store associate positions could be eliminated due to a projected 400% growth in implementation of AI in grocery stores before the end of 2024—a move that is projected to save the industry as much as $13.8 billion in store operation costs.
Costco’s sample stations, so far, are decidedly low-tech; images from Reddit and Instagram have shown gravity-fed stations where shoppers can simply grab a sample from an opening at the bottom of a chute. So far they’ve only been used to hand out pre-packaged goods, so hot pizza samples and the like are probably safe at the moment.
Given how inexpensive this solution is for Costco, it seems likely that there will be more self-serve kiosks in the near future, a fact that has Costco shoppers divided. On one hand, some customers have noted they’re happy to skip interacting with another human being and even relish the idea of digging into a pile of unguarded samples with impunity. On the other hand, there are people who prefer the personal touch of a face-to-face experience. Read More > at The Takeout
The IRS wants to phase out most IRL tax documents by 2025 – Most taxpayers will have the option of going entirely paperless starting with the 2024 filing season. The IRS said today that it aims to “achieve paperless processing for all tax returns” by 2025. The agency says the IRS Paperless Processing Initiative will “eliminate up to 200 million pieces of paper annually, cut processing times in half and expedite refunds by several weeks.” The project is funded by President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act of 2022.
The IRS expects the changes will solve the annoyance of transmitting digital documents in some cases but still having to mail paper ones in others. “For decades, taxpayers had to respond to notices for things like document verification through the mail, and IRS employees had to manually enter numbers from paper returns into computers one digit at a time, creating significant delays for taxpayers and challenges for IRS staff,” the US Treasury Department wrote today.
Starting next year (2024 filling season), taxpayers can digitally submit all correspondence — including many non-tax forms. The IRS says at least 20 additional e-File tax forms will be available digitally starting then. It estimates that over 94 percent of individual filers will never have to mail another tax form or document. The initiative will spare taxpayers from sending approximately 125 million paper documents annually. Read More > at Engadget
Top toy expert reveals HOTTEST children’s products that are set to sell out this Christmas – from Barbies to Bitzees – as she issues warning to parents to start festive shopping NOW – A toy expert has brought the Christmas spirit to summer by revealing which toys are set to sell out this holiday season so that you can get your hands on them before it’s too late.
Laurie Schacht, Chief Toy Officer at The Toy Insider, has revealed that it’s never too early to begin planning your holiday gifts as she shared what toys will be flying off the shelves this season, giving parents a chance to get them while they can.
Holiday shopping can cause major stress for parents, especially when you’re trying to get the toys at the top of everyone’s list. But now, you can avoid the trouble and purchase them in the summertime instead of scrambling to get the toy at the last minute.
Speaking to Today, Laurie revealed the hottest toys that will fly off the shelf this season to make your holiday more easygoing.
Chomp, romp and roar your way to fun! Jurassic World Ravenous Raptors: The Dino Chomping Game
Coming in at $19.99, the dinosaur toy provides kids with ‘roar-tastic’ fun.
Kids can work to feed the dinosaurs, with the goal being to feed the dinosaurs as many snack balls as possible to get the highest score.
Each game comes with Jurassic Enclosure, 4 Ravenous Raptors, 20 snack balls marked Carnivore or Herbivore, instructions & a game guide.
It’s recommended for kids aged three and up.
Bring Barbie to life! The Barbie doll, Ken Doll, and Barbie Dreamhouse will make your child feel like they have just entered the pink-filled land
If you have seen the Barbie film, then you already know why the doll is flying off the shelves.
The toy is a version of the film’s Stereotypical Barbie – who is played by Margot Robbie – and even sports the same stunning plaid outfit.
The doll retails for $24.99. You can even purchase a matching Ken doll ($21.99) – which is made to look like Ryan Gosling.
The Ken doll comes complete with a surfboard and the actor’s rock-hard abs.
And the collection wouldn’t be complete without the Barbie Dreamhouse, which retails for $179.
The house includes a puppy slide and pool, pet elevator, and pet palace. Read More > at the Daily Mail
Research links strawberries to greater cognitive function, lower blood pressure – Eating strawberries daily may improve cognitive function in older adults, as well as lower blood pressure and boost antioxidant capacity, a new study finds.
“That’s an important preventive measure for different chronic diseases,” the study’s principal investigator, Dr. Shirin Hooshmand, told UPI in an email. She is a professor in the School of Exercise and Nutritional Sciences at San Diego State University.
Results of the randomized clinical trial were presented in July at Nutrition 2023, the annual meeting of the American Society of Nutrition. The study adds to earlier research demonstrating the cardiovascular, metabolic and cognitive health benefits of strawberry consumption.
After strawberry intake, cognitive processing speed increased by 5.2%, systolic blood pressure decreased by 3.6% and total antioxidant capacity jumped by 10.2%. Waist circumference decreased by 1.1% during the control and intervention arms of the trial. Participants consuming the control powder experienced an increase in serum triglycerides, while the intervention arm did not.
Strawberries contain many bioactive compounds. In addition to providing 100% of daily vitamin C needs, they are a source of heart-healthy nutrients like folate, potassium, fiber and polyphenols. Read More > at UPI
Romick in Oakley 