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Doctors Who Say No To Opioid Use Face Threats From Patients

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law enforcement personnel walk toward the Allina Health clinic where multiple people were shot in Buffalo, Minn. Doctors say they're facing increasing threats of violence for refusing to prescribe opioids or trying to wean patients off the addictive painkillers. The issue was underscored by Tuesday's shooting at the Minnesota clinic. (David Joles/Star Tribune via AP, File)

(AP) — One patient threatened to shoot Dr. Terry Hunt if physical therapy didn’t relieve his pain as effectively as opioids did. Another harassed his staff, then roamed a hospital searching for Hunt after being told he would be weaned off painkillers he had used inappropriately.

Hunt was unharmed, but shaken enough to ask the central Illinois hospital system where he worked to dismiss both patients.

So when he heard about Tuesday’s attack at a medical clinic in Buffalo, Minnesota, that left one person dead and four injured, “the first thing I assumed is that it was something to do with pain medication,” said Hunt, who now works for the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, and a Mayo Clinic Health System facility in Red Wing, Minnesota. “It makes us ask about our own workplace: How secure are we?”

Authorities said Gregory Paul Ulrich, 67, was angry about his medical treatment before he shot five workers and detonated three apparent pipe bombs at an Allina Health clinic. A police report says he had threatened a similar mass shooting in 2018, allegedly as revenge against people who he said “tortured” him with back surgeries and prescribed medication.

A former roommate said Ulrich became upset when a doctor stopped prescribing painkillers, and that Ulrich also used other drugs and had untreated mental health issues. Law enforcement and the health system have not addressed the specifics of Ulrich’s treatment or medications.

Doctors who treat pain say threats of violence escalated markedly in recent years as mounting legal and regulatory pressure stemming from the deadly opioid epidemic led many to prescribe alternatives and taper their patients off addictive painkillers.

While some patients benefit from careful use of opioids, and doctors don’t want to stigmatize them, many would be better off treating pain with other therapies, experts say. But many become addicted to the drugs that are often intended for short-term use following surgeries.

“It hijacks their brain,” said Dr. Carrie DeLone, regional medical director at Penn State Health Community Medical Group. “They don’t see themselves as having a problem.”

Pain specialist Dr. Andrew Kolodny, a professor at Brandeis University and a founder of Physicians for Responsible Opioid Prescribing, said patients are convinced that opioids are treating their underlying problem because if they try to go without a dose or as their previous dose wears off, “they’re feeling horrible, agonizing pain,” when it can be the withdrawal that is causing pain hypersensitivity.

“It’s much easier to give the patient what they want. You write the prescription … they walk out the door happy and there are no problems. To try and help a patient taper down … is much harder,” Kolodny said.

And when a doctor says no, things can turn ugly.

“We’ve had patients waiting for doctors in parking lots to harass them. We’ve had them say ‘We’re going to shoot you’ or ‘We’re going to burn your house down,’” DeLone said.

Almost half of pain specialists surveyed during a violence education session at a 2019 American Academy of Pain Medicine meeting cited opioid management as the reason they had been threatened, said Dr. W. Michael Hooten, president-elect of the organization.

In response to threats, doctors have dismissed patients. But they have also installed alarm systems and panic buttons and set up exam rooms so doctors are closest to the door. Some even advocate carrying weapons, said Hooten, noting that smaller clinics are at greatest risk because they might not be able to afford security.

After his 2018 threat, police took Ulrich for a mental health evaluation, and Allina took legal action to bar him from the company’s property. A restraining order prohibited Ulrich from contact with the doctor or going into the clinic and nearby Allina-run Buffalo Hospital, where he once frightened a nurse so much that a colleague hit a panic button for help.

Police said they had had no recent interactions with Ulrich that would have raised alarms before the attack in Buffalo, a small city about 40 miles (65 kilometers) northwest of Minneapolis.

St. Joseph County, Indiana, Prosecutor Ken Cotter said he didn’t know that such threats were common until 2017, when a man shot and killed a doctor who refused to prescribe opioids to his wife. Michael Jarvis ambushed Dr. Todd Graham in a parking lot hours after the appointment, said Cotter, adding there was evidence that Jarvis also was using opioids. Jarvis took his own life soon after.

Before that, “I do not recall ever reading a threat report” from a doctor, said Cotter, who said he received calls from about 20 doctors after the shooting telling him how common they were. “They took (threats) as a cost of doing business.”

Cotter said about a dozen meetings were held with doctors, law enforcement officials and others to discuss how to keep doctors safe, including deescalating tense situations, but also alternatives to opioids, disposal of old medications, and tackling the addiction problems that plague their communities.

“When you’ve got doctors calling to say we have to do something, this is… literally our whole community’s crusade,” Cotter said.

Kolodny, from Brandeis, said he has been compared to Hitler, threatened on Twitter, and a bag of nails was mailed to his home. Last month, protesters carried signs near his office demanding that he be fired because of his work advocating for less opioid use and helping states sue opioid manufacturers.

The threats have “gotten really scary,” he said. “It’s just gotten really heated up.”

Why Israel Matters to the World

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Technion, Institute of Technology (Haifa), developed a simple blood test capable of detecting different types of cancer. Photo Credit: technion.ac.il

By: Charles S. Haddad

 

 

Israelis do not make islands in the shape of palm trees, nor towering skyscrapers, nor expensive hotels, nor do their leaders use cars with solid silver bodies (a clear allusion to Dubai and the United Arab Emirates).

The pride of the State of Israel is that its technologies will soon be able to be used by all humanity:

 

  1. The University of Tel Aviv is developing a nasal vaccine that will protect people from Alzheimer’s and stroke.

 

  1. Technion, Institute of Technology (Haifa), developed a simple blood test capable of detecting different types of cancer.

 

  1. The Ichlov Center (Tel Aviv) has isolated a protein that makes colonoscopy unnecessary to detect colon cancer with a simple blood test.  Colon cancer kills about 500,000 people annually.

 

  1. Acne does not kill anyone, but it causes anxiety and dissatisfaction in teenagers.  The Curlight Laboratory created a cure by emitting UV rays – high intensity, which eliminates the bacteria that produce acne without generating additional complications.

 

  1. The Given Imaging Laboratory has developed a tiny camera in the form of pills that are swallowed and that transmit thousands of photos of the digestive tract.  These high-quality photos (2 per second for 8 hours) can detect polyps, cancers and sources of bleeding.  The photos are sent to a chip that stores them and sends them to a computer.  At the end of the process, the camera is eliminated by the rectum.

 

  1. The Hebrew University (Jerusalem) has developed an electrical neurostimulator (batteries) that is implanted in the chest of patients with Parkinson’s, similar to a pacemaker.  Emissions from this device block nervous signals that produce tremors.

 

  1. The simple odor of a patient’s breath can detect whether a patient has lung cancer.  The Russel Berrie Institute for Nanotechnology has created sensors capable of perceiving and registering 42 biological markers that indicate the presence of lung cancer without the need for biopsy.

 

  1. It is possible to dispense with catheterization in many cases.  Endopat is a device placed between the index fingers, which can measure the state of the arteries and predict the possibility of a heart attack for the next 7 years.

 

  1. Bar Ilan University is studying a new drug that fights viruses by blood.  It is called the Vecoy Trap because it tricks a virus into self-destruction.  Very useful to fight Hepatitis, and in the future AIDS and Ebola.

 

  1. It is possible that Israeli scientists at Hadassah Medical Center (Jerusalem) discovered the first cure for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, known as Lou Gehring’s Disease, in an orthodox rabbi.  Stephen Hawking, a famous British scientist, suffered from this disease and to communicate he used methods invented by Israeli scientists.

 

 

US Threatens Ban On El Al Over Rescue-Flight Exclusivity

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(VIN) The U.S. Department of Transportation has informed Jerusalem that its decision to ban American airlines from operating flights to Tel Aviv is a flagrant violation of bilateral aviation accords, U.S. media outlets reported on Saturday.

If Israel continues to ban U.S. airlines from operating flights to Tel Aviv this weekend, including those aimed at rescuing Israeli citizens stranded overseas, the department said that it would prevent El Al airplanes from landing in the United States.

Outside of rescue flights, Ben-Gurion International Airport has been ordered shut until Jan. 21 at the earliest, to prevent mutations of the coronavirus from entering Israel.

Israel’s flag carrier is currently the only airline to operate rescue flights on the New York-Tel Aviv route.

The U.S. announcement has significance for Israel’s decision to shutter its main airport, as United and Delta are two of the world’s largest airlines to operate in Israel.

Israel’s Transportation Ministry was set to convene on Sunday, to examine how to address U.S. disapproval with the move. Should Israel allow U.S. airlines to fly to Tel Aviv, other countries will likely join the protest.

In routine times, the two U.S. airlines operate dozens of flights between Israel and the U.S. every month. While a majority of carriers ceased to operate their Israel flights, United Airlines was one of the few carriers that continued to fly to Tel Aviv during the pandemic. Although it does not currently fly to Tel Aviv, American Airlines announced that it would begin to operate a Tel Aviv-Miami route this summer.

Minrav Development Plans New Condo Project in Stuyvesant Town

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VU at 368 Third Avenue. Rendering by Unmarked Studio. Photo Credit: newyorkyimbby.com

By Hadassa Kalatizadeh

On Thursday, Minrav Development filed plans with the city for a 10-story, 50-unit condominium building at 305 First Ave. As reported by Crain’s NY, the luxury project, planned for the border of Stuyvesant Town in Manhattan, will be 116 feet tall and comprise of roughly 70,000 square feet.    In addition to the 50 condo apartments, the project is also slated to include commercial space at the base of the building.  SLCE Architects was tapped as the building’s architect.

Minrav, the commercial and residential developer based in New York City’s Madison Avenue, purchased the vacant lots at 305-311 First Avenue in February of last year.  As per city records, the four adjacent lots were purchased from CIM Group for the price of $28.5 million.  Representatives for Minrav did not respond to Crain’s request for comment.

Minrav’s other New York City developments include: 244 E. 52nd St., which is a 15-unit luxury condo building; 427 E. 90th St., which is a 21-unit luxury condo building; 368 Third Avenue, in Kips Bay, which is a 35-floor mixed-use residential and retail condominium development under construction and slated for completion by the end of 2021; 21 Powers Street in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, which offers 14 luxury residential condominiums.  As per the company’s website, in early 2020, the firm also purchased the site at 343-345 EAST 17TH Street in Manhattan’s Gramercy Park, and has plans to develop about 30,000 square feet of residential condos.

The latest plans are another push for Manhattan’s condominium market, which seems to be off to a not-too shabby start for 2021, despite the pandemic which continues to linger and threaten throughout the city. In January, there were 360 new signed contracts for condos in Manhattan, which is about 50 percent more than the 239 contracts signed in January 2020, as per a report from Douglas Elliman.  Another report from the Real Estate Board of New York, showed that overall, filings for new buildings spanned about 42.7 million square feet last year, down 28 percent compared to the previous year and the lowest total since 2012.  In 2020, construction companies filed plans for only 1,760 new buildings, also the lowest number since 2012.

This year has so far showed signs of improvement, with several new super projects filed.  The Gotham Organization has filed for plans to build a colossal 47-story mixed-use tower at 550 10th Ave. in Manhattan’s Far West side.

 

 

New Yorkers are Fleeing to Florida & Taking their Businesses With Them

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Philippe Delgrange, owner of Le Bilboquet on Manhattan’s East 60th Street, also opened shop in Palm Beach. “[Palm Beach] is really working with you, not trying to put wood in your wheels,’’ said Delgrange. Photo Credit: altimapalmbreach.com

By: Benyamin Davidsons

It’s been a cold, lonely winter in New York.

The frigid weather and Covid-19 restrictions have left New Yorkers living like hermits.   Many, feeling fed up, are opting out and fleeing to the Sunshine State and other warm escapes.

As of Feb.12, New York City restaurants were finally allowed to open for indoor dining– but only at 25 percent capacity.  Despite restaurants’ efforts to add outdoor heaters and create pods, outdoor dining in NY was numbing.  Lincoln Center, Broadway and Carnegie Hall remain shuttered, and so  New Yorkers dreaming of a social life are getting on planes and heading South to Florida, and specifically to Palm Beach County.

“I have escaped New York!’’ exclaimed Jean Denoyer, owner of La Goulue, a Manhattan Bistro which just opened a new location in Palm Beach, Fla.  “We take everyone’s temperature when they arrive and keep the doors and windows open so fresh air circulates.”  The new restaurant, just a short flight away seems like a different world.  They have been operating at 100 percent capacity, and business is booming with tables and chairs full of indoor patrons enjoying and living it up.

As reported in a recent article in the NY Post, similarly Philippe Delgrange, owner of Le Bilboquet on Manhattan’s East 60th Street, also opened shop in Palm Beach.  “[Palm Beach] is really working with you, not trying to put wood in your wheels,’’ said Delgrange, denoting the restrictions placed on restaurants in NYC.   Although masks are required at indoors locations there too, there are no specific spacing restrictions, so it is commonplace to see bars and restaurants filled with maskless patrons who are eating and drinking.  Moreover, the Kravis Center in West Palm just announced that they will open for jazz performances later this month.

The drastic difference is apparent despite the fact that in Palm Beach County COVID infection rates were up to 7.57 percent last week. In New York, the rate fell to 5.08 percent from a high of over 7 percent.  “I feel alive again. I could move here for the rest of my life,’’ said Long Islander Erica Holzer, 47, who came to Palm Beach with her husband for eight weeks. “They take precautions but aren’t absurd…It’s just so freeing to be here.’’

“I arrived here last week and it feels like a different world,’’ said Soho resident Charles Rosenberg, 30, who is staying in Palm Beach for a few weeks. “But I think when the spring comes, New York will feel like this again.”

Manhattan Apartment Sales Last Month Higher than any January Since 2014

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A Corcoran Group analysis revealed that over 900 contracts were signed for condos and co-ops, posting a 28 percent improvement over last January, when just 711 apartments sold. Photo Credit: Corcoran.com

By Ilana Siyance

Manhattan home sales had a great month in January, thanks to bargain hunters grabbing pandemic priced deals.

As reported by the NY Post, last month there were more apartments sold in Manhattan than any other January since 2014.  A Corcoran Group analysis revealed that over 900 contracts were signed for condos and co-ops, posting a 28 percent improvement over last January, when just 711 apartments sold.  “New York has not lost its luster as the capital of the world. It’s gotten beat up with COVID, but it’s not going away,” said Corcoran CEO Pam Liebman. “As soon as Manhattan gets dressed up again and at full speed, I think it’s going to soar.”

Of course, real estate prices have dropped since the COVID-19 pandemic hit, led by a whopping 54 percent decline in sales between May and June 2020, as per a report by appraisal firm Samuel Miller and Douglas Elliman Real Estate.  “I would say this is extraordinarily positive for New York real estate and I think highly unexpected,” Liebman added. “I’m really surprised it happened so quickly.”

The home sales reflect purchases from New Yorkers who spent more time at home in 2020, and are opting to upgrade for more space and added amenities, she said.  Also, families from Long Island, New Jersey and Connecticut have been purchasing pied-à-terres, or temporary second homes.

“I truly believe had the pandemic not hit, there’s no way we would have been able to get the apartment that we’re purchasing at the price that we are,” says Interior designer Gabriela Gargano, who closed on a 4-bedroom in Greenwich Village, upgrading with her husband and young child, and selling their 3-bedroom apartment.

There were a total of 539 co-op deals this month, up 22 percent from January 2020, as per Corcoran. There were a total of 279 condo resales, up 42 percent compared to last January.  Sales were sizzling in all price categories, including ultra-luxury, as per Corcoran.  There were four contracts signed for homes priced over $20 million last month, compared with just one in that price range last January.

“The current environment represents a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for discerning buyers who believe in NYC’s future to purchase the highest and best quality real estate, as seen with this deal,” said developer Ryan Freedman, founder of Corigin Real Estate Group.

 

Trump ‘Ready to Move On’, ‘Excited About 2022’: Sen. Graham

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AP

BY JACK PHILLIPS(EPOCH TIMES)

Sen. Lindsay Graham (R-S.C.) on Sunday said he spoke with former President Donald Trump and that the former commander-in-chief is “ready to move on” after he was acquitted by the Senate in his second impeachment trial.

The former president “was grateful to his lawyers, he appreciated the help that all of us have provided,” Graham told Fox News. “He’s ready to move on and rebuild the Republican Party, he’s excited about 2022 and I’m going to go down to talk with him next week.”

Graham, the ranking Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, said Trump is “mad at some folks” in the Republican Party for going along with the impeachment effort. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) voted to acquit Trump but made a speech suggesting he should face criminal prosecution.

“I think Sen. McConnell’s speech, he got a load off his chest, but unfortunately put a load on the back of Republicans,” Graham said in the Sunday interview. “That speech you will see in 2022 campaigns. I would imagine if you’re a Republican running in Georgia, Arizona, New Hampshire where we have a chance to take back the Senate, they may be playing Sen. McConnell’s speech and asking you about it if you’re a candidate.”

Graham added, “I think [McConnell’s] speech was an outlier regarding how Republicans feel about all this.”

But the longtime Republican lawmaker from South Carolina suggested the former president “bears responsibility of pushing narratives” after the Nov. 3 election. However, in regard to the former president’s claims about the election, Graham said he believed they are protected under the First Amendment.

Last month, House impeachment managers impeached Trump for allegedly inciting violence on Jan. 6—describing it as an “insurrection”—after a riot broke out at the U.S. Capitol building, which was breached as members of Congress were certifying the Nov. 3 election.

Trump’s lawyers argued that his comments were protected under the First Amendment, adding it is unconstitutional to impeach a former president.

On Saturday, Trump indicated he was thinking about his own political future without divulging details.

“In the months ahead I have much to share with you, and I look forward to continuing our incredible journey together to achieve American greatness for all of our people,” he said in a statement, while praising his acquittal.

“Our historic, patriotic and beautiful movement to Make America Great Again has only just begun.”

Portuguese lawmaker suggests Israel’s vaccine success due to Jewish money

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Photo by Nati Shohat/Flash90View from Rossio Square in the city of Lisbon, Portugal, on November 30, 2018

(I24) Portugal, with a population of 10 million people, is home to some 3,000 Jews

A Portuguese politician suggested on Twitter Saturday that the success behind Israel’s world-leading vaccination driven is due to Jewish financial domination, according to the Jewish Telegraph Agency.

“The Jews, as they dominate the fiscal world, bought and have the vaccines they wanted,” Rodrigo Sousa e Castro, a local lawmaker from Lisbon, wrote.

“It’s historical revenge of sorts. I won’t say anything else before the Zionist ‘bulldogs’ jump,” he added

Shortly after posting the message, Rodrigo Sousa e Castro was repudiated for his post by the country’s second-largest party.

The remarks also provoked outrage, especially from the Israeli embassy in Lisbon, and prompted Sousa e Castro to delete the tweet stating it was “offensive.”

However, Rodrigo Sousa e Castro later appeared to walk back his apology and stated that the original tweet was aimed at “Zionism and its crimes in Palestine” that upset “Zio-Nazis.”

He then posted a photo of himself shaking hands with the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.

On Wednesday, the Social Democratic Party tabled a draft resolution in Parliament stating “Portugal is seeing the propagation of anti-Semitic discourse with serious insinuations.”

Portugal, with a population of 10 million people, is home to some 3,000 Jews. While anti-Semitic incidents in Portugal are extremely rare, resolutions in parliament condemning anti-Semitism are more so.

Iran’s former Crown Prince says theocratic regime’s days are numbered

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AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster 2017©Iran's long-exiled Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi in Washington, DC on April 6, 2017

(I24) Reza Pahlavi assesses that the majority of Iranians see the Islamic Republic’s track record as one of failure

Iran’s former Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi cautioned that the timing of US President Joe Biden’s stated desire to rejoin the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) is a strategic error with regard to the Tehran regime.

In an interview with Israel Hayom, the exiled son of the late shah, criticized the mistaken contention that the mullahs were rational actors expressing that the “regime’s destructive and destabilizing actions are not conducive to any long-term relations with the free world.”

Pahlavi argued that Biden’s precipitate determination to rejoin the so-called 2015 Iran Nuclear Deal, which his former boss President Barack Obama saw as the crowning achievement of his foreign policy, telegraphed to the Ayatollahs – whom he said would “never change” – that they could act with impunity.

It is blackmailing the free world,” he said of the regime. “The only sensible solution to American and regional security concerns and the Iranian peoples’ myriad problems lies in supporting the struggle for freedom and democracy in Iran.”

In a wide-ranging interview, the former crown prince praised the signing of the Abraham Accords – the normalization deals between Israel and a number of Arab countries – comparing the opportunities now afforded citizens of these states as opposed to the “suffering and misery of the ‘Axis of Resistance’ countries – my Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Yemen and Syria.”

He added that as long as the Ayatollahs were in power in Tehran, the Islamic Republic would never recognize the State of Israel or normalize relations with it.

Pahlavi maintained that “unlike most countries,” the regime identifies itself by what it is opposed to, not what it supports. In his assessment, so many internal changes had already taken place in Iran that he thought the ultra-conservative theocracy – marked by environmental, economic and health failures would continue to come under increasing pressure from within Iran.

CNN Protecting Andrew Cuomo on Nursing Homes

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Secretary to the Governor Melissa DeRosa, is joined by New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo as she speaks to reporters during a news conference, in New York. (Mary Altaffer/AP)

By Solange Reyner (NEWSMAX)

CNN host Brian Stelter has avoided covering allegations New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s administration covered up the COVID-19 death toll in New York’s nursing homes, reports Fox News.

The governor’s brother, Chris Cuomo, who also hosts a show on CNN, has avoided mentioning the scandal on air or in his tweets, Fox noted. Chris Cuomo did have his brother on air months ago to tout how well he was handling the COVID crisis, however.

The governor’s top aide, Melissa DeRosa, last week during a private conference call with Democratic lawmakers admitted that data was withheld on nursing homes, where more than 13,000 people have died in the pandemic in the state.

DeRosa’s admission came when she was asked about delays in giving lawmakers nursing home death data. She said the Cuomo administration was afraid that the data on the deaths would be “used against us,” by the Department of Justice by then-President Donald Trump.

Lawmakers from both parties have since called for stripping the governor of the emergency powers he has exercised during the pandemic, while Republicans have called for his resignation.

Cuomo was already facing criticism after the state’s attorney general accused his administration of undercounting nursing-home deaths.

The governor’s office released a transcript of the call on Friday morning and DeRosa released a statement.

“I was explaining that when we received the DOJ inquiry, we needed to temporarily set aside the Legislature’s request to deal with the federal request first,” DeRosa wrote. “We informed the houses of this at the time. We were comprehensive and transparent in our responses to the DOJ, and then had to immediately focus our resources on the second wave and vaccine rollout.

She added: “As I said on a call with legislators, we could not fulfill their request as quickly as anyone would have liked.”

Remote Learning Making Children Fat, at Risk of Diabetes

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AP

By Eric Mack(NEWSMAX)

Closed playgrounds, closed schools, remote learning, no gym class, canceled sports, less exercise, and more snacking are causing American children to gain weight and be at risk for diabetes and asthma, doctors warn.

“We’re seeing a lot of elementary school-aged kids who are gaining 20 to 30 pounds in a year,” Hai Cao, a Brooklyn, N.Y., pediatrician and owner of South Slope Pediatrics in Brooklyn, N.Y. told The Wall Street Journal.

“This is a result of a very crazy year that we’ve had. This is in no way a judgmental reflection on parents.”

The weight gains are worse for children already overweight and those elementary-school aged (6 to 12 years old), according to Staten Island, N.Y., physician assistant Brittany Wilson to the Journal.

“Even kids in grammar school are getting depressed,” Wilson told the paper. “They miss their friends. A lot of them aren’t doing as well academically. With depression also comes weight gain. They’re bored, and I think they’re comfort-eating.”

Schools have tended to help feed children and keep them healthier, according to researchers who have been tracking the heights and weights of tens of thousands of New Jersey children who live in low-income communities since 2008, per the Journal.

“There are all these different elements associated with being in school that are healthy for children, and then COVID happens and all that is taken away,” one of the researchers Michael Yedidia of Rutgers University told the Journal.

Research had already found children gain weight faster over summer vacation than the school year, according to another one of the researchers Punam Ohri-Vachaspati of Arizona State University to the Journal.

“We hypothesize that when the children come back from this ‘extended summer,’ as we’ve been calling it, that they will be heavier or they’ll have a higher likelihood of being overweight or obese,” she told the paper.

Subway Slasher Arrested For A-Train Murders

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NYPD

(AP/ TJVNEWS.COM)  — A 21-year-old Brooklyn man was arrested in the fatal stabbings of two people on New York City subway trains, police said Sunday.

Rigoberto Lopez was taken into custody Saturday night and was formally arrested Sunday on charges of murder and attempted murder, police said.

Police sources said Lopez, who is mentally ill, was charged on Sunday with murder and attempted murder after confessing to all of the attacks, NY Daily News reported. The dangerous slasher was still covered in his victim’s blood on his clothing and sneakers according to accounts.

One of the victims was discovered dead on a train in Queens late Friday with several stab wounds to his neck and torso, police said. The victim was found slouched in a subway seat on the A train, with pools of blood on the ground.

Two hours later, a 44-year-old woman was found stabbed to death in a subway car in upper Manhattan, the victim was found gushing blood beneath the seats of a train in the Inwood/207th St. stop, at the other end of the A-line, police said.

Two nonfatal attacks — one involving a 67-year-old man and the other involving a 43-year-old man — also occurred in upper Manhattan. Authorities believe all four victims were homeless.

Deputy Chief Brian McGee said officers on patrol in the northern Manhattan neighborhood where three of the four stabbings occurred spotted Lopez, who fit the description of the suspect being sought in the attacks, at 6:15 p.m. Saturday.

The officers brought Lopez to the local police precinct for questioning, McGee said. A knife was recovered from Lopez and will be analyzed to determine whether it was the weapon used in the attacks, McGee said.

Police said they believe Lopez may have committed all of the attacks. It wasn’t clear if he had an attorney who could speak for him.

Police leaders said they would deploy an additional 500 officers into the subway system to guard against future assaults. “To the victims, to the victims’ families, we are 100% committed to getting justice … to bring closure to the families of this terrible incident,” NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea said Saturday.

Transit officials called the 500 extra officers “an important first step” while asking for another 1,000 officers to be deployed to subways and buses to stem the violence.

“We request teams of uniformed officers be assigned to every station and that officers ride the system throughout the day and during the overnight to ensure the safety of our customers and colleagues,” Metropolitan Transportation Authority CEO Patrick Foye and New York City Transit interim president Sarah Feinberg said in a letter to Shea and Mayor Bill de Blasio on Sunday.

Foye and Feinberg said that “The safety and security of our system remain our foremost priority. We know you share this commitment.”

UK Shocker: ‘do not resuscitate’ Notices Given to Covid Patients with learning Disabilities

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ucsfhealth.org

(TJVNEWS.COM)

London Economic reported:

Patients with learning disabilities have been given do not resuscitate orders during the deadly second wave of the coronavirus pandemic, despite widespread condemnation of the practice and an urgent investigation from a care watchdog.

Charity Mencap said it received reports in January from people with learning disabilities, who had been told that they would not be resuscitated if they contracted Covid-19.

The news comes despite the Care Quality Commission saying in December that ill-advised Do Not Attempt Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (DNACPR) notices had caused a number of potentially avoidable deaths last year.

Do not resuscitate orders are normally reserved for people too frail to benefit from CPR – but Mencap said that some had been issued for people because they had learning disabilities.

The Guardian reported:

Edel Harris, Mencap’s chief executive, said: “Throughout the pandemic, many people with a learning disability have faced shocking discrimination and obstacles to accessing healthcare, with inappropriate Do Not Attempt Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (DNACPR) notices put on their files and cuts made to their social care support. “It’s unacceptable that within a group of people hit so hard by the pandemic, and who even before Covid died on average over 20 years younger than the general population, many are left feeling scared and wondering why they have been left out”

The Guardian pointed out:

NHS figures released last week show that in the five weeks since the third lockdown began, Covid-19 accounted for 65% of deaths of people with learning disabilities. Figures from the Office for National Statistics show that the rate for the general population was 39%, although the two statistics are drawn from different measurements. Younger people with learning disabilities aged 18 to 34 are 30 times more likely to die of Covid than others the same age, according to Public Health England.

The UK government-run health care appears to have been caught in an act of possibly practicing eugenics, and a spokesperson from the Department of Health and Social Care said told The Guardian: “It is completely unacceptable for ‘do not attempt CPR’ decisions to be applied in a blanket fashion to any group of people. This has never been policy and we have taken action to prevent this from happening”

The question remains, denying mentally disabled from COVID care is not a policy, why was this happening?

Joe Biden Calls For ‘Assault Weapons’ Ban On Parkland Shooting Anniversary

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President Joe Biden (AP)

Jared Evan

In a White House statement, Biden urged Congress to draft measures to ban “assault weapons” and high-capacity magazines and implement strict background checks on all gun sales.

“Today, I am calling on Congress to enact common sense gun law reforms, including requiring background checks on all gun sales, banning assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, and eliminating immunity for gun manufacturers who knowingly put weapons of war on our streets,” Biden stated.

“This Administration will not wait for the next mass shooting to heed that call. We will take action to end our epidemic of gun violence and make our schools and communities safer.”

“We owe it to all those we’ve lost and to all those left behind to grieve to make a change. The time to act is now,” he added.

Biden’s anti-Second Amendment remarks come on the third anniversary of the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting.

Gun control advocates have previously announced their agenda in public on national television, in front of millions of Americans, during the”March for our Lives ” gun control movement, activists such as Parkland High School student David Hogg, who at one time was the mouthpiece for the anti- 2nd amendment agenda, admit their agenda is not for “common sense” but an  “incremental” agenda to severely restrict the 2nd amendment.

Radical Leftist, Texas Democratic Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee has proposed a gun control bill that would create a national firearm registry, set a minimum gun ownership age at 21 and both require licensing and psychological evaluations.

The proposed Sabika Sheikh Firearm Licensing and Registration Act would make it a crime to possess a firearm or ammunition without the new license or sell one to someone who doesn’t have the license, according to Fox News.

With bills such as Lee’s being analyzed by congress, the extent of the Democrat’s “gun grab” is unknown. With attacks on the NRA and Dems controlling the House and Senate, 2nd amendment supporters should remain vigilant and pay close attention to what kind of “sensible legislation” is being passed.

Hercules Gets Cancelled by Woke Mob : Actor Kevin Sorbo Banned From Facebook

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Jared Evan

Facebook has deleted the official account of actor Kevin Sorbo, marking the latest Big Tech takedown of a conservative. Sorbo, an avowed Donald Trump supporter, has been openly critical of Covid-19 restrictions.

Sorbo, who starred in the 1990s television series ‘Hercules: The Legendary Journeys’, said on Twitter Friday that Facebook shut down his account, which had more than 500,000 followers.

The exact thought crime Sorbo allegedly committed is unknown, however, Sorbo has courted controversy for doubting the effectiveness of masks amid the Covid-19 pandemic, as well as for his unwavering support of ex-president Donald Trump after the Capitol riot.
The conservative-leaning actor has also been criticizing President Biden.

The intolerant “woke mob” has been intent on erasing the social media presence of people who espouse any viewpoints, opinions, or ideas that are not approved according to the standards of those with a social justice seal of approval.  Canceling radicals took to Twitter to celebrate the decision of a social media giant curtailing yet another individual’s free speech.

The radical UnAmerican cancel movement is not to be taken lightly. This censorship crusade began with the banning of popular talk show personality Alex Jones in 2017, who many consider a “conspiracy theorist”, now the mob is now coming after everybody, from movie stars and athletes not aligned with the radical left to the average person, with an average job, who dares to think ‘outside the box ‘that the pseudo-intellectual, control freak, “woke” mob designed.

In 2021, it is literally hard to keep track of all the conservative news outlets, personalities,  social media influencers, journalists, investigators, filmmakers, and average Joe’s who have been erased from Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Instagram.

Some jokingly suggested that Sorbo should join forces with axed ‘Mandalorian’ star Gina Carano, who was canceled from the hit show after her post against political intolerance triggered a wave of liberal false outrage and ludicrous accusations of anti-Semitism.

Sorbo has not yet been banned from Twitter, but the “woke” mob smells blood in the water, and with the taste of “victory” after their Facebook takedown, the once Herculean actor will be silenced eventually on all of the biggest social media outlets.

 

Orthodox synagogue says young member ‘murdered’ by shocking fake news about vaccine

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flash 90

By Paul Shindman, World Israel News

Members of an ultra-Orthodox synagogue were furious when they found out a member who died of the coronavirus had refused to get vaccinated because he believed false rumors spread in the community that the vaccine could make him sterile, the haredi news website Kikar Shabbat reported Wednesday.

Avraham Bedman, 36, had existing coronary problems and died this week due to complications from the coronavirus. His synagogue in the Jerusalem neighborhood of Ramot said Bedman had been “murdered” by fake news in the community and launched a campaign against the people who spread the rumor that the vaccine against coronavirus could make men sterile.

An announcement sent to members of the Mishkan Shraga synagogue said Bedman died because someone had talked him out of getting the vaccine.

“Now, when the blood is boiling, it should be noted that Avraham – who was at a certain risk – refrained from getting vaccinated for fear of harming his fertility,” the announcement said. “The same person who told him this nonsense, and those who distribute it at all, are murderers.”

The synagogue said that everyone in their community “should use this painful case to arouse and warn of the duty to get vaccinated and prevent the death of adults and young people.”

“He had the opportunity to be vaccinated, already at the beginning of the vaccination operation, because he was at risk, but he said he heard that it might cause him not to be a father,” congregation member Rabbi Yishai Lesser told Kikar Shabbat, adding that “Avraham was a cheerful man full of joy of life.”

Rabbi Lesser said another resident of the Ramot neighborhood is currently hospitalized with the virus because he, too, was afraid of getting vaccinated.

“We must publish and warn against these lies,” Lesser said.

Widely read in the ultra-Orthodox community by those who use the internet, Kikar Shabbat has regularly posted calls from leading rabbis of different haredi communities urging their followers to get vaccinated.

After the Health Ministry released figures showing that members of the Bukharan community in Israel had low vaccination rates, senior rabbis of the community published a letter saying it was a Torah precept for everybody to get vaccinated against the coronavirus.

Rabbi Zavdia Cohen, senior leader of the community, wrote that the rabbis gave a “a clear Torah opinion on the sacred duty of each and every young man and woman to receive vaccination immediately.”

“This call is within the scope of Torah and mitzvos [commandments] and … you should not pay any attention at all to those who slander against the vaccine because their words are nonsense and the Torah has already commanded us to heal.”