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NEWS ON SOPHIA'S CONDITION

The number of high-school-age teens who are having sex dropped markedly over a decade, a trend that includes substantial declines among younger students, African Americans and Hispanics, according to a new government report released Thursday. The survey by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showed especially steep declines in the past two years. It adds to evidence about ongoing progress in reducing risky behavior by teenagers, who are becoming pregnant, smoking cigarettes, drinking alcohol and using marijuana at rates lower than younger people before them, according to public health surveys.

Britain’s National Health Service has ordered hospitals to cancel as many as 55,000 planned surgeries amid chaos from a spike in winter illnesses. Instructions on Tuesday from NHS Medical Director Sir Bruce Keogh called for “all but the most urgent cases” to be canceled until at least February, which includes closing outpatient clinics for weeks, The Telegraph reported. The jump in flu cases has come at a time when many hospitals had almost reached capacity, and according to The Telegraph, frail patients are “facing 12-hour waits and some units running out of corridor space.” Metro reported that hospital occupancy rates...

Denver, Colorado just took a step closer to being and smelling like India. The Denver City Council gave their city a big flaming bag of poop for Christmas. On Monday the city council unanimously voted to decriminalizing low-level crimes like pooping on the sidewalk. NO Clean Up On Aisle 5 In Denver, people are required to dispose of dog poop, but humans defecating can just leave it anywhere they like. You would think they would stop there, but noooooooo!

Josiah Zayner, 36, recently made headlines by becoming the first person to use the revolutionary gene-editing tool Crispr to try to change their own genes. Part way through a talk on genetic engineering, Zayner pulled out a syringe apparently containing DNA and other chemicals designed to trigger a genetic change in his cells associated with dramatically increased muscle mass. He injected the DIY gene therapy into his left arm, live-streaming the procedure on the internet. The former Nasa biochemist, based in California, has become a leading figure in the growing “biohacker” movement, which involves loose collectives of scientists, engineers, artists,...

Minneapolis To Reduce Police Psych Testing After Screening Out Too Many Minorities Anders Hagstrom Justice Reporter 1:53 PM 12/15/2017 The city of Minneapolis may fire its police psychology evaluator because his tests screened out too many minority candidates, despite already lowering psych evaluations far below the national standard. The July police shooting of Justine Damond triggered the city to scrutinize its psychological standards for police, with many claiming they’d become lax. Psychiatrist Thomas Gratzer has run psych testing for the Minneapolis police for the past five years, and in that time, he has eliminated four of the five tests used...

U.S. Sen. Cory Gardner (R-CO) has been taking it pretty hard from all Coloradans, judging from his low approval ratings, and his conservative base isn’t giving him a pass when it comes to criticism either. In one recent Facebook post, for example, the North Jeffco Tea Party shared an image of an “Enema of the State” award that was apparently bestowed on Gardner by a vote at the Christmas Party of the Jeffco Liberty Party Coalition. The award, also given to Sen. John McCain of Arizona, was for Gardner’s “Conduct Unbecoming of a Conservative.” Gardner has also been under serious...

Arizona is seeking to impose work requirements on many of its Medicaid beneficiaries under a new waiver submitted to the Trump administration this week. The waiver would require able-bodied adults between the ages of 19 and 55 — with certain exemptions — to work, attend school or go to employment support and development programs for at least 20 hours a week. Those who fall under the requirements would have six months to meet them before losing coverage, though they could re-enroll after complying. The state is also proposing to impose a five-year lifetime limit on Medicaid for “able-bodied” people. Arizona...

Alzheimer's disease is caused by immune cells in the brain triggered by inflammation, according to a breakthrough discovery. The new research could lead to the development of a drug that treats or even prevents the condition within five years, say scientists. Experiments found destroying specific cells - known as microglia - reduced the formation of clumps of amyloid beta that form in Alzheimer's and destroy memory. These are the rogue proteins believed to lie at the root of the devastating neurological illness. Human trials of all therapies have failed in the past. Most have targeted the amyloid plaques that build...

Wednesday during a cabinet meeting, President Donald Trump discussed the Republican’s tax bill and said the repeal of individual mandate in the bill meant Obamacare has “essentially” been repealed. Trump said, “The individual mandate is being repealed. When the individual mandate is being repealed that means Obamacare is being repealed because they get their money from the individual mandate. So the individual mandate is being repealed. So in this bill not only do we have massive tax cuts and tax reform, we have essentially repealed Obamacare. And we’ll come up with something that will be much better. Whether it’s block...

"We do not need to go to war with America. America is committing collective suicide," Vladimir Putin told his assembly members recently. "We just have to wait until they are all in the psychiatric hospital," the Russian President said. Putin pointed to the "way they are using electricity" to define what he sees as a death spiral trend for the country that once considered the Russian threat to be at an end. International authority on the dangers of electromagnetic fields (EMF), Dr. Dietrick Klinghardt says America is racing itself to extinction because of three horrible, self-imposed threats, namely Autism, Alzheimer's...

Waiting Your Turn: Wait Times for Health Care in Canada, a research report published by the Fraser Institute, found “a median waiting time of 21.2 weeks between referral from a general practitioner and receipt of treatment.” This is the longest in the history of Fraser’s annual survey and 128% longer than the first survey in 1993. The wait to see a specialist for a consultation is now 177% longer than in 1993. Sen. Bernie Sanders (S-Vt) averred that “long lines don’t bother me. Important members of society can jump these queues if need be. Making less important patients wait is...

In an op ed for the left-wing Sacramento Bee, Crystal Strait, president of Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California, blasted the Trump Administration’s rollback of an Obama policy mandating that religious organizations must include abortion in the health insurance offered to employees, calling it “a violation of women’s constitutional rights to ‘life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness.’” “Few things are more stifling to freedom than the burdens of motherhood,” Strait wrote. “Preventing a woman from obtaining an abortion condemns her to a life of subservience to another person. This is tyranny. That President Trump would authorize a change in regulations that...

<p>A dear friend's elderly mother fell and broke some toes. Turns out she also broke her him in two place. She is in surgery right now. Prayers requested.</p>

Well, your ollll' marty was recently diagnosed with early stage Type II Diabeetus. Doc prescribed pills that sound like some Yankee RINO's name: "Metformin." I'm doing all the Intarweb research that I can on the topic but I'd like to hear FReepers' personal takes on what to look for in a blood glucose monitor. I figure if I'm going to be using this monitor for awhile it should be a good one. The one the Doc suggested -- that my insurance would most readily pay for -- doesn't get good reviews at all ("wildly inaccurate readings"). Your input please!

Justin Trudeau sure as heck stepped in it, hasn't he? Of course, the Canadian prime minister was not alone in praising Fidel Castro's "significant improvements to the education and healthcare of his island nation." Here is a compilation of the usual suspects (CNN, MSNBC, NBC, etc.) fawning over the dead dictator's "legacy." And, since fish stinks from the head down, let's not forget President Obama's lionization of the Castro brothers' "accomplishments" when he visited Havana earlier this year. Sure, our 44th president acknowledged that Cubans are pathetically poor and lack basic human rights, but then he took the sting out...

“Body-positive” activists are upset that reality TV star Louise Thompson titled her upcoming book “Body Positive,” claiming the actress is stealing language that’s actually meant to describe obesity-acceptance. According to the Bookseller, “Body Positive” details Thompson’s transformation from “an anxiety-ridden party girl, battling with mental health and an unhealthy relationship with eating” to a woman who found “happiness, calm, direction and self-love” through better relationships with fitness and food. Immediately after The Bookseller tweeted about the book, people took offense to the title: Made in Chelsea's @LouiseAThompson is publishing a recipe and fitness book with @YellowKiteBooks: https://t.co/saVFS88Baj pic.twitter.com/D76O3JNM7l — The...

Scientists are calling for a worldwide ban on glitter, warning that the arts and crafts supplies are a hazard to the environment, particularly the ocean. Dr. Trisia Farrelly, an environmental anthropologist at Massey University in New Zealand, told The Independent that “all glitter” should be banned because it’s microplastic. “Microplastics are fragments of plastic less than 5 millimetres in length. Their size makes them an appealing – though dangerous – food item for many animals,” writes The Independent. “Not only have marine animals from plankton to whales been documented eating plastic, often with fatal consequences, microplastics can end up inside...

Wilson, N.C. — Fresenius Kabi will expand its drug-manufacturing operations in Wilson, potentially bringing at least 445 new jobs over five years and $100 million in investment. The German company will enlarge its 100-employee pharmaceutical production facility and build a new manufacturing plant. Both facilities will make products used in hospitals and clinics throughout the United States and Canada. “This expansion is welcome news for Eastern North Carolina and our entire state and shows once again that manufacturing thrives in North Carolina today,” Gov. Roy Cooper said in announcing the expansion. Fresenius Kabi has owned its Wilson site, specializing in...

One of the most popular ground cannabis vapourizers - though definitely not the most affordable - has received a serious upgrade, one that's well worth a view. And if the Arizer's too rich for you, Vie has unleashed a much different and less expensive model it thinks should be, well, high on your shopping list. It's always nice to have choices! With medical marijuana all the rage and legal marijuana on the Canadian horizon, it seems that it's more a matter of "when" the stuff will become mainstream, rather than "if." But there are still the issues of smoke, second...