U.S. Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, a political ally to U.S. President Donald Trump, ordered Postal Service carriers to "slow the mail down" to help Trump win the 2020 presidential election.

Explanation: Anything that undermines the Postal Service’ [service to customers] … has us concerned that it could be linked back to those who have an agenda to eliminate [the Postal Service]. But I can’t sit here and tell you that that’s a fact.

As U.S. President Donald Trump accelerated unsubstantiated attacks on the legitimacy of mail-in voting during the summer of 2020, numerous Snopes readers asked us to investigate whether the leader of the U.S. Postal Service was carrying out a nefarious scheme to help Trump win another presidential term. In late July and early August, various rumors surfaced regarding Louis DeJoy, a North Carolina businessman whom the Postal Service’s governing board selected to run the agency in May 2020. For example, a viral tweet thread alleged: My mailman just confirmed they have all officially been told to “SLOW THE MAIL DOWN,” per trump’s Postmaster General. …He says that there is backed up mail ALL OVER THE FLOOR. He’s never seen anything like it. It has ALREADY begun. But as long as we keep each other informed, we can beat their dirty tricks with INFORMATION. The claim’s underlying notions were these: DeJoy was a political ally to the Republican president, and the new postmaster general had used his new authority to order Postal Service carriers and clerks to slow deliveries to help Trump win the 2020 November election. A backlog of ballots in the weeks or days before Election Day, critics of the president worried, could lead to votes going uncounted or deemed invalid due to state laws governing mail-in election deadlines. What follows is an examination of federal documents obtained by Snopes — including letters by members of Congress, campaign finance reports, and internal memos to Postal Service employees — as well as interviews with postal union representatives and a Postal Service spokesperson, to determine the legitimacy of those questions. DeJoy could not be reached for an interview for this report. Note: Snopes not only investigated DeJoy’s relationship to Trump, but his financial stake in companies that compete with the Postal Service to evaluate if, or to what extent, his past investments provided any evidence of a plan to undermine the Postal Service’s longstanding mission: to provide mail service to every American, no matter their address or income. Yes. DeJoy, who lives in Greensboro, donated more than $1.2 million to the Trump campaign between August 2016 and February 2020, according to campaign finance reports compiled by the Federal Elections Commission (FEC). It’s unclear when or how DeJoy developed a relationship with Trump, and why he decided to support the billionaire’s political pursuits. In a 2005 interview with Greensboro’s local newspaper, DeJoy — then-CEO of New Breed Logistics, a distribution and warehousing company — appeared less supportive of Trump, saying his self-important attitude on the reality-TV show “The Apprentice” was destructive. “I’d be fired,” DeJoy said, if he was a contestant. Nonetheless, by early 2017, DeJoy was among his state’s top donors to Trump (see below for The Charlotte Observer’s list that ranks DeJoy at No. 3 with a total contribution of $111,000). And by October of that year, DeJoy had become close enough to the president to host him and other donors for fundraiser at his Greensboro house. Also, by that time, DeJoy’s wife, Aldona Wos, had been appointed by the president to serve as vice chair of a White House commission that oversees paid fellowships in federal offices, according to the couple’s foundation website. In addition to his contributions to Trump’s political campaigns specifically, DeJoy has given hundreds of thousands of dollars to Republican causes or campaigns over decades, the FEC records show. The Postal Service’s governing board, a group appointed by the president with confirmation from the Senate, selected DeJoy as Postmaster General on May 6, 2020, after what it described as an extensive nationwide search for qualified candidates. At the time of that decision, Trump had appointed all six board members — Chairman Robert Duncan, John Barger, Ron Bloom, Roman Martinez IV, Donald Moak, and William Zollars — since the early days of his presidency. DeJoy, who was in charge of fundraising for the Republican National Convention (RNC) in Charlotte when the board made its announcement, made the following donations since the start of 2020, according to filings from the FEC: In sum, considering DeJoy’s record of donations, as well as evidence of him hosting a Trump fundraiser at his Greensboro home in fall 2017, it is accurate to claim that the new postmaster general is a political ally to the Republican president. The answer to this question is less clear. In summer 2020, the viral claim about DeJoy — that he had directed carriers to delay mail to benefit Trump’s reelection campaign (which we unpack below) — took on another layer: that DeJoy had also allegedly invested $70 million of his own money in delivery companies that compete with the Postal Service. That allegation, which we deemed mostly true (see the explanation below), was particularly worrisome for critics of Trump and DeJoy, who believed the alleged holdings were more proof of the two leaders conspiring together — this time in an attempt to privatize the Postal Service. Here’s some context before we dive into DeJoy’s personal assets: Conservative Republicans have long pushed to remove government from mail services that they believe should be left to the private commercial market. Since Trump took office, he has called the Postal Service “a joke” or Amazon’s “delivery boy,” considering its package rates, and has floated the idea of eventually privatizing the agency. Meanwhile, others fear dismantling the federally-mandated mail service would disproportionately affect people who live in rural areas, where private companies such as FedEx and UPS either charge higher rates or do no shipments at all. At the same time, the Postal Service — which does not receive tax dollars for its operating expenses — faces a worsening financial situation due to a 2006 congressional mandate that required the agency to prepay health care benefits of retirees, as well as a decline in first-class mail customers. The coronavirus pandemic exacerbated those long-standing problems, forcing several post offices nationwide to completely close or scale back hours. For instance, on April 9, 2020, roughly one month before DeJoy was selected to lead the Postal Service, then-Postmaster General Megan Brennan said the agency was preparing for a $13 billion revenue shortfall due “directly to COVID-19” and an additional $54.3 billion in losses over 10 years. Considering those projections, she said the agency could “run out of cash this fiscal year” — or the end of September — without federal intervention. (Brennan announced her retirement in October 2019, after more than 30 years with the agency.) The former Postal Service leader made those comments shortly after federal leaders negotiated a $2.2 trillion COVID-19 economic relief package, called the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, which, initially, included a $13 billion one-time boost for the mail service. But, purportedly at the urging of Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and aides to Trump, congressional leaders removed that provision from the stimulus package, and instead included a $10 billion loan that the Trump administration could leverage in its favor. Then, on July 29, 2020, The Washington Post reported that under DeJoy’s leadership, the postal agency gave Mnuchin’s office’s proprietary information about the Postal Service’s most lucrative private-sector contracts, such as Amazon, FedEx and UPS, in exchange for the loan money. Which brings us to DeJoy’s assets, and the above-mentioned claim that he had “$70 million invested in companies that compete with USPS.” For the basis of this analysis, we considered private companies that provide shipping or distribution services, such as DHL, the FedEx Corporation, and United Parcel Service, Inc. (UPS), business competitors with the post office. For more than 30 years, DeJoy was the CEO of New Breed Logistics, a supply chain business that contracted with a variety of public and private companies, including the Postal Service. In 2014, XPO Logistics acquired DeJoy’s company, and he served on the company’s executive team or board of directors until May 2018. According to internal documents, which we obtained using the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) database of company filings, XPO Logistics considered its competitors to include DHL, FedEx, UPS, and J.B. Hunt Transport Services. Aside from that evidence, which proved DeJoy’s former company competed for business with organizations that also competed with the Postal Service, Snopes uncovered a letter from his wife, Wos, to a White House legal advisor on January 3, 2020, that listed her family’s financial assets, known as “Attachment A.” According to that list, the family had stock in companies including UPS, J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc., and XPO Logistics, Inc. She wrote the letter in response to a nomination by the Trump administration to serve as U.S. ambassador to Canada, and she said she would divest from all holdings in the document within 90 days of her confirmation. However, as of this writing, Wos had not been sworn into the position. The letter, which was available via the Office of Government Ethics, read:  As of June 15, 2020, the day DeJoy assumed his role as postmaster general, The Washington Post reported the couple had between $30.1 million and $75.3 million in assets in Postal Service competitors or contractors. XPO Logistics represented the vast majority of those investments, and the couple’s combined stake in UPS and trucking company J.B. Hunt, for examples, was roughly $265,000. On DeJoy’s first day, the Senate’s top Democrat, Charles Schumer of New York, said in letter to the Postal Service’s board of governors’ chairman: “[DeJoy’s] financial interests in companies that have business ties with the Postal Services, as well as his extensive campaign fundraising efforts, raise questions” over his ethical conflicts of interest and partisan interests. By that point, a spokeswoman for DeJoy told journalists he had resigned as finance chair for the Republican National Convention, and would “comply with any financial divestitures that are required” for the new leadership position. In sum, reports proved the DeJoy family at one point had millions of dollars in assets in companies that compete or contract with the Postal Service, which lend credibility to the viral assertion. But the exact amount of such investments was unclear, and as of this writing, it was unknown if or to what extent the couple had divested any of the financial holdings. Not exactly — but there is some truth to the claim. Upon our analysis, the rumor seems to have stemmed from a series of directives DeJoy gave Postal Service employees since he took over the agency. On his first day, for example, he addressed the agency in a video that alluded to impending changes under his leadership that aimed to create a “viable operating model,” though he did not go into specifics. Then, in mid-July, he issued several memos to employees, including a “New [Postmaster General’s] expectations and plan.” Those messages to all managers, clerks, and carriers nationwide appeared to be the source of the claim, and detailed changes to how and when the Postal Agency would deliver mail. A July 10, 2020, internal document to managers, which Snopes received from the American Postal Workers Union and refers to an “operational pivot” for the agency, said the following, for example: The initial step in our pivot is targeted on transportation and the soaring costs we incur due to late trips and extra trips, which costs the organization somewhere around $200 million in added expenses. The shifts are simple, but they will be challenging, as we seek to change our culture and move away from past practices previously used. But perhaps most relevant to the claim, the DeJoy-sponsored directives included instructions for employees to leave letters or packages at distribution centers if they delayed carriers from their routes — contradicting previous rules for deliveries — and said the Postal Service would no longer pay employees overtime to complete all mail deliveries. The July 10, 2020 memo said: One aspect of these changes that may be difficult for employees is that — temporarily — we may see mail left behind or mail on the workroom floor or docks [in Processing and Distribution Centers], which is not typical. We will address root causes of these delays and adjust the very next day. Any mail left behind must be properly reported, and employees should ensure this action is taken with integrity and accuracy. As we adjust to the ongoing pivot, which will have a number of phases, we know that operations will begin to run more efficiently and that delayed mail volumes will soon shrink significantly. We also considered a separate message to employees in July 2020 that said, under a new initiative, carriers in certain regions would not sort any mail during the morning and instead clock in, retrieve sorted mail from the previous day and limit time in the office as much as possible. Then, when they returned from the streets, they would sort all available mail for the next day. The agency said the extra spending on employees’ overtime or delivery trips had not improved “our performance scores,” without going into detail on what that meant, and framed the changes as necessary steps to improve its financial position. A July 27, 2020, public statement from DeJoy said: Given our current situation, it is critical that the Postal Service take a fresh look at our operations and make necessary adjustments. We are highly focused on our public service mission to provide prompt, reliable, and efficient service to every person and business in this country, and to remain a part of the nation’s critical infrastructure. David Partenheimer, manager of media relations for the Postal Service, told Snopes that the postmaster general was not doing any media interviews regarding the initiatives, nor about the underlying claims of this report. In a roughly 760-word email to us, however, Partenheimer reemphasized what the agency viewed as the need for the adjustments, and said: “We acknowledge that temporary service impacts can occur as we redouble our efforts to conform to the current operating plans, but any such impacts will be monitored and temporary … and corrected as appropriate.” Soon after the directives, American Postal Workers Union President Mark Dimondstein told us in a phone interview that employees and customers across the country were noticing mail delays. In the Philadelphia region, for instance, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported situations where residents were going upwards of three weeks without receiving packages and letters, and postal union leaders and carriers said mail was piling up at offices, unscanned and unsorted. “When you … say this is what you have to do as workers, then that’s what we have to do — [the change] runs counter to everything that the Postal Service is about, which is we treat the mail as our own; we get it to the customer as quickly as we can,” Dimondstein said. “They’ve never seen mail backed up like this — it’s not being moved.” That meant, while DeJoy had not told carriers to “slow the mail down” verbatim, he initiated changes to how and when carriers go about doing their job that the Postal Agency said would cause temporary mail delays. However, it would be inaccurate to assume all slow deliveries under DeJoy’s leadership were a result of the July 2020 directives specifically, when they could also be linked to reduced hours for some post offices or other circumstances. Roughly three months before the 2020 presidential election, voting rights groups and outspoken critics to the president believed the new directives by DeJoy occurred at a convenient time for Trump: when a record number of Americans were preparing to vote by mail and avoid potential exposure to the COVID-19 coronavirus by casting ballots at in-person polling places. Specifically, they worried the new requirements for post office carriers and clerks would lead to backlogs of mail-in ballots and thus create challenges for elections officials who, in the majority of states, must invalidate ballots that reach them after Election Day — even if they were postmarked before that date. Rep. Carolyn Maloney, a Democrat from New York, for example, led colleagues in writing a letter to DeJoy on July 20, 2020, that said: “While these changes [to mail service] in a normal year would be drastic, in a presidential election year when many states are relying heavily on absentee mail-in ballots, increases in mail delivery timing would impair the ability of ballots to be received and counted in a timely manner — an unacceptable outcome for a free and fair election.” We asked Dimondstein, APWU president, whether he believed the July directives by Postal Service leadership were somehow linked to a plan to cause mail service chaos before the November election and help Trump win reelection. He said: What we do know for truth is this administration is, in written record, proposing and planning to sell the post office to private corporations, i.e. privatizing. …That was June 2018. We also know as a fact that …that [there are] calls for reduced service, increased prices, and less workers’ rights and benefits. So if you take those two things together, certainly if they’re implemented, then they’re going to cause delays in mail; they’re going to cause service being undermined. … This is a fact: [DeJoy is] what’s considered a mega-donor of the Trump administration and the Republican party. …


An Ohio man died from complications related to the COVID-19 coronavirus disease weeks after he downplayed the virus on social media.

Explanation: Words do not describe all of the emotions we, John W. McDaniel’s family, are experiencing right now. We are overwhelmed with grief for the loss of our believed husband, father, soon to be father-in-law, son, brother, uncle, and dear friend to many. Similar to thousands of people, we are suffering from an unexpected and untimely loss due to the effects of COVID-19, the likes of which we never could have imagined. During this time of mourning, John’s story, along with early assumptions that he stated on Twitter and Facebook have turned into national news. The news has opened the flood gates for people to share their own misguided anger and unfounded assumptions about a man they don’t know. Wanting to protect my family and John’s legacy, we have decided not to live stream his funeral services via Facebook today. We will be privately recording his services today and we will be sharing it directly with his family and friends. We have not come to this decision lightly and we hope everyone will honor and respect this decision.

In April 2020, a set of screenshots supposedly showing comments from a “John McDaniels,” in which he called COVID-19 a “political ploy” and social-distancing measures “bullshit,” started to circulate on social media. Along with the posts were articles claiming he died from complications of the coronavirus disease. Here’s a screenshot supposedly showing a post from McDaniel on March 15 and a snippet from his obituary a month later:  McDaniel truly died from complications related to COVID-19 in April 2020 after he downplayed the seriousness of the disease on social media. The New York Daily News wrote:  An Ohio man has tragically died from COVID-19 after criticizing his state’s coronavirus lockdown. John W. McDaniel, 60, died Wednesday in Columbus, exactly one month after reportedly calling Gov. Mike DeWine’s stay-at-home order “madness.” “If what I’m hearing is true, that DeWine has ordered all bars and restaurants to be closed, I say bullshit! He doesn’t have the authority,” McDaniel reportedly wrote in a since-deleted social media post circulated widely on social media. As screenshots of McDaniel’s posts went viral, many social media users took the opportunity to criticize McDaniel, saying he had received his comeuppance for calling the virus a political ploy. McDaniel’s wife, Lisa, acknowledged that her husband had made some “early assumptions” about the virus on social media, but added that social media users were also making unfair assumptions about him. In a statement posted to the Snyder Funeral Homes Facebook page that announced services for McDaniel would not be live-streamed due to concerns about unwanted, negative social media reactions, she explained that McDaniel, like many others, was initially not fully aware of the severity of the pandemic. However, she wrote that he ordered the employees at his company O&M to work from home on March 16 (the day after the above-displayed Facebook post). Furthermore, according to her Facebook message, he self-isolated as soon as he was made aware that he had been in contact with someone who tested positive for COVID-19. Lastly, she wrote that if he were still alive, he would have abided by the state’s stay-at-home order and would have encouraged others to do the same. Here’s her statement from April 22, 2020 (emphasis ours):


CAR-T therapy makes early inroads in treating brain cancer

Explanation: This story in STAT, like the one in TIME.com that we also reviewed, describes the successful, and apparently first positive response of a glioblastoma brain tumor to CAR-T therapy. This is an experimental immunotherapy that depends on on injections of modified immune cell proteins and that has had a few successes in blood cancers but essentially none in solid tumors, including those in the brain. Described in a report in the The New England Journal of Medicine, the study was conducted and promoted by officials and physicians at the City of Hope Beckman Research Institute and Medical Center, an organization that has a somewhat unfortunate history of touting treatments as bringing about “miracles” and encouraging coverage of compelling individual cancer patient stories to support sometimes exaggerated claims of major advances in cancer treatment. This STAT story does a better job than TIME of putting what is essentially a single, unexpected experimental result into perspective. Its strongest points are that it avoids touting this one patient’s experience as any kind of broad “success,” calling it an “early inroad;’ emphasizing its “notorious” potential side effects; and most of all quoting sources outside City of Hope who made clear that, as one put it, the success was possibly a “flash in the pan.” Bravo. One thing that would have made the story stronger? Early on emphasizing how a single case study makes for weak evidence. See our six tips for writing accurately about cancer immunotherapy drugs. Unlike the TIME story (see our review), this story included important voices of caution to help keep expectations in check. Starting with the headline, readers of this story are likely to come away with a more realistic perspective on this treatment. (Meanwhile, TIME’s headline was misleading: “Experimental Brain Cancer Treatment Is a Success.”)

As we noted in our review of TIME Magazine’s story as well: Although there may not yet be any accurate prediction of the cost of the particular therapy described for this single patient, it is generally well established and well documented that immunotherapies–particularly those that involve modifying a patient’s own immune cells–are many times more expensive than standard treatments, sometimes running to annualized costs in the hundreds of thousands of dollars. This story says nothing about this. The article notes that the patient was in remission for seven months, but like the TIME article, says nothing specifically about what the patients tumor status was during those seven months. If the tumors shrunk, it would be at least useful to know the baseline measurements and degree of shrinkage and disappearance, as well as any improvements or (setbacks) in quality of life. This was a tough call, but we’re leaning toward satisfactory. On one hand, the STAT story does acknowledge the downsides, so far, of CAR-T therapy, by referring to the adverse events as “notorious” and providing a link for more information. On the other hand, the story only mentions that severe side effects have occurred without telling us any of those side effects and what the side effects (if any) were for the one patient treated. Instead it says the patient’s side effects were “fairly innocuous” and quotes a researcher early in the story saying “it’s amazing how safe it was.” Yet, this hardly proves it’s safe. See our tips for reporting accurately about the harms, side effects and risks of immunotherapy. The story does make it clear that this was an intervention tested in a single patient, and includes cautious statements from experts. This is a barely passing satisfactory–we think the story could have more emphatically said that any single case study cannot and should not be used to generalize the efficacy of any therapy until more reliable studies are done. No mongering here regarding the brain cancer glioblastoma. Job well done in quoting sources outside of the City of Hope investigators and putting the findings into cautious perspective throughout the article. If the story was to be done at all (a debatable decision), this article makes the best of the context problem. Very few details of conventional alternative treatments are included, but the story points out that glioblastoma is resistant to most treatment options. Still, the story should have noted that alternatives include surgery, radiation and chemotherapy. The STAT story notes the availability of CAR-T commercially (by naming the companies) for blood cancers, and it quotes an outside source as essentially saying “don’t hold your breath” awaiting the viability of this treatment for glioblastoma. The article does a brief but adequate job of describing what is newsworthy here–how this experimental CAR-T is being used for solid tumors for the first time. The story possibly may have started with the news release, but it reflects useful additional outside reporting.


West Virginia physician retires after 41 years.

Explanation: Few people can say after a long career that they have never missed a single day of work because of illness, surgery or foul weather.

Health, Bluefield, General News, West Virginia

But that is exactly what happened to Dr. Mike Malamisura, who recently retired after 41 years of providing care to patients. With the strong work ethic also came an appreciation, he said, that God blessed him with the “good health and perseverance” that allowed such a rare accomplishment. A gastroenterologist with Bluefield Regional Medical Center, Malamisura said retirement did not come easily, but he knew when he had reached the point he was ready. “I have found that, with the advancing years, the attendant physical and emotional stress has taken its toll upon me,” he said. “This, along with the ever-increasing intrusion of the various outside regulatory agencies, has led me to the realization that I can no longer provide the compassionate and most effective medical care that I was able to.” Malamisura said when he first started practicing medicine he had the “altruistic desire to deliver good, safe medical care to my patients. Recent changes in the practice of medicine, however, made that ever more difficult.” That being said, he described his career as rewarding. “It has been my distinct honor and privilege to have helped serve the medical needs of the fine citizens of this community and the surrounding two-state area.” he said. “As I look back on my time at West Virginia University (medical school, residency and fellowship) and Bluefield Regional Medical Center, I see a time well spent, a time with few regrets, an overall happy time.” Malamisura said his career has been both challenging and rewarding. “Over the years I have been blessed to have forged close and lasting relationships with many wonderful people,” he said. “I have talked with them, laughed with them, and yes, even cried with them. I can honestly say that for every person that I have mentored, treated, or simply given advice to I have been rewarded by also learning from them.” Patients are not just numbers, he added. “Probably the one thing that I will miss the most in retirement is getting to know who was sitting across from me in the office as a person, not just as patient or a number,” he said. “I thank them all for the many memories that I will take with me, and I thank them for allowing me to share in their lives.” Family has been a focus as well. “I can honestly say that, despite my rigorous work schedule, there were very few school programs, dance recitals or ball games that I missed as my kids were growing up,” he said. Malamisura said having an understanding family that know they are “always first in my heart” was never taken for granted. His wife, Mary, is “wonderful,” he said, and was always there for him and his children and is his “strength and support.” “In a way, it is ironic and fitting that my professional career comes to an end (May 31) on our 44th wedding anniversary,” he said. Malamisura recognized the late Dr. Brookins Taylor, “who believed in me and gave me the opportunity to come back home to establish my practice,” and other colleagues who supported him, as well as Tammy O’Donnell, his office manager, and Lindsey Harless, his receptionist. Dr. Steve Bourne, professor of business at Bluefield State College, has known Malamisura most of his life. “We have known each other since we were kids and graduated from Bluefield High School together in 1970,” he said. Bourne, who is also one of Malamisura’s patients, said he was happy to see him come back to his roots for a career. “When Mike made the decision to return home to Bluefield to practice, our community was greatly blessed,” he said. “And we continue to be.” Bourne said Malamisura has treated thousands of patients and he will be hard to replace because he values patients and treats them like his family. “He is someone I greatly admire,” he said. One of Malamisura’s colleagues who also recently retired, Dr. Tony Rasi, said the community was fortunate he did return home. “Dr. Mike Malamisura is truly a dedicated, reliable and very knowledgable gastroenterologist,” he said. “He will be sorely missed by the community at large.” As Malamisura leaves his practice, he sees it as a transition and a continuation of a very full life. “While it is true that I am retiring from work as I have known it, I am starting a new chapter in my life,” he said. “It will be different, but there will be many of my career experiences that I will carry forward with me. I am anxiously anticipating whatever opportunities and challenges that await me. It is time for me to just . enjoy being.” ___ Information from: Bluefield Daily Telegraph, http://www.bdtonline.com


Coronavirus could kill 81,000 in U.S., subside in June - Washington University analysis.

Explanation: The coronavirus pandemic could kill more than 81,000 people in the United States in the next four months and may not subside until June, according to a data analysis done by University of Washington School of Medicine.

The number of hospitalized patients is expected to peak nationally by the second week of April, though the peak may come later in some states. Some people could continue to die of the virus as late as July, although deaths should be below epidemic levels of 10 per day by June at the latest, according to the analysis. The analysis, using data from governments, hospitals and other sources, predicts that the number of U.S. deaths could vary widely, ranging from as low as around 38,000 to as high as around 162,000. The variance is due in part to disparate rates of the spread of the virus in different regions, which experts are still struggling to explain, said Dr. Christopher Murray, director of the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington, who led the study. The duration of the virus means there may be a need for social distancing measures for longer than initially expected, although the country may eventually be able relax restrictions if it can more effectively test and quarantine the sick, Murray said. The analysis also highlights the strain that will be placed on hospitals. At the epidemic’s peak, sick patients could exceed the number of available hospital beds by 64,000 and could require the use of around 20,000 ventilators. Ventilators are already running short in hard-hit places like New York City. The virus is spreading more slowly in California, which could mean that peak cases there will come later in April and social distancing measures will need to be extended in the state for longer, Murray said. Louisiana and Georgia are predicted to see high rates of contagion and could see a particularly high burden on their local healthcare systems, he added. The analysis assumes close adherence to infection prevention measures imposed by federal, state and local governments. “The trajectory of the pandemic will change – and dramatically for the worse – if people ease up on social distancing or relax with other precautions,” Murray said in a statement. The analysis comes as confirmed coronavirus cases in the United States continue to mount, with the World Health Organization saying the country has the potential to become the world’s new epicenter of the virus. The coronavirus causes a respiratory illness that in a minority of severe cases ravages the lungs and can lead to death. The United States has reported around 70,000 cases of the virus and more than 900 deaths since January. Globally, it has infected more than half a million people, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. The University of Washington has been at the center of the outbreak in United States, which first was detected in the state of Washington and has so far killed 100 people in that state, according to date from Johns Hopkins University.


Charles Krauthammer has penned a column under the headline, “The Enemy Among Us,” about President Obama’s use of a group called Organizing for  Action (OFA) to advance his political agenda after leaving the White House.

Explanation: Bushfires have wiped out about half the koalas living on a coastal reserve in New South Wales, experts estimated on Friday, as a record number of intense fires rage around the Australian state.

A fierce early start to the bushfire season brought a blaze at the Lake Innes Nature Reserve that destroyed two-thirds of the koalas’ habitat last month, leaving the rest under threat from one of 15 major blazes in the southeastern state. About 350 koalas living on the reserve in the north coast town of Port Macquarie have died in the bushfires, the group Koala Conservation Australia estimates. That compares with a total population of 500 to 600 in the reserve, said the group’s president, Sue Ashton. Animal carers at the Port Macquarie Koala Hospital nearby have been nursing rescued koalas, bandaging their wounds and feeding them eucalyptus leaves and formula. “We look for signals of pain - teeth grinding, distress - and we just take it on a day-by-day basis,” said Amanda Gordon, who leads the team of carers, adding that some of the marsupials’ health problems can be hard to spot. “Sometimes koalas seem to be doing really, really well. Their paws might be healing up but if something’s going on that we can’t see there’s not really much we can do,” added Gordon, who has worked at the hospital for 15 years. The carers estimate at least 10 days will be needed to assess the full damage to the koala population. Population estimates for koalas, native to Australia, vary widely, from as few as 50,000 to little more than 100,000. They dwell mostly in eucalyptus forests in eastern states and on the coastal fringes, usually living up to 20 years, carrying their young in a pouch and sleeping for up to 18 hours a day. Warmer weather brought by climate change threatens to worsen conditions for koalas, as deforestation has narrowed habitable areas, said James Tremain of the Nature Conservation Council of New South Wales. “Devastating bushfires are going to knock out some of these key population centers, but so also will increasing temperatures,” he said, by affecting the nutrition value of the leaves that are the animals’ sole food source. “Koalas are definitely in trouble in New South Wales, but if the declines continue at the same rate as the last 20 to 30 years, koalas could be extinct in the wild by mid-century,” Tremain added. (The story adds dropped word to name of town in paragraph 3.)


Wendy Davis is "fighting to bring ... Bloomberg-style gun control to Texas.

Elections, States, Texas, Guns, Greg Abbott,

Austin political consultant Steven Rivas drew our attention to a claim on a donation web page for Greg Abbott’s gubernatorial campaign saying state Sen. Wendy Davis is "fighting to bring California values to Texas" including "Bloomberg-style gun control." Setting aside how much California agrees with New York’s gun-control advocate mayor Michael Bloomberg, we thought Texans would want to know Davis’ views, as her bid to become governor is the first statewide campaign for the Fort Worth Democrat. Davis hasn’t, so far, focused on gun control in her campaign. Abbott, a Republican who’s served as Texas’ attorney general since 2002, says on his campaign site that he’ll fight federal limits on gun rights. Abbott campaign spokesmen Matt Hirsch and Avdiel Huerta told us by email that Davis, a former Fort Worth City Council member elected to the Senate in 2008, had "voted twice against campus carry," "voted to prohibit gun shows in Fort Worth," supported background checks for gun buyers and had opposed a measure to remove cities’ abilities to restrict guns in municipal buildings; they also provided citations and backup materials. Asked for specifics on "Bloomberg-style," Huerta sent a March 26, 2013, PolitiFact fact-check that said, "Bloomberg is pushing for universal background checks on all firearm purchases." In addition, Bloomberg, a powerful advocate for gun control both locally and nationally, has long urged and in some cases helped enact measures including strengthening punishments for those who illegally possess guns, registering gun offenders and banning military-style weapons. He also focuses on "straw" purchases -- those made by people who intend to re-sell the weapons to illegal buyers -- and has been criticized for his city administration’s sting operations in other states to uncover such transactions. Bloomberg co-founded and co-chairs Mayors Against Illegal Guns, a group that launched a $12 million, 13-state ad campaign March 23, 2013, promoting expanded background checks. Group spokeswoman Erika Soto Lamb told us by email that "Bloomberg-style" could fairly be defined as "common-sense gun reforms that will save American lives by keeping guns out of dangerous hands." Universal background checks -- requiring private sellers everywhere (not just at gun shows) to run background checks -- are a prime example and the group’s priority, she said. Davis on gun shows  Hirsch of Abbott’s campaign emailed us citations from news stories saying that as a member of the Fort Worth City Council in 2000, Davis supported making sure all buyers faced background checks at gun shows in city-owned facilities and that she recently told the Texas Tribune she still held that view. A Sept. 11, 2013, Tribune news story Hirsch emailed to us said Davis was a gun owner and quoted her as saying of the gun show restrictions, "I haven’t pursued it as a senator because I know it’s like spitting in the wind" and "But I still believe it’s the right thing. And if I were governor and a bill came to my desk that provided for background checks at gun shows, I would sign that." Hirsch also cited a Sept. 18, 2013, commentary by Georgia writer Brandon Howell, posted on the conservative Daily Caller website, that went further, saying Davis also "sought banning gun shows on city-owned property." A Fort Worth ordinance Davis proposed in 2000 could have barred some gun shows from city property, but was tabled along with a related proposal, according to news stories starting in 2000 about a months-long city government debate on gun control that year. An Aug. 9, 2000, news story in the Dallas Morning News said her ordinance would have placed restrictions on shows "including provisions that would allow only licensed dealers to sell firearms on city premises." According to the story, Davis said that another option was requiring background checks on gun buyers at the shows. A July 19, 2000, News story said Davis also supported the other tabled proposal, a resolution by which the council would have asked the federal government to require background checks of gun show buyers. Bloomberg supports background checks on gun show buyers, evidenced notably when he sent New York investigators to gun shows in states as far away as Nevada in 2006, 2009 and 2011 to find evidence that private dealers would sell to buyers who wouldn’t pass background checks. In a July 25, 2012, fact-check, PolitiFact gave a  rating to his claim that "you can sell guns without a background check at a gun show, forty percent of guns are sold that way, same thing on the Internet." Davis on campus carry  Legal gun owners’ ability to take their weapons onto college campuses doesn’t appear to be an issue Bloomberg emphasizes, based on our check of the Nexis news archive. Mayors Against Illegal Guns has supported college leaders calling for tighter gun restrictions on campuses nationwide, but doesn’t name the issue among its principles or in the primary categories on its scorecard for lawmakers. New York state bans weapons on campuses. Hirsch, turning to Davis’ tenure as a state senator, cited her 2009 vote against a proposal to allow Texas concealed-handgun license holders to carry handguns on college campuses. That proposal passed the Senate by 20-11 and cleared a House committee, but it died toward the end of the legislative session short of reaching the full House. Hirsch also specified Davis’ 2011 vote on legislation intended to let such license holders carry guns inside campus buildings. Senators including Davis voted 19-11 not to bring the proposal up for floor consideration, and it then died (a similar measure failed to pass in the 2013 session). To our inquiry, Davis campaign spokeswoman Rebecca Acuña told us by email that Davis voted for three pro-gun measures, supported two others and was quoted in a Jan. 13, 2013, Fort Worth Star-Telegram news story as saying, "Americans have the right under the Second Amendment to own firearms, and that is not going to change." Acuña said Davis wants to protect Second Amendment rights on firearms "for honest citizens by assuring that they are kept out of the hands of criminals." One of the Senate votes Acuña cited was related to campus carry issues. In the 2013 session, Davis was among the "yea" votes when the Senate approved, 27-4, a proposal to allow college students with concealed-handgun licenses to store handguns in locked vehicles on campus. The measure became law and took effect Sept. 1, 2013. The Daily Caller item Hirsch provided to us described that as "an easy vote" for Davis because the proposal passed by such a wide margin. Davis told the bill’s author, according to an April 30, 2013, Star-Telegram news story, that "she planned to support his bill but said she wanted his assurance that ‘you will not allow that opening, that broad opening to become a part of what you’re passing out of here today.’ … ‘You understand that there are many of us in the Senate chamber who are concerned about the broader impacts of carrying on campus.’ " The story said Davis later issued a statement saying that "it is important that the local control of colleges and universities over their campuses be preserved with regard to carrying guns on campus." Davis on concealed-carry measures and cities’ abilities to restrict guns  Bloomberg and his group have long opposed letting states recognize out-of-state concealed-carry permits. New York City, where Bloomberg is nearing the end of his 12-year stretch as mayor, issues concealed-carry permits in limited circumstances. And Bloomberg favors expanding at least some concealed-carry restrictions; after the Feb. 26, 2012, death of Trayvon Martin in Florida, Bloomberg said in an April 11, 2012, speech at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., that George Zimmerman, who shot Martin, should never have been allowed to carry a concealed weapon because of his legal history. Huerta sent us part of a May 24, 2001, Star-Telegram news story in which council members including Davis "criticized a bill passed by the state Senate that would ... give the Legislature the sole right to regulate whether" concealed-handgun license holders "can take their weapons to such locations as city halls, libraries or parks." The story quoted Davis as saying, "I think it's a terrible idea" and "Once again, it's an example of the state getting involved in an issue that should be within the city's jurisdiction." Acuña cited Davis’ 2013 votes on three measures simplifying the process to get a concealed-carry license. Davis voted for a proposal to prohibit state officials from requiring applicants’ Social Security numbers that became law and takes effect Jan. 1, 2014, and for two measures that became law effective Sept. 1, 2013, cutting the number of instruction hours needed and eliminating the need to take a proficiency test. The Senate approved the measures by votes of, respectively, 25-6, 29-1 and 27-4. Acuña also noted that Davis voted for a measure allowing the state’s attorney general to get an injunction against a city or county that breaks state law by restricting ownership, transport, licensing or other actions regarding firearms, ammunition and supplies. The Senate approved it 24-6; it became law and took effect June 14, 2013. It’s not a new restriction on cities, but rather a specific way to enable the enforcement of existing state law that bars such local restrictions. So is Wendy like Mike? The mayoral group’s spokeswoman named universal background checks as "Bloomberg-like." So does the NRA, it turns out. Spokesman Andrew Arulanandam of the NRA’s lobbying arm told us by phone, "AG Abbott is correct in his assessment," based on Bloomberg’s federal-level push for expanding background checks and Davis’ remarks to the Texas Tribune favoring "background checks at gun shows." At the Texas State Rifle Association, which is affiliated with the NRA, spokeswoman Alice Tripp told us by phone that she agreed with Abbott based on Davis’ 2000 push for background checks at gun shows. "Bloomberg seems to attack firearm ownership in that kind of parental way," she said. Shannon Watts, founder of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, told us by email her group hopes Davis "will come out in support of common-sense gun reform, including background checks," and said that to her group, "Bloomberg-style gun control" is not a pejorative term. The groups did not have scorecards or endorsements for specific candidates this far ahead of Texas’ Nov. 4, 2014, general election. Our ruling Abbott said Davis is "fighting to bring" "Bloomberg-style gun control to Texas." Like Bloomberg, Davis supports background checks for all buyers at gun shows. She has opposed campus-carry measures, but voted to allow concealed weapons locked in vehicles while warning the author not to take it any farther. She has opposed letting the state tell cities or colleges they can’t regulate guns on their property, but voted to let the state pursue injunctions against cities that overstep limitations currently in state law. She joined most of the Senate in voting for three laws simplifying concealed-handgun permit applications. Davis has taken some actions Bloomberg might approve, and others he might not. However, she doesn’t appear, so far, to be "fighting" for tighter gun control if elected governor. We rate Abbott’s partly accurate statement as . – The statement is partially accurate but leaves out important details or takes things out of context.


EU should scrap emissions trading scheme, Polish official says.

Explanation: The European Union should scrap its Emissions Trading System or exempt Poland from the scheme, which helps combat global warming, to free up funds for Warsaw to fight the effects of the coronavirus, a senior Polish official said.

Under the ETS, the EU charges for the right to emit carbon dioxide. European power generators, industrial emitters and airlines running flights within the EU must buy permits to cover their emissions. “The results of fighting coronavirus will be painful. It is obvious that countries will be looking for extra money to help their business and citizens,” Janusz Kowalski, Deputy Minister of State Assets, told Reuters on Tuesday. “Poland and other countries should take care of the climate on their own, and the ETS should be removed from 1 January, 2021, or at least Poland should be excluded from the system.”  The coronavirus has killed five people and infected 205 in Poland, which has barred foreigners from entering, shut schools and capped public gatherings at 50 people. Kowalski suggested the government could discuss the proposal after the coronavirus has peaked. “This will be the time for taking various unconventional, political decisions on all levels,” Kowalski said. Poland generates most of its electricity from coal. Kowalski said he would expect other states in central and eastern Europe to support the proposal. Poland is the only EU state that refused at a December summit to commit to climate neutrality by 2050. But the Czech prime minister said on Monday the EU should focus for now on fighting the coronavirus rather than its “Green Deal” policy package to tackle climate change, and Kowalski said he agreed. Asked about Kowalski’s remarks, the EU executive, the  European Commission, said it could not speculate on the potential implications of COVID-19, the respiratory illness the virus causes, in individual policy areas. “While our immediate focus is on combating COVID-19, our work on delivering the European Green Deal continues. The climate crisis is still a reality and necessitates our continued attention and efforts,” a Commission spokesman said.


Public urged to avoid wild animals after rabid skunk cases.

Explanation: Suburban Detroit officials are urging the public to stay away from wild animals after nearly a dozen cases of rabies have been confirmed in skunks.

Oakland County health officials said Thursday a dead skunk found in West Bloomfield tested positive for rabies, bringing the number of skunks confirmed to have the virus in the county to 11. Four bats have also tested positive. Officials urged residents to stay away from skunks, bats and other wild animals, as well as stray cats and dogs. Rabid skunks can pose a greater threat to the public than rabid bats because they’re ground-based animals more likely to interact with people and pets. Rabies can be fatal to humans after symptoms begin to occur. Deaths can be prevented with a vaccine administered immediately after exposure.


These Houston residents dream of moving to where the air is clear.

Explanation: On the east side of Houston, the white plumes of the Texas oil and chemical refineries are a constant backdrop for residents of the Manchester neighborhood.

Late at night or early in the morning when plants burn off excess gases, the flames light up the whole sky in the neighborhood. Some residents say the air has a chemical-based smell that they find hard to describe but disappears once they drive a few miles away from the homes that stretch along the Houston Ship Channel, a waterway connecting the plants to the ocean. They claim that the pollution is taking a toll on their health, although the scientific evidence does not prove that. “I want to get out of here and go to the country and find some cleaner air,” said Eugene Barragan, a 56-year-old electrician who has lived most of his life by the refineries. “It would be better for me and the kids.”  Doctors have found four lumps in his lungs and now more growths, according to the chest X-rays and medical records he showed Reuters. The first ones were not cancerous. Barragan says he has not been able to afford imaging of the new growths. He hopes they are benign so he can watch his children grow up. “When I work hard, I start coughing and coughing and can’t stop,” he said. “I know a lot of people who have problems like that.”  Lillian Riojas, Valero Energy Corp’s chief spokeswoman, said the company has worked to reduce pollution at its refinery since purchasing it in 1997. In the 22 years since Valero took over the refinery, ambient benzene levels have dropped 63% to 0.34 parts per billion, according to data from 1997 to 2019 from Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. “There’s a narrative that air quality is getting worse, but that’s not what the emission data is showing,” Riojas said. The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, which enforces federal and state environmental laws, gives Valero’s refinery the top compliance level possible, said Andrew Keese, a spokesman for the agency. The other nearby refineries and chemical plants earned a compliance rating of satisfactory. Of the other plants bordering Manchester, Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co has the second highest-rating for compliance with environmental regulations, Keese said. Goodyear “implemented several changes that resulted in lower emissions from our facility,” said Connie Deibel, a company spokeswoman. LyondellBasell Industries, TPC Group [TPCL.UL] and Flint Hills Resources, which operate facilities near Manchester, did not reply to requests for comment about pollution in the area. A 2007 study, the most recent available, of nearly 1,000 childhood cancer cases by the University of Texas found children living within 2 miles (3 km) of the Houston Ship Channel had a 56% higher risk of contracting acute lymphocytic leukemia than children living within 10 miles (16 km) of the Ship Channel. Researchers’ analysis suggests an association between childhood leukemia and air pollution. However the study, funded by Houston’s health department and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, could not prove the pollutants caused the illnesses. For years, Dennys Nieto wanted to leave the neighborhood but was only recently able to afford to move her and her family to a different part of Texas. “I suffer from asthma and pain in my lungs. It feels like I’m being hit in the lungs,” Nieto said of her old neighborhood. “Headaches, inflammation and pain in my throat. And also I have erratic blood pressure and heartbeat.”   She checks her blood pressure and listens to her heart beat regularly. “In the air I feel it’s this we’re all breathing. This is why I want to leave from here,” Nieto said of the Manchester area. “I want to go somewhere that is far from the refineries so that I can repair my life, repair my health and live better.”  (See related photo essay here here)


First lady calls for end of e-cigarette marketing to youth.

Explanation: Melania Trump said Monday that companies “must stop” marketing e-cigarettes to children, saying they are addictive and dangerous.

Health, General News, Politics, Business, Vaping, Melania Trump, United States

Marketing tobacco products to kids is already prohibited in the United States, and Juul Labs Inc., the nation’s largest maker of electronic cigarettes, has said it will cease advertising them in the U.S. Still, some believe Juul’s early online marketing of e-cigarettes contributed to an explosion in vaping among youth. Mrs. Trump said “it is important to me that we all work to educate children and families about the dangers associated with this habit.” “Marketing this addictive product to children must stop.” The first lady promotes an anti-drug message through the “Be Best” youth initiative she launched in May 2018. She and the president have a 13-year-old son, Barron. Last month, Mrs. Trump tweeted her concerns over the “growing epidemic of e-cigarette use in our children.” She later joined President Donald Trump when he announced from the Oval Office that U.S. health authorities will act to ban thousands of fruity and other flavorings used in e-cigarettes. Federal statistics show vaping among teens had increased significantly between 2017 and 2018. More than 1 in 4 high school students reported vaping in the past month, up from 1 in 5 students in 2018 , according to the latest statistics. E-cigarette use among middle students also increased. Federal health officials have called the trend an “epidemic,” and fear teenagers who vape will eventually start smoking. Mrs. Trump said her visits to hospitals and rehabilitation centers have allowed her to see “the horrible results of drug abuse.” She pledged to “continue to address addiction as long as it affects our children, our youth and our schools.” The Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids said it was grateful for the first lady’s message and called on the administration to implement its plan and quickly remove all flavored e-cigarettes from the market. “Flavors have been a key part of the industry’s strategy for marketing to kids and have fueled this epidemic,” said Vince Willmore, a spokesman for the advocacy group. Juul has pledged not to lobby against the Trump administration’s planned flavor ban. Other industry representatives, such as the American Vaping Association, which represents makers and retailers of e-cigarettes and vaping solutions, oppose the planned policy. Opponents argue the policy could create a “black market” for vaping products and push adults who vape to resume smoking. Mrs. Trump addressed a rally at the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration headquarters to mark the start of the annual “Red Ribbon Week” on Oct. 23, an observance that came to be after the 1985 torture and slaying of DEA Special Agent Enrique “Kiki” Camarena in Mexico. Americans began wearing red ribbons to honor Camarena’s sacrifice, and schools in the region of California where he lived formed clubs in his name and pledged to live drug-free lives. “Red Ribbon Week” was formalized in 1988. Camarena’s widow, Mika, attended the rally. Students seated in the auditorium rose and recited a pledge to stay away from drugs. Most of those in the audience wore the event’s “red ribbon” pin but the first lady did not wear one on her sleeveless black dress. Her office said she was not given a pin by DEA staff before entering the auditorium with acting administrator Uttam Dhillon. ___ AP Health Writer Matthew Perrone contributed to this report. ___ Follow Darlene Superville on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/dsupervilleap


Joe Barton Says you can buy four light bulbs for $1.99 at Walmart, while a single compact fluorescent lamp (CFL) costs "$10 a pop.

Explanation: Rep. Joe Barton says a four-pack of incandescent bulbs cost $1.99 while one CFL bulb costs $9.99

No secret: Many a GOP congressman wants to repeal the new health care law. Also on U.S. Rep. Joe Barton's legislative bucket list? Retooling energy policy, he said during a Nov. 11 speech at the conservative Heritage Foundation, where the Ennis lawmaker specified something else he'd like to repeal. "In a bill that passed in 2007 or 2008, we prohibited in a few years the sale of incandescent light bulbs, like the one that's shining on me right now from the back of the room," he said. "And I was at Walmart this weekend buying some light bulbs and the traditional incandescent light bulb I believe you can get four for $1.99. The little squiggly pig-tail ones were one for $9.99." Then the dig: "Now, if you're Al Gore, you can afford $10 a pop for squiggly-pig-tailed fluorescent light bulbs. But if you're mainstream America, two or three kids, mom and dad working outside the home, that's not a very good deal. So I think repeal that law right off the bat to show that we're going to put market forces back into play. We'll show the American people that we're serious about an energy policy that actually produces energy for America." Since we're not Al Gore, we wondered if we're getting a bad deal: $9.99 for a compact fluorescent lamp — the squiggly pig-tailed bulb Barton mentions, also known as a CFL — versus $1.99 for a four-pack of traditional bulbs. First, some background: In 2007, Congress voted to improve the efficiency of light bulbs. Then-President George W. Bush signed into law the Energy Independence and Security Act, which set energy efficiency standards for kinds of incandescent lamps (conventional light bulbs) and fluorescent lamps (CFLs). Barton voted against it — the law Barton now wants to repeal "right off the bat." While running for president, Barack Obama promised to sign a measure into law that "begins to phase out all incandescent light bulbs." He said the change would save Americans $6 billion a year on their electric bills. Last year, PolitiFact reported that no such proposal has made it into law, though in June 2009, Obama announced changes in lighting standards. Starting in August 2012, fluorescent tube lamps (most commonly found in offices and stores) and conventional incandescent reflector lamps must become more efficient. The government said those types of lamps represented approximately 45 percent of total lighting energy use. This isn't the first time Barton has spoken out against CFLs. On Sept. 16, Barton and two other representatives introduced a proposal to repeal the section of the act requiring that bulbs use 30 percent less energy than standard incandescents. In a press release from Republicans on the committee, Barton said that "Washington is making too many decisions that are better left to people who work for their own paychecks and earn their own living." Nick Prelosky, an intern in Barton's office, told us that Barton's point was "that the CFLs are more expensive... a lot more expensive than the incandescent bulbs." Barton's press office didn't return our calls on this topic, and after initial communications with Walmart's corporate headquarters, no one answered our queries. So we don't know which Walmart Barton shopped — there's one in his hometown of Ennis — or what the light bulb options were at the store. But at a Walmart Supercenter in Austin, we found a wide selection of bulbs and prices. We found a 15-watt dimming CFL bulb for $11.77 and a four-pack of 100-watt soft-white incandescent bulbs for 84 cents, an even greater price spread than Barton said. But a dimming CFL bulb that costs more than $10 vs. a four-pack of incandescents that costs about $2 isn't exactly apples to apples. We turned to a comparison of CFL and incandescent wattage by Energy Star, a joint federal program of the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Energy. According to Energy Star, a 60 watt incandescent bulb produces a minimum light output of 800 lumens, about what a 13 to 15 watt CFL bulb produces. At the store, we found a six-pack of 13-watt CFL bulbs for $7.97. A three-pack was $4.28. Next, we went shopping online. Our "light bulb" search query on Walmart's website returned 136 hits. Again, bulb prices varied. A three-pack of soft-white 13-watt CFL bulbs costs $4.92, according to Walmart's website. A two-pack of soft-white 60-watt incandescents costs $2.54. That's $1.64 per CFL bulb and $1.27 per incandescent. On the pricier end was a two-pack of three-way CFLs for $19.84, which are only sold online, according to Walmart's website. That's $9.92 per bulb — the price Barton bemoans. A two-pack of three-way incandescent bulbs costs $4.26, or $2.13 per bulb. But bulb life is also a factor in cost comparisons. In August 2009, Consumer Reports reported that "swapping regular bulbs for compact fluorescents can save you at least $30 per bulb over the life of a compact fluorescent lightbulb... Some CFLs now cost less than $2 compared with $9 to $25 in 1999. Several lasted five to 10 times as long as regular bulbs in our tests, and Energy Star-qualified models use up to 75 percent less power." In its October issue, Consumer Reports found that the CFL bulbs in its lab "have been cycling on and off since early 2009, or 6,000 hours. For comparison, a typical incandescent bulb lasts only around 1,000 hours." Lastly, we checked in with the Light Bulb Shop on Austin's Burnet Road. When we explained the statement we were fact-checking, Martin Day, a salesman at the store, told us: "You can get cheaper CFLs than $10." The cheapest CFL the store sells costs about $3 each, he said — a four-pack for $12. The cheapest incandescent: 75 cents. Let's review the math. One 13-watt CFL bulb costs as little as $1.30 (the price for a six-pack divided by the number of bulbs), compared to 20 cents for an equivalent 60-watt incandescent bulb. But it would take at least five incandescents to replace it over the average life of a CFL. However, if you want a dimmable CFL, it will definitely cost you. On their face, the prices cited in Barton's statement hold up. Yes, you can go to Walmart and buy a four-pack of incandescent bulbs for $1.88 (online) or 84 cents (at the Austin Supercenter) — prices even lower than Barton aired — and a single CFL bulb for $11.77 (even more than he said). However, Walmart also sells some CFLs for less and other incandescent bulbs for more. More importantly, Barton ignores other relevant factors — wattage and longevity — that undercut a simple price comparison and his suggestion that a "mainstream," two-income family can't afford such energy-saving bulbs. We rate his statement as Barely True. This story has been updated to correct the cost of a 13-watt CFL bulb to $1.64 Editor's note: This statement was rated Barely True when it was published. On July 27, 2011, we changed the name for the rating to .


Drug resistant superbugs are killing 33,000 in Europe each year.

Explanation: Superbug infections resistant to multiple antibiotics kill around 33,000 people a year in Europe, health experts said on Monday, and the burden of these diseases is comparable to that of flu, tuberculosis and HIV combined.

An analysis by the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) found the impact of drug-resistant infections had increased since 2007, with concerning rises in cases of bugs resistant to even the most powerful, last-resort antibiotics - including a class of drugs known as carbapenems. “This ... is worrying because these antibiotics are the last treatment options available,” the ECDC said in a statement. “When these are no longer effective, it is extremely difficult or, in many cases, impossible to treat infections.”  Specialists estimate that around 70 percent of bacteria that can cause infection are already resistant to at least one antibiotic that is commonly used to treat them. This has made the evolution of “superbugs” that can evade one or multiple drugs one of the biggest threats facing medicine today. The ECDC study, published in the Lancet Infectious Diseases journal, focused on five types of infections caused by antibiotic-resistant bacteria in the European Union and in the European Economic Area (EU/EEA). It found that around 75 percent of the burden of superbug disease is due to infections contracted in hospitals and health clinics - known as healthcare-associated infections (HAIs). “Strategies to prevent and control antibiotic-resistant bacteria require coordination at EU/EEA and global level,” it said. It added that due to variations in the numbers of cases and the types of antibiotic-resistant bacteria causing infection in different countries, prevention and control measures need to be tailored to national situations.


Healthcare group Novacyt wins British orders for coronavirus testing product.

Explanation: Novacyt, a healthcare company specializing in clinical diagnostics, said on Monday the British government had started on orders for its product that is aimed at carrying out tests on the coronavirus that has killed thousands across the world.

The company said that the Public Health England body had made orders initially for eight hospitals to provide stocks for four weeks of planned testing. The total value of the initial purchase is approximately 1.0 million pounds ($1.24 million), which Novacyt said was its single largest order to date for its coronavirus test. “We welcome Public Health England’s decision to use our COVID-19 test in the UK and I am delighted to see that Novacyt will now be supporting one of its home markets during these challenging times,” said Novacyt CEO Graham Mullis.


Poorer countries lack midwives to cut birth deaths: report.

Explanation: The majority of the world’s poorer countries, which account for nearly all childbirth-related deaths among newborns and mothers, are facing a critical shortage of professional midwives who could ease the problem, global health experts said on Tuesday.

Among 73 lower and middle income nations, just four - Armenia, Colombia, Dominican Republic and Jordan - have adequate resources in place, according to a review led by the United Nations Populations Fund and the World Health Organization. “More than three-quarters face serious shortages that will result in unnecessary deaths of women and babies,” Frances Day-Stirk, president of the International Confederation of Midwives, told reporters on a conference call. Midwives, who are trained to deliver babies and provide medical care before and after pregnancy, can provide most of the services needed for women and newborns, experts said. That is critical to relieve pressure on doctors, especially in areas where medical resources are scarce or difficult to access. In 2013, there were an estimated 2.6 million stillbirths, 3 million newborn deaths and 289,000 maternal deaths. More than 92 percent of those deaths occurred in the countries reviewed, the groups said in their “State of the World’s Midwifery” report. The countries included in the review range from China, India, Pakistan and Afghanistan to Central African Republic, Chad, Guatemala and Mexico, among others. Many lack the infrastructure necessary to allow for quality care from midwives, and often don’t have regulatory systems in place to adequately train them, according to the report. Collecting necessary data is also a problem. “Women and girls’ right to maternal and reproductive health are essential,” Babatunde Osotimehin, a physician and executive director of the UN’s Populations Fund, told reporters. They “need and deserve respectful, compassionate care before, during and after pregnancy and birth ... This is not the case in many countries. This needs to change.”  The crisis is also an economic one, experts said. For example, boosting midwifery services can reduce costly cesarean births, saving up to $128.5 million over three decades, Day-Stirk said. One country that has shown some gains is Bangladesh, where the government in 2010 launched an effort to train 3,000 midwives, helping reach key health goals even though birth-related mortality remains high, experts highlighted. The report, funded by the UN along with the U.S. and Canadian governments, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and other groups, and Johnson & Johnson, is part of the UN and WHO’s larger effort to boost access to midwives by 2030.


Video clip shows a middle-aged woman punching another woman in the mouth.

Explanation: A video clip seemingly captures a middle-aged woman sucker-punching another woman in the mouth. But why?

A popular video has puzzled countless viewers who have stumbled across it on the Internet, leaving them wondering about both its genuineness and its context. What could prompt a middle-aged woman to haul off and deliver a solid punch to the face of another woman, all without causing any apparent consternation to the bystanders who witnessed the attack? The scene took place in 1999 outside a courtroom where a reckless driver had just been sentenced for causing an accident that left two people dead and a third severely injured. This clip was taken from (originally unaired) videotape shot by a news crew from station KY3-TV in Springfield, Missouri, and was used in a “Newsroom Ethics” lesson prepared by the Radio and Television News Directors Foundation, who described it thusly:  On April 15, 1998, Dana Defeo, Terry Batson and Ed Watson completed their shift at a local factory. The three coworkers piled into Batson’s car and socialized late into the night at a local pub. At 1:15 a.m., they started home. Moments later their car was hit by Tim Massey. He had 11 driving violations, including one ticket for going 104 miles per hour. This night police said he was driving more than 100 miles per hour when he sped through an intersection and crashed into Batson’s car. Two of the three coworkers died. Only Dana Defeo survived, but with severe brain damage. Massey survived and was charged with manslaughter. More than a year later, Massey stood before a judge, who sentenced him to five years in prison. After the sentencing, outside the courtroom, a drama unfolded. Friction was apparent between the families of Dana Defeo and Terry Batson. Accusations that the dead victims had been smoking marijuana and unfaithful to their spouses were flying between the families. A member of Terry Batson’s family heard the allegations and punched the accuser in the mouth. The graphic and startling smack in the mouth was captured on camera. No charges were filed. Nobody was arrested. The station had sensational videotape on its hands, but the assault had nothing to do with the story that had unfolded in the courtroom. KY3-TV, after a lengthy newsroom discussion, decided not to air the video but did mention the argument and the punch in a tag to the main story about the sentencing for the two traffic deaths.


UK was too slow on coronavirus and 40,000 could die, professor says.

Explanation: The British government was too slow to react on several fronts to the novel coronavirus outbreak that could cause the deaths of 40,000 people in the United Kingdom, a leading public health professor told lawmakers on Friday.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson initially refrained from approving the stringent controls that other European leaders imposed but then closed down the country when projections showed a quarter of a million people could die in Britain. So far, more than 14,576 people with COVID-19 have died in British hospitals, though new official data indicates the true death toll could be much larger. “Where were the system errors that led us to have probably the highest death rates in Europe?” Anthony Costello, professor of International Child Health and Director of the UCL Institute for Global Health, asked at the Health and Social Care Committee. “We have to face the reality of that: We were too slow with a number of things,” Costello told the committee. “We could see 40,000 deaths by the time it’s over.”  Costello, a paediatrician who is an expert in epidemiology, said the government should make sure its response to the second and additional waves of infection was not too slow. The government also faced separate criticism over its supply of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for health workers. The Guardian newspaper said shortages meant guidelines were being relaxed, and that doctors might need to treat patients without wearing full-length protective gowns. Ministers on Friday acknowledged a shortage of gowns - departing from their position that there were adequate supplies of PPE but some logistical problems getting it to where it was needed. The health department did not immediately comment on the Guardian report. Britain has the fifth-highest official death toll from COVID-19 in the world, after the United States, Italy, Spain and France, though the UK figure only covers hospital fatalities and the real number is probably much higher. British ministers have defended their response to the outbreak, saying they followed scientific advice and have responded with urgency in what amounts to a war-like situation. Costello said the United Kingdom needed wide-scale testing and the right systems in place to deal with further flare-ups of the outbreak. “The recent estimates, even from the chief scientific officer, is that after this wave - we could see 40,000 deaths by the time it’s over - we could only have maybe 10%, 15% of the population infected or covered,” he said. “So the idea of herd immunity would mean another five, six waves maybe in order to get to 60%,” he said. “We have got to pray the vaccinologists come up.”  The government launched a new initiative on Friday to coordinate British efforts to find a vaccine, although business minister Alok Sharma said any such solution would take many months and refused to set out a timetable. COVID-19 TESTING  Health minister Matt Hancock said mass community testing was part of the British strategy, though the government has yet to find an antibody test that is accurate enough to be used. “It is part of the strategy - we will be introducing it when we can,” he told the parliamentary committee. He said testing was being expanded to include the police, the fire service, prison staff, critical local authority staff, the judiciary, and the work and pensions ministry. Hancock was also questioned by lawmakers about the daily death toll data - which gives hospital deaths but ignores deaths at home or in care homes. Hancock said the rate of deaths due to COVID-19 in care homes was higher than the 2% of the total indicated by official data, adding he was concerned about how the novel coronavirus was spreading in places housing vulnerable people. “We do know the number of people who die outside hospital and they very largely die at home,” he said.


Education, Race and Ethnicity, Urban, Pennsylvania, John Eichelberger,

Would students from distressed urban neighborhoods be better off if their instruction was "less intensive"? A Republican Pennsylvania senator out of Blair County sparked controversy for suggesting as much at a town hall in West Pennsboro last week. As reported in the Carlisle Sentinel, Sen. John Eichelberger criticized state education programming that directs students of color toward college rather than vocational courses as a matter of ill-used funding. "They’re pushing them toward college and they’re dropping out," Eichelberger, chair of Senate Education Committee, said. "They fall back and don’t succeed, whereas if there was a less intensive track, they would." Pa. Sen. Vincent Hughes, D-Philadelphia, called Eichelberger’s remarks "racist." Senate Minority Leader Jay Costa, D-Allegheny, told Philly.com the commentary was "offensive" and that he had contacted Majority Leader Jake Corman, R-Centre, to discuss it because the Democratic caucus members found it alarming. Eichelberger, amid blowback, has insisted that his words were taken out of context. He’s even accused the Sentinel of publishing fake news. But Zack Hoopes, the Sentinel business editor who captured the quotes, told PolitiFact Pennsylvania he stands by the article’s accuracy. Despite of the severity of Eichelberger’s accusation, the senator doesn’t challenge that he actually said this. Eichelberger’s office gave PolitiFact Pennsylvania the following statement yesterday: "He’s never denied saying that, but the comment was taken out of a larger conversation on education and how we prepare our students for the future. The larger context is lost in the story. What has been reported was a brief snippet of an elaborate conversation with local residents. The observations were made about options in our education system during an hour-and-a-half of discussion. It wasn’t perfectly worded, but it is something that needs to be discussed, so instead of misplaced outrage, the Senator would prefer to see an open and honest conversation." So, on with the fact-check! Eichelberger’s office shared no evidence to substantiate his claim. PolitiFact Pennsylvania wasn’t able to find studies that make similar arguments in our research, that a "less intensive" track would be lead to more success for "inner city" students, and the academics we spoke with weren’t familiar with papers that could back that up either. Julia C. Duncheon, an expert on college readiness for urban students based at the University of Texas at El Paso said that is was "not true" that lower-income students needed "less intensive" instruction. In fact, studies show the opposite: "Those who have taken the more rigorous classes are more likely to persist in college," she said. The Institute for Higher Education Policy emphasizes the importance of "a rigorous, college-ready curriculum, starting in middle school," calling this "crucial." Education researchers regularly identify that low-income students in cities often lack access to bona fide college preparatory coursework. In an email, pointing to a 2009 Center for American Progress report that espouses high standards in college prep curricula, Duncheon noted that certain demographics see particular gains. "While rigorous academic preparation is important for all students, it is especially important for African American and Latina/o students," wrote Duncheon. "Again, we see equity gaps decrease among college students who have completed a rigorous academic course load in high school." Duncheon found Eichelberger’s recommending vocational tracks problematic. "We tend to see low-income students funneled into those," said Duncheon. As inadequate access to high-level classes persists in underserved neighborhoods, poor students of color are underrepresented in these courses. "The notion that they pursue vocational education is troubling because we’re already dealing with problems of racial segregation with vocational education." Duncheon was careful not to discourage vocational training, saying that students need "a variety of pathways." "There are too many students getting less intensive education anyway," said Ivory Toldson, editor of the Journal of Negro Education and a professor at Howard University. In 2012, Toldson co-authored the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation report "Challenge the Status Quo: Academic Success among School-age African American Males." They had several recommendations for better preparing black boys: many pushed fostering supportive, bias-free environments in school and at home, but they also recommended "offer[ing] a curriculum that, at a minimum, meets the admissions requirements for the most competitive public university of your state." "What I found in my analysis was that black and Latino students in urban districts like Philadelphia were the least likely to take high-level math and science courses which limited their opportunities," said Toldson. "The short of it is: I think what the senator is proposing is actually the opposite of what they need." Toldson argued that modern technical instruction not only could bear benefits for some students, but relies on a comprehension of math and science that corresponds to the digital age. "We don’t want to give kids the outdated notion that to be an auto mechanic you don’t need math," he said. "That may have been true in the ’50s and ’60s, but that’s not true today." Duncheon didn’t want to dismiss that dropouts are a persistent problem for low-income students. But, she said, "there’s a lot of complexity around why students drop out. There’s no clear cut reason why they do, there’s a lot of factors." Certain trends that researchers like Duncheon have observed pertain to financial restraints and first-generation college students. A 2012 American Institutes for Research report noted that only 10 percent of college dropouts left due to academic struggles. Half of their respondents cited something more hazy, "personal reasons." "Academics are definitely a piece of it, but it’s not the full story," she said. Eichelberger declined repeated requests for interview, but his office did share this statement as well: "Each child has different skills that may be best suited for college or vocational training. This has been recognized by educational experts in our state and around the nation. The best option for kids should be available for all students, whether in Carlisle or Philadelphia or anywhere else in the Commonwealth. "Vocational training is not an offensive term and should not be treated as such. Vocational education is a path for training and education that leads to higher incomes and family-supporting jobs. For many, it is their stepping stone for success. "We cannot continue to protect a system that is failing children. If our students are not being provided with that guidance and options in a significant way, then we need to take a closer look at that to ensure that every student deserves the chance to succeed no matter their skin color or economic situation." Our Ruling Eichelberger said, Inner-city students "fall back and don’t succeed, whereas if there was a less intensive track, they would." While there are experts who support offering vocational education to low-income students, we were not able to find any research that backs Eichelberger’s comment. To the contrary, studies show that low-income students with experience in accelerated courses fare better in college. We rate this statement .


As measles returns, U.S. states look to cut vaccine exemptions.

Explanation: Maine could soon prohibit parents from citing religious or personal beliefs to avoid vaccinating their children, making the U.S. state one of a half dozen cracking down during the nation’s largest measles outbreak in 25 years.

State legislatures in New York, New Jersey, Oregon, Vermont, Minnesota and Iowa are looking at similar bills that would only allow exemptions from vaccinations for medical reasons as determined by the child’s doctor. The United States has recorded at least 704 measles cases so far this year in outbreaks that U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar has called "completely avoidable." here  Azar and other officials have largely blamed the outbreaks on the spread of misinformation, including a belief debunked by scientific studies that vaccine ingredients can cause autism. This has led to pockets of lower-than-normal vaccination rates in some communities. U.S. public health officials declared measles eliminated in 2000, meaning the disease was no longer a constant presence in the country. The current outbreak traces its roots to travelers to countries including Ukraine and Israel facing outbreaks. Maine’s Democratic-controlled Senate could vote on the vaccine measure as early as Thursday. The state’s Democratic-controlled House of Representatives passed it last month in a nearly party-line vote, with some Republicans arguing it represented inappropriate government intrusion into personal belief. Ryan Tipping, a Democratic member of Maine’s House of Representatives who sponsored the bill, noted in an interview that no major U.S. religion forbids vaccination. “I worked with a lot of people of very strong faiths on this bill, and, when people look, it’s hard to find a religious objection to the incredible amount of good that making these diseases far more rare has brought to the world,” Tipping said. Governor Janet Mills, a Democrat, did not respond to questions about whether she would sign the bill into law if it passes the Senate. It was unclear whether the similar bills in other states will pass. Some have been reintroduced after failing in earlier sessions. Other states are considering less restrictive steps to increase vaccination rates. Washington is poised to pass a bill that would remove exemptions on personal grounds for the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine, while leaving in place a religious exemption. Maine has one of the lowest vaccination rates in the country, with 5 percent of kindergartners holding a non-medical exemption from vaccination, compared to a national average of 2 percent, according to CDC data. The World Health Organization has said at least 95 percent of a community must be immunized against measles to achieve the “herd immunity” needed to protect those unable to get the vaccine such as infants and people with compromised immune systems. No measles cases have been recorded in largely rural Maine since 2017, but state officials have been worried by outbreaks of whooping cough, another childhood disease that can be prevented by vaccination. The largest U.S. measles outbreak this year has been in New York City, clustered in the Orthodox Jewish communities in the borough of Brooklyn, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and city public health officials. All 50 states require children to be vaccinated for various diseases in order to attend public schools, unless they have medical reasons for exemption. Only three states already bar all non-medical exemptions, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures: Mississippi, West Virginia and California. While most states allow religious exemptions, Maine is one of 17 states that let parents also opt out based on personal or moral beliefs. California outlawed non-medical exemptions in 2015 after a measles outbreak was traced to the Disneyland theme park. The state saw the proportion of kindergarten students who received all mandated vaccines rise to 95.1 percent last year, from 92.8 percent in 2015. It also saw the number of claimed medical exemptions rise to 0.7 percent from 0.2 percent. Officials have blamed this in part on unscrupulous doctors issuing spurious exemptions, prompting lawmakers to consider new legislation that would give the state the final say over whether a medical exemption is valid. (This story was refiled to fix misplaced apostrophe in ‘nation’s’ in paragraph 1)


Rep. Debbie Dingell is introducing a bill that would lead to widespread gun confiscations.

Explanation: “This is commonsense legislation that would give law enforcement a tool to ensure individuals deemed a threat to themselves or their community get help, protecting their due process while keeping them safe and their families and communities safe,” she said.

An April 2018, a Fox News appearance by Rep. Debbie Dingell of Michigan led to another round of stories from right-wing blogs promoting the fear of widespread gun confiscations. Dingell, a Democrat, was interviewed by the right-wing network about her work co-chairing a working group alongside Republican Fred Upton concerning mass shooting attacks at schools. The network preceded her interview by reporting that police in Seattle were “seizing guns.” In fact, there has been one reported instance of an involuntary gun seizure in Washington state through the use of an extreme risk protection order (ERPO for short) since the law was approved by voters in November 2016. During her appearance, Dingell said that she intended to introduce a federal version of the “red flag” laws that allow for use of ERPOs by law enforcement which are currently in effect in Washington and four other states, which contain guidelines through which individuals or police officers can petition courts to issue ERPOs if they believe that a gun owner may be a danger to themselves or others. Many of the blogs accusing Dingell of preparing to act out against gun owners cite the same Washington Post story — mislabeled as an original report by the Salt Lake City Tribune, rather than a republication — saying, “In Indiana, law enforcement can confiscate weapons without a judge’s order. The gun owner must ask the court to get the weapons returned.” This, too, is inaccurate; the law states that in the case of a firearm seizure without a warrant, police must submit “a written statement under oath or affirmation” to the circuit or superior court with jurisdiction over the gun owner explaining their reasoning for doing so: If the court finds that probable cause exists to believe that the individual is dangerous, the court shall order the law enforcement agency having custody of the firearm to retain the firearm. If the court finds that there is no probable cause to believe that the individual is dangerous, the court shall order the law enforcement agency having custody of the firearm to return the firearm to the individual. On 9 May 2018, Dingell and Upton joined two other lawmakers, Republican Rep. Susan Brooks of Indiana and Democratic Rep. Ted Deutch of Florida, in introducing H.R. 5717, which would provide grants to states that adopt their own version of “red flag” laws. “In the weeks since the horrific shooting in Parkland, Florida, I have met with law enforcement, prosecutors, mental health experts, the ACLU, students, teachers, parents, and other stakeholders to find common ground,” Dingell said in a statement: One of the biggest takeaways from these conversations is that we need to provide family members and law enforcement the tools needed when they know someone is a threat to themselves or others. According to a statement sent to us by her office, the bill requires officers who seize a firearm without a warrant to file documentation regarding the seizure to the appropriate court within 48 hours. The court would also hold a hearing on the issue within 21 days of the seizure to determine whether the firearm owner is dangerous. Dingell is listed as a co-sponsor on the bill. In July 2017 she introduced a separate gun-related bill, H.R. 3207, which would make it illegal to “knowingly sell or dispose of a firearm to a person who has been convicted of a misdemeanor crime of stalking.” It would also expand misdemeanor domestic violence crimes “to include the use or attempted use of physical force, or the threatened use of a deadly weapon, by a current or former intimate partner.” Dingell sent us a statement saying that the new bill is based on Indiana’s “red flag” law, which won support from both Republican Gov. Mitch Daniels and the GOP-controlled state legislature.