Category Archives: Around the World

The Mueller investigation appears to have been picking up steam in the last three weeks —and homing in on a series of targets.

Wired: Bob Mueller’s Investigation Is Larger – and Further Along – Than You Think. By Garrett M. Graff.

“President Trump claimed in a tweet over the weekend that the controversial Nunes memo “totally vindicates“ him, clearing him of the cloud of the Russia investigation that has hung over his administration for a year now.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

In fact, if anything, the Mueller investigation appears to have been picking up steam in the past three weeks—and homing in on a series of targets.”

The author lists five separate investigative angles:

  1. Preexisting Business Deals and Money Laundering.
  2. Russian Information Operations.
  3. Active Cyber Intrusions.
  4. Russian Campaign Contacts.
  5. Obstruction of Justice.

Link via MetaFilter.

Clinical trials seem promising

Gone With A Shot? Hopeful New Signs Of Relief For Migraine Sufferers.

“Humans have suffered from migraines for millennia. Yet, despite decades of research, there isn’t a drug on the market today that prevents them by targeting the underlying cause. All of that could change in a few months when the FDA is expected to announce its decision about new therapies that have the potential to turn migraine treatment on its head.

The new therapies are based on research begun in the 1980s showing that people in the throes of a migraine attack have high levels of a protein called calcitonin gene–related peptide (CGRP) in their blood.”

See also New Drugs Could Prevent Migraine Headaches For Some People and the older article What’s Triggering Your Migraine? by David Buchholz of Johns Hopkins University, author of Heal Your Headache.

“Big Brother can make a difference, just not necessarily with the long arm of the law.”

NPR Goats and Soda: 2 Approaches To Ending Smoking: Laws And Labels.

“We hear it from smokers struggling to quit all the time: “If only they’d make it illegal, then I’d have to quit.”

[…] Many countries have been experimenting with anti-tobacco strategies and legislation for years, but of all the efforts — from Orwellian-style bans to smoke-free cars — only a handful seem to have delivered results.

Oddly, making smoking illegal isn’t one of them.”

“On the final day, he recorded late into the night.”

The Guardian: How a new technology is changing the lives of people who cannot speak. “Millions are robbed of the power of speech by illness, injury or lifelong conditions. Can the creation of bespoke digital voices transform their ability to communicate?” By Jordan Kisner.

“Last November, Joe Morris, a 31-year-old film-maker from London, noticed a sore spot on his tongue. […]
The image revealed a tumour like an iceberg. It was rooted deep in the base of Joe’s tongue, mounding upward and out, its tip breaking the surface just where the telltale sore was located. […]

“You’re going to lose two-thirds of your tongue,“ the doctor was telling him. “This is going to seriously affect your ability to eat. And your speech.“

Joe wanted to know how the surgery would affect his speaking. Would he have a lisp?

The doctor hesitated, and then looked at his hands. “Your family will still be able to understand you.“ “

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“While the U.S. government has been the source of a lot negative media attention this year, the travel industry must continue to stand for open borders, inclusivity and the celebration of diversity”

NBC News: Tourism to U.S. under Trump is down, costing $4.6B and 40,000 jobs.

“International tourism to the U.S. began to wane after Trump took office, leading to a so-called Trump slump. Experts say that Trump’s proposed travel bans and anti-immigration language have had a negative impact on the U.S.’s attraction for foreign visitors, in addition to a weaker dollar and heightened security measures.

“It’s not a reach to say the rhetoric and policies of this administration are affecting sentiment around the world, creating antipathy toward the U.S. and affecting travel behavior,“ Adam Sacks, the president of Tourism Economics, told The New York Times.”

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