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Tag: General News

  • Trump says he backs IVF, urges Alabama lawmakers to act

    By Jill Colvin | Associated Press

    COLUMBIA, S.C. — Former President Donald Trump said Friday that he would “strongly support the availability of IVF” and called on lawmakers in Alabama to preserve access to the procedure. It was his first comments after an Alabama Supreme Court ruling that led some providers to suspend in vitro fertilization treatments and has divided many Republicans nationally over the issue.

    Trump, in a post on his Truth Social network, said: “Under my leadership, the Republican Party will always support the creation of strong, thriving, healthy American families. We want to make it easier for mothers and fathers to have babies, not harder!”

    The comments come after a ruling by the all-Republican Alabama Supreme Court that frozen embryos can be considered children under state law. Since then, several clinics in the state have announced pauses on IVF services.

    As president, Trump nominated three of the Supreme Court justices who overturned Roe v. Wade, paving the way for dramatic restrictions in access to abortion across the country.

    Some anti-abortion advocates have suggested courts should go further to rule embryos are children, which would sharply ramp up restrictions on treatments like IVF.

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  • Schools Say Dress Codes Promote Discipline. But Many Black Students See Traces Of Racism

    (AP Illustration/Cheyanne Mumphrey)

    By CHEYANNE MUMPHREY AP Education Writer

    For as long as schools have policed hairstyles as part of their dress codes, some students have seen the rules as attempts to deny their cultural and religious identities.

    Nowhere have school rules on hair been a bigger flashpoint than in Texas, where a trial this week is set to determine whether high school administrators can continue punishing a Black teenager for refusing to cut his hair. The 18-year-old student, Darryl George, who wears his hair in locs tied atop his head, has been kept out of his classroom since the start of the school year.

    To school administrators, strict dress codes can be tools for promoting uniformity and discipline. But advocates say the codes disproportionately affect students of color and the punishments disrupt learning. Under pressure, many schools in Texas have removed boys-only hair length rules, while hundreds of districts maintain hair restrictions written into their dress codes.

    Schools that enforce strict dress codes have higher rates of punishment that take students away from learning, such as suspensions and expulsions, according to an October 2022 report from the Government Accountability Office. The report called on the U.S. Department of Education to provide resources to help schools design more equitable dress codes.

    In stringent public school dress codes, some see vestiges of racist efforts to control the appearance of Black people dating back to slavery. In the 1700s, South Carolina’s “Negro Act” made it illegal for Black people to dress “above their condition.” Long after slavery was abolished, Black Americans were still stigmatized for not adopting grooming habits that fit white, European beauty standards and norms.

    Braids and other hairstyles carry cultural significance for many African Americans. They served as methods of communication across African societies, including to identify tribal affiliation or marriage status, and as clues to safety and freedom for those who were captured and enslaved, historians say.

    Black Americans have a variety of hair textures that can require chemicals, time and equipment to style or make straight. Some common natural styles include afros, braids, cornrows or locs. But many have felt pressure to straighten curly hair or keep it cut short.

    Whether in professional workplaces, social clubs or schools, research has shown that such beauty norms and grooming standards have inflicted physical, psychological and economic harm on Black people and other people of color.

    Dress codes are built upon regulations that stretch back decades, which explains why they often are complex, said Courtney Mauldin, a professor at Syracuse University’s School of Education.

    “Schools were not designed with Black children in mind,” she said. “Our forefathers of education were all white men who set the tone for what schools would be … and what the purposes are of schooling — one of those being conformity. That’s one of the key ideas that was actually introduced in the 1800s.”

    In some cases, students and advocates have pushed back successfully.

    In 2017, then-15-year-old Black twins, Deanna and Mya Cook, were punished for wearing box braids with extensions at their charter school in Malden, Massachusetts. The sisters were told their hair did not comply with the school dress code. The American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts filed a complaint, and the state attorney general said the school policies against extensions and other hairstyles appeared to violate racial discrimination laws.

    “You don’t expect to get in trouble for your hair,” said Mya Cook, now 22 and a recent graduate from University of Massachusetts Dartmouth. “But we see it happen. Administrators are able to retaliate against students and use that as a form of control and oppression. And since there’s no policy in place, they’re able to get away with it.”

    Schools with higher percentages of Black and Hispanic students are more likely to enforce strict dress codes, and schools in the South are twice as likely to enforce strict dress codes as those in the Northeast, according to the GAO report. In the subregion including Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Louisiana, 71% of public schools have strict dress codes — the highest in the country, the report said.

    School districts have argued that strict dress codes increase academic performance, encourage discipline and good hygiene and help to limit distractions.

    At Barbers Hill High School in Mont Belvieu, Texas, where Darryl George is a junior, Superintendent Greg Poole has compared the district’s grooming policies to military practices. In a full-page advertisement in the Houston Chronicle last month, Poole said service members “realize being an American requires conformity with the positive benefit of unity, and being part of something bigger than yourself.”

    George has been serving either in-school suspension or spending time at an off-site disciplinary program since the end of August. His family was denied a religious exemption and has argued his locs have cultural significance.

    George’s family has also filed a formal complaint with the Texas Education Agency and a federal civil rights lawsuit against Gov. Greg Abbott and Attorney General Ken Paxton, along with the school district. The lawsuits allege the state and district failed to enforce the CROWN Act, which prohibits race-based hair discrimination and took effect in Texas in September.

    Asking students to change how they wear their hair for the sake of uniformity is a proxy for racism, said U.S. Rep Bonnie Watson Coleman, a New Jersey Democrat who has championed the CROWN Act.

    “To be confronted with this unnecessary discrimination, which has nothing to do with your ability to learn, has nothing to do with your ability to sit in a classroom, has nothing to do with your ability to thrive academically, is wrong,” she said.

    In 2020, the same high school told a Black male student that he had to cut his dreadlocks to return to school or participate in graduation. In recent years several other Texas high schools have told Black students their hair violated dress code policies. The ACLU has filed lawsuits in a couple cases, including against Magnolia Independent School District, which ultimately ended up removing their hair restrictions from the dress code.

    In 2020, the ACLU of Texas identified 477 school districts with boys-only hair length rules. Since then, half have removed the restrictions from their policies, according to an ACLU report. It argues for more equitable dress codes, noting Black students are more likely to face disciplinary action.

    Hair length rules applying to boys at Texas schools also unfairly target transgender and non-binary students, said Chloe Kempf, an attorney at the ACLU of Texas.

    The trial Thursday is being held in state court in Anahuac, Texas, to decide whether George’s high school is violating the CROWN Act through dress code restrictions limiting the length of boys’ hair. The decision is expected to set precedent in a state where several districts have similar policies.

    The Associated Press’ education coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.

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  • Ukrainian President Zelensky Claims He Didn’t Even Watch “Bulls**t” Tucker-Putin Interview


    Gaining as much insight as possible into the leader of the country you’re at war with is probably a good idea

    During a Fox News interview with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky this week, Fox journalist Bret Baier asked the Western puppet leader what he thought about American journalist Tucker Carlson’s recent historic discussion with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

    Zelensky bizarrely claimed his advisors had watched the interview and that he’d “heard some messages in media,” but not seen the whole thing.

    He claimed he doesn’t have time to “hear more than two hours of bullshit about the war, about the United States, about our [Ukraine’s] relations and this interview with a killer [Putin].”

    It’s quite astonishing for the leader of a warring nation to admit on television he never even watched the most historic interview ever given by his adversary.

    • Save 40% on DNA Force Plus NOW! Try it today and see why so many listeners have made it an essential part of their daily routine!

    Also, calling Putin a killer is an example of the pot calling the kettle black because thousands of innocent Ukrainian citizens in the Donbas have been killed under Zelensky’s leadership in addition to the hundreds of thousands of citizens being killed in the war itself.



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  • EFCC Arraigns Former Kwara Gov Ahmed For Alleged N10bn Fraud

    The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), has arraigned the immediate past governor of Kwara State, Abdulfatah Ahmed for alleged N10bn fraud.

    Recall THE WHISTLER reported last week that a source within the EFCC, hinted that Ahmed was invited for questioning over diversion of funds to the tune of N10bn during his regime.

    Ahmed, among sundry issues allegedly spent the sum of N1.6bn meant for the security and administration of the state to charter private jets when he was governor between 2015-2019.

    This contravenes Section 15(2)(a) of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act, 2011 (As Amended) which is punishable under Section 15 (3) of the same Act.

    The ex-governor was also accused of failing to make a declaration in the Assets Declaration Form offered him by the officers of the EFCC after he was arrested.

    This too contravenes Section 27(3)(c) of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (Establishment) Act No. 1 of 2004, which is punishable with a term of 5 years imprisonment under Section 27(3) of the same Act.

    In a recent development, the EFCC spokesman issued a release on Friday, saying the ex-governor was arraigned by the Ilorin Zonal Command of the EFCC before Justice Evelyn Anyadike of the Federal High Court sitting in Ilorin.

    He was arraigned alongside the commissioner of finance during his tenure, Ademola Banu, on a 12-count charge bordering on alleged mismanagement of public funds to the tune of N10 billion.

    However, the Commission noted that Banu neither appeared in court nor had legal representation when the case was called despite being listed as the second defendant on the charge sheet.

    When the matter was called, EFCC’s lead counsel, Rotimi Jacobs, informed the court that Banu jumped an administrative bail granted him by the EFCC and efforts to arrest him had proved abortive.

    He urged the court to rely on Section 83 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA) to issue a summons against his surety, Salami Bashiru Ola and/or warrant of arrest against the second defendant (Banu).

    The defence led by Kehinde Eleja, did not put any defence in favour of the second defendant, as he said that his appearance was for the first defendant.

    In a short ruling, Justice Anyadike issued a bench warrant against Banu.

    Meanwhile, count one of the charges against Ahemed read: “That you, Abdulfatah Ahmed (while being the Governor of Kwara State) between 2015 and 2019 in Ilorin within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, used an aggregate sum of N1,610,730,500.00 (One billion, six hundred and ten Million, seven hundred and thirty thousand, five hundred naira) property of Kwara State Government, meant for the security and running cost of the Government of Kwara State to charter private jets through Travel Messengers Limited on different occasions for your local travels, and which sum you reasonably ought to have known formed part of the proceeds of your unlawful act, to wit: Criminal Breach of Trust or Theft and you thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 15(2)(a) of the Money Laundering (prohibition) Act, 2011 (As Amended) and punishable under Section 15 (3) of the same Act.”

    Count three of the charges reads: “That you, Abdufatah Ahmed (while being the Governor of Kwara State) and Ademola Banu (while being the Commissioner of Finance of Kwara State), between January and December 2018 in Ilorin, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, conspired between yourselves to commit an offence, to wit: Conversion of the sum of N411,000,000.00 (Four hundred and eleven million naira) property of Kwara State Government meant for the provision of security in Kwara State, which sum you reasonably ought to have known was a proceed of an unlawful act, to wit; theft/fraud and you thereby committed an offence contrary to section 18(a) of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) (Amendment) Act, 2012 and punishable under section 15(3) of the same Act.”

    Thereafter, the court took the plea of the first defendant, Ahmed on each count. When the charges were read to him, he pleaded not guilty.

    Jacobs urged the court to fix a date for trial, but Eleja through an oral application prayed the court to admit his client to bail. He cited Section 162 of the ACJA.

    The defence counsel said all the twelve counts against the defendant were bailable, he therefore prayed the court to exercise its discretion in favour of the defendant.

    Jacobs in response, opposed the bail application by the defence, but conceded the fact that bail is at the discretion of the court.

    After listening to the arguments and counter-arguments of both counsels, Justice Anyadike admitted the first defendant to bail in the sum of N50 million with two sureties in like sum.

    According to the judge, the sureties must deposit their passports with the court’s registrar.

    He said one of the sureties must have a landed property in Ilorin with the title documents of the property deposited with the Registrar of the Federal High Court.

    He also said the sureties must also produce evidence of payment of electricity bills for the last three years, and in addition to the listed conditions, the judge ordered that the sum of N50 million be paid as bond into the litigation account of the Federal High Court.

    He said the money would be returned to the sureties after the final determination of the case, but it would also be forfeited to the Federal Government in the event the defendant jumped bail.

    As part of the bail conditions, the court also ordered that the international passport of the defendant be kept with the court’s registrar, which the former governor must apply to get if the need arises for him to travel abroad for medical reasons.

    The judge thereafter ordered the defendant to be remanded in EFCC custody pending the perfection of his bail terms. He adjourned to April 29 and 30, 2024 for commencement of trial.

    EFCC Arraigns Former Kwara Gov Ahmed For Alleged N10bn Fraud is first published on The Whistler Newspaper

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  • Fact Check: Elon Musk says there’s ‘scientific consensus’ on birth control depression, suicide risk. He’s wrong

    Elon Musk says people in developed countries should have more babies. The Tesla CEO, who has fathered 11 children, is now warning women about what he says are birth control’s dangerous side effects.

    “Hormonal birth control makes you fat, doubles risk of depression & triples risk of suicide,” Musk wrote Feb. 16, on his platform, X. “This is the clear scientific consensus, but very few people seem to know it.” To support his claim, Musk shared two links about a 2017 study from Denmark that said hormonal birth control could be linked to higher suicide risk. 

    But experts in reproductive health and contraception research criticized Musk’s conclusion, and said the single study, which has noted limitations, is far from “consensus.” 

    Using hormonal contraception, such as birth control pills and intrauterine devices, can come with psychological side effects. But experts said that the overall risk of severe side effects is low. Musk’s post ignores that many women also take birth control to treat painful periods and health conditions, such as endometriosis and polycystic ovary syndrome. 

    The Denmark paper showed an increase in suicide risk in people who used hormonal contraception, “but in no way can it definitively claim the birth control was the cause; rather, it is a correlation,” said Dr. Jennifer Lincoln, a board-certified OB-GYN and social media educator based in Portland, Oregon. “This study was a registry review, not a blinded randomized control trial, so this can only tell us association, which is interesting but in no way should broad sweeping conclusions a la Elon be made.”

    Registry studies use databases to evaluate specified outcomes in certain populations and are often considered observational.

    We emailed the X press account for additional evidence and received an automatic reply: “Busy now, please check back later.”

    What is hormonal birth control?

    Hormonal contraception refers to birth control methods that contain estrogen and progesterone, or progesterone only, to prevent pregnancy. These methods can block the release of eggs from the ovaries, thin the uterus’s lining, or thicken mucus in the cervix to keep sperm from reaching the egg.

    Hormonal birth control methods, which include the pill, ring, patch, shot, IUD (intrauterine device) and implant, are considered more effective — around 90% to 99% depending on correct and consistent usage — than almost all nonhormonal methods that prevent pregnancy without changing or affecting a person’s natural hormone production or period cycle. Nonhormonal methods include condoms, diaphragms and contraceptive gels.

    Hormonal birth control, like many other medicines, has beneficial effects and potential risks that affect people differently. The most common side effects are nausea, headaches, breast tenderness and irregular periods. These usually subside, doctors say, within a few months once hormone levels balance out. 

    What the study and other research says about birth control and depression, suicide risks

    The 2017 study that Musk referred to was published in the American Journal of Psychiatry by researchers in Denmark who used a national registry that tracked women ages 15 and older who were living in the country from 1996 to 2013. 

    The paper analyzed prescriptions along with deaths and medical records with “suicide attempt” coding. It found that women who had used hormonal contraceptives had up to triple the risk of suicide as women who never took hormonal birth control. In a 2017 Time article that Musk linked, the researchers noted that the absolute risk of suicide “was still extremely low.” 

    The study’s lead author, Charlotte Wessel Skovlund, told PolitiFact that Musk had a short post that sums up her findings in a “very unnuanced matter” but affirmed her studies found those risks for depression and suicide.

    Skovlund said the studies were observational, and could, therefore, “only see if there is an association between hormonal contraception and the different depression parameters, not a causal link.”  

    Other researchers and reproductive health experts said the results warrant further study but aren’t conclusive and don’t represent scientific consensus.

    “When looking directly at that data, we are talking about an extremely small number of people,” said Dr. Michael Belmonte, an OB-GYN and complex family planning subspecialist based in Washington, D.C. The data shows that among the 475,802 women sampled, there were 6,999 suicide attempts (1.47%) and 71 suicides (0.01%). “While this study has found an association, it is unable to say that hormonal birth control is the cause,” Belmonte said

    The study focused solely on suicide and suicide attempts, not depression or weight gain. A separate study by the same authors found an increased prevalence of depression among hormonal birth control users. Belmonte said other studies that have examined this are mixed, “without consistent evidence of mood effects.” 

    Two contemporaneous reports also cited the study’s limitations, including a November 2018 paper that Musk linked. The paper said the analysis lacked information on “risk factors” that may influence the relationship between contraception and suicidal behavior, such as relationship status, domestic abuse exposure and family history of mental health diagnoses.

    In a July 2018 letter, biomedical experts in psychiatry and psychology noted other concerns.  The suicide risk seemed to be higher for former hormonal birth control users, compared with recent or current users, they said, suggesting that “factors other than hormonal contraception medications are at work.” The study also didn’t specify which psychiatric diagnoses were controlled for, including substance use disorders and mood disorders.

    The letter’s authors said the study doesn’t allow for attributing an association specifically to hormonal contraception because it didn’t compare hormonal birth control users with people who used nonhormonal methods. It cited a 2013 study that found a lower suicide risk among hormonal contraception users than for those using nonhormonal methods or no contraception.

    Nearly all forms of birth control involving estrogen can increase the risk of serious health problems, but researchers and medical experts say risks are rare. Some research also suggests that birth control may increase the risk of some forms of cancer, while decreasing the risk of others. 

    Research shows the pill, patch, ring, and IUD are unlikely to cause any weight changes, while the birth control shot and implant may cause some people, but not all, to gain weight. 

    Dr. Jenni Villavicencio is an OB-GYN and senior director of public affairs at the Society of Family Planning, a nonprofit organization specializing in abortion and contraception science. She said decades of rigorous research show that “any method of birth control is safe for use in individuals with depressive disorder.” 

    “It’s advisable for people experiencing mental health or mood challenges to seek care from an expert as well as ongoing monitoring when starting any new medication,” Villavicencio said. 

    Besides preventing pregnancy, hormonal birth control can also offer different health benefits, such as lightening periods, easing cramps and treating polycystic ovary syndrome, or PCOS.

    Lincoln, the Oregon-based OB-GYN, said the Denmark study didn’t address how many birth control users deal with painful and heavy periods, painful sex and other debilitating health issues. 

    “All things that alone can increase risk for undiagnosed mental health disorders and — you guessed it — suicide risk,” she said.

    The study’s researchers said women should be “informed” about these “little-recognized potential side effects.” Lincoln said doctors routinely do this already, and discuss with patients concerns about depression, anxiety or thoughts of self-harm. 

    Our ruling

    Musk said there is “clear scientific consensus” that hormonal birth control makes people gain weight and doubles the risk of depression and triples the risk of suicide. 

    Musk referred to a single 2017 study that experts said is limited and does not prove a causal relationship. 

    Research shows that most types of hormonal birth control do not affect weight, though some can. Medical experts and contraceptive researchers said there is mixed data on hormonal birth control’s side effects, including depression, and that the overall risk of suicide is low.

    Musk’s claim ignores that many women use birth control to treat painful periods and other disorders, as well as the negative mental health outcomes that can arise from unplanned pregnancy.

    We rate his claim False. 

    RELATED: More access to contraception increases abortion demand? No, that’s not right 



    Source

  • Melvin names starting lineup for SF Giants’ spring training opener

    SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — For the first time Friday morning as manager of the San Francisco Giants, Bob Melvin made up his lineup card and hung it in home clubhouse.

    It being for their first exhibition of the Cactus League schedule, there were a few names missing. But the group that will start Saturday’s game against the Cubs, behind Logan Webb on the mound, should at least somewhat resemble the one that takes the field next month for Opening Day.

    Most notably absent were the Giants’ two biggest free-agent acquisitions, center fielder Jung Hoo Lee and slugger Jorge Soler.

    Nursing a sore side from swinging in the cage, Lee is “a day or two away,” from making his debut, Melvin said, describing the issue as minor.

    Soler, Melvin joked upon acquiring him, would be “bubble wrapped” to ensure he breaks camp healthy, and repeated Friday, “he’s in bubble wrap.” Monday against the Angels is tentatively scheduled to be his first time in the lineup, at designated hitter, Melvin said.

    Leading off and DHing in the first game will be Austin Slater, whose slow recovery from offseason elbow surgery is still preventing him from playing the field, and following him the top six spots are all filled by veterans expected to be a regular presence in the regular season.

    Making up the bottom third of the order is a trio of top prospects, hoping to secure spots on the Opening Day roster.

    Batting eighth, beginning his quest to become Brandon Crawford’s successor, will be Marco Luciano, whom Melvin said they want to “seize” the starting shortstop job this spring. And sandwiching the 22-year-old infielder are Heliot Ramos, batting seventh and playing right field, and Luis Matos, rounding out the order as the center fielder.

    Ramos, 24, has been the “all-star” of live batting practice against Giants’ pitchers, Melvin said, routinely tanking balls beyond the outfield wall, including the first pitch thrown to a batter all camp by incoming starter Jordan Hicks.

    The 22-year-old Matos, meanwhile, clearly took to heart the club’s directive to bulk up this offseason, looking noticeably more muscular below the new set of cornrows on his head.

    Webb, the starting pitcher, isn’t likely to go more than two innings, followed by a procession of single-inning relievers.

    The lineup is subject to change — Luciano has been nursing a sore hamstring — but, Melvin said, “that’s always the risk, you know, of saying my lineup now.”

    Source

  • Kamala Harris Hosts Exclusive In-person Interview With The Courier

    Vice President, Kamala Harris

    But then, the U.S.’ first woman vice president, and first Black woman vice president, made her way to the second floor of the Kingsley Association building to speak exclu-sively with the New Pitts¬burgh Courier.

    Rob Taylor Jr. – Courier Staff Writer

    Vice President of the United States, Kamala Harris, spent about 10 minutes on Tuesday, Feb. 20, speaking to a crowd of supporters at the King­sley Association in East Liberty, adamant about replacing lead pipes in Pittsburgh, the state of Pennsylvania, and all around the country, in the fight for clean water, free of toxins.

    To a hail of applause, Harris announced that $5.8 billion in funding, including more than $200 million specifically for Pennsylvania, was being allotted for clean water infrastructure from Presi­dent Joe Biden’s Investing in America agenda. The announcement brought the total amount of clean water funding announced by the Environmental Protection Agency from President Biden’s Infra­structure Law to $22 bil­lion. Overall, the Infra­structure Law will invest over $50 billion in total to upgrade America’s water infrastructure, the largest investment in clean water in American history.

    But then, the U.S.’ first woman vice president, and first Black woman vice president, made her way to the second floor of the Kingsley Association building to speak exclu­sively with the New Pitts­burgh Courier.

    “Hello Mr. Doss, how are you?” Harris said. “It’s good to be with you.”

    Rod Doss, the longtime editor and publisher of the Courier, greeted Harris and told her, “I’m staring at history. This is truly a moment for me.”

    Harris told Doss that she was glad to have some time to talk, “be­cause your paper, and what you do in terms of the voice that it rep­resents, and a trusted voice, is so important.”

    For more than 100 years, Pittsburgh’s Af­rican American commu­nity has counted on the Courier to cover the most important stories that affect the Black commu­nity, and it was obvious that fact wasn’t lost on the vice president.

    VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES KAMALA HARRIS, WITH NEW PITTSBURGH COURIER EDITOR AND PUBLISHER ROD DOSS, LEFT, AND COURIER MANAGING EDITOR ROB TAYLOR JR. HARRIS HELD AN IN-PERSON EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH THE COURIER ON FEB. 20, 2024, AT THE KINGSLEY ASSOCIATION IN EAST LIBERTY.

    No questions were out-of-bounds. No questions were shared with Har­ris beforehand. Couri­er managing editor Rob Taylor Jr., who was also part of the exclusive in­terview, told Harris she seemed passionate and driven to tackle the lead pipes and clean water is­sue head-on, particularly in Black communities.

    “As I said earlier, lead pipes were standard for construction across the country, but then it be­came increasingly obvi­ous that the water com­ing out of those lead pipes was toxic which results in health impacts, in terms of health well-being, but also learning impacts for children,” Harris told the Courier. “In communities where the resources were there, in homes where there was a homeowner­ship or people (had) the resources, they can re­move the lead pipes. But not in communities that didn’t have the extra, or didn’t have savings, or didn’t own their home and rented. What you ended up seeing is that while the lead pipes af­fected everyone, not so equally.”

    Speaking specifically to the Infrastructure Law, officially signed into law by President Biden in November 2021, Harris said that the funding to fix sidewalks or replace lead pipes not only cre­ates jobs, or in her words, “an economy around the upgrades,” but the “oth­er piece of the lead pipes issue is absolutely about public health. It’s about the physical well-being, about the well-being of families and we have to take that seriously. And as I said earlier, govern­ment has a few specific responsibilities and one of them is to address the public health needs of the community. That’s how I think about the lead pipe issue; what do we need to do to get the resourc­es into the community to take those lead pipes out, knowing it will benefit our children, it will ben­efit families and it will uplift communities.”

    VICE PRESIDENT KAMALA HARRIS MAKES A STOP IN PITTSBURGH’S ELLIOTT NEIGHBORHOOD TO WITNESS LEAD PIPE REPLACEMENT AT WORK, FEB. 20, 2024. (PHOTO BY ROB TAYLOR JR.)

    Doss then addressed the issue that has been permeating throughout the nation, brought more to light by a popular Black radio personality, Charlamagne Tha God. The radio personality said on Feb. 18 on ABC News’ “This Week” that he felt there was a gen­eral apathy from younger voters about either of the presidential candidates, Donald Trump or Pres­ident Biden. Moreover, Charlamagne Tha God called President Biden “an uninspiring candi­date.”

    Doss pressed Harris on that perceived growing lack of enthusiasm from young voters as it relates to supporting the Dem­ocratic Party and the Biden/Harris ticket.

    Harris prefaced her response by saying she hadn’t seen the Charla­magne Tha God interview on ABC News. But in general terms, “we are up for re-election, and any candidate up for election or re-election has to earn the votes, and I’m very, very clear about that. Which is why I’m here in Pittsburgh, which is why I’m traveling around the country to make sure that people know what we have accomplished in response to what they asked us to do in 2020, because people turned out in record numbers, young voters turned out in record numbers…and they said, ‘fix the lead pipes.’ They said in the Black community, ‘we are 60 percent more likely to be diagnosed with di­abetes, bring down the cost of insulin for our seniors,’ and we’ve now capped the cost of insulin at $35 dollars a month. Folks said deal with the fact that HBCUs (Histor­ically Black Colleges and Universities) are centers of academic excellence, but don’t necessarily have the kind of endow­ments that other univer­sities do…we have now dedicated over $7 billion to HBCUs.”

    Harris continued: “Peo­ple said deal with Black unemployment; we now have the lowest Black un­employment in the histo­ry because of the work that we have done. That’s about building jobs and creating opportunities for not only employment, but for wealth-building. People said deal with the fact that Black busi­nesses don’t get federal contracts in the same way that other business­es do. We have made a pledge which we are on track now to achieving, increasing federal con­tracts by 50 percent to minority-owned busi­nesses. So this is some of the work that we have done and it is incumbent on us in an election sea­son to let people know that we heard them, we have delivered and there­fore believe that we have earned a re-election.”

    Harris is the first HBCU graduate to work in The White House as President or Vice Presi­dent. Harris graduated from Howard University, in Washington, D.C., in 1986. And she and Pres­ident Biden obviously want to continue work­ing in The White House for another term, though the former President, Trump, is lurking. While he hasn’t officially been named the Republican nominee for president, it’s pretty much a fore­gone conclusion barring a miracle from opponent Nikki Haley.

    Harris told Doss and Taylor that she and Pres­ident Biden have to do “the hard work” in re­minding people about what they’ve done as President and Vice Pres­ident. “On the one side, you got the former pres­ident who admires dic­tators, who openly has talked about his pride in taking away freedoms. On the other hand you have our re-election in Joe Biden who has been a champion for what we need to do around equi­ty, what we need to do around resources to com­munity, around working people, around bringing down the cost of prescrip­tion drugs and taking on big pharmaceutical com­panies. So, the closer we get to the election, I think the more people are going to start tuning in to the fact that you’ve got one of two choices, and I think the biggest decision that people are going to make this election is, deciding what kind of country we want to live in.”

    Taylor then reminded Harris that Pennsylva­nia is a “critical” state in this election season, as it seems to be in each pres­idential election.

    “Allegheny County made all the difference,” Harris responded to Tay­lor and Doss. “The voters here turned out in record numbers and it is why I am Vice President of the United States as the first woman and the first Black woman. Why do I keep coming back to Al­legheny County and com­ing back to Pittsburgh? First and foremost, it’s to thank everybody, because it is the people here who, in large part, did the work of helping to cre­ate history around this position, and so I’m here to thank folks and to re­mind them of their power and ask them to please, let’s do it again.”

    The 10-minute inter­view concluded between Harris and the Courier representatives. Photos were then taken, and Harris was about to be whisked away to an on-site meeting with work­ers from the Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Au­thority and other con­tractors as they removed a lead pipe from under the ground in the Elliott neighborhood of Pitts­burgh.

    But before she left the Kingsley Association, Taylor jokingly asked her one final question.

    “The real H-U?”

    Harris responded: “You know.”

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  • Watch: MSNBC Freaks Out That Christian Nationalists Believe Their ‘Rights Come From God’


    MSM pundit says real Christians don’t hold that belief

    MSNBC on Thursday night told its audience that people who believe their rights come from God and not the government are “Christian nationalists,” not real Christians.

    Politico National Investigative Correspondent Heidi Przybyla joined All In With Chris Hayes, saying:

    “The one thing that unites all of them, because there’s many different groups orbiting Trump, but the one thing that unites them as Christian nationalists – not Christians by the way because Christian nationalist is very different – is that they believe our rights as Americans, as all human beings, don’t come from any earthly authority. They don’t come from Congress, they don’t come from the Supreme Court, they come from God.”

    Przybyla was dragged online for the remark.

    • Introducing Next Level Foundational Energy from Dr. Jones Naturals starting at 30% off! This cutting-edge dietary supplement is designed to elevate your energy levels and support your overall well-being.

    Daily Wire reporter Megan Basham wrote:

    “I don’t believe that MSNBC does not know that our founders believed this too. I don’t believe they don’t know that our Declaration of Independence asserts this very fact—that we are endowed by our Creator with inalienable rights. I think they are trying to erase it from our national history and identity so that we will forget that we have these rights. Because people who do not know that their rights come from God not government are easily ruled and oppressed.”

    Podcast host Graham Allen asked, “HAS SHE NOT READ THE CONSTITUTION?!?!?”

    The Federalist co-founder Sean Davis posted an image of a U.S. one dollar bill featuring the words “In God We Trust.”

    The media establishment is openly pushing anti-Christian propaganda on a regular basis.



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  • Idahosa Loses As APC Declares Okpebholo Winner Of Edo Guber Primary

    Monday-Okpebholo.

    Senator Monday Okpebholo has been declared the winner of the All Progressives Congress (APC) primary election following the completion of the exercise in which three candidates emerged as winners last week.

    The Chairman of the Revised APC Edo Gubernatorial Election Committee and Governor of Cross River State, Bassey Otu, declared Okpebholo as the winner after the completion of the exercise in Benin, the Edo State, on Friday.

    Otu’s declaration aligns with the earlier pronouncement of the Returning Officer for the election, Stanley Ugboaja, that Okpebholo scored the highest number of lawful votes.

    Recall that the former chairman of the committee and Imo State Governor, Hope Uzodinma, had declared Dennis Idahosa – the anointed candidate of Senator Adams Oshiomhole – as the winner of the poll.

    Uzodinma’s declaration that Idahosa polled 40,483 votes to defeat nine other contestants had caused rancour among party members and stakeholders.

    The party subsequently annulled Uzodinma’s announcement and declared the process inconclusive.

    The Imo state governor was eventually removed as chairman and his deputy, Governor Otu, was appointed to complete the exercise.

    Declaring the results on Friday, Otu said a total number of 41,784 votes were cast in the primary with Okpebholo scoring 12, 433 votes to defeat the other eleven aspirants.

    According to the result called out by Governor Otu, Dr Blessing A. scored 731 votes; Gerald Charles 1,181 votes; Senator O.O Osunbor 634 votes; Col. David Imose 423 votes; Senator Monday Okpebholo 12,433 votes.

    Others are Hon. Dennis Idahosa with 6,541 votes, Everest Afolabi 2,117 votes, Gideon O. Ikhanire 720 votes, Pastor Ize-Iyamu 378 votes, Amero Sunday 2,562 votes, Agba Clement 2,732 votes, and Lucky Imasuen with 493 votes.

    Okpebholo will be the party’s candidate during the September 16, 2024 governorship election.

    Idahosa Loses As APC Declares Okpebholo Winner Of Edo Guber Primary is first published on The Whistler Newspaper

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  • Fact Check: Yes, the price of an inhaler in the U.S. is massively higher than overseas cost

    Are Americans paying nearly $500 for an inhaler that would cost just $7 overseas?

    U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., says there is a vast difference in the cost of prescriptions in the United States and the rest of the world. 

    “Big drug companies charge as little as $7 for an inhaler overseas and nearly $500 for the exact same one here in the US,” Baldwin said Feb. 1, 2024 in a Facebook post. “That has got to end. We’ve got to hold Big Pharma accountable for their price-gouging tactics. I won’t stop fighting until we do.”

    That massive cost difference piqued our interest.

    How much would patients pay? 

    When we asked for backup information, Baldwin’s campaign staff directed us to drug pricing websites, news articles and news releases on the cost of Combivent Respimat (ipratropium bromide and albuterol), which is a combination medication used to treat chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). 

    Combivent Respimat is available only as a brand-name medication and not available in generic form, according to Medical News Today, which pointed out that the actual price a patient would pay for the medication depends on type of insurance plan, location, and pricing at the patient’s pharmacy. Medicare does cover Combivent Respimat. 

    According to Drugs.com, a pricing website, Combivent Respimat costs about $525 for a supply of 4 grams, depending on the pharmacy. 

    It’s also important to note, that on a practical basis, because of insurance and Medicare coverage, few people in the United States would actually pay $500 out of pocket

    “Quoted prices are for cash-paying customers and are not valid with insurance plans,” the website says  says. 

    Another online drug pricing guide, GoodRx, puts the price of Combivent Respimat between about $477 and $584 at Madison, Wisconsin, pharmacies:

    So, Baldwin is on target on the cost in the US.

    What about overseas?

    According to a Jan. 8,  2024, news release from U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vermont, Combivent Respimat sold for just $7 In France.

    Sanders, chairman of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, sent letters to the CEOs of four pharmaceutical companies announcing an investigation into the high prices the companies are charging for inhalers. Baldwin and Democratic Sens. Ben Ray Luján of New Mexico and Ed Markey of Massachusetts also signed the letters.

    The letters were sent to the four biggest manufacturers of inhalers sold in the United States – AstraZeneca, Boehringer Ingelheim, GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) and Teva.

    “It is beyond absurd that Boehringer Ingelheim charges $489 for Combivent Respimat in the United States, but just $7 in France,” Sanders said in the news release.

    The news release said the Committee’s source for the price of Combivent Respimat in France was the Navlin international drug pricing database. 

    Baldwin, in the news release, accuses companies of  “jacking up prices and turning record profits.”

    Experts weigh in 

    Dr. William B. Feldman noted that Baldwin is referring to list prices here — which are the prices that uninsured patients in the U.S. pay and the prices to which out-of-pocket costs are often tied.

    “Manufacturers give sizable (confidential) rebates to insurers, and so the net prices for inhalers in the U.S. are below list prices — but still much higher than the net prices abroad,” Feldman said in an email to PolitiFact Wisconsin. 

    Feldman, who works at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, said a key reason inhaler prices remain so high in the U.S. is that there is very little generic competition. 

    “Brand-name manufacturers have erected large patent thickets that keep generic competitors off the market,” Feldman said. ” Inhaler prices are low elsewhere, in part, because governments negotiate prices based on the value of the drugs compared to existing therapies.”

    David Kreling, professor emeritus in the School of Pharmacy at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said the U.S. price quoted by Baldwin sounds about right.

    “The $500 number may be in the ballpark for U.S. patented (brand-name, newer) drugs,” Kreling said in an email to PolitiFact Wisconsin. “That would be consistent with my understanding of market data on sales by firms in the U.S. Things in the $7 range, here, only reside within the off-patent generic drug market (where we have low prices, sometimes at or near lowest in the world).” 

    Our ruling

    Baldwin said “big drug companies charge as little as $7 for an inhaler overseas and nearly $500 for the exact same one here in the US.”

    Our review, and that of experts, found the numbers checked out.

    Experts cite a variety of reasons for the price differences, including very little generic competition in the United States, and few people in the United States would actually pay $500 out of pocket because of insurance and Medicare coverage. 

    For a statement that is accurate but needs clarification or additional information, our rating is Mostly True.  



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