Life report

SAN FRANCISCO — It could cost California more than $800 billion to compensate Black residents for generations of over-policing, disproportionate incarceration and housing discrimination, economists have told a state panel considering reparations. The preliminary estimate is more than 2.5 times California’s $300 billion annual budget, and does not include a recommended $1 million per older Black resident for health disparities that have shortened their average life span. Nor does the figure count compensating people for property unjustly taken by the government or devaluing Black businesses, two other harms the task force says the state perpetuated. Black residents may not receive cash payments anytime soon, if ever, because the state may never adopt the economists’ calculations. The reparations task force is scheduled to discuss the numbers Wednesday and can vote to adopt the suggestions or come up with its own figures. The proposed number comes from a consulting team of five … [Read more...] about Reparations for Black Californians could top $800 billion

An emerging treatment for a common hospital-acquired infection could be (slightly) less gross in the future. Researchers have found that delivering a fecal microbiota transplant (FMT) in a pill—a poop pill, basically—is no worse than a similar procedure done with a colonoscopy. Neither option may sound particularly enticing, but FMTs are wildly effective at treating a very nasty infection called Clostridium difficile. One of the first controlled clinical trials for FMTs in 2013 ended early because the patients who received the treatment were doing so much better than patients who didn't. In the new study, almost 90 percent of adults treated with the capsules were cured. "It's absolutely insane. We just don't see kind of efficacy with drugs," Dr. Dina Kao told Newsweek . Kao is one of the authors of the paper and a gastroenterologist at the University of Alberta. Kao and her colleagues published the findings in the Journal of the American Medical Association on Tuesday. C. … [Read more...] about Fecal Transplants Can Be Given Through a Pill

Sports Video games NBA Gamers The cramped room in Midtown Manhattan was packed wall-to-wall with YouTubers—a relentlessly cheery bunch—the lot of them excitedly live-streaming, likes and comments bobbing across their screens. It was August, and the crowd was previewing the latest product from the NBA 2K video game series—NBA 2K18, which was released Friday to those who pre-ordered—and the event was crowded with elite gamers, social media stars, 2K staffers and, pocked about the room, honest-to-God, in-the-flesh NBA players. Security stood at the front door. Booze flowed from a bar in the back. TVs pinstriped the length of the room, cutting it into even rows. That was the main attraction, with the gamers lining up, jostling through the morass of people to get their turn on the joysticks (all of this, of course, beamed over the internet to 2K devotees). In a room full of presumed NBA fans it was somewhat disorienting to see these NBA players—Brooklyn Nets guard … [Read more...] about Virtual Meets Reality: Inside NBA 2K and Pro Basketball

King Charles III has the backing of 41 percent of Americans after he asked Prince Harry and Meghan Markle to leave their U.K. home. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex were given use of Frogmore Cottage—located west of London—by Queen Elizabeth II after they got married in 2018. This was the place where their son, Prince Archie , now 3 years old, spent his first months. They have only occasionally returned to the Windsor home since quitting the palace for a new life in America. Charles reportedly asked the couple to leave in January 2023, within days of the release of Harry's memoir Spare . The Sussexes confirmed the move in a statement on March 1: "The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have been requested to vacate their residence at Frogmore Cottage." Exclusive polling of 1,500 adults by Redfield & Wilton for Newsweek, conducted on March 20, shows 41 percent of Americans support the move while 23 percent opposed it, 19 percent said they did not know and 17 percent said … [Read more...] about King Charles right to kick Prince Harry, Meghan out of home—U.S. poll

Before he met and married Meghan Markle , Prince Harry embarked on a number of high-profile relationships with women within the orbit of the royal family and British high society. Of his relationships, the most prominent was with Zimbabwe-born Chelsy Davy, whose family ran a big game farm in South Africa. Within months of their relationship becoming public, Davy was a figure of intense public interest—something Harry has since spoken of his, and her, discomfort over. In court filings, made as part of his ongoing lawsuit against the publishers of the British tabloid Daily Mail over historic phone-hacking and privacy invasion allegations, the prince said that Davy was the victim of unlawful information-gathering techniques such as wiretapping and bugging. The media intrusion, the prince said, made Davy feel as if she was being "hunted." In the end, he said, she questioned whether she wanted a "lifetime of being stalked?" Here, Newsweek looks at who Chelsy Davy is and … [Read more...] about Who is Chelsy Davy—Prince Harry’s ex he feared would be “harassed to death”

A former CIA officer who was charged Tuesday with unlawful possession of secrets is suspected of a much worse crime: betraying U.S. informants in China, sources familiar with the case told NBC News. The former officer, Jerry Chun Shing Lee, 53, was arrested Monday after flying into New York on a Cathay Pacific flight from his home in Hong Kong, federal authorities announced. Lee, who is a naturalized U.S. citizen, was charged with a single count of unlawfully possessing national defense information, based on a 2012 search that found him to be in possession of two notebooks containing the true names of CIA assets and covert facilities, which are some of the agency's most closely guarded secrets. Ex-CIA officer Jerry Chun Shing Lee suspected of spying for China Jan. 17, 2018 01:55 But sources familiar with the case say he is suspected of funneling information to China that caused the deaths or imprisonment of approximately 20 American … [Read more...] about Ex-CIA officer Jerry Chun Shing Lee suspected of spying for China

The Atlantic for the second straight year was awarded the top honor of General Excellence for a News, Sports, and Entertainment publication at the 2023 National Magazine Awards, the most prestigious category in the annual honors from the American Society of Magazine Editors. The Atlantic regularly produces the most ambitious, challenging, and beautifully written stories in the country.” The Atlantic helped its readers make sense of the world’s most complicated issues and shined a light on injustices the world over. It was a finalist in a number of the most competitive categories for reporting and features by staff writers Caitlin Dickerson, George Packer, Jennifer Senior, Clint Smith, and Graeme Wood––several of which appeared as Atlantic cover stories in 2022: Staff writer Caitlin Dickerson was a finalist in the Public Interest category for the September cover story, “ We Need to Take Away Children ,” an exhaustive, 18-month-long investigation exposing the secret … [Read more...] about The Atlantic Wins Top Honor of General Excellence for Second Straight Year at 2023 National Magazine Awards

Narcan, a prescription nasal spray that reverses opioid overdoses, can now be sold over the counter, the Food and Drug Administration said on Wednesday, authorizing a move long-sought by public health officials and treatment experts, who hope wider availability of the medicine will reduce the nation’s alarmingly high drug fatality rates. By late summer, over-the-counter Narcan, could be for sale in big-box chains, vending machines, supermarkets, convenience stores, gas stations and even online retailers. The commissioner of the F.D.A., Dr. Robert M. Califf, said in a statement that the over-the-counter authorization was meant to address a “dire public health need.” “Today’s approval of OTC naloxone nasal spray will help improve access to naloxone, increase the number of locations where it’s available and help reduce opioid overdose deaths throughout the country. We encourage the manufacturer to make accessibility to the product a priority by making it available as soon as … [Read more...] about F.D.A. Approves Narcan for Over-the-Counter Sales

Along the riverbanks of Eastern Kentucky, the redbud trees are just starting to bloom, their branches still lumbering under the weight of last summer’s catastrophic flood: Lawn chairs, trampolines, twisted gutters and school backpacks remain high in the treetops, each item a persistent and disorienting sign of how life here was turned upside down last July when shallow streams surged more than 18 feet in 10 hours in parts of the state, killing more than 40 people and leaving hundreds homeless . Yet while residents reach for the possibility of renewal, the largest regional investment being offered is a federal prison proposed for Letcher County, the heart of the flood zone. The possible federal correctional institution adds insult to an already injured region. In 2019 activists defeated the proposal, demanding that the funds be used for more forward-thinking purposes, including safe and affordable housing — all the more needed since the flood. The Trump and Biden … [Read more...] about Eastern Kentucky Needs Flood Relief, Not Another Federal Prison

Not many people know how to wage nuclear war. I’m one of them. As a young U.S. Air Force fighter pilot in the late 1970s, I was trained to carry out nuclear strikes in a rigorous process designed to ensure that no contingencies — mechanical or ethical — deter your mission. Certain things remain burned into my memory: maps and photos of my target and the realization of the Armageddon I would leave in my wake. Training culminated with a sworn pledge to vaporize that target without hesitation. Much of my 33-year career was spent as a nuclear warrior — I later oversaw the U.S. intercontinental ballistic missile fleet and served as deputy commander of American military forces in the Pacific — experience that informs my deep alarm over the growing risk of nuclear conflict with North Korea. The United States has tried for decades to prevent the country from becoming a nuclear threat, veering from diplomacy to pressure to patience. None of these approaches have worked. Here’s something … [Read more...] about I Know How Nuclear War Is Waged, So I’m Calling for Peace With North Korea