All posts by nedhamson

Activist, writer, researcher, addicted to sharing information and facts.

Obamacare Has Increased Insurance Coverage Everywhere | FiveThirtyEight

New data released this month might give a hint as to why: The uninsured rate — the share of the population without health insurance — dropped in every congressional district in the country between 2013 and 2015, according to the American Community Survey.

Source: Obamacare Has Increased Insurance Coverage Everywhere | FiveThirtyEight

I do not condemn ISIS – sister-hood magazine. A Fuuse production by Deeyah Khan. “Word!”

My dear fellow human beings, I have decided that I will not be condemning ISIS or any similar-minded groups in anyway anymore. I’m as distant from them as respectful Christian human beings are from the Christian militias in Africa, as respectful Jewish human beings are from the Israeli military, and as respectful Buddhist human beings are from the Buddhist militias in Myanmar. I will not be exonerating my name, my religion, or my ethnicity. This is the argument of the weak, the defenseless, and the doubtful. Although I share aspects of my identity with these criminals, it doesn’t make me one of them, defenseless before accusing looks nor doubtful about my beliefs. It simply assures me of how profoundly different these aspects of our faith and identity are. If I should ever be in a situation where I’m demanded to condemn any group that’s seemingly affiliated with me in anyway, I’ll be guiltlessly condemning all forms of evil and terror in this world. So, yes, I’m sorry for all the dead and the injured regardless of who inflicted this sad fate upon them.And for anyone who’s looking for a Muslim condemnation of ISIS and similar militias, you may quote me on that last sentence.

Source: I do not condemn ISIS – sister-hood magazine. A Fuuse production by Deeyah Khan.

Man who shot Skittles photo used in Donald Trump Jr tweet was former refugee – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

David Kittos, who took the photo, said he would never approve of the use of the photo against refugees as he was a former refugee himself.”I am now a British citizen but I am Greek-Cypriot by birth and in 1974 I was a refugee because of the Turkish occupation,” the 48-year-old told the BBC.”I was six years old. We lived in the area of Cyprus that is now under Turkish military control.”We had to leave everything behind overnight. Our property and our possessions.”Mr Kittos posted the image in January 2010 to Flickr after using it to test lighting, and said the photo was used without his permission.”I don’t support his (Donald Trump’s) policies and I would never take his money to use it,” he said.Flickr is often used as a source for photos under the Creative Commons license, which allows the free distribution of otherwise copyrighted work.But Mr Kittos’ image is listed under the “All Rights Reserved” license, which gives the owner full rights under copyright law.He said he considered involving lawyers, but he did not know if he had the patience.

Source: Man who shot Skittles photo used in Donald Trump Jr tweet was former refugee – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

Activity Trackers May Undermine Weight Loss Efforts – The New York Times “Or maybe this is a “bogus” study? grin.

The fascinating finding comes from a study published today in JAMA that found dieting adults who wore activity monitors for 18 months lost significantly fewer pounds over that time than those who did not.The results suggest that activity monitors may not change our behavior in the way we expected, and raise interesting questions about the tangled relationships between exercise, eating, our willpower and our waistlines.

Source: Activity Trackers May Undermine Weight Loss Efforts – The New York Times

Forgot to ask themselves – how many activity tracking people were wearing out of a desire to fit in with other fit people and not to actually lose weight or improve health in any way. Just how many people who wear warm up or sports activity clothing actually use them for any sort of exercise? How many researchers bias their own research to look good?

The Killing of Unarmed Black Man #TerenceCrutcher in Oklahoma | 3CHICSPOLITICO No justification for the killing- have mercy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AmU_cCpDJVo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rmIfTEZRBko

 

“He refused to follow commands given by the officers,” MacKenzie said. “They continued to talk to him; he continued not to listen and follow any commands. As they got closer to the vehicle, he reached inside the vehicle and at that time there was a Taser deployment, and a short time later there was one shot fired.”

Source: The Killing of Unarmed Black Man #TerenceCrutcher in Oklahoma | 3CHICSPOLITICO

Bryan Fischer Again Falsely Claims The U.S. Banned Travel During The 2014 Ebola Crisis | Right Wing Watch – Liars and Trump Supporters do what they do best – lie!

Fischer’s analogy is total nonsense, especially when you recall that during the outbreak, he accused Obama of intentionally refusing to impose a travel ban because he wanted the disease to come to America as punishment. As we pointed out before, the United States never imposed any sort of travel ban during the Ebola crisis because doing so would have been counterproductive. Instead, the government put in place protocols requiring that anyone traveling to the U.S. from Ebola-affected nations enter through one of five specific airports where enhanced screening would take place:The Department of Homeland Security has announced that all passengers arriving from Ebola-affected countries in West Africa must go by way of a handful of U.S. airports as part of measures to control the spread of Ebola.”Today, I am announcing that all passengers arriving in the United States whose travel originates in Liberia, Sierra Leone or Guinea will be required to fly into one of the five airports that have the enhanced screening and additional resources in place,” Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson said in a statement.Starting on Wednesday, those passengers will then be subject to “secondary screening and added protocols, including having their temperature taken, before they can be admitted into the United States,” the statement said.The airports are: New York’s JFK; Newark, N.J.; Washington, D.C.’s Dulles; Atlanta; and Chicago O’Hare.

Source: Bryan Fischer Again Falsely Claims The U.S. Banned Travel During The 2014 Ebola Crisis | Right Wing Watch

Defending Your Children’s Teeth (and Dentists): The Value of Sealants – The New York Times

sealants aren’t just effective, but also cost-effective. When sealant programs are introduced in schools with children at higher risk for cavities, they can be cost-saving. Though prices vary, filling a cavity can cost about $100, while sealant application costs only about $30 to $40 per tooth.There are different types. Resin-based are the most common, but glass ionomer sealants are also widely applied. Though studies indicate that resin-based sealants last longer, clinical trials conclude that neither is more effective than the other in cavity reduction. Similarly, more recent studies have generally not found a cavity-reducing performance difference between materials.But some parents may be concerned that resin-based sealants contain derivatives of bisphenol A, which is thought to play a role in early-onset puberty, infertility and breast and prostate cancer.B.P.A., as it’s known, has been detected in patients’ saliva just after sealant treatment, though none has been detected a day later and never in their blood. To date there is no evidence that sealants lead to patient harm, while there is considerable evidence of benefits. The American Dental Association, citing analysis by the Department of Health and Human Services and the Food and Drug Administration, does not believe that B.P.A. exposure from sealants poses risks to patients. My colleague Aaron Carroll and I have recently written Upshot articles questioning the need for annual bitewing X-rays for some patients and the efficacy of other dental practices.But when your dentist offers sealants for your children, it’s not an upsell, but a deal you should accept.

Source: Defending Your Children’s Teeth (and Dentists): The Value of Sealants – The New York Times