Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s false claims linking autism to childhood vaccinations are receiving new scrutiny now that President-elect Donald Trump has selected him to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, a sprawling agency with a budget of $1.7 trillion that oversees research into both autism and vaccines. The myth that autism is caused by childhood vaccines — proposed in 1998 by a British doctor who was later banned from practicing medicine in the United Kingdom — has been thoroughly debunked . Hundreds of studies have found vaccines to be safe . The World Health Organization estimates that over the past 50 years, immunizations have saved 154 million lives around the world. Watch NBC Bay Area News 📺 Streaming free 24/7 Kennedy, who espouses a number of health-related conspiracy theories , has pointed to vaccines to explain the substantial rise in autism diagnoses in recent decades, which have ballooned from an estimated 1 in 150 children in 2000 to 1 in 36 today. Research suggests that much of that increase is due to increasing awareness and screening for the condition; changing definitions of autism to include milder conditions on the spectrum that weren’t recognized in previous years; as well as advances in diagnostic technology. “For a very long time, the anti-vaccine movement has been exploiting families of autistic people, promoting a market for pseudo-scientific treatments that don’t provide the answers they’re looking for and that can expose autistic people to real harm,” said Ari Ne’eman, co-founder of the nonprofit Autistic Self Advocacy Network and an assistant professor of health policy and management at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. “More discredited conspiracy theories linking autism and vaccines are not the answer.” Timothy Caulfield, research director at the University of Alberta’s Health Law Institute in Canada, who studies health misinformation, said that people often are more willing to believe conspiracy theories about conditions such as autism, whose causes are complex and not fully understood, than diseases with clear causes. People seem less inclined to speculate, for example, about alternative explanations for Down syndrome, which causes intellectual disabilities and has long been known to be caused by an extra copy of chromosome 21. “It’s really a shame because there are vulnerable families [of people with autism] who need our support,” said Judith Miller, a clinical psychologist and senior scientist and training director at the Center for Autism Research at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. “Every dollar and hour spent trying to debunk a conspiracy theory is a dollar and an hour lost that could have been spent trying to understand how to help families.” A complex condition Finding the causes of autism is complicated, because it’s not a single disorder, said Manish Arora, a professor of environmental medical and climate science at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York. “Autism is a spectrum, not a single narrow disease,” Arora said. “It’s many, many things under one umbrella.” Although people diagnosed with autism often have similar strengths and challenges, “there are many paths to autism and many presentations of autism,” Miller said. Scientists have found a variety of risk factors for autism — most of which exist before birth — but there is no single cause for a neurological and developmental condition that affects how people interact with others, communicate, learn and behave. A number of the traits sometimes seen in people with autism — such as being sensitive to loud noises, for example, or finding it difficult to interpret social cues — are also found in people who have not been diagnosed with autism. Doctors diagnose autism based on a person’s behavior, noting that there is no simple test for the condition, as there is for Covid or diabetes, said Arora, founder and CEO of a start-up company that researches biomarkers for autism and other neurological conditions. Finding the cause of an infectious disease — such as influenza, which is caused by the flu virus — is much more straightforward. While researchers continue to study the factors that influence the development of autistic traits, “the one thing we know doesn’t cause autism is vaccines,” said Catherine Lord, a psychologist and researcher at the Center for Autism Research and Treatment at the UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine. Genetic vulnerability Doctors have long known that genes play a large role in autism, simply by noting that autism can run in families. For example, in identical twins — who share all of their DNA — if one twin has autism, the other usually does, as well. In the case of fraternal twins — who share about half their DNA — if one fraternal twin has autism, the chance that the other will have autism ranges from 53% to 67%, according to an analysis of research studies. Scientists have identified more than 100 genes related to autism, Miller said, and genes are believed to play a role in 60% to 80% of cases. “The genetics of autism have never been better understood,” said Dr. Gregory Cejas, medical director of the Autism Clinical Center and Fragile X Clinic at the Washington University School of Medicine. “We’re making leaps and bounds about known genetic causes of autism.” Yet genes clearly don’t explain every case of autism. Autism is very different from conditions like sickle cell anemia or cystic fibrosis, which are caused by a single gene. Scientists believe that people develop autistic traits due to a combination of genetic vulnerability and environmental exposures, Lord said. “People have found many, many different genetic patterns associated with autism, but none of them are only associated with autism and none of them are always associated with autism,” Lord said. For example, fragile X syndrome — caused by a mutated gene on the X chromosome — is the most common known cause of autism. But only a fraction of children with the genetic mutation actually develop autism, Miller said. It’s possible that this mutation leaves some people more vulnerable to developing autistic characteristics, while others with the same mutations don’t develop autistic traits, because they are shielded by protective factors that have not yet been identified. Some people blamed the measles-mumps-rubella vaccine with autism because symptoms of the condition often occur at around 12 to 15 months of age, the same time toddlers get that immunization. But Miller notes that “most of the genetic conditions that affect our life and health aren’t apparent at birth. Symptoms or characteristics won’t show up until later, but the genetic code will have been with us the whole time.” Prenatal vulnerability Many of the known risk factors for autistic characteristics occur before birth or at the time of delivery, Arora said. Babies who experience complications at birth , such as their umbilical cord becoming wrapped around their neck, have a higher risk of autism. So do babies born prematurely , perhaps because of something that happened in the womb. Children are also slightly more likely to be diagnosed with autism if they have older fathers and possibly if they have older mothers, Miller said. It’s not clear if something in the biology of older parents causes a child to have a higher risk of autism, or if socioeconomic issues could play a role. It’s possible that older parents have better access to health care, making it more likely for their child to receive an autism diagnosis. A mother’s health influences her child’s autism risk in several ways, according to multiple studies: Children have a greater chance of being diagnosed with autism if their mothers were exposed to high levels of air pollution or developed a serious infection , such as the flu or pneumonia, while pregnant. While Ne’eman, of the Autistic Self Advocacy Network, said he’s not opposed to basic biological research on autism or its causes, he said those studies do little to help people with autism overcome the barriers they face in their everyday lives. He notes that only 8.4% of the $419 million spent on autism research in the United States is devoted to support and services for people with autism. “We need an autism research agenda,” he said, “that reflects the true priorities of autistic people and our families: supports across the lifespan and inclusion in the community.” This article first appeared on NBCNews.com . Read more from NBC News here:
There are "a number of defects" in the new tennis courts at Beaton Park, according to Wollongong City Council. Subscribe now for unlimited access . Login or signup to continue reading The council announced the upgrade of the tennis centre in June 2024 , which would see the 14 existing courts replaced with the same number, including eight International Tennis Federation-standard acrylic hard courts. A council spokesperson said the first stage of the work was almost completed, with six new courts planned to be ready for use in January. However, there has been issues with the blue courts, which make up the second stage of the revamp. "The project has not been without its challenges, including the need to identify the source of and rectify a number of defects affecting a number of the new courts," the spokesperson said. "That work is ongoing and is expected to be done in time for the completion of Stage 1B and reopening of the centre in autumn 2025." The Mercury understands those defects relate to water seeping in under the courts' surface and creating bubbles as it evaporates. The second stage of the project also includes the completion of the car park and other temporary facilities to allow people to continue to use the Beaton Park centre until the overall project is complete. "The project is the culmination of years of planning to deliver a world-class multi-sports precinct at Beaton Park and provide significant tennis facilities for the Illawarra region," the spokesperson said. "As one of NSW's major regional tennis venues, Wollongong is expected to draw international, national and state level competitors to the city in the future and carry on the region's proud association hosting significant tennis events. "The venue will also continue to provide a full range of local and district offerings supporting recreational and competitive play opportunities, tennis coaching, school programs, casual court hire and [a] community programming focus." There is a second stage outlined in the Beaton Park master plan that includes upgraded player facilities and a pro shop. This stage is not yet under contruction. I'm an award-winning senior journalist with the Illawarra Mercury and have well over two decades' worth of experience in newspapers. I cover the three local councils in the Illawarra for the Mercury, state and federal politics, as well as writing for the TV guide. If I'm not writing, I'm reading. I'm an award-winning senior journalist with the Illawarra Mercury and have well over two decades' worth of experience in newspapers. I cover the three local councils in the Illawarra for the Mercury, state and federal politics, as well as writing for the TV guide. If I'm not writing, I'm reading. 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WEEKLY Get news, reviews and expert insights every Thursday from CarExpert, ACM's exclusive motoring partner. TWICE WEEKLY Get real, Australia! Let the ACM network's editors and journalists bring you news and views from all over. AS IT HAPPENS Be the first to know when news breaks. DAILY Your digital replica of Today's Paper. Ready to read from 5am! DAILY Test your skills with interactive crosswords, sudoku & trivia. Fresh daily!The Star-Ledger’s recent editorial, “New Jerseyans suffer from toxic diesel fumes. Trenton seems fine with that,” opposing legislation calling for a two-year delay in implementation of the state’s Advanced Clean Truck (ACT) rule, misses the point. We all want to improve New Jersey’s air quality to protect everyone’s health. New Jersey truck dealers want to sell what customers want to buy, and they don’t want California mandating they buy only electric trucks. (The rule requires an increasing percentage of new trucks sold in the state to be zero-emission vehicles.) There are obstacles to widespread adoption of electric heavy-duty and medium-size trucks, including affordability and charging infrastructure. The price of an electric heavy-duty truck is as much as $500,000, two or three times more than a new cleaner-diesel truck, and there is virtually no publicly-available charging. Everything delivered to your doorstep or local store arrives by truck. If consumers think groceries are expensive now, wait until the ACT rule brings more expensive trucks and more trucks on the road, due to range and payload challenges. Many New Jersey dealers will have only a few diesel trucks available in 2025 because manufacturers are withholding them and sending them to states that haven’t adopted an ACT rule. Rushing into the ACT Rule on Jan. 1, 2025, will only cause industries that rely on heavy-duty trucks to hold onto their older trucks longer. We should use every tool to help industries update their fleets with trucks that have the latest emission technologies, as well as electric options. Delaying the rule for two years will not disadvantage anyone. We all win when the state is prepared to help its EV mandates succeed instead of seeing a fast failure on electric trucks deter future adoption. Laura Perrotta, president, New Jersey Coalition of Automotive Retailers, and Eric DeGesero, lobbyist, New Jersey Motor Truck Association I’ll be home(less) for Christmas? “Kudos” to Sheriff Armadno Fontoura of Essex County and Sheriff Shaun Golden of Monmouth County for having residential foreclosure classified ads run in the Christmas Day print edition of the Star-Ledger. And, even bigger “kudos” to the staff of the paper who were so tone deaf as to allow that to happen. Class acts, one and all. This cruel foolishness, combined with the apparent decision to keep non-promotional Star-Ledger subscription prices the same, while eliminating the print edition as of Feb. 3, displays a startling degree of cynicism and greed. Keep up the good work. Paul Weinstein, Asbury Park Keep those letters coming Congratulations to my fellow 2024 letter-to-the editor writers. Most newspapers will print letters submitted by any writer regardless of where they live, so long as the topic is relevant to readers. It helps to have a snappy introduction, good hook, be timely, precise, have an interesting or different viewpoint to increase your odds of publication. Newspapers generally welcome letters commenting on their own editorials, articles or previously published letters to the editor. I’m grateful that the Star-Ledger afford both me and my fellow letter writers the opportunity to express our views, as well as differing opinions on issues of the day. Please join me along with your neighbors in reading the Star-Ledger. Patronize their advertisers; they help provide the revenue necessary to keep them in business. This helps pay to provide space for your favorite or not-so-favorite letter writers. Larry Penner, Great Neck, N.Y. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com The Star-Ledger/NJ.com encourages submissions of opinion . Bookmark NJ.com/Opinion . Follow us on Twitter @NJ_Opinion and on Facebook at NJ.com Opinion . Get the latest news updates right in your inbox. Subscribe to NJ.com’s newsletters .FILE-A pair of wedding rings lie on a wooden table. (Photo by Annette Riedl/picture alliance via Getty Images) The No-fault divorce law option doesn’t require a spouse filing for divorce to prove wrongdoing. Thirty-three states have a list of "faults" to file as reasons for divorce. But in 17 states, married people only have the choice for a no-fault divorce to end their marriages. No-fault divorce laws have been available to married couples nationwide for over 50 years. A no-fault divorce law is a most common type of marriage split and does require any proof of wrongdoing. The filing spouse simply claims as grounds for the divorce that the couple cannot get along and the marriage has broken down, according to the Legal Information Institute. Every state across the country has adopted a no-fault divorce option which some believe is critical to supporting domestic abuse victims and important to stop family courts from being overwhelmed with complex divorce court cases. But the Associated Press reports that 33 states still have a list of approved "faults" to file as reasons for divorce, including adultery and a felony conviction. In 17 states, married people only have the option of choosing no-fault divorce to end their marriages. The push to amend no-fault divorce did not gain traction until the late 1990s, when concern pushed by former President George Bush’s administration over the nation’s divorce rate fueled a movement for states to adopt "covenant marriages." This choice didn’t replace the state’s no-fault divorce law but provided an option for couples that carried counseling requirements and strict exceptions for divorce, the AP reported. Louisiana was the first state to embrace covenant marriage options, but the effort stopped after Arizona and Arkansas followed suit. Multiple proposals have been introduced in conservative-led statehouses through the years but were stalled after they were filed. Oklahoma Republican Sen. Dusty Deevers introduced legislation in January that would have removed married couples from filing for divorce on the grounds of incompatibility. The AP reported that Deevers supported the bill after writing a piece declaring no-fault divorce was an "abolition of marital obligation." In South Carolina, two Republican lawmakers filed a bill last year that would have required both spouses to file for a no-fault divorce application rather than just one. A Republican legislator in South Dakota tried to remove irreconcilable differences as grounds for divorce since 2020. Meanwhile, several Democratic legislators say they are concerned about the future of no-fault divorce. The political party highlights the Supreme Court overturning the constitutional right to abortion in 2022 as an example of a long-accepted option that was revoked through a decades-long effort, according to the AP. Separately, some worry that President-elect Donald Trump may attempt to change the law, with warnings circulating on social media encouraging women who may be considering divorce to move forward with their plans. The AP noted that while Trump has not supported overhauling the U.S. divorce laws, Vice President-elect J.D. Vance has complained that divorce is too easily accessible. Information for this story was provided by the Legal Information Institute and the Associated Press. The AP shares background on the no-fault divorce option and receives comments from experts on the law. This story was reported from Washington, D.C.
ORLANDO, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov 26, 2024-- OneRail today announced its No. 66 ranking on the Deloitte Technology Fast 500 TM — a ranking of the 500 fastest-growing technology, media, telecommunications, life sciences, fintech and energy tech companies in North America, now in its 30th year. Deloitte Fast 500 measures the growth of companies in the last three years, and OneRail grew 2,082% during that time frame. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20241126001147/en/ OneRail Ranked 66th Fastest-Growing Company in North America on the 2024 Deloitte Technology Fast 500TM. With a real-time connected network of 12 million drivers, OneRail matches the right vehicle for the right delivery so brands lower expenses and increase capacity to rapidly scale their businesses. This people-plus-platform approach features a 24/7 USA-based exceptions team who maintain a 98% on-time delivery rate. (Graphic: Business Wire) “OneRail's revenue growth is a direct reflection of our commitment to solving the most pressing challenges retailers and wholesalers face today,” OneRail Founder and CEO Bill Catania said. “By expanding our OmniPoint ® platform capabilities, we've empowered businesses to meet the rising demand for same-day delivery, while maintaining their delivery promise. Our ability to streamline the last mile, optimize performance and deliver reliability has positioned us as a trusted partner in a rapidly evolving logistics landscape.” “For 30 years, we’ve been celebrating companies that are actively driving innovation. The software industry continues to be a beacon of growth, and the fintech industry made a strong showing on this year’s list, surpassing life sciences for the first time,” said Steve Fineberg , vice chair, U.S. technology sector leader, Deloitte. “Significantly, we also saw a breakthrough in performance of private companies, with the highest number of private companies named to the list in our program’s history. This year’s winners have shown they have the vision and expertise to continue to perform at a high level, and that deserves to be celebrated.” “Innovation, transformation and disruption of the status quo are at the forefront for this year’s Technology Fast 500 list, and there’s no better way to celebrate 30 years of program history,” said Christie Simons , partner, Deloitte & Touche LLP and industry leader for technology, media and telecommunications within Deloitte’s Audit & Assurance practice. “This year’s winning companies have demonstrated a continuous commitment to growth and remarkable consistency in driving forward progress. We extend our congratulations to all of this year’s winners — it’s an incredible time for innovation.” OneRail previously ranked 24th as a 2023 Technology Fast 500 award winner. OneRail has continued its growth story in 2024, recently announcing $42 million in Series C financing lead by Aliment Capital, having been named to FreightWaves’ FreightTech 25 at number 19, being honored on Forbes’ 2024 and 2023 lists of America’s Best Startup Employers, and having been selected as 2024 Last Mile Company of the Year for the SupplyTech Breakthrough Awards. OneRail was also recognized in the 2024 Gartner® Hype CycleTM for Supply Chain Execution Technologies , 2024 Gartner® Hype CycleTM for Smart City Technologies, as well as the 2024 Gartner® Market Guide for Last Mile Delivery Technology Solutions. Overall, 2024 Technology Fast 500 companies achieved revenue growth ranging from 201% to 153,625% over the three-year time frame, with an average growth rate of 1,981% and median growth rate of 460%. About the 2024 Deloitte Technology Fast 500 Now in its 30th year, the Deloitte Technology Fast 500 provides a ranking of the fastest-growing technology, media, telecommunications, life sciences, fintech, and energy tech companies — both public and private — in North America. Technology Fast 500 award winners are selected based on percentage fiscal year revenue growth from 2020 to 2023. In order to be eligible for Technology Fast 500 recognition, companies must own proprietary intellectual property or technology that is sold to customers in products that contribute to a majority of the company’s operating revenues. Companies must have base-year operating revenues of at least US$50,000, and current-year operating revenues of at least US$5 million. Additionally, companies must be in business for a minimum of four years and be headquartered within North America. About OneRail OneRail is a leading omnichannel fulfillment solution pairing best-in-class software with logistics as a service to provide dependability and speed to help businesses meet their delivery promise. With a real-time connected network of 12 million drivers, OneRail matches the right vehicle for the right delivery so brands lower expenses and increase capacity to rapidly scale their businesses. This people-plus-platform approach features a 24/7 USA-based exceptions team who maintain a 98% on-time delivery rate. With its recent acquisition of Orderbot, a distributed order management solution, OneRail is integrating inventory and order management capabilities to enable store-shelf-to-doorstep visibility. By optimizing fulfillment processes, reducing costs and improving order accuracy, OneRail is committed to empowering clients and improving the customer experience. To learn more about OneRail, visit OneRail.com . About Deloitte Deloitte provides industry-leading audit, consulting, tax and advisory services to many of the world’s most admired brands, including nearly 90% of the Fortune 500® and more than 8,500 U.S.-based private companies. At Deloitte, we strive to live our purpose of making an impact that matters by creating trust and confidence in a more equitable society. We leverage our unique blend of business acumen, command of technology, and strategic technology alliances to advise our clients across industries as they build their future . Deloitte is proud to be part of the largest global professional services network serving our clients in the markets that are most important to them. Bringing more than 175 years of service, our network of member firms spans more than 150 countries and territories. Learn how Deloitte’s approximately 460,000 people worldwide connect for impact at www.deloitte.com . Deloitte refers to one or more of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited, a UK private company limited by guarantee (“DTTL”), its network of member firms, and their related entities. DTTL and each of its member firms are legally separate and independent entities. DTTL (also referred to as “Deloitte Global”) does not provide services to clients. In the United States, Deloitte refers to one or more of the US member firms of DTTL, their related entities that operate using the “Deloitte” name in the United States and their respective affiliates. Certain services may not be available to attest clients under the rules and regulations of public accounting. Please see www.deloitte.com/about to learn more about our global network of member firms. View source version on businesswire.com : https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20241126001147/en/ CONTACT: Media Inquiries: Diffusion PR for OneRail onerail@diffusionpr.com (646) 571-0120 KEYWORD: UNITED STATES NORTH AMERICA FLORIDA INDUSTRY KEYWORD: DATA MANAGEMENT RAIL APPS/APPLICATIONS TECHNOLOGY LOGISTICS/SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT TRANSPORT SOFTWARE SOURCE: OneRail Copyright Business Wire 2024. PUB: 11/26/2024 01:31 PM/DISC: 11/26/2024 01:32 PM http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20241126001147/en Copyright Business Wire 2024.Jimmy Carter, who served one term as the 39th U.S. President, died on Dec. 29. He was 100. Statements were issued Sunday evening by members of New Hampshire Congressional delegation, including U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen and U.S. Congressman Chris Pappas. Jimmy Carter (James Earl Carter Jr.), 39th President of the United States, was born October 1, 1924, in the small farming town of Plains, Georgia, and grew up in the nearby community of Archery. His father, James Earl Carter Sr., was a farmer and businessman; his mother, Lillian Gordy Carter, a registered nurse. He was educated in the public school of Plains, attended Georgia Southwestern College and the Georgia Institute of Technology, and received a B.S. degree from the United States Naval Academy in 1946. In the Navy he became a submariner, serving in both the Atlantic and Pacific fleets and rising to the rank of lieutenant. Chosen by Admiral Hyman Rickover for the nuclear submarine program, he was assigned to Schenectady, New York, where he took graduate work at Union College in reactor technology and nuclear physics and served as senior officer of the pre-commissioning crew of the Seawolf , the second nuclear submarine. On July 7, 1946, he married Rosalynn Smith of Plains. When his father died in 1953, he resigned his naval commission and returned with his family to Georgia. He took over the Carter farms, and he and Rosalynn operated Carter’s Warehouse, a general-purpose seed and farm supply company in Plains. He quickly became a leader of the community, serving on county boards supervising education, the hospital authority, and the library. In 1962 he won election to the Georgia Senate. He lost his first gubernatorial campaign in 1966, but won the next election, becoming Georgia’s 76th governor on January 12, 1971. He was the Democratic National Committee campaign chairman for the 1974 congressional and gubernatorial elections. On December 12, 1974, he announced his candidacy for president of the United States. He won his party’s nomination on the first ballot at the 1976 Democratic National Convention, and was elected president on November 2, 1976. Jimmy Carter served as president from January 20, 1977 to January 20, 1981. Significant foreign policy accomplishments of his administration included the Panama Canal treaties, the Camp David Accords, the treaty of peace between Egypt and Israel, the SALT II treaty with the Soviet Union, and the establishment of U.S. diplomatic relations with the People’s Republic of China. He championed human rights throughout the world. On the domestic side, the administration’s achievements included a comprehensive energy program conducted by a new Department of Energy; deregulation in energy, transportation, communications, and finance; major educational programs under a new Department of Education; and major environmental protection legislation, including the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act. In 1982, he became University Distinguished Professor at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, and founded The Carter Center. Actively guided by President Carter, the nonpartisan and nonprofit Center addresses national and international issues of public policy. Carter Center staff and associates join with President Carter in efforts to resolve conflict, promote democracy, protect human rights, and prevent disease and other afflictions. The Center has spearheaded the international effort to eradicate Guinea worm disease, which is poised to be the second human disease in history to be eradicated. The permanent facilities of The Carter Presidential Center were dedicated in October 1986, and include the Jimmy Carter Library and Museum, administered by the National Archives . Also open to visitors is the Jimmy Carter National Historic Site in Plains, administered by the National Park Service. According to his official White House biography , Carter could point to a number of achievements in domestic affairs. He dealt with the energy shortage by establishing a national energy policy and by decontrolling domestic petroleum prices to stimulate production. He prompted Government efficiency through civil service reform and proceeded with deregulation of the trucking and airline industries. He sought to improve the environment. His expansion of the national park system included protection of 103 million acres of Alaskan lands. To increase human and social services, he created the Department of Education, bolstered the Social Security system, and appointed record numbers of women, blacks, and Hispanics to Government jobs. In foreign affairs, Carter set his own style. His championing of human rights was coldly received by the Soviet Union and some other nations. In the Middle East, through the Camp David agreement of 1978, he helped bring amity between Egypt and Israel. He succeeded in obtaining ratification of the Panama Canal treaties. Building upon the work of predecessors, he established full diplomatic relations with the People’s Republic of China and completed negotiation of the SALT II nuclear limitation treaty with the Soviet Union. There were serious setbacks, however. The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan caused the suspension of plans for ratification of the SALT II pact. The seizure as hostages of the U. S. embassy staff in Iran dominated the news during the last 14 months of the administration. The consequences of Iran’s holding Americans captive, together with continuing inflation at home, contributed to Carter’s defeat in 1980. Even then, he continued the difficult negotiations over the hostages. Iran finally released the 52 Americans the same day Carter left office. The Carters have three sons, one daughter, nine grandsons (one deceased), three granddaughters, five great-grandsons, and eight great-granddaughters. On December 10, 2002, the Norwegian Nobel Committee awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for 2002 to Mr. Carter “for his decades of untiring effort to find peaceful solutions to international conflicts, to advance democracy and human rights, and to promote economic and social development.” Information included from jimmycarterlibrary.gov and whitehouse.gov Subscribe to receive your free daily eNews + a note from the Ink Link publisher . Check your inbox or spam folder to confirm your subscription.
Blame it on the food and drink?
Published 5:02 pm Wednesday, December 4, 2024 By Natchez Obituaries June 26, 1947 – Dec. 2, 2024 NATCHEZ – The Funeral Mass for James Downing “Donnie” Holloway, who died on Monday, Dec. 2, 2024, will be held on Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2024, at 11 a.m. at St. Mary Basilica with burial at the Natchez City Cemetery under the direction of Laird Funeral Home. Visitation will be held on Tuesday, Dec. 10, 2024, from 5:30 until 7 p.m. at St Mary Basilica. Mr. Holloway was born on June 26, 1947, the third child of Iris Letort Holloway and Andrew Joseph Holloway, Sr. of Ocean Springs, MS. Mr. Holloway graduated from Notre Dame High School in 1965. He attended Perkinston Community College on a football scholarship, then was recruited by Jimmy Johnson Coach of Wichita State in Wichita, KS. Later he transferred to Delta State in Cleveland, MS to complete his college football career. He received his BS in Business Administration from Delta State in 1969. After graduation, he returned to the Mississippi Gulf Coast and began a career in banking. While attending LSU School of Banking he met Jack Hill, President of First Natchez Bank in Natchez. Mr. Hill offered him a job which he accepted and moved to Natchez. After his tenure with First Natchez Bank (now United Mississippi Bank), he began an interest in politics. He served on the Adams County Port Commission for a number of years before running for elected positions in Natchez. Donnie was elected to the position of City Clerk of Natchez. He served as City Clerk from 2000 until 2016. He retired in 2016. He is preceded in death by his parents; his brother A. J. Holloway Jr., and his sister, Dale Holloway Steckler. Mr. Holloway is survived by his wife, Agnes Rodriguez; his sons, David Holloway (Lydia), and Jamie Holloway (Leighann) of Madison, MS; daughter, Erinn Schauwecker (Tim) of Starkville; eight grandchildren, Carney Holloway Lomas (Josh) of Madison, MS, Anna Claire Holloway DePriest (Holt) of Hernando, MS, Lily Claire Schauwecker of Oxford, MS, Joseph David Schauwecker of Starkville, MS, Denley Andrew Holloway of Madison, MS, Holden Downing of Holloway, MS; James Parker Holloway of Madison, MS; John Hardy Holloway of Madison, MS; one great-grandson, Ledger Lomas of Madison, MS; one brother, Kenny Holloway of Ocean Springs, MS; and numerous nephews and nieces. Online condolences may be sent to the family at lairdfh.com.Plan to pave hotly-contested wooded trail hinges on Virginia Beach council voteOTTAWA — The union representing rank-and-file Mounties is welcoming a federal plan to spend $1.3 billion to bolster border security and ensure the integrity of the immigration system. In its fall economic update Monday, the Liberal government said it would invest in cutting-edge technology for law enforcement so that only people who are eligible to remain in Canada do so. The promise followed threats from U.S. president-elect Donald Trump to impose 25 per cent tariffs on goods entering the United States unless Canada beefed up border security. The money, to be spread over six fiscal years, is earmarked for the RCMP, Public Safety Canada, the Canada Border Services Agency and the cyberspies at the Communications Security Establishment. RCMP members enforce laws between official points of entry and investigate criminal activities related to the border. National Police Federation president Brian Sauvé says members have been protecting the border with limited resources, and the new money will allow them to continue delivering on their mandate. Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc is expected to join other ministers this afternoon to provide more details on the plan. Aaron McCrorie, the border services agency's vice-president of intelligence and enforcement, said in a recent interview that irregular migration and smuggling of drugs such as fentanyl are common concerns for Canada and the United States. "These aren't concerns that are unique to the United States. We share those same concerns," he said. "In that sense, it really speaks to the need for us to work collaboratively." McCrorie said the Canadian border agency is working closely with U.S. counterparts including Customs and Border Protection, the Drug Enforcement Administration and Homeland Security, as well as with agencies in Britain, Australia and New Zealand. "Criminal enterprises, organized crime, they don't respect international boundaries. They collaborate, they exploit weaknesses in the system," McCrorie said. "And so the best way to confront them is to is to collaborate on our side, fill those gaps, support each other's efforts." He said Canada's border agency has two targeting officers embedded with U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and the American agency plans to soon send a targeting officer to Canada. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 17, 2024. Jim Bronskill, The Canadian Press
SFA students create communications guide for small businessesLane Kiffin Reveals College Football Playoff Message to Team After Florida Loss
IND vs AUS: MCG attendance goes past 3,50,000 in Boxing Day Test, sets new record in Tests in AustraliaEFF leader Julius Malema is set to challenge MK Party president Jacob Zuma over “unpaid legal fees” and he has his eyes on the former president's multimillion-rand Nkandla home. Malema has been aggrieved about MKP’s recruitment of former red berets leaders over the past three months. Several members of the EFF, including Malema’s former deputy Floyd Shivambu, have joined Zuma’s party. Speaking to thousands of party supporters outside the Constitutional Court, Malema assured them he would fight Zuma, including going after his assets. “We brought Zuma to the Constitutional Court and we said, ‘pay back the money,’ and he paid back the money and has not forgiven us for that. All the cases we won against Jacob Zuma he never paid the legal fees. Zuma owes us legal fees. We have a court order that he must pay us our money. He has not complied with the court order,” he said. “We have instructed our lawyer to attach Nkandla so that the man pays back the money. We want our money. He wants to play dirty, bring it on, bring us our money tomorrow [Wednesday] otherwise we are attaching Nkandla.” The EFF had brought scores of its supporters to the apex court where it was challenging parliament’s decision not to adopt a Section 89 panel report on Phala Phala. In 2016, the ConCourt ruled Zuma should pay back some of the money spent on improvements to his home in Nkandla. The EFF was involved in the legal row. It could be argued that the EFF was among Zuma's biggest critiques and ultimately led to his downfall after several years of ridicule in the National Assembly at the hands of the red berets. “We will not play nice with people who are playing rough with us. We are not in a church here, people cannot fight us and we give them roses. The fight is on. The fight is about defending the soul of the EFF and the unity of the EFF.” Malema's fierce rebuke of Zuma was evident during the party's activities over the past few days. In Limpopo, Malema sent a strong warning to his detractors within the party promising to deal with those who seek to betray him. This was followed by a speech in Gauteng were Malema told party members that the MK Party would not succeed in destroying the EFF. On Monday during a media briefing, Malema called the MK Party its enemy despite their alliance in parliament. Malema's theatrics are likely caused by growing dissent within the party as it prepares for its elective conference. The first signs that the EFF leadership was under strain came earlier in the year when reports indicated that Shivambu would be challenged for his position by its secretary-general Marshall Dlamini. This revelation came after Malema recalled Shivambu from KwaZulu-Natal where his deputy had failed to retain its support. The recall of the-then deputy president signalled problems for the party. Shortly after the elections and Shivambu's defection, another loyal ally, Mbuyiseni Ndlozi, was suspected to be planning his exit. Ndlozi had been overlooked for several key positions within the party and relegated to the back of the leadership line. His influence over the student command resulted in public spats with some party members vowing to support him for the vacant deputy president position. Party members openly challenged Malema on social media platforms, which is uncharacteristic for the party. In an interview with the Sunday Times this week, Zuma said his plan was to take back the ANC by uniting black parties under his MK Party banner and recapturing the leadership of the party, which he said had deviated from its ancestors. He dismissed suggestions that the MK Party was poaching leaders from the EFF. “You can’t have everybody [joining] at one day, it will be something like a miracle. Other comrades come. Nobody is taking somebody [to move] from somebody else. All this time, before MK was established, people were moving from other parties to join others. This very same organisation you’re talking about, moved from this [ANC] organisation,” he told the Sunday Times.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s false claims linking autism to childhood vaccinations are receiving new scrutiny now that President-elect Donald Trump has selected him to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, a sprawling agency with a budget of $1.7 trillion that oversees research into both autism and vaccines. The myth that autism is caused by childhood vaccines — proposed in 1998 by a British doctor who was later banned from practicing medicine in the United Kingdom — has been thoroughly debunked . Hundreds of studies have found vaccines to be safe . The World Health Organization estimates that over the past 50 years, immunizations have saved 154 million lives around the world. Watch NBC Bay Area News 📺 Streaming free 24/7 Kennedy, who espouses a number of health-related conspiracy theories , has pointed to vaccines to explain the substantial rise in autism diagnoses in recent decades, which have ballooned from an estimated 1 in 150 children in 2000 to 1 in 36 today. Research suggests that much of that increase is due to increasing awareness and screening for the condition; changing definitions of autism to include milder conditions on the spectrum that weren’t recognized in previous years; as well as advances in diagnostic technology. “For a very long time, the anti-vaccine movement has been exploiting families of autistic people, promoting a market for pseudo-scientific treatments that don’t provide the answers they’re looking for and that can expose autistic people to real harm,” said Ari Ne’eman, co-founder of the nonprofit Autistic Self Advocacy Network and an assistant professor of health policy and management at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. “More discredited conspiracy theories linking autism and vaccines are not the answer.” Timothy Caulfield, research director at the University of Alberta’s Health Law Institute in Canada, who studies health misinformation, said that people often are more willing to believe conspiracy theories about conditions such as autism, whose causes are complex and not fully understood, than diseases with clear causes. People seem less inclined to speculate, for example, about alternative explanations for Down syndrome, which causes intellectual disabilities and has long been known to be caused by an extra copy of chromosome 21. “It’s really a shame because there are vulnerable families [of people with autism] who need our support,” said Judith Miller, a clinical psychologist and senior scientist and training director at the Center for Autism Research at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. “Every dollar and hour spent trying to debunk a conspiracy theory is a dollar and an hour lost that could have been spent trying to understand how to help families.” A complex condition Finding the causes of autism is complicated, because it’s not a single disorder, said Manish Arora, a professor of environmental medical and climate science at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York. “Autism is a spectrum, not a single narrow disease,” Arora said. “It’s many, many things under one umbrella.” Although people diagnosed with autism often have similar strengths and challenges, “there are many paths to autism and many presentations of autism,” Miller said. Scientists have found a variety of risk factors for autism — most of which exist before birth — but there is no single cause for a neurological and developmental condition that affects how people interact with others, communicate, learn and behave. A number of the traits sometimes seen in people with autism — such as being sensitive to loud noises, for example, or finding it difficult to interpret social cues — are also found in people who have not been diagnosed with autism. Doctors diagnose autism based on a person’s behavior, noting that there is no simple test for the condition, as there is for Covid or diabetes, said Arora, founder and CEO of a start-up company that researches biomarkers for autism and other neurological conditions. Finding the cause of an infectious disease — such as influenza, which is caused by the flu virus — is much more straightforward. While researchers continue to study the factors that influence the development of autistic traits, “the one thing we know doesn’t cause autism is vaccines,” said Catherine Lord, a psychologist and researcher at the Center for Autism Research and Treatment at the UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine. Genetic vulnerability Doctors have long known that genes play a large role in autism, simply by noting that autism can run in families. For example, in identical twins — who share all of their DNA — if one twin has autism, the other usually does, as well. In the case of fraternal twins — who share about half their DNA — if one fraternal twin has autism, the chance that the other will have autism ranges from 53% to 67%, according to an analysis of research studies. Scientists have identified more than 100 genes related to autism, Miller said, and genes are believed to play a role in 60% to 80% of cases. “The genetics of autism have never been better understood,” said Dr. Gregory Cejas, medical director of the Autism Clinical Center and Fragile X Clinic at the Washington University School of Medicine. “We’re making leaps and bounds about known genetic causes of autism.” Yet genes clearly don’t explain every case of autism. Autism is very different from conditions like sickle cell anemia or cystic fibrosis, which are caused by a single gene. Scientists believe that people develop autistic traits due to a combination of genetic vulnerability and environmental exposures, Lord said. “People have found many, many different genetic patterns associated with autism, but none of them are only associated with autism and none of them are always associated with autism,” Lord said. For example, fragile X syndrome — caused by a mutated gene on the X chromosome — is the most common known cause of autism. But only a fraction of children with the genetic mutation actually develop autism, Miller said. It’s possible that this mutation leaves some people more vulnerable to developing autistic characteristics, while others with the same mutations don’t develop autistic traits, because they are shielded by protective factors that have not yet been identified. Some people blamed the measles-mumps-rubella vaccine with autism because symptoms of the condition often occur at around 12 to 15 months of age, the same time toddlers get that immunization. But Miller notes that “most of the genetic conditions that affect our life and health aren’t apparent at birth. Symptoms or characteristics won’t show up until later, but the genetic code will have been with us the whole time.” Prenatal vulnerability Many of the known risk factors for autistic characteristics occur before birth or at the time of delivery, Arora said. Babies who experience complications at birth , such as their umbilical cord becoming wrapped around their neck, have a higher risk of autism. So do babies born prematurely , perhaps because of something that happened in the womb. Children are also slightly more likely to be diagnosed with autism if they have older fathers and possibly if they have older mothers, Miller said. It’s not clear if something in the biology of older parents causes a child to have a higher risk of autism, or if socioeconomic issues could play a role. It’s possible that older parents have better access to health care, making it more likely for their child to receive an autism diagnosis. A mother’s health influences her child’s autism risk in several ways, according to multiple studies: Children have a greater chance of being diagnosed with autism if their mothers were exposed to high levels of air pollution or developed a serious infection , such as the flu or pneumonia, while pregnant. While Ne’eman, of the Autistic Self Advocacy Network, said he’s not opposed to basic biological research on autism or its causes, he said those studies do little to help people with autism overcome the barriers they face in their everyday lives. He notes that only 8.4% of the $419 million spent on autism research in the United States is devoted to support and services for people with autism. “We need an autism research agenda,” he said, “that reflects the true priorities of autistic people and our families: supports across the lifespan and inclusion in the community.” This article first appeared on NBCNews.com . Read more from NBC News here: