Month: February 2023

Categories
Sport

Florida State rallies down from 25 to stun No. 13 Miami

Florida State rallies down from 25 to stun No. 13 Miami

CORAL GABLES, Fla. — Early in the second half, Florida State lost 25 points and decided not to stop playing.

And the Seminoles ended Miami’s hopes of a perfect home season.

Matthew Cleveland’s 3-pointer after time capped Florida State’s comeback from a 25-point deficit in the second half, and the Seminoles stunned No. 13 Miami 85-84 on Saturday.

“We showed a little bit of who we are,” said Florida State coach Leonard Hamilton.

Jordan Miller had given Miami a 4.9 second lead with a 3-pointer. But Cleveland let go from about 25 feet and the ball spun around to give the Seminoles (9-20, 7-11 Atlantic Coast Conference) their best moment of the season.

They ended Miami’s seven-game winning streak and denied the Hurricanes a perfect home season. Miami was 15-0 at the Watsco Center, which came in on Saturday.

The 25-point comeback win is the largest in ACC history, according to ESPN Stats & Information Research.

“Miami is a really, really good basketball team. … I would hate to play them in the NCAA tournament,” Hamilton said.

Cleveland and Darin Green Jr. each had 20 points for Florida State, which got 13 from Caleb Mills and 11 from Jalen Warley.

Miller led Miami (23-6, 14-5) with 21 points. Norchad Omier had 15, Isaiah Wong had 14 and Bensley Joseph added 12 for the Hurricanes.

“We played as well as we could in the first half,” said Miami coach Jim Larrañaga. “But at the beginning of the second half it seemed to me that our battery was dead. We didn’t have the energy or the juice and that showed especially in our defence.”

Miami just couldn’t get stops in the second half. Florida State shot 68% in the last 20 minutes, lost the lead twice in the last 40 seconds — and then stunned its biggest rival anyway.

“Thanks to them. They played hard,” Miller said. “I think they just wanted it more. We came out unfocused. … We just have to find a way to end games like this. There’s no excuse for us losing this game.”

Miami took a 14-2 lead after 3½ minutes, and Florida State came away with a chip to go 8-12 at halftime to 28-23.

All of Miami belonged for the next seven minutes.

It seemed like a 22-2 run would essentially end the game before halftime and take the Hurricanes’ lead to 50-25. Miami made eight of its last 10 shots at the half.

“We just weren’t ready in the first half,” Hamilton said.

And then came halftime. The Seminoles sure looked ready.

“We didn’t tell them anything at half-time that we didn’t tell them before the game started,” Hamilton said.

The lead would change hands 10 more times on the course, the last of which lifted in Cleveland’s desperation after Miller’s green light 3 at the other end.

“I knew they were going to party,” Cleveland said. “If we come down and push, we get a decent shot.”

It was better than decent. It was perfect.

BIG PICTURE

Florida State: The Seminoles have avoided tying a school record for casualties for now. The only FSU team to lose 21 games was the club in 2000–01, which was part of a five straight loss streak for the Seminoles. This year marks the end of 17 consecutive winning seasons for Florida State.

Miami: The Hurricanes were without guard Nijel Pack, who was out with a lower-limb injury. Miami lists him as day by day. He averages 13.6 points, 2.7 rebounds, and 2.5 assists per game, with 41% shooting at 3-pointers.

SURVEY IMPACT

Miami will be in the AP Top 25 for the 12th straight week when the latest rankings are released on Monday. But the Hurricanes will likely drop a few points.

NEXT

Florida State: hosts North Carolina in its home finals on Monday.

Miami: hosts Pittsburgh on March 4 in the regular-season finals.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.

Categories
Science

Will electrical autos conquer the nation?

Gute Klimanachrichten für 2022, die Ihnen die MSM nicht gesagt haben

MANHATTAN’S CONTRARIAN

Franz Menton

It seems like all the bright minds have decided that the future of the automobile belongs to electric vehicles. In August 2022, California passed an ordinance banning gasoline-powered cars by 2035; and in September 2022, New York promptly followed with its own ban, also by regulation, also set for 2035. And at the federal level, in 2021 the Biden administration ordered all agencies to work toward 100 percent EV procurement, also by 2035. Meanwhile, the government is trying through a maze of regulations — from vehicle mileage standards to emissions caps and more – open to forcing manufacturers to switch their product range to electric vehicles as soon as possible.

So, are electric vehicles about to take over the country and become the dominant mode of transportation? I bet against it. This is just one specific example of the general principle that it is always wise to bet against the central planning of the economy. EVs may be a successful niche product for a small number of affluent consumers, but the idea that they will completely replace gasoline-powered cars in a short period of time is the dream of central planners who believe they can achieve their dream through coercion. Central planning never works and will not work this time. The reason for this is that the would-be central planners do not and never can know enough to put all the elements together into a fully functioning economic sector.

Mark Tapscott has an interesting article at PJ Media today entitled ‘Three Big Reasons Electric Vehicles Will Never Dominate America’s Streets’. Tapscott’s reasons are all good, which I would summarize as follows: (1) Despite huge government subsidies and rebates, electric vehicles are still far more expensive than gas-powered cars, (2) even with sharply increased sales, the existing gas-powered cars will not go away and will still be on the road and in the dominant vehicles in 2035 and even 2050, and (3) the increased levels of minerals necessary for batteries, from lithium to nickel to cobalt, will never materialize. key quote:

[All the] Federal tax credits are available to disguise the fact that electric vehicles remain extremely expensive for consumers and offer unproven maintenance and reliability records. No wonder that despite the tremendous pressure on consumers to buy electric vehicles, they still only account for about seven percent of all new car purchases.

Let me generalize from this. The current automotive sector of the economy represents thousands of elements that come together through private markets to meet customer demand. Each of the elements fit together because someone sees an opportunity to make money by providing that element. Just one example: gas stations do not exist because the state ordered them, but because entrepreneurs have realized that they could make money by building gas stations, buying pumps and providing petrol locally at a cost-covering price and a allow profit.

Compare that to what is now set to happen for electric vehicles. The government will reportedly pay for around half a million charging stations across the country. Maybe that happens, but I don’t notice any of them near where I live. And why does the state have to do this? If the demand were there, entrepreneurs would already be installing the stations. It turns out that the stations are pretty expensive to build (at least the ‘fast charging’ variant) and then you can’t really beat up on the electricity that has to be bought from the local utility. So with government grants.

And in the next step, the same thing happens to the charging stations as with any other government-mandated operation: the stations break down, and since no one is making any more money for keeping them running, they are not repaired. Among many, many articles on the subject, here is one from August 2022 at The Verge entitled “EV owners are fed up with broken EV chargers and jerky software”.

JD Power surveyed 11,554 EV and plug-in hybrid vehicle owners from January through June 2022 for its second annual public EV charging study. Despite the huge growth in the number of public EV charging stations in the US, EV owners say the overall experience still sucks.

Well, look at the status of elevator operations or plumbing on New York City Housing Authority projects. That’s how socialism works.

Likewise, who has the incentive to ensure there is enough electricity on the grid to charge all EVs when owners want to charge them? In the gas car arena, oil companies make big bucks by finding the product, refining it, and delivering it to the locations where the customer wants to buy it. Over in the EV arena, the same jurisdictions like New York and California that anticipate ordering an EV-only fleet are also organizing their grid under a central planning/regulated pricing model. Reliable fossil fuel power plants are to be shut down and replaced with intermittent wind and solar power. The omniscient regulators then order everything to be electrified, and somewhere the little folks are supposed to respond and implement it, with no economic incentive to match. We will see.

Inside EVs reported Jan. 18 that EVs in the US experienced a sharp increase in sales and market share in 2022, to a 5.8% market share, up from just 3.1% in 2021. The article continues somehow mentioning how much of the sales surge has been fueled by recent rounds of massive government subsidies. I have no doubt that the 5.8% could rise a little over the next few years, especially since government subsidies are pouring in. But ultimately, a successful business sector needs market incentives at all levels of the food chain. EVs don’t, and almost certainly never will — except in the highly unlikely event that consumers suddenly decide the benefits of EVs are so great that they’re willing to pay double or more for a car. I’m making a solid bet that EV penetration will collapse at low levels well before 2035.

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Technology

The yr of struggle in Ukraine reveals the altering roles of cyberweapons

The year of war in Ukraine reveals the changing roles of cyberweapons

On the one-year anniversary of the Russian invasion, Ukraine commemorates appalling losses – and remarkable resistance.

The country’s fierce resistance on the battlefield found its echo on the digital front – where Kiev has a unique experience. The conflict with Russia has become the world’s first full-scale cyber war, but Ukraine was a testing ground for digital weapons long before the February 24, 2022 invasion. Cyber ​​tactics have changed dramatically since Putin’s troops began pouring across the border.

These developments have made Ukraine a pioneer in digital warfare. And to the surprise of analysts, cyberattacks had limited impact over the past year.

“We will consider cyber activity as a pre-emptive tactic for a physical war.

In the run-up to the invasion, cyber attacks were in the foreground. On February 15, Russian hackers launched the most powerful DDoS attack in Ukraine’s history. A day before the full-scale invasion, several government and banking websites were again attacked.

However, in the months that followed, reports of major cyberattacks declined. Zachary Warren, Chief Security Advisor EMEA Tanium and regular NATO advisor sees this as a sign of digital warfare.

“In the future, we will see cyber activity as a pre-emptive tactic for a physical war… it’s a tool to weaken a target before it invades,” he said.

The Ukrainian government, meanwhile, claims that Russia’s goals have changed. In a January report, security officials said the cyberattacks initially focused on Ukraine’s communications department, which aimed to disrupt military and government operations. But after Russia’s first defeat at the front, the focus shifted to maximizing damage to civilians.

Remarkably, officials found that All attacks had used previously known techniques.

“The attacks deployed by Russia have long been categorized and have simple countermeasure solutions,” the report’s authors said.

Analysts found that cyberattacks peaked in the run-up to the invasion. Photo credit: Crowdstrike

Many analysts expected cyberattacks to become more frequent and devastating. Adam Meyers, intelligence chief at security firm CrowdStrike, believes Russia was counting on a quick and decisive victory. As a result, the Kremlin might have avoided destructive cyberattacks at first because it needed Ukraine’s infrastructure to shore up a friendly government.

“When Russian operations failed to capture Kiev and advance as quickly as planned, we saw more tactical cyber operations coupled with kinetic effects targeting Ukraine and did not see broad attacks against the West – as we had all prepared.” , Meyers said.

The chart below shows Cloudflare's view of daily traffic (by number of requests).Cloudflare found hUman’s internet traffic fell by as much as 33% in the weeks following February 24, but has recovered as Ukrainian refugees have returned to the country.

The modest effect of Russia’s cyberweapons was not for lack of testing. In January, Viktor Zhora, a senior official at Ukraine’s cybersecurity agency, said cyberattacks in the country had tripled over the past year. Zhora wants them digital attacks be prosecuted as war crimes.

Despite the rush, UKraine’s networks have remained remarkably resilient. Analysts give much credit to Ukraine’s repair teams, its widespread connectivity to networks outside the country and its large number of Internet exchange points.

Some experts argue that digital weapons are simply less effective than physical warfare, while others believe Russia’s capabilities have been overestimated.

Another factor is Ukraine’s ongoing efforts to strengthen its defenses. The protracted conflict with Russia has resulted in immense experience in defending against cyber attacks.

“That made us stronger,” Zhora said last year. “We have learned our lessons from this cyber aggression.”

There are more lessons to be learned, but Ukraine already has much to teach its allies about cyber warfare.

Categories
Health

FDA says Guillain-Barre syndrome is a possible threat for a Pfizer RSV vaccine

FDA says Guillain-Barre syndrome is a potential risk for a Pfizer RSV vaccine

This 1981 photo provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) shows an electron micrograph of respiratory syncytial virus, also known as RSV.

CDC via AP

The Food and Drug Administration sees a possible risk of Guillain-Barre syndrome Pfizer‘s RSV vaccine for older adults and has asked the company to conduct a safety study if the vaccine is approved this spring, according to agency briefing papers released on Friday.

According to the FDA document, two people in their 60s who received Pfizer’s vaccine were diagnosed with Guillain-Barre syndrome, out of about 20,000 vaccine recipients in the Phase 3 study. There were no cases in the study’s placebo group, the people who did not receive the injection.

Guillain-Barré Syndrome, or inflammatory neuropathy, is a rare condition in which the body’s immune system mistakenly attacks nerves. Symptoms range from brief weakness to paralysis, according to the National Institutes of Health. Most people recover even from severe cases.

Pfizer said in its briefing document that the cases have other possible explanations. However, it said it would conduct a safety study to further evaluate Guillain-Barré syndrome after a possible approval. The company said it did not identify any safety concerns during the study and that the vaccine was well tolerated.

There was also a possible case of Guillain-Barré Syndrome in GSK‘s RSV vaccine trials, but the company said there was insufficient evidence to confirm a diagnosis. According to the FDA, GSK has listed Guillain-Barre as an important potential risk in its safety monitoring plan. The agency said it will review the plan and make recommendations as needed.

The FDA released the briefing documents ahead of its advisory committee meetings next week. Advisors will vote on Tuesday whether Pfizer’s efficacy and safety data support FDA approval. They will also vote on GSK’s RSV vaccine for older adults on Wednesday.

There is no approved RSV vaccine. The virus causes between 6,000 and 10,000 deaths among seniors annually, although mortality varies from season to season.

According to an FDA review of the companies’ data, Pfizer’s vaccine was 85% effective in preventing lower respiratory tract disease and GSK’s vaccine was 83% effective.

The Guillain Barre Falls

In Pfizer’s study, a 66-year-old man in the US with a history of high blood pressure developed Guillain-Barre symptoms seven days after vaccination. The man had a heart attack before symptoms began, was hospitalized and underwent angioplasty. The FDA does not see the heart attack as related to the RSV vaccine.

Eight days after the vaccination, the man developed back pain and, on the 14th day, weakness in his lower extremities. He was hospitalized again after a fall and was subsequently diagnosed with Guillain-Barre Syndrome. His symptoms began to improve after treatment and disappeared six months after onset, according to the FDA.

In a second case, a 66-year-old woman in Japan with a history of type 2 diabetes developed severe Miller-Fischer syndrome, a variant of Guillain-Barre. She suffered from fatigue nine days after the vaccination, a sore throat the next day and poor muscle control on the tenth day. She was hospitalized 19 days after the vaccination, but her symptoms completely disappeared in three months.

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The FDA said it agrees with investigators that the cases may be related to Pfizer’s vaccines. But Pfizer said in its briefing document that there are other possible explanations. Noting the man’s heart attack, the company said the woman had symptoms of an upper respiratory infection.

But the FDA said that given the incidence of Guillain-Barre syndrome in the general population is about 3 cases per 100,000 people annually, Pfizer should consider the incidents as an important potential risk in its safety surveillance.

“Given the temporal association and biological plausibility, the FDA concurs with the investigators’ assessment that these events may be related to the study vaccine,” the agency said.

In the case of GSK, a 78-year-old woman in Japan developed lower-limb weakness nine days after receiving the first dose of the RSV vaccine, according to an FDA briefing document. She took part in an open-label study without a placebo arm for comparison.

The woman had difficulty walking the following day and developed weakness in her upper limbs and respiratory muscles over the next three days. She was hospitalized and treated for Guillain-Barré Syndrome. The FDA and study investigator believe the case is vaccine-related.

But GSK said in its briefing document that a Guillain-Barre diagnosis was not confirmed due to a lack of test results and because there was no information on whether alternative causes had been investigated. The patient’s case was considered settled after six months, the company said.

CDC consultants discuss risks and benefits

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s committee of independent immunization advisors considered the three cases of Guillain-Barré syndrome during a public meeting Thursday. dr Michael Melgar, a CDC official, told the committee it was difficult to determine whether the cases represent an actual safety issue related to the shooting or whether they were random events.

“Due to the small number of events, measures of relative and absolute risk were not calculated,” Melgar told committee members.

However, a working group of doctors and health officials who reviewed the available data agreed that safety monitoring will be critical if the vaccines are approved by the FDA, Melgar said.

A majority of the working group believed the potential benefits of the vaccines would outweigh any possible risks for people aged 65 and older, Melgar said. A minority considered the balance of benefits and risks uncertain, partly because of the Guillain-Barre cases.

Although Pfizer and GSK have asked the FDA to approve their respective vaccines for people age 60 and older, the CDC working group generally endorsed a recommendation for seniors age 65 and older. The CDC advisory committee did not vote on any recommendations for the RSV vaccines this week.

dr Sarah Long, a member of the working group, said the cases had her concerned because the incidence of Guillain-Barre syndrome increases with age, meaning seniors could be at higher risk if at some point a link with the disease is found vaccine is found.

dr Grace Lee, chair of the CDC advisory committee, said more data is needed because respiratory viral diseases also cause Guillain-Barré syndrome. It is possible that the vaccines could prevent further cases of Guillain-Barre syndrome by protecting against RSV disease.

“They might prevent more and we don’t know exactly what the rate is, but I just think that balance will be really helpful, at least for me, to understand how to think through the risk-benefit balance.” , said Lee, associate chief medical officer at Stanford Children’s Health, “Then I can understand whether 60-year-old or 65-year-old makes sense.”

Join us for CNBC’s Healthy Returns on March 29, where we’re hosting a virtual gathering of healthcare CEOs, scientists, investors and innovators to reflect on the advances made today in reinventing the future of medicine. We also have an exclusive look at the best investment opportunities in biopharma, healthcare technology and managed care. Learn more and register today: http://bit.ly/3DUNbRo

Categories
Entertainment

Latto Talks About ‘Uplifting’ Different Feminine Rappers: ‘I am A Lady For Ladies’

Latto Talks About 'Uplifting' Other Female Rappers: 'I'm A Girl For Girls'

During a recent meeting with Billboard, Latto reflected on her rise to the top and how she strives to help other aspiring female rappers.

Latto Reflects on the Women Who Supported Her: ‘Real Recognize Real’

Raised in Atlanta, the artist began reflecting on her musical beginnings as a teenager. She eventually dropped her 2020 breakout hit “B*tch From Da Souf.”

As she began to garner widespread attention, Latto notes that she received heaps of love and support from notable acts such as Trina, City Girls, Lizzo, SZA, Queen Latifah and Remy Ma.

Referring to the support she has received from her contemporaries, Latto coolly remarked, “Real recognizes Real.” IKTR!

“I get a lot of love,” she says with an exuberant smile. “Real recognizes real.”

pic.twitter.com/PaPVOCfqGd

— BIG LACT 🍀🎰🍒 (@Latto) February 4, 2023

The rapper says she’s a “girl’s girl” who wants others to be successful

While we’re on the subject, Latto also notes that — because she’s received so much love from other rappers — she “wants to capitalize [her] Power to uplift others.” After all, she is “a girl girl.”

“My #1 thing was being a girl. I use my power to uplift others on my way up.”

In fact, she notes that she doesn’t calculate “up and coming female rappers.”[s]’ for features as she selflessly wants to offer the same support she has received.

“If you see Latto doing a feature with an aspiring rapper, I don’t charge them anything. The label has to cover the glam, but I don’t benefit from that.”

However, Latto admits her journey hasn’t been entirely happy, as she’s no stranger to public feuds, which she describes as “disappointing”.

RELATED: Nicki Minaj and Latto trade insults after Nicki mentions ‘Big Energy’ in Grammys review

Despite this, Latto is focused on persevering and overcoming any difficulties that might arise during her career.

“It’s difficult to navigate through situations like this because there’s a disconnect. I’ll consider myself someone’s fan and they’ll see [me] in a completely different light. It’s disappointing. You just have to take it up to your chin and keep pushing.”

Instead of focusing on the negative, Latto is willing to explore and embrace new content. As the new track “Lottery” proves. What’s more, she’s ready to continue enjoying her role in creating “the new wave of rap.” Although she feels “honoured to be a part of it”.

“The content I’m about to release is a whole new chapter. I really love seeing the new wave of female rap and I’m honored to be a part of it.”

What do you think of Latto’s recent comment, and which rising female rap stars would you like to pair her with in the future?

Categories
Science

No, @CNN, an opinion piece about “harmful local weather suggestions loops” isn’t science

Gute Klimanachrichten für 2022, die Ihnen die MSM nicht gesagt haben

A CNN article claims feedback responses to rising temperatures caused by rising carbon dioxide concentrations could lead to deadly, permanent changes in Earth’s climate. The article provides no evidence to support this alarming claim as there is no real-world data to back it up. The only climate tipping points that we can be sure exist are in the climate models themselves. While cosmic and natural cyclical patterns have occasionally made dramatic changes throughout history, there is no evidence that carbon dioxide levels are considered the tipping point for such events served.

In the CNN article, “Nearly 30 Dangerous Feedback Loops Could Permanently Change Earth’s Climate, Scientists Say,” says author Laura Paddison, “Dangerous climate feedback loops are amplifying global warming and risking a permanent departure from Earth’s current climate. according to a new study.”

The problem for CNN’s report starts with the title. The source for CNN’s claims is not a “study” but a “commentary” titled “Many Risky Feedback Loops Reinforcing the Need for Climate Action” published in the online-only journal One-Earth, seen in the screenshot is below (author’s yellow emphasis):

First, “comment” is just another word for an opinion piece. Opinions are not science. Second, as confirmed by the editor in the screenshot below, the article didn’t actually do any new science; it produced no new data, no formulas, no methods:

The “Commentary” is nothing more than a compilation of what the authors claim, a list of 27 climate feedback loops that are said to cause dangerous permanent changes in Earth’s climate, listed in Table 1 of the publication.

Reading the article, it becomes clear that it is not an academic article, but an advocacy article. The title itself betrays this fact; “Many risky feedback loops reinforce the need for climate action.”

Here are some other examples of advocacy under the guise of science:

A targeted expansion of research and an accelerated reduction in emissions are required to minimize risk.

…

As we increasingly view climate change as a series of catastrophes in the short term and a major threat in the long term, many government agencies and scientists around the world have declared a climate emergency.

…

Based on our compilation of numerous and potentially risky global warming feedback loops, we call for immediate simultaneous changes in both (1) climate research and (2) climate policy that should inform and guide each other strategically.

…

Transformative and socially just changes in global energy and transportation economies, short-lived air pollution, food production, conservation, and the international economy, and population policies based on education and equality are needed to address this immense problem in both the short-term and the long-term.

The entire article is peppered with such calls-to-action and “equity”-style language. It is long on proposals for action but short on any scholarly discussion or defense of the problematic “feedback loops” that authors claim deserve political action. Instead of proof, the authors commit the logical fallacy of appealing to authority. No data, methods, calculations and formulas are presented to justify claims that dangerous feedback loops exist and that turning points are imminent. Instead, what we have here is a comment from some climate advocates.

Regarding the list of “risky feedback loops,” nothing the commentary mentions is new in and of itself, as these have all been studied by scientists for years, even decades. The list of purported climate feedback loops includes many that have been shown to be unproblematic, such as: B. Ocean circulation, which science cannot even decide whether it will increase or decrease in any given decade. Another reason is sea level rise, which, despite wild claims of acceleration, has actually been unchanged and steady since the 1850s. The acceleration is contradicted by actual data, and is nothing more than an artifact of measurements from different satellite data being combined. The authors also ignore existing data on wildfires to claim that climate change is causing them to become more frequent or more severe. The available data clearly refutes this claim. The list goes on and on as seen in Figure 1 of the One Earth article.

Figure 1. Feedback loop map

Finally, the One-Earth “Commentary” mentions climatic “tipping points” or some variation no fewer than seventeen times. In the final summary, the authors say, “…if the worst-case risks have been underestimated by feedback loops and tipping points, the future of a hospitable planet Earth may be at stake.”

The authors clearly believe that the end of the world is on the near horizon. Perhaps they never got the memo that the worst-case climate models like RCP8.5 have recently proven to be too hot, producing “incredibly hot projections of future warming.” Many of the worst-case feedback scenarios are based on simulations that only exist in climate models and are impossible to obtain in the real world.

Apparently, CNN overlooked all of this, thinking this was real science going on. CNN promoted the clearly labeled “comment” as if it were a scientific study. Additionally, CNN embellished the headline, perhaps to make it more alarming, citing “nearly 30” dangerous feedback loops instead of the 27 identified in the One Earth commentary.

This is a shamelessly incompetent piece of so-called journalism on the part of CNN, but unfortunately incompetence in today’s journalism, particularly when it comes to climate science, seems to be more of a trait than a flaw.

Originally) released on climate realism

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Health

Democratic firms are suing the FDA over restrictions on the abortion capsule

Republicans want to remove mifepristone from the US market

Boxes of mifepristone, the first pill to be given in a medical abortion, are prepared for patients at the Women’s Reproductive Clinic of New Mexico in Santa Teresa, the United States, January 13, 2023.

Evelyn Hockstein Reuters

A coalition of a dozen Democratic attorneys general sued the Food and Drug Administration on Friday to force the agency to drop all remaining restrictions on the abortion pill, the latest in an escalating series of legal battles over access to the drugs.

Attorneys general asked a federal court in the Eastern District of Washington to declare that the abortion pill mifepristone is safe and effective and that any remaining restrictions on the drug are unconstitutional.

The lawsuit was led by Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson and Oregon Secretary General Ellen Rosenblum. The attorneys general of Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Michigan, Nevada, New Mexico, Rhode Island and Vermont were also part of the lawsuit.

The attorneys general also asked the court to prevent the FDA from taking any action that would remove mifepristone from the market or reduce its availability.

When combined with misoprostol, mifepristone is the most common method of abortion in the United States, accounting for about half of all abortions.

The lawsuit, filed Friday, puts the FDA in the middle of the nation’s deep divisions over access to abortion following the Supreme Court ruling that returned Roe v. Wade lifted last summer.

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A coalition of anti-abortion doctors has sued the FDA in a Texas federal court to overturn mifepristone’s more than 20-year-old approval and remove the drug from the US market.

The FDA approved mifepristone in 2000, but imposed restrictions on how the drug is delivered. The agency has gradually eased these restrictions over the years, removing the requirement for in-person delivery.

But there are still some regulations.

In January, the FDA allowed retail pharmacies to dispense mifepristone if they go through a certification process. The patient must have a prescription from a healthcare provider certified under a federal program that oversees mifepristone.

Certified pharmacies can ship the pill through the mail, but the FDA says they must use mailing services that provide tracking information.

CV And Walgreens have said they are going through the certification process, but they will only dispense mifepristone if it is legal to do so under both state and federal law. At least 12 states have banned abortion with few exceptions, and other states have stricter restrictions on the drug than the FDA calls for.

Republican attorneys general have warned CVS and Walgreens against shipping mifepristone into their states.

Join us for CNBC’s Healthy Returns on March 29, where we’re hosting a virtual gathering of healthcare CEOs, scientists, investors and innovators to reflect on the advances made today in reinventing the future of medicine. We also have an exclusive look at the best investment opportunities in biopharma, healthcare technology and managed care. Learn more and register today: http://bit.ly/3DUNbRo

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Sport

Russell Wilson needed to get Pete Carroll out, per report; QB denies

Russell Wilson wanted to get Pete Carroll out, per report; QB denies

According to a report by The Athletic on Friday, Russell Wilson pushed to get Seahawks coach Pete Carroll fired before leaving Seattle, though the Denver Broncos quarterback later denied it on social media.

According to the report, in February 2022, Wilson asked Seahawks to fire Carroll and general manager John Schneider in hopes the team would hire Sean Payton as coach.

In his denial, Wilson tweeted Friday morning that Carroll “was a father figure to me” and that Schneider “believed in me and drafted me too.”

“I never wanted them fired. All any of us wanted was to win,” Wilson wrote. “I will always respect her and love Seattle.”

I love Pete and he was a father figure to me and John believed in me and raised me too. I never wanted them fired. All each of us wanted was to win.

I will always respect her and love Seattle.

— Russell Wilson (@DangeRussWilson) February 24, 2023

A lawyer for Wilson also denied the report as “entirely fabricated.” The Seahawks declined to comment to The Athletic.

ESPN previously reported on the strained relationship between Wilson and the Seahawks during his 10-year tenure in Seattle, with sources describing a dysfunctional situation that was nearing its ultimate breaking point.

Wilson was eventually traded to the Broncos in March for a move that included multiple first- and second-round picks and quarterback Drew Lock, who served as Geno Smith’s replacement when the Seahawks made the playoffs in 2022.

After the trade, the Broncos gave Wilson a five-year, $245 million extension that included $165 million in guaranteed money. But they stumbled to a 5-12 season in 2022 that resulted in the firing of first-year coach Nathaniel Hackett and the signing of Payton as his replacement.

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The Athletic also detailed problems with Wilson’s first season at Denver, with players, coaches and staff questioning some of the quarterback’s control. Examples included weekly private meetings with the offense held by Wilson, an office for Wilson located away from his teammates, game suggestions from Wilson that Hackett would add to the game schedule, and personal staff the quarterback was allowed to have at the team facility.

Payton appeared to quash some of Wilson’s power earlier this month when the coach said at his inaugural press conference that Wilson’s personal quarterback trainer Jake Heaps would no longer be at the Broncos facility.

“I’m not too familiar with that,” Payton said on Feb. 6 when asked if Wilson had heaps in the building with access last season. “It’s alien to me. It’s not going to happen. I don’t know. Our staff will be here, our players will be here and that’s what it will be.”

Payton also pledged that Wilson and all Broncos players would be held to his standard.

“You’re in law and order, as Bill [Parcells] would say,” said Payton. “…You come in and that’s how we’re going to teach, that’s how we’re going to meet, that’s how we’re going to practice. … Discipline, toughness and football makeup will be very important to the Denver Bronco. There’s an element of discipline, there’s an element of toughness, and look, it’s not for everyone.”

Payton later added, “I know what it looks like and I know what it doesn’t look like. And sometimes we don’t ask. Sometimes it’s non-negotiable.”

The Seahawks opened the 2022 season with a 17-16 win over the Broncos on Monday Night Football, with Wilson and Carroll only briefly interacting after the game. Carroll called the win “really worthwhile” in a radio interview the following day.

“I didn’t need the confirmation,” Carroll told Seattle Sports 710-AM. “I just wanted it. I just wanted to win. I wanted to win for all of the reasons that comes with this. Maybe as much as anything represents the guys that have played before. It meant a lot to those guys. I was so excited to see these to hug guys and see them and be able to look them in the eye.”

Information from ESPN’s Jeff Legwold and Brady Henderson was used in this report.

Categories
Technology

Valencia’s first unicorn founder needs to construct a world heart for affect know-how

Valencia's first unicorn founder wants to build a global center for impact technology

Iker Marcaide is one of Spain’s most energetic entrepreneurs. Since retiring from Flywire, the first Spanish startup to go public on Nasdaq, Marcaide has focused on impact investing, creating new startups with his company Zubi Group, building a school and designing an eco- quarter.

In 2021, Forbes named him one of the 100 most creative business people in Spain.

Iker Markaide. Photo credit: Zubi Group

Marcaide meets us on a 60-acre tree-lined property on the outskirts of town Valencia on a sunny, cool January morning. This is La Pinada, where he will build a sustainable neighborhood (“barrio” in Spanish) that includes homes, schools, co-works, and community spaces.

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Today, the wooden shacks on the site are filled with people working on Zubi Group startup projects. The Imagine Montessori school, which Marcaide opened in 2016, can be seen across a wooden bridge between the trees.

Imagine the Montessori school The Imagine Montessori School. Photo credit: Zubi Group

As an advisor to TNW’s first conference in Valencia, Marcaide will be speaking on Impact Investing at our event in March. In the meantime, we’re here to chat with him about the founding of foreign currency payments platform Flywire, his reasons for leaving and his ambitions for Zubi Group.

Born out of frustration

The idea for Flywire (then PeerTransfer) came to Marcaide in 2009 while he was doing his Masters in Business Administration (MBA) and Engineering at MIT. He didn’t see himself as an entrepreneur at the time, nor did he have an entrepreneurial background, but he wanted to start businesses that “are in some ways aligned with me and my needs, things that I’ve experienced firsthand.”

At the time, he was experiencing the stress and expense of having grant funds transferred to MIT from a Spanish foundation.

“I thought, ‘That’s unfair, because the people with the least purchasing power are actually paying all these bank fees… What if we could create a cheaper, more reliable, better alternative to bank transfers? just?'”

Marcaide decided that while they would need local sales and business development teams in different markets, it would be wise to consolidate functions globally and decided Valencia as the main office for things like administration, engineering and product development.

The company is headquartered in Boston and has since grown into a leading provider of cross-border tuition transfers for universities. It has also branched out into travel, healthcare and other businesses. Flywire went public in 2021 at a valuation of $3.5 billion.

So what led to Marcaide stepping down as Flywire CEO in 2013, when things were really exploding?

“It was a big decision, but there were a lot of things to do at the time,” he says. “I realized that you can only be the CEO of a company, and given that you want to be involved in solving various problems, being the CEO of a company would not be an option.”

“Whenever I start a business, I always think that it has to be not only your baby, but also have a life of its own,” he adds. “Your main task as a founder is not to become a bottleneck, so to speak.”

The Zubi Journey

The entrepreneur was already thinking about venture building and how he wanted to focus on companies that not only offer good financial opportunities but could also play a social or environmental role.

His first major venture in 2014 was venture builder Zubi Labs, which creates technology companies from the ground up that focus on social or environmental impact. Two years later, he founded the private Montessori school Imagine on the same property that will house the La Pinada eco-district.

La Pinada district Impression of Barrio La Pinada. Photo credit: Zubi Group

In 2017, the concept and plans for La Pinada began, followed by the creation of an open innovation center for sustainability called La Pinada Lab in 2020.

In 2021, Marcaide founded Zubi Capital to invest in external companies as the first impact fund targeting venture debt in Europe. All of these companies and business units are part of the Zubi Group, which has over 200 employees.

Possible impact of Valencia

Born in Boston, raised in Granada and lived in Madrid, London and the USA, Marcaide rightly considers himself a citizen of the world. Now that’s his dream Valencia becomes a hotspot for impact and sustainability.

“You can start something great from anywhere in the world, but you have to be very well connected. Spend time internationally for me, then be there Valencia Being part of a global company opened my eyes to what it means to be globally connected,” he says. “It’s all about connecting and networking with like-minded people, of which there are many.”

He thinks so Valencia may not become the largest technology center in the world, it could become the most articulated, connected and functional – at least that’s what he wishes.

“When I came to Valencia When I first got to know the ecosystem in 2010, I kind of lacked this sense of global connectedness and global ambition – I think that has completely changed,” he says.

field of dreams

Marcaide says he would like to break ground on Barrio la Pinada tomorrow but is awaiting building permits from the Valencian authorities. At the moment there is no planned date when the entrepreneur’s idea would open its doors.

La Pinada was conceived as a self-contained, carbon neutral community. The Zubi team consulted with people on how they would like their everyday life to be organized and realized that everyone wanted things to be simpler when it came to how they live, work, pick up children from school and so on.

La Pinada district Impression of Barrio La Pinada. Photo credit: Zubi Group

“Cities aren’t organized that way, you usually live somewhere else, you work somewhere else, school is somewhere else and you spend half the day on the move – a lot of social and environmental problems derive from that,” explains Marcaide.

The Pinada project has created opportunities for new startups that could support this dream, working in areas such as energy, waste and circular economy. In addition to housing, schools, co-working spaces, living quarters and a broad community mix of young and older people, professionals, families and singles are to be created.

“At Zubi Group, I think we’ve gotten to that hockey stick point where you start putting the pieces together and delivering value much faster,” says Marcaide. “We have built a lot of foundation and team, so in 10 years Zubi will be much more global, a different scale than today.”

If you want to experience Valencia’s ecosystem for yourself and hear Iker Marcaide speak on stage, we have something special for our loyal readers. Use the promo code TWVAL30 and get a 30% discount on your TNW València conference business pass.

Categories
Science

Heartlands ICCC 2023 – Reside from Orlando

Gute Klimanachrichten für 2022, die Ihnen die MSM nicht gesagt haben

by Kip Hansen – Live coverage from Orlando – February 23 → 25, 2023

15th International Conference on Climate Change

Is the real crisis climate change… or climate policy?

The Heartland Institute’s 15th International Conference on Climate Change kicked off tonight with a Meet the Speakers reception. While it was advertised as a “dessert reception,” attendees were treated to a wide variety of dinner choices: hamburgers, beef and veggies, shrimp, salads, mac-n-cheese, and many other dishes, all of which could be eaten in either “reception style.” “ at small high tables or at normal round dining tables for 8 people.

And who was there? Everyone except you! Not really. But all the speakers who will be making presentations over the next 48 hours were present including: Will Happer, Patrick Moore, Anthony Watts, Richard Lindzen, Dr. Willie Soon, Ian Plimer, Cork Hayden, Ronald Stein, Alex Epstein, Marc Morano, Greg Wrightstone, James Taylor, David Legates, Christopher Monckton and many, many more whose names you would instantly recognize. These outstanding personalities not only stood at the lectern and gave lectures, they walked around, shook hands and talked – face to face with everyone present on an equal footing.

And not just the “big names,” but a lot of people you’d love to meet if you knew the handles they use when commenting on the blogs and podcasts.

The highlight of the evening was the screening of a new climate skeptical 1 hour documentary entitled A Climate Conversation. A great film that has made its first showing outside of its production studios isn’t available to the public yet…but you’ll want to see it when it is.

Stay tuned, more tomorrow at noon.

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I am here at the fabulous Hilton Orlando Lake Buena Vista in Orlando, Florida, where the world’s true and best climate experts have gathered to analyze the latest climate science and the wrong energy and policy solutions that the world’s governments are determined to bring to us to impose on everyone. Check back here often over the next three days for the latest news, which will appear at the top of this post when published.

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Author’s comment:

Thanks to the Heartland Institute for granting me media access to the conference, and to the CO2 Coalition for inviting me back to be a member… and more than that, thanks to Anthony Watts and the ever-trying Charles the Marvelous moderator , who not only make WUWT possible, but have made it the world’s most watched internet blog on the subject of climate.

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