Friday, February 7, 2020

To These People, Electronic Devices Are the Enemy

Last February, the Senate held a committee hearing on the future of 5G wireless technology. Amid fulsome praise of the technology’s potential “five times faster internet speeds!” Senator Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut introduced a note of caution. “5G, as you well know, uses higher-frequency waves that don’t travel as far and rely on a network of hundreds of thousands, potentially millions, of small cell sites,” he said. “The question then is, are there any health implications, any public safety implications, to those additional sites that are likely to be located close to homes, schools, workplaces, and closer and closer to the ground?” The impending arrival of 5G has thrust the debate about the health risks of cell phones back to the forefront. But for those people who suffer from electromagnetic hypersensitivity (EHS), it’s not a debate—it’s their lives. According to the World Health Organization, a few individuals per million suffer from EHS, with higher rates in Sweden, Germany, and Denmark. Symptoms range from tingling and burning sensations to fatigue, concentration difficulties, nausea, and digestive disturbances. Because no causal link has been scientifically established between these symptoms and the electromagnetic fields emitted by electronic devices, the WHO has said that “EHS is not a medical diagnosis, nor is it clear that it represents a single medical problem.” Since EHS isn’t recognized as an illness, most sufferers are self-diagnosed. The widespread skepticism about their condition is often the hardest part. Some of them lose their families and friends, because nobody believes them. People say they’re crazy or depressed, that they have psychological problems. The way people talk about EHS is very painful to them. Many EHS sufferers have to quit their jobs because they can’t use a computer, further isolating them from society. Some have transformed their homes into makeshift Faraday cages to keep out electromagnetic waves. (Wired)

Utah lawmaker proposes warning label for pornography

A Utah lawmaker has unveiled a proposal to require pornography to carry warning labels or be subject to a possible $2,500 penalty, though an adult-entertainment industry group warned the idea would violate the First Amendment. The label about the potential harm to minors would have to appear on both print and digital material that appears in Utah if the bill proposed by Representative Brady Brammer passes the Legislature. If the label doesn’t appear, the producer could be sued for $2,500 per violation, either by the Utah Attorney General’s Office or a private group. The enforcement process would be similar to warning labels about toxic substances that are required in California. The 15-second digital warnings, for example, would allow people to navigate away quickly if something obscene comes up online accidentally, he said. The bill doesn’t contain a specific definition of pornography. Instead, that would be decided in court if a lawsuit is filed under the law. The law wouldn’t regulate the content itself, so doesn’t violate free-speech rights, he said. “It’s not censorship because it doesn’t stop anything from being said or printed or published,” he said. A spokesman for the Free Speech Coalition, an adult-industry trade group, disagreed. Such a warning label would violate the First Amendment because it would require producers to communicate a specific message, he argued. Meanwhile, the Utah bill is broad enough that it could cover everything from the TV show “Game of Thrones” to a partially nude selfie on Twitter, he argued. Representative Brady Brammer said he drew the language of the warning from a resolution passed by Utah in 2016 that declared pornography a public-health crisis, citing its widespread availability online. Since then, more than a dozen states have advanced similar resolutions. (Associated Press)

Disney+ is coming after Netflix

On-demand service Disney+ seems to be upping the pressure in the streaming wars, with the number of its subscribers almost tripling within the first three months of its launch. Walt Disney’s service now counts 28.7 million subscribers, up from its November debut of 10 million in a crowded field that includes the likes of Netflix (167 million subscribers), Apple TV+ and Amazon.com. Both Comcast and AT&T’s HBO Max will launch streaming services of their own later this year. (The Wall Street Journal)

Baby born on Palindrome Day, February 2, 2020, after two miscarriages

A newborn has already made history before she is even a week old. Charlee Rose Masters was born on February 2, 2020 at 20:02, a rare global palindrome day, at St. Joseph East Hospital in Lexington, Kentucky. “So glad after 2 miscarriages we finally have our Charlee Rose Masters. Her papaw Charlie and great aunt Rosie would be so happy to have her, even if she looks more like her daddy than her mommy,” her mom wrote on Facebook. Adding to the symbolism, the mother only pushed for 20 minutes. Miss Charlee Rose is already loved and is a healthy baby girl. (WKYT)

Argument over bacon leads to knife attack, arrest in Ohio, deputies say

A 47-year-old man in Ludlow Falls, Ohio is accused of cutting another man following an argument over bacon is in jail. The man is charged with felonious assault. “(The victim) said he made bacon this morning for breakfast,” a Miami County Sheriff’s Office report read. “He said the attacker was arguing with him about the bacon and the amount” he had eaten. That argument, the victim said, led to the attacker grabbing him by the back of the head and putting a razor blade to his neck and cutting him, the report read. The attacker remains in jail on a $50,000 bond. (WHIO)

Two Florida drug suspects made no effort to hide their stash

The Florida Highway Patrol in the Panhandle stopped a car for speeding on I-10 recently. Troopers found a bag marked, “Bag Full of Drugs” in the car. Inside the bag, authorities found meth, GHB, cocaine, MDMA, and Fentanyl. As a result, authorities arrested two people. (Florida Highway Patrol Twitter)

Moo! Wandering calf shows up on doorbell camera video

A woman shared an unusual video captured by her doorbell camera. The woman from Kaukauna, Wisconsin, says a calf wandered onto her front porch Saturday (2/1) night. The spotted Holstein calf can be seen making its way up a step and exploring the porch, even letting out a “moo” at one point in the video. The woman said she heard the calf make noise and got up to check it out. She found the calf lying on the porch and at first, almost let the calf in the house. Her husband then got the calf safely back to its mother. “I have shared the video with friends and family because I thought it was a hoot,” she said. “It’s rare, but sometimes animals sneak out of the barn, but they have never wandered over to the front porch. She is a healthy calf and is doing very well.” (WLUK)

Family gets 55,000 duplicate letters from loan company

An man in Twinsburg, Ohio is pondering what to do with the 55,000 duplicate statements addressed to his home by a student loan company. He was suspicious when a postal worker told him recently that his mail wouldn’t fit through the front door of the office. When he drove his truck around to the back of the building, he found a postal worker wheeling out two large bins of letters. It turned out that there were a total of 79 bins of the letters, and it took two trips to deliver them to the garage of his family’s home in the city roughly 25 miles southeast of Cleveland. Officials from College Ave Student Loans said that it apologized for the error in its mailing system and was putting corrective measures in place to prevent it from happening in the future. “We are working with Dan directly on a remedy, including picking up the mail from him if possible and a statement credit for the inconvenience,” the company’s chief operating officer said. The duplicate statements were for a loan the man and his wife had taken out for college tuition. He also indicated that the statement was wrong and believed the company used the wrong interest rate to calculate the payment. (Cleveland 19)

Woman spots lost dog on viral Florida beer can promoting shelter dogs

After three years, a dog will finally be reunited with her family. The story of the brewery putting adoptable dogs on beer cans went viral last month and helped a woman from Minnesota reunite with the best furr-iend she’d lost in 2017. The woman was surfing the internet when she came across the viral story and saw a familiar face. Hazel escaped the family’s home and her microchip paperwork was lost, making it impossible to update her information. The woman lost hope until she spotted the pup on a beer can. Hazel, renamed Day Day by the shelter, was one of the four dogs on the brewery’s beer cans, but was not as lucky as the other three dogs in getting adopted so quickly. She was holding out for the perfect family. The Manatee Humane Society says it was meant to be that Hazel be reunited with her real family. Now, the animal shelter’s working to send Hazel back home for free. (WPEC)

California business owner ‘poop shaming’ dog owners who don’t pick it up

A Clovis, California business owner says she’s fed up with cleaning up after irresponsible pet owners and is now taking action to make sure they and everyone else know. She said she even put out signs reminding people to pick up after their dogs but that has not helped. She is a 5th-degree black belt and is not afraid to capture it on camera to ‘poop-shame’ pet owners, but it’s not only her problem because it’s happening up and down Old Town Clovis. The city officials say that Animal Control had not received any complaints, but if people are having an issue with this in Clovis, citizens are encouraged to call the Clovis Police Department dispatch center or visit their lobby to speak with an officer and file a report. (KMPH)

Friday Rocks Us With:

• Ballet Day
• Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day
• Bubble Gum Day (First Friday)
• “e” Day (math)
• Give Kids A Smile Day (First Friday)
• Harry Potter Book Night
• Laura Ingalls Wilder Day
• National Periodic Table Day
• Wave All Your Fingers At Your Neighbor’s Day
• Wear Red Day (First Friday)
• Working Naked Day (First Friday)