Tuesday, October 11, 2022

And another day of the DOJ urging SCOTUS to reject Trump request, Russian war crimes in Ukraine, TX bans proven tools for helping drug users, screening 8-year olds for anxiety, and regardless of the headlines, colonoscopies are effective comes to a close:

“When you control a man’s thinking you do not have to worry about his actions. You do not have to tell him not to stand here or go yonder. He will find his ‘proper place’ and will stay in it.” -- Carter G. Woodson

Deaths

US: 1,088,471 (+495)

World: 6,563,773 (+1954)

Cases

US: 98,608,431 (+36,420)

World: 627,677,595 (+833,728)

Justice Department urges Supreme Court to reject Trump request over seized Mar-a-Lago documents. The Biden administration asked the Supreme Court on Tuesday to reject former President Donald Trump's request to give the special master reviewing documents seized from his Mar-a-Lago estate access to those marked as classified.

Supreme Court rebuffs fetal personhood appeal. The justices declined to decide whether fetuses are entitled to constitutional rights in light of the court's June ruling overturning Roe v. Wade.

UN, G7 decry Russian attack on Ukraine as possible war crime. Russian forces showered Ukraine with more missiles and munition-carrying drones Tuesday after widespread strikes killed at least 19 people in an attack the U.N. human rights office described as “particularly shocking” and amounting to potential war crimes.

Texas bans many proven tools for helping drug users. Advocates are handing them out anyway. Research has shown harm reduction is one of the most effective tools to help people who use drugs, and advocates say such programs are needed more than ever. But state-run harm reduction programs don’t exist in Texas, and the Legislature has previously batted down efforts to decriminalize the possession and distribution of supplies for drug use and drug testing. To steer clear of criminal charges, Texans who use drugs will often avoid getting sterile supplies and reuse the pipes and needles they have. — Everything’s not bigger in Texas. Everything’s worse in Texas.

Colonoscopies may not be as effective as thought, study suggests. Doctors disagree. A major sticking point for experts who reviewed the study’s findings was that only 42% of the people in the new study who were invited to get colonoscopies actually went through with them. That was a "serious shortcoming" of the study, said Dr. Richard Wender, chair of the Department of Family Medicine and Community Health in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. "This is a flaw of randomized trials of cancer screening tests," said Wender. "They inevitably become trials of invitations to screen, not the test itself." In fact, the results were actually quite good for the people in the study who got the colonoscopies — a 31% reduction in colon cancer risk and a 50% reduction in risk of dying from it, experts said. “In order for a colonoscopy to be effective, you have to have it done.” -- The headlines on this study are total bullshit. Colonoscopies are effective. Get one if you’re over 50.

Anxiety screening for children should begin as early as age 8, task force advises. Pediatricians should screen children as young as 8 for anxiety and kids 12 and older for depression during routine well checks, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force said Tuesday. The recommendation from the independent panel of experts applies to children who aren't showing any signs or symptoms of a mental health problem. Children who are — regardless of age — should be referred for specialized care.

NASA asteroid strike results in big nudge. A spacecraft that plowed into a small, harmless asteroid millions of miles away succeeded in shifting its orbit, NASA said Tuesday in announcing the results of its save-the-world test. The space agency attempted the test two weeks ago to see if in the future a killer rock could be nudged out of Earth’s way.

RIP Angela Lansbury. She was 96. 

Life’s short. Live, love, create, and help others.

Until next time, my friends. Stay safe and stay sane. Good night.