Flame Retardants and Pesticides Overtake Heavy Metals as Biggest Contributors to IQ Loss
Adverse outcomes from childhood exposures to lead and mercury are on the decline in the United States, likely due to decades of restrictions on the use of heavy metals, a new study finds.
Despite decreasing levels, exposure to these and other toxic chemicals, especially flame retardants and pesticides, still resulted in more than a million cases of intellectual disability in the United States between 2001 and 2016. Furthermore, as the target of significantly fewer restrictions, experts say, flame retardants and pesticides now represent the bulk of that cognitive loss.
NYU Grossman School of Medicine researchers found that IQ loss from the toxic chemicals analyzed in their study dropped from 27 million IQ points in 2001 and 2002 to 9 million IQ points in 2015 and 2016.
While this overall decline is promising, the researchers say, their findings also identify a concerning shift in which chemicals represent the greatest risk. Among toxin-exposed children, the researchers found that the proportion of cognitive loss that results from exposure to chemicals used in flame retardants, called polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PDBEs), and organophosphate pesticides increased from 67 percent to 81 percent during the same study period.
“Our findings suggest that our efforts to reduce exposure to heavy metals are paying off, but that toxic exposures in general continue to represent a formidable risk to Americans’ physical, mental, and economic health,” says lead study investigator Abigail Gaylord, MPH, a doctoral candidate in the Department of Population Health at NYU Langone. “Unfortunately, the minimal policies in place to eliminate pesticides and flame retardants are clearly not enough.”
The substances analyzed are found in household products from furniture upholstery to tuna fish, and can build up in the body to damage organs, researchers say. Heavy metals, lead and mercury in particular, are known to disrupt brain and kidney function. In addition, they, along with flame retardants and pesticides, can interfere with the thyroid, which secretes brain-developing hormones. Experts say exposure at a young age to any of these toxins can cause learning disabilities, autism, and behavioral issues.
In their investigation, the researchers found that everyday contact with these substances during the 16-year study period resulted in roughly 1,190,230 children affected with some form of intellectual disability. Overall childhood exposures cost the nation $7.5 trillion in lost economic productivity and other societal costs.
“Although people argue against costly regulations, unrestricted use of these chemicals is far more expensive in the long run, with American children bearing the largest burden,” says senior study author Leonardo Trasande, MD, MPP, the Jim G. Hendrick, MD Professor at NYU Langone Health.
https://www.naturalblaze.com/2020/01/flame-retardants-and-pesticides-overtake-heavy-metals-as-biggest-contributors-to-iq-loss.html
The Never-Ending Impeachment
Column: Efforts to remove Trump didn't start with Ukraine. And won't end there.
Maybe Nancy Pelosi waited to send impeachment to the Senate because she was waiting for her pens to arrive. The fancy commemorative ballpoints, featuring the speaker's name engraved in gold, that Pelosi gave to colleagues at Wednesday's engrossment ceremony quickly became the subject of mockery. Republicans saw them as emblematic of Democratic partisanship and triviality. "Nothing says seriousness and sobriety like handing out souvenirs," said Mitch McConnell. "As though this were a happy bill-signing instead of the gravest process in our Constitution."
In Pelosi's eyes, impeachment is something to celebrate. It's more than an accomplishment. It's the most significant product of the 116th Congress. What McConnell calls "the gravest process" has been the preferred means of Democrats to inflict maximum damage on President Trump and possibly remove him from office before the end of his term. The trial that begins on Tuesday has been years in the making. And the drive to impeach Trump won't end when the verdict is rendered. He may well end up the first president to be impeached multiple times.
Maxine Waters has been chanting "impeach 45" since the spring of 2017. Rep. Al Green introduced the first impeachment resolution that summer. Tom Steyer founded "Need to Impeach" that October. In November 2017 a group of House Democrats introduced additional articles of impeachment. The same thing happened in December 2017, January 2018, March 2019, May 2019, and July 2019. House Democrats accuse Trump of violating the emoluments clause, obstructing justice, associating with white nationalism, separating families of illegal immigrants, and more.
Pelosi resisted. Why? Not because she thought impeachment was wrong. Because none of the articles advanced by the left could win a majority of her caucus.
Then the whistleblower arrived. The story he told about shenanigans in Ukraine was enough to bring aboard moderates from swing districts. The rushed inquiry and polarized vote on two vague and weak articles betrayed the political motivations behind the enterprise. Impeachment shields Pelosi from leftwing recriminations in the event that Trump is reelected and Democrats retain the House. And the investigations, hearings, and trial guarantee a steady stream of bad press for Trump and hostile questions that make some Republicans squirm.
https://freebeacon.com/columns/the-never-ending-impeachment/
https://twitter.com/martingeddes/status/1217939107520880641
#QAnon is the biggest story in the history of journalism.
Australian Man Charged for Possessing Child-Like Sex Doll Under New Law
A South Australian man has been charged with owning a child-like sex doll under new laws passed by the South Australian Parliament last year banning the objects.
The 30-year-old man, whose identity has not been revealed, is the first person to be charged in the Australian state for such an offense. He was charged on January 14 after police were alerted, with the help of PayPal Australia, that he bought the sex doll from China in December 2018.
The man’s home in South Australia was searched by authorities on Tuesday and they seized the doll, his computer, his mobile phone and his bank card, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) reported. The man also allegedly had child pornography on his computer.
The man has been charged with one count of owning a child-like sex doll and one count of possessing child abuse material, ABC reported. If convicted, the man could face 15 years in prison. He has been released on bail and will appear at the Naracoorte Magistrates Court on March 27.
According to research by the Australian Institute of Criminology, the possession and use of such child-like sex dolls can objectify children as sexual beings and make them more vulnerable to physical, emotional and psychological harm.
"Some dolls are even robotic and designed to respond positively to the abuse," Gail McClure, the Australian Federal Police (AFP) acting superintendent for crime operations in South Australia, is quoted as saying.
"The Australian Federal Police does not condone any form of child exploitation, or activity of any kind that reinforces the sexualization of children. This includes sexual gratification activity using items depicting children — these anatomically correct dolls are legally considered child exploitation material. This arrest highlights the collaborative work undertaken by the AFP and its partners to protect children and identify and prosecute anyone who seeks to exploit and harm them."
https://sputniknews.com/society/202001171078055958-australian-man-charged-for-possessing-child-like-sex-doll-under-new-law/
Pelosi on Impeachment Process: It’s Not a Question of “Proof” It’s About “Allegations”
Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) on Thursday responded to reporters asking questions about the impeachment witnesses after she signed the articles of impeachment.
For Pelosi and the Democrat-media complex it’s not about proof of any crimes committed by Trump, it’s about smearing him with bogus allegations.
“It’s not a question of proof, it says what allegations have been made and that has to be subjected to scrutiny as to how we go forward, but it should not be ignored in the context of other events that could substantiate some of that,” said Pelosi.
Speaker Pelosi and the Deep State switched tactics on Thursday.
Democrats now want to impeach President Trump for not giving tax-payer dollars to the corrupt Ukrainian government fast enough.
The Government Accountability Office issued a legal opinion on Thursday saying the Trump Administration did not give US tax-payer dollars to corrupt Ukraine fast enough.
The GAO just happened to release their report on Thursday morning to help Democrats and Nancy Pelosi.
The Trump admin released the military aid to Ukraine THREE WEEKS early…but the legislative branch is now attacking the president for his decision to make sure taxpayer dollars wouldn’t go to waste like it has in the past with corrupt Ukrainian officials.
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2020/01/pelosi-on-impeachment-process-its-not-a-question-of-proof-its-about-allegations-video/
Hi Dave
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loser we already have freddy and he's better at that shit than you, you suck sweaty balls and munch dirty ass
I missed this, posting just in case others did also
https://twitter.com/CodeMonkeyZ/status/1216959646113521664
10 MONTHS LEFT TO RESTORE THE REPUBLIC – BILL BINNEY & HARLEY SCHLANGER
McDonald’s Manager Raped Employee, 14, Inside A Walk-in Cooler And At Other Locations For Several Weeks, Prosecutor Says
MINNEAPOLIS — A Maple Grove man who worked as a manager at McDonald’s has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl who worked at the restaurant, Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman announced Tuesday. Prosecutors were seeking 144 months.
Andrew Otero Albertorio, 25, pleaded guilty on Nov. 25 to one of the four charges against him, though, no agreement was made on his sentence except that it would be between 90 and 144 months. On Monday, Hennepin County District Court Judge Jeannice Reding sentenced him to 120 months for first-degree criminal sexual conduct.
The 120-month sentence is less than the minimum 144 months under the Minnesota State Sentencing Guidelines. Judge Reding gave several reasons for departing below the minimum, stating “the crime is less onerous than usual,” and that “there was a limited supervisory role, no predatory action.” Judge Reding also said, “there was some sense of a relationship on behalf of the suspect and victim.”
Assistant Hennepin County Attorney Rachel Kraker argued for 12 years in prison, stating that the victim was working under the authority of Otero Albertorio as manager: “We see not only that he was in that position, but he used that authority for his own sexual purposes.” Kraker also stated that Otero Albertorio did not exhibit remorse throughout the case.
In court Monday, Otero Albertorio apologized for the harm done to the victim and her family.
According to the criminal complaint, the victim began working at McDonald’s in the summer of 2018 and Otero Albertorio was her night manager. Otero Albertorio discussed having sex with her throughout her employment, but she told him she did not want to. In December, Otero Albertorio cornered her in the cooler at the restaurant, where the victim stated she felt pressured into a sexual act. Over the next month, Otero Albertorio had sex with her in numerous locations.
https://breaking911.com/mcdonalds-manager-raped-employee-14-inside-a-walk-in-cooler-and-at-other-locations-for-several-weeks-prosecutor-says/
Andrew Otero Albertorio Criminal Complaint (PDF)
https://www.hennepinattorney.org/-/media/Attorney/andrew-albertorio-criminal-complaint.pdf?la=en&hash=0D30058C4CB126D6E9114A25F4075A399C0A89E6