Links

https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/venessawong/millennials-lives-changed-by-recession-2008-2018
Sept. 25, 2018
Here’s How Millennials’ Lives Were Changed By Recession 10 Years Ago


https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2018/09/27/study-links-restricting-screen-time-kids-higher-mental-performance/?utm_term=.0ecb92cd5b16
Sept. 27, 2018
Children who use smartphones and other devices in their free time for less than two hours a day performed better on cognitive tests assessing their thinking, language and memory, according to a study published Wednesday in the Lancet Child & Adolescent Health.


https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/sep/20/brett-kavanaugh-supreme-court-yale-amy-chua
Sept. 20, 2018
A top professor at Yale Law School who strongly endorsed supreme court nominee Brett Kavanaugh as a “mentor to women” privately told a group of law students last year that it was “not an accident” that Kavanaugh’s female law clerks all “looked like models” and would provide advice to students about their physical appearance if they wanted to work for him, the Guardian has learned.
Amy Chua, a Yale professor who wrote a bestselling book on parenting called Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother, was known for instructing female law students who were preparing for interviews with Kavanaugh on ways they could dress to exude a “model-like” femininity to help them win a post in Kavanaugh’s chambers, according to sources.


[What are we currently putting into the environment that we will eventually learn has long lasting harmful effects?]
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/sep/27/orca-apocalypse-half-of-killer-whales-doomed-to-die-from-pollution
Sept. 27, 2018
At least half of the world’s killer whale populations are doomed to extinction due to toxic and persistent pollution of the oceans, according to a major new study.
Although the poisonous chemicals, PCBs, have been banned for decades, they are still leaking into the seas. They become concentrated up the food chain; as a result, killer whales, the top predators, are the most contaminated animals on the planet. Worse, their fat-rich milk passes on very high doses to their newborn calves.
PCB concentrations found in killer whales can be 100 times safe levels and severely damage reproductive organs, cause cancer and damage the immune system. The new research analysed the prospects for killer whale populations over the next century and found those offshore from industrialised nations could vanish as soon as 30-50 years.


https://www.cnn.com/2018/09/27/politics/kavanaugh-american-bar-association/index.html
Sept. 27, 2018
American Bar Association: Delay Kavanaugh until FBI investigates assault allegations


[When I posted this on Facebook, they removed it because “it looks like spam”.]
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2018/sep/28/facebook-50-million-user-accounts-security-berach
Sept. 28, 2018
Nearly 50m Facebook accounts were compromised by an attack that gave hackers the ability to take over users’ accounts, Facebook revealed on Friday.
The breach was discovered by Facebook engineers on Tuesday 25 September, the company said, and patched on Thursday. Users whose accounts were affected will be notified by Facebook. Those users will be logged out of their accounts and required to log back in.
Update: Just heard on NPR that no passwords were stolen.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/newer-birth-control-pills-tied-to-lower-risk-of-ovarian-cancer/
Sept. 27, 2018
There's long been a connection between birth control pills and a reduced risk of ovarian cancer. Now, new research suggests that's true for the latest form of the drug, as well.
Scientists say the protective effect of the newer pills -- which contain lower doses of estrogens and different progestogens -- rose over time and persisted for several years after women stopped taking them.


https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/sep/28/russian-us-tycoon-boasted-of-active-involvement-in-trump-election-campaign-simon-kukes
https://www .theguardian. com/us-news/2018/sep/28/russian-us-tycoon-boasted-of-active-involvement-in-trump-election-campaign-simon-kukes
Sept. 28, 2018
A Russian-American businessman who donated a substantial sum to Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential election effort boasted to a senior figure in Moscow that he was “actively involved” in the Republican candidate’s campaign, the Guardian can reveal.
Simon Kukes said he was helping Trump with “strategy development” and shared photos of his 29-year-old Russian girlfriend posing with the future president.
In total Kukes gave $273,000 (£207,000) to Trump Victory – a fundraising committee that distributes donations between the candidate, the Republican National Committee (RNC) and state Republican parties. He had no previous history of giving money to political causes.


https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/sep/28/mexican-mob-burns-detective-to-death-in-child-abduction-scare
Sept. 28, 2018
A mob of about 100 people in the central Mexican state of Hidalgo doused a detective with gasoline and burned him to death, according to local officials.
There have been five killings in the span of about a month in Mexico based on false rumors about child snatchers. In four of those cases, the victims were also burned.
Authorities say the rumors circulate on social media and have asked the public not to believe them.
It is not the first time that investigative agents have been killed in Mexico after townspeople caught them snooping around.
In 2004, a mob on the southern outskirts of Mexico City beat two federal agents and burned them to death for allegedly taking pictures of schoolchildren. Some claimed they believed the agents were kidnappers, but it turned out that they were on assignment investigating a case.
The hysteria has also swept up people who were simply asking questions.
In late August, two men were set afire by an angry mob in Puebla after they apparently stopped to have beer near a school.
In 2015, residents of Ajalpan, Puebla beat to death two young men who were making inquiries in the town.
Rumors spread that they were trying to kidnap children, but the two men were actually conducting a commercial survey about tortilla consumption.


https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2018/09/28/donald-trump-leaves-door-open-fbi-probe-brett-kavanaugh/1453120002/
Sept. 28, 2018
President Donald Trump left the door open Friday to a reopening of the FBI investigation of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, saying he wants Republican Senate leaders to do “whatever they think is necessary" to get to a decision on whether to confirm him.
A day after an emotional hearing in which Christine Blasey Ford testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee about her allegations against Kavanaugh of sexual assault, Trump told reporters at the White House he thought her testimony was "compelling" and said "she looks like a very fine woman to me."
However, he continued to stand by Kavanaugh. Asked if he had thought of replacing Kavanaugh, Trump said: "Not even a little bit."