News You Can Use

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Big pharma turns to artificial intelligence to speed drug discovery, GSK signs deal

Other pharmaceutical giants including Merck & Co, Johnson & Johnson and Sanofi are also exploring the potential of artificial intelligence (AI) to help streamline the drug discovery process.

The aim is to harness modern supercomputers and machine learning systems to predict how molecules will behave and how likely they are to make a useful drug, thereby saving time and money on unnecessary tests.

AI systems already play a central role in other high-tech areas such as the development of driverless cars and facial recognition software.

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Turkey bans Trans Pride march in Istanbul but organisers defiant

Istanbul (AFP) - Turkish authorities on Saturday banned transsexual rights activists from holding a planned march in Istanbul, the country's largest city, this weekend, a week after police used rubber bullets to thwart a Gay Pride parade.

Organisers however vowed to press ahead with the Trans Pride March, planned for Sunday afternoon, despite the ban.

The Istanbul governor's office said in a statement the march could not take place because the venue for the event -- the central Taksim Square -- was not suitable and because the office had not received a proper application for permission to hold the march.

"After an evaluation ... it has been decided not to give permission for the holding of this event," the office said in a statement.

City officials also urged citizens to ignore calls to participate in the parade and abide by the security forces' warning.

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Doctors back transgender women having babies on the NHS | Daily Mail Online

Doctors have said transgender women, born male, should be able to have kids
Gynaecologists say implanting a donor womb into a person born male is possible
Talks planned on if womb transplants for trans-women should be publicly funded
Uterine transplants could even be given to gay and straight men within ten years

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[Sunain]

Men Are Affected By the Biological Clock As Well, Researchers Find

A new study reveals that a couple's chances of having a baby fall with the man's age, to the point that it can have a substantial impact on their ability to start a family. Laura Dodge, who led the research at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School in Boston, said that couples should bear the findings in mind when planning a family.

"When making this decision, they should also be considering the man's age," she said. Scientists have long known that a woman's chances of conceiving naturally drop sharply from the age of 35, but fertility research has focused so much on women that male factors are less well understood.

To investigate the impact of a man's age on a couple's chances of having a baby, Dodge and her colleagues studied records of nearly 19,000 IVF treatment cycles in the Boston area between 2000 and 2014. The women were divided into four age bands: those under 30, 30-35 year-olds, 35-40 year-olds, and those aged 40-42. The men were divided into the same age brackets with an extra band for the over 42s. Some of the couples had received up to six cycles of IVF. Dodge then looked at how age affected couples' chances of having a live birth.

As expected, women in the 40-42 age bracket had the lowest birth rates, and for these women the male partner's age had no impact. But for younger women the man's age mattered. Women aged under 30 with a male partner aged 30 to 35 had a 73% chance of a live birth after IVF. But that impressive success rate fell to 46% when the man was aged 40 to 42. Whether they can hear it or not, the biological clock ticks for men too.

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Within 30 years we will no longer use sex to procreate, says Stanford professor | The Independent

Within three decades people will no longer be having sex to procreate, a professor from Stanford University has said. 

Hank Greely, the director of Stanford’s Law School’s Center for Law and the Biosciences, believes the reproductive process will begin with parents choosing from a range of embryos created in a lab with their DNA. 

Although this can already take place, Mr Greely believes it will become far cheaper to do so and couples will opt for this method to prevent diseases. 

The process involves taking a female skin sample to create stem cells, which is then used to create eggs. 

These eggs are then fertilised with sperm cells, resulting in a selection of embryos.

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After tax hike and budget votes, Illinois avoids credit downgrade to junk for now - Chicago Tribune

Illinois government's credit rating avoided a cut to junk status Monday when two key agencies said votes to raise income taxes and advance a spending plan count as progress toward ending the state's yearslong budget stalemate.

They warned, though, that much was riding on a final resolution being reached in the coming days.

The assessment came a day after more than a dozen Republicans broke ranks with Gov. Bruce Rauner to join House Speaker Michael Madigan's Democrats in approving a major income tax hike to help pay for local schools, universities, human services and other state programs.

[mes5464]

Is America still a nation?

In the first line of the Declaration of Independence of July 4, 1776, Thomas Jefferson speaks of “one people.” The Constitution, agreed upon by the Founding Fathers in Philadelphia in 1789, begins, “We the people …”

And who were these “people”?

In Federalist No. 2, John Jay writes of them as “one united people … descended from the same ancestors, speaking the same language, professing the same religion, attached to the same principles of government, very similar in their manners and customs. …”

If such are the elements of nationhood and peoplehood, can we still speak of Americans as one nation and one people?

* * *

After the attempted massacre of Republican congressmen at that ball field in Alexandria, Fareed Zakaria wrote: “The political polarization that is ripping this country apart” is about “identity … gender, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation (and) social class.” He might have added – religion, morality, culture and history.

Zakaria seems to be tracing the disintegration of our society to that very diversity that its elites proclaim to be its greatest attribute: “If the core issues are about identity, culture and religion … then compromise seems immoral. American politics is becoming more like Middle Eastern politics, where there is no middle ground between being Sunni or Shiite.”

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Facebook can track your browsing even after you've logged out, judge says | Technology | The Guardian

Judge dismisses lawsuit accusing Facebook of tracking users’ activity, saying responsibility was on plaintiffs to keep browsing history private

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Mysterious filers threaten "genocide of the white race" - 10News.com KGTV-TV San Diego

Mysterious fliers threaten "genocide of the white race"

SAN DIEGO (KGTV) - With the headline "Jobs Jobs Jobs," fliers have been popping up around Little Italy with racially charged language appearing to target white people.

10 News has obtained several variations of the flier. While the language varies slightly, they all use the same font and have similar themes.

Alyssa Ermann said she received one on her windshield in late April. It appeared to be a jobs flier, promising to "make you rich if you join us." Then it continued, "we are killing off the entire evil white race by making them addicted to cocaine, crack, spiked marijuana, spice, meth, heroin, hash, and other poisons, to kill them."

[Sunain]

Chicago High school students will be required to secured a job or received a letter of acceptance to college, a trade apprenticeship, a gap year program or the military to graduate

CHICAGO — To graduate from a public high school in Chicago, students will soon have to meet a new and unusual requirement: They must show that they’ve secured a job or received a letter of acceptance to college, a trade apprenticeship, a gap year program or the military.

Mayor Rahm Emanuel (D) said he wants to make clear that the nation’s third-largest school system is not just responsible for shepherding teenagers to the end of their senior year, but also for setting them on a path to a productive future.

“We are going to help kids have a plan, because they’re going to need it to succeed,” he said. “You cannot have kids think that 12th grade is done.”

Few would dispute that kids often need more than a high school diploma to thrive in today’s economy, but there is a simmering debate about the extent to which schools should be — and realistically can be — expected to ensure their graduates receive further training.

Emanuel’s plan, approved by the Board of Education in late May, has planted Chicago at the center of that debate.

Experts say Chicago Public Schools is the first big-city system to make post-graduation plans a graduation requirement. But the question is whether the cash-strapped district can provide enough mentoring and counseling to help its neediest students succeed when the rule takes effect in 2020.

Not sure if missionary service for two years would be included in this new requirement or not.

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San Francisco is paying people $10 a month to save money - MarketWatch

With nearly half of Americans lacking enough cash savings to cover even a $400 emergency, the City of San Francisco is trying a new way to get people to save money — paying them to do it.

The city is recruiting 1,000 people to participate in a campaign called Saverlife that gives participants $60 if they save $20 a month for six months. Participants link their bank accounts electronically to Saverlife so their savings activity can be monitored. They earn $10 a month in rewards and claim their $60 at the end of six months of continuous saving.

The program is open to anyone 18 or older in the Bay Area, but it’s aimed at getting the poorest households to create a modest financial cushion, said Leigh Phillips, CEO of EARN, a nonprofit “micro savings” provider that partnered with the city to create Saverlife.

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Foreigners own 1 million+ acres of Georgia ag land | The Watchdog blog Premium

Georgia is among nine states where foreign interests own more than 1 million acres of land deemed agricultural, according to a recent report by The Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting.

The roster of foreign owners shows companies or individuals from at least 39 countries own Georgia crop, pasture, timberland or other land.

Companies from tiny Liechtenstein own 6,398 acres. Interests in Jordan, Lebanon and Saudi Arabia have 2,074 acres. German interests report owning about 225,000 acres. Georgia has also attracted investments from Japan, China, Sweden, Peru, Greece, Guyana, Canada, Australia and Cayman Islands, among the 39 countries listed in data obtained by the center.

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Families near Christie's private beach had to leave homes | Daily Mail Online

Six families who own cottages next to Chris Christie's private beach were ordered to leave their homes Friday
The families said they faced being arrested if they didn't leave their properties at Island Beach State Park
But the New Jersey governor didn't seem to mind as he was pictured soaking up some sun on the beach 
Christie brushed off criticism after he was caught using state park over weekend, despite closing it to public 
He said he'd already announced intention to vacation at Governor's mansion, which is next to the beach 
Lawmakers struck compromise with Christie Monday night to put an end to three-day government shutdown
Shutdown was triggered over Christie's demand that Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield be overhauled 

New Jersey Beaches Reopen, but Christie Catches More Heat - The New York Times

Staff members at the Red Fox Beach Bar and Grill at Island Beach State Park — the beach where Mr. Christie lounged with his family and friends of his children on Sunday, in a private section attached to an official governor’s residence — blamed the governor for the shutdown that led the restaurant to close over the weekend and on Monday.

Continue reading the main story
“I probably lost $1,000 just in tips alone,” said Gail Swayze, a bartender.

By Tuesday, she had come up with a way to celebrate the end of the shutdown, offering a $5 cocktail special called the Christie Crush, a blend of vodka, triple sec and orange slices.

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Professor teaches students about ‘the problem that is whiteness’ - The College Fix

Editor’s Note: This is the fifth in a series of articles reporting on ‘Where Do We Go From Here: Creating An Intersectional Vision for Radical Social Change,’ a diversity conference held June 13-16 at Fairfield University

FAIRFIELD, Conn. – Serious explorations into race should focus on the problem of whiteness and be grounded in the claim that it’s a hegemonic “power apparatus,” a Fairfield University professor suggested at a recent conference aimed at pushing “radical social change” in higher education.

The remarks from associate professor of philosophy Dr. Kris Sealey, who spoke about her strategies for discussing race in the classroom, were presented at a diversity conference for employees of Jesuit colleges.

“So more and more, the courses that I teach on race have become courses in which I expect my students to engage in the hegemonic power of whiteness,” said Sealey, who’s taught courses such as “Black Lives Matter” and “Critical Race Theory.”

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Millennials aren’t ready for the 'reality of life' | Daily Mail Online

Study of 2,000 would-be students found many aren't prepared for university life
More than half of millennials don't know how to pay a bill or the real costs of rent
Researchers warned that prospect of leaving home is worrying many millennials
Around half are anxious at this prospect and 27 per cent are having panic attacks

[Sunain]

Millennials aren’t ready for the 'reality of life' | Daily Mail Online

Study of 2,000 would-be students found many aren't prepared for university life
More than half of millennials don't know how to pay a bill or the real costs of rent
Researchers warned that prospect of leaving home is worrying many millennials
Around half are anxious at this prospect and 27 per cent are having panic attacks

Ill tell you why they are having panic attacks. They look at the price of rent, utilities, ect these days and they realize they can't afford it. This isn't their parents generation where it was possible to get ahead at some point.

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Mark Zuckerberg talks basic income after Alaska trip

Zuckerberg explains how a form of universal basic income works in Alaska.
He doesn't address Alaska's deficits, however, and the governor's call to increase taxes.
He also uses his company as grounds to argue in favor of basic income for individuals.

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Chemotherapy may spread cancer and trigger more aggressive tumours, warn scientists 

Chemotherapy could allow cancer to spread, and trigger more aggressive tumours, a new study suggests.

Researchers in the US studied the impact of drugs on patients with breast cancer and found medication increases the chance of cancer cells migrating to other parts of the body, where they are almost always lethal.

Around 55,000 women are diagnosed with breast cancer in Britain every year and 11,000 will die from their illness.

Many are given chemotherapy before surgery, but the new research suggests that, although it shrinks tumours in the short term, it could trigger the spread of cancer cells around the body.

It is thought the toxic medication switches on a repair mechanism in the body which ultimately allows tumours to grow back stronger. It also increases the number of ‘doorways’ on blood vessels which allow cancer to spread throughout the body.

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Young American men can find work but prefer to play video games - Axios

Twenty-something men are working many fewer hours than they did a decade and a half ago, according to a new study, and the biggest reason is that they prefer to play video games.

Men aged 21-30 worked 12% fewer hours in 2015 than they did in 2000, according to the study, published Monday by the National Bureau of Economic Research, and about half the reason is the time they spend gaming.

[freedomforall]

Just In: US Court Rules Against Same-Sex Marriage

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Study Targets Adjusted Climate Data | The Daily Caller

A new study found adjustments made to global surface temperature readings by scientists in recent years “are totally inconsistent with published and credible U.S. and other temperature data.”

“Thus, it is impossible to conclude from the three published GAST data sets that recent years have been the warmest ever – despite current claims of record setting warming,” according to a study published June 27 by two scientists and a veteran statistician.

The peer-reviewed study tried to validate current surface temperature datasets managed by NASA, NOAA and the UK’s Met Office, all of which make adjustments to raw thermometer readings. Skeptics of man-made global warming have criticized the adjustments.

Climate scientists often apply adjustments to surface temperature thermometers to account for “biases” in the data. The new study doesn’t question the adjustments themselves but notes nearly all of them increase the warming trend.

Basically, “cyclical pattern in the earlier reported data has very nearly been ‘adjusted’ out” of temperature readings taken from weather stations, buoys, ships and other sources.

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Escalating violence around homeless shelter has Utah House speaker asking: Is this a job for the National Guard? | The Salt Lake Tribune

News is spreading across the country on the state of homelessness in downtown Salt Lake City — and it isn't pretty.

Just over the Fourth of July holiday, a professional baseball player was attacked and suffered a concussion. And a car plowed into a group of homeless people on a sidewalk, killing one and sending five others to the hospital.

These are just the latest in a string of events that continues to frustrate officials, police and business owners surrounding the effort to make the Rio Grande area safer.

Utah House Speaker Greg Hughes was more than a little perplexed Wednesday in the aftermath of the auto-pedestrian accident, which occurred Tuesday evening around the corner from The Road Home.

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Chicago police express frustration after more than 100 shot in violent Fourth of July weekend - Chicago Tribune

The Chicago Police Department says it is conducting "a very comprehensive review" after the city experienced one of its most violent Fourth of July weekends in recent years, with at least 102 people shot between late Friday afternoon and early Wednesday.

"We're doing a debriefing," said chief police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi. "The mood here is frustration."

The review will include an analysis of how "amateur fireworks" might have affected the ShotSpotter system, which captures audio of gunfire and attempts to pinpoint its location for quicker deployment of officers.  The system is deployed in the Englewood and Harrison districts, traditionally among the city's most violent.

"It's perplexing," Guglielmi said. "We deployed some very successful tactics over the Memorial Day weekend." Yet those same tactics did not seem to work as well over the Fourth holiday.

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CBO and OMB Agree: Federal Spending Will Top $4T for First Time This Year

(CNSNews.com) - Both the Congressional Budget Office and the White House Office of Management and Budget project that federal spending will top $4 trillion for the first time in fiscal 2017, which began on Oct. 1, 2016 and will end on Sept. 30.

In its “Update to the Budget and Economic Outlook: 2017 to 2027” published last week, CBO projected that total federal spending in fiscal 2017 will hit $4,008,000,000,000.

That is up from the approximately $3,853,000,000,000 that CBO and OMB say the federal government spent in fiscal 2016.