Non Political Current Events Thread

[tifosi77]

Not for nothing, the day after this judgment Purdue Pharma offered up a $10BN-$12BN settlement that involves BK, turning the company into a public benefit trust, and the Sackler family slipping quietly into the ether.

[AuthorTony]

City of Milwaukee urges everyone who lives there to stop vaping immediately
https://www.cnn.com/2019/08/29/health/m ... index.html

[NTP66]

[Kane]

Sounds about right.

[grunthy]

City of Milwaukee urges everyone who lives there to stop vaping immediately
https://www.cnn.com/2019/08/29/health/m ... index.html

I thought vaping wasn’t as bad for you as cigarettes?

[AuthorTony]

https://www.insider.com/juul-ceo-dont-v ... own-2019-8

'Don't vape. Don't use Juul': Juul CEO issues stark warning to nonsmokers as he admits long-term effects of vaping are unknown

[NTP66]

So not only does it make you look like a total fruity pebbles smelling douchebag, but it can now kill you. Imagine that.

[Sam's Drunk Dog]

The whole concept of inhaling water vapor is stupid to begin with, but then you add a bunch of chemicals to the mix.

[shafnutz05]

It sucks, because I do think from a risk reduction standpoint, vaping does have legitimate efficacy. But when they started running off the rails with the ridiculous flavors, it was inevitable that kids would start doing it.

[AuthorTony]

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/great-barr ... 019-08-30/

Canberra, Australia — The government agency that manages Australia's Great Barrier Reef has downgraded its outlook for the corals' condition from "poor" to "very poor" due to warming oceans. The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority's condition report, which is updated every five years, is the latest bad news for the 133,360-square-mile colorful coral network off the northeast Australian coast as climate change and coral bleaching take their toll.

[mikey]

Nuke it?

[willeyeam]

[willeyeam]

that is the only place I've ever gone scuba diving and it was ridiculously great

[NTP66]

[AuthorTony]

https://www.khou.com/article/news/natio ... 88d0466b87

As thousands die awaiting kidney transplants, thousands of donated kidneys are thrown away
A new study says 28,000 kidneys were discarded over 10 years in the U.S. Kidney quality concerns and medical costs were reportedly factors.

[NTP66]

Quality concerns I can understand, but medical costs over saving a life? That’s just wrong.

[MR25]

I think it meant medical costs for the recipients but the wording is incredibly vague in that blurb.

[shmenguin]

Quality concerns I can understand, but medical costs over saving a life? That’s just wrong.

probably a liability thing. a bum kidney or even a slightly imperfect kidney leads to a lawsuit, so you gotta throw away all the non-showcase organs.

[NTP66]

National Kidney Foundation CEO Kevin Longino told USA TODAY that some hospital administrators put the pressure on to accept higher quality kidneys so they can keep costs down. While Medicare reportedly covers almost all kidney transplants, the amount of time the recipient remains in recovery can vary if they don't receive a higher quality kidney. That can cost hospitals money.

Medicare also reportedly has a level of patient outcomes it wants doctors to meet, so doctors may be wary of taking just any kidney.

[NTP66]

https://www.cnn.com/us/live-news/califo ... index.html

-A 75-foot dive boat is on fire off the coast of Southern California in the Channel Islands National Park.

-At least 34 people are missing. Five people have been rescued, according to the Coast Guard.

-There are "numerous fatalities," according to Bill Nash of Ventura County PIO.

[shafnutz05]

https://www.cnn.com/us/live-news/califo ... index.html

-A 75-foot dive boat is on fire off the coast of Southern California in the Channel Islands National Park.

-At least 34 people are missing. Five people have been rescued, according to the Coast Guard.

-There are "numerous fatalities," according to Bill Nash of Ventura County PIO.

What a horrific story. Sounded like it was an inferno the whole way down to the waterline.

[tifosi77]

The five who were rescued were crew members who were awake above deck and jumped into the water. Everyone else on board was sleeping below deck.

Yup, you read that right. The crew - all of them - abandoned ship at the first sign of fire. The one thing I know about naval service is "everyone's a firefighter". Apparently that does not apply when you've got 30+ paying customers sleeping below deck.

It's till early days, but no mitigating factors have emerged. If this ends up being as bad as it looks, I hope all five of those crew live lives of shame and ignominy and ultimately all die of slow acting brain herpes.

[shmenguin]

What if, and I know this is crazy, but what if they felt that they had to make a split second choice between living and dying and they chose the former, while viewing the 30 passengers as lost causes.

It seems more plausible that they acted out of panic than they shrugged their shoulders and opted out of saving lives. I think it’s a little premature to assign them brain herpes, at least.

Edit: I see you already qualified this with the need for more detail.

[tifosi77]

"[V]iewing the 30 passengers as lost causes. It seems more plausible that they acted out of panic..."

Encapsulates the scope of the problem quite clearly imo.

[NTP66]

I haven’t seen any other good information, other than rescue operators trying to ask the crew if there was an escape hatch for people to exit, and the response being indiscernible. The crew is ultimately responsible for the guests, no? It also sounded like there was no firefighting equipment on the boat.