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Democracy

Biden knew exactly what to say when asked if Trump put him at risk of catching Covid

Joe Biden covid-19, Trump covid-19 biden debate, mark meadows

Joe Biden at a press conference Wednesday.

A bombshell new report published in The Guardian on Wednesday alleges that former President Donald Trump may have knowingly had COVID-19 in his first debate against then-Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden on September 29, 2020.

The allegation was made by Trump's fourth, and final, chief of staff Mark Meadows in his upcoming book, “The Chief’s Chief.” If what Meadows says is true, it means that Trump put countless lives in danger just to participate in the debate, including Biden who was 77 at the time.

In September 2020, there were no COVID-19 vaccines and treatments for the virus were less effective than they are today.

After Biden responded to a question on supply chain issues on Wednesday, a reporter asked the president about the allegation. His response was curt, to say the least.

“Mark Meadows has written a book revealing that President Trump tested positive for COVID three days before your first debate. Do you think the former president put you at risk?" the reporter asked.

“I don’t think about the former president. Thank you.” Biden said before walking away from the podium.


In his new book, Meadows says that Trump tested positive three days before his scheduled debate with Biden. The positive test came shortly after the administration’s Rose Garden ceremony for Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett. In the days that followed, the ceremony was discovered to be a super-spreader event, with nearly a dozen people who attended the event later testing positive for the virus.

Trump and his allies learned of the result during a helicopter flight aboard Marine One for a campaign event in Middletown, Pennsylvania.

Shortly after the result came through, Meadows had the former president take another test, this time with the newer, BinaxNOW system.

After a “brief but tense wait,” the test came back negative.

On the day of the debate, the Trump team arrived late so there wasn’t enough time to test the president. The debate operated on the honor system even though each candidate was supposed to test negative for the virus within 72 hours of the start time. “Nothing was going to stop [Trump] from going out there,” Meadows said.

The White House never mentioned the positive test three days before the debate, a completely irresponsible move that mirrors Trump’s cavalier attitude in how he handled the pandemic as a leader.

The first Biden-Trump debate was chaotic, marked by Trump's incessant interruptions of the former vice-president. Biden also stumbled frequently during the exchange and became so frustrated with his opponent’s interjections that he demanded, "Will you shut up, man?"

Three days after the debate, Trump announced by tweet that he and his wife, Melania Trump, were positive for the virus. After a three-day stay at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Trump was discharged and returned to the White House.

Joe Biden would go on to win the 2020 presidential election that November.

Joy

'90s kid shares the 10 lies that everyone's parent told them

"Don't swallow that gum. If you do, it'll take 7 years to come out."

via 90sKid4lyfe/TikTok (used with permission)

90sKidforLife shares 10 lies everyone's parents told in the era.


Children believe everything their parents tell them. So when parents lie to prevent their kids to stop them from doing something dumb, the mistruth can take on a life of its own. The lie can get passed on from generation to generation until it becomes a zombie lie that has a life of its own.

Justin, known as 90sKid4Lyfe on TikTok and Instagram, put together a list of 10 lies that parents told their kids in the ‘90s, and the Gen X kids in the comments thought it was spot on.


“Why was I told EVERY ONE of these?” Brittany, the most popular commenter, wrote. “I heard all of these plus the classic ‘If you keep making that face, it will get stuck like that,’” Amanda added. After just four days of being posted, it has already been seen 250,000 times.

Parents were always lying #90s #90skids #parenting

@90skid4lyfe

Parents were always lying #90s #90skids #parenting

Here are Justin’s 10 lies '90s parents told their kids:

1. "You can't drink coffee. It'll stunt your growth."

2. "If you pee in the pool, it's gonna turn blue."

3. "Chocolate milk comes from brown cows."

4. "If you eat those watermelon seeds, you'll grow a watermelon in your stomach."

5. "Don't swallow that gum. If you do, it'll take 7 years to come out."

6. "I told you we can't drive with the interior light on. ... It's illegal."

7. "Sitting that close to the TV is going to ruin your vision."

8. "If you keep cracking your knuckles, you're gonna get arthritis."

8. "You just ate, you gotta wait 30 minutes before you can swim."

10. "If you get a tattoo, you won't find a job."


This article originally appeared on 4.26.24

Leah Menzies/TikTok

Leah Menzies had no idea her deceased mother was her boyfriend's kindergarten teacher.

When you start dating the love of your life, you want to share it with the people closest to you. Sadly, 18-year-old Leah Menzies couldn't do that. Her mother died when she was 7, so she would never have the chance to meet the young woman's boyfriend, Thomas McLeodd. But by a twist of fate, it turns out Thomas had already met Leah's mom when he was just 3 years old. Leah's mom was Thomas' kindergarten teacher.

The couple, who have been dating for seven months, made this realization during a visit to McCleodd's house. When Menzies went to meet his family for the first time, his mom (in true mom fashion) insisted on showing her a picture of him making a goofy face. When they brought out the picture, McLeodd recognized the face of his teacher as that of his girlfriend's mother.

Menzies posted about the realization moment on TikTok. "Me thinking my mum (who died when I was 7) will never meet my future boyfriend," she wrote on the video. The video shows her and McLeodd together, then flashes to the kindergarten class picture.

“He opens this album and then suddenly, he’s like, ‘Oh my God. Oh my God — over and over again,” Menzies told TODAY. “I couldn’t figure out why he was being so dramatic.”

Obviously, Menzies is taking great comfort in knowing that even though her mother is no longer here, they can still maintain a connection. I know how important it was for me to have my mom accept my partner, and there would definitely be something missing if she wasn't here to share in my joy. It's also really incredible to know that Menzies' mother had a hand in making McLeodd the person he is today, even if it was only a small part.

@speccylee

Found out through this photo in his photo album. A moment straight out of a movie 🥲

♬ iris - 🫶

“It’s incredible that that she knew him," Menzies said. "What gets me is that she was standing with my future boyfriend and she had no idea.”

Since he was only 3, McLeodd has no actual memory of Menzies' mother. But his own mother remembers her as “kind and really gentle.”

The TikTok has understandably gone viral and the comments are so sweet and positive.

"No the chills I got omggg."

"This is the cutest thing I have watched."

"It’s as if she remembered some significance about him and sent him to you. Love fate 😍✨"

In the caption of the video, she said that discovering the connection between her boyfriend and her mom was "straight out of a movie." And if you're into romantic comedies, you're definitely nodding along right now.

Menzies and McLeodd made a follow-up TikTok to address everyone's positive response to their initial video and it's just as sweet. The young couple sits together and addresses some of the questions they noticed pop up. People were confused that they kept saying McLeodd was in kindergarten but only 3 years old when he was in Menzies' mother's class. The couple is Australian and Menzies explained that it's the equivalent of American preschool.

They also clarified that although they went to high school together and kind of knew of the other's existence, they didn't really get to know each other until they started dating seven months ago. So no, they truly had no idea that her mother was his teacher. Menzies revealed that she "didn't actually know that my mum taught at kindergarten."

"I just knew she was a teacher," she explained.

She made him act out his reaction to seeing the photo, saying he was "speechless," and when she looked at the photo she started crying. McLeodd recognized her mother because of the pictures Menzies keeps in her room. Cue the "awws," because this is so cute, I'm kvelling.


This article originally appeared on 5.27.22

Teddy Roosevelt, Ronald Reagan, Joe Biden and Barack Obama all having a laugh.

Like it or not, we’ve recently entered the age of artificial intelligence, and although that may be scary for some, one guy in Florida thinks it’s a great way to make people laugh. Cam Harless, the host of The Mad Ones podcast, used AI to create portraits of every U.S. president looking “cool” with a mullet hairstyle, and the results are hilarious.

The mullet is a notorious hairdo known as the "business in the front, party in the back" look. It's believed that the term "mullet" was coined by the rap-punk-funk group Beastie Boys in 1994.


While cool is in the eye of the beholder, Harless seems to believe it means looking like a cross between Dog the Bounty Hunter and Kenny Powers from “Eastbound and Down.”

Harless made the photos using Midjourney, an app that creates images from textual descriptions. "I love making AI art," Harless told Newsweek. "Often I think of a prompt, create the image and choose the one that makes me laugh the most to present on Twitter and have people try and guess my prompt."

"The idea of Biden with a mullet made me laugh, so I tried to make one with him and Trump together and that led to the whole list of presidents,” he continued.

Harless made AI photos of all 46 presidents with mullets and shared them on Twitter, and the response has been tremendous. His first photo of Joe Biden with a mullet has nearly 75,000 likes and counting.

Here’s our list of the 14 best presidents with mullets. Check out Harless' thread here if you want to see all 46.

Joe Biden with an incredible blonde mane and a tailored suit. This guy takes no malarkey.

Donald Trump looking like a guy who has 35 different pairs of stonewashed jeans in his closet at Mar-a-Lago.

Barack Obama looking like he played an informant on "Starsky and Hutch" in 1976.

George H.W. Bush looking like he plays bass in Elvis's backing band at the International Hotel in Vegas in '73.

Gerald Ford looking like the last guy on Earth that you want to owe money.

"C'mon down and get a great deal at Dick Nixon's Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep and Ram, right off the I-95 in Daytona Beach."

"Who you calling Teddy? That's Theodore Roosevelt to you."

Grover Cleveland is giving off some serious steampunk vibes here.

Pray you never key Chester A. Arthur's Trans Am. If you know what's best for you.

Honest Abe? More like Honest Babe. Am I right?

Franklin Pierce looking like your favorite New Romantic singer from 1982. Eat your heart out, Adam Ant.

"Daniel Day Lewis stole my look in 'Last of the Mohicans.'" — John Tyler

Many have tried the tri-level mullet but few pulled it off as beautifully as James Madison.

Washington's mullet was like a white, fluffy cloud of freedom.

Find more cool, mulletted U.S. presidents here.


This article originally appeared on 3.1.23

Photo by Syed Ali on Unsplash

Mosquitoes are attracted to certain viral smells in both humans and mice.

As much as I love summer, there is one thing I could do without: bugs. More specifically, mosquitoes. Those pesky little buggers can wreak havoc on a beautiful summer day. Who hasn't spent time outside in summer and then come in all itchy and covered in bites? There are multiple reasons why some people are more susceptible to mosquito bites than others, but there's a new one that likely isn't on people's radars. Mosquitoes could be attracted to the odor certain viruses create in the body.

There is evidence that mosquitoes are attracted to the odor given off by mice infected by the parasite that causes malaria. Now, a team is looking at how the scent of mosquito-borne viruses such as dengue and Zika would attract mosquitoes to people rather than mice.


For those who may be unfamiliar with the two viruses, the most important thing to know about them both is how dangerous they are to humans. Some effects of dengue include vomiting, aches and pains, and in severe cases, internal bleeding, according to the CDC. Zika virus is best known for being dangerous for pregnant women, as it can cause certain kinds of birth defects in fetuses, per the CDC.

Because both viruses rely on mosquitoes for transmission, it begs the question: Do people infected with either viruses give off extra tasty odors? That's what the team was looking to discover.

"I mean, the infection just increase[s] the chance to be located by a mosquito," Penghua Wang, an immunologist with University of Connecticut Health, told NPR.

Wang and the rest of his team set out to find out if it's true that infected people become mosquito chow, and undertook a study, which was recently published in the journal Cell. In the study, they blew two different types of air: one infected with either of the two viruses and one without, over two different groups of mice. As to be expected, the mosquitoes buzzed around those infected mice like they were a buffet dinner.

"These two viruses can alter a person's body odor to be more attractive to mosquitoes," Wang said. What happens is that the smell alters the skin's microbiome to make it more appetizing to the blood-sucking little critters. Wang explained to NPR that he was "excited" by this new development as it could lead to a lot of understanding of virus transmission by mosquitoes.

While this is an incredibly positive prospect, it's important to keep in mind that experimenting on mice isn't really the same as experimenting on people. And just because this is going well with mice doesn't mean it will go well with people. But, during the study, the team discovered that people infected with dengue had similar attention from the mosquitoes.

The other promising thing? Since they've discovered the attraction, they were also able to find a possible treatment plan. They discovered that when they gave the sick mice a vitamin A supplement, the mosquitoes lost interest. Knowing this information can help researchers explore how Zika and dengue spread. According to Wang, in some of the areas where dengue and Zika are most common, many people are vitamin A deficient.

Whatever they discover, I'm very curious to see if this information will offer insight on not only how diseases get spread, but also what makes people (like me) more susceptible to getting bitten in the first place.


This article originally appeared on 7.6.22




Pop Culture

Savvy woman swears by her 'medical binder' as the key to success with doctors

Bringing this with you to every appointment could be a lifesaver

It might take a lot of initial effort, but could save you a ton of headaches in the long run.

Doctors downplaying, or flat out dismissing a patient’s concerns, otherwise known as medical gaslighting, can happen to anyone. But multiple studies have proven that women (along with people of color) are particularly susceptible. Real issues are often misattributed to stress or hormones…essentially the modern day equivalent of “being hysterical.”

Because this is, unfortunately, a challenge so many women have to deal with, it’s no wonder why one woman’s brilliant solution is making the rounds online.

Behold…the “medical binder.”


Disability advocate Jessica Wetz explained in a clip posted to TikTok how “Medical binders make things faster for doctors,” and can subsequently be used as evidence anytime a doctor questions what you’re saying as a patient.

For example, Wetz shared, “I had a doctor say to me, ‘There’s no way you had straightening of the lumbar curvature at 14. You don’t have to believe me. I have the report right here. Let’s read it together.”

Using another example, Wetz continued, “I had a doctor say to me, ‘OK Jessica, I’m going to order you some labs, and then in six weeks, we’ll go over them.'”


@jessicawetz6 Replying to @iLike314159 Medical Binders PREVENT doctors from wasting limited time and resources. Its not a story book, its references when relevant. Female patients arnt believed so we must provide proof. Complex cases with huge files from different facilites result in serious things getting missed when you dont keep track yourself. Complaining that doctors dont have time for patients to make their job faster is irrational. #chronicillness #medicaladvocate #misdiagnosed #rareillness ♬ original sound - Jessica Wetz 🍉#6


During this appointment, Wetz was able to refer to her binder to show that only two days before, she had already done the blood work for what the doctor needed, and therefore didn’t have to wait an additional six weeks for answers. Hallelujah.

Not only that, a medical binder can also really come in handy if doctors try to patronize you as a patient.

“I had a doctor say to me, ‘OK Jessica, I went over your results. Everything is normal. Have a good day. Bye,'” she says, to which she responds, “Hold up, Doc! My CT showed liver disease.’ He goes, ‘No, Jessica, you never had a CT—you had an MRI. I said, ‘No Doc, pull it up. You have the report. I had both.'”

This doctor apparently tried to explain the difference between a CT and an MRI, but luckily Wetz was able to IMMEDIATELY shut that down with her binder.

While Wetz’s medical binder is clearly carrying a ton of info, she does keep a summary page to keep all pertinent information at the forefront. But more often than not, she finds herself using the detailed reports in order to prove certain things, not least of which being her Ehlers Danlos syndrome diagnosis, a genetic disorder that affects joints and connective tissues and can cause them to slip and dislocate. Since it’s such a rare disease, many assume that she self diagnosed. That is, of course, where the binder comes in.

“The purpose of the binder is to prove to them what other doctors have said, because they’re not going to take my word for it.”

In a follow up video, Wetz offered suggestion about how to make your own medical binder, including how to get prior medical history:


@jessicawetz6 Replying to @cplain Doctors take @Jessica Wetz #4🇨🇦 seriously when I bring a binder of records. I explain this at 04:30. Google/call any medical facility youve been to and ask how it works in your area! Many places the records are already available online for free and you dont have to do what I did. #medicalmystery #chronicillness #medicaladvocate #medicalrecords ♬ original sound - Jessica Wetz 🍉#6


As far as organizing all that info, the website Watch Her Work has a very thorough breakdown below:

Basic Info

This includes:

  • Full Name
  • Birthday
  • Address
  • Phone Number
  • Emergency Contacts.
  • Preferred, In-Network Providers and their addresses- that includes current doctors, hospitals and diagnostic labs.
  • Advanced Directives, like a Living Will, Medical Power of Attorney., etc.

(this could also be a good spot to have your medical summary)

A Chronological Record of all Appointments

This can be where you write down whatever notes were given to you by your doctor, if they don't provide a summary.

Test Results

That includes X-rays ,MRIs and CAT Scans (if these come on a CD, place them in plastic folder sleeves or sheet protectors after labeling them with a date, location of imaging, the reason for imaging, the doctor that requested the testing ) as well as recent test results diagnostic procedure reports.

Insurance

While a medical provider will usually have this information on file, it doesn’t hurt to have copies (or the actual cards) in your medical binder.

Articles & Research

Having this organized and ready to go, maybe even with the date, time, and correlated symptoms can prove very useful when trying to advocate for yourself.

List of Medications

Include whether the prescription is generic and brand name, the dosage, how often do you take it, the name of the doctor that prescribed it, and any experienced side effects.

Medical History

Allergies would be a big one to include here, as well as past and current diagnoses, hospitalizations, procedures, and surgeries.

If this sounds like a lot of work… that’s because it is! But it’s work that could pay dividends when it really matters.