The Government Can ’t Criminalize Words of Mere “Encouragement”
Thomas A. Berry andGregory MillThe First Amendment requires that Congress shall make no law “abridging the freedom of speech.” That means Congress generally can’t make speech a crime. Nonetheless, the Supreme Court has found a few rare and specific categories of speech to be outside the protection of the First Amendment, such as true threats, obscenity, incitement of imminent violence, and speech integral to criminal conduct.But what if Congress passes a law that applies tobothprotected and unprotected speech? Although some applications of such a law might be permissible, many others would violate...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - February 24, 2023 Category: American Health Authors: Thomas A. Berry, Gregory Mill Source Type: blogs
States Show How Criminal Justice Reform Can Help Millions of American Workers
Scott Lincicome and Ilana BlumsackThe Collateral Consequences Resource Center (CCRC) recently released new reports oncriminal record expungement policies andmarijuana legalization and expungement policies across the country. State officials report that over 60,000 records have beenautomatically expunged in Utah since the beginning of 2022, and in Missouri, over 5,000 marijuana convictions have beenautomatically expunged since legalizing recreational marijuana just this past December.This is welcome news —for these individuals and the U.S. labor market more broadly.As we discuss in ourchapter onCriminal Justice inEmpoweri...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - February 24, 2023 Category: American Health Authors: Scott Lincicome, Ilana Blumsack Source Type: blogs
A COVID-19 vaccine exemption letter
BY ANISH KOKA
I recently saw a young man who came to see me because his place of future employment, a large health system was requiring him to complete the 1º series of his COVID-19 vaccination. He was concerned because he had chest pain after his first mRNA vaccine and was uncomfortable with the risks of a second mRNA dose. He attempted to get a Johnson and Johnson vaccine and was told by pharmacists he was not allowed to mix and match this particular vaccine as he had already received an mRNA dose. With no other option, he came to ask me whether I thought a vaccine exemption was reasonable in his case. He already had...
Source: The Health Care Blog - February 24, 2023 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Ryan Bose-Roy Tags: Medical Practice Anish Koka COVID-19 vaccine exemption vaccines Source Type: blogs
ISFAR Criticizes New Alcohol Guidance Issued by Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction But Fails to Reveal Its Conflicts of Interest with Big Alcohol
Earlier this year, the Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction released anew guidance on alcohol use. The guidance was notable for concluding that there is a dose-response relationship between the amount of alcohol one consumes and one ' s risk of disease or injury and therefore, greater amounts of alcohol consumption are associated with poorer health outcomes. In particular, the guidance concluded that drinking no alcohol is safer than drinking a low or moderate amount of alcohol.The International Scientific Forum on Alcohol Research (ISFAR) has just published a stingingcritique of the new guidance. The critique es...
Source: The Rest of the Story: Tobacco News Analysis and Commentary - February 23, 2023 Category: Addiction Source Type: blogs
Here Is What Even Healthcare AI Companies Do With Your Data
Pictures, text prompts, documents and health metrics are just a few examples of data we’re giving away to different AI applications and thus, to different companies/organizations. While it’s always good to know what happens to your data, it is especially relevant in healthcare settings and regarding health data.
The rise of social media platforms signifies the beginning of a new era, one where individuals become valuable resources: providing tons of personal data that can be utilised for commercial purposes. But as the plethora of AI applications begins to enter our lives, we have to level up our games and become mu...
Source: The Medical Futurist - February 21, 2023 Category: Information Technology Authors: Andrea Koncz Tags: Artificial Intelligence in Medicine digital health privacy AI data privacy digital health data Source Type: blogs
The Secret Ways Healthcare AI Companies Might Use Your Personal Data
Pictures, text prompts, documents and health metrics are just a few examples of data we’re giving away to different AI applications and thus, to different companies/organizations. While it’s always good to know what happens to your data, it is especially relevant in healthcare settings and regarding health data.
The rise of social media platforms signifies the beginning of a new era, one where individuals become valuable resources: providing tons of personal data that can be utilised for commercial purposes. But as the plethora of AI applications begins to enter our lives, we have to level up our games and become mu...
Source: The Medical Futurist - February 21, 2023 Category: Information Technology Authors: Andrea Koncz Tags: Artificial Intelligence in Medicine AI data privacy digital health data digital health privacy Source Type: blogs
Presidents and Presidents ’ Day
David BoazAs government workers —thoughfewer than a third of private ‐sector office workers—get a day off Monday for Presidents ’ Day (legally, though not in fact, George Washington’s Birthday), I’m thinking about presidents.Every few years Siena College asks historians and political scientists torate the presidents. Presidential scholars love presidents who expand the size, scope and power of the federal government. Thus they put the Roosevelts at the top of the list. And for a long time they rated Woodrow Wilson —theanti ‐Madisonian president who gave usthe entirely unnecessary World ...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - February 17, 2023 Category: American Health Authors: David Boaz Source Type: blogs
New Hampshire Governor Seeks Radical Occupational Licensing Reform
Marc JoffeNew Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu ’s new budget proposal includes a call for occupational licensing reform. In his February 14budget message, Sununu expressed a commitment to “breaking down regulatory barriers, lowering the cost of entry to do business here, increasing free‐market competition, and signaling to the rest of America that New Hampshire is the #1 state in America for Economic Freedom.”Details of the licensing reforms outlined in Governor Sununu ’sExecutive Budget summary included the following:[T]he budget eliminates 692 unnecessary statutory provisions, 14 unnecessary regulat...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - February 16, 2023 Category: American Health Authors: Marc Joffe Source Type: blogs
Wisconsin Medicaid Expansion — Is the Risk Worth the Reward?
Marc JoffeIn his new budget, Governor Evers is once again proposing that Wisconsin expand its Medicaid program to take advantage of additional subsidies available under the 2010 Affordable Care Act. Senators and Assembly Members should carefully consider the long ‐term risks of expansion before accepting this proposal.From a short ‐term budgetary perspective, Medicaid expansion seems like a great deal for Wisconsin. The federal government covers 90% of the costs for providing medical care for individuals in the expansion population compared to60.66% (in 2024) for those currently eligible for Medicaid an...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - February 15, 2023 Category: American Health Authors: Marc Joffe Source Type: blogs
California Housing Update
Michael D. Tanner and Sofia HamiltonLast July, we published a blog post discussing the failure of most California local governments to meet the deadline to submit their housing elements for approval to the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD).At the time, we criticized the California legislature for extending the timeline for submission of housing elements and rezoning. Housing elements were originally due to HCD by February 2022, but cities who had failed to meet this deadline were given until October 2022 to comply through the passage ofSB 197. These cities were then allowed three years t...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - February 14, 2023 Category: American Health Authors: Michael D. Tanner, Sofia Hamilton Source Type: blogs
How can a diagnosis of Alzheimer ’ s disease help patients and their families? [PODCAST]
This article is sponsored by the Academy for Continued Healthcare Learning, an independently owned and operated full-service medical education company that has been developing certified health care education for nearly twenty years. With a special thanks to NAMI Chicago, the accompanying CME activity designed for clinicians in primary care is supported by educational grants from Lilly
Read more…
How can a diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease help patients and their families? [PODCAST] originally appeared in KevinMD.com. (Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog)
Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog - February 14, 2023 Category: General Medicine Authors: The Podcast by KevinMD Tags: Sponsored Neurology Source Type: blogs
The U.S. State Department Funds an Ad ‐Blacklisting Group. It Shouldn’t.
Walter OlsonAccording to an investigation by Gabriel Kaminsky in theWashington Examiner, the U.S. State Department since 2018has made substantial grants to a London ‐based outfit called Global Disinformation Index (GDI), which feeds a blacklist to advertisers to keep ads off websites like that ofReason magazine (at which I ’m a contributing editor).Other publications on the blacklist as purported disinformation purveyors include theNew York Post and theWashington Examiner. TheLondon ‐based group describes its mission as “Disrupting the business model of disinformation.” You can download one o...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - February 13, 2023 Category: American Health Authors: Walter Olson Source Type: blogs
Agencies Can ’t Evade Senate Confirmation Forever
Thomas A. BerryTwo years ago inUnited States v. Arthrex, the Supreme Court ruled that Administrative Patent Judges (APJs) possess too much “unreviewable authority” for officers who have not been appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate. The Court’s decision concerned the line between “inferior” and “principal” officers, a distinction created by the Constitution ’s Appointments Clause. That clause mandates that an officer who has not been confirmed by the Senate may only serve in an “inferior” office. And the key Supreme Court precedent on that dividing line isEdmond v. United States (...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - February 10, 2023 Category: American Health Authors: Thomas A. Berry Source Type: blogs
Students With Visual Impairments Empowered to Explore Chemistry Through SEPA Project
Dr. Shaw (back left) observes SEPA program students engaging with tactile graphics in his lab. Credit: Jordan Koone
Students with blindness and low vision are often excluded from chemistry labs and offered few accessible representations of the subject’s imagery, which can significantly hinder their ability to learn about and participate in chemistry. Bryan Shaw, Ph.D., a professor of chemistry and biochemistry at Baylor University in Waco, Texas, hopes to change that through a program funded by an NIGMS Science Education Partnership Award (SEPA). His inspiration to start the program came from his son, who is visually i...
Source: Biomedical Beat Blog - National Institute of General Medical Sciences - February 10, 2023 Category: Research Authors: Chrissa Chverchko Tags: Being a Scientist Chemistry, Biochemistry and Pharmacology STEM Education Uncategorized Training Source Type: blogs
Career Conversations: Q & A with Evolutionary Biologist William Ratcliff
Dr. William Ratcliff. Credit: Courtesy of Dr. William Ratcliff.
“Being a researcher is special because there aren’t many jobs that allow you to spend the majority of your time thinking about the things you find the most interesting in the whole world,” says William Ratcliff, Ph.D., an associate professor of biological sciences and the director of the interdisciplinary graduate program in quantitative biosciences at Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech) in Atlanta. We talked with Dr. Ratcliff about his career path, research on yeast, and advice to budding scientists.
Q: How did you first become intereste...
Source: Biomedical Beat Blog - National Institute of General Medical Sciences - February 8, 2023 Category: Research Authors: Chrissa Chverchko Tags: Being a Scientist Cells Tools and Techniques Cool Tools/Techniques Evolutionary Biology Profiles Source Type: blogs
