While Paul’s views on Israel certainly place him outside the American, never mind Republican, mainstream, there is an even more elementary reason the RJC was right to exclude him from its event. It is Paul’s lucrative and decades-long promotion of bigotry and conspiracy theories, for which he has yet to account fully, and his continuing espousal of extremist views, that should make him unwelcome at any respectable forum, not only those hosted by Jewish organizations.

 Paul’s exclusion caused an uproar, with critics alleging that his stand on Israel had earned the RJC’s ire; an absolutist libertarian, Paul opposes foreign aid to all countries, including the Jewish state. “This seems to me more of an attempt to draw boundaries around acceptable policy discourse than any active concern that President Dr. Ron Paul would be actively anti-Israel or anti-Semitic,” wrote Reason editor Matt Welch. Chris McGreal of the Guardian reported that Paul “was barred because of his views on Israel.” Even Seth Lipsky, editor of the New York Sun and a valiant defender of Israel (and friend and mentor of this writer), opined, “The whole idea of an organization of Jewish Republicans worrying about the mainstream strikes me as a bit contradictory.”

 The Republican Jewish Coalition announced this month that congressman Ron Paul would not be among the six guests invited to participate in its Republican Presidential Candidates Forum. “He’s just so far outside of the mainstream of the Republican party and this organization,” said Matt Brooks, executive director of the RJC, adding that the group “rejects his misguided and extreme views.”

 In January 2008, the New Republic ran my story reporting the contents of monthly newsletters that Paul published throughout the 1980s and 1990s. While a handful of controversial passages from these bulletins had been quoted previously, I was able to track down nearly the entire archive, scattered between the University of Kansas and the Wisconsin Historical Society (both of which housed the newsletters in collections of extreme right-wing American political literature). Though particular articles rarely carried a byline, the vast majority were written in the first person, while the title of the newsletter, in its various iterations, always featured Paul’s name: Ron Paul’s Freedom Report, the Ron Paul Political Report, the Ron Paul Survival Report, and the Ron Paul Investment Letter. What I found was unpleasant.

 “Order was only restored in L.A. when it came time for the blacks to pick up their welfare checks,” read a typical article from the June 1992 “Special Issue on Racial Terrorism,” a supplement to the Ron Paul Political Report. Racial apocalypse was the most persistent theme of the newsletters; a 1990 issue warned of “The Coming Race War,” and an article the following year about disturbances in the Adams Morgan neighborhood of Washington, D.C., was entitled “Animals Take Over the D.C. Zoo.” Paul alleged that Martin Luther King Jr., “the world-class philanderer who beat up his paramours,” had also “seduced underage girls and boys.” The man who would later proclaim King a “hero” attacked Ronald Reagan for signing legislation creating the federal holiday in his name, complaining, “We can thank him for our annual Hate Whitey Day.”

 No conspiracy theory was too outlandish for Paul’s endorsement. One newsletter reported on the heretofore unknown phenomenon of “Needlin’,” in which “gangs of black girls between the ages of 12 and 14” roamed the streets of New York and injected white women with possibly HIV-infected syringes. Another newsletter warned that “the AIDS patient” should not be allowed to eat in restaurants because “AIDS can be transmitted by saliva,” a strange claim for a physician to make.

 Paul gave credence to the theory, later shown to have been the product of a Soviet disinformation effort, that AIDS had been created in a U.S. government laboratory at Fort Detrick, Maryland. Three months before far-right extremists killed 168 Americans in Oklahoma City, Paul’s newsletter praised the “1,500 local militias now training to defend liberty” as “one of the most encouraging developments in America.” And he offered specific advice to antigovernment militia members, such as, “Keep the group size down,” “Keep quiet and you’re harder to find,” “Leave no clues,” “Avoid the phone as much as possible,” and “Don’t fire unless fired upon, but if they mean to have a war, let it begin here.” ||||| So as Ron Paul is on track to win the Iowa caucuses, he is getting a new dose of press scrutiny.

 And the press is focusing on the newsletters that went out under his name in the late 1980s and early 1990s. They were called the Ron Paul's Political Report, Ron Paul's Freedom Report, the Ron Paul Survival Report and the Ron Paul Investment Letter.

 There is no doubt that the newsletters contained utterly racist statements.

 Some choice quotes:

 "Given the inefficiencies of what DC laughingly calls the criminal justice system, I think we can safely assume that 95 percent of the black males in that city are semi-criminal or entirely criminal."

 "We are constantly told that it is evil to be afraid of black men, it is hardly irrational."

 After the Los Angeles riots, one article in a newsletter claimed, "Order was only restored in L.A. when it came time for the blacks to pick up their welfare checks."

 One referred to Martin Luther King Jr. as "the world-class philanderer who beat up his paramours" and who "seduced underage girls and boys."

 Another referred to Barbara Jordan, a civil rights activist and congresswoman as "Barbara Morondon," the "archetypical half-educated victimologist."

 Other newsletters had strange conspiracy theories about homosexuals, the CIA, and AIDS.

 In 1996 when the Texas Monthly investigated the newsletters, Paul took responsibility for them and said that certain things were taken out of context. (It's hard to imagine a context that would make the above quotes defensible.)

 When the newsletter controversy came up again during the 2008 campaign, Paul explained that he didn't actually write the newsletters but because they carried his name he was morally responsible for their content. Further, he didn't know exactly who wrote the offensive things and they didn't represent his views.

 But it is still a serious issue. Journalists at the libertarian-leaning Reason reported that Paul made nearly one million dollars in just one year from publishing the newsletters. Could Paul really not understand the working of such a profitable operation? They were told by a source close to the Paul campaign that the author was likely longtime Paul-friend and combative polemicist Lew Rockwell.

 Even though many of the newsletters are written in a first person, conversational style, many observers don't believe that Ron Paul actually wrote them.

 There aren't any videos on YouTube with Paul speaking in incendiary terms about minorities. The newsletters don't "sound" like Ron Paul - he doesn't do wordplay like "Morondon" or use prefixes like "semi-criminal" or "half-educated" in his speech or his recent writings. Further, most newsletter and direct-mail operations in politics employ ghostwriters.

 So why were Ron Paul or his ghostwriters engaged in racism and conspiracy theories? And why did Ron Paul allow this?

 The first answer is simply that marginal causes attract marginal people.

 The Gold Standard and non-interventionism have long been pushed to the fringe of our politics, and ambitious people tend to dive into the mainstream. That means that some of the 'talent' that marginalized ideas attract will be odd and unstable.

 There are two strategies for dealing with this problem. You purge your movement of cranks to preserve credibility and risk alienating a chunk of supporters. Or you let everyone in your movement fly their freak flag and live with the consequences. Ron Paul, being a libertarian, has always done the latter.

 The second answer to this question: These newsletters were published before a decade of war that has exhausted many Americans, before the financial crisis, and before the Tea Party.

 All three made Ron Paul's ideas seem more relevant to our politics. They made anti-government libertarianism seem (to some) like a sensible corrective.

 But in the 1990s and 1980s, anti-government sentiment was much less mainstream. It seemed contained to the racist right-wing, people who supported militia movements, who obsessed over political correctness, who were suspicious of free-trade deals like NAFTA.

 At that time a libertarian theorist, Murray Rothbard argued that libertarians ought to engage in "Outreach to the Rednecks" in order to insert their libertarian theories into the middle of the nation's political passions.

 Rothbard had tremendous influence on Lew Rockwell, and the whole slice of the libertarian movement that adored Ron Paul.

 But Rothbard and Rockwell never stuck with their alliances with angry white men on the far right. They have been willing to shift alliances from left to right and back again. Before this "outreach" to racists, Rothbard aligned himself with anti-Vietnam war protestors in the 1960s. In the 2000s, after the "outreach" had failed, Rockwell complained bitterly about "Red-State fascists" who supported George Bush and his war. So much for the "Rednecks." The anti-government theories stay the same, the political strategy shifts in odd and extreme directions.

 As crazy as it sounds, Ron Paul's newsletter writers may not have been sincerely racist at all. They actually thought appearing to be racist was a good political strategy in the 1990s. After that strategy yielded almost nothing - it was abandoned by Paul's admirers.

 You can attribute their "redneck strategy" to the most malignant kind of cynicism or to a political desperation that made them insane. Neither is particularly flattering.

 Phil Klein of the Washington Examiner is correct when he writes:

 Rick Perry and Mitt Romney have both attacked each other for what was written in their respective books. If either of those books had included a number of overtly racist statements, their candidacies would be over before they started.

 This is undoubtedly true. The media seems to simply accept that Ron Paul has some oddities in his past and in his inner circle. They take his grandfatherly demeanor at face-value. In part this is because they believe he is not a serious candidate.

 Winning the Iowa caucuses would change all that instantly. Undoubtedly the movement that Paul inspired has moved far beyond the race-baiting it engaged in two decades ago. Young people from college campuses aren't lining up to hear him speak because of what appeared in those newsletter about the 1992 L.A. riots. Rand Paul tried his hardest to place Paul-style libertarianism into the context of the Tea Party. And he will likely carry on the movement without this 1990s baggage.

 But the questions remain. If Ron Paul is so libertarian that he won't even police people who use his name, if his movement is filled with incompetents and opportunists, then what kind of a president would he make? Would he even check in to see if his ideas are being implemented? Who would he appoint to Cabinet positions?

 These are all legitimate questions. And the media is going to start asking them now.

 If there isn't already a "ceiling" on Ron Paul's support, widespread knowledge of the newsletters could build one quickly. ||||| Mr. Paul, who is a physician, had said his political persuasion as a libertarian precluded him from harboring such biased views because “I don’t see people in collective groups.”

 On Monday, his deputy campaign manager, Dimitri Kesari, reiterated that Mr. Paul “did not write, edit or authorize” the language.

 Photo

 “He totally disavows what was said and disagrees with it totally,” Mr. Kesari said. “The only responsibility he takes is for not paying closer attention.”

 Mr. Paul is the latest in a series of candidates whose quick improvement in polls has drawn new scrutiny of the more problematic portions of their résumés. The focus on his newsletters comes as he seeks to seize momentum in polls by raising questions about his opponents.

 During an appearance on “The Tonight Show With Jay Leno ” on Friday, Mr. Paul joked that Representative Michele Bachmann of Minnesota , a Republican rival for the nomination, “hates Muslims, she wants to go get them.” He also concurred with Mr. Leno that former Senator Rick Santorum speaks about “gay people” almost exclusively, adding, “And Muslims.”

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 Though Mr. Kesari said those comments were intended to be “lighthearted,” they drew criticism from some commentators, including the Fox News host Greg Gutfeld, who on Monday pointed to Mr. Paul’s newsletters as evidence that he was being hypocritical.

 Mr. Paul has survived previous questions about his newsletters. During his 1996 race for the House, Democrats publicized issues of his newsletter that called Barbara Jordan , the African-American Texas congresswoman, a “half-educated victimologist” and said of crime in Washington, D.C., “I think we can safely assume that 95 percent of black males in that city are semi-criminal or entirely criminal.”

 He defended the statements to The Dallas Morning News at the time, saying they were taken out of context. He also told the newspaper he did not know that his newsletter — with 7,000 to 8,000 subscribers — was listed by a neo-Nazi group called Heritage Front, apparently as recommended reading, under the Internet heading “Racialists and Freedom Fighters.”

 But in an interview in 2001 with Texas Monthly, Mr. Paul said he regretted that he had not admitted that he had not written the newsletters. “They were never my words, but I had some moral responsibility for them,” Mr. Paul said. He said that he had “actually really wanted to try to explain that it doesn’t come from me directly,” but that his campaign aides had told him, “Your name was on that letter and therefore you have to live with it.”

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Write a summary.

– Ron Paul had a testy interview with CNN today that he ended by unclipping his microphone and saying, "Goodbye" as Gloria Borger continued to pepper him with questions, reports Mediaite. The source of the friction was questions about political newsletters that went out under Paul's name about 20 years ago that had racist and homophobic sentiments. The issue has come up before, including during his 2008 run, and Paul seemed fed up with giving the same general response: "I didn’t write them. I didn’t read them at the time and I disavow them. That is your answer.” The issue surfaced anew when the Weekly Standard wrote about the newsletters in its latest issue, notes the New York Times. (One of the more controversial quotes is from a 1992 newsletter about the Los Angeles riots: "Order was only restored in L.A. when it came time for the blacks to pick up their welfare checks.”) Paul contends that the newsletters went out under his name but that others did the writing and he didn't pay much attention to them. He reportedly made money off the publications, however, and that has kept the questions coming. Business Insider has a backgrounder on the whole issue here.


Article:
Neil Warner / Splash News Britney Spears' handlers have strong ideas on how radio deejays should go about interviewing her.

 Britney will grant you three questions, which she may not answer.

 Pop star Britney Spears recently ended a radio blitz promoting her Las Vegas residency, which starts in December, and her handlers are leaving nothing to chance.

 Harlem Mepham/FilmMagic

 We’ve been told that before leaving for London this week, Spears did a spree of radio spots, with the stations told that their five-minute interviews could discuss only Brit-Brit’s Vegas show, her new single and her “Britney Jean” album. Just in case there were any doubts about the rules, stations are being informed that these orders are “so everyone is clear — no personal questions and no funny business.”

 Radio insiders say efforts to limit Spears’ opportunities to embarrass herself are doing the complete opposite, even when interviewers stick to the “assigned parameters.”

 Deejays Roula and Ryan from Houston’s 104.1 KRBE recently had their taped segment pulled when it turned out to be an absolute disaster.

 “We thought we could make something out of the ‘rules’ dictated before the interview, but as we commenced the interview, we quickly realized this was a one-sided conversation,” said Roula. “That is not entertaining to our audience.”

 Spears’ reps argue the info they provided was not a mandate, but rather an aid to make the radio spots move along smoothly.

 “As with all radio tours, the hosts are sent information on the talent and what they are promoting,” said Spears flack Jeff Raymond. “In this case, the label sent information on ‘Work Bitch’ (the single and video, dates, who directed, where shot, etc.), the upcoming eighth album, and her Vegas residency (title, show dates, etc.) so the hosts have correct info when asking her questions.”

 Oops, Spears did it again on a Houston Hot 95.7 phoner. Even when the hosts lavished praise on her music, tour and perfume, a detached-sounding Spears needed to be asked twice if she had a fragrance.

 “The voices in her head are slowing down her conversation,” said a deejay on the air after the Q&A, dismissing Spears’ claims of a bad phone connection.

 Last month, a Vegas insider told us that speaking isn’t the only thing Britney has given up.

 “Britney does not sing. She is being paid a lot of money to lip-sync,” a source told Confidenti@l.

 Spears has since denied that she’ll lip-sync in Vegas.

 On Tuesday, before-and-after images emerged from Hoax Films, a visual-effects studio, of the 31-year-old mother of two’s “Work Bitch” video. They suggest that a chubby Spears did the filming, but a digitally slimmed-down version appears in the final edit.

 Team Britney didn’t comment on the video.

 PHOTOS: BRITNEY SPEARS: HER MOST MEMORABLE MOMENTS

 Rommel Demano/Getty Images

 MARTHA KEEPS IT CLEAN

 As expected, Martha Stewart doesn’t like a dirty house. The domestic diva told us at the American Made Awards on Tuesday night that if she’s ever in one, it makes her nauseous.

 “People don’t have to be dirty,” she said. “Dirt just bothers me.”

 Stewart went on to discuss her dating life, saying it’s been “good” and that she’s just waiting for the right guy to scoop her up. “I’m a fabulous catch,” she told us.

 Stewart spent time posing with guests but kept her distance, one spy says. “She kept her hands clasped in front of her, like the queen,” the tipster said. “None of them dared to lay a finger on Martha.”

 Eventually, celeb chef Bobby Flay posed with her while holding her waist.

 “The only person Martha did touch back was Sirio Maccioni, and I think that was because he had a cane and was quite frail,” our source said.

 @beyonce via Instagram

 NO FACES, BUT A NICE BACKSTORY

 Listen up, Kim K., this is how you post a booty pic. Beyoncé Instagrammed yet another flawless portrait of herself holding Blue Ivy — though neither of their faces is visible. The 32-year-old mom is in New Zealand as part of her extended “Mrs. Carter” tour, which will finally come to a close on Dec. 22 at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn.

 PHOTOS: BEYONCÉ SPENDS BEACH DAY WITH BLUE IVY: CUTEST CELEBRITY KIDS

 Frazer Harrison/Getty Images

 HUNNAM DRAWS THE ‘SHADES’

 Charlie Hunnam is so devastated over the backlash about pulling out of “50 Shades of Grey,” he’s been skipping scheduled appearances to avoid questions. The “Sons of Anarchy” star was supposed to be at a benefit gala honoring FX Networks at the Paley Center for Media in Los Angeles, but was “under so much strain,” an insider tells us, he stayed home. “People at the event were whispering that it’s the media firestorm, and Charlie’s co-stars were instructed not to answer any questions about him or the movie,” our source says.

 Bryan Bedder/Getty Images

 ARNOLD HAS A LOT ON HIS PLATE

 Jesus, Rocky and the Terminator got together Tuesday in Times Square. Actors Jim Caviezel, Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger popped into Italian eatery Buca di Beppo after a screening of their film “Escape Plan.” Schwarzenegger ate a spaghetti-and-meatballs dish made for a family of six. On Wednesday he was spotted eating again, at Bice on the East Side, where former Gov. Eliot Spitzer was also dining. Seeing paparazzi swarming, Ah-nuld asked to move to a balcony table.

 Astrid Stawiarz/Getty Images

 MAKING STRIDES FOR KIDS

 Elvis wants to trump cancer. Z100 deejay Elvis Duran and Eric Trump are walking across the Brooklyn Bridge to raise awareness of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital’s fight against pediatric cancer. Rain or shine, Duran and his morning team will meet up with Trump and people from his foundation at Cadman Plaza Park on Saturday, Nov. 23, at 9 a.m. to begin their journey to lower Manhattan. Fans and supporters are welcome to come along.

 THE BELL HASN’T TOLLED FOR ‘BAYSIDE!’

 The hysterical “Bayside! The Musical!” — an Off-Broadway parody of “Saved by the Bell” — has proven so popular that its run at Theatre 80 St. Marks has been extended for another month. The unexpected hit was scheduled to close on Nov. 23 but will now run through Dec. 28.

 PHOTOS: WHERE ARE THEY NOW? 'SAVED BY THE BELL'

 SEEN & HEARD ...

 Rod Stewart and the Arctic Monkeys dining at SoHo hot spot Pravda … A$AP Rocky and model Chanel Iman chowing down at Beauty & Essex … Haylie Duff on QVC’s “In the Kitchen with David” showcasing her new cookbook ... Ne-Yo celebrating his 31th birthday at the Raven in the Meatpacking District … Jamie Foxx ordering frozen margaritas at South West NY in Battery Park City … Celeb TV chefs Bobby Flay and Guy Fieri will be cooking up burgers at the Old Homestead Steakhouse Friday for Share Our Strength’s No Kid Hungry campaign.

 . ||||| Running the life and career of Britney Spears is a tough job, but somebody’s gotta do it. And since a court ruled in 2008 that she was not fit to, her father, Jamie Spears has stepped in. Jamie has overseen Britney’s life pretty much without complaint for more than five years, but now, RadarOnline.com has learned, he’s asking for more money! Court documents obtained by RadarOnline.com expose what Jamie’s been paid for taking care of his daughter, and what his demands are going forward.

 “I continue to perform services to protect and care for Britney’s person and to administer her estate in good faith and in her best interests,” Jamie writes in a new petition that was filed on October 15 in L.A.

 He reveals, “I continue to have significant oversight duties relating to her visitation with her children.”

 COURT DOCUMENTS: Britney Spears’ Dad To Conservatorship Judge: I Want More Money!

 From the beginning, Jamie’s been paid $16,000 per month for those duties, and is now asking the court merely to extend that compensation.

 But he also receives $1,200 per month to pay rent for his office, and now, he claims, that’s not enough.

 He claims, “as my rent has steadily escalated over the last three years, I request that I be reimbursed an additional $800.00 per month for my office expense for the time period of November 1, 2012, through August 31, 2013,” which adds up to $7,200. He also asks “that I be authorized to spend the sum of $2,000 monthly, rather than the previously ordered $1,200 monthly, for my office space in a secure location that is dedicated to Britney’s activities.”

 PHOTOS: Britney Back In Shape, Shows Off Bikini Bod

 Jamie claims he uses that office for completing Brit’s business duties, such as the recently concluded “negotiations with respect to Britney’s upcoming concert series at Planet Hollywood … to maximize the contractual benefits she would receive with a minimum of financial risk to her and a safe, structured, and pleasant environment.”

 In fact, signing on to the show ensured that Britney will remain under her dad’s control for at least two more years, as RadarOnline.com reported, which means Jamie will rake in at least $432,000 more from his daughter’s estate before she has any hope of getting out of the conservatorship. |||||Summary:

– Britney Spears' father, Jamie, has been in charge of her since she was placed under conservatorship in 2008, and he thinks it's about time for a raise, Radar reports. "I continue to perform services to protect and care for Britney’s person and to administer her estate in good faith and in her best interests. I continue to have significant oversight duties relating to her visitation with her children," he writes in a new petition to the court. In addition to the $16,000 he gets for those duties per month, he also gets $1,200 for office rent, and he wants that amount bumped to $2,000, plus $7,200 in back pay for the increased rent he's paid since last year. Brit is apparently also under strict control when it comes to interviews. She's been promoting her upcoming Vegas residency, and her handlers told radio interviewers that during the five-minute interviews, they could only ask about Vegas or Britney's new album or single, sources tell the New York Daily News. "So everyone is clear," the stations are being informed, "no personal questions and no funny business." But apparently the interviews still aren't going well: One was pulled entirely after DJs deemed it "a one-sided conversation," and during another, the hosts needed to ask a distracted Spears one of their questions twice.


– At first, it seemed like 4-year-old Laura Carson was suffering from a simple headache. Then came rapid shallow breathing, a tremor, double vision. Within days in August 2014, she was "a limp rag doll," reports Today—but it took doctors some time to diagnose her with acute flaccid myelitis, a rare disease the CDC warns is becoming increasingly more common. Not much is known about the polio-like disease that plagues mostly children, including what causes it. What is known is that AFM affects the spinal cord and causes weak limbs or paralysis, drooping in the face, and slurred speech or difficulty breathing. About 200 kids have been diagnosed since 2014, and this year's figures are especially troubling. The CDC reports 121 cases of AFM were confirmed in 2014, but that was followed by just 21 cases in 2015, reports Fox News. From January to August of this year, however, there were 50 confirmed cases in 24 states. Among that first spike of cases in 2014, the Washington Post reports that 85% of kids recovered partially, but only three recovered fully. A CDC study found 68% of patients had a fever and 81% had a respiratory illness before AFM symptoms appeared. Some had been diagnosed with the West Nile virus, and others with an enterovirus. "August to October is typically when enteroviruses circulate" and "we see more acute flaccid myelitis during that season," a doctor tells NBC News. Washing your hands and covering your mouth when coughing or sneezing are among the ways suggested to help. (Four siblings suffer from a mysterious disease.)

Expand this summary.

McKenzie Anderson, before and after she came down with a mysterious disease called acute flaccid myelitis, which is a lot like polio. (Family photos)

 Before dinner on July 29, 3-year-old Carter Roberts of Chesterfield, Va., seemed perfectly healthy. That evening, he vomited. When he woke up the next morning with a slight fever of 99 degrees, his mother, Robin Roberts, figured that he was coming down with a cold. The next morning, she found him collapsed on his bedroom floor.

 “Mommy,” she recalls him saying. “Help me, help me.”

 Carter could barely stand when she picked him up, and his neck was arched backward. “What was most alarming,” she said, “is he had no control over his right arm whatsoever.”

 In the hospital, Carter lost control of his right arm, then over his legs and other muscles within a few days. He now can only wiggle a toe and move the left side of his face. He has been diagnosed with a mysterious, polio-like illness called acute flaccid myelitis, a condition that seems to be surging this year.

 Through July, 32 new cases of AFM have been confirmed across the United States this year by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a sharp rise compared with last year, when just seven cases had been confirmed by that month. The numbers have risen steadily since April. In past years, most cases have occurred between August and December, with a peak in October.

 [Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan’s $3 billion scientific effort aims to rid world of major diseases by end of century]

 Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

 Among the many unanswered questions about the condition are what causes it, how best to treat it and how long the paralysis lasts. Although most cases occur in children, AFM occasionally affects adults.

 The CDC official who leads the surveillance efforts said that confirmed numbers for August will not be available until the end of this month, but the number of reports she is receiving from doctors around the country continues to rise.

 “CDC is looking at these trends very carefully,” Manisha Patel said. “We have sent out several health alerts to states to let them know we are seeing an increase in reporting and to encourage them to communicate with doctors to report these cases in a timely fashion.”

 The CDC began tracking AFM in 2014, when 121 cases were confirmed. That year, the CDC counted only children affected by the disease. Their average age was 7. Most had a fever or a respiratory illness a few days before developing paralysis. Many had to be placed on respirators. Although 85 percent of the children recovered partially, only three of them recovered fully.

 Five-year-old Braden Scott sits up unassisted at a rehab facility two months after he was struck with acute flaccid myelitis. It's a major improvement for someone with this polio-like illness. (Facebook/Team Braden Luke)

 Health officials and physicians around the country said they are concerned that the rising number of cases through July could foretell a repeat of 2014.

 “You hate to be an alarmist, but there’s reason to have some concern,” said Avindra Nath, chief of the section of infections of the nervous system at the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. “What we don't know is where are these cases. Are they clustered? Do they all look alike? Getting more information on these cases would be helpful.”

 Beyond saying that confirmed cases have been reported in 17 states through July, Patel declined to reveal which states have been involved. But conversations and emails with physicians around the country indicate that at least four cases have occurred in California and at least three in Massachusetts, and that others have been seen in Florida, Texas, Pennsylvania and New York, as well as Virginia.

 “We are definitely hearing of cases from our colleagues across the country,” said Teri Schreiner, a neurologist at the University of Colorado and Children's Hospital Colorado. “It’s a trend that’s worrisome … what I'm hearing from others seems to be coming at a tempo similar to what happened in 2014.”

 Jean-Baptiste Le Pichon of Children’s Mercy Hospital in Kansas City, Mo., said that doctors on a U.S. email list for pediatric neurologists reported five new cases of AFM in just the past few days. “There is definitely an explosion of cases,” Le Pichon said.

 No treatment other than physical therapy has yet been shown to markedly improve outcomes, although some doctors have reported that treatment with intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG), used to treat some other viral infectious diseases afflicting the nervous system, might help. It’s also been suggested that Prozac could prove beneficial. The degree of paralysis in the first month has generally improved only slightly over the course of a year.

 “After about a year or so, what you’ve got is what you’ve got,” said Max Wiznitzer, a pediatric neurologist at Case Western Reverse University in Cleveland.

 Most perplexing is what causes the disease. The 2014 outbreak of AFM occurred at the same time as a far larger outbreak of enterovirus D68 across the United States. The vast majority of patients infected with the virus developed only a respiratory illness. Some physicians were convinced that EV-D68 was the cause, not only because both outbreaks occurred at the same time but also because of a study that identified a particular strain of EV-D68 in the airways of children with AFM. But officials at the CDC and some doctors, including Wiznitzer, insist that the cause remains unproved.

 So far this year, no similarly widespread outbreak of EV-D68 respiratory infections has been reported, although cases of it and other enteroviruses have been seen in some areas.

 On Friday, Le Pichon, in Kansas City, said, “I just got confirmation that we have an epidemic of enterovirus breaking out here and at least a few cases [of enterovirus] have typed positive for EV-D68.”

 Carol Glaser, a pediatric infectious-disease specialist at Kaiser Permanente in Oakland, Calif., said: “If the theory is right that it’s caused by EV-D68, which some of us believe more than others, this would be the time of year we start seeing it. It’s an enterovirus, and they tend to peak in late summer and early fall.”

 Because the CDC’s surveillance of AFM is less than two years old, it remains unclear if some of this year’s apparent rise in confirmed cases is due simply to more doctors sending in case reports, Patel said. And Wiznitzer emphasized that with just 32 confirmed cases across the United States so far, AFM remains extremely rare

 Glaser, however, said she is convinced that the condition is new. She worked at the California Department of Public Health when, in 2012, some of the first reports of AFM anywhere in the country came in from physicians there.

 “I was there for 15 years and talked to neurologists every single day,” she said. “It wasn’t until the fall of 2012 when the first physician called in and wanted a test for polio on one of his patients. One of my colleagues in the office chuckled and said to me, ‘We don't have polio in the United States.’ But in the next two weeks, I got two very similar phone calls. We had never had a report like that. I do think there was something new going on. Fortunately, it’s still rare.”

 If EV-D68 does somehow cause AFM, studying the virus may lead to prevention or treatment. One glimmer of good news came from Kenneth Tyler, chair of neurology at the University of Colorado School of Medicine. He and his colleagues have been conducting experiments to infect mice with EV-D68 and have them develop loss of muscle control like that seen in AFM. He says he has submitted a paper to a peer-reviewed medical journal describing his success in doing so.

 The goal, he said, is to use mice to study how EV-D68 causes harm to the spinal cord and muscles, and to test potential therapies, such as IVIG.

 “It looks like we’re seeing protection with IVIG in the mouse model,” he said.

 Robin Roberts said she wishes more was known about the condition that has harmed her son. “In this day and age to not have information about something like this is very frustrating. There needs to be more done about it, and for more parents and doctors to know about it,” she said.

 Angie Andersen said that her daughter McKenzie was sent home from the hospital twice in the first two weeks of her illness because doctors did not understand the severity of what was happening. Finally her pediatrician told Andersen to bring McKenzie to another hospital.

 McKenzie was 6 years old when she developed sniffles in December 2014. “Within 12 days,” Andersen said, “she was paralyzed from the neck down, on a ventilator to breathe for her. She was left with her left hand and her feet and toes that move.”

 “You know you could understand the bad that comes from a car wreck, or if she got cancer,” Andersen said. “How do you ever wrap your brain around the fact that she got a cold, and now she’s a quadriplegic on a ventilator? It’s a nightmare you never wake up from.”

 Still, she said, McKenzie can now speak and even sing softly despite having a tracheotomy. “She has a lot of spunk, and that is helping her through,” Andersen said.

 Correction: This article originally misnamed Robin Roberts as Robin Carter.

 1 of 26 Full Screen Autoplay Close Skip Ad × The case files: Medical mysteries View Photos From a daily afternoon fever to a debilitating reaction to chemotherapy, here’s a look at perplexing medical mystery cases. Caption From a daily afternoon fever to a debilitating reaction to chemotherapy, here’s a look at perplexing medical mystery cases. Doctors were stumped by this 2-year-old boy’s symptoms. He had swollen thumbs, bleeding gums and anemia. He cried whenever anyone touched his legs. Doctors were running out of time. Read the case Cam Cottrill/For The Washington Post Buy Photo Wait 1 second to continue.

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 Doctors are stumped by toddler's painful legs, rash and bleeding gums

 Lifelong care, heartaches ahead for babies born with Zika in the U.S.

 Odd teeth: A mother's Internet sleuthing led to her daughter's troubling diagnosis |||||

 The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is warning against a polio-like illness that is causing paralysis among an increasing number of Americans.

 From Jan. 1 to Aug. 31, 2016, the CDC reported 50 people in 24 U.S. states had been diagnosed with acute flaccid myelitis (AFM), compared with only 21 people in 2015 in 16 U.S. states. From August to December 2014, 120 people, mostly patients 21 and younger, in 34 U.S. states, were diagnosed with the condition.

 AFM affects the nervous system, specifically the spinal cord, according to the CDC. The cause is unknown, but it has been linked to viral infections like polio and non-polio enteroviruses, adenoviruses, and the mosquito-borne West Nile virus. Enteroviruses can cause neurologic illness such as meningitis, but more serious disease like encephalitis and AFM are less common.

 Symptoms of AFM include pain in the arms and legs, an inability to pass urine, and, most severely, respiratory failure that can occur when muscles involved in breathing become weak. The latter symptom can require urgent ventilator support, according to the CDC. There is no specific treatment for AFM, but rather neurologists may prescribe therapy on a case-by-case basis.

 Although the AFM outbreak in 2014 coincided with an outbreak of enterovirus D68, the CDC did not detect traces of the severe respiratory virus in the AFM specimens collected that year. Among the people with AFM in 2015, the CDC also did not detect the virus in the specimens collected, and only limited sporadic cases of the virus have been detected in the United States in 2016.

 As health officials investigate the current rise of AFM cases, to prevent illness, they are advising people wash their hands with soap and water, avoid close contact with sick people, and clean surfaces with a disinfectant, especially those that a sick person has touched.

  ||||| Breaking News Emails Get breaking news alerts and special reports. The news and stories that matter, delivered weekday mornings.

 / Updated By Lauren Dunn and Parminder Deo

 Little Carter Roberts, of Chesterfield, Virginia, was a typical 3-year-old — playful, healthy, and active. But over the course of a weekend Carter went from his happy-go-lucky self to a paralyzed patient unable to move his arms or legs.

 “He needed a tube to help him breath,” says his mother Robin Roberts. “Doctors were working really hard to try and figure out what was going on.”

 At the hospital, the Roberts family was left with more questions than answers. Doctors considered a list of diagnoses from Guillain-Barré Syndrome to various other auto-immune diseases. Finally, after an MRI scan and hours of waiting, Carter was diagnosed with acute flaccid myelitis (AFM) — a mysterious muscle weakness, similar to polio — that appears to be on the rise this year.

 Carter Roberts and his two sisters before he was diagnosed with acute flaccid myelitis. Robin Roberts

 On Monday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that, as of August 2016, there have been 50 cases of confirmed AFM across 24 states. That's nearly double over 2015, when 21 cases for the whole year were reported.

 AFM has been linked to a strain of enterovirus that's now circulating again. Some doctors are warning this could be the same mysterious, polio-like illness detected in 2014 that paralyzed 120 children.

 Related: CDC Develops Faster New Test For Enterovirus D68

 Enteroviruses are common and typically cause milder illnesses in children, such as respiratory infections or even summer colds. However, when enteroviruses get into the central nervous system they can cause more serious illnesses like inflammation of the brain.

 “August to October is typically when enteroviruses circulate,” says Dr. Kevin Messacar, pediatric infectious disease physician at Children's Hospital Colorado. “We see more acute flaccid myelitis during that season and we do seem to be seeing an increase in the cases that have been reported.”

 “Acute flaccid myelitis is a very rare complication of an illness,” says Messacar. “I think it's important that we take it seriously because the effects of this condition appear to be long term and are disabling.

 Related: New Strain of Enterovirus May Have Caused Mystery Paralysis

 There are no vaccines for this strain of enterovirus, so doctors urge good hygiene as the best defense:

 Cover your mouth when you cough and sneeze

 Don’t go to work or school when you’re sick

 Remain vigilant about hand washing

 Carter, who was diagnosed in July, can now only move the left side of his face and wiggle a toe. He sticks his tongue out and blinks his eyes to certain questions. According to researchers, unfortunately there are still no proven effective therapies for this condition. However, speech therapy has given his mother hope.

 Related: 6 Things to Know about Enterovirus

 “I got to hear him talk and he said just a handful of words and as a mom, it was the sweetest sound ever,” says Robin. “I wake up and am hopeful every day that he's going to make some progress. It's hard not a feel a little bit robbed because this happened so quickly, but it was just a virus.” ||||| Get the latest from TODAY Sign up for our newsletter

 / Source: TODAY By A. Pawlowski

 A mystery illness that leaves children barely able to move is on the rise again, two years after an outbreak alarmed doctors and parents.

 There have been 50 cases of acute flaccid myelitis (AFM) reported across 24 states so far this year, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Monday. Though the syndrome is still rare, that's more than double compared to 2015, when 21 cases were confirmed for the whole year.

 AFM can be caused by a variety of germs, such as enteroviruses, which are common and typically cause milder illnesses in children such as respiratory infections. However, when enteroviruses get into the central nervous system, they can cause more serious illnesses like inflammation of the brain.

 AFM affects the spinal cord, but the exact trigger is often elusive and there’s no specific treatment, according to the CDC.

 Symptoms include:

 limb weakness

 facial droop

 difficulty breathing or swallowing, or slurred speech

 The best prevention is to wash your hands, stay up-to-date on vaccinations and protect yourself from mosquitoes — since the mosquito-borne West Nile virus is linked to AFM — the CDC advises.

 The illness seemed to peak in 2014, with 120 cases reported between August and December — all children.

 The average age for children stricken with AFM is 7 and many had to be placed on respirators. Although 85 percent of the children recovered partially, only three have fully recovered, according to the CDC.

 Related: New strain of enterovirus may have caused mystery paralysis

 Laura Carson was a healthy, active 4-year-old before she suddenly developed acute flaccid myelitis (AFM) in 2014. Courtesy Sara Carson

 Sara Carson was among the families thrust into the medical mystery when her daughter Laura suddenly developed the polio-like paralysis.

 “Every new case you see, the pit of your stomach drops out again,�? Carson, who lives in suburban Chicago, told TODAY.

 “You flash back to that moment in time where you’re sitting in the hospital room thinking you don’t know where the next day is going to take you, or the next hour or the next minute.�?

 Related: What parents need to know about enterovirus D68

 Laura spent 25 days in the hospital. At her worst, she could only move parts of her left arm and left leg. Courtesy Sara Carson

 In August 2014, Laura — then 4 — was playing at home when she suddenly developed a headache. When the little girl woke up the next morning with rapid shallow breathing, Carson took her to her pediatrician, but was told everything was fine.

 Over the next few days, Carson noticed Laura was fatigued, lethargic and developed a tremor. The left side of Laura's face looked a little weaker.

 Another alarming symptom showed up soon after.

 “When she woke up, she asked me why the pillows were stacking themselves and why there were two of me, and at that point, I realized she was having double vision,�? Carson recalled.

 The family rushed Laura to an emergency room, only to be told again that everything was fine. Once home, Laura’s head started to fall to the right and she could no longer lift her right arm, so the Carsons took her to a different hospital, where she was finally admitted.

 By the next morning, Laura was like a limp rag doll, her mom said. When she tried to help the little girl out of bed, her head dropped back and her arms fell to the side.

 Laura spent the next 25 days in the hospital, bedridden and unable to walk. At her worst, she could only move parts of her left arm and left leg.

 “I kept looking at the doctors and saying, ‘She’s going to be OK, right?’ They would look at me and they couldn’t answer that question,�? Carson said.

 “Nobody had a clue what was going on. … It’s fear because you don’t know: at some point, is this going to stop or are we looking at losing our daughter?�?

 As she began to recover, Laura had to use a wheelchair. Courtesy Sara Carson

 An MRI revealed lesions on Laura’s spine, a frequent finding in AFM cases. She was given steroids and made “teeny, tiny little gains,�? her mom said. Laura was released from the hospital just as a cluster of AFM cases among children in Colorado was coming to light. Laura’s neurologist said her case looked like an exact match, Carson noted. Some, but not all, of the children with AFM were diagnosed with enterovirus. Laura tested negative for it.

 Meanwhile, the family tried to adjust to a new reality.

 “If she wanted to play with her dolls, you’d have to literally hold her arm and lift it out for her and grasp it. It was all consuming to help her to try to be a kid again,�? she recalled.

 An MRI revealed lesions on Laura's spine, a frequent finding in AFM cases. Courtesy Sara Carson

 Months of rehabilitation followed, with Laura receiving intensive physical, speech and occupational therapy. She also took part in aquatic therapy and muscle stimulation; visited an acupuncturist and a homeopath; took various supplements and received chiropractic adjustments.

 Two years later, Laura is doing much better. She still has weakness on the right side of her body, but she’s able to run, play and go to school.

 Today, 6-year-old Laura is active again and continues to improve. Courtesy Sara Carson

 “We’re very blessed. We’re one of the ‘lucky’ families in terms of how much return [to normal] we’ve received,�? Carson said.

 “You just have to take it a day at a time and be thankful for every little blessing that you’re given and every little gain that you make.�?

 Follow A. Pawlowski on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. ||||| Notes from the Field: Acute Flaccid Myelitis Among Persons Aged ≤21 Years — United States, August 1–November 13, 2014

 Division of Viral Diseases, National Centers for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, CDC; Division of Vector-Borne Diseases, Division of High-Consequence Pathogens and Pathology, National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases, CDC; Children's Hospital Colorado; Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists

 In August 2014, physicians at Children's Hospital Colorado in Aurora, Colorado, noted a cluster of cases of acute limb weakness among children (1). Most patients were found to have distinctive abnormalities of the central spinal cord (i.e., gray matter) on magnetic resonance imaging, and most reported a respiratory or febrile illness preceding the onset of neurologic symptoms. On September 12, the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment alerted CDC about this cluster. These cases coincided with a national outbreak of severe respiratory disease among children caused by enterovirus D68 (EV-D68) (2).

 On September 26, CDC issued a health advisory requesting state and local health departments to report cases and send specimens to CDC for testing (3). A case was defined as acute onset of focal limb weakness occurring on or after August 1, 2014, and a magnetic resonance image showing a spinal cord lesion largely restricted to gray matter in a patient aged ≤21 years.

 As of November 13, CDC had verified reports of 88 cases in 32 states (Figure). The median age of patients was 7.6 years (range = 5 months–20 years), and 54 (61%) were males. Limb weakness was asymmetrical in most patients. Cranial nerve motor dysfunction was reported in 30 (34%) cases. Six (7%) patients had altered mental status, and three (3%) had seizures. Most patients reported a respiratory illness (81%), a febrile illness (68%), or both, occurring before neurologic symptom onset; 8% had neither condition. Among 86 patients for whom past medical history was reported, 65 (76%) were previously healthy, and 21 (24%) had underlying illnesses, most commonly asthma (nine [10%]). All but one patient was hospitalized because of neurologic illness, and 17 (19%) required ventilator support. Among 80 patients from whom cerebrospinal fluid was obtained, 68 (85%) showed a moderate pleocytosis and normal or mildly elevated protein. Information regarding current clinical status was reported for 77 patients (median follow-up = 19 days). Of those, 49 (64%) reported some symptom improvement, and 28 (36%) showed no improvement; none were fully recovered. No deaths were reported.

 Among 71 patients with cerebrospinal fluid testing performed by their health care providers, state and local public health departments, or CDC, no enteroviruses or other pathogens have been confirmed to date. Among 41 patients whose upper respiratory tract samples were available for enterovirus/rhinovirus testing at CDC, 17 (41%) tested positive: eight (20%) for EV-D68 and nine (22%) for eight other enterovirus/rhinovirus types. Of the 19 patients whose upper respiratory tract samples were obtained <14 days from respiratory illness onset, 10 (53%) were positive: seven (37%) for EV-D68 and three (16%) for rhinoviruses. Laboratory testing for other pathogens is ongoing.

 On November 7, CDC published interim clinical management considerations, summarizing expert opinion based on current evidence on management and care of children with acute flaccid myelitis (4). CDC continues to collaborate with partners nationally to investigate reported cases, risk factors, and possible etiologies of this condition. Although the specific causes of this illness are still under investigation, and causal relationship to EV-D68 has not yet been substantiated, being up to date on all recommended vaccinations is essential to prevent a number of severe diseases. Vaccine-preventable diseases include poliomyelitis, which is caused by poliovirus; infection with this enterovirus can present with acute flaccid paralysis. There are also numerous other vaccine-preventable diseases that can result in severe illness. Prevention of viral infections includes general hygienic measures, such as frequent hand washing with soap and water, avoiding close contact with sick persons, and disinfecting frequently touched surfaces. Additional information is available at http://www.cdc.gov/flu/protect/habits/index.htm. If a child appears to have a sudden onset of weakness in arms or legs, caregivers should contact a health care provider to have the child assessed for possible neurologic illness. Health care providers are encouraged to report patients meeting the case definition to their state or local health department. Health departments should report patients with illness meeting the case definition to CDC using a brief patient summary form* and may contact CDC by e-mail to arrange further laboratory testing (limbweakness@cdc.gov). Additional information is available at http://www.cdc.gov/ncird/investigation/viral/sep2014.html.

 (Corresponding author: Eyal Leshem, eleshem@cdc.gov, 404-639-7251)

 References |||||


News article:

A

 YouTube clip that appears to show an extra in Charlie Chaplin film The Circus talking on a mobile phone has led one movie buff to conclude the spooky lady is proof that time travel is possible.

 Time traveller? The lady features in the DVD extras of Charlie Chaplin’s The Circus (YouTube)

 Belfast native – and self-confessed ‘massive Chaplin fan’ – George Clarke posted the 1928 footage on the video-sharing site, revealing that when he first saw the clip he ‘couldn’t believe his eyes’.

 Click here to see more out-of-place objects in movies.

 ‘I kept rewinding it and zooming in to try and work out what was going on,’ explained the 33-year-old.

 ‘I have been studying this footage for over a year now and I just can’t explain it.

 ‘Some people have come up with a few theories but to me her actions and gestures are those of someone talking on a mobile.’

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 In the scene in question the apparent time traveller, clad in a hat and coat, walks into frame appearing deep in conversation while holding a black object to her ear.

 One theory put forward so far is that the device is a hearing aid, although explanations as to why she might be talking into it have been less forthcoming.

 George’s YouTube clip, which he describes as having opened ‘a whole can of worms’, has already racked up over 1.3million views on the site.

 Comments left by viewers of the footage, so far, range from ‘secret government operations’ theories to the decidedly less sinister: ‘I think it’s a crazy old person talking into her hand-held vibrator.’

 Guess you need to watch the footage now to come to your own conclusion…

 Video: Charlie Chaplin ‘s ‘time traveller‘(skip to 2:40 for the lady herself) ||||| Published on Oct 19, 2010

 Welcome to our channel... This was 2010's Youtube phenomenon of the year, and still has the world asking questions!

 This short film is about a piece of footage I (George Clarke) found behind the scenes in Charlie Chaplins film 'The Circus'. Attending the premiere at Manns Chinese Theatre in Hollywood, CA - the scene shows a large woman dressed in black with a hat hiding most of her face, with what can only be described as a mobile phone device - talking as she walks alone.

 I have studied this film for over a year now - showing it to over 100 people and at a film festival, yet no-one can give any explanation as to what she is doing.

 My only theory - as well as many others - is simple... a time traveler on a mobile phone. See for yourself and feel free to leave a comment on your own explanation or thoughts about it.

 George - 20th October 2010 |||||
What is a shorter version of the above article?

– Just in time for Halloween, a Belfast man has posted a video on YouTube with a somewhat spooky claim. A Charlie Chaplin fan, George Clarke has spent more than a year studying a scene from the 1928 film The Circus—convinced it shows a woman holding a cell phone to her ear ... meaning she must be a time traveler. In the footage, which has garnered a million and a half views to date, a woman walks across the shot holding a device to her ear and seems to be engrossed in conversation. "I kept rewinding it and zooming in to try and work out what was going on," says Clarke. Those who have commented have come up with all sorts of explanations, but the answer still remains a mystery. Read the full article. (Click here for more on the mysteries of time travel.)


Article:

The New England Patriots receiver Julian Edelman was in Texas visiting his former teammate Danny Amendola late last month when he received a direct message on his Instagram account: “Dude, there is a kid in your comment section says he s going to shoot up a school, i think you should alert the authority.”

 Edelman instantly thought of the mass shooting about five weeks earlier in Parkland, Fla., in which 17 people were killed. “With the emotions of what happened, and I have a kid now, I said, holy Toledo, what is going on?” Edelman said in an interview this week. ||||| PORT HURON, Mich. - A 14-year-old boy was arrested Wednesday in connection with a school threat that was reported by New England Patriots wide receiver Julian Edelman, police said.

 The threat was posted as a comment on an Instagram post made by Edelman. After Edelman reported the incident, police found the boy, who admitted to making the threat, officials said. Police said they also found two rifles, which belong to the boy's grandfather, at the home.

 Police said the threat was directed toward Central Middle School in Port Huron.

 The 14-year-old is charged with making a false report of a terrorist threat, which is a four-year felony. He is being held in the Macomb County Juvenile Justice Center.

 Copyright 2018 by WDIV ClickOnDetroit - All rights reserved. |||||
What is a summary?

– A potential school shooting in Michigan was thwarted with the help of New England Patriots wide receiver Julian Edelman—and a fan who alerted him to a disturbing message on his Instagram page. Edelman tells the New York Times that he received a direct message late last month warning him that somebody in his comment section had posted: "I'm going to shoot my school up watch the news." "I said, holy Toledo, what is going on?" Edelman says. He spoke to assistant Shannon Moen, who found the message among hundreds of comments on one of Edelman's posts and called 911. Police were able to track the message to a home in Port Huron, Mich., where a 14-year-old boy was arrested. Police say the teen, a Central Middle School student, admitted making the threat. WDIV reports that two rifles belonging to the boy's grandfather were found at the home. The boy, who is now being held in a juvenile detention center, has been charged with making a false report of a terrorist threat, a felony that could get him up to four years in prison. Edelman says he wants to thank the person who alerted him, who has the Instagram handle jesseyi3. "Thankfully, this kid said something," Edelman says. "We're going to send him something, a care package, just for his work. He's the real hero." (Police say this would-be school shooter in Ohio changed his mind at the last second.)


Summarize this article:

Republican legislation letting states deny federal family planning money to Planned Parenthood and other abortion providers squeezed narrowly through the Senate Thursday, rescued by an ailing GOP senator who returned to the Capitol after back surgery and a tie-breaking vote by Vice President Mike Pence.

 In Congress' latest clash mixing the politics of abortion, women's health and states' rights, Pence cast the decisive vote in a 51-50 roll call. The tally had been tied after two GOP senators, Alaska's Lisa Murkowski and Maine's Susan Collins, joined Democrats opposing the measure.

 Senate approval sent the legislation to President Donald Trump, who was expected to sign it. The House voted its consent last month.

 The bill erases a regulation imposed by former President Barack Obama shortly before he left office that lets states deny family planning funds to organizations only if they are incapable of providing those services. Some states have passed laws in recent years denying the money to groups that provide abortions.

 Passage gives Republicans and anti-abortion groups a needed victory just six days after the party's highly touted health care overhaul disintegrated in the House due to GOP divisions. Besides erasing much of Obama's 2010 health care law, the failed House bill would have blocked federal funds for Planned Parenthood for a year.

 There is already a ban on using federal funds for abortion except for rare instances.

 Democrats assailed the legislation as an attack on women, two months after Trump's inauguration prompted a women's march on Washington that mushroomed into anti-Trump demonstrations around the nation.

 "While Trumpcare was dealt a significant blow last week, it is clear that the terrible ideas that underpin it live on with Republicans in Congress," said Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., using a nickname for the failed House health care bill. Murray, among a stream of Democratic women senators who spoke, called the Senate measure "shameful" and "dangerous."

 Republicans said the measure would give states more freedom to decide how to spend family planning funds. States would be free to divert money now going to groups that provide abortion to other organizations that don't, like community health centers.

 "It substituted Washington's judgment for the needs of real people," Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said of Obama's rule.

 With Republicans holding 52-48 control of the Senate, the Collins and Murkowski defections could have derailed the bill because Sen. Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., has been absent since Feb. 20, when he had spinal surgery.

 He had a second operation March 15 and has been recuperating in Georgia under doctor's orders. But he got permission to return to Washington for one day, his office said, and he did so using a walker.

 "We didn't know at the time what it would be but it turned out to be the vice president's tie-breaker," Isakson told reporters after an earlier procedural vote.

 The federal family planning program was created 1970 and in 2015 served 4 million clients at nearly 4,000 clinics. Most of the money is for providing services like contraceptives, family planning counseling, breast and cervical cancer screening and sexually transmitted disease prevention. It has a $286 million federal budget this year.

 Most recipients are women, and two-thirds have incomes at or below the federal poverty level, around $12,000 for an individual. Six in 10 say the program's services are their only or most frequent source of health care.

 Dawn Laguens, executive vice president of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, mocked Pence.

 "Mike Pence went from yesterday's forum on empowering women to today leading a group of male politicians in a vote to take away access to birth control and cancer screenings," she said.

 The Congressional Review Act has lets lawmakers undo regulations enacted in the last months of the Obama administration with a majority vote. Congress has already used the law to eliminate Obama regulations that strengthened protections for streams near coal-mining operations and prevented some people with mental disorders from gun purchases.

 Under the Constitution, the vice president casts tie breaking votes. Pence broke his first tie on the nomination of Education Secretary Betsy DeVos. ||||| CLOSE The Senate was deadlocked at 50 on a procedural vote to bring legislation to cut Planned Parenthood to the floor. Vice President Mike Pence cast the tie-breaking vote. USA TODAY

 A Planned Parenthood supporter attends Rep. Jason Chaffetz's town hall meeting at Brighton High School in Cottonwood Heights, Utah, on Feb. 9, 2017. (Photo: Rick Bowmer, AP)

 WASHINGTON — Vice President Pence cast a tie-breaking Senate vote Thursday to pass legislation that will allow states to withhold federal funds from Planned Parenthood and other health care providers that perform abortions.

 The measure, which now goes to President Trump for his signature, dismisses an Obama-era rule banning states from denying federal funds to such organizations.

 Pence's vote was needed to break a 50-50 tie. Republicans Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska broke with their party, voting against the measure.

 Republicans have said the Obama rule should be overturned to allow states the right to steer funds away from abortion providers, if they choose.

 Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, said the measure reverses a rule that "attempted to empower federal bureaucrats in Washington and silence our states."

 Democrats condemned the measure throughout the day, with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York calling it "another example of the Republican war on women."

 "It would let states treat women as second-class citizens who don’t deserve the same access to health care as men," he said.

 The House in February had voted 230-188 largely along party lines to reject the rule under the Congressional Review Act, which allows Congress to overturn recently enacted regulations.

 The rule prohibits states from withholding family-planning funding from providers for reasons other than their ability to offer family-planning services. It took effect Jan. 18, two days before President Obama left office.

 Since 2011, 13 states have restricted access to such grants, disrupting or reducing services in several instances.

 Read more:

 Women’s marches across the country have protested cuts to reproductive health care services.

 Pence, an evangelical Christian, was a leader in efforts to defund Planned Parenthood while serving in Congress and he co-sponsored “personhood” legislation calling for constitutional rights at the moment of fertilization. As governor of Indiana, he signed several anti-abortion bills, including one that banned abortions solely because of genetic abnormalities — legislation that was suspended by a federal judge.

 In January, Pence became the highest-ranking official to appear in person at the annual March for Life demonstration. He told attendees then that the Trump administration would work with Congress to permanently bar taxpayer funding of abortion and abortion providers.

 “Life is winning in America,” he said then, to cheers. “And today is a celebration of the progress that we have made in the cause.”

 Read or Share this story: http://usat.ly/2oCUBj3 |||||

 Planned Parenthood is a key target of a Senate bill passed Thursday. (Lucas Jackson/Reuters)

 This post has been updated.

 Senate Republicans were forced to call on Vice President Pence to pass an antiabortion measure Thursday, marking the second time they’ve cast a help line to the new administration to move legislation.

 Pence delivered the tiebreaking vote on a resolution reversing an Obama administration rule that prevented states from withholding family-planning dollars from Planned Parenthood and other clinics that provide abortions. The vice president’s appearance in the Senate chamber was needed after two Republicans, Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, defected. No Democrats supported the resolution.

 The measure, a priority for groups that oppose abortion, would give a thumbs-up to Tennessee and other conservative states to resume policies blocking Planned Parenthood clinics from getting federal funding through the Title X family-planning program. Those dollars can’t be used for abortions, but conservatives feel abortion providers shouldn’t receive any taxpayer funds.

 While courts have not allowed states to withhold Medicaid money from Planned Parenthood, they’ve generally allowed states to redirect family-planning dollars to other health providers.

 “It’s a simple statement of where we used to be,” said Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.). “States could choose to have Planned Parenthood as part of their Title X funding [but] states should not be compelled to.”

 [States with more Planned Parenthood clinics have fewer teen births and sexually transmitted diseases]

 The women’s health organization dodged a bullet last week when a House bill repealing parts of the Affordable Care Act and blocking Planned Parenthood’s Medicaid funding was pulled amid a rebellion of conservative and moderate Republicans. But it remains a key target for conservatives.

 President Trump is expected to sign the Title X measure, which the House approved in February, though his administration has yet to release a statement of intent on it.

 Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) said Thursday she is apprehensive that Republicans will continue trying to strip streams of federal dollars from Planned Parenthood through other means this year, including by attaching riders to a spending bill. The money Planned Parenthood receives through Medicaid cannot be used for abortions.

 “We should all be aware there is more headed our way,” Murray said on the Senate floor. “We are going to fight these efforts every step of the way.”

 Conservative activists, who saw in the ACA repeal bill their first realistic chance to block Medicaid from reimbursing any services at Planned Parenthood clinics, are urging Congress to pass a defunding measure before it breaks for an April recess.

 “You have a clear path to accomplish this goal,” several dozen groups, including Susan B. Anthony List, March for Life and Family Research Council, write in a letter being sent to members Friday. “There are no excuses for inaction.”

 The Title X bill is a small but significant victory for abortion opponents. Thirteen states have blocked Planned Parenthood and other abortion providers from getting the family planning dollars, which can be used for services such as contraception and screening for sexually transmitted diseases.

 But even this legislation was perilously close to defeat. West Virgina Sen. Joe Manchin III, the Democrat most likely to support it, instead sided with his party. That meant Republicans had to bring in not only Pence, but also Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.), who has been absent for several weeks recovering from two back surgeries.

 In both a procedural vote in the morning as well as the final afternoon action, Isakson brought the measure to a 50-to-50 tie, and Pence cast his vote for its final passage.

 Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.), who is recovering from back surgery, leaves the Senate chamber after voting on the Title X legislation on Thursday. (J. Scott Applewhite/AP)

 Isakson, who used a walker to get onto the floor, exited in a wheelchair. He told reporters that he had always planned to ease back into his routine this week by flying up from Atlanta, where he is undergoing a 12-week rehabilitation, to cast some votes.

 “We didn’t know at the time what it would be, but it turned out to be the vice president’s tiebreaker,” Isakson said.

 [Fact Checker: Schumer’s claim that ‘millions of women turn’ to Planned Parenthood for mammograms]

 The lawmaker initially expected to be needed on the health-care legislation the Senate was to take up this week, since its final passage and several amendments could have been decided by a single vote. But with that effort now in tatters, the Senate floor was quiet this week until Thursday’s debate on Title X funding.

 “I have watched the Congress of the United States on television for eight weeks trying to rehab from spinal surgery — I know more about it than I knew about it when I was here,” Isakson joked.

 Thursday’s vote was Pence’s second tiebreaker of his young term. The first came Feb. 7, when he cast the deciding vote to confirm Betsy DeVos as education secretary. Pence is expected to return to the Senate on Thursday afternoon for a final vote on the Title X measure.

 The last time a vice president had to break a tie on final passage of legislation was nearly a dozen years ago, when Richard B. Cheney voted for the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005.

 Cheney broke eight ties as vice president, mostly to pass amendments or advance legislation on procedural votes. Joe Biden never had to break a tie during his eight years as vice president. Al Gore broke four ties — all on legislation or procedural matters.

 Ed O’Keefe and Paul Kane contributed to this report. |||||

– The Senate on Thursday advanced legislation that would allow states to block federal funding to Planned Parenthood, after calling in Vice President Pence to break a tie, Politico reports. First, Republican Sen. Johnny Isakson was called in to the procedural vote, despite the fact that he's recovering from back surgery. He walked in with a walker but did cast his vote, bringing the total to 50-50. Republicans hold a 52-48 majority in the Senate, but Republican Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska voted with Democrats on this issue, forcing Republicans to keep the vote open for just over an hour to get their win, Fox News reports. The legislation would allow states to block funding that's earmarked for family planning, and Collins explained that's why she opposes it: "It’s important to recognize that there is already a bar against using federal funds for abortion and that bar stays in effect. That’s a prohibition that I personally support, but I’m a strong supporter of family planning funds." Now that the procedural vote has passed, the Senate can hold a final vote later Thursday to officially repeal an Obama-era regulation that kept states from blocking Planned Parenthood from receiving funding from Title X family planning grants. The House already voted to reverse the regulation in February, USA Today reports. This is the second time Pence has had to break a tie since becoming VP; the last time a VP had to do it prior to Pence was in 2005, the Washington Post reports.


– Adam Levine was Christina Grimmie's coach during her time on reality competition The Voice—and now the Maroon 5 singer has offered to pay for her funeral, Billboard reports. Grimmie was murdered after a concert Friday night; her brother, Marcus, wrote on Facebook Sunday night that Levine "personally called my mother and said he will pay for the funeral and her plane flight, and I was blown away." On Saturday, Levine tweeted a picture of himself with Grimmie. "Behati and I are absolutely devastated and heartbroken by Christina Grimmie’s death," he wrote. "Our hearts go out to her family." In his post, Marcus Grimmie added that his sister's manager, Brian Teefey, has set up a GoFundMe campaign to help with expenses; it's raised more than $170,000 so far. Teefey writes on the page that Grimmie "was like a second daughter to me."

Expand this summary.

"The outpouring of love and generosity that has been displayed to our family throughout these last few weeks has far exceeded anything we could have ever imagined. As we have always known, Christina's life was so very special, not only to us, but to everyone she touched with her joyful heart, beautiful voice and love for life and the Lord. Words cannot express what the many memorials, donations and tributes shared by Christina's fans and those in the media and entertainment industry mean to us. She will live on in our hearts forever. We will take our time in determining the best ways to honor Christina moving forward. Thank you." - Bud, Tina and Marcus Grimmie

 -----------------------------------------------------------------------

 Words cannot begin to describe the pain I am feeling. I learned this business through the eyes of a father and Christina was like a second daughter to me. All I wanted to do was assist her in achieving her musical dreams while protecting her from the pitfalls associated with the business. I never could have imagined this horrific event being one of the pitfalls needing to be avoided. In Christina’s honor I have created a Go Fund Me page to assist her family in their time of need. As family Mother, Father, and Brother made the ultimate family sacrifice to support Christina on her musical journey. They did nothing but love her and support her as family the best they knew how, the only worry I want them to have at this point is that of recovery.

 Grimms I love you, and miss you beyond comprehension.

 - Brian Teefey, LH7 Management

 (Account created by Laura Worley w/LH7 Management) ||||| Tweet with a location

 You can add location information to your Tweets, such as your city or precise location, from the web and via third-party applications. You always have the option to delete your Tweet location history. Learn more ||||| Adam Levine Offers to Pay for Christina Grimmie's Funeral Expenses

 Maroon 5 singer Adam Levine is offering to pay for the late Christina Grimmie's funeral, Grimmie's brother Marcus reported on his Facebook page.

 Levine -- who was Grimmie's coach when she competed on the sixth season of The Voice -- reached out to her family over the weekend after hearing the news that the 22-year-old was shot and killed by a deranged fan Friday night (June 10).

 "I found out this morning that Adam Levine personally called my mother and said he will pay for her funeral and her plane flight, and I was blown away," he shared in a post.

 A Look at Christina Grimmie's Career

 In addition to Levine's generosity, Marcus said that the GoFundMe page set up by manager Brian Teefey is helping with funeral expenses in this difficult time. At the moment, donations have topped $100,000.

 "Words cannot express," Marcus wrote. "Words cannot express...literally I have no words. I promise both my parents and I will read every one of these personalized messages. I'm so blown away by everything right now. But all I can say is thank you. And Christina will be missed and never ever forgotten.

 Grimmie was gunned down by 27-year-old Kevin James Loibl -- who was quickly tackled by Grimmie's brother before shooting himself -- on June 10 after opening for pop-rock band Before You Exit at the Plaza Live. She was signing autographs at a meet and greet after the show when Loibl shot her.

 Levine shared his grief on Twitter after he heard the tragic news. |||||


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 A problem with one of the International Space Station's cooling systems may require a repair spacewalk, NASA told NBC News on Wednesday.

 The situation doesn't represent a life-threatening emergency, but it has required a cutback in normal operations on the orbiting outpost, NASA spokesman Josh Byerly said.

 "The crew was never in any danger," he said. "They're fine for the near future."

 The problem is one of the "Big 14" maintenance issues that NASA and its partners expect to face on an occasional basis during space station operations. "This is the kind of thing that they expected to happen, at about the expected rate," NBC News space analyst James Oberg said.

 Shutdown mode

 One of the station's two external cooling loops, known as Loop-A, shut down when it reached a pre-set temperature limit on Wednesday, Byerly told NBC News. That forced NASA to reroute coolant into Loop-B. As a result, the station's six-person crew had to prioritize life support systems, electrical systems and science experiments — including the freezers that preserve scientific samples. Some non-critical systems were turned off in NASA's Harmony node, Japan's Kibo lab and Europe's Columbus lab.

 The crew "worked to keep the freezers going, " Byerly said.

 Engineers think the problem was caused by a malfunctioning flow control valve for the station's ammonia coolant. Mission managers are trying to determine whether a software fix can get the valve working again, or whether a spacewalk will be required. Sorting through all the issues might take a couple of days, or as much as a couple of weeks.

 Routine maintenance

 It generally takes two weeks to plan for a "Big 14" repair operation, but that depends on the resources at hand and the urgency of the problem. In May, NASA astronauts mounted a spacewalk to replace a leaky coolant pump control box after just two days of planning. Spacewalkers also dealt with coolant system maintenance issues in 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009 and 2007.

 U.S. spacewalks were temporarily suspended after Italian astronaut Luca Parmitano's spacesuit filled with water during a July outing, but Russian spacewalks have proceeded without problems. And since July, NASA has made significant progress on resolving the spacesuit problem that Parmitano faced.

 "We are cleared for a contingency spacewalk if we need to do one," NASA spokesman Kelly Humphries told NBC News.

 Two Americans, three Russians and a Japanese astronaut are living on the space station, which has been continuously occupied since 2000 by spacefliers who spend tours of duty generally lasting four to six months. The current plan calls for the space station to be maintained through 2020, although the United States and the 14 other countries supporting the $100 billion-plus station project are already considering extending its operating life.

 More about the space station:

 Alan Boyle is NBCNews.com's science editor. Connect with the Cosmic Log community by "liking" the NBC News Science Facebook page, following @b0yle on Twitter and adding +Alan Boyle to your Google+ circles. To keep up with NBCNews.com's stories about science and space, sign up for the Tech & Science newsletter, delivered to your email in-box every weekday. You can also check out "The Case for Pluto," my book about the controversial dwarf planet and the search for new worlds. ||||| Story highlights NASA says the space station and crew were never in any danger

 A cooling pump shut down after hitting a temperature limit

 An emergency spacewalk could be necessary, but it's too soon to tell

 NASA scaled back operations on the International Space Station on Wednesday after discovering a problem with a cooling system.

 A pump on one of the station's two external cooling loops shut down after hitting a temperature limit, NASA said.

 Teams worked to get the cooling loop back up and running, NASA said. Experts suspect a malfunctioning valve may have caused the problem, but they're still trying to figure out how to fix it.

 The station and crew aboard were never in any danger, NASA said.

 Officials could determine that an emergency spacewalk is the best way to fix the failed pump -- something they've done in the past.

 NASA said Thursday that there has been no decision on the spacewalk, and it may be a couple of days before the decision is made, according to Kenny Todd, the ISS mission management team chairman.

 Photos: Notable moments of the International Space Station Photos: Notable moments of the International Space Station The crew of the space shuttle Atlantis took this picture of the International Space Station after leaving it in July 2011. Atlantis was the last shuttle to visit the station, which was first launched in 1998 and built by a partnership of 16 nations. Hide Caption 1 of 13 Photos: Notable moments of the International Space Station The crew of the space shuttle Endeavour initiates the station's first assembly sequence in 1998. The International Space Station includes several large modules, each launched separately and connected in space by astronauts. Hide Caption 2 of 13 Photos: Notable moments of the International Space Station The Zarya control module, on the left with the solar panels, floats above Earth with its newly attached Unity module after the first assembly sequence in December 1998. Hide Caption 3 of 13 Photos: Notable moments of the International Space Station The first crew of the International Space Station, seen on board in December 2000. From the left are cosmonaut Yuri P. Gidzenko, astronaut William M. Shepherd and cosmonaut Sergei K. Krikalev. Hide Caption 4 of 13 Photos: Notable moments of the International Space Station The Endeavour crew installs the first set of U.S. solar arrays on the station in 2000. Hide Caption 5 of 13 Photos: Notable moments of the International Space Station In March 2001, a space shuttle delivered the station's second crew and brought the first one home. It also brought Leonardo, the station's first Multi-Purpose Logistics Module, to the station. Leonardo carried supplies and equipment. Hide Caption 6 of 13 Photos: Notable moments of the International Space Station In September 2006, the space shuttle Atlantis docked with the space station, delivering solar wings and a new truss. Hide Caption 7 of 13 Photos: Notable moments of the International Space Station The space shuttle Discovery leaves the space station in March 2008 after its crew successfully delivered and installed the Japanese-built Kibo lab. Hide Caption 8 of 13 Photos: Notable moments of the International Space Station The unmanned SpaceX Dragon spacecraft connects to the space station in May 2012. It was the first private spacecraft to successfully reach an orbiting space station. Hide Caption 9 of 13 Photos: Notable moments of the International Space Station An unmanned Russian cargo craft disconnects from the space station in April 2013. The station relies heavily on ships to bring up supplies. Hide Caption 10 of 13 Photos: Notable moments of the International Space Station Commander Koichi Wakata of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency peers out of the space station's Cupola observatory on April 27. The Cupola is a dome-shaped module that allows station crew members to observe and guide activities outside the station. Hide Caption 11 of 13 Photos: Notable moments of the International Space Station A Russian Soyuz spacecraft is docked with the space station on May 5. Since the U.S. shuttle program ended in 2011, all crew members are ferried to and from the space station on Russian rockets. Hide Caption 12 of 13 Photos: Notable moments of the International Space Station A Soyuz spacecraft is seen on May 13 as it lands in Kazakhstan with Wakata and other members of the his Expedition 39 crew. Hide Caption 13 of 13

 The external cooling loops are systems that circulate ammonia outside the station to keep equipment cool.

 Officials discovered the malfunctioning loop was producing too much ammonia Wednesday morning, NASA spokesman Josh Byerly said.

 Teams have shut down some noncritical systems on the station as a result of the problem, NASA said.

 The space station's life support system is still up and running.

 The current mission of the space station, officially called Expedition 38, is scheduled to go until March 2014.

 The six-person crew consists of NASA astronauts Mike Hopkins and Rick Mastracchio of the United States; Russians Mikhail Tyurin, Sergey Ryazanskiy and Oleg Kotov; and Koichi Wakata of Japan. |||||

– NASA is reporting a glitch with one of the two cooling pumps on the International Space Station, but it says none of the six crew members are in danger, reports CNN. The crew shut down some non-essential electrical systems as a precaution while they figure what went wrong and how to fix it. Best case, it's a software glitch and a relatively easy repair. Otherwise, a spacewalk will be necessary, reports NBC News. It will likely take days or perhaps weeks to sort it all out. "They're fine for the near future," says a NASA spokesman.