Write an article based on this summary:

– Even though Ellen Pao lost her gender-discrimination suit against a former employer, she's still widely hailed as a hero for bringing the boys' club atmosphere of Silicon Valley under a microscope. But now she's got a tough choice on her hands: The venture-capital firm she sued, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, says she owes almost $1 million in legal fees—but it will drop its pursuit of the money if she doesn't appeal last month's ruling, reports the Wall Street Journal. Pao's attorneys say they will have a decision in a few weeks. Kleiner Perkins says it offered Pao about $1 million as a settlement before the trial began, but received no response from her legal team. Because of that offer, the company can now go after Pao for expensive witness fees, explains the New York Times. One factor that will surely weigh on the decision: A review of previous cases suggests that Pao has only a slim chance of winning on appeal, reports Reuters.

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Venture capital firm Kleiner, Perkins, Caufield and Byers is seeking to recover about $973,000 in costs from a high profile gender discrimination trial that captivated Silicon Valley, according to a court filing on Thursday.

 Ellen Pao leaves San Francisco Superior Court Civic Center Courthouse during a lunch break in San Francisco, California March 25, 2015. REUTERS/Stephen Lam

 A jury cleared Kleiner Perkins in March of claims it short-circuited former partner Ellen Pao’s career because she is a woman. The trial helped spark a wide discussion about gender at the center of the U.S. technology industry.

 Kleiner has offered to waive its legal costs should Pao choose not to appeal, according to firm spokeswoman Christina Lee. Kleiner’s costs request includes about $865,000 in expert witness fees, the court filing said.

 “We believe that women in technology would be best served by having all parties focus on making progress on the issues of gender diversity outside of continued litigation,” Lee said in a statement.

 Pao and her legal team are considering the proposal, said Heather Wilson, a spokeswoman for Pao.

 Pao, now interim chief executive at social-news service Reddit, claimed her standing at Kleiner Perkins crumbled after she ended a brief affair with a partner. Her career deteriorated after he and Kleiner Perkins started retaliating against her in a climate that was overall unfriendly toward women, her lawyers argued.

 After the verdict, three jurors told Reuters they had focused on Pao’s increasingly negative performance reviews, which undermined her argument that she deserved to be promoted.

 Kleiner’s offer to withdraw its costs request in exchange for an end to the case, is common when defendants prevail in employment lawsuits. Should Pao decide to pursue an appeal, her case would be heard by California’s First District Court of Appeal.

 According to Westlaw data, out of 49 decisions involving discrimination and retaliation over the past two years, the First District affirmed 26 of 31 cases where the employer won in the trial court, or 84 percent. Only five cases were reversed.

 Meanwhile the court, which covers San Francisco and 11 other Northern California counties, handed victory to employers in more than half of the cases they lost in the lower courts, reversing 10 of 18 cases. ||||| SAN FRANCISCO — Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, the venture capital firm, is offering a new deal to the former associate who unsuccessfully sued the firm, accusing it of gender discrimination: Promise not to pursue this case any further or pay us $1 million.

 The offer was made in papers filed this week in California Superior Court in San Francisco. The firm said the case, which drew an abundance of unfavorable attention to its inner workings and the fate of women in Silicon Valley, cost it $972,815 in witness fees, deposition and court reporter costs.

 As the winning party, Kleiner is asking the former associate, Ellen Pao, to reimburse it for these bills. But if she forgoes any appeal and lets the case die, the firm will forgive and forget, or at least move on.

 “We believe that women in technology would be best served by having all parties focus on making progress on the issues of gender diversity outside of continued litigation,” said Christina Lee, a Kleiner spokeswoman.

 A jury at the end of March rejected all of Ms. Pao’s claims. Legal fees, which must have been considerable on both sides, are not on the table.

 Ms. Pao’s chief lawyer, Alan Exelrod, did not return a call for comment. Ms. Pao has not said whether she will pursue an appeal, and the grounds on which she would do so are uncertain.

 The judge in the case, Harold Kahn, made no obvious rulings that seemed to favor the defense. If anything, the opposite was true. He declined to allow testimony about Ms. Pao’s husband, Alphonse Fletcher Jr., whose hedge fund is bankrupt.

 Debra S. Katz, a Washington, D.C., lawyer who specializes in gender discrimination suits, said Kleiner sounded a little punitive.

 “If Kleiner wanted to look classy, it could have said, ‘This was hard fought and we obviously disagree with your view, but it’s in the interest of all parties to walk away. In the meantime, there have been lessons learned and we are going to fund organizations that focus on glass ceiling issues,’ ” Ms. Katz said.

 The vast majority of the fees Kleiner is trying to recover are for witnesses. The fees for Paul Gompers, a professor at Harvard Business School, were $92,700, the filing says.

 Other court filings revealed that last November, Kleiner had offered Ms. Pao $964,502 to settle, an amount based on the projected costs of the case.

 By making that offer, Kleiner can now ask for witness fees, which unlike deposition fees are not normally recoverable. Ms. Pao never responded, although she might wish she had. ||||| Silicon Valley venture firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers filed legal paperwork Wednesday seeking $972,814 in legal costs from Ellen Pao, the former partner who recently lost a high-profile sex-discrimination case against the firm.

 In its filing, Kleiner also revealed it offered to settle the case with Pao before it went to trial, offering her almost $1 million, but it said Pao’s lawyers didn’t respond.

 Kleiner Perkins said it would waive its attempt to recover legal costs from Pao if she agrees not to pursue an appeal in her gender discrimination case against the firm.

 A Pao spokeswoman said her legal team is “considering the proposal,” and will respond in the next two weeks. The spokeswoman said the team will respond at the same time to Kleiner’s claim that it attempted to settle the case but that Pao’s team never responded. |||||


News article:

Own or manage a building that may need a water management program? Find out what you need to know about

 Healthcare facilities face unique challenges. Learn more about water management programs in healthcare facilities.

 Take this free training on creating a water management program. ||||| Increased cases of Legionnaires Disease Investigated in Genesee County

 Angela Minicuci 517-241-2112

 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

 LANSING, Mich. – The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services is reporting an increase of Legionnaires’ disease (LD) in Genesee County in summers of 2014 and 2015. While the MDHHS cannot conclude that the increase is related to the water emergency in Flint, the State of Michigan is treating this situation with the same urgency and transparency as the lead response in the city of Flint.

 MDHHS has confirmed data through March 2015, and is finalizing preliminary data through November 2015, which indicates an additional increase in cases. From June 2014 to March 2015, 45 LD cases were confirmed in Genesee County, including seven associated fatalities. From May 2015 through November 2015, 42 LD cases, including one case of Pontiac Fever, were reported in Genesee County. There were three associated fatalities. The age range of these individuals was 26–94, with illness onset dates from June 6, 2014 to March 9, 2015 and May 4, 2015 to October 29, 2015.

 Legionella is a type of bacteria commonly found in the environment that grows best in warm water, such as hot tubs, cooling towers, hot water tanks, potable water systems, and decorative fountains. When people are exposed to the bacteria, it can cause Legionellosis, a respiratory disease that can infect the lungs and cause pneumonia. The bacteria can also cause a less serious infection called Pontiac fever. Legionella cannot spread from one person to another person.

 “While Legionellosis cases are not uncommon, we are concerned about the increase in cases seen in Genesee County,” said Eden Wells, M.D., chief medical executive with the MDHHS. “We are releasing this report and continuing surveillance and investigations to ensure that appropriate actions are being taken to protect the health of the residents of Flint.”

 During LD outbreak investigations, clinical specimens are often evaluated against environmental specimens to aid in determining an infection source. One reason that the increase in cases cannot be directly related to the change in Flint water supply is due to the lack of clinical Legionella isolates from case patients. Clinical isolates are necessary to interpret the findings of an environmental investigation in an outbreak.

 In the fall of 2014, MDHHS noticed an increase in people with LD and offered assistance to Genesee County Health Department (GCHD) with case investigations to determine exposures. In January of 2015, MDHHS stepped in to coordinate GCHD’s response. By April 2015, MDHHS had developed an interview questionnaire and began conducting case investigations to look at travel, work, and locations visited during the two weeks prior to symptom onset. These two weeks are considered the incubation period for LD.

 Of the confirmed first 45 cases, the source of water at the primary residence was City of Flint water for 47 percent of cases. When looking at additional community sources, more than half of the individuals had a healthcare facility exposure in the two weeks prior to their illness onset and the facility has since implemented multiple environmental and procedural measures to alleviate the situation. Preliminary data from May through November 2015 regarding case investigation information is being finalized and will be released soon.

 Ten people had no exposure to a Flint hospital in the two weeks prior to illness nor were their homes on the Flint water system. Other possible exposures were evaluated and no other known community exposures were identified. Enhanced surveillance has continued for the remainder of 2015 and into 2016.

 MDHHS has been and continues to work with the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on this matter. MDHHS shared an initial report with federal partners in June 2015, and initiated and has continued to facilitate regular communication with our federal partners and GCHD to monitor cases.

 Vigilant legionellosis awareness and surveillance is occurring in Genesee County. MDHHS informed hospitals in Genesee County of the increase of cases in January 2015, as well as recommended actions on their part throughout all of 2015. MDHHS has also recommended that the GCHD work with the clinical community in Genesee County to assist in LD surveillance through accurate identification, testing, and reporting of all suspect cases.

 Most people exposed to Legionella do not become ill. People at higher risk of getting sick include: individuals over 50 years old; current or former smokers; those with chronic lung disease; people with a weakened immune system from diseases like cancer, diabetes, or kidney failure; and individuals who take medications that weaken the immune system, such as steroids or chemotherapy.

 MDHHS is releasing the summary report which was shared in December 2015.

 For information about the Flint water emergency, visit www.michigan.gov/flintwater.

 # # # ||||| (CNN) Residents of Flint, Michigan, already reeling because of lead contamination in their drinking water, got more disturbing news on Wednesday.

 Gov. Rick Snyder announced the number of cases of Legionnaires' disease has spiked in Genesee County in the two years since Flint switched its water supply from the Great Lakes to the Flint River.

 But the increase cannot be directly attributed to the switch, said Nick Lyon, director of the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services. Not all the people who got Legionnaires' were exposed to Flint water, he said.

 From June 2014 to November 2015, at least 87 county residents developed Legionnaires' disease, compared to between six and 13 cases in the four preceding years, Lyon said. Ten patients died, he said.

 The water looked smelled and tasted funny

 Health officials are not changing recommendations about how Flint residents should deal with the water crisis. They should keep drinking bottled water and use water filters, Snyder said.

 Legionnaires' disease is a respiratory bacterial infection usually spread through mist that comes from a water source. It is not transmitted person to person. Symptoms of the disease include fever, chills and a cough. The CDC estimates 8,000 to 18,000 people are hospitalized with Legionnaire's disease in the United States every year.

 Flint, an economically depressed city of about 100,000 people, started getting its water from the Flint River about two years. It previously bought Lake Huron water through the city of Detroit. The state government made that change to cut costs.

 Soon after the switch, the water started to look, smell and taste funny. People complained.

 On January 5, Snyder declared a state of emergency for Genesee County as a result of the water crisis.

 He apologized for the state's actions, but residents and officials are furious. The state denied the problem existed for months and failed to use anti-corrosive treatment on the river water, which might have reduced the iron.

 'Flint residents are victims in this crisis'

 "Flint needs more action and less talk from Governor Snyder," U.S. Rep. Dan Kildee said in a press release. "It is important to remember that this crisis was created by a state-appointed emergency financial manager, and it is the state's ultimate responsibility to act and make it right. Flint residents are the victims in this crisis, and they deserve a more urgent response equal to the gravity of this crisis."

 Flint switched back to Detroit water in October.

 "It will require more time and effort before the water is safe to drink again," the city of Flint website said . "Until that time, residents and water customers are urged to continue using water filters and bottled water."

 Dr. Marc Edwards, a Virginia Tech researcher who studied Flint water and found high levels of lead, said it would be almost impossible to make a definitive link between the water source and Legionnaires' disease. To do so, he said, would require matching the strain of Legionnaires' in someone's body to the strain in the water.

 "What's clear is that there's an association, which means that the increase of the Legionnaires increased pretty dramatically," he said. "And there's a strong likelihood that it's related to the water supply.

 "We'll never know for sure, but we did find very high levels in the time period when they were on the Flint River water."

 Edwards said this might be the first case of Legionnaires' associated to lack of corrosion control.

 "This is already a tragedy," he said. "It's a crisis of conscience in government. This could potentially just add to it. But they're being very forthcoming about it at this point. There are just so many places where you wish people had done things differently."

 National Guard activated

 Snyder activated the state National Guard on Wednesday to assist with the water crisis.

 Seven guardsmen arrived in the town Wednesday, and up to 30 are expected by Friday, Snyder said in a news release.

 They will help distribute bottled water and water filters at fire stations and other public buildings, he said. That will allow Red Cross volunteers to go door-to-door to hand out water, filters and testing kits.

 FEMA announced that it approved Snyder's request for federal assistance, according to agency spokesman Rafael Lemaitre. The governor had asked FEMA to step in to coordinate with other federal agencies. ||||| An investigative science reporting series by Flintwaterstudy.org

 The Flint Water Crisis (FWC) and its aftermath as revealed in the ongoing legal cases (Wells, Lyon, Edwards vs Wayne State, Edwards versus Schwartz et al.) and this FlintWaterStudy blog series is destined to become a historic and instructive engineering ethics case study. We continue to document our efforts to navigate ethical dilemmas and hold “public safety paramount” as embodied in ethical codes of conduct such as that of the American Society of Civil Engineers.

 After FlintWaterStudy first made the startling claim that a few engineers had primary responsibility for the Flint Water Crisis, our position was affirmed December 2015, and finally reached closure when two of the engineers pled guilty December 26, 2018. In 2015, Governor Snyder apologized for their mistakes and took actions promoting reform at MDEQ (and EPA). His appointment of independent and knowledgeable truth-speakers to the Flint Water Advisory Task Force in 2015 was critical — this Task Force’s reports withstood the test of time and their recommendations effectively guided the disaster response. Snyder also invited critics Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha and Dr. Edwards to work on the recovery alongside the agencies they were previously fighting against, worked to close loopholes with Michigan’s tough new Lead and Copper Rule, and funded FACHEP to investigate the Legionnaires’ Disease outbreak.

 And while it is true that every level of government had some responsibility for creating the FWC, it should also be noted that every level of government came together in an unprecedented and exemplary fashion after January 2016 to help fix the Flint water system. After President Obama declared a Federal Emergency, Dr. Edwards participated in over a dozen FWC data summits and hundreds of interagency teleconference calls focused on controlling lead and Legionella. The National Guard, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS), Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ), Genesee County Health Department (GCHD), City of Flint (COF), United Way and others played exemplary roles. Whistleblower Miguel Del Toral was released from effective house arrest and became the public face of the Environmental Protection Agency emergency response, while hundreds of EPA and MDEQ employees worked tirelessly for Flint.

 By mid-2016 it was obvious that these extraordinary efforts, along with the switch back to treated Lake Huron water purchased from DWSD/GLWA on October 16, 2015, had produced major improvements in water quality. Chlorine disinfectant levels rose after switching back to Detroit water, EPA implemented enhanced corrosion control and boosted chlorine, and financial credits supported a “Flush for Flint program.” The 90th percentile lead level was dropping below the EPA action level and every reasonable recommendation made to control Legionella was implemented. While the system had not yet fully restabilized, the trends were promising and the Flint Federal Emergency designation officially ended August 14, 2016.

 FACHEP’s Toxic Mindset

 FACHEP was funded in February 2016 under emergency procedures and their Phase 1 study results were published in late June 2016. Their Phase 2 work had a primary goal to “Reduce the occurrence of Legionellosis-associated cases, hospitalizations and deaths to levels at or below those seen in years prior to 2014.” It took a few months to negotiate and fund the substantial $3.4 million FACHEP Phase 2 budget and vet a correspondingly expansive scope of work, and the work was slow because Professor Shawn McElmurry was inexperienced with human subjects research–he literally had to complete the most basic training before he could even conduct the work.

 The behavior of FACHEP collaborators and emails between May and August 2016 reveal an increasingly toxic and unscientific mindset, suggesting a growing sense of frustration that Flint’s rapidly improving water quality would leave them with no urgent problems to solve. In this series we argue that those who took the public mantle of FACHEP leadership considered themselves to be the sole entity worthy of the residents’ trust and who had the expertise to solve the FWC. This mindset may have arisen from McElmurry’s touching story of FACHEP’s “divine conception” due to his myth of work in Flint from 2010-2015 and Wayne State’s public proclamation of “unique expertise.”

 Consider testimony from Drs. McElmurry, Kilgore, and Zervos (WSU) about a May 2016 meeting discussing the FACHEP Phase 2 work plan with Mr. Lyon. During that meeting, they argued that if FACHEP’s requested $11-13 million in funding was not immediately granted, “people will die” due to delays in engaging their expertise. A witness attending this meeting with FACHEP faculty stated:

 Dr. Kilgore turned red and pounded his hand on the table and said, “People are going to Fucking die” if the research was not able to proceed immediately and as planned.

 To their chagrin, all the data that came in during summer 2016 proved that those diligently working on the water emergency since October 2015 were not the uncaring incompetents from which FACHEP imagined they would save Flint residents. Moreover, FACHEP Phase 1 documented increasing chlorine levels and no detectable Legionella in samples collected from homes during January 2016. The incidence of Legionnaires Disease had plunged dramatically through September 2016, compared to the 2014-2015 outbreaks, without any help from FACHEP whatsoever.

 A set of revelatory emails was exchanged just two days before the Federal Emergency ended, after an upbeat Flint Water Interagency Coordinating Committee meeting and as McElmurry was finally completing his last required human subjects paperwork. After arguing that certain disagreements with the team’s ideas (to be discussed in future blogs) were due to “purely political” reasoning, McElmurry noted:

 We really are running out of time. With summer nearly complete….I can’t tell you how furious I am with the state, they have completely screwed us and the people of Flint…

 This statement echoed the prior false claim that “people will die” unless FACHEP funding was immediately granted. McElmurry expressed further angst that “Marc Edwards also gave (sic) presentation saying legionella detected in residential households was low,” raising fears that a primary FACHEP goal had already been achieved before their work even began, and there were concerns that the State was “pulling out of Flint.”

 The email discussion concluded with Dr. Zervos appropriately suggesting that FACHEP should consider “working totally independently from the <GCHD and MDHHS> health departments,” a point that McElmurry immediately agreed with:

 I am fine with working outside of health department (sic), their conflict of interest is even worse than the State…it will just be extremely difficult for some aspects of the project.

 At this point, we raise a critical ethical question. If the circumstances were truly as noxious as expressed, was it ethical for FACHEP faculty to accept research funding from MDHSS in the first place? For example, codes of ethics state that engineers “shall act for each employer as faithful agents or trustees,” “shall advise their clients or employers when they believe a project will not be successful,” and “shall disclose all known or potential conflicts of interest that could influence or appear to influence their judgment or the quality of their services.” It strikes us as fundamentally unethical and unfair to all parties, to accept research funding from a client who you believe has just “completely screwed us,” particularly for a project that you felt would not be successful. And how it is possible that the personal conflicts would not affect FACHEP’s judgment or quality of services? Unfortunately, rather than seeking out other sponsors as was discussed, or even going to the media with their complaints which was also mentioned, they decided to take the funding.

 Not surprisingly given FACHEP’s toxic attitude, three exemplars of unethical tactics and incompetence, were to reach a crescendo almost immediately after their Phase 2 launch including: 1) Low chlorine alerts, 2) Claims to have discovered “dangerous” bacteria on Flint’s point of use filters, and 3) Implying Flint water was causing a Shigella outbreak. We will first review the “low chlorine” issue, because it illustrates the maddening position of Dr. Eden Wells and how the only FACHEP team member with significant drinking water experience (Dr. Susan Masten, Michigan State University) eventually became alienated from the rest of the team.

 Meet the whistleblower from Michigan State University

 We have come to know Dr. Masten as a quiet, knowledgeable, humble, and highly ethical professor, characteristics destined to clash with some other collaborators selected by McElmurry. Dr. Masten has remarkable moral humility and a healthy respect for the second canon of Civil Engineering ethics, which, to the present day, compels her to be the first to acknowledge the limitations of her own expertise and her own shortcomings. She considers her core expertise to be drinking water treatment with some experience in monitoring municipal water distribution systems. The topics of building plumbing, Legionella and chlorine regulation are not within her expertise. Dr. Masten was also McElmurry’s teacher when he attended MSU, and she once considered him a friend and colleague. These factors make the events described herein all the more painful, yet laudatory.

 In the interest of full disclosure, through February 2018, Dr. Edwards and Dr. Masten respected but did not really like each other. It was only after Dr. Faust informed Dr. Edwards that McElmurry had gone out of his way to malign Edwards with her, that he recalled some ill feelings about Dr. Masten had similarly originated from McElmurry. Edwards decided to reach out to Dr. Masten to better understand what happened and apologize for hard feelings based on hearsay, when he learned Dr. Masten had anger about Dr. Edwards that also originated from McElmurry. Both Masten and Edwards then went to Dr. Faust, who confirmed McElmurry had also bad mouthed Masten. Confused? Well, to put it simply, three people who once disliked each other for no good reason, were now fast friends, and a pathological rumor-mongerer had been exposed. As we dug deeper, we found that strategically maligning others was a habit of McElmurry and other FACHEP leaders. In this case, the false statements effectively prevented Drs. Faust, Edwards, and Masten from exchanging revelatory information, whereas in other cases, these tactics morphed into something even more twisted.

 Before we finally dive into this story, we must once again remind readers about the difficult tightrope water utilities walk in terms of controlling the levels of chlorine in distributed drinking water. Specifically, if chlorine levels in distributed water are too low, there is concern that the incidence of some waterborne diseases might increase. Conversely, if chlorine levels are too high, consumers may get itchy skin, complain of “swimming pool” smells and tastes in water, and the levels of trihalomethanes (THMs) can exceed regulatory limits. Based on her extensive experience and analysis, Dr. Masten co-authored an excellent paper highlighting all these problems and trade-offs for Flint in late 2016 from a perspective of water treatment.

 How much chlorine is “too low” or “too high” in a given Michigan home? In terms of the minimum, Michigan law states that:

 The residual disinfectant concentration in the distribution system, measured as total chlorine…shall not be undetectable in more than 5% of the samples each month for any 2 consecutive months that the supply serves water to the public.

 In other words, 95% of samples collected at defined monitoring points of the distribution system, must have detectable (≥ 0.1 mg/L according to MDEQ) levels of chlorine. The maximum chlorine is set by the U.S. EPA Maximum Residual Disinfectant Level (MRDL) of 4 mg Cl 2 /L. Hence, according to the chlorine balancing act as defined by Michigan law, a chlorine level of 0 to 4 mg/L is perfectly acceptable at a given home. The American Water Works Association (AWWA) has the same recommendation, but with a recommended minimum of 0.2 mg/L (instead of 0.1 mg/L) for 95% of sampling sites. It is also worth noting that millions of Michigan residents use ground water with no chlorine residual at all (including MSU) as is common all over the U.S.

 FACHEP’s First Press Release: Lower Chlorine Than Recommended

 The “low chlorine” fiasco started when FACHEP prepared their first press release October 16, 2016, just after McElmurry returned from three weeks in Australia. McElmurry claimed he completed a “literature review” on chlorine recommendations, and inserted the following concerning statement into the press release about levels of chlorine in Flint homes.

 So far we’ve also found chlorine levels in about 20 percent of the homes to be less than current recommendations. The American Water Works Association recommends maintaining a residual chlorine level between 0.2 mg/L and 2.0 mg/L at all times. We’ve identified some homes that are below 0.2 mg/L.

 Upon review of the draft release, Dr. Wells immediately noticed a key concern, stating “we advise you repeatedly that controls were needed—this appears again to be results without context.” This meant FACHEP should show data from other cities (i.e., controls), to make sure they would never make it falsely appear to Flint residents that they were in some kind of unique danger when that was not the case. FACHEP had already collected data showing many homes outside of Flint had non-detectable levels of chlorine as allowed under Michigan law, but McElmurry ignored Dr. Wells and did not put that information in the press release. Dr. Edwards also reviewed a copy of the press release and explicitly noted the statement on the AWWA chlorine recommendation was highly misleading. He subsequently sent Wells a direct web link to a 2015 AWWA reference about chlorine levels. For whatever reason, Edwards’ input was also not reflected in the final press release.

 After the statement was published, Flint consumers received sampling results with worrisome statements that chlorine should always be 0.2 – 2.0 mg/L to protect them from Legionnaires disease. FlintWaterStudy then received phone calls from Flint residents who were very concerned that their chlorine was “too low” (i.e., 0-0.2 mg Cl 2 /L) or “too high,” (i.e., 2.1-4.0 mg Cl 2 /L), even though Michigan law allows chlorine to be anywhere between 0 – 4 mg/L. Lawyers at the state immediately jumped at the claim 20 percent of Flint homes were failing to meet AWWA recommendations, and Dr. Wells urgent efforts to get information from McElmurry on what to do about this problem were unsuccessful. Wayne State’s risk communication “expert” Dr. Matt Seeger was the first to respond to Wells urgent request:

 As I indicated earlier, FACHEP is making no public health recommendations. We are not a health department and whatever we say would be inappropriate. We are trying very hard to stay in our lane. We referenced existing documents in the release

 By “existing documents,” Seeger was apparently referencing McElmurry’s use of a citation from a 1990 AWWA book that was written before distribution monitoring of TTHMs were required. (i.e., Pontius, AWWA, 1990, p 1194). It took us a few weeks to obtain this hopelessly outdated reference, and it turns out there is no such recommendation on page 1194, nor could we find it anywhere else in the book. In fact, there were many statements about residual chlorine in the book contradicting McElmurry’s quote.

 Considering that there were two other FACHEP train wrecks in progress at the exact time (to be described in future blogs), Dr. Wells was being too kind when she wrote back the evening of October 19, 2016:

 Your group today seems to want to throw out some vague information about finding some cases, without controls, with no context and THEN throw your hands up and say “oh we have nothing to do about it, that is a public health issue”. Your statements stating that you have no role exemplifies your lack of knowledge or sensitivity to public health issues when producing early unconfirmed and uncontrolled results from your studies… (such as what you are telling residents about their chlorine levels) that THEN has to be dealt with by the local and state health department, if not also the DEQ, the City, federal CDC and EPA, …. The questions we are getting from our attorneys were for whether the any of these issues indicated a boil water alert!…These experiences …have taken up an INORDINATE amount of time from local state and federal agencies who are already stressed to the maximum to try to deal with responses for important day-to-day issues in our state. We are funding you to be responsible research partners for a PUBLIC HEALTH issue. While you are independent, you do not operate in isolation, and you are responsible for the impact that your statements may cause in the population that you deliver them to.

 On the morning of October 20 2016, McElmurry finally emailed a response to Wells, repeating his quote that supposedly came from the 1990 AWWA book, which he was interpreting to mean that every resident with chlorine less than 0.2 mg/L in their water was in danger. He then asked Wells to figure out what to do about this “problem,” and suggested that Wells should consider issuing a warning to residents with less than 0.2 mg/L chlorine and point of use filters to “boil water” before consumption.

 McElmurry drags others into the debacle

 At that point, Dr. Wells directed McElmurry to the chlorine subject matter experts (SME) at EPA, Dr. Jonathan Pressman and Mr. Mark Durno, who had been intensively working on improving the chlorine situation in Flint for almost a year. Over the next week they also grew frustrated with McElmurry, who admitted he had errors in residential addresses, some of the low chlorine results were from homes with whole house filters designed to remove chlorine, and he therefore could not help EPA help the State solve the problem he supposedly had uncovered. While they waited for McElmurry to get the addresses, on October 24th, Dr. Pressman point blank asked McElmurry the same question Dr. Edwards had in mind when he first read the press release:

 I’m curious to know the reference of the quote…from your press release…The sources of chlorine residual advice that I am most immediately familiar with, such as the AWWA partnership for safe water, use a 95% of the time statement, not “at all times.”

 Incredibly, although McElmurry must have known that he personally inserted that erroneous phrase into the press release just a week earlier, he emailed Dr. Masten:

 I feel like he is splitting hairs here but I’ll have to respond. I can’t remember how this sentence made it in….if we had a real quote to reference or not. Do you?

 What? McElmurry had needlessly created a false alarm amongst Flint residents and disrupted multiple agencies working to protect public health, and he now wanted Dr. Masten to bail him out and find a real quote to support his mistake? Over the next few days, Dr. Masten looked hard to find something, but in the end she could did not find a “real quote to reference.” As was typical whenever McElmurry was confronted with an important question that demanded a response, and providing an honest answer would expose his mistakes and ignorance, he simply never responded to Pressman at all. McElmurry also refused to answer Dr. Edwards when asked the same direct question months later.

 When McElmurry finally got around to providing EPA the addresses, the expert chlorine response team with representatives from Flint, MDEQ, and EPA was dispatched to investigate. On October 31st, 2016, they reported back that hydrant sampling near the “low chlorine” sites reported by FACHEP had good chlorine at > 0.61 mg/L. Dr. Pressman then requested that if McElmurry was going to keep telling residents that they had “low chlorine,” he should immediately inform the city of Flint so they could respond.

 By this point McElmurry knew, or should have known, that his scientific basis for providing “low chlorine” alerts to residents and the agencies were bogus. So why on earth did he keep issuing them? The emails suggest he even derived satisfaction from continuing to raise alarms with the agencies for no good reason. For instance, after sending an email alerting EPA and the city to “low chlorine” in a Flint home November 29, 2016, he proudly forwarded it to Dr. Seeger with a statement: “They are going to love me.” Dr. Seeger responded “Wow.”

 And as McElmurry continued to sample for chlorine around the State of Michigan, getting the control data that Wells had repeatedly requested, he not surprisingly found many other homes meeting the Michigan standard but violating the McElmurry standard. He was issuing low chlorine letters and email alerts to residents and government officials in Ecorse and River Rouge, MI through late November 2017.

 FACHEP makes a mockery of ethical codes

 It was around November 2017 when Dr. Masten’s growing concern over what she considered unethical behavior by FACHEP’s leaders, reached a breaking point. FACHEP was trying to rush out a Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) publication concluding that the 2014-2015 Legionella deaths in Flint were due to chlorine levels dropping below 0.2 mg/L in consumer’s homes. In the text of the accepted paper the team had a misleading statement that claimed (bold emphasis added):

 To reduce the risk associated with bacterial growth in water distribution systems, regulatory agencies recommend a minimum free chlorine residual of 0.2 to 0.5 mg/L. …chlorine residual is the most widely reported measure of water quality within distribution systems…

 Dr. Masten emailed the lead author Dr. Michelle Swanson to explicitly point out what all of FACHEP should have known:

 This is still factually incorrect. Chlorine residual is NOT the most widely measure of water quality. In fact, it is NOT a measure of water quality at all. It is a measure of the amount of disinfectant that remains in water. One can have a low chlorine residual and the water can be of excellent quality. One could have a high chlorine residual and the water could be of poor quality.

 After Swanson refused to give Masten time to correct this and other errors in the manuscript, Masten made a very difficult decision to remove her name from the accepted publication. Immediately after this PNAS paper was published, it was used to support FACHEP in their now public disagreement with Mr. Lyon and Dr. Wells, and in court to support criminal charges brought against them. At that point, Dr. Masten decided she was ethically obligated to write the journal editors about her concerns with the document. The erroneous text that Dr. Masten called out was not changed in the final manuscript. In fact, the PNAS paper does not even acknowledge that the present day Michigan law had a standard for detectable chlorine (0.1 mg Cl 2 /L) at 95% of test sites.

 Throughout this ordeal, FACHEP’s engineering faculty (other than Masten) repeatedly lectured anyone questioning miscues like their “low chlorine” alert, that the engineering code of ethics mandate to “hold public safety paramount” justified their every action. But those same faculty repeatedly violated that same code of ethics, by working outside their core area of expertise, which did not include Legionella, chlorine measurements, Shigella or lead. It seems as if FACHEP leadership had created an alternative universe, in which they were the true heroes of the FWC, fighting against villains, real or imagined, such as Dr. Wells, Mr. Lyon or even Dr. Masten. This mindset is revealed in several illustrative statements, some of which are delusional considering that their real work started AFTER the Federal Emergency and Legionella outbreak had ended.

 Illustrative and highly dubious claims of FACHEP faculty heroism

 Source/ Date Statement Wayne State Press Release on PNAS article 2/6/2018 “This abandonment of basic human and civil rights by those who once had the public trust led to water quality, safety and access issues that endangered the public health. In the midst of this maelstrom, a group of engineers along with medical, public health and social scientists assembled a research team to pursue answers to problems that others would rather leave unexamined. The authors of these papers from several universities and members of the research team — which included community members in meaningful roles — affirmed the higher purpose of science — to expand knowledge and serve the common good. As this FACHEP team developed, the key underpinning was the attention to clear, honest communication and careful listening to disenfranchised, marginalized Flint residents.” Dr. Sullivan (FACHEP) 10/20/2016 Thanks, all, for the integrity you’ve already demonstrated to Flint. History will show that in the aftermath of tragedy at the hand of opportunists, you were among the first to demonstrate the nobility of great men. Dr. Ben Pauli (FACHEP) 11/24/2016 Of all the people and groups that are doing or have done testing in Flint, I think our team stands out for demonstrating that a commitment to the residents need not preclude a commitment to good science, and vice versa. Dr. McElmurry

 2/7/2018 Responding to a Facebook post that said: Thank Shawn McElmurry for Standing Up for Flint During the Legionella Outbreak…You Rock! *

 McElmurry wrote “all of this would have been swept under the rug <without FACHEP>”

 * There is no evidence that McElmurry and FACHEP did anything of substance during the Flint Legionella outbreak.

 If anyone on FACHEP is to be considered ethical and heroic, in our opinion it will be Dr. Masten, who gave up authorship on a PNAS paper and made other sacrifices as a matter of principle. As her reward for doing the right thing, she was subsequently locked out of future FACHEP conference calls and shunned by the other faculty.

 An enlightening conference call and FACHEP crybullying

 As noted in our previous blog, the relationship between FACHEP and the State was without normal checks and balances. Specifically, because government failures created the FWC, FACHEP was fully aware that the press would always take the side of presumably noble and independent faculty in any disputes. Based on media coverage since 2016, it is apparent that they were correct in this assumption. In their emails, FACHEP faculty openly discussed that special prosecutors were looking to charge high ranking public officials within MDHHS for the Legionnaires’ Disease outbreak, and there is even some evidence these faculty had been speaking with the prosecutors. FACHEP repeatedly exploited that power imbalance.

 In evaluating the evidence against Wells and Lyon related to FACHEP, we must give special weight to situations that do not involve he-said /she-said recollections. The last communication between Dr. Zervos (FACHEP) and Dr. Wells came March 3, 2017, when he wrote an angry email accusing her of being unethical (emphasis added):

 Dr Wells, your comments to us at earlier meetings such as, “Do you know who is funding you?” or your more recent mandate to us to put a stop to the retrospective epidemiologic component of the project, can only be interpreted as a threat, and a clear attempt to influence our independent work and scientific integrity.

 The “earlier meeting” in question, was a teleconference call on October 21, 2016, where the issue of the “low chlorine” alerts described herein was discussed. To our knowledge, even as of today, Dr. Wells is probably completely unaware that FACHEP’s written statements in the press release were based on McElmurry’s use of a now 28-year old AWWA citation that does not agree with modern AWWA recommendations or Michigan law. And that FlintWaterStudy, or even McElmurry for that matter, cannot even find a reference for the recommendation that caused so much trouble.

 At the start of the call, Wells ethically informed everyone it would be recorded and transcribed for all parties. The call starts in typical FACHEP fashion — Dr. McElmurry announcing that FACHEP can only spare 30 minutes to work through concerns raised by his research sponsor. The MDHSS employees whose life had been upended by multiple FACHEP train wrecks currently in progress, can be heard to say “What the hell?” while the phone was muted, in obvious reference to McElmurry’s misplaced priorities.

 Listen

 Wells started by noting the awkward position that FACHEP had placed the State in with the “low chlorine” press release claims. McElmurry then made a false statement to Wells, based on what was possibly his zero years of experience measuring chlorine in Flint homes (despite claims of 5 years work) that the data:

 was far beyond what it normally–what would normally be expected within a water distribution system and that’s why we thought it was important to relay that information to the public and the water utility

 Wells reinforced the need for appropriate controls and sharing critical data immediately with their public health partners before going public, which is something McElmurry was not set up to do as mentioned previously. McElmurry then referred to FACHEP’s policy of communicating results to the public before they even have a chance to do quality control or analyze what they mean (i.e., “real time” reporting):

 I am concerned about the values, that’s why I reported it as soon as I realized that we had this problem. I’m reporting to real time (??).

 As we will repeatedly see in future blogs, what FACHEP’s leaders would most consistently reveal in “real time,” was that they were incompetent and operating outside their expertise. But Wells then informs McElmurry about the ethical obligation to not just report problems, but to also provide vetted information to residents on what to do about them. She then stated “apparently you have done this type of research before,” and asked how he had ethically handled it, to which McElmurry stated:

 So the answer to that is I have done this kind of thing, we’ve measured chlorine before and we found it low. And I reported that back to the EPA and DEQ. In, you know, about the same time that I’m doing now. You know, I have not had the same level of urgency from the DEQ and the EPA regarding the data I’m showing.

 When this all comes out at trial, we certainly hope that evidence is demanded from McElmurry to document exactly when, where, and how he previously reported “low chlorine” data back to EPA and DEQ. Especially when a “low chlorine” measurement at a home does not violate Michigan law and he cannot find the reference in his press release. Call us skeptical, but by this point, his statement to Dr. Wells sounds like other unsupported McElmurry claims about his work in Flint.

 The transcript goes on and on in this manner, with Dr. Wells bending over backwards to try to be understanding and work with FACHEP, when she makes the following statement:

 And so there’s been some feeling that perhaps while academia is, you know, collecting all this data and may be able to sort of talk about this in the press–and, again, I’m not faulting you on the press release, but the impression was is oh, well, you know, MDHHS will go figure out what to do about this, and I–and so I just want, I plead that, you know, public health, to us in our world reigns supreme, and we will–we will continue to advocate for your role as an independent, as independent as can be, but remember we’re funding you, and our IRB is with you, but we want you to be as independent, we want you to find anything with the system that had anything to do with the Legionella outbreaks would be great, but to please understand our passion and some of our knowledge when it comes to trying to do these studies in the public sector. All right?

 Listen

 According to Zervos, this mention of funding, “can only be interpreted as a threat, and a clear attempt to influence our independent work and scientific integrity.” Interestingly, after the transcript of the call was finally admitted at trial, Zervos still insisted “I took it as intimidation.” We take Zervos’ claim as an example of “crybullying,” a tactic that FACHEP truly excels at and which they deployed repeatedly. We have attached 77 pages of Zervos trial testimony, a highlighted 45 page transcript of the conference call, and the conference call recording itself to provide supporting documentation for readers that allow their own conclusions to be drawn about FACHEP’s credibility when it comes to “threats” and “intimidation” from Dr. Wells (and by extension Mr. Lyon). Our own perspective is that she was bravely trying to do her job, as best she could, given the power imbalance in the face of repeated unethical and incompetent behavior by FACHEP.

 The DHHS call transcript ends, with the State employee’s, justifiably mocking the warped engineering code of ethics as embraced by FACHEP’s inept leadership as follows:

 (Many thank you’s and goodbyes) Phone all hang up MS. HANLEY: Wow, that’s concerning. I mean–- DR. WELLS: He still hasn’t gotten that household data. MS. HANLEY: What the heck? Seriously. Those of us here around the table could be doing what–it doesn’t take a rocket scientist. DR. WELLS: No, it doesn’t. MS. HANLEY: Really? Hand entering? DR. WELLS: Yeah. MS. HANLEY: I can’t believe it. And it’s like—I mean, what do you need for it to be a public health emergency? I don’t get it. I mean, we talked about, not just Ebola, but the Zika and whatever else. I mean, there aren’t a lot of people who have it, but there’s the threat that it could spread, right? And so I just don’t understand why it is that they’re slicing hairs like that, and they’re sitting there spending the time to make these determinations. MS. CALLO: Right, when they’re telling us that, oh, it’s my ethics, my engineering code of ethics, remember that? Anyway, at one point I got this big speech they have this engineering code of ethics <indistinct> it was Nancy Love (fades out and recording stops)

 Listen

 All emails, testimony and relevant documents cited in the article above can be downloaded below:

 Oct 20, 2016 Conference Call in FULL (audio)

 Primary Author: Dr. Marc A. Edwards ||||| Buy Photo Governor Rick Snyder addresses questions about a spike in a form of pneumonia in Genesee County. (Photo: Daniel Bethencourt Detroit Free Press)Buy Photo

 Since Flint switched its water source to the Flint River, officials have seen a spike in the number of cases of a severe form of pneumonia, called Legionnaires' disease — but officials say they're still looking for the cause.

 There have been 87 cases in Genesee County from June 2014 to November 2015 — and 10 of those cases resulted in death, said Dr. Eden Wells, chief medical executive with the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, or MDHHS.

 That number is a jump from previous few years, when the county saw between 6 and 13 cases. It’s not clear how many were fatal.

 While state officials said they couldn’t make a connection between the water and the spike in disease, a drinking water expert who studied Flint said the rise in cases was “dramatic,” and added there’s a “very strong likelihood” the river’s water played a role.

 “I applaud the state for releasing this (report),” said Marc Edwards, who heads the Virginia Tech Research Team which was a key player in exposing lead contamination in the city's water.

 Officials with the MDHHS say they noticed the spike in the fall of 2014. Months later, in April, MDHHS said they began interviewing residents who were affected.

 That summer, Edwards and his team noticed that in some large buildings, which can have older plumbing systems, there were high levels of the bacteria that can cause the illness.

 “Our hypothesis is that something about the Flint River and lack of corrosion control, plus big buildings, is creating these problems,” Edwards said Wednesday.

 Though officials held a news conference Wednesday to alert the public about the spike, they made clear that there were no changes in recommendations for bathing or showering. Edwards also noted that the water is safe for residents to shower in.

 “There’s every reason to believe (the spike) is something in the past,” he added.

 Legionnaires' disease is a lung infection caused by Legionella, a type of bacteria that grows best in warm water. The bacteria usually enter the body from a person breathing it in, but it can't spread between people. The most vulnerable are those with weakened immune systems.

 Gov. Rick Snyder said he learned of the disease cases only “a few days ago," and acknowledged during questioning that the increase in Legionnaires' disease “just adds to the disaster we are already facing.”

 Flint’s water became contaminated with lead in 2014, once its supply source was switched from Lake Huron to the Flint River water, which was treated at the city water treatment plant.

 The state downplayed and largely ignored the immediate complaints about the smell, color and taste. In October, the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality acknowledged it had failed to ensure the necessary safeguards for corrosion. That failure resulted in lead leaching into the water.

 Lead causes permanent brain damage in children and is linked to other health and behavior problems.

 The crisis became even more apparent this month, when Snyder declared a state of emergency, and Michigan State Police joined others in distributing bottled water and water filters. The state has also urged all Flint parents with children younger than 6 to have their children’s blood tested for exposure to lead.

 In response to Snyder’s announcement Wednesday, Senate Minority Leader Jim Ananich, D-Flint, demanded that national infectious disease specialists arrive in Flint “tomorrow” and added, “We need an investigation into the past outbreak so we know what happened, whether there is any ongoing threat, and how to make sure it doesn’t happen again.”

 Flint’s water is still unsafe to drink. Officials on Wednesday did not give a firm time estimate as to when the water might be drinkable once again, though Edwards noted that lead levels in a few homes have already gone down dramatically.

 At the news conference on Wednesday, Snyder fielded questions about his administration’s handling of the crisis. He said that a good portion of the fault “could lie” with the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, and welcomed the federal investigation already under way.

 “We’re taking every action within reason, and going beyond reason to address this,” he said. He also said, “This is something you wish that never happened, and let’s see that it never happens again in the state of Michigan.”

 Contact Daniel Bethencourt: dbethencourt@freepress.com or 313-223-4531. Follow on Twitter at @_dbethencourt.

 Fund established for Flint children

 A fund has been established to address the short- and long-term needs of Flint children exposed to lead through contaminated drinking water, the Community Foundation of Greater Flint announced Monday.

 “Our Flint children deserve every opportunity to be healthy and successful," said Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha, the Hurley Medical Center pediatrician who helped expose the tragedy. "The creation of this Fund will further ensure that our children are afforded the resources and interventions to overcome this population-wide exposure to lead.”

 Donations can be made online at www.flintkids.com

 Read or Share this story: http://on.freep.com/1UPCf8i |||||
What is a shorter version of the above article?

– Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder announced a new development Wednesday in Flint's water crisis that "just adds to the disaster we are already facing": specifically, a marked increase in cases of Legionnaires' disease that could be linked to the area's tainted water, reports the Detroit Free Press. From June 2014 to November 2015, there were 87 cases in Genesee County, 10 of them fatal, per the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services. In the previous four years, Legionnaires' cases ran from six per year to 13, CNN notes. And while the MDHHS isn't able to definitively tie the spike to Flint's water, it's taking the news seriously, and a drinking water expert who's been studying Flint's water tells the Free Press there's a "very strong likelihood" that it played a role. MDHHS officials first observed the rise in Legionnaires' cases in the fall of 2014, per the Free Press, and researchers found the bacteria to blame was proliferating in larger buildings, many with older plumbing. "Our hypothesis is that something about the Flint River and lack of corrosion control, plus big buildings, is creating these problems," Marc Edwards, head of an independent Virginia team looking into the crisis, tells the Free Press. Speaking Wednesday, Snyder said he learned of the issue just "a few days ago" and appeared to place some blame on the state's Department of Environmental Quality, the paper notes. "We're taking every action within reason, and going beyond reason to address this," he said. State health officials say it's OK for residents to shower and bathe, though they still can't drink the water. Edwards' team agrees, though he laments how it's all been handled. "It's a crisis of conscience in government," he tells CNN. "There are just so many places where you wish people had done things differently."


– China is ramping up its military presence on its 880-mile border with North Korea in case a nuclear, economic, or military crisis sends millions of North Koreans fleeing in search of greener pastures, according to government websites. But as the Wall Street Journal reports, that might not be all China is preparing for. China's Defense Ministry hasn't referred to North Korea as the reason for a new border defense brigade along with a 24-hour video surveillance system, unit upgrades, new shelters and command posts, and recent live-fire and special forces drills in border regions; but experts say China could be preparing to intervene should the US attempt to seize nuclear weapons from its ally on the Korean Peninsula. Some aren't so sure China would be keen to take on the US and stress that recent enhancements at the border were first discussed last year. However, "once you start talking about efforts from outside powers, in particular the United States and South Korea, to stabilize the North ... you’re starting to look at a much more robust Chinese response," argues a former US defense official for East Asia. "If you’re going to make me place bets on where I think the US and China would first get into a conflict ... it’s the Korean Peninsula." Others note China will want to prevent US influence there to retain its regional power. In a column in May, retired Maj. Gen. Wang Haiyun wrote China should not only intervene in a Korean conflict but demand no US occupation of North Korean territory, though he said he did not speak for the government. He made similar comments in an op-ed in the state-owned Global Times in March, CNN reports.

Expand this summary.

BEIJING—China has been bolstering defenses along its 880-mile frontier with North Korea and realigning forces in surrounding regions to prepare for a potential crisis across their border, including the possibility of a U.S. military strike.

 A review of official military and government websites and interviews with experts who have studied the preparations show that Beijing has implemented many of the changes in recent months after initiating them last year.

 ... ||||| (CNN) China is further fortifying its northern border region, which includes North Korea, amid continued tensions on the Korean Peninsula and concerns over potential US military action against Pyongyang.

 The North Korean-Chinese border stretches 880 miles (1,415 kilometers) across China's Liaoning province, an industrial and mining heartland prone to heavy smog and painfully cold winters.

 In more hospitable months, the border city of Dandong plays host to hundreds of tourists coming to gawp at North Korea -- from boats on the Yalu River which separates the two countries, or through binoculars on a section of the Great Wall overlooking the international boundary.

 Can China help the US deal with North Korea?

 Can China help the US deal with North Korea? 02:18

 Can China help the US deal with North Korea?

 Below the tourists, trucks carrying Chinese goods rumble into North Korea as a small number of shoppers and traders head in the opposite direction.

 But recent reports published on Chinese military and government websites, first highlighted by the Wall Street Journal , show Beijing is moving to reinforce the border as tensions on the Korean Peninsula rise and some in the US call for regime change in Pyongyang.

 Chinese vendors sell North Korea and China flags on the boardwalk next to the Yalu river in the border city of Dandong in China's Liaoning province.

 High security

 According to a report published last month on the official website of the People's Liberation Army (PLA), a "newly formed border defense brigade" is conducting patrols to gather intelligence, assess the situation and more accurately map out the border region -- which includes North Korea, Russia and Mongolia.

 Another report said the "whole area" has newly been placed under "24-hour video surveillance" including drones, patrol cars and high-tech cameras.

 The North Korea border region is a highly strategic one for China, and has seen conflict during World War II and the Korean War, but one of Beijing's chief concerns is not military forces pouring across the border, but refugees.

 "A mass movement of North Korean civilians across the border into China is a major concern, particularly given the dense population centers not far from the border, and the economic importance of Northeast China," according to a recent report by the US-based Jamestown Foundation.

 While North Korea has proved remarkably capable of shrugging off economic sanctions, the country has suffered major famines and widespread food insecurity in the past, analysts say a conflict on the peninsula would likely result in hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of civilians heading north into China, the specter of which is a "huge worry for Beijing" according to the Council on Foreign Relations.

 JUST WATCHED US to ban Americans from visiting North Korea Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH US to ban Americans from visiting North Korea 02:32

 Just as the Syrian refugee crisis has strained the resources of neighboring countries and caused widespread political strife in Europe, many in China are concerned by the hit the country's economy and security could take from even a small conflict on the Korean Peninsula.

 "The stakes are huge," retired US Adm. Mike Mullen said last year . "Instability generated on the peninsula could cascade into China, making China's challenge of providing for its own people that much more difficult."

 In March, retired PLA Major General Wang Haiyun said it was "necessary to prepare military action as soon as possible for a potential war" on the peninsula.

 "Once war breaks out, we should also consider setting up an international refugee camp in North Korean territory to prevent the influx of North Korean refugees," said Wang in an op-ed in the state-owned Global Times.

 JUST WATCHED North Korea yet to accept talks with South Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH North Korea yet to accept talks with South 00:57

 Warnings of war

 Tensions between Pyongyang and Washington have continued to rise amid recent claims by North Korea that it had tested a nuclear-capable intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM)

 A US defense official told CNN this week North Korea appeared to be preparing for another test

 The Donald Trump administration has sought to bring pressure on China to take action to contain its ally, but despite repeated condemnations by Beijing of North Korea's weapons testing, little progress appears to have been made.

 Beijing has also criticized the US and South Korea for their rhetoric on the issue and encouraged all parties to return to the negotiating table.

 However, such an invitation from Seoul to Pyongyang to resume talks went unanswered this month

 JUST WATCHED Pompeo signals support for N. Korea regime change Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Pompeo signals support for N. Korea regime change 00:52

 The situation has led to frustration on all sides, with Trump's CIA director Mike Pompeo last week appearing to indicate support for regime change in Pyongyang

 Tong Zhao, an analyst at the Carnegie Tsinghua Center for Global Policy, said that "given the growing tensions and risks of military conflicts over the peninsula, I am sure China has been enhancing its military contingency plans."

 On Monday, a Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) spokesman said "military means should not be an option to solve the Korean Peninsula issue." A Defense Ministry spokesman declined to comment Monday on China's war contingency plans.

 Speaking Tuesday, MOFA spokesman Lu Kang said the country's military "has maintained normal combat readiness and training status along the Chinese-North Korean border."

 Earlier this year, the Chinese state-run tabloid Global Times warned "if the North Korean nuclear issue boils over, a war on the peninsula is unavoidable." |||||


Write a summary based on this article:

Focused crawls are collections of frequently-updated webcrawl data from narrow (as opposed to broad or wide) web crawls, often focused on a single domain or subdomain. ||||| Actor George Takei took to his Facebook page Thursday night to explain what he meant by calling Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas a “clown in blackface,” saying the term was “theater lingo” that “is not racist.”

 A few fans have written wondering whether I intended to utter a racist remark by referring to Justice Thomas as a “clown in blackface.” “Blackface” is a lesser known theatrical term for a white actor who blackens his face to play a black buffoon. In traditional theater lingo, and in my view and intent, that is not racist. It is instead part of a racist history in this country. I feel Justice Thomas has abdicated and abandoned his African American heritage by claiming slavery did not strip dignity from human beings. He made a similar remark about the Japanese American internment, of which I am a survivor. A sitting Justice of the Supreme Court ought to know better. I have expressed my full thoughts on the matter here.

 A few thoughts from one of Takei’s (former) fans.

 1. No, no one cared if you “intended to utter a racist remark.” They cared that you uttered a racist remark. The outrage stemmed not from the fact that you intended to be racist, but that you seem so utterly clueless that what you were saying was unacceptable.

 2. Blackface is a “lesser known theatrical term”? Don’t be condescending. The people who took offense to your comments knew exactly what blackface is, and the entire ugly racist history behind it. On the contrary, you sound like the ignorant one for seriously trying to downplay that ugly history as just some cute theater factoid.

 3. So blackface “is not racist,” but “is instead part of a racist history in this country.” I… I won’t even respond to this because it’s literally nonsense. I honestly don’t even know what he’s getting at.

 4. “I feel Justice Thomas has abdicated and abandoned his African American heritage…” Let’s pause you right there. Who in God’s name are you that you have the right to tell someone that they have abandoned their entire race? It’s bad enough when conservatives of color get this from people of their own race, but now it’s apparently a racial elimination free-for-all.

 And what kind of screwed up person believes that someone abandons their entire race because of their politics anyways? What sort of discourse will this country have when people are told that unless they toe the line on certain beliefs, they will be considered traitors to their race and Hollywood actors can shame them without facing any sort of retribution at all?

 Of course, I suspect that if someone tried to erase George Takei’s entire racial (or sexual) identity in retaliation for an unpopular view he held, he’d have a slightly different take on the matter.

 5. “…by claiming slavery did not strip dignity from human beings. He made a similar remark about the Japanese American internment, of which I am a survivor.” Takei had several hours to look up and read Thomas’ dissent to know that he was intentionally taken out of context. Many, many people pointed out that he was wrong. At this point, his stubbornness can only be chalked up to intentional blindness.

 For God’s sake, Clarence Thomas was born in the rural Jim Crow South. He understands what it’s like to live under the thumb of a racist, oppressive government. Did anyone outside of the most hateful partisans really believe that he’s some sort of slavery apologist, and that he was open about that fact in the most widely read legal opinion for decades?

 But apparently Thomas’ experiences with racism don’t mean squat, because some actor who scored one significant role and coasted for fifty years ago thinks he isn’t black anymore. And worse yet, judging by the complete silence from nearly everyone on the in Hollywood and on the left side of the aisle, a lot people have no problem with that*.

 *Shout-out to Marc Lamont Hill, whose been one of the few liberals to date to loudly and publicly condemn Takei.

 [Image via screenshot]

 ——

 >>Follow Alex Griswold (@HashtagGriswold) on Twitter

 Have a tip we should know? tips@mediaite.com |||||

– George Takei is usually the one doling out criticism for those who step out of line on matters of race or equality. This time, he's the one catching flak from critics. It's over an interview the actor gave to Fox 10 Phoenix in which he called Justice Clarence Thomas a "clown in blackface." Takei, a gay-rights advocate, lit into Thomas because of his dissent in the Supreme Court's gay marriage ruling. Yesterday, Takei posted a message on Facebook addressing those who think he went too far, thought he didn't actually back down. He explains the theatrical origins of blackface as a white actor portraying a "black buffoon" and adds: "In traditional theater lingo, and in my view and intent, that is not racist. It is instead part of a racist history in this country." Then he goes after Thomas anew, saying he "has abdicated and abandoned his African American heritage by claiming slavery did not strip dignity from human beings." Thomas "made a similar remark about the Japanese American internment, of which I am a survivor," writes Takei, who thinks that "a sitting Justice of the Supreme Court ought to know better." He's still catching flak, though. "Where in the world does George Freaking Takei get off deciding that he’s the new arbiter of American blackness?" asks Sean Davis at the Federalist. And at Mediaite, Alex Griswold has a scathing critique that, among other things, describes Takei's it's-not-racist explanation as "literally nonsense. I honestly don't even know what he's getting at."


Summarize this article:

A young woman is in intensive care after having an allergic reaction to her friend's medication that has caused her body to burn from the inside out."Heartbreaking, just unreal. Just watching your daughter burn in front of you, literally burn in front of you," said Laura Corona, the mother of 19-year-old Yaasmeen Castanada.Covered in bandages, Castanada fights for her life in the burn ward at UC Irvine Medical Center.The Cal State L.A. sophomore suffered a life-threatening allergic reaction called Stevens-Johnson Syndrome."It can be considered a burn from the inside out because of mucosal involvement," said dermatologist Dr. Lawrence Matt.The teen took the medication on Thanksgiving because she had been sick. Less than 24 hours later, she was hospitalized and on a ventilator, her body breaking out in massive blisters as if she had been burned from head to toe.Corona says her daughter took the medication believing it would make her better, completely unaware it would be toxic to her body. She is warning others to be aware of the danger."First of all, don't share medication, don't give someone else your medication, don't offer medication," she said. "Another thing also, go get yourself checked out and your kids checked out, because you don't know what you're allergic to. You don't."The 19 year old, who has a 4-month-old daughter, is studying civil engineering. The family is devastated her life has taken such a dramatic turn.Corona has just one wish for her daughter this Christmas."For her not to suffer. That's all I want," she said.Castanada faces a long road to recovery, including extensive rehab. The family has set up a GoFundMe account. You can donate here: www.gofundme.com/YaasmeenCastanada ||||| Story highlights An allergic reaction to an antibiotic sent Yaasmeen Castanada to a hospital burn unit

 "It has just spiraled into a nightmare," her aunt told CNN affiliate KABC

 A doctor says the teen's prognosis is good, but she's in critical condition

 (CNN) It started with a sore throat on Thanksgiving and an antibiotic from a friend who wanted to help.

 Now 19-year-old Yaasmeen Castanada is fighting for her life inside a California hospital's burn unit, suffering from an allergic reaction that's so severe she has large open wounds all over her body.

 "It is heartbreaking, every day is a different look. Every day, she's like, shedding away. ... Overnight, it's a whole different person that you're looking at," Martha Hughes, Castanada's aunt, told CNN affiliate KABC.

 Doctors diagnosed Castanada with Stevens-Johnson Syndrome, a rare disease that can be triggered by antibiotics or other medications.

 "When she took the medication, she started having a hard time breathing, and she told her mom that her lips were burning, her throat, her eyes, they got so red that she couldn't talk. So she rushed her to the ER, and that's when they diagnosed her with the disease. And from there it has just spiraled to a nightmare," Hughes said.

 Now Castanada, the mother of a 4-month-old, is in critical condition at the University of California, Irvine, burn center.

 Her prognosis is good, even though the disease has a high mortality rate, according to Dr. Victor Joe, the center's director.

 But the situation, Castanada's family says, has been devastating.

 "Just unreal, just watching your daughter burn in front of you, literally, burn in front of you," her mother, Laura Corona, told KABC. "Every day, a new blister, a new burn, a new scar. And she's just, 'Mommy, I want to go home.' And I can't take her home. I can't put water on her lips."

 Mom: 'Don't share medication'

 On a website created to raise funds for Castanada's care, her mother said the harrowing ordeal began soon after her daughter took the medicine.

 "A friend offered her an antibiotic pill that she had from a previous illness," Corona wrote. "She was thinking that it would help her. This would be the biggest mistake of her life."

 Now, Corona says she's hoping to spread the word so others don't make the same mistake.

 "Don't share medication. Don't give someone else your medication. Don't offer medication," she said.

 She also advises parents to find out what their children are allergic to -- before it's too late.

 Doctor: Reaction causing skin to separate

 At first, doctors diagnosed Castanada with Stevens-Johnson Syndrome, which refers to a condition where between 10% and 30% of the skin on the body is affected, Joe said. Now she's experiencing Toxic Epidermal Necrolysis, the diagnosis when more than 30% of the body is affected. Joe estimates that 65% of Castaneda's skin and mucus membranes have been affected.

 The allergic reaction is causing layers of Castaneda's skin to separate, Joe said, creating lesions that grow into large open wounds.

 "Patients can experience problems with taste, swallowing, eyesight and sexual functions can be affected. In Yaasmeen's case, we are particularly concerned because her eyes have been affected. This can cause scarring of the corneas, which could lead to permanent blindness," he said. "We are trying to prevent that from happening."

 Photos on the fundraising website show Castanada lying in a hospital bed, with openings for her eyes cut from the bandages that cover her.

 As part of her treatment for the disease, doctors have wrapped her body in a special dressing, Joe said.

 "We have chosen to place a dressing that adheres to the open wound, which allows her skin to heal without having to remove the bandages to wash the wounds," he said.

 Mortality for those suffering from Stevens-Johnson Syndrome and Toxic Epidermal Necrolysis can be as high as 25% in adults, but tends to be lower with early treatment, according to the Merck Manual.

 Though it's uncommon, Joe said his hospital has treated around six cases in the past year, because the burn center has experience treating open wounds.

 "This is very sobering. The fact that you can get a life-threatening situation from taking a medication. It can happen, and most people don't think twice about taking pills for things," Joe said. "In fact, most of the time you do have some sort of side reaction to medication, just not this severe."

 After recovering from Stevens-Johnson Syndrome, patients usually only have minor issues with their skin, such as dryness, Joe said.

 "Hopefully new skin will come in," Corona told KABC. "I'm just there watching. All I can tell her is, "Hang on, hang on. It's almost over.'" |||||

 This is Yassmeen Castanada's story ... ..

 On Thanksgiving Yaasmeen was feeling ill. Common cold, sore throat. A friend offered her an antibiotic pill that her friend had from a previous illness. She was thinking that it would help her, but this would be the biggest mistake of her life. After taking the pill , Yaasmeen started experiencing burning in her throat, eyes and mouth. As the night went by, her eyes became blood shot red and the lining of her lips was already torn off. I rushed her to the ER . The dr's immediately diagnosed her with Stevens-Johnson Syndrome. Something I've never heard about. Immediately I googled Stevens Johnson's and I began to panic. In my mind I knew this couldn't happen to my baby, but deep down in the pit of my stomach was a terrible, terrible feeling. Within 4 days Yaasmeen's appearance was transformed. I watched my daughter's skin burn, blister, bubble, n peel off and there was nothing I could do about it. The pain and agony she was going through just tore my heart to pieces. She was transferred to UCIrvine's burn unit. On December 5th she has surgery to scrape the top portion of her body. She was wrapped in biobrane. 2days later the bottom portion of her body was scraped. As you can see in the photo, she was wrapped in bandages from hed to toe. My daughter was intubated so she couldn't communicate with me. i made sure i prayed over her daily, I spoke to her daily and reminded her that she had a daughter that loved her very much. Everyday i told her to fight for her life. Yaasmeens blood was infected and she has had 5 blood trasfusions. As we got closer to recovery, she had a set back. She was having a hard time breathing. After multiple exams of her trachea, they noticed her airway was closing so she had an emergency tracheotomy. she had her trach for 6months. There have been times where she had trouble breathing. She had another surgery in april to open her airway because it closed and the steriod injections didn't work. On my birthday June 18th she had surgery to reconstruct her trachea. She was able to sing happy birthday to me as soon as the anesthesia wore off. Best gift ever! Today 6/25 Yaasmeen had her stitches removed. Yay! Her left eye is very damaged, she will need a cornea transplant. Hopefully in 6-8 months when she is healthier we can face that surgery. As for now, she will just work on getting healthier and spending a lot of time with her daughter Khloe and return to CSULA! This whole expierence has taught me to never take my children for granted. I almost lost my daughter to 1 pill! She never smoke or drank, she is a good kid that was on the right path. I just can't understand why this happened the way it did. But we will not dwell in the past, She has goals and a bright future ahead of her. I thank all of you for your love, support and prayers for my daughter. *Please be careful with medications because an allergic reaction can happen to anyone. #prayforyaas

 Help spread the word! Share Tweet 4.8k total shares total shares ||||| Our general interest e-newsletter keeps you up to date on a wide variety of health topics.

 Definition By Mayo Clinic Staff

 Stevens-Johnson syndrome is a rare, serious disorder of your skin and mucous membranes. It's usually a reaction to a medication or an infection. Often, Stevens-Johnson syndrome begins with flu-like symptoms, followed by a painful red or purplish rash that spreads and blisters. Then the top layer of the affected skin dies and sheds.

 Stevens-Johnson syndrome is a medical emergency that usually requires hospitalization. Treatment focuses on eliminating the underlying cause, controlling symptoms and minimizing complications.

 Recovery after Stevens-Johnson syndrome can take weeks to months, depending on the severity of your condition. If it was caused by a medication, you'll need to permanently avoid that drug and others closely related to it.

  |||||

– In a case both bizarre and horrifying, a 19-year-old California woman is burning from the inside out. How that's possible: an allergic reaction. Yaasmeen Castanada, a 19-year-old Cal State LA sophomore and mother to a 4-month-old, was battling a sore throat on Thanksgiving, so she took a friend's antibiotic, reports CNN. She rapidly "started having a hard time breathing, and she told her mom that her lips were burning, her throat, her eyes, they got so red that she couldn't talk," says her aunt. Within 24 hours she was hooked up to a ventilator; she's now at the University of California, Irvine, burn center. Her initial diagnosis was known as Stevens-Johnson Syndrome, an allergic reaction that caused her skin's layers to part, resulting in open wounds. "It can be considered a burn from the inside out," a dermatologist tells ABC7. But as burn center director Dr. Victor Joe tells CNN, that disease refers to a condition that affects up to a third of the skin; roughly two-thirds of Castanada's skin is affected, and her condition is now called Toxic Epidermal Necrolysis. Though the mortality rate for the diseases can reach as high as 25%, Joe believes she will survive. But he says "we are particularly concerned because her eyes have been affected. This can cause scarring of the corneas, which could lead to permanent blindness." Per a GoFundMe page set up by her family, Castanada has had surgeries since Friday on the top and bottom portions of her body in which skin was scraped to spur new growth. Joe calls the case "sobering" and notes that it's one of about half-a-dozen his unit has seen in the last year. (Last month, a peanut allergy killed a college student.)


Article:
Story highlights They join over 1,500 other players who claim that the NFL hid concussion dangers

 The NFL has denied these allegations

 "We weren't aware of the long-term ramifications," a former NFL player says

 More than 100 former professional football players, including former Atlanta Falcons Jamal Anderson, Chris Doleman, and O.J. Santiago, are adding their names a growing list of players suing the NFL.

 They join more than 1,500 other players who claim that the National Football League hid the dangers of concussions from them.

 The latest lawsuit, filed Thursday in U.S. District Court in Atlanta by attorney Mike McGlamry, states that the NFL "repeatedly refuted the connection between concussions and brain injury."

 It goes on to assert that the organization failed "to take reasonable steps necessary to protect players from devastating head injuries. Moreover, the NFL has downplayed and misrepresented the issues and misled players concerning the risks associated with concussions."

 Regarding these claims, the NFL has repeatedly stated that player safety is a priority. The NFL has said that "any allegation that the NFL intentionally sought to mislead players has no merit."

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 Similar suits against the NFL have already been consolidated for trial in Philadelphia, but a trial date has not been set.

 The filing cites recent scientific studies that have found a connection between concussions and chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a neurodegenerative disease that results in Alzheimer's-like symptoms, including memory loss and mood swings.

 CTE results only from repeated blows to the head, and can be diagnosed only after death. According to the lawsuit, 12 cases of CTE have been detected in deceased NFL players.

 Former Green Bay Packer Dorsey Levens, who McGlamry also represents, says that when he played in the mid-1990s, he had no idea of the consequences the game could have. He filed suit in December 2011.

 At the time of the filing, Levens told CNN Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta, "I wasn't worried at all, you know, because that's the way you play the game of football. We weren't aware of the long-term ramifications of concussions like we are today. So I didn't worry about it when I played." ||||| Posted by Michael David Smith on May 3, 2012, 9:38 AM EST

 Boston University’s Center for Traumatic Encephalopathy has studied the brains of many deceased football players and almost always found injuries consistent with repeated blows to the head. Now the Center wants to examine the brain of Junior Seau.

 Peter King reports that the researchers in Boston are attempting to obtain Seau’s brain.

 The death of Seau, who killed himself with a gunshot to the chest, has reminded many of the death of former NFL player Dave Duerson, who also killed himself with a gunshot to the chest and who left a note asking for his brain to be examined to see whether the depression that plagued him late in life could be linked to brain damage he suffered on the football field. The Boston researchers determined that Duerson did, in fact, show signs of Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, a progressive degenerative disease of the brain found in people with a history of repetitive brain trauma.

 One of the rather shocking developments in football over the last couple years has been the way the words “chronic traumatic encephalopathy” have seeped into the lexicon. It’s long been accepted that if you follow football you know that ACL stands for anterior cruciate ligament and MCL stands for medial collateral ligament. Knowing that CTE stands for chronic traumatic encephalopathy feels different, feels like something we can’t just accept as part of the cost of doing business in the NFL.

 If the Boston researchers find that Seau suffered from CTE, and if they believe that CTE precipitated Seau’s suicide, that could be a watershed moment in the way we view the sport, and its effect on those who play it. This is research that should be done, even if it reveals information that makes all of us very uncomfortable about the game we love. |||||Summary:

– Did Junior Seau have football-related brain damage? The Boston University Center for Traumatic Encephalopathy wants to look at his brain to find out, Peter King reports on Twitter today. The Center has studied the brains of a number of deceased football players, and almost every time it's found evidence of repeated head trauma, according to Pro Football Talk, which suspects that a Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy diagnosis on Seau would be a "watershed moment." As if to underscore the news, more than 100 ex-NFL players today jumped onto a lawsuit against the NFL alleging that it "repeatedly refuted the connection between concussions and brain injury," and failed to "take reasonable steps necessary to protect players" from them, CNN reports. A total of more than 1,500 players have now joined on the suit.


Starting in 1996, Alexa Internet has been donating their crawl data to the Internet Archive. Flowing in every day, these data are added to the Wayback Machine after an embargo period. ||||| It was a black-and-white photograph in a newspaper. It showed a small boy, locked in a caged bed in a residential institution. His hands clutched what appeared to be chicken wire containing him, and his expression was agonised. There would be no Lumos – the charity dedicated to closing child institutions and so-called orphanages – if there hadn’t first been this picture. I knew the immediate shameful impulse to turn away, to hide the page, not to look.

 I could try to justify that impulse by saying that I was pregnant at the time, feeling vulnerable and hormonal. The sad truth remains that my instinctive reaction to that picture could stand as a metaphor for the attitude that has enabled the unjustifiable incarceration of 8 million children around this world to take place with little outrage or comment. Ashamed of that reflexive refusal to look, I forced myself to turn back to the picture and read the article.

 It told of a nightmarish institution where children as young as six were caged most of the day and night. I ripped the article out, and the following day I began writing letters to everybody I could think of with influence in the matter.

 These efforts led quickly to the establishment of Lumos, named for the spell I created in Harry Potter to bring light to some dark and frightening places. Part of our work in Lumos is to shed light on the lives of those millions of children separated from their families for reasons of poverty, disability and discrimination.

 The shocking truth is that the vast majority of these children have parents that could care for them. They are not orphans. Most are placed in institutions by families who are too poor to provide for them, or because of a lack of local education and health facilities, especially for children with special needs. The minority who do not have parents, or for whom staying at home is not in their best interests, are often placed in institutions because there is no alternative.

 The idea of any child being taken from their family and locked away, all too often in atrocious conditions, is particularly poignant at this time of year. For children in institutions, life too often resembles the darkest of Grimms’ fairytales. Georgette Mulheir, CEO of Lumos, tells how one Christmas she took sweets to the 270 children in a particular institution. What she discovered there was nightmarish. It was minus 25 outside, the heating was broken, children lay shivering in their beds, dressed in all their clothes, wrapped in threadbare blankets.

 Again and again, when I quote the statistics to people who are not familiar with the field – 8 million children separated from their families worldwide – they are aghast and disbelieving. “How could that happen,” they ask, “without the whole world knowing?” The answer is really quite simple: who is easier to silence than a child? Especially a child with mental or physical disabilities, who is taken away from a family that has been convinced that it is for the best, or whose only alternative is watching that child starve.

 There is now a wealth of scientific proof that institutions cause children measurable and sometimes irreparable harm. Institutionalised children are far less likely to be educated and to be physically or mentally well. Malnutrition is all too common. They are many more times likely to be abused or trafficked. The effects on infants are particularly chronic, with many failing to thrive, or dying.

 The impact of not having the love and attention of a dedicated carer is profound. It can cause stunting, developmental delays and psychological trauma. I have seen babies who have learned not to cry because nobody comes. I have met children so desperate for affection that they will crawl into any stranger’s lap.

 Damage is done very early, and it is lasting. Cut off from society, institutionalised children return to the world with their chances of a happy, healthy life greatly impaired, often unable to find employment, excluded from the community and more likely to enter into a lifetime of poverty and dependency.

 A crucial point is that these dire effects apply to children from all kinds of institutions, including those that are well resourced. The solution is not pretty murals, or comfier beds, or teddy bears. The solution is no institutions.

 The good news is that this is an entirely solvable problem. Based on the successes already achieved in several countries, Lumos estimates that the institutionalisation of children can be eradicated globally by 2050 – in our lifetime.

 Where there is investment in inclusive education and health, where vulnerable families receive support for poverty, employment and social and medical problems; where there are fostering, adoption or other family-based care alternatives for children who cannot be with their parents; and where the culture of institutionalisation is replaced by one that prioritises keeping families together, children can thrive within their own families and communities.

 International donors play a vital role in this regard. The issues they choose to fund, and the principles they promote, greatly influence what support is available to children and families.

 Ending the practice of keeping children in institutions isn’t just a moral imperative: it makes excellent economic sense. It is far more cost-effective to support a child in a family than in an institution – and this also reduces long-term costs, since these children are far less likely to become dependent in adulthood. We know our model works. Since Lumos began working in Moldova in 2007, there has been a 70% reduction in the number of children in institutions nationally, despite chronic political instability and Moldova’s standing as the poorest country in Europe.

 In the Czech Republic, while the numbers of children being admitted into institutions has dropped by 16% nationally in the past year, in Lumos’s demonstration area they have achieved a 75% fall in admissions. It is eminently possible that by 2020 there will be no more children in institutions in the Czech Republic.

 Since Lumos began working in Bulgaria, the number of children in institutions has reduced by 54%. New admissions to institutions in Bulgaria have fallen by 34%, and the number of foster carers has increased by 440%, from 357 to more than 1600, providing the much-needed family environments for children who would otherwise be in institutions.

 This is a critical time for getting children out of institutions. The commitments made by the EU, the US and the Global Alliance for Children – a grouping of public and private aid donors, and NGOs, of which Lumos is a key member – have set an important precedent for other donors. There is now a critical mass of expertise and evidence on which we can all build.

 Many millions of people around the world want to see an end to the harmful and unnecessary practice of institutionalisation. Everyone has a role to play in that regard, which is precisely the idea behind the social media campaign #letstalklumos launched last month. Keeping this issue alive and creating awareness is a vital part of changing the future for these children.

 I recently committed to becoming president of Lumos for life. It is my dream that, within my lifetime, the very concept of taking a child away from its family and locking it away will seem to belong to a cruel, fictional world.

 • JK Rowling recently launched the awareness campaign #Letstalklumos (wearelumos.org/letstalklumos)

 © JK Rowling, founder and president of Lumos |||||
What is a one-paragraph summary of the above article?

– JK Rowling makes the case today that millions of kids around the world are living in appalling conditions—the stuff of Grimms' fairytales—in institutions that are supposed to be caring for them. Rowling wants to change that, not by improving these orphanages with "pretty murals" or teddy bears, but by eliminating them altogether, she writes in the Guardian. The big challenge is providing support for often-poor families who think they have no choice but to place their child in such an institution. If a child's biological family isn't up to the task, then foster families can step in. But Rowling argues that institutions are absolutely the wrong answer. Rowling has started a charity called Lumos (yes, after one of her Harry Potter spells), and writes that it has made genuine progress in reducing new placements in countries such as Bulgaria, Moldova, and the Czech Republic. She wants to raise awareness and donations with campaigns like this one. "I recently committed to becoming president of Lumos for life," writes Rowling. "It is my dream that, within my lifetime, the very concept of taking a child away from its family and locking it away will seem to belong to a cruel, fictional world." Click for her full column.