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Internet’s Most Hated Man Martin Shkreli Endorses Trump

Controversial pharmaceutical company executive Martin Shkreli tweeted Friday that he would back Donald Trump in the general election.

Martin Shkreli, pharmaceutical executive and former hedge fund manager notorious for a 5,000 percent drug price hike, tweeted Friday that he would totally support Republican presidential hopeful Donald Trump in November.

He also noted that Trump’s campaign never contacted him but he believes that the real estate billionaire needs a “VP candidate who is seasoned in politics.”

When a reporter from BuzzFeed asked him whether he would serve the country if there was a proposal to do so, Shkreli replied that his ‘gifts to the world’ belong to the private sector so he would rather keep away from the public arena.

The pharma executive added that he loves his country too much to serve in a public position. Shkreli is also known as the ‘pharma bro’ and ‘the Internet’s most hated man’ for its relaxed attitude and acid remarks at the time the entire country was outraged at his decision to hike the price of a life-saving drug overnight by 5,000 percent.

When he served as Turing Pharmaceuticals LLC’s chief executive, he decided to raise the price of Daraprim from $13.50 to $750 in just one day. Daraprim is an older drug which can be a life-saver to HIV patients, pregnant women, and other patients with compromised immune systems. The drug was bought by Turing in 2015.

At the time, Shkreli said that the new price was not about greed, but about helping a company “stay in business.” Ironically, the 33-year-old CEO was arrested and brought to trial not because of the appalling price hike, but because of his shady deals while he was hedge fund manager. In the U.S., such price hikes are immoral, but there is no law against them.

Shkreli, however, had to appear before Congress and the Government Reform committee to do some explaining. As he was advised by his lawyer, he invoked the Fifth Amendment and refused to answer any self-incriminating questions.

Shkreli noted that he would rather back Donald Trump than support Hillary Clinton. He told Trump not to worry about a veto. Yet, Shkreli’s announcement comes as a surprise, since the young entrepreneur previously said that he wasn’t interested in politics and he ‘never voted and never will.’ He described politics as an “ugly game.”

The pharma bro’s recently found affection for Donald Trump is curious since the politician’s past tweets showed that the love was not mutual. Last fall, Trump said about Shkreli that he looked like a ‘spoiled brat.’

Image Source: Flickr

Texas Judge Orders DOJ to ID More than 100K Undocumented Aliens

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U.S.-Mexico border in the city of Nogales, Arizona.

A federal judge from Texas has just ordered the Department of Justice to disclose the ID info of thousands of undocumented immigrants that received federal protections and temporary work permits under a controversial executive order.

Between 2014 and 2015, 108,000 illegal immigrants benefited from work permits in the U.S. under a federal program challenged in the nation’s courts as unconstitutional by 26 states.

The federal program was very similar to the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program except that work permits were granted for a three-year period not two.

This week, U.S. District Judge Andrew Hanen, who had put on hold Obama’s executive action to expand DACA, ordered the DOJ to hand over the names, addresses, e-mails and other identification data of the immigrants that benefited from the 2014 immigration program.

While the nation’s highest court is now pondering on the constitutionality of the said executive actions, Judge Hanen is questioning DOJ attorneys’ moves in his court where more than two dozen states first sued Obama administration over the immigration reforms.

The federal judge is especially interested in the DACA recipients that received work permits in the states which sued the Obama administration. He now wants a full list with the personal info of these recipients from the hands of DOJ lawyers themselves.

The list should also contain the dates when the immigrants received or had their permits renewed and the immigrants’ A numbers, or special identification numbers for undocumented aliens.

The Justice Department must hand over the list by June 10, but the document will remain sealed until a Supreme Court ruling. In the meantime, any of the 26 states involved in the trial can request a partial disclosure of the list if they prove that they need the info to prevent harm within their borders.

The DOJ already has the full list as the Obama administration’s immigration programs have sought to identify undocumented immigrants who are valuable for the communities they live in and shield them from deportation.

It is unclear, thought, what would state authorities do with the info on that list. Critics say that the decision would just add extra pressure on undocumented immigrants who are already concerned that Donald Trump will deport them all if he gets elected president.

Image Source: Wikimedia

Breach in Border Fence Discovered in Arizona

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The subject of immigrants and terrorists has been blazing hot lately. While Europe seems to be the most susceptible to it, news about the Mexico border has been worrying officials. It has been reported that a breach has been found in the border fence separating the United States from its southern neighbor, in the state of Arizona.

The National Border Patrol Council president, Brandon Judd, has testified last week during a congressional hearing that the national union has discovered two trucks crossing through the breach into the U.S. thanks to video cameras. Unfortunately, the two vehicles were not intercepted by any border patrol officials.

According to Arizona Public Media, 2016 is expected to bring three times more individuals from Pakistan, who cross the border from Mexico. Judd has also added that Bangladesh, Brazil and Albania have recorded similar tendencies. The information is worrying, especially since no one could identify the trucks, let alone the cargo they were carrying.

If we take a look at data from the past two years, we can notice certain trends. One of the terrorists involved in the San Bernardino attacks had talked with friends in Pakistan, informing them she finally became an adept of jihad and radical Islam. Tashfeen Malik had already received approval for her K-1 fiancée visa. Back in 2014, Breitbart News has reported a record illegal immigrants number that came from Pakistan, Syria and Afghanistan, as they were arrested at the famous border. Furthermore, only five months ago six men from Afghanistan and Pakistan crossed the border illegally into the U.S. by passing through Arizona.

While testifying before the House of Representatives Judiciary Committee, Judd confirmed the “catch and release” practice, which refers to the fact that many immigrants cannot be deported or subjected to detention. However, this directive implemented by the Obama Administration contradicts the Priority Enforcement Guidelines, since it refuses to deport immigrants who have entered the country by illegal means after December 2013.

The rising concerns about border security are tackled in the light of the recent terrorist attacks that took place in Brussels’ international airport Zaventem and the metro station Maalbeek, but also the bombing of Lahore’s park in Pakistan, two incidents that left numerous dead and even more gravely injured.

According to Judd, the reason many American citizens prefer to vote against the establishment for the presidential primaries is simple: the people of the United States have been demanding a better border security since forever, but their plea has been ignored.

Image Source: CBS News

Researchers Learn Secrets of Puffins’ Migration

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The puffins are often spotted along the coast of Maine in the spring and summer months, but the colourful birds take off for open sea in autumn. The mystery of their ultimate destination has finally been solved.

Stephen Kress, director of the Audubon Seabird Restoration Program and founder of Project Puffin, said that the puffins spend most of their time at sea, and only about four months on land.

To gather data on the puffins, scientists placed nineteen geolocators on the birds’ legs. They were able to find two different locations where the puffins gathered offshore. Based on the data, the puffins first swam north to the Gulf of St. Lawrence in Canada. Then, the birds went to a location that was approximately two hundred miles (about 321 km) southeast of Cape Cod (an independent land mass separated from the mainland by the Cape Cod Canal).

Puffins are stocky, short-winged and short-tailed seabirds with brightly coloured beaks and predominantly black or black and white plumage. Althoch their look more similar to penguins, they are in fact a cousin of the auk – a bird of the family Alcidae.

Bird enthusiasts, as well as conventional tourists, often travel to Maine to see the puffins. The birds’ disappearance in autumn has baffled many visitors.

The scientists said that be new data will be used to ensure conservation efforts for the puffins’ survival, which have been listed as threatened and are currently declining in numbers.

Mr. Kress stated that the seabirds face several threats, such as climate change, offshore wind, and commercial fishing, which is why data on their wintering locations is very important.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) – an international organization working in the field of nature conservation – reported that there are about ten million individual puffins worldwide. Approximately one thousand puffin pairs come to Maine in the summer.

In the mid-19th century, the puffin population in Maine almost disappeared due to egg collectors. Thankfully, after more than forty years of conservation, the population has rebounded, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

To better understand the puffins’ travels, scientists will attach GPS (Global Positioning System) locators to the birds next summer.

Image Source: sandiegouniontrib

Volunteers Capture 95 Burmese Pythons in Everglades

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Florida wildlife officials invited people to help look for and capture Burmese pythons (Python bivittatus) in the Everglades, a natural region of wetlands in the southern parts of the state of Florida.

Carli Segelson, a spokeswoman for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC), said that participants can either capture or kill the invasive snake species – which usually grow to about six feet (almost two meters) in length. The brownish markings on their skin make the snakes very well camouflaged.

So far, about 95 snakes have been caught by 1,035 volunteers, according to Segelson. In 2013, the participants captured about 68 Burmese pythons.

This year, the challenge lasted from January 16 and to February 14. It is essentially a way for the state of Florida to control the population of Burmese pythons. Because it is an invasive species in the area, the snake population can damage the native wildlife and the ecosystem, Segelson said.

The pythons have prospered in the Everglades, eating the native fish, reptiles, birds, and mammals. The only major way to get rid of them is the Python challenge, according to experts.

There are two possible ideas as to how the pythons got established in the Everglades. One of them is that the shanks escaped from captivity in 1992 during Hurricane Andrew. The second idea is that pet owners might have set their pet snakes free into the wild.

According to a website called PythonChallenge.org, it takes about 15 hours (on average) to spot a python. However, it may be easier to find the snakes in canal banks, marshes, open areas, and pine rocklands, the site also stated.

Volunteers should put the snakes in breathable bags – like a cotton pillowcase – then place the bag in a ventilated container, which will be handed over to officials.

People can call 1-888-IVE-GOT-1 (1-888-483-4681) whenever they come across an invasive species of animal or plant in the wilds of Florida. To help capture the snakes year-round, volunteers can also join the Python Patrol.

Segelson said that the longest Burmese python that has been caught in Florida was eighteen feet (5.5 metres) long. The Burmese python is one of the five largest species of snakes in the world, and in its native habitat on the Malay Peninsula in Southeast Asia it can grow up to 26 feet long (8 m) long, she explained.

Image Source: discover magazine

Is Marijuana Use Really on the Rise?

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The number of people who use marijuana may not be increasing as quickly as though; it is possible that more people are just willing to admit that they use the drug, according to a new study.

The new laws in the United States made the use of marijuana more socially acceptable, which is why people are not as hesitant to admit that they use it, as they were back in 2002, the researchers said.

A study conducted in October 2015 found marijuana use has doubled in the United States, from 2003 to 2013. Moreover, based on the October study, the percentage of individuals who had a “marijuana use disorder” had also increased. People have the disorder if their marijuana use interferes with their family life or work, according to the researchers.

To conduct the previous study, the researchers used data from the National Epidemiologic Survey of Alcohol and Related Conditions (NESARC). In this survey, researchers typically ask people about their drug use in a face-to-face interview. However, past studies have found big differences between the results of the National Epidemiologic Survey of Alcohol and Related Conditions and the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) – in which participants give their responses anonymously on the Internet.

In the new study, the researchers used data from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health and found that marijuana use only increased from about 10.5 percent in 2002 to approximately 12.5 percent in 2013. Over the past decade, the number of marijuana users who met the criteria for marijuana use disorder has actually declined, the new study suggests.

The discrepancy between the National Survey on Drug Use and Health and the National Epidemiologic Survey of Alcohol and Related Conditions may be because of people’s changes in attitude toward marijuana use. In 2003, participants in the National Epidemiologic Survey of Alcohol and Related Conditions may have been less likely to disclose their marijuana use.

It is also possible that study participants were more honest in later surveys. For instance, the National Epidemiologic Survey of Alcohol and Related Conditions from 2003 was conducted by U.S. Census workers (who interviewed the participants), whereas the 2012 to 2013 NESARC survey was conducted by workers for a private corporation. According to the researchers, people are less likely to disclose illegal behaviours to government employees, compared with interviewers from the private sector.

The findings were published Wednesday (Feb. 10) in the journal JAMA Psychiatry.

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U.S. Ranks Highest in Shark Attacks

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Unprovoked shark attacks across the globe rose to ninety-eight last year, making it the highest annual rate of shark attacks on record, according to shark experts.

Ever since 1958, the Florida Museum of Natural History kept the International Shark Attack File (ISAF), which is a global database on shark attacks. Based on the data, year 2015 had the highest rate of unprovoked shark attacks, followed by year 2000 with eighty-eight attacks.

Off the coast of the United States, there were a total of fifty-nine unprovoked shark attacks in 2015; Florida led with thirty attacks, followed by North Carolina and South Carolina – with eight attacks each. Australia came in second with eighteen attacks, and then South Africa in third with a total of eight shark attacks.

Neil Hammerschlag, Director of the Shark Research and Conservation Program at the University of Miami, said that the data is being delivered out of context. Some of the ‘attacks’ were in fact just non-lethal encounters, he explained.

In 2015, the fatality rate was about 6.5 percent, with a total of six deaths, compared with 2000 (where there were not as many ‘attacks’ as in 2015) when the death rate was approximately 12.5, with eleven deaths. According to the International Shark Attack File, the numbers are really low given the fact that humans spend a lot of hours in the water every year.

Since shark populations are actually declining worldwide, the higher rates of encounters and attacks may be due to people spending more time in the water, according to shark experts.

The state of Florida – which had thirty attacks (more than South Africa and Australia combined) – has seen a boost in tourists in 2015. Florida Gov. Rick Scott said that almost eight million visitors came to Florida in November.

George Burgess, director of the International Shark Attack File, said that the number of shark encounters and shark attacks may increase with each year. With warming ocean temperatures, more attacks might take place north of California in the west and Virginia in the east, according to Burgess.

Even so, the odds of unprovoked shark attacks will still be quite low, experts say.

Image Source: stab mag

Why a Huge Crack in Earth Appeared in Michigan

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After five years, researchers have finally found a possible explanation as to what caused the strange crack in Earth to occur in Michigan: a pop-up in the upper layers of limestone, a new study suggests.

On October 4, 2010, the elevated soil and rock were found in a forest near Birch Creek on Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, north of Menominee. Because of the powerful sound, which thundered through the forest, nearby homes were shaken with a strength that equates to a magnitude-1 earthquake.

Locals came across the crack – five feet (1.7 m) deep and 360 feet (110 m) long – the next day. At its largest point, the ridge was thirty feet (nine m) wide and seven feet (two metres) high. On each side, trees leaned away from the massive crack at approximately fourteen degrees.

Wayne Pennington, senior author of the study and dean of the College of Engineering at Michigan Technology University (MTU) in Houghton, said that even the trees’ roots had been torn due to the forces that created that crack.

For the study – published in the journal Seismological Research Letters – Pennington and students at Michigan Technology University conducted a seismic analysis. According to them, the most plausible explanation for the crack would be a pop-up in the layers of limestone, which are located right beneath the clay layers of soil. Still, the researchers are not one hundred percent sure what caused the pop-up.

To survey the underground rock, the team used a sledgehammer, slammed it into a metal ball that was placed on the ground, and then observed how the sound waves travelled through the rock and soil layers below. The researchers found a buckle in the limestone layers beneath the crack.

Based on the analysis, when the pop-up appeared, the limestone layers heaved upward. Along the ridge, the clay soil is approximately five feet (1.5 m) deep, according to the researchers. As it bent upward, the stretching of the surface caused the crack to appear.

Penn also said that the crack did not occur due to an earthquake, because the pop-up appeared in the uppermost bedrock. Earthquakes usually strike miles deep, he added. Ever since 2010, two moderate earthquakes have occurred in Michigan; however both were in areas unrelated to the mysterious crack.

In quarries in eastern North America, pop-ups are quite common; they can also take place after glaciers retreat.

Image Source: geo. mtu

U.S. Zoos Pay $450,000 for Relocation of 18 Elephants from Swaziland

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Three zoos in the United States are paying $450,000 to relocate eighteen elephants from Swaziland, and the money will go a wildlife conservation trust for rhinos in Swaziland – a sovereign state in Southern Africa.

The elephants will board a Boeing 747 to fly to their new homes: the Sedgwick County Zoo in Wichita, Kan., the Henry Doorly Zoo in Omaha, Neb. and the Dallas Zoo.

Last year, the US Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) approved the relocation, a decision that sparked outrage among conservationists. An objection letter to the US Fish and Wildlife Service was signed in November by four animal rights leaders who work for different organizations.

Deborah Robinson, co-signer of the objection letter to the US FWS and a captive wildlife attorney, said that capturing wild animals to put them in zoos is something that should not be done anymore. Elephants in zoos usually die twice as fast as they breed, which is why this move will not help with the conservation of the species, Ms. Robinson added. The elephants, as well as their future offspring, will most likely never be released back into the will, she said.

To have good physical and emotional health, elephants require large open spaces, Ms. Robinson explained. The animals also walk for about 20 hour a day in the wild.

However, zoo officials say that they have the best intentions for the eighteen elephants. Their relocation will save the animals from culling and poaching, as well as intentional slaughter. Although the reserves in Swaziland have helped the elephant populations grow, the current drought that the area is experiencing has left the animals without much food or water, according to park officials.

The Room for Rhinos campaign explained that the elephants started destroying the habitat for other species, in search for more food. To make room for rhinos and avoid overpopulation of the elephants in Swaziland, eighteen of them – 15 females and 3 males – will have to be relocated elsewhere.

Melissa Graham, a spokeswoman for the Kansas zoo, said that moving the elephants to the United States is the best solution to provide a safer home to the elephants, and also help balance the environment in Swaziland.

According to Carney Anne Nasser, senior counsel for wildlife and regulatory affairs at the Animal Legal Defense Fund, elephant advocates do not agree with those arguments. Robinson also said that rhinos do not naturally live in that habitat, and that reserve officials are in fact planning to move the rhinos in, once the elephants are out.

Image Source: african elephant fund

Citizen Scientists Needed for Annual Bird Count

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The Great Backyard Bird Count – an annual event that will be held this year from Feb. 12 to 15 – invites amateur birdwatchers, as well as experts, to gather data on birds in the area.

The project, founded by the National Audubon Society and the Cornell University Lab of Ornithology, focuses on learning more about bird behaviour, conservation strategies, and bird environments. Public participation plays a key role in this type of scientific research.

Jon McCracken, national program manager at Bird Studies Canada, said that more and more citizen science projects similar to the Great Backyard Bird Count are taking place all over the world. A lot more scientists are now also relying on observations made by the public to help them collect data on a greater scale, McCracken added.

People can choose their levels of involvement in the project. They can watch and count birds for a mere fifteen minutes a day, or for many hours each day, according to McCracken.

Sheila Jasanoff, a professor of science and technology studies at the Harvard Kennedy School, said that the concept of citizen science is not something new. Ever since the 1700s, amateur naturalists helped record and index local animal and plant life, she explained. Nowadays, the fields of ornithology and astronomy still attract a lot of communities, Jasanoff noted.

The level of engagement and communication between scientists and the public has changes a lot with the Internet and social media. Mobile-phone technology is an especially important tool (among others) that birdwatchers have today.

Andrew Maynard, a professor in the School for the Future of Innovation in Society at Arizona State University, and Director of the Risk Innovation Lab, stated that thanks to new technology, ordinary people now have a great deal of opportunities to collect data for research, contribute toward scientific progress, and become more engaged in science.

Other citizen science projects include: JellyWatch, launched with the help of the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute in California; Firefly Watch, of the Museum of Science in Boston; Bat Detective, run by Zooniverse.

To this day, the Great Backyard Bird Count (launched in 1998) remains one of the most enduring citizen science projects. A record of 147,265 bird checklists was entered in 2015 by people in more than one hundred countries, who also took notes of changes in bird behaviour, according to the researchers.

Image Source: upload. wikimedia. org

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