Former President Donald Trump echoed Ronald Reagan’s famous question at a recent campaign event, asking voters if they are better off now than four years ago – effectively prompting a comparison between the current state and Trump’s presidency during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, many scholars suggest that public amnesia may have distorted people’s memories, with only 4% of voters polled stating they most remember Trump’s handling of the COVID-19 crisis. Instead, responses focused on his ‘behavior’, economic policies, and stance on immigration. Experts argue that post-pandemic amnesia and a ‘misremembering’ of past events often happens after traumatic episodes. Furthermore, it’s contended that the Trump administration’s approach to the pandemic, characterized by denial, confusion, and misinformation, made it more challenging for the public to remember what happened accurately.
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During an appearance on “The Joe Rogan Experience”, vice presidential hopeful JD Vance admired Lily Collins’ Netflix show “Emily in Paris”, calling it a “masterpiece”. He praised the show despite earlier stating he and his wife were watching “some stupid show” after the Republican National Convention. However, Collins, who voted for the Democratic nominee Kamala Harris and her running mate Tim Walz, revealed she wasn’t a fan of Vance’s work. The actress praised Harris and Walz for supporting women’s rights, LGBTQ+ rights, climate policy and environmental protection, access to education and healthcare, and more. She further warned against the ‘dangers of the alternative’.
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Boston area pizza shop owner, Stavros Papantoniadis, received a sentence of over eight years in federal prison for forcing employees into working under severe conditions and using violence and threats to ensure compliance. He was convicted in June on three counts each of forced labor and attempted forced labor. Papantoniadis employed undocumented workers, made them work 14-hour shifts seven days a week, and used surveillance cameras to monitor them. He also violently attacked a worker who tried to quit. The court also sentenced him to one year of supervised release and fined him $35,000.
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Starting from Friday, hospital patients in Texas will be asked about their legal status in the US, following an order by Republican Governor Greg Abbott. The aim is to track spending on non-resident patients in an attempt to recover funds from the federal government. Critics argue this could deter people from seeking essential healthcare. Florida initiated a similar policy in 2020. Patients are not obligated to answer and hospital workers must inform them that their care will not be influenced by their response.
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A pregnant teenager from Texas died after being turned away from emergency rooms multiple times, highlighting concerns about the loss of abortion rights in the US. Nevaeh Crain, 18, went to two emergency rooms but her abdominal pain was not addressed. When she was eventually diagnosed with sepsis, she was released after doctors confirmed her fetus’s heartbeat. Doctors in states with strict abortion laws are wary of providing care to pregnant women due to fear of legal repercussions. The consequences have proven harmful to women who require healthcare, often being moved between hospitals, which wastes crucial time.
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In a discussion with journalist Michael Wolff, New York financier Eric Epstein criticised the management style of US President Donald J. Trump. Epstein paraphrased some of Mr Trump’s comments about former strategist Steve Bannon, former White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus, and Trump Counselor Kellyanne Conway. Epstein also named JP Morgan chief Jamie Dimon and business magnate Carl Icahn as involuntarily entangled in the internal conflicts of the Trump administration.
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The Colorado Department of State accidentally posted a spreadsheet containing partial passwords for voting systems on its website. However, it stated there is no immediate security risk, as two passwords are needed for each component and physical access is necessary. The passwords were accessible for over two months before being removed and the department aims to complete password changes by the end of the day.
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Nevaeh Crain, an 18-year-old pregnant woman, died in 2023 after being turned away from two hospitals due to complications in her pregnancy. Crain had shown symptoms of sepsis but had been sent home twice from separate emergency rooms. Her death has highlighted the fear and confusion among doctors in states with strict abortion laws who are unsure of how to treat pregnant patients with serious complications. The Texas abortion law threatens prison time for interventions that end a fetal heartbeat and abortion, even in cases of a life-threatening pregnancy. A report by ProPublica found that delays in treating Crain and at least one other pregnant woman who has died in Texas are a consequence of changing practices amid legal threats to doctors.
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Ohio Senator and Republican vice-presidential nominee JD Vance claimed that some teenagers become transgender to enhance their chances of being admitted into Ivy league universities. In an interview on podcast “The Joe Rogan Experience”, Vance also suggested that testosterone levels in young men are linked with conservative politics and that some women “celebrate” their abortions. He commented that he and former President Donald Trump could likely win the “normal gay guy vote”. There is no data to support Vance’s assertion that being transgender increases the likelihood of Ivy league admission. Rogan countered several of Vance’s claims, including the idea that any significant number of people celebrate abortions.
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The UCHealth Greeley Hospital in Colorado went into lockdown following a shooting in its parking lot on Thursday. A 35-year-old woman with gunshot wounds walked into the hospital’s emergency department, and is expected to survive. The suspect, a 38-year-old male, fled the scene and barricaded himself in a house around five miles away. The vehicle caught fire and spread to the house, the suspect was then found dead inside. Police believe the shooting was a result of domestic violence and the perpetrator knew the victim.
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John Q. Hosedrinker