DON’T SNORT CHOCOLATE POWDER, FDA WARNS - Independent

14/12/2017

INDYPULSE

DON’T SNORT CHOCOLATE POWDER, FDA WARNS

'Snortable' chocolate powder has sparked safety concerns

SABRINA BARR

@fabsab5

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has issued a warning against snorting chocolate powder.

The FDA is cracking down on Orlando-based company Legal Lean who created a “snortable” chocolate powder called Coco Loko.

Nick Anderson, the 29-year-old founder of Legal Lean, decided to invest $10,000 (£7,400) into creating his own raw cacao snuff after trying a sample from Europe.

He described the effects of snorting the powder as: “Almost like an energy-drink feeling, like you’re euphoric but also motivated to get things done.”

@ArsTechnicaUK

Snortable chocolate raises lawmaker eyebrows: Cocaine on training wheels? https://arstechnica.co.uk/science/2017/07/cocaine-on-training-wheels-snortable-chocolate-raises-eyebrows-angers-schumer/ … by @BethMarieMole #CocoLoko

3:09 AM - Jul 12, 2017

Coco Loko is made from ingredients including cacao powder, ginkgo biloba, taurine and guarana.

Taurine and guarana are both often found in energy drinks.

Guarana has been found to cause insomnia, nausea, an increased heart rate and anxiety.

What is Salbutamol, the drug that could see Froome banned?

Earlier this week, the FDA posted a warning letter to marketers and distributors of two Legal Lean products - a drink called Legal Lean Syrup and Coco Loko.

The letter outlines the worrying fact that Coco Loko was promoted as a street drug substitute, thus encouraging young people to seek alternatives to illegal highs.

Scott Gottlieb, M.D., FDA Commissioner, commented on the risks associated with the distribution and consumption of snortable chocolate powder.

@SGottliebFDA

I’m deeply troubled by the unlawful marketing of Coco Loko and Legal Lean, especially since they’re so easily accessible by minors. There are health consequences to snorting any powder, not to mention the societal dangers of promoting drug abuse. https://go.usa.gov/xnRUz

4:14 AM - Dec 13, 2017

“As a physician and a parent, I’m deeply troubled by the unlawful marketing of these potentially dangerous products, especially since they are so easily accessible to minors,” he said.

“Encouraging the use of snortable chocolate as an alternative to illegal street drugs is not acceptable - there are very real consequences to snorting any powder, not to mention the societal dangers of promoting drug abuse.”

The Independent has reached out to Legal Lean for comment.

Trump's pick to oversee chemical safety at EPA withdraws nomination - CBS News

December 14, 2017, 6:12 AM

Trump's pick to oversee chemical safety at EPA withdraws nomination

WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 16: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) logo is displayed on a door at its headquarters on March 16, 2017 in Washington, DC.

President Donald Trump's pick to oversee chemical safety at the Environmental Protection Agency withdrew his nomination Wednesday after bipartisan opposition made his Senate confirmation unlikely.

Officials at the White House and the Senate told The Associated Press that Michael Dourson had sent a letter asking his name to be removed from consideration to serve as head of the EPA's Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention. The two officials were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

North Carolina's two Republican senators, Richard Burr and Thom Tillis, said last month they would vote against Dourson's nomination after The Associated Press and other media outlets detailed his past work as a toxicologist hired to defend major chemical companies.

The Senate's 48 Democrats were united in opposition, meaning only one more GOP defection would be needed to defeat Dourson's nomination.

In his letter asking the president to withdraw his name from consideration, which was obtained by the AP, Dourson said his stepping aside "avoids unnecessarily politicizing the important environmental protection goals of Administrator Pruitt."

"I sincerely and deeply appreciate all the love and support by my family, friends and colleagues during this 'surprising' confirmation process," he went on to say.

Sen. Tom Carper of Delaware, the top Democrat on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, said his staunch objections to Dourson's nomination were never a matter of partisanship.

"I sincerely believe he is the wrong person to hold this important position, and it's become clear that, even with a Republican majority in the Senate, he could not be confirmed," Carper said. "Dourson, an individual who has spent most of his career promoting less protective chemical safety standards, had no business overseeing our nation's chemical safety laws."

The EPA's press office did not respond to requests for comment Wednesday evening. Dourson has already been serving at the agency as a senior adviser to EPA administrator Scott Pruitt. It was not immediately clear whether he will continue in that role, which does not require Senate confirmation.

The AP reported in September that Dourson has for years accepted payments for criticizing studies that raised concerns about the safety of his clients' products, according to a review of financial records and his published work.

Past corporate clients of Dourson and of a research group he ran include Dow Chemical Co., Koch Industries Inc. and Chevron Corp. His research has also been underwritten by industry trade and lobbying groups representing the makers of plastics, pesticides, processed foods and cigarettes.

Burr and Tillis, both of whom are considered reliably pro-business conservatives, cited Dourson's past work and worries among their home-state constituents about tainted drinking water in opposing his nomination.

Marine veterans and their families have blamed decades-old contamination of wells at a North Carolina base with solvents and dry-cleaning chemicals for infant deaths and serious health problems, including cancer.

More recently, concerns have been raised about undisclosed discharges of chemicals used to manufacture Teflon and GoreTex into the Cape Fear River, a source of municipal drinking water for Wilmington and other southeastern North Carolina communities.

Dourson worked at the EPA for more than a decade, leaving in 1994 as the manager at a lab that assessed the health risks of exposure to chemicals. The following year, he founded Toxicology Excellence for Risk Assessment, a private, nonprofit organization that tests chemicals and produces reports on which chemicals are hazardous in what quantities.

Dourson's views toward industry are consistent with others Trump has selected as top federal regulators. Among them is Pruitt, who in March overruled the findings of his agency's own scientists to reverse an effort to ban chlorpyrifos, one of the nation's most widely used pesticides.

Court records show Dourson and his work have also often been called on when his corporate clients are seeking to fend off lawsuits.

Dourson's withdrawal was first reported Wednesday by Bloomberg News.

Putin says Russia won't be dragged into new arms race with U.S.A. - Reuters

DECEMBER 14, 2017 / 9:26 PM / UPDATED 17 MINUTES AGO

Putin says Russia won't be dragged into new arms race with U.S.A.

Reuters Staff

MOSCOW (Reuters) - President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that Russia would pay proper attention to the development of its army and navy, but it would not be dragged into a new arms race with the United States.

Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks during his annual end-of-year news conference in Moscow, Russia, December 14, 2017. REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov

Putin, speaking at a year-end news conference, also said that Russia would not back out of its commitment to concluding a START III Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty with the United States, despite what he said was Washington’s wavering on arms control treaties.

Reporting by Denis Pinchuk, Vladimir Soldatkin and Jack Stubbs; Writing by Dmitry Solovyov; Editing by Christian Lowe

6 ways to get people to like you according to an FBI behavioural expert - Independent

6 ways to get people to like you according to an FBI behavioural expert

Posted 2 months ago ( Oct., 2017 ) by Greg Evans in news

UPVOTE

No matter what you do in life, first impressions go a long way.

Whether it's your first day at a new job, a random interaction, someone in your class or a date, a good first impression can last an eternity.

From there you will probably want to keep the conversation flowing, create a bond, build trust and above all make people like you.

Robin Dreeke is the former head of the FBI's Behavioural Analysis Program and has over 27 years of knowledge on interpersonal relations.

He is also the author of the book It's Not All About "Me": The Top Ten Techniques for Building Quick Rapport with Anyone.

Using his know how, Robin told Time a few key things that you should do to get people to like you.

They include:

1. Seek someone's thoughts and opinions without judging them

We live in an age where almost everyone is judged in an instant. However, Robin believes that we need to eradicate this process from our day-to-day lives if we want to impress people.

The number one strategy I constantly keep in the forefront of my mind with everyone I talk to is non-judgmental validation.

Seek someone else’s thoughts and opinions without judging them.

People do not want to be judged in any thought or opinion that they have or in any action that they take.

It doesn’t mean you agree with someone. Validation is taking the time to understand what their needs, wants, dreams and aspirations are.

By not judging someone you are actively taking an interest in them and their lives, which will build a better understanding and circle of trust.

2. Lose your ego

We all love to show how much we know about a certain subject or a spout our opinion but it's hardly constructive, is it?

If anything, showcasing your sizeable brain and ego is a real mood killer, as it can come across as arrogant and confrontational.

Robin tells Time:

Ego suspension is putting your own needs, wants and opinions aside.

Consciously ignore your desire to be correct and to correct someone else.

It’s not allowing yourself to get emotionally hijacked by a situation where you might not agree with someone’s thoughts, opinions or actions.

3. Be a good listener

This is vital for any aspect of life.

Listening rather than constantly talking is a perfect way to process someone else's thoughts and respond to what they are saying in a thoughtful manner.

Don't be thinking about what to say next or constantly spout nonsense. Just be patient.

Curiosity shows interest but curiosity can only be earned by listening.

Robin adds:

Listening isn’t shutting up. Listening is having nothing to say. There’s a difference there.

If you just shut up, it means you’re still thinking about what you wanted to say. You’re just not saying it.

The second that I think about my response, I’m half listening to what you’re saying because I’m really waiting for the opportunity to tell you my story.

What you do is this: as soon as you have that story or thought that you want to share, toss it. Consciously tell yourself, 'I am not going to say it.'

All you should be doing is asking yourself, 'What idea or thought that they mentioned do I find fascinating and want to explore?

4. Ask the most challenging questions

Initially this might sound way too invasive as we usually just want to have a bit of fun and rapport with someone that we just getting to know.

Yet challenging or big questions can provoke inspired responses from people and reveal their inner most desires and passions.

It's not always easy but Robin believes that it is a positive model to live by.

5. Make strangers feel at ease

We don't always have the opportunity to talk to some we know on a personal basis.

Maybe you want to impress someone that you've literally just met but they aren't willing to give you their attention.

Robin states that you have to tell a little white lie in order to get a stranger to open up sometimes, such as "Hey, I'm leaving soon but..."

He elaborates:

When people think you’re leaving soon, they relax. If you sit down next to someone at a bar and say,

'Hey, can I buy you a drink?' their shields go way up.

It’s 'Who are you, what do you want, and when are you leaving?'

That 'when are you leaving' is what you’ve got to answer in the first couple of seconds.

6. Have good body language

All of the aforementioned points are valuable but they can be rendered instantly useless should you conduct yourself with the wrong body language.

You could be saying the most attentive and calming things a person has ever heard but it's no good if you are slouched in a chair or avoiding eye contact.

Robin recommends five key points for good body language, which are:

Smile - "A smile is a great way to engender trust."

Chin down - you don't want to be looking down on someone, do you ?

Maintain an non-confrontational angle

Palms up rather than palms down - "[This says] I'm hearing what your'e saying. I'm open to what your ideas are."

Raise your eyebrows - "Basically anything going up and elevating is very open and comforting."

HT Time

Fed raises interest rates, keeps 2018 policy outlook unchanged - Reuters

DECEMBER 13, 2017

Fed raises interest rates, keeps 2018 policy outlook unchanged

Howard Schneider, Lindsay Dunsmuir

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Federal Reserve raised interest rates on Wednesday but left its rate outlook for the coming years unchanged even as policymakers projected a short-term jump in U.S. economic growth from the Trump administration’s proposed tax cuts.

In an early verdict on the tax overhaul, Fed policymakers judged it would boost the economy next year but leave no lasting impact, with the long-run potential growth rate stalled at 1.8 percent. The White House has frequently said its tax plan would produce annual GDP growth of 3 percent to 4 percent.

The expected fiscal stimulus, coming on the heels of a flurry of relatively bullish data, cleared the way for the U.S. central bank to raise rates by a quarter of a percentage point to a range of 1.25 percent to 1.50 percent. It was the third rate hike this year.

But the Fed’s forecast of three additional rate increases in 2018 and 2019 was unchanged from its projections in September, a sign the tax legislation moving through Congress would have a modest, and possibly fleeting, effect.

The rate increase represented a victory for a central bank that has struggled at times to deliver on its promised pace of monetary tightening. It also allowed Fed Chair Janet Yellen, at her final press conference before her term ends in February, to signal an all-clear for the U.S. economy a decade after the onset of the 2007-2009 recession.

“At the moment the U.S. economy is performing well. The growth that we’re seeing, it’s not based on, for example, an unsustainable buildup of debt ... The global economy is doing well, we’re in a synchronized expansion,” Yellen said. “There is less to lose sleep about now than has been true for quite some time, so I feel good about the economic outlook.”

But the central bank’s projections also contained some potential dilemmas for incoming Fed chief Jerome Powell.

The Fed now envisions a burst of growth, ultra-low unemployment of below 4 percent in 2018 and 2019 and continued low interest rates - yet little movement on inflation.

Yellen said the persistent shortfall of inflation from the Fed’s 2 percent goal was the major piece of “undone work” she was leaving for Powell to figure out.

In its justification for Wednesday’s rate increase, which was widely expected by financial markets, the Fed’s policy-setting committee cited “solid” economic growth and job gains.

U.S. outgoing Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen holds a news conference after a two-day Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting in Washington, U.S. December 13, 2017. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

U.S. stocks extended gains after the release of the policy statement before ending mixed, while Treasury yields dropped. The dollar fell against a basket of currencies.

Traders of U.S. short-term interest rate futures kept bets the Fed would raise rates only twice next year.

The Fed now sees gross domestic product growing 2.5 percent in 2018, up from the 2.1 percent forecast in September. The pace of growth is expected to cool to 2.1 percent in 2019, slightly higher than the prior forecast of 2.0 percent.

“Changes in tax policy will likely provide some lift to economic activity in coming years,” Yellen said, adding that “the magnitude and timing of the macroeconomic effects of any tax package remain uncertain.

The impact would “mainly” work to raise aggregate demand as households and companies have more money to spend, Yellen said, with “some potential” to raise investment and the economy’s longer-term growth.

INFLATION CONCERNS

The Fed also said on Wednesday it expected the nation’s unemployment rate would fall to 3.9 percent next year and remain at that level in 2019, well below what is considered to be full employment. It previously had forecast a jobless rate of 4.1 percent for those two years.

But inflation is projected to remain shy of the central bank’s goal for another year, with weakness on that front still enough of a concern that policymakers saw no reason to accelerate the expected pace of rate increases.

“It shows at least some members of the Fed don’t see any reason to keep hiking rates in an environment where the economy is growing more strongly but certainly not overheating and where inflation hasn’t become a problem and doesn’t look like it is going to be one,” said Kate Warne, investment strategist at Edward Jones.

Policymakers do see the federal funds rate rising to 3.1 percent in 2020, slightly above the 2.8 percent “neutral” rate they expect to maintain in the long run. That indicates possible concerns about a rise in inflation pressures over time

Chicago Fed President Charles Evans and Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari dissented in the policy statement on Wednesday.

Reporting by Howard Schneider and Lindsay Dunsmuir; Additional reporting by Jason Lange in Washington, Jonathan Spicer in New York and Ann Saphir in San Francisco; Editing by Paul Simao

Rosenstein defends Mueller, FBI; pushes back at suggestion of bias in Russia probe - ABC News

13/12/2017

Rosenstein defends Mueller, FBI; pushes back at suggestion of bias in Russia probe

MIKE LEVINE

Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein offered a strong defense of Robert Mueller's appointment and actions as special counsel Wednesday and further praised the FBI, even as the bureau has been criticized by President Donald Trump in recent weeks.

Appearing before the House Judiciary Committee, Rosenstein, who serves as acting attorney general in matters related to last year's presidential election given Attorney General Jeff Sessions' recusal in such cases, said Mueller was an "ideal choice" for the position and pushed back on the suggestion that investigators on the Russia probe have acted with bias.

"I think it would be very difficult... for anybody to find somebody better qualified for this job," Rosenstein said. "Director Mueller has, throughout his lifetime, been a dedicated and respected and heroic public servant."

Mueller is a Republican who was appointed as special counsel by a Trump nominee.

In August, FBI investigator Peter Strzok was removed from the Russia inquiry, later revealed to be due to his participation in text message conversations critical of Trump with a colleague. ABC News reported Tuesday evening that the texts included messages that the president - still a candidate at the time of the exchanges - was "an idiot."

Rosenstein addressed concerns from congressmen Wednesday that political affiliation could have an impact on the impartiality of the investigation.

"I think it's important to recognize that when we talk about political affiliation... the issue of bias is something different," he said, adding that he and Mueller "recognize we have employees with political opinions. It's our responsibility to make sure those opinions do not influence their actions."

The deputy attorney general continued by saying he believes Mueller is leading his office "appropriately."

Appearing to seize upon the news of Strzok's messages earlier this month, Trump commented via Twitter that he believed the FBI's reputation was "in tatters" and the "worst in History," a notion Rosenstein refuted.

"I've expressed concern with certain aspects of certain things done by the FBI, but in general throughout my experience working with FBI agents over the decades, I found them to be an exceptional group of public servants, very loyal, faithful and dedicated, and I believe some of the finest people that I know are agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation," he said in response to committee questioning on the matter.

As for some legislators' ongoing concerns that Trump would order Rosenstein to dismiss Mueller in an attempt to end the Russia investigation, the deputy attorney general said no such suggestion has been raised.

"Nobody has communicated to me a desire to remove Robert Mueller," he said Wednesday.