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How right-wing news powers the ‘gold IRA’ industry

The Washington Post

How right-wing news powers the ‘gold IRA’ industry

Jeremy B. Merrill and Hanna Kozlowska – July 25, 2023

Dedicated viewers of Fox News are likely familiar with Lear Capital, a Los Angeles company that sells gold and silver coins. In recent years, the company’s ads have been a constant presence on Fox airwaves, warning viewers to protect their retirement savings from a looming “pension crisis” and “dollar collapse.”

One such ad caught the attention of Terry White, a disabled retiree from New York. In 2018, White invested $174,000 in the coins, according to a lawsuit by the New York attorney general – only to later learn that Lear charged a 33 percent commission.

Over several transactions, White, 70, lost nearly $80,000, putting an “enormous strain” on his finances, said his wife, Jeanne, who blames Fox for their predicament: “They’re negligent,” she said. A regretful White said he thought Fox “wouldn’t take a commercial like that unless it was legitimate.”

While the legitimacy of the gold retirement investment industry is the subject of numerous lawsuits – including allegations of fraud by federal and state regulators against Lear and other companies – its advertising has become a mainstay of right-wing media. The industry spends millions of dollars a year to reach viewers of Fox, Newsmax and other conservative outlets, according to a Washington Post analysis of ad data and financial records, as well as interviews with industry insiders. Former Fox News host Bill O’Reilly and former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani have promoted the coins, while ads for Lear’s competitors have appeared on a podcast hosted by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) and Newsmax broadcasts of former president Donald Trump’s political rallies.

An analysis by The Post of political newsletters, social media, podcasts and a national database of television ads collected by the company AdImpact found that pitches to invest in gold coins are a daily presence in media that caters to a right-wing audience and often echo conservative talking points about looming economic and societal collapse. The Post found no similar ads for gold retirement investments in mainstream or left-wing media sources in the databases.

These so-called “gold IRA” companies are not publicly traded, so their revenue, profits and ad budgets largely cannot be determined. Court documents filed by Lear say the company has about $200 million in annual revenue; Dale Whitaker, the former chief financial officer at another company, Augusta Precious Metals, said overall industry revenue likely approaches $1 billion a year.

Over the past decade, more than 30 customers in 20 states have sued a dozen gold IRA companies, including Lear. Federal regulators have sued four companies – two in the past year alone – claiming investors were systematically charged as much as triple the coins’ value.

None of the cases have gone to trial; some are still pending. Of those that have been resolved, most have settled or been sent to arbitration, where outcomes are not made public. The companies have not admitted wrongdoing in any of the cases and say their customers have been adequately informed of the details of their purchases.

Joe Rotunda, enforcement director at the Texas State Securities Board, said the industry is extraordinarily difficult to police because selling gold, even as a retirement investment, is “extremely thinly regulated.”

Experts on commercial speech say Fox and other media outlets have no obligation to spurn advertising from gold IRA companies, despite the allegations. “Courts are very hesitant to impose liability on publishers,” said Harvard law professor Rebecca Tushnet, an expert in First Amendment and advertising law, who said the law is designed primarily to compel truthfulness by advertisers.

Tushnet added that “it might be reasonable, if you found out about the lawsuits, [to] contact the advertiser” and ask questions about the claims before running the ads. But if an advertiser blames their legal troubles on “the woke mob,” she said, “you’re often allowed to believe them.”

Fox News declined to comment. In a statement, Newsmax spokesman Bill Daddi said the network does not see allegations against the gold IRA companies as “a cause to block them from advertising.” Daddi compared them to some major financial firms that have been sued by customers or regulators, and whose ads continue to be accepted by mainstream outlets. For example, Wells Fargo paid $3 billion in 2020 to settle potential charges related to opening fake accounts in customers’ names.

In a statement, Lear Capital spokesperson Tracy Williams defended the company’s operations, saying most of Lear’s customers would have made a profit if they had sold at a recent market high. Williams said that White, the New York retiree, had acknowledged the company’s fee in a recorded call.

Last year, Lear settled New York’s 2021 lawsuit involving White without admitting wrongdoing. However, the company agreed to repay some customers and to disclose its fees more clearly. Lear now gives customers 24 hours to pull out of purchases, Williams said, putting the company at the “vanguard of disclosure … within its industry.”

Lear declined to say how much it spends to advertise on Fox News, but Williams said the network is not Lear’s primary source of customers. Nor is Lear likely to make up a significant share of Fox’s total ad revenue, which exceeds $1 billion a year, according to securities filings.

Fox is a logical place for Lear to advertise because “purchasing physical assets appeals to persons who have concerns regarding … topics often discussed on that platform,” Williams said. She added: “U.S. monetary policy is inseparable from U.S. political dynamics and themes.”

For years, gold IRA industry advertising has echoed accusations against Democratic politicians commonly found in news segments on conservative outlets. The ads tout the coins as a safe haven from economic uncertainty and social upheaval.

Most of the coins are manufactured by the Royal Canadian Mint, which says they’re bullion, a kind of coin whose value is determined by the underlying metal. As such, they meet IRS rules for retirement investments.

Unlike most bullion coins, however, the gold IRA industry’s coins are typically exclusive to the companies who sell them, usually with markups far higher than those charged by mainstream coin retailers, regulators and coin experts say. Alex Reeves, a spokesman for the Royal Canadian Mint, said the mint has no control “over sales practices further down the chain of distribution.”

“They are priced like collectibles, but collectible coins aren’t typically sold in bulk,” said Everett Millman, a precious metals specialist at coin dealer Gainesville Coins. “If a customer spent the same amount of money on products that are more standard, like [Canadian] Silver Maple Leafs, they would end up with a lot more ounces per dollar.”

With the exclusive coins, Millman said, “They’re simply torching money.”

“No one in their right mind would pay the premiums that these guys are charging,” added Ken Lewis, CEO of online coin dealer Apmex, who reviewed several customer invoices at The Post’s request.

The ads explain none of that. Instead, they focus on news events, such as a spate of recent bank failures and “everything that’s happening in the economy right now … with all the talk of inflation,” Rotunda said.

For example, an email ad for Augusta, sent to a Newsmax mailing list last July, warned that “The Biden administration’s economic policies are ‘declaring war’ on retirement savers.” In December, American Hartford Gold Group sent an email ad with the subject line: “Bill O’Reilly Warns: Retirement Funds at Risk From a Biden Recession.” The email is signed by O’Reilly, who did not respond to a request for comment.

Another ad for Hartford sent to the Newsmax mailing list in March warned of “Biden and Yellen’s Secret Plan to Steal your Hard-Earned Money and Bail Out Their Wall Street Buddies.”

Trump rallies are particularly big events for Hartford. On July 1, Newsmax aired a live broadcast of a Trump speech in Pickens, S.C., on a split screen with an ad for Hartford, which also sends “Trump Rally Special” email ads via Newsmax.

Since October 2020, email newsletters distributed by Newsmax have included more than 1,100 ads for gold IRA companies – nearly a quarter of all Newsmax email ads reviewed by The Post. At $1,000 to $5,000 each, according to Augusta financial records from 2016 reviewed by The Post, the ads likely generate more than $1 million a year in revenue.

Daddi, the Newsmax spokesman, said gold IRA companies represent “a small percentage of the total advertisers on Newsmax across all platforms.”

Some conservative figures offer explicit endorsements. Giuliani has called Hartford “the experts I trust most” on his podcast “Common Sense.” The “Verdict with Ted Cruz” podcast has featured ads for Hartford for at least a year, and a recent segment touted Augusta, urging listeners “to protect your dollars … with a gold IRA.” Neither Giuliani nor Cruz responded to requests for comment.

Two media dealmakers who have been involved in negotiations between conservative media figures and the gold IRA industry said revenue from the companies can amount to as much as 10 percent of total earnings for some personalities. The dealmakers spoke on the condition of anonymity to protect their business relationships; one said the biggest personalities stand to earn millions of dollars a year.

Hartford spokesman Steven Goldberg said it runs ads “where we believe it will create the most value.” Among the company’s chosen venues: a “prophetic” evangelical Christian email newsletter, two right-wing TV channels, and more than a dozen conservative radio shows and podcasts, including Giuliani’s and Cruz’s.

One of Hartford’s ads caught the attention of Ed DeSanto, 65, a semiretired Florida medical coder and an avid right-wing radio fan. He invested a $100,000 lump-sum payout from his pension in a Hartford IRA in 2019.

DeSanto said he doesn’t remember exactly where he heard the Hartford ad, but “if you listen to those radio shows, they play those commercials all the time.” He said he believed he was being careful: He picked Hartford because it scored well in a ranking of gold IRA companies he found online. (Such rankings often include disclosures noting that the authors are paid by the gold IRA companies.)

DeSanto’s $100,000 investment netted him just $53,000 worth of gold and silver, according to a Post analysis of his invoices – meaning the coins had been marked up 92 percent over the value of the metal. DeSanto blames himself.

“I did a little bit of research, but evidently not enough,” DeSanto said. “When I found the invoice, it was a big shock.”

In 2018 and 2019, another retiree, John Mathys of Illinois, claimed a Hartford salesman persuaded him to invest his $569,000 retirement savings by “bombarding him” with calls and emails for months, according to a federal lawsuit Mathys filed against Hartford in 2020. The lawsuit was sent to arbitration. Neither Mathys nor his lawyer responded to requests for comment.

Mathys, who was 83 at the time of the lawsuit, is one of three customers who sued Hartford in the past six years accusing the company of fraud. The other two lawsuits settled.

Hartford declined to comment on any of the cases. “We are fully transparent with our clients about the pricing of the products they purchase and the potential range of markup for those products,” Goldberg said in a statement, adding that the company operates “with a steadfast commitment to doing business legally and ethically.”

“We deny the allegation that we’ve misled or otherwise acted improperly,” Goldberg said.

In February and April, DeSanto sold back some of his gold coins to Hartford. Although gold prices had climbed an average of 32 percent since his 2019 purchase, he lost money on the sales, according to a Post analysis of his invoices.

The gold IRA industry’s ties to right-wing media date to the Great Recession, when the price of gold was rising rapidly and Fox commentator Glenn Beck was one of the most popular hosts on TV. Beck recorded ads for Goldline, a gold dealer that also offered IRAs, and interviewed its CEO on his show.

“We could be facing recession, depression or collapse. Nothing left!” Beck told viewers in 2009, urging them to rely on “God, Gold and Guns.” After segments promoting gold investments, Beck’s show would sometimes cut to commercials featuring gold sellers like Goldline, according to a 2010 congressional report.

The gold companies were loyal advertisers: After Beck claimed in 2009 that President Barack Obama was “racist” and had “a deep-seated hatred for White people or the White culture,” many big advertisers dropped his show. Gold sellers were among the few who stayed on, according to reporting at the time.

Goldline soon came under scrutiny, first in congressional hearings, then by Santa Monica, Calif., prosecutors, who charged the company with misdemeanor grand theft, elder theft and conspiracy in 2011. Though Goldline defended its business practices as fully transparent and never admitted wrongdoing, the company later agreed to pay up to $4.5 million to settle the charges.

Beck faded from prominence after departing Fox News in 2011 to start his own channel. He still endorses Goldline on the company’s website. Neither Beck nor Goldline executives responded to requests for comment.

The controversy sent Goldline employees scrambling for safer harbors. Some got jobs at Merit Financial, according to interviews and public records. Merit, whose offices were just a few blocks from Goldline’s in Santa Monica, also sold coins by phone and ran ads on Fox. (Merit’s former owner declined to comment publicly.)

In 2014, Santa Monica prosecutors accused Merit of “an aggressive, nationwide fraud scheme.” The company denied the allegations but went out of business and settled as the case approached trial.

Several Goldline and Merit salesmen then struck out on their own, founding many of the companies that exist today, according to staff lists and interviews with 21 current and former industry employees.

A former Merit salesman founded Augusta Precious Metals, which has been accused of defrauding its customers by Whitaker, its former CFO. Whitaker filed a whistleblower complaint to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, which has not taken public action. Augusta has denied the allegations, and CEO Isaac Nuriani said in a statement that Whitaker “never had any visibility into Augusta’s business operations.”

Other former Goldline and Merit employees founded Metals.com, the founders said in depositions. That company recruited customers on Facebook, where it faked an endorsement from Fox News host Sean Hannity, a court filing by Georgia securities regulators alleged.

Facebook data reviewed by The Post shows that many Metals.com ads targeted people 59 or older. One 87-year-old customer received daily phone calls from a Metals.com broker who eventually flew to Alabama for a weekend to meet her, regulators alleged. She ultimately invested nearly $90,000, they said – most of which was lost.

The FBI raided Metals.com in 2020. A judge ordered the company shut down after 31 states and the CFTC filed suit, alleging a $185 million commodities fraud, as well as violations of rules about investment advice. Company founders have denied the allegations, saying their company “strived for transparency” and disclosed that it charged a premium. They have also said in court filings that they are under criminal investigation. Company executives did not respond to requests for comment submitted to their lawyer.

After Metals.com closed, some salesmen went to work at Safeguard Metals, according to one of the salesmen, who spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation. In February 2022, the Securities and Exchange Commission, CFTC and 27 states sued that company, too. Safeguard recently settled the SEC’s case without admitting liability; the CFTC’s suit is still pending. Safeguard’s lawyers did not respond to a request for comment.

Lear Capital also hired several salesmen from Goldline’s ranks and bought Merit’s database of customers, according to court records and staff lists submitted to California regulators and obtained by The Post through public records requests. Williams, the Lear spokesperson, said “Merit’s liquidation was an opportunity to acquire a customer and prospect base to service and market to in the future” and that Lear performed background checks on everyone it hired.

Lear recently exited bankruptcy reorganization after resolving investigations from dozens of states. It remains in business.

Hartford’s CEO also worked at both Goldline and Merit before starting that company. Goldberg, the Hartford spokesman, declined to comment when asked whether the company was under investigation by state or federal regulators.

DeSanto said he has complained to both the Florida attorney general and the CFTC about his experience with Hartford. He said he spoke twice with CFTC investigators in 2020, but the agency has not taken public action.

In February, DeSanto also called Hartford to try to sell back his coins. He said he was flabbergasted to learn that the salesman who handled his purchase was still employed there. And he was shocked to find O’Reilly’s photo still featured on the company’s website.

“Everything is the same there,” DeSanto marveled. Of O’Reilly, he added: “I would think, for his reputation, he’d want to get away from a company like them.”

Kozlowska is a freelance writer based in New York. The Washington Post’s Sarah Ellison and Dan Morse contributed reporting. Raz Nakhlawi contributed research.

State grapples with rampant algae that can cause lung infections and neurological disorders: ‘A bullet in the chamber’

TCD

State grapples with rampant algae that can cause lung infections and neurological disorders: ‘A bullet in the chamber’

Stephen Proctor – July 25, 2023

Toxic algae is overtaking the largest freshwater lake in Florida, hampering the summer plans of thousands — and the situation is likely to worsen. While plans are underway to alleviate the problem going forward, some are skeptical.

What’s happening?

Lake Okeechobee in southern Florida is currently half full of bright green toxic algae, which is expected to increase throughout the summer.

“We’re looking at a bullet in the chamber here,” Eve Samples, executive director of the conservation group Friends of the Everglades, told The New York Times of the growing bloom.

A handful of conditions allow the dangerous algae to thrive. According to reporting, the severity of the algal bloom is largely due to our overheating planet, which has caused increased storms and rainfall that have stirred up phosphorus that the algae need to grow. The phosphorous has mostly been sourced by fertilizer runoff from rivers upstream that feed into the lake. Rising levels of carbon dioxide pollution, which the algae need, intensify the problem.

While blooms of algae aren’t uncommon for Florida in the summer months, blooms of this magnitude are, and they seem to be occurring more often.

In 2018, Lake Okeechobee experienced a similar bloom that leaked into surrounding canals and the Caloosahatchee River. That year, toxin-producing algae exploded in both fresh and saltwater ecosystems, leading to former Governor Rick Scott to declare a state of emergency.

Downstream algae outbreaks from Okeechobee’s outflows also significantly impacted coastal communities in 2013, 2016, and 2018, causing beaches to be closed and businesses to shut down. Some residents were evacuated as well.

Why toxic algae is concerning

The Florida Department of Health issued a health alert in June warning the public to exercise caution in and around the area of Lake Okeechobee. Those looking for summer fun in the lake were warned not to swim, wade, ski, or boat where there is a visible bloom. They were also told to keep pets away from the water, and for good reason.

The toxic algae overtaking Lake Okeechobee can cause major health issues for humans and animals, including lung infections, organ damage, and neurological disorders. The algae-contaminated water is so harmful that even boiling it will not eliminate the toxins, according to health officials.

What’s being done about the toxic algae

The Army Corps of Engineers is undertaking a massive project to combat the growing issue of toxic algae affecting not only Lake Okeechobee, but the surrounding area as well.

A 10,500-acre reservoir expected to be completed in 10 years or so will capture at least some of Okeechobee’s toxic outflows. This is in addition to the recently completed 6,500-acre artificial wetland designed to remove nutrient pollution before water flows out into the Everglades.

Some are skeptical, though, of the project’s impact, as the new reservoir will fill to capacity after draining only 6 inches of water from Lake Okeechobee, per The New York Times.

An earlier proposal for a 60,000-acre system was scrapped due to objections from the local agricultural community.

There’s enough blame to go around for Florida’s insurance crisis, but not where you think | Opinion

Miami Herald – Opinion

There’s enough blame to go around for Florida’s insurance crisis, but not where you think | Opinion

Robert Sanchez – July 24, 2023

There have been many good reasons to criticize Gov. Ron DeSantis, especially during his second term, but Florida’s property insurance crisis is not among them. It’s a problem that has festered for years and began long before DeSantis came along.

Even so, Florida’s increasingly desperate Democrats tried to blame him and his fellow Republicans last week after Farmers Insurance abruptly announced that it would be reducing its risks by scuttling thousands of policies.

The Farmers move occurred in a state where more than a dozen insurers have recently gone broke, and where others are selectively non-renewing some of their policies, especially for properties in high-risk areas such as barrier islands.

The burden of providing coverage has fallen upon Florida’s “insurer of last resort,” the state-owned Citizens Property Insurance. Now it’s being forced to raise its own rates lest it become insolvent after the next major natural disaster.

Seeing the insurance problems as a political opportunity, Democratic Party Chair Nikki Fried, noting the obvious that Florida’s insurance premiums are “through the roof,” declared that the situation is “totally unacceptable,” and complained that solutions proffered by legislative Democrats “have gone completely unheard.”

Meanwhile, one of Democrats’ legislative leaders had an especially far-fetched notion of what to do to fix the state’s otherwise intractable problems, which are contributing to premiums way above the national average: Her suggestion: Let the insurance commissioner be elected rather than appointed.

That was a solution suggested by House Minority Leader Fentrice Driskell, D-Tampa. She was a 19-year-old Harvard undergraduate back in 1998, when Florida voters resoundingly approved amending the state Constitution to shrink the elected Cabinet and, among other changes, have the insurance commissioner be appointed rather than elected.

It seems that voters had noticed that running a statewide political campaign in a state the size of Florida required tons of money. When candidates for insurance commissioner ran, lots of that money came from — surprise! — the insurance industry itself, including the companies, brokers and agents. Moreover, the successful candidates sometimes had more political skills than useful insights into insurance issues.

As for realistically addressing the underlying factors causing Florida’s property insurance crisis, some of them are — and will remain — beyond the capability of any governor, legislator or insurance commissioner to address.

For instance, to the extent that natural disasters are factors in Florida’s higher rates at a time when forecasters expect windstorms to be more frequent, intense and destructive, no public official — whether elected or appointed — can do much to change the geography of a peninsular state bounded by the warming (and rising) waters of the Atlantic and Gulf.

This has not escaped the attention of the global reinsurance companies, which provide insurance for insurance companies. As a result, they’re charging higher rates to the insurance companies, which pass them along to Florida’s property owners.

Another major factor contributing to the higher rates is inflation. The costs associated with repairing and/or replacing damaged properties have soared, arguably more so in Florida than in other states because Florida’s population surge has outpaced the housing supply, driving up property values.

This came atop generalized inflation throughout the economy as a factor in higher insurance rates. For that, President Biden and Gov. DeSantis could jointly take a bow.

Inflation surged worldwide in part because the Biden administration’s energy policies and profligate spending drove up prices, and Putin’s attack on Ukraine added to the problem.

DeSantis’ short-sighted stance on immigration is causing an exodus of some of the migrant workers who will be needed in the next rebuilding effort. The labor shortage will cause delays and inevitably increase costs after the next big storm.

So, if Florida can do little about the intractable insurance problems related to weather, the reinsurance market or inflation, is there anything left that the state could or should do?

Yes, and the 2023 Florida Legislature did it by enacting a law to end “assignment of benefits” and other kinds of abuses practiced by some of Florida’s politically powerful personal injury lawyers.

DeSantis signed the legislation into law, but just before it took effect the personal injury attorneys filed more than 70,000 lawsuits that will be handled under the former rules, which were favorable to the plaintiffs.

Therefore, this constructive step won’t have an immediate impact, and its long-term impact remains to be seen. Meanwhile, as Florida’s property owners and other residents warily monitor the approach of the busiest portion of the June 1-Nov. 30 hurricane season, they might try resorting to the tactics recommended after each mass shooting: thoughts and prayers.

Florida’s insurance crisis isn’t about ‘woke.’ It’s about state leaders in a stupor

The Miami Herald – Opinion

Florida’s insurance crisis isn’t about ‘woke.’ It’s about state leaders in a stupor | Opinion

The Miami Herald Editorial Board – July 24, 2023

Upon Farmers Insurance’s announcement that it was pulling out of Florida, Jimmy Patronis, the state’s chief financial officer went right to the heart of the state’s continuing insurance crisis: “The more we learn about Farmers Insurance, the more it’s clear its leadership doesn’t know what they’re doing. While they’re bad at helping people, they’re good at virtue signaling.”

As reported in the Herald, Patronis criticized what he called Farmers’ “ ‘sustainable insurance’ and aligning investments with its social values, like avoiding investing in polluters or companies that sexually or racially discriminate against employees.” The concept is called environmental, social and governance investing — ESG, for short — a political target for Republicans lately.

Basically, Patronis blames Farmers for doing business while incorporating a “woke” ideology, the go-to scapegoat these days, the convenient and facile argument in Gov. Ron DeSantis’ Florida.

We beg to differ.

Whether Farmers Insurance rightly values the principles of ESG is irrelevant here. What’s important is that 100,000 policies in Florida — auto, property — are going belly up.

The wrong excuse

It’s not that the company might be woke; it’s that state lawmakers and the governor were asleep at the wheel as other insurance companies fled Florida long before Farmers.

It’s that lawmakers have been in a stupor as Floridians cried out for relief from soaring property insurance rates.

It’s that those same elected leaders were single-minded zombies who protected insurance companies, not homeowners, during two special sessions.

And yet these are the same legislators who were filled with boundless energy when it came to carrying out Gov. DeSantis’ culture wars in his now-lackluster drive toward to the White House.

Now Patronis, not to be left out, is skirmishing with Farmers. When the Editorial Board asked his office what specifically the insurance company had done in the offending area of ESG, Deputy Chief Financial Officer Frank Collins III doubled down: “While Farmers Insurance is keeping their commitment to the United Nations, they’re dumping 100,000 Florida policyholders; too bad their affection for ESG standards couldn’t stop these Floridians from being dropped.”

Know what else is too bad? That this is Patronis’ politically lame attempt to distract Floridians from the fact that 13 companies have gone insolvent in Florida. Others have stopped writing policies in the state, sending property owners’ premiums soaring into the stratosphere and leaving Citizens as the insurer of last resort for so many property owners. Tim Cerio, Citizens president and CEO, has predicted that the number of policies to reach 1.5 million by the end of the year.

Launch a probe?

And while he was denigrating Farmers, Patronis added he planned to look into complaints against the company, which could trigger a market investigation and — perhaps — fines and fees. This, of course, sounds like a retaliatory move in the same vein as our thin-skinned governor’s costly fight against Disney.

If there truly is something for Patronis to investigate, why did he wait until now to actually do his job? As CFO, the state’s so-called “business manager,” he oversees insurance and consumer services, responding to Floridians on finance-related queries, especially complaints about insurance fraud and related matters.

Interestingly, he found the time this month to tout the launch a new online site: “This morning, we deployed the Florida IRS Transparency Portal where Floridians can submit complaints about individual IRS agents,” Patronis announced on July 13. “We will take this information to look for patterns on how the IRS is targeting Floridians, which will help us craft laws to protect our businesses. We also want to provide the public with a tool where they can report harassment by the IRS.”

His curious use of the militaristic word “deploy” aside, we, too, don’t believe individuals and entities should be targeted by the IRS, especially for their political beliefs, and hope that Floridians across the political spectrum will have equal access to his concern.

But while Patronis is protecting Floridians from the tax collector, he’s among the many state leaders who have left us exposed and vulnerable to the state’s insurance crisis.

“Woke” isn’t the problem; willful neglect is.

Should You Try Scalp Oils To Regrow Thinning Hair? We Asked A Dermatologist

She Finds

Should You Try Scalp Oils To Regrow Thinning Hair? We Asked A Dermatologist

Marissa Matozzo – July 24, 2023

Taking care of your scalp is essential, experts say, if your goal is to prevent or stop hair loss or thinning. Along with revamping your diet, an additional way to nurture your scalp and increase hair growth is to incorporate scalp oils into your routine to provide hydration and a vibrant appearance.

In an effort to gain more insight on scalp oils and their benefits for individuals with thin, fine hair, we sought out the expertise of a board-certified dermatologist and hair specialist, Dr. Yoram Harth, Medical Director of MDhair. Below, he shares his suggestions and advice for those wanting to give scalp oils a try.

The Benefits Of Scalp Oils For Fine, Thin Hair: Growth, Hydration And More

For those just beginning to explore the world of scalp oils, it can be overwhelming to sort through the numerous options. Harth simplifies the selection process by indicating there are two main varieties of hair oils. “One type, which is applied to the scalp skin and intended to help with scalp health and hair regrowth, is called a scalp treatment serum,” he explains.

Harth notes that the “other type of hair oil is applied to the hair strands and is intended to help strengthen the strands and reduce breakage and split ends.” Scalp oils, “particularly those designed as scalp treatment serums,” he says, can be “beneficial for thin, fine hair.”

These oils are “formulated to promote scalp health, nourish the hair follicles, and stimulate blood circulation” in the scalp, he adds. If your goal is to regrow your hair or just make your tresses stronger, he says that a healthy scalp environment can “lead to improved hair growth and a reduction in hair loss.”

The “best scalp oils and scalp treatment serums would include DHT blockers,” he continues, that help “reduce the effects of DHT on the hair follicles.”

One benefit of scalp oils, Harth reiterates, is a nourished scalp. “Scalp oils deliver essential vitamins, minerals, and amino acids to the scalp, which can promote a healthy environment for hair growth,” he adds.

He says that they also “moisturize” the scalp, helping to “alleviate dryness and reduce flakiness on the scalp, which can contribute to hair breakage.”

When used regularly, these oils also “block the effects of DHT on hair follicles.” Harth notes that “this is especially important in people with androgenetic, age-related, and perimenopause hair loss.”

Another benefit is “enhanced blood circulation.” Pairing scalp massages with oils can “stimulate blood flow, improving nutrient delivery to hair follicles,” he points out.

Lastly, a vital benefit of scalp oiling is gaining “protection from damage,” Harth concludes, as “certain scalp oils have protective properties that shield the hair and scalp from environmental stressors.”

When it comes to scalp oil recommendations, for beginners, Harth recommends “using a combination of plant-based scalp treatment serums like MDhair regrowth serum and another type of oil to apply often to the hair strands, like MDhair’s peptide hair repair oil.” (Good to know!)

Hundreds of thousands of people fled Russia after it invaded Ukraine — and now the countries that took them in are seeing a boost in their economies

Insider

Hundreds of thousands of people fled Russia after it invaded Ukraine — and now the countries that took them in are seeing a boost in their economies

Huileng Tan – July 24, 2023

Russians are seen attempting to leave their country to avoid a military call-up for the Russia-Ukraine war as queues have formed at the Kazbegi border crossing in the Kazbegi municipality of Stepantsminda, Georgia on September 28, 2022. The number of Russian citizens entering Georgia has increased by approximately 45 percent after Vladimir Putin's partial mobilisation order. — Russians were seen attempting to leave their country for Georgia to avoid a military call-up on September 28.Davit Kachkachishvili/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images

Scores of Russians fled their homeland following the outbreak of the Ukraine war.
Many resettled in neighboring countries such as Armenia, Georgia, and Kyrgyzstan.
The growth of such countries surged in 2022 after the arrival of these Russians, a new report found.

Hundreds of thousands of Russians who fled their homeland following the country’s invasion of Ukraine have resettled in neighboring countries — and are boosting their economies.

The exodus of Russians started after many highly educated professionals — such as academics, finance, and tech workers — left Russia in the early days of the war, Insider’s Jason Lalljee reported in March 2022. About six months later, there was another wave of departures after Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered a partial military mobilization for the Ukraine war on September 21.

By October, about 700,000 Russians had left the country, Reuters reported, citing Russian media — but the Kremlin rejected those numbers, saying it didn’t have this data.

Many of these Russians landed in neighboring countries, setting up new lives and businesses, and ended up boosting the economies of these nations, the independent Russian media outlet Novaya Gazeta reported Friday.

The GDP of the South Caucasus — a region comprising Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia — grew by an outsize 7% in 2022, the World Bank found. This far outpaced the 5.6% growth that World Bank economists had predicted.

Armenia — once known as the Silicon Valley of the Soviet Union — saw its 2022 growth spike to 12.6%, the World Bank found. The institution’s economists had forecast last year 7% growth for the country.

Suren Parsyan, a lecturer at the Armenian State University of Economics, told Novaya Gazeta that Armenia’s growth last year was thanks to the newly arrived Russians, particularly those working in IT.

Russians transferred about $1.75 billion to Armenia in 2022, Martin Galstyan, the country’s central-bank governor, said in January, Armenia’s News.am reported.

Meanwhile, Georgia’s GDP jumped by 10.1% in 2022, the World Bank said, beating an 8.8% growth forecast. Money transfers from Russia rose fivefold, from $411 million in 2021 to $2.1 billion in 2022, according to data from Georgia’s central bank.

Even Kyrgyzstan’s economy grew by 7% in 2022, outpacing a 4% forecast, the World Bank said.

Turkey, a hot spot for Russians fleeing the war, saw its economy grow 5.6% in 2022, outpacing a forecast of 4.7%, according to World Bank data.

Oleg Itskhoki, an economics professor at the University of California, Los Angeles, told Novaya Gazeta that the GDP performance in such countries demonstrated that the newly arrived Russians had savings and were wealthier than the local residents.

To be sure, immigration hasn’t had only a positive influence on the economies. The influx of Russians also contributed to a rise in inflation, such as a jump in hotel rates and rents in Kazakhstan and Georgia, Bloomberg reported in September.

No stupid history, no crime scene kitties

Chicago Suntimes

No stupid history, no crime scene kitties

Resisting the urge to find small positives in the generally horrible.

By Neil Steinberg – July 23, 2023

A cat sits on the sidewalk and watches as Chicago Police investigate inside an apartment in the 7700 block of South Carpenter Street after an officer shot and killed a man while answering a call of a domestic disturbance in the Gresham building on the South Side, Monday, Oct. 4, 2021. — A cat watches as Chicago police investigate inside an apartment in the 7700 block of South Carpenter Street after an officer shot and killed a man while answering a call of a domestic disturbance in the Gresham building on the South Side, Monday, Oct. 4, 2021.

What is it about stupid people anyway?

You can believe the most god-awful nonsense — factually incorrect, self-flattering, steaming kettles of BS — and parade that stupidity around to the delight of your fellow idiots, cheering and high-fiving one another at big rallies, celebrations of toxic dumbness.

Yet let somebody point it out, let them cough into their fist and mutter, “You’re stupid,” and suddenly the stupid fall to the ground, clutching themselves, declaring their injury to heaven.

It’s so … for want of a better word … stupid. How can some people get upset if you call themstupid when they’re perfectly happy being stupid? It’s a mystery.

Say your house were on fire — a situation even more dire than being stupid. And I say, “Your house is on fire,” causing you to collapse in a heap and declare yourself insulted, insisting that your house — obviously ablaze before us, thick black smoke pulsing out of the windows — is fine and how dare I suggest otherwise? Rude!

Who does that? Stupid people, I suppose.

I haven’t written much about Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, honestly, because I still suspect he’s some kind of a sham — a performance art piece perhaps — designed to make Donald Trump look good, between his daft war on Disney and his imbecilic assault on history.

Maybe you haven’t heard. In its constant quest to make white people feel better, the state of Florida’s No. 1 priority, apparently, is downplaying race when teaching American history.

Florida’s new curriculum, unsatisfied with presenting racism as a dusty relic of the 19th century, is taking the next step and redefining America’s original sin, slavery, as something akin to high school shop class.

“Slaves developed skills, which, in some instances, could be applied for their personal benefit,” the curriculum notes.

Now, it is one thing to suggest that historic wrongs can have positive consequences. Polish anti-Semitism a hundred years ago was bad, but it drove my grandfather to Cleveland before the real butchery began. Which was good. For him.

But to focus on that scrap of positivity while denying the bulk of the horror is just … stupid. It’s like celebrating that Anne Frank got a best-selling book out of hiding from the Nazis while ignoring that she died in Bergen-Belsen.

Yet there was DeSantis on Friday, doubling down — the go-to move for the stupid since they can’t reevaluate — and supporting the new curriculum.

“They’re probably going to show that some of the folks that eventually parlayed, you know, being a blacksmith into doing things later in life,” DeSantis said.

And they give out free pudding in the Burn Center at Loyola. But were I to tuck a line in a burn story — “Burn patients enjoy free pudding, to their personal benefit, since pudding is delicious” — my editor would ask me to rethink that.

Then again, I’m a professional communicator and snug among — I hope — the non-stupid. We consider our audience.

Let me end with a true story. A photographer mentioned what she calls “crime scene kitties.” Her job takes her to crime scenes, where cats often appear. We got into a discussion of why the kitties are there — drawn by commotion? The cats I know would flee instead. Maybe cats are everywhere but, when standing around crime scenes for hours, she notices them.

“That could be a story!” I said.

Then I did a trick the stupid seldom attempt: I thought about it. I don’t write a lot of crime stories. To swoop into a tragic problem plaguing Chicago — people being murdered — and focus on the cats that wander over, there’s something grotesque about that. Something trivial. Something insulting, to victims and families. I did that empathy thing liberals are so good at, considering people other than myself, and reluctantly concluded: no crime scene kitties story.

That’s why Ron DeSantis should never be president. Because his campaign strategy — appeal to people threatened by anyone not exactly like themselves, people who can’t recognize the racism both in America’s past and in their own hearts right this flippin’ second — is stupid, if effective. We don’t want that guy. As if to underscore the difference, on Saturday the White House announced the creation of national monuments to Emmett Till. Till’s story is jarring and terrible — that photo of him in the casket. And essential and true and American. How could you ponder a history that didn’t include it?

Stupid.

Trump’s GOP rivals open door to cutting Social Security for younger people

The Washington Post

Trump’s GOP rivals open door to cutting Social Security for younger people

Jeff Stein, The Washington Post – July 22, 2023

Vice President Mike Pence, right, and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis take questions during a Florida Coronavirus Response Meeting, at the West Palm Beach International Airport, Friday, Feb. 28, 2020, in West Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Terry Renna) (ASSOCIATED PRESS)

Three of Donald Trump’s rivals for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination are pushing for cuts to Social Security benefits that would only affect younger Americans, as the party’s leaders grapple with the explosive politics of the retirement program.

In comments on Sunday as well as in interviews earlier this year, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) said Social Security will need to be revamped – but not for people who are near or in retirement.

Former vice president Mike Pence and former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley have taken similar positions since launching their presidential campaigns. From the earliest days of his 2016 run, Trump has vowed not to touch either Social Security or Medicare – a break from GOP orthodoxy that has shifted the party’s views – and has more recently hammered DeSantis for wanting to cut the program.

“When people say that we’re going to somehow cut seniors, that is totally not true,” DeSantis said on Fox News. “Talking about making changes for people in their 30s and their 40s so the program’s viable – that’s a much different thing, and something I think there’s going to need to be discussion on.”

On Monday, Pence told Fox Business: “I’m glad to see another candidate in this primary has been willing to step up and talk about that.”

The positions the three Trump rivals are taking suggest that even the fiscally conservative candidates in the GOP presidential primary are reluctant to endorse cutting Social Security for seniors, highlighting just how much the party has shifted on the issue. Former House speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.), the party’s 2012 vice-presidential candidate, had led the party in championing budget blueprints that would have entailed significant cuts to both Social Security and Medicare.

As the Republican Party becomes increasingly reliant on older voters for support and as Trump continues to exert heavy influence over the party’s beliefs, GOP policymakers have followed the former president’s lead in steering clear of proposals to cut the program, with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) ruling that out in debt ceiling negotiations earlier this year with the White House.

But concentrating potential cuts on the young, as the Trump challengers have proposed, has its downsides as well. The candidates’ posture risks alienating young voters who have already become increasingly alienated from the Republican Party. And cutting benefits for younger people leaves the bulk of the problem unresolved, experts say, given that the Social Security funding crisis is projected to arrive decades before millennials receive their first checks.

“It clearly would not address the shortfall, or the short- to medium-term problem we’re going to have in 10 years or less,” said Howard Gleckman, senior fellow at the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center, a nonpartisan think tank.

Economists of both parties agree that Social Security and Medicare, the health insurance program for the elderly, face funding crises if Congress does not act to shore up their finances somehow, either by reducing benefits or raising taxes. If no reforms are enacted, Social Security benefits for an estimated 60 million people will be cut by 20 percent starting in 2033, according to the most recent report of the Boards of Trustees of the Social Security and Medicare trust funds. Medicare also faces automatic benefit cuts as soon as 2031, the report says.

President Biden has proposed increasing taxes on the rich and businesses to prevent Medicare from running out of funds. But the latest White House budget does not propose a solution for extending Social Security. Numerous congressional Democrats have called for trillions in new taxes to avoid the Social Security shortfall, as well.

Policy experts have long said it will probably take a mixture of reduced spending and higher taxes to address the looming funding shortage facing Social Security and Medicare. Social Security’s old age and survivors insurance trust fund is expected to only be able to pay 77 percent of benefits in 2033, which would probably lead to automatic reductions in payments. People in their forties are still more than two decades away from receiving Social Security benefits.

The comments from DeSantis and Pence suggest that some Republicans have “not updated their talking points from the 1990s,” said Brian Riedl, senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, a libertarian-leaning think tank. Thirty years ago, Riedl said, it would have been possible to argue for resolving the funding shortfall only by limiting benefits for future recipients. But given that the enormous baby boomer generation is now at retirement age, exempting them from cuts would still leave the program in crisis.

“I get the politics of not wanting to lead with, ‘We will cut seniors,'” Riedl said. “But it might be better to say nothing than to offer an unpopular approach that doesn’t even avoid a debt crisis because it would be implemented far too late.”

DeSantis’s message will probably soon be tested. Trump has released video messages tying DeSantis to House Republicans who wanted to cut Social Security and for pushing to raise the retirement age when the Florida governor served in Congress, although Trump has also expressed support in the past for raising the retirement age.

“Donald Trump ruled Social Security and other benefits out of bounds politically” for Republican politicians, said Bill Galston, senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, a Washington-based think tank. “But there are still Republicans, including some leading Republicans, who understand we won’t make serious progress on our fiscal problems until everything’s on the table. They’re trying to open that discussion, without it immediately being shut down.”

CDC: Toxic blue-green algae is infecting humans, animals in Michigan summers

Detroit Free Press

CDC: Toxic blue-green algae is infecting humans, animals in Michigan summers

Mika Travis, Detroit Free Press – July 21, 2023

Harmful algae blooms in Michigan and other states are spiking during the summer in freshwater bodies such as lakes, according to a recent CDC report.

Harmful algae blooms are often caused by a rapid growth of cyanobacteria, known as blue-green algae, a naturally occurring bacteria. Gary Kohlhepp, Lake Michigan unit supervisor of the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy, said that a small amount of cyanobacteria is a safe and natural part of the water system, but it can become toxic when it begins to cluster in large quantities and creates blooms. Toxins produced in these blooms can lead to illness in humans and animals.

According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, blue-green algae blooms are a common occurrence in the Great Lakes, specifically Lake Erie.

CDC report results

The CDC report collected voluntary data from public health agencies across 16 states on harmful algae bloom events in 2021, referred to as harmful algal blooms in the report. Here were the findings:

Most reported events occurred during the summer, with a peak in August (25% of reported events).
Most of the events (90%) reported were in lakes, reservoirs or other freshwater bodies.
A third of the reports of human illness occurred in June.
The most common symptoms in humans were gastrointestinal, generalized (headaches and fevers, for example), and dermatologic.
Reports of animal illnesses occurred primarily in August (86%), mostly involving wildlife.
The most common symptoms in domestic pets were gastrointestinal, such as vomiting, and generalized, such as lethargy.
A harmful algae bloom event in Washington killed 2,000 bats.
There were 368 harmful algae bloom events reported, resulting in 117 human cases of illness and at least 2,715 animal cases of illness. (Animal cases are underrepresented because some group animal reports did not provide the number of total animals impacted, or indicated that the number they gave was an underestimate.)

Kohlhepp said that EGLE had seen an increase in reporting on harmful algae blooms, though that may not indicate an actual increase in the quantity of blooms in the state.

“I think some of that increase is just that people are more aware of it and more likely to report it,” he said.

Pets: Dogs are dying from blue green algae. What owners need to know

Spotting harmful algae blooms

These harmful algae blooms can appear as accumulations of algae that coat the surface of the water or as a neon green color in the water.

Kohlhepp said that if there aren’t any visible signs of a harmful algae bloom in the water, there’s a good chance it’s safe, though the only certain way to tell whether a body of water is toxic is by testing.

In one instance, Kohlhepp’s team tested a clear spot in a lake that had a harmful algae bloom in another part of it. In the spot that appeared clear, there was only a miniscule amount of cyanobacteria picked up.

“The good news is, generally, if you don’t see a bloom, the toxins are not present,” Kohlhepp said. “There’s almost always an indication that there’s something going on when the toxins are present, either that bright color or the surface accumulation.”

Great Lakes: Antibiotics for humans, livestock found in waters flowing to Lake Erie

Symptoms of exposure

According to Michigan Sea Grant, the most common type of blue-green algae in the Great Lakes is microcystis, a bacteria which produces a liver toxin and skin irritant.

When exposed to these harmful algae blooms, humans often develop a rash. Other possible symptoms include nausea, headache and fever.

Animals, such as dogs, who experience symptoms may appear sluggish. Other symptoms found in animals include vomiting and dark urine.

Steps to take after exposure

Because humans usually experience dermatologic symptoms, Kohlhepp recommends washing off as soon as possible after coming in contact with a harmful algae bloom. If they notice symptoms, they should visit a doctor for next steps.

Dogs and other animals should also be rinsed off after exposure, though symptoms may still arise if they ingested the algae-filled water. Pet owners should watch for symptoms and take them to a veterinarian if they notice any symptoms.

How to report a harmful algae bloom

EGLE collects reports of harmful algae blooms through email at algaebloom@michigan.gov. They recommend sending a photo alongside the report, so that they can more easily identify algae blooms and send someone to test the water.

Nearly two thirds of women suffering from dangerous cholesterol levels

The Telegraph

Nearly two thirds of women suffering from dangerous cholesterol levels

Henry Bodkin – July 21, 2023

Women are more likely to have high cholesterol than men, with nearly two thirds suffering from dangerous levels, a major health survey has found.

Experts have warned that millions of people are unknowingly at significant risk of a potentially fatal heart attack or stroke, with half of UK adults overall suffering from high cholesterol.

The data, from nearly a quarter of a million participants, also showed that more than one in four have high blood pressure.

The figures were obtained through an unprecedented collaboration between the NHS, life science companies and major health charities in order to obtain a true picture of the hidden state of cardiovascular health in the UK.

The Our Future Health program encourages volunteers of all ages to undergo a quick set of tests at a nearby clinic, with those found to be at risk referred on for treatment. Health leaders said the results showed that “thousands” of lives could be saved from such proactive testing.

High cholesterol is mainly caused by eating fatty food, being overweight and not exercising enough, as well as smoking and drinking alcohol – although genes also play a role.

The survey found that 62 per cent of women tested had high cholesterol, compared to 46 per cent of men.

Dr Richard Francis, the head of research at the Stroke Association, said: “These early findings from the Our Future Health programme show us that many women could be living with unmanaged high cholesterol, a risk factor for stroke and other serious cardiovascular diseases.

“It’s good that this has been spotted, and the next step will be to find out why it’s happening. It could be that approaches to screening women for high cholesterol need to be improved, or that we need better provision of cholesterol management strategies as there isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution.”

The survey also found that the proportion of people with high blood pressure increased with age. Twelve per cent of 18 to 28-year-olds had high blood pressure, but this increased to 46 per cent among people aged 80 or over.

Meanwhile, high cholesterol was most prevalent in people in their 50s, affecting 67 per cent of those aged 50 to 59.

High cholesterol is thought to lead to seven per cent of all deaths in England. Alongside high blood pressure, it has been described as one of the “silent killers” that tend not to manifest through symptoms and are only discovered after a medical emergency.

A key method of reducing high cholesterol is to cut back on foods that are high in saturated fats – primarily found in red meat and full-fat dairy, as well as eliminating trans fats. Increasing foods rich in omega-3 fatty acids and soluble fibre also help.

Sir Nilesh Samani, the medical director of the British Heart Foundation, said: “These findings from Our Future Health support previous estimates that show millions of people in the UK are living with undetected high blood pressure and raised cholesterol, which can put them at significant risk of a heart attack or stroke.

“Tackling these treatable silent killers must remain a priority if we are to prevent people suffering or dying needlessly.”

The survey aims to recruit up to five million volunteers across the UK to create one of the most detailed pictures of population health. It is currently inviting people who live near clinics to give a blood sample and have some physical measurements taken. Anyone over the age of 18 can join by signing up online.

Dr Franis said: “Initial data from the programme has uncovered information that would normally be very challenging to identify. Up to 90 per cent of strokes are preventable, so a study of this scale has the potential to tell us so much about two of the most common risk factors for stroke and hopefully lead to more research to reduce our risk of stroke.”

The Our Future Health program is aiming to recruit volunteers from ethnic minority groups who have been under-represented in previous health research but tend to have higher rates of high blood pressure and cholesterol.