by tyler | Feb 14, 2024 | CNN, health
Here’s a look at the opioid crisis.
Experts say the United States is in the throes of an opioid epidemic. An estimated 8.9 million Americans aged 12 and older misused opioids in 2022, including 8.5 million prescription pain reliever abusers and 1 million heroin users.
Opioids are drugs formulated to replicate the pain-reducing properties of opium. Prescription painkillers like morphine, oxycodone and hydrocodone are opioids. Illegal drugs like heroin and illicitly made fentanyl are also opioids. The word “opioid” is derived from the word “opium.”
Overdose deaths have been on the rise for years in the United States, but surged amid the Covid-19 pandemic: Annual deaths were nearly 50% higher in 2021 than in 2019, CDC data shows. Data on overdose deaths.
Prescription opioid volumes peaked in 2011, with the equivalent of 240 billion milligrams of morphine prescribed, according to the market research firm, IQVIA Institute for Human Data Science.
Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana and Tennessee had the highest opioid dispensing rates in 2020.
Opioids such as morphine and codeine are naturally derived from opium poppy plants more commonly grown in Asia, Central America and South America. Heroin is an illegal drug synthesized from morphine.
Hydrocodone and oxycodone are semi-synthetic opioids, manufactured in labs with natural and synthetic ingredients.
Fentanyl is a fully synthetic opioid, originally developed as a powerful anesthetic for surgery. It is also administered to alleviate severe pain associated with terminal illnesses like cancer. The drug is up to 100 times more powerful than morphine. Just a small dose can be deadly. Illicitly produced fentanyl has been a driving factor in the number of overdose deaths in recent years.
Methadone is another fully synthetic opioid. It is commonly dispensed to recovering heroin addicts to relieve the symptoms of withdrawal.
Opioids bind to receptors in the brain and spinal cord, disrupting pain signals. They also activate the reward areas of the brain by releasing the hormone dopamine, creating a feeling of euphoria or a “high.”
Opioid use disorder is the clinical term for opioid addiction or abuse.
People who become dependent on opioids may experience withdrawal symptoms when they stop using the medication. Dependence is often coupled with tolerance, meaning that users need to take increasingly larger doses for the same effect.
A drug called naloxone, available as an injection or a nasal spray, is used as a treatment for overdoses. It blocks or reverses the effects of opioids and is often carried by first responders.
Regulation and Funding
The 21st Century Cures Act, passed in 2016, allocated $1 billion over two years in opioid crisis grants to states, providing funding for expanded treatment and prevention programs. In April 2017, Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price announced the distribution of the first round of $485 million in grants to all 50 states and US territories.
In August 2017, Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced the launch of an Opioid Fraud and Abuse Detection Unit within the Department of Justice. The unit’s mission is to prosecute individuals who commit opioid-related health care fraud. The DOJ is also appointing US attorneys who will specialize in opioid health care fraud cases as part of a three-year pilot program in 12 jurisdictions nationwide.
On October 24, 2018, President Donald Trump signed opioid legislation into law. The SUPPORT for Patients and Communities Act includes provisions aimed at promoting research to find new drugs for pain management that will not be addictive. It also expands access to treatment for substance use disorders for Medicaid patients.
State legislatures have also introduced measures to regulate pain clinics and limit the quantity of opioids that doctors can dispense.
1861-1865 – During the Civil War, medics use morphine as a battlefield anesthetic. Many soldiers become dependent on the drug.
1898 – Heroin is first produced commercially by the Bayer Company. At the time, heroin is believed to be less habit-forming than morphine, so it is dispensed to individuals who are addicted to morphine.
1914 – Congress passes the Harrison Narcotics Act, which requires that doctors write prescriptions for narcotic drugs like opioids and cocaine. Importers, manufacturers and distributors of narcotics must register with the Treasury Department and pay taxes on products
1924 – The Anti-Heroin Act bans the production and sale of heroin in the United States.
1970 – The Controlled Substances Act becomes law. It creates groupings (or schedules) of drugs based on the potential for abuse. Heroin is a Schedule I drug while morphine, fentanyl, oxycodone (Percocet) and methadone are Schedule II. Hydrocodone (Vicodin) is originally a Schedule III medication. It is later recategorized as a Schedule II drug.
January 10, 1980 – A letter titled “Addiction Rare in Patients Treated with Narcotics” is published in the New England Journal of Medicine. It looks at incidences of painkiller addiction in a very specific population of hospitalized patients who were closely monitored. It becomes widely cited as proof that narcotics are a safe treatment for chronic pain.
1995 – OxyContin, a long-acting version of oxycodone that slowly releases the drug over 12 hours, is introduced and aggressively marketed as a safer pain pill by manufacturer, Purdue Pharma.
May 10, 2007 – Purdue Pharma pleads guilty for misleadingly advertising OxyContin as safer and less addictive than other opioids. The company and three executives are charged with “misleading and defrauding physicians and consumers.” Purdue and the executives agree to pay $634.5 million in criminal and civil fines.
2010 – FDA approves an “abuse-deterrent” formulation of OxyContin, to help curb abuse. However, people still find ways to abuse it.
May 20, 2015 – The DEA announces that it has arrested 280 people, including 22 doctors and pharmacists, after a 15-month sting operation centered on health care providers who dispense large amounts of opioids. The sting, dubbed Operation Pilluted, is the largest prescription drug bust in the history of the DEA.
March 18, 2016 – The CDC publishes guidelines for prescribing opioids for patients with chronic pain. Recommendations include prescribing over-the-counter pain relievers like acetaminophen and ibuprofen in lieu of opioids. Doctors are encouraged to promote exercise and behavioral treatments to help patients cope with pain.
March 29, 2017 – Trump signs an executive order calling for the establishment of the President’s Commission on Combating Drug Addiction and the Opioid Crisis. New Jersey Governor Chris Christie is selected as the chairman of the group, with Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, as an adviser.
July 31, 2017 – After a delay, the White House panel examining the nation’s opioid epidemic releases its interim report, asking Trump to declare a national public health emergency to combat the ongoing crisis
September 22, 2017 – The pharmacy chain CVS announces that it will implement new restrictions on filling prescriptions for opioids, dispensing a limited seven-day supply to patients who are new to pain therapy.
November 1, 2017 – The opioid commission releases its final report. Its 56 recommendations include a proposal to establish nationwide drug courts that would place opioid addicts in treatment facilities rather than prison.
February 9, 2018 – A budget agreement signed by Trump authorizes $6 billion for opioid programs, with $3 billion allocated for 2018 and $3 billion allocated for 2019.
February 27, 2018 – Sessions announces a new opioid initiative: The Prescription Interdiction & Litigation (PIL) Task Force. The mission of the task force is to support local jurisdictions that have filed lawsuits against prescription drugmakers and distributors.
March 19, 2018 – The Trump administration outlines an initiative to stop opioid abuse. The three areas of concentration are law enforcement and interdiction; prevention and education via an ad campaign; and job-seeking assistance for individuals fighting addiction.
April 9, 2018 – The US surgeon general issues an advisory recommending that Americans carry the opioid overdose-reversing drug, naloxone. A surgeon general advisory is a rarely used tool to convey an urgent message. The last advisory issued by the surgeon general, more than a decade ago, focused on drinking during pregnancy.
May 1, 2018 – The Journal of the American Medical Association publishes a study that finds synthetic opioids like fentanyl caused about 46% of opioid deaths in 2016. That’s a three-fold increase compared with 2010, when synthetic opioids were involved in about 14% of opioid overdose deaths. It’s the first time that synthetic opioids surpassed prescription opioids and heroin as the primary cause of overdose fatalities.
May 30, 2018 – The journal Medical Care publishes a study that estimates the cost of medical care and substance abuse treatment for opioid addiction was $78.5 billion in 2013.
June 7, 2018 – The White House announces a new multimillion dollar public awareness advertising campaign to combat opioid addiction. The first four ads of the campaign are all based on true stories illustrating the extreme lengths young adults have gone to obtain the powerful drugs.
December 12, 2018 – According to the National Center for Health Statistics, fentanyl is now the most commonly used drug involved in drug overdoses. The rate of drug overdoses involving the synthetic opioid skyrocketed by about 113% each year from 2013 through 2016.
January 14, 2019 – The National Safety Council finds that, for the first time on record, the odds of dying from an opioid overdose in the United States are now greater than those of dying in a vehicle crash.
March 26, 2019 – Purdue Pharma agrees to pay a $270 million settlement to settle a historic lawsuit brought by the Oklahoma attorney general. The settlement will be used to fund addiction research and help cities and counties with the opioid crisis.
July 17, 2019 – The CDC releases preliminary data showing a 5.1% decline in drug overdoses during 2018. If the preliminary number is accurate, it would mark the first annual drop in overdose deaths in more than two decades.
August 26, 2019 – Oklahoma wins its case against Johnson & Johnson in the first major opioid lawsuit trial to be held in the United States. Cleveland County District Judge Thad Balkman orders Johnson & Johnson to pay $572 million for its role in the state’s opioid crisis. The penalty is later reduced to $465 million, due to a mathematical error made when calculating the judgment. In November 2021, the Oklahoma Supreme Court reverses the decision.
September 15, 2019 – Purdue files for bankruptcy as part of a $10 billion agreement to settle opioid lawsuits. According to a statement from the chair of Purdue’s board of directors, the money will be allocated to communities nationwide struggling to address the crisis.
September 30, 2019 – The FDA and DEA announce that they sent warnings to four online networks, operating a total of 10 websites, which the agencies said are illegally marketing unapproved and misbranded versions of opioid medicines, including tramadol.
February 25, 2020 – Mallinckrodt, a large opioid manufacturer, reaches a settlement agreement in principle worth $1.6 billion. Mallinckrodt says the proposed deal will resolve all opioid-related claims against the company and its subsidiaries if it moves forward. Plaintiffs would receive payments over an eight-year period to cover the costs of opioid-addition treatments and other needs.
October 21, 2020 – The Justice Department announces that Purdue Pharma, the maker of OxyContin, has agreed to plead guilty to three federal criminal charges for its role in creating the nation’s opioid crisis. They agree to pay more than $8 billion and close down the company. The money will go to opioid treatment and abatement programs. The Justice Department also reached a separate $225 million civil settlement with the former owners of Purdue Pharma, the Sackler family. In November 2020, Purdue Pharma board chairman Steve Miller formally pleads guilty on behalf of the company.
March 15, 2021 – According to court documents, Purdue files a restructuring plan to dissolve itself and establish a new company dedicated to programs designed to combat the opioid crisis. As part of the proposed plan, the Sackler family agrees to pay an additional $4.2 billion over the next nine years to resolve various civil claims.
September 1, 2021 – In federal bankruptcy court, Judge Robert Drain rules that Purdue Pharma will be dissolved. The settlement agreement resolves all civil litigation against the Sackler family members, Purdue Pharma and other related parties and entities, and awards them broad legal protection against future civil litigation. The Sacklers will relinquish control of family foundations with over $175 million in assets to the trustees of a National Opioid Abatement Trust. On December 16, 2021, a federal judge overturns the settlement.
February 25, 2022 – Johnson & Johnson and the three largest US drug distributors – McKesson Corp, Cardinal Health Inc and AmerisourceBergen Corp – finalize a $26 billion nationwide opioid settlement.
March 3, 2022 – The Sackler families reaches a settlement with a group of states the first week of March, according to court filings. The settlement, ordered through court-ordered mediation that began in January, requires the Sacklers to pay out as much as $6 billion to states, individual claimants and opioid crisis abatement, if approved by a federal bankruptcy court judge.
November 2, 2022 – CVS and Walgreens agree to pay a combined $10 billion, over 10 and 15 years, to settle lawsuits brought by states and local governments alleging the retailers mishandled prescriptions of opioid painkillers.
November 15, 2022 – Walmart agrees to the framework of a $3.1 billion settlement, which resolves allegations from multiple states’ attorneys general that the company failed to regulate opioid prescriptions contributing to the nationwide opioid crisis.
August 10, 2023 – The US Supreme Court blocks Purdue Pharma from going forward with bankruptcy proceedings.
February 1, 2024 – New York Attorney General Letitia James announces that for the first time, an advertising company that worked on Purdue Pharma’s OxyContin account has settled a lawsuit accusing it of falsely marketing opioids as safe. Publicis, a French marketing company, has agreed to pay $350 million within the next two months and will not take on any more opioid clients.
by tyler | Feb 14, 2024 | CNN, us
Here’s a look at the life of consumer advocate and former candidate for president Ralph Nader.
Birth date: February 27, 1934
Birth place: Winsted, Connecticut
Birth name: Ralph Nader
Father: Nathra Nader
Mother: Rose (Bouziane) Nader
Education: Princeton University, A.B., 1955, Harvard Law School, L.L.B., 1958
Military: US Army, 1959
Writer and attorney.
Green Party presidential candidate in 1996 and 2000; Independent candidate in 2004 and 2008.
Speaks Arabic, Chinese, Portuguese, Spanish and Russian.
Son of Lebanese immigrants.
Early 1960s – Practices law in Hartford, Connecticut.
1961-1963 – Lectures at Hartford University.
1964 – Is hired by Assistant Secretary of Labor Daniel Patrick Moynihan as a consultant on auto safety.
1965 – Publishes “Unsafe at Any Speed,” an indictment of the auto industry in Detroit. Nader accuses car makers of putting style ahead of safety in the design of their cars. He focuses specifically on the Chevrolet Corvair.
February 10, 1966 – Testifies before a Senate subcommittee on auto safety.
March 1966 – James Roche, president of General Motors, apologizes in front of the Senate for hiring private investigators to spy on Nader.
September 9, 1966 – President Lyndon B. Johnson signs the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act into law.
1967 – Lobbies Congress to pass the Wholesome Meat Act, increasing inspections of slaughterhouses and meat processing plants.
1967-1968 – Lectures at Princeton University.
1969 – Helps establish the Center for Responsive Law, a non-profit studying consumer issues.
1970 – Settles a harassment lawsuit against GM for $425,000.
December 29, 1970 – Congress establishes the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), which had been strongly lobbied for by Nader.
1971 – Founds Public Citizen Inc., a consumer lobbying group.
1971 – After the first Public Interest Research Groups (PIRGs) are launched in Oregon and Minnesota, Nader co-authors with Donald Ross “Action for a Change,” a how-to guide for helping students establish state-based PIRGs.
August 19, 1996 – Is nominated as the Green Party’s candidate for president.
November 1996 – Receives 685,000 votes (.71%) in the presidential election.
June 25, 2000 – Is again nominated as the Green Party candidate for president.
November 2000 – Receives 2.8 million votes in the 2000 presidential election, approximately 2.75% of the vote. Is on the ballot in 33 states and the District of Columbia as the Green Party candidate and is listed as an Independent on the ballots of eight states.
January 2001 – Establishes the League of Fans, a sports reform and advocacy project.
February 22, 2004 – Announces he is running for president as an Independent.
August 9, 2004 – Two lawsuits are filed in Pennsylvania on behalf of Democratic voters challenging Nader’s petitions to get on Pennsylvania’s ballot, alleging that thousands of the signatures are forged or fictitious.
October 13, 2004 – A state court removes Nader from Pennsylvania’s presidential ballot, citing thousands of fraudulent signatures.
November 2, 2004 – Gets 411,304 votes (1%) in the presidential election. Is on the ballot in 34 states and the District of Columbia.
January 2005 – A judge orders Nader and his running mate, Peter Camejo, to pay over $80,000 in legal fees incurred by a group who challenged Nader’s petitions to get on the Pennsylvania ballot.
October 30, 2007 – Sues the Democratic National Committee, the Kerry-Edwards campaign, the PAC America Coming Together and others in District of Columbia Superior Court, alleging that they conspired to keep him off the ballot in several states and from “taking votes away” from nominee John Kerry in the 2004 presidential election.
November 27, 2007 – Nader’s DC Superior Court lawsuit against the Democratic National Committee and others is moved to District of Columbia federal district court.
December 3, 2007 – Nader’s DC federal district court case against the Democratic National Committee and others is dismissed by Judge Jennifer Anderson before the initial scheduling conference.
January 30, 2008 – Launches a presidential exploratory committee website for the 2008 election.
February 24, 2008 – Nader announces that he is running for president as an independent.
February 28, 2008 – Nader chooses former San Francisco Board of Supervisors president Matt Gonzalez as his running mate.
May 2008 – Nader files an administrative complaint with the Federal Election Commission against the Democratic National Committee and others that they “conspired to deny him and his running mate ballot access in numerous states as candidates for President and Vice President in the 2004 general election” which they say is against the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971.
November 4, 2008 – Nader loses in the presidential election with little to no impact on the electoral map.
November 2009 – Nader files a Superior Court lawsuit in Washington County, Maine against the Democratic National Committee, the Maine Democratic Party, the Kerry-Edwards campaign, and others alleging the defendants used illegal tactics to attempt to keep Nader off the ballot in Maine and other states.
June 11, 2010 – Nader loses his May 2008 complaint against the FEC and files charges against the Federal Election Commission in DC federal district court.
November 16, 2010 – A judge in Maine dismisses a November 2009 lawsuit filed by Nader that accuses Democrats of conspiring to keep him off the ballot in the 2004 presidential race.
June 2011 – Relaunches the League of Fans, his sports reform project, and as part of an 11-part sports manifesto, pledges to bring an antitrust suit against the Bowl Championship Series.
November 9, 2011 – Nader loses his June 2010 federal case against the FEC and files an appeal.
April 19, 2012 – Maine Supreme Judicial Court overturns the 2010 dismissal of the 2009 Superior Court lawsuit against the Democratic National Committee and others.
September 20, 2012 – Maine Superior Court Justice Kevin M. Cuddy rules that the 2009 lawsuit against the Democratic National Committee and others will go to trial.
April 2012 – Informally endorses former Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson for president during a press conference.
May 23, 2013 – The Maine Supreme Court orders that Nader’s lawsuit against the Democratic Party be dismissed.
March 19, 2014-present – Cohosts the Ralph Nader Radio Hour on Pacifica Radio Network.
April 29, 2014 – Publishes a new book, “Unstoppable: The Emerging Left-Right Alliance to Dismantle the Corporate State.”
September 27, 2015 – Nader opens the American Museum of Tort Law in his Winsted, Connecticut, hometown.
July 21, 2016 – Nader is inducted into the Automotive Hall of Fame.
April 7, 2020 – “The Ralph Nader and Family Cookbook: Classic Recipes from Lebanon and Beyond” is published.
June 30, 2020 – In a New York Times letter to the editor, Nader reacts to an article condemning the Trump administration’s response to the Coronavirus outbreak. Nader calls for “President Trump and Vice President Mike Pence to step aside and let professional public health specialists manage the federal effort against the Covid-19 pandemic.”
November 14, 2023 – Nader’s book “The Rebellious CEO: 12 Leaders Who Did It Right” is published.
by tyler | Feb 14, 2024 | CNN, us
The man who investigators say is connected to a string of unusual animal habitat tamperings at the Dallas Zoo – including the alleged theft of two tamarin monkeys – was indicted Tuesday on felony burglary charges, court records show.
Davion Irvin, 24, was indicted by a grand jury on two counts of burglary to a building, the records show. Dallas police have said the charges relate to the suspected theft in late January of the tamarin monkeys and the mid-January disappearance of a clouded leopard from its enclosure after its fence had been cut.
Irvin also is facing six misdemeanor counts of non-livestock animal cruelty in connection with the monkeys, according to police.
Irvin was arrested February 2, just days after police say the tamarin monkeys were intentionally taken from their zoo enclosure, which had been cut open. Two days before Irvin’s arrest, police found the monkeys unharmed in the closet of a Dallas-area home.
The indictment alleges that Irvin entered a building without the zoo’s consent on the day the monkeys disappeared and “did then and there commit a theft.”
CNN has sought comment from Irvin’s public defender.
The suspect was arrested after being spotted at The Dallas World Aquarium, where investigators “believe that he was looking to commit another crime,” a police spokesperson said in February.
Investigators also accuse Irvin of entering the Dallas Zoo in the early morning of January 13 and cutting the fence surrounding the habitat of a clouded leopard named Nova, allegedly intending to take the animal, according to arrest warrant affidavits.
Irvin allegedly told investigators he petted the leopard, but the 25-pound animal leapt too high in its enclosure, and he wasn’t able to catch the animal, according to the affidavits. He left the enclosure, but the leopard escaped through the cut he allegedly made, prompting the zoo to close to the public and conduct an hours-long search for the animal, which was found near its habitat later that day.
In the case of the snow leopard, the indictment alleges Irvin had the “intent to commit theft.”
The strange escapes were part of a series of other suspicious incidents involving animals at the zoo, including cuts made to the enclosure of some langur monkeys and the death of a vulture under “unusual” circumstances,” the zoo said.
Police said they believe Irvin is linked to the langur monkey case, but not the death of the vulture. No charges in the langur monkey case have been announced.
In response to the events, the zoo heightened its security, including installing more cameras and increasing patrols and overnight staff.
Irvin is being held in a Dallas County jail with bond set at $130,000, jail records show.
by tyler | Feb 14, 2024 | CNN, us
Here’s a look at the life of Rand Paul, US senator from Kentucky.
Birth date: January 7, 1963
Birth place: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Birth name: Randal Howard Paul
Father: Ron Paul, former presidential candidate and retired US representative from Texas
Mother: Carol (Wells) Paul
Marriage: Kelley (Ashby) Paul
Children: Robert, Duncan and William
Education: Attended Baylor University, 1981-1984; Duke University School of Medicine, M.D., 1988
Religion: Christian
Practiced as an ophthalmologist for 18 years.
Former president and longtime member of the Lions Club International.
Was active in the congressional and presidential campaigns of his father, Ron Paul.
1993 – Completes his ophthalmology residency at Duke University Medical Center.
1994 – Founds grassroots organization Kentucky Taxpayers United, which monitors state taxation and spending. It is legally dissolved in 2000.
1995 – Founds the Southern Kentucky Lions Eye Clinic, a non-profit providing eye exams and surgeries to those in need.
August 5, 2009 – Announces on Fox News that he is running as a Republican for the US Senate to represent Kentucky.
May 18, 2010 – Defeats Secretary of State Trey Grayson in the Kentucky GOP Senate primary.
May 19, 2010 – In interviews with NPR and MSNBC, while answering questions about the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Paul expresses strong abhorrence for racism, but says that it is the job of communities, not the government, to address discrimination. Paul later releases a statement saying that he supports the Civil Rights Act and would not support its repeal.
November 2, 2010 – Paul is elected to the Senate, defeating Jack Conway.
January 5, 2011 – Sworn in for the 112th Congress. It is the first time a son joins the Senate while his father concurrently serves in the House. Ron Paul retires from the House in 2013.
January 27, 2011 – Participates in the inaugural meeting of the Senate Tea Party Caucus with Senators Mike Lee and Jim DeMint.
February 22, 2011 – Paul’s book “The Tea Party Goes to Washington” is published.
September 11, 2012 – Paul’s book “Government Bullies: How Everyday Americans Are Being Harassed, Abused, and Imprisoned by the Feds” is published. He is later accused of plagiarism in some of his speeches and writings, including in “Government Bullies.” Paul ultimately takes responsibility, saying his office had been “sloppy” and pledging to add footnotes to all of his future material.
February 12, 2013 – Delivers the Tea Party response to President Barack Obama’s State of the Union address.
March 6-7, 2013 – Paul speaks for almost 13 hours, filibustering to stall a confirmation vote on CIA Director nominee John Brennan.
February 12, 2014 – Paul and the conservative group FreedomWorks file a class-action lawsuit against Obama and top national security officials over the government’s electronic surveillance program made public by intelligence leaker Edward Snowden. The lawsuit is later dismissed.
December 2, 2014 – Paul announces his bid for a second term in the Senate.
April 7, 2015 – Paul announces his candidacy for the Republican presidential nomination during an event in Louisville, Kentucky.
May 20, 2015 – After 10 hours and 30 minutes, Paul ends his “filibuster” over National Security Agency surveillance programs authorized under the Patriot Act. Paul’s speech wasn’t technically a filibuster because of intricate Senate rules, but his office insists it was a filibuster.
August 5, 2015 – The Justice Department indicts two officials from a Rand Paul Super PAC for conspiracy and falsifying campaign records. During the 2012 presidential primary season, Jesse Benton and John Tate allegedly bribed an Iowa state senator to get him to endorse Ron Paul. Benton and Tate go on to help run one of the Super PACs supporting Rand Paul, America’s Liberty PAC. Both men are later convicted.
February 3, 2016 – Announces that he is suspending his campaign for the presidency.
November 8, 2016 – Wins a second term in the Senate, defeating Democrat Jim Gray.
November 3, 2017 – A neighbor assaults Paul at his home in Bowling Green, Kentucky, which results in six broken ribs and a pleural effusion – a build-up of fluid around the lungs. The attorney representing Paul’s neighbor, Rene Boucher, later says that the occurrence had “absolutely nothing” to do with politics and was “a very regrettable dispute between two neighbors over a matter that most people would regard as trivial.” Boucher, who pleaded guilty to the assault, is sentenced in June 2018 to 30 days in prison with a year of supervised release.
August 2018 – Goes to Moscow and meets with Russian lawmakers, extending an invitation to visit the United States. While abroad, Paul tweets that he delivered a letter to Russian leader Vladimir Putin from US President Donald Trump. A White House spokesman later says that Paul asked Trump to provide a letter of introduction. After he returns, Paul says that he plans to ask Trump to lift sanctions on members of the Russian legislature so they can come to Washington for meetings with their American counterparts.
January 29, 2019 – A jury awards him more than $580,000 in his lawsuit against the neighbor who attacked him in 2017. The amount includes punitive damages and payment for pain and suffering as well as medical damages.
August 5, 2019 – Paul says part of his lung had to be removed by surgery following the 2017 attack by Boucher.
March 22, 2020 – Paul announces that he has tested positive for the novel coronavirus, becoming the first US senator to test positive for coronavirus.
August 10, 2021 – Paul is suspended from YouTube for seven days over a video claiming that masks are ineffective in fighting Covid-19, according to a YouTube spokesperson.
November 8, 2022 – Wins reelection to the Senate for a third term.
October 10, 2023 – Paul’s book “Deception: The Great Covid Cover-Up” is published.
by tyler | Feb 14, 2024 | CNN, cnn10
February 12, 2024
Today on CNN 10, we delve into the world of Super Bowl ads and why those TV commercial spots are big investments for advertisers. Then we head to a Harvard classroom to better understand why a professor is teaching a “Taylor-made” course on Taylor Swift’s music and lyrics. We also ask NFL legend, Tom Brady, one question that you submitted to us! And before you go, we break down fact from fiction with some of the myths about one of the most iconic presidents in our nation’s history: Abraham Lincoln. All that and more on this episode of CNN 10.
Click here to access the printable version of today’s CNN 10 transcript
CNN 10 serves a growing audience interested in compact on-demand news broadcasts ideal for explanation seekers on the go or in the classroom. The show’s priority is to identify stories of international significance and then clearly describe why they’re making news, who is affected, and how the events fit into a complex, international society.
Thank you for using CNN 10
by tyler | Feb 14, 2024 | CNN, us
Here’s a look at the life of Democratic US Senator Tim Kaine of Virginia.
Birth date: February 26, 1958
Birth place: St. Paul, Minnesota
Birth name: Timothy Michael Kaine
Father: Albert Alexander Kaine Jr., ironworker
Mother: Mary Kathleen (Burns) Kaine, teacher
Marriage: Anne Holton (1984-present)
Children: Nat, Woody and Annella
Education: University of Missouri, B.A., 1979; Harvard Law School, J.D., 1983
Religion: Roman Catholic
Practiced law in Richmond, Virginia, for 17 years, representing people who were denied fair housing opportunities because of race or disability.
Was the first Virginia governor since Thomas Jefferson to be inaugurated at the Colonial Capital in Williamsburg.
Fluent in Spanish. He took a year off from Harvard to help Jesuit missionaries run a one-room technical school in Honduras.
One of a few dozen people in American history to serve as mayor, governor and US senator.
1987-1993 – Teaches legal ethics at the University of Richmond School of Law.
1994-1998 – Serves as city council member in Richmond, Virginia.
1998-2000 – Serves as mayor of Richmond, Virginia.
2002-2006 – Serves as lieutenant governor of Virginia.
January 14, 2006-January 15, 2010 – Serves as governor of Virginia.
2008 – Is rumored to be one of President Barack Obama’s picks for vice president.
2009-2011 – Serves as Chairman of the Democratic National Committee.
January 3, 2013 – Sworn in as senator of Virginia.
June 11, 2013 – Delivers a speech in Spanish during a debate on the Senate’s immigration bill. Kaine is the first senator to deliver a full speech on the Senate floor in a language other than English.
February 2015 – Co-sponsors the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act.
July 22, 2016 – Named as Hillary Clinton’s vice presidential running mate in the presidential election.
November 8, 2016 – The Clinton-Kaine ticket is defeated in the presidential election by the Donald Trump–Mike Pence ticket.
November 6, 2018 – Reelected senator of Virginia.
February 13, 2020 – A bipartisan Iran war powers resolution sponsored by Kaine is passed in the senate with a vote of 55 to 45. This follows the military action, initiated unilaterally by Trump, that resulted in the death of Iranian general Qasem Soleimani in January. Chiefly authored by Kaine with initial co-sponsors Mike Lee, Rand Paul and Richard Durbin, the act is “a joint resolution to direct the removal of United States armed forces from hostilities against the Islamic Republic of Iran that have not been authorized by Congress.
January 3, 2022 – Along with hundreds of other motorists, Kaine is stranded for more than 24 hours on a 50-mile stretch of Interstate 95 in eastern Virginia after a winter storm dumps more than a foot of snow in the area.
January 20, 2023 – Announces he is running for reelection in 2024.
