The debt ceiling will be the first real test of Kevin McCarthy’s “leadership” skills. It will be interesting to see if he can bring his chaotic House in order. For now, senate Republicans are saying: “It’s all you, Kevin.” As Politico reported, the Republican senators who helped to raise the debt ceiling twice are now leaving it up to Kevin McCarthy to do his job. It didn’t help that Kevin McCarthy was one of the loudest critics of the passage of the latest bipartisan spending plan, and they have no desire to help McCarthy. It’s a shame that these people want to play games with our lives, but it is also understandable that they’re sitting back and watching whether McCarthy will be able to “man up.”

Most MAGA Republicans are nothing but blowhards. They talk a big game, but when the time comes to do the work, they’re nowhere to be found. It’s easy to sit back and criticize others when you have no right to do so, but actually getting involved in the work it takes to run the country is over their heads. Politico reported that four of the Republican senators who helped raise the last two debt ceilings said they “have no intention of stepping in.” Thom Tillis (R-NC), who often works across the aisle, told Politico: “What matters is really what the House can create. They have the gavels. We have to see what sort of strategy they think works to a successful outcome.” In other words, they want to see what McCarthy is made of, though most of us already know the answer to that question.

Joe Manchin appeared on “State of the Union,” and he discussed how House Republicans are trying to hold the debt ceiling hostage to get what they want. He said that in his state, 60% of retirees live on social security and Medicare, and they’re scared to death that Republicans want to tap into those programs as a compromise for raising the debt ceiling. Manchin said: “That’s not going to happen. Take that off the board right now and look at ways that we have wasteful spending that we can be held accountable and responsible for.” He is correct. Neither social security nor Medicare should ever be used in any sentence with the word “spending.” No one is spending anything on either program; we paid into them from our paychecks. It’s not “spending;” it’s giving back what people have put in, as the program was intended to do. They are not “entitlements,” nor are they “charity” in any form. Money was taken out of people’s paychecks for forced retirements. Those people’s employers also had to pay. The government did nothing but collected the funds, and the government is not entitled to anything having to do with those funds.

The proverbial ball is in McCarthy’s court. He can sit down with President Biden and work this out or he can be the bad guy who allowed our country to default on its loans. The next move is his; let’s see what he does with it.

The post It’s your move Kevin appeared first on Palmer Report.

Last week, several influencers known for uploading makeup and lifestyle content began posting that they were heading to Dubai with Tarte Cosmetics for the launch of a new foundation product. They included TikTokers like Meredith Duxbury, a makeup influencer with over 16 million followers; Alix Earle, a relatively new influencer who recently gained popularity for her “get ready with me” content and has over 4 million followers; and Monet McMichael, a beauty and lifestyle blogger with over 2 million followers. As the creators started posting their travel vlogs on their way to Dubai, people began noticing they were sitting in business class. Once they got to their destination, they showed off their own personal villas at The Ritz-Carlton Ras Al Khaimah and a wealth of beauty products, clothes, and gifts that awaited them.

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@monetmcmichael

it’s been TOOO REAL 🫶🏾💕 last day in the life #trippinwithtarte

♬ original sound – monet mcmichael 🤍

Shortly into their trip, questions began to arise online. One of the first videos to call the trip into question was from a creator named Jack McGuire, which he uploaded last Thursday. In two separate videos, McGuire, who works for Barstool, attempted to poke holes in the trip’s feasibility. These videos and many others began circulating on the platform, gaining hundreds of thousands of views. Some followers on TikTok wondered how much money the extravagant trip cost the brand and whether Tarte paid the influencers in addition to travel, room, and board (its CEO later confirmed that they did not). Some took it upon themselves to “investigate” exactly how much money Tarte spent on the trip. Others shared their opinions about how the trip was “tone-deaf” as the United States is on the verge of a recession. All of the conversations, commentary, and questions surrounding this trip did exactly what the company set out to do: get people talking about their brand. The hashtag #TrippinWithTarte has over 140 million views, and #TarteDubaiTrip has over 20 million views.

Brand trips are not typically this widely discussed, especially back in the early days of YouTube. In fact, they were staples among the beauty and lifestyle vloggers who were invited by brands like Benefit to different destinations where they could create content while using the brand’s products. Even Tarte has done many similar brand trips in the past. But to social media users who were not deeply aware of the height of beauty and lifestyle YouTubers in the 2010s, these extravagant trips can feel off-putting and seemingly wasteful. For the brand, however, even the bad press may be paying off.

The trip inspires strong reactions, followed by explanations

Brands have understood, long before the influencer age, that traditional advertising is not the only way to promote their products; now, it’s hard to find a major brand that hasn’t partnered with an influencer or celebrity whose social media following can translate into dollars when they hawk their wares.

In the case of the Tarte trip, the makeup brand invited a group of 50 influencers and their plus ones from eight different countries around the world to join them in Dubai for the launch of their foundation. But rather than sheer excitement, one of the predominant reactions to the resulting content inspired was shock at the overwhelming extravagance of the trip. Fueling these reactions were, naturally, a lot of unchecked assumptions.

Some creators jumped in to dispel those assumptions. One TikTok creator who says she used to manage influencer trips, @jill_justine, uploaded a video in which she explains that in her experience, “these types of trips are a lot more affordable than you think.” In the video, she says that trips she organized included destinations like the Bahamas, Grand Cayman Islands, and Jamaica, where guests would stay in places like the Ritz-Carlton and go on various local excursions. “Most of the time, all of those things were free because we were partnering with the hotels, with the event, with the experience, because all of them are getting exposure as well,” the creator says.

@jill_justine

TO BE CLEAR I do not do this anymore, but what a wild job it was!! #tarte #tartedubai #dubai #tarteinfluencer #influencertrips #alixearle #shapetape #greenscreen

♬ original sound – Jill Justine

The brand also got exposure from the creators without having to pay them per post. Someone like Earle, who is estimated to charge anywhere between $40,000 to $70,000 per brand-sponsored post, uploaded 15 posts from her trip. Maureen Kelly, the founder and CEO of Tarte, spoke exclusively with Glossy and confirmed the brand did not pay the content creators in addition to the trip, nor did they have any requirements for posting. Some noted that the creators who went were not creating content solely with Tarte products, which has been customary for other brand trips in the past.

Kelly also spoke about the perceived controversy surrounding the trip and countered many of the rumors that loomed over the trip. She first explained that Tarte has long “prioritized their marketing budget into building relationships with influencers.” Although she declined to share the total amount spent on the trip, she confirmed the brand partnered with Sephora Middle East. Glossy writes that the rooms are “filled with gifts from other like-minded brands, many of which Tarte has now partnered with for years.” As for the flight, whose expense had become a focal point after McGuire estimated that it would cost upwards of $22,000 per ticket for each influencer and their plus one, she argued that these influencers were putting their lives on pause to get on a 14-hour flight, so they wanted to “make this as seamless and pleasant [an] experience for everyone.”

The evolving optics of the extravagant influencer trip

A common feeling among influencers’ critics is that they make too much money or are afforded opportunities by doing little to no work, deeming them unworthy of the perks they receive. On the surface, it seems like an easy job to be an influencer. But while it’s certainly not hard labor, there’s still plenty of work that goes into creating content—coming up with original ideas, filming, editing, brand deals, travel, and more. This Tarte trip to Dubai is yet another example of that feeling manifesting online.

There was also the question of the optics of the ostentatious trip. Kelly did not address criticism over tone-deafness during the interview. But the Tarte trip is hardly doing anything unique here when it comes to lavishness—beauty and lifestyle YouTubers like Emma Chamberlain have gone on brand trips with cosmetic or beauty brands in the past. Now, though, in the age of TikTok, and following an uptick in the app’s popularity during the pandemic, the concept is new to many users who did grow up watching these influencers. For years, it was expected that influencers would live a certain lifestyle and receive certain once-in-a-lifetime opportunities to make content out of them. But as that style of content creation has spilled over to TikTok, it’s facing more criticism with a more politically and socially aware Gen Z audience, prompting conversations and controversy.

In the end, though, even if the optics of trips like Tarte’s Dubai experience are becoming strained, the attention this trip received suggests that we’re not quite finished with them yet. Both the brand and the influencers got exactly what they wanted—for people to talk about them.

The Omicron variant has morphed into more than half a dozen different strains—the latest of which include BQ.1.1 and XBB.1, and XBB.1.5. Combined, these variants and their close relatives now account for nearly 90% of new COVID-19 infections in the U.S.

But so far, no COVID-19 vaccine directly targets them. Instead, the latest bivalent formulation of the booster (and the only one currently available) was designed against the Omicron variants BA.4 and BA.5, which are no longer widely circulating.

So how well does it protect against the newer ones?

The first look at a vaccine’s effectiveness generally comes from lab-based data analyzing serum from vaccinated people, while real-world data show how those numbers translate to actual protection and symptoms of disease. Two new reports provide both types of evidence—and the best picture yet of how the bivalent booster is faring in the face of newer Omicron variants. The upshot? Even though the bivalent vaccine was not designed to target them, it still provides some protection against the latest variants.

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On Jan. 25, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported in its Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report real-world data conducted from December 1, 2022 to January 13, 2023—when the new variants were becoming more prevalent—showing that vaccinated people who were boosted with the bivalent shot were half as likely as vaccinated people who didn’t get the bivalent booster to become infected with these variants and experience at least one symptom of COVID-19. On the same day, in a letter published in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM), scientists at the University of Texas and Pfizer-BioNTech (which makes one of the FDA-authorized bivalent shots), reported that the bivalent vaccine still provides some protection against BQ.1.1 and XBB.1.

In the real-world CDC data, researchers show that the bivalent booster is reducing COVID-19 among those who receive it, and that protection from disease against the newest variants is similar to that against the BA.5 variant. That’s “reassuring that the vaccines are continuing to work,” says the CDC’s Ruth Link-Gelles, lead author of the report.

Researchers behind the NEJM paper analyzed data from vaccinated and boosted people enrolled in the trials for the original Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, who received a fourth dose of the original vaccine, and another group that received three doses of the original vaccine and a fourth dose of the bivalent vaccine. The researchers had blood samples from the day the participants received their fourth dose, as well as samples taken one month later, so they could measure antibody levels against BQ.1.1 and XBB.1 in the same people.

After one month, people who received the bivalent booster generated antibodies that were on average nearly three times higher than those produced by people who were given a fourth shot of the original formula. “This is the best [data] you can get on this question in human trials,” says Pei-Yong Shi, professor of biochemistry and molecular biology at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston and co-senior author of the study. “The neutralizing antibody response is clearly better than [that provided] by the [original] vaccine.”

In this study, the bivalent booster was slightly better at generating virus-fighting antibodies than in previous studies, which found only small differences between people boosted with the original and bivalent vaccines in terms of antibodies generated against BQ.1.1 and XBB.1. (Unpublished data from these groups shows similarly small differences with XBB.1.5.) In those studies, however, blood wasn’t collected from people before and after their fourth booster dose; instead, the scientists compared blood from different groups of people who had been either boosted with the original or bivalent doses. A strength of the NEJM study is that “you can clearly calculate what is the contribution of the fourth dose and quantify the differences between the original and bivalent doses,” says Shi.

Shi also notes that in previous studies, scientists used a so-called pseudovirus, which contained only the spike protein of the virus, to test in the lab how much antibody was present in the blood sera. In the current study, a more complete version of SARS-CoV-2 was used, which likely better mimics what happens in the body.

Still, Shi acknowledges that the response produced by the bivalent vaccine against the newest variants isn’t dramatic. “We have to acknowledge that BQ.1.1. and XBB.1 really knock down or evade the antibody response substantially,” he says.

The researchers also found that the virus-fighting antibody levels produced by vaccinated and boosted people who had recovered from a previous infection were in general lower than those generated by vaccinated and boosted people who had never been infected, regardless of whether they received the original or bivalent booster. That could reflect the fact that people who have been infected tend to start out with a higher baseline of antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 than those who have never encountered any variant.

The bottom line is that even though the strain included in the booster no longer matches the variants currently causing infections—and even though antibody levels aren’t very high against the latest variants—a person’s entire COVID-19 vaccine history continues to play an important role in their immune response. The original vaccines taught the immune system to produce long-lasting T cells against the virus, which helps reduce a person’s risk of severe disease. And the bivalent booster appears to be doing its job at keeping the immune system sharp against Omicron’s onslaught.

Remember the name Emma Moran, for she has achieved what once seemed impossible: She’s created a superhero comedy that’s actually funny. The premise of her debut series, Extraordinary, is not revolutionary. Like Disney’s Encanto and, to a lesser extent, the recently canceled Peacock teen drama Vampire Academy, it’s set in an alternate reality where every young person, upon reaching a certain age, develops a superpower—except for the unfortunate protagonist. The failure-to-launch metaphor is so obvious, it even resonates with toddlers. What makes Moran’s show, well, extraordinary is the irreverent panache with which it’s executed.

Extraordinary, whose eight-episode season is now streaming in full on Hulu, follows the hapless Jen (Máiréad Tyers), a 25-year-old Irish girl living among Londoners who almost all received a supernatural enhancement sometime around their 18th birthdays. As she works an ironically depressing job at a party store and hooks up with people who don’t really care about her, Jen’s perceived deficiency constantly gnaws at her. Even a date with a guy who has the power to give anyone an orgasm simply by grazing their skin with his hand somehow winds up unsatisfying. (One thing that sets Extraordinary apart from Encanto is its enthusiastic raunchiness.)

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Jen’s greatest source of comfort is her lifelong best friend and housemate, Carrie (Sofia Oxenham), a fledgling lawyer who can summon the dead. Spirits can even speak through her mouth, which comes in handy for clarifying contested wills. Carrie’s live-in boyfriend Kash (Bilal Hasna) is a slacker who can rewind time; his real life is essentially a VHS tape. He dreams of parlaying that ability into some ill-defined sort of vigilante group—but isn’t a team of do-gooder superheroes kind of redundant in a world where just about everybody is a superhero of sorts?

Natalie Seery—Disney+From left: Mairead Tyers, Sofia Oxenham, and Siobhan McSweeney in Extraordinary

Moran uses the superpower conceit brilliantly. While the urban skies are dotted with people who can fly, and muggers capitalize on invisibility, humans remain as neurotic as ever. In the series’ opening scene, Jen answers a polite job-interview question—”How was your journey?”—with a deluge of TMI regarding tampons, masturbation, antidepressants, and her explosively anxious stomach. She has, unfortunately, encountered an HR rep who is the human embodiment of truth serum. Meanwhile, some people end up with gross or inane powers; “I can summon sea creatures,” one guy announces, as a wet, writhing fish smashes through a window into his outstretched hand. A character who can kinda, sorta walk through walls, but only when he’s naked, gets stuck in a brick facade with his bare butt hanging out for much of an episode.

Ribald, kinetic, and rooted in the misadventures of flailing young-adult friends, Extraordinary feels closer to zany millennial-underachiever farces like Broad City and Search Party than it does to any superhero show I’ve ever seen. The sight gags are on point, but the dialogue is even sharper. “I’m playing the world’s smallest violin,” Jen scoffs, scrunching her hands into a miniscule air violin, when her perfect younger sister Andy (Safia Oakley-Green), a smug musical prodigy, throws a tantrum upon failing to discover her power the moment she turns 18. Andy: “I’ve actually played the world’s smallest violin, and it’s much bigger than that.” (In a glorious casting choice, the girls’ mom is played by Derry Girls’ deadpan nun, Siobhán McSweeney.) The soundtrack is all witty misfits: Devo, Wet Leg, Mitski, The Clash.

But it’s the superhero stuff that saves this Gen Z comedy from merely rehashing the angsty-young-woman humor of its recent predecessors. By situating Jen, Carrie, and Kash (yes, they’re a couple named Kash and Carrie) in such a complicated and absurd reality—one of Jen’s love interests literally spent the last several years of his life as a cat—Moran gently sends up the low-stakes narcissism of the pre-Trump, pre-pandemic, pre-climate-panic Girls era. True to its title, Extraordinary combines and tweaks familiar tropes into something genuinely unique. That it also makes Deadpool look about as audacious as The Incredibles is just a bonus.

Administrators at a school in Newport News, Virginia were allegedly warned three times in that a 6-year-old student had a gun and had made threats to use it, but they neglected to act before he shot his teacher later that day, putting her in critical condition, the teacher’s lawyer said Wednesday.

Richneck Elementary School teacher Abigail Zwerner, 25, was the sole victim of the shooting on Jan. 6, 2023, and although she survived, her lawyer Diane Toscano claims that the shooting was “entirely preventable” if Newport News School District administrators had taken proper measures to investigate and handle the threat. She added that Zwerner intends to sue the school district.

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“On that day, over the course of a few hours, three different times—three times—school administration was warned by concerned teachers and employees that the boy had a gun on him at the school and was threatening people. But the administration could not be bothered,” Toscano said at a press conference gathering Wednesday.

“Were they not so paralyzed by apathy they could have prevented this tragedy,” Toscano said, adding that administrators didn’t call the police, remove the boy from class or place the school under lockdown.

On the day of the shooting, Toscano said Zwerner, following protocol, notified school administrators around 11:15-11:30 AM that morning that a 6-year-old, who would later shoot Zwerner, had threatened to beat up another student. Toscano said that the school administration didn’t call security or remove the student from the classroom.

Another teacher apparently received a warning that the boy had a gun, and approached a school administrator at 12:30 PM, saying that she had searched the boy’s bookbag, following protocol, but suspected that he put the gun in his pocket and went out for recess. The administrator allegedly responded saying, “Well, he has little pockets.”

Just after 1 P.M., a third teacher told administrators that another student, crying and fearful, admitted to the teacher that he had seen the gun at recess, and the shooter threatened to shoot him if he told anybody, according to Toscano.

A fourth school employee who heard about the danger asked an administrator for permission to conduct a search of the child, but was denied and told to wait the situation out because the school day was almost over, Toscano said.

Shortly after 2 P.M., just as the school day was ending, the boy pulled out the gun and shot Zwerner in the hand and chest while she was teaching a lesson, according to Newport News police, who also said that Zwerner evacuated all the other students from the classroom after she was shot.

Since the shooting, the school district’s superintendent, George Parker, has come under criticism by parents who call for his resignation or firing. Six days after the shooting, Parker admitted that at least one administrator had been told that the boy may have a gun the day of the shooting. On Wednesday, the Newport News School Board will meet to discuss a separation agreement and severance for the superintendent, Newport News Public Schools did not respond to TIME’s request for comment.

When the Newport News School District sends a message that “teachers are expendable, that this is just a hazard of the job if you teach at Newport News, their response will hover over this school district and this community for decades,” Toscano said.

“Since they can’t roll back time and undo the callousness of the bureaucracy, they can do the right thing and admit what went wrong and fix it,” she added.

Toscano said that since the shooting, Zwerner has been home recovering and “gaining strength every day,” but that Zwerner was between surgeries and physical therapy appointments and the bullet from the shooting remains dangerously inside Zwerner’s body. And while her physical condition is improving, Toscano said Zwerner’s “psychological conditions cut deeply and remain fresh.”

“Abby Zwerner is the best of us, an optimistic, dedicated and caring elementary school teacher who endured the unthinkable; being shot purposely by a 6-year-old student in front of her first grade class while teaching,” Toscano said.

According to a letter previously released by the shooter’s family, the gun belonged to the boy’s mother and they had stored it in a secure location. Newport News police confirmed that his mother had legally purchased the gun. The commonwealth attorney’s office will decide if the mother will face any charges.

The letter also stated that the six-year-old boy has an “acute disability and was under a care plan at the school that included his mother or father attending school with him and accompanying him to class every day.” The week of the shooting was the first instance where neither parent accompanied the boy. Following the shooting, the boy received hospital care and “the treatment he needs,” according to the letter.

On Wednesday, James Ellenson, an attorney for the child’s family, said in a statement that they “continue to pray for Ms. Zwerner and wish her a complete and full recovery.”

High cholesterol is a prime example of having too much of a good thing. Our bodies naturally make this substance in the liver and then transport it throughout the body for multiple functions, including hormone regulation, cell tissue regeneration, and vitamin absorption. When the system is working well, cholesterol can boost overall health. But when a certain type called low-density lipoprotein—LDL, sometimes dubbed the “bad” kind—is overproduced, not only does it block the “good” kind called high-density lipoprotein (HDL), but it can also begin to accumulate in the arteries and form thick, hard deposits. This narrows the space for blood flow and raises the risk of blood clots, which can lead to heart attack or stroke. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) notes that about 93 million American adults have high cholesterol, which represents about 36% of the U.S. adult population.

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High cholesterol rarely presents with symptoms in its early stages, which is why knowing your cholesterol levels and reducing LDL if it’s getting too high is crucial for heart health. For many people, a type of medication known as statins may be a recommended step for cardiovascular risk prevention. First approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 1985, these drugs work by blocking a substance your body uses to make cholesterol, which can reduce the level of LDL cholesterol and also help stabilize the plaques on blood vessels so they don’t break off and become problematic.

According to the CDC, statin use has been growing for the past decade, and nearly 39 million Americans take a statin daily. Usage increases over age 40 since heart risks tend to escalate as we get older. However, a statin prescription isn’t a guarantee for everyone.

Here are answers to five key questions about this common medication, along with advice on when to talk to your doctor.

How do statins work?

Much like lowering production in a factory, statins work by reducing the amount of cholesterol produced by the liver. They also help the liver remove cholesterol already in the blood, which can reduce the chances that you’ll develop deposits in the arteries.

This differs from other types of cholesterol-lowering medications because rather than trying to eliminate excess cholesterol once it’s manufactured, statins target the source of that production.

For example, injectable medicines called PCSK9 inhibitors lower cholesterol by blocking the LDL receptors in the body, resulting in how much cholesterol circulates in the bloodstream. There’s also niacin, sometimes called nicotinic acid, which works by raising HDL cholesterol levels—an action that lowers LDL cholesterol as a result.

Read More: What to Know About High Cholesterol in Kids

Has the thinking on who should get statins changed over the past few years?

As more statins have become available—there are now seven options—and usage of these medications has increased, scientists’ understanding of cholesterol and heart disease has also evolved, says Dr. Adriana Quinones-Camacho, a cardiologist at NYU Langone in New York.

“The more we learn about heart disease and cholesterol, the more nuanced the recommendations have become,” she notes. “In the past, the level of total cholesterol, and especially LDL, may have been the biggest consideration for statin use, but that’s not the case anymore.”

For example, age is an incredibly important variable. Research published in the journal Clinical Epidemiology in 2016 suggests the statin prescription rate has increased the most for people ages 50 to 59, while slowing slightly for those ages 60 to 74.

Research within the past decade has also clarified the strong association between diabetes and heart disease, especially if someone also has high cholesterol. If you have diabetes, you’re already twice as likely to have heart disease or experience a stroke—and at a younger age—than someone without the condition. Additional factors like cholesterol and high blood pressure could make it much more likely that your doctor would suggest a statin, says Quinones-Camacho.

“As we have more data and evidence about cholesterol’s effect on the body, as well as research on these other variables, it gives us more information we can use to tailor our recommendations around statins for each patient,” she adds.

Would someone with high cholesterol automatically be a candidate for statins?

In August 2022, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommended that people aged 40 to 75 who are at high risk of cardiovascular disease should consult with a health care professional about taking a statin to prevent a first heart attack or stroke.

Although high LDL and low HDL numbers are two of the main considerations when it comes to statin recommendations, they’re not the only ones, says Dr. Kevin Ferentz, chair of the department of family medicine and lead physician at GBMC Health Partners Primary Care in Maryland.

“High cholesterol is only one factor in the development of heart disease,” he says. “Others—like smoking, high blood pressure, and diabetes—play a role as well.” A physician will consider your age, general physical condition, family history of heart issues, and presence of other chronic illnesses, adds Dr. Jennifer Wong, a cardiologist and medical director of non-invasive cardiology at MemorialCare Heart and Vascular Institute at Orange Coast Medical Center in California.

Combining all of these factors isn’t done through intuition—there’s a standardized risk calculator used by health professionals that looks at nine different factors and calculates the 10-year probability of heart disease development. In some cases, Wong says, this score can prompt people to make important lifestyle changes that might lower their risk without the use of medication.

Most notably, quitting smoking is a huge benefit to cardiovascular health that may drop LDL cholesterol on its own. When combined with healthy eating and regular exercise, it’s possible a patient may get cholesterol levels into a better range within just a few months, while also improving their blood pressure and diabetes symptoms if either of those are present.

However, the variables that can’t be changed—like genetics and age—may be more prominent and increase risk to the point of making statins advisable, Wong says. And one factor that almost always drives statin recommendations? Having a prior heart event.

“If someone has experienced a heart attack or stroke, they will very likely be a candidate for statins, regardless of their cholesterol level,” she says. “If they also have hypertension or diabetes in addition to a heart event, they will almost certainly be advised to take statins.”

Read More: How to Lower Your Cholesterol Naturally

What are the most prevalent side effects?

Considering that statins have been increasingly used for nearly 40 years, there’s ample data on side effects as well as the balance of reward versus risk, Ferentz says. In general, statins tend to be well tolerated, and the majority of people taking them have no side effects, particularly if they’re well monitored.

Some people who start statins experience elevated blood sugar levels. For most people, this isn’t a concern, Wong says, but if you’re prediabetic and that slight elevation increases the risk of developing Type 2 diabetes, that may require a treatment change. However, she adds, the conversation with your health provider will center around whether the benefit of taking a statin may outweigh the risk.

Beyond that, doctors typically check liver function before people start a statin, and again on an annual basis. “Statins occasionally do raise liver function concerns,” Ferentz says. In certain cases, like if a patient is experiencing liver damage, statins might be discontinued completely and replaced with other medications.

The main side effect associated with statins is myopathy, a neuromuscular disorder that causes muscle pain. Statin-associated muscle symptoms can include mild-to-moderate pain, fatigue, weakness, and night cramps, and can be confirmed via a blood test.

Research suggests that up to 25% of people on statins experience some type of muscle issues. In rare cases, this can progress to more serious conditions such as rhabdomyolysis, in which damaged muscle tissues release compounds like protein and electrolytes into the blood, potentially affecting the kidneys and heart.

However, that occurs only if muscle pain goes untreated, says Wong. Most people who are experiencing higher levels of discomfort and side effects can be switched to a different statin or even a non-statin cholesterol-lowering option that may resolve muscle problems.

“Every medication has side effects, and statins are no exception,” Wong adds. While muscle pain is the most common complaint, she also hears about sleep difficulties, digestive troubles, and dizziness. “In all these instances, we’re fortunate to have several types of statins available,” she says. “So it’s easy to change to one that might work better. Sometimes, just lowering the dosage can have a major effect.”

When should you talk to your doctor?

Even if you’re generally healthy—you don’t have any other chronic conditions, you eat healthy, you don’t smoke, and you exercise regularly—you can still have high cholesterol. Keep in mind that it rarely presents with symptoms. Getting your cholesterol checked after age 40 is crucial, but Quinones-Camacho suggests knowing your numbers decades before that, too.

Most likely, younger people won’t be put on statins, but having a baseline for your cholesterol levels to monitor can help lower heart-health risks overall.

Regardless of your age, talk to your doctor if you have a family history of heart disease. You’ll also want to stay on top of your cholesterol numbers if you smoke now or did in the past, or if you have high blood pressure, diabetes, less-than-ideal nutrition, or sedentary behavior.

“In the end, like everything in medicine, statin use will come down to what’s best for an individual,” Quinones-Camacho says. “Two people of the same age with the exact same cholesterol numbers may be managed very differently in terms of cholesterol-reduction plans.” As with everything else in medicine, prevention is preferable to treatment. “So the earlier you talk to your doctor, the better.”

(NewsNation) — Meta, the company that owns Facebook and Instagram, announced Wednesday that former President Donald Trump’s suspension from the social media platform will come to an end “in the coming weeks,” Nick Clegg, the president of Meta’s global affairs, said in an email to media outlets Wednesday.

“Americans should be able to hear from the people who want to lead the country,” Clegg said. “We don’t want to stand in the way.”

The former president’s accounts were suspended after the social media platforms determined that Trump stoked violence ahead of the deadly Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol.

The company said in a blog post Wednesday it is adding “new guardrails” to ensure there are no “repeat offenders” who violate its rules.

“In the event that Mr. Trump posts further violating content, the content will be removed and he will be suspended for between one month and two years, depending on the severity of the violation,” Meta, which is based in Menlo Park, California, said.

Trump’s spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the decision.

He was suspended on Jan. 7, a day after the deadly 2021 insurrection. Other social media companies also kicked him off their platforms, though he was recently reinstated on Twitter after Elon Musk took over the company. He has not tweeted.

Banned from mainstream social media, Trump has been relying on his own, much smaller site, Truth Social, which he launched after being blocked from Twitter.

This is a developing story. Refresh for updates.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

It can be frustrating to know that you might not be receiving critical emails, especially due to technical issues.

Justin Paget/Getty Images

• If Gmail isn’t receiving emails, there could be a few problems.
• When your Google Drive runs out of storage space, you can’t receive new emails.
• You might also have the wrong Gmail inbox settings, or lack a stable internet connection.

It can be frustrating to find that you’re not receiving emails through Gmail. Connectivity, settings, and account issues can stop you from receiving emails, but most are a quick fix.

Here’s what to do if you’re having inbox trouble.

How to fix Gmail if you’re not receiving emails

Clearing your inbox or Google Drive, changing your filter settings, and double-checking your internet connection can all help solve the problem. 

Clear your Google storage space

Plenty of us are guilty of hoarding messages and files that we don’t need. If your inbox is filled with old emails, you run the risk of running out of storage space.

Go through your inbox to delete large files from your account or Google Drive to help free up space. If you want more space to save your emails, you can also upgrade your storage plan.

If you’ve run out of Google storage, you can’t receive more emails.

Google; William Antonelli/Insider

Make sure your emails aren’t being filtered into another folder

Gmail has an automatic system for filtering emails into your different folders. This means that if you’re waiting for an email from a new sender, there’s a chance Gmail marked it as spam.

Quick tip: Gmail marks some emails as spam by default. It will eventually learn which emails are safe and which are spam as you mark them. In the meantime, here’s how to change Gmail spam settings if it’s not getting it quite right.

You can open your spam folder by clicking or tapping Spam in Gmail’s left sidebar. If you find the email you’re looking for there, open it and select Report not spam or Move to inbox.

You can move spam messages back into the general inbox.

Gmail; William Antonelli/Insider

Alternatively, check out the All Mail folder, which contains every email you receive, no matter the folder. 

You might also want to check your Trash folder. There’s always a chance that you deleted the email you’re looking for accidentally.

If you find that a lot of important emails are getting filtered into other folders, make sure that you don’t have a filter inadvertently blocking your emails.

1. On Gmail’s desktop website, click the gear icon in the top-right corner and then click See all settings.

2. Select the Filters and Blocked Addresses tab to see all your Gmail filters.

The Filters and Blocked Addresses tab shows if there are any conditions that might hide or block emails before you see them.

Alexander Johnson/Insider

3. Review the filters and select Delete for any you want to remove.

Connect to the internet

It might seem obvious, but you need an internet connection to receive emails. If your internet connection is spotty or weak, Gmail will have trouble receiving and loading emails.

Take a speed test on your computer or phone to see if your connection is slow. And if the problems persist, disconnect from the internet and reconnect. You might also have to manually reset your internet router, or even try using another device to check your email with.

Quick tip: You may be receiving emails, but simply not getting notifications from them, especially if you’re not connected to the internet. Try checking your iPhone’s notification settings or reconnecting to wifi.

Make sure your account’s POP/IMAP settings are correct on the iPhone Mail app

Some issues might occur while using Gmail on your iPhone. If you’re using the Mail app on an iPhone, you’ll have to make sure your Google account is properly set up and linked.

1. Open Settings and scroll down to Mail.

2. Tap Accounts and then Add Account.

3. Choose the email provider you use and sign into the designated account. 

4. Once signed in, your Gmail account should be linked to your iPhone’s Mail app.

Gmail on an iPhone can also have IMAP issues, which is the system that allows information to flow into and from your smartphone. If it’s switched off, there are simple steps to enable it. 

On a computer’s web browser

1. Open Gmail and click the gear icon in the top-right corner and then click See all settings.

2. Select the Forwarding and POP/IMAP tab.

3. Scroll down to IMAP Access and click on Enable IMAP.

Enable IMAP, either on your computer or phone.

Gmail; William Antonelli/Insider

On your iPhone

1. Open Safari, go to Gmail.com and log in to your account.

2. Tap Go to Mobile Gmail Site and tap the link at the bottom of the screen.

3. Tap More in the bottom-left corner.

4. Scroll down and tap View Gmail and tap Desktop. 

5. Tap Settings and then the Forwarding and POP/IMAP tab.

6. Scroll down to IMAP Access and tap Enable IMAP.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi greets his cabinet colleagues as he arrives on the opening day of the winter session of the Parliament, in New Delhi, India, on December 7, 2022.

AP Photo/Manish Swarup

• YouTube and Twitter blocked links to a BBC documentary about Indian PM Narendra Modi in India.
• The documentary investigates Modi’s role in the 2002 Gujarat riots that killed around 1,000 people.
• An advisor to the Indian government called the documentary “hostile propaganda” on Twitter.

Links and videos of a BBC documentary about Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi are being blocked on YouTube and Twitter in India.

The two-part documentary, “India: The Modi Question,” investigates claims about Modi’s involvement in the 2002 riots in Gujarat where he was serving as chief minister at the time. Over 1,000 people, mostly Muslims, were killed during the violence that was prompted by the murder of a group of 59 Hindu pilgrims.

Kanchan Gupta, a senior adviser to the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, tweeted on Saturday that the office “issued directions for blocking multiple” YouTube videos showing the first episode of the documentary. The ministry also ordered Twitter to block “over 50 tweets with links to these YT videos,” he said.

He tweeted that the ministry is using “emergency powers under the IT Rules,” introduced by Modi in 2021, and that YouTube and Twitter have complied in India.

Modi is part of the BJP, or Bharatiya Janata Party, which has been India’s ruling political party since 2014 when Modi took office. He has denied contributing to the violence depicted in the documentary.  

Gupta criticized the documentary on Twitter, calling it “hostile propaganda,” and “anti-India garbage.” He accused the BBC of having a “colonial mindset,” and said the documentary was “undermining the sovereignty and integrity of India.”

A YouTube spokesperson told Insider in a statement that, “The video in question has been blocked from appearing by the BBC due to a copyright claim.” 

A spokesperson for the BBC said it “has not asked Twitter to remove any content relating to the documentary. As is our standard practice, we issue Takedown Notices to websites and other file sharing platforms where the content infringes the BBC’s copyright.” The documentary has been broadcast only in the UK on the BBC’s video on-demand service. 

The spokesperson said the documentary “examines the tensions between India’s Hindu majority and Muslim minority and explores the politics of India’s PM Narendra Modi in relation to those tensions.”

“The documentary was rigorously researched according to highest editorial standards. A wide range of voices, witnesses and experts were approached, and we have featured a range of opinions – this includes responses from people in the BJP. We offered the Indian Government a right to reply to the matters raised in the series – it declined to respond,” the spokesperson said.

Twitter did not immediately responded to Insider’s request for comment.

Two Parliamentary members of the opposition party All India Trinamool Congress, shared links to the documentary. Derek O’Brien’s tweet was removed; Mahua Moitra shared an archived link to the video but it longer works. In a tweet with the link she said, “Sorry, Haven’t been elected to represent world’s largest democracy to accept censorship.”

Twitter CEO Elon Musk responded to a tweet asking him about The Intercept’s article on removing the documentary and said it was the first he’d heard of it.

“It is not possible for me to fix every aspect of Twitter worldwide overnight, while still running Tesla and SpaceX, among other things,” Musk tweeted.

Musk has called himself  “a free speech absolutist,” but clarified in another tweet in April that, “By ‘free speech’, I simply mean that which matches the law. I am against censorship that goes far beyond the law.”

Stanley’s 40-ounce tumblers retail for $40 to $50, according to the company website. Social media users are praising the cups for their design and ability to keep drinks chilled.

Courtesy of Stanley

• Stanley tumblers had a surge of popularity in 2022 with many calling it the new “it” portable drinkware.
• Stanley is beating out drinkware from other brands that previously dominated the market.
• Here are the beloved water bottle brands that are now falling by the wayside. 

As more consumers move away from single-use plastics and toward a more environmentally friendly lifestyle, the reusable water bottle market is reaping the benefits — especially beloved brands like Stanley. 

The market was valued at nearly $9 billion in 2021, and it’s expected to reach close to $12 billion by 2028, according to a 2022 study done by market intelligence company SkyQuest. Stanley is cashing in on that growth: In February 2022, Stanley was named the fastest-growing equipment accessories brand, with sales growing by 275% in 2021, the company told the New York Times earlier this year. 

In recent months, Stanley’s 40-ounce tumblers — which retail for between $40 and $50 — have become the internet’s latest obsession, thanks to their sleek design and ability to keep drinks chilled for long periods of time. 

Before these colorful tumblers took over your TikTok, these are the six brands that dominated the reusable water bottle market.