UK House of Commons Approves Legalization of Assisted Dying
The measure was passed by a 314-to-291 vote following hours of debate in Parliament, when some members shared their own emotional accounts of loved ones suffering through terminal illnesses. It will now have to go through the House of Lords, which could choose to amend it further but historically has tended not to block legislation passed by the elected house.
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New York Post
14 minutes ago
- New York Post
The rizz kid: How a campus Communist turned conservative kingmaker put the ‘social' in ‘social movement'
Gen Z calls it 'rizz.' Conservative theorist Frank Meyer radiated it. Rizz is what Donald Trump exudes and Kamala Harris lacks, and this je ne sais quoi quality, at least to all who came before Gen Z brilliantly put a name on it, explains not just one's success on Hinge but whether a political figure can pull a crowd. Advertisement Marble-mouthed mumblers and shoegazers take note: It turns out people follow the very individuals in mass movements they follow around in social situations. Frank Meyer's 3D, pops-off-the-page life illustrates this truth. After the Newark-born Meyer acted as the pied piper of campus Communism in 1930s England, he remarkably became in America during the 1960s, as the title of my new biography puts it, the man who invented conservatism. Advertisement British intelligence conducted a black-bag job on his apartment, placed a mail cover on his correspondence and noted the bars he frequented, the tweed he wore and the frequent female company he kept as they tailed him. Nowhere in the 161 pages of the declassified Meyer files do agents memorialize on paper that the revolutionary they followed — described therein as 'the founder' of the student Communist movement — dated the big boss' daughter. The most Frank Meyer thing Frank Meyer ever did was enter into a relationship with Prime Minister Ramsay MacDonald's youngest child as he conspicuously called for the violent overthrow of the British government the man led. Che, Lenin and Mao never pulled off such a brash caper. 'Come here at 7.0 — or if you don't like the idea of Downing Street — even though I am the sole occupant at the moment — fix any other place you like,' Sheila MacDonald wrote Meyer in one of their letters I discovered in an Altoona, Penn., warehouse during research for 'The Man Who Invented Conservatism: The Unlikely Life of Frank S. Meyer,' out Aug. 19. Predictably, the British government sought to deport Meyer (and, predictably, Miss MacDonald volunteered to intervene). The same rizz that placed the prime minister's daughter in his arms brought a phalanx of famous Brits to his defense. Advertisement Clement Attlee, future prime minister, pleaded his case in Parliament. A petition signed by philosopher Bertrand Russell, 'Howards End' and 'A Passage to India' author E.M. Forster and Labour Party leader (and Angela Lansbury's grandfather) George Lansbury called the deportation 'discrimination' prompted by the cause célèbre's 'left-wing politics.' Students marched about London chanting, 'Free Frank Meyer!' Women desired his romantic attention. Rizz meant men wanted his company, too. In 1930, an unknown Pottstown, Penn., prep-school teacher plaintively petitioned Meyer for more 'scintillating conversations' and 'provocative' letters. He wished to again drink with Meyer and 'to take a Cook's Tour of this particular part of the world with you.' Without Meyer's company, he confessed, he inhabited an 'intellectual desert.' The sycophantic missive came from the typewriter of James A. Michener long before he won a Pulitzer Prize for 'Tales of the South Pacific.' Advertisement By 1949, when Meyer testified against former comrades in the Foley Square trial — the longest, most expensive court case in US history to that point — he had witnessed much evil. He knew that Prince Mirsky, the force who pushed him to join the Communist Party, had disappeared in a Soviet gulag; his protégé, Charles Darwin's great-grandson John Cornford, had died fighting in the Spanish Civil War; his boss on 'peace' activism, Walter Ulbricht (who later built the Berlin Wall), went about making the lives of East Germans hell; and his American idol, longtime party chief Earl Browder, had transformed overnight in Communist rhetoric from a brilliant, courageous leader into a perfidious enemy of the people. Slowly, he embraced a very different outlook. Quickly, and characteristically, the conservative convert became conservative pope. Present at the creation of National Review, the Conservative Party of New York, the Philadelphia Society, the American Conservative Union and Young Americans for Freedom, Meyer helped erect the skeletal structure of the conservative movement. Going to Woodstock meant something very different for 1960s young conservatives. Those making the obligatory pilgrimage to his farmhouse there included Joan Didion, who credited him as the editor who first published her freelance work, Garry Wills, who said he spent more time with this mentor in the late 1950s and early 1960s than anyone outside his family, and Heritage Foundation founder Ed Feulner. His philosophy, fusionism, became the default outlook of the American right from Barry Goldwater well through Ronald Reagan, who cheered that Meyer had 'fashioned a vigorous new synthesis of traditional and libertarian thought — a synthesis that is today recognized by many as modern conservatism.' What made conservatives so easily follow a former Communist? Rizz. Those doubting the power of rizz may wish to apply this test to every presidential election in their lifetimes: Did the winning candidate also win the rizz contest? Advertisement Undertaker-face John Kerry lost to George W. Bush in 2004. John McCain, who looked like he walked off the set of a black-and-white television show, lost to Technicolor Barack Obama in 2008. Monotone Gerald Ford lost to Jimmy Carter with his ear-to-ear grin and mellifluous diction in 1976. And a fist-in-the-air, 'Fight'-shouting Donald Trump — far from the cranky, complaining COVID case of 2020 — triumphed over word-salad chef Kamala Harris in 2024. Frank Meyer understood the power of rizz long before Twitch streamer Kai Cenat popularized the term. They don't call them social movements for nothing. Daniel J. Flynn is the author of 'The Man Who Invented Conservatism: The Unlikely Life of Frank S. Meyer' (Encounter/ISI Books), an American Spectator senior editor and Hoover Institution visiting fellow.
Bloomberg
15 minutes ago
- Bloomberg
Trade Partners Grow Restless Waiting for Trump's Tariff Breaks
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer declared at a Jaguar Land Rover factory in May that his world-leading trade deal with President Donald Trump included a cut in US tariffs on British steel to zero. More than three months later, steel lobbyist Peter Brennan was still waiting for that relief to become reality.
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Warning over commonly prescribed drug millions take every day
Medication taken by millions of people to relieve heartburn and acid reflux can have a harmful impact on digestion in the long term, a pharmacist has warned. Deborah Grayson, dubbed the 'Godmother of Pharmacology', took to TikTok to discuss how omeprazole - a proton pump inhibitor (PPI) - can affect gut health. Mrs Grayson said that while the drugs may offer sufferers momentary relief, they could also cause problems - leading to bloating and nausea, weight gain and vitamin deficiencies. PPIs are one of the UK's most prescribed mediations in the UK, with 73 million NHS prescriptions dispensed in England in 2022-23, at a cost of £190m. She explained: 'Omeprazole stops heartburn and reflux, but how does it really work? It's a PPI, and that interferes with the cells of the stomach responsible for producing stomach acid. So, if we stop the stomach from producing acid - by taking a PPI - the theory is that we will stop the acid coming back into the oesophagus and causing heartburn and reflux. READ MORE: Mum had shoulder pain - now she has 'to make the most of what I've got' READ MORE: Heartbeat legend favourite to play lead detective in Death in Paradise-style spin-off 'There's often a discussion about whether heartburn is related to low or high stomach acid. But actually it's to do with the timing of the stomach acid. While stopping your stomach producing that acid can be beneficial in the short term, it's not always great for your digestion in the longer term as we need that acid to break down our food. 'It can be helpful to have omeprazole if you've got gastritis or erosion in your oesophagus, but if you've only got simple heartburn-related problems, longer term it can have greater impacts on the body.' Acid reflux happens when stomach acid flows back into the oesophagus, often causing heartburn - a burning sensation in the chest or throat. Normally, a valve called the lower esophageal sphincter prevents this, but if it weakens or relaxes at the wrong time, acid can escape and irritate the oesophagus. Triggers include stress, excess weight, eating too quickly, or consuming alcohol, caffeine and chocolate. Pregnancy hormones can also raise the risk. While reflux is uncomfortable, stomach acid is essential for digestion. It activates pepsin, an enzyme that breaks down proteins, and helps soften food. It also protects against harmful microbes in food. Mrs Grayson said low stomach acid may increase infection risk and hinder absorption of key nutrients like Vitamin B12, iron, calcium and magnesium. Mrs Grayson, who has been working as a pharmacist for 30 years, and also runs Practice With Confidence, teaching transformative patient care, said: 'Long-term use of PPIs can significantly impair digestion. 'Stomach acid plays a crucial role in breaking down food, particularly proteins, and activating enzymes like pepsin. When acid levels are too low, food may not be properly digested, leading to symptoms such as bloating, nausea, abdominal discomfort, and IBS-like issues including flatulence, constipation, or diarrhoea. 'Poor digestion may also contribute to nutrient malabsorption, potentially leading to fatigue or weight fluctuations. Reduced stomach acid can also compromise the gut's natural defense barrier, increasing susceptibility to infections such as Clostridium difficile, Campylobacter and small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO). 'These can cause further gastrointestinal symptoms and, in some cases, serious complications.' Under her TikTok handle @tgopharm, Mrs Grayson explained in a previous video that if you're a frequent sufferer of acid reflux and heartburn, lifestyle changes can make a real difference. Taking the time to eat slowly and mindfully is essential for proper digestion. If you're too busy to cook, Mrs Grayson suggested starting the 'anticipation process' around 20 to 30 minutes before eating. She said: 'Think about what you are going to have, how it tastes and how it smells. This can trigger the anticipatory response in the same way that preparing it yourself would have done. 'Modern lifestyles have resulted in many people deciding they are hungry, dashing into the nearest food outlet and eating food within minutes. 'This means that the body has to play catch up, exacerbating symptoms' In another video shared on her platform, Mrs Grayson recommended 'disconnecting from technology and doing some alternate nostril breathing' - which can help with switching on your digestion and reducing reflux. She also said to avoid trigger foods, such as peppermint, chocolate, coffee, citrus and tomatoes and leave a gap between eating and sleep, as lying down with a full stomach can trigger reflux. Mrs Grayson said a window of three hours between your final meal and bedtime is optimal. Mrs Grayson has previously spoken about the damaging impact of omeprazole, discussing how it can make symptoms worse in the long-run and can make someone become dependent on it. She said: 'We are sleepwalking into a significant culture of PPI addiction due to over-prescribing without clear reason and failure to give patients a clear exit strategy from the treatment.' Research shows up to 40 per cent of patients do not respond to a PPI, so the drug is rendered useless in those cases.
