Latest news with #Spicer
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Kandiyohi County Board to meet newest K-9 officer June 3
Jun. 1---- The is expected to have a visit Tuesday from the newest K-9 officer in the Sheriff's Office. Loki and handler Sgt. Nick Ardoff are slated to visit at the beginning of the 9 a.m. meeting, according to the posted agenda for June 3. The board is also expected to act on a sewer and water improvement agreement for a planned community called The Nest, located on the southeast side of Nest Lake along North Shore Drive in Spicer in the vicinity of Hope Presbyterian Church. The developer is Ryan A. Koosman of RAK Construction LLC. According to the accompanying materials posted with the board agenda, the development will have 17 units and a clubhouse. Upon completion, the infrastructure will be turned over to Glacial Lakes Sanitary Sewer and Water District. A presentation about the Kandiyohi County 4-H Program from University of Minnesota Extension staff is also on Tuesday's agenda. The board at approximately 10:15 a.m. Tuesday will consider going into a closed session to discuss a property located at 14998 Highway 71 N.E, New London. Tax records show it to be a residence, vacant land and native prairie. The Open Meeting Law allows a closed session to develop or consider offers or counteroffers for the purchase or sale of property. Any board action must be completed in open session. Under calendar matters, the board will consider moving the June 17 meeting to 4 p.m., instead of the regular 9 a.m. start time, and moving the July 15 meeting to July 17 instead due to a conflict with two commissioners attending a conference on July 15. The complete meeting agenda and accompanying materials can be viewed online at
RTÉ News
5 days ago
- Health
- RTÉ News
Young people want TikTok held accountable for harmful 'SkinnyTok' trend
The European Commission and Coimisiún na Meán have said they are aware of the issues linked to the trend known as 'SkinnyTok', the social media hashtag which promotes often dangerous advice to make people as thin as possible. European Commission spokesperson Thomas Regnier said the protection of minors online was a "top priority". "Risks linked to TikTok's algorithms are part of the investigation opened against TikTok in February 2024. "Specifically, we are investigating TikTok's mitigation measures in relation to harmful algorithmic recommendation, including in relation to eating disorders," he said. Head of Advocacy and Young Engagement at UNICEF Ireland Aibhlín O'Leary said that she frequently hears about SkinnyTok from teenagers, as part of the workshops she conducts in schools. "Digital harm and online spaces come up a lot in our conversations," she said. "It's primarily girls that talk about the impact of this trend, particularly on their self-esteem and the pressure to achieve this perfect, very skinny body, and the messages that they're receiving from influencers and content producers on platforms like TikTok." As part of the UNICEF workshops, teens are asked what they would like to see change in relation to the issues that impact them. In relation to SkinnyTok, Ms O'Leary said: "The greatest demands from young people are to do with companies like TikTok and Meta that are facilitating these platforms. "We hear a lot of young people saying, these organisations like TikTok should be more accountable, that they should remove this content, they should put up warnings to let people know that this might be harmful, or it might even be related to an eating disorder". In a statement to RTÉ's Morning Ireland, TikTok said it has "strict rules" against dangerous weight loss behaviours on its platform, and the app offers several wellbeing resources, ways to connect with experts. It added that for teenage viewers, some content with harmful body ideals is age restricted. Ms O'Leary said that the teenagers were able to distinguish between videos that promoted a healthy lifestyle and what they called 'SkinnyTok'. "SkinnyTok is where it moves into suggestions like 'Summer is coming, so I better not eat'. That's where the toxic element of it really comes in." TikTok account holder Valerie Spicer, who is based in the US, posts SkinnyTok content under the username housebunnygymrat. "I share my journey and lessons learned through weight loss, binge eating, recovery and strengthening my self-concept," Ms Spicer said. In many of Ms Spicer's videos she precedes her advice with the word "credentials" and points to a photograph of her past self in a larger body. Ms Spicer explained that the reason she does that is to be "honest and accountable" with herself. She added that she uses words such as a 'fat' and 'skinny' as a way of "taking control back from some of those words that can be a little bit polarising". Speaking from her home in Dallas, Texas, about the kind of videos she posts to TikTok, Ms Spicer said she receives far more positive feedback than negative. "While I've used the SkinnyTok hashtag and that verbiage because it's a popular topic, I'm still aware that topics like that do require nuance. "So, I do try to balance sharing a subjective experience with an objective perspective. "I'm not here to hurt anyone's feelings. I definitely do take that feedback into consideration. "I figure out how I could reword something if it's truly, you know, causing more harm than good," she said. As well as mental health, physical health can also be influenced by content on SkinnyTok. "Every person who comes to see me will admit that they have at some stage seen something online and they're not too sure if what they've seen is true or not," said dietitian Michaela Carrick. Ms Carrick also makes TikTok videos under the username michaelanutrition responding to the incorrect health information seen under 'SkinnyTok' and similar hashtags. "You can tell from a lot of their content [on #skinnytok] that [the TikTokers] are talking from personal experience, so it's not based on scientific research or any evidence. "It's just 'This worked for me and look at all these amazing results that I've gotten, you should do the same thing if you want to be like me'." Ms Carrick said that no healthcare professional would give advice to a patient or client based on their personal experience. She added that content that gives personal advice for weight loss may be meant well, but could potentially cause harm if seen by a vulnerable person. "A lot of this advice that we see online is acting as if everyone needs to eat exactly the same way, but everyone's going to have completely different needs, Ms Carrick said. "And then you add the complexity of people being young, developing, being quite impressionable and potentially having more issues with their body image or their relationship with food, while everything is changing. "So definitely you shouldn't be using this advice that people are sharing". Ms O'Leary of UNICEF acknowledged that the potentially harmful messages seen on the SkinnyTok hashtag have been around for a long time, including on other social media platforms. "The content or the message isn't something that's particularly new, what may be different in TikTok is how powerful the algorithm appears to be. "Young people are saying once you watch one of these videos, you're just hooked into this spiral of them, and you just see and more and more of this content. "We definitely hear people saying that their mental health has suffered, that their self-esteem has gone down, that they're comparing themselves to other girls online to women online whose body looks nothing like theirs". Coimisiún na Meán is assisting the European Commission with its investigation into TikTok. In a statement, Coimisiún na Meán said that is recognises the potential harm for children caused by leading them down 'rabbit holes' through recommender systems used by platforms.
Sky News AU
27-05-2025
- Politics
- Sky News AU
Former White House press secretary claims 'real seriousness' to incident where French President Emmanuel Macron shoved by wife
Former White House press secretary Sean Spicer has weighed into the viral moment involving French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife, declaring it looked to have had a "real seriousness" to it. The interaction between the President and wife Brigitte Macron occurred when the couple prepared to disembark a plane in Hanoi, Vietnam on Sunday night ahead of a tour of Southeast Asia. In the footage, as Mr Macron was seen coming into frame, the arm of his wife was captured pushing him in the face before then seemingly refusing to hold her husband's arm as they walked down the steps onto the tarmac. When speaking to reporters in the Vietnamese capital shortly after, he said he "was bickering, or rather joking, with my wife", adding "it's nothing". After seeing vision of the incident, Spicer said while it was "funny" and that most people had found humour in the moment, there was a "real seriousness" to it. "There is a real seriousness to this for all of the talk that we've had over the past few years about domestic violence. And it goes both ways, and I know that there's a lot of jokes to be had at Macron's expense. But there is a serious aspect to this that I don't think should be overlooked," he told Sky News' The Bolt Report on Tuesday. "And I know even when their initial response, they tried to initially deny this, but the tape was so clear as to what was going on. So I think we've got to figure out how to balance this." Spicer said he had met the Macrons previously when he was part of President Donald Trump's first administration and visited the French ambassador's residence in Brussels on the sidelines of a NATO summit. He described them as "kind and welcoming" but joked Mr Macron's "very warm" relationship with Trump could come in handy if the relationship with his wife were as rocky as the viral footage may have indicated. "He's always had a very warm relationship with President Trump, but he might wanna come stay at Blair House here in the United States to get out of town if things continue the way that they might be," he said. Spicer said while the Trumps had previously come under the spotlight for a moment where Melania could be seen pushing her husband's hand away, this was an incident that was more dramatic, describing it as "truly a smack". "This wasn't a tap on the shoulder or a you know, a light touch this was truly a smack and I will give Macron credit for how he responded to it because the other thing that I thought to myself is that these folks have been in the public eye for quite some time," he said. "She has to know that the cameras are on them so to me it was almost like that it was so intentional. "It's one thing to do something in private, again not condoning having somebody discover some private moment that you're sharing as a husband and a wife but for her to actually know that this moment was going to be on film really kind of concerns me."
New York Post
22-05-2025
- Health
- New York Post
FDA cracking down on Ozempic copycats, potentially slimming options for consumers
Weight-loss drug users may find themselves having to scale back. The Food and Drug Administration is cracking down on copycat versions of Ozempic — the brand name of semaglutide — and Zepbound — the brand name of tirzepatide, threatening a workaround that allowed patients to access cheaper alternatives during shortages. Thursday was the final cut-off for compounded semaglutide, the active ingredient in Ozempic. mbruxelle – Advertisement Compounding pharmacies had been producing these off-brand versions under special allowances due to shortages of the FDA-approved medications. Since the FDA declared the shortages over, these flexibilities are being revoked, prompting drug compounders and telemedicine companies to scramble to find solutions to continue sales. The grace period for producing and selling compounded tirzepatide ended in March. Thursday was the final cut-off for compounded semaglutide. Advertisement These drugs mimic GLP-1 — the hormone the body naturally produces after eating — so users feel fuller for longer. The Outsourcing Facilities Association, a trade group representing compounding pharmacies, challenged the FDA's decision in court, but judges upheld the agency's authority to enforce the ban. This move is expected to tighten the supply of these medications, potentially leading to higher costs for patients who had relied on the more affordable compounded versions. Advertisement 'Patients who today can get the drug compounded for $350 a month will have no option but to pay $1,000 a month for Mounjaro or Zepbound, the Big Pharma name-brand versions that insurance usually won't cover — if they can find it, that is,' former White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer wrote in The Post of the ban. 'Simply put, tirzepatide will become unaffordable overnight for many who rely on it.' The FDA ban is expected to tighten the supply of these medications, potentially leading to higher costs for patients who had relied on the more affordable compounded versions. JHVEPhoto – Advertisement Spicer, 53, noted that he's 'tried every weight-loss drug' and 'GLP-1s have truly been a game changer' — which is why he believes this ban would greatly affect him and millions of other Americans who have come to depend on the budget-friendly drugs. 'More than 12% of US adults have used GLP-1 drugs to manage chronic conditions including diabetes, heart disease and obesity,' wrote Spicer, who is repping a telemedicine company. 'A tripling of their costs will be devastating to those who have come to rely on it.' The Wall Street Journal reported this week that compounding pharmacies and telehealth companies have slightly modified dosages, added vitamins or changed how the drugs are administered to continue selling them. They claim that the law allows for personalized medications, an interpretation rankling pharmaceutical companies. Challenges are almost certainly to come. The FDA crackdown aims to address safety concerns associated with compounded medications, which are not subject to the same rigorous approval process as their branded counterparts. The rise of telehealth companies — which critics believe do not sufficiently evaluate their patients or disclose potential side effects — adds to the concern. However, many experts believe these worries are outweighed by the health benefits of the more affordable GLP-1s, especially since the US is in the midst of an obesity epidemic. Advertisement 'The shortage is much better; insurance coverage is much worse,' Dr. Disha Narang, an endocrinologist and director of obesity medicine at Endeavor Health, told CNN. 'From a practical standpoint, patients are unable to get employer benefits for medication, which now almost upwards of 50% of our country can potentially qualify for. So it's a very strange time where you're still trying to justify to insurance companies that obesity is a chronic disease.'
Hamilton Spectator
15-05-2025
- Sport
- Hamilton Spectator
Troy Spicer pleased with results at World Butchers' Championship
Belmont butcher Troy Spicer is breaking new ground for the trade, leading Ontario's only certificate program for meat carvers at Fanshawe College, and coaching Team Canada's Juniors team at the World Butchers' Championship (WBC) in Paris, France. Team Canada's 11 members competed in March with butchers from 16 other nations at the 'Olympics of Butchery,' held at the Paris Expo Porte de Versailles exhibition and conference centre. About 3,000 spectators and 30,000 live-stream viewers watched the globe's top butchers in action, with a Juniors competition on March 30, and the National Teams competition on March 31. Winners at the WBC – held every three years – were acknowledged during an April 1 gala. France took top WBC honors, however, Team Canada relished its performance, as the Juniors finished in the middle of a pack of 17 teams, while the Canadian National Team finished fifth in a field of 14 teams, only two points behind the leader. 'We weren't first, but France was very deserving,' Mr. Spicer said in a recent interview. 'Our people felt that we did very well. We all learned from this experience.' WBC National Team events are comprised of squads of six butchers. Each team starts out with a side of beef, a whole lamb, a whole hog, and five chickens. The entire butchery process is judged, from set up, to organization, cleanliness, skills, 'cookability' of final meat products, and display quality. The format for the Juniors competition is similar, but with half a lamb, the centre portion of a hog, a bone-in beef sirloin and two chickens. 'The (WBC) competition started in 2011 and it's been steadily growing since then,' said Mr. Spicer, professor and program co-ordinator of Fanshawe's 30-week professional butcher techniques program, a college certificate program offered at the downtown London campus. 'It was New Zealand and Australia that started the competition and (the Paris event) is by far the largest competition that there has ever been. 'In 2022, Canada decided it was going to put together a team to enter for the event in Sacramento,' added Mr. Spicer. Team members were selected from a pool of applicants reviewed by Team Canada management. Team Canada's first WBC adventure served as a springboard for greater enthusiasm in the trade here, said Mr. Spicer, who was mentored by Don and Nancy Caverly, at Springwater Packers, in Aylmer, a popular, long-lived butcher shop. 'That's a big reason why I'm involved in this, to help promote the industry,' he said. 'The labor challenges in Canada are pretty significant for meat cutters, so I'm happy to get involved any time, bringing awareness. 'We just aren't seeing young people looking at butchery as a career path,' he added. 'My personal mandate is to help the meat industry with their labor challenges and to inspire young people to become butchers. 'It's really a grassroots type of thing that we're doing, but I think it's building now that we've gone to Paris to compete a second time and did well,' said Mr. Spicer. 'We're getting more traction now.' Team Canada's co-captains in Paris were Peter Baarda, of J&G Quality Meats Ltd., in Burlington, and Taryn Baker, of The Little Butcher in Port Moody, B.C. The Team Canada Juniors contingent is comprised of: Dylan Miedema, of Townsend Butchers, in Simcoe; Chris McNutt, of Halenda's Meats, in Oshawa; and Ronnie Keely, of Kam Lake-View Meats, in Kamloops, B.C. The full 11-member team also includes Damian Goriup, Corey Meyer, Brent Herrington, Dave VanderVelde, Ben Carson and Doug Easterbrook. Team Canada's National Team coach is Carmello Vadacchino, corporate chef and brand ambassador at F. Dick Knives, as well as Food Supplies, firms that are also WBC anchor sponsors. Mr. Spicer was recruited as the Juniors coach about one year ago. 'There is a desire (for butcher shop products here), but it is a bit challenging, because of the way that our society has evolved in this area,' he said. Team Canada was unable to field any competitors in the WBC apprenticeship category, because there are no butcher apprentices in Canada. 'We are incredibly underrepresented in Canada when it comes to training butchers. 'We have steered away from it,' Mr. Spicer explained. 'It's turning away from artisan-style butchery, (toward a) very industrial style. They don't have that in Europe as much as here. It's still regarded in a lot of Europe as a very noble profession and here, we don't look at it that way. 'A lot of the work we're doing with (Team Canada) is to bring that back up,' he said. 'We need the butchers, but it's not respected the way it should be. When you think about it, it's a huge part of our food system for us to consume, and also to export. It's a huge economic driver for the food processing side of things (and) there are a lot of jobs, really good jobs. 'The big reason I started the program at Fanshawe was because when I was working at Springwater Packers, we were trying to hire butchers and it really was very apparent that there were no butchers to hire. I always wanted to get into education so that was the opportunity that I saw there.' one-year college certificate program is offered through Fanshawe's School of Tourism, Hospitality and Culinary Arts. It was launched in 2017. There's no other program like it in Ontario and only a few others in Canada, including one in Manitoba, several in Alberta, and one in B.C. In France, he found 100 butchery schools, and 6,000 apprentices. 'For me, I went to school to be a chef and I did a culinary apprenticeship at Fanshawe, and got really interested in where my food comes from, the whole farm to table movement thing,' said Mr. Spicer, an avid hunter and fisherman. 'So I went to Springwater Packers and asked to have a job there so that I could learn about meat and where my meat comes from so that I could make a more informed choice when I'm buying meat. 'Then I fell in love with butchery, which I never ever expected in my life,' he added. 'I can't even put my finger on why. I never cut meat until I started at Springwater Packers. I was good at it, that was the thing, and I enjoyed it.' Mr. Spicer's parents Dave and Pat Spicer owned and operated Spicer's Bakery in Aylmer for 67 years until their retirement in 2006. He still remembers the first beef carcass he butchered. 'It was very satisfying to know I had gained enough knowledge and skill to be able to do that and that's why I think we've lost it a little bit with butchery. It's not regarded for the incredible skill and artistry that's actually involved in doing it. It's a trade just like a plumber and a carpenter and some of those things.' 'You start with the whole carcass, and you break it down into smaller pieces, and from those smaller pieces you break it down into even smaller pieces yet, and from those you would cut them into finished products. From a carcass, to a primal, to a sub-primal and ultimately into what we call a retail cut. 'There are differences depending on your style, how you were trained, we all approach things differently, but essentially, yeah, there is a general process and CFIA has all the regulations we have to follow.' The Canadian Food Inspection Agency sets the standards for labelling and nomenclature. Mr. Spicer said the roots of the education process are in safety: knife care, personal protective equipment, and food safety. 'You have to know how to take care of your knife and use it properly,' he said. 'Once you get that, then you start to apply a little more knowledge to it. So now that I know how to trim a piece a meat, I can go and start to actually harvest that piece from where it is on the carcass, and then I know how to trim and finish it. You almost start more toward the end and work backwards a little bit. 'It is one of the oldest trades, a homestead type of thing,' he continued. 'A family would raise a pig or a cow and then butcher it and eat it.' Fifteen of Mr. Spicer's students graduated in April, about the same number he's tutored each session since inception. They're all 'great success stories,' destined for industrial butchering jobs, grocery store managers, entrepreneurs, and independent butcher shops, he said. This generation of butchers are 'moving away from grocery stores to artisan style butcher shops where you get customer service, attention to detail. 'For me it's more about the quality of the end product,' said Mr. Spicer. 'You're going to get a nicer finished product (with trained butchers) and you'll get better customer service through that because the person helping you is probably going to have a deeper knowledge of what they're doing. 'A strip loin, isn't a strip loin, isn't a strip loin, you know,' he added. 'The way they're butchered has a lot to do with the end product as well. You'll have a better eating experience.'
