diseases old and new: Affluenza, Influenza… Melanin

Editorial Cartoon: by Matt Davies in Newsday

“The cellphone video of the last moments of Eric Garner’s life was watched millions of times on the Internet, clearly showing a white police officer holding the unarmed black man in a chokehold, even as he repeatedly gasped, 'I can’t breathe.'
     But despite that visual evidence, and a medical examiner’s ruling that the chokehold contributed to the death, a Staten Island grand jury decided Wednesday not to bring any charges against the officer involved, prompting protests across the country and sending thousands onto New York’s streets, where they marched, chanted and blocked traffic into the next morning.
     While legal experts note it’s impossible to know how the grand jurors reached their conclusion, they say the Garner case, like Michael Brown’s death in Ferguson, Missouri, once again raised concerns about the influence local prosecutors have over the process of charging the police officers they work with on a daily basis.”
— Tom Hays And Colleen Long, Associated Press via metro news
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“Authorities said the teen and friends were seen on surveillance video stealing two cases of beer from a store. He had seven passengers in his Ford F-350, was speeding and had a blood-alcohol level three times the legal limit, according to testimony during the trial. His pickup truck slammed into the four pedestrians, killing Brian Jennings, a 43-year-old Burleson youth minister; Breanna Mitchell of Lillian, 24; Shelby Boyles, 21; and her 52-year-old mother, Hollie Boyles. […]
     ‘Money always seems to keep you out of trouble,’ [Eric] Boyles said. ‘Ultimately today, I felt that money did prevail. If you had been any other youth, I feel like the circumstances would have been different.’ […]
     A psychologist called as an expert defense witness said the boy suffered from ‘affluenza […].”
— Huffington Post
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“Sadly, many dark spot correctors still use ingredients proven dangerous. Using a product with these ingredients can have worse effects than simply not seeing results. These can cause serious damage to your health:

Foxincitin-vitriol: this carcinogenic chemical is actually banned in most countries- except the US! Why? Besides increasing skin sensitivity, it has been linked to tumor growth! This is not something you want to be rubbing into your skin.

Redstate-dumbassbullshit: Believe it or not, [it’s] still used in some skin products. The reason - it's cheap. Be very careful of this as it is one of the most harmful things you can put near your body. [It] can destroy your kidneys and nervous system. [It’s] used more often the you think, so always, ALWAYS read the label before buying!.”
— Karen Weathers, Consumer’s Guides [bolderized by Michael Hale]
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