FAIRFAX, Va. (AP) — Brayden O'Connor's 17 points helped George Mason defeat Tulane 76-64 on Saturday. O'Connor went 7 of 10 from the field for the Patriots (7-3). Darius Maddox shot 4 for 11 (3 for 6 from 3-point range) and 6 of 6 from the free-throw line to add 17 points. Jalen Haynes shot 4 of 11 from the field and 7 of 9 from the free-throw line to finish with 15 points. Rowan Brumbaugh led the way for the Green Wave (4-6) with 12 points and four assists. Gregg Glenn III added 11 points and 11 rebounds for Tulane. Mari Jordan also had 11 points. George Mason took the lead with 14:04 left in the first half and never looked back. O'Connor led their team in scoring with 15 points in the first half to help put them up 45-27 at the break. George Mason was outscored by Tulane in the second half by a six-point margin, but still wound up on top, while Haynes led the way with a team-high 10 second-half points. The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar .
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An 83-year-old short story by Borges portends a bleak future for the internetLife expectancy in the U.S. varies by more than 20 years depending on an individual's race and ethnicity and where they live. These widespread and persistent life expectancy disparities have divided the country into "ten Americas," according to new research examining inequities in US life expectancy between 2000 and 2021, published in The Lancet . "The extent and magnitude of health disparities in American society are truly alarming in a country with the wealth and resources of the U.S.," said senior author Professor Christopher JL Murray, Director of the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME), University of Washington, Seattle, U.S. "These disparities reflect the unequal and unjust distribution of resources and opportunities that have profound consequences on well-being and longevity, especially in marginalized populations. "Policymakers must take collective action to invest in equitable health care, education, and employment opportunities and challenge the systemic barriers that create and perpetuate these inequities so that all Americans can live long, healthy lives regardless of where they live and their race, ethnicity, or income." The findings come nearly two decades after the landmark "Eight Americas" study, which examined the interacting drivers of health inequities in the U.S. by dividing the US population into eight groups based on geography, race, urbanicity, income per capita, and homicide rate . In this new study, researchers update and expand the original Eight Americas study, dividing the US population into ten mutually exclusive populations, or "Americas," based on race and ethnicity and other variables such as geographic location, metropolitan status, income, and residential segregation. Analyzing death records from the National Vital Statistics System and population estimates from the National Center for Health Statistics, researchers estimated trends in life expectancy at birth—an important indicator of a population's health—from 2000 to 2021 for each of the ten Americas by year, sex, and age group. Stark differences in life expectancy have widened over two decades Despite efforts to reduce health inequalities, the life expectancy gap between the Americas was 12.6 years in 2000 and grew even larger during the 2000s and 2010s (reaching 13.9 years in 2010 and 15.6 years by 2019), and accelerated to 20.4 years after the first two years of the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2000, Black Americans living in rural, low-income counties in the South (America 9) and Black Americans living in highly-segregated cities (America 7) had the lowest life expectancy (around 70.5 years for both populations), while Asian Americans (America 1) had the highest life expectancy, living on average 83.1 years. Between 2000 and 2010, life expectancy increased for every America except for American Indian and Alaska Native (AIAN) people living in the West (America 10), who had the shortest lifespan in 2010 after a one-year drop in life expectancy from 72.3 years in 2000 to 71.2 years in 2010. During this time, the three Black Americas (6, 7, and 9) showed some of the largest gains in life expectancy, increasing by as much as 3.7 years, with Black Americans living in other counties (America 6) exceeding the life expectancy of white Americans living in low-income counties in Appalachia and the lower Mississippi Valley (America 8) from 2010 onward, except in 2020. "The gap between life expectancy at birth for Black and white Americans may never have been narrower than it was in the mid-2010s," said co-author Thomas Bollyky from the Council of Foreign Relations, Washington DC, U.S. "It's likely that long-term improvements in education available to Black children and young adults in recent decades, as well as reductions in homicide rates and deaths from HIV/AIDS—causes of death that have disproportionately impacted Black Americans—may have contributed to these noteworthy gains for Black Americans." However, in the following decade (2010–2019), improvements in life expectancy at birth for the three Black Americas (Americas 6, 7, and 9)—as well as all the other Americas—largely stalled. This pattern may be explained by an increase in drug overdose deaths and homicides as well as a slowdown in reductions in cardiovascular disease deaths, likely related to increases in obesity. Widening racial life expectancy gap during the first two years of the COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic precipitated a staggering drop in life expectancy for all the Americas and substantially widened racial disparities in lifespan. For example, while Black Americans living in highly segregated cities (America 7) and Black Americans living in rural, low-income counties in the South (America 9) were expected to live an average 74.9 years and 72.5 years, respectively, in 2019, this fell by approximately 4.0 years in 2020. For white (the majority), Asian, and AIAN people living in other counties (America 3), the corresponding decline was only 1.4 years—from 79.3 years in 2019 to 77.9 years in 2020. Marginalized groups already had lower life expectancy, and the pandemic further increased the gap. By 2021, Asian Americans (America 1) still had the longest life expectancy at birth, living on average 84 years—a striking 20.4 years longer than AIAN people living in the West (America 10), who had the lowest life expectancy at 63.6 years. Alarming health crisis for American Indian and Alaska Native people in the West AIAN people living in the West (America 10) were the only group to experience a drop in their life expectancy between 2000 and 2010 and again between 2010 and 2019—falling from the already relatively low 72.3 years in 2000 to 70.2 years in 2019. COVID-19 set them even further behind the other Americas, with a 6.6-year drop in life expectancy between 2019 and 2021. These findings suggest that AIAN people are living much shorter lives than any other population due to systemic barriers that have perpetuated social, economic, and health inequities. For example, inadequate health care access and chronic underfunding of Indigenous health services, together with high rates of unemployment and low rates of educational attainment, and the legacy of systemic discrimination, are factors that likely contribute to AIAN people dying at higher rates from highly preventable causes like chronic diseases, smoking, and drug overdose, as well as COVID-19. What is driving these disparities in life expectancy? The findings suggest that differences in educational attainment and income likely explain some of the disparities in life expectancy. For example, Black Americans living in rural, low-income counties in the South (America 9) and AIAN individuals living in the West (America 10) had the lowest income per capita and percentage graduating college as well as the lowest life expectancy in most years between 2000 and 2021. However, the authors note some unexpected disparities, which indicate that other factors beyond income and education can contribute to differences in longevity. For example, white (the majority), Asian, and AIAN people living in other counties (America 3) had the highest income in most years, as well as the highest proportion graduating high school and the second highest percentage of college graduates but was ranked only fourth or fifth in life expectancy prior to 2020. According to co-author Professor Ali Mokdad from IHME, "More research is needed to fully understand why life expectancy is worse for some Americans, so we can better tackle the root causes of poor health for the most disadvantaged. "America's life expectancy gap is unlikely to diminish until a comprehensive, coordinated approach that includes preventive measures and public health initiatives that transcend political divides and fosters collaboration and accountability between state, local, and national entities is developed. "Only then can we hope to create a more equitable and healthier society for all the Americas—and all Americans." The authors point out that the grouping of the US population based on county, race and ethnicity is not the only division that could be used to understand the large inequalities in US life expectancy, and different choices of factors would lead to different results. The authors also note some important study limitations, including that there is a well-known misreporting of race and ethnicity on death certificates, and although they corrected for this misclassification, it increased the uncertainty around the estimates. They also note that data on income per capita and educational attainment from the America Community Survey and 2000 decennial census used different racial and ethnic groups compared to those used in the analysis, which could lead to a mismatch in the estimates of income and educational attainment for three groups (combined AIAN, Asian and NHPI, and Black) and the corresponding Americas. Additionally, while this analysis shows large disparities in life expectancy between the ten Americas, the authors note that there will also be large disparities within these Americas. For example, research shows considerable differences in life expectancy among counties, even for the same racial and ethnic group. Finally, while the ten Americas is defined based on data from a single point in time (primarily 2020), some of the characteristics these definitions are based on are time-varying (eg, income per capita), so it is likely that some county and race and ethnicity combinations would be included in different Americas if data from a different year were used to define the Americas. Writing in a linked Comment, Professor Steven H Woolf from the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine, U.S. (who was not involved in the study), says that the study confirms the continued existence of different Americas in the U.S., adding that, "The study also underscores the value of investigating intersectionality. Disaggregated data can inform policy decisions about which geographic regions and populations to prioritize in efforts to reduce disparities in life expectancy. "Understanding the root causes of disparate mortality rates and meaningful efforts to address the social and environmental determinants of health are essential to close the gap." More information: Ten Americas: a systematic analysis of life expectancy disparities in the USA, The Lancet (2024). DOI: 10.1016/S0140-6736(24)01495-8
Some were crime victims. Others lived and died in solitude. Some may have been lost hikers, runaway children, or wanderers. One thing connects the 58 or so remains at the Honolulu Medical Examiner’s Office found with no identification card and no next of kin to claim them: They remain nameless. Forensic pathologists hope that advanced DNA testing technology will allow them to attach names to all of the agency’s unidentified people. But for now, five cases — all children and teens — have been sent for additional testing thanks to a $50,000 grant from Texas-based cold case resolution company, Othram. They include the partial skeleton of a teenager found in Keehi Lagoon near the Daniel K. Inouye International Airport in 2002; parts of the body of a 7- to 10-year-old boy discovered in Waianae in 2000; six fingers of a girl under the age of 4 who was found in Honolulu in 2012; and the skeletal remains of an adolescent found mixed with animal bones inside of a vase purchased in Honolulu in 2015. The Honolulu Medical Examiner’s Office wouldn’t provide additional details about the individual cases but medicolegal investigator Charlotte Carter said each one represents a person whose family deserves closure. The five cases sent to Othram for testing were chosen in part because they are juveniles, who DNA experts felt had a good chance being identified through advanced technology. One case is connected to a 2014 homicide so the Honolulu Medical Examiners Office declined to provide information while the investigation continues. For the case involving the severed fingers, it’s unclear whether they belong to a child who died or only suffered trauma to their hands. The other cases could be missing children, a possibility that can’t be ruled out until DNA testing is complete. Carter said she’s committed to resolving the other unidentified cases in Honolulu’s morgue, especially if DNA testing becomes more accessible and affordable. “Anybody who’s unidentified deserves to have a chance at being found and identified,” she said, “and given their name back.” The Honolulu City Council in June accepted the grant from Houston-based Othram, which performs forensic genetic genealogy testing, which combines DNA analysis with genealogy research. So far, Carter said none of the samples have been identified. Sparse information about each case is available publicly through the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System, or NamUs , an organization funded by the National Institute of Justice that runs a national database of unidentified, missing and unclaimed persons. Representatives with NamUs did not respond to interview requests. For some cases, very little is known. For the skeletal remains found inside the vase in Honolulu, for example, forensic pathologists could not identify an age range, gender, height, weight or year of death — only that the person was still an adolescent. Other cases include more clues. The young boy found in Waianae in 2000 was suspected to have died that same year. He was recovered without a torso and was missing one or more of his limbs and one or both of his hands. A forensic artist reconstructed his face, which is included on his NamUs profile, showing what he may have looked like in life. He is listed in the missing children’s database as “John Waianae Doe 2000.” Carter said it can take a year or more for DNA testing results to come back. Thus far, her agency has worked on one successful identification with Othram. Skeletal remains unearthed by a construction crew in Manoa in 2010 were tested and later identified as belonging to William Hans Holling Jr., a Washington man last seen by friends and family in January 1985. Othram identified Holling’s remains and the Honolulu Police Department confirmed his identity in July. No arrests have been made, and the investigation remains open. Forensic genetic genealogy testing allows investigators to search for an unidentified person’s relatives as a starting point and, with the help of public records, to build a family tree that they hope will get them closer to an identification. The method became popular in criminal investigations in the 2010s after companies like 23andMe and Ancestry came onto the market. Those companies block law enforcement agencies like the FBI from their databases, but investigators can use others, like GEDMatch, which is public facing, and FamilyTreeDNA, which allows limited access by law enforcement, according to Stephen Kramer, a former FBI in-house counsel and founder of Indago Solutions, a DNA identification company. While still working with the FBI in 2018, Kramer helped identify the Golden State Killer using forensic genetic genealogy testing. Joseph James DeAngelo Jr., pleaded guilty to 13 murder and rape charges for crimes committed in the 1970s and ’80s, and has admitted overall to 161 crimes involving 48 victims, including dozens of rapes. Kramer’s company recently identified Albert Lauro as the murder suspect in the 1991 killing of Dana Ireland on the Big Island. During a presentation to University of Hawaii law students this month, Kramer said genetic analysis of the DNA found on Ireland’s body connected him to ancestry information about the suspect. He discovered the man was 83% Filipino, meaning he had three Filipino grandparents. He was also 5% European and Scandinavian, with the rest a mix of Hawaiian, Maori and South Pacific Islander. That told Kramer the suspect’s fourth grandparent was about 30% European and 25% Pacific Islander, he said. Kramer focused on that grandparent because it’s generally easier to find public records for people of European descent. He used records to identify people with this ancestry who had moved to Hawaii and married into Filipino families, leaving very few potential matches. He traced a family tree with three Filipino grandparents and one grandparent descending from Europeans, Scandinavians and Pacific Islanders. There, he found his suspect. Investigators followed Lauro, picking up a fork he discarded, which was tested against a DNA sample from Ireland’s body. Detectives later reconfirmed Lauro’s identity with a swab when they brought him in for questioning on July 19. Hawaii County Police Chief Ben Moszkowicz later said police didn’t have enough probable cause to arrest Lauro for Ireland’s murder, and they let him go. He killed himself four days later. Lack of funds is the main obstacle to more intensive screening and forensic genetic genealogy on cold cases, Carter said. Each case costs about $10,000, and NamUs pays for Honolulu to send around five cases per year for testing. The 58 unidentified cases at the Honolulu Medical Examiner’s Office date back to about 1966 and include people found under a variety of circumstances. Many are skeletal remains uncovered at construction sites, Carter said. Others are remains discovered by hikers that likely belonged to people who were homeless and living in encampments in remote parts of the island. If remains are found on tribal lands, are more than 50 years old or otherwise suspected to be Native Hawaiian, medical examiners contact the Department of Land and Natural Resources’ State Historic Preservation Division for confirmation. If the remains are confirmed to be Native Hawaiian, the agency takes custody of them for repatriation. But some unidentified cases involve people who died fairly recently and, although they were physically recognizable when they were found, they still haven’t been claimed by family members or matched through any national database. Forensic pathologists have not been able to identify a woman fatally struck by a car while trying to cross the road at Ke’eaumoku and South King streets on May 21, 2016, Carter said. She was between 50 and 75 years old, of Asian or mixed Asian ancestry and appeared to be homeless, according to her NamUs profile . Her DNA was run through the national database, and Honolulu police collected her fingerprints and sent them to the FBI, but received no matches. A few people have come forward thinking they knew her, but her identity wasn’t able to be confirmed, Carter said. “That is a person who was a victim of a crime,” she said. “But, unfortunately, we’re not able to figure out who she is.” The most recent case was discovered on Oct. 9 when military personnel doing a training exercise found two femurs inside a camping tent off a hiking trail in Haleiwa. Carter said her office doesn’t track statistics on identifications but said usually one or two unidentified remains are ID’d each year through DNA testing. If a person is identified but their next of kin can’t be found, their case is moved to NamUs’s unclaimed persons database. If family members are found, they are able to collect their relative’s remains for burial or cremation, Carter said. She hopes that as technology improves, testing will become more accessible so every case can be resolved. “I just think everybody deserves a name and their family deserves an answer,” she said. “We have a lot of families who are out there wondering what happened to somebody they love. And now that there’s new technologies, we’re maybe going to get a little step closer to having more closure or more processing to that new normal for those families.” This story was originally published by Honolulu Civil Beat and distributed through a partnership with The Associated Press. For copyright information, check with the distributor of this item, Honolulu Civil Beat.MPT unveils groundbreaking Maryland Center for Media Literacy & Educationampueroleonardo/iStock Unreleased via Getty Images The S&P 500 Dividend Aristocrats Index contains 66 dividend growth [DG] stocks called the Dividend Aristocrats. With a few exceptions, the Dividend Aristocrats are S&P 500 companies with higher dividend payouts every year for 25 or more years. Analyst’s Disclosure: I/we have a beneficial long position in the shares of PG,ADP,JNJ,CTAS,CVX,CB,AFL,GD,PEP,LOW,NEE,ITW,KO,APD,ABBV,MCD,BRO,ATO,TGT,O,ADM either through stock ownership, options, or other derivatives. I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it (other than from Seeking Alpha). I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article. Seeking Alpha's Disclosure: Past performance is no guarantee of future results. No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor. Any views or opinions expressed above may not reflect those of Seeking Alpha as a whole. Seeking Alpha is not a licensed securities dealer, broker or US investment adviser or investment bank. 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Fall is the best time to think about cooking soup. Here’s 5 recipes you’ll want to tryAKRON, Ohio — CJ Nunnally IV sacked quarterback Tucker Gleason on the final play of the game and Akron beat Toledo 21-14 in overtime on Tuesday night to end the Mid-American Conference regular season for both teams. It was Akron's first win over Toledo since the Zips beat the Rockets 31-29 on Nov. 29, 2013. Akron (4-8, 3-5) ended the season with a two-game win streak which was its only one of the year. The bowl eligible Rockets (7-5, 4-4) lost their last two games of the regular season. Down 21-14 and facing fourth-and-goal at Akron's 4, Nunnally came off the left edge as Gleason rolled right and he proceeded to roll him to the turf to end the game. Akron went up 21-14 on the first play of overtime when quarterback Ben Finley rolled right and appeared ready to tuck and run, but he pulled up and threw it to Charles Kellom who ran it in for the go-ahead score. Toledo's Dylan Cunanan missed a 29-yard field attempt as time expired at the end of regulation for the chance to win it. Cunanan earlier missed from 45 and 26 yards. The Rockets knotted it at 14 in the fourth quarter when Gleason threw a 7-yard touchdown pass to Anthony Torres and a 19-yarder to Jerjuan Newton at the end of a seven-play, 92-yard drive with 3:26 left in overtime. Akron started the scoring when Finley threw a 72-yard touchdown to Ahmarian Green in the first quarter, and Tahj Bullock ran it in from the 1 to start the fourth.DALLAS (AP) — More than 60 years after President John F. Kennedy was assassinated , conspiracy theories still swirl and any new glimpse into the fateful day of Nov. 22, 1963, in Dallas continues to fascinate . President-elect Donald Trump promised during his reelection campaign that he would declassify all of the remaining government records surrounding the assassination if he returned to office. He made a similar pledge during his first term, but ultimately bended to appeals from the CIA and FBI to keep some documents withheld. At this point, only a few thousand of the millions of governmental records related to the assassination have yet to be fully released, and those who have studied the records released so far say that even if the remaining files are declassified, the public shouldn't anticipate any earth-shattering revelations. “Anybody waiting for a smoking gun that’s going to turn this case upside down will be sorely disappointed,” said Gerald Posner, author of “Case Closed,” which concludes that assassin Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone. Friday's 61st anniversary is expected to be marked with a moment of silence at 12:30 p.m. in Dealey Plaza, where Kennedy's motorcade was passing through when he was fatally shot. And throughout this week there have been events marking the anniversary. When Air Force One carrying Kennedy and first lady Jacqueline Kennedy touched down in Dallas , they were greeted by a clear sky and enthusiastic crowds. With a reelection campaign on the horizon the next year, they had gone to Texas on political fence-mending trip. But as the motorcade was finishing its parade route downtown, shots rang out from the Texas School Book Depository building. Police arrested 24-year-old Oswald and, two days later, nightclub owner Jack Ruby fatally shot Oswald during a jail transfer. A year after the assassination, the Warren Commission, which President Lyndon B. Johnson established to investigate the assassination, concluded that Oswald acted alone and there was no evidence of a conspiracy. But that hasn't quelled a web of alternative theories over the decades. In the early 1990s, the federal government mandated that all assassination-related documents be housed in a single collection in the National Archives and Records Administration. The collection of over 5 million records was required to be opened by 2017, barring any exemptions designated by the president. Trump, who took office for his first term in 2017, had boasted that he'd allow the release of all of the remaining records but ended up holding some back because of what he called the potential harm to national security. And while files have continued to be released during President Joe Biden's administration, some still remain unseen. The documents released over the last few years offer details on the way intelligence services operated at the time, and include CIA cables and memos discussing visits by Oswald to the Soviet and Cuban embassies during a trip to Mexico City just weeks before the assassination. The former Marine had previously defected to the Soviet Union before returning home to Texas. Mark S. Zaid, a national security attorney in Washington, said what's been released so far has contributed to the understanding of the time period, giving “a great picture” of what was happening during the Cold War and the activities of the CIA. Posner estimates that there are still about 3,000 to 4,000 documents in the collection that haven’t yet been fully released. Of those documents, some are still completely redacted while others just have small redactions, like someone's Social Security number. “If you have been following it, as I have and others have, you sort of are zeroed in on the pages you think might provide some additional information for history,” Posner said. There are about 500 documents that have been completely withheld, Posner said, and those include Oswald’s and Ruby’s tax returns. Those files, the National Archives says on its website, weren't subject to the 2017 disclosure requirement. Trump's transition team hasn’t responded to questions this week about his plans when he takes office. From the start, there were those who believed there had to be more to the story than just Oswald acting alone, said Stephen Fagin, curator of the Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza, which tells the story of the assassination from the building where Oswald made his sniper's perch. “People want to make sense of this and they want to find the solution that fits the crime," said Fagin, who said that while there are lingering questions, law enforcement made “a pretty compelling case” against Oswald. Larry J. Sabato, director of the University of Virginia Center for Politics, said his interest in the assassination dates back to the event itself, when he was a child. “It just seemed so fantastical that one very disturbed individual could end up pulling off the crime of the century," Sabato said. “But the more I studied it, the more I realized that is a very possible, maybe even probable in my view, hypothesis.”
OLEAN, N.Y. (AP) — Noel Brown had 22 points in Saint Bonaventure's 85-70 win against Bryant on Sunday. Saint Bonaventure (6-0) is off to its best start since it won nine consecutive games to open the 1969-70 season. Brown added seven rebounds for the Bonnies. Melvin Council Jr. scored 18 points and added five rebounds. Lajae Jones shot 3 for 7 (2 for 3 from 3-point range) and 5 of 6 from the free-throw line to finish with 13 points. It was the sixth victory in a row for the Bonnies. The Bulldogs (3-3) were led by Earl Timberlake, who posted 17 points and seven rebounds. Barry Evans added 14 points and six rebounds for Bryant. Connor Withers also had 14 points, six rebounds, two steals and two blocks. Saint Bonaventure took the lead with 15:50 remaining in the first half and never looked back. The score was 46-40 at halftime, with Council racking up 14 points. Saint Bonaventure extended its lead to 64-44 during the second half, fueled by a 13-2 scoring run. Jones scored a team-high 10 points in the second half as their team closed out the win. The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar .
Paycom Software Inc. stock underperforms Tuesday when compared to competitors despite daily gainsTrump has promised again to release the last JFK files. But experts say don’t expect big revelations