Running the numbers on smokers, migrants, cancer, and drones

Last updated on: April 26, 2015 at 11:19 am by Leah Libresco

Running the numbers on smokers, migrants, cancer, and drones 2015-04-26T11:19:57-04:00 Leah Libresco

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

This past week at FiveThirtyEight, I’ve been covering the grim calculus of migrant ships, the difficult data on drones, smoking laws, and cancer tests. Read on below!

Migrants Trying To Cross The Mediterranean Are Leaving One Risk For Another

When countries confront refugees that aren’t in mortal danger, they’ve found ways to avoid allowing migrants to land and file asylum pleas. In 2013, Australia set up new patrols to intercept boats of refugees arriving from Indonesia and to tow them to Papua New Guinea so that asylum claims would be processed there, instead of in Australia. The Prime Minister at the time, Kevin Rudd, declared that people who approach Australia by sea without visas would be barred from ever settling in the country, even if they are genuine refugees.

…Refugees are forced not only to navigate dangerous waters but also to strike a balance between perils. If they arrive in enough danger, they can be rescued; if they make a safer crossing, they face the danger of being turned back when intercepted.

Read more…

Cheaper Cancer Tests Carry Risks As Well As Benefits

Color Genomics’s BRCA screening test is the cheapest and least invasive to come to market, the fruits of the Supreme Court’s 2013ruling that genes could not be patented.

The company requires a doctor to formally request every screening ordered by a customer, but those doctors will frequently be acting against the recommendations of the American Academy of Family Physicians and the United States Preventive Services Task Force, both of which have specifically recommended that BRCA testing not be done for women without a family history of breast or ovarian cancer.

Read more…

Unlike Many States, Louisiana Allowed New Orleans To Ban Smoking In Bars

New Orleans’s new rules are only possible because Louisiana, when it passed the statewide smoking ban, lifted a restriction that had prevented cities from adding more restrictive laws of their own.

According to the group Americans for Nonsmokers’ Rights, which maintains a database of statewide and local smoking laws, 13 stateshave pre-emption laws that prevent local governments from following New Orleans’s example and imposing restrictions greater than the state’s.

Read more…

There’s Not Enough Data On Civilian Drone Casualties

Because the government keeps its statistics under wraps and independent groups must work with data that’s been through an international game of telephone — news organizations work with local freelancers, who sometimes dispatch yet another layer of proxies to speak to witnesses — the only fact we can be certain of is that whatever the true tally of civilians killed in drone strikes is, it has now gone up by two. And while it’s likely that somewhere between 156 and 960 civilians have died in U.S.-led drone strikes, the number of personal apologies by the president of the United States to the families of the deceased is considerably lower.

Read more…

Uncategorized

other writing

Previous Post

April 25, 2015

An Adjective that Feels Like Home [Radio Readings]

Next Post

April 27, 2015 Discussing my book (and ballroom dance and bridges) in Sydney!

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category 7 Quick Takes Apologetics Atheism Book Conversion Debate Tactics Debates Epistemology/Philosophy Housekeeping Ideological Turing Test Marriage Morality in Practice Parsing Catholicism Possibly Heretical Radio Reviews/Recommendations Sequence Index Spiritual Practice Uncategorized

Select a Month April 2017 March 2017 January 2017 December 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Who asked Jesus, "What is truth?"

Select your answer to see how you score.

Peter Caiaphas Judas Pilate