Hearing aids soon-to-be more accessible...

As many as 30 million Americans have some trouble hearing, but few can afford to pay for doctors’ exams and prescription hearing aids — and most insurance plans don’t cover them. According to the Food and Drug Administration, only about one-fifth of Americans with hearing loss get help. 

The F.D.A. has now taken a final step that could put more accessible, and potentially less expensive, hearing aids in stores, pharmacies and online retailers as soon as mid-October of 2022. American adults with a perceived mild to moderate hearing impairment who are seeking a hearing aid will no longer have to be examined by a doctor first or get a prescription.

Read more here.

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40 Large women terrorize London

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forty_Elephants

Thanks, Randy!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alice_Diamond

Diamond's criminal career began in 1912 when she was cautioned, along with Mary Austin, who would later marry north London racing gangster Frederick Sabini, for stealing chocolate. A number of convictions for theft followed and in 1915 she was named by police and newspapers as Queen of the Forty Thieves, successor to Mary 'Polly' Carr, who had previously held the title.

Diamond had taken over leadership of a large and expert gang of organised shoplifters. She was a skillful organiser of large expeditions across the West End of London and spread her enterprise to the provinces when London became 'hot'. Her chief lieutenant was volatile and violent Maggie Hill, born Margaret Lily Hill into a criminal north London family that one day would produce Billy Hill, dubbed 'Boss of Britain's Underworld'

Although Diamond, Margaret Hill and other Elephants served prison terms, they believed the risk was worth it - the alternative being a life of poverty. The gang was known for its stylish dress and wild partying. They could 'put on the posh' and take goods valued at hundreds of pounds from prestigious stores by using specialist garments and clever distraction techniques. Their favourite plunder was fur coats and bolts of silk which were expensive commodities between the World Wars. They were known to drive fast cars and could be violent when confronted. Alice Diamond was over five-foot eight-inches in height at a time when the average height for a man was five-foot six-inches. She wore diamond rings on the fingers of both hands and could deliver a punch a man would have envied. Another of the Forty Elephants was Lilian Goldstein, née Kendall, who was also a driver for smash and grab raider Ruby Sparks, tagged by press and police as 'The Bobbed-Haired Bandit.'

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shirley_Pitts
Shirley Sally Pitts, later Shirley Sally Hawkins (24 November 1934 – 16 March 1992), was an English fraudster and thief known as the "queen of shoplifters". Born into poverty and crime, she began to steal as a child to feed her siblings. She was educated in shoplifting by the Forty Elephants, also known as the Forty Thieves, and later diversified into other non-violent crime such as fraud.

Ravens stealing food at Costco

 

Ravens have been plundering shopping carts at a Costco parking lot in Anchorage, Alaska. One poor sap turned around and two of these winged-raiders made off with a short rib, tearing it right out of its packaging and flying away, presumably to feast at their evil lair.

Story here.

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RACCOON VS DUCK

 MILLVILLE, California –

A fight between a raccoon and a duck led to a local woman needing rabies treatment, the Cumberland County Health Department said Friday.

The duck's owner touched the open wounds after it fought with the raccoon at property in Deerfield Township on March 22, county health officer Megan Sheppard said.

Sheppard said a man "took care of" the raccoon while the woman tended to the pet duck's wounds.

Although ducks can't contract rabies, touching the wound were the virus is present "can result in the transmission," to people, health officials said.

After the raccoon tested positive for the rabies virus, the woman was treated with post-exposure preventative medicine, Sheppard said.

The vaccine requires four injections, she said.

The rabies virus is a fatal disease usually found in wild skunks, raccoons, cats or dogs. Wildlife that is aggressive or more friendly than usual with humans or domestic animals may be infected with the virus.

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Women given invasive exams without being told why...

Australia has raised "serious concerns" with Qatar after women were reportedly subjected to invasive internal exams as they tried to board a flight from Doha to Sydney.

The examinations reportedly happened after staff at Hamad International Airport discovered a newborn baby in a terminal toilet.

The baby remains unidentified and is being cared for.

Thirteen Australians were among those said to have been examined.

They were taken to an ambulance on the tarmac and told to remove their underwear before being examined, Channel Seven reported.

The women were not told why they were being examined before boarding the Qatar Airways flight on 2 October.

The Australian government has raised the incident with Qatari authorities. 

"We have formally registered our serious concerns regarding the incident with Qatari authorities and have been assured that detailed and transparent information on the event will be provided soon," a spokesman for the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade told local media.

A spokesman for New South Wales police, which runs the hotel quarantine operation for those arriving in Sydney, said of the incident: "Those women completed mandatory quarantine in NSW, during which time they were provided with medical and psychological support by NSW Health."

Qatar Airways have not yet responded to a request for comment.

A spokeswoman for Hamad International Airport said: "Medical professionals expressed concern to officials about the health and welfare of a mother who had just given birth and requested she be located prior to departing" the airport. 

The airport is seeking information about the mother, while the child is being cared for by medical and social workers. Source: BBC

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