Today's News: December 10, 2019

World News

Russia faces four-year ban from Olympics
World Anti-Doping Agency has banned the team from competing after multiple doping scandals.
Al Jazeera – Russia has been accused of manipulating laboratory data, which was handed over to investigators.
A key panel of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) recommended banning Russia from hosting or competing in major international sport events.
Thousands Died in UK Over Last 3 Years While Awaiting Treatment at NHS Hospitals – Reports
Sputnik – Nearly 5,500 people died between 2016 and 2019 while waiting for an available bed at NHS hospitals, The Guardian newspaper reported on Monday, citing a study produced by NHS doctors amid a major staffing shortage in the United Kingdom health system.
“The research shows that delays in emergency departments are harmful for patients and lead to very poor patient experience, and also involve a risk of death, that we have tried to quantify”, Moulton said, as quoted by The Guardian.
Both doctors concluded that these deaths were solely caused by the length of time patients were forced to wait, the newspaper said, and their study is the first medical research to make such a direct correlation.
According to NHS documents, the operational standard for accident and emergency waiting times sees 95 percent of patients being treated, transferred or discharged within four hours of their arrival. In September of this year, the NHS managed to treat, transfer or discharge just 85.2 percent of patients, according to an official performance report.
French pension strikes expand, police gird for new protests
AP – Cranking up pressure on President Emmanuel Macron, thousands of union activists marched through French cities Tuesday and airport employees and teachers joined nationwide strikes to demand that the government scrap upcoming changes to the country’s national retirement system.
As a crippling transportation strike entered a sixth straight day, commuters and tourists in Paris used used apps, shared bikes and creativity to find ways to get to work, school and museums.
Many French commuters still express support for the strikes, fearing their own pensions will shrink under President Emmanuel Macron’s new plan. But some admitted their patience is wearing thin with the transportation woes — and with train workers who are striking to keep their right to retire years earlier than others.
Maduro Vows to Arm Millions of Militants
Breitbart – Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro is using his monopoly on gun ownership in the country to arm millions of civilian “militiamen,” announcing Sunday that he is seeking to elevate the number of armed socialists to 4 million by the end of 2020.
Venezuela banned civilian gun ownership in 2012 under late dictator Hugo Chávez. Maduro has for years violated that law by handing out free firearms to his socialist supporters, creating guerrillas that harass and threaten dissidents into silence.
US Targets 18 Rights Abusers in 6 Nations With Sanctions – Treasury
Sputnik – The United States marked International Human Rights day by sanctioning 18 individuals and six entities in six nations – Myanmar, Pakistan, Libya, Slovakia, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), and South Sudan – for alleged rights abuses, the Treasury Department announced in a press release.
The Treasury “designated these individuals and entities pursuant to Executive Order (E.O.) 13818, which builds upon and implements the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act and targets perpetrators of serious human rights abuse and corruption”, the release said.
The release noted that the announcement coincided with International Human Rights Day.
Washington blacklisted four Myanmar military leaders, including the commander-in-chief. The sanctions targeted Commander-in-Chief of the Burmese Armed Forces Min Aung Hlaing, Deputy Commander-in-Chief Soe Win, Than Oo, leader of the 99th Light Infantry Division, and Aung Aung, leader of the 33rd Light Infantry Division, the Treasury said in a statement.
“Min Aung Hlaing’s military forces were responsible for the brutal security operation that began in August 2017 in Rakhine State and ultimately caused more than 500,000 people to flee to Bangladesh”, the release said. “Elements of the Burmese military have committed serious human rights abuse against members of ethnic minority groups across Burma [Myanmar]”.

U.S. News, Politics & Government

Democrats unveil 2 articles of impeachment against Trump: Abuse of power, obstruction of Congress
ABC – Democrats on Tuesday unveiled two articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump, a historic step that could lead to a full House vote as early as next week.
(MORE: 3 key takeaways on final House impeachment hearing)
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler announced that Democrats were going forward with charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress.
Nadler said Trump had “violated his oath to the American people.”
“Later this week, the Judiciary Committee will meet to consider these articles of impeachment and to make a recommendation to the full House of Representatives,” Nadler said.
He was flanked by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other Democratic committee chairs, including House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff.
“The president’s continuing abuse of power has left us no choice,” Schiff said, going into details behind the charges. “To do nothing would make ourselves complicit in the president’s abuse of his high office, the public trust, and our national security.”
The ACA heads back to the Supreme Court
Axios – A group of insurers will make their case to the Supreme Court today for billions of dollars in Affordable Care Act payments.
Driving the news: The court will hear oral arguments in a long-running dispute over the ACA’s risk corridors program. Insurers say they’re owed billions of dollars from that program; the government says it doesn’t have to pay.
Why it matters: The implications for the ACA are modest, but it’s a lot of money for these insurers — about $12 billion, all told.
Risk corridors were designed to even out the ACA’s early days. Insurers with a better-than-expected experience in the exchanges paid in, and that money was then paid out to insurers that had a worse-than-expected launch.

The amount the program was supposed to pay out exceeded the amount insurers had paid in. The assumption, at the time, was that the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) would make up the difference itself.
But then Congress passed an appropriations rider saying HHS couldn’t use its own money to cover risk-corridors payments, leaving billions of dollars unpaid.

Insurers sued, claiming HHS had essentially reneged on a promise, only after insurers put themselves on the line in a new marketplace under the expectation that this safety net would be there.
The other side: The government argues that “Congress did not expose the federal fisc to that massive liability” — that it never intended to create an open-ended expense “based on criteria that depended largely on the insurers’ own business judgments.”
Parents Lose Custody of 15-Year-Old Daughter For Refusing to Allow Sex Change
“It is as if they had killed our child.”
Infowars – The parents of a 15-year-old Finnish girl lost custody of their daughter after refusing to allow her to undergo a sex change.
According to a report by Svenska Yle, the parents prevented the girl from starting hormone treatments to “correct her gender.”
The names of the individuals involved were changed and the EU country in which the events happened were removed from the article to protect the identity of the family.
However, what we do know is that two summers ago after the family moved abroad, their daughter Nea met a new friend group.
She went from acting and dressing very feminine to dressing like a boy and claiming she was born into the wrong body.
Nea then demanded that her parents Kari and Niina allow her to begin hormone therapy and eventually breast removal surgery.
The request was denied and Nea became increasingly angry before one of her friends contacted the police and filed a criminal report against the parents.
Documents show that Nea’s friends were encouraging her to “break contact with her parents” from the beginning.
Nea was taken by authorities and spent a few months in an orphanage before being allowed to return home to her parents, who then planned to move back to Finland.
Nea later returned to the police station with a local transgender activist and a decision to allow her to begin hormone treatment was made without the parents even being consulted.
Nea’s parents eventually gave up on trying to regain full custody of her and now say that she hardly speaks to them.
Her parents watched a video of the girl talking into a camera and saying, “This is how I sound six months after I started taking testosterone.”
She has apparently developed a deeper voice, put on weight and grown more hair, changes that are “irreversible.”
“Without over-dramatizing, you can say that as the voice, appearance and personality change, it is as if they had killed our child,” said the girl’s mother.
As we previously highlighted, the number of children wanting to undergo sex change treatment has exploded since the media and the culture began hyping transgender identity politics.
Earlier this year, it was revealed that five people working at Britain’s only NHS transgender clinic had quit after children as young as three were being through unnecessary gender reassignment treatment.
“Referrals to the clinic risen in recent years, with 94 in 2010, rising to 2,519 by last year, with the youngest patient aged just three,” reported the Daily Mail.
Former FBI Lawyer Lisa Page Celebrates On Twitter After She’s Cleared In Report
“The sum total of findings … that my personal opinions had any bearing on the course of either the Clinton or Russia investigations? Zero and Zero,” she says.
Huff Post – Former FBI lawyer Lisa Page took a victory lap on Twitter after she was cleared of wrongdoing in the report released Monday by the Justice Department’s inspector general.
President Donald Trump has frequently attacked Page, accusing her of treason for her work with the FBI investigating Russian interference in the presidential election.
Page fired back Monday: “The sum total of findings by IG [Michael] Horowitz that my personal opinions had any bearing on the course of either the Clinton or Russia investigations? Zero and Zero.”
The president relentlessly attacked Page and her onetime romantic partner Peter Strzok, an FBI agent who has been fired, after disparaging texts they wrote to each other about Trump surfaced (the two also criticized Democrats in texts). Trump had characterized the criticism as a sign of an illegal and biased vendetta against him by an imagined “deep state” of organized government workers, including in the FBI.
Horowitz’s report identified procedural failures by the FBI but found no evidence that the bureau was motivated by political bias in opening the “Crossfire Hurricane” investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election and possible collusion by the Trump campaign.
The report noted there were “statements of hostility toward then-candidate Trump” in 2016 by Page and Strzok. But it determined that Page “did not play a role in a decision to open” the FBI investigations. Nor was Strzok the “sole, or even the highest-level decision maker” in initiating the process.
Trump scolds his FBI director after release of DOJ’s Russia probe report
Christopher Wray broke with the president and Attorney General William Barr by embracing the findings of the review of the investigation’s origins.
President Donald Trump on Tuesday lashed out at FBI Director Christopher Wray for supporting the Justice Department inspector general’s conclusions about the origins of the Russia probe, charging that his own hand-picked bureau chief “will never be able to fix” the federal law enforcement agency.
“I don’t know what report current Director of the FBI Christopher Wray was reading, but it sure wasn’t the one given to me,” Trump wrote on Twitter. “With that kind of attitude, he will never be able to fix the FBI, which is badly broken despite having some of the greatest men & women working there!”
Breaking with the president and Attorney General William Barr, Wray on Monday embraced the findings of a highly anticipated watchdog review of the origins of the FBI’s investigation into potential coordination between Trump associates and Russia during the 2016 White House race.
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Michael Horowitz, the DOJ inspector general, found that although there were “significant inaccuracies and omissions” in the FBI’s requests for court-ordered surveillance of a former Trump campaign adviser, the bureau’s decision to launch the probe was adequately predicated and not influenced by political bias.
While Wray acknowledged and pledged to remedy errors in the FBI’s handling of applications for surveillance warrants, he told ABC News in an interview that he did not think law enforcement unfairly targeted the Trump campaign and said it was “important” that Horowitz found the FBI was justified in opening its investigation.
That assessment diverged markedly with Barr’s reading of the IG report. The attorney general asserted in a statement that Horowitz’s review “now makes clear that the FBI launched an intrusive investigation of a U.S. presidential campaign on the thinnest of suspicions that, in my view, were insufficient to justify the steps taken.”
John Durham, the U.S. attorney for Connecticut tasked by Barr with overseeing a separate probe into the FBI’s investigation of the Trump campaign, also cast doubt on Horowitz’s central judgment.
Congress reaches deal on paid parental leave for government employees
If passed and signed into law, it would be the first major benefit expansion for federal workers since the 1993 Family and Medical Leave Act, which provides 12 weeks of unpaid leave.
NBC – Congress has reached a landmark agreement on paid parental leave for federal employees – the first time the federal government would guarantee civilian employees access to paid leave.
The measure would give 2.1 million non-military federal workers 12 weeks of paid leave to care for a newborn or adopted child. It now provides the same benefits given to members of the military.
The agreement must still be passed by both chambers of Congress before it would head to President Donald Trump to be signed into law.
An agreement was reached after months of negotiations between House and Senate leaders on the National Defense Authorization Act, an annual defense spending bill. The paid parental leave measure was contentious and one of the last items to be finalized. Democrats offered resistant Republicans support for the creation of Trump’s coveted space force in exchange for the parental leave measure, according to two sources.
But the new family support measure falls short of what some advocates wanted: Paid leave to care for in-need family members beyond new children, such as a spouse or parent.
Still, it would be the first major benefit expansion for federal workers since the 1993 Family and Medical Leave Act, which provides 12 weeks of unpaid leave. Currently, government workers use vacation and sick days for paid leave, or colleagues can gift unused leave to coworkers.
The government is the nation’s largest employer, and advocates said this a good first step on the path to providing all workers with paid leave.
Indiana homeowner shoots through front door to keep would-be intruders out: report
Fox – An Indiana homeowner on a recent afternoon scared away two men who tried to gain entry into his home after singing Christmas carols outside, a report on Monday said.
The incident occurred in Fort Wayne, according to the local NBC affiliate. The men reportedly tried kicking down the door but were thwarted by the shots.
“They heard the doorbell ring,” one neighbor told the station. “They heard what appeared to be pounding on the door, and then they saw the door being kicked in or attempted to be kicked in. And that’s when this individual fired his weapon into the door or the door area.”
Bear Steals 36 Beers From Campers, Gets Drunk & Passes Out Until Rangers Come
Country Rebel – According to the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, a black bear was found passed out on the lawn of the Swift Creek Campground due to drinking a 36-pack of beers.
Apparently, some campers were away from their tents, maybe going on a hike or swim and while they were gone, this backwoods bandit bear snuck into their campsite and opened up their cooler full of cold brews.
The evidence was discovered after they found the bear passed out with a trail of empty beer cans leading back to the campsite. A total of 36 cans were found with bite marks and bear claw punctures in them.
Bear Only Has Taste For One Beer
What’s even funnier about the situation is the bear was only interested in a specific type of beer called Rainier Beer. When investigating the scene it was found the bear opened one Busch Beer and apparently didn’t like it because he left the rest of them untouched. However, he drank all of the Rainier Beer.
“He drank the Rainier and wouldn’t drink the Busch beer,” said Lisa Broxson, bookkeeper at the campground.
When the park officials tried to chase it away from the campground the bear was stumbling so bad it couldn’t walk straight and climbed a tree to take a nap. Several hours later it woke up and park rangers were able to safely remove the bear.
Bear Returns The Next Day
However, the bear had such a good time it showed back up the very next day for round two with another camper’s cooler of beers. Though this time the wildlife officials were prepared and set a trap that safely captured the bear again by luring him in with donuts, honey and of course… two open cans of Rainier Beer.
The bear was relocated for the second time and the story went viral on social media. Although no video was ever taken of this bear, below is a video of what it might have looked like.
George Papadopoulos: Obama FBI Wiretapped Me Because ‘They Were Probably Spying on the Israelis’
Bretibart – “I think they were spying on rival presidential campaigns [and] on the Israelis,” said George Papadopoulos, author of Deep State Target: How I Got Caught in the Crosshairs of the Plot to Bring Down President Trump and Republican candidate for California’s 25th Congressional District, of the Obama administration’s FBI surveillance of himself and others linked to President Donald Trump’s first presidential campaign. He offered his remarks in a Monday interview on SiriusXM’s Breitbart News Tonight with hosts Rebecca Mansour and Joel Pollak.
“Both Attorney General Barr and John Durham took the extraordinary step today to make two separate comments that unequivocally refute the findings of the IG report regarding the pretext and the basis — the legal basis — for opening Crossfire Hurricane,” Papadopoulos remarked.
Report: Over 40 Virginia Counties Now Second Amendment Sanctuaries
Breitbart – A report from CNN claims over 40 counties in Virginia are now declared as Second Amendment Sanctuaries.
On December 5, 2019, Breitbart News reported 23 counties had declared Second Amendment Sanctuary status, and numerous others were poised to make declarations at that time.
CNN reports the figure at over 40, citing a running tally of declarations complied by Gun Rights Watch.
Virginia Citizens Defense League’s Phil Van Cleave explained the sudden resolve of gun owners:
These are people [gun owners] that were sleeping during the elections. That’s the problem with a lot of gun owners, they tend to get complacent and think, “Oh okay, nothing bad is going to happen.” They were sleeping and the elections then kind of eked out a margin for the democrats and they came on saying, “We want gun control.” “This is all about gun control.”
He suggested the post-election gun control push has rallied gun owners to the cause: “They woke up a sleeping giant, and they know it now. They’ve grabbed a tiger by the tail.”
On December 7, 2019, Breitbart News reported Culpeper County Sheriff Scott Jenkins’ vow to “deputize thousands” to fight in defense of gun rights, should state-level Democrats push gun control onto the backs of the people.

Economy & Business

A 5,000-Year-Old Plan to Erase Debts Is Now a Hot Topic in America
Bloomberg – Explore what’s moving the global economy in the new season of the Stephanomics podcast. Subscribe via Apple Podcast, Spotify or Pocket Cast.
In ancient Babylon, a newly enthroned king would declare a jubilee, wiping out the population’s debts. In modern America, a faint echo of that idea — call it jubilee-lite — is catching on.
Support for write-offs has been driven by Democratic presidential candidates. Elizabeth Warren says she’d cancel most of the $1.6 trillion in U.S. student loans. Bernie Sanders would go further -– erasing the whole lot, as well as $81 billion in medical debt.
But it’s coming from other directions too. In October, one of the Trump administration’s senior student-loan officials resigned, calling for wholesale write-offs and describing the American way of paying for higher education as “nuts.’’
Real-estate firm Zillow cites medical and college liabilities as major hurdles for would-be renters and home buyers. Moody’s Investors Service listed the headwinds from student debt -– less consumption and investment, more inequality — and said forgiveness would boost the economy like a tax cut.
While the current debate centers on college costs, long-run numbers show how debt has spread through the economy. The U.S. relies on consumer spending for growth -– but it hasn’t been delivering significantly higher wages. Household borrowing has filled the gap, with low interest rates making it affordable.
And that’s not unique to America. Steadily growing debts of one kind or another are weighing on economies all over the world.
World stocks sink as tariff deadline approaches
Reuters – Global stock markets fell for a second day on Tuesday, as caution over a Dec. 15 deadline for the next round of U.S. tariffs on Chinese imports weakened risk appetite and limited outsized market moves.
House Democrats claim victory in revamping U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade pact
Reuters – U.S. House Democrats on Tuesday claimed victory in negotiating changes to a U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade agreement to ensure better protection for workers, the environment and remove key provisions that they said would have benefited big pharmaceutical companies.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said the agreement reached after a year of tough negotiations was “infinitely better” than what the Trump administration initially proposed, calling it “a victory for American workers.”
House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard Neal said sections of the text would be reviewed by lawmakers, but he saw no reason for “unnecessary delays” in bringing the trade pact to a vote on the House floor. It is expected to pass the Senate.

Energy & Environment

Nearly 65% of the US will feel below-freezing temperatures this week
CNN – It’s going to feel more like mid-January than early December this week as extreme cold temps move across the United States.
About 65% of the country will experience below-freezing temperatures, according to CNN meteorologists Taylor Ward and Dave Hennen.
The system moving eastward has already hit parts of the Midwest, which saw heavy snow and limited visibility in places like Iowa, where about 50 cars were involved in a pileup Monday morning.
Michael Bloomberg Flies into U.N. Climate Meeting in Spain to Lecture on ‘Sustainability’
Breitbart – Democrat presidential aspirant and self-described “global leader” on the environment, Michael Bloomberg, flew to Spain on Monday and joined the U.N. COP25 talks to deliver the message the U.S. is “still in” with globalist plans for climate action.
It is not clear if Bloomberg, who has pledged to end the American coal industry, flew across the Atlantic in his $42 million Dassault Falcon 900 private plane which he used while he was mayor of New York City to commute from his Bermuda mansion.
What is certain is the billionaire will unveil findings by a research group he personally funds suggesting a president who prioritises climate reforms could reduce U.S. emissions by 49 percent by 2030.
Bloomberg will appear alongside actor Harrison Ford and United Nations officials at the COP25 talks, currently in their second week, as he previewed before he left.
“Despite Trump backing out of the Paris Agreement, climate progress is happening in the US thanks to bold action from cities, states, & businesses,” he tweeted.
“Tomorrow, I’ll represent the US at #COP25 to deliver our America’s Pledge report showing how far we’ve come.
Warren wants a “blue new deal”
Axios – Elizabeth Warren is out with new plans to speed up offshore wind projects, expand marine sanctuaries, and bolster use of oceans to soak up carbon emissions.
Driving the news: Those are three pillars of the far wider “Blue New Deal” — a riff on the “Green New Deal” concept — on ocean policy that the Democratic White House hopeful unveiled Tuesday.
Why it matters: Politically, the plan’s arrival follows Warren’s recent slide in the polls after challenging Joe Biden for frontrunner status in the fall.

There’s plenty of competition for the green mantle as Bernie Sanders, Warren’s rival for progressive voters, touts his plans.
Billionaire climate advocates like Mike Bloomberg — who is at UN climate talks in Spain today — and Tom Steyer are spending heavily.

How it works, part 1: Energy-related provisions in Warren’s plan include…

A vow to “streamline and fast-track permitting” for offshore wind, which Warren accuses President Trump of slow-walking even as developers seek to build major Atlantic Coast projects.
Calling on Congress to approve long-term extensions of renewable energy tax credits and provide more resources to the Interior Department’s offshore energy branches.
Pledging to restore Obama-era bans on Arctic offshore drilling as part of her wider opposition to new offshore leases and phasing out existing offshore development.
A push to electrify shipping ports, which are hives of heavy-duty diesel vehicle traffic

How it works, part 2: On climate, Warren vows an executive order requiring the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to bolster ocean carbon sequestration efforts.

“I will also direct NOAA to map and establish ‘Blue Carbon Zones’ in federal waters, so that we can identify, protect, and manage these highly productive areas.”

Quick take: The plan blends Warren’s jobs and economic justice messages into her environmental posture.

For instance, it says additional subsidies and tax benefits for large ocean renewable projects would be subject to “community benefits agreements” that “should include requirements for prevailing wages and collective bargaining rights.”
And this line about getting offshore wind projects approved stood out: “The climate crisis is too urgent to let the ultra-wealthy complain about wind turbines getting in the way of their ocean views.”

Health

Optimal Levels of Selenium Help Prevent Osteoporosis
Mercola – Selenium is positively associated with bone mineral density in men and women; it’s also inversely related to bone turnover

Investigators have found that selenium levels affect heart health, immune function, thyroid function, sperm motility and the development of a healthy egg
Selenium supplementation can lead to toxicity; it’s better to get your selenium from food sources
The best food sources of selenium are Brazil nuts, sardines, pastured organic eggs and wild-caught Alaskan salmon

>> Power Mall Product of Interest: Selenium & Amino Acid Complex Re-Natured Tablets – 60 CT
7 Health Benefits of Kimchi, According To Nutritionists
Love spicy food? (Yes!) Want a healthier gut? (Uh, sure? Why not!)
Well, if you’ve given the jars of kimchi popping up at the grocery store the side-eye, know this: The traditional Korean dish offers numerous health benefits, for your stomach and beyond.
Not sure what kimchi actually is? Made by fermenting cabbage, kimchi is sort of like the Asian version of sauerkraut, a longtime staple of German diets. However, while sauerkraut is typically made with white cabbage and spiced with caraway seeds, kimchi, on the other hand, uses Chinese cabbage and is spiced with garlic and chili paste, says Jessica Cording, RD, author of The Little Book of Game-Changers: 50 Healthy Habits For Managing Stress & Anxiety.
Despite their ingredient and flavor differences, both sauerkraut and kimchi have long been incorporated in traditional cooking—and for good reason. These fermented dishes are an easy, low-calorie way to up your vegetable intake and load up on health-boosting bacteria (a.k.a. probiotics).
Though kimchi has often been treated as a mere condiment, increased interest in all-things gut health (and the rising popularity of Korean cuisine—thanks, Momofuku!) is finally putting the spicy stuff front and center.
Kimchi serves up tons of health benefits.
Whether you already add kimchi to all of your salads or have never purchased a jar in your life, the stuff is darn good for you. Along with its spicy kick come a number of impressive health perks. Seriously, you might want to pick yourself up a jar (or two).

It’s good for your gut.
Kimchi might boost your immune health.
It may help lower your cholesterol.
Kimchi can improve your heart health.
It may help with inflammation.
Kimchi can support brain health.
Kimchi might even help with weight loss.

Reconsider Lettuce Use in Light of Recurring Contamination
Mercola – In the last week of November 2019, the CDC issued a food safety alert stating it is investigating a multistate outbreak of E. coli linked to romaine lettuce harvested from the Salinas, California, region

As of November 25, 2019, 67 cases had been reported across 19 states, 39 of which required hospitalization. Six persons developed kidney failure. However, between July 12 and September 8, 23 people had also been sickened from contaminated romaine, and this wasn’t reported to the public
The E. coli strain causing the outbreak — O157:H7, also known as STEC — is genetically indistinguishable from lettuce-related outbreaks that occurred in 2017 and 2018. STEC is a Shiga toxin-producing type of E. coli, which is why it’s so dangerous
E. coli O157:H7 is typically associated with cattle. The first of the two outbreaks in 2018 was traced back to manure runoff from a CAFO in the vicinity of the lettuce farm. Contaminated water was used to irrigate the lettuce fields
Lettuce provides few valuable nutrients and is prone to contamination. You’re better off swapping lettuce for homegrown sprouts, which are rich in nutrients and easy to grow