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Day: December 24, 2017

Open Immigration Is Good for the Health of People and the Economy

Bridge Agents

(FEE) – What do Albert Einstein, Salvador Dali, Google co-founder Sergey Brin and Freddie Mercury have in common? They were all refugees who made extraordinary contributions to their fields. Societies who welcome refugees and migrants benefit from their contributions and the jobs they create. Opening our doors to migrants, rather than detaining them on Manus Island or elsewhere, would make us far wealthier.Detaining Refugees Australia and the West have a troubled history of dealing with refugees, largely because of community concerns about their impact. From the 80,000 refugee visas issued annually…

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US Life Expectancy Drops for Second Year in a Row as Drug Deaths Spike

Bridge Agents

United States (Sputnik) – Health researchers are ringing the alarm as life expectancy in the US dropped for the second year in a row, a trend that has ended the steady rise of longevity that started in 1963. The cause? The opioid epidemic, among other things. According to the National Center for Health Statistics, a baby born in the United States in 2016 can expect to live 78.6 years — a decline of almost a month compared to 2015 and two months compared to 2014. “One undeniable culprit is the opioid epidemic, which is cutting down young adults at alarming and increasing…

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A ‘Detainee of All Eras’: The Prominent Case of Egyptian Activist Alaa Abdelfattah

Bridge Agents

Egyptian Activist and Blogger Alaa Abdelfattah. Source: screenshot from Youtube video. (GV) – Egypt’s wide-scale systematic arrests of political dissidents have allowed for full government control over a country of more than 100 million citizens. Orchestrated by Egyptian President Abdelfattah El Sisi, the imprisonment of opposition bloggers and political activists has become daily news, turning justice into a political arena pitting opponents against the regime. The case of Egyptian tech-savvy and political activist Alaa Abdelfattah has recently stirred an outrage because Abdelfattah has been imprisoned since 2013 and yet he now faces new…

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Tracking Santa and more – DARPA Continue’s HO HO HO-liday Team-Up

Bridge Agents

(DARPA) – DARPA’s High-speed Optimized Handling of Holiday Operations (HO HO HO) initiative is celebrating its fourth anniversary this year, and the Agency is proud to continue its tradition of sharing breakthrough technologies to help Santa Claus and his elves more quickly and efficiently complete their holiday duties. This year, Santa and his North Pole crew have been granted special access to research tools from the following DARPA programs: Wearable prototype technologies from the Targeted Neuroplasticity Training (TNT) program to help Santa more quickly and effectively prepare for his big night TNT seeks to identify…

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