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Hawaiʻi AG Investigation Into Political Bribery Case Goes Before Grand Jury
What began four years ago with the convictions of two state lawmakers is now looking at the lieutenant governor and other officials.
Cyclospora outbreak expands to nine US states, health officials say
Federal investigators continue to search for the sources amid the largest number of reported cyclosporiasis cases in US history.
There are already more U.S. measles cases this year than in all of 2025
This year has easily become the U.S.’s worst year for measles since 1991, as major outbreaks in South Carolina, Utah and Arizona have sickened hundreds and smaller clusters of cases sparked in other states.
US measles cases reach 35-year high, for second record-breaking year in a row
Measles has continued its historic resurgence in the United States this year, with a second record-breaking year in a row.
Lawyers for low-income metro Detroiters to strike over health care
The lawyers set to strike handle 50% of cases for defendents who can't afford an attorney in Wayne County.
Rice materials science triumphs with pair of Telly Awards
Rice is a double winner in the 47th annual Telly Awards, which honor excellence in video and television. The university won a silver Telly in the Education and Discovery category for a social media series titled “Discovering Materials Science and Engineering: Engineering Solutions for a Changing World,” which followed freshmen as they were introduced to how materials shape the world in a materials science and nanoengineering course of the same name. Additionally, Rice won a bronze Telly in the Educational Institution category for a nonbroadcast campaign titled “RAMI Undergraduate Research Fellows at Rice University,” which showcases cutting-edge undergraduate research.
Public defender proposes increase to 'expert witness' budget due to more mental evaluations
The Douglas County attorney and public defender highlight the growing role of mental health in court cases, with rising costs for evaluations and expert witnesses that are all funded by taxpayers.
He allegedly ran 14 illicit massage businesses across two states. Now he’s facing trial in Oregon.
Clackamas County prosecutors are pursuing two of the only known criminal cases in Oregon targeting the people behind illicit massage businesses.
ChatGPT Health Rolls Out to Everyone While OpenAI Stares Down Major Lawsuits
OpenAI has faced two lawsuits in the past three months alleging that ChatGPT gave users dangerous—and in some cases fatal—medical advice.
New Dave & Busters owned entertainment center Main Event to open in Woodbury
Minnesota’s first Main Event location showcases activities like bowling, laser tag, arcade games and more.
Protecting pets and people: Positive rabies case reported in Stone Mountain, DeKalb health officials say
DeKalb County Department of Health is issuing an urgent warning for pets and people.
Chester County measles cases expected to increase as officials urge vaccination
Health officials are urging people to get vaccinated as measles cases rise in Pennsylvania, Delaware and across the U.S.
Microplastics detected in most heart attack patients' blood in startling new study
Nearly 84% of severe heart attack patients had detectable microplastics in their coronary artery blood, with polyethylene found in 97% of cases.
People paid big money for Halo: Campaign Evolved's early access on Xbox and they aren't getting it
Reports are coming in of people unable to play Halo: Campaign Evolved's early access via its Premium Edition or Premium Edition Upgrade on the Xbox, but the developers are on the case to fix it
Microsoft Launches Test for Ad-Supported Xbox Game Streaming, Promises the Ads Will Not 'Interrupt the Flow of Gameplay'
Ad-supported Xbox game streaming is here, Microsoft has said. Here's how it works and how you can try it out.
Misdiagnoses and medical bias: The gender gap in healthcare
Women are disadvantaged in healthcare – in some cases due to different symptoms in women than in men. This is especially true for heart conditions, where women even face lower survival rates after cardiac arrest.
5 Reasons to Buy the iPhone 17 Now Instead of Waiting for iPhone 18
Apple's iPhone 18 Pro models and its first foldable are less than two months from being unveiled. That may sound like a reason to sit tight if you're looking to upgrade from an iPhone 16 or older series, but between looming price hikes and Apple's new split-launch calendar, there's a decent case for grabbing an iPhone 17 series model right now. Here are five reasons in favor of putting your order in today. 1.
Michigan cyclosporiasis outbreak continues to spike, reaching 7,664 cases
Bank of America and Carolina Panthers Extend Naming Rights for Bank of America Stadium, Reinforcing Long-Term Commitment to Charlotte and the Carolinas
Tepper Sports & Entertainment showcases fan-focused enhancements in new renderings and increases private investment, bringing the total project to more than $1.3 billion
Bank of America and Carolina Panthers Extend Naming Rights for Bank of America Stadium, Reinforcing Long-Term Commitment to Charlotte and the Carolinas
Tepper Sports & Entertainment showcases fan-focused enhancements in new renderings and increases private investment, bringing the total project to more than $1.3 billion
The Opera Bell Band’s ‘A Salute to Corn’ showcases its commitment to fun with a side of science
The Opera Bell Band, known for its campy stage presence, originally had no intention of performing live.
Health officials investigating Clark County child measles case, identify exposure site
Officials are investigating a confirmed case of measles in an unvaccinated Clark County child that was reported Wednesday, according to Clark County Public Health.
Health officials track Arizona’s first travel-associated case of Clade I mpox
The Arizona Department of Health Services was notified this month of a state resident who contracted Clade I mpox while traveling outside the country.
Cleveland Science Center marks 30 years with celebration (photos)
The Great Lakes Science Center handed out 500 cupcakes Wednesday and showcased exhibits that have made it a regional leader in hands-on science education.
Cyclospora in Maryland: Health officials report 110 cases
Cyclosporiasis cases in Maryland have increased to 110 since May 1, state health officials said.
FloSports Launches Free Streaming Channel on Prime Video in the U.S.
The FloSports Channel To Showcase Entire FloSports Portfolio Of More Than 25 Sports To Passionate Fan Communities.
Southern Nevada Health District reports 2nd case of cyclosporiasis in Clark County resident
The Southern Nevada Health District reported a second case of cyclosporiasis in a Clark County resident.
Teen plaintiff suing Meta over mental health harms drops his claims against company days before trial
A Florida teen whose lawsuit claimed Meta’s platforms were to blame for his depression and anxiety dropped his case against the company just days before the trial in Los Angeles was set to start, the company said.
Teen Plaintiff Suing Meta Over Mental Health Harms Drops His Claims Against Company Days Before Trial
By Diana Novak Jones July 22 (Reuters) - A Florida teen whose lawsuit claimed Meta’s platforms were to blame for his depression and anxiety dropped his case against the company just days before the trial in Los Angeles was set to start, his attorneys said on Wednesday. The lawsuit, brought ...
Colorado health officials still unable to investigate tuberculosis case at ICE detention facility
Colorado public health officials are still unable to investigate at least one tuberculosis case at an immigration detention center in Aurora, as the private company that runs the facility missed a dea...
Youth entrepreneurs set up booths, activities at Kidpreneur Business Expo
The Kidpreneur Business Expo at True Vine Brewing Company in Tyler showcased young entrepreneurs and interactive activities for families.
Health officials are investigating a rise in Cyclosporiasis cases across multiple states this summer including Maryland
Three measles cases reported by Montgomery County health department
The measles cases in members of the same family, who had not been vaccinated for the virus, mark the first reported cases in the Houston area this year.
Built for every Fold: Spigen’s Galaxy Z Fold 8 lineup is the best yet
Drop and everyday protection for a Galaxy Z Fold 8 requires an extra level of case engineering because it’s such...
Cyclosporiasis cases in Michigan climb to over 7,000, state health officials say
Michigan health officials reported 7,171 cases linked to an outbreak of cyclosporiasis on Wednesday, up 600 cases since its last update on Tuesday.
AOC Blames Trump Science Cuts for Rise in “Explosive Diarrhea” Cases
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez linked budget reductions in federal science departments during the presidency of Donald Trump to a sharp growth in the number of Americans suffering from explosive diarrh...
Delaware confirms 2nd measles case from another unvaccinated man in Kent County
The two infected individuals are both unvaccinated men in Kent County.
Measles cases in the U.S. hit a new 34-year high
The U.S. hasn't seen measles numbers like this since 1992. An epidemiologist explains what's driving the surge.
Meet the Western states making the case that money isn't political speech
Who should have more power — the people or corporations? For legislators in Hawaii and Montana, the answer is most definitely the former.
OpenAI Sued Over ChatGPT’s ‘Dangerous’ Health Advice
The case appears to be the first to argue that a chatbot’s advice harmed someone seeking guidance about a medical condition.
AMD’s Zen 6 EPYC Venice Pictured as a 256-Core Monster, Massive Twin I/O Dies & First 2nm HPC Chip To Enter Volume Ramp
AMD has showcased its next-generation EPYC Venice CPU at the Advancing AI event, featuring a phenomenal core count of 256 based on Zen 6.
Samsung Says Smart Glasses Privacy Concerns Need Industrywide Fix
Samsung Electronics Co. showcased the smart glasses it developed in partnership with Alphabet Inc.’s Google, Warby Parker and Gentle Monster, offering new details around battery life and durability ahead of a release this fall.
Harnessing abundant electricity from the sun, and other CU Boulder science tapped for Genesis Mission
CU Boulder was awarded more than $2.1 million in grants for the U.S. Department of Energy's highly competitive Genesis Mission. The science behind the awards
From Paper to Action: How Systematic Monitoring Can Help Health Benefits Packages Deliver on Their Promise
Health Benefits Packages (HBPs) can be a strategic tool to advance Universal Health Coverage. But their impact depends not only on the services included, but also on whether people effectively receive those services with adequate quality and financial protection. It also depends on the factors behind implementation gaps. While there is no shortage of guidance for using evidence-informed priority-setting approaches, less attention has been paid to monitoring whether, how, and why HBPs deliver (or not) in the real world. This gap matters, particularly in the context of stagnating progress towards Universal Health Coverage, because it leaves policymakers in the dark: Are HBPs delivering on the promise made to the population? If not, why, and what corrective action can be taken?
Spain and Morocco are competing to host the 2030 World Cup final. Who will win?
The countries are two of the co-hosts for the tournament and both are pressing their case to stage the biggest game in world sport
How An Ancient Murder Was Solved Using Flies: The World's First Case Of Forensic Entomology In 13th Century China
The coroner asked every man in the village to drop their sickle in front of them. In a little while, without any further questioning, he turned and accused the perpetrator of murder.
After Wimbledon showcase, the future of doubles in men’s tennis is on the line
The future of doubles at the top of men's tennis is in question as the sport reckons with its balance between audience and opportunity.
Fifth person dies in Legionnaires' disease outbreak in NYC neighborhood
The New York City health department said it has identified at least 82 cases of the disease in an outbreak in the Upper East Side of Manhattan.
‘Truly unprecedented’: Portland area health officials warn of rising measles cases
Health officials in Oregon and California are warning about an “unprecedented” shift in measles cases in the United States.
Fifth person dies in Upper East Side Legionnaires’ outbreak
As of Tuesday, there had been 82 reported cases of Legionnaires’ disease associated with the outbreak.
How does MEDC chief’s defense of business subsidies hold up?
A line-by-line look at Quentin Messer’s case for embattled development agency
Bay Area health officials urge vaccinations as measles cases continue to surge nationwide
Bay Area health officials are urging parents and international travelers to follow vaccination guidelines to prevent measles infections over the summer as
34 cooling towers on Upper East Side tested positive for live Legionella bacteria, health officials say
Thirty-four cooling towers at 33 buildings on the Upper East Side tested positive for live Legionella bacteria, the New York City Health Department announced Tuesday.
U.S. measles cases hit 35-year record with months left in 2026
Data from Johns Hopkins University’s U.S. measles tracker shows that the nation reported 2,295 cases as of Tuesday. That count surpasses last year’s total of 2,289 cases.
Texans GM Nick Caserio Questioned Over $106 Million Roster Decision
This is arguably their greatest X factor. The post Texans GM Nick Caserio Questioned Over $106 Million Roster Decision appeared first on HEAVY.
Measles surge puts West Coast health departments on alert
With U.S. measles cases nearing last year’s total, California and Oregon officials said Tuesday that fragile public health systems may struggle to handle new infections.
Samsung Galaxy Watch 9 and Ultra 2 specs and pricing leak in full ahead of launch
A fresh leak purports to reveal the full specs sheet of the Galaxy Watch 9 and Watch Ultra 2, as well as likely European pricing.
Rabid bat found near zoo restaurant sparks urgent public health warning: 'Extremely serious'
A dead wild bat found near a San Diego Zoo Safari Park restaurant tested positive for rabies, marking the 19th such case in the county in 2026, said experts.
RFK Jr. says cyclosporiasis outbreak is 'under control' amid at least 1,600 cases in 5 states
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. told ABC News on Tuesday that the multi-state cyclosporiasis outbreak in the U.S. is "under control."
Health fears linger in a Brazilian neighborhood built over oil waste
SÃO SEBASTIÃO, Brazil — In front of the house where she has lived for decades, Cosma da Silva points to nearby homes in her Itatinga neighborhood and lists a string of cancer cases. “There’s a woman with cancer over there. Another one lives in that building. And yet another one there [points at the place]. People […]
São Paulo and Corinthians hit with transfer bans
São Paulo and Corinthians were each punished by FIFA with a transfer ban this Tuesday, according to ge.As a result, Tricolor is temporarily prohibited from registering new players. In Timão’s case...
Cyclosporiasis cases in Harris County now at 24, health officials say
Harris County Public Health says that as of July 15 this year, there have been 24 Cyclospora cases reported.
NC health officials report over 500 cyclosporiasis cases
There have been more than 500 cases of cyclosporiasis reported in North Carolina since the beginning of May. But officials say the state does not seem to be associated with the Taco Bell outbreak.
Should there be political age limits?
The case for and against age maximum limits for our political leaders. And should we also have health transparency rules?
Cyclosporiasis Outbreak: Cases surge across NC as health officials work to find source
North Carolina health officials confirm hundreds of new cases of Cyclospora in the past week as investigators continue searching for the source of the outbreak.
4th person dies from Legionnaires' disease in New York City: Health officials
At least 76 cases have been identified and seven people remain hospitalized, the New York City Health Department announced.
4th person dies from Legionnaires' disease in New York City: Health officials
At least 76 cases have been identified and seven people remain hospitalized, the New York City Health Department announced.
New Numbers Present Sony’s Case For Abandoning PlayStation Discs
While Sony has been shamed out of many fan-hated changes over the years, that was never going to be the case for its decision to abandon physical discs starting in 2028.
Health officials urge food safety as cyclosporiasis cases rise in North Carolina
Cyclosporiasis, a parasitic illness that can cause diarrhea, vomiting and other symptoms, is rising across North Carolina and the U.S., health officials say.
Wrigley Rooftop-View Case Raises Proximity Issue Across Sports
The Chicago Cubs playing games in an “open-air stadium” doesn’t “transform the view” from a neighboring rooftop into Cubs property, Wrigley View Rooftop and owner Aidan Dunican argue in a recent court filing. And if it did, other teams, leagues and sports organizers could allegedly demand payment from neighbors who currently watch for free. Wrigley …
Four deaths reported in New York City Legionnaires’ disease cluster
A fourth person has died in connection with a cluster of Legionnaires’ disease cases in New York City, city officials said.
NVIDIA Shows DLSS 5 Progress and Technical Details at SIGGRAPH 2026
NVIDIA has once again showcased its DLSS 5 neural rendering at the SIGGRAPH 2026 event, currently taking place in Los Angeles. Despite the initial negative reaction from gamers, NVIDIA is continuing to develop the technology, offering improvements and a new demonstration of how DLSS 5 is intended...
The Bull Case For Accel Entertainment (ACEL) Could Change Following Guidroz’s Promotion To COO
Accel Entertainment, Inc. recently reshuffled its leadership, promoting Toucan Gaming CEO Stan Guidroz to Chief Operating Officer effective July 14, 2026, while President Mark Phelan relinquished the COO title and Chief Compliance Officer Derek Harmer prepared to transition into a compliance committee role in 2027. This move elevates an executive with deep Louisiana gaming and acquisition experience to oversee day-to-day operations across Accel’s markets, potentially influencing how the...
Nintendo says it has no legal duty to pass its U.S. tariff refunds on to consumers
Nintendo is asking a court to dismiss a proposed class action suit that was filed this past spring by gamers who say the Mario maker is breaking the law if it doesn’t pass on its U.S. tariff refunds to consumers. Those consumers “received exactly what they bargained and paid for” when buying price-hiked Nintendo goods last year, the company said in a filing on Monday in the case of Hoffert et al v. Nintendo. “Plaintiffs are not entitled to a rebate simply because of intervening legal developments related to tariffs.” Nintendo increased the price of Switch 2 controllers and the original Switch last year, following the imposition of globe-spanning U.S. tariffs (tariffs described by Nintendo’s lawyers on Monday as “sweeping” and “constantly changing”). This past February, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the tariffs were illegal. A month later, Nintendo sued the U.S. government to get a refund. And in April, gamers filed the class action claim against Nintendo in Washington, saying it would be illegally double-dipping if it made money from tariff-hiked sales and then from a refund. The gamers sought relief for anyone in the U.S. who bought price-hiked Nintendo items between February 2025 and February 2026. “The common thread among Plaintiffs’ claims is that it is somehow ‘unfair; that Nintendo has not retroactively adjusted its prices for completed sales in response to the outcome of the tariff litigation,” the company’s lawyers wrote in today’s motion to dismiss. “But that is now how commercial transactions work.
First measles case in more than 10 years confirmed in Delaware, health officials say
Shanghai science forum photos show China's AI and robotics advances in rivalry with US
BEIJING (AP) — China's leading technology companies showcased hundreds of cutting-edge products at the World AI Conference in Shanghai — from advanced robotics to artificial intelligence systems.
Photos show Chinese companies showcasing AI technology and robots at science forum
BEIJING (AP) — China's leading technology companies showcased hundreds of cutting-edge products at the World AI Conference in Shanghai — from advanced robotics to artificial intelligence systems.
Shanghai science forum photos show China's AI and robotics advances in rivalry with US
BEIJING (AP) — China's leading technology companies showcased hundreds of cutting-edge products at the
Heritage Valley Health System seeks to disqualify whistleblower attorney, law firm in case against nurse
Heritage Valley Health System on Monday asked a federal court judge to disqualify the Pittsburgh attorney and law firm that is pursuing a whistleblower...
UFC Freedom 250 Fails to Knock Out The Ratings
(Welcome to my weekly streaming ratings report, the single best guide to what’s popular in streaming TV and what isn’t. I’m the Entertainment Strategy Guy, a former streaming executive who now analyzes business strategy in the entertainment industry. If you were forwarded this email, please subscribe to get these insights each week.) If UFC fans wanted one image to say, “Hey, Paramount+ is crushing it with their UFC rights deal,” I could provide that image. Here it is: (Reminder: this is my creation of the Nielsen Top 30, since Nielsen doesn’t combine the lists or include sports. I take all three lists and combine them. Some streaming TV shows probably have higher ratings than many of the films on this list.) Look at that! UFC Freedom 250 is number one! It topped the Nielsen “Top 30” list for shows and films that made the top ten the week of 15-June. So if you’re a UFC fan or supporter of Paramount+, that’s the good news for you this week. This program topped the ratings charts for one week. Everything else is bad news, or at least a huge caveat to that story, which I’ll explain today in the first part of this week’s Streaming Ratings Report—for the weeks of 8-June and 15-June—which is a double issue since I’ve been writing on a bunch of topics recently. UFC Freedom 250 is one of the biggest streaming events of the year, and super relevant to Paramount+’s strategy, so it merited its own article. Let’s dive in! (Reminder: The streaming ratings report focuses on the U.S. market and compiles data from Nielsen’s weekly top ten viewership ranks, Luminate’s Top Ten Data, JustWatch and Reelgood interest data, Samba TV household viewership, company datecdotes, Netflix hours viewed data, Google Trends, and IMDb to determine the most popular content. While most data points are current, Nielsen’s data covers the weeks of June 8th to June 21st 2026. You can find a link to my terminology here.) Subscribe Check Out My Interview on UFC 250 at MMA Draw After you read this article, if you want even more thoughts on UFC and Paramount-Skydance/Paramount+, I did a written interview with MMA Draw. They asked me to answer some questions about UFC Freedom 250, and I was happy to chat with them. Find it here: [ The MMA Draw Newsletter Did Paramount really overpay for the UFC? What the data tells us so far If you know the history of American television, you also know that combat sports is often a leading indicator of the future… Read more a day ago · 10 likes · 1 comment · Nate Wilcox and Zach Arnold ](https://www.themmadraw.com/p/did-paramount-really-overpay-for?utm_source=substack&utm_campaign=post_embed&utm_medium=web) I never thought I’d need a combat sports newsletter in my life, but the good folks at MMA Draw publish an excellent one on UFC, MMA, pro wrestling, boxing and more, analyzing both the sports themselves and the politics, economics and antitrust issues that impact them. Check the article and their newsletter out! Paramount+ Has Its Best Sporting Event of All Time…But Was It Worth It? Before we look at the UFC Freedom 250 data in particular, let’s talk about what we can’t say. Namely, let’s start with the lack of comparisons. First off, I’d love to put a chart out comparing this fight to past UFC fights on Paramount+…but we don’t have the data. This is the first time we’ve gotten Nielsen data about a Paramount+ UFC fight. As far as I can tell, Paramount provided data for the first fight, but it was a proprietary datecdote (saying it had “an average minute audience” of 5 million “views”) and then, for two fights, we got the linear viewership numbers when they aired on CBS, but no streaming data. Everything else was crickets. We also can’t compare this fight to other fights/combat sports on streaming, in particular the MMA and boxing, because Netflix also didn’t use Nielsen to track those events, opting for TVision and VideoAmp, respectively. (This isn’t Paramount’s fault, but does still suck.) We also can’t compare to UFC’s fights that used to be on ESPN+, since we don’t have any data for that, plus Disney+ didn’t have marquee fights. The comparisons would not be apples-to-apples. Can we compare to past Pay-Per-View fights? Absolutely not. The comparisons would absolutely NOT be apples-to-apples. That didn’t stop Paramount+, though, who bragged that their UFC events have reached drastically more people than past PPV fights. Duh. Sorry, but I gotta make this point again. A basic tenet of economics is that the cheaper something becomes, the more people consume or buy it. That’s Econ 101. (Sometimes pundits call things “Econ 101” that are actually like Econ 210 or even PhD-level economics, but no, this is really like first or second class basic economics.) Yet I still see one analytics firm consistently say that more people watch films on streaming than PVOD proves streaming which means that the streaming window is more valuable than the PVOD window. No, it’s not! Same thing here. Pay-Per-View events back in the day could be really, really, really expensive! So whole groups of people pitched in to buy them. That increased the perceived value of, say, the Mike Tyson fight. Or a UFC numbered event. So yes, the fact that Paramount+ makes numbered UFC fights essentially “free” if you’re already a Paramount+ member means consumption will go up. Obviously. Same for Netflix and their boxing matches. They’re talking about fights that used to cost consumers, in some cases, $50 in 1996…which is over $100 in today’s dollars. Over 1.6 million people paid that to watch the Tyson-Holyfield fight! Again, streaming is essentially “free”. Or $10 to $20, depending on what streamer we’re talking about and what tier you’re on. No wonder more people are “watching”. (Plus, Nielsen’s out-of-home viewing also helps these numbers.) UFC Freedom 250 Did Well…But I Have A Lot of Worries So what can we compare the fights to? Well, the good news is Nielsen put out that the fight averaged 7.0 million viewers for UFC Freedom 250, which is a solid number for a fight. We also know the length, at roughly 4 and a half hours. (I saw different run times, but this seems to be the consensus considering it started at 8 pm, had a delay and then finished after midnight on the East Coast. If you assume a shorter run time, then yes, the total hours viewed would go down.) That means I have the two numbers needed to add this to my Nielsen database. And then…I can compare this viewership to the NFL: And, uh, not great. But also within striking distance, mainly because the runtime for this event was so long. I’d also add that this event had viewership equal to a regular season NFL game on streaming, but if anything, it was more comparable to an NFL playoff or Super Bowl-esque event. And you can compare viewership to the top football games on broadcast, cable and streaming, and it’s not impressive at all: We can also compare it to other sports that week, including the NBA Finals and start of the World Cup: Again, not great. The NBA generated roughly four times as many average viewers each game for its NBA Finals. The World Cup has similarly big numbers. Also, that’s just a tiny fraction of the 25 most watched sporting events each week. The NBA, NHL and FIFA World Cup had many, many more games racking up hours. We could also compare this to other streaming programs to get an idea of “is this a good investment?” and here is how it ranks compared to other top Paramount+ programs: The worry here? Well, unlike scripted programming, which has rewatchability, older fights/sporting events have very little library value. Very, very few people are rewatching these fights, especially years from now. Paramount has also released datecdotes bragging about their subscriber numbers. Earlier this year, they claimed that the first UFC fight on Paramount+ brought in 1 million subscribers. Then, in their quarterly earnings report, they only ended up with 700K subs. Not great! They claimed they dropped lower-value international subscribers, but that’s why I tend to discount subscriber additions when they’re leaked to the press.1 I expect we may see a bump again for UFC Freedom 250, but I’d caution using subscriber growth so soon after these events to judge the success, since new subs with high churn (see Peacock) aren’t great either. Also, analysts often want to attribute all subscriber growth to their favorite/pet show, and that just doesn’t make sense. The biggest caveat for UFC Freedom 250 and Paramount’s very first UFC marquee event is that these could be high watermarks for the sport. UFC Freedom 250 had an incredible amount of earned media coverage compared to most UFC fights. I mean, it had wall-to-wall national news coverage in the lead up to the event. (The first fight also had a lot of promotion from Paramount since it was first.) Other fights could reach this bar—say the Conor McGregor return to the Octagon—but they’ll be fewer and far between. Was This Deal Worth It? All to ask: is this Paramount deal worth it? In this case, I think the UFC Freedom 250 numbers are more distracting than helpful. This fight did well and compares well to other top sporting events. But we know that the first marquee event was at least a third smaller, if Paramount’s own data is to be believed. And it’s likely the other fights are much, much, much smaller. And then you get to the paycheck that Paramount-Skydance paid. FIFA’s World Cup cost about the same for Fox, but clearly generated multiples more total viewership. (Though it’s only every four years.) The NBA is much more expensive, but until the playoffs, they likely didn’t pay for itself. Even still, Disney, NBCUniversal and Amazon Prime Video likely overpaid. So, in that context, the NBA may be an overpay that makes the UFC look not so bad. But two overpays don’t make an underpay, to paraphrase the old cliché about wrongs and rights. And looking at UFC Freedom 250 as the likely ceiling of MMA on Paramount+, Paramount-Skydance likely paid too much. Share 1 I would love regular reports on subscriber additions by programs, but as is, it’s mostly leaked or rumored in haphazard ways.
Federal health officials have investigated 5 different clusters of cyclosporiasis cases, FDA says
Federal health officials have been investigating five different clusters of cyclosporiasis cases since the start of parasite season in May, the FDA said on Monday.
Federal health officials have investigated 5 different clusters of cyclosporiasis cases, FDA says
Federal health officials have been investigating five different clusters of cyclosporiasis cases since the start of parasite season in May, the FDA said on Monday.
Fourth person dies in Upper East Side Legionnaires’ outbreak
As of Monday, there had been 76 reported cases of Legionnaires’ disease associated with the outbreak.
Health Brief: The grants showdown
The administration loses a key grants case, even as it presses ahead with a broader rewrite of federal funding rules.
Alabama health officials report 28 cases of Cyclospora amid national outbreak
The Alabama Department of Public Health has reported 28 confirmed cases of cyclosporiasis in the state as of July 20, as part of an ongoing national outbreak.
Federal health officials have investigated 5 different clusters of cyclosporiasis cases, FDA says
Federal health officials have been investigating five different clusters of cyclosporiasis cases since the start of parasite season in May, the FDA said on Monday.
G.O.P. Boxed In on Iran War as Trump Sidelines Congress
Republicans now face a worst-case political scenario of being asked to fund an unpopular war over which they have exercised little oversight.
Introducing: Breitling Top Time B01 Chronograph 41 Tribute To Aston Martin DB5
Breitling leans into the shapely Top Time chronograph's cushion case in a tribute to the mighty Aston Martin DB5 (and a nod to its Bond-film links, too).
Why Mitch McConnell's health has the internet so confused
As conspiracy theories swirl about Sen. Mitch McConnell, experts say it's normal to wonder, but health speculation can be harmful in some cases too.
Southern Nevada health officials report first local cyclosporiasis case linked to outbreak
Las Vegas health officials report cyclosporiasis case in Clark County tied to travel; no evidence of local exposure as CDC investigates outbreak.
Michigan cyclosporiasis outbreak tops 6,100 cases, health officials say
Syphilis infections a rising threat for Alaska newborns, health officials report
As adult cases of the sexually transmitted infection increase, 14 Alaska babies qwew born with syphilis in 2025, the most in recent years.
Shaky political "science": breakdown of the peer review process
[This article is the latest in our “Shaky Political Science” series. In our 38 page report, “Shaky political ‘science’ misses mark on ranked choice voting,” released in December 2025, we examined over 40 studies focused on ranked choice voting (RCV). Many of these studies suffered from puzzling research methodologies, poorly constructed surveys, unrealistic simulated elections, cherry picked data and faulty analyses that often were contradicted by results from real-world elections (a link to our full paper is here). Here are links to the first four articles in our series: the first one summarizing the overall results of our report; the second one analyzed a study co-authored by University of Minnesota academic Larry Jacobs, which was one of the most error-prone of all the research we reviewed in our report; a third article showing an admirable example of two political scientists holding two other political scientists accountable for their flawed, sloppy research; and a fourth article that analyzed seven studies sponsored by New America’s political reform program that deployed flawed methodology based on “simulated” elections instead of real-world elections, which when combined with some basic misunderstandings of RCV, produced odd and misleading results]. In this fifth article in our “Shaky Political Science” series, we examine two flawed studies on the impact of RCV on voter turnout authored by San Francisco State University professor Jason McDaniel. McDaniel’s research in these two papers stands out for its puzzling methodology, inadequate and cherry-picked data, and faulty analyses that not only misunderstands ranked choice voting but reflects a basic misunderstanding of politics in general. The first of the McDaniel studies actually passed through a peer review process and then was subsequently published by the Journal of Urban Affairs, despite its obvious errors. It is perplexing that a jury of peer political scientists did not catch the errors and send it back to McDaniel for a rewrite or outright rejection. This calls into question the credibility of the peer review process itself. The peer review process is supposed to represent the intellectual pinnacle of the profession – a way for academics to certify the quality of each other’s work, and to act as a check against sloppy research. In the case of the McDaniel study, the peer review process failed. Yet his flawed study has been cited dozens of times by other political scientists in their own flawed works — an unvirtuous circle of academic research. Here is the first Jason McDaniel study that we analyzed: “Writing the Rules to Rank the Candidates: Examining the Impact of Instant-Runoff Voting on Racial Group Turnout in San Francisco Mayoral Elections,” by Jason McDaniel, 2016, Journal of Urban Affairs. This study covered San Francisco’s use of ranked choice voting (RCV) in mayoral elections, purporting to show that RCV reduces voter turnout overall, increases voter errors, and has a negative impact on “marginal populations,” i.e. racial minorities, mainly as the result of the alleged complexity of RCV asking voters to rank candidates and having to be familiar with multiple candidates and related dynamics. McDaniel reached these conclusions by examining five San Francisco mayoral elections taking place in odd years (i.e. where there are no federal or state races on the ballot) from 1995 to 2011, comparing three earlier non-RCV races (in 1995, 1999 and 2003) with the later two RCV races (in 2007 and 2011). Only two RCV races were studied, and as McDaniel acknowledged, only the contest in 2011 was “competitive” (that contest in 2007 was the first mayoral election using RCV, and incumbent mayor Gavin Newsom won easily in the first round of counting, earning 74% of first choices and far ahead of the second place candidate who had just 6.3% of first choices). Yet even the allegedly competitive contest in 2011was won by an incumbent with a landslide margin of nearly 20 points. No other elections were studied by McDaniel, even though San Francisco elects 17 other offices besides mayor with RCV, including the 11 seats on the Board of Supervisors (the name for the city council) in even years, and six other citywide offices in odd years. Previous academic research has found that competitive elections can stimulate greater voter involvement and higher turnout. For unexplained reasons, this study ignored at least 34 other RCV races between the years 2004 to 2011, many of which were very competitive and had high voter turnout. Instead, McDaniel’s analysis based its conclusions on data from only a single, marginally-competitive mayor’s race using RCV. These 2007 and 2011 mayoral elections were the only two RCV elections that McDaniel used as the sole basis for his small data set to determine the impact of RCV on voter turnout. Despite having no meaningful data to inform his study, McDaniel nonetheless concluded that RCV lowered turnout when compared to the previous three mayoral non-RCV elections using two-round runoffs. Then, using the same inadequate database of San Francisco elections, McDaniel also found that “Instant-runoff voting is associated with a significant decline in Black voter turnout and White voter turnout…On average, Black voter turnout decreases by 18 points and White voter turnout decreases by 16 points …” But how could he credibly arrive at that conclusion when his study was based on voter turnout in two RCV contests that were not even remotely competitive? Beyond that, McDaniel tacitly admits that the key determining factor driving Black voter turnout was not RCV vs non-RCV elections, but the presence of a viable Black candidate. McDaniel wrote, “Black voter turnout was about 17 percentage points higher for the two elections that featured an African American candidate compared to the three elections that did not” — but one of those three elections did not use RCV. The same dynamic was present for White voter turnout, in which higher turnout was not correlated with RCV vs non-RCV elections, but the presence of a viable White candidate. Beyond that, McDaniel’s voter turnout results, whether correlated with the race of the candidates or RCV vs non-RCV elections, showed no clear patterns. In his Figure 1, he shows low Asian voter turnout in the non-RCV elections in 1999 and 2003 when there was no viable Asian candidate running, but in the 2007 mayoral election using RCV, there is still no viable Asian candidate, yet Asian turnout increases dramatically. For Latinos, voter turnout is virtually the same in 1999 (no viable Latino candidate, non-RCV elections), 2003 (leading Latino candidate, non-RCV elections), 2007 (no viable Latino candidate, RCV elections) and 2011 (leading Latino candidate, RCV elections). Meanwhile White voter turnout increased dramatically from a low in the 2007 mayoral election, in which the leading candidate was a white incumbent, to the 2011 election in which there were no leading white candidates that finished any higher than sixth place with 5.6% of the vote. Clearly other factors were determining voter turnout than either the race of the candidates or RCV vs non-RCV elections. Despite these inconsistent findings, McDaniel boldly marches forth to render conclusions about the impact of RCV on different groups of racial voters, even though his conclusions are not remotely supported by his data. This looks like the worst kind of “data cherry picking” to cover up a puzzling conclusion based on a poor data set involving only two RCV elections, neither of which were remotely competitive. McDaniel’s cherry picking didn’t stop there. In calculating voter turnout for the three non-RCV mayoral elections in 1995, 1999 and 2003, he failed to mention that in each of these years there was a two-round runoff election, with a first round election in November in which no candidate garnered a winning majority of the vote, followed by the decisive runoff in December. So there were two non-RCV elections in each election year. But McDaniel only decided to include one of the two elections in his data set, apparently the December runoff in each year (which had higher turnout in two out of the three mayor’s races, and lower turnout in the third). So he ignored the November 1995 election, the November 1999 election when turnout was only 45 percent, and the November 2003 election when turnout was only 45.7 percent. This is flawed methodology based on blatant cherry picking, since McDaniel simply omitted three elections worth of data that did not fit within his frame. His study should never have made it through a peer review process, and it is an embarrassment to political science that not only was it approved for publication, but it has been uncritically cited by dozens of other political scientists. Share A “study” without wider context or credible data Lacking a data set that included even a single competitive RCV mayoral race, McDaniel declared that RCV lowered voter turnout in 2011, when turnout was 42.5 percent. But he also ignored -- or did not realize -- that voter turnout in mayoral elections during 2011 had sharply declined in all big cities, including far more steeply in nearby Los Angeles and other cities. In fact, San Francisco’s election in 2011 had the second highest turnout of any mayoral election in the nation’s 22 largest cities from 2008-2011. Was 2011 just a particularly low turnout year all across the country, perhaps because the country was still reeling from the aftermath of the housing market collapse in 2008-2010? McDaniel ignored this factor and did not search for alternative explanations beyond his flawed thesis. Furthermore, while McDaniel suggested that RCV leads to more “overvotes” – which is an invalidated ballot in which a voter, in either a non-RCV or RCV race, makes a mistake and selects two candidates for a single choice – he failed to address that in the June 2012 US Senate primary contest, which used the typical “one-choice” plurality method and did not use RCV, there was more than five times as many overvotes in San Francisco and Oakland than in the RCV mayoral elections in those cities. Additionally, turnout had been significantly higher and more representative in RCV elections for the San Francisco Board of Supervisors races -- that McDaniel didn’t even bother to study -- as compared to previous “delayed two-round runoffs” for those offices, often higher by as much as 40% in the RCV races. Perhaps the most surprising irony was that an earlier study co-authored by McDaniel (Overvoting and the Equality of Voice under Instant-Runoff Voting in San Francisco by Francis Neely and Jason McDaniel, 2015, California Journal of Politics and Policy) found that overvotes are often more common in lower-income precincts, but that the pattern of overvoting is similar in both RCV and non-RCV contests. Wrote Neely and McDaniel: “[Overvote] errors appear to be a function of complexity in general and not IRV per se…. the pattern of overvoting is similar in both IRV and non-IRV contests…Even among votes cast in a top-of-the-ticket race like U.S. Senate, overvoting occurs in an uneven fashion” (IRV, or ‘instant runoff voting,’ is another name for ranked choice voting in single-winner contests). So McDaniel not only contradicted his own conclusion in his earlier study with Neely, but the earlier study had been an important corrective for one of the most frequently made mistakes made by anti-RCV political scientists – a continual failure to provide crucial context by pairing a comparative analysis of real world RCV elections with an analysis of real world plurality or other electoral methods. Unfortunately McDaniel’s earlier study does not get cited much by other researchers, and McDaniel did not even cite it in his own flawed study analyzed above. Incredibly, McDaniel cherrypicked McDaniel, even as his flawed study has been cited dozens of times. Despite being a textbook example of poor political “science,” featuring both inadequate as well as cherrypicked data, the shelf life of McDaniel’s study has been extended endlessly by other political scientists and media outlets who have cited it uncritically. Equally troubling, the Journal of Urban Affairs put this paper through its peer review process and published it despite its numerous flaws. McDaniel gets it wrong, Part II Not content with producing one shoddy, confused paper, McDaniel produced another one a few years later, here is the link: Electoral Rules and Voter Turnout in Mayoral Elections: An Analysis of Ranked-Choice Voting by Jason McDaniel. San Francisco State Univ. (McDaniel, 2019). In this paper, McDaniel extended his previous flawed research focused on San Francisco, about voter turnout and voter impact, to multiple RCV cities through the 2018 elections. In his data set he included San Francisco, Minneapolis, St Paul, Oakland, Berkeley, San Leandro and Santa Fe. He then compared their turnout in mayoral elections to non-RCV cities, and to mayoral elections in those cities held before first RCV usage, and concluded “a significant decrease in voter turnout of approximately 3–5 percentage points in RCV cities after the implementation of RCV.” But he replicated many of the same mistakes as his first study presented above. While in this study McDaniel attempted to distinguish between various factors, such as odd year vs. even year elections, competitive races vs. noncompetitive, contests with open seats and other factors, the analysis is superficial and inadequate. He attempts to incorporate so many often-conflicting variables that his conclusions are once again unsupported by the actual data, and ultimately unconvincing (this second study never underwent a peer review process). For example, McDaniel declared that for RCV cities “in elections that are more competitive than average (margin of victory less than 20%), there is no significant RCV effect on voter turnout.” Yet McDaniel is a professor in a city, San Francisco, in which the 2018 special election using RCV to fill a mayoral vacancy was exceedingly close, decided by a margin of only one percentage point, and resulted in the second highest turnout in San Francisco history for a mayoral election. Illustrating the complexity involved in assessing the critical factors in turnout, that special election was held on the same election day as federal and state offices, which tends to boost turnout. Yet more voters participated in that RCV mayoral election than voted on the same day in the non-RCV primary for governor in which former San Francisco mayor Gavin Newsom was running. Even more puzzling, in this study McDaniel inaccurately cited his own previous study from 2015 with Neely. McDaniel wrote, “Neely and McDaniel (2015) examine individual ballot image files within a natural experiment, and find higher rates of ballot errors in RCV elections compared to non-RCV elections” (emphasis added). However, we quoted from that 2015 study several paragraphs above, and in actual fact Neely and McDaniel actually concluded the opposite -- that the pattern of overvoting – which is the most common form of ballot error – is similar in both RCV and non-RCV contests. McDaniel also ignored the fact that in Bay Area RCV elections held in even years – at the same time as federal and state elections, when turnout is highest -- the “undervote” (that is, the dropoff in ballots cast for governor or mayor) has declined, which contradicts his thesis that the act of ranking ballots in RCV elections is too complex and presents a barrier for certain demographics of voters. To his credit, McDaniel actually acknowledged another contradiction in his own paper, which found a negative RCV turnout effect in some odd-year elections but not others, admitting that “may present a challenge to the theory that increased complexity [from RCV] will have a marginal negative effect on voter turnout.” But he tried to wallpaper over that contradiction by blaming it on an unlikely source -- bad election administration. McDaniels wrote, “This would suggest that the negative impact of RCV on voter participation may be alleviated by high quality election administration,” without presenting any data or even anecdotes to support such an unfounded theory. While competent election administration of any election, whether RCV or non-RCV, is crucially important, there is no credible research that supports the far-fetched notion that the quality of election administration has much of an impact on voter turnout in US elections, whether using RCV or otherwise. Upgrade to a $5 subscription The unvirtuous circle of academic research It is puzzling how McDaniel’s first study could have survived the peer review process for the Journal of Urban Affairs. The mistakes in McDaniel’s first study above should have been obvious to anyone with a basic understanding of ranked choice voting as well as elections in general, and elections in San Francisco specifically. It undermines faith in the credibility of the peer review process to think that a jury of peer political scientists did not catch the egregious errors and reject McDaniel’s sloppy research and paper. And it remains a black mark on political science that this thoroughly discredited study has been cited dozens of times by other researchers. Indeed, in our research paper it became apparent that many political scientists cite each other’s flawed research to pad their list of citations and to legitimize their own flawed research, creating an unvirtuous circle of political science. More broadly, McDaniel’s voter turnout studies, like other studies evaluating RCV’s impact on turnout, lacked a recognition that no credible opinion or research can claim that RCV increases voter turnout merely because so many voters are excited to vote for their favorite candidates instead of “lesser evil” candidates without worrying about spoilers. Instead, with respect to turnout, the advantage of RCV has always been that, in most places where it has been used, it has eliminated a pre-November primary or post-November runoff, which usually saw about half the turnout of the November general election. This is especially true during even years when there are state and federal elections on the ballot which substantially drive turnout more than local contests. Any study that does not adequately account for this non-November primary/runoff vs November general election dynamic, or odd year vs even year election factors, is simply not credible. Both of McDaniel’s studies largely failed on those grounds. Steven Hill and Paul Haughey Share Upgrade to a $5 subscription Thanks for reading DemocracySOS…your digital portal for the pro-democracy movement. Subscribe for only $5 per month to receive full benefits and to support our work. Subscribe
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