WASHINGTON (AP) — Donald Trump’s iron grip on the Republican Party has been clear since the day he announced he would make another run for the White House 14 months ago. It can be seen in the party’s ideological shift even further to the right on cultural issues and, especially, on immigration policy.

Iowa Republicans were a clear reflection of that on Monday night, delivering the former president an emphatic victory. They channeled his anger, and his view that basically everything President Joe Biden has done has been a “disaster.” About 9 in 10 voters said they want upheaval or substantial change in how the government operates, according to AP VoteCast, a survey of more than 1,500 voters who said they planned to take part in the caucuses.

As clear-cut as his win was, though, Iowa has not historically played the role of kingmaker in the Republican nominating process. New Hampshire’s voters don’t take their cues from Iowa.

Here are some key takeaways:

AN INCUMBENT CAMPAIGN

This was the least suspenseful Iowa caucus in the last 20 years because Trump has essentially been running as an incumbent. He’s convinced many Republicans he didn’t really lose the 2020 election to Biden, and has dominated the race the way someone still in office does.

He traveled sparingly to the state, holding a modest number of rallies. He spurned candidate debates. He chose to appear at court hearings as a defendant in his legal cases in New York and Washington rather than to campaign in Iowa.

The former president, who remains the party’s dominant favorite, clearly wants to move on to the general election as quickly as possible.

TWISTS AND TURNS AHEAD

Inevitable can be a dangerous word, especially in New Hampshire, which holds its primary in eight days.

New Hampshire has famously delivered upsets in both parties. Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley quipped that New Hampshire “corrects” Iowa. George W. Bush felt New Hampshire’s sting in 2000 when Senator John McCain defeated him. So did former vice president Walter Mondale when Senator Gary Hart of Colorado scored an upset in the Democratic race in 1984.

With its more moderate, highly educated electorate, New Hampshire presents Trump’s rivals with possibly their best opportunity to slow his march. Haley is hoping for a win there or at least a very strong showing, and after that comes a political lull — with the next major competitive race in South Carolina on Feb. 24.

But plenty can happen during that time. The U.S. Supreme Court on Feb. 8 is scheduled to hear arguments in a case challenging whether a constitutional clause banning those who “engaged in insurrection” from holding office applies to Trump. The high court may also weigh in on whether presidential immunity protects Trump from federal charges for trying to overturn his 2020 election loss.

The criminal trial in that case is scheduled to start on March 5 — Super Tuesday — when 14 states vote in the presidential nominating process. Trump’s strength among Republican voters is beyond dispute, but the road is long and could be bumpy.

IT’S NOT THE ECONOMY

Iowans had something on their minds, but it wasn’t jobs, taxes or business regulations.

About 4 in 10 caucusgoers said immigration was their top issue, compared to 1 in 3 picking the economy, according to VoteCast. Other priorities like foreign policy, energy and abortion ranked even lower.

Indeed, about two-thirds of caucusgoers said they felt their finances were holding steady or improving. But the voters still want major changes — 3 in 10 want a total upheaval of how the federal government runs while another 6 in 10 want substantial changes. As for the criminal charges against Trump, 6 in 10 caucusgoers don’t have confidence in the U.S. legal system.

It adds up to a portrait of a slice of the electorate eager to challenge core democratic institutions in the U.S.

DESANTIS DISMAL RETURN ON INVESTMENT

Flush with more than $100 million in cash and fresh off a blowout reelection victory, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis entered the 2024 Republican presidential contest projecting himself as the heir to a MAGA political brand that a diminished Trump could no longer effectively carry.

Reality soon intruded.

Eight months and tens of millions of dollars later, DeSantis appears to pose little threat to the former president.

Despite more than $55 million in pro-DeSantis advertising spending, the Florida governor was instead locked in a tight race for second place with Haley.

He has been dogged by negative stories about profligate spending, including DeSantis’ preference for flying private planes.

As the trope goes, candidates don’t drop out of political races because they lose — they drop out because they run out of money.

THE EDUCATION DIVIDE

More than half of Haley’s voters had at least a college degree and roughly half of DeSantis’ did, according to VoteCast. But only about 2 in 10 of Trump’s did.

Education has been a major dividing line among white voters during the Trump era. Iowa confirms what polling has indicated during the primary — that the education divide is also splitting the GOP.

That hints at a possible weakness for Trump in November, should he be the nominee. A greater share of the voting public has at least a bachelor’s degree now than in 2016, and that share rises every year as degrees become more popular.

Another indication of vulnerability for Trump came in the suburbs, which tend to have the highest levels of education. Only about 4 in 10 caucusgoers there supported him. The suburbs were pivotal in Biden’s 2020 victory over Trump.

RAMASWAMY PUNCHED HIMSELF OUT

Abrasive, often grating and very online — Vivek Ramaswamy’s quixotic bid for the White House has come across as a millennial distillation of Trump’s MAGA movement.

Ramaswamy rapped along to verses of Eminem, delighted in trolling his rivals and often sought to out-Trump Trump with his rhetoric. That performative aspect helped the wealthy 38-year-old entrepreneur gain considerable attention in the early days of the campaign.

But it also proved to wear thin, perhaps summed up best when former New Jersey governor Chris Christie called him the “most obnoxious blowhard in America” during a debate.

As returns from Iowa’s caucus posted, Ramaswamy trailed not only Trump, but also Haley and DeSantis. He was struggling to reach double digits.

The post Trump leads GOP rightward march and other takeaways from the Iowa caucuses appeared first on East Idaho News.

New York (CNN) — The trip to the grocery store is getting easier on the wallet.

Food at home prices rose a modest 1.3% for the year ended in December, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ latest Consumer Price Index report, released Thursday.

That’s the lowest annual increase registered since June 2021 and a far cry from the 11.8% increase registered in December 2022.

Overall food prices were up 0.2% on a monthly basis, matching the rate of increase seen in November, CPI data shows. For the year, food prices are up 2.7%, remaining below the overall inflation rate of 3.4%.

Driving that increase is the food away from home category (meals and snacks at restaurants, vending machines and other venues), which is up 5.2% annually.

“Food away from home’s increase is down from March’s multidecade peak of 8.8%, but still faster than any time between 1983 and 2020,” Bill Adams, chief economist for Comerica Bank, wrote Thursday. “Wages for lower-paid occupations like restaurant jobs are growing faster than the US average, creating price pressures that restaurants are passing on in higher prices.”

He added: “But the big picture is that the economic dislocations caused by the pandemic are fading, economic growth is settling into a more normal pace, and labor shortages are much less of an issue, helping bring inflation back to normal.”

Where prices went higher

If the lure of a fox, a box, a mouse and a house were not enough to encourage Sam-I-Am to chow down on some green eggs and ham, Thursday’s inflation data surely won’t help matters either.

Eggs and ham prices went up the most in December as compared to other food categories tracked in the CPI.

Prices of eggs (the standard, non-green-yolked variety) shot up 8.9% from November, marking the highest monthly increase since January of last year as bird flu has once again struck the industry. For now, economists believe this latest avian flu won’t be as severe as the one in 2022 that devastated flocks and sent egg prices sky-high (at one point rising 70% year over year).

For the 12 months that ended in December, egg prices are down 23.8%.

Also in December, those Christmas hams saw some inflation as well. Ham prices rose 2.6% for the month (2.9% excluding canned ham), BLS data showed.

Fats, oils and peanut butter products saw a similar increase of 2.6% in December, while raw beef steak prices picked up 2.4%.

On an annual basis, the highest price hikes continue to be in the categories of frozen noncarbonated juice and raw beef steaks, which are up 19.1% and 11.2%, respectively.

The tubes of frosty juice have shot up in price because of bad weather (hurricanes, in particular) and a devastating citrus disease. And recent bouts of extreme drought in the United States have resulted in a reduction of cattle herds, constricting beef supply.

Crackers (+7.7%), baby food (+7.3%) and sugar (+6.9%) also are seeing some of the highest gains from a year ago.

“I think people are particularly annoyed when they do things like go to the grocery store and see high prices,” Wendy Edelberg, direct of The Hamilton Project and senior fellow in economic studies at Brookings, told CNN. “But so many of these prices that we see day in and day out, these prices have the potential to just outright fall.”

Where prices are falling

Some products are getting easier on the wallet and at a good time for those fresh New Year’s resolutions: Notably, lettuce, which was down 4% from November and 16.7% from the year before.

Potatoes are getting cheaper as well, dropping 2.8% from November and declining annually at the same rate.

Aside from eggs and lettuce, the categories seeing the largest annual price declines as of December are tomatoes (-7.2%), apples (-5.9%), and fresh vegetables overall (-4.8%).

Other annual declines were seen across the dairy aisle, including cheese, butter and milk, which were down 3.3%, 2.9% and 1.8%, respectively.

The post What’s getting more expensive — and cheaper — at the grocery store appeared first on East Idaho News.

(CNN) — The Victorian dress in the Maine antique mall was unlike anything Sara Rivers Cofield had seen before.

Its fitted bodice, puffy bustle and lace cuffs reflected a bygone era. As a vintage costume collector, Rivers Cofield recognized it as a dress from the 1880s — but despite its age, its delicate embroidery, bronze silk and metallic buttons appeared intact.

She haggled the price down to $100 from $125 as she wondered where she’d store the two-piece garment. The price was higher than she usually pays as an archaeologist who collects antique costumes and purses for fun. But it was the holiday season, so she splurged.

Rivers Cofield had no idea that the dress she bought in December 2013 would unravel a mystery a decade later. Inside a secret pocket tucked under the bustle were two crumpled sheets of paper with lists of seemingly random words and places:

Bismark, omit, leafage, buck, bank

Calgary, Cuba, unguard, confute, duck, Fagan

Notes on the margin of the papers appeared to depict time. A tag stitched into the dress had a handwritten name: Bennett.

Rivers Cofield was baffled, she told CNN. The words were cryptic. What did they mean, and why did Bennett need a “super secret hidey-hole,” in Rivers Cofield’s words, to stash them? The buttons alone portrayed a forlorn Ophelia from Shakespeare’s “Hamlet,” and were worth more than she’d paid for the dress, she said.

In February 2014, she posted a blog about the dress, which she’d nicknamed Bennett’s Bronze Bustle. “What the…?,” she wrote. “I’m putting it up here in case there’s some decoding prodigy out there looking for a project.” She included photos of the dress and the papers.

Online sleuths took up the case – but without success

Rivers Cofield, an archeological curator who lives in Chesapeake Beach, Maryland, had bought the dress while visiting her mother in Searsport, Maine. She didn’t think much about it after her blog post.

But unbeknownst to her, curious amateur sleuths were working to solve the mystery. They dubbed it the “silk dress cryptogram” and floated conspiracy theories about the words. Some speculated that Bennett was a spy using coded words to communicate.

In 2017, one blogger added the note to his list of the Top 50 unsolved encrypted messages and floated more theories. Was it a cryptic love note? Dress measurements? Civil War codes?

Rivers Cofield quickly dismissed any interpretation linked to the Civil War. She has studied 1880s catalogues from department store chain Bloomingdale’s, and had no doubt the dress was from that era. By then, the war had been over for about 20 years.

Others speculated it was a form of communication related to the telegraph, a new way of sending quick notes launched in the United States in the 1800s, which charged senders a fee based on the number of words in a message.

“I had kind of abandoned the blog at that point,” Rivers Cofield said.

“Every once in a while I would see that a comment was posted or that some other codebreaker would email me and be like, ‘Hey, I’m still interested in this,’ but nobody ever solved it.”

But then a Canadian researcher cracked the code

Wayne Chan, a researcher at the University of Manitoba in Canada, stumbled across the code online in summer 2018. He told CNN he looked at 170 code books and none of them matched the message.

“I worked on it for a few months, but didn’t get anywhere with it. I set it aside and didn’t look at it again.” Chan said.

Chan, who solves codes as a hobby, then began researching the telegraph era, including the weather codes used in North America at the time. And early last year, he had a breakthrough.

He discovered the coded messages were in fact, a weather report. And they were not encrypted for secrecy but because the code allowed forecasters to shorten detailed weather reports into a few words, Chan said.

In the era of the telegraph, such shorthand was cheaper than sending a big batch of words and temperature readings. Each word represented meteorological variables such as temperature, wind speed and barometric pressure at a specific location and time of day.

For example, the line “Bismark Omit leafage buck bank” contains surprisingly specific details. “Bismark” meant it was recorded at Bismarck station in what is now North Dakota. “Omit” meant the air temperature was 56 degrees and the barometric pressure was 0.08 inches of mercury. “Leafage” referred to a dew point of 32 degrees Fahrenheit observed at 10 p.m. “Buck” indicated there was no precipitation, while “bank” meant a wind velocity of 12 mph and a clear sunset.

All weather stations were required to send their reports by telegraph to a central office in Washington, DC, Chan said.

Chan discovered that the encoded messages used a 19th-century telegraphic weather code used by the Army Corps, which was the national weather service for the US during the late 1800s. For example, a phrase like the “The crew are all drunk” would be shortened with a codeword such as “crimping,” he noted

“This particular code was not meant for secrecy at all. Telegraphic codes were used for two main reasons: secrecy and economy,” Chan told CNN. “The weather code was for the latter. Because you were charged by the word in a telegram, they wanted to shorten or compress a weather report into as few words as possible to save on costs.”

Chan said he’s not sure how the words were picked. There was a weather codebook that meteorologists consulted to understand the meaning behind unfamiliar words. And with time, they learned the codewords without the need to consult the codebook, he said.

“The words were arranged so that particular consonant-vowel pairs represented specific numerical values,” Chan said. “It was really a very complex code, even though the intent was not for secrecy.”

He was able to pinpoint the weather report’s exact day

Chan wrote an academic paper explaining the topic. He also emailed Rivers Cofield, who did not know that online sleuths were still working to decipher the codes.

Rivers Cofield said she was stunned by the revelation, but not surprised.

“I’m an archaeologist for a living, so I do a lot of research into the past,” she said. “I’ve long since come to terms with the fact that not every artifact or every document is going to reveal all of its secrets.”

As part of Chan’s research, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration provided old weather maps that helped him determine the precise date of the weather observations in the coded note: May 27, 1888.

Rivers Cofield said one of the biggest takeaways from the discovery has been realizing that people had no immediate way of knowing what weather was coming in the 1880s.

“It never occurred to me that the telegram would have been what unlocks that for people. … Because (now) we’re all so used to our weather apps,” she said.

It’s still unclear who Bennett was and why she had weather codes stashed in a secret pocket.

But for now, Chan and Rivers Cofield are just glad they’ve unraveled the biggest piece of the dress’s mystery.

The post A woman bought a vintage dress at an antique store. It had a secret pocket with a mysterious note appeared first on East Idaho News.

IOWA — With just one day to go until Iowa’s presidential caucuses, the candidates are urging their supporters to brave bone-chilling cold and blustery wind to help carry them through Republicans’ leadoff voting contest.

The final Des Moines Register/NBC News poll before Monday night’s caucuses found former President Donald Trump maintaining a formidable lead, supported by nearly half of likely caucusgoers. Nikki Haley, the former U.N. ambassador and South Carolina governor, and Ron DeSantis, the Florida governor, remain locked in a close battle for second.

Trump, Haley and DeSantis are fanning out across Iowa on Sunday to meet with voters. Already, Haley was forced to cancel an in-person stop because of poor weather conditions.

Haley skips in-person campaign stop over weather

Haley’s campaign stop in Dubuque was canceled Sunday morning because of poor travel conditions, the campaign said about an hour before the scheduled event.

Voters walking into the venue were given the news by campaign staffers, who offered some a T-shirt, hat or yard sign as consolation.

John Schmid, 69, was already waiting at the venue when the event was called off.

“I don’t blame her,” said the retiree from Asbury, a few miles outside Dubuque. He’s already a Haley supporter, but he wanted to see the “refreshing” candidate in person. He hopes Haley will do well in Monday’s caucuses, which he’ll be at despite the bitter cold.

“It’s just part of living in Iowa in January,” he said.

Haley swapped the in-person event with a virtual town hall.

Couple heads to DeSantis event after Haley’s stop canceled

Judy and Brad Knowler drove a few miles from Peosta to hear Haley in Dubuque. A couple of hours later, after Haley’s in-person stop was canceled, they found themselves down the road at an event for DeSantis.

Brad, 67, is sure he’ll support Haley in Monday’s caucuses, but Judy, 64, was hoping to hear her in person to “give me a little bit more confidence.” From debates and negative political ads, she said, “it’s really hard to see the real person.”

“I have one foot in Nikki’s camp, but we’ll see,” she said as she waited for DeSantis to take the stage. “It’s an opportunity most Americans don’t get to be this close in person.”

Trump says Iowa win would be a victory over the ‘liars, cheaters’

Trump sounded a message of vengeance at his only Iowa rally this weekend.

“These caucuses are your personal chance to score the ultimate victory over all of the liars, cheaters, thugs, perverts, frauds, crooks, freaks, creeps and other quite nice people,” he said at a commit-to-caucus event in Indianola.

“The Washington swamp has done everything in its power to take away your voice,” Trump added. “But tomorrow is your time to turn on them and to say and speak your mind and to vote. And we’re going to take this country back.”

‘Walk on glass’ for Trump? These supporters would

INDIANOLA — Marc Smiarowski hunched to fight off the minus 18-degree chill outside the Kent Student Center on Simpson College campus Sunday morning, waiting for doors to open for former President Donald Trump’s midday rally at the small school south of Des Moines.

But as the weak winter sun hung low in the sky, a sense of bitterness burned in Smiarowski.

“I’m here in part out of spite,” said the 44-year-old public utility worker, who drove 40 miles to be there. “I can’t abandon him. After what they did to him in the last election, and the political persecution he faces, I feel like I owe him this. He’s our only option.”

“No one else could handle what he’s facing,” added his friend Kailie Johnson, a 26-year-old dental hygienist from the same small town of Huneston.

More than 30 minutes before the center opened, more than 100 people stood in line while layered in Carhartt coveralls with hats and hoods pulled down tight. It was a test run for Iowa’s caucuses Monday and of the devotion Trump said last week would make his supporters “walk on glass” for him.

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SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea fired a suspected intermediate-range ballistic missile into the sea on Sunday, South Korea’s military said, two months after the North claimed to have tested engines for a new harder-to-detect missile capable of striking distant U.S. targets in the region.

The launch was the North’s first this year. Experts say North Korea could ramp up its provocative missile tests as a way to influence the results of South Korea’s parliamentary elections in April and the U.S. presidential election in November.

South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement that it detected the launch of a ballistic missile of an intermediate-range class from the North’s capital region on Sunday afternoon. It said the missile flew about 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) before landing in the waters between the Korean Peninsula and Japan.

The Joint Chiefs of Staff called the launch a provocation that poses a serious threat to peace on the Korean Peninsula. It said South Korea’s military will maintain its readiness to overwhelmingly respond to any provocations by North Korea.

The South Korean assessment suggests North Korea could have launched a new intermediate-range ballistic missile, whose solid-fuel engine the North said it had tested in mid-November.

The missile is mainly designed to hit U.S. military bases in the U.S. Pacific territory of Guam, which is about 3,400 kilometers (2,110 miles) from Pyongyang, the North’s capital. With a range adjustment, the missile can also be used to attack closer targets — the U.S. military installations in Japan’s Okinawa island, according to Chang Young-keun, a missile expert at the Korea Research Institute for National Strategy in Seoul.

Built-in solid propellants make missile launches harder to detect than liquid-fueled missiles, which must be fueled before launch and cannot last long. North Korea has a growing arsenal of solid-fuel short-range missiles targeting South Korea, but its existing Hwasong-12 intermediate-range missile is powered by liquid-fuel engines.

Japan’s Defense Ministry said its analysis showed the missile traveled at least 500 kilometers (300 miles) at the maximum altitude of 50 kilometers (30 miles), data that suggest North Korea may have fired a short-range and not an intermediate-range missile.

Japan and South Korea said they closely exchanged information about the launch with the United States, but they didn’t immediately explain the discrepancy in data.

In a trilateral call later Sunday, senior diplomats from South Korea, the U.S. and Japan condemned the North Korean launch and stressed that a North Korean provocation would lead to the three countries strengthening their security cooperation, according to South Korea’s Foreign Ministry.

The last time North Korea performed a missile launch was Dec. 18, when it test-fired its Hwasong-18 solid-fueled intercontinental ballistic missile, the North’s most advanced weapon. The Hwasong-18 is the country’s only known solid-fuel ICBM and it’s designed to strike the mainland U.S.

On Jan. 5, North Korea fired a barrage of artillery shells near the disputed western sea boundary with South Korea, prompting South Korea to conduct similar firing exercises in the same area. The site is where the navies of the two Koreas have fought three bloody sea battles since 1999, and attacks blamed on North Korea killed 50 South Koreans in 2010.

In recent days, North Korea has also been escalating its warlike, inflammatory rhetoric against its foes ahead of an election year in South Korea and the U.S. Last week, leader Kim Jong Un called South Korea “our principal enemy” and threatened to annihilate it if provoked.

Experts say Kim likely wants to see South Korean liberals win the election in a blow to conservative President Yoon Suk Yeol, who has taken a hard line on the North. They say Kim also wants former U.S. President Donald Trump to be elected again because he may believe he could win U.S. concessions if Trump returns to the White House.

Kim has been pushing hard to enlarge his nuclear and missile arsenals since his high-stakes diplomacy with Trump broke down in 2019. In recent months, North Korea has also been expanding its military and other cooperation with Russia.

The U.S. government said it has evidence that missiles provided by North Korea to Russia had been used in the war in Ukraine. In a joint statement last week, the U.S., South Korea and their partners said the missile transfer supports Russia’s war of aggression and provides North Korea with valuable technical and military insights.

North Korea and Russia announced Sunday that North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui will visit Russia from Monday to Wednesday at the invitation of her Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov.

“Pyongyang’s show of force should be of concern beyond Seoul, as its military cooperation with Moscow adds to the violence in Ukraine, and because it may be more willing to challenge the U.S. and its allies while global attention is fixed on the Middle East,” said Leif-Eric Easley, a professor at Ewha University in Seoul.

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(CNN) — For the third year in a row, a record number of airline passengers’ guns were intercepted by airport security officers before those weapons could make it aboard a flight.

Airport security officers prevented passengers from carrying more than 6,700 prohibited guns onto airplanes in 2023, according to the Transportation Security Administration.

The TSA said 93% of the 6,737 firearms found by its security officers at checkpoints were loaded.

The previous record for intercepted firearms at airports was set in 2022, with 6,542 firearms stopped at checkpoints, a number that surpassed the previous record in 2021.

Last year, TSA screened more than 858 million people, which indicates the agency intercepted 7.8 firearms per million passengers – a drop from 8.6 per million passengers in 2022, the agency said.

“We are still seeing far too many firearms at TSA checkpoints, and what’s particularly concerning is the amount of them loaded, presenting an unnecessary risk to everyone at the TSA checkpoint,” TSA Administrator David Pekoske said Wednesday in a news release.

“Firearms and ammunition are strictly prohibited in carry-on baggage. Passengers are only allowed to travel with an unloaded firearm, and only if they pack it properly in a locked, hard-sided case in their checked baggage and first declare it to the airline at the check-in counter.”

When a firearm is detected at a security checkpoint, officers immediately contact local law enforcement, who remove the passenger and the firearm from the checkpoint area, the TSA said. Depending on local laws, a law enforcement officer could arrest or cite the passenger. TSA does not confiscate firearms.

TSA warns passengers who bring a gun to a checkpoint face a fine of up to $15,000, ineligibility for the PreCheck expedited screening program and potential criminal charges.

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(CNN) — Marijuana has a lower potential for abuse than other drugs that are subjected to the same restrictions, with scientific support for its use as a medical treatment, researchers from the US Food and Drug Administration say in documents supporting its reclassification as a Schedule III substance.

Marijuana is currently classified as Schedule I, reserved for the most dangerous controlled substances, including heroin and LSD.

In 2022, President Joe Biden asked U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra and the attorney general to begin the administrative process of reviewing how marijuana is scheduled under federal law. HHS Assistant Secretary for Health Adm. Rachel Levine wrote a letter to the Drug Enforcement Administration in August in which she supported the reclassification to Schedule III, a list that includes “drugs with a moderate to low potential for physical and psychological dependence” such as ketamine, testosterone and Tylenol with codeine.

The FDA documents, which are posted online, “reflect HHS’ evaluation of the scientific and medical evidence and its scheduling recommendation” to the Department of Justice, HHS said Friday.

The members of the FDA’s Controlled Substance Staff write in the documents that the agency recommends rescheduling marijuana because it meets three criteria: a lower potential for abuse than other substances on Schedules I and II, a currently accepted medical use in treatment in the US and a risk of low or moderate physical dependence in people who abuse it. The National Institute on Drug Abuse concurs with the recommendation.

Although marijuana has a “high prevalence of nonmedical use” in the US, it doesn’t seem to elicit serious outcomes compared with drugs such as heroin, oxycodone and cocaine, the researchers say. “This is especially notable given the availability” of products that contain very high levels of Delta 9 tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the primary active compound in cannabis.

The data also provides “some credible level of scientific support for some of the therapeutic uses for which marijuana is being used in clinical practice in the United States,” namely anorexia, pain, and nausea and vomiting from chemotherapy, the researchers say. However, they note that their analysis and conclusions “are not meant to imply that safety and effectiveness have been established for marijuana” that would support its approval for any particular health condition.

Finally, the researchers point out that marijuana withdrawal has been reported in heavy, chronic users – with symptoms that peak within days and decline over a week or two – but not in occasional users.

“The marijuana withdrawal syndrome appears to be relatively mild compared to the withdrawal syndrome associated with alcohol, which can include more serious symptoms such as agitation, paranoia, seizures and even death,” they write. Rather, marijuana withdrawal symptoms are similar to those of withdrawal from chronic use of Marinol and Syndros, two FDA-approved drug products that use synthetic THC, and the magnitude and timeline of marijuana withdrawal are similar to that of tobacco.

Rescheduling marijuana could open up more avenues for research, allow cannabis businesses to bank more freely and openly, and have firms no longer subject to a 40-year-old tax code that disallows credits and deductions from income generated by sales of Schedule I and II substances.

Twenty-four states, two territories and DC have legalized cannabis for adult recreational use, and 38 states allow medical use of cannabis products, according to data from the National Conference of State Legislatures. Since the first adult-use cannabis sale took place in 2014 in Colorado, cannabis has blossomed into a multibillion-dollar industry that has attracted the attention of multinational companies across sectors such as alcohol, agriculture, pharmaceutical and tobacco.

The DEA will have the final authority to make any changes to marijuana’s scheduling, and it will go through a rulemaking process that includes a period for the public to provide comments before any scheduling action is finalized.

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LAS VEGAS, Nevada (CNN) — Tech companies showed quirky gadgets and new innovations at the Consumer Electronics show in Las Vegas this week, from AI-powered pillows that can reduce snoring and mirrors that can detect your mood to transparent televisions and car mirrors that track your eyes.

Although the event, which is the largest consumer tech conference of the year, is known for robots roaming the show floor, splashy presentations and oddball products, it’s also a hotbed for dealmaking among executives, manufacturers and retailers across various industries.

In addition, CES can set the stage for some of the biggest tech trends of the year and shine a spotlight on how companies intend to be part of those conversations.

Here’s a look at some of the buzziest products announced this week:

AI companions

AI companions are one of the biggest trends to emerge from the show this year. Loona — a $380 dog-like companion robot — has generated buzz for being the world’s first robot with built-in ChatGPT technology, allowing users to have conversations and interact with the device.

People can play games with it, give it commands or use it as a moveable home monitor.

At the same time, LG’s two-legged companion robot Rosie is more like an AI assistant, with the ability to help out with chores around the house, by integrating with LG appliances and reminding people to take their medication.

Samsung’s buzzy Ballie robot, which was first shown off at CES in 2020, received a refresh. The device can follow users around the house to take phone calls, feed pets and project movies and video calls onto the floor or walls.

Meanwhile, startup Rabbit’s $199 R1 AI pocket-sized companion looks and acts differently from the rest: The walkie talkie-like gadget works alongside smartphone apps. By holding down a button, you can ask it to provide recipes, book flights and make calls.

Dipanjan Chatterjee, an analyst at Forrester Research, said while the simplicity of Rabbit’s gadget is reflective of the type of products that often gets a lot of attention at tech trade shows, it may be a challenge for it to resonate in everyday life.

“The idea of a natural language-driven single interface to manage life’s complexities is as endearing as it is impractical,” he said. “Getting consumers to carry one more device with yet another data plan is a big ask.”

AI task robots

Beyond companions, AI has made its way into nearly every appliance and gadget you could think of this year. There are robots that mow the lawn and plow the snow, and others such as Samsung’s latest lineup of AI-powered mops and vacuums that handle the indoor cleaning.

AI has found its way into unlikely devices, too: Baracoda’s mental health mirror identifies your mood and gives daily affirmations to make you feel better. And the hyped Holobox allows people to talk to others in different parts of the world via an actual hologram, giving the impression you’re right there in the same room.

Apple accessories are getting AI, too. Belkin’s new Qi2 & DockKit Auto Tracking Stand is the first gadget to use Apple’s new DockKit framework, using the iPhone’s facial recognition technology to follow faces and body movements while filming videos (consider it a dream for TikTok influencers).

Generative AI hits more services

Beyond gadgets, companies shared their vision for an AI-powered future. Walmart said it is experimenting with a generative AI search tool for iOS users that will let them ask questions about what items to buy for certain occasions.

Amazon gave updates on how some of its developers are integrating generative AI with their voice assistant, Alexa, including how users can now have conversations with different personas, including historical figures, via chatbot service Character.ai.

Chipmakers Nvidia and AMD also showed off new processors that focus on supporting advanced AI capabilities.

But perhaps some of the most impressive AI announcements came from automakers. Volkwagen said it will be adding ChatGPT to its lineup of cars later this year.

“This can be helpful on many levels during a car journey. Enriching conversations, clearing up questions, interacting in intuitive language, receiving vehicle-specific information, and much more – purely hands-free,” the company said in a press release.

Mercedes Benz announced plans to upgrade their in-car voice experience using generative AI, too.

“Voice tech has struggled not because the idea was bad but because the capabilities were sorely lacking,” said Chatterjee. “Generative AI changes all of that. A no-brainer application for voice tech is in cars because there couldn’t be a worse occasion for using your hands for anything else but driving.”

More auto upgrades

CES offered more car innovation than most auto shows these days. More than ever, it’s become a place for car companies wanting to be seen as tech leaders, not just car companies.

Honda announced a new line of electric vehicles relying on thinner battery packs than most of the ones used today. Vietnamese automaker VinFast, which had some stumbles entering the US market, unveiled a small electric pickup and a really, really small electric SUV. It’s hard to imagine but the VinFast VF 3 four-seat SUV is much more compact bumper to bumper than the new Fiat 500.

VinFast also revealed new technology that can automatically adjust your car’s rear view mirrors as soon as you sit down. No more fiddling with that little knob.

Transparent TVs

It wouldn’t be CES without some big, super flashy TV innovations. This year, Samsung wowed onlookers with the world’s first transparent MicroLED screen, which looks much like a floating sheet of glass.

LG also showed off its new OLED Signature T model, a 77-inch transparent display. LG was one of the first leaders in transparent TVs; one of its earlier prototypes impressed the show floor back in 2020.

“There’s always something related to TVs that adds buzz to the show, and this year it’s transparent models,” said Jon Erensen, an analyst with market research firm Gartner. ”We will see how expensive they are and how they are used. It’s very neat technology but the question is how practical it is for the everyday consumer, and whether it will be adopted around the house or more novel uses for it outside of the home.”

Health devices and wearables get smarter

Health, beauty and wearable tech have long been part of the CES conversation, and this year is no exception.

Withing’s BeamO device, which is small enough to fit in a pocket, is an at-home checkup tool featuring a stethoscope, an oximeter, an ECG and a thermometer.

It allows people to access vital signs while on the go and share with doctors in real-time during telehealth appointments. Meanwhile, a new pillow adjusts the positioning of a sleeper’s head if small movements indicate they could be snoring.

For the hearing impaired, EssilorLuxottica showed off a prototype of its Nuance Audio eyeglasses that also feature built-in hearing aids. In a press release, CEO Francesco Milleri called hearing solutions an “unpenetrated market” with the device’s potential to “improve quality of life for over a billion people.”

Another accessibility item, the Palmplug gloves, is packed with sensors for gamers but can also be used to track hand movements and better enable physical therapy for certain users such as stroke patients.

Traditional health trackers are changing, too. Evie, a health monitoring ring, looks more like jewelry than similar devices on the market; it tracks sleep, steps and provides an overall picture of health and recovery. An AI-powered collar called Minitailz tracks the whereabouts of dogs and cats but also monitors their vitals in real time, flagging owners to any potential health issues.

The Apple impact

While Apple was noticeably absent once again at CES, it made headlines this week by announcing its Vision Pro mixed reality headset will be available for purchase in the United States starting on February 2.

“It’s not unusual for Apple to capture headlines even though they don’t attend CES,” said Jitesh Ubrani, an analyst at market research firm IDC. “The imminent arrival of the Vison Pro is likely to have a positive impact on the entire industry as Apple brings awareness like no other.”

For example, Sony teased a mixed reality headset that can be controlled with a smart ring, and Qualcomm unveiled a new Snapdragon chipset for virtual reality headsets.

“[The Vision Pro news] puts a bit of pressure on companies peddling their wares to ensure that they put their best foot forward as everyone in the AR/VR industry is likely going to be compared to Apple,” Ubrani said.

The post From transparent TVs to ChatGPT-powered companions, here’s some of the buzziest tech of CES 2024 appeared first on East Idaho News.

WASHINGTON (AP) — House Speaker Mike Johnson insisted Friday he is sticking with the bipartisan spending deal he struck with the other congressional leaders, but offered no clear path for overcoming hard-right opposition within his own party to prevent a partial government shutdown next week.

Johnson emerged from days of testy meetings behind closed doors at the Capitol to read a terse statement. Just months on the job, the new speaker is trying to set the record straight that he will not renege on the budget deal he made earlier this week. But in his first big test as the new leader, he has yet to show how he will quell the revolt from his right flank that ousted his predecessor.

“Our top-line agreement remains,” Johnson, R-La., said, referring to the budget accord reached Jan. 7.

“We are getting our next steps together, and we are working toward a robust appropriations process,” he said. “So stay tuned for all that.”

It’s the same intractable political dilemma that led a core group of right-flank Republicans to boot Rep. Kevin McCarthy from the speaker’s office last year as they revolted against the deal he struck with the other congressional leaders and that President Joe Biden signed into law.

Lawmakers during the first work week of the new year are furious that, after spending much of 2023 watching hard-right Republicans fight the leaders, they are quickly careening toward another crisis with just a week to go before the Jan. 19 deadline to fund parts of the government or risk a shutdown yet again.

As some Republicans from the Freedom Caucus again raise the threat of a motion to oust the speaker over the deal, other Republicans are furious they are starting 2024 with the same problems of governing.

In the morning before Johnson made his statement, he met with about two dozen House Republicans, more of them centrist-leaning voices, urging him not to go back on his word and stick with the deal.

The centrists assured Johnson they have his back.

“I just can’t imagine the House wants to relive the madness,” said Rep. French Hill, R-Ark., who had helped McCarthy negotiate the initial agreement with Biden and the other leaders.

“We’re here to bolster him up,” said Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb.

“This concept of trying to break a deal that was negotiated, it’s a foreign concept,” said Republican Rep. Mario Díaz-Balart, R-Fla. “What you would be asking is for the speaker to basically break his word and lie. That’s just something you can’t ask him to do.”

Since Congress resumed from the holiday break, Johnson has been holed up in his office at the Capitol receiving a steady stream of Republican lawmakers trying to force his hand.

Just two days into the workweek, the House hit a crisis Wednesday when hard-right Republicans forced the chamber to a standstill. They voted against a routine procedural rules package as a way to demand the speaker’s attention.

On the House floor, Johnson has been seen several times surrounded by Freedom Caucus Chairman Bob Good, R-Va., Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, and others, some in animated finger-pointed discussions with him.

They are pressing Johnson to refuse the deal, with its $1.66 trillion in spending for the year, and to instead consider a temporary measure that would keep the government open but force 1% across-the-board cuts that are required to kick in if the broader package falls apart.

The hard-right flank is also insisting that new immigration policies be included, which they say would stop the record flow of migrants at the U.S-Mexico border.

Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., said in floor remarks that Republicans should “shut the government down until you shut the border down.”

But by Friday it was more centrist lawmakers making their way to Johnson’s office, many of them who serve on the appropriations panels writing the spending bills, urging him to hold firm to the deal he struck.

Some have suggested that Johnson should consider trying to pass a temporary measure that would fund the government for several more weeks, into March.

Biden signed the spending framework into law as part of a deal he struck last spring with McCarthy. It was agreed to by the other congressional leaders from both parties and approved by the House and Senate as part of an effort to raise the nation’s debt limit to avert a federal default.

In the time since, congressional leaders have been working to devise the top-line spending numbers. McCarthy could never deliver on the final numbers before he was ousted after reaching across the aisle to pass a temporary measure in September and prevent a shutdown at that time.

Johnson and the other leaders Democrats and Republicans in the House and Senate picked up where they left off and reached a top-line deal at the start of the year that the speaker is now trying to have approved.

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NEW YORK (CNN) — Winter weather, combined with the grounding of Boeing 737 Max 9 aircraft, is causing major disruptions for air travel.

There have been more than more than 2000 flight cancellations Friday, the highest number since July 2023, data from the tracking site FlightAware show.

Only a handful of days in all of 2023 had more cancellations than Friday’s total. Last year, there were only three days when more than 2000 flights were cancelled, FlightAware data show, making today the fourth worst day for flight cancellations in the last 12 months. It is the most flights cancelled since June 2023.

Most of the cancellations are due to a winter storm that is pounding the Midwest. Chicago’s two major airports are seeing the bulk of the cancellations, with nearly 40% of departing flights at O’Hare, and more than 60% of departing flights at Midway are cancelled, according to FlightAware.

O’Hare airport posted on social media that more than 650 flights have been “proactively canceled” by the airlines. Denver and Milwaukee flights are also being hard hit by the storm. Nearly 40% of Milwaukee’s flights are also cancelled.

Cancellations due to the grounding of the 737 Max 9 planes are also contributing to the totals. More than 200 United and Alaska Airlines flights have been cancelled each day this week due to the FAA-mandated grounding. The FAA and Boeing are still trying to settle on an inspection protocol that would allow those planes to resume flying.

FlightAware shows Southwest, which doesn’t fly the 737 Max 9, cancelling nearly 400 flights, the most of any airline.

737 Max 9 delays

Passengers on Alaska Airlines and United Airlines have been marred by hundreds of flight cancellations this week.

The Federal Aviation Administration grounded more than 150 Boeing 737 Max 9 aircraft after a piece of the fuselage blew off an Alaska Airlines flight last Friday. It left a gaping hole in the side of the plane and ripped headrests off seats as the plane flew at 16,000 feet shortly after taking off from Portland, Oregon, carrying 177 people.

Alaska on Friday confirmed to CNN that within 24 hours of the flight, it offered $1,500 cash and access to mental health resources for passengers of Flight 1282.

The troubles are still ongoing for the airlines, which are the two largest US carriers that use the Boeing 737 Max 9 aircraft. On Friday, United canceled 10% of its operations and Alaska Airlines canceled 21%, according FlightAware data.

United Airlines also announced on Friday that the airline extended its cancellation of Boeing 737 Max 9 flights through January 16.

“By cancelling this far in advance, we’re trying to create more certainty for our customers and more flexibility for our frontline teams to do their work,” the airline said in a statement, “Those things will be especially important as we also manage disruptive winter weather throughout much of the country.”

Alaska Airlines said in a statement Wednesday that it canceled all flights on 737-9 MAX aircraft through Saturday, January 13 – about 110-150 flights per day.

Both Alaska and United Airlines say they found loose hardware or bolts in the assembly of door plugs – the part of the plane that flew off last week’s Alaska flight – on their Boeing 737 Max 9s.

The FAA has grounded affected Max 9s for inspection for days, and neither airline has has hinted that flights on those planes will resume soon.

Max 9s Grounded

On Saturday, the FAA ordered the grounding of 171 Boeing 737 Max 9 aircraft that have “a mid-cabin door plug installed.” It’s the model of the Boeing plane involved in the Alaska Airlines blowout incident.

The FAA said the planes must be parked until emergency inspections are performed, which will “take around four to eight hours per aircraft.”

The planes remain grounded pending details on FAA-mandated inspections. The FAA is still reviewing guidance on the inspections from Boeing.

As of Wednesday, Alaska’s latest update said that the airline is still waiting for documentation from Boeing and the FAA to begin inspection of its 737-9 MAX fleet. Alaska Airlines has also said it is working with Boeing to understand what happened on Flight 1282.

“We regret the significant disruption that has been caused for our guests by cancellations due to these aircraft being out of service. However, the safety of our employees and guests is our highest priority and we will only return these aircraft to service when all findings have been fully resolved and meet all FAA and Alaska’s stringent standards,” the airline said in the Wednesday statement.

Alaska said it has implemented a flexible travel policy, and that guests can change, cancel, or if the flight has been canceled, rebook.

United Airlines said it had canceled 167 Boeing 737 Max 9 flights on Wednesday as it awaits “final approval on the full inspection process… We expect significant cancellations on Thursday as well.”

On Thursday, the airline canceled an additional 175 Max 9 flights. By switching to other planes, it will avoid 35 additional cancellations. United uses more Max 9s than any other carrier.

“Since we began preliminary inspections on Saturday, we have found instances that appear to relate to installation issues in the door plug – for example, bolts that needed additional tightening. These findings will be remedied by our Tech Ops team to safely return the aircraft to service,” the airline said Thursday.

FAA investigation

FAA on Thursday said it is opening an investigation into Boeing’s quality control due to the failure of the door plug.

In a statement, the FAA said the dramatic in-flight blowout on Alaska Airlines 1282 “should have never happened and it cannot happen again.”

The FAA says the investigation will focus on whether Boeing “failed to ensure completed products conformed to its approved design and were in a condition for safe operation in compliance with FAA regulations.”

Boeing said it “will cooperate fully and transparently with the FAA and the NTSB on their investigations” in a statement Thursday.

On Wednesday, Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun admitted in an interview with CNBC that the door plug failure was a “horrible escape” of its manufacturing and quality control processes.

When asked what exactly happened, Calhoun told CNBC, “What happened is exactly what you saw, a fuselage plug blew out. That’s the mistake, it can never happen.”

In that interview, Calhoun emphasized that he is “confident” in the FAA’s ongoing work to “inspect each and every one of the airplanes” and make “certain that they’re in conformance with our design, which is a proven design.”

National Transportation Safety Board Chair Jennifer Homendy told CNN’s “Anderson Cooper 360” that the fuselage plug that blew out of the plane mid-flight Friday and was recovered from an Oregon backyard Monday has “quite a lot” it can tell investigators and “really was the missing piece in the investigation.”

The NTSB is conducting its own investigation, separate from the FAA.

A class action lawsuit was filed on Thursday in Washington state against Boeing on behalf of the passengers aboard last week’s Alaska Airlines flight 1282.

“Boeing is responsible for the safety of design and maintenance instructions as well as continuing airworthiness of the aircraft,” the lawsuit said.

More troubles for United

It was a difficult 2023 for United. The carrier canceled thousands of flights last summer, stranding hundreds of thousands of passengers in a widespread service meltdown. Beyond the bad weather, the problems were also human-made.

United CEO Scott Kirby largely blamed the FAA and inadequate staffing at airline control centers. But Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, who oversees the FAA, pushed back, noting United was struggling relative to other US carriers.

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