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The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) can no longer ignore that risk, and must take regulatory action, Judge Edward Chen of the U.S. District Court of the Northern District of California wrote in the long-awaited landmark decision.

More than 200 million Americans drink water treated with fluoride at the “optimal” level of 0.7 milligrams per liter (mg/L). However, Chen ruled that a preponderance of scientific evidence shows this level of fluoride exposure may damage human health, particularly that of pregnant mothers and young children.

The verdict delivers a major blow to the EPA, public health agencies like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and professional lobbying groups like the American Dental Association (ADA), which have staked their reputations on the claim that water fluoridation is one of the greatest public health achievements of the 20th century and an unqualified public good.

Fluoride proponents refused to reexamine that stance despite mounting scientific evidence from top researchers and government agencies of fluoride’s neurotoxic risks, particularly for infants’ developing brains.

Instead, they attempted to weaken and suppress the research and discredit the scientists carrying it out.

Rick North, board member of Fluoride Action Network, one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit, told The Defender, “What’s false is the CDC claiming that fluoridation is one of the 10 greatest health achievements of the 20th century. What’s true is that ending fluoridation will be one of the 10 greatest health achievements of the 21st century.”

It’s not just inertia or incompetence.

It’s because there are powerful, entrenched interests that profit handsomely from the status quo. They cloak themselves in the noble rhetoric of education, but their actions tell a different story: skyrocketing tuition, subpar outcomes, and a generation drowning in debt.

It’s not about enlightenment; it’s about enrichment – theirs, not yours.

…

In a normal market, if a product consistently fails to deliver value, consumers stop buying it. Producers either improve or go out of business. But in the world of higher education, this feedback loop is broken.

Colleges and universities, shielded by the guarantee of student loan money, have no real incentive to improve their product or direct students to majors that have an ability to pay back their loans.

They can raise tuition year after year, even as the value of their degrees stagnates or declines.

Herzi Halevi told soldiers during a drill near the Lebanese border in northern Israel: ‘We are attacking all day, both to prepare the ground for the possibility of your entry [into Lebanon], but also to continue striking Hezbollah.’

He added: ‘Hezbollah today expanded its [range] of fire. Later today, it will receive a very strong response. Prepare yourselves.’

An army chief told Israeli soldiers that strikes are paving the way for an impending ground invasion, adding ‘your boots… will enter enemy territory’.

‘You hear the jets overhead; we have been striking all day,’ General Herzi Halevi told troops on the border, according to a statement from the military.

The note was addressed to the “World” and reads:

“This was an assassination attempt on Donald Trump but I failed you. I tried my best and gave it all the gumption I could muster. It is up to you now to finish the job; and I will offer $150,000 to whomever can complete the job,” according to court papers.

British troops are expected to be deployed to nearby Cyprus to help those waiting to support British citizens trapped amid fears a regional war could soon break out.

Those already stationed in Lebanon could also be drawn in to help evacuate Brits should the burgeoning conflict continue to escalate, The Times reports.

Thousands of people have been displaced by relentless bombing over the last few days, with nearly 560 people killed and thousands wounded in the crossfire.

After some of the heaviest cross-border exchanges of fire since hostilities flared in October, Israel warned people in Lebanon to evacuate areas where it said the armed movement was storing weapons.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sent a short video statement addressed to the Lebanese people.

“Israel’s war is not with you, it’s with Hezbollah. For too long Hezbollah has been using you as human shields,” he said.

Philadelphia police say there were eight looting incidents reported overnight. That number includes a Fine Wine and Good Spirits liquor store in Lawndale and a beauty supply store in Mayfair. A nightclub near the liquor store in Lawndale was also damaged. The owner said windows were broken but nothing was taken.

Police say five of the looting incidents were in the Northeast Police Division, two were in the Northwest Police Division and one was in the East Police Division. Six arrests have been reported.

At Nat’s Beauty Supply in Mayfair, surveillance video showed a group of people, mostly women, breaking through the glass front door and taking items including hair extensions, weaves and wigs.