#Keir Starmer assisted dying

[latestnews-now]

In a groundbreaking decision, UK MPs voted 330-275 in favor of legalizing assisted dying for terminally ill adults. Join us as we dive into the emotional debates, public opinion, and what this means for the future of end-of-life care in England and Wales. Don’t miss this important update!

[pointless-letters]

Daily Express readers having a completely normal and in no way absolutely bananas reaction to the General Election result

[secretagentsagainstwhatever]

Uk people how would you of voted…?

[al-kol-eleh]

Keir Starmer

To begin with, Mr. Starmer should read Dara Horn’s People Who Love Dead Jews as that may explain why it is deeply offensive as well as blatantly hypocritical to attempt to establish oneself as vigilant against antisemitism by invoking the memory of the Holocaust whilst permitting marchers shouting antisemitic slogans to walk through London week after week. Frankly, it does not fill me with confidence as to what the message from this program is intended to be. Will it be yet another iteration of how White People TM are inherently intolerant? A repeat of the 2021 animated film Where is Anne Frank? which ultimately equates the Holocaust with deporting illegal immigrants? Finally, given that Starmer seems a frequent user of the phrase “antisemitism, islamaphobia, and all forms of intolerance” how will this program accurately reflect the Islamic contribution to the Holocaust? Labour can barely bring itself to acknowledge the untold numbers of “grooming gangs” victims, how will they tackle the fact that they violated their own mandate by issuing the White Paper all because the Arabs could not tolerate the idea of Jewish sovereignty, and that at least thousands of Jews were killed as a result? How will they deal with Mufti Haj Amin al-Husseini? The SS Handschar Division? High ranking Nazis finding refuge in Arab countries post WWII?

[enbycrip]

So the U.K. Government has put out “advisory guidance” to U.K. schools saying they’re not allowed to teach that people like me exist.

The NUT (teacher’s Union) is standing solidly for trans rights so far but they are going to come under a LOT of pressure.

This is essentially heading for another Section 28. I grew up under that and it’s still screwing me up at 40. I *never* wanted another generation of queer kids, or queer adults, to have to deal with this.

At the same time Scotland is pushing an assisted dying law despite the fact that this is heading for disabled genocide in Canada and the Tories here are preparing to make disability benefits even fucking worse and more stressful as their election promise. And Keir Starmer takes Tory ideas as a cheat sheet.

I’m so fucking tired.

This is taking so much of the cope I don’t have for my dissertation due in on May 30th.

[head-post]

British MPs to debate assisted dying law

British lawmakers are voting on whether to advance controversial legislation authorising assisted dying for terminally ill people in England and Wales.

Parliament last debated and rejected a euthanasia bill in 2015, but public support has since shifted in favour of allowing terminally ill people to end their own lives. Supporters argue that allowing euthanasia would make some deaths more dignified and less painful.

However, religious leaders signed a joint letter in which some 30 clergy said they were “deeply concerned” by the plans. Critics argue that some people may feel the need to take their own lives, but the health system is not ready for such a landmark change.

The bill would authorise assisted suicide in England and Wales for adults with a terminal illness whose life expectancy is less than six months and who can self-administer a substance that causes their death. Any patient’s wish to die must be signed by a judge and two doctors.

The legislation follows an election promise by Prime Minister Keir Starmer to allow Parliament to reconsider the issue. However, he told cabinet ministers that they “should not take part in the public debate,” as the government remains neutral on the bill.

Meanwhile, former Prime Minister David Cameron, who opposed the 2015 law change, said he had changed his mind on the issue.

As campaigners have convincingly argued, this proposal is not about ending life. It is about shortening death.

Assisted dying is currently illegal in England, Wales and Northern Ireland and carries a maximum prison sentence of up to 14 years. In Scotland, which has a separate legal system, it is not a specific criminal offence but can make a person vulnerable to other charges, including murder.

Read more HERE

[peaksport]

Chris Whitty to give evidence to MPs on assisted dying bill committee – UK politics live | Politics

Professor, O Chris White Talk to MPs of Assisted Dying Bill Hello. The main political event of the week will Rachel Reeves’ Address tomorrow in promoting growth, and this morning and Keir Starmer was a meeting business guides on a meal in the center of London to tell what you say. It is not clear, however, how to be impressed by the audience, but the pictures are looking good. Keir Starmer and…

[news247worldpressposts]

#Breaking: Sir @KeirStarmer was among the majority of MPs to support the proposed assisted #dying legislation.

Sir Keir Starmer was among the majority of MPs to support the proposed assisted dying legislation  https://itv.com/news/2024-11-30/still-a-lot-of-work-to-do-on-assisted-dying-says-leadbeater Source: X

[dr-dick-stuff]

With Keir Starmer in 10 Downing Street

— Assisted dying is on the way in the UK by Michael Cook The United Kingdom’s new Labour government has a long to-do list. A dysfunctional National Health Service. An economy in the doldrums. Net zero. A prisons crisis. Ukraine. Gaza. Relations with Europe. Immigration. The cost of living. But so far the media has overlooked an incendiary issue: assisted dying. After decades of vigorous…

[qudachuk]

The Labour leader says MPs should be allowed to vote with their conscience on assisted dying.

[cavenewstimes]

Sir Keir Starmer supports assisted dying law change

The Labour leader states MPs must be permitted to vote with their conscience on assisted passing away …Read More

[snarkesthour]

Happy St George's Day!

· In the midst of a pandemic when schools are all closed, the government votes to not allow free school meals to schoolchildren during school holidays, despite this being the only meal many of them have each day

· Marcus Rashford, a footballer, led the drive to feed the nation’s children, 49% of which live in poverty, and forced the government to provide food for them during the school holidays

· Instead of previous years when vouchers were given to parents that can only be spent on nutritious food, members of government give contracts to friends to provide a week’s work of food costing £5 to schoolchildren for a price of £30. Food is unhealthy and would not last a week

· Parcels also expect parents to cook two tablespoons of rice at a time in the oven and bake their own bread every day, ignoring poverty-stricken families possible lack of access to such equipment

· Wife of conservative MP attacks poor families for eating unhealthy food when healthy food is cheaper, ignoring the fact that not all families have access to equipment needed to store and cook it

· Nigel Farage, head of the Brexit party came out strongly against the government for their stance on starving schoolchildren. Not a good look.

· Another MP came out and said that poor families should not receive government assistance because the money would be going direct to brothels and crackhouses and the parents would spend it on drink and drugs instead of feeding their kids, a dangerous and persistent stereotype of working class people

· For the first time in its history, UNICEF is feeding kids in the UK – the 5th richest country in the world – and the head of the House of Commons accused them of “playing politics” and said they should “be ashamed of themselves”

· J.K. Rowling came out hard as a TERF (Trans Exclusionary Radical Feminist), writing a book about a serial killer that dresses up as a Muslim woman, which isn’t subtle when you look at her history of transphobia and other “-isms”

She also publicly supported an author who wrote a book about the destruction of Europe by waves of Muslim immigration

· Speaking of J.K. Rowling, the government’s response to the Gender Recognition Act.

· It is now impossible for under 16s to receive reversible puberty blockers

· Wait times at NHS Gender Clinics, of which there are only 7 in the country, have doubled, with wait times now up to 60+ months (5+ years)

· Keir Starmer, head of the Labour (left wing) party says he doesn’t want to get involved in trans issues

· With the loss of Labour, no major party supports trans rights

· Self ID is no longer allowed, meaning every step of transition is medicalised and involves the trans person having to prove that they are “trans enough” at every stage to panels of cis people

· Government wants to invalidate non-enrolled deed polls, essentially making available a public list of every trans person in the UK

· Hate crimes have quadrupled

· Anti-trans campaigners are now setting their sights on trans adults’ access to hormones

· A petition was formed to counter this and was reviewed by the government, who determined that nothing was wrong with the GRA except that it might have been a bit lax.

· The Guardian newspaper ran child labour and child starvation supporting stories

· Internal border now along the border of Kent and lorry drivers must produce travel papers (Brexit Passport) to cross it, placing the county of Kent in a state of “no man’s land”

· Government fails to lockdown on time, every time

· Government refuses to ban conversion therapy in the UK

· Scotland adopts Human Rights of Children, which requires the government to better support children and families, especially those who are poor, disabled, minorities or young carers. England does not

· The government declared that sleeping rough is now grounds for deportation

· Schools reopened several times despite being warned not safe to do so

· The government banned NHS workers from speaking out about COVID

· Do Not Resuscitate orders proposed for those in care homes, with learning disabilities and who are autistic

· The government cut pensions as the COVID death toll rose

· The government learnt about new South-East COVID strain in September and didn’t come forwards until December

· New COVID strain targets kids, teens, and young adults, and yet none of those groups are allowed vaccination unless a serious pre-existing condition is had, even if they are key workers

· Downing Street says UK should be model of racial equality because government report says no institutional racism in the UK

· Report also says young people are young and foolish for thinking it exists and that minorities are superstitious and irrational and are sabotaging themselves out of success

· It came out that the government was given the independent report and rewrote it to the version that was released to the public – the version that says racism doesn’t exist in the UK

· The rewritten report also refers to the slave trade as the “Caribbean experience”, like those enslaved were on holiday

· Woman in London abducted, murdered and dismembered by off-duty cop and when socially distanced vigil goes ahead, police wait until dark before trapping women, arresting them, using excessive force on them, and also destroying memorial

· Bill passed in government that allows undercover officers to commit serious crimes such as murder, torture and rape

· Plainclothes police to now patrol nightclubs and bars due to aforementioned murder by police officer

· Bill passed that bans any protest at all, no matter how quiet, unobstructive or small it is, including single-person protests. Bill also includes a 10 year sentence for damaging a statue, which is a longer sentence than for rape

· TV programmes critical of the government have been cancelled

· Universities have been told what to platform and schools have been told what to teach, including banning material speaking about BLM and calling for “overthrow” of capitalism

· Voting has been supressed, mainly those who are working class or POC

· During protests in Bristol, press was assaulted and pepper sprayed by police and two legal observers were arrested

· Being Roma/Traveller and living the traditional Roma/Traveller lifestyle is now illegal under that same bill that bans protests. They also have to register as such and receive a licence or risk losing their vehicles

· Hours before Eid, lockdown across the UK with no warning whatsoever, meaning people woke up the next morning after visiting relatives to find themselves “criminals”. The country was opened up specifically for Christmas though

· Conservative (right wing) party blamed BAME (Black And Minority Ethnic) communities for dying of COVID more than white people

· Landlords have been protected extensively and renters blamed for living in close quarters or having to take public transport to work

· Conservatives have launched investigation into possible corruption in Liverpool Council. Liverpool is a Labour stronghold and if corruption is found then the Conservatives can seize control of the council. No evidence of corruption is present as of yet

· Military threatened to stage a coup if Corbyn (then head of the labour party) became Prime Minister

· Government orders all government buildings in England, Wales and Scotland to fly the Union Flag every day to boost patriotism

· MPs call for the curriculum to require teaching the history of the Union Flag rather than Britain’s many atrocities

· The first fortnight of April saw a mini heatwave with temperatures up to 20°C immediately followed by snow, and this is ignored in favour of debating “vaccine passports” in order to visit the pub

· UK allows for international summer holidays despite being warned it will cause a third wave, such as the situation in Germany

· Government placed asylum seekers arriving in the UK in army barracks where they were to sleep 24 to a room with no open windows or air circulation, and when COVID inevitably ran rampant, the Home Secretary accused the asylum seekers of not following COVID protocol, such as social distancing

· Several accounts of self-harm and suicide attempts were reported from the asylum barracks and were dismissed

· UK to deport unaccompanied minor asylum seekers

· UK refuses entry into the UK for radicalised teen failed by system who joined ISIS. Case is difficult and controversial because teen wishes to return to the UK temporarily to fight for her citizenship after the UK broke international law by stripping it from her, despite her not having dual citizenship. Argument given was that her parents were from Bangladesh and so she could apply for citizenship there. Bangladesh refused. Teen is now stateless and living in a refugee camp after losing several children, unable to fight for her citizenship to be reinstated.

· Rioting in Northern Ireland, which included the first use of water cannons in 6 years, a bus being hijacked and burnt, a press photographer attacked, and people throwing bricks, fireworks and petrol bombs at police, not to mention some of the clashes happening over a peace wall in west Belfast, completely ignored in British media and then later drowned out by non-stop news of Prince Phillip’s death, obscuring any important news from being heard. Riots were over Northern Ireland’s being a part of the UK

· MPs take vote on whether China’s treatment of Uighurs constitutes genocide. They decide it does, but that it isn’t their job to do anything further

· Home Office released their spending for the 2020 fiscal year. It’s a mess, including over £77,000 at an eyebrow salon in March alone, and £6,000+ in Pollyanna Restaurant which doesn't appear to exist.

· When people started questioning the spending, the Home Office sent a tweet fact checking themselves

· Country reopened over the summer for Eat Out To Help Out, a scheme to boost the economy. COVID cases rose sharply and the government then blamed people, but mostly working class people, for not following restrictions such as only leaving the house when absolutely necessary, after telling them it was safe

· Foreign NHS workers denied COVID vaccinations

· GCSEs and A-Levels were cancelled due to COVID-19 and expected exam grades were to be used instead. Private school students received grades much higher than they were expecting, and state school students received grades much lower, some grades falling as far as an A to an E. This was because the government couldn’t imagine state school students being smart enough to receive the high grades they were predicted to get; after much uproar the grades were scrapped, and a new method was introduced

· BBC offered staff grief counselling following Prince Philip’s death, but not after having to report on the ever-rising COVID death toll

· The COVID-19 Infection Survey closed in mourning for Prince Philip, with workers to contact participants to reschedule visits for “as soon as possible” when they return to work

· Census workers told to pack up and go home and were placed on immediate unpaid leave due to the death of Prince Philip, but told they must make up the hours later

· Conservative MPs lobbied for a new royal yacht after voting to keep schoolchildren hungry (see first points)

· The BBC’s complaint page crashed over the amount of complaints they got of their coverage of Prince Philip’s death. It was covered non-stop for over 24 hours and the page came in at over 100,000 complaints before going down

· BBC also fast becoming politically biased despite their requirement to be apolitical, after cutting out the audience laughing at Boris Johnson on Question Time, displaying Corbyn as a communist figure in front of a prominent piece of Russian architecture, and providing a platform for a Conservative MP to tell a stage 4 bowl cancer patient that her life wasn’t valuable on live television

· On the COVID-19 pandemic, the BMJ, (British Medical Journal) said about the government that “science was being suppressed for political and financial gain” by “some of history’s worst autocrats and dictators”

· Not only did Boris Johnson launch Eat Out To Help Out when he was warned it was dangerous, lifted lockdowns too early when he was warned it was too dangerous, reopened schools when he was warned it was too dangerous, but when scientists said the second COVID jab should be delivered within 3 weeks he decided that was too tall an order and it should be within 12 weeks – after a period of radio silence, suddenly the science fit his plan. No scientists came forwards to defend it

· The Home Secretary, Priti Patel, blamed protestors for protests that became violent from police attacking protestors, bullied staff members under her, bought members of staff in her department, said it was “disgraceful” to topple the statue of Edward Colson, a slave trader, in Brighton because it undermined anti-racism protests, held treasonous meetings with Israel with the plan to divert aid money, and threatened to starve Ireland in order to get them to agree to Brexit

· She also wants to set up Australian-style asylum processing centres on British islands, but the islands she wants are in the Atlantic ocean and over 4000 miles away from the UK. This is because she wants to help asylum seekers enter the UK legally, completed ignoring or oblivious to all the reasons that asylum seekers might not be able to do that, and for the fact that to seek asylum you must essentially walk up the border and ask for it

· The bungling of the Track and Trace system – the government spent £10bn on a system to track and trace the spread of COVID-19. All data was stored on an Excel spreadsheet which developed a technical glitch and many results were lost before the system was scrapped

· As Autism Acceptance month began, the BBC ran a story saying the autism causes fascism, and that an autistic person who had chosen to embrace the ideology was incapable of seeing that a neo-Nazi group he joined was morally bad because he was autistic

[head-post]

New UK bill seeks to legalise assisted dying for terminally ill people

A new bill aimed at legalising assisted dying in the UK headed to parliament, according to AP News.

For the first time in nearly a decade, the House of Commons debated allowing doctors to help people end their lives after previous court attempts to change the legal ban failed.

Labour politician Kim Leadbeater introduced the bill to give terminally ill people in England and Wales the option of allowing doctors to help them die. However, details will not be released until the end of the month ahead of a parliamentary vote.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer promised that lawmakers would have a “free vote,” meaning they would not be obliged to vote along party lines. Leadbeater said it was “important that we get the legislation right, with the necessary protections and safeguards in place.”

There is absolutely no question of disabled people or those with mental illness who are not terminally ill being pressured to end their lives.

The House of Lords scrutinises and amends legislation passed by the House of Commons. Although bills can be introduced in the House of Lords, they seldom become law. The legislation restricts assisted dying to adults with six months or less to live. It also requires authorisation by the High Court after receiving a declaration signed by two doctors.

However, opponents of assisted dying argue there is no way to change the law without endangering vulnerable people, according to actress Liz Carr, a disability rights campaigner. Assisted suicide, in which a patient takes a lethal drink prescribed by a doctor, is legal in Australia, Belgium, Canada, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland and parts of the United States.

Read more HERE

[itsfinancethings]

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is facing a full-blown political crisis after his most senior aide Dominic Cummings admitted he drove more than 260 miles from London to Durham and back with his family, while suspecting he was infected with COVID-19, at a time when the country was under strict lockdown measures to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

In an unprecedented press conference in the 10 Downing Street Rose Garden on Monday, Cummings defended his actions and refused to resign or apologize, saying he took what he believed were lawful and necessary actions to ensure the wellbeing of his four-year-old child. The Prime Minister publicly spoke in support of Cummings on Sunday, and cabinet ministers have continued to defend him.

But over the holiday weekend, opposition politicians, scientists, religious leaders and medical professionals all called for Cummings to resign, saying his continued tenure showed there was one rule for the elite and another for everybody else. Members of the government’s behavioral science advisory group said they were concerned about the public health message sent by allowing Cummings to stay on. Police forces said it would make it harder to enforce the rules. Medics said the decision went against everything they had been battling for in their fight against COVID-19. And opposition lawmakers said Johnson was putting his own political interests ahead of the public good. “It is an insult to the sacrifices made by the British people that Johnson has chosen to take no action against Dominic Cummings,” said Keir Starmer, leader of the opposition Labour Party.

The U.K.’s official death toll passed 37,000 on Tuesday, the highest in Europe and the second-highest in the world after the United States. Much of the anger surrounding the Cummings scandal is from families who were unable to travel to see dying relatives, or help vulnerable family members, because of the lockdown rules devised in part by Cummings himself.

Read More: How the U.K. Mismanaged Its Coronavirus Response

The crisis, now into its fifth day, is the most severe of Johnson’s 10-month tenure as Prime Minister and shows little sign of dissipating. Polls released Tuesday by Savanta, a pollster, showed Johnson’s net approval at -1%, twenty points down on +19% four days earlier. The approval rating of the government as a whole has fared similarly badly, dropping 16 points in one day to -2%. A separate poll, published by YouGov on Tuesday, showed 59% of respondents saying Cummings should resign, and 71% believing he broke lockdown rules. Here’s what to know about the furor.

Who is Dominic Cummings?

Cummings is a political strategist most famous for directing the successful “Vote Leave” campaign during the 2016 Brexit referendum, which Johnson also campaigned for.

He was portrayed by Benedict Cumberbatch in the film Brexit: The Uncivil War, which addresses some of the ways the campaign allegedly used data and disinformation to target specific voters.

When Johnson became Prime Minister in July 2019, he appointed Cummings as his senior adviser. (Cummings is not a lawmaker, and was therefore not elected to the role.) He is now Johnson’s closest and most trusted aide. He was credited with a leading role in the December 2019 election that gave Johnson a commanding majority in parliament, and with defining the government’s main policy objectives including a roadmap on how exactly to leave the European Union.

He is known for his casual outfits, like tracksuits and a beanie hat, in 10 Downing Street. He’s also known for his anti-elite stance, regularly attacking “remainers” who campaigned for the U.K. to remain in the European Union in 2016.

What did Dominic Cummings do?

On Friday, as the nation was preparing to enter a long holiday weekend, the Guardian and Daily Mirror newspapers published a joint investigation reporting that Cummings, his wife and young son had been spotted in Durham, a city 260 miles north of London, in early April. Cummings had already been reported to be suffering from COVID symptoms at that time. The U.K. had introduced guidance in early March telling people with symptoms of COVID-19 to self-isolate at home, and complemented those rules with nationwide lockdown measures on March 23.

The reports said Cummings had been staying on his parents’ property there, despite advice from the government that people “stay home [to] save lives.” Over the following days, the papers published more details, including the news that Cummings had also been spotted at Barnard Castle, a beauty spot 30 miles away from Durham, on April 12, his wife’s birthday.

Confronted by journalists outside his home in London, Cummings said he would not resign. When a journalist suggested the situation looked bad, he replied: “Who cares about good looks? It’s a question of doing the right thing. It’s not about what you guys think.”

With little details available to the public other than what had been published by the Guardian and Mirror, Johnson appeared at a press conference on Sunday. Without giving details on the conversation, he said Cummings had explained his actions to him and he had found them acceptable, and that Cummings enjoyed his full support.

Keep up to date with our daily coronavirus newsletter by clicking here.

The conference did little to slow the tirade of public anger. On Monday, Cummings held his own press conference (an unprecedented thing for a political adviser to do) and, in a prepared address followed by questions from journalists, set out his side of the story.

He said that on March 27, his wife had come down with possible COVID-19 symptoms. Many of the people he worked most closely with had also tested positive, including Johnson. Worried he and his wife might both soon be incapacitated by the disease and unable to care for their four year-old son, he decided to drive that evening to his parents’ property in Durham, where there was a spare house they could stay in, close to family who could care for the child if necessary. (He did not believe he could “reasonably ask” anyone in London to assist with childcare, he said.) He said he believed at the time, and still does, that he was acting within the law because of an exemption under the lockdown rules for ensuring the safety and care of young children. He said he did not tell Johnson about the decision, and did not stop at any point on the journey.

Cummings said that after recovering from the disease and being cleared to return to work April 11, his eyesight “seemed to have been affected.” So he decided the following day to take a short trip to Barnard Castle, around a 30 minute drive in each direction, to test whether he would be able to make the long drive back to London. His wife and child were also in the car. He did not address the fact that the trip was made on his wife’s birthday. They made two short stops on the trip, Cummings said: once at the town because Cummings “felt a bit sick,” and for a second time in some woods for a toilet break. “At no point did we break any social distancing rules,” he said. On the return journey to London the family may have stopped to fill up on gas, Cummings said, but added he could not be certain.

Cummings also denied eyewitness testimonies, reported by the Guardian and Mirror, that he been seen in Durham for a second time later in April after his return to London. But he admitted he had spoken to Johnson about his trip to Durham weeks earlier, when both were recovering from the virus.

He acknowledged he should have made a statement sooner, but neither apologized nor expressed regret for his actions. “I believe that in all circumstances I behaved reasonably and legally, balancing the safety of my family and the extreme situation in No.10 and the public interest in effective government to which I could contribute,” he said.

What has the response been in the U.K.?

Many Britons were left unconvinced by Cummings’ statement and the scandal has continued to dominate the British news media.

At least 33 Conservative lawmakers have called on Cummings to resign, and a junior minister, Douglas Ross, himself resigned from Johnson’s government on Tuesday in response to Cummings’ refusal to quit. “While the intentions may have been well meaning, the reaction to this news shows that Mr Cummings’ interpretation of the government advice was not shared by the vast majority of people who have done as the government asked,” Ross said in a statement.

Opposition lawmakers also continued to call for Cummings to leave. “It is now a matter of record that Mr Dominic Cummings broke multiple lockdown rules,” a letter, written by six opposition parties (excluding Labour) said. “He is yet to express any apology or contrition for these actions. There cannot be one rule for those involved in formulating public health advice and another for the rest of us.”

However Johnson’s government has continued to stand by Cummings. In a round of broadcast interviews on Tuesday, cabinet minister Michael Gove defended the special adviser. Asked by a presenter if he himself would drive a 60-mile journey to test his eyesight, Gove said “I have on occasions in the past driven with my wife in order to make sure that, er, what’s the right way of putting it,” before trailing off and changing the subject.

As well as revealing the extent to which hypocrisy by those in positions in power matters to the British voting public, the Cummings crisis has also revealed the extent to which Johnson sees his top adviser as indispensable. “What is very frustrating,” one unnamed minister told ITV on Sunday, “is that Cummings is only an adviser, and yet he is being protected in a way that would never happen to a minister.”

Please send any tips, leads, and stories to virus@time.com.