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New Army Shaving Policy Will Allow Soldiers with Skin Condition that Affects Mostly Black Men to Be Kicked Out | Military.com

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The Army is preparing to roll out a new policy that could lead to soldiers diagnosed with a chronic skin condition that causes painful razor bumps and scarring to be kicked out of the service -- an issue that disproportionately affects Black men.

The new guidance, expected to take effect in the coming weeks, would bar permanent shaving waivers and require medical personnel to craft formal treatment plans for affected troops, according to multiple service officials and internal documents reviewed by <a href="http://Military.com" rel="nofollow">Military.com</a>.

Soldiers in need of prolonged waivers may be directed to get laser treatments. Those who need shaving exemptions for more than 12 months over a two-year period could be kicked out of the Army. Units across the force will also be mandated to rebrief personnel on grooming standards within 90 days of the policy's rollout.

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Most shaving waivers are for soldiers diagnosed with pseudofolliculitis barbae, or PFB, a condition in which hairs curl back into the skin after shaving and cause irritation. The Pentagon may cover the laser treatment, but that can cost thousands of dollars per soldier, depending on the number of sessions required. It's unclear how many soldiers would require the procedure.

The American Osteopathic College of Dermatology estimates that up to 60% of Black men are affected by the condition. Laser treatments can cause scarring and changes in skin pigmentation.

"Of course, this is racially motivated," one senior noncommissioned officer familiar with the plans told <a href="http://Military.com" rel="nofollow">Military.com</a> on the condition of anonymity to avoid retaliation. "There's no tactical reason; you can look professional with facial hair."

In March, the Marine Corps rolled out a similar program allowing troops to be separated if the genetic skin condition persists, also raising concerns of racial discrimination.

The Army has been in a prolonged recruiting slump since the high-water mark of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, something it started to turn around last year.

While Black Americans make up about 14% of the U.S. population, they have accounted for roughly one-quarter of the Army's new recruits in recent years, with that number steadily rising.

However, the services have made deliberate efforts to reduce recruiting efforts linked to minority groups amid Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's purge of diversity initiatives during the Trump administration.

In 2018, more than 44,000 new recruits identified as white, according to Army data. By 2023, that number had fallen to just over 25,000 -- a staggering 43% drop in five years. The steepest annual decline came most recently, with a 6% dip from 2022 to 2023 alone. No other demographic group has seen such a precipitous fall.

Much of the recent recruiting slump was attributable to men being less qualified, or willing, to don the uniform while women have been joining the ranks at a steady rate.

Medical complications tied to mandatory shaving emerged as a flashpoint during the military's bumpy road toward racial integration. In the early 1970s, then-Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Elmo Zumwalt launched an aggressive campaign to root out racism and sexism across the ranks.

As part of that broader push, Zumwalt issued a now-famous directive permitting sailors to grow beards and mustaches, a move that clashed with the Navy's traditionally rigid grooming codes but aimed to ease chronic skin issues that disproportionately affected Black service members.

The primary argument against allowing beards in the ranks has long centered on concerns that they could compromise the seal of a gas mask. But a 2021 study from Military Medicine, a peer-reviewed medical journal, found there's no conclusive evidence that a well-groomed, modest beard interferes with mask function.

The publication also noted that only a small fraction of service members operate in environments where chemical attacks are a realistic threat.

In Alaska, units are granted wide latitude when it comes to grooming standards, with commanders often waiving shaving requirements during the frigid winter months. Troops are frequently instructed to skip their morning shave or forgo it entirely while operating in the field -- not out of convenience but as a safety precaution. The extreme cold can make shaving a medical hazard, with exposed skin at risk of frostbite and other cold-weather injuries.

The Army move to clamp down on shaving waivers follows Hegseth, who has protested shaving waivers, ordering a sweeping review of grooming standards across the services. He has claimed that standards have fallen in recent years and damaged the military.

"We kicked out good soldiers for having naked women tattooed on their arms," Hegseth said in a March statement criticizing what he characterized as bad policy decisions by past administrations. "And today we are relaxing the standards on shaving, dreadlocks, man buns, and straight-up obesity. Piece by piece, the standard had to go -- because of equity."

Related: Air Force Unveils New Policies on Shaving, Nail Polish, Hair Length in Leaked Memos

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freeAgent
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acdha
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Washington, DC
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Insurers Aren’t Saying Whether They’ll Cover Vaccines for Kids if Government Stops Recommending Them

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RFK Jr.’s vaccine advisory board could stop recommending some routine childhood immunizations, leaving insurers to decide whether to still cover them. For now, most are remaining tight-lipped.
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freeAgent
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Kennedy is an actual monster. I hope these insurance companies don't give into temptation. At the end of the day, would they rather save a few bucks on vaccine coverage or save a lot more by not having a bunch of kids infected with stuff like polio and measles? And that's not even considering the reputational risk.
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Jason Snell: ‘About That A18 Pro MacBook Rumor’

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Jason Snell, writing at Six Colors:

Well, would you look at that? The A18 Pro is 46% faster than the M1 in single-core tasks, and almost identical to the M1 on multi-core and graphics tasks. If you wanted to get rid of the M1 MacBook Air but have decided that even today, its performance characteristics make it perfectly suitable as a low-cost Mac laptop, building a new model on the A18 Pro would not be a bad move. It wouldn’t have Thunderbolt, only USB-C, but that’s not a dealbreaker on a cheap laptop. It might re-use parts from the M1 Air, including the display.

I like that Apple sells a laptop at $649, and I think Apple likes it, too. A new low-end model might steal some buyers from the $999 MacBook Air, but I’d wager it would reach a lot of customers who might otherwise not buy a full-priced Mac — the same ones buying M1 MacBook Airs at Walmart.

My first thought when I saw this rumor pop up was to dismiss it. But upon consideration, I think it makes sense. Especially if Apple considers the M1 MacBook Air at Walmart to be a success. And all signs point to “yes” on that — they started selling the M1 MacBook Air as a $700 Walmart exclusive in March 2024 and they continue to sell it this year at just $650.

So I think if this rumor pans out, a MacBook at this price point will become a standard part of the lineup, sold everywhere — including Apple Stores.

Stephen Hackett, at 512 Pixels:

The immediate downside to the A18 Pro is that it only supports USB 3 at 10 Gb/s, not Thunderbolt. This would make any Mac with an A18 at its heart only capable of USB-C. I think that’s fine on a low-end Mac, but it could cause confusion for some customers.

For people looking at MacBooks in this price range, talking about USB 3 vs. Thunderbolt brings to mind this classic Far Side cartoon.

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freeAgent
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Meta users say paying for Verified support has been useless in the face of mass bans

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Users have shared their interactions with Meta Verified support reps, who they claim have been dismissive and unhelpful.
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freeAgent
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Zelle needs to fix ‘significant scams and fraud,’ lawmakers say

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Image of two smartphones with hands emerging from them, one holding cash and another holding a credit card.

Banks are facing renewed pressure to protect their customers from scams on Zelle, the payment network owned by JPMorgan, Wells Fargo, Bank of America, Capital One, and other big banks. In letters to the banks, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), and Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) asked them how often their customers report Zelle scams that originate from social media.

Last year, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) sued Wells Fargo, Bank of America, and JPMorgan Chase over claims they “rushed” Zelle’s launch in 2017 and failed to protect customers from “widespread fraud,” which resulted in more than $870 million lost to scams. In an attempt to protect its customers, Chase began blocking Zelle payments over social media, where scams often show up, last February. The CFPB dropped its Zelle lawsuit in March after President Donald Trump’s administration began dismantling the agency.

“Banks, including JPMorgan Chase, have historically failed to protect consumers from Zelle fraud and scams,” the letters state. “According to the CFPB’s lawsuit, for example, since Zelle was created, the banks that run the payment service have not meaningfully improved their ability to detect and prevent fraud or increased their reimbursements to customers defrauded on Zelle to match the increase in fraud rates.”

Without the support of the CFPB, the three lawmakers are now taking matters into their own hands. They asked the banks that own Zelle, which they claim is “associated with significant scams and fraud,” if they have noticed any broader trends of fraud on the payment platform, such as whether they come from social media or another source. The lawmakers are also pressing the banks for their policies on reimbursing customers who fall victim to scams on Zelle and other peer-to-peer payment networks. The banks have until July 14th to respond.

“Zelle is leading the fight against scams and fraud and has industry-leading reimbursement policies that go above and beyond the law,” Zelle spokesperson Eric Blankenbaker said in a statement to The Verge. “The misguided attacks by the previous leadership of the CFPB would have emboldened criminals, cost consumers more in fees, stifled small businesses and made it harder for thousands of community banks and credit unions to compete.”

Update, July 2nd: Added a statement from Zelle.

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freeAgent
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It's ironic that the company that offers Zelle is called Early Warning Services, yet their service is so rife with scams.
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How Nintendo locked down the Switch 2’s USB-C port and broke third-party docking

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There's always a reason why universal USB-C ports don't "just work" like you'd expect. In the early days, it was incompetence or naiveté. Later, manufacturers often cheaped out. But in the case of Nintendo's Switch 2, it appears to be intentional.

With the Nintendo Switch 2, it should be easy to plug your new, more expensive console into video glasses or TVs when you're traveling away from home. USB-C makes it so. But Nintendo has intentionally broken the Switch 2's compatibility with those devices, using a new encryption scheme and some form of dedicated encryption chip, two accessory manufacturers tell The Verge.

I haven't yet found pr …

Read the full story at The Verge.

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freeAgent
2 hours ago
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Were you looking for even more reasons to not purchase a Switch 2? Here you go.
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