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Innocent-Looking Tree in Florida Is 'The Most Dangerous' in the World

By Rebecca Flood

11/15/21 at 11:00 AM EST

An innocent-looking tree in Florida is thought to be the deadliest in the world, with every part of it—from the fruit to the sap—potentially fatal to humans.

The Manchineel tree looks like any other, with lean branches giving way to waxy green leaves and small apple-like fruit.

But eat anything from the tree, stand under it during rain, use its wood to make a fire, or merely touch its sap, and its poison could kill.

The Manchineel was hailed as the most dangerous tree in the world by the Guinness Book of World Records in 2011.

It can be found in only one location in the U.S.—Florida.

More precisely, in the Everglades. So if you thought gators are the most dangerous thing in the sunshine state, think again.

Revealing why the tree gets the prestigious accolade from the record-breakers, the Guinness Book of World Records said: "The sap that its trunk exudes is so poisonous and acidic that the merest contact with human skin causes a breakout of blisters, and blindness can occur if it touches a person's eyes.

"Even standing under it in the rain is enough to cause blistering if the skin is wetted by raindrops containing any sap. In addition, a single bite of its small green apple-like fruit causes blistering and severe pain, and can prove fatal.

"And if one of these deadly trees is burned, the resulting smoke can cause blindness if it reaches a person's eyes."

As its fruit bears an uncanny resemblance to delicious apples, the Manchineel is also nicknamed the "beach apple."

Its botanical name is Hippomane mancinella, derived from the Spanish word "manzanilla," meaning "little apple." The University of Florida claims the tree was referred to as "manzanilla de la muerte" by the conquistadors, meaning "little apple of death."

The existence of Florida's dangerous inhabitant was noted by The Weather Channel's Instagram page, which shared a snap of the tree on Sunday.

It posted a clip detailing the tree's horrifying properties, saying: "A tree growing in coastal Florida is considered the most dangerous in the world. Here's why you never want to go anywhere near the manchineel tree."

The captions echoed the record-breaking entry, citing toxic fruit, "painful burns" from rain mixed with sap, blisters from touching leaves, and blindness caused by smoke should the wood be burned.

The video also revealed that most trees carry warning signs on them, or are painted red, to ward off unsuspecting ramblers.

"Caution the fruits of this manchineel tree are poisonous. Do not stand beneath tree when it is raining," one sign featured in the footage read.

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Report: Matt Gaetz Is Screwed Six Ways From Sunday

If you’ve been keeping tabs on the legal drama surrounding Matt Gaetz, you probably noticed that the last month seemingly brought a lull in headlines concerning the Justice Department investigation into whether he paid women for sex and, separately, slept with a minor and transported her across state lines. Some might have taken that pause to mean the Republican congressman was in the clear, and that the only thing he had to worry about was how deeply awkward Thanksgiving with the in-laws would be this year. But unfortunately for the Florida representative, that does not appear to be the case. In fact, multiple developments in the scandal that he has asked us to refer to as “Gaetzgate” suggest the guy should be extremely worried about his future as a free man.

The most worrisome, if one is worried about Gaetz potentially doing a decade in prison, is a report from The New York Times that the Department of Justice has added a pair of top prosecutors to its investigation, “a sign of the complex and high-stakes nature of the inquiry.” According to Pulitzer Prize–winning reporters Katie Benner and Michael Schmidt, one of the prosecutors is a public corruption investigator who specializes in child exploitation crimes. The other, Todd Gee, is a deputy chief of the Public Integrity Section, which is part of the DOJ’s Criminal Division, a department that is “involved in nearly all major criminal investigations into alleged misconduct by federal, state, and local officials.” Among other cases, Gee served as a lead prosecutor on the 2020 conviction of an ex-Navy commander at Guantánamo Bay, who was found guilty of covering up a fight with a commissary worker who was subsequently found dead.

Meanwhile, the addition of the two prosecutors is far from the only thing Gaetz should be soiling himself over at the moment. During a hearing in Orlando federal court on Monday, a judge granted a request for a delay in the sentencing of Gaetz’s former wingman, Joel Greenberg, who has apparently been providing the department with so much dirt that it could use extra time to go through it all. In a hint of just how uniquely horrifying said dirt may be, Roger Handberg, an assistant U.S. attorney, told the judge that Greenberg has made allegations to investigators that “take us to some places we did not anticipate.” Greenberg himself had originally been hit with a whopping 33 charges, but ended up pleading guilty to just six, including sex trafficking of a child, which seemingly suggests prosecutors believe he will be able to prove uniquely helpful to them. Per CNN:

As part of his plea agreement, was required to give “substantial assistance” to investigators as they build out related cases. His lawyer has said that Greenberg has held a series of proffers, or meetings, with the Justice Department. Handberg did not say what investigations Greenberg was providing new information to authorities about, although CNN has reported that Greenberg has told the Justice Department about encounters he and Gaetz had with women who were given cash or gifts in exchange for sex.

According to the Times, Greenberg has told investigators that he saw Gaetz and others have sex with the same 17-year-old he pleaded guilty to sex trafficking. In court on Monday, Handberg called Greenberg a “prolific criminal,” ominously adding, “Mr. Greenberg was not alone.”

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Alex Jones found liable for defamation in Sandy Hook 'hoax' case


November 15, 20212:07 PM ET

Infowars host and conspiracy theorist Alex Jones was found liable Monday for damages in lawsuits brought by parents of children killed in the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting over Jones' claims that the massacre was a hoax.

Judge Barbara Bellis took the rare step of defaulting Jones in the defamation lawsuits for his and his companies' "failure to produce critical material information that the plaintiffs needed to prove their claims." The default means the judge found in favor of the parents and will hold a hearing on how much damages he should pay.

Lawyers for the parents claimed Jones and his companies, including Infowars and Free Speech Systems, violated court rules by failing to turn over documents to them, including internal company documents showing how, and if, Jones and Infowars profited from talking about the school shooting and other mass shootings.

"Their pattern of defying and ignoring court orders to produce responsive information is well established," lawyers for the family wrote in a court brief in July.

Jones' lawyers have denied violating court rules on document disclosure and have asked that Bellis be removed from the case, alleging she has not been impartial.

A Texas judge recently issued similar rulings against Jones in three defamation lawsuits brought by Sandy Hook families in that state, finding Jones liable for damages after defaulting him and his companies for not turning over documents. Hearings on damages also were ordered.

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Newly Released Documents Show Exactly How Trump Admin. Undermined CDC During Pandemic

Peter Wade

Sat, November 13, 2021, 11:19 AM

Documents and interview transcripts released by a congressional committee shine additional light on how the Trump administration interfered with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, undermining the agency’s efforts to communicate the seriousness of the pandemic to the American people as the virus began to spread throughout the country.

Emails and transcripts of interviews with former senior CDC officials released by the House select subcommittee on the coronavirus crisis reveal just how far administration officials went to tamp down the CDC’s public health communication efforts in the face of an emerging viral threat.

"The Trump Administration’s use of the pandemic to advance political goals manifested itself most acutely in its efforts to manipulate and undermine CDC’s scientific work,” committee Chair Rep. James Clyburn (D-S.C.) wrote to Trump’s former CDC Director Dr. Robert Redfield. “Through its investigations, the select subcommittee has uncovered a staggering pattern of political interference from Trump Administration officials in critical aspects of CDC’s pandemic response efforts.”

According to the committee’s interview of former National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases Director Nancy Messonnier, she confirmed media reports that she had angered Trump when she told the media in Feb. 2020 that the virus could cause “severe” disruptions to daily life. Her remarks prompted phone calls from then-HHS Secretary Alex Azar and Redfield. Speaking about her call with Azar, Messonnier said that she was “upset” by the conversation.

“I believed that my remarks were accurate based on the information we had at the time,” Messonnier said. “I heard that the president was unhappy with the telebriefing.”

To distract from Messonnier’s remarks, the administration planned another briefing, former CDC Principal Deputy Director Anne Schuchat told the committee when she testified.

“The impression that I was given was that the reaction to the morning briefing was quite volatile and having another briefing — you know, later I think I got the impression that having another briefing might get — you know, there was nothing new to report, but get additional voices out there talking about that situation,” Schuchat said.

For three months after the February briefing, the administration banned CDC officials from conducting any public briefings at the very same time the virus was rapidly spreading throughout the United States. The administration additionally denied numerous media requests for interviews with CDC officials. Schuchat said that she and many of her fellow CDC scientists felt that they “were hamstrung by a White House whose decisions are driven by politics rather than science.”

Instead of having the CDC lead the federal response to the pandemic, the White House took matters into its own hands by holding its own briefings and refusing to allow the CDC to speak directly to the public. One Health and Human Services employee even ordered CDC employee Dr. Christine Casey to “put an immediate stop to” the publication of its weekly scientific reports, the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR). In an email to Redfield, then-HHS Science Adviser Paul Alexander accused the CDC of “writing hit pieces on the administration” in the reports.

In her testimony before the committee, Casey said she was instructed by Redfield to delete that email, a request she said “seemed unusual” and “made me uncomfortable.”

The evidence also shows that the administration made changes to CDC recommendations on how to slow the spread....

In response to: Unvaccinated Texans were far more likely to catch Covid-19 or die from the disease than vaccinated residents during the coronavirus’ September spike, state health officials said Monday, as Texas grapples with a larger weekly Covid-19 death toll than any other state — and a lower-than-average vaccination rate.
From early September to October 1, vaccinated Texans were 13 times less likely to test positive for Covid-19 and 20 times less likely to die from the coronavirus than their unvaccinated peers, according to a Texas Department of State Health Services study.

Some 81.3% of the nearly 4,500 coronavirus deaths studied over that time period were among unvaccinated people, whereas 13.7% of deaths were tied to fully vaccinated Texans and 5% were among partially vaccinated patients, researchers said.

The gulf between vaccinated and unvaccinated Texans is somewhat larger if data from earlier in the year is included: From mid-January to early October, unvaccinated people made up 85.5% of the state’s total Covid-19 deaths and were 40 times more likely to die.

The study suggested “the proportion of cases and deaths among vaccinated people is expected to rise” as vaccination rates increase, and said effectiveness varies depending on patients’ immune systems or whether their immunity has worn off over time.

Similarly, a recent study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found vaccinated Americans were 11.3 times less likely to die of Covid-19 than unvaccinated people from late June to mid-July, though the vaccines were slightly more effective at stopping infections, hospitalizations and deaths before the virus’ delta variant took root in June.