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'Stranger Things 2' adds more swearing. Is the show's second season too dark?
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This image released by Netflix shows David Harbour in a scene from "Stranger Things," premiering its second season on Friday. (Netflix via AP) - photo by Herb Scribner
Anyone watching Stranger Things 2 can expect more swearing and a darker tone.

The hit Netflix shows sequel season was released Friday, Oct. 27, with all nine episodes immediately available for binge-watching. So far, the shows already spawned memes, rave reviews and the discovery of cool easter eggs.

But the second season also features more cursing than the first, although both are rated TV-14.

So why the increase in language? The show's founder, Ross Duffer, acknowledged that the young characters are "much more foulmouthed in season two than in season one," according to an interview with WIRED. Co-creator Matt Duffer explained that the child actors actually pushed for more swearing.

But in real life its far worse," Ross Duffer told WIRED. "Im like, I cannot believe that came out of your mouth."

He added that "when Netflix saw the first two episodes, they realized this is fine, its not going to turn off families."

But according to Pop Sugars Alessia Santoro. the increased swearing is an issue parents and teens need to consider before watching.

"Although most of this can be attributed to the mouths of Dustin ... and Steve ..., several characters take to swearing to articulate their feelings this season," Santoro writes.

The show also includes sexual innuendos, an increased amount of blood and gore, and party scenes that include smoking and underage drinking.

Although 'Stranger Things' is rated TV-14, upon binge-watching season two I think I'd personally give season one a PG-13 rating and the second season closer to an R rating, simply because the Duffer brothers turned everything from violence to swearing up a few notches in the show's latest nine episodes, Santoro wrote.

Reviewers at The Guardian also questioned whether the second season was too dark" as the characters are reeling from PTSD."

But The Atlantics Sophie Gilbert wrote that focusing on the after-effects of physical and emotional trauma is a highlight of the shows second season.

"One of the most maddening tropes within disaster movies is how characters whove endured extreme trauma tend to instantly recover as soon as theyre rescued," Gilbert wrote. "'Stranger Things 2,' though, is inflected from the start with the sense that, even a year later, its characters are still deeply altered by what happened to them."

In fact, the shows monster called the Shadow Monster might be a metaphor for the characters' traumatic struggles.

The darkness, it explains, is always there, in this dimension and in others," Gilbert wrote. "But it also presents a more honest path to surviving it not an instant fix, but a slow, difficult path toward recovery.
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New Medicare cards are in the mail and scammers are on the prowl
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The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has begun mailing new Medicare Health Insurance ID cards. The program no longer uses Social Security numbers to identify people. - photo by Lois M Collins
The federal government is beginning to send out new ID cards to the 58 million Americans who benefit from Medicare. But since many of the people who will receive them don't know they're coming or why, scammers are already gearing up to take advantage.

An AARP survey shows as many as three-fourths of Americans 65 and older have no idea the cards are coming, so some individuals may be duped with claims that they're supposed to pay a fee or provide personal information that will be used, instead, to defraud them.

The new cards are the first reissue in years, and the most striking part of the redesign is that the cards no longer carry the beneficiary's Social Security number. Congress mandated the removal of that number as an identifier for Medicare beneficiaries by next April. Instead, the card has a Medicare Beneficiary Identifier number, an 11-digit combination of numbers and letters.

The new Medicare cards are now being mailed out in batches, starting with the Eastern seaboard and moving west. Most Medicare beneficiaries will receive their cards over the next six months, as long as the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has their correct mailing address. Once the cards are in hand, people can share the new identification number with their health care providers. During a transition period, either card is valid.

The old cards, which used Social Security numbers as the personal identification number, should be destroyed.

AARP recently launched an education campaign to warn consumers about scams related to the new Medicare cards.

The membership organization's "Fraud Watch" consultant, Frank Abagnale reformed con man, scammer and the subject of the movie and book "Catch Me If You Can" tells senior citizens the only time they need to carry the actual Medicare card is to health care appointments. Otherwise, it should be left in a safe place. If they want to carry one in their wallet or purse, he says, make a copy and black out the first seven numbers.

Since the cards were announced, scammers have already:

  • Called seniors and asked for their bank account information so that money on their old card could be returned. There is no money on the old card and CMS never asks for personal information over the phone.
  • Offered to send the new card after Medicare beneficiaries pay a $25 fee to cover expenses related to the card. The card is free.
  • Said the card will be mailed out as soon as the older person verifies his or her Social Security number, mailing address and other personal information. CMS already knows the beneficiary's Social Security number and it's no longer being used in conjunction with health care.
AARP and the Federal Trade Commission will hold a free online seminar about the cards and the fraud attempts they have spawned on Thursday, April 19, at 7 p.m. EDT. Register at: www.aarp.org/FraudWebinar. CMS also offers a "frequently asked questions" guide to the new cards.

The AARP Fraud Watch Network says consumers can sign up for its Watchdog Alert emails that deliver breaking scam information, or call a free helpline at 877-908-3360 to speak with volunteers trained in fraud counseling. Abagnale also hosts a weekly podcast for AARP, called The Perfect Scam.
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