SCIENCE/TECH

U.S. Intelligence Is Helping Ukraine’s Counteroffensive

Former senior U.S. intelligence officials tell Newsy information from U.S. sources is helping Ukraine make new gains as it pushes back Russia.

U.S. intelligence has played a “significant” role in Ukraine’s once quiet but now widely praised counteroffensive, a member of Ukraine’s security service tells Newsy.

The source believes that Ukrainians first struck bridges in the southern region of Kherson, where Russian troops amassed, so that Ukraine could hinder them from resupplying or crossing the Dnipro River to travel north to the Kharkiv region, as a major counterattack started.

“They were running like mice,” said one Ukrainian Air Assault soldier. “They were running and abandoning everything — vehicles, their own men. They even shot one of their own who was wounded just to get away.”

Two former senior U.S. intelligence officials tell Newsy that intelligence sharing remains “robust,” and includes insight into the locations of Russian units. The U.S. has provided intelligence that helped Ukraine kill Russian generals and sink the prized Russian warship, the Moskva.

Officials in the Biden administration don’t want to discuss specific intelligence assessments, for fear they could jeopardize Ukrainian security or military operations. A senior U.S. defense official said this week that the U.S. provided information on conditions, but the Ukrainian military and political leadership decided how to conduct the counteroffensive.

Ukraine’s lightning advance has had a major impact in Moscow. Vladimir Putin’s spokesperson says a mobilization to replace lost and exhausted troops is not on the agenda and the Russian president is aware of all developments:

“The president is in constant contact, we can say, 24-hour contact with the defense minister and all the chiefs,” said Dmitry Peskov, a Russian presidential spokesman. “It can’t be any other way during the special military operation. The special military operation is ongoing and will continue until it reaches all of its goals.”

Jeffrey Edmonds, the former Russia director on the White House’s National Security Council, tells Newsy Putin’s position weakens the longer that Russia experiences losses, and “the more he loses, and knows he [is] losing, the higher the risk he will escalate in some way.”

“He does not know what to do and he will strike here even more,” said Serhii, a Kharkiv resident. “Just on infrastructure. He will strike so we don’t have water, electricity, to create more chaos and intimidate us. But he will not succeed because we will survive, and Putin will soon croak!”

With Ukraine’s swift military gains — some 6,000 square kilometers, according to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy — come honors for military intelligence officers.

“Your operations are not usually written about in the news, but they will definitely be written about in military science textbooks,” Zelenskyy said. “Your successes are often quiet and imperceptible to our people, but always painful and tangible to our enemy.”

According to British intelligence, Russian forces that hastily retreated from the northern Kharkiv region were from one of Russia’s most prestigious armies, meant to defend Moscow and lead potential counterattacks in the event of war with NATO. It will likely take years for Russia to rebuild that capability.

Source: newsy.com

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GOP’s Graham Unveils Nationwide Abortion Ban After 15 Weeks

The bill would prohibit the procedure after 15 weeks of pregnancy with rare exceptions.

Upending the political debate, Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham introduced a nationwide abortion ban Tuesday, sending shockwaves through both parties and igniting fresh debate on a fraught issue weeks before the midterm elections that will determine control of Congress.

Graham’s own Republican party leaders did not immediately embrace his abortion ban bill, which would prohibit the procedure after 15 weeks of pregnancy with rare exceptions, and has almost no chance of becoming law in the Democratic-held Congress. Democrats torched it as extreme, an alarming signal of where “MAGA” Republicans are headed if they win control of the House and Senate in November.

“America’s got to make some decisions,” Graham said at a press conference at the Capitol.

The South Carolina Republican said rather than shying away from the Supreme Court’s ruling this summer overturning Roe vs. Wade’s nearly 50-year right to abortion access, Republicans are preparing to fight to make a nationwide abortion ban federal law.

“Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no, we’re going nowhere,” the senator said flanked by women advocates from the anti-abortion movement. “We welcome the debate. We welcome the vote in the United States Senate as to what America should look like in 2022.”

Reaction was swift, fierce and unwavering from Democrats who viewed Graham’s legislation as an extreme example of the far-right’s hold on the GOP, and as a political gift of self-inflicted pain for Republican candidates now having to answer questions about an abortion ban heading toward the midterm elections.

“A nationwide abortion ban — that’s the contrast between the two parties, plain and simple,” said Senate Majority leader Chuck Schumer.

Sen. Patty Murray, a Democrat from Washington who is in her own fight for reelection, said Republicans “want to force” women to stay pregnant and deliver babies.

“To anyone who thought they were safe, here is the painful reality,” she said. “Republicans are coming for your rights.”

The sudden turn of events comes in a razor-tight election season as Republicans hoping to seize control of Congress are struggling to recapture momentum, particularly after the Supreme Court’s landmark decision sparked deep concerns among some voters, with signs of women voters peeling away from the GOP.

In a midterm election where the party out of the White House traditionally holds an advantage, even more so this year with President Joe Biden’s lackluster approval ratings, the Democrats have regained their own momentum pushing back the GOP candidates in House and Senate races.

Tuesday’s announcement set up an immediate split screen with Biden and Democrats poised to celebrate their accomplishments in a ceremony at the White House after passage of the Inflation Reduction Act and Republicans forced to answer for Graham’s proposed abortion ban.

“This bill is wildly out of step with what Americans believe,” said White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre in a statement.

“While President Biden and Vice President Harris are focused on the historic passage of the Inflation Reduction Act to reduce the cost of prescription drugs, health care, and energy – and to take unprecedented action to address climate change – Republicans in Congress are focused on taking rights away from millions of women,” Jean-Pierre said.

Graham’s legislation has almost zero chance of becoming law, but it elevates the abortion issue at a time when other Republicans would prefer to focus on inflation, border security and Biden’s leadership.

The Republican bill would ban abortions nationwide after 15 weeks of pregnancy, expect in cases of rape, incest or risks to the physical health of the mother. Graham said it would put the U.S. on par with many other countries in Europe and around the world.

In particular, Graham’s bill would leave in place state laws that are more restrictive. That provision is notable because many Republicans have argued the Supreme Court’s ruling leaves the abortion issue for the states to decide. But the legislation from the Republicans makes it clear states are only allowed to decide the issue if their abortion bans are more stringent.

Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell, who is one seat away from majority control, declined to embrace Graham’s legislation.

“I think every Republican senator running this year in these contested races has an answer as to how they feel about the issue,” McConnell said. “So I leave it up to our candidates who are quite capable of handling this issue to determine for them what their response is.”

The Democratic senators most at risk this fall and other Democratic candidates running for Congress appeared eager to fight against Graham’s proposed nationwide abortion ban.

Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, the Democrat from Nevada tweeted that Graham “and every other anti-choice extremist can take a hike.”

Her Republican opponent, Adam Laxalt, has during his campaign insisted that abortion is protected in the state constitution, which it would no longer be under this bill.

In Colorado, another Democratic up for reelection, Sen. Michael Bennet, tweeted: “A nationwide abortion ban is outrageous.”

Bennet pledged “to defend a woman’s right to make her own health care decisions, no matter what ZIP code she lives in. We cannot afford to let the Republicans take back the Senate.”

His opponent in Colorado, Republican Senate hopeful Joe O’Dea, who supports putting abortion access that had been guaranteed under Roe vs. Wade into law, agreed, in part: “A Republican ban is as reckless and tone deaf as is Joe Biden and Chuck Schumer’s hostility to considering any compromise on late term abortion, parental notification or conscience protections for religious hospitals.”

The races for control of Congress are tight in the split 50-50 Senate where one seat determines majority control and the House, where Speaker Nancy Pelosi can afford to lose only a very few seats.

Pelosi called Graham’s bill the “clearest signal of extreme MAGA Republicans’ intent to criminalize women’s health freedom in all 50 states and arrest doctors for providing basic care. Make no mistake: if Republicans get the chance, they will work to pass laws even more draconian than this bill.”

Republican leaders on Capitol Hill tried to hold the party together amid the differences.

“I think that what it’s attempting to do is probably change the conversation a little bit,” said Sen. John Thune, a Republican from South Dakota, and second-ranking party leader.

“Democrats are implying that all Republicans are for a ban without exceptions, and that’s not true,” Thune said. “There are Republicans who are in favor of restrictions. And I think this is an attempt to at least put something out there that reflects the views of a lot of Republicans who are in favor of some restrictions.”

Additional reporting by The Associated Press.

Source: newsy.com

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How Christians Are Coupling Biblical Concepts With Mental Wellness

Leaders in faith and science are trying to bridge the two in the mental health space by providing resources and support to congregations.

According to a study from Lifeway research, 54% of protestant pastors say they have had a member of their congregation diagnosed with a severe mental illness, and the pandemic is only exacerbating the challenges faith leaders are facing.

But mental health experts say the bridge between the mental health community and faith leaders has narrowed, allowing for a partnership among believers and doctors.

Dr. Nii Addy — a podcaster, Yale professor, and neuroscientist — has made it his mission to show fellow Christians how science, mental health and faith go hand in hand.

“A lot of what we do in our research is trying to understand what happens in the brain during states of anxiety, states of depression, if people are navigating through addiction,” Dr. Addy said. “As I talk about that science, I’ve heard people say, ‘Okay, that really gave me more of a sense for why my loved one is acting like this.'”

Christians across the country are finding ways to marry Biblical concepts with with treatment and therapy.

Peace Amadi, a pastor’s daughter, says she grew up knowing all the right verses until college.

“I had my own experiences with anxiety,” Amadi said. “I had my own experiences with mild depression… and, just to put it plainly, a lot of bullying.”

She turned that experience into a career as a psychology professor at a Christian university.

Psychologist Archandria Owens says she was once told her faith was a liability in psychology; now she uses Biblical concepts as a tool.

“How do we just manifest and do our best to look at spiritual wellness as a dimension that is crucial in wellness?” Dr. Owens asked. “Our brains are so in cue in to looking at what’s wrong in the world because we need to be able to predict how to protect ourselves, so this spiritual practice of gratitude, really looking for what’s good, changes the brain.”

Dr. Addy, Amadi and Dr. Owens all say they are encouraged to see a greater acceptance of mental health treatment in the religious realm, pointing to the pandemic as well as deaths by suicide among faith leaders as major turning points.

According to a Lifeway Research study, 26% percent of protestant pastors say they are dealing with their own mental health struggles.

“Even when you have faith, even when you lean into prayer, even when you’re a leader, even when you’re doing all the right things, there’s something that we’re still not exempt from,” Amadi said.

Dr. Addy says more pastors are opening up about their own challenges.

“This is someone I look up to as a leader who is saying that they’re working through that, that they are working through it with prayer, but they’re also working through it with counseling,” Dr. Addy said.

The first line of defense in the mental health battle for many religious communities are the pastors.

A Rice University survey of Black and Latino Christians found that most would pray or seek counsel from a pastor if they’re in the midst of a mental health crisis.

The Department of Health and Human Service has partnered with churches to make sure leaders have the tools they need, including serving as a branch to mental health professionals.

“You don’t stop believing in God when you need your healing,” Amadi said. “You don’t stop believing in God because you’re seeking a specialist. It all can work together.”

Newsy’s mental health initiative “America’s Breakdown: Confronting Our Mental Health Crisis” brings you deeply personal and thoughtfully told stories on the state of mental health care in the U.S. Click here to learn more.

Source: newsy.com

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Biden To Tell Ohioans His Policies Will Revive Manufacturing

Intel had delayed groundbreaking on the $20 billion plant until Congress passed the bipartisan CHIPS and Science Act.

President Joe Biden wants to put the spotlight on a rare bipartisan down payment on U.S. manufacturing when he visits Ohio on Friday for the groundbreaking of a new Intel computer chip facility.

President Biden heads to suburban Columbus to take a victory lap just as voters in the state are starting to tune in to a closely contested Senate race between Democratic Rep. Tim Ryan and Republican author and venture capital executive JD Vance. They’re competing in a former swing state that has trended Republican over the last decade.

Intel had delayed groundbreaking on the $20 billion plant until Congress passed the bipartisan CHIPS and Science Act. Both Ryan and Ohio Republican Gov. Mike DeWine, who is facing Democrat Nan Whaley in his reelection bid, plan to be at Friday’s groundbreaking.

In his State of the Union address last March, President Biden said he envisioned the Intel plant as a model for a U.S. economy that revolves around technology, factories and the middle class. The plant speaks to how the president is trying to revive American manufacturing nationwide, including in states that are solidly Republican or political toss-ups.

Chipmaker Micron committed $15 billion for a factory in Idaho, Corning will build an optical fiber facility in Arizona and First Solar plans to construct its fourth solar panel plant in the Southeast, all announcements that stemmed from President Biden administration initiatives.

As part of President Biden’s visit, Intel will announce that it’s providing $17.7 million to Ohio colleges and universities to develop education programs focused on the computer chips sector.

Factory work is one of the few issues going into November’s midterm elections that has crossover appeal at a time when issues such as abortion, inflation and the nature of democracy have dominated the contest to control Congress.

Ryan had largely been hesitant to share a stage with President Biden, as appearing with the country’s top Democrat could hurt his chances in a state that backed Republican Donald Trump by eight points in both 2016 and 2020.

Ryan skipped the president’s July 6 visit to Cleveland to plug his administration’s efforts to shore up troubled pension programs for blue-collar workers. President Biden nonetheless referred to him as the “future Senator Tim Ryan” and thanked him for his “incredible work” on the legislation.

The Youngstown-area congressman committed to appearing with President Biden this week because of the importance of the Intel facility in a state that has long defined itself through its factories, mills and working-class sensibilities.

“This is a huge opportunity,” Ryan told CNN on Sunday. “The CHIPS Act that we passed is all about reshoring high-end manufacturing jobs.”

Yet in a Thursday TV interview with Youngstown’s WFMJ on the eve of President Biden’s visit, Ryan said he is “campaigning as an independent.” When asked if President Biden should seek a second term, Ryan said, “My hunch is that we need new leadership across the board, Democrats, Republicans, I think it’s time for like a generational move.”

The open Senate seat in Ohio, currently held by the retiring Republican Sen. Rob Portman, is one of several hotly contested races that could determine whether Democrats can hold their slim majority in the chamber for the second half of President Biden’s term.

Several Democrats in competitive races have at moments sought to maintain some distance from President Biden, whose public approval ratings have ticked up in recent weeks but remain underwater.

A spokesman said DeWine also plans to attend the groundbreaking, making him among the few Republicans on the ballot this year who are willing to share a stage with the president. President Biden has in recent weeks said that extremist Republican lawmakers who refuse to accept the results of the 2020 election are a threat to democracy, a charge that has only intensified partisan tensions with control of the House and the Senate on the line.

Vance, the Republican Senate candidate in Ohio, hailed the Intel plant in a statement at as “a great bipartisan victory” for the state. He specifically applauded the “hard work” of GOP lawmakers including DeWine and Portman, but Vance pointedly made no mention of President Biden.

The shortage of semiconductors has plagued the U.S. and global economies. It cut into production of autos, household appliances and other goods in ways that fueled high inflation, while creating national security risks as the U.S. recognized its dependence on Asia for chip production.

The mix of high prices and long waits for basic goods has left many Americans feeling disgruntled about President Biden’s economic leadership, a political weakness that has lessened somewhat as gasoline prices have fallen and many voters have grown concerned about the loss of abortion protections after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.

The new law would provide $28 billion in incentives for semiconductor production, $10 billion for new manufacturing of chips and $11 billion for research and development. The funding follows similar efforts by Europe and China to accelerate chip production, which political leaders see as essential for competing economically and militarily.

President Biden has pitched the legislation as a “once-in-a-generation investment in America” that could reduce U.S. dependence on Taiwan and South Korea at a time when China is seeking to expand its presence across Asia and its shipping lanes.

Lawmakers crafted the semiconductor investments to favor areas outside the wealthier coastal cities where tech dominates. That means change will be coming to the Ohio city of New Albany, where the Intel plant is being constructed, as well as nearby Johnstown.

Don Harvey, a sporting goods store owner and longtime Johnstown resident, likes the idea of a company making things again in the United States, and also providing potentially high-paying jobs for his five grandchildren down the road. Intel has said pay will average $135,000 for its 3,000 Ohio workers.

“What an opportunity in my eyes for Ohio and the United States as a whole,” said the 63-year-old Harvey.

Elyse Priest lives in a subdivision just up the road from the plant, and received a firsthand taste of the construction recently as she watched a huge cloud of dust roll up from the 1,000-acre site currently being leveled. Priest, 38, also knows the road-widening and added traffic will affect her commute to downtown Columbus where she works as a legal assistant.

“I’m concerned about losing the small town feel I’ve always had and loved about Johnstown,” Priest said. “But I know it’s going to be a greater good for the whole state.”

Additional reporting by The Associated Press.

Source: newsy.com

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Illinois Town’s $13 Million Water System Will Remove All Toxic PFAS

Per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, don’t degrade over time, which causes harm to humans when ingested through water or other products.

Freeport is a small industrial city of 24,000 in northwest Illinois. For a price tag of $13 million, it’s building a new water system to tap deep into new, uncontaminated water sources.

“The most important room is… the filter room,” said Rob Boyer, Freeport public works director, while visiting the construction site. “It is designed to produce approximately 2 million gallons per day of potable drinking water.”

Boyer says when the “enormous” project is completed sometime in 2023, the city’s drinking water will be entirely free of so-called forever chemicals.

“This is critical to life and health issues in the city and for its residents, and that’s why it’s prioritized,” Boyer said, noting that there’s no contamination in the source water where the new well and plant are being built.

About 10 years ago, the EPA found high levels of forever chemicals in two wells that produced about a third of Freeport’s drinking water.

Boyer says he can only speculate what the source of the contamination could have been, but that speculation points him to the prevalence of industry in general there.

Per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, are nicknamed forever chemicals because they don’t degrade over time. This group of man-made chemicals have been used in many consumer and industrial products since the 1950s.

“There are over 200 different use categories, ranging from dental floss to clothing to carpets to compostable cookware to all kinds of plastics,” said Linda Birnbaum, former director of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences.

The chemicals were pioneered by conglomerates 3M and Dupont. They’ve been popular because of their resistance to water, stains, heat and oil.

Since they don’t break down, the are now omnipresent in our environment — and even in our blood.

“I would say that everyone in our country has them in their bodies,” Birnbaum said.

Scientists are now linking these chemicals to potential harmful health effects, such as kidney and testicular cancers. But back in 2014, the chemicals’ potential negative impacts were not as well-known.

Still, Freeport officials quickly shut down the two wells with the most contamination. Soon after, they put in motion plans to drill the new well and build the new treatment plant.

“It is protecting our lives here, and it’s protecting the residents’ lives here,” Boyer said.

According to the advocacy nonprofit the Environmental Working Group, more than 200 million Americans may be drinking water contaminated with the chemicals.

Freeport officials tell Newsy their decision to completely revamp the city’s drinking water system puts them on the leading edge of the national fight against forever chemicals, but at what cost?

Like hundreds of impacted cities nationwide, Freeport is considering joining ongoing litigation against 3M, Dupont and other PFAS manufacturers.

But for now, it’s the residents who bear the health and financial costs caused by pollution most people don’t even know exists.

Source: newsy.com

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Scientists Are Trying To Solve The ‘Forever Chemicals’ Problem

PFAS are chemicals that don’t wear down even after being disposed. Now scientists are trying to address them before they cause human side effects.

Perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, are chemicals that have made a lot of products better: They have been used in firefighting foam, food wrappers, makeup and, maybe most famously, in the original formulation for Teflon used in non-stick pans.

But PFAS might be a little too good at their jobs. They don’t wear down while they’re used, and even when they get thrown out, they don’t go away. It’s led to them being dubbed “forever chemicals.”

PFAS have been detected in people’s blood, and studies have suggested 98% of people have PFAS somewhere in their body. They’ve been found in air, soil and drinking water.

They’re also associated with some significant negative side effects if you’re exposed to them at high enough levels. Those can include decreased fertility, developmental delays in children, high cholesterol, higher blood pressure in pregnant people, worse response to vaccines, and higher risks of prostate, kidney and testicular cancers.

David Andrews, a senior scientist at the advocacy nonprofit the Environmental Working Group, says you don’t need to be exposed to that much of it to be at risk.

“The number of studies and the research going on continues to expose more and more different health effects, and I think what also stands out is that these health effects and these linkages to health really occur at incredibly low concentrations,” Andrews said.

It’s not clear exactly how bad they are for you, and not everyone exposed to PFAS will necessarily develop these side effects. But there’s a lot of movement to address the issue as research reveals more about them.

Now, advocates are aiming to find ways to break down these compounds and make sure they’re not used as much in the first place.

“We can’t just focus on destroying the chemicals once they’re in the environment because the environment is already very saturated with past chemicals, and they stay there forever,” said Melanie Benesh, vice president of government affairs at the Environmental Working Group. “It’s an enormous task if we think about taking PFAS out of all the water, if we think about taking PFAS out of all the contaminated communities, so just having a destruction technology isn’t the solution. We also really need to put less of this stuff out in the environment in the first place.”

But it’s not just advocacy groups like the Environmental Working Group working on policy solutions.

It’s not clear when historically-large PFAS producers like DuPont, Chemours and 3M knew about the negative health effects of these chemicals. But all three note that they’ve reduced the levels of PFAS used in their products and committed to PFAS destruction. 3M, for example, says they have invested more than $200 million toward testing and clean-up.

At the government level, the EPA has gone even further.

In the last year-plus, the EPA proposed a rule to require PFAS producers to turn over more data about how the chemicals are used and announced more plans to address PFAS water contamination, including $1 billion that states can apply for in grants to help remove PFAS from their drinking water.

This year, they have taken further steps, designating two of the most widely-used PFAS compounds, often known as PFOAs and PFOS, as hazardous substances under the Superfund rules.

“The EPA does have some power currently to address people as pollutants or contaminants, but the set of tools that they have is a lot smaller if something is not a hazardous substance,” Benesh said. “So now that the EPA is considering calling PFOA perhaps hazardous substances, once that’s final, the EPA can use appropriated funds, and then just generally it’ll change the way that they prioritize sites that are contaminated with these substances.”

In August, researchers at UCLA, Northwestern University and China’s Tianjin University released a study in the journal Science that showed PFAS can be destroyed relatively easily and inexpensively.

Will Dichtel, the Northwestern professor who oversaw the study, told Newsy how.

“We found that a certain type of group that is found in two of the largest classes of us out there, known as that carboxylic acid, is now known in organic chemistry to be able to be removed under certain conditions,” Dichtel said. “So the eureka moment here was when we figured out that this reaction that was discovered a few years ago could be applied too fast and that that they would then fall apart into safe products.”

It remains to be seen if it will work outside a lab, but it opens the door to a potentially revolutionary new path to making sure fewer “forever chemicals” actually last “forever.”

Source: newsy.com

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Pres. Biden To Deliver Speech On ‘Battle For The Soul Of The Nation’

The president is aiming to inspire voters with rhetoric from his 2020 campaign.

It’s one of President Joe Biden’s most often repeated lines from his 2020 presidential campaign: “We’re in a battle for the soul of this nation.”

Now, he’s bringing that message back in a speech Thursday evening as he launches into a midterm season where Democrats possibly face losing control of their majority in Congress.

Liz Suhay is an associate professor of government at American University, where she studies political psychology.

“I actually think that many Americans do believe that the soul of the nation is at stake, but they have very different ideas about what’s going wrong, who’s to blame and how you fix it,” she said. “I think what Biden is trying to do, electorally, is try to energize the coalition that led Democrats to victory in the 2018 and 2020 elections. And so that coalition is going to be made up, of course, of Democrats, of many independents who are not fans of Donald Trump, and a small slice of Republicans who are also anti-Trump.”

The Biden administration says the address will highlight what President Biden considers threats to America’s core values, with his spokeswoman telling reporters that “our rights and freedoms are under attack.”

Recently, President Biden has also begun referring to Trump-ism as “semi-facism,” a label that Darren Davis, a professor of political science at the University of Notre Dame, says is also directly targeted to appeal to the coalition that got President Biden elected.

“I think it really helps more than it hurts. People in the middle help understand what is at stake,” he said. “It helps articulate the consequences. It helps frame these issues. But also, you know, it allows Biden to talk tough at the same time.”

But despite recent Democratic wins in Washington — like passage of the Inflation Reduction Act, hailed as the largest investment ever to prevent climate change — President Biden still faces just 44% approval in August.

And he also faces dismal rankings on the economy, with 60% disapproval on his handling of the economy and 65% percent disapproval on his handling of inflation, according to the latest CBS News poll.

But will the president’s rhetoric inspire the voters who turned out for him in 2020?

“When things aren’t particularly great or positive for the incumbent president in the midterms, he has to turn to something. And I think he’s turning to what actually worked in 2020,” Davis said.

Source: newsy.com

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What Makes Nutrition Advice Confusing?

Newsy’s Heath and Science correspondent Lindsey Theis looks into whether nutrition advice is helpful or confusing.

The first lesson in diet and nutrition 101 is to forget everything you think you know about diet and nutrition.

Because chances are as soon as you’ve got it down, more advice or another diet pops up.

Take cholesterol and fats, for example: until 2015, the USDA recommended no more than 300 milligrams of cholesterol daily.

For some perspective, a single egg has 186 milligrams.

But the government removed the limit in 2015.

Officials couldn’t prove the link between dietary cholesterol and cholesterol in the blood.

You may remember the food pyramid from your grade school days.

It suggested a diet of six to 11 servings of breads, cereal, rice and pasta, three to five servings of vegetables and even fewer servings of meat, dairy, fruit and fats.

The USDA scrapped that dietary guide over a decade ago and replaced it with “My Plate” showing a new way of how to section and balance your meals.

Your food choices add up, and they all matter. So where do you start?

The USDA recommends fruits and vegetables should now make up half of your plate with less protein, dairy and grains.

But this year over half of Americans said they’d never seen “My Plate” before, or knew little about it.

Then there’s calorie confusion: how many calories should we put on our plates?

“Calories are important outside of weight loss for overall health, especially for longevity. So we want to take care of our body with really good quality calories,”said Grey.

Some food-tracking apps like “My Fitness Pal” are based on a minimum 1,200 calorie daily diet for the quickest weight loss results.

Historians trace this number back to one of the first modern diet books ever released in 1918.

At the time the author Lulu Hunt Peters suggested 1,200 calories a day would keep someone’s weight controlled. It was also unpatriotic to “be fat” while thousands were starving during the WWI era.

Certified Nutritionist Liana Warner Grey is among a chorus of food experts who say eating 1,200 calories a day is not only unhealthy, it’s the amount a toddler should eat.

“The 1,200 calories a day is definitely a myth. We need need more fuel, more clean calories to get us through the day,” said Grey.

Current USDA guidelines say adult women need between 1,600 to 2,400 calories a day, depending on their height, weight and activity level.

Adult men need 2,000 to 3,000 calories a day.

And one approach doesn’t fit all.

A 2019 study found even identical twins don’t react to food the same way, suggesting no single diet exists that works for everyone.

Doctors say there are many other lesser-known factors like stress.

“The more stress people that people were experiencing, the more weight they were gaining,” said Dr. Arthur Evans, the CEO of the American Psychological Association.

Out-of-whack hormones like cortisol or leptin also contribute to weight gain.

Even what type of sugar we eat.

“The brain responds differently to different sugars. So corn syrup hits very differently in the body than what monk fruit or honey will do because those sugars actually provide nutritional value,” said Grey.

Researchers say celebrity influence also plays a major role in what we eat.

A study in The Journal of the American Medical Association this year looked at some of the most followed celebrity accounts on Instagram.

They found an overwhelming number of posts about food and drinks that were unhealthy by U.S. nutritional standards.

One of the studies authors says celebrities and social media have the kind of influence that can help sustain eating trends and set norms.

“This can really contribute to followers’ perception of what is common what is valued in society right now,” said Bradley Turnwald, a behavioral scientist at The University of Chicago.

On TikTok, videos tagged “nutrition” have amassed nearly eight billion views, and posts about diet hit over 20 billion views.

Many contradict one another .

Dr. Idrees Mughal told the New York Times viewers tag him in 100 to 200 videos every day for help.

The British doctor, who has a Master’s in nutrition, dedicates his entire TikTok to scientifically debunking hundreds of claims.

For example someone said on TikTok, “eggs are one of the worst foods you can eat, full of fat and cholesterol.”

Mughal says “eggs are one of the most nutrient rich foods we could eat, as well as being a well high quality protein and digestible amino acids. Eggs are top of the list.”

TikTok says it has measures to address harmful diet and nutrition advice.

The company says it removes creators who violate their disordered eating policies and flags potentially harmful searches.

But even research that experts cite isn’t always cut and dried. And variables or research blindspots can get lost in a catchy headline.

Nutritionists say the perfect diet study is unachievable.

They emphasize a “healthy” diet isn’t one size fits everybody.

And that drowning out the noise and listening your own body is best.

Source: newsy.com

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Missouri School District Reinstates Spanking If Parents OK

Classes resumed in the Cassville School District for the first time since the school board in June approved bringing corporal punishment back.

A school district in southwestern Missouri decided to bring back spanking as a form of discipline for students — if their parents agree — despite warnings from many public health experts that the practice is detrimental to students.

Classes resumed Tuesday in the Cassville School Districtfor the first time since the school board in June approved bringing corporal punishment back to the 1,900-student district about 60 miles southwest of Springfield. The district had dropped the practice in 2001.

The policy states that corporal punishment will be used only when other forms of discipline, such as suspensions, have failed and then only with the superintendent’s permission.

Superintendent Merlyn Johnson told The Springfield News-Leader the decision came after an anonymous survey found that parents, students and school employees were concerned about student behavior and discipline.

“We’ve had people actually thank us for it,” he said. “Surprisingly, those on social media would probably be appalled to hear us say these things, but the majority of people that I’ve run into have been supportive.”

Parent Khristina Harkey told The Associated Press on Friday that she is on the fence about Cassville’s policy. She and her husband did not opt-in because her 6-year-old son, Anakin Modine, is autistic and would hit back if he were spanked. But she said corporal punishment worked for her when she was a “troublemaker” during her school years in California.

“There are all different types of kids,” Harkey said. “Some people need a good butt-whipping. I was one of them.”

Morgan Craven, national director of policy, advocacy and community engagement with the Intercultural Development Research Association, a national educational equity nonprofit, called corporal punishment a “wildly inappropriate, ineffective practice.”

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 1977 that corporal punishment is constitutional and left it up to states to set their own policies. Craven said 19 states, many in the South, have laws allowing it in schools. The most current data from 2017-18 shows about 70,000 children in the U.S. were hit at least once in their schools.

Students who are hit at school do not fare as well academically as their peers and suffer physical and psychological trauma, Craven said. In some cases, children are hurt so badly that they need medical attention.

“If you have a situation where a kid goes to school and they could be slapped for, you know, some minor offense, it certainly creates a really hostile, unpredictable and violent environment,” Craven said. “And that’s not what we want for kids in schools.”

But Tess Walters, 54, the guardian of her 8-year-old granddaughter, had no qualms about signing the corporal punishment opt-in papers. She said the possibility of being spanked is a deterrent for her granddaughter, who has attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.

“I’ve read some some people’s responses on Facebook recently, and they’re just going over the top like, ‘Oh, this is abuse, and, oh, you’re just going to threaten them with, you know, violence.’ And I’m like, ‘What? The child is getting spanked once; it’s not beatings.’ People are just going crazy. They’re just being ridiculous,” Walters said.

Mitch Prinstein, chief science officer with American Psychological Association, said decades of research shows corporal punishment will not reduce inappropriate behavior and is likely to increase aggression, rage, hostility and could lead to depression and self-esteem problems.

Prinstein said better methods for eliminating undesirable conduct including problem-solving training; rewarding positive behavior, such as with extra recess; and providing extra attention in the classroom.

“Parents are experts on what works for their own children,” Prinstein said. “But it’s important for parents to be educated on very substantial science literature demonstrating again that corporal punishment is not a consistently effective way of changing undesirable behavior.”

Sarah Font, an associate professor of sociology and public policy at Pennsylvania State University, coauthored a 2016 study on the subject. Her research found that districts using corporal punishment are generally in poor, Republican-leaning rural areas in Southern states. Font said Black children are disproportionately subjected to it.

The disparity frustrates Ellen Reddy, of the Nollie Jenkins Family Center, which advocates on issues such as corporal punishment and special education.

“Look at the history of violence against Black and brown bodies,” said Reddy, who described herself as a Black mother of sons and a grandson. “Since we’ve been in this country, there’s been violence perpetrated against our children, our families, our foreparents. So when do we stop that kind of violence?”

Disabled students also are more likely to be subjected to corporal punishment, said Elizabeth Gershoff, a professor of human development and family sciences at the University of Texas at Austin. She said that led four states — Tennessee, Oklahoma, Mississippi and Louisiana — to ban using it for those students.

She noted that overall, corporal punishment is on the decline, with the numbers dropping steadily since the federal government started tracking it in the late 1970s.

“Most schools are realizing, ‘You know what, we can discipline children, we can guide their behavior without hitting them,'” said Gershoff, who authored the 2016 study with Font.

Cassville School District spokeswoman Mindi Artherton was out of the office Friday and a woman who answered the phone in her office suggested reading the policy. She said staff had already done interviews. “At this time, we will focus on educating our students,” she added, before hanging up.

The policy says a witness from the district, which is in a county that is around 93% white, must be present and that the discipline will not be used in front of other students.

“When it becomes necessary to use corporal punishment, it shall be administered so that there can be no chance of bodily injury or harm,” the policy says. “Striking a student on the head or face is not permitted.”

In Missouri, periodic efforts to ban corporal punishment in schools have failed to gain traction in the Legislature. The state does not track which districts allow spanking because those decisions are made at the local level, a spokeswoman for Missouri’s K-12 education department said.

U.S. Sen. Christopher Murphy, a Connecticut Democrat, is pushing for a ban on the use of corporal punishment in schools that receive federal funding. He has called it a “barbaric practice” that allows teachers and administrators to physically abuse students.

Additional reporting by the Associated Press.

Source: newsy.com

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Exclusive: FBI Agents In The U.S. Report Symptoms Of Mystery Syndrome

There have been a dozen or more incidents of FBI agents reporting strange brain symptoms on U.S. soil, but investigation remains relatively quiet.

The issue first made headlines after American diplomats and spies in Havana experienced puzzling brain injury symptoms in 2016, including dizziness, headaches and memory loss. The government calls this mysterious syndrome “Anomalous Health Incidents.”

Newsy has new, exclusive details that FBI agents are also reporting these symptoms on U.S. soil.

Prominent national security attorney Mark Zaid represents current and former FBI personnel. He says a dozen or more incidents have been reported in Washington, D.C. and in Florida, mainly out of the bureau’s Miami field office.

“There have been double digit members of the FBI, employees of the FBI, who have been injured in multiple locations inside the United States,” Zaid said. “These are cases that have been brought to the attention not only of the FBI, but also the CIA and the DNI and folks on the Hill. These have not been really publicized in any way. In fact, the reality is domestic incidents are being downplayed, if not outright ignored, by the U.S. government.”

Zaid says the incidents have mostly occurred within the last four years. The common thread he’s seen in victims across multiple agencies is work related to Russia.

“The AHI investigation is like an iceberg,” Zaid said. “We only see the top one-third. Most of it is beneath the surface. I’ve seen beneath the surface, but even I have only seen a little bit beneath the surface.”

Just this winter, the CIA assessed that most reports were explained by medical or environmental conditions, not a foreign adversary. But the agency still couldn’t rule out a nation-state in a subset of cases.

The attorney’s requests for FBI records under the Freedom of Information Act have so far led to nothing. A recent letter described B7A exemptions, which withhold documents pending a criminal investigation.

When Newsy described the incidents to the FBI, the bureau said the issue is “a top priority” and that “the FBI takes all U.S. government personnel who report symptoms seriously,” including messaging its workforce about how to respond if they experience an incident and where they can receive medical evaluations.

Zaid is also trying to get a 150-page report from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, which he says they’re suddenly calling a “draft.”

He believes the CIA is wary of this report going public because it contradicts the agency. It hews more closely to a National Academy of Sciences report that finds pulsed electromagnetic energy the most plausible cause.

Source: newsy.com

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