Category: Health – Happiness

Abortion Is Terrifying Republicans

Politico

Opinion | Abortion Is Terrifying Republicans

Rich Lowry – April 13, 2023

Nam Y. Huh/AP Photo

Politicians are motivated by many things, among them power, fame, idealism, greed — and fear.

The last of these is not to be underestimated. It is a powerful, gut-level force that can strike the most loquacious politicians dumb and make the most attention-hungry suddenly shy. It can cause officeholders or candidates to reverse field on a long-held position almost instantaneously and abase themselves however seems necessary to get to safety.

Republicans at the national level, right now, are scared. You can hear it in their silence on the issue of abortion after a district judge in Texas struck down the FDA approval of the abortion pill mifepristone. That decision also came immediately after Republicans lost a key race for a Supreme Court seat in Wisconsin to a progressive jurist who ran, to a large extent, on abortion rights.

You could say the Republican fight or flight instinct is kicking in, except it’s none of the former and all of the latter.

It’s like the nature show set in the Serengeti when all the gazelle sense lions in the vicinity and freeze in place, their heads in the air on high alert, waiting to make their next move — but pretty certain someone’s getting taken down, no matter what direction they run.

Much of what has happened since Dobbs is what you’d expect after a longstanding national legal regime on abortion is lifted and the states are given the freedom to decide their own policies. There has been a sorting out toward a new political and policy equilibrium, with red and blue states occupying different poles of the spectrum, and purple states up for grabs.

The good news for Republicans is that there are more restrictions on abortion in place than at any time in the last 50 years, and they still took a majority in the House in last year’s midterms, if smaller than expected.

There is broad sentiment for more restrictions than existed under Roe, but location and specifics matter immensely.

In Indiana and in much of the South, Republicans have passed sweeping abortion bans and paid no discernible political price for it.

In Georgia, Republican Gov. Brian Kemp signed a six-week ban on abortion in 2019. It went into effect after the Supreme Court overturned Roe, and Kemp won reelection handily in a race where the Democrat, Stacey Abrams, made abortion a major issue. In Texas, the details differ, but the story is much the same. The GOP-controlled Florida House takes up a six-week abortion ban on Thursday that Gov. Ron DeSantis is expected to sign after it’s passed.

But especially in Michigan and Wisconsin, the issue has been a debacle for the party, and it has suffered notable losses elsewhere, with perhaps more in the offing.

One lesson should be that Republicans can’t just run and hide on an issue that has been of defining importance to their base and that Democrats are going to hammer them on regardless of how they try to minimize it.

Another is that outside of the Deep South, complete bans can’t be defended politically, and the traditional exceptions for rape, incest and life of the mother are essential; polling for anti-abortion groups shows that even Republicans and conservatives don’t support prohibitions without the exceptions, which account for a tiny proportion of abortions.

What is required is a meeting somewhere in the middle between an anti-abortion movement that has to embrace incremental change and a Republican establishment that has to be willing to fight.

The Michigan and Wisconsin disasters stemmed from statutes that no one would have written in the post-Dobbs environment. Michigan had a 1931 law still on the books, and Wisconsin’s dated from 1849. These complete bans with narrow exceptions went too far for these purple or blue states, and Republicans were inevitably going to get hurt by their association with them.

In Kansas last year, a ballot measure that said the state’s constitution “does not create or secure a right to abortion” went down to a stinging defeat — the vagueness of the proposal allowed opponents to fill in the picture by arguing it would clear the way for a total ban.

Republicans should be pushing for restrictions that go as far as a state’s voters are willing to accept, and no further, while being absolutely clear about the details. This will require keen political judgment and shrewd tactics, both of which are hard to muster in the midst of a panic.

The other obvious imperative for the GOP is to try to focus attention on the extremism of the Democratic maximalist position on abortion, which is out of step with public opinion (Gallup finds that only 35 percent of people say abortion should be legal with no restrictions). Republican candidates who emerged unscathed on the issue last year had some success in flipping the script this way.

In the current controversy over the abortion pill, that means hitting the Biden administration for attempting an end run around an 1873 law prohibiting the use of the mail to deliver an “instrument, substance, drug, medicine, or thing” that could be used in an abortion, as a way to undermine abortion restrictions in red states.

While the Republican record fighting ballot measures to guarantee access to abortion is dreadful in the post-Dobbs era — they’ve lost everywhere — they are going to have to do more of it. Emboldened Democrats are getting referenda on the ballot in a number of red states over the next two years. A signature battle will be a vote to write abortion rights into the state constitution in Ohio later this year. If opponents defeat the measure, it will be on the strength of arguments that the amendment will end up making parental consent laws impossible and go further than the pre-Dobbs abortion regime.

Make no mistake: In many places, Republicans are simply seeking to neutralize the Democratic political advantage on the issue and fight to a draw. If this is unsatisfying and discomfiting, it’s still better than the pre-Dobbs context when the politics were easier but it was impossible to get any meaningful restrictions done. Yes, it would have been better if Republicans had spent a little more time during the prior half-century contemplating what they’d do if Roe fell, but here we are.

If there’s one thing that should be clear, it’s that fear — no matter how natural or visceral — is no substitute for careful thought and considered action.

Does dehydration cause high blood pressure? What you need to know.

USA Today

Does dehydration cause high blood pressure? What you need to know.

Daryl Austin – April 13, 2023

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is concerned that Americans aren’t doing enough to manage cases of high blood pressure.

“The higher your blood pressure levels, the more risk you have for other health problems, such as heart disease, heart attack and stroke,” the agency cautions. Despite this warning, the agency says people aren’t doing all they can to keep high blood pressure, also called hypertension, under control as nearly a million Americans continue to die every year as a result of heart disease and stroke.

Among the many other proven methods to manage blood pressure problems, improved hydration is high on the list.

Does water lower blood pressure quickly?

While drinking water doesn’t instantly lower one’s hypertension, it can make a difference. Because water makes up about 73% of the human heart, staying hydrated plays an important role in regulating blood pressure. What’s more, dehydration has been shown to cause one’s blood to have higher than normal levels of sodium – and salt raises blood pressure.

Plus, a 2019 study published in the Journal of the American Heart Association shows that drinking mineral-enriched water can also be helpful in lowering blood pressure.

Does drinking more water also raise blood pressure?

Maintaining one’s blood pressure isn’t all about keeping levels from being too high, however. “All our organs depend on good blood flow,” says Shaline Rao, MD, a cardiologist at NYU Langone Hospital, Long Island. “Like Goldilocks and the three bears – our blood pressure should not be too high, not too low but just right.”

That’s because low blood pressure, known as hypotension, is a problem as well. “Blood pressure is related to blood volume,” explains John Whyte, MD, the Chief Medical Officer of WebMD and author of “Take Control of Your Heart Disease Risk.” If one is dehydrated, Whyte says, “that decreases blood volume which causes blood pressure to drop, and as blood pressure drops, your heart rate has to increase to get more blood to your organs.”

What’s more, because blood is made up of about 90% water, “if you do not have enough water, your blood volume isn’t adequate at doing the job needed of feeding your body,” says Rao. This can lead to, among other things, feeling dizzy or fainting.

The good news is that research shows that people who struggle with low blood pressure are able to increase it (and reduce instances of vertigo!) simply by drinking more water. “A drop in blood pressure can be managed by drinking appropriate amounts of water and following labels on blood pressure medications,” says Malissa Wood, MD, the associate chief of cardiology for diversity and health equity at Massachusetts General Hospital.

How much water should you drink if you have high blood pressure?

So how much water should you be drinking? The CDC warns that many people aren’t getting enough water and has several suggestions to increase one’s intake of water. These include having a cup or bottle filled up and always handy, choosing water over sugary drinks and soda and washing down food with water at mealtime.

And because you lose more water when you perspire, it’s essential to be mindful of hydration whenever temperature rise. “As we enter the warmer months, it is especially important for people with low blood pressure to limit alcohol and caffeine consumption and to drink more water,” advises M. Scott Dawson, MD, a cardiologist at Inspira Medical Group Cardiology.

“A reasonable amount of fluid for those with healthy hearts and kidneys can be 2.5 to 3.5 liters a day,” suggests Rao, “But this is customized to the individual based on risks. Discuss with your provider for the best parameters for you to follow.”

Read more about dehydration, common health concerns here:

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Can a low level of cholesterol help prevent heart disease? Here’s 3 things to know

The Courier Journal

Can a low level of cholesterol help prevent heart disease? Here’s 3 things to know

Bryant Stamford – April 13, 2023

In the past, little was known about the cause of heart disease, and the belief was that bad heredity and aging were key factors. In other words, if you did a poor job selecting your parents, eventually it would catch up with you and you likely would die from a heart attack.

But this explanation seemed to fall short, especially after World War II when the incidence of heart disease skyrocketed, which inspired the Framingham Heart Study initiated in 1948. Several thousand residents of Framingham, Massachusetts, a typical U.S. small town, were asked to participate in the study. Their role was simply to come to the research clinic and undergo a variety of tests every two years. Otherwise, they were to live their normal lives and make no specific changes.

Over the years that followed, some folks developed heart disease while others did not. All the information that had been collected was then examined to see if there was a pattern that differentiated the two groups. Indeed, there were, and some factors conspicuously stood out in those with heart disease. These so-called “risk factors” were reported in the 1960s and they included cigarette smoking, high blood pressure, and high serum cholesterol.

Since then, it was assumed that a high cholesterol level is bad for you, and the lower it is the better. However, as always, some evidence surfaced on the opposite side, claiming that low cholesterol is bad for your health. A few research studies from decades ago reported that people with very low cholesterol were seriously ill, including some with cancer.

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The media jumped on this story. As I have written many times, if you want to attract attention, go counter-culture. For example, hundreds of research studies have reported a low cholesterol level helped prevent heart disease, but they received no attention. In contrast, one report that low cholesterol may be harmful exploded in the media.

Skeptical experts examined these issues and provided an explanation. Here’s what to know.

Does low cholesterol cause illness, like cancer?
Perhaps it’s a better idea to lower cholesterol with a healthy lifestyle and use medications as a last resort.
Perhaps it’s a better idea to lower cholesterol with a healthy lifestyle and use medications as a last resort.

The media reports that low cholesterol is harmful and may cause cancer was based on the above observational studies. This means a relationship was observed, interpreted, and reported. It’s as simple as that. It was observed that a sample of seriously ill patients, some with cancer, had very low levels of cholesterol in their blood, leading to the erroneous conclusion that the low cholesterol level was the “cause.”

This is an example of poor science because a relationship between two variables (low cholesterol and illness) does necessarily indicate cause and effect.

Further investigation revealed that very ill patients often have low cholesterol levels because the disease is so devastating that patients become quite frail. What’s more, such patients lose their appetite, eat very little and become malnourished. The liver produces cholesterol for the body and production requires an adequate diet. Combine severe illness with malnutrition and the result is a dramatic drop in cholesterol. In other words, the low cholesterol level did not cause the illness. Instead, the illness caused a low cholesterol level.

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Although these observational research findings have been thoroughly debunked, reports still surface periodically. For example, a very low level of serum cholesterol has been observed to be associated with depression, anxiety, and an increased risk of suicide. Again, is low cholesterol the cause, or are there extenuating circumstances like severe chronic illness that contribute to low cholesterol?

What is the difference between ‘good’ and ‘bad’ cholesterol?

Total cholesterol has several components, including HDL “good” cholesterol, and LDL “bad” cholesterol that contributes to the clogging of the arteries (atherosclerosis). Current guidelines indicate that LDL should be less than 100 mg/dl, and no higher than 70 mg/dl in those with a history of heart disease. However, Dr. Henry Sadlo, a preventive cardiologist and my “go-to” resource for all things heart-related, recommends taking LDL much lower, and there is increasing evidence that his “lower the better” stance is highly effective.

What does it mean to have a low level of LDL ‘bad’ cholesterol?

A 2018 study in the Journal of the American Medical Association “Cardiology” analyzed a huge database of heart patients with an average LDL of 70 mg/dl. When LDL was lowered further to an average of 31 mg/dl, it was associated with 20% fewer heart attacks and strokes. This suggests that an LDL of 70 mg/dl, although preventive, is not as preventive as desired and that taking LDL much lower can provide substantial additional benefits.

A new approach always raises concerns about long-term effects and the risk-reward ratio. Here is the conclusion from a 2023 study published in the American Heart Association Journal “Circulation:” “In patients with atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease, long-term achievement of lower LDL-C levels, down to <20 mg/dL (<0.5 mmol/L), was associated with a lower risk of cardiovascular outcomes with no significant safety concerns.”

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What about the potential for unwelcome side effects associated with high doses of statin drugs required to reduce LDL to such low levels? Studies show that additional medications (other than a statin drug) may be helpful, thus reducing the dose of statin drugs. A better option is combining statin therapy with a healthy diet. In my case, with my strict plant-based diet, Sadlo was able to lower my LDL to 35 mg/dl with only a modest dose of a statin drug.

All in all, research data to date suggest that promoting a very low LDL is safe and effective and holds considerable promise to prevent heart disease.

Reach Bryant Stamford, a professor of kinesiology and integrative physiology at Hanover College, at stamford@hanover.edu.

The 6 things longevity expert Dr. Mark Hyman does each day to keep his brain sharp

Fortune

The 6 things longevity expert Dr. Mark Hyman does each day to keep his brain sharp

Alexa Mikhail – April 13, 2023

Getty Images

Just as you can build muscle by lifting weights, you can strengthen the brain through specific behaviors. Prioritizing brain health can help you stay sharp, alert, and focused as you age, protecting you against cognitive decline and preventing or slowing the onset of dementia or Alzheimer’s.

Dr. Mark Hyman, renowned longevity expert and author of the new Young Forever: The Secrets to Living Your Longest, Healthiest Life, shared the six things he does daily for brain health in a recent Instagram post.

Here are Hyman’s six daily steps for optimal brain health:

Healthy fats 

Prioritizing healthy fats each day can strengthen the brain. They contain omega-3 fatty acids which are the “building blocks” of the brain and can help bolster people’s memory and learning capabilities, according to the Ohio State Wexner Medical Center.

“My brain worked pretty well before, but embracing fat pushed my mental clarity through the roof,” Hyman writes in his post. He incorporates avocados, olives, olive oil, nuts, and seeds, among others, into his healthy fat rotation.

Protein 

Eating a diet rich in protein was associated with a reduced risk of cognitive decline later in life, according to a 2022 study, and protein helps brain neurons communicate with each other.

While protein requirements vary by weight, age, and exercise regimen, the general recommendation for adults is 0.8 grams per kilogram of body weight (you can also multiply your weight in pounds by 0.36 to get a rough estimate). For those who are 40 and older, when muscle begins to atrophy, the protein recommendation rises to about 1 to 1.2 grams per kilogram of bodyweight, according to experts. Hyman, in his sixties, aims to eat 30 grams of protein at every meal to build muscle.

“When you lose muscle, you age faster, and your brain takes a huge hit!” Hyman writes in his post.

Start by incorporating protein shakes, nut butter, and fatty fish into your breakfast, according to Hyman.

Colorful plant foods 

Colorful plant foods should take up the bulk of your plate, Hyman says. Eating a diverse array of plant foods provides your brain and body with many nutrients. This diversity strengthens the gut microbiome, which helps reduce inflammation. Whole plant-based foods like legumes and berries have antioxidant properties to provide sustained energy for the brain to focus.

“These colorful superfoods come loaded with brain-boosting stuff like phytonutrients,” Hyman says.

Avoid sugar and processed foods 

Processed foods contain artificial flavorings and sweeteners that can cause brain fog and hurt memory. While these foods provide quick energy, they can also spike your blood sugar and lead to an energy crash shortly after.

Hyman suggests avoiding high-fructose corn syrup, trans fats, and food additives as much as you can each day.

Move daily

Recall the feeling of a runner’s high? Getting outside and moving have a positive impact on the brain. Exercising, riding a bike, or even taking a quick break to walk outside has been associated with improved brain function and can help reduce symptoms of anxiety and depression. Even one workout a month was associated with improved cognitive function for older adults.

It can allow people to be more productive during their workday and instill a sense of calm.

Relax and calm the mind 

Lastly, Hyman recommends calming the mind and slowing down. It’s vital when bogged down with a slew of tasks each day, which can lead to a feeling of brain depletion.

“Learn how to actively relax,” he says in his post. “To engage the powerful forces of the mind on the body, you must do something.”

He suggests yoga, meditation, deep breathing, or tai chi.

Practicing the 4-7-8 technique, where you breathe in for four seconds, hold it for seven seconds, and breathe out for eight seconds is an accessible way to calm the mind and body. Journaling as a relaxation tool can also help reduce stress and improve confidence.

Incorporating mindfulness practices into your day—just for 10 minutes even on your way to work—can make a difference.

Why Republicans Are Overreaching So Hard in So Many States

Time

Why Republicans Are Overreaching So Hard in So Many States

Philip Elliott – April 11, 2023

US-NEWS-KY-ABORTION-BILLS-LX
US-NEWS-KY-ABORTION-BILLS-LX

Kentucky state Rep. Randy Bridges, a Republican, gives a thumbs down as protesters chant “Bans off our bodies” at the Kentucky state Capitol on April 13, 2022 Credit – Ryan C. Hermens—Lexington Herald-Leader/Tribune News Service via Getty Images

In state capitals across the country, Republicans seem to be overplaying their hand. The most obvious example is abortion, which poll after poll shows most Americans support in many, if not most, circumstances. In Iowa, a state policy to cover the costs of abortion and morning-after pills for rape victims is on hold as the Republican Attorney General reviews it. In Idaho, where abortion is already illegal in all cases, it is now a crime punishable by up to five years in prison for adults who help pregnant minors to cross state lines to obtain the procedure. In South Carolina, a bill categorizing abortion the same as homicide—punishable by the death penalty—has seemed to lose steam, but nonetheless remains in play.

And those are just some of the dozens and dozens of efforts undertaken with Republican guidance to further erode abortion rights in a post-Roe world. Look around at other culture-war-flavored topics running on parallel tracks inside the GOP, and it’s clear that their leaders are chasing broadly unpopular goals: banning books and targeting drag queens; making some of the most dangerous firearms even more accessible; blocking health care for transgender individuals; fighting corporations over “wokeness”; and engaging in the most brazen political retaliation.

All of these are polling clunkers—with the important exception of gender-affirming care for trans minors—and stand to leave the 44% of Americans who identify with neither party wondering just what is animating Republican lawmakers this session, be it in statehouses or here in Washington. Here’s the most basic answer: it’s what they need to do to survive.

Now, hear me out. A lot of my liberal friends predictably will retort that this is all part of some scary, hate-filled agenda meant to oppress non-white, female, and marginalized communities. My conservative pals will say these are simply efforts to roll back government’s reach. Both can be true, but if you get down to the realpolitik of the situation, this polarized agenda is merely the logical conclusion of what happens when the party in power looks around and sees there’s no one there to stop them from drawing legislative districts however they please. The extreme gerrymandering that results means red states get redder legislatures—and, to be fair, blue states turn deeper blue; there are just fewer of them—and the resulting policies move to the extremes with few consequences.

Few consequences, that is, until someone falls out of line. It’s really, really rare to lose re-nomination as an incumbent; just 14 of the 435 House seats saw that happen last year, and roughly half were victims of ex-President Donald Trump’s petty endorsement of a challenger. Moving to last year’s November ballot, a study of most of the races on most ballots found 94% of all incumbents won another term, with congressional incumbents posting a staggering 98% win rate and state-level incumbents notching a 96% record in the general election.

This job-for-life patina is not by accident. Incumbents know it’s statistically improbable that any newcomer can credibly boot them from power. Incumbency has huge advantages, including taxpayer-funded (official) travel, the power of the bully pulpit, and donors looking to stay in good graces. But you look at the few case studies about incumbents who didn’t win re-nomination, and there are warning signs. The folks who lose spectacularly often run afoul of orthodoxy inside the party’s most fervent crowds. Rep. Liz Cheney—who dared call Jan. 6, 2021, for what it was—is a prime example. (To be fair, Rep. Caroline Maloney, who had the misfortune of being matched with another longtime institution of New York Democratic politics, is not.)

Then there are the very carefully drawn and high-cost maps themselves. Chris Cillizza smartly noted in his newsletter last week that the Cook Political Report analysis of the current map shows a scant 82 House seats in play, and only 45 would be considered truly competitive. When Cook did this analysis back in 1999, the number of potentially competitive districts totalled 164—double what it is today. Which means this: the head-to-head, D-vs.-R voting isn’t the real race. The true competition is the one that transforms a candidate into a nominee in increasingly homogeneous communities where voters are picking real estate based not only on crime and tax rates, but also their prospective neighbors’ ideologies. Being seen as an oddball for a district—AKA collaborating across the aisle on legislation—is a death sentence in a lot of districts, which explains the steady polarization in Congress itself. The name of the game for incumbents is survival, and veering to an extreme can be a gilded path for another term, while trying for comity can mean a skid toward K Street.

So as you look at the seemingly out-of-touch agenda snaking its way through state legislatures and the Republican-led parts of Washington and think the plans are incompatible with the electorate, that’s only partially true. Broadly, yes, Americans are aghast at parts of this all-culture-wars-all-the-time agenda. Some 76% of Americans tell pollsters that they’re fine with schools teaching ideas that might make students uncomfortable. And a clear majority of all Americans—64%—think abortion should be legal in most or all cases. The same number of Americans say there should be laws protecting transgender individuals from discrimination.

Read more: Exclusive: New Data Shows the Anti-Critical Race Theory Movement Is ‘Far From Over’

Dig into the numbers a little, though, and it’s quickly apparent that the lawmakers chasing these divisive notions are not completely irrational, especially when you consider their district borders are drawn to foment hardcore policies. The dirty secret among political professionals is that all voters are not created equal. Take the question of whether schools can teach ideas that make students uncomfortable. Among voters who backed Biden in 2020, just 7% of Americans said they were fine with such a block; look at Trump 2020 voters, and that number gets to 36%, meaning a full third of the GOP universe for 2024 is OK with at least some measure of book bans, and that group is probably more likely to vote in the next primary. On abortion, among Republicans, polls find 58% support for the overturning of Roe, including 35% who said they strongly support it. And while 64% of all Americans favor non-discrimination policies toward trans individuals, 58% of them also say trans student athletes should play on the team that matches their gender at birth, regardless of how they identify. Among Republicans, that number spikes to 85%, an astronomical figure that almost demands action.

Put simply: the culture wars might be less about the fight and more about how the battlefields were drawn well before any of the officeholders even showed up.

That’s a small consolation for liberals in competitive states watching as increasingly conservative lawmakers rush ahead on an agenda mismatched to what constituents actually want. Democrats may be able to claw back some of that imbalance if they ever convince their base of the reality that securing the right handful of state legislature seats would have far more power in shaping national politics than throwing millions at longshot, feel-good candidates who become darlings on social media but are chasing votes that aren’t there. Nonetheless, most of these maps are locked in place until at least 2031. Republicans know it, too, which explains why so many of them are leaning into broadly unpopular—but parochially homerun—policies.

18,000 cows killed in explosion, fire at Texas dairy farm may be largest cattle killing ever

USA Today

18,000 cows killed in explosion, fire at Texas dairy farm may be largest cattle killing ever

Rick Jervis, USA TODAY – April 12, 2023

The fire spread quickly through the holding pens, where thousands of dairy cows crowded together waiting to be milked, trapped in deadly confines.

After subduing the fire at the west Texas dairy farm Monday evening, officials were stunned at the scale of livestock death left behind: 18,000 head of cattle perished in the fire at the South Fork Dairy farm near Dimmitt, Texas – or nearly three times the number of cattle led to slaughter each day across the U.S.

A dairy farm worker rescued from inside the structure was taken to an area hospital and was in critical but stable condition as of Tuesday. There were no other human casualties.

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“It’s mind-boggling,” Dimmitt Mayor Roger Malone said of the number of bovine deaths. “I don’t think it’s ever happened before around here. It’s a real tragedy.”

The Castro County Sheriff's Office was among several agencies to respond to a fire and explosion at a dairy farm near Dimmitt on Monday.
The Castro County Sheriff’s Office was among several agencies to respond to a fire and explosion at a dairy farm near Dimmitt on Monday.

It was the biggest single-incident death of cattle in the country since the Animal Welfare Institute, a Washington-based animal advocacy group, began tracking barn and farm fires in 2013.

That easily surpassed the previous high: a 2020 fire at an upstate New York dairy farm that consumed around 400 cows, said Allie Granger, a policy associate at the institute.

“This is the deadliest fire involving cattle we know of,” she said of the Texas incident. “In the past, we have seen fires involving several hundred cows at a time, but nothing anything near this level of mortality.”

Where was the Texas cattle fire?

Castro County, where the fire occurred, is open prairie land dotted with dairy farms and cattle ranches, about 70 miles southwest of Amarillo.

Pictures posted on social media by bystanders showed the large plume of black smoke lifting from the farm fire, as well as charred cows that were saved from the structure.

What caused the dairy farm explosion?

A malfunction in a piece of equipment at the South Fork Dairy farm may have caused an explosion that led to the fire, said County Judge Mandy Gfeller, the county’s top executive. Texas fire officials are still investigating the exact cause, she said.

Malone, the mayor, said he wasn’t aware of any previous fires reported at the facility. He said the dairy had opened in the area just over three years ago and employed between 50 to 60 people.

The owners of South Fork Dairy couldn’t be reached for comment.

How many cows were killed in the dairy fire?

Most of the perished animals – a mix of Holstein and Jersey cows – were in a large holding pen before being milked, she said. The 18,000 cows represented about 90% of the farm’s total herd.

With each cow valued roughly at around $2,000, the company’s losses in livestock could stretch into the tens of millions of dollars, Gfeller said. That doesn’t include equipment and structure loss.

“You’re looking at a devastating loss,” she said. “My heart goes out to each person involved in that operation.”

How did the Texas dairy compare with the rest of the country?
Cattle stranded in a flooded pasture in La Grange, Texas, after Hurricane Harvey in 2017. The storm drowned thousands of cattle in southeast Texas.
Cattle stranded in a flooded pasture in La Grange, Texas, after Hurricane Harvey in 2017. The storm drowned thousands of cattle in southeast Texas.

Texas ranks fourth nationally in milk production, home to 319 Grade A dairies with an estimated 625,000 cows producing almost 16.5 billion pounds of milk a year, according to the Texas Association of Dairymen, a trade group.

And Castro County is the second-highest producing county in Texas, with 15 dairies producing 148,000 pounds of milk a month, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Even by Texas standards, South Fork Dairy was a behemoth. Its 18,000 cattle made it nearly 10 times larger than the average dairy herd in Texas.

It’s not the first time large numbers of Texas cattle have died, but rarely do so many perish from a single fire. A blizzard in December 2015 killed off around 20,000 cattle across the Texas panhandle, according to the Texas Association of Dairymen.

And Hurricane Harvey in 2017 drowned thousands more in Southeast Texas, leading to $93 million in livestock losses across the state, according to Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service.

What happens next?

Now, state and dairy officials are turning to the massive, messy task of cleaning up 18,000 charred cow carcasses. On its website, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality lists several rules for onsite burial of carcasses, including burying the animal at least 50 feet from the nearest well and recording GPS coordinates of the site. Nowhere does it mention mass graves, however.

TCEQ and the AgriLife Extension Service are teaming up to assist in the clean up effort, officials said.

Malone, Dimmitt’s mayor, said he’s taken emergency management courses that teach how to dispose of animal carcasses after a disaster, just not at this scale.

“How do you dispose of 18,000 carcasses?” he said. “That’s something you just don’t run into very much.”

Americans Are Dying Younger—But Where You Live Makes a Big Difference

Time

Americans Are Dying Younger—But Where You Live Makes a Big Difference

Jeremy Ney – April 12, 2023

US-SHOOTING-SCHOOL
US-SHOOTING-SCHOOL

Alexander Reddy, who’s friend’s little sister is Hallie Scruggs, pays respects at a makeshift memorial for victims by the Covenant School building at the Covenant Presbyterian Church following a shooting, in Nashville, Tennessee, March 28, 2023. – A heavily armed former student killed three young children and three staff in what appeared to be a carefully planned attack at a private elementary school in Nashville on March 27, before being shot dead by police. Credit – BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI-AFP

The average U.S. life expectancy has hit its worst decline in 100 years and America’s standing is dismal among peer nations. But the average obscures a more complex story. The United States is facing the greatest divide in life expectancy across regions in the last 40 years. Research from American Inequality found that Americans born in certain areas of Mississippi and Florida may die 20 years younger than their peers born in parts of Colorado and California.

The decline is not occurring equally throughout the country. In the land of opportunity, millions of people are not even given a fair shot at life.

America is facing 20 year gap in life expectancy across the country<span class="copyright">Credit to Jeremy Ney @ AmericanInequality</span>
America is facing 20 year gap in life expectancy across the countryCredit to Jeremy Ney @ AmericanInequality

America is unique among wealthy countries when it comes to how young people die, and the trend is only getting worse. From 2019 to 2020, U.S. life expectancy declined by almost 2 years according to the Center Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the worst two-year decline since 1921-1923. When Covid hit, America experienced a larger decline in life expectancy than any other wealthy country. Life expectancy in America is now 76 years.

What is driving the differences in who lives and who dies in America? The answer is wealth, demographics, and location.

State policies tremendously influence life expectancy. Income support, medicaid expansion, stronger gun control, drug overdose prevention, and safe abortion access are among the drivers of regional divides in life expectancy. Overdoses kill more than 100,000 people each year. Guns kill more people than cars do. But digging into communities shed light on the country’s biggest issues.

More from TIME
Wealthier Americans live longer

Income is a major driver of higher life expectancies. In the wealthiest regions like Aspen, Colorado and Santa Clara, California, median household incomes reach the hundreds of thousands of dollars and Americans live to 87 on average, the highest in the country. But in poorer regions like or Owsley County, Kentucky or Union County, Florida, the median household income is $35,000 and life expectancy floats around 67 on average, the lowest in the country.

Our research has found a painfully high correlation between household income and life expectancy.

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Created with Datawrapper

Poverty in America is not about income alone. Low-income communities, regardless of the state, are more likely to struggle with access to affordable healthcare; they are more likely to live near toxic sites and develop lung cancer; they are more likely to live in food deserts and wrestle with illnesses like heart disease and obesity; and they are more likely to die younger from drug overdoses.

Adequately addressing inequality in life expectancy requires looking across factors and working to improve these challenges for communities.

Black communities die younger

Thomas McGuire, professor of health economics at Harvard Medical School, explained, “In terms of health, there’s approximately a five-year penalty for being African-American compared to being a White male.”

Black Americans in every state have lower life expectancies than their White peers by 4 years on average. This is largely due to the lower-quality care that Black communities receive for conditions like cancer, heart problems, pneumonia, pain management, prenatal and maternal health, and overall preventive health.

Pemiscot County, Missouri represents this gap most clearly as it has one of the lowest Black life expectancies in America. In Pemiscot, Black residents die at 64 on average, effectively meaning that they will work until they die. 1 in 4 residents in Pemiscot is Black. Pemiscot has one public hospital that almost closed in 2013 and it’s one of the poorest counties in Missouri.

State policies make a big difference

States in the Deep South have lower life expectancies than states north of the Mason-Dixon line. These five factors may be the reasons why the residents of some states live far longer.

1. Expanding the EITC and CTC: More money means more time alive, and certain programs which put cash directly into low-income homes have improved life expectancy. The Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and Child Tax Credit (CTC) federally have been some of America’s most successful poverty alleviation programs, but 11 states have enacted their own CTC programs and 31 states have implemented their own EITC programs, putting more cash into the most needy homes. Residents in states that have adopted both the EITC and CTC tend to live 2 years longer than states which have implemented neither. This may even be more cost effective at increasing life expectancy than many other policies. These programs are designed to support children, too.

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Created with Datawrapper

2. Medicaid Expansion: States that expanded Medicaid saved more than 200 lives per every 100,000 people and decreased the risk of premature death by roughly 50% for older adults who gained coverage. As Nobel-Prize wining economist Paul Krugman explained, “Some of the poorest states in America, with the lowest life expectancy, are still refusing to expand Medicaid even though the federal government would cover the bulk of the cost.” Such individuals in turn are therefore at the mercy of policies that differ state to state.

3. Gun Control: Stronger gun control measures in states also improve life expectancy. The South, which has some of the most lenient gun control measures, lost 5.7 million years of life expectancy in the period 2009-2018 from firearm related deaths. Conversely, Northeastern states, which tend to have much stronger gun control measures like background checks and secure storage laws, had one-fifth the loss in life expectancy. Guns are now the #1 killer of children in America and 1 in 25 American 5-year olds now won’t live to see 40, largely due to guns. If we stopped these deaths, it would effectively add 3 years of life to every 5-year old in the South.

4. Drug Overdose Prevention: States that introduced policies to prevent drug overdose deaths saw life expectancies increase by 11%. The CDC estimates that half of all the unintentional deaths last year that took people’s lives too early were attributed to drug overdoses. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently approved Naloxone to be sold over the counter at pharmacies, which could help close the state-by-state gap. In the meantime, McDowell County, West Virginia has one of the lowest life expectancies in the country and has the highest rate of opioid overdoses in the country.

5. Abortion Access: Lastly, while the data has not fully revealed the impact of the Supreme Court’s ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson, this decision may drive further divides in life expectancy for Southern states that have in turn limited abortion access. Arkansas has a maternal mortality rate that is 50% higher than the national average. In Mississippi, it is 75x more dangerous for women to carry a pregnancy to term than to have an abortion due to poor healthcare. Mississippi has the lowest life expectancy in America at 71. Causing more women to carry a pregnancy to term may increase deaths of mothers in their 20s-40s.

The 20-year gap in life expectancy across regions tells story of America. The divide is deeply interwoven with healthcare, housing, race, gender, location, education, and more. But improving life expectancy across regions in possible and it starts with state legislatures. States can learn from each other about what has worked best and implement new policies with proven effectiveness. Data will be the driving force for finding patterns of inequality and leading change-makers towards solutions that engender equality.

The Trump Team’s Startling Questions for E. Jean Carroll Jurors

Daily Beast

The Trump Team’s Startling Questions for E. Jean Carroll Jurors

Jose Pagliery – April 12, 2023

Photo Illustration by Luis G. Rendon/The Daily Beast/Getty
Photo Illustration by Luis G. Rendon/The Daily Beast/Getty

Are you on Truth Social? What cable news network do you watch? Have you ever used the hashtag #BelieveAllWomen when discussing sexual assault?

With just weeks to go before E. Jean Carroll’s rape trial against Donald Trump in New York, lawyers on both sides are figuring out what questions to ask prospective jurors. And while some questions are the run-of-the-mill kind used to screen biased jurors, a fair share highlight the bizarre nature of the case involving the country’s most divisive politician.

The federal trial is set to begin April 25 in Lower Manhattan, where the magazine columnist seeks to prove that the former president raped her in a changing room inside the luxury department store Bergdorf Goodman in the 1990s. Due to Trump’s delay games and refusal to test his DNA against the black coat dress she wore that day—which has been tested at a crime lab—jurors will mostly have to decide on competing recollections of what happened that day.

As such, the stakes are high for weeding out MAGA types and Trump haters. And the questions they plan to ask at jury selection indicate as much, half a dozen legal scholars told The Daily Beast.

One of Trump’s proposed questions stands out: “Do you think that the #metoo movement has gone too far?”

“He’s trying to poison the well a little bit and plant seeds in the jurors’ minds. He’s warming them up before he even talks to them,” noted Aviva Orenstein, a law school professor at Indiana University Bloomington.

However, Orenstein noted that unlike New York state courts, judges in federal court normally screen jurors with lawyers’ suggested questions—and no self-respecting judge would ask a leading question like that.

“I’d ask, ‘What is your opinion of #metoo?’” she said.

Trump to Face Sexual Battery Suit Under New ‘Survivors’ Law

Both sides’ proposed lists include several questions on a person’s feelings about alleged sexual assault, and scoring open-minded jurors who haven’t already labeled Trump a scumbag will be difficult. At trial, Carroll’s lawyers are hoping to convince jurors that Trump’s abundant history of misogynist comments paint the picture of a serial sexual predator protected by his entitlement and wealth.

In that sense, U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan has already tilted the trial in Carroll’s favor by allowing jurors—if they somehow haven’t already—to watch the leaked 2005 Access Hollywood tape where Trump infamously said, “When you’re a star, they let you do it… you can do anything… grab ’em by the pussy.”

Trump’s lawyers also want to engage in what several legal scholars noted was a blatant litmus test for people’s politics: dredging up the debacle that was the Senate’s contentious confirmation of Trump’s Supreme Court pick in 2018, Brett Kavanaugh. After he underwent a surface-level FBI background check, it was journalists who documented Kavanaugh’s long history of alleged sexual misconduct—including one episode in high school, where a prep school student recalled him drunkenly pinning her down in a bed while covering up her mouth so she couldn’t scream.

At Carroll’s trial later this month, Trump’s lawyers want to ask: “Are you familiar with the allegations made against Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh before he was confirmed to the Court?”

Attorneys trying to assess people’s biases regularly draw from examples in movies and widely followed news stories—but this one carries a particular undertone that smacks of a MAGA loyalty test, noted Andrea D. Lyon, a longtime public defender who’s tried 138 cases in court.

“These are the kinds of questions you can’t get to ask. Judges won’t let you, because you’re bringing in a case that has nothing to do with a trial… there’s a huge backstory. And my guess is, it’s to identify people who just hate Trump, and also take a look and see if ‘grab ‘em by the pussy’ people stick together,” said Lyon, a law professor at Indiana’s Valparaiso University.

The Misogynist Things Trump Has Said That His Lawyers Don’t Want Jurors to Hear

There is something that attorneys for both Trump and Carroll are itching to know: where these New Yorkers hang out online. Carroll’s team is keen to identify anyone who joined Trump when he got booted off Twitter and launched his own social media network—a relatively small batch that was estimated at 513,000 active daily users last year.

“Is there anyone who uses or has used the social media platform Truth Social?” Carroll’s lawyers have proposed asking.

“Most of them probably don’t know what Truth Social is. Obviously, if they use it, it tells you a lot about who they are. It’s Trump’s platform,” noted Bennett L. Gershman, a law professor at Pace University in New York City.

Meanwhile, Trump’s team wants prospective jurors to list every social platform they’re on. But they stopped short of asking for potential candidates’ usernames, which could be seen as an offensive intrusion of privacy.

Carroll’s lawyers seem intent on using the jury selection process to point out how Trump is also under criminal investigation, with proposed questions probing people’s familiarity with the Manhattan District Attorney’s criminal case against him for faking business records to hide his hush money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels and the Justice Department’s investigation into his hoarding of classified documents at his Florida oceanside estate of Mar-a-Lago.

Just this week, Trump lawyer Joe Tacopina cited that first case and the widespread press coverage of Trump’s criminal arraignment in Manhattan criminal court as a reason to delay the trial—something that Carroll’s lawyer, Roberta Kaplan, starkly resisted in a letter to the judge on Wednesday.

Carroll’s lawyers are trying to screen the crazies who still parrot Trump’s unfounded claims that he lost the 2020 election to President Joe Biden unfairly.

“Is there anyone who believes the results of the 2020 Presidential Election are illegitimate?” her lawyers hope to ask.

Gershman doubts that the federal judge will allow it, though.

“This one is unique to our time. We haven’t had a presidential election where there are elements about whether the results are legitimate or not. But this is a question that the judge might not allow, because it’s getting into politics… and partisan politics has nothing to do with this trial,” he said.

But he stressed that it’s a question worth asking—along with a person’s views about alleged sexual assault.

“I’d like to know how they feel about those kinds of issues that are prevalent today to get a sense of whether I’m dealing with someone who’s intelligent and somewhat progressive or in the Dark Ages,” Gershman said.

‘Please don’t punish him’: Louisville shooting bodycam footage, 911 calls paint picture of desperate moments

USA Today

‘Please don’t punish him’: Louisville shooting bodycam footage, 911 calls paint picture of desperate moments

 ‘Get here now!’; 911 calls from panicked employees inside Louisville bank released – Oh my God, there’s an active shooter there. 

Jorge L. Ortiz, John Bacon and Andrew Wolfson – April 12, 2023

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – A frantic call from an Old National Bank employee and a much calmer one from a co-worker hiding in a closet provided Louisville police the first indications of the carnage caused by a gunman’s attack, according to audio of 911 calls released Wednesday.

The shooter’s mother tried to prevent the mayhem, reaching out to police and saying her son “currently has a gun and is heading toward” the bank, but it was too late.

Together, the 911 calls and the body camera video released Tuesday fill out details of the chaotic scene surrounding Monday’s assault and the police officers’ heroic response.

Five people were killed and eight injured by a bank worker identified as Connor Sturgeon, who police said was armed with an AR-15 rifle. Authorities said officers arrived at the scene three minutes after being dispatched, likely saving lives.

“Oh my God, there’s an active shooter there,” says a panicked woman identified as the first 911 caller. “I just watched it on a Teams meeting. … We were having a board meeting with our commercial (lending) team.”

An initial picture of the harrowing Monday morning scene develops as the operator asks the woman for the bank’s address, where specifically the shooting was taking place and what the assailant looked like.

As more calls start to come in, the operator excuses himself and tells her, “We have them (police officers) going that way. … We do have everybody responding. We’re getting them out there.’’

One of the callers says she’s calling from inside a closet in the building as numerous gunshots are heard in the background. She gives a description of the shooting and says she knows the perpetrator: “He works with us.”

Another call came from a woman who says her son was heading toward the bank with a gun, saying his roommate had called expressing concern. She identifies herself as Sturgeon’s mother.

“He apparently left a note,’’ she says. “I don’t know what to do, I need your help. He’s never hurt anyone. He’s a really good kid. Please don’t punish him.’’

The woman says her son is an employee at the bank, is not violent and has never owned a gun. She asks if she should go to the bank and the responder advises her against it, saying officers were already at the scene and it was not a safe location.

INTENSE VIDEO: Louisville shooting updates: Body camera video shows officers fired at in gunman’s ‘ambush’

Louisville police release body camera footage from mass shooting at bank
Louisville police release body camera footage from mass shooting at bank

Latest developments:

►Funeral services will be held Friday for Elliott, a senior vice president at the bank whom Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear described as a good friend who helped him launch his law career.

►The killer left a note behind and told at least one person he was suicidal, U.S. Rep. Morgan McGarvey said.

A mother’s anguished 911 call

The gunman’s mother appears torn in a 911 call, wanting to protect her son but also warn police about what he might do. She tells the operator her son doesn’t own a gun but may be headed toward the bank with one.

Sturgeon’s mother says she’s shaking and doesn’t know where her son could have gotten a weapon.

“We don’t even own guns,” she says, providing a description of her son – white, 6-foot-4 inches tall.

She asks whether she should go to the bank and the operator warns her against it, saying police officers have responded.

“You’ve had calls from other people?” she asks, sounding incredulous and heartbroken. “So they’re already there?”

Yes, the operator says. “It is an unsafe situation.”

– Donovan Slack

Shooter’s parents can’t explain how ‘Mr. Floyd Central’ became a mass killer

The parents of the 25-year-old bank employee who killed five people in a hail of bullets say they can’t explain how the son voted “Mr. Floyd Central High” seven years ago turned into a brutal killer.

The family of Connor Sturgeon said late Tuesday that he had “mental health challenges” but that there were never any warning signs he was capable of what police described as the targeted shooting of Old National Bank colleagues gathered for a meeting Monday morning.

“No words can express our sorrow, anguish, and horror at the unthinkable harm our son Connor inflicted on innocent people, their families, and the entire Louisville community,” the family said in a statement.

As Louisville police seek a motive, Interim Chief Jacquelyn Gwinn-Villaroel denied reports that Sturgeon was about to get fired from his job at the bank. She told CNN on Wednesday that “there was no discussion about him being terminated.”

Body camera video from the first two police officers who responded shows them taking fire in what Deputy Police Chief Paul Humphrey described as an “ambush.”

Governor, mayor among hundreds paying tribute to victims at vigil

Hundreds of people gathered Wednesday afternoon at Louisville’s Muhammad Ali Center – about a mile from the site of the shooting – for a vigil to honor the five persons killed.

They have been identified as Joshua Barrick, 40, Thomas Elliott, 63, Juliana Farmer, 45, James Tutt, 64, and Deana Eckert, 57. They were all bank employees.

Among those who spoke at the memorial were Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear and Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg. Beshear was close friends with Elliott, whom the governor credited with helping launch his law career.

Beshear urged those in attendance to remember to express their love for those they care about.

“We can live for the fallen, and we can live better for them. We can be better,” Beshear said. “We can be better family members. Better dads. Better moms. We can be better community members, and we can be better people. Let’s commit that to them.”

Officer Nickolas Wilt fights for his life

Officer Nickolas Wilt remained in the hospital in critical condition after being shot in the head as he ran toward the gunfire. The released version of Wilt’s footage cuts off before he is shot.

A bullet grazed fellow officer Cory Galloway, Wilt’s field trainer, on his left side. Galloway found cover behind a large planter and eventually fired the round that took down the assailant.

Wilt, 26, graduated from the Louisville Metro Police Academy 10 days before the shooting. Gwinn-Villaroel said she had sworn him in as his family watched, and Wilt’s twin brother is going through the academy now, friends of the family said. Wilt was working just his fourth shift as a police officer.

The two officers’ quick response Monday saved lives, Gwinn-Villaroel said: They “did not hesitate” when the call came in at 8:38 a.m.

“I’m just truly proud of the heroic actions of those two officers and everybody else that responded,” Gwinn-Villaroel said. “They went toward danger in order to save and preserve life, and that’s what you saw yesterday. They stopped the threat so other lives could be saved.

“They showed no hesitation, and they did what they were taught to do.”

– Lucas Aulbach and Madeline Mitchell, Louisville Courier Journal

Galloway: ‘I think I’ve got him down’

Galloway’s video shows him and Wilt as they reach the top of the stairs outside the bank. Wilt is not shown being hit, but Galloway rolls down the stairs and positions himself behind the planter and on the sidewalk. He takes cover there for just over three minutes before other officers arrive.

At that point, Galloway is shown firing several shots. The gunshots are audible, but the footage does not offer a clear view of the fatal shot. Humphrey said Galloway did not have a “close-range shot” and the stairs obscured his camera angle.

“I think I’ve got him down,” Galloway says. He then walks up the stairs and over shattered glass. An image blurred by police shows the shooter down in the lobby, near a second set of glass doors.

“There’s only a few people in this country that can do what they did. Not everybody can do that,” Humphrey said. “They deserve to be honored for what they did because it is not something that comes easily, it is not something that comes naturally. … That’s superhuman.”

– Madeline Mitchell and Lucas Aulbach, Louisville Courier Journal

Impromptu memorial to victims emerges outside bank

The steps outside of Old National Bank have been transformed into a somber memorial crowded with flowers. White crosses with blue hearts bear the names of the victims. Kett Ketterer, who works nearby at KD & Company wholesale flower company, unloaded more than a dozen potted Easter lilies.

“I think everybody’s just in shock, and you have to have some way to express yourself in your grief,” he said. “And I’m trying to understand. It just doesn’t make sense.”

Andrew Thuita came to the memorial because his girlfriend works nearby downtown. She was safe, but he has been too close to tragedy before. In 2018, he had gone shopping at the Jeffersontown Kroger on the same day two people were shot and killed.

“Another statistic in America,” Thuita said. “There is something wrong.”

– Maggie Menderski, Louisville Courier Journal

Timeline for a tragedy

Sturgeon made a number of posts on his now deleted Instagram account shortly before the rampage began. Among them: “They won’t listen to words or protests. Let’s see if they hear this.” Sturgeon, armed with an AR-15 rifle, then livestreamed his assault.

Humphrey said the first 911 call came in at 8:38 a.m., and officers were sent to the scene. Wilt and Galloway arrived at the entrance to the bank three minutes later and were met with gunfire that forced them to back up their vehicle. One minute later they got out of the car, and two minutes after that Wilt was shot and officers returned fire.

At 8:45 a.m., after a burst of gunfire, officers entered the bank and confirmed the suspect was down. Sturgeon died at the scene.

Family statement mourns loss of son, his victims

The shooter’s family reached out to the Louisville community in their statement Tuesday night.

“We mourn their loss and that of our son, Connor. We pray for everyone traumatized by his senseless acts of violence and are deeply grateful for the bravery and heroism of the Louisville Metropolitan Police Department,” the statement read.

“While Connor, like many of his contemporaries, had mental health challenges which we, as a family, were actively addressing, there were never any warning signs or indications he was capable of this shocking act. While we have many unanswered questions, we will continue to cooperate fully with law enforcement officials and do all we can to aid everyone in understanding why and how this happened.”

A star athlete with negative self-image

Sturgeon grew up in southern Indiana and graduated from Floyd Central High School, about 12 miles northwest of Louisville. He earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees at the University of Alabama, an school spokesperson confirmed.

At Floyd Central, he played basketball for his father, Todd Sturgeon, who was the head coach. The younger Sturgeon was named “Mr. Floyd Central” in 2016 as a senior.

A former friend and teammate at Floyd Central told The Daily Beast this week that Sturgeon was “smart, popular and a star athlete.”

But in a 2018 college essay at the University of Alabama, Sturgeon wrote, “My self-esteem has long been a problem for me,” and as a “late bloomer in middle and high school, I struggled to a certain extent to fit in, and this has given me a somewhat negative self-image that persists today.” The essay was posted to a website called “CourseHero,” CNN and The Daily Beast reported, but it has since been taken down.

Study warns critical ocean current is nearing ‘collapse.’ That would be a global disaster.

USA Today

Study warns critical ocean current is nearing ‘collapse.’ That would be a global disaster.

Doyle Rice, USA Today – April 11, 2023

Due to global warming, a deep ocean current around Antarctica that has been relatively stable for thousands of years could head for “collapse” over the next few decades.

Such a sudden shift could affect the planet’s climate and marine ecosystems for centuries to come.

So says a recent study that was published in the peer-reviewed journal Nature.

The cold water that sinks near Antarctica drives the deepest flow of a network of currents that spans throughout the world’s oceans, known as the overturning circulation. The overturning carries heat, carbon, oxygen and nutrients around the globe.

This in turn influences climate, sea level and the productivity of marine ecosystems. Indeed, the loss of nutrient-rich seawater near the surface could damage fisheries, according to the study.

‘Headed towards collapse’

This deep ocean current has remained in a relatively stable state for thousands of years, but with increasing greenhouse gas emissions and the melting of Antarctic ice, Antarctic overturning is predicted to slow down significantly over the next few decades.

“Our modeling shows that if global carbon emissions continue at the current rate, then the Antarctic overturning will slow by more than 40% in the next 30 years – and on a trajectory that looks headed towards collapse,” said study lead author Matthew England of the University of New South Wales in Australia.

Speaking about the new research, paleoclimatologist Alan Mix told Reuters “that’s stunning to see that happen so quickly.” Mix, a paleoclimatologist at Oregon State University and co-author on the latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change assessments, who was not involved in the study, added “It appears to be kicking into gear right now. That’s headline news.”

‘Uncharted levels’: Gases fueling climate change still rising at an alarming rate, NOAA says

Atlantic current also affected

Such a collapse would also impact a nearby Atlantic Ocean current, known as the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation, or AMOC, which transports warm, salty water from the tropics northward at the ocean surface and cold water southward at the ocean bottom.

This current includes the well-known Gulf Stream, which affects weather patterns in the U.S. and Europe. “The main issue for the AMOC at the moment is meltwater from Greenland, which slows that current,” England told USA TODAY.

Other studies in recent years about the AMOC drew comparisons to the scientifically inaccurate 2004 disaster movie “The Day After Tomorrow,” which used such an ocean current shutdown as the premise of the film. In a 2018 study, authors said a collapse was at least decades away but would be a catastrophe.

The Day after Tomorrow?: Study warns of ‘irreversible transition’ in ocean currents that could rapidly freeze parts of North America

An Antarctic "tidewater" glacier meets the ocean in this 2018 photo that also shows sea ice floating on the water's surface.
An Antarctic “tidewater” glacier meets the ocean in this 2018 photo that also shows sea ice floating on the water’s surface.
Cause of the current slowdown

What’s causing the currents to slow down and potentially collapse? “Climate change is to blame,” England wrote for the Conversation. “As Antarctica melts, more freshwater flows into the oceans. This disrupts the sinking of cold, salty, oxygen-rich water to the bottom of the ocean”.

Specifically, more than 250 trillion tons of that cold, salty, oxygen-rich water sinks near Antarctica each year. This water then spreads northward and carries oxygen into the deep Indian, Pacific and Atlantic Oceans.

“If the oceans had lungs, this would be one of them,” England said.

“Simply put, a slowing or collapse of the overturning circulation would change our climate and marine environment in profound and potentially irreversible ways.” he wrote.

Climate change and hurricanes: Climate change could push more hurricanes toward US coasts, new study suggests

How would it impact the US?

England told USA TODAY that the main impact for North America would be sea-level rise along the East Coast.

In addition, another impact of the collapse of the AMOC would be a transition to a more La Nina-like-state in the Pacific Ocean, England said. La Niña, a natural cooling of sea water in the tropical Pacific Ocean, affects weather and climate in the U.S. and around the world.

It tends to lead to worsening droughts and wildfires in the Southwest U.S., and more hurricanes in the Atlantic Ocean.

What can be done?

“Our study shows continuing ice melt will not only raise sea levels, but also change the massive overturning circulation currents which can drive further ice melt and hence more sea-level rise, and damage climate and ecosystems worldwide,” England wrote in the Conversation. “It’s yet another reason to address the climate crisis – and fast.”

Contributing: The Associated Press