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Today: January 19, 2025
Today: January 19, 2025
The Los Angeles Post

The Los Angeles Post

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Arts

European soccer is having another reckoning over racism – is it time to accept the problem goes beyond bad fans?

Vinícius Júnior is making the point, but are soccer’s governing bosses getting it? Aitor Alcalde Colomer/Getty Images After suffering months of racial abuse on the field and off, Brazilian soccer star Vinícius Júnior had enough. On May 21, 2023, the Real Madrid forward – commonly seen as one of the best soccer players in the world – brought a halt to a game at Valencia’s Mestalla Stadium, pointing to fans who were making blatantly racist remarks and gestures. He later made it clear that this was not an isolated event: “It was not the first time, nor the second, nor

European soccer is having another reckoning over racism – is it time to accept the problem goes beyond bad fans?
Environment

The Supreme Court just shriveled federal protection for wetlands, leaving many of these valuable ecosystems at risk

Many ecologically important wetlands, like these in Kulm, N.D., lack surface connections to navigable waterways. USFWS Mountain-Prairie/Flickr, CC BY The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled in Sackett v. EPA that federal protection of wetlands encompasses only those wetlands that directly adjoin rivers, lakes and other bodies of water. This is an extremely narrow interpretation of the Clean Water Act that could expose many wetlands across the U.S. to filling and development. Under this keystone environmental law, federal agencies take the lead in regulating water pollution, while state and local governments regulate land use. Wetlands are areas where land is wet

The Supreme Court just shriveled federal protection for wetlands, leaving many of these valuable ecosystems at risk
Environment

Colorado River states bought time with a 3-year water conservation deal – now they need to think bigger

An irrigation canal moves Colorado River water through farm fields in California’s Imperial Valley. Photo by Sandy Huffaker / AFP via Getty Images Arizona, California and Nevada have narrowly averted a regional water crisis by agreeing to reduce their use of Colorado River water over the next three years. This deal represents a temporary solution to a long-term crisis. Nonetheless, as a close observer of western water policy, I see it as an important win for the region. Seven western states – Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada and California – and Mexico rely on water from the Colorado

Colorado River states bought time with a 3-year water conservation deal – now they need to think bigger
Environment

Colorado River states bought time with a 3-year water conservation deal – now they need to think bigger

An irrigation canal moves Colorado River water through farm fields in California’s Imperial Valley. Photo by Sandy Huffaker / AFP via Getty Images Arizona, California and Nevada have narrowly averted a regional water crisis by agreeing to reduce their use of Colorado River water over the next three years. This deal represents a temporary solution to a long-term crisis. Nonetheless, as a close observer of western water policy, I see it as an important win for the region. Seven western states – Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada and California – and Mexico rely on water from the Colorado

Colorado River states bought time with a 3-year water conservation deal – now they need to think bigger
Health

Including race in clinical algorithms can both reduce and increase health inequities – it depends on what doctors use them for

An increasing number of health care decisions rely on information from algorithms. Tom Werner/Digital Vision via Getty Images Health practitioners are increasingly concerned that because race is a social construct, and the biological mechanisms of how race affects clinical outcomes are often unknown, including race in predictive algorithms for clinical decision-making may worsen inequities. For example, to calculate an estimate of kidney function called the estimated glomerular filtration rate, or eGFR, health care providers use an algorithm based on age, biological sex, race (Black or non-Black) and serum creatinine, a waste product the kidneys release into the blood. A higher

Including race in clinical algorithms can both reduce and increase health inequities – it depends on what doctors use them for
Political

Diverse Republican presidential primary field sees an opening in 2024 with voters of color

Race has emerged as a central issue — and a delicate one — in the 2024 presidential contest as the GOP’s primary field features five candidates of color, making it the party’s most racially diverse ever. Miami Mayor Francis Suarez, who is of Cuban descent, announced his candidacy on Thursday, vowing to create a new brand of politics. South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, the first Black senator in the South since Reconstruction, entered the contest last month. He joined Nikki Haley, a former South Carolina governor and U.N. ambassador who is of Indian descent, as is Vivek

Diverse Republican presidential primary field sees an opening in 2024 with voters of color
Economy

Debt ceiling negotiators reach a deal: 5 essential reads about the tentative accord, brinkmanship and the danger of default

Biden speaks to reporters about the tentative accord. AP Photo/Susan Walsh President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy on May 27, 2023, agreed in principle to a tentative deal that would raise the debt ceiling while capping some federal spending at current levels. The accord, if approved by both houses of Congress, would avert an unprecedented default that threatens to derail the economy and put hundreds of thousands of Americans out of work. Negotiators agreed to lift the ceiling for two years – past the 2024 presidential election – while putting a temporary cap on most nondefense spending at

Debt ceiling negotiators reach a deal: 5 essential reads about the tentative accord, brinkmanship and the danger of default
Environment

Atlantic hurricane season 2023: El Niño and extreme Atlantic Ocean heat are about to clash

Hurricane Florence, seen from the International Space Station in 2018. Atlantic hurricane season runs from June 1 to Nov. 30. NASA The Atlantic hurricane season starts on June 1, and forecasters are keeping a close eye on rising ocean temperatures, and not just in the Atlantic. Globally, warm sea surface temperatures that can fuel hurricanes have been off the charts in the spring of 2023, but what really matters for Atlantic hurricanes are the ocean temperatures in two locations: the North Atlantic basin, where hurricanes are born and intensify, and the eastern-central tropical Pacific Ocean, where El Niño forms. This

Atlantic hurricane season 2023: El Niño and extreme Atlantic Ocean heat are about to clash
Economy

After the ALS ice bucket challenge and the rise of MrBeast, stunt philanthropy might be here to stay

Jimmy Donaldson, aka MrBeast, leaned into charity to get a massive following. Michael Tran/AFP via Getty Images Stunt philanthropy is what happens when influencers, other celebrities and people who aren’t famous at all use entertaining videos to encourage support for a charitable cause. When their stunts go viral, it can lead to massive public engagement that raises lots of money and draws new attention to previously less visible causes. Donald Trump took the ALS ice bucket challenge in 2014. Why stunt philanthropy matters The biggest early success with stunt philanthropy online was the ALS ice bucket challenge. People taking the

After the ALS ice bucket challenge and the rise of MrBeast, stunt philanthropy might be here to stay
Arts

Why more cities are hiring 'night mayors' and establishing forms of nighttime governance

A dancer at ‘The Fairy Tale Ball’ in Madrid in October 2022. Aldara Zarraoa/Getty Images Growing up in a small town in Brazil, my daily life was shaped by the rhythms of my family’s working hours. My father has been a night shift worker for over three decades at a local factory. We got used to silent days and busy nights, noticing how our lives weren’t in sync with those of our neighbors. After all those years, my fascination with the night as a separate, habitable world became a research project as a Mellon Fellow at McGill University. Then it

Why more cities are hiring 'night mayors' and establishing forms of nighttime governance
Health

Cytomegalovirus lies dormant in most US adults and is the leading infectious cause of birth defects, but few have heard of it

Cytomegalovirus belongs to the same virus family, _Herpesviridae_, as cold sores and chickenpox. Callista Images/Image Source via Getty Images “Why didn’t anyone tell me about this virus?” is a frequent response I hear from parents upon learning their newborn is infected with cytomegalovirus, or CMV. Although more than half of the U.S. population will be infected with CMV by the age of 40 and the disease is common worldwide, few people have ever heard of it. CMV belongs to the same virus family as cold sores and chickenpox and, like those viruses, lives in the body for life. Most children

Cytomegalovirus lies dormant in most US adults and is the leading infectious cause of birth defects, but few have heard of it
Arts

How the sounds of 'Succession' shred the grandeur and respect the characters so desperately try to project

While the Roy siblings are shielded by their wealth, the show’s music chips away at their armor. Macall Polay/HBO HBO’s “Succession” delivered its grand finale on May 28, 2023 – the climax of four award-packed seasons of searing put-downs, nihilistic humor and desperate power plays. The show tells the story of ailing media tycoon Logan Roy and his four horrid children who aim to inherit his empire. I loved it because it rendered despicable people in power as human – funny, pathetic, capable of deep feeling – without once trying to redeem them. But as a music historian, I will

How the sounds of 'Succession' shred the grandeur and respect the characters so desperately try to project
Economy

Amid fears of Chinese influence, the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States has grown more powerful

Business deals by foreign countries in the U.S. can be reviewed by the government for national security risks. Jason Leung for Unsplash, CC BY-SA A Chinese private equity firm, Primavera Capital Group, acquired the well-known test preparation company Princeton Review and an online learning platform, Tutor.com, in May 2023. The move, like other Chinese investments in tech and those that deal with personal information, is increasingly drawing the attention of politicians, the U.S. government and national security experts – especially as tensions rise between the U.S. and China. What remains unclear, however, is if this seemingly routine business acquisition was

Amid fears of Chinese influence, the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States has grown more powerful
Economy

Most super rich couples have breadwinning husbands and stay-at-home wives, contrasting sharply with everyone else

Uber wealthy couples are rather traditional when it comes to who works and who doesn’t. EXTREME-PHOTOGRAPHER/E+ via Getty Images The Research Brief is a short take about interesting academic work. The big idea Men are the sole breadwinners in over half of super rich heterosexual couples – defined as those in the top 1% of households – while the women are not employed, according to our new peer-reviewed study. That’s twice the rate of less affluent heterosexual couples. Our finding is based on 30 years of data, from 1989 to 2019, from the Federal Reserve’s Survey of Consumer Finances. We

Most super rich couples have breadwinning husbands and stay-at-home wives, contrasting sharply with everyone else
Arts

Street scrolls: The beats, rhymes and spirituality of Latin hip-hop

Puerto Rican singer Residente performs in Havana in 2010. His back reads, ‘We receive flowers and bullets in the very same heart.’ STR/AFP via Getty Images As a first-generation college graduate and a Latino from a family that constantly scrambled to make ends meet, there was very little in my upbringing that foreshadowed my current life as a religion professor and scholar. I didn’t grow up surrounded by books, and I spent many more hours in childhood dissecting hip-hop and shooting hoops than doing schoolwork. It wasn’t until late in college, when a couple of teachers lit a fire in

Street scrolls: The beats, rhymes and spirituality of Latin hip-hop
Arts

'Across the Spider-Verse' and the Latino legacy of Spider-Man

Spider-Man Miguel O’Hara, who first appeared in the 1992 comic series ‘Spider-Man 2099,’ was the first Latino superhero to assume a starring role. Marvel Database As a Latino literature and media scholar, a lifelong gamer and a Guatemalan-American girl whose dad read her comics every night, I quickly became a fan and then scholar of Miles Morales, the Afro-Puerto Rican Spider-Man who first appeared in comic book form in 2011’s “Ultimate Fallout #4.” Just seven years after his introduction, Morales swung into theaters in “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse,” a visually stunning, 3D-animated film that won an Academy Award for best

'Across the Spider-Verse' and the Latino legacy of Spider-Man
Health

Drugs that melt away pounds still present more questions than answers, but Ozempic, Wegovy and Mounjaro could be key tools in reducing the obesity epidemic

Despite the promise of drugs that can help people shed pounds, healthy lifestyle choices are still key to overall health. Zing Images / DigitalVision via Getty Images In the past five years, several new drugs have been brought to market that could lead to a profound, if not revolutionary, change in how health care providers – and the public – view weight loss. Three drugs in particular – sold under the brand names Wegovy, Ozempic and Mounjaro – have shown remarkable effects on weight loss in clinical trials. While Wegovy is approved by the Food and Drug Administration for weight

Drugs that melt away pounds still present more questions than answers, but Ozempic, Wegovy and Mounjaro could be key tools in reducing the obesity epidemic
Environment

Invasive lionfish have spread south from the Caribbean to Brazil, threatening ecosystems and livelihoods

An invasive lionfish at Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary in the Gulf of Mexico. G. P. Schmahl/NOAA, CC BY Brazil’s coastal waters teem with a rich array of species that paint a living tapestry beneath the waves. This underwater world is particularly special because many of its species are endemic – they are found nowhere else on Earth. The southwestern Atlantic is home to 111 endemic reef fish species, each of which plays a crucial role in the intricate web of marine life. An uninvited guest has arrived in these tropical waters: the Pacific red lionfish (Pterois volitans). Renowned

Invasive lionfish have spread south from the Caribbean to Brazil, threatening ecosystems and livelihoods
Economy

War in Ukraine might give the Chinese yuan the boost it needs to become a major global currency -- and be a serious contender against the US dollar

China and the U.S. compete to be the world’s largest economy, but the dollar dominates the yuan as a currency. peng song/Moment Collection/Getty Images The Chinese economy’s sheer size and rapid growth are impressive. China maintained one of the highest economic growth rates in the world for more than a quarter of a century, helping lift over 800 million people out of poverty in just a few decades. The country is the largest exporter in the world and the most important trading partner of Japan, Germany, Brazil and many other countries. It has the second-largest economy after the U.S., based

War in Ukraine might give the Chinese yuan the boost it needs to become a major global currency -- and be a serious contender against the US dollar
Economy

Getting Social Security on a more stable path is hard but essential – 2 experts suggest a way forward

No big Social Security reforms have taken effect since the Reagan administration. David Hume Kennerly/Getty Images Social Security is in trouble. The retirement and disability program has been running a cash-flow deficit since 2010. Its trust fund, which holds US$2.7 trillion, is rapidly diminishing. Social Security’s trustees, a group that includes the secretaries of the departments of Treasury, Labor, and Health and Human Services, as well as the Social Security commissioner, project that the trust fund will be completely drained by 2033. Under current law, when that trust fund is empty, Social Security can pay benefits only from dedicated tax

Getting Social Security on a more stable path is hard but essential – 2 experts suggest a way forward
Environment

Governments and environmental groups are turning to international courts to address the impacts of climate change — podcast

Can international courts help address the costs and causes of climate change? (Shutterstock), Author provided This year, the United Nations International Court of Justice (ICJ) — the world’s highest court — is hearing its first argument about climate commitments. In an effort to make sure countries and corporations follow existing laws and agreements relating to climate change and environmental protection, groups have started pushing for legal action at the international scale. Research shows that the current climate agreements won’t stave off the worst harms of climate change — and many countries are failing to meet their own commitments. A number

Governments and environmental groups are turning to international courts to address the impacts of climate change — podcast
World

NBA mock draft: No Wembanyama for Hornets, but Miller or Henderson has Charlotte buzzing

Brandon Miller and Scoot Henderson have made their cases to be the No. 2 pick in the NBA draft. With Victor Wembanyama long expected to be chosen first by the San Antonio Spurs, the first bit of uncertainty on June 22 could arrive once the Charlotte Hornets are on the clock. The Hornets have now taken a look at both players. Henderson worked out for Charlotte on Sunday and Miller visited two days later, according to a person with knowledge of the details. The person spoke with the AP on condition anonymity because neither workout was publicly announced, and neither

NBA mock draft: No Wembanyama for Hornets, but Miller or Henderson has Charlotte buzzing
Arts

The allure of the ad-lib: New research identifies why people prefer spontaneity in entertainment

What makes improvised stage patter more appealing than a canned script? FangXiaNuo/E+ via Getty Images The Research Brief is a short take about interesting academic work. The big idea Audiences love to see athletes and entertainers behaving spontaneously, according to our recent research, because ad-libbed lines, spectacular catches, improvised set lists and the like make performers seem more authentic and genuine. We observed a preference for spontaneity in entertainment across several studies. First, we examined dozens of Buzzfeed articles from the past several years about spontaneity in film and TV, like “Here Are 21 TV Moments You Probably Didn’t Know

The allure of the ad-lib: New research identifies why people prefer spontaneity in entertainment
Arts

The allure of the ad-lib: New research identifies why people prefer spontaneity in entertainment

What makes improvised stage patter more appealing than a canned script? FangXiaNuo/E+ via Getty Images The Research Brief is a short take about interesting academic work. The big idea Audiences love to see athletes and entertainers behaving spontaneously, according to our recent research, because ad-libbed lines, spectacular catches, improvised set lists and the like make performers seem more authentic and genuine. We observed a preference for spontaneity in entertainment across several studies. First, we examined dozens of Buzzfeed articles from the past several years about spontaneity in film and TV, like “Here Are 21 TV Moments You Probably Didn’t Know

The allure of the ad-lib: New research identifies why people prefer spontaneity in entertainment
Economy

Work requirements don't work for domestic violence survivors – but Michigan data shows they rarely get waivers they should receive for cash assistance

Denying waivers to survivors of domestic violence can hinder their independence from their abusers. Alvaro Medina Jurado/Moment via Getty Images The Research Brief is a short take about interesting academic work. The big idea Very few people who have survived domestic violence are getting Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) waivers from the work requirements and time limits tied to those benefits – even though they’re eligible for them, according to our new research. State governments administer the federal TANF program, commonly known as welfare or cash assistance, in accordance with their own guidelines. Federal law allows states to grant

Work requirements don't work for domestic violence survivors – but Michigan data shows they rarely get waivers they should receive for cash assistance

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