In ‘Lovely One,’ Ketanji Brown Jackson Credits The Mentors Who Lifted Her Up

Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson at NBC Studios to discuss her memoirs "Lovely One" on September 3, 2024, Image: Nathan Congleton/NBC

BY ALEXANDRA JACOBS

Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson handed down many important decisions on her way to becoming the first Black woman appointed to the nation’s highest court in 2022. But perhaps the most astute was rejecting a career in the magazine industry before anyone could see it was dying.

In a packed but fast-moving new memoir, “Lovely One,” Jackson tells how 30 years before, during a brief stint as a reporter-researcher at Time, she suggested that a top editor might want to send someone to cover Hurricane Andrew. “Oh, we don’t do weather stories,” he replied dismissively of the storm that would cause $27 billion in damage, including ripping the roofs off most homes on her parents’ street in Miami.

“Win or lose a case, the law was logical and understandable,” she writes, “whereas in journalism the criteria for one story being chosen over another seemed subjective and often somewhat arbitrary.”

Subjective? Supreme Court cases? Never.

Jackson also considered becoming a Broadway actress, teaching herself to sing for a college revue about Billie Holiday, and her book could probably be optioned for a bio-musical itself. (Imagine the big “Immunity” number!) “Lovely One” is about motivation and mentors, swooshing through a résumé without apparent flaw. It’s a great glass elevator of uplift.

The title is the translation of Jackson’s given name, Ketanji Onyika, a phrase from an untraced African dialect suggested by her Aunt Carolynn, a missionary. Ketanji was born in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 14, the same date as Constance Baker Motley, the first Black female federal judge, who became her “personal heroine and forever role model.”

Her father, Johnny, was a school-board attorney; her mother, Ellery, became a principal after teaching science, and little Ketanji was “an enthusiastic pupil, a Mama-pleasing little sponge,” whose foundational texts included “Danny Dunn and the Homework Machine” and the blessedly inclusive “Schoolhouse Rock!” Her younger brother, Ketajh, was more of a risk taker; he became a drug-enforcement detective in the Baltimore unit that inspired “The Wire” and served in Operation Enduring Freedom before settling down to nice relaxing work in commercial litigation.

The family’s ancestors were enslaved on plantations across the South, and the arc from there to here is majestic. Jackson describes vividly her maternal grandfather, Horace, who got fed up with chauffeuring white customers in the Jim Crow era and started a landscaping business in Florida, and her grandmother Euzera, a housekeeper turned nurse’s aide. They moved from a community on the edge of Miami known as “Colored Town” to raise their five children in a public works project called Liberty Square, which at Christmas rang out with the sound of roller skates on asphalt.

Euzera and Ellery consistently told Ketanji that she was destined for greatness and above engaging with the prejudice that lingered after desegregation, painful and plentiful as it was. At 7 or 8, the mother of a white playmate broke up the friendship after finding her “too different.” While at Palmetto High, she was a debate star (and a few years behind Jeff Bezos) — yet followed with suspicion by a salesperson when shopping for poster materials to advertise a bake sale. At Harvard, someone hung a Confederate flag in a dorm window; Jackson took part in the subsequent protests, but also cited Toni Morrison warning against racism as a distraction. When working as an associate in corporate law — this after clerking for Justice Stephen Breyer — she was more than once mistaken for a secretary.

Since her swearing-in, Jackson has been commended for her assertiveness as a junior member of the liberal minority; in the words of one law professor, she “came to play.” But you’ll glean more about the dynamic with her fellow judges by reading Supreme Court opinions than from this book, from which Samuel A. Alito Jr. and Clarence Thomas are entirely absent and the rest of the gang mentioned only briefly.

“Lovely One” is formally written, but quite personal. The judge unwinds her fairy-tale love story with Patrick Jackson, a Boston Brahmin surgeon she met as an undergraduate, and their challenges raising two daughters, one with autism spectrum disorder, while working long hours. There are the indignities of breastfeeding and pumping, and naps stolen in a Safeway parking lot. She explains how the trademarked Sisterlocks method has made her hair routine easier, and the statement necklaces that accent her robes, like Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s collars. Readers disappointed by Breyer’s own recent, dry entry into the booming Supreme bookstakes, “Reading the Constitution,” will be gratified to see him pop up here in bicycle shorts, recommending French restaurants.

At a moment when the court is under intense scrutiny, Jackson goes heavier on work-life balance, lighter on the scales of justice — with some notable exceptions. One is the case of her Uncle Thomas, “a nonviolent bit player in a small-time drug scheme,” sentenced to life without parole — more than many murderers — when he was caught with 14 kilos of powder cocaine in his car after a few minor offenses. A friend took his case pro bono, and President Obama granted him clemency, but he died soon after being released from 28 years of imprisonment.

“There, but for the grace of God, go I,” Jackson has thought many times about him and other defendants; a phrase that seems to underline her thinking as much as the “progressive originalism” for which she’s been both lauded and attacked.

A footnote: If there’s any vestige of Jackson’s time at Time in this book, it’s a generous sprinkling of the magazine’s tradition of inverted syntax, famously parodied by the humorist Wolcott Gibbs (“Backward ran sentences until reeled the mind”). Or maybe lines like “Never again would I allow fear to shut me down when faced with the deep end of any circumstance” were the contribution of Jackson’s collaborator, Rosemarie Robotham. Either way, they add unnecessary starch to an otherwise billowingly triumphant American tale of early promise fulfilled.

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Georgia High School Shooting Shows How Hard It Can Be To Take Action Even After Police See Warning Signs

BY JAMES DENSLEY AND JILLIAN PETERSON

Most school shootings don’t just happen out of nowhere – there are typically warning signs.

A year before a 14-year-old boy was arrested for allegedly opening fire in his high school math class in Winder, Georgia, on Sept. 4, 2024 – killing two teachers and two students – authorities visited his home to investigate several anonymous tips about online threats to commit a school shooting.

When they interviewed the boy, who was 13 at the time, he denied making the threats. The father told police there were hunting guns in the house but that the boy didn’t have “unsupervised access” to the weapons.

The FBI said in a statement on the day of the shooting that there was “no probable cause for an arrest” and that local law enforcement “alerted local schools for continued monitoring of the subject.”

Teachers at the school had been supplied with special identification cards with panic buttons a week prior to the shooting. While authorities credit the ID cards with preventing the shooting from being worse than it was, the action still came too late to stop the killings.

In many ways, the story mirrors dozens of similar stories that we, a sociologist and psychologist, have collected in recent years in our effort to study the lives of mass shooters. It typifies what we believe is one of the biggest challenges that schools face when it comes to averting school shootings: recognizing and acting upon warning signs that school shooters almost always give well before they open fire.

In our database of U.S. mass shootings since 1966 – defined as incidents in which four or more victims were murdered with guns in a public location and with no connection to underlying criminal activity, such as gangs or drugs – there have now been 15 shootings at K-12 schools. The first took place in Stockton, California, in 1989.

Seven of those school shootings occurred in the past decade, including the second and third deadliest on record: Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, in 2022 (21 dead) and Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, in 2018 (17 dead). The deadliest in history occurred in December 2012, when 20 children and six adult staff members were murdered at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut.

In all, 138 people were killed in the attacks and at least 177 people were injured.

What we know about mass school shooters

When the Columbine High School massacre took place in 1999, it was seen as a watershed moment in the United States. At the time, it was the worst mass shooting at a school in the country’s history.

Twenty-five years later, it ranks fourth.

Despite the billions of dollars invested in school safety since Columbine, school shootings have become more frequent and more deadly. Beyond the mass shootings that grab the headlines, a gun goes off in an American school almost every day.

Our research and dozens of interviews with school shooting perpetrators, survivors and first responders suggest that part of the problem is law enforcement and school officials. Influenced by myths and misinformation about Columbine, they still don’t know enough about mass school shooting trends to recognize the warning signs.

The majority of mass school shootings were carried out by a lone gunman, with just two – Columbine and the 1998 shooting at Westside Middle School in Jonesboro, Arkansas – carried out by two gunmen.

The choice of “gunmen” to describe the perpetrators is accurate – all but one of the mass school shootings in our database were carried out by men or boys. The average age of those involved in carrying out the attacks was 18 — the youngest was 11 and the oldest was 32. As juveniles, a majority of school shooters used guns borrowed or stolen from parents, caregivers and other significant adults in their lives.

After every school shooting, people say “we never thought something like this could happen in our community.” However, mass school shootings happen most frequently in small suburban or rural communities like Winder, Georgia. There, the suspect is a 14-year-old student at the school. This is unsurprising. Most school shooters have a connection to the school they target. In our database, we found that 15 of the 17 school shooters were either current or former students.

For most perpetrators, the mass shooting event is intended to be a final act. The majority of school mass shooters die in the attack. Of the 17 mass school shooters in our database, eight were apprehended. The rest died on the scene, nearly all by suicide – the lone exception being the Robb Elementary shooter in Uvalde, who was shot dead by police.

Preventing the next school shooting

Inspired by past school shooters, some perpetrators are seeking fame and notoriety. However, most school mass shooters are driven by despair and generalized anger; over 80% of school mass shooters showed signs of a crisis before the shooting, including depression, mood swings, agitation, isolation, trouble with daily tasks and other noticeable behavior changes.

Most importantly, over 90% leaked their plans ahead of time to others, preempting their attacks by leaving posts, messages or videos warning of their intent. School shooters communicate their intent to do harm in advance as a final, desperate cry for help.

The key to stopping these tragedies is being alert to these warning signs and acting on them immediately. Even if investigators don’t have enough evidence for an arrest, they can continually monitor students and help connect them to school- or community-based services or interventions, including peer-mentoring or mental health treatment. Simply criminalizing or punishing threats increases the risk for violence by worsening grievances with the school.

At the same time, parents can be reminded to keep guns secure. Almost all shootings by children and teens can be prevented by safe storage of firearms and accountability for adult gun owners. When a weapon is stored separately from its ammunition, locked and unloaded, it is much more difficult for someone to quickly use it in a violent attack.

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Book Review: ‘A Day In September’ Examines The Lessons From A Key Civil War Battle

This book cover image released by Norton shows "A Day In September: The Battle of Antietam and the World it Left Behind" by Stephen Budiansky. (Norton via AP)

BY JEFF ROWE

About 57,000 books have been published on the American Civil War so what possibly could be left to explore ?

Quite a bit, it turns out, particularly regarding the bloodiest battle of the war and in American history, Antietam. In one day of savage fighting, Sept. 17, 1862, an estimated 6,500 soldiers were killed and at least 15,000 wounded.

In 291 brisk, fact-stuffed but engaging, thought-provoking pages, “A Day in September” by Stephen Budiansky examines how ill-prepared we as a nation were for war, but more significantly, what we learned and how those advances led to better military training, rapid improvements in battlefield medical care and the beginnings of a reconciling of the differences in North and South society, values and beliefs.

Some key American institutions at the outbreak of the Civil War were astonishingly primitive and Antietam revealed just how bad. Pre-Civil War, for example, most graduates of the U.S. Military Academy were well-schooled in math and engineering, much less so in military tactics.

Many soldiers lacked even rudimentary training such as target shooting. Militias often behaved like fraternal organizations or a mob, Budiansky writes.

Medical care was primitive. For example, most doctors of the Civil War era did not understand how disease was transmitted. Treatment of the wounded at Antietam typically was chaotic; drivers charged with taking wounded to field hospitals often were drunk, the book observes.

What might have made the book even more engaging would be to carry the lessons learned from these failings to the present day.

For example, can we resolve our current differences peacefully ?

This is an absorbing, illuminating, compelling book that calls on us to consider the advances in military strategy, medical care and diplomacy that Antietam gave us at horrific cost.

It also asks us to consider a rift between science and religion that emerged after the war. The book notes that our religious leaders also fell short, telling the populace on both sides during the Civil War that God was on their side, but as the author quotes Lincoln as observing, one side must be wrong.

Then and now, reasoned discussions and diplomacy largely failed and some Americans are openly talking about a potential Civil War II.

They would not if we absorbed some of the lessons from this book.

AP book reviews: https://apnews.com/hub/book-reviews

US Food Insecurity Rate Rose To 13.5% In 2023 As Government Benefits Declined And Food Prices Soared

BY MICHAEL LONG AND LARA GONCLAVES

The official U.S. food insecurity rate rose to 13.5% in 2023 from 12.8% in 2022, according to data the U.S. Department of Agriculture released on Sept. 4, 2024. That means more than 1 in 8 Americans – about 47 million people – couldn’t get enough food for themselves or their families at least some of the time.

This is a significant increase from a recent low of 10.2% in 2021. Food insecurity grew in the two years that followed due to a sharp decline in government benefits, including money for groceries from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and the program that pays for students to get lunch and breakfast for free at school.

Higher food prices, largely driven by rapid inflation, also played a big role, as did elevated housing costs.

We are sociologists who study food insecurity. We’re concerned about the growing scale of this problem, which can happen in many ways, in a country where there’s enough food for everyone living here – and about 40% of the food produced goes to waste.

What’s food insecurity?

If you can’t afford to refill the fridge, find keeping a balanced diet too expensive, eat too-small portions, skip meals altogether, experience the physical sensation of hunger or lose weight solely due to lacking the money to put food on the table, you’re experiencing food insecurity.

It’s common for more than one of these factors to apply at the same time.

This trend may surprise you, given the attention the public, policymakers, politicians and the media paid to food insecurity at the height of the pandemic in the U.S. and around the world.

Once everything from public libraries to dentists’ offices shut down, there was a great deal of mobilization to help feed people during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown.

Public schools began to make free breakfasts and lunches available for pickup; the federal government gave every family three rounds of economic impact payments and expanded the child tax credit; and food banks and pantries overcame logistical obstacles to keep their doors open and accommodate new clients.

Rates vary by state

Although the national food insecurity rate is significant, it doesn’t always reflect what’s happening everywhere. Rates vary a great deal between states, partly due to different levels of government support for people in need at the state and local level.

For example, the food insecurity rate in Oklahoma, where we both live and work, averaged 15.4% from 2021 to 2023. That was the fifth-highest rate after Arkansas, Texas, Mississippi and Louisiana, and more than three percentage points above the national level for the three-year period.

We believe that food insecurity remains on an upward trajectory. Barring any major policy changes that continue to slow inflation and dramatically reduce the price of food in 2024 or 2025, this rate is unlikely to drop again in the Biden administration’s final year or the first year of the next president’s term.

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Xi Offers African Leaders More Aid As China Challenges US-Led Global Order

BY KEN MORITSUGU AND MONIKA PRONCZUK

BEIJING (ASSOCIATED PRESS) — Dozens of African leaders gathered Thursday in Beijing for a summit that signals China’s influence in a continent that it hopes will be a key ally in pushing back against a U.S.-led global order.

Chinese President Xi Jinping promised the leaders billions of dollars in loans and private investment over the next three years, and proposed that relations with all African countries that have diplomatic ties with China be elevated to the “strategic” level.

“We stand shoulder to shoulder with each other to firmly defend our legitimate rights and interests,” he said at the opening ceremony of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation.

China has become a major player in Africa since the forum was founded in 2000. Its companies have invested heavily in mining for the resources Chinese industry needs, and its development banks have made loans to build railways, roads and other infrastructure under Xi’s Belt and Road program.

African leaders have welcomed China’s assistance but are pushing for a closer alignment of aid with the continent’s development goals. They are seeking to industrialize their economies and expand agricultural exports to reduce a trade deficit with China, which has become sub-Saharan Africa’s largest bilateral trading partner.

“In the context of our industrialization effort, the portfolio of private investments in Africa should be sufficiently diversified to extend beyond the traditional field of mining and energy resources,” Moussa Faki Mahamat, the chair of the African Union Commission, said, addressing the forum in French.

In a reflection of China’s broadening relationship with Africa, Xi outlined 10 “partnership actions” that included training for African politicians and future leaders, further opening of Chinese markets, agriculture demonstration areas, vocational and technical training, green energy projects and 1 billion yuan ($140 million) in military assistance grants.

Xi said China would eliminate tariffs on products from most of the world’s poorest countries, including 33 in Africa, in an expansion of existing exemptions.

“While commending the overall progress so far achieved, we also appreciate the announcement of further areas of partnership actions,” said Tanzania’s President Samia Suluhu Hassan, speaking on behalf of eastern Africa. “We salute a new characterization of China-Africa relations.”

China is training more military professionals in Africa than anyone else, and its widespread leadership and governance training gives the country an extra layer of influence by putting it in touch with consecutive generations of politicians, said Paul Nantulya, who specializes in relations with China at the African Center for Strategic Studies in Washington.

The relationship has moved beyond trade and investment to take on political overtones.

“Modernization is an inalienable right of all countries,” Xi said. “But the Western approach to it has inflicted immense sufferings on developing countries. Since the end of World War II, Third World nations, represented by China and African countries, have achieved independence … and have been endeavoring to redress the historical injustices of the modernization process.”

China has tried to position itself as a leader of the Global South, a catchphrase for the developing world. While others don’t necessarily see China as the leader, its message of rewriting the international order resonates with African nations that feel frustrated and abandoned by their traditional Western partners.

Many African nations have been openly critical of the U.S. role in the war in Ukraine and refused to condemn Russia’s invasion, taking a non-aligned stance that has led to political frictions with the U.S.

“As our history demands, South Africa will continue to pursue progressive internationalism,” South Africa President Cyril Ramaphosa said during talks with Xi earlier this week. “Building on the firm foundation of solidarity, we continue to provide support in promoting our interests, those of the African continent and the Global South.”

China’s development loans to Africa have fallen sharply from a 2016 peak, though they bounced back from COVID-era lows to $4.6 billion last year, according to the Global Development Policy Center at Boston University.

The drop-off came partly in response to government budget crises in several recipient countries that are unable to repay their loans from multiple lenders.

Many heavily indebted African countries cannot meet the basic needs of their populations, U.N. Secretary General António Guterres told the forum.

“This situation is unsustainable and a recipe for social unrest,” he said, highlighting the need for deep reform to what he called an “outdated, ineffective and unfair international financial system.”

Kenya is seeking financing to finish a partially built rail project that was meant to connect the port city of Mombasa to neighboring Uganda, but it is unclear whether China would agree.

Pronczuk reported from Dakar, Senegal. Associated Press writers Mogomotsi Magome in Johannesburg and Evelyne Musambi in Nairobi, Kenya, and video producers Olivia Zhang and Caroline Chen in Beijing contributed.

Right-Wing Influencers Were Duped To Work For Covert Russian Influence Operation, US Says

BY ALAN SUDERMAN AND ALI SWENSON

NEW YORK (ASSOCIATED PRESS) — They have millions of followers online. They have been major players in right-wing political discourse since Donald Trump was president. And they worked unknowingly for a company that was a front for a Russian influence operation, U.S. prosecutors say.

An indictment filed Wednesday alleges a media company linked to six conservative influencers — including well-known personalities Tim Pool, Dave Rubin and Benny Johnson — was secretly funded by Russian state media employees to churn out English-language videos that were “often consistent” with the Kremlin’s “interest in amplifying U.S. domestic divisions in order to weaken U.S. opposition” to Russian interests, like its war in Ukraine.

In addition to marking the third straight presidential election in which U.S. authorities have unveiled politically charged details about Russia’s attempted interference in U.S. politics, an indictment indicates how Moscow may be attempting to capitalize on the skyrocketing popularity of right-wing podcasters, livestreamers and other content creators who have found successful careers on social media in the years since Trump was in office.

The U.S. Justice Department doesn’t allege any wrongdoing by the influencers, some of whom it says were given false information about the source of the company’s funding. Instead, it accuses two employees of RT, a Russian state media company, of funneling nearly $10 million to a Tennessee-based content creation company for Russia-friendly content.

After the indictments were announced, both Pool and Johnson issued statements on social media, which Rubin retweeted, saying they were victims of the alleged crimes and had done nothing wrong.

“We still do not know what is true as these are only allegations,” Pool said. “Putin is a scumbag.”

In his post, Johnson wrote that he had been asked a year ago to provide content to a “media startup.” He said his lawyers negotiated a “standard, arms length deal, which was later terminated.”

Kostiantyn Kalashnikov and Elena Afanasyeva are charged with conspiracy to commit money laundering and violating the Foreign Agents Registration Act. They are at large, and it was not immediately clear if they had lawyers.

U.S. officials have previously warned of Russia’s use of unwitting Americans to further influence operations in the 2024 election, but Wednesday’s indictment is the most detailed description of those efforts to date. Intelligence officials have said Moscow has a preference for Trump.

Russian President Vladimir Putin authorized influence operations to help Trump in the 2020 election, while his 2016 campaign benefited from hacking by Russian intelligence officers and a covert social media effort, according to U.S. law enforcement and intelligence officials.

With the decline of traditional media like newspapers and limits on direct advertising on social media platforms, influencers are increasingly playing a key role in politics and shaping public opinion. Both the Republican and Democratic parties invited scores of influencers to their respective national conventions this summer. But with little to no disclosure requirements about who is funding influencers’ work, the public is largely in the dark about who is powering the messaging online.

Though the indictment does not name the Tennessee-based company, the details match up exactly with Tenet Media, an online media company that boasts of hosting “a network of heterodox commentators that focus on Western political and cultural issues.” Tenet’s website lists six influencers who provide content, including Pool, Johnson, Rubin, Lauren Southern, Tayler Hansen and Matt Christiansen.

Tenet Media’s six main influencers have more than 7 million subscribers on YouTube and more than 7 million followers on X.

Fueled by public outrage and online fandom, the influencers who make up the bench of talent at Tenet Media have amassed millions of loyal followers who agree with their staunch conservatism and brazen willingness to voice controversial opinions. Their channels also have created communities for conservative Americans who have lost trust in mainstream media sources through Trump’s 2020 loss and the COVID-19 pandemic. Several of them have faced criticism for spreading political misinformation.

The indictment shows that some of the influencers were paid handsomely for their work. One unidentified influencer’s contract included a $400,000 monthly fee, a $100,000 signing bonus and an additional performance bonus.

Tenet Media’s shows in recent months have featured high-profile conservative guests, including Republican National Committee co-chair Lara Trump, former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy and U.S. Senate candidate Kari Lake. The nearly 2,000 videos posted by the company have gotten more than 16 million views on YouTube alone, prosecutors said.

Pool, a journalist-turned-YouTuber who first gained public attention for livestreaming the Occupy Wall Street protests, hosted Trump on his podcast earlier this year.

Johnson is an outspoken Trump supporter and internet personality who was fired from BuzzFeed after the company found evidence he’d plagiarized other works.

Rubin was previously part of the liberal news commentary show “The Young Turks” but has since identified as a libertarian. He boasts the largest YouTube following of Tenet’s influencer roster and hosts a show called “The Rubin Report.”

Tenet Media President Liam Donovan is the husband of Lauren Chen, a Canadian influencer who has appeared as a guest in several Tenet Media videos. Chen is affiliated with the conservative youth organization Turning Point USA and has hosted shows for the right-wing network Blaze Media. RT’s website also lists her as a contributor of several opinion articles from 2021 and 2022.

Suderman reported from Richmond, Virginia. AP reporter Garance Burke contributed from San Francisco and researcher Rhonda Shafner contributed from New York.

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Long COVID Inflicts Deep Scars On The Lungs, But Targeting Specific Immune Cells Could Reverse Damage − New Research In Mice

BY HARISH NARASIMHAN

PH.D CANDIDATE IN IMMUNOLOGY

UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA

The long-term effects of respiratory viral infections such as COVID-19 are a major public health burden. Some estimates suggest over 65 million people around the world suffer from long COVID-19.

Efforts to better understand this condition, however, have been hampered by its ability to affect multiple organ systems, such as those involving the lungs, brain and heart. This is further complicated by the lack of animal models that can sufficiently mimic the disease.

Animal models, such as mice and rats, are a crucial tool that researchers use to study human diseases and develop treatment strategies. Although there are major differences between humans and animal models, the vast majority of our immune and organs systems function similarly. Such similarities in physiology have made significant health care discoveries, including those related to COVID-19, possible.

I am an immunology researcher in the Sun Lab at the University of Virginia. We study the role the immune system plays in respiratory viral infections such as influenza and COVID-19. In our newly published research, we developed a new mouse model to study long COVID-19 and found that blocking certain overactive immune cells can restore lung function.

New models, new targets

Out team wanted to better understand the long-term effects of COVID-19 on the respiratory system. To do this, we worked to identify key features associated with lung scarring following COVID-19.

First, we examined lung samples from patients with long COVID-19. Although these patients were infected several months to years before the samples were taken, we found evidence of an overactive immune system in their lungs, particularly within areas that failed to fully repair themselves after infection.

Next, we aimed to create a mouse model for long COVID-19 by comparing the pathology of mice infected with four different types of respiratory viral infections. Surprisingly, we found that mice infected with influenza virus, rather than the COVID-19 mouse models scientists currently use, best replicated the physical features of severe chronic lung disease. The reasons why infections from different respiratory viruses affect the lungs in different ways are unclear. But preliminary evidence suggests it may be because each virus targets different types of cells “in humans and mice.”

Additionally, since long COVID-19 is about the damage left behind after infection, it seems less important what virus causes the problem in our animal model than that the damage is similar to what we want to address in human patients.

Using our new mouse model, we were able to identify the presence of an abnormal cluster of cells in mice lungs – made up of the same dysfunctional immune and epithelial, or structural, cells seen in the lungs of long-COVID-19 patients. Additionally, we found that the uncontrolled activity of these immune cells in the lungs impeded structural cells from repairing themselves. It also hindered them from restoring gas exchange, the process of taking in oxygen and releasing carbon dioxide.

Importantly, when we blocked the activity of proteins associated with this overactive immune response, it reduced lung scarring and restored optimal lung function in mice.

Treating respiratory viral infections

Most approaches to addressing long COVID-19 rely on starting treatment early after infection. To the best of our knowledge, our study is the first to identify strategies to treat the respiratory symptoms of long COVID-19 after this chronic disease develops.

The drugs we tested in our study have already been approved by the Food and Drug Administration to treat severe COVID-19 and other inflammatory conditions. We hope our findings can spur further research on using these drugs to treat long COVID-19.

Our work may have applications beyond long COVID-19. Growing evidence suggests that many respiratory viral infections, such as influenza, COVID-19 and respiratory syncytial virus, may result in chronic lung disease. Considering the four pandemics and even more respiratory viral epidemics that have occurred in the past 100 years, studying the cellular and molecular similarities between respiratory viral infections may be critical to how medical practitioners respond to future viral outbreaks.

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Former Aide To 2 New York Governors Is Charged With Being An Agent Of The Chinese Government

By ANTHONY IZAGUIRRE

A former aide to two New York governors was charged Tuesday with acting as an illegal agent of the Chinese government who used her state positions to subtly advance Beijing’s agenda in exchange for financial benefits worth millions of dollars.

Linda Sun, who held numerous posts in New York state government, including deputy chief of staff for Gov. Kathy Hochul and deputy diversity officer for former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, was arrested Tuesday morning along with her husband, Chris Hu, at their $4 million home on Long Island.

Federal prosecutors said Sun, at the request of Chinese officials, blocked representatives of the Taiwanese government from having access to the governor’s office and shaped New York governmental messaging to align with the priorities of the Chinese government, among other things.

In return, her husband got help for his business activities in China — a financial boost that prosecutors said allowed the couple to buy their multimillion-dollar property in Manhasset, New York, a condominium in Hawaii for $1.9 million, and luxury cars including a 2024 Ferrari, the indictment said.

Sun also received smaller gifts, the indictment said, including tickets to performances by a visiting Chinese orchestra and ballet groups and “Nanjing-style salted ducks” that were prepared by the personal chef of a Chinese government official and delivered to Sun’s parents’ home in New York.

If true, the allegations show that Chinese authorities were able to gain influence at the highest levels of state government in New York for nearly a decade.

“As alleged, while appearing to serve the people of New York as Deputy Chief of Staff within the New York State Executive Chamber, the defendant and her husband actually worked to further the interests of the Chinese government and the CCP,” United States Attorney Breon Peace said, using the acronym for the Chinese Communist Party. “The illicit scheme enriched the defendant’s family to the tune of millions of dollars.”

Sun and Hu pleaded not guilty during an initial court appearance on Tuesday afternoon in Brooklyn and will be released on bond. Sun has been barred from having any contact with the People’s Republic of China’s consulate and mission.

Her defense lawyer, Jarrod Schaeffer, said, “We’re looking forward to addressing these charges in court. Our client is understandably upset that these charges have been brought.”

The case is part of a broader Justice Department effort to root out secret agents for the Chinese government operating in the U.S. In recent years, federal authorities have charged Chinese nationals not only with covertly advancing Beijing’s interests but also with harassing and intimidating dissidents on the government’s behalf.

Last year, the Justice Department charged a pair of men with establishing a secret police station in New York City while acting under the direction and control of the Chinese government.

Sun, a naturalized U.S. citizen born in China, worked in state government for about 15 years, holding jobs in Cuomo’s administration and eventually becoming Hochul’s deputy chief of staff, according to her LinkedIn profile. In November 2022, Sun took a job at the New York Department of Labor, as deputy commissioner for strategic business development, but she left that job months later in March 2023, the profile said.

In a statement, a spokesperson for Hochul’s office said the administration fired Sun after “discovering evidence of misconduct.”

“This individual was hired by the Executive Chamber more than a decade ago. We terminated her employment in March 2023 after discovering evidence of misconduct, immediately reported her actions to law enforcement and have assisted law enforcement throughout this process,” the statement reads.

The indictment said that, among other things, Sun worked to ensure that representatives of Taiwan’s government couldn’t get meetings with high-ranking New York state officials. The Chinese government considers Taiwan to be part of China.

It also outlined a series of exchanges Sun had with officials in the Chinese Consulate in New York in January 2021, when Cuomo was still governor and Hochul was lieutenant governor. Neither leader is named in the document but are instead referred to as “Politician-1” and “Politician-2.”

After Chinese officials requested a Lunar New Year video from the governor, Sun said Hochul could probably do it and asked for “talking points of things you want her to mention.”

“Mostly holiday wishes and hope for friendship and cooperation / Nothing too political,” an official told her, according to the indictment.

Sun later told a different official that she had argued with Hochul’s speechwriter over the draft, because the speechwriter insisted on mentioning the “Uyghur situation” in China. She promised that she wouldn’t let that happen, and the final speech did not mention the Muslim ethnic minority, according to the indictment.

Sun’s alleged activities in New York paved the way for lucrative business deals for Hu in China, prosecutors said, including discussions about a venture to export frozen seafood to China. Hu then attempted to conceal the earnings through various methods in the U.S., according to the indictment.

At the arraignment, Assistant U.S. Attorney Alexander Solomon said there were a “multitude of shell and business entities” used in the crimes, adding, “This is no ordinary financial fraud.”

The FBI searched the couple’s multimillion home in Manhasset in late July but declined to release details at the time.

Sun is charged with violating the Foreign Agents Registration Act, money laundering and helping people commit visa fraud and enter the U.S. illegally. Hu is charged with money laundering conspiracy, conspiracy to commit bank fraud and misuse of means of identification. Neither has been charged with espionage.

Cuomo spokesperson Rich Azzopardi downplayed Sun’s reach in the former governor’s administration, saying she “worked in a handful of agencies and was one of many community liaisons who had little to no interaction with the governor.”

Sun and Hu live in a gated community on Long Island called Stone Hill. The couple purchased the house in 2021 but placed it in a trust earlier this year, records show.

Associated Press reporters Michael R. Sisak and Larry Neumeister in New York and Eric Tucker in Washington contributed to this report.

Poor People Are Business Owners, Too – But Myths Around Poverty And Entrepreneurship Hold Them Back

BY MICHAEL H. MORRIS

PROFESSOR OF THE PRACTICE, 

KEOUGH SCHOOL OF GLOBAL AFFAIRS,

UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME

Nearly 1 in 5 people in the world lives in poverty. Even in many developed countries such as the U.S., poverty rates exceed 12%. In an age of breathtaking technological progress and dynamic social change, poverty remains stubbornly persistent.

As a professor of entrepreneurship, I’m interested in a critical question: Can people in poverty create their own path to prosperity? In other words, is venture creation a viable poverty alleviation tool?

My work has shown that it can be – with the right kind of support. However, that support is often lacking.

A big part of the problem is ignorance: Most people simply don’t know much about poverty and entrepreneurship. There are plenty of myths when it comes to the ventures of the poor, due in part to the lack of hard data about the businesses of those in poverty.

These misconceptions have influenced public policy officials, economic development professionals and academics. As a result, they tend to undervalue the important economic and social role that these businesses play.

In an attempt to correct the record, here are six facts that people should know about poverty and entrepreneurship.

Fact 1: Poor people start businesses – lots of them

It’s a myth that entrepreneurship is just for the rich. In fact, many ventures across the globe are started by people in disadvantaged circumstances – actually most of them. While hard data is difficult to come by, the evidence we do have is suggestive. For example, in some high-poverty sub-Saharan African countries, as many as two out of three adults operate or are in the process of starting their own business.

Such small businesses are arguably the backbone of many developing economies, where over 50% of the population can be in poverty. Even within developed economies, such ventures can be responsible for a meaningful component of gross domestic product.

Fact 2: Businesses run by poor people create value

Although people in poverty disproportionately create “survival businesses” that generate small profits, it’s wrong to assume that makes these ventures less valuable. Such businesses provide jobs to millions of impoverished people, representing an economic lifeline. They create value in the marketplace, filling niches that aren’t attractive to incumbent firms.

And they create more than just economic value: These businesses are embedded in the fabric of communities, providing a source of social stability. They pay taxes and can produce spillover benefits such as reduced crime, increased school completion rates and community pride.

Fact 3: Entrepreneurship can help alleviate poverty

A growing body of research suggests that higher levels of entrepreneurship are associated with greater reductions in poverty. For example, one analysis found that areas with the highest rates of entrepreneurship among the poor demonstrated the largest reductions in poverty over a six-year period.

This shouldn’t come as a major surprise. After all, while people in poverty often create survival businesses that generate small profits, venture creation represents a critical vehicle for human capital development. People who start businesses learn how to organize production, manage cash, serve customers, set prices and coordinate logistics.

What’s more, the entrepreneurial experience can enable self-sufficiency, identity development, a sense of pride and purpose, and the ability to give back.

Fact 4: Off-the-books businesses have value for society

Poor entrepreneurs often start what economists call “informal” businesses – enterprises that aren’t registered with the government and that operate under the radar. These often attract criticism.

But while off-the-books businesses may not be legal, the informal sector represents 50% or more of the economy in many developing countries, and as much as 20% in some developed nations. It represents a vast incubator that sustains the poor as they experiment with businesses and learn. In my opinion, this hidden enterprise culture should be nurtured.

Fact 5: The biggest challenge isn’t always lack of money

People often assume that the key to helping ventures of the poor is to provide more capital. But despite a clear need for funding, some entrepreneurs may not be ready to make effective use of additional money. Regardless of how motivated or hard-working they are, the core issue for entrepreneurs is the ability to convert means into ends.

When an entrepreneur lacks key capabilities, such as bookkeeping, selling or inventory management, research suggests that to be effective, funding should be coupled with other forms of support. An investment is likely to be more productive when it is tied to participation in training and mentoring programs. Access to incubators, attendance at networking events and related developmental activities also are important.

Fact 6: There’s more than one way to succeed

People in the world of entrepreneurship love a big success story. It’s all about picking winners. That kind of thinking works against poor entrepreneurs, who generally start basic businesses that don’t employ novel technologies, and who often have severely limited resources.

To realize the potential of entrepreneurship, it’s worth rethinking the definition of success. For the poor, success could be getting the business established and making sales, earning a profit. It could be changing the entrepreneur’s economic circumstances, hiring employees – particularly others in poverty – or adding another location.

It could be keeping the business going some number of years, providing a kind of legacy. Other success indicators can include reducing the dependency on one’s own labor, satisfying customers and the ability to give back to the community.

In the end, success is about having a better life. And research is demonstrating how entrepreneurship can make this possible.

Venture creation is not a silver bullet. Poverty is complex, and building a sustainable business is difficult. Realizing the promise of entrepreneurship requires that we get past these myths and develop the kinds of supportive environments that level the playing field.

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African Immigrant Students Draw On Family And Community Strengths In Quest For College

BY MAVIS GYESI

POLICY AND LEADERSHIP STUDIES

UNIVERSITY OF IOWA

Black African immigration to the U.S. has exploded over the past few decades. Today, there are about 2 million Black African immigrants – up from 184,000 in 1990. Black African immigrants now make up 42% of the country’s foreign-born Black population, just behind Caribbean immigrants.

While large metropolitan areas typically see the biggest shares of African immigrants, populations are also growing in rural areas. In Iowa, for example, 17% of foreign-born residents in 2022 were born in Africa, compared with just under 3% in 1990.

As a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Educational Policy and Leadership Studies at the University of Iowa, Mavis Gyesi researches the educational experiences of African immigrants in U.S. high schools and their transition to college.

In a working paper, Gyesi interviewed 13 African immigrant students in Iowa high schools who come from different cultures and speak different languages. She found that many of them take advanced courses in high school and aspire to go to four-year colleges, busting what research has shown to be stereotypes about African students as academically unmotivated or likely to fail.

In this Q&A, Gyesi addresses the research, including wide gaps, about African immigrants’ educational experiences and achievements.

What myths exist about African immigrants and their educational attainment?

Research shows that in K-12 schools, African immigrant children sometimes experience negative stereotyping and marginalization, with some students reporting that they think most Americans view them as underachievers and primitive, based on their accent, ethnicity, nationality and skin color. These low expectations from their teachers often follow Black immigrants in college, too. However, research also points out that these children are resilient and learn how to navigate schools that are culturally and linguistically different from the schools in their countries of origin.

There is a gap in data about African immigrants’ achievement in K-12 schools, largely because in most datasets, they are included in the same demographic as all Black students, immigrant and nonimmigrant alike. My research aims to separate these groups and find out how their needs and achievement levels may differ.

However, there is some data that dispels the myth that African immigrant children cannot – or do not want to – aim high in their education. Research shows that African immigrant students view college as an important steppingstone to achieving their career goals and having a higher quality of life. In my study, 12 out of the 13 students interviewed reported taking Advanced Placement classes. A few planned to participate in dual enrollment programs to earn college credit. “I thought AP classes would be the hardest things ever, but they’re really not that difficult if you’re paying attention,” one student told me.

African immigrants are also highly educated as a whole. According to the Migration Policy Institute, sub-Saharan African immigrant adults in the U.S. have higher levels of education than the foreign-born population in general. In 2019, 42% of sub-Saharan African immigrants age 25 and older held a bachelor’s degree or higher, compared with 33% for all foreign- and U.S.-born adults combined.

What educational values do African immigrants bring to US institutions?

Families and community networks play a vital role in African immigrants’ academic success. The involvement of many adults has been shown to play a significant role in students’ college readiness.

Using an Iowa school district as a case study in my research, I used Ubuntu and Harambee philosophies to explore the college-going decisions of children of African immigrants, including those born in the U.S.

Ubuntu and Harambee philosophies emphasize the oneness, community, interdependence and support networks that exist in African communities. “Ubuntu” comes from the Zulu and Xhola languages in South Africa, and “Harambee” is Swahili.

One student spoke about how her family encourages her to do her best in school and pursue more than just one college degree. One relative in particular told the student he “believes the hard work will be worth it in the end.”

What’s a major finding from your study?

The majority of African immigrant students I interviewed aspire to enroll in four-year universities. And they were specifically interested in Ivy League institutions. However, most of the students indicated that they needed more information about the college-going process.

Teachers and counselors can make sure African immigrant students learn about the process of applying for college early. This includes things like informing them about the cost of college and scholarship opportunities.

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COVID-19, Flu And RSV Shots − An Epidemiologist Explains Why All Three Matter This Fall

BY ANNETTE REGAN

ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF EPIDEMIOLOGY

UN IVERSITY OF SAN FRANCISCO

The Food and Drug Administration approved and granted emergency use authorization on Aug. 22, 2024, for the newest, updated version of the COVID-19 vaccine. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention quickly endorsed the new shot to protect against severe illness.

The 2024 summer wave of COVID-19 cases is a good reminder of why people need to stay up to date with their vaccines.

As the fall and winter seasons approach, the usual seasonal respiratory viruses, including flu and respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV, will also be on the rise. Vaccines are now available to help protect against these viruses.

The Conversation asked epidemiologist Annette Regan to explain why officials recommend that people get these shots over the coming months.

What strain is the new COVID-19 shot based on and why?

The COVID-19 vaccine has been updated several times since the original shot in 2020-21 to keep up with how the SARS-CoV-2 virus is changing.

In September 2023, the CDC recommended that all people get the newly updated vaccine that was designed to protect against XBB.1.5, the variant that had been dominant in the U.S. that summer, regardless of whether they had received all recommended shots in the past.

Now, in August 2024, the XBB.1.5 variant is no longer around and has been replaced by the KP.2 and KP.3 variants, which make up more than 60% of variants currently detected.

Moderna and Pfizer both made updated formulations of the COVID-19 shot that target this new KP.2 variant. It is a monovalent vaccine, which means it includes only the KP.2 strain.

This strain was selected because it was the most common variant at the time the choice was made. Even when new variants such as KP.3 emerge, we researchers expect the updated vaccine to protect against the newer strains. For example, the 2023-24 vaccine was designed to target the XBB.1.5 strain, and studies showed that it continued to protect against the JN.1 variant that later emerged.

The CDC recommends a single shot for everyone 6 months and older, with some exceptions. Children 6 months to 4 years old who have not received any prior shots of COVID-19 vaccine still need two or three shots of the updated 2024-25 vaccine. Adults 65 and older and children and adults with certain health conditions may require an additional shot as well.

People who recently had a SARS-CoV-2 infection may consider delaying their shot for three months after the illness, since risk of reinfection is thought to be low during the months after infection.

How did the 2023 updated vaccine perform?

Recent studies have shown that people who received the 2023-24 vaccine were 54% less likely to develop symptomatic COVID-19 illness, 39% to 51% less likely to visit an emergency department or urgent care with COVID-19, and 50% to 53% less likely to be hospitalized with COVID-19 compared with unvaccinated people.

The vaccine was most effective among those who had received their shot more recently.

What is the best timing for the shots?

COVID-19 hospitalizations and deaths have been rising since May 2024, with the highest rates seen in adults 65 and older and infants under 6 months old. Therefore, public health experts are recommending that people get the COVID-19 shot as soon as possible to protect against severe illness.

Because infants younger than 6 months are not old enough to be directly vaccinated, COVID-19 vaccination during pregnancy is the best way to protect these babies.

When it comes to the flu, cases and hospitalizations seem to rise steeply between November and December. Some years, however, such as the 2022-23 flu season, they start as early as October.

It’s important to remember that vaccines do not offer immediate protection. You need about two weeks for your body to generate enough antibodies to offer protection. September or early October is a good time to get the flu shot to ensure you are protected in time. However, if you aren’t able to get the shot before November, it’s important to know that it is still helpful to get the shot as long as flu is around.

Is it OK to get both the COVID-19 and flu shots at the same time?

Getting the COVID-19 and flu shots together can certainly make it easier to get up to date with these recommended vaccinations. Data shows that getting the flu shot and the COVID-19 shot together is safe and effective.

Some vaccine companies are working to develop a combined flu/COVID-19 vaccine to reduce the number of shots needed. This vaccine still needs to be approved by the Food and Drug Administration but could become available soon.

Who should get the RSV shot and when?

RSV is another common respiratory virus that can cause severe illness in young children and older adults. There are two groups of people who should get one of the three currently available RSV vaccines: adults 60 years and older and pregnant people. The CDC recommends a single dose of either GSK’s AREXVY, Moderna’s mRESVIA or Pfizer’s ABRYSVO for all adults 75 years and older and adults between the ages of 60 to 74 who are at increased risk of severe RSV disease.

Unlike the COVID-19 and flu shots, additional RSV doses are not currently recommended, because research suggests that the vaccine offers protection for at least two RSV seasons. These vaccines are relatively new, however, and more data will be needed to see how long this protection really lasts.

Additional doses may be recommended in the future.

The CDC recommends only Pfizer’s shot for people in weeks 32 to 36 of pregnancy between September and January. The Pfizer vaccine is the only RSV vaccine that has been licensed and approved for use in pregnancy.

These vaccines are different from the antibodies that can be given to infants at or after birth, called Beyfortus (nirsevimab). The CDC recommends one dose of nirsevimab for infants who are younger than 8 months old born during or shortly before their first RSV season. For some children who are 8 to 19 months old and are at increased risk of severe RSV disease, a dose of nirsevimab may also be recommended during their second RSV season.

Both the RSV vaccine and nirsevimab offer safe and effective options for preventing RSV in young babies.

Pregnant people should get advice from their health care professionals about which option is best for them.

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