Public Policy & NGOs
Here's a look at documents from public policy and non-governmental organizations
Featured Stories
Students and Workers Hold "Teach-Ins" at Nine Schools Targeted by Trump's "Loyalty Oath"
WASHINGTON, Oct. 18 -- The Sunrise Movement issued the following news release on Oct. 17, 2025, with the American Association of University Professors and American Federation of Teachers:
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Students and Workers Hold "Teach-Ins" at Nine Schools Targeted by Trump's "Loyalty Oath"
Momentum grows as protests spread and PENN & USC join M.I.T. and Brown in rejecting Trump's offer
AAUP & AFT Hold National Online Teach-In on the Growing Movement to Fight Back Against Trump's Compact
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Today, thousands of students, faculty, and campus workers will participate in teach-ins and rallies on the campuses
... Show Full Article
WASHINGTON, Oct. 18 -- The Sunrise Movement issued the following news release on Oct. 17, 2025, with the American Association of University Professors and American Federation of Teachers:
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Students and Workers Hold "Teach-Ins" at Nine Schools Targeted by Trump's "Loyalty Oath"
Momentum grows as protests spread and PENN & USC join M.I.T. and Brown in rejecting Trump's offer
AAUP & AFT Hold National Online Teach-In on the Growing Movement to Fight Back Against Trump's Compact
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Today, thousands of students, faculty, and campus workers will participate in teach-ins and rallies on the campusesof nine universities that received Trump's offer of preferential treatment in exchange for unprecedented government control and allegiance to numerous partisan ideological demands. Campus events will examine the long history of higher education institutions standing up for academic freedom and urge their administrators to reject Trump's attempt to force his authoritarian ideology through bribery.
The day of action comes on the heels of the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Southern California becoming the third and fourth universities to reject Trump's ultimatum. Students, faculty, and campus workers are leading the wave of unified rejection of Trump's agenda and see clear signs that the tide is turning. Today, student organizations representing nearly 1,000 schools are launching "Students Rise Up", a nationwide campaign to demand their colleges and high schools reject Trump's attempts to dictate policies around curriculum, research, admission, free speech, and more.
"No amount of federal inducement is worth surrendering the freedom to question, explore, and dissent," said Todd Wolfson, president of the American Association of University Professors. In rejecting Trump's attempts to coerce loyalty oaths from American colleges and universities, M.I.T., Brown, Penn, and USC stand as bulwarks for higher ed's sacred commitment to academic freedom and institutional self-governance. Trump's corrupt bribery attempt would usher in a new draconian era of thought policing in American higher education, cripple our technological innovation capacity, and assault our very democracy. Now is the time for all who care about the future of higher education to resist."
"At a time when higher education is under relentless political attack, the universities that refused to sign onto Trump's Faustian bargain showed real courage and integrity," said Randi Weingarten, president of AFT. "They chose to stand with students, educators, and the principles of academic freedom, institutional integrity, and the very soul of higher education instead of bowing to partisan pressure. It takes courage to stand up against authoritarian attacks on higher education. AAUP, AFT, our members, our students, and our communities are standing up and standing together--and it's working."
"Trump thought he could steamroll these nine schools and then make hundreds more fall in line," said Simon Aron, a sophomore with Brown Rise Up. "He was wrong. Tens of thousands of students and workers fought back against Trump's attacks and won. We won't let Trump dictate what we are allowed to study and research, who is safe on campus, and what we can speak out about. When he comes for our campuses again, we'll be ready."
"Trump is following the authoritarian playbook to a 'T", said Sunrise Movement Executive Director Aru Shiney-Ajay. "He wants to silence dissent and make our schools his personal playground. He wants to dictate what students are allowed to study and research, who is safe on campus, and what students can speak out about. Students, workers, and alumni are joining together to refuse to cooperate with business as usual, and demand our institutions rebuff Trump's attacks."
"Young people are making their message very clear: universities should be a place of learning, not propaganda machines. That's why students, workers, and alumni around the country are taking action. And it's working. Already MIT, Brown, UPenn, and USC have rejected the compact. We stand strong in our belief that these campus teach ins and wider wave of action will lead all the remaining schools to reject it as well," said Alicia Colomer, Managing Director at Campus Climate Network and former leader of Divest NYU.
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Original text here: https://us7.campaign-archive.com/?u=03c6bd2c940b3a70bc44f0b69&id=f30f0e1bda
[Category: Political]
PETA Statement: Former UW Primate Center Head Banned From Using Animals
SEATTLE, Washington, Oct. 18 -- People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals issued the following news release on Oct. 17, 2025:
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Former UW Primate Center Head Banned from Using Animals: PETA Statement
Please see the following statement from PETA Associate Director of Primate Experimentation Campaigns Amy Meyer regarding the decision of the University of Washington's animal care committee banning Michele Basso, former head of the Washington National Primate Research Center, from working with any animal for one year:
"PETA years ago detailed exactly why Michele Basso should never be within
... Show Full Article
SEATTLE, Washington, Oct. 18 -- People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals issued the following news release on Oct. 17, 2025:
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Former UW Primate Center Head Banned from Using Animals: PETA Statement
Please see the following statement from PETA Associate Director of Primate Experimentation Campaigns Amy Meyer regarding the decision of the University of Washington's animal care committee banning Michele Basso, former head of the Washington National Primate Research Center, from working with any animal for one year:
"PETA years ago detailed exactly why Michele Basso should never be withineyesight of a non-human animal, and on Thursday, the University of Washington's animal care committee voted to ban her from using animals for one year. The committee members who failed to support the lifetime ban she so richly deserves should be ashamed and lose their seats on the committee. Basso is not the only bad apple, and action against her does not solve the systemic decay at the heart of the university's primate center, where, on June 30, staff assumed an infant monkey was dead, and put them in a cooler, alive and suffering, awaiting necropsy. The rot at the Washington National Primate Research Center goes all the way to the root, and it must be shut down."
PETA--whose motto reads, in part, that "animals are not ours to experiment on"--points out that Every Animal Is Someone and offers free Empathy Kits for people who need a lesson in kindness. For more information, please visit PETA.org or follow PETA on X, Facebook, or Instagram.
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Original text here: https://www.peta.org/media/news-releases/former-uw-primate-center-head-banned-from-using-animals-peta-statement/
[Category: Animals]
Immigrants' Rights Organizations Submit Report to Inter-American Commission on Human Rights Documenting Escalating Abuses by U.S. Government
WASHINGTON, Oct. 18 (TNSrpt) -- Human Rights First posted the following news:
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Immigrants' Rights Organizations Submit Report to Inter-American Commission on Human Rights Documenting Escalating Abuses by U.S. Government
Following a July 24, 2025 public hearing held by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) that examined widespread human rights and refugee law violations inflicted by the U.S. government, a coalition of immigrants' rights organizations that participated in the hearing submitted a follow-up report to the Commission this week. The organizations include Al Otro
... Show Full Article
WASHINGTON, Oct. 18 (TNSrpt) -- Human Rights First posted the following news:
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Immigrants' Rights Organizations Submit Report to Inter-American Commission on Human Rights Documenting Escalating Abuses by U.S. Government
Following a July 24, 2025 public hearing held by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) that examined widespread human rights and refugee law violations inflicted by the U.S. government, a coalition of immigrants' rights organizations that participated in the hearing submitted a follow-up report to the Commission this week. The organizations include Al OtroLado, Americans for Immigrant Justice, Amnesty International, the Center for Human Rights and Constitutional Law, the Florence Immigrant & Refugee Rights Project, Haitian Bridge Alliance, Hope Border Institute, Human Rights First, Immigrant Defenders Law Center, Instituto para las Mujeres en la Migracion, the International Refugee Assistance Project, Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center, RAICES, and Refugees International.
The report addresses questions raised by the Commissioners during the public hearing and includes recommendations for IACHR to investigate and document the mass human rights abuses committed by the United States. Since the hearing took place, the human rights situation in the United States has only deteriorated further. The report documents worsening abuses in the immigration context including:
* Disappearances of immigrants who are unfindable in government custody for prolonged periods, causing severe anguish for families and making legal representation impossible. Recently, over 1,000 people reportedly disappeared from a single detention center.
* Arbitrary detention in life-threatening conditions, including in dangerous ICE jails where at least 16 people have died from January to September 2025, with reports of delayed or denied medical care leading up to some of the deaths.
* Skyrocketing illegal arrests, detention, deportation, and assaults against immigrants, including families with children, U.S. citizens, lawful permanent residents, refugees, asylum seekers, and people with Temporary Protected Status.
* Unbearable conditions, medical neglect, and abuses in immigration jails that inflict trauma on adults and children, with one fourteen-year-old child recounting: "[b]eing here has affected my little brother a lot. He doesn't sleep well. He cries all night. Yesterday he had an attack where he would not stop crying from 7pm to 9pm and he was outside the room crying that he didn't want to go back in and that he wanted to be free."
* Widespread separation of immigrant parents from their babies, toddlers, and children, with reports of families seeking asylum in the United States forced to choose between being separated from their children or returning to persecution; children placed in foster care after their parents are detained; and children dragged from their beds, zip-tied, and separated from parents.
* Expulsions and deportations of people to third countries where they face arbitrary imprisonment, torture, return to danger in home countries, and other rights violations. The U.S. government has carried out some of these forced removals in violation of court orders and with little to no transparency around the terms of the agreements with third countries.
* Mass violations of due process protections and refugee law resulting from the government's systematic efforts to strip people of the right to an immigration hearing regardless of how long they have lived in the United States, and to shut down asylum processing for people fleeing to the United States-Mexico border.
* Attempts to conceal abuses and block legal access, including reprisals against lawyers, advocates, journalists, and government officials; the dismantling of oversight agencies; and the denial of statutorily-mandated access to detention centers for Members of Congress.
"The disappearances, mass arrests and detentions, abusive detention conditions, and other human rights violations occurring in the United States threaten all communities and undermine our Nation's most fundamental values," Sui Chung, Executive Director, Americans for Immigrant Justice. "We call on the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, the U.S. Government, and the public to shine light on these problems and take decisive action to end them. The time is now to confront these violations with transparency and urgency."
"The Trump administration is terrorizing immigrants in the United States through mass disappearance and detention tactics that have caused family separation, increasingly concerning deaths in detention, and third country deportations to danger," said Margaret Cargioli, directing attorney, policy and advocacy, at Immigrant Defenders Law Center (ImmDef). "We urge the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights to continue to monitor and report on the Trump administration's immigration tactics, as well as to conduct site visits of detention facilities as people's lives are at risk."
"In less than a year, we have seen this administration strip noncitizens of due process rights, separate families, and deport people to countries they've never been to before," said Maria Fernanda Palacios Herrera, Policy Counsel at the International Refugee Assistance Project (IRAP). "The international community must speak out against the widespread terror and violence inflicted upon asylum seekers, refugees, and immigrant communities by the Trump administration. We respectfully request the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights call on the United States government to cease these human rights violations immediately."
"The cruelty inflicted on immigrants in the United States reverberates far beyond its borders," said Taylor Koehler, Policy & Programs Staff Attorney at the Center for Human Rights and Constitutional Law (CHRCL). "Every act of dehumanization sends a dangerous message to the world that human rights are negotiable. As a global community, we cannot allow that precedent to take hold. We urge the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights to act with urgency and use every tool within its power to protect immigrants and uphold fundamental human rights in the United States."
"The Trump administration's policies are sowing fear and forcing people to make terrible decisions, violently uprooting community members, separating families, disappearing people to abusive detention conditions and to countries where they are in danger or that they don't know," said Yael Schacher, Director for the Americas and Europe at Refugees International. "We ask that the IACHR help to stop these violations of human rights by documenting harm, demanding accountability, and promoting an alternative, humane approach to migrants and asylum seekers in countries throughout the Americas."
"Over the course of the past 10 months, the administration has continued to escalate its attacks on immigrants throughout the United States, both living in our communities and in immigration detention," said Laura St. John, Legal Director at the Florence Immigrant & Refugee Rights Project. "Our clients are reporting extremely alarming conditions in detention centers, more people are at risk of being removed to third countries to which they have no ties, and immigration enforcement is terrorizing our communities. We urge the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights to sound the alarm on danger and violence that immigrant communities in the United States are being subjected to and ask the Commission to demand that the U.S. government immediately halt all actions that violate the human rights of immigrants in the United States."
"My colleagues and I know the truth behind the charade. The goal is the money. The strategy is shock and awe. The tactic is terror. The tactic is violence. The tactic is torture. Sadly, this administration no longer needs to work with Central American dictators to house innocent men in mega-prisons because there's a burgeoning one here at Ft. Bliss," said Marisa Limon Garza, Executive Director of Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center.
"This year, we have witnessed people kidnapped from their communities, separated from their children, and arbitrarily detained in deplorable conditions," said Yannick Gill, Senior Counsel at Human Rights First. "The escalating violations of U.S. and international law deny migrants and asylum seekers their rights under the law. We are deeply grateful to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights for its work monitoring and speaking out against the unlawful human rights violations perpetrated by the U.S. government. We urge the United States to end its systematic attacks on immigrants, the dismantling of oversight mechanisms, and retaliation against advocates who seek to shine a light on its rights abuses."
"The U.S. government is terrorizing people, destroying their physical and mental health in horrendous detention conditions, refusing to listen to their asylum claims, retaining their personal property including original ID documents, and then sending them to Mexico," said Gretchen Kuhner, Director of the Institute for Women in Migration (IMUMI). "Once in Mexico they have no information, no documentation, and are either dumped in the streets near the Mexico-Guatemalan border or deported to their countries of origin. In just nine months, Mexico has received over 11,000 third country nationals from the U.S., many of whom have been separated from their families. We urge the IACHR to denounce these egregious human rights violations that have stripped people of their basic dignity."
"The United States government continues to wield its outsized and unaccountable geo-political power to enact brutal, prevention-through-deterrence migration policies--where brutality towards certain people seeking lawful protections is the point--and to strong-arm other States in the Americas to do the same," said Erik Crew, Staff Attorney at Haitian Bridge Alliance (HBA). "These policies continue to target those who should be protected by the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, the Inter-American Democratic Charter, and the American Convention on Human Rights. We urge the Commission to investigate these escalating violations and hold accountable all States in the region whose bilateral agreements empower these attacks on international human rights, refugee protections, and basic human dignity."
"As we continue to support migrant families on the U.S. side of the border looking for their relatives in immigration detention, attending to their urgent needs for pastoral and mental health care, and arranging care for their kids in the midst of the true fear of being separated, we also accompany others stranded in Mexico due to the closure of our border to those most vulnerable. This is not just a law enforcement campaign, it's terror," said Jesus de la Torre, Assistant Director for Global Migration at the Hope Border Institute. "We thank the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights for listening to the testimonies of all the mothers, neighbors and friends who have been brutally impacted by these policies, and we encourage the Commission to keep shedding light on these systemic abuses. The borderlands know well that, in the persistent fight for human dignity, fear never has the last word. We stand committed to uphold our welcoming identity and will continue to organize to support policies that keep families together and help our communities thrive."
"From Inauguration Day onward, the Trump administration has weaponized racist pretext as a means to further the president's anti-immigrant agenda," said Javier Hidalgo, legal director at RAICES. "At RAICES, we are deeply troubled by the administration's consistent opacity and lack of procedural safeguards, but we will not be swayed from our fight for due process and against the unlawful disappearance of people and families. Let us be clear, what we say to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, we also say to the world: fundamental humanitarian protections should never be up for debate."
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REPORT: https://humanrightsfirst.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Report-to-IACHR-10.13.2025.pdf
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Original text here: https://humanrightsfirst.org/library/immigrants-rights-organizations-submit-report-to-inter-american-commission-on-human-rights-documenting-escalating-abuses-by-u-s-government/
[Category: Sociological]
Carnegie Institution for Science: From Atoms to Cells - A History of the Biophysics Section
WASHINGTON, Oct. 18 -- The Carnegie Institution for Science issued the following news:
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From Atoms to Cells: A History of the Biophysics Section
In 1946, Carnegie researchers launched a bold, new, cross-disciplinary venture: Could nuclear physicists apply their tools and methods to unlock secrets of the molecular machinery of life?
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In the years following World War II, a small group of physicists at Carnegie Science's former Department of Terrestrial Magnetism (DTM), which is now part of the Earth and Planets Laboratory, made an unusual transition from nuclear physics to the study of
... Show Full Article
WASHINGTON, Oct. 18 -- The Carnegie Institution for Science issued the following news:
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From Atoms to Cells: A History of the Biophysics Section
In 1946, Carnegie researchers launched a bold, new, cross-disciplinary venture: Could nuclear physicists apply their tools and methods to unlock secrets of the molecular machinery of life?
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In the years following World War II, a small group of physicists at Carnegie Science's former Department of Terrestrial Magnetism (DTM), which is now part of the Earth and Planets Laboratory, made an unusual transition from nuclear physics to the study ofliving cells. The Biophysics Section, formed in 1946, was a cutting-edge venture that applied the methods and tools of nuclear physics to fundamental questions in biology. This interdisciplinary group would make significant contributions to the emerging field of molecular biology, demonstrating how expertise from one scientific discipline could help open new pathways in another.
From Nuclear Physics to Biology
The origins of the Biophysics Section traced back to the arrival of physicist Merle Tuve at DTM in 1926. Driven by an interest in the atomic nucleus, Tuve and his DTM colleagues Lawrence Hafstad and Norman Heydenburg and, in collaboration with Gregory Breit of the University of Wisconsin Madison, installed cutting-edge Van de Graaff generators on the Broad Branch Road campus. They used these novel instruments to measure proton-proton and proton-neutron collisions and scattering, making significant discoveries about atomic forces. By the 1930s, DTM had become a leading center for nuclear physics.
The department's cutting-edge equipment soon drew the interest of biologists. A local cancer researcher requested time to bombard frog eggs with high-speed protons. A visiting Carnegie plant biologist used radioactive carbon to study photosynthesis. A researcher from Carnegie's Department of Embryology worked with DTM's Richard B. Roberts to trace molecular transfer from mother to embryo in rats. Tuve himself collaborated on studies of the mutagenic effects of neutrons on fruit flies with scientists from Carnegie's former Department of Genetics.
By 1939, the demands from biologists had grown so substantial that roughly half of the time on DTM's newly completed pressure Van de Graaff generator was devoted to biological experiments. Recognizing this momentum, DTM decided to build a 60-inch cyclotron specifically designed to produce tracer isotopes for use by biologists throughout the Washington and Baltimore region.
It was arranged for Dean Cowie, a fellow of the National Cancer Institute to assist the biologists' work with the department's instruments. Then Philip Abelson arrived from the University of California Berkeley to help design the new cyclotron.
World War II temporarily derailed these plans, diverting Carnegie's physicists to war-related research. Cowie kept the project alive at DTM and the cyclotron finally began operation in 1944. For a time, it provided an important service for the local scientific and medical communities, operating around the clock to meet demand.
Establishing the Biophysics Section
After the war, Tuve, newly named director of DTM, met with Abelson to discuss potential new research avenues. They agreed that there were "some real areas to be looked at in biology" and in 1946 Abelson returned to DTM as chairman of a new Biophysics Section. He began assembling a research group, initially consisting of Roberts and Cowie, to use new physical methods to explore fundamental questions of biology.
This would be an exciting new endeavor, crossing a disciplinary border between the sciences. As the institution's centennial history explains: "It would be difficult to name a pair of scientific disciplines less similar in their scope and context than cellular biology and nuclear physics. Prior to World War II, the study of microbes relied in large measure on powerful optical microscopes, selective staining techniques, and qualitative descriptions of cellular behavior. Nuclear physics, by contrast, boasted a two-pronged strategy of exacting experimental measurements coupled with abstract theoretical modeling. The Carnegie biophysics effort, which required expertise in both nuclear physics and cellular biology, was thus the epitome of interdisciplinary research."
The shift from nuclear physics to biophysics was not entirely surprising. The group had already collaborated with biologists during the pre-war years, and the cyclotron had always been intended as an isotope factory. Radioisotopes were transforming biology, and as Roberts would later put it, the use of tracers "clearly opened opportunities for answering questions that had previously been unapproachable." Abelson later described their hope that "physicists with their penchant for analysis and separation of variables and their ability to devise new instrumentation, might be able to crack some of the complex puzzles in the realm of living matter."
In the post-war period, with the atomic bomb fresh in memory, many nuclear physicists found themselves uncomfortable with the implications of their work. The prospect of turning the technologies of nuclear physics to peaceful ends gave biophysics a particular appeal. In November 1946, DTM hosted the Ninth Washington Conference on Theoretical Physics, devoted to "The Physics of Living Matter." The conference brought together distinguished atomic scientists with leading biologists to explore a new "physics of life."
In the following summer of 1947, at Abelson's suggestion, Roberts headed to Cold Spring Harbor for an intensive bacteriophage course at Carnegie's Department of Genetics. He returned, as one account described it, "thoroughly infected with enthusiasm for bacteria and viruses." Abelson spent that summer at the Marine Biological Laboratory at Woods Hole, immersing himself in how conventional biologists approached and understood their work.
While launching their initial research program, the group continued to educate themselves about general biology, microbiology, physical chemistry, and biochemistry, and cultivated relationships with biologists. By 1951, the Biophysics Section had added physicist Roy Britten and the group's first biologist, Ellis Bolton, to the team and homed in on a research focus.
Unlocking the Secrets of E. coli
Following Roberts' visit to Carnegie's Department of Genetics at Cold Spring Harbor, the group had selected a bacterium called Escherichia coli for intensive study. E. coli appealed to the group due to its simplicity and how easy it was to cultivate, growing quickly and reliably. This microorganism would become a widely adopted laboratory model, just as the fruit fly had become the essential model for genetics research.
The problem the group set for itself was ambitious: To work out, in detail, the chemical processes by which this single-celled organism organized energy and chemicals from its environment to produce more of itself.
The basic experimental design was simple. The team grew E. coli cultures and fed them materials containing radioactive isotopes of common elements like carbon, phosphorus, and sulfur. After several cell divisions, they pulverized the bacteria and separated their molecules using paper chromatography, a technique that exploits how liquids drag different molecules at different speeds along a sheet of paper depending on various material properties, such as their size and arrangement of electrical charges. By placing a photographic emulsion over the paper and seeing where the film was exposed and darkened by radiation, they could identify which molecules had become radioactive, revealing the pathways of chemical synthesis within the bacterium.
As Abelson later recalled, almost every day brought something new and "it was great fun to know that you were doing something that had not been done before." The team devised a method for using a radioactive carbon isotope to track how the microbes sourced the raw materials to manufacture the biological molecules needed to perform different cellular functions. This enabled them to discover the synthesis pathways for 15 of the 19 amino acids found in E. coli.
Over years of rigorous experiments, the five members of the Biophysics Section compiled an extensive body of knowledge about the molecular processes within E. coli. Their resulting book, Studies of Biosynthesis in Escherichia coli, published in 1955, marked the first time that so many of the details of the metabolism of an organism had been laid out. It became an essential reference for a generation of molecular biologists, exerting significant influence during a formative period in the field's development.
Evolution and Dissolution
The group's work continued to evolve. They moved from studying small molecules to tackling the more complex problem of protein and nucleic acid synthesis and, eventually, the structure of chromosomes. Bolton and Brian McCarthy, a later addition to the team, invented the agar column technique to study RNA, with which Britten discovered that animal chromosomes contain many repeated identical structures. The group would ultimately publish approximately 200 papers and two additional books.
But the field around them was changing. By the 1960s and 1970s, the landscape had transformed, and the Biophysics Section had lost its distinctiveness. What had once been a pioneering effort at DTM had become standard practice at molecular biology laboratories worldwide. Carnegie's own Department of Embryology had redirected its efforts in the 1960s away from anatomy and reproductive biology to embrace new techniques of molecular biology. When Abelson became president of the institution in 1971, he and the board of trustees concluded that the biophysics group no longer occupied the unique position that justified Carnegie's support.
When the Biophysics Section was terminated three years later, it marked the natural conclusion of a productive three-decade endeavor on an interdisciplinary frontier. The group exemplified Carnegie Science's tradition of bringing together curious and innovative researchers from different fields to tackle fundamental questions about the natural world. Its history stands as a testament to the institution's willingness to support bold, boundary-pushing ventures that expand the frontiers of scientific knowledge.
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Original text here: https://carnegiescience.edu/news/atoms-cells-history-biophysics-section
[Category: Science]
CRN Highlights New Science Supporting the Safety of Brain, Heart and Eye-Health Nutrients
WASHINGTON, Oct. 18 -- The Council for Responsible Nutrition issued the following news release on Oct. 17, 2025:
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CRN Highlights New Science Supporting the Safety of Brain, Heart and Eye-Health Nutrients
The Council for Responsible Nutrition (CRN) today announced the publication of three new and updated chapters in its Vitamin & Mineral Safety, Fourth Edition (VMS4) series--expanding the supplement industry's most comprehensive, science-based resource on nutrient safety.
The latest updates include:
* A new safety evaluation for choline and citicoline, essential nutrients for brain and
... Show Full Article
WASHINGTON, Oct. 18 -- The Council for Responsible Nutrition issued the following news release on Oct. 17, 2025:
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CRN Highlights New Science Supporting the Safety of Brain, Heart and Eye-Health Nutrients
The Council for Responsible Nutrition (CRN) today announced the publication of three new and updated chapters in its Vitamin & Mineral Safety, Fourth Edition (VMS4) series--expanding the supplement industry's most comprehensive, science-based resource on nutrient safety.
The latest updates include:
* A new safety evaluation for choline and citicoline, essential nutrients for brain andliver health;
* A new chapter on lutein, zeaxanthin, and meso-zeaxanthin, the carotenoids associated with vision and eye health; and
* An updated folate chapter that retains the current tolerable Upper Intake Level (UL) for folate but introduces a new section on methylfolate, the biologically active form of folate.
These additions underscore CRN's commitment to transparency, rigorous science, and global harmonization in nutrient safety evaluation and give consumers, healthcare practitioners, and industry added confidence that these ingredients, when used at the suggested levels, are safe.
New Chapter on Choline and Citicoline
For the first time, CRN has published a safety review of choline and citicoline, nutrients critical for brain function, liver metabolism, and cell membrane integrity.
Based on data from more than 20 human clinical trials, and consistent with prior evaluations by the Institute of Medicine (IOM), CRN reaffirmed the IOM's UL of 3,500 mg per day for choline and derived a new supplemental UL of 2,000 mg per day for citicoline.
The chapter also reviews recent observational studies exploring possible links between choline intake and cardiovascular disease (CVD) outcomes. After assessing these data and their confounding variables, CRN determined that a clear relationship between dietary choline intake and CVD outcomes cannot be established from the current body of evidence.
"This new chapter closes a long-standing gap in nutrient safety guidance," said Andrea Wong, Ph.D., Senior Vice President, Scientific & Regulatory Affairs, CRN. "Choline and citicoline play vital roles in cognition, liver health, and metabolism--and the evidence confirms their safety when consumed at reasonable supplemental levels."
New Chapter on Eye-Health Carotenoids
CRN's new lutein, zeaxanthin, and meso-zeaxanthin chapter represents the first unified evaluation of this trio of xanthophyll carotenoids--key compounds in maintaining eye health and visual performance.
Building upon CRN's earlier risk assessment for lutein (Shao and Hathcock, 2006), the updated review draws from approximately 75 human clinical trials and global evaluations by the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA) and the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA).
No serious adverse effects were identified across studies, even at doses far exceeding typical dietary intakes. The only benign observation, carotenoderma (temporary skin yellowing) when the compounds are ingested at very high doses, was temporary and was not considered adverse.
Based on the available data, CRN maintained the Highest Observed Intake (HOI) of 22 mg per day for lutein previously established in 2006, and established an HOI of 26 mg per day for zeaxanthin and 17 mg per day for meso-zeaxanthin.
"This chapter offers the most updated picture of the clinical safety of lutein, zeaxanthin, and meso-zeaxanthin," added Wong. "It affirms these bioactives' strong safety record and their important contribution to visual health."
Updated Folate Chapter Adds Methylfolate Section
CRN has also released a revised folic acid chapter, reaffirming the existing UL of 1 mg per day for folic acid while introducing a new section on methylfolate (5-MTHF)--the active form increasingly featured in supplements and fortified foods.
The updated review synthesizes the latest findings on the safety, metabolism, and bioavailability of methylfolate, establishing a UL of 1.5 mg per day.
"Our updated folate chapter provides clarity for today's market," said Wong. "By distinguishing folic acid and methylfolate, CRN is helping ensure safety standards keep pace with innovation."
Continuing CRN's Leadership in Nutrient Safety
These new and updated chapters are part of CRN's ongoing rollout of the VMS4 --a reference tool that applies CRN's own human-data-first methodology.
"CRN's Vitamin & Mineral Safety series represents the industry's gold standard for nutrient risk assessment," said Steve Mister, President & CEO, CRN. "With these new chapters, we're strengthening the scientific foundation that supports responsible product development and consumer confidence."
Access and Availability
The following chapters are now available for download through CRN's Vitamin & Mineral Safety online resource library:
* Choline and Citicoline (new chapter)
* Lutein, Zeaxanthin, and Meso-Zeaxanthin (new chapter)
* Folic Acid and Methylfolate (updated chapter)
All are accessible at www.crnusa.org/resources/vitamin-mineral-safety. Additional nutrient reviews are scheduled for release throughout 2026.
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About CRN
The Council for Responsible Nutrition (CRN), founded in 1973, is a Washington, D.C.-based trade association representing 180+ dietary supplement and functional food manufacturers, ingredient suppliers, and companies providing services to those manufacturers and suppliers. In addition to complying with a host of federal and state regulations governing dietary supplements and food in the areas of manufacturing, marketing, quality control and safety, our manufacturer and supplier members also agree to adhere to additional voluntary guidelines as well as to CRN's Code of Ethics. Follow us on LinkedIn and X @CRN_Supplements.
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Original text here: https://www.crnusa.org/newsroom/crn-highlights-new-science-supporting-safety-brain-heart-and-eye-health-nutrients
[Category: Sociological]
CODEPINK Orange County Peace Activists Protest Howmet Aerospace's Role in F-35 Production for Israel
LOS ANGELES, California, Oct. 18 -- CodePink, a grassroots peace and social justice movement working to end U.S.-funded wars and occupations, to challenge militarism globally, posted the following news release on Oct. 16, 2025:
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CODEPINK Orange County Peace Activists Protest Howmet Aerospace's Role in F-35 Production for Israel
ORANGE COUNTY -- CODEPINK Orange County activists staged a protest Thursday afternoon outside the Howmet Aerospace facility, distributing pamphlets to workers as they ended their shifts. The demonstration aimed to highlight Howmet's involvement in manufacturing
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LOS ANGELES, California, Oct. 18 -- CodePink, a grassroots peace and social justice movement working to end U.S.-funded wars and occupations, to challenge militarism globally, posted the following news release on Oct. 16, 2025:
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CODEPINK Orange County Peace Activists Protest Howmet Aerospace's Role in F-35 Production for Israel
ORANGE COUNTY -- CODEPINK Orange County activists staged a protest Thursday afternoon outside the Howmet Aerospace facility, distributing pamphlets to workers as they ended their shifts. The demonstration aimed to highlight Howmet's involvement in manufacturingcomponents for Lockheed Martin's F-35 fighter jets, which have been used in Israel's genocide in Gaza and ethnic cleansing of Palestinians.
Howmet Aerospace produces specialized titanium parts for the F-35 aircraft, which Lockheed Martin supplies to various nations, including Israel. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) currently operates at least 39 F-35 jets, with plans to acquire a total of 75 by 2028. These aircraft have been employed in recent airstrikes in Gaza, leading to significant civilian casualties.
The protest is part of a broader campaign organized by the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) Movement, targeting companies involved in the production and supply of military equipment used in conflicts affecting civilian populations. CODEPINK Orange County is calling on Howmet Aerospace to terminate its contract related to the F-35 program, emphasizing the company's role in the genocide in Gaza.
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Original text here: https://www.codepink.org/ochowmetprotest
[Category: Sociological]
Americans for Tax Reform Issues Commentary: AFSCME Has an Embezzlement Problem
WASHINGTON, Oct. 18 -- Americans for Tax Reform posted the following commentary:
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AFSCME Has an Embezzlement Problem
By Rowan Saydlowski
The American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) is perhaps best known for the Janus v. AFSCME (2018) case, where the union argued that it should have the power to forcefully withdraw dues payments from public-sector workers without their consent. Despite the union's attempts, in Janus the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the workers, allowing them to choose whether or not to give their money to a public-sector union.
Given the
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WASHINGTON, Oct. 18 -- Americans for Tax Reform posted the following commentary:
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AFSCME Has an Embezzlement Problem
By Rowan Saydlowski
The American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) is perhaps best known for the Janus v. AFSCME (2018) case, where the union argued that it should have the power to forcefully withdraw dues payments from public-sector workers without their consent. Despite the union's attempts, in Janus the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the workers, allowing them to choose whether or not to give their money to a public-sector union.
Given thebehavior of unions like AFSCME, it makes sense that many workers would not want to send money into their coffers. Outside of the Janus case, one of the things AFSCME has become most known for in recent decades is financial crime.
Countless union bosses within the AFSCME organization have been indicted for embezzling funds from the union--and therefore from the workers who pay dues to the union--totaling many millions of dollars. In just the last few years, there are several notable examples:
* AFSCME Local 1640 President Mervin Hawk was charged with embezzling more than $600,000. [https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/detroit/2018/04/16/afscme-local-1640-mervin-hawk-embezzlement/522956002/]
* The President and Treasurer of AFSCME Local 2620 were indicted for wire fraud after embezzling $270,000 to buy luxury clothes and shoes. [https://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/the-state-worker/article308057005.html]
* AFSCME State Council 65 Finance Director Beverly Hansen was charged with swindling more than $60,000. [https://nilrr.org/afscmes-beverly-hansen-charged-with-theft-by-swindle/]
* AFSCME Local 124 President Byron Clemons was sentenced to prison time after embezzling more than $200,000. [https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdil/pr/former-labor-union-president-gets-18-months-federal-prison-embezzling-more-200000]
* Annapolis City AFSCME President Larry Dobson Jr. was charged with embezzlement and theft of more than $6,000. [https://www.capitalgazette.com/2025/08/21/former-annapolis-union-president-charged-embezzlement/]
* Two leaders of AFSCME Local 1746 were investigated by the Department of Labor for allegedly embezzling more than $150,000. [https://www.clevescene.com/news/department-of-labor-investigating-alleged-theft-of-union-funds-at-afscme-local-1746-43252025/]
* The former secretary treasurer of AFSCME Local 2254, Linda Rogers, was indicted for embezzling more than $40,000. [https://www.oig.dol.gov/public/Press%20Releases/Former_Union_Official_Admits_Embezzlement_USAO%20D-NJ_01122021.pdf]
* AFSCME Local 2428 Treasurer Susan Elizabeth Kyle pleaded guilty to embezzling nearly $500,000. [https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndca/pr/former-union-treasurer-pleads-guilty-embezzlement-money-labor-organization#:~:text=Kyle%20admitted%20she%20stole%20the,an%20investigation%20by%20the%20FBI.]
* AFSCME Local 3911 board member Matthew Adams was charged with felony theft and forgery after stealing more than $126,000 from emergency responders. [https://www.wdel.com/news/county-union-board-member-charged-with-stealing-union-funds/article_6bddb1b2-8b3a-11ef-be07-bf5b7f5b85ca.html]
These are just a small selection of the embezzlement cases that have been brought against AFSCME leaders--and there is no telling how many union bosses are still getting away with similar crimes today.
In addition to union bosses pocketing funds for their personal benefit, AFSCME engages in a practice of funneling money to leftwing political causes, whether the workers paying into the union agree with the causes or not. In the 2024 election cycle, AFSCME gave an incredible 99.58 percent of its political donations to Democrats, a mere rounding error short of being 100-percent a DNC fundraising operation. Not only do workers not get to choose where their money goes, but they often are not even allowed to know.
Even while their money is funneled to divisive political causes and into the pockets of corrupt union bosses, AFSCME insists that workers should be forced to pay dues to them. The union continues to fight against the Janus ruling that protected workers' rights, bemoaning it as "wrongly decided." AFSCME also supports the PRO Act, which would intensify the stranglehold that unions have over workers and force more employees to pay forced dues.
AFSCME bosses have shown repeatedly that they cannot be trusted with the dues that they receive from workers. No worker should be forced to give their hard-earned money to a union, especially when it so often ends up in the pockets of corrupt union bosses.
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Rowan Saydlowski is a federal affairs coordinator with Americans for Tax Reform.
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Original text here: https://atr.org/afscme-has-an-embezzlement-problem/
[Category: Political]
