Latest news with #Holscher
CNBC
30-05-2025
- Health
- CNBC
I'm a dietician and microbiome researcher: The gut-friendly breakfast I eat every day
Hannah Holscher, a registered dietitian and microbiome researcher, teaches classes about nutrition at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. She is also the Director of the Nutrition and Human Microbiome the lab on the school's campus in Champaign, Holscher and her team analyze biological samples like blood, stool and urine, and sift through large data sets from existing microbiome research to better understand "how the microbes in our body are able to break down components in foods that our own human enzymes can't digest," she told CNBC Make It in work helps inform how people should eat to maintain or improve their health and well-being. She also uses what she's learned while studying the human microbiome to shape her own Holscher makes sure to get one vital nutrient in as often as possible for optimal gut health: "[I] try to get my recommended amount of fiber every day, which is going to be right around 25 grams." On average, American adults typically eat just 10 to 15 grams of total fiber a day, according to Harvard Health Publishing. To prioritize her gut health, Holscher frontloads her day with foods rich in dietary fiber or probiotics. Some fiber-rich foods are leafy greens, berries, apples, avocados and chia seeds A typical breakfast for Holscher looks like: "I work really hard to try to prioritize consuming different plant-based foods: fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts and legumes." ,
Yahoo
16-05-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Porsche Is Experiencing An EV Crisis
Read the full story on The Auto Wire It's no secret demand for EVs is dropping drastically and Porsche is suffering as a result. Despite some trying to pretend only Tesla is dealing with the electric car slump, everyone's feeling it. But that's only part of the woes plaguing Porsche as the German brand grapples with several challenges at to an explosive report from Automotive News, Porsche has been to aggressive on EVs and now it's paying the price. We find this a bit ironic coming from a publication that just a year ago was rather bullish on electric cars, but it shows how quickly and drastically the market has shifted. In the report, industry analyst Fabio Holscher of Warburg Research is cited, who gives his expert opinion that Porsche's goal of going 80 percent electric by 2030 is just too much. It wasn't that long ago that Toyota and some other brands were getting scorched by the media and industry analysts for not pushing forward on electrification aggressively enough, for what it's worth. Without getting too much in the weeds there, Holscher says thanks to Porsche trending behind on its own aggressive adoption strategy, it's having to come up with some new gas-burning cars in the meantime, multiplying its development expenses. But there's more. As we've covered before, foreign automakers are increasingly getting the cold shoulder in China. Some media outlets portray this as just a function of Chinese automakers having better products, but there is a hyper-nationalistic movement going on in the Middle Kingdom along with the communist government encouraging the patriotic purchase of Chinese cars. Porsche in the past has capitulated to China even though everyone knew the Chinese Communist Party would eventually close the door on foreign companies. And now they're getting squeezed out of a market the Germans have become quite dependent upon. Then for good measure Automotive News talks about the tariffs taking a bite out of Porsche financially. The automaker isn't having a great time right now. But it's survived worse in the past, so hopefully it will ride out this storm and be stronger for it. Source: Automotive News Image via Porsche Join our Newsletter, subscribe to our YouTube page, and follow us on Facebook.
Yahoo
05-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Kansas Democrat sees ‘awakening' in suppressed public comments that criticize DOGE and COGE
Sen. Cindy Holscher appears at the Statehouse in Topeka as part of the 50501 national day of action on May 1, 2025. (Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector) TOPEKA — As the ranking Democrat on a Kansas Senate committee modeled after Elon Musk's supposed efforts to make federal government more efficient, Sen. Cindy Holscher was 'a little bit suspicious' of what GOP leaders in the Legislature really had in mind. Instead of looking for waste, she said on the Kansas Reflector podcast, Republicans at both the federal and state level have hurt people by eliminating critical services and jobs. In Kansas, the Committee on Government Efficiency, or COGE, took its cues from out-of-state lobbyists who promoted extremist legislation, she said. Much of the committee's work resulted in adding red tape to public assistance programs. Meanwhile, everyday Kansans from all corners of the state responded in real time throughout the legislative session with suggestions and comments that showed the ruling party was at odds with the people they serve — but the committee chairwoman, Republican Sen. Renee Erickson, of Wichita, kept those voices hidden until the session was over, in defiance of state open records law. For Holscher, an Overland Park Democrat, the comments showed how frustrated Kansans are with Republican leadership. 'I do think there's been an awakening to some degree and respect that what's happened on the federal level is hitting people in the pocketbook, and so I think people are taking more notice,' Holscher said. She added: 'The thing I think that is very important is that, you know, people need to connect the dots in terms of, then, what's happening on the state level that's coming, that's going to affect them.' Among her concerns: a looming budget crisis that could imperil public school funding. She appeared in a red 'I (heart) public schools' T-shirt at a May 1 rally at the Statehouse, where hundreds of Kansans protested Musk's work with DOGE. When Senate President Ty Masterson, an Andover Republican, announced the formation of COGE before the session launched in January, he said he wanted to explore ways to make government more efficient. The committee launched an online portal where Kansans were invited to submit their ideas. Those who navigated the portal were informed that their comments would be subject to open records law and could be made public. Kansas Reflector submitted a formal request for those comments in early February, and the request bounced around for three weeks before landing in Erickson's inbox. Erickson initially said it would take two months to comply with the request, ostensibly to allow time to redact comments that revealed personal information. She then agreed to release the emails on April 9 — two weeks after the Legislature had concluded almost all of its work. But Kansas Reflector independently obtained copies of more than 1,500 of the public comments in advance of their official release. Nearly all of the comments were antithetical to the committee's work, and some of the comments questioned the committee's existence. 'What are you doing? Have you not, as an elected representative, practiced efficiency in all the bills you have introduced and votes you have taken? Give me a break. COGE is not necessary bureaucracy,' wrote Christopher Berg, of Kansas City, Kansas. Kansas Reflector didn't verify the names provided with submissions. Max Kautsch, a First Amendment attorney, wrote in a column for Kansas Reflector that Erickson had make a mockery of open records law by delaying the release of public comments. 'The real reason for her delay became clear: The portal was a repository for criticism of the supermajority's legislative agenda, and it was in the supermajority's interest to keep that fact from the public for as long as possible,' Kautsch wrote. Erickson told the Committee to Protect Journalists that allegations she mishandled open records requests were 'patently false,' but Holscher said 'there's no doubt' Erickson violated the Kansas Open Records Act by not turning the comments over in a reasonable amount of time. Holscher said she didn't even get access to the records, which could have informed the committee's work, until the end of March, in the final days of the session. 'I think they were just trying to run out the clock of session, honestly,' Holscher said. 'And really, I think it's because the suggestions that were received showed that this Legislature is very much out of step with the will of the people.' The comments included complaints about Republican lawmakers' attacks on transgender Kansans and reproductive rights, as well as their failure to expand Medicaid or legalize marijuana. Holscher declined to identify her favorite public comments, as so many were shockingly profane. 'Well, it's a family podcast,' she said. 'I don't know if I can share some of those. I will say there were some that were very pointed in terms of their feelings about this Legislature and the direction that this committee was going.' A multitude of people who submitted comments through the portal took aim at Masterson, the Senate president who created the committee. They questioned Masterson's lucrative Koch-funded post at Wichita State University, his generous use of hair gel, and blockage of medicinal marijuana bills. 'Get Ty Masterson to quit being a chode and allow legalized marijuana to be grown and sold in Kansas,' wrote an individual who identified themself as Blake F, of Sedgwick. 'It's like printing money, but that d*** tickler keeps c***blocking a slam dunk.' Jason Young, of Lawrence, directed his comment to Masterson and other GOP leaders: 'Quit swinging from Trump's nuts and spending all of our hard earned Kansans money on election denying lawsuits and worrying about who f***ing uses what restroom.' Other comments submitted through the online portal directly addressed the existence of COGE and the work Musk is doing through the federal counterpart, known as DOGE. 'Seriously, government would be more efficient if it didn't waste its time and our money on things as obviously stupid as this portal,' wrote Matt Paul, of Wichita. Noreen Carrocci, also of Wichita, said the Legislature shouldn't do what Musk and DOGE were doing, which she described as 'dismantling the government in a chaotic fashion with NO strategic thinking or planning.' 'If you decide you want to legally audit departments then do so transparently and thoughtfully, and consult the professionals in the respective departments,' she wrote. 'What is happening at the federal level is illegal, immoral, and tragic. Let's not follow that kind of leadership here in Kansas.' Holscher said the Legislature should pay attention to comments that complained about the legislative process. Several people said committees should provide a three-day window to submit testimony on bills, or complained about the 'gut and go' process, in which lawmakers at the end of the session 'amend' a bill by inserting the contents of other bills, sometimes including ones that received no hearing. And she noted that Republicans failed to deliver on their campaign promises to provide property tax relief. Instead, they passed another plan to lower income taxes. 'They have a supermajority,' Holscher said. 'They can pass whatever they want. If they really wanted to get property tax relief, they could have.' An interim COGE meeting is scheduled for May 13.
Yahoo
21-02-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Kansas Democrat attempts to insert narrow medical marijuana legalization into treatment bill
Sen. Cindy Holscher, an Overland Park Democrat on Dec. 2, 2024. (Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector) TOPEKA — A Senate Democrat unsuccessfully attempted to insert 'medicinal cannabis' among treatments allowed under a bill meant to broaden Kansans' access to experimental drugs. Democratic Sen. Cindy Holscher, who introduced Wednesday the amendment that would have legalized medicinal cannabis for terminally ill patients, later emphasized her intention was not to create a public medical marijuana program. 'I think most of you realize I would not bring something of that magnitude to an important bill like SB 250,' said Holscher, of Overland Park, Wednesday evening. 'That amendment, rather, was to mirror what was approved by President Trump in the Right to Try Act, which is a very defined, narrow scope only for terminally ill patients.' Senate Bill 250, introduced and carried on the Senate floor by Eudora Republican Sen. Beverly Gossage, would create the Right to Try for Individualized Investigative Treatments Act. Investigational treatments can also be referred to as experimental drugs, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The bill would permit people who are unable to find relief from rare, life-threatening or debilitating conditions to access individualized, genetics-based medical treatment. The drug trial evaluation system in the U.S. is designed to evaluate medications meant to help larger populations leaving behind drugs that can be individually tailored to a patient's unique genetic makeup, Gossage said. 'Individualized treatments are being pioneered in the U.S. and abroad, but often patients in the U.S. travel thousands of miles,' she said. The bill passed the Senate and is awaiting approval in the House. Holscher supported the bill as a whole but voiced concerns. 'I don't want to give people false hope,' she said, 'yet I certainly would not stand in the way of a parent or individual trying to get medical help for a family member.' Her amendment added medicinal cannabis to the list of treatments allowed under the definition of individualized investigative treatment. Cannabis 'has been found to have proven benefits for those with life-threatening or debilitating diseases,' Holscher said. During floor debate on the amendment, Sen. Mike Thompson, a Shawnee Republican who sat on the two-day 2024 interim committee that evaluated the possibility of medical marijuana in Kansas, said adding legislation opens a door to unintended consequences. 'We've examined medical cannabis for quite some time,' Thompson said, 'and the term medical cannabis is nothing but a marketing ploy.' Medical marijuana is legal in 39 states and Washington, D.C., and recreational use is legal in 24 states and Washington, D.C. Recreational use of marijuana is legal in 24 states and the District of Columbia. Kansas and Idaho are the only states without any form of marijuana legalization. In 2023, of the four proposed bills in Kansas related to medical marijuana, one received a hearing and died in committee. In 2024, two were introduced and both died in committee. Gossage admonished Holscher's amendment after nine Democrats voted in favor and all 31 Republicans voted against it. 'I just think it's tragic that we would turn a discussion on a right to try for individualized treatment for patients with ultra-rare, life-threatening, debilitating diseases that could be life-saving to a debate on so-called medical marijuana,' she said. 'That should be a completely separate bill.'
Yahoo
17-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Kansas Senate's efficiency committee embraces trio of bills aimed at state spending
Sen. Cindy Holscher, D-Overland Park, objected to a series of bills approved by the Senate Government Efficiency Committee that would force an potentially redundant search for food stamp fraud, strip funding for unfilled state government jobs and limit the ability of state agencies to comply with federal mandates. Here, Holscher chats with then-Sen. Dennis Pyle, R-Hiawatha, in 2023 on the Senate floor. (Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector) TOPEKA — Cautionary warnings from Democratic Sen. Cindy Holscher about pitfalls of three budget-related bills didn't soften resolve of Senate Republicans eager to pursue their vision of state government efficiency. The GOP majority on the Senate Government Efficiency Committee voted last week to present the full Senate with bills deleting money for state jobs vacant more than 180 days, prohibiting state agencies from enhancing public assistance without legislative permission, and creating a new layer of state-coordinated investigation into food stamp fraud. Holscher, of Overland Park, appeared the most skeptical about Senate Bill 85, which directed the Kansas Department for Children and Families, or DCF, to redouble reviews of state and federal information to search for Kansas families trying to exploit the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. SNAP, formerly known as the food stamp program, has been one of the most effective U.S. anti-hunger programs since created in the 1960s. 'I have huge concerns with this bill,' Holscher said. 'We'd be reverifying information that has already been verified. We are supposed to be working in the name of government efficiency, and this makes government bigger and adds more red tape.' DCF's fraud investigation office has more than a dozen investigators assigned to detecting, preventing and prosecuting welfare fraud in all public assistant programs, including those related to food, child care and medical assistance. One estimate indicated addition of this new SNAP oversight program could cost the state $9 million to $10.5 million annually and require the hiring of 110 additional state personnel. The federal government covers 100% of SNAP benefits to households, while the federal and state government share administrative costs. In 2023, SNAP benefitted 200,000 Kansans at a federal cost of more than $500 million. Under the bill, information about DCF investigations and findings of noncompliance would be published quarterly on the state agency's website. Steven Greene, the Kansas-based lobbyist with Opportunity Solutions Project, urged the committee to continue tightening food stamp allocations. Greene said it was essential Kansas require more frequent data cross-checks of food stamp enrollment against death, lottery and incarceration records as well as changes in residency. 'Kansas can strengthen its safety net and remove ineligible individuals, bringing the focus back to those with a true need,' he said. 'When someone wins the lottery, they should no longer collect food stamps. And, when someone moves to another state, they should stop receiving benefits from that state.' The Florida-based Opportunity Solutions Project is associated with conservative groups such as the American Legislative Exchange Council, Cato Institute and State Policy Network through affiliation with the Foundation for Government Accountability. The GOP-led Senate committee endorsed Senate Bill 161, which would mandate legislative approval prior to a state agency seeking or implementing any public assistance program created by the federal government that expanded eligibility in Kansas or cost to the state. Sen. Mike Thompson, R-Shawnee, said the bill would address complaints that state officials in the administration of Gov. Laura Kelly sought to press ahead with controversial reforms to programs for people with disabilities. Some disability advocates were distressed about potential changes to programs for intellectual or developmentally disabled Kansans and took their complaints to legislators. 'Changes were being proposed … without adequate input,' Thompson said. The bill could interfere with state agencies trying to adjust services to comply with federal law. For example, Kansas' $3.7 billion Medicaid program could be out of compliance with federal directives if it didn't adjust payment rates in a timely manner, given that any net increase in cost without legislative consent would be blocked. 'This is going to create bottlenecks by adding more red tape, which does not feel very efficient,' Holscher said. Opponent to the bill included the Alliance for Healthy Kansas, Disability Rights Center of Kansas, KanCare Advocates Network, Kansas Action for Children as well as of Harvesters Community Food Network, Kansas Food Bank and Second Harvest Community Food Bank. The Senate committee approved Senate Bill 99 to strip state funding for full-time jobs still vacant after 180 days. On July 1, vacant positions would be kept on the books without a state appropriation attached. The Legislature or a council of state lawmakers that handled business when the House and Senate weren't in session would decide whether to issue funding for each position. Questions were raised about the bill because of difficulties Attorney General Kris Kobach has had in hiring attorneys. The committee debated but set aside an amendment from Sen. Larry Alley, R-Winfield, that attempted to help Kobach. 'I appreciate what you're attempting to do,' said Sen. Michael Murphy, a Sylvia Republican. 'As confused as we are … I'm afraid when the implementation comes it will be equally confusing, if not more so.' Sen. Adam Thomas, the Olathe Republican who introduced the bill, said there was plenty of time to address flaws in the personnel legislation. 'The beauty of what we do is it doesn't go from committee to the governor. We can amend it on the Senate floor,' Thomas said. Holscher, who registered apprehension about this bill as well, said cutting off funding for vacancies didn't help any state agency's ability to fill vacancies. 'This potentially creates an even worse situation,' she said.
