Latest news with #PBSNews
Yahoo
a day ago
- Business
- Yahoo
How trafficked American guns fuel Mexico's cartel violence
More than two thirds of guns recovered at Mexican crime scenes originate in the U.S. For decades, Mexico has struggled with staggering levels of gun violence fueled in large part by weapons trafficked across its northern border. Now an investigation published by The Conversation has arrived at a new estimate of the scale of this illicit gun trade between the U.S. and Mexico in 2022: 135,000 guns. Investigative journalist Sean Campbell and Topher McDougal, a professor of economic development at the University of San Diego, spent a year combing through multiple databases and court documents and conducting interviews to understand how the flow of guns works. Their investigation reveals where in the U.S. the guns are coming from, what impact these American guns are having in Mexico, and how difficult it is for American law enforcement agencies to prosecute those trafficking guns across the border. Listen to Campbell and McDougal talk about their investigation on The Conversation Weekly podcast. You can read the full investigation here. This episode of The Conversation Weekly was written and produced by Mend Mariwany and Gemma Ware. Mixing and sound design by Eloise Stevens and theme music by Neeta Sarl. Newsclips in this episode from PBS News, CGTN, France24, ABC 7 and NewsNation. Listen to The Conversation Weekly via any of the apps listed above, download it directly via our RSS feed or find out how else to listen here. A transcript of this episode is available on Apple Podcasts. This article is republished from The Conversation, a nonprofit, independent news organization bringing you facts and trustworthy analysis to help you make sense of our complex world. It was written by: Gemma Ware, The Conversation Read more: Guns in America: A liberal gun-owning sociologist offers 5 observations to understand America's culture of firearms Guns bought in the US and trafficked to Mexican drug cartels fuel violence in Mexico and the migration crisis Gun trafficking from the US to Mexico: The drug connection Sean Campbell and Topher McDougal do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Watch: Swimmer circumnavigates Martha's Vineyard for shark conservation
May 27 (UPI) -- An endurance swimmer spent 12 days swimming 59 miles around Martha's Vineyard, the filming location of the classic movie Jaws, to raise awareness for shark conservation. British-South African swimmer Lewis Pugh became the first swimmer to circumnavigate the Massachusetts island when he completed his swim on Monday. "It's been one of the toughest swims of my life. Cold water, relentless wind, big waves and the constant thought of what might be beneath me," Pugh wrote on social media. The swimmer chose Martha's Vineyard for his swim on the 50th anniversary of Jaws to push back against the common perception of sharks as undersea monsters. "For the past 50 years, it's all been about fear and about the danger of sharks. What I want to do is I want to try to change the narrative for a new generation and say sharks actually bring life, they sustain life, they make oceans healthy," Pugh told PBS News. Pugh said Jaws and the films that followed in its wake contributed to negative perceptions of the animals. "They portrayed sharks in a way that they are villains. They're out to get humans and we know that they are nothing of the sort. And so this is an opportunity to try and tell a new narrative for a new generation," he said.
UPI
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- UPI
Watch: Swimmer circumnavigates Martha's Vineyard for shark conservation
May 27 (UPI) -- An endurance swimmer spent 12 days swimming 59 miles around Martha's Vineyard, the filming location of the classic movie Jaws, to raise awareness for shark conservation. British-South African swimmer Lewis Pugh became the first swimmer to circumnavigate the Massachusetts island when he completed his swim on Monday. "It's been one of the toughest swims of my life. Cold water, relentless wind, big waves and the constant thought of what might be beneath me," Pugh wrote on social media. The swimmer chose Martha's Vineyard for his swim on the 50th anniversary of Jaws to push back against the common perception of sharks as undersea monsters. "For the past 50 years, it's all been about fear and about the danger of sharks. What I want to do is I want to try to change the narrative for a new generation and say sharks actually bring life, they sustain life, they make oceans healthy," Pugh told PBS News. Pugh said Jaws and the films that followed in its wake contributed to negative perceptions of the animals. "They portrayed sharks in a way that they are villains. They're out to get humans and we know that they are nothing of the sort. And so this is an opportunity to try and tell a new narrative for a new generation," he said.
Yahoo
14-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Why Everyone Feels Emotionally Homeless Right Now—And What To Do About It
In a world hyper-connected by screens but deeply fractured by burnout, disillusionment, and generational trauma, more and more people are quietly wondering: Why don't I feel at home anywhere, even in my own skin? Emotional homelessness isn't just about lacking physical shelter. It's about feeling like there's no safe place to land. No room where your full self is welcomed. No table where your grief fits next to someone else's joy. It's not dramatic, it's real—and it's showing up everywhere. You're not imagining it. Loneliness rates are climbing, depression and anxiety are soaring, and people are leaving marriages, jobs, and cities not just because they're unhappy, but because they're untethered. This list isn't meant to diagnose. It's meant to validate, reflect, and reconnect you to the part of yourself that's been looking for a home. You can scroll all day, DM all night, and still feel completely alone. Social media has created the illusion of intimacy, but it's often just performance in disguise. When everyone curates their pain into aesthetics, vulnerability loses its edge and power. We see each other's 'content,' but not each other. According to an article in PBS News, a lack of social connection poses a health risk as deadly as smoking up to 15 cigarettes a day. That's not loneliness as a feeling—that's loneliness as a systemic epidemic. It's no wonder we don't feel safe emotionally when our nervous systems are constantly on alert. Real connection isn't just wanted. It's wired into our survival. Millennials and Gen Z have mastered 'cutting off toxic people.' But few of us were taught how to repair, forgive, or build something from scratch. We're fluent in self-protection but illiterate in mutual vulnerability. We know what we don't want, but not what comes next. In prioritizing personal safety (which is valid), many of us ended up isolated. Emotional homelessness can emerge not from the presence of harm but from the absence of depth. We have walls, but no windows. Autonomy, but no anchors. We're praised for how busy we are, not how connected we feel. Work culture prizes hustle and output, but rarely makes space for stillness, caregiving, or grief. Emotional attunement doesn't drive quarterly profits, so it gets dismissed as 'soft' or unimportant. But the truth is, our value isn't in what we produce—it's in who we are when no one's watching. According to Harvard Business Review, leaders who express empathy and compassion see better outcomes in employee satisfaction and performance. The message? Emotional safety isn't a luxury. It's a necessity. We can name every attachment style and trauma response, but that doesn't mean we feel any closer to intimacy. Knowing why we hurt doesn't automatically make us feel held. Insight is powerful—but it's not the same as connection. Emotional homelessness happens when we intellectualize our wounds without metabolizing them. We become fluent in pain but estranged from comfort. Knowledge is a compass. But we still have to walk ourselves home. For many of us, home was never a safe space. It was a place of tension, secrecy, or survival. We grew up being the parent, the peacekeeper, the problem-solver—anything but the child. Now, even as adults, we carry that emotional exile inside us. According to Psychology Today, unresolved family trauma often resurfaces in our adult attachments, making trust and emotional vulnerability difficult. It's not about blaming parents. It's about finally seeing that being 'emotionally homeless' as a kid wasn't your fault. And healing now is your right. We know how to be fiercely independent and protect our peace. But when love shows up in quiet, unglamorous ways, we flinch. Intimacy feels foreign, and trust feels dangerous. Even when we've done 'the work,' letting someone truly see us still feels like exposure, not connection. Emotional homelessness lingers because we're still waiting for proof we won't be abandoned. We want closeness, but we don't know where to put it. The world feels more chaotic than ever. Fires, floods, political upheaval, wars—we're living through collective grief on a planetary scale. And in the face of that, it's hard to feel like anywhere is truly safe. The American Psychological Association reports rising levels of eco-anxiety, particularly among younger generations. When the planet itself feels unstable, it's no wonder our inner lives feel unmoored. Emotional safety isn't just about relationships—it's about the ground beneath our feet. Even in the self-help space, there's pressure to 'heal beautifully.' We see people sharing their breakthroughs, their trauma-informed hot takes, their morning routines—and we wonder what's wrong with us. Why aren't we there yet? But healing isn't linear. It's not Instagrammable. And emotional homelessness doesn't go away because you said three affirmations and drank a green juice. It fades slowly, through consistent tenderness—usually in private, not public. We've all lost something in the last few years—people, plans, certainty, youth. But our culture doesn't know how to make room for grief. We're expected to 'move on,' 'stay strong,' or 'get back to normal.' And so, grief becomes an exile. Emotional homelessness thrives in cultures that don't allow people to mourn. What we need is ritual, not resolution. Witnessing, not fixing. Churches, neighborhoods, friend circles—they're not what they used to be. The 'third place' between work and home has all but disappeared. And without those spaces, people feel like they have nowhere to go. Belonging is more than being liked—it's being known. Emotional homelessness is what happens when our identities don't fit the available containers. What we crave are spaces where we don't have to translate ourselves to be understood. Between doomscrolling, deadlines, and emotional labor, most of us are operating from chronic stress. When your body believes it's under threat, connection feels unsafe. Rest feels like a risk. We're trying to build emotional homes while our bodies are still locked in fight, flight, or freeze. Regulation isn't a trend—it's a lifeline. If you can soothe your nervous system, you can start to believe in safety again. We're exhausted from performing at work, online, and even in friendships. We've been trained to show up as 'versions' of ourselves. Professional. Polished. Palatable. But deep down, we know we're lonely in rooms full of people. Emotional homelessness often starts when we feel like we have to leave parts of ourselves at the door. The remedy? Spaces that invite the full, messy, nonlinear truth. And people who can hold it without flinching. Somewhere along the way, we accepted the lie that emotional safety was optional, that we had to earn it, and that only 'healed' people deserved it. But the truth is: safety is a basic human need, not a reward. You don't need to be perfect, whole, or enlightened to deserve a soft place to land. You just need to be human. Coming home to yourself isn't a metaphor. It's a revolution.
Yahoo
04-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Minneapolis mother hit with $24K bill for allergy test — why US patients face massive bills for routine care
Imagine taking your daughter to a clinic for allergy testing, then learning your insurer was billed $24,000 for it, $5,400 of which you must pay. You'd probably assume a mistake was made. That's exactly what Kaitlin Johnson of Minneapolis thought when this happened to her. Johnson called around and found most clinics charged around $1,827 for the testing. Yet, her clinic insisted the fee was correct. Only after eight months of fighting and inquiries from PBS News did the facility finally reduce that price. I'm 49 years old and have nothing saved for retirement — what should I do? Don't panic. Here are 5 of the easiest ways you can catch up (and fast) Thanks to Jeff Bezos, you can now become a landlord for as little as $100 — and no, you don't have to deal with tenants or fix freezers. Here's how Nervous about the stock market in 2025? Find out how you can access this $1B private real estate fund (with as little as $10) Obviously, most people can't get the press to call to question their medical bills. So, sadly, many patients at that clinic likely got stuck paying through the nose for allergy testing. They aren't the only ones, either. All across the country, patients are being surprised with huge bills for routine care, even as many states try to take action to stop it. Here's why this is happening, along with some tips on how to avoid it. There's one big reason why so many patients are facing unexpectedly high bills for basic care. More of that care is now being provided by clinics affiliated with hospitals. In fact, in 2024, 55% of all doctors were employed by hospitals or health systems, which is more than double the number from 2012, according to PBS News investigation. This becomes a problem because hospitals can tack on facility fees and inflate charges for routine care. They do this to make up for the fact that they're often reimbursed less than the cost of care by insurers, or not reimbursed at all, because laws like the Emergency Medical Treatment & Labor Act require them to provide emergency care regardless of payment ability. "Insurers payers are squeezing providers to the point where they are no longer financially stable," Molly Smith, vice-president of public policy at the American Hospital Association, told PBS. Smith also explained that inflation has made providing care even more expensive, but insurers haven't adjusted payouts accordingly, leaving hospitals with a greater financial burden to compensate for. Sadly, while most people expect inflated prices at hospitals, patients often don't realize until it's too late that fees and surcharges are showing up in bills for outpatient care at hospital-owned clinics. That's what happened to Jess Ayers when she took her daughter for treatment of a lazy eye and got a bill with a $176 facility fee. "I was dumbfounded because I'd never heard of it, and having worked in health care for a long time, I was taken aback," Ayers told PBS. Christine Monahan, assistant research professor at the Center on Health Insurance Reforms at Georgetown University, also pointed out another reason patients like Ayers and Johnson are coping with these surprising costs. It's because insurance deductibles have increased over time. "More and more, you might be directly responsible," Monahan told PBS. Consumer Shield confirms average deductibles hit $1,790 in 2024, up from $584 in 2006 and $1,220 in 2014. With higher deductibles, more consumers must pay out-of-pocket for facility fees and inflated hospital prices, rather than their insurer just footing most or all of the bill. Read more: Here are 5 'must have' items that Americans (almost) always overpay for — and very quickly regret. How many are hurting you? If you're now worried about high facility fees, the first thing to know is that some lawmakers are trying to protect patients from this financial burden. Georgetown University reported on the state of these reforms in 2023, indicating that Connecticut, Indiana, Maine, Maryland, New York, Ohio, Texas, and Washington had banned facility fees for at least some providers and care settings. In Connecticut, for example, facility fees can't be charged for telehealth or for evaluation and management services on or off campus. New York lawmakers are now hoping to go even further by imposing a cap not just on facility fees, but also on services charged at outpatient clinics for those with commercial insurance. Other states, like Colorado, limited consumer financial exposure to outpatient off-campus facility fees by prohibiting a separate co-payment on them. And, more than half a dozen locations require covered providers to disclose facility fees and expected costs. Unfortunately, not everyone who seeks medical care lives somewhere where these protections are in place. Those who don't need to be especially careful to avoid surprise bills. Patients can do this by: Asking for a detailed written estimate up front. Researching clinic ownership and looking for providers who aren't affiliated with hospital systems. Requesting itemized bills to better understand charges. Negotiating with care facilities to reduce rates. Asking about discounts for cash-paying patients if they don't have insurance or won't meet their deductible. Finding a clinic that doesn't charge these fees may involve added time and hassle. Ayers, for example, located a provider 40 minutes away that doesn't impose a facility fee for her daughter's eye treatment. However, if you can save hundreds by doing the research to find a clinic that won't overcharge, it's likely worth the effort to make that happen. Want an extra $1,300,000 when you retire? Dave Ramsey says this 7-step plan 'works every single time' to kill debt, get rich in America — and that 'anyone' can do it Rich, young Americans are ditching the stormy stock market — here are the alternative assets they're banking on instead There's a 60% chance of a recession hitting the American economy this year — protect your retirement savings with these essential money moves ASAP (most of which you can complete in just minutes) This article provides information only and should not be construed as advice. It is provided without warranty of any kind. Sign in to access your portfolio
