A Risky Registry, A Rice Crisis, A Resignation, & Rest For The Teens

April 23, 2025

Hello, readers – happy Wednesday! Today, we’ll be talking about some health plans, Putin’s plans, a rice crisis, tariffs on India and China, Trump’s feud with Harvard, a CBS resignation, and why teens need more sleep (really!).

Here’s some good news: According to a new report, cancer death rates continue to decline in the U.S., and there weren’t huge shifts in late diagnoses. Also, a new $500,000 Mellon grant will allow Georgia State University to develop research to protect Gullah Geechee heritage and communities in Georgia and South Carolina.

“Don’t be afraid of missing opportunities. Behind every failure is an opportunity somebody wishes they had missed.” – Lily Tomlin

It’s The Department Of Health And Human Surveillance Now

(RFK Jr. by Nathan Posner via Getty Images)

Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s tenure as head of the Department of Health and Human Services has changed from dangerous to downright sinister. Yesterday, the agency announced plans to collect the private medical records of people across America as part of Kennedy’s pet project: a study he hopes will discover the cause of autism. RFK Jr. is apparently rushing the agency to conclude by September, which is the impetus for the mass surveillance plan. Jay Bhattacharya, the director of NIH, said that the project aims to grant researchers “comprehensive” access to Americans’ patient data and health records.

The HHS also plans to phase out eight artificial food dyes and colorings from America’s food supply by the end of next year. At the surface level, that’s not too terrible, but many have warned that this will make many affordable items unaffordable or completely unavailable – not to mention, Kennedy’s motivations are, once again, not totally based in science.

But don’t worry – the RFK Jr. HHS is making other dangerous decisions as well. On Monday, the FDA officially suspended its dairy quality control inspections due to a shortage of staff following mass government layoffs. This means that milk and other dairy products across the nation will no longer be tested for diseases or parasites, which could have serious health implications if milk producers leverage the lack of testing to cut corners.

Peace Talks On Putin’s Terms

According to a Kremlin spokesperson, Russian President Vladimir Putin is ready to participate in direct peace talks with Ukraine. In response, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy also announced his willingness to engage in direct peace negotiations. Both parties haven’t been in direct talks since 2022, during the first few weeks of Russia’s invasion.

Ukraine is urgently pushing for an end to attacks on civilian infrastructure in the war. Russia claims it has a “positive attitude towards any peace initiatives,” but that’s likely because the Trump White House is very publicly throwing its weight behind the Kremlin. Putin is unlikely to give up his demands for Ukraine to demilitarize and hand Russia control over the regions it has gained as part of the war. According to media reports, a U.S.-proposed peace deal would freeze the countries’ borders at the current frontlines of the war, hand Crimea over to Russia, and give Moscow veto powers over Ukraine’s ability to join NATO. Kyiv is still being pressured to engage in negotiations because Washington has threatened to pull out of its mediatory role unless both sides agree to a peace deal soon.

Where’d All The Gohan Go?

(South Korean rice by Kim Jae-Hwan via Getty Images)

Japan is having a crisis. A rice crisis. A c-rice-is? For the first time since 1999, the country has begun importing rice from South Korea as its rice industry struggles to keep up with demand. Domestically-grown p-rice-s (rice prices) have more than doubled since last April, forcing the country to turn to foreign rice to keep people fed.
In March, Tokyo attempted to solve the problem by auctioning off 142,000 tons of stockpiled rice, but government reports have shown that just 426 tons (0.3% of the grain) have actually made it to supermarket shelves. The government has blamed operational delays and a shortage of delivery vehicles, though similar situations in the past have led to the emergence of “rice cartels.”

A Hillbilly In Hyderabad

Vice President JD Vance took a trip to New Delhi on Monday, meeting with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to work out a way for India to escape Trump’s tariffs. According to Modi’s office, the pair “reviewed and positively assessed the progress in various areas of bilateral cooperation,” and laid down “a roadmap for further discussions.” The U.S. is India’s biggest trading partner, and this year the two are set to complete trade talks to more than double their trade relationship to $500 billion by 2030.
Meanwhile, the Trump White House looks to be easing up on China. Yesterday, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said he expects that “there will be a de-escalation” in the U.S.’s trade war with China in the “very near future.” According to Bessent, Trump’s goal with his 145% tariffs on China “isn’t to decouple” the U.S. economy from China, though he didn’t offer up another reason for his boss’s policy.

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Harvard Hits Back

The Trump administration’s feud with Harvard University is escalating. After the school rejected a list of demands from the White House that the administration claimed was designed to stop diversity initiatives and fight anti-semitism, the White House froze $2 billion in federal funding. Now, Harvard has sued the Trump administration, saying withholding federal funding violated Harvard’s constitutional rights and was being used as “leverage to gain control of academic decisionmaking at Harvard.”
More than 150 university and college presidents (including one from each Ivy League except Dartmouth) co-signed a letter yesterday condemning the Trump administration’s recent efforts, and Jonathan Greenblatt, president and CEO of the Anti-Defamation League, wrote an open letter saying, “Antisemitism on college campuses is a genuine crisis that demands serious attention, but we are concerned about the extent and scope of the current approach taken by the Administration to Harvard.”

60 Minutes Silenced By $20 Billion

Bill Owens, the executive producer of “60 Minutes,” resigned yesterday, citing concerns about the show’s continued independence. “Over the past months, it has become clear that I would not be allowed to run the show as I have always run it, to make independent decisions based on what was right for ’60 Minutes,’ right for the audience,” Owens said.
His departure comes as CBS’ parent company, Paramount, considers settling a $20 billion lawsuit from President Trump over a segment on the show. The lawsuit, filed in October ahead of Trump taking office, alleged CBS engaged in “voter interference” with its editing decisions for a “60 Minutes” interview with Kamala Harris.

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I Feel The Need, The Need For Sleep!

A recent study has re-confirmed it – getting more sleep is one of the best things you can do for your mind and body. According to the study, which examined cognitive data from 3,222 teenagers, adolescents who slept earlier, longer, and had lower sleeping heart rates outperformed their peers across a whole range of cognitive areas, including reading, vocabulary, and problem solving.
“We think that it’s the sleep driving the better cognitive abilities, in part because we consolidate our memories during sleep,” said Barbara Sahakian, one of the study’s co-authors. The study divided the teenagers into three groups – the first slept the least, averaging 7 hours and 10 minutes per night, the second averaged 7 hours and 21 minutes, and the third slept 7 hours and 25 minutes. The groups actually all had similar academic achievements, but more sleep was associated with better results on the researchers’ cognitive tests. Sahakian called this finding “surprising,” adding, “It suggests that small differences in sleep amounts accrue over time to make a big difference in outcomes.”

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