PBS News: October 29 – 31, 2019, How a proposed rule change could affect free lunch for some kids in need,
PBS Eons: When Giant Fungi Ruled
TED Talks: Toby Kiers Lessons from fungi on markets and economics?, and Suzanne Simard How trees talk to each other
I.S.S.: Chris Hadfield and Barenaked Ladies | I.S.S. (Is Somebody Singing)
Thisiscolossal: Lightning Scribbles Across the Sky in Dramatic Footage of Extreme Storms Around the U.S.
Ing’s Peace Project: Finished “Peace” artwork 6, 4-H Youth Development RCE of EssexCounty 162 Washington Street, Newark, NJ during May and June, 2012, Organized by Marissa Boldnik Project Coordinator RCE of EssexCounty, Finished artwork, after the written comments by Ing-On Vibulbhan-Watts
PBS NewsHour full episode October 31, 2019
Oct 31, 2019 PBS NewsHour
1.45M subscribers
Thursday on the NewsHour, the House approves rules for the impeachment process. Plus: New wildfires burn in California, impeachment discussions with Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff and Republican strategist Michael Steel, Twitter decides to ban political ads, how 39 migrants died in a British truck, pursuing entrepreneurship as an older adult and the Washington Nationals win the World Series. Stream your PBS favorites with the PBS app: https://to.pbs.org/2Jb8twG Find more from PBS NewsHour at https://www.pbs.org/newshour Subscribe to our YouTube channel: https://bit.ly/2HfsCD6
PBS NewsHour full episode October 30, 2019
Oct 30, 2019 PBS NewsHour
Wednesday on the NewsHour, fires burn in multiple regions of California, as dry, windy conditions keep the risk of new blazes high. Plus: The factors making wildfires worse, the record number of child migrants detained at the U.S.-Mexico border, a conversation with Julián Castro, mass protests in Lebanon and Iraq, racial and ethnic inequity in clinical medical trials and author Adam Winkler. Stream your PBS favorites with the PBS app: https://to.pbs.org/2Jb8twG Find more from PBS NewsHour at https://www.pbs.org/newshour Subscribe to our YouTube channel: https://bit.ly/2HfsCD6
PBS NewsHour full episode October 29, 2019
Oct 29, 2019 PBS NewsHour
Tuesday on the NewsHour, a witness to President Trump’s controversial Ukraine phone call testifies as part of the impeachment inquiry. Plus: Wildfires and power outages continue in California, Boeing faces criticism for deadly 737 Max mistakes, an American TV show revives interest in Chernobyl, Baltimore students challenge educational expectations, paying college athletes and Twyla Tharp. WATCH TODAY’S SEGMENTS: House releases impeachment inquiry rules amid new testimony https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fHw0W… Windy conditions keep California burning–and its power out https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JHJPh… News Wrap: Protests, deadly violence continue in Iraq https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=68Vrs… Boeing CEO faces tough questioning in hearing on 737 Max https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T86JI… Why Chernobyl is suddenly a hotspot for global tourists https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XVaqe… How this Baltimore charter school puts students to work https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2FH4c… NCAA takes ‘small first step’ toward pay for its athletes https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cnA2T… Why Twyla Tharp wants us to ‘shut up’ and do what we love https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XjJ4J… Stream your PBS favorites with the PBS app: https://to.pbs.org/2Jb8twG Find more from PBS NewsHour at https://www.pbs.org/newshour Subscribe to our YouTube channel: https://bit.ly/2HfsCD6
How a proposed rule change could affect free lunch for some kids in need
Health Oct 31, 2019 6:02 PM EDT
For years, the Trump administration has prioritized efforts to scale back food stamp benefits to combat alleged fraud and abuse, despite a “historic high” in pay accuracy, according to the federal government’s own assessment. But after tremendous public pushback, the Trump administration reopened the comment period for a proposed rule that could alter categorical eligibility for food stamp benefits and cut off aid for an estimated 3 million Americans.
The revised comment period ends Nov. 1, after which federal officials will review the public’s input before issuing a final rule. If these potential cuts go into effect, as many as 1 million children could lose access to free or reduced price school lunch as a result.
An estimated 40 million Americans, including 12.5 million children, have trouble paying for enough nutritious food to eat. The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program is the nation’s largest federal food insecurity program and feeds more than 37 million people in the U.S. — not all of whom are citizens. Enrollees receive a monthly average benefit of $127, or $1.39 per meal, according to calculations from the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities. Two-thirds of SNAP recipients are children, people who are elderly and those who live with disabilities, said Colleen Heflin, senior research associate at Syracuse University’s Center for Policy Research. According to a recent county-level analysis from the Urban Institute, higher concentrations of food insecurity are found across southern and western states.
The PBS NewsHour asked policy experts about the Trump administration’s aim in proposing this change, and the consequences of these actions on schoolchildren’s access to food.
How the Trump administration wants to tighten limits on SNAP
Nationwide, 39 states and the District of Columbia, Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands use “broad-based categorical eligibility” to offer SNAP benefits to residents. That means states and territories have discretion to offer food stamps to people even if their household income or asset value surpasses congressionally defined limits. For example, a low-income family may earn money but not enough to cover high rent or child care costs. Some states can take those expenses into consideration and decide that household qualifies for food assistance.
The Trump administration says states have become too lax in doling out food stamp benefits, and wants to put an end to that practice.
Instead of using categorical eligibility, a more “principled approach” is necessary to maintain the system’s integrity, said Angela Rachidi, a research fellow in poverty studies for the American Enterprise Institute.
“States shouldn’t be allowed to go around the intent of Congress,” Rachidi said. “If Congress wants to expand income eligibility, they should legislate that.”
Congress did weigh in on these issues in December, said Elaine Waxman, who studies food insecurity as a senior fellow with the Urban Institute’s Income and Benefits Policy Center. That’s when lawmakers rejected similar legislation to Trump’s proposed rule in the farm bill. The rules proposed by the administration, she said, are “the opposite of congressional intent.”
How might these changes affect free and reduced price school lunch?
Established in 1946, the National School Lunch Program served 30.4 million children free or reduced-price meals in 2016. Children qualify to receive these meals if their household earnings amount to or are less than 185 percent of the federal poverty line. They also can receive these meals if they benefit from federal assistance programs, such as SNAP, or if they are homeless, migrants or in the foster care system.
Food policy advocates pushed back on the Trump administration’s proposed rule, saying it would undermine children’s access to food. The criticism was so forceful, the federal government reopened the comment period for this rule change, giving the public a chance to weigh in. The last day to comment is Friday.
If the proposed rule goes into effect, USDA analysis says 982,000 school children could see disruption in their access to free-or-reduced school meals. When it revised its proposal due to pushback, the federal government pointed out that most children would still have access to free-or-reduced school breakfast and lunch under the change. However, the government said an estimated 40,000 children — roughly the size of all public school children enrolled in Lincoln, Nebraska, would lose those meals because they lived in homes that reported too much in income and assets.
This proposal is “not taking benefits away from the most needy families,” Rachidi said, stressing that “there’s a debate to be had about whether those levels of income eligibility are the right level. Allowing states to determine how to give federally funded food benefits, she said, “is not the way to address that.”
Waxman warned that changing one intertwined social policy can send unintended shockwaves through others. Over the years, policymakers during both Republican and Democratic administrations have carved out different paths to open access to SNAP benefits in an effort to reduce hunger with categorical eligibility being used as a way to lower administration paperwork. Shutting down one route to food stamps could expose adults and children in vulnerable households to other consequences, Waxman said.
“It’s really, really important for all these things to come together, and unfortunately they come in pieces,” she said. “It’s hard for us to know what’s happening to the SNAP program if we’re not talking about the ways these things interact.”
Left: Photo by Mike Blake/Reuters
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Laura Santhanam is the Data Producer for the PBS NewsHour. Follow @LauraSanthanam
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Viewers like you help make PBS (Thank you ?) . Support your local PBS Member Station here: https://to.pbs.org/DonateEONS 420 million years ago, a giant feasted on the dead, growing slowly into the largest living thing on land. It belonged to an unlikely group of pioneers that ultimately made life on land possible — the fungi. Produced in collaboration with PBS Digital Studios: https://youtube.com/pbsdigitalstudios Thanks to Franz Anthony of 252mya.com and Jon Hughes of jfhdigital.com for their tremendous reconstructions of Prototaxites. Want to follow Eons elsewhere on the internet? Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/eonsshow Twitter – https://twitter.com/eonsshow Instagram –
Resource inequality is one of our greatest challenges, but it’s not unique to humans. Like us, mycorrhizal fungi that live in plant and tree roots strategically trade, steal and withhold resources, displaying remarkable parallels to humans in their capacity to be opportunistic (and sometimes ruthless) — all in the absence of cognition. In a mind-blowing talk, evolutionary biologist Toby Kiers shares what fungi networks and relationships reveal about human economies, and what they can tell us about inequality.
This talk was presented at a TED Institute event given in partnership with BCG. TED editors featured it among our selections on the home page. Read more about the TED Institute.
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Toby Kiers · Evolutionary biologist
Toby Kiers investigates cooperation and punishment in nature.
“A forest is much more than what you see,” says ecologist Suzanne Simard. Her 30 years of research in Canadian forests have led to an astounding discovery — trees talk, often and over vast distances. Learn more about the harmonious yet complicated social lives of trees and prepare to see the natural world with new eyes.
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Suzanne Simard · Forest ecologist
Suzanne Simard studies the complex, symbiotic networks in our forests.
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Chris Hadfield and Barenaked Ladies | I.S.S. (Is Somebody Singing)
Chris Hadfield and Barenaked Ladies | I.S.S. (Is Somebody Singing)
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I.S.S. Commander Chris Hadfield joins The Barenaked Ladies and the Wexford Gleeks in the first space-to-earth musical collaboration. The song, “I.S.S. (Is Somebody Singing) was commissioned by CBCMusic.ca and The Coalition for Music Education with the Canadian Space Agency to celebrate music education in schools across Canada. Subscribe to our channel! https://youtube.com/cbcmusic CBC Music is your hub for coast-to-coast-to-coast Canadian music. Watch exclusive performances, candid interviews, and behind-the-scenes content featuring your favourite artists. Visit https://cbcmusic.ca for the full story! Follow us on Facebook: https://facebook.com/CBCMusic Or Twitter: https://twitter.com/cbcmusic Or Instagram: https://instagram.com/cbc_music ————————————————– Get more music, film and arts interviews at CBC’s q: https://youtube.com/Qtv And learn a thing or two about music at: https://youtube.com/cbcmusiclab
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Lightning Scribbles Across the Sky in Dramatic Footage of Extreme Storms Around the U.S.
September 23, 2019 Laura Staugaitis
Arizona-based storm chaser and videographer Dustin Farrell just released “Transient 2”, the sequel to his 2017 film. For roughly three and a half minutes, the skies open up to reveal flashes of lightning and billowing clouds rolling across open plains. Farrell shares that he traveled 35,000 miles over two years to shoot the raw footage, and spent about 300 hours editing. To capture the brief but powerful flashes of lightning, Farrell relied on his Phantom Flex 4K, shooting at very high speeds. The short film’s music is by Harry Lightfoot. You can tag along with Farrell’s travels from the safety of your couch via Instagram and YouTube.
Lightning Scribbles Across the Sky in Dramatic Footage of Extreme Storms Around the U.S.
Ing’s Peace Project: Finished “Peace” artwork 6
4-H Youth Development RCE of EssexCounty 162 Washington Street, Newark, NJ during May and June, 2012, Organized by Marissa Boldnik Project Coordinator RCE of EssexCounty, Finished artwork, after the written comments by Ing-On Vibulbhan-Watts
Link to 4-H Youth Development RCE of Essex County page:
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