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☆ Drugs, Sacraments or Medicine? Psychedelic Churches Blur the Line.
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-12 | by ( Ernesto Londoño | Meridith Kohut | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Facing the latest participants attending her four-day psychedelic retreat, Whitney Lasseter made a bold claim: The ceremonies they would take part in were sanctioned by federal law, which sets a high bar for the government to interfere in religious practices. “We are using these medicines to connect with the divine,” said Ms. Lasseter, the founder of All Tribes Medicine Assembly, one of dozens of organizations that describe themselves as churches and view their use of psychoactive substances as sacramental, even though they are generally illegal under federal law. “It’s your right to practice your religion however you are guided.”Eight guests seated in a circle in a suburban Austin, Texas, living room nodded, some looking apprehensive, as Ms. Lasseter outlined the sequence of body-jolting, mind-altering rituals ahead. First, there would be a detoxification protocol in which poisonous secretions of a frog from the Amazon are dabbed on tiny burn marks on a person’s skin, often inducing nausea and projectile vomiting.

Persons: Whitney Lasseter, ”, Lasseter, “ Organizations: All Tribes Medicine Assembly Locations: Austin , Texas

Americans have argued about immigration for decades, often with anger, fear and racial resentment. Decades of neglect and political stalemate have left the American immigration system broken in ways that defy simple solutions. Many are settling in cities far from the border, making an abstract problem suddenly concrete for some Americans. And there was little hope that President Biden might figure out a way out of the morass. Notably, the solutions voters proposed didn’t fit neatly into either party’s ideological box.

Persons: Donald J, Trump, Biden Organizations: Republican Locations: American

☆ How a ‘Body Farm’ Might Help Tackle Fentanyl Abuse
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-03 | by ( Natalie Kitroeff | Meridith Kohut | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

The two women lifted a stiff corpse from the ground, revealing a squirming bug in the dirt. “That one is a live larva!” said Alex Smith, the lab manager of Colorado Mesa University’s Forensic Investigation Research Station, plucking the larva off the ground and stuffing it into a glass tube. Maggots aren’t just maggots, Mr. Smith explained — they’re potential evidence. “You can actually test the larvae and pupa casings for drugs,” he said, excitedly. The Mexican forensic specialists came to learn about testing cadavers for fentanyl, which is how they wound up in a field of corpses, observing as a researcher foraged in the dirt for maggots.

Persons: Alex Smith, Smith, —, ”, foraged Organizations: Colorado Mesa University’s Forensic, Research Locations: Colorado, ”

news analysisWhen it comes down to it, a lot of Democrats wish President Biden were not running this fall. Image Supporters greeted President Biden as his motorcade left the airport in Brownsville, Texas, earlier this week. Some privately say that Georgia and Arizona may be out of reach, requiring Mr. Biden to sweep Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania. Mr. Biden, 81, is just a little older than Mr. Trump, 77, and both have exhibited moments of confusion and memory lapses. After his annual physical this past week, Mr. Biden’s doctor pronounced him “fit for duty.” But polls show that more of the public is unsettled by Mr. Biden’s advancing years than Mr. Trump’s.

Persons: Biden, Donald J, Trump, I’m, ”, David Plouffe, Barack Obama’s, “, ‘, ’, Biden’s, doubters, Mr, Meridith Kohut, Joe Biden, Donald Trump, ” Michael Tyler, Trump’s, Elaine Kamarck, he’s, Dean Phillips, Lyndon B, Johnson, Kamala Harris, Gavin Newsom, Gretchen Whitmer, Kamarck, Emily Elconin, Ms, He’s, Let’s, Obama, Hillary Clinton, Jill Biden, — Joe Biden, Plouffe Organizations: The New York Times, Siena College, Democratic, The New York, Biden, College, Center, Public Management, Brookings Institution, Democratic National Committee, Dean Phillips of, Super Tuesday, Democratic National Convention, America, Mr, Trump Locations: Washington, Brownsville , Texas, ”, Georgia, Arizona, Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Europe, Gaza, Dean Phillips of Minnesota, Gaza . Credit

☆ Natural-Gas Prices Remain Under Pressure Despite Cold Snap
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-16 | by ( Jinjoo Lee | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +1 min

Liquefied natural gas flows from large storage tanks through pipelines. Photo: MERIDITH KOHUT for The Wall Street JournalNatural-gas prices have been low this winter, helped by healthy production and unusually warm weather. The U.S. entered this winter heating season with the most natural gas in storage since 2020. Even though the cold snap has helped move natural-gas prices up 7.9% year to date to $2.51 per million British thermal units, they remain about 21% below year-earlier levels. Since November, the U.S. has been withdrawing natural gas from storage at a rate that is 28% lower than the trailing five-year average, according to the EIA.

Persons: MERIDITH KOHUT Organizations: Wall, U.S . Energy Information Administration Locations: U.S

WHY WE’RE HEREWe’re exploring how America defines itself, one place at a time. A cricket complex outside Houston hosts youth and professional players alike, reflecting the sport’s growing popularity in a changing city. July 15, 2023Drive northwest out of Houston, and as cow pastures wrestle back the flat expanse from the city’s tentacled sprawl, there arise along the road, suddenly, improbably, many, many cricket fields. Head south to find a small cricket stadium nestled in the suburbs, or west to find fields sprouting in county parks. The game of cricket — a bat-ball-and-wicket contest of patience and athleticism that was born in Britain and is barely understood by most Americans — has surprisingly taken hold in the land of Friday night football.

Persons: — Organizations: Houston, Dallas, Lone Locations: Houston, Britain, South, Lone Star

Sixteen months after his infection, Mr. Muñoz’s lungs have recovered somewhat, but not completely. Tap to enableA 3-D visualization comparing a healthy set of lungs with Ms. Rodríguez’s lungs 14 months after her infection. Tilt your device to rotate lungs Slide to rotate lungs Slide to rotate lungsHealthy lungs are filled with millions of tiny air sacs called alveoli. Lung tissue with chronic damage shows scarred, thickened areas and collapsed sections with reduced airflow. Ms. Rodríguez has come closer to recovering, most likely helped by her youth and previous good health.

Persons: Andy Muñoz, Covid, ”, Howard Huang, It’s, Dr, Huang, Tom Kennedy, Kennedy, “, Marlene Rodríguez, Rodríguez, David Sayah, Sayah, “ She’s, ” Meridith Kohut, “ Covid, Mr, Muñoz, Meridith Kohut, ” Dr, Kennedy’s, Muñoz’s, Rodríguez’s, Melissa Raymundo, Ms, Raymundo, Gayle, Rodríguez didn’t, Vianney, José, it’s, “ We’re Organizations: New York Times, Houston Methodist Hospital, Covid, Medical Center, ”, The New York Times, USA Locations: La Porte , Texas, Houston, Atwater, Calif

☆ Exxon Mobil Settles Indonesians’ Long-Running Abuse Suit
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-15 | by ( Erin Mulvaney | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Exxon Mobil headquarters in Spring, Texas Photo: Meridith Kohut for The Wall Street JournalExxon Mobil has reached a settlement with Indonesian villagers who sued the oil giant more than 20 years ago for alleged human-rights abuses by contract soldiers hired to guard the company’s operations in Aceh province. The settlement, announced in a court filing Monday, comes ahead of a widely anticipated trial that was scheduled to begin May 24. The villagers sued in U.S. court in 2001, alleging the soldiers committed atrocities including sexual assault, torture, and murder at or near ExxonMobil’s large natural gas operations in the Arun field.

☆ Exxon Executive Suite Goes Lean With End of ‘God Pod’ Era
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-14 | by ( Collin Eaton | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Exxon Mobil is moving its global headquarters to this glass-dominated campus in Spring, Texas. Photo: Meridith Kohut for The Wall Street JournalAfter inhabiting a palatial executive suite known as the “God Pod” for more than 25 years, Exxon Mobil ’s top brass is downsizing to less-celestial chambers. In a part-symbolic, part-practical move for the oil company, Chief Executive Officer Darren Woods and his top lieutenants are packing up their Dallas-area offices for a move this summer to a C-suite now under construction at a campus outside Houston, according to people familiar with the matter. The new office is intended to be at least a bit more egalitarian and economical, in keeping with the company’s recent pledges to be leaner, the people said.

☆ End of Title 42 immigration policy has brought fewer migrants than expected, but overcrowding concerns remain
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-14 | by ( Nouran Salahieh | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +14 min

David Peinado Romero/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images Migrants carry a baby in a suitcase across the Rio Grande on May 10. Gary Coronado/Los Angeles Times/Getty Images Migrants wait to get paid after washing cars at a gas station in Brownsville on May 10. Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP/Getty Images Migrants surrender to US Border Patrol agents after crossing the border in Yuma on May 10. Paul Ratje/Reuters Migrants wait to be processed by US Border Patrol agents in Santa Teresa, New Mexico, on April 26. Hudak warned in the filing that without measures to conditionally release some migrants, Border Patrol could have over 45,000 migrants in custody by the end of the month.

☆ Rookie Traders Are Calling It Quits, and Their Families Are Thrilled
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-01 | by ( Rachel Louise Ensign | Photographs Meridith Kohut For The Wall Street Journal | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Some novices who took up trading during the pandemic are abandoning the hobby. Their loved ones are breathing a sigh of relief. Spouses, parents and other family members who were subjected to one too many play-by-plays of market movements say they are happy to have their loved ones back—and equally glad they no longer have to hear about buzzy stocks or cryptocurrencies.

☆ Rookie Traders Are Calling it Quits, and Their Families Are Thrilled
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-01 | by ( Rachel Louise Ensign | Photographs Meridith Kohut For The Wall Street Journal | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

☆ The Year in Pictures 2022
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-19 | by ( The New York Times | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +57 min

Every year, starting in early fall, photo editors at The New York Times begin sifting through the year’s work in an effort to pick out the most startling, most moving, most memorable pictures. But 2022 undoubtedly belongs to the war in Ukraine, a conflict now settling into a worryingly predictable rhythm. Erin Schaff/The New York Times “When you’re standing on the ground, you can’t visualize the scope of the destruction. Jim Huylebroek for The New York Times Kyiv, Ukraine, Feb. 25. We see the same images over and over, and it’s really hard to make anything different.” Kyiv, Ukraine, Feb 26.

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