Workers Are Deserting the US Labor Force. Experts Can’t Agree on Why.

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Workers Are Deserting the US Labor Force. Experts Can’t Agree on Why. (Maria)

The author writes, “Whether it was due to caregiving responsibilities, feeling discouraged by unemployment or other reasons, over the past year, about 1 million U.S. workers have thrown in the towel. The Labor Department estimates 720,000 workers left in June alone. The labor force participation rate — the percentage of people older than 16 who are working or looking — fell to 61.5% in June, the lowest reading since March 2021. … Excluding the lows seen during the COVID-19 pandemic, it is the lowest rate in five decades.”

He Lived Here for 35 Years. Put Three Kids in College. ICE Killed Him. (Sean)

From The Bulwark: “Lorenzo Salgado Araujo came to the United States thirty-five years ago — a few years too late to benefit from the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986, popularly known as the ‘Reagan amnesty.’ He worked in construction. By the 2000s, he was a small business owner who provided jobs and work for other men. They would drive to the North Houston suburbs and build houses. His dream was to build his own home for his family one day — a dream he achieved. On Tuesday morning, Lorenzo was picking up workers as usual shortly after 6 a.m. when he was confronted by ICE and killed. He was 52 years old.”

An Immigration Law Error in the Court’s Asylum Decision Threatens Immigration Courts (Reader Steve)

From SCOTUSblog: “The Supreme Court’s decision … blocking migrants stopped at the international boundary from applying for asylum turns on the text of federal immigration law. But the majority opinion reveals that the justices don’t understand the border-crossing process that Congress created. Perhaps if they had, the justices in the majority wouldn’t have so easily handed border officers the power to seal off access to asylum.” 

RFK Jr., Scientology, and the War on Antidepressants (Russ)

The author writes, “The Trump administration has engaged in a lengthy campaign to discourage the use of antidepressants. The effort has been led by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who has spent years spreading misinformation about these types of medications. T… Kennedy’s claims about antidepressants mirror those of the Church of Scientology, which has a long history of disdain for psychiatry and has targeted psychiatric medications for decades. Kennedy has an ongoing financial relationship with a law firm connected to Scientology that has pursued numerous lawsuits against antidepressant manufacturers.”

A US-Mexico Partnership Beat Screwworms Once. Why Are They Back? (Dana)

From Texas Monthly: “An international effort was so successful at eradicating the flesh-eating pests that leaders saw no reason to keep it going.” 

Scientists Solve a 30-Year Rye Pollen Mystery That Could Transform Cancer Research (Mili)

The author writes, “Scientists have finally solved a nearly 30-year-old mystery surrounding two unusual molecules found in rye pollen that once showed an intriguing ability to help animals fight tumors. By determining their exact 3D structures, researchers have unlocked the blueprint needed to investigate how these natural compounds interact with the immune system and which parts may be responsible for their cancer-fighting effects.” 

Ancient Ring Discovered Underground in Scotland Could Be a Stonehenge-Like Monument (Laura)

The author writes, “While scanning one of Scotland’s richest prehistoric landscapes, archaeologists uncovered evidence of what may be a newfound stone or timber circle buried beneath a peat moorland. The find may add another monument to a ceremonial structure that has fascinated researchers for more than a century. The possible circle lies beneath the surface of Machrie Moor on Scotland’s Isle of Arran, a landscape already famous for its towering standing stones, burial monuments and ceremonial sites dating to between roughly 3500 and 1500 B.C.”