Military drones are swarming the skies of Ukraine and other conflict hot spots – and anything goes when it comes to international law

The Ukraine military tests drones near Kyiv in August 2022. Sergei Supinsky/AFP via Getty Images

Tara Sonenshine, Tufts University

Loud explosions rock the evening sky. Streaks of light appear like comets. Missiles rain down. Below, people scramble for cover. The injured are taken on stretchers – the dead, buried.

That is daily life in Ukraine, where pilotless vehicles known as drones litter the sky in an endless video gamelike – but actually very real – war with Russia.

Both Russia and Ukraine are using drones in this war to remotely locate targets and drop bombs, among other purposes.

Today, drones are used in various other conflicts, but are also used to deliver packages, track weather, drop pesticides and entertain drone hobbyists.

Welcome to the world of drones. They range from small consumer quadcopters to remotely piloted warplanes – and all types are being used by militaries around the world.

As a scholar of public diplomacy and foreign policy – and a former United States under secretary of state for public diplomacy and public affairs – I know how important it is for people to understand drones and their proliferation, given the risks of war, terrorism and accidental drone clashes in the world today.

A Ukrainian soldier launches a drone from his hand in November 2022 in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine. Elena Tita/Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images

A buying spree

The U.S. is among more than 100 countries using drones in times of conflict.

Terrorists have also been known to deploy drones because they are relatively low-cost weapons with high degrees of civilian damage.

Consumer drone shipments, globally, topped 5 million units in 2020 and are expected to surpass 7 million by 2025.

Sales of drones globally were up 57% from 2021 to 2022.

With the exponential rise in drone purchases, there are few constraints for buyers, creating a wild, wild west of uncontrolled access and usage.

Each country is free to decide when and where drones fly, without answering to any other country or international authority governing drones. The skies are often filled with drone swarms, with little on-the-ground guidance on the rules of the sky.

Different purposes

Each country has a unique interest in getting and using drones.

China is increasingly using sophisticated drones for covert surveillance, especially in international waters to patrol the disputed islands in the South China Sea. Its expanding drone program has influenced other countries like the U.S. to also invest more in the technology.

Turkey’s military has a highly sophisticated drone, the Bayraktar TB2, which is capable of carrying laser-guided bombs and small enough to fit in a flatbed truck.

The United Arab Emirates imports drones from China and Turkey to deploy in Yemen and Libya to monitor warlords in case conflict breaks out.

And South Korea is considering starting a special drone unit after it failed to respond to a recent North Korean drone incursion. When North Korea deployed five drones towards it southern neighbor in December 2022, South Korea had to scramble its fighter jets to issue warning shots.

No rules in the air

The countries with armed drones are individually navigating their own rules instead of an international agreed-upon set of regulations.

International law prohibits the use of armed force unless the United Nations Security Council authorizes an attack, or in the case of self-defense.

But short of launching a full war, drones can legally be deployed for counterterrorism operations, surveillance and other non-self defense needs, creating a slippery slope to military conflict.

Figuring out the national and international rules of the sky for drone usage is hard.

For 20 years, experts have tried to create international agreements on arms – and some countries supported an informal 2016 U.N. agreement that recommends countries document the import and export of unmanned aerial vehicles.

But these efforts never evolved into serious, comprehensive standards and laws that kept pace with technology. There are several reasons for that: To protect their national sovereignty, governments do not want to release drone data. They also want to avoid duplication of their technology and to maintain their market share of the drone trade.

A MQ-9 Reaper drone awaits its next mission over the U.S.-Mexico border in November 2022. John Moore/Getty Images

US and drones

For decades, the U.S. has wrestled with how to balance drone warfare as it became involved in overseas operations in Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria and other conflict zones.

The U.S. killed a top al-Qaida leader with a drone strike in Afghanistan in 2022.

But there have been other instances of drone strikes that resulted in unintended casualties and damage.

In 2021, The New York Times reported that a U.S. drone strike on a vehicle thought to contain an Islamic State bomb resulted in the deaths of 10 children – not three civilians, as the U.S. said might have happened.

There is scant public opinion research on how American feel about the use of drones overseas, which makes building public support for their military use difficult.

Drone dangers

Drone dangers are real. Many drone experts, including myself, believe it is unsafe for each country’s military to make its own decisions on drones with no rules guiding drone transfers, exports, imports and usage – and no major forum to discuss drones, as the technology continues to evolve.

Multiple drones can communicate with each other remotely, creating shared objectives rather than an individual drone path or pattern. Like a swarm of bees, these drones form a deadly and autonomous aerial army ripe for accidents.

With the advent of artificial intelligence and more sophisticated unmanned aerial vehicles, drones can change speed, altitude and targeting in seconds, making them even more difficult to track and investigate. Attacks can happen seemingly out of the blue.

In my view, the world needs new and consistent rules on drone usage for the decade ahead – better international monitoring of drone incursions and more transparency in the outcome of drone attacks.

Information about the impact of military use of drones is not just important for historical purposes, but also to engage societies in action and temper the impulse to engage in conflict. It is time to talk seriously about drones.

Tara Sonenshine, Edward R. Murrow Professor of Practice in Public Diplomacy, Tufts University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. 

Teenage brains are drawn to popular social media challenges – here’s how parents can get their kids to think twice

The milk crate challenge went viral in the summer of 2021. ER doctors weren’t amused. Apu Gomes/AFP/Getty Images

Elisa M. Trucco, Florida International University and Julie Cristello, Florida International University

Viral social media trends started innocently enough.

In the early 2010s there was planking, the “Harlem Shake” dance and lip syncing to Carly Rae Jepsen’s summer anthem “Call Me Maybe.”

Then came the ice bucket challenge, which raised an estimated US$115 million for ALS research.

In recent years, social media challenges have grown more popular – and more dangerous, leading to serious injuries and even deaths. It’s not hard to see why. The milk crate challenge dares people to walk or run across a loosely stacked pyramid of milk crates, the Tide pod challenge involves eating laundry detergent pods, and the Benadryl challenge encourages taking six or more doses of over-the-counter allergy medication all at once.

As clinical psychology researchers, we study why social media challenges are so appealing to teens despite the dangers they pose, and steps parents can take to protect their kids.

Appeal of viral stunts

Almost all American teens today have access to a smartphone and actively use multiple social media platforms – with YouTube, TikTok, Instagram and Snapchat being the most popular among this age group.

Meanwhile, the teenage years are linked to an increase in risk-taking. The human brain isn’t fully developed until a person reaches their mid-20s, and the parts of the brain that relate to reward and doing what feels good develop more quickly than areas linked to decision-making. As a result, teens are more likely to act impulsively and risk physical injury to gain popularity.

Teens are also particularly vulnerable to social pressure.

A 2016 study found that teens were more likely to “like” a photo – even when it showed drug or alcohol use – if the photo had more “likes” from peers. The same study also showed that activity increased in the reward centers of teenage brains when viewing posts with more “likes.” Simply put, teens pay closer attention to social media content with a high number of “likes” and views.

In best-case scenarios, this vulnerability to social pressure may result in, say, buying a certain brand of sneakers. Yet in worst-case scenarios, this can lead teens to do dangerous stunts to impress or amuse their friends.

In our work, we found that celebrities, musicians, athletes and influencers can also increase risky teen behaviors, such as alcohol and drug use, especially because they earn many “likes” and attract huge followings on social media.

Teens today may find it more difficult to resist social pressure. They not only have unlimited access to their peers and other influencers, but online social networks are also much larger, with teens following hundreds – sometimes thousands – of online users.

What parents can do

Below are five ways parents can help their teen resist social pressure and avoid risks linked to social media trends.

1. Listen to your teen

Parents can learn more about social media by asking their teen open-ended questions about their experiences, such as, “Has anything you’ve seen on Instagram upset you lately?”

Share your own concerns about social media while listening to your teen’s thoughts and perspectives. This kind of open communication can improve kids’ mental health and social skills.

Research also shows that watching media content with your teens – and discussing issues that come up during and after media use – helps with children’s brain development and critical thinking. It can also help to resolve questions or clear up misinformation.

2. Talk about what is rewarding

Teens don’t always know why they engage in certain behaviors or are curious about dangerous activities. Having a conversation with them about what feels good about “likes” and comments online could help them identify similar rewarding experiences offline – such as joining a school sports team or extracurricular club. Research shows that sports participation is a helpful way to build one’s social identity, self-esteem and meaningful connections with others.

3. Talk about what is risky

Social media posts often glamorize risky behaviors. For example, alcohol use posts focus on the fun aspects and avoid depictions of blackouts or injury. Similarly, teens see “likes” and views from social media challenges, but not hospitalizations and deaths.

Parents can talk to teens about this gap. Since teens are often more knowledgeable about the latest social media challenges, ask them about the topic and help them think through possible risks.

4. Get informed

One of the best ways to connect with teens is to learn about topics that interest them. If they enjoy Instagram, consider creating your own account and ask them to show you the ropes on the platform, as teaching others can be rewarding for teens. Also, take the time to explore on your own and keep up to date on social media features, challenges and risky trends.

5. Make a plan

A family media plan can help you and your teen agree on screen-free times, media curfews and ways to choose good media habits. Social media can also help teens form friendships, stay connected with distant friends and family members, reduce stress and access medical providers, help lines or other tools that support physical and mental health.

Come up with a plan that all family members can follow to enjoy the benefits of social media. Your family can always revise the media plan as your child gets older.

Elisa M. Trucco, Associate Professor of Psychology, Florida International University and Julie Cristello, Doctoral candidate in Clinical Science, Florida International University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. 

3 Ways Older Adults Can Pay It Forward: Redefine retirement through community connection

This time of year always provides plenty to celebrate and commemorate with the warmer weather and longer days.

May is also Older Americans Month, a time for celebrating the contributions that older adults make in our country from coast to coast. This year’s theme, “Aging Unbound,” promotes the independence, fulfillment and joy older Americans can experience by choosing their own paths as they age.

Instead of letting age define their circumstances, older Americans are embracing change, pushing boundaries and transforming their communities through creativity, commitment and service. Everyone benefits when older adults remain engaged, independent and included.

Volunteering is one way older adults can improve their quality of life through connections with others, and it’s also been proven to make measurable improvements in the mental and physical health of the volunteers themselves. In fact, 84% of volunteers report stable or improving health after one year of service and 88% report lower levels of feelings of isolation, according to a study conducted by AmeriCorps Seniors.

As a first stop for anyone looking to explore volunteer opportunities, AmeriCorps and AmeriCorps Seniors connect individuals and organizations through service and volunteering. AmeriCorps Seniors matches Americans 55-plus with opportunities to improve their communities through the contribution of time, passion, skills and experience.

“AmeriCorps Seniors is tailor-made for those aged 55 and older,” said Atalaya Sergi, director, AmeriCorps Seniors. “It provides a space for older adults to take charge of their ‘second act’ and use their time in valuable and impactful ways. All of our volunteers share a goal of making a difference in their communities, and many see their involvement as a chance to make friends and form meaningful connections.”

More than 140,000 Americans are matched with volunteer opportunities each year through three programs: RSVP, the Foster Grandparent Program and the Senior Companion Program.

“Our programs offer varying levels of involvement, interaction, time commitments and work with a diverse set of partners,” Sergi said. “We believe there’s a good fit for everyone and many opportunities for volunteers to meet like-minded peers who share their interests or pursue volunteer opportunities that can involve their families, too.”

Consider these ways older adults can get involved in their communities.

Respond to the Needs of Your Community

With more than 115,000 volunteers, RSVP is the largest of the programs. It is a popular choice due to its flexible time commitments and diverse ways to serve. The program partners with national, state and local organizations to offer volunteers a wide range of service opportunities, from building houses to delivering food.

“All the people you meet when you’re a volunteer tell you their stories and experiences,” said Srini Srinivas, a volunteer serving with the RSVP program. “You find that very rewarding and it enriches your life. Doing this service is a way of paying it forward. It supports the community. It keeps me active, which is a good thing. You also feel useful.”

Serve as Mentors

For older adults interested in working with children, the Foster Grandparent Program pairs volunteers with local schools and other programs focused on children, caring for and working with classes, groups or individual students. Volunteers serving with the Foster Grandparent Program serve between five and 30 hours each week based on their availability and may be eligible for a small monetary stipend to offset the cost of volunteering.

“My motto is, ‘There is never a never, you can always accomplish something.’ I’m here to help the kids learn, be there for them and teach them as much as I can,” said Priscilla Tsethlikai, a volunteer since 2016. “They’re teaching me, and at the same time, I’m teaching them.”

Provide a Helping Hand to Other Older Adults

Fostering relationships with other older adults is also a rewarding, and needed, option. Volunteers serving with the Senior Companion Program give about 20 hours each week and spend time with older adults in need of companionship or help with day-to-day tasks such as grocery shopping, getting to appointments or paying bills. Volunteers also may provide respite to family members caring for loved ones with chronic illnesses. The program may offer a small monetary stipend for volunteers who qualify.

“Volunteering has changed me, it keeps me grounded,” volunteer Carmen Swanson said. “When you help others and do for others, you enrich your life. My favorite part is being available and of service to them. Whatever their desire is, whatever they’d like to achieve – if I can execute the task, follow it through and accomplish it then it makes my day.”

While it may mean different things to different people, this year’s Older Americans Month theme of “Aging Unbound” provides one overarching sentiment: growing older can and should be empowering.

“We know there are stereotypes surrounding older adults, but we want people to shift their thinking,” Sergi said. “See the ways older adults continue to contribute to your life and communities, appreciate their wisdom and lived experiences, and join them in new endeavors. When the older adults in our communities are engaged, valued and genuinely included, we all benefit.”

For more information, and to find volunteer opportunities near you, visit AmeriCorps.gov/YourMoment.

Support Older Adults in Your Community

Though many older adults remain independent and engaged as they age, some may find they are no longer able to complete daily tasks and require assistance. By looking for ways to assist older adults with tasks and engage with them intellectually, you can help them continue to live fulfilling lives. Consider these ways you can make a difference in the lives of older adults in your area:

Offer your services. This may be especially useful if you are a skilled tradesman, such as a plumber, carpenter, electrician or mechanic, or have technical skills and can assist with navigating devices such as computers and cell phones.

Volunteer at an older adult community. Assisted living, skilled nursing and memory care communities often rely on volunteers to host game nights and social events to help residents socialize and stay active.

Assist with household chores. While many older adults choose to age in their own homes, they may require assistance with cooking, cleaning, yardwork and more.

Help with transportation. If you have a car and a valid driver’s license, driving older adults can help them complete their errands more quickly and safely. They may need to get to a doctor’s appointment, go to the grocery store, visit the post office or complete other tasks outside of the home that a driver can assist with.

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AmeriCorps Seniors

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When faith says to help migrants – and the law says don’t

Migrants are welcomed to a Methodist church in New Mexico after being released by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in 2019. Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Laura E. Alexander, University of Nebraska Omaha

Many religious traditions preach the need to care for strangers. But what happens when caring for the stranger comes into conflict with government policy?

After Title 42 restrictions at the U.S. border ended on May 11, 2023, debates about immigration have heated up again – focused mostly on reform, border security or refugees’ needs.

But the treatment of immigrants is deeply intertwined with religious freedom as well. As a scholar of religious ethics who studies immigration, I am interested in recent cases that highlight growing tensions between immigration policies and religious groups’ commitments to pastoral and humanitarian care.

Ministry at the border

One high-profile example centers on Rev. Kaji Douša, senior pastor at Park Avenue Christian Church in New York City, who traveled to Tijuana, Mexico, in 2018 to provide pastoral care to asylum seekers.

Her work was flagged by Customs and Border Protection after a Honduran woman allegedly said that Douša told migrants that marrying each other would make it easier to receive legal papers in the U.S. As Douša later testified, she did perform religious ceremonies, but only for couples who were already in common-law marriages and without claiming to provide any legal status.

Douša’s name and photo were added to a Department of Homeland Security watch list that included lawyers, journalists and activists, and she was detained and questioned by CBP officers upon her return to the U.S. A CBP official also sent an email to Mexican authorities asking them to ban Douša from entering Mexico because she lacked proper documentation – which the official later acknowledged had no basis in fact.

Douša filed a lawsuit accusing DHS of unjust surveillance and retaliation, and in March 2023 a federal judge ruled in her favor. Judge Todd Robinson agreed that DHS had violated Douša’s right to freedom of religious expression by instructing Mexican authorities to detain her.

Both Douša and the United Church of Christ, which ordained her, argued that her actions were based in her religious commitments. Douša previously stated, “To reject a migrant is to cast away God’s angels, which I am unwilling to do.”

Immigrants gather at a makeshift camp near the border between the U.S. and Mexico on May 13, 2023. Mario Tama/Getty Images

Shifts in the legal landscape

This is not the first time religious leaders or groups providing pastoral and humanitarian care to migrants have come under scrutiny.

One famous example is the Sanctuary Movement of the 1980s, an informal network of up to 500 churches whose members provided safe haven to undocumented asylum seekers fleeing violence in Central America.

Several members of the movement were convicted of conspiring to smuggle immigrants into the U.S. They appealed, arguing that their work was inspired by their religious convictions and that the government was violating their First Amendment rights. Yet their claims were largely unsuccessful.

Over the past few decades, however, religious freedom claims have often found more favor in U.S. courts.

In part, this is because of the 1993 Religious Freedom Restoration Act, which has made it easier for people and institutions to claim religiously based exemptions from generally applicable laws. One of the best-known examples is the 2014 Supreme Court case Burwell v. Hobby Lobby, in which the court, citing the owners’ religious convictions, exempted the national chain of crafts stores from providing employee health insurance that included contraception coverage.

Help on the ground

This shift has opened new lines of defense for religious actors, including humanitarian groups.

No More Deaths is a nonprofit associated with a Unitarian Universalist church in Tucson, Arizona. Members leave supplies along desert routes traveled by migrants, provide first aid and occasionally offer services such as temporary shelter to migrants who are suffering from exposure.

In 2018, volunteers were charged with littering, driving on protected lands and, in one case, harboring undocumented immigrants.

A volunteer for No More Deaths delivers water along a trail used by undocumented immigrants in the desert near Ajo, Ariz., in 2019. John Moore/Getty Images

Four volunteers were initially convicted, but their charges were dismissed after they argued that they were compelled by religious convictions and that the government had violated their freedom of religious expression. The appeals court judge cited the Religious Freedom Restoration Act as well as the Hobby Lobby case in holding that the volunteers were protected under U.S. law.

A more recent dustup between a religious humanitarian organization and government officials occurred in December 2022. A group of Republicans in Congress sent a letter to Catholic Charities, a humanitarian nonprofit affiliated with the church that provides food, shelter and bathing facilities on both sides of the border.

In U.S. border cities, the organization also provides transportation from shelters to bus stops and money exchanges. The representatives’ letter cited this work as a reason to suspect Catholic Charities of encouraging illegal border crossings and required staff to preserve records of their work.

The organization argued that the charges were “both fallacious and factually inaccurate.” Caring for people in need, “including vulnerable people on the move,” leaders wrote, “is a part of the fabric of the global Catholic Church and is mandated by the gospel.”

Yet another sticking point between religious groups and immigration law has emerged in Florida in recent weeks. A bill recently signed into law by Gov. Ron DeSantis was modified after religious groups protested against its proposed criminal penalties for knowingly transporting or concealing an undocumented immigrant. Religious leaders argued that this would violate their religious freedom by preventing them from providing rides to religious services or from finding aid for people in need.

National vs. universal mandates

It is not surprising that these conflicts keep happening, considering the U.S. government’s and religious organizations’ different motivations around migration.

One main driver for politicians is simply that many voters are nervous about newcomers, especially if they have different cultural, religious or racial backgrounds. The nonprofit Public Religion Research Institute has found that while 55% of Americans think immigrants strengthen American society, 40% believe a growing number of newcomers “threatens traditional American customs and values.” In the past few years, multiple Republican politicians have even embraced some version of the “great replacement” conspiracy theory. Once limited to extremist and antisemitic groups, replacement theory alleges that immigrants are either replacing native-born American citizens or are intentionally being used to facilitate electoral and social change.

Political scientist Seyla Benhabib has argued that another reason some leaders focus on border policies is that national sovereignty has been weakened in a globalizing world. Multinational corporations, for example, are sometimes influential enough to shape government policies, such as lobbying for weaker labor laws and environmental protections.

But whereas sovereignty and citizens are priorities for governments, many religious traditions teach adherents to care for people regardless of what community they belong to. Religious thinkers do argue over whether their traditions encourage greater attention to people in their own communities. Still, when it comes to people’s most basic survival needs, most emphasize that care should know no borders.

For the foreseeable future, these priorities will continue to clash – and some religious people may push back by claiming a First Amendment right to freedom of religious expression.

Laura E. Alexander, Associate Professor of Religious Studies, Goldstein Family Community Chair in Human Rights, University of Nebraska Omaha

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. 

Barbara Kingsolver’s ‘Demon Copperhead’ and the enduring devastation of the opioid crisis

Barbara Kingsolver’s protagonist, Demon, is much more than his drug habit. SergioZacchi/iStock via Getty Images

William Nash, Middlebury

Barbara Kingsolver’s literary honors range from the National Book Prize of South Africa to the PEN/Faulkner Award.

On May 8, 2023, she added a Pulitzer Prize to her accolades.

Her winning novel, “Demon Copperhead,” is more than just a reimagining of Charles Dickens’ “David Copperfield.” Casting an opioid-addicted Appalachian orphan as her protagonist, Kingsolver sheds new light on one of America’s greatest health crises.

Understandably, the COVID-19 pandemic eclipsed media coverage of and national concern over the opioid epidemic; nevertheless, opioids remain a massive public health problem, and I think the author’s attention to it is both welcome and necessary.

In taking up the topic, she joins artists with ties to Appalachia, such as bluegrass guitar phenom Billy Strings, the late singer-songwriter John Prine and photographer Stacy Kranitz, all of whom have used their art to highlight the ravaging effects of these drugs on their region.

How artists can reclaim a place

As an American Studies professor who teaches courses on both country music and images of rural America, I see this groundbreaking work through the lens of cultural geography, which explores the relationship between culture and place.

A region can inspire unique forms of art, music, literature and architecture, and the work of geographer Edward Soja helped show how this work can push back against stereotypes.

In 1996, Soja published “Thirdspace: Journeys to Los Angeles and Other Real-and-Imagined Places.”

In it, he argued that stereotypes of a region’s people and landscape could lead to damaging politics and policies. For example, outsiders’ views of “the inner city” as hotbeds for poverty, crime and broken families led to the implementation of racist public housing policies in the 1960s.

Soja’s book was a call to arms for artists and the marginalized: In what he called “thirdspace” – a place that exists at the intersection of the real and the imagined – they can reclaim and reframe visions of their region, showcasing different identities and experiences.

Appalachia is a region that, for generations, has been subjected to economic oppression, classist stereotyping and environmental and medical recklessness. The pumping of opioids into rural communities represents just another chapter in this story of exploitation.

Yet artists and writers like Kingsolver are able to show that the people in the region are more than just backward, powerless victims – that they are complicated people with the same goals, longings and fears as the rest of us.

More than an addict

Kingsolver, who was raised in rural Kentucky and who currently resides in Virginia, had a keen vision for Copperhead. She weaves the history of the economic fallout from the tobacco industry and coal mining into her protagonist’s backstory.

Her central concern, though, was always the opioid crisis.

As she told The New York Times in October 2022, “I wanted to say, ‘Look, it’s still here, and this got done to us and we didn’t deserve it.’”

‘Demon Copperhead’ won the 2023 Pulitzer Prize for fiction. Black Bird Bookstore and Cafe

That’s the story of Demon’s life. An orphan who experiences poverty, an abusive foster home and social isolation, he finds freedom and glory on the football field, only to experience a devastating knee injury.

Pressured by his coach and the townspeople to play through his pain, he blindly takes the OxyContin that the local Dr. Feelgood prescribes, only to find himself crippled physically, psychologically and emotionally by his addiction.

And yet, through all of that, Demon is much more than his habit. Kingsolver foregrounds his humanity, his humor and his potential for goodness in a way that makes him more than “just an addict.”

In doing so, Kingsolver uses her connection to the region, her empathy for its residents and her awareness of stereotypes about Appalachians and addicts to avoid what could have easily been a reductive portrayal. Instead, she crafts a realistic and still-not-despairing vision from the inside.

This approach – an example of Soja’s thirdspace – is, in my view, the most powerful tool that artists have at their disposal to counteract the impulse to move on from grappling with this ongoing epidemic.

Filling the void

What Kingsolver does in prose, Billy Strings and John Prine do in song.

Strings, whose breakout hit, “Dust in a Baggie,” is a portrait of methamphetamine addiction, takes on opioids in “Enough to Leave,” a track from his album “Home.”

Written to commemorate two friends who overdosed on fentanyl-laced heroin within the same week, the song is a haunting evocation of grief for those left behind when addiction takes its toll:

 Enough to kill ya, enough to put you down
 Seems like every way you turned was like a hard wind comin' down
 Enough to leave me, enough to leave me here
 And though the room is empty now I can almost feel you near

The same is true for Prine’s “Summer’s End,” a track from his last album, 2018’s “The Tree of Forgiveness.”

The video for that song, directed by West Virginia filmmakers Kerrin Sheldon and Elaine McMillan Sheldon, portrays an aging grandfather and his young granddaughter going about the mundanities of daily life in the wake of their daughter and mother’s death. A single frame depicts a news headline about the opioid crisis, illuminating the source of their suffering without overshadowing the regularity of their routines.

The video brings to mind a line from Samuel Beckett’s 1953 novel “The Unnamable”: “You must go on. I can’t go on. I’ll go on.”

The music video for ‘Summer’s End.’

Upending a theory of ‘genetic decline’

Words, music and pictures – all have become powerful tools in this thirdspace reading of opioid-afflicted Appalachia.

Like the Sheldons, Kentucky-born photographer Stacy Kranitz offers gritty, complex and beautiful photographic portraits of Appalachia.

She has written about how she wants her work to provide a corrective to the negative portraits of Appalachia penned by Kentuckian Harry Caudill and New York Times reporter Homer Bigart in the 1960s.

Caudill, who emphasized the economic exploitation of Appalachia, also came to embrace William Shockley’s theory of dysgenics, arguing that “genetic decline” among the people of Appalachia played a contributing role in the perpetuation of their suffering.

Their work brought Appalachia to the Johnson administration’s awareness. But it also amplified the national perception of the region and its people as backward, helpless and ripe for exploitation.

Kranitz’s engagement with Appalachia – particularly her refusal to let Caudill’s stereotypical views of its inhabitants as backward and regressive stand – offers a thirdspace revision of the region and its residents. Her series “As It Was Given to Me” juxtaposes a burning cross at a Klan rally with an image of a lovely, innocent girl holding a lit sparkler. Unafraid to illustrate the ugliness of the region, Kranitz is equally insistent on finding its beauty.

Like these artists and musicians, Kingsolver set out in “Demon Copperhead” to wrestle with the region’s complex history and its current social ills.

In that, she succeeded.

Hopefully the Pulitzer committee’s recognition of the novel will lead others to not only educate themselves about Appalachia, but also participate in the work needed to undo the damage that these drugs have done – and continue to do.

William Nash, Professor of American Studies and English and American Literatures, Middlebury

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license.

4 factors that contributed to the record low history scores for US eighth graders

Test scores for history began their decline about a decade ago. Don Mason via Getty Images

Diana D'Amico Pawlewicz, University of North Dakota

When national student test scores revealed recently that knowledge of U.S. history and civics had reached an all-time low, one Republican lawmaker described the drop as an “outright failure that should concern every parent across the country.”

The test scores showed that 86% of America’s eighth graders were not proficient in U.S. history, and 79% were not proficient in civics.

While one top U.S. education official described the scores as “alarming,” the official rightly pointed out that the decline actually began nearly a decade ago.

In my view as a historian of education reform and policy, the latest history and civics test scores were a predictable outcome. While it is difficult to establish an exact cause of the decline, here are four factors that I believe contributed to it.

1. Pandemic fears of learning loss

When students gradually began to return to their physical school buildings after they were closed when the COVID-19 pandemic began, researchers, politicians and critics of teachers unions began to worry about learning loss in math and reading.

Historically, when there are worries about test scores in core subjects like reading and math, other subjects become less of a priority. This deemphasis on subjects beyond reading and math has taken place before. Specifically, after the Bush-era policy No Child Left Behind became the law of the land in 2002, teachers reported that the emphasis on testing took away time and resources for social studies. They also say it threatened arts education, which has been shown to benefit children’s overall academic, emotional and social well-being.

2. The politicization of social studies education

At the same time that many education experts were worried about learning loss in reading and math, conservative politicians were working incessantly to limit what can be taught in social studies.

In one of his first acts as governor, Virginia’s Glenn Youngkin, for example, set up an anonymous tip line for parents to report teachers who taught “divisive concepts,” such as the notion that the U.S. is “fundamentally racist or sexist” or that a person from a particular race or sex bears responsibility for past actions committed by other members of the same race or sex. The tip line has since been quietly shut down.

Across the country, state legislatures led by conservative politicians have adopted bills banning instruction about aspects of U.S. history that could, they believe, make white children feel “discomfort” or “guilt.”

All of this has created an atmosphere of fear for the nation’s teachers, who remain largely unsure of what they can and cannot teach. For some teachers, this political context has led them to self-censor and limit what they teach about American history, potentially depriving students of a richer understanding of the nation’s politics and policy.

3. Education budget cuts

Although research has long shown that funding matters for student achievement, many school districts around the country are currently struggling for adequate resources.

The pandemic has amplified existing racial and economic disparities – and recent national test scores in history and civics are an extension of those disparities. Not only were the average scores on U.S. history tests lower for Black students than white ones, but the decline from 2018 scores to 2022 was 42% greater for Black students. Black students collectively lost 4.5 points, or 1.8% of their average scores, from 2018 to 2022, versus 3.5 points, or 1.29%, for white students.

And the situation was even more stark for low-income kids. Compared with 2018, children who are eligible for free or reduced lunch – a standard measure of poverty – saw their scores drop more than twice as much as they did for their higher-income peers who did not qualify for the program. Specifically, they lost five points – going from 250.5 in 2018 to 245.5 in 2022, versus just two points for those who do not qualify for free and reduced lunch, who saw their scores drop from 274 to 272 between 2018 and 2022.

4. Teacher shortages

Mounting job stress and the blaming of teachers have led many educators to leave schools altogether, generating widespread teacher shortages.

Among teachers who left the profession in 2022, a record high 64% quit, as opposed to being laid off or fired, leaving district and state leaders scrambling to lower requirements for substitutes in an effort to find adequate classroom support. Evidence suggests that experienced, professionally trained teachers are critical for students’ academic achievement. With that in mind, low test scores in history and civics begin to make more sense.

Keys to improvement

What American kids know – or don’t – about the nation’s history and civics is a reflection not of the kids, but of the political and economic circumstances that affect their schools.

The factors that support student learning – funding, qualified teachers and high-quality curricula – are well known. In my view, if history and civics scores are to improve, then what is needed is more funding for public schools, more support for professional teachers and the freeing up of educators from policies shaped by contentious political debates about what they can and can’t teach about U.S. history in America’s classrooms.

Diana D'Amico Pawlewicz, Associate Professor of Education Research & Director, I-REEED, University of North Dakota

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. 

Entertain Guests with a Fresh Al Fresco Favorite

If you and your loved ones yearn for new, stimulating experiences to feel connected to the outdoors, look no further than enjoying mealtime al fresco. Inspired by the Mediterranean tradition of “eating in the open air,” al fresco dining offers passionate home cooks a fresh way to enjoy their favorite recipes outside with friends and family.

Consider these two tried-and-true al fresco tips from television personality and culinary icon Rachael Ray the next time you enjoy dinner on the deck or lunch on the patio.

Gather the right tools: On those buggy days and nights during the warm season when you’re dining al fresco, grab a food mesh tent. Not only will it protect your food, but it also looks good and goes with a variety of table settings.

Plan the decor: When hosting friends and family, up your floral game by reaching into the garden and adding some fresh herbs – it’s aesthetically pleasing and smells delicious.

Ideal al fresco meals typically take advantage of in-season produce, offer easy preparation so you can focus on entertaining and are simple enough to eat outdoors. Skip complicated cooking steps and turn to a delicious option like Yellowfin Tuna and Artichoke Pasta, which can be served as an appetizer, side dish or on its own as a light main course.

This dish practically calls for ingredients like Genova Yellowfin Tuna in Olive Oil, which features cuts of wild-caught tuna, hand-filleted in just the right amount of olive oil. Savory, rich and flavorful with a perfect texture, the tuna elevates the dish with a uniquely rich and savory flavor stemming from Mediterranean inspiration.

To find more al fresco dining inspiration and recipe ideas, visit GenovaSeafood.com.

Yellowfin Tuna and Artichoke Pasta

Recipe courtesy of Rachael Ray on behalf of Genova Tuna
Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 40 minutes with fresh artichokes (25 minutes with canned)
Servings: 4

Artichokes:

• Cold water
• 12 small, fresh artichokes or 2 cans artichoke hearts in water
• 2 lemons
• 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• salt, to taste
• pepper or red pepper, to taste

Pasta:

• Water
• 2 cans (5 ounces each) Genova Yellowfin Tuna in Olive Oil
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 4 tablespoons butter, cut into tabs
• 4 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper (optional)
• salt, to taste
• 1/2 cup white wine, chicken stock or vegetable stock
• 1 pound spaghetti or linguine
• 1 lemon, juice only
• 1 cup grated Pecorino Romano cheese
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh Italian parsley, divided
• 1 small handful fresh mint, chopped, divided
• 1/4 cup toasted pistachios or pine nuts, chopped

1. To make artichokes: Preheat oven to 425 F.
2. Fill bowl with cold water and juice of one lemon.
3. If using fresh artichokes, trim tops of artichokes and tougher outer leaves. Using vegetable peeler or small paring knife, trim stems. Once prepped, cut fresh artichokes in half. If using canned artichokes, drain well and quarter lengthwise.
4. Place artichokes in lemon water.
5. Let soak 2-3 minutes, drain and pat dry with kitchen towel.
6. In casserole or baking dish, arrange artichokes and add juice of remaining lemon, quarter lemon and add lemon wedges to dish.
7. Add olive oil and salt and pepper, to taste.
8. Roast 25-30 minutes, or until tender.
9. To make pasta: Bring large pot of water to boil.
10. While water is coming to boil, place large skillet over medium heat and add olive oil and butter. Add garlic; red pepper, if desired; and salt, to taste, and swirl 1 minute. Add white wine or stock and let reduce by half.
11. When water comes to boil, salt water, add pasta and cook 1 minute less than directions. Reserve 1/2 cup pasta water before draining.
12. Add artichokes to large skillet with tuna with its oil and gently break up with back of wooden spoon or paddle.
13. Add lemon juice and reserved pasta water to skillet along with drained pasta, cheese and half the parsley, mint and pistachios. Toss to combine, top with remaining parsley, mint and pistachios and serve.

SOURCE:
Genova Tuna

International Criminal Court is using digital evidence to investigate Putin – but how can it tell if a video or photo is real or fake?

A satellite image shows burning homes in Chernihiv, Ukraine, in March 2022. Satellite image (c) 2022 Maxar Technologies.

Ronald Niezen, University of San Diego

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 was reminiscent of wars long past, where a country invades another with little provocation.

But there are many parts of this conflict that are uniquely modern – including how ordinary Ukrainians are capturing and sharing videos and photos documenting the mass murder of civilians, which is considered a war crime under international law.

The International Criminal Court – an international tribunal in the Hague, Netherlands, designed to investigate and prosecute war crimes – is trying to keep pace with this trend.

The ICC, a common acronym for the court, issued arrest warrants for Russian President Vladimir Putin and Russia’s children’s rights commissioner, Maria Lvova-Belova in March 2023. They are charged with allegedly abducting and deporting Ukrainian children to Russia.

It isn’t clear what specific evidence ICC prosecutors have gathered to support these charges, but ICC prosecutor Karim Khan has spoken about the “advanced technological tools” the court is using in its ongoing investigation. This could include, for example, satellite imagery or cellphone video filmed by witnesses.

I am a scholar of international human rights who has studied the ICC’s investigations into war crimes in Mali, West Africa, and how the court’s use of such digital evidence has advanced over the last decade.

The ICC’s current investigation in Ukraine could further cement this shift toward using digital evidence to investigate war crimes – and raises new challenges about verifying the authenticity of these photos and videos.

A memorial event in Brussels in February 2023 marked the abduction of Ukrainian children. Nicolas Masterlinck/AFP via Getty Images

A rise in digital forensics

War crimes investigations have traditionally relied almost exclusively on witness testimony and mud and bones forensics from crime scenes.

This began to change in 2013, when the ICC investigated Malian jihadist Ahmad Al Faqi Al Mahdi, who ordered the destruction of shrines and mosques in Timbuktu during an occupation of this city in Mali.

Video evidence documented the destruction of these holy sites, which are UNESCO heritage sites. Al Mahdi’s group took some of these videos, and international media filmed others.

Prosecutors ultimately had such a large trove of video evidence that they organized them into a digital visual platform.

For the first time, the ICC relied heavily on visual digital evidence in a prosecution.

The court sentenced Al Mahdi to nine years in prison in 2016 for destroying Timbuktu’s history.

Since then, other international tribunals have accepted digital videos and images as legitimate evidence. Satellite imagery, mobile phone videos and other sources of digital data can offer powerful supplements to eyewitness accounts of war crimes.

Is it real or fake?

With the rise of advanced video editing and artificial intelligence tools, it can be challenging to tell real videos or images from fake ones. If investigators are unable to guarantee that the evidence they download is real, they are unable to proceed with their work.

The University of California Berkeley School of Law’s Human Rights Center raised this point in 2022, when it released a guide on digital evidence intended for international court investigators, lawyers, and judges.

This guide, known as the Berkeley Protocol, sets standards for legal relevance, security and the handling of digital evidence. This includes guidance for investigators, such as protecting the identity of witnesses who provide digital evidence and awareness of the psychological effects of viewing disturbing content.

There are several stages to a digital investigation, as the guide explains.

The first involves getting the evidence. Investigators sometimes find themselves in a race to download and preserve digital content before a content moderator – a person or an AI-enabled tool – deletes it and it disappears.

Once a video is safely in their possession, analysts have to authenticate it. This complicated process involves establishing where the evidence came from and where else it has been, from the time and place the video was shot to the point when investigators acquired it.

In their analysis, investigators look for things like distinctive buildings or trees that can be easy to spot in other images. Satellite imagery can also help determine exactly where a video was filmed and what direction the camera was pointed. Investigators may also use tools like facial recognition software.

Video images often contain other clues about the time and location of an incident. Things like street signs or sticker graffiti on lampposts can help narrow down where and when an image was filmed and what it shows.

The ICC is now using the Berkeley Protocol in its investigation of Ukraine. If and when the time comes for prosecutors to present digital evidence of Russian war crimes in court, there will be little need for lawyers to argue over its validity.

A Russian soldier patrols a Mariupol theater in Ukraine, bombed by Russian troops in March 2022. Alexander Nemenov/AFP via Getty Images

The digital evidence so far for Ukraine

It isn’t likely that Putin or Lvova-Belova will be arrested – at least, not any time soon. For now, they are safe by staying within Russia’s borders, since Russia does not abide by the ICC’s arrest warrants or prosecutions.

But the court’s investigation of Russian war crimes is ongoing, and it will rely on the thick trail of digital evidence that journalists, regular citizens and even perpetrators themselves have documented over the course of the Ukraine war.

The Associated Press published images and video in March 2023 of Ukrainian children – who may or may not be orphans – being loaded onto buses in the Donetsk region of Ukraine, and others of Ukrainian children eating together in Russia.

Two research agencies that previously consulted for the ICC have also released their own visual investigations of war crimes in Ukraine, showing digital evidence that Russian artillery attacked a theater in Mariupol where civilians took shelter in March 2022, for example.

Perpetrators, too, are posting evidence of their alleged crimes. Russian state media has reportedly shown Russian soldiers taking Ukrainian children from a group home into Russian-held territory.

International tribunals are adapting to the new landscape of digital documentation. There are scenes in Ukraine that look eerily like the conflicts of the 20th century, but the current war crimes investigation is unlike anything we have seen before.

Ronald Niezen, Professor of Practice, Departments of Sociology and of Political Science / International Relations, University of San Diego

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. 

Can rainbows form in a circle? Fun facts on the physics of rainbows

The higher your vantage point, the more likely you’ll see more of the rainbow’s circle. Chen Hui/VCG via Getty Images

Partha Chowdhury, UMass Lowell

Curious Kids is a series for children of all ages. If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, send it to curiouskidsus@theconversation.com.

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Can rainbows form in a circle? – Henry D., age 7, Cambridge, Massachusetts

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The legend goes that there is a pot of gold hidden at the end of every rainbow. But is there really an “end” to a rainbow, and can we ever get to it?

Most us go through life seeing rainbows only as arches of color in the sky, but that’s only half of what is really a circle of color.

Normally, when you look at a rainbow, the Earth’s horizon in front of you hides the bottom half of the circle. But if you are standing on a mountain where you can see both above and below you, and the sun is behind you and it is misty or has just rained, chances are good that you will see more of the rainbow’s circle.

How full this rainbow looks depends in part on how high up you’re standing while watching sunlight hit the waterfall’s mist. Wolfgang Kaehler/LightRocket via Getty Images

To see the full circle, however, you will have to be in an airplane, literally above the clouds. Or you could create your own rainbow. I am a physicist, and I’ll explain how to do that in a minute.

How a rainbow forms

Rainbows form when sunlight from behind you hits millions of tiny round water droplets in front of you and bounces back to your eyes.

As a sunbeam hits a droplet at an angle, it bends into the water and separates out into a spectrum of colors. Scientists call the bending of light “refracting.” The colors separate because each “color” of light travels with a different speed in water, or, for that matter, any transparent material that light can travel through, like glass in a prism.

When the colors hit the back wall of the water droplet, the angle is now too shallow for them to bend out into the air, so they reflect back into the water droplet and return to its entrance wall. From there, the colors can bend out again into air and reach your eye.

The United Kingdom’s Meteorology Office explains how light refracts, or bends, in a water droplet or a prism.

As you look at these droplets, the different colors happen to bunch up at a slightly different angle, and each color forms the circular rim of a cone with your eye at the tip of the cone. And, voila, you have your own personal rainbow.

The droplets that send the colors to your eye cannot send them to anyone else, so even though everyone near you sees the same rainbow at a distance, each person really sees their own slightly different rainbow. It’s all in the eye of the beholder.

For rainbows to form, the shape of the water droplets has to be very close to a sphere for all of them to bend and reflect the colors in harmony. This happens for very small droplets, such as a fine mist, or just after a rain shower when the air is just moist. As the droplets get larger, gravity distorts their shape and the rainbow vanishes.

Even though it looks like this elephant is bathing in a rainbow, the elephant wouldn’t see it in the same way. Mads Claus Rasmussen / Ritzau Scanpix / AFP

A rainbow is not physically present where it appears to be, similar to your image in a mirror. So, I’m sorry to say that you can never actually reach your rainbow. And, alas, nobody can ever find that pot of gold.

But you can create your own rainbow.

How to create and see a circular rainbow

One experiment you can try in summer is to turn on a sprinkler hose using the “mist” setting. Remember to have the sun behind you. If you create a fine mist screen in front of you and look at your shadow, you might see a rainbow.

It might take some work, but you can see your own full-circle rainbows in the mist. Gary Hershorn/Getty Images

It is not difficult to see colors, but to see a full circle, you will need some patience and practice, just like scientists.

So next time you are on an airplane, grab the window seat. If you are flying a little above the cloud cover, keep a lookout for the small shadow of your plane on the clouds. That means the sun is behind you.

The clouds are tiny water droplets, so chances are you may see a small circle of color around the shadow of the airplane. This phenomenon is nicknamed “pilot’s glory,” because pilots who fly all the time and have a good view from the cockpit have a better chance of seeing it.

The circular rainbow you see around an airplane’s shadow is called ‘pilot’s glory.’ Matthew Straubmuller/Flickr, CC BY

And if you really can’t wait to see what it looks like, there’s always the internet.

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Hello, curious kids! Do you have a question you’d like an expert to answer? Ask an adult to send your question to CuriousKidsUS@theconversation.com. Please tell us your name, age and the city where you live.

And since curiosity has no age limit – adults, let us know what you’re wondering, too. We won’t be able to answer every question, but we will do our best.

Partha Chowdhury, Professor of Physics, UMass Lowell

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license.