Dark Clouds: Vaping Illness is on the Rise, and JUUL Says They’re Doing Enough (But Are They?)

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), about 193 cases of illness across 22 states can be traced back to e-cigarette use.

 

Most of the patients are young people, and their conditions range from chest pain and vomiting to permanent lung damage. This month, the first person died from a vaping-related lung injury, and the CDC investigation continues.

 

The CEO of JUUL Labs defended their products, saying that they were taking necessary health precautions. The company has previously come under fire for its flavored e-cigarette products, which the FDA found was partially responsible for a rise in underage vaping.

 

Take Action: Get the facts out there. Read and share these 7 things that e-cig and vape companies don’t want you to know.

A Lover and a Fighter: Taylor Swift’s Petition Gets a (Late, Pretty Meh) Response from the White House

Alongside the release of a new music video in June, Taylor Swift put out a call for fans to sign a petition supporting the Equality Act. In short, the Equality Act prohibits discrimination based on sex, sexual orientation, and gender identity. The US House of Representatives has already passed the Equality Act, and it’s moving on to the Senate next.

 

The petition amassed over 500,000 signatures -- passing the government’s established threshold for a response. After Swift called out the White House’s silence at the MTV Video Music Awards, the administration issued a statement against the bill, saying that it’s “filled with poison pills.” Fox News host Kellyanne Conway applauded the response on-air, but fans ~swiftly~ took her down on social media.

 

Take Action: Learn how to be a better ally (and help friends do the same) by sharing our crowdsourced ally guide made by students, for students.

Barbie Adds Civil Rights Activist Rosa Parks and Astronaut Sally Ride Dolls to Its Collection

The Inspiring Women series of Barbie dolls just got that much more inspiring with the addition of dolls honoring Civil Rights activist Rosa Parks and astronaut Sally Ride.

 

The series already includes extraordinary women like artist Frida Kahlo and NASA mathematician Katherine Johnson, and each doll comes with educational information about the womens’ contributions to history. The announcement came just in time for Women’s Equality Day, and people were stoked.

 

While Barbie’s new real-life superheroes will inspire a generation of young people, DoSomething members are creating brand-new STEM superheroes to do the same.

 

Take Action: Representation matters. Draw an original STEM Superhero to show students from underrepresented backgrounds that they can save the world with STEM.

 

• Why aren’t more people talking about… the Palestinian Harvard freshman who was sent back to Lebanon by border officials because some of his connections made anti-US posts on Facebook?

 

• Also, why aren’t more people talking about… how citizenship will no longer be automatic for some children of US military members living overseas?

 

• Meanwhile, in Guatemala and Honduras… the world’s “plastic addiction” is wreaking havoc, and these photos prove it.

 

• My heroes today are… the teenage boys who saved a family of strangers from a house fire.

 

• My *other* heroes today are… the high schoolers who used TikTok to strike in solidarity with their teachers.

 

• Today in viral cuteness… these bears who became official honey-tasters after they kept sneaking into a beekeeper’s property.

 

• I’m obsessed with… a podcast that Anthony and our colleague Ben showed me called Off Book! Every episode they perform a new, improvised musical, and it’s honestly made my commute SO much better, even though sometimes it literally makes me laugh out loud on the train.

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