SmartHER News

To anyone who embraces their "inner geek" data rules. Yet, this week's news cycle offers a reminder that even the strongest data can only tell us so much; often, it ironically highlights the unknown. Here's 3 stories you should know, from the week, plus, a conversation with John Wayne's youngest daughter Marisa Wayne on her life with the Hollywood legend and how she's building her own empire: Grit Cycle.

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Cut out the noise. Here's the top 2 stories of the week plus the truth about the Taliban (and why peace talks with them may not be "peace talks" at all) with Tom Joscelyn of The Long War Journal.

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A Nicaraguan man risks his life to tell us what's happening inside a country he loves, and why instability in Nicaragua should matter to us all. Plus, two facts that matter about the Special Counsel Investigation.

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Bryce Carlson tells SmartHER News about the life lessons he learned rowing, solo, across the the North Atlantic.

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The 3 top things we learned this week on SmartHER News - from violence in Chicago, Hollywood's Walk of Fame and just how much PURE alcohol Americans drink a year. Cardiologist Dr. Kevin Campbell joins us to explain why he walked away from his successful medical practice to lead a medical mission to one of the most rural places on the planet. He had an incredible adventure and learned so much about himself, AND healthcare. An inspiring heart-racing story we hope you love!

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3 must-know news stories from the week (a look at wages, a warning for Apple and why we need to watch the Russians when it comes to our electricity as much as our elections). Also, a profile on a company that confronted tragedy and turned the experience into a product that saves lives. Meet the family behind "Katchakid".

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Dear Friends, While we cover current event headlines on SmartHERNews.com (and this week is no exception), taking a break from the back-n-forth and listening to someone like our next guest can offer invaluable insight, not only for what we see and read on a regular basis, but how to live our best lives. You might have seen the above "family photo" at Former First Lady Barbara Bush's funeral. The attendees all recognizable to us, and ironically, the man behind the camera familiar to all of them - a quiet presence during some of the most crucial historical moments of the last 20 years. Paul Morse started as a newspaper photojournalist and his work led to a position at the Bush White House. He later met the Clinton family and worked as a photographer for the Clinton Global Initiative – and had the opportunity to capture the Obamas at a variety of different events. He joins us to talk about his career but more importantly to speak about what happens behind the scenes when in the presence of the most powerful men and women in the world. A good perspective considering a time when it's easy to talk superficially about politics and political personalities, but more rare to discuss what really matters and what's at stake- Our two goals on SmartHERnews.com. We hope you enjoy our conversations as much as we did. You can listen in the link above, by clicking HERE, or apple itunes. Jenna & The SmartHER News Team.

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Happy July 4th! Did you know the American Revolutionary war lasted 7 years?….7 years....

And by a simple twist of fate or luck or divine intervention…America didnt lose…but we had a few very near misses of almost losing it all. And that's why the story of Washington's Crossing marks a pivotal moment in all of our fates. Because it changed the momentum of the war.

Listen to the story as told by Clay Craighead, marvelous historian, at Washington Crossing State Park. I had to got there in person. I had to stand on the ground. In a day, when electronic records can vanish, it's important to stand where history happened. We recorded this interview in Clay's office, where he's worked for 30 years. You'll hear a little bit of the working office in the background - I apologize for that...but its sitting in someone's office, where they're comfortable, that you get the most passion and you'll hear that in Clay's voice.… There's a moment in our conversation where he mentions bloody footprints in the snow…an image I'll never forget, especially this July 4th…as we celebrate the land of the free and the home…of the brave.

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SmartHER Summary

As we prepare to celebrate America's independence, we reflect on the power of choice.

A simple choice to rebel gave birth to our nation.

And this week's news reminds us how choices (both big and small) *still* shape our course.

At the highest court of the land, a choice can change the outcome for an entire nation. Justice Anthony Kennedy's choice to retire (and choice to deliver his resignation letter to the White House in person) – sets in motion a shake-up at the Supreme Court with major implications, as shown in the court's split decision in favor of the President's controversial travel ban.

In politics, the choices made by voters (and political parties) during primary elections *potentially* foreshadow the future.

Democrats in New York chose an unknown socialist outsider over a well-known moderate congressman.

Republicans in South Carolina chose Trump-backed or well-known (well-funded) establishment candidates. Despite our heated rhetoric, Americans choose a peaceful transfer of power.

An important reminder as we learn since September, more than 130 politicians and candidates have been murdered in Mexico leading up to this weekend's presidential election.

Small choices can have big impact. A choice to focus on plastic straw pollution has changed policy in major American cities with others potentially following.

When we choose to have our coffee (and how much we choose to drink) may determine how well we perform as researchers develop an app to help us choose wisely Choosing wisely is all parents want to do when considering when to give children a cell phone - new data exposes WHY that choice remains so crucial. And one of the biggest actors in Hollywood chooses God (though, as he tells it, perhaps God chose him).

Our freedom of choice became a beacon of light in a dark world. Ellis Island Historian Barry Moreno talks to SmartHER News about how America chose to implement immigration policy more than 100 years ago - a fascinating conversation on our past choices and how they inform the present. Thats what choices give us - a uniquely American ability to change.

Thank you for choosing us – we won't let you down, Jenna & SmartHER Squad P.S. we have a great podcast ready for the 4th of July – an in-depth look at the moment when America almost lost it all. Bloody footprints in the snow and a choice to continue changed everything. Watch for it next week!

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Where We Started vs Where We End Up

We started this week with news of the government separating children from those who illegally crossed the U.S. southern border and ended the week with new orders by the government to reunite them.

A lot happens in a week. How did we arrive at this point? For a better understanding, let's travel back in time. The government says illegal border crossings spiked in March – so what happened before/after that? The President announced in his January State of The Union he was open to granting citizenship to a select group of young adults brought into the country illegally as children as long as that policy change was part of immigration reform that included money to build a border wall. He set an arbitrary deadline for March 5 for Congress to compromise; that didn't happen. Weeks later, in late March, during Congress' spending bill debate, the opportunity to legislate new immigration reform surfaced again. No compromise. No citizenship. No money for a wall. But construction started on a fence that looked very much like a wall. And a caravan of asylum seekers arrived at the border – one of them a former Honduran politician fleeing a politically unstable country. Chief of the Rio Grande Valley sector for Customs and Border Control told Reuters in early April he worried the caravan would inspire others to do the same. Fast forward to today, the Trump administration will confront a similar legal battle the Obama Administration confronted (and as one legal expert says, every administration confronted before them). A little-known court ruling that prevents the U.S. government from holding minor migrant children more than 20 days. – normally not long enough for legal proceedings – one of the reasons why DHS says 500,000 families from central America have stayed in the U.S. since 2013. But traditions change. This week in news we learned: Baseball attendance mysteriously drops. Marijuana laws may ease. Americans will soon spend more time online than watching TV. An American tradition we can depend on? The same country that blasts people into space, combats the plague, and gives more than 400B to charity, still fights over unresolved issues. But the diversity of our accomplishments should show us, what seems impossible, may be the next big headline. We'll watch for it - Have a great weekend! Jenna & The SmartHER Squad

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