China bans 'sissy men' from TV in new crackdown

© Provided by The Canadian Press



BEIJING (AP) — China’s government banned effeminate men on TV and told broadcasters Thursday to promote “revolutionary culture,” broadening a campaign to tighten control over business and society and enforce official morality.

President Xi Jinping has called for a “national rejuvenation,” with tighter Communist Party control of business, education, culture and religion. Companies and the public are under increasing pressure to align with its vision for a more powerful China and healthier society.


The party has reduced children's access to online games and is trying to discourage what it sees as unhealthy attention to celebrities.

Broadcasters must “resolutely put an end to sissy men and other abnormal esthetics,” the TV regulator said, using an insulting slang term for effeminate men — “niang pao,” or literally, “girlie guns.”

That reflects official concern that Chinese pop stars, influenced by the sleek, girlish look of some South Korean and Japanese singers and actors, are failing to encourage China's young men to be masculine enough.

Broadcasters should avoid promoting “vulgar internet celebrities” and admiration of wealth and celebrity, the regulator said. Instead, programs should “vigorously promote excellent Chinese traditional culture, revolutionary culture and advanced socialist culture."

Xi’s government also is tightening control over Chinese internet industries.

It has launched anti-monopoly, data security and other enforcement actions at companies including games and social media provider Tencent Holding and e-commerce giant Alibaba Group that the ruling party worries are too big and independent.

Rules that took effect Wednesday limit anyone under 18 to three hours per week of online games and prohibit play on school days.

Game developers already were required to submit new titles for government approval before they could be released. Officials have called on them to add nationalistic themes.

The party also is tightening control over celebrities.

Broadcasters should avoid performers who “violate public order” or have “lost morality,” the regulator said. Programs about the children of celebrities also are banned.

On Saturday, microblog platform Weibo Corp. suspended thousands of accounts for fan clubs and entertainment news.

A popular actress, Zhao Wei, has disappeared from streaming platforms without explanation. Her name has been removed from credits of movies and TV programs.

Thursday’s order told broadcasters to limit pay for performers and to avoid contract terms that might help them evade taxes.

Another actress, Zheng Shuang, was fined 299 million yuan ($46 million) last week on tax evasion charges in a warning to celebrities to be positive role models.

___

National Radio and TV Administration: www.nrta.gov.cn

Joe Mcdonald, The Associated Press

U.S. aviation agency probes Branson's Virgin Galactic flight deviation

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said Wednesday it is investigating a deviation in the descent of the flight of the Virgin Galactic rocket plane that carried British billionaire Richard Branson to the edge of space on July 11.

The New Yorker magazine earlier reported that the regulator was investigating an off-course descent. An FAA spokesman told Reuters the vehicle "deviated from its Air Traffic Control clearance as it returned to Spaceport America. The FAA investigation is ongoing."

Virgin Galactic acknowledged in a statement to Reuters that "the flight’s ultimate trajectory deviated from our initial plan" but added it "did not fly outside of the lateral confines of the protected airspace."

The company said "the flight did drop below the altitude of the airspace ... "for a short distance and time (1 minute and 41 seconds) before re-entering restricted airspace."

It added that "at no time did the ship travel above any population centers or cause a hazard to the public." The company said it is "working in partnership with the FAA to address the airspace for future flights."

Virgin Galactic said that "when the vehicle encountered high altitude winds which changed the trajectory, the pilots and systems monitored the trajectory to ensure it remained within mission parameters."

The New Yorker reported https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/the-red-warning-light-on-richard-bransons-space-flight that during the flight a red light flashed on the ship's console, indicating an "entry glide-cone warning." Virgin Galactic said that "at no time were passengers and crew put in any danger as a result of this change in trajectory."

Branson, one of six Virgin Galactic employees who took part in the flight, soaring https://www.reuters.com/lifestyle/science/virgin-galactics-branson-ready-space-launch-aboard-rocket-plane-2021-07-11 more than 50 miles above the New Mexico desert, in July touted the mission as a precursor to a new era of space tourism and said the company he founded in 2004 was poised to begin commercial operations next year.

(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Rosalba O'Brien and Grant McCool)

2 charged with vandalism at fossilized dinosaur tracks site


HOLYOKE, Mass. (AP) — Two men were arrested on suspicion of digging in an area of protected fossilized dinosaur footprints, authorities in Massachusetts said.

The men, from New Jersey and Connecticut, were seen by police on Saturday afternoon walking up the stairs at the site along the Connecticut River in Holyoke carrying out rocks and tools, Capt. Matthew Moriarty said.

The men told police they did not think they were digging in the protected area.

“A check of the reservation map was made and it appears their digging was on the protected land,” Moriarty said.

The men were charged with vandalism, trespassing and an archeological violation. They were released on personal recognizance. It was not clear if they had attorneys to speak on their behalf.

According to the Trustees, the preservation organization that oversees the site, there are more than 800 dinosaur footprints in the 8-acre (3.25-hectare) area.

The area, discovered in 1802, has the footprints of four distinct dinosaurs, including Eubrontes prints that were “likely made by ancestors of the great Tyrannosaurus rex, standing 15 feet (4.5 meters) tall and 20 feet (6 meters) long," according to the Trustees.

The Associated Pres

WTF

Judge grants bail to Alberta man accused of possessing weapons & explosives, harbouring extremist views

Jonny Wakefield -

© Provided by Edmonton JournalRCMP's Integrated National Security Enforcement Team laid 34 criminal charges against Kelvin Gregory Maure this spring. A judge ordered Maure released on bail on Aug. 31, 2021.

An Alberta man facing nearly 35 weapons charges following an investigation by the RCMP’s national security unit has been granted bail ahead of his trial next year.

Kelvin Gregory Maure, 26, was arrested earlier this year after a lengthy investigation by the RCMP’s Alberta Integrated National Security Enforcement Team (INSET).

INSET alleged Maure posted “extremist” views online and “ presented a threat to critical infrastructure, police, and the public. ” He has been in jail since his arrest in February and has pleaded not guilty .

Maure was earlier denied bail by a provincial court judge. After a review, Court of Queen’s Bench Justice Sterling Sanderman found the Crown failed to make a case for holding Maure and opted to release him with conditions.

“The Crown’s concerns about Mr. Maure’s beliefs are valid but misplaced,” Sanderman wrote in a decision issued Tuesday. “There is no concrete evidence before the court that ties him inexorably to these beliefs or groups.”

“To deny him bail based on these assertions would be wrong. It would be reminiscent of the over-reaction during the McCarthy era of the early 1950’s and to the unjustified fear of communist subversives.”

Maure lived at a home in Parkland County’s Heatherlea Estates subdivision with a man who shares his surname. According to police, he was active in online extremist and anti-government communities.

RCMP say their investigation into Maure and a group of like-minded individuals began in September 2020. While under surveillance, Maure’s activities allegedly escalated. Police say that in January he impersonated a police officer near Spruce Grove. Then, on Feb. 12, he allegedly damaged an oil and gas facility near Drayton Valley belonging to Obsidian Energy. He was arrested the following day.


An AK-47-style rifle allegedly seized from Kelvin Gregory Maure.


An AK-74 style rifle allegedly seized from Kelvin Maure earlier this year.


A shirt with RCMP patches allegedly seized from Kelvin Maure.

During the investigation, police seized weapons and paraphernalia allegedly belonging to Maure, including two prohibited AK-style rifles, silencers, a 9 mm pistol, a “significant” amount of ammunition and clothing similar to that worn by the RCMP. He also allegedly possessed a quantity of TATP, a high explosive used in attacks including the July 2005 bombings in London, England.

Police did not initially say what specific ideology Maure allegedly ascribed to, but according to Sanderman’s decision his posts showed a “potential association or fascination with extreme right-wing groups that have fascistic or neo-Nazi predilections.” The Crown alleged Maure goes by the alias “Moleman” online, where that user posted at least one alleged image of themselves wearing fatigues and a balaclava next to an Edmonton Police Service officer on what appears to be Whyte Avenue.

Sanderman said in addition to the prohibited weapons, the Crown alleges Maure researched how to “remediate” firearms to make them fire fully automatic, as well as the “capability of certain explosives and how they could be used to create chaos in the transmission of electrical power.”

Maure’s counsel, Robert LaValley, argued the Crown “overstated to a considerable extent” Maure’s relationship with far-right groups.

“He argues that his fascination with weaponry and a certain lifestyle is the sign of an immature, role-playing young man who miscalculated enormously the seriousness of his conduct,” Sanderman summarized. “The conduct is magnified when viewed through the lens of the concern that all citizens should have in relation to the rise of neo-Nazi groups consisting of violent young men even in the most established western democracies.”

LaValley argued there are issues with the police search warrants, which will be addressed at Maure’s trial in April 2022.

Sanderman agreed to Maure’s bail plan. He will reside under curfew at his mother’s Edmonton apartment, and cannot leave unless accompanied by his mother or a court-ordered bail supervisor. He is prohibited from possessing firearms or accessing the Internet.

An Edmonton man named in the court decision will act as a surety for Maure and post $1,500 cash.

Maure’s judge-alone trial is scheduled to run April 4-19, 2022, in Stony Plain provincial court.

— With files from Anna Junker

jwakefield@postmedia.com

twitter.com/jonnywakefield


© Greg SouthamKelvin Maure was arrested at 35 Heatherlea Drive in Parkland County with a cache of weapons after posting extremist views online, police say.


Rifle ammunition police seized during an investigation into Parkland County man Kelvin Maure.

Meet the woman bringing dozens of unemployed people before senators to shame them into extending unemployment. 'Americans are not lazy. They're struggling.'

insider@insider.com (Juliana Kaplan) - 

© Joe Raedle/Getty ImagesCarlos Ponce joins a protest in in Miami Springs, Florida, asking senators to continue unemployment benefits past July 31, 2020.

 Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Over the last 18 months, unemployed Americans have continually faced their benefits being cut off.

Federal benefits are set to come to a permanent end come Labor Day, despite calls to extend.

Insider spoke to Stephanie Freed, the executive director of ExtendPUA.org, about the last year of unemployment advocacy.

Stephanie Freed is worried: In less than a week, federal unemployment benefits will end, leaving millions of Americans at the edge of a fiscal cliff with no reliable income in sight.

In early 2020, Freed was working as a freelance lighting designer in the live events and entertainment industry. When the pandemic hit, she watched her jobs get postponed - and they didn't come back.

"Our industry was just like in a huge panic, cause that was what was keeping people alive," Freed said.

At the onset of the pandemic, jobless workers like Freed received an additional $600 a week in unemployment, thanks to Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA), a federal program that expanded who was eligible for unemployment benefits. It brought gig workers and freelancers into the fold - and, according to an analysis from the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute, made up the greatest share of federal UI distributed in 2020.

But that supplement was set to expire at the end of July 2020. Freed set out to co-found the advocacy group ExtendPUA.org, which is still fighting for the extension and expansion of unemployed benefits a year later. Freed serves as executive director, chief strategist, and communications director. According to its website, the group has an "engaged base of over 25,000 people."

Here's Freed's story in her own words, edited for brevity.

I'd never been in an advocacy kind of role.

We started just reaching out to Senate offices and setting meetings. We had 40 meetings with senators in the fall, bringing constituents to tell them about their experience with the unemployment system, their experience with the pandemic, and this loss of the $600.


© Stephanie Freed speaking at an Extend PUA action. 

It was pretty incredible, in a not good way, just watching how often we had to keep reinvigorating the fight. People lost the $600. Then, by the end of the year, we were going to lose everything, and that got extended at the very last minute.

And then in March we were going to end it all again. And then that got extended at the last minute.

It's just been like this rolling cliff that no one's ever gotten to stop and get to breathe and just survive the pandemic. Everyone who's lost their jobs - millions of people - have just been waiting and being pushed off of cliffs.

It became untenable to do this 24/7, because I needed to also start finding a way to survive.

I have gotten a job, which is great. I'm lucky to be in that position, and so many people are not that lucky. That's why we have to continue this work - because if these expirations happen, 7.5 million people are going to lose all of their assistance. I'm in my thirties. I have a resume of marketable skills. It took me 15 months to find a job.

People are unable to get jobs because they have childcare responsibilities. But also we're just hearing from people who keep applying and keep applying and don't hear back, or they do hear back and they're either told they're under-qualified or overqualified.

People are having to pivot out of their own industries to try to just survive.
At the beginning, it was a coping mechanism.

Being unemployed and not knowing when work was going to come back and how exactly you survive without work for over a year, that's an overwhelming feeling. Extend PUA for me personally became very much a coping mechanism. Whether that was always healthy or not as healthy, because I was going 24/7, it remains to be seen.

It has been disappointing to see the lack of appetite for these last extensions. There are not a lot of advocacy groups, less even pushing for extensions because they are saying there is no political appetite for them.

We aren't an established nonprofit or anything like that. And I feel like a lot of those groups are more easily swayed by what the government is willing to do, instead of swaying the government.

People are like, 'Well, just get a job!'

I think people who are saying that just have no idea what is happening actually, because those jobs are often not well paid or not full-time. You could need four of those jobs to make enough money to send your kids to daycare.

And then the schools are not being consistent. With Delta surging, there's not a lot of confidence about whether kids will stay in school or whether they will be sent back home for distance learning, and parents can't go back to work if their kids are going to be at home.

I'm not sure if it's not clicking.

We have been pretty in touch with a lot of Democratic legislators. I mean, last fall we had meetings with both sides of the aisle, but we've certainly, since the Democrats have come into control of both halves of Congress, technically, we've been focused there with our advocacy.

It's disappointing to see how many people voted for them, and put faith and hope in them, and that they're allowing that to be overshadowed by false narratives that are being put out about people being too lazy to work.

It seems like as much as sometimes President Biden speaks out against that, he also seems to be buying in about it being a disincentive to work, even though it's been completely disproven. And it's frankly, a cruel talking point and a cruel narrative to buy into.

Americans are not lazy. They're struggling.

We are still in a pandemic. Delta is surging. People are reclosing events. Like all of our events in our theaters were starting to reopen and shows are getting canceled again already. So we're seeing a dip back down and we're going to lose these programs because of, I would say, political weakness, that they're not fighting for something that's really important because they are tired of fighting for things, and they're letting this one go.
We have 10 ways you can get involved.

I think that the most important things right now are reaching out to your federal legislators, just to make sure that they know that as a constituent, you want something done about this. You are a constituent who is unemployed, and you need these extensions to happen.

Now that some of this might transition to responsibility being on the states, really getting into some of your local papers and getting to those state legislators and the governors is going to become key to the states that have that option left.

The next step in solving this problem is fixing the unemployment system so this doesn't happen again, if we have another crisis like this. So getting involved in the fix UI movement is another great way to change this problem for the future. If we fix the program, we don't have to hit these cliffs. We'll have benefits that are more equitable and are higher and closer to actually replacing wages.

Read the original article on Business Insider

A PRE-HARPER RED TORY MAYBE
FIRST READING: Erin O'Toole, the socialist crusading rainbow warrior?

A 'PROGRESSIVE' CONSERVATIVE

THAT OLD CONTRADICTION
Tristin Hopper - 

© Provided by National PostThis is the gayest photo of Erin O'Toole we could find. 

Skip to Solid Takes, below, to learn about some surprising pro-labour and pro-LGBT planks in the Tory platform.

Strange as it may seem for a party that initially opposed Canada’s passage of same-sex marriage , even under Stephen Harper the Conservative Party had a pretty good record on international gay rights . Adam Zivo writes that this is continuing under O’Toole, with the Tory platform offering much broader means to accept LGBT refugees than either the Liberals or the NDP .

Since we’re on the subject of Conservatives championing unorthodox political issues, Justin Ling wrote up all the ways O’Toole is pitching labour policies that are verging on those of a “socialist crusader.” This includes measures to ease unionization, protections for gig workers and mandates to have employee representation on corporate boards.

This week, the Conservatives promised to ban puppy mills (and of course used it as an excuse to stage a photo op with adorable puppies). But Sabrina Maddeaux says the policy is better than it looks, since tough measures on animal abusers often have the effect of curbing domestic abuse .

COMMENTARY: How Canadians learned to stop worrying and love the deficit

Once upon a time, politicians of all stripes fell over each other trying to demonstrate their fiscal responsibility. No credible leader could step to the podium without making a solemn promise to balance the budget.

That tough-love approach was cemented in the 1990s, after then-finance minister Paul Martin balanced the federal budget for the first time in decades – through deep and painful cuts in social programs (like health care and employment insurance). His government was rewarded in the next election, upending conventional wisdom that spending cuts are politically suicidal. Subsequent governments, federally and provincially, followed suit.

Two decades later, however, this stern approach seems to have lost its vigour. Canada entered this election with the biggest deficit in history: $354 billion for the last fiscal year. Yet for the most part, that deficit has not been a major flashpoint in the campaign. And with one exception, all parties are promising expensive new programs – not slashing the ones we have.

Read more: Daunting debt — What the pandemic public spending spree will mean for Canada’s post-COVID economy

In short, all but one of the parties accept that Canada will run large deficits for years to come. And Canadians, for the most part, aren’t losing sleep over it. (One poll found just nine per cent identified government finances as their top issue.) Nor should they.

This change in attitude reflects a transformation in economics, not just politics. Canada, like all industrial economies, fell deeply into deficit after the 2008-09 global financial crisis. That meltdown caused a worldwide recession, and governments spent trillions bailing out banks and paying income supports.

Some countries – primarily in Europe – then tried to restore balanced budgets as soon as possible. They cut spending deeply, on the assumption the economy would right itself once the immediate financial chaos had subsided. But that assumption was dead wrong, and deep spending cuts made matters worse. As a result, Europe entered a decade-long funk – termed the Great Recession – marked by slow growth, unemployment, political turmoil and (perversely) continuing deficits.

That caused economists around the world to rethink their approach to fiscal policy. The chilling effect of spending cuts on economic recovery means fiscal contraction can actually deepen deficits, since government revenues are undermined by continuing stagnation.

Moreover, it turns out that governments can run deficits for years without big drama. Interest rates plunged after the financial crisis, and stayed there, hovering around two per cent (close to zero after inflation). So long as GDP grows faster than super-low interest rates (nominal GDP typically grows four to five per cent per year in Canada), accumulated debt will shrink automatically relative to the economy, even with continuing deficits.

Fast forward to the pandemic. This time, economists and bankers were near-unanimous that deficit spending should be pumped up quickly – and kept there. So it’s not a sign of “fiscal mismanagement” that Canada’s deficit surged; it was prudent, recommended and essential to economic recovery.

Read more: Do deficits matter? Here’s what they are, and what they mean for your bottom line

Most economists also agree that deficit-financed government spending will be essential for years to come, given weakness in other activity (like investment and exports). With interest rates at rock bottom, and staying there, that’s eminently feasible. Even post-COVID-19, federal interest payments are stable at just over one per cent of total GDP – a quarter as much as in the 1990s.

This new economic consensus was reinforced by the experience of Canadians during the pandemic. After all, nine million Canadians received government income assistance last year (like the CERB, EI and other programs). They understand that without that support (and the deficits that made it possible), the pandemic would have been far, far worse. In that context, pledging to attack the deficit forcefully is a sure vote-loser.

No wonder the current crop of politicians has been fairly sanguine about the deficit. Every day they announce more new programs, tax cuts and other costly promises. They know that means deficits will continue.

The clear exception is Maxime Bernier, who pledges to eliminate the deficit in four years through massive cuts to income programs, and full cancellation of federal funding for anything in provincial jurisdiction (like health care). At least Bernier is honest about what a balanced budget requires. That can't be said for Erin O’Toole’s Conservatives. Clearly uncomfortable with explicitly advocating deficits (even as his own list of expensive promises gets longer), O’Toole makes a token nod to balancing the budget: within 10 years, and “without cuts.” That’s not arithmetically possible. And if he was serious about balancing the budget, Canada would experience a decade of fiscally induced stagnation akin to Europe’s Great Recession.

Voters will have to decide which of O’Toole’s contradictory personalities they believe: the one promising big new programs and no cuts, or the one berating Liberal “fiscal mismanagement” and promising to balance the budget. Meanwhile, the other leaders hope voters have indeed learned to stop worrying and love the deficit. In reality, deficits have helped more than they hurt – and we’re going to need them for some time to come.

Jim Stanford is economist and director of the Centre for Future Work, based in Vancouver.

IRS chief tells Elizabeth Warren: More transparent bank data can fight tax evasion

IRS chief Charles Rettig told Sen. Elizabeth Warren that relying on banks to report on their customers' accounts could help cut the tax gap.

Rettig, a Trump administration holdover, touted a provision in the American Families Plan that would require banks to report on their customers' withdrawals and deposits.

The IRS estimates that for every 1% improvement in voluntary tax compliance, federal annual revenues could increase by about $30 billion per year.


© Provided by CNBCA man walks past the U.S. Capitol building in Washington, June 25, 2020.

Thomas Franck - CNBC

TODAY

The head of the IRS believes more rigorous disclosures from the nation's banks could help fix a yawning tax gap and recoup billions in owed revenues.

In a letter viewed by CNBC, IRS Commissioner Charles Rettig told Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., that relying on banks to report basic information about their customers' deposits and withdrawals could put a big dent in annual tax evasion.

A source provided CNBC access to the letter, which is expected to be released Thursday. The source disclosed its contents on condition of anonymity.

The IRS chief told Warren in Friday's letter that years of budget cuts have left the agency unable to prosecute those who fail to pay their fair share in federal taxes.

"Every measure that is important to effective tax administration has suffered tremendously," Rettig wrote, referring to years of budget reductions.

However, President Joe Biden's American Families Plan and the bipartisan infrastructure deal "would result in significant volumes of new data regarding financial transactions," said Rettig, a Trump administration holdover. "The new data will provide the IRS with a lens into otherwise opaque sources of income with historically lower levels of reporting accuracy."

Specifically, Rettig touted one provision in the American Families Plan that seeks to shrink the tax gap by requiring banks to report on their customers' withdrawals and deposits instead of relying on the taxpayers themselves. The tax gap is the difference between taxes paid and taxes owed by law.

Rettig noted that for every 1% improvement in tax compliance, federal annual revenues are projected to increase by about $30 billion per year. Overall tax compliance — defined as, voluntary, accurate and on time — is estimated by the IRS to fall in the 82% to 84% range.

Sens. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., joined Warren last month in requesting that the IRS and its commissioner offer a detailed report on how better enforcement could help generate billions for the federal government in owed taxes.

"This new information from the IRS makes clear that unless we significantly increase IRS funding, wealthy tax cheats and big corporations will be able to continue to avoid paying their fair share to the tune of billions of dollars per year while everyone else suffers," Warren said of Rettig's reply letter. "This is why congressional leadership must include in the budget reconciliation package significant, multiyear funding for the IRS to boost enforcement and bring in billions more in revenue each year."

The IRS analysis "makes it clear we need new reporting requirements in order to improve tax compliance among the wealthiest Americans, and to reduce the burden for honest taxpayers," she added.

Central to Rettig's argument is a simple behavioral problem: Few people enjoy paying income taxes.

That statement is likely even more pertinent for Americans with annual incomes greater than $1 million. Those high-income earners are required to pay a greater percentage of their income to the IRS, and therefore have a greater incentive to find ways to skirt the taxman.

The banking industry, which would bear the burden of sending the U.S. government more data, protested the provision in May.

In their springtime letter, the American Bankers Association, the Bank Policy Institute, the Consumer Bankers Association and others argued that the "new reporting requirements for financial institutions would impose cost and complexity that are not justified by the potential, and highly uncertain, benefits."

"Furthermore," the trade groups added, "we believe additional reporting requirements guided by subjective criteria have privacy and fairness implications and the potential to put financial institutions in an untenable position with their account holders."

The collective suggested that financial institution reporting is "already robust" and that providing more funding for audits would be a more efficient and fair approach.

Complicating matters for the budget-strapped IRS is the fact that wealthy earners tend to have access to a variety of ways to obscure the true value of their income or otherwise have more complicated tax returns. The tax return of a business owner, for example, is far more complicated than that of an employee whose hourly wage or annual salary can be verified by third-party reports.

While the specific disclosure requirements would ultimately be hammered out by the Treasury Department, they could inform the IRS about the size and frequency of deposits and withdrawals from those accounts.

On the upside, if the tax gap is caused by human error — honest mistake or intentional — more thorough communication between U.S. banks and the IRS could ease the problem.

Right now, any person who earns $10 or more in interest from an account at a U.S. bank, brokerage firm or mutual fund is required by law to tell the IRS about those earnings. That document is called a Form 1099-INT.

If banks themselves are compelled to provide the IRS with information about their customers' deposits and withdrawals, those customers may be more likely to fill out their returns accurately. And, if not, the IRS would now be armed with information to prosecute those less than honest.

That, Rettig says, could spell a big win for the tax collector.

"Taxpayers are more likely to be compliant when they know the IRS has the information necessary to pursue them should they not meet their tax obligations," the IRS chief told Warren. "Our research shows that compliance is as low as 45 percent when income is subject to little or no information reporting or tax withholding. When there is substantial information reporting, compliance rises above 95 percent."

Using banks to crack down on unreported income would likely represent just one step in narrowing the gap. Simply knowing how much money flows through an account doesn't necessarily alert the IRS to unreported income. People can receive nontaxable gifts or spend on deductible business expenses, which the tax collector would need to consider.

Still, the benefits of moving forward with the provision could offsets the hurdles.

That fact isn't lost on some of the nation's most prestigious economic authorities. Former Treasury Secretaries Tim Geithner, Jacob Lew, Henry Paulson Jr., Robert Rubin and Lawrence Summers all defended President Joe Biden's effort in a recent New York Times op-ed.

"Relying on financial institutions to relay some basic information about account holders is a sensible way forward," they wrote in June, after the White House had published the American Families Plan. "With better information for the I.R.S., voluntary compliance will rise through deterrence as potential tax evaders realize there is a risk to evasion."

The IRS letter also noted that the wealthiest taxpayers are also the most likely to have accounts at international banks that may not provide U.S. regulators with regular access or adhere to the same standards.

"Increased technology funding is essential to link foreign-held assets back to their beneficial owners and to detect potential non-compliance," Rettig wrote. Added resources will enable the IRS to build "analytical systems that use information reporting to detect unreported income and identify when account holders or foreign financial institutions may be engaging in non-compliant or fraudulent behavior."

In advocating for additional funds, Rettig reiterated the need to modernize IRS technology not only to fend off "increasingly sophisticated cybersecurity attacks," but to increase the agency's speed, reduce errors and allow operations to continue all day instead of relying on staff availability.

The years of budget and staffing cuts have left the IRS with about 74,000 full-time employees, a level not seen since 1973. But the challenges facing the agency, especially in the last 16 months, have only grown, Rettig said.

There is perhaps no better way to document demand for IRS services than the number of customer service phone calls. In 2021 alone, the IRS has received over 199 million calls, about 400% more than the agency receives in an average calendar year.

The agency has answered nearly 50 million of those calls between live "assistors" and automated providers. The IRS received 42 million calls in 2018, 40 million calls in 2019 and 55 million calls in 2020, according to Rettig's letter.

In totality, such fixes could over time generate hundreds of billions in owed revenues.

The Treasury Department's own analysis shows that efforts to close the tax gap will generate $700 billion in additional tax collections over the first 10 years of budgetary relief and an additional $1.6 trillion over the course of the second decade.

The FTC is investigating a very important question: Why are McDonald's McFlurry machines always broken?

esnodgrass@insider.com (Erin Snodgrass) - 

© ShutterstockMcFlurry. Shutterstock

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is looking into the infamously fussy McDonald's ice cream machines, per a new report.

The Wall Street Journal reported that the agency sent letters to franchisees earlier this summer asking for information.

The FTC wants to know how McDonald's reviews suppliers and equipment and how frequently owners work on their own machines.

It's a near-universal experience: It's late at night, you've got a craving, and the only thing that could fulfill it is the sweet, candy-filled ice cream of a McDonald's McFlurry.

You wait in the drive-through line until your turn arrives. But alas! The ice cream machine is broken yet again, an employee tells you.

Now, after years of broken ice cream machines across the country, the well-known, oft-mocked problem at the world's largest fast-food chain is drawing a government investigation.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC), which is tasked with protecting consumers from fraud and unfair business practices, contacted McDonald's franchisees earlier this summer, probing for information on why its ice cream machines so frequently fail, The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday.

According to the Journal, the agency sent a letter to franchisees requesting answers. The FTC did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.
A history of breaking down

Among owners and employees, McDonald's ice cream machines - which are manufactured by a brand called Taylor - are notorious for being difficult to fix. They require an automated heat-cleaning cycle each night to ward off bacteria, a precaution that can often lead to failure - making the machines unusable until a repair technician can fix them, owners told The Journal.

Two years ago, a company called Kytch created a diagnostic tool that would help McDonald's franchise owners fix their own ice cream machines, The Journal reported. At one point, McDonald's owners in 30 states employed Kytch's breakdown spotter, per the report.

But late last year, McDonald's told franchisees that the devices were unsanctioned. Kytch's cofounder responded with a lawsuit in May, accusing Taylor of infringing on franchisees' rights to fix their own machines and stealing intellectual property, prompting the FTC to step in, according to the Journal.

In a statement to the Journal, Taylor denied purposely designing the equipment to be confusing. Taylor did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.

Both Kytch and Taylor told The Journal they had not been contacted by the FTC, and McDonald's said it did not believe it was the focus of a FTC investigation.

The investigation into the machines comes after the Biden administration in July opened a probe into products across a wide swath of industries, investigating whether or not manufacturers obstruct consumers from fixing the projects themselves.

The FTC wants to know how McDonald's reviews suppliers and equipment, including the ice cream machines, and how frequently franchise owners work on their own machines. The agency letter, which was reviewed by The Journal, is preliminary and notes that "the existence of a preliminary investigation does not indicate the FTC or its staff have found any wrongdoing."

McDonald's did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.

The ice cream machines in question account for nearly 60% of the chain's dessert sales in the US, The Journal reported. Angry customers have even taken to the internet with petitions demanding a solution.

STILL MIA
Alberta premier hosts Facebook chat after government criticized over handling of fourth wave
Tyler Dawson - 

© Provided by National PostA mock missing poster for Alberta Premier Jason Kenney is seen taped to post near Edmonton City Hall. Kenney was last seen in public on August 9.

EDMONTON — As COVID-19 case counts and hospitalizations steadily rise in Alberta, government officials and politicians have been criticized for being unusually quiet in recent weeks, shunning public communications and the daily COVID briefings that had become a mainstay of the pandemic.

The fourth wave is putting pressure on Alberta’s medical system. The province had more than 12,200 active COVID-19 cases as of Tuesday, with 465 COVID-19 patients in hospital, and 107 of them in intensive care units. As of Aug. 29, there were just 31 ICU beds available in Alberta’s hospital system.

Alberta Health Services has announced, in recent weeks, the postponement of dozens of surgeries in the Edmonton area and northern parts of the province; patients have had to be transferred from Grande Prairie — where only 51 per cent of the eligible population is fully vaccinated — to Edmonton due to demand for COVID care in the local hospital.

For weeks, questions have been mounting about the province’s pandemic response, as case counts slowly began to climb, and none of the figures Albertans are used to hearing from made public appearances.

Premier Jason Kenney was last seen in public on Aug. 9, making an announcement at an Edmonton brewery. Tyler Shandro, the health minister, last gave a media briefing in late July. And Dr. Deena Hinshaw, the province’s chief medical officer of health, whose presence was ubiquitous for much of the last 18 months, last spoke to reporters on Aug. 13.

On Wednesday night, Kenney appeared in a “fireside chat” to take questions from Albertans.

“I’m hiding in plain view,” Kenney said via Facebook Live .

In it, he spoke about a forthcoming announcement about new incentives to get Albertans vaccinated.

The premier said there is “no viable” COVID-zero policy, but that, should cases keep rising, there would be “targeted” measures to address the spike.

The low visibility has led to considerable criticism, in part from New Democrats, but also groups of concerned doctors and parents, who, as kids head back to school, are wondering what the plan is.

Duane Bratt, a political scientist at Mount Royal University, said it looks like, at this point, “they’re governing by tweet.”

“Where are they?” Bratt said.

Alberta leads other provinces in total number of active cases by a wide margin — nearly double those of British Columbia and Ontario, which both sit around 6,000. Ontario has 336 people in hospital; B.C. has 176 in hospital and 91 in intensive care. On a per capita basis, Alberta has 256 cases per 100,000 people, compared to 40 per 100,000 people in Ontario, 51 per 100,000 people in Quebec and 123 per 100,000 in B.C., according to Public Health Agency of Canada data.

The National Post sought comment from Kenney, Shandro and Hinshaw’s offices about their whereabouts and plans to address the public. No response was received from Kenney and Shandro’s offices. Hinshaw’s said she was not giving an update Tuesday.

Kenney’s office has previously said that he is on holiday, but has still been able to participate in briefings and has been in contact with government officials.

Still, there has been little direction from the highest echelons of government — or even their subordinates — as Alberta’s case rates climb to roughly double that of the next-worst province, and cities, schools and the private sector all move to bring in their own COVID-related health measures.

Alberta’s politicians aren’t alone in their silence — or the criticism they’re facing. Dr. Theresa Tam, Canada’s top doctor, hasn’t held a briefing since the federal election began, and while she’s expected to give a briefing this week, it’s unclear if they will become a regular occurrence.

© David Bloom/Postmedia/FileAlberta Health Minister Tyler Shandro at a COVID-19 briefing on July 29. He has not given any COVID briefings since July.

Jason Kindrachuk, an infectious diseases expert at the University of Manitoba, said a lack of information from government is concerning, especially considering how the Delta wave has unfolded in the United States.

“You want to have, certainly for the public, a feeling of transparency and a feeling that there is, basically, a response to this,” Kindrachuk said. “Given the way that Delta transmits, there is a significant concern that everybody … that is not vaccinated, will ultimately get infected.”

The closest Albertans came was on Tuesday, when Finance Minister Travis Toews — at a press conference for the province’s fiscal update — was asked about the pandemic by reporters. Toews said “we’re in a fourth wave at this point in time,” and insisted that there has been “daily communication around the pandemic.”

There has, on social media and via news release, such as when, last week, Shandro announced on his Twitter account that Albertans will be able to get proof of vaccination if they need it, but there has been no in-person briefings.

“I have full confidence in our chief medical officer and our health minister to, at the appropriate time, make themselves available for the press,” Toews said.

Also on Tuesday, Alberta Health Services officials held a media briefing about mandatory vaccinations for provincial health-care workers, but it didn’t offer the details about community spread and hospitalization that COVID briefings usually provide.

Zain Chagla, an infectious diseases physician and medicine professor at McMaster University, said that cases are going up, but it doesn’t appear to be as fast as in prior waves. Still, there is concern.

“It is a little bit of a worrisome environment in Alberta, and again (the province is) at significant risk of health-care overload, if things keep going in that direction,” Chagla said.

The current outbreak in Alberta is mostly among the unvaccinated, government data show, with nearly 80 per cent of those in non-ICU beds either unvaccinated or partially vaccinated. In the ICU, 94 per cent are unvaccinated or partially vaccinated.

In several parts of the province — mainly northern jurisdictions — less than half of all eligible Albertans are vaccinated, government data show. In High Level, the northwestern-most jurisdiction, just 19 per cent of eligible people are fully vaccinated, and only 23 per cent have one dose, the lowest rates in the entire province.

The spike in cases has also prompted municipal officials to act, universities and schools are coming up with mask and testing policies, and a number of major industry players — including Canadian Natural Resources and the Calgary Flames — have also announced vaccine mandates or rapid testing policies.

“Everybody else is responding, except the provincial government,” said Bratt. “Even if they held a press conference to say ‘We’re not doing anything and this is why we’re not doing anything,’ that would be better than simple radio silence.”

On Monday, Edmonton city council voted eight to two in favour of bringing back the city’s mask mandate, which lapsed on July 1. As of Friday, Edmontonians will have to mask up in all indoor areas, such as retail, restaurants and recreation facilities.

“But I’m hearing increasing calls … that some action is required and that some leadership is necessary to fill the vacuum,” said Edmonton Mayor Don Iveson.

Into the breach on Monday stepped a handful of doctors who, over the course of the pandemic, have been consistent, vocal critics of the United Conservative government. It was to them that several thousand Albertans turned for guidance — for information about statistics and suggestions about what to do next.

Among them was Dr. Joe Vipond, a Calgary doctor who has emerged as a leading critic of the government’s pandemic response, and who’s faced criticism from the premier’s office for political donations to the NDP. (Vipond has said his relationship with the NDP ends there and that he has had policy meetings with all parties.)

“There is an obligation from a medical perspective to make sure the public knows the right info,” said Vipond. “We can’t replace the government — we have no power. We don’t make policy…. We’re a poor replacement for real leaders doing their real job.”

With additional reporting by the Edmonton Journal
• Email: tdawson@postmedia.com | Twitter: tylerrdawson

SURPRISE!  I GOT A FACEBOOK PAGE
Premier Jason Kenney addresses weeks-long absence during 4th wave of pandemic
Sarah Rieger - Yesterday

© Jason Kenney/FacebookPremier Jason Kenney took questions from viewers on Facebook Live on Wednesday after weeks of vacation. The premier had been criticized by some doctors and the Opposition for his absence at a time COVID-19 cases were surging.

Alberta Premier Jason Kenney reappeared after a weeks-long absence on Wednesday with a Facebook livestream where he answered selected questions from Albertans and teased an upcoming incentive to encourage people to get vaccinated.

Kenney's last public appearance was 23 days ago, on Aug. 9, when he announced an expansion to the Labatt's brewing plant in Edmonton.

Since then, there have been frequent public calls from doctors and the Opposition for the premier to step in and communicate a plan to combat the surging, delta-driven fourth wave of the pandemic.

During that time, active cases and ICU hospitalizations have quadrupled; there are currently 12,290 active cases and 465 people in hospital, 107 in ICU.

In response to a viewer question about his absence, the premier said with a laugh, "I'm right here, in the McDougall Centre [the site of the premier's Calgary office], where I've been working this week."

The premier said he has been on a summer holiday — the first lengthy vacation he's taken since 2015. He said earlier in the day, he had attended a briefing with Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Deena Hinshaw, who also has not been seen in public since Aug. 13.

"It's important that a person in my position doesn't burn out," Kenney said, adding that during his vacation he was on his phone each day receiving regular government briefings. "I don't think people taking a bit of personal time should be a political football."

Kenney said he usually only holds news conferences when he has a significant announcement to make, often about funding, which he said could be seen as inappropriate interference during the federal election campaign.

He added that the government will hold a news conference later this week about the rapidly rising numbers of COVID-19 cases in the province.

'Hiding in plain view'

He also addressed concerns that he chose to make his first appearance after his absence on Facebook, rather than hosting a news conference that would allow reporters to freely ask questions on any topic, and follow-ups.

"I'm hiding in plain view," Kenney joked. "Normally we get tens of thousands of viewers … I think that's public accountability right there."

Some of the questions the premier chose to answer included queries about whether the government plans to bring back a mask mandate or take further public health measures. Kenney replied the government will monitor the situation. He was also asked how the province will encourage more people to get vaccinated.

The premier said there will be an announcement soon on a new and different incentive to encourage more people to get vaccinated.

"We may have to take other measures to encourage people, the unvaccinated, to ensure they are not putting themselves in a position where they're transmitting," Kenney said.

Kenney said he continues to look at public health restrictions as a last resort.

"Indeed, if we do see this wave jeopardizing the health-care system we may have to take some very targeted actions but nothing like lockdowns," he said.

Alberta is currently home to 38 per cent of the country's active COVID-19 cases, even though it makes up less than 12 per cent of Canada's population.

About 66 per cent of all Albertans have had at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, considerably lower than the national average of 73.3 per cent.

Earlier in the day, Friends of Medicare, a public health non-profit group, issued a release calling on the premier, health minister or chief medical officer to provide a plan to mitigate the "current health crisis."

"Instead of proactive measures to contain the fourth wave, we've seen bed closures, cancellations of elective surgeries, serious staff shortages," said Sandra Azocar, the executive director of the group.

Kenney said the pandemic has been fraught with difficult decisions.

"When this is all said and done we're going to be able to look back in the cold light of day with objectivity."

Strained by COVID-19, Alberta's rural communities desperate for guidance from government

Emily Fitzpatrick - 
cbc.ca

© AHSGary Harris receives a COVID-19 vaccine in Grande Prairie, Alta., on March 11, 2021. The northwestern Alberta city lags behind the rest of the province in vaccine uptake.

Rural Alberta communities are looking for guidance from the government as they tackle rising COVID-19 case numbers.

In Edson, Alta., 200 kilometres west of Edmonton, the town's hospital is seeing its highest hospitalization rates since the start of the pandemic.

"Some of our local health-care professionals that have been working our emergency room over the last number of days, they've been inundated with people coming in with COVID symptoms," said Mayor Kevin Zahara.

"A number of our beds in our acute centre are taken by COVID patients, more so than we have at any other point in the pandemic."

Zahara also said they are inching closer to their highest-ever number of cases. As of Aug. 30, there were 99 active cases in the community.

"Our peak was in wave two, around 112 to 116 cases," he said. "So certainly concerning to see this rise over the last number of days."

Zahara believes the increase in cases could be due to a number of factors including the easing of restrictions, a larger segment of the population being unvaccinated, and various pipeline projects that are bringing out-of-province workers into the community.


© Scott Neufeld/CBC NewsEdson Mayor Kevin Zahara said the town's hospital currently has more patients in acute care than any other point in the pandemic.

He said they are working hard with residents to control the spread of the coronavirus but acknowledged that some guidance from the provincial government would go a long way.

Video: Some Albertans question lack of leadership amid COVID-19 fourth wave warnings (Global News)

"We certainly have a problem here in Alberta," he said. "And it'd be nice to see some leadership on this issue, even to inform us of what the modelling is showing and what the plan is moving forward."

It's a similar situation in Grande Prairie, Alta., 455 kilometres northwest of Edmonton.

On Saturday, Alberta Health Services transferred six patients from Grande Prairie's Queen Elizabeth II Hospital to neighbouring health-care centres in order to create room for an increase in patients with COVID-19.

Mayor Jackie Clayton said the town is alarmed that the hospital is nearing capacity.

On behalf of city council, she sent a letter to Health Minister Tyler Shandro looking for guidance on how to deal with rising case numbers.

"We don't have health-care professionals on staff," Clayton said. "We aren't health-care experts as elected officials.

"And we think that its AHS and the province's role to make a plan, implement that plan and provide us with clear guidance in regards to what the municipal response and plan should be."

Vaccination rates in Grande Prairie are lower than the provincial rates of vaccination. The region has about 49.7 per cent of the total population immunized with at least one dose of vaccine, with 43 per cent having received both doses.

Comparatively, 66.3 per cent of Alberta's total population has had one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, and 59.4 per cent are classified as having both doses.

Clayton said masks and vaccines are encouraged, but ultimately, those decisions are made by people within the community.

"We want them [the Alberta government and AHS] to take the lead and the responsibility," she said.

"What this letter says is that as municipal politicians, we don't feel that it's appropriate for us to be making decisions on health-care matters."