EDMONTON

Local Indigenous artist lights up Churchill Square for winter solstice

"Winter Solstice" sculptures in Churchill Square (Ryan Parker Photography)

Kerry McAthey
CTV News Edmonton
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Updated Dec. 20, 2021 4:34 p.m. MST

Three 16-foot fall figures lit up in Churchill Square form “Winter Solstice,” a celebration of the longest, darkest night of the year by local Indigenous artist Jason Carter.

“It’s really this moment to kind of sit and reflect about where you are, and what you’ve accomplished, and where you’re heading,” Carter said. “Kind of that moment where Mother Earth and Grandfather Sun and Grandmother Moon come together at this perfect zenith.”

Carter worked with the Downtown Business Association to develop the installation. He’s lived in Edmonton since early childhood, and is excited to be able to light up Churchill Square this solstice.

“For me to be able to have the work displayed and represented there for all Edmontonians to see, it’s humbling,” he said. “And what an honour to be able to share with my fellow Edmontonians in such a storied place – the centre of downtown.”

The Winter Solstice sculpture isn’t the only big project Carter has in the works. He has also designed and hand-painted 150 hockey sticks for the World Junior Hockey Championship.

At the end of each game, one player will be named “Player of the Game” and gifted a stick. Carter used the image of the grizzly bear to invoke the strength, power, fortitude and protectiveness he says is inherent in the hockey players.

“It means a lot because it’s these elite athletes that have pursued excellence for their entire lives,” Carter said. “And they’ve reached this…height of their sport, this point of their passion. To be able to have one of my sticks represent that pinnacle for them is truly humbling.”

The Winter Solstice art installation will be up at Churchill Square for a week after Dec. 21, the day of the winter solstice.



"Winter Solstice" sculptures in Churchill Square (Ryan Parker Photography)


"Winter Solstice" sculptures in Churchill Square (Ryan Parker Photography)


"Winter Solstice" sculptures in Churchill Square (Ryan Parker Photography)


"Winter Solstice" sculptures in Churchill Square (Ryan Parker Photography)


"Winter Solstice" sculptures in Churchill Square (Ryan Parker Photography)

What's inside time capsule under statue of Robert E. Lee? Artifacts, and a mystery

Steve McMillan
Thu, December 23, 2021

A rust-colored 1875 almanac, a cloth envelope and a silver coin were found Wednesday in a time capsule that lay hidden beneath a towering statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee in Virginia for more than 130 years.

As intriguing as the water-damaged items were, they're not what many were expecting to see after state conservators spent five hours gingerly prying the time capsule open. Even the mortar-encrusted lead box was a bit of a surprise.

Historical records led many to believe the capsule held dozens of objects related to the Confederacy as well as a picture of deceased President Abraham Lincoln. But in just a few minutes, its contents were revealed and the items were few.


There were three books total. Besides the almanac, there was a tattered book with a pink cover that appeared to be an edition of “The Huguenot Lovers: A Tale of the Old Dominion” by Collinson Pierrepont Edwards Burgwyn. He was a city of Richmond civil engineer who worked on the plans for Monument Avenue, where the Lee statue had stood.

A book that was removed from a time capsule that was removed from the pedestal that once held the statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee on Monument Ave. on Wednesday Dec. 22, 2021, in Richmond, Va. Three books and an envelope with a photo and a coin were inside the box.

There also appeared to be a pamphlet of some kind that made reference to water power facilities for the city of Manchester, a community south of Richmond.

Devon Henry, the contractor who took down the Lee statue and is continuing to work on the removal of the pedestal in Richmond, said there could be a second time capsule that's yet to be found.

“I’m as intrigued as everyone,” he said, as conservators worked to open the capsule. “It was a huge relief to find it. Secondly, we need to see if it’s what we are looking for.”
Is there a second capsule?

The day after the Lee statue was removed in September, work crews spent more than 12 hours searching for the time capsule in the base of the 40-foot-tall (12-meter-tall) pedestal but were unable to locate it.

More: Virginia begins opening time capsule from beneath Robert E. Lee statue

A time capsule was eventually found on Friday, embedded 20 feet high in the pedestal.

Henry said his work crew is still being extra careful given that the container opened Wednesday doesn’t match the description of the time capsule they were expecting.

A newspaper article from 1887 — the year a time capsule was embedded in the pedestal — suggested that the capsule contains Civil War memorabilia and a “picture of Lincoln lying in his coffin.” Records from the Library of Virginia also suggested that 37 Richmond residents, organizations and businesses contributed about 60 objects to the capsule, many of which are believed to be related to the Confederacy.

That time capsule was believed to be a copper box measuring 14-by-14-by-8 inches, larger than the lead box pulled from the pedestal last week. Besides there being far fewer objects, the capsule removed Friday measured 4-by-8-by-11.5 inches and was made of lead.

Conservator for Special Collections from the University of Virginia Sue Donovan removes paper from a photograph that was removed from a time capsule that was removed from the pedestal that once held the statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee on Monument Ave. on Wednesday Dec. 22, 2021, in Richmond, Va.

“We were really surprised to find something lead,” said Julie Langan, the director of the state’s Department of Historic Resources.

The team at the state Department of Historical Resources will catalog the artifacts and expects to have more details on their makeup and their possible origins in a few days. The books will be put in a freezer to avoid mold and the silver coin, which started to tarnish when the box was open, will be kept in a dry place to limit deterioration.

Before the work began to open the capsule on Wednesday, Gov. Northam said Virginia doesn’t need monuments that glorify the Confederacy.

“We are a Commonwealth that embraces diversity,” he said. “We are inclusive.”

The Lee statue was erected in 1890 and was long seen as a symbol of racial injustice in the former capital of the Confederacy. Its removal in September came more than a year after Northam ordered it in the wake of protests that erupted after the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis.

The Lee statue was one of five Confederate tributes along Richmond’s Monument Avenue and the only one that belonged to the state. The four city-owned statues were taken down in 2020, but the Lee statue removal was blocked by two lawsuits until a ruling from the Supreme Court of Virginia in September cleared the way for it to be dismantled.

Three books and a coin and envelope were removed from a time capsule that was removed from the pedestal that once held the statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee on Monument Ave.on Wednesday Dec. 22, 2021, in Richmond, Va.

Northam, a Democrat, announced earlier this month that the enormous pedestal would be removed, a reversal from September, when the governor said the pedestal would stay in place so its future could be determined by a community-driven effort to reimagine Monument Avenue.

After Floyd’s killing in 2020, the Lee statue became a focal point of the racial justice movement in Richmond. Since then, the pedestal has been covered in graffiti, some of it profane and much of it denouncing the police. Some activists wanted to see it remain in place as a work of protest art.

This article originally appeared on Salisbury Daily Times: Robert E. Lee statue time capsule: What's inside?

Search to resume for 1887 time capsule under Lee monument





Lee Statue-Time Capsule

Virignia Gov. Ralph Northam, center, watches as lead conservator for the Virginia Department of Historic Resources, Kate Ridgway, left, and Sue Donovon, conservator for Special Collections for the University of Virginia, right, remove the contents of a time capsule that was removed from the pedestal that once held the statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee on Monument Ave. Wednesday Dec. 22, 2021, in Richmond, Va. Three books and an envelope with a photo were inside the box.

 (AP Photo/Steve Helber)

BEN FINLEY and STEVE HELBER
Thu, December 23, 2021

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — The spot in Virginia where a towering statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee once stood over Richmond's tree-lined Monument Avenue is now just a pile of boulders, rubble and sand.

But for the next few weeks, workers will continue their search for a famed 1887 time capsule that was said to be buried under the massive monument, long viewed as a symbol of racial injustice.

“We know what to be on the lookout for,” said Devon Henry, the contractor who took down the statue and its pedestal. “It will be a very decorative piece of granite that will look nothing like what’s already there.”

Henry spoke the day after one of the more anti-climactic moments in historic preservation: State conservators spent five hours gingerly prying open a corroded lead box that some believed — or at least hoped — was the 1887 time capsule.

But they didn't find the expected trove of objects related to the Confederacy, including a picture of a deceased President Abraham Lincoln. Instead, conservators pulled out a few waterlogged books, a silver coin and an envelope with some papers.

The prevailing theory among some Thursday was that the lead box was left by a person — or persons — who oversaw the monument's construction.

“They decided to have a little vanity project,” said Dale Brumfield, a local historian who focuses on the Richmond area. “It was not so much a time capsule as it was a self-commemoration capsule. And who was going to stop them?”

The box contained a novel written by Collinson Pierrepont Edwards Burgwyn, a city of Richmond civil engineer who worked on the plans for Monument Avenue.

The envelope contained an image of a man, with the words “James Netherwood master stone mason” written on the back. Netherwood supervised construction of the pedestal on which the large equestrian statue of Lee had stood.

“While Netherwood was still alive, he had a sculptor create a granite, life-size statue of himself,” Brumfield said. “Burgwyn probably had an ego about the same size.”

Julie Langan, the director of the state’s Department of Historic Resources, agreed that the box could be the work of people involved in the monument's construction, although she stressed that was still yet to be proven.

“If you go into historic buildings, you’ll sometimes find places where craftsmen have carved their initials to sort of leave a lasting imprint of their involvement,” she said. “And I see this as a similar sort of gesture.”

Langan said the box that was opened Wednesday was “more interesting than exciting.”

“What I found exciting is how excited the public has gotten around this story,” she said. “It shows me that the public can really get excited about history.”

The Lee statue was erected in 1890 in the former capital of the Confederacy. Its removal in September came more than a year after Gov. Ralph Northam ordered it in the wake of protests that erupted after the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis.

The statue was one of five Confederate tributes along Monument Avenue, and the only one that belonged to the state. The four city-owned statues were taken down in 2020, but the Lee statue's removal was blocked by two lawsuits until a ruling from the Supreme Court of Virginia in September cleared the way for it to be dismantled.

Henry, the contractor who took down the statue, said all of the decorative granite has been removed from the site. The work on the pile of rubble that's left — and the search for the 1887 time capsule — will resume Monday.

If all goes well, they'll find a much bigger box. It will be made of copper instead of lead. And there will be some 60 items, including a picture of President Lincoln lying in his coffin.

“We'll continue to do what we're doing in a very meticulous and professional and safe way,” Henry said. “And we’ll see what happens in a few weeks.”

Manchin takes aim at Build Back Better, but his real focus is on West Virginia

Samuel Workman, Professor of Political Science, West Virginia University
Thu, December 23, 2021

Putting his sights on Build Back Better?

  Manchin for West Virginia/YouTube

Joe Manchin isn’t averse to taking a shotgun to policy he dislikes.

In 2018, the senator starred in a political ad in which he explains how a lawsuit to repeal the Affordable Care Act – something his opponent, state attorney general Patrick Morrisey, was at the time trying to do – would strip health care from numerous West Virginians. Manchin then takes out a shotgun and unloads on the Morrissey lawsuit.

The ad, titled “Dead Wrong,” simultaneously displays Manchin’s support for a popular program while signaling a pro-gun stance.

It is also instructive for understanding the political challenge that Manchin faces over the Biden administration’s Build Back Better bill – legislation that Manchin has seemingly torpedoed.

As a scholar and native of the state who has long followed West Virginian politics, I know that Manchin is typically deft in balancing support for government programs that will benefit people in the state with the social conservatism that many adhere to. It is what he did in the “Dead Wrong” ad, and it is what he is trying to do now by delivering tangible benefits on some dimensions, while “standing up” to the president and Democratic leadership on others.

What say the lodestar?

There are reasons to suppose that West Virginians would be in favor of many elements contained in Build Back Better, Biden’s package of legislation that aims to fix problems ranging from child care costs to climate change.

The legislation contains not only the child tax credit, which would send monthly payments of up to $300 per child to families across the U.S., but also improvements to the Affordable Care Act, upgraded infrastructure for health care, and better access to housing. Its largest portion is $555 billion dedicated to climate change – representing the first major legislative action on climate in the U.S.

In a state where poverty is high, rural health care is sparse and climate change threatens to bring frequent, intense flooding, it seems unimaginable that the senator would fail to support the legislation.

Yet on Dec. 19, 2021, Manchin announced on Fox News that he would not. That Manchin did this on Fox News speaks to the general public sentiment in West Virginia.

It sparked a very public “battle of the Joes” in which Biden maintained that Manchin dealt in bad faith after months of personal cajoling and negotiations by the president. Manchin, for his part, reportedly offered Biden everything in Build Back Better except for the Child Tax Credit.

The fight threatens consequences for man and party. The viability of the razor-thin Democratic majority’s ability to govern headed into the 2022 midterms is at stake. But the conflict also poses a major problem for Manchin himself, with Biden using Manchin’s opposition to the child tax credit as a political pressure point – publicly shaming the West Virginian for failing to support a measure that would deliver support to many families in his own state.
Reconciliation masks broad agreement

To understand what Manchin opposes, it’s useful to understand what reconciliation does to a multidimensional bill.

Normally, major legislative initiatives would each have their own bill. But each would need to pass the Senate with 60 votes in order to avoid a filibuster that could end up killing the bill. To get past that hurdle, Democrats have piled all of Biden’s initiatives into what’s called a budget reconciliation bill, which only requires a majority of votes to pass – a much lower threshold and one that a united Democratic Party could meet in the Senate.

Yet because legislators must cast a single vote for what is a diverse package, disagreement on one dimension can sink the whole reconciliation bill – even if there is broad agreement on the other proposals. In this case, Manchin wants to jettison the child tax credit, but made an offer that reportedly includes the improvements to the ACA, health care infrastructure, as well as the climate change provisions – remarkable for a senator from a state so dependent on fossil fuels for economic growth and stability.

It is likely Manchin will return to the bargaining table over the next few weeks, absent, or in spite of, the public shaming over the child tax credit from the president.
The typical Manchin pivot

West Virginians tend toward conservative views on typical culture war issues like guns, abortions and race.

The purported support for Build Back Better in West Virginia is likely overstated among the electorate – polling is sparse and generally done by supportive organizations – though West Virginians typically are in favor of government programs that benefit them. Winning elections in West Virginia historically entails candidates pledging to bring home benefits to the state. And this is exactly the approach Manchin typically adopts, delivering policy that has majority support, while signaling his fidelity to culture war issues.

Manchin has continually referred to his constituents as his lodestar – “If I can’t go back home and explain it, I can’t vote for it.”

Normally, Manchin gets pressure on social issues from the more liberal wing of the Democratic Party. This criticism from the wider party is fuel for his positioning and policy goals within the state. On such issues, the more criticism he receives from the Left, the better. He is deft at pivoting on this pressure to make policy that has general support in the state, such as displayed in the “Dead Wrong” ad.

The public pressure on child tax credits is not the norm and does not offer the same pivot for Manchin. West Virginians value programs like the child tax credit.

Furthermore, support in the state for child tax credits means Manchin is left exposed politically in a way that damages his ability to maintain the fragile coalition that he normally relies on. And, despite progressive outcry for a primary challenger, make no mistake about it, no other Democrat could hold that West Virginian seat.

[Understand key political developments, each week. Subscribe to The Conversation’s politics newsletter.]

Manchin’s seeming obstinance can be understood in two ways. He’s either a conservative Democrat failing to get behind the president’s legislative agenda, or he simply wants to prioritize programs within that agenda that keeps to a general spending target.

Manchin’s opposition to the child tax credit reflects his concern about how the monthly benefit will affect the budget. Simultaneously, colleagues say he is concerned over how lower-income citizens will spend the money, reportedly worrying about it being spent on drugs.

This second concern echoes a common conservative trope. But if a comment like that might hurt a politician in a liberal state, it is understandable in the context of the West Virginia electorate’s social conservatism.

Despite Manchin’s comments sparking predictions that his position doomed Build Back Better, it may not be as clear cut as that.

The senator’s willingness to accept all the other major provisions in the bill leaves plenty of room for bargaining. If Manchin can find a way to do his customary pivot – supporting the Democratic proposals while satisfying his constituents that he’s being socially conservative and standing up to the Left – he may well get on board and put away the shotgun.

This article is republished from The Conversation, a nonprofit news site dedicated to sharing ideas from academic experts. It was written by: Samuel Workman, West Virginia University.

Read more:

Don’t care about the Build Back Better Act? Hearing people’s personal stories might change that

Manchin killed Build Back Better over inflation concerns – an economist explains why the $2 trillion bill would be unlikely to drive up prices

Norway Wealth Fund CEO Sees Market Weakness, Inflation Threat

Iain Rogers
Sat, December 25, 2021



(Bloomberg) -- The head of Norway’s $1.4 trillion wealth fund said he expects a lengthy period of weakness in financial markets and warned that inflation could be the most significant challenge ahead.

Nicolai Tangen, chief executive officer of Norges Bank Investment Management, told Germany’s Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung that after achieving an average rate of return of 6% for a quarter century, the fund is now preparing for “a decade of lower returns.”

“It might even turn negative,” the paper quoted him as saying in an interview. “We just have to accept that. The future will be less attractive for us than the past.”

Tangen said the “biggest potential problem” for the fund -- the world’s biggest owner of publicly traded stocks -- is inflation and predicted surging prices could have “far more serious consequences than is currently generally assumed.”

“I see inflation everywhere: in freight rates, in the prices of metals and food, in construction costs, and gradually in wages,” he told the FAZ.

“As a long-term investor, we don’t have that many options,” he added. “We have nowhere to hide from inflation.”

Built from North Sea oil and gas riches, Norway’s wealth fund has a portfolio of about 9,000 stocks. It has exited hundreds of companies over the past decade to avoid the environmental, social and governance risk it says they represented.

U.S. Consumer Spending Buffeted by Fastest Inflation in Decades

Reade Pickert
Thu, December 23, 2021,


(Bloomberg) -- U.S. consumers took a breather in November a month after an early holiday spending surge, but that pause risks becoming more lasting if Americans pull back when faced with both the fastest inflation in decades and the omicron variant.

Purchases of goods and services, after adjusting for higher prices, were little changed following a solid 0.7% gain in October. The government’s figures were the marquee of a pre-holiday burst of economic reports Thursday that showed stronger orders for durable goods, increased new-home sales and firmer consumer sentiment.

Underlying the spending figures are a series of crosscurrents. Buffeted by headlines about snarled supply chains, many Americans started their holiday shopping earlier than usual this year, helping to explain the strong advance in the prior month.

But consumers are also facing the fastest inflation in decades. With every trip to the grocery store and gas pump eating away a little more of their paychecks, people have less left over for discretionary purchases. And the new omicron variant of Covid-19 threatens to curb the incipient rebound in outlays for services.

The report showed Americans are spending more on essentials amid the pickup in prices. Money spent on housing and utilities increased last month, as did outlays on gasoline and food. The data showed inflation-adjusted spending on services rose 0.5%, the most in three months, while goods outlays dropped 0.8%, the first decline since July.

The personal consumption expenditures price gauge, which the Federal Reserve uses for its 2% inflation target, increased 0.6% from a month earlier and 5.7% from November 2020, the highest reading since 1982.

The data come on the heels of a hawkish pivot by Fed officials, who have been under pressure to take action against overheating prices. Last week the central bank announced it would accelerate the end of its asset-buying program, and new interest-rate projections indicated policy makers favor raising borrowing costs by three-quarters of a percentage point next year.

Consumers are saving less amid the rapid price increases. Adjusted for inflation, disposable personal income, or after-tax income, fell 0.2%, the fourth straight decline. The savings rate -- personal saving as a share of disposable income -- declined to 6.9%, the lowest since December 2017.

What Bloomberg Economists Say...

“A flat reading on real consumer spending in November -- even before omicron hit -- suggests inflation may be starting to weigh on consumer resilience into year-end... The increase in services was widespread, a positive sign of rotation out of goods spending going into next year.”
-- Yelena Shulyatyeva and Anna Wong, economists

Though federal stimulus has waned, a host of companies have hiked pay this year to attract and retain talent amid widespread hiring struggles. In November, wages and salaries rose 0.5%, following a 0.8% gain in October, the report showed.

The core price index, which excludes food and energy, rose 0.5% from the prior month and 4.7% from a year earlier, the fastest gain since 1983.

Ian Shepherdson, chief economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics, said he’s scaling back his forecast for the gain in fourth-quarter consumer spending on the grounds that “the omicron Covid wave appears to be hitting spending at restaurants.” The firm now sees outlays rising at a 5.5% annualized rate in the period, down from the prior 6% forecast, according to a note Thursday.

Meanwhile, the outlook for both manufacturing and residential construction appears solid after a pair of Thursday reports showed stronger bookings for durable goods and the firmest pace of new-home sales in seven months.

Orders for goods meant to last several years increased 2.5% from the prior months, spurred by more bookings for commercial aircraft, motor vehicles, metals and communications equipment. While core capital goods orders softened, the figures follow steady increases in prior months that illustrate a robust pattern of business investment.

Housing demand is also flexing some muscle and keeping builder backlogs elevated. Purchases of new single-family homes increased 12.4% to a 744,000 annualized pace, although the prior was revised down sharply.

Of the homes sold in last month, construction on 221,000 had yet to be started, the most since May, suggesting backlogs are growing.

Separate data from the University of Michigan showed consumer sentiment picked up this month as households grew more upbeat about the economy and outlook for their finances.

And the Labor Department said new applications for state jobless benefits totaled 205,000 in the week ended Dec. 18, unchanged from the prior period and underscoring a subdued level of job losses.

Apple shareholders seek civil-rights audit following employee controversies

"They're spending money on racial and mostly philanthropic initiatives and don't really address the company's own policies"

STEPHEN WARWICK

22 Dec 2021

Source: Apple

What you need to know

Shareholders want Apple to conduct a civil rights audit.

That's because of recent employee controversies and a lack of diversity.

Agroup of Apple shareholders wants the company to hold a civil rights audit over a lack of diversity at the company and a string of recent employee controversies.

As reported by MarketWatch:

Apple Inc. has declared its commitment to racial and gender equity, but it is now facing a shareholder call for a civil-rights audit amid employee controversies and slow progress in diversifying its workforce.

The first-of-its-kind proposal for Apple AAPL, +1.91% comes on the heels of recent news that the tech giant is being investigated by the U.S. Labor Department for alleged harassment of and retaliation against an employee who raised concerns about workplace safety, as well as other formal complaints from former employees. It is one of several governance- and sustainability-related proposals the company's investors are expected to face at its annual general meeting in 2022.

The proposals reportedly reference claims Apple shut down internal employee-run pay surveys and the controversial hiring of Antonio García Martínez. The report continues:

SOC Investment Group teamed up with the Service Employees International Union and Trillium Asset Management on the proposal; the group filed their proposal in the fall but only recently found out it will actually be on the proxy. The SEIU's pension fund's holdings include Apple, while SOC owns 21.9 million shares of the company and Trillium said it owned more than 1 million shares of Apple as of the end of the third quarter.

The news comes on the same day it emerged that the SEC has blocked Apple's bid to stop a shareholder vote on a proposal that would see the company report on its use of non-disclosure agreements and concealment clauses, which shareholders say stop employees speaking out on issues like harassment and discrimination.

TikTok moderator sues over mental trauma caused by graphic videos

Steve Dent
Fri, December 24, 2021



A TikTok moderator has sued the social media platform and its parent ByteDance over trauma caused by graphic videos, Bloomberg has reported. In a proposed class-action lawsuit, moderator Candie Frazier said that she has screened videos showing violence, school shootings, fatal falls and even cannibalism. "Plaintiff has trouble sleeping and when she does sleep, she has horrific nightmares," the lawsuit states.

Compounding the problem, TikTok allegedly requires moderators to work 12-hour shifts with only a one-hour lunch and two 15-minute breaks. "Due to the sheer volume of content, content moderators are permitted no more than 25 seconds per video, and simultaneously view three to ten videos at the same time," according to the complaint.

Plaintiff has trouble sleeping and when she does sleep, she has horrific nightmares.

Along with other social media companies including Facebook and YouTube, TikTok developed guidelines to help moderators cope with child abuse and other traumatic images. Among the suggestions is that companies limit moderator shifts to four hours and provide psychological support. However, TikTok allegedly failed to implement those guidelines, according to the lawsuit.

Content moderators take the brunt of graphic and traumatic images that appear on social media, making sure that users don't have to experience them. One company that provides content moderators for large tech firms even acknowledged in a consent form that the job can cause post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). However, social media companies have been criticized by their mods and others for not paying enough given the psychological hazards, and not providing enough mental health support. A similar lawsuit was filed against Facebook in 2018.

Frazier is hoping to represent other Tiktok screeners in a class-action suit, and is asking for compensation for psychological injuries and a court order for a medical fund for moderators.

TikTok Sued by Content Moderator Disturbed by Graphic Videos

Robert Burnson
Fri, December 24, 2021


(Bloomberg) -- TikTok’s 10,000 content moderators are exposed to a regular diet of child pornography, rapes, beheadings and animal mutilation, according to a lawsuit filed against the video-sharing platform and its parent, ByteDance Inc.

It gets worse. Content moderator Candie Frazier says in her proposed class-action lawsuit that she has screened videos involving freakish cannibalism, crushed heads, school shootings, suicides, and even a fatal fall from a building, complete with audio.

And there’s no escaping it, Frazier claims. TikTok requires moderators to work at a frantic pace, watching hundreds of videos per 12-hour shift with only an hour off for lunch and two 15-minute breaks, according to Thursday’s complaint in federal court in Los Angeles.

“Due to the sheer volume of content, content moderators are permitted no more than 25 seconds per video, and simultaneously view three to ten videos at the same time,” her lawyers said in the complaint.

TikTok said it doesn’t comment on ongoing litigation, but strives “to promote a caring working environment for our employees and contractors.”

“Our safety team partners with third party firms on the critical work of helping to protect the TikTok platform and community, and we continue to expand on a range of wellness services so that moderators feel supported mentally and emotionally,” a company spokesperson said in a statement.

TikTok was a member of a group of social media companies including Facebook and YouTube that developed guidelines for helping moderators cope with the images of child abuse that their jobs required them to view, according to the complaint.

But TikTok failed to implement the guidelines, which include providing psychological support and limiting shifts to four hours, according to the suit.

Frazier, who lives in Las Vegas, said she suffers from post traumatic stress disorder as a result of all the disturbing videos she has had to watch.

“Plaintiff has trouble sleeping and when she does sleep, she has horrific nightmares,” according to the complaint.

Frazier, who seeks to represent other TikTok content screeners, is asking for compensation for psychological injuries and a court order requiring the company to set up a medical fund for moderators.

“I'm Just Stuck In A Horror Movie”: Americans Saddled With Student Loan Debt Want Biden To Do More


Nicole Fallert
Thu, December 23, 2021

When the COVID pandemic first struck, Johanna Daile, a third-year student studying history and psychology at John A. Logan College in Carterville, Illinois, knew they would have trouble concentrating in virtual classes. Having already accumulated $58,000 of debt over three years of college, they decided to temporarily quit school during the pandemic to focus on paying back their loans.

But the pandemic continued — and got worse. Daile, then an assistant manager at Dairy Queen, relocated to Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, to be near family in September 2020. They transferred to another Dairy Queen location, working the same position for less pay. The 24-year-old switched jobs a few more times before finding their current position at Kay Jewelers.

Because they did not graduate, Daile wasn’t able to get their loans deferred, and going back to school isn’t possible without taking out even more loans. Their payments are up to $750 per month — over half of their paycheck. They want to resume their education, but the risk of taking on even more debt severely limits their options, Daile told BuzzFeed News. Now their goal is to return to school by 2025, if they are able.

Student loan debt is an overwhelming burden shared by over 40 million Americans. It can follow people throughout their lives and lock them out of significant milestones like buying a home or, in Daile’s case, obtaining a degree.

Under the CARES Act, student loan repayments were paused, and the federal student loan interest rates were set at 0% as of March 2020. In August this year, a month before the pause was set to expire, President Joe Biden pushed the deadline to resume payments to Jan. 31, 2022.

As COVID cases surged this past month, the president on Wednesday announced that he would extend the pause to May 1, 2022. But Biden — who promised on the campaign trail to forgive $10,000 in student loan debt per borrower — has not indicated that he will cancel student debt outright, as progressive lawmakers have demanded, a move that would provide immense financial relief to millions of Americans.

In his announcement of the extension, Biden acknowledged the difficulties that over 40 million borrowers have faced during the pandemic.

“Now, while our jobs recovery is one of the strongest ever — with nearly 6 million jobs added this year, the fewest Americans filing for unemployment in more than 50 years, and overall unemployment at 4.2 percent — we know that millions of student loan borrowers are still coping with the impacts of the pandemic and need some more time before resuming payments,” Biden said in his Dec. 22 statement.

Biden also promised that the Department of Education would offer support programs in the meantime and to help borrowers make payments come May 2022. But many borrowers told BuzzFeed News the extension doesn’t remotely solve the dire financial issue of $1.7 trillion owed in US student loan debt (including federal and nonfederal loans).

“I just wish that it could help those who cannot afford to finish their education and those with private student loans because it was their only choice,” Daile said. “Adults in [the] upper-middle class and upper class can survive, but lower-middle class to low class, we are barely surviving with our payments.”

Student loan debt is just not a problem for millennials, according to Alan Collinge, founder of StudentLoanJustice.org, a group that advocates for total cancellation. More than half of all borrowers are over 35 years old, according to Department of Education data from 2020. Older people owe more than younger people, even though they may have borrowed less money initially years ago, Collinge said in the group’s response to Biden’s extension this week.

BuzzFeed News reached out to members of the “Student Loan Justice” Facebook group, where borrowers share their stories and support one another. Many of them reacted to Biden administration’s recent extension with deeply personal stories.

Kristina Allen, 52, lives near San Francisco and has one more online class to earn a bachelor’s degree in nursing from Regis University. She initially took loans out when she began studying to become a registered nurse as her twin daughters attended college. She graduated in 2008.

“I was a single mom in poverty, and I desperately wanted my twins and their little sister to have a better life,” Allen said, adding that her three daughters are all college graduates now. “My granddaughter doesn't know what hungry is, so the cycle of poverty stopped.”

Over the years, Allen has paid off $90,000 in loans but still owes about $75,000; her initial loan was less than half that amount. Between 2015 and 2016, around her third year of the bachelor’s program at Regis, Allen defaulted on her federal loans and was charged exorbitant interest and fees. She‘s also subjected to a wage garnishment, which means a percentage of her disposable income is being withheld until her loan is paid off or considered not in default. One-quarter of her pretax income has been garnished since 2017 until the first pause in loan repayment came during the Trump administration, she said.

Biden’s announcement of a loan repayment extension came as a relief. But once payments restart in the spring, Allen believes she’ll have to “drop her dream” of a master’s degree to focus paying off her loans with the wage garnishment.

“Retirement? A home of our own? Not even a thought,” Allen, who said she has lupus and a related blood clot disorder, told BuzzFeed News. The repayment pause has given her a much-needed financial break to afford care for her husband, who has end-stage cancer, as well as address her own health issues she’s neglected. But, Allen said, she can’t afford to move closer to family and friends in New England; she needs her current work-provided health insurance to pay for her husband’s chemotherapy, support herself, and pay the loans.

“I'd like to work less and take care of my own health, but I can't, because of my loans,” Allen said.

Like Allen, Michael Goolsby, a 56-year-old who works at a Walmart in Fernley, Nevada, said Biden’s new deadline will postpone his wage garnishment; he told BuzzFeed News that, since 2019, 15% of his paycheck has been withheld to pay off his loans. Goolsby has a bachelor’s and master’s in history from Colorado State University; when he finished his master’s in 1991, he had $25,000 in student loan debt.

The following year, he was told he faced a default. As a result, his school would not release his transcripts to potential employers, he said. He accepted an offer in early 1994 to consolidate his debt under a Sallie Mae program, which required him to take out a $36,000 loan. But multiple payment deferments and defaults only compounded his debt, causing him to fall behind no matter how much he worked, he said, ultimately leading to a wage garnishment. He said he’s trying to keep other debts down so he can eventually declare bankruptcy.

His student loan debt now stands at more than $100,000, he said.

“I did many things over time for a job, from driving a truck, managing a fast-food restaurant, working on an assembly line, being a paralegal for a San Francisco law firm for six years, working in IT doing technical support for 15 years, and then driving a cab and leaving California for Reno, Nevada, because that's where the jobs are nowadays as I work towards retirement, which may not even be on my 65th birthday in 2030,” Goolsby said. “But here I am.”

Justin Schanck, 43, a teacher in Macon, Georgia, said he owes $80,000 in loans from his combined graduate and undergraduate degrees.

“I went to grad school to try and better my life and increase my income, only to add on more loans,” he told BuzzFeed News. Schanck said he blames himself for not thinking about the cost of a graduate degree, “but this predatory lending system certainly did not help.”

Not using his hard-earned money to pay off his loans during the pandemic has allowed his family to “reinvest” in his community, he said. They put a new roof on their house to stop a ceiling leak and have been determined to shop from local businesses.

“Once the payments start again, that money will essentially be taken away from the local economy,” Schanck said.

Yirzely Villanueva, 27, of Canyon Country, California, said she feels both “relieved and stressed'' by the extension. She told BuzzFeed News she has over $40,000 in debt from a master’s degree in teaching from the University of Southern California. She said she’s happy that interest is paused for now and she can pay back “exactly” what she borrowed.

“My loan is 60% of my savings and so I'm stuck,” she said. “I either pay off my loan and stay broke, or wait and be in debt indefinitely.”

As a Mexican American woman, Villanueva said she feels like the “deck is already stacked” against her when it comes to taking out loans for a home or a car. “With my luck, I'm scared once I hit ‘pay’ [my student loans] will be canceled.”

She said the extension makes her wonder why borrowers aren’t being allowed to just pay back their loans without interest.

“I feel like I'm just stuck in a horror movie waiting for the ‘interest monster’ to get me,” she said.

Like others, Lyndsey Summers, a 31-year-old in Portland, Oregon, said the extension is not enough. “I can’t say I’m unhappy about this extension, but it’s hardly enough for the millions of borrowers suffering,” Summers told BuzzFeed News.

She said she owes nearly $75,000 from her bachelor’s degree in communication media from Lock Haven University of Pennsylvania. She’s had trouble qualifying for public loan forgiveness and said she “struggles to get by” given her loans and her salary as a journalist. She said it’s been difficult trying to talk to the government and her loan servicer, with long hold times on the phone.

“It is the servicer who works with borrowers, and when you ask them for specific information, they point to the school,” Summers said. “The schools don’t have to keep records, by the way, for longer than 5 years — at least according to my institution. I wanted to see an itemized receipt for how my loans were applied to my education. I have no idea if I’ll get an answer. It would have been nice to be notified that records would be destroyed.”

Although state schools are “supposed to be more affordable,” Summers pointed out, it wasn’t for her. “I just want to be able to buy a home and get ahead.”

Amy (who asked that BuzzFeed News only use her first name for privacy), 55, is a former teacher in Louisiana. She said she originally borrowed $46,000 when she started her undergraduate degree in 1997; after “faithfully” paying off the loans for nearly two decades, she still owes $30,800.

“I really thought President Biden would follow through with his promises to help Americans such as myself that have been taken advantage of by a predatory loan system,” she said. “It looks like I was wrong.”

“I owe almost as much now as I borrowed, even after 20 years of payments!” Amy told BuzzFeed News. “I have resigned to the fact that I will never in my lifetime be able to pay them off. I will take them to my grave.”

Amy said she has applied for teacher forgiveness programs in the past but has always been denied. “I really thought President Biden would follow through with his promises to help Americans such as myself that have been taken advantage of by a predatory loan system,” she said. “It looks like I was wrong.”
More on this


Biden Has Extended A Pause On Student Loan Payments Due To The Latest COVID SurgeNicole Fallert · Dec. 22, 2021


Student Loan Relief Has Changed The Lives Of Millions Of Americans. It Ends In September.Pia Peterson · May 25, 2021


Here’s Why So Many Americans Feel Cheated By Their Student LoansAnne Helen Petersen · Feb. 9, 2019

#MEDICAREFORALL     

American health care is ‘broken’ and ‘expensive,’ Floridians say

END FOR PROFIT HEALTHCARE

Margo Snipe, Tampa Bay Times
Thu, December 23, 2021

Floridians are growing increasingly anxious about health care costs and unequal access to care as the pandemic continues with no end in sight, according to a new national survey.

An estimated 100 million Americans would describe the health care system as either “expensive” or “broken,” according to the West Health-Gallup 2021 Healthcare in America Report. Almost half say their view of the system has worsened in the era of COVID-19.

The United States spends nearly $4 trillion on health care, making it the most expensive system in the world. Yet it produces the worst outcomes in categories such as life expectancy, obesity rates, chronic disease burdens and suicide rates, compared to other high-income countries, according to the Commonwealth Fund.

“Health care is an industry,” said West Health chief strategy officer Tim Lash. “We do one thing really well in the U.S. health system, and that’s cost.”

The nation’s top one percent experience the best health outcomes, Lash said, but those outcomes get worse as income decreases: “It is all of us (who) can struggle and be affected by these costs.”

The survey was conducted online by Gallup and West Health, a group of organizations aimed at reducing healthcare costs. It’s billed as the largest health care survey since the start of the pandemic, querying 6,663 participants across the nation. They answered questions over two time periods, one Sept. 27-30 and another Oct. 18-21.

The survey shows the majority of Americans are more worried about the cost of services and prescription drugs amid the pandemic. Nine in 10 people surveyed said they expect their health care costs to increase. Many are worried they won’t be able to pay those costs, adding to their daily stress.

The Floridians surveyed feel the same as their fellow Americans.

Nearly 30 percent of Floridians report health care costs are a major financial burden. Seven in 10 Americans agree that their household pays too much for the quality of care they receive.

The number of Americans who’ve skipped needed medical care due to cost is also spiking, the survey shows. A third of the respondents said they had done so, which is the highest that number has been since the onset of the pandemic.

The negative feelings are being felt across a number of different income levels. About 20 percent of households earning more than $120,000 a year say cost still impedes them from seeking care. One in 20 adults report knowing someone who died because they could not afford treatment. For Black Americans, that likelihood doubled.

“It has a human impact in terms of lost lives and lost years,” Lash said. “It’s clear that there is this awakening in terms of the challenges families are facing, but there is a disproportionate impact on families of color.”

Mounting health inequities nationwide — driven in part by unequal access to care — is an added cause of concern for 60 percent of the survey participants. Among Black Americans, that concern rises to almost 75 percent.

“The sharp worsening in public opinion regarding the affordability of care and medicine is startling,” said a statement from Gallup senior researcher Dan Witters. “From rapidly rising inflation, to deferred care pushed into 2021, to more people having to pay for COVID-19 care itself, the U.S. healthcare cost crisis is now coming to a head.”

The Foundation for a Healthy St. Petersburg provides partial funding for Tampa Bay Times stories on equity. It does not select story topics and is not involved in the reporting or editing.

Indiana AG Todd Rokita says he doesn't believe COVID-19 stats his own state releases

Rashika Jaipuriar, Indianapolis Star
Thu, December 23, 2021

Screenshot from WSBT CBS 22's interview with Indiana Attorney General 

Todd Rokita, Friday, Dec. 17.

Health care workers are pleading for help as Indiana is seeing record numbers of hospitalizations, but one of the state’s top elected officials said he doesn’t believe it.

Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita appeared in an interview with WSBT 22 in South Bend on Friday, Dec. 17.

In reference to Rokita's ongoing lawsuits against the federal vaccine mandates, WSBT's Todd Connor asked, "How do you rationalize trying to stop people from having to get the vaccines, but yet so many in the hospital are the unvaccinated?"

"Well, you know, first of all, I don't believe any numbers anymore," Rokita said. "And I'm sorry about that, but this has been politicized."

"From your state health people, huh?" Connor asks.

"This has been politicized since day one," Rokita continues.

Screenshot of Indiana's COVID-19 hospitalizations from the Indiana Department of Health dashboard, on Thursday, Dec. 23, 2021.

Surging COVID hospitalizations in Indiana

Indiana reported nearly 3,000 patients hospitalized with COVID-19 on Dec. 21, the latest date for which data is available on the Department of Health dashboard. This latest surge has surpassed the numbers seen in the fall delta surge, and it is nearing the levels reached last winter.

Indiana University Health, the state's largest hospital system, has requested help from the Indiana National Guard. At IU Health Methodist Hospital, a 23-person U.S. Navy team will be deployed to relieve exhausted health care workers.

On Sunday, health care workers at IU Health, Community Health Network and Eskenazi Health put out a full-page ad in the IndyStar, with a simple message, urging Hoosiers to get vaccinated: "We can't do this alone."

An advertisement by health care workers in the Indianapolis Star on Sunday, Dec. 19, 2021.

"The situation is dire ... it's a daily challenge to treat incoming COVID-19 patients, as well as those who suffer from strokes, heart attacks, car accidents, cancer and appendicitis."

More: 'There's going to be opposition': Indiana lawmakers prep to fast track vaccine mandate bill

More: 'Absolutely dire': IU Health doctor warns of COVID's latest burden on Indiana hospitals

Rokita's interview took place just one day after state lawmakers heard public testimony on House Bill 1001, a bill that would discourage private employers from imposing vaccine mandates.

In the public testimony, IU Health's Dr. Gabriel Bosslet warned lawmakers that if current trends continue, by Christmas Eve, Indiana will have more patients hospitalized with COVID than at any other time in the pandemic.

"Our hospitals are bursting," he said. "We are tired. We have been able to scale up ICU beds and ventilators, but we have not been able to scale up people. There are no more of me."

Vaccine mandates

In the WSBT interview, Rokita explains away overwhelmed hospitals with vaccine mandates:

"The reason hospitals are filling up is because their own health care workers won't come to work because of the mandates that have been put on them," Rokita said. "A year ago, we are calling them heroes, and now they're some kind of villains."

WSBT's Connor pushes back, "Well, many are calling themselves burnt out because of all the work they've been having to do and that's why they left. Not because of the mandate."

"Mas o menos," Rokita replied.

In October, the Kaiser Family Foundation reported that just 5% of unvaccinated adults said they left a job due to an employer's COVID-19 vaccine mandate.

Nearly 1 in 5 health care workers have left their jobs since the pandemic began, Morning Consult, a data and market research company, previously reported, but the reasons are complicated.

Morning Consult reported that the exodus has been "driven largely by pandemic, insufficient pay or opportunities and burnout." Another survey by the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses found that 66% of critical care nurses have considered leaving the profession due to their experiences during the pandemic.

The reasons cited by the majority included "afraid of putting their family's health at risk" and that "patients who are unvaccinated undermine nurses' physical and mental well-being."

'Words matter'

Rokita concludes the interview by saying, “I think the best advice is don't listen to politicians.”

When the interviewer asked him who people should listen to, he replied, “Listen to your doctor.”

Bosslet called Rokita's comments in the interview "absolutely insane."

"I try to avoid being political," Bosslet tweeted, "but hospitals are on fire with #covid19 ... This is leadership malpractice."



He went on to talk about the emotional toll of the crisis.

"If I’m honest about my feelings here this hurts and makes me sad. We need support from those elected to lead us. At the very least we need them not see us as enemies. Words matter when you are a leader. And these words hurt."

IndyStar reporters Kaitlin Lange and Shari Rudavsky contributed to this report.

Contact Rashika Jaipuriar at rjaipuriar@gannett.com and follow her on Twitter @rashikajpr.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: COVID-19 in Indiana: Todd Rokita doesn't believe his state's numbers