It’s possible that I shall make an ass of myself. But in that case one can always get out of it with a little dialectic. I have, of course, so worded my proposition as to be right either way (K.Marx, Letter to F.Engels on the Indian Mutiny)
Friday, August 18, 2023
Sun bears appear so human-like they are mistaken for people in suits – experts explain
Chris Newman, Research Associate, University of Oxford,
Dingzhen Liu, Professor of Zoo Animal Behaviour, Beijing Normal University,
Christina Buesching, Professor of Zoology, University of British Columbia Thu, 17 August 2023
When Angela, a Malayan sun bear, stood up and waved to visitors to her enclosure at the Huangzhou Zoo in China on July 27, she became a social media sensation. Her build, posture and seemingly friendly gesture seemed so human that people speculated that she was actually a costumed performer. The talk gathered so much momentum, the zoo had to deny the claims. But that just goes to show how little people know about these fascinating animals.
Grizzlies and polar bears are huge, standing 2.5 metres tall and weighing 400-700kg. But not all bear species are so big. Angela’s dainty 1.3m, 50kg stature is typical for a sun bear. Sun bears often stand upright and mothers will even walk around cradling their babies in their arms. The Paradise Wildlife Park in Hertfordshire, UK, recently posted a video of one of its sun bears, Kyra, standing upright.
Bears generally carry some extra fat and tropical sun bears don’t have the thick fur of their cold climate cousins. So poor Angela’s skin folds are there for all to see as she suffers some “pants sag”.
What about the waving?
Only animals that evolved climbing ability, like bears, raccoons, primates and some of the cat family, can turn their palms upwards and move their forearms side-to-side. This allows them to grab hold of trees. Animals that evolved to run long distances, like deer, wolves and horses, can’t do this.
Think about your pet dog giving its paw. The motion is quite different to a wave. Sun bears are the strongest climbers in the bear family, and so, in some sense, Angela is waving because she can.
Sun bear resting in the crook of a tree.
As for her motivation, if she was frightened, she’d probably run away from the crowds and hide in her indoor space. Although sun bears do stand up and display their creamy orange chest patches when they feel threatened, she sees humans every day. We think that most probably she simply wants to stand up and clearly occupy her territory when faced with visitors, a bit like we might stand on our front step when strangers call on us.
Standing up also allows sun bears to smell over longer distances. Although solitary in the wild, sun bears are good communicators when housed in groups and are the only animals other than humans and gorillas that can mimic each other’s facial expressions for social appeasement. It is possible Angela was mimicking the visitors waving at her.
Nevertheless, we probably shouldn’t credit Angela with human-like motivations for waving. Sun bears use their paws a lot for finding food in the wild, such as fruits, ants, beetles, termites and even honey. Standing on their back legs frees up their front legs to rip, poke and prod until they’ve got their dinner. They also have a 30cm long tongue that helps them lick up their food. Most likely then, Angela was just making a gesture of displaced curiosity, like a cat pawing at an image on a TV screen, while defending her enclosure. Sun bear sitting on rock with long pink tongue hanging out
A teaching moment
Since Angela appeared on the Chinese blogging site Weibo, visitor numbers are up by 30% at the Huangzhou zoo and millions have taken an interest internationally. While this story is cute, there’s a serious side. Sun bears, properly known as Helarctos malayanus, are listed as “vulnerable” on the International Union for the Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) red list of threatened species. This means sun bears urgently need protection.
Six out of the world’s eight bear species are threatened with extinction. South China is part of the natural range of sun bears but very few are left in the wild in China. The majority of the remaining wild sun bear population lives in Malaysia, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, India, Bangladesh and Myanmar.
Sun bears can live over 20 years but are slow to mature. Mothers invest a lot of care into raising their one or two cubs and don’t get pregnant again until their cubs become independent, at around three years old. It’s why males of most bear species often try to kill a female’s cub, to cause her to become receptive to mating. She won’t engage if she has cubs.
Like all Asian bear species, sun bears are poached for bile from their gall bladders, which is used in traditional medicine. They are also killed for their paws, which are eaten as an expensive delicacy. International trade in these bear parts is banned under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (Cites) but enforcement is inadequate.
Zoos worldwide are also playing an important role in educating the public about conservation. For many years, China has focused its efforts on protecting the giant panda. Panda conservation is driven by the iconic status of pandas both in China and abroad. But thanks to Angela, another bear species is now sharing the attention.
Revealed: WHO aspartame safety panel linked to alleged Coca-Cola front group
Tom Perkins
THE GUARDIAN Thu, 17 August 2023 Photograph: Shannon Stapleton/Reuters
In May, the World Health Organization issued an alarming report that declared widely used non-sugar sweeteners like aspartame are likely ineffective for weight loss, and long term consumption may increase the risk of diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and mortality in adults.
A few months later, WHO declared aspartame, a key ingredient in Diet Coke, to be a “possible carcinogen”, then quickly issued a third report that seemed to contradict its previous findings – people could continue consuming the product at levels determined to be safe decades ago, before new science cited by WHO raised health concerns.
That contradiction stems from beverage industry corruption of the review process by consultants tied to an alleged Coca-Cola front group, the public health advocacy group US Right-To-Know said in a recent report.
It uncovered eight WHO panelists involved with assessing safe levels of aspartame consumption who are beverage industry consultants who currently or previously worked with the alleged Coke front group, International Life Sciences Institute (Ilsi).
Their involvement in developing intake guidelines represents “an obvious conflict of interest”, said Gary Ruskin, US Right-To-Know’s executive director. “Because of this conflict of interest, [the daily intake] conclusions about aspartame are not credible, and the public should not rely on them,” he added.
Aspartame was first approved for use in the US in the early 1980s over the objection of some researchers who warned of potential health risks. In recent years, as evidence of health threats has mounted, industry has ramped up a PR campaign to downplay the issues.
In the World Health Organization’s 14 July aspartame hazard and risk assessments, its cancer research arm, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (Iarc) classified aspartame as “possibly carcinogenic”. That same day, WHO’s Joint Expert Committee on Food Additives (Jecfa), which makes consumption recommendations, reaffirmed the acceptable daily intake of 40 mg/kg of body weight.
Ilsi describes itself as a nonprofit that conducts “science for the public good”, but it was founded in 1978 by a Coca-Cola executive who simultaneously worked for the company through 2021, US Right-To-Know found. Other Coca-Cola executives have worked with the group, and US Right-To-Know detailed tax returns that show millions in donations from Coca-Cola and other beverage industry players. Coke ended its official membership with the group in 2021.
Over the years, Ilsi representatives have sought to shape food policy worldwide, and Ruskin, who has written multiple peer-reviewed papers on the group, characterized the aspartame controversy as a “masterpiece in how Ilsi worms its way into these regulatory processes”.
US Right To Know identified six out of 13 Jefca panel members with ties to the industry group. After it released its report, the WHO acknowledged two more of its members with industry ties.
In a statement to the Guardian, a WHO spokesperson defended the industry consultants’ inclusion in the review process.
“For the meeting on aspartame, Jefca selected the experts likely to make the best contributions to the debate,” said spokesperson Fadéla Chaib. She said WHO’s guidelines only require disclosure of conflicts of interest within the last four years.
“To our knowledge, the experts you listed by name have not participated in any Ilsi activities for at least 10 years,” she said.
But that partially contradicts a statement made by WHO just weeks before to the news outlet Le Parisien in which it acknowledged two people currently working with Ilsi were involved in the process. The Guardian had also asked about those two people identified in the Parisien story but were not listed “by name” in its email.
The WHO told Le Parisien: “We regret that this interest was not declared by these two experts either in the written statement or orally at the opening of the meeting.”
WHO’s inclusion of Ilsi-tied consultants in its review process is especially alarming because WHO has in place “much higher standards” to ensure there are no conflicts of interest in its processes, Ruskin said. He noted WHO only relies on publicly available, peer-reviewed science, while excluding corporate interest studies.
Ruskin said the move also marks a change in direction for WHO, which in 2015 distanced itself from Ilsi when its executive board found the group to be a “private entity” and voted to discontinue its official relationship.
Ruskin said the damage has been done. In the “avalanche” of media coverage of WHO’s designation of aspartame as a possible carcinogen, many outlets noted WHO’s split decision, or reported that WHO found the product to be safe. Those reports did not note Ilsi’s fingerprints on the safety assessment, Ruskin said.
“So much of the tone of it has been ‘There was a split decision at WHO and we shouldn’t be concerned, so go ahead and drink all you want,’” he said. “That has so poorly served the public.”
New Explosive Roger Stone Video Dooms Donald Trump’s Main Legal Defense
Ella Sherman Thu, August 17, 2023
New explosive footage of Roger Stone strategizing to overturn the 2020 presidential election—before the vote was even called for Joe Biden—dooms Donald Trump’s main legal defense.
The video, aired on MSNBC Wednesday night and shot by filmmaker Christoffer Guldbrandsen, depicts the right-wing lobbyist dictating a fake elector plot in key battleground states. The video was taken on November 5, 2020, two days before the election, thus disproving Trump’s main defense that he and his allies genuinely believed they had won the race.
“Any legislative body may decide on the basis of overwhelming evidence of fraud to send electors to the electoral college who accurately reflect the president’s legitimate victory in their state which was illegally denied him through fraud,” Stone said, as an associate transcribed his words. “We must be prepared to lobby our Republican legislatures … by personal contact and by demonstrating the overwhelming will of the people in their state—in each state—that this may need to happen.”
Trump was indicted for the fourth time and charged with 13 counts in Georgia on Monday.
Stone is not named as a co-defendant in the indictment. He could, however, potentially be one of the 30 unnamed, co-conspirators.
The clip was part of Guldbrandsen’s documentary, A Storm Foretold, released in March of this year. Guldbrandsen told The Daily Beast that Stone was “upset” when the documentary aired.
In another clip from the documentary taken on November 1, 2020, Stone said Trump needed to claim victory early on election night.
“I really do suspect it’ll still be up in the air. When that happens, the key thing to do is to claim victory. Possession is nine-tenths of the law,” he said.
Brazilian hacker claims Bolsonaro asked
him to hack into the voting system ahead
of 2022 vote
DIANE JEANTET
Updated
RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — A Brazilian hacker claimed at a congressional hearing Thursday that then-President Jair Bolsonaro wanted him to hack into the country’s electronic voting system to expose its alleged weaknesses ahead of the 2022 presidential election.
Walter Delgatti Neto did not provide any evidence for his claim to the parliamentary commission of inquiry. But his detailed testimony raises new allegations against the former far-right leader, who is being investigated for his role in the Jan. 8 riots in the capital city of Brasilia.
Delgatti told lawmakers he met in person with Bolsonaro on Aug. 10, 2022, for between 90 minutes and two hours at the presidential residence. He said he told the leader he could not hack into the electronic voting system because it wasn't connected to the internet.
Bolsonaro’s lawyers said in a statement they will take judicial action against Delgatti, who they accused of “bringing false information and allegations, without any evidence.”
The lawyers acknowledged the hacker met with the former president and said the far-right leader ordered his defense minister to open investigations on the country's electoral system based on claims he had heard from the hacker.
Creomar de Souza, founder of political risk consultancy Dharma Politics, said Delgatti's testimony “is yet another brick in a wall of problems around Bolsonaro and some of his allies.” De Souza said the former president is in deeper legal trouble because his base in congress wanted the congressional inquiry to become a platform for his defense — and it has instead put him deeper in hot water.
Bolsonaro's political nemesis, leftist Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, won the Oct. 30, 2022, presidential election with just 50.9% of the votes.
Delgatti said Bolsonaro wanted the attempted hack to show voters that Brazil's voting system was not reliable.
He said that after he explained why he could not hack into the electoral system, the Bolsonaro campaign asked him to tamper with a borrowed voting machine to make it appear, less than a month before the election's first round, that the machine had been successfully hacked and results could be compromised. The fraudulent hack was to be shared with news media, Delgatti said, but it was canceled.
When the conversation got too technical, Delgatti said, Bolsonaro referred him to the Ministry of Defense, which the president had asked to prepare a report listing potential weaknesses in the voting system for the body that supervises elections.
Delgatti said he met with Ministry of Defense technical experts to discuss the electronic voting system on five occasions. The first time, he said, was right after meeting with Bolsonaro, when he was driven from the presidential residence to the Ministry of Defense, entering through the back entrance.
Bolsonaro long stoked belief among his hardcore supporters that the nation’s electronic voting system was prone to fraud, though he never presented any evidence.
During the call, he said, Bolsonaro told him the phone of Supreme Court justice Alexandre de Moraes had been tapped and asked him to claim ownership of the tapping in case authorities investigated the case.
De Moraes, who at one point also led the top electoral court that supervised the election, was a recurring target of Bolsonaro and his supporters. They argued that de Moraes and the rest of the court were biased against Bolsonaro and favored his main opponent, Lula.
Delgatti said Bolsonaro promised him a presidential pardon in case he ended up being investigated for his actions.
During Thursday’s hearing, Bolsonaro’s allies in the commission questioned Delegatti’s credibility.
In 2015, Delegatti was jailed for lying about being a federal police investigator. Two years later, he was investigated for allegedly forging documents, which he denies. Several people have also accused him of embezzlement — allegations that resurfaced during Thursday’s hearing.
In Brazil, witnesses caught lying before a parliamentary commission of inquiry can be imprisoned, said Luis Claudio Araujo, a law professor at Ibmec University in Rio de Janeiro.
Members of parliamentary commissions have the power to investigate, but also pass on information to prosecutors and federal police, Araujo said.
The congressional hearing adds to the numerous legal headaches facing Bolsonaro for activities during his term in office.
Federal police earlier this month alleged Bolsonaro received cash from the nearly $70,000 sale of two luxury watches he received as gifts from Saudi Arabia while in office. Officers raided the homes and offices of several people purportedly involved in the case, including a four-star army general. Bolsonaro has denied any wrongdoing involving the gifts.
___
Associated Press writer Mauricio Savarese in Sao Paulo contributed to this report.
Some people say they're angry that UPS workers could make $170,000 including benefits. Members of Congress make more than that for working a lot less.
Taylor Berman Thu, August 17, 2023 Newly elected member of Congress pose for the 118th Congress member-elect class photo on the House steps on Tuesday, November 15, 2022.
Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images
UPS workers could get $170,000 in combined pay and benefits in 5 years' time thanks to their new union deal.
Some tech workers seem mad about this.
But members of Congress make $174,000 annually, and are only required to work about 155 days a year.
Earlier this summer, the Teamsters union secured a tentative contract agreement with UPS that could result in employees for the shipping company making up to $170,000 in annual pay and benefits in five years. Such healthy annual compensation predictably generated headlines, as well as apparent backlash from workers in industries that generally are thought of as more lucrative.
As Insider reported last week, tech workers, or people claiming to be them, took to anonymous message boards like Blind to complain about the deal. One person called the deal "disappointing," said it "sucks," and argued that the engineers who created the trucks used by UPS drivers "are more important because the impact to society is higher, including providing a tool for work." Not exactly solidarity!
But perhaps these tech workers should be saving their resentment for the well-compensated government employees who, relative to UPS workers or anyone else with a normal job, barely work: members of Congress, who as of December 2022, make a minimum of $174,000 a year in salary not including very generous benefits.
According to Ballotpedia, House members spent an average of 149 days in session each year between 2001 and 2021, with senators clocking in a bit more at 164 days a year on average in the same span. (Of course some of those days are longer than others with some votes going late into the night or into the early morning.)
For comparison's sake, there are about 260 work days each year for Americans who aren't in Congress.
Outside of their legislative duties, members of Congress can and often do work more each year, doing things like meeting with constituents in their home districts. But as ABC News notes they're not required to, and they're paid for their time away from the Capitol regardless of how they spend it.
The lesson here? Tech workers looking for easier jobs that pay well should simply run for office instead of complaining anonymously on message boards.
Writers Guild Wants the Government to Keep Disney, Amazon, and Netflix from Getting Any Bigger
Brian Welk Thu, August 17, 2023
Just as the Writers Guild and the AMPTP are currently at the negotiating table trying to hash out a deal that could end a strike that’s lasted for over 100 days, the Writers Guild of America West has released a blistering new report that calls on lawmakers and antitrust agencies to regulate what it says are anti-competitive practices by Disney, Amazon, and Netflix, specifically.
Pundits and analysts have speculated for some time that, in the near future, only a handful of the many streaming services available today will survive, and consolidation could mean there are just a few media giants left standing. The WGAW’s new report from Thursday, titled “The New Gatekeepers,” believes Disney, Amazon, and Netflix will be those players. And it wants policymakers to act now in keeping them from getting any bigger.
Specifically, it says that to “protect the future of media,” lawmakers must “block further consolidation,” “proactively investigate anti-competitive practices and outcomes,” and “increase regulation and oversight in streaming.”
“Writers being forced to strike in this climate should come as a surprise to no one,” WGAW’s Research & Public Policy Director Laura Blum-Smith said in a statement. “We’re transitioning from a period of rapid investment and competition that brought about new and diverse content to a monopolistic model that will concentrate control over entertainment programming in the hands of just a few large and powerful corporations. For writers, that means fewer buyers for their work, employers who exert more leverage in individual deal negotiations, and depressed pay and working conditions.”
The report kicks off alleging the monopoly that CBS, NBC, and ABC had over TV viewers up through 1970 and how federal antitrust groups had to break up that dominance over the airwaves. But it now says Disney, Amazon, and Netflix are positioning themselves as the next gatekeepers that will soon control all media, and that Wall Street is cheering them on to further merge and squeeze out competition.
“Each is now taking anti-competitive vertical integration to an extreme, turning its streaming service into a walled garden for self-produced content — a model built for and dependent on restricting the availability of independent content from competing producers, underpaying creators, and, above all, making future consolidation the name of the industry game,” the report reads. “Each has demonstrated that it will abuse a position of dominance to disadvantage competing producers and streaming services, reduce output, creativity, and choice in content, and push down wages for creative workers. Unless antitrust agencies and lawmakers prevent future merger activity by dominant firms and step in to preserve and protect the competitive environment for other streaming services, the future of content is in peril.” Members of the Writers Guild of America picket at The Walt Disney Studios on July 13, 2023 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Gilbert Flores for Variety/Variety via Getty Images)Variety via Getty Images
For its analysis of Disney, WGAW looks back at the studio’s $19 billion acquisition of ABC in 1995 as the starting point for its “anti-competitive behavior,” accusing the company of reducing output after gobbling up other studios (such as shuttering the animation house Blue Sky Studios after the Fox acquisition), and further leading the charge of companies pulling back their copyrighted content in order to bolster their own streamers. The report argues that writers and independent producers don’t have a choice to walk away from poor terms as a result of Disney’s vertical integration, especially if they want to work on any of Disney’s tentpole IP properties. It also cites recent price hikes for Disney+ and an analyst report that projects Disney will have 42 percent of all streaming subscribers by 2025.
For those reasons, the WGAW suspects Disney could seek to acquire another competing studio or other major IP. Though for what it’s worth, Disney CEO Bob Iger recently said that ABC and some of its other linear TV businesses are “non-core,” leading to speculation that networks like that or even ESPN could be spun off or sold and that Disney would get smaller, not bigger. Iger was even asked on the most recent earnings call whether Disney itself could be wholly acquired by a tech giant like Apple.
In the case of Amazon, the WGAW didn’t give Jeff Bezos’ company a pass just because it’s new to the media game. It says the company’s “exploitative practices” over pricing, acquisitions, and “abusing” its position between competitors and customers are part of the company’s playbook, including for media.
The guild certainly didn’t like Amazon’s $8.5 billion acquisition of MGM and says Amazon has never produced a show or movie for a service other than itself. But the control it has over its Fire TV interfaces and its ability to extract fees makes it a literal gatekeeper over which services can show their content. The guild cites a media report circa when HBO Max first launched about how new subscribers to the streamer slowed because, for months, it wasn’t available on Amazon devices. NEW YORK, NEW YORK – MAY 10: Members of the Writers Guild of America (WGA) East hold signs as they walk in the picket line outside of HBO and Amazon’s offices on May 10, 2023 in New York City. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)Getty Images
Finally, Netflix, it says has gone from upstart innovator to “powerful incumbent focused on raising prices, vertically integrating, and exerting its dominance over workers.” It says that though it once had a habit of rescuing canceled shows from other networks, that habit has slowed, and seemingly popular shows canceled on Netflix almost never have the same luxury to go elsewhere. It cites the WGAW’s own challenge against Netflix that demanded the streamer pay out $42 million in underpaid residuals, as well as refer to the ongoing fight over data transparency. And it doesn’t approve of Wall Street’s urging to further raise prices and cut costs.
“No longer committed to competitive innovation, the company will slash programming and underpay workers, abusing its dominant position to offer consumers less content—and less innovative content—for more money,” the report says.
The report concludes by saying that there is no regulatory oversight for streaming the way there is for broadcast TV networks, meaning that while Disney couldn’t buy the Fox network in its acquisition, there’s nothing stopping the company from buying out Comcast’s share of Hulu and merging it with Disney+, as Disney seems poised to do. And it also says that Sony, Paramount, and Warner Bros. Discovery are likely not going to remain major competitors for long.
“Paramount is disadvantaged by a comparative lack of scale, Sony by a lack of vertical integration, and Warner Bros. Discovery appears to be already withdrawing from its investment in HBO Max,” the report claims.
Among the guild’s recommendations are that antitrust groups block further acquisitions by Disney, Amazon, and Netflix, including any mergers, that it should investigate competitive practices by the companies, and sweeping new rules need to be put in place around streaming to “level the playing field.”
Authors and Booksellers Urge Justice Dept. to Investigate Amazon
Alexandra Alter Thu, August 17, 2023 An Amazon Fulfillment center on Staten Island in New York, May 15, 2019.
(Hiroko Masuike/The New York Times)
With mounting signs that the Federal Trade Commission is preparing to file a lawsuit against Amazon for violating antitrust laws, a group of booksellers, authors and antitrust activists are urging the government to investigate the company’s domination of the book market.
On Wednesday, the Open Markets Institute, an antitrust think tank, along with the Authors Guild and the American Booksellers Association, sent a letter to the Justice Department and the Federal Trade Commission, calling on the government to curb Amazon’s “monopoly in its role as a seller of books to the public.”
The groups are pressing the Justice Department to investigate not only Amazon’s size as a bookseller, but also its sway over the book market — especially its ability to promote certain titles on its site and bury others, said Barry Lynn, the executive director of the Open Markets Institute, a research and advocacy group focused on strengthening anti-monopoly policies.
“What we have is a situation in which the power of a single dominant corporation is warping, in the aggregate, the type of books that we’re reading,” Lynn said in an interview. “This kind of power concentrated in a democracy is not acceptable.”
The letter, addressed to Lina Khan, the chair of the Federal Trade Commission, and Jonathan Kanter, who leads the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division, comes as the FTC appears to be closing in on its decision to bring an antitrust case against Amazon. Amazon representatives are expected to meet this week with members of the commission to discuss the possible suit, a sign that legal action may be imminent.
Amazon did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
It is still unclear whether the government’s case will scrutinize Amazon’s role as a bookseller as part of its investigation of the company. While Amazon got its start nearly 30 years ago as a scrappy online bookstore, it has since mushroomed into a retail giant that has gained a foothold in other industries, with its expansion into cloud computing and its purchase of the grocery chain Whole Foods and the movie studio Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.
Even as books have become a smaller slice of the company, Amazon has become an overwhelming force in the book market. It accounts for at least 40% of physical books sold in the U.S., and more than 80% of e-books sold, according to an analysis released by WordsRated, a research data and analytics group. With its purchase of Audible in 2008, Amazon has also become one of the largest audiobook producers and retailers.
The effects of the site’s rise have been profound, Open Markets Institute and the other groups argued, contributing to a steep decline in the number of physical bookstores across the United States, and leaving publishers and authors beholden to the site.
Amazon also has influenced which books readers are exposed to and buy, and has made it more challenging for lesser-known authors to gain exposure on the site, while blockbuster authors and celebrities whose books are likely to sell well are prominently featured.
Some antitrust experts are skeptical that Amazon’s role as a bookseller merits government scrutiny. Erik Gordon, a professor of business at the University of Michigan who studies antitrust, said that while the company’s dominance in the book world might be an element of an overall antitrust suit, the FTC will likely focus elsewhere.
“There’s not a great case against Amazon with respect to their book-selling practices,” he said. “Many publishers and authors are making more money than they would have without Amazon.”
Amazon has already been a target of the Biden administration’s stringent regulatory efforts, as it has sought to rein in tech giants like Amazon, Google and Meta.
In June, the FTC brought a separate case against Amazon that argued the company had manipulated users into signing up for its Prime membership program and made it hard for them to get out of it.
The Justice Department has also shown an interest in preventing the consolidation in the book market. Last year, a judge sided with the Biden administration in an antitrust case and blocked Penguin Random House from acquiring its smaller rival Simon & Schuster.
After the deal collapsed, some in the industry saw Amazon as the next logical antitrust target.
Allison Hill, chief executive of the American Booksellers Association, said that she was hopeful that the government was taking a serious look at Amazon’s role in the book world.
“Amazon has been unchecked for so long that our fight for a level playing field has become moot,” she said. “Amazon owns the playing field.”
c.2023 The New York Times Company
UK
The great car insurance con: Complaints about payouts soar as motorists hit by record-high premiums
Almost 12,000 complaints were received by the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) in the past year – a four-year high – making car insurance the third most complained-about financial product, behind current accounts and credit cards.
The number of car and motorcycle insurance disputes submitted to the watchdog has jumped by 27 per cent in a year, from 9,310 in 2021/22 to 11,851 in 2022/23, according to figures obtained by The Independent.
Payout delays and the undervaluing of vehicles were among the grievances raised.
The revelations follow this newspaper’s exposé into the great car insurance con, which found that car insurance premiums have been hiked by 48 per cent over the past year.
Have you been affected by this story? email maryam.zakir-hussain@independent.co.uk
Martyn James, a consumer rights expert, said motorists were facing a double whammy of soaring premiums and poor customer service. “Car owners are already having to deal with massive insurance increases at the height of the cost of living crisis. So, reports of terrible customer service, reluctance to pay out on claims and helplines that are anything but helpful are hitting people hard.”
The FOS provides a free mediation service between financial companies and customers: where a customer is unhappy with how a firm has handled their complaint, they can escalate it to the FOS.
The ombudsman said the spike in complaints was largely due to administration and customer service issues, and insurers delaying paying out on claims. Number of complaints about car insurance rose 27 per cent in a year (PA)
It also had cases where customers complained that their car was worth more than the amount their insurer had given them, following a theft or an accident that wrote off the vehicle. The ombudsman said insurers did not always consider “all the available information, which tended to lead to offers that were less favourable”.
The FOS added: “We also saw complaints from consumers who felt it was unfair their claim for a vehicle theft by deception was rejected by their insurer.” Examples of deception include a thief pretending to be a potential buyer and switching the owner’s key with a similar one, then returning to steal the car.
The ombudsman upheld 30 per cent of the cases it received about car and motorcycle insurance in the customer’s favour, up from 28 per cent a year ago.
Complaints about car and motorcycle insurance have been steadily rising quarter on quarter, with 3,741 cases lodged with the ombudsman in the first three months of 2023. This compares to 2,623 a year ago, a 30 per cent increase.
According to Mr James, other common complaints with car insurance include partial payouts, misleading contracts, quality of repairs and disputes over when the damage occurred and whether it’s “wear or tear”. He commented: “I still hear quite a bit about people having their claims amended or dropped because they didn’t realise they had to disclose a previous incident that they chose not to claim for.” Most complained-about car insurers
The FOS also revealed the most complained-about firms for car and motorbike insurance: Advantage Insurance Company (1,156 complaints in 2022/23), UK Insurance (907 complaints), Aviva (672), Esure (646) and AXA (639). Completing the top 10 are Admiral Insurance Company, Admiral (Gibraltar), West Bay Insurance, Skyfire Insurance Company and Ageas.
In recent years, Admiral has attracted the most complaints, but Advantage Insurance Company, a subsidiary of Hastings Group Holdings, now takes the dubious honour. Steve Blears and Penny Haslam’s annual car insurance premium rose £550 to £1,046 – a blistering 90 per cent increase. (Getty/Supplied)
James Daley, founder of consumer group Fairer Finance, commented: “Hastings is a broker but has been placing more business with its own brand Advantage in recent years – and it would seem Advantage has not coped well with the growth. Ironically, Hastings has been running an advertising campaign over the last few years about how life is complicated – but Hastings car insurance is simple. Turns out that often isn’t the case.”
A spokesperson for Advantage Insurance Company said: “We take all expressions of dissatisfaction from our customers very seriously and work hard to put them right. We continuously review all complaints and make changes to processes to strive for the best possible service for our customers.”
UK Insurance is the second most complained-about insurer, according to FOS. It underwrites policies for the Direct Line Group, which also owns the Churchill, Privilege and Green Flag brands.
Mr James said: “It’s clear there’s a lot of dissatisfaction out there with certain firms, who would be well advised to up their game if they want to keep their customers.”
Mr Daley reflected that it had been a challenging time for motor insurers over the past year, “with Direct Line reporting massive losses in its book last year, which eventually led to the resignation of its CEO”.
He noted: “In that kind of environment, we’re inevitably going to see insurers fighting claims a little harder – which in turn pushes up complaint volumes and FOS referrals.”
According to consumer group Which?, the best car insurers for claims are RSA, Direct Line, LV and NFU Mutual, which all score highly for customer service and dealing with claims quickly.
EY to cut jobs and hand out smaller pay rises Henry Saker-Clark, PA Deputy Business Editor Thu, 17 August 2023
EY is set to cut jobs in the UK and has told staff to expect less generous pay rises as it seeks to cut costs.
The accounting giant has confirmed the round of redundancies will impact staff at its financial services consulting arm amid pressure on market demand.
EY will axe more than 5% of the roughly 2,300-strong practice, with 150 jobs due to be impacted which advise on business transformation and risk management, according to the Financial Times.
It comes after the firm said in April it planned to cut 3,000 jobs in the US, as it blamed “overcapacity” at the firm.
Workers are also expected to receive smaller pay rises and bonus pools for the year.
Meanwhile, partners, who own and run the business, will be paid out of profits for the year. Last year, the average partner at EY received a record £803,000 in pay after surging demand for the firm’s services.
A spokeswoman for EY said: “EY continues to perform strongly, with double digit growth in the UK, and the vast majority of our people will receive an annual pay rise and variable bonus payment this year.
“EY’s UK financial services consulting practice has taken measures to align current resourcing requirements with market demand.
“Regrettably, a group of employees in this part of the business are now subject to a redundancy consultation process.”
Harmony House: Purchase means seniors don’t have to live in fear of being forced from their homes in Vancouver’s historic Chinatown
Local Journalism Initiative Thu, August 17, 2023
For Harmony House residents like Ada Cheng, the purchase of the assisted care facility means the 92-year old can live out the rest of her days without worrying about being compelled to move from her home in the heart of Vancouver’s historic Chinatown.
The B.C. government has helped nonprofit S.U.C.C.E.S.S. to buy Harmony House, an assisted living residency for seniors. The social service agency will continue managing the 33 strata rental units at 588 Shanghai Alley and preserving it as affordable rental housing.
This news comes about a month after the City of Vancouver approved a controversial condo development at 105 Keefer St., which is about two blocks away from Harmony House. Local community groups and Chinatown residents rallied and protested the Keefer block, demanding instead for low-income social housing.
Harwinder Sandhu, Parliamentary Secretary for Seniors’ Services and Long-Term Care, said in a news release, “The purchase of the Harmony House in Vancouver Chinatown demonstrates our government’s understanding that seniors want to live in their desired community that serves their specific cultural and linguistic needs, which are so important to their happiness and well-being.”
Ownership of the assisted living housing means the organization can now do long-term modifications such as installing specific equipment or lifts in the units, said S.U.C.C.E.S.S. executive director of health services Sinder Kaur.
Previously, the organization had to get strata approval for any changes.
Kaur, who has worked for S.U.C.C.E.S.S. for 22 years, was always mindful of the lease renewal, which was every three to four years. Any plans were often short-term.
“The goal is for seniors to age in place with as much independence as possible,” Kaur said.
As she walked through the halls, residents greeted Kaur warmly by her Chinese name. Born in India, Kaur speaks fluent Cantonese because she grew up in Hong Kong and studied there before coming to Canada in 1995.
Cheng, the 92-year-old resident, is happy and grateful about the news because it means she can remain in her home comfortably, taking afternoon naps and reading the Bible.
With Kaur’s translation, Cheng said, “The staff treats us all as equals.”
There is no hierarchy and everyone is friendly, she said.
Kaur said, the main feeling they want each person to have is that it’s their own home with privacy and respect.
Cheng loves the location because it’s near the T&T Supermarket and local stores. The route to shopping has benches and raised planters as resting spots along the way.
Every Sunday, a handyDart picks her up and takes her to her church near Renfrew and E. 1st Ave. She sings in choir and then her daughter drives her back home.
Cheng moved in 13 years ago after being on a waitlist for a couple of years. She discovered Harmony House when she visited a friend who lived there.
The friend has since died.
“People have lived and died here,” said Kaur.
Seniors don’t need to go to extended long-term care places such as hospitals or nursing homes, she said.
Part of “aging in place” sometimes means dying in your own bed at home.
Cheng previously lived with her daughter but it had difficulties because there were a lot of stairs.
Kaur, a former nurse, said stairs can impede mobility. “Seniors will often be stuck at home and lack socializing and community. Their mental health will start to deteriorate.”
When Cheng first moved into the strata, she said her daughter was initially resistant because her daughter was worried about being blamed for abandoning her.
But Cheng said she insisted she wanted to live at Harmony House.
She explained it was hard for her daughter because she cares for both children and elders.
Cheng said her daughter accepted the decision after visiting and getting to know the staff.
Kaur explained that Cheng’s daughter also works for Vancouver Coastal Health, which funds Harmony House’s health services and provides a case manager for each person.
Cheng’s daughter trusted the place more after some research, Kaur said.
Kaur said Harmony House supports caregivers by relieving stress and concerns about whether their relatives will be safe, healthy and happy.
Harmony House provides two meals and two snacks each day, however preparing breakfast is up to each resident, Kaur said. Cheng usually makes coffee and toast in the morning.
She loves soups and used to make them all the time but Cheng cannot stand for long periods anymore.
Instead, her daughter brings her herbal medicinal soups and Harmony House provides nutritional Chinese soups that simmer for more than two hours.
At 92, Cheng has limited mobility and uses a walker with a built-in seat. The only step in the whole place is in her bathroom when she has to step into her shower and the one step is taxing enough.
Harmony House has 24-hour emergency aid. However, the only requirement Harmony House has for its residents is to be able to move from their place to the front door.
“In case of an emergency, they just have to make it to the elevator and staff will help them,” said Kaur.
Cheng came to Canada from Hong Kong in 1989 after her daughter sponsored her. She helped her daughter with childcare. Today, Cheng has five children, five grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.
When asked about future concerns, Cheng laughed and said she is pretty happy and satisfied. “I’m 92 years old. I’m here [with a home at Harmony House]. What more do I need?”
Deanna Cheng, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, New Canadian Media
Dresden community welcoming Jamaican workers back for canning season
CBC Thu, August 17, 2023 The Dresden Municipal Building will be lit up in yellow and green to welcome guest workers to the region, starting Thursday night. (Municipality of Chatham-Kent - image credit)
Jamaican workers coming to southwestern Ontario to work at the Conagra canning facility will back in town this weekend.
The community has a couple of events on deck to welcome them.
"There's been a lot of buzz about appreciating the farm workers in the community and how we can better our relationships with them," said Nancy Melnyck, client co-ordinator with FarmGate Advisors.
"We're going to have a fun day of Jamaican music, socializing, and because we want them to feel welcomed into the community and we want them to feel a part of the community while they are here."
FarmGate has worked with Conagra Brands to prepare the taxes for guest workers at the company's canning facility since 2018. Guest workers typically arrive in August and will be there until about November.
The event will feature a catered lunch from Yardie Vibez in Chatham, as well as music and socializing. The community is welcome to attend, Melnyck added.
Melnyck said workers add a lot to the Dresden community and its economy.
"While they're in the community, they're shopping in our stores," she said. "They're purchasing things that they need to use while they're here. Plus, they are shopping for things that they can't get in their own country that they can take back home with them to use."
While Melnyck couldn't speak to the exact number of workers who come to Dresden each year, it changes, but it is growing, she said — they've been coming for more than 30 years.
Many workers who return year after year have friends and relationships within the community, she said.
"They are very crucial. We depend on them, the companies, the farmers depend on them for the work, for their ability and their commitment," she said. "They're very committed and they show up for work every day and they do the job that needs to be done
"We rely on them very much. We just don't have the manpower to be able to provide all of that employment."
Dresden lighting up town in yellow and green
Conagra and FarmGate won't be the only ones welcoming the guest workers.
"What we do with Dresden Shines is throughout the year we do different light-ups to celebrate different events," said Stuart Kiar, co-chair of Dresden Shines.
"This weekend, we're doing a light-up in honour of the guest workers that are returning to town working at the local canning factory. Town hall will be lit up green and yellow in honour of the Jamaican flag. And on the town hall LED sign, we have a welcome message to all our Jamaican friends."
Kiar said this is the third year they've welcomed the workers with lights, and Dresden Shines first started to lift spirits during the pandemic.
"It's to demonstrate that we're a welcoming and inclusive community and just to let them know that we really appreciate the importance that they bring to the local economy."
