Husbands of employed wives report greater happiness and self-esteem

by Eric W. Dolan
September 18, 2024



A recent study published in the journal Personal Relationships explored the intricate links between self-esteem, happiness, and marital conflict in married couples, with particular attention to how these dynamics might differ based on whether the wife is employed. The findings suggest that marital relationships are shaped by both partners’ psychological well-being, but wives tend to have a greater influence on their husbands’ self-esteem and happiness than vice versa. Interestingly, husbands married to employed wives reported higher psychological well-being compared to those with stay-at-home wives.

Marital relationships are fundamental to the well-being of adults, yet researchers still have much to learn about how psychological factors like self-esteem and happiness interact with marital conflict over time. Although there is ample research showing that partners influence each other’s health, emotions, and behavior, there is a gap in understanding the long-term, mutual effects between self-esteem, subjective happiness, and marital conflict.

Self-esteem has long been seen as a predictor of relationship quality. People with high self-esteem are more likely to engage in behaviors that strengthen their relationships, while those with low self-esteem may struggle to maintain satisfying relationships. Happiness, too, is linked to relationship satisfaction, but the direction of influence—whether happiness leads to better relationships or vice versa—remains debated.

Additionally, previous research has suggested that wives, who often play a larger emotional role in marriage, may influence their husbands’ psychological well-being more than the reverse. In the new study, Jeong Jin Yu (a professor in the Department of Educational Studies at Xian Jiaotong-Liverpool University) aimed to fill these knowledge gaps by examining these dynamics over time in South Korean couples, while also exploring how the employment status of wives might affect these relationships.

Yu analyzed data from the Panel Study on Korean Children, a nationwide survey that has tracked families since 2008. The data for this study were collected from 1,668 married couples at three different points in time, spaced one year apart. This longitudinal approach allowed Yu to track changes in self-esteem, happiness, and marital conflict over time.

Participants included both husbands and wives who were required to be living together at the start of the study. If a couple separated or divorced during the study, they were no longer included. The couples had been married for about ten years on average, and most had one or two children. About 40 percent of the wives were employed, while nearly all of the husbands worked.

To measure self-esteem, participants responded to a series of questions that assessed how they felt about their worth and qualities. Marital conflict was measured by asking participants how often they experienced arguments or tension in their marriage. Happiness was measured by having participants rate how happy they generally felt.

Yu found that self-esteem and happiness are closely linked for both husbands and wives. High self-esteem led to increased happiness over time, and the reverse was also true: feeling happy boosted self-esteem. This positive feedback loop was present for both men and women, suggesting that feeling good about oneself is crucial for overall happiness and vice versa.

However, when it came to the influence between spouses, Yu found that wives had a stronger impact on their husbands’ self-esteem and happiness than the other way around. Wives’ self-esteem at the start of the study was linked to their husbands’ self-esteem in subsequent years, but the reverse was not observed.


“Counter to the lay beliefs that men are independent and self-reliant or draw their self-worth from their relationships less than women, the overall findings suggest that husbands tend to derive self-esteem from their wife more than the other way around. However, husbands have minimal association with their wife’s self-esteem,” Yu wrote.

Yu also found that marital conflict had a negative effect on happiness, but not necessarily on self-esteem. Both husbands and wives who reported more conflict in their marriages were likely to feel less happy over time. Interestingly, wives’ marital conflict had a stronger impact on their husbands’ happiness and self-esteem than husbands’ conflict had on their wives. In other words, when wives were unhappy in their marriages, it had a significant emotional toll on their husbands.

Wives’ employment status emerged as an important factor in these dynamics. Husbands of employed wives reported higher self-esteem and happiness compared to husbands of stay-at-home wives. This effect may stem from the financial and emotional support that working wives provide, which can enhance a more balanced and satisfying marital relationship. Employed wives with high self-esteem were less likely to report marital conflict over time, suggesting that having a sense of personal achievement outside the home may buffer against marital tension.


In contrast, stay-at-home wives who experienced more conflict in their marriages tended to have husbands with lower self-esteem. This suggests that when wives are not employed, marital conflict may weigh more heavily on their husbands’ psychological well-being.

Yu’s study opens up several interesting avenues for future research. One important direction is to explore how these dynamics play out in different cultural contexts. South Korea has a unique cultural landscape, where traditional gender roles are shifting but still influential. It would be interesting to see if similar patterns emerge in more egalitarian societies or in cultures where gender roles are more rigidly defined.

Future research could also investigate how the dynamics between self-esteem, happiness, and marital conflict change over the course of a marriage. For instance, do these patterns look different for couples in their early years of marriage compared to those who have been married for decades? Similarly, how do these dynamics shift when children are born or when couples transition into retirement?


“Taken together, this study supports the position that although couples depend on each other for marital and psychological well-being in different ways over time, wives tend to be their husbands’ substantial source of perceived psychological well-being than the reverse,” Yu concluded. “However, the benefit of psychological well-being appears to be less for husbands of stay-at-home wives compared with husbands of employed wives.

“Future research should continue to utilize longitudinal dyadic data from both partners to better understand the multifaceted effects of interdependence, reciprocity, and gender differences on marital relationships and psychological well-being. Furthermore, such studies should analyze the dynamics both at the level of individual partners and at the couple level, shedding light on the reciprocal influences over time.”

The study, “Longitudinal dyadic interplay between marital conflict and psychological well-being incouples: The moderating roles of wives’ employment,” was published in Volume 31, Issue 2 of Personal Relationships.

Extinct species may have inspired South African rock art

Research compares 1800s painting of tusked animal by San people to local fossils.

By PLOS
18 Sep, 2024

Painting of the dicynodont made by the San in the early 1800s. Image Credit 1: Julien Benoit

A mysterious tusked animal depicted in South African rock art might portray an ancient species preserved as fossils in the same region, according to a study published September 18, 2024 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Julien Benoit of the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa.

The Horned Serpent panel is a section of rock wall featuring artwork of animals and other cultural elements associated with the San people of South Africa, originally painted between 1821 and 1835. Among the painted figures is a long-bodied animal with downward-turned tusks which doesn’t match any known modern species in the area.

As the San people are known to have included various aspects of their surroundings into art, including fossils, Benoit suggests the tusked creature might have been inspired by an extinct species.

The Karoo Basin of South Africa is famous for abundant well-preserved fossils, including tusked animals called dicynodonts, which are often found eroding out of the ground. Benoit revisited the Horned Serpent panel and found the tusked figure comparable with dicynodont fossils, an interpretation that is also supported by San myths of large animals that once roamed the region but are now extinct.

The Horned Serpent panel. A, general view of the Horned Serpent panel photographed in 2024 by the author. B, close up of the section figured in Stow and Bleek’s plate 39. C, close up of the tusked animal. D, close up of the warriors painted below the Horned Serpent panel. E, close up of the warriors painted to the right of the panel. Image Credit 2: Julien Benoit, 2024, PLOS ONE

If the tusked figure is in fact an artistic interpretation of a dicynodont, a species which went extinct before dinosaurs appeared and were long extinct when humans appeared in Africa, it would predate the first scientific description of these ancient animals by at least ten years.

There is archaeological evidence that the San people might have collected fossils and incorporated them into their artwork, but the extent of indigenous knowledge of paleontology is poorly understood across Africa. Further research into indigenous cultures might shed more light on how humans around the world have incorporated fossils into their culture.

Julien Benoit adds: “The painting was made in 1835 at the latest, which means this dicynodont was depicted at least ten years before the western scientific discovery and naming of the first dicynodont by Richard Owen in 1845. This work supports that the first inhabitants of southern Africa, the San hunter-gatherers, discovered fossils, interpreted them and integrated them in their rock art and belief system.”

Journal Reference:Benoit J (2024) A possible later stone age painting of a dicynodont (Synapsida) from the South African Karoo. PLoS ONE 19(9): e0309908. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0309908

Enigmatic Rock-Cut Architecture of Zoroastrian Origin Discovered in Madagascar

by Guillermo Carvajal

September 12, 2024

A series of 35 circular niches excavated in the rock at Teniky, Madagascar. Credit: G. Schreurs et al.

An international team of researchers has made a surprising archaeological discovery in the heart of Madagascar that could rewrite the history of the island’s settlement and its connections with distant civilizations. In Teniky, a site located in the remote Isalo Massif in southern Madagascar, they have found an enigmatic rock-cut architecture that has no parallels anywhere else on the island or the East African coast.

The archaeologists, led by Guido Schreurs from the University of Bern, have documented extensive rock-carved structures that include artificial terraces, niches carved into cliffs, walls of carved sandstone, and stone basins.

Most astonishingly, the closest stylistic parallels to this architecture are found thousands of kilometers away, in present-day Iran, particularly in the Fars region, where similar rock-cut niches have been identified and are related to Zoroastrian communities from the first millennium AD or even earlier.

Location of Teniky in Madagascar. The white circles are archaeological sites. Credit: G. Schreurs et al.

The site of Teniky has been known since the early 20th century for its archaeological structures within a riverine cirque, including the so-called “Grande Grotte” or “Cave of the Portuguese,” a large rock shelter bounded by carefully constructed sandstone walls.

However, recent investigations have revealed that the site is much more extensive than previously thought, encompassing several archaeological zones that extend for kilometers beyond the original cirque.

Radiocarbon dating of charcoal found during excavations indicates that these structures were built between the 10th and 12th centuries AD, coinciding with the presence of imported Chinese and Southeast Asian ceramics dating approximately from the 11th to the 14th centuries.

The Grande Grotte with the remains of the wall discovered in 1940. Credit: G. Schreurs et al.

This finding is particularly intriguing as it shows that the inhabitants of Teniky were part of Indian Ocean trade networks during the medieval period, despite being located more than 200 kilometers from the nearest coast.

The research team, which includes scientists from Switzerland, Madagascar, and other countries, has tentatively proposed that the rock-cut architecture of Teniky could be part of an ancient necropolis built by settlers of Zoroastrian origin.

If confirmed, this hypothesis would raise numerous fascinating questions about the nature of early settlement in Madagascar and the complex cultural interactions that took place in the Indian Ocean during the medieval period.

Teniky: images of the niches: a–b) quadrangular rock-cut niches; c–d) the presence of tool marks in the niches. These are absent in the underlying brown-reddish layer in (d), which is friable and erodes more easily. Credit: G. Schreurs et al.

Dr. Schreurs and his colleagues emphasize the need for further archaeological research to test this hypothesis and address crucial questions, such as: Where and when did these settlers first arrive on the coast of Madagascar? Why and when did they move inland? How did they live and interact with other populations on the island? And finally, why and when was the site abandoned?

The discovery at Teniky adds to a growing body of evidence suggesting that the settlement of Madagascar was a complex and multicultural process. Recent genetic studies have identified African and Asian contributions as the primary components of the present Malagasy population, but with marked regional variability in the relative proportions of these two ancestries.

Archaeological evidence until now had only documented a relatively late settlement of Madagascar during the second half of the first millennium AD, with some possible exceptions suggesting an earlier human presence.

Teniky: Zone 4: a) aerial view of part of the quarry from which shrub and loose gravel were removed at the right; b) detail of a cleaned part of the quarry. Credit: G. Schreurs et al.

In this context, Teniky emerges as a site of exceptional importance that could shed light on a little-known chapter of Madagascar’s history. The presence of such elaborate and unprecedented architecture on the island, along with evidence of participation in Indian Ocean trade, suggests that Teniky may have been an important religious and commercial center in the interior of Madagascar during the Middle Ages.

The study highlights the need to reconsider existing models of Madagascar’s settlement and Indian Ocean trade networks. The possibility of a Zoroastrian presence on the island raises new questions about religious and cultural diversity in medieval Madagascar and migration routes across the ocean.

The researchers also point out the urgency of protecting and further studying the Teniky site. Despite being located within Isalo National Park, the site has suffered damage and looting in the past. Understanding its true historical and cultural significance could help ensure its preservation for future generations.

SOURCES

Schreurs, G., Allegro, T., Rouvinez, M., et al., (2024). Teniky: enigmatic architecture at an archaeological site in southern Madagascar. Azania: Archaeological Research in Africa, 1–44. doi.org/10.1080/0067270X.2024.2380619

Meta’s Oversight Board Rules ‘From the River to the Sea’ Isn’t Hate Speech

Company Should Address Root Causes of Censorship of Palestine Content

Deborah Brown
Deputy Director, Technology, Rights & Investigations

Click to expand Image
Crowds gathered outside of Meta headquarters to protest the company’s censorship of posts on social platforms related to Palestine, in Menlo Park, California, US, November 3, 2023. 

 © 2023 Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu via Getty Images

Earlier this month, Meta's Oversight Board found that three Facebook posts containing the phrase “From the River to the Sea” did not violate Meta’s content rules and should remain online.

The majority of the Oversight Board members concluded that the phrase, widely used at protests to show solidarity with Palestinians, is not inherently a violation of Meta’s policies on Hate Speech, Violence and Incitement, or Dangerous Organizations and Individuals (DOI). In line with Human Rights Watch’s submission, it affirmed that while the phrase can have different meanings, it amounts to protected speech under international human rights law and should not, on its own, be a basis for removal, enforcement, or review of content under Meta's policies. Meta created the board as an external body to appeal moderation decisions and provide non-binding policy guidance.

A minority of board members recommended imposing a blanket ban on use of the phrase unless there are clear signals it does not constitute glorification of Hamas. Such a ban would be inconsistent with international human rights standards, amounting to an excessive restriction on protected speech.

The board’s decision upholds free expression, but Meta has a broader problem of censoring protected speech about Palestine on its platforms. A 2023 Human Rights Watch report found that Meta was systemically censoring Palestine content and that broad restrictions on content relating to groups that Meta puts on its DOI list often resulted in the censorship of protected speech. Meta has said that core human rights principles have guided its crisis response measures since October 7. But its heavy reliance on automated detection systems fails to accurately assess context, even when posts explicitly oppose violence.

For instance, on July 19, Human Rights Watch posted a video on Instagram and Facebook with a caption in Arabic that read: “Hamas-led armed groups committed numerous war crimes and crimes against humanity against civilians during the October 7 assault on southern Israel.” Meta’s automated tools “incorrectly” removed the post for violating its DOI policy. Formal appeals were unsuccessful, and the content was only restored after informal intervention.

Meta should address the systemic issues at the heart of its wrongful removal of protected speech about Palestine. Amending its flawed policies, strengthening context-based review, and providing more access to data to facilitate independent research are essential to protecting free expression on its platforms.

Israel blows up more Palestinian homes to expand control over Gaza corridors

Israel’s prime minister insists on keeping military presence at Netzarim, Philadelphi corridors in Gaza

Hosni Nadim |18.09.2024 -


GAZA CITY, Palestine

The Israeli army continued on Wednesday to blow up homes and residential buildings around the Netzarim and Philadelphi corridors in the war-torn Gaza Strip, according to local sources.

Several buildings were detonated around the Netzarim Corridor in the Zeitoun neighborhood southeast of Gaza City and Al-Zahra town south of the city, one source told Anadolu.

The Israeli army also destroyed several residential buildings near the Philadelphi Corridor in Rafah in southern Gaza near the border with Egypt, another local source said.

According to the sources, the home detonations aim to widen Israeli military presence in the area and consolidate Israeli control around the two axes.

The two corridors have been a sticking point in negotiations aimed at reaching a Gaza cease-fire and prisoner swap deal between Israel and Hamas.

While Israel insists on maintaining a military presence at the two corridors, Hamas calls for a full Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed on several occasions that he would not withdraw army forces from the axes, putting an obstacle to efforts to reach a cease-fire and prisoner swap deal with Hamas.

For months, the US, Qatar, and Egypt have been trying to reach an agreement between Israel and Hamas to ensure a prisoner exchange and a cease-fire and allow humanitarian aid to enter Gaza. But mediation efforts have been stalled due to Netanyahu’s refusal to meet Hamas’ demands to stop the war.

Israel has continued its brutal offensive on the Gaza Strip following an attack by the Palestinian group Hamas last Oct. 7, despite a UN Security Council resolution calling for an immediate cease-fire.

More than 41,200 people, mostly women and children, have since been killed and over 95,400 injured, according to local health authorities.

The Israeli onslaught has displaced almost the entire population of the territory amid an ongoing blockade that has led to severe shortages of food, clean water and medicine.

Israel faces accusations of genocide for its actions in Gaza at the International Court of Justice.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar

United Nations General Assembly votes to demand Israel end Palestinian occupation, Australia abstains

By Brad Ryan in Washington DC with wires


The vote in the 193-member general assembly was 124-14 in favour of the resolution, with 43 abstentions. 

The United Nations General Assembly has overwhelmingly voted in favour of a Palestinian resolution demanding Israel end its "unlawful presence" in Gaza and the occupied West Bank within a year.

The vote in the 193-member world body was 124-14, with Australia one of 43 members states to abstain. The United States voted against it.

Australia's ambassador to the UN, James Larsen, said it had several concerns with the resolution, and was "deeply disappointed" they were not addressed before the vote. He said Australia supported many of the resolution's principles.

Foreign Minister Penny Wong later said Australia had "worked very hard in New York with others, including the Palestinian delegation, to seek amendments that would enable us to support" the resolution.

"We were disappointed the amendments we and many others sought were not accepted," Senator Wong told the ABC's AM program.



The resolution was adopted as troubled efforts to broker a ceasefire deal in Gaza press ahead.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is holding meetings with mediators in Egypt even as attacks elsewhere in the region — including a fresh wave of explosions across Lebanon — raise fears of escalating conflict in the Middle East.

Riyad Mansour, the Palestinian UN ambassador, called the vote a turning point "in our struggle for freedom and justice".

But Israel's UN ambassador, Danny Danon, said the vote showed the general assembly "continues to dance to the music of the Palestinian Authority, which backs the Hamas murderers".

Mr Larsen said Australia had wanted to vote for a resolution that "directly reflected" a recent advisory ruling from the World Court, which said Israel's occupation of Palestinian territories was unlawful.

Australia also wanted a resolution that "clearly offered the Palestinian people a path to self-determination and gave the world a path to a two-state solution", the Australian ambassador said.

He told the general assembly that Australia was already doing a lot of what the resolution called for. It had not supplied weapons to Israel in at least five years, was sanctioning extremist Israeli settlers, and had doubled funding to the UN's Palestinian refugee agency, UNRWA, he said.

Human rights groups had been lobbying Australia to support the resolution. "The Australian government has a responsibility to use its influence [in] the general assembly to uphold international law," Amnesty International's Mohamed Duar said ahead of the vote.


Riyad Mansour conceded Israel probably wouldn't pay any attention to the resolution. (Reuters: David 'Dee' Delgado, file)

The UK abstained for similar reasons to Australia. "Not because we do not support the central findings of the [World Court's] advisory opinion, but rather because the resolution does not provide sufficient clarity to effectively advance our shared aim of a peace premised on a negotiated two-state solution," UK ambassador Barbara Woodward said.

Australia has previously voted for a ceasefire at the general assembly.
US opposes 'one-sided' resolution

The resolution is the first put forward by the Palestinian Authority since member states, including Australia, voted to give it new rights and privileges. They include a seat among UN members in the assembly hall and the right to propose draft resolutions.

The US called it "one-sided" because it did not recognise that Hamas still exerted power in Gaza, nor state that Israel had a right to defend itself from terrorism.

"This resolution will not bring about tangible progress for Palestinians," the US mission argued. "In fact, it could both complicate efforts to end the conflict in Gaza and impede reinvigorating steps toward a two-state solution, while ignoring Israel's very real security concerns."
What is Israel's 'Hannibal Directive'?

Photo shows image of Israeli tank operating in Gaza

The controversial "Hannibal Directive" was reportedly enacted after the October 7 Hamas attack, with revelations detailing strikes by IDF tanks and helicopters on homes and vehicles returning to Gaza.

Unlike in the UN Security Council, the US does not have veto powers in the general assembly.

The resolution also demands the withdrawal of all Israeli forces and the evacuation of settlers from the occupied Palestinian territories "without delay". It calls for Israel to pay reparations to Palestinians for the damage caused by its occupation.

Neither the resolution, nor the World Court's advisory ruling, are legally binding. The resolution asks UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres to submit a report within three months on putting the resolution in place.

“We fully abide by the decisions of the International Court of Justice," Mr Guterres told reporters. "I will implement any decision of the general assembly in that regard."

Mr Mansour said Israel probably wouldn't pay attention to the resolution and that the Palestinians would then follow up with a stronger one.

ABC/wires

THAT'S A VOTE FOR TRUMP

Teamsters (SCAB)  union says won’t endorse Harris or Trump in US election

Influential union backed every Democratic presidential candidate since 2000, (1996)

 but declines to make endorsement this year.

Sean O'Brien, president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, speaks during the Republican National Convention in July in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the United States [File: Morry Gash/AP Photo]

Published On 18 Sep 2024

The International Brotherhood of Teamsters, one of the largest labour unions in the United States, has said that it will not endorse any candidate in the upcoming US presidential election.

In a statement on Wednesday, the influential union of about 1.3 million members said that it would not endorse either Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris or Republican former President Donald Trump.

“The Teamsters thank all candidates for meeting with members face-to-face during our unprecedented roundtables,” Teamsters General President Sean O’Brien said in the statement.

“Unfortunately, neither major candidate was able to make serious commitments to our union to ensure the interests of working people are always put before Big Business.”

The move breaks with decades of precedent: The Teamsters have endorsed the Democratic candidate in every election since 2000, and the union has not declined to endorse a candidate since 1996.

It also comes as both the Democratic and Republican parties have been courting organised labour ahead of the November 5 election, which is expected to be hard-fought between Trump and Harris

TEAMSTERS RELEASE PRESIDENTIAL ENDORSEMENT POLLING DATA

“For the past year, the Teamsters Union has pledged to conduct the most inclusive, democratic, and transparent Presidential endorsement process in the history of our 121-year-old organization—and today we are delivering on… pic.twitter.com/CnFNN9uosx

— Teamsters (@Teamsters) September 18, 2024


The Teamsters said that polling of its members showed a preference for Trump over Harris by a margin of more than 25 percent, but no “universal support” for either candidate.

The Trump campaign said that the polling shows that the “vast majority” of the group’s members supported the ex-president and wanted to see him return to the White House.

In a statement to US media outlets, a spokesperson for Harris said the Democrat has won the support of Teamsters locals across the US, along with other labour unions.

“While Donald Trump says striking workers should be fired, Vice President Harris has literally walked the picket line and stood strong with organized labor for her entire career,” Lauren Hitt said.

“The Vice President’s strong union record is why Teamsters locals across the country have already endorsed her — alongside the overwhelming majority of organized labor.”
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Labour unions have been a traditional constituency of the Democratic Party in the US, with Republican overtures met primarily with scepticism as the party has historically taken a harsher line on workers’ rights.

Most large US labour unions, such as the United Auto Workers (UAW) and the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO), have voiced their support for Harris ahead of the upcoming election.

O’Brien — the Teamsters president — has been an exception to that trend, speaking at the Republican National Convention in July.

That decision elicited a mixed response from US labour experts, who were divided over whether it was a smart move taking a pro-labour message to a large audience or a bad one, given traditional GOP hostility to the movement.

The Teamsters also tried to get a speaking slot at the Democratic National Convention in August, but said that they were not granted one.
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While the Teamsters have endorsed Democrats over the past two decades, the group has at times also supported Republican presidential candidates, including Ronald Reagan in 1984.

Source: Al Jazeera and news agencies

Sri Lanka's 2022 'Aragalaya' revolt hangs heavy over presidential vote

Demonstrators protest inside the President's House, after President Gotabaya Rajapaksa fled, amid the country's economic crisis, in Colombo, Sri Lanka, July 9, 2022. REUTERS/Dinuka Liyanawatte/File Photo

Sep 18, 2024, 10:47 PM
COLOMBO - Just over two years since Sri Lanka's 'Aragalaya' uprising that deposed the nation's president, the movement that sparked the mass struggle is rallying behind Anura Kumara Dissanayake to lead the fight against corruption and revive a broken economy.

Marxist-leaning Dissanayake, popularly known as AKD, will be vying to become the South Asian country's new president as Sri Lankans prepare to vote on Saturday, hoping to draw on the widespread discontent that fuelled the protests in 2022 and toppled former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa.

Rajapaksa, who many blamed for the economy's collapse that led to shortages of essentials such as fuel and medicine, was seen as emblematic of a corrupt political class out of touch with reality and the pulse of the masses.

That opened the door to Dissanayake whose political stock has risen dramatically in the two years since the economic crisis, as his National People’s Power alliance pledged to bring about change that the Aragalaya - Sinhala term for 'struggle' - movement had clamoured for.

The Sri Lanka Opinion Tracker Survey by Institute for Health Policy (IHP) shows Dissanayake leading in voting preferences at 36%, followed by opposition leader Sajith Premadasa of the Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) party at 32% while President Ranil Wickremesinghe is third with 28%.

People will vote putting aside their traditional political leanings and more on issues that led to the economic meltdown and subsequently the Aragalaya movement, said Dhananath Fernando, an economist at Colombo-based think tank Advocata Institute.


"AKD is appealing to those who view the crisis as a result of corruption, and they see this election as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to change the system," said Fernando. "It's a chance to register a protest vote against previous leaders."

Dissanayake, known for his ability to deliver stirring speeches in eloquent Sinhala, declared that he was ready to serve Sri Lankans, calling the election a "perfect opportunity" for them to put behind the pain and suffering of the crisis.

"Now that victorious moment is finally here and we should work together to ensure it is not lost," he said at a recent rally in Thambuttegama, a predominantly farming community about 180 kilometres from Colombo.

Parliament elected Wickremesinghe after Rajapaksa was forced to flee the country during the height of the 2022 protests and later resign. Wickremesinghe has managed an uncertain recovery, anchored by a $2.9 billion International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailout programme and a $25 billion debt restructuring process.

The 2022 economic crash drove inflation to 70%, power tariffs jumped 65% and the currency depreciated 45%. Inflation and interest rates are currently down to single digits, while growth of 3% is expected in 2024, the first expansion since the economy shrank 7.3% during the crisis.

For Melani Gunathilaka, 37, a climate and political activist who camped with friends during Aragalaya at the protest site near the president's office, the recovery has come at the cost of economic hardship and is driving people to seek political change.

"I don't think anybody thinks it's going to solve all issues but at least there should be leaders who are not insensitive to people," Gunathilaka said, referring to Saturday's vote.

"We are going through an austerity scheme... putting the burden of debt on working people while businesses and banks thrive, and I think people are expecting a change to that."

To be sure, Dissanayake's plans in his manifesto to rework a key debt restructuring programme at the core of the IMF bailout and a pledge to slash taxes that would impact fiscal targets set under it have raised worries about his economic policies.

However, during campaign speeches he has taken a more conciliatory approach, and assured that any changes will be undertaken in consultation with the IMF and he is committed to ensuring repayment of debt.

Dissanayake is not alone in championing the Aragalaya’s goal for political change.

Lawyer-activist Nuwan Bopage, 40, is contesting as a champion of Leftist policies but is not seen as a frontrunner.

"Winning or losing is a different matter. None of these parties have any solution to this crisis. Whoever wins, the people will lose," said Bopage.

Bopage wants Colombo to divest from the IMF programme, reduce taxes and backs stronger state intervention.

"Our polling indicates that overwhelming majorities have a favourable view of Aragalaya and think that the poor-rich gap has been increasing and that this is bad," IHP executive director Ravi Rannan-Eliya said.

For Dissanayake, securing victory over the weekend will only be a job half-done, as he is hamstrung by his party holding just three seats in the 225-member house. All the same, he could be emboldened to call an early parliamentary election on the back of an Aragalaya-inspired quest for change.

"AKD does not claim he is the direct legacy of the Aragalaya, but he is the main beneficiary of it because he comes from the non-elites and the public are fed up with the traditional political elites," said Jayadeva Uyangoda, a political scientist.

 REUTERS

FILE PHOTO: Demonstrators celebrate after they entered into Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremasinghe's office during a protest demanding for his resignation, after President Gotabaya Rajapaksa fled, amid the country's economic crisis, in Colombo, Sri Lanka, July 13, 2022. REUTERS/Dinuka Liyanawatte/File Photo

Protestors hold Sri Lankan flags as they stand on top of the office of Sri Lanka's Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, amid the country's economic crisis, in Colombo, Sri Lanka July 13, 2022. REUTERS/Adnan Abidi/File Photo

Amazon employees slam CEO Andy Jassy's return-to-office mandate: ‘It’s just going backwards’

WHITE, BLUE OR PINK THE COLOR OF YOUR COLLAR  DOESN'T MATTER WE ARE ALL PROLETARIANS NOW

ByTrisha Sengupta
Sep 18, 2024 

"I have worked at Amazon… and can confirm Amazon does not give a s**t," an employee wrote on LinkedIn following CEO Andy Jassy's return-to-office mandate.

Amazon CEO Andy Jassy’s return-to-office mandate received heavy criticism from the employees. The 56-year-old took over the role of CEO from founder Jeff Bezos in 2021 amid the pandemic when most corporates around the world shifted to a work-from-home (WFH) structure. In his recent lengthy memo to the staffers, the CEO shared about a “couple of changes” the company is set to make to strengthen its “culture and teams," including shift from WFH or Hybrid model to work from office (WFO).

Andy Jassy, CEO of Amazon, issued a mandate asking employees to return to office by January 2025. (REUTERS)

Message from CEO Andy Jassy

“We've decided that we’re going to return to being in the office the way we were before the onset of COVID. When we look back over the last five years, we continue to believe that the advantages of being together in the office are significant,” reads a part of the memo by Andy Jassy, highlighting the RTO mandate.
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“We understand that some of our teammates may have set up their personal lives in such a way that returning to the office consistently five days per week will require some adjustments,” he added.

How did the employees react?

Many employees were unhappy with this mandate and did not hold back while expressing their opinions.

"To the BI reporter who will inevitably quote mine this channel today," an Amazon employee wrote on Slack, reported the Business Insider. "Please do note that this is (in a lot of cases) significantly more strict and out of its mind than many teams operated under pre-covid. This is not 'going back' to how it was before. It's just going backwards,” the person added.


Another employee told the outlet, “What ever happened to 'Striving to be Earth's Best Employer," referencing one of the principals of the company.
Outrage on LinkedIn

Many also took to the professional networking platform to show their displeasure with the mandate. Among them is a system development engineer who activated his “#OpenToWork” tag while voicing his opinions against the return the office rule.

“Amazon has announced 5 day RTO, which is unfortunate because I’m interested in working for a living, not live-action role playing and virtue signaling. If you have remote opportunities available, please message me. Nothing is off the table. I’d rather go back to school than work in an office again,” the employee wrote.
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Reddit reactions

Besides LinkedIn, many flocked to Reddit to share posts claiming they work for Amazon. An individual commented, “I have worked at Amazon corporate in Seattle and can confirm Amazon does not give a s**t about anybody who works for them, warehouse or corporate. All they care about is squeezing as much labor/profit out of their employees as possible before they inevitably burn out.”

More from Andy Jassy:

“Having the right culture at Amazon is something I don’t take for granted. I continue to believe that we are all here because we want to make a difference in customers’ lives, invent on their behalf, and move quickly to solve their problems. I’m optimistic that these changes will better help us accomplish these goals while strengthening our culture and the effectiveness of our teams,” the CEO added in the concluding lines of the memo.

'I guess she’s desperate': Melania Trump's nude photo response spurs immediate mockery

MS. POTUS

Kathleen Culliton
September 18, 2024 

Former first lady Melania Trump spurred confusion Wednesday when she declared her outrage that the press would not stop asking about the nude photos taken of her as a professional model — which she compared to the works of Paul Cézanne and Michelangelo.

Mrs. Trump explained her decision to pose naked in a promotional video (which included a photo array of famous nude portraits) for her soon-to-be released memoirs, and despite her professed frustration with the media's interest.

"Why do I stand proudly behind my nude modeling work?" Melania Trump says via voiceover in a new X video. "The more pressing question is why has the media chosen to scrutinize my celebration of the human form in a fashion photo shoot?"

This take confused two political commentators, among them journalist Aaron Rupar, who wrote:

"NOBODY:
"NOT A SINGLE SOUL IN THE WORLD:

ADVERTISEMENT

"MELANIA TRUMP: Let’s talk about my nude modeling career."

Everybody: ...
Melania: WHY DOES EVERYBODY TALK ABOUT ME POSING NAKED!!??
Everybody: ... who are you talking to right now?

Melania: HERE IS SOME NAKED ART.
Everybody: okay.
Melania: BUY MY BOOK!
Everybody: Is it... is it a picture book?
Melania: DO YOU HAVE A PROBLEM WITH THAT!

Adam Parkhomenko, a Democratic strategist, suggested with sarcasm the promotional video suggested a tight collaboration between the former first lady and her husband, Donald.

"Between Trump’s silly crypto scam and Melania talking about her nude modeling," he wrote, "you really have to appreciate how laser focused they are on the campaign 48 days out."

The political group Republicans Against Trump admitted they did not immediately believe the video was genuine.

"I thought this new video from Melania Trump was fake, but no," they wrote. "She actually posted it on Twitter. I guess she’s desperate to sell as many copies of her new 'book' before the Donald loses in November."

Keith Boykin, former White House aide to President Bill Clinton, took a more serious tone, arguing Melania Trump was held to a different set of standards than former First Lady Michelle Obama.

"Nobody on the left cares that Melania Trump did nude modeling," he wrote. "We do care that Republicans want to police our bedrooms, our doctors, and our books, and ban pornography. We know that if a Black First Lady posed nude, Republicans would lose it. It's the hypocrisy, not the nudity."

Melania Trump explains why she's proud of her 'nude modeling work'

NOT PROUD ENOUGH TO SHOW IT

Kathleen Culliton
September 18, 2024

US First Lady Melania Trump announces her "Be Best" children's initiative in the White House Rose Garden AFP / JIM WATSON

Melania Trump is outraged that the press shamed her for nude photos nearly a decade ago because her fashion photo shoots for Max Magazine and Sports Illustrated were just like Michelangelo's David, the former first lady explained Wednesday.

Art.

Melania Trump's newest ad for her eponymous memoir delivered Wednesday morning a defense against a media attack Raw Story was unable to locate.

"Why do I stand proudly behind my nude modeling work?" Melania Trump says via voiceover in a new X video. "The more pressing question is why has the media chosen to scrutinize my celebration of the human form in a fashion photo shoot?"

Melania Trump's fashion model work received coverage between 2016 and 2020, when her husband Donald resided in the White House, a residence he hopes to reclaim in 2025.

Her nude shoot with another female model received media attention once again Wednesday morning — when Melania Trump decided it was a pressing subject.

The video defense includes sweeping music and a photo montage of historic works of art such as John Collier's 1897 painting of Lady Godiva, in which she appears naked on a horse, Jean-Alexandre-Joseph Falguière's sculpture of Eve, naked next to a tree, and The Bathers by Paul Cézanne — you guessed it, they are naked.

It does not include any images of Melania Trump.

"Are we no longer able to appreciate the beauty of the human body?" Melania Trump asks. "Throughout history, master artists have revered the human shape."

Her post includes a link to the Melania Trump website where readers can pre-order the memoir slated to be released on Oct. 8.

It is one of several such promotional posts from the former first lady which have been described by critics as "cryptic," "nearly normal" and "weird."

"We should honor our bodies," Melania Trump contends. "And embrace the timeless tradition of using art as a powerful means of self expression."

Watch the ad below or click the link.