'I can't get my money out': Billionaire investor Mark Mobius says China is restricting flows of capital out of the country

Carla Mozée
Fri, March 3, 2023 

Richard Brian/Reuters

Emerging markets investing veteran Mark Mobius says China is restricting capital outflows.


He told Fox Business' "Mornings with Maria' that he couldn't pull investment funds from his account in Shanghai.


Mobius said he's been unable to get an explanation about the "crazy" restriction.

Mark Mobius, a pioneer in emerging markets investing, said China is restricting investment outflows from the country, a move that would be taking place as the world's second-largest economy is trying to shake off pressure from COVID-19 lockdowns.

"I'm personally affected because I have an account with HSBC in Shanghai. I can't get my money out. The government is restricting the flow of money out of the country," Mobius said on Thursday on the Fox Business show "Mornings with Maria". "So I would be very, very careful investing in China," the founder of Mobius Capital Partners said.

Mobius, who has spent decades traveling the world searching for investment opportunities, said he hasn't been able to get an explanation about why he's running into the restrictions in China.

"It's just amazing. They're putting all kinds of barriers," he said. "They don't say, 'No, you can't get your money out,' but they say, 'Give us all the records from 20 years of how you've made this money,' and so forth. It's crazy."

Hong Kong, on the other hand, "seems to be a little more open," he said. The previous executive chairman of Templeton Emerging Markets Group said he's been able to get his money "in and out" of the financial center.

Mobius's warning came days before China's President Xi Jinping was expected to cement his third term at a key government meeting starting this weekend. China late last year abruptly began lifting long-standing COVID lockdown measures and economists worldwide are expecting a recovery process to ignite a resurgence in activity in services and manufacturing. Mobius said the reopening play is resulting in commodity prices starting to move higher.

But the current government is operating "in a completely different direction" than China's former market-oriented leader Deng Xiaoping, Mobius said.

India is a place that investors should consider, he said.

"You've got a billion people, they can do the same thing that the Chinese do. They can do the same kind of manufacturing and so forth," Mobius said.

"I'm now in Brazil, and Brazil, you've got 250 million-plus people. Very good people, open society. Hey, why not come here? It's another alternative."

Read the original article on Business Insider

Over 4 million gallons of waste from train derailment shipped throughout Ohio, to other states



WHIO Staff
Fri, March 3, 2023 

Over four million gallons of liquid wastewater and 1,400 tons of solid waste were removed from the Ohio train derailment site and a nearby town in East Palestine, according to an update release from the Ohio Governor’s Office.

>> Railway Safety Act: How new proposed legislation aims to prevent train disasters like East Palestine

News Center 7 previously reported about a month ago, on February 3, that a Norfolk Southern train derailed in northeast Ohio, near the Ohio-Pennsylvania border. The approximate 50-car freight train crashed, causing a days-long fire that required a controlled burn to prevent the carriage’s highly toxic and extremely combustible waste product from blowing up and sending metal shrapnel miles away. Authorities handling the crisis evacuated the nearby town of East Palestine as a precautionary measure.

Crews then commenced the controlled release that created a black cloud of smoke emanating from the crash site as well as a massive explosion.

Following the controlled release and the evacuation lift, residents who returned home found their environment and some of their water supply tainted. In addition, some resident began to experience adverse health conditions thought to be associated with their exposure to the chemicals. Symptoms included rashes, headaches, sore throats, and nausea. There were also growing concerns for pregnant women.

Since then, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and East Palestine’s municipal water works department worked to cleanup the disaster site and the nearby town of toxins, especially dioxins. The EPA further required Norfolk Southern to begin sampling directly for dioxins.

So far, the test results showed no detectable contaminants in the drinking water, a spokesperson for the governor’s office said.

To obtain the clean drinking water, 4.19 million gallons of wastewater were removed from East Palestine, according to the Ohio EPA.

The wastewater was shipped to Vickery, Ohio; Deer Park, Texas; and Romulus, Michigan; for disposal by deep well injection, a liquid waste technology that prevented the migration of contaminants into drinkable and publicly used water.

Additionally, 1,400 tons of solid waste were removed from the derailment site, the Ohio EPA reported.

510 tons were hauled to Grafton, Ohio, and East Liverpool, Ohio, for incineration. While, 880 tons were shipped to Belleville, Michigan, and North Roachdale, Indiana, to be placed into landfills.

For more information about the status of these tests into the local drinking water, you can visit Columbiana County Health Department’s website.

UPDATE: 

‘It’s unacceptable;’ Ohio Senator expresses frustration after latest train derailment in Springfield

WHIO Staff

Sat, March 4, 2023 

Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown said he is in touch with local officials and calling on passage of the Railway Safety Fact following a train derailment in Springfield late Saturday afternoon.

>>Railway Safety Act: How new proposed legislation aims to prevent train disasters like East Palestine

He thanked first responders who arrived on the scene quickly Saturday. after “another Norfolk Southern train derailed in Ohio,” Brown said in a social media post Saturday evening.

“Sandusky, Steubenville, East Palestine, and now Springfield - four Norfolk Southern derailments in less than five months because this corporation has been more concerned with its profit margin than with Ohioans’ safety,” he said in a statement. “Ohio communities should not be forced to live in fear of another disaster. It’s unacceptable, it’s why we must pass my bipartisan Railway Safety Act with Senator Vance, now.”

>>Norfolk Southern train derails in Springfield; No hazardous materials ‘involved’

Senators Brown and Vance introduced the legislation last week.

The proposal aims to prevent train disasters like what happened in East Palestine last month and Springfield Saturday, Brown said.

>>PHOTOS: Ground images of Springfield train derailment

The bill aims to improve rail safety protocols and establish requirements for wayside defect detectors and create a permanent requirement for railroads to operate with at least a two-person crew, a spokesperson for Senator Brown said.

No injuries have been reported in Saturday’s Springfield train derailment.

>>PHOTOS: Drone footage shows train derailment near Clark County Fairgrounds

A Norfolk Southern spokesperson said no hazardous materials were “involved” in the derailment.

  

Norfolk Southern train derails in Springfield; No hazardous materials ‘involved’


WHIO Staff
Sat, March 4, 2023 
UPDATE @ 10 p.m.:

Ohio Governor Mike DeWine confirmed he’s been in contact with federal officials including President Joe Biden and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg after Saturday’s Norfolk Southern train derailment in Springfield.

>>PHOTOS: Drone footage shows train derailment near Clark County Fairgrounds

DeWine added that multiple state agencies including the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency, Ohio Emergency Management Agency and the Ohio State Highway Patrol were all on the scene as well.


>>‘It’s unacceptable;’ Ohio Senator expresses frustration after latest train derailment in Springfield

>>Power outages reported following train derailment in Clark County

“We don’t believe hazardous materials were involved,” DeWine said in the social media post.

This story will continue to be updated as we learn more.

UPDATE @ 9:30 p.m.:

A news conference to provide updates on the train derailment in Springfield Saturday is not expected until after 11:30 p.m., a Clark County spokesperson told News Center 7 crews.

Around 20 rail cars on a Norfolk Southern train derailed around 5 p.m. near the on the state Route 41 crossing, just north of the Clark County Fairgrounds.

>>‘I started noticing all the debris;’ Witness captures video of train derailment in Springfield

No injuries have been reported. A Norfolk Southern spokesperson said no hazardous materials were “involved” in the derailment.

>>Power outages reported following train derailment in Clark County

U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said in a social media post that he was briefed after the derailment and offered federal support to Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine.

“I have been briefed by FRA leadership and spoke with Gov. DeWine to offer our support after the derailment today in Clark County, Ohio. No hazardous material release has been reported, but we will continue to monitor closely and FRA personnel are en route,” Buttigieg said.



UPDATE @ 8:20 p.m.:

Around 20 cars of a Norfolk Southern train derailed Saturday night near the Clark County Fairgrounds, however hazardous materials are not “involved,” according to a spokesperson for the train company.

“This evening, approximately 20 cars of a 212-car Norfolk Southern train derailed while traveling Southbound in the vicinity of Springfield, Ohio. No hazardous materials are involved and there have been no reported injuries. Our teams are en route to the site to begin cleanup operations,” the spokesperson said in a statement to News Center 7 Saturday night.

>>Railway Safety Act: How new proposed legislation in Ohio aims to prevent train disasters like East Palestine

A shelter-in-place remains for people who live within 1,000 feet of the derailment, which happened near state Route 41 and Gateway Drive.

Norfolk Southern has been the subject of large regional and national scrutiny in the past weeks after one of its trains, hauling hazardous materials, derailed in East Palestine, Ohio in early February.

>>RELATED: Farmers concerned about soil after train derailment in East Palestine

We have multiple crews on the scene and we’ll continue to update this page as we learn more.

UPDATE @7:05 p.m.

The Clark County Emergency Management Agency is asking residents within a 1,000 feet of the train derailment in Clark County to shelter in place, according to a post on the Clark County’s Government Facebook page.

People living in the area of State Route 41 near the Prime Ohio Business Park to shelter-in-place out of abundance of caution.

They are asking residents to avoid the area of State Route 41 and find alternate routes.


Sky 7 Drone/Eric Higgenbotham









Sky 7 Drone/Eric Higgenbotham

-INITIAL STORY-

The Clark County Sheriff’s Office have confirmed deputes are on scene of a train derailment late Saturday afternoon.

>>Sedan crashes into Springfield home, damages utility poles, wires

Deputies and medics responded to the area of State Route 41 and Gateway Boulevard near the Clark County Fairgrounds around 5 p.m.

Dispatchers confirm to News Center 7 they are on scene but no other information was available at this time.

Video sent from a News Center 7 viewer shows a couple of box cars derailed.

A hazmat crew is confirmed to be on scene, according to News Center 7′s Taylor Robertson.

The State Highway Patrol and Clark County Sheriff’s Office are also on scene.

We have a news crew on scene and will continue provide updates.

BREAKING: Drone Footage of Train Derailment near Clark County Fairground

Portuguese Church struggles to adopt concrete measures to tackle child sexual abuse


People walk by a church on the day Portugal's commission investigating allegations of historical child sexual abuse by members of the Portuguese Catholic church will unveil its report, in Lisbon

Fri, March 3, 2023
By Catarina Demony and Miguel Pereira

FATIMA, Portugal (Reuters) - Portugal's Catholic Church announced a handful of steps on Friday to tackle child sexual abuse within the Church - but it said suspected priests still in active roles would not be suspended unless the facts against them were clearly established.

The head of Portugal's Bishops' Conference (CEP), Jose Ornelas, also said that the Church would not pay reparations to victims.

The CEP met on Friday to discuss ways to tackle the issue after a report last month said at least 4,815 children were sexually abused by members of the Roman Catholic Church in Portugal - mostly priests - over 70 years.

That report by a Church-funded, one-year commission added that its findings were the "tip of the iceberg", and commission head Pedro Strecht said more than 100 priests suspected of child sexual abuse remained active in Church roles.

Ornelas - who is himself being investigated by public prosecutors for covering up sex abuse at an orphanage in Mozambique in 2011 but denies any wrongdoing - told Friday's news conference that "nobody was guilty" until a court said so.

The Church said it had received the list of alleged abusers and would use that to investigate the matter.

"We have to find these cases and really establish the truth of the facts (but) only with the list of names... It's very difficult," Ornelas said.

"I cannot remove someone from the ministry just because a person said 'This man abused someone'," he said.

CEP spokesperson Manuel Barbosa said there would be "zero tolerance" for abusers and those who covered up abuse.

Among the measures the CEP agreed on, Barbosa said the Church would offer "spiritual, psychological and psychiatric" support to victims and honour them with a memorial to be unveiled at this year's World Youth Day, set to take place in Lisbon this summer.

"It is with pain that we once again apologise to all victims of sexual abuse," Barbosa said. "We also reaffirm our firm intention to do everything possible to ensure that abuses do not happen again."

Barbosa said a group, also backed by the Church, would be created to continue to listen to the victims of abuse.

Keith Porteous Wood, president of Britain's National Secular Society and a long-time advocate for victims of clerical abuse, told Reuters that commissions financed by the Church faced "obstructions".

"Investigating 70 years in one year is just unrealistic, and you can't help but wonder whether that imposition... was actually an attempt to ensure as little as possible was reported," Wood said.

Wood said a new commission, preferably led by state judges, should be set up.

(Reporting by Catarina Demony and Miguel Pereira, Editing by Hugh Lawson)

LOVE IS A HUMAN RIGHT

Latin American country rejects same-sex marriage in landmark court case; not a 'human right'

Peter Aitken

FOX NEWS

(YOU CAN TELL FROM THE HEADLINE)

Sat, March 4, 2023 

Panama’s Supreme Court has ruled against same-sex marriage, saying that it is not a human right, closing the door to establishing the practice through judicial ruling.

"There is a reality, and it is that, until now, the right to equal marriage is no more than an aspiration, even though a legitimate one for the groups involved, and it does not fall into the category of a human right or a fundamental right," said the court, in the ruling dated Feb. 16 but released on Mar. 1.

The case resulted from same-sex couples who were married in other countries seeking to have their unions recognized in Panama.

But the court ruled that "no matter how many changes happen in reality," same-sex marriage "lacks conventional and constitutional recognition," the AFP reported.

The Supreme Court implied with its ruling that the country’s Family Code prioritized unions "capable of establishing families giving continuity to the human species, and therefore, to society," according to Newsroom Panama.



A woman holds a sign reading In case you haven't noticed, we are sovereign during a protest against same-sex marriage, outside the Supreme Court of Justice, in Panama City, on October 07, 2020. - Protesters demanded Supreme Court magistrates not to accept a claim of unconstitutionality against article 26 of the Family Code, which only recognizes the union between a man and a woman.

A commission established in 2022 looked at the issue, listening to members of the public who spoke on why they were seeking same-sex marriages, civil rights activists and a delegation from the National Government of Panama.

Yamileth Garces, a Panamanian woman seeking recognition of her marriage, said that the country "segregate us … minimize our value before society … condemn us to live in the dark."

The ruling also complicates issues of inheritance law and raises difficulties with potential medical decisions among other legal questions.

The new ruling will also require some reonciliation with a 2018 ruling from the Interamerican Court of Human Rights, which decreed same-sex couples had the same rights as heterosexual couples, which applied to all members – including Panama.

Iván Chanis Barahona, a lawyer and human rights activist currently serving as president of Fundación Iguales, told Human Rights Watch that same-sex couples are "invisible" in the country.

"Recently​​, the National Assembly of Panama passed a new law on adoptions, which included a prohibition on adoption by same-sex couples.," Barahona said. "Even though the president partially vetoed this law, he did not object to these discriminatory provisions.

In Central America, only Costa Rica independently recognizes same-sex marriage, and some believe the strong presence of the Catholic church in the region influences the decisions.

But Pope Francis recently decreed that same-sex marriage is not a crime but that it remains a sin in the eyes of the church.

Men climb up a light pole with a Panamanian flag during a protest against same-sex marriage, outside the Supreme Court of Justice, in Panama City, on October 07, 2020. - Protesters demanded Supreme Court magistrates not to accept a claim of unconstitutionality against article 26 of the Family Code, which only recognizes the union between a man and a woman.More

"Being homosexual isn’t a crime," Francis told The Associated Press. "It's not a crime. Yes, but it's a sin. Fine, but first, let's distinguish between a sin and a crime."

The Pope also addressed how some Catholic bishops support laws criminalizing homosexuality in some parts of the world. He, too, has referred to the issue in terms of "sin" but said bishops and others should undergo a process to change their thinking to recognize the dignity of all people.

"These bishops have to have a process of conversion," he said, saying the bishops should observe the same "tenderness, as God has for each one of us."

Fox News Digital's Lawrence Richard contributed to this report.

U$A

Here's how much the typical worker makes at 19 retail companies, from Amazon to Walmart

Dominick Reuter
Sat, March 4, 2023 

America's biggest public companies have to disclose their workers' median annual salary.Noah Berger/Reuters

Retail employers like Walmart and Target are spending big bucks to hire and retain workers.

SEC rules require publicly traded companies to disclose their workers' median annual pay.

Here's what the median worker gets paid at 19 retail companies, from lowest to highest.

Retail workers have seen their hourly wages increase substantially in the last several years.

Major employers like Walmart, Target, Home Depot, Lowe's, and more have plowed billions of dollars into pay increases in a bid to get workers to join their workforces — and stay.

Ever since Amazon set its minimum wage to $15 in 2018, more retailers have followed suit by offering starting wages worth more than double the national minimum wage of $7.25. The Federal minimum was last set in 2009.

But hourly wages are just one part of the pay equation. An employee's earnings also depend a lot on how many hours they work, and hours in the retail business can vary considerably, especially in seasonal segments.

To get a picture of what the typical worker makes in a year at various retail brands, Insider looked through the most recent proxy filings that publicly traded companies must file with the US Securities Exchange Commission. Rules following the financial crisis of 2008 require public companies to calculate their median worker's annual salary in order to compare it to the CEO's compensation.

Scroll through below to see where 19 of the largest companies rank, from lowest to highest annual pay.

Hillary Hoffower contributed to an earlier version of this story.

ANNUAL SALARY IN U$D

19. Gap: $7,348

Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

The 2021 calculation is up from $5,375 in 2018, and the company says its median employee was a part-time sales associate in Canada who did not work the full year.

18. McDonald's: $8,897

Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

The burger giant's median is up from the 2018 level of $7,017, and it says the 2021 median worker is a part-time restaurant crew member in the UK.

17. Foot Locker: $12,135

Phil Long/AP Photos

The shoe retailer's pay is up from 2018's median of $8,554, and the company says its median worker in 2021 averaged 17 hours per week in a Fresno, California store.

16. Starbucks: $12,254

AP Photo/Seth Wenig

Starbucks considers its median employee to be a part-time barista in the United States.

15. Ulta: $13,403

Jean-Marc Giboux

Ulta identifies its median employee by ranking all 43,986 associates from high to low by total cash compensation and selecting the middlemost one. In 2018, the company added in the value of employer paid health care benefits, which it does not say that it did for 2021. The 2021 median is down to less than half of the 2018 median of $27,235.

14. TJX: $14,139

Paul Morigi/Shutterstock

TJX Companies — which include TJ Maxx, Marshalls, and others — increased its median pay in 2022 from 2018's level of $11,243.

13. Chipotle: $15,811

A Chipotle ordering bar.Chipotle

Chipotle's median worker is an hourly part-time employee who works roughly 25 hours per week at one of our restaurants in Kansas.

12. Lowe's: $22,697

Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Lowe's includes full-time and part-time employees to determine the median employee and considers actual base salary, bonus or commission paid, and any overtime. Its 2021 rate is down from the 2018 level of $23,905.

11. Target: $24,535

A Target employee restocks shelves on January 5, 2011 in Miami, Florida.Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Target annualizes the pay of all full- and part-time employees, but takes only the actual earnings of seasonal and temporary workers to find the median for the whole workforce.

10. Advance Auto Parts: $24,960

Mike Mozart/Flickr/Some rights reserved

Advance Auto Parts includes all team members in their analysis of the median employee, including part-time, full-time, and seasonal team members. The 2021 level is up from $18,460 in 2018.

9. Walmart: $25,335

Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Walmart uses statistical sampling to identify a group of associates paid within a range of .5% of the company's median earnings amount, and then chooses the median compensated associate from that group. Its 2021 median was up from $19,177 in 2018.

8. Nordstrom: $26,479

Elaine Thompson/AP Photos

Nordstrom included full-time, part-time seasonal, and temporary employees to identify the median employee and says roughly half of its workforce is part-time or seasonal. The 2021 median is down from $30,105 in 2018.

7. Kroger: $26,763

UNIONISED

Kroger

Kroger's median employee is a part-time associate in the Midwest region, and more than half of its associates are part-time workers.

6. Macy's: $28,037

Kena Betancur/Getty Images

More than half of Macy's workforce is comprised of part-time or seasonal employees, and the company estimates its median based off of all employees other than the CEO. The 2021 median more than doubles 2018's median of $13,810.

5. Home Depot: $28,697

Rick WIlking/Reuters

Home Depot bases its median on its total workforce and says the median-paid associate was an hourly employee in the US. The 2021 median is up from $21,095 in 2018.

4. Best Buy: $29,999

PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP via Getty Images

3. Albertson's: $31,781

UNIONISED

REUTERS/Fred Prouser/File Photo

Albertson's says its median worker is a full-time hourly employee.

2. Amazon: $32,855

Pablo Blazquez Dominguez/Getty Images

Amazon considers all full-time, part-time, and temporary employees worldwide, except for CEO Andy Jassy, when calculating its median compensation. The company's 2021 median is up from 2018's level of $28,466.

1. Costco: $45,450

UNIONIZED

John Gress/Reuters

Costco's calculations include full-time, part-time, seasonal, and temporary employees, and use a combination of salary, bonus, equity compensation, and other measurable benefits paid during the year.



Read the original article on Business Insider

Philippines scrambles to contain oil spill and locate sunken fuel tanker



Fri, March 3, 2023

MANILA (Reuters) - Environment and disaster authorities in the Philippines rushed to contain an oil spill on Friday from a sunken fuel tanker that has reached coastal towns on a large central island, warning of dangers to marine ecosystems if more oil leaks.

The tanker, MT Princess Empress, was still missing on Friday after sinking en route to Iloilo province carrying about 800,000 litres (211,338 gallons) of industrial fuel oil.

The vessel encountered engine trouble on Tuesday due to overheating and drifted due to rough sea conditions, according to the coast guard. It was not immediately clear what caused it to sink but all 20 crew were rescued before it went down.

Carlos Primo David, undersecretary at the environment ministry, said it was crucial authorities find the tanker soon as there could still be a large volume of oil inside.

"If we can recover it that will help us a lot in containing the spill," he said in a media briefing.

"Bear in mind that the cleanup will be more difficult if more oil reaches coastal areas."

Environment Secretary Maria Antonia Yulo Loyzaga said a rapid assessment was being undertaken of coastal and marine habitats that could be impacted.

At risk of damage was approximately 591 hectares of coral reefs, 1,626 hectares of mangroves and 362 hectares of seagrass, the ministry said.

"The possible contamination might actually affect the viability of these systems," Loyzaga warned in a recorded message on Thursday.

The disaster agency in a statement said the oil spill had reached coastal areas of several municipalities in Oriental Mindoro, the eastern half of Mindoro island.

Advocacy group Earth Island Institute PH called it "a potential environmental disaster", likening it to a 2006 incident when a tanker carrying 2.1 million litres of bunker fuel ran aground in central Philippines.

Orca pair devour 17 sharks in a day in South African killing spree, say marine biologists

Bethany Dawson
Sat, March 4, 2023 

Orca whales Port and Starboard, who are notable due to their unusual fins
Marine Dynamics Conservation Trust

A pair of orca whales in South Africa killed 17 sharks in just "one sitting," said marine biologists.


An Orca duo was spotted ripped-open sevengill sharks to eat their oil-rich livers.


The male duo had previously terrorized great white sharks that used to hunt in the area.

An infamous pair of adult male orca whales in South Africa killed 17 sharks in "one sitting," according to marine biologists.

The team at Marine Dynamics Conservation Trust has been tracking the two whales, named Port and Starboard, who are known to prey on several species of sharks.


They found the orcas "repeatedly diving down in a small area for almost two hours before they departed offshore."

Days later, they found the remains of 11 of the 17 killed sevengill sharks in Pearly Beach. Sevengill sharks can grow up to 10 feet in length.

"Each sevengill shark was torn open and missing its liver," said the Maine Dynamics Conservation Trust. The orcas had also devoured the contents of the sharks' stomachs.

A shark killed by Port and Starboard who had its liver removed by the pair

Marine Dynamics Conservation Trust

The conservation trust said the sharks were washed to shore as due to storm and surge conditions, Alison Towner, PhD candidate at Rhodes University and research lead, said, "this is the largest amount of sharks these orcas have killed in this area in one sitting," says Towner, "There could well be more that didn't wash out."

The orca duo have been tracked since 2009 but are most commonly seen in False Bay, South Africa, where they were first spotted in 2015.

They are easy to identify due to their rare collapsed dorsal fins.

A researcher inspects the carcass of a great white shark.

Cari Roets/Marine Dynamics, Dyer Island Conservation Trust:

Before 2015, great white shark sightings were common in the region and were famous for spectacular breaching when they hunted seals, but their population is now negligible.

The carcasses of several great white sharks have since washed up on the shores of False Bay, all grossly injured and with their oil-rich livers ripped out. For the first time in May 2022, scientists were able to film Starboard killing a great white shark.

The high cost of eggs could give us a taste of an expensive, ethical, and cage-free future, an eggspert says


Hannah Getahun
Sat, March 4, 2023 

Eggs.Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

Egg prices have soared over the past year as a result of the deadly avian influenza.

However, prices will never really be the same, especially as the US transitions to cage-free eggs.

Some estimates say that in four years, 70% of hens could be laying eggs in cage-free housing.

Eggs — a tasty breakfast or, for the past year, a financial headache.

A highly pathogenic avian flu that killed 58 million birds bears much of the blame for record-high prices. High feed costs and inflation also played a part.

However, as flocks are recovering and egg price relief could be on its way, the days of $1 egg cartons could be over, as ethically sourced, cage-free eggs become a new reality in the US.

David P. Anderson, an extension economist at Texas A&M, told Insider the shift toward the new production system will come with production costs that will eventually reflect on supermarket prices.

"We're so focused on the short term, 'Oh, we got this disease,'" Anderson said. "But there's this underlying long-term portion in there, too. That's pretty important."
The trend toward ethical eggs

Most eggs in the country are produced by factory farms that stuff thousands of laying hens into battery-cages — stacked metal containers with little space to move. They live in one place, constantly producing eggs, eating and sleeping in their own feces and dust.

Animal rights activists say it's inhumane, and voters and businesses have responded.

In 2016, Massachusetts became the first state to mandate that eggs sold at stores need to come from farms that hold certain standards of care, including cage-free environments. Hundreds of businesses, like Walmart and McDonald's have also made pledges to move away from battery-cage eggs.

The changes in egg production among multiple states resulted in additional construction costs, higher feed costs, and higher labor costs. Cage-free methods could also result in lower egg yields.

CNBC estimated it would take farmers across the country at least $6 billion to build cage-free housing that would meet demand by 2027.

"It costs more money to produce a dozen eggs in a cage-free environment or any of these other methods," Anderson said. "So as more of the industry tries to convert to comply with those kinds of regulations and prices are going to be higher. "

During avian flu-induced price increases starting in February 2022, the price disparity became apparent. In states like California, whose cage-free mandate went into effect in January 2022, prices increased up to nearly $6 for a dozen eggs in December, while prices were $4 to $5 in many other states.

Other factors, like egg production being concentrated in the Midwest, resulting in higher transport costs, played a role as well, Anderson said.
Cage-free eggs are what consumers want, but 'sticker shock' could deter buyers

Despite the heftier price tag, cage-free is where the country is headed.

The percentage of hens in cage-free housing rose from 4% to 28% between 2010 and 2020, per the Associated Press. In four years, this figure could be 70%.

Fourteen states have already passed laws to ban cages and nine states have passed laws banning the sale of battery-cage eggs. The constitutionality of Proposition 12, the cage-free law passed in California, is currently being reviewed by the US Supreme Court.

However, higher prices can sometimes scare consumers from buying.

Consumer demand for eggs is currently lower than it was this time last year. This could be a case of sticker shock, Anderson said. It may also shed light on how consumers could react to egg price increases in the future.

"As prices have gone up people have become really cognizant of what it costs," Anderson said. "And they're changing what they're buying a little bit, like 'Gosh, you know, we'll buy fewer eggs.'"

I AM THE EGGMAN KOO KOO KA CHOO

The endless — and potentially harmful — debate over COVID’s origins

Mike Bebernes
·Senior Editor
Sat, March 4, 2023
“The 360” shows you diverse perspectives on the day’s top stories

What’s happening

The U.S. Department of Energy has determined that the most likely source of the coronavirus pandemic was an accidental leak from a Chinese virology lab, according to a recent report from the Wall Street Journal.

Debate over the origins of COVID-19 has raged since the earliest days of the pandemic. Two competing theories — one suggesting that it was a “lab leak” and the other that the virus was passed to humans from animals — have been the source of intense scientific scrutiny, media sniping and political posturing. But after three years of inquiry, there is still no clear answer.

The DOE’s determination, reportedly made with “low confidence,” only shows how much uncertainty there is, even at the highest levels of the intelligence community, about where COVID-19 came from. The FBI agrees that the “lab leak” theory is most plausible, director Christopher Wray said Wednesday. But four other government agencies and the National Intelligence Council have found that COVID-19 probably passed from animals to humans in an open-air market in Wuhan, China. The most rigorous scientific inquiries have also sided with the natural explanation.

For a period in 2020, the lab leak hypothesis was treated in much of the mainstream press as an unfounded conspiracy — in part because it was often raised by people who were also pushing genuine falsehoods, like the claim that COVID was a Chinese bioweapon. Prominent social media sites also blocked some posts discussing it. Over time, the lab leak theory has become more widely accepted as plausible, although no clear evidence to support it has been made public as of yet.

Why there’s debate

Experts widely agree that there’s a strong possibility the mystery of COVID’s origins won’t ever be solved and that the debate over where it came from may never die. Still, many observers believe the disagreement itself carries important lessons for science, politics and the way we tackle new challenges.

Republicans, many of whom have promoted the lab leak theory for years, responded to the DOE’s findings by accusing Democrats and the media of suppressing a potential truth about COVID, as part of a much broader campaign to stifle conservative points of view. Some centrist pundits also say the latest revelations show that the mainstream press was far too eager to block discussion of the lab leak because of the political profile of its main advocates. This error, they argue, is consistent with a trend that persisted throughout the pandemic, of invoking “trusting the science” as a rationale for smothering reasonable skepticism of COVID policies.

Others say the debate highlights how bad our society is at dealing with uncertainty. They contend that there’s no reason for such a basic question to become politicized or contentious at all, but that once it did, the critical scientific implications of discovering where COVID came from became an afterthought in the tribal fight over who got to say they were right.

Many scientists worry that intense focus on what may ultimately be an unsolvable problem is obscuring how critical it is to prevent the next major pandemic. Some people argue that part of the reason the debate has endured for so long is that once we move past it, we’ll have to face some really difficult realities about the way we choose to live and how it makes us increasingly vulnerable to deadly viral outbreaks.

What’s next

The Senate unanimously passed a bill on Wednesday that would require the intelligence community to declassify some of the material it has on the origins of COVID. It’s unclear, though, whether that bill has the votes to advance through the House of Representatives. House Republicans are likely to focus heavily on the lab leak theory at a hearing scheduled for next week as part of the party’s broad investigation into the Biden administration’s COVID response.
Perspectives

Far more attention should be paid to the dangers that are coming

“Tracing the roots of Covid-19 is still an important scientific and political task, but it’s far more urgent to halt the next pandemic before it ignites.” — Umair Irfan, Vox

Conspiracists made it tough to have a real discussion about the possibility of a lab leak

“The simple reason why so many people weren’t keen to discuss the ‘lab leak’ *theory* is because it was originally conflated by the right with ‘Chinese bio weapon’ conspiracies and continues to be conflated by the right with anti-Fauci conspiracies. Blame the conspiracy theorists. … It’s hard to have a good faith disagreement about a major issue if the issue itself has been hijacked by bad faith folks.” — Medhi Hasan, MSNBC host

Politicians and pundits should never have been involved in the debate in the first place

“The not-quite-solved mystery of exactly where this virus came from and how it found its way into humans … is a scientific question best left to scientists.” — David Quammen, Washington Post

Overzealous attacks on ‘misinformation’ undermine the people’s trust in government

“What’s ironic is that the measures taken by the Biden administration and the news media to ‘protect’ people from misinformation will backfire by erasing more trust in these institutions. There are still many unanswered questions about COVID-19, but it’s far better to admit this than force a narrative that later proves untrue.” — Ingrid Jacques, USA Today

During the pandemic, science became a matter of identity rather than truth

“The overt anti-science crankery on the right became a sort of cultural breaking point. For many liberals, following the science became not just a guide to developing sound policy beliefs, as it ought to be, but a tribal marker. … The temptation to use ideological criteria to settle scientific questions is one that ultimately poses a threat to science itself. The correct way to follow the science is to actually follow it — not to use it as a mascot or as a justification to place your own views beyond criticism.” — Jonathan Chait, New York

The debate shows the harm in acting as if there’s a clear answer to unsettled questions

“Health officials and intelligence experts may not have enough information to conclusively determine COVID-19’s origins. But the push to not merely decry the lab leak theory but to actively prohibit discussion of it—as was the case on Facebook—has not aged well. Let people discuss and debate all variety of coronavirus topics, without fear of sanction.” — Robby Soave, Reason

Mainstream media outlets don’t allow alternative viewpoints to intrude on their worldview

“Rather than embracing an ethic of questioning everything — and especially authority — the legacy press in recent years has taken on the role of enforcer of various orthodoxies, whether based in fact or not. The origins coverage is Exhibit A.” — Rich Lowry, National Review

Nuance and uncertainty can’t survive in the modern information environment

“In our attention economy, overconfidence is rewarded, while honest uncertainty is drowned out.” — Faye Flam, Bloomberg

Focus on COVID’s origins blocks hard conversations about far more important issues

“Whatever the conscious intentions of the proponents of a lab leak as the source of COVID-19, their arguments and their insistence on playing and replaying the debate have become dangerous. They shift responsibility for [the United States’] disastrous handling of the pandemic away from the failures of our political system, our politicians, and our health and public health systems and to a geopolitical rival. They are a partisan political cudgel, diverting attention from the real sources of danger of future pandemics and delaying action on what could be an existential threat to humans.” — John Ehrenreich, Slate

The debate will never end, even though the known facts aren’t likely to change

“It's going to go back and forth, back and forth. This echo chamber will make it appear that those who believe it was a lab leak will have more and more evidence and those who believe it was a natural spillover will have more and more evidence. But in fact, there's not new evidence at all.” — Michael Osterholm, infectious disease researcher, to Axios

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