Landfills are probably the oldest type of waste disposal – dumping trash in a midden or pit. But when a landfill is filled up, what can a community do with the site? A 30-year project to reclaim what was once the largest landfill in the world demonstrates the possibilities. Faith Lapidus reports.
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From: MeNeedIt
It’s been only 10 years since Apple’s late co-founder Steve Jobs presented the first iPhone. Since then, the competition with other companies has evolved into a giant battle of smartphones, each trying to outsmart and outperform the others. Samsung and LG already released their new phones for this year, so expectations for the iPhone 8 are high. VOA’s George Putic looks at what features the new version may bring.
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From: MeNeedIt
The White House’s decision this week to repeal the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), carries enormous repercussions for the nearly 800,000 beneficiaries: The undocumented young people who were brought to the United States as children.
But the cost, which is difficult to quantify for a workforce faced with the real possibility of losing their job and forced to leave the country, is evident to employers, who largely view both the moral and economic implications of ending the program as intertwined.
“Losing [the economic contributions of DACA recipients] is a direct cost,” said Kathryn Wylde, president and CEO of Partnership for New York City, which represents the city’s business leadership. She said the state’s DACA workforce contributes several billion dollars a year to the local economy.
WATCH: DACA Repeal to Cost U.S. Businesses, Economy Billions
“It’s also a signal to the rest of the world that somehow America is no longer a place that is embracing talent and hard work and the energy of immigrants,” Wylde told VOA. “That message has a ripple effect in terms of hurting recruitment efforts by our major companies, because they need talent — multilingual talent — from all over the world.”
Employers bear the brunt
To date, more than 400 U.S. entrepreneur and business leaders have signed an open letter that calls on U.S. President Donald Trump and Congress to preserve DACA and provide a permanent solution that ensures recipients’ ability to continue working legally in the country without risk of deportation.
“Our economy would lose $460.3 billion from the national GDP and $24.6 billion in Social Security and Medicare tax contributions,” the letter reads, referencing research conducted by the liberal-leaning Center for American Progress, over a 10-year period.
The conservative-leaning CATO Institute places that figure at $280 billion.
Lose-lose
Following the announcement of DACA’s repeal, the White House suggested unemployed American workers might somehow benefit, based solely on the age of the workforce.
“There are over 4 million unemployed Americans in the same age group as those that are DACA recipients,” White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders told reporters.
“Over 950,000 of those are African-Americans in the same age group; over 870,000 unemployed Hispanics in the same age group. Those are large groups of people that are unemployed that could possibly have those jobs,” Sanders said.
But economists and immigration analysts find fault with Sanders’ argument: The native-born unemployed population is not a perfect substitute for the DACA workforce, and the displacement of one worker for another does not increase productivity.
Under the repeal of DACA, CATO estimated employers would incur $6.3 billion in turnover costs, a figure that includes the recruiting, hiring and training of 720,000 new employees in often highly skilled positions. Thirty-six percent of DACA recipients 25 and older hold a bachelor’s or advanced degree.
Many DACA recipients “are highly educated and working in positions such as health care and education, where they are more highly paid and therefore more productive,” said David Bier, immigration policy analyst at CATO Institute. “[Those are] the industries where you’re going to see a greater impact as a result of this forced turnover caused by the DACA repeal.”
“Contracting the labor force, kicking people out of the country, will not create jobs. It will just shrink the overall size of the economy,” Bier said.
Over the long term, Wylde said, failing to find a permanent solution for DACA workers would inhibit U.S. businesses’ ability to compete.
“We want to be at the forefront of the attraction and support of our talent,” she said. “We don’t want to be deporting them.”
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From: MeNeedIt
The White House’s decision to repeal DACA, or Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, carries enormous repercussions for the nearly 800,000 beneficiaries who arrived in the U.S. as children. Over the next two years, more than 700,000 employed recipients will find themselves without a job. And for their employers, laying off a qualified workforce carries not only moral implications, but billions in lost revenue and an overall reduction in U.S. economic growth. VOA’s Ramon Taylor reports.
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From: MeNeedIt
Hugh Jackman, Lupita Nyong’o, Aaron Paul and Demi Lovato will co-host this year’s Global Citizen Festival, an annual free event held in New York’s Central Park.
Performers at the Sept. 23 event include Stevie Wonder, Green Day, The Killers, The Lumineers, The Chainsmokers, Pharrell Williams, Big Sean, Andra Day and Alessia Cara.
The organization announced Friday that Frieda Pinto, Connie Britton, Deborra-lee Furness, Joan Smalls, Kal Penn, Malin Akerman, Mark Cuban and others will also co-host the multi-hour event. It will air live on MSNBC and Comcast NBCUniversal.
Fans can earn their free tickets for admission by joining the movement at globalcitizenfestival.com.
Last year, Jackman co-hosted the event with Neil Patrick Harris, Chelsea Handler and others. Performers at the 2016 concert included Rihanna, Eddie Vedder, Kendrick Lamar and Metallica.
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From: MeNeedIt
Real estate experts say Hurricane Irma’s winds threaten 8.5 million homes and businesses in Florida.
A report from data analysis firm CoreLogic says storm surges — floodwaters driven by high winds and low pressure — may also endanger 3.5 million commercial and residential properties.
Standard & Poor’s analysts say they are still adding up the costs of Hurricane Harvey, but Irma seems likely to cost even more. Researchers at Barclays Bank say hurricane claims costs might rise high enough to wipe out a year of earnings for certain insurance companies.
Deadly Hurricane Irma is also hurting transportation companies, including airlines, which have canceled 4,600 flights to and from airports in the Caribbean and Florida, according to FlightAware.com. Bad weather is forcing Miami’s airport to stop operating Friday and Orlando’s facility to end flights on Saturday. Together, these major airports handle about 2,000 flights on normal days.
Florida accounts for about 5 percent of the U.S. GDP and 6 percent of U.S. jobs. PNC Bank chief economist Gus Faucher says U.S. economic growth may briefly slow in the third quarter because of Harvey and Irma, but he thinks it will bounce back late this year and early next year. Faucher says insurance and government aid will fund rebuilding efforts in the wake of the storms, and that will add to economic activity and hiring.
Commonwealth Financial Network’s Brad McMillan says previous major storms like Hurricanes Katrina and Sandy caused huge local problems but did not change the national economy in a “fundamental” way. He says the recovery in this case may take “longer than usual.”
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From: MeNeedIt
This is the Top Five Countdown! We’re taking aim at the five most popular songs in the Billboard Hot 100 Pop Singles chart for the week ending September 9, 2017.
You’ll be glad you joined us this week because countdown history is made – this is one for the record books.
Number 5: Charlie Puth “Attention”
Charlie Puth rebounds a slot to fifth place with “Attention,” which tops this week’s Billboard Pop Songs chart.
How did Charlie know this song was a hit? His artist & repertoire partner Mike Beard tells Billboard that they usually have other people critique their songs…but this time they didn’t need to. They knew “Attention” was a winner.
Number 4: Imagine Dragons “Believer”
Also on the upswing is Imagine Dragons in fourth place with “Believer.”
Lead singer Dan Reynolds says therapy has made him a better person. Dan says he went through a crisis of faith, which has now led him to fight on behalf of others. Last month, Imagine Dragons headlined their own festival, LoveLoud, which works to benefit LGBTQ youths…particularly within the Mormon community.
Number 3: Cardi B “Bodak Yellow (Money Moves)”
Holding in third place is Cardi B with “Bodak Yellow (Money Moves).”
Earlier this year the New York rapper signed with the Atlantic label, and now says her debut album will drop in October. She broke the news to her fans last weekend at the Made In America festival in Philadelphia.
Number 2: DJ Khaled Featuring Rihanna & Bryson Tiller ” Wild Thoughts”
DJ Khaled, Rihanna, and Bryson Tiller occupy the runner-up slot for another week with “Wild Thoughts.”
DJ Khaled tells E! News that he used to fear flying so much that he hadn’t stepped on a plane in 10 years. He says taking his infant son Asahd on tour has helped him overcome that fear. Khaled couldn’t bear to be apart from him, so he’s back in the air and feeling fine.
Number 1: Luis Fonsi & Daddy Yankee Featuring Justin Bieber “Despacito”
“Despacito” remains airborne for an incredible 16th week at number one, and yes…that ties the all-time Hot 100 record, set in late 1995 and early 1996 by Mariah Carey and Boyz II Men. The name of their song? “One Sweet Day.”
Next week looms large: what will happen on the Hot 100? We’ll be here to tell you so don’t miss a moment!
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From: MeNeedIt
About 143 million Americans could be affected by a cyberattack on the credit monitoring company Equifax.
The Atlanta-based company said Thursday the hackers obtained names, social security numbers, birth dates, addresses of more than 40 percent of the U.S. population.
“Based on the company’s investigation, the unauthorized access occurred from mid-May through July 2017,” the company said in a statement.
The company said credit card numbers were also compromised for some 209,000 U.S. consumers, as were credit dispute accounts for 182,000 people.
Additionally, limited personal information was also compromised for some in Britain and Canada.
Equifax said it doesn’t believe that any consumers from other countries were affected.
The company has established a website to enable consumers to determine if they are affected and will be offering free credit monitoring and identity theft protection to customers.
Equifax is one the largest credit-reporting companies in the U.S.
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From: MeNeedIt
Scientists have accused the alcohol industry of misleading the public over the link between alcohol and cancer.
Researchers looked at the websites of 28 global organizations representing the alcohol industry, and concluded that the vast majority distort or misrepresent the evidence of an alcohol-related cancer risk.
“What you might see is that certain health problems related to alcohol consumption are mentioned on the website, but cancer is missing, or specific types of cancer are missing, particularly breast cancer or colorectal cancer,” said Mark Petticrew, professor at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, who led the research.
The Washington-based International Alliance for Responsible Drinking, or IARD, is accused of misleading the public over the risk of contracting specific types of cancers, and trying to confuse the issue by highlighting a range of other risk factors.
In a statement provided to VOA, the IARD disputed the conclusions, saying: “We believe in sharing the current state of the scientific evidence and stand by the information that we publish on drinking and health.”
Petticrew compares the industry’s actions with those of the tobacco giants, which for a long time disputed the link between cancer and smoking.
“In the U.K., around 4 percent of cancers are attributable to alcohol consumption,” Petticrew said. “I think what’s important to remember is that the risk itself is quite low for people who consume at low levels. But the fact is that the information about the risk that is disseminated by these organizations is distorted and misrepresented.”
The report says further research is needed on whether the alcohol industry is distorting information on other risks, such as cardiovascular disease.
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From: MeNeedIt
At least 1.4 million people uprooted by Boko Haram’s insurgency in northeast Nigeria are living in ‘cholera hotspots,’ prey to an outbreak of the deadly disease which is sweeping through camps for the displaced, the United Nations said on Thursday.
An estimated 28 people have died from cholera in the conflict-hit region, while about 837 are suspected to have been infected with the disease, including at least 145 children under the age of five, said the U.N. children’s agency (UNICEF).
The outbreak was first identified last week in the Muna Garage camp in Maiduguri, the capital of Borno state, which is the heart of jihadist group Boko Haram’s brutal eight-year campaign to carve out an Islamic caliphate in northeast Nigeria.
About 1.8 million people have abandoned their homes because of violence or food shortages, U.N. agencies say, and many live in camps for the displaced throughout northeast Nigeria.
Several aid agencies last month told the Thomson Reuters Foundation that Nigeria’s rainy season could spread disease in already unsanitary displacement camps, and 350,000 uprooted children aged under five are at risk of cholera, UNICEF said.
“Cholera is difficult for young children to withstand at any time, but becomes a crisis for survival when their resilience is already weakened by malnutrition, malaria and other waterborne diseases,” UNICEF’s Pernille Ironside said in a statement.
“Cholera is one more threat amongst many that children in northeast Nigeria are battling today in order to survive,” added Ironside, UNICEF’s deputy representative in Nigeria.
UNICEF said aid agencies have set up a cholera treatment centre at the Muna Garage camp, chlorinated water in camps and host communities to curb the outbreak, and mobilised volunteers and local leaders to refer suspected cases to health facilities.
The disease, which spreads through contaminated food and drinking water, causes diarrhea, nausea and vomiting. It can kill within hours if left untreated, but most patients recover if treated promptly with oral rehydration salts.
The latest figures represent a 3.3 percent fatality rate – well above the 1 percent rate that the World Health Organization rates as an emergency. The short incubation period of two hours to five days means the disease can spread with explosive speed.
More than 20,000 people have been killed in the conflict with Boko Haram, at least 2.2 million have been displaced, and 5.2 million in the northeast are short of food, with tens of thousands living in famine-like conditions, U.N. figures show.
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From: MeNeedIt
After the last space shuttle mission ended, in July 2011, the activity at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, seemed to be waning. NASA’s next launch vehicle was still in the early stages of design, so launch activity was transferred to the Russian space center in Baikonur. But this opened new opportunities for the space center, and today it is booming with private business activity. VOA’s George Putic reports.
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From: MeNeedIt