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newstfionline · 3 years

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Wednesday, June 30, 2021

Millionaires (Quartz) There are currently 56.1 million millionaires in the world, most of whom are agglomerated in a few particularly rich countries. The United States, China and Japan combine to just over 50 percent of the millionaires of the world—the U.S. has 39.1 percent of the millionaires, China 9.4 percent and Japan 6.5 percent. Continentally, North America is home to 42.1 percent of all millionaires, while Europe still outpaces Asia with 17.2 percent of millionaires. In terms of millionaires per capita, though, one country wins out: fully 14.9 percent of the population of Switzerland are millionaires, well above the 9.4 percent of Australians who are millionaires and 8.8 percent of Americans.

US finished dead last among 46 countries in media trust (The Hill) The U.S. media is the least trustworthy in the world, according to a comprehensive new Reuters Institute survey encompassing 46 countries. Finland ranked the highest, with a 65 percent trust rating. In Kenya, the trust rating clocked in at 61 percent. But here in the U.S.A., the home of global media giants including the New York Times, Washington Post and CNN, we’re trusted by a whopping 29 percent of those reading and watching. We’ve been trending in this dubious direction for some time. For example, one Axios/Survey Monkey poll in 2019 found that nearly 8-in-10 independent voters said they believed that news organizations report news “they know to be fake, false or purposely misleading.” Ninety-two percent of Republicans felt the same way, as did even a majority of Democrats. Which means readers and viewers believe that the "mistakes" we so often see, particularly in the political media that dominates the national landscape, are not happening because of human error, which is a convenient excuse offered up from journalists when "bombshell" reports end up being false, fake or purposely misleading. And trust is like toothpaste: Once it’s out of the tube, it’s impossible to regain.

As Portland, Ore., copes with unprecedented heat, illnesses spike and roads buckle (Washington Post) Kim and Kathy Stoughton thought they could wait out the record-breaking heat in their east Portland apartment, even though they don’t have air conditioning. But by Sunday, they couldn’t take it anymore. So the couple headed to Sunrise Center, a community-center-turned-cooling-station. Thousands around the city are grappling with a similar choices as the city grinds through a third day of record-breaking heat. In an indication of the heat wave’s exceptional nature, the temperature in Oregon’s capital was just one degree below the all-time record for Las Vegas. The heat has also sent people to the hospital, suffering symptoms ranging from vomiting and dizziness to syncope, a temporary loss of consciousness caused by falling blood pressure as people’s bodies are depleted of water. It’s affected infrastructure too. Transportation agencies across the region shared photographs of broken and buckled roads—signs of heat so intense it melted asphalt. And in a photo taken by KOIN news meteorologist Kelley Bayern, Portland’s record temperatures proved just enough to cook an egg on the sidewalk. Perched atop an open-face avocado sandwich, the egg looked good enough to eat. But Bayern abstained.

As Surfside community members wait for news, they are inundated by hundreds of acts of kindness (Washington Post) Day Five and the two crises in Surfside continue. One is at 8855 Collins Ave., where search-and-rescue teams painstakingly clear rubble and look for the missing. The other is playing out all over town, as friends and families of the residents of the collapsed Champlain Towers South wait for news. The crisis among the living is being tended with food and drink, clothes and toiletries, creature comforts aimed to soothe and distract. And money. Financial donations have poured in: more than $1.2 million so far. And what members of the Surfside community marvel at, even as they grieve, are the hundreds of similar acts of kindness that have filled the hours since Thursday. Some are tiny—a young boy doling out candy to first responders—and some have required monumental, coordinated efforts from strangers halfway around the world.

Brazil’s drought (Foreign Policy) Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro signed an executive order on Monday establishing emergency measures to manage water flows through the country’s hydroelectric plants as Brazil endures its worst drought in almost a century. Speaking on Monday, Brazilian Energy Minister Bento Albuquerque urged residents to curtail their power and water usage. The new measures come a week after Brazil’s Congress approved a bill to privatize state-controlled energy company Eletrobras.

Torrential rain hits Germany leading to accidents, floods (AP) Thunderstorms hit Germany late Monday and torrential rain poured down on southern and western parts of the country leading to dozens of accidents and hundreds of firefighter operations throughout the night. In Bavaria, some villages were flooded, including Moemlingen, near Frankfurt, where streets were completely covered by water and mud and many basements had to be pumped dry by firefighters, German news agency dpa reported on Tuesday. In Stuttgart, parts of the roof and several statues on the city’s opera house were thrown to the ground by the winds. Altogether, rescue teams were called in more than 330 times Monday and early Tuesday in Stuttgart, and train service was interrupted for hours. Felled trees had to be cut and removed by firefighters.

After nearly 20 years US to leave Bagram (AP) For nearly 20 years, Bagram Airfield was the heart of American military power in Afghanistan, a sprawling mini-city behind fences and blast walls just an hour’s drive north of Kabul. In just a matter of days, the last U.S. soldiers will depart Bagram. They are leaving what probably everyone connected to the base, whether American or Afghan, considers a mixed legacy. U.S. Central Command said last week that it’s well past 50% done packing up Bagram, and the rest is going fast. American officials have said the entire pullout of U.S. troops will most likely be completely finished by July 4. The Afghan military will then take over Bagram as part of its continuing fight against the Taliban—and against what many in the country fear will be a new eruption of chaos. It’s the second time that an invader of Afghanistan has come and gone through Bagram. The Soviet Union built the airfield in the 1950s. When it invaded Afghanistan in 1979 to back a communist government, it turned it into its main base from which it would defend its occupation of the country. The Soviet Union negotiated its withdrawal in 1989. Three years later, the pro-Moscow government collapsed. When the U.S. and NATO inherited Bagram in 2001, they found it in ruins, a collection of crumbling buildings, gouged by rockets and shells.

The U.S. and Iran near a breaking point (Washington Post) The brinkmanship between Tehran and Washington is getting all the more tense. Even as indirect negotiations proceed over bringing both countries back into compliance with the terms of the 2015 nuclear deal, American and Iranian officials fired angry broadsides at each other, blaming the opposite side for a lack of progress. And then there’s the actual shooting war. On Sunday night, the Biden administration announced that U.S. airstrikes had targeted facilities on either side of the Iraq-Syria border linked to militias that have Iranian ties. U.S. officials said that the strikes were reprisals for an uptick in drone attacks targeting U.S. personnel in the region. On Monday evening, the violence continued. U.S. officials confirmed that multiple rockets had targeted a facility housing U.S. troops near al-Omar oil field in northeast Syria, and that the United States had responded with artillery fire targeted at positions where the rockets were launched. Some lawmakers in Washington are starting to question the sustained presence of American troops in Syria and Iraq, as well as the United States’ right to carry out airstrikes on positions within these countries. But the Biden administration, like its predecessor, argues that the threat these militias pose to U.S. troops merits such action. Both the Syrian and Iraqi governments have protested the airstrikes.

Virus outbreak in Fiji batters economy, tests health system (AP) A growing coronavirus outbreak in Fiji is stretching the health system and devastating the economy. It has even prompted the government to offer jobless people tools and cash to become farmers. The Pacific nation got through the first year of the pandemic without any significant outbreaks and just two virus deaths. But an outbreak of the highly contagious delta variant two months ago has grown to the point where Fiji is adding about 250 new cases each day. The government has so far resisted calls for a lockdown, in part to try and protect an economy which had already shrunk by 19% last year after international tourism evaporated. Nearly half of all jobs were connected to tourism in the island nation that’s known for its white-sand beaches, clear water and welcoming people. “Business-wise, it’s very bad,” said George Bernard, who owns a business servicing fire extinguishers. He fears life will never be the same. “I’m just trying to survive,” he said.

Tigray regional capital Mekele under control of former rulers (Foreign Policy) The balance of power in Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s war with the formerly-dominant Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) shifted dramatically on Monday, as rebels recaptured Tigray’s capital Mekele, seven months after government forces had seized the city. Within an hour, the Ethiopian government had declared a unilateral cease-fire—something it had resisted, despite international pressure, for months—citing a request from Tigray’s interim government appointed by Addis Ababa. In reality, the interim government, along with government troops, had already fled, with some departing Tigray on Sunday amid the TPLF advance. In Mekele, witnesses reported residents dancing in the streets as Tigrayan forces paraded through the capital. U.N. Secretary General António Guterres, after speaking with Abiy, said he was “hopeful” that a cease-fire would take hold adding that it is “essential that civilians are protected, humanitarian aid reaches the people in need and a political solution is found.”

Outcry over South Africa’s multiple husbands proposal (BBC) A proposal by the South African government to legalise polyandry—when a woman has more than one husband at the same time—has led to howls of protest from conservative quarters. South Africa has one of the world’s most liberal constitutions, embracing same-sex marriages for all and polygamy for men. Businessman and TV personality Musa Mseleku—who has four wives—is among those opposed to polyandry. “This will destroy African culture. What about the children of those people? How will they know their identity?” asks Mr Mseleku, who stars in a South African reality TV show about his polygamous family. In polyandry, the woman often initiates the relationships, and invites the husbands to join her union. Some pay the bride price, others opt to contribute to her livelihood. She has the power to remove a co-husband if she believes he is destabilising her other relationships.

S.Africa court jails ex-leader Zuma for 15 months after inquiry no-show (Reuters) South Africa’s constitutional court sentenced former president Jacob Zuma to 15 months in jail for contempt of court on Tuesday after he failed to appear at a corruption inquiry earlier this year. Zuma failed to appear at the inquiry led by Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo in February, after which the inquiry’s lawyers approached the constitutional court to seek an order for his imprisonment. The inquiry is examining allegations of high-level graft during Zuma’s period in power from 2009 to 2018. Zuma denies wrongdoing and has so far not cooperated.

Microreactors (Physics Today) The Pentagon wants small nuclear reactors that can be transported to the battlefield and provide 1 to 5 MW of power. Naturally, the idea of “let’s put a functioning nuclear reactor inside an active warzone” is not exactly going over great among detractors. Over the course of fiscal years 2020 and 2021, $133 million was appropriated to Project Pele, and the Biden administration wants another $60 million for FY 2022. Taking a step back, the reason the military wants a portable reactor is potential demand from high-energy weapons and the high costs of transporting fuel during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The program manager of Project Pele cited prices of $50 to $100 per gallon for diesel fuel delivered to bases in Iraq and Afghanistan, though critics cited costs of $12 per gallon for ground transport and $31 per gallon for air delivery to a base in Afghanistan. Those fuel convoys were the source of a considerable fraction of U.S. casualties in the conflicts—a 2015 RAND study put the percentage at 52 percent of casualties from 2001 to 2010—but, again, with nuclear reactors on active forward operating bases, the downsides are not especially difficult to tease out.

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supershanzykhan · 3 years

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10 Reasons why event management is an ideal start-up option

The ultimate guide to starting a business

If you are looking for business start-up ideas, try exploring why event management is the starting point for starting a business. You may end up finding the right business for you.

Exactly what is event management?

Event management is a business where a client pays you to set up and organize different types of events. These events can range from very simple jobs to complex extravagances, requiring a greater degree of logistical inputs.

Some typical examples of the type of events you can manage include birthday parties; wedding; graduations; jubilees; Christianity and grass mitzvahs. In fact, almost any type of case may require a special event.

In addition to private events, there are also corporate events such as product launches, team building events, sales meetings, or year-end events. The list of opportunities for corporate event planning (as well as nonprofit foundations) available to an event planner is extensive.

10 Reasons Why Event Management May Be Right for You

1. Almost unlimited revenue potential - the types of events mentioned above are the tip of the iceberg. The list of potential customers available to you is huge. In terms of potential, you are limited only by your imagination.

2. Low Start-Up Cost - Among the many business start-up ideas, the event management model is hard to beat. You do not need an office and can hire contract staff as needed. Also, unlike many other businesses, you do not need to hold stocks of any kind. If you love your event management business, you can get the ball rolling for a very minimal cost.

1. Minimal risks - because you do not need to invest in many of the fixed costs (eg space and office equipment) associated with starting another business, your weak risk is kept to an absolute minimum.

2. Cash flow Positive - as a business owner, you have the luxury of deciding which payment terms will apply to your customers. However, in event management, 50 percent prepaid and fully paid balance, before the event, is very common. Because you do not have to wait 30-90 days for payment, you are not facing the cash flow problems that many new businesses face. Equally important, because it is paid before completion, you do not have to pursue money, as some business owners do.

1. Repeat Business - the holy grail of any business are returning customers from time to time. It is much easier to repeat business with existing customers than to constantly find new products. Corporations will always give you repeat business if you do well, and private individuals will recommend you to friends and family if they are happy with your work.

2. Accessibility - as event management has grown in popularity as a business start-up, the availability of online event management courses has spread. It's quite easy to do a Google search to find the one that works best for you.

3. Efficiency - a great benefit of event management is the ability to automate many of the required tasks using open source software. There are many excellent software packages available on the market today that will help you organize and grow your business efficiently.

4. Building a considerable fortune - an event management action, especially one with corporate repeat customers - is a valuable asset that you can sell or pass on to a family member.

5. Dynamic Industry - people become physically and emotionally involved in their events and actively seek out good event planners. The end result is a rewarding career when you are engaged and interacting with people.

1. Fun - running an event management business can be an optimistic and fun experience because the events you are orchestrating are happy occasions.

“What kind of work do you do?” Is a common question when meeting someone for the first time? If your response is, "I'm in the event management," you will most likely receive follow-up questions about what exactly that means.

You can, in fact, be asked if you are the party planner or meeting planner. In the event planning profession, job titles are as varied and varied as the services provided, and it is often difficult to describe and categorize one from another.

It can be challenging when preparing an event planning portfolio, looking for a job, or in working with a client who does not have the correct understanding of your job function and responsibilities.

Event management versus event planning

So what exactly is event management and how does it differ from event planning?

Event management versus event planning

While event management and event planning are very closely related, two very different functions. The main difference lies in these two words: management and planning. In very simple terms, event managers manage the event planner and event plan the event. However, event managers can also plan aspects of events and event planners may manage some components of the event planning process. Event managers and event planners work side by side, and their responsibilities may overlap.

To make matters even more confusing, individual event planners often provide event management services, and event managers can also offer event planning services.

If all of this has scratched your head, let's start by taking a closer look at event management.

Event management includes project management

Event management involves creating and developing large-scale events that may include conferences, conventions, concerts, trade fairs, festivals, and celebrations.

Event management includes defining the target audience, conceptualizing the event, overall logistical planning of the event, and project management of the event as a whole - including managing the teams of people responsible for each function, budgeting, and overseeing the implementation of the event. Event managers also oversee the services of all external vendors and professionals, which includes event planners.

Defining the responsibilities of the event:

Choose places to book

Coordination of external suppliers

Engaging or entertaining speakers

Arrange transportation and parking

Obtaining the necessary permits and appropriate insurance Responsibility for compliance with health and safety standards

Develop contingency plans

Managing crises and situations in the event

Design a security plan

Event monitoring

This list is by no means complete. Depending on the scope of the event and the other professionals hired, job responsibilities may vary.

The role of event management services

Event management firms are often hired to plan and execute large corporate meetings and special events. While weddings and concerts are common events for professional event management, sporting events, reunions, and large parties are also events that can benefit from event management.

Government agencies, nonprofits, associations, and companies take advantage of event management companies to coordinate important events and meetings. The juvenile management function can often be found within a public relations or public relations department or as part of an employee’s special assignment.

Skills to succeed

As with most event planning jobs, event management requires excellent organizational skills to succeed. The ability to multitask and juggle multiple moving parts is essential, along with that top-notch organization comes the need for efficient time management skills. Being able to prioritize and stay on task is what leads to a successful event. Event management begins with the process of creating a vision for the event and then seeing it through implementation, which calls for creativity and flexibility.

Because project management is an essential component, and it involves not only managing jobs but teams of people, interpersonal skills are also important. Interacting with individuals at all levels of the organization is part of the job, and excellent communication skills and being comfortable and personal will go a long way in developing those relationships.

Courtesy:event management in Lahore

#eventplanning corporatelife managementskills photographers foodblog lahorediaries dressupnotdown decorationideas styleinspiration gue

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khalilhumam · 4 years

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Is spectrum shortage a thing of the past?

New Post has been published on http://khalilhumam.com/is-spectrum-shortage-a-thing-of-the-past/

Is spectrum shortage a thing of the past?

By Tom Wheeler For decades we have heard of the “spectrum shortage.” The growth in wireless usage—from Wi-Fi to smartphones and tablets—was taxing the finite supply of the airwaves that carry those services. Spectrum seemed to be a modern example of an observation attributed to Mark Twain about investing in land because “They’re not making it anymore.” Like land, spectrum has been a rivalrous asset in that if one party owns it, another party cannot. Digital technology has changed that equation, however, to allow for multiple users to share the same piece of spectrum without causing signal interference. Such sharing could possibly put a serious dent into—or even eliminate—the “spectrum shortage.” Now, the largest user of spectrum, the Department of Defense (DoD), has put out a Request for Information (RFI) that seems to propose that at least some of the spectrum traditionally used by the military could be shared for a fifth generation (5G) wireless network. The DoD cites a component of 5G technology called dynamic spectrum sharing (DSS) as the vehicle to accomplish this. The DoD concept for spectrum sharing is the simple application of digital electronics. Such sharing is a good idea as 5G networks put even more pressure on the need for spectrum. A not-so-good-idea, however, has been suggested by the Trump campaign: that the shared spectrum would be used by the federal government to build and operate a 5G network.

How Spectrum Sharing Works

During the Obama years, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) negotiated with the Defense Department to create a shared band of spectrum that could be used both by the military (principally the Navy) as well as those who wanted to deliver both commercial and unlicensed wireless service. How spectrum sharing works is exemplified by the Wi-Fi in our homes in which we use the same piece of unlicensed spectrum as our neighbors without interfering with each other. The neighbors are non-rivalrous users because each can use the same piece of spectrum without limiting anyone else. Wi-Fi works because it is a “listen before talk” technology. That means that before it sends out a packet of data, the Wi-Fi device “listens” to see if another device is transmitting. Because it is digital, that “listening” is measured in milliseconds. If the neighbor is transmitting, your Wi-Fi device will wait until there is an open millisecond-sized slot before shoving some of your data into that unused space. The beauty of digital signals is that they can be more flexibly shared than the old analog signals. Consider, for instance, over-the-air television. Prior to 2009, American TV broadcast signals were transmitted in analog format (think LP recordings vs. CDs). The size of an analog TV signal indicated that the license size had to be 6 megahertz (MHz) wide for the analog waveform to fit without interference. When the U.S. went to digital TV in 2009, it became possible to fit four or five digital TV signals into the space once required for a single analog signal. The FCC took advantage of this new reality to reassign broadcast licenses and free up spectrum for use by mobile network providers. Such sharing of spectrum is the basis for the dual public-private use of spectrum implemented by the Obama FCC. Known as a Citizens Broadband Radio Service (CBRS), it shares spectrum between wireless service providers and the military. CBRS is now operational, thanks to microchip-based spectrum “sniffers” that identify unused capacity and dynamically assign channels based on pre-established priorities.

What is the Trump Agenda?

On September 18 the DoD published a Request for Information seeking “information on innovative solutions and alternative approaches to enable DSS within the Department’s currently allocated spectrum.” The query specifically focused on the spectrum between 3100 and 3550 MHz. That spectrum is prime turf for 5G but is currently allocated to DoD, principally for radar. Replies are due October 19, after which the department will determine next steps. This is a milestone. The Defense Department itself is suggesting that it is possible to share spectrum without harming its operations. This attitude would set the precedent that could make the spectrum shortage an historical artifact. But it is not quite as simple as the DoD saying, “come share our spectrum.” In the first place, the DoD has been allocated the spectrum for governmental use. If that piece of the airwaves is to be used for commercial purposes, it must be formally reallocated and its usage assigned by the FCC. Only the FCC has jurisdiction over commercial spectrum activities. The RFI seems to suggest the DoD would continue to be the assigned user of the spectrum. Specifically, it asks, “How could DoD own and operate 5G networks for its domestic operations? What are the potential issues with DoD owning and operating independent networks for its 5G operations?” The words “for its 5G operations” seems to suggest that the military is planning for a proprietary 5G network. Heretofore, the DoD has been happy to be a customer of U.S. commercial mobile networks. This concern that the Pentagon is actually proposing to go into competition with commercial mobile service providers is raised by the Trump campaign’s “2nd Term Agenda.” Under the heading “Innovate for the Future” the Trump campaign says that a second term would “Win the Race to 5G and Establish a National High-Speed Wireless Internet Network.” Parsing the words seems to suggest the government is going to “establish” a 5G network of its own that would compete with commercial providers. Donald Trump’s penchant for posturing over policy frequently leaves one wondering just what the administration’s policy is. To great fanfare in October 2018, he announced his spectrum strategy would be ready in six months. That work product has never surfaced. This compares with how President Obama established early-on a spectrum policy that became the North Star for all federal agencies. In place of such policy certainty, the Trump administration has ad hoc and contradictory spectrum activities that appear to be based on the politics of the moment. In January 2018 the idea of a government-built 5G network was floated by the White House. The principal rationale for this was cybersecurity protection, but that idea apparently did not fit the politics of the moment and was quickly repudiated. At an April 2019 White House event the president criticized the idea of a government-built 5G network. “It won’t be nearly as good, nearly as fast” as a commercial operation, he said. “In the United States our approach is private-sector driven and private sector led.” “At the president’s direction,” the White House announced in August 2020, “100 megahertz of contiguous, coast-to-coast mid-band spectrum will be made available for commercial 5G deployment.” The designated spectrum is in the 3450-3550 MHz band. The announcement cites “collaboration with the Department of Defense…to ensure commercial use of this critically-needed mid-band spectrum.” The emphasis on commercial use of the spectrum appeared to be the final stake in the heart of a government network. But then the lack of a plan and the politics of the moment collided to create confusion. First, there is the Trump campaign’s August 23 pledge to “Establish a National High-Speed Wireless Internet Network.” Three weeks later, the Pentagon put out its RFI asking, among other things, “How could DoD own and operate 5G networks for its domestic operations?” Then there is the confusion caused by how the spectrum that was made available “At the president’s direction” (the 3450-3550 MHz band) is a key part of the Pentagon’s RFI (which covers all spectrum between 3100 and 3550 MHz). Based on “the president’s direction,” the FCC immediately went to work to prepare for the transfer of this spectrum from government to commercial use. On September 30, the agency voted to move forward on the process despite the Pentagon’s RFI asking, “Should the DoD consider spectrum leasing as an alternative to reallocation?” To accentuate the confusion, on the same day as the FCC vote, 19 Republican senators wrote President Trump that the DoD RFI contradicts the existing “free market path” to 5G and “is not the way the United States will win the 5G race.”

So What is the National Policy?

Absent an administration policy on spectrum, one is reduced to reading the tea leaves. Option 1: Admission Against Interest The DoD may end up being what in a trial is called an “admission against interest”. In other words, the Defense Department’s RFI has formally admitted that it can share spectrum without affecting military preparedness. The question the RFI asks is about how to do the sharing, and how to make money out of it. This is essentially the same strategy used by satellite licensees such as Intelsat who are cashing in on the spectrum they were licensed; a strategy that began by saying they no longer needed all that had been assigned to them. Option 2: Beware of Political Influences Republican heavyweights such as Newt Gingrich, Karl Rove and Brad Parscale have been lobbying the White House and Pentagon for a federally-owned 5G network that would then wholesale capacity. A New Yorker investigation of these efforts was headlined, “A Pitch for a Nationwide 5G Network Tailor-Made for Trump’s 2020 Campaign.” The article quoted Karl Rove that a wholesale network using DoD spectrum would be a “very viable and strong commercial enterprise” and that “if the wholesale market doesn’t emerge, they still have a very valuable nationwide 5G network that could be sold off.” Option 3: Sharing is Good In the early days of cellular phones some of the companies would share their licensed spectrum to avoid redundant buildout costs. It was a logical approach that maximized the efficiency of the spectrum while preserving scarce capital (note it was commercial ownership of network infrastructure, not government). If what the Defense Department is doing with their RFI is to set up for a new round of spectrum sharing, then everyone comes out ahead. The FCC could then assign the spectrum for commercial purposes, and the DoD could even share in the proceeds of an FCC-run auction if Congress agrees (and they have in previous instances). Unfortunately, absent the long-promised and overdue Trump national spectrum policy, the use of spectrum—especially government spectrum—becomes ad hoc. The Trump administration has so often substituted showbiz and politics for substantive policy that it is difficult to make sense of the simultaneous but conflicting activities of the White House, FCC, and DoD. One thing, however, is clear: spectrum sharing could mean the end of the spectrum shortage—but if that is to come to pass, we need a national policy.

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easyfoodnetwork · 4 years

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Undocumented Workers Hold the Restaurant Industry Together. Now, They Stand to Lose the Most.

WStudio/Shutterstock

The pandemic has left the country’s most vulnerable with nowhere to turn

This story was originally published on Civil Eats.

Prior to the pandemic, Reyes delivered food and washed dishes for a restaurant in New York City. Now, with the restaurant reduced to serving take-out, he’s mainly just doing deliveries and, as a result, making less than half the income he used to.

Originally from Teopantlán in Puebla, Mexico, Reyes is undocumented, but he pays taxes through one of the many untraceable, individual taxpayer identification numbers (ITIN) that the IRS has issued to people in hopes of creating a paper trail of their contributions to the government. Two years ago, this wasn’t possible, since he was getting paid cash, under the table, before he and his co-workers organized and filed a complaint with the Department of Labor.

He says he worries for himself, but also for all of his undocumented peers, who are more susceptible to exploitation than other restaurant workers. They face an array of challenges as a result of the increasingly dangerous combination of restaurant closures and Trump’s immigration policies. Undocumented people are also some of the most susceptible to infection by COVID-19, since many live in close quarters and multi-family dwellings.

“[Working at the restaurant] is hard because I have had to do some of the most difficult jobs that others don’t want to do. I had to clean up sewage that the restaurant is supposed to hire external services to do. But I fear losing my job, so I accept it,” he said.

“Some employers know first-hand the vulnerability of the employees. And they often exploit them.”

The amount of work he’s offered has also been inconsistent. The restaurant owner promises him work, only to wait days before calling him back in. “That’s the strategy he’s been using to terrorize us with losing our jobs,” he says.

Though New York City has created a $20 million fund to disburse cash payments of $400 ($1,000 for families) for up to 20,000 immigrants with both legal and non-legal status, that’s a drop in the bucket for the half-million undocumented people living in the city.

Reyes is just one of millions across the country who face similarly impossible predicaments. Three months since the pandemic first struck the U.S., over 8 million restaurant workers have lost employment — including 5.5 million workers in April alone. A large number of these newly unemployed workers are undocumented. The undocumented comprise 10 percent of all restaurant employees in the U.S., and as many as 40 percent in urban areas such as Los Angeles and New York.

Undocumented immigrants as a whole pay billions in taxes and a higher effective tax rate average than the top 1 percent of taxpayers (8 percent versus 5.4 percent).

And, as they often work in the back of house — as line cooks, bussers, dishwashers, and janitors — they’re largely invisible to the dining public. In reality, they’re the backbone of the industry. And yet, many are unable to obtain health insurance even though they perform backbreaking work day after day. Most didn’t receive a $1,200 stimulus check from the government, and they often fear getting tested for COVID-19 or obtaining care for fear of deportation.

And although several organizations — new and old — are working to provide financial and logistical support for these workers, they’re facing language barriers, privacy, concerns, and a host of other challenges.

“The restaurant industry often employs very vulnerable sectors of the population: seniors, women, people of color, the undocumented,” says Manuel Villaneuva, lead organizer for the Los Angeles chapter of Restaurant Opportunities Centers (ROC) United. “Some employers know first-hand the vulnerability of the employees. And they often exploit them, commit wage theft, and let them know psychologically that they’re replaceable.”

A Sizable Need

In California, Governor Gavin Newsom has initiated a public-private partnership to disseminate $125 million in disaster relief. Of the total amount, $75 million is allocated to the undocumented, out of work because of the pandemic and ineligible for stimulus checks and unemployment. The other $50 million, the California Immigrant Resilience Fund, is in direct aid to especially vulnerable communities, including the disabled. But when phone lines opened up early earlier this month, they became completely backlogged, ultimately crashing for many on hold.

Comunidades Indigenas en Liderazgo (CIELO), an organization dedicated to Indigenous language rights, is one of the nonprofit organizations that has received $200,000 of the CIRF to give $400 checks to 500 Indigenous, undocumented families from Latin America for financial relief. Of those, 50 percent work or used to work in restaurants.

“Undocumented migrants undergo a huge problem because they’re pushed out by their home country, escape here, and then [they] are criminalized,” says Odilia Romero, co-founder and executive director of CIELO. “Then, the pandemic happened. They’re at the bottom and the least likely to obtain any support.”

One worker who has applied for funds through CIELO is Federico, a former dishwasher at a Downtown Los Angeles restaurant. Originally from Oaxaca, Mexico, he and his wife, from Puebla, have lived in L.A. for over 30 years and have four children who are U.S. citizens, the eldest of whom is 26. Since being laid off, Federico has found a job sewing masks.

“The money is nothing compared to what I made at the restaurant because we get paid by the piece,” he told Civil Eats. “We are paid either 5 cents or 10 cents apiece. In order to make $40/day I have to make 800 masks,” he explains. His family is fortunately able to get the food they need through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).

There are many nonprofits dedicated to restaurant worker relief aid, but the majority fail to specify whether they are inclusive of undocumented workers for fear of political polarization jeopardizing contributions. And for workers, supplying personal information in order to qualify for aid brings anxiety about being tracked by ICE.

“We are pretty scared,” admits Federico. “It’s a constant feeling, but we have kids so we always try to take care of ourselves so we can provide a better life for them. We are aware of our status so we try to just … live with being undocumented.”

Language Barriers

Another obstacle to accessing financial support is linguistic. While many support organizations do have Spanish-speaking employees, many who have emigrated from Mexico or Central America aren’t fluent in Spanish.

Stephen Murray, a Los Angeles chef who organized a Gofundme campaign for 38 undocumented workers with LA Kitchen Migrants, explains, “There are multiple Zapotec [Indigenous people from Oaxaca] kitchen workers who don’t even speak Spanish, let alone English. The same goes for workers from Guatemala, whom we have a lot of in L.A. It’s a huge barrier for them to find help.”

Damian Diaz, of Va’La Hospitality, a bar consultancy group, co-founded No Us Without You, a new nonprofit group in Los Angeles that runs a food pantry program supplying packages of food that feeds a family of four for one week. Diaz personally reaches out to each applicant in Spanish and asks them to fill out an easy questionnaire online.

“Every single individual has my direct phone number and I tell them, ‘If you have someone in need who fits the bill, give them my number.’ Once I get the completed questionnaire, they’re on queue,” Diaz said. So far, the group assists 350 families a week and it has no intention of capping the number.

In the long term, the only way out of this conundrum is to provide these workers with a path toward citizenship.

Another Round Another Rally (ARAR) is another nonprofit that was launched by bar professionals dedicated to assisting out-of-work hospitality workers, with the goal of disbursing at least 50 percent of the funds they raise (in $500 payments) to Spanish speakers. It’s funded by spirits companies and foundations, with Campari Group alone donating $1 million to their cause (other donors include Patron, Aperol, Tito’s Vodka, and Ketel One).

Catherine Rosseel, a Boston-based volunteer coordinator, says that at the beginning of the campaign, there were 1,500 English-speaking applicants, but only 100 were Spanish-speaking — a difference she attributes to a reluctance to share personal information on the part of undocumented folks.

“I had four of my [bilingual] friends volunteering to talk to these people. We took down the barrier of [requiring] the application online so people felt safe, but realized it wasn’t efficient because people were too scared to give out their information and the conversations went too long. The calls just kept coming, so we had to regroup,” Rosseel says.

Fortunately, a group of bilingual Stanford MBA students reached out, spurred by a class assignment to help a specific community during the pandemic. Together with ARAR, they came up with a more streamlined application process that involves SMS prompts and rapport with native Spanish speakers, among other tools.

“Just hearing that voice makes them a little bit more comfortable, and to feel like this is real, and not some kind of scam,” says Claudio Gonzalez, a first-year, Stanford MBA candidate.

Actually getting the funds to people hasn’t been easy. No Us Without You and ARAR have both had difficulties maintaining contact with applicants. There are no-shows and calls gone unanswered. “A lot of these families had cars initially,” Diaz said. “But they’ve had to sell their cars to make some type of money. Also, they might have stopped having phone service because they can’t pay their bill, so there’s a lot of [talking over] Whatsapp in order to make reservations and appointments.”

The pandemic has left the country’s most vulnerable with nowhere to turn, but it has also exposed the reality of razor-thin margins in the restaurant industry, and just how often these businesses rely on the labor of undocumented, “essential” workers who are often treated as disposable.

And as restaurants stay closed or reopen at 25 percent or 50 percent capacity, the future could be even more bleak.

Like many advocates, ROC United’s Villaneuva wants to see undocumented workers given wage replacement and rent forgiveness. But in the long term, he says, the only way out of this conundrum is to provide these workers with a path toward citizenship — a change that some say would be net a positive for our GDP and reduce our deficit.

“We need to revise the immigration system where people can qualify by showing they’ve been working, paying taxes, and they’ve not been a burden on the government,” he says, adding that the current rule requiring people to leave the U.S. to apply for citizenship often puts families in especially precarious positions.

“The process needs to be sped up and made it simpler, so they don’t have to gamble with whether they can come back or not,” says Villaneuva.

Some names of individuals in this story have been shortened to protect their identity.

• Undocumented Restaurant Workers Have Held the Industry Together. Now They Stand to Lose the Most. [Civil Eats]

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The pandemic has left the country’s most vulnerable with nowhere to turn

This story was originally published on Civil Eats.

“Some employers know first-hand the vulnerability of the employees. And they often exploit them.”

Undocumented immigrants as a whole pay billions in taxes and a higher effective tax rate average than the top 1 percent of taxpayers (8 percent versus 5.4 percent).

A Sizable Need

Language Barriers

In the long term, the only way out of this conundrum is to provide these workers with a path toward citizenship.

“Just hearing that voice makes them a little bit more comfortable, and to feel like this is real, and not some kind of scam,” says Claudio Gonzalez, a first-year, Stanford MBA candidate.

And as restaurants stay closed or reopen at 25 percent or 50 percent capacity, the future could be even more bleak.

“The process needs to be sped up and made it simpler, so they don’t have to gamble with whether they can come back or not,” says Villaneuva.

Some names of individuals in this story have been shortened to protect their identity.

• Undocumented Restaurant Workers Have Held the Industry Together. Now They Stand to Lose the Most. [Civil Eats]

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marymosley · 4 years

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The Best Federal Student Loan Servicers Ranked

Americans hold an astonishing $1.56 million in student loan debt. This money is spread across 45 million borrowers who hold an average loan amount of nearly $30,000.

Who handles all these loans? The federal government?

Nope. The government hands this job over to federal student loan servicers. This is the company you make your student loan payments to. Let’s find out more about them here.

What are federal student loan servicers?

The government provides the education loan when you apply for federal student aid, but they don’t deal with the loan afterward. That job is handed over to a loan servicer.

Most people with student loans have more than one loan since you have to reapply for a new loan for each semester that you need one. Despite this, you might only make one or two payments from your bank account for eight loans. This is because your loan servicer takes your monthly payments and distributes them between your different loans.

Servicers also offer a variety of repayment options to make it easier to repay your student loans if you’re having trouble making your monthly payments. They do this in a few ways:

Working out flexible repayment plans as your ability to pay changes

Allowing you to temporarily halt your autopay payments if you fall on hard times (whether through forbearance or deferment)

Offer loan forgiveness for those working in non-profits or the public sector once they meet the requirements

However, it’s not all rainbows and unicorns. As is often the case when an organization doesn’t have to vie for your business, customer service is poor and management is haphazard. What’s worse, they don’t really care to do anything about improving it.

There are only a handful of student loan servicers to choose from and you don’t even get to pick anyway. You’re assigned a servicer by the U.S. Department of Education when you take out your loan.

Can you switch to a new servicer?

There are a few reasons why the Department of Education may reassign you to a different servicer. None of those reasons include you requesting a different one.

There are only two ways to get rid of your servicer or switch to a different one yourself. Consolidate your federal loans with a Direct Consolidation Loan or refinance your federal student loans with private loans.

We’ll talk more about these options below. For now, let’s look at how 4 student loan servicers stack up.

Four student loan servicers: ranked

We’ve already established that none of the student loan servicers do a fantastic job, but some are better than others.

To find out the rankings, we looked at the number of complaints that customers registered with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau for each company compared to the number of customers they have. From there, we extrapolated the number of complaints per million customers to create a fair metric by which to compare the companies.

1. Great Lakes

Standing out as possibly the best federal loan servicer, Great Lakes actually offers pretty decent customer service. The numbers are quite impressive compared to the others on our list, as you’ll see.

They provide service to the most customers, 8,090,000, and have the least number of registered complaints, 235. This gives them an overall total of 28.8 complaints per million. Pretty impressive!

If you’re not happy with Great Lakes as your student loan servicer, you’re kind of out of luck. The company consistently earns the best reviews out of all the servicing companies. Even if you could switch, there isn’t necessarily a better option to switch to.

What is Great Lakes doing right?

Well, customers generally like the Great Lakes website. They say it’s user-friendly and makes some tasks much easier. For example, to request forbearance, instead of calling up the customer service line and waiting on hold, you can sign up online and they don’t give you much hassle about proving your need.

In general, customers have good things to say about Great Lakes’ customer service. One common theme was that sometimes representatives gave out the wrong information. Although, in such a large company it’s not uncommon to get the wires crossed on occasion. However, the company should be making every effort to properly train all its employees.

2. Nelnet

Nelnet comes next. Out of their 6,150,000 customers, 635 filed complaints with the CFPB. This leaves them significantly worse than Great Lakes with 103 complaints per million customers.

Though Nelnet is doing significantly better than the other two federal loan servicers we’ll talk about, their customer service still leaves something to be desired. Some customers complain that nothing seems to be resolved when dealing with Nelnet’s customer service and representatives don’t seem to know what they’re talking about. Some customers also complained that they received conflicting information about an issue directly from the company itself.

Keep in mind that Nelnet is a large company and services millions of student loans. There is bound to be a bit of confusion here and there and even miscommunication. To protect yourself from fees due to miscommunications, be sure to do your own research as well as save any correspondence with the company.

3. AES/PHEAA

Next on our list, we have American Education Services (AES) which is operated by the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency (PHEAA). The PHEAA also operates another large loan servicing agency, FedLoan Servicing, which some consider to offer the worst customer service of the lot, though it has its contenders.

According to the numbers we looked at, AES is trailing Nelnet by quite a bit. With 7,999,000 customers, they have 1,883 complaints, which leaves them with 235 complaints per million customers.

The main theme among AES customer complaints seems to be poor and even false communication. Many student loan borrowers complain about false reporting to the credit agencies. This is a big issue as it can negatively affect your credit score, potentially by a lot depending on the error. To make matters worse, customers claim that the customer service department at AES has been less than helpful when trying to resolve the issues.

4. Navient

Of the four companies we examined (and quite possibly ALL student loan servicers), Navient comes in dead last. This company serves 6,210,000 customers and had 3,800 complaints registered with the CFPB. This gives them a disappointing total of nearly 612 complaints per million customers.

Navient may be guilty of more than just bad customer service. The CFPB and five state attorneys general all filed lawsuits against Navient at various points in 2017 and 2018. They are accusing Navient of:

Misallocating payments

Encouraging buyers to choose forbearance over income-driven repayment (thus accumulating more interest)

Not being clear with customers about how to re-enroll in income-driven repayments plans or how to qualify to remove a co-signer

Navient maintains that the lawsuits cite new servicing standards being applied retroactively and they are not at fault.

Only time will tell about how the lawsuit turns out, but regardless, we suggest staying away from Navient if at all possible.

Direct loan consolidation

So what if you’re stuck with the worst of the worst? Is there a way to switch to the best of the bad? As we mentioned earlier, there are only two ways to change up your loan servicer.

The first is by taking out a Direct Consolidation Loan (however this may be a really bad idea, so keep reading).

Remember how we mentioned that most people have multiple student loans? It’s even possible that they have more than one servicer, meaning they have to make more than one payment each month.

You can pay off all your smaller loans with one large Direct Consolidation Loan. During this process, you can pick out which loan servicer you want to use. However, not all federal student loans qualify for consolidation.

The problem with taking our a new Direct Consolidation Loan is that you’ll reset any payments you’ve made with respect to student loan forgiveness (e.g. if you’re pursuing income-based repayment or Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF)). For that reason, you likely don’t want to consolidate your federal student loans.

If you’re not pursuing forgiveness, then refinancing probably makes more sense.

Refinancing federal student loans

But switching federal student loan servicers usually means you go from bad to mediocre at best. If you actually want a good servicer, you’ll have to refinance your federal student loans and work with a private lender.

This involves taking out private student loans to pay off your government ones. Student loan refinancing will get rid of your less-than-stellar servicer altogether and potentially lower your interest rate or get other better loan terms, saving money in the long-term. If you’re interested in checking rates, try a company like Earnest or Credible to see what they will offer you.

You can do this with all federal student loans. However, doing this means that you give up your federal student loan protections. These include:

Income-driven loan repayment plans

Student loan forgiveness programs

Deferment or forbearance during a time of financial hardship (although most private loan companies offer some sort of deferment or financial difficulty options).

I hope this article has been insightful for you. Though you don’t have a lot of freedom to choose your student loan servicer, it’s good to know your options.

Originally posted on The Best Federal Student Loan Servicers Ranked

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gordonwilliamsweb · 4 years

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Hospital Suppliers Take To The Skies To Combat Dire Shortages Of COVID-19 Gear

Hospitals in the New York City area are turning to a private distributor to airlift millions of protective masks out of China. The U.S. military is flying specialized swabs out of Italy. And a Chicago-area medical supply firm is taking to the skies as well — because a weekslong boat trip across the ocean just won’t do.

The race to import medical supplies reflects a nationwide panic over a dwindling supply of the masks, gowns and other protective gear that health care workers need amid the growing coronavirus pandemic. Demand is outstripping what’s available due to a damaged supply chain heavily reliant on China and a struggling Strategic National Stockpile. U.S. manufacturing giants like 3M have not yet made up the difference.

A sweeping national survey out Wednesday drives home that nearly a quarter of hospitals have fewer than 100 N95 masks on hand and 20% report an immediate need for ventilators. In the hardest-hit areas, like New York City, the shortages are potentially life-threatening to patients as well as health care workers.

About 260 health systems representing 990 major hospitals responded to the March 16-20 survey by Premier Inc., a group purchasing organization that negotiates with suppliers for discounts. While the survey provides a fresh picture of nationwide hospital operations, the number of U.S. COVID-19 cases has soared tenfold since the survey began ― from fewer than 5,000 to more than 55,000 as of Wednesday afternoon.

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“Absent additional interventions from the government or private sector, we don’t foresee the current status quo changing,” said Soumi Saha, senior director of advocacy for Premier. “And the current status quo is not acceptable.”

Saha said the national stockpile “is intended to be a band-aid, not a long-term solution.” Premier called on the Trump administration to either further implement the Defense Production Act to ramp up domestic manufacturing or provide more clear direction on which medical supplies are needed and streamline distribution. FEMA announced Tuesday it did not use the Defense Production Act for test kits after previously stating it would.

The alarm bells ringing from the hospital community come in contrast to a more subdued message from FEMA, which is helping hospitals procure needed goods.

“The private sector can directly purchase [personal protective equipment] from manufacturers and distributors, as they normally do,” FEMA press secretary Lizzie Litzow said in a statement. “The private sector can also accept donations from other private sector entities.” The statement pointed to a “how to help” document that outlines how individuals and companies can share supplies or other resources.

In recent days, volunteer efforts have ramped up to help health providers who’ve taken to Twitter and other social media with pleas for more protective gear. Grassroots efforts have sprung up, with veterinary, computer, construction and industrial businesses donating goods while sewing circles churn out cloth masks.

During a White House press briefing Tuesday, President Donald Trump said FEMA is distributing more than 8 million N95 respirators, 14 million surgical masks and 2.4 million face shields.

“The federal government is using every resource at its disposal to acquire and distribute critical medical supplies,” the president said.

3M, a major American manufacturer of the N95 masks, said on March 20 it had doubled its global output of the crucial N95 respirators and plans to further increase output. Currently, over 30 million industrial and health care specific N95s are being produced for U.S. health care use by the company each month. Shipments totaling half a million 3M masks were scheduled to start arriving in New York and Seattle on Monday from its South Dakota plant.

The influx of goods comes as health care providers are now using four to 10 times more protective gear once a COVID-19 patient enters their doors than they typically use. This has forced hospitals already dealing with cases to scramble even more than health care facilities yet to get any cases, though shortages are crippling all areas of the health care industry.

“It’s a total change in what we are used to as a society around availability,” said Cathy Denning, senior vice president of sourcing operations for Vizient, an analytics and advisory firm that also does health care group purchasing. “From our perspective, it’s this unbelievable place we find ourselves in — realizing we have a vulnerable supply chain.”

As the coronavirus crippled China, the center of commerce for low-margin products like face masks and sanitizing wipes, the U.S. supply chain began to fall apart. With global competition for the same safety gear, the crisis deepened, and big national suppliers aren’t coming up with enough products to meet the crushing demand.

And waiting about a month for a cargo ship of supplies to arrive from China is a luxury of time that hospitals cannot afford ― even though ships can carry over 10 times more supplies than a cargo plane could.

Medline, a Chicago-area medical supplier, started delivering face masks by airplane last week after manufacturing resumed in China. According to spokesperson Stacy Rubenstein, flying the supplies in will shorten the “manufacturing-to-dock” time by three to four weeks, and the firm will not be passing along the “significant increase in cost” to customers.

But the demand is still 300% higher than traditional inventory levels, Rubenstein said in an email.

Elsewhere, hospitals are reaching out to Michael Einhorn, president of Dealmed, the medical products distributor and supplier working with 12 New York metro area hospitals — desperate for products he cannot always secure.

“Does it cost the hospitals a lot of money? No question about it. But right now, that’s what they need to do to secure product,” Einhorn said. “We can’t wait for it to come overseas.”

He’s paying up to $40,000 for shipments arriving on multiple planes from Shanghai to New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport and Los Angeles International Airport — and sometimes losing money due to the high shipping costs.

The other backstop for hospitals was the national stockpile, which has come up far short.

Despite receiving 49,200 N95 masks, 115,000 surgical masks, 21,420 surgical gowns, 21,800 face shields and 84 coveralls from the national stockpile, the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment estimated in a press release Monday that those supplies would last approximately one full day of statewide operations.

Einhorn said that hospitals are panicking, having lost faith in the supply chain as they cannot find products they so desperately need.

“The strategic national stockpile, with all due respect, was a failure,” he said.

The hospitals reported in the survey that their supply of N95 masks are their chief concern, with the best-supplied hospitals having about a 10-day supply on hand.

Hospitals identified hand sanitizer as the second-most pressing shortage, with 64% of respondents saying they were already running out. Next was surgical masks, which provide less protection than the N95 masks. Nearly half of hospitals had fewer than 1,000 on hand; a quarter of them reported going through 1,000 per day.

To keep up with that kind of demand, Einhorn said, more needs to be done to secure the products from China.

“One of the things we have been asking for is assistance getting these products quickly from China to here,” said Einhorn. “Instead, we’re doing drives of people dropping off three boxes of face masks.”

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stephenmccull · 4 years