Month: October 2023

The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday grappled with a pair of cases from California and Michigan involving public officials blocking critics on social media, with the justices struggling to define when such conduct runs into constitutional limits on the government’s ability to restrict speech.

Lower courts reached different conclusions in the two cases, reflecting the legal uncertainty over whether such social media activity is bound by the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment, which protects freedom of speech. Blocking users is a function often employed on social media to stifle critics.

The justices, hearing about three hours of arguments, focused on spelling out the circumstances for deciding whether public officials were acting in their personal capacity when blocking critics or engaged in a “state action.” The First Amendment constrains government actors but not private individuals.

The first case involves two public school board trustees from Poway, California, who appealed a lower court’s ruling in favor of parents who sued them after being blocked from the personal accounts of the officials on X, called Twitter at the time, and Facebook. The second case involves a Michigan man’s appeal after a lower court rejected his lawsuit against a Port Huron city official who blocked him on Facebook.

Justice Samuel Alito cited a hypothetical town manager who puts a municipal seal on his own social media page and tells citizens to express their views. Alito told Hashim Mooppan, a lawyer for the school board officials, that his argument could let this town manager “block anybody who expresses criticism of what the town manager is doing, and thereby create the impression that everybody in town thinks the town manager is doing the right thing.”

Mooppan urged the justices to embrace the “duty or authority” legal test that looks at whether officials operated their pages to fulfill official duties or used governmental authority to maintain them. Under this test, Mooppan argued, the social media activity of his clients was not governmental.

Justice Elena Kagan cited former President Donald Trump as an example, noting he did “a lot of government” on his Twitter account, sometimes even announcing policies.

“It was an important part of how he wielded his authority — and to cut a citizen off from that is to cut a citizen off from part of the way that government works,” Kagan said.

The Supreme Court previously confronted the issue in 2021 in litigation over Trump’s effort to block critics on Twitter. It declined to decide the matter, deeming the case moot after Trump left office.

President Joe Biden’s administration sided with the officials in both cases argued on Tuesday. A ruling is expected by the end of June.

The California case involves Michelle O’Connor-Ratcliff and T.J. Zane, elected Poway Unified School District trustees. They blocked Christopher and Kimberly Garnier, parents of three local students, after they made hundreds of critical posts on issues including race and school finances. A judge sided with the couple. The San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals agreed.

In the Michigan case, Port Huron resident Kevin Lindke sued after City Manager James Freed blocked him from his public Facebook page following critical posts involving the COVID-19 pandemic. A judge ruled in favor of Freed. The Cincinnati-based 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals agreed.

Some justices asked whether requiring public officials to include disclaimers on their personal pages making clear their social media activity is not governmental would help disentangle their private and public capacities.

Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson said she was struggling to understand “why the onus isn’t on the government official to be clear about the capacity in which they’re operating.”

Justice Brett Kavanaugh told Victoria Ferres, an attorney for Freed, that considering everything an official post about their job to be state action would be too broad, but he wondered if a narrower category of postings such as announcing rules, directives or notices would suffice as official acts.

Ferres agreed: “If you have a duty to announce a rule and the only time that you ever do it is on the Facebook page, then there is going to be state action.”
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Two of President Joe Biden’s top advisers asked U.S. lawmakers to provide billions more dollars to Israel on Tuesday at a congressional hearing interrupted repeatedly by protesters accusing American officials of backing “genocide” against Palestinians in Gaza.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin testified to the Senate Appropriations Committee on Biden’s request for $106 billion to fund ambitious plans for Ukraine, Israel and U.S. border security.

Arguing that supporting U.S. partners is vital to national security, Biden requested $61.4 billion for Ukraine, about half of which would be spent in the United States to replenish weapons stocks drained by previous support for Kyiv.

Biden also asked for $14.3 billion for Israel, $9 billion for humanitarian relief — including for Israel and Gaza — $13.6 billion for U.S. border security, $4 billion in military assistance and government financing to counter China’s regional efforts in Asia.

As the hearing began, a line of protesters raised red-stained hands in the air as an anti-war protest. Capitol police later removed them from the hearing room after they shouted protests including, “Ceasefire now!” and “Protect the children of Gaza!”

Blinken said U.S. support for Ukraine has made Russia’s invasion of Ukraine “a strategic debacle” and stressed the importance of both security assistance for Israel and humanitarian aid for Palestinians in Gaza.

“Without swift and sustained humanitarian relief, the conflict is much more likely to spread, suffering will grow, and Hamas and its sponsors will benefit by fashioning themselves as the saviors of the very desperation they created,” Blinken said.

Congress has already approved $113 billion for Ukraine since Russia invaded in February 2022, but Biden’s $24 billion request for more funds in August never moved ahead. The White House has said it has less than $5.5 billion in funds to continue transferring weapons from U.S. stockpiles to Ukrainian forces fighting Russia.

Republicans divided

The path forward for Biden’s latest funding plan looks uncertain. Democrats solidly back Biden’s strategy of combining Ukraine aid with support for Israel, as do many Republicans in both the Senate and House of Representatives.

“We need to address all of these priorities as part of one package – because the reality is these issues are all connected, and they are all urgent,” Senate Appropriations Committee Chairperson Patty Murray said.

Senator Susan Collins, the committee’s top Republican said she would judge the funding request on whether it makes the United States more secure.

But Republicans who lead the House of Representatives object to combining the two issues, joined by a smaller number of party members in the Senate. Opinion polls show public support for Ukraine aid declining and many Republicans, particularly those most closely aligned with former President Donald Trump, have come out against it.

With federal spending fueled by $31.4 trillion in debt, they question whether Washington should be funding Ukraine’s war with Russia, rather than backing Israel or boosting efforts to push back against a rising China.

Newly elected House Speaker Mike Johnson has voted in the past against assistance for Kyiv. On Monday, he introduced a bill to provide $14.3 billion in aid to Israel by cutting funding for the Internal Revenue Service, setting up a showdown with Senate Democrats.

Johnson became speaker after a three-week stalemate in the House after former Speaker Kevin McCarthy was ousted partly because he worked with Democrats to pass a government funding bill.

Biden’s support for Israel, which already receives $3.8 billion in annual U.S. military assistance, has drawn criticism amid international appeals for Gaza civilians to be protected.

Palestinian authorities say that Israel’s “total siege” of Gaza since that rampage has killed more than 8,300 people, more than 3,400 of them minors, and left a dire need for fuel, food and clean water.

Israel this week launched a ground offensive in the Gaza Strip as it strikes back at Islamist Hamas militants who killed 1,400 people and took at least 240 hostages in a rampage on Oct. 7.
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The United Auto Workers won at least partial victories on many of the key demands that led to the six-week strike against Ford, General Motors and Jeep maker Stellantis.

The union has given some details of the deals, including a detailed explanation of the agreement it reached with Ford. The agreement is expected to become the model for later settlements with GM and Stellantis. Rank-and-file UAW members must ratify each contract before it takes effect.

“We won things no one thought possible,” UAW President Shawn Fain said when he announced the tentative agreement last week.

The union represents 57,000 workers at the company, and about 16,600 of them were on strike. Here are the key terms of the agreements, as detailed by the union:

Pay

The tentative agreements call for 25% increases in pay by April 2028, raising top pay to about $42 an hour, according to the union. That starts with an 11% boost upon ratification, three annual raises of 3% each, and a final increase of 5%. The UAW said restoration of cost-of-living increases, which were suspended in 2009, could boost the total increases to more than 30%.

The union initially asked for 40% increases, but scaled that back to 36% before the strike started Sept. 15. Ford’s last offer before the strike was 9% more pay over four years. More recently, Ford, GM and Stellantis were all offering 23% total pay increases.

For historical comparison, the union said its workers saw pay increases of 23% for all the years from 2001 through 2022. 

Bonuses

The deals include $5,000 ratification bonuses. 

Temporary workers

The union said Ford’s temporary workers will get pay raises totaling 150% over the life of the deal, and workers at certain facilities will also get outsized raises. The temporary workers will also get the ratification bonuses and will get profit-sharing starting next year, officials said.

Benefits

The companies did not agree to bring back traditional defined-benefit pension plans or retiree health care for workers hired since 2007. But they agreed to increase 401(k) contributions to about 9.5%.

Shorter work week

The UAW asked for a shorter work week — 40 hours of pay for 32 hours of work. It did not get that concession.

Worker tiers

The union said Ford and GM agreed to end most divisive wage tiers, a system under which new hires were put on a less attractive pay scale. Fain and union members had highlighted the issue, saying it was unfair for people doing the same work to be paid less than co-workers.

Climbing the ladder

The agreement shortens the time it will take workers to reach top scale, to three years. It took eight years under the contract that expired in September. 

Right to strike

The union said it won the right to strike against any of the three companies over plant closures. The automakers had rejected the proposal at the start of talks.

Union organizing

The agreements with Ford, GM and Stellantis could give the UAW a boost as it seeks to represent workers at nonunion plants in the U.S. that are operated by foreign carmakers and Tesla, as well as future plants that will make batteries for electric vehicles.

The union said Ford agreed to put workers at a future battery plant in Michigan under the UAW’s master contract, and GM agreed to do so with work at Ultium Cells, a joint venture between the company and LG Energy Solution of South Korea.

Fain vowed Sunday that the union will “organize like we’ve never organized before” at nonunion plants.

“When we return to the bargaining table in 2028, it won’t just be with the Big Three but with the Big Five or the Big Six,” he said in an online message to union members. 
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A wildfire fueled by gusty Santa Ana winds ripped through rural land southeast of Los Angeles on Monday, forcing about 4,000 people from their homes, fire authorities said.

The so-called Highland Fire erupted at about 12:45 p.m. in dry, brushy hills near the unincorporated Riverside County hamlet of Aguanga.

As of late Monday night, it had spread over about 2 square miles (5 square kilometers) of land, fire spokesman Jeff LaRusso said.

About 1,300 homes and 4,000 residents were under evacuation orders, he said.

The fire had destroyed three buildings and damaged six others but it wasn’t clear whether any were homes. The region is sparsely populated but there are horse ranches and a large mobile home site, LaRusso said.

No injuries were reported.

Winds of 20 to 25 miles per hour (32 to 40 kph) with some higher gusts drove the flames and embers through grass and brush that were dried out by recent winds and low humidity so that it was “almost like kindling” for the blaze, LaRusso said.

The winds were expected to ease somewhat overnight and fire crews would attempt to box in the blaze, LaRusso said.

But, he added: “Wind trumps everything. Hopefully the forecast holds.”

A large air tanker, bulldozers and other resources were called in to fight the fire, one of the few large and active blazes to have erupted so far in California’s year-round fire season, LaRusso said.

Southern California was seeing its first significant Santa Ana wind condition. The strong, hot, dry, dust-bearing winds typically descend to the Pacific Coast from inland desert regions during the fall. They have fueled some of the largest and most damaging fires in recent California history.

The National Weather Service said Riverside County could see winds of 15 to 25 mph (24 to 40 kph) through Tuesday with gusts as high as 40 miles per hour (64 kph). The weather service issued a red flag warning of extreme fire danger through Tuesday afternoon for parts of Los Angeles and Riverside counties.
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General Motors and the United Auto Workers (UAW) struck a tentative deal on Monday, ending the union’s unprecedented six-week campaign of coordinated strikes that won record pay increases for workers at the Detroit Three automakers.

The accord follows deals the union reached in recent days with Ford and Chrysler-owner Stellantis— significant victories for auto workers after years of stagnant wages and painful concessions following the 2008 financial crisis.

“We wholeheartedly believe our strike squeezed every last dime out of General Motors,” UAW President Shawn Fain said in a video address. “They underestimated us. They underestimated you.”

The union officially suspended its strike against the Detroit Three. UAW local leaders will come to Detroit on Friday to consider the deal with GM, before taking terms to all union workers for ratification.

“We are looking forward to having everyone back to work across all of our operations,” said GM CEO Mary Barra.

The new contracts will significantly raise costs for the automakers. The companies and some analysts have said the deals will make it harder for the Detroit Three to compete with electric-vehicle leader Tesla and nonunion foreign brands such as Toyota Motor.

The UAW won from GM roughly the same package of wage increases agreed with the other two automakers. Pay for veteran workers will rise by 33% and GM will give $2,500 in five payments to retirees through 2028.

Sources have said pension benefits were a sticking point in the UAW’s negotiations with GM, which has more retirees than Ford or Stellantis.

Fain said the union’s move on Saturday to strike a key GM engine factory in Spring Hill, Tennessee, “landed the knockout blow” that got the deal.

The contract reverses years of efforts by GM to create lower-paid groups of UAW workers at units such as component plants, parts warehouses and electric vehicle battery operations. It puts workers at GM’s battery joint-venture with South Korea’s LG Energy under the national agreement.

Fain said some workers at GM’s component operations will get pay increases of as much as 89%.

The contract also restricts use of lower paid temporary workers. “We have slammed the door on having a permanent underclass of temporary workers at GM,” Fain said.

The UAW also gained more sway over the companies’ investment decisions by securing the right to strike over future plant closures.

All three companies have said they do not plan to close existing factories as they shift to EVs. Yet the contract could force them to keep unprofitable plants open during a recession or period of slow sales for new models.

Higher costs

A series of walkouts began on Sept. 15, and nearly 50,000 workers out of nearly 150,000 UAW members at the Detroit automakers eventually joined. The strategy of escalating strikes cost the Detroit Three and suppliers billions of dollars.

UAW leaders called their contract fight part of a larger movement to reverse decades of economic setbacks for working-class Americans. Some analysts agreed.

“This is more than an auto industry story; it is a signal to the entire country that unionized workers can demand and get big wage increases,” said Patrick Anderson of the Anderson Economic Group.

The new contract will cost GM $7 billion over 4.5 years in higher labor costs, two sources told Reuters. Ford said last week it would add $850 to $900 per vehicle in labor costs.

“Consumers will bear some of the cost burden over time … automakers will not have an easy time passing along all of the costs … and will have to seek efficiencies in other ways, or further limit production to more expensive vehicles that can absorb higher labor costs,” Cox Automotive’s chief economist, Jonathan Smoke, said.

Praise from Biden

U.S. President Joe Biden and politicians from both parties weighed in to support the UAW as the union’s fight gained popularity with voters. Michigan will again be a crucial swing state in the 2024 presidential election, and Fain made support for the union’s fight a condition of winning his endorsement. The UAW still has not formally endorsed Biden’s re-election.

“This historic contract is a testament to the power of unions and collective bargaining to build strong middle-class jobs while helping our most iconic American companies thrive,” Biden said in a statement. His aides had worried that a prolonged strike would damage the U.S. economy and the Democratic president’s chances of re-election in 2024.

The UAW has said it is committed to organizing workforces at other carmakers, making negotiations in 2028 between the union and the “Big Five or Big Six.”

Momentum toward deals accelerated over the past two weeks after UAW workers walked out at three of the most profitable factories in the world. The UAW eventually struck against nine plants.

“We have shown the companies, the American public and the whole world that the working class is not done fighting” Fain said. “In fact, we’re just getting started.”

 
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The White House welcomed the limited flow of humanitarian aid and the restoration of telecommunications in Gaza as Israel continued its ground offensive on Gaza in response to militant group Hamas’ October 7 attack. VOA’s Anita Powell reports from the White House.
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U.S. forces in Iraq and Syria have been attacked with drones or rockets at least 24 times in recent days, including at least three attacks on Monday, according to U.S. defense officials.

At least five of these attacks were launched after U.S. forces struck two facilities in eastern Syria used by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and affiliated groups during the early morning hours of Friday. None of the attacks carried out since the U.S. retaliatory strikes on Friday have caused casualties or damage, according to defense officials.

The latest attack on Monday used multiple rockets to target al-Asad Air Base in western Iraq, a defense official told VOA on condition of anonymity due to security sensitivities.

Other multi-rocket attacks were launched against forces at Green Village and Mission Support Site Euphrates in Syria.

On Sunday, a one-way attack drone was used against U.S. forces at a base near al-Shaddadi in northeastern Syria, and on Thursday another one-way attack drone targeted U.S. and coalition forces at al-Asad Air Base in Iraq, according to U.S. officials.

Pentagon Press Secretary Brigadier General Pat Ryder and other officials have blamed Iranian-backed proxies for the near daily attacks on U.S. forces.

“We know that these are Iranian-backed militia groups that are supported by Iran and, of course, we hold Iran responsible for these groups,” Ryder said last week.

‘Iran’s objective’

Asked by VOA on Monday whether the recent attacks are a sign that U.S. deterrence is not working, a senior defense official replied, “Iran’s objective for a long time has been to force a withdrawal of the U.S. military from the region. What I would observe is that we’re still there.”

One American F-15 and two American F-16 fighter jets used precision munitions against a weapons storage facility and an ammunition facility near Abu Kamal early Friday local time, according to defense officials. The Pentagon assesses the strikes successfully hit their targets, and it is still looking into casualty numbers.

“These precision self-defense strikes are a response to a series of ongoing and mostly unsuccessful attacks against U.S. personnel in Iraq and Syria by Iranian-backed militia groups that began on October 17,” Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said in a statement on October 26.

“The United States will not tolerate such attacks and will defend itself, its personnel, and its interests,” he added.

Officials have raised concerns about the prospect of “more significant escalation” in the region from Iranian proxy groups.

“Spillover into Syria is not just a risk; it has already begun,” Geir Pedersen, U.N. Special Envoy for Syria, told the U.N. Security Council on Monday via videoconference.

The attacks since October 17 on U.S. and coalition forces have resulted in 17 minor injuries to Americans in Syria and four minor injuries to American personnel in Iraq, with U.S. officials continuing to monitor any potential traumatic brain injuries.

One U.S. contractor at al-Asad Air Base in Iraq suffered a cardiac episode while sheltering in place during a false alarm for an air attack and later died.

At least 19 attacks on U.S. forces in Iraq and Syria occurred between October 17 and October 26, according to the Pentagon.

US increasing protection in region

Approximately 900 troops have either deployed or are in process of deploying from the United States to the Middle East to increase force protection. These units include a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense, or THAAD, battery from Fort Bliss, Patriot batteries from Fort Sill, and Patriot and Avenger batteries from Fort Liberty.

These moves come after Austin had placed more than 2,000 military personnel on heightened alert with a prepare-to-deploy order earlier this month.

Margaret Besheer contributed to this report from the United Nations.
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The White House welcomed on Monday the limited flow of humanitarian aid and the restoration of telecommunications in Gaza as Israel continues its ground offensive on the enclave in response to the Hamas militant group’s stunning Oct. 7 attack.

It also repeated its warning to regional actors to stay out of the fight.

“Our message to any actor seeking to exploit this conflict is: don’t do it,” said John Kirby, director of strategic communications for the National Security Council. “And as you all know, we have strengthened our force posture in the region. We’re continually watching to make sure that any actor who might be tempted to jump in here knows that we will take very seriously our national security interests in the region, not to mention our obligation to protect our troops in our facilities that are going after ISIS in places like Iraq and Syria.”

But this conflict is also exploding in the court of public opinion. Hundreds of people stormed an airport in Russia’s Dagestan region over the weekend, shouting antisemitic slurs over the arrival of a flight from Tel Aviv.

Russian President Vladimir Putin blamed the events on foreign interference, saying they “were inspired, including through social networks, not least from the territory of Ukraine by the agents of Western intelligence services.”

Kirby dismissed that.

“It’s classic Russian rhetoric, when something goes bad in your country: blame somebody else, blame it on outside influences. The West had nothing to do with this. This is just hate, bigotry and intimidation. Pure and simple,” he said.

“And a good leader, a decent leader will call it out for what it is the way President [Joe] Biden has called it out here in this country, instead of blaming the West for something and pushing it off to somebody else,” Kirby said.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has dug in on his disagreement with the U.S.’ classification of Hamas as a terror group and shifted blame elsewhere.

“The West has the biggest responsibility for the massacre in Gaza,” Erdogan said.

Iranian officials have piled on as well, with Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian taking to the rostrum at the United Nations last week to outline their view. Iranians have also protested on the streets.

“It has been three weeks that we have been witness to the war crimes and genocide of the occupying Israeli regime in Gaza and the West Bank of Palestine,” Amirabdollahian said during an emergency United Nations assembly earlier this month.

“The United States and several European countries have sided with the occupying regime of Israel without observing the U.N. charter and international law,” he said.

Kirby said the White House believes there is a fine line between disagreement and discord, adding the administration is vigilant over outbreaks of antisemitism.

“We believe in the right of peaceful protest, even if it’s, you know, espousing ideas we don’t agree with,” he said. “But we don’t – nobody wants – to see peaceful protests turn violent or turn dangerous the way that this mob activity did in Dagestan yesterday. So it’s of concern and it’s something that we’ll continue to talk about with our allies and partners.”

The U.S. is also seeing such protests – many supportive of Palestinians and critical of Israel – bubbling up at major U.S. universities in recent weeks. 

Spelman College, a historically Black institution in Georgia, recently held a rally that drew hundreds of attendees in support of Palestinians. Attendees carried signs with messages like “Free Palestine” and “End all U.S. aid to Israel.”

Dr. Helene Gayle pointed to her institution’s main mission when VOA asked how the school tries to frame debates like these.

“What I really hope and believe is that we are teaching young people to be critical thinkers, teaching young people to go beyond sometimes the simple messages that they’re hearing sometimes misinformation that they may be getting – and really understand in a critical, analytic way what the what the issues are so that they can take positions that are well informed,” Gayle told VOA at the White House on Monday.

”You know, on Spelman’s campus, we are having opportunities to do teach-ins and learn about the situation between Israel and Palestine and thinking about how do we look at this in as balanced a way as we possibly can,” she said. “So that’s what I really hope, is that we’re continuing to teach a generation of young people who can be critical thinkers who can look at information and think about it in balanced ways so that they can be true spokespersons, but with a base of knowledge and information that informs their opinions.”

 
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A man accused of murder, attempted murder and a hate crime in an attack on a Palestinian American woman and her young son pleaded not guilty Monday following his indictment by an Illinois grand jury. 

Joseph Czuba, 71, is charged in the fatal stabbing of six-year-old Wadea Al-Fayoume and the wounding of Hanaan Shahin on October 14. Authorities said the victims were targeted because of their Muslim faith and as a response to the war between Israel and Hamas. 

Shahin told police that Czuba, her landlord in Plainfield in Will County, was upset over the war and attacked them after she had urged him to “pray for peace.” 

Czuba appeared in court Monday wearing a red jail uniform, socks and yellow rubber slippers. 

His attorney George Lenard entered the not guilty plea after the judge read the 8-count indictment. Czuba did not speak, looking down at the podium with his hands folded behind his back as he stood before the judge in the court in Joliet, 50 miles (80 kilometers) southwest of Chicago. 

Shahin, 32, is recovering from multiple stab wounds. Hundreds of people attended her son’s funeral on October 16 where he was remembered as an energetic boy who loved playing games. He had recently had a birthday. 

The boy’s father and other family members attended the hearing. They declined to speak to reporters. 

The murder charge in the indictment against Czuba describes the boy’s death as the result of “exceptionally brutal or heinous behavior.” The attack on the family — which renewed anti-Islamic fears in the Chicago area’s large and established Palestinian community — has drawn condemnation from the White House. 

Judge David Carlson ruled that Czuba will remain detained as he awaits a January 8 court hearing. 

In arguing to keep Czuba detained, Will County Assistant State’s Attorney Michael Fitzgerald said Czuba was a danger to Shahin and others. 

“We also believe he is a threat to the safety of the community,” he said. 

Czuba’s attorneys disagreed, citing Czuba’s age and the fact that he is a veteran without any criminal convictions. 

Lenard and Fitzgerald declined to comment to reporters after the hearing. 

Shahin asked the public to “pray for peace” and said her son was her best friend in a statement issued last week through the Chicago chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations. 

The attack comes amid rising hostility against Muslim and Jewish communities in the U.S. since Hamas attacked Israel. 
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All About America explores American culture, politics, trends, history, ideals and places of interest.

Alaska workers are the happiest in the nation, thanks in part to higher wages and shorter workweeks, according to a new report from SelectSoftware Reviews, a human resource platform.

Researchers looked at several factors to come up with their list, including wages, quit rates, commute times, work hours, injuries and paid time off.

Alaska employees enjoy average workweeks of 31.3 hours, average annual salaries of $52,000 and an overall job satisfaction score of 69.96 out of 100.

Job satisfaction is critical to happiness, according to Miriam Liss, professor of psychology at the University of Mary Washington in Fredericksburg, Virginia.

“A meaningful job allows you to feel competence and ability, able to do the tasks that are meaningful to you,” Liss says. “If you’re having a more meaningful, purposeful life, you are going to experience pleasure.”

Other states with the happiest workers include Rhode Island, North Dakota, Colorado and Minnesota, according to the report.

Second place Rhode Island has a low quit rate, and the lowest injury rate of any state. North Dakota, which came in third, has an annual wage of $47,400 and an average commute of just 17.6 minutes.

The unhappiest workers are in Georgia, Texas, Florida, South Carolina and New York.

Georgia has the lowest job satisfaction, with an overall score of 29.62. Texas has the second-longest average workweek of 43.6 hours. In Florida, the average worker earns $18 per hour compared with Alaskans, who earn $32 per hour. Meanwhile, South Carolina workers make $13,000 less in annual salary than people in Alaska.

“Experiencing poverty definitely can make you unhappy,” Liss says, “because your basic needs aren’t met … and you don’t have the ability to have a lifestyle that gives you some autonomy, allows you to make choices.”

New York, which has the longest commute time of any state, came in fifth on the list of unhappiest workers.

“These results demonstrate the considerable impact a location can have on how workers feel about their job, whether that is due to state laws, commute times, or wages,” the report said. “It emphasizes the importance for employers to create environments where employees find genuine fulfillment and can thrive.”

 
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A flow of recent data from the U.S. government has made one thing strikingly clear: A surge in consumer spending is fueling strong growth, demonstrating a resilience that has confounded economists, Federal Reserve officials and even the sour sentiments that Americans themselves have expressed in opinion polls.

Spending by consumers rose by a brisk 0.4% in September the government said Friday — even after adjusting for inflation and even as Americans face ever-higher borrowing costs.

Economists caution that such vigorous spending isn’t likely to continue in the coming months. Many households have been pulling money from a shrinking pool of savings. Others have been turning increasingly to credit cards. And the additional savings that tens of millions of households amassed during the pandemic — from stimulus aid and reduced opportunities to travel, dine out and visit entertainment venues — are nearly depleted, economists say.

Still, the truth is no one knows where things go from here, given the unusual nature of the post-pandemic economy. The “death of the consumer” and an ensuing recession have been forecast by most economists for at least a year. So far, not only is no recession in sight but consumers as a whole appear to be in robust health. Spending might cool in the coming months, yet it’s far from clear it will collapse.

On Thursday, the government said the economy accelerated at a 4.9% annual rate in the July-September quarter, the fastest such rate since 2021, on the back of a jump in Americans’ spending. People spent on used cars and restaurant meals, airfares and hotel rooms. Much of it, even after adjusting for higher prices, was for discretionary items that suggested that many people feel confident in their finances and job security.

The durability of that spending has caught the attention of Fed officials, who have signaled that they will keep their key interest rate unchanged when they meet this week. But they’ve also made clear that they are monitoring the economic data for any sign that inflation could reignite and require further rate hikes.

“I have been consistently surprised at the resilience of consumer spending,” Christopher Waller, an influential member of the Fed’s board, said in a speech this month.

In the meantime, businesses, especially those in the sprawling service sector, are benefiting from what still appears to be pent-up demand, likely driven by higher-income earners, after the restrictions of the pandemic. Last week, Royal Caribbean Group reported robust quarterly earnings. Travelers crowded their cruise ships and spent more even as the company raised prices.

“The acceleration of consumer spending on experiences [has] propelled us towards another outstanding quarter,” said CEO Jason Liberty. “Looking ahead, we see accelerating demand.”

So what’s behind the outsize gains, so far? Economists point to several drivers: Sturdy hiring and low unemployment, along with healthy finances for most households emerging from the pandemic. Wealthier households, in particular, have enjoyed substantial growth in home values and stock portfolios, which are likely juicing their spending.

Steady hiring has sent the unemployment rate down to a near-five-decade low of 3.8% and lifted to a record high the proportion of women in their prime working years — ages 25 through 54 — who are employed. Measures of layoffs are near historical lows. More jobs mean more income, which generally means more spending.

“We continue to believe that you shouldn’t bet against the consumer until actual job losses are on the horizon,” said Tim Duy, chief U.S. economist at SGH Macro Advisers.

In the July-September quarter, Americans ramped up spending on durable goods — furniture, appliances, jewelry and luggage — that people typically cut back on if they’re worried about their jobs or the economy.

With inflation slowing — it’s at a still-high 3.7%, down from a peak of 9.1% in June 2022 — average wages are starting to outpace price gains. By some measures, wage growth hasn’t yet fully offset the inflation surge that began in 2021. But since late last year, pay has risen faster than prices, likely fueling some spending.

In many lower-paying industries, like hotels, restaurants and warehouses, companies have struggled to find and keep workers and have raised pay accordingly. Julia Pollak, chief economist at ZipRecruiter, calculates that for the lowest-paid 10% of workers, wages have jumped 25% since the first quarter of 2020, when the pandemic began. That’s well ahead of the 18% increase in prices over that time.

And most households started 2023 in better shape than they were in before the pandemic erupted, according to a report from the Fed. The net worth of the median household — the midpoint between the richest and poorest — jumped 37% from 2019 through 2022 as home prices shot higher and the stock market rose. That was the biggest surge on records dating back more than 30 years.

Most of the savings that Americans have accumulated in the past three years have flowed to the wealthiest households, who have splurged on travel and other experiences. Typically, economists say, the wealthiest one-fifth of Americans account for about two-fifths of all spending.

The net worth of the richest one-tenth of households leaped by $28 trillion — or about one-third — from the first quarter of 2020 to the second quarter of 2023, according to the Fed. The poorer one-half of Americans gained a bigger percentage increase but in total dollars much less, from about $2 trillion to $3.6 trillion. (Those figures aren’t adjusted for inflation.)

“When wealth is growing by the amount that it has been the past three years … I do think that it’s playing a larger role in this spending strength than maybe we thought it would,” said Sarah Wolfe, U.S. economist at Morgan Stanley.

Small-business owners like Bret Csencsitz, managing partner of Gotham Restaurant in New York City, can attest to that. High-dollar spending by middle-age customers has helped replace many of his older patrons who moved out of the city during COVID. These customers, who typically work in technology and finance, are buying $150 to $200 bottles of wine and spending a little over $200 on steak for two.

The average per-person check is up over 20% to roughly $145 compared with the pre-pandemic days, he added, and he has had groups of up to 60 people holding dinners at his restaurant.

“People are back,” he said. “There’s more energy.”

Aditya Bhave, senior economist at Bank of America, noted that the spending isn’t all driven by the affluent. Spending on the bank’s credit and debit cards by households with incomes below $50,000 has risen faster than spending by higher-earning clients.

Some Americans, while keeping a close watch on their finances, still feel they have room to indulge themselves. Consider Valerie Zaffina, a 74-year-old retired teacher who was picking up a piece of jewelry last week at a Kohl’s store in Ramsey, New Jersey. She said she and her husband live on fixed incomes and are cautious spenders.

But Zaffina has nevertheless decided on one big splurge — about $5,000 to decorate her rental apartment, including a $2,500 couch and a $600 rug. It’s her first major decorating project in 18 years.

“I had kind of a frustrating year, and I wanted to do something for myself,” she said. “So, yeah, I’m redecorating. I’m in the throes of that, but I’m sticking to a budget.”

Many analysts still warn of a new crop of headwinds facing consumers and the economy. Nearly 30 million student loan borrowers had to start paying their loans this month, for example. And government dysfunction in Washington could lead to a government shutdown next month.

A report Friday showed that while inflation-adjusted income fell last month along with the savings rate, consumers still ramped up their spending. That trend, economists say, is unsustainable.

Even so, those challenges may not prove as damaging as feared. Student loan payments, for example, jumped even before an Oct. 1 deadline for resuming them, Bhave noted. And few borrowers appear to have taken advantage of a 12-month grace period the Biden administration put in place, suggesting that most borrowers can afford to resume paying the money back — at least for now.

And executives at Visa, which reported strong earnings and a surge of spending by their U.S. credit card customers overseas in the third quarter, have also downplayed the likely impact of student loan repayments.

The company isn’t “factoring in any impacts” from loan repayments “because we’ve yet to see any meaningful impact,” said Visa’s chief financial officer, Christopher Suh. “Consumer spending across all segments from high to low has remained stable since March.”

“There’s a lot of gloom and doom,” around the consumer, Bhave said. “And yet the data keep surprising to the upside.”
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Cornell University has notified the FBI about antisemitic threats directed at the school’s Jewish community.

The threats were on an online discussion board not associated with the Ithaca, New York school.

The posts, according to The New York Times, included threats to shoot Jewish students and also encouraged shooting the students.

The address of the school’s Center for Jewish Living where some students live was posted online.  The posts also called for the center to be torn down.  

“Threats of violence are absolutely intolerable, and we will work to ensure that the person or people who posted them are punished to the full extent of the law,” Cornell President Martha E. Pollack said in the statement.

The posts come in the wake of Israel’s declaration of war on Gaza that has erupted political divisions across the globe.

“We will not tolerate antisemitism at Cornell,” Pollack said in her statement.  “This incident highlights the need to combat the forces that are dividing us and driving us toward hate.”
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Cruel joke for trick-or-treaters or coveted seasonal delight? The great Halloween debate over candy corn is on.

In the pantheon of high-emotion candy, the classic shiny tricolor kernels in autumn’s white, orange and yellow are way up there. Fans and foes alike point to the same attributes: its plastic or candle-like texture (depending on who you ask) and the mega-sugar hit it packs.

“I am vehemently pro candy corn. It’s sugar! What is not to love? It’s amazing. It’s like this waxy texture. You get to eat it once a year. It’s tricolor. That’s always fun,” comedian Shannon Fiedler gushed on TikTok. “Also, I know it’s disgusting. Candy corn is objectively kind of gross, but that’s what makes it good.”

Or, as Paul Zarcone of Huntington, New York, put it: “I love candy corn even though it looks like it should taste like a candle. I also like that many people hate it. It makes me like it even more!”

Love it or loathe it, market leader Brach’s churns out roughly 30 million pounds of candy corn for the fall season each year, or enough to circle planet Earth about five times, the company says. Last year, that amounted to $75 million of $88.5 million in candy corn sales, according to the consumer research firm Circana.

When compared to top chocolate sellers and other popular confections, candy corn is niche. But few other candies have seeped into the culture quite like these pointy little sugar bombs.

While other sweets have their haters (we’re looking at you Peeps, Circus Peanuts and Brach’s Peppermint Christmas Nougats), candy corn has launched a world of memes on social media. It inspires home decor and fashion. It has its knitters and crocheters, ombre hairdos, makeup enthusiasts and nail designs.

And it makes its way into nut bowls, trail mixes, atop cupcakes and into Rice Krispie treats. Vans put out a pair of shoes emblazoned with candy corn, Nike used its color design for a pair of Dunks, and Kellogg’s borrowed the flavor profile for a version of its Corn Pops cereal.

Singer-actor Michelle Williams is a super fan. She recorded a song last year for Brach’s extolling her love.

As consumers rave or rage, Brach’s has turned to fresh mixes and flavors over the years. A Turkey Dinner mix appeared in 2020 and lasted two years. It had a variety of kernels that tasted like green beans, roasted bird, cranberry sauce, stuffing, apple pie and coffee.

It won’t be back.

“I would say that it was newsworthy but perhaps not consumption-worthy,” said Katie Duffy, vice president and general manager of seasonal candy and the Brach’s brand for parent Ferrara Candy Co.

The universe of other flavors has included s’mores, blueberry, cotton candy, lemon-lime, chocolate and, yes, pumpkin spice. Nerds, another Ferrara brand, has a hard-shell version.

It’s unclear when candy corn was invented. Legend has it that Wunderle Candy Co. in Philadelphia first produced it in 1888 in collaboration with a longtime employee, George Renninger. It was called, simply, Butter Cream, with one type named Chicken Corn. That made sense in an agrarian-society kind of way.

Several years later, the Goelitz Confectionery Co., now Jelly Belly, began to produce candy corn, calling it Chicken Feed. Boxes were adorned with a rooster logo and the tagline: “Something worth crowing for.“ Brach’s began candy corn production in 1920.

Today, kids delight in stacking candy corn in a circle, points in, to create corncob towers. As for nutrition, 19 candy corns amount to about 140 calories and 28 grams of sugar. To be fair, many other Halloween candy staples are in the same ballpark.

Ingredient-wise, it couldn’t be more straightforward. Candy corn is basically sugar, corn syrup, confectioner’s glaze, salt, gelatin, honey and dyes, among some other things.

“It’s not any sweeter than a lot of other candy, and I’ve tasted every candy there is,” said Richard Hartel, who teaches candy science at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Hartel’s students spend time in the lab making candy. The candy corn lab is among his most popular, he said, because it’s fun to make. His unscientific poll of the nine seniors who last made candy corn turned up no strong feelings either way on actually eating it.

“It’s the flavor, I think, that puts some people off. It sort of tastes like butter and honey. And some people don’t like the texture, but it’s really not that much different than the center of a chocolate-covered butter cream,” he said.

Candy corn fans have their nibbling rituals.

Margie Sung is a purist. She’s been partial since childhood to the original tricolor kernels. She eats them by color, starting with the white tip, accompanied by a warm cup of tea or coffee.

“To this day, I swear the colors taste different,” she laughed.

Fact check: No, according to Duffy.

Don’t get people started on Brach’s little orange pumpkin candies with the green tops. That’s a whole other conversation.

“The candy pumpkins? Disgusting,” said the 59-year-old Sung, who lives in New York. “Too dense, too sweet, not the right consistency.”

She likes her candy corn “borderline stale for a better consistency.” Sung added: “Unfortunately, I can’t eat too many because I’m a Type 2 diabetic.” 

Aaron Sadler, the 46-year-old spokesman for the city of Little Rock, Arkansas, and its mayor, doesn’t share his candy corn. He keeps stashes at home and in a desk drawer at his office.

“My fiancee can’t stand that I like candy corn,” he said. “I buy it and I get this look of disdain but I don’t care. I just keep plugging on.”

Sadler has been a partaker since childhood. How does he describe the texture and flavor? “Sugary bliss.”

He’ll keep buying candy corn until mid-November.

“It’s 50% off after Halloween. Of course I’m going to buy it,” Sadler chuckled. 

After Thanksgiving, he’ll move on to his Christmas candy, York Peppermint Patties. And for Valentine’s Day? Sadler is all about the candy Conversation Hearts.

And then there are the hoarders. They freeze candy corn for year-round consumption. Others will only eat it mixed with dry roasted peanuts or other salty combinations.

“My ratio is 2 to 3 peanuts to 1 piece of candy corn. That’s the only way I eat it,” said Lisa Marsh, who lives in New York and is in her 50s. She stores candy corn in glass jars for year-round pleasure.

To the haters, 71-year-old fan Diana Peacock of Grand Junction, Colorado, scolded: “They’re nuts. How can they not like it?”

Au contraire, Jennifer Walker fights back. The 50-year-old Walker, who lives in Ontario, Canada, called candy corn “big ole lumps of dyed sugar. There’s no flavor.”

Her Ontario compatriot in Sault Ste. Marie, Abby Obenchain, also isn’t a fan. She equates candy corn with childhood memories of having to visit her pediatrician, who kept a bowl on hand.

“A bowl of candy corn looks to me like a bowl of old teeth, like somebody pulled a bunch of witch’s teeth out,” said Obenchain, 63.

Candy corn isn’t just a candy, said 29-year-old Savannah Woolston in Washington, D.C.

“I’m a big fan of mentally getting into each season, and I feel like candy corn is in the realm of pumpkin spice lattes and fall sweaters,” she said. “And I will die on the hill that it tastes good.”
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The United States on Sunday pressed Israel to protect civilians in Gaza and pushed for an immediate increase in humanitarian aid, amid a growing outcry over the human costs of Israel’s three-week bombardment of the enclave.

President Joe Biden told Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu in a call that Israel has a right to defend itself and should do so in a way that is consistent with international law on protecting civilians, the White House said.

Biden and Netanyahu discussed efforts to protect the more than 200 hostages seized by Palestinian Hamas militants in a surprise attack on Israel on Oct. 7 that killed 1,400 people.

The White House said Biden also “underscored the need to immediately and significantly increase the flow of humanitarian assistance to meet the needs of civilians in Gaza,” as supplies dwindle in the besieged coastal enclave.

With the death toll in the Gaza Strip in the thousands and climbing, Biden’s administration has been under increasing pressure to make clear that its steadfast support of Israel does not translate into a blanket endorsement of all that its ally is doing in the impoverished enclave.

In television interviews earlier on Sunday, White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said Israel has a responsibility to protect the lives of innocent people in Gaza.

Washington was asking hard questions of Israel, including on issues surrounding humanitarian aid, distinguishing between terrorists and innocent civilians and on how Israel is thinking through its military operation, Sullivan said.

“What we believe is that every hour, every day of this military operation, the IDF (Israel Defense Forces), the Israeli government should be taking every possible means available to them to distinguish between Hamas terrorists who are legitimate military targets and civilians who are not,” he said on CNN.

Sullivan also said Netanyahu has a responsibility to “rein in” extremist Jewish settlers in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. “It is totally unacceptable to have extremist settler violence against innocent people in the West Bank,” he said.

Biden is facing pressure from within his own Democratic Party to call for a cease-fire.

As Israel’s largest military backer, the United States bears some responsibility for its actions in Gaza, U.S. Representative Pramila Jayapal, leader of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”

“We are losing credibility,” Jayapal said. “And, frankly, we’re being isolated in the rest of the world.”

The attack from Gaza’s Hamas rulers unleashed a wave of aerial bombardment from Israel and an incipient ground operation.

Medical authorities in the Gaza Strip, which has a population of 2.3 million people, say more than 8,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s campaign to obliterate Iran-backed Hamas.

Hamas militants have embedded themselves among the Palestinian population and in civilian infrastructure, making an operation against them extremely difficult, Sullivan said.

“That creates an added burden for Israel, but it does not lessen Israel’s responsibility under international humanitarian law, to distinguish between terrorists and civilians, and to protect the lives of innocent people, and that is the overwhelming majority of the people in Gaza,” Sullivan said.

With supplies of food, water and medicines running low, thousands of Gaza residents broke into U.N. warehouses and distribution centers to get food.

There has been a mounting international outcry over the toll from the bombing and growing calls for a “humanitarian pause” to allow aid to reach Gaza civilians.

In an interview on CBS, Sullivan was asked if there was “daylight” between the United States and the Netanyahu government, Sullivan responded, “”We talk candidly, we talked directly, we share our views in an unvarnished way and we will continue to do that.”

“But sitting here in public, I will just say that the United States is going to make its principles and propositions absolutely clear, including the sanctity of innocent human life. And then we will continue to provide our advice to Israel in private.”
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A federal judge on Sunday reinstated a gag order she imposed on Donald Trump in the Washington case accusing him of trying to overturn his 2020 election defeat, denying his bid for a stay pending appeal.

The order prohibited Trump from targeting the special counsel prosecuting his case or witnesses who might be called to testify about his efforts to upend his election loss.

U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan imposed the gag order at the Justice Department’s request. She temporarily lifted it on Oct. 20 after Trump’s lawyers appealed. And she reversed that decision on Sunday evening, according to the court’s docket.

A copy of the judge’s order reinstating the gag was not immediately available.

Trump in the past has called Special Counsel Jack Smith a “deranged lunatic” and a “thug,” among other insults. Trump is facing four criminal cases and has made disparaging comments about prosecutors in each of them, as well as against the New York state attorney general who brought civil fraud charges against him.

Trump has pleaded not guilty to charges that he plotted to interfere unlawfully in the counting of votes and block the congressional certification of his 2020 loss to Democrat Joe Biden.
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United Auto Workers President Shawn Fain met Sunday afternoon with local union leaders from Ford to start the process of ratifying a new contract, while bargaining continues at General Motors following a setback Saturday.

Fain on Saturday ordered a walkout at GM’s Spring Hill, Tennessee, engine and assembly plant, criticizing management’s “unnecessary and irresponsible refusal to come to a fair agreement.”

It is not clear what derailed GM and the UAW’s progress toward an agreement patterned after earlier deals at Ford and Chrysler-owner Stellantis, but sources said one key issue was retiree pension costs. The deals won workers a record 25% jump in wages over the 4½-year contract and allowed the automakers to restart their profitable truck assembly lines.

The Ford UAW deal includes a $5,000 ratification bonus, special retirement incentive packages and gives newly hired temporary workers a faster path to full-time status and the top union pay rate, according to a summary document seen by Reuters. Workers also get a $1,500 voucher toward a vehicle purchase and heftier company contributions for retirement benefits.

Employment status

Existing Ford temporary workers immediately become permanent employees on track for top pay within three years, and the deal creates a pathway for workers at joint ventures, battery plants, and Ford’s BlueOval city electric vehicle complex in Tennessee to join the union and be covered under the master contract, sources told Reuters.

GM and Ford shares have fallen roughly a fifth since the beginning of the strike on September 15. Stellantis shares are down just 1%.

GM said it was disappointed by the UAW decision to strike Spring Hill.

The Spring Hill walkout could hobble GM’s large pickup production as well as the assembly of other popular GM vehicles. Ripple effects from an extended Spring Hill strike could boost the costs of the stalemate for GM well beyond the $400 million a week the company reported last week.

UAW counsel Benjamin Dictor on Sunday morning posted on the social media site X, formerly known as Twitter: “All my homies hate companies that won’t agree to fair contracts for their workers.” He later deleted the post.

GM is now the only Detroit automaker without a deal. Stellantis reached an agreement with the UAW on Saturday and Ford on Wednesday.

Progress toward resolving the disputes between UAW and GM could slow on Sunday because Fain is scheduled to attend meetings with Ford local officials in the Detroit suburb of Taylor, Michigan, and give a video update on the Ford deal Sunday night.  

Union leaders will then fan out to regional meetings to explain the deals to members, who will then vote on whether to approve it.

UAW leaders cannot take ratification votes for granted. Last month, UAW workers at Mack Truck’s U.S. operations overwhelmingly rejected a deal recommended by Fain, while Mack said Thursday no new talks are scheduled. In 2015, UAW members at what is now Stellantis voted down a contract endorsed by union leadership.

Fain said on Saturday that local union leaders at Stellantis plants will come to Detroit on November 2 before the agreement is sent to members for ratification.

Big checkbook

Fain has been especially tough on Ford through the contract negotiations, despite the automaker having cultivated a collaborative relationship with the UAW in the past.

At one point, he told Ford Chief Executive Jim Farley to “Go get the big checkbook,” declaring that the “days of the UAW and Ford being a team to fight other companies are over.”

In addition to the hike in general wages, Fain has said the lowest-paid temporary workers at Ford would enjoy raises of more than 150% over the contract term and employees would reach top pay after three years. The union also won the right to strike over future plant closures.

The UAW also succeeded in eliminating lower-pay tiers for workers in certain parts operations at Ford, an issue Fain highlighted from the start of the bargaining process.

The Ford contract would reverse concessions the union agreed to in a series of contracts since 2007, when GM and the former Chrysler were skidding toward bankruptcy, and Ford was mortgaging assets to stay afloat.

“We told Ford to pony up and they did,” Fain said in a video post last week.
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