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Elon Musk and Memes: A Controversy Over Giving Creators Credit score

Elon Musk and Memes: A Controversy Over Giving Creators Credit

Elon Musk – the Tesla CEO, SpaceX founder and soon-to-be Saturday Night Live host – is an open admirer of memes.

“Whoever controls the memes controls the universe,” tweeted Mr. Musk last summer. He has called the visual jokes “modern art” and shares them regularly on Twitter, where he has more than 52 million followers.

Mr. Musk doesn’t make a lot of memes himself. Instead, he finds them online and has others send them their favorites. Sometimes he republishes his favorites without naming their origins.

This practice is not uncommon. Lots of people on the internet share other people’s memes without giving credit to the creators, in part because it can be difficult to spot credit. Memes are based on reinterpretations of joke formats, and it’s not always clear where they start.

But the fact that Elon Musk frequently steals memes has essentially become a meme in itself. And it’s not always felt to be very funny.

For comedians and content creators, memes are valuable intellectual property. Nick Noerdlinger, 23, executive director of the Meme Insider website, noted that granting or denying credit has business implications. “Because the internet is so big and wide, the only thing that draws people back to someone who can ultimately make a living on the platform is credit,” he said. “In the creative economy, even without credit, the creators would not be able to make money, build a brand around them, and appeal to an audience.

In the past few years, viral meme accounts that have seen great success and monetization by republishing other developers’ work without credit or payment have met with backlash. In 2019, a conversation about this issue was sparked by a campaign against an Instagram account operated by Jerry Media. It helped change the standards that brands and top influencers adhere to today.

Quinn Heraty, a lawyer specializing in intellectual property law, found that rapper Ludacris was sued by the LittleThings website in 2017 for posting an illustration from the website on his Instagram without acknowledging it. (The parties have reached an agreement.)

Ms. Heraty said that without “transformative use” there could be a case for copyright infringement. “If he brushes the picture off the picture and publishes it without reference to the original creator, it shows willpower,” she said of Mr. Musk.

Generally, when a brand uses a meme for marketing purposes, it asks permission to share the image and credits the owner. In many cases, the brand also pays off. One exception seems to be Mr Musk, who is both a successful businessman and a freewheeling personal brand.

“It’s very difficult to talk about something like this without looking like you’re crazy about it,” said Patrick Monahan, 37, a comedian and podcast host whose meme was shared by Mr. Musk without appreciation. “Ultimately, this doesn’t steal a script or an entire song, but it’s the same spiritually. It’s just not cool. “

It may speak more to the simple fact that Mr Musk, who was briefly the richest man in the world according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index this year, has used Twitter to bolster his personality (and promote cryptocurrencies and stocks, including his own ).

Jamie Trufin, who runs a meme account called @DogeCoinDaddy, said he was disappointed when Mr. Musk posted one of his Doge memes with no credit in March.

“It kills your mood,” said the 24-year-old Trufin. “You work so hard making all of these memes. I could have got a few hundred followers from it, and it would have made the community fatter and happier. He got us all excited about Dogecoin, but he tore down meme pages and did them no credit which kills the fun. “(The price of Dogecoin, a cryptocurrency, has continued to rise, thanks in part to tweets from Mr. Musk.)

In January, Mr. Musk posted a meme about web domains created by Ben Howdle, 31, who has a tech meme account. Mr. Howdle was puzzled as to why someone with such great resources would share someone else’s work with no credit. “You would think if you were the richest person in the world, you wouldn’t have to massage your ego,” he said. (For what it’s worth, Mr. Musk is only the second richest now.)

Mr. Musk has been doing this for a while. In April 2020, he shared a meme created by a comedian with a photo of their dog, which some say Mr. Musk tried to pass it off as his own.

After being criticized in 2019 for sharing artwork on Twitter without credit, Mr. Musk first tweeted, “Always credit everyone.” Then he reversed course: “Nobody should ever be credited,” he wrote, suggesting that “any fool can find out in seconds who the artist was”.

Miles Klee, a 36-year-old Los Angeles writer, heard from a friend that a meme he made in April about vaccinated people enjoying a promiscuous summer had been republished by Mr. Musk. “Someone in my group chat said, ‘LOL, did everyone see Elon steal a meme that Miles made?'”

Mr. Klee is not angry with Mr. Musk, but found the behavior repulsive. “Of course he has his henchmen who are ready to defend what he does,” said Mr. Klee, “but for everyone else who is normal and has been on the Internet for a long time, it’s like:” Yes, that’s a wack Move.'”

Chas Steinbrugge, 19, a freshman who runs the @Trigomemetry meme account, is also the creator of Meme Citations, a website that shares the origins of memes in the Modern Language Association format.

“Personalities like Elon Musk don’t give credit, it hurts the creators,” he said. “He could create a situation where he encourages young meme creators and contributes to the community by tagging whoever created them or adding watermarks.”

Several people whose content was published by Mr. Musk have since asked for payment, be it in dollars, Teslas or Bitcoin. (Mr. Monahan said he was willing to accept “only $ 80,000”.)

Mr. Klee took a newer approach. “Can someone help me create and sell an NFT of a screenshot of Elon Musk posting a horny vaccine meme that I made?” he asked his followers on Twitter. Someone turned the tweet into an NFT that Mr. Klee could sell for $ 1,000 in Ethereum, a cryptocurrency.

Mr Musk, who received a comment on this article via email, responded with two uncredited memes:

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Insurers brace for lawsuits as staff return to the workplace

Insurers brace for lawsuits as workers return to the office

As U.S. corporations bring workers back to the office, major insurers like Chubb, AIG, and Travelers brace themselves for an onslaught of claims related to labor and labor lawsuits.

According to Jackson Lewis, a law firm and employment law firm tracking these numbers, litigation and complaints related to Covid have steadily increased during the pandemic, with California and New Jersey receiving the most filings.

Experts say it is likely to increase as the courts wade through a backlog of cases and government agencies deal with pent-up claims.

“Employment practice liability insurers are very much aware of the additional claims activity that has not yet occurred,” said Kelly Thoerig, a US director of liability insurance for Marsh McLennan consultancy.

Employers are walking a tightrope when it comes to organizing a return to work that carries liability and risk, she said.

Three important things employers need to consider to protect themselves from litigation:

Who will return to work?

Management needs to assess whether they are discriminating against protected classes of employees when deciding who to bring back to the office first.

“Who did you let go of? Who did you send home?” she said, going through a list of critical questions. “Who comes first to be allowed to come back? Or who do you have to come back?”

Ensuring a safe job

When employees come back, companies need to make sure it’s a safe environment. This raises additional questions about whether workers should wear masks or whether a company should need Covd-19 vaccination.

While it is legal for employers to prescribe vaccines for workers, it may not be advisable, Thoerig said. This is partly due to “downstream liability when a person has a serious reaction to the vaccine or has complications because of the vaccine,” she said.

On the other hand, some employees or customers may require companies to have vaccines.

“This presents different but very real business and legal concerns to employers: are they doing enough to protect their employees and customers?” Said Frank Alvarez, co-director of the Jackson Lewis Disability, Vacation and Health Management practice. “Are they addressing privacy concerns, employee medical choices, and the balancing issues of employee relationships between those who are vaccinated and those who are not?”

Thoerig said she urged her customers to use incentives to persuade resistant employees to get the vaccine.

For example, Wynn Resorts is calling for weekly Covid-19 tests with negative results for its employees who have not been vaccinated. This gives an employee an incentive to get a chance.

Requests for accommodation

U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission data shows a surge in disability discrimination claims filed with the agency dealing with the pandemic.

Insurer Travelers suspects that housing conflicts are driving the increase. For example, when an employee asks about the possibility of being able to continue working from home because they have an illness that puts them at increased risk if they contract Covid-19. If the request is denied, the representative can request accommodation.

This situation can also occur if a staff member states that she cannot take the vaccine because of an allergy. If the employer says it anyway, she can say that her employer discriminated against her because of it.

“The idea that certain people or groups of people or even individual employees are preferred or disadvantaged over others should immediately give cause for concern,” said Thoerig.

Since employees are being called back to the office in greater numbers, they could also have a strong argument, said Thoerig.

“We’ve been effectively doing our work from our home office, from our basement, for the past 12-14 months. And why isn’t this a decent place to stay when I’ve been as productive as I was from home?” She said.

Thoerig has advised customers to be as flexible as possible when applying for accommodation.

“Employers are trying very hard to reconcile all of these considerations,” said Alvarez. “The business world has never faced a situation where the law is so uncoordinated and gives so little indication of potential legal risks.”

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On-line Dishonest Expenses Upend Dartmouth Medical Faculty

Online Cheating Charges Upend Dartmouth Medical School

HANOVER, N.H. — Sirey Zhang, a first-year student at Dartmouth’s Geisel School of Medicine, was on spring break in March when he received an email from administrators accusing him of cheating.

Dartmouth had reviewed Mr. Zhang’s online activity on Canvas, its learning management system, during three remote exams, the email said. The data indicated that he had looked up course material related to one question during each test, honor code violations that could lead to expulsion, the email said.

Mr. Zhang, 22, said he had not cheated. But when the school’s student affairs office suggested he would have a better outcome if he expressed remorse and pleaded guilty, he said he felt he had little choice but to agree. Now he faces suspension and a misconduct mark on his academic record that could derail his dream of becoming a pediatrician.

“What has happened to me in the last month, despite not cheating, has resulted in one of the most terrifying, isolating experiences of my life,” said Mr. Zhang, who has filed an appeal.

He is one of 17 medical students whom Dartmouth recently accused of cheating on remote tests while in-person exams were shut down because of the coronavirus. The allegations have prompted an on-campus protest, letters of concern to school administrators from more than two dozen faculty members and complaints of unfair treatment from the student government, turning the pastoral Ivy League campus into a national battleground over escalating school surveillance during the pandemic.

At the heart of the accusations is Dartmouth’s use of the Canvas system to retroactively track student activity during remote exams without their knowledge. In the process, the medical school may have overstepped by using certain online activity data to try to pinpoint cheating, leading to some erroneous accusations, according to independent technology experts, a review of the software code and school documents obtained by The New York Times.

Dartmouth’s drive to root out cheating provides a sobering case study of how the coronavirus has accelerated colleges’ reliance on technology, normalizing student tracking in ways that are likely to endure after the pandemic.

While universities have long used anti-plagiarism software and other anti-cheating apps, the pandemic has pushed hundreds of schools that switched to remote learning to embrace more invasive tools. Over the last year, many have required students to download software that can take over their computers during remote exams or use webcams to monitor their eye movements for possibly suspicious activity, even as technology experts have warned that such tools can be invasive, insecure, unfair and inaccurate.

Some universities are now facing a backlash over the technology. A few, including the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, recently said they would cease using the exam-monitoring tools.

“These kinds of technical solutions to academic misconduct seem like a magic bullet,” said Shaanan Cohney, a cybersecurity lecturer at the University of Melbourne who researches remote learning software. But “universities which lack some of the structure or the expertise to understand these issues on a deeper level end up running into really significant trouble.”

At Dartmouth, the use of Canvas in the cheating investigation was unusual because the software was not designed as a forensic tool. Instead, professors post assignments on it and students submit their homework through it.

That has raised questions about Dartmouth’s methodology. While some students may have cheated, technology experts said, it would be difficult for a disciplinary committee to distinguish cheating from noncheating based on the data snapshots that Dartmouth provided to accused students. And in an analysis of the Canvas software code, The Times found instances in which the system automatically generated activity data even when no one was using a device.

“If other schools follow the precedent that Dartmouth is setting here, any student can be accused based on the flimsiest technical evidence,” said Cooper Quintin, senior staff technologist at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a digital rights organization, who analyzed Dartmouth’s methodology.

Seven of the 17 accused students have had their cases dismissed. In at least one of those cases, administrators said, “automated Canvas processes are likely to have created the data that was seen rather than deliberate activity by the user,” according to a school email that students made public.

The 10 others have been expelled, suspended or received course failures and unprofessional-conduct marks on their records that could curtail their medical careers. Nine pleaded guilty, including Mr. Zhang, according to school documents; some have filed appeals.

Some accused students said Dartmouth had hamstrung their ability to defend themselves. They said they had less than 48 hours to respond to the charges, were not provided complete data logs for the exams, were advised to plead guilty though they denied cheating or were given just two minutes to make their case in online hearings, according to six of the students and a review of documents.

Five of the students declined to be named for fear of reprisals by Dartmouth.

Duane A. Compton, the dean of the Geisel School, said in an interview that its methods for identifying possible cheating cases were fair and valid. Administrators investigated carefully, he said, and provided accused students with all the data on which the cheating charges were based. He denied that the student affairs office had advised those who said they had not cheated to plead guilty.

Dr. Compton acknowledged that the investigation had caused distress on campus. But he said Geisel, founded in 1797 and one of the nation’s oldest medical schools, was obligated to hold its students accountable.

“We take academic integrity very seriously,” he said. “We wouldn’t want people to be able to be eligible for a medical license without really having the appropriate training.”

Updated 

May 8, 2021, 5:12 p.m. ET

Instructure, the company that owns Canvas, did not return requests for comment.

In January, a faculty member reported possible cheating during remote exams, Dr. Compton said. Geisel opened an investigation.

To hinder online cheating, Geisel requires students to turn on ExamSoft — a separate tool that prevents them from looking up study materials during tests — on the laptop or tablet on which they take exams. The school also requires students to keep a backup device nearby. The faculty member’s report made administrators concerned that some students may have used their backup device to look at course material on Canvas while taking tests on their primary device.

Geisel’s Committee on Student Performance and Conduct, a faculty group with student members that investigates academic integrity cases, then asked the school’s technology staff to audit Canvas activity during 18 remote exams that all first- and second-year students had taken during the academic year. The review looked at more than 3,000 exams since last fall.

The tech staff then developed a system to recognize online activity patterns that might signal cheating, said Sean McNamara, Dartmouth’s senior director of information security. The pattern typically showed activity on a Canvas course home page — on, say, neurology — during an exam followed by activity on a Canvas study page, like a practice quiz, related to the test question.

“You see that pattern of essentially a human reading the content and selecting where they’re going on the page,” Mr. McNamara said. “The data is very clear in describing that behavior.”

The audit identified 38 potential cheating cases. But the committee quickly eliminated some of those because one professor had directed students to use Canvas, Dr. Compton said.

In emails sent in mid-March, the committee told the 17 accused students that an analysis showed they had been active on relevant Canvas pages during one or more exams. The emails contained spreadsheets with the exam’s name, the test question number, time stamps and the names of Canvas pages that showed online activity.

Almost immediately, questions emerged over whether the committee had mistaken automated activity on Canvas for human activity, based on a limited subset of exam data.

Geisel students said they often had dozens of course pages open on Canvas, which they rarely logged out of. Those pages can automatically generate activity data even when no one is looking at them, according to The Times’s analysis and technology experts.

School officials said that their analysis, which they hired a legal consulting firm to validate, discounted automated activity and that accused students had been given all necessary data in their cases.

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Updated May 5, 2021

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But at least two students told the committee in March that the audit had misinterpreted automated Canvas activity as human cheating. The committee dismissed the charges against them.

In another case, a professor notified the committee that the Canvas pages used as evidence contained no information related to the exam questions his student was accused of cheating on, according to an analysis submitted to the committee. The student has appealed.

The committee has also not provided students with the wording of the exam questions they were accused of cheating on, complete Canvas activity logs for the exams, the amount of time spent on each Canvas page and data on whether the system flagged their page activity as automated or user-initiated, according to documents.

Dartmouth declined to comment on the data issues, citing the appeals.

Mr. Quintin of the Electronic Frontier Foundation compared Dartmouth’s methods to accusing someone of stealing a piece of fruit in a grocery store by presenting a snapshot of that person touching an orange, but not releasing video footage showing whether the person later put back the orange, bought it or pocketed it without paying.

Dr. Compton said the committee’s dismissal of cases over time validated its methodology.

“The fact that we had a large number of students and we were very deliberate about eliminating a large, large fraction or majority of those students from consideration,” he said, “I think actually makes the case well for us trying to be really careful about this.”

Tensions flared in early April when an anonymous student account on Instagram posted about the cheating charges. Soon after, Dartmouth issued a social media policy warning that students’ anonymous posts “may still be traced back” to them.

Around the same time, Geisel administrators held a virtual forum and were barraged with questions about the investigation. The conduct review committee then issued decisions in 10 of the cases, telling several students that they would be expelled, suspending others and requiring some to retake courses or repeat a year of school at a cost of nearly $70,000.

Many on campus were outraged. On April 21, dozens of students in white lab coats gathered in the rain in front of Dr. Compton’s office to protest. Some held signs that said “BELIEVE YOUR STUDENTS” and “DUE PROCESS FOR ALL” in indigo letters, which dissolved in the rain into blue splotches.

Several students said they were now so afraid of being unfairly targeted in a data-mining dragnet that they had pushed the medical school to offer in-person exams with human proctors. Others said they had advised prospective medical students against coming to Dartmouth.

“Some students have built their whole lives around medical school and now they’re being thrown out like they’re worthless,” said Meredith Ryan, a fourth-year medical student not connected to the investigation.

That same day, more than two dozen members of Dartmouth’s faculty wrote a letter to Dr. Compton saying that the cheating inquiry had created “deep mistrust” on campus and that the school should “make amends with the students falsely accused.”

In an email to students and faculty a week later, Dr. Compton apologized that Geisel’s handling of the cases had “added to the already high levels of stress and alienation” of the pandemic and said the school was working to improve its procedures.

The medical school has already made one change that could reduce the risk of false cheating allegations. For remote exams, new guidelines said, students are now “expected to log out of Canvas on all devices prior to testing.”

Mr. Zhang, the first-year student, said the investigation had shaken his faith in an institution he loves. He had decided to become a doctor, he said, to address disparities in health care access after he won a fellowship as a Dartmouth undergraduate to study medicine in Tanzania.

Mr. Zhang said he felt compelled to speak publicly to help reform a process he found traumatizing.

“I’m terrified,” he said. “But if me speaking up means that there’s at least one student in the future who doesn’t have to feel the way that I did, then it’s all worthwhile.”

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Southwest plans to start out hiring flight attendants once more as journey rebounds

Southwest plans to start hiring flight attendants again as travel rebounds

A Southwest Airlines Boeing 737-73V jet leaves Midway International Airport in Chicago, Illinois on April 6, 2021.

Kamil Krzaczynski | AFP | Getty Images

Airlines spent much of the last year worrying about having too many people busy after the demand for travel dropped. Now they are trying to avoid the opposite problem when customers return and the effects of the Covid pandemic wear off.

Southwest Airlines is the newest airline to address this issue and plans to recruit flight attendants in the coming weeks, according to CNBC. A spokesman from the southwest said it was too early to determine how many flight attendants would be needed.

Competitors like American Airlines, United Airlines, and Delta Air Lines recently announced that they intend to resume pilot hiring this year in hopes that they can meet increasing travel demand in the years ahead as hundreds of Pilots hired near the federal retirement age are 65 years.

Dallas-based Southwest recently announced that it will be calling back flight attendants who have been on temporary vacation next month at the company’s urging.

“In order to meet future operational requirements, all flight attendants were called back to work from June 1st and we will have to hire flight attendants in the near future,” the staff said in a statement.

Southwest has started reaching out to candidates who had conditional vacancies when the pandemic froze hiring last year.

“We are pleased to announce that the majority of these candidates are still interested in joining our in-flight family and this is helping us rebuild a pool of candidates,” the memo reads.

The airline is also hiring some ramp agents and other ground workers.

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The Separate Worlds of Invoice and Melinda Gates

The Separate Worlds of Bill and Melinda Gates

“It was a constant stress point in the foundation. It was Warren who put it down, but Bill’s appetite is always, “We should do this, we should do this.” The teams end up with this huge to-do list, ”said the former CEO.

Mr Buffett admitted in an interview with The Times last year that he spoke out against institutional bloating. “That’s the only piece of advice I never silence because it’s the natural tendency of any organization,” he said.

Foundation staff often have to wear multiple hats to meet requirements. For example, one employee, Anita Zaidi, serves in the highly technical role of director of vaccine development and surveillance, but also serves as president for gender equality.

In a 2015 TED talk, Mr Gates warned of the global threat posed by contagious respiratory viruses. The foundation was full of top talent working to develop new vaccines. However, there was not a single person out of around 1,600 employees fully dedicated to the pandemic prior to the outbreak of Covid-19.

All contract workarounds and consultants had so much bandwidth and it was decided not to have a dedicated team to work on the matter. Instead, the foundation championed the Coalition for Epidemic Preparation Innovation, which helped develop vaccines to control outbreaks.

When the pandemic broke out, the foundation used its resources and expertise. It has so far allocated $ 1.75 billion to fight the pandemic and has played a key role in shaping the global response.

Even without the divorce, the foundation was in the midst of change. Mr. Buffett, the third trustee, turns 91 this summer. Mr. Gates’ father, Bill Gates Sr., who was co-chair and directing hand of the foundation, died last September. Some observers have wondered if the couple’s three children could get involved anytime soon. The older two are already in college and medical school. Others have raised the possibility that this is the moment to loosen the grip of the family and install a board drawn by professionals outside the inner circle.

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There are extra causes this yr to verify your owners insurance coverage

There are more reasons this year to check your homeowners insurance

Floods are pouring down the road in Muhlenberg Township, Pennsylvania, following a severe storm last August.

Ben Hasty | MediaNews Group | Getty Images

Ongoing climate change and rising timber costs are two things to consider when insuring your homeowner.

Whether you live in an area exposed to hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, hail, forest fires, or severe storms that are becoming increasingly common, it is important to know what types of weather-related damage your policy covers, excludes, or a separate one Fee levies (and probably higher) deductible for.

Add in current lumber prices – they’re up 67% already this year and 340% year over year – and the cost of repairing or replacing your home during severe weather may be far higher than expected.

“You could be a great financial success if you do not understand the policy you are purchasing,” said Spencer Houldin, president of Ericson Insurance Advisors.

With the warmer weather in the US, the likelihood of severe weather increases too. The tornado season is already underway, and the official hurricane season begins June 1st and lasts through November 30th. California and parts of the Southwest have drought conditions that are conducive to forest fires.

According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, there were 22 different weather and climate catastrophe events valued at $ 1 billion last year in the United States. There were also 30 Atlantic storms named – a record – of which 12 landed in the United States

Depending on where you live and the typical weather for that area, your homeowners policy may provide coverage for some of the more location-specific events, and state law will often dictate what is required for the policies offered in your jurisdiction.

Here are some things to check in your policy.

Replacement costs

Standard policies usually repair or replace your home up to the amount for which it is insured. Or, you may have a clause that increases that replacement amount to 125% or 150% of your home coverage. Or there is no upper limit on the replacement cost.

“If you have a guaranteed reimbursement scheme, see if it is capped at 125% or 150% or not,” Houldin said. “In disaster-prone areas in particular, it is really important that you have adequate coverage.”

When evaluating the replacement cost of your policy, consider the higher cost (e.g. lumber) of rebuilding your home – especially if you took out the insurance some time ago.

Different damage, different deductibles

While many risks fall under the standard part of your policy, some weather-related events fall under a different part that has a different deductible.

If you live in a state on the east coast or the Gulf of Mexico, there is a good chance your homeowner insurance policy has a hurricane deductible. Likewise, in states more prone to wind-related events – that is, tornadoes – you are likely to have a wind deductible.

In either case, these amounts are typically between 1% and 5% (with a minimum of $ 500) depending on the specifics of your insurance contract. Some homeowners may opt for an even higher deductible if it is available. In general, the higher the deductible, the lower the premiums and vice versa.

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It is important to note that for these percentage deductibles, the amount is based on your insured value and not on the damage caused.

If your home is insured for $ 500,000 and you have a 5% hurricane deductible, you are responsible for covering the first $ 25,000 regardless of the total cost of the damage. This means that it is wise to have a plan to cover your stake after a disaster.

For example, Houldin knew a homeowner who had a 15% wind deductible – $ 150,000 – on a $ 1 million home. When strong winds tore the roof, the event caused damage of $ 110,000 – below the deductible.

In other words, the homeowner had to pay for the repairs out of pocket.

Also note that earthquakes aren’t covered by standard homeowner policies, even in quake-prone California (you’d need to get separate insurance). Typically there are also no other types of earth moving (i.e. landslides, sinkholes).

Flood risk

Homeowner policies generally exclude floods from coverage. However, according to the Federal Emergency Management Agency, just one inch of water in your home can cause damage up to $ 25,000 worth of damage. And every fourth flood insurance claim comes from outside a high-risk zone.

For insurance coverage, you need separate flood insurance either through the national flood insurance program of the federal government or through a private insurer. However, be aware that there are exclusions and limitations to coverage. It takes 30 days for the flood policy to take effect. The average annual cost is $ 734, although this can vary widely.

“If you are in a dangerous flood area, the mortgage lender requires flood insurance,” Houldin said. “If you’re in a safe zone, the lender says you don’t need it.”

While floods are a common aspect of natural disasters, less than 15% of homeowners have flood insurance, according to the Insurance Information Institute.

If a homeowner is exposed to storm-related damage that is exposed but is in a federally declared disaster area, there may be government programs that can provide financial assistance, including FEMA grants and Small Business Administration loans. However, this help is not guaranteed and probably wouldn’t get you back on your feet quickly.

For example, after Hurricane Harvey in 2017, which dropped as much as 60 inches of rain in some locations in Texas, the average FEMA grant for individuals was $ 7,000, while the average National Flood Insurance Program claim was more than $ 100,000.

If you are a tenant

Even if you don’t own your home, your finances are still at risk if a storm damages the house or building you live in. While the owner’s insurance covers the structure itself, you are responsible for your own property.

Tenant insurance is an option to cover your belongings. It can also cover the cost of living elsewhere if you cannot stay in your home after a storm or other insured event.

The national average for a policy with $ 40,000 personal property coverage, a $ 1,000 deductible, and $ 100,000 liability coverage is $ 197 per year, according to an Insurance.com rate analysis . $ 17 per month).

Protect your important documents

Long before a disaster strikes, important documents – like birth certificates, deeds, titles, and tax returns – should be kept securely in a waterproof location, and duplicates should be kept elsewhere with a trusted person, advises the IRS. You can also scan and save them online or on a flash drive.

Additionally, taking photos of the contents and condition of your home can make the insurance claims process easier if your home is damaged.

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E-Commerce Mega-Warehouses, a Smog Supply, Face New Air pollution Rule

E-Commerce Mega-Warehouses, a Smog Source, Face New Pollution Rule

And the industry is growing. Last year, Inland Empire, a region near the Port of Los Angeles-Long Beach where retailers and manufacturers offload billions of dollars in goods, added 23 million square feet of new warehouse space, covering nearly 500,000 square feet Football fields.

“Where we live, these warehouses are popping up like Starbucks,” said Ivette Torres of the People’s Collective for Environmental Justice, a local nonprofit that campaigned for warehouses to address their role in air pollution.

Operators of warehouses larger than 100,000 square feet (roughly two soccer fields) must earn points to offset the emissions from the trucks coming and going from the warehouses. Operators can earn these points by purchasing or using zero-emission trucks or farm vehicles, or by investing in other methods of reducing greenhouse gas emissions, e.g. B. by installing solar panels in the camps or installing air filters in local homes, schools and hospitals. Or they could choose to pay a fee if they fail to meet it.

Many camps are much larger. A planned site comprises 40 million square meters of industrial buildings, an area roughly the size of Central Park in New York.

Known as the “indirect source rule”, the effort is unusual as it targets primarily emissions from the trucks servicing the warehouses rather than the warehouses themselves. Similar approaches have been used in the past to deal with heavy traffic through sports stadiums or shopping centers to meet.

The regulator estimates their plan will cut nitrogen oxide emissions by up to 15 percent and result in up to 300 fewer deaths, up to 5,800 fewer asthma attacks and up to 20,000 fewer days off work between 2022 and 2031. The district estimates that the public health plan could be up to $ 2.7 billion, roughly three times the projected cost.

The region, which includes parts of Los Angeles, Riverside, and San Bernardino counties and all of Orange County, has a population of 18 million people – more than most states.

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Automaker Stellantis plans for workers to work remotely more often than not

Automaker Stellantis plans for employees to work remotely most of the time

The logo of Stellantis, the fourth largest automaker in the world, which will start trading in Milan and Paris following the completion of the merger of Fiat Chrysler and Peugeot maker PSA, will be at the main entrance of the FCA Mirafiori plant in Turin, Italy on January 18, 2021 to see.

Massimo Pinca | Reuters

DETROIT – When Fiat Chrysler employees, now Stellantis, get their expected returns in offices later this year, they will do so with a new company and a more flexible work schedule.

The automaker is launching a hybrid work initiative called “New Era of Agility”. The goal is for the majority of the company’s employees to work remotely most of the time. This includes 17,000 employees in North America, the majority of whom work in the Detroit area. Shannon Dziuda, director of special human resources projects for Stellantis North America, told CNBC.

“We want the decision in a facility to be deliberate, based on what works best for individuals and the company, and to support the health and wellbeing of the team,” she said during an interview on Friday.

As part of the plan, the company expects employees who combine remote and in-office work to do an average of 70% remote and 30% on-site work, she said. The division is a guideline, not a mandate, according to Dziuda. This does not include hourly manufacturing workers or employees who must be physically present in laboratories or elsewhere to do their job.

The decision to create such a program was made after the company received feedback from employees, many of whom have been working remotely for a year due to the coronavirus pandemic, Dziuda said. Similar announcements from General Motors and Ford Motor follow. However, GM and Ford have not published percentage guidelines.

Stellantis is planning a four- to six-week pilot trial for around 450 employees at the company’s North American headquarters in Auburn Hills, Michigan, starting in October. After that, Dziuda said, Stellantis will make changes to work areas and offices to meet the expected needs of all employees working on the new hybrid planning.

“The pilot will tell us what additional changes we may need to make to space, both physically and digitally,” she said.

The schedule for employees returning to offices is based on local and state regulations, but Dziuda said Stellantis currently plans to bring them back in late 2021 and early next year.

Around 15,000 people, including 12,000 employees, work at the North American headquarters and the technology center. About 10% are currently in the facility because their work requires them to be in the buildings.

Stellantis, like other companies, believes that its flexible work policy will help attract new employees.

“We want to be able to retain our top talent and attract new top talent and diverse talent,” said Dziuda. “As we know, a diverse culture leads to better innovations.”

According to a recent Prudential survey of 2,000 adults who were able to work from home during the pandemic, 87% want it to be possible after their coronavirus risk subsides.

Stellantis was formed in January through a $ 52 billion merger between Fiat Chrysler and French automaker PSA Groupe. Its CEO is Carlos Tavares, former CEO of PSA. Its chairman is John Elkann, who held the same position at Fiat Chrysler and is a descendant of the founder of the Italian automaker Fiat.

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Business

Washingtonian Workers Refuses to Publish to Protest CEO’s Article

Hong Kong Website Doxxing Police Gets Blocked, Raising Censorship Fears

Washingtonian editors refused to post online on Friday after the executive director of DC-based magazine penned an opinion piece on the future of remote working that sparked an immediate backlash.

Cathy Merrill, the executive director of Washingtonian Media, wrote in the Washington Post on Thursday that she was “concerned about what is unfortunately common Office worker who wants to keep working at home and just go inside the office occasionally. “

Ms. Merrill wrote that by opting to continue working from home, employees provide “an enticing economic option that employees may not like”.

Employees who are away from the office cannot take part in the tasks she describes as “additional” tasks, e.g. Such as looking after a junior staff, helping a colleague or celebrating a birthday, she explained, and managers may therefore be less inclined to continue providing these workers with the status and benefits of full-time employees.

“When the employee is rarely there to take part Management has a strong incentive to change its status to “contractor”, ”she wrote.

That way, businesses could save money by eliminating the cost of employee health care, retirement planning, office space, and parking fees.

Ms. Merrill emailed her apologies on Friday, assuring them that she would not make any changes to the employees’ performance or work status.

“Washingtonian is a culture in which employees can express themselves openly,” Ms. Merrill said in a statement. “I appreciate every member of our team not only on a professional, but also on a personal level. I’m sorry if the comment made it look like something else. “

The opinion piece sparked an outcry among staff at the magazine, many of whom posted the same message on Twitter, criticizing Ms. Merrill’s words.

“As members of the Washington editorial team, we want our CEO to understand the risks of not evaluating our work,” they wrote. “We are dismayed by the public threat to Cathy Merrill’s livelihood. We won’t publish today. “

Washington workers who are not part of a union still work from home. The magazine plans to have employees gradually return to the office from the summer and more fully from the fall.

The article and its original headline – “As CEO, I want my employees to understand the risks of not working again” – felt that some Washington employees were threatened that their services or jobs were threatened, a member of the editorial board testified Fear of professional impact wanted to remain anonymous. The headline has been changed to: “As CEO, I’m concerned about the erosion of office culture with more remote work.”

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Business

Customers shall be spending extra on mother

Consumers will be spending more on mom

On this Mother’s Day, it’s more like breakfast in bed than an opulent buffet.

Although consumers are expected to spend more on their mothers this year, the celebrations will likely still take place at home, despite rising vaccination rates.

“There are more people planning a Mother’s Day brunch or a special getaway, but we’re not where we were before the pandemic,” he said Katherine Cullen, Senior Director, Industry and Consumer Insights, National Retail Federation. “I think consumers are still reluctant to plan these types of activities.”

In a recent survey by the trade group, only about half of the 7,818 consumers surveyed said they were planning a special getaway for their vacation, although consumers expect to spend more money on the occasion.

With caution, many restaurants offer brunch and dinner menus for Mother’s Day, which you can pick up or prepare at home.

“I’ve seen many restaurants that have a Mother’s Day deal that gives you all the ingredients. It can be partially assembled and you take it home and heat it and you can have a restaurant-quality meal at home.” “Said Cullen.” I think a lot of these trends and services will stay here. “

Flour, a Boston bakery with nine locations and a commissioner’s kitchen, has special Mother’s Day menu options, including frozen, ready-to-bake sticky buns and cinnamon rolls that can be picked up in-store. There’s also a second menu for items, including a coconut cake, which can be shipped across the country.

“We’re making a Mother’s Day gift box that we don’t normally sell and that is very popular for e-commerce,” said Holly Najdzin, senior operations support manager at Flour. The box contains homemade muesli, a crunchy butter toffee, sable biscuits, English breakfast tea, a tea towel and a mug for Mother’s Day.

Flour also offers virtual baking classes that can be offered as gifts, with the option to send the ingredients to the recipient for an additional charge.

Numerous other online courses are also available. For example, 1-800-Flowers.com offers workshops that teach you how to arrange flowers or make a sausage board. Both were popular Mother’s Day gifts this year.

“Live streaming experiences are also increasing compared to years before the pandemic as consumers try to connect with their mom virtually or simply from the comfort of their own home,” said Chris McCann, CEO of 1-800-Flowers.com.

Americans plan to spend an average of $ 220.48 on celebration plans and gifts for Mother’s Day from April 1-9 this year, according to the NRF poll. This brings the total expected spend for Mother’s Day to $ 28.09 billion.

It’s also an average of $ 15.74 more than consumers for 2020 and $ 24.01 more than planned for 2019.

“This is the highest anticipated Mother’s Day output we’ve seen since we started this survey over a decade ago,” said Cullen. “It’s really about giving things instead of gaining experience.”

After the greeting cards, consumers are most likely to buy flowers. 68% of respondents say this is part of their plan.

“Mother’s Day is the biggest flower holiday of the year and our brand 1-800-Flowers.com expects approximately 23 million stems to be shipped for the holiday,” said McCann.

Due to the shortage and higher transportation costs, buyers may spend more on flowers this year. Some florists say consumers should be willing to accept replacements and pay up to 25% more than last year, media reports said.

“Farms that don’t know how to plan for this year have withdrawn and there is a bit of an argument,” McCann said in Squawk Box on Thursday. “That, along with some weather conditions, has created the challenge we see in the flower industry today.”

1-800-Flowers said it was able to secure enough flowers to meet its demand.

McCann said he also sees greater demand for gifts for groceries, and NRF’s Cullen said consumers intend to spend more on jewelry.

“Despite all the difficulties that Covid has caused, despite all the uncertainties, consumers are really enjoying moments when they can celebrate,” said Cullen. “And we’ve seen that in pretty much every vacation and special event during the pandemic.”