It’s getting harder for people to believe that Facebook is a net good for society

<div><img class="ff-og-image-inserted" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/z1aY8_NOQweapHMVwgbKDoZKoME=/0x0:2545x1332/fit-in/1200x630/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22855616/1200872665.jpg" /></div> <p>At this point, it isn’t exactly surprising that social media platforms like Facebook can have negative effects on society. For years, journalists, politicians, social scientists — and even <a href="https://www.vox.com/recode/2021/6/26/22550981/carl-bergstrom-joe-bak-coleman-biologists-ecologists-social-media-risk-humanity-research-academics">biologists and ecologists</a> — have been raising concerns about the influence Facebook has on our collective well-being. And Facebook has always <a href="https://www.vox.com/2018/4/2/17185052/mark-zuckerberg-facebook-interview-fake-news-bots-cambridge">defended itself</a> by insisting that it is a net good to society because of how it brings people together.</p> <p>But a new series of reports from the Wall Street Journal, “<a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-facebook-files-11631713039">The Facebook files,”</a> provides damning evidence that Facebook has studied and long known that its products cause measurable, real-world harm — including on <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/facebook-knows-instagram-is-toxic-for-teen-girls-company-documents-show-11631620739">teenagers’ mental health</a> — and then stifled that research while denying and downplaying that harm to the public. The revelations, which only strengthen the case that a growing chorus of lawmakers and regulators have been making for breaking up Facebook or otherwise severely limiting its power as a social media giant, could represent a turning point for the company.</p> <p>Already, the Journal’s reporting has prompted consequences for Facebook: A <a href="https://www.blumenthal.senate.gov/newsroom/press/release/blumenthal-and-blackburn-announce-probe-into-facebook-coverup-of-its-platforms-negative-impact-on-teens_children">bipartisan Senate committee is investigating</a> Instagram’s impact on teenagers, and a group of legislators led by <a href="https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases/sen-markey-reps-castor-and-trahan-call-for-facebook-to-abandon-plans-for-instagram-for-kids-after-blistering-internal-report-revealed-company-knew-about-negative-mental-health-impacts-on-youth">Sen. Ed Markey</a> (D-MA) is calling for Facebook to halt all development of its Instagram for Kids product for children under 13, which <a href="https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/ryanmac/facebook-instagram-for-children-under-13">BuzzFeed News first revealed the company</a> was developing in March.</p> <p>“We are in touch with a Facebook whistleblower and will use every resource at our disposal to investigate what Facebook knew and when they knew it — including seeking further documents and pursuing witness testimony,” read a joint statement from Sens. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) on Tuesday. “The Wall Street Journal’s blockbuster reporting may only be the tip of the iceberg.”</p> <p>It’s unclear how much these efforts will impact Facebook’s policy decisions and bottom line. The investigations are in their early stages, and it’s too soon to say if it will directly lead to any new laws or other regulation.</p> <p>Instagram’s head of public policy wrote in a company <a href="https://about.instagram.com/blog/announcements/using-research-to-improve-your-experience">blog post on Tuesday</a> that the Journal’s reporting “focuses on a limited set of findings and casts them in a negative light,” and that the fact that Instagram did internal research on the matter demonstrates its “commitment to understanding complex and difficult issues young people may struggle with.”</p> <div class="c-float-right"> <aside><q>“The fact that Facebook has known the research, done the research, and then hid it ... it’s quite mind-boggling”</q></aside> </div> <p>In the long term, the consequences for Facebook are less instantly measurable, but perhaps more pernicious. These findings about the company have further damaged what little trust it had left with politicians — who have long been asking Facebook for specific information about the platform’s effect on mental health. The company declined to provide it, even though in many cases it had all the answers.</p> <p>Take, for example, this back-and-forth between <a href="https://docs.house.gov/meetings/IF/IF16/20210325/111407/HHRG-117-IF16-Transcript-20210325.pdf">Mark Zuckerberg and Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers</a> (R-WA) at a congressional hearing on social media in March 2021.</p> <p><strong>Sen. Rodgers:</strong> Do you agree too much time in front of screens, passively consuming content, is harmful to children’s mental health?</p> <p><strong>Mark Zuckerberg:</strong> Congresswoman, the research that I have seen on this suggests that if people are using computers and social —</p> <p><strong>Sen. Rodgers:</strong> Could you answer yes or no? I am sorry. Could you use yes or no?</p> <p><strong>Mark Zuckerberg.</strong> I don’t think that the research is conclusive on that. But I can summarize what I have learned, if that is helpful.</p> <p>Zuckerberg went on to say, “overall, the research that we have seen is that using social apps to connect with other people can have positive mental health benefits and well-being benefits by helping people feel more connected and less lonely.”</p> <p>He did not mention any of the negative effects his own team had found about Instagram over the past three years, including that in its own study of teenage users, 32 percent of teen girls said that when they felt bad about their bodies, Instagram made them feel worse.</p> <p>When Sen. Rodgers and other Republicans followed up with Facebook and asked about the company’s internal research on the effects of its products on mental health, the company did not share the Instagram research results, <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-09-14/senators-vow-to-probe-facebook-s-knowledge-of-risks-to-girls?sref=Wg6QzS2e">according to Bloomberg</a>, nor did it share them with Sen. Ed Markey when his office also asked Facebook to provide any internal research on the matter in April, according to letters provided by Markey’s office to Recode.</p> <p>“This is such a profound issue for kids and teens,” said Jim Steyer, CEO and founder of the nonprofit organization Common Sense Media, which has been an advocate for studying the effects of technology on children and teens. “The fact that Facebook has known the research, done the research, and then hid it ... it’s quite mind-boggling,” he told Recode.</p> <p>Other damning findings from the Journal’s reporting include a discovery that the company has a <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/facebook-files-xcheck-zuckerberg-elite-rules-11631541353?mod=article_inline">VIP program</a> that allows celebrities and politicians to break its rules, and that in 2018, Facebook <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/facebook-algorithm-change-zuckerberg-11631654215">tweaked</a> its algorithm in a way that encouraged people to share angrier content. In each case, Facebook’s own employees found systematic proof of serious issues, but when they warned executives — including Mark Zuckerberg — about it, they were largely ignored.</p> <p>For years, Facebook’s main line of defense to criticism about any negative impacts its products might cause is that social media, like other technological innovations, can cause <em>some</em> harm — but that the good outweighs the bad.</p> <p>In a recent interview with my colleague <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/recode-media/id1080467174?i=1000535489497">Peter Kafka on the <em>Recode Media</em> podcast, Instagram head Adam Mosseri</a> pointed to the way that social media has <a href="https://www.vox.com/recode/2020/6/24/21300631/instagram-black-lives-matter-politics-blackout-tuesday">helped social justice movements</a> like Black Lives Matter and Me Too. And he compared Facebook to the invention of the automobile.</p> <p>“Cars have positive or negative outcomes. We understand that. We know that more people die than would otherwise because of car accidents,” said Mosseri. “But by and large, cars create way more value in the world than they destroyed. And I think social media is similar.”</p> <p>It’s undeniable that social media can facilitate social change. It can also be a useful way for people to keep in touch with their friends and family — and indeed, as Zuckerberg told Congress, it can help people feel less lonely.</p> <p>But, at some point, the question is whether the public will accept that rationale as an excuse for the company to have free rein to experiment on our collective well-being, measure that harm, and keep the public in the dark about what they learn as they continue to rake in record profits of nearly $30 billion a quarter.</p> <div class="c-article-footer"> <hr class="p-entry-hr" /> <p><strong><a href="http://vox.com/pages/support-now?itm_campaign=fall2021&itm_medium=article&itm_source=article-footer">We have a request</a></strong></p> <p>In moments like this — as people grapple to understand variants and vaccines, and kids head back to school — many outlets take their paywalls down. Vox’s content is always free, in part because of financial support from our readers. We’ve been covering the Covid-19 pandemic for more than a year and a half. From the beginning, our goal was to bring clarity to chaos. To empower people with the information they needed to stay safe. And we’re not stopping.</p> <p>In the next 30 days, we’re aiming to add 2,500 individual contributions to help keep our coverage of the Covid-19 crisis free for everyone who needs it. As each of us is only as healthy as our sickest neighbor, it’s essential that people can access clear information on the pandemic for free. <a href="http://vox.com/pages/support-now?itm_campaign=fall2021&itm_medium=article&itm_source=article-footer">Will you help us reach our goal by making a contribution to Vox with as little as $3?</a></p> </div> <br /> <br /> source <a href="https://www.vox.com/recode/22677911/facebook-scandal-research-teen-mental-health">https://www.vox.com/recode/22677911/facebook-scandal-research-teen-mental-health</a>

vox It’s getting harder for people to believe that Facebook is a net good for society

At this point, it isn’t exactly surprising that social media platforms like Facebook can have negative effects on society. For years, journ...

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The housing crisis is the top concern for urban residents

<p>Housing costs and homelessness in America’s cities are so bad that people in growing metro areas now appear more concerned about those issues than Covid-19, public safety, taxes, education, and jobs, according to a new <a href="https://www.manhattan-institute.org/metropolitan-majority-poll-costs-crime-classrooms">poll by the Manhattan Institute and Echelon Insights</a>.</p> <p>The poll surveyed 4,000 adults from August 11-20, sampling 200 people each in the “20 metropolitan areas with the largest numerical population growth from 2010-2019.”</p> <figure class="e-image"><span class="e-image__inner"><span class="e-image__image" data-original="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22853787/Screen_Shot_2021_09_15_at_5.35.34_PM.png"><picture class="c-picture" data-cid="site/picture_element-1631824815_7393_7663" data-cdata='{"asset_id":22853787,"ratio":"*"}'><source srcset="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/tm_nUv22LeuC6eTIULO7CkvNXZc=/0x0:2160x866/320x0/filters:focal(0x0:2160x866):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22853787/Screen_Shot_2021_09_15_at_5.35.34_PM.png 320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/FnfreUP_wsBTMnlaRauJrwrEgVo=/0x0:2160x866/520x0/filters:focal(0x0:2160x866):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22853787/Screen_Shot_2021_09_15_at_5.35.34_PM.png 520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/5QKa6IN5imuhdfnXMVDAXtINLsw=/0x0:2160x866/720x0/filters:focal(0x0:2160x866):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22853787/Screen_Shot_2021_09_15_at_5.35.34_PM.png 720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/9JYndAbClCmDFGXFvMRMgN2nQKw=/0x0:2160x866/920x0/filters:focal(0x0:2160x866):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22853787/Screen_Shot_2021_09_15_at_5.35.34_PM.png 920w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/3nblz3HtyMoPW0Zv-gWYLObBz5o=/0x0:2160x866/1120x0/filters:focal(0x0:2160x866):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22853787/Screen_Shot_2021_09_15_at_5.35.34_PM.png 1120w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/zKlqlltnM60RKhB-yDQNmZ7OSRw=/0x0:2160x866/1320x0/filters:focal(0x0:2160x866):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22853787/Screen_Shot_2021_09_15_at_5.35.34_PM.png 1320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/BYttm2mZn3bH1Ct1ylg0GYVc2Zk=/0x0:2160x866/1520x0/filters:focal(0x0:2160x866):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22853787/Screen_Shot_2021_09_15_at_5.35.34_PM.png 1520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/uGqH-zVQ0EVUnKeOrjvmA_VXFzs=/0x0:2160x866/1720x0/filters:focal(0x0:2160x866):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22853787/Screen_Shot_2021_09_15_at_5.35.34_PM.png 1720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/AQaSnITYnOm_3eNKzf1EUUTPRLk=/0x0:2160x866/1920x0/filters:focal(0x0:2160x866):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22853787/Screen_Shot_2021_09_15_at_5.35.34_PM.png 1920w" sizes="(min-width: 1221px) 846px, (min-width: 880px) calc(100vw - 334px), 100vw" type="image/webp" /> <img alt="More urban voters in a poll expressed extreme concern over the cost of housing (64 percent) and homelessness (63 percent) than the spread of Covid-19 (60 percent)." data-upload-width="2160" sizes="(min-width: 1221px) 846px, (min-width: 880px) calc(100vw - 334px), 100vw" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/cmD3MlF2ZnsuQrnSsnIVH2BNI9Q=/0x0:2160x866/1200x0/filters:focal(0x0:2160x866):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22853787/Screen_Shot_2021_09_15_at_5.35.34_PM.png" srcset="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/0T8zrwPmhizVPOQgTv116RMTcfA=/0x0:2160x866/320x0/filters:focal(0x0:2160x866):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22853787/Screen_Shot_2021_09_15_at_5.35.34_PM.png 320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/ZNfrh3IXriRA75jaRzkjl9ej3bc=/0x0:2160x866/520x0/filters:focal(0x0:2160x866):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22853787/Screen_Shot_2021_09_15_at_5.35.34_PM.png 520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/GhTbam83pO6GUb6WBHCngMUhkRs=/0x0:2160x866/720x0/filters:focal(0x0:2160x866):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22853787/Screen_Shot_2021_09_15_at_5.35.34_PM.png 720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/v2TgCQxXfyjr0L-j31rCHxF-8-0=/0x0:2160x866/920x0/filters:focal(0x0:2160x866):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22853787/Screen_Shot_2021_09_15_at_5.35.34_PM.png 920w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/I_C79NHbY-mWxAqIdui8TDZ3zow=/0x0:2160x866/1120x0/filters:focal(0x0:2160x866):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22853787/Screen_Shot_2021_09_15_at_5.35.34_PM.png 1120w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/A4Y33f6Ipb5nt0WC1rJBFFo6V1k=/0x0:2160x866/1320x0/filters:focal(0x0:2160x866):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22853787/Screen_Shot_2021_09_15_at_5.35.34_PM.png 1320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/HbXRXsiJAhRwuRdm_-_rlX4WZIE=/0x0:2160x866/1520x0/filters:focal(0x0:2160x866):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22853787/Screen_Shot_2021_09_15_at_5.35.34_PM.png 1520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/lyeR8K7Aqu0RsJDCcFfOqugWGSY=/0x0:2160x866/1720x0/filters:focal(0x0:2160x866):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22853787/Screen_Shot_2021_09_15_at_5.35.34_PM.png 1720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/MXA8un2mUxrieGdieWAHsrO0g6c=/0x0:2160x866/1920x0/filters:focal(0x0:2160x866):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22853787/Screen_Shot_2021_09_15_at_5.35.34_PM.png 1920w" /></picture></span></span> <span class="e-image__meta"><cite>Manhattan Institute and Echelon Insights</cite></span></figure> <p>This poll takes place after more than a year of skyrocketing housing prices. The Case-Shiller Index, a leading measure of US home prices, <a href="https://www.spglobal.com/spdji/en/documents/indexnews/announcements/20210831-1442970/1442970_cshomeprice-release-0831.pdf">showed in June</a> that prices had increased 18.6 percent since the previous year. According to <a href="https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/MSPUS">data</a> from the US Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development aggregated by the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, the median sales price in the last quarter of 2019 was $327,100. By the second quarter of 2021, that number had hit $374,900.</p> <p>“It’s not surprising that housing affordability was the top issue in America,” said Michael Hendrix, a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, a free-market think tank. “What surprised me was the intensity, the priority that housing affordability and generally cost of living for people that ranks in these fast-growing metros. It wasn’t just a San Francisco or New York issue, it’s becoming more widespread.”</p> <p>In attractive metropolitan areas, the situation is even more dire. <a href="https://www.redfin.com/us-housing-market">According to Redfin data</a>, Phoenix saw a 24.1 percent median sales price increase over the last year. Housing supply declined by 44.9 percent in San Francisco in the same time frame. And residents are noticing. In the Manhattan Institute’s poll, 64 percent of people in fast-growing urban areas said they were extremely or very concerned about the cost of housing. The poll has a sampling margin of error of plus/minus 2.3 percentage points and includes some respondents in less dense communities within the metro areas.</p> <p>Unlike most national polls about housing affordability, this one asked respondents about which solutions they’d apply in their cities. Two-thirds strongly or somewhat support allowing “more housing to be built near transit stops,” an important solution since transit-oriented development is necessary to create affordable, walkable, and climate-friendly neighborhoods.</p> <p>But, most importantly, the survey found that people in growing metro areas are in favor of making it easier to build more homes. Sixty-eight percent agreed that they would support “expediting and streamlining the approvals process so it is easier to begin building more housing” in their city. Only 20 percent say that they strongly or somewhat oppose. This, finally, helps get to the root of the issue.</p> <p>American cities have seen such a steep rise in housing unaffordability largely due to a <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/cea/blog/2021/09/01/alleviating-supply-constraints-in-the-housing-market/">dangerously low supply of homes, in particular affordable homes</a>. One major reason is that state and local governments have artificially constrained the supply of housing through zoning ordinances and through a local government process that results in costly delays. By requiring things like minimum lot sizes or holding public meetings where developers are forced to defend building multi-family housing, these laws often make it illegal or unprofitable to build small starter homes or multi-family homes that would be more affordable relative to the large homes that get built in their stead.</p> <p>These laws are often propped up and enforced by a minority of vocal homeowners who are more likely to attend local government meetings to oppose new housing developments — and the local officials who prioritize those voices. Commonly known as NIMBYs (Not In My Backyard), vocal individuals like this often have outsized influence despite research showing that they are <a href="https://sites.bu.edu/kleinstein/research/">unrepresentative of the communities they purport to speak for</a>.</p> <figure class="e-image"><span class="e-image__inner"><span class="e-image__image" data-original="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22852409/metro_figure_5.png"><picture class="c-picture" data-cid="site/picture_element-1631824815_592_7664" data-cdata='{"asset_id":22852409,"ratio":"*"}'><source srcset="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/q7jEE3fbYeSofbnG5D53EBmLKnc=/0x0:1174x451/320x0/filters:focal(0x0:1174x451):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22852409/metro_figure_5.png 320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/WmBOavC5RcB0qmFEixQseX02Ock=/0x0:1174x451/520x0/filters:focal(0x0:1174x451):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22852409/metro_figure_5.png 520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/R0avFbtwGcCtwCvKH8cL1QKbmms=/0x0:1174x451/720x0/filters:focal(0x0:1174x451):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22852409/metro_figure_5.png 720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/D9MtagAIA5SZi3TRkH3YnCXGp5U=/0x0:1174x451/920x0/filters:focal(0x0:1174x451):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22852409/metro_figure_5.png 920w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/1k0X_Bzsq9nS0Uhk8pkWLw4ilVg=/0x0:1174x451/1120x0/filters:focal(0x0:1174x451):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22852409/metro_figure_5.png 1120w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/MdsegqC3TpziQlmdDi_PO6r2ZvY=/0x0:1174x451/1320x0/filters:focal(0x0:1174x451):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22852409/metro_figure_5.png 1320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/nR0SKpl8xTXj1EiesLhAn-JuTuo=/0x0:1174x451/1520x0/filters:focal(0x0:1174x451):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22852409/metro_figure_5.png 1520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/1P0B0qV8GwUhclGHa9uMooEz1CY=/0x0:1174x451/1720x0/filters:focal(0x0:1174x451):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22852409/metro_figure_5.png 1720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/3CfVDLYOBcZVwfuy1DUaFd5kOdQ=/0x0:1174x451/1920x0/filters:focal(0x0:1174x451):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22852409/metro_figure_5.png 1920w" sizes="(min-width: 1221px) 846px, (min-width: 880px) calc(100vw - 334px), 100vw" type="image/webp" /> <img alt="" data-upload-width="1174" sizes="(min-width: 1221px) 846px, (min-width: 880px) calc(100vw - 334px), 100vw" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/wDfNYGTehKd6U6IjaCEbY-qAubA=/0x0:1174x451/1200x0/filters:focal(0x0:1174x451):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22852409/metro_figure_5.png" srcset="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/BtjY7LRtQwTmwTqjx7TP5ZLjIek=/0x0:1174x451/320x0/filters:focal(0x0:1174x451):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22852409/metro_figure_5.png 320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/ynAnkKjXpK84VXStudJGOgIsOP0=/0x0:1174x451/520x0/filters:focal(0x0:1174x451):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22852409/metro_figure_5.png 520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/RTOHJrJP7CzGu2loVKc32k4lq9U=/0x0:1174x451/720x0/filters:focal(0x0:1174x451):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22852409/metro_figure_5.png 720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/S_-9hG6MeIkZJV2VMPE11RXmY_g=/0x0:1174x451/920x0/filters:focal(0x0:1174x451):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22852409/metro_figure_5.png 920w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/s7ztaq2zvsVzZUShXoJbxBDETro=/0x0:1174x451/1120x0/filters:focal(0x0:1174x451):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22852409/metro_figure_5.png 1120w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/skYNW2EPcEQ1D3XBfrLJoI2JjXs=/0x0:1174x451/1320x0/filters:focal(0x0:1174x451):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22852409/metro_figure_5.png 1320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/XBXHuHAzn5moVGexTTgbkKIcsNk=/0x0:1174x451/1520x0/filters:focal(0x0:1174x451):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22852409/metro_figure_5.png 1520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/tZcnCurQtTaDkQJwtXrf3Nxt2cM=/0x0:1174x451/1720x0/filters:focal(0x0:1174x451):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22852409/metro_figure_5.png 1720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/bOrlSung-Qjd13bsmXIu45iHaUU=/0x0:1174x451/1920x0/filters:focal(0x0:1174x451):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22852409/metro_figure_5.png 1920w" /></picture></span></span> <span class="e-image__meta"><cite>Manhattan Institute and Echelon Insights</cite></span></figure> <p>To be sure, not everyone views the situation this way. Even though poll respondents were widely supportive of making it easier to build more housing, they don’t necessarily see it as the best answer to the affordability crisis.</p> <p>When asked to choose between two statements explaining the problem, 55 percent of respondents picked the explanation that “there are homes available, but they’re too expensive for working and middle-class people to rent or purchase. State and local governments need to subsidize building more affordable homes.” Just 30 percent agreed with the statement that home prices are high because there aren’t enough homes and that the solution would be making it easier to build more of them.</p> <p>And it’s possible that people would oppose specific new housing projects in their communities, even if they agree with the broad principle that building more housing in their city is good.</p> <p>But this poll is another piece of evidence that anger over the lack of new affordable housing has reached a crescendo. Residents want more affordable housing built in their cities. They favor transit-oriented development. They are eager for the government to subsidize the building of more affordable housing. And they are in favor of making it easier to build more homes.</p> <div class="c-article-footer"> <hr class="p-entry-hr" /> <p><strong><a href="http://vox.com/pages/support-now?itm_campaign=fall2021&itm_medium=article&itm_source=article-footer">We have a request</a></strong></p> <p>In moments like this — as people grapple to understand variants and vaccines, and kids head back to school — many outlets take their paywalls down. Vox’s content is always free, in part because of financial support from our readers. We’ve been covering the Covid-19 pandemic for more than a year and a half. From the beginning, our goal was to bring clarity to chaos. To empower people with the information they needed to stay safe. And we’re not stopping.</p> <p>In the next 30 days, we’re aiming to add 2,500 individual contributions to help keep our coverage of the Covid-19 crisis free for everyone who needs it. As each of us is only as healthy as our sickest neighbor, it’s essential that people can access clear information on the pandemic for free. <a href="http://vox.com/pages/support-now?itm_campaign=fall2021&itm_medium=article&itm_source=article-footer">Will you help us reach our goal by making a contribution to Vox with as little as $3?</a></p> </div> <br /> <br /> source <a href="https://www.vox.com/2021/9/16/22674410/housing-crisis-homelessness-poll">https://www.vox.com/2021/9/16/22674410/housing-crisis-homelessness-poll</a>

vox The housing crisis is the top concern for urban residents

Housing costs and homelessness in America’s cities are so bad that people in growing metro areas now appear more concerned about those issue...

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The pandemic has created a nation of insomniacs

<div><img class="ff-og-image-inserted" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/i2xXDIckt-I1JPTy1m88PRZ6-k8=/0x0:6270x3283/fit-in/1200x630/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22850794/GettyImages_1262790546.jpg" /></div> <p>Remember sleeping?</p> <p>For too many Americans, it’s a distant memory: a time when we were able to get in bed, close our eyes, and drift off unencumbered without worries about contracting Covid-19, or the hours of work that piled up after supervising a day of remote school, or whether we need to buy <a href="https://www.npr.org/2021/07/24/1020088162/experts-call-for-more-stringent-mask-requirements-as-delta-variant-spreads">a different kind of mask</a> (again).</p> <p>Sleep deprivation has become one of the many side effects of the pandemic. It’s one that’s often invisible — a lot of people have no choice but to muddle through their day no matter how tired they are — but one that’s slowly wearing us down.</p> <p>For some, lack of sleep is about lack of time. “I get up now hours before my kids to get a few hours of writing and work done,” Courtney Boen, a professor of sociology and demography at the University of Pennsylvania, told Vox. “I know I’m not alone.”</p> <div> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> <p lang="en" dir="ltr" xml:lang="en">Seen some version of</p> <p>"I'll get to that around 10pm after kids go to bed."</p> <p>"I'll send to you by 7am, before kids wake up."</p> <p>in *countless* emails/texts w colleagues w young kids (mostly women) over last 18 mo.</p> <p>This is unsustainable but we've been sustaining it for over a year.</p> — Dr. Courtney Boen, PhD, MPH (@CourtneyBoen) <a href="https://twitter.com/CourtneyBoen/status/1432314010846826497?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 30, 2021</a></blockquote> </div> <p>But for others, scheduling isn’t necessarily to blame. When the pandemic hit, rates of insomnia <a href="https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20210121-the-coronasomnia-phenomenon-keeping-us-from-getting-sleep">spiked around the world</a>, driven by everything from the stress of living during an international public health crisis to the changes in daily life wrought by lockdowns. “People had additional responsibilities, new challenges, much more uncertainty,” Lauren Hale, a professor of family, population, and preventive medicine at Stony Brook University, told Vox.</p> <p>And as the delta variant continues to spread around the country, that uncertainty and its effects on sleep may not have abated. Some people have just gotten used to disrupted cycles and 3 am anxiety spirals; it’s how life is now. As Jennifer Martin, a clinical psychologist who serves on the board of directors for the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, told Vox, “There are some people who are still experiencing a lot of disruption.”</p> <p>While there are steps people can take in their own lives to address insomnia, sleep deprivation isn’t just a personal problem; it’s also a social one. And as with so many other problems in the pandemic, real relief will require policy changes — like shorter work hours, better pay, and improved access to health care — to make American life more secure for everyone.</p> <p>“The stress and sleep disruptions and uncertainty that so many Americans experience now during the pandemic is something that is preventable,” Boen said. “It’s something that can be mitigated through policy decisions.”</p> <p>Sleep is a basic human need, just like food or oxygen, and most adults need <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/sleep/about_sleep/how_much_sleep.html">about seven hours a night</a>. If we miss out on it for a night or two, we may notice problems like difficulty with decisions, not feeling mentally sharp, and becoming less tolerant of social conflict. Lack of sleep “kind of makes it harder for us to function around other people,” Martin said.</p> <p>Those short-term effects are reversible once we do get a good night’s sleep. But when people get less than seven hours of sleep on a regular basis, they face increased risk of metabolic problems like type 2 diabetes, as well as mental health issues like depression, Martin said. And when they go below six hours for a long period of time, they can experience cardiovascular problems and even an increased risk of mortality.</p> <p>All of this is bad news for a population that, even before the pandemic, wasn’t getting enough sleep. Americans’ sleep hours have been declining since the 1980s, <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2019/10/28/773622789/working-americans-are-getting-less-sleep-especially-those-who-save-our-lives">according to NPR</a>, with long work hours and stress the likely culprits. In one 2018 study, 35.6 percent of participants reported inadequate sleep, up from 30.9 percent in 2010. “We’re a very engaged 24/7 society, and one of the first activities that gets curtailed is our sleep,” clinical psychologist Todd Arnedt told NPR in 2018.</p> <p>The pandemic made matters worse. In <a href="https://jcsm.aasm.org/doi/10.5664/jcsm.8800">one study</a> conducted across 49 countries in March and April 2020, 40 percent of people said their sleep was worse than before the pandemic. Participants’ use of sleeping pills increased by 20 percent. Google searches for “insomnia” also <a href="https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/11/201118141724.htm">spiked in the US in April and May</a>, when many parts of the country were under stay-at-home orders. Meanwhile, Americans’ spending on the over-the-counter sleep supplement melatonin <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/melatonin-sales-spiked-coronavirus-pandemic-2021-1">increased by 42.6 percent</a> in 2020. “That consumer behavior is a sign that people are struggling,” Martin said.</p> <div class="c-float-right c-float-hang"> <aside><q>Any stressful experience that disrupts sleep for a period of time risks triggering chronic insomnia</q></aside> </div> <p>Then there are the hundreds of thousands of people who have contracted Covid-19. While insomnia isn’t technically considered a symptom of the disease, the respiratory symptoms can make it difficult to sleep. And clinicians are seeing a lot of chronic sleep problems in people experiencing <a href="https://www.vox.com/22369734/long-hauler-covid-vaccine">long Covid</a>. “We’re still trying to learn about that, and whether it might play a role in making the recovery more difficult,” Martin said.</p> <p>While there’s not yet much data on sleep trends this year, experts say the sleep disturbances of the early pandemic could persist over time. For one thing, plenty of people are still dealing with a lot of anxiety around the pandemic, from those who have lost their jobs to those dealing with the stress of <a href="https://www.vox.com/22644686/covid-delta-back-to-school-schools-pandemic">sending kids to school</a> amid the delta variant. As Hale put it, “everybody has their own reasons why they aren’t sleeping as well during an international crisis.”</p> <p>For another, any stressful experience that disrupts sleep for a period of time risks triggering chronic insomnia. When patients are asked how their sleep problems started, they’ll typically mention some “stressful event or a big change in their life as a thing that sort of got them off track,” Martin said. “Short-term insomnia is how long-term insomnia starts.” That’s one reason some Americans may still be having trouble sleeping now, more than 18 months into the pandemic, even if they’re vaccinated and their personal fears around Covid-19 have (somewhat) abated.</p> <p>And that’s just the insomnia piece of the puzzle. Add to that the countless Americans who might be able to get to sleep — if they ever had time to actually get in bed. That group includes a lot of working parents, who have been navigating school and day care closures for more than a year and a half. For some, that’s meant <a href="https://www.vox.com/21536100/economy-pandemic-lose-generation-working-mothers">dropping out of the workforce</a>. For others, it’s meant doing the equivalent of a full-time job on top of their job: In 2020, mothers of kids under 12 spent an average of eight hours every day on child care, <a href="https://19thnews.org/2021/08/moms-child-care-pandemic-full-time-job/">the 19th reported</a>.</p> <p>Those hours have to come from somewhere, and often, they come out of parents’ sleep. One <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/17455065211010655">2020 study</a> found levels of sleep deprivation in moms that were twice as high as those seen before the pandemic. And in a <a href="https://www.kff.org/policy-watch/its-back-to-school-amid-covid-19-and-mothers-especially-are-feeling-the-strain/">July 2020 poll</a> by the Kaiser Family Foundation, 53 percent of moms and 29 percent of dads reported sleep problems from stress related to the pandemic.</p> <p>For a lot of people, it hasn’t necessarily gotten better since then. “I’m chronically tired,” said Boen, the sociologist, who has a 6-year-old and a 2-year-old and has been without regular child care since March 2020. “I think that’s a really common experience right now.”</p> <p>Being chronically tired could be putting our health at risk — especially as Covid-19 continues to spread. Habitual lack of sleep can harm our immune function, which is “particularly important when there’s a pandemic going on,” Hale said. “In an effort to prevent disease, we want to be sleeping well.”</p> <p>Sleep deprivation could also exacerbate social inequalities. In general, “it tends to be the most vulnerable, disadvantaged individuals in society who have the worst sleep patterns,” Hale said. Racial disparities in sleep, for example, existed before the pandemic began. “African Americans, in particular, are the most sleep-deprived population in the United States,” Bridget Goosby, a sociology professor at the University of Texas at Austin, told Vox.</p> <p>Since Black, Indigenous, and other people of color have been disproportionately impacted by the pandemic and financial crisis, they’re likely dealing with more stressors that could affect sleep. And that, in turn, could worsen the impacts of the pandemic by making these groups even more vulnerable to getting sick, either with Covid-19 or with conditions like diabetes that are affected by sleep.</p> <p>“Not only has the pandemic heightened levels of chronic stress in ways that have been highly unequal, it’s also disrupted sleep patterns in ways that prevent people’s bodies from being able to handle that level of physiological stress,” Boen said. “It’s this sort of double jeopardy that I think a lot of people and groups are facing.”</p> <p>Without policies to address them, the effects of these disruptions are likely to persist beyond the immediate stressors of the pandemic, affecting people across their lives. “We’re going to see higher rates of morbidity, illness, chronic disease risks,” Goosby said. “This is a really alarming situation for populations that were already vulnerable.”</p> <p>Even in a pandemic, however, widespread sleep deprivation isn’t inevitable. On an individual level, there are changes some people can make that could help them sleep better. First, to the extent possible, people can try to replicate the daily rituals that structured their lives before the pandemic started. “Our sleep loves routine,” Martin said. “When the days look the same, our sleep at night is more predictable.”</p> <p>For a lot of Americans, life looks very different than it did before the pandemic — and everything from shifting work schedules to child care and school disruptions can make it hard to establish a daily routine. But every little bit helps. “For me, one of the things that helped a lot early in the pandemic was to have a start and end time for my work day,” Martin said. “I just would pretend that I was going to go to work, and I would get up and get dressed, and have breakfast and do all the things that I normally would, and start my day, and then have a time that I would just shut down my computer.”</p> <p>Sometimes, however, the modifications people can make on their own aren’t enough. In that case, a form of <a href="https://www.sleepfoundation.org/insomnia/treatment/cognitive-behavioral-therapy-insomnia">cognitive behavioral therapy</a>, which helps people identify thoughts or feelings related to insomnia, has been shown to be highly effective, Martin said. People should also consider visiting a sleep medicine physician, because many people with insomnia also have other sleep disorders, like sleep apnea, that may need specialized treatment. The website <a href="http://sleepeducation.org/">sleepeducation.org</a>, from the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, also has resources to help people sleep better or find a sleep specialist if they need to.</p> <div class="c-float-left c-float-hang"> <aside><q>“African Americans, in particular, are the most sleep-deprived population in the United States” —Bridget Goosby</q></aside> </div> <p>But unfortunately, these solutions aren’t accessible to everyone. Not everyone has health insurance to pay for therapy, and not everyone has enough control over their schedule to make sure it’s predictable from one day to the next. That’s why experts say ensuring healthy sleep for all will require systemic changes, not just individual fixes, to reduce the fear and uncertainty inherent in American life.</p> <p>Some of those are changes employers can make, like allowing flexible work hours or providing consistent scheduling so that people can plan ahead for work and child care. “Anything that enables employees to get the sleep they need, as long as they’re still doing their job, will improve morale and reduce stress, which can help with sleep as well,” Hale said.</p> <p><a href="https://www.vox.com/22568452/work-workweek-five-day-four-jobs-pandemic">Shorter work hours</a> could also help. In <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/9045819_A_6-hour_working_day--effects_on_health_and_well-being">one Swedish study</a>, reducing the workweek from 39 hours to 30 hours led to a reduction in sleep problems as well as a reduction in heart and respiratory issues. And while flexibility for working parents in the pandemic is important, it’s not much help if they still have so much work that they need all night to complete it.</p> <p>Then there are larger policy changes. “People tend to think of things like stress and sleep as these highly individualized behaviors or responses,” Boen said. “But they’re entirely shaped and determined by social and political conditions.”</p> <p>Federal, state, and local officials may not be able to end the pandemic, but they can address the stresses that have been exacerbated by it — and that contribute to racial and economic disparities in sleep, Hale said. That means reforms like raising the minimum wage, along with increasing access to affordable health care, both for sleep issues and for general well-being. “If you’re in pain or distress or sick, your sleep is often affected,” Hale said.</p> <p>It also means combating structural racism, from housing segregation to police violence to the school-to-prison pipeline. “One policy is not going to be the thing that fixes sleep,” Goosby said. “We have to have a really big-picture way of thinking about this all holistically.”</p> <p>Ultimately, she added, “sleep is just a symptom.”</p> <div class="c-article-footer"> <hr class="p-entry-hr" /> <p><strong><a href="http://vox.com/pages/support-now?itm_campaign=fall2021&itm_medium=article&itm_source=article-footer">We have a request</a></strong></p> <p>In moments like this — as people grapple to understand variants and vaccines, and kids head back to school — many outlets take their paywalls down. Vox’s content is always free, in part because of financial support from our readers. We’ve been covering the Covid-19 pandemic for more than a year and a half. From the beginning, our goal was to bring clarity to chaos. To empower people with the information they needed to stay safe. And we’re not stopping.</p> <p>In the next 30 days, we’re aiming to add 2,500 individual contributions to help keep our coverage of the Covid-19 crisis free for everyone who needs it. As each of us is only as healthy as our sickest neighbor, it’s essential that people can access clear information on the pandemic for free. <a href="http://vox.com/pages/support-now?itm_campaign=fall2021&itm_medium=article&itm_source=article-footer">Will you help us reach our goal by making a contribution to Vox with as little as $3?</a></p> </div> <br /> <br /> source <a href="https://www.vox.com/22671566/sleep-deprived-insomnia-covid-pandemic-stress-anxiety">https://www.vox.com/22671566/sleep-deprived-insomnia-covid-pandemic-stress-anxiety</a>

vox The pandemic has created a nation of insomniacs

Remember sleeping? For too many Americans, it’s a distant memory: a time when we were able to get in bed, close our eyes, and drift off un...

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Why “He Should Have Just Shot Him In The Leg” Is A Garbage Argument Against The Police

<div><img class="ff-og-image-inserted" src="https://shoebat.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/My-Post-2021-09-16T132303.198.jpg" /></div> <p>There are many garbage arguments running around against police officers. One of them is that an officer, when dealing with a dangerous criminal, should just “shoot him in the leg”, and if he happens to kill the assailant that he is somehow a bad cop. In this video I deal with this argument:</p> <p>[embedded content]</p> <br /> <br /> source <a href="https://shoebat.com/2021/09/16/why-he-should-have-just-shot-him-in-the-leg-is-a-garbage-argument-against-the-police/">https://shoebat.com/2021/09/16/why-he-should-have-just-shot-him-in-the-leg-is-a-garbage-argument-against-the-police/</a>

armageddon Why “He Should Have Just Shot Him In The Leg” Is A Garbage Argument Against The Police

There are many garbage arguments running around against police officers. One of them is that an officer, when dealing with a dangerous crim...

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The Taliban Government Is Already Failing

<div><img class="ff-og-image-inserted" src="https://shoebat.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/taliban-is-failing.jpg" /></div> <p>Its already falling apart….</p> <p>[embedded content]</p> <br /> <br /> source <a href="https://shoebat.com/2021/09/15/the-taliban-government-is-already-failing/">https://shoebat.com/2021/09/15/the-taliban-government-is-already-failing/</a>

armageddon The Taliban Government Is Already Failing

Its already falling apart…. [embedded content] source https://shoebat.com/2021/09/15/the-taliban-government-is-already-failing/

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The Worst People To Talk To, To Learn About A Country, Are The People In That Country

<div><img class="ff-og-image-inserted" src="https://shoebat.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/My-Post-2021-09-15T161817.848.jpg" /></div> <p>In my experience, I find that the worst people to talk to, when learning about the ugly side of a country, are its own citizens:</p> <p>[embedded content]</p> <br /> <br /> source <a href="https://shoebat.com/2021/09/15/the-worst-people-to-talk-to-to-learn-about-a-country-are-the-people-in-that-country/">https://shoebat.com/2021/09/15/the-worst-people-to-talk-to-to-learn-about-a-country-are-the-people-in-that-country/</a>

armageddon The Worst People To Talk To, To Learn About A Country, Are The People In That Country

In my experience, I find that the worst people to talk to, when learning about the ugly side of a country, are its own citizens: [embedded...

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