https://www.cnn.com/2023/07/30/economy/child-labor-louisiana-texas/index.html

New York
CNN
—
A 14-year-old boy who cleaned meat cutting machines was “falling asleep in class and missing class as a result and suffering injuries from chemical burns” in Nebraska from 2021 to 2022, according to the Labor Department. Another 13-year-old suffered severe burns from cleaning agents.

Packers Sanitation Services Inc. (PSSI), one of the largest providers of food safety sanitation in the US, had employed 31 children between the ages of 13 and 17 to work for meat industry monoliths like Cargill and JBS USA across Minnesota and Nebraska, the Department of Labor said last November.

These weren’t isolated cases.

US child labor violations have jumped in recent years. Some well-known companies, consumer-facing name brands, have been caught employing children for grueling work in dangerous conditions. A tight labor market has prompted many employers to search for the cheapest available labor; state legislators are even pushing bills that would limit legal protections for underage workers.

Now, the Department of Labor has announced actions it’s taken so far this year through a new interagency task force on child labor.

“Child labor is an issue that gets to the heart of who we are as a country and who we want to be,” said Acting Secretary of Labor Julie Su in a news release Thursday. “Like the President, we believe that any child working in a dangerous or hazardous environment is one child too many.”

https://wtop.com/weather-news/2023/07/high-temperatures-start-to-drop-in-dc-region-with-thunderstorms-rolling-in/

An afternoon of severe weather behind sweltering temperatures from a three-day has finished up, bringing down trees and shutting off power for roughly 200,000 customers across the D.C. region. Here’s what you need to know.

Severe thunderstorm watches and warnings have finished up, but not without major impacts for a significant portion of D.C., Maryland and Virginia.

Already there are reports of trees down and power outages in the region, including in Loudoun and Montgomery counties, plus the District.

WTOP reporter Dave Dildine says “this is one of the stronger summer storms we have experienced in D.C. in a couple of years at least.”

“I am seeing some significant damage in parts of Northwest D.C. Countless trees are down, manhole covers displaced and open pits disabling cars,” Dildine said. “Numerous major roads, like Fox Hall Road, are blocked. People are walking around with a stunned expression around Palisades.”

The latest wind gust reports from within the storm, as of 6:07 p.m., are traveling at 58 mph at Hoffman-Boston Elementary School in Arlington, VA, according to WTOP meteorologist Chad Merrill.

https://www.cnn.com/2023/07/21/business/worker-safety-heat-protections-osha/index.html

A record heat wave stretching from California to Florida has caused dozens of deaths, filled some hospitals to pandemic levels and prompted government warnings about avoiding extended exposure to heat. But the federal agency charged with protecting you on the job can do little or nothing if your boss orders you to work outside in the searing summer sun.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration, or OSHA, is only now in the process of drafting a heat standard for work places, even as climate change means such extreme weather will likely grow more common. That effort, announced by the Biden administration nearly two years ago, is likely years from taking effect, if it does go into effect at all.

Heat deaths on the job
What is clear is that workers are dying on the job due to exposure to high heat.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics lists 436 workplace deaths between 2011 and 2021 due to exposure to high heat in the work place, or roughly 40 a year. Since most of those occurred in the summer that’s well over a death a week on the job for workers exposed to heat during the hottest months.

And experts say those numbers grossly underestimate the number of actual deaths from heat exposure on the job.

How heat can kill on the job
Heat stroke is a deadly condition in which the body’s core temperature can rise above 104 degrees, said W. Larry Kenney, professor of physiology and kinesiology at Penn State. The rise in body temperature that follows can cause the brain cells to have trouble sending needed signals to the body and trigger massive failure of vital organs such as the heart, kidneys and liver.

“Heat stroke is a life-threatening emergency that causes some form of cognitive dysfunction,” said Kenney. Most people who die from it succumb to a combination of high core body temperature and heart failure. Exertion in those conditions can significantly increase the risk.

OSHA heat safety rules
Even without a specific heat standard, OSHA can fine employers that let heat get unsafe for workers under a “general duty” rule requiring safe work places.

For that to happen, OSHA has to show that there is a serious hazard that can cause death or serious harm, that the hazard is widely recognized, and that there is a feasible means of abatement, former OSHA official Barab said.

https://www.cnn.com/2023/07/21/business/premarket-stocks-trading-sentiment-rally/index.html

CNN
—
Stocks and consumer sentiment are rising in tandem after slumping last year, in another sign of growing optimism that the economy could dodge a recession.

Consumer sentiment tracked by the University of Michigan jumped 13% in July, notching its second consecutive month of improvement. The index also reached its highest level since September 2021.

The university’s index tracks consumers’ expectations in three areas: personal finances, business conditions and buying conditions.

At the same time, the S&P 500 index has risen over 18% this year, most recently buoyed by cooler-than-expected inflation readings and strong second-quarter earnings reports from both big and regional banks. The broad-based index this week touched its highest level so far this year.

https://www.cnn.com/2023/07/09/tech/twitter-alternatives/index.html

Threads
Threads is Meta’s long-anticipated answer to Twitter and the biggest threat to the social network Musk bought for $44 billion. Threads is intended to offer a space for real-time conversations online, a function that has long been Twitter’s core selling point, and it’s doing so in part by adoption many of Twitter’s most recognizable features.

Spill
Launched by former Twitter employees, Spill says it strives to be a “visual conversation at the speed of culture.”

T2
T2, another service created by former Twitter employees, offers a social feed of posts with 280-character limits. The key selling point that sets it apart from others is its focus on safety, according to Oh, the founder.

Bluesky
Bluesky, a service backed by Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey, looks identical to Twitter, with one key difference. The app runs on a decentralized network, which provides users more control over how the service is run, the data is stored, and the content is moderated.

https://twitter.com/jack/status/1677009482076020737

Mastodon
Also built on decentralized networks, Mastodon launched before Musk took over Twitter but skyrocketed in popularity after the acquisition.

Cohost
Launched publicly in June 2022, Cohost offers a text-based social media feed with followers, reposts, likes and comments, similar to Twitter. However, the product is chronologically based with no ads, no trending topics and no displayed interactions (think hidden like counts and follower lists).