Tag Archives: Social Issues

Entertainment

Planned Parenthood blasts Blonde as “anti-abortion propaganda”

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Planned Parenthood has joined the chorus of voices with nothing much positive to say about Netflix’s new Marilyn Monroe biopic Blonde, giving an interview today that blasts the film as “anti-abortion propaganda.”

This is per THR, which reached out to the reproductive rights organization for comment on Andrew Dominik’s new film, which stars Ana De Armas as a version of the legendary Hollywood star, and which depicts two illegal abortions as part of the web of trauma that led to Monroe’s death. (Including CGI talking fetuses that say things like, “You won’t hurt me this time, will you?”)

In response, Caren Spruch, Planned Parenthood Federation of America’s national director of arts and entertainment engagement, told THR that, “As film and TV shapes many people’s understanding of sexual and reproductive health, it’s critical these depictions accurately portray women’s real decisions and experiences. While abortion is safe, essential health care, anti-abortion zealots have long contributed to abortion stigma by using medically inaccurate descriptions of fetuses and pregnancy. Andrew Dominik’s new film, Blonde, bolsters their message with a CGI-talking fetus, depicted to look like a fully formed baby.”

Spruch added:

Planned Parenthood respects artistic license and freedom. However, false images only serve to reinforce misinformation and perpetuate stigma around sexual and reproductive health care. Every pregnancy outcome — especially abortion — should be portrayed sensitively, authentically and accurately in the media. We still have much work to do to ensure that everyone who has an abortion can see themselves onscreen. It is a shame that the creators of Blonde chose to contribute to anti-abortion propaganda and stigmatize people’s health care decisions instead.

Dominik has come under fire both for the content of the film itself—based on the book by Joyce Carol Oates—and for the press he’s given around it, in which he’s suggested a sort of baseline contempt for Monroe’s various films. Addressing the abortion issue in a recent interview with The Wrap, he suggested that the film is not anti-choice, and that unhappiness at its depiction of abortion was rooted in the Supreme Court’s recent overturn of Roe v. Wade. “No one would have given a shit about that if I’d made the movie in 2008, and probably no one’s going to care about it in four years’ time.”

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Health

Teens Are Getting Into Vapes and Weed, Losing Interest in Booze and Other Drugs

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Photo: Shutterstock (Shutterstock)

Teens have been using less and less drugs over the past few decades, with two important exceptions, new research this week suggests. Reported levels of drug use have declined for most substances since the early 1990s, the study found, but rates of cannabis use and vaping have gone up. The findings also indicate that having less free time and greater parental supervision may help kids stay away from using drugs in the first place.

The research was led by scientists from Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health. They analyzed decades of data from the National Institute on Drug Abuse’s Monitoring the Future survey, which regularly asks 8th, 10th, and 12th graders across the country about their drug use and attitudes toward drugs (the questionnaire is intended to be filled out anonymously for the 8th and 10th graders and is supposed to be fully confidential for the 12th graders).

They specifically wanted to see how the social lives of teens might have affected their drug use. So they divided the respondents into different groups, based on how socially engaged they were, how much free time they had and how it was spent, and the level of parental involvement outside of school. More social teens, for example, might report playing sports, attending parties often, or having a part-time job.

From 1991 to 2019, the researchers found, reported substance use went down for drugs like alcohol, cigarettes, and most illicit substances. This drop was seen across all the groups of teens, but there were differences in how these patterns changed over time. The most social teens reported the highest levels of drug use, for instance, but also saw the biggest drops by the late 2010s. In 2019, about 27% of teens reported drinking alcohol in the past month, while 15% reported binge drinking in the past two weeks. The findings were published Wednesday in the journal Substance Use and Misuse.

“Substance use prevalence decreases across decades were largest for the groups defined by significant paid employment or high levels of social time, either with low engagement in other activities or lower levels of supervision, though these groups had the highest initial prevalence of each variety of substance use,” said lead author Noah Kreski, an epidemiologist at Columbia, in a statement from the university.

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As to why this decline is happening, Kreski and his colleagues argue that social trends might be an important factor. Based on this data, teens today seem to be spending less unstructured time with their peers or older adults than they did in the 90s, including having parties, dating, or just working. And community programs focused on deterring kids from smoking or drinking may have also played a role.

While teens have begun to drink and smoke nicotine less, their levels of cannabis use and vaping have gone up over time. By 2019, 13% of teens reported using cannabis, 12% reported nicotine vaping, and 6% reported cannabis vaping in the past month. These trends were seen across all groups, but especially in socially engaged teens or those with a job. It’s possible that cannabis and vaping might have become alluring alternatives to alcohol and other drugs among teens as cultural norms have shifted over time, but the authors say that more research is needed to understand the exact drivers behind this rise and fall of teen drug use.

“Uncovering these links between complex patterns of time use and substance use outcomes could reveal new opportunities for intervention and education of adolescents surrounding substances, helping to promote declines in use,” said Kreski.

More recent data from the Monitoring the Future Survey suggests that these trends are continuing in both directions. While overall reported teen drug use once again declined between 2020 and 2021, cannabis use rose to an all-time high.

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Sports

Robert Sarver to sell Phoenix Suns, Mercury after harassment report

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Phoenix Suns and Mercury owner Robert Sarver attends Game Two of the 2021 WNBA Finals at Footprint Center on October 13, 2021 in Phoenix, Arizona.

Christian Petersen | Getty Images

Phoenix Suns and Mercury owner Robert Sarver said he would begin the process to sell both professional basketball teams after a damning report detailed nearly two decades’ worth of workplace harassment and inappropriate behavior by the executive.

Blaming an “unforgiving climate,” Sarver said in a statement Wednesday that he is unable to separate his “personal” controversy from the NBA and WNBA teams.

“Whatever good I have done, or could still do, is outweighed by things I have said in the past. For those reasons, I am beginning the process of seeking buyers for the Suns and Mercury,” he wrote.

Forbes values the Suns, who appeared in the 2021 NBA Finals, at $1.8 billion.

Last week, the NBA suspended Sarver for a year after an independent investigation corroborated details of a November ESPN report that alleged the owner used racist language, made sex-related comments to and about women, and mistreated employees. The league also fined him $10 million.

“The statements and conduct described in the findings of the independent investigation are troubling and disappointing,” NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said last week. “We believe the outcome is the right one, taking into account all the facts, circumstances and context brought to light by the comprehensive investigation of this 18-year period.”

The NBA had no comment on Sarver’s announcement Wednesday.

The Sarver controversy is reminiscent of when former Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling was fined $2.5 million and banned for life from the NBA after he was caught making racist comments on recordings. He was forced to sell the team for $2 billion to former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer after 33 years of ownership. Sterling sued the NBA, but the suit was settled in 2016.

Here is Sarver’s full statement:

Words that I deeply regret now overshadow nearly two decades of building organizations that brought people together – and strengthened the Phoenix area – through the unifying power of professional men’s and women’s basketball.

As a man of faith, I believe in atonement and the path to forgiveness. I expected that the commissioner’s one-year suspension would provide the time for me to focus, make amends and remove my personal controversy from the teams that I and so many fans love.

But in our current unforgiving climate, it has become painfully clear that that is no longer possible – that whatever good I have done, or could still do, is outweighed by things I have said in the past. For those reasons, I am beginning the process of seeking buyers for the Suns and Mercury.

I do not want to be a distraction to these two teams and the fine people who work so hard to bring the joy and excitement of basketball to fans around the world. I want what’s best for these two organizations, the players, the employees, the fans, the community, my fellow owners, the NBA and the WNBA. This is the best course of action for everyone.

In the meantime, I will continue to work on becoming a better person, and continuing to support the community in meaningful ways. Thank you for continuing to root for the Suns and the Mercury, embracing the power that sports has to bring us together.

– CNBC’s Lillian Rizzo contributed to this report.

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Business

Here’s why the $39 trillion U.S. retirement system gets a C+ grade

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Siriporn Wongmanee / Eyeem | Eyeem | Getty Images

The U.S. retirement system may seem flush — yet it ranks poorly in relation to those in other developed nations.

Collectively, Americans had more than $39 trillion in wealth earmarked for old age at the end of 2021, according to the Investment Company Institute.

However, the U.S. places well outside the top 10 on various global retirement rankings from industry players, such as the Mercer CFA Institute Global Pension Index and Natixis Investment Managers 2021 Global Retirement Index.

According to Mercer’s index, for example, the U.S. got a “C+.” It ranked No. 17 on Natixis’ list.  

Here’s why the U.S. falls short, according to retirement experts.

The U.S. has a ‘patchwork retirement design’

Iceland topped both lists. Among other factors, the country delivers generous and sustainable retirement benefits to a large share of the population, has a low level of old-age poverty, and has a higher relative degree of retirement income equality, according to the reports, which use different methodologies.

Other nations, including Norway, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Denmark, Australia, Ireland and New Zealand, also got high marks. For example, Denmark, Iceland and the Netherlands each got “A” grades, according to Mercer’s index.

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Where the U.S. largely lags behind those countries, experts said, is that its retirement system isn’t set up so that everyone has a chance at a financially secure retirement.

“Even though we have $40 trillion invested, it’s a very uneven, fragmented, patchwork retirement design that we work with in the U.S.,” said Angela Antonelli, executive director of the Center for Retirement Initiatives at Georgetown University. “Some people do very, very well but a lot of other people are left behind.”

Consider this statistic: Just three of the 38 countries in the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development rank worse than the U.S. in old-age income inequality, according to the bloc of developed countries.  

Indeed, poverty rates are “very high” for Americans 75 years and older: 28% in the U.S. versus 11%, on average, in the OECD.

Many Americans don’t have workplace retirement plans

The U.S. retirement system is often called a “three-legged stool,” which consists of Social Security, workplace arrangements such as pensions and 401(k) plans, and individual savings.

One of the structure’s primary shortfalls is a lack of access to workplace savings plans, according to retirement experts.

Just over half — 53% — of U.S. workers had access to an employer-sponsored retirement plan in 2018, according to a recent estimate by John Sabelhaus, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and adjunct research professor at the University of Michigan. That’s an improvement from nearly 49% a decade earlier, he found.

Even though we have $40 trillion invested, it’s a very uneven, fragmented, patchwork retirement design that we work with in the U.S.

Angela Antonelli

executive director of the Center for Retirement Initiatives at Georgetown University

Approximately 57 million Americans fell in the retirement savings coverage “gap” in 2020, meaning they didn’t have access to a workplace plan, according to a Center for Retirement Initiatives analysis.

The U.S. has a voluntary retirement savings system. The federal government doesn’t require individuals to save, or businesses to offer a pension or 401(k). Individuals also shoulder more personal responsibility to build a nest egg as businesses have largely transitioned away from pension plans.

By contrast, 19 developed nations require some level of coverage, by mandating businesses offer a retirement plan, that individuals have a personal account, or some combination of the two, according to OECD data. In 12 of the countries, the arrangements cover more than 75% of the working-age population. In Denmark, Finland and the Netherlands, for example, the share is near 90% or more.

In Iceland, where coverage is 83%, the private-sector retirement system “covers all employees with a high contribution rate that leads to significant assets being set aside for the future,” Mercer wrote.

IRAs aren’t a catchall for workers without a 401(k)

Of course, people in the U.S. can save for retirement outside the workplace — in an individual retirement account, for example — if their employer doesn’t offer a retirement plan.

But that often doesn’t happen, Antonelli said. Just 13% of households contributed to a pre-tax or Roth IRA in 2020, according to the Investment Company Institute.

IRAs held nearly $14 trillion in 2021, almost double the $7.7 trillion in 401(k) plans. But most IRA funds aren’t contributed directly — they were first saved in a workplace retirement plan and then rolled into an IRA. In 2019, $554 billion was rolled into IRAs — more than seven times the $76 billion contributed directly, according to ICI data.

Lower annual IRA contribution limits also mean individuals can’t save as much each year as they can in workplace plans.  

Americans are 15 times more likely to stash away retirement funds when they can do so at work via payroll deduction, according to AARP.

“Access is our No. 1 issue,” Will Hansen, chief government affairs officer at the American Retirement Association, a trade group, said of workplace retirement savings. Employees of small businesses are least likely to have a 401(k) available, he added.

“[However], the retirement system is actually a good system for those who have access,” Hansen said. “People are saving.”

But the retirement security offered by that savings is tilted toward high-income households, according to federal data.

Low earners, by contrast, “appear more prone to having little or no savings in their [defined contribution] accounts,” the Government Accountability Office wrote in a 2019 report. A 401(k) plan is a type of defined contribution plan, whereby investors “define,” or choose, their desired savings rate.

Just 9% of the bottom quintile of wage earners have retirement savings, versus 68% of middle-income earners and 94% of the top quintile, according to a Social Security Administration report from 2017.

Overall savings are also “constrained” by low wage growth after accounting for inflation and increasing out-of-pocket costs for items such as health care, the GAO said. Longer lifespans are putting more pressure on nest eggs.

Social Security has some structural issues

Social Security benefits — another “leg” of America’s three-legged stool — help make up for a shortfall in personal savings.

About a quarter of senior households rely on these public benefits for at least 90% of their income, according to the Social Security Administration. The average monthly benefit for retirees is about $1,600 as of August 2022.

“That doesn’t put you much above the poverty level,” Antonelli said of Social Security benefits for people with little to no personal savings.

There are also some looming structural issues with the Social Security program. Absent measures to shore up its financing, benefits for retirees are expected to fall after 2034; at that point, the program would be able to pay just 77% of scheduled payments.

Further, individuals can raid their 401(k) accounts in times of financial distress, causing so-called “leakage” from the system. This ability can infuse much-needed cash into struggling households in the present, but may subject savers to a shortfall later in life.

The “leakage” factor, coupled with relatively low minimum Social Security benefits for lower earners and the projected shortfall of the Social Security trust fund, “will have a significant impact on the ability for the U.S. pension system to adequately provide for its retirees in the future,” said Katie Hockenmaier, U.S. defined contribution research director at Mercer.

‘There’s been a tremendous amount of progress’

Of course, it can be tough to compare the relative successes and failures of retirement systems on a global scale.

Each system has evolved from “particular economic, social, cultural, political and historical circumstances,” according to the Mercer report.

“It’s hard to state the U.S. is really far behind when there are so many other external policies countries make that impact their citizens and how effective their retirement will be in the long run,” Hansen said.

Flaws in health-care and education policy bleed into people’s ability to save, Hansen argued. For example, a high student debt burden or big health bills may cause an American borrower to defer saving. In such cases, it may not be fair to place primary blame on the structure of the U.S. retirement system, Hansen said.

And there have been structural improvements in recent years, experts said.

The Pension Protection Act of 2006, for example, ushered in a new era of saving, whereby employers started automatically enrolling workers into 401(k) plans and increasing their contribution amounts each year.

More recently, 11 states and two cities — New York and Seattle — have adopted programs that require businesses to offer retirement programs to workers, according to the Center for Retirement Initiatives. They can be 401(k)-type plans or a state-administered IRA, into which workers would be automatically enrolled.

Federal lawmakers are also weighing provisions — such as reduced costs relative to factors like plan compliance and a boost in tax incentives — to promote more uptake of 401(k) plans among small businesses, Hansen said.

“In the past 15 years — and now with considerations of additional reform in Secure 2.0 [legislation] — there’s been a tremendous amount of progress in recognizing there’s room for the improvement of design of our U.S. retirement system,” Antonelli said.

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Health

Right Wingers Attack Biden Monkeypox Czar Demetre Daskalakis

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Demetre Daskalakis at a White House monkeypox press briefing on September 7.
Image: Kevin Dietsch (Getty Images)

Monkeypox is currently spreading across the country (and the world at large), with over 21,000 cases reported in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as of August 22. After a faltering initial response, the White House has taken a more aggressive approach in its response and outreach regarding the outbreak, which included the Aug. 2 appointment of a new Monkeypox Response Deputy Coordinator: Demetre Daskalakis. Daskalakis has a long resume of high-level public health experience—he served as covid incident commander for New York City and led the CDC’s HIV prevention division—but he also happens to be everything conservatives hate: hot, gay, and often shirtless.

Noted idiot and serial plagiarist Benny Johnson tweeted Thursday, “Meet Demetre Daskalakis. Demetre was just appointed by Joe Biden to be the official White House National Monkeypox Response Deputy Coordinator. Demetre proudly wears the official symbol of the Church of Satan: The Pentagram. Joe Biden appointed a Satanist to the White House.” Johnson’s use of “just” is doing a lot of work, as Daskalakis’ appointment occurred a month ago. Keep up, Benny. “I am certainly not a satanist,” Daskalakis tells The Advocate. And why do people think he is? “It’s because I wear high-fashion harnesses by Zana Bayne,” he cheekily replies.

Daily Caller writer Dylan Housman wrote, “Meet Joe Biden’s monkeypox czar: a ‘progressive, radical gay’ doctor who performs HIV screenings in sex clubs and gives meningitis shots in drag. Now he’s in the White House.” Housman wrote an entire story about Daskalakis’ “suggestive clothing” and “dozens, if not hundreds, of shirtless photos showcasing the doctor’s physique.”

Right-wingers like Johnson and Housman are having a field day with Daskalakis’ Instagram, with a lot of emphasis on the fact that Daskalakis has worn shirts and leather harnesses with designs that resemble pentagrams, which in turn confirms their beliefs that President Biden’s administration is home to Satanists (the post hoc propter hoc fallacy). While the good doctor may sometimes sport a menacing leather star, he balances the unholy vibes out with a massive tattoo of Jesus on his stomach, among several other pieces of ink.

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Disparaging comments have flooded Daskalakis’ Instagram since the harassment against him began this week, and he has taken his profile private. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

What’s completely unsurprising is how the conservative response to Daskalakis’ appointment involves criticism about his expression of sexuality, with little to say about how qualified he may be for this public health position—he has degrees from Columbia and Harvard, experience as a director of Mount Sinai Health System, and a long stint with the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. Before joining the White House, he was known to have a unique approach to public health, specifically in his quest to cater to the LGBTQ+ community. A profile in the Atlantic in 2014 quotes Daskalakis as the “gay health warrior” who gave HIV and Hepatitis C screenings at a Manhattan S&M club called Paddles as patrons partied the night away. Similarly, NBC News previously reported that Daskalakis would dress in drag as a nurse to give meningitis vaccines at sex clubs.

While the right-wing rage against Daskalakis appears to be drowning out his infectious disease experience and creative approach to public health, many were quick to come to his defense.

After conservative radio personality Tim Young wrote of Daskalakis’ appointment, “I’m not making this up,” David Holland, a professor of infectious diseases at Emory University, responded, “No, you’re not. He’s a brilliant scientist, tireless public servant, and has always worked right on the front lines, including this amazing ad campaign. My friend and my hero. Don’t be jealous because he also looks better than you with his shirt off.”



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Health

The Differences Between Just Overeating and a Binge Eating Disorder

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Photo: Tero Vesalainen (Shutterstock)

With so much of our culture hyper-focused on what a person eats (and what a person weighs), it can be hard to define what “overeating” actually is—and when that overeating becomes a bigger problem. Do you simply have a big appetite, or are you actually struggling with an eating disorder? Here’s how to decipher the differences between regular overeating and the more serious binge eating disorder.

What is binge eating disorder?

According to the National Eating Disorders Association, binge eating disorder is severe and can be life-threatening but is also treatable. It’s characterized by recurrent episodes of eating large quantities of food. This is typically done very quickly and to the point of feeling uncomfortable. Other characteristics of BED include a feeling of loss of control during the binge and shame or guilt after it. Notably, bulimia involves unhealthy compensatory measures like purging after a binge, while BED does not.

BED is recognized in the DSM-5, but its addition to the diagnostic manual as its own disorder is relatively recent. Prior to 2013, it was considered a subtype of OSFED, or “other specified feeding and eating disorder.” Now, it’s the most common eating disorder in America.

Diagnostic criteria include the following:

  • Eating within a discrete time period an amount of food that is definitely larger than what most people would eat in that time period under similar circumstances
  • A sense of lack of control over eating during the episode
  • Eating more rapidly than normal, eating until feeling uncomfortably full, eating large amounts when not hungry, eating alone because of embarrassment over how much is being consumed, and feeling disgusted, depressed, or guilty afterward (note that three of these must be present for a diagnosis)
  • Marked distress regarding bingeing
  • The binge occurs, on average, at least once a week for three months
  • The binge eating is not associated with inappropriate compensatory behaviors like purging and does not occur exclusively during the course of bulimia nervosa or anorexia nervosa

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How is binge eating disorder different from overeating?

According to Healthline, BED is a medical condition, and overeating is not. BED is also associated with other psychological symptoms like depression and anxiety.

Another primary difference between the two is the feeling of distress or shame that comes with BED and its related behaviors. If you occasionally overeat, but you don’t feel distressed or guilty about it afterward, it’s unlikely you have BED. Next time you overeat, take note of what is going on. If you are doing it alone to hide your behavior, feeling out of control when it’s happening, and feeling ashamed afterward, you could have BED and should consider talking to a mental health professional.

(Here is how to find a good therapist even if you don’t have insurance, and here are warning signs your child may have BED.)

What can be done about BED?

If you end up with a diagnosis, here’s what you need to know: First, getting the diagnosis is a good thing, as BED can cause health complications like asthma, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, high cholesterol, and high blood pressure in addition to mental health problems like depression and anxiety.

Second, there are treatments available. Typically, people with BED will be treated with some kind of psychotherapy or counseling and there will be a medical or nutritional component, too. To figure out what kind of treatment you need, your mental health professional will consider emotional factors and the severity of your BED. Therapy can help address the underlying causes of the disorder, and medicine can help regulate your eating habits.

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Business

44% of Americans think they can achieve billionaire status

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Michael Bloomberg, (right) founder of Bloomberg LP, and Lloyd Blankfein, chairman and CEO of Goldman Sachs Group, at the 10,000 Small Businesses (1OKSB) Partnership Event in London on Dec. 14, 2016.

Chris Ratcliffe | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Mixed feelings about extreme wealth

At the same time, most Americans have a love-hate relationship with extreme wealth.

“There is a mounting disconnect,” the Harris report found: Six in 10 adults want to become a billionaire one day. Meanwhile, 40% said they despise billionaires. Many also said that billionaires have the responsibility to better society but aren’t doing enough.

As the rich get richer, 66% of adults see wealth inequality as a serious national issue, and nearly half of Americans, or 47%, believe that there should be a limit to wealth accumulation, the report also found. 

A mobile billboard in Washington, D.C., calling for higher taxes on the ultra-wealthy depicts an image of billionaire Jeff Bezos on May 17, 2021.

Drew Angerer | Getty Images

Of those polled, 24% said personal wealth should be capped at less than $1 billion, while 20% said it should be capped somewhere between $1 billion and $10 billion.

There are roughly 200 people in the U.S. who are currently worth more than $10 billion, according to Forbes’ annual ranking of the richest people. Among the top five, Jeff Bezos, Warren Buffett, Bill Gates and Elon Musk are all worth more than $100 billion.   

Meanwhile, extreme wealth inequality was exacerbated by the Covid pandemic, other reports also show.

The richest Americans have continued to benefit from owning equities and real estate, particularly last year when both the stock market and home values soared. As of the end of 2021, the top 1% owned a record 32.3% of the nation’s wealth.

On the flipside, the share of wealth held by the bottom 90% of Americans fell since before the pandemic, to 30.2% from 30.5%.

In the Harris poll, 58% of Americans were resentful of wealth accumulation over this period, when others suffered from the financial fallout brought on by the sudden economic downturn.

Taxing the ultra-rich gains support

“Right now, the average billionaire — there are about 790 of them or so in America — has a federal tax rate of 8%,” Biden tweeted.

The Billionaire Minimum Income Tax would assess a 20% minimum tax rate on U.S. households worth more than $100 million. Over half the revenue could come from those worth more than $1 billion.

But despite growing public support for higher taxes on the ultra-wealthy, billionaire tax proposals have failed to gain traction.

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US

More details emerge about Biden federal student debt forgiveness plan

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Student loan borrowers stage an Aug 25, 2022 rally in front of the White House to celebrate President Joe Biden canceling some federal student debt.

Paul Morigi | Getty Images Entertainment | Getty Images

As tens of millions of Americans process the news of federal student loan forgiveness, countless questions are emerging about how it will all work.

When will borrowers see the relief? Who’s eligible? Do you have to apply? The U.S. Department of Education’s website has been slow to load this week with so many people searching for these answers.

Here’s what we know so far.

How much of my debt could be forgiven?

Did I receive a Pell Grant?

Who’s eligible?

The relief will be limited to borrowers who make less than $125,000 per year, or married couples or heads of households earning less than $250,000.

If your income was below these caps in either 2020 or 2021, you should be eligible.

Which loans qualify?

Big picture, the vast majority – roughly 37 million borrowers – will be eligible for the forgiveness based on their loan type (and then as long as they also fall under the income cap), because their debt is under what’s called the William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan Program. That includes Direct Stafford Loans, and all Direct subsidized and unsubsidized federal student loans. Under the Direct program, Parent Plus and Grad Loans, are also eligible for the relief.

Then it gets more complicated.

As of now, the Education Department is saying that any loans it holds qualify. That means the roughly 5 million borrowers who have a commercially held Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) may be excluded. (About the same number of borrowers have FFEL loans that are with the government and they need not worry.)

Borrowers eager to know if their FFEL loans are commercially held can go to Studentaid.gov and sign in with their FSA ID. The information should be available at the “My Aid” tab.

Even if your FFEL loan is with a private company, all hope may not be lost.

An Education Department spokesperson said borrowers with those loans can call their servicer and consolidate them into the Direct Loan Program to become eligible for forgiveness.

There’s currently no deadline by which they need to do this, but presumably there will be one. As a result, experts recommend borrowers in this situation act quickly.

Another type of loan may also be excluded from forgiveness because it’s not in the government’s hands. Kantrowitz said: certain loans from the Federal Perkins Loan Program. Some of these loans are with the Education Department, but most are held by colleges.

If you pay your monthly loan bill to one of the government’s loan servicers, you should be able to get the forgiveness, Kantrowitz said, but if your payments are sent to another private lender, you’re probably out of luck.

All private student loans are also excluded.

What if I owe less than is being forgiven?

When is the loan cutoff date for cancellation?

Student loans taken out after June 30, 2022, won’t be included in the relief.

Do I have to do anything to get forgiveness?

The Education Department said it will launch an application in which borrowers can input their income data and request the loan forgiveness. The application will be available before the end of the year, the department said, and borrowers can sign up now on its website for updates about the process.

The department also said it already has the income data for nearly 8 million borrowers because they were enrolled in income-driven repayment plans that already required this data. These people may get automatic cancellation.

Will the loan forgiveness trigger taxes?

Student loan forgiveness won’t trigger a federal tax bill.

That’s because the American Rescue Plan of 2021 made student loan forgiveness tax-free through 2025 — and the law covers Biden’s forgiveness, too, according to a fact sheet from the White House.

You may, however, still be on the hook for state levies, Kantrowitz said.

Some states automatically conform to federal rules, but others may count the forgiven balance as income, meaning it’s still possible you’ll have a state bill. The amount “may be the equivalent of a few student loan payments,” Kantrowitz said.

If you’re unsure, contact a local tax professional for an estimate before filing your state tax return.

How do I make sure I really get forgiveness?

Experts recommend taking a photo or screenshot of your current student loan balance. That way you can make sure it drops by the correct amount once forgiveness happens.

What’s going on with the payment pause?

In addition to Biden’s announcement on student loan forgiveness, he said he’d extend the payment pause on federal student loans until Dec. 31. Payments will resume come January.

It’s the seventh extension of the pandemic-era relief policy started under the Trump administration and it will likely be the final one.

 – CNBC’s Sarah O’Brien and Kate Dore contributed reporting.

What will student loan forgiveness mean to you? If you’re willing to speak for a story, please email me at annie.nova@nbcuni.com

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Technology

Destiny 2 Makes Grenade Launchers Too Powerful, Disables Them

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Image: Bungie

Season of Plunder is off to a fun but rocky start, and there’s no better example of that then Destiny 2‘s heavy grenade launchers. Almost all of them have been temporarily disabled just a day into the new update after a glitch was discovered that was making them output more than double their normal damage. The move comes just ahead of the community race for the returning King’s Fall raid on Friday.

Destiny players like Aztecross and others started to notice the glitch soon after Season 18 went live. Grenade launchers were buffed in the latest patch, but some were doing way more damage then the 10 percent that was promised. The Exotic heavy grenade launcher Anarchy and a few others were instead doing 150 percent or more. As a result, some of the game’s weakest legendary weapons suddenly became among its strongest.

Here’s Aztecross’ video breaking it down:

I’ll be honest, I had a lot of fun messing around with my Tarnation with chain reaction during Ketchcrash runs for exactly this reason. Guns I wouldn’t normally touch were suddenly bringing down yellow bars in a single shot. It felt…nice. But it also was never going to last. The massive damage glitch would have obviously thrown a wrench in the King’s Fall raid race scheduled for Friday, so in order to prevent that Bungie has instead disabled almost every heavy grenade launcher in the game until the next hotfix.

It’s a pretty drastic measure and while understandable it still kind of sucks. Normally, a single weapon or piece of gear might be disabled if something’s not working as intended. That’s what Bungie did yesterday with the Icefall Mantle Exotic Titan gauntlets. One player discovered shortly after Season 18 went live that they could combine it with Titans’ new Arc 3.0 thruster dash to initiate an infinite super glitch. Not surprisingly, Bungie took it offline. Now, however, it’s an entire weapon archetype that’s being put in time out. Hopefully not for too long.

It’s far from the only glitch so far this season. There have also been a number of issues around new activities properly recording progress and awarding currency. In those cases, Bungie is recommending players wait until the timer returns them to orbit before leaving and activity. In addition, if you won’t earn new map fragments if there isn’t room in your inventory. Rather than go to the postmaster they’ll never appear in the first place. I learned that one the hard way.

If you want to experience these triumphs and travails for yourself, Destiny 2 and all of its expansions are currently free for the next week on PC and console.

    



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Business

Ford to appeal $1.7 billion verdict in Georgia truck crash

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WOODSTOCK, Ga. — Ford Motor Co. plans to appeal a $1.7 billion verdict against the automaker after a pickup truck crash that claimed the lives of a Georgia couple, a company representative said Sunday.

Jurors in Gwinnett County, just northeast of Atlanta, returned the verdict late last week in the yearslong civil case involving what the plaintiffs’ lawyers called dangerously defective roofs on Ford pickup trucks, lawyer James Butler Jr. said Sunday.

Melvin and Voncile Hill were killed in April 2014 in the rollover wreck of their 2002 Ford F-250. Their children Kim and Adam Hill were the plaintiffs in the wrongful death case.

“While our sympathies go out to the Hill family, we do not believe the verdict is supported by the evidence, and we plan to appeal,” Ford said in a statement to The Associated Press on Sunday.

Butler said he was stunned by evidence in the case.

“I used to buy Ford trucks,” Butler said on Sunday. “I thought nobody would sell a truck with a roof this weak. The damn thing is useless in a wreck. You might as well drive a convertible.”

In closing arguments, lawyers hired by the company defended the actions of Ford and its engineers.

The Michigan-based automaker sought to defend the company against accusations “that Ford and its engineers acted willfully and wantonly, with a conscious indifference for the safety of the people who ride in their cars when they made these decisions about roof strength,” defense lawyer William Withrow Jr. said in his closing arguments, according to a court transcript.

The allegation that Ford was irresponsible and willfully made decisions that put customers at risk is “simply not the case,” another defense lawyer, Paul Malek, said in the same closing argument.

Lawyers for the plaintiffs had submitted evidence of nearly 80 similar rollover wrecks that involved truck roofs being crushed that injured or killed motorists, Butler’s law firm, Butler Prather LLP, said in a statement.

“More deaths and severe injuries are certain because millions of these trucks are on the road,” Butler’s co-counsel, Gerald Davidson, said in the statement.

“An award of punitive damages to hopefully warn people riding around in the millions of those trucks Ford sold was the reason the Hill family insisted on a verdict,” Butler said.

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