Losing your job shouldn’t mean losing your identity

From California-based tech giants Twitter and Meta to retailers such as Amazon and Walmart, few industries have been spared from layoffs in recent weeks. These layoffs are a devastating blow to workers’ livelihoods. But the ripple effects run deeper than paychecks. When you lose your job, you also lose an identity.

It’s time to release Leslie Van Houten from prison

Along and well-documented record testifies to the model behavior of Leslie Van Houten during the decades she has spent in prison for her role in killing Leno and Rosemary LaBianca in 1969, when she was a 19-year-old member of Charles Manson’s cult.

How not to pick a president: Splintering primaries help extreme candidates like Trump; ranked choice rewards centrists

Chris Christie’s running. So’s Mike Pence. And former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley. And Sen. Tim Scott, and former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, and businessman Vivek Ramaswamy and, in case you haven’t heard, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. And — oops, we almost forgot — a guy named Donald J. Trump, who was just a dishonest New York City real estate promoter before he became the 45th president of the United States (and the 10th president to lose his reelection bid).

If TikTok, SnapChat aren’t harming kids they should prove it

The US Surgeon General Vivek Murthy has issued a warning that social media could be harming our kids. His social media advisory is a welcome road map for what everyone — policymakers, tech companies, parents, kids and researchers — should be doing to better understand the impact of platforms like TikTok, Instagram and Snapchat on the developing brains of adolescents.

Nowhere to turn: South Carolina abortion ban leaves South with few options

South Carolina, a red state holdout on imposing draconian abortion bans, has now folded, with Gov. Henry McMaster expected to sign a six week ban that cleared the legislature this week. It was the second attempt, with the state Senate now overcoming the joint opposition of the body’s only five women who had blocked the measure once before. At six weeks, most women or girls won’t even know she’s pregnant, making the ban all but a total one.

One answer to the migration crisis? Jobs

The Biden administration’s sensible new policy for asylum seekers — requiring them to submit applications in Latin American countries before arriving — seems to have preempted a wave of migration to the border, at least for now. But what about those the US has already legally admitted into the country, who are being blocked from doing what the American economy needs them to do: work?

Dick Durbin: Proposed Biden rules would protect students from debt, improve college programs

As a first-generation college student, Victoria Vences enrolled in the criminal justice program at Westwood College in 2007 believing it would help her land a job as a probation officer or with the immigration service. After three years of juggling a full-time job while being a full-time student, Victoria started applying for law enforcement jobs, showing potential employers her certificate from Westwood.

Major questions on minors: Research and regulation needed on child social media use

A new report from U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy outlines how often compulsive social media use by children and teens leads to a variety of negative health outcomes, including declining mental health, lack of sleep, exposure to harassment and other problems. As platforms like Instagram and TikTok become ubiquitous with 95% of kids using some app, the report calls on parents, children, tech companies and, crucially, policymakers to take action.

Social Security needs our help now

The Social Security Administration, the federal agency serving the largest number of Americans, is facing its worst crisis in decades, due to underfunding and under-staffing.

Biden’s new border rule adds more barriers for refugees

The “Circumvention of Lawful Pathways” rule, the Biden administration’s new immigration order, is in many ways as draconian in rejecting asylum claims as the pandemic-era Title 42 that it replaces. The new rule stands to dangerously dismantle many of the protections our current laws afford. It is clear that the new measure contradicts our moral and human rights obligations and should be scrapped.

Florida’s censorship of ‘diversity’ efforts are a tantrum born of white guilt

In our country, privilege for one often means oppression for another. The anti-racism movement acknowledges this reality — making the movement a target for politicians such as Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who last week signed into law a bill blocking public colleges from using federal or state funding on “diversity, equity and inclusion” programming.

How much should AI concern us? We need real guidance, not vague alarmism

Recently, Geoffrey Hinton, the visionary expert who was at the heart of so much innovation in artificial intelligence and machine learning, left Google. In an interview with CNN, he said, “I’m just a scientist who suddenly realized that these things are getting smarter than us. I want to sort of blow the whistle and say we should worry seriously about trying to stop these things getting control over us.”

Editorial: Immigration can help solve the nursing shortage

The US nursing workforce is shedding workers. About 100,000 nurses quit or retired during the pandemic, while another 800,000 have signaled an “intent to leave” by 2027. And yet, the country is failing to tap an available group of qualified health-care workers: immigrants. While there’s no single fix for the US’s nursing shortage, a more efficient system to bring in foreign-trained professionals would go a long way toward easing it.