Month: April 2021

Categories
Politics

Prosecutors Are Stated to Have Sought Aggressive Method to Capitol Riot Inquiry

Prosecutors Are Said to Have Sought Aggressive Approach to Capitol Riot Inquiry

WASHINGTON – In the weeks following the deadly January 6 riot at the Capitol, federal prosecutors in Washington drew up a comprehensive plan to eradicate possible conspirators against the attackers and investigate them for links to the attack.

Prosecutors suggested that these lists could help organizers of the rally where President Donald J. Trump spoke just before the attack, anyone who helped pay the rioters to travel to Washington, and any member of the far-right groups that in the US include crowd that day.

Two of the prosecutors – trial lawyers who led the riot investigation – presented the plan to the FBI in late February, along with a roughly 25-page document setting out the strategy for uncovering possible conspiracies between the attackers and other people behind on condition of anonymity spoke to discuss an active investigation.

The aggressive plan was in line with the Justice Department’s public vow to indict those involved in the Capitol attack. But FBI officials flinched, citing concerns that the plan appeared to suggest investigating people with no evidence to suggest they committed crimes, and that doing so would be against the bureau’s policies and protection of the first amendment. It is not illegal to join any organization, including extremist groups, or to participate in protests or to fund travel to a rally.

FBI officials voiced their concern to officials at the Chief Justice Department in Washington, who eventually overturned the plan.

However, the decision by senior FBI and Justice Department officials to override the task force prosecutors came at a crucial time for the high-profile, far-reaching investigation, as the public and officials of the Biden government are accountable for the insurrection and called for a push to combat domestic extremism.

Justice Department and FBI spokesmen declined to comment.

The proposal also demonstrates the balancing act that newly sustained Justice Department leaders face as they attempt to counter domestic extremism and prevent terrorism without violating American civil liberties. The FBI was previously criticized for its response to the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, the aspects of which were condemned as an attack on civil liberties, and for its Cointelpro campaign in the 1950s and 1960s to spy on civil rights leaders and others.

Attorney General Merrick B. Garland said last week that even as he led the investigation into the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing during a previous stint at the Justice Department, investigators knew they needed to see to it that Americans’ civil liberties were protected.

“We promised to find the perpetrators, bring them to justice and do so in a way that respects the constitution,” Garland said.

FBI officials have emphasized the bureau’s efforts to stay within its boundaries when investigating protected activity. While preventing terrorism is a priority in the United States, “an investigation cannot be initiated solely on the basis of activities protected by the first amendment,” said Michael McGarrity, then head of the FBI’s counter-terrorism division, in the year 2019 in a statement from the house.

The office relies in large part on its large network of informants who provide tips and information on how to start an investigation, said current and former members of the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force. But agents cannot investigate people simply because they are members of groups that advocate violent, racist, or anti-government ideologies.

Washington prosecutors encountered this restriction while trying to identify and track down individuals who participated in the January 6 attack. They also investigated whether the attack was more than a spontaneous riot that broke out after an emotionally charged rally, limited by Mr Trump’s admonitions to his supporters to contest Congressional certification that afternoon of the election.

In February, some prosecutors expressed frustration at being obstructed by senior Justice Department officials overseeing the investigation in the weeks leading up to the swearing-in of Mr. Garland and other Biden officials.

Prosecutors wanted to know more about who had spoken to Stewart Rhodes, leader of the Oath Keepers, a militia whose members had played a prominent role in conspiracy cases charged by the government in connection with the attack.

In a message posted on the Oath Keepers website, Mr Rhodes had urged members to come to Washington and stand up for Mr Trump. He was also part of an operation to provide security to Mr. Trump’s close associates, including Roger J. Stone Jr., who spoke at the rally that day.

Prosecutors wanted a search warrant for Mr. Rhodes. Militias like the Oath Keepers and right-wing nationalist groups like the Proud Boys had for years managed to largely evade FBI control as their protests and other public activities remained within the law.

But with members of such groups in the Capitol on January 6, some prosecutors expressed the hope that they now had reason to investigate their staff and leaders.

However, the law does not prohibit pressuring people to take part in a protest or support a politician, even if the statements are provocative. and investigators found no evidence that Mr Rhodes had helped arrange anything more than bodyguards for the speakers.

Justice Department officials, including Michael R. Sherwin, an officer who was overseeing the January 6 investigation at the time, denied prosecutors’ request for a search warrant on Mr. Rhodes, according to two people who were briefed on the deliberations . They concluded that the prosecutors lacked a likely cause for doing so without violating his civil liberties and rights.

Following the dispute, two of the lead task force prosecutors contacted the FBI’s Terrorism Operations Department to inform investigators of their proposed strategy to review the insurgency. They suggested that investigators look at rally organizers and organizations such as militia groups.

Among the FBI officers who opposed the approach, according to those informed about the plan, was Deputy Director Paul M. Abbate. After office officials discussed the presentation with Justice Department officials, the assistant attorney general’s chiefs – including Matthew S. Axelrod, then the second-largest officer in the office – briefed Channing D. Phillips, the acting U.S. attorney in Washington, on the Prosecutors would not take such an approach to the investigation.

The investigation, which continues to be led by federal attorneys and FBI agents in Washington, has led to the arrest of over 400 defendants in at least 45 states. About 30 were charged with more serious crimes, including conspiracy, according to the Justice Department.

Categories
Health

C.D.C. Eases Out of doors Masks Steerage for Vaccinated Individuals

C.D.C. Eases Outdoor Mask Guidance for Vaccinated Americans

WASHINGTON – The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention took an important step on Tuesday to lure Americans into a post-pandemic world. They have relaxed the rules for wearing masks outdoors as coronavirus cases decline and people scrape at restrictions.

The mask tour is humble and carefully written: Americans who are fully vaccinated against the coronavirus no longer need to wear a mask outdoors, while walking, running, hiking, or biking alone or in small gatherings, including with members of their own household. Masks are still required in crowded outdoor venues such as sports stadiums, the CDC said.

But President Biden hailed it as a milestone in the pandemic. He wore a mask as he approached the lectern in the White House grounds on a warm spring day – and held it off sharply as he walked back into the White House when he was finished.

“Go get the shot. It’s never been easier, ”said Biden. “And once you are fully vaccinated, you can do without a mask when you are outside and away from crowds.”

The CDC stopped telling even fully vaccinated people that they could take off their masks completely outdoors – citing the worrying risk that remains for the transmission of the coronavirus, unknown vaccination levels in people in crowds and the still high case numbers in some regions of the country. The instructions also warned vaccinated people not to go without a mask at medium-sized outdoor gatherings.

But even the director of the CDC, Dr. Rochelle Walensky, emphasizing a more expansive interpretation, told reporters at a briefing at the White House, “We no longer feel that the vaccinated people need masks in the open air,” outside of “large public venues like concerts, stadiums and the like.”

The order had an immediate impact on states. Governors in California, New York, Louisiana, Maine and Massachusetts relaxed all outside mask mandates following the CDC’s announcement. In Tennessee, Governor Bill Lee, a Republican, went much further and ignored the advice of the federal government when he said it was “time for parties and weddings and conventions and concerts and parades and proms,” “with no limits to the gathering of greats” . ”

On Capitol Hill, a group of Republican lawmakers who are also medical professionals posted a vaccination advertisement Tuesday wearing white coats with stethoscopes around their necks. Senator Roger Marshall, a newly minted Republican from Kansas and a doctor, told viewers the reason for the vaccination was simple: “So we can throw away our masks and live life as freely as before.”

Mr Marshall, who organized the effort, said it was based on research by Frank Luntz, a Republican pollster who worked to reduce vaccine reluctance among conservatives. In an interview, Mr Luntz said Mr Biden’s announcement was a positive move and could give people who are not vaccinated a reason to get their shots.

“It gives them a light at the end of the tunnel,” he said. “‘Tell me when to get rid of my mask’ is actually the language they use. The fact that this is a meaningful, measurable step towards returning to normal is a big deal.”

For Mr Biden, who will address Congress on Wednesday and will celebrate his 100th day in office on Thursday, the CDC announcement was a moment to learn about the “amazing progress” Americans have made since taking office . Next week, he said, he will outline a plan “to bring us to July 4th as our target date, to bring life in America closer to normal and to celebrate our independence from the virus”.

Since the pandemic began, Americans have been misled about wearing masks when senior health officials said people didn’t need them – also because of the severe lack of protective equipment for frontline health workers. Masks became the centerpiece of the culture wars that surrounded the pandemic, especially after President Donald J. Trump insisted they were voluntary and he wouldn’t wear one.

This led states to introduce patchwork mask restrictions, often by party-political standards, even though a mask has been proven to protect individuals and their surroundings. Many states have already lifted the restrictions they put on indoor and outdoor activities. Others upheld the requirements for wearing masks for outdoor areas and pointed out the danger of potentially more contagious variants.

Updated

April 27, 2021, 8:03 p.m. ET

The guidelines issued on Tuesday reflect some basic coronavirus calculations: as the number of people vaccinated increases, the number of cases decreases.

To date, about 43 percent of Americans have received at least one dose of a Covid-19 vaccine, and 29 percent have received both doses of the two vaccines that require double shots. According to a New York Times database, the United States has an average of 55,000 new cases per day, a decrease of around 20 percent from two weeks ago.

“I know the quarantine and shutdowns were stressful during the pandemic,” said Dr. Walensky. “I know we all miss the things we did before the pandemic, and I know we all want to do the things we love, and soon. Today is another day where we can take a step back to normal. “

Her remarks and those of the president have even been welcomed by some of the Biden administration’s fiercest Republican critics in Congress, many of whom have complained that the coronavirus restrictions are an encroachment on their personal freedoms.

“The time has come,” said Ohio Republican Rep. Jim Jordan, recently named Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, the federal government’s top infectious disease specialist, angry at a hearing on Capitol Hill. “When do we get the rest of our freedoms back?”

Wisconsin Republican Senator Ron Johnson, who promoted marginal theories and gave vaccine skeptics a platform, said the guidelines were “long overdue.”

Senator Ted Cruz, Republican of Texas who stopped wearing masks indoors after being vaccinated, said he was “glad the CDC finally recognized what has long been apparent, namely that wearing a mask outside is stupid and not science is remotely justified. “

In fact, the science behind the CDC’s new guidelines is not comprehensive. A growing body of research shows that the likelihood of the virus spreading outdoors is far less than indoors, but the risk is not zero and difficult to quantify.

Most, if not all, of the outdoor virus transmission studies were done before the vaccine was available. Therefore, no distinction is made between the risk to vaccinated and unvaccinated people.

However, experts say that virus particles disperse quickly outdoors, meaning that brief encounters with a passing walker or jogger pose a very low risk of transmission.

“The two most important things you need to do outdoors are that the virus dilutes quickly” and breaks down quickly in sunlight, “said Linsey Marr, aerosol expert at Virginia Tech.People are really cheek to cheek, side by side and in front and one after the other, and there is screaming, cheering – I would wear a mask in this situation. “

Even so, the evidence is a bit thin. A recent systematic review of studies examining the transmission of the novel coronavirus and other respiratory viruses in unvaccinated individuals found only five studies on the coronavirus that met the authors’ criteria.

The study concluded that less than 10 percent of infections occurred outdoors and that the likelihood of transmission indoors was 18.7 times as high as outdoors (the likelihood of super-spreading events was 33 times as much high as indoors).

One of the authors of the paper, Dr. Nooshin Razani, associate professor of epidemiology, biostatistics, and pediatrics at the University of California at San Francisco, warned that the low probability of transmission outdoors may simply reflect the fact that people spend little time outdoors.

In a documented case in Italy, the virus spread between joggers who ran together outdoors.

The CDC’s new guidelines came out in a growing debate about why the federal government still recommends that people wear masks outdoors. Dr. Paul Sax, an infectious disease expert at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Massachusetts, wrote in the New England Journal of Medicine last week that it was time to end outdoor mask mandates.

Along with the guidelines, the CDC released a color-coded table of masking recommendations for a variety of scenarios such as “dine in an outdoor restaurant with friends from multiple households,” “go to a hairdresser or hair salon,” and “go to an uncrowded mall or museum. “

But dr. Marr said it was too complex: “I’d have to carry around a piece of paper – a cheat sheet with all these different provisions.” She added, “I am concerned that this is not being as helpful as it could be.”

And there are other scenarios that the guidelines don’t address where wearing a mask outdoors can still send an important social signal. For example, Dr. Mercedes Carnethon, an epidemiologist at Northwestern University, notes that no vaccine has yet been approved for children under 16 years of age.

“When we ask children to wear masks in school and in the playground when they are in school,” she said, “I think it is up to the adults in the situation to model this behavior and to normalize the mask to wear outside too. “

Emily Anthes and Nicholas Fandos contributed to the coverage.

Categories
World News

Asia-Pacific shares little modified as markets wrestle for route

Asia-Pacific stocks little changed as markets struggle for direction

SINGAPORE – Asia Pacific stocks barely changed on Wednesday morning, with major markets wrestling over direction.

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 fell slightly while the Topix index rose 0.2%.

Japan’s retail sales rose 5.2% year over year in March, according to the government. According to Reuters, this was higher than a median market forecast for growth of 4.7%.

South Korea’s Kospi slipped easily. The S & P / ASX 200 in Australia was down about 0.1%. Australia’s inflation data for the first quarter are expected. The consumer price index is expected to be released at 9:30 a.m. HK / SIN.

MSCI’s broadest index for stocks in the Asia-Pacific region outside of Japan was down 0.08%.

On corporate developments, investors will monitor Alibaba’s Hong Kong-listed shares after the Wall Street Journal reported that China is investigating how founder Jack Ma received swift approval to list the company last year.

The major indices on Wall Street were muted overnight in the US. The S&P 500 closed little changed at 4,186.72, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average also ended its trading day largely unchanged at 33,984.93. The Nasdaq Composite fell 0.34% to close at 14,090.22.

Currencies and oil

The US dollar index, which tracks the greenback versus a basket of its peers, stood at 90.893 after hitting below 90.9 at the start of the trading week.

The Japanese yen was trading at 108.79 per dollar after weakening significantly below 108 against the greenback at the beginning of the trading week. The Australian dollar was trading at $ 0.7762 after yesterday’s drop of around $ 0.78.

Oil prices were higher on the morning of Asian trading hours and the international benchmark’s Brent crude oil futures rose 0.12% to $ 66.50 a barrel. US crude oil futures rose 0.13% to $ 63.02 a barrel.

Here’s a look at what’s on tap:

  • Australia: First quarter consumer price index at 9:30 am HK / SIN
Categories
Business

Lobbyists urge updates to federal automobile security guidelines after Tesla crashes

Lobbyists urge updates to federal car safety rules after Tesla crashes

Two major US auto industry lobby groups are pushing for updates to federal vehicle safety regulations following major accidents involving Tesla vehicles.

During a Senate subcommittee hearing Tuesday, executives from the Alliance for Automotive Innovation and the Motor & Equipment Manufacturers Association said the U.S. needed better standards and protocols to sell automated driving systems like Tesla’s under the Autopilot and Full Self-Driving brand names to address.

Tesla has been critical of the development, testing, and marketing of these systems, including the failure to prevent drivers from misusing or overestimating the capabilities of the autopilot and FSD.

There are questions about whether autopilot or FSD were in any way to blame for the recent Tesla accidents that the National Transportation Safety Board and National Highway Traffic Safety Administration are investigating. To date, the NHTSA has initiated around 28 investigations into Tesla vehicle accidents, of which around 24 are active. NTSB has launched 8 such investigations.

Automated driving systems, also known as driver assistance systems, can control some functions of a vehicle. However, automakers continue to require drivers to remain alert and drive even when the systems are in use.

In general, driver assistance is based on a mixture of cameras and sensors. Some automakers use advanced maps along with sensors to restrict the use of their systems to specific streets.

Despite their commercial availability, the United States does not regulate precise federal regulations or performance standards for automated driving systems.

“The US is at risk of losing our competitive advantage because of a lack of clear national guidelines,” said Ann Wilson, senior vice president of government affairs for the Motor & Equipment Manufacturers Association, during the hearing on Tuesday. She later added, “NHTSA can and should do more.”

John Bozzella, CEO of the Alliance for Automotive Innovation, said a “more strategic and robust approach” is needed for the government’s New Car Assessment program. He also said any modernization of the government’s Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS), which set requirements for the design, construction, performance and durability of vehicles, should also be analyzed in relation to highly automated and autonomous vehicles.

“We need a national strategy, a framework that accommodates a new kind of regulation,” he said.

The comments came Tuesday afternoon during a Senate Land Transport, Shipping, Freight and Ports subcommittee on how automotive innovations will affect the future of vehicle safety, mobility and technology in a global economy.

It came a day after three Democratic U.S. Senators on Monday introduced laws mandating performance standards for driver monitoring systems and requiring those systems to be installed in new vehicles.

Tesla is not a member of the Alliance for Automotive Innovation or the Motor & Equipment Manufacturers Association. The company did not respond to a comment.

A steering wheel light bar and cluster icons indicate the status of Super Cruise ™ and prompt the driver to return their attention to the road if the system detects that the driver’s attention has been turned away from the road for too long.

Source: General Motors

Driver monitoring

Prior to the hearing, the Alliance for Automotive Innovation, which represents automotive suppliers and manufacturers who produce nearly 99% of new cars and light trucks sold in the US, published several safety principles related to driver monitoring in vehicles with driver assistance systems such as Tesla Autopilot.

Among other things, the guidelines call on car manufacturers to introduce camera-based driver monitoring systems for vehicles with automated driving or driver assistance systems. These are intended to recognize whether the drivers are attentive and ready to drive manually in situations in which the automated program is insufficient.

General Motors, Subaru, and BMW already have camera-based driver monitoring systems, and others like Ford Motor have announced similar plans. Tesla vehicles have cabin cameras, but according to the company’s operating instructions, they are not used for driver monitoring. With Tesla’s systems, the driver has to “check in” by touching the steering wheel.

“This issue that we are now debating – and I agree with you – is a consumer awareness and confidence issue. That is why we have set out these driver monitoring principles today,” Bozzella said during the hearing, without any company or specific company To mention system. “Driver monitoring is an important element in this.”

Tesla research

Last week consumer reports found that a 2020 Tesla Model Y “can easily get the car to drive even if no one is in the driver’s seat.”

The test included upgrading the Tesla steering wheel to bypass the vehicle’s safety features that otherwise might have disabled the autopilot. The test followed a fatal spring 2019 Model S crash in Texas in April that sparked two federal investigations by the National Transportation Safety Board and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

After a preliminary investigation, a Harris County police officer named Mark Herman told television that his investigators were “sure” that no one was in the driver’s seat of the Tesla at the time of the crash.

Extensive investigations have not been completed, and authorities have not disclosed whether the autopilot or Tesla’s premium automatic driving system FSD was in use before or at the time of the collision. Tesla advises in its owner’s manual that the autopilot and FSD require active monitoring.

The remains of a Tesla vehicle can be seen in this still from a video captured via social media after the crash in The Woodlands, Texas on April 17, 2021. Video recorded on April 17, 2021.

Scott J. Engle | via Reuters

Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, said in a tweet earlier this month, “Data logs recovered so far show that autopilot was not activated and this car did not purchase an FSD. Also, the standard autopilot would require turning on lane lines that this road does not would have. “”

In a first quarter earnings call on Monday, Musk said journalists should be “ashamed” of their coverage of the crash. Tesla’s vice president of automotive technology, Lars Moravy, also shared additional details Tesla learned from helping with the local and state investigation to date.

Among other things, Moravy said that in the spring incident in Texas, “Autosteer couldn’t and couldn’t get into the road condition as it was designed.” He added that the car “only accelerated to 30 mph” before hitting a tree, and that a steering wheel deformity indicated to Tesla a “likelihood that someone was in the driver’s seat at the time of the accident”.

Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla Motors, unveils a new all-wheel drive version of the Model S on October 9, 2014 in Hawthorne, California.

Lucy Nicholson | Reuters

During Tuesday’s government hearing, Senator Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn. Criticized Tesla and Musk for speaking about the crash while the federal investigation was ongoing.

“I was very disappointed that Tesla took to Twitter through its CEO to downplay the involvement of the company’s advanced driver assistance system before both the NTSB and NTHSA completed their ongoing investigations into the fatal accident,” he said.

The NTSB emailed CNBC, “Our investigation is ongoing and we are focused on the operation of the vehicle and the post-accident fire.”

The NHTSA and Spring, Texas police were not immediately available for comment.

Blumenthal said he agrees with some auto lobbyists that federal safety standards and new regulations are required.

He said, “Tesla’s crash shows that there are many unanswered questions about the technology that is supposed to be automated. Unfortunately, there are no current regulations that give the public much convenience that more automation is the answer without much improved consumer protection.”

Categories
Entertainment

‘So You Assume You Can Dance’ Alums Are All over the place

'So You Think You Can Dance' Alums Are Everywhere

In the beginning, “So you think you can dance” seemed unstoppable. The “American Idol” -style reality competition met with enthusiastic audiences when it premiered in the summer of 2005. In the late 2000s, at the height of the show’s popularity, the names of the “So You Think” dancers were familiar enough to pepper the casual conversation of the audience at the dining room table. Did you call to vote for Benji or Sabra or tWitch?

A decade and a half later, “So You Think” is on shaky foundations. The show has not been on for nearly two years, and Covid forced the abandonment of season 17 at the eleventh hour last June. While the series hasn’t been canceled, production has yet to begin making another summer without it likely. “We’re holding our breath,” said Jeff Thacker, an executive producer on the show. “We’re not drowning yet.”

While “So You Think” may be pausing, the dancers haven’t slowed down. During the pandemic, they were all over the small screen, the big screen, and inevitably our phone screens.

Season four Stephen Boss, known as tWitch, is co-executive producer on The Ellen DeGeneres Show. Season 6 Ariana DeBose starred in Ryan Murphy’s adaptation of “The Prom” and played Anita in Steven Spielberg’s new remake “West Side Story”. Season 13 Tate McRae released a single called “You Broke Me First,” which drove a TikTok wave to the top of the Billboard charts. Like dozens of other alums, each of these artists has hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of Instagram followers.

If So You Think faces an uncertain future, it will be part of its legacy: the show helped propel dancers into the mainstream. By presenting them as individuals, it contradicted the entertainment industry’s tendency to view dancers as interchangeable, a sea of ​​blurry faces behind musicians and marquee actors. “So You Think” brought dancers into focus, paved the way for high-profile, lucrative entertainment careers – and paved the way for dance influencers on social media.

“The show was a huge platform for dancers,” said Allison Holker Boss, a season two contestant who is now a television and social media personality. (She and tWitch started dating “So You Think” after a graduation party and got married in 2013.) “That put our stories in the foreground. And there weren’t many places for that elsewhere. “

In the days leading up to So You Think, entertainment industry dancers were generally, and sometimes deliberately, anonymous. “Most musicians, when they had backup dancers, didn’t want people to pull the focus,” said Julie McDonald, founder of McDonald Selznick Associates and one of the earliest talent agents to represent dancers.

Thacker described commercial dancers of the ’90s and early’ 00s as “transparent – no name was ever attached”. Or a voice. At auditions, Thacker said, they were expected to “say nothing, do what they do, smile and get out.” Those who sought fame left the dance behind. “The dancers who wanted to be stars? You had to start studying acting, ”said McDonald.

But “So You Think”, created by “American Idol” producers Simon Fuller and Nigel Lythgoe, saw evaluation potential in these charismatic artists. True to the basic rules of reality television, not only technicians are auditioned in the show, but personalities are also cast. “The concept was originally loosely based on the musical ‘A Chorus Line’, which wasn’t all about skill. It was, ‘Who are you?’ “Said Thacker. “We didn’t want America’s best dancers, we wanted America’s favorite dancers.”

The weekly episodes are about live performances by the participants, but also about recordings of rehearsals that familiarize the mainstream audience with the demanding, often invisible work of a dancer. And the show doesn’t shy away from the dance language. Technical terminology spices up the judges’ criticism and nudges the audience to take the dancer’s craft seriously. “The talk about dance that was on prime-time television – ‘Oh, your passé, your grand jetés’ – was completely new,” said McDonald.

“So You Think” competitors also receive a crash course on self-expression. The show contains get-to-know segments that allow them to feel comfortable in front of the camera. Live tours after the season, in which the dancers perform both as actors and hosts, offer particularly intensive training courses. “We did full skits!” said the witch. “It was a 360-degree preparation not only to perform the movements, but also to present yourself as yourself.”

From its first season on, “So You Think” shaped dance influencers who were known to fans of the show for both personality and technique. But “influencer” was not yet a career option. Early season alums – so many Cassies now out of the choir – often took a whack figuring out how they fit into the dance industry. “I think a lot of them didn’t know exactly where to go,” said Thacker.

Some plowed their way back into the show and returned as choreographers, judges, or all-star partners for contestants. Some jumped into the other dance shows that were beginning to populate the air waves, from “Dancing With the Stars” to “America’s Best Dance Crew”. Many became teachers at dance congresses and took advantage of the show’s popularity with dance students.

But a few seasons after So You Think began, the rise of social media began to normalize the idea of ​​dancers as pop culture personalities and create a new realm of opportunity for the show’s standout personalities. Video and image-based social platforms were found to be particularly dance-friendly, and as YouTube and Instagram exploded, dancers everywhere became far more visible. Many “So You Think” stars built big fans and opened the door for lucrative sponsorship and business activities.

Witney Carson McAllister, a season 9 contestant who is now a pro on Dancing With the Stars, built a lifestyle brand with the help of her Instagram fan base. “Social media was a continuation of what ‘So You Think’ started: an opportunity to connect with people on a more personal level, to be a voice and personality rather than just a dancing body,” she said. “It became a place where I could start a clothing line and build a business because people knew me.”

As influencer culture continued to raise the profile of dancers, even those who had opted for a more conventional dance career began to feel the impact. Season 10 Jasmine Harper, who started dancing for Beyoncé after being spotted on “So You Think,” said She saw a new level of respect for the dancers’ work. “You will still be in the background – we all know why people are at a Beyoncé concert,” she said. “But you get a lot more support than maybe dancers in the past. You can now see fan pages on Instagram dedicated to an artist’s dancers. “

This fundamental change in the entertainment world isn’t always reflected in the wages or treatment of the average dancer. Several So You Think hits have used their clout to support other dance performers in the industry, including season five winner Jeanine Mason, who is now on the TV series Roswell, New Mexico.

“I always try to take care of the dancers on set to make sure they are compensated and given breaks, ”Mason said. Several alums cited the efforts of the Dancers Alliance, which advocates fair prices and working conditions for non-union artists. “This is the next frontier: we can enjoy and love dancers, but we also have to take care of them,” Mason said.

When the world changed around “So You Think”, the show began to feel behind the times, once ahead of its time. If what happens on Instagram and TikTok feels more relevant than what happens on network television, dancers have a path to prestige that doesn’t require undergoing the trials and humiliations of a televised dance competition.

“I think part of the magic of ‘So You Think’ in the beginning was that it gave strangers a start,” said season 12 winner Gaby Diaz. “Now the dancers who audition for the show are on social media most of the time. Those are names. “

“So You Think” remains stubbornly indifferent to the social fan base of the participants. “We have people who say, ‘Oh, you should get this dancer in the top 20, they have 16,000,422 followers,’ but we deliberately don’t let that affect our audition decisions,” Thacker said.

In recent seasons, however, the pool of auditioners has looked different, littered with established influencers. During the 2016 Next Generation season, which featured dancers ages 8 to 13, many participants arrived with big followers and long résumés despite their youth.

“‘So You Think’ definitely helped my career, but when I auditioned, I had a million followers on Instagram,” said Kida Burns, who was 14 when he won the Next Generation season. “I danced for Justin Bieber, Chris Brown, Usher.” (Burns now has 4.3 million Instagram followers, as does Missy Elliott.)

The current production limbo of “So You Think” seems ominous as some other dance shows continued during the pandemic. Although NBC recently canceled “World of Dance,” ABC just renewed “Dancing With the Stars” after kicking off a successful Covid-adapted season last fall. Fox, home of “So You Think”, ended the airing of a new reality dance series, “The Masked Dancer”, in February.

Whatever the fate of “So You Think”, both its graduates and fans are already feeling nostalgic. A few weeks ago, season seven alum tWitch and Alex Wong recreated a popular So You Think dance, Outta Your Mind, on TikTok – two influencers forged in the show’s melting pot and an 11 year old Televisions performed routine for a large audience of social followers. Tens of thousands liked and commented.

“I think audiences can feel these deep connections with So You Think dancers,” said Twitch. “Yes, they can really dance. But you also remember your “So You Think” favorites as people. “

Categories
Health

Absolutely vaccinated individuals can train, maintain small gatherings open air with out masks

Fully vaccinated people can exercise, hold small gatherings outdoors without masks

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Tuesday revised their public health guidelines, stating that fully vaccinated people can exercise outdoors and attend small gatherings without face masks.

People two weeks away from their last vaccine can exercise on their own or with other household members without a face covering, the CDC said. You can also meet outdoors with a small group of other fully vaccinated people or a mix of fully vaccinated and unvaccinated people, the agency added. The instruction did not say what counts as a small gathering.

It is also acceptable to eat without a mask at an outdoor restaurant with friends from multiple households, according to the CDC.

The agency continues to recommend that fully vaccinated individuals wear a mask in outdoor locations where the risk of Covid-19 is less clear. This includes sporting events, concerts, parades and other crowded places.

“In public spaces, the vaccination status of other people or whether they are at increased risk of severe COVID-19 is likely to be unknown,” the CDC wrote in its guidelines. “Therefore, fully vaccinated individuals should continue to follow instructions to protect themselves and others, including wearing a well-fitting mask when they are indoors, outdoors, or in places where masks are required.”

“CDC cannot give the specific risk for each activity in each community, so it is important to consider your personal situation and the risk to you, your family and your community before heading out without a mask,” added the Agency added.

Some former health officials and infectious disease experts have said that outdoor mask mandates are no longer required as the US vaccinates more Americans.

As of Monday, more than 140 million Americans, or 42.5% of the total population, had received at least one dose of a Covid vaccine, according to the CDC. Around 95.8 million Americans, or 28.9% of the population, are fully vaccinated, according to the CDC.

During a press conference on Tuesday, CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky, she hopes the new guidelines will encourage more Americans to get vaccinated.

“Today is another day where we can take a step back to normal,” she said. “When you are fully vaccinated things are much safer for you than those who are not fully vaccinated.”

Walensky refused to define a “small gathering”. She said it was difficult to give an exact number as it would depend on the size of the plenum, the space between people and the amount of ventilation.

The CDC’s announcement comes just before Memorial Day and July 4th parade season. President Joe Biden said he hoped that enough Americans would be vaccinated by Independence Day to safely hold small outdoor gatherings.

On Tuesday, Biden pointed to the CDC guidance and said vaccinated people could now go to the park or have a picnic with exposed friends. He cited the relaxed restrictions as the reason for vaccination, but stressed that Americans should still wear masks in crowded outdoor areas.

“I want to be clear: when you are in a crowd like a stadium or a concert, you still have to wear a mask even when you are outside,” he said in a speech on North Lawn at the White House.

Dr. Scott Gottlieb, a former appointee for the Food and Drug Administration, told CNBC Monday that public health officials should generally be more relaxed about outdoor activities as vaccination rates lower new infections in the United States.

Officials should take steps “to allow more outdoor gatherings, more large groups to allow, sporting events, things like that,” he told Squawk Box. “The weather is warming up. We have the ability to take more activity outside. We know that outdoor activity is less of a risk than indoor activity.”

Dr. Isaac Bogoch, an infectious disease specialist at the University of Toronto, said Monday he supported the expected guidance. He said more research shows fewer Covid infections occur outdoors.

He added that indoor masks should continue to be mandatory until most of the US population is vaccinated and it is difficult for the virus to spread from one person to another.

The CDC also said that unvaccinated people can exercise alone or with a household member without a mask. It is also recommended that vaccinated people wear masks in places such as hair salons, shopping malls, museums, cinemas, and places of worship.

“It’s been over a year. We have a very good understanding of who gets infected and how they get infected,” he told CNBC in a telephone interview. “I think it’s fair to say you don’t have to wear a mask outside unless you can’t maintain 2 meters or 6 feet of social distance.”

Over the weekend, the White House Chief Medical Officer, Dr. However, Anthony Fauci, suggesting the new mask tour was imminent, also warned Americans should adhere to public health measures until the CDC does an assessment.

“What I think you’re going to hear, what the country is about to hear is updated guidelines from the CDC,” Fauci told ABC’s Sunday program “This Week with George Stephanopoulos”. “The CDC is a science-based organization. You don’t want to make guidelines unless you look at the data and the data back it up.”

Categories
Business

Starbucks says its U.S. gross sales have made a ‘full restoration.’

Starbucks says its U.S. sales have made a ‘full recovery.’

Coffee giant Starbucks saw signs that customers were dying to leave the dark days of the pandemic behind and behind, and said its US sales had “fully recovered” in the first three months of the year.

Revenue from the same store in the United States in the company’s second quarter rose 9 percent year over year, while global revenue rose 11 percent to $ 6.7 billion.

“In the last quarter we are seeing very early signs that friends and family are back together,” said Kevin Johnson, President and CEO of Starbucks, speaking to analysts on Tuesday after the market closed. “While all vaccine distribution markets are certainly not opening at the same rate, we know that this is the key to enabling us all to be together again.”

Starbucks posted $ 659 million in profits for the quarter, a significant increase from $ 328 million a year earlier when many of its stores were closed due to global quarantine restrictions.

Starbucks was forecasting global sales in the same store to grow as much as 23 percent for the full year as the rest of the world recovers from the pandemic and reopens.

“While the Covid-19 pandemic is not over, this moment gives us confidence to raise our guidance for the full year,” said Johnson.

U.S. members who participated in its loyalty program grew 18 percent over the past year, Johnson said. There are now more than 23 million active 90-day members. Drive-through activity also remained robust, with higher ticket sales as customers ordered multiple drinks and often added a grocery item to their order, such as the Impossible Breakfast Sandwich or cake pops, Mr Johnson said.

Categories
Politics

People assist Biden’s spending, need him to spend extra, polls present

Americans support Biden's spending, want him to spend more, polls show

President Joe Biden speaks at the White House in Washington, USA on April 27, 2021 on the government’s response to coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

Kevin Lemarque | Reuters

Americans broadly support the large-ticket spending proposals that defined President Joe Biden’s first 100 days in office.

Polls show that many more Americans approve than disapprove of the $ 1.9 trillion coronavirus bill signed in March – by far its most significant legislative victory to date.

According to surveys, Biden’s $ 2 trillion infrastructure plan is already popular with majorities or multiple respondents.

As he flips the page for his first 100 days on Thursday, Biden prepares to unveil another massive spending package that targets family-related issues.

The White House has provided few details about this plan – but at least one poll shows that a sizable majority of Americans already support it.

Ever since Biden took office from former President Donald Trump in the midst of the pandemic, he has vowed to take swift and ambitious action to get the US out of the health crisis and overtake the damaged economy.

Despite efforts by Republicans to brand the spending proposals as high-profile boondoggles and harmful tax hikes, Biden’s offer seems to be paying off so far. According to the latest NBC News poll, the president’s overall approval rating is 53% above water, backed by American support for his dealings with Covid and the economy.

CNBC policy

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But Biden’s multi-trillion dollar spike in spending is still in its infancy. The $ 1,400 stimulus checks many Americans received as part of last month’s Covid bill are still being mailed out. Major lawmakers are calling for a tighter infrastructure proposal, and others have already resisted possible tax increases in the as yet undisclosed family plan.

“Amorphous spending proposals that promise a lot to people often get a lot of support,” said Steve Ellis, president of the impartial household guard Taxpayers for Common Sense.

“People see this as an advantage. They hear about the good things. They don’t necessarily hear about the problems.”

Covid answer

Recent polls from NBC, Reuters / Ipsos, CNBC and the Washington Post-ABC News consistently show that Biden gets his top marks for his handling of the pandemic.

The president’s Covid response was adopted by 69% in NBC’s national poll, compared with 27% who oppose it. This survey, conducted April 17-20 of 1,000 US adults, has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.

The latest Reuters / Ipsos result released on Tuesday had similar results: 65% support Biden’s work on the pandemic, 29% oppose it. The national public opinion poll polled 4,423 adults from April 12-16. According to Reuters, the credibility interval – described as a measure of the accuracy of the survey – was 2 percentage points for the entire sample.

Polls show that Americans still view coronavirus as one of the country’s most pressing problems. According to NBC’s latest report, they are more likely to seek solutions from the government: Fifty-five percent of respondents said the government should do more to solve problems and meet people’s needs, compared with 41 percent who said they are doing too much.

From the start, Biden emphasized that his administration’s ability to fight Covid depends on the passage of the $ 1.9 trillion stimulus plan, dubbed the American bailout. “Without additional government support, the economic and health crises could worsen in the coming months,” the White House said on the day of Biden’s inauguration.

The legislation included several major spending measures, including sending direct payments of $ 1,400 to most adults in the United States, $ 350 billion to state and local governments, and an increase in federal unemployment benefits.

Since Biden took office, the US has increased vaccine distribution and vaccination rates significantly.

When asked about the stimulus package itself in the Post-ABC survey, 65% of respondents said they support it, versus 31% who opposed it. The survey is based on telephone interviews with a random national sample of 1,007 adults conducted April 18-21. The error rate is plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.

In NBC’s survey, 46% of respondents said the Covid package is a good idea, a plurality that far outweighs the 25% who said it was a bad idea and the 26% who had no opinion .

Infrastructure push

Biden’s infrastructure proposal, priced at more than $ 2 trillion in its original form, is also popular with Americans, according to surveys.

The package would fund a range of projects that go well beyond repairing roads, bridges, ports and other structures that some call “traditional” transport infrastructure. The White House formulates the plan as a forward-looking investment that addresses climate change, the rise of China, racial injustice, and more.

A Monmouth University poll published Monday found that nearly two-thirds of respondents support the plan and the idea of ​​paying for it in part by increasing the corporate tax rate from 21% to 28%.

Almost half of those surveyed by Monmouth said the federal government is not spending enough on transportation infrastructure, 49% compared with 23% who said the government is spending the right amount and 14% who said they are overpaying .

Monmouth’s survey was conducted April 8-12 by phone of 800 US adults. The results show an error rate of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.

CNBC’s most recent All-America poll, which polled 802 adults nationwide from April 8-11, with a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5, found that few were affected by infrastructure plans and corporate tax increases supported.

However, the poll found that Americans overwhelmingly support almost all of the details of the plan when presented individually.

Infrastructure investments have historically been popular with both major political parties. But Republicans and some moderate Democrats have urged Biden to cut back significantly on the comprehensive package.

A group of GOP senators made a counter offer last week that cost less than a third of Biden’s proposal. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., Has criticized the Biden Plan as a “Trojan horse” for a progressive agenda.

However, poll results suggest that the ambitious White House outlines are resonating with large parts of the country at this early stage.

“The Biden government’s suspicion that spending programs are popular is borne out by these polls,” said Patrick Murray, director of the Monmouth University Independent Electoral Institute, in a press release on Monday.

“The key to maintaining this level of support is whether Americans can point to direct benefits in their own lives once these plans are put into action.”

Ellis told CNBC that “there isn’t much to grab or track” at this point.

“The devil will be in the details of this,” Ellis said.

The next phase

In a joint address to Congress on Wednesday evening, Biden is expected to come up with another massive spending plan that focuses on family issues.

The details are unclear, but Monmouth’s poll shows that Americans still have an appetite for more government spending.

The proposal will reportedly focus on expanding childcare, paid vacation, general preschool education and other priorities, and will cost around $ 1.5 trillion, citing sources familiar with the discussions, according to NBC.

According to reports, Biden could also try to fund the plan by raising taxes for millionaire investors and increasing the tax on capital gains from 20% to 39.6% for those Americans who earn more than $ 1 million.

Monmouth’s survey asked, “Biden is also expected to propose a large spending plan to expand access to health care and childcare and support paid vacation and tuition. Would you generally support or oppose this plan?”

64 percent of respondents said they supported it, 34 percent were against it, and only 2 percent said they didn’t know.

Multi-trillion dollar spending plans weren’t always seen as political winners, Ellis said. Comparing the current moment to the 2008 financial crisis, he said that when leaders were preparing recovery plans, “it was recognized that one trillion dollars is a threshold we do not want to cross.”

But the Covid packages that Trump first passed last year “blew it away,” said Ellis.

“Once you cross that threshold, it will normalize,” he said. “Most people don’t mind a trillion, let alone a trillion dollars.”

Categories
Business

Starbucks (SBUX) Q2 2021 earnings

Starbucks (SBUX) Q2 2021 earnings

Kevin Johnson, President and CEO of Starbucks, speaks during a press conference in Shanghai on August 2, 2018.

AFP | Getty Images

Starbucks is expected to announce its second quarter fiscal year results on Tuesday after the bell.

Wall Street analysts surveyed by Refinitiv expect the following:

  • Earnings per share: 53 cents expected
  • Revenue: $ 6.82 billion expected

Analysts are forecasting a more than 13% increase in sales for the coffee giant compared to the same period last year when the company first saw the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on its business. The cafes in China closed for several months and sales in the same store halved in the same quarter of the previous year. Starbucks’ US operations stalled until March 2020 when the company temporarily closed locations.

A year later, the company sees signs of recovery. Starbucks sales in the same store in China were positive last quarter. In the US, the company is forecasting revenue growth of 5% to 10% in the same business for the second fiscal quarter. Sales in the same business decreased by 3% in the same period of the previous year. Starbucks expects earnings of 36 to 41 cents per share, or 45 cents to 50 cents on an adjusted basis, for the quarter.

The coffee chain is also expected to release a comprehensive update of its business outlook as well as the second quarter results. At the end of January, Starbucks was forecasting earnings per share between $ 2.42 and $ 2.62 and global sales growth in the same business of 18% to 23%.

Starbucks shares are up 8% in 2021, bringing them to a market value of $ 136 billion.

Categories
Health

CDC Particulars New Out of doors Masks Recommendation for Vaccinated Folks

CDC Details New Outdoor Mask Advice for Vaccinated People

President Biden and federal health officials said Tuesday that Americans who are fully vaccinated against the coronavirus will no longer have to wear masks outdoors in most situations, except at large gatherings – a move, the president said, to save “life.” to bring America closer to the normal ”Its target date is July 4th.

“Starting today, we’re meeting a group of friends in a park to have a picnic,” said Biden, speaking to reporters in front of the White House about what he thought was a “nice day” in Washington. “As long as you are vaccinated and outdoors, you can do this without a mask.”

Just two days before his 100th day in office after US coronavirus cases, hospital stays and deaths fell sharply since January, Mr Biden noted that Americans have made “amazing strides”. But his comments have been tempered with caution – masks are still necessary at outdoor concerts or sporting events, he said – an appeal to Americans who haven’t already done so to roll up their sleeves and get a chance.

Not long before that, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued new guidelines requiring Americans who are fully vaccinated against the coronavirus no longer need to wear masks outdoors when walking, running, hiking, or cycling alone or with members of theirs Household and in small outdoor gatherings.

The risk of the virus spreading outdoors is so small that even those who have not been vaccinated will not need to wear a mask when hiking, jogging, cycling, or running alone or with a household member. This is evident from the updated recommendations from the CDC.

People who haven’t got their recordings can go to small outdoor gatherings even without a mask, as long as they are with fully vaccinated friends and family members.

The guidelines for people who have been vaccinated have been further relaxed: they can take off their masks when attending small gatherings with people who have not taken their pictures and when dining in an outdoor restaurant with people from multiple households.

The CDC stopped telling even fully vaccinated people that they could take off their masks completely outdoors – citing the worrying risk that remains for the transmission of the coronavirus, unknown vaccination levels in people en masse, and the still high number of cases in some regions of the USA country.

Dr. Rochelle Walensky, the director of the CDC, who warned a few weeks ago that she felt a sense of “impending doom”, said she now feels “more hopeful” as the total number of vaccinations increases and the daily number of cases sinks . ”

According to a New York Times database, the United States has an average of 55,000 new cases per day, a decrease of around 20 percent from two weeks ago.

“I know the quarantine and shutdowns were stressful during the pandemic,” said Dr. Walensky. “I know we all miss the things we did before the pandemic, and I know we all want to do the things we love, and soon. Today is another day we can take a step back. “

Trying to link the news to the government’s public campaign to have most American adults vaccinated by the summer, trying to reassure that a semblance of normal life can return, Mr Biden concluded his brief remarks on a public notice for the vaccine.

In unveiling the new guidelines for wearing masks, public health officials on Tuesday emphasized how vaccinated people can enjoy mask-free recreational activities, rather than the guidelines also lifting some restrictions on those who have not received their shots. It was a concerted message at a time when vaccination rates were falling and raising concerns about reluctance among hard-to-reach populations.

However, the CDC continues to advise on other safety measures, saying that all adults continue to wear masks and stay in large public spaces, such as in large public spaces. It would be unknown, for example, to keep a distance of two meters during outdoor performances or at sporting events, shopping malls and cinemas where vaccination and the health of other people are guaranteed. And they should still avoid medium and large gatherings, crowds and poorly ventilated rooms, officials said.

“I welcome less restrictive guidelines for outdoor masking,” said Linsey Marr, aerosol scientist at Virginia Tech. “We know that it is much less likely to be transmitted outdoors than indoors because the virus cannot collect in the air outdoors. It dilutes quickly. “

However, the guidelines themselves, which contain different masking recommendations for a variety of scenarios, seem too complex, she said.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, Americans have been given advice on how to wear masks when senior health officials said people didn’t need them – also because of the lack of protective equipment for frontline health workers.

And mask restrictions have since been a patchwork of state to state, despite growing evidence of a mask protecting individuals and those around them.

However, the pace of vaccination has helped loosen these limits. To date, about 42 percent of Americans have received at least one dose of a Covid-19 vaccine, and 29 percent have received both doses of the two vaccines that require double shots.

The vaccines are highly effective in preventing people from getting seriously ill with the coronavirus.

“Scientifically, the vaccines are good enough that it is highly unlikely that someone who is vaccinated will be exposed to enough virus outdoors to get a breakthrough infection,” said Dr. Marr.

Early evidence also suggests that vaccinated people may be significantly less likely to transmit the virus, but the exact risks are not yet known.

Masking and distancing are generally still recommended when meeting with unvaccinated people from more than one different household, or with an unvaccinated person who is at high risk of serious illness from Covid or who lives with a vulnerable person.

And there are scenarios where wearing a mask outdoors can still be an important social signal, said Dr. Mercedes Carnethon, an epidemiologist at Northwestern University. For example, no vaccine has yet been approved for children under the age of 16.

A growing body of research shows that the risk of spreading the virus outdoors is far less than indoors. According to experts, viral particles spread quickly outdoors, which means that brief encounters with a passing walker or jogger pose a very low risk of transmission.

Most, if not all, of the outdoor virus transmission studies were done before the vaccine was available.

A recent systematic review of studies examining transmission of the coronavirus and other respiratory viruses in unvaccinated people found that less than 10 percent of infections occurred outdoors and the likelihood of indoor transmission was 18.7 times higher than outdoors. (The likelihood of super-spreading events was 33 times higher indoors.)