Month: July 2021

LeBron James advisor exhausted from Me Too, Black Lives Matter

Post author By
Post date July 5, 2021

NBA player LeBron James and former California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger in Los Angeles, California.

Chelsea Lauren | FilmMagic | Getty Images

Longtime white advisor to black NBA superstar LeBron James was caught on tape telling an ESPN white reporter, “I’m exhausted. I have nothing left between Me Too and Black Lives Matter, ”revealed a report on Sunday.

Communications expert Adam Mendelsohn’s outspoken comments – referring to catchphrases used for the movements aimed at reducing sexual violence against women and police murders and brutality against blacks – came during a taped phone call he made last summer with the NBA Reporter Rachel. from ESPN had Nichols, the New York Times reported.

Mendelsohn apologized for these specific comments in an email to CNBC after being asked about them on Sunday.

Nichols, who is white, had complained to Mendelsohn during that July 2020 call about a black reporter, Maria Taylor, getting the pre-game NBA final hosting spot from her sports cable TV network had, a spot Nichols expected her to, The Times reported.

Nichols on this tape implied that Taylor received this gig to the detriment of Nichols because Taylor is black – and because ESPN was under pressure to have more racial diversity in its lineup of on-air talent.

In his initial comments on the Black Lives Matter and Me Too statements, Mendelsohn told CNBC, “I made a stupid, negligent comment rooted in privilege and I am truly sorry.”

“I shouldn’t have said it or even thought it,” Mendelsohn said in an email.

“I am working to support these movements and I know that the people affected by these problems are never exhausted or left with nothing. I must continue to review my privilege and work to be a better ally.”

Nichols apparently did not know that the conversation was being recorded by a video camera broadcasting images and audio from her hotel room at a resort in Walt Disney World, Florida. Walt Disney Company is the majority owner of ESPN.

The video from the camera she used to appear on the network’s shows was fed into ESPN’s control room in Bristol, Connecticut. A tape of the call later circulated within ESPN and was leaked.

Mendelsohn has been an advisor to James for over ten years. Last year he co-founded James’ Black Vote Promotion Group More Than A Vote and is a senior advisor to the group.

The More Than a Vote website notes that the group was launched “amid the protests against Black Lives Matter following the murders of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor. Our goal: energy, education and protection of black voters. “

Taylor joined More Than a Vote last summer and recorded videos as a member of the group supporting the group’s efforts.

Mendelsohn is also a Senior Advisor at the private equity firm TPG, where he previously worked as Managing Director for Global Communications. Previously, he was Deputy Chief of Staff to then California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.

The Times reported that the video of the call lasted more than 20 minutes, with “continuous talk”. The newspaper only put two audio snippets online, which together last 2 minutes and 47 seconds.

Anthony Davis # 3 of the Los Angeles Lakers, LeBron James # 23 of the Los Angeles Lakers and Quinn Cook # 28 of the Los Angeles Lakers kneel down during the National Anthem with VOTE shirts before the start of the game against the Denver Nuggets in Game Three of the Western Conference Finals during the 2020 NBA Playoffs at the AdventHealth Arena at the ESPN Wide World Of Sports Complex on September 22, 2020 in Lake Buena Vista, Florida.

Mike Ehrmann | Getty Images Sports | Getty Images

The Times article stated that “many employees were outraged when they saw the video” because they believed that Nichols “reflected a common criticism used by white workers in many workplaces of non-white colleagues Denigrate – that Taylor was only offered the job of hosting because of her race, not because she was the best person for the job. “

And The Times reported that ESPN staff had also said Nichols made Taylor’s job difficult because Taylor had to deal with Mendelsohn to get interviews with people in professional basketball.

CNBC policy

Read more about CNBC’s political coverage:

Last May, The Times reported, the stars of ESPN’s “NBA Countdown” discussed whether they would refuse to appear in protest against changes to production they believed were made in Nichols’s favor .

These changes included Nichols becoming the game’s main reporter, which in turn resulted in three colored side reporters being given fewer tasks.

The bomb report comes weeks before Taylor’s contract with ESPN expires.

The New York Post reported last week that Taylor turned down a contract proposal last year that would have increased her current annual salary from $ 1 million to nearly $ 5 million a year. Taylor reportedly held out after significantly more money.

The Post also reported that ESPN’s current offering to Taylor is valued at $ 2-3 million per year. The lower amount reflects a move by the network to cut salaries across the board, according to The Post.

Nichols called Mendelsohn on July 13, 2020 to request an interview with James and another Lakers player, Anthony Davis, who is another client of James’ agent, Rich Paul. Mendelsohn is also an adviser to Black Paul.

Nichols also took the time on the same call to ask Mendelsohn’s advice on how to deal with the situation at ESPN, and was denied the assignment, which went to Taylor.

“I wish Maria Taylor all the success in the world – she reports on football, she reports on basketball,” said Nichols during the phone call with Mendelsohn, whose audio was posted online by The Times.

“If you have to give her more to do because you are feeling pressure because of your shitty long-term record in terms of diversity – which, by the way, I know personally from the female side – then just do it. Just find it somewhere else. You won’t find it from me or take my thing away. “

She also noted that the assignment to moderate coverage of the NBA finals “is written in my contract,” the newspaper reported.

After Nichols said she was planning to wait for ESPN’s next move, Mendelsohn paused, then said, “I don’t know. I am exhausted. I have nothing left between Me Too and Black Lives Matter. “

Nichols laughed at that, as the tape reveals.

Mendelsohn then suggested to Nichols that the situation be so that ESPN played two women, Nichols and Taylor, against each other.

“About the fact that it is just so very white men that they turn two women against each other to compete for the one point that they dangle over them,” said Mendelsohn.

“A broader discussion of all the points that should be considered.”

Nichols then said on the tape, “There’s not just one place at the table for a minority of the version we’re trying to try this week.”

Mendelsohn replied, “If you think about it, this is exactly the problem we’ve been talking about for a long time, which is white men – it’s an example of the one black person on the boardroom … you don’t? Not having a black woman in a prominent position and feeling, OK, all the work is done. “

“And you certainly can’t say, ‘Okay, we have a white woman, we have a woman in a critical place, and now that we’re going to put a black woman in the same place,” he said.

“The question is, what other seats do white men sit in?”

The Times reported that he told the paper for its article, “I will share what I believed then and what I still believe to be true. Maria [Taylor] earned and earned the position, and Rachel [Nichols] must respect it. “

“Maria deserved it because of her job, and ESPN realized that, like many people and companies in America, she needs to change on purpose,” said Mendelsohn.

“Just because Maria got the job doesn’t mean Rachel shouldn’t get what she deserves. Rachel and Maria shouldn’t be forced into a zero-sum game by ESPN, and Rachel had to challenge them. “

The Times reported that Mendelsohn did not answer follow-up questions about the taped call.

In his statement to CNBC, Mendelsohn said, “I’ll reiterate what I believe advised Rachel on the call and told the Times. Maria deserved and deserved the position and Rachel had to respect her. If Rachel wanted to challenge ESPN, she needed” to focus on their overall culture. “

ESPN has declined to say if an employee has been disciplined in connection with the case.

The Times reported that the only known person known to have been punished was a black digital video producer who was suspended for two weeks without pay after telling ESPN Human Resources that they were sending the video to Taylor had sent.

Josh Krulewitz, spokesman for ESPN, declined to speak to CNBC, but cited statements he had given the Times for its article.

“A diverse group of executives thoroughly and fairly examined all facts related to the incident and then handled the situation appropriately,” said Krulewitz.

“We pride ourselves on the coverage we continue to produce and our focus will continue to be on Maria, Rachel and the rest of the talented team that collectively serve NBA fans.”

Krulewitz also told the newspaper that ESPN emphasizes diversity, inclusion and equity, and that the company “arguably has the most diverse talented professionals in the sports media business, including those behind the scenes”.

Tags advisor, Black, exhausted, James, LeBron, Lives, Matter

Health

The Challenges of Bipolar Dysfunction in Younger Individuals

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Post date July 5, 2021

Dr. Birmaher noted that young people with bipolar disorder usually have recurring episodes of major depression, but that “depressive episodes are not necessary for making the diagnosis.” For some, mania is the primary symptom.

When depression is the symptom that brings patients to professional attention, the correct diagnosis can be especially tricky. As Dr. Ketter explained, depressed individuals may be unable to recall previous episodes of mania that occurred when they were not depressed.

Dr. Miklowitz said one of the first signs of bipolar disorder is “mood dysregulation — the child is angry or depressed one moment, then is excited and happy and full of ideas moments later.”

He listed characteristics of mania that can help parents distinguish them from normal teenage highs and lows. The symptoms, several of which should be noticeable to other people, can include “grandiose thinking, decreased need for sleep, rapid or pressured speech and/or flight of ideas, racing thoughts, distractibility, excessive goal-driven activity, and impulsive or reckless behavior,” Dr. Miklowitz said.

With depressive symptoms, he suggests looking for “an impairment in functioning — suddenly not going to school or going late, not finishing homework, sleeping through classes, a drop in grades, not wanting to eat with anyone else, talking about suicide, self-cutting.”

Depending on the severity of a child’s impairment, if nonlife-threatening symptoms are caught in the early teens, Dr. Miklowitz said it may be possible to start with psychotherapy and avoid medication, which has side effects. “But if the child’s life is at risk, if he can’t function at home or at school, medication may be the answer,” he said. “There are risks to not medicating.”

When medication is necessary, he said, the dosage should be just high enough to control symptoms and not be overly sedating.

Tags Bipolar, challenges, Disorder, people, young

World News

Covid-19 and Vaccine Information: Reside Updates

Post author By
Post date July 5, 2021

Here’s what you need to know:

Credit…Pool photo by Frank Augstein

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Monday that the government will likely lift most remaining Covid restrictions in England on July 19, and that he would likely leave it up to people to decide whether to keep wearing masks in subways, buses, and other confined spaces.

Mr. Johnson detailed plans for lifting the restrictions and loosening some travel rules at a news conference on Monday evening, stressing that a final decision on ending most pandemic limits would be made on July 12.

The announcement was met with both hope and trepidation. Although emerging variants have caused the number of infections in the country to rise in recent weeks, so far that has yet to be followed by a commensurate rise in hospital admissions or deaths — a sign Mr. Johnson and his advisers said that the vaccines are working.

“There’s only one reason why we can contemplate going ahead to Step 4 in circumstances where we’d normally be locking down further and that’s because of the continuing effectiveness of the vaccine rollout,” Mr. Johnson said.

Ahead of his address, Mr. Johnson had said people in the country had to “learn to live with this virus.”

And Monday evening, Mr. Johnson said beginning the July 19, the government will “move away from legal restriction and allow people to make their own decisions on how to manage the virus.”All businesses will be allowed to open. Social distancing and face coverings will no longer be mandatory, though, Mr. Johnson said there would be guidance for people who may wish to wear masks. Working from home guidance will no longer be in place.

The full reopening had been scheduled to take place last month, but was delayed because of worries over the more contagious Delta variant. The number of infections in the country has risen in recent weeks — primarily among younger people, who have only recently become eligible for vaccination. But 86 percent of adults in England have received at least one vaccine dose, among the highest rates in the world.

Organizers of nightlife and live events, which have largely fallen silent during the pandemic, had lobbied against further delays. Though many venues remain closed, Wembley Stadium will host the semifinals and finals of the European Championship soccer tournament in the coming days, with as many as 60,000 people allowed to attend if they show proof of vaccination or a negative virus test.

There are concerns, however, that the large gatherings will lead to further outbreaks. More than 2,000 people in Scotland tested positive for the virus last week after watching a Euro 2020 game at a stadium, fan zone or pub, according to National Health Scotland — nearly two-thirds of which were linked to a Euro 2020 game in London.

With England’s full reopening, restaurants and pubs will be able to serve more patrons, and limits on gatherings like weddings will be removed.

Britain reported over 24,000 new daily cases on Sunday, the highest number since early February, though the rates of hospitalizations and deaths remain low. And medical experts had urged officials to maintain some regulations, including mandatory face coverings and guidance on social distancing.

“It’s not a binary decision of all or nothing,” said Dr. Chaand Nagpaul, the chair of the British Medical Association Council, adding that such measures would minimize the impact of rising infections.

England has accelerated efforts to vaccine younger people in recent weeks, and officials said they were working on a program to offer booster shots to people over 50 and other vulnerable people this coming winter.

Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are working on separate, though similar timelines to also fully reopen the economy in their nations.

QueensGabriela Bhaskar/The New York Times
WashingtonTom Brenner for The New York Times
Brighton, Mich.Emily Elconin/Getty Images
BrooklynLaylah Amatullah Barrayn for The New York Times
Louisville, Ky.Jon Cherry/Getty Images
BrooklynDavid Dee Delgado/Getty Images
Saugerties, N.Y.Spencer Platt/Getty Images
Hermosa Beach, Calif.Patrick T. Fallon/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
WashingtonTom Brenner for The New York Times

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President Biden said on Sunday that getting vaccinated against the coronavirus was “the most patriotic thing” that Americans could do. In remarks addressed to a crowd attending a Fourth of July party on the White House’s South Lawn, and broadcast nationally, he said the United States was emerging from the darkness of the pandemic but stressed that the country was not yet fully clear of it.

He singled out the Delta virus variant as a particular threat.

Mr. Biden had hoped to turn the Fourth of July into a celebration not just of the nation’s independence, but also of reaching his administration’s ambitious goal to have 70 percent of adults at least partly inoculated against the coronavirus before the holiday.

He didn’t quite make it. As of Friday, about 67 percent of people in the country 18 and older had gotten at least one vaccine dose, according to a New York Times tracker. Almost 60 percent of adults were fully vaccinated, and the highly contagious Delta variant was creating hot spots, particularly in states with low vaccination rates, like Missouri.

The shortfall did not dampen the White House’s outlook. The president had pressed ahead with an optimistic message, signaling that this year’s July Fourth celebration would be about “independence from the virus” and a return to some semblance of normal life.

On Saturday, Mr. Biden visited Traverse City, Mich., as part of what the White House called the “America’s Back Together” celebration. On Sunday, he and his wife, Jill Biden, hosted a party whose invitation list included 1,000 military personnel and essential workers, on whom Mr. Biden lavished thanks during his speech.

A sense of a new day seems to be shared by many Americans, who returned to prepandemic Fourth of July rituals in droves, flocking to the roads and the skies in the stiffest test yet for the nation’s travel infrastructure since the pandemic mostly shut it down in March 2020.

The Transportation Security Administration screened 2.197 million people on July 3, the most since March 5, 2020, about a week before the World Health Organization declared a pandemic.

Despite the new variant’s spread, reports of new cases across the country have been holding steady at 12,000 a day, the lowest since testing became widely available. The U.S. average of fewer than 300 daily deaths from Covid-19 is a decline of 23 percent over the past two weeks. Hospitalizations are also dropping.

Some public health experts cautioned, however, that scenes of celebrations might send the wrong message when wide swaths of the population remain vulnerable.

The continuing threat was brought into sharp focus on Saturday when the authorities announced that six emergency medical workers helping with rescue efforts at the site of a collapsed condo in Surfside, Fla., had tested positive.

On Friday, Mr. Biden urged people who have yet to get vaccinated to “think about their family” and get a shot as the Delta variant spreads.

“I am concerned that people who have not gotten vaccinated have the capacity to catch the variant and spread the variant to other people who have not been vaccinated,” he said. “Don’t just think about yourself.”

Credit…Sara Messinger for The New York Times

In the weeks since the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention revised its mask guidelines to allow fully vaccinated people to take their masks off in most indoor settings, a stark divide has emerged, particularly in wealthier enclaves where services are at a premium.

Those still wearing masks tend to be members of the service class — store clerks, waiters, janitors, manicurists, security guards, receptionists, hair stylists and drivers — while those without face coverings are often the well-to-do customers being wined and dined.

Employers are hesitant to discuss their mask policies, but there are sensible reasons for requiring staffers to keep their masks on.

Just under 50 percent of people in the United States are fully vaccinated. And coronavirus variants, some of which are highly infectious and may be more resistant to vaccines, are on the rise, said Dr. Lisa Maragakis, an epidemiologist and associate professor at Johns Hopkins University.

Food servers, retail clerks, grocery cashiers and other public-facing workers interact all day with customers, which can put their health (and the health of their customers) at risk. This creates not only potential liability issues for employers, but also could hamstring a business at a time of worker shortages.

Even at establishments that give vaccinated employees the choice to take their masks off, many are keeping them on. “Who knows who has had their shot and who hasn’t,” said Michelle Booker, a store clerk from the Bronx who works at a Verizon store in Midtown Manhattan.

Credit…Giuseppe Lami/EPA, via Shutterstock

Nearly 900 people tried to take advantage of an overnight vaccination drive, called Open Night, over the weekend in an inoculation effort organized by the health authorities in the Lazio region of Italy, which includes Rome.

The initiative, organized in a cloister of the Santo Spirito hospital, near the Vatican, was targeted at “people on the margins of society, the most fragile,” said Angelo Tanese, the director general of ASL Roma 1, the region’s largest local health unit.

To help draw in the crowds, a jazz pianist serenaded those present on Saturday night, while free espresso and cornetti — Italian croissants — were offered on Sunday morning.

Doctors and nurses administered the Johnson & Johnson vaccine to homeless people, undocumented migrants, foreign students and foreigners who legally work in Rome but are not registered with the national health service.

Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine, which requires only one dose — unlike the two-shot regimens made by AstraZeneca, Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech — is especially useful for inoculating people who may be harder to reach or may not return for a second dose. About 80 percent of the people at the Santo Spirito clinic were undocumented migrants, Mr. Tanese said.

As of Sunday, nearly 20 million people in Italy had been fully vaccinated — about 32 percent of the total population.

Credit…Angela Weiss/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

The Metropolitan Opera has reached a tentative agreement for a new contract with the union that represents its stagehands, increasing the likelihood that the company will return to the stage in September after its longest shutdown ever.

The company’s roughly 300 stagehands were locked out late last year because of a disagreement over how long and lasting pandemic pay cuts would be. But the opera house is in desperate need of workers to prepare its complex operations if it is to reopen in less than three months.

Pressure on the talks had increased as the two sides negotiated for nearly four weeks.

The Met, which says it has lost more than $150 million in revenue since the pandemic forced it to close in March 2020, has asked for significant cuts to the take-home pay of union members.

Peter Gelb, the company’s general manager, has said that in order to survive the pandemic and prosper beyond it, the company must cut payroll costs for those unions by 30 percent, effectively cutting take-home pay by about 20 percent. Union leaders have resisted the proposed cuts, arguing that many of its members already went many months without pay.

Credit…Eduardo Munoz/Reuters

BoltBus, the bus service known for offering its passengers Wi-Fi and $1 lottery seats, is shutting down operations indefinitely after months of low ridership during the pandemic, according to Greyhound, its parent company.

The discount bus operator said last month that it was transferring most of its routes to Greyhound in order to “undergo renovations.” BoltBus had suspended service earlier in the pandemic, but its parent company said last week that the operator had no plans to put its buses back on the road.

“Currently there is not a timeline to return BoltBus operations,” Emma Kaiser, a Greyhound spokeswoman, told The Seattle Times.

Greyhound, which operates the largest intercity bus fleet in North America, teamed up with Peter Pan Bus Lines in 2008 to start BoltBus. The companies wanted to offer an affordable ride to people put off by grubbier alternatives.

At least one seat on every BoltBus ride sold for $1 plus a booking fee. Passengers could reserve seats, unlike on Greyhound. BoltBus offered passengers Wi-Fi, individual power outlets and extra legroom, according to its website.

Other cheap intercity bus operators that are still running, including FlixBus, Peter Pan and Megabus, may see a surge in riders, because domestic travel is on the rise as pandemic restrictions loosen.

Credit…Trisha Krauss

Millions of Americans decided that this past year was an opportune time to rip out some walls and build a new kitchen, bathroom or addition.

For those who muscled through and stayed in their homes while the work was underway, the experience was of a 24-7 construction site. With offices closed, conference calls took place against a noisy backdrop of hammering and sanding. So much for Zoom school when the Wi-Fi goes down without warning. Need a quick meal because the kitchen is gutted down to the studs? It’s not so easy when restaurants are closed for indoor dining.

Rajiv Surendra, a calligrapher and actor in his early 30s who is best known for his role in the 2004 movie “Mean Girls,” renovated the kitchen in his Upper West Side one-bedroom last year. He installed wainscoting, sanded cabinets, and made bracket shelves and a peg rail by hand. With his entire apartment turned into a work site, he had almost no space that felt like his own.

So he found something that could mentally take him away from a space he rarely left. Every night, he would spend two hours practicing the harp and the piano, teaching himself Chopin’s Nocturne Op. 9 No. 2. “That was a very good thing, for me to get my mind away from that stuff,” he said.

Tags Covid19, Live, News, Updates, Vaccine

Entertainment

Gwen Stefani and Blake Shelton Are Formally Married

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Post date July 5, 2021

Gwen Stefani and Blake Shelton have officially tied the knot! According to People, the couple married Saturday at Blake’s Tishomingo Ranch in Oklahoma. Gwen and Blake previously sparked marriage rumors after Gwen also recently had an intimate bridal shower with family and friends on the 12th. The “Let Me Reintroduce Myself” singer also recently had an intimate bridal shower.

Gwen and Blake first met as trainers The voice in 2015 and began a romance following their respective divorces from Gavin Rossdale and Miranda Lambert. Gwen also shares three children with Gavin, 15-year-old Kingston, 12-year-old Zuma, and 7-year-old Apollo. Blake asked the question at their Oklahoma ranch in October 2020, and they’ve been going strong ever since. Ahead, see photos of Gwen’s glitzy new wedding ring.

Tags Blake, Gwen, Married, Officially, Shelton, Stefani

Politics

Trump Holds Rally in Florida, Throughout State From Constructing Catastrophe

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Post date July 5, 2021

Former President Donald J. Trump held a Fourth of July-themed rally on Saturday night in Sarasota, Fla., across the state from where a tragedy has been unfolding for more than a week as firefighters, search dogs and emergency crews search for survivors in the collapse of a residential building just north of Miami Beach.

The political rally in the midst of a disaster that has horrified the nation became a topic of discussion among aides to the former president and Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida, a Trump ally whose growing popularity with the former president’s supporters is becoming an increasing source of tension for both men, according to people familiar with their thinking.

After officials from the governor’s office surveyed the scene of the condominium collapse in Surfside, Fla., Adrian Lukis, chief of staff to the governor, called Michael Glassner, a longtime Trump aide who is overseeing the Florida event, according to people familiar with the discussion. In a brief conversation, Mr. Lukis inquired whether the former president planned to continue with the event given the scale of the tragedy, two people said.

He was told there were no plans to reschedule.

A spokeswoman for Mr. Trump, Liz Harrington, said that the rally in Sarasota was “three-and-a-half hours away, approximately the same distance from Boston to New York, and will not impact any of the recovery efforts.”

She added that the former president “has instructed his team to collect relief aid for Surfside families both online and on-site at the Sarasota rally.”

After a brief moment of silence for the victims and families of the tragedy as he took the stage, Mr. Trump quickly launched into a castigation of cancel culture and of the Biden administration’s immigration policies.

He dismissed charges filed this week against his business, the Trump Organization, by the Manhattan district attorney’s office as “prosecutorial misconduct.” And while he appeared to deny knowledge of any possible tax evasion on benefits, he also seemed to acknowledge that those benefits occurred.

“You didn’t pay tax on the car, or the company apartment,” he said, adding, “Or education for your grandchildren. I don’t even know, do you have to put, does anyone know the answer to that stuff?”

Much of what followed was a familiar list of his grievances, but he drew an enthusiastic crowd that waited for hours in pouring rain to hear him speak.

Mr. DeSantis, who met on Thursday with President Biden when the president visited the site of the disaster, originally wanted to attend the rally but ultimately decided he could not go. “He spoke with President Trump, who agreed that it was the right decision, because the governor’s duty is to be in Surfside,” his press secretary, Christina Pushaw, said, adding, “Governor DeSantis would have gone to the rally in normal circumstances.’’

In an interview with Newsmax ahead of the rally, Mr. Trump said he told Mr. DeSantis not to come. But during the rally, when he thanked local Republican leaders in Florida, he notably did not mention Mr. DeSantis.

The governor, an early supporter of Mr. Trump, has been eager to play down any perceived tension with the former president, who endorsed his campaign for governor in 2018 and could cause him a political headache if he turned against him.

“Governor DeSantis is focusing on his duties as governor and the tragedy in Surfside, and has never suggested or requested that events planned in different parts of Florida — from the Stanley Cup finals to President Trump’s rally — should be canceled,” Ms. Pushaw said after The Washington Examiner reported that Mr. DeSantis had pointedly asked Mr. Trump to delay his rally.

The recent conversation between Mr. Lukis and Mr. Glassner was not the first time Mr. DeSantis’s staff had expressed reservations about the timing of Mr. Trump’s event. Before the condominium collapse, Mr. DeSantis’s office had suggested to the Trump team that the fall was better timing for a rally, given the perils of hurricane season in Florida, two people familiar with the conversation said.

Mr. Trump ignored the suggestion. Shut out of Facebook and Twitter, Mr. Trump has been eager for an outlet to have his voice heard and has been chomping at the bit to return to the rally stage, aides said.

Mr. DeSantis is seen as a top-tier Republican presidential candidate for 2024, and may end up in a political collision with the former president, who himself has hinted that he is considering a third try for the White House.

People close to Mr. Trump said he had become mildly suspicious of a supposed ally. He has grilled multiple advisers and friends, asking “what’s Ron doing,” after hearing rumors at Mar-a-Lago that Mr. DeSantis had been courting donors for a potential presidential run of his own. He has asked aides their opinion of a Western Conservative Summit presidential straw poll for 2024 Republican presidential candidates, an unscientific online poll that showed Mr. DeSantis beating Mr. Trump.

Tags building, disaster, Florida, holds, rally, state, Trump

Health

Putin reveals he had the Sputnik V shot as Russia struggles with Covid

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Post date July 5, 2021

Watching a live broadcast of the annual phone call of Russian President Vladimir Putin in the newsroom of the TASS news agency.

Gavriil Grigorov | TASS | Getty Images

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday said he received the Sputnik-V coronavirus vaccine as the Kremlin struggles to convince a skeptical public of the benefits of vaccination.

“I thought I needed to be protected as long as possible. So I decided to vaccinate with Sputnik V. The military is vaccinated with Sputnik V and after all I am the commander in chief, ”Putin said during his annual conference call where the public asked questions to the president.

“After the first shot, I didn’t feel anything. About four hours later there was some tenderness where I had the shot. I took the second.” [shot] at noon. I took my temperature at midnight. It was 37.2 [Celsius]. I went to sleep, woke up and my temperature was 36.6. That was it, “Putin said in a Reuters-translated commentary.

Putin had previously refused to say what Covid vaccine he received in March and the Kremlin said it would keep the information “a secret”. Putin was not filmed or photographed when he received the shot, leading to speculation among the Russian public and the international press that he had not received any Russian vaccine at all.

Doubts about Putin’s vaccination status have not helped allay Russians’ apparent reluctance to get a Covid vaccination, despite the incentives for older people to get the vaccination.

Russia has now approved four home-grown vaccines for use and was the first country in the world to approve a coronavirus vaccination, Sputnik V (its most famous vaccine), last August.

The fact that the vaccine was approved prior to the completion of clinical trials caused a stir in the global scientific community and is believed to have contributed to public skepticism about the vaccine’s safety and effectiveness.

Still, an interim analysis of the shot’s Phase 3 clinical trials, which included 20,000 participants and which were published in the peer-reviewed medical journal The Lancet in early February, found 91.6% of it against symptomatic Covid-19 infection was effective. Russia has tried to sell its vaccine to several countries around the world, especially its allies.

Still, vaccination rates at home remain very sluggish, much to the chagrin of Putin, who has extolled the benefits of Russian Covid vaccines and encouraged the public to take up vaccination. The vaccination rate is lagging behind many countries, including India, Mexico and Brazil.

Our World in Data figures show that 15% of the Russian population received one dose and 12% received their second dose.

Putin’s comments come as Russia struggles to contain Covid and the Delta variant in Moscow and St. Petersburg. Last Friday, the Russian coronavirus task force reported 20,393 new Covid cases, most of the cases confirmed in a single day since January 24, according to Reuters. 7,916 new infections were in Moscow. Russia has recorded nearly 5.5 million cases since the pandemic began.

During the question-and-answer session in front of various members of the public from across Russia, Putin raised a variety of issues including rising food prices, energy infrastructure, relations with Ukraine and housing issues. Over 1 million questions were put to Putin, the TASS news agency reported.

Regarding the mandatory vaccination of the population in light of the low vaccination rate, Putin reiterated on Wednesday that he still disagreed with it, despite steps being taken to get Russians to accept the vaccination with the prospect of restrictions and possible job losses those who do not accept it.

In Moscow, for example, officials said that 60% of workers in the service sector must have their first dose of a Covid vaccine before July 15.

Tags Covid, Putin, Reveals, Russia, shot, Sputnik, struggles

Health

Birthday Events as Virus Vector

Post author By
Post date July 5, 2021

At the height of the pandemic, it was easy to worry that strangers would transmit the virus to you. But a new study of what happens after people’s birthdays suggests that people we trust were also a common source of virus spreading.

Private gatherings were harder to measure for researchers than large public events – after all, they are private. And there has been heated debate among epidemiologists for months about what influence they have on how the coronavirus has moved from person to person.

But a team of Harvard researchers used a creative method to find them: Using damage data from health insurers, they examined the Covid rates of families in the two weeks after one of them had a birthday. Overall, their paper, published in Jama Internal Medicine, found that a recent family birthday increased the risk of Covid by almost a third.

Their theory is that the increased risk is almost certainly explained by birthday parties. Although the insurance claims don’t show whether a single Covid patient actually hosted a birthday party, several aspects of the data strongly suggest a connection. When researchers looked at other days of the year by randomly assigning birthdays instead of using actual birthdays, or looking at diagnoses in weeks prior to birthdays, they found no such pattern. But, perhaps more importantly, they found the greatest risk of infection in the weeks following a child’s birthday.

“My wife and I certainly didn’t see the need to gather indoors for our birthdays,” said Anupam Jena, professor of health policy at Harvard Medical School and a co-author of the article, who said the study was inspired by Birthday of his own daughter. “Our children could be more disappointed.”

At birthday parties, of course, groups often huddle together in a small space, perhaps to watch a child blowing out candles on a cake.

With birthdays happening across the country and spread out throughout the calendar year, the researchers were able to study the effects where Covid was widespread and less common. Other infections followed on a broad front after birthdays.

The study took into account data from last year when Covid was much more common and fewer Americans were vaccinated. But his conclusions are still relevant to Americans who are unvaccinated today – a group that includes all children under 12. That may be especially true since the new, more contagious Delta variant is circulating in more states.

Much political debates about managing the pandemic have centered on what to do with public spaces – such as whether restaurants are allowed to open or whether masks are required. Officials have a harder time monitoring people’s behavior at home. They also struggled to measure the impact.

KJ Seung, the director of strategy and policy for Partners in Health’s response to Covid in Massachusetts, who helped set up the contact tracing system, said it had been difficult for contact tracing authorities to clearly demonstrate that people were interacting with the in small private gatherings Virus infected. Public revelations, like those at a factory or a wedding, were easier for her to follow. People often didn’t share the evenings when they had a cousin for dinner or drove a friend home from work, be it out of shame or forgetfulness – and when they did, they were reluctant to give names.

“Small social gatherings are the hardest places to keep track of,” he said. But “when we spoke to tracers across the country, they said, yes, people get infected at these little gatherings.”

So much of the pandemic-related behavior – including using masks and taking vaccines – seems to vary across people’s political party. However, the study found that birthdays in Republican and Democratic areas of the country resulted in similar increases in Covid infections. This suggests that while Democratic households were more likely to wear a mask when going for a walk, they may have been less different than Republicans in visiting a trusted friend.

“This element of your home is definitely a safe place and when you have your friends and family at home it just doesn’t feel risky,” said Dr. Ashish Jha, the dean of the School of Public Health at Brown University, who called the paper “creative” for finding an unusual way to capture disease transmissions that are otherwise difficult to measure.

For many Americans, birthday celebrations have become a lot safer in the past few months. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say it is safe for fully vaccinated individuals to gather indoors without wearing face coverings. But for those who remain unvaccinated, the study is a reminder that even activities that feel safest pose a risk of infection. In many parts of the country, unvaccinated people are grouped by region or social group, which means birthday parties – and other such festive, private occasions – can still be risky.

Tags Birthday, Parties, Vector, Virus

Politics

Fb chief Mark Zuckerberg odd Fourth of July Instagram put up

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Post date July 5, 2021

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg rides an electric surfboard holding the American flag. July 4, 2021.

Mark Zuckerberg, Instagram

Make America Weird Again.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg on Sunday posted a wacky American-flag waving, surfboard-riding video on Instagram to celebrate Independence Day.

“Happy July 4th!” Zuckerberg wrote on the post of the video.

It features him deftly skimming along atop an electric foil surfboard on an idyllic-looking lake, toting the Stars and Stripes as John Denver’s anthem to West Virginia, “Take Me Home, Country Roads” plays as a soundtrack.

Facebook, which the 37-year-old mega-billionaire co-founded, owns Instagram.

“This is some meme materials,” one follower of “Zuck” wrote in response to the post.

“Fantastic!” another follower wrote.

A third wrote, “When you get your antitrust lawsuit thrown about by a judge. Let’s GOOOOO Zuck!

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Tags chief, Facebook, fourth, Instagram, July, Mark, odd, Post, Zuckerberg

World News

PM Boris Johnson to disclose England’s lockdown-lifting plan at 5pm

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Post date July 5, 2021

England fans celebrate after winning 4-0 in the UEFA EURO 2020 quarter-final soccer match between Ukraine on July 3, 2021 in London, United Kingdom.

Anadolu Agency | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images

LONDON – UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson will detail the final steps to ease UK lockdown rules on Monday.

New guidelines on the 1-meter social distancing rule, face covering, visiting nursing homes and working from home will be announced, the government said on Sunday. A government minister told the BBC over the weekend that some rules, such as wearing masks, would become a personal choice if restrictions were relaxed.

Johnson is expected to reiterate that Covid will become “a virus that we are learning to live with as we already do with the flu,” Downing Street said in a statement released on Sunday evening.

“Freedom Day” – or “Step 4” in the government’s long-term plan to ease restrictions – will take place on July 19, when the government’s “four tests” to ease Covid restrictions are met, Johnson will also note.

The tests include examining data to confirm that vaccine delivery is continuing successfully and that infection rates do not risk an increase in hospital admissions. These will be assessed on July 12, the government said after reviewing the latest data.

The lifting of restrictions in England was previously slated for June 21, but was delayed as the highly transferable Delta variant spread across the UK

While infection rates have increased, hospitalizations and deaths have not increased, suggesting that coronavirus vaccines are helping to prevent serious infections.

The UK government has previously signaled reluctance to maintain restrictions longer than strictly necessary. This is despite some concerns among medical professionals and opposition politicians that the restrictions could be lifted too quickly if the variant spreads across the UK, Europe and beyond.

In comments posted on Sunday, Johnson admitted that “the pandemic is not over yet and that cases will continue to increase in the coming weeks”.

“We must all continue to be careful with the risks of Covid and use judgment in our lives,” he said, adding that “thanks to the successful launch of our vaccination program, we are carefully following our roadmap (to lift the lockdown). . Today we are going to set out how we can restore people’s freedoms. “

The UK’s Covid vaccination program was one of the fastest in the world, with 86% of the adult population now receiving a first dose of a vaccine and 63.8% two doses, government data shows.

The Prime Minister will announce the details of the lifting of lockdown rules in England in a press conference on Monday afternoon, due to begin around 5 p.m. London time. At the same time, Health Minister Sajid Javid will present the plans to parliament.

Tags 5pm, Boris, Englands, Johnson, lockdownlifting, Plan, Reveal

Health

Australia’s Covid restoration plans stay unsure as a result of delta variant

Post author By
Post date July 5, 2021

A person exercises at the Sydney Opera House during a foggy start to the day on June 30, 2021 in Sydney Australia. Lockdown restrictions continue as NSW health authorities work to contain a growing Covid-19 cluster.

Brook Mitchell | Getty Images News | Getty Images

A recent spike in Covid cases has Australian authorities scrambling to contain the delta variant, which was first detected in India.

The country has handled the coronavirus pandemic relatively better than most, with fewer than 31,000 total cases due to strict social distancing rules, border restrictions, contract tracing and lockdowns.

Several major cities were locked down last week, including Sydney — the capital of Australia’s most populous state, New South Wales, and home to more than five million residents.

On Monday, New South Wales reported 35 new local cases as authorities clamp down on individuals and businesses for flouting restrictions. State Premier Gladys Berejiklian reportedly warned that the situation over the next couple of days would decide if the two-week lockdown in Sydney will be extended beyond July 9.

Last week, Australia’s national cabinet agreed to halve the number of international arrivals allowed into the country by July 14 as part of a four-phase recovery plan. Non-residents are mostly barred from entering the country, with few exceptions.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison said a trial program would allow some vaccinated travelers to self-isolate at home, in an effort to reduce the pressure on Australia’s quarantine system.

Australia is still in the first phase of its plan, which emphasizes vaccines and social restrictions to minimize community transmission, according to the cabinet’s assessment. The next three phases would be post-vaccination, consolidation and, lastly, the reopening of borders.

Uncertainty remains

The federal recovery plan needs more precision, which would provide greater certainty for Australian businesses looking to reopen, according to Jennifer Westacott, CEO of the Business Council of Australia.

“We need some really clear targets. We need some really clear threshold. We need those to be realistic,” she said Monday on CNBC’s “Squawk Box Asia.”

“Business can start planning. Airlines can start planning. Small business can start planning. We need a little bit more precision,” she added.

Many businesses, including farmers, rely on international labor. Prolonged border closures mean there’s a shortage in manpower at least until 2022, when borders are tentatively scheduled to reopen.

Westacott said Australia’s recovery plan should take a staged approach and allow more skilled international workers in to fill vacant positions as the vaccination rate increases.

“We can’t wait for 2022 to get skilled workers in the country,” she said, adding that such a delay means Australia’s “capacity to ramp up slows down, but it also means that companies just don’t do stuff here.”

Sluggish vaccine rollout

Mixed messaging around the AstraZeneca vaccine from the Australian government and the advisory board that advises the health minister on vaccine issues in the country has been “really problematic,” according to Archie Clements, pro vice-chancellor of the health sciences faculty at Curtin University.

“If you look at the vaccine rollout statistics, the rate of increase in vaccines slowed through June and I do think that’s largely down to the mixed messaging around AstraZeneca,” he told CNBC’s “Street Signs Asia” on Monday.

The Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation prefers that people below 60 are given the Pfizer vaccine — which is in short supply — to avoid the risk of an extremely rare blood clotting disorder related to the use of AstraZeneca shots. The government, meanwhile, says those people can opt for AstraZeneca after consulting their doctors.

“The federal government should have backed AstraZeneca very strongly from the very beginning, really should have been promoting it. It is a very safe vaccine,” Clements said, pointing out that only a minuscule number of people have had a severe reaction to the shot.

“We should be encouraging everyone to get vaccinated and to take the vaccine that’s available to them, regardless of whether it’s AstraZeneca or Pfizer,” he said.

Tags Australias, Covid, Delta, due, plans, recovery, remain, uncertain, Variant