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Will vaccines give a shot in the arm to pharmaceutical stocks? | Open this photo in gallery Pfizer has hit a home run year with its vaccine, which produced revenue that was 60 per cent higher than estimates in the company's first quarter. Jonathan FILSKOV/iStockPhoto / Getty Images All eyes have been on pharmaceutical companies during the past year as they worked with unprecedented speed to develop vaccines to counter the spread of COVID-19. But there is no consensus on whether investors should seize the opportunity these vaccines have presented. The efforts of pharmaceutical companies have garnered praise from all quarters as they harnessed scientific and financial resources for global good. The halo effect is such that when Merck & Co. Inc. MRK-N recently agreed to manufacture a vaccine developed by Johnson & Johnson Inc. JNJ-N, U.S. President Joe Biden praised the competitors for their historic, nearly unprecedented collaboration. However, vaccines represent a small part of the overall operations of the big companies and offer thin profit margins. Johnson & Johnson and Pfizer Inc. PFE-N have committed to public service pricing. Moderna Inc. MRNA-Q, a much smaller company, is trying to recapture its investment while AstraZeneca PLC AZN-Q is somewhere in between. Story continues below advertisement Its also unknown how much demand there will be in years to come. Thats the question. Is a COVID-19 vaccine a one-and-done thing or a sustainable business that keeps growing? says Peter Choi, senior research analyst in New York with Vontobel Asset Management Inc., an asset management group based in Zurich. Pfizer has hit a home run year with its vaccine, which was developed in partnership with Germany-based BioNTech SE BNTX-Q. In Pfizers first quarter, reported on May 5, COVID-19 vaccine revenue was 60 per cent higher than estimates. Looking ahead, the company has almost doubled its vaccine sales projections for the year to roughly US$26-billion from US$15-billion. Pfizer is just one vaccine player, and the US$26-billion it expects in sales is already more than five times the annual global demand for flu vaccines, Mr. Choi says. Paul MacDonald, chief investment officer at Harvest Portfolios Group in Oakville, Ont., also says that future vaccine demand is a question mark. He suspects the windfalls will tail off by 2023, and investors should look at the role of vaccines within the larger context of a companys operations. For example, delayed surgeries are being rescheduled. That creates demand for hospital services, medical devices, supplies and drugs. Pfizers quarter was a big deal from the vaccine side, but the other good news is that when you peel it back and look at their base business, theyre performing really well too, says Mr. MacDonald, who manages Harvest Healthcare Leaders Income ETF HHL-T, which counts Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson and AstraZeneca among its holdings. Story continues below advertisement The prospect of more vaccine competition is another issue. Mr. MacDonald doesnt think it will be material, even as rhetoric about lifting patent protection is grabbing headlines. He believes its little more than a distraction. Thats because by the time the issue is resolved at the World Trade Organization, the window for demand will have closed and, even then, there are huge barriers to entry. Producing these vaccines is a hugely complex thing that only a few companies can do. You need technological expertise, manufacturing capability, logistics, distribution, and marketing, he says. By the time you get all of those things figured out, youre into a time frame where youre not going to need nearly as many doses. Both Mr. Choi and Mr. MacDonald say that while the vaccines are not hugely profitable, they add another product in a normally low-profile area. In addition, the lessons learned with the quick turnaround can be applied elsewhere. One promising area is the messenger RNA (mRNA) molecule, which has been described as a surprising star of the pandemic response. Its a key ingredient in the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines. While most traditional vaccines use a weakened version of the virus to generate an immune response, mRNA vaccines teach cells how to make a protein to trigger an immune response specific to each of us. Mr. Choi says that mRNA vaccines had not been widely tested commercially before the pandemic. Now, hundreds of millions of people have received them and theyve proven to be extremely effective with minimal side effects. Thats gone as well as you could have hoped, he says. Story continues below advertisement Mr. MacDonald adds that during Pfizers earnings call, the company said its planning to test mRNA for flu and other vaccines. Although pharmaceutical companies efforts to defeat the pandemic have changed perceptions positively among investors, Mr. Choi isnt sure the halo effect will last. Many underlying tensions remain, he says, pointing to the patent protection debate and the ever simmering drug pricing issue. Meanwhile, Mr. MacDonald believes that as long as the pandemic remains a public health threat, the goodwill will remain. For the next 12 to 18 months, anyway, were going to be talking about vaccine development and boosters. One cant help but think that having the U.S. president praising the companies for delivering a solution that helps society changes perceptions about them, he says. Adam Mayers is a contributing editor to the Internet Wealth Builder investment newsletter. | https://www.theglobeandmail.com/investing/globe-advisor/advisor-stocks/article-will-vaccines-give-a-shot-in-the-arm-to-pharmaceutical-stocks/ |
Who knew that filling the freezer with stew and curry could be so emotional? | A Saturday afternoon and I am in the kitchen, ministering to a steaming pot of pork and chorizo stew, much as a parent might attend to their baby in the bath. I know this dish intimately. I understand its rhythms, the way the garlic and smoked paprika, the pork and tomatoes will first shake hands and then drop into a deep hug if properly introduced. As a result, I never deviate from the set method, because that would feel like choosing to walk in the wrong direction in the misguided hope of eventually finding my way home. Except this time. Today I am making adaptations. It is forcing me to concentrate. Usually, the stew contains a tin of drained butter beans. Usually, the pork is cut into one-inch dice. Neither is true today, because this bubbling pot is not for this evenings dinner. I dont really know when it will end up on the table. Possibly three weeks from now, maybe sooner. I am about to be incapacitated briefly, while I become the proud owner of a shiny new hip; certainly, I wont be able to take my regular position standing at the stove, sorting family dinners. Instead, I am cooking for the freezer. I am here, projecting a part of myself, the greedy feeder part of me, forward in time. Cooking for the future is entirely different to cooking for the days table. It is a rare mixture of the eminently practical, and the deeply emotional. Its practical because not everything gives itself to the freezer. Try roasting a chicken then freezing it, thawing it and reheating it. On second thoughts, dont. Youll end up committing culinary GBH on the poor bird. It will become dense and dry and fibrous. You might as well stuff your mouth with kapok. (Although, of course, braised chicken is usually fine.) Anything made with fully cooked rice or pasta risks turning into slurry. Cooked cabbage will go floppy. Jellies will weep, as will I. For the stew Im making, I know the butter beans need to be added once it has been defrosted and is being reheated or they will probably turn to mush. Likewise, I need to keep the meat in bigger pieces than usual so it doesnt all break down and come out as a mess of soup. A great tasting soup, but a soup all the same. There are other considerations, to do with the depth, and width of containers, so I can win the forthcoming championship level game of freezer Tetris. And yet all this culinary engineering really does have, at its heart, a softer motive. I tend to flinch when people talk about cooking with love. It feels emotionally incontinent, and Im never quite that damp. But cooking forward does have about it a deep sense of care and consideration. I may not be at the stove but I can still feed. Anybody who has ever cooked a few dishes for bereaved friends and relatives, so they dont have to worry about getting food on the table through the first hostile agonies of grief, will understand. You may not even know the person youre feeding. My household, like so many others, has been involved in cooking for vulnerable groups during the pandemic. It can feel like a military operation at times but hard logistics do not overwhelm motive. My pork and chorizo stew is done. I will let it cool, skim off the fat and decant it into something square and freezer friendly. Then I will start again. There is a curry to be made, and perhaps a Chinese hot pot, spikey with preserved chillies and black beans. There are family dinners to be prepared. I am carefully measuring out the future, one dish at a time. | https://www.theguardian.com/food/2021/may/13/jay-rayner-freezer-stew-curry-emotional |
What does former Miami quarterback Dan Marino have to do with a New Orleans graffiti war? | Street art murals are like sandcastles at the beach. Nobody expects them to last forever. Still, the New Orleans artists who began painting a colorful new mural on a wall at St. Claude Avenue and Marigny Street on April 24 probably thought their work would last overnight, anyway. But before their 100-foot collaborative painting was even finished, it was ruined. By the next morning, the mashup of skulls, scowling satyrs, a female face, a clown, a cartoon bird, an anim superhero and several psychedelic monsters had been tagged over. In graffiti lingo, a tag is a swiftly applied, coded signature. Weirdly, in this case, the tag was the name of former Miami Dolphins quarterback Dan Marino, augmented with a commonly used yet unprintable expletive. Well, read on. After the vandalism came to light, many of the street artists returned to repaint their parts of the mural, blotting out Dan (expletive) Marino, as Dan (expletive) Marino had blotted them out. A few of the painters hung back, allowing the Marino signatures to remain untouched atop their artwork, hoping that whatever graffiti beef that might be brewing would blow over before they restored their paintings. They were wise, because the beef had just begun. In no time, the restored painting was carpet-bombed with bigger, more opaque tags that obliterated all that came before. Dastardly Dan (expletive) Marino wouldnt be denied. But he wouldnt go unchallenged either. Before long, someone painted over the Marino tags with bold block letters spelling out the word TOY. In the parlance of graffiti writers, the term is used to dis an adversary. It is meant to imply greenness, or ineptitude even. What had been imagined as artistic cooperation had become chaos. To outsiders, street painters of all sorts might seem to be natural allies. But thats not always the case. Rivalries and territorialism are always part of the picture. For some, street painting is meant as a gift to society; for others its pure rebellion; for most its somewhere in between. After two weeks of turf war, the wall at the corner of St. Claude Avenue and Marigny Street was the equivalent of a smoking battleground that bore the scars of bitter Krylon combat. Blame Hurricane Zeta for the struggle. The October storm blew down the old, ragged wall that once surrounded the empty corner lot. Property owner Ben Faulks said that when he had a new wall built, it was immediately marked with aerosol scribble scrabble. So when Carlos Fundora, a local street art aficionado, offered to round up an all-star mural crew to paint the wall, Faulks agreed. It was a good strategy. Typically, a carefully painted mural by a variety of notable local artists has a good chance of survival. The team of painters that Fundora assembled included artists known as Preacher, Fox Malone, Discount the Clown, Freya, Sanguine Skills, Fosa, Sophie Peache, Crude Things and The Slurge. The new wall was whitewashed in preparation for the arrival of the artists. But, Fundora said, almost immediately, a passing bicyclist paused to tag the wall. An onlooker confronted the tagger, he said, shooing him away. That was probably the spark of the conflict to come, the hiss heard round the Marigny, you might say. If you tell a graffiti artist not to paint something, theyll paint all over it, Fundora said. Which brings us back to our seemingly out-of-place NFL superstar. In the wake of the first tagging, some of the muralists speculated about why their nemesis had used the phrase Dan (expletive) Marino to ruin their work. Someone opined that the baby-faced quarterbacks role in the Jim Carey comedy Pet Detective may have had something to do with it. Though that didnt really make things much clearer. It seemed more likely that invoking the name of the sports hero Dan (expletive) Marino was just a coy way for the tagger to let it be known that he was affiliated with a notorious, Pacific Northwest-based tagging group called DFM. The anonymous DFM members had probably exacted revenge for the insult of being chased off. Plus, they were probably irked by the muralists presumption of proprietorship of the wall at least that was everybodys best guess. +5 Whoops! Miller Lite brewery accidentally sends free beer to New Orleans brand loyalist's ex-wife On Sunday afternoon, a dozen friends gathered near the entrance to the Deurty Boys Gallery in the French Quarter, where artist Lance Vargas ex Fundora, the curator of the short-lived cooperative mural project, could have been forgiven if he was angry that the wall had become such a mess, but that wasnt his attitude at all. The conflict kick-started some excitement, he said in early May, so ultimately its a good thing. The wall, he said, looks more interesting than ever. Its the most exciting thing to happen on St. Claude in a long time. A street artist called Walta Focq, who watched the whole series of territorial episodes unfold, agreed, explaining the allure of the mural/graffiti conflict in botanical terms. The wall, he said, had become beautiful in the same way some gardens are best when allowed to run wild. Nature is chaos, he said. The plants are like the artists fighting for space, and maybe nobody is in control, but it tends to come out good if people let it. Faulks, who owns the wall, is also philosophical. I feel like a steward of living New Orleans culture, he said. | https://www.nola.com/entertainment_life/arts/article_1d022da4-b328-11eb-a91f-afcecda1d587.html |
What COVID-19 restrictions are still in place in Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana? | COVID-19 restrictions are easing as people continue to get vaccinated more than a year after lockdowns due to the pandemic. Ohio has announced that it will end its mask mandate next month, joining others across the country, including nearby Indiana. Here's where local states stand on COVID-19 mandates and restrictions: Ohio Ohio will lift the state mask mandate and all remaining coronavirus health orders except those for nursing homes and assisted living facilities on June 2, Gov. Mike DeWine said Wednesday evening. DeWine said his decision to lift orders follows four weeks of declining coronavirus infections and hospitalizations and the Food and Drug Administrations authorization of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for children age 12 to 15. It also comes amid increased pressure from fellow Republicans in the Legislature. The vaccine is here. It's stronger and better than medical experts ever imagined, DeWine said during a speech. Everyone can now control their own health. Everyone can now control their own destiny. DeWine said schools and businesses will be able to set their own requirements, including for masking and distancing, after the state orders expire. More:Ohio will lift mask mandate, all COVID-19 health orders June 2 Kentucky Restrictions have been slower to lift in Kentucky. Starting on May 28, Kentucky bars and restaurants will no longer need to abide by a curfew and bar seating will be allowed, Gov. Andy Beshear said. In August, Beshear set a 10 p.m. last call curfew and closing time of 11 p.m. On Sept.15, that curfew was moved to 11 p.m. with a closing time of midnight. In March, he announced a last call curfew of midnight and a closing time of 1 a.m. Also on May 28, capacity on events with 1,000 or fewer people is increasing to 75% and 60% for more than 1,000. The state still has a mask mandate in place, which means Kentuckians need to wear a face-covering while indoors at public facilities and outdoors when in crowds of more than 1,000. More:Kentucky will lift some coronavirus restrictions on bars and restaurants. Here's when [ Help us create more content like this by subscribing to Cincinnati.com. ] Indiana Indiana's mask mandate and restrictions on business customer capacity ended April 6. Masks are still recommended. Face coverings remain mandatory in all state buildings and all vaccination and COVID-19 testing sites. K-12 schools are still expected to follow the mask requirements already in place. Local health departments and businesses are allowed to impose more stringent requirements. In Indianapolis and Marion County, restrictions are still in place after state legislators voted to void all local coronavirus restrictions. The new legislation, Senate Bill 5, requires local health departments to get approval from the local legislative bodies and mayors if a city seeks to enact health orders that are more strict than statewide restrictions. City-county councilors voted 19-5 to approve all existing health orders for this year. More:Indianapolis keeps mask mandate, business health restrictions despite new legislation The IndyStar and Courier-Journal contributed to this article. | https://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/2021/05/13/covid-19-restrictions-mask-mandates-ohio-kentucky-indiana-rules/5070442001/ |
Are drug patents worth it? | O NE OF THE first rules of American politics is not to pick a fight with Big Pharma. Its army of lobbyists in Washington, DC, has ensured that presidents from both parties, from Ronald Reagan to Barack Obama, have upheld the industrys stout defence of intellectual-property ( IP ) rights, including in international treaties. Donald Trump threatened to impose drug price controls, which won bipartisan support in Congress, but intense lobbying ensured that his initiative flopped. That effort to rein in Big Pharma chimed with the industrys global image as arrogant and greedy. President Joe Biden is throwing his weight behind a proposal at the World Trade Organisation to waive patent protections for covid-19 vaccines. If Mr Biden is willing to rethink IP rights for covid vaccines abroad, he might also have the audacity to take on patent protection for new drugs at home. To judge whether Americas industry deserves such treatment, it is worth asking three questions. Start with innovation. In the 2000s pharma investment fell out of fashion. But since 2010 Americas industry has raised spending on research and development ( R&D ) sharply as a share of revenues, to over 25% (see chart). Venture funding into life sciences in America is booming, hitting a record high of $36bn in 2020, double the level in 2017. The number of new drugs approved by Americas Food and Drug Administration has more than doubled in the past decade. None of these measures is an ideal proxy for future innovation, but they suggest the mood has changed. On rent-seeking, too, the picture is less dire that it was. Drug prices in America are still the worlds highest on average, but the rate of increase has slowed. According to IQVIA , a data firm, once secret rebates offered to big customers are discounted, net drug prices rose more slowly than inflation in 2018 and 2019. Political pressure is only one reason. Consolidation among health insurers and pharmacy-benefit managers (big middlemen) who pay for drugs gave them more power to negotiate price cuts. It has got harder to mint cash from blockbuster drugs. Deloitte, a consultancy, reckons that the internal rate of return on in-house R&D at a dozen big drugs firms fell from 10% a decade ago to 2% in 2019below their weighted-average cost of capital of 7%. The average cost to bring a drug to market has increased by two-thirds since 2010, to some $2bn. And the forecast for peak sales for each new drug has also fallen by half over that period. Often big firms prefer to buy smaller innovative rivals. According to EY , a consultancy, American drugs firms spent $185bn in the past five years on biotech acquisitions. Roughly a third of revenues at big drugs firms are the result of IP arising from acquisitions. Rent-seeking would fall, but innovation might, too. One way of getting a sense of this is to look at how much innovation happens outside America, where IP rights are often weaker or less well enforced. In most industries innovation is now happening globally, not just in America, but in pharma it still has a powerful American skew. Two-thirds of worldwide biotech venture-capital investment takes place there. Despite Chinas advances on other fronts, in life sciences it still accounts for only about 15% of the global total of venture-capital funding. Similarly, even as American multinational pharma firms have become more global (earning roughly half their revenues abroad), their preference for domestic R&D has risen, with 88% of it done in America. This suggests that Americas government will eschew wholesale changes that damage innovation. But it still might loosen the patent regime to reduce rent-seeking from old drugs. In 2019 the Federal Trade Commission, a regulator, found that the industry is relying less than it used to on egregious pay for delay agreements, through which it paid generics firms to hold off on launching low-cost rivals to pricey drugs coming off patent. However, Big Pharma is still using other wheezes, such as evergreening IP protection beyond the initial 20-year period by filing a thicket of patents on minor modifications. More can be done to rein in such abuses. | https://www.economist.com/business/2021/05/15/are-drug-patents-worth-it |
Can the European Union learn from its fiscal mistakes? | A MERICANS CAN always be counted on to do the right thing, Winston Churchill is supposed to have quipped, after they have exhausted all other possibilities. There are two problems with the quotation. First, there is no evidence Churchill ever said it. Second, today the phrase applies better to Europes leadership than to their friends across the Atlantic. Take the European Unions recovery from the pandemic. For the first time since last spring, economic optimism is in the air. Across Europe, vaccines are going into arms, summer holidays are being booked and bars are opening up. The European Commission has just jacked up its growth forecasts for 2021 and 2022, citing the blocs 750bn ($910bn) recovery fund as one of the reasons why. This cash should start appearing in European treasuries later this year. As a whole, the EU s GDP will be back at its pre-pandemic level by the end of 2021. This is slightly faster than expected and is due to happen only a few months behind America, which has had the benefit of Donald Trump and Joe Bidens blockbuster stimulus packages. In the ten-year gap between their initially bungling response to the euro-zone crisis and the pandemic, European leaders seem to have learned some lessons, even if they still have not learned them thoroughly enough. Where the European Central Bank was actively making things worse a decade ago, it is now helping governments out of their hole. In the spring of 2011 the bank was raising rates and worrying about a brief flurry of inflation, rather than stagnant growth. It was not treated as a lender of last resort until a year later, when Mario Draghi finally pledged to do whatever it takes to save the euro. Then began Mr Draghis long, slow crusade to make the ECB adopt unorthodox measures, such as quantitative easing. As a result the bank is able today to print money, (largely) ignore inflation hawks and keep interest rates at historic lows. Its official mandate of price stability has been replaced by an unofficial creed of supporting economic growth, reducing unemployment and doing whatever it takes. If the technocrats have changed their tune, so, to some extent, have the politicians. Long-held political certainties have been revisited. During the previous crisis common debt was suggested as a necessary step to guarantee the future of the euro, only to be dismissed by the likes of Angela Merkel, Germanys chancellor. Mrs Merkel reversed course last May. After a year of haggling, the commission will begin to issue up to 750bn of the stuff, which will be dished out to countries in the form of cheap loans and grants. True, on a continental level, the scheme is tiny. But for some of the individual countries most in need of the cash it is significant. In Germany, it is a piddling 1% of its GDP . For Italy, though, the figure is about 11% of GDP . Greece, meanwhile, is due 32bn of loans and grantsa useful sum for an economy of roughly 170bn. For rich countries, EU funds are a fiscal aperitif. It is up to national governments to pump up their economies in the post-crisis era. Here, again, attitudes have changed, though not yet enough. In contrast to a decade ago, spending is now more likely to be seen as a solution than a sin. Countries such as Greece endured economic vivisection, forced to slash spending rather than stimulate their economies. This approach failed either to reduce Greek debt or to produce faster growth. These days, advocates of a return to austerity are thinner on the ground. With luck, political circumstance could embed this new attitude permanently in the EU s own rules on government spending. Although temporarily suspended during the pandemic, EU countries are obliged to keep deficits below 3% and national debt below 60% of GDP . In an age when the national debt of Italy, the third-largest EU economy, stands at about 160% of GDP , these rules can seem quaint. Europes struggling southern economies have called for an overhaul ever since the previous crisis. Now they may get their wish. Frances president, Emmanuel Macron, has long advocated more forgiving fiscal rules. So has Mr Draghi, now the prime minister of Italy. Meanwhile the rise of the Green Party means that the next German government will probably be the most profligate in a generation. It is a rare alignment which could, just possibly, lead to a more permanent shift. Here comes the boom! Boom-mongers have not yet routed the doom-mongers. There is plenty of opportunity to muck things up. Inflation still haunts European politics. While the noises coming from the ECB suggest that a modest rise in inflation this year will be brushed off, this claim will only be properly tested when German politicians start screaming. (The upcoming election will give plenty of excuses for such hysterics.) An improved economic outlook may lessen the pressure on countries to overhaul the EU s spending rules. Rather than turning the recovery fund into a permanent scheme, ready to issue more debt if needed, some governments will try to keep it a temporary one, setting up a needless drama about rebuilding it in the next crisis. The tyranny of low expectations hangs over the EU . In the previous crisis, mere survival was enough, never mind prosperity. Now waddling only slightly behind Americas economynever mind Chinasis being held up as an achievement. For a bloc with designs on being a superpower, that is not enough. | https://www.economist.com/europe/2021/05/15/can-the-european-union-learn-from-its-fiscal-mistakes |
Why is the FDA funded in part by the companies it regulates? | (The Conversation is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.) C. Michael White, University of Connecticut (THE CONVERSATION) The Food and Drug Administration has moved from an entirely taxpayer-funded entity to one increasingly funded by user fees paid by manufacturers that are being regulated. Today, close to 45% of its budget comes from these user fees that companies pay when they apply for approval of a medical device or drug. As a pharmacist and medication and dietary supplement safety researcher, I understand the vital role that the FDA plays in ensuring the safety of medications and medical devices. It is critical that the U.S. public understand the positive and negative ramifications so the nation can strike the right balance. The FDA blocks thalidomide Americans in the early 20th century were outraged when they found out that manufacturers used poor-quality methods for producing food and medication, and used unsafe, ineffective and undisclosed addictive ingredients in medications. The resulting Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act of 1938 gave the taxpayer-funded Food and Drug Administration new authority to protect the U.S. consumer. One of the FDAs most shining successes occurred in the late 1950s when the agency refused to approve thalidomide. By 1960, 46 countries allowed pregnant women to use thalidomide to treat morning sickness, but the FDA refused on the grounds that the studies were insufficient to demonstrate safety. Debilitating birth defects resulting from thalidomide arose in Europe and elsewhere in 1961. President John F. Kennedy heralded the FDA in 1962 for its stance. An FDA driven by the data and not corporate pressure prevented a major tragedy. How AIDS changed how the FDA is funded The FDA continued its work fully funded by U.S. taxpayers for many years until this model was upended by a new infectious disease. The first U.S. case of HIV-induced AIDS occurred in 1981. It was rapidly spreading, with devastating complications like blindness, dementia, severe respiratory diseases and rare cancers. Well-known sports stars and celebrities died of AIDS-related complications. AIDS activists were incensed about long delays in getting experimental HIV drugs studied and approved by the FDA. In 1992, in response to intense pressure, Congress passed the Prescription Drug User Fee Act. It was signed into law by President George H.W. Bush. With the act, the FDA moved from a fully taxpayer-funded entity to one funded through tax dollars and new prescription drug user fees. Manufacturers pay these fees when submitting applications to the FDA for drug review and annual user fees based on the number of approved drugs they have on the market. However, it is a complex formula with waivers, refunds and exemptions based on the category of drugs being approved and the total number of drugs in the manufacturers portfolio. Over time, other user fees for generic, over-the-counter, biosimilar, animal and animal generic drugs, as well as for medical devices, were created. As time passed, the FDAs funding has increasingly come from the industries that it regulates. Of the FDAs total US$5.9 billion budget, 45% comes from user fees, but 65% of the funding for human drug regulatory activities are derived from user fees. These user fee programs must be reauthorized every five years by Congress, and the current agreement remains in effect through September 2022. The FDA and the drug or device manufacturers negotiate the user fees. They also negotiate performance measures that the FDA has to meet to collect them, and proposed changes in FDA processes. Performance measures include things such as how quickly the FDA responds to meeting requests, how quickly it generates correspondence, and how long it takes from submission of a new drug application until the FDA approves or refuses to approve a drug or product. Because of the additional funding generated by user fees and performance measures that the FDA has to meet, the FDA is quicker and more willing to discuss what it wants to see in an application with manufacturers. It also offers clearer guidance for manufacturers. In 1987, it took 29 months from the time a new drug application was filed by the manufacturer for the FDA to decide whether to approve a medication in the U.S. In 2014, it only took 13 months and by 2018, it was down to 10 months. Changes in more recent years have also increased the number of standard new drug applications approved the first time around by the FDA from 38% in 2005 to 61% in 2018. In diseases where there are not many medication options for patients, the FDA has a priority review process, where 89% of new drug applications were approved the first time around and the approvals were completed in eight months in 2018. All this occurred while the number of new drug applications have been increasing over time. Most recently, the COVID-19 pandemic has seen the FDA provide emergency use authorization for potential treatments in a matter of weeks, not months. The infrastructure and capacity to review the available information so rapidly is due in large part to the funding from user fees. While the number and speed of drug approvals have been increasing over time, so have the number of drugs that end up having serious safety issues coming to light after FDA approval. In one assessment, investigators looked at the number of newly approved medications that were subsequently removed from the market or had to include a new black box warning over 16 years from the year of approval. These black box warnings are the highest level of safety alert that the FDA can employ, warning users that a very serious adverse event could occur. Before the user fee act was approved, 21% of medications were removed or had new black box warnings as compared to 27% afterwards. Some potential reasons that more adverse effects are coming to light after drug approval include senior FDA officials overturning scientist recommendations, a lower burden of proof for medication approval, and more clinical data in new drug applications coming from foreign clinical trial sites that require additional time to assess in an environment where regulators are rushing to meet tight deadlines. Lack of money limits FDA User fees are a viable way to shift some of the financial burden to manufacturers who stand to make money from the approval and sale of drugs in the lucrative U.S. market. Successes have occurred and provided U.S. citizens with medication more quickly than before. [Over 100,000 readers rely on The Conversations newsletter to understand the world. Sign up today.] However, without careful consideration of what is being negotiated, the FDA can become weak and ineffective, unable to protect its citizens from the next thalidomide. There are some signs that the pendulum may be swinging too far in the direction of the manufacturers. Additionally, while drug approval functions at the FDA are well funded, the FDA is insufficiently funded to protect consumers from other issues such as counterfeit drugs and dietary supplements because they cannot collect user fees to do so. In my view, these functions need to be identified and require additional taxpayer funding. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article here: https://theconversation.com/why-is-the-fda-funded-in-part-by-the-companies-it-regulates-160444. | https://www.expressnews.com/news/article/Why-is-the-FDA-funded-in-part-by-the-companies-it-16173800.php |
What happens to debt during a divorce? | The process of dissolving a relationship and separating assets in a divorce can be very stressful and difficult. This is compounded when the spouses have outstanding debts to divide as well. There are various forms of debt that are common in the division of a marital estate. First, credit card debt that is acquired either jointly with both parties signing on a credit account or individually by one spouse is subject to division. Credit card debt is unsecured by any assets and it is preferable for the party who is the primary debtor on the account, or the spouse who is contractually obligated to pay the debt to the credit card company, to be awarded the debt in the parties divorce. This is because a spouse who is awarded the credit card debt of the other spouse has little to no incentive to pay that debt, other than to avoid the possibility of a future lawsuit to enforce the provisions of the divorce decree. Hypothetically, a husband could be awarded two credit card debts, one in the wifes name with a balance of $1,000 with 7% interest and the other in his name with a balance of $3,000 with 10% interest. The husband would be more inclined to pay down the debt in his own name, with the higher interest rate ahead of the card that his ex-wife is contractually obligated to pay. If he makes only the minimum payments or less on his ex-wifes card, her credit rating is negatively affected, not his. Mortgages are another form of debt that are divisible in a divorce. Often, the party that is awarded the property would assume the mortgage on that property, if they could afford it. If both parties are listed on the mortgage, then the party who is not awarded the property signs a Special Warranty Deed assigning their interest in the property to the other spouse. The spouse assuming the mortgage then executes a Deed of Trust to Secure Assumption, promising to pay the mortgage each month and keep it current. If the spouse who is awarded the house does not keep the mortgage current, the spouse who is the beneficiary listed in the Deed of Trust to Secure Assumption (the spouse that was not awarded the property) can pay the outstanding mortgage balance and foreclose on the property. If neither party is able to afford the mortgage, then the parties can agree or the court can order the sale of the property. After the sale, the balance of the mortgage is paid and the equity is awarded by percentage to the parties or one spouse individually. Debts for medical services is another common debt that are considered in a divorce. The community estate is liable for the necessaries of the spouses. If a spouse has no health insurance or is underinsured and that spouse gets severely ill or injured, medical expenses can be overwhelming and the community estate is liable for the debt. Options for division or payment of this debt should be discussed with financial and legal counsel, as spouses may determine that bankruptcy is a viable option. Bankruptcy has the consequence of potentially delaying the divorce, as the state proceeding towards the divorce is stayed until the federal bankruptcy proceeding is either completed or the stay is lifted by court order. Secured debt, like notes on a motor vehicle, usually are the responsibility of the party that is awarded the property securing the note. Ideally, the party who has possession of the property (i.e., a car) will be responsible for the monthly payment. A problem arises when one spouse has the loan in their name and the property (the car) is in possession of the other spouse. In such an instance, the party in possession of the car should refinance the note into their name and keep possession of the car. If they are unable to do so, then provisions in the decree should be made that permit the spouse who has the loan in their name to repossess the vehicle in the event that the party in possession of the vehicle fails to pay the note timely. It is optimal for divorce decrees to apportion debts in such a way that avoids future litigation. The more work that is done during the divorce process to discover outstanding liabilities will better ensure this outcome. The lawyers at Hammerle Finley have extensive experience in handling division of property and debts in a divorce situation. In the event that a lawsuit is needed to enforce the provisions of a divorce decree to ensure marital debts are paid, the lawyers at Hammerle Finley are available to assist you with this as well. | https://www.dallasnews.com/sponsored/2021/05/13/what-happens-to-debt-during-a-divorce/ |
What is an inventory sheet in a Texas divorce? | Your petition for divorce has been filed. You are in the throes of Texas family law and Texas civil procedure. Your head is spinning and your to-do list is growing. A good law firm will guide you through the divorce process, but be aware that your participation will be required. One of the many possible participation opportunities for you will be creating an inventory sheet. I say possible because an inventory sheet is not necessarily required. The court may order both parties file separate sworn inventory sheets, your attorney may request you prepare one to organize and document your property or maybe you will never hear inventory sheet in your divorce process. Most, however, will not be that lucky. Simply put, it is a list of ALL assets and debts claimed by each spouse. This list includes all separate property and separate debt, and all community property and community debt. If you have a question about whether something should be included on the list, the answer is, YES, it should! List it. Bank accounts, retirement accounts, vehicles, jewelry, art, antiques, life insurance, businesses, stocks, credit cards accounts, loans, accounts receivables, tax debt, student loan debt and the like all must be listed. Include the last four digits of account numbers, approximate value and amount of money owed, and also notate whether the item is separate or community property. Along with your list, provide any documentation you have regarding your property and debts, including bank statements, credit card statements, real property deeds, vehicle titles, contracts, receipts, etc. Redact your own documents. Removing account numbers and social security numbers except for the last four digits can save you money. The more organized and complete your inventory sheet is, the less time a paralegal will have to spend on it, also saving you money. Well, the same way you eat an elephant, one bite at a time! Great! Good, too! OK, we will work with that. It is always best to ask the paralegal you are working with what they recommend, but ultimately whatever works best for you to get the information delivered will do. Just remember to take it one bite at a time, make your list, gather your documentation and turn it over for final processing. | https://www.dallasnews.com/sponsored/2021/05/13/what-is-an-inventory-sheet-in-a-texas-divorce/ |
What Motivates Social Entrepreneurs? | getty Amazon founder Jeff Bezos famously remarked that whenever he spoke with entrepreneurs interested in working with the tech giant he was always looking for "missionaries" rather than "mercenaries". He believed that the best startups had founders that were focused on making great products or services that would fundamentally change the world for the better. The money side would then largely take care of itself. One might imagine that such intrinsic motivation is even more prevalent among social entrepreneurs, who by their very definition are focused primarily on improving various social, environmental, or cultural issues. It's a heuristic that's examined in recent research from HEC Paris, which sets out to understand what motivates social entrepreneurs. Finding motivation The researchers worked with a major support agency for social entrepreneurs in the United Kingdom to try and get to the bottom of what it is that motivates entrepreneurs to pursue this path. "The experiment encouraged 431 nascent social entrepreneurs to submit an application for a 12-month grant program that provides cash and in-kind mentorship support to social entrepreneurs, through a one-time mailing sent by the support agency via email after they had indicated initial interest in the program," the researchers explain. "The individuals were randomly assigned to three groups: one group received a standard mailing emphasizing the intrinsic incentives only - the opportunity to do good (Social treatment), and the other two groups received a mailing that emphasized the extrinsic reward incentives - either the financial rewards (Cash treatment) or the in-kind rewards (Support treatment) that the grant program provides." Missionary entrepreneurs The results suggest that Bezos was kind of on the money with his remark, as extrinsic rewards led to fewer candidates applying to the program, with those that did apply tending to be more interested in money than social good. Interestingly, however, these extrinsic reward cues also resulted in the entrepreneurs putting more effort into their applications, which led to those applications receiving the grant more frequently. While the extrinsic rewards encouraged entrepreneurs to apply, however, they were less successful after a year in the program. "Our results provide evidence that extrinsic incentive cues can promote effort and performance in the context of grant competition for social entrepreneurial start-ups, yet they may also carry (unintended) costs," the researchers say. "We found that these extrinsic incentive cues, primarily the monetary cues, crowded in the relatively more money-oriented applicants while crowding out their more prosocial, less money-oriented counterparts." Indeed, it's interesting that those projects proposed by more extrinsically-motivated applicants were also 20% less likely to benefit disadvantaged groups. What's more, these applicants were generally less successful as social entrepreneurs, despite appearing to have superior proposals. "Our results highlight the critical role of intrinsic motives to the performance of social entrepreneurial start-ups and provide evidence that typically-used extrinsic incentives to promote the development of successful social enterprises may in fact be counterproductive," the researchers conclude. Female entrepreneurs While the paper didn't examine gender per see, research from Carnegie Mellon last year most definitely did. They found that women tend to be the most successful social entrepreneurs. The researchers conducted three field experiments to understand fully just what motivates entrepreneurs. In total, they quizzed 15,000 or so entrepreneurs who had participated in the Inclusive Innovation Challenge (IIC) at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, as well as a bunch of entrepreneurs from the AngelList website. Each of the entrepreneurs was sent either a social impact message (related to the social impact of IIC projects), a financial message (related to the financial benefits of participating in IIC), or a neutral message focused primarily on technology. The motivation of each entrepreneur was inferred from the response each gave to their particular message. The feedback revealed clear differences between respondents, with women far more responsive to the social impact message than they were the financial message, with men typically the reverse. The authors believe this difference is likely to be driven by the differences in the social impact message specifically. Our findings suggest that its important to have a broader conceptualization of the motivations of innovative entrepreneurs that focuses on motivations beyond profit, and that accounts for fundamental dimensions of heterogeneity such as gender and culture, the researchers conclude. The results can inform interventions that foster innovative entrepreneurship policies and programs. If we want to encourage entrepreneurs to truly make a difference to the world rather than trying to get rich quick, then this kind of understanding of just what it is that motivates entrepreneurs could be crucial in drafting programs to best support them. | https://www.forbes.com/sites/adigaskell/2021/05/13/what-motivates-social-entrepreneurs/ |
Where does the Storm land in our WNBA power rankings? | The WNBA tips off its 25th anniversary season on Friday with four games. The defending champion Storm hosts the Las Vegas Aces at noon Saturday at the Angel of the Winds Arena in Everett in a rematch of last years WNBA Finals. Heres a look at where teams rank heading into the 2021 season. 1. Las Vegas: Last season, the Aces finished with the No. 1 playoff seed without All-Star center Liz Cambage and point guard Kelsey Plum, the former Washington Huskies star, who return this season. Las Vegas also added three-time WNBA All-Star guard Chelsea Gray to pair with last seasons WNBA MVP Aja Wilson and two-time reigning Sixth Woman of the year Dearica Hamby. The Aces are loaded despite the loss of Angel McCoughtry, who suffered a season-ending knee injury during an exhibition game. 2. Seattle: The Storm tied with Las Vegas for the best record in the league last season, but Seattle lost several key contributors in the offseason, including Natasha Howard, Alysha Clark and Sami Whitcomb. It remains to be seen if a handful of newcomers led by Candice Dupree can fill the void. However, Breanna Stewart, Sue Bird and Jewell Loyd make the Storm a title contender. 3. Chicago: The Sky made perhaps the biggest splash in free agency during the offseason while luring two-time WNBA MVP Candace Parker away from Los Angeles. If the 35-year-old, 14-year veteran can still play at a dominant level in the post, then shell pair nicely with WNBA All-Star guards Courtney Vandersloot, Allie Quigley and Diamond DeShields. Advertising 4. Minnesota: No team was more active in the offseason at upgrading its roster than the Lynx, which added free agents Kayla McBride, Aerial Powers, Natalie Achonwa and No. 9 overall WNBA draft pick Rennia Davis. Minnesota expects continued development from back-to-back Rookie of the Year winners Napheesa Collier and Crystal Dangerfield. Still, the Lynxs title chances hinges on 35-year-old Sylvia Fowles, who is the last holdover from the teams 2015 WNBA title, staying healthy. She played just seven games last season due to a calf injury. 5. Washington: Injuries and absences ruined the Mystics bid to defend their 2019 WNBA title and it looks as if the same troubles will plague them again this year. Former league MVP Elena Delle Donne underwent back surgery in December and is still listed as questionable for the opener. Meanwhile, 2019 WNBA Finals MVP Emma Meesseman is expected to miss most of the season and Clark, the former 3-and-D standout from Seattle, is out due to an offseason foot injury. It remains to be seen if 32-year-old Tina Charles, who sat out last season, can return to her 2012 WNBA MVP form. The Mystics would be well served if Natasha Cloud, Ariel Atkins or Myisha Hines-Allen can emerge into All-Star caliber player. 6. Phoenix: The Mercury was a game away from the WNBA Finals three years ago before losing to the Storm in Game 5 of the conference finals, but it hasnt been a championship contender the past two years due to the team inability to provide stars Diana Taurasi and Brittney Griner with a capable supporting cast. Adding Skylar Diggins-Smith last year provided much-needed firepower, but Phoenixs lack of depth has been detrimental. The Mercury potentially leveraged its future to acquire All-Star Kia Nurse and Megan Walker in exchange for the first-round draft picks this year and in 2022. 7. Los Angeles: The Sparks nine-year playoff streak appears to be in jeopardy as the team undergoes a major transition away from Parker-Gray era. LAs Big Three has been reduced to just Nneka Ogwumike who is now entrenched as the veteran star on a roster full of disparate pieces. Kristi Toliver and Chiney Ogwumike return after sitting out last year. The Sparks also added veterans Erica Wheeler and Amanda Zahui B. during the offseason. Still, there are plenty of questions that coach Derek Fisher will have to answer. Heres one bright spot, LA might have landed the steal of the 2021 draft in rookie forward Jasmine Walker, the No. 7 overall pick, has been impressive early on. 8. New York: Sabrina Ionescu, the 2020 No. 1 overall pick who played just three games last season in the WNBA bubble, makes her long-awaited Gotham City debut. The Liberty should push to snap a three-year playoff drought if Ionescu lives up to the hype and Howard returns to 2019 form when she was a MVP candidate with the Storm. 9. Connecticut: Coach Curt Miller worked miracles last season while leading an injury-depleted Suns team that finished 10-12 to Game 5 of the semifinals. Two-time WNBA All-Star Jonquel Jones returns after sitting out last season, but itll be difficult for Connecticut to overcome the loss of all-everything standout Alyssa Thomas, who is out for the season due to a torn Achilles. Advertising 10. Atlanta: The Dreams new ownership group fired general manager Chris Sienko during a turbulent offseason, which preceded coach Nicki Collen abruptly leaving for Baylor two weeks before the season opener. Despite the offcourt upheavals, the guard-heavy Dream has a relatively talented squad that includes Tiffany Hayes, Courtney Williams, Chennedy Carter, Odyssey Sims and 2021 No. 3 overall draft pick Ari McDonald. 11. Dallas: The Wings fired former Storm coach Brian Agler after 18-38 record the past two years and handed the reins to Vickie Johnson, who posted an 8-26 record during her one season as coach in 2017 in San Antonio. Dallas has loads of young talent, including the reigning scoring champ Arike Ogunbowale and 2021 No. 1 overall draft pick Charli Collier. 12. Indiana: Its unclear exactly what direction the Fever is headed after losing Dupree and promising young forward Kennedy Burke to Seattle in the offseason. Apparently, Indiana intends to build around Kelsey Mitchell, Tiffany Mitchell and center Teaira McCowan. The Fever added three expensive veterans (Jantel Lavender, Danielle Robinson and Jessica Breland), but the trio of former All-Stars isnt likely to carry a team thats missed the playoffs the past four years. | https://www.seattletimes.com/sports/storm/where-does-the-storm-land-in-our-wnba-power-rankings/ |
Should the Florida Gators Pursue OSU DB Tyreke Johnson in Transfer Portal? | The former five-star safety, Tyreke Johnson, has decided to take his talents elsewhere after not receiving enough opportunities early with Ohio State. On Wednesday, one of the top recruits of the 2018 recruiting class, Ohio State defensive back Tyreke Johnson entered the transfer portal. After three years with the Buckeyes, Johnson's desire to leave came at no surprise as his playing time was incredibly limited over the years. He officially announced his intentions on Wednesday via social media. During his recruitment, Johnson was thought to be the No. 2 safety in the entire class, according to 247Sports Composite rankings. He was also seen as the No. 5 player in all of Florida, along with the No. 21 player nationally. At 6-foot-1, 190 pounds, Johnson would play cornerback for the Buckeyes. He spent his freshman season as a redshirt and didn't play much his second season, overshadowed by the likes of Shaun Wade, Kendall Sheffield, Damon Arnette and Jeff Okudah. The following year, Johnson was once again expected to get an opportunity but was once again overshadowed. This time by Wade once again, along with juniors Sevyn Banks and Cameron Brown. He simply couldn't get on the field and has played in just four games for the Buckeyes since his arrival. Now, he's entered the transfer portal, and there's perhaps some reason to believe the Gators could be one of the landing spots. Aside from hailing from Florida, Johnson was heavily recruited by Florida coming out of high school. He was originally offered by the team in Jan. 2015 and made multiple unofficial visits to the program in 2015, 2016 and 2017. He committed to the Buckeyes in December of 2017. Florida has been in need of help within its secondary for quite some time. While the team has successfully recruited high-ranked players such as five-star prospect Jason Marshall (2021), among others, the Gators still have plenty of room to grow, especially when other players such as junior cornerback Kaiir Elam leaves, as expected, following this season. Florida, and head coach Dan Mullen, hasn't been shy about bringing in talent via the transfer portal. Most recently, the team acquired two big men via the portal, defensive linemen Daquan Newkirk and Antonio Shelton, along with promising former five-star running back Demarkcus Bowman. UF has reportedly reached out to Johnson since he put his name in the proverbial transfer portal hat but is one of many schools to have done so rather immediately. Johnson may not add much playing experience to Florida's secondary should he elect to join the Gators this offseason, but he does offer the athletic upside to at least take the field on special teams and perhaps earn a shot on the backend. His three years in a college program could allow him to serve as a guide for UF's youthful group of defensive backs as well. While it remains to be seen where Johnson ultimately lands, it is certainly worth keeping an eye on as he makes his decision in the coming weeks. | https://www.si.com/college/florida/recruiting/florida-gators-recruiting-target-tyreke-johnson-transfer-portal |
What Is 'Black Fungus'? And Why Is It Spreading Among India's COVID Patients? | Enlarge this image toggle caption Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images It's called the "black fungus" and it can be deadly. It's also adding to India's growing COVID woes at the moment. On May 9, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and India's Health Ministry issued an advisory calling for better awareness, screening and management of mucormycosis, a rare but dangerous fungal infection. "While exact numbers are not available, we're seeing a rise in cases in Delhi, Gujarat and Maharashtra," says Dr. Aparna Mukherjee, a scientist at the ICMR and one of the experts who wrote the advisory. About Goats and Soda Goats and Soda is NPR's global health and development blog. We tell stories of life in our changing world, focusing on low- and middle-income countries. And we keep in mind that we're all neighbors in this global village. Sign up for our weekly newsletter. The symptoms of mucormycosis are mild at first and can often be missed in the initial stages. Dr. Ronal Shukla, an ear, nose and throat doctor assigned to COVID care at the government-run LG Hospital in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, treated a 35-year-old male patient who recently recovered from COVID-19 after being administered oxygen for a week in the ICU. Several days after recovering from COVID, the patient was back, complaining of an intense headache, pain in the sinus area and the right eye, blurred vision and swollen cheeks. An endoscopic examination revealed that there was discoloration a blackened area around the nasal sinuses. The disease progresses rapidly and "attacks blood vessels and live tissues," says Shukla. "As it kills them, it turns them all black and that's where [the disease] gets the name 'black fungus.' " In just three days, it can spread to the eyes or the jawbone. In such cases, the only way to stop the spread to the brain is to surgically remove the infected eye or jawbone. "Once it spreads to the brain, the fatality rate is over 50%. It's sad to think that people who've gone through the immense distress of COVID now have to deal with this severe disability as well," he says. Mucormycosis isn't a new disease, says Shukla. It's caused by a group of molds, called mucormycetes. Individuals are infected after inhaling fungal spores that are found naturally in India's environment and soil. "For most people with a healthy immune system, exposure to the fungus really won't matter," he says. "They won't get sick." India's current battle with COVID-19 may be brewing many of the complications that are leading to an unprecedented rise in these cases, doctors suggest. India has reported a total of 23 million COVID-19 infections and a death toll of over 250,000 people, accounting for 1 in 5 active infections worldwide. "Mucormycosis is an opportunistic infection," says Mukherjee. "Before COVID, people were far more likely to contract it only if they were in a situation where their immunity was weak, say after an operation, a prolonged hospital stay or [an organ] transplant, but today COVID-19 has weakened immunity considerably, leaving more people vulnerable to the disease," she says. Shukla says there are now 100 cases in public hospitals in Ahmedabad, when previously, there were only 2 to 3 cases a year. People who have gotten sick with mucormycosis have had three factors in common, says Dr. Devashish Palkar, a psychiatry resident now treating COVID patients in critical care at the government-run New Civil Hospital in Surat, Gujarat. Thirty cases of mucormycosis have been admitted to the hospital over the past week, he says, and new cases are popping up every day. "COVID-19 is the main culprit, followed by uncontrolled or newly diagnosed diabetes. And finally, the added effects of steroids which though are life-saving drugs can render you immunocompromised if used at higher doses than recommended or for a longer duration." "We need to find a way to moderate the drugs," adds Palkar, "but with such virulent attacks of COVID, the patient might die without the medication." Treatment for mucormycosis involves identifying the condition in infected patients quickly, removing all infected tissue through surgery and following up with an antifungal injection. Called Amphotericin B. The injection costs Rs 3000 ($40) in India. It has to be administered every day for 21 to 42 days. States like Mumbai are now making the injections available free of cost at public hospitals since their cases are rising, too. Rajesh Tope, the health minister of Maharashtra, says the state may have over 2,000 cases of mucormycosis. Timely intervention helped save his patient, Shukla says, and he did not suffer other complications. But as the pandemic rages in India, hospital hygiene will eventually need to come into scrutiny. "If the hygiene in hospitals isn't adequate, then the damp [and dirty] surfaces [such as hospital devices and equipment] can breed the fungal spores, exposing patients when their immunity is most compromised," says Shukla. COVID patients using oxygen concentrators are also at risk, says Shukla. The devices come equipped with a humidifier bottle to prevent the patient's airways from becoming too dry while breathing directly from the concentrator. But it's where fungal spores can thrive. "If the humidifiers are not properly cleaned or if they don't work, then the chances of contracting mucormycosis are higher," Shukla says. Even though it's an invasive disease, it can be treated, so there's nothing to panic about right now, says Mukherjee. The advisory was issued to create a greater awareness of the condition, among medical professionals who may not have seen many cases. "At the moment, we need to suspect it early and detect it early to save lives," she says. Kamala Thiagarajan is a freelance journalist based in Madurai, India, who has written for The International New York Times, BBC Travel and Forbes India. You can follow her @kamal_t. | https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2021/05/13/996488271/what-is-black-fungus-and-why-is-it-spreading-among-indias-covid-patients |
Why Are We So Spiteful? | These conceptual confusions and truisms mar an otherwise promising exploration. In turning our attention to spite, McCarthy-Jones has identified an important element in the emotional climate of the present. Its no coincidence that the books most spirited sections include a lengthy replay of Brexit and the 2016 U.S. presidential election (examples of spite voting), and a consideration of why the torrents of bile that circulate on social media result in reputational rewards for the most vicious posters (social-media platforms encourage and normalize spite by making the cost of punishing others infinitesimal). During the lead-up to Brexit, Nicola Sturgeon, the first minister of Scotland, warned voters: Dont cut off your nose to spite your face. Some voters thought Britain would be economically worse off if it left the European Unionyet they voted to leave anyway to thumb their noses at the elites in London and the bureaucrats in Brussels. The spitefulness of our politics can be plausibly traced to a number of causes: fear and hatred of racial minorities; shocks due to technological change; disinformation campaigns by corporations and political actors; the collapse of local communities and institutions; fantasies about a now-irretrievable national past. What emerges from the evidence assembled in the book is a picture of spite as part of the corrosive effects of economic inequality. That spite wells up in response to inequality is suggested by the ultimatum game: Low offers provoke spiteful rejections. But the relationship between spite and social stratification is more intricate. Feelings of spite, it turns out, are intimately tied to judgments about status. People often act spitefully, McCarthy-Jones argues, to gain an advantage over a rival. In competitive contexts in which resources are limited, damaging someone elses status can rebound to our benefit. Evidence from laboratory games shows that players will often destroy each others chance at monetary gain not to restore equality, but to get ahead. Spite defends such motivated behavior as having equalizing effectstearing down the rich to make room for the poorthough it does so only half-heartedly. (The books focus on the upside of spite may be chalked up to the fact that popular social-science publishing all but requires a counterintuitive frame.) Spite is a symptom of social breakdown. But it is not a trustworthy guide to fair action. This ugly feeling is self-multiplying: It tends to lead not toward justice but toward more spite. Thats because the poor and the marginalized do not have a monopoly on spitefar from it. Posing as a victim is easy, as is claiming that ones efforts to humiliate others are serving the greater good. Today, nearly anyone can reframe petty sadism as punching up and find a receptive audience. (In a recent poll, 75 percent of Republicans said that conservatives face real discrimination in America; 49 percent said the same of Black people.) Researchers have shown that Americans on average dramatically underestimate how unequal American society is. (In wealth distribution, we are more unequal than China.) Thus, our judgments about who needs to be put in their place are frequently defective. A spiteful politics is one in which the immiserated majority fights for scraps while the rich carry on as usual. We cannot punish our way to a less punitive society. | https://www.theatlantic.com/culture/archive/2021/05/why-are-we-so-spiteful/618865/?utm_source=feed |
Is Brett Kavanaugh Out for Revenge? | Link Copied This article was published online on May 13, 2021. The suburban gentry of Chevy Chase, Maryland, had some difficulty making sense of Brett Kavanaughs descent into villainy that fall. He had always seemed so nice and nonthreatening to his neighbors, so normalthe khaki-clad carpool dad who coached the girls basketball team and yammered endlessly about the Nats. It was true that his politics were unusual for the neighborhood, the kind of place where No Justice / No Peace signs stand righteously in front of million-dollar homes. But Brett was not a scary Republican, of the kind who had recently invaded Washington. He was well educated and properly socialized, a friend of the Bushes, a stalwart of the country club. When his nomination to the Supreme Court was first announced, the neighborhood had largely welcomed the news. People gave interviews attesting to his niceness; the owner of the Chevy Chase Lounge said that he would add Bretts photo to the wall of famous patrons. But then came the first accusation, and the next accusations, and the cable-news pile-on, and the Donald Trump tweets, and the satellite trucks on Thornapple Street, and the regrettable Senate hearings in which their neighbor appeared on national TV, his face twisted into an aggrieved snarl, his voice torqued up to an unnatural shout, ranting through tears about the political enemies who were trying to destroy his lifeand, well, suddenly what to think about Brett wasnt so clear anymore. Stories of his shunning circulated among neighbors, accompanied by a mix of pity and schadenfreude: the woman at La Ferme who heckled him after dinner; the taunting message on the diner marquee that he passed each morning on his commute. Even at the Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament, where people were usually so good about setting aside political differences, the Kavanaugh case proved divisive. Poor Father Foley was swamped with letters and emails, while parishioners parsed the details of Bretts alleged youthful sinsWhat was a devils triangle, anyway?and grumbled about watching him receive Communion. Brett was confirmed in the end, of course, becoming the 114th justice to serve on the Supreme Court, but his photo never made it onto the wall at the Chevy Chase Lounge. And maybe it was just their imagination, but some of his neighbors swore that Brett was different nowharder, further away. He wore a baseball cap when he left the house, and started dining out more at the country club, where security was tight and access was limited. He canceled a planned trip to the annual HarvardYale game and turned down invitations to lectures and conferences, hosting small groups of students in his chambers instead. For months, he seemed to float quietly through the neighborhood like a spectral figure, a ghost of culture wars past, condemned to haunt Chevy Chase. A strange irony of Kavanaughs ruinous confirmation battle is that for all the attention it commanded, Kavanaugh remained more or less a mystery when it was over. Then one day, about six months after he was sworn in, Brett did something strange. It was Easter Sunday, and he had come to Blessed Sacrament for Mass with his family. When the service ended, he made his way outside, positioned himself at Father Foleys elbow, and proceeded to greet parishioners as they filed out of the churchlaughing and glad-handing and thanking them for coming, as though Brett were the priest and they were his flock. This odd little spectacle lent itself to multiple interpretations. I read it as a flex, says one parishioner who huffily steered his family away from the scene. I read it as Im right here, in the middle of everything, and Im not going away. I won. A strange irony of Brett Kavanaughs ruinous 2018 confirmation battle is that for all the attention it commandedand all the certainty it instilled in both supporters and opponentsKavanaugh remained more or less a mystery when it was over. Christine Blasey Fords accusation that hed sexually assaulted her in high schooland the judges denialforegrounded debates over predation and privilege, even as Kavanaugh himself seemed to blur into abstraction. Nearly three years later, questions remain, not only about past behavior but about the future. The cold reality is that Kavanaugh is now on the bench. And there is reason to ask whether his bitter path to the Court might influence what he does with a lifetime appointment. Kavanaughs confirmation cemented a conservative majority on the Court that got even stronger last year when he was joined by Amy Coney Barrett. Kavanaugh now sits at the Courts ideological centerillustrating how far to the right the center has shifted. Any judicial victory that liberals hope to achieve in the coming years will likely require winning over the justice whose nomination they fought most ferociously to defeat. As much as the modern Court clings to its image as an apolitical institutionenlightened, black-robed figures dispensing wisdom from on high, guided by love of country and Constitutionthe truth is that its members have always been swayed by politics, ego, and grievance. After Clarence Thomass confirmation was nearly quashed in 1991 by accusations of sexual harassment, he retreated into a cocoon of allies and ideologues, rarely speaking in public even as he became one of the most right-wing justices in recent history. Some wonder whether Kavanaugh will follow the same trajectory. It was he, after all, who spoke in that infamous Senate hearing about the country reaping the whirlwind and suffering consequences in a way that led many to believe he was issuing threats. As we all know, he told the senators who were questioning him, in the United States political system of the early 2000s, what goes around comes around. While Kavanaughs allies insist that those comments were misinterpreted, they also say that he still privately seethes over the smear campaign he believes he endured. Hes made an effort to say, Look, Im not bitter about this. Im moving forward, one friend told me. But I assume, when hes lying in bed at night, its hard not to think about it. Another friend put it more bluntly: He was really angry at Democrats for what they did to him and his family. And yet, those same friends also describe a competing impulse in Kavanaugha burning desire to gain readmission into polite society and enjoy all the perks associated with one of the worlds most prestigious jobs. The Court is poised to tackle a range of consequential issues in the near futurefrom the regulatory power of federal agencies to voting rights to the fate of Roe v. Wade. Brett Michael Kavanaugh learned the virtues of partisanship long before he discovered politics. As a kid, he rooted fanatically for the teams he inherited, the Redskins and the Bullets; as a teen, he developed a close-knit group of friends at Georgetown Prep and performed his allegiance with try-hard zeal. Although Kavanaugh was not a standout athlete, he relished being part of a teamthe nicknames and the inside jokes, the camaraderie born of a common cause, no matter how pointless or juvenile. When his friends set a goal of drinking 100 kegs during the year leading up to graduation, few gave more to the effort than Kavanaugh. Acquaintances prone to armchair psychoanalysis would later speculate that his fixation on the fraternal grew out of his status as an only child. Hes very good in groups of male friends, a former classmate told me. If Kavanaugh had grown up somewhere else, he might have joined a cult or a street gang; because he grew up in Bethesda, he pledged a fraternity at Yale. The elite pedigree of Delta Kappa Epsilonpast members include five presidents and a handful of Supreme Court justicesbelied its essential frattishness. To join, Kavanaugh reportedly endured a series of ritual humiliations, including an order to hop around campus in a leather football helmet while grabbing his crotch and chanting, Im a geek, Im a geek, Im a power tool. / When I sing this song, I look like a fool. While Yale was not known for its robust Greek culture, the Dekes had a reputation for debauchery. They boisterously waved flags made of womens underwear, read aloud from Penthouse in the quad, and threw legendarily boozy parties. Once, with a frat brother, Kavanaugh got into a bar fight after a UB40 concert, and wound up being questioned by the New Haven police. (According to a police report obtained by The New York Times, Kavanaugh was not charged.) Decades later, episodes like these would become fodder during Kavanaughs confirmation battle. Democrats discerned a violent, misogynistic streak that supported the allegations against him; Republicans dismissed it all as youthful bravado. But to those who knew Kavanaugh, the stories also revealed the blinkered recklessness of a young man intoxicated by the thrill of belonging. Kavanaugh showed few signs of ideological fervor as an undergraduate. In fact, his former classmate told me, even at Yale Law School most of his fellow students had no sense of his politics until he started conspicuously cultivating relationships with influential conservative professors. This abrupt political coming-out prompted more than a little cynicism among his peers, who suspected careerism (a mode not exactly foreign to the Yale Law School set): In a field clogged with liberals, the path to coveted clerkships and jobs was much more open if you were coming from the right. I dont think even Brett knew at the time, the classmate said. Illustration by Oliver Munday; images from Wikimedia; Gabriella Demczuk / Getty After Kavanaugh completed an unremarkable clerkship, one of his professors recommended him for a prestigious spot with the libertarian Judge Alex Kozinski, on the Ninth Circuit, which then propelled him to a clerkship with Justice Anthony Kennedy. In an arena where Supreme Court clerkships command significant bonuses at big law firmsupwards of $400,000 todayKavanaughs talent for picking the right mentors paid off. Yet even as he climbed the ladder of Washingtons conservative legal establishment, Kavanaugh remained staunchly nonpartisan in his schmoozing. He was the kind of conservative you could go out to dinner with, says Ruth Marcus, a liberal columnist at The Washington Post who knew Kavanaugh early in his career and later wrote a book about him called Supreme Ambition. So when he joined the newly formed special prosecutors office investigating some possibly shady real-estate deals made by Bill and Hillary Clinton, his friends took little notice. The job was supposed to last six months at most, after which he would move on to the lucrative career that awaited him. The early days of Ken Starrs investigation were relatively quiet. The office was small, and the scope of the inquiry was narrow. Kimberly Wehle, a member of Starrs team at that time, recalls Kavanaugh as bright and fair and absurdly hardworking. I remember thinking to myself, That is the kind of person who belongs on the Supreme Court, she told me. But as the investigation dragged on, growing and mutating and accumulating new targetsfrom the suicide of Vince Foster to the accusations against President Clinton by Paula Jones to the curious case of a certain White House internthe environment in the office changed. Starr himself, once considered a leading prospect for the Supreme Court, came to be seen in Washington as a sanctimonious partisan hell-bent on taking down the Clintons. The lawyers who worked for him were recast as foot soldiers in a vast right-wing conspiracyand some of them started to act like it. Around this time, Kavanaugh went out on a date with Colleen Covell, a young Democratic prosecutor in D.C. When they got to the bar, Covell recalls, Kavanaugh started draining beers at an impressive pace. The more he drank, the more candid he became in his commentary on the Clintons, until eventually he was shouting things like I cant believe you voted for him! and Theyre total crooks! The intensity of his animus was startling, Covell told me. I just remember thinking, Whoa, he really hates them. By the time Starrs team turned its attention to Monica Lewinsky, the hothouse environment of the office had taken a toll on Kavanaugh, who had now been there well past six months. Once, amid a debate over whether the president should be asked sexually explicit questions under oath, Kavanaugh fired off a memo to his colleagues advocating for an X-rated line of inquiry. Among his proposed questions: If Monica Lewinsky says that you inserted a cigar into her vagina while you were in the Oval Office area, would she be lying? (Robert Bittman, who also worked on Starrs team, told me that Kavanaugh had written the memo in a fog of sleep deprivation, and that he later expressed regret for its tone.) The investigation effectively launched Kavanaughs career. For all the offices blunders, the young lawyer was able to forge relationships and bank favors with powerful Republicans, guaranteeing him a plum spot in the next GOP administration. After a stint on the Bush campaigns legal team during the 2000 Florida recount, Kavanaugh joined the White House counsels office. George W. Bush took a liking to him, and eventually nominated him to serve on the prestigious D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals. Over the next 12 years, Kavanaugh worked to reinvent himself as a respectable, and thoroughly unbiased, jurist with friends in both parties. He appeared frequently on legal panels and was hired to teach at Harvard Law School by its then-dean, Elena Kagan. He even publicly repented for his role in the Starr investigation, writing it off as a kind of youthful indiscretion. As a judge, he spent most of his time on wonky regulatory cases, which meant his conservative voting record attracted little attention in the culture wars. And when a politically charged case did fall into his lap, in 2017involving an undocumented 17-year-old immigrant seeking an abortion in TexasKavanaugh tried to find a middle course. Rather than rule decisively on whether the abortion could proceed, he argued that the government should be given more time to find the young woman a sponsor who could help her make the decision. The ruling pleased no one, but it suggested an instinct for caution that made his brand of conservatism palatable in Washington. Kavanaughs arrival in the fall of 2018 occasioned a round of careful internal maneuvering by his new colleagues. Kavanaughs rebranding campaign was so successful that, when he was selected for the Supreme Court, an array of bipartisan validators lined up to sing his praises. Amy Chua, the author and legal scholar, wrote an op-ed hailing his mentorship of female clerks. (In fact, her daughter would go on to clerk for Kavanaugh.) Akhil Reed Amar, a liberal law professor at Yale, said Democrats would be hard-pressed to find a conservative nominee better than Kavanaugh. But some who had closely followed Kavanaughs career remained suspicious. He thinks very much as a partisan, Garrett Epps, a law professor emeritus at the University of Baltimore, told me. What has Kavanaugh ever been except the guy clutching onto the greasy pole? The Supreme Court is a notoriously opaque institution. Justices rarely give interviews to the press (Kavanaugh declined my request), and clerks are expected to abide by a code of omert that prevents them from publicly discussing what goes on behind closed doors. This culture of secrecy is encouraged by the Courts members, who are invested in maintaining the perception that their work is done beyond the reach of rank politics. But people who have seen the inner workings of the Court say its nothing if not political. Tit-for-tat dealmaking is commonplace. Alliances are formed and rivalries fester. In the 1940s, infighting among President Franklin D. Roosevelts appointees got so bad that Hugo Black and William O. Douglas are said to have threatened to resign if Robert Jackson was made chief justice. In the 1970s, Potter Stewart leaked damaging stories about his colleagues to the journalist Bob Woodward. While the judicial sausage-making may be more discreet on todays Court, a range of people close to the justicesincluding friends, confidants, and former clerkstold me that Kavanaughs arrival in the fall of 2018 occasioned a round of careful internal maneuvering by his new colleagues. Most of the justices already knew Kavanaugh, and some of them even liked him. He was a regular at holiday parties and the swearing-in ceremonies for new Supreme Court lawyers (often lingering until the last guest left, according to one person). They also knew that he had been nominated at an overheated moment in American politics, by a president whose only inclination was to raise the temperature further. Even before the assault allegations, the regular partisan forces seemed especially girded for war: The day Kavanaughs name was put forward, the organizers of the Womens March accidentally released a fill-in-the-blank statement they had prewritten condemning Trumps nomination of XX to the Supreme Court. In private, Kavanaugh had expressed his own misgivings about the president who nominated him, even as he went through the requisite motions of flattery and fealty. He was no fan of Donald Trump, one friend told me. But hes not going to say no to the nomination. He had to kiss the ring to get there. Illustration by Oliver Munday; images from Leah Millis; Tom Williams / Getty Kavanaughs future colleagues were primed for sympathy. The justices had long been united in a shared disdain for the confirmation process. The grandstanding senators, the bloodthirsty reporters, the political groups churning out attack adsto the men and women of the Supreme Court, the whole thing felt like a high-stakes hazing ritual, and they were inclined to give one another the benefit of the doubt. Its a highly partisan process, and you have to kind of therefore take the slings and arrows with a grain of salt, a person close to the Court told me. More to the point, some of the justices recognized an opportunity in Kavanaughs uniquely contentious confirmation. Kagan, an Obama appointee known inside the Court as a deft strategic operator, was quick to make a move. Sensing that Kavanaugh, in this vulnerable moment, might welcome allies wherever he could find them, she launched a quiet charm offensive. While he was still moving into his chambers, Kagan stopped by and offered to host a dinner party in his honor at her Washington apartment. They were seen together frequentlywhispering and laughing during oral arguments or talking baseball over lunch in the justices private dining hall, where she liked to joke that their conversation was a reprieve from the Shakespearean forays favored by Kavanaughs predecessor, Anthony Kennedy. She saw him as up for grabs, said one person with knowledge of the Courts internal dynamics. The other liberal women on the bench followed Kagans lead. Sonia Sotomayor gave an interview in which she welcomed Kavanaughs arrival: This is our work family, and its just as important as our personal family. Ruth Bader Ginsburg praised her new colleague at an event in Washington as very decent and very smart. These comments upset some on the left, but they had a strategic purpose. The liberal justices knew Kavanaugh wouldnt vote with them on a regular basis, but they hoped they could pick off his vote occasionally, when it mattered. Having a relationship would help. Clarence Thomas, meanwhile, was running his own game. Though he had refused to watch the hearings on principle, he felt he understood better than most what Kavanaugh had gone through. He had been there, Armstrong Williams, a longtime friend of Thomass, told me. It was like dj vu all over again. Thomas was eager to impart the lessons hed taken from his own confirmation experiencemost important, in his view, that trying to ingratiate yourself with your character assassins was a fools errand. It took Justice Thomas a few years to figure that out, Williams said. But now he lets what he does on the Court speak for himhis rulings, his opinions, his dissenting opinions. He cant do anything about how people talk about him. According to Williams, Thomas hoped to be an example to Kavanaugh and would indeed be a good mentor. From the September 2019 issue: Deconstructing Clarence Thomas But the justice to whom Kavanaugh gravitated, according to people close to him, was John Roberts. The two men had moved in similar social circles for yearsthey belonged to the same country club, played in the same poker gameand Kavanaugh had long considered him a role model. He made little secret of his fanboy status: In his D.C. Circuit chambers, a blown-up photograph of himself and the chief had hung on the wall. Brett idolizes John Roberts, a friend of Kavanaughs told me. If youre looking for soul-mate types, thats them. Court watchers varied on whether the feeling was mutual, but Roberts had his own reasons to cultivate Kavanaugh. The chief justice is an ardent believer in the idea that the Courts credibility rests on its image as an apolitical institution. Its my job to call balls and strikes, he famously testified during his confirmation hearing, not to pitch or bat. Robertss fixation on staving off political backlash had guided much of his tenure. He favored narrow decisions over sweeping ones, resisted establishing broad new precedents, and was said to cut deals with his colleagues behind the scenes to avoid 54 rulings in high-profile cases. In 2012, he surprised Court watchers when he cast the deciding vote to uphold the Affordable Care Act. It was later reported that Roberts had initially planned to strike down a key provision of the law but flipped his vote, avoiding the blowback that would have resulted if conservative justices had overturned President Barack Obamas signature legislation in an election year. Now Kavanaughs crash landing threatened to undo the carefully honed image of the Roberts Courtand maybe even the Court itself. Democrats were openly talking about packing the bench with liberal justices if they took back the White House and Congress in 2020, while scholars and commentators tossed around proposals to radically reduce the constitutional power of the judiciary. Roberts worked to ensure that Kavanaughs first term was as uneventful as possible. He maneuvered to clear the docket of abortion cases, and successfully punted a controversial case involving a Christian baker and a same-sex-wedding cake back to the lower courts. In the cases the Court heard, Kavanaugh stuck close to Roberts, voting with him 94 percent of the time. Observers were quick to note how different Kavanaugh seemed from his fellow Trump appointee, Neil Gorsuch. Though they had known each other since adolescence, when they were two years apart at Georgetown Prep, they were polar opposites. Kavanaugh was the protofrat bro who organized boozy beach trips for his friends, Gorsuch the know-it-all prig who spent his free time on the debate team. And though they ended up clerking at the same time for Justice Kennedy, they never seemed to warm up to each other. The tense nature of their relationship became a subject of speculation among the Courts insiders. Some chalked it up to clashing personalities: Gorsuch has somewhat sharp elbows and a lot of self-regard, one person told me. Others pointed to signs of a competitive rivalry: When Gorsuch was nominated first for the Supreme Court, in 2017, a restless Kavanaugh began telling friends that he might retire from the D.C. Circuit and make money practicing law. Whatever the reason, there was no mistaking their divergent styles on the bench. Gorsuch routinely stirred the pot with his purple opinions and grandiose pronouncements, self-consciously positioning himself as the right-wing heir to Antonin Scalia. Kavanaugh, meanwhile, was restrained during oral arguments, quietly siding with the majority most of the time and periodically aligning himself with the liberals. In his first term, he voted with Kagan as often as he did with Gorsuch. When he did come down on the right in a divisive case, he would write a separate opinion explaining himself in almost apologetic terms. He really cares how hes perceived across the ideological spectrum, David Lat, the founding editor of the influential legal-commentary site Above the Law, told me. I would say Justice Kavanaugh is trying to be the conservative that people dont hate. So far, Kavanaugh has had limited success in that mission. As he nears the end of his third term on the bench, his judicial record has proved peskily difficult to caricaturesolidly conservative but not radically so, prone to incrementalism, disinclined toward culture war. And yet, he remains a magnet for criticism and controversy. Whatever your view of Kavanaugh, you can find evidence that hes not on your side. When he cast the deciding vote in a ruling that allowed states to continue practicing partisan gerrymandering, Twitter exploded with calls from the left for his impeachment. Similar outrage met his vote to allow the Trump administration to include a citizenship question on the census, which many regarded as an intimidation tactic designed to undercount immigrants. A number of liberal Court watchers believe that the worst may be yet to come. As a lower-court judge, Kavanaugh showed open antagonism toward what is known as the Chevron doctrine, the legal principle that courts should give great weight to the interpretations adopted by federal agencies as they administer complicated regulations. It may be the one area in which his views are the most hardened. If Kavanaugh leads his conservative colleagues in overturning Chevron, Democrats warn, legal challenges will tie regulators hands and hobble the implementation of progressive policiesaffecting everything from health care to the environment to corporate oversight. I dont think Thomas or Alito gives a shit what The New York Times says about them, a friend of Kavanaughs told me. But I think Brett does. For some people, of course, the nuances of Kavanaughs voting record will always matter less than the fact that he was confirmed after facing a credible accusation of sexual assault. A year after Kavanaugh was sworn in, Christine Blasey Ford was still receiving death threats. The veteran judicial reporter Dahlia Lithwick wrote that shed been unable to return to the Supreme Court because she was still so angry. Irin Carmon, a feminist journalist who covered the Kavanaugh hearings closely, told me the episode was especially painful because it took place at a moment when accusations of sexual misconduct seemed at last to be taken seriously. People had started to think this time would be different, and it wasnt, and thats why it was so crushing. At the same time, Kavanaugh has disappointed many of the right-wing activists who expected the Hulk-like figure from his confirmation hearings to reemerge on the bench. The grumbling began last year, when he voted to allow the Manhattan district attorney access to Donald Trumps tax records. But frustration really boiled over in February, when his swing vote prevented the Supreme Court from hearing a slate of lawsuits challenging the election results brought by Trump and his allies. Across the Trumpist media, Kavanaugh was derided as a coward and a traitor. John Cardillo, a host at Newsmax, summarized the sentiment on Twitter: Shame on Kavanaugh for playing ball after they tried to destroy him and his family. Even within the more staid precincts of the conservative legal establishment, fears have begun to surface that Kavanaugh might be uniquely vulnerable to judicial drifta phenomenon in which Republican-appointed justices, such as Lewis Powell and Harry Blackmun, grow steadily more liberal the longer theyre on the bench. Even before he was nominated, Kavanaugh had raised concerns at the Federalist Society, which vets the conservative bona fides of judicial candidates. He was added to Trumps shortlist only after an intense lobbying campaign by Republican friends, most notably Anthony Kennedy, the justice he had clerked for and eventually replaced. Now some Republicans are privately wondering if the scramble to push through his confirmation was worth it. Yeah, there might be, one Kavanaugh ally told me. Hes a human, and thats a very human temptation. But I would be extremely disappointed in him if he were to go south. Shortly after Kavanaugh was sworn in, his former clerks gave him a gift: a framed print by the artist Tom Lea accompanied by a quote about living on the sunrise side of the mountain. The original painting had hung in George W. Bushs Oval Office, and the quote was a Bush favorite. Kavanaugh displayed it prominently in his chambers, a pledge to himself that he would remain optimistic. Kavanaugh knew the first few months would be bad, friends say. The wounds from the confirmation hearings were still fresh; everybody was still angry. So when he had to withdraw from his teaching position at Harvard Law School amid protestsdespite his sterling student evaluationshe was stung, but told everyone he understood the situation. And when Matt Damon turned him into a punch line on Saturday Night Live, he gamely insisted that the impression was hilarious. But Kavanaugh was determined not to remain in exile forever. He thrives on life in the public square, a friend told me. He loves it. So far, the public square has not been particularly inviting. At the Federalist Societys 2019 annual dinner, his keynote speecha rite of passage for new conservative justiceswas repeatedly derailed by liberal protesters. At a Georgetown Prep homecoming game, he reportedly had to ask alumni to put down their beers before he would pose for photos with them. Even venturing to Mass or the grocery store meant subjecting himself to a potential confrontation or a nosy neighbor overinterpreting his every move. The drumbeat of negative media coverage has yet to relent. This spring, when Democratic Senator Sheldon Whitehouse called on the Justice Department to investigate the FBIs 2018 background check of Kavanaugh, suggesting that it was fake, a round of sensational headlines followed. (Could Brett Kavanaugh Be Booted From the Supreme Court? Vanity Fair asked.) His conservative colleagues might let stories like that roll off their backs, but Kavanaugh is hyper-attentive to the press. I dont think Thomas or Alito gives a shit what The New York Times says about them, one friend told me. But I think Brett does. The pandemic has only heightened the sense of isolation. Last year, for the first time in its history, the Supreme Court began operating remotely, conducting oral arguments and most other business by conference call. Kavanaugh, who unlike most of his colleagues still has school-age children (plus a noisy dog), found working from home untenable, according to one friend, and continued to commute into Washington, where he spent most of his time alone in his spacious chambers. People close to Kavanaugh say its only a matter of time before he attempts some kind of rehabilitation touran interview in a mainstream news outlet, perhaps, followed by a handful of public lectures. But hes been careful not to move too fast. Time is one thing a 56-year-old Supreme Court justice with a lifetime appointment has plenty of. For now, observers are left to speculate about what fundamentally drives Kavanaugh. Most of his friends seem to believe that the partisan revenge fantasy feared by the left and craved by the right is unlikely to materialize. Hes an affable guy, they all insisthe simply wants everyone to like him again. (Some even wonder if he regrets being tapped. If he had it to do over again, knowing what would happen, would he accept the nomination? a person close to Kavanaugh asked. I honestly dont know.) But squint again at the story of Kavanaughs rise, and a different picture might come into view: a credential-obsessed meritocrat whos spent his life sweatily striving for power without any grounding in conviction or principle. Which brings us back to the nature of the Supreme Court itself. There may be no greater indictment of Americas democratic system than the fact that Brett Kavanaughs feelings are so potentially consequential. But at a moment when the Court is routinely called upon to fill the void left by a dysfunctional political system, a single justice has enormous power to set policy and settle national debates. If Kavanaugh is dangerous, as his critics contend, its not because he is part of some brazen right-wing conspiracy. Its because he has managed to ascend to the height of American power while remaining, perhaps even to himself, a living Rorschach test. This article appears in the June 2021 print edition with the headline Whose Side Is Kavanaugh On? | https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2021/06/brett-kavanaugh-supreme-court/618717/?utm_source=feed |
Who decides if the world needs COVID-19 booster shots? | Article content Vaccine makers Moderna Inc and Pfizer Inc, with its German partner BioNTech, have been vocal in their view that the world will soon need COVID-19 booster shots to maintain high levels of immunity. What is less clear, however, is who should make that decision and based on what evidence. THE MODEL FOR FLU VACCINES We apologize, but this video has failed to load. tap here to see other videos from our team. Back to video Public health officials have a well-coordinated mechanism, first established in 1952, for determining when seasonal flu vaccines should be updated to cope with fast-mutating strains of influenza. The World Health Organizations Global Influenza Surveillance and Response System gathers data collected by national health authorities on circulating flu strains and, twice a year, uses that information to select the strains manufacturers should include in seasonal shots for the Northern and Southern Hemispheres. Some experts have suggested a similar model could be used to gather data on COVID-19 variants and advise drugmakers on what to include in vaccine updates. However, another approach could be to mimic what happens with updates of many other infectious disease vaccines where decisions are based primarily on what the drugmakers perceive is required. National health authorities are then free to assess clinical trial data and decide whether a particular version of a vaccine should be used in their country. Advertisement Story continues below This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Article content Currently, COVID-19 vaccine makers are taking this approach, making the call to develop and test variant-specific booster shots, and leaving it up to governments to buy them as they see fit. Some vaccine experts say there needs to be clear evidence that the current COVID-19 vaccines are failing to prevent infections and severe disease before countries embark on repeat nationwide vaccination campaigns. They argue the decision on booster shots should be guided by data showing how vaccines perform in people in clinical trials and real-world settings, as well as in lab studies showing declining levels of antibodies in blood samples from vaccinated people. So far, COVID-19 vaccine makers have shown that their shots offer strong protection for at least six months. But immunity may vary. Older people, for example, or those with compromised immune systems, may need boosters earlier than younger people with more robust immune systems. Advertisement Story continues below This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Article content Another important dataset known as correlates of protection evidence from clinical trials showing the threshold level of antibodies required for vaccines to be protective could help policymakers decide on whether boosters are needed, but this data is not yet available. ADAPTED FOR A COVID-19 WORLD Globally, the World Health Organization is putting together an expert advisory panel which would evaluate ongoing evidence on COVID-19 vaccine durability and emerging variants and then offer guidance for governments. Although some experts have noted possible similarities with the global mechanism for updating flu vaccines, they also stress that it will need to be adapted for a COVID-19 world. More likely, they say, is that global guidance will be adapted by nations or regions to target local needs. Advertisement Story continues below This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Article content For example, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is developing its own risk assessment framework to determine what evidence is needed to recommend a modified vaccine. The CDC and other U.S. health agencies have their own studies underway to assess vaccine efficacy, including in older populations and children, and monitor the impact of new variants. In Britain, Public Health England and the National Institute for Biological Standards and Control are working with global agencies on an Agility Project to track and test the impact of viral mutations and new variants on COVID-19 vaccine development. (Reporting by Kate Kelland in London and Julie Steenhuysen in Chicago Editing by Michele Gershberg and Peter Graff) Share this article in your social network Advertisement Story continues below This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Shopping essentials Advertisement Story continues below This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. NP Posted Sign up to receive the daily top stories from the National Post, a division of Postmedia Network Inc. Email Address There was an error, please provide a valid email address. By clicking on the sign up button you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. You may unsubscribe any time by clicking on the unsubscribe link at the bottom of our emails. Postmedia Network Inc. | 365 Bloor Street East, Toronto, Ontario, M4W 3L4 | 416-383-2300 Thanks for signing up! A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it please check your junk folder. The next issue of NP Posted will soon be in your inbox. We encountered an issue signing you up. Please try again Trending | https://nationalpost.com/pmn/health-pmn/who-decides-if-the-world-needs-covid-19-booster-shots |
Which Browns games are most interesting in 2021? | CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The opening week matchup against Kansas City is going to get the hype -- and rightfully so. The Chiefs are, well, the Chiefs and the Browns are an up-and-coming contender. Its a playoff rematch. Plus, its opening weekend and we always overreact to opening weekend, good or bad. Probably not. This is a team that lost 38-6 to a team in their division during last years opening weekend and they still went 11-5 and won a playoff game. Mary Kay Cabot, Doug Lesmerises, Scott Patsko, Ellis Williams and I went through the entire Browns schedule and talked about each games importance. We did it the best way we know how -- a draft. Listen to Thursdays Orange and Brown Talk Podcast to hear where we picked each game as far as importance, excitement and whatever other criteria we could cook up. You can listen using the player below or, if you cant see the player, by clicking here. You can also listen and subscribe to the podcast using the links below. You can listen to previous podcasts and subscribe on Apple podcasts or on Spotify. Get more info and get signed up here. - Browns playoffs shirts, hats for sale: Heres where Cleveland Browns fans can order shirts and hats celebrating the team qualifying for the 2020 NFL playoffs. Hey, Terry! Why Richard LeCounte III could become a draft day steal -- Film review 2021 opponent power rankings: Podcast | https://www.cleveland.com/browns/2021/05/which-browns-games-are-most-interesting-in-2021.html |
Which Shahs of Sunset Co-Star Moved Next Door to Reza Farahan? | Watch : "Shahs of Sunset" Star Reza Farahan on Mending MJ Javid Friendship It's officially a Shah street! In this exclusive sneak peek at Sunday's all-new Shahs of Sunset, Reza Farahan has a new next door neighbor...and it's a familiar face for fans. The Bravo star is shown carrying a strawberry and blueberry pie over to a cute white house directly across the street from his before bellowing, "Welcome to the neighborhood!" And none other than co-star Destiney Rose opens the door! "A bitch moved in next door to Reza," Destiney jokes. "I'm like a high rise type of chick. I love the security," Destiney explains. "And then I started realizing, I got a lot of wigs, I got a lot of thigh-high boots and there's not a lot of space." Destiney hopes to "have a runway show by myself," do cartwheels and even "run around butt naked" in her new home. "Nobody can see me!" she laughs. That is, of course, her next door pal Reza. | https://www.eonline.com/news/1268677/see-which-shahs-of-sunset-co-star-moved-in-next-door-to-reza-farahan |
Will Coinbases Move To Eliminate Salary Negotiations Serve As An Example To Reduce The Gender Pay Gap? | NEW YORK, NY - MAY 15: Coinbase Founder and CEO Brian Armstrong attends Consensus 2019 at the ... [+] Hilton Midtown on May 15, 2019 in New York City. (Photo by Steven Ferdman/Getty Images) Getty Images "How much money do you make?" For many people and workplaces, that question remains a taboo topic. While the National Labor Relations Act means it is legal to discuss your pay with your colleagues, those conversations often feel off-limits. Unless, of course, you work at software firm 10Pines, where your colleagues determine your salary. Or you work for Buffer, which has an open spreadsheet of salaries. But those approaches are outliers. Generally, there is a lack of transparency around pay, and this lack of transparency benefits employers and can also widen the gender pay gap. One experiment to reduce the gender pay gap Coinbase recently announced a new approach to compensation. While two of the three changes increasing compensation targets and annual equity grants are laudable, it is the third change that is most intriguing. Coinbase has decided to eliminate negotiations from the hiring process. Anyone hired into the same role will be paid the same. Why this move could help narrow the gender pay gap Negotiation research has found that men tend to achieve better outcomes in salary negotiations than women. Coinbase recognized that gender and a whole host of factors play into someone's initial salary and the differences in that first offer can follow employees around for their entire career. From the blog post: Traditionally people expect they need to negotiate for the best package after being hired in a new job. Those that do this well tend to be rewarded, and those that don't lose out. These negotiations can disproportionately leave women and underrepresented minorities behind, and a disparity created early in someone's career can follow them for decades. Granted, the parity in pay will not necessarily continue once hired. Performance, promotions, and other workplace markers of success will determine subsequent salary increases as employees progress through their career at Coinbase. Hopefully, Coinbase plans to measure their current gender pay gap, and then measure it again after this policy has been in place for six months to a year. The results of this data could be illuminating. After all, one of the best ways to reduce the gender pay gap is via policy changes and a policy to standardize pay is a good place to start. | https://www.forbes.com/sites/lindsaykohler/2021/05/13/will-coinbases-move-to-eliminate-salary-negotiations-serve-as-an-example-to-reduce-the-gender-pay-gap/ |
How Can Employers Keep Their Employees Motivated When Working Remotely? | Over shoulder view of female worker have webcam digital virtual conference with diverse multiethnic ... [+] colleagues. Woman speak talk on video call with multiracial businesspeople. Online meeting concept. originally appeared on Quora: the place to gain and share knowledge, empowering people to learn from others and better understand the world. Answer by Tsedal Neeley, Professor of Business Administration at Harvard, on Quora: Here is a summary of how to motivate remote team members to have the space and the psychological freedom to thrive from anywhere. 1. Trust begets trust. Focus on process and not outcome when assessing productivity. Equip your teams with the tools and resources they need and assume that they will have Managers have to take to heart, Ernest Hemingways famous quote: The best way to find out if you can trust somebody is to trust them. the insights into how best to achieve their work goals. If you learn, otherwise, coach members to succeed. 2. Lean into the inherent flexibility of the remote format. Instead of monitoring team members obsessively, encourage their autonomy. They will gain confidence, agency, and efficiency. The result is a more productive team. 3. Proactively seek to build trust among team members even if this task may initially feel stilted (another ice-breaker, anyone?). Team members must reach out to one another and seek the connections that would happen naturally in person. Provide support for optimal working conditions because they are pivotal and might require financial resources from your budget. Ask remote workers what they need to create the best work conditions for them, wherever that might be. Whenever possible, assist workers with resources and planning to ensure that they are comfortable with their work situations. 4. Emphasize team goals and identity. Without a home base that has the companys name and brand scrawled above the entrance, remote teams need explicit reminders about their purpose. It is the leaders job to keep remote team members aligned with one another on a shared mission and show each person how they individually contribute. When team members feel included and purposeful, the team is cohesive. And when the team is cohesive, the team is productive on a level that collocated teams cant reach. Learn more in #RemoteWorkRevolution here. This question originally appeared on Quora - the place to gain and share knowledge, empowering people to learn from others and better understand the world. | https://www.forbes.com/sites/quora/2021/05/13/how-can-employers-keep-their-employees-motivated-when-working-remotely/ |
Should PFF Cite More Penn State Players on its Top-10 Lists? | Penn State safety Jaquan Brisker is among college football's top returning players, according to Pro Football Focus. Penn State safety Jaquan Brisker is among the nation's top returning college football players, according to Pro Football Focus, which ranked the 10 best at each position. Brisker is the sole Penn State player named to PFF's top-10 lists, which the site stresses have "nothing to do with pro potential." Pro Football Focus raved over Brisker last season, when he was a third-team All-Big Ten selection after leading Penn State with six pass breakups. Here's how PFF assesses Brisker as the nation's No. 5 returning safety: After two years of stellar play at Lackawanna Community College, Brisker chose Penn State over Alabama and others in 2019. He has been one of the top safeties in the country ever since. The 6-foot-1, 203-pound safety has earned PFF grades of 82.0 and 82.8 in his two years as a Nittany Lion, forming one of the five best two-year marks in the FBS. Brisker also owns 85.0-plus grades against the run and in coverage over the last couple of years, something no other Power Five safety has managed. Hes rocked up and explosive and certified himself as one of the best tacklers at the position a year ago, missing just one tackle on 60 total attempts. That 1.7% missed tackle rate led all FBS safeties on the year and was the second-lowest rate we have ever seen in the PFF College era. But perhaps Brisker shouldn't be the only Penn State player on these lists. Jahan Dotson is not among the nation's top 10 returning wide receivers, according to PFF, which ranks four Big Ten receivers in its top 10. Dotson, named second-team All-Big Ten last season, led the conference in receiving yards with 884, albeit in a year when Penn State was one of two teams to play nine games. Dotson ranked third in receiving yards per game (98.4) behind Purdue's David Bell and Ohio State's Chris Olave. PFF also ranked Ohio State's Garrett Wilson and Indiana's Ty Fryfogle above Dotson. In addition, Penn State's Rasheed Walker isn't among the top 10 returning offensive tackles. Walker, a third-team All-Big Ten selection, will be a third-year starter for the Lions this season. Though PFF indicated that pro prospects don't factor into its rankings NFL Draft Bible lists Walker as the top-ranked tackle prospect of the future. NFL Draft Bible ranks Walker ahead of Ohio State's Thayer Munford, who is PFF's No. 1 returning tackle. Walker and Munford will meet Oct. 30 in Columbus. Check out PFF's full list of the top returning players in college football. Penn State QB commit Drew Allar accepts invite to All-American Bowl Penn State commit Kaden Saunders draws raves at Rivals camp | https://www.si.com/college/pennstate/football/penn-state-football-pro-football-focus-recognizes-jaquan-brisker |
Is Bengals Cornerback Mike Hilton Recruiting Former Pittsburgh Steelers Teammate Steven Nelson to Cincinnati? | CINCINNATI The Bengals bolstered their cornerback room by signing Chidobe Awuzie, Mike Hilton and Eli Apple in free agency this offseason. Despite the additions, they're reportedly interested in adding former Steelers cornerback Steven Nelson to the roster. ESPN's Jeremy Fowler reports that the Bengals are one of 14 teams that have expressed interest in Nelson and that the veteran is looking for the "right fit and opportunity." While the fit alongside Trae Waynes, Awuzie and Hilton is questionable at best, Nelson's former teammate might be recruiting him to Cincinnati. "Yo @Nelson_Island let me holla at you about something," Hilton tweeted on Wednesday. Waynes, Awuzie and Hilton are going to start. Nelson would be an upgrade over Apple or even Darius Phillips, but he's talented enough to land a starting job elsewhere. Either way, it's good to see Hilton potentially recruiting Nelson to Cincinnati. Adding proven veterans in free agency was important and is still a crucial part of the Bengals' quest to turn things around this season. For the latest Bengals news and coverage, bookmark AllBengals and check out some of our other articles below. ----- You May Also Like: Three Thoughts on the Bengals' 2021 Schedule Bengals Playing in One of the Best Games of 2021 According to One Analyst Cincinnati Bengals 2021 Schedule Revealed Watch: Tee Higgins Working Out With Adam "Pacman" Jones Justin Jefferson Brutally Honest About Joe Burrow vs Kirk Cousins Bengals Bringing in Former Arkansas Tight End for Rookie Minicamp Tryout Former Pro Bowl RG Trai Turner Reportedly Has Reasonable Asking Price New Bengals Defensive End Joseph Ossai Could Be a Problem For Opposing QBs Chad Johnson Refused to Fight Adam "Pacman" Jones in Boxing Match LOOK: Check out All 10 of the Bengals' Draft Picks in Their New Uniforms Bengals Expressing Interest in Free Agent Wide Receiver Dede Westbrook NFL Insider on Bengals' Decision to Take Ja'Marr Chase: "They Better Be Right" Locked on Bengals: Paul Alexander Discusses His Work With Jackson Carman Ja'Marr Chase Receives Big-Time Praise: He's a "Special Player" AllBengals Exclusive: Jim Breech Excited to Watch Evan McPherson Joseph Ossai Gives Fun Answer When Asked Which QB He Wants to Sack Most One Analyst Predicted Jackson Carman's Rise Up Draft Boards Bengals Release Nominees For Inaugural Ring of Honor A Pick-By-Pick Breakdown of the Bengals' 2021 Draft Class Bengals Invite Free Agent Speedster to Minicamp Former NFL Star Buying Stock in the Bengals' Offense Joe Mixon's Role Could Expand This Season Analyst Names Bengals' Best and Worst Draft Picks Chad Johnson is Getting in the Ring Former NFL Star Sees Bengals' Vision With Ja'Marr Chase The Lions Tried to Trade Up With the Bengals in 2021 NFL Draft Analyst Believes Bengals Have One of the Most Improved O-Line Rooms in the NFL Watch: A Quality Breakdown of New Bengals Kicker Evan McPherson A Closer Look at the Bengals' Decision to Take Ja'Marr Chase Over Penei Sewell An Inside Look at the Bengals' Pursuit of Second Round OL Jackson Carman Draft Grades Are In: Here's What the National Media is Saying About the Bengals A Three Down Look at All Seven Bengals Day 3 Draft Picks Track EVERY Bengals Undrafted Free Agent Signing Here Chris Evans Worked on 'The Mixon' At Michigan Bengals Add Giovani Bernard Replacement at Running Back Watch: New Bengals Kicker Evan McPherson Made One of the Best Kicks Ever LSU Reunion: Bengals Take BIG Tyler Shelvin in Round Four Bengals Bolster Pass Rush With Cam Sample in Fourth Round Former Bengals Coach Has HIGH Praise for Jackson Carman Willie Anderson Gives Stamp of Approval on Bengals 2nd Rounder Jackson Carman Ja'Marr Chase Gives Shoutout to Bengals Super Fan Passing on Penei: Here's Why Ja'Marr Chase Was the Right Pick Watch: Ja'Marr Chase Reacts to Emotional Letter From Parents Ja'Marr Chase Makes BOLD Statement on Draft Night ----- Be sure to keep it locked on AllBengals all the time! Subscribe to the AllBengals YouTube channel Follow AllBengals on Twitter: @AllBengals Like and follow AllBengals on Facebook | https://www.si.com/nfl/bengals/news/is-bengals-cornerback-mike-hilton-recruiting-former-pittsburgh-steelers-teammate-steven-nelson-to-cincinnati |
How do I honor my parents love? | Q. Heres something a little different: a question about love after death. My parents got married in the 1950s, and just short of 30 years later, my father suffered the mother of all midlife crises, divorced my mother, and married someone else. Once he freed himself from that unfortunate relationship, he confided in me, If I thought I had a chance, Id court your mother all over again. He tried for a number of years, but my mother had been deeply hurt and would have none of it. In time, however, she acquiesced to a friendship. They went to dinner and to the movies, and sat together at family functions. Over time, it happened: They fell back in love, to everyones delight. Wed catch them kissing when they thought nobody was around. Advertisement They considered getting remarried, but by this point, they were in their 80s. Their financial, housing, and health situations were complicated. So we had a private, (non-legal) ceremony in which they renewed their vows with the family present. For the next 10 years, they called each other husband and wife, even though they lived separately. Sadly, my mother passed away recently. And here is my problem: Soon, my mother will be buried in the family plot, according to her wishes. (Her family.) Before the divorce, the understanding was that both of my parents would be buried there together. But in the years since, that spot was promised to a different relative. Its understandable and cannot be undone. But my dad doesnt know this. Thanks so much. LONGING FOR MOM & DAD TO BE TOGETHER Advertisement A. First of all, sorry about your mom. People will say this isnt a Love Letters question, and yes, it is a bit different. But Im posting it because the story of what happened with your parents their nonlinear journey as a couple is a good one, and I love tales where people fall for each other for a second time, even after causing each other pain. Theres a lot of romance and forgiveness in this letter. Also, the kissing. I happen to believe that memorials, grave sites, etc., are for the living. If you believe that too, it means you can choose a spot maybe somewhere they were caught kissing and honor them there. Or maybe its about finding (or making) a piece of art that speaks to who they were and will forever be as a couple. Honestly, this letter does some memorializing. My mom is scattered in different places at her request but she also lives in what I hang on my walls, the music I hear, and in this column, which she used to read every day. (Sorry to get all weepy here. Her death anniversary, which I normally dont care about much, fell on Mothers Day this year. Thanks, calendar!) But with every letter, I remember her and think of what shed say. I remember her relationships. I play another song. The point is, honor your parents with your own ritual. It doesnt have to be about location, but if it is, pick a place you can visit easily. If you continue to tell their love story, it sticks around forever. Advertisement MEREDITH READERS RESPOND: I told my wife that I want to be cremated and my ashes scattered in the rough at Widows Walk golf course where I can be near some of the many golf balls that I lost there over the years. She said OK. CHIMPITATUS My mother was cremated and her ashes scattered. I found this unexpectedly difficult to process. I had a small, flat gravestone made up and I put it in my garden, by moms favorite place to sit. It was comforting. SEENITTOO My father passed away many years ago when I was a teenager, and I would often sit by his grave under a tree to be with him. One day, my best friends father (who happened to be a funeral director) told me this Mikki, hes not there. I didnt understand at the time, but I now cherish those words. My Dad is with me all of the time. Those bones and decomposed matter were just his earthbound shell. His sprit is not contained in that gravesite it is everywhere. Your parents are together no matter where their earthly shell is put to rest. Please know and believe that. MHOUSTON1 Send your own relationship and dating questions to loveletters@globe.com. Catch new episodes of Meredith Goldsteins Love Letters podcast at loveletters.show or wherever you listen to podcasts. Column and comments are edited and reprinted from boston.com/loveletters. Advertisement | https://www.bostonglobe.com/2021/05/13/lifestyle/how-do-i-honor-my-parents-love/ |
Do higher taxes really drive millionaires to flee? | Millionaires are mobile. Millionaires are used to zapping their money across borders and asset classes in perpetual pursuit of higher returns. Millionaires would rather give up their Gulfstreams than pay one cent more in taxes than they must, which is why if rates rise in one locale they react by directing their pilot to the nearest tax haven. At least that's a common perception when it comes to America's rich, who are seen as being more attached to money than to place. And elements of that narrative are true, notably the near-frictionless flight of capital around the globe these days. But one strand of the story is dead wrong, it turns out: Millionaires in the U.S. are neither likely to pick up stakes nor to flee their state of residence just to lower their taxes. "The general impression that top income earners are very geographically mobile is really untrue," said Cristobal Young, a professor of sociology at Stanford University and co-author of a new study that examines whether higher tax rates in one state lead millionaires to decamp for tax-friendlier states. Young and his fellow researchers -- Charles Varner, a sociologist and an associate director of Stanford's Center on Poverty and Inequality, and Ithai Lurie and Richard Prisinzano, financial economists at the U.S. Department of Treasury -- found that the six-zero set is, in fact, less likely to migrate to other parts of the country than people lower down the income ladder. "The most striking finding of this research is how little elites seem willing to move to exploit tax advantages across state lines in the United States," they wrote in the study, published Thursday in the June issue of the American Sociological Review. A number of U.S. states, their coffers drained by the recession, have imposed so-called millionaire taxes to boost revenue. Globally, some countries have sought to counteract the effects of rising income inequality by lifting taxes on millionaires, while both Hillary Clinton and Sen. Bernie Sanders have proposed hiking rates on top earners. Opponents of these policies say higher tax rates have unintended consequences, driving wealthy people away and, especially at the state level, reducing revenue and causing fiscal havoc. That was the claim recently when billionaire hedge fund manager David Tepper left New Jersey, which has the fifth-highest state income tax in the nation, and relocated to zero-tax Florida. But Young's research -- which examined the tax records of every U.S. millionaire over more than a decade, some 3.7 million filers -- makes clear just how rarely millionaires in the U.S. actually move, whether to take advantage of lower taxes or for any other reason. Of the roughly 500,000 households per year that report at least $1 million in income on their tax returns, only 2.4 percent, or 12,000 millionaires, migrate to another state; that compares with 2.9 percent for the population at large. Of the top income earners who do leave a state, only a sliver -- just over 2 percent -- seem to be spurred by a wish to cut their taxes, according to the study. Because for most millionaires, getting and staying rich is intimately connected to where they live. Precious professional and social connections, often nurtured over years in a given industry, tend to bind the wealthy to where they live. So does family, since 90 percent of millionaires are married (compared with 58 percent for the general population) and are more likely to have children. Perhaps it's not surprising, then, that millionaires who own a business have a migration rate of only 2 percent, versus 2.6 percent for non-business owners. "When you reach this level of success, moving to a different state is a disruption," Young said. He also notes that corporate executives, doctors and other high-paid professionals, who make up the lion's share of millionaires in the U.S., typically reach their maximum income only for a few years. "It's a small window when they're at the peak of their careers, and to make a big, potentially disruptive move is not something that makes a lot of sense." Not that millionaires never fly the coop in search of lower taxes. The study found that in the average state, which on an annual basis has a millionaire population of about 9,000, a 1 percent income tax increase could be expected to result in 23 top earners high-tailing it to a lower-tax state. But the vast majority, tethered to their communities by the same links that tie less wealthy people to their humbler abodes, remain firmly grounded. It follows, then, that states with higher tax rates don't have fewer millionaires. On the contrary, the state with the highest density of millionaires is Connecticut, which ranks No. 13 in state income taxes (rounding out the top five jurisdictions: the District of Columbia, New York, New Jersey and Massachusetts). The one state that does seem to attract millionaires from higher-tax states is Florida; other low-tax states, such as New Hampshire, Nevada and Texas, don't have that drawing power. First, the specter of millionaire tax flight is largely a myth. That suggests state policymakers have little to fear in raising taxes on the wealthiest Americans as one way to close budget gaps and reduce inequality. Second, the study challenges ingrained cultural beliefs about America as a land of endless opportunity for anyone with the gumption -- and a bus ticket -- to go after it. If that's the country we once had, we inhabit it no longer. After all, one group does show a greater inclination to move than the rest of us -- the poor. The highest rate of migration in the U.S., at nearly double the rate of millionaires, is found among people who earn around $10,000, the study shows. If trying to escape poverty often means moving away, in other words, then getting rich usually means staying put. Said Young: "We have this idea of mobility and migration as part of America, but it's less and less true." | https://www.cbsnews.com/news/do-higher-taxes-really-drive-millionaires-to-flee/ |
How can more covid-19 vaccines be made available? | B IOMEDICINE HAS never seen anything like it. This time last year, no company had ever made a vaccine against SARS-C o V-2 , the virus that causes covid 19, on an industrial scale. By the middle of this April a billion doses had been delivered. According to Airfinity, a data provider, a second billion doses are expected by June 1st. On current estimates the worlds pharmaceutical companies look set to provide 10.9bn doses over the course of 2021. So far this effort has increased the worlds capacity for producing vaccines of all sorts by a factor of three to four. Its insane, says Tim Gardner, the boss of Riffyn, a biotechnology startup focused on speeding up drug-production processes. Its an incredible success. At the same time many parts of the world have no smooth-running avenues of supply. The Covid-19 Vaccines Global Access Facility ( COVAX ), a vaccine-sharing scheme designed to provide supplies to low- and middle-income countries, has so far distributed only 59m doses. Most of the most vulnerable unvaccinated people look unlikely to be vaccinated soon. This is both inequitable and inefficient; it will increase the death toll and prolong the pandemic, increasing both economic losses and the odds of new variants of concern. A recent report from the OECD , a club of mostly rich countries, made the case for continued government investment in vaccine-production capacity, putting the idea into the context of long-term strategies such as co-ordinated approaches to the sharing of intellectual property and technology transfer. It is the sharing of intellectual property, not increased investment, which has drawn the most attention. Since last October, South Africa and India have been arguing for an arrangement whereby the World Trade Organisation no longer obliges countries to protect patents, industrial designs, copyright and trade secrets which apply to covid-19 vaccines, therapeutics and diagnostics. America, Britain, the European Union and Switzerlandhome, between them, to most of the worlds big drugmakersopposed the waiver. But on May 5th President Joe Biden broke ranks. Katherine Tai, the US trade representative, said that the administration would support proposals to waive intellectual property protections for covid-19 vaccines, winning the administration plaudits from over 100 countries which support the waiver as well as from people at home who think drug companies inherently villainous. If such a waiver is agreed on, it will not be soon. Proponents take that in their stride: better to arrive at the end of the year with a waiver agreement close to hand and no need to use it, goes one argument, than still to be facing a global crisis of unmanageable proportions but with a diplomatic mountain to climb. That may be so. But the worlds need to create new production facilities, and ideally to work the various capabilities it has already developed even harder, will not wait. And intellectual-property rights are far from the most pressing, or most restrictive, constraint. Billion wise, trillion foolish The increase in capacity seen over the past year was brought about in large part because of government interventions, most notably Operation Warp Speed in America and the activities of the Vaccine Taskforce in Britain, which guaranteed payments and drove the expansion of supply chains. These efforts splashed around a lot of money which, if none of the vaccines had worked, would have been lost. But with the benefit of hindsight it is now hard not to wish they had been more generous still. In March Science, a journal, published estimates from a group of economists of the total global economic loss that would have been avoided if enough money to produce vaccines for the entire world had been provided up front, rather than enough for most of the rich world. They calculated that if the world had put in place a vaccine-production infrastructure capable of pumping out some 1.2bn doses per month by January 2021, it would have saved the global economy almost $5trn (see chart). Eric Budish of the Chicago Booth School of Business, one of the models authors, explains the situation using a plumbing metaphor: it is faster to lay down a wider-bore pipe at the start of a project than to expand a narrow one later. The rich world succeeded in producing effective vaccines remarkably quickly in quantities broadly sufficient to its needs: an extraordinary achievement. But the capacity of the system it built in order to do so created constraints that the rest of the world must now live with. That was a choice, not destiny. But if the best time to invest was last year, the second best is now. Three distinct types of vaccinebased on m RNA , on DNA packaged inside an adenovirus, and on inactivated SARS-C o V-2 particleshave been widely authorised for use, if in most cases and places only on an emergency basis. Companies that play a role in relevant supply chains are able to invest with an assuredness about what is to come that they could not have had last year. Thermo Fisher, an American firm which sells a range of scientific and pharmaceutical supplies, having seen m RNA confidence increase on the demand side, is spending $60m on a facility in Texas that will produce more of the nucleotide building blocks from which m RNA vaccines are assembled. The m RNA vaccines made by Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna are, in general, those which Western customers are most excited about seeing scaled up. Moderna is ramping up production around the world; it recently announced that it will make 3bn doses next year. On May 10th BioNTech said it plans to create a factory with an annual capacity of several hundred million doses in Singapore. The firm is in discussion with other countries about further production sites. A joint venture with Fosun Pharma, a Chinese firm, could make up to 1bn doses a year. A number of African countries are known to be keen on bringing the technology to the continent. Unfortunately for the vulnerable people at growing risk around the world none of this will be quick. Stphane Bancel, the boss of Moderna, says that it takes six to nine months at a minimum to add significant capacity, which means there is no way to increase capacity this year beyond what is already planned. Even when a company has a site ready to take m RNA manufacturing equipment, machines have to be ordered, built, shipped and installed, a reliable supply of raw materials has to be arranged and people have to be hired, trained and brought up to speed on the processes involved. Pollyanna, meet Polanyi Building up the requisite knowledge in the new teams is the hardest task. The problem, says Rob Carlson, a veteran biotechnology investor, is that that knowledge is not stored in a format that is easy to copy between facilities. Each vaccine is produced according to a recipe which lists the settings for all of the things in a production facility that can be changed from job to job: every dial on every machine, timings, temperatures, masses, volumes and concentrations. Such a recipe may run to hundreds of pages. And it will still typically be incomplete; tacit knowledge matters, too, and it is for the most part lodged in the minds of very busy people. Under pandemic conditions accessing what those people know will be complicated by the fact that they may well be on the edge of burnout. Mr Bancel says his team has been working hard for a year, seven days a weekwe are not even finished doing all the tech transfer to deliver the billion for this year. Every day he worries that he is pushing them too close to their breaking point. The non-m RNA Western firms have been working just as hard at transferring their technology. AstraZeneca made global production of its adenovirus vaccine a particular focus; the tech transfer of Oxford University vaccine taken forward by AstraZeneca to one British production site took about seven months, says Sandy Douglas, the Oxford professor who managed the transfer. Novavax has taken the better part of a year to transfer the insect-cell-based manufacturing system for its not-yet approved protein-subunit vaccine to the Serum Institute of India ( SII ), a huge and very experienced vaccine-maker. Stan Erck, the companys CEO , says it is repeating the process in the Czech Republic, Korea, Japan and America. All told, pharma firms have made 280 partnership contracts covering the production of covid-19 vaccines, says Thomas Cueni, head of the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers and Associations, a trade group. About three-quarters of those deals involve technology transfer. He adds that the firms that are doing well in terms of meeting production targets tend to have relatively few production sites, pointing to the benefits centralisation offers attempts to scale up. Biobags and bottlenecks Despite all this activity, though, some companies which could be making vaccines are not. Teva Pharmaceutical Industries, an established Israeli generic-medicine maker, has failed to reach a co-production deal with any covid-19-vaccine-maker. At the end of April it said it had stopped trying. Incepta, a Bangladeshi firm with the capacity to fill and finish hundreds of millions of vaccine vials a year, has also complained that it has been unable to interest producers in its services. Given the constraints on expansion, it is vital that the supply chains on which current production rests be kept in fine fettle. The number one priority today must be to do everything that we can to ramp up raw materials and get them to the production centres, says the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations, a trade group. Unfortunately, production has been slowed at various facilities by insufficient supplies of biobags (the containers in which vaccines are often made), tubing, filters and growth media for cells. Novavaxs lines in both Britain and India have been hit by shortages, at times coming to a halt; the companys production plans have been set back significantly. On April 16th the trouble with the Indian line led to a remarkable tweet. Adar Poonawalla, the head of SII , begged President BidenRespected @ POTUS to lift the embargo of raw material exports out of the U.S. so that vaccine production can ramp up. At issue was Americas Defence Production Act ( DPA ), which grants the president broad industrial-mobilisation powers. The government is using the DPA to prioritise domestic firms orders for material and equipment used in vaccine production over those flooding in from other countries. Overseas producers who depend on American equipment or materials are feeling the pinch. The SII said difficulties in getting materials from America were putting an AstraZeneca line at risk, as well as the Novavax one; between them they have a capacity of 160m-170m doses a month. On April 26th Tim Manning, the White Houses supply co-ordinator for covid-19, defended the use of the DPA , saying it is not a de facto ban on export and does not create supply shortages. But Biovac, a South African vaccine-maker, told Reuters that its American supplier of biobags was explicitly blaming the DPA for a 14 month backlog on biobag deliveries. Last year a number of big pharma firms started re-creating supply chains outside America to serve international customers. The SII Novavax line is still running at a fraction of its full capacity. Disruptions to supply chains, whether down to the DPA or other factors, are a source of deep frustration. Why on earth is production at the Serum Institute being delayed because it cant get enough culture media? asks Dr Douglas. Its madness! If so lets fix that. Such problems have a worrying tendency to amplify themselves; when companies have concerns about supply chains they stockpile supplies, stressing the chains even more. The fact that some of the equipment needed for vaccine-making also plays a part in the production of considerably higher-margin products such as cancer treatments further complicates the situation, breeding suspicion. Despite the supply difficulties, Airfinity says that current roll-out forecasts suggest that the America, Britain, Canada, the EU and Japan will have enough doses for their entire adult populations between the summer of 2021 and January 2022. But middle- and low-income countries are at risk. Donors have committed money to COVAX , but it has not been getting the vaccines it is meant to buy. Bruce Aylward, senior adviser to the director general at the World Health Organisation ( WHO ), says COVAX hopes to have the J&J adenovirus vaccine by June but who knows, it is at risk for a million reasons so maybe June, maybe July, maybe August. Of the 40m doses that Pfizer has promised, he says, it has delivered only 960,000. There was, though, some good news for COVAX on May 7th, when Sinopharms vaccine was given emergency-use authorisation by the WHO . This means that the vaccine, one of two inactivated-virus formulations being made in bulk by China, can now be distributed through COVAX . Some countries have promised to donate doses to COVAX , but the volumes are small. Spain and New Zealand, the most generous, have pledged 1.6m and 7.5m doses respectively. The organisation has so far dealt with just 100,000 donated doses, provided by France and dispatched to Mauritania, says Dr Aylward. Rasmus Bech Hansen, boss of Airfinity, says he hears that the large purchase orders made by some governments may be resold rather than donated. The possibility of donations could be further dampened by a perceived need for booster shots as new variants spread. Fail better Bottlenecks in supply and hold-ups in distribution have led to calls for a fresh round of state investment. Public Citizen, an American consumer-advocacy group, says that with $25bn the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, a part of Americas Department of Health which comes up with solutions to health emergencies, could scale up vaccine production enough to cut years off the tail of the pandemic. The money would be spent on stimulating production all the way along the supply chain, on technology transfer and on the construction of new facilities around the world. All of those people that The Economist spoke to who work in the existing vaccine-supply chain agreed that this was one sure-fire way to boost vaccine output yet further. The second-best time will always be now. Dig deeper All our stories relating to the pandemic and the vaccines can be found on our coronavirus hub. You can also listen to The Jab, our podcast on the race between injections and infections, and find trackers showing the global roll-out of vaccines, excess deaths by country and the viruss spread across Europe and America. | https://www.economist.com/briefing/2021/05/15/how-can-more-covid-19-vaccines-be-made-available |
Will shareholders halt the inexorable rise of CEO pay? | L AST YEAR was a terrible one for travel of any sort. You would not know it from the way some American chief executives trousered pay. Annual filings show that Larry Culp, boss of GE , whose jet-engine business stalled as aviation nosedived, earned $73m, almost triple his total pay in 2019. Christopher Nassetta, CEO of Hilton, a hotel chain, enjoyed a 161% pay boost, receiving $55.9m. Norwegian Cruise Line, which described 2020 as the hardest year in its history, more than doubled the compensation of its CEO , Frank Del Rio, to $36.4m. All three were among the corporate titans who grandly took cuts in their basic pay and/or bonuses during the pandemic. They pocketed far more than they gave up. They did so thanks to a nifty conjuring trick performed in boardrooms across America last year. In effect, many boards airbrushed away the impact of covid-19 on performance-based pay either by removing a quarter or two of bad numbers in order to meet bonus targets, changing the metrics mid-course, oras with Messrs Culp, Nassetta and Del Rioby issuing new share grants after the pandemic gutted the previous ones. (Mr Culp and Mr Del Rio also got contract extensions.) The result was a continuation of the inexorable rise of CEO pay in America during a year that, for mere mortals, was one of massive job losses, furloughing and government support. According to MyLog IQ , a data gatherer, the median pay of nearly 450 CEO s running firms in the S & P 500 that have reported so far was $13.2m last year, an increase for the fifth year running. It said Mr Nassetta and Mr Del Rio were among two dozen bosses in that group who got a pay rise even though their firms lost money. So far this year, shareholders have used say-on-pay votes at annual general meetings to censure an unusually large number of Americas biggest firms for gerrymandering pay policies, including GE , AT & T , a telecoms giant, IBM , a tech firm, and Walgreens Boots Alliance, a pharmacy business. Pay consultants report that those CEO s yet to face combative shareholder meetings are sweating it. That is no bad thing if it suggests that institutions are so fed up with the stratospheric rewards on offer that they convince boards to put an end to them. But dont bet on it. Shareholders remain in as much of a muddle over high pay as company directors. To be fair, its a tricky issue. There is a widely held view in America that executive pay, like the stockmarket, always rises. Thats not strictly accurate. During the second world war pay fell, and for 30 years after barely budged. But since then, CEO pay inflation has been a fairly reliable assumption: the average level has risen about tenfold since the mid-1970s, vastly outpacing the income of average workers. It is a phenomenon that extends well beyond chief executives. Superstars from J.K. Rowling, an author, to Cristiano Ronaldo, a footballer, also earn spectacularly more than their counterparts would have done in ages past, notes Alex Edmans of the London Business School. In such a competitive global market, high pay may be justified to recruit and keep the best people. Yet its merits are undermined when bosses reap the windfalls from extraordinarily good times, such as a stockmarket boom, but are spared the consequences of misfortune, such as a pandemic. As Mr Edmans puts it: If youre letting CEO s benefit from the upside, they have to feel the pain on the downside. Boards tend to ignore that. Perhaps they, too, gain from perpetuating a system that keeps their own salaries high. For whatever reason, they threw around the painkillers last year like smarties. Pliant boards are not the only problem. Pusillanimous investors are part of it, too. Until the pandemic, the average vote supporting management on say-on-pay proposals was 90% or more, says Semler Brossy, a pay consultancy. Thats a whopping approval rate. By contrast, Cal PERS , Americas most outspoken public-pension fund, in 2019 and 2020 voted against more than half of them, usually because the rises were not justified by mediocre market performance. Things appear to be changing. MyLog IQ says that the share of companies in the S & P 500 that have failed say-on-pay votes so far this year is running at 6.1%, almost three times the level for the whole of 2019. Institutions claim that the issue has become more pressing because the heads-I-win, tails-you-lose approach to pay screams inequality. Yet their protest votes on pay remain relatively few, they are non-binding, and the number of pay recalibrations last year were unusually high, suggesting their fury on the issue may yet cool. Say-on-pay censure alone will not end Americas fat-cat era. It is hard to imagine what will. Many shareholders instinctively cringe at the thought of taxation and pay caps, an option floated by left-wing Democrats. Yet their own collective efforts to modify the system are also feeble. Calls to lengthen the period executives hold shares to, say, five or ten years have so far gone nowhere. Efforts to stop boards benchmarking CEO s against lavishly paid members of peer-group companies have also flopped. Doing well by doing good | https://www.economist.com/business/2021/05/15/will-shareholders-halt-the-inexorable-rise-of-ceo-pay |
Who bears the burden of a corporate tax? | J OE BIDEN wants to rebuild America, and he reckons that American firms can help foot the bill. Central to the presidents grand infrastructure-investment push is a plan to raise the tax rate on corporate income from 21% to 28% (though he has hinted he may settle for less). Although the administration pitches its tax proposals as a way to redress the problem that those at the top are not doing their part, opponents warn that corporate-tax rises do not simply fall on wealthy shareholders, but also shrink the pay packets of the working people the president claims to champion. In fact, workers often do bear some of the burden of increases in corporate taxesthough understanding just how much is a question that continues to vex economists. Nonetheless, the details of Mr Bidens tax plans suggest that they may prove more worker-friendly than the usual effort to squeeze juice from Apple. Other things being equal, a tax on corporate profits should hit shareholdersa group wealthier than the population as a wholeby shrinking the money available for dividend payments or reducing share values. But other things are never equal. Firms invariably respond to new taxes in order to minimise their costs. Depending on precisely how they seek to escape the tax, some of its burden may be passed on to others. A seminal paper published in 1962 by Arnold Harberger, an economist, reckoned that such wriggling by owners of capital was unlikely to shift the cost of a corporate tax onto other inputs to production. He imagined an economy with just two sectors, corporate and non-corporate, and then supposed that a tax was placed on the income of the former. Capital, he reasoned, should shift from the corporate sector to the non-corporate (consisting of partnerships and other sorts of business). As a consequence, the average rate of return on capital in non-corporate firms should fall, reflecting the flow of resources to lower-yielding sorts of production made attractive only because of the sectors comparatively favourable tax status. Corporations could shift some of the burden of corporate tax to owners of capital in other parts of the economy, but not pass it on to workers. Mr Harbergers model made a number of simplifying assumptions, however. He assumed, for instance, that markets were perfectly competitive. In practice, firms may enjoy market power over either workers (in which case some of the cost of the tax may be absorbed by wages rather than just profits) or consumers (who may face higher prices). Perhaps most important, Mr Harberger assumed that the economy in question was closed. In practice, capital is relatively mobile across national bordersand intangible forms, like intellectual property, extremely sowhile other factors of production like labour are not. Increasing corporate tax in one country might then encourage owners of capital to move activity abroad, diminishing the amount of capital per worker at home, and potentially reducing workers productivity and pay. Indeed, research by Laurence Kotlikoff of Boston University and Lawrence Summers of Harvard University showed that in very small, very open economies the burden of a rise in corporate-income tax could fall almost entirely on labour. The size of an economy and its openness to capital flows are just two of the five factors that most influence an economic models conclusions regarding the incidence of corporate-tax changes, argued Jennifer Gravelle Stratton, then of the Congressional Budget Office, in a paper published in 2013. (Size matters because changes in the capital stock of larger economies have a greater influence on the worldwide return on capital.) Another factor is how seamlessly production may be moved abroad in response to tax changes. Similarly, the ease with which labour may be substituted for capital determines how badly workers economic prospects are affected when capital flees the country (or threatens to). Last, who pays most depends critically on how capital-intensive the corporate sector is: the greater the level of capital per worker, the more each worker suffers if a corporate-tax rise affects where firms choose to deploy their capital. Sorting out the likely effects of a corporate-tax change, in other words, is complicated and messy. Empirical studies demonstrate exactly that. A paper published in 2015 by Kevin Hassett, later a chairman of President Donald Trumps Council of Economic Advisers, and Aparna Mathur of the American Enterprise Institute, a think-tank, concluded that a 1% rise in the corporate-tax rate is associated with a 0.5% drop in wages: a result that implies that more than 100% of the burden of corporate tax lands on workers. At the other end of the scale, a study of economies in the OECD , a club of mostly rich countries, by Kimberly Clausing, an economist at Reed College who is now a deputy assistant secretary at Americas Treasury Department, found no clear relationship between corporate tax and wages. Passing the buck Other studies suggest the burden is shared. An analysis of the German economy published in 2017, which used variations in local business-tax rates to assess how their costs were distributed, concluded that more than half the burden is borne by workers. Economists who summarise the literature often note that labour bears some but not all of the burden of corporate taxperhaps about 40%while occasionally allowing that the true figure depends heavily on the context of a given tax measure. Context, however, is subject to change. Reducing differences in corporate-tax rates across countries gives companies less scope to pass the tax burden on to workers by shifting production abroad. The Biden administrations proposal for a global minimum rate is in large part targeted at firms that use accounting tricks to book profits in tax havens. Yet it should also deter governments efforts to lure production by undercutting other countries tax rates. That would ensure that more of the burden of corporate tax falls where it is meant to. | https://www.economist.com/finance-and-economics/2021/05/15/who-bears-the-burden-of-a-corporate-tax |
Would an Arizona GOP-sponsored bill fine teachers $5,000 for promoting anti-racism? | If Republicans in the Arizona Legislature get their way, public school teachers could be fined $5,000 for advocating a less racist society. Of course, thats not how the supporters of Senate Bill 1532 see it. They see it as a way of keeping something called Critical Race Theory out of schools. Well, Arizona State University associate professor Rashad Shabazz says its not about trying to make white people feel bad, but to undermine and destroy white supremacy. Im no education professional but Id guess the without giving deference requirement would be a little tricky with a subject like racism. And the term controversial issues is very, VERY broad and covers almost everything. The bill also says that a violation of the prohibition on controversial issues could lead to a $5,000 fine. Like I said, Im no education professional. But from what I can tell, if this bill becomes law then among the many controversial issues it may be illegal for a teacher to discuss is the law passed by the Legislature that makes it illegal to discuss controversial issues. Unless, of course, a teacher could find a way to do so from diverse and contending perspectives. But theres a problem. That's crazy Choosing which side gets to make its argument first in such discussion would, itself, be controversial. Which means, I suppose, that the teacher would first need to find a way to discuss from diverse and contending perspectives which side of the argument involved in the discussion about the law making it illegal to discuss controversial topics gets to go first. See no knowledge, hear no knowledge Although, perhaps teachers could get around that by allowing those on opposing sides of the who should go first discussion to speak at the same time. Then again, in order for that to be presented fairly and equitably from diverse and contending perspectives, as required by the law, the opposing individuals would need to speak with the same volume, pitch, articulation, pronunciation and fluency. Good luck finding two voices like that. And even if a teacher found a pair of identical vocal presenters the controversial aspect of the discussion would switch to the students, since there is no guarantee that each of the young people will be able hear what is spoken with the same auditory efficiency as others in the class. And even if they could, intellects vary and not every student will be able to comprehend what is going on in a way that allows him or her to recognize the diverse and contending perspectives. All of which could mean the teacher would be in violation of the law. Which could lead to a $5,000 fine. Which could lead teachers to simply remain mute about everything. Which would leave our students uninformed and ignorant. Which seems to be what lawmakers want. Reach Montini at ed.montini@arizonarepublic.com. For more opinions content, please subscribe. | https://www.azcentral.com/story/opinion/op-ed/ej-montini/2021/05/13/would-arizona-bill-fine-teachers-anti-racism/5069367001/ |
What could a new system for taxing multinationals look like? | F OR YEARS governments have grumbled, simmered and raged as multinational companies have shifted profits out of tax collectors grasp and into low-tax havens. The OECD , a club of mostly rich countries, estimated in 2015 that avoidance robs public coffers of $100bn-240bn, or 4-10% of global corporation-tax revenues a year. Now the fiscal fallout from covid-19 is adding urgency to governments efforts to claw some money backmost notably in America, where President Joe Biden plans to raise taxes on corporate profits, including foreign income. Mr Bidens proposals will grind their way through Congress. Finance ministers from the G 7 group of countries are likely to discuss global tax reform when they meet in London on June 4th-5th. And later in the summer 139 countries will discuss changing the system for taxing multinational companies. The confluence of a political shift in America and a global push to raise more tax revenue to pay for the pandemic means a degree of optimism is in the air. The proposals under discussion may initially raise only a modest amount of revenue, but they still represent a big break with the past. The foundations of the global corporate-tax system were laid a century ago. It recognises that overlapping taxes on the same slice of profits can curb trade and growth. As a result, taxing rights are allocated first to wherever profits are produced (the source) and then to wherever the parent company is headquartered (or resident). A multinational based in America but with an affiliate in Ireland, for example, typically pays taxes in both places. Where the company makes its sales is irrelevant. Payments between an individual firms various legal affiliates are recorded using the arms-length principle, supposedly on terms equivalent to those found on the open market. These principles, now baked into thousands of bilateral tax treaties, have had two unintended consequences. First, they have encouraged governments to compete for investment and revenue by offering tantalisingly low tax rates (see chart 1). In 1985 the global average statutory corporation-tax rate was 49%; in 2018 it was 24%. Ireland boasts a statutory rate of just 12.5%; Bermuda, 0%. Second, tax competition has encouraged companies to shuffle their reported profits to low-tax places. In 2016 around $1trn of global profits were booked in so-called investment hubs. These include the Cayman Islands, Ireland and Singapore, which apply an average effective tax rate of 5% on the profits of non-resident companies. There is a huge mismatch between where tax is paid and where real activity takes place. Analysis by the OECD suggests that multinationals report 25% of their profits in investment hubs, although only 11% of their tangible assets and less than 5% of their workers are based there. Parents can allocate paper profits to affiliates in tax havens by having them hold intellectual property that is then licensed to other affiliates in high-tax places. The problem seems to have worsened over time, perhaps because more firms make money from intangible services, from software to streaming videos. The share of American multinationals foreign profits booked in tax havens has risen from 30% two decades ago to about 60% today. Most investors and bosses view firms tax bills as a black box that only a few lawyers and tax experts truly understand. One way of capturing the scale of manipulation is to examine what would happen if there were a single common tax rate. A recent study by Thomas Torslov of Kraka, a Danish think-tank, and Ludvig Wier and Gabriel Zucman of the University of California, Berkeley, tried to quantify this. A staggering $670bn in paper profits, which are unconnected to things like factories, would have moved in 2016almost 40% of multinationals foreign earnings. Big Western countries are losers from the current system: profits in America and France, for instance, are depressed by around a fifth (see chart 2). By comparison, havens collect more revenue, as a share of GDP, despite their rock-bottom effective rates. Hong Kong collects a third of its corporate-tax receipts by attracting profits from high-tax countries; Ireland, over half. The rise of Silicon Valley has added fuel to the fire. Some governments gripe at giant firms serving customers without any physical presence in their country and while paying no tax. The problems posed by the tech firms are not in fact new: pharmaceutical companies have long held mobile and hard-to-value intellectual property; exporters do not incur tax liabilities where they sell. Still, digital services have become a target. More than 40 governments, from France to India, are either levying or planning to levy digital-services taxes on the revenue of firms such as Amazon, Google and Facebook. The growing sense of anarchy over how to tax Silicon Valley, the global desire to raise more tax revenues and a more conciliatory White House all mean the scene is set for a global deal. The OECD s forthcoming summit is not the first time it has tried to orchestrate reformsit helped pass changes to the transfer-pricing regime in 2015. But this time two more ambitious proposals are under discussion. The first would reallocate taxing rights so that a slice of profits could be levied according to, say, the location of a companys sales. That right could be incurred even if the company had no physical presence in the country. Mr Bidens negotiators have proposed a reallocation that would apply to the 100 biggest and most profitable companies worldwide; in return, the Biden administration wants all the digital-services taxes to be dropped. The second element would apply a minimum rate of corporation tax, putting a floor on the race to the bottom. The Biden administration is gunning for a global minimum tax rate on foreign earnings of 21%, applied to profits within each jurisdiction separately. The proposal for profit reallocation has been broadly welcomed by other big rich economies. Yet there is still plenty of scope for disagreement on the details. Assessing the location of sales made by one business to another, if it then goes on to make sales in a different country, is tricky. Some governments also still want to turn the screws on Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Google and the like: the European Union seems to be preparing to go ahead with a digital levy regardless of the outcome at the OECD . That in turn could cause some American lawmakers to eschew global co-operation. Meanwhile, many tax havens may resist higher minimum tax rates that eliminate the advantage for companies of booking profits there. As a result any deal will involve compromises. The amount of profit that is reallocated in order to resemble economic reality more closely could be capped. For example, the OECD s blueprint does take the radical step of considering companies as a whole, rather than separated into affiliates. Still, most profits would remain taxed as they are. The right to tax, say, 20% of profits above a routine rate of 10% of revenues would be reallocated according to a formula that could be based on sales. Meanwhile Americas preferred minimum rate of 21% is unlikely to be agreed on more widely, as countries sniff about tax sovereignty. A rate of 10-15% is much more realistic. The reallocation plan, as it stands, aims to raise a puny $5bn-12bn in annual revenues. The OECD reckons that a minimum rate of 12.5% would raise $23bn-42bn directly through the higher rate, and another $19bn-28bn by reducing profit-shifting. These figures are not particularly impressive, although they might let governments crank up domestic tax rates without worrying as much about the danger of capital flight. Still, an agreement on new principles could leave the door open to bolder changes later. Carlos Protto, one of Argentinas representatives in the OECD talks, says that focusing only on the biggest multinationals helps build consensus now, but also notes that many countries expect the scope of any reforms to be broadened eventually. America will forge ahead with reforms to its domestic taxes, including provisions that could unilaterally increase the tax load of American subsidiaries of foreign companies that pay skimpy tax bills globally. Meanwhile digital-services taxes could spread like wildfirepotentially incurring American tariffs in retaliation. On May 10th the United States Trade Representative held a fourth day of hearings on retaliating against foreign digital-services taxes. Overhaul or not, tax bills will rise. A version of this article was published online on May 10th, 2021 | https://www.economist.com/finance-and-economics/2021/05/13/what-could-a-new-system-for-taxing-multinationals-look-like |
Why are COVID-19 vaccine side effects sometimes more intense after the second dose? | Mild side effects are common after getting vaccinated against COVID-19, but for people who receive two-dose regimens, stronger symptoms are more commonly experienced after the second shot. Side effects may include a headache, fatigue, achiness, fever and nausea. Theyre usually mild and go away on their own within a few days, according to federal health officials. Health experts say it has to do with how the immune system responds to the virus. The Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines, the two-dose shots that are available, are mRNA vaccines that work by using genetic code to teach the body how to make a protein that sets off an immune response that helps generate antibodies. When people who have never been exposed to COVID-19 before are vaccinated, their immune systems recognize the protein as foreign and mounts a response to it but not a very strong one, said Dr. Beth Kassanoff, an internal medicine physician with North Texas Preferred Health Partners and president of the Dallas County Medical Society. With the second dose of the vaccine, a persons immune system remembers the protein and responds more aggressively. When you get the second vaccine, then you have a much more robust immune response because your body already has some of these antibodies, she said. Theyre ready to fight off the infection. Although that response can cause flu-like symptoms, thats actually a good sign and means the vaccine is doing its job. But at the same time, people who dont have side effects dont need to worry, Kassanoff said. A lack of side effects doesnt mean your body isnt responding to the shot. Ive seen people of all ages, some of whom got pretty significant achiness, low-grade fever, fatigue, she said. And then one of my partners, who is 50, had zero side effects from the second one. He was actually a little worried about it at first, but subsequently checked his antibodies and he responded just fine. It was just very interesting, you cant really predict it. Health experts are still learning more about why some people experience more intense side effects than others, but they say age and past exposure to COVID-19 are factors. One pattern that were consistently seeing is older people have less side effects than younger people. We dont really know why, said Katelyn Jetelina, an epidemiologist at the UTHealth School of Public Health in Dallas. The other pattern were seeing is those that have had COVID before and get the vaccine have more severe side effects. That makes sense because that means they have some level of immunity and the bodys recognizing the antibodies in that vaccine and reacting. Kassanoff said shes heard reports of COVID-19 long haulers, or people who have symptoms that linger long after they no longer test positive for the virus, having their symptoms somewhat resolve after theyre vaccinated. But health experts say the specifics of those trends arent known yet. I take care of whole families of people, like parents and adult children and all that kind of stuff, and everybody just has a completely different response, Kassanoff said. Even within the same family, even of roughly the same age, even of roughly the same genetics, sometimes people just respond more. That trend is not specific to the COVID-19 shot even with other vaccines, some people respond differently than others, she said. As more people get vaccinated, more information about the specifics of vaccine side effects will become known, health experts say. Although Jetelina said second-dose side effects may seem intimidating, people shouldnt let them discourage them from getting vaccinated. Its daunting, I will say, to sign up to get sick, she said. Not everyone gets sick and honestly the majority of people do not get sick, we just hear about these terrible people or cases where people do get sick. What I say is suck it up, take a Tylenol and take the day off and it will clear up. I promise you itll clear up. | https://www.dallasnews.com/news/public-health/2021/05/13/why-are-covid-19-vaccine-side-effects-sometimes-more-intense-after-the-second-dose/ |
Who Will Lions Defeat in 2021? | Despite the excitement surrounding the incoming draft class and the revamped roster working with a new coaching staff, the Detroit Lions are facing an uphill climb all throughout the 2021 season. According to CBS Sports, the Lions are tied for the sixth-toughest schedule based off of their opponents 2020 record. Their 2021 opponents averaged a .529 winning percentage last season. After combing through their schedule, lets explore who experts believe the Detroit Lions will defeat in 2021. Week 1 - San Francisco 49ers MLIVE "This feels like a winnable first game at home, likely in front of some hungry fans. It feels hard to imagine the 49ers blowing the pants off of anyone." Week 4 - Chicago Bears Detroit Free Press "We're still early enough in the season here that the Bears could be starting Andy Dalton at quarterback, or could be dealing with some Justin Fields growing pains. I don't think much of the Bears either way, so I'm making this Campbell's first win." Week 5- Minnesota Vikings Detroit News "Kirk Cousins enters his fourth season of not living up to expectations with Minnesota, yet the Vikings have won seven straight in the series. Sewell scores two touchdowns on end-zone fumble recoveries and the Lions get their first win." Week 6 -- Cincinnati Bengals MLive "Back at Ford Field against a team going through a rebuild of their own presents an opportunity to get back in the win column. Cincinnatis offensive line remains an issue despite those shiny offensive weapons." Detroit News "The Bengals JaMarr Chase sets a rookie receiving record with 329 yards, but Joe Burrow is sacked three times by Lions rookie Levi Onwuzurike (heretofore known as Levi). Center Frank Ragnow scores twice on fumble recoveries and the Lions are on a roll." Week 8 - Philadelphia Eagles Detroit Free Press "The Houston Texans are the early favorites for the No. 1 pick in the 2022 draft, but don't count out the Eagles." MLive "While its so easy to see how the Lions are building, Im still not quite sure what the heck Philadelphia is doing. The smart money is on Nick Sirianni to be a bust as head coach." Week 10 - Pittsburgh Steelers MLive "Pittsburgh has one of the leagues shakiest offensive lines protecting a quarterback who looks like hes about to fall apart. So of course they spent a first-round pick on a running back. Makes total sense." Detroit Free Press "Big Bens last season in Pittsburgh might turn out to be an abomination." Week 12 - Chicago Bears MLIVE "This one should be winnable 12 weeks into the season, with a clearer idea of what this team is, what works and what doesnt." Detroit News "The Lions have lost four straight on Thanksgiving, including twice to the Bears, which is humiliating considering Chicago has a history of starting Mitch Trubisky. Former Ohio State star Fields learns that November in Detroit is not nearly the same as November in Ann Arbor." Week 13 - Minnesota Vikings Detroit Free Press "I've got the Lions winning two NFC North games this fall, which is one shy of how many the Lions won in three seasons with Matt Patricia." MLIVE "On the back end of that two-game homestand, the Lions find a way to win for the second time in the division. The last time they did that: 2017." Week 14 - Denver Broncos Detroit Free Press "On the slim chance the Packers trade Rodgers to Denver before the season, I reserve the right to change my mind on this one." MLive "The Broncos werent very good last year, and I dont think theyre going to be very good this year either. Patrick Surtain is going to be awesome, but most rookie cornerbacks struggle first. Just ask Jeff Okudah." Week 16 - Atlanta Falcons Detroit News "The Lions took the right path in starting over, but heres a case for the opposite. The Falcons kept quarterback Matt Ryan, hired offensive whiz Arthur Smith and drafted tight end/receiver cyborg Kyle Pitts. No clue, but Im sure well judge it based on just one game!" | https://www.si.com/nfl/lions/news/who-will-lions-defeat-in-2021 |
Will Liz Cheney's would-be successor face a Republican rival? | Yesterday morning, House Republicans ousted Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) from her position as chair of the House GOP Conference, creating a vacancy in the party's leadership team. For now, Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) is the only announced candidate for the job, and she's secured endorsements from the top Republican leaders. All Stefanik has to do now is wait to see if any rivals step up. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) is backing the New York congresswoman, but he's also opened the door to a competitive process. [McCarthy] said he welcomes other Republicans who want to challenge Rep. Elise Stefanik (N.Y.) for the third-ranking spot in GOP leadership, but said he expects she has the support to win.... He added, "Anybody can run." McCarthy later reiterated that it was an open race, telling CNN reporter Ryan Nobles that "competition is good." Whether there will be any competition is unclear. Politico, citing "multiple Republican sources," reported yesterday that Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas), a Freedom Caucus member and former staffer for Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), is considering the leadership race, and may have an opening. The article said some conservative members have expressed concerns that GOP leaders are "moving too quickly to anoint" Cheney's successor. To that end, Roy sent a memo to every House Republican this week, making the case against elevating Stefanik to the #3 position in the GOP leadership. "We must avoid putting in charge Republicans who campaign as Republicans but then vote for and advance the Democrats' agenda once sworn in, he wrote, adding, "[W]ith all due respect to my friend, Elise Stefanik, let us contemplate the message Republican leadership is about to send by rushing to coronate a spokesperson whose voting record embodies much of what led to the 2018 ass-kicking we received by Democrats." In comments to reporters yesterday, the Texan added, "I don't believe there should be a coronation. I believe that if the leader wants us to be united, then he should take the time to do this the right way." If Roy is serious about seeking the position, he'll have to decide quickly: House Republicans have scheduled a forum for prospective conference chairs for this evening. Complicating matters a bit, the forum will be led by Rep. Mike Johnson (R-La. ), the vice chair of the House Republican Conference, who's already received some support as another possible Cheney successor. "I would proudly support Mike Johnson in the race for conference chair if he decides to run," Rep. Madison Cawthorn (R-N.C.) said this week. "He is a powerful conservative mind who is a happy warrior and the leader we need." It's very unlikely that Johnson would get the gig -- there's already a far-right Louisiana Republican in the House Republican leadership -- but the fact that there's even talk along these lines suggest some GOP members are still eyeing alternatives to Stefanik. In fact, a handful of notable House Republicans, including Colorado's Ken Buck and California's Tom McClintock, have said the New Yorker isn't conservative enough for them. If I were a betting man, I'd put money on Stefanik getting the job when House Republicans vote tomorrow on their new chair. But a lot can happen in a day. Postscript: For what it's worth, Chip Roy, unlike Liz Cheney, opposed the impeachment resolution against Donald Trump in January. That said, the Texas Republican did say on the House floor in January that he had a problem with Trump demanding that then-Vice President Mike Pence overturn the election on his behalf. "The president of the United States deserves universal condemnation for what was clearly, in my opinion, impeachable conduct, pressuring the vice president to violate his oath to the Constitution," Roy said at the time. I mention this, of course, because if pro-Trump forces are weighing their options, and Cheney's support for Trump's impeachment was a problem, Roy may yet have a related problem. | https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/will-liz-cheney-s-would-be-successor-face-republican-rival-n1267262 |
Can Elon Musks Bitcoin Betrayal Expose the Grift of Cryptocurrency? | Bitcoin, though lacking a marketing department, resembles a multi-level marketing scheme. Its a promise sold to the faithful, of great riches if only you investand invest again. As with an MLM, coiners recommend addressing adversitya decline in Bitcoins valueby recommitting to the program. Buy the dip, goes a common bit of advice, which serves as a half-ironic rallying cry when the market turns bear. (Weve heard a lot of buy the dip in the last eighteen hours.) Driven by celebrity hype, Bitcoin is also an excellent example of the Greater Fool theory, in which to make a profit you simply have to convince the next person to come along that your asset is worth more than what you paid for it. Another term for this might be a confidence game, a grift. Many coiners claim they are HODLing, or holding onto Bitcoin for the long term, meaning years or even decades, but treating the asset with this kind of generational reverence is another way of attempting to artificially infuse it with meaning and value. If you project the asset as rising in value into the endless future, then the only risk is not buying in soon enough. This is why Musks about-face is such a threat to the veritable house-of-cards thats been built to prop up the Bitcoin cult. (As if to confirm the importance of Muskand prominent influencersin the crypto market, the top 10 most traded cryptocurrencies all went into the red after Musks tweets.) | https://newrepublic.com/article/162387/bitcoin-price-cryptocurrency-mining-environment-elon-musk |
Are the Cleveland Indians a better team when Amed Rosario is playing center field? | Register for Indians Subtext to hear your Tribe questions answered exclusively on the show. Send a text to 216-208-4346 to subscribe for $3.99/mo. Paul Hoynes and Joe Noga discuss the possibilities in Thursdays podcast. Click here. We have an Apple podcasts channel exclusively for this podcast. Subscribe to it here. You can also subscribe on Google Play and listen on Spotify. Search Cleveland Baseball Talk Podcast or download the audio here. - New Indians face masks for sale: Heres where you can buy Cleveland Indians-themed face coverings for coronavirus protection, including a single mask ($14.99) and a 3-pack ($24.99). All MLB proceeds donated to charity. | https://www.cleveland.com/tribe/2021/05/are-the-cleveland-indians-a-better-team-when-amed-rosario-is-playing-center-field.html |
Who is George Kliavkoff, the new Pac-12 commissioner? | So you have no idea who George Kliavkoff is. Youre not alone. The new Pac-12 commissioner, who was appointed Thursday, has almost no experience in college sports, but sports fans, especially in the Pac-12, are familiar with his business. Among his wide-reaching responsibilities as MGM Resorts president of entertainment and sports, Kliavkoff oversaw operations for venues such as T-Mobile Arena and Mandalay Bay Events Center, which hosted the Pac-12 mens and womens basketball tournaments, respectively, this year. He sat on the board of BetMGM, one of the three largest U.S. sports betting companies. Advertisement Until MGM sold the Las Vegas Aces in 2021, Kliavkoff also served on the WNBA board of governors. The 54-year-old executive joined MGM in 2018 after serving as CEO of Jaunt Inc., a virtual reality start-up. His other roles included co-president at Hearst Entertainment & Syndication, chief digital officer at NBC Universal and executive vice president of business for Major League Baseball Advanced Media. Kliavkoff will be tasked with rebuilding Pac-12 credibility and directing its next TV deal after former commissioner Larry Scott who, like Kliavkoff, didnt have college sports experience before coming to the conference stepped down this year. Kliavkoffs appointment was supported by a unanimous vote of all Pac-12 presidents and chancellors. His five-year contract begins July 1. | https://www.latimes.com/sports/story/2021-05-13/who-is-george-kliavkoff-the-new-pac-12-commissioner |
How did Cowboys schedule release video compare to other NFL teams? | Every year, the NFL schedule release always brings some fun and exciting content in the form of promotional videos for every team. Dallas is no slouch in that conversation this year, pairing with platinum-selling artist and Cowboys fan Post Malone this year to make a short video where Jerry Jones is throwing out tickets like its money with the pop music star. The video also made sure to have some advertisements in it as well, flashing the SeatGeek logo a few times to make sure fans know where to buy their Cowboys tickets. Some teams included Hall of Famers, some made fun of their opponents for 2021. Watch all of the videos and decide if Dallas had the best promo. Dallas Cowboys https://twitter.com/dallascowboys/status/1392631044680081409?s=20 Denver Broncos https://twitter.com/Broncos/status/1392626927966425094?s=20 Carolina Panthers https://twitter.com/Panthers/status/1392627203083542536?s=20 Washington Football Team https://twitter.com/WashingtonNFL/status/1392627220926111753?s=20 New York Giants https://twitter.com/Giants/status/1392628482526568448?s=20 New York Jets https://twitter.com/nyjets/status/1392626895225692160?s=20 Baltimore Ravens https://twitter.com/Ravens/status/1392627608232288256?s=20 Cleveland Browns https://twitter.com/Browns/status/1392638928109412354?s=20 Cincinnati Bengals https://twitter.com/Bengals/status/1392626940985626627?s=20 Tampa Bay Buccaneers https://twitter.com/Buccaneers/status/1392626895192211458?s=20 Los Angeles Chargers https://twitter.com/Chargers/status/1392626956521246721?s=20 New England Patriots https://twitter.com/Patriots/status/1392628482945994752?s=20 Green Bay Packers https://twitter.com/packers/status/1392626948933832707?s=20 Houston Texans https://twitter.com/HoustonTexans/status/1392627350928560129?s=20 Los Angeles Rams https://twitter.com/RamsNFL/status/1392626903350054914?s=20 Kansas City Chiefs https://twitter.com/Chiefs/status/1392626895141867520?s=20 Story continues Buffalo Bills https://twitter.com/BuffaloBills/status/1392630846121725954?s=20 Pittsburgh Steelers https://twitter.com/steelers/status/1392630468886024199?s=20 Chicago Bears https://twitter.com/ChicagoBears/status/1392626895460605952?s=20 Arizona Cardinals https://twitter.com/AZCardinals/status/1392626995939344387?s=20 Miami Dolphins https://twitter.com/MiamiDolphins/status/1392627009709281286?s=20 Tennessee Titans https://twitter.com/Titans/status/1392626895204855811?s=20 San Francisco 49ers https://twitter.com/49ers/status/1392627544050978816?s=20 Seattle Seahawks https://twitter.com/Seahawks/status/1392626997180829697?s=20 Detroit Lions https://twitter.com/Lions/status/1392636309961908229?s=20 Indianapolis Colts https://twitter.com/Colts/status/1392630716014473218?s=20 Philadelphia Eagles https://twitter.com/Eagles/status/1392626912829349888?s=20 Minnesota Vikings https://twitter.com/Vikings/status/1392627360684515334?s=20 New Orleans Saints https://twitter.com/Saints/status/1392628231329693699?s=20 Jacksonville Jaguars https://twitter.com/Jaguars/status/1392631177836601345?s=20 Atlanta Falcons https://twitter.com/AtlantaFalcons/status/1392626905073999878?s=20 Las Vegas Raiders https://twitter.com/Raiders/status/1392627198507376640?s=20 1 1 | https://sports.yahoo.com/did-cowboys-schedule-release-video-174941664.html?src=rss |
How many violations will be enough for Gov. Wolf to pull the plug on Mariner East? | Sunocos Mariner East pipeline system spans 350 miles and 17 counties. The aim is to carry natural gas liquids from fracking areas in eastern Ohio and Western Pennsylvania to Marcus Hook, Delaware County, to be processed and exported. The pipelines route crosses through residential areas, near peoples homes a scary prospect considering that natural gas is volatile and explosive. Case in point: In 2018, the Revolution pipeline, also operated by Sunoco, exploded in Beaver County after being in service just a week, killing animals and forcing residents to evacuate. READ MORE: Sunoco failed to disclose some risks of Mariner East pipeline, was negligent in response to concerns, judge rules There is little reason for residents living close to Mariner East to feel confident this pipeline is safer. It has been riddled with violations since construction started in 2017. The state Department of Environmental Protections website lists 120 violation notices issued to Sunoco for this project, most for spills of drilling fluids that include unknown chemicals. Some spills were in residential areas, and others in areas designated as exceptional value wetland. The project also led to sinkholes on residential properties and cracks in a highway. Amid these risks, Sunoco has been less than candid with Pennsylvanians. A Public Utility Commission administrative law judge ruled in late April that the company failed to disclose the risks posed by a potential leak or rupture and was intentional and negligent in response to local concerns issues raised in a Spotlight PA investigation into emergency plans around the pipeline published last fall. In a statement to this board, a Sunoco spokesperson said: We are committed to safely completing construction of the Mariner East pipeline system while adhering to our permits and maintaining a focus on the safety of the environment, our people, and the communities through which we pass. READ MORE: Sunoco floats Mariner East 2 pipeline reroute plan to avoid more Marsh Creek Lake spills Yet those assurances have a hard time competing with the projects track record. A PUC judge found Sunoco negligent. The FBI launched an investigation into the states approval of the project, specifically whether Wolf administration officials pushed DEP staff to ignore shortcomings and approve construction permits. Attorney General Josh Shapiro and Delaware County are also investigating allegations of criminal misconduct related to Mariner East. Chester Countys district attorney put Sunoco on notice in court via a consent decree this year. State Sen. Katie Muth whose district includes Marsh Creek Lake, a drinking-water reservoir contaminated with thousands of gallons of drilling fluid from the project called on the DEP to pull Mariner East permits. The DEP itself acknowledged that trusting Sunoco has come back to bite us on numerous occasions. Sunoco has absorbed the millions in fines, violations, and remedy plans as the cost of doing business. Currently it doesnt look as if Pennsylvania has control over a project that could have detrimental effects for large swaths of the commonwealth. If it is not time to pull the plug on Mariner East now, the minimum that Gov. As risks mount, this answer is paramount to the safety of Pennsylvanians. | https://www.inquirer.com/opinion/editorials/mariner-east-ii-pipeline-sunoco-dep-permit-tom-wolf-lng-20210513.html |
What time and what channel is Ohio State footballs 2021 home opener against Oregon? | COLUMBUS, Ohio -- The Ohio State football team will face Oregon for the ninth time in program history when the Ducks come to Columbus on Sept. 11. The game will serve as the home opener for the Buckeyes and will have a noon kick-off as part of FOXs BIG NOON SATURDAY game of the week. OSU has won all nine games in this series with the latest being a 42-20 win in Arlington, Texas. That victory crowned the Buckeyes as the first national champion of the College Football Playoff era. Today on @TheHerd, FOX Sports' @mulvihill79 revealed an important weekend of programming this fall:@OhioStateFB hosts @oregonfootball on September 11 for @CFBONFOX Big Noon Saturday, followed that night by @Yankees at @Mets on FOX and Sunday's Week 1 @NFLonFOX doubleheader. pic.twitter.com/C1f5KUs7R4 FOX Sports PR (@FOXSportsPR) May 13, 2021 The game was initially part of a home-and-home series between the two programs with Oregon hosting the first game in 2020. But following the breakout of the coronavirus the Big Ten and Pac-12 canceled all non-conference games. Both conferences followed by canceling their seasons before reviving them later that fall. Ohio State went on to have a 7-1 record, win a fourth consecutive Big Ten title and reach the national title game before losing to Alabama. Oregon went 4-3 and closed out its season with a 34-17 loss to Iowa State in the Fiesta Bowl. This will be the seventh time the two teams have met during the regular season with all but one meeting being in Columbus. Neutral site games include the 2015 title game, the 2010 Rose Bowl and the 1958 Rose Bowl. - Fields Bears jersey: Ohio State football fans can purchase Justin Fields new Chicago Bears jersey here. Its available in white, blue and orange and in mens, womens and youth sizes. Theres also a cheaper T-shirt option. More Buckeyes coverage J.T. C.J. Saunders gets NFL opportunity in Atlanta mini camp Saunders joins The Spring League developmental program Top-rated 2023 RB Tre Wisner on why OSU is in top five: Recruiting Roundup | https://www.cleveland.com/osu/2021/05/what-time-and-what-channel-is-ohio-state-footballs-2021-home-opener-against-oregon.html |
Who are the Milwaukee Bucks likely to draw in the first round of the NBA playoffs? | With the NBA regular-season reaching the finish line, the Milwaukee Bucks still face a number of scenarios when it comes to playoff positioning. There are basically six potential first-round opponents, though if everything had stopped before Thursday's games, it would be the New York Knicks coming to Fiserv Forum for a first-round battle. Here's what's left to consider: What do the Bucks need to do to get the No. Winning out would help. Bucks remaining schedule: at Pacers (33-36), Heat (38-31) and at Bulls (29-40) Nets remaining schedule: Bulls (29-40), Cavaliers (22-48) The Nets lead the Bucks by 1 games, but if the teams wound up tied, Milwaukee would get the higher seed on tiebreaker. The Nets need to lose at least one of those two remaining games for the Bucks to catch up, and both games are in Brooklyn. The Bucks would need to win all three games to tie if Brooklyn dropped one. If Brooklyn dropped both, Milwaukee would need to win two of three. It's not over, but it's looking awfully likely that the Bucks are going to be the No. 3 seed (they've already clinched at least that much), which means they'll get paired with the No. 6. If the Bucks do match or bypass the Nets, they'd get the winner of the No. 7 or No. 8 seed game in the play-in tournament. That could be, at this point, the Celtics, Hornets, Pacers or (highly unlikely, but possible) Wizards. Isn't there a teeny chance the Bucks can still get the No. Yes, if they win out and Philadelphia loses its final three, plus Brooklyn has to lose once. Philly still gets to play Orlando twice so don't hold your breath. So who's likely to be the No. Three teams are battling for spots 4-6: Atlanta (39-31, with two games left), Miami (38-31, three games left) and New York (38-31, three games left). Yep, they're basically all tied up. Since Miami owns the head-to-head tiebreaker over New York and, everyone woke up Thursday with the Knicks as the sixth seed. But that could change by the day. The three teams are entangled when it comes to head-to-head tiebreakers, too. Atlanta has the edge over Miami. Miami has the edge over New York. But New York has the edge over Atlanta. If it's a three-way tie, the order goes Atlanta, Miami and New York. That's another indication that it could very well be the Knicks who face the Bucks in the first round. It's almost certainly not going to be Atlanta The Hawks' final two games are both at home against the Magic (21-48) and Rockets (16-54), two of the worst teams in the league. It would be stunning if Atlanta didn't win at least one, if not both. It certainly gives the Hawks a leg up to the 4-5 series, especially since they own the three-way tiebreaker. If they win both, they're guaranteed the No. 4 spot, leaving Miami and New York in the mix for 5 and 6. If they win one, they're only slightly at risk to become the No. 6; New York would need to win at least two of its three remaining games AND the Heat would have to win all three of theirs. The Knicks have three games remaining against the Spurs (33-36), Hornets (33-36) and Celtics (35-35), all at Madison Square Garden, but all against opponents who have playoff aspirations. So it's not going to come easily for New York. The Heat have a tougher road, hosting the 76ers (47-22), at the Bucks (44-25) and at the Pistons (20-50). Let's just assume the Heat win the last one; with a split of the 76ers and Bucks, the Knicks would then need to win out to finish ahead of Miami (since the Heat have the tiebreaker). Of course, a split is no guarantee against two of the top three teams in the East. So, if Miami finishes with that Pistons win but losses to Philly and Milwaukee, New York would only need to win two of three to finish ahead of the Heat. We should have a little more clarity by game time; the Bucks, Heat and Knicks will have all played an additional game by then. If the Bucks lose Thursday, they'll still have a chance at the No. 2 seed, but it's going to require four different outcomes to go right. So it's understandable if fans leery of the Heat after last year's playoff debacle surrender to the likelihood of a No. 3 seed and root for the outcome that keeps Miami out of the path. If the Heat lose to the 76ers on Thursday, then yes, that win against Milwaukee will be pretty important for Miami to stay ahead of New York (especially if the Knicks beat the Spurs on Thursday). In fact, if Philly beats Miami and New York beats San Antonio on Thursday, then a subsequent Milwaukee win over Miami would leave the Knicks needing just one win in their final two games to clinch a higher spot. The Bucks are 1-2 against the Knicks, but one of those losses came with a lineup that featured just one regular starter (Brook Lopez). The Bucks split two games on back-to-back nights with Miami, but that was back in late December. JR Radcliffe can be reached at (262) 361-9141 or jradcliffe@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @JRRadcliffe. | https://www.jsonline.com/story/sports/nba/bucks/2021/05/13/who-milwaukee-bucks-face-round-1-nba-playoffs/5073393001/ |
Does Liz Cheney really care about democracy? | Cheney was removed Wednesday from her position as Republican conference chair for repudiating former president Trumps Big Lie about the 2020 presidential election and blaming him for inciting the deadly Capitol insurrection on Jan. 6. Defiant to the end, the longtime congresswoman said she could not sit back and watch in silence while others lead our party down a path that abandons the rule of law and joins the former presidents crusade to undermine our democracy. Soldiers had chased away people who were lined up to vote, she said. A few hours later they came streaming back in, risking further attack, undaunted in their determination to exercise their right to vote. Her reminiscence was part of a larger point Cheney was making about standing up for democracy and the sanctity of voting. On the night before she was excommunicated from the House Republican leadership, Representative Liz Cheney of Wyoming recalled witnessing Kenyans gathered outside a schoolhouse-turned-polling-place in 1993. If Cheney really cares about democracy, she should fight against the GOPs aggressive voter suppression tactics. Advertisement She can start with her home state. Governor Mark Gordon of Wyoming last month signed a new voter ID law requiring acceptable identification for in-person voting. State Representative Chuck Gray, the bills sponsor, called it a necessary function . . . to provide our citizens with confidence that our elections are secure, fair, and valid. There isnt a lick of evidence that the last election was anything other than secure, fair, and valid. Of course, thats not stopping the passage of so-called election integrity laws to make it harder to vote, especially in Black and brown communities. This year, new restrictive voting measures have passed in 11 states, and there are dozens more that GOP officials hope will ultimately wind up with a governors signature. Advertisement Based on Trumps mendacious claim that the 2020 election was riddled with voter fraud, the Big Lie has gone viral in Republican-led legislatures, with lawmakers pushing extreme solutions to nonexistent problems. Buoyed by the GOPs cultish devotion to a one-term, twice-impeached former president, these measures threaten to disenfranchise democracy. After this nation suffered through a presidency built on deception, racism, grifting, and dictatorial aspirations, the bar is so low that Cheney is garnering praise for stating the obvious that President Biden won the election. Dont measure Cheney for that halo yet. This is the same woman who said that the FBI investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election sounds an awful lot like a coup and it could well be treason, echoing one of the former presidents favorite talking points. For four years, Cheneys House votes sided with Trumps position nearly 93 percent of the time. She voted against his first impeachment. She voted against police reform legislation. She voted against supplemental disaster relief for Puerto Rico. She supported Trumps ban on transgender people serving openly in the military. And when she could have defended democracy, Cheney opposed restoring some parts of the Voting Rights Act that were gutted by a catastrophic Supreme Court decision in 2013. One cannot stand for democracy and against protecting voting rights. Last month, Cheney did not support the For the People Act, a sweeping Democrat-sponsored bill that could expand voter registration and access. Throughout her political career, Cheney has been no more of a champion of democracy than the man whose thrall she is finally resisting. Advertisement She may reject Trumpism but not the cynical strategies of race-baiting and fomenting white fears that animated Trumps campaign and, as president, his assaults on democracy. Now expelled from her leadership role, Cheney said during a Today show interview Thursday, I wont let a former president or anybody else unravel the democracy. If she means it, she needs to do more than just rebuke Republican lies of voter fraud in the 2020 election. Recalling her visit to Kenya nearly 30 years ago, Cheney claimed she found communion with voters willing to risk their lives for democracy. Lets see if shell find that same fellowship with Americans whose most sacred right is being attacked by her own party. Rene Graham can be reached at renee.graham@globe.com. Follow her on Twitter @reneeygraham. | https://www.bostonglobe.com/2021/05/13/opinion/does-liz-cheney-really-care-about-democracy/ |
Why doesnt Boston have its own WNBA franchise? | In fact, no signs can be detected that Boston is anywhere close to landing a WNBA team, and thats even with the league expected to entertain expansion prospects next year and womens sports hitting whats perceived to be a growth spurt. Count it also as the 25th consecutive year that supposedly sports-crazy Boston is without its own WNBA franchise. Experts cite a couple of chief reasons: The WNBAs Connecticut Sun are too close at the Mohegan Sun casino in Uncasville (about 100 miles from Boston), and TD Garden is too big a venue and there is no suitable arena nearby. Advertisement Combine that with the lack of a sustained elite womens college basketball program that could help breed a loyal fan base. The WNBA hasnt even been given a chance to show whether it would fail in Boston. Thats a question thats yet to be answered in the affirmative at this point, said Warren Zola, executive director of the Boston College Chief Executives Club, a program of the Carroll School of Management. One would hope that the Boston market could support a professional womens team, and basketball probably has as much chance of success as any other sport. The WNBA is backed by the NBA. And while some of the 12 franchises are privately owned, theres little doubt the NBA is invested in the notion that whats good for the WNBA is also good for the NBA. That puts the Celtics ownership group, which has been in place since 2002, at the top of the list for most logical owners of a Boston WNBA franchise. But in a statement, the Celtics threw cold water on that logic: We remain greatly supportive of our friends and colleagues in the WNBA. We enjoy a close relationship with the Connecticut Sun, who do an excellent job providing a rich experience for fans of the womens game in New England. We are not considering hosting a WNBA team at this time, as we remain intently focused on bringing championships to Celtics fans. Advertisement Acquiring a WNBA franchise is among the options the Fenway Sports Group is exploring as part of its growth strategy, a source familiar with their thinking has said, but thats not at all an endorsement of a Boston team. FSG has been making noise about owning teams, but they seem to be after the high-margin opportunities, said Zola. Theres no obvious benefactor or investor I can see. The only other way to do a WNBA franchise here would be if the league itself decides to dedicate investment into the league. While the WNBA Finals and the womens NCAA Tournament saw growth in viewership from 2019 numbers, the average household rating in Boston, per ESPN, for both the Final Four and the WNBA Finals was 0.3, a very small showing Where a Boston team would play is a key component to the citys candidacy, and theres no perfect answer. With capacity at 19,000-plus for Celtics games, TD Garden would be too cavernous; average attendance for a WNBA game is less than 7,000. The Los Angeles Sparks lead the WNBA in attendance, averaging more than 10,000 per game over the last three seasons in the Staples Center; the upper deck is closed off, keeping capacity around 13,000. Advertisement If TD Gardens capacity were reduced for the WNBA, the other main concern would be availability. The short answer is, its available. Even though the early-summer start to the WNBA season could bump against the NBA and NHL postseason schedules, a TD Garden spokesperson said that any scheduling conflicts are surmountable, and that the facility is open to discussions. Playing in a smaller arena such as Conte Forum at Boston College or Boston Universitys Agganis Arena presents its own set of issues, with the schools having to weigh a lease agreement against the negative impact on student availability of their facility. An owner could always construct a new arena, but for a host of Boston-only real estate reasons, the chances of that ever happening are remote. Finding a spot in, say, the Route 128 belt would be relatively easier, but without mass transit and strong data to suggest WNBA fans would flock to it, that option seems a stretch. So does locating a franchise in either of Massachusettss next-biggest cities, Worcester and Springfield, each of which is significantly closer than Boston to Mohegan Sun. Luke Bonner, a former professional basketball player who now heads PWRFWD, an e-commerce platform that connects fans to athletes through apparel and other goods, does not buy Bostons near-apathy for college sports as an excuse. Advertisement I dont know how relevant that is, he said. There are some WNBA markets that dont have that, and you also see success in a market where theres no NBA team, like Las Vegas and Seattle. Everyones looking at not just the WNBA but womens sports at large right now as a high-growth industry. Its not just for social good or charity, its good business to be in womens sports right now. The US womens basketball and soccer teams are expected to again grab the spotlight and likely the gold in this summers Olympics, and the WNBA appears rejuvenated with new sponsorship and media-rights deals. Without citing specific markets where it could expand, WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert told reporters last month that the league will likely start the expansion conversation in earnest in 2022. If we have a very successful season this year, this time next year we can certainly start talking about what expansion would look like, how many, and the time frame over which that would occur, she said. Right now, the thought that those talks will generate a spark of interest from anyone around Boston is hard to imagine. Chad Finn of the Globe staff contributed to this report. Michael Silverman can be reached at michael.silverman@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter: @MikeSilvermanBB. | https://www.bostonglobe.com/2021/05/13/sports/why-doesnt-boston-have-its-own-wnba-franchise/ |
What Is the Average Grocery Bill? | Age/Gender Groups Thrifty Plan Low-Cost Plan Moderate-Cost Plan Liberal Plan Single Male: 19-50 years $44.90 $58.40 $72.90 $89.40 51-70 years $41.00 $55.10 $68.70 $83.00 71+ years $41.10 $53.90 $67.20 $83.10 Single Female: 19-50 years $39.80 $50.60 $61.90 $79.30 51-70 years $39.50 $49.30 $61.30 $74.20 71+ years $38.50 $48.50 $60.50 $72.90 Family of 2 (Male & Female) 19-50 years $93.20 $119.90 $148.40 $185.50 51-70 years $88.60 $114.80 $143.00 $172.90 Family of 4 (Male & Female age 19-50) Children 2-3 and 4-5 years $136.10 $174.30 $214.90 $265.90 6-8 and 9-11 years $156.20 $206.10 $256.70 $311.50 #tablepress-428 from cache Lets take a closer look at the moderate-cost plan figures. Image Via Dreamstime The average weekly cost of groceries for one adult is: $67 for those ages 19-50 $65 for those ages 51-70 Example: Let's say you're between the ages of 51 and 70 and your weekly grocery bill falls under a moderate-cost plan. A male would spend $68 a week. Meanwhile, a female in that same age group would spend just $61 a week, according to the USDA. For one child on a moderate-cost plan, you can add anywhere from $34 to $65 more a week onto your total depending on the childs age. Image Via Dreamstime The average weekly grocery bill for two people between the ages of 19 and 50 is $148, according to the USDA. For couples ages 51 to 70, you're spending $143, the agency says. If the couple has two children ages 2-3 and 4-5 years old, the household's weekly grocery total is $214 under a moderate-cost plan. If the two children are 6-8 and 9-11 years old, the total is $256, according to the USDA. Try this free grocery budget calculator. How To Lower Your Grocery Bill Food is an essential piece of every persons budget, but it doesnt mean there arent ways to save. Here at Team Clark we want you to scrutinize your spending to see if you can keep some of that money in your pocket. If youre interested in lowering your grocery bill, here are some ways to do it. 1. Many retailers will include a sales flyer near the front of the store or in grocery baskets. Better yet, visit the grocery store's website to see the sales flyer <em>before</em> you get to the store. That way, you can get a better idea of how to plan your grocery list based on what's on sale. 2. Compare Unit Prices Before you put a food item in your basket, take a look at the unit price and compare it to a similar item or another brand. Just because an item may come in a larger quantity doesnt necessarily mean that the cost per unit is cheaper. Along with comparing the unit prices of different sizes and brands as you shop, make sure you also: Compare the table of nutritional facts located on the side of the box or package. Look at the "good-by" and/or expiration date. Examine the condition of the package (damaged or dented?). If you bring the damaged container to the attention of a manager, you may get a break on the price of that item. 3. Use a Cash Back Credit Card Money expert Clark Howard says you should always use a credit card, if you can pay your balance in full every month. When it comes to groceries, you can save money by using a cash back credit card. Clark says you should read the fine print to find out how card issuers classify certain retailers who sell food as well as the cash back limits. Each card issuer has exclusions and limitations on the type of cash back you get. Its in the mice type, which is completely different from the colorful brochure you get from them, Clark says. Here are 20+ more ways to save money on your groceries. appeared first on Clark Howard. | https://www.ajc.com/news/what-is-the-average-grocery-bill/TNEUH75R25BZZNOPIQXUBPM5AA/ |
Is Xbox Series X Dolby Vision Gaming About To Give Even Cutting Edge TVs Another Big Headache? | If youve looked at the Xbox Series Xs 4K TV Details screen recently, you may have noticed something new on there. Where once there used to be a single check for whether your TV supported the premium Dolby Vision HDR format or not, now there are two separate, more specific Dolby Vision checks: One to show whether your TV can support Dolby Vision in 4K at 60Hz, and one to show whether your TV can support Dolby Vision in 4K at 120Hz. These new options, of course, reflect the fact that the new Xbox consoles are soon going to be getting support for Dolby Vision gaming. Excitement among gamers at another sign that this potentially great new feature is on its way has taken a bit of a knock, though, with the discovery that even the most cutting edge new gaming-friendly TVs dont seem to support Dolby Vision gaming at 4K/120Hz. The new Xbox consoles now check for Dolby Vision support at both 4K/60 and 4K/120 refresh rates. Photo: John Archer Particularly eye-catching among the TV models that are currently showing a not compatible cross against Dolby Vision at 4K/120Hz are LGs latest OLEDs. The South Korean brands OLED TVs have been ahead of the next-gen gaming curve since 2019s 9 series models, and theyve built on that reputation impressively with the ensuing 2020 X and new 2021 1 series models. Even though all LG OLEDs since 2019 have supported 4K at 120Hz and Dolby Vision separately, however, owners of 2020 and 2021 LG OLEDs are telling me that for some reason the Xbox Series X is currently saying that enjoying Dolby Vision and 4K/120 together isnt possible. (If anyone reading this can confirm the situation with 2019s 9 series OLEDs, please let me know via my Twitter account. Also, please contact me if you happen to have a TV that DOES show compatibility with Dolby Vision 4K/120Hz on the Xbox Series X 4K TV Details screen.) I can confirm that Sonys most gaming-friendly 2020 TVs, the XH9005s, cant. Though actually its long been known that Sonys TVs cant simultaneously support 4K at 120Hz and any sort of Dolby Vision from Xbox; its always been an either/or situation. So the red cross next to Dolby Vision at 4K/120Hz (and, actually, at 60Hz) on these TVs isnt a surprise. Dolby Vision support for gaming is coming to the new Xbox consoles soon. Photo: Microsoft Samsung doesnt support Dolby Vision on its TVs at all, of course, and were still waiting for new, more gaming-friendly 2021 models to arrive from the likes of TCL, Hisense, Vizio and (in Europe) Philips and Panasonic. But with these brands all really playing catch up with LG when it comes to gaming, it would be quite a coup if any of them ended up being able to deliver Dolby Vision at 4K/120Hz when LGs latest sets - on current evidence, at least - cannot. Its entirely possible, of course, that LG and other brands may be able to fix any Xbox Dolby Vision compatibility issues via a firmware update. Or maybe theres something Microsoft might be able to do at the console end to sort things out. As things stand, though, I cant help but remember the compatibility issues that occurred with a number of supposedly Dolby Vision-capable TVs when Dolby Vision was first added to Xbox Ones back in August 2018 (as covered in this earlier story). Hopefully this time round the story will have a more comprehensively happy ending. Keep an eye on my Forbes channel for more updates on the Dolby Vision on Xbox situation in the coming days. Related Reading Xbox Series X HDMI Bug Fix Announced For Denon And Marantz Receivers New PS5 System Update Fixes 4K 120Hz Issue With Samsung TVs PS5 Update Fixes Second Major 4K HDR Bug | https://www.forbes.com/sites/johnarcher/2021/05/13/is-xbox-series-x-dolby-vision-gaming-about-to-give-even-cutting-edge-tvs-another-big-headache/ |
Will Schools Requirement That Students Be Fully Vaccinated Against Covid Further Oppress Marginalized Students? | Stony Brook, N.Y.: Freshman Alana Gill receives the Moderna Covid-19 vaccine at Stony Brook ... [+] University on April 6, 2021. (Photo by Raychel Brightman/Newsday RM via Getty Images) Newsday via Getty Images As colleges and universities break for summer, many are also preparing to welcome students back in the fall and making the proper provisions for continuing the fight against Covid-19. One of the most recent precautions that some institutions have made is the requirement that students be fully vaccinated before returning to campus in the fall. Over the past month, only a handful of colleges and universities announced their new Covid vaccination policies, and now a growing list of other colleges have decided to follow suit. But this requirement has not come without controversy. Some are beginning to ask about accommodations that can be made for students who cannot get vaccinated due to religious or medical reasons. Or students who have opted not to take the vaccine as a personal choice. This week, New York states public colleges and universities have joined the list of private schools on the east coast to require that students be fully vaccinated before the start of the fall semester. On the west coast, the California State University and University of California school systems have also followed suit a decision that could impact one million students, faculty, and staff. According to Lynn Pasquerella, president of the Association of American Colleges and Universities, even more, institutions are likely to follow. As eligibility and access for Covid vaccines expands, schools must consider how a vaccine mandate can help higher education get back on track, Pasquerella said. However, critics of the requirement argue that colleges and universities should also consider how their new vaccine policies might impact student groups who already face marginalization. Today, 118 million Americans are fully vaccinated, which is about 36% of the population. Experts say those numbers will continue to rise significantly over the summer as vaccine enthusiasm continues to grow. However, certain groups of people will more than likely not get the vaccine due to religious or medical reasons. Other groups of Americans are choosing not to get the vaccine for various other reasons. A recent NPR/Marist poll found that one in four Americans said they would refuse a coronavirus vaccine if offered, and another 5% indicated that they were "undecided" about getting vaccinated. Several factors outside of pre-existing medical conditions and religion have caused some Americans to be less than enthusiastic about the vaccine. Side effects, safety, barriers, and lack of information and access are among other factors. A recent study found that Blacks and Latinos are more likely than whites to be concerned about missing work due to side effects and about having to pay out-of-pocket for the vaccine although it is free. Additionally, 45% of Latino adults say they do not have enough information about when they can get vaccinated. A similar number of Latinos have also shared that they are unsure whether they are currently eligible to receive the vaccine in their state although eligibility is now open to all U.S. residents. Other studies have shown Black and Latino people to be more skeptical of the vaccines than the overall U.S. population due to historic mistreatment in medicine. Previous incidents of egregious and heinous medical maltreatment, such as the Tuskegee Experiments, in which Blacks were used as guinea pigs in the name of medical advancement, have helped fuel the skepticism and distrust that many feel about the vaccine. Making matters worse, Blacks and Latinos continue to face various health disparities and exposure to racism in the healthcare system and with some medical providers. Yet and still, most medical experts continue to push for the vaccine and argue that getting vaccinated is the only way students can safely return to school and the fastest way for Americans to return to their everyday normal lives. "What most of us want is a safe return to something that looks more normal. That to me means 80% to 85%, vaccination," says Samuel Scarpino, who follows the coronavirus outbreak at Northeastern University. | https://www.forbes.com/sites/maiahoskin/2021/05/13/will-schools-requirement-that-students-be-fully-vaccinated-against-covid-further-oppress-marginalized-students/ |
Did Prince Harry Ask For More Privacy By Doing More Interviews? | INGLEWOOD, CALIFORNIA: In this image released on May 2, Prince Harry, The Duke of Sussex speaks ... [+] onstage during Global Citizen VAX LIVE: The Concert To Reunite The World at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California. Global Citizen VAX LIVE: The Concert To Reunite The World will be broadcast on May 8, 2021. (Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images for Global Citizen VAX LIVE) Getty Images for Global Citizen VAX LIVE Life in the spotlight can be difficult for many people, especially for those not born into it and didn't actively seek it out. Such is the case for Prince Harry, the Duke of Sussex, who this week compared royal life to "The Truman Show" or being an animal in a zoo. Despite the fact that he moved not to some remote corner of the world, but rather Los Angeles, the 36-year-old member of the Royal Family said in a recent interview, "I can actually lift my head, you can walk around feeling a little bit more free." Prince Harry made those comments on Dax Shepard's "Armchair Expert" podcast, while promoting his upcoming Apple TV+ mental health series with Oprah Winfrey, The Me You Can't See, which premieres next Friday, May 21. The Duke of Sussex also promoted his upcoming deal with Spotify. Harry's candid interview with Shepard was met by a mixture of support as well some strong criticism on social media. By Thursday afternoon, "Prince Harry" was trending on Twitter with nearly 20,000 tweets about the Duke of Sussex and wife Meghan Markle. Shepard (@daxshepard) was among those who praised Harry, writing, "Prince Harry. My Man flew an Apache in Afghanistan; one of a dozen surprises that left me respecting this intellectual, thoughtful human being. And watching @mlpadman react to him was once in a life time" Others expressed their feeling that his has always been a difficult life. "The beauty of a podcast is that you can hear the way it was said. Did you listen or did you read the media summaries. Side note: It is possible to love Prince Harry with the same heart that you love the Royal Family with," noted TV presenter Alex Beresford (@alexberesfordTV). However, many on social media took aim at the Duke of Sussex's calls for wanting privacy while so publicly sharing details of his private life and even for promoting his multiple media ventures. #theroyalfamily" "If he carries in like this, Harry's going to run out of material. And I'm not sure he's worked out that once his 'friends have mined him for all the material they can, he'll lose his lustre," wrote British TV presenter Colin Brazier (@colinbrazierGBN). The Brits could look forward to getting lectured on mental health, their feelings, higher values, of course race every day." Richard Fitzwilliams (@Rfitzwilliams) also called out the Duke and Duchess of Sussex as being somewhat phony, "Prince Harry swearing to 'pretend hes one of the lads' is unnecessary as 6th in line to throne, blasts royal expert. Too much swearing, too simplistic (just listen to Meghan's definition of a princess) & a public interview used for therapy. Really sad." However, it does need to be noted that Harry and Meghan have tried to transition to become social media influencers, but that doesn't mean they should lose all of their privacy. "Entertainers and other celebrities seem to think it is possible to both have a public and private life," explained technology analyst Rob Enderle of the Enderle Group. "The most successful at being private generally find they have to step away from public activities," said Enderle. "This is because you are trying to control when people are interested in you while decoupling the things that are causing that interest. So, I believe, if you truly want privacy, the only sure way to get it is to give up public life because you can't reduce the interest in your private life as long as you are driving interest in it through your public activities. The best way to assure privacy is to have a life out of the public eye." | https://www.forbes.com/sites/petersuciu/2021/05/13/did-prince-harry-asks-for-more-privacy-by-doing-more-interviews/ |
Whats the status of the DART Silver Line from Plano to DFW Airport? | After three decades of planning, Dallas Area Rapid Transits $1.2 billion Silver Line from southeast Plano to DFW Airport is set to open in summer 2023. Heres what you need to know about the 26-mile rail line. It was originally supposed to open in 2022. There were delays caused by manpower issues, construction schedules, DART spokesman Gordon Shattles told The Dallas Morning News this month. Those were the two big ones. In 1990, DART bought the Silver Lines route, the Cotton Belt Corridor, a 52-mile railway running between Fort Worth and Wylie. Building a DART route along the corridor was part of the agencys original transit plan. The ride from 12th Street in Plano to DFW Airport is 59 minutes, Shattles said. The Silver Line station will be at Terminal B, Shattles said, while the Orange Line station is located at Terminal A. Shattles said DART leases the Tarrant County section of the Cotton Belt Line to Trinity Metro, which operates the TEXRail line from DFW Airport to downtown Fort Worth. Shiloh Road in Plano 12th Street in Plano CityLine/Bush in Richardson UT Dallas Knoll Trail in Dallas Addison Downtown Carrollton Cypress Waters in Dallas, near Coppell DFW Airport North DFW Airport Terminal B The DART Silver Line plans to open in the summer of 2023. Shattles said the agency is constructing dual-sided walls to absorb sound, as well as using a train that he said is quiet to begin with. In addition to that, weve actually installed wheel skirts, a panel that actually covers the wheels, he said. Most noise on a train that goes by is the sound of the wheels making contact with the rail. The model, known as a FLIRT, or a Fast Light Intercity and Regional Train, is developed by a Swiss company called Stadler. The first FLIRTs in the U.S. were used on Tarrant Countys TexRail line, according to Metro Magazine. The company secured a $119 million contract with DART to assemble eight FLIRT trains as part of the Silver Line project, the magazine reported. The vehicles can hold 240 seated and 225 standing passengers. Related links Plano receives 16,000 feet of additional rail for DART Silver Line construction Addison gets all aboard DARTs new Silver Line with plans for $500 million project DARTs Silver Line from Plano to DFW Airport moves forward as rails arrive for construction As DART plans more work for Cotton Belt line, Far North Dallas residents continue pushback UT Dallas DART station in Richardson to feature 8-foot high sculpture of university logo DART receiving $229 million in CARES Act relief to boost operations during pandemic | https://www.dallasnews.com/news/transportation/2021/05/13/whats-the-status-of-the-dart-silver-line-from-plano-to-dfw-airport/ |
Did Tarrant water district directors violate open meetings law when they discussed manager? | The Tarrant Regional Water District, which supplies raw water and controls flooding, is looking for a new general manager. yyossifor@star-telegram.com The Tarrant Regional Water District may have violated the open meetings law by not providing clarity on why the board went into a closed door session during a special meeting, according a retired attorney who urged the board to discuss hiring a top executive in public. But legal counsel for the district contends no violation occurred. The board of directors are in the midst of selecting a new general manager to replace Jim Oliver, who is retiring after 30 years. Board president Jack Stevens has said he wanted to make that selection before any newly elected members are seated. On Tuesday the board met to certify the election, but not before spending a little more than an hour in executive session to deliberate on personnel matters, according to the agenda which did not note the position or personnel being discussed. Don Richards, a media law lawyer who teaches on the subject at Texas Tech, said there is no doubt the board violated the Texas Open Meetings Act if the general managers position was discussed during the closed door meeting. Texas courts have made it clear that discussion of high-level executive positions must be spelled out on agendas, even when the discussion is executive session, he said. Richards also provides legal counsel through the Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas hot line. When were talking about the top management positions, like superintendent of a school, football coach, the public has a high level of interest, Richards said. And the general manager of any authority would be in that category where they would should give specific notice. An attorney with the law firm that represents the water district said matters discussed during executive session could not be disclosed, but that the board absolutely did not violate the open meetings act. Obviously I am not at liberty to disclose the discussions at any executive session, but if, as and when the Board deliberates the selection of a new General Manager, it will be posted on the meeting notice, Lee Christie, an attorney with Fort Worth firm Pope, Hardwicke, Christie, Schell, Kelly and Taplett, wrote in an email. The board is overseeing the $1.17 billion Panther Island project, which would create an island north of downtown by cutting a channel between the Clear and West forks of the Trinity River. Board members previously decided to funnel questions about the hiring process through Leah King, who is on the search committee with fellow board member Marty Leonard. King, in an interview with the Star-Telegram, didnt provide specifics about the executive session, but confirmed the she and Leonard provided an update on the hiring process to the rest of the board. Jim Lane, a long time water district board member, told the Star-Telegram last week he didnt expect the board to vote on a new hire during the special meeting, but he did expect to talk about it during a closed-door session. I think in that executive session the search committee will tell us what their recommendation is and then then next week everybody will find out because its my understanding well vote in open session, he said at the time. Board member-elect Mary Kelleher, who ousted Stevens in the May 1 election, attended the meeting but was shut out of the executive session because she has not been sworn in. Austin-based Lehman Associates, the firm conducting the search for a new general manager, was asked to updated Kelleher on the process, King said Two speakers raised concerns about the vague agenda item, but the board moved into executive session anyway. Jackee Cox, calling into the meeting, said the cloudy nature of the executive session was frustrating. She pointed the the Texas Attorney Generals Open Meeting Handbook and said it was clear the board needed to note if the discussion would be on the general manager position. Cox, a retired lawyer, noted that during the recent campaign multiple board members committed to improving transparency at the water district. She asked the board to refrain from discussing hiring a replacement for Oliver until proper notice could be given to the public. Former state Rep. Lon Burnam called in to support her comments. I do ask that you be sensitive going forward to the fact that you are elected officials, and theres supposed to be a channel of open communication between you and the public when you get ready to do something of the magnitude of hiring an executive director, Cox said. Cox told the Star-Telegram after the meeting she hoped the Tarrant Regional Water District would move beyond sloganeering about transparency and become more open to the public. She contrasted the hiring of the water district general manager to Fort Worths recent process for hiring a new police chief. The city made a short list of finalists public, along with their backgrounds and conducted public forums with the candidates. The water district has not done that. Regarding any potential open meetings act violation, Richards said there likely wasnt much that could be done. If they board had discussed the general manager behind closed doors and then voted on a replacement, an interested party could sue to block the hiring, he said, but the board took no action. King told the Star-Telegram she understood the concerns of the callers who spoke Tuesday. The board will likely be altering the process for how agenda items are worded after Kelleher is sworn in, she said. Stevens, as the board president, and legal counsel work with staff on agenda wording, but in the future, King said, it is likely the whole board would have input. We all know for sure is that there will be a lot of change, King said, adding latter: Im pretty confident that the way that processes worked just over the recent past will likely be updated anyway just, if nothing else, by virtue of having, you know, a new person in that seat. | https://www.star-telegram.com/news/politics-government/article251364533.html |
How will the underachieving Sharks return to relevance next season? | Doug Wilson said the Sharks are done with the pain, and promised next season will be different. The general manager explained he has three necessary ingredients young players, draft picks and salary-cap space to move past this seasons 21-27-6 re-set and put a competitive team back on the ice. Fans of San Joses hockey team, who are not used to missing out on the playoffs, are saying its about time. This team has some really good core pieces, Wilson said. Absolutely. Where players are today might be different where theyre at in September and October. Were not as far away as people think. Now its time to get real. In the wake of having missed the playoffs in back-to-back years for the first time since 1996-97, here are some of the questions and issues the Sharks must answer and address in the offseason: Q. A. No. Plattner giving the OK to the re-set plan before last summers NHL draft meant Wilson would continue in the role hes held since May of 2003. Jeff Chiu/Associated Press Q. A. No. Wilson was over-the-top complimentary of Boughner and his new staff. And Wilson should be. In his first full season as head man, Boughner installed a system, followed managements orders to give youth experience and did it all during a pandemic that forced the team to train in Arizona and play 14 of its first 16 games on the road. Q. A. Wilson said goaltending and acquiring a third-line center. We will explore all avenues to improve goaltending. This being an expansion year we believe there will be a pool of goaltenders available when we decide to add one. An experienced No. 3 center will take defensive minutes away from Logan Couture and Tomas Hertl to allow the pair of top pivots more energy for offensive situations. Q. A. No chance. The final straw was three late (stoppable) goals allowed on May 3 that turned a two-goal lead into an overtime loss to Colorado. Predictably, Jones never played again. On Wednesday Jones said, I played a lot of good hockey. I sort of came undone a little bit toward the end of the season, but I did play a lot of good hockey. For me I just have to find a way to be a little more consistent. Thats right, he said he played good hockey not once, but twice. Jones, 31, has posted three straight sub-.900 save percentage seasons and has four years left on a bad contract. There will be a new No. 1 next year. Q. A. Not in teal. Lets face it, he did the team a favor by providing a Hall-of-Fame example to the young players and played all over the lineup without complaint. San Jose showed loyalty and respect by allowing Mr. Shark to play every night and break Gordie Howes record when his spot could have gone to a younger skater. Ethan Miller/Getty Images Q. A. Winger Alexander Barabonovs play-making skill, the tenacity of forward Rudolfs Balcers, goalie Josef Korenars penchant to battle, the shot of forward John Leonard and forward Jeffrey Viels toughness. A. Unrestricted Matt Nieto will probably re-sign while UFAs Marcus Sorensen, Greg Pateryn, Kurtis Gabriel and Marleau likely wont be offered deals in San Jose. Of the nine restricted free agents, only forward Ryan Donato might be cast aside. Q. A. Evander Kane putting off-ice bankruptcy issues aside to be the teams leader in goals (22) and points (49) while displaying emotional engagement nightly. Of the 13 rookies, defenseman Nikolai Knyzhov clearly established himself as an NHL regular. Second-year blue liner Mario Ferraro took another step. And the early-franchise retro look was back, the best jerseys the franchise has worn. Jeff Chiu/Associated Press Q. A. Besides Jones goaltending, winning faceoffs were a problem. The Sharks ranked 24th at 48.4%. More is needed offensively from forwards Timo Meier, Kevin Labanc, Couture and defensemen Erik Karlsson. More defensive consistency is needed from Marc-Edouard Vlasic and Radim Simek. Q. A. Its been 20 years since the power play finished as low as 14%. Hard to believe when offensively-gifted defensemen Brent Burns and Karlsson are quarterbacks. Penalty-kill success (80.4%) plus PP (14.1%) equals less than the desired century mark. And lets hope weve seen the last of empty stands and Zoom interviews. Ross McKeon covers the Sharks for The San Francisco Chronicle. Twitter: @rossmckeon | https://www.sfchronicle.com/sports/sharks/article/How-will-the-underachieving-Sharks-return-to-16175335.php |
How Green Is Tesla, Really? | Elon Musk, Chairman, CEO and Product Architect of Tesla Motors. (Photo by Visual China Group via ... [+] Getty Images/Visual China Group via Getty Images) Visual China Group via Getty Images On May 13, Elon Musk said Tesla would no longer accept bitcoin because of its heavy energy consumption. Yet the company ranks well behind General Motors and Ford in reporting carbon emissions and setting carbon-reduction targets. Those concerned with the fate of the planet have long lauded Tesla for its efforts To accelerate the worlds transition to sustainable energy. The company says that the faster the world stops relying on fossil fuels and moves towards a zero-emission future, the better. While founder and CEO Elon Musk caused alarm among environmentalists in early 2021 by endorsing bitcoin, whose annual carbon emissions are equivalent to that of a small country, he reversed this position with a tweet on May 13. Responding in part to a tweet from the Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance calling bitcoins energy usage insane, Musk said that Tesla would no longer transact in bitcoin because of its heavy reliance on fossil fuels and its great cost to the environment. There is no denying that Tesla has disrupted the auto industry by making exclusively electric vehiclesand maybe more importantly, by making them sexy. When the Model 3 was released in 2017, corporate elites and tree-huggers alike put their names on the wait list. Tesla succeeded in electric cars where its American competitors, General Motors and Ford, had failed. But Teslas story about being green is not as black-and-white as it may seem. A recent study conducted by Arabesque (not publicly available) found that the car company is among the 15% of the worlds largest companies, across 14 indices, that do not disclose their overall greenhouse-gas emissions. General Motors and Ford, meanwhile, are far more transparentabout both the emissions they create in making their vehicles and their targets for reducing those emissions. Arabesques Research Arabesque is an asset-management company that uses ESG (environmental, social and governance) and sustainability criteria in allocating capital. It argues that ESG policies signal the strength of a companys strategy, corporate purpose, and management qualities. In terms of carbon emissions, Arabesque expects corporations to report two pieces of data: Specific and separate numbers, in tonnes, for Scope 1 (direct) and Scope 2 (indirect, owned) emissions across all its operations Clear carbon-reduction targets The data must also be from a reporting period within the past two years in order to be considered sufficiently timely. Arabesque believes that disclosing these specific data and targets allows company executives to be held accountable by shareholders and climate activists, as well as raising awareness among company employees and prompting them to actively seek ways to reduce carbon. I was too. Tesla Lags Behind Ford and GM in Disclosure and Targets Arabesque ranked Tesla well behind Ford and General Motors (GM)two of Teslas fiercest American competitors, which have built their success on carbon-intensive combustion engines. Tesla shows its carbon emissions in graphs, which means they do not disclose the exact numbers. As well, they do not offer details, such as Scope 1 or Scope 2 emissions, or the percentage of operations that these graphs cover. Whats more, the companys data are not timely: the figures in its 2019 report are for 2017. The company also has failed to commit to carbon targets, making its decision to trade cars for the energy-intensive bitcoin an understandable oversight. GM and Ford, on the other hand, are willing to air their dirty laundry. Not only do both companies disclose their carbon emissions, they have also set ambitious targets to get to net-zero carbon. General Motors uses science-based targets and plans to be carbon-neutral in products and operations by 2040. It will offer only electric vehicles by 2035. To get there, the company is investing an additional $27 billion in autonomous and electric-vehicle research and development, over and above what it invests in gas and diesel vehicles. Ford also uses science-based targets and plans to be carbon-neutral by 2050. Further, it offers very specific targets for its Scope 3 emissions (the emissions related to its products, such as their cars). It too also plans to invest heavily in electrification: $22 billion through to 2025. Staying silent on its carbon emissions helps Tesla dodge public scrutiny of lapses in its ESG. In 2018, for example, the company was fined $139,500 by the Bay Area Quality Management District because of malfunctioning burners at its Fremont plant that had emitted high levels of nitrogen oxide between 2013 and 2016. As well, the Environmental Protection Agency is currently investigating Tesla for failing to provide records demonstrating compliance with certain requirements under the applicable National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants under the Clean Air Act of 1963, as amended, relating to Surface Coating of Automobiles and Light-Duty Trucks regulations. Carbon Commitments Versus Low-Carbon Business Models Granted, even though Tesla does not disclose the specifics of its carbon emissions, it has disrupted the auto sectors reliance on combustion engines. And the company is seeking not to just move a single part of the transportation industry, but the entire transportation and energy ecosystem. For example, Tesla provides both businesses and homeowners an opportunity to generate solar energy through solar panels and store them in a Powerwall battery. Tesla also claims to be seeking to extend its battery life and ensure they are recycled responsibly. Remarkably, it has also opened up its patentsa bold move in an industry that works hard to protect its intellectual capital in order to capitalize on research-and-development investments. Despite all these positiveeven revolutionarymoves, Teslas lack of transparency regarding its carbon emissions and targets should raise questions about its commitment to a sustainable future. As much as we all love a good story of the maverick that disrupts the way we do things, we need to take a long breath before we say that Tesla is deep green. If Tesla is truly committed to low carbon emissions, it should, at the very least, be willing to report them. If it had done so, maybe it wouldnt have committed to using bitcoin in the first place. | https://www.forbes.com/sites/timabansal/2021/05/13/how-green-is-tesla-really/ |
Will Mycah Pittman establish himself as Oregon Ducks primary Z receiver? | With spring practice over, The Oregonian/OregonLive is reviewing Oregons depth chart position by position. We continue the 25-part series by looking at the Z receivers. The receiver position that saw the most fluctuation in the spring was the Z receiver. Jaylon Redds foot injury forced some pieces to move around and Mycah Pittman, who spent more of last season outside, was more in the slot. Johnny Johnson III, who can play either outside spot, saw a lot of time at Z with Devon Williams at X. This is all to say that while Oregon has options at the top of the depth chart at both outside spots and depth at Y as well, its not totally settled at this point. Post-spring depth chart Mycah Pittman: 5-foot-11, 200 pounds, sophomore OR Johnny Johnson III: 6-foot, 199 pounds, senior Donte Thornton: 6-foot-5, 185 pounds, true freshman OR Josh Delgado: 5-foot-11, 190 pounds, sophomore Isaah Crocker: 6-foot-2, 180 pounds, redshirt-sophomore Mario Cristobals take Mycah Pittman has had a great spring. We move him around a lot Mycahs a smart guy; you can put him in different spots. Oregon wide receiver Mycah Pittman (4) runs as Iowa State defensive back Datrone Young (2) defends during the first half of the Fiesta Bowl NCAA college football game, Saturday, Jan. 2, 2021, in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri)AP Co-starter Pittman was limited to just eight catches for 123 yards in just four games of real action last season and over two years hes still played in just 12 games. Yet hes probably the Ducks receiver with the highest upside in terms of NFL potential. He has great hands, not withstanding an uncharacteristic few drops in the spring game that he apologized for unprompted. Pittmans potential is huge. Hes versatile, agile, has a good game IQ, quick and runs good routes. His lack of experience comes out at times though, whether in run blocking see the Cal game last season or his lack of consistent production, which isnt entirely his own fault. In a crowded receiving corps, Pittmans ability to play both Z and Y will help him see the field more. But his greatest opportunity for production may still be a year away. Oregon wide receiver Johnny Johnson III (3) pulls in a catch next to Arizona State's Chase Lucas during the first half of an NCAA college football game Saturday, Nov. 23, 2019, in Tempe, Ariz. (AP Photo/Matt York) APAP Co-starter Johnson can play anywhere Oregon needs him. In the spring, he, Williams and Pittman were the top three on the field. When Redd gets back the rotation will change from play to play and all four can take the field in four-wide sets. But if Williams is going to assert himself as the lead X, and hes built to do that, Johnson is going to be on the move. Establishing a consistent role for him before the season will be key or hell run the risk of erratic target numbers from week to week like what happened last season. Oregon freshman wide receiver Josh Delgado (#83) secures the ball after a catch as the Ducks hold their fifth practice of fall football camp in Eugene, Oregon on Wednesday, Aug. 7, 2019. Sean Meagher/Staff Next wave Donte Thornton and Troy Franklin both showed theyre capable of making immediate impacts. Thornton began at the Z position in the spring and had three catches for 89 yards with a 44-yard touchdown during the spring game. Both freshmen will have work to do to see the field for more than 15 plays per game in the early going but as the season goes on theres no question they might be able to ascend. Josh Delgado can play Z or Y and depending on where Pittman is lined up, might be best fit for the slot. Isaah Crocker has been at the bottom of the receiver depth chart for quite some time, but he made the most of his opportunities in the spring. Having said that, hes seemingly slipped behind multiple players who are younger than him and thats never an easy place to be. Summer arrivals Isaiah Brevard will arrive in the summer and will likely open in the slot at the Y position. Quotable Its been really good to see those young guys come in and be able to compete right away and do well in those situations. Obviously they still have a long way to go. Thats something that we constantly work on in our room, to go out there and be able to beat man to man, especially in those critical situations, because thats what youre going to be called to do at the receiver position. - receivers coach Bryan McClendon | https://www.oregonlive.com/ducks/2021/05/will-mycah-pittman-establish-himself-as-oregon-ducks-primary-z-receiver.html |
Does Zdeno Chara know inside information that could beat the Bruins? | Not really any schematic secrets you can try, John Carlson, the Capitals top offensive defenseman, said early Thursday afternoon after practice. WASHINGTON On-ice secrets are few in the NHL, perhaps scarcer than ever this season, what with the schedule pared by roughly one-third to 56 games. The Bruins and Capitals will face each other for a ninth time since Jan. 30 when they face off here Saturday night in Game 1 of the playoffs. Advertisement Nonetheless, the Capitals will enter the series with their resident 6-foot-9-inch Bruins cheat sheet, Zdeno Chara, hired this season after 14 years 1,023 games, and 1,001 practice sessions (give or take a maintenance day) on the Boston backline. Big Z stands tall possibly as the Capitals one-man secret decoder ring. Chara saw it all in Boston. Big Z, for years considered an extension of the Boston coach staff, knows every nuance, every subtlety in the Black and Gold lineup. And now hes on the other side. His other-side-of-the-wall intel was one of the inherent risks when the Bruins let Chara walk as a free agent, convinced their lineup didnt have enough work to keep the former Norris Trophy winner busy. In the proud Charas universe, it was akin to the moon being told it no longer held sway over the oceans tides. You probably could have guessed it was going to play out this way, said former teammate Brad Marchand, who joined the Bruins amid Charas fourth season in Black and Gold. Obviously it adds another story line to the series. According to Marchand, he witnessed Chara sharing Bruins-specific traits with Capitals teammates during the clubs regular-season matchups. Chara, Marchand said, knows what the Bruins do on certain plays and knows all the code names that we use. Advertisement You could see him talking to the guys about the plays we were going to do, added Marchand. So it definitely can cause some challenges at times, but its the playoffs, youve got to work through that just another element of the series that will make it fun and entertaining. Whatever Bruins wisdom he can impart on his red-white-and-blue teammates, Charas game alone has spoken volumes here in the District. The Bruins told him he would not dress in the season-opening lineup and he would be spotted in (maybe) as needed in a No. 7 or 8 reserve role. Yeah, hold my pilsner, the Slovak star no doubt muttered to himself as he drove out of the North End at the end of December to begin his late-in-life kick at the Cup. Teamed here all season with No. 3 partner Nick Jensen, Chara played in all but one regular-season game for coach Peter Laviolette, averaged a healthy 18:19 in ice time, and led the club with an average 2:41 on the penalty kill. Same ol Z, albeit the age-44 version, relying ever more on his expansive wingspan and abundant situational smarts than whatever youthful jazz there is left to squeeze out of his tall oak legs. I think hes delivered everything he said he was going to do, Laviolette said in a recent Zoom session. He was going to come here and he was going to be a factor on the ice. He was going to be a positive influence in the locker room, a leader in the locker room. He was going to lead by example by the way he lives his life the way he plays the game and prepares for the game. At no point has he disappointed us in what hes delivered this year. Advertisement Mike Milbury, the general manager on Long Island when Chara broke into the league as an Islander only after the invention of the wheel, is not one to believe that Big Zs dossier full of Boston intel can have a significant impact on the series. I suppose if theres anything he can give them, mused Milbury, the ex-Boston blue liner, coach and assistant GM, its maybe how to push somebodys button, like, say, how to get under Marchands skin, or something like that. More significant, believes Milbury, is what the Trencin Tower of Power can still deliver on the ice. I mean, [Patrice] Bergerons been around the league a long time, people know him. People know Marchand. People know [David] Krejci, said Milbury. I doubt theres any secrets he can reveal that you cant see on a videotape. But I think his presence as a leader in the locker room and his presence on the ice, as a big body that can shut people down, is much more important that any kind of leaks that he might provide. NBCs Pierre McGuire disagrees. He believes Chara can inform teammates about fixed plays off faceoffs, as well as penalty-killing and forechecking schemes. In the loser-goes-home-for-good playoffs, McGuire believes any tidbit is helpful. Advertisement He knows everything about Krejci and Bergeron and Marchand, noted McGuire, whose ice-level post allows him close-up scrutiny of every players move. Hell have tendencies to give to the defensemen in particular, about moves they like to perform or different ways they attack the net. Now, obviously he wont know as much about Taylor Hall or about Craig Smith, but hell know a lot about the rest of that lineup. McGuire recalled his one season (1991-92) on the Penguins staff, when coach Scotty Bowman would plumb roster players for info on their old teams. Sometimes it bore fruit and sometimes it didnt, McGuire said. But I would say in Charas case, because of the longevity of the player, the leadership abilities of the player, and the fact that he was an extension of the Boston coaching staff for years, I think that makes him very valuable to the Washington Capitals in this series. Bruins president Cam Neely playfully scoffed at Marchand noting that Chara knew Bruins code words on the ice. Theres no code words! said a chuckling Neely. Nonetheless, Neely acknowledged, the Bruins are well aware of the years Chara logged in the Hub of Hockey and that he knows some tendencies. Also on the flip side, guys certainly know how Zdeno is going to play and what to expect from him, added Neely, and how to exploit that a little bit, as well. Advertisement Factored into the Bruins telling Chara that they viewed him as a part-timer was the fact that he had slowed. No one in the organization doubted his toughness, his will, his reach, his want. But organizationally they wanted to push the pace from the back end, feeling it was high time to draw rookies Jeremy Lauzon and Jakub Zboril into the mix. Lauzon and Zboril, left shots like Chara, proved to have their fits and starts. In large part to patch over their deficiencies, general manager Don Sweeney was forced to hire Jarred Tinordi (via waivers) and Mike Reilly (via April 12 trade) to fill the void that would not have been there had Chara simply been made to feel more needed during offseason talks. Meanwhile, Chara played with standard metronomic efficiency with his new team, the Caps needing to suit up only eight blue liners all season. The scrambling Bruins were forced to suit up a bakers dozen, with their newbies clearly needing more time in the oven. Milbury, channeling a bit of Neely, figures the Bruins can try to make use of their intel on Chara in this series. They know hes a touch slower Milbury: No surprise at his age and they know he can be forced into tough situations on stickhandling plays deep in his zone, in the corner, along the rear wall. No one 6-9, with a stick longer than Tom Wilsons rap sheet, wants to be stuffed into a phone booth. I dont know if pounding him is going to make any kind of a difference, said Milbury, eschewing the idea of trying to wear down Chara down with heavy hits off dump-in plays. But you know his assets, his size, is also a little of a liability occasionally when you get on him quickly, because its tough for him to maneuver. So putting pressure on him is always something I would have suggested. Get to him fast. Make him try to move the puck. The puck is about to drop on the playoffs. The Bruins and Chara, for years as intertwined as the spokes and B on the iconic Boston logo, have gone their separate ways. Now the divorce decree becomes official, amid some parting icy stares and a few muttered secrets. Kevin Paul Dupont can be reached at kevin.dupont@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @GlobeKPD. | https://www.bostonglobe.com/2021/05/13/sports/does-zdeno-chara-know-inside-information-that-could-beat-bruins/ |
Are Israel and Palestine on the brink of another war? | Oliver Holmes, the Guardians Jerusalem correspondent, talks to Rachel Humphreys about the violence that has broken out between Israel and Palestine. In recent weeks there has been a sharp escalation in anger over Israels half-century occupation, its ever-deepening military grip over Palestinian life and a wave of evictions and demolitions. In Jerusalem, hundreds of Palestinians have been wounded in near-nightly protests that escalated over the weekend and spread to other areas of Israel and the occupied West Bank. Following weeks of intense violence in Jerusalem, Hamas, the Islamist group that holds power inside Gaza, fired a barrage of rockets towards Jerusalem on Monday evening. Since then, it has launched hundreds more at Israeli towns nearby, and Israel has conducted dozens of airstrikes, including hits on residential buildings. More than 80 people, including at least 17 children, have been killed in Gaza, according to the health ministry. In Israel, seven people, including two children, have been killed. Israels political leaders have said violent street clashes between Jews and Arabs inside the country pose a bigger threat than the escalating military conflict with Gaza. Despite international calls for calm, there are fears that Israel and Palestine are on the verge of another war. Archive: CNBC; Twitter; Kan - Israel Public Broadcasting; Al Jazeera; BBC News; CN International; The Sun; Global News; DW News; Sky News; Ruptly; NBC News; TPS; Daily Mail | https://www.theguardian.com/news/audio/2021/may/14/are-israel-and-palestine-on-the-brink-of-another-war |
Would 2020 Mizzou have a better record against original schedule? | I think the D-line needs another consistent force to emerge. Trajan Jeffcoat sure showed signs last year of being one of the league's best edge rushers. They could use a rebound year from Kobie Whiteside inside. Maybe one or both of the juco D-linemen emerges. As for the secondary, any regular chatter knows I'm high on Martez Manuel. He's got a chance to be one of the SEC's most productive safeties no matter where they line him up. JC Carlies seemed to make a strong first impression on the staff when they moved him from corner to safety. There's a lot to like about Ennis Rakestraw at corner. I expect him to be a much better player as a sophomore. I figured Jadarrius Perkins would be the favorite until he transferred - as long as Jarvis Ware is still recovering from his injury - but Ish Burdine, Chris Mills or one of the freshmen could make a move in camp to lock down that job. I havent been able to find a ton of info on them. | https://www.stltoday.com/sports/subscriber/would-2020-mizzou-have-a-better-record-against-original-schedule/article_270703b4-0238-5c53-a6fc-760e446a7a93.html |
Is AstraZeneca obsolete in Newfoundland and Labrador? | As recently as a week ago, AstraZeneca vaccine clinics for anyone aged 55-64 in Newfoundland and Labrador were being booked solid almost as fast as they could be announced. On Wednesday, that all stopped. Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Janice Fitzgerald said the province will no longer offer AstraZeneca unless its specifically indicated for those who have an allergy to the contents of the two available mRNA vaccines, Pfizer and Moderna. It came as a backdoor announcement, a response to a reporters question after Fitzgerald had announced the immediate expansion of the mRNA vaccination program to anyone over 40. Given that were able to open up mRNA to those younger than that age group, we will not be offering AstraZeneca for first doses at this point, she replied. Certainly, we will still have some doses on hand for people who may not be able to receive an mRNA vaccine or choose not to, but by and large, right now, the evidence supports using an mRNA vaccine in that age group. The age limit to book vaccines drops to 30 and above on Friday, followed by a totally open invitation Monday for all eligible residents 12 and above to book a vaccination. It appears the move to the final phase of vaccinations will arrive at least a week earlier than expected, and Fitzgerald said the province is still expected to hit the target of one shot in every willing arm by Canada Day. AstraZeneca has had a bumpy ride from the beginning. It got especially rocky when some European countries started noticing a few cases of a rare condition called thrombotic thrombocytopenia, an odd combination of blood clots and a low platelet count that can be very serious. An estimated two in five sufferers have died from it. By March, advisory committees in Europe and North America concluded the connection is real, and the condition became known as vaccine-induced thrombotic thrombocytopenia (VITT). Most provinces in Canada still offered it to varying degrees, citing the fact that only about one in 100,000 people ever come down with the condition. In May, however, the National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI) issued a controversial recommendation that anyone who can afford to should wait for the preferred mRNA vaccines. Provinces soon fell like dominos. Alberta explained that supply was the main issue it was halting first doses. Fitzgerald revealed it as an afterthought, saying the quick move to full eligibility for mRNA shots essentially made AstraZeneca obsolete. On Tuesday, Ontario officials were perhaps a little more forthright in saying the VITT risk was an important factor. There are increasing indications that the answer to that is no, unless you prefer it. Canadas chief medical officer Dr. Theresa Tam says studies show that mixing vaccines is a viable option. Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Early indications are looking favourable towards use of an mRNA vaccine if you had a first AstraZeneca vaccine, Tam told CTV News this week. Well be providing advice, hopefully hearing from the National Advisory Committee on Immunization shortly. It may sound at first like a potential toxic brew, but it has been done with other vaccines. As Kezia Parkins wrote in Clinical Trials Arena last month, most experts describe vaccines as vehicles delivering cargo. In the case of SARS-CoV-2, the cargo is the spike protein on the surface of the coronavirus. The vehicles may be different, and they may drop off their payloads by different means, but the spike protein cargo is the same, Parkins wrote. Because the cargo is identical, the vaccines should, in theory, work well together. The most promising evidence is coming out of a U.K. study, where researchers presented preliminary findings this week. So far, theyve found that mixing vaccines may result in slightly more pronounced minor side-effects such as fever and headache. A possible reason may be that some vaccines generate slightly different elements of the spike protein to spark an immune response. But many experts remain skeptical, and the question as to whether mixing doses could cause other unwanted complications has not been answered. The U.K. teams final report is due next month, although Canadas NACI may have new recommendations before that. In the meantime, Fitzgerald says those who have received AstraZeneca already should not feel buyers remorse. I think people who got AstraZeneca need to feel reassured that they got an effective vaccine and a safe vaccine, she said. There are some potential side-effects that are serious, but those are still quite rare. | https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2021/05/13/is-astrazeneca-obsolete-in-newfoundland-and-labrador.html |
Can Joe Biden Take His Mask Off in the Oval Office Now? | President Biden waves before boarding the Marine One in Washington, D.C., May 7, 2021. people have questioned why fully-vaccinated people were expected to wear masks certainly outdoors, and indoors as well. Once youre fully vaccinated, your bodys antibodies are much more effective line of defense than a piece of cloth. The piece of cloth or N95 mask are a great idea if youre not fully vaccinated yet; until you know your body can produce the antibodies to fight it off, you would rather the virus not get inside your body. But once youre vaccinated, wearing a mask as superfluous as wearing kneepads while riding inside an armored tank. As the president should say, come on, man, youre already protected. Advertisement Today Centers for Disease Control and Prevention director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said whats been obvious for a while now: Anyone who is fully vaccinated can participate in indoor and outdoor activities, large or small, without wearing a mask or physical distancing, Dr. Walensky told reporters. If you are fully vaccinated, you are protected, and you can start doing the things that you stopped doing because of the pandemic. I do think its perfect that less than 24 hours after I asked why the fully-vaccianted Biden, Kamala Harris, Nancy Pelosi and Mitch McConnell were wearing masks for a photo op in the Oval Office and got a giant pile of grief on social media, and repeated insistence that Biden is just showing a good example for others and hes just following the CDC guidance! the CDC guidance changes. | https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/so-can-joe-biden-take-his-mask-off-in-the-oval-office-now/ |
Are Liberal Cities Turning Against Their Progressive Prosecutors? | Meanwhile, in Philadelphia, the police union has unsuccessfully sued its old foe, Larry Krasner, for publishing a police misconduct disclosure database. They are now backing his opponent, Carlos Vega, a career prosecutor whom Krasner fired from the district attorneys office, in the primary. Philadelphias Democratic Party has also declined to endorse Krasner. In San Francisco, Chesa Boudin is facing a well-financed recall campaign spearheaded by some of San Franciscos tech billionaires. One of the biggest donors to the campaign, former PayPal executive David Sacks, has taken aim at Boudin for supporting a radical decarceration agenda that is making San Francisco and California less safe. In volatile times like these, trend lines are not secure. As unemployment, homelessness, and homicide have spiked during the pandemic, the traditional enemies of reform clearly see an opening. The homicide rate across major metropolitan areas rose 30 percent between 2019 and 2020. But as law and economics scholar John Pfaff has shown, the increase was consistent across 69 major municipalities, regardless of whether the county had a progressive district attorney. (In fact, the homicide rate in San Francisco is now lower than it was in 2017.) In short, there is no evident correlation between the recent rise in violent crime and criminal justice reform. But the battle over public perception is just beginning. Even though reformers have scored genuine victories over the past several years, getting tough is itching for a comeback. This will be one of the most consequential political battles of the coming period. We often hear of the more than two million people in prison in the United States. But we hear less about the staggering 74 million who now have a criminal arrest record. That statistic is the direct result of a system of criminal punishment that metastasized and became part and parcel of a more broadly unequal and coercive society by the late 1970s. At the time, Irving Kristol wrote that liberals, mugged by reality, were moving to the right on national security and law and order issues. That same year, 1979, newly appointed Federal Reserve Chair Paul Volcker decreed that the standard of living of the average American needed to fall, and set himself the task of restoring fiscal discipline. Many date the origins of the neoliberal era to these two shifts in perception and public policy. But few see how entwined they really were. For bond vigilantes whose power stemmed from Volckers attack on inflation, imposing municipal austerity was inseparable from unleashing police power to tame rising crime. | https://newrepublic.com/article/162275/san-francisco-philadelphia-progressive-district-attorneys-crime |
Does the end of Ohios coronavirus restrictions mean big tax losses for cities? | CLEVELAND, Ohio While Ohioans consider how their lives might change after Gov. The issue has hovered over cities, including Cleveland and Columbus, since the start of the pandemic, when the Ohio legislature passed a wide-ranging law permitting municipalities to continue taxing people working remotely, until 30 days after the state of emergency declaration is lifted. So, when DeWine announced Wednesday night that Ohioans would no longer be required to wear masks or practice social distancing, cleveland.com wondered if that news constitutes an end to the state of emergency -- and the practice of taxing people who have been working from home for months. The answer appears to be no, according to DeWines spokesman, who clarified that while the public health orders will soon be lifted, the state of emergency declaration remains. But that doesnt mean cities and villages that rely on commuters income taxes can breathe easy. Under current Ohio law, cities abilities to tax remote workers who live and work outside of their borders could expire as soon as August, Kent Scarrett, executive director of the Ohio Municipal League, said during an interview. Were still under the gun, Scarrett said. The clock is getting louder and louder as it ticks. Millions of dollars are potentially at stake, particularly if remote workers, who dont live in the same cities where their jobs are based, continue to work from home rather than return to their offices after the emergency declaration ends. Heres a look at the current status of the income tax issue, and why it shouldnt be affected by DeWines Wednesday announcement. Under the pandemic law passed in early 2020, people working from home continue to be taxed by the city where they were working prior to the pandemic. So, a suburban resident whose office is in downtown Cleveland is still paying Cleveland taxes even if they havent stepped foot in the city for over a year. But that provision expires 30 days after the emergency declaration is lifted, meaning tax laws would revert to the pre-pandemic normal in which workers are generally taxed based on the location of their jobs. State law gives the governor the authority to declare a state of emergency that, among other things, allows Ohio to receive emergency aid from the federal government, such as FEMA funding, Scarrett said. A different portion of Ohio law grants the state health department the power to issue public health orders intended to protect people, such as the mask mandate and social distancing requirements. Those public health orders are what DeWine said will end on June 2, spokesman Dan Tierney stated in an email. The governor could roll back the emergency declaration at any point. But so far, hes made no announcements about it. The difference is key when it comes to income tax rules. Both Scarrett and Jay Carson of The Buckeye Institute a conservative, Ohio-based think-tank that is challenging the tax legislation in court said DeWines announcement left them questioning whether the rollback would also apply to the emergency declaration. The Ohio Municipal League, a statewide non-profit representing cities and villages, spoke with DeWines administration after the announcement and confirmed it only applied to health orders, Scarrett said. In March, the Ohio legislature passed a bill limiting the governors authority to issue health orders. Within the legislation, lawmakers gave themselves the ability to strike down emergency declarations issued by the governor. Under those new powers, the declaration of emergency could be struck down as early as July 23, Scarrett said. And 30 days after that, the temporary withholding provision [for income taxes] will end, he said. Carson, a senior litigator with The Buckeye Institute, agreed with Scarretts interpretation of current laws and said he assumes any tax withholdings after that 30-day window would be refundable. The institute has filed lawsuits in Cleveland, Cincinnati, Toledo and Columbus, arguing that it is illegal to tax people where they neither live nor work. A Franklin County judge dismissed the Columbus case, but the institute is appealing that ruling, and the other cases are still pending. If the emergency declaration is lifted and the income tax provision expires before the cases are resolved, Carson said his organization might adjust the relief it seeks from the courts. Rather than asking for an end to the provision, the institute would only seek to allow taxpayers to recover the taxes they paid to a city while working elsewhere, he said. | https://www.cleveland.com/news/2021/05/does-the-end-of-ohios-coronavirus-restrictions-mean-big-tax-losses-for-cities.html |
Will the GOP Scaremonger Us Out of Child Care and Family Leave? | Subscribe to The Nation Subscribe now for as little as $2 a month! Subscribe now for as little as $2 a month! Get The Nations Weekly Newsletter Fridays. The best of the week. You will receive occasional promotional offers for programs that support The Nations journalism. You can read our Privacy Policy here. Fridays. The best of the week. Thank you for signing up for The Nations weekly newsletter. Join the Books & the Arts Newsletter Mondays. The best of The Nations Books & the Arts, in your inbox biweekly. You will receive occasional promotional offers for programs that support The Nations journalism. You can read our Privacy Policy here. Mondays. The best of The Nations Books & the Arts, in your inbox biweekly. Thank you for signing up. For more from The Nation, check out our latest issue Subscribe to The Nation Subscribe now for as little as $2 a month! Subscribe now for as little as $2 a month! Support Progressive Journalism The Nation is reader supported: Chip in $10 or more to help us continue to write about the issues that matter. The Nation is reader supported: Chip in $10 or more to help us continue to write about the issues that matter. Sign up for our Wine Club today. Flailing Republicans are having a hard time figuring out how to oppose President Joe Bidens popular proposals. They couldnt stop the American Rescue Plan, targeted at helping the nation recover from the pandemic. Now Biden is pushing a big infrastructure bill that includes some old-fashioned priorities Abraham Lincoln would have recognized, especially rail, but also some things, like broadband and long-term care, that Lincoln, bless him, might not have imagined. Dwight Eisenhower built out the interstate highway system, but he couldnt see broadband coming either. Republicans tried to make the argument that the bill goes beyond its proper scope as an infrastructure measure. But polling shows that the pushback hasnt worked very well. The proposals are popular, some measures more than others, some even with Republicans. So are the proposals in Bidens American Families Plan, which would expand child tax credits and provide universal 3K and pre-K, free community college, and paid family leave. So the new GOP arguments arent looking at the American present or future; theyre looking way back. Fifty years ago, the US Congress overwhelmingly passed a bill that could have made many of the proposals in Bidens American Families Plan unnecessary. The 1971 Comprehensive Child Development Act would have made a $2 billion investment in a vast expansion of state-funded preschool and child care programs. Sponsored by the late Senator Walter Mondale, based on months if not years of research and legislative arm-wrestling, it had remarkable bipartisan support. For a while, it seemed possible that President Richard Nixon would sign it. In a speech to employees at the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, he said all the right things: What happens to the child from a nutritional standpoint, from an educational standpoint, from an environmental standpoint in the years between 1 and 5 may affect that child for the balance of his life regardless of what may happen after that time. In fact, Nixons staff had helped draft the bill. Related Article Joe Biden Wants to Transform Care Work in America Mike Konczal But Nixon vetoed it anyway. In part, my long-ago Hardball buddy Pat Buchanan happened. Aware that Nixon was open to signing the bill, he hit him with, for Nixon, an insult too deep to reject: The bill had its origins, Buchanan claimed, in Soviet Russia. It was ridiculous. Yes, in 1929, a Soviet sociologist claimed that the traditional family will be sent to a museum of antiquities so that it can rest next to the spinning wheel and the bronze axe, by the horse-drawn carriage, the steam engine, and the wired telephone. Forty-two years later, Buchanan knew that hadnt happened. But he had visited Soviet day care centers, and he described his horror: We went to see the Young Pioneers, where these little kids four, five, and six years old were being instructed in Leninist doctrine, reciting it the way I used to recite Catechism when I was in the first grade, he said. Buchanan got to Nixon and greased the veto. Good public policy requires that we enhance rather than diminish both parental authority and parental involvement with children, Nixons stinging veto message said. For the Federal government to plunge headlong financially into supporting child development would commit the vast moral authority of the National Government to the side of communal approaches to child rearing over against the family-centered approach. Congress could not override his veto, and the bill died. A top Mondale aide told NPR in 2016, dejectedly, about the veto: It totally surprised us. MORE FROM Joan Walsh Cheney vs. Stefanik Isnt About Loyalty to Donald Trump May 12, 2021 Virginias Shrunken GOP Electorate Finally Picks a Nominee for Governor May 11, 2021 Virginia Republicans Are Disenfranchising Their Own Voters May 5, 2021 Author page Today Biden faces a brigade of Buchanans lamenting his proposals as social engineering. Insurrection-supporting Senator Josh Hawley denounced lefty social engineering paid for by mortgaging the future of my children and my grandchildren. Senator Marsha Blackburn argued in a Fox Business Network interview that the proposals would incentivize women to rely on the federal government to organize their lives. Later that night, she tweeted a link to a 1974 New York Times story about the prevalence of affordable child care in the Soviet Union, adding, You know who else liked universal day care. Hillbilly venture capitalist and amateur philosopher J.D. Vance, who is reportedly considering a run for one of Ohios Senate seats, insisted that Bidens proposal put the preferences of our ruling-class elites above those of average Americans. They want strangers to raise their kids, but middle-class Americans, whatever their station in life, they want more time with their children, he said. Well, as a wealthy venture capitalist, he would know what elites want. Not so much his potential constituents. I didnt want strangers to raise my kids; I wanted some help, because I needed to work. When I read things like that, I realize Vance knows fewer parents who struggle with balancing work and child care than I do. We need these programs now more than ever, because during the pandemic, the labor-force participation of women with children has dropped sharply. Thats hurting women, their families, and the economy. If Democrats dont steamroll these Republican objections, theyre facing a session in which they cant prove to voters that the Democratic Party can improve their lives. And that would mean well almost certainly wind up with a GOP House and Senate next year. | https://www.thenation.com/article/politics/american-jobs-families-biden/ |
How Long Does SEO Take And Why? | Founded SEO National in 2007, helping NBA teams, INC & Shark Tank featured websites show higher on search engines without paying for ads. getty Good things come to those who wait. You probably didnt like that adage shouted to you on those long road trips you took as a kid. As an adult trying to grow a business, you probably like it even less. Youve invested time and money in your business and cant wait forever to get a return. If youre considering SEO, you should mentally commit to giving the process at least a year. But the good news is that, like mom said, the long trip will be worth it in the end. First, its not like a switch flips a year later and suddenly its raining money. Youll see progress long before the year mark, but its likely you wont monetize it until then. For example, you may see your website jump from page 10 to page four on Google. Congratulations your website just leapfrogged 60 other websites. Unfortunately, most searchers don't go past page two. Thats why youll see progress but wont monetize SEO until you hit page one. Like a good recipe, there are steps to follow, and cutting corners could result in a less-than-rewarding outcome. These steps include: Website Audit: A website audit will show you whats working well for SEO and what isnt. This on-page SEO audit should break down your sites page speed, mobile-friendliness and readability. Competitive Analysis: Dive into the strategies your competitors are using (a good SEO company can also help with this). Its critical to find your competitors weaknesses and capitalize on them. Keyword Research: Theres a science to identifying the right keywords. You dont want to show up on page one for words that no one searches for. You also dont want to attract bad leads by targeting too broad of phrases. Then, your SEO should advise how easy or difficult it will be to rank for these keywords. You dont necessarily want to go after the most competitive targets, nor the easiest. Theres a sweet spot between high search volume and low competition. After all, its better to have 10 people convert out of 100 targeted visitors versus zero conversions out of 10,000 untargeted visitors. Content Strategy: Keywords mean nothing unless you know how to support them with content. This could include blogs, graphics, videos, guest contributions, SEO press releases, etc. A good SEO provider will create a very specific road map to align your content with your audiences buyer intent and to avoid random SEO content shotgunning. Content Creation/Distribution: Generating all of this content takes time, and so does distributing it. Once it is distributed, Google has to find it and decide what to do with it. SEO is no longer the keyword-stuffing game that it used to be. Its about Google recognizing you as an authority and a long-haul contributor in your field and rewarding you accordingly. Quality over quantity. Sure, but it will leave you with almost nothing to show for what youve done so far. The value of SEO is in consistency. When you are consistently adding well-optimized content to your website, Google notices, and its spiders will begin to crawl your site more frequently. Likewise, this consistent content will encourage users to come to your site more frequently, which will signal Google that your users are having a positive experience. Google will reward this with higher rankings. Consistency is the secret sauce to SEO, with each piece of content and each bit of user engagement building on the last. Absolutely! While I always prepare my clients to commit to at least a year, thats mostly for transparency and honesty. But Ive seen many quick wins. Here are a few examples: Client 1 - Online Retail: With only $22,500 invested in SEO over nine months, this clients SEO drove an additional $245,000 in sales, up $164,000 over the same time last year. Not a bad return on investment. Client 2 - Dog Groomer: This client said they werent doing anything different on their end to market the business, but new leads were pouring in. As part of our optimization strategy, we had migrated their website off of Wix and over to WordPress to give it a little extra umph with page speed improvements and improved calls to action. In just three months, we had already taken 17 of their keywords to #1 rankings. Many of the words had jumped up 6, 7 and 8 pages to get to that top spot. Client 3 - Personal Injury Attorney: This law firm experienced a meteoric rise just months into their campaign after making some big SEO moves. It was perfect timing because Google had one of its major algorithm updates aimed at weeding out low-quality websites and imposters. Because we had neither cut corners nor ventured into gray areas of online marketing, this client came out on top with 130 keyword ranking increases in one week. This update crushed some of their competitors, but it turned them into a juggernaut. Its not just large businesses. Even the little guys have big wins. We've seen some mom-and-pops grow from 150 website visitors per day to 800 to 1,000 per day in a few short months, turning their family-owned business into a major employer in their local city. If youre tired of having ad accounts shut down or paid ads bleeding you dry, SEO is the way to go. It produces one of the best returns on investment out there, and best of all, its sustainable. Youre building your website an asset you own and not lining the pockets of major tech companies. If youre willing to invest a little patience, your SEO will build on itself until you become an unstoppable online presence. Forbes Agency Council is an invitation-only community for executives in successful public relations, media strategy, creative and advertising agencies. | https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesagencycouncil/2021/05/14/how-long-does-seo-take-and-why/ |
How has Matthew Stafford fared against each of the Rams 2021 opponents in his career? | Matthew Stafford has been in the NFL for 12 seasons and though hes missed some time with injuries, hes still managed to face every team in the league at least once except the Detroit Lions, of course. That gives us a lengthy history to comb through when looking at how hes performed against the Rams 2021 opponents. Hes faced each team the Rams will play in 2021 at least twice (except Detroit) and while hes played well against some, other teams have had his number. Heres a look at how hes performed against the Rams 14 upcoming opponents during his career. Chicago Bears (record: 11-9) 63.7% completion rate, 272 yards per game, 32 touchdown passes, 23 interceptions, 86.3 rating Stafford's numbers are almost reflective of his team's success. They're not bad, but they're also not great and it's part of the reason the Lions were just barely above .500 against the Bears in Stafford's 12 years. He did miss four games against Chicago in his career but an 11-9 record is still pretty good. In last year's opener, the Lions blew a 23-6 fourth-quarter lead, a game Stafford started. Indianapolis Colts (1-2) Raj Mehta-USA TODAY Sports 64.6%, 329.7 YPG, 8 TDs, 2 INTs, 102.8 rating Stafford hasn't played the Colts much, but he's put up huge numbers against them. He's thrown for at least 300 yards and two touchdowns in each of his three games against Indianapolis, including a 336-yard, three-touchdown performance in 2020. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (3-2) Jonathan Dyer-USA TODAY Sports 71.3%, 262.2 YPG, 10 TDs, 7 INTs, 98.2 rating Stafford owns a winning record against the Bucs and a respectable touchdown-to-interception ratio. His completion rate of 71.3% is particularly impressive, and it was helped by a 36-for-44 showing in 2017 when he threw for 381 yards in a 24-21 win in 2017. That's the 16th-most yards he's had in his career. Arizona Cardinals (3-4-1) (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images) Story continues 62.2%, 242.9 YPG, 12 TDs, 8 INTs, 84.3 rating Surprisingly, Stafford's numbers against Arizona aren't all that great. He's only topped 300 yards once in eight games against the Cardinals, a 385-yard, three-touchdown performance in 2019, which ended in a 27-27 tie. In three games against Arizona, Stafford has thrown for fewer than 200 yards and the Lions scored 17 points or fewer four times. Seattle Seahawks (1-3) (Photo by Leon Halip/Getty Images) 64.5%, 267.0 YPG, 7 TDs, 7 INTs, 79.1 rating As has been the case for most quarterbacks, the Seahawks have given Stafford some trouble. He's just 1-3 against them and has thrown as many touchdowns as interceptions in those four games. His most recent game against Seattle was in 2018, a 28-14 loss despite Stafford's 310 yards and two touchdowns. New York Giants (3-2) Raj Mehta-USA TODAY Sports 66.9%, 261.0 YPG, 7 TDs, 4 INTs, 94.6 rating Stafford has looked fairly comfortable against the Giants, though he was blanked in the touchdown column twice in five games. In 2019, Stafford led the Lions to a 31-26 win over New York thanks to his 342 yards, three touchdowns and only one interception all despite being sacked four times. Detroit Lions: N/A (Photo by Rey Del Rio/Getty Images) The only team in the NFL Stafford hasn't faced is the team he spent 12 years with. Week 7 will be the first time ever he faces the Lions, a game that will be played at SoFi Stadium. There's no bad blood between the two sides as the Lions did right by Stafford to trade him, but he'll surely want to win that one. Houston Texans (0-3) Tim Fuller-USA TODAY Sports 59.7%, 325.3 YPG, 4 TDs, 1 INT, 86.5 rating Stafford's stat line against the Texans is bizarre. He's only completed about 60% of his passes against them, but he averages 325.3 yards per game and only has one interception and an 0-3 record. The Lions' three losses to Houston under Stafford were 34-31, 20-13 and 41-25, so the defense didn't exactly do him any favors. Tennessee Titans (0-3) Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports 67.5%, 263.3 YPG, 3 TDs, 1 INT, 92.4 rating Another AFC South team Stafford is 0-3 against, the Titans' three wins against the Lions since 2012 are mostly about Detroit's defense coming up short. The Titans scored 44, 16 and 46 points in their three games against the Lions, while Stafford has had middling production and only one touchdown pass in each meeting. San Francisco 49ers (1-3) (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images) 64.0%, 292.8 YPG, 8 TDs, 1 INT, 96.8 rating Good news: Stafford has strong numbers against the 49ers, who he will face twice a year with the Rams. He was especially impressive in his last two games against San Francisco, throwing for 301 yards and two touchdowns with no interceptions in 2015 and another 347 yards with three touchdowns and zero picks in 2018. Green Bay Packers (7-13) Raj Mehta-USA TODAY Sports 61.5%, 283.7 YPG, 37 TDs, 20 INTs, 89.9 rating Stafford and Aaron Rodgers dueled a bunch during their time together in the NFC North and they'll battle again in Week 12 so long as Rodgers is still in Green Bay. Stafford's carer-high in passing yards (520) came against the Packers in 2012, a game the Lions lost 45-41 despite the quarterback's five touchdown passes also tied for a career-high. Green Bay has sacked Stafford 47 times in 20 games, including four times in each game last season. Jacksonville Jaguars (3-0) Douglas DeFelice-USA TODAY Sports 67.0%, 262.0 YPG, 1 TD, 1 INT, 90.8 rating Somehow, Stafford is 3-0 against the Jaguars with two double-digit wins despite never topping 300 yards and only throwing one total touchdown pass in three games. In last year's 34-16 win over Jacksonville, Stafford had one touchdown and an interception, throwing for 223 yards but only completing 19 of 31 passes. It's a bizarre stat line given the team's record. Minnesota Vikings (8-13) Raj Mehta-USA TODAY Sports 63.1%, 246.5 YPG, 31 TDs, 11 INTs, 89.5 rating Needless to say, Stafford likes playing against the Vikings. He has almost a 3-to-1 touchdown-to-interception ratio and although he only averages 246.5 yards per game against Minnesota, he does a good job avoiding turnovers. In his last three games against the Vikings, Stafford has eight touchdown passes and four interceptions with no fumbles and an average of 289.3 yards per game. Unfortunately, the Lions allowed 116 points in those three games and Stafford has lost six straight to Minnesota. Baltimore Ravens (0-2) Evan Habeeb-USA TODAY Sports 66.7%, 263.5 YPG, 2 TDs, 4 INTs, 76.6 rating It's only been two games, but Baltimore has played well against Stafford. The Ravens beat the Lions 18-16 in 2013 and 44-20 in 2017, as Stafford threw just one touchdown pass in each loss with four total interceptions. He completed 82.8% of his passes in that 2017 loss and had a passer rating of 105.7, but the defense gave up 44 points and Stafford was sacked three times. 1 1 | https://sports.yahoo.com/matthew-stafford-fared-against-rams-121900946.html?src=rss |
Is a French drain the solution for a wet crawl space? | Q: I live on a low-lying lot. My crawl space is always wet, even though I have a dehumidifier and a sump pump down there. People have suggested I use French drains; one said exterior ones, another interior. In this area, one company pretty much has a monopoly, and its backed up for months. A: Yes, French drains do work in combination with other measures. On a slope, where water is moving underground toward a house, an exterior French drain across the property, uphill of the house, can sometimes redirect the flow around the building enough to keep a crawl space or basement dry. Landscapers typically install this type of drainage system. On a low-lying lot, however, the drainage system usually needs to completely surround the house. An exterior system has the benefit of keeping the water outside, and its easy and inexpensive to install when a house is being built. Retrofitting it into an existing house is difficult and expensive, however. Installers need to excavate down to the level of the crawl space or basement, even where driveways, walkways or established plants are located. And if the system ever clogs, its not easy to repair. For solving the problem of a wet basement or crawl space in an existing house, an interior French drain system is much more common. Installers cut through the concrete or dig into the dirt just inside the foundation wall, creating a trench for perforated pipe and gravel that directs any water that seeps in toward a pit for a sump pump. Or, depending on how a house is laid out, they might slope different parts of the trench to more than one sump pump. You mention that you already have a sump pump, but a pump alone often isnt enough. Just because they have a sump pump doesnt mean the water can get to it, said Bill Anderson, owner of DryZone in Ellendale, Delaware. And even if you could regrade the crawl-space floor to direct all the water to the sump-pump pit, water would still be flowing across the space to get to it. A perimeter trench captures water where it flows in. But installing an interior French drain probably isnt all you will need to do. Anderson said fixing a damp crawl space is often a four-step process, with adding the drain system being the first step. The second involves sealing off the soil using thick plastic that he compares to a pool liner. It extends down from the foundation walls, across the floor, and up and around any interior columns, with special tape to secure all seams. The liner encapsulates the space and keeps moisture from moving through the soil and into the crawl-space air. Advertising The third step involves blocking humid outside air from getting into the crawl space. Installers close off the foundation vents, seal piping or other penetrations, and replace leaky access doors. This runs counter to the crawl-space ventilation requirements of past decades, but building scientists now recognize that enclosing the crawl space usually works better than ventilating it with outdoor air, especially where air conditioners run in humid weather. Otherwise, the humid air in the crawl space hits the cold floor, causing condensation that allows mildew to take hold. Anderson said he often recommends taking down insulation on the floor and instead installing rigid foam insulation on the foundation walls. The final step is adding a dehumidifier, but one designed to turn on and off automatically and run only when the air gets too humid. With these measures in place, your crawl space should stay dry, and the rest of your house should be protected from the issues mildew smells, rotting wood that can occur when a crawl space stays damp. But theres one more step you might want to add, because the protections work as long as the power stays on. Especially if you live where tree limbs often knock out power in windstorms, you might want to invest in a battery backup for the sump pump. Any company you hire to install the system should be able to add that. Anderson said bills from his company have ranged from $3,000 to $30,000, depending chiefly on the size and layout of the house, with a majority of jobs in the $8,000 to $10,000 range. His company typically has a backlog of two to three months. | https://www.seattletimes.com/explore/at-home/is-a-french-drain-the-solution-for-a-wet-crawl-space/?utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=Referral&utm_campaign=RSS_all |
Which stores still require vaccinated people to wear masks after new CDC guidance? | A sign posted outside Kroger in Lexington, Kentucky alerted customers that masks were required. Many national retailers are reviewing their guidelines following Thursdays announcement from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that people fully vaccinated against COVID-19 can participate in indoor and outdoor activities, large or small, without wearing a mask or physical distancing, with some exceptions including while traveling on planes, buses and trains. Heres a look at the some of the retailers still requiring all customers to wear masks. This story will be updated as more stores to respond to McClatchy News requests Walmart The countrys largest retailer and private employer will still require employees and customers including those who are fully vaccinated to wear masks inside their stores, The Columbus Dispatch reported. We serve millions of Americans every week and believe our policy of requiring associates and customers to wear masks in our stores has helped protect them during the pandemic, and were not lifting those measures at this time, Walmart said in a statement. The company later told the Dispatch it is reconsidering its policies. Kroger Masks will also still be required at Kroger, one of the United States largest grocery store chains, The Cincinnati Enquirer reported. The Kroger Family of Companies which includes Fred Meyer, Harris Teeter, Ralphs, Frys and other grocery store chains is reviewing its current safety practices, according to the newspaper. Target Shoppers at Target will also still need to wear a mask, according to WCCO. Target will continue to require all of our coronavirus safety measures in all stores, including masks and social distancing, while we review todays guidance from the CDC and re-evaluate the guidance we offer our team and guests, the company told WCCO. Home Depot The home improvement retailer told McClatchy News it has not changed its current COVID-19 rules. Home Depots current guidance requires shoppers to wear masks and promotes social distancing. Starbucks Starbucks will also keep its existing policies, requiring all customers and employees to wear masks, CNN reported. It has required masks for all customers since last July. T.J. Maxx TJX Cos. which includes T.J. Maxx, Marshalls and HomeGoods will continue to require shoppers to wear masks, Bloomberg reported. It also began requiring customers at all of its stores to wear masks in July. CVS CVS said in a statement to McClatchy News it is evaluating its in-store mask policy based on the latest CDC guidance. The safety of our employees and customers will continue to guide our decision-making process, a CVS spokesperson said. Others Walgreens is reviewing the updated CDC guidance, spokespersons for the companies told CNN. Macys, Levi Strauss and Gap are also reviewing the CDCs announcement from Thursday, according to Bloomberg. | https://www.miamiherald.com/news/coronavirus/article251409993.html |
What is the current Israel-Gaza crisis about and where is it heading? | The current crisis between Israelis and Palestinians, like so many before, has complex roots in the foundation of Israel in 1948 and after the six-day war in 1967 when Israel captured then Arab-controlled parts of Jerusalem, including the Old City and its holy sites. A key source of tension this time has been Jewish settlement in the east of Jerusalem. While Israel claims all of Jerusalem as its undivided capital, this is not recognised by a majority of the international community and is rejected by Palestinians who claim East Jerusalem as the capital of a future Palestinian state. The issue came to a head in the climax of a decades-long attempt by Jewish groups to use the courts to evict Palestinian residents from Sheikh Jarrah, which lies at the heart of East Jerusalem. The Palestinians, numbering more than 70, come from families who relocated to East Jerusalem after fleeing their homes in west Jerusalem during the foundation of Israel in 1948. Settler groups say the land where the threatened families have their houses was owned by Jews prior to 1948. Israeli law allows Jews to reclaim such lands but has no similar provision for the many Palestinians dispossessed in the same conflict, even if they still reside in areas controlled by Israel. An Israeli supreme court ruling due on Monday 10 May was postponed the day before amid mounting protests by supporters of the Sheikh Jarrah families. That same day, a series of combustible events coincided dangerously, as Israeli nationalists marked the anniversary of the capture of Jerusalem in 1967 with their annual and highly provocative flag march, and police fired teargas and stun grenades on stone-throwing Palestinians marking Ramadan at the Haram-al Sharif compound, home to al-Aqsa mosque. Perceived threats to al-Aqsa mosque are a hugely sensitive issue and have triggered outbreaks of deadly violence between Palestinians and Jews for decades, including a massacre of dozens of Jews in Hebron in 1929 and the second intifada. There is also a background of intra-Palestinian rivalry between the Fatah movement of the ageing Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, who governs the West Bank, and Hamas, which rules in the coastal enclave of Gaza. Abbas surprised many by calling elections in which Hamas was expected to do well. But citing the inability of Palestinians living under Israeli occupation in East Jerusalem to vote, he cancelled the vote. Hamas has often attempted to take a lead in Palestinian opinion when al-Aqsa is seen as threatened, presenting itself as the defender of the holy sites, and the cancellation of the elections was seen by some as playing a part in its calculations. Other factors include the change of leadership in Washington with the departure of the strongly pro-Israel Donald Trump; shifting power dynamics among the Gulf states that followed that change in the US; and an ongoing political crisis in Israel, which Hamas may have seen as presenting an opening into which to interpose itself. Hamass short ultimatum to Israel to remove security forces from in and around al-Aqsa, followed by the first barrage of heavy missile fire, appeared designed to deliver a surprise to Israel. Israel appears not to have anticipated the risk of such a rapid and serious escalation, or indeed noted how effectively Hamas and Islamic Jihad had rearmed inside the Gaza Strip since the last 2014 Gaza war. Two new factors will be influencing Israeli thinking: the use of what Hamas has described as heavy rockets targeting Tel Aviv and other major population centres, and the sheer number of rockets being fired simultaneously. A hole in a wall of a residential building in Ashkelon caused by a rocket launched from Gaza. Over the years neither Hamas nor the Israeli political leadership have shown any clear strategic vision for where this ends. Israeli security policy relating to Gaza since the first Gaza war in 2008-09 has been to fight periodic conflicts to bring periods of temporary calm, despite occasional calls by some on the Israeli right to fully invade the coastal strip. Those calls have generally been rejected as it would involve Israel taking full responsibility for Gaza, with its impoverished population of 2 million and devastated infrastructure, which most balk at. Hamas, under a years-long joint Israeli and Egyptian blockade, has used the intermittent periods of conflict to reassert its relevance, despite the very heavy cost to Gazas civilian population. Despite both Israel and Hamas being acutely aware of the risks involved, the approach is probably best defined as recklessness in pursuit of limited ambitions. Where things might be different this time is that Hamas and Islamic Jihad have been far more effective in delivering an element of surprise in the initial rocket barrage, and in finding a way to overwhelm Israels much-vaunted Iron Dome anti-missile system, leading some commentators to ask whether Israels security policy has too long been dependent on the effectiveness of technology rather than finding real political solutions. For Hamas, its initial success (in its own terms) is likely to be a double-edged sword as it will push Israeli military and political leaders to disarm Hamas and Islamic Jihad more effectively than during the past three major conflicts. The wild card in the last week has been the scenes of communal violence between Israelis and Israeli citizens of Palestinian origin, sometimes known by the shorthand of Israeli Arabs. While previous conflicts in Gaza have seen sometimes violent protests in the occupied Palestinian territories and demonstrations by Israeli Arabs within the so-called Green Line area, this has been different. Both Jews and Israeli Arabs, as well as their businesses, homes and places of worship, have been targeted by mob violence, which the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has declared a more dangerous threat than the rockets from Gaza. While the biggest fear of Israeli security officials has always been a two-front war involving Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon, the serious civil violence that has emerged has recast the crisis, with Israeli editorial writers and commentators worrying about what the communal violence means for Israels fragile social compact. On the Israeli-Arab side the grievances are as long lived as many of those behind the issues in Sheik Jarrah, going back to the foundation of the state, including political representation, poverty and high levels of crime. On the Israeli side, a gradual normalisation of far-right politics has created the space for virulently anti-Arab groups such as Lehava, La Familia and the most extreme elements in the settler movement to assert themselves on the streets. Egypt and the US, traditional interlocutors between the two sides, have diminished standing on the Palestinian side. The Trump administrations approach was to persuade the Palestinians they were beaten while rewarding Israel. (Trump took Jerusalem off the table so it would no longer be an issue.) That marginalised the Palestinian leadership under Abbas in Arab capitals while strengthening Hamas. In the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, the Biden administration has not had its eye on the ball and has yet to appoint a new ambassador to Israel. On the Egyptian side, Hamas has in the past seen conflict with Israel as a way to leverage relief from the blockade through its southern border. But the smuggling of arms and other goods in Gaza through Egypt turned into a security headache for Cairo in the northern Sinai, seen as contributing to its own Islamist insurgency there. Previous rounds of fighting suggest the likely outcome is bleak. The US and other countries will back Israel in a military campaign until the civilian human cost becomes unbearable, and only then will there be meaningful pressure for an end to the bloodletting. And, if history is anything to go by, a return to the grim status quo. | https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/may/14/what-is-the-current-israel-gaza-crisis-about-and-where-is-it-heading |
Should Philadelphia have open primary elections? | Pennsylvanias next primary election is Tuesday, May 18, with statewide judicial and Philadelphia district attorney candidates on the ballot. Our state is one of just nine with closed primaries, meaning only registered Democrats and Republicans can weigh in on their respective partisan races, and independents just get a say on the ballot questions. State Rep. Chris Quinn (R., Delaware County) has introduced legislation to open primaries to the nearly 900,000 independent and nonpartisan voters in the state, but that wouldnt open primaries for those already registered to a party. READ MORE: 2021 primary election: Endorsement guide Some argue that primaries should be fully open for a democratic system, while critics counter that such an approach wont lead to the strongest candidates to represent constituents. Yes: Everyone should get to vote in Philadelphia elections Over 6,200 Philadelphia Republicans switched parties ahead of the district attorneys race. While its hardly new to see otherwise staunchly Republican voters register as Democrats in order to vote in local elections, this years influx is bigger than ever, representing roughly two-thirds of Beth Grossmans 2017 primary vote, per city data. While many progressive Philadelphians may see these voters as unwelcome party guests, the party switchers are behaving according to Philadelphias political reality: If you want a meaningful say in who governs you, who writes your laws, or who sits on the bench, you need to belong to the Democratic Party. In the last 30 years of the citys general elections, only 1999s John F. Street vs. Sam Katz and their 2003 rematch have qualified as genuinely contested citywide contests. In the others, while the Republican Party may have been able to secure a candidate, they simply havent had the civic stature or funding to create a competitive race. This is not likely to change anytime soon. Defenders of the current system say that political primaries are private party events where outsiders shouldnt have a voice. They would also note that antiurban sentiment emanating from conservative media and anti-Philadelphia rhetoric from Republicans in Harrisburg are driving forces behind the GOPs marginalization in the city. Thats fair. But local Republicans arent exactly in a position to change any of that. Theres only one Philly Republican in Harrisburg, representing the farthest periphery of the city. Even the Charter-designated seats for minority parties that are meant to serve as a voice for local Republicans have been lost to a faction of local progressives. Philadelphias at-large system had previously succeeded in offering city Republicans a roughly proportional voice in local government: three seats out of 17, or 17.6% of the seats on City Council, for a party that routinely takes about 17% of the vote. But Working Families Party member Kendra Brooks won one of the seats that typically goes to a Republican, leaving the City GOP with 2 for 17. In Philadelphia, this would mean that instead of just Democrats choosing our next DA, the entire city would be invited to decide. Daniel Pearson Of course, none of this would be necessary if Philadelphia used a system for local elections that included all voters regardless of party. In states as different as California and Georgia, voters can pick between all options, with the top two candidates going on to a runoff in which the entire electorate can choose between them. In Philadelphia, this would mean that instead of just Democrats choosing our next DA, the entire city would be invited to decide. Not only would this be more democratic for the citys Republican, nonaffiliated, and third party voters it would also ensure that citywide candidates actually secure a majority of the vote in the election that matters. As things stand, candidates can win with less than 40% of the vote. In any self-professed democracy, let alone the cradle of liberty, it is important that all people have an equal chance to be heard, shape public policy, and elect representatives who can voice their concerns. Philadelphia Republicans are looking at a future where their only opportunity to do any of this is a general election that is a foregone conclusion. Philadelphia should find a system that enfranchises all of its citizens, not just its Democrats. Daniel Pearson is a staff writer for The Inquirers opinion team. No: Fully open primaries wont select the best candidates. Its a bummer to be a Republican in Philadelphia. Chances are your vote wont be the one that decides an election. Philadelphia is a one-party town: Since the city adopted the Home Rule Charter in 1951, no Republican has been elected mayor, and the last time Philadelphia had a Republican district City Council member who wasnt Brian J. ONeill was in 1990. Philadelphia incumbents are very confident in reelection no mayor has lost their bid since the charter. The city is also corrupt, with some pointing to party in-dealing as the reason. Probably not. Primaries are a party, not state, function and there is value in that. In primaries for competitive general election races such as the 2020 presidential Democratic primary party members have a chance to vet candidates and ideas, and develop a bench of future candidates. READ MORE: Philly and Pittsburgh primaries are referendums on progressive politics | Opinion Proponents of open primaries argue that, on the state level, closed primaries lead to more extreme candidates. But looking at Pennsylvania-wide elected officials Tom Wolf, Bob Casey, Pat Toomey, Josh Shapiro the word extreme doesnt come to mind. Another argument in favor of open primaries is that they will give an opportunity for Republicans to participate meaningfully in city elections. Maybe they would be able to tilt the balance toward candidates they prefer. I do see the value of a partially open primary for unaffiliated voters, in which people who are independent can participate. That is a way to protect peoples privacy and include those who dont support a partys apparatus. But partisans should stay in their lane or switch parties. As a noncitizen who cant vote, I get what it is like to feel left out of the process. But the last thing that politics needs is more incentive for voters to vote strategically instead of with their conscience. That is a recipe for disaster. Philadelphia Republicans shouldnt get to have an opportunity before the general election to act as spoilers. If there is a candidate that they deeply support in the Democratic primary, they should change their party registration a relatively quick process that many chose to do this year. If local Republicans were willing to invest in this level of political organizing, maybe Philadelphia wouldnt be a one-party town. Abraham Gutman The numbers also dont really add up. In the 2019 primary, Mayor Jim Kenney won about 84,000 more votes than the Democratic runner-up, State Sen. Anthony Hardy Williams. The Republican on the ballot, Bill Ciancaglini, won 17,000 votes in his primary. To influence this election, nearly five times more Republican voters would have had to come out and vote and all for Williams. In the low turnout 2017 Philadelphia DA race, one many Republicans would have loved to shift, the Republican on the ballot got 9,500 primary votes. Had Republicans coordinated to vote in unison for the Democratic candidate endorsed by the Fraternal Order of the Police, Rich Negrin, they would have had to persuade nearly 40,000 voters to show up, without a single one voting for another candidate. If local Republicans were willing to invest in this level of political organizing, maybe Philadelphia wouldnt be a one-party town. But most fundamentally, if Republicans want to win power in Philadelphia, they should question the gap between their platform and the Philadelphia electorate. If the party continues to be anti-immigrant, anti-abortion, anti-gun control, or anti-trans rights, to name a few issues, they wont win Philly elections no matter the system. Abraham Gutman is a staff writer for The Inquirers opinion team. | https://www.inquirer.com/opinion/commentary/pennsylvania-open-primaries-philadelphia-district-attorney-20210514.html |
What Does Slow Fashion Actually Mean? | Encircleds Sr Production Manager Nina Boschman and Charmain Bertraim, the Owner of Toronto Studios ... [+] - Integrity Designs Encircled On average Americans buy a new piece of clothing every five days. Prices are so cheap that clothing is now seen as essentially disposable. According to a McKinsey study, for every five new garments produced each year, three garments are disposed of. Incredibly, research has shown that 90% of our clothing is thrown away before it needs to be. The rise of this fast fashion has created large-scale environmental and social side-effects. For instance Zara alone produces about 840 million pieces of clothing for sale in its 6,000 stores around the world each year, mostly by workers whose wages are below the poverty line. In China, India and Bangladesh, once prosperous rivers have been destroyed by these very same factory wastewater discharges; they have now become biological dead zones full of carcinogenic chemicals. Additionally, the tiny plastic microfibers that fall from synthetic clothing during the laundry process are flooding our water supply and food chain. But some brands are pushing back against these trends and focusing more on slow fashion, producing clothes with trendless designs and premium, long-lasting quality. For example, one company that is working in this area is Toronto-based, Encircled, one of the few apparel brands in Canada that is a B Corp, so certified for their social and environmental performance. Encircleds factories are in Toronto, Canada, and they are OEKO-TEX(R) 100 Certified, meaning that no harmful substances are used to make their clothing, just sustainably sourced, ultra-soft fabrics. They are also transparent about their materials and provide an online listing of their core fabrics. As part of my research on purpose-driven businesses, I recently had a chance to catch-up Kristi Soomer, founder of Encircled. Below is an edited excerpt of our on-line discussion. Kristi Soomer, Founder of Encircled Encircled Kristi Soomer: I founded Encircled in 2012 with a mission to design clothing that would enable women to travel light, and to do so without sacrificing comfort or style. Over the years, the brand has evolved into focusing on how our customers can create a streamlined capsule wardrobe at home. We believe the most sustainable thing you can do is to wear all the clothing in your closet. So, we design multi-functional, timeless, comfortable, and stylish pieces that we know customers will feel confident reaching for any day of the week. All our clothing is proudly made in Toronto, Canada from sustainably sourced fabrics, which were super transparent about! We believe in making clothing without compromises - our customers receive genuine sustainable pieces that are stylish and that will last a lifetime. Encircled is the wardrobe that does it all. Soomer: Slow Fashion is an approach to producing clothing which takes into consideration all aspects of the supply chain and in doing so, aims to respect people, the environment, and animals. It also means spending more time on the design process, ensuring that each piece of apparel is quality made. Fast Fashion retailers have taught us that more is better, and thereby have created a huge consumption issue. The fast fashion industry is driving down quality, exploiting the environment and their workers to create cheap garments that do not last. Slow fashion is the exact opposite of this. Its about creating mindful, curated collections based on quality finishes, versus pumping out large quantities of seasonal and trendy clothing. Our mission at Encircled is simple. We encourage customers to be more thoughtful and intentional about their clothing - and choose pieces that will last a long time in their wardrobe. Soomer: The B Corporation website states that there approximately 70+ certified B Corporations in the fashion space in North America. In Canada, where Encircled is based, there are approximately 15 fashion B Corps., with only a handful being female founded. In my opinion, I believe that there are not more Certified B Corps in the fashion industry because its an extremely hard certification to gain - and for good reason! To become a Certified B Corp, apparel brands and companies alike need to demonstrate that they are committed to balancing profits with a purpose that has a positive impact on the community and meets high environmental and transparency standards. Many fashion brands in North Americ have not yet prioritized a sustainable and ethical supply chain as a top priority. Additionally, the certification process can be a deterant, especially for smaller brands because of the time and resource investment required to get through the assessment and certification. For fashion brands (and other companies) to receive B Corp Certification, they are measured on various aspects of their business, including governance, workers, community and engagement. Each Certified B Corp receives an Impact Score Card that outlines their performance and rating, and companies must achieve at least 80 out of 200 points to gain certification. To ensure transparency, this information can be publicy viewed on the B Corp website, allowing the public to view any potential shortcomings, which some apparel brands may view as a hinderence. I personally view this score as a way to continue building our brand and making it the best that it can be. Soomer: There are numerous benefits of obtaining becoming a Certified B Corp for both companies and consumers. From a business perspective, it allows customers to trust that our actions are consistent with all the standards we advertise. You can trust what youre seeing as the companys values and actions are vetted. That said, it is a thorough process to go through to get qualified, and companies need to renew their certification every three years.We are constantly having to consider how our business impacts everyone along the way, not just shareholders. This includes our supply chain, processes at our office headquarters, materials used, etc. Ultimately, it is 100 per cent worth it because it helps us to create a great working environment for our employees and stakeholders, and our customers trust that they are making a positive impact with their decision to purchase from Encircled. Soomer: Creating a more sustainable fashion industry requires a multi-faceted approach. Its such a broad issue that touches all areas of the apparel supply chain - from raw materials to the end of lifecycle of a garment. The first recommendation is for consumers to actively become more curious and intentional with their clothing purchases. Thirty years ago, we each owned way less items in our closet on average and the fashion industry had 2-4 seasons. Now, fast fashion brands produce up to 5,000 styles a week, with many of them operating with 52 micro-seasons. This creates a huge consumption issue. In general, weve found that most people only wear about 20% of the clothing in their closet, so a great start is for consumers to focus on being mindful - only purchasing what they need, investing in trendless pieces vs. trendy and focusing on quality over quantity with clothing purchases. Secondly, I recommend more regulation, accountability, and transparency in the fashion industry. It is still a very secretive industry, with many brands hiding where they produce, what they pay and how workers are treated. Forcing brands to be accountable for their actions in countries other than their own, is a big step towards intensifying big brands to pay living wages and to be more accountable for working conditions in the garment industry. If theres no accountability on the brands part, its too easy for fashion brands to not take an interest in the full lifecycle of their garment production. This includes learning about how the raw materials are harvested to make the yarn, needed to knit and the dyes used, and how a customer should dispose of a garment when theyre done wearing it. Third, the media needs to bring more attention and awareness to brands that are doing good things in the fashion industry. There are thousands of small batch and slow fashion brands globally that have emerged with ethical supply chains over the past decade. Yet, the large media share of voice goes towards the big brands, who can afford to buy it. Featuring more up and coming brands who have genuine sustainability and ethics built into the core of their business model will create awareness and showcase that problems need to be solved, and help consumers make better choices. | https://www.forbes.com/sites/christophermarquis/2021/05/14/what-does-slow-fashion-actually-mean/ |
Where Does U.S. Natural Gas Production Go From Here? | NEW YORK, NEW YORK - APRIL 15: The New York Stock Exchange stands in lower Manhattan on April 15, ... [+] 2021 in New York City. After major companies reported strong earnings and new economic data points to a rebound in consumer spending, U.S. stocks climbed to record levels on Thursday. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images) Getty Images Surging U.S. natural gas production via fracking has been the key gas story globally since the shale revolution took flight in 2008. From 2008 to 2019, U.S. output increased nearly 70% to 34 trillion cubic feet (Figure). The U.S. now produces about a quarter of the worlds gas and a staggering 35% more than second place Russia. In turn, Americans have enjoyed likely the lowest natural gas prices in the world, averaging under $3.00 per MMBtu since 2012, compared to over $7.00 from 2000-2009. What goes under-appreciated is that much lower prices should actually be working to curtail output because they drop revenues and make more resources less available for extraction. Indeed, it goes routinely forgotten that, just like renewables, the U.S. shale industry is constantly evolving and deploying more efficient technologies. Since early-2020, however, it has been a rough ride for U.S. gas producers through the destruction of Covid-19. After annual increases of 13% in 2018 and 11% in 2019, U.S. gas production in 2020 fell 1-2%. But this was bound to be the case: in 2020, crude oil prices dropped 30% to average below $40 per barrel and gas prices averaged just $2.05, their lowest level in decades. And freeze offs from the great Texas energy crisis in February triggered the largest monthly decline in U.S. gas production on record. Over the past 16 months, U.S. gas production has more or less stagnated, averaging ~91 Bcf/d (right now being a maintenance time of the year). The U.S. Department of Energy expects this to continue in 2021 but rise to over 93 Bcf/d next year, as prices are forecast at well above $3.00. June 2020 gas prices collapsed to below $1.50 but current June 2021 prices are nearly double that. And just as importantly, much higher oil prices should help bring on more U.S. associated gas that comes along as a byproduct of crude oil, a really big deal in Texas. In fact, the Permian basin in West Texas, which usually has a zero or just one gas-directed rig count, yields over 17.3 Bcf/d, 20% of U.S. supply and more than any foreign nation except Russia and Iran (it is about equal to Qatar). Rystad Energy estimates that the U.S. shale industry is set for record revenues this year if WTI crude can average $60 per barrel, right where it has been for 2021 thus far. Higher natural gas liquids prices are also supporting the industry. Producers could then expect $195 billion before factoring in hedges. One hedging analysis reports that the average swap price for natural gas is $2.69 in 2021 and $2.58 for 2022, with the average put price (non-three way) for the same years at $2.54 and $2.50, respectively. Especially since inflation is now at highs not seen since 2008, the $2.50 natural gas price stands as a hard floor and held for the previous three years prior to the obvious anomaly year of 2020. U.S. natural gas production has been surging since 2008, but has been flat through the pandemic. EIA; JTC Yet still, U.S. shale gas (and oil) producers must be cautious to not overproduce. The days of double-digit annual percentage increases should be over. Pioneer Natural Resources PXD CEO Scott Sheffield thinks that the shale industry should consolidate more to maintain operational and curb volume increases from smaller producers firms that need more production to pay down debt. Moreover, the smaller players are less tangled in the ESG web and typically go under the radar of environmental groups obsessed with Big Oil: Energy Giants Ditch Oil and Coal Projects. Smaller Rivals Want Them. Looking forward, one of the main reasons why gas futures are still quite low is the optimism around production. For example, as of now (mid-May), gas prices for winter 2029-2030 are $3.00. The U.S. Department of Energys National Energy Modeling System has generally had domestic production outpacing domestic demand by a 2-1 margin for many years, or even decades, to come. And with prices so low and the infrastructure already installed (at 530,000 MW, gas accounts for 45% of total U.S. power generation capacity), gas clearly will remain a cornerstone. President Bidens climate goal is to half the countrys greenhouse gas output in 2030 from 2005 levels, which equates to needing to cut nearly 2.9 billion tons of gross annual emissions. This potentially could mean a 70-80% reduction in greenhouse emissions from the power sector. Coal is probably the low-hanging fruit because it still generates 20% of U.S. power. Reality check: in most markets, the electricity competition is still between gas and coal, not gas and renewables. For example, the U.S. Department of Energy predicts a 20% boom in U.S. coal power generation this year specifically because of higher natural gas prices. Very importantly, even in renewables-obsessed, much higher cost Europe, where population growth and incremental energy needs are small-scale, the Union recently included more natural gas as part of its climate plans to reach net-zero carbon. The U.S. gas industry, however, knows that it must continue to make progress on slashing methane emissions and leaks crucial for enhancing its ESG positioning. After all, while methane is a greenhouse gas, natural gas is 95% methane, meaning that methane is a product that the industry naturally wants to capture. And an oil and gas price spike could loom on the horizon to lift revenues even more: a lack of upstream investments in new supply is bound to collide with rebounding demand. Higher prices this year are having material benefits: Dont Tell Anybody, But Frackers Went on a Hiring Spree. Quietly the largest U.S. gas producer, Pittsburgh-based EQT EQT just announced a transformative $2.9 billion purchase of Alta Resources. The liquefied natural gas export build-out will also incentivize new domestic gas production, evolving into an increasingly sustainable product to reach climate conscious buyers in Europe and elsewhere. To conclude, the U.S. shale revolution has been in full force for 12 years, but I think that the industry just now might be waking up to the fact that we could have much higher prices and Americans would still require massive amounts of oil and gas. The Colonial pipeline attack just demonstrated how entrenched these commodities really are in our daily lives - not nearly as replaceable as some suspiciously insist that you think. | https://www.forbes.com/sites/judeclemente/2021/05/14/where-does-us-natural-gas-production-go-from-here/ |
What can England do to combat the Indian Covid variant? | The possible spread of the much-transmissible B.1.617.2 variant of Covid, first identified in India, threatens to hamper the timetable for removing lockdown restrictions, with a series of localised outbreaks detected. Here are some possible actions that could be used to limit the spread of the variant: Surge testing This is the strategy in which small areas are targeted for mass tests of as many people as possible, including those with no symptoms or any suggestion they have been in contact with a Covid carrier. It has been used previously to try to detect the spread of another fast-spreading Covid variant, first detected in South Africa. Last month, it was launched in a number of London boroughs, including the use of door-to-door tests, and an enhanced system for tracing contacts of people who are positive. Surge testing, with associated genome-sequencing to identify the spread of variants, has become the default response to such variants, and is now taking place in 15 locations across England, The Department of Health and Social Care has said. However, this has not happened throughout for the India variant. Earlier this month, it emerged that surge testing for the strain, then listed as a variant under investigation rather than a variant of concern, had not started. Surge vaccinations This is a notably more recent development. While the national rollout of coronavirus vaccinations has progressed quickly, it has been done based on age or clinical vulnerabilities, rather than factors such as location or job. Ministers and public health officials have argued this is necessary to streamline the process. While the cut-off age for eligibility is currently 38, it appears likely we could see areas where everyone 18 and above will be offered injections. The vaccines minister, Nadhim Zahawi, said on Friday the government would flex the vaccine programme as needed. There is definitely local demand. At one point on Thursday, Blackburn with Darwen council said all over-18s in the district could book a vaccine from next week, before reversing the plan. But sources in other areas affected by the India variant suggest similar plans could be put into effect. While the evidence appears that current vaccines are effective with the variant, surge vaccination is not a solution on its own, as it can take several weeks before people are protected. Local lockdowns These have never been enormously popular with ministers, and it is notable that when Boris Johnson imposed the third national lockdown for England early in the new year, there was an end to the system of regional tiers with different levels of restrictions. As well as the tiers, which placed areas into pre-set categories of lockdown, ministers have also used one-off local restrictions to combat case surges. But both ideas have proved controversial. Complaints have included the size of tiered areas, with entire counties placed into higher levels because of localised outbreaks, as well as the different impact on hospitality venues and other businesses. In October, the tier system threatened to descend into chaos as leaders in north-west England, led by the Greater Manchester mayor, Andy Burnham, openly rejected a move to a higher restriction level. There are also questions about the efficacy of localised rules given people will travel in and out. It is nonetheless possible that areas affected by the India variant could have some more limited local rule changes, such as secondary school students asked to still wear masks when others elsewhere do not. Delaying the national reopening This seems unlikely for now, but much will depend on the coming weeks. There are no plans to change the easing of restrictions that come into force next week, including the reopening of indoor hospitality and some non-essential overseas travel. However, Downing Street will not confirm it will definitely press ahead with the much broader measures due from 21 June, which is meant to be the moment for the end of social distancing measures and the reopening of venues like nightclubs. Ministers have always held open the option of delaying stages of this process if infections rose, and one of the four tests in place for assessing next steps is about the presence of new variants. Johnson would almost certainly face a serious political backlash if the 21 June plan were delayed, or scaled back significantly, especially if the evidence remained that vaccines were effective against the India variant. However, there could be mitigating measures, such as the use of internal Covid certificates, showing vaccination or a negative test, to access some venues and events. | https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/may/14/what-can-england-do-to-combat-the-indian-covid-variant |
Will Rodgers and Wilson both start in the Seahawks-Packers Week 10 matchup? | Aaron Rodgers was voted NFL MVP by the Associated Press for the 2011, 2014 and 2020 seasons. Every single non-Chiefs team in the league should pick up the phone to try to figure out the answers. Rarely, if ever, is a franchise quarterback available in their prime available via a trade a reigning league MVP has never been traded. Rodgers may be 37 year 0ld, but he still has at least four to five more years of high-level play in his legs. Its worth remembering: Tom Brady has started as many Super Bowls since turning 37 (five) as any other quarterback has all-time. Given his excellence from the pocket, Rodgers game should age just as gracefully. Still: We can whittle down the list quite quickly. Realistically, those teams who already feel like they have a young, future franchise-caliber quarterback will not pick up the phone. Neither will the teams who have recently been rebuffed and so moved on to new targets in the draft (the 49ers, the Patriots). The Colts are out of it after making a move for Carson Wentz at the start of the offseason; the same goes for the Lions and the Rams. And you can rule out any team that already has an aging quarterback whose absorbing a big chunk of that teams salary cap (Pittsburgh, Tampa Bay, et al). That leaves us with six potential landing spots with apologies to the Giants, who should make the call but wont. Denver Broncos The rumors of a Rodgers-to-Denver deal have bubbled along since the opening night of the draft. It makes sense. The Broncos are going nowhere with Drew Lock and his league-leading interception total; Teddy Bridgewater will serve as a competent bridge piece to whoever the Broncos look at next, but he isnt the long-term answer. Who the Broncos turn to in the medium to long-term is even more pressing given the state of their division. Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs arent going anywhere for the next decade-plus. Ditto for Justin Herbert and the Chargers. In order to keep up, the Broncos need to take a big swing. They were unable or unwilling to move up in the draft to land one of this years top quarterback prospects, which leaves them with three possibilities: A, ride this season out and hope they can land a top quarterback prospect in next years draft; B, muddle along with Bridgewater in a state of quarterback purgatory; C, try to trade for an upgrade. There is no price that the Broncos should be unwilling to pay. Sure. Of course. Hell meet you at the airport. Las Vegas Raiders Jon Gruden and Mike Mayock, the Raiders brain-trust, find themselves in a similar position to Denver: the backbone of a playoff team is there, but theyre lacking the spark at quarterback that can help close the gap to Kansas City (and help cover up some of their questionable personnel choices). Gruden is famously impatient, and he has long been the kind of vocal, strident advocate for all things Rodgers-ness that the quarterback appears to covet; the coach would certainly acquiesce to the quarterbacks wishes with his offensive scheme Gruden, for all his bluster, is as malleable as any coach in the league in adjusting his offense to the skills of his quarterback. The Raiders have the picks and young talent needed to make a big offer. And if moving back to the West Coast is any part of Rodgers calculation, the Raiders represent his best opportunity. Carolina Panthers The Panthers are hovering. Owner David Tepper has been looking to make a big splash at quarterback ever since he purchased the team. Carolina sniffed around Deshaun Watson before his legal troubles surfaced and they were first in line to enquire about Russell Wilson when the quarterbacks sour relationship with the Seattle hierarchy came to light. Bringing in Sam Darnold while simultaneously paying Teddy Bridgewater to go away was a smart gamble. Maybe theres something there in the former first-round pick. Maybe he was a victim or circumstances and poor coaching in New York. Maybe not. Maybe he stinks. But the Panthers are happy to bet on the potential of something, anything, rather than treading water with a known commodity like Bridgewater. But just because Carolina only recently added Darnold does mean that theyre wedded to him for any length of time. If Rodgers is available and interested, the Panthers will be at the front of the queue making their case they could even include Darnold in such a deal if the Packers wanted to buy Jordan Love more time or wanted to flip him themselves for extra assets. Miami Dolphins In two short years, Chris Grier and Brian Flores, the head honchos in Miami, have orchestrated the model rebuild. They loaded up on draft picks, built to specific scheme requirements in free agency rather than chasing names, took longshots on some high-upside players, drafted their quarterback of the future once the right pieces were in place, brought that quarterback along slowly. The roster has shown complete buy-in. The team has developed a bunch of players from so-so prospects or bit-part pieces into the foundation of a side that has real division-title aspirations this coming season. Miami could continue on that normal evolutionary line. They could continue to take things linear: they can explain away Tua Tagovailoas early struggles as the natural issues of any rookie quarterback; they could give him time to grow; they can continue to build around Tagovailoa, slowly and methodically. Or they could try to microwave success right now; they could use some of their remaining assets from the rebuilding days and take a run at a deal for Rodgers. No matter how smart or calculated a teams long-term plan is, it means little for a coach or GM if their hand-picked quarterback turns the ball over on third down. Its short-sighted, but its the way the league works. New Orleans Saints For the first time in a long time, the Saints are in the market for a quarterback. Sean Payton has the kind of quarterback-friendly, its-more-of-a-partnership-than-coaching reputation that could lure Rodgers to the NFC South. The Saints have bad big trades before and are happy to be ruthless in pursuit of upgrading their roster: they will move on fan favourites, will dangle out superstars in trades, will finagle the salary cap in order to squeeze out an extra couple of dollars in order to add another player now to win today not caring about the future. In short, all of the things that Rodgers has issues with in Green Bay. At some point soon, the Saints will have to pay for all of the salary cap sins of the back-end of the Drew Brees era, but theres enough flexibility in the new collective Bargaining Agreement for the team to kick that can down the road for another two years, opening up enough of a window that could tempt Rodgers to make the move. Green Bay Packers The Packers do not want to trade Rodgers. If anything, it would be preferable from the Packers perspective for Rodgers to retire than to move to another team, no matter the amount of compensation that would come back in exchange, which means that the quarterback is going to need to make a stink publicly or privately in order to get out of Green Bay. Its hard to argue that wherever he could land would be a demonstrable upgrade over the roster in Green Bay. The Packers went to the NFC championship game last year, their cap sheet is healthy, and they have the assets to add some immediate help if Rodgers commits to staying and lays out his own timeline. Rodgers could turn any franchise into a legitimate contender, such is his excellence and individual style, but its hard to make the argument that his Super Bowl odds would be improved by moving elsewhere. Jeopardy! Lurking over everything is the idea that Rodgers could retire to be the full-time host of Jeopardy!. The shows show-runner has stated publicly that theyre looking for a host that can commit their full-time to the show rather than viewing it as a side hustle alongside their main role. Being an NFL quarterback would seem to disqualify Rodgers from contention. Rodgers doesnt think so. They film 46 days a year. I worked 187 this year in Green Bay. That gives me 178 days to do Jeopardy!. So I feel like I could fit 46 into that 178 and make it work, Rodgers told The Ringer. It would be a dream job for sure, and Im not shy at all about saying I want the job. Rodgers wants Jeopardy! but does Jeopardy! Rodgers did a good job as a game show host for a professional quarterback. But some of the buzz surrounding his performance feels overblown. Its similar to Blake Griffins rendezvous with stand-up comedy. Athletes are generally graded in such things on a curve, the commentariat writ large grateful to any athlete for showing a modicum of personality beyond a barrage of cliches. And so the praise pours in. Hes hilarious! He was amazing! Griffin wasnt giving Dave Chappelle any sleepless nights. And while Jeopardy! And if Jeopardy! He might. Everybodys priorities are different. But that would potentially put him on the hook for $31 million if the Packers looked to recuperate his signing bonus. | https://sports.yahoo.com/rodgers-wilson-both-start-seahawks-134537922.html?src=rss |
How did Dinkytown in Minneapolis get its name? | Curious Minnesota Listen and subscribe to our podcast: Via Apple Podcasts |Spotify | Stitcher Few places are more closely associated with college life in Minnesota than Dinkytown, the southeast Minneapolis commercial hub where generations of University of Minnesota students have grabbed beers, books and a bite to eat. The name "Dinkytown" has become synonymous with the area's small-scale charm. But Sue Cirillo, whose son attends the U, wanted to know the history behind this unique moniker. "It's hilarious," said Cirillo, who visits campus several times a year from the East Coast. She sought answers from Curious Minnesota, the Star Tribune's community reporting project fueled by great reader questions. Cirillo isn't alone. Historians and students have been inquiring for many decades about the origins of the Dinkytown name. Almost every year, a new crop of journalism students shows up at The Book House, a Dinkytown staple, to interview owner Kirsten Eide-Tollefson on the subject. Dinkytown shops along 4th Street between 14th Avenue and 15th Avenue SE, as seen in 2019. All this probing has produced myriad theories, involving everything from old trains to Gopher football players. But no one has definitively cracked the case yet. "It's a very interesting question and it's almost better that it's slightly mysterious," said Eide-Tollefson, a co-founder of the nonprofit Preserve Historic Dinkytown. There is consensus, however, that the name relates to the area's diminutive geographic size and first appeared in newspapers and directories in the 1940s. One of the most prominent theories involves the building on the corner of 4th Street and 14th Avenue SE that formerly housed Gray's Drugstore now home to Loring Pasta Bar. The name "Grodnik" is carved above the doorway, referring to either the original owners or tenants of the building. The view down 14th Street SE in 1963. Some have suggested that surname meant something like "small town" or "dinky town" in a Slavic language and the name stuck. A Russian language professor disputed that translation in the Minneapolis Tribune in 1977, however. "That was the story that for a number of years had the most votes," Eide-Tollefson said. "We don't know the facts." Bill Huntzicker, a retired journalism professor, detailed at least 10 theories in his 2016 book called "Dinkytown: Four Blocks of History." "Nobody really knows, but the people who do have theories have very strong feelings about them," he said. Several possible explanations involve railroading. The term "dinkies" was historically used to describe smaller-than-normal shuttle trains or streetcars, according to rail historian Aaron Isaacs. But he added that no trains like that traveled in the Dinkytown area. Huntzicker said that many workers in nearby rail yards came to the area to eat, possibly bringing the "dinky" name with them. "I sort of lean toward that [idea] but obviously I can't prove any of it," he said. Some say Dinkytown's origins could have stemmed from a name for a theater where the Varsity Theater stands today, or from Gopher football player Frank "Dinky" Rog, according to Huntzicker's book. World War II veterans may have coined the name, or fraternity members, or two brothers that owned a local dry-cleaning shop, Huntzicker's book speculates. The first time the moniker appeared on a commercial property was the "Dinky Town Dime" variety store, which opened in the 1940s. The area's most famous resident was Bob Dylan, who once lived above Gray's Drugstore during the brief time he was a student at the University of Minnesota, Eide-Tollefson said, adding that many tourists have visited and gestured at the apartment in pictures and videos. Protestors confront a Red Barn official and the property owner of the proposed Red Barn site in March 1970. Some people have fought passionately over the years to preserve the area's dinky qualities from encroaching development. The most well-known example occurred in 1970, when hundreds of students and other Dinkytown enthusiasts defended the local post office from being demolished to build a Red Barn fast-food restaurant. After weeks of protests, the post office was ultimately razed. But the Red Barn was never built. Development proposals in 2013 prompted a flurry of debate over the future of the area. But the neighborhood received some protections in 2015, when the city of Minneapolis recognized parts of Dinkytown as a local historic district. Eide-Tollefson and Huntzicker believe Dinkytown's future is uncertain due to endless construction of new housing. But the name and ongoing debate of its origins will continue. "We like questions with no clear answers, don't we?" Huntzicker said. If you'd like to submit a Curious Minnesota question, fill out the form below: This form requires JavaScript to complete. Minneapolis plows its alleyways. | https://www.startribune.com/dinkytown-minneapolis-name-origin-history-university-of-minnesota/600045043/ |
What is the Basketball Africa League? | Delayed by Covid for over a year, the continent's new pan-African basketball league will finally tip-off on Sunday 16 May. BBC Sport Africa has been taking a closer look: Africa's top basketball club sides are set to face off from Sunday in the Rwandan capital Kigali in a new professional competition designed to promote the sport, drive economic growth and unearth the best up and coming talent. Such aims are part of the reason for the involvement of the NBA, which is helping to organise a league outside of the United States for the first time. "We're here in Africa because we think we can have the biggest impact," said Adam Silver, the Commissioner for the NBA. "We see an opportunity on the continent with well over a billion people (and) an amazing affinity for basketball." Former NBA player and Nigeria international Ben Uzoh will be playing for Nigerian club River Hoopers at the Basketball Africa League. Basketball's world governing body Fiba is also involved in the hunt for the next Joel Embiid (Cameroon) or Pascal Siakam (Congo). "Africa is a continent full of secrets and treasure and I think all this treasure is going to be found," basketball great Dikembe Mutombo told BBC Sport Africa. "As this game is about to start, there will be more players coming out from the continent that we haven't seen before." The competition replaces the old Africa Basketball League, another pan-African club tournament, which had been running since 1971. The BAL was supposed to start in March last year, but Covid put a stop to that, meaning tip-off will finally arrive some 14 months late. Well, you can think of it as being a bit like football's Champions League in Europe. There are 12 teams involved and for the inaugural season, the national champions from Angola, Egypt, Morocco, Nigeria, Senegal and Tunisia were all guaranteed a spot. The other six teams had to go through qualifying - with representatives from Algeria, Cameroon, Madagascar, Mali, Mozambique and Rwanda all making it through. Teams have been divided into three groups - with the top two, plus the two best third-placed sides overall, qualifying for the knock-out phase, which starts with the quarter-finals. There will be 26 games in total, with the first set to tip-off on Sunday 16 May, with the final two weeks later on the 30th. The format has been adjusted, with fewer games than originally planned, because of Covid, with league organisers saying they will have robust safety protocols in place to combat the virus. Group A Group B Group C GNBC (Madagascar) Petro de Luanda (Angola) GSP (Algeria) Rivers Hoopers (Nigeria) FAP (Cameroon) Zamalek (Egypt) Patriots BBC (Rwanda) AS Police (Mali) Ferrovirio de Maputo (Mozambique) US Monastir (Tunisia) AS Sale (Morocco) AS Douanes (Senegal) Venue The Kigali Arena in Rwanda will host the inaugural Basketball Africa League Matches were originally set to be played in seven cities across Africa - Cairo (Egypt), Dakar (Senegal), Lagos (Nigeria), Luanda (Angola), Tunis or Monastir (Tunisia), Rabat (Morocco) and Kigali (Rwanda). However, due to the coronavirus pandemic everything will now take place at the Kigali Arena. Brian Kirungi, the president of local - and new - BAL side Patriots, believes the arena will greatly boost local enthusiasm for the sport. "Now they can touch and feel basketball in their own arena," Kirungi told BBC Sport Africa. "They're going to see all these ex-NBA players, current NBA players and top European basketballers in Rwanda playing locally. "I see a huge potential - attract more investment, more partners, the corporate world in Africa to say: 'look, we are taking ourselves from an amateur to a professional stage'." Prior to the pandemic, BAL organisers had insisted that every country wanting to become a part of the league would need to build a stadium fit for the modern day. "You have to meet the same criteria of the stadium that we have in the United States," said DR Congo-born Mutombo, adding that he never believed the NBA would stage such a competition in Africa. Squads Each team will have 12 players on its roster. Eight have to come from the home country - with only four foreign players allowed, two of whom must come from other African countries. That means that a minimum of 120 of the 144 players involved will be African. "It's a pleasure to make my dream come true," said Patriots player Sedard Segamba. "Growing up as a kid, I always wanted to play in the African league. Africa is going to be on the map." The Future During an 18-year career, Mutombo played for six NBA teams and is widely regarded as one of the league's greatest ever defensive players, ranking second on the all-time list for most shot blocks. Having only taken up basketball after being spotted while studying to become a doctor at an American university, the eight-time NBA All Star believes the BAL will create a far clearer pathway to the top for African talent. "It will change (the standard of African basketball)," he said. "Because our goal is to see some of these best talents come play in the NBA or our G-League (the NBA's development league). "The only way they will get there is by working with the NBA coaches or NBA development coaches, learning the NBA skills and NBA techniques." And the NBA ambassador believes BAL can boost African teams' fortunes at both world championships and Olympic Games, where the continent's top sides have often struggled to make an impact. "The reason that we have not been able to go far in the Olympics is this," Mutombo explained. "American players play four games a week, European players practice twice a day, seven days a week, and play one game a week, but African players play once a week or once every two weeks and practice twice a week because of lack of transportation, lack of funds. "Now we are talking about building more practice facilities where each team will have a place they call home. The NBA, with its investment, is going to change that." Organisers will be hoping he's right and that the Basketball Africa League, after a difficult start, will soon start inspiring the hoop dreams of millions of young Africans for years to come. | https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/africa/57098873 |
What Are Five Essential Things That Make A Good Podcast? | Microphone in radio station broadcasting studio. originally appeared on Quora: the place to gain and share knowledge, empowering people to learn from others and better understand the world. Answer by Andrew Steven, Podcast Producer, on Quora: As a podcaster, producer, and storyteller, I have some questions I like to ask myself to help me be a better creator. I just spent the past couple of years working on a long and personal story called Trail Weight and have referred to these questions throughout the whole process. Only you are you. There's no other person with your experiences, life story, view, thoughts, favorite things, etc. I want to hear your voice. Truthfully, there are very few "original ideas," but there's no shortage of "original people" because we're all unique. I may discover a new podcast because there's an interesting topic or a big-name guest, but the thing that'll keep me listening to every episode is the host. Sometimes it's their charisma, charm, or sense of humor, but it doesn't have to be. Look at SongExploder. Hrishikesh Hirway introduces the episode and then cuts to the guest for the remainder of the show. But Hrishikesh's voice comes through in the production, the editing, and the storytelling. Your voice is important, and I want to hear it (whether it's what you leave in or cut out). The following two questions go hand in hand, and asking them helps you distinguish your podcast from a sea of other shows. One of the goals of a podcast is to have people hear it. To keep people from skipping, unsubscribing, or ignoring your show, sometimes you have to figure out an entertaining way to share your content. This isn't just for comedy shows. RadioLab found adding music and sound design aided the comprehension of scientific theories. Editing in a clip of the TV show your talking about helps the listener not rely on your retelling. Having a recurring "segment" creates something to look forward to so people keep coming back to hear new episodes. Entertaining doesn't have to mean comedy or corny. Just look at the barrage of multi-part documentary series on Netflix and HBO. "Informative" doesn't mean you have to do a deep dive into an esoteric topic or nerd out on an overlooked fact (unless you want to). Think of informing your audience as an opportunity to provide a service to the listener. When people think about editing podcasts, they tend to be on either side of the spectrum. To some, editing means This American Life, NPR-style storytelling. To others, editing means adding music at the begging and end of your show before publishing. But editing is a spectrum and can live somewhere in between. I listen to and love both conversational and documentary-style podcasts, so I'm not pushing one over the other. Don't think of editing as something that happens after creation. Editing is part of creation. Editing is the same as writing, the same as interviewing, and just as important as any other production aspect. Maybe you're lucky, and you record a perfect episode, perhaps you cut two minutes, or you move stuff around to help tighten up and clarify what's going on. However your show works and whatever you need is, remember to edit. This might sound obvious, and I appreciate that we don't always have to create something for the largest possible audience. In fact, one of the joys of podcasting is that you can find your audience, no matter how broad or small. You don't have to set out trying to make the best podcast in the world, but make the best podcast you can. This applies to all areas, from concept to production, audio quality to release frequency. I'm a firm believer that good content outweighs poor audio quality, but if you're able to have a compelling podcast and it sounds great, even better. Bottom line: Enjoy your show. This question originally appeared on Quora - the place to gain and share knowledge, empowering people to learn from others and better understand the world. | https://www.forbes.com/sites/quora/2021/05/14/what-are-five-essential-things-that-make-a-good-podcast/ |
What are so-called COVID nails? | A new term is circulating after a scientist in the U.K. said he was receiving anecdotal reports of COVID nails, or horizontal lines appearing across the nails of coronavirus survivors several months after infection. Tim Spector, a professor of genetic epidemiology at Kings College London, is one of the experts behind the ZOE COVID Symptom Study app, and first flagged that users were reporting "COVID nails" on his Twitter page. "Do your nails look odd?" he wrote on May 3. "COVID nails are increasingly being recognized as the nails recover after infection and the growth recover leaving a clear line. Can occur without skin rashes and appears harmless." In response, Spector said he was "getting some nice COVID nail pictures," and additional reports of "nail ridges 4-8 weeks post-vaccine." He later told a follower that the nail ridges, also known formally as Beaus lines, can occur after any infection, trauma, or disease "that upsets the immune system." NEW YORK AMONG STATES WAITING TO LIFT MASK MANDATE FOR VACCINATED PEOPLE Beaus lines are grooves that run horizontally across the nail and can occur when growth at the area under the cuticle is interrupted by injury or severe illness, according to the MayoClinic. Previous conditions associated with the occurrence include uncontrolled diabetes, peripheral vascular disease, scarlet fever, measles, mumps and pneumonia. It can also signal zinc deficiency. There is no specific treatment for the phenomena, and it usually self-resolves if the underlying condition is cleared. Others have documented nail changes associated with COVID-19 infection, like the Canadian Medical Association, which published a case report on the occurrence in its Sept. 2020 journal. In the report, researchers detailed a 45-year-old man who presented with a horizontal groove over his fingernails and toes. Three and half months prior to documenting the change, he had been diagnosed with COVID-19. His multiple symptoms included a fever but he did not require hospitalization. EXPERT SAYS HE FOUND WHY SOME COVID-19 VACCINES TRIGGER CLOT ISSUE The researchers concluded that "the distance of the Beau lines from the proximal nail fold in our patient reflects the timing of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus infection." Spector said its not clear if the occurrence correlates to disease severity, "but it would be more helpful if it wasnt," he told Business Insider. CLICK HERE FOR COMPLETE CORONAVIRUS COVERAGE "If we get enough numbers that are associated with asymptomatic COVID-19, thats a cheap antibody test," he told the news outlet. "People just need to look down at their nails." | https://www.foxnews.com/health/what-are-covid-nails |
Is Tiffany Moon Leaving The Real Housewives of Dallas? | Watch : "Real Housewives" Stars Send Encouragement During Quarantine Say it ain't so, Tiffany Moon. The Real Housewives of Dallas' newest star may have just revealed that she will not be returning for her second season of the hit Bravo series following this week's dramatic May 11 finale of the RHOD reunion. Fans were surprised to notice that Moon has changed her social media bio to read, "Previous cast member of #RHOD @BravoTV" on both Twitter and Instagram. The Bravolebrity further hinted that she's leaving the show by tweeting on May 14, "Good morning everyone it's time for a change. Have a wonderful day!" The mother of two also shared on Instagram this morning, "Do not let the darkness of others dim your light," which may be a reference to the RHOD drama, which included co-star Kameron Westcott repeatedly coming after Moon. Prior to the two-part reunion, Moon opened up to E! News about her hesitance to return to RHOD. | https://www.eonline.com/ap/news/1269565/is-tiffany-moon-leaving-the-real-housewives-of-dallas-read-her-surprising-update |
Is Marylands Larry Hogan a unicorn among Republican governors? | Theres something slightly ridiculous about feeling the need to praise Marylands Republican governor for taking rational steps and making reasonable statements before national media, as if his actions represent some sort of singular, unicorn moment. But given that much of that partys faithful has, in just the past five months, tried to: overturn the presidential election, overthrow the government, gaslight voters and, now, is in the process of ostracizing members who fail to show proper fealty to Donald Trump and his Big Lie baloney, many of Larry Hogans moves and comments so far this May suggest a sparkly horn could indeed sprout from his pate at any moment. First came his vaccine incentive program for state workers, offering $100 payments to those who get inoculated against COVID-19 and agree to receive booster shots as recommended over the next 18 months. To be fair, I should note that West Virginias Republican governor came up with a $100 incentive plan first, and the figure is not exactly a life-changing amount. But compared to Republican politicians in other states who are shunning the vaccine (including Kentucky Sen. Rand throw your mask away Paul and Wisconsin Sen. Ron what do you care if your neighbor [is vaccinated] or not? Johnson), Hogans embrace of it is refreshing. It might even encourage a few folks who had been putting off the shot to schedule an appointment, though adoption is already high in Maryland. I dont see it making much difference to the vast majority of Republicans who oppose coronavirus vaccination on political grounds, however, which is a shame, given that the single most important thing we can do right now to help ourselves and one another is put an end to this pandemic as fast as possible. This American Life ran a frightening (yet fascinating) episode last month, called The Herd that showed what it would take to change the minds of the roughly 40% of Republicans whove said they have no intention of getting the COVID-19 vaccination, and its close to an act of God. The mistrust of government and misunderstanding of the medicine is huge among this group, along with a general resistance to being told what to do for the so-called public good. Public service messages from politicians, in particular, were ineffective. What moved the needle in the focus group the show focused on were the right facts delivered in the right way (We want to be educated, not indoctrinated, said one participant), and appealing to a persons emotional side. Thats a lot of one-on-one work ahead, and Id encourage the governor to think bigger in his approach and to use facts and emotions as his guides. This weekend, Hogan also made national headlines for two separate acts. On Saturday, he issued full posthumous pardons to 34 Black victims of lynching in Maryland between the years 1854 and 1933. He was rather self-congratulatory about the move, which could be described as both common sense and way-too-little-too-late (more on that in a minute), telling listeners at his news conference that with this decision the state was once again leading the way in civil rights. That seems to ignore a whole lot of history in which Maryland desperately wanted to be part of the South, resisted desegregation and furthered all kinds of inequities we still grapple with today. But the real issue I have is in the use of the pardon itself. It suggests that these 34 people, one as young as 13, had undergone some kind of fair due process and justly been found guilty of the crimes for which theyd been accused before being seized (in one case by a mob of masked men), beaten and then hanged or shot. It appears, of course, that for most the real crime was simply being Black in Maryland. And thats not something that should require a pardon. Hogan should have known that tool wasnt the right one for this reckoning, but Im glad he recognizes the value in acknowledging the wrongs of the past, even if it was, as the states NAACP has charged political posturing. Advertising And then, on Sunday, Hogan took on the whole Republican Party, telling NBCs Chuck Todd on Meet the Press that forcing members to swear fealty to the dear leader or get kicked out represents a sort of a circular firing squad where were just attacking members of our own party instead of focusing on solving problems or standing up and having an argument that we can debate the Democrats on. Amen to that. While Ive found fault with many of our governors policies that hit close to home, particularly regarding education in Baltimore City, he clearly has aspirations for political life on a bigger stage, and separating himself from Donald Trump is a national strategy I can appreciate. Hes reading the tea leaves and finding his niche. Its been said that Hogan rarely makes a move without polling first, and if thats even half true, it means hes asking people what they want and then giving it to them. Thats not a bad tack for a politician as long as his sample is wide. | https://www.seattletimes.com/opinion/is-marylands-larry-hogan-a-unicorn-among-republican-governors/ |
Should U.S. condition aid to Israel on reducing conflict? | Saying Hamas must pay a very heavy price for belligerence, Israeli bombs destroyed a 13-story apartment building in Gaza that had a Hamas presence. And saying Israel ignited fire and is responsible for the consequences, Hamas launched more rockets at Israel. Were now seeing the worst fighting in seven years between Israelis and Palestinians, and again a basic pattern asserts itself: When missiles are flying, hard-liners on each side are ascendant. Civilians die, but extremists on one side empower those on the other. The late Eyad el-Sarraj, a prominent psychiatrist in Gaza, described this dynamic when I visited him during a past cycle of violence: Extremists need each other, support each other. He lamented that Israels siege of Gaza had turned Palestinian fanatics into popular heroes. The recent fighting was prompted in part by Israels latest land grab in East Jerusalem, part of a pattern of unequal treatment of Palestinians. Two prominent human rights organizations this year issued reports likening Israels treatment of Palestinians to apartheid. One group, BTselem, described a regime of Jewish supremacy and concluded, This is apartheid. Human Rights Watch published a 224-page report declaring that Israeli conduct in some areas amounts to crimes against humanity of apartheid and persecution. Personally, Im wary of the term apartheid because there are significant differences from ancien rgime South Africa. But putting aside nomenclature, there is no doubt that the ongoing Israeli misrule of Palestinians is both unjust and creates a tinderbox. Its also true that Hamas not only attacks Israeli civilians but also oppresses its own people. But as American taxpayers, we dont have much influence over Hamas, while we do have influence over Israel and we provide several billion dollars a year in military assistance to a rich country and thus subsidize bombings of Palestinians. The obvious way out of the Middle East morass is a two-state solution, but that is becoming difficult to cling to even as a dream. A recent survey showed that Israeli Jews and Palestinians actually agree on something: Only 13%, with little variation among groups, think Israel wants a two-state solution. Hard-liners in Israel sometimes accuse Americans of being naive about what works in a tough neighborhood. But those hard-liners have repeatedly showed their own naivet in pursuing policies that backfired. Consider that it was Israel itself that helped nurture Hamas back in the late 1980s and the 1990s. Israel was then concerned with Yasser Arafats Fatah movement, so it cracked down on Fatah and allowed Hamas to rise as a counterforce. Since then the Middle East has been caught in a Boomerang Syndrome, in which extremists on each side mount violent assaults, which ultimately lead to attacks against their own side as well. Hamas past shelling undermined political moderates in Israel. And Israels siege of Gaza destroyed a Palestinian business community that could have been a moderate counterweight to Hamas, while land grabs in the West Bank and East Jerusalem made the Palestinian leadership seem irrelevant. Its true that force sometimes works. In my conversations in Gaza over the years, Ive found that many Palestinians have complicated views. Some resent Hamas as oppressive and incompetent, and many dislike missile launches at Israel because they know they will face retaliation. Then again, they have endured economic distress, fear and funerals because of Israel, so some acknowledge a bitter satisfaction to seeing missile launches and anticipating that Israeli mothers will grieve as they do. Israels future security depends in part on goodwill in America and on some modus vivendi with Palestinians, yet Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has frittered both away. History suggests that Israel cannot consistently deter nonstate terrorists, but it can very effectively deter nation-states so it should welcome a Palestinian state. Yet as extremism on each side foments extremism on the other, that possibility fades. Advertising The Biden administration has been timid and restrained, slowing the U.N. Security Councils engagement on the issue, and it has yet to name an ambassador to Israel. But the stakes are too high for evasions, and President Joe Biden should stand with others on the Security Council to demand a cease-fire before this escalates further. Secretary of State Antony Blinken helpfully said its vital now to de-escalate. The administration should also express strong concern about the planned evictions of Palestinians that provoked the crisis. Dithering and vacillation help no one. A basic truth of the Middle East is that anyone who predicts with any confidence whats going to happen is too dogmatic to be worth listening to. But for now it appears that the winners in the current fighting are Netanyahu, who may be able to use the upheaval to get another chance to continue as prime minister, and Hamas, which is showing itself relevant in a way that the Palestinian Authority is not. Meanwhile, millions of Palestinians and Israelis lose, and the Boomerang Syndrome spirals on. | https://www.seattletimes.com/opinion/should-u-s-condition-aid-to-israel-on-reducing-conflict/ |
Will Greene's 'verbal assault' on AOC spark an ethics investigation? | Disagreements among members of Congress are routine and unavoidable. Indeed, such disputes among American lawmakers are as old as the country: officials are tasked with debating important matters, and it's inevitable that emotions will run high. There's a qualitative difference, however, between lawmakers engaging in a heated debate and lawmakers accosting one another in a hallway. According to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), when Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) targeted Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) outside the House chamber this week, it fell into the latter category -- and such behavior may require an ethics investigation. Pelosi said at her weekly news conference that the incident, which she called a "verbal assault" and "abuse" of the New York Democrat, was reported to her leadership office. "It's so beyond the pale of anything that is in keeping with bringing honor to the House, or not bringing dishonor to the House. It's so beyond the pale that you wonder ... it probably is a matter for the Ethics Committee," Pelosi said. The incident in question came on Wednesday, when Washington Post reporters saw the right-wing Georgian, whose record of radicalism cost her committee assignments, "aggressively confront" the Democratic congresswoman and demand to know why Ocasio-Cortez "supports terrorists." Greene also shouted for the New York lawmaker to defend her "radical socialist" beliefs in some kind of public debate. Ocasio-Cortez, who's often known by her AOC initials, ignored Greene's tantrum and walked away. "I used to work as a bartender. These are the kinds of people that I threw out of bars all the time," the congresswoman told reporters yesterday. On the surface, it may be tempting to dismiss inconsequential confrontations like these. The Georgia Republican is obviously a fringe, clownish figure and a crackpot conspiracy theorist whose nonsense is not to be taken seriously. But there's a larger context to incidents like these. As NBC News' report added, for example, the GOP extremist "has had prior incidents of accosting and chasing people in public she disagrees with." Indeed, CNN reported this morning that Greene has targeted Ocasio-Cortez, in particular, even taunting members of the New York congresswoman's staff and making obnoxious comments through a mailbox slot outside the Democrat's locked office. This wasn't an example of misplaced activism from years past; we're talking about Greene's antics from 2019 -- the year before her election to Congress. What's more, there's growing unease among many Democratic lawmakers that their physical safety might be at risk around some of the more extremist members of the Republican caucus. It's against this backdrop that one of the most radical members in modern times chased down a colleague and shouted at her about "supporting terrorists." Under normal circumstances, one might consider seeking a restraining order against such a person. Under these circumstances, that's not an option, because the unhinged bully is an elected member of Congress. Rep. David N. Cicilline (D-R.I.) told the Washington Post's Greg Sargent yesterday, "Once again, Marjorie Taylor Greene has crossed the line. It's completely unacceptable. There's a pattern of behavior. I'm concerned that if we don't do something, it will continue to escalate." The Rhode Island congressman added, "I'm going to ask the sergeant-at-arms to directly speak with Marjorie Taylor Greene and make it clear she can't confront other members of Congress.... I'm going to discuss what additional steps we can take to ensure that all members can come to work and feel safe." In theory, Republican leaders could intervene before someone gets hurt, but I haven't seen any reporting about GOP officials taking any such steps, and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) has stood by Greene in the recent past. | https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/will-greene-s-verbal-assault-aoc-spark-ethics-investigation-n1267378 |
Could Mizzou land another in-state target in Marquis Gracial? | One of the St. Louis area's top football recruits makes his college decision Friday. Marquis Gracial, a four-star defensive tackle at St. Charles High, will announce his verbal pledge at 5:30 p.m. at his school. Gracial is down to five finalists: Alabama, Arizona State, Iowa State, Missouri and Oregon. I can honestly say he hasn't told anybody, not even me, St. Charles coach Bob Leonard said Friday. "He's quit answering the phone for anybody just to have a peaceful week. He said, 'They're wearing me out.' I told him, 'At 5:30 I'm going to be happy no matter where you go.'" Whoever lands Gracial, Leonard knows what theyre getting: a massive 6-foot-4, 310-pound linemen with unique speed for his size hes been electronically timed in the 40-yard dash at 4.92 seconds and versatility along the line of scrimmage. As a sophomore, Gracial played nose tackle in St. Charles 3-4 scheme and was regularly double- and triple-teamed. Last fall he played defensive end and occasionally on two feet as an edge rusher. In 10 games last season, he finished with 61 tackles, including 29 for losses and three sacks. Hell also play some tight end for the Pirates, catching four passes for 56 yards and a touchdown last year. | https://www.stltoday.com/sports/college/mizzou/could-mizzou-land-another-in-state-target-in-marquis-gracial/article_d530438c-1af1-58f7-8cec-820e903b839f.html |
What Is a Solo 401(k) and How Does It Work? | A solo 401(k) is really special because you have the option of putting aside so much money for your future, money expert Clark Howard says. Youre able to take a huge amount of what you earn, if you can afford to, and put it in a solo 401(k). Rules & Limits Solo 401(k) Version Eligibility No age/income restrictions; can't have qualifying employees Employee Contribution Limit $19,500 Catch-Up Contribution Limit $6,500 (for those 50 or older) Total Contribution Limits $58,000 (plus catch-up contributions) Contributions Employee and employer Taxes Depends on whether your account is traditional, Roth or both #tablepress-420 from cache Although it's similar to a traditional 401(k) retirement account, a solo 401(k) is unique: You can contribute as an employer <u>and</u> as an employee. It also imposes fewer rules and requires less paperwork than a typical 401(k) plan. The other brilliant thing about solo 401(k) plans is that, at least in theory, they offer a Roth option (more on that later). Unless you're in a high tax bracket, Clark wants you to contribute your solo 401(k) funds into a Roth option. If youre a freelancer, you operate a side hustle or you own your own business, a solo 401(k) can be a great way to save and invest for retirement. The only requirements are: You must make self-employment income. You cannot have any "qualified" employees. In this case, a qualified employee is someone who has worked for your company for at least one year and has worked at least 1,000 hours per year. Once someone working for you reaches qualified employee status, you must incorporate a non-discrimination test. That involves more paperwork and tasks to meet legal compliance. At that point, it's likely that a SEP IRA or a SIMPLE IRA are better options for you than a solo 401(k). As a business owner, in terms of 401(k) contributions, youre the employer as well as the employee. As an employee, you can contribute up to a total of $19,500 of your income to your 401(k) accounts in 2021. If youre at least 50 years old in 2021, you can add another $6,500 in catch-up contributions. You can also make company (employer) contributions to yourself. I'll go into more detail about how that works in the section on solo 401(k) contribution limits. Other than yourself, the only people who can make or receive contributions within your solo 401(k) plan are: Your spouse. He or she must earn income from your business in order to qualify. By rule, your spouse must receive "employer" contributions as well. He or she must earn income from your business in order to qualify. By rule, your spouse must receive "employer" contributions as well. Your business partners. If you have a business with multiple owners and zero employees, all the owners can open a shared solo 401(k) plan. The Two Types of Solo 401(k) Plans The way your solo 401(k) works will depend on what type of plan you open. There are two main types: Brokerage based. You do business with an investment firm such as Fidelity, Schwab or Vanguard. Self-directed or "checkbook control." You become your own trustee, either by working with a third-party company (typically not a brokerage) or simply by doing it all yourself. Brokerage-Based Solo 401(k) Plans Clark prefers the brokerage-based option because of the complexity of the do-it-yourself option. He'd rather you spend time on what's making you money than on managing your solo 401(k). Brokerage-based plans involve less paperwork for you, but theyre often limiting, even at the major investment firms. For example, the solo 401(k) plans offered by Fidelity and Schwab dont support Roth options or 401(k) loans. If you cant find the Roth version of a solo 401(k) at your first choice of company, then you should maybe look at a different company that offers that as an option, Clark says. Vanguards solo 401(k) option happens to support a Roth option, but it doesnt allow 401(k) loans and restricts investment options to Vanguard funds. Brokerage-based solo 401(k) plans often are free or close to it. Vanguard charges $20 per year for every Vanguard fund that you invest in through your solo 401(k). If you invest in five different Vanguard funds, you'll pay $100 annually. However, you can get those fees waived if you invest at least $50,000 with Vanguard. Self-Directed Solo 401(k) Plans With a self-directed plan, you agree to take on much more responsibility in terms of compliance, paperwork and bookkeeping. This is in exchange for more flexibility and features. There are some third-party companies (not brokerages) that employ accountants that specialize in retirement plans for the self-employed. Those companies will offer guidance on the do-it-yourself version of a solo 401(k) plan for a fee. Self-directed plans open up a world of investment possibilities. In addition to stocks, bonds, ETFs and mutual funds, your investment options can include real estate, private business investments, private loans, cryptocurrencies, precious metals basically anything but collectibles. With a self-directed solo 401(k) plan, you can typically take out a loan from your 401(k). You also usually get the option to make employee contributions to a Roth solo 401(k). Often, neither of those things are available through brokerage-based plans. You can also roll over a 401(k), 457(b), 403(b) or traditional IRA into your solo 401(k) plan if its self-directed. You cant roll a Roth IRA into a solo 401(k). Many of the free brokerage-based plans restrict certain rollover options. With a self-directed plan, you can also make voluntary after-tax contributions, which may not be the case with a brokerage-based plan. However, a self-directed plan requires much more paperwork and bookkeeping. If you fund your solo 401(k) with money youve rolled over from another account and/or you have a Roth component to your plan, youll need to keep track of those separate money buckets. Solo 401(k) Contribution Limits for 2021 Type Of Contribution Solo 401(k) Contribution Limit Employee $19,500 (+$6,500 for 50 and older)* Employer (sole proprietorship, partnership, LLC) 20% of net income^ Employer (S Corporation, C Corporation) 25% of gross (W-2) income% Total $58,000 (+$6,500 for 50 and older)# #tablepress-421 from cache <em>*This limit applies across all 401(k) plans to which you have access. If you make less than $19,500 in self-employed income, your contribution limit is 100% of what you earn.</em> <em></em><em>^This requires a calculation, which you can outsource to a tax specialist. If you want to do it on your own, you'll need to use the rate table worksheet in Chapter 6 of </em><em>IRS Publication 560</em><em>. You can also make the calculation via another IRS document called "</em><em>Calculating Your Own Retirement Plan Contribution</em><em>. "</em> <em>%You can use a maximum of $290,000 in compensation for these purposes. Anything you make beyond $290,000 isnt eligible for additional employer contributions.</em> <em></em><em>#Employer contribution limits aren't comprehensive like employee limits.</em> <em>You can get up to $58,000 in total from multiple employers.</em> Solo 401(k) Employee Contribution Limits and Rules As an employee, you can contribute up to $19,500 a year. If youre 50 or older in 2021, you can contribute an additional $6,500 in what are called catch-up contributions. Those amounts are total across all 401(k) plans. For example, if you run your own business and youre a W-2 employee at another company, you dont get to contribute $39,000. Your 401(k) employee contribution limit is still $19,500 total. If your solo 401(k) plan rules allow, you can decide to make employee contributions to a Roth or a traditional solo 401(k). If you have a spouse, he or she can contribute only up to the amount they earn from the business. Employee contributions are due by Dec. 31 each year. Solo 401(k) Employer Contribution Limits and Rules Youll calculate your employer contribution limit differently depending on whether your business is incorporated. If youre not incorporated, youll need to calculate your net income. Its a good idea to consult with a tax specialist if you find that calculation to be challenging. If you have a spouse, he or she must get the same contribution from the company that you do. In other words, if your employer (company) contribution is 15% per year and your spouse participates in your solo 401(k), you must give them 15% per year as well. The same is true for business partners: You must all get the same employer contribution percentage. Employer contributions can be made only to a traditional solo 401(k). These contributions are tax deductible for your business. Employer contributions are due by the time your business files its tax returns. If your solo 401(k) account value exceeds $250,000, you'll have to start filing Form 5500 EZ annually. That adds an extra layer of complexity to your solo 401(k). You can roll over some of your 401(k) funds into an IRA to avoid triggering that requirement. How To Open and Set Up a Solo 401(k) Here are the steps to open a solo 401(k): Make sure you're eligible to open a solo 401(k). You need to make self-employment income and you can't have any qualified employees. Make sure you have enough self-employment income to justify the administrative tasks of opening and maintaining a solo 401(k). "If you know you're not going to put aside more than $6,000 a year for retirement, don't worry about starting a solo 401(k). Just do a Roth IRA," Clark says. Decide on a brokerage-based or self-directed solo 401(k) plan. Clark recommends brokerage-based plans. However, many brokerage-based plans don't offer benefits such as a Roth option or broader investing options. Fill out the necessary paperwork and potentially start your own trust checking account. If you choose the self-directed option, you'll do more work during this step. Determine whether you'll make Roth or traditional employee contributions for the year. If you have the option and you're not in one of the highest tax brackets, Clark advises you to contribute to a<em> Roth</em> solo 401(k). Fund your solo 401(k) through contributions and/or rollovers. You need to pay yourself self-employment income and make a contribution into your plan within the first year you open the account. Make your investments. Clark loves target date funds. He says you can put every dollar of your retirement portfolio into a target date fund. If you can't bring yourself to do that, his next recommendation is to buy a mix of low-cost index funds: total stock market, international and bond. Solo 401(k) Withdrawal Rules When were young, 16 (drivers license), 18 (voting age) and 21 (drinking age) are milestone ages within the legal system. But if youre older than 21, youve still got some special ages worth celebrating. One of those is 59. At that age, youre allowed to withdraw from any retirement account without paying a 10% early withdrawal penalty to the IRS. That includes a solo 401(k). The only exception: If you have a Roth account of any kind, you must wait five years from the day you open it before you can make penalty-free withdrawals even after youre 59. If you dont take any money out of your solo 401(k) into your 70s, the government starts to wonder if it will get any tax revenue, especially from your traditional 401(k) funds. Whether you contributed to a Roth 401(k), a traditional 401(k) or both, when you're 72 years old, you'll need to start taking what are called Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs). There are rules that determine exactly how much you need to withdraw each year after your 72nd birthday. If youre still working at 72 years old, you can delay taking RMDs from your current 401(k). Advantages of a Solo 401(k) Here are some of the top benefits of a solo 401(k) plan: Access to a 401(k) retirement plan if you're self-employed. You don't have to be a W-2 employee at a large company to get access to a 401(k). If you're self-employed, a solo 401(k) gives you another option. You don't have to be a W-2 employee at a large company to get access to a 401(k). If you're self-employed, a solo 401(k) gives you another option. Can make employee and employer contributions. A SEP IRA, which is the biggest alternative to a solo 401(k) for the self-employed, allows only employer contributions. A SEP IRA, which is the biggest alternative to a solo 401(k) for the self-employed, allows only employer contributions. Much higher contribution limits than an IRA. If you contribute to an Individual Retirement Account, you're allowed to put in a maximum of $6,000 per year ($7,000 if you're at least 50 years old). With a solo 401(k), you can set aside up to $58,000 per year in a tax-advantaged retirement account. If you contribute to an Individual Retirement Account, you're allowed to put in a maximum of $6,000 per year ($7,000 if you're at least 50 years old). With a solo 401(k), you can set aside up to $58,000 per year in a tax-advantaged retirement account. Potential for a range of attractive features. Depending on the specifics of your solo 401(k) plan, you may be able to contribute to a Roth solo 401(k), access a huge range of investment options and take out a loan from your 401(k). Clark strongly advises against taking out a loan against your 401(k). Disadvantages of a Solo 401(k) Here are some of the drawbacks of a solo 401(k) plan: No employees allowed. If you have an employee who has worked for your company for at least one year (12 months and 1,000 hours), you're no longer eligible to maintain a solo 401(k) plan unless that employee is your spouse. If you have an employee who has worked for your company for at least one year (12 months and 1,000 hours), you're no longer eligible to maintain a solo 401(k) plan unless that employee is your spouse. Can create significant administrative work. A solo 401(k) plan isn't as time-consuming as a full-scale corporate 401(k). But it can be a significant resource drain. This is especially true if you select the do-it-yourself option and open an account on your own, outside of a brokerage firm. A solo 401(k) plan isn't as time-consuming as a full-scale corporate 401(k). But it can be a significant resource drain. This is especially true if you select the do-it-yourself option and open an account on your own, outside of a brokerage firm. Need decent income before it becomes worthwhile. If you're not planning to set aside more than $6,000 per year into a retirement account perhaps a decent amount more than $6,000 opening a solo 401(k) probably isn't worth the effort. If you're not planning to set aside more than $6,000 per year into a retirement account perhaps a decent amount more than $6,000 opening a solo 401(k) probably isn't worth the effort. Some of the nuances and rules are especially dense. Personally, I find that solo 401(k) plans to be one of the most complex types of retirement accounts. Solo 401(k) vs. SEP IRA If youre self-employed and you want access to a tax-advantaged retirement account, you have three options: Solo 401(k) SEP IRA SIMPLE IRA Theres nothing simple about a SIMPLE IRA, Clark says. The paperwork is brutal. Its straight-jacketed with a lot of inflexible rules. I never, ever recommend a SIMPLE to anybody. So in my opinion, which could be wrong, I think it really is a choice between the SEP and the solo 401(k). Heres a look at some of the similarities and differences between solo 401(k) and SEP IRA plans: Attribute SEP IRA, Solo 401(k) or Both Employer contributions Both Employee contributions Solo 401(k) Catch-up contributions Solo 401(k) Roth option Solo 401(k) Loan option Solo 401(k) Allowed to have employees SEP IRA Less administrative work SEP IRA Flexible contributions SEP IRA #tablepress-413 from cache Solo 401(k) plans <em>can</em> offer many more features. But if you open a solo 401(k) with a brokerage, as Clark suggests, you may not get access to all those features. However, the brokerage version of solo 401(k) plans is not as much of an administrative undertaking as the do-it-yourself version. At any rate, a SEP IRA Simplified Employee Pension Individual Retirement Account is simpler. You can also operate a SEP IRA even if you have employees, in theory, although that can get expensive quickly. Final Thoughts If you operate your own business and dont have any employees, a solo 401(k) can help you stash a lot of money into a tax-advantaged retirement account. Solo 401(k) plans probably should be more popular than they already are, but researching how they work and digging into the rules can be tedious. However, its worth taking the time to set up a solo 401(k) plan if youre eligible and make enough self-employed income to justify it. appeared first on Clark Howard. | https://www.ajc.com/news/what-is-a-solo-401-k-and-how-does-it-work/4L65JO3K75F6BPM24KCB7DNVBE/ |
What is critical race theory? | The answer to that question appears to have eluded many, as controversies over racial diversity trainings and curricula have swept the nation in recent months. Often compared by critics to actual racism, CRT is a school of thought that generally focuses on how power structures and institutions impact racial minorities. According to Encyclopedia Britannica, the first annual CRT workshop took place in 1989 but its origins go back as far as the mid-20th century with the development of a more general precursor known as critical theory. Advocates of these ideas view the world through the lens of power relationships and societal structures rather than individuals. The movement itself came in reaction to the perceived failures of classical liberalism in the 19th and 20th centuries. Race, according to this view, is a relatively recent social construct that is weaponized by dominant groups to oppress others. While institutions have been mulling these ideas for years, the aftermath of George Floyd's death seemed to amplify its influence across the country. A so-called "racial reckoning" has seen the propagation of various ideas that are often associated with CRT. Certain buzzwords like "systemic racism" or "implicit bias" have emerged in school districts' diversity statements, corporate trainings, educational materials, and government agencies. TENNESSEE BAN ON TEACHING CRITICAL RACE THEORY GETS STATE ASSEMBLY OK Part of the problem defining CRT is that its contours are so vague. Law professor Kimberle Crenshaw, one of CRT's progenitors, writes that the theory itself is a verb rather than a noun. "CRT is not so much an intellectual unit filled with stuff theories, themes, practices and the like but one that is dynamically constituted by a series of contestations and convergences pertaining to the ways that racial power is understood and articulated in the post-civil rights era," she said. She went on to say: "I want to suggest that shifting the frame of CRT toward a dynamic rather than static reference would be a productive means by which we can link CRTs past to the contemporary moment." That vagueness has played out nationwide, with institutions disputing constituents' claims that they're implementing CRT. There even seems to be confusion within institutions like Loudoun County Public Schools, in Virginia, which despite denying teaching CRT reportedly coaches its employees on that very concept. In the fallout of mass confusion, many have focused their criticism on what they say CRT manifests divisive ideas about race, collective guilt for dominant groups, and assigning racial significance to seemingly neutral concepts. The previous U.S. administration and various states attempted to restrict the theory's spread by referring more generally to those ideas. 3 STATES BAN DIVISIVE CONCEPTS,' CRITICAL RACE THEORY IN SCHOOLS Most notably, states like Oregon and Virginia have come under fire for promoting ideas about racist structures in mathematics. One program in particular alleged that White supremacy infiltrated math classrooms and manifested itself in the focus on finding the "right answer." It similarly blamed White supremacy for objectivity as "the belief that there is such a thing as being objective or neutral.'" Defenders argue that CRT-type training helps enhance dominant groups' understanding and empathy of what the oppressed experience on a regular basis. These types of trainings have also been promoted as ways to "dismantle" or weaken alleged structures imposing burdens through bias and discrimination. Angela Onwuachi-Willig, an expert on critical race theory at Boston University School of Law, told the Boston Globe that critical race theory helped people understand the complexity of race beyond "simple" narratives that they may have been taught. "Racism is not extraordinary," she continued. "Race and racism are basically baked into everything we do in our society. Its embedded in our institutions. Its embedded in our minds and hearts." Attorney M.E. Hart, who has conducted these types of training sessions, told The Washington Post that the training helped people live up to "this nations promise We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.'" CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Critics, however, say it's a form of "neo-racism" that's ripping apart society. That's why activists like Chris Rufo have pursued a legal strategy of challenging CRT-based trainings through civil rights lawsuits. "Critical race theory is a grave threat to the American way of life," Rufo said in announcing a legal coalition in January. "It divides Americans by race and traffics in the pernicious concepts of race essentialism, racial stereotyping, and race-based segregationall under a false pursuit of 'social justice.'" He continued: "Critical race theory training programs have become commonplace in academia, government, and corporate life, where they have sought to advance the ideology through cult-like indoctrination, intimidation, and harassment." | https://www.foxnews.com/us/what-is-critical-race-theory |
How long should Twins try to save season before making trades? | With each Twins loss in a 12-23 start that is as disappointing as it was unexpected, the math gets harder to reconcile. At this point, the Twins would have to play at a .543 clip the rest of the way an 88-win pace over a full season just to finish .500 for the season. And that sort of finish almost certainly wouldn't be good enough to make the playoffs, which is the first step in a stated 2021 goal of competing for a World Series. I talked about the freshest losses a three-game sweep at the hands of the White Sox that left the Twins 10 games back in the division race with Twins beat writer Megan Ryan on Friday's Daily Delivery podcast. While the season is just 35 games old, with 127 left to play, a number from Stathead shows just how dire things are already: Only one team in the Wild Card era, which encompasses 26 seasons from 1995-2020, has rallied to make the postseason after losing at least 23 of its first 35 games. That team was the 2005 Astros, who rallied not just to make the playoffs as a Wild Card but also to reach the World Series (where they lost to the White Sox). That Astros team, however, stacked up Roy Oswalt, Roger Clemens and Andy Pettitte at the top of its rotation, a recipe for several long winning streaks even after Houston sunk to a 15-30 record through 45 games. No offense to Kenta Maeda, Jose Berrios and Michael Pineda, but they are not of the same caliber as the other trio. When you examine how the Twins have lost 23 of 35 games, with a combination of starting pitching woes, bullpen meltdowns and offensive silence all of which contributed to losses in Chicago it's just hard to picture a dramatic turnaround. During the sweep in Chicago, Twins GM Thad Levine indicated the Twins aren't at the point of selling yet nor should they be. But look: They have six home games starting Friday against the division-leading A's and White Sox. If things go poorly enough during this stretch, it might be time to reconsider that stance. Pineda, J.A. Happ and Nelson Cruz are veterans on expiring contracts who could at least fetch mid-level prospects in return. Moving someone like Berrios, with whom the Twins have failed to negotiate a long-term contract, would indicate a larger-scale retooling of the roster but could bring in a more significant haul. That we are talking about such things so early in the season is obviously an indication of just how poorly things have gone. But even if Levine is correct in being patient while waiting for underperforming players to return to previous levels, it's hard to see a clear path to .500 let alone the postseason. | https://www.startribune.com/minnesota-twins-save-season-before-trading-veterans/600057228/ |
How many lives has the pandemic cost? | NO ONE KNOWS how many people have died of covid-19. Add up official figures from around the world, and you arrive at a total of 3.3m. But that is a gross underestimate. Official figures are patchy and slow, especially in poor countries. This week, drawing on a wide range of data, The Economist published its own estimate of global excess mortalitythe number of extra deaths, compared with what would otherwise be expected. Our answer: somewhere between 7.1m and 12.7m, with a central estimate of 10m. (A film explaining our model can be found here.) As the pandemic has spread from rich countries to poor ones, the daily toll has climbed. Making and distributing more vaccines is the key to halting this. But a waiver of intellectual-property claims, as President Joe Biden has proposed, will do nothing to fill the urgent shortfall, and in the longer term may deter innovation. Escalating violence since clashes between Palestinians and Israeli police near the al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem on the last Friday night of Ramadan have brought the two sides to the brink of war. Hamas, the militant Islamist group that controls Gaza, has fired more than 1,600 rockets into Israel, many of them intercepted by the Iron Dome defence system; Israel has carried out hundreds of air strikes. Scores, mostly Palestinians, have been killed. Violence between Jews and Arabs (who are 20% of the population) has also broken out in Israeli cities. In four elections within two years, Israeli politicians have ignored the conflict; Palestinian leaders failings have made it easy for Israel to give up on peace. Only negotiation can bring a lasting solution. On Wednesday Republicans in Americas House of Representatives ousted Liz Cheney from the third-highest post in the caucus. Ms Cheneys impeccable conservative credentials count for little; still less does her being the daughter of a vice-president. She rejects Donald Trumps false claim that last Novembers election was stolen, and in todays party that is a mortal sin. Her replacement is Elise Stefanik, an ex-critic of Mr Trump turned unswerving fan. Of the two congresswomen, Ms Stepaniks voting record is more moderate. Yet conservative Republican voters disapprove of Ms Cheney, and approve of Ms Stefanik, by a wider margin than moderates do. Blind loyalty to Mr Trump, not ideology, is what counts. Economic policymakers havent had to worry about inflation for a while (though theyve had plenty else to keep them occupied). As the global economy recovers from the pandemic, that may changeespecially in America, where consumer prices jumped by 4.2% in the year to April. That was far more than expected and the highest annual inflation rate since 2008. There are shortages in the supply of everything from timber to semiconductors and Americas labour market is tightening. Europes economy, too, is picking up faster than feared. For now central bankers think a rise in inflation will be transitory. But bond markets think the Fed will be forced to act sooner than it wants. | https://www.economist.com/graphic-detail/2021/05/14/how-many-lives-has-the-pandemic-cost |
Has Googles Worst Android Nightmare Come True? | Two years after the first warnings, it seems that Google may have a serious problem on its hands, as cracks in Androids ecosystem open up. This is a serious game-changer for millions of users around the world. Heres what you need to know. Android has a serious new problem. Corbis via Getty Images The headlines this week (1, 2, 3, 4) warn of an impending nightmare for Google, with the most serious threat yet to its globally dominant Android ecosystem. Blacklisted Huawei is already heading down a non-Android path, with its own devices about to switch to its alternative OS. This was always the risk when Donald Trump singled out and clamped down on Huawei. It was never about short term sensationalist damage to a single brand, it was always about a long-term seismic shift for the industry. Chinas leading phone makers considering a move to Huaweis new OS would certainly qualify as seismic. Americas control of global mobile standards through Android and iOS would be in play. If you want to understand why these early indicators are so serious for Google, just look at the numbers. For the first quarter this year, Samsung secured a 22% market share, with Apple on 15%. The rest of the top five are Chinese: Xiaomi, Oppo and Vivo, with 14%, 11% and 10% respectively. Add Huaweis and RealMes ~4% each, and thats 43% of the overall global market controlled by the five leading Chinese brands. Global Smartphone Market, Q1 2021 Canalys More acutely, those four Chinese brands control 50% of the global Android market, and while they offer a cutdown version of the OS in China, where many of Googles stock services and apps are banned, their exports are now surging as they each adopt some variant of Huaweis staggeringly successful export strategy of the last decade. The math tells you everything. The three leading Chinese OEMs enjoying annual growth of 62%, 60% and 48% respectively. Contrast that with Samsungs 28%. While Huaweis staggering plummet has clearly made headlines in recent months, the growth of the other Chinese OEMs has already made up the difference. There has been no decline in China incs global market share and its out-pacing the market. Global Smartphone Market Share, By Quarter Counterpoint The export push started with Xiaomi, first to recognise and target the market share left vacant by Huaweis demise. But, remember, thats not a static pool of usersHuawei was growing at a furious pace pre-blacklist. There is a much bigger market for the Chinese recipe of premium hardware and features for less that has yet to be converted. The market is essentially segmenting into Samsung, Apple and China, with the China sales split between Xiaomi and BBKs Oppo, Vivo and RealMe. All except Huawei continue to use Android, but if you could switch the other four Chinese OEMs to HarmonyOS over time, then it would be much bigger than Android or iOS. Over the last two years, Samsungs market share has been flat while Apples fluctuated quarter to quarter. Meanwhile, the top Chinese OEMs have grown from a combined 31% in Q1 2018 to 43% last quarter. They are squeezing out others to fuel their growth, without needing serious market share from Samsung or Apple. Xiaomi now says it has overtaken Apple in Europe, with just Samsung to catch. This was the rallying cry from Huawei before Trumps escalating sanctions set to work. The rumours and speculation coming from China suggests that these leading OEMs are now evaluating HarmonyOS. Reports also suggest Huawei will adapt HarmonyOS to operate on Qualcomm and MediaTek chipsets, expanding its reach. Unintended consequences from the blacklist. Removing Huawei from the equation has given confidence to its domestic rivals to follow its leadthree wannabe Huaweis with the balance sheets and domestic support needed to push hard and fast. Removing Googles full-fat Android from Huawei has pushed the Chinese tech giant to develop and launch its own alternative global OS ecosystem to rival Android. Developing a good ecosystem is far harder than developing good technologies, Huaweis software boss told its Developer Conference in September, as the company confirmed that HarmonyOS would be available to other OEMs. I hope developers and partners can unite with us in this historic moment. In this way a Chinese ecosystem can be long-lasting and thriving... Today we are taking the first step. HDC 2020 Huawei As I warned back in 2019, the most serious risk has always been that Chinas tech giants will act in concert, with a push from the state perhaps, to adopt an alternative operating system and ecosystem, to offer a viable alternative to Apples iOS and Googles Android, a viable alternative to U.S. controlled tech. The world is looking forward to a new open system, Huawei chairman Guo Ping openly said last year. Its plausible to have two systems in a world. And Huawei will be able to survive and take the lead even in an extremely hostile environment. The prize for Huawei if it can pull off this feat, I had suggested a year earlier, is huge. Make no mistake, it has every chance of carrying other Chinese manufacturers along with it. Huawei has said that the time is right for an alternative to traditional Android and iOS, and if Huawei can control that third way, then it can build its own ecosystem and infrastructure, it can license its software as well as sell its hardware. At that time, the U.S. hadnt guillotined Huaweis silicon supply-chain, and so Huawei remained a viable hardware supplierit just needed an OS. Now it has lost so much ground on the hardware front, and its rivals have gained so much, that its software and developer ecosystem is its best bet to recapture its market-making position. That situation has been exacerbated by Huaweis falling sales at home. Its impossible to overstate how serious an impact this will have on Huaweiits domestic sales shored up its balance sheet through the blacklist. But, according to Canalys, Huaweis annualised sales in China for the first quarter were down 50%. Timing is everything, and speculation is now intensifying. And remember, this is China. Dont take a 12-month view. Take a 5-year view. Even a 10-year view. This week, a new video has been posted on YouTube that appears to show Huaweis HarmonyOS on a Xiaomi smartphone. Xiaomi told me it didnt comment on speculation. Huawei also wouldnt comment, but reminded me that HarmonyOS is open to other smartphone OEMs. Google was dismissive of the reports. But the whispers have started, and the change is logical when you consider the geopolitical context as east battles west. While Europe might take some time to convert, markets such as India, South America, South-East Asia will be much easier. And markets adopting economy handsets easier still. OPPO, Xiaomi and Vivo may move over from Android to Huawei's Harmony OS soon, Mashable India reported, citing a blogger report that suggested surprises were imminent and that the pattern of the Android era does not represent the future. As to whether we can take these reports seriouslybear in mind that attracting large, Chinese smartphone OEMs is exactly what Huawei envisaged when it made the decision to develop Harmony as an open-source OS. Lets be realistic. This isnt a short-term threat. HarmonyOS isnt a viable switch for most Android users in most key markets. Yet. But give it another few years, by which time those Chinese brands could have built an even larger share of the Android market, and this likely becomes a different proposition. The real nightmare for Google is that this didnt need to happen. Huawei was fully committed to Android before the blacklist, a threat to Samsung but not to Google. For a year or more after sanctions were imposed, Huaweis leaders were quick to say they would head back to Android given the chance. But a lot of water has passed under the geopolitical bridge since then. And Huawei is a different business. Last year, Huaweis chairman warned that pushing its Android alternative would be a protracted war that it is destined to win in the end... No matter how high the mountain is, dig an inch or less, persist and fight for a long time, we will definitely succeed. Whatever all that means in reality, it has now begun. | https://www.forbes.com/sites/zakdoffman/2021/05/14/has-google-androids-worst-nightmare-come-true-after-xiaomi-vivo-huawei-and-oppo-news/ |
When did political science forget about politics? | Still, while the tide may finally be turning against rational choice, it's hard not to survey the discipline and wonder what damage its proponents have wrought. Graduate students and young professors now assume that fluency in rational choice is a de facto requirement for tenure, and at most schools that may be correct. Although there are signs that rational choice literature is increasingly empirical, critics say the new scholarship is prone to the same pathologies as the oldthe insights it produces are either flawed or trivial. "The ideal study in political science today would be the comparative study of health regulation of noodles in one hundred and fifty countries," says Hoffman. "In this way you have a sufficiently large mass of material to reach generalizations, and you don't ever have to have eaten a noodleall you need is that data." The impact of rational choice is also manifest in undergraduate education, as elite institutions must increasingly hire outside instructors to teach the broad, politically relevant courses that tend to attract college studentsthe kinds of courses that, a generation ago, inspired many of these students to pursue graduate studies. "If you want to teach undergraduates, which is supposed to be what we do, and explain how the courts work, it's increasingly difficult to find people who do that, because these people don't study these things," says James Q. Wilson. "They don't read Supreme Court decisions or history. They just sit around and make models." What's more, even as it retreats elsewhere, rational choice is opening new fronts. Already ubiquitous in American politics and highly influential within international relations, the most recent battleground of rational choice is comparative politics. Once, this subfield of political science was dominated by area specialistspeople who developed expertise in particular countries or regions by studying language, culture, and history, often with extensive fieldwork. Because it implicitly treats different parts of the world as, well, different, area studies is at odds with rational choice's demand that political science pursue universal laws of politics. And so a group of rational choice crusaders led by Harvard's Robert Bates has undertaken to make over this field. In a 1996 newsletter article, Bates declared that "within the academy, the consensus has formed that area studies has failed to generate scientific knowledge." Although he didn't call for purging area studies scholars, he did call for their "mutual infusion" with rational choicewhich many in the discipline interpreted as academese for establishing a hierarchy in which area studies specialists essentially operate as the research arm of the only real theorists, the rational choicers. It would be a mistake to dismiss Bates's critique of area studies out of hand. Most sober-minded political scientists outside the field agree that area studies has become far too parochial, that it focuses on local idiosyncracies to the near-total exclusion of broader theoretical issuesignoring, say, the ways in which the dynamics of politics in Northern Ireland have resembled the dynamics in a place such as South Africa. (Area studies, especially Latin American studies, was also the subfield most infested with Marxism, making it even more in need of a shake-up.) Yet the pendulum can swing too far in the other direction, too, particularly if you believe political science should be of some practical value to society. Putting aside the fact that so many rational choice theories remain empirically suspect, too much emphasis on rational choice would leave political scientists ill-equipped to provide insights about other parts of the worldwhich would, in turn, deprive policymakers of an important source of guidance. After all, it might be intellectually rewarding and mildly informative to know that there were some parallels between the Serb massacres in Kosovo and the Hutu massacres in Rwanda. But if you're trying to figure out what the United States should do in Kosovo, that information would be a lot less useful than knowledge about the history of Serb militancy, the peculiar dynamics of Balkan governments, and other pieces of practical advice that only someone with expertise in the region can give. Ironically, although Bates has probably done more than any other rational choicer in recent years to inflame the rational choice controversy, he also epitomizes a middleof-the-road ideal: a compromise for the discipline. Strictly speaking, he is not a member of the Rochester fraternity; he got his degree at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. And he started out as an old-fashioned area specialist, earning his academic stripes through years of fieldwork in Africa. This fieldwork is what led him to rational choicehe found most of the prevailing theories about developing countries laughably out of touch with reality. So, while he has become a true believer in rational choice and thinks it should be required learning for all political scientists, in his own work he has always kept an eye toward reality and empirical testing. He still does extensive work in Africa, and his own motivations stem from his concern about inequality and about the economic health of developing nationsconcerns that are apparent in his work. Even those who bitterly oppose his rational choice crusade acknowledge that Bates is one of the leading Africanists in political science. | https://newrepublic.com/article/78956/political-science-irrational-exuberance |
Does Zach Plesacs latest start show the Cleveland Indians are getting closer to a no-hitter? | Register for Indians Subtext to hear your Tribe questions answered exclusively on the show. Send a text to 216-208-4346 to subscribe for $3.99/mo. CLEVELAND, Ohio Zach Plesac nearly ended 40 years of frustration on Thursday when he came within six outs of the first Indians no-hitter since Len Barkers perfect game in 1981. On Fridays Cleveland Baseball Talk Podcast, Paul Hoynes and Joe Noga look at the reasons why its been so long between no-nos for the Indians and which pitcher on the current roster they expect to throw the next one. Click here. We have an Apple podcasts channel exclusively for this podcast. Subscribe to it here. You can also subscribe on Google Play and listen on Spotify. Search Cleveland Baseball Talk Podcast or download the audio here. - New Indians face masks for sale: Heres where you can buy Cleveland Indians-themed face coverings for coronavirus protection, including a single mask ($14.99) and a 3-pack ($24.99). All MLB proceeds donated to charity. Podcast Indians still working through details of increased attendance Why its a big deal that Indians witness debut of two Seattle prospects Rosario getting comfortable in center, heating up at plate Indians-Mariners series preview, pitching matchups Amed Rosarios walk-off single beats Cubs, 2-1 Bieber searching for his slider, but hes still dominating Hernandez, the reluctant leadoff hitter, shows Indians the way | https://www.cleveland.com/tribe/2021/05/does-zach-plesacs-latest-start-show-the-cleveland-indians-are-getting-closer-to-a-no-hitter.html |
Which states are still requiring masks after the CDC's updated guidance? | At least five states said they would not change their current mask rules. At least five states and a string of local leaders are holding off on changing their mask mandates following the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's new guidance that allows fully vaccinated Americans to go without masks indoors or outdoors. At least eight Democrat-led states -- Connecticut, Illinois, Kentucky, Minnesota, Nevada, Oregon, Pennsylvania and Washington state -- said they would change their rules to follow the agency's new guidance, hours after it was announced. However, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, and North Carolina announced that for now, they plan to keep their mask mandates in place. Over a dozen other states and jurisdictions have yet to announce their plans. Local leaders in Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, California, Virginia, North Carolina and Washington, D.C., which are all led by Democrats, said Thursday they'd take the new CDC guidance under advisement before adopting. Whether states that choose to follow CDC guidelines will keep their mask mandates in place for unvaccinated individuals, remains unclear. "If you are fully vaccinated, you can start doing the things that you had stopped doing because of the pandemic," CDC Director Rochelle Walensky said at a White House briefing Thursday. The CDC said locals must continue to abide by existing state and local regulations and business rules. The new guidance comes on the heels of the CDCs approval of the COVID-19 vaccine for 12- to 15-year-olds on Wednesday. Currently, 24 state governments, as well as Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico, require people to wear face coverings in public settings. The pandemic saw local leaders impose restrictions upon their constituents, with many of the most stringent lockdowns ordered by Democratic leaders. At a city level, mayors in Washington, D.C., and New York City are reviewing the guidance before announcing any official changes. Mayor Bill de Blasio said Thursday the city will review the new rules as masks will still be important for schools, public transportation, doctors' offices and more." Similarly, the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health said "L.A. County and the state will review the recommendations in order to make sensible adjustments." Gov. Gavin Newsom said this week the state would drop outdoor mask mandates on June 15, when the state intends to fully reopen. In Washington state, Gov. Jay Inslee didnt wear a mask for his news conference Thursday saying the state was immediately adopting the new federal guidance on mask wearing. This is a really good reason to get vaccinated. That shot is a ticket to freedom from masks," Inslee said. North Carolina Gov. Roy Coopers office released a statement Thursday saying the indoor mask mandate will be in effect as state officials review the CDC recommendations. So far, 45.5% of North Carolina adults are fully vaccinated. States that havent announced a new guidance yet include California, Delaware, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, New Mexico, Ohio, Rhode Island, Virginia, Vermont, West Virginia, D.C. and Puerto Rico as of Friday morning. The new recommendation, which carves out exceptions for buses, planes, trains, hospitals, prisons and homeless shelters, will have significant implications for schools and businesses as the country begins to reopen. Even on Capitol Hill, lawmakers must abide by the mask guidance until all House staffers are vaccinated, according to a memo by the office of the attending physician obtained by ABC News. Some critics wonder if the decision comes too hastily as variants still threaten the spread of COVID-19 and several regions of the country still grapple with vaccine hesitancy. So far, 35.8% of the U.S. population is fully vaccinated, or more than 118 million people. That number is projected to surge now that children are eligible for the vaccine. | https://abcnews.go.com/Health/states-requiring-masks-cdcs-updated-guidance/story?id=77688271 |
Can we tell if the vaccines are working in Minnesota? | After a year of fear, tragedy, waiting (and more waiting), and a furious all-out vaccination campaign, we're all wondering if we'll ever be past our COVID-centric existence. Short answer: Yes! Longer answer: It's exceptionally complicated. The basic problem is there's no way to know who would have contracted COVID-19, but didn't, because they have been vaccinated. So if we can't look at individuals, the other option is to look for any declines in COVID spread or case rates that are likely explained by expanding vaccinations. It's easier said than done, because even if scientists fully understood precisely how easily and in what circumstances COVID spreads which they don't there are so many variables that affect how likely someone is to be exposed to the virus, and how sick (or not) they might get. Another issue is the data we have is far from perfect. None of it existed just over a year ago, and the systems for collecting and distributing it are still developing and inconsistent. And there's a lot of data that governments and health care providers have that they haven't released. But even beyond those issues, epidemiologists are cautious about over-interpreting what data we do have, with good reason. That's especially true with COVID, which we don't fully understand, not to mention the heightened level of distrust many people feel toward experts prescribing preventative measures like masks and brand new vaccines. Let's start with the data points most experts do agree on. Data point 1: Cases among Minnesotans in long-term care have steadily declined, and stayed down The initial focus in most states' vaccine rollout was to first rapidly inoculate health care workers and people living in long-term care facilities. There's only very limited publicly available data on cases among health care workers in Minnesota, but there is data on cases in long-term care facilities. If enough people in long-term care have been vaccinated, we'd expect to see case rates falling. And that's what the data show. Since early March, Minnesota has reported fewer than 100 cases among long-term care residents per week, the lowest numbers seen since late July 2020. And long-term care facilities didn't see a spike in cases in April, while most areas of the state were fighting a new wave of infections. (The blip on the week of March 7 is due to a big dump of older, previously unconfirmed cases due to problems with four labs.) Cases in long-term care facilities were the first signal Residents of long-term care facilities were among the first priorities for vaccination in Minnesota. Even through the state's April case spike, long-term care cases stayed low. *Date is the day MDH releases weekly figures. Source: Minnesota Department of Health By C.J. Sinner, Star Tribune Data point 2: Elderly Minnesotans are accounting for a smaller and smaller share of the state's COVID cases Minnesota's second target for early vaccination was people over the age of 65 and essential workers. Again, we don't have good data for cases among essential workers, but we do have data on cases by age group. This is a little tricky. While seniors and people with underlying health conditions have been at the highest risk of dying from COVID, they've never made up a huge percentage of the state's overall cases. Younger people have always made up the bulk of cases they're just less likely, in general, to be hospitalized or die. So the best way to look for changes in age groups is to focus on cases in that group as a percentage of total cases. And there's a clear trend. Since January, cases among seniors age 70 and older have made up a smaller percentage of the state's weekly cases than their share of the population. Cases among oldest dropped as vaccine became available Officials targeted the oldest Minnesotans for vaccinations first, particularly those in long-term care facilities. And as vaccinations have increased in each descending age group, cases have fallen as well. Minnesotans under 40 have only recently been eligible to get vaccinated in large numbers. *Date is the day MDH releases weekly figures. Source: Minnesota Department of Health By C.J. Sinner, Star Tribune The trend has been especially durable among Minnesotans over 80, who haven't made up more than 1% of the state's weekly cases since February. Data point 3: Very few people who have been hospitalized this year have also been vaccinated So far, the vaccines seem to be living up to the hype of keeping people from getting seriously ill, according to data collected by HealthPartners. Dr. Mark Sannes, a leader of the health care network's COVID-19 response, said that as of late April, HealthPartners had just over 1,200 hospitalizations for COVID since the start of the year at the network's eight hospitals, and they document every patient's vaccination status. "Ten people were fully vaccinated out of those 1,200," Sannes said. "We simply have not had very many people hospitalized that have had their full vaccination." Hospitalizations among older people mirror the decline in case rates among those groups, Sannes said. "We have seen the number of folks in that older population in the hospital decline significantly really since the onset of vaccination," he said. "Not only in the age of the individuals that are coming in, where we're seeing 55 year olds now instead of 65 year olds on average, but deaths have dropped off so much during this four-month period." With any vaccine, some percentage of people who receive it will still contract the disease. That can happen because a person was exposed to the disease before the vaccine had time to fully take effect, but also in rarer "breakthrough cases," the virus finds a way to gain traction despite the vaccine. While many people may find this scary, it's something experts expect. The COVID vaccines available in the United States actually have a remarkably high estimated effectiveness compared to other more familiar vaccines flu vaccines are sometimes as low as 50 to 60 percent effective, for example. The Moderna and Pfizer vaccines are thought to be about 90 percent effective in the real world, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. There's less real-world data on the Johnson and Johnson vaccine, but in clinical trials was found to be 66 percent effective. Data point 4: Counties with higher vaccination rates have lower case rates, on average, than counties with lower vaccination rates OK, now it gets a little controversial. All the experts we interviewed agree that the declines in cases in long-term care and among older people in general are likely signs that the vaccines are working. But when you start talking about data at the county level, there's not a clear consensus. Let's start with what we do know. Since the beginning of vaccinations, some Minnesota counties have been significantly faster or slower than others. Cook County has long been the vaccination champion, with nearly 70 percent of all residents with at least one dose. Meanwhile, Benton County has not yet reached 30 percent, with most other counties between 38 and 45 percent. That means no county, except maybe the overachievers in Cook County, is close to the threshold of herd immunity. That's why most counties, except for some of the state's least populous, haven't seen their case rates plunge to near zero there are still plenty of people around to get infected. Still, even short of herd immunity, there does appear to be a difference in case rates between counties that are higher and lower on the vaccination scale. This was especially apparent during Minnesota's April surge. While case rates went up nearly everywhere, they went up more in counties with lower vaccination rates. This became most apparent in mid-April, right about the time vaccines started becoming more widely available. New cases vs. vaccination rates: A pattern emerged in April Earlier in the pandemic there wasn't much of a visible relationship between a county's case rate and vaccination rate. But since mid-April, more vaccinations has generally meant a lower case rate. The difference was especially pronounced during the state's April case spike. Hit play to show timelapse, or drag the circle along the timeline for specific dates. Source: Minnesota Department of Health By C.J. Sinner, Star Tribune And this is where epidemiologists get really itchy. We can say that counties with higher vaccination rates, on average, have had lower case rates since mid April, and vice versa. We can say that relationship is "statistically significant" by running a linear regression analysis on the data, using the percent of the population that had completed vaccination 14 days prior, in order to give immunity time to kick in. "The big picture is that on average more vaccination equals lower rates, that's really clear," said Ryan Demmer, an epidemiologist at the University of Minnesota. "It's basically looking the way you would expect, with at least some kind of noise that you would always expect as well." That "noise" that Demmer is referring to is that there are a lot of reasons that case rates might vary between counties that have nothing to do with vaccination, such as localized short-term outbreaks, different variants affecting some counties more than others, differences in age and racial demographics and higher shares of workers in vulnerable industries. And then there are the potential problems that can arise when comparing two variables that might be connected to each other for reasons other than the things you want to measure. For example, people who were eager to get vaccinated were likely also trying their hardest to observe preventative measures like masking and social distancing. And people working in lower-income jobs that exposed them to more COVID risk may also have had more difficulty in accessing vaccines if it meant taking time off work and driving a long way away. Epidemiologists at the Minnesota Health Department said they don't think looking at the data by county is appropriate, and that there are too many complicating factors to make any judgements using a regression analysis. "What you found might be true, but we don't feel it's a conclusion you can draw from the methods that you're using," said Kristin Sweet, an epidemiologist and COVID-19 data lead for the health department. "Given the challenges we've had in predicting how disease moves through populations, I would say that right now we don't feel confident in saying there is a relationship over different geographic areas." Demmer said he agrees with the health department that a regression analysis isn't an ideal tool to look at COVID, but that there aren't well agreed upon alternative methods, either. "Overall, your goal here is less scientific and more descriptive and informative, which is why I don't see a major problem with showing some descriptive patterns," Demmer said. Maria Sundaram, a University of Minnesota-trained epidemiologist, said that there are almost always complicating factors in epidemiological analysis, so it's important to be transparent about what assumptions are being made and what can't be accounted for. "And if our assumptions are wrong, here's how it would change our results," Sundaram said. "Every epidemiological study has limitations." And there are plenty of caveats and limitations. First, for example, the relationship between cases and vaccination is stronger in more populous counties than in smaller ones. Trend is most apparent in large counties The trend is more clear in Minnesota counties with larger populations, particularly those in the metro or with larger cities, like St. Louis, Olmsted and Stearns counties, home to Duluth, Rochester and St. Cloud, respectively. Counties with smaller populations have more volatile case rates, and many have large remote areas with fewer people in close contact. Counties with populations below median May 13 Counties with populations at or above median May 13 Source: Minnesota Department of Health By C.J. Sinner, Star Tribune That could mean that the urban counties have a larger number of data points and therefore we can trust their results more than numbers from counties with fewer data points to rely on. Or it could mean that people in urban and rural counties act completely differently. For example they might be better at social distancing and mask-wearing, or limits on gatherings are more strictly enforced there. Or it could mean that a particular outbreak or a particular variant has led to more infections in a cluster of rural counties, which is skewing the data. In any of those cases, the trend wouldn't have anything to do with vaccination. "We have to use all our critical capacities because the world is so messy," said Jessie Shmool, another health department epidemiologist who doesn't think the regression is the right way to analyze regional variations. Just because we expect it to be true doesn't mean it's true." Even counties doing relatively well at vaccination have seen short-term outbreaks that shoot their case rate through the roof. Those have generally been smaller counties, but Itasca County, which has 45,000 residents, has had several weeks of elevated rates despite a better-than-average completed vaccination rate of nearly 40 percent. Demmer said it's not surprising that some counties with middle-of-the-pack vaccination rates are still occasionally seeing higher case rates because half the population still isn't vaccinated. He also noted that the data has implications for counties lagging behind, but also for the rest of the state. "If you have low vaccination rates in your county, your county is likely going to continue to experience higher infection rates and the outcomes associated with it," Demmer said. "And the other issue is that to some degree we're all in this together. So the infection isn't really going to be confined to counties." | https://www.startribune.com/can-we-tell-if-the-vaccines-are-working-in-minnesota/600053046/ |
How did Gophers sprinter Amira Young break the team's 46-year-old 200-meter record? | Within the first two steps of her 200-meter dash at the M City Classic on April 30, Amira Young knew this could be the race she'd been looking for. Her arms opened up as she exploded out of the starting blocks, taking the lead from Lane 5 as she entered the final 100 meters and drew on the work she'd done with Gophers track and field director Matt Bingle to find another gear. The junior crossed the finish line comfortably ahead of a field of five, and glanced over at the clock to see if the times had proven her hunch correct. "After I saw the time, I'm like, 'Whoa,'" she recalled. The realization she'd toppled the longest-standing record in program history came later. Young's time of 23.21 seconds smashed the 23.44-second mark Jane Oas set in 1975, giving her the only program record that had yet to be set in this century. That she broke it was something of a fait accompli; she'd run 23.16 indoors, placed fourth in the Big Ten as a freshman before COVID-19 shut down her sophomore outdoor season. She'll have opportunities to break it again with warmer weather and strong competition, possibly as soon as this weekend during the Big Ten outdoor championships in Champaign, Ill. It also was a footnote for a woman whose pursuit of perfection and love of process drives her more than the digits on a clock. Young came to Minnesota with a clear idea of what she wanted to do on and off the track, planning to sprint at as high a level as she could and pursue a physician's assistant degree after that. She is a third-generation sprinter whose grandmother Maddie Young ran in high school and college and father Maurice Young competed at Illinois; Amira Young didn't take to the sport as a child, before two years dancing ballet and pointe at Chicago Multi-Cultural Dance Center gave her the discipline she needed for the track. She often begins her days meditating, before an early-morning weight-lifting session, a demanding class schedule and track practices. Her focus comes from a family with which Bingle connected almost immediately during the recruiting process. Now, they know his wife and kids, and he knows her younger brother. He and Young can speak directly to one another; she cuts through grueling practices smiling as she makes up a game on the track. "Within a couple phone calls, you could tell she has a vision of who she wants to be, where she wants to go," Bingle said. "That made it easy for us on our end to say, 'We want this young lady to be a part of our program.'" Young earned all-city, all-section and all-state honors for four years at Chicago's Whitney Young High School, and broke Tahesia Harrigan's 17-year-old 100-meter dash record during her freshman year at the U. The 200, though, was initially her weaker event, as she worked to acquire the speed endurance she'd need for the latter stages of the race. An exposure to collegiate training made the difference. So did the occasional 1,600-meter relay. "It's not something I like and Coach Bingle knows that," Young said with a laugh. "But I understand it helps with speed endurance. "It's just interesting, the transition. I'm still a good 100 runner, for sure, but I feel like I'm better in the [200] lately." After she broke Oas' 46-year-old record, Young exchanged a quick high-five with Bingle, and the two quickly shifted to a review of her race. Her 200 time is the second-fastest in the Big Ten behind Purdue freshman Alyssa Robinson, and the NCAA West Regional qualifier looms 10 days beyond the conference meet. She will be integral to the Gophers' chances of following their conference indoor title with an outdoor championship, and she'll search for faster races in the weeks to come, when training peaks combine with higher stakes. Any records she breaks as a result are just part of what Young has committed to so steadfastly: the process. "I think it just comes from how I was raised, with my parents, my grandparents," she said. "We always like to have a plan for something, to have goals on how to get there." | https://www.startribune.com/how-did-gophers-sprinter-amira-young-break-the-teams-46-year-old-200-meter-record/600057136/ |
Is America properly protected from cyber attack? | Our weekly podcast on democracy in America A RANSOMWARE attack shut down a vital fuel pipeline on the east coast. President Bidens plans to upgrade the hi-tech energy infrastructure may make it yet more vulnerable to hackers. Michael Tran of RBC Capital Markets assesses the damage. The Economists defence editor Shashank Joshi puts the attack in context. Amy Myers Jaffe, author of Energys Digital Future, says it's a wake-up call. John Prideaux hosts with Charlotte Howard and Jon Fasman. Runtime: 40 min Listen on: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Google | Stitcher | TuneIn For access to The Economists print, digital and audio editions subscribe: economist.com/USpod | https://www.economist.com/podcasts/2021/05/14/is-america-properly-protected-from-cyber-attack |
Will Digital Currencies Wipe Out Crypto? Central Banks To Target Bitcoin? | Representation of Bitcoin cryptocurrency is seen in this illustration photo taken in Krakow, Poland ... [+] on April 27, 2021. (Photo Illustration by Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images) NurPhoto via Getty Images When the euro was introduced just over twenty years ago, there were tales of people around Europe refusing to exchange their national currency notes for the single currency, on the basis that the euro will never catch on. When the hacking group Darkside ransomed the dataset controlling the Colonial pipeline last week, the ransom was paid in a cryptocurrency. These two, different tales from opposite ends of the money spectrum tell us much about how finance, and money in particular is evolving. At one end, we see the development of a new, traditional money (euro) and the centralised financial and capital markets (to an unsatisfyingly incomplete degree), that go with it. At the other end of the spectrum is decentralised crypto finance, that exists on a largely anonymous, unregulated way beyond the old global financial system. Crypto meets Digital These two worlds are soon set to collide. Regulators, witnessing the speedy rise of cryptocurrencies, the lurid ways in which they are traded (e.g. dogecoin) and the threat they present to the incumbent financial system, will I suspect soon take a heavier hand in overseeing the architecture around crypto currencies like bitcoin which currently cant be regulated, though the infrastructure or architecture that trades it can be overseen. For context, these two approaches criss-cross many other related debates the rise of sophisticated organised crime, the future of the dollar as the worlds reserve currency and the need to build emerging market financial systems that can curb corruption. A potentially decisive development is the acceleration in the rollout of central bank digital currencies (CBDC). Central banks are set to issue digital versions of their currencies to accompany outstanding reserves and bank deposits. Theoretically, central banks will give each of us a retail account, and households can exchange money directly with them (as opposed to going through the banking and economic systems). The logistical and communication aspects of this project will be fiendishly complex to the extent that it will never catch on echoes through my head. It is however, catching on. Nearly twenty million Chinese are hooked up to an experimental digital yuan run by the Peoples Bank, whose intention is that the 2022 Winter Olympics in China will serve as a showcase event for the digital yuan. Small, advanced economies notably Switzerland and Singapore (not forgetting the Bahamas Sand dollar) are to the forefront in planning digital currencies as is the Bank of England, which egged on by the strategic urgency created by Brexit, may be the first large central bank to roll out a digital currency (the Fed and ECB also have blueprints). Rolling out CBDC It strikes me that the ingredients necessary for this sort of manoeuvre are a well banked and financially literate population, one that is well penetrated technologically, and a central bank with a very good policy and regulatory brains trust. (I attach a link below to a good overview from the BIS) Digital central bank currencies can achieve a range of aims from making the transmission of money a cheaper and faster process (though I am not at all sure that this is good for payment companies and banks), a potentially more secure banking system, and the possibility to rebuild decrepit banking systems (stablecoins that are linked to an underlying asset/currency - can play a role here). Two other factors are prominent. One is the ability of central banks to better tailor monetary policy. As it stands, quantitative easing is delivered through financial markets. With a digital central bank currency where households have retail accounts at the central bank, it can drop money directly into household accounts, with even a bias towards certain types of households. For example, if the central bank decides that families with two children tend to have a particularly strong impact on the economy then it can funnel relatively more money to them. Power The other aspect of the CBDC that deserves greater attention is the enhanced power that it will give central banks. In opening up accounts with the public and businesses there is the risk that central banks assume a Leviathan level of control over financial systems, and to a very large extent subsume them. In China where the government aggressively policies social media content, it may seem automatic that an institution like the central bank can have immense power over people finances, and to an extent act like a fiscal authority as well. So, if central bank independence and their outsized role in the political economy will be called into question, the counterveiling argument, for the larger central banks at least, is the geopolitical value in rolling out digital central bank currencies. Indeed, Chinas announcement that it was advancing its digital currency project has prompted the Fed and the ECB to flag their own programs. This trend raises many questions, the most prominent of which is the long term role of the dollar. What is perhaps more pertinent is to think how the architecture of central bank digital currencies will evolve to what extent will central banks have power over household finances and economic behaviour, and to what extent will digital currencies change banking systems (I half suspect that the Chinese authorities attempts to rein in Alibaba is conditioned on its plans for the digital yuan). Emerging currencies Two of the important structural issues are outstanding. What is promising here is that countries like Columbia and Uruguay are already active in terms of either mobile payments systems or digital currencies, and in Africa Kenyas MPESA is a notable digital success story. The second issue relates to the way in which centralised digital currencies will interact with decentralised finance (cryptocurrencies and stablecoins). There is a vision of how these systems can join harmoniously together (see Giles excellent DigitalEconomist post on this below). The concern is that by definition the evolution of the crypto world is happening at such a rate, and in such a disorganised way that it presents a threat to the established financial order, and that the two systems grow in parallel, competing ways. It is an exciting and potentially very messy clash, though ultimately CBDCs might just catch on. | https://www.forbes.com/sites/mikeosullivan/2021/05/14/will-digital-currencies-wipe-our-crypto-central-banks-to-target-bitcoin/ |
How Does the NBA Play-In Tournament Work? | At the end of the 2020-21 NBA regular season, but prior to the first round of the postseason, the NBA will be conducting a play-in tournament. The tournament will be used to determine the final two playoff spots. The tournament, which features four teams in each conference, was implemented to minimize tanking during the final weeks of the regular season. As Sports Illustrated's Howard Beck recently noted, 24 teams were still competing with about a dozen games left on the schedule. "That isnt just dramatic by recent NBA standards. Its downright revolutionary," Beck wrote. Twenty-four is the highest weve ever had, in the history of the league, with a month left, Evan Wasch, the NBAs executive vice president of basketball strategy and analytics, told SI. The play-in tournament will begin Tuesday, May 18 and conclude Friday, May 21. The team with the seventh-highest winning percentage in each conference will host one game against the team with the eighth-highest winning percentage, with the winner in each conference earning the No. 7 seed. In another game, the team with the ninth-highest winning percentage in each conference will host the team with the tenth-highest winning percentage. While the loser of that game will be eliminated from postseason contention, the winner of the No. 9 vs. 10 game will play the loser of the No. 7 vs. 8 game. The winner of that last gamebetween the 7/8 loser and the 9/10 winnerin each conference will earn the No. 8 seed. As of Friday evening, three teams in the Eastern Conferencethe Celtics, Hornets and Pacersare locked into the play-in tournament field. The Wizards are also currently in the play-in tournament field, but could drop out if they lose their remaining two games and the Bulls win their remaining two games. Seeding among the three teams in the field, however, will likely change in the final days of the regular season. In the Western Conference, three teamsthe Warriors, Grizzlies and Spursare locked into the play-in tournament field. The Warriors and Grizzlies will play on Sunday to determine who will be the No. 8 seed and who will be the No. 9 seed. San Antonio is locked into the No. 10 spot. The Lakers are also currently in the play-in tournament draw. If they win both of their remaining two games and the Blazers lose their regular-season finale to the Nuggets, Los Angeles will be the No. 6 seed in the West, while Portland will drop to No. 7 and into the play-in tournament. If Los Angeles loses one of its final two games or if Portland defeats Denver, the Lakers will enter the play-in tournament as the No. 7 seed. Following a Lakers loss in early May to the Raptors, LeBron James criticized the league's new play-in tournament format. "Whoever came up with that s--- needs to be fired," James said. The loss dropped the Lakers into a three-way tie with the Mavericks and Blazers for the No. 6 seed. It marked the team's sixth loss in seven games. James was not alone in voicing his recent criticism over the new format. In mid-April, Mavericks owner Mark Cuban called the addition of the play-in tournament an "enormous mistake." At the time of Cuban's comments Dallas was in the play-in tournament field. The NBA board of governors, which includes Cuban, had unanimously approved the implementation of the play-in tournament this offseason. James himself has also expressed varying sentiments about a possible format change. Ahead of the NBA bubble last summer, James floated the idea of the final playoff spot in the Western Conference being decided through a short series. Previously in 2018, though, James called the idea "wack." The NBA postseason officially gets underway on May 22. More NBA Coverage: | https://www.si.com/nba/2021/05/14/play-in-tournament-format-dates-explained |
How concerned should we be about the Los Angeles Dodgers? | L.A. enters Friday third in the NL West, having lost 15 of its last 22 games. The Dodgers were widely considered the best team in baseball when the season began. After all, they won the World Series after a thoroughly dominant 2020 campaign and this winter added the reigning NL Cy Young Award winner. Then, they jumped out to a 132 record to start the season, confirming the hype was for real. That is, until they slipped. Injuries mounted and some key players underperformed. Los Angeles is 715 since its 13th win. Sports Illustrateds MLB experts weigh in. Tom Verducci Welcome to the year after winning the World Series. Nineteen consecutive teams could not defend their title, the longest streak since the Fall Classic began. But dont worry about the Dodgers until we get to October. This team is relentless on offence because it does not chase. It forces pitchers into the strike zone and then pounces. To beat Los Angeles, you better have pitchers with elite stuff who can get misses in the strike zone, which is why the Darvish-Snell-Musgrove trio in San Diego (.231 average in zone) and the Woodruff-Burnes-Peralta (.172) trio in Milwaukee are so formidable. The one area the Dodgers should be concerned about in the near term is their bullpen. Injuries (Corey Knebel, David Price, Brustar Graterol) have turned this into an ordinary group that doesnt have the same efficiency and power of their bullpen last year. The Dodgers entered play Thursday with a bullpen strikeout-to-walk rate that was the third worst in baseball (1.86). Last year it was second best (3.44). Kenley Jansen is featuring a very good cutter/sinker combination, but his 14 walks in 14 games are alarming, especially for a guy who doesnt hold runners well. Stephanie Apstein Im not terribly concerned. This is still the most talented team in baseball. The Dodgers struggles have been caused more by injuries than by ineffectiveness, and the cavalry will return at some point. The bigger issue is how well the Giants have played and how good the Padres are. San Francisco probably isnt a real threat to win the division, but San Diego is, and Los Angeles cant un-lose these games. It could be a tighter September than the Dodgers expected. Still, they are going to make the playoffs, and once they get there, theyre better equipped than anyone else to succeed. Emma Baccellieri Im not terribly concerned. Yes, its been a brutal three weeks, but theyve played better than their record indicates they still have the best run differential in the National League! (Even if you concern yourself only with the meat of their losing stretch, dropping 15 of 22, theyve been outscored by just one run; thats not ideal, obviously, but its not proof of a team going completely off the rails, either.) While its awful to lose a pitcher like Dustin May, most of their other current injuries either have good outlooks for the short term or are to less crucial members of the roster. (And they have more than enough depth to go forward, anyway.) The bullpen hasnt looked great, but its not broken, and theres not an overarching structural or managerial issue in there that strikes me as particularly worrying. The Dodgers are still a very (very!) good team. Theyre just suffering through one bad stretch. Will Laws The Dodgers have been unlucky so far, with a 16 record in extra innings and a league-high 10 losses in one-run games (only the Marlins have even eight one-run losses, and 21 teams have five or fewer). They still have the NLs best run differential (+40) and a MLB-high 96 per cent chance to make the playoffs, per FanGraphs, with the leagues second-highest World Series odds (16.8 per cent), behind only the Yankees. They are certainly still very good. But as the defending champions with baseballs highest payroll, this is a World Series or bust team. And in that context, Im quite concerned they wont meet those expectations. Los Angeles finally seems to be scraping the bottom of its organizational depth on offence, with the latest reinforcements not consistently cutting it. Theyre now behind the Mets and White Sox among the list of divisional favourites, with a 62.7 per cent chance to win the NL West. The Padres already have shown this season they have what it takes to match them at their best, and the emergence of the Giants further muddles the odds of L.A.s being able to skip the wild-card game. The Dodgers still have the top-to-bottom talent to be the favourites in any given series, but anything can happen in a winner-take-all game especially considering the NLs imposing group of potential wild-card starters. Matt Martell Your level of concern should depend on your pre-season expectations for the Dodgers. If you expected them to win the World Series, then you better be worried. Sure, they added Trevor Bauer to their already elite rotation and most of their championship roster was returning, but its incredibly hard for World Series winners to defend their title. Just look at how thats gone for teams over the last two decades. Speaking of how defending champs have fared the last 20 years, only five of them have even won the division in their title-defense season. Theres a lot of pressure to repeat, and the other teams within the division usually improve to try to contend the following year (Hello, Padres). All this said, I am concerned not because I picked them to win the World Series this year (I didnt), but because of what their performance this year means for them beyond it. As Will said above, their organizational depth on offence is finally thinning. The Bauer contract will handcuff how much they can spend in the off-season, when Corey Seager and Clayton Kershaw are free agents. Cody Bellinger stands to earn raises through arbitration entering the next two years before he becomes a free agent after the 2023 season. They will have some difficult decisions to make these next few years, regardless of where they finish this season. What were seeing now could be the beginning of the end for baseballs most dominant organization over the last 10 years and thats concerning. Nick Selbe Not too concerned. For all the doom and gloom in Dodgerland, this is still a team that has the highest run differential in the National League and ranks among the top five in hitting and pitching WAR. Injuries have played a critical role in the teams early-season struggles, with Bellingers absence and Mays season-ending surgery having the biggest impact. The four starting pitchers who have been able to stay healthy Kershaw, Bauer, Walker Buehler and Julio Uras have all been excellent, and they project to be particularly lethal for opposing hitters to deal with in a playoff series. This team was projected for big things in 2021 for a reason, and their depth of talent rivals any other in the league. Expect the panicked cries from Chavez Ravine to die down by the All-Star break. Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Michael Shapiro Its probably pretty foolish to be concerned about the Dodgers unless these struggles continue through June. Los Angeles is just three games back in the NL West entering Friday, and Bellinger should return to the lineup by the end of the month. This is still a dominant rotation even with May out. Mookie Betts should regain his All-Star form sooner than later. Perhaps the Padres knock off the Dodgers in October, but that was already a possibility before Los Angeless early-season struggles. They remain the favourite to win the National League, even if our pre-season expectations were a bit out of control. | https://www.thestar.com/sports/si/2021/05/14/how-concerned-should-we-be-about-the-los-angeles-dodgers.html |
When is Memorial Day weekend 2021? | Memorial Day weekend 2021 kicks off May 29 and Americans are already making plans. This year, Memorial Day which honors the men and women who lost their lives while serving in the U.S. military is officially observed on Monday, May 31. In 1968, Congress passed the Uniform Monday Holiday Act to officially establish Memorial Day as the last Monday in May. This effectively created a three-day weekend for federal employees, although the change didn't take effect until 1971. MEMORIAL DAY TRAVEL TO INCREASE 60% IN 2021 COMPARED TO LAST YEAR: AAA Many consider the holiday weekend the unofficial start to summer and plan short vacations. In fact, AAA projects that travel will increase now that an increasing number of Americans are getting inoculated. The auto club expects more than 37 million people to travel at least 50 miles from home during the holiday weekend, an increase of 60% from last year, which was the lowest since AAA began keeping records in 2000. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP AAA said 34 million Americans plan driving trips between May 27 and May 31, a 52% increase over last year, and nearly 2.5 million will take plane trips, nearly six times more than the same period in 2020. A small number will take buses or trains. The Associated Press contributed to this report. | https://www.foxnews.com/us/memorial-day-weekend-2021 |
What's Ahead For LGBTQ Senior Housing? | By Mary Siobhan Brier, Next Avenue Kate De Haven and her wife Nancy Kelly at Village Hearth, a co-housing community for LGBTQ+ people ... [+] 55+ Nancy Kelly From 2001 to 2004, Bonnie McGowan found herself dealing with a lengthy discrimination lawsuit. She had purchased 157 acres in New Mexico with plans to build an LGBTQ-friendly retirement village and was promptly sued by the surrounding community. McGowan and her lawyers were able to demonstrate that a housing development that would be accepting to gay, lesbian and trans residents would not be discriminatory against heterosexual families who lived nearby. Regardless, locals scrambled to find reasons to extend and appeal the lawsuit, eventually warning McGowan not to "bulldoze our way of life." The judge assigned to McGowan's case said in a public hearing: "Ms. McGowan, if I could rule against you, I would. But you've done nothing wrong." The case was ultimately thrown out by the New Mexico state supreme court. The acres McGowan bought are now home to the Birds of a Feather retirement community in Pecos, N.M. Since McGowan's experience, LGBTQ-friendly senior housing has come a long way. The New LGBTQ-friendly Senior Housing Communities Hundreds of LGBTQ senior living facilities have opened around the country and more are coming on stream, sometimes targeted to low-income people. McGowan noted that there has been a massive spike in demand since the beginning of Covid-19. "I think the pandemic and politics really just drove people to seek more peaceful, safe communities of people of like minds. Last year I was just insanely busy," said McGowan. Pat McAulay, a co-founder of Village Hearth, a co-housing community for 55+ LGBTQ people and allies in Durham, N.C., said she has experienced the same increase in demand. Since Village Hearth started move-in in May 2020, it has been inundated with calls from people looking for housing. Many activists hope the number of LGBTQ-friendly housing options will continue to grow. Sydney Kopp-Richardson, director of the National LGBT Elder Housing Initiative at SAGE (Services and Advocacy for GLBT Elders), noted that LGBTQ older adults are especially at-risk when it comes to housing insecurity and poverty. Exacerbating this issue, many LGBTQ people feel discriminated against in senior housing. "We see the long-term impact of discrimination on someone's ability to successfully age," Kopp-Richardson said. Many older LGBTQ people don't have children or have been rejected by their original nuclear family. "It's a lot harder to get to a point of economic security and mobility if you don't have a support network," said Kopp-Richardson. Recent studies show that one-third of LGBTQ people 50 and older live below the federal poverty threshold. Considering the proven adverse health effects of social isolation and discrimination, many LGBTQ older adults recognize the need to age in communities that accept and celebrate their identity. A Welcoming Home Nancy Kelly, a resident at Village Hearth, is familiar with the feeling of social rejection. Through the years, neighbors have pelted her home with eggs, teachers have targeted her daughter and a clergyman publicly denied her communion at her family church due to her sexual orientation. As Kelly grew older, she witnessed an aging friend feeling petrified to come out as gay in her nursing home due to the opinions of the other residents. Said Kelly: "You can do all the work you want with staff, so that they don't discriminate. But when you have fifty other elders who bring their own values with them to a congregate living facility, you can't tell them what to think or how to act." That' s why she was so relieved to hear about Village Hearth. Said Kelly: "[My wife Kate DeHaven ] and I held hands walking to the common house the other day. We feel very safe. We feel very comfortable. It just makes all the difference in the world that you're not a minority anymore to be living in co-housing that has an intentionality about being LGBT. You can be who you are." Village Hearth bungalows cost between roughly $300,000 and $400,000 with shared monthly fees of about $300 to $400. McAulay lamented not being able to make the units even more economical. "We tried to keep it affordable," she said. "But in these times, it's just impossible on a one-off project without any federal funding." There are at least 1,100 affordable units of housing in the U.S. for older LGBTQ people, according to SAGE. Crowdsourcing an LGBTQ Apartment Complex Also opening: new places like the G.L.I.T.S. House, a Queens, N.Y. community designed to house predominantly trans women of color, people who have been sex workers and ones who have been housing insecure. (G.L.I.T.S. stands for Gays and Lesbians Living in a Transgender Society.) G.L.I.T.S. House, which has 12 apartments, was built with the support of crowdsourcing and community-based fundraising. Said Kopp-Richardson: "People are finding creative ways, which we always have done in LGBTQ communities, to take care of one another when government and systems fail." When it comes to LGBTQ senior housing, said McGowan, "People just want safety. They want peace. They want to live out the rest of their life feeling safe." If you're looking for LGBTQ-friendly retirement housing, SAGE has a useful directory. And the National Fair Housing alliance site has valuable resources on housing discrimination and legal help. | https://www.forbes.com/sites/nextavenue/2021/05/14/whats-ahead-for-lgbtq-senior-housing/ |
Where Are The Personal Advice Apps For People Who Really Need Them? | By Richard Eisenberg, Next Avenue Editor Getty Remember the line "There's an app for that!" Well, that doesn't seem to be the case when it comes to personal finance advisory apps for people over 50, especially for low- and moderate-income older adults. That's my takeaway from the recent report by the nonprofit Financial Health Network, "Designing Digital Financial Advisory Tools for Low- to Moderate-Income Older Adults." And it's what my "Friends Talk Money" podcast co-hosts Terry Savage, Pam Krueger and I batted around on our latest episode (you can download it wherever you get podcasts). This report is a follow-up to the Financial Health Network's earlier one that Next Avenue wrote about, on how personal finance apps are generally failing to serve low- and moderate-income older adults. The Lack of Holistic Money Apps Managing your money wisely means organizing your finances, being smart about spending and debt and investing wisely. And there are plenty of personal finance apps and robo-advisers (automated investing apps) to help you do those. But there's another element to money management what nationally syndicated personal finance columnist Savage calls "getting help knowing what you don't know." And that advisory part for short-term and long-term planning needs says Financial Health Network director of behavioral economics Heidi Johnson (a Next Avenue Influencer in Aging), is where the app world is lacking. "Older adults are thinking about retirement. They want security knowing that they're going to have income that lasts. But they're also grappling with things like building up short-term savings or managing debt," she told our "Friends Talk Money" audience. "And that's where a lot of these fintech apps can potentially be meeting them." (Fintech means personal finance tech apps.) But, her report says, "very few [digital financial advisory] tools currently cater specifically to the financial needs or experiences of low- to moderate-income older adults" and most money apps "do not connect multiple components of one's financial health on a single platform. Rather, many target specific needs, leaving users on their own to connect facets of their financial lives for current and evolving circumstances." "Don't get me started on the financial services industry," Krueger, co-host of MoneyTrack on public television and founder of Wealthramp.com, said on the "Friends Talk Money" podcast. What Older Low- and Moderate-Income Adults Said For its new report, the Financial Health Network surveyed 40 people between age 50 and 64 with household incomes under $82,000, to learn about their financial barriers and preferences for financial advice. Then, it created a prototype of a digital financial advising tool based on the feedback, to help fintech makers design their money apps. (You can watch a video of the prototype at FinHealthNetwork.org.) One thing the researchers heard loud and clear: the sense that financial advisers don't want to work with low- and moderate-income people because they aren't profitable for them. "It was kind of a pervasive thing we heard in these interviews," Johnson said. Yet these are exactly the types of people who could use financial advice. According to the Financial Health Network, only about 17% of low- and moderate-income adults 50 and older in the U.S. are financially healthy. That's about half the rate as for the general population, Johnson said. Savage noted that more than 35% of people receiving Social Security depend on its benefits for 90% of their retirement income. "They really need overall financial planning," she said. Meantime, AARP Foundation President Lisa Marsh Ryerson told me, people over 50 are using technology is growing numbers and feeling increasingly comfortable with it. How a Money Advisory App Could Work Best A recent AARP report noted that 53% of 50+ adults with smartphones use the devices for financial transactions, up from 37% in 2019, and 65% of those age 50 to 59 do. The inability to walk into financial institutions during the pandemic unquestionably explains part of this. The ideal, holistic personal finance advisory app for older low- and moderate-income adults, Johnson said, would combine digital and human help. There could be an AI chatbot asking the user questions as well as the opportunity to talk to a human for personalized advice. "Low- and moderate-income older adults are more comfortable with chatbots that support and augment human interactions, rather than replace them," the Financial Health Network report said. "It was important for us to think about ways for this kind of product to be flexible so that people could select the level of cost that would meet their needs," she noted. "So, I imagine it could be priced based on the number of interactions with a human adviser. And then, if you are able to build out that digital set of tools to be as complete as possible, that can be ultimately available at a pretty low cost." The personal finance app Albert, is a good example, said Johnson. It has a team of experts who answer questions users send via text. You tell Albert what you think is fair to pay for its service; $4 a month is the minimum amount the company says it can reasonably operate Albert, and most customers decide to pay more. A few others my "Friends Talk Money" co-hosts and I mentioned: retirement planning apps Silvur and Retirable and the financial planning app Personal Capital. Some Progress in the Works There does seem to be a little movement in the financial services business to provide technology offering money advice. A recent Investment News column by Nicole Casperson said "Fintech giants like Envestment are striving to provide the technology needed to facilitate this new era of financial advice and wealth management one in which everyone has personalized user experiences accessible from a smartphone." Envestment, Casperson noted, added $30 million to its operating expenses this year to help do this. Many of the people the Financial Health Network spoke with were more willing to learn about, and engage with, a new digital financial tool when it was supported by a "recognized, familiar, and accessible financial institution or organization, such as a local financial institution or nonprofit," the group's report said. Ryerson told me she thinks everyone should have access to reliable financial advisory tools to meet their needs. Seems right. | https://www.forbes.com/sites/nextavenue/2021/05/14/where-are-the-personal-advice-apps-for-people-who-really-need-them/ |
What time and TV channel for The Game between Ohio State and Michigan in 2021? | COLUMBUS, Ohio One year after being wiped out by the coronavirus pandemic, The Game will return to its usual date and time in 2021. Fox announced a noon kickoff for its Nov. 27 broadcast of Ohio State football at Michigan. That is the traditional date and time for that series among the most historic rivalries in college football. The Big Tens delayed and reconfigured scheduled moved the 2020 installment of The Game to Dec. 12. Michigan was unable to play due to a coronavirus outbreak within its program. That was one of three regular-season OSU games canceled due to increased positives tests for the Buckeyes or their opponents. Ohio State future schedules: 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025 That ended a streak of 103 consecutive meetings. Ohio State has won the past eight meetings and 15 of the last 16, though the 2010 game was vacated. Fields Bears jersey: Ohio State football fans can purchase Justin Fields new Chicago Bears jersey here. Its available in white, blue and orange and in mens, womens and youth sizes. Theres also a cheaper T-shirt option. Basketball sets conference opponents for 2021-22 season J.T. Two former students join legal fight vs. OSU over Dr. Strauss sexual abuse | https://www.cleveland.com/osu/2021/05/what-time-and-tv-channel-for-the-game-between-ohio-state-and-michigan-in-2021.html |
Why have the Cleveland Indians been unable to take advantage of MLBs no-hit trend? | CLEVELAND, Ohio Tomorrow marks the 40th anniversary of Len Barkers perfect game at Municipal Stadium. Its the last time a Cleveland Indians pitcher tossed a perfecto or a no-hitter in any form, a stretch spanning 14,610 days and 6,259 games. But even with a preponderance of no-nos going up on scoreboards around Major League Baseball, the Indians seem unable to join in on the fun. Despite having a stable stocked with elite starting pitchers over the last decade-plus, nobody has been able to crack the code. Zach Plesacs run at a no-hitter Thursday ended in the eighth inning with a leadoff single by Seattles J.P. Crawford. Before that fateful 1-2 pitch, Plesac looked like he had everything going his way. I felt the energy of it happening, you know what I mean? Plesac said. You could feel it in the air. But Crawfords liner went over the glove of a leaping Amed Rosario at shortstop and into center field to extend the Indians no-hit agony. Plesac afterward seemed resigned to the inevitable. I wish I could give him just one inch of my height for that, he said. No, I mean shoot, he made it a close play. He was playing in the right spot, the dude just made a good swing, J.P. did, and executed with what he was supposed to do with two strikes. Clevelands no-hitter futility since Barkers gem is already the longest stretch without a no-hitter in American League history. In 2019 the Indians passed the mark set by the Tigers with 6,108 games from 1912 through 1952. The longest streak in MLB history is 8,944 games by the Phillies from 1906 to 1964. There have been 101 no-hitters tossed in MLB since Barkers perfect game. The most recent being Cincinnatis Wade Miley against Cleveland on May 7. A pitching-rich franchise with a history that includes 14 no-nos from the likes of Hall of Famers Bob Feller (3) and Addie Joss (2), the Indians have been unable to accomplish the feat for four decades. Even with five American League Cy Young Award winners in the last 14 seasons, none of Clevelands outstanding arms have written their names in the history books. Indians manager Terry Francona sees several factors in the rise of no-hitters this season. He said offense, in general is down throughout the league, and hes right. The leaguewide batting average is at its lowest point in modern history (around .234). And for the fourth consecutive year, strikeouts are outpacing hits. The leaguewide strikeout rate is 16%, and the league average on-base plus slugging percentage (OPS) is down to .702, a 38-points from last year. That leaguewide OPS is 56 points lower than 2019, representing its lowest point since 2014. The approach to hitting has changed so much that you dont see guys shortening up with two strikes, maybe hitting the ball the other way, so theres more strikeouts, Francona said. Theres shifting and guys arent taking advantage of it, so youre gonna see less offense. All of that would lend itself to the argument that the Indians should be joining in on the no-hit parade, not just suffering underfoot. So many chances Carlos Carrasco was the Indians pitcher who most recently came within one out of a no-no when he pitched 8 2/3 innings of hitless ball against Tampa Bay on July 1, 2015. Joey Butler broke up Carrascos bid in the bottom of the ninth at Tropicana Field. Two-time AL Cy Young Award winner Corey Kluber recorded two career Maddux outings in his years with the Indians. A Maddux is a complete game shutout on fewer than 100 pitches, named after the Atlanta Braves Hall of Famer. Besides Carrasco, the next closest Indians pitcher to a recent no-hitter might have been Trevor Bauer when he tossed seven hitless innings at Toronto on April 4, 2019. Bauer, though, walked six in that start and was at 117 pitches after the seventh when Francona decided to pull him. It was a decision Francona said wasnt hard to make, despite knowing what was on the line. I told Trevor I hated doing it, Francona said. It wasnt tough to do. It would have been really negligent on my part to send him back out... I would have loved to watch him throw a no-hitter. Later that season, Shane Bieber tossed a complete-game one-hit shutout at Toronto, facing just two batters over the minimum and striking out 10. He missed a Maddux by just three pitches. That night, Bieber had an unhittable changeup and a fastball that had effective late movement to befuddle Blue Jays hitters. Eric Sogards leadoff ground rule double in the seventh broke up the no-hit bid. Bieber joined Carlos Carrasco (2015) and Josh Tomlin (2014) as the only Tribe pitchers since 2009 to throw one-hit shutouts. He debuted with Cleveland in May 2018 a few weeks after throwing a seven-inning rain-shortened no-hitter for Columbus against Gwinett. Biebers then-teammate, Adam Plutko, nearly threw a perfect game for the Triple-A Clippers at Indianapolis. It looked like surely one of the young phenoms had a big league no-no in his immediate future. But Biebers current teammates believe hes still their best chance. Cleveland shortstop Andres Gimenez, who was more than 17 years away from being born when Barkers perfecto took place, said Bieber is his pick for the teammate who will break the near 40-year-old hex. Franmil Reyes, when asked which Indians starter will finally break through, said it could be anybody in the rotation. Theyre doing a tremendous job, Reyes said. Im really, really thankful that Im not hitting against these guys, honestly. Missed opportunities Bieber represents the clubs next best hope only because they probably missed their shot several times when Corey Kluber was on the staff for nine seasons. No-hitters require a combination of luck, skill and endurance most closely mirrored in a complete-game shutout in order to come true, and Kluber was a complete-game machine. He logged 17 complete games for Cleveland from 2014-17, tossing an 85-pitch Maddux July 30, 2014 against Seattle at Progressive Field. Kluber is one of just seven Indians pitchers to record a Maddux (he had two) since 1988 when MLB started tracking pitch counts. Kluber joined Cliff Lee (2009), Greg Swindell (1988), Charlie Nagy (1992), Bartolo Colon (1998 and 2002) and Paul Byrd (2007) in accomplishing the feat. Besides Kluber and Carrasco, other Indians pitchers to have flirted with no-hitters since Barker include John Farrell and Tom Candiotti: Carrasco took a no-hitter against Tampa Bay to the 9th with two out and an 0-2 count on Joey Butler before Butler lined a single over Jason Kipnis on July 1, 2015. He finished with 13 strikeouts in an 8-1 Tribe win. He had a one-hit shutout against KC on Sept. 25, 2011. striking out 15. Billy Traber pitched a one-hit shutout against the Yankees on July 8, 2003. Colon fired a one-hitter at the Yankees and Roger Clemens on Sept. 18, 200 in the Bronx. Candioti tossed a one-hitter against the Yankees on Aug. 3, 1987. Farrell on May 4, 1988 had his no-hit bid broken up by Kevin Seitzer. Kluber threw a one-hitter against Minnesota Aug. 15, 2015. That one hit left the yard, though, on a Joe Mauer home run. - New Indians face masks for sale: Heres where you can buy Cleveland Indians-themed face coverings for coronavirus protection, including a single mask ($14.99) and a 3-pack ($24.99). All MLB proceeds donated to charity. Podcast Indians still working through details of increased attendance Why its a big deal that Indians witness debut of two Seattle prospects Rosario getting comfortable in center, heating up at plate | https://www.cleveland.com/tribe/2021/05/why-have-the-cleveland-indians-been-unable-to-take-advantage-of-mlbs-no-hit-trend.html |
What is the science behind the new U.S. mask guidance? | Article content NEW YORK The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Thursday advised that fully vaccinated people do not need to wear masks outdoors and can avoid wearing them indoors in most places, updated guidance the agency said will allow life to begin to return to normal. The following lays out some of recent scientific evidence on which the CDC and Director Rochelle Walensky based their updated guidelines, including vaccine efficacy against virus variants, increased availability and a reduction in cases: We apologize, but this video has failed to load. tap here to see other videos from our team. A study https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2779853#:~:text=Findings%20In%20this%20retrospective%20cohort,symptomatic%20infection%20and%200.14%20for published in JAMA found the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine to be 97% effective in preventing symptomatic COVID-19 infection and 86% effective in preventing asymptomatic cases among a group of Israeli healthcare workers. Three studies published by the CDC also showed real-world effectiveness of the Pfizer/Biontech and Moderna vaccines. One https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/70/wr/mm7013e3.htm found them to be 90% effective against infections regardless of symptom status in a group of healthcare personnel, first responders, and other essential and frontline workers. A second study https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/70/wr/mm7018e1.htm showed the vaccines to be 94% effective against COVID-19 hospitalization among fully vaccinated adults over age 65. Another https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/70/wr/mm7020e2.htm?s_cid=mm7020 e2_w, published on Friday, showed 94% effectiveness against symptomatic infection among healthcare workers at 33 U.S. sites. | https://nationalpost.com/pmn/health-pmn/what-is-the-science-behind-the-new-u-s-mask-guidance |
When A Pair Of Sneakers Sells For Almost $2 Million, Can Inflation Be Far Behind? | The prototype Nike Air Yeezy 1s worn by Kanye West during at the Grammy Awards in 2008 were ... [+] purchased by an investment firm for $1.8 million. WireImage Bitcoin is regularly trading at over $50,000. A pair of Kanye Wests Nike Air Yeezy 1 sneakers was snapped up for $1.8 million. Christies sold an NFT (non-fungible token) in the form of a video by the digital artist Beeple for $69 million at auction. These are just a few of the eyebrow-raising headlines that indicate extreme levels of optimism about the economy. While many investors who are anxiously buying into Bitcoin probably cant explain what they are actually investing in, it looks likes cryptocurrencies have to be taken seriously. S&P Dow Jones has just launched three new indexesS&P Bitcoin Index, S&P Ethereum Index, and S&P Crypto Mega Cap Indexwith the promise to add other coins later this year. And theres a good chance that the SEC will approve the first Bitcoin ETF in June. The $1.8 million sneakers are another story altogether. Kanye Wests shoes werent bought by a hero-worshipping fan but rather by the investment firm Rares, which plans to offer shares in the sneakers as an investment. And speaking of sneakers, theres also a blossoming cottage industry of individuals trading in affinity sneakers, limited edition shoes that are often resold at a considerable markup. This limited-edition sneaker resale market is estimated at well over $2 billion a year and has been predicted to be as large as $6 billion by 2025. For one thing, it seems like a sign of a cavalier its only money, theres plenty more where that came from attitude. Its definitely an indicator that people are not being conservative with their investments. Its also a sign that theres just been so much money printed out there. That has helped reduce the amount of distressed debt outstanding and major banks are all releasing reserves that they had taken onto their balance sheets during Covid because the expectation now is that were in recovery mode and the economy is going to keep growing. According to the Bureau of Economic Analysis, we had a GDP increase of 6.4% in the first quarter of 2021, and some projections estimate it could be as high as 8% growth or more for the year. The unemployment rate should continue ticking down, maybe below 4% by the end of the year, but how that will all play out for the markets is the question still to be answered. While the widespread optimism is understandable, I caution that many signs are pointing to a coming correction. There seem to be a number of asset bubbles in place right now, in addition to the head-scratching investments mentioned at the top. No one can predict when or if theyll deflate, some of them might go on for an extended period and some of them might suddenly burst causing a massive shock, but I have to wonder, whos going to be left holding the $1.8 million sneakers. One of the biggest risks to the post-Covid recovery is the risk of inflation, which is especially relevant for fixed income investors since it decreases the value of their holdings at maturity. Treasury Secretary Yellen obviously had inflation on her mind when she recently indicated that interest rates might need to be raised to help pay for some of President Bidens ambitious spending proposals. She walked back that statement later in the day by saying, I dont think theres going to be an inflationary problem, but if there is, the Fed can be counted on to address it, but I think her original statement might be closer to the truth. There has to be an end to all this fiscal and monetary expansion at some point, although Fed Chair Powell recently committed to continue supporting our economic recovery by keeping rates at nearly zero for up to three years if necessary. In 2020, lawmakers passed massive new government spending measures and even more fiscal spending measures are expected this year. This will all help to ensure that the U.S. economy continues to grow in 2021. However, there is an increasing risk that all this stimulus is excessive and has thereby created ever-expanding asset bubbles which may cause systemic risk once they collapse. And while increases to the consumer price index (CPI) appear somewhat moderate at 2.6% according to Bloomberg, CPI overlooks asset inflation. Consider a few of the multiple indicators of substantial asset inflation of late: Stock markets at all-time highs Bitcoin near all-time highs Semiconductor prices +60% Copper prices hit highest level in decade Lumber, gasoline, soybean, and wheat prices all soar $12 TN in negative-yielding debt (lower yields = higher prices) Recent stock market appreciation, along with numerous other signs noted above, increases the likelihood of a potential downward retracement in stocks. Additionally, several non-business-friendly political proposals, such as doubling capital gains tax rates and doubling minimum wages, seem to be gaining traction. Even so, most economists forecast the U.S. economy to continue growing rapidly during 2021 and that, fueled by the potential for additional stimulus, implies that equity markets should do fine this year. With all thats going on it might make sense for investors to temper their optimism with a certain amount of caution. This is a time when it makes sense to look for hedging any risk a portfolio takes, particularly hedging for inflation and market risks. Those buying long should exercise due diligence and make sure that any company they invest in has a good business plan with a strong management team and a clean balance sheet without excessive debt and an ability to generate cash flow without so much speculation. | https://www.forbes.com/sites/georgeschultze/2021/05/14/when-a-pair-of-sneakers-sells-for-almost-2-million-can-inflation-be-far-behind/ |
Could a Raiders rookie push for time at slot cornerback? | Raiders fifth-round draft pick Nate Hobbs plays with a physicality and chip on his shoulder that make him an intriguing possibility at slot cornerback. In this Oct.19, 2019, file photo, Illinois defender Nate Hobbs (8) takes down Wisconsin's Quintez Cephus (87) in the second half of an NCAA college football game in Champaign, Ill. (AP Photo/Holly Hart, File) Given everything Nate Hobbs has dealt with over the last decade, he considers himself fortunate to have simply made it to Las Vegas as a rookie cornerback for the Raiders. But every one of the hurdles hes had to clear, from the loss of multiple loved ones to the angst he felt watching his mom raise Hobbs and his three siblings on a $25,000-a-year income to the unrelenting doubt hes faced, has hardened and strengthened him. So while Hobbs gave himself a minute or two to celebrate getting drafted by the Raiders in the fifth round, he was soon engulfed by a sense of duty to do good by the organization that showed faith in him and to eventually prove everyone who passed on him that they made a mistake. I wont forget the guys who were taken before me, the guys who I feel like didnt do as much as me but were still picked up, Hobbs said. Im just so thankful for the Raiders for taking a chance, they wont regret it. Theyre getting the best underdog theyve ever drafted. The chance to prove himself could come sooner rather than later. The Raiders have a job opening at the slot cornerback position vacated by Lamarcus Joyner. While veteran Casey Hayward or second-year corner Damon Arnette are candidates to slide inside depending on who wins the outside cornerback job, the Raiders like the traits that Hobbs brings to the competition. Hes a 6-foot corner thats played outside, that ran 4.45 and was probably the most physical corner in the draft, Raiders general manager Mike Mayock said. We believe we can move him inside and he can compete inside. At the least, the Raiders now have options to fill a position that has been a weak link the last two years. In addition to Arnette and Hayward, second-year prospect Amik Robertson should be further along in his transition from an outside corner in college to a slot corner in the NFL. And Hobbs brings the necessary mindset and resume from Illinois, where he was developed by long-time defensive mastermind Lovie Smith. I feel like I can match up with a smaller, faster guy in the slot or if they move a guy, the outside receiver in the slot, I can match up with him also, Hobbs said. I think Im pretty versatile. The chip on Hobbs shoulder has helped get him through some incredibly rough times. He was only 12 years old when his father died, and over the last two years he lost both his grandmother and an influential uncle who helped steer him to adulthood by stepping up after his fathers death. Those personal losses, combined with the constant frustration of being an overlooked football prospect at nearly every turn in his career, was the fuel he used to become a four-year starter at Illinois and pound-for-pound one of the toughest players in this draft class. I went through a lot of adversity in my life, and I think that shows the way I play, Hobbs said. I play with passion, I play with want-to. When Im on the field, Im going to enforce my will. All of which leaped off the screen when Mayock began evaluating Hobbs. Ironically, the deep dive Mayock did came at the behest of a Raiders scout who felt people were sleeping on Hobbs. The scout, intrigued by Hobbs length and physicality, convinced Mayock to give Hobbs a more intense look. So I put Nate Hobbs on and I was like, Hmm, does this guy play hard. Mayock said. Does this guy compete. The chance to show that begins now. A Hobbs takes it all in, he remembers the loved ones hes lost along the way. I know theyre proud of me right now, Hobbs said. I know theyre in heaven, looking down on me. I know their hands are on me. Theyre guiding me really. Im just so happy I could make this happen. Its like fate. Contact Vincent Bonsignore at vbonsignore@reviewjournal.com. Follow @VinnyBonsignore onTwitter. | https://www.reviewjournal.com/sports/raiders/could-a-raiders-rookie-push-for-time-at-slot-cornerback-2354413/ |
How can Justin and Nicole map out their financial future and set aside enough savings to serve as a pension plan? | Open this photo in gallery Justin and Nicole. Tijana Martin/The Globe and Mail At age 33, with their $1.6-million Toronto-area house purchase closing soon, Justin and Nicole are mapping out their future mortgage payments, children in a couple of years and even their eventual retirement from the work force. Nicole is a commissioned sales person earning $100,000 a year after expenses. Justin is a sales manager earning $85,000 a year. When their house closes, they hope to rent out the basement apartment for $1,700 a month. Neither of us has a pension plan, Nicole writes in an e-mail. We want to save for retirement so it feels like we do have a pension, she adds. Their goals are to have an effective and tax-efficient savings plan and to use Nicoles corporation, set up last fall, as an income source during her future maternity leave, to help her parents financially if need be, and to save for retirement. Story continues below advertisement We asked Andrea Thompson, a financial planner at Raymond James in Toronto, to look at Nicole and Justins situation. What the expert says With a $1.25-million mortgage, Justin and Nicole will be taking on a significant payment each month, Ms. Thompson says. They have both already used the federal Home Buyers Plan, so this option is not available. Justin is making monthly RRSP contributions through his group plan at work of $168. His employer makes matching contributions of three times what Justin contributes, in this case $504 a month. It is advisable for Justin to keep maximizing these contributions to get his employer match, Ms. Thompson says. Justin has been topping up his RRSP with an additional $200 a month, plus he contributes $400 a month to his TFSA. Because Justin is at the 30 per cent marginal tax bracket, he should redirect the $200 a month that he has been making to his RRSP to his TFSA instead, the planner says. The couple will need financial flexibility over the coming years, requiring potential withdrawals from their accounts during maternity leaves, to handle unexpected expenses that often come with purchasing a new home, and to support their parents financially if and when required, Ms. Thompson says. Any withdrawals made from TFSAs are tax-free, and Justin can contribute the amount withdrawn in any subsequent tax year when cash flow allows, she adds. Justin is paying an average management expense ratio (MER) of 2.32 per cent in his RRSP and 2.25 per cent in his TFSA. His investment adviser has invested his accounts in mainly low-load mutual funds that carry penalties to redeem within the first three years. Justin would greatly benefit from a lower-cost portfolio, Ms. Thompson says. Simply reducing his average MER by one percentage point could result in an increase of $209,000 in his portfolio by age 65, assuming a 5 per cent rate of return, she says. He could consider working with an adviser who charges a lower management fee and uses more cost-effective products or investment options. Or he could take advantage of a robo-adviser service that would use passive exchange-traded funds to drive a lower cost. Nicole uses a robo-adviser and is happy with the service, the planner notes. Because her income is variable, Nicole has been contributing ad hoc to her TFSA and RRSP. She has been earning $100,000 a year net of expenses on average. She has been drawing a salary of $4,500 a month for lifestyle expenses, leaving the surplus earnings ($3,835 a month) inside the corporation, the planner says. Using her corporation for investment savings in lieu of drawing extra money out to make personal TFSA and RRSP contributions will accomplish the following, the planner says. First, the comparatively low 12.5 per cent combined Ontario/federal corporate tax rate would apply on any earnings that arent paid out as salary. On Nicoles surplus earnings of $3,835 a month, she would be paying $480 a month in corporate tax, leaving $3,355 for investment. This would have been the main purpose of incorporation for Nicole. Second, assuming Nicole is able to retain $3,355 a month inside the corporation, she will have built up a nice nest egg so she can continue withdrawing $4,500 a month during her maternity leave(s), the planner says. Using a 5 per cent average rate of return, Nicoles total corporate assets would accrue to $2.6-million by the time she plans to retire at the age of 60. Including her personal investments, she would have about $2.97-million. If Nicole wasnt incorporated or was drawing all of the income of $100,000 a year from the corporation, she would be able to make annual RRSP contributions of $18,000 a year. She would pay personal taxes of about $17,500, leaving her with net income of $64,500, Ms. Thompson says. Assuming she would require $45,000 for lifestyle purposes, this would leave her with $19,500 to save between her TFSA account (she has unused contribution room) and her non-registered account. At retirement, her total investment assets would have accrued to about $2.63-million, assuming a 5-per-cent rate of return and that no withdrawals have been made. Comparing the two scenarios, this represents an enhancement of almost $340,000 in savings using her corporation, Ms. Thompson says. Story continues below advertisement Given that Nicoles income could well be higher in future, the benefits of saving inside her corporation would be enhanced as her income potential grows, the planner notes. She would be able to enjoy the low 12.5 per cent corporate tax rate on earnings up to $500,000. At the age of 65 Justin and Nicole could be entitled to maximum Canada Pension Plan benefits of $1,204 a month each in 2021 dollars, or a total of $2,408 a month, the planner says. Old Age Security benefits will provide another $615 a month each, although some of their OAS may be clawed back depending on their income level. Because retirement is a long way off for this couple, these estimates are by way of illustration only, she adds. Justin and Nicole could consider purchasing a life annuity at retirement (or later) with a portion of their investments to create their own pension-like income stream, the planner says. The people: Justin and Nicole, both 33 The problem: How to map out their financial future to cover current and future costs, and set aside enough savings in Nicoles corporation to serve as a pension plan. Story continues below advertisement The plan: Begin a regular savings plan for Nicole using her corporation. Justin should continue to take advantage of his employers RRSP contributions, contribute to his TFSA and take steps to reduce his investment fees. The payoff: A flexible game plan focusing on properly prioritizing their goals. Monthly net income: $9,165 plus future rental income. Assets: House $1.6-million; her RRSP $60,090; his RRSP $135,390; her TFSA $20,535; his TFSA $81,930; corporate account $70,000; corporate reserve for taxes $40,000; her stocks $22,890; his stocks $13,700; her cash $35,000; his cash $16,000. Total: $2.1-million Monthly expenses: Mortgage $4,430; property tax $630; home insurance $75; utilities $140; maintenance $400; auto lease $350; other transportation $630; groceries $600; phone, internet, cable $190; vacations $800; entertainment, dining out, drinks $800; sports, hobbies $350; subscriptions $25; doctors, dentists $230; RRSP contributions $500; TFSAs $400. E-mail finfacelift@gmail.com. Some details may be changed to protect the privacy of the persons profiled. Be smart with your money. Get the latest investing insights delivered right to your inbox three times a week, with the Globe Investor newsletter. Sign up today. | https://www.theglobeandmail.com/investing/personal-finance/retirement/article-how-can-justin-and-nicole-map-out-their-financial-future-and-set-aside/ |
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