Plus Pages

Monday, September 20, 2021

Wake-Up Call: U-S To Fly Texas Migrants Back to Haiti

Reuters photo

The U.S. has begun a mass expulsion of the more than 12,000 Haitians who've been camping around a bridge in the Texas border town of Del Rio and blocking other refugees from the country from crossing the border from Mexico. More than 320 of the Haitians arrived back in their homeland on three flights Sunday and Haiti said six flights were expected Tuesday. 




The U.S. plans to begin seven flights a day on Wednesday, AP reported, citing an unnamed U.S. official. Mexico also said Sunday that it would begin deporting Haitians back to their homeland. Haitians have for several years been migrating to the U.S. in large numbers from South America, where many had gone after leaving Haiti following the 2010 earthquake.

➤NIH HEAD PREDICTS FDA WILL EXPAND ADVICE ON WHO SHOULD GET COVID VACCINE BOOSTER:
Two days after a Food and Drug Administration advisory panel recommended that people 65 and older and those at high-risk such as health care workers should be offered a Covid-19 Pfizer vaccine booster shot, but not those between 16 and 65, the head of the National Instuties of Health, Dr. Francis Collins, predicted Sunday that the FDA will widen its recommendation. 

Collins said on CBS' Face the Nation that he believes, quote, "there will be a decision in the coming weeks to expand boosters beyond the list that they approved on Friday." Collins praised the vaccines' protection, but in addressing the booster issue said, "What we're worried about is that it's beginning to erode and we're seeing more breakthrough cases and we don't want to get behind this virus. We want to stay ahead of it." 

The Centers for Disease Control and Pevention will have its own advisory committee meet this week to make its own booster shot recommendation.

NY Post Screenshot 9/20/21

➤BODY FOUND IN WYOMING BELIEVED TO BE THAT OF MISSING GABRIELLE PETITO:
A body discovered in Wyoming Sunday is believed by authorities to be that of missing 22-year-old Gabrielle "Gabby" Petito, who disappeared during a cross-country van trip with her boyfriend, 23-year-old Brian Laundrie. 

The body was found by law enforcement agents who'd been searching camp sites in Grand Teton National Park, with FBI Supervisory Special Agency Charles Jones saying a cause of death has not yet been determined. 

Meanwhile, an intense search is on for Laundrie, who's been named a person of interest, in a nature preserve in Florida. He was last seen by family members nearly a week ago on Tuesday when he told them he was going to the Carlton Reserve in Sarasota County. 

Laundrie was alone when he drove the van back to his parents home in North Port, Florida, on September 1st. He hadn't been providing information, even as Petito's family had been pleading for the Laundrie family to tell them where Brian last saw her.


 AT LEAST 30 INJURED IN PENNSYLVANIA BUS CRASH, SIX IN CRITICAL CONDITION: At least 30 people were injured, six of them critically, in a bus crash in central Pennsylvania Sunday. According to Pennsylvania State Police, the bus went off an Interstate 81 exit ramp in Schuykill County when the driver lost control. Trooper David Beohm said a team is working to identify the cause of the crash, in which the driver went straight across the center rail instead of turning right or left at the end of the exit ramp.

➤MILITARY TRAINING JET CRASHES IN TEXAS, TWO PILOTS INJURED: A military training jet crashed in a neighborhood in Lake Worth, Texas, late yesterday morning (September 19th), injuring both pilots, who were able to eject before the crash. Three homes were damaged, but no one on the ground was seriously hurt. One of the pilots was electrocuted after getting caught in power lines, with Lake Worth police saying he was "badly burnt," but "conscious, alert and breathing." The second pilot was found in a wooded area. The chief of naval air training in Corpus Christi said in a Facebook post yesterday that the student aviator was in serious condition and the instructor was in stable condition.


NY Post 9/19/21
➤DESIGNER OF AOC'S 'TAX THE RICH' DRESS HAS TAX DEBTS:
   The designer of the "Tax the Rich" dress that Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez wore to the Met Gala, Aurora James, has unpaid tax debts, according to the New York Post. 

The Post report said much of 37-year-old James' debt is tied to Cultural Brokerage Agency, an LLC she formed in 2011 as parent company of her fashion brand, Brother Vellies. The company has three open tax warrants in New York state for failing to withhold income taxes from employees’ paychecks totaling just under $15,000, the state Department of Taxation and Finance told the Post. 

The IRS put six federal liens on the company for more than $103,000 between April 2018 and 2019, citing the company’s failure to remit employee payroll taxes. The IRS wouldn't comment on their current status. 

The Post said the state Worker's Compensation Board fined the company $17,000 in October 2019 for not carrying worker’s-comp insurance between March 2017 and February 2018, and the company currently owes $62,722 and no payments have been received, citing a rep for the board. 

Additionally, a $1.6 million property James bought in L.A. a year ago in September 2020 is listed as "delinquent" by the Los Angeles County assessor’s office, which told the Post James owed $2,504 in property taxes.

➤REPORT..BETO O'ROURKE READYING TO RUN FOR TEXAS GOVERNOR: Democratic former Rep. Beto O'Rourke of Texas came close but lost to Republican Senator Ted Cruz when he ran for Senate in 2018, falling short 51 percent to 48 percent. When O'Rourke ran for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination, he didn't get nearly that far, dropping out of the race in early November 2019. But now Axios is reporting that O'Rourke is readying to run for governor of Texas next year. The report cited Texas political operatives as saying an announcement is expected later this year. O'Rourke has been calling political allies to ask their advice, and has given them the impression he's decided to run, according to Axios. But his former House chief of staff and longtime political adviser, David Wysong, told Axios, "No decision has been made." A new Dallas Morning News poll shows O'Rourke behind Republican Governor Greg Abbott 42 percent to 37 percent, but that's down from a 12-point deficit in July, when he trailed 45 percent to 33 percent.

📖BOOK SALES ARE UP: Throughout the the year-and-a-half since the pandemic began, there have been unexpected businesses, hobbies and more than have been boosted as people turned to them One business that has benefited is Barnes & Noble, as book sales have ben up. Barnes & Noble has had double-digit sales growth in books this year compared to 2019, before the pandemic began, and even more surprisingly, teenagers and tweens have been helping drive it, with sales of Manga -- graphic novels -- up by as much as 500 percent at some of the chain's stores. Market research company NPD Group said that U.S. sales of books are up 12 percent so far this year through August industry-wide compared to the same period a year ago, and up 20 percent from 2019. B&N CEO James Daunt told the New York Post, "Double-digit growth in books has not happened since Amazon came along." What remains to be seen is what happens once the pandemic is over, with book publishing consultant Jane Friedman telling the Post, "Everyone is wondering whether this is a permanent shift or how long it will stick, but right now almost every category is up."

😴STUDY..MORE SLEEP BOOSTS TEENS’ ABILITY TO COPE WITH PANDEMIC: Teens always need a lot of sleep, but they especially need sleep now. McGill University researchers found that encouraging better sleep habits could help reduce teens’ stress and improve their ability to cope in times of crisis. The data shows that during the pandemic, the wake-up and sleep time of teens shifted by about two hours later. The elimination of the morning commute, a delayed school start time, and cancellation of extracurricular activities allowed teens to follow their “delayed biological rhythm”-- or tendency to wake up and go to bed later. Lead study author Reut Gruber adds, “Not sleeping enough and being overly stimulated before bedtime are poor habits that are modifiable. We can target these behaviors with preventative measures to reduce teens’ stress in the face of overwhelming situations like the COVID-19 pandemic.”

➤WHAT CAUSES HUMAN ATTRACTION:  What really makes us think someone is hot? Neuroscientists know that a behavioral “attraction system” seems to activate nerve cells in the midbrain to release the neurotransmitter dopamine when we like someone, but they don’t know why only some potential mates trigger this reaction. Over the years science has come up with a few ideas, though. One is the “golden ratio,” or basically the idea that the ratio of certain parts of the face to other parts of the face create an attractive face. 
Modern scientists know our eyes are immediately drawn to faces that are about 1.6 times longer than they are wide and that have bottom lips 1.6 times fuller than their upper lips-- but it’s not proven whether people associate the ratio with attractiveness. And beyond that, a 2015 study found that up to one in three people have some amount of facial asymmetry, and not that many people find themselves without mates. In addition, a 2002 study found that what we see as hot changes over time-- there’s never been any consistent hip-to-waist ratio among Miss America winners of Playboy centerfolds. Other things that play a role in how attractive we find someone: how well they play the dating game, conversation dynamics, mood, and other seemingly random factors. In other words: science hasn’t reliably come up with a way to precisely tell if two people are going to hit it off and be romantic partners or not.

➤COMBO SHOT FOR COVID-19, FLU VACCINES UNDER DEVELOPMENT:  You might find yourself getting both a flu vaccine and potentially a COVID-19 booster shot in the next few weeks. But the good news is that at least two drug companies are working on a combo flu/COVID-19 booster, but the single-dose shot won’t be ready for this flu season. Also, you can sleep well knowing experts say it’s perfectly safe to get your flu shot and COVID-19 vaccination during the same visit. Anticipating that annual COVID boosters will be needed in the future, the pharmaceutical companies Moderna and Novavax both have officially announced that they are developing a combination flu/COVID vaccine for the future.



🏈NFL SCORES -- WEEK 2:
  • Chicago Bears 20, Cincinnati Bengals 17
  • Cleveland Browns 31, Houston Texans 21
  • Los Angeles Rams 27, Indianapolis Colts 24
  • Buffalo Bills 35, Miami Dolpins 0
  • New England Patriots 25, New York Jets 6
  • San Francisco 49ers 17, Philadelphia Eagles 11
  • Las Vegas Raiders 26, Pittsburgh Steelers 17
  • Carolina Panthers 26, New Orleans Saints 7
  • Denver Broncos 23, Jacksonville Jaguars 13
  • Arizona Cardinals 34, Minnesota Vikings 33
  • Tampa Bay Buccaneers 48, Atlanta Falcons 25
  • Dallas Cowboys 20, Los Angeles Chargers 17
  • Tennessee Titans 33, Seattle Seahawks 30 (OT)
  • Baltimore Ravens 36, Kansas City Chiefs 35
Tonight's Monday Night Football game on ESPN: Detroit Lions at Green Bay Packers (8:15 p.m. ET)


🏈FOUR QUARTERBACKS LEAVE GAMES WITH INJURIES: Four quarterbacks had to leave their NFL games yesterday because of injuries. Miami's Tua Tagovailoa was knocked out of the Dolphins' 35-0 loss to the Buffalo Bills in the first quarter when he suffered a rib injury. Colts quarterback Carson Wentz left in the fourth quarter of Indianpolis' 27-24 loss to the Los Angeles Rams after hurting his ankle. Chicago's Andy Dalton injured his knee early in the second quarter of the Bears' 20-17 win over the Cincinnati Bengals. And the Texans' Tyrod Taylor suffered a hamstring injury just before halftime in Houston's 31-21 loss to the Cleveland Browns.

🏈BUCS TOP FALCONS 48-25, SCORING 30-PLUS POINTS IN WIN FOR RECORD NINTH STRAIGHT GAME: The Tampa Bay Baccaneers defeated the Atlanta Falcons 48-25 yesterday for an NFL record ninth straight win in which they scored 30-plus points. The victory also gave the defending Super Bowl champions a 2-0 record to start the season as well as a franchise-best 10-game winning streak. Bucs quarterback Tom Brady threw for 276 yards and five touchdowns, and Mike Edwards returned two of Tampa Bay’s three interceptions for touchdowns.

🏈EAGLES' GRAHAM REPORTEDLY HAS SEASON-ENDING ACHILLES INJURY: Philadelphia Eagles star defensive end Brandon Graham is done for the season after suffering an Achilles injury, according to media reports yesterday. Graham said on Twitter, "We still about to shock the world! I will just be leading from the sidelines this year working to be great for 2022." Graham suffered the injury in the second half of the Eagles' 17-11 loss to the San Francisco 49ers as he tried to get to 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo.

⚾BRAVES' ROSARIO HITS FOR CYCLE: Atlanta left fielder Eddie Rosario hit for the cycle Sunday in the Braves' 3-0 shutout of the San Francisco Giants. He hit a double in the second inning, a triple in the third, a home run in the seventh inning and a single in the ninth. Rosario is the second Braves player to hit for the cycle in a month, after first baseman Freddie Freeman did it on August 18th against the Miami Marlins.

No comments:

Post a Comment