Tuesday, March 9, 2021

Wake-Up Call: Fully Vaccinated People Can Gather Without Masks


The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued guidance yesterday for the kind of things Americans can do once they've been vaccinated. They said that those who are fully vaccinated -- meaning two weeks after getting two shots of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine or one shot of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine -- can get together with other vaccinated people indoors without wearing a mask or social distancing. They can also gather without masks or distancing with people considered at low-risk for severe disease, such as vaccinated grandparents visiting healthy children and grandchildren. The CDC is still recommending, however, that fully vaccinated people wear masks and distance in public, and also avoid large gatherings. The CDC is also still discouraging unnecessary travel even for those who are vaccinated.
 

➤BIDEN TO GIVE FIRST PRIME-TIME ADDRESS THURSDAY: President Biden will deliver his first prime-time address on Thursday, which the White House said will mark the one-year anniversary of the nation's Covid-19 shutdowns. White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said Biden will, quote, "discuss the many sacrifices the American people have made over the last year and the grave loss communities and families across the country have suffered," and will also, "look forward, highlighting the role that Americans will play in beating the virus and moving the country toward getting back to normal." The address will also come as the House is expected to this week pass Biden's $1.9 trillion Covid relief package after the Senate approved it over the weekend.
 

➤JURY SELECTION IN TRIAL OF EX-OFFICER CHARGED IN GEORGE FLOYD'S DEATH PUSHED BACK ONE DAY: Jury selection in the second-degree murder trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin for the death of George Floyd last May was supposed to begin yesterday, but it was pushed back by one day to today due to legal wrangling over the state trying to add a third-degree murder count. Prosecutors are asking the Court of Appeals to put the trial on hold until the issue is resolved. Judge Peter Cahill postponed the start of jury selection yesterday while he decided the way forward, and later said he would keep the trial moving unless he's told by the Court of Appeals to stop. Chauvin is also charged with manslaughter in Floyd's death.

➤REPORTED STONE BODYGUARD AMONG TWO ARRESTED FOR CAPITOL ATTACK: Federal authorities said Monday that two men wanted in the January 6th attack on the U.S. Capitol were arrested over the weekend, including one who reportedly served as a bodyguard to Roger Stone, a longtime friend and political confident of former President Donald Trump. The FBI said in court papers that the man, Roberto Minuta, breached the Capitol grounds and, quote, "aggressively berated and taunted U.S. Capitol police officers," and was wearing clothes with a crest related to the Oath Keepers, a far-right, anti-government militia. Minuta has been identified by the New York Times as one of six people who provided to security to Stone in the hours before the Capitol attack. Isaac Steve Sturgeon, who was also arrested, is charged with shoving a metal police barricade into police officers during the assault on the Capitol. He traveled to Kenya in late January, and was arrested after being deported back to the U.S.


OPRAH WINFREY SAYS QUEEN & PRINCE PHILIP WEREN'T CONCERNED ABOUT ARCHIE'S SKIN COLOR: The world is divided after Oprah Winfrey’s bombshell interview with Meghan Markle and Prince Harry on CBS Sunday night. On Monday morning, the media maven appeared on CBS This Morning to clear up a few storylines.

Winfrey confirmed that neither Queen Elizabeth nor Prince Philip raised concerns over Meghan and Harry’s son Archie’s potential skin color while Meghan was pregnant. She said Harry wouldn’t name names, but essentially cleared his grandparents.

She added: “He did not tell me who were part of those conversations. As you can see I tried to get that answer — on camera and off.”

She also revealed that amid a series of stunning revelations—including their secret wedding ahead of their televised ceremony and Meghan’s suicidal ideations—that revelation shocked her the most.

“All around this same time — we have in tandem the conversation of, ‘He won’t be given security, he’s not going to be given a title,’ and also concerns and conversations about how dark his skin might be when he’s born,” Meghan told Oprah in the no-holds-barred interview.

“I was surprised that they [Markle and Harry] were telling me about it,” Winfrey said.

“Yes, they want privacy but they understand that they are public figures and the privacy is not to be intruded upon. There is a difference between privacy and intrusion and being able to have boundaries,” Winfrey explained about why the couple came forward.


Meanwhile, sleuths online are busily listing who they believe could have made the remarks about Archie’s skin colors. The top suspects are his father, Prince Charles, and brother, Prince William, both of whom he is at least somewhat estranged from.

It should also be noted that the phrase “Abolish the monarchy” began trending after the interview.

➤POLL...AMERICAN AND BRITS DIFFER ON REACTIONS TO HERRY-MEGHAN INTERVIEW:  Meghan Markle and Prince Harry's explosive interview with Oprah Winfrey on Sunday got a different reaction from people in the U.S. than it did in Britain, with Americans being more sympathetic to the couple. A YouGov Direct poll of more than 2,100 Americans found that 44 percent thought it was appropriate for Harry and Meghan to do then interview, more than twice the 20 percent who thought it wasn't. But a U.K. poll found the opposite, with 47 percent saying it was inappropriate and 21 percent calling it appropriate. Americans were twice as likely to sympathize with Harry and Meghan than then royal family, by 47 percent to 23 percent. Among Britons, just 29 percent had a least a "fair amount" of sympathy for them, while 33 percent had no sympathy. But 45 percent of those in the U.K. also said they don't have much sympathy for the royal family either. The YouGov poll further found that 58 percent of Americans believe race played a role in how Meghan was treated by other members of the royal family, and 61 percent believe it affected how she was treated by the British press.

➤MEAL SCHEDULES HAVE CHANGED DURING PANDEMIC: If your normal meal time schedule has changed as you've been working from home during the pandemic, you're not alone, with many of those who haven't been going into the office having had when and how they eat adjusted as their schedules were disrupted. Amanda Mull writes in The Atlantic that she used to always eat three meals a day, but now basically snacks during the day except for one "Big Meal" each day, which she doesn't always eat at the same time each day. She explains that working from home means we have less reason to follow more regimented times for eating our meals, and some have adapted to setting new meals schedules or just eating when they're hungry.

➤THE IMPACT OF LOCKDOWN DRIVES US TO MAKE POORER CHOICES: The pandemic has brought many changes, and many of them haven’t been easy to deal with. Researchers in Spain looked at the impact lockdown and other restrictions imposed to control the COVID-19 pandemic have had on people in Spain, Italy, and the United Kingdom. They found those exposed to the consequences of the effects of lockdown experienced more diminished cognitive capacity, made riskier decisions, and suffered reduced civic-mindedness. A researcher notes, “Instead of being more careful because they were in a pandemic, they were taking risks, because they couldn’t take it anymore. They wanted, for example, those who did not wear masks or evaded restrictions to be punished, even though they themselves were more likely to make riskier choices.” They also note that the pandemic caused people to want immediate benefits, and to make impulsive decisions, sometimes big ones, such as deciding to move out of a city and into a rural location. The researchers note that these findings should be taken into account when “designing better responses and communication campaigns for future pandemics.”  

🏈MILES LEAVES AS KANSAS FOOTBALL HEAD COACH AMID SEXUAL MISCONDUCT CLAIMS: Kansas announced last night the departure of football head coach Les Miles, the news coming days after he was put on administrative leave following sexual misconduct allegations from when he was at LSU. Kansas described it as a mutual agreement for the 67-year-old Miles to leave. In a report LSU received last week about its handling of sexual misconduct complaints, Miles was described as having, quote, "tried to sexualize the staff of student workers in the football program by, for instance, allegedly demanding that he wanted blondes with big breasts, and 'pretty girls.'" Miles, who was fired by LSU in 2016 after 11 years, was also investigated in 2013 after two female student workers accused him of inappropriate behavior. It was found he showed poor judgement, but didn't find law violations or that he had sexual relationships with students.


🏈COWBOYS QB PRESCOTT REACHES FOUR-YEAR, $160 MILLION DEAL: Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott has agreed to a four-year, $160 million deal with the team that includes a $66 million signing bonus, the highest in NFL history, according to reports Monday. The 28-year-old Prescott has been with the Cowboys for five seasons, and this long-term deal, something both sides wanted, took three offseasons to negotiate. Prescott has a 42-27 record with the Cowboys, and has a team-record seven 400-yard passing games and 24 rushing touchdowns, the most by a Dallas quarterback.

🏈TITANS TRADING LAST YEA'S FIRST-ROUND PICK WILSON TO DOLPHINS: The Tennessee Titans have agreed to trade offensive lineman Isaiah Wilson, who was their first-round pick in last year's draft, to the Miami Dolphins, according to media reports yesterday (March 8th). The Titans are giving the Dolphins a seventh-round pick in 2022 along with Wilson, for a 2021 seventh-round selection. Tennessee signed Wilson, the 29th overall selection in last April's draft, to a four-year, $11.6 million contract in August. However, he played only four snaps in his rookie season before being placed on the non-football injury list in December. He also had a couple of legal issues, including a DUI charge in September.

🏀CREIGHTON BASKETBALL COACH MCDERMOTT'S SUSPENSION OVER 'PLANTATION' REMARK ENDED: Creighton University announced Monday that it had ended basketball coach Greg McDermott’s suspension for making racially insensitive remarks to his players after a loss last week. In urging team unity, he said, "I need everybody to stay on the plantation. I can’t have anybody leave the plantation." The school had suspended McDermott indefinitely on Thursday after he'd apologized twice. Athletic director Bruce Rasmussen said yesterday, "I believe his apology, his commitment to grow from this, to learn, and to regain the trust of his student-athletes and others impacted by his words."

🎾DJOKOVIC BREAKS FEDERER'S RECORD FOR MOST WEEKS AT NUMBER ONE: Serbian tennis star Novak Djokovic broke Roger Federer's record yesterday (March 8th) for most weeks as the world's Number 1 men's player in the ATP rankings. The 33-year-old Djokovic is now in his 311th week in the top spot, one more than Federer had. He has had five separate stays at Number 1. Djokovic has a total of 18 Grand Slam singles titles, behind only the 20 that Federer and Roger Nadal have for the men's record.
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