Thursday, June 10, 2021

Wake-Up Call: Biden Arrives In U-K

President Biden arrived in the U.K. Wednesday for the start of an eight-day trip in Europe that will include a meeting of the Group of 7 world leaders the U.K., a NATO summit in Brussels, and a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Geneva. Biden's first stop was a visit with U.S. troops and their families at Royal Air Force Mildenhall, where he delivered remarks saying, "We’re going to make it clear that the United States is back and democracies are standing together to tackle the toughest challenges and issues that matter the most to our future." Biden will meet today with British Prime Minster Boris Johnson, one day before the G-7 summit begins.

500 Million Vaccine Doses Being Donated: Biden will today also unveil plans for the U.S. to donate 500 million Covid-19 vaccine doses around the world over the next year, in addition to the 80 million he has already pledged by the end of the month. He will also reportedly ask the other G-7 leaders to do the same.

➤MEAT SUPPLIER JBS PAID $11 MILLION RANSOM TO CYBERATTACKERS: JBS USA, the world's largest meat processing company, said yesterday evening that it had paid an $11 million ransom those behind the cyberattack that led to the shutdown of its U.S. beef processing operation last week. CEO Andre Nogueira said in a statement, "This was a very difficult decision to make for our company and for me personally. However, we felt this decision had to be made to prevent any potential risk for our customers." JBS said the ransom was paid after most of the company's facilities had come back online. The U.S. believes a criminal gang called REvil, which is based in Russia or Eastern Europe, carried out the cyberattack.

➤KEYSTONE XL PIPELINE SPONSOR ENDS PROJECT: Canadian-based company TC Energy, the sponsor of the Keystone XL oil pipeline, ended the controversial project yesterday after Canadian officials weren't unable to get President Biden to reverse his cancellation of the pipeline's permit on the day he took office. The pipeline has been partially built after construction began last year when then President Donald Trump revived the long-delayed project that had been stalled under the Obama administration. TC Energy said it will work with government agencies, quote, "to ensure a safe termination and exit."


The 1,200-mile pipeline was to bring crude oil from oil sand fields in Canada to Nebraska, where it would connect to other pipelines. Opponents had been concerned about worsening climate change from burning oil sands crude, and some Native American tribes were worried a pipeline break could pollute the Missouri River or other waterways they depend on. In his order canceling the permit, Biden said it, quote, "would not be consistent with my administration’s economic and climate imperatives."

➤IG REPORT..PARK POLICE DIDN'T CLEAR PROTESTERS FROM PARK TO ALLOW TRUMP CHURCH APPEARANCE: A report out yesterday from the Interior Department's inspector general says that U.S. Park Police didn't clear racial justice protesters from Lafayette Park outside the White House last June so that then-President Donald Trump could walk over to St. John's Church, where he posed for photos holding a Bible. The report says that the Park Police cleared the park to allow a contractor to install a fence around the White House. The protesters were forcefully cleared from the park with pepper pellets and flash-bangs in the controversial incident just before Trump's walk to the church, where a small fire had been set and put out the night before amid the ongoing national demonstrations after George Floyd's death. Previous reports had said then-Attorney General Bill Burr had earlier that day ordered that the park be cleared, but Barr later said he hadn't given the final order. Barr wasn't interviewed for yesterday's report, but it says his visit to Lafayette Park didn't change the Park Police's plans. However, the report determined law enforcement agencies on the scene failed to effectively communicate with each other and to effectively warn the protesters to disperse. The IG report pertains only to the Park Police's actions.

➤RUSSIAN COURT OUTLAWS GROUP FOUNDED BY JAILED OPPOSITION LEADER NAVALNY: A Russian court yesterday outlawed organizations founded by jailed Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, calling them extremists. The Moscow City Court's ruling prevents people associated with Navalny’s Foundation for Fighting Corruption from seeking public office. Many of his allies had hoped to run for parliamentary seats in the September election. Navalny is serving a two-and-a-half year prison term for violating the terms of a suspended sentence from a 2014 embezzlement conviction which he has said was politically motivated.

➤TEXAS HOSPITAL SYSTEM SUSPENDS 178 WORKERS WHO REFUSE TO GET COVID VACCINE:  The Houston Methodist hospital system in Texas suspended 178 of its employees this week who are refusing to get vaccinated for Covid-19. The suspension will last for two weeks, after which they'll be fired if they continue to refuse. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has said a vaccine mandate by an employer is legally permissible because of the threat Covid poses to employees. Still, Bloomberg reports that 117 Houston Methodist employees sued last month over what they called the "experimental" vaccine, and cited the World War Two-era Nuremberg Code against, quote, "medical experimentation on unwilling human subjects." Houston Methodist CEO Dr. Marc Boom says the 178 who have refused to get vaccinated represent less than one percent of the hospital system's 25,000 employees, and that their 99 percent-plus vaccinated rate is the first for any hospital system in the country.


➤TWO-THIRDS OF PET OWNERS TAKE BETTER CARE OF THEIR PET THAN THEMSELVES: Americans really, really love their pets, and new survey shows just how much, with two-thirds of pet owners admitting they take better care of their pet than themselves. At the same time, 80 percent of the owners surveyed by OnePoll said that taking care of their pet encourages them to take better care of themselves too. The respondents said the biggest benefit they get from their pet is reducing their stress, depression, and anxiety, named by 72 percent, while 62 percent said their pet helps them exercise more by taking them for walks and playing in their homes. Two-thirds said they are closer to their pet than their immediate family members, and 61 percent said they'd be willing to pass up on date nights or vacations if their pets aren’t with them.

➤FRANCE, SPAIN REOPEN TO VACCINATED AMERICANS: Americans will once again be able to travel to France and Spain, with both countries announcing yesterday that they will allow people from the U.S. to enter if they've been vaccinated against the coronavirus. France is opening its borders as well to travelers from Britain and elsewhere if they are vaccinated.

➤SIGNIFICANT INCREASES IN U.S. DEATHS FROM HEART DISEASE, DIABETES DURING PANDEMIC: There were significant increases in deaths in the U.S. from heart disease, diabetes and some other common conditions during the pandemic last year. Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released this week showed the biggest increases in the death rates for heart disease and diabetes in at least 20 years, as well as increases in deaths from other common causes, including Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, chronic liver disease, stroke and high blood pressure. Experts believe a main reason is that many people with dangerous symptoms didn't go to the hospital for emergency treatment because they were afraid of catching the coronavirus. Experts also point to other possible factors, including many patients stopped taking care of themselves during the pandemic, the stress of the crisis, less exercise because of lockdowns, and losing health insurance because of job loss.

➤WHITE HOUSE DROPS TRUMP EXEC ORDERS TARGETING TIKTOK, WECHAT: The White House has dropped former President Donald Trump's executive orders that were meant to ban TikTok and WeChat, officials said yesterday. The administration will instead carry out its own review to identify national security risks from apps tied to China. There is particular concern over apps that collect users' personal data or have connections to Chinese military or intelligence. Trump's attempted bans had been blocked by courts. He had cited national security concerns due to the apps' Chinese-owned parent companies.

➤SOUTH AFRICAN WOMAN GIVES BIRTH TO 10 BABIES: A South African woman has reportedly given birth to 10 babies in what would be a new world record. Gosiame Thamara Sithole's husband says they were astonished after scans showed only eight babies in the womb, but instead the couple ended up having seven boys and three girls. Multiple births involving more than three babies are rare and often the result of fertility treatments, however the couple say they conceived naturally. Guinness World Records told the BBC it was investigating the case. Sithole is said to be in good health after delivering by caesarean section 29 weeks into her pregnancy.

➤NY TIMES POSTS STORY ABOUT ‘FRUIT ALIENS’ PLANTING FIELDS OF WATERMELONS ON MARS, BEFORE ADMITTING IT WAS A MOCK ARTICLE AND DELETING IT: The New York Times made a big error on Tuesday. The paper posted an article online titled “Fields of Watermelons Found On Mars, Police Say” on Tuesday afternoon. It immediately drew attention from confused readers. A subhead followed reading, “Authorities say rise of fruit aliens is to blame for glut of outer space watermelons.” The article author was listed as “Joe Schmoe,” which doesn’t seem like a real reporter. Futurism reported the article remained up for less than an hour before it was removed. The article has since been replaced on the New York Times website with an admin note reading, “This article was published in error. A mock article intended for a testing system that was inadvertently published on this page earlier.” It’s thought the company was likely testing their content management system and accidentally published the joke article. People on Twitter had a field day cracking jokes about the article, with one user tweeting, “How embarrassing. The Times broke the embargo and published early. Cat’s out of the bag now, NASA.”

➤WANT A BETTER RELATIONSHIP? DON’T POST IT ON SOCIAL MEDIA:  It seems it’s best to keep your relationship off of social media. Shotkit, a virtual community of photographers, polled more than 2,000 British citizens who are currently in a relationship, and found that just 10 percent of those who post images of themselves and their partner on social media described the state of their relationship as “very happy.” Forty-six percent who said they do NOT publish such posts said that their relationship was, in fact, a "very happy" one. Nearly three-quarters of respondents who defined their relationship as either “very happy” or “happy” said that they “never” post couples content. Among those who regularly share such posts, 42 percent said their relationship is “very unhappy.” Licensed marriage and family therapist, Jessica Small, who was not part of the survey, says, “Posts on social media can create unrealistic expectations for partners or lead them to feel that their partner is only interested in sharing how great the relationship is if it’s on public display. When this happens, intimacy becomes lost and it decreases emotional safety.” She adds that another huge drawback of social media is that it “takes people out of the here and now,” and that “couples who feel satisfied in their relationship tend to put down their devices and spend time focused and present with one another.”

➤HOW LOW CAN AMERICA'S BIRTH RATE GO BEFORE IT’S A PROBLEM?:  The U.S. fertility rate hit a record low in 2020 (just as it did in both 2019 and 2018.) Although the pandemic seems to have accelerated the decline, the drop has been underway for years. Right now, the average number of children a woman is expected to have over her lifetime is 1.64—this is both the lowest rate recorded since the government began tracking these statistics in the 1930s, and well-below the so-called “replacement-level fertility” which is about 2.1. The latter number is what social scientists and policymakers say is the rate the country should maintain to keep population numbers stable. When the fertility rate drops below the replacement level, the population grows older and shrinks, which can slow economic growth and strain government budgets. 


Recently some experts have questioned if we really should be so concerned about low fertility.

🏒ISLANDERS ELIMINATE BRUINS WITH 6-2 WIN: The New York Islanders eliminated the Boston Bruins with a 6-2 victory last night to win their second-round NHL playoffs match-up 4 games to 2. Brock Nelson scored twice in the second period for New York, when the Islanders got three of their six goals. New York will play the defending Stanley Cup champion Tampa Bay Lightning in the next round.

NHL PLAYOFFS: Results from second-round games yesterday:
  • New York Islanders 6, Boston Bruins 2 - New York wins series 4 games to 2
🏀NBA PLAYOFFS: Results from second-round games yesterday:
  • Phoenix Suns 123, Denver Nuggets 98 - Phoenix leads series 2 games to 0

🎾DJOKOVIC, NADAL WIN IN FRENCH OPEN QUARTERFINALS, SWIATEK UPSET: Top-seeded Novak Djokovic and Number Three Rafael Nadal both won their quarterfinal matches at the French Open yesterday. Djokovic defeated ninth-seeded Matteo Berrettini in four sets and Nadal downed 10th-seeded Diego Schwarzman, also in four sets. The two will now face each other in the semifinals. On the women's side, eighth-seeded defending champion Iga Swiatek was upset by Number 17 Maria Sakkari in straight sets, and the only American left, Number 24 Coco Gauff, fell to unseeded Barbora Krejcíkova, also in straight sets.

⚾METS' ALONSO CLAIMS MLB MANIPULATES BASEBALLS TO DAMAGE FREE AGENTS' PROSPECTS: New York Mets first baseman Pete Alonso charged yesterday that Major League Baseball manipulates baseballs to damage the earning potential of star free agents. Alonso made the comments before the Mets game against the Baltimore Orioles in response to a question about MLB's crackdown on the use of sticky substances by pitchers. He said, "I think that the biggest concern is that [MLB] manipulates the baseballs year in and year out depending on the free agency class . . . Maybe if the league didn’t change the baseball, pitchers wouldn’t need to use as much sticky stuff." He suggested that when a lot of top pitchers are about to reach free agency, the balls are more hitter-friendly, and when a lot of hitters are set to reach free agency, the balls are deader. MLB didn't comment on Alonso’s accusation.

🏀PACERS FIRE HEAD COACH BJORKGREN: The Indiana Pacers fired head coach Nate Bjorkgren yesterday after just one season. Indiana went 34-38 and ended with a 142-115 loss to the Washington Wizards in the play-in tournament. Kevin Pritchard, the Pacers' president of basketball operations, said, "There are certain [traits] that are non-negotiables for me going forward. I hope I've learned from this in terms of selecting the right coach. Nate gets let go, but it’s my fault."

🏀LEBRON REPORTEDLY CHANGING JERSEY NUMBER TO NO. 6: L.A. Lakers star LeBron James will be changing his jersey number from Number 23 to Number 6 next season, ESPN reported Wednesday. James first wore Number 6 for Team USA in international competition, and later wore it during his four seasons with the Miami Heat because the team had retired Number 23 in honor of Michael Jordan. James originally planned to go back to Number 6 in 2019 when the Lakers acquired Anthony Davis, because Davis had worn Number 23 during his entire career with New Orleans, but sponsor Nike wouldn't allow it, ESPN reported, because of potentially millions of dollars of wasted inventory. James' choice of Number 23 was influenced by Jordan, while his Number 6 was inspired by NBA greats Bill Russell and Julius "Dr. J" Erving, who wore it.

⚾BASEBALL HALL OF FAME INDUCTION MOVING TO SEPTEMBER: Baseball's Hall of Fame announced yesterday that this year's induction ceremony for Derek Jeter, Larry Walker, Ted Simmons and the late Marvin Miller is being moved from July 25th to September 8th so a crowd can be there in Cooperstown as coronavirus restrictions ease. The ceremony will take place outdoors on the Hall’s lawn with a limit on crowd size. The inductions was originally supposed to take place in July 2020, but they were canceled due to the pandemic. No candidates were elected in 2021.
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