Thursday, June 3, 2021

Wake-Up Call: Biden Calls For 'Month of Action' For Vaccinations


President Biden announced a, quote, "month of action" yesterday from the White House in an effort to reach his goal of 70 percent of U.S. adults having gotten at least one dose of a Covid-19 vaccine by the Fourth of July. As of now, just under 63 percent of the adult population has gotten at least one shot. As part of that, there will be new incentives to get vaccinated and new steps to reduce barriers to for those who haven't been vaccinated yet and to make getting the shots more appealing.

The incentives include: Anheuser-Busch saying they'll "buy Americans 21+ a round of beer" once Biden's 70 percent goal is met; DoorDash giving gift cards to community health centers to be used to prod people to get vaccinated; CVS launching a sweepstakes with prizes including free cruises and Super Bowl tickets; Major League Baseball hosting on-site vaccine clinics and ticket giveaways at games; and Kroger giving $1 million to a vaccinated person each week this month and dozens of people free groceries for a year.

Steps to make vaccines more accessible include: partnering with early childhood centers and YMCAs to provide free childcare for people looking for shots or needing help while recovering from side effects; a partnership to bring vaccine education and doses to Black-owned barbershops and beauty salons; pharmacies extending their hours this month; and helping employers run on-site vaccination clinics.

➤BIDEN 'LOOKING CLOSELY' AT POSSIBLE RETALIATION OVER RUSSIA-LINKED CYBERATTACK ON MAJOR MEAT PRODUCER: President Biden said Wednesday that he's examining the possibility of retaliating for a Russian-linked cyberattack Sunday on JBS, the world's largest meat processing company. Asked if the U.S. could retaliate against Russia, Biden said, "We’re looking closely at that issue." The administration said Tuesday they believe the attack came from a criminal organization, likely based in Russia. The JBS cyberattack came less than four weeks after a similar one against Colonial Pipeline by hackers cybercriminals believed to be operating in Russia, which led to the pipeline being shutdown for five days and disrupting fuel supplies.


➤CALIFORNIA FIREFIGHTER SHOOTING RELATED TO JOB DISPUTE: The shooting at a Los Angeles County fire station Tuesday in which an off-duty firefighter fatally shot a 44-year-old colleague and critically wounded a 54-year-old fire captain before apparently killing himself appears to be related to a long term job-related dispute, authorities said Wednesday. L.A. County sheriff's Lieutenant Brandon Dean said that other employees at the rural fire station about 45 north of Los Angeles indicated the shooter and the fellow firefighter had, quote, "some workplace beef." The gunman was identified as 45-year-old fire specialist Jonathan Tatone.

➤MEETING ON INFRASTRUCTURE BETWEEN BIDEN, REPUBLICAN SENATOR: President Biden and Senator Shelley Moore Capito, the top Senate Republican negotiating on potential infrastructure legislation, met yesterday for nearly an hour. The two agreed to meet again Friday, but there weren't any outward indications of progress ahead of a June 7th administration deadline to see clear direction and signs of progress. Talks with Republicans over Biden's massive infrastructure proposal have been moving slowly. The White House has come down from Biden's initial $2.3 trillion proposal to $1.7 billion, while the Republicans have moved up to a $928 billion proposal after their initial $568 counter-offer. A key sticking point is Biden wanting to raise corporate taxes to pay for it, while Republicans instead want to use unspent coronavirus relief money.

➤DEAL REACHED ON GOVERNING COALITION IN ISRAEL, CLEARING WAY TO REMOVE NETANYAHU: A deal was announced yesterday to form a new governing coalition in Israel, clearing the way for the removal of Benjamin Netanyahu as prime minister after 12 years in power. The agreement was announced by opposition leader Yair Lapid and his main coalition partner, Naftali Bennett, shortly before a midnight deadline. The deal still has to be approved by Israel's parliament, a vote that's expected early next week, and Netanyahu is expected to do everything possible before then to derail the new coalition from taking power. Under the agreement, Lapid and Bennett will split the job of prime minister in rotation, with Bennett to serve the first two years and Lapid the final two years.

➤AIRLINES LIMITING ALCOHOL:  Many airlines suspended alcoholic beverage service during the pandemic last year, reducing instances of passengers having to remove their face masks and keeping flight attendants from having to interact with passengers more than necessary. But some haven't brought alcohol service back yet, or are returning it in a reduced form, not because of the pandemic, which has been ebbing in the U.S., but because of the surge in passengers behaving badly. Southwest and American announced last week that they would extend their alcohol service suspensions, and United has now said it will offer beer, wine and hard seltzer only, and only on domestic flights longer than 800 miles. Sara Nelson, president of Association of Flight Attendants union, said, "We've never before seen aggression and violence on our planes like we have in the past five months. Already, reports of these incidents in less than five months are more than 20 times the amount in a typical year." The administration said last week that the Federal Aviation Administration has gotten about 2,500 reports of unruly behavior since the beginning of the year, including about 1,900 reports of passengers refusing to wear face masks.

💗AMERICAN HEART ASSOCIATION..PRESCRIBED EXERCISE SHOULD BE FIRST TREATMENT FOR HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE, CHOLESTEROL: It might be time to get moving. The American Heart Association (AHA) released a scientific statement yesterday saying physical activity is the optimal first treatment choice for adults with mild to moderately elevated blood pressure and blood cholesterol who are otherwise healthy. Lead study author Dr. Bethany Baron Gibbs says, “Increasing physical activity can help lower blood pressure and cholesterol, along with many other health benefits.” Additionally, AHA researchers say some percent of people with mildly high cholesterol would also be best served with a prescription for lifestyle changes. Among those changes: increased physical activity, weight loss, improved diet, not smoking and moderating alcohol intake. They add that there’s no minimum amount of activity required for health improvement from physical activity. Gibbs adds, “Every little bit of activity is better than none. Even small initial increases of 5 to 10 minutes a day can yield health benefits.”

➤APPLE’S iPHONE 13 MAY COME WITH A SIGNIFICANTLY BIGGER BATTERY: Apple’s iPhone 13 may finally get an improvement in terms of battery life. Popular Apple leaker L0vetodream posted the battery capacity for the iPhone 13 models on Twitter, and Mashable reports they look better than they are in the iPhone 12 models. The iPhone 13 mini will reportedly have a 2,406mAh battery, while the iPhone 13 and iPhone 13 Pro will reportedly have a 3,095mAh battery-- for comparison, the iPhone 12 Pro has a smaller, 2,815mAh battery. The new figures, if accurate, are a significant increase, but they don’t necessarily translate into more battery life, especially if the iPhone 13 gets a higher-refresh and always-on display, as rumored.


➤STUDY..MEN’S BRAINS HAVE SIMILAR GENES AND PROTEINS TO THOSE COMMONLY FOUND IN TESTICLES:  Some people makes jokes about this all the time, but a new study confirms that men’s brains and testicles may have very similar cells. University of Aveiro researchers compared proteins from 33 tissue types and found that testes and brains have more than 13,000 proteins in common, many of which are involved in tissue development and cell communication. They also found similarities between human neurons and sperm, finding they both go through the same process to do different things. Researchers write, “This is an underexplored topic, and the connection between these tissues needs to be clarified, which could help to understand the dysfunction affecting brain and testis [singular], as well as to develop improved therapeutic strategies.”

➤ALLY BANK BECOMES FIRST LARGE BANK TO END OVERDRAFT FEES: Ally Bank announced yesterday that it's eliminating all overdraft fees, making it the first large U.S. bank to get rid of the fees across its entire business. Detroit-based Ally specifically mentioned in its announcement the impact of overdraft fees on Black and Latino households, which have historically been poorer than white households and that are charged overdraft fees more often. Ally customers who have an overdraft will have the transactions approved at the bank's discretion, with smaller ones likely to be approved, and they'll have six days to deposit enough money to bring their account out of overdraft.

➤FIRST LADY TO CELEBRATE 70TH BIRTHDAY AT DELAWARE BEACH HOUSE: First Lady Jill Biden is celebrating her 70th birthday today with President Biden at their beach house in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. Her spokesperson said the couple plan to spend a quiet birthday at home at the beach house, which they bought for $2.7 million in 2017 after the Bidens signed at post-vice presidency $8 million multibook deal. The Bidens are expected to be back at the White House on Friday.

➤NASA ANNOUNCES TWO MISSIONS TO VENUS: NASA's new administrator, Bill Nelson, announced yesterday that the space agency is planning two new robotic "sister missions" to Venus. One of them, called DaVinci Plus, will explore the planet's thick, cloudy atmosphere to try to determine whether Venus ever had an ocean and was possibly habitable. The other, called Veritas, will map the planet's rocky surface to look at the geologic history. The missions will launch sometime around 2028 to 2030. Nelson announced them during his first major address to employees yesterday.

➤NATHAN’S FAMOUS IS BRINGING BACK A CLASSIC FAST-FOOT RESTAURANT CHAIN: Nathan’s Famous is helping to relaunch another fast food chain: Arthur Treacher’s Fish and Chips. At its peak, the chain had more than 800 locations in the U.S. The relaunch will see old favorites return to the menu, as well as some new additions. Nathan’s Famous says it plans to offer the seafood-based eatery’s menu at ghost kitchen locations, which are kitchens that don’t provide a dine-in experience, only online ordering. Customers will be able to order items from both Arthur Treacher’s and Nathan’s Famous from these locations. The hope is that in time, Nathan’s Famous will be able to reopen some permanent Arthur Treacher’s locations.

🏀HAWKS, 76ERS, JAZZ MOVE ON TO ROUND TWO OF NBA PLAYOFFS: The Atlanta Hawks, Philadelphia 76ers and Utah Jazz are all moving on to the second round of the NBA playoffs after winning their first-round match-ups Wednesday (June 2nd). The Hawks defeated the New York Knicks 103-89, led by Trae Young's 36 points, to win 4 games to 1. The 76ers downed the Washington Wizards 129-112, winning 4 games to 1. Seth Curry had a playoff career-high 30 points for Philadelphia, and Ben Simmons had a triple-double, with 19 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds. They stepped up in the absence of center Joel Embiid, who was out with an injured knee. The Utah Jazz beat the Memphis Grizzlies 126-110, winning their series 4 games to 1. Donovan Mitchell scored 30 points for Utah.

🏀NBA PLAYOFFS: Results from first-round games yesterday:
  • Philadelphia 76ers 129, Washington Wizards 112 - Philadelphia wins series 4 games to 1
  • Atlanta Hawks 103, New York Knicks 89 - Atlanta wins series 4 games to 1
  • Utah Jazz 126, Memphis Grizzlies 110 - Utah wins series 4 games to 1
  • Dallas Mavericks 105, L.A. Clippers 100 - Dallas leads series 3 games to 2
🏒NHL PLAYOFFS: Results from second-round games yesterday:
  • Montreal Canadiens 5, Winnipeg Jets 3 - Montreal leads series 1 game to 0
  • Colorado Avalanche 3, Vegas Golden Knights 2 (OT) - Colorado leads 2 games to 0
🎾SERENA WILLIAMS, MEDVEDEV WIN ON DAY FOUR AT FRENCH OPEN: Serena Williams was among the winners on Day Four at the French Open yesterday, getting the victory in her second-round match. Williams, who's seeded seventh, defeated 174th-ranked Mihaela Buzarnescu 6-3, 5-7, 6-1. On the men's side, second-seeded Daniil Medvedev defeated American Tommy Paul 3-6, 6-1, 6-4, 6-3 in their second-round match. Other winners yesterday included Americans Madison Keys and John Isner.
 

🏀DUKE BASKETBALL COACH KRZYZEWSKI WILL REMAIN ONE MORE SEASON: Hall of Fame Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski, the winningest coach in Division I men's basketball history, announced yesterday that next season will be his last. The 74-year-old has led Duke to five national championships in his 41 years with the school, most recently in 2015. He has 1,170 career wins, 1,097 of them at Duke.

🐴BAFFERT SUSPENDED TWO YEARS AFTER SECOND MEDINA SPIRIT DRUG TEST POSITIVE: Churchill Downs suspended Hall of Fame racehorse trainer Bob Baffert for two years yesterday after a second post-race drug test for Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit also came back positive for the steroid betamethasone. The Kentucky Horse Racing Commission could now disqualify Medina Spirit, which would elevate runner-up Mandaloun as the Derby winner.

🏒SABRES WIN NHL DRAFT LOTTERY: The Buffalo Sabres won the 2021 NHL draft lottery yesterday (June 2nd), with the expansion Seattle Kraken getting the second overall pick. The Anaheim Ducks will pick third overall. The Sabres, who finished with an NHL-worst 15-34-7 record, had the best odds. The draft will be held virtually on July 23rd and 24th.
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