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Tuesday, June 1, 2021

Wake-Up Call: Biden Says Democracy 'In Peril'

President Biden urged national unity and warned that democracy is "in peril," during Memorial Day remarks yesterday at Arlington National Cemetery after he laid a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in a somber ceremony. Biden centered his speech on the importance of democracy, saying, "Generation after generation of American heroes are signed up to be part of the fight because they understand the truth that lives in every American heart: that liberation, opportunity, justice are far more likely to come to pass in a democracy than in an autocracy." But he warned, "Democracy itself is in peril, here at home and around the world. What we do now, how we honor the memory of the fallen, will determine whether or not democracy will long endure."
 
➤SUSPECTS STILL AT LARGE AFTER MIAMI BANQUET HALL SHOOTING THAT KILLED TWO: Three suspects are still at large after a shooting outside a Miami banquet hall shortly after midnight Sunday morning that left two 26-year-old men dead and wounded 21 other people, some of them critically. Police are asking for the public's help, releasing surveillance video Monday that showed an SUV driving into an alley at the strip mall where the El Mula Banquet Hall was located and three people getting out of it, two of them carrying "assault-style rifles" and the other a handgun. Although they opened fire indiscriminately into the crowd, police said they had specific targets, and that it appeared to be related to rivalries between two groups. 


The three men then drove away in the SUV, which was found Monday submerged in a canal after being reported stolen two weeks ago.

➤FLYNN DENIES SAYING SHOULD BE MILITARY-STYLE COUP IN U.S.: Retired Army General Michael Flynn, who was briefly former President Donald Trump's first national security adviser, denied Monday that he'd said at a QAnon-themed convention a day earlier that there should be a military-style coup in the U.S. During the For God & Country Patriot Roundup conference in Dallas, an audience member asked Flynn, "I want to know why what happened in Myanmar can't happen here," referring to a February military coup in that country. Flynn responded, "No reason, I mean, it should happen here. No reason. That's right." 

The Daily Mail 6/1/21
Video of the exchange quickly spread on social media. But Flynn said in a post yesterday on the social media app Telegram, "Let me be VERY CLEAR - There is NO reason whatsoever for any coup in America, and I do not and have not at any time called for any action of that sort. Any reporting of any other belief by me is a boldface fabrication based on twisted reporting . . . " Flynn also repeated false claims during the convention this weekend about the 2020 election, incorrectly saying, "Trump won. He won the popular vote, and he won the Electoral College vote." Flynn pled guilty in 2017 to lying to the FBI about his communications with a Russian ambassador. He later retracted the plea and was pardoned by Trump last November.

➤WORLD'S LARGEST MEAT SUPPLIER HIT BY CYBERATTACK: JBS USA, the world's largest meat supplier, which has its U.S. headquarters in Colorado, says it was hit by a cyberattack that affected some of its servers supporting its North American and Australian IT systems. JBS, which has 84 U.S. properties and owns facilities in 20 countries, said it was, quote, "not aware of any evidence at this time that any customer, supplier or employee data has been compromised or misused as a result of the situation." It's not immediately known how consumers might be affected, but JBS said, "Resolution of the incident will take time, which may delay certain transactions with customers and suppliers."


➤CRUISE LINES AT ODD WITH FLORIDA GOVERNOR: Cruise lines, Among the industries hit hardest by the pandemic as they had to shut down operations entirely, are readying to return to the seas, but have now found themselves at odds with Florida Republican Governor Ron DeSantis. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention last week gave cruise lines approval to began working toward restarting cruises. To comply with CDC guidelines and to keep passengers and crew members safe, several cruise lines want to require that nearly everyone on board be vaccinated against Covid-19. But DeSantis recently signed legislation banning businesses from asking customers if they've been vaccinated. Florida is the biggest hub by far for U.S. cruise ships to sail out of. A court may eventually have to decide, with the cruise industry saying Florida law doesn't apply to it because of the federal rules. Travel industry analyst Patrick Scholes of Truist Securities told NBC News that in the meantime, cruise lines may just go forward with plans to require vaccinations, even if they means violating the state law, saying, "It might even be cheaper for them to just eat the fines. They are burning millions of dollars a day having their ships idle."

➤TWITTER’S APP STORE LISTING CONFIRMS $2.99 PRICE FOR ‘TWITTER BLUE’ PAID SERVICE: Twitter was really serious about launching a paid service. The company’s listing in the App Store now says the Twitter app offers in-app purchases, and the only one listed is for something called “Twitter Blue,” and costs $2.99. Researcher Jane Manchun Wong recently dug out references to Twitter Blue, as well as the $2.99 per month price, in the Twitter app. One of the presumed features is Collections, which lets you “save and organize your favorite Tweets into Collections so that they’re easier to find later.” Other potential features are bookmark collections, color customization options and an “undo tweet” option. Wong also claims Twitter is working on a tiered subscription pricing model, for which you’d get more premium features in higher-priced tiers. It’s assumed Twitter Blue must be coming fairly soon since it’s now listed in the App Store.

➤CHINA TO NOW ALLOW COUPLES TO HAVE THREE CHILDREN: China said Monday that it will now allow couples to have three children, after having previously eased the restriction in 2015 to allow two children. Before that, China had a strict one-child policy since the 1980s to control population growth. But the country is now faced with a rapidly-aging population and is concerned about the number of working people falling too fast while the number of those over age 65 is growing. However, even after couples were allowed to have two children starting six years ago, the total number of births still fell. Couples have cited the high costs of child-rearing, job disruption and the need to care for elderly parents.

➤JOHNSON & JOHNSON ASKS SUPREME COURT TO REVIEW $2 BILLION TALCUM POWER VERDICT: Johnson & Johnson is asking the Supreme Court to review a $2 billion verdict against it for women who say they developed ovarian cancer from using their talcum powder products. Johnson & Johnson is challenging the verdict in a state court trial in Missouri that led to an initial $4.7 billion verdict for 22 women, which an appeals court later cut down by more than half to $2 billion. The high court could say as early as today whether it will get involved in the case. Johnson & Johnson denies that its talc products contain asbestos and cause cancer.

➤WHO TO USE GREEK ALPHABET TO NAME CORONAVIRUS VARIANTS: The World Health Organization said Monday that it's come up with a new system for naming coronavirus variants that will use the Greek alphabet. Scientists will still refer to variants using numbers and letters, such as B.1.1.7 for the variant that first emerged in the U.K., but the WHO will name them using Greek alphabet letters, such as Alpha for that variant. The WHO said it wanted to make it easier for the general public to refer to the variants, while also not wanting to have countries be maligned. The New York Times noted that just because a variant is first identified somewhere, doesn't mean it emerged there.

➤WHAT YOUR BIRTH ORDER MEANS FOR YOUR HEALTH AND HAPPINESS:  A recent study found that younger siblings are at higher risk for heart events than their older counterparts, but people have been doing studies on what birth order affects for years. A 2017 study found that first-born children are 30 percent more likely to be CEOs or politicians; and a 2014 study found that first-born women end up more ambitious than first-born men. The 2017 study also found that first-borns stay in school longer, make more money, have higher IQ, and spend more time on homework than watching television. There’s also evidence that first-borns are more likely to marry earlier than their siblings, and the odds of a happy marriage are highest when a first-born woman marries a last-born son. A different study found that later-born children are more likely to have poorer physical and mental health, and were more likely to smoke, compared to their elder siblings. But it’s not all rosy for first-borns. One study found eldest children are four percent more likely to be overweight and two percent more likely to be obese compared to their younger siblings.


🏀FAN RUNS ONTO NBA COURT:  In the latest incident of NBA fans behaving badly as more spectators have been allowed as the pandemic has waned in the U.S., a fan ran onto the court last night during Game 4 of the first-round playoff matchup between the Washington Wizards and the Philadelphia 76ers. During game play in the third quarter at Capitol One Arena in Washington, D.C., the fan ran onto the court and jumped up as if pretending to dunk, before being tackled by security. In Game 2 of the series, the Wizards' Russell Westbrook had popcorn dumped on him in Philadelphia as he walked to the locker room. In other recent incidents: Brooklyn's Kyrie Irving was nearly hit by a bottle thrown from the stands in Boston during the Nets-Celtics series this weekend; a fan spit at Atlanta's Trae Young in New York during the Knicks-Hawks series last week; and three fans were banned in Utah last week after the Grizzles' Ja Morant said they, quote, "just went too family" with him or his family. Washington's Robin Lopez said last night, "You can tell those people have been in some sort of captivity for the last year, year and change, right? It’s kind of wild to see the liberties people are taking." Washington's Rui Hachimura said, "I think they’re just excited to come back. But they’ve got to be more respectful of us as players. They think they can do whatever they want." Wizards coach Scott Brooks called it "unacceptable," saying, "I’m tired of it. We all deserve better."


🎾OSAKA WITHDRAWS FROM FRENCH OPEN, CITING ANXIETY, DEPRESSION: Naomi Osaka, the world's Number Two-ranked women's tennis player and four-time Grand Slam champion, withdrew from the French Open yesterday and said she will be taking a break from competition. 

The stunning development happened one day after the 23-year-old who plays for Japan was fined $15,000 for not showing up for the post-match news conference after she won her first-round match, and was threatened by all four Grand Slam events with possible disqualification if she continued to not do required press events. Osaka had said last week that she wouldn't be doing any of the required news media events at the French Open, citing protection of her mental health. She said yesterday that she has, quote, "suffered long bouts of depression," since the 2018 U.S. Open she won by beating Serena Williams in a controversy-filled final, and that she has, quote, "huge waves of anxiety" before speaking to the media. She said, "I think now the best thing for the tournament, the other players and my well-being is that I withdraw . . . I never wanted to be a distraction and I accept that my timing was not ideal and my message could have been clearer."

🎾FEDERER, WILLIAMS AMONG FRENCH OPEN DAY TWO WINNERS: Roger Federer won his first-round match at the French Open yesterday (May 31st), the eighth-ranked player beating qualifier Denis Istomin as he appeared in his first major tournament in 16 months after two operations on his knee last year. Seventh-seeded Serena Williams also won her first-round match, as did second-seeded men's player Daniil Medvedev and reigning women's champion Iga Swiatek.

🏒CANADIENS DOWN MAPLE LEAFS 3-1 TO ADVANCE TO SECOND ROUND: The Montreal Canadiens defeated the Toronto Maples Leafs 3-1 in Game 7 of their first-round NHL playoffs match-up last night (May 31st) to advance. Their 4 games to 3 win in the series came after they'd been down 3 games to 1. They will play the Winnipeg Jets in the second round of the playoffs.

🏒NHL PLAYOFFS: Results from playoff games yesterday:
  • First-Round:  Montreal Canadiens 3, Toronto Maple Leafs 1 - Montreal wins series 4 games to 3
  • Second-Round: New York Islanders 4, Boston Bruins 3 (OT) - Series tied at 1-1

🏀NBA PLAYOFFS: Results from first-round games yesterday:
  • Washington Wizards 122, Philadelphia 76ers 114 - Philadelphia leads series 3 games to 1
  • Utah Jazz 120, Memphis Grizzlies 113 - Utah leads series 3 games to 1
🏀EMBIID LEAVES WIZARDS-76ERS GAME WITH SORE KNEE: Philadelphia 76ers star Joel Embiid left last night's game against the Washington Wizards late in the first quarter with a sore right knee. The 76ers went on to lose Game 4 of the first-round match-up 122-114, missing their chance to sweep as it now stands at 3 games to 1. Philadelphia coach Doc Rivers said "precautionary" tests on Embiid's knee will be done today. Game 5 is on Wednesday.

🏒VEGAS' REAVES SUSPENDED TWO GAMES FOR ACTION AGAINST COLORADO'S GRAVES: The NHL suspended the Vegas Golden Knights' Ryan Reaves for two games Monday for roughing and unsportsmanlike conduct against the Colorado Avalanche's Ryan Graves during Sunday's Game 1 of their second-round playoffs series. Vegas lost 7-1. Reaves was given a match penalty for trying to injure an opponent during a third-period skirmish, having pulled out a, quote, "chunk of Graves' hair." The league also said Reaves' actions were in retaliation for an earlier hit by Graves on Mattias Janmark.



⚾BRAVES' OZUNA RELEASED FROM JAIL ON $20K BOND: The Atlanta Braves' Marcell Ozuna was released from jail on $20,000 bond Monday after being charged with aggravated assault by strangulation and battery against his wife, Genesis. Ozuna had been jailed since Saturday after police in Sandy Springs, Georgia, said that while responding to a 911 call, they saw him grab Genesis by the neck and throw her against a wall, and hit her with a cast on his injured left arm. Attorneys said in court that the couple were in the process of divorcing. Genesis Ozuna was arrested on a domestic violence charge last year. MLB will review the incident and Ozuna could be subject to a long suspension.
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