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After Biden Eases Rules, Migrants Stream Across Southern Border

By
Sholom Schreirber
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0
AP

By Brian Freeman(NEWSMAX)

Asylum seekers from a migrant camp of at least 700 in Matamoros, Mexico, just across the river from Brownsville, Texas, have been filing into the United States after President Joe Biden overturned his predecessor Donald Trump’s tough immigration policies, the Daily Mail has reported.

A week ago, the Biden administration started allowing those in the Migrant Protection Protocols program to enter the U.S. to pursue their court cases, reversing Trump’s “Remain in Mexico” program he started two years ago that has sent more than 69,000 people back over the border while waiting for their cases to be processed.

Migrants are now hopeful that by crossing into the U.S., their cases will be dealt with more quickly, and it will be difficult to deport them under asylum rules.

Biden is attempting to balance pressure from immigration advocates to completely get rid of Trump’s hardline policies at the same time there is concern about migrants arriving at the border in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.

“There are no good choices here,” Biden said over the weekend. “The only other options are to send kids back, which is what the prior administration did.”

But as the arriving migrants empty out one tent city, the increased hope that it is possible to enter the U.S. has led migrants to set up another such encampment near the border.

Minneapolis to Use Social Media Influencers During George Floyd Murder Trial

By
Sholom Schreirber
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0

By Brian Freeman (NEWSMAX)

Minneapolis will hire six social media influencers for $2000 each to help spread city-approved messaging during the upcoming murder trial of Derek Chauvin, the ex-policeman charged in the death of George Floyd, Fox News reported on Sunday.

The strategy is part of a $1 million communications and de-escalation plan that the Minneapolis City Council approved unanimously on Friday that also includes partnering with community leaders during Chauvin’s trial, which is scheduled to begin in March, as well as the August trial of three other former officers charged in Floyd’s death.

“The goal is to increase access to information to communities that do not typically follow mainstream news sources or city communications channels and/or who do not consume information in English,” the council said in a statement, WCCO-TV reported. “It’s also an opportunity to create more two-way communication between the city and communities.”

Chauvin is charged with murder in Floyd’s May 25 death in police custody last May. Jury selection is scheduled to begin March 8, with opening arguments due to get started no earlier than March 29, the New York Post reported.

There other former policemen are scheduled to stand trial separately on charges of aiding and abetting murder.

The death of Floyd sparked global Black Lives Matter demonstrations, including violent clashes with police and looting.

Some activists criticized the plan to hire social media influencers, with Toussaint Morrison saying he is concerned about bias behind information that will come from a city-funded influencer, WCCO-TV reported.

“The key word here is ‘city-approved’,” said Morrison. “What do you think the message is going to be? It’s going to be pro-city, it’s going to be anti-protest.”

The “Florida COVID-19 Whistleblower” Saga Is a Big Lie.

By
Sholom Schreirber
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0

At first glance, the story of Rebekah Jones—a brave “COVID-19 scientist” standing up to a corrupt right-wing machine—looks like a bombshell. When the Florida Department of Health (DoH) fired her last May, Jones claimed she had been terminated for refusing to falsify case numbers to support Governor Ron DeSantis’ plans to reopen the economy. Overnight, she became a heroine. She launched her own COVID-19 dashboard, raised half a million dollars, and gathered a Twitter army of 378,000.

To liberal intelligentsia, the idea that DeSantis could handle COVID-19 better than mask-mandating lockdown enthusiasts like Andrew Cuomo or Gavin Newsom was unthinkable.

Jones shot to stardom because she lent a fresh face to a “Narrative.” According to The Narrative, Florida wasn’t supposed to be winning the fight against the pandemic. It’s full of high-risk seniors, teeming with tourists, and run by a Republican who is an unapologetic ally of former President Donald Trump. To liberal intelligentsia, the idea that DeSantis could handle COVID-19 better than mask-mandating lockdown enthusiasts like Andrew Cuomo or Gavin Newsom was unthinkable.

But by May, the facts had begun contradicting The Narrative. While blue states like New York and California were devastated by COVID-19 despite draconian lockdowns, Florida did relatively well. Per capita, New York has nearly double Florida’s COVID-19 fatalities—and unlike New York, Florida has been open for months.

For journalists struggling to explain this deviation from The Narrative, Jones’ tale was irresistible. She confirmed their unspoken suspicions: Florida’s relative success in fighting COVID-19 was an illusion crafted by a mendacious Trumpian governor and his flunkies, who fudged statistics to justify their homicidal reopening drive. DeSantis’ categorical rejection of Jones’ allegations only gave them momentum.

Eight months later, however, Jones is making headlines again, this time facing a felony charge for breaching a government computer system. In interviews with MSNBC’s Joy Reid and Ali Velshi, CNN’s Erin Burnett, and other opinion-makers, Jones casts herself as the target of a vast right-wing conspiracy orchestrated by the governor, his loyalist judges, and his “Gestapo,” the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. The media continues lauding her. Fortune named her to its 40 Under 40. Forbes awarded her “Technology Person of the Year” for “step[ping] up to fill the vacuum left by governments during COVID-19.” She’s started another lucrative GoFundMe to “defend science.”

Jones’ story sounds impressive. There’s just one problem: It’s not true.

Doctors.

Doctors.

WHO IS REBEKAH JONES, AND WHY WAS SHE FIRED? 

NPR describes Jones as a “top scientist” leading Florida’s pandemic response. In fact, Jones has held three jobs in her field; all three have ended in her being terminated and criminally charged. She has a Master’s in geography from Louisiana State University, where she worked until she was fired. She was arrested in 2016 while, reportedly, trespassing on campus and attempting to steal computer equipment from her former workplace. She then lectured at Florida State University (FSU) and began researching tropical storms for a dissertation, but never earned a Ph.D. as she was suspended and fired in 2018 after her former student accused her of sexual cyberharassment. Before her termination from the DoH, she was a geographic information systems manager, overseeing the COVID-19 web portal.

Dr. Roberson deserves the recognition the media has lavished on her ex-employee. But according to The Narrative, serving in a conservative administration disqualifies her.

It’s therefore misleading to imply Jones has specialized knowledge of infectious disease. Florida’s top Democratic official calls her “Dr. Rebekah Jones,” but Jones is no doctor. Nor is she an epidemiologist, virologist, statistician, or public health professional; the DoH has a highly qualified team of those. A technical manager, Jones didn’t have the authority or expertise to decide unilaterally how to visualize data. But when experts disagreed with her, she assumed they were wrong—or deliberately deceiving the public.

After she was fired from the DoH for a pattern of insubordination, Jones claimed that Deputy Secretary for Health Shamarial Roberson had asked her to “manipulate data to mislead the public” about the safety of reopening rural counties. According to Dr. Roberson, this is “patently false.” Emails show a state epidemiologist told Jones to temporarily disable data export from the dashboard to verify dates against other official sources. The data was aggregated from local public health authorities in 67 counties; it couldn’t be falsified or hidden. In other words, Jones is no “whistleblower.” She’s a conspiracy theorist.

In amplifying Jones’ story, the media has all but ignored Dr. Roberson, who has impressive experience in epidemiology and a doctorate in public health. As a Black woman from a disadvantaged background, she has risen to the forefront of Florida’s pandemic response. Dr. Roberson deserves the recognition the media has lavished on her ex-employee. But according to The Narrative, serving in a conservative administration disqualifies her.

Unless you think a data manager is more qualified than an epidemiologist to handle a pandemic, Jones’ critique of Dr. Roberson is unconvincing. Those who believe it presume that the epidemiologist would risk her career, and Floridians’ lives, for DeSantis’ ostensibly murderous agenda. Emboldened by credulous media, Jones is now accusing Dr. Roberson of trying to conceal fatalities. “The woman who told me to delete cases and deaths is now blaming DOCTORS for the death backlog,” Jones wrote in a recent social media post accompanying an article about Dr. Roberson. “She’s the most corrupt, lying, incompetent and ignorant person that could be ever be put in charge.”

Since her termination from the DoH, Jones has doubled down on her criticism of prominent epidemiologists—and in doing so, she has revealed serious gaps in her own knowledge of COVID-19. In July, Jones asserted that false negative antibody tests are “worrisome” because “you’re not aware that you have and can spread the virus.” Dr. Natalie Dean, an infectious disease expert, explained that false negative antibody tests carry no public health risk, but false negative antigen tests do. (Antibody tests show past infection, while antigen tests detect active infections that can be spread). Instead of admitting her mistake, Jones blocked Dr. Dean and contacted the epidemiologist’s employer to complain. Yet even after this incident, the Washington Post referred to Jones as a “COVID-19 data scientist.”

What distinguishes “whistleblowers” from “disgruntled ex-employees” is credibility, and here Jones has a problem.

Fortunately, a handful of local outlets like Tallahassee’s The Capitolist, Alachua Chronicle, and University of Florida’s Fresh Take have investigated Jones’ claims instead of boosting agitprop. For example, Jones said “at least 1,200 cases” were “deleted” in July under pressure from DoH leadership. According to Fresh Take, Jones later admitted that those cases were out-of-state visitors, recorded separately on Florida’s dashboard. Like other COVID-19 hoaxes, Jones’ conspiracy fantasy poses a real threat to public safety by sowing distrust in public health authorities.

What distinguishes “whistleblowers” from “disgruntled ex-employees” is credibility, and here Jones has a problem. Tabloids have reported on her past encounters with the law, which include arrests for trespassing, theft, and resisting arrest. She has also faced sexual harassment and stalking charges, stemming from an extramarital affair with her former student. Jones’ mainstream media defenders, of course, consider her troubled past irrelevant to the COVID-19 conspiracy. But in the #MeToo era, it’s unusual to ignore sexual misconduct allegations against public figures.

Case files allege Jones stalked and robbed her former student, sent explicit photos to his family and employer, and trespassed on his property. Some charges were dropped; the stalking case remains open. In a 342-page manifesto, Jones describes how her victim’s misdeeds—chiefly, ending a relationship with his married lecturer—enraged her enough to harass his mother, violate a no-contact order, vandalize his car, and threaten to fail his roommate in revenge. Jones, in her mind, was the real victim.

Jones’ skewed perception of reality goes beyond her manifesto. Not only does she continue to portray herself as an innocent victim, but she also insists that entire state agencies are now coordinating with Florida’s governor to oppress her.

COVID-19.

COVID-19.

JONES SAYS SHE’S A VICTIM OF POLITICAL PERSECUTION, BUT THE EVIDENCE SAYS OTHERWISE

In December of last year, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) executed a search warrant for her latest felony charge. In Jones’ version of events, “Gestapo” raided her home, stole her electronics, and menaced her children with firearms. The governor himself had commandeered the raid to silence a dissident scientist. “DeSantis thought pointing a gun in my face was a good way to get me to shut up,” she Tweeted.

But Rebekah Jones is hardly Andrei Sakharov. The message that prompted the investigation, sent via Florida’s emergency notification service, read in part: “It’s time to speak up before another 17,000 people are dead.” This is neither whistleblowing nor a harmless prank. It’s hijacking an official public health communications platform to spread disinformation and fear. Furthermore, the warrant alleges Jones downloaded confidential information about 19,182 employees, including their emergency contacts, personal phone numbers and addresses. Jones denies sending the message and stealing the data, but the search warrant affidavit explains how police traced the IP address behind the criminal activity to her residence.

It’s delusional to suspect all three judges, two of whom predate the DeSantis administration by over a decade, of colluding with the governor to plot a Stalinist show trial.

Jones also challenges the warrant’s legitimacy. Her implication, not lost on the media, is that DeSantis ordered the “raid” and put his crony on the bench to rubber-stamp it. The judge who signed the warrant, Joshua Hawkes, is indeed a recent DeSantis appointee. But that doesn’t prove DeSantis weaponized Florida’s judiciary to persecute a whistleblower, especially because Hawkes isn’t the only judge involved. Judge John Cooper, elected in 2002, affirmed the search warrant’s validity and denied a request from Jones’ attorneys to return electronics seized by police. Judge Nina Ashenafi-Richardson, elected in 2008, signed Jones’ arrest warrant. Like Cooper, Ashenafi-Richardson has no connection to DeSantis. It’s delusional to suspect all three judges, two of whom predate the DeSantis administration by over a decade, of colluding with the governor to plot a Stalinist show trial.

In Jones’ latest tale of oppression—one echoed by media enablers—she’s a victim of “police violence.” On January 16, she announced that she would turn herself in to the authorities “to protect my family from continued police violence, and to show that I’m ready to fight whatever they throw at me.” However, FDLE has released full body camera footage that refutes Jones’ allegations of “violence.”

When officers arrived with a warrant, Jones—whose arrest record includes battery on a police officer—refused to answer the door for 22 minutes. After she finally let them in, FDLE conducted the search with restraint and professionalism. To characterize this as “police violence” is insulting, both to FDLE and to actual victims of police brutality. Such claims from Jones aren’t new. In 2017, she accused police of “kidnapp[ing]” her after being detained under the Baker Act, an involuntary psychiatric hold for people who pose a danger to themselves or others.

Today, Jones awaits trial at her new home in an upmarket DC suburb. She invested part of her crowdfunding proceeds in a for-profit corporation, Florida COVID Action LLC. Its website states: “Reporting data fairly, completely and transparently is of the upmost [sic] importance.” Jones vows to campaign for DeSantis’ 2022 Democratic challenger. “If I could have run for office in Florida and not have to worry about my family’s safety, I absolutely would have,” she Tweeted. “But the governor would never let that happen.” She says she’s using donors’ funds “to fight DeSantis, and anything else he throws at me.”

Opposing the Governor’s free-market policies, light-touch COVID-19 response, or alignment with former President Trump is fair game.

Jones has a platform most politicians would envy. But her “whistleblowing” is a flimsy foundation for a political career. She knew all along there was no cover-up. After her firing, she insisted she “never suggested any conspiracy involving the Governor.” In one mask-off moment, Jones even admitted to CNN that Florida had done “better than expected” controlling the pandemic. She had the right to criticize DeSantis, but not to defame him. Opposing the Governor’s free-market policies, light-touch COVID-19 response, or alignment with former President Trump is fair game. Smearing thousands of dedicated public servants to push a conspiracy theory is unjustifiable.

Those desperate to see DeSantis fail, and Florida become America’s cautionary COVID-19 tale, want to believe Jones. This includes mainstream media acolytes, whose numbers are dwindling: An Edelman poll released in January by Axios found that 56% of Americans think “reporters are purposely trying to mislead people by saying things they know are false or gross exaggerations.” With the next Rebekah Jones, that proportion will grow.

If Jones is an activist disguised as a scientist, the fawning treatment of her plight is advocacy masquerading as journalism. The left sees Jones as the eye of a perfect storm: the GOP’s war on science, a corrupt Trumpian governor, the foolhardiness of any COVID-19 policy short of Chairman Xi-style lockdowns—and a telegenic “whistleblower” to reinforce these tropes. Reality never stood a chance.

For liberal thought leaders sympathetic to Jones, The Narrative doesn’t merely overpower facts. It supersedes principles. Listen to experts, unless they serve under a conservative governor. Believe survivors, unless they accuse your ideological ally. Trust science, unless it contradicts your political biases.

And above all, never, ever admit you’re wrong.

 

Christina Pushaw is an international political consultant and writer based in Washington, DC. She has a Master’s degree in international relations and economics from Johns Hopkins University and a Bachelor’s degree in History from the University of Southern California.

“Socialism On A Global Scale”: Sky News Host Bashes World Economic Forum & Davos Elite

By
Sholom Schreirber
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0
AP

(TJVNEWS) “All these authorities are pushing an agenda – it’s the same agenda, to decarbonize, deindustrialize, and disempower the Western world. They are part of a concerted plan to redesign capitalism in a new image,” Bernardi says, adding: “That image of course is socialism.”

Sky News Australia host Cory Bernardi scorches ” the great reset”, and the Davos elite, in a segment that is more hard-hitting and powerful than anything you can currently view on American cable news. 

Check out this commentary

 

Sacha Baron Cohen Mocks Donald Trump, Rudy Giuliani at Golden Globes

By
Sholom Schreirber
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0
AP

DAVID NG

Sacha Baron Cohen used his two Golden Globe wins on Sunday as an opportunity to further burnish his left-wing activist credentials, taking pot shots at former President Donald Trump and Rudy Giuliani.

The British star and anti-free speech activist won two Golden Globes for Amazon’s Borat Subsequent Movie film. Giuliani made an unsuspecting appearance in the movie in a scene in which he appeared to be unzipping himself and sticking his hands down his pants. The former New York mayor later explained that he was tucking in his shirt and dismissed the scene as a “complete fabrication.”

Accepting the award for best comedy film, Cohen took a parting shot at Giuliani.

“Thank you to the all white Hollywood Foreign Press,” Cohen said. “I gotta to say this movie could not have been possible without my co-star, a fresh new talent, who came from nowhere, and turned out to be a comedy genius, I’m talking of course about Rudy Giuliani. I mean who can get more laughs out of one unzipping. Incredible.”

Cohen continued the joke, saying that Giuliani went on to “star in a string of comedy films.”

“Hits like Four Seasons Landscaping, Hair Dye of the Day, and the courtroom drama aa a Very Public Fart,” he said.

Later, Cohen made fun of Trump while accepting the award for lead actor in a comedy film.

“Donald Trump is contesting the result,” the actor said, adding that the former president is claiming that “dead people voted … which is a nasty thing to say about HFPA.”

Sacha Baron Cohen has used this year’s Hollywood awards season to advocate for more restrictions on speech by conservatives. The British actor celebrated Twitter’s decision to ban Trump, saying that Silicon Valley tech giants need to crack down further on conservative speech.

Breitbart

Trump Calls for GOP Unity at CPAC 2021; Blasts Biden for Socialist Agenda

By
Sholom Schreirber
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0

By: Fern Sidman

Taking the stage for the first time since leaving office, former President Donald Trump on Sunday called for Republican Party unity in a much anticipated speech at Florida’s Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC).

Held in Orlando this year at the Hyatt Regency Hotel, the capacity crowd of staunch Conservatives and hard working American patriots, spent three days listening to like minded conservative elected officials who addressed a number of pressing issues in the country, including immigration, education, foreign policy, health care, the stimulus bill, climate change, etc. They also presented well crafted critiques of the Biden administration and how the nation’s 46th president is starting out on the wrong foot.

The resounding theme of this year’s conference was “America Uncancelled” which squarely addressed the nefarious agenda of the “woke” generation and those on the political left who have been unrelenting in the coercive imposition of their version of “cancel culture.”

For those not in the know, “cancel culture” is essentially tantamount to an insidious form of fascism that seeks to silence those who do not march lockstep with the doctrinaire approach of the ruling party. Such totalitarian regimes that are absent of any form of democratic government, as well as an individual’s right of free speech, have sprouted up in leftist countries throughout the last century. One need only study the Stalinist purges of Soviet Russia to obtain a glimpse of the deleterious effects of a society predicated on a cancel culture mentality.

AP reported that even as Trump exacerbated the GOP’s divisions and made clear he intended to remain a dominant force in the party, Trump used his speech to blast President Joe Biden, and try to cement his status as the party’s undisputed leader.

“Do you miss me yet?” Trump said after taking the stage, where his old rally soundtrack had been playing, according to the AP report. “I stand before you today to declare that the incredible journey we begun together … is far from being over.”

Though Trump has flirted with the idea of creating a third party, he pledged to remain part of what he called “our beloved party,” as was reported by the AP.

“We’re not starting new parties. We have the Republican Party. It is going to unite and be stronger than ever before,” Trump told the enthusiastic crowd.

“That was fake news. Fake news,” continued Trump, sarcastically mocking what would have been a dubious strategy. “Wouldn’t that be brilliant? Let’s start a new party and let’s divide our vote, so that you can never win. No we’re not interested in that,” Trump said, as was reported by the NYP.

Trump also said he would be working to get “strong, tough” Republicans elected.  “We have the Republican Party,” Trump said. “It is going to unite and be stronger than ever before.”

Trump urged his supporters to vote out “RINOs” in Congress, while encouraging the party to stay united around a pro-worker platform, as was reported by the NYP.

Trump said that voters should cast out the so-called “Republicans in Name Only” in the 2022 midterm elections. “Now more than ever is the time for tough, strong and energetic Republican leaders who have spines of steel,” Trump declared, according to the Post report.

“Top establishment Republicans in Washington should be spending their energy on opposing President Biden, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and the Democrats. I’ve said to some of them, I said, ‘You know, during the Obama years and now during Biden, if you spent the same energy on attacking them, you’d actually be successful — as you do on attacking me in many cases’,” declared Trump.

Identifying by name the 10 House Republicans who voted to impeach him one week after the January 6th Capitol riots for allegedly inciting the violence, Trump also spoke of the seven GOP senators who voted to convict him.

Indeed, on Friday, Trump began his vengeance campaign, endorsing Max Miller, a former aide who is seeking to oust Ohio Rep. Anthony Gonzalez, who voted in favor of Trump’s impeachment, according to an AP report.

Trump also delivered a sharp rebuke of what he framed as the new administration’s first month of failures, including Biden’s approach to immigration and the border, according to the AP report.

“Joe Biden has had the most disastrous first month of any president in modern history,” Trump said. The Post reported that he added that, “We all knew the Biden administration was going to be bad, but no one knew how bad they would be. There’s no better example than the new and horrible crisis on our southern border. In just one short month, we have gone from America first to America last.”

In terms of recognizing the problems with the Biden camp, Trump said “We’re one country. We can’t afford the problems of the world. As much as we’d love to — we’d love to help. We can’t do that. So they’re all coming because of promises and foolish words.”

Trump also called for the reopening the nation’s schools amid the pandemic, charging that Biden had “sold out America’s students to the teachers unions, “ Trump said.

Addressing this point of disproportionate labor union influence in local politics, one retired New York City high school math teacher told the Jewish Voice on the condition of anonymity that, “I used to be a delegate assembly member at the UFT, and I can tell you that it is a politically far-left union that really focuses on getting the best deal for teachers with as little output as possible,“ the unnamed source said. “At UFT demonstrations, you often hear the members chant, “It’s All About the Kids” when the complete opposite is true. They don’t care about the kids at all. It’s all about them and how they can game the system to their favor.”

The NYP reported that Trump said that “Joe Biden has shamefully betrayed America’s youth, and he is cruelly keeping our children locked in their homes, no reason for it whatsoever, they want to get out.”

“They are cheating the next generation of Americans out of the future that they deserve and they do deserve this future,” he continued, according to the Post report. “They’re going to grow up, and they’re going to have a scar… the mental and physical health of these young people is reaching a breaking point.”

“On behalf of the moms, dads and children of America, I call on Joe Biden to get the schools open and get them open now,” Trump said, to thunderous applause.

Trump also touted his administration’s work in getting a coronavirus vaccine ready, saying: “Never let them take the credit, they’re just following our plan.”

Trump bashed the Biden administration, according to the Post report, over claims that it was “starting from scratch” to develop a national vaccine distribution plan because the former president had left them with nothing.

Slamming the newly passed Equality Act during his address, Trump said it will destroy women’s athletics by allowing transgender athletes to compete, according to the NYP story.

“Young girls and women are incensed that they are now being forced to compete against those who are biological males,” Trump said, as was reported by the NYP.  “It’s not good for women, it’s not good for women’s sports, which worked so long and so hard to get where they are.”

“The records that stood for years, even decades, are now being smashed with ease,” he said. “If this is not changed women’s sports as we know it will die. You know, for years the weightlifting, every ounce is like a big deal for many years. All of a sudden somebody comes along and beats it by 100 pounds.” Trump declared, “We must protect the integrity of women’s sports. So important.”

While he no longer has his social media megaphone after being barred from Twitter and Facebook, Trump has already been inching back into public life, as was reported by AP.  He called into conservative news outlets after Rush Limbaugh’s death and to wish Tiger Woods well after the pro golfer was injured in a car crash. He has also issued statements, including one blasting Mitch McConnell after the Senate Republican leader excoriated Trump for inciting the Capitol riot. McConnell has since said he would “absolutely” support Trump if he were the GOP nominee in 2024.

At his Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida, Trump has been quietly meeting with aides and senior party leaders as he builds his post-presidential political operation. While he has already endorsed several pro-Trump candidates, aides have been working this past week to develop benchmarks for those seeking his endorsement to make sure the candidates are serious and have set up full-fledged political and fundraising organizations before he gets involved, as was reported by the AP.

They are also planning a new super PAC that could raise unlimited amounts of money, though one aide cautioned they were still deciding whether to create a new entity or repurpose an existing America First super PAC, as was reported by the AP.

The CPAC straw poll of just over 1,000 attendees found that 97% approve of the job Trump did as president. But they were much more ambiguous about whether he should run again, with 68% saying he should, as was reported by the AP.

If the 2024 primary were held today and Trump were in the race, just 55% said they would vote for him, followed by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis at 21%. Without Trump in the field, DeSantis garnered 43% support, followed by 8% for South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem and 7% each for former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz. (NYP, AP)

‘Nomadland,’ ‘Borat’ win at a socially distant Golden Globes

By
Sholom Schreirber
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0
In this video grab issued Sunday, Feb. 28, 2021, by NBC, hosts Tina Fey, left, from New York, and Amy Poehler, from Beverly Hills, Calif., speak at the Golden Globe Awards. (NBC via AP)

(AP) — With homebound nominees appearing by remote video and hosts Tina Fey and Amy Poehler on different sides of the country, a very socially distanced 78th Golden Globe Awards trudged on in the midst of the pandemic and amid a storm of criticism for the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, with top awards going to “Nomadland,” “Borat Subsequent Moviefilm,” “The Crown” and “Schitt’s Creek.”

The night’s top award, best picture drama, went to Chloé Zhao’s elegiac road movie “Nomadland,” a Western set across economic upheaval and personal grief. Zhao, the China-born filmmaker of, became the first woman of Asian descent to win best director. She’s only the second woman in the history of the Globes to win, and the first since Barbra Streisand won for “Yentl” in 1984.

“’Nomadland at its core for me is a pilgrimage through grief and healing,” said Zhao, accepting the awards remotely. “For everyone who has gone through this difficult and beautiful journey at some point in their lives, this is for you.”

With a canceled red carpet and stars giving speeches from the couch, Sunday’s Globes had little of their typically frothy flavor. But they went on, nevertheless, with winners in sweats and dogs in laps, in a pandemic that has sapped nearly all the glamour out of Hollywood.

Facing scant traditional studio competition, streaming services dominated the Globes like never before — even if the top award went to a familiar if renamed source: Searchlight Pictures, the now Disney-owned specialty label behind “12 Years a Slave” and “Birdman.”

Amazon’s “Borat Subsequent Moviefilm” — one of the few nominated films shot partly during the pandemic — won best film, comedy or musical. Its star, guerilla comedian Sacha Baron Cohen, also won best actor in a comedy. Referring to Rudy Giuliani’s infamous cameo, Baron Cohen thanked “a fresh new talent who came from nowhere and turned out to be a comedy genius.”

“I mean, who could get more laughs from one unzipping,” he said.

Netflix, which came in with a commanding 42 nominations, won the top TV awards. “The Crown,” as expected, took best drama series, along with acting wins for Josh O’Connor (Prince Charles), Emma Corrin (Princess Diana) and Gillian Anderson (Margaret Thatcher). “The Queen’s Gambit” won best limited series, and best actress in the category for Anya Taylor-Joy. “Schitt’s Creek,” the Pop TV series that found a wider audience on Netflix, won best comedy series for its final season. Catherine O’Hara also took best actress in a comedy series.

Chadwick Boseman, as expected, posthumously won best actor in a drama film for his final performance, in the August Wilson adaptation “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” — a Netflix release. Boseman’s wife, Taylor Simone Ledward, tearfully, emotionally accepted the award.

“He would thank God. He would thank his parents. He would thank his ancestors for their guidance and their sacrifices,” said Ledward. “He would say something beautiful, something inspiring.”

Apple TV+ scored its first major award when a sweatshirt-clad Jason Sudeikis won best actor in a comedy series for the streamer’s “Ted Lasso.”

The NBC telecast began in split screen. Fey took the stage at New York’s Rainbow Room while Poehler remained at the Globes’ usual home at the Beverly Hilton. In their opening remarks, they managed their typically well-timed back-and-forth despite being almost 3,000 miles from each other.

“I always knew my career would end with me wandering around the Rainbow Room pretending to talk to Amy,” said Fey. “I just thought it would be later.”

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They appeared before masked attendees but no stars. Instead, the sparse tables — where Hollywood royalty are usually crammed together and plied with alcohol during the show — were occupied by “smoking-hot first responders and essential workers,” as Fey said.

In a production nightmare but one that’s become familiar during the pandemic, the night’s first winner accepted his award while muted. Only after presenter Laura Dern apologized for the technical difficulties did Daniel Kaluuya, who won best supporting actor for his performance as Black Panther leader Fred Hampton in “Judas and the Black Messiah,” get his speech in. When he finally came through, he wagged his finger at the camera and said, “You’re doing me dirty!”

Pandemic improvising was only part of the damage control for the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, which puts on the Globes. After The Los Angeles Times revealed that there are no Black members in the 87-person voting body of the HFPA, the press association came under mounting pressure to overhaul itself and better reflect the industry it holds sway in.

This year, none of the most acclaimed Black-led films — “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,” “One Night in Miami,” “Judas and the Black Messiah,” “Da 5 Bloods” — were nominated for the Globes’ best picture award. With the HFPA potentially fighting for its Hollywood life, Sunday’s Globes were part apology tour. Fey and Poehler started in quickly on the issue.

“Look, a lot of flashy garbage got nominated but that happens,” said Poehler. “That’s like their thing. But a number of Black actors and Black-led projects were overlooked.”

Within the first half hour of the NBC telecast, members of the press association appeared on stage to pledge change. “We recognize we have our own work to do,” said vice president Helen Hoehne. “We must have Black journalists in our organization.”

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Whether those statements — along with a diverse group of winners — did enough to remedy anything remained unclear. The moment the show ended, Time’s Up sent letters to both the HFPA and NBCUniveral demanding more. “The Globes are no longer golden. It’s time to act,” wrote Tina Tchen, the group’s president.

COVID-19 circumstances led to some award-show anomalies. Mark Ruffalo, appearing remotely, won best actor in a limited series for “I Know This Much Is True” with his kids celebrating behind him and his wife, Sunrise Coigney, sitting alongside.

Lee Isaac Chung, writer-director of the tender Korean-American family drama “Minari” (a movie the HFPA was criticized for ruling ineligible for its top award because of its non-English dialogue), accepted the award for best foreign language film while his young daughter embraced him. “She’s the reason I made this film,” said Chung.

John Boyega, supporting actor winner for his performance in Steve McQueen’s “Small Axe” anthology, raised his leg to show he was wearing track pants below his more elegant white jacket. Jodie Foster (“The Mauritanian”) won one of the biggest surprise Globes, for best supporting actress in a film, while, sitting on the couch next her wife, Alexandra Hedison, and with her dog, Ziggy on her lap.

Even if speeches sometimes lacked drama without Hollywood gathered in one place, representation was a common refrain. Pointedly referring to the diversity of the HFPA, presenter and previous winner Sterling K. Brown began, “Thank you. It is great to be Black at the Golden Globes,” he said. “Back.”

Jane Fonda, the Cecil B. DeMille Award honoree, spoke passionately about expanding the big tent of entertainment for all. “Art has always been not just in step with history but has lead the way,” said Fonda. “So let’s be leaders.”

Other awards included Pixar’s “Soul” for best animated film; Rosumund Pike took best actress in a comedy or musical film for “I Care a Lot”; Aaron Sorkin (“Trial of the Chicago 7″) for best screenplay; and, in the night’s biggest surprise, Andra Day (“The United States vs. Billie Holiday”) for best actress in a drama, besting Carey Mulligan (“Promising Young Woman”) and Frances McDormand (“Nomadland”).

Despite considerable pre-show backlash, the Globes have persisted because of their popularity (the show ranks as the third most-watched award show, after the Oscars and Grammys), their profitability (NBC paid $60 million for broadcast rights in 2018) and because they serve as important marketing material for contending films and Oscar hopefuls.

The Academy Awards will be held April 25.

Prince Harry: Split from royal life ‘unbelievably tough’

By
Sholom Schreirber
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“But at least we have each other,” Harry said, in a clip from the interview special, which is scheduled to air March 7 on CBS and the following day in Britain. Diana was shown in a photo holding toddler Harry as he made the comments. His mother died in 1997 of injuries suffered in a car crash. Harry and Meghan sat opposite Winfrey and side-by-side, holding hands during the interview that was conducted in a lush garden setting. The couple lives in Montecito, California, where they are neighbors of Winfrey. Meghan, who recently announced she is pregnant with the couple’s second child, wore an empire-style black dress with embroidery. Harry wore a light gray suit and white dress shirt, minus a tie. As Meghan Markle, the actor starred in the TV legal drama “Suits.” She married Queen Elizabeth II’s grandson at Windsor Castle in May 2018, and their son, Archie, was born a year later. The brief promotional clip was one of two of that aired Sunday during CBS’ news magazine “60 Minutes.” Winfrey’s questions and comment were predominant in the other clip, including her statement that, “You said some pretty shocking things here,” without an indication of what she was referring to. Meghan was not heard from in the clips. Harry and Meghan stepped away from full-time royal life in March 2020, unhappy at media scrutiny and the strictures of their roles. They cited what they described as the intrusions and racist attitudes of the British media toward the duchess, who is African American. It was agreed the situation would be reviewed after a year. On Friday, Buckingham Palace confirmed that the couple will not be returning to royal duties and Harry will give up his honorary military titles — a decision that makes formal, and final, the couple’s split from the royal family. The pair, also known as the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, verified “they will not be returning as working members of the Royal Family. “ A spokesperson for the couple hit back at suggestions that Meghan and Harry were not devoted to duty. “As evidenced by their work over the past year, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex remain committed to their duty and service to the U.K. and around the world, and have offered their continued support to the organizations they have represented regardless of official role,” the spokesperson said in a statement.

(AP) — Prince Harry says the process of separating from royal life has been very difficult for him and his wife, Meghan.

In an interview with Oprah Winfrey, Harry invoked the memory of his late mother, Princess Diana, who had to find her way alone after she and Prince Charles divorced.

“I’m just really relieved and happy to be sitting here talking to you with my wife by my side, because I can’t begin to imagine what it must have been like for her going through this process by herself all those years ago,” Harry said, adding, “because it’s been unbelievably tough for the two of us.”

“But at least we have each other,” Harry said, in a clip from the interview special, which is scheduled to air March 7 on CBS and the following day in Britain. Diana was shown in a photo holding toddler Harry as he made the comments. His mother died in 1997 of injuries suffered in a car crash.

Harry and Meghan sat opposite Winfrey and side-by-side, holding hands during the interview that was conducted in a lush garden setting. The couple lives in Montecito, California, where they are neighbors of Winfrey. Meghan, who recently announced she is pregnant with the couple’s second child, wore an empire-style black dress with embroidery. Harry wore a light gray suit and white dress shirt, minus a tie.

As Meghan Markle, the actor starred in the TV legal drama “Suits.” She married Queen Elizabeth II’s grandson at Windsor Castle in May 2018, and their son, Archie, was born a year later.

The brief promotional clip was one of two of that aired Sunday during CBS’ news magazine “60 Minutes.” Winfrey’s questions and comment were predominant in the other clip, including her statement that, “You said some pretty shocking things here,” without an indication of what she was referring to. Meghan was not heard from in the clips.

Harry and Meghan stepped away from full-time royal life in March 2020, unhappy at media scrutiny and the strictures of their roles. They cited what they described as the intrusions and racist attitudes of the British media toward the duchess, who is African American.

It was agreed the situation would be reviewed after a year. On Friday, Buckingham Palace confirmed that the couple will not be returning to royal duties and Harry will give up his honorary military titles — a decision that makes formal, and final, the couple’s split from the royal family.

The pair, also known as the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, verified “they will not be returning as working members of the Royal Family. “

A spokesperson for the couple hit back at suggestions that Meghan and Harry were not devoted to duty.

“As evidenced by their work over the past year, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex remain committed to their duty and service to the U.K. and around the world, and have offered their continued support to the organizations they have represented regardless of official role,” the spokesperson said in a statement.

 

Israel Rules Out Greek Tanker As Suspect In Mediterranean Oil Spill

By
Sholom Schreirber
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(JNS) The Greek tanker Minerva Helen was not the source of the tons of toxic tar that washed up on Israel’s shores last weekend, Israel’s Environmental Protection Ministry announced on Sunday.

A team led by the ministry and including representatives from the Israeli Shipping and Ports Authority reached this conclusion on Saturday, after conducting a “thorough, professional and comprehensive inspection” of the tanker at the Port of Piraeus, with the full cooperation of Greek authorities.

The inspection followed a report last Monday by Israel’s Kan News that the Minerva Helen was a key suspect, though the vessel’s owner denied any connection with the incident.

Also on Monday, a Haifa court imposed a week-long gag order on the investigation. By Tuesday, however, the order, prohibiting the publication of the name of any ship, company or individuals involved in the spill, had been partially lifted.

“We are committed to making every effort to locate the ship responsible for polluting Israel’s shores,” said Israeli Environmental Protection Minister Gila Gamliel of the spill, which Israel’s Nature and Parks Authority has called one of the worst environmental disasters in Israel’s history.

“We have a moral obligation to the public, animals and nature that were harmed,” she said. “We will not let this environmental crime slide, and will adopt all measures to locate the offender,” she added.

Israel’s Health Ministry on Wednesday announced a temporary ban on the sale of fish from the Mediterranean until the Agriculture Ministry completes testing samples to rule out the presence of contaminants.

Thousands Of Chareidi Families Trudge To Jerusalem By Foot After Govt. Closes Entrance Roads

By
Sholom Schreirber
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(VINnews) In a crude attempt to prevent the large gatherings of chasidim on Purim in Jerusalem which this year took place on Sunday, the Israeli government closed the roads leading up to Jerusalem and cancelled all forms of interurban public transport. The move led hundreds of families to abandon cars and private buses stuck in the heavy traffic outside Jerusalem and make their way on foot to the capital.

The decision to close the roads was taken by the government just before Shabbos, which was Purim for the rest of the country. Thus most people had not heard about the decision and when they tried to make their way to Jerusalem to participate in the festivities Sunday, they discovered that the roads were blocked by police. This led to large pilgrimages of people to Jerusalem from the roadblocks outside the city.

 

Housing minister Yaakov Litzman fumed at the decision and said that it was “selective targeting of the chareidim, while at the same time we saw total inability to enforce regulations at parties in Tel Aviv, Haifa and elsewhere. After seeing the harsh scenes of thousands of people taken off buses and forced to walk for hours, we will demand explanations for this decision.”

MK Uriel Boussou (Shas) said that “this ridiculous decision in the midst of Purim left many families with small children who planned to use public transport left with a harsh and merciless decision by some self-styled heroes in the Transport Ministry who decided to change the rules of the game in the middle of the game.”

The government finally relented and allowed public transport to reopen at 12 AM Sunday night, a move which will allow the families that made their way to Jerusalem by foot to return to their homes.

First US J&J vaccine doses shipping Sunday night

By
Sholom Schreirber
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(Johnson & Johnson via AP

Nearly 4 million doses of the newest COVID-19 vaccine will be shipped Sunday night, and will begin to be delivered to states for injections starting on Tuesday.

The White House said the entire stockpile of the newly approved single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine will go out immediately. J&J will deliver about 16 million more doses by the end of March and 100 million total by the end of June, but the distribution would be backloaded.

Though the new shot is easier to administer and requires only one dose, the administration is not altering its distribution plans.

The White House is encouraging Americans to take the first dose available to them, regardless of manufacturer.

A U.S. advisory panel has endorsed the new one-dose COVID-19 vaccine from Johnson & Johnson as a third option to bolster the national effort against the coronavirus pandemic.

Advisers to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention voted overwhelmingly to recommend the vaccine for adults 18 years old and up. The ruling followed emergency clearance of the vaccine by U.S. regulators a day earlier.

Members of the group emphasized that all three vaccines now available in the U.S. are highly protective against the worst effects of the virus, including hospitalization and death.

J&J plans to ship several million vaccine doses to states in the coming week, delivering a total of 20 million shots by the end of March. Health officials are eager to have an easier-to-use vaccine against COVID-19, which has killed more than 511,000 Americans and continues to mutate in troubling ways.

CDC recommendations are not binding on state governments or doctors, but are widely heeded by the medical community. The same CDC panel previously recommended use of the two vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna authorized in December.

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SALT LAKE CITY — Utah is canceling about 7,200 coronavirus vaccine appointments after an error in the state health department’s registration website allowed people without qualifying conditions to register for the shots.

Department spokesman Tom Hudachko said in a statement that the error allowed residents who are not 65 or older or who don’t have an underlying medical condition to sign up.

The Salt Lake Tribune reported Sunday those appointments are being canceled.

People who meet the state’s conditions can keep their vaccine appointments scheduled through Vaccinate.utah.gov. Public school teachers and first responders also are eligible for vaccines.

Utah so far has administered more than 680,000 vaccine doses and estimates that 10% of its 3.2 million population has been fully vaccinated.

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ATHENS, Greece — Greek health authorities have announced that 70 specialized intensive care units will be added to Athens hospitals as high hospitalization rates have nearly filled the available ones.

The Athens area along with several others across the country are under lockdown until March 8, with most shops closed, schools operating on distance learning and a 9 p.m. curfew, but many experts talk of extending this for at least another week.

On Sunday, authorities announced 1,269 new COVID-19 cases, along with 36 deaths. This brings the number of confirmed cases since the start of the pandemic to 191,100, with 6,504 deaths. There are 391 patients on ventilators in ICUs, close to a record high.

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RIO DE JANEIRO — Brazil’s capital has entered a two-week lockdown, joining several states in adopting measures to reduce the spread of COVID-19 as intensive care beds begin to fill in some important cities.

At least eight Brazilian states adopted curfews over the past week due to the rise in cases and deaths from COVID-19. Thursday was Brazil’s deadliest day since the beginning of the pandemic, with 1,541 deaths confirmed from the virus. So far 254,000 people have died overall.

Brasilia Gov. Ibaneis Rocha decreed the total closure of bars, restaurants, shopping malls and schools until March 15 and prohibited gatherings of people. Sale of alcoholic beverages was prohibited after 8 p.m.

In the federal district, 85% of hospital beds were occupied on Sunday, according to the local health ministry.

President Jair Bolsonaro again criticized such measures, saying on his Twitter account: “The people want to work.” He threatened on Friday to cut off federal emergency pandemic assistance to states resorting to lockdowns.

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ROME — While new COVID-19 cases surge in Italy’s north, the island of Sardinia has earned coveted ’’white zone” status, allowing for evening dining and drinking at restaurants and cafes and the reopening after months of closure of gyms, cinemas and theaters.

Earlier this year, the Italian government added ’’white zone” status to its color-coded system of restrictions on businesses and schools, with “red zone” designation carrying the strictest measures.

Starting on Monday, the region of Sardinia, with an incidence of fewer than 50 cases per 100,000 residents, will be able to allow the most liberties since a second wave of coronavirus infections last fall prompted the government to tighten restrictions nationwide after easing them during summer.

The Health Ministry report covering the third week of February shows nationwide incidence was 145 cases per 100,000 inhabitants, and several regions had far higher incidence.

The Mediterranean island of Sardinia is a popular vacation destination. Last summer, crowds at seaside discos and clubs there were cited as a factor in the climb in an explosion of cases in Italy in the last months of 2020.

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TEHRAN, Iran — Iran has surpassed 60,000 known coronavirus-related deaths, the latest grim milestone for the hardest-hit country in the Middle East.

The Health Ministry reported 93 new deaths from COVID-19 on Sunday and more than 8,000 new infections, pushing the total infection count over 1.63 million.

After more than a year of the pandemic, deaths from COVID-19 recently have declined in Iran as movement restrictions in the capital have set in, including inter-city travel bans, mask mandates and school closures.

The government on Sunday banned incoming travelers from a list of 32 countries, including Britain and other states in Africa and Latin America, due to fears of new virus variants.

Over the year, Iran has struggled with surges that at times overwhelmed its health system as authorities resisted a total lockdown to salvage an economy crippled by U.S. sanctions.

Iran’s vaccine drive recently has gotten underway, with Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine administered to health workers this month. An additional 250,000 doses by the Chinese state-backed pharmaceutical Sinopharm arrived in Iran over the weekend.

The country is also accelerating efforts to produce a domestic vaccine, beginning human trials for its second vaccine on Sunday.

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BERLIN — The German disease control agency is adding France’s Moselle region to its list of areas with a high rate of variant coronavirus cases, meaning travelers from there will face additional hurdles when crossing the border into neighboring Germany.

The Robert Koch Institute said Sunday that the restrictions would come into force at midnight on March 2, putting Moselle on a par with countries such as the Czech Republic, Portugal and the United Kingdom.

Travelers from those areas must produce a recent negative coronavirus test before crossing the German border. The measure is likely to affect many people who live on one side of the frontier and work on the other.

The Moselle region in northeastern France includes the city of Metz and borders with the German states of Saarland and Rhineland-Palatinate.

Clement Beaune, the French minister for European affairs, said France regrets the decision and is in negotiations with Germany to try to lighten the measures for 16,000 inhabitants of Moselle who work across the border.

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LONDON — Britain’s government says families with children in school will be provided with free coronavirus home test kits as part of plans for schools to reopen beginning on March 8.

Free, twice-weekly tests will be provided to children’s households regardless of whether anyone has symptoms, officials said Sunday. The tests will also be offered to adults working with schools, including bus drivers.

Education Secretary Gavin Williamson said testing family members will provide “another layer of reassurance to parents and education staff that schools are as safe as possible.” Schools in England have been closed except to children of key workers since January.

Britain is also racing ahead with its vaccination program, with almost 20 million in the U.K. who have now had a first jab. Some 2 million people aged 60 to 63 in England will start getting invitations to book their shots beginning on Monday. The government aims to offer a first jab to all adults by the end of July.

Britain has Europe’s worst virus death toll at nearly 123,000 dead.

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BUDAPEST — Hungary’s prime minister on Sunday received a COVID-19 vaccine developed in China as his country aims to boost vaccination rates using jabs developed in eastern countries.

Prime Minister Viktor Orban posted photos on Facebook of himself being inoculated with the Sinopharm vaccine. Hungary last week became the first country in the European Union to begin using the Chinese jab.

Hungary’s government has been critical of the speed of the EU’s vaccination program, and has purchased vaccines from Russia and China to boost procurements.

“The vaccines reserved by the EU are simply not arriving, and they are arriving more slowly than predicted. If we didn’t have the Russian and Chinese vaccines, we would be in big trouble,” Orban said during a radio interview on Friday.

He earlier said he would choose to receive the Sinopharm vaccine because he trusted it the most.

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ROME — Infectious disease experts are expressing concern about Pope Francis’ upcoming trip to Iraq, given a sharp rise in coronavirus infections there, a fragile health care system and the unavoidable likelihood that Iraqis will crowd to see him.

No one wants to tell Francis to call it off, and the Iraqi government has every interest in showing off its relative stability by welcoming the first pope to the birthplace of Abraham. The March 5-8 trip is expected to provide a sorely-needed spiritual boost to Iraq’s beleaguered Christians.

But from a purely epidemiological standpoint, a papal trip to Iraq amid a global pandemic is not advisable, health experts say.

“I just don’t think it’s a good idea,” said Dr. Navid Madani of Harvard Medical School’s Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. “This could potentially lead to unsafe or superspreading risks.”

Their concerns were reinforced with the news Sunday that the Vatican ambassador to Iraq, the main point person for the trip, tested positive for COVID-19 and was self-isolating. The embassy said Archbishop Mitja Leskovar’s symptoms were mild and that he was continuing to prepare for Francis’ visit.

Beyond his case, experts note that wars, economic crises and an exodus of Iraqi professionals have devastated the country’s hospital system, while studies show most of Iraq’s new COVID-19 infections are the highly-contagious variant first identified in Britain.

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ANKARA, Turkey — Traveling across roads covered with ice and snow, vaccination teams have been going to Turkey’s isolated mountain villages as the government seeks to inoculate 60% of the country’s people against coronavirus over the next three months.

After much effort, medical workers arrived Friday to vaccinate older villagers in Gumuslu, a small settlement of 350 in the central province of Sivas that lies 140 miles (230 kilometers) from the provincial capital.

“It’s a difficult challenge to come here,” said Dr Rustem Hasbek, head of Sivas Health Services. “The geography is tough, the climate is tough, as you can see.”

Turkey rolled out the Chinese Sinovac vaccine on Jan. 14 and has so far given out 8.2 million doses. Ankara has also ordered 4.5 million doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.

Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said Turkey aims to vaccinate 52.5 million people by the end of May.

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HELSINKI — Police in Denmark said eight people were arrested following in an anti-lockdown demonstration with 1,200 participants in the center of Copenhagen, the Danish capital.

The demonstration proceeded largely peacefully Saturday but those detained are suspected of behaving violently against police or violating fireworks regulations, police said. Participants gathered in a square in front of Copenhagen’s town hall.

The rally was organised by a group identifying as “Men in Black Denmark.” It was the first demonstration in Copenhagen since the Danish government last week that it was extending several anti-coronavirus restrictions.

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BANGKOK — Thailand started its first vaccinations Sunday with 200 public health officials receiving the Sinovac vaccine from China.

Health Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul was given the first shot at a hospital near Bangkok, followed by the deputy health minister and other senior officials.

Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha, who attended the vaccination ceremony, said the public should have confidence in the safety and effectiveness of the vaccine, as it has been approved by authorities in Thailand and other countries.

Prayuth did not receive the vaccine on Sunday because he is older than Sinovac’s recommended age, which is 18-59. Prayuth is 66.

Thailand received the first 200,000 doses of the Sinovac vaccine on Wednesday. They are part of the government’s plan that has so far secured 2 million doses from Sinovac and 61 million doses from AstraZeneca.

Thailand has had more than 25,000 confirmed cases and 83 deaths from COVID-19.

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WASHINGTON — The U.S. now has a third vaccine to prevent COVID-19.

The Food and Drug Administration on Saturday cleared a Johnson & Johnson shot that works with just one dose instead of two.

Health experts have anxiously awaited a one-and-done option to help speed vaccinations. The virus has already killed more than 510,000 people in the U.S. and is mutating in increasingly worrisome ways.

The FDA said J&J’s vaccine offers strong protection against what matters most: serious illness, hospitalizations and death. One dose was 85% protective against the most severe COVID-19 illness, in a massive study that spanned three continents.

US still open to Iran nuclear talks after Iran’s rejection

By
Sholom Schreirber
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0

(AP) — The Biden administration said Sunday it remains open to talks with Iran over the 2015 nuclear deal despite Tehran’s rejection of an EU invitation to join a meeting with the U.S. and the other original participants in the agreement.

A senior administration official said the U.S. was “disappointed” in the rejection but was flexible as to the timing and format of the talks and saw Iran’s decision to snub the European invitation as part of the diplomatic process. The official said the U.S. would be consulting with the other participants — Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia, and the European Union — on the way forward.

The official was not authorized to discuss the matter by name and spoke on condition of anonymity.

Earlier Sunday, Iran turned down the offer for talks saying the “time isn’t ripe” for the meeting, at which the U.S. would have participated as an observer. Iran had been insisting that the U.S. lift or ease sanctions imposed on it by the Trump administration under its “maximum pressure campaign” before sitting down with the United States.

President Joe Biden has said repeatedly that the U.S. would return to the deal that his predecessor, Donald Trump, withdrew from in 2018 only after Iran restores its full compliance with the accord.

“Considering US/E3 positions & actions, time isn’t ripe for the proposed informal meeting,” Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said on Twitter. He referred to the so-called E3, which comprises Britain, France and Germany.

“Remember: Trump failed to meet because of his ill-advised ‘Max Failure,’” he said. “With sanctions in place, same still applies. Censuring is NOT diplomacy. It doesn’t work with Iran.”

The Biden administration announced earlier this month that it would accept an EU invitation to participate in a meeting of deal participants and at the same time rescinded a Trump determination from the U.N. Security Council that Iran was in significant breach of the agreement that all U.N. sanctions had been restored.

The U.N. move had little practical effect as nearly all members of the world body had rejected Trump’s determination because the U.S. was no longer a participant in the nuclear deal. Biden administration officials said the withdrawal of the determination was intended to show goodwill toward its partners and at the same time had eased severe restrictions on the movement of Iranian diplomats posted to the U.N.

Separately on Sunday, the State Department condemned a weekend attack by Iran-backed Yemeni rebels on Saudi Arabia, saying it damaged prospects for peace. Along with the overtures to Iran on the nuclear front, the Biden administration also reversed several late Trump administration moves against Iranian-backed rebels in Yemen.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken rescinded his predecessor’s designation that the Houthi rebels were a “foreign terrorist organization,” a move that the U.N. and relief groups had said would make the already disastrous humanitarian situation in Yemen even worse. In addition, the Biden administration decided to halt all offensive assistance to Saudi Arabia for its military campaign against the Houthis in Yemen.

The Houthis, however, have stepped up their operations in the country, pressing ahead with an offensive in Marib province and launching attacks on Saudi Arabia.

On Saturday, Saudi authorities said they had intercepted a missile attack over their capital and reported that bomb-laden drones had targeted a southern province, the latest in a series of airborne assaults they have blamed on the Houthis.

State Department spokesman Ned Price on Sunday said the U.S. “strongly condemns the Houthis’ attacks on population centers in Saudi Arabia.” He said they “threaten not only innocent civilians but also prospects for peace and stability in Yemen” and called on the Houthis “to end these egregious attacks.”

“The United States remains committed to its longstanding partnership with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and to helping Saudi Arabia defend its territory as it faces attacks from Iranian-aligned groups,” Price said.

On Friday, the Biden administration further strained ties with the Saudis when it published a declassified intelligence report finding that Saudi Arabia’s crown prince had ordered an operation to capture or kill Jamal Khashoggi, a Washington Post journalist and U.S. resident who was brutally slain at the Saudi consulate in Turkey. Saudi Arabia has forcefully rejected the report’s conclusions.

Welcome back: Optimism abounds as MLB’s spring includes fans

By
Sholom Schreirber
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0
Fans sit in social distance squares during a spring training baseball game with the Minnesota Twins and Boston Red Sox on Sunday, Feb. 28, 2021, in Fort Myers, Fla. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)

(AP) — Brian Delaney checked his ticket, found his seats and then sat down for a minute in the sunshine. It wasn’t a typical late February day in Arizona — a little cool, a little breezy — but Delaney didn’t complain a bit.

“You ever been through a Colorado winter?” the Colorado Rockies fan said with a grin.

The good humor and smiles were easy to find as baseball fans streamed into Sunday afternoon’s spring training opener between the Rockies and Arizona Diamondbacks. A downward trend in COVID-19 cases throughout most of the country has meant that a limited amount of fans are allowed back in spring training facilities throughout Arizona and Florida.

At Salt River Fields at Talking Stick, the crowd was capped at about 2,200 fans, which is 16% of the usual capacity. Delaney said he never hesitated to get tickets for himself and Debra Mierzwa once they went on sale a few weeks ago.

“Oh yeah,” Delaney said. “We were never worried. This is great.”

The happy and halfway-normal scene on Sunday was a far cry from 353 days ago, when incredulous fans stood outside Salt River Fields and digested the news that baseball — and pretty much the rest of the world — was being shutdown because of the spreading coronavirus pandemic.

Nearly a year later, things are very different.

“It seemed like forever,” said Brandon Ramsey, who lives in the Phoenix area and went to the Reds-Indians game in Goodyear on Sunday. “Last year got cut a little short. To come out here for opening day is just fantastic. They did a great job in socially distancing. They made sure we were safe.”

Aside from the World Series and NL Championship Series held last October at a neutral-site park in Arlington, Texas, this marked the first time fans were allowed at big league baseball games since March 12.

By now the safety protocols for sports events have become familiar. Fans in Scottsdale are spread out in small pods of two, four or six people. Masks are worn except when eating and drinking. People sitting on blankets in the grass beyond the outfield wall were given spray-painted squares to stay separate. Cleaning crews are ubiquitous.

But spring baseball appears to have considerable safety advantage over its NBA, NHL and college basketball counterparts: It’s played outdoors where studies have shown the virus is less effective at spreading.

“We feel really good about our ability to host spring training in the safest possible way,” Cactus League executive director Bridget Binsbacher said.

All 30 teams in Major League Baseball are allowing fans at their spring training facilities in Arizona and Florida, though capacity will be severely limited. The Chicago Cubs are welcoming the most fans (3,630 per game) while the San Francisco Giants will have the fewest (1,000 per game).

The Yankees and Twins have the largest percentage of seats available, with the potential to reach 28% of capacity.

Fans certainly seem excited about getting back to the park. The players have missed them, too.

Oakland right-hander Daulton Jefferies got a thrill from facing the loaded Los Angeles Dodgers lineup with fans in the seats at last. The limited crowd of 1,998 was a sellout at Hohokam Stadium in Mesa, Arizona.

“Even though it’s 20-percent capacity it didn’t feel like it,” Jefferies said. “Everyone was very loud. It was just a lot of fun. I think we truly underestimated how much we missed it.”

The outlook for spring training has changed drastically just in the past month. Back in January, the Cactus League sent a letter to MLB suggesting that the spring schedule be delayed because of high COVID-19 case counts in Maricopa County, which is home to all 15 teams in Arizona.

But then cases plummeted in Arizona and the plan to play games pushed forward. Binsbacher and others became much more optimistic.

For some fans, the progress came too late.

Don Witynski is a 58-year-old Milwaukee Brewers fan from Wisconsin who has traveled to Arizona the past four years for about a week during spring training. He said his family of four would watch three or four baseball games but the trip also includes hiking and other outdoor activities in the Arizona sun.

Not this year. He said most of his friends are staying in Wisconsin this year, though a few will make the trip to the desert.

“We’re hunkering down, staying home,” Witynski said. “I’ve got teenagers, 13-year-old twins. Obviously until this vaccine rolls out more we’re definitely staying home this year unfortunately.”

Those are the kinds of stories that have Arizona and Florida bracing for another year of lost revenue. But limited fans are better than no fans. The appetite to watch baseball appears strong: The Rockies and Diamondbacks — who share the Salt River Fields facility — both sold out their entire spring ticket allotments about 24 hours after they went public.

Delaney said he and Mierzwa were coming to Arizona regardless of the baseball situation. They enjoy trail running and Arizona in February is a fine time for that sport. Businesses in Arizona hope there more Delaneys and Mierzwas out there to make 2021 a little less painful.

“It’s all part of moving the right direction,” Binsbacher said. “I can’t stress enough – health and safety was at the forefront of everything we did. But the financial numbers are real. It definitely impacts our businesses and the numbers speak for themselves. It’s a tremendous impact.”

The COVID-19 hit to central Arizona’s baseball economy was stark: A study from Arizona State University found that the Cactus League’s season generated an estimated economic impact of $363.6 million in 2020 before the shutdown in mid-March, which was down nearly $300 million from the estimated $644.2 million generated in 2018.

The study added that 2020 would have been “on a par” with 2018 had it not been for the coronavirus.

As for 2021, there is cautious optimism that the Cactus League season won’t be a complete washout for the local economy. But for hotels, restaurants, bars, golf courses and rental house companies, there’s little doubt that finances will take a hit for a second straight year.

Stephanie Pressler, who is the director of community affairs for Experience Scottsdale, said businesses are balancing realism with a little optimism now that COVID-19 cases have gone down and all teams are allowing at least some fans.

“This is normally the busiest time of year for Scottsdale’s tourism industry, largely because of Cactus League spring training,” Pressler said in an email. “Understandably, our expectations are muted this year given the ongoing pandemic, though Experience Scottsdale is excited that the season is moving forward in a way that will keep teams, fans, employees and residents safe.”

“Miss me Yet?” Trump at CPAC 2021 : WATCH ENTIRE SPEECH

By
Sholom Schreirber
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Photo Credit: CPAC

Former President Donald Trump denied that he would start a third party to tackle both the Democrat and Republican parties on Sunday, decrying those reports as “fake news.”

“I am not starting a new party. That was fake news,” he said as he kicked off his speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Florida on Sunday evening. The Wall Street Journal reported in January that Trump was discussing the possibility of starting a third party, citing “people familiar with the matter.” But Trump dismissed those reports, suggesting it was a stupid move. “Wouldn’t that be brilliant?” he said sarcastically. “Let’s start a new party and divide our vote.” Trump reaffirmed he and his movement would remain in the Republican party.

Watch entire Speech Below:

Israel Strikes Syria “In Response To Iranian Attack” On Israeli Commercial Ship, Syrian Media Report

By
Sholom Schreirber
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0
Damage to the Israeli-owned cargo vessel Helios Ray

(TJVNEWS) Syrian state television is reporting new Israeli airstrikes against the capital of Damascus on Sunday.


SANA state news said that Syrian air defenses were active in response to an “Israeli aggression in the vicinity of Damascus” after explosions were heard above the capital, according to Reuters. The strike was reportedly near the international airport.

Israeli public broadcasting is reporting it’s in response to the “Iranian attack on an Israeli ship near the Gulf of Oman this weekend”.

Defense Minister Benny Gantz had announced Saturday as part of an “initial assessment” that Tel Aviv believes Iran was behind a bomb attack on the car-carrier vessel, identified as the Helios Ray. “Iran is looking to hit Israeli infrastructure and Israeli citizens,” Defense Minister Benny Gantz had said in prior remarks, according to Reuters. “The location of the ship in relative close proximity to Iran raises the notion, the assessment, that it is the Iranians,” he said.

 

Nearly 7 in 10 French Say ‘Islamo-Leftism’ a Major Problem

By
Sholom Schreirber
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0
AP

CHRIS TOMLINSON

A poll has revealed 69 percent of French, nearly 7 in 10, say that there is a problem with an ideology of “Islamo-Leftism” in the country.

The Odoxa-Backbone consulting poll found that a comfortable majority of respondents believed there was a problem with leftist groups, political parties, and personalities refusing to take hard positions against radical Islamic extremism for fear of “stigmatizing” Muslims as a whole.

When the results are divided by political affiliation, the survey showed that 82 percent of the supporter of Marine Le Pen’s National Rally believed the issue to be a problem, while 83 percent of the center-right Republicans held the same views, Franceinfo reports.

Supporters of Emmanuel Macron’s Republicans on the March (LREM) party agreed with the proposition 80 percent of the time.

Among the far-left France Insoumise supporters, just 46 percent agreed the Islamo-Leftism was a problem, however, 63 percent of the Socialist Party supports saw the concept as a problem.

Prominent French philosopher and noted globalist Bernard Henri-Levy, often simply referred to as “BHL”, has also spoken out about Islamo-Leftism along with French Minister of The University Frederique Vidal who stated it was “a problem that afflicts society and not even the university is immune from it.”

The government of President Emmanuel Macron announced that it would be investigating Islamo-leftism within the nation’s universities, which has sparked condemnation from leftists such as the far-left magazine Jacobin, which called the investigation a “witch hunt.”

Academic Mame-Fatou Niang, who studies identity and race in France, has also condemned the move, saying that “minority researchers have been regarded as activists through the ages.”

As many American movements have been imported to France over the last year, such as the Black Lives Matter movement, some French politicians and academics have called American-style “woke” ideology a threat to the French republic itself.

Since the beheading of teacher Samuel Paty in October of last year by a Chechen radical Islamist refugee, the Macron government has made moves to fight against political Islam and what Macron has termed “Islamic separatism”, including shutting down groups linked to Islamists.

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