TSA Extends Mandate

From News Nation:

“TSA extends mask mandate on planes to September”

The Biden administration said on Friday it is extending face mask requirements across all U.S. transportation networks to address the spread of COVID-19. The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) requirements that took effect on Feb. 1 were set to expire on May 11. They cover workers and travelers at airports, on board commercial aircraft, over-the-road buses, and on commuter bus and rail systems through Sept. 13. TSA said children up to 2 and people with certain disabilities will continue to be exempted from the rule. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued the federal mask mandate in nearly all transportation modes in late January, including on ride-share vehicles. The order does not apply to private cars or commercial trucks being driven by a sole operator. TSA told Reuters that since the transit mask requirements took effect Feb. 1 they have “largely experienced voluntary compliance.” “Transportation system operators have reported almost 2,000 passengers for refusing to wear a face mask. TSA will assess a civil penalty if necessary,” said the TSA.

In March, the head of the Federal Aviation Administration indefinitely extended a “zero-tolerance policy” on unruly air passengers first imposed in January, after hundreds of reported incidents. FAA Administrator Steve Dickson extended the policy set to expire March 30, “as we continue to do everything we can to confront the pandemic.” The FAA said the extension will last at least as long as the federal transportation face mask order remains in effect.

^ With 100 Million Americans fully vaccinated, States doing away with Mask Mandates and completely reopening and the US Federal Government changing mask recommendations outside I don’t think many people will willingly continue to wear a mask on a plane, train or bus. I’m not saying they shouldn’t still wear a mask, but I expect the TSA, Airport Employees, Airlines, Bus Lines and Train Lines to have to deal with more and more disruptive passengers refusing to wear a mask. ^

https://www.newsnationnow.com/health/coronavirus/tsa-extends-mask-mandate-on-planes-to-september/

Australia Bans Citizens

From the BBC:

“Australians stuck overseas 'abandoned' by their own country”

Australian citizen Mandeep Sharma has been deserted by his government. He is one of the 9,000 Australians stranded in India, left to fend for themselves after Canberra this week banned all flights from the Covid-ravaged nation until mid-May. Mr Sharma has a wife and two daughters in Adelaide. He travelled to India last month to attend his father's funeral and was due to fly back next week. Now he fears contracting the virus and being separated from his family indefinitely.

On Saturday, Australia also announced it would jail anyone who attempts to return from India. For people like Mr Sharma, trying to get home is now a criminal act - punishable by five years jail or an A$66,000 (£36,800; $51,000) fine. It's just the latest hardline action taken by the government to keep the virus out of the country. Australia has enjoyed near zero- infection rates and recorded just 910 deaths - far fewer than most other nations. It attributes its virus success to its strict border controls and quarantine measures. But these have also locked out thousands of Australians from returning home over the course of the pandemic. The India ban also marks an extraordinary escalation - the first time the country has made it a crime for its own citizens to return home.

Why can't citizens get in? Australia was one of the first nations to close its borders in March 2020, barring all arrivals except returning nationals, residents, and people granted exemptions (including celebrities, sports stars and contract workers). Since October 2020, it has also allowed travellers from virus-free New Zealand. All arrivals are forced to undertake - and fund - a two week quarantine stay at at a hotel, typically in a state capital city. Currently, around 36,000 nationals are registered for government help to fly home, a level that has remained consistent over the past year. Prior to the pandemic, there were estimated to be about one million Australians living overseas. Early on in the quarantine programme, a problem emerged. The number of people returning home - mostly from New Zealand, the US and the UK - threatened to overwhelm the system. There were only so many hotel rooms available. So the government looked for a solution. Instead of expanding the system - for example, adding a purpose-built quarantine centre - authorities drastically cut back the number of plane arrivals allowed in each week.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison initially sold the "travel caps" as a temporary limit. But the cap has become a permanent fixture. Currently about 7,000 people are allowed in each week. But the level can be reduced at any time - causing flight cancellations and route changes. In January, it was halved due to community outbreaks and virus mutations. Many stranded Australians say they would be happy if they felt like they were joining an ordered queue to get home. But the system has proven chaotic and arbitrary, and lacks measures to prioritise those most in need.

Who has been allowed in: Melissa McCarthy, Chris Pratt, Tom Hanks, Awkwafina, Idris Elba, Tilda Swinton, Julia Roberts, Zac Efron, Ed Sheeran, Matt Damon, Natalie Portman, Sacha Baron Cohen, Paul Mescal, Mark Wahlberg, Tessa Thompson, Rita Ora

Celebrity rush exposes Australian 'double standard' That means who gets to go home essentially comes down to the commercial airlines. The limit on arrivals into Australia has driven up airfares, pushing them out of reach for many. It has led to the current situation, where less than half of those arriving in Australia in February were citizens. The government has organised a number of repatriation flights, but getting a seat is highly competitive. They're also not free.

Is hotel quarantine adequate? Increasingly, no. Since the more infectious UK variant arrived in Australia, it's tested the quarantine system. Perth endured a three-day lockdown last week after the virus leaked out of one of the hotels. This marked the seventh time since November that an Australian city has plunged into a snap lockdown due to a quarantine leak. In the past six months, Australia has seen 16 breaches of its hotel quarantine system as more infectious strains have come in. Breaches include transmission between travellers in separate rooms, and infections passed onto workers. Despite efforts to fix hotel quarantine, including improving air circulation and safety protocols, the virus keeps getting out.

Why a 'world-class' quarantine has seen failures Still, the 16 breaches are few compared to the system's overall success. More than half a million people have been processed through hotel quarantine, says Mr Morrison. But each breach is a risk to the community, and the recent examples have sparked alarm about the suitability of quarantining people in city hotels.

How could quarantine be improved? Critics have demanded a system overhaul to allow more Australians to come home. State governments, tired of having to plunge cities into lockdown, have called for federal government to help build more appropriate facilities. Experts have consistently suggested that travellers be moved out of city hotels and into purpose-built centres in regional areas. Many point to the success of the Howard Springs centre, a refurbished mining camp near Darwin. Instead of people being quarantined in cramped hotel rooms with shared corridors, they stay in single-unit houses with outdoor spaces. The centre will be expanded from 800 beds to 2,000 next week. On Thursday, the state of Victoria announced it would begin work on designing a similar facility because "we need options that we can take up to make the community safer". "It is clear the virus will be with us for some time," said Acting Premier James Merlino, who also mentioned Australia's delayed vaccine rollout. But the new quarantine centre will need federal buy-in. He called on Canberra to stump up the A$100m (£56m; $78m) investment needed to build the centre by the end of the year. Experts have also suggested the alternative of home quarantine, which has been a success in places like Taiwan and Singapore.

Will the system change? As the plight of stranded Australians stretches on, calls for change are increasing. The India ban and criminalisation of returning citizens has also sparked alarm and outrage. Many have raised human rights criticisms. But many who've been stuck overseas for months believe their pleas will be ignored. Polling throughout the pandemic has shown broad support among Australians at home for keeping the borders shut. And when community fear has been highest, during quarantine outbreaks and lockdowns, there have even been public debates about blocking Australians from returning altogether. In those periods, such as in Western Australia's recent lockdown, politicians have also sought to attribute blame to individuals, rather than scrutinise the faults of quarantine. For people like Mr Sharma, who travelled to India to mourn his father's death, the lack of compassion and community solidarity is dispiriting. "It's really devastating to see when people on social media say: 'Just let them stay there'. What kind of thing is that to say about a fellow Australian?"

^ No country should be allowed to ban their own citizens from returning home. That is when the country has gone from a stable Democracy to an unstable Dictatorship. I can understand enforcing a very strict quarantine (one a Military Base or Guarded Hotel) and even putting foot trackers on the returning citizens before they are allowed off the plane. I can not understand banning your own citizens. The true test of a country, it’s government and its’ people is how they handle an emergency. Apparently, the Australian Government prefers rich, foreign celebrities over Australian Citizens. Australia is completely in the wrong by doing this and the world and history will judge them harshly because of it. ^

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-56924188

Let's Be Real

From Yahoo:

“Fox’s ‘Let’s Be Real’ Tackles Disney+ With The Puppet Version Of ‘The Mandalorian’”

Fox’s Let’s Be Real sketch comedy returns tonight with four new episodes featuring new puppets from entertainment and politics. Executive produced and written by Robert Smigel (Triumph The Insult Comic Dog), the new series will debut new puppets Dr. Anthony Fauci, Governor Andrew Cuomo, Senator Ted Cruz, Kim Kardashian and LeBron James. Previously featured puppets, such as President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, former President Donald J. Trump, former Vice President Mike Pence and Kanye West also will appear, as the satirical comedy series will cover politics and pop culture in 2021 through topical sketches, celebrity cameos and remote pieces.

Let’s Be Real is produced by Fox Alternative Entertainment and Propagate Content. Smigel serves as writer and executive producer on the series. Anna Wenger is an executive producer on behalf of Fox Alternative Entertainment; Ben Silverman, Howard T. Owens, Kevin Healy and Greg Lipstone are executive producers on behalf of Propagate Content; Gerald-Brice Viret for Canal+; while Arnaud Renard and Matthieu Porte of Can’t Stop Media also executive-produce. Brian Reich and Andrew Weinberg serve as writers and co-executive producers. The show is based on the Canal+ format, Les Guignols.

^ I saw last night’s episode. It was very funny. ^

https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/fox-let-real-tackles-disney-050054415.html

Bomba Day

 

World War 2 bombs are found throughout Europe and Asia every year.

When they are found in Axis Countries (Germany, Italy, Japan, Hungary, France, etc.) it is a good reminder to the Germans, the Italians, the Japanese, etc. of what horrible things their country and their Parents, Grandparents and Great-Grandparents did - especially with so many now trying to play the victims.

When they are found in Allied Countries (the UK, the US, Malta, etc.) or when it affects US Soldiers and their families stationed in Germany, Italy, Japan, etc. it is a good reminder of what their country and their Parents, Grandparents and Great-Grandparents ("The Greatest Generation") did and the sacrifices made.

In both circumstances it is best if the bomb/bombs are removed safely. 

Vicenza, Italy is home to American Soldiers and their Families. This is the Facebook Post from the US Army Italy Garrison:

BOMBA Day: It’s Sunday, May 2. Avoid downtown Vicenza.

Italian experts will remove a WWII bomb at Contra Mure Pallamaio. The surrounding area is being evacuated.

 For community members living in downtown Vicenza, the city will shut off gas on May 1 at 2 p.m., The outage, which will affect gas for cooking, hot water and heating, may last until late Sunday evening. Also, early Sunday morning, electricity within the evacuation area - 450 meters of the WWII bomb - will be shut off. Telecommunication services will also be affected. Residents living the evacuation area have been notified.

Host nation officials expect to complete the operation by 3 p.m., and restore utilities to the affected area. Any delays on the operation will be communicated via garrison channels.

 Members of the Vicenza Military Community must avoid the downtown area on Sunday, May 2.

 On Caserma Ederle, the USO will be open Sunday. The Arena bowling center opens at 9 a.m., with bowling, games and activities.

For more information, visit the USAG Italy website:

 https://home.army.mil/.../Garrison/public-affairs/bomba-day

For more information, visit the Vicenza Town Website (in Italian): 

https://www.comune.vicenza.it/uffici/cms/bombaday/

US Cuts Moscow Services

From the MT:

“U.S. Embassy to Cut Staff, Most Visas for Russians as Moscow Bans ‘Unfriendly’ Hiring”

The U.S. Embassy in Moscow said Friday it will cut most visa services for Russians and eliminate non-emergency consular services for Americans from next month following Moscow’s hiring ban on “unfriendly” countries. The move means 75% of consular staff will lose their jobs.

Russian President Vladimir Putin last week capped the number of Russians allowed to work in “unfriendly” countries’ embassies, or banning their employment entirely. Russia’s Foreign Ministry has indicated that the United States, which was involved in tit-for-tat diplomatic expulsions as recently as this month, is at the top of the “unfriendly” list. “Effective May 12, U.S. Embassy Moscow will reduce consular services offered to include only emergency U.S. citizen services” and emergency immigrant visas, the embassy said in a statement. “Embassy Moscow will not offer routine notarial services, Consular Reports of Birth Abroad, or renewal passport services for the foreseeable future,” it specified.  “Non-immigrant visa processing for non-diplomatic travel will cease.” The mission urged U.S. citizens with expiring visas to leave the country by June 15 or start the needed paperwork at the Russian Interior Ministry to remain there legally.

Coming amid a flurry of diplomatic expulsions over accusations of election interference and Russian involvement in deadly explosions, Putin’s decree signed last Friday orders the government to draw up a list of “unfriendly” states subject to the restrictions. Russian state media leaked a draft list of the “unfriendly” countries throughout the week. “We regret that the actions of the Russian government have forced us to reduce our consular work force by 75%, and will endeavor to offer to U.S. citizens as many services as possible,” the Embassy said. Its announcement comes a month after Moscow became the only working U.S. diplomatic mission in Russia as the U.S. slashed operations at its consulates in Russia’s fourth-largest city of Yekaterinburg and the Far Eastern port of Vladivostok.

^ This is being done because Putin is trying to push focus away from what he is doing inside Russia, inside Ukraine and around the world. ^

https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2021/04/30/us-embassy-to-cut-staff-most-visas-for-russians-as-moscow-bans-unfriendly-hiring-a73792

Veteran Priority

From Military.com:

“Veteran-Owned Food Businesses Get Priority In New Cash Assistance Program”

A new economic assistance program for food service operators will begin accepting registrations on April 30, 2021, and for the first three weeks, veterans will be given priority treatment. The Restaurant Revitalization Fund, part of the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, will be administered by the Small Business Administration (SBA) and provide economic assistance to food service owners affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. The program will provide business owners with direct cash grants to make up for losses they may have suffered because of the numerous state and local government-imposed COVID-19 shutdowns and other economic factors that may have affected their business operations.

Registration begins at 9 a.m. April 30, with applications being accepted until noon May 3. Applications from businesses owned by veterans, women and socially or economically disadvantaged individuals will receive priority handling for the first 21 days of the program. After that, all applications will be processed in the order received. The program will continue until its $9.5 billion in funding is gone. While the program is being implemented and administered by the Small Business Administration, there is no limitation on the number of employees an eligible business can have. Two other assistance programs created by the federal government last year to help small businesses affected by the COVID-19 pandemic ran out of funding in record time. Those programs had much more funding but were not limited to food service enterprises. The new program will provide direct cash payments for pandemic-related revenue losses to eligible food service businesses including: Restaurants; Food stands, food trucks and food carts; Caterers; Bars, saloons, lounges and taverns; Snack and nonalcoholic beverage bars; Bakeries whose onsite sales comprise at least 33% of gross receipts; Breweries, brewpubs, tasting rooms, taprooms, wineries and distilleries whose onsite sales comprise at least 33% of gross receipts; Inns whose onsite sales comprise at least 33% of gross receipts; and Licensed alcohol producers that allow the public to taste, sample, or purchase products.

There is a limit of $10 million in funding per business. The money does not have to be repaid as long as it is used in accordance with regulations. "Restaurants are the core of our neighborhoods and propel economic activity on main streets across the nation," SBA administrator Isabella Casillas Guzman said in a press release. "They are among the businesses that have been hardest hit and need support to survive this pandemic. We want restaurants to know that help is here."

^ I’m glad that Veterans were given priority for this. ^

https://www.military.com/daily-news/2021/04/29/veteran-owned-food-businesses-get-priority-new-cash-assistance-program.html

Elder Adoption

From the CBC:

“This couple 'adopted' their elder friend, and now they live as a family”

When Marike Finlay and her partner, Karin Cope, decided to leave Quebec and move to the Nova Scotia coast, they asked their older friend, Elisabeth Bigras: "Why don't you come?" "We asked Elisabeth to think about it, and Karin and I thought about it very seriously," said Finlay, who was mindful of the 20-year age gap between them and their friend. "We knew that if we were inviting Elisabeth to come and retire here with us, that meant that we were committing to be with her throughout her old age," she told The Current.

The couple worked as professors at McGill University, where Finlay met Bigras through the older woman's late husband, Julien. When he died, the women became closer friends, going on sailing trips that took them along Canada's East Coast.  Those trips prompted Finlay and Cope to move to the coast and invite Bigras along. She said yes, and 20 years later, she's never regretted the decision. "It was wonderful," said Bigras, now 86. "It was exactly what I would have wished." The women share a household in West Quoddy, N.S., and though they initially split their finances 50/50, they've adjusted over the years in line with who has more money available. The house has been arranged to provide privacy when it's needed, but the women cook together, eat together and spend their time together much the way any family would.  Bigras, who had a career as a psychiatrist in Quebec, never had children of her own. As Bigras has gotten older, Finlay thinks their choice to "adopt" her has given her the support she needs and kept their friendship strong. "If Elisabeth weren't with us now, she would have to be in assisted living," Finlay said.

Getting older sometimes 'about loss' As the years have passed, Bigras says she's realized that "old age is a lot about loss." "First friends because they died, beloved ones … and then I lost my hearing; I lost music. And that was a terrible thing," she said. Bigras gave up her driver's licence and cooks at home less often — aside from some of her specialities, such as "canard à l'orange." But she's found other hobbies to fill the time, including photography. "If you can work to find inside yourself what fascinates you, what you can have a passion for, it helps a lot," she said. Her photography has led to some frights when the three go for hikes. Sometimes, Cope says she and Finlay will go ahead while leaving Bigras to rest along the trail. When they return, they'll often find her sprawled on the ground.  "We're completely freaked out, 'Oh, my God, what's happened to her? She's dying! She's dead!' " Cope said. Invariably, Bigras is just taking a close-up picture of something she's found on the ground.

'It takes a village to keep an elder' Finlay and Cope think their own blood relatives don't quite understand the life they've built with Bigras, but the local community has come to "an understanding very quickly that we are a family." Cope's own parents live outside Canada. As a result, she says Elisabeth is the elder she turns to for wisdom and as a model for how to age.  "This is the elder that I love, who is first in my heart, who I will commit myself to seeing to the end of her days." Finlay thinks their story shows an alternative to elder care, and said it "beats putting them in the old age home." "Maybe it takes a village also to keep an elder, not just to raise a child," she said. The pandemic has exposed devastating shortcomings in how Canada provides care for its elderly population, with harrowing stories of neglect and soaring death tolls in long term-care homes as the virus burned through those facilities.  In Quebec, a coroner's inquest into long-term care deaths is underway, while Ontario's auditor general released a report Wednesday saying the sector was not "prepared or equipped" for the pandemic. Long-term care residents account for almost half of the nearly 8,000 Ontarians who have died of COVID-19.  Finlay wants to see more help from all levels of government to make it feasible for other Canadians to care for elders in their own homes, and said that could include monetary incentives.  "I think it costs thousands of dollars to keep somebody in an old-age home, whereas it would be hundreds of dollars of incentives to try to say, 'Let's try and keep the elderly in households, in families,' " she said. "It sure might be an incentive for a lot of other families to entertain this possibility."

^ This is such a heart-warming story. I have always believed in helping others (friends, family and strangers) and have often invited my Grandmother and Great-Aunt to come live with me – they didn’t want to leave New York so I call and check-in on them every week. ^

https://www.cbc.ca/radio/thecurrent/the-current-for-april-29-2021-1.6006852/this-couple-adopted-their-elder-friend-and-now-they-live-as-a-family-1.6006947

Friday!

 

UK Supplies Territories

From the BBC:

“Covid: How the UK has been getting jabs to remote territories”

When UK government ministers pledged to inoculate all British adults by the autumn, they may not have been thinking about people living in some of the world's most remote places. And yet, since early January, by plane, ship and - in one case - supermarket freezer truck, that's exactly what's been happening. Officials say 250,000 vaccine doses have already been administered to adults in 11 of the 14 British Overseas Territories. Some of those places, like Gibraltar, Bermuda and the Cayman Islands, are easy to reach. Others require epic journeys.

A mission to supply the 200 citizens of the gloriously named Edinburgh of the Seven Seas, on the volcanic island of Tristan da Cunha, was a case in point. The island, in the middle of the South Atlantic, is described as the most remote permanent settlement on earth. Perhaps not surprisingly, it has yet to record a single case of Covid-19, but with rudimentary facilities and its nearest neighbour more than 1,500 miles away, an outbreak on the island could have proved disastrous. The Ministry of Defence says a six-day operation this month has successfully delivered enough Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine for the outcrop's adult population. To get it there, an RAF Voyager aircraft flew 8,000 miles from Brize Norton in Oxfordshire to the Falkland Islands, before handing off its precious cargo to HMS Forth, which then sailed 2,000 miles more to reach Tristan da Cunha. It is the first time the Royal Navy has transported vaccines, with crew members tasked to keep a regular check on the specialised fridges used to store them.

An even longer journey began late on Wednesday evening to supply vaccines to the 47 residents of the Pitcairn Islands, on the other side of the world. This time, the doses are being flown from Heathrow to Auckland, New Zealand. After a three-hour road trip to the port of Tauranga, the cargo will be transferred to the supply vessel Silver Supporter for a two-week journey to the archipelago, deep in the Southern Pacific. Bryan Richmond of Crown Agents, which is working alongside the government to ensure all British Overseas Territories are reached, said this has been a hugely challenging global operation, involving shifting travel corridors and contingency plans for Covid outbreaks, tropical storms and grounded planes. To say nothing of the need to keep vaccines at the correct temperature throughout their complex journeys. "I think we built a new global supply chain from scratch," he said. For government officials involved in the programme, it's clearly been a source of pride. "It's not very often you get to do something as a dull, grey, boring civil servant in Whitehall that actually makes people universally happy," one senior FCDO official said, on condition of anonymity. The vaccine rollout, he said, was "a potent symbol of what being an overseas territory means".

 The 14 Overseas Territories, which also include Ascension Island, South Georgia and several Caribbean islands, are home to around 250,000 people, the vast majority of them British passport holders. Some of them are a long way from anywhere. "St Helena is so remote we sent Napoleon to die there," the official quipped, noting that next week marks the 200th anniversary of the former French emperor's death in exile. But remoteness, he said, would not have been an excuse for inaction. "It would have been inexplicable if we had not looked after our British communities around the world," he said. There was improvising along the way. One Crown Agents driver was told to stay with his truck overnight when he found that the designated warehouse at a UK airport storage facility was closed. In the Turks and Caicos, a supermarket cold chain van was commandeered to get the vaccines to hospital. And a pet dog was bumped off a British Airways flight to the Caribbean when it emerged that vaccines and pets can't be transported in the same hold. Officials say they are more than halfway through the rollout. In the Caribbean, speed is of the essence. "We're in a race against time to get people vaccinated before the hurricane season hits," the senior official said. That means getting everyone vaccinated before June. This could be challenging. While some territories are moving fast - Gibraltar, the Falklands, St Helena and Ascension Island have all administered a dose to more than 90% of the adult population - others, especially in the Caribbean and western Atlantic, are lagging far behind.

Montserrat and the British Virgin Islands are both at around the 40% mark, due to high levels of vaccine hesitancy and the remoteness of some archipelagos.

In Turks and Caicos, public information campaigns have been launched in English, Spanish and Creole.

In Gibraltar, where almost 100 people have died and infections peaked over the new year period, the vaccine drive is almost over. With one new infection in the past fortnight, officials are hailing Gibraltar as an example of how well the vaccine is working.

^ Getting vaccines to the different, remote British Territories is definitely not easy and requires a lot of hard work and planning to get it done. It is amazing, though, how successful it has been (although I do feel sorry for the pet dog that was bumped from his flight.) ^

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-56923016

Biden's 100 Facts

From the BBC:

“President Biden's first 100 days as president fact-checked”

Joe Biden has spent his first 100 days as US president focusing on a series of issues facing the country - from immigration and the economy to Covid and the climate. On Wednesday evening ahead of this milestone, the president addressed a joint session of Congress. We've fact-checked some of the claims he made during this speech and his first months in office.

Joe Biden: 'We'll have provided over 220m Covid shots in 100 days' This target, given in his speech to Congress, is an increase on previous goals - and has been achieved. When he took office in January, President Biden pledged 100 million vaccine doses in his first 100 days. At the end of March he doubled that commitment. At the time he said: "I know it's ambitious - twice our original goal. But no other country in the world has even come close, not even close, to what we are doing." The US has so far delivered a total of 235 million vaccine doses according to the US Centers for Disease Control (CDC). Around 16 million of these were given during the Trump administration, which means that around 220 million have been delivered during Mr Biden's first 100 days in in office. But the US still lags behind some other countries when comparing the number of jabs done relative to the size of the population. Israel leads in terms of vaccinating its population against the virus, followed by the United Kingdom and then the US.

Joe Biden: 'Over 11 million undocumented folks - the vast majority overstaying visas' In his address to Congress, President Biden made the point that most of the undocumented people living in the US initially came into the country legally on visas, which have then expired. Mr Biden has recently faced criticism over a surge in illegal migration over the US southern border with Mexico. Although in some recent years more people have overstayed visas than have been apprehended crossing the southern border, it's not true that this is the case overall. A study by the Center for Migration Studies of New York found that visa overstays "significantly exceeded" border-crossing migrations for between 2010-2017. But experts say this isn't the the trend over previous decades, and in 2019 (the latest data available) there were 676,422 people who overstayed their visas, compared with 977,509 people apprehended at the border.

Joe Biden: An increase in border migration 'happens every year... in the winter months'

The number fluctuates widely - but there is not always a significant increase during the winter months. At a press conference in March, he said: "There is a significant increase in the number of people coming to the border in the winter months of January, February, March. It happens every year." The US Customs and Border Protection agency releases monthly figures on the number of "encounters" at the south-west land border. In January and February 2021, 78,442 and 100,441 people were encountered - a significant increase on the figures for the same two months in the previous year, which were each just over 36,000. Since President Biden made the claim, the count for March has been released - 172,331, the highest in recent years. In 2020, encounters at the border fell slightly between January and March. In 2018, they remained relatively steady.

Joe Biden: '1.3m new jobs... more jobs in the first 100 days than any president on record'

This is another claim President Biden made during his address to Congress. Since January, the US economy has added 1,384,000 jobs, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. It's true that's the most jobs created in the first 100 days of any presidency since records began. April's job numbers are yet to be published, so the number of jobs created in President Biden's first three months in office is likely to rise further. This year's job growth follows unemployment hitting the highest level since the Great Depression of the 1930s in April last year - when more than 22 million jobs were lost over two months. The economy has continued to bounce back from the pandemic under President Biden, having gained more than 13 million during Donald Trump's final nine months in office.

Joe Biden: 'America represents less than 15% of the world's emissions'

This is correct in terms of carbon emissions - the US produces just under 15% of the global total. President Biden said this during his address to Congress as well as at the recent climate summit, where he encouraged the largest economies to work together to tackle global warming. China produces by far the most carbon emissions overall, following its rapid economic growth over the past couple of decades. The US is the next largest emitter, although its carbon emissions have been steadily declining in recent years. When you look at emissions per person, the US produces considerably more CO2 than China and many other rich countries, and well over the global average. It generates the most per head for a country of its population size.

Joe Biden: 'It's sick - deciding that you're going to end voting at five o'clock [in Georgia], when working people are just getting off work' It is not true that voting now has to finish at 17:00, as stated on several occasions by President Biden. A controversial new election law in the US state of Georgia led to heated disagreement over its impact on voting, which we fact-checked previously. The law allows counties to set voting hours anywhere between 07:00 and 19:00 for early voting or on election day, as was the case previously. It stipulates the hours required as a minimum on election day, saying: "Voting shall be conducted beginning at 09:00 and ending at 17:00". That's pretty much unchanged because "during normal business hours" was the minimum requirement under the old law, widely interpreted as 9am-5pm. For early voting, the new law is similarly more explicit, with minimum voting hours up until 5pm set as the default position but with the flexibility of ending at 7pm. Critics have called the new language more restrictive.

Joe Biden: 'As you know, the fastest-growing population in the US is Hispanic'

This is not right. Hispanic Americans actually represent the second fastest growing demographic over the past two decades, after Asian Americans. President Biden made this claim when addressing the Mexican president in March. The Asian American population grew 81% between 2000 and 2019, from about 10.5 million to almost 19 million, according to Pew Research Center analysis of the latest US census data. The Hispanic American population grew by 70% during the same period, to more than 60 million.

^ You can clearly tell Biden is a career Politician since he doesn't always state the facts. While he has done a good job dealing with Covid he hasn't on all the other issues the US has to deal with. He sent Harris up to New Hampshire - on the Canadian Border-  last week to talk about his Transportation Bill when she should be down at the Mexican Border dealing with the 1,653,931 (676,422 illegal visa overstays and 977,509 illegals at the US-Mexico Border.) Maybe they both just aren't good with US Geography and think NH borders Mexico and not Canada or maybe they just don't have a clue of what they are doing - or both. ^

https://www.bbc.com/news/56901183

Michael Collins

From the BBC:

“Apollo 11 astronaut Michael Collins dies at 90”

Michael Collins - one of the three crew members of the first manned mission to the Moon, Apollo 11 in 1969 - has died aged 90, his family say. He died on Wednesday after "a valiant battle with cancer. He spent his final days peacefully, with his family by his side," they said. Collins had stayed in lunar orbit as his colleagues Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walked on the Moon. Aldrin, 91, is now the only surviving member of the mission. Paying tribute to Collins, Aldrin wrote in a tweet: "Dear Mike, Wherever you have been or will be, you will always have the Fire to Carry us deftly to new heights and to the future. We will miss you. May you Rest In Peace."

'We felt the weight of the world on our shoulders' In a statement, the Collins family said that "Mike always faced the challenges of life with grace and humility, and faced this, his final challenge, the same way". "We will miss him terribly. Yet we also know how lucky Mike felt to have lived the life he did. "We will honour his wish for us to celebrate, not mourn, that life." On 16 July 2019, Collins visited Florida's Kennedy Space Center - the site where the mission had set off exactly 50 years earlier. Speaking at launchpad 39A - where the crew's rocket began the historic mission - he described how he felt during take-off. "The shockwave from the rocket power hits you," Collins told Nasa TV. "Your whole body is shaking. This gives you an entirely... different concept of what power really means." "You're suspended in the cockpit... as you lift off," he continued. "From then on it's a quieter, more rational, silent ride all the way to the Moon. "We crew felt the weight of the world on our shoulders, we knew that everyone would be looking at us, friend or foe."

Unsung hero of the first Moon landing Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin garnered most of the attention for the historic first Moon landing in 1969. But their crewmate, Michael Collins, was just as important for the success of the mission. As the command module pilot, Collins stayed in lunar orbit while Neil and Buzz bounded across the surface. But he performed crucial manoeuvres in space that were needed to get to the Moon. He was sanguine about others getting the glory: "I certainly thought that I did not have the best seat of the three," he said. "But I can say in all honesty, I was thrilled with the seat that I did have." After leaving Nasa, he had a brief spell in politics, but later retired to Florida, where he painted and wrote. Despite joining Twitter in 2019, at the age of 88, he admitted that he never really enjoyed the spotlight of public life. But his name will live on, as a new generation of astronauts prepares to return to the Moon in the next few years, following the trail blazed by Collins and the other pioneers of Apollo.

What was the Apollo 11 mission? On 16 July 1969, Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins were strapped into their Apollo spacecraft on top of the vast Saturn V rocket and were propelled into orbit in just over 11 minutes. Four days later, Armstrong and Aldrin became the first humans to set foot on the lunar surface. Collins remained in the command module throughout the mission. Armstrong's words, beamed to the world by TV, entered history: "That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind." About 400,000 people worked on the programme, at a cost at the time of $25bn. The crew returned to Earth and splashed down in the Pacific Ocean on 24 July. An estimated 650 million people worldwide watched the Moon landing. For the US, the achievement helped it demonstrate its power to a world audience.

^ If you think you are forgotten just think of Collins. Most people do not even remember he was in space during the 1969 Moon Landing - since he didn't actually land on the Moon. He still deserves our respect. ^

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-56921562

Vaccine Envy

 From CBC:

“Vaccine envy: Why can't Canada make COVID-19 doses at home?”

With the third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic raging on, the demand for vaccine doses continues to outstrip Canada's relatively thin supply. Canada's domestic vaccine manufacturing capability has been hollowed out, leaving the country entirely dependent on foreign sources for the doses that promise an eventual return to normal life. When the pandemic began, Canada — unlike many other countries — lacked a facility that could be retooled easily to produce the viral vector COVID-19 vaccines from AstraZeneca or Johnson & Johnson, or the mRNA products offered by Pfizer and Moderna.

The nation's vaccination campaign has improved in recent weeks after a slow start marred by production delays and missed deliveries. Canada is now performing better than most other countries in the G20 but it's still being outpaced by at least two other countries: the United Kingdom and the United States.  An estimated 231 million vaccine doses have been administered so far in the U.S. and 37 per cent of the American adult population has been fully vaccinated with two doses. Among people over the age of 18, 54 per cent of Americans have had at least one dose. In the U.K., more than 47 million doses have been deployed and 64 per cent of all Britons have had at least one dose. Canada has fully vaccinated just three per cent of its population — a low figure explained in part by the long interval between shots — while 30 per cent have had at least one shot. The two countries that easily outpaced Canada's vaccination effort have one thing in common: they have homegrown pharmaceutical companies that make their own products at domestic facilities — a bulwark against the vaccine nationalism that has disrupted global supply chains.  Canadians have noticed. CBC News has received hundreds of emails and comments from readers about vaccine production in recent weeks. "Why doesn't Canada have its own vaccine? Are we always to rely on the USA for everything?" Tim Williams asked in one comment on our website. "Why has Canada fallen short behind our allies and the rest of the world with research and innovation?" "Why on earth do we not make our own vaccine for Canadians? Even the Russians and Chinese did it. This incompetency and low level IQ is killing me more than the virus," Meredith Rodney Mckay said in another comment.

Here are some answers to the questions CBC News has received from viewers, listeners and readers.

Did we ever have large-scale vaccine manufacturing capacity in Canada?

Absolutely. Connaught Laboratories — founded in 1914 by Dr. John G. FitzGerald as the Anti-Toxin Laboratories at the University of Toronto — was at the forefront of global vaccine development for decades. FitzGerald started his enterprise in a horse barn, using animals saved from the glue factory. There he churned out diphtheria treatments for the country's poor. The laboratory grew dramatically during the First World War when it started producing a steady supply of low-cost tetanus shots for Canadian soldiers. After Frederick Banting and Charles Best discovered insulin in 1921, Connaught offered lab space and funds to the Nobel Prize-winning researchers to continue their groundbreaking work. Connaught produced large quantities of insulin, a breakthrough treatment for diabetes. Connaught also would be central to the worldwide effort to eradicate common childhood diseases like polio after the Second World War.

While the polio vaccine was discovered by American medical researcher Jonas Salk, Connaught was the first lab to safely produce it in bulk using techniques developed by Canadian researchers, according to Dr. Earl Brown, a professor emeritus at the University of Ottawa's school of medicine and an expert in virology and microbiology. "This was the beginning of the heyday of vaccines," Brown said, adding that Connaught would also become a leading producer of the smallpox vaccine. "They had a lot of successes and, as a result, infectious diseases were down so much. The war was declared won in the 1960s and the concern about vaccines waned," he told CBC News. "The market for vaccines was on the decline and it was never a very lucrative market to begin with." Connaught was in a "financially weak position" when then-prime minister Pierre Trudeau nationalized the operation in the 1970s, Brown said. As a Crown corporation, the lab was pushed to make a profit rather than focus on research and development efforts — and the enterprise was surpassed by other pharmaceutical companies with deeper pockets, Brown said. "They lost their market share and then along came the Conservatives and they sold it off," he said. The company, with its sprawling production facility in Toronto, was privatized by then-prime minister Brian Mulroney in the late 1980s. While the sale was widely criticized at the time, the government said it would deliver a "net benefit" to Canadians. The French pharmaceutical giant now known as Sanofi controls what's left of Connaught. Another major Canadian vaccine operation, Institut Armand Frappier, started at McGill University in Montreal. It produced the DPT vaccine for diphtheria, whooping cough and tetanus, a tuberculosis vaccine and penicillin. After decades of success, that institute was also sold off in the 1990s to a company now known as GSK, which is based in the U.K.

Is there anything left of those companies? Sanofi, one of the largest vaccine makers in the world, continues to operate the Connaught campus in Toronto, where it produces the diphtheria and tetanus vaccines. The Canadian operation also packages the polio vaccine using material from the company's French factories. Most of those shots are destined for countries abroad. The facility couldn't easily be retooled now to tackle COVID-19, Brown said. "They really don't have any culture of animal cell lines going here in Canada," he said of the material needed to make some of the COVID-19 vaccines. And with so many of its current products on the World Health Organization's list of essential medicines, Sanofi couldn't retool the Toronto plant to focus on COVID-19 alone — not when its vaccines are needed to address other health concerns. (A recent $415-million federal investment will expand Sanofi's production capacity for future pandemics.) "That's where we were when the pandemic struck. It's really too bad we lost our onshore vaccine production ability while we're the middle of a health crisis," Brown said.

GSK, commonly known as GlaxoSmithKline, is Canada's largest biopharmaceutical employer and maintains a production site in Ste-Foy, Que. According to the company, that plant supplies roughly 75 per cent of the country's influenza vaccine each year. By an odd coincidence, the two companies with major operations in Canada, GSK and Sanofi, co-developed a COVID-19 vaccine product but announced a "delay" last year after it failed to produce sufficient results in clinical trials. Canada approached some companies — notably AstraZeneca — asking them to make their products here. Brown said those companies likely rejected Canada's appeals because of the country's "dicey" pharmaceutical landscape. He said federal health policy typically favours generic drug manufacturers, which make cheaper varieties of products that are no longer patent-protected. As a result, he added, research-intensive pharmaceutical companies are reluctant to invest in Canada. Brown said Canada should have "nurtured the industry better than it did." "There wasn't an urgency to deal with infectious diseases because it wasn't really a burden — until now," he said. "The U.S. and the U.K. started at a much better point than us. They had many more vaccine facilities ready. They did have to retrofit some facilities but they were working from a much stronger base of technology."

So where does that leave us now? To lessen Canada's dependence on foreign pharmaceutical production — "We never want to be caught short again," Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said last fall — the government has announced millions of dollars in new spending to build a new vaccine production plant at the National Research Council's Royalmount facility in Montreal. When making the announcement in August, Trudeau said the NRC facility could produce 250,000 shots a month starting in November 2020 — but there have been construction delays due to the complexity involved in building this sort of site. The NRC's failed partnership with China-based firm CanSino also disrupted Canadian efforts to produce a vaccine at this facility. In February, the government announced a partnership with the Maryland-based company Novavax to produce its promising COVID-19 vaccine at this government-owned plant. But the first Canadian-made Novavax vials won't be produced until the end of this year at the earliest — well after the point when every Canadian is supposed to be inoculated against COVID-19, according to the federal government's timeline. A spokesperson for the National Research Council (NRC) told CBC News "construction for the biologics manufacturing centre, which is happening at an accelerated rate, is proceeding very well and is on schedule to be completed by end of July 2021." "Novavax and the NRC are working closely together to prepare for the production of the vaccine ... once the vaccine candidate and the facility and the production process itself receive the required Health Canada approvals," the spokesperson said. While this facility will be useful if COVID-19 booster shots are required, Brown said, "it's an investment that we won't see the benefit of for a year-plus." Novavax hasn't yet secured regulatory approval from any jurisdiction — but early clinical trial data suggest the company's shot is highly effective against COVID-19. Health Canada regulators are reviewing that data on a rolling basis — a company can submit information as soon as it becomes available — and a final decision could be made as soon as this summer.

What about Medicago — is it producing a vaccine? The federal government is spending $173 million to help Quebec City-based Medicago develop a COVID-19 vaccine and build a large plant to produce it. The vaccine is now in the third and final stage of clinical trial testing. A relatively new player — the company has been privately held since 2013 — Medicago has partnered with GSK to help launch the product. Unlike the other COVID-19 vaccines that have been authorized for use, Medicago's vaccine uses virus-like particles which mimic the structure of the coronavirus. "Before launching a vaccine, it is essential to test its safety and efficacy during clinical trials," a spokesperson for the company said. "While standard vaccine development timelines can take five to 20 years, we plan to submit a COVID-19 vaccine to health authorities for regulatory reviews in 2021."

^ It’s nice to know Canada once did what was necessary to protect Canadians (by making Vaccines in Canada), but that doesn’t not help Canada right now. Canada has become a very prosperous country that now has to beg other countries (like the US) to give them Covid Vaccines. It is a really sad state to see Ottawa having to beg, but the Canadian Government and other factors put Canada into this situation and now they have to get Canada out of it – even with a 3^rd Surge on-going. ^

https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/domestic-vaccine-manufacturing-canada-1.6004427

REAL ID Extension

From News Nation:

“US will delay enforcing ‘Real ID’ rules until May 2023”

The U.S. Homeland Security Department confirmed on Tuesday it will delay enforcement of rules requiring Americans to get new identification cards in order to board airplanes or enter a federal building by another 19 months until May 3, 2023. The department in March 2020 had extended the “REAL ID” deadline until October 2021 because of the COVID-19 pandemic that prompted many states to suspend issuing new driver licenses. Congress in 2005 approved federal standards for issuing identification cards but enforcement has been repeatedly delayed.

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro N. Mayorkas said the pandemic has significantly impacted states’ ability to issue REAL ID-compliant driver’s licenses and identification cards, with many driver’s licensing agencies still operating at limited capacity. “As our country continues to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, extending the REAL ID full enforcement deadline will give states needed time to reopen their driver’s licensing operations and ensure their residents can obtain a REAL ID-compliant license or identification card,” Mayorkas said.

Starting in May 2023, every air traveler 18 years of age and older will need a REAL ID-compliant driver’s license or identification card to get on an airplane. DHS said only 43% of all state-issued driver’s licenses and identification cards are currently REAL ID-compliant. DHS and various states also need time to implement requirements, including changes that will streamline processing by allowing the electronic submission of certain documents. The Transportation Security Administration is evaluating the operational, security and privacy impacts of using biometrics to verify identity instead of manual identity document checks.

^ It makes sense to extend the REAL ID deadline. ^

https://www.newsnationnow.com/us-news/us-will-delay-enforcing-real-id-rules-until-may-2023/

Charles French

 From Military.com:

“Navy May Recognize Black WWII Sailor Who Towed Wounded Shipmates Through Shark-Infested Waters”

A movement is gaining steam to recognize a heroic Black sailor from World War II, who towed a raftload of wounded shipmates through shark-infested waters after their ship was sunk in 1942. Social media posts over the weekend began highlighting the story of Petty Officer 1st Class Charles Jackson French of Foreman, Arkansas, who became a national hero after the destroyer Gregory was sunk Sept. 5, 1942, by Japanese warships near Guadalcanal.

Author and Navy veteran Malcolm Nance got the service's attention Sunday when he tagged several official accounts in a Twitter post about French. Navy Chief of Information Rear Adm. Charles Brown retweeted the post, thanking Nance for highlighting French's "heroic story" and promising to work with Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Michael Gilday to see whether the service could do anything more to recognize the sailor. A Change.org petition also was started Monday, urging Congress and President Joe Biden to posthumously award French the Medal of Honor. Roughly 15 survivors of the Gregory, some injured, were gathered in a life raft. If they floated ashore, an ensign on the raft later said, they would be taken as prisoners of war, according to an article on the International Swimming Hall of Fame's website.

That's when French -- a 22-year-old sailor in the racially segregated messman branch -- volunteered to tow them to safety, the article states. The ensign told French the plan was crazy, that they were surrounded by sharks and he would only get himself killed. But French said he wasn't afraid. He pulled off his clothes, had his shipmates help tie a rope around his waist, and dove into the water. He was a powerful swimmer and towed the raft for somewhere between six and eight hours throughout the night, until a landing craft discovered and rescued them. After he began swimming, he soon encountered sharks. "I got the hell scared outta me," French told Chester Wright, author of the 2009 book "Black Men and Blue Water," in an interview after the Korean War. "I nearly peed on myself when one of them sharks [touched] my feet. I [just] froze and tried to surface and float, [get] my feet outta the water."

After the rescued ensign recounted the story to The Associated Press and on the radio, French became nationally known as the "Human Tugboat." He received a hero's welcome in his sister's hometown of Omaha, Nebraska. His story was retold in comic strips and trading cards, and he traveled the country to help sell war bonds before enthusiastic crowds. But the only official recognition he received came in the form of a 1943 letter of commendation from Southern Pacific Fleet commander Adm. William Halsey, according to the Swimming Hall of Fame article. Halsey's letter praised French for his "meritorious conduct in action," which he said "was in keeping with the highest traditions of the Naval Service." Though the survivors felt French deserved a Medal of Honor or at least a Silver Star, the Swimming Hall of Fame story states, he never received either.

In his interview with Wright, French described the intense racism he encountered, even after he helped save his shipmates. After they were rescued, French said, the master at arms at a rest camp tried to order him to stay in a segregated section with other Black troops. But French said white shipmates from the Gregory, including some of the sailors on the raft he had towed, objected and said, "He ain't going nowhere!" French's white shipmates engaged in a nearly five-minute standoff with the master at arms and his subordinates, making it clear they weren't going to let them take French away. "He is a member of the Gregory's crew, and he damned well will stay right here with the rest of us," French said one of his shipmates demanded. "Anybody who tries to take him anywhere had [better] be ready to go to 'general quarters' [ready to fight] with all of us." The master at arms looked at the crew of the Gregory -- still filthy, covered with oil and grime, and looking like "wildmen," French said -- and backed down. As he spoke years after the incident, French was still overcome by emotion at the memory, Wright wrote. "French's shoulder shook, [and] tears coursed down his cheeks," he wrote. "And all the author could get from him was, 'Them white boys stood up for me.'" According to Wright, French suffered from alcoholism during his later years. He died in 1956 in San Diego, at age 37. "From close questioning of friends, it would appear that he returned from the Pacific Wars 'stressed out' from seeing too much death and destruction," Wright wrote.

^ French should receive recognition for his heroism. He would have back in World War 2 if it wasn’t for racism. ^

https://www.military.com/daily-news/2021/04/27/navy-may-recognize-black-wwii-sailor-who-towed-wounded-shipmates-through-shark-infested-waters.html

TSA Improving

From Disability.com:

“TSA To Improve Screening For Travelers With Disabilities”

The Transportation Security Administration is set to start implementing new staff training and screening procedures to better serve individuals with disabilities as they make their way through airports across the country. Beginning as soon as May, the TSA says that it will educate its officers to look for designations on driver’s licenses and other state identification cards denoting that a person has a disability that may pose a communication barrier. Several states have updated their laws recently to allow people with disabilities to add what’s known as a “communication impediment designation” in order to alert law enforcement officers of potential issues. U.S. Rep. Dan Kildee, D-Mich., and 11 other lawmakers reached out to the TSA late last year to ask the agency to train its officers on the new driver’s license notations. “We are updating applicable trainings to ensure that all (Transportation Security Officers) are aware of communication impediment designations and expect to deliver the updated training to the TSOs as early as May 2021,” wrote the TSA’s Darby LaJoye in a response to Kildee. LaJoye said the TSA is also “discussing the possibility” of integrating communication impediment designations into its credential authentication technology which allows agents to retrieve pertinent information about a traveler by scanning their identification card. “We are committed to helping individuals with disabilities navigate the travel screening process and to ensuring that all passengers, regardless of their personal situations and needs, are treated with dignity, respect and courtesy,” LaJoye wrote. “I agree that the communication impediment designation could be a useful tool for TSA as we continuously work to improve the travel screening process for individuals with disabilities.”

^ I think this is a very smart and good idea (to train or re-train TSA about disabilities.) I also think every State should give the option of having a Disability Indicator on their Driver’s License or Non-Driving ID in the same way a Military Veteran can have a Veteran Indicator Icon put on their IDs. ^

https://www.disabilityscoop.com/2021/04/27/tsa-to-improve-screening-for-travelers-with-disabilities/29309/

Masking Change

From Reuters:

“CDC says many Americans can now go outside without a mask”

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention eased its guidelines Tuesday on the wearing of masks outdoors, saying fully vaccinated Americans don't need to cover their faces anymore unless they are in a big crowd of strangers. And those who are unvaccinated can go outside without masks in some situations, too. The new guidance represents another carefully calibrated step on the road back to normal from the coronavirus outbreak that has killed over 570,000 people in U.S. For most of the past year, the CDC had been advising Americans to wear masks outdoors if they are within 6 feet of one another. “Today, I hope, is a day when we can take another step back to the normalcy of before,” CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said. “Over the past year, we have spent a lot of time telling Americans what you can’t do. Today, I am going to tell you some of the things you can do, if you are fully vaccinated."

The change comes as more than half of U.S. adults have gotten at least one dose of coronavirus vaccine, and more than a third have been fully vaccinated. Walensky said the decision was driven by rising vaccination numbers; declines in COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and deaths; and research showing that less than 10% of documented instances of transmission of the virus happened outdoors. Dr. Mike Saag, an infectious disease expert at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, welcomed the change in guidance. “It’s the return of freedom,” Saag said. “It’s the return of us being able to do normal activities again. We’re not there yet, but we’re on the exit ramp. And that’s a beautiful thing.” More people need to be vaccinated, and concerns persist about variants and other possible shifts in the epidemic. But Saag said the new guidance is a sensible reward following the development and distribution of effective vaccines and about 140 million Americans stepping forward to get their shots.

The CDC, which has been cautious in its guidance during the crisis, essentially endorsed what many Americans have already been doing over the past several weeks. The CDC says that fully vaccinated or not, people do not have to wear masks outdoors when they walk, bike or run alone or with members of their household. They can also go maskless in small outdoor gatherings with fully vaccinated people. But from there, the CDC has differing guidance for people who are fully vaccinated and those who are not. Unvaccinated people — defined by the CDC as those who have yet to receive both doses of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine or the one-shot Johnson & Johnson formula — should wear masks at outdoor gatherings that include other unvaccinated people. They also should keep using masks at outdoor restaurants. Fully vaccinated people do not need to cover up in those situations, the CDC says. However, everyone should keep wearing masks at crowded outdoor events such as concerts or sporting events, the CDC says. And the agency continues to recommend masks at indoor public places, such as hair salons, restaurants, shopping centers, gyms, museums and movie theaters, saying that is still the safer course even for vaccinated people. “Right now it’s very hard to tease apart who is vaccinated,” Walensky explained. She said the CDC guidance should be a model for states in setting their mask-wearing requirements. Dr. Babak Javid, a physician-scientist at the University of California, San Francisco, said the new CDC guidance is sensible. “In the vast majority of outdoor scenarios, transmission risk is low,” Javid said. Javid has favored outdoor mask-wearing requirements because he believes they increase indoor mask-wearing, but he said Americans can understand the relative risks and make good decisions. He added: “I'm looking forward to mask-free existence.” “The timing is right because we now have a fair amount of data about the scenarios where transmission occurs,” said Mercedes Carnethon, a professor and vice chair of preventive medicine at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago. What’s more, she said, “the additional freedoms may serve as a motivator” for people to get vaccinated.

^ I see the majority of Americans reading or hearing these new recommendations and simply understanding that they do not have to wear a mask outdoors if they are fully vaccinated. I don’t see them stopping and thinking about how many people there are or all the other factors. ^

https://news.yahoo.com/cdc-says-many-americans-now-161757278.html

Masters Of The Air

From Military.com:

“‘Band of Brothers’ Sequel ‘Masters of the Air’ Has Finally Started Production”

“Masters of the Air,” announced as an Apple TV+ production over 18 months ago, has finally, officially begun filming, according to an Instagram post from director Cary Fukunaga. The very expensive production is rumored to have a $250 million budget for its 10 episodes, and filming the kind of big-scale war action featured here was impossible during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic. Fukunaga should be considered an expert on coronavirus delays. He directed “No Time to Die,” the upcoming James Bond movie that was the first big title delayed in spring 2020. The movie first went to Thanksgiving 2020, then to April 2021 and now it’s landed on Oct. 8, 2021. Let’s hope that one holds.

Based on Donald L. Miller's 2006 history, "Masters of the Air: America's Bomber Boys Who Fought the Air War Against Nazi Germany," the series was developed originally for HBO as the third program in a trilogy with “Band of Brothers” (2001) and “The Pacific” (2010). HBO execs supposedly balked at the price tag, and Apple swooped in to make the financial commitment. The series was written by John Orloff and Graham Yost, who both worked on “Band of Brothers.” Yost has since found success as a writer and producer for “Justified” and “The Americans.”

Fukunaga posted a photo on his Instagram to celebrate the end of the first week of filming. The production is codenamed “Whirlwind,” and the image appears to feature lead actor Austin Butler, who first made an impression as Charles Manson follower Tex Watson in Quentin Tarantino’s “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.” Butler recently completed filming the lead role in Baz Luhrman’s upcoming biography of Army veteran Elvis Presley. Butler is playing real-life pilot Major Gale Cleven, who served with the 100th Bomb Group and was commander of the 350th Bomb Squadron during World War II. Spoiler: Cleven was shot down over Germany in 1943, but he survived the war and lived to the age of 87. Capturing or creating realistic air combat is perhaps the greatest challenge in war movies, harder than naval battles and infinitely more difficult than tank action. “Masters of the Air” represents a huge swing for the producers, so fingers crossed that this one connects. Whether you're looking for news and entertainment, thinking of joining the military or keeping up with military life and benefits, Military.com has you covered. Subscribe to the Military.com newsletter to have military news, updates and resources delivered straight to your inbox.

^ I really liked “Band of Brothers.” “The Pacific” was good. I really hope this new show will be just as good, if not better. ^

https://www.military.com/off-duty/television/2021/04/26/band-of-brothers-sequel-masters-of-air-has-finally-started-production.html

US Worker Shortage

From News Nation:

“Need a job? Tourist destinations vying for workers ahead of summer”

The owner of seafood restaurants on Cape Cod has eliminated lunch service and delayed the opening of some locations because his summertime influx of foreign workers hasn’t arrived yet. More than a thousand miles away, a Jamaican couple is fretting about whether the rest of their extended family can join them for the seasonal migration to the popular beach destination south of Boston that’s been a crucial lifeline for them for decades. As vaccinated Americans start to get comfortable traveling again, popular summer destinations are anticipating a busy season. But hotel, restaurant, and retail store owners warn that staffing shortages exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic could force them to limit occupancy, curtail hours and services or shut down facilities entirely just as they’re starting to bounce back from a grim year.

The problem, they say, is twofold: The annual influx of seasonal foreign workers has stalled in places because of the pandemic. Businesses have also struggled to attract U.S. workers, even as many have redoubled their efforts to hire locally amid high unemployment. “It’s the ‘Hunger Games’ for these employers, fighting for getting these guest workers into the country while also trying everything they can to recruit domestically,” said Brian Crawford, an executive vice president for the American Hotel and Lodging Association, a Washington, D.C.-based industry group. “It’s really frustrating. They’re trying to regain their footing after this disastrous pandemic but they just can’t catch a break.” Earlier this month, President Joe Biden let expire a controversial ban on temporary worker visas such as the J-1 program for students and the H-2B program for nonagricultural laborers imposed by former President Donald Trump. But American embassies and consulates remain closed or severely short-staffed in many countries. The U.S. has also imposed restrictions on travelers from countries including the United Kingdom, Ireland, Brazil and South Africa because of the emergence of new virus variants or rising COVID-19 cases. Advocates for the J-1 program, which brings in about 300,000 foreign students annually, urged the State Department in a letter Thursday to exempt the applicants from the travel bans and provide other relief so they can start their summer jobs. Ilir Zherka, head of the Alliance for International Exchange, which sent the letter along with more than 500 supporting groups and companies, argued the J-1 program doesn’t just benefit local economies, but also helps strengthen national security by promoting understanding and appreciation of U.S. culture. Supporters of the H-2B program, meanwhile, have renewed their call to overhaul the program, which is capped at 66,000 visas per fiscal year. The Biden administration, citing the summer demand from employers, said Tuesday it will approve an additional 22,000 H-2B visas, but lawmakers from New England and other regions that rely on the visas for tourism, landscaping, forestry, fish processing and other seasonal trades say that’s still inadequate. “That’s infinitesimal. It isn’t anywhere close to the need,” said Congressman Bill Keating, a Democrat representing Cape Cod.

Cem Küçükgenç, a 22-year-old engineering student at Middle East Technical University in Turkey, is among thousands of foreign students worldwide awaiting approval for a J-1 visa. He’s slated to work at a waterfront restaurant in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, this summer, but the U.S. Embassy in Ankara recently announced that it won’t be unable to process temporary work visas in time for the summer season. Turkey has imposed a partial lockdown as the coronavirus surges there, but Küçükgenç is still holding out hope the embassy might relent if virus cases subside. “I graduate next year,” he said. “I’m not sure when I’ll have another chance.” In Jamaica, Freda Powell says she and her husband have secured their H-2B visas and will arrive on Cape Cod, where they’ve worked in retail stores and restaurants for roughly 20 summers now, in early May. But the 55-year-old worries her siblings and other relatives might not be so lucky. The U.S. Embassy in Kingston has temporarily halted visa processing because of rising COVID-19 cases in her country, she says. “In Jamaica, you can work, but it’s hand to mouth,” Powell said. “With the money you make in the U.S., you can buy a car, fix the house, send your kids to school and build savings.” The uncertainty around international hires has forced American businesses to redouble their efforts to hire domestically or make tough compromises until reinforcements can arrive. In New Hampshire’s White Mountains, the Christmas-themed amusement park Santa’s Village is promising college students free housing and utilities. In California’s Sonoma Valley, business leaders in the famous winemaking region are exploring the idea of pooling employees, among other workforce initiatives. Mark Bodenhamer, head of the Sonoma Valley Chamber of Commerce, said a restaurant that serves breakfast and lunch could possibly share employees with one that does the majority of its business during evening hours. “Those solutions are complicated and costly,” he said. “But at this point, it’s all hands on deck.” In North Carolina’s Outer Banks, the tourist season is already in full swing, but staff shortages abound, according to Karen Brown, head of the beach region’s chamber of commerce. Some restaurants have been forced to shut down once a week or halt curbside service, while in some hotels, managers are helping maids turn over rooms, she said. “Everyone is pitching in where they can just to keep the wheels on the bus,” Brown said. Mac Hay, who owns seafood restaurants and markets on Cape Cod, is among the business owners who have their doubts that extra efforts to hire American workers will pay off. On a given year, he estimates about a third of his 350-person summer workforce ultimately has to come from seasonal visa workers from Mexico, Jamaica and elsewhere when the jobs aren’t filled locally. Hay argues the foreign workers are the “backbone kitchen staff” — the line cooks, food prep workers and dishwashers — who make it possible for him to hire Americans for jobs they’re seeking, such as waiting tables, bartending and management. “We simply won’t be able to meet demand without an increased workforce,” he said. Business owners and experts say there are myriad reasons why U.S. citizens aren’t rushing to respond to the job boom, from COVID-19-related worries to child care issues or simply a decision to collect unemployment benefits, which have been increased and extended through the summer season in most places. But the need for international workers on Cape Cod — where soaring housing costs have been a major barrier to generating a substantial homegrown workforce — boils down to a simple math problem, Hay said. Provincetown, a popular gay resort community at the very tip of the cape, has just 2,200 year-round residents, yet restaurants like Hay’s employ about 2,000 workers in high season alone. “We’re on a dead-end street up here, basically,” he said. “There’s no one else coming.”

^ I live in a touristy area and they have a major worker shortage too. ^

https://www.newsnationnow.com/business/need-a-job-tourist-destinations-vying-for-workers-ahead-of-summer/

Germany's June Timeline

 From the DW:

“Merkel: Germany to let everyone apply for vaccine by June”

Germany will end vaccine prioritization by June at the latest, allowing everyone to apply for their jabs, said Angela Merkel. However, this "does not mean that everyone can then be vaccinated immediately."  Germany will be doing away with vaccine prioritization by age group by June, Chancellor Angela Merkel said after discussing the vaccination drive with the heads of Germany's 16 states on Monday. "This does not mean that everyone can then be vaccinated immediately," Merkel said. "But then everyone can apply for a vaccination appointment, and they will then be given one according to the supply," the chancellor added. Merkel also cautioned that Germany could expect a difficult social debate if only part of the population is vaccinated as those who get the jabs could ultimately crave more freedoms.  "We will enter a transition phase that will not be easy," she warned. "We have to deal with this question very sensitively."

Moves to relax measures for vaccine recipients The chancellor said the German government was looking at relaxing curbs for people who are fully vaccinated against COVID-19. Citing a study from the country's official Robert Koch Institute, Merkel said  that fully vaccinated people and those who have recovered, "no longer pose a relevant infection danger." She said people who have received both jabs should "obviously" be authorized to get a haircut or go into a shop without having to provide a negative coronavirus test, and be exempt from quarantining after contact with an infected person. Those who can prove they have recovered from a coronavirus infection, for example by showing a positive PCR test that is at least 28 days old, should also have the right, she said.  Merkel did not comment on when the relaxations might be introduced but said the government would prepare a decree setting out its proposals, which will then be discussed in the Bundestag. Concerning the resumption of tourism activities during summer, such as the reopening of hotels, Merkel said that it was too early to comment.  "I can't say today. That depends on the course of what we're doing right now," she said, stressing that much more effort to combat the coronavirus was still needed.

How is the vaccination drive going? A month ago, the German government's pledge that everyone who wants a vaccine will get one by July seemed like an impossible fantasy. Barely a few hundred thousand people were receiving a dose each day, vaccine supply was in disarray and many people were not taking up appointments when invited.  Now, the vaccine program seems to be running much more smoothly, with supply chains more reliable and between 500,000 and 700,000 doses administered every day. Over 23% of the population have received their first dose and 7% have had two shots, around double the number at the start of April.  So when Health Minister Jens Spahn announced last week that everyone in Germany could be offered the vaccine by June, many saw the goal as feasible.  Also high on Monday's summit agenda is the proposal from the justice ministry that those who have been vaccinated or who were already infected should be granted "freedoms" from restrictions and be treated like people who have a negative test result.

Who has been vaccinated so far?  One of the most contentious issues in Germany right now is whether the prioritization of certain groups should be lifted.  In late 2020, even before vaccines were available, Germany published a list of four priority groups:  The first group includes people over 80 and those who work in high-risk professions, mainly in the medical sector; The second group consists of people aged between 70 and 80, younger people with a range of pre-existing medical conditions, and those who have contact with high-risk people; The third group includes people aged 60 to 70 and non-medical front-line workers such as supermarket employees and kindergarten teachers, and the fourth group includes all other adults.  While progress in Germany varies from state to state, most of the country is currently injecting the second or third priority group.

Why are some people not getting vaccinated?  But part of the problem with the prioritization plan in Germany is that some people who have been invited to be vaccinated are not responding. In the city-state of Berlin, for example, only around two-thirds of people who have been invited to schedule a vaccination appointment have taken up the offer.  Even though it is not compulsory to get a vaccine in Germany, most surveys show that up to 75% of the population say they will accept a vaccine if offered one. This number has slowly risen since the vaccine rollout began at the end of December. But the German press has cited other reasons for the sluggish vaccine take-up, including the difficult or complicated booking procedures and the excessive paperwork required ahead of appointments at the vaccine centers.  Since the beginning of April, general practitioners and doctors in big companies have also begun administering vaccines, which has sped up the process.

Which vaccines are available?  Most of the vaccines administered in Germany are produced by BioNTech-Pfizer, with a smaller proportion of Moderna and AstraZeneca vaccines available. Negotiations for the purchase of other vaccines are underway. Ongoing controversy around the British-Swedish AstraZeneca vaccine has made many people nervous. Use of the AstraZeneca vaccine was briefly halted in Germany and several other EU countries in March when reports of blood clots emerged, despite the European Medical Authority recommending that the benefits outweighed the risks.  Currently, AstraZeneca is only recommended to those over 60 in Germany, although several states have urged adults of any age to accept AstraZeneca, so long as they have consulted a doctor, to stop the doses potentially going to waste.  But despite the statistically negligible health risks, AstraZeneca remains less popular in Germany. Chancellor Angela Merkel was vaccinated with AstraZeneca earlier in April, in what many saw as a publicity move to promote the vaccine's safety.

Germany in line with EU The EU as a whole is "confident" of achieving "herd immunity by the summer." Most scientists say at least 70% of the population needs to be vaccinated for this to be achievable.  After squabbles over purchases of personal protective equipment during the first wave of the pandemic last spring, EU countries agreed to make a joint effort in procuring vaccine doses. But this approach backfired earlier in the year when the EU initially focused on purchasing vaccines rather than producing them, which applied particularly to AstraZeneca. The EU announced on Monday it will seek legal action against AstraZeneca because of delivery delays. This vaccine is mostly produced in the UK, but according to the deal AstraZeneca struck with the UK government, domestic supplies had to be fulfilled first. This is part of the reason why the UK is so much further ahead than the EU in vaccine rollout, with over half the population having received one jab and 17% having received two: The country does not export many vaccine doses. The EU, meanwhile, has exported up to half of the BioNTech-Pfizer vaccine produced in EU factories. The upshot of all of this is that the EU as a whole had fewer vaccine supplies to go around, angering many people as the third wave of the pandemic continues to rage across the continent. But AstraZeneca and other suppliers have now sped up production and supply chains are more stable. Germany's 7% of fully vaccinated adults is around average in the EU. Malta is leading the way: 20% of its population has received both doses. In Hungary, which controversially approved the Russian Sputnik vaccine, around 16% of adults are fully protected. In France, Ireland, and Italy around 8% of adults have been fully vaccinated, while Bulgaria and Latvia have given two doses to less than 2% of people. While you're here: Every Tuesday, DW editors round up what is happening in German politics and society, with an eye toward understanding this year’s elections and beyond. You can sign up here for the weekly email newsletter Berlin Briefing, to stay on top of developments as Germany enters the post-Merkel era.

^ Germany (like the rest of the EU) is behind the US in its Covid Vaccination Program. They really need to step things up. ^

https://www.dw.com/en/merkel-germany-to-let-everyone-apply-for-vaccine-by-june/a-57336653