Friday, December 25, 2020

In The News (26)

Trump Tries to Kill Covid Relief Is it ignorance, or is it cynicism? ........... A bipartisan group of senators seemed close to agreement on a Covid relief bill that would fall far short of what we should be doing, but would be much better than nothing. Then the lame-duck Trump administration intervened — destructively. ...............  the issue isn’t stimulus, it’s disaster relief. ........... What should this relief involve? It should provide support for the unavoidably unemployed, sustain businesses through the dark months ahead and aid state and local governments that are suffering severe declines in revenues and that will otherwise be forced to make drastic cuts in essential services. And no, this last problem isn’t restricted to blue states. In fact, six of the seven states expected to face the biggest revenue declines have Republican governors. ............... It is, sad to say, entirely possible that, nine months into the pandemic slump, administration officials still don’t understand the basic logic of relief. Or they may be in thrall to the thoroughly debunked myth that unemployment benefits actually cause high unemployment.   


When a Family Is Fractured For most people, estrangements and family rifts are a source of chronic stress that threatens “mental, social and physical well-being.”

Return of the Phony Deficit Hawks Suddenly, Republicans are pretending to care about debt. .......... Making a deal that only provides enhanced benefits for 10 weeks is like building a bridge that goes only a quarter of the way across a chasm. 

The Next 3 Months Are Going to Be Pure Hell Lessons from Lewis and Clark on living through the darkest days and longest nights. 

Can We Do Twice as Many Vaccinations as We Thought? Data suggests significant protection even without a second shot. If studies prove that’s true, it could be a game changer.  .............. Both vaccines are supposed to be administered in two doses, a prime and a booster, 21 days apart for Pfizer and 28 days for Moderna. However, in data provided to the F.D.A., there are clues for a tantalizing possibility: that even a single dose may provide significant levels of protection against the disease.  






The W.T.O. Is Having a Midlife Crisis Fixing the global trading system means first coming to grips with why it is broken. ........  The emerging package was expected to include direct payments of $600 for American families and children — half the amount of the stimulus checks issued last spring — as well as an extension of more generous unemployment programs.  

Congress hits a new snag on Covid relief bill as shutdown deadline looms Top Senate Republican Mitch McConnell said he remains "optimistic" that a deal is close.  .......  Congressional leaders had settled on a $900 billion framework midweek that is expected to include a $300 federal unemployment bonus, a new round of direct payments, small business funding and money to distribute Covid-19 vaccines.  

Missing stimulus check money: How to claim the Recovery Rebate Credit on your taxes The deadline to file for a missing stimulus check this year has passed, but you can still claim your payment as Recovery Rebate Credit on your taxes in 2021.   

Lawmakers Resolve Fed Dispute as They Race to Close Stimulus Deal Top senators appeared to strike an agreement on the central bank’s lending powers as they struggled to clear away the last sticking points in the $900 billion compromise plan. .........  the emergency plan to rush direct payments, unemployment benefits and food and rental assistance to millions of Americans, as well as provide relief to businesses and funds for vaccine distribution ...........  The emerging deal would send direct payments of $600 to many Americans and provide enhanced federal jobless payments of $300 per week until early spring.   

The Coronavirus Is Mutating. What Does That Mean for Us? Officials in Britain and South Africa claim new variants are more easily transmitted. There’s a lot more to the story, scientists say. ............ Prime Minister Boris Johnson imposed the country’s most stringent lockdown since March ...........  Train stations in London filled with crowds of people scrambling to leave the city as the restrictions went into effect. On Sunday, European countries began closing their borders to travelers from the United Kingdom, hoping to shut out the new iteration of the pathogen. ........... That virus has been found in up to 90 percent of the samples whose genetic sequences have been analyzed in South Africa since mid-November. .......... Researchers have recorded thousands of tiny modifications in the genetic material of the coronavirus as it has hopscotched across the world. .............. as it becomes more difficult for the pathogen to survive — because of vaccinations and growing immunity in human populations — researchers also expect the virus to gain useful mutations enabling it to spread more easily or to escape detection by the immune system. ............... 70 percent more transmissible ...........  concern that the virus might evolve to become resistant to the vaccines just now rolling out. The worries are focused on a pair of alterations in the viral genetic code that may make it less vulnerable to certain antibodies ............. Gov. Andrew Cuomo of New York asked the Trump administration to consider banning flights from Britain. ........ “This thing’s transmitting, it’s acquiring, it’s adapting all the time,” said Dr. Ravindra Gupta, a virologist at the University of Cambridge, who last week detailed the deletion’s recurrent emergence and spread. “But people don’t want to hear what we say, which is: This virus will mutate.” ................ Scientists routinely monitor mutations in flu viruses in order to update vaccines, and should do the same for the coronavirus 

George Clooney on ‘The Midnight Sky’ and Donald Trump His new movie is on Netflix, but the actor-director says theaters won’t go away and Hollywood will be fine. He’s not so sure about Washington. 

Are We Ready to Laugh About Covid-19? A British Sitcom Hopes So With ‘Pandemonium,’ the BBC is betting that an audience will find humor in reliving the ordeals of a very awful year.  ........  At first, Paul’s mother, Sue, won’t take the virus seriously, exasperating her son. She also refuses to join in nationwide applause for National Health Service workers on Thursday nights. “Clapping?” she asks Paul, outraged at the thought. “After they cancel my hip replacement? Are you mad? I’m the only one on my street booing.”   

Alec Baldwin, Leah Remini and more stars react to Tom Cruise’s coronavirus outbursts Ex-Scientologist Remini questioned church member Cruise's sincerity on COVID-19   

United Helps to Contact Passengers After Possible Covid-19-Related Death on Flight The flight, United 591 from Orlando to Los Angeles, was diverted to New Orleans on Monday after a passenger had a medical emergency on board.


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