Come and take it 🐓

Friday, May 21, 2021
BY SARAH LAZARUS & CROOKED MEDIA


** -Louie Gohmert bragging about his SAT scores, as smart 67-year-olds frequently do
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The U.S. vaccine rollout is a little like a first-time marathon runner on Mile 23: It’s come shockingly far, especially when you consider that Fox News keeps jogging up with a baseball bat and whacking it in the knees, but the last few miles will not be the easiest.

* The current U.S. coronavirus outlook is overwhelmingly sunny. More than 60 percent of American adults have received at least one vaccine shot ([link removed]) , and as a result, daily infections, hospitalizations, and deaths have reached their lowest rates since the pandemic took hold. The average pace of daily vaccinations has fallen nearly 50 percent ([link removed]) from the peak jab frenzy in April, but the pace started ticking back up ([link removed]) over the past week, and over half-a-million kids received their first dose ([link removed]) within their first week of eligibility.

* That said, there’s still some work to do. Vaccination rate disparities have persisted ([link removed]) between regions, states, and urban and rural areas, worrying health experts about possible outbreaks emerging in clusters of unvaccinated people. The Biden administration has just over six weeks to hit President Biden’s goal of vaccinating 70 percent of Americans with at least one dose by the Fourth of July—a threshold that would keep the risk of a surge later in the year extremely low ([link removed]) , according to Anthony Fauci.

* To get there, the White House and state leaders have rolled out a slate of initiatives aimed both at combating vaccine hesitancy and expanding access to harder-to-reach Americans. You’ve heard of lottery incentives ([link removed]) and things like the Bill de Blasio French Fry Experience ([link removed]) ; on Friday, the Biden administration announced a partnership with dating apps ([link removed]) to harness the incentivizing power of horny, vaccinated singles in your area. “We have finally found the one thing that makes us all more attractive: a vaccination,” said Reluctant White House Sex Ed Teacher Andy Slavitt.

The bells and whistles designed to lure holdouts to vaccination sites have yielded results ([link removed]) , but just as important are the efforts to meet people where they are.

* Public-health officials around the country have ramped up the use of mobile vaccine units ([link removed]) to expand access for homeless populations, rural communities, farm workers, and anyone else without the time, resources, or transportation to easily find an appointment. In New York City, health officials have encouraged community groups to start going door-to-door ([link removed]) to persuade people to sign up for nearby appointments, and have hired a few companies to do the same.

* Policies at colleges and private companies could also help get us over the finish line. More than 380 colleges—mostly in blue states—have announced vaccine mandates ([link removed]) for at least some students or faculty. While most employers have backed away from requiring vaccinations (in some states, because GOP governors have banned it), a number of the largest employers in the country have begun offering monetary incentives ([link removed]) or on-site clinics.



It bears repeating that the fight against vaccine hesitancy is a high-class problem: Americans are now being bribed to take a life-saving vaccine that millions of people around the world can’t yet access. Lotteries and dating app badges don’t mean much without continued efforts to expand vaccine access ([link removed]) in the developing world—the marathon isn't over when the U.S. hits its goal.

This week on ALL CAPS, Jason Concepcion breaks down key moments from the NBA Play-In game between the Lakers & Golden State and Pod Save America co-host Tommy Vietor joins the show to get roasted for being a Boston Celtics fan. Did he came prepared? Watch to find out! ([link removed])
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The ceasefire between Israel and Hamas has held for the moment ([link removed]) , but heightened tensions in Jerusalem immediately underscored its fragility. Israeli police raided the al-Aqsa Mosque compound on Friday, using stun grenades and rubber bullets against Palestinians outside the mosque where thousands of people had gathered for Friday prayers. Police also reportedly attacked journalists with batons and ignored their press cards. An Israeli police spokesman said the officers were responding to a crowd of Palestianians throwing rocks at police forces. It’s a reminder that the truce itself, while celebrated on all sides, doesn’t address the underlying injustices and tensions that led up to the violence in the first place. For more detail on how the ceasefire came about, this is an interesting breakdown
([link removed]) of the Biden administration’s efforts behind the scenes.
* The White House offered Republicans an infrastructure counteroffer ([link removed]) that would bring the total cost of the American Jobs Plan down from $2.25 trillion to $1.7 trillion, and Republicans immediately rejected it. Some Democrats are getting anxious to stop wasting time ([link removed]) and go it alone.

* Rep. Liz Cheney’s (R-WY) primary challenger Anthony Bouchard statutorily raped a 14-year-old girl when he was 18 ([link removed]) , leaving her pregnant, and described it thusly: “She was a little younger than me, so it's like the Romeo and Juliet story.” Anyway, this will mark the second time that Republicans rally around a repellant sex offender ([link removed]) out of obedience to (repellant sex offender) Donald Trump.

* On a related topic, Matt Gaetz’s ex-girlfriend has agreed to co-operate with federal investigators ([link removed]) , and texts between Joel Greenberg and a third Florida Man named “Big Joe” Ellicott could corroborate key evidence ([link removed]) in the probe.

* The WHO estimated that the real number of global coronavirus deaths is likely two-to-three times higher than countries have recorded in their official data ([link removed]) . In other words, the pandemic may have killed some six to eight million people.

* More than 70 Capitol Police officers have resigned or retired since January 6 ([link removed]) , according to their police union.

* Democrats’ Senate majority is hanging by a few elderly threads ([link removed]) , @JusticeStephenBreyer.

* Voice of America staffers have accused the outlet of ignoring the Ethiopian government’s potential war crimes ([link removed]) , alleging that the biased coverage goes back decades.

* The hedge fund Alden Global Capital, known for gutting newsrooms’ budgets and laying off journalists en masse for profit, has acquired the Tribune Publishing newspaper chain ([link removed]) . Journalists in those newsrooms had been scrambling to block the sale.

* Harry Reid UFO op-ed! ([link removed]) Harry Reid UFO op-ed!!!

* The CDC says to stop kissing your backyard chickens ([link removed]) , in the latest instance of Big Government trying to tell American Patriots which Filthy Salmonella Birds we are and are not allowed to kiss. Not on our watch.

Donald Trump has found a way to continue embezzling taxpayer money even after leaving office, charging the Secret Service more than $40,000 for rooms at Mar-a-Lago ([link removed]) since he moved there to golf and blog full-time. Those charges were for a single room that the agents used as a workspace. Former presidents (like sitting presidents) don’t typically charge the Secret Service rent—they’re already entitled to taxpayer-funded benefits like paid staff and a $219,000-per-year pension. While he was president, Trump’s properties charged the government more than $2.5 million. Considering that he’s all but announced his intention to run for president again, Democrats might want to alert the public that they’re currently paying extra to protect the grifter who sicced a violent mob on the Capitol.
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Pfizer and BioNTech ([link removed]) have pledged to deliver two billion vaccine doses to lower-income countries over the next year and a half.

More than one million households ([link removed]) have already enrolled in a new FCC program subsidizing broadband service.

The USDA ([link removed]) will begin sending loan forgiveness payments to thousands of minority farmers in June.

DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas ([link removed]) announced that the Biden administration will end ICE contracts with two facilities under federal investigation, including the infamous Irwin County Detention Center in Georgia.

President Biden ([link removed]) has signed legislation aimed at combating anti-Asian hate crimes, both by making hate crimes easier to report, and boosting the federal response.

Vermont ([link removed]) has enacted the nation’s first statewide ban on the use of toxic “forever chemicals” in certain products.

Maryland and New York ([link removed]) have joined Ohio in announcing lotteries for people who get vaccinated, an incentive that’s already driven up Ohio vaccination rates by more than 28 percent.

In 19 states ([link removed]) , at least half of adults are now fully vaccinated.
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