A suspect wanted by police in connection with seven homicides in northern Sumner County on Saturday has been taken into custody, according to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI).
Authorities located six homicide victims at a home in the 1100-block of Charles Brown Road near Westmoreland and one victim at a home in the 1500-block of Luby Brown Road, according to the TBI.
During the course of the investigation, authorities identified 25-year-old Michael Cummins as a suspect in both cases.
A coordinated search by law enforcement agencies from across the region eventually located Cummins in a creek bed approximately one mile from the first crime scene.
When Sumner County SWAT team members arrived, the situation escalated and resulted in at least one officer shooting Cummins in the leg, according to a TBI spokesman. Cummins was transported to a local hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. No one else was injured during the arrest.
Investigators are still working to determine Cummins’ relationships with the victims, according to the TBI.
No additional details about the homicides, including the identities of the victims, have been released.
São Paulo – The Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce has opened registration for companies interested in exhibiting at the Big 5, a construction fair due from November 17th to 20th in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The participation is promoted by the Arab Chamber alongside the Brazilian Export and Investment Promotion Agency (Apex-Brasil) and companies may register until the end of August.
Isaura Daniel/ANBA
Alaby (center) gave an overview of the Big 5
This Tuesday (22nd), the Arab Chamber’s CEO, Michel Alaby, presented the fair and its opportunities to housing and building industry delegates attending a meeting the with Apex, in São Paulo, to outline promotional actions for the industry. Attendees were thrilled with the location of the Brazilian stand in this edition of the Big 5, as the stand will be near the main entrance in the area of ornamental stones and rocks.
“It is a privileged location,” Alaby told representatives of organizations such as Anfacer, of ceramics and ceramic tiles, Abimovel, of the real estate sector, Abilux, which is comprised of lighting industry companies, Asbea, of architecture firms, National Plastics Institute and other organizations. Overall, around 20 people attended the meeting.
The Brazilian space can fit ten stands and seven are already sold. There are still three places/slots/openings, each with nine square meters. Prices to occupy a stand are US$ 3,320 (or R$ 7,400) for members of the Arab Chamber and US$ 4,742 (or R$ 10,571) for non-members. The value concerns only the participation in the fair and does not include travel and accommodation expenses.
The Big 5 is held in Dubai, but is a landmark for the entire region, and besides attracting importers from the Gulf Cooperation Council itself, it is attended by buyers from other parts of the world, such as Europe and the United States. Last year, Gulf countries imported US$ 20.4 billion in construction materials. Saudi Arabia alone, one of the main markets in the region, has US$ 1 trillion in ongoing or planned construction projects. The Emirates have US$ 727 billion.
Saudi Arabia is the main target of Brazilian construction material exports to the Gulf, according to Alaby, accounting for 23.3% of the total, followed by the Emirates. Last year, Arab countries imported US$ 3.7 billion worth of ornamental stones alone, and Brazil’s Big 5 stand will be located exactly in the ornamental stone area. The main suppliers to the Arabs in this segment are the Chinese, followed by the Italians and the Turkish.
Arab Chamber marketing analyst Daniela Yuri Tiba and Apex-Brasil project manager Rafael Gratão have also attended the meeting this Tuesday.
A través de una carta que circuló esta tarde, el prestigioso novelista también desmintió haber respondido a ningún tipo de entrevista para la publicación de editorial Perfil que dirige Jorge Fontevecchia.
“El quiosquero a quien le compro los diarios me hizo ver la tapa de la revista Noticias con mi foto en una serie semipolicial. Quiero aclarar que nunca he sido kirchnerista y por lo tanto, tampoco he dejado de serlo”, aseguró Piglia en su mail.
“Pero siempre, (y ahora más que nunca) he mirado con simpatía las medidas adoptadas por Néstor y Cristina Kirchner”, añadió.
El autor de “Plata quemada” y “Respiración artificial” continuó asegurando que si bien ya sabía “que casi todos los periodistas mienten”, recién en esta oportunidad se topó “con una evidencia personal”.
“Un tal Zunino llamó a mi casa y fue atendido por una amiga que cuando escuchó que hablaba de parte de la revista Noticias , le dijo que no teníamos ningún interés en hablar con esa publicación y le colgó”, prosiguió Piglia, en referencia al jefe de redacción de la revista Noticias.
“El tal Zunino volvió a llamar y dijo `Se cortó la comunicación` y mi amiga le contestó: `No, yo le corté`. Quizá por ese gesto, dedujo que yo era antikirchnerista”, añadió Piglia.
Irónico, el novelista finaliza su mail agregando en referencia al título de la portada de la revista que “en cuanto a los panqueques, prefiero los de dulce de leche”.
“Les pido a mis amigos que hagan conocer este mensaje”, concluye Piglia su correo electrónico.
La Gran Época le presenta un resumen de las principales noticias del día. En primer lugar, Corea del Norte estaría preparando una prueba nuclear para principios del próximo año, según advierten fuentes oficiales surcoreanas. Por otro lado, Donald Trump estaría considerando para integrar su gabinete a la primera mujer de origen latino. Siguen aumentando las cifras de muertos por la explosión de un mercado de pirotecnia en México. Miles de venezolanos cruzan a Colombia tras reapertura de frontera en busca de víveres y –por último- Vladimir Putin declara que no le darán respiro a los terroristas, en referencia al asesinato del embajador ruso en Turquía.
Seúl advierte prueba nuclear de Corea del Norte a comienzos de 2017
El Instituto para la Estrategia de la Seguridad Nacional de Corea del Sur (INSS, por sus siglas en inglés) anunció este miércoles que Corea del Norte podría elevar las tensiones a comienzos del próximo año con ensayos nucleares y de misiles.
“Se estima que el Norte intensifique el próximo año su intento para implementar las armas nucleares para su uso en combate mediante su sexta prueba nuclear y lanzamientos de misiles balísticos”, dijo el INSS en un informe, de acuerdo a Yonhap. “Es altamente posible, en la primera mitad del año, que las provocaciones (norcoreanas), incluido un ensayo nuclear junto con los lanzamientos de misiles, provoquen mayores confrontaciones”, añadió el reporte oficial.
Según la agencia surcoreana, el instituto expresó su preocupación de que las nuevas provocaciones norcoreanas den como resultado una mayor presión diplomática de parte de la entrante administración de Donald Trump, elevando las tensiones y provocando una nueva crisis nuclear en la región.
Empresaria de origen mexicano sería considerada por Trump para su gabinete
La empresaria de origen mexicano Jovita Carranza es considerada por el presidente electo de EE.UU., Donald Trump, para liderar la Oficina del Representante de Comercio Exterior del país (USTR), informó este martes Jason Miller, portavoz del equipo de transición del republicano.
Jovita Carranza creció en Chicago, Illinois, y se graduó de Negocios en la Universidad de Miami, Florida. Miller aseguró durante la habitual teleconferencia de prensa diaria que la hispana está “siendo considerada” para liderar USTR, una oficina con rango ministerial, responsable de desarrollar y recomendar la política comercial exterior de Estados Unidos al presidente del país.
Jovita Carranza. Foto: Wikimedia Commons
México: decenas de muertos y heridos en explosión en mercado de pirotecnia
Una terrible explosión en el mercado de pirotecnia más grande de México -San Pablito- dejó un saldo de al menos 31 muertos y decenas de heridos, según confirmó el gobernador del Estado de México, Eruviel Ávila y las cifras pueden seguir aumentando.
Según los medios de comunicación mexicanos, aproximadamente a las 14:50 hora local comenzaron a escucharse varias explosiones en el municipio de Tultepec, ubicado en la zona centro de México y las localidades cercanas. Minutos después, una nube de polvo generada por la explosión comenzó a desplazarse.
Hay consumidores y locatarios con heridas por quemaduras y por golpes producidos durante la estampida que siguió a la explosión.
Continúan paramédicos de Cruz Roja apoyando en la remoción de escombros tras el incendio en el mercado de #Tultepecpic.twitter.com/J3HTyb9osf
La Procuraduría General (PGR) notificó en un comunicado el inicio de una investigación para determinar qué causó el incendio que inició por “seis explosiones de pirotecnia”.
Miles de venezolanos cruzan a Colombia tras reapertura de frontera
Miles de venezolanos cruzaron este martes hacia Colombia por los pasos peatonales fronterizos que conectan las ciudades de San Antonio (Venezuela) y Cúcuta (Colombia), reabiertos tras ocho días de cierre debido a un colapso monetario y a la denuncia del presidente venezolano Nicolás Maduro sobre “mafias” en Cúcuta.
En una conversación telefónica, el lunes en la noche, los presidentes Nicolás Maduro y Juan Manuel Santos acordaron “abrir la frontera de manera progresiva, con estricta vigilancia y seguridad”, informó el ministro venezolano de Comunicación e Información, Ernesto Villegas.
La mayoría de los venezolanos cruzaron en búsqueda de víveres, ya que muchos establecimientos comerciales quedaron desabastecidos luego de los saqueos sufridos, en parte como consecuencia del caos social por la falta de billetes.
(Foto: GEORGE CASTELLANOS/AFP/Getty Images)
Putin declara que no le darán respiro a los terroristas
El presidente ruso, Vladimir Putin, afirmó este martes que la muerte de su embajador ruso en Turquía, Andrey Gennadievich Karlov, asesinado la víspera a tiros en un acto público en Ankara, es particularmente “muy dolorosa” para Rusia, informa la agencia Notimex citando como fuente a la agencia de noticias rusa Itar-tass.
“El embajador ruso Andrei Gennadievich Karlov fue vilmente asesinado ayer… Un acto que por supuesto es muy doloroso para nosotros”, afirmó Putin este martes en un discurso en un concierto en Moscú en el marco del Día Nacional del Agente de Seguridad del Estado.
Putin adelantó que el embajador asesinado, cuyo cuerpo se espera llegue este mismo martes a Moscú para sus funerales, será honrado con la medalla del estado y destacó que Karlov fue asesinado en el cumplimiento de su deber.
Washington (CNN)California Rep. Eric Swalwell — a recently announced Democratic presidential candidate — said Sunday his call for a ban on assault weapons was not a step toward broader gun bans.
Larry Mitchell Hopkins appears in a police booking photo taken in Las Cruces, N.M., on April 20. Hopkins made his initial court appearance Monday, on charges of possession of firearms by a felon.
Dona Ana County Detention Center/Reuters
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Dona Ana County Detention Center/Reuters
Larry Mitchell Hopkins appears in a police booking photo taken in Las Cruces, N.M., on April 20. Hopkins made his initial court appearance Monday, on charges of possession of firearms by a felon.
Dona Ana County Detention Center/Reuters
The alleged leader of an armed militia group that has intercepted and detained migrant families along the southern border in New Mexico was charged with federal firearms offenses on Monday.
Larry Mitchell Hopkins, 69, of Flora Vista, N.M., appeared in federal court in Las Cruces after his arrest on Saturday on charges of illegally possessing firearms as a felon.
A criminal complaint filed by the FBI states that Hopkins, also known as Johnny Horton Jr., was in possession of nine firearms and ammunition in his northern New Mexico home in Nov. 2017. He had three prior felony convictions dating back to 1996, including impersonating a peace officer in the state of Oregon in 2006, according to a press release issued by the U.S. Attorney’s office.
Hopkins’ arrest is not tied to his involvement with the border militia.
Reporter Mallory Falk of NPR member station KRWG toldAll Things Considered that Hopkins leads a group called United Constitutional Patriots:
“It’s a group of armed civilians often dressed in military fatigues. They’ve been camped out in Sunland Park, N.M., which is a small community very close to the U.S.-Mexico border. And they’ve been stopping migrant families that they’re encountering crossing the border who are trying to come into the U.S. to claim asylum. They’ve been stopping those families, telling them to sit on the ground, and then calling Border Patrol, and Border Patrol then comes in and apprehends those families.”
Hopkins’ attorney, Kelly O’Connell, told Falk that the militia group believes it is aiding an overstretched Border Patrol.
“They generally think that Border Patrol is spread too thin and that there are gaps in the system or there’s literal gaps in the fence,” said O’Connell. “They think they believe that they are helping to enforce the law of America.”
A spokesman for Customs and Border Protection, in an emailed statement, said “U.S. Customs and Border Protection does not endorse or condone private groups or organizations taking enforcement matters into their own hands. Interference by civilians in law enforcement matters could have public safety and legal consequences for all parties involved.”
Falk reported that federal officials are not commenting on the timing of the charges against Hopkins for offenses committed in Nov. 2017. But she said that his attorney suggested that state officials want to stop the group’s border activities and are using charges that are a year-and-a-half old to put pressure on them.
The FBI began investigating Hopkins after receiving reports that the United Constitutional Patriots were targeting Barack Obama, Hilary Clinton and George Soros for assassination.
Hopkins is no stranger to investigators who track right-wing activities. According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, Hopkins, using his pseudonym Horton, claims to have advised President Trump on border security.
Hopkins is expected to enter a plea of not guilty at a bond hearing next week in Albuquerque.
Hopkins faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in imprison if convicted.
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto faced fresh questions on Wednesday about his dealings with a company at the center of a conflict-of-interest scandal, after it emerged that he enjoyed rent-free use of a house belonging to the firm as a campaign office.
Already under pressure over the government’s handling of the presumed massacre of 43 students abducted by corrupt police in southwestern Mexico in September, Pena Nieto is facing his most difficult period since taking office two years ago.
On Nov. 3, the government announced a Chinese-led consortium had won a no bid contract to build a $3.75 billion high-speed rail link in central Mexico.
Three days later, the government abruptly canceled the deal, just before a report by news site Aristegui Noticias showed that a subsidiary of Grupo Higa, a company that formed part of the consortium and had won various previous contracts, owned the luxury house of first lady Angelica Rivera.
Under public pressure, Rivera said she would give up the house. But neither she nor Pena Nieto have addressed the apparent conflict of interest stemming from the government’s business with Grupo Higa.
On Wednesday, Aristegui Noticias published a new story that said Pena Nieto used a different property belonging to another Grupo Higa subsidiary as an office when he was president-elect in 2012.
Eduardo Sanchez, the president’s spokesman, said Pena Nieto unwittingly used the property. Sanchez said it was leased from the Grupo Higa firm by Humberto Castillejos, the president’s legal adviser, who lent it rent-free to Pena Nieto’s team.
“If I invite you to my house, do you come to my house and ask me under whose name it is? Neither does the president,” Sanchez said, denying there were conflicts of interest.
The spokesman also said there were no more properties Pena Nieto or his team had used belonging to Grupo Higa.
“No, there is no other house that was used in a professional capacity,” Sanchez said.
Castillejos could not immediately be reached for comment.
Jorge Luis Lavalle, a senator with the opposition conservative National Action Party, said the public saw a clear conflict of interest in the dealings of Pena Nieto and his government with Grupo Higa.
“It needs to be investigated. All these doubts need to be dispelled fully and clearly,” he said. “We now have another case with no explanation.”
The Seattle Times reported two women, a 65-year-old from Seattle and a 68-year-old from Enumclaw, both died of hyperthermia, meaning both bodies had become dangerously overheated, citing the King County Medical Examiner’s office.
The heat may have claimed the life of a worker on a nursery in Oregon, the state’s worker safety agency, known as Oregon OSHA. A 4-year-old boy also drowned Monday, the newspaper said.
Heat-related illness accounted for about 10% of all King County emergency room visits Monday. In total, 357 county residents visited emergency rooms for heat-related issues during the three heat wave.
With the temperature well over 100 degrees, Spokane, Wash., firefighter Sean Condon, left and Lt. Gabe Mills, assigned to the Alternative Response Unit of of Station 1, check on the welfare of a man in Mission Park in Spokane, Wash., Tuesday, June 29, 2021. The special fire unit, which responds to low priority calls, has been kept busy during this week’s heatwave. (Colin Mulvany/The Spokesman-Review via AP)
On Monday, 223 visits to emergency departments were made and emergency workers responded to 165 heat-related calls.
Officials in Bremerton, Washington, said heat may have contributed to four deaths in that Puget Sound city. But Vince Hlavaty, Bremerton’s medical officer, told the Kitsap Sun that firefighters cannot say definitively whether the heat was the cause of death.
The dangerous weather that gave Seattle and Portland consecutive days of record high temperatures exceeding 100 degrees was expected to ease in those cities. But inland Spokane saw temperatures spike.
The National Weather Service said the mercury reached 109 degrees in Spokane — the highest temperature ever recorded there.
A sign in the window of the Dick’s Drive-In in Seattle’s Capitol Hill neighborhood is shown Monday. The walk- and drive-up restaurant, which is not air-conditioned, closed early Sunday and all day Monday due to excessive heat. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)
President Joe Biden, during an infrastructure speech in Wisconsin, took note of the Northwest as he spoke about the need to be prepared for extreme weather.
“Anybody ever believe you’d turn on the news and see it’s 116 degrees in Portland Oregon? 116 degrees,” he said, working in a dig at those who cast doubt on the reality of climate change. “But don’t worry — there is no global warming because it’s just a figment of our imaginations.”
In western Washington state, residents were given a reprieve as temperatures dropped by as much as 40 degrees. In some corners, the temperature went from more than 100 degrees by 3 p.m. to the low 70s by 8 p.m., Fox affiliate KCPQ-TV reported.
The heat wave was caused by what meteorologists described as a dome of high pressure over the Northwest and worsened by human-caused climate change, which is making such extreme weather events more likely and more extreme.
The heat may also be responsible for rolling blackouts amid heavy power demand. About 9,300 Avista Utilities customers in Spokane lost power on Monday and the company said more planned blackouts began on Tuesday afternoon in the city of about 220,000 people.
People walk near Pike Place Market, Tuesday, June 29, 2021, in Seattle. The unprecedented Northwest U.S. heat wave that slammed Seattle and Portland, Oregon, moved inland Tuesday — prompting an electrical utility in Spokane, Washington, to resume rolling blackouts amid heavy power demand. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)
“We try to limit outages to one hour per customer,” said Heather Rosentrater, an Avista vice president for energy delivery.
She said about 2,400 customers were without power as of shortly after 2 p.m. Tuesday, mostly on the north side of the city, and those customers had been alerted about the planned outage. About 21,000 customers were warned Tuesday morning that they might experience an outage, she said.
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Tens of thousands of US military personnel are based in South Korea
The US and South Korea have confirmed plans to end large-scale joint military exercises amid efforts to thaw relations.
Smaller-scale drills will continue, but major planned war games will now not go ahead.
A number of exercises were suspended last year after US President Donald Trump met North Korea’s Kim Jong-un.
North Korea has always regarded the games as preparation for a military invasion by the two countries.
A Pentagon statement said the defence ministers from the two countries had agreed to end the Foal Eagle and Key Resolve exercises in a phone call on Saturday. It is unclear if the suspension is permanent.
Critics have said cancelling the drills could undermine US and South Korean military defences against the North, but others say those concerns are unjustified.
President Trump has previously complained of the cost of such exercises, although he has ruled out withdrawing US troops from the peninsula.
The country has about 30,000 US troops in South Korea.
Candidates clash on border crossings and immigration
9:05 p.m.: Castro said he would repeal a part of U.S. code on unlawful border crossings.
Harris focused on the Trump administration’s handling of migrant children at the border, saying children “should not be treated like criminals” and highlighting her visit to a facility housing unaccompanied minors.
Bennet said one thing all candidates on the stage agree on is keeping families together. Not a single Democrat running for president would pry children from their parents, he said.
Gillibrand said she thinks about immigrants who had fled their countries for fear of violence. She said illegal border crossings should only be treated as civil violations.
Yang said immigrants are being “scapegoated” for problems that aren’t theirs, pointing to automation as a far greater concern in America.
Inslee said America shouldn’t allow a “white nationalist” to continue to be in the White House.
But it was Biden who had one of the starkest lines. The former vice president insisted asylum decisions need to be determined quickly, and Central American nations need more aid. But he drew a line that illegal immigration should stay illegal.
“The fact of the matter is if you cross the border illegally you should be able to be sent back, it’s a crime,” Biden said.
Castro hit back at Biden, alluding to a key challenge for Biden — overcoming his past. “Mr. Vice President, it looks like one of us has learned the lessons of the past and one hasn’t.”
Inslee, too, alluded to Biden’s past, pointing out that Obama deported hundreds of thousands of immigrants in his time in office. Biden skirted around that reality, talking instead about how it was Obama’s idea to create protections for so-called “Dreamers” who came to the U.S. as children with their parents.
The Midwest is experiencing a slew of alarming weather events, that have downed trees, caused road closures, destroyed buildings, and left more than a 100,000 residents without power.
Life-threatening weather conditions, including extreme winds with a high threat of tornadoes and record-breaking temperatures swept across the entire region – from the Mexico to Canada borders. And powerful wind and dust storms were reported in Colorado, Iowa, Kansas and Nebraska, according to the National Weather Service.
NWS warned of swath of more than 60 mph winds, with embedded gusts of more than 80 mph from New Mexico to Michigan.
In Kansas City, Mo., staff at the Kansas City International Airport air traffic control center staff has been evacuated as high winds with gusts up to 70 mph continue to batter the area.
“For their safety FAA staff in the tower cab evacuated,” airport officials succinctly stated on Twitter at 5:50 p.m. CST. “This means there is no Air Traffic Control for flights at the airport. There will likely be diversions and delays.”
Anyone expecting to fly should anticipate an hour-long delay, they said.
The dangerously high winds in Nebraska have produced winds surpassing 90 mph.
In Lincoln, Neb., one reporter from the local ABC News affiliate captured footage of 93 mph winds pummeling the parking lot of the news station.
Earlier in the day, warnings of winds up to 70 mph, prompted many k-12 school officials to cancel classes or move to online learning for the day. Businesses also adjusted hours or closed while waiting out the storm.
“Having windy days is not atypical this time of year late fall into early winter,” Shawn Rossi, a forecaster for the National Weather Service in Hastings, told Nebraska Public Media. “This is just a very potent system that’s going to be intensifying that is going to really impact our area.”
As of 8:55 a.m., Omaha had tied its record high temperature for the day at 61°, the NWS reported, adding, “This record will be smashed today by about 10°.”
The warmest temperature ever recorded in the city was in 1939 when it reached 72° in the month of December.
The NWS urged residents to avoid travel as blowing dust reduced visibility to near zero.
NWS officials in Kansas Wichita issued a similar warning. Wind gusts of 60 to 85 mph spreading from west to east. “Blowing dust could reduce visibility to less than half a mile at times,” the NWS warned.
In Colorado, wind gusts reached 95 mph in the areas near the foothills, and officials there also cautioned drivers to stay off the road.
ASHWAUBENON – Green Bay police confirmed a suspect is in custody after reports of an active shooter situation at the area of the Oneida Casino and Radisson Hotel and Conference Center.
Multiple law enforcement agencies responded about 7:30 p.m. Saturday. Airport Drive was closed as police secured the area.
Oneida Casino, 2020 Airport Drive, is operated by the Oneida Nation.
Bobbi Webster, Oneida Nation public relations director, said her understanding was that somebody was shot, but she didn’t know how many and couldn’t immediately provide further details.
“I do not believe the shooter is active anymore, but the situation is active, because (law enforcement is) there and still clearing the property.”
Webster said the Oneida Nation was in the process of closing all of its casino locations until further notice. Traffic also was being detoured around Green Bay Austin Straubel International Airport, which is nearby.
Max Westphal of Brownsville said he was playing blackjack with a group of friends when an announcement came over a loudspeaker that people should evacuate.
At first, he said they thought it was something minor. However, once outside they heard the situation escalate.
“All of a sudden a huge flurry of gunshots. Between 10 and 30 gunshots,” Westphal said. “All you could smell outside was gun powder.”
They took off running to get farther away from the scene, he said.
Taylor Schroeder was at the bingo hall in a separate building and didn’t hear shots, but said players were put on lockdown around 8 p.m. and given no information about what was happening.
They kept playing bingo and received occasional “vague” updates until about 45 minutes later, when they were made to leave immediately.
Outside, fire trucks, ambulances and police vehicles were “everywhere.”
“I’m just glad we were able to evacuate so effectively and quickly,” Shroeder said.
Tucker Carlson takes on Robert Hockett, Cornell law professor and adviser to Rep. Ocasio-Cortez, over the details of the Green New Deal.
A top adviser to New York Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has admitted that an official “Green New Deal” document posted by Ocasio-Cortez’s office contained a guarantee of economic security even for those “unwilling to work” — but not before he went viral in progressive circles for claiming the exact opposite, repeatedly, in an interview with Fox News’ “Tucker Carlson Tonight.”
Cornell University Law School Professor Robert Hockett, who counsels Ocasio-Cortez on environmental initiatives, challenged host Tucker Carlson when he quoted from an outline and list of “frequently asked questions” (FAQ) that had been posted on Ocasio-Cortez’s official website. The FAQ was also shared with NPR.
The FAQ stated that the program will provide “Economic security for all who are unable or unwilling to work,” and also noted, “We set a goal to get to net-zero, rather than zero emissions, in 10 years because we aren’t sure that we’ll be able to fully get rid of farting cows and airplanes that fast.”
The FAQ, which Ocasio-Cortez’s office removed from her website amid online backlash (although it is still available on NPR’s website) additionally stated, “This is a massive transformation of our society with clear goals and a timeline” at a “scale not seen since World War 2.” In another section, the FAQ stated that it had set a goal of net-zero, rather than zero, national emissions in 10 years “because we aren’t sure that we’ll be able to get rid of farting cows and airplanes that fast.”
Carlson asked Hockett at the outset of the interview: “Why would we ever pay people who are ‘unwilling to work’?”
In a head-turning moment heard around the Internet, Hockett replied flatly, “Uh, we never would, right? And AOC has never said anything like that, right? I think you’re referring to some sort of document — I think some doctored document that somebody other than us has been circulating. … She’s actually tweeted it out to laugh at it, if you look at her latest tweets. It seems apparently, some Republicans have put it out there. I don’t know the details.”
Radio talk show host Tony Katz weighs in on the Democrats’ Green New ‘Dream.’
That was an apparent reference to a Thursday tweet by Ocasio-Cortez that criticized parody versions of the Green New Deal FAQ, including one that said, effective immediately, “males should urinate into an empty milk jug instead of a toilet.” The parody versions cited by Ocasio-Cortez in the tweet did not contain any reference to providing economic security for those “unwilling to work.”
“When your #GreenNewDeal legislation is so strong that the GOP has to resort to circulating false versions, but the real one nets 70 House cosponsors on Day 1 and all Dem presidential candidates sign on anyway,” Ocasio-Cortez wrote, along with a picture of the parody version containing the urination reference.
Later in the interview, Hockett doubled down that Ocasio-Cortez’s official FAQ did not include a reference to a guarantee of universal economic stability even for those “unwilling” to work: “Definitely not. That’s erroneous. It’s the wrong document. That’s not us.”
Cows have been targeted for potential elimination in the Green New Deal (iStock).
The exchange prompted a flurry of support for Hockett on social media among liberal audiences. The left-wing activist group Media Matters for America wrote, “Watch what happens when Tucker Carlson steps outside the conservative media bubble and gets fact-checked on Green New Deal falsehoods.”
But over the weekend, Saikat Chakrabarti, Ocasio-Cortez’s chief of staff, seemingly admitted that the FAQ shared with NPR and posted on Ocasio-Cortez’s website was genuine. Metadata from the document posted by NPR confirmed that Chakrabarti was listed as one of the authors of the FAQ.
“An early draft of a FAQ that was clearly unfinished and that doesn’t represent the GND [Green New Deal] resolution got published to the website by mistake,” Chakrabarti tweeted. “But what’s in the resolution is the GND.”
Both Chakrabarti and Ocasio-Cortez also referred supporters to a stripped-down resolution they formally introduced in Congress, which does not include the FAQ’s language on universal economic support. The resolution is not a bill, and contains only broad language.
Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s ‘Green New Deal’ aims to phase out fossil fuels in 10 years.
“It appears there was more than one document being discussed yesterday, only one of which I had heard about with any definiteness by last evening after a long day of media appearances – namely, the one referred to by the Congresswoman in her tweet,” Hockett wrote. “I regret that we seem unknowingly to have ended up speaking about different documents for a minute during our longer and otherwise ‘on-the-same-page’ conversation last night.”
On her Twitter account Saturday, Ocasio-Cortez herself acknowledged that a FAQ “got uploaded + taken down,” without explaining or providing additional detail.
“There are multiple doctored GND resolutions and FAQs floating around,” she wrote. “There was also a draft version that got uploaded + taken down. There’s also draft versions floating out there.”
Still, several media outlets praised Hockett and Ocasio-Cortez’s handling of the situation. A headline from Business Insider read: “Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez accidentally released a document that supported paying Americans ‘unwilling to work,’ and conservatives attacked her for it.” The article did not provide support for its contention that Ocasio-Cortez’s office had accidentally released the document.
Meanwhile, Hockett appeared to compare Ocasio-Cortez’s efforts to the classic novel “Ulysses,” which author Virginia Woolf famously called a “memorable catastrophe.”
“Literary historians can talk about pirated versions of Ulysses, discarded drafts, notes that Joyce wrote to himself, even his grocery lists,” Hockett wrote. “But at some point shouldn’t we start reading the actual book — the huge game-changing work that got signed and published?”
The stakes are high not only for the liberal freshman, but also the Democratic Party at large. The Green New Deal plan, which calls for a massive package of big-government proposals including health care for all, quickly picked up the backing of major 2020 Democratic presidential hopefuls, including Sens. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Cory Booker, D-N.J. — who all co-sponsored the resolution.
“Our history is a testimony to the achievement of what some think is impossible — we must take bold action now,” Booker tweeted last week.
The White House appeared heartened by the Democratic contenders’ support for the sweeping program.
“I think half the announced presidential candidates that are Democrats have supported this, although they aren’t really sure what it is,” Acting White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney told “Fox News Sunday.”
Mulvaney added: “The other half — I don’t know where the Democrat Party is on this, I know where the Republican Party is, and by the way, it’s fun to be in a party that is united while the other is divided.”
New York Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez joined climate protesters during a sit-in late last year in soon-to-be House speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office.
The plan and accompanying documents from Ocasio-Cortez include a range of far-fetched goals — and drew swift scorn from Republicans and other critics. The Republican National Committee dubbed it a “Socialist wish list” that would kill at least 1 million jobs and disrupt global trade — while costing trillions.
As Mulvaney implied, the Green New Deal push has seen resistance not only from Republicans, but also some key Democrats. Sen. Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, was asked about the plan to replace planes with high-speed rail and did not seem impressed.
“That would be pretty hard for Hawaii,” she laughed.
On Wednesday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi appeared to dismiss the plan.
“It will be one of several or maybe many suggestions that we receive,” Pelosi told Politico on Wednesday. “The green dream or whatever they call it, nobody knows what it is, but they’re for it right?”
Even aside from the Green New Deal, conservative commentators have argued that most proposed solutions to global warming would do more harm than good, and also have accused climate activists of crying wolf. In 2006, a NASA scientist and leading global warming researcher declared that the world had only 10 years to avert a climate catastrophe — a deadline that has come and gone.
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Las cactáceas habitan en los ecosistemas áridos de América y por eso son tan buscadas por coleccionistas de Europa y Asia.
En 1975, se descubrió en Baja California, México, una subespecie del cactus Echinocereus ferrerianus, llamada lindsayi.
Esta pequeña planta verde y redondita, de unos 10 centímetros de alto, desarrolla unas pocas flores purpúreas casi igual de grandes, que destacan entre las prominentes espinas blancas.
No es una planta elegante como un rosal o delicada como una hortensia. La belleza de este cactus conocido como alicoche de jaraguay es rústica y exótica, una combinación letal para su propia supervivencia.
Y es que tan sólo 15 años después de ser descubierta, la especie fue declarada extinta.
Su historia es uno de incontables ejemplos que demuestran la avaricia de algunos coleccionistas de este tipo de plantas y el devastador efecto del tráfico ilegal de cactus.
El 31% de las 1.480 especies de cactus están amenazadas de extinción, según un estudio publicado en octubre en la revista Nature Plants. Esto las convierte en uno de los grupos taxonómicos en mayor peligro, incluso por encima de los mamíferos y las aves.
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En Estados Unidos y México hay 600 especies nativas de cactus y 400 endémicas, o sea, que no nacen en ningún otro lugar del mundo.
“No esperábamos que los cactus estuvieran tan amenazados y que el comercio ilegal fuera un impulsor tan importante de su declive“, dijo Barbara Goettsch, autora principal del estudio, tras su publicación.
Los países en los que hay mayor tráfico ilegal de cactus son Estados Unidos y México, donde unas 600 especies son nativas y unas 400 endémicas, es decir que no nacen en ningún otro lugar del mundo.
El valor de lo raro
Las cactáceas, nombre científico de la familia botánica popularmente llamada “cactus”, sólo habitan en los ecosistemas áridos de América. La única excepción es la especie Rhipsalis baccifera, que crece en estado silvestre en el sur de África.
“La vasta mayoría de las especies altamente buscadas se encuentran entre Estados Unidos y México”, explicó a BBC Mundo Edward Grace, del Servicio de Pesca y Vida Silvestre de EE.UU. (FWS, por sus siglas en inglés).
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De las 1.480 especies de cactus, 31% están amenazadas de extinción.
“Dado que estas plantas se encuentran en una localización geográfica limitada, se han convertido en tesoros preciados para entusiastas y coleccionistas tanto domésticos como extranjeros”, agregó.
El precio de un cactus es muy variable, pero básicamente su valor en el mercado negro crece junto con su escasez y aspecto único. Además, una planta adulta es más cara que una joven, que un fruto o semilla, y aquellas tomadas de la naturaleza son todavía más codiciadas por no ser “artificiales”.
“Funciona como cualquier objeto coleccionable, como una moneda o estampita”, dijo Héctor M. Hernández, investigador del Instituto de Biología de la Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México.
El caso de la Mammillaria luethyi, comúnmente llamada biznaguita, ayuda a entender la lógica de este mercado.
1
En general son plantas pequeñas y fáciles de almacenar, lo que dificulta los controles fronterizos.
2 En ocasiones sólo se colectan las semillas, algo aún más difícil de controlar y con un impacto que puede ser mayor en la conservación de la especie.
3 Crecen en lugares difíciles de acceder y, por ende, de patrullar. Además, estos sitios son despejados, lo que dificulta el discreto monitoreo de los traficantes.
4 Es una actividad ilegal de baja prioridad para la Justicia, por lo que las penas son leves y los traficantes suelen reincidir.
Cuando se la descubrió en 1996, los coleccionistas pagaban más de US$1.000 por una planta pequeña. Se trataba de una especie nueva, endémica de un sólo lugar (Coahuila, en México), de la cual habían menos de 200 ejemplares.
Sin embargo, hoy en día se consigue en cualquier mercado de Ciudad de México por menos de US$10. ¿Qué pasó? La ley de la oferta y la demanda, explicó Hernández.
En 2006 científicos encontraron otro sitio donde había miles de biznaguitas. Por ende, la planta dejó de ser novedosa y rara, y su precio en el mercado negro se desplomó.
Un negocio a pesar de los riesgos
Todas las cactáceas están protegidas por la Convención sobre el Comercio Internacional de Especies Amenazadas de Fauna y Flora Silvestres (CITES), acuerdo al cual se han adherido más de 180 países entre los cuales están EE.UU. y México.
En ambos países hay leyes que protegen a estas plantas. Su tráfico está penado con multas económicas y prisión.
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Los cactus de invernadero suelen ser homogéneo en color y forma.
Pese a ello, “algunos ladrones de cactus van a arrancar plantas de su hábitat porque, como pasa con los huesos de tigre y cuernos de rinoceronte, alguien va a pagar mucho dinero por ello“, escribió el periodista J. Weston Phippen de la revista The Atlantic.
En un artículo publicado en febrero, Weston Phippen contaba cómo el FWS, con la ayuda de funcionarios locales, desbarataron una organización rusa de contrabando de cactus que operaba en el suroeste de EE.UU y México, pero también en Argentina, Chile y Uruguay.
Scott Schade, investigador del Departamento de Agricultura de Arizona, dijo a BBC Mundo que todos los días reciben denuncias de contrabando de cactus y que en este momento trabajan en cinco casos importantes. Y ese es sólo uno de los estados con estas plantas en EE.UU.
Según las autoridades estadounidenses, no hay una tendencia entre los traficantes: a veces se enfrentan con individuos, a veces con grupos organizados.
Un ejemplo de un grupo de contrabandistas fue registrado en octubre, cuando agentes de China y Alemania detuvieron a nueve personas e incautaron 1.250 plantas provenientes de EE.UU. y México, varias de ellas en peligro de extinción.
47%
Comercio ilegal de plantas vivas y de semillas para la industria hortícola y colecciones privadas
31% Ganadería en pequeña escala
24% Agricultura en pequeña escala
Por otra parte, un caso que tuvo notoriedad en 2013 fue el de Kenneth Brian Cobb, de 46 años, quien fue sentenciado a 5 años de libertad condicional y una multa de US$32.000 por robar ocho saguaros (Carnegiea gigantea) de tierras federales. El hombre los vendió a US$2.000 cada uno y dos de ellos fueron ilegalmente exportados a Austria.
Sin embargo, el daño ya estaba hecho. Estos cactus de hasta 18 metros de alto que son un símbolo de los desiertos del Oeste estadounidense crecen muy lentamente.
En una década pueden apenas alcanzar 3 centímetros de altura y en general desarrollan sus famosos brazos a partir de los 75 años de vida.,
“Las personas pueden hacer cientos si no miles de dólares vendiendo cactus, si son de una especie que está en alta demanda y no es nativa de ese país”, explicó Edward Grace, del FWS.
Por su parte, Kimberlie McCue, directora del programa de conservación de especies y hábitats amenazados del Jardín Botánico del Desierto de EE.UU., dijo a BBC Mundo que “el hecho de que haya individuos dispuestos a viajar internacionalmente y recolectar plantas para el mercado negro arriesgándose a ser arrestados ilustra la cantidad de dinero inherente a este ‘negocio'”.
“No hay que perder de vista que para algunos coleccionistas realmente fanáticos, el dinero es inmaterial“.
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Para evitar la recolección ilegal de cactus, los científicos ya no publican la ubicación de las especies recién descubiertas.
Los máximos contribuyentes al comercio ilegal de cactáceas son los coleccionistas europeos y asiáticos, según detalla el estudio publicado en Nature Plants.
Grace señaló en particular a Alemania, China, Bélgica, República Checa, Rusia, Inglaterra y Polonia.
Para terminar con el tráfico
Las autoridades de EE.UU. han tomado distintas medidas en los últimos años para terminar con el tráfico de cactus, explicó Edward Grace. Las mismas van desde educar a la población y fuerzas policiales hasta colocar chips a las plantas.
El FWS incluso “ha enviado agentes especiales como agregados nacionales a otros países para identificar, coordinar e investigar las organizaciones que lucran con el tráfico ilegal de animales y plantas silvestres”, contó Grace.
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Los saguaros, símbolo de los desiertos de Arizona, pueden llegar a medir 18 metros de alto, pero para eso precisan décadas y hasta un siglo de tiempo.
Perú es el único país de América Latina donde opera uno de estos agentes especiales.
No es para menos: la recolección ilegal del otrora abundante Echinopsis pampana, endémico del país, redujo su población a menos del 50% en los últimos 15 años. Hoy su pérdida es irreversible.
Los botánicos, por su parte, adoptaron una medida opuesta a la rigurosidad científica, pero acorde con las urgencias ecológicas: jamás revelar la ubicación de los cactus que van descubriendo.
De hecho, en 1997 se redescubrieron ejemplares silvestres del alicoche de jaraguay que en 1990 se creyó extinto. Eran pocas poblaciones en lugares poco accesibles, pero allí estaban. Hasta hoy en día sólo unos pocos saben dónde es “allí”.
Fully vaccinated Americans can now safely shed their masks and skip social distancing, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said this week, sparking a flurry of questions about how the new guidelines will be implemented at businesses, schools and other places where fully vaccinated and unvaccinated people mingle.
“We have all longed for this moment when we can get back to some sense of normalcy,” CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said Thursday. “Based on the continuing downward trajectory of cases, the scientific data on the performance of our vaccines and our understanding of how the virus spreads, that moment has come for those who are fully vaccinated.”
The CDC’s recommendations are guidance — not a mandate — and it’s up to states whether to adhere to them.
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said Friday that Michigan will follow the federal recommendations, announcing that as of Saturday morning anyone who is fully vaccinated can shed their masks in public — both indoors and outdoors.
Here’s what it all means.
What does the CDC guidance say?
MASKS AND SOCIAL DISTANCING: Fully vaccinated people can go out — even in crowds — without wearing a mask or social distancing and “resume activities that you did prior to the pandemic,” the CDC says.
You can take off your mask in most places, indoor and outdoor, though there are exceptions. At hospitals and other health care settings, mask requirements still apply to staff, patients and visitors, no matter the person’s vaccination status.
The same goes for when you’re using public transportation such as planes, trains and buses, and at prisons, jails and homeless shelters.
Businesses, libraries and other establishments also can require you to wear masks even if you’ve been vaccinated, and can still ask you to maintain up to 6 feet of social distance at their discretion.
TRAVEL: Planning to take a summer vacation? If you’re fully vaccinated and traveling in the U.S., you do not need to get a COVID-19 test before or after you go on your trip or self-quarantine afterward.
If fully vaccinated people are planning international travel, the CDC says you should check in advance to learn the travel requirements for your destination. Unless the destination country requires a negative COVID-19 test, you do not need a test before you go. However, before you can board an international flight to return to the U.S., you will still need to show a negative COVID-19 test result or proof of recovery from the virus.
International travelers who are fully vaccinated do not need to self-quarantine after arriving in the U.S.; however, the CDC recommends a COVID-19 test three to five days after returning.
COVID-19 EXPOSURE: If you’ve been exposed to someone who has COVID-19 and you are fully vaccinated, the CDC says you no longer need to quarantine or get tested unless you develop symptoms.
Exceptions are fully vaccinated people who work in a correctional or detention facility or a homeless shelter and are exposed to someone with COVID-19. They should still get tested, even they don’t have symptoms.
What does the new Michigan public health order say about masks?
Although Whitmer announced Friday morning that Michigan would repeal the mask mandate for fully vaccinated people starting Saturday, her office had not released official language for the updated order until late Friday night.
It requires all unvaccinated Michiganders to wear a face mask when gathering indoors, but includes exceptions for children younger than 2 and for people who cannot medically tolerate a mask. Other exceptions include instances when people are:
Eating or drinking while seated in a designated area or at a private residence.
Swimming.
Receiving a medical or personal care service for which removal of the face mask is necessary.
Asked to temporarily remove a face mask for identification purposes.
Communicating with someone who is deaf, deafblind or hard of hearing and whose ability to see the mouth is essential to communication.
Actively engaged in a public safety role, including but not limited to law enforcement, firefighters, or emergency medical personnel, and where wearing a face mask would seriously interfere in the performance of their public safety responsibilities.
Engaging in a religious service.
Giving a speech for broadcast or to an audience as long as the audience is at least 12 feet away from the speaker.
Engaging in an activity that requires removal of a mask not listed in another part of this section, and are in a facility that provides ventilation that meets or exceeds 60ft³/min of outdoor airflow per person.
The new mandate requires businesses, offices, schools, organized events “or other operation(s)” to prohibit indoor gatherings unless there is a “good faith effort” to ensure everyone, including employees, comply with the mandate.
The order remains in effect through 11:59 p.m. May 31.
Do masks need to be worn while playing sports?
Starting 9 a.m. Saturday, no masks will be required for outdoor sports — regardless of a person’s vaccination status.
For indoor sports, those who are not fully vaccinated or meet other exceptions listed above will be required to wear a mask.
COVID-19 testing requirements still apply to athletes ages 13-19.
How will people know who’s been vaccinated and who hasn’t?
For the most part, you won’t.
“It’s impossible in terms of a business and its customers,” said Peter Jacobson, professor emeritus of health law and policy at the University of Michigan School of Public Health. “There’s no way to know. We’re not carrying around our vaccination cards. We don’t have a scarlet V on our foreheads.”
That could make the weeks ahead pretty messy, said Lance Gable, an associate professor at the Wayne State University Law School.
“It’s going to create a real challenge for a lot of people because you don’t know that the person who comes into your business or the person you see on the street … whether they’ve been vaccinated or not,” Gable said.
For families with kids who are not yet eligible for vaccines and for people who have compromised immune systems, it’s a tricky time to be out in the world.
“They’re not going to know if the person walking next to them or the person who is in the grocery line with them is not wearing a mask because they’re vaccinated and are safe or because they’re refusing to wear a mask and are not vaccinated and therefore pose a risk,” he said. “It creates a lot of complexity, and … I think it’s going to raise some significant problems.”
People could become confrontational.
“I think we can predict what’s going to happen,” said Jacobson, who also is the co-director of the Mid-States Region Network of Public Health Law. “There’s the potential for violence, a lot of belligerence.”
Can businesses still enforce mask wearing?
“Private businesses can still decide that they want to keep the mask requirements in place; they’re still permitted to do that” even for fully vaccinated people, Gable said.
“It’s going to be really difficult for them to tell who is not wearing their masks because their fully vaccinated and who is not wearing their masks because they are just opposed to wearing a mask and, maybe, still posing a risk of spreading the disease to other people.”
Kroger announced Thursday that customers will still be required to wear masks in all of its stores. The company also is offering $100 to employees who take the vaccine. Other major retailers that will continue requiring masks include Starbucks, Target and CVS.
Others, such as Trader Joe’s and Walmart, are letting go of the mask requirements. And the Detroit Tigers announced via Twitter Friday that fans won’t have to wear masks outside at Comerica Park or when in their seats.
What about other public places? Can they still require masks for vaccinated people?
Yes. Every state court in Michigan is still mandating masks for employees and visitors, according to a memo released Friday from the state court administrator.
Court Administrator Thomas P. Boyd acknowledged state COVID-19 trends are improving and the CDC guidance would allow people who are vaccinated to not wear masks. But “such advice, in the absence of any way to identify who is vaccinated and who is not, creates an unacceptable level of risk.”
Every court has different rules about exceptions to the mask rule. Check this list for more information on your local court.
Can business owners require employees to disclose their vaccination status?
“The simple answer, from a management standpoint, is you can definitely ask your employees” about their vaccination status, Jacobson said.
“Certainly, the employers can ask about vaccination and ask for proof of vaccination to ensure that the employer is properly following CDC guidelines and to protect other employees and the general public. There’s no other way to know.”
Can businesses require workers to get COVID-19 vaccines?
Yes, they can. “There is nothing in the law that prevents” companies from mandating COVID-19 vaccines, Jacobson said. But if a company does require workers to be vaccinated, it could be sued.
“It hasn’t been challenged yet” in the courts, Jacobson said.
Already, some companies require workers to get the annual flu vaccine. But with COVID-19 vaccines being so new, he said, “I think the legal issue is going to be whether or not you consider the vaccines experimental.”
All three coronavirus vaccines in use in the U.S. have emergency use authorization from the U.S. Food & Drug Administration. They haven’t yet won full federal approval.
For that reason, Jacobson said, he knows of no company that mandates employees to take the COVID-19 vaccines — yet.
That may change soon.
Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian said in a CNN interview this week that any new employees the company hires must be fully vaccinated. Some colleges and universities, including the University of Michigan, have enacted policies that require immunization for students who want to live in on-campus housing.
It’s likely other companies, including hospital systems and others in the health care industry, could follow suit.
However, businesses that mandate vaccines might have to provide flexibility to workers who ask for exemptions or accommodations because of underlying health issues or religious objections, Gable said.
“There are going to be some employers who, because of the nature of the workspace, may have a stronger argument that mandatory vaccination is essential,” Gable said. “Health care employers might be able to enforce that more rigorously because they can justify the value of having the protection for vulnerable patients.
“And so what they might be able to say is a person who refuses to get a vaccine or is unable to get a vaccine may not be able to work in a setting where they’re exposed to particularly vulnerable people, for example, people who are immunosuppressed.”
Who qualifies as fully vaccinated?
People are considered fully vaccinated if:
Two weeks have passed since the second dose of the Pfizer or Moderna coronavirus vaccines.
Or two weeks after a single dose of the Johnson & Johnson coronavirus vaccine.
However, the CDC notes that for people who take immune-weakening medications or who have health conditions that weaken the immune system, they may not be completely protected from the virus even after they’ve been fully vaccinated.
For those people, the CDC suggests talking to a health care provider about the best ways to stay safe from COVID-19.
Should families with young children take off their masks in public?
Joshua Petrie, an assistant research professor at the University of Michigan’s School of Public Health, said it might be a “bit early” to lift mask-wearing requirements. That’s especially true if you have family members who are vulnerable, such as young children who aren’t yet eligible for vaccines or loved ones with compromised immune systems.
“The science does tell you that the vaccinated people are protected, but … it kind of gets back to what is the right message for the overall public? To me, it is still: You should still be cautious and if that means continuing to wear a mask even as the vaccinated person to give yourself a sense of safety as well as other people around you, I think that’s a great thing to be doing,” he said.
“I think giving people a clear message: If they’re vaccinated, they’re protected and people around them are protected, that’s all good. Where it gets complicated is probably in states like Michigan. We’ve been in a decline for at least a month now, but we’re still at fairly high case levels.
“People should continue to be pretty cautious because we do have high case levels, especially people who are unvaccinated. And so keeping that sense of caution, I think, is helpful certainly for people who are working at restaurants or in the public or wherever … you don’t know who is vaccinated and who is not.”
While children don’t typically get severe cases of COVID-19, they sometimes can get extremely ill. Others can go on to develop a condition known as multisystem inflammatory syndrome-children (MIS-C) or have long-term complications even if they had a mild case of coronavirus initially.
“Children are … getting infected, and a small percentage of them are requiring hospitalization and a smaller percentage of them are ending up in the ICU (intensive care unit) and some of those patients have MIS-C,” said Dr. Rudolph Valentini, a pediatric nephrologist at Children’s Hospital of Michigan and group chief medical officer for the Detroit Medical Center.
“If you have two teenagers and a 7-year-old, get the teenagers vaccinated and when the 7-year-old has the green light to get vaccinated, do the same.”
Until vaccines are authorized for use in younger children, which could come as soon as this fall, Valentini said: “Your 7-year-old will be vulnerable to get the infection. Your 7-year-old will be vulnerable to transmit the infection, but if the rest of the family is vaccinated, all of those folks will be protected both ways. They’ll be protected against getting the infection and they’ll be protected against transmitting the infection. So it sort of breaks the cycle.”
How close are we to herd immunity?
Public health experts don’t agree about what vaccination threshold the nation needs to reach to get to a place where the risk of spreading COVID-19 drops to a level where vulnerable people are protected.
Some have suggested getting 70% of the population vaccinated would be enough. Others have said that with more contagious variant strains of the virus circulating, that percentage might need to be higher.
As of Friday, 36.2% of the total U.S. population was fully vaccinated and 46.8% have had at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, according to the CDC. In Michigan, 37% of the total population is fully vaccinated and 45.1% have had at least one dose.
But the outlook is better than that, Jacobson said.
“You have to consider not just number of people who are fully vaccinated, but those who have had one shot,” he said, “because we know that after two weeks of getting either a Moderna or Pfizer vaccine, you’re about 80% protected, which is pretty good in its own right.”
State health officials are using data from the CDC to tie first-dose vaccination rates among residents 16 and older to easing COVID-19 restrictions. When the rate is calculated using the population 16 and older in Michigan, 55.7% have had at least one dose as of Friday.
“Second, you have to take into account those who already have had COVID
or tested positive,” Jacobson said. “They need to be counted toward herd immunity.”
That number is harder to deduce because not everyone who’s had the virus has been tested. As of Friday, the state health department reported 873,335 Michiganders have had confirmed cases of the virus since the pandemic began.
Free Press staff writers Chanel Stitt, Susan Selasky, Nour Rahal and Frank Witsil contributed to this story.
Contact Kristen Shamus: kshamus@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @kristenshamus.
Bitcoin, the largest cryptocurrency by market value, extended its rally into the weekend. It surpassed $42,000 on Sunday, which was its highest since May. But its price since leveled, and as of Monday morning, is trading at around $39,800.
Bitcoin’s moves aren’t the only things happening in crypto right now. From the Senate’s infrastructure bill proposal to a record trading volume for NFTs, or nonfungible tokens, here are five key things that happened in crypto this past week.
1. Amazon denies report that it plans to accept bitcoin as payment
2. Sen. Elizabeth Warren continues to push for more crypto regulation
This past week, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., doubled down on her calls for more crypto regulation.
On July 26, Warren sent a letter to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen pressing the Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC) to coordinate a “cohesive regulatory strategy” surrounding cryptocurrency. “I urge FSOC to act with urgency and use its statutory authority to address cryptocurrencies’ risks and ensure the safety and stability of our financial system.”
Warren also spoke during the Senate Banking Committee hearing on Tuesday titled “Cryptocurrencies: What are they good for?” There, she continued her critique of the space. “Crypto puts the [financial] system at the whims of some shadowy, faceless group of super-coders and miners,” Warren said.
On Wednesday, Warren told CNBC’s “Squawk Box” that she’s skeptical bitcoin will prove to be a reliable hedge against inflation over time.
3. Tesla and Square record millions in bitcoin-related impairments
4. Crypto industry critiques infrastructure bill
Last week, the Senate’s bipartisan infrastructure bill proposal sparked concern within the crypto community after a provision of the package detailed plans to impose stricter rules regarding tax collection on “digital assets.”
Initially, the bill defined a cryptocurrency “broker” very broadly, andmany worried that the provision would include people like miners who wouldn’t have access to the information needed to comply.
On Sunday, however, the Senate released its latest version of the bill, which clarified its definition. If passed, the provision would define a “broker” as “any person who (for consideration) is responsible for regularly providing any service effectuating transfers of digital assets on behalf of another person.”
Still, the Blockchain Association urges for more changes. “While some minor improvements have been made, the latest language still poses fundamental concerns and questions about certain terms and definitions used in the provision,” Kristin Smith, executive director of the Blockchain Association, said in a statement. “[T]his provision is written in a way that could be interpreted to apply to persons in the crypto ecosystem who don’t have access to the information required for information reporting.”
The latest draft of the infrastructure bill includes raising nearly $30 billion from cracking down on crypto tax evasion.
Washington — Former President Donald Trump can be sued for damages incurred during the January 6 attack on the Capitol, “the first-ever presidential transfer of power marred by violence,” a federal judge in Washington, D.C., ruled Friday.
In a written opinion that ran over 100 pages, Judge Amit Mehta rejected the former president’s claims that he is entitled to broad immunity from multiple lawsuits blaming him for the riot. Mehta reasoned that some of Trump’s actions on January 6 were “plausibly words of incitement not protected by the First Amendment” or by presidential immunity.
Democratic Congressman Eric Swalwell of California, two members of the Capitol Police, and a group of House Democrats, led by Congressman Bennie Thompson of Mississippi, have each accused the former president of inciting the insurrection at the Capitol on January 6 in three separate lawsuits.
The suit filed by Swalwell also named Rudy Giuliani, Trump’s personal lawyer, Donald Trump Jr., and GOP Congressman Mo Brooks of Alabama. The suit filed by 11 House Democrats alleges Trump, Giuliani and two far-right extremist groups, the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers, conspired to incite a crowd of his supporters to breach the Capitol in order to stop Congress from counting states’ electoral votes and reaffirming President Biden’s victory in the 2020 presidential election.
Taken together, the lawsuits were filed under a provision of a Reconstruction-era statute known as the Ku Klux Klan Act of 1871, which holds that it is illegal for a group to conspire to prevent federal government officials from carrying out their lawful duties.
They allege Trump and his political allies conspired to prevent Congress from performing the necessary task of certifying the 2020 presidential election and the extremist groups aided in the execution of that conspiracy.
Mehta ruled that many of the claims against Trump, the Oath Keepers, and the Proud Boys may continue in court, but he dismissed the lawsuits filed against Trump Jr. and Giuliani.
Trump argued in court filings and hearings that he has “absolute immunity” from liability in the three civil suits filed against him and claimed his remarks outside the White House before the mob descended on the Capitol were political speech protected by the First Amendment.
During that speech, he urged attendees of the “Save America” rally at the Ellipse to “fight like hell” and march to the Capitol building “to peacefully and patriotically make your voices heard,” words referenced multiple times in Mehta’s opinion.
The former president contended that in his January 6 speech, he was acting in his capacity as president in an attempt to affect Congress’s certification of the Electoral College votes and is therefore not responsible for any of the damage from the rioting that took place after his speech. He was not conspiring to commit a crime, his lawyers argued, but acting as president of the United States.
The judge flatly rejected this claim, writing the fiery speech was not part of the president’s official duty — it was focused on keeping him in office for a second term.
Trump used the speech “to complain about perceived cases of election fraud…and to exhort the Vice President to return those certifications to those states to be recertified,” Mehta wrote.
Then-Vice President Mike Pence resisted the entreaties of the former president and many other Republicans to reject the certification of the Electoral College votes.
Based on the evidence provided, Mehta said that it is reasonable to assume that when Trump called on his supporters to march the Capitol and “fight like Hell,” “he did so with the goal of disrupting lawmakers’ efforts to certify the Electoral college votes.”
Trump issued a call to action and his supporters responded by breaching the Capitol, the judge said.
Dissecting Trump’s speech on the Ellipse, the conditions of its delivery and the rhetoric leading up to it, Mehta reasoned the former president’s words “stoked an already inflamed crowd, which had heard for months that the election was stolen.”
He concluded that Trump’s words were “an implicit call for imminent violence or lawlessness” that are neither protected by presidential immunity nor the First Amendment.
Mehta did, however, reject Swalwell’s claim that the former president should be held liable for not exercising his presidential powers to stop the riot.
“Were it otherwise, Presidents routinely would be subject to suit for not doing more or for not acting at all,” the judge wrote, while allowing other parts of Swalwell’s lawsuit to go forward.
The attorney representing Trump in this lawsuit did not immediately respond to CBS News’ request for comment.
As for Rudy Giuliani, Mehta ruled that although Trump’s former personal lawyer advocated for “trial by combat” during his own January 6, 2021 speech, he did not issue a call to action.
“There is no allegation that anyone took Giuliani’s words as permission to enter the Capitol,” the judge wrote, a conclusion he also reached in the case of the president’s son, Donald Trump Jr.
The Oath Keepers unsuccessfully contended they should not be held accountable for the riot under that Reconstruction-Era law because Congress was not actually performing its official duty, a claim multiple defendants facing criminal prosecution for their alleged roles in the attack have also made.
“This reading of the Constitution defies common sense,” Mehta wrote Friday.
Jon Moseley, an attorney for the Oath Keepers, said he was not surprised by Mehta’s order when CBS News informed him of the judge’s decision. Moseley did, however, say he hopes the court further consolidates these lawsuits to make them more efficient going forward.
D.C. Attorney General Carl Racine announced last year that his office was also suing the Oath Keepers and Proud Boys on similar legal grounds.
Friday’s ruling does not mean the former president has been found responsible for the attack, but that the lawsuits against him can continue in federal court.
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Indiana has considered abortion restrictions for years, though it remained a state where many in the region traveled for abortion care. Now, as many nearby states — including Ohio, Kentucky and West Virginia — also push for abortion bans, patients may have to travel hundreds of miles in some cases for care, said Elizabeth Nash, a policy expert at the Guttmacher Institute, which supports abortion rights. “Patients in Ohio won’t be able to go to Indiana for access. They’ll have to get to, perhaps, Illinois or Michigan,” she said.
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) wants members of a volunteer militia group arrested for detaining immigrants at gunpoint and impersonating U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
Members of the United Constitutional Patriots, a conservative group in New Mexico, unofficially patrol the U.S.-Mexico border in their home state and detain immigrants crossing the border.
This week, the group detained nearly 300 people, including families with young children, near Sunland Park, as recorded in a video posted to Facebook by member Jim Benvie. “Oh, and look what we got here, guys,” Benvie, 43, said during the live video while stopping a family. “Border control,” he told the group, despite the fact he is not employed by U.S. government.
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In the video, Benvie is joined by his camouflage-clad partner who calls border security agents to retrieve the immigrants. “…You never know what’s coming through that wall,” said Benvie. “You gotta have the kids. That’s the passport.”
In more videos, Benvie calls for people to stand behind President Trump, describing immigration as “a very organized invasion.” According to BuzzFeed, a Border Patrol agent temporarily left five women and their children in the care of the United Constitutional Patriots.
Videos of hot and thirsty families cowering in the sand caused the ACLU of New Mexico to demand state officials intervene. On Thursday, the organization sent a letter to Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham and Attorney General Hector Balderas.
“The Trump administration’s vile racism has emboldened white nationalists and fascists to flagrantly violate the law,” read the ACLU letter. “This has no place in our state: we cannot allow racist and armed vigilantes to kidnap and detain people seeking asylum.”
Peter Simonson, executive director for the ACLU of New Mexico, tells Yahoo Lifestyle the group’s actions are illegal. “They say they’re making citizen’s arrests however those can only be executed in the context of a felony — crossing the border is a misdemeanor, at least as a first-time offense.”
The United Constitutional Patriots, however, may be committing state and federal crimes such as kidnapping, false imprisonment and impersonating law enforcement officers, says Simonson. “They wear camo and self-made badges, but they are not deputized by U.S. Border Control.”
A representative of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection tells Yahoo Lifestyle that it “does not endorse private groups or organizations taking enforcement matters into their own hands.”
“Interference by civilians in law enforcement matters could have public safety and legal consequences for all parties involved. Border Security operations are complex and require highly trained professionals with adequate resources to protect the country. Border Patrol welcomes assistance from the community and encourages anyone who witnesses or suspects illegal activity to call 911, or the U.S. Border Patrol tip line 1-877-872-7435,” the representative says.
But the government is ignoring or condoning illegal activity, says the ACLU. “To our knowledge, border control agents have made at least two trips to pick up immigrants the vigilante group has held at gunpoint,” Simonson says. “Law enforcement has an obligation to hold this group accountable. It’s an explosive situation.”
In a statement to Yahoo Lifestyle, New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham states “that migrant families might be menaced or threatened in any way, shape or form when they arrive at our border — often times after an unimaginably arduous journey — is completely unacceptable. It should go without saying that regular citizens have no authority to arrest or detain anyone. My office and our state police are coordinating with the Attorney General’s Office and local police to determine what has gone on and what can be done.”
Attorney General Hector Balderas sent a statement to Yahoo Lifestyle on the situation as well.
“My office has been informed that this week, an armed group has detained nearly 300 people near Sunland Park, New Mexico,” he says. “These individuals should not attempt to exercise authority reserved for law enforcement.”
Benvie and a rep from the United Constitutional Patriots did not respond to interview requests from Yahoo Lifestyle. Benvie told the New York Times that he simply issues “a verbal citizen’s arrest.”
“If these people follow our verbal commands, we hold them until Border Patrol comes,” Benvie told the New York Times. “Border Patrol has never asked us to stand down.”
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