Tag Archives : Build House

Biden officials accelerating monkeypox vaccine effort, including 1.8 million additional doses

The Biden administration is planning to accelerate the delivery of its remaining supply of monkeypox vaccines and will make an additional 1.8 million doses available for ordering starting Monday, officials said Thursday.

Jurisdictions will only be able to access the additional doses if they adopt the intradermal administration of vaccine and have used 90 percent of their current supply of vaccine, officials said.

The Department of Health and Human Services is also launching a pilot program to provide additional vaccine allocations to state and local health departments in jurisdictions that are hosting large events that attract members of the LGBTQ community.

The latest federal data shows more than 13,500 monkeypox cases have been reported so far in the United States.

Developing.

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Burying just 5 percent of power lines would improve resilience in hurricane-prone regions

Extreme weather events will likely become more common as climate change progresses. These threats to infrastructure and human life put vulnerable communities at risk and underscore the need for improved energy resilience. 

One such solution, according to researchers at Princeton University’s Engineering School, would be to bury short sections of power lines in at-risk regions. Using Harris County, Texas, as an example, the team found strategically burying just 5 percent of power lines could reduce the number of residents affected by hurricane and heat wave-related outages by half. Specifically, lines near main distribution points would need to be buried. 

According to the National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine, “A warmer and more moist atmosphere over the oceans makes it likely that the strongest hurricanes will be more intense, produce more rainfall, and possibly be larger. In addition, global warming causes sea level to rise, which increases the amount of seawater, along with more rainfall, that is pushed on to shore during coastal storms.”

Individuals living in coastal regions are also more likely to experience subsequent heat waves during power outages, spelling concern for those who rely on air conditioning to combat heat-related health effects. 

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“Hurricane Laura in 2020 and Hurricane Ida in 2021 both had heat waves following them after they destroyed the power distribution network,” explained co-author Ning Lin, associate professor of civil and environmental engineering, in a statement. “For this compound hazard, the risk has been increasing, and it is now happening.”

To carry out their investigation, the researchers assessed the combined hazards of hurricanes and heat waves under a “business-as-usual” climate change scenario. Under this model, the risk of individuals experiencing at least one hurricane black-out heat wave lasting more than five days within the next two decades would increase 23 times by 2100. In other words, the present risk of this scenario is 0.8 percent, which grows to a future risk of 18.2 percent by the end of the century. 

However, burying 5 percent of power lines would bring this risk back down to 11.3 percent. 

Harris County is home to Houston and borders Trinity Bay. It also has “the highest population density along the Gulf Coast and, as located in the subtropics, may face a disproportionally large increase in heat waves and [tropical cyclones] in a warming climate,” authors wrote.

The area also made national headlines in February 2021 when a winter storm knocked out the state’s electric grid operator and millions went without access to electricity. Texas is unique in that the state operates its own power grid, unlike the rest of the contiguous U.S. which relies on 2 separate grids: the Eastern and Western Interconnections. 

Researchers modeled recovery scenarios based on past hurricanes Harvey (2017) and Ike (2008). They found residents living in rural areas face a greater risk of extended power outages.

Current practices involve mostly burying lines at random, Lin explained. But more strategic burying can improve efficiency and better reduce risk. 

Based on the findings, city planners can also identify which residents are at greater risk of hurricane heat-wave power outages and better target interventions. Researchers stressed the importance of increased collaboration among climate modelers, engineers, and city planners to better protect the nearly 30 percent of U.S. residents who live in coastal regions. 

“Climate can drive multiple hazards with compound effects that we don’t understand, and that may be new to us in the future,” Lin noted. “Considering this kind of compounding of multiple climate hazards and infrastructure vulnerability is an important direction both for the research community and for decision-making.”

The team hopes to scale up the analysis to whole states in the future.

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Why I quit the GOP

Not that anyone should care, but I changed my party affiliation the other day.  For many years I was a registered Republican. Now I’m an independent, or “unaffiliated,” as they call it in the state where I live.

I left the Republican Party because I finally had had enough — enough of the Marjorie Taylor Greene crazy wing of the party, enough of the extremists who won’t even allow for rape or incest exceptions in abortion laws, and enough of the toadies who sound like Donald Trump’s ventriloquist dummy — the ones who even now, two years after he lost, are still telling voters that he really won the presidential election in 2020 and would be in office at this very moment if only the Democrats hadn’t rigged the election.

But I left the party not only because of people who continue to believe Trump’s lies and delusions, but also because of those who don’t believe them — the ones who know better, the ones who know he lost but don’t have the guts to stand up to his loyal followers and tell them, flat out, that the election wasn’t rigged, that the Democrats didn’t steal it, and that for the sake of the party he should just do the honorable thing and shut up.

If they did that, of course, they might not get re-elected. But sometimes I wonder: What would they be willing to lose their seat over? Who knows, but it sure isn’t standing up and telling the truth about the presidential election of 2020. Profiles in courage are hard to come by. But in the world of politics, profiles in cowardice are a dime a dozen. 

A profile in courage lost her congressional seat this week in Wyoming. On Election Day 2020, Liz Cheney won her House race with 73 percent of the vote. This week she lost in a landslide to Harriet Hageman, who was enthusiastically supported by Trump. This time around, Cheney — Trump’s most prominent Republican critic and so, his number one target — won less than 30 percent of the vote. 

“The repudiation of Ms. Cheney,” the New York Times reported, “made clear Republican primary voters’ appetite for retribution against officeholders who openly and aggressively confront Mr. Trump, even as the former president remains embroiled in multiple investigations. Just two of the 10 House Republicans who voted to impeach Mr. Trump last year will advance to the general election this fall.”  

Never underestimate the power of Donald Trump’s vengeance.

Surely, Liz Cheney knew that standing up for her principles and running against a Trump acolyte in a state where the former president is still immensely popular would cost her in the election.  But she obviously felt there were more important things than winning. In her concession speech she told her supporters that, “I could easily have done the same again,” referring to her massive victory two years ago. “The path was clear. But it would have required that I go along with President Trump’s lie about the 2020 election. It would have required that I enable his ongoing efforts to unravel our democratic system and attack the foundations of our republic.”

Cheney wanted Trump and his supporters who invaded the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, to be held accountable. She was one of only two Republicans on the House committee investigating the riot. For this, and for her vote to impeach Trump, she was called a “turncoat” and a “traitor.” In her opening statement she said, “If those responsible are not held accountable, and if Congress does not act responsibly, this will remain a cancer on our constitutional republic, undermining the peaceful transfer of power at the heart of our democratic system.”

Who knows what’s next for Liz Cheney. I suspect we’ll know soon enough if she wants to run for president in 2024. That’s another race she almost certainly couldn’t win. But if Trump decides to run, you never know what Liz Cheney might do — maybe run as an independent and siphon off enough GOP votes to make sure he loses and never gets anywhere near the Oval Office again?

At the House hearings, Cheney spoke eloquently when she took aim at those in her party who remain loyal to Trump. “I say this to my Republican colleagues who are defending the indefensible: There will come a day when Donald Trump is gone, but your dishonor will remain.”

She’s right.  

“She may have been fighting for principles, but they are not the principles of the Republican Party,” Taylor Budowich, a spokesman and adviser to Donald Trump told the Times.

He’s also right. And that’s why I left the party, if anyone cares.

Bernard Goldberg is an Emmy and an Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University award-winning writer and journalist. He was a correspondent with HBO’s “Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel” for 22 years and previously worked as a reporter for CBS News and as an analyst for Fox News. He is the author of five books and publishes exclusive weekly columns, audio commentaries and Q&As on his Substack page. Follow him on Twitter @BernardGoldberg.

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Americans leaving big tips despite inflation: report

American consumers continued leaving big tips at restaurants this spring even amid rising costs, according to a new report.  

Numbers from a Quarter 2 report from Toast, a cloud-based restaurant software management company, contradict the notion consumers are tired of the big tips that become popular early in the coronavirus pandemic.  

Tipping percentages held strong nationwide for in-person dining at an average of 19.7 percent. But the percentages were substantially lower among those who ordered carryout or delivery with the average customers doling out a 14.5 percent gratuity. 

Delivery and carryout percentages have slowly declined since peaking at more than 16 percent near the onset of pandemic.  

Traditional tipping etiquette dictates that customers give their servers an extra 15 to 20 percent, before tax, in addition to the price of their meal, according to etiquette site Emily Post. 

Toast’s trends report shows Indiana consumers are tipping the most when dining out, averaging 21 percent. West Virginia trailed slightly behind Indiana, with tips averaging 20.8 percent. Ohio, Delaware and Kentucky rounded out the highest tipping states, each averaging 20.7 percent gratuities.  

Consumers in California tip the least at full-service restaurants where the average customer tacks on 17.5 percent.  

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Previous surveys indicated Americans’ pandemic-era tipping habits were fading. A survey from CreditCards.com released in June revealed that tipping in several categories fell below pre-pandemic levels.  

The number of customers surveyed who said they always tip fell by 4 percentage points from 77 percent in 2019 to 73 percent in 2022. Four percent said they never tip.   

“Inflation is cutting into consumers’ purchasing power and a tight labor market has left many service industry businesses understaffed and struggling to provide top-notch customer experiences,” Ted Rossman, senior industry analyst at CreditCards.com, said at the time. 

Source: TEST FEED1

Kentucky rep being inducted into Bourbon Hall of Fame

Rep. John Yarmuth (D-Ky.) has been named among the 2022 class of the Kentucky Bourbon Hall of Fame.

In a news release on Wednesday, the Kentucky Distillers’ Association said that Yarmuth and five individuals would be inducted into the Hall of Fame next month, being recognized for their contributions to bourbon’s stature, growth and awareness. 

The other members of the 2022 Kentucky Bourbon Hall of Fame class are Old Rip Van Winkle Distillery President Julian P. Van Winkle III; Michter’s Distillery Chief Operating Officer and Master of Maturation Andrea Marie Wilson; Rabbit Hole Distillery founder and CEO Kaveh Zamanian; Kentucky state Rep. D. Chad McCoy (R); and Stephen Francis Thompson, the late founder and CEO of Kentucky Artisan Distillery. 

In a tweet, Yarmuth expressed his gratitude for being named a member of the Kentucky Bourbon Hall of Fame. Yarmuth announced in October that he will retire at the end of this Congress. 

“So incredibly honored to be named a member of the ’22 class of inductees into the Kentucky Bourbon Hall of Fame,” Yarmuth wrote in his tweet. “It has been a joy to found the Bourbon Caucus and help raise awareness of the issues this vital industry faces. Cheers & thanks, @KyDistillers!” 

The Kentucky Distillers’ Association said in its release that after postponing the ceremony the last two years over COVID-19 concerns, this year’s ceremony will celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Kentucky Bourbon Hall of Fame, which was founded in 2001.

“Congratulations to this year’s esteemed class which celebrates the visionaries, artisans and partners that have made Kentucky Bourbon — and our beloved Commonwealth — the gold standard of American whiskey,” Kentucky Distillers’ Association President Eric Gregory said in a statement. “And, on behalf of our industry, a heartfelt thank you.”

The Kentucky Bourbon Hall of Fame induction ceremony is scheduled for Sept 13.

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Cook Political Report shifts Pennsylvania Senate race to 'lean Democrat'

The nonpartisan Cook Political Report is changing its rating of Pennsylvania’s Senate race from a “toss up” to “lean Democrat” fewer than three months before the November midterms.

The development comes against the backdrop of the social media campaign that Democratic candidate John Fetterman has waged against opponent Mehmet Oz (R) that has sought to portray the celebrity as a carpetbagger from New Jersey who is out of touch with voters.

Fetterman’s campaign has enlisted big New Jersey names like former “Jersey Shore” cast member Nicole “Snooki” LaValle and musician Steven Van Zandt to troll the celebrity doctor while raising funds off of an April video in which Oz mispronounces the name of a regional grocery store while speaking to voters about inflation as he shops for crudité ingredients.

“Fancy French appetizer plates aside, a simple glance at Oz compared to the hoodie-and-shorts clad tattooed Fetterman, and it’s not surprising to discern who comes across as more authentic and relatable to voters,” the nonpartisan election handicapper wrote.

Its update on the Pennsylvania race also comes despite the fact that Oz has former President Trump’s endorsement for a seat currently held by a Republican, retiring Sen. Pat Toomey. Additionally, Oz has had more time to meet with voters on the trail than Fetterman, who suffered a stroke earlier this year.

Meanwhile, the Cook Political Report shifted its Senate race ratings in Colorado from “likely Democrat” to “lean Democrat” and in Utah from “solid Republican” to “likely Republican.”

It also said it was rating Senate control as a “toss up,” noting that the landscape had changed since prior to the start of the primaries, when it believed Republicans were more than likely to flip control of the upper chamber. 

The nonpartisan election handicapper noted that Trump would likely be to blame if Republicans lost their opportunity to seize the Senate given that he waded into several competitive battleground states, stopping stronger candidates from running.

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University of Maryland reports first presumptive monkeypox case

The University of Maryland is reporting its first presumptive case of the monkeypox virus. 

In a letter sent on Wednesday, University Health Center Director Dr. Spyridon Marinopoulos said that a staff member is believed to have tested positive for the virus, noting that the infected staff member is taking the necessary medical steps and is doing well. 

Marinopoulos also said that the school is following Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines in an effort to help keep its students and faculty safe. 

“As this disease continues to be present across the country and the world, it is likely we will experience MPX cases on campus,” Marinopoulos added. “We are continuing to monitor the situation in partnership with our local and state health departments, and will communicate with you if additional guidance is required.” 

“Our University Health Center staff will be working with county health officials to monitor cases and coordinate targeted communication and response,” Marinopoulos concluded. 

University officials advised students and faculty to avoid close, skin-to-skin contact with an individual who has a rash that looks like monkeypox, avoid contact with objects and materials that a person with the virus has used, and thoroughly wash their hands often with soap and water or use hand sanitizer. 

In June, George Washington University officials announced that an individual on its campus had tested positive for the virus. 

According to CDC data, there were 13,587 confirmed Monkeypox cases in 49 U.S. states as of Wednesday.

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US, Taiwan agree to start trade talks amid China tensions

The United States and Taiwan have agreed to start formal talks on a trade pact, the governments of both countries said, a decision that comes amid rising tensions with China.  

The negotiations on a new economic pact will begin early this fall, according to a statement from the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, and will cover eleven different subject areas, including trade facilitation, regulatory practices, anticorruption, agriculture, digital trade, labor environment and state-owned enterprises.  

Deputy U.S. Trade Representative Sarah Bianchi said in the statement the negotiations between Washington and Taipei would “deepen our trade and investment relationship, advance mutual trade priorities based on shared values, and promote innovation and inclusive economic growth for our workers and businesses.”  

A statement from Taiwan’s Office of Trade Negotiations said that the talks would aim not only to strengthen investment and trade between the U.S. and Taiwan but also to bolster the overall economic strength of Taiwan and help Taiwan increase its participation in international pacts.  

Taiwan’s trade minister, John Deng, told reporters during a news conference on Thursday that the two countries would discuss how to address China’s “economic coercion,” according to CNN.  

–Developing

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Secret Service withheld Pelosi threat from Capitol Police until Jan. 6 riot was underway: watchdog

The U.S. Secret Service did not inform Capitol Police about a threat made against Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) related to the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol riot until after the attack was underway, according to a watchdog group.

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) published a report on Wednesday that included a copy of email communications the group said it had obtained between officials around the time of the Capitol riot. 

In one of the emails, which was sent from the Secret Service to Capitol Police, the Secret Service said in a correspondence dated Jan. 6 at 5:55 p.m. that it was “passing notification to the US Capitol Police regarding discovery of a social media threat directed toward Speaker Nancy Pelosi.”

The Secret Service noted that it became aware of threatening posts made on a Parler account at least as early as Jan. 4, 2021, according to CREW. Among some of the posts the agency found, was one made on Dec. 31, 2020.

“January 6 starts #1776 all over again!! Fight for God! Fight for Your Freedom!! Fight for Your Children!! Fight for Trump!! Fight for America!! Fight for EVERYTHING… Enemies: #MSM #BarackObama #HillaryClinton #GeorgeSoros #JoeBiden #AndrewCuomo #GavinNewsom #NancyPelosi #BillDeBlasio.”

It is not immediately clear when Secret Service learned about the specific post, but the agency’s correspondence with Capitol Police indicated that the same user and its linked accounts on other social media platforms showed the user making threats elsewhere, CREW noted.

“Biden will die shortly after being elected. Patriots are gonna tear his head off. Prison is his best case scenario,” the user reportedly wrote on Parler on Jan. 2, 2021.

The email exchange adds to controversy around how law enforcement agencies responded to the Capitol riot during which a pro-Trump mob ransacked the Capitol to stop lawmakers from certifying President Biden’s win. 

It also comes amid increasing scrutiny over how the Secret Service has preserved their text communications following the rioting – correspondences that are being sought by the House select committee investigating the attack.

Anthony Guglielmi, a spokesperson for the Secret Service, did not appear to address the timing of the text messages in a statement to CNN, but said it had an “outstanding working relationship” with other law enforcement agencies.

“While we do not comment on issues pertaining to protective intelligence, the United States Secret Service has an outstanding working relationship with all law enforcement agencies in the National Capitol Region,” he told the network.

“The Secret Service works tirelessly to share pertinent information with our law enforcement partners. In the communication where there was a reference to Speaker Pelosi, that information was provided to the US Capitol Police for their situational awareness.”

The Hill has reached out to Pelosi’s office and the Secret Service for comment. 

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Liz Cheney’s Hollywood ending

Wyoming calls itself “the Cowboy State,” so what better way to put Rep. Liz Cheney’s (R-Wyo.) crushing Republican primary defeat in perspective than with two Hollywood westerns, the classic “High Noon” and the less-known “Lonely Are the Brave.” Both are about defiant, principled individualists willing to take big risks.

In “High Noon,” Hadleyville Marshal Will Kane (played by Gary Cooper) learns that outlaws he had put in jail have been pardoned and are on their way to kill him. Despite Kane’s pleas for help, no one in the town, not even his deputy, will stand with him. Kane walks into the main street alone to face the outlaws and (spoiler alert) guns them down with some unexpected help from his Quaker, pacifist wife (played by Grace Kelly, later the princess of Monaco).

“High Noon” became the favorite of American presidents from Ronald Reagan to Bill Clinton, who said “It’s a movie about courage in the face of fear and the guy doing what he thought was right in spite of the fact that it could cost him everything.” That is a good description of Liz Cheney’s self-described quest to “ensure Donald Trump is never anywhere close to the Oval Office ever again.” 

Cheney’s primary defeat has resonance in “Lonely Are the Brave,” which is about an old-style, fiercely independent cowboy in the southwest named Jack Burns (played by Kirk Douglas). Jack cuts barbed wire fences, carries no identification and has no address other than where he happens to sleep that night, and wouldn’t live any other way. When his best friend is jailed for helping illegal immigrants (believe it or not, the movie was made in 1962), Jack gets himself arrested so that he can help the friend break out of jail.

But the friend, who has a family, does not want to lead the life of a fugitive, so Jack escapes from jail on his own. On horseback, Jack stays ahead of the pursuing police and an Air Force helicopter in mountains as rugged as he is and escapes into dense forests that stretch to Mexico. But before he can get there (another spoiler alert), he and his horse must cross a highway on a dark, rainswept night. In a tragic confrontation between the Old West and the modern world, they are run down by an eighteen-wheeler.

Liz Cheney is just as out of place in today’s Republican Party (her state’s party refused to recognize her as a Republican) as Jack Burns was in the modern-day West. Their brave independence in an inhospitable environment was their undoing. In an earlier era of the Republican Party, Cheney would not have been alone in taking on a former president who was “practically and morally responsibility” for the Jan. 6 insurrection, in the words of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) (before he voted to acquit Trump of the impeachment charge of inciting an insurrection). In this era, where loyalty to the Republican Party is largely defined by loyalty to a lie, Liz Cheney may be one of the last of her kind.

Perhaps Liz Cheney ultimately will achieve her goal if the House January 6 Select Committee hearings so eroded Trump’s standing that he fails to win the Republican nomination or the general election in 2024; and she likely will retain her national voice. But whatever happens to Trump, Liz Cheney left us an indelible “High Noon” moment.

At the end of the movie, after Marshall Kane has killed the outlaws, the townspeople emerge from hiding. Kane, with contempt for them on his face, throws his tin star into the dirt and leaves town with his wife. During the Jan. 6 hearings, with scorn in her voice, Cheney addressed her fellow Republicans:

“Tonight, I say this to our Republican colleagues who are defending the indefensible: There will come a day when Donald Trump is gone — but your dishonor will remain.”

Cheney may have met the electoral equivalent of Jack Burns’s fate, but she leaves Congress with Will Kane’s honor.

Gregory J. Wallance, a writer in New York City, was a federal prosecutor in the Carter and Reagan administrations, where he was a member of the ABSCAM prosecution team that convicted a U.S. senator and six representatives of bribery. He is working on a book about a 19th century American journalist who investigated the Siberian exile system. Follow him on Twitter at @gregorywallance.

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