Fed up Los Angeles parents say they will not sign in to Zoom courses and stage protests instead; mom Cynthia Rojas and her 3rd grader Nicholas join 'Fox & Friends' to discuss the strategy.
The state is urged to help those who kept their power on during the winter snap and face huge bills.
“Let’s not use perfect as an excuse to safely, thoughtfully, judiciously, strategically get our youngest kids back in first," Newsom said. Newsom said California’s current 3.1% coronavirus positivity rate was currently a quarter of Texas’ and half of Florida’s. The governor has been caught between two groups, teachers unions pushing back on opening classrooms without specific safety protocols and vaccinations and those seeking to recall him over the state's COVID response.
With many luxury hideaways occupying private islands, the Maldives’ farsighted resorts were practically made for social distancing
Ludovic Marin/AFP via GettyOn Feb. 3, an influx of young Russians flooded my Instagram inbox and followers list. Yulia Navalnaya, the wife of imprisoned Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, had just reposted my recent Instagram story: a photo of Navalny in court, holding up his hands to form the shape of a heart, which had made the cover of The Wall Street Journal.My family emigrated from Russia to the U.S. in the 1990s, when I was 13 years old, but I couldn’t recall meeting Russian teenagers and young people quite like them before: an entire generation who grew up under Putin’s reign. Across their social media pages on Instagram and TikTok, they come across as purposeful, bold and creative. They made political videos on TikTok and Instagram. Some of them identified as feminists, vegan activists, dancers, musicians, and aspiring lawyers. They seemed to march to the beat of a different drum, sharing a set of universal values that differed from that of their parents and grandparents. It was like they were visitors from another planet.When Navalny flew back to Moscow on Jan. 17 and was swiftly detained, his team was able to mobilize thousands of people in cities across Russia’s 11 time zones. After the Russian court sentenced Navalny to two and a half years’ imprisonment, his supporters continued to protest in the streets. Videos shared on social media showed teenagers tearing up Putin’s portraits in schools and replacing them with photos of Navalny.On Feb. 14, Valentine’s Day, Navalny’s team held a campaign they called “Love Is Stronger than Fear,” inspired by Navalny’s gesture to his wife in court. “We’re calling on all residents of the big Russian cities to do one some simple thing on February 14, 8pm,” Navalny’s team wrote. “Go outside and turn on the flash on your phone, lift it up and stand there for a few minutes.”On Sunday, there were several protests, mainly in Moscow and St. Petersburg where a few hundred women gathered in solidarity with Navalny’s wife Yulia, according to AFP. Separately, “tens of thousands” of people answered Navalny’s call for the Valentine’s Day campaign, braving winter temperatures and going outside with flashlights for symbolic vigils in “hundreds of courtyards” across the country, according to estimates from Navalny's team.This time, the turnout was smaller and more peaceful, without the violent clashes with police and mass detentions that characterized the pro-Navalny protests last month. Instead, the government’s response moved behind the scenes, focusing on pressuring social media platforms and taking measures against those who imply they are even thinking about taking to the streets. Immediately after the Valentine’s Day events, there were reports of retaliation against those who participated in the campaign, including a COVID-19 nurse, Saidanvar Sulaimonov, who was fired after participating in the “Love Is Stronger than Fear” campaign and taking a picture of himself indoors wearing protective equipment, Meduza reported.Even before Sunday’s events, many young people expressed skepticism about the long-term impact of this new wave of protests. Aram Badalyam, a 25-year-old indie folk musician based in Krasnodar, southern Russia—the region where Putin’s alleged palace is located—calls the protests “toothless.” Navalny’s investigation and the burst of political activism he saw in the country and in Krasnodar inspired him to write a song about the palace. “Navalny speaks their language,” he says of the new generation of supporters. “He is persistent, courageous and brave. Bravery is a rarity in Russia.”This is the type of grassroots mobilization that has set Navalny apart from other opposition leaders and allowed him to connect with this new generation through social media, like in this TikTok video where he shows off his investigation of his own poisoning. From providing copies of flyers to put up in their neighborhoods in a Google drive to continuing to post investigative videos even while Navalny is in prison—his team is teaching this new generation a new methodology of protesting and political activism.“Navalny’s offering instruments, protests for examples, where others opposition members can show up and unite for common goals,” says 23-year-old, St. Petersburg-based Nikolai, who spoke with The Daily Beast under a pseudonym. “For me Navalny is also about the people he gathered around him, people who are fighting the system and are helping others.”Navalny’s anti-corruption activities have not only educated this new generation about the state of affairs in their country, but it has also taught them how to fight corruption in the existing system. It showed them what works. “I trust Navalny because he provides arguments and facts,” says Catherine Shipilova, 17 years old, an aspiring lawyer, who is counting the months until she officially becomes “an adult” in Russia. “I plan to apply to law school, I would like to help people,” she says. “I love Russia, but I’m against our current government.”In an interview with Russian radio platform Echo Moskvy, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, a Russian oil tycoon who himself was imprisoned for a decade, noted that Putin’s response to Navalny’s latest investigation into the president’s alleged palace showed the disconnect between the ruling regime and this new generation. This almost two-hour investigation into an imperial-style palace in southern Russia received over 112 million views within a month. Putin has dismissed the video as boring, calling it a “montage,” and claiming that “nothing that is listed there as my property belongs to me or my close relatives, and never did.” Putin’s spokesperson Dmitry Peskov continued to deny any ownership.Khodorkovsky called Putin’s response to the viral video more shocking than the investigation itself. “It’s a joke,” he said. “It’s natural that the young generation wants something different. The government can listen to them. But for this you need institutions in which you set up rules, and the young people live their lives within the framework. But our government doesn’t want to set up frameworks. They want to rule it all in order to remain in power.”A Levada Center opinion poll showed a quarter of Russians had seen the palace video, and that younger people, aged 18-24, absorbed it the most. According to the poll, 37 percent of the younger age group had seen it, more than any other group.Putin’s first public response to Navalny’s viral investigation into Putin’s reported palace in southern Russia was mocked widely on social media. One TikTok video showed Putin speaking from a deep purple “hookah” room that showed a metal pole in the middle of the room as he explained that there were no documents linking him to the palace.The Kremlin’s response has included a range of denials of any connections to the palace, heavy-handed mass detainment, and more tech-savvy measures to detain participants before the protests using facial recognition technology. But the primary focus of the government's response has been to crack down on social media sites that enable information sharing, mobilization, and political engagement. Following the first wave of protests, Russian media censorship agency Roskomnadzor zeroed in on the most popular social media agencies, even ordering them to remove protest-related materials. On Jan. 29, Roskomnadzor called in representatives of TikTok, Facebook, Telegram and VKontakte, arguing that it was their responsibility to remove posts that encourage participation in "unsanctioned events,” according to the agency’s statement. The agency also ordered several media outlets to delete reports on the Valentine’s Day protest.To be sure, these young people are only a fraction of the Russian opposition and Navalny himself doesn’t share all of their values. The majority of Russians still get their news from traditional news media, which is more loyal to the Kremlin. But in this moment—after Navalny’s latest poisoning attempt, recovery, return from Germany and hasty sentencing in Moscow—he is the one who is uniting Russia’s opposition, including this younger generation who can only remember a Russia under Putin.Navalny was able to capture their imagination and the government’s response was swift. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs even opened an official TikTok account in early February, dedicating the first two posts to Navalny. For some of his supporters, what resonates the most about Navalny is that he is providing a tent for the opposition, providing them with tools, and educating them about how to make their voices heard: through social media activism, video and protests on the street. And they’re continuing to listen and take notes, even with Navalny behind bars.Nikolai says he plans to continue to participate in protests despite his detainment. “I think the protest movement will continue, but will take different forms, not just going to specific streets at a specific time,” he says. “I see the future of Russia as democratic, free, with respect to the rule of law and each other. The new generation is less susceptible to state propaganda.”“If the ruling order remains the same, we’re not going to see anything improve.” Shipilova tells The Daily Beast. She worries that serving a prison sentence will impact Navalny’s chances to run for office again. “I hope that our country will get better and we’ll have laws that are important and needed.”Even Alexei Navalny’s tone took on a more somber, pensive tone following the Valentine’s Day events. He was sentenced to almost three years in prison. “The prison is in your head,” he wrote in a recent Instagram post, proceeding to compare his prison cell and conditions to flying a spaceship. “At this moment, I understand that I’m on a space journey, flying towards a beautiful new world.”Read more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.
Photo Illustration by The Daily Beast/Photos GettyThe COVID-19 vaccine is wracking me.My ears ring from elevated blood pressure, and my breathing is hampered. But these aren’t side effects. We know the vaccines are safe and effective.It’s frustration—and some vertigo.I’m as high-risk as virtually anyone but not—at least so far as I can tell with any clarity—allowed a shot yet. Not in Alabama anyway, where about half a million people have had it before me.A Third of U.S. Servicemembers Refuse to Be Vaccinated: PentagonIt feels virtually guaranteed a case of COVID-19 would kill me. I’m middle aged—in my 50s—but was diagnosed with genetic emphysema in my late 30s. A missing chemical component called Alpha-1 antitrypsin allowed my immune system to gradually destroy my lungs’ elasticity. My breathing capacity is under a fifth of what it should be for someone my age.I went from an active life—commuting by bicycle, hiking, and running with my dog—to struggling for breath in just a few years’ time. It’s why I quit working in the smoke and heat of restaurant kitchens and turned to writing for a living.It’s also why I sleep and exercise with a stream of oxygen flowing into my nose—why even a head cold or hay fever causes bronchitis, then pneumonia. It’s led to more than half a dozen hospitalizations in the last 16 years.My first hospital stay cost $8,000 for four days, all from missing a pharmaceutical dose. I’ve since qualified for disability and the attendant Medicare coverage; otherwise I wouldn’t have insurance at all, or access to the nearly $250,000 of medicines I need to stay alive each year.When a “strange new pneumonia” emerged over a year ago, it obviously caught my attention. By March 2020, COVID-19 was oozing across the United States, and my doctors told me to quarantine at home and take all safety measures.Vaccine breakthroughs have come amazingly quickly, and Alabama’s phased rollout started in December, going to frontline workers and group home residents first. Understandable and fair.Last month, some facilities moved to phase 1b—those over 75 years old, first responders, essential workers dealing with the public. Interested parties were directed to websites or phone numbers for registration.Around this time came a social-media parade as younger, healthier faces proclaimed their vaccinations. Every other day, my wife would seethe.“How did they get this? Why can’t you get that?” she shouted.We discovered some lawyers were eligible—or at least we heard they were getting shots. There are 18,000 members of the Alabama Bar Association, two-thirds male, about 90 percent white. Librarians, publicists, city hall employees, and others were vaccinated, too.As for me, some websites had no specific listing of media personnel (my profession) or pre-existing conditions for eligibility. I registered anyway, but never heard back.Rumors circulated of facilities intermittently opened to first-come, first-served and no restrictions. I never received notification.Conditions tightened. One clinic’s website closed. Another announced critical shortages. A phone number for another only gave an “out of vaccine” message.This shoddy scenario ruled the state. As the Wall Street Journal recently reported, we were last in the nation in vaccinations, with only 10,013 per 100,000 residents. All while we had one of the highest rates for positive coronavirus tests at 29 percent in recent weeks, per Johns Hopkins University.The causes are obvious: Alabama is largely poor, rural, and unhealthy. When the state rejected Medicaid expansion for Obamacare, it stressed an overburdened public health system that has seen rural healthcare access evaporate. In February 2020, one quarter of Alabama hospitals risked closure.Latent paranoia engendered by historic racism and horrific experimentation on Black populations makes some here understandably—if unfortunately—leery of inoculations. Black folks comprise 27 percent of the Alabama population—the state’s most impoverished rural counties are majority-Black—but just 11 percent of the vaccinated are Black, by one recent estimate.The broader politicization of COVID-19 and paranoid beliefs also play a role. It’s why just a quarter of Mobile, Alabama’s police force had been vaccinated as of earlier this month. Add to this the jumbled communications I encountered, and the results become inevitable.The Vaccines Are More Effective Than You Think, Even With Those Variants LoomingSome of those police officers worked Mobile’s massive Mardi Gras street party last Tuesday, a potential superspreader event presided over by Mobile Mayor Sandy Stimpson after the state legislature passed a bill protecting businesses and governments from COVID-19 lawsuits. Attendance expected to be in the thousands was dampened by cold temperatures and warnings from public health officials. It could prove a savior.State Health Officer Dr. Scott Harris admitted vaccine supplies are low and, when paired with the aforementioned factors, it’s a headache. He said the Biden administration has straightened snarls, but it’s not enough.“We’re not a healthy state to begin with. We have a lot of diabetes and heart disease and other things that predispose people to bad health problems,” Harris recently told reporters. “Adding that chronic disease category might add two million people to the list. It’s not helpful to say every person’s eligible immediately when there’s no vaccine to give them.”Despite Harris’ statement, mixed signals are still on the streets. A restaurant worker told me he arrived at Mobile’s largest clinic on Feb. 13 and—without being asked for ID “or anything”—got a shot. His diabetic wife got the needle, too, he said.Walmart announced its vaccine distribution earlier this month. On its website, I called myself an essential worker—as media personnel—rather than a high-risk individual. Ironically, if I wear portable oxygen, then my wife can piggyback as “living with a high-risk individual,” though it appears the “high risk” patient would still be in a later vaccine group.I don’t know the source of all these gaps in protocol, between official schedules and what is happening. We’re tired of worrying about it. We tried to play strictly by the rules, but we’re tired of playing with my life.Three days before our scheduled vaccination appointments, I awoke with my first-ever bout of vertigo. The inner-ear disturbance had me reeling and retching enough to preclude my vaccination, since it would now be impossible to differentiate vertigo from possible inoculation side effects.A visit with a medical specialist will take precedence over the vaccination—assuming I’d have been able to get it at all. The week until then will be fraught with questions about COVID-19’s local spread. Was Mardi Gras enough to fill the specialist’s office with the deadly virus? Will I roll into the waiting room seeking relief only to find my doom?The only certainty is that if I find relief from the vertigo specialist that day, we’re going straight to Mobile’s largest vaccine clinic, where stories continue to emerge about ignored priorities, appointments, and protocols.Our patience and choices are exhausted, and I need that shot.Read more at The Daily Beast.Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast hereGet our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.
Mention the name “Costco” and people work themselves up into a frenzy. Some people will start waving their arms around, shouting, “The chicken! The chicken!” Others will shout, “The hot dogs! The hot dogs!” And even entire countries go wild over Costco.
The bag was left outside church in New Miami, Butler County. An anonymous note said the mother was called Sprinkles and the kittens were a day old.
The company lays out what will happen to users who do not accept its updated conditions.
The actress has given her first interview since being fired by Disney.
The family of an 87-year-old woman is demanding an apology from a San Rafael, California nursing facility after she allegedly suffered abuse and neglect from the staff. The woman’s family placed her at the Smith Ranch Skilled Nursing & Rehabilitation Center after suffering a stroke in January, according to KPIX5. In Cantonese, she spoke about the alleged mistreatment and how she was hit by one of the staff members with a call light button, which resulted in bruising.
Jessica Watkins has alleged that she has been "treated harshly" and is at "particular risk in custody" because she is transgender, BuzzFeed News reported.
Supt. Austin Beutner announced that LAUSD will allow sports conditioning on campuses starting the week of March 1. Conditioning last took place in November.
The development is a brutal defeat for the former president. Trump has dismissed the Manhattan prosecutors' investigation as a political "witch hunt."
Rep. Peter Meijer said he was "strongly considering" voting to impeach President Trump after a deadly pro-Trump riot disrupted the Capitol.
House prosecutors wielded former President Donald Trump's words against him in arguing he should be convicted of inciting insurrection at the Capitol.
A debate has erupted about whether the deregulation of the Texas electricity market contributed to the most calamitous week in recent state history.
Annual conference, which will feature Donald Trump, comes weeks after Capitol riot
The Supreme Court on Monday declined to halt the turnover of former president Donald Trump’s tax records to a New York prosecutor. While the documents will be subject to grand jury secrecy rules that restrict their public release, the ruling is a loss for Trump, who has long fought to shield his financial records from prosecutors. Trump had repeatedly argued that the subpoena issued by Manhattan district attorney Cyrus Vance, which includes documents from January 2011 to August 2019, was overbroad and issued in bad faith. The documents from Trump’s accounting firm, Mazars, relate to the Trump Organization’s employment of Trump’s former lawyer Michael Cohen and a hush money payment Cohen allegedly made to two women who claimed to have had extramarital affairs with Trump. Vance celebrated the ruling, which was issued without comment or noted dissent, saying in a tweet, “The work continues.” The work continues. — Cyrus Vance, Jr. (@ManhattanDA) February 22, 2021 While Trump’s personal lawyers may choose to fight their appeal in the case, the release of the documents by Mazars effectively ends the dispute, which began last July when the Supreme Court voted 7–2 to reject Trump’s claims of immunity from a state criminal subpoena seeking his tax returns. The Court said then that, as president, Trump was not entitled to any kind of heightened standard unavailable to ordinary citizens and sent the case back down to the lower court so the president could make more targeted objections to the scope of the subpoena. A federal appeals court said in October that “there is nothing to suggest that these are anything but run-of-the-mill documents typically relevant to a grand jury investigation into possible financial or corporate misconduct.” Trump’s personal lawyers brought the case back to the high court, requesting that it put the lower court ruling on hold while the justices considered whether to take up the appeal. “The subpoena is geographically sprawling, temporally expansive, and topically unlimited — all attributes that raise suspicions of an unlawful fishing expedition,” Trump’s lawyer William Consovoy argued. He added that, “even if disclosure is confined to the grand jury and prosecutors,” once the documents are surrendered, confidentiality “will be lost for all time.”
Sri Lanka’s Roman Catholic bishops said Monday that they are suspicious of the government’s motives in not sharing the report of a presidential commission of inquiry into Easter Sunday suicide bomb attacks in 2019 that killed more than 260 people, and instead appointing another committee to study it. The Rev. Winston Fernando, the head of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Sri Lanka, said the church was alarmed by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa's decision last week to appoint a new six-member committee of government ministers to study the report without sharing it with the church or the attorney general for the prosecution of suspects.
Celebrity dermatologist Dr. Pimple Popper used her fingers to squeeze and loosen the "cute" and slimy lipoma on a woman's shoulder.
