Crooked Media - What A Day: A grift course in the south

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

 -Louie Gohmert bragging about his SAT scores, as smart 67-year-olds frequently do

The U.S. vaccine rollout is a little like a first-time marathon runner on Mile 23: It’s come shockingly far, especially when you consider that Fox News keeps jogging up with a baseball bat and whacking it in the knees, but the last few miles will not be the easiest.
 

  • The current U.S. coronavirus outlook is overwhelmingly sunny. More than 60 percent of American adults have received at least one vaccine shot, and as a result, daily infections, hospitalizations, and deaths have reached their lowest rates since the pandemic took hold. The average pace of daily vaccinations has fallen nearly 50 percent from the peak jab frenzy in April, but the pace started ticking back up over the past week, and over half-a-million kids received their first dose within their first week of eligibility.
     
  • That said, there’s still some work to do. Vaccination rate disparities have persisted between regions, states, and urban and rural areas, worrying health experts about possible outbreaks emerging in clusters of unvaccinated people. The Biden administration has just over six weeks to hit President Biden’s goal of vaccinating 70 percent of Americans with at least one dose by the Fourth of July—a threshold that would keep the risk of a surge later in the year extremely low, according to Anthony Fauci.
     
  • To get there, the White House and state leaders have rolled out a slate of initiatives aimed both at combating vaccine hesitancy and expanding access to harder-to-reach Americans. You’ve heard of lottery incentives and things like the Bill de Blasio French Fry Experience; on Friday, the Biden administration announced a partnership with dating apps to harness the incentivizing power of horny, vaccinated singles in your area. “We have finally found the one thing that makes us all more attractive: a vaccination,” said Reluctant White House Sex Ed Teacher Andy Slavitt.

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

  • Public-health officials around the country have ramped up the use of mobile vaccine units to expand access for homeless populations, rural communities, farm workers, and anyone else without the time, resources, or transportation to easily find an appointment. In New York City, health officials have encouraged community groups to start going door-to-door to persuade people to sign up for nearby appointments, and have hired a few companies to do the same. 
     
  • Policies at colleges and private companies could also help get us over the finish line. More than 380 colleges—mostly in blue states—have announced vaccine mandates for at least some students or faculty. While most employers have backed away from requiring vaccinations (in some states, because GOP governors have banned it), a number of the largest employers in the country have begun offering monetary incentives or on-site clinics. 
 

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

This week on ALL CAPS, Jason Concepcion breaks down key moments from the NBA Play-In game between the Lakers & Golden State and Pod Save America co-host Tommy Vietor joins the show to get roasted for being a Boston Celtics fan. Did he came prepared? Watch to find out! 

The ceasefire between Israel and Hamas has held for the moment, but heightened tensions in Jerusalem immediately underscored its fragility. Israeli police raided the al-Aqsa Mosque compound on Friday, using stun grenades and rubber bullets against Palestinians outside the mosque where thousands of people had gathered for Friday prayers. Police also reportedly attacked journalists with batons and ignored their press cards. An Israeli police spokesman said the officers were responding to a crowd of Palestianians throwing rocks at police forces. It’s a reminder that the truce itself, while celebrated on all sides, doesn’t address the underlying injustices and tensions that led up to the violence in the first place. For more detail on how the ceasefire came about, this is an interesting breakdown of the Biden administration’s efforts behind the scenes.

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

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Pfizer and BioNTech have pledged to deliver two billion vaccine doses to lower-income countries over the next year and a half.

More than one million households have already enrolled in a new FCC program subsidizing broadband service.

The USDA will begin sending loan forgiveness payments to thousands of minority farmers in June. 

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

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

Vermont has enacted the nation’s first statewide ban on the use of toxic “forever chemicals” in certain products.

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

In 19 states, at least half of adults are now fully vaccinated.

. . . . . .


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Older messages

What A Day: Benny and the threats

Thursday, May 20, 2021

Under investigation and blogging through it. Wednesday, May 19, 2021 BY SARAH LAZARUS & CROOKED MEDIA -Andrew Giuliani, age 35 A ceasefire between Israel and Hamas appears to remain out of reach,

What A Day: The Kevin fear sitch

Wednesday, May 19, 2021

An electoral buffet of terrible Andrews. Tuesday, May 18, 2021 BY SARAH LAZARUS & CROOKED MEDIA -Joe Biden, car guy A GOP leader who promoted election lies that fueled a violent insurrection has

What A Day: Barrett necessities

Tuesday, May 18, 2021

Justice for Martha Stewart's peacocks. Monday, May 17, 2021 BY SARAH LAZARUS & CROOKED MEDIA -Gov. Kevin Stitt (R-OK), fundraising for his sauce-based re-election The far-right Supreme Court

What A Day: Yanking their Cheney

Friday, May 14, 2021

Nightmare Fish for Governor '21 Wednesday, May 12, 2021 BY SARAH LAZARUS & CROOKED MEDIA -Adam Kinziger, murdering Matt Gaetz with his own dunk House Republicans voted to oust Rep. Liz Cheney (

What A Day: Vax-on, Mask-off

Friday, May 14, 2021

The CDC says start licking. Thursday, May 13, 2021 BY SARAH LAZARUS & CROOKED MEDIA -Bill de Blasio, enjoying an incentivizing morning hamburger Worsening Israeli-Palestinian violence has exposed

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