ANONYMOUS - OUR VOICE

The Amazon union drive isn’t over yet

The <a href="https://www.vox.com/recode/22311708/amazon-union-alabama-vote-explained">union drive</a> in Amazon’s Bessemer, Alabama, fulfillment center that ended with a majority of workers voting against unionizing may well get a second chance. A National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) official is now calling for a reelection, citing Amazon’s misconduct in the first one. But it’s still not a sure thing that this reelection will happen, and if it does, it’s even less certain that the result will go the union’s way.
Kerstin Meyers, the NLRB official who oversaw the hearing of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU)’s objections to the election, recommended on Monday that the results, which were <a href="https://www.vox.com/recode/22375964/amazon-union-vote-results-what-happens-next">overwhelmingly</a> in Amazon’s favor, be set aside and a new election be held. (RWDSU was the union that Amazon workers <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/23/business/amazon-union-bessemer-alabama.html">would have joined</a> if the vote went in favor of unionizing.) While she dismissed some of the union’s objections, Meyers found that others — almost all of which centered around Amazon’s installation of a mailbox on warehouse grounds — were sufficient to warrant another vote.
The mailbox in question was a gray, multi-compartmented box <a href="https://www.vox.com/recode/22446206/amazon-union-mailbox">placed in the fulfillment center’s parking lot</a>. Amazon encouraged employees to use this mailbox to send in their votes. Amazon had aggressively pushed the United States Postal Service to approve and install the mailbox in time for the union vote. Some workers <a href="https://www.vice.com/en/article/3anw9k/amazon-sends-vote-no-instructions-to-unionizing-employees-tells-them-to-use-new-mailbox">were not pleased</a> about the mailbox at the time, and the union made it a major focus of its objections to the vote.
Meyers found that employees had reason to believe that Amazon was surveilling them and had control over the mailbox, which could have influenced how and whether they voted.
“I find it is the aggregate effect of the mailbox that affected the results of the election,” Meyers wrote. “It is the totality of the circumstances created by the installation of the mailbox absent any authorization from the [NLRB] ... the Employer’s conduct herein so undermined the laboratory conditions necessary to ensure a free and fair election [that] a re-run election is necessary.”
<figure class="e-image"><picture class="c-picture" data-cid="site/picture_element-1628026254_4761_24479" data-cdata='{"asset_id":22759480,"ratio":"*"}'><source srcset="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/eLMz1qXo0QRtzxS03TRbWCz_cRY=/0x0:1632x767/320x0/filters:focal(0x0:1632x767):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22759480/mailbox.jpeg 320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/nV_kuJ2kQwn4RjbyAppQinXXUr0=/0x0:1632x767/520x0/filters:focal(0x0:1632x767):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22759480/mailbox.jpeg 520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/SXSHojENCp-2K8lArgD79q-RfAM=/0x0:1632x767/720x0/filters:focal(0x0:1632x767):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22759480/mailbox.jpeg 720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/C11F-_3F_abstSwlV5THB5D_agU=/0x0:1632x767/920x0/filters:focal(0x0:1632x767):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22759480/mailbox.jpeg 920w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/o4iKMvx-ZhBAvsEtYdHlxjGDp5E=/0x0:1632x767/1120x0/filters:focal(0x0:1632x767):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22759480/mailbox.jpeg 1120w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/0_YKWBizI6-Y7cJVC_7_ti1GBlA=/0x0:1632x767/1320x0/filters:focal(0x0:1632x767):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22759480/mailbox.jpeg 1320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/9CSeUIYiViNuhyEfO0zGEIEILvQ=/0x0:1632x767/1520x0/filters:focal(0x0:1632x767):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22759480/mailbox.jpeg 1520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/cMnApFJ8O70Pp4W9zAseTckMlF8=/0x0:1632x767/1720x0/filters:focal(0x0:1632x767):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22759480/mailbox.jpeg 1720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/IauOHVrjtUvoeY445yGIgC_Nrcs=/0x0:1632x767/1920x0/filters:focal(0x0:1632x767):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22759480/mailbox.jpeg 1920w" sizes="(min-width: 1221px) 846px, (min-width: 880px) calc(100vw - 334px), 100vw" type="image/webp" /> <img alt="The mailbox." data-upload-width="1632" sizes="(min-width: 1221px) 846px, (min-width: 880px) calc(100vw - 334px), 100vw" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/mXHOSotEZXCcnhhzDqBJpXvHUJU=/0x0:1632x767/1200x0/filters:focal(0x0:1632x767):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22759480/mailbox.jpeg" srcset="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/ixpBopzV8OnFGM9VC7_Mw8HDvy0=/0x0:1632x767/320x0/filters:focal(0x0:1632x767):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22759480/mailbox.jpeg 320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/w_3cAI6e16LENXGddjEEBebFUeE=/0x0:1632x767/520x0/filters:focal(0x0:1632x767):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22759480/mailbox.jpeg 520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/pSkgWQk69fgSaiFsah_OBx-nvgo=/0x0:1632x767/720x0/filters:focal(0x0:1632x767):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22759480/mailbox.jpeg 720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/5m7HeuFmlOMaAGY5w1LdDFrXO2k=/0x0:1632x767/920x0/filters:focal(0x0:1632x767):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22759480/mailbox.jpeg 920w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/8gfY3kpVgE4L_9RDa9veEq4JYpw=/0x0:1632x767/1120x0/filters:focal(0x0:1632x767):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22759480/mailbox.jpeg 1120w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/UOgE7DOiX4Bo02DzZknTcKF8_Io=/0x0:1632x767/1320x0/filters:focal(0x0:1632x767):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22759480/mailbox.jpeg 1320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/9s5qbh8l0GBiCkUYJk1w_YXcRAk=/0x0:1632x767/1520x0/filters:focal(0x0:1632x767):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22759480/mailbox.jpeg 1520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/tHoFb_mTxVJ3b9MLcTjEB7m5d80=/0x0:1632x767/1720x0/filters:focal(0x0:1632x767):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22759480/mailbox.jpeg 1720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/j4Bf2D5tNU9gWwYH3EMf8p-0Km0=/0x0:1632x767/1920x0/filters:focal(0x0:1632x767):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22759480/mailbox.jpeg 1920w" /></picture>
<figcaption>The mailbox.</figcaption>
<cite>Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union</cite></figure>
The only non-mailbox-related objection Meyers agreed with was regarding Amazon’s distribution of anti-union materials in the presence of managers during mandatory meetings, when employees would have felt compelled to accept them.
While a new vote is only a recommendation for now, RWDSU is optimistic that it will lead to a new election and another chance to unionize.
“We support the hearing officer’s recommendation that the NLRB set aside the election results and direct a new election,” RWDSU president Stuart Appelbaum said in a statement. “Amazon’s behavior throughout the election process was despicable. Amazon cheated, they got caught, and they are being held accountable.”
So, what happens next? The recommendation goes to the NLRB’s regional director, who will consider any exceptions filed by either party and issue a ruling, probably within the next few weeks. Typically, the regional director’s ruling follows the officer’s recommendation. Assuming that’s the case here, Amazon will then get a chance to ask the NLRB board in Washington, DC, to review that ruling and ask for a stay on the second election, which the company is expected to do.
“Our employees ... should be heard above all else, and we plan to appeal to ensure that happens,” an Amazon spokesperson said in a statement.
(Similarly, in the unlikely event that the director decides against a new election, RWDSU can appeal to the NLRB board in DC for a review.)
Either review will likely be heard by a majority-Democrat board. Currently, the board is majority Republican with three Trump appointees and two Democrats, but one of those Republican board member’s term expires on August 27, at which point President Biden will be able to replace him with a Democrat. That bodes well for the union but, again, isn’t a guarantee. Even the Republican-majority board, which was seen as pro-management and anti-union, ruled against Amazon in the lead-up to the first election, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-union-vote-nlrb-mail-ballots-election-bessemer-alabama-2021-2">denying</a> its request for an in-person vote in the middle of the pandemic due to the obvious safety reasons.
Simply put, the NLRB officer’s recommendation means there’s a good chance Bessemer will have a second election, and we’ll know for sure if that’s the case within the next few months. But then the RWDSU has to win that election, which is far less likely. Amazon won the first election, 1,798 votes to 738, with an additional 505 ballots that were never counted. With nearly 6,000 workers eligible to vote, that means about half of them didn’t cast a ballot at all. Perhaps they were scared to vote due to Amazon’s tactics, or perhaps they just weren’t interested one way or the other.
So the union still has to win a lot of employees over. Those employees may not be the same ones who voted in the first election, given the amount of time that has elapsed and the center’s high turnover rate. They may see the union drive as a losing battle, given the lopsided results of the first election and the fact that the few other unionization attempts at Amazon in the United States have failed. Even the ones who support the union may be tired of fighting.
Bessemer is still an uphill battle for RWDSU. But that hill isn’t as steep as it was two days ago. And even if RWDSU fails a second time, it doesn’t appear that the effort to unionize Amazon is over. Last June, the Teamsters <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/business/business-news/teamsters-vote-create-dedicated-amazon-division-unionize-workers-n1272292">voted to create</a> an Amazon division dedicated to unionizing Amazon workers across the country. Maybe Amazon is in for an uphill battle, too.
 
 
source <a href="https://www.vox.com/recode/22607933/amazon-union-election-rwdsu-nlrb-mailbox">https://www.vox.com/recode/22607933/amazon-union-election-rwdsu-nlrb-mailbox</a>

vox The Amazon union drive isn’t over yet

The union drive in Amazon’s Bessemer, Alabama, fulfillment center that ended with a majority of workers voting against unionizing may well ...

New York City issues vaccine mandate for indoor activities, confuses entire country

<div><img class="ff-og-image-inserted" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/Q3vbBoFKRm87i8HsrZRUn8I8Li8=/0x415:5788x3445/fit-in/1200x630/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22759278/GettyImages_1311741028.jpg" /></div>
Starting in September, New York City will require people to <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CNDS0nMwVc0">prove</a> they’ve received at least one dose of a Covid-19 vaccine to eat indoors, visit gyms, and go to theaters. The new program is called “Key to NYC Pass,” but it does not, as the name might imply, involve the release of a new app or vaccine passport. Instead, people can show a paper CDC vaccine card or an existing vaccine passport app to prove their status.
The initiative marks the first time a major US city has issued a vaccine mandate like this, and it immediately confused the public.
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said in a Tuesday press conference that the Key to NYC Pass — which, again, is a program, not an app or a vaccine passport — is meant to boost inoculation rates across the city. The announcement comes <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2021/08/02/new-york-gov-cuomo-asks-private-businesses-to-require-covid-vaccination-for-admission.html">just a day</a> after New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo encouraged private businesses to require Covid-19 vaccination for entry to bars and restaurants. Right now, about <a href="https://www1.nyc.gov/site/doh/covid/covid-19-data-vaccines.page">30 percent of adults in New York City</a> still haven’t gotten vaccinated. That’s about on par with <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/us/covid-19-vaccine-doses.html">the rest of the United States</a>.
Not all the details for the new program are clear. Mayor de Blasio says the program will begin August 16, and that more information about the plan will become available in the coming weeks. The system is launching on a voluntary basis beginning on August 16, and the city will start enforcing the new requirements on September 13, after Labor Day, when city officials expect indoor activities to become more popular. City Hall told Recode it planned to do outreach to the affected industries about enforcement of the new rules but did not provide more details.
“The goal here is to convince everyone that this is the time. We’re going to stop the delta variant,” de Blasio told reporters. “That means getting vaccinated right now.”
De Blasio explained that, in addition to showing a CDC card, people can use two government-supported apps to prove their status: New York State’s Excelsior pass, which links up to the state’s vaccine registry and provides a QR code for venues to scan in order to verify a person’s status; and the newer NYC Covid Safe app, which is essentially just a handy place to store pictures of CDC vaccine cards, Covid-19 test results, and photo ID. (Some have <a href="https://www.wnyc.org/story/nyc-now-has-its-own-covid-vax-app/">criticized</a> the NYC Covid Safe app for lacking security features as it does not currently verify the validity of vaccine credentials.)
Still, the announcement left many thinking that the Key to NYC pass program would involve the launch of yet another app. The mixed messaging isn’t all that surprising. Since Covid-19 vaccinations debuted, there’s been ongoing confusion about how people can confirm that they’ve received a vaccine, especially as more companies and businesses have issued their own vaccine mandates. At the same time, private companies have launched <a href="https://www.vox.com/recode/22349266/vaccine-passports-vaccination-record-commpass-walmart-walgreens">a slew of competing apps</a>.
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Very cool w this. Question is, can we not just use the Excelsior Pass? Why do we need a separate “Key to NYC Pass?" <a href="https://t.co/lzfqFrKhv3">https://t.co/lzfqFrKhv3</a>
— Robin Lester Kenton (@lesterhead) <a href="https://twitter.com/lesterhead/status/1422565130827702279?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 3, 2021</a></blockquote>
</div>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Hell yes, let's do this!
But also whyyyyyyy will there be yet another digital pass thingy. This one called "Key to NYC Pass" (:-/) is in addition to the existing (terrible) City app and (good but New Yorker only) State app. <a href="https://t.co/xcZiJFJfjm">https://t.co/xcZiJFJfjm</a>
— Jason Rabinowitz (@AirlineFlyer) <a href="https://twitter.com/AirlineFlyer/status/1422551713312018443?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 3, 2021</a></blockquote>
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The city’s explanation of the new vaccine requirements even left Recode’s own Peter Kafka confused:
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Sooo. This maybe isn’t a new pass after all, just a clumsy and confusing way to describe the use of existing vax IDs - city, state apps and CDC paper cards?
Very on brand for <a href="https://twitter.com/NYCMayor?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@NYCMayor</a>. <a href="https://t.co/XN7ZzJOg1J">https://t.co/XN7ZzJOg1J</a>
— Peter Kafka (@pkafka) <a href="https://twitter.com/pkafka/status/1422580310668087297?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 3, 2021</a></blockquote>
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New York City’s new program also arrives as the White House eschews a federal vaccine mandate or vaccine passport system. The Biden administration has instead supported private businesses and local governments to move forward with their own vaccine requirements. On Tuesday, just days after she encouraged private companies to take “innovative steps” to <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/press-briefings/2021/07/07/press-gaggle-by-press-secretary-jen-psaki-aboard-air-force-one-en-route-crystal-lake-il/">promote vaccination</a>, press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters that a federal vaccination mandate <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/press-briefings/2021/08/02/press-briefing-by-press-secretary-jen-psaki-and-white-house-american-rescue-plan-coordinator-and-senior-advisor-to-the-president-gene-sperling-august-2-2021/">is still not on the table</a>. The director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Rochelle Walensky, suggested last week, however, that European-style health passes could be a “<a href="https://news.yahoo.com/walensky-european-style-access-passes-165952860.html">path forward</a>” from the pandemic.
Indeed, the new vaccine mandate for certain indoor activities in New York is bound to reignite the broader conversation about the use of vaccine passports, which have <a href="https://www.vox.com/recode/22349266/vaccine-passports-vaccination-record-commpass-walmart-walgreens">remained controversial in the US</a>. New York, which launched the country’s first state-supported vaccine passport app with the help of IBM in March, has been bullish about the technology. But other states have banned the use of vaccine passports, calling them government overreach and a violation of peoples’ privacy. Norwegian Cruise Line <a href="https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/norwegian-cruise-line-sues-florida/index.html">is currently suing</a> Florida’s surgeon general over such a ban.
Vaccine passport programs have found success in other countries, and there’s evidence that these mandates boost vaccination rates. In France, for instance, a new health pass system that requires proof of vaccination for indoor dining, long-distance trains, and malls <a href="https://www.france24.com/en/europe/20210801-despite-resistance-to-health-pass-italy-and-france-see-rise-in-vaccinations">inspired protests</a> — but also led to <a href="https://www.schengenvisainfo.com/news/france-reports-record-vaccination-appointments-as-macron-tightens-covid-19-measures/">record sign-ups</a> for vaccination appointments. <a href="https://www.vox.com/2021/7/28/22594637/vaccine-mandates-covid-19-masks-delta-variants">Israel</a> and <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jul/22/italy-covid-19-green-pass-vaccinations-restrictions">Italy</a> have also enacted similar vaccine passport systems to boost vaccination uptake and curb the impact of the delta variant.
Some private businesses have taken it upon themselves to check customers’ vaccination statuses and even issue vaccine mandates of their own. Last month, a San Francisco alliance that represents about 500 bars <a href="https://www.restaurantbusinessonline.com/operations/vaccine-proof-be-required-500-san-francisco-bars">announced</a> that its members would require proof of vaccination or a negative test before offering indoor service. The fitness chain Equinox, which also operates SoulCycle, said that all of its customers and employees will eventually be required to show proof of vaccination, <a href="https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/equinox-group-announces-proof-of-vaccine-requirement-for-equinox-clubs-and-soulcycle-studios-301346196.html">a policy</a> that will be implemented at its New York City gyms starting in September.
A growing number of major companies have also announced vaccine mandates for their employees. <a href="https://www.vox.com/recode/22598911/google-facebook-covid-19-vaccine-employee-mandate-vaccination-office-work">Google, Facebook</a>, and <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2021/8/3/22607690/microsoft-proof-vaccination-covid-19-us-buildings-office-reopening">Microsoft</a> have said that they’ll require workers to prove they’ve gotten inoculated. Disney is requiring all its salaried and non-union employees to <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/walt-disney-co-will-mandate-covid-vaccines-u-s-workers-n1275572">get vaccinated</a> within the next two months. Walmart, the largest employer in the United States, announced late last month that <a href="https://corporate.walmart.com/newsroom/2021/07/30/walmart-announces-covid-19-vaccination-policy-for-campus-office-associates">its office workers</a> will have to prove they’ve received a Covid-19 vaccine. And <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/03/business/tyson-vaccine-mandate.html">Tyson Foods</a>, the second-largest meat processor in the country, is requiring all of its workers to get the shot.
New York City’s new plan comes amid fears that there could be a fourth Covid-19 wave brought on by the delta variant and people moving activities indoors as the weather cools. If one major city shows that vaccine mandates help stop the spread, there’s hope that other local governments will take notice. At the very least, New York City is showing its residents and visitors that getting the vaccine can open doors.
 
 
source <a href="https://www.vox.com/recode/2021/8/3/22607985/new-york-vaccine-mandate-indoor-dining">https://www.vox.com/recode/2021/8/3/22607985/new-york-vaccine-mandate-indoor-dining</a>

vox New York City issues vaccine mandate for indoor activities, confuses entire country

Starting in September, New York City will require people to prove they’ve received at least one dose of a Covid-19 vaccine to eat indoors,...

The anti-American right

The Olympics are typically a boom time for jingoism: patriotic fervor heightening among Americans of all stripes with each gold medal for Team USA. But this year, we’ve seen an unlikely faction of Americans rooting against our athletes: <a href="https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2021/07/right-rooting-against-americas-olympic-athletes">conservatives</a>.
During a late July rally, President Donald Trump claimed that “<a href="https://news.yahoo.com/trump-ridiculed-saying-team-usa-182719229.html">Americans were happy</a>” about the women’s soccer team losing to Sweden — a loss that he blamed on “wokeism” turning the squad “demented.” Tomi Lahren called <a href="https://theweek.com/politics/1003099/the-rights-misguided-ahistorical-attack-on-team-usa">Team USA</a> “the largest group of whiny social justice activists the Olympics has seen in decades,” accusing them in <a href="https://video.foxnews.com/v/6266359667001#sp=show-clips">a Tuesday Fox News segment</a> of engaging in “typical leftist so-called activism.” And after the men’s basketball team lost to France, Newsmax host Grant Stinchfield said he “<a href="https://twitter.com/justinbaragona/status/1419819395757580288">took pleasure</a>” in their defeat.
“The team is filled with anthem kneelers — and I find it ironic that they’re willing to put USA on their chest when, in the not so distant past, they would kneel for the anthem. Somebody ought to go up there and just rip USA off their chest,” said Stinchfield, who briefly went off the air earlier this year after <a href="https://news.yahoo.com/newsmax-takes-host-off-air-185536461.html">insinuating that Jewish Americans are foreigners</a> during a monologue.
These attacks on Team USA are not just culture war red meat; they are a reflection of a rising tendency in the conservative movement to reject America itself. In this thinking, the country is so corrupted that it is no longer a source of pride or even worthy of respect. In its most radical versions, you even see cheerleading for revolution or civil war.
Conservative anti-Americanism still pays lip service to love of country: Its proponents declare themselves the true patriots, describing their enemies as the nation’s betrayers. But when the cadre of traitors includes everyone from election administrators to Olympians to the Capitol Police, it becomes clear that the only America they love is the one that exists in their heads. When they contemplate the actual United States — <a href="https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/real-america-looks-different-to-palin/">real America</a>, if you will — they are filled with scorn.
“They see no role or place for themselves in America now,” says Paul Elliott Johnson, a communications professor at the University of Pittsburgh who studies conservative rhetoric.
What’s striking about this strain of anti-American thought is how pervasive it is. Naturally, you frequently hear versions of it from rank-and-file conservatives and the carnival barkers of the right-wing echo chamber — but it doesn’t stop with them. Its most refined and troubling versions come from the highbrow thinkers of the Trumpist right; leading conservative politicians put their stamps on it.
While not entirely new — this has been bubbling up for years now, especially since Trump’s rise — the recent flare-up amid the Olympics and the January 6 hearings only underscores that influential elements of the American right seem past beyond the point of no return. These conservatives do not believe in sharing America with those who disagree with them. Forced to confront the country’s political diversity in the Biden era, they are choosing to turn on America rather than accommodate themselves to its reality.
In the Jewish community, many of us have a suspicion of non-Jews who are a little too outspoken about how much they like Jews. These “philo-Semites” often end up being funhouse mirror anti-Semites, spreading stereotypes in the name of praising us. Trump’s infamous comment about Jewish accountants — “the only kind of people I want counting my money are short guys that wear yarmulkes” — is a <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2019/08/21/trump-keeps-pushing-anti-semitic-stereotypes-he-thinks-hes-praising-jews/">perfect example</a>.
Conservative anti-Americanism is a little like this. It’s a hyper-patriotism gone sour: a belief in a fictional ideal of a perfect right-wing America that’s constantly betrayed by reality, leading to disillusionment and even disgust with the country as it actually exists.
Trump’s 2016 address to the Republican National Convention, which promised “a straightforward assessment of the state of our nation,” <a href="https://www.politico.com/story/2016/07/full-transcript-donald-trump-nomination-acceptance-speech-at-rnc-225974">painted a picture of a country on the verge of collapse</a>. “The attacks on our police and the terrorism in our cities threaten our very way of life,” then-candidate Trump said. “Our roads and bridges are falling apart, our airports are in third-world condition, and 43 million Americans are on food stamps.”
This dark depiction of the state of the country has become a hallmark of the Trumpified GOP, and Democrats’ 2020 electoral victories only deepened the conservative sense of betrayal at the hands of their countrymen. In <a href="https://www.theamericanconservative.com/articles/a-civilizational-crisis/">late July</a>, Ohio Senate candidate J.D. Vance warned that “we have lost every single major cultural institution in this country” — and suggested that America “has built its entire civilization” around selfish, miserable people. <a href="https://www.rev.com/blog/transcripts/kristi-noem-cpac-2021-speech-transcript-dallas-tx">Earlier that month</a>, South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem said “I look at Joe Biden’s America, and I don’t recognize the country that I grew up in.”
The Olympics have brought out this sense of alienation from America on the right. When conservatives see American athletes representing values at odds with their vision for the country, they don’t back Team USA in the name of patriotism — they turn on the icons of the nation itself.
Queer female soccer stars <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2021/07/30/usmnt-supports-uswnt-equal-pay/">demanding equal pay</a>, Black basketball players <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/nba-players-kneeling-anthem-protest-lebron-james-colin-kaepernick-bubble/">kneeling to protest police brutality</a>, the world’s best gymnast prioritizing her mental health <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2021/07/29/simone-biles-and-the-magaverses-fetish-of-toughness-501515">over upholding the traditional ideal of the “tough” athlete</a> — this is all a manifestation of the ascendancy of liberal cultural values in public life. And an America where these values permeate national symbols, like the Olympic team, is an America where those symbols are worthy of scorn.
<figure class="e-image"><picture class="c-picture" data-cid="site/picture_element-1628026533_4618_14802" data-cdata='{"asset_id":22758654,"ratio":"*"}'><source srcset="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/4oE7H5WJBeGy1CjnYd7vA-YpngI=/0x0:3377x2251/320x0/filters:focal(0x0:3377x2251):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22758654/1332161142.jpg 320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/qECapkAEj_okBaUQiCVFdht9OYc=/0x0:3377x2251/520x0/filters:focal(0x0:3377x2251):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22758654/1332161142.jpg 520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/6EHUv3AJtGzsdvl1x29TZSfenF4=/0x0:3377x2251/720x0/filters:focal(0x0:3377x2251):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22758654/1332161142.jpg 720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/nRYtd2psGR8l4-qYyoqA-KqThNU=/0x0:3377x2251/920x0/filters:focal(0x0:3377x2251):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22758654/1332161142.jpg 920w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/TUnz0cSa0gg_n0jIoGrYQJZtR9o=/0x0:3377x2251/1120x0/filters:focal(0x0:3377x2251):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22758654/1332161142.jpg 1120w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/FPdyMiMtqvg3ZujRcyWzNJObeNU=/0x0:3377x2251/1320x0/filters:focal(0x0:3377x2251):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22758654/1332161142.jpg 1320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/4HYJ9Hc9qQjvT1vVBKrQaWAGhsQ=/0x0:3377x2251/1520x0/filters:focal(0x0:3377x2251):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22758654/1332161142.jpg 1520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/Kbsf-60LmXs4cl3-7VlWCo_5Iv0=/0x0:3377x2251/1720x0/filters:focal(0x0:3377x2251):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22758654/1332161142.jpg 1720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/kkkYCDBVo-4XCNUxRy7e0JS3SZw=/0x0:3377x2251/1920x0/filters:focal(0x0:3377x2251):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22758654/1332161142.jpg 1920w" sizes="(min-width: 1221px) 846px, (min-width: 880px) calc(100vw - 334px), 100vw" type="image/webp" /> <img alt="Gymnastics - Artistic - Olympics: Day 11" data-upload-width="3377" sizes="(min-width: 1221px) 846px, (min-width: 880px) calc(100vw - 334px), 100vw" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/SiyaVqs7R17ay6kl7r3iUd_j_xA=/0x0:3377x2251/1200x0/filters:focal(0x0:3377x2251):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22758654/1332161142.jpg" srcset="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/h3UP48U35tA2wEqCn2zUKhGdCto=/0x0:3377x2251/320x0/filters:focal(0x0:3377x2251):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22758654/1332161142.jpg 320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/FOzmnIc6K25gZfDqBz5Bz5R8pB4=/0x0:3377x2251/520x0/filters:focal(0x0:3377x2251):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22758654/1332161142.jpg 520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/rBRVO5YFXCwCiPvDbPUEMBXhQ4Q=/0x0:3377x2251/720x0/filters:focal(0x0:3377x2251):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22758654/1332161142.jpg 720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/aEcGNVLxW-B3O53YsgOUZAU8X2k=/0x0:3377x2251/920x0/filters:focal(0x0:3377x2251):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22758654/1332161142.jpg 920w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/gYToiuLH_49ggv7UHM5Tn0ul-eM=/0x0:3377x2251/1120x0/filters:focal(0x0:3377x2251):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22758654/1332161142.jpg 1120w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/bGVBGisUFRBLahr7VZM02EbL6-8=/0x0:3377x2251/1320x0/filters:focal(0x0:3377x2251):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22758654/1332161142.jpg 1320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/xE0iC7v7FN4W4RfZR_1wTcYJ_mk=/0x0:3377x2251/1520x0/filters:focal(0x0:3377x2251):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22758654/1332161142.jpg 1520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/jaUrVoURdPzV7dLFOGjMRhNnexw=/0x0:3377x2251/1720x0/filters:focal(0x0:3377x2251):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22758654/1332161142.jpg 1720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/pv_QYKJwwv6rtXA7Ef02F2jc0CA=/0x0:3377x2251/1920x0/filters:focal(0x0:3377x2251):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22758654/1332161142.jpg 1920w" /></picture>
<figcaption>Team USA gymnast Simone Biles after winning a bronze medal in the Women’s Balance Beam Final on August 3.</figcaption>
<cite>Jamie Squire/Getty Images</cite></figure>
“So much of the self-perception of the American right is about losing the culture war. And that, specifically, is where some of this overt anti-Americanism — especially from the grassroots — is coming from,” says David Walsh, a post-doctoral fellow at the University of Virginia who studies the history of the right.
That disdain has also seeped into the right’s recent rhetoric toward an institution that conservatives have typically celebrated: law enforcement.
When Capitol police officers testified to the House about their experiences during the 1/6 attack, ostensibly pro-police conservatives vilified them. Fox’s Tucker Carlson <a href="https://twitter.com/justinbaragona/status/1420180649395302404?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1420180649395302404%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.salon.com%2F2021%2F07%2F29%2Fcapitol-police-officer-claps-back-at-tucker-carlson-and-laura-ingraham-the-facts-are-the-facts%2F">laughed</a> at Officer Michael Fanone’s claim to experience “psychological trauma” after the attack; fellow host Laura Ingraham gave out <a href="https://twitter.com/Acyn/status/1420209713644331009?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1420209713644331009%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.salon.com%2F2021%2F07%2F29%2Fcapitol-police-officer-claps-back-at-tucker-carlson-and-laura-ingraham-the-facts-are-the-facts%2F">mock acting awards to the officers</a>, implying their experiences were fake or ginned up.
The willingness to attack police officers who defended an attack on the seat of American government gets at the through-the-looking-glass ugliness of contemporary right-wing patriotism.
Over the weekend, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/31/us/politics/jan-6-capitol-riot-pelosi.html">the New York Times</a> reported that leading elected Republicans have “concocted a version of events in which those accused of rioting were patriotic political prisoners and Speaker Nancy Pelosi was to blame for the violence.” Their base is listening: a recent poll from CBS-YouGov found that <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2021/07/21/approval-jan-6-capitol-riot-is-more-deeply-embedded-than-you-might-think/">over half of Trump voters</a> believe it’s appropriate to describe the events of January 6 as an act of “patriotism.”
This kind of anti-Americanism isn’t just the province of Fox News provocateurs and base voters. It’s also prevalent in the movement’s most intellectually rarefied corners.
The hub seems to be the Claremont Institute, a <a href="https://www.vox.com/2018/11/19/17841946/trump-conservatism-california-gop-shapiro-midterms-2018">think tank based in Southern California</a>, and affiliated institutions like Hillsdale College. Claremont is undoubtedly the most radically pro-Trump of any major right-wing intellectual institution, its thinkers <a href="https://thebulwark.com/what-the-hell-happened-to-the-claremont-institute/">most willing to defend both his presidency and his false claims of a stolen election</a>. Claremont’s output in the past year has been astonishingly radical, all but openly calling for regime change and rebellion.
“Increasingly,” <a href="https://thebulwark.com/the-paradox-of-trumpist-patriotism/">historian Joshua Tait writes in The Bulwark</a>, “these [Claremont] patriots appear to actively hate America and their fellow citizens.”
In a May podcast, Hillsdale College lecturer and former Trump administration official Michael Anton chatted with entrepreneur Curtis Yarvin — a self-described monarchist who wants to appoint a Silicon Valley CEO king of America — about their shared desire to topple what Anton terms the American “regime.”
During the episode, Yarvin muses about how an American strongman — whom he alternatively calls “Caesar” and, more honestly, “Trump” — could seize authoritarian control of the US government by turning the National Guard and FBI into his personal stormtroopers. Critic Damon Linker identifies this politics, which meets with little pushback from Anton, as “<a href="https://theweek.com/politics/1003035/the-far-right-contemplates-an-american-caesar">broadly coterminous with fascism”</a> — and it’s hard to see where he’s wrong. The pining for a strongman stems from disgust with an America Yarvin and Anton no longer recognize, a country they describe as a “theocratic oligarchy” controlled by a cadre of progressive “priests.”
In <a href="https://americanmind.org/salvo/why-the-claremont-institute-is-not-conservative-and-you-shouldnt-be-either/">the American Mind</a>, Claremont’s blog, writer Glenn Elmers declares that “most people living in the United States today — certainly more than half — are not Americans in any meaningful sense of the term.” If Trump voters and conservatives do not band together and wage “a sort of counter-revolution” against these “citizen-aliens,” then “the victory of progressive tyranny will be assured.”
Elmers intimates that violence will be a part of this struggle. “Learn some useful skills, stay healthy, and get strong,” he advises his fellow conservatives. “Strong people are harder to kill.”
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<figcaption>A man waves a flag from the stairs of the US Capitol Building during the January 6 riot.</figcaption>
<cite>Joseph Prezioso/AFP/Getty Images</cite></figure>
And an essay <a href="https://claremontreviewofbooks.com/the-finger-in-the-dike-election/">in the Claremont Review of Books</a> by scholar Angelo Codevilla describes a country whose government is clinging to “an illusion of legitimacy” after “a half-century of Progressive rule’s abuse” has demolished American society.
“The War on Poverty ended up enriching its managers while expanding the underclass that voted for them. The civil rights movement ended up entitling a class of diversity managers to promote their friends and ruin their opponents,” Codevilla writes. “There is no end to what the Left can do because there is so little that conservatives do to fight back.”
Over email, Tait tells me that Claremont has become the foremost center of anti-American right-wing thinking in large part because of its “sacralized view of American history as an ideal regime.”
Even among conservatives, generally a nostalgic bunch, Claremonters are particularly inclined toward veneration of the unique wisdom of the country’s founders and early America. This makes them particularly inclined towards a sense of political betrayal — and the same kind of hyper-patriotic anti-Americanism that motivates anti-Olympian, pro-Capitol riot punditry.
A sense that the country has strayed because of liberalism has long been a core part of American conservatism. But this idea has become particularly dominant now due to the influence of both the Trump presidency and longer-term trends — most notably demographic change and defeats on culture war fronts like same-sex marriage.
Barack Obama’s 2008 election victory, powered by an expanding minority population and a left-ward tilt among the young, convinced many Republicans that they might well be consigned to permanent minority status. The left’s subsequent total victory in the central culture war topic of the 2000s, same-sex marriage, led many conservatives to believe that they had no power over a culture whose values were tilting inexorably leftward.
Combine all that with liberal dominance in mainstream American culture — Hollywood, media, academia, and even a <a href="https://www.vox.com/22545125/republicans-corporate-america-education-polarization">growing share of corporate America</a> — and you have a recipe for rising conservative alienation from the country they claim to love.
Part of Trump’s political genius was his ability to harness this sentiment among the conservative elite and rank-and-file and make a movement out of them.
There’s a reason that the most famous intellectual case for Trump is Anton’s “<a href="https://claremontreviewofbooks.com/digital/the-flight-93-election/">Flight 93</a>” essay — a 2016 argument that a Trump victory was the only way to avoid national suicide. It revealed the sense of desperation that animates the modern right, a deep-seated fear of losing their country permanently.
During his initial campaign and presidency, Trump tapped into this sentiment by explicitly dividing the country into good Americans that supported him and his people and bad ones that did not. He found that there was a market in his party for a style of politics that eschewed unifying bromides and high-minded patriotism in favor of division and cruelty; he made it okay to say openly that you just hated the other side and didn’t want to share the country with them anymore.
Trump was all the permission that many in the conservative movement needed to finally express what it really felt about the American experiment. After his defeat, the sense of marginalization that animated his original campaign has come roaring back — a feeling of utter alienation manifesting in vicious attacks on the country’s symbols and government.
“For most parts of the right, there was this idea that you could still redeem the country — that you could reverse these long-term trends by political organizing, electing conservatives to political office, etc.,” Walsh, the UVA scholar, tells me. “Today, there is this move away from even the trappings of the American democratic tradition — and I think that is linked to the broader sense that this country can no longer be redeemed.”
 
 
source <a href="https://www.vox.com/22600500/olympics-conservatives-simone-biles-anti-american">https://www.vox.com/22600500/olympics-conservatives-simone-biles-anti-american</a>

vox The anti-American right

The Olympics are typically a boom time for jingoism: patriotic fervor heightening among Americans of all stripes with each gold medal for Te...

Why the CDC changed its mask guidance, according to an epidemiologist

<div><img class="ff-og-image-inserted" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/8LmOkxjc0vYPGNtWUxSXTdmlKLE=/0x286:4000x2380/fit-in/1200x630/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22758592/GettyImages_1234062919.jpg" /></div>
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has now done an about-face on its masking guidelines for people vaccinated against Covid-19. <a href="https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/22442457/cdc-mask-vaccination-guidance-confusion">Back in May</a>, the agency said that people who are fully vaccinated against Covid-19 could “resume activities without wearing masks or physically distancing.”
But the <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/fully-vaccinated.html">new CDC guidance</a> issued in late July says that vaccinated people should “wear a mask indoors in public if you are in an area of substantial or high transmission.” Even where transmission rates aren’t as high, immunized people with weakened immune systems, and the people they live with, should also consider it.
Why the change?
The far more contagious <a href="https://www.vox.com/22547537/delta-coronavirus-variant-covid-19-vaccines-masks-lockdown">delta variant</a> of the virus that causes Covid-19 has rattled health officials. Beyond its rapid spread, the delta variant appears to cause more serious illness. It also seems better able to elude immune protection from vaccines and prior infections. <a href="https://www.vox.com/22602039/breakthrough-cases-covid-19-delta-variant-masks-vaccines">Some breakthrough infections</a> have been reported among vaccinated people, although the majority seem to lead to few, if any, symptoms. And while the vaccination rate has started to pick up again, it’s still far below its peak in April. Tens of millions of Americans remain unvaccinated, and in some regions of the US, <a href="https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#vaccinations-county-view">less than 30 percent</a> of people are immunized.
<a href="https://www.jhsph.edu/faculty/directory/profile/3094/mary-kathryn-grabowski">Kate Grabowski</a>, a researcher at Johns Hopkins University who studies the dynamics of infectious disease, talked to Vox about how masks fit into the public health strategy during the current stage of the pandemic. From her home state of Maryland, she explained the CDC’s difficult balancing act as it encourages vaccinations and masking at the same time.
Our conversation has been edited for length and clarity.
What do these new guidelines mean, and how will they change our lives?
At this point, we’re seeing a lot of cities and states across the country emerge as high-transmission areas. I would advise vaccinated people, particularly those who might be at higher risk, to wear masks in indoor settings regardless of where they are in the country. So, what does this mean in terms of their lives? Vaccinated people will have to get used to wearing masks indoors in places like grocery stores or movie theaters, like we’ve been doing for the past year and a half.
One of the major questions is how effective these measures will be. This depends on where transmission is occurring. If people in a high-transmission area aren’t wearing masks at restaurants indoors, for example, or at intimate social gatherings, those mandates might not be as effective.
Some cities have not yet implemented mask mandates. What is the effectiveness of mask use for individual protection indoors, if people around you aren’t complying?
If you’re looking for protection at an individual level in settings where people aren’t wearing masks, you’re going to need something stronger, like a high-quality surgical mask or ideally an N95. N95s offer pretty good protection for the wearer. If you’re a high-risk person, you shouldn’t be going to the gym or a restaurant where few people are wearing masks around you.
Last year, when we implemented cloth mask mandates, it was more of an intervention on a population level, although it’s likely cloth masks provide some minimal protection for the wearer. If everyone wears masks, we can reduce transmission by 10 to 20 percent. At the population scale — when you’re talking about millions of infections and hundreds of thousands of deaths — even relatively weak interventions are helpful. It could save thousands of lives.
Should the general public expect more updates to the CDC’s mask guidance?
I think we can expect changes at the local level. It’s unclear what the CDC will say, but we should always expect public health guidelines to change. As we learn more about the virus and variants, guidance shouldn’t be static. We have to be prepared to adapt.
I worry that people are going to say, “I got vaccinated, so I’m done with this pandemic.” I have generally been an optimist, but the data I’m seeing on the delta variant with the rise of cases and hospitalizations, particularly in states like Arkansas, Louisiana, and Florida, are really concerning. We’re seeing upticks even here in Maryland.
There is this assumption that we’re masking up to protect the unvaccinated, but we’ve seen plenty of breakthrough infections, so millions of people are still vulnerable even if they’re vaccinated. It’s not just protecting the unvaccinated; it’s everyone. Luckily, it doesn’t look like these breakthrough infections are too severe at this point. But we still have to deal with the unknowns: how long the vaccines will offer protection against severe disease or death. We simply don’t know, because we haven’t followed people long enough to see. Maybe it’ll be for a very long time, or maybe there will be new variants. We really do not know at this time.
Does this mean that the CDC’s previous recommendation — that fully vaccinated people can stop wearing masks — was premature, or the wrong decision?
The CDC is in a tough spot. Vaccines are proven to be an effective tool in reducing the burden and threat to our health care system, and the CDC is trying to convince unvaccinated people to get the shots. We currently have a moderate uptake of vaccines, but particularly <a href="https://www.vox.com/22587443/covid-19-vaccine-refusal-hesitancy-variant-delta-cases-rate">among certain groups</a> — young people, Republicans, people in historically-disadvantaged communities or rural areas — we have seen lower uptake. Particularly among young people, there is this reluctance to get vaccinated because they do not think Covid is a big threat to them.
The CDC has to contend with this sentiment and the frustration that might come from vaccinated people, who feel like they can’t take their mask off or resume pre-pandemic activities. It might just lead more people to say, “What’s the point of getting vaccinated?” The CDC has to balance this, while trying to increase vaccine uptake to protect as many people as possible and save lives. This comes with all kinds of trade-offs.
Early in May 2021, there was a lot of evidence, particularly from Israel, that if you were fully vaccinated you were much less likely to acquire infection and less likely to have severe disease. And even if you did get infected, you were producing much lower viral loads, so you were less likely to transmit Covid. The CDC and state and local governments are looking at new evidence as things progress, so guidelines are subject to change.
How can we help the public better understand why mask mandates are necessary?
We can tie these mandates to how threatened our current health care system is. Are hospitals going to be overwhelmed as they were last winter? I think it’s critical that we have clear metrics the public can follow and understand. Right now, the reason for a mask mandate can seem really arbitrary to people. There isn’t consistent public health messaging as to when hospitals are becoming overwhelmed. Most people have no idea what’s going on. That’s a problem.
I’m a relatively informed person, and I’m left wondering when Maryland will implement a mask mandate. What is the threshold for more restrictions? I think governments need to explain when and why these mandates are taking place, and very clearly tie that to rising hospitalizations. I live in a liberal blue state, and it seems like even residents there are getting tired of the rules and restrictions.
Most governors are making their decisions on hospitalizations and infections in their state. The difficulty of this situation is that you don’t want to implement a mask mandate as your health care system is being overwhelmed. Ideally, you want to do it at some point before. The question is when. That’s a hard thing to figure out. We don’t know how much natural immunity has occurred, or how long vaccinated immunity will last and stem off severe disease. That’s why I think people need to give folks at CDC a break.
Do you think the new masking guidelines will be very effective?
The short answer is, I really don’t know. My best guess is that mask use can reduce some transmission, but without some social distancing measures, masks alone might not be able to stem the rising tide of infections that we see in places like Louisiana, where less than half of the population is fully vaccinated.
Like most people, I would much rather have a mask mandate than shut down businesses and schools, or implement any of the extreme measures we’ve taken over the past year. But if hospitals are under threat and people can’t get the care they need — because of Covid or some other reason — there might be a need to reinstate some of those measures. Whether or not that happens will ultimately depend on the politics in a city or state, and whether people actually wear masks.
I am worried about the delta variant and when it means for folks in the most vulnerable groups. I think some of the data coming out of Israel is really concerning. It’s showing that the effectiveness of vaccines is lower than we thought it was, particularly in older age groups susceptible to severe outcomes. So I would urge those at higher risk for severe outcomes from Covid to be on their guard.
Umair Irfan contributed reporting.
 
 
source <a href="https://www.vox.com/2021/8/3/22607777/cdc-mask-guidance-covid-19-delta-variant">https://www.vox.com/2021/8/3/22607777/cdc-mask-guidance-covid-19-delta-variant</a>

vox Why the CDC changed its mask guidance, according to an epidemiologist

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has now done an about-face on its masking guidelines for people vaccinated against Covid-19....

Longform podcast joins Vox

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Vox VP of Audio Liz Nelson today announced that Longform, the long-running interview podcast co-hosted by Max Linsky, Aaron Lammer, and Evan Ratliff, is joining Vox. Effective as of the show’s August 11th episode, Vox and the Vox Media Podcast Network will take on sales, marketing, and distribution for Longform, working with the Longform team as they expand their focus into non-fiction mediums beyond writing – podcasting and documentary film in particular.
“Over the last nine years, Longform has become the go-to place to hear about the craft of true storytelling from some of our era’s most celebrated and groundbreaking creators — and the struggles and triumphs that never show up in the final work,” says Vox’s VP of audio Liz Kelly Nelson. “At Vox, we value deep conversation and curiosity, and can’t wait to welcome Max, Aaron and Evan into our own community of makers and journalists.”
The show reaches a premium audience, and at Vox, Longform will have the opportunity to scale its audience as it takes its place among an already-robust lineup of interview shows, which includes Vox Conversations (hosted by Jamil Smith and Sean Illing), The Weeds (hosted by Matt Yglesias), Recode Media (hosted by Peter Kafka), and Worldly (hosted by Zack Beauchamp and Jennifer Williams). Additionally, Vox Media Podcast Network’s wider slate of like-minded shows, which features programming from networks including New York Magazine, The Verge, and more, will offer Longform further promotional opportunities.
“We’ve been huge fans of Vox from its earliest days, and have been so impressed by what this group is building in audio — we’re thrilled about what this partnership will mean for our show,” says Longform co-host Max Linsky. “After producing Longform independently for nearly a decade, with almost 500 episodes in the catalogue, the chance to reach a whole new audience alongside some of the smartest people in media was a complete no-brainer.”
This news comes on the heels of a busy year for Vox Media Podcast Network, which acquired Cafe, Preet Bharara’s podcast-first media company in April, and recently announced a strategic partnership with the widely-beloved food podcast Gastropod. The network also plans to launch over a dozen new shows or seasons in 2021.
About Longform
Aaron Lammer and Max Linsky co-founded Longform.org, a site which catalogs and recommends the best nonfiction on the Web, in 2010. More recently, Lammer is the creator and host of 2021’s Exit Scam, a chart-topping narrative podcast about the mysterious death of a Canadian cryptocurrency executive, and the layers of fraud behind it. (He’s also a member of the band Francis and the Lights.) Max Linsky is the co-founder of the podcast company Pineapple Street Studios, and also created and hosts 70 over 70, the acclaimed show that asks the big life questions of 70 remarkable people over the age of 70. Evan Ratliff is a longtime reporter for magazines like Wired and The New Yorker, cofounder of The Atavist Magazine, and the author of The Mastermind: Drugs. Empire. Murder. Betrayal.
About Vox
Vox explains the news. In a world of too much information and too little context, too much noise and too little insight—Vox’s journalists candidly shepherd audiences through politics and policy, business and pop culture, science, and everything else that matters, empowering its audience with the context they need to answer questions they didn’t know they had. Vox is home to influential verticals including Recode, The Goods, and The Highlight; a robust podcast lineup featuring “Today, Explained,” “The Weeds,” and more; and acclaimed video production with popular series like “Explained” on Netflix, and “Missing Chapter” and the Emmy Award winning show “Earworm” on YouTube.
About Vox Media Podcast Network
Named by Adweek as 2020’s “Podcast Network of the Year,” Vox Media Podcast Network has over 200 active shows featuring industry-leading editorial voices and storytellers from Vox Media’s networks and beyond. From daily news and tech to culture and sports, and talk and interview shows to news and rich narrative storytelling, the Vox Media Podcast Network is one of the largest, fastest-growing, and most topically diverse collections of premium podcasts. Learn more about the Vox Media Podcast Network here.
 
 
source <a href="https://www.vox.com/2021/8/3/22607806/longform-podcast-joins-vox">https://www.vox.com/2021/8/3/22607806/longform-podcast-joins-vox</a>

vox Longform podcast joins Vox

Vox VP of Audio Liz Nelson today announced that Longform, the long-running interview podcast co-hosted by Max Linsky, Aaron Lammer, and Ev...

Can't Be Tolerated: US On Belarus's Attempt To Force Olympian To Return Home

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<div class="ins_instory_dv_cont"><img alt="Can't Be Tolerated: US On Belarus's Attempt To Force Olympian To Return Home" src="https://c.ndtvimg.com/2021-05/60dpgpog_antony-blinkenicelandafp_625x300_19_May_21.jpg" title="Can't Be Tolerated: US On Belarus's Attempt To Force Olympian To Return Home" /></div>
Antony Blinken: Such actions violate the Olympic spirit, and are an affront to basic rights
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US Secretary of State Antony Blinken blasted Belarus' attempt to send home a sprinter from the Tokyo Olympics against her wishes as intolerable "transnational repression".
President Alexander Lukashenko's "regime sought to commit another act of transnational repression: attempting to force Olympian Krystsyna Tsimanouskaya to leave simply for exercising free speech", Blinken wrote on Twitter late on Monday.
"Such actions violate the Olympic spirit, are an affront to basic rights, and cannot be tolerated."
Tsimanouskaya, who sought refuge in the Polish embassy on Monday after refusing her team's orders to fly home, will travel to Poland on Wednesday, a group of her supporters said. Warsaw has offered her a humanitarian visa.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
 
 
source <a href="https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/belarus-tries-to-force-olympian-back-home-us-says-cant-be-tolerated-2501273">https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/belarus-tries-to-force-olympian-back-home-us-says-cant-be-tolerated-2501273</a>

news world Can't Be Tolerated: US On Belarus's Attempt To Force Olympian To Return Home

Antony Blinken: Such actions violate the Olympic spirit, and are an affront to basic rights US Secretary of State Antony Blinken blasted...