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News organizations covered President Barack Obama talking to America about the George Floyd case. Donald Trump’s name was not mentioned once during this, but many people quickly commented that hearing a reassuring steady voice was what has been missing. You can be sure Trump will go on a Twitter rant against Obama, but we will be hearing more from the former president as Joe Biden’s presidential campaign ramps up.
President Donald Trump spread a number of false and misleading claims about the World Health Organization in announcing his decision to cut U.S. ties with the agency over the coronavirus epidemic.
Trump last week said he would halt funding and a decades-long U.S. relationship with WHO, accusing it of being effectively controlled by China and misleading the world about the virus. The president referenced his May 18 letter to WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus that laid out specific allegations and demanded changes.
A thorough Fact Check easily shows numerous inaccuracies in that letter.
Trump accuses WHO of ignoring scientific reports in December of the virus spreading in China that didn’t exist and assails the group for criticism of a U.S. travel ban on China that it never lodged. He also overstates the level of knowledge about human transmission of the virus at the time.
Trump’s escalating actions, which have drawn heated responses from China, come as his administration faces criticism for a botched U.S. response to the outbreak, including testing delays. The death toll for Americans has surpassed 100,000, the most in the world.
A look at some of his claims and reality:
U.S. WITHDRAWAL
TRUMP: “Because they have failed to make the requested and greatly needed reforms, we will be today terminating our relationship with the World Health Organization and redirecting those funds.” — remarks Friday.
THE FACTS: It’s unclear whether the president can unilaterally withdraw the U.S. from WHO without approval from Congress.
Lawrence Gostin, director of the World Health Organization Collaborating Center on National and Global Health Law at Georgetown University, said in tweets Friday that Trump’s move is “unlawful” because ending funding requires Congress, which has already authorized the money. He called it “dangerous” because “we’re in the middle of a pandemic.”
“Trump has no power to do it,” Gostin wrote.
Congressional Democrats said in April, when the president first proposed withholding money from WHO, that it would be illegal without approval from Congress and that they would challenge it. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Friday called the move “an act of extraordinary senselessness.”
The U.S. helped found WHO in 1948. It provides the group about $450 million a year, according to Trump.
CORONAVIRUS RESPONSE
TRUMP: “The World Health Organization consistently ignored credible reports of the virus spreading in Wuhan in early December 2019 or even earlier, including reports from the Lancet medical journal. The World Health Organization failed to independently investigate credible reports that conflicted directly with the Chinese government’s official accounts, even those that came from sources within Wuhan itself.” — May 18 letter.
THE FACTS: No such study existed in December, according to the Lancet.
The Lancet said the first papers it published on the coronavirus came from Chinese and Hong Kong researchers on Jan. 24. There was no report in December “referring to a virus or outbreak in Wuhan or anywhere else in China,” the journal said.
The outbreak was detected by Wuhan doctors only in late December. Gao Fu, the head of China’s Centers for Disease Control, found out about it on Dec. 30, 2019, after notices issued by Wuhan health officials leaked online.
WHO was alerted to a “cluster of atypical pneumonia” via media reports and its own surveillance system on Dec. 31, and it requested information from China on Jan. 1.
“In the first weeks of January WHO was very, very clear; we alerted the world on Jan. 5th,” Michael Ryan, executive director of WHO’s Health Emergencies Program, told reporters on April 15. “Systems around the world, including in the U.S., began to activate their emergency management systems on January 6th.”
Retrospective studies, published in the Lancet and elsewhere, have shown that the first known patients fell ill with the virus at the beginning of December or even earlier, but those cases were not detected until much later. Health experts say it is extremely difficult to detect a new pathogen, especially during the winter flu season, and that Chinese doctors identified the new coronavirus quickly by global standards. There is no evidence that top Chinese officials or WHO were aware of the virus before Dec. 30.
WHO last month agreed to launch an independent probe into how it managed the international response to the virus.
CORONAVIRUS HUMAN TRANSMISSION
TRUMP: “By (Dec. 31), Taiwanese authorities had communicated information to the World Health Organization indicating human-to-human transmission of a new virus. Yet the World Health Organization chose not to share any of this critical information with the rest of the world, probably for political reasons.” — May 18 letter.
THE FACTS: He’s overstating the level of knowledge about human transmission of the virus at the time.
Officials in Taiwan did send an email on Dec. 31 to WHO that requested more information about the outbreak in Wuhan, but it does not mention “human-to-human transmission.” The email said “at least seven atypical pneumonia cases were reported in Wuhan, China” and noted that patients had been isolated for treatment.
The Taiwan CDC argues that public health professionals could discern from its wording about patients being isolated that there was a real possibility of human-to-human transmission of the disease, but acknowledges it did not “directly and conclusively” state that.
WHO says it never received information at the time specifically referencing human transmission.
Debunked
TRUMP: “On January 14, 2020, the World Health Organization gratuitously reaffirmed China’s now-debunked claim that the coronavirus could not be transmitted between humans, stating: ‘Preliminary investigations conducted by the Chinese authorities have found no clear evidence of human-to-human transmission of the novel coronavirus (2019-nCov) identified in Wuhan, China.’ This assertion was in direct conflict with censored reports from Wuhan.” — May 18 letter.
THE FACTS: He isn’t providing the full context.
It’s true that a WHO tweet cited “no clear evidence” of human-to-human transmission. But the organization also didn’t rule out the possibility. At a news briefing that same day, Maria Van Kerkhove, acting head of WHO’s emerging diseases unit, allowed that there could be limited cases of human transmission.
“From the information that we have it is possible that there is limited human-to-human transmission, potentially among families, but it is very clear right now that we have no sustained human-to-human transmission,” she said. “It is still early days, we don’t have a clear clinical picture.”
CHINA-FRIENDLY?
TRUMP, referring to China’s Xi Jinping: “On January 28, 2020, after meeting with President Xi in Beijing, you praised the Chinese government for its ‘transparency’ with respect to the coronavirus, announcing that China had set a ‘new standard for outbreak control’ and ‘bought the world time.’ You did not mention that China had, by then, silenced or punished several doctors for speaking out about the virus and restricted Chinese institutions from publishing information about it.” — May 18 letter.
THE FACTS: Tedros did repeatedly praise China’s transparency and pandemic response even as evidence mounted that it had failed to notify the public about a looming crisis. But Trump early on did also.
In a CNBC interview on Jan. 22, Trump was asked if he trusted information from China about the coronavirus. “I do,” Trump said. “I have a great relationship with President Xi.”
Two days later, he was even more effusive. “China has been working very hard to contain the Coronavirus,” he tweeted. “The United States greatly appreciates their efforts and transparency. It will all work out well. …I want to thank President Xi!”
Trump kept up the compliments when asked several times in February about whether data from China can be trusted. He called Xi “extremely capable” and said he’s “doing a very good job with a very, very tough situation.”
His praise ultimately faded as the pandemic hit hard in the U.S. and the federal response stumbled.
It’s unclear how much impact WHO would have had if it did press China for more transparency, given the United Nations agency’s inability to punish member countries. WHO is constrained by rules that rely on the goodwill of its 194 members and relies on Beijing’s cooperation to mount a global response to the pandemic.
TRAVEL RESTRICTIONS
TRUMP: “They strongly recommended against me doing the early ban from China, but I did it anyway and was proven to be 100% correct.” — remarks Friday.
TRUMP: “You also strongly praised China’s strict domestic travel restrictions, but were inexplicably against my closing of the United States border, or the ban, with respect to people coming from China. I put the ban in place regardless of your wishes.” — May 18 letter.
THE FACTS: He’s exaggerating the magnitude of his travel restrictions on China and overstating WHO’s position. WHO has cautioned against such restrictions as a general matter, saying they often prove ineffective in stemming the spread of an infectious disease, but it never publicly questioned or singled out Trump’s decision.
Trump in fact didn’t “ban” all the people infected with coronavirus from entering the U.S. from China.
His order in late January temporarily barred entry by foreign nationals who had traveled in China within the previous 14 days, with exceptions for the immediate family of U.S. citizens and permanent residents as well as American citizens.
There were many gaps in containment and initial delays in testing, leading to the U.S. rising to No. 1 globally in the number of people infected by COVID-19 and the number of deaths last week surpassing 100,000.
Antifa Protest Conspiracies
In the days since President Donald Trump blamed antifa activists for an eruption of violence at protests over police killings of black people, social media has lit up with false rumors that the far-left-leaning group is transporting people to wreak havoc on small cities across America.
The speculation was being raised by conservative news outlets and pro-Trump social media accounts, as well as impostor Facebook and Twitter accounts.
Twitter and Facebook busted some of the instigators behind the unsubstantiated social media chatter. Twitter determined Monday that a tweet promising antifa would “move into residential areas” and “white” neighborhoods was sent by the white supremacy group Identity Evropa. The tweet was shared hundreds of times and cited in online news articles before Twitter removed it Monday, a company spokesperson said.
Yet the tweet continued to circulate Tuesday on Facebook and Instagram.
Facebook, using information shared by Twitter, announced Tuesday night it also took down a handful of accounts on its platform that were created by white supremacy groups like Identity Evropa and American Guard, some of them posing as part of the antifa movement.
Delegitimize Protests
For years, some social media users have tried to delegitimize controversial or political protests with baseless theories that they were organized by wealthy financiers or extremists organizations. Over the weekend, Trump singled out antifa as being responsible for the violent protests triggered by the killing of George Floyd, saying in a tweet: “It’s ANTIFA and the Radical Left.”
“Usually you see this when there’s an interest to deflect conversations from protests to just accusing the protests of being violent, organized or having backers that are evil,”said Filippo Menczer, a professor of informatics and computer science at Indiana University. “The president mentioning it, of course, has generated a huge spike.”
Antifa Theories
The theories about antifa — short for “anti-fascists” and an umbrella term for lefitst militant groups that confront or resist neo-Nazis and white supremacists at demonstrations — have trickled through cities across the country in recent days.
Police departments say people are phoning in “tips” they see on social media claiming antifa is sending buses or even planes full of antifa activists to their area.
In Payette County, Idaho — a rural county of 24,000 — the calls started early Monday morning after one Facebook user said the sheriff had spotted antifa rioters in the area. The calls didn’t taper off until the sheriff’s office debunked the rumor on Facebook.
“It’s really a small community, where our citizens know us pretty well,” said Payette County Sheriff Lt. Andy Creech. “When the post got out there, we started getting phone calls directly.”
Facebook Warns
Meanwhile, Facebook users were also warning their friends to stay clear of a shopping center in a New Jersey suburb, saying it would be the center of antifa destruction on Tuesday.
But police had “no credible information” that antifa would be present in the area, Toms River Police Department media specialist Jillian Messina said in an email. The police aren’t aware of anyone showing up at all, she added.
Identical Facebook and Twitter posts about busloads of antifa protesters also stumped the Sioux Falls Police Department, where officers in the South Dakota city said they didn’t see any unusual bus activity in town. But the claims still spread for days ahead of a planned protest this Saturday, said Sam Clemens, a public information officer for the department.
“Everyone heard there were going to be buses of people,” Clemens said. “It was very specific: there were three busloads.”
George Soros Conspiracy
Even the owner of a Michigan limousine business was forced to refute online rumors when two of his buses became the center of a conspiracy theory that liberal financier George Soros was funneling protesters to Milan, Michigan. Social media users widely shared a manipulated photo of his white buses, edited to show the words “Soros Riot Dance squad” emblazoned on the sides.
The buses belong to Sean Duval, the owner of local transportation company Golden Limousine International, and don’t have any words printed on them.
Said Duval: “It’s frustrating when people from the outside start instigating and try to turn American against American.”
On Tuesday, the music industry will be turning off the music to hold a day of reflection and implementing change in response to the death of George Floyd and the killings of other black people.
Several top record labels organized Black Out Tuesday as violent protests erupted around the world sparked by Floyd’s death as well as the killings of Ahmaud Arbery and Breonna Taylor. Music-based companies Live Nation and TikTok, as well as the Recording Academy, posted to social media that it planned to support and stand with the black community.
“On Tuesday June 2nd, Columbia Records will observe ‘Black Out Tuesday,’” the Sony label home to Beyoncé, Bob Dylan, Adele and John Legend said in a statement. “This is not a day off. Instead, this is a day to reflect and figure out ways to move forward in solidarity.”
“We continue to stand with the Black community, our staff, artists, and peers in the music industry,” the company continued. “Perhaps with the music off, we can truly listen.”
UMG’s Interscope Geffen A&M said that in addition to joining Black Out Tuesday, the label home to Lady Gaga and Kendrick Lamar would not release music this week — the first label to do so.
“Instead, IGA will contribute to organizations that help to bail out protesters exercising their right to peacefully assemble, aid lawyers working for systemic change and provide assistance to charities focused on creating economic empowerment in the Black community,” its statement read.
IGA postponed new music releases MGK, 6lack, Dylan, Jessie Ware, Smokepurp, Lil Mosey, Billy Raffoul, Max Leone and more in coordination with their partners Alamo, LVRN, The Darkroom, Bad Boy and more.
Musicians Joining In
Musicians including Rihanna, Beyoncé, Taylor Swift, Lil Nas X, Demi Lovato, Post Malone and Harry Styles have spoken out following Floyd’s death and worldwide protests. Jay-Z released a statement late Sunday calling for Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison to prosecute those responsible for killing Floyd, a handcuffed black man who pleaded for air as a white police officer pressed a knee on his neck.
“I, along with an entire country in pain, call upon AG Ellison to do the right thing and prosecute all those responsible for the murder of George Floyd to the fullest extent of the law. This is just a first step. I am more determined to fight for justice than any fight my would-be oppressors may have,” Jay-Z said. “I prevail on every politician, prosecutor and officer in the country to have the courage to do what is right. Have the courage to look at us as humans, dads, brothers, sisters and mothers in pain and look at yourselves.”
Racial tensions were also running high after two white men were arrested in May in the February shooting death of black jogger Arbery in Georgia, and after Louisville, Kentucky, police shot Taylor to death in her home in March.
Ungodly Hour
The R&B duo Chloe x Halle, who will release their sophomore album “Ungodly Hour” on Friday, posted a cover of the classic civil rights anthem and protest song “We Shall Overcome” to Instagram.
“This week has been very heavy for all of us. We’ve been trying to, not understand, because there’s no way to understand the terrible killings — we just have heavy hearts this week and are just trying to do everything we can to pray and lift each other up with our voices,” Halle said in an interview.
“With everything going on, we felt like music can be very healing, because it’s been that way for us in kind of keeping us sane during this time,” Chloe added. As much as we could, we just wanted to share our gift of song to even just lift spirits for even a few seconds.”
With America descended into chaos after six nights of protests over the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Donald Trump thinks force will solve the problem. Urging governors to “dominate” protestors, Trump appears to be attempting to show strength after laying low this past weekend.
On Monday, President Trump called out many governors as being “weak” and demanded tougher crackdowns on burning and stealing among some demonstrations in the aftermath of another night of violent protests in dozens of American cities.
Trump spoke to governors on a video teleconference that also included law enforcement and national security officials, telling the state leaders they “have to get much tougher.”
“Most of you are weak,” Trump said. “You have to arrest people.”
The days of protests were triggered by the death of George Floyd, a black man who died when a white Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck for several minutes. The demonstrations turned violent in several cities, with looting and mayhem, and fires ignited in historic park Lafayette Park across from the White House.
The president urged the governors to deploy the National Guard, which he credited for helping calm the situation Sunday night in Minneapolis. He demanded that similarly tough measures be taken in cities that also experienced a spasm of violence, including New York, Philadelphia and Los Angeles.
“You’ve got to arrest people, you have to track people, you have to put them in jail for 10 years and you’ll never see this stuff again,” said Trump. “We’re doing it in Washington, D.C. We’re going to do something that people haven’t seen before.”
The president told the governors they were making themselves “look like fools” for not calling up more of the National Guard as a show for force on city streets.
“Dominate” the Streets
Attorney General Bill Barr, who was also on the call, told governors that a joint terrorist task force would be used to track agitators and urged local officials to “dominate” the streets and control, not react to crowds, and urged them to “go after troublemakers.”
Trump’s angry exhortations at the nation’s governors came after a night of escalating violence, images of fires and looting and clashes with police filling the nation’s airwaves and overshadowing the largely peaceful protests. The protests grew so heated Friday night that the Secret Service rushed the president to an underground bunker previously used during terrorist attacks.
Flag burning Revisited
On Monday, Trump also spoke of trying to criminalize flag-burning. The Supreme Court has conservative new members since it last ruled on that issue, and Trump said that “I think it’s time to review that again.”
He continued his effort to project strength, using a series of inflammatory tweets and delivering partisan attacks during a time of national crisis.
As cities burned night after night and images of violence dominated television coverage, Trump’s advisers discussed the prospect of an Oval Office address in an attempt to ease tensions. The notion was quickly scrapped for lack of policy proposals and the president’s own seeming disinterest in delivering a message of unity.
No Show Trump
Trump did not appear in public on Sunday and was not scheduled to on Monday either.
The demonstrations in Washington appeared to catch officers by surprise. They sparked one of the highest alerts at the White House complex since the Sept. 11 attacks in 2001.
Secret Service protocol would call for all those under the agency’s protection to be in the underground shelter.
Trump has told advisers he worries about his safety, while both privately and publicly praising the work of the Secret Service.
Demonstrators returned Sunday afternoon, facing off against police at Lafayette Park into the evening. Trump retweeted a message from a conservative commentator encouraging authorities to respond with greater force.
“This isn’t going to stop until the good guys are willing to use overwhelming force against the bad guys,” Buck Sexton wrote in a message amplified by the president.
White House Security Upped
In recent days security at the White House has been reinforced by the National Guard and additional personnel from the Secret Service and the U.S. Park Police.
The Justice Department deployed members of the U.S. Marshals Service and agents from the Drug Enforcement Administration to supplement National Guard troops outside the White House, according to a senior Justice Department official. The official could not discuss the matter publicly and spoke on the condition of anonymity.
Developments since George Floyd’s Murder:
In some cities, law enforcement officers were seen marching and kneeling with protesters. But elsewhere, police in riot gear continued to increase their use of force, which added to the disorder. On Monday, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear (D) ordered a state investigation after a man was fatally shot during an overnight confrontation with Louisville police and the National Guard.
Former president Barack Obama spoke out about the unrest, urging those angered to focus their efforts on state and local elections.
It has been one week since George Floyd died in Minneapolis after a white police officer pressed his knee into the 46-year-old black man’s neck for more than eight minutes. Floyd’s brother, Terrence, said he plans to visit the scene of the incident this week. “I just want to feel my brother’s spirit,” he said Monday.
More than 4,000 people were arrested across the country during weekend demonstrations, according to the Associated Press. New York Mayor Bill de Blasio’s daughter, Chiara, was among the hundreds of people arrested in the city after failing to disperse.
A number of major retailers, including Walmart and Target, have temporarily closed their stores in some areas rocked by upheaval. In California, state government buildings were ordered closed Monday “in downtown city areas.”
UPDATE 5/26/2020: Twitter is now adding a not so warning message to Donald Trump’s tweets that are glaringly inaccurate only on the Twitter site. The one below on Twitter states “Get the facts about mail-in ballots.” But it disappears on Tweet embeds.
There is NO WAY (ZERO!) that Mail-In Ballots will be anything less than substantially fraudulent. Mail boxes will be robbed, ballots will be forged & even illegally printed out & fraudulently signed. The Governor of California is sending Ballots to millions of people, anyone…..
Twitter appears to follow the Republicans in feeling that the President of the United States is truly above the law. Let alone Twitter’s Terms of Service (TOS) agreement that the average person can find being used on them for much minor violations.
While Twitter’s Jack Dorsey proudly trumpeted that the social media giant would be labelling obvious ‘fake tweets,’ this system won’t apply to Donald Trump.
Trump Pushes Twitter Limits
President Trump is again pushing the limits of Twitter’s attempts to deal with national leaders who spread misinformation and engage in personal abuse, this time with a barrage of baseless tweets suggesting that a television host he has feuded with committed murder.
Twitter, which has tried to devise penalties for such situations, has so far done nothing about Trump’s tweets.
The husband of a woman who died by accident two decades ago in an office of then-GOP Rep. Joe Scarborough is demanding that Twitter remove the president’s tweets suggesting Scarborough, now a fierce Trump critic, killed her.
The body of Lori Kaye Klausutis, 28, was found in Scarborough’s Fort Walton Beach, Florida, congressional office on July 20, 2001. Trump has repeatedly tried to implicate Scarborough, a host of MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” show, in the death even though Scarborough was in Washington, not Florida, at the time.
It’s the latest instance in which the president has blown past Twitter’s half-hearted attempts to enforce rules intended to promote civility and “healthy” conversation on its most prominent user. Trump frequently amplifies misinformation, spreads abuse and uses his pulpit to attack private citizens and public figures alike, but has never faced Twitter sanctions on his account.
Klausutis wrote in his letter that he has struggled to move on with his life due to the ongoing “bile and misinformation” spread about his wife on the platform, most recently by Trump. His wife continues to be the subject of conspiracy theories 20 years after her death.
Klausutis said in the letter, sent last week, that his wife had an undiagnosed heart condition, fell and hit her head on her desk at work. He called her death “the single most painful thing that I have ever had to deal with” and said he feels a marital obligation to protect her memory amid “a constant barrage of falsehoods, half-truths, innuendo and conspiracy theories since the day she died.”
Twitter TOS Violation
Trump’s tweets violate Twitter’s community rules and terms of service, he said. “An ordinary user like me would be banished,” he wrote.
At Tuesday’s White House briefing, press secretary Kayleigh McEnany repeatedly refused to say why Trump was pressing the unfounded allegations or whether he would stop tweeting about them. Instead, she focused on remarks that Scarborough made about the case that she said were inappropriate and flippant.
Dorsey did not reply directly to Klausutis’ letter and has not taken any action on the president’s tweets. In a statement, Twitter said it was “deeply sorry about the pain these statements, and the attention they are drawing, are causing the family.”
But the company didn’t say it would do anything about Trump’s tweets. It didn’t even mention them directly, although it did reference vague plans for future policy changes. “We’ve been working to expand existing product features and policies so we can more effectively address things like this going forward, and we hope to have those changes in place shortly,” Twitter said.
The proposed changes include labeling false or misleading tweets as such, with fact checks “crowdsourced” from Twitter. It recently started labeling such tweets when they are about COVID-19 and is looking to expand more broadly.
This, of course, led many to denounce it claiming it is already making mistakes and mislabeling legitimate ones. The company even had to tweet out from one of their own mistakes about the 5G coronavirus conspiracy.
But the company hasn’t said when this tool would be available. Based on history, it’s also not clear if these strictures would apply to Trump and other world leaders.
Weekend Tweetfest
Over the weekend, the president also sent out tweets calling into question the legality of mail-in-ballots. The storm of tweets followed the president’s Facebook and Twitter posts last week that wrongly claimed Michigan’s secretary of ptate mailed ballots to 7.7 million registered voters. Trump later deleted the tweet and posted an edited version that still threatened to hold up federal funds.
These are the sorts of tweets that Twitter, if it wanted to, could remove or at least label under its policy against sharing “false or misleading information intended to intimidate or dissuade people from participating in an election or other civic process.”
It has not done so. And it’s not clear if Trump’s team deleted the Michigan tweet on its own volition or if it was warned by Twitter that it would take action on it if it was not changed. Twitter is in ongoing contact with the White House.
In general, Twitter has taken a hands-off approach to political leaders, contending that publishing controversial tweets from politicians helps hold them accountable and encourages discussion. Last year, it said it would consider slapping warning labels on some tweets by world leaders, noting that such individuals rules “aren’t entirely” above the rules.
Nearly a year after announcing it, Twitter has yet to use such labels.
No Conspiracy Here
There is no mystery to the death of Lori Klausutis. Medical officials ruled that the aide, who had a heart condition and told friends hours earlier that she wasn’t feeling well, had fainted and hit her head. Foul play was not suspected.
Trump, however tweeted this month: “When will they open a Cold Case on the Psycho Joe Scarborough matter in Florida. Did he get away with murder? Some people think so. Why did he leave Congress so quietly and quickly? Isn’t it obvious? What’s happening now? A total nut job!”
He echoed that “cold case” allegation in a new tweet on Tuesday,
Trump also has asked via Twitter if NBC would fire the political talk show host based on the “unsolved mystery” years ago in Florida. “Investigate!” he tweeted in 2017.
Scarborough has urged the president to stop his baseless attacks.
Normally when a natural disaster or pandemic hits, getting the right information is easy, but in today’s world, that’s no longer the case. With news channels literally giving out opposite information along with facts from the White House having to be fact checked, staying safe during Covid-19 is no easy matter.
New Jersey’s top homeland security official received nearly nonstop calls in early March from grocery chains, trucking companies and other logistics firms wanting to know if rumors of an impending national lockdown were true.
They weren’t, and Jared Maples soon learned the companies were reacting to misinformation stemming from text messages shared widely across the country.
Federal officials debunked the messages, but Maples said the whole episode was a “whoa” moment for him and other state officials. Weeks later, New Jersey launched a website aimed at debunking misinformation and rumors about COVID-19.
“Misinformation is out there. You can’t take everything at face value,” Maples, director of the state’s homeland security and preparedness office, told media outlets in an interview. “If you hear a rumor, we want people to realize that there’s a place to go (to check it out.)”
New Jersey’s effort mirrors a rumor-control site set up by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and is part of efforts underway in other states to combat conspiracy theories, hoaxes and bogus treatment claims that have erupted during the pandemic.
Washington state, for example, created an online guide to identifying and avoiding coronavirus misinformation. Other states and municipalities have set up hotlines that offer information about symptoms and testing, while also dispelling rumors and false claims.
“The next time your friend texts you, or you see something up on Facebook, you can point them to the truth,” Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti said last month when his city announced two new websites designed to offer accurate information about the outbreak.
The many still unanswered questions about the coronavirus and its origins have fueled a number of misleading and false claims about the outbreak and the government’s response to it, state leaders and misinformation experts say.
“We have a unique moment in time when everyone is thinking about the same thing,” said Gordon Pennycook, an assistant professor of behavioral science at the University of Regina in Canada. “It’s the sort of thing that breeds falsehoods….People’s lives are being disrupted. You can create things that people want to believe. … so there’s a lot working towards a market for (misinformation).”
The text messages that led to confusion in New Jersey and other states warned of a national lockdown or military takeover. They claimed to be from a “friend of a friend,” and said that within 48 to 72 hours the president would order a two-week mandatory quarantine overseen by the National Guard. “Stock up on whatever you guys need to make sure you have a two week supply of everything. Please forward to your network,” said one.
There’s no indication of who created the texts, though State Department officials have said individuals linked to the Chinese government helped spread them.
At times, President Donald Trump himself has helped circulate false claims about the virus. He’s suggested untested treatments, musing aloud about the idea of injecting disinfectants, overstated the availability of tests and contradicted his administration’s own experts.
The lack of consistent, accurate information from the White House has put further pressure on state leaders to confront what misinformation experts have termed “an infodemic” surrounding the outbreak.
“We need transparency and fact-based communications from our elected officials and from officials across government,” Nina Jankowicz, a misinformation expert at the Wilson Center, a Washington D.C.-based think tank, said at a recent Congressional panel on virus misinformation. “I fear that it’s all being undermined when we have this inconsistent messaging and disregard for the facts coming from certain parts of government.”
Misinformation about a public health emergency can be especially dangerous if it causes people to try sham cures or ignore guidance from health experts. Following Trump’s comments at a White House briefing about the possible curative effects of disinfectants, Maryland’s emergency hotline received hundreds of calls from people asking if it was safe to drink bleach.
The state was forced to issue a warning against the idea, and Republican Gov. Larry Hogan urged Trump to “make sure these press conferences are fact-based.”
“They listen when the governor holds a press conference, and they certainly pay attention when the president of the United States is standing there giving a press conference about something as serious as this worldwide pandemic,” Hogan said on ABC News. “And I think when misinformation comes out or you just say something that pops in your head, it does send a wrong message.”
Companies like Facebook, Google and Twitter have implemented new algorithms, rules and warnings in an effort to knock down harmful claims. New Jersey’s new anti-misinformation website has a similar goal: debunking misinformation that could have an impact on the actions people take.
“We’ll continue to publish only accurate and timely information,” Maples says in a video clip on the state’s website. “Because that’s how we’re all going to get through this together.”
What a COVID-19 antibody test shows you?
An antibody test might show if you had COVID-19 in the recent past, which most experts think gives people some protection from the virus. The tests are different from the nasal swab tests that determine if you’re currently sick.
But studies are still underway to determine what antibody level would be needed for immunity. It’s also not yet known how long any immunity might last. For now, the tests are most helpful for researchers trying to track how the virus spreads in communities.
Dozens of companies are making rapid antibody tests to help identify people who had the virus and may have developed some immunity to it.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration initially allowed companies to launch antibody tests with minimal oversight. After reports of faulty results and fraud emerged, the agency reversed course and is now requiring companies to show that their tests work.
Most of the world is in lockdown at the moment due to the coronavirus pandemic. With many businesses being able to continue their operations by having their employees work from home, many people have now got a lot of unexpected time on their hands, with no idea what to do with it. As stepping outdoors is out of the question, there have to be other ways found to pass the time, and one of the most commonly-sought solutions for boredom during this time has been to fire up one of the many streaming services available and settle down for a binge-watching session.
In that spirit, there are quite a few movie series which are ripe for a marathon session. To make it even more fun, these movie marathons can be done over a Zoom call or a Netflix Party watch with family and friends, making them more fun and immersive. So, here are some of the best movie marathons to sink yourself into during this time –
The Marvel Cinematic Universe, Disney Plus
Why not start off with one of the biggest movie franchises ever, with 23 movies having been released under the Marvel Cinematic Universe umbrella? The journey which began with ‘Iron Man’, all the way back in 2008, came to an epic conclusion with ‘Avengers: Endgame” last year, and introduced the world to the now-iconic characters of Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, the Hulk, Black Widow, Black Panther, Spider-Man and Captain Marvel, among many others. While we wait for the next phase of the MCU to kick off with the Black Widow movie later this year, it is now the best time to revisit this mega-movie universe and look back at the cinematic journey undertaken by some of these characters over the course of a decade and more. Be warned though, even with 20 of the 23 movies being available on Disney Plus (the Hulk movie and both Spider-Man flicks are not on the streaming service), the total runtime clocks in at just under 44 hours!
The Star Wars Saga, Disney Plus
Another of the epic movie properties owned by Disney, the Star Wars saga has been one of the most famous movie franchises of all time. Its impact on popular culture is undeniable, and if you are one of those who has not yet seen any of these movies, now is the best time, with Disney Plus having all twelve movies, including the ‘Rogue One’ and ‘Solo’ spinoffs, and the three trilogies that make up the ‘Skywalker Saga’, which came to an apparent close with ‘The Rise Of Skywalker’, last year.
The James Bond series, Amazon Prime
Even though this collection is incomplete, with Amazon Prime having 20 of the 26 official Bond movies, it is never a bad time to revisit the exploits of the world’s favorite secret agent. There is no need to even watch these movies in any particular order, as they all do well as standalone films. However, some of the most famous of the Bond films are missing from the streaming service, with the 1967 original ‘Casino Royale’ being one of them, as well as the entire series of Daniel Craig’s run as 007, including his debut, which was the 2006 remake (of sorts) of ‘Casino Royale’. ‘Casino Royale’ has rightfully become one of the most famous Bond movies, and also one of the most notable ones to feature gambling as its main plot point, with the likes of roulette, poker, and real money slots all playing a big role in the movie. Nevertheless, with classics such as ‘Die Another Day’, ‘Goldfinger,’ and ‘Tomorrow Never Dies’ all available, it is still quite the haul for Bond fans to get their viewing pleasure from.
Indiana Jones, Netflix
Harrison Ford has played some iconic characters in his lifetime, with Star Wars’ Han Solo being one, but his turn as Dr. Henry Walton ‘Indiana’ Jones, an archaeologist with a penchant for getting into unbelievable adventures, is arguably one of the most iconic roles in Hollywood history. Interestingly, the Indiana Jones series was also created by George Lucas, the creator of Star Wars, and all four movies are available on Netflix. This is an excellent time to catch up on the original trilogy, even if the fourth movie wasn’t quite as good, with a fifth movie in the work and scheduled for release in 2022.
Huawei put out a rather urgent warning that it’s “survival” is at stake after the U.S. government cut the company off from international semiconductor supplies. It called the Department of Commerce’s decision “arbitrary and pernicious.”
The latest U.S. sanctions on tech giant Huawei threaten to devastate the company and escalate a feud with China that could disrupt technology industries worldwide.
Huawei Technologies Ltd. is one of the biggest makers of smartphones and network equipment, but that $123 billion-a-year business is in jeopardy after Washington announced further restrictions on use of American technology by foreign companies that make its processor chips.
Huawei spent the past year scrambling to preserve its business after an earlier round of U.S. restrictions imposed last May cut off access to American components and software.
“Our business will inevitably be impacted,” Huawei’s chairman, Guo Ping, said at a conference Monday with industry analysts.
“In spite of that, the challenges over the past year have helped us develop a thicker skin, and we are confident about finding solutions soon,” Guo said.
The company said Monday that it would need some time to “understand the impact” of the latest restrictions.
The conflict is politically explosive because Huawei is more than just China’s most successful private company. It is a national champion among industries the ruling Communist Party is promoting in hopes of transforming China into a global competitor in profitable technologies.
On Monday, China’s Ministry of Commerce warned it will protect “the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese enterprises,” but gave no details of potential retaliation. Beijing has threatened in the past to issue an “unreliable entities list” that might restrict operations of American companies in China.
The two sides have declared a truce in a trade war, but arguments over the origin of the coronavirus pandemic that is roiling the global economy have raised worries that agreement might fall apart.
Huawei is at the center of the U.S.-Chinese conflict over Beijing’s technology ambitions, which Washington worries might erode American industrial leadership.
Huawei has few alternatives if Washington refuses to allow its suppliers to use U.S. technology. The company has developed some of its own chips but even the biggest non-U.S. manufacturers such as Taiwanese giant TSMC need American components or production equipment.
“Every electronics system that Huawei produces could be negatively impacted,” Jim Handy, semiconductor analyst for Objective Analysis, said in an email. “Most China-based alternatives haven’t yet been established.”
New curbs announced Friday are the third round of sanctions aimed at cutting off Huawei’s access to U.S. technology and markets.
In a statement, Huawei criticized the U.S. decision as “arbitrary and pernicious” and warned it will affect operation and maintenance of networks installed by the company in more than 170 countries.
“The U.S. government has intentionally turned its back on the interests of Huawei’s customers and consumers,” it said.
The statement said the decision “will damage the trust and collaboration within the global semiconductor industry,” harming other industries that depend on it.
The Trump administration says Huawei is a security risk, which the company denies, and is trying to persuade European and other allies to shun its technology for next-generation telecom networks.
Chinese officials accuse Washington of raising phony security concerns to hurt a rising competitor to American tech companies.
The potential impact extends far beyond Huawei. The company spends tens of billions of dollars a year on components and technology from U.S. and other suppliers, purchases that might be disrupted if output of smartphones and other products is blocked.
U.S. suppliers already have complained to Washington that restrictions imposed last May on Huawei’s access to American components and other technology will cost them billions of dollars in lost potential sales.
The company’s telecoms market in the U.S. evaporated after a congressional panel in 2012 labeled Huawei and its Chinese competitor ZTE Corp. security risks and told phone carriers to avoid them.
Last year’s sanctions require U.S. companies to obtain government permission to sell chips and other technology to Huawei. The company can keep using Google’s Android operating system on its smartphones but lost the ability to pre-install music, maps and other Google services customers expect on phones.
Huawei has launched its own smartphone operating system and is paying developers to create apps to run on it. But the company says sales have suffered.
Despite that, Huawei reported a 2019 profit of 62.7 billion yuan ($8.8 billion) and said total sales rose 19% over a year earlier.
The sanctions highlight Huawei’s reliance on technology suppliers despite having one of the world’s biggest corporate research and development budgets.
Huawei has its own semiconductor unit, HiSilicon, but needs manufacturers including TSMC to make the most advanced chips.
Beijing has spent the past two decades and billions of dollars to create a Chinese semiconductor industry. But its biggest producer, SMIC, can only make chips that are two generations behind TSMC.
“Huawei had already begun to shift some production from TSMC to SMIC, although SMIC cannot yet produce Huawei’s latest Kirin 980 chipset,” said Neil Thomas, a research associate at U.S. think tank Paulson Institute. “But SMIC can probably manufacture earlier-generation Huawei chipsets.”
Then-chairman Eric Xu warned in March that more U.S. pressure on Huawei might provoke Chinese retaliation that could disrupt its global industry.
Beijing will not “just stand by and watch Huawei be slaughtered,” Xu said. “The impact on the global industry would be astonishing.”
The next generation of consoles are coming, and all eyes will be on Sony and Microsoft after the leading tech giants revealed details about their upcoming machines. However, some of the important details about PS5 specs and features remain scanty, but we have collected first-hand details regarding a few select features.
PS5 release date
Sony has confirmed that the PS5 will be released later in the year, but they could not give the exact date of release. We would expect to have the new console sometime in November, to give players something ahead of Christmas.
Will PS5 play old games?
Word has it that PS5 will feature backwards compatibility, meaning PS4 graphics engines will work normally on PS5. A Legacy Mode for the new console will allow developers to create titles for PS4 without the risk of losing any functionality. By virtue of those PS4 games running at boosted frequencies, it translates to improved visuals and overall performance.
Power
It was also revealed that the PS5’s GPU will feature 10.28 TFLOPs, 26 Compute Units, and a 2.23GHz variable frequency. The CPU will be using Zen 2 technology, with 8 cores.
In addition, PS5 will have a custom 825GB SSD, but storage can be upgraded with M.2 SSDs from the market through an NVMe SSD Slot on the console.
Control
The DualSense controller is going to be one hell of a device if initial revelations are anything to go by. The latest news indicate that the controller is a PlayStation redesign for the PS5, but besides the overall design, there are a few alterations in the new DualSense. The new face buttons are strikingly attractive, as the new console will ditch the traditional button colors for a translucent/transparent design
PS5 VR
It is official existing PlayStation VR headsets will be used with PS5 during the console launch, therefore, there are no expected changes to the soon-to-be-released hardware. While that prospect settles some debate, it does raise some concerns. For example, the possibility of virtual reality experiences developed specifically for PS5 operate on these headsets, and do they guarantee continuity?
PS5 Games
The closer we get to Sony’s next-generation console, the easier it becomes for us to make predictions about what to expect. We know that Sony recently purchased Insomniac Games, so a sequel to Spiderman is guaranteed on PS5. Other games include “Resistance,” “Ratchet and Clank,” and several other favorites.
A sequel to Horizon Zero Dawn is on the cards, therefore players can expect another party blockbuster on PS5.
PS5 new games
“Horizon Zero Dawn 2” and “Demon’s Souls Remake” are some of the rumored titles being mooted right now, and are likely to be key games for the upcoming release. Sony must be holding some suspense for the fans, so expect them to roll out a few surprises when PS5 finally launches.
Sony’s approach will be in total contrast to Microsoft who already disclosed Xbox Series X is set to forego traditional exclusives in favor of picking its full family of consoles.
Barack and Michelle Obama have been very busy, and their latest project “Becoming” will be hitting Netflix on May 6. Expect Donald Trump to try to play ‘shiny object’ as media will focus heavily on the former first lady.
The documentary is described as “an intimate look into the life of former first lady Michelle Obama” and chronicles her 34-city book tour in 2018-2019 for her best-selling memoir “Becoming.” Obama’s promotional tour, managed by the concert promoter Live Nation, had the scale of a rock tour, with a string of dates at sold-out arenas. She made over $36 million from the book and was the highest-paid author in 2019 behind James Patterson and J.K. Rowling.
Save the Date: May 6, 2020
The film will debut May 6 on Netflix. In a statement, Obama said the experience of the tour “drove home the idea that what we share in common is deep and real and can’t be messed with.”
“We processed the past and imagined a better future. In talking about the idea of ‘becoming,’ many of us dared to say our hopes out loud,” said Obama. “I treasure the memories and that sense of connection now more than ever, as we struggle together to weather this pandemic, as we care for our loved ones, tend to our communities, and try to keep up with work and school while coping with huge amounts of loss, confusion, and uncertainty.”
“Becoming” has sold more than 11 million copies and been translated into more than 20 languages. The former first lady’s popularity has made her a potentially pivotal figure in the 2020 presidential campaign. Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic nominee, recently said that he’d pick her as a running mate “in a heartbeat,” before adding that he didn’t think she had any desire to be part of presidential politics again.
Nadia Hallgren
Nadia Hallgren, a veteran documentary cinematographer making her feature directorial debut in “Becoming,” trailed Obama on the book tour from city to city. “She moves quickly and I had to learn to move with her,” said Hallgren. From the sound of it, Hallgren was able to have a lot of access to the former First Lady while also getting plenty of input from her.
The announcement came with a letter from Obama stating how the experience was far from a standard book tour. “In groups large and small, young and old, unique and united, we came together and shared stories, filling those spaces with our joys, worries, and dreams.”
“Becoming” is the latest release from Higher Ground Productions, the production company created by Barack and Michelle Obama. Their exclusive multi-film deal with Netflix has already proven fruitful. Their first film, “American Factory,” by Julia Reichert and Steven Bognar, earlier this year won the Academy Award for best documentary. (The Obamas did not attend the Oscars, nor received a statuette.) Higher Ground was also behind the acclaimed recently released documentary “Crip Camp: A Disability Revolution,” by James Lebrecht and Nicole Newnham.
She’s A Hugger
The former first lady acknowledged the timing is difficult for a film about community, and that social distancing doesn’t come naturally to her: “I’m a hugger,” she said. During the pandemic, Obama has read children’s books to kids stuck at home in an online series titled “Mondays with Michelle Obama.” “I’m here for you,” she said in her statement. “And I know you are here for one another.”
“Empathy is our lifeline here. It’s what will get us to the other side,” said Obama. “Let’s use it to redirect our attention toward what matters most, reconsider our priorities, and find ways to better remake the world in the image of our hopes.”
Obama was voted the most admired woman in 2018 and 2019, according to a Gallup poll. Her book “Becoming” became the best-selling memoir last year, selling more than 10 million copies.
In “Becoming,” Obama made her political aspirations clear. “I’ll say it here directly: I have no intention of running for office, ever,” she wrote.
Note From Michelle Obama With Netflix Announcement
A note from Michelle Obama
I’m excited to let you know that on May 6, Netflix will release BECOMING, a documentary film directed by Nadia Hallgren that looks at my life and the experiences I had while touring following the release of my memoir.
Those months I spent traveling — meeting and connecting with people in cities across the globe — drove home the idea that what we share in common is deep and real and can’t be messed with. In groups large and small, young and old, unique and united, we came together and shared stories, filling those spaces with our joys, worries, and dreams. We processed the past and imagined a better future. In talking about the idea of ‘becoming,’ many of us dared to say our hopes out loud.
I treasure the memories and that sense of connection now more than ever, as we struggle together to weather this pandemic, as we care for our loved ones, tend to our communities, and try to keep up with work and school while coping with huge amounts of loss, confusion, and uncertainty.
It’s hard these days to feel grounded or hopeful, but I hope that like me, you’ll find joy and a bit of respite in what Nadia has made. Because she’s a rare talent, someone whose intelligence and compassion for others comes through in every frame she shoots. Most importantly, she understands the meaning of community, the power of community, and her work is magically able to depict it.
As many of you know, I’m a hugger. My whole life, I’ve seen it as the most natural and equalizing gesture one human can make toward another — the easiest way of saying, “I’m here for you.” And this is one of the toughest parts of our new reality: Things that once felt simple — going to see a friend, sitting with someone who is hurting, embracing someone new — are now not simple at all.
But I’m here for you. And I know you are here for one another. Even as we can no longer safely gather or feed off the energy of groups, even as many of us are living with grief, loneliness, and fear, we need to stay open and able to put ourselves in other people’s shoes. Empathy is our lifeline here. It’s what will get us to the other side. Let’s use it to redirect our attention toward what matters most, reconsider our priorities, and find ways to better remake the world in the image of our hopes.
Even in hard times, maybe especially in hard times, our stories help cement our values and strengthen our connections. Sharing them shows us the way forward. I love and miss you all.
Online publishers know that keeping your site alive solely with digital advertising can be a losing battle. Huge sites like BuzzFeed, Buddy TV and others have taken huge hits as online ads just don’t bring in the money they used to. Ten years ago, you could rely on digital ads and an Amazon affiliate account to keep a good staff happy.
Google helped in cannibalizing the ad market as it forced publishers to make changes and then quickly changed their minds forcing them to change back. It’s always been a love hate relationship with the big G, but many small sites sadly still need them. Back in 2010, we were one of those sites, but as we saw things changing and Google was now hurting the sites that were helping them grow, we stopped running digital ads. First, they slowed your site down, and Google also penalizes sites for running slow. Even if they are slow because of the Google ads they are running!
Second, we realized that unless we found other alternatives, we would always be at the mercy of Google. Finding better lucrative ways to bring in money has been a huge win for us. We tried Facebook ads, but when Mark Zuckerberg’s baby tried to wall everyone in, we pulled out of that too. It was obvious they wanted to lure all the major news sites while barely paying them. It was an easy win win for them.
Sadly, publishers relying on these models are going to be going under trying to survive the hits from the Coronavirus pandemic. Digital ads have shrunk horribly, but Google and Facebook aren’t worrying as they are buying up other properties for cheap. In a bad economy, those big companies sweep in like vultures to ‘save’ smaller companies barely able to survive a recession.
That’s what is happening now as video calls have grown from being shut in and the two tech giants will make a huge bundle off of you one way or the other. Even after we get through the pandemic, Google knows people will continue using video out of habit. This is how they’ll continue pulling in all your private personal data they so hunger after.
Demand For Ads Shrivels
Demand for digital advertising is shriveling after a decade of explosive growth amid the pandemic-fueled downturn. That could complicate things for Google and Facebook, who for the first time may have to contend with revenues that are actually shrinking.
With consumers mostly at home and unemployment soaring, advertisers are slashing promotional spending — in some cases, all the way to zero. For Google and Facebook, who together account for 70% of the U.S. market for digital ads, that so far has translated into tighter restraints on spending without the layoffs, pay cuts and furloughs that publishers and other industries have already imposed.
Google CEO Sundar Pichai has already told employees the company will curtail its hiring for the rest of the year and is considering deep cuts in its own marketing budget through 2020, according to internal communications obtained by CNBC t hat Google confirmed.
Facebook Warning
Facebook warned last month that its business was already being squeezed by the advertising downturn, although it didn’t provide details. In countries hard-hit by the pandemic, it said messaging traffic was up 50% while voice and video calling had doubled, but added that it doesn’t make money on many of those services and that ad business had “weakened” in those regions.
So far, however, it’s not clear how badly the tech giants might be hit. Early clues will be seen this week when Google’s corporate parent, Alphabet, and Facebook report their first-quarter financial results. But those results will only give a hint of the impact, given that the pandemic didn’t start to zap the global economy — and ad budgets — until late February.
Alphabet Grows in 2020
That’s one reason analysts polled by FactSet are still predicting a 13% increase in Alphabet’s revenue from the same time last year and a 16% revenue increase in revenue for Facebook.
The real test will come in the current April-June quarter, where analysts currently project roughly flat revenue for both companies. That could prove optimistic, though, given that airlines, hotels and other travel-related businesses typically spend heavily on marketing campaigns during the spring and summer.
With most travel frozen by the pandemic, Google and Facebook are likely to see huge sales declines unless the threat of COVID-19 subsides, said Edward Jones analyst David Heger.
Digital Ads Elasticity
The good news for Google and Facebook, is that digital ad spending can ramp back up as quickly as it declines, since it doesn’t require the upfront planning necessary with traditional media. That means companies might boost digital campaigns at the first sign of recovery, said Tony DiResta, a Washington, D.C., attorney who helps small and large companies promote their brands.
Google, at least, has already been through this once as a public company. In the second quarter of 2009 during the Great Recession, its revenue growth slowed dramatically to just 3%, prompting it to reduce its workforce by about 400 employees during that year — the only time the company has pared its payroll in its 21-year history.
Since then, Alphabet have added nearly 100,000 employees in a relentless expansion built upon Google’s Android mobile-phone software and other products it continued to develop during the previous downturn.
Recession Proof
This recession may look quite different. Google, Facebook, and the overall digital market are far larger than they were back then and potentially less nimble. The digital industry has posted double-digit annual growth for a decade and was on track to hit about $125 billion in 2019 revenue, based on information compiled by the Interactive Advertising Bureau, which hasn’t released final numbers for the year.
For 2020, Magna Research predicts that digital-ad sales growth will slow to 4%, but said revenues won’t shrink despite the tough times. Overall ad sales could fall by 3%, according to Magna, with an flurry of political spending this fall during the U.S. presidential election expected to ease the recession’s blow.
Better Positions Than Before
Some analysts believe the current downturn could leave the tech duopoly in an even stronger position once the global economy recovers. Both Google and Facebook have enormous cash reserves — $120 billion for Alphabet, $55 billion for Facebook — they can use to acquire other potentially attractive services that can’t survive the recession on their own, often for cheap.
“Both Google and Facebook are in a good position,” said eMarketer analyst Nicole Perrin.
Meanwhile, social distancing and stay-at-home orders appear to have overridden privacy concerns about the companies’ services, which sparked a backlash over the way they vacuum up vast amounts of personal information. Both companies reporting rising usage.
“It’s like moths being drawn to a flame,” Heger said. “People can’t seem to resist them.”
The Coronavirus pandemic doesn’t keep celebrity news, and those “Duck Dynasty” guys are back in the news. Chris Matthews finally spoke about his forced retirement from MSNBC to Vanity Fair. Dax Shepard showed how self-surgery works in a pandemic. Jay Cutler has split from Kristin Cavallari while Demi Lovato talks about what she learned in rehab this time.
A touching piece is how Adam Schlesinger’s girlfriend is talking about his fight with Covid-19.
Duck Dynasty Shooter Arrested
A man was arrested in connection with a drive-by shooting at the Louisiana estate of “Duck Dynasty” star Willie Robertson.
Daniel King Jr. was booked into a correctional center after two homes in West Monroe were struck by gunfire on Friday afternoon, the Ouachita Parish Sheriff’s Office said in a Facebook post Saturday. No one was injured in the shooting, authorities said.
“It looks like they were just spraying bullets across my property.” Robertson told The News-Star. Both homes are part of the estate belonging to Robertson, one of the stars of the reality show about duck hunting that ran from 2012 to 2017.
Robertson said the family was “pretty shook up” after one of the eight to 10 bullets he said were fired at the residence went through the bedroom window of a home where his son John Luke Robertson lives with his wife and infant child.
Witnesses told Ouachita Parish deputies that the second residence was also struck by gunfire.
Robertson said many family members have huddled at the estate during the coronavirus pandemic, including his daughter Sadie Robertson and her new husband. The newlywed was a contestant on the reality show “Dancing with the Stars” in 2014.
“Nobody was outside at the time, but everybody had been out about five minutes before,” Willie Robertson said. “I had just gone to the store when it happened.”
Deputies said other occupants were in the car with the suspect during the shooting. They have not released more information about additional suspects.
King was charged with aggravated assault. It was not immediately clear if he had a lawyer who could comment on his behalf.
Willie Robertson is the CEO of Duck Commander, the multimillion-dollar duck call and decoy enterprise that inspired the A&E show, which shone a spotlight on the small north Louisiana town. Despite the controversy over family patriarch Phil Robertson’s comments equating gay people with hell-bound sinners, state officials lauded the show for its importance to tourism.
Chris Matthews Owns Up To ‘Inappropriate Behavior’
Former MSNBC “Hardball” host Chris Matthews has spoken out publicly for the first time since retiring amid sexual-harassment allegations nearly two months ago — and admits he was “inappropriate” and even found his accuser’s story “very credible.”
“I didn’t argue about it, I didn’t deny it,” Matthews told Vanity Fair magazine of journalist Laura Bassett’s claim that she was harassed by the cable TV star.
Bassett wrote in a column for GQ magazine in late February that during one uncomfortable encounter with the married Matthews in 2016, as she was getting ready for an appearance on his show, he “looked over at me in the makeup chair next to him and said, ‘Why haven’t I fallen in love with you yet?’ ”
Matthews abruptly resigned from “Hardball” — after a 20-year run that had recently included other controversial comments — three days later.
At the time, Matthews said of the #MeToo movement, “A lot of it has to do with how we talk to each other, compliments on a woman’s appearance, that some men, including me, might have once incorrectly thought were OK, were never OK. … I’m sorry.”
The former TV host told Vanity Fair, “I accepted the credibility of the complaint in [Bassett’s] article.
“I didn’t want to challenge the person that made the complaint and wrote the article. I thought it was very credible and certainly within the person’s rights to write that article, of course. That was highly justified.
“Basically, as I said, to repeat myself, it’s inappropriate in the workplace to compliment somebody on their appearance, this is in the makeup chair, and I did it.”
As for politics, his speciality as a commentator and show host, Matthews couldn’t resist talking about President Trump’s chances against his Democratic foe, Joe Biden.
“I’d be more surprised [with] a Trump victory than a Biden victory,” Matthews said.
Still, Biden must “prove himself,” the former host said.
“For a while in the primary, I thought all the people wanted was a designated driver, somebody to get us home safely,” he said.
“Now, I think people want a little better than the designated driver. They want to have someone who can command the helm and make the big decisions in the interest of the country.
“It’s going to take a leader. We got to see if Biden’s up to it.”
Dax Shepard Self Surgery
Self-isolating has people turning to their own devices for everything — even surgery.
After recently injuring his arm, Dax Shepard chose to remove pins from his hand while his wife, Kristen Bell, recorded the ordeal.
In the clip, Shepard apparently was on the phone with his doctor as he reached into his cast and removed a clean pin.
“Alright, I’m going to commence the procedure,” Shepard said in the video. “Oh, yep, that feels weird.”
Shepard then removed the full pin from his hand as he cheered and Bell, 39, gasped.
“It’s out,” he told the doctor. “It’s out, there’s no blood spurting anywhere. I’m coming for your job, doctor. I’m going to add pin removal to my resume now.”
As Shepard said, there was no blood from removing the pin, which came out quickly, easily and cleanly.
“Am I the worst patient you’ve ever had?” the actor joked. “I’m texting you nonstop, now I’m pulling pins out you put in.”
Bell shared the video on Friday, writing, “We’re on day ‘I can do my own surgery’ of quarantine,” in the caption.
Jay Cutler Goes Single Again
Reality TV star Kristin Cavallari and former Chicago Bears quarterback Jay Cutler are getting divorced.
Cavallari announced Sunday in an Instagram post that the couple are breaking up after after seven years of marriage and a decade together.
“We have nothing but love and respect for one another and are deeply grateful for the years shared, memories made, and the children we are so proud of,” she wrote in a post accompanied by a photo of the two walking with their arms around each other.
Cutler played 12 seasons in the NFL with Denver, Chicago and Miami. He was with the Bears from 2009-2016.
Cavallari gained fame on the series “Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County,” which debuted in 2004. Her E! Network series “Very Cavallari” following her life and marriage premiered in 2018.
Cavallari and Cutler have three young children — two sons and a daughter.
Adam Schlesinger of Fountains of Wayne performs at the Bonnaroo Music
Adam Schlesinger’s Girlfriend On His Coronavirus Fight
The heartbroken girlfriend of Adam Schlesinger has revealed how she rushed to the hospital in the middle of the night to be with the late composer before he died.
Alexis Morley said she was able to let his parents and two daughters say goodbye on her phone’s Facetime before he passed away aged 52 on April 1 after contracting coronavirus.
Breaking her silence, she posted the final photo of the couple together in upstate New York on March 15 – just days before Schlesinger fell ill.
The picture shows the pair walking in the winter sunshine on ‘Poets’ Walk’ in Red Hook, NY, taken by their friend David Watts, and Morley recalled how that night Schlesinger, who wrote the Oscar-nominated song “That Thing You Do!” for Tom Hanks’ directorial debut – woke at 4am with a high fever.
She wrote: “We spent such a sweet week together, our roles kind of reversed because usually Adam was the one to take care of me. I tried to keep him comfortable, nurse him back to health, as we waited for the fever to break.
“We were sure it would, just like any other crappy flu. But 7 days later things got worse instead of better and I drove him to the hospital. I wasn’t allowed to walk in with him.
“I drove home alone through a snowstorm terrified (the first time I’d driven a car in years), but we spent the night texting, making cute jokes, and feeling optimistic. He kept telling me how much he loved me and thanked me for saving his life. The next morning he was intubated and I never got to hear his voice again.”
The “Fountains of Wayne” band member, who also won Emmys for his work on TV hit “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend”, passed away in Poughkeepsie, NY.
Morley added: “After 10 days of me and his truly incredible family and friend group drawing on every resource possible trying to help, I got a 3am call from the hospital telling me he wasn’t going to make it.
“I asked if there was any way I could see him, and they made special arrangements for me to be allowed into the covid unit. It was a low-lit, grim, heavy place, the medical workers and I all hidden under layers and layers of PPE.”
She said she managed to put him through to his family, and said how: “Adam looked sweet, peaceful, beautiful. I’m so thankful that I got to spend that one last hour with him — and that I was able to connect Sadie & Claire and Bobbi & Steve through my phone’s facetime to say goodbye too. I like to think he could sense us all there, but he was deeply unconscious.”
Morley continued: “Shortly after I arrived back at the house, Jordan, a male nurse who’d been so wonderfully compassionate in the covid unit, called to tell me that Adam had just passed, peacefully, He was holding his hand as it happened. It had been a dark, overcast day, but at that moment the sun came out for just a few minutes and lit up the entire sky. I love you so, so much, Adam.”
Schlesinger’s death was mourned by many in the entertainment industry from Hanks to Rachel Bloom, his frequent collaborator on “Crazy Ex Girlfriend.”
Demi Lovato returns from rehab
Demi Lovato On Returning To Rehab
The singer Demi Lovato is opening up about her time in rehab.
The singer recently participated in a virtual reunion with her “Sonny with a Chance” co-stars from her days on Disney Channel.
Early on in the chat, Allisyn Ashley Arm asked her co-stars what they’ve been up to “since the show,” which ended in 2011.
“I went to rehab,” Lovato said, laughing with her co-stars. “Several times.”
Lovato’s co-stars also praised her performances at the Super Bowl and on the Grammys, both of which served as her return to the spotlight after her near-fatal overdose in 2018.
Later in the reunion, Lovato, 27, opened up about what got her through her time in rehab, noting that co-star Tiffany Thornton was her “biggest inspiration.”
“When I went away to treatment for the first time, you were my biggest inspiration coming out of it because you dealt with all of those pressures of being a woman on TV,” the “Anyone” singer said.
Noting the pressures of her appearance on television, She added: “I looked at that as, ‘God, I wish I had that so bad.’ Yes, I probably was happier in my head with whatever I looked like at the time. But I’m so much happier now with the mentality that you have. I look back and it and I’m like, ‘Man, it’s a shame that we wasted any energy on what we wore on set.’”
Lovato made a return to television earlier this year, appearing in several episodes of “Will & Grace.”
“I went to ‘Will & Grace’ this season, and I literally spent 10 minutes in the wardrobe room,” recalled the pop star. “Now, I’m like… ‘this doesn’t matter. What I’m wearing does not matter.’”
The pressures Lovato felt as a young star led to her being overworked while she also developed an eating disorder, she said.
“I would have people over for meetings on my lunch breaks, because that’s how much I worked. People would come in and I’d be covered in a blanket and people would say, ‘Why is it 80 degrees in here?’ I would be like, ‘Because I’m freezing.’ They would be like, ‘Oh my god, what’s wrong with you?’” Lovato remembered. “I had an eating disorder and I was underweight and freezing.”
“I’m realizing that as I’ve gotten older… when you start off in the industry as a 7-year-old, 8-year-old, you kind of value your self-worth with your success,” said Lovato.
Despite her success, the singer said she occasionally wonders what her life could be like if she stepped out of the spotlight like Thornton, 34, whose final acting role was in 2015.
“I have moments all the time where I’m like, ‘Do I want to continue this?’” Lovato admitted. “Or do I want to pull a Tiffany and move to Texas, have a family and have a farm?”
