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On Tuesday MacKenzie Scott announced the second installment of her charitable donations to 384 organizations who will receive a total of approximately $4.2 billion. Four months ago she gave away $1.7 billion to 116 organizations. She has earlier said that her plan is to donate a major part of her fortune.
According to Bloomberg Billionaires Index Scott is the 18th richest person in the world. The pandemic caused Amazon shares surge to great heights increasing the value of the 25% stock she received, following her divorce with Bezos. Her net worth is $60.7 billion.
“The pandemic has been a wrecking ball in the lives of Americans already struggling,” Scott said in a medium post. She added, “Economic losses and health outcomes alike have been worse for women, for people of color, and for people living in poverty. Meanwhile it has substantially increased the wealth of billionaires.”
Scott also added a list of hundreds of organizations, with a wide diverse portfolio from education, civil rights, advocacy, food banks, women, entrepreneurs etc. who had received donations. The author and philanthropist said that they release funds after doing research as well as accepting suggestions from experts.
She also said, “Because our research is data-driven and rigorous, our giving process can be human and soft.”
In 2019, she had committed to “The Giving Pledge” initiative. Warren Buffet and Bill and Melinda Gates have launched this program, which encourages the richest people in the world to contribute a major part of their fortunes to charitable causes.
Doctors treating COVID-19 patients at New Delhi’s Sir Ganga Ram Hospital have reported that over a dozen of these recovered patients went on to develop a serious fungal infection and five of them lost their lives.
The fungus can lead to various gruesome outcomes, depending on where it might spread in the body. In some cases, the infection could necessitate the removal of the nose and jawbone and can also cause permanent loss of eyesight.
The fungus seems to exploit the immune system’s Cytokine response, which is provoked by the huge doses of steroids used for the treatment of the coronavirus.
“It allows mucormycosis to travel through the nose root to the eyes and brain and, if undetected, it can lead to the death of over 50 percent cases in a matter of days.” Dr. Manish Munjal, Ganga Ram’s senior ENT surgeon told ANI.
Dr. Atul Patel, a leading Indian infectious diseases expert said that 19 cases of mucormycosis recorded in the past three months, among recovered COVID-19 patients, is a significant spike.
“This is 4.5 times higher than the burden reported conventionally before the pandemic,” Patel said.
He added, “This is a serious issue and healthcare providers should be extremely cautious.”
The fungal infection has to be diagnosed immediately, so that clinical intervention can take place and a viable treatment can be put in place.
According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention symptoms include one-sided facial swelling, fever and headaches. Nasal congestion and the appearance of growing black spots inside the mouth or on the nose are other symptoms.
The Ravens versus Browns game was not a game to be missed. Filled with enough action and drama to rival all other games so far. In case you missed it, here’s a recap.
Lamar Jackson went to the lockers to find some relief from cramps, running up a silly twitter storm. While he was doing whatever it was to be done, in the locker room his team lost their lead, facing a crucial fourth down and trailed behind by a point. Trace McSorely, backup quarterback, suffered a leg injury. Jackson was sorely missed, and he trotted back to the filed heroically throwing a 44-yard TD pass to Marquise Brown. With their hero QB back in the team, the Ravens had a 42-35 lead.
But the excitement didn’t end. Baker Mayfield decided to emulate Jackson and became a hero for the Browns. He led his team on a 4-play, 75-yard drive. This ended with a TD pass to Karim Hunt that resulted in a tie.
Unfortunately, he gave Jackson enough and more time to get the Ravens into FG position. Justin Tucker brought home a 55-yarder with seven seconds left before the whistle blew, giving them a 3-point lead.
In the final play of the game, the Browns lateraled the ball a couple of times, till it went out of the back of the end zone. This was ruled a safety. Finally, Ravens were given a 47-42 victory.
Why anyone would make a B&W movie today is beyond me. I have news for them: the past was in color! Would Errol Flynn’s The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938) be a classic today had it not been made in three strip Technicolor? I think not. How about Gone With the Wind (1939)? Four hours of B&W? Even with Clark Gable, it would not stand the test of time.
There is only one type of movie that can make it today in B&W and that would be a noir. That’s not to say you can’t make a noir in color, though. Although there are a few others that try to qualify (neo noirs like 1974’s Chinatown), the best true noir in color is Body Heat (1981).
This is no noir. It’s hard to say what it is, frankly. What it’s supposed to be, I guess, is a story of the writing of the script for Orson Welles’s magnum opus, Citizen Kane (1941). And its purpose is to minimize Welles’s contribution and give credit to Herman Mankiewicz (Gary Oldman). Director David Fincher has made no secret of his disrespect for Orson Welles (Tom Burke).
But the film is no credit for Mank, either, because it pictures him as a drunken, egotistical bore. That might have been true, but this goes overboard to emphasize his constant slurring drunkenness and his boorish behavior. I obviously wasn’t there, but most of the scenes are pretty unbelievable, especially the one set at a San Simeon banquet (of which Fincher made over 100 takes over the period of one week, emotionally exhausting the cast).
As to the decision to go B&W, it’s a shame especially considering the Hearst Castle location. That is something that has to be seen in color to really be appreciated. Without color, it fades into the background when the optics could have been eye-popping in color. (I don’t know if it was shot there or not; if not, it should have been).
As to the authorship of Citizen Kane, in fact, Welles took Mank’s unworkable, unfilmable gargantuan 250-page script and whittled it down to what many believe is a classic. What Mank wrote would never have been a classic without Welles. According to Robert Carringer, author of “The Making of Citizen Kane” (1985), who had access to the full script files at RKO, “The full evidence reveals that Welles’ contribution to the Citizen Kane script was not only substantial but definitive…. Major revisions begin as soon as the script passes into Welles’ hands.”
Director Fincher has done some good work, like The Social Network (2010), The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (2011), and Gone Girl (2014), but he really misses the boat here. In fact, he wanted to make the film in the ‘90s but couldn’t get any studio to produce it if it were not in color (they were right!)
This film itself is almost unwatchable (maybe there was some nepotism involved as the deplorable script is credited to Jack Fincher, David’s father; Jack died in 2003 and the film is just now being made?) Only Netflix was willing to go ahead with a B&W version. It is dark (thanks to the dismal B&W cinematography by Erik Messerschmidt) and Mank is a hateful, obnoxious slobbering drunk. Why would anybody want to watch that for 11 minutes longer than two hours? Not I.
Fincher wanted the film to look as if it had been made in the ‘30s, and he succeeded. It’s boring, grainy, bleached out, and the monaural audio stinks. It might be pseudo avant garde, but considering the quality of films then, this would have had a hard time making it to theaters as a second feature. Netflix.
Tony Medley is an attorney, columnist, and MPAA-accredited film critic whose reviews and articles may be read in several newspapers and at rottentomatoes.com, CWEB.com, Movie Review Query Engine (mrqe.com), and at www.tonymedley.com. His most recent book is “Learn to Play Bridge Like a Boss,” the most complete “all in one” book for beginners and also for advanced players. He is also the author of three books, UCLA Basketball:The Real Story, Sweaty Palms: The Neglected Art of Being Interviewed, the first book ever written on the interview for the interviewee and still in print after more than thirty years, having sold over a half million copies, and The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Bridge, which has sold over 100,000 copies. He is an American Contract Bridge League Silver Life Master and an ACBL accredited director.
Rumors are going round that Apple has plans to release a refreshed version of its Apple TV. A statement from the Nikkei Asia Review has had people speculating whether Apple will come up with its new set-top box in 2021. This news follows that of an unreleased device spotted in an iOS 13.4 beta earlier this year.
Signs of a new Apple TV with an A12 bionic chip were revealed in the iOS 13.4 beta in January 2020 that suggested Apple’s plans for a refreshed model.
YouTube channel Front Page Tech’s host, Jon Prosser suggested that the new ‌Apple TV‌ would be equipped with an A12X Bionic chip. On the other hand, there is another rumor of the use an A14 chip, the same one that Apple uses in the iPhone 12 line-up.
In March, there were reports on Apple’s plans to introduce a new screen that would allow users to view all the installed apps in a list in iOS 14, and several other sorting options.
Not much about the new ‌Apple TV‌ is known yet, beyond news of possible remote changes, updated processor storage capacities, and a “T1125” codename. Prosser indicated that it could include a U1 chip that enables Ultra Wideband support for the delivery of improved spatial awareness between devices.
Based on recent rumors, there is a possibility that Apple is working on multiple ‌Apple TV‌ set-top boxes which could possibly clarify the discrepancy.
However, Apple is yet to update its current version of ‌Apple TV‌ 4K since September 2017. This could probably be a wait-and-watch game!
On Monday Xavier Becerra, Attorney General for the state of California asked the court to force Amazon to give information concerning his investigations on the proper compliance of the e-commerce giant with COVID-19 restrictions applied by the state.
Although the Democratic Attorney General had asked for information in May, Amazon failed to provide information.
“It has been nearly six months since the attorney general’s initial request to Amazon for information regarding its COVID-19-related data, policies, practices, and procedures for its California facilities and workers. The slow drip of information from Amazon is an insufficient response,” the lawsuit reads. “Absent the requested data, the attorney general is unable to adequately determine if Amazon is complying with applicable California law.”
Becerra said that he had learnt more about Amazon’s practices from press releases and media reports rather than from the company itself.
“Amazon has made billions during this pandemic relying on the labor of essential workers,” Becerra said in a statement. “It is critical to know if these workers are receiving the protections on the job that they are entitled to under the law.”“Time is of the essence,” he said.
In October Amazon said that almost 20,000 of its workers contacted coronavirus between March and mid-September. The company has received criticism from advocacy groups as well as its workers about its treatment of workers and benefits offered to them. Warehouses offer “unique and potentially dangerous conditions” to work in, especially during the pandemic.
Jeffrey Epstein’s former girlfriend, through her lawyers urged to be freed from her wait for trial proposing a $28.5 million bail package. The package would include armed guards for safety and guarantee she would remain in New York City.
On Monday, Maxwell’s deposition was unsealed and publicly released with redactions in Manhattan federal court approved by Judge Alison J. Nathan. Numerous letters from family and friends poured in for her support after the bail arguments were made public. The letters say that in December 2019, Maxwell secluded herself at her home in New Hampshire because she faced death threats and was worried that the media would find her.
The arguments were supported by numerous letters from family and friends who insisted that Maxwell sought seclusion in a New Hampshire home after receiving death threats and worrying that the public and media would find her at a home where she lived with her husband.
Maxwell attempted for bail after her arrest in July, but was denied. Her lawyers revealed that Maxwell and her spouse were offering a bail package that consists of a $22.5 million personal recognizance bond which is secured by $8 million in property, including their three homes and $500,000 in cash.
Maxwell, 58, was arrested on charges that in the mid-1990s she had engaged three teenage girls for Epstein to abuse. Epstein died in a federal Manhattan lockup in August 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges. His death was a suicide.
Maxwell lawyers also said that seven close friends and family members were willing to pledge about $5 million of their own assets for the bail package. However, their identities were not revealed.
“Ms. Maxwell vehemently maintains her innocence and is committed to defending herself,” the lawyers wrote. “She wants nothing more than to remain in this country to fight the allegations against her, which are based on the uncorroborated testimony of a handful of witnesses about events that took place over 25 years ago.”
The lawyers included a letter from Maxwell’s spouse to support the bail request. The letter emphasizes that Maxwell was forced hide from the public and her family because of “the intense media frenzy and threats following the arrest and death of Jeffrey Epstein.”
Another letter from an individual states, “Her love for her husband was a principal reason that she stayed close by as possible while fighting for her innocence.”
“I can attest that when she moved, it was always and only due to fear of being discovered by the press or ‘vigilantes’ – the fear was palpable,” the unidentified individual wrote. “The only reason that she was forced to find quiet places to be in all this time, is due to the howling ‘mobs’ screaming for her ‘scalp’ on Twitter and other social media outlets.”
The individual added: “She has never hid from the authorities and is frustrated that she never had the opportunity to talk to them personally to counteract all the lies pouring out in the media.”
On Tuesday, stock trading was higher amidst speculations of Congress’s continued negotiations on an additional package for economic relief and vaccines for Covid-19 commenced to roll out across the country.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up by 0.3% or 100 points, the S&P 500 was higher by 0.6%, and the Nasdaq Composite advanced 0.7%.
The Dow climbed 3.5% after Nikkei reported Apple’s plans to increase iPhone production by 30% in the first half of the coming year. Tech and energy stock performed the best in the S&P 500, gaining 1.2% each.
The latest proposal for another round of economic relief was released by lawmakers on Monday evening. It has split a previous bipartisan proposal into two sections.
In this fresh plan, a spending of $748 billion is planned for, which includes federal unemployment benefits of $300 per week and another $300 billion for additional loans under the Paycheck Protection Program.
A second plan of a $160 billion bill would take in the more controversial areas of business liability protections as well s financial assistance to state and local governments.
Pelosi spokesman Drew Hammill tweeted that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin has discussed the stimulus proposal and the expanded government funding negotiation. The pair “discussed the urgency of the committees finishing their work as soon as possible,” Hammill said.
Pelosi spokesman Drew Hammill has tweeted a stimulus deal proposal push which comes as investors and Americans are seen grappling with a low near-term outlook, with possible economic growth prospects only in 2021, at the end of the pandemic.
The first round of vaccine shots by Pfizer and BioNTech were administered in the country on Monday. However, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio has warned residents that a full shutdown could be round the corner protect city hospitals after 300,000 deaths recorded from Covid-19, reports from Johns Hopkins University data say.
Chief economist at Wilmington Trust, Luke Tilley said that another stimulus package was required to prevent the economic recovery from coming to a standstill before the vaccine can be distributed.
“With the continued rising cases and mass vaccinations still a ways out, we could see some further weakness in jobs and even a flattening where we’re not even adding jobs at all … that’s absolutely a possibility for this next jobs report,” Tilley said. “And if we were to not get another stimulus package, you’re going to have 10 to 11 million people fall off the unemployment rolls right away, and that would hit spending as well.”
The Food and Drug Administration revealed that Moderna’s coronavirus vaccine has met the requirements for an emergency use. If the FDA flashes its green light, the vaccine will become the second to be approved for use in the country. Shares of Moderna dipped 3.4%.
In futures, the Nasdaq Composite and the small-cap Russell 2000 advanced while the S&P 500 and Dow fell. S&P 500 decline 0.4%, its fourth-straight negative day.
Despite S&P 500 and Dow’s recent weakness, the three major indexes are trading at record highs. Chief investment strategist at wealth advisory firm Waddell and Associates, David Waddell, said that this could be a typically a bullish seasonal trend for stocks.
“We may have already gotten a little bit of a Santa Claus rally,” Waddell said. “So normally the markets would accelerate from here into year-end, and they may again, but the run has been such a strong one, I wouldn’t be surprised, and actually I’d rather, if the market consolidated its gains a little bit.”
As the coronavirus is spreading across the UK especially in London and a few other counties, the British government announced on Monday that the city and its surroundings would move to Tier 3 – a “very high” level of alert.
Tier 3 restrictions are in force from Wednesday, December 16, precisely from 00:01 a.m. All 32 boroughs in London, the City of London, Essex and Hertfordshire are under these restrictions.
Pubs, cafes and restaurants will remain closed, but takeout and delivery services are allowed. Entertainment venues including cinemas and theaters will remain shut. Some outdoor sports including golf and tennis are allowed with restrictions.
Accommodation including hotels, holiday lets, guest houses and B&Bs (Bed and Breakfast) will remain closed with few restrictions.
There are no legal restrictions on domestic and international travel though it’s not recommended. The Housing market will stay open in all three tiers.
The government said in a statement on Monday: “The London weekly case rate at 225 per 100,000 is already the highest regional rate in the country.”
Different restrictions are in place nationwide. On Monday, an additional 20,263 cases were reported in the UK with 232 deaths as per data released by the government.
A five-day relaxation period is still on the cards for Christmas from December 23 to 27, with limited “mixing” but scientists and two medical journals want the relaxation to be cancelled as the infection rate is already remarkably high. No official decision has been taken as yet. The UK has started vaccinating its vulnerable population.
Takahiro Shiraishi, a thirty-year-old Japanese male, was sentenced to death by the Japanese court for killing eight women he had stalked over Twitter and then murdered. He was arrested in 2017, after complaints from his brother. The police found parts of dead bodies stored in Shiraishi’s freezer and other containers, reports say.
According to reports, the “Twitter Killer” used the social media platform to supposedly help women who were emotionally stressed and wanted to commit suicide. He claimed he would help then in the suicide, call them over to his apartment and then murder them. He would store parts of the death body in various places in his apartment. He killed eight women and a man before he was arrested.
He was found guilty by the Tokyo District Court for the murder of eight women and one man. Shiraishi was also accused of robbery and sexual assault of the women he murdered. Some of the women murdered were underage.
Through Twitter, Shiraishi lured those women who shared on social media that they wanted to commit suicide. Under the pretext of helping them, he called them to his apartment to help them in the suicide. However, when the woman reached his apartment, she would be strangled to death and sometime sexually assaulted too. Shiraishi would then dismember the body and store the parts throughout his apartment.
Shiraishi also murdered a man to cover up the killing of his first victim.
This shocking news prompted Twitter to roll out fresh rules against suicide promotion or encouragement and social harm. The Japanese government has expanded its suicide support efforts on telephone and online channels.
In his trial, Shiraishi’s defense team alleged that he deserved a lesser sentence because he assisted victims who wanted to die committing suicide. However, Shiraishi said during the trial, “It was easier for me to convince people with worries and other issues and manipulate them to my way of thinking.”
The date of the execution is being kept a secret and Shiraishi will only be informed in the morning of his execution.
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