Ferrari recently unveiled the Portofino M in an online-only event that was a first for the Italian automaker and a requirement of the coronavirus pandemic.
The Portofino M is the latest iteration of Ferrari's entry-level GT car — the "M" stands for Modificata.
The new Portofino enjoys a notable bump up in the output from its twin-turbocharged V8 engine: 612 horsepower, from 591.
There's also a new drive mode — Race — and a new eight-speed gearbox coming to the drop-top Prancing Horse, whose design has been just slightly tweaked.
Ferrari took the unprecedented step of revealing its Portofino M entirely online last week, a consequence of the global coronavirus pandemic tamping down some of the usual autumn hooplas around new vehicles.
Undaunted, Ferrari said that circumstances meant the Portofino M would symbolize rediscovery for Maranello. And while the Portofino M isn't a radical departure for the Prancing Horse, the entry-level, grand-touring convertible has been upgraded in some notable areas.
Ferrari Portofino M.
Ferrari
The big one is a bump up in horsepower for the 3.9-liter, twin-turbocharged V8, to 612 horsepower from 591 horsepower.
The M-for-modificata (meaning "modified") action continues with a new eight-speed gearbox and the additional of Race mode to the famous manettino on the steering wheel. Ferrari said in a statement that this is a first for one of its GT car, and the addition is intended to provide owners with maximum driving excitement.
The eight-speed is notable because Ferrari said it enhances fuel economy, and the Italian automaker has been busy positioning its lineup to be better able to deal with future regulations that might challenge the brand's embrace of horsepower — and its disregard for how much fill-ups are costing owners, or for whether the company is future-proofing its machines against global warming.
Ferrari Portofino M.
Ferrari
Design-wise, Ferrari said the grille had been reworked and a new set of vents had been added to the Portofino M's flanks, extending back from the front wheel arches.
Ferrari also stressed that the retractable hardtop means the Portofino M can live a dual life as a convertible and a coupé.
Ferrari Portofino M.
Ferrari
Inside, the Portofino M expresses all the luxury you'd expect from a car whose price tag should tip past $200,000 when it goes on sale in Europe and the US next year.
But it also continues Ferrari's endorsement of modern technology, most obviously in the 10.3-inch infotainment screen mounted in the middle of the center stack. There are smaller screens on either side of the instrument cluster's large tachometer.
But Ferrari designers were careful to preserve a sense of openness in the Portofino M's cockpit, and the dashboard has been organized as a multi-level affair. In proper Ferrari fashion, the overall number of buttons and knobs have been kept to a minimum.
Highlighting innovation for the Portofino M's unveiling, Ferrari seems to be setting up the world for some big new things as it heads toward the launch of its first SUV in the coming years, as well as a possible all-electric supercar.
Jennifer Risher is an author who previously worked as a recruiter and product manager at Microsoft. The following an excerpt from her new book, "We Need to Talk: A Memoir About Wealth."
In it, she shares her rapid journey to wealth in her early 30's during the dot-com boom, and how abundance impacted her and others in similar circumstances.
When income inequality is pervasive and our economic system is in shambles, her introspective look demystifies the ultra-wealthy and uncovers the effects of money on identity, relationships, and belonging.
With nearly 40 million Americans living in poverty, she recognizes the profound privileges of being wealthy and believes there needs to be systemic changes to redistribute wealth across food, housing, healthcare, and education.
The wealthy are more diverse and ordinary than most people see or believe. Eight out of 10 of us grew up middle-class or poor, only one in 10 inherited money, and most aren't living in Hollywood or working on Wall Street. We are hidden in plain sight, doing our grocery shopping, driving kids in carpool, and taking the subway to the office. We want to make a difference at our jobs and spend quality time with family and friends — and our numbers are growing.
"We Need to Talk: A Memoir About Wealth," by Jennifer Risher
Courtesy of Red Hen Press
Even with the dot-com crash in 2001 and the housing crisis and recession of 2008, wealth at the top of the economic ladder has continued to explode.
At the end of 2016, not counting primary residence, 11 million US households were worth $1 million, with over a million worth $5 million or more. When I reached out to people whose circumstances were like my own and asked to interview them for this book, most told me they never discussed money but were interested in talking as long as they could remain anonymous.
In the pages that follow, you will meet Mary, who earns a high salary and has inherited wealth.
"I'll always work. I'll never have enough. I get a lot out of my job," she said. Then, after a few minutes, she added, "I'm not sure my self-esteem is up to not having a job. My identity depends on my position and success."
You will meet Laurie, who feels judged by her siblings because of the success of her husband's business. "Maybe it's my issue, but I get stressed about birthday gifts," she said. "My sisters seem to expect something big. I never know what to do. Their expectations make me feel as though a nice new shirt isn't good enough."
You'll hear from Betsy, who worked in finance, taught her children the importance of staying within a budget, yet has been dismayed by how much they overspend, going out to eat and having food delivered.
"It's a problem. I'm not sure what to do," she said. "My husband and I try to set limits, but the limits are artificial — and our kids know it."
When her oldest moved back home for a month, and ended up staying for six, Betsy wasn't happy with the situation. She and her husband could afford to rent him an apartment but wanted him to learn to live within his own means.
"I've started charging him rent," Betsy said. "It's backfiring. He owes me money. But he knows the situation is contrived. What am I going to do? Kick him out?"
You'll meet Nicole, a corporate real estate developer who has children in high school and college, but still pays for a full-time nanny.
"She's been with us for 21 years," Nicole said. "I don't need her anymore, but I can't bring myself to cut down her hours. She needs the job."
You'll meet others as well, but mostly you will get to know me.
After growing up with middle-class values, saving my pennies, and being wary of the rich, I was embarrassed to join their ranks. My identity and place in the world were at stake. It took many years to get comfortable. Over the last decades, I've had a friend ask for $25,000, and another tell me she almost didn't invite our family to join hers to see a Cirque du Soleil show, concerned we'd only want seats they couldn't afford. I've worried about our children lacking motivation, discovered philanthropy isn't as straightforward as just writing a check, and grappled with the meaning of "enough" — not life or death issues, but real when living with them day to day.
Now in my fifties, I am profoundly grateful for the abundance in my life.
Money has afforded me incredible freedom and allowed for extravagance and generosity. Our family has lived abroad and traveled the world, shared with relatives and friends, and donated amounts large and small. But there is a huge and growing problem in our country. It doesn't feel right that some people have more money than they can spend in a lifetime while nearly 40 million Americans are living in poverty. I should pay more taxes. Minimum wage should be higher. I'd like to see the government prioritize human well-being over financial gain and put a system in place that helps redistribute the wealth at the top to ensure food, education, healthcare, and housing for all.
I'm not an economist or a politician.
I'm not some poor little rich girl either. Nor is my story a prescriptive account of how to do "rich" right. I don't have all the answers. I began writing because wealth surprised me. I wanted to reveal money for what it is and what it's not. I continued writing because everyone's voice adds to our country's conversation and hearing other people's stories helps us understand our own. In the end, I hope this book becomes a catalyst for conversation. Talking about money and how it makes us feel could help demystify wealth.
We have a lot to learn from one another. More importantly, by talking, we could break down divides and confirm we are all 99% the same.
This excerpt is from "We Need to Talk: A Memoir About Wealth" by Jennifer Risher (Red Hen Press 2020). Reprinted with permission from the publisher.
Jen Risher.
Kelly Vorves
Jennifer Risher was born in Seattle, Washington, grew up in Oregon, and graduated from Connecticut College. She joined Microsoft in 1991 where she worked as a recruiter and then as a product manager. She and her husband, David, have two daughters and live in San Francisco, where David is CEO of Worldreader, a nonprofit he cofounded with a mission to create a world where everyone is a reader. On May 5, 2020, Jennifer and David launched #HalfMyDAF to inspire more charitable giving. "We Need to Talk" is Jennifer's first book. Learn more at http://jenniferrisher.com/
It offers a large, vibrant tablet-sized screen that can now stay propped open halfway, offering more viewing angles than its predecessor.
It's also said to be more durable than the original Galaxy Fold, which broke for some reviewers after just two days of use.
But, at $1,999.99, the Galaxy Z Fold 2 is still too expensive for the benefits it provides, and it still feels awkward to use in phone mode given its size and thickness.
Samsung may have just launched its first foldable smartphone last September, but it's already on its fourth model.
The Galaxy Z Fold 2, which launched on September 18 for $1,999.99, represents the culmination of Samsung's efforts so far. It's a design that largely maintains the same look as its troubled predecessor, but with some of the flourishes of its more compact Galaxy Z Flip.
At twice the price of a premium smartphone, it's hard to recommend that anyone actually buy the Galaxy Z Fold 2. But, if you do, you likely won't be disappointed — and that's not something I could have said about the original Galaxy Fold or Microsoft's Surface Duo.
The Galaxy Z Fold 2, as expensive as it is, doesn't ask you to make too many sacrifices to get the benefits of having a tablet and a smartphone in one device.
But, of course, it's not perfect. The device's biggest drawback, other than its price, is that it can still feel awkward as a smartphone replacement.
As I wrote when I reviewed the Microsoft Surface Duo, devices that seek to replace your smartphone and your tablet need to provide an equally good alternative to both. Samsung's Galaxy Z Fold 2 does that better than its predecessor and Microsoft's Surface Duo, but still takes some getting used to.
Here's a longer look at what it's been like to use the Galaxy Z Fold 2.
Table of Contents: Static
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 2 specifications
Display size and resolution: 7.6 inches with 2,208 x 1,768 resolution (Main screen); 6.2 inches with 2,260 x 816 resolution (Cover screen)
Processor: Qualcomm Snapdragon 865+
Main cameras: 12-megapixel ultra-wide, 12-megapixel wide-angle camera, 12-megapixel telephoto camera
Front camera: 10-megapixel
Cover camera: 10-megapixel
Battery capacity: 4,500 mAh dual battery
Memory: 12GB of RAM
Storage: 256GB or 512GB
Biometric authentication: Fingerprint sensor and facial recognition
The Galaxy Z Fold 2's design is similar to that of the original Fold, but with many improvements. Among the biggest of those upgrades is its more flexible and reinforced hinge.
Samsung had to delay the original Galaxy Fold's launch after a small number of reviewers found that their device broke after just two days of use. In some cases, damage was caused by debris entering the hinge, while in other cases users accidentally removed a protective layer from the screen.
Samsung seemingly made improvements on both accounts. The company has implemented a new vacuum-inspired sweeper hinge to keep debris out. Upon unboxing the device, I also noticed that there was a label clearly informing users not to remove the phone's screen protector film and providing other tips for maintaining the device.
There's no IP rating on the Galaxy Z Fold 2, however, so be careful not to drop it in the sink.
From the back, the Galaxy Z Fold 2 looks similar to the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra: it comes in the same Mystic Bronze color as the Note 20 Ultra and has a similar-looking triple camera module.
The Galaxy Z Fold 2 feels sleek and light as a tablet; when opened, it measures just 6.9 millimeters thin, making it only slightly thicker than the 6.1-millimeter iPad Air. Its roomy 7.6-inch screen also feels much more immersive now that Samsung has gotten rid of the notch in favor of its hole punch-shaped camera cutout, which has become a staple of its other devices as well.
But, when closed, it feels a bit thick and clunky. The Galaxy Z Fold 2 essentially looks like two smartphones stacked on top of one another when shut. It's a bit cumbersome, but not unwieldy; it's still compact enough to use with one hand or take a quick photo. That gives it an advantage over the Surface Duo, which felt too wide to use comfortably in phone mode unless I was gripping it with both hands.
The Galaxy Z Fold also gained another major upgrade compared to its predecessor: its larger cover screen. The front screen on the new Galaxy Z Fold measures 6.2 inches, making it the same size as the Galaxy S20. That's a big improvement from the original Galaxy Fold's minuscule 4.6-inch display, which felt too cramped to use for anything other than checking the time.
I often find myself using the Galaxy Z Fold 2's cover screen when I want to send a quick text message or briefly check my email. While I appreciate the increase in size, the cover screen is still much skinnier than that of your average smartphone, so it still feels a little small to type on.
As to be expected from a device that's mostly screen, the Galaxy Z Fold 2's inner display resolution of 2,208 x 1,768 pixels boasts rich colors, sharp detail, and deep contrast. Although the crease is noticeable, it feels much more subtle on the Galaxy Z Fold 2 compared to the original Galaxy Fold.
The Galaxy Z Fold 2's tablet-sized display wouldn't be of much use if apps weren't optimized to take advantage of it.
Like the original Fold, the Galaxy Z Fold 2 is capable of running up to three apps on screen at a time. Apps can be dragged-and-dropped in place on screen, and you can also pair two apps together so that they launch simultaneously — a feature Microsoft's Surface Duo also offers.
But, I am often more impressed with the way the Galaxy Z Fold 2 performs when running single apps. The Galaxy Z Fold's gigantic screen is perfect for times when you simply want a larger screen for watching Netflix, reading an important work email, or catching up on the news.
That's much more valuable to me than cramming two apps alongside one another, although the ability to do so is certainly a useful perk. The crease in the middle of the display is also far less noticeable than it was on the original Fold, making it even more useful as a tablet.
That's another benefit that the Galaxy Z Fold 2 offers over the Surface Duo. Microsoft's foldable phones consist of two separate screens, not one screen that folds, so using it as a tablet can be difficult.
The Galaxy Z Fold 2 also inherits one of the Galaxy Z Flip's best features: Flex Mode. This enables apps to reorient properly to fit the screen when your phone is propped open halfway. The best use case for this in my experience has been the camera app.
When in Flex mode, the Galaxy Z Fold 2 displays the camera's viewfinder on the top half of the screen and the camera controls on the bottom. That makes it easy to use your phone as a tripod without requiring any accessories. Flex Mode also works with YouTube, as shown in the image above.
The Galaxy Z Fold 2 has a triple-camera setup that consists of a 12-megapixel ultra-wide camera, a 12-megapixel standard camera, and a 12-megapixel telephoto camera. There's also a 10-megapixel selfie camera on the cover display, and another 10-megapixel camera near the top of the screen upon opening the device.
That means the experience of capturing photo and video on the Galaxy Z Fold 2 doesn't feel much different than snapping pictures on a regular smartphone. The Surface Duo, by comparison, requires that you fold the displays all the way back and physically turn the phone around to snap photos.
The Galaxy Z Fold also has the camera quality you'd expect from a high-end smartphone, unlike the Surface Duo which took images that looked less sharp with poorer lighting by comparison.
The quality of the images taken on the Galaxy Z Fold 2 were on par with those shot on the iPhone 11 Pro, offering crisp detail and rich colors. The iPhone, however, was better at taking photos in low-light environments.
The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 2 offers plenty of battery life to get you through a full day. After using it for about 10 hours throughout the work day, the Galaxy Z Fold 2 had 66% of its battery left.
It's important to remember that battery life will always vary depending on how you use your device. During my time with the Galaxy Z Fold 2, I've been primarily using it for checking email, reading the news, streaming Netflix, and listening to music.
One of the unexpected benefits of the Galaxy Z Fold 2's large size is its booming speakers. The Galaxy Z Fold 2's speakers are louder than that of any phone I've heard in recent memory, and make the iPhone 11 Pro Max's speakers sound shallow and less crisp in comparison. That's important for a device like the Galaxy Z Fold 2, which was likely designed with entertainment in mind.
The Galaxy Z Fold 2 is one of the most promising foldable phone's we've seen yet. It improves on the original in important ways, particularly when it comes to durability and the size of its cover display.
But, at $1,999.99, the Galaxy Z Fold 2 is a luxury device. It's twice as expensive as high-end phones like the $1,000 Galaxy S20 and iPhone 11 Pro. And, the fact that Samsung is on its fourth foldable device in a year should be enough to give anyone a little pause before committing.
The Galaxy Z Fold 2 doesn't ask you to make any big compromises to get the benefits of a 2-in-1 device, like the Surface Duo does. But, its unconventional size still takes some getting used to when it comes to replacing your phone. It also doesn't have an IP rating, meaning its not as durable when it comes to water and dust resistance compared to less expensive traditional smartphones.
Regardless, the Galaxy Z Fold 2 convinced me that foldable phones can offer a lot of benefits for those who want a larger screen in a mobile device. But, for now, it's probably more cost effective and practical to just buy a tablet in addition to your smartphone.
Pros: Vibrant, tablet-sized screen; Good camera; Long battery life; Excellent speakers
Cons: Twice as expensive as regular high-end phones; No IP rating for water and dust resistance; Design can make it feel awkward in phone mode
You can avoid spending more if you maintain frugal habits.
Westend 61/Getty Images
When the pandemic shuttered businesses everywhere, people were forced to reevaluate their spending habits and stick to a tighter budget.
Now as the economy gradually reopens, it's more critical than ever to be intentional about maintaining those frugal habits to keep your finances in check.
Determine how, where, and why you want to spend money, and allow yourself to enjoy things that you believe are worthwhile purchases.
COVID-19 prompted a budget vibe check for millions of us. "During the pandemic, people were forced to reckon with the questions: What is really a necessity? What really matters? What do I need to spend my money on?" said Jesse Mecham, CEO and founder of You Need A Budget. "I wouldn't want people to lose that clarity."
We don't want you to lose that clarity, either.
When it comes to best budgeting practices moving forward, Mecham advises asking yourself: When everything was shut down, how was it? "A lot of people had an eye-opening experience. For example, maybe they enjoyed cooking more than they thought. Learning took place, and people realized their money could go further than they thought."
How you may have saved
The pandemic forced millions of us to eat at home more than we'd been accustomed to, which requires groceries.
"Because food shopping was inconvenient and unsafe, nobody wanted to be in stores for long. So we were forced to be more mindful, efficient, and intentional about food shopping," said Tiffany Aliche, financial educator and founder of The Budgetnista. "We had to say, 'Here's my list, I'm going in and out.'"
Aliche explained, "Most people overspend when they go food shopping because they often buy things they had no intention of buying. Sometimes you go without any clear intention and find yourself roaming from aisle to aisle, getting things you don't necessarily need."
But if you know you're not going back to the supermarket for a month, you focus on buying larger quantities of what you for sure need. This makes you more mindful of your budget.
Another area in which you may have saved and can continue to is beauty and grooming. Salons were closed, so perhaps you learned how to cut or dye your own hair. You may not always have money to spend on things like salon care, but once you learn these skills (the University of Youtube is a great place to go), it's not like you unlearn them.
"Learning how to do your own basic grooming so you look neat is something we all need to know how to do, and it's a great place to save money," said Aliche.
People also saved on entertainment. "We learned to have fun at home because we couldn't go outside," explained Aliche. "It really showed us that there are a lot of fun things that cost minimal or zero money that you can do at home whenever you want. That was a money-saving tool I will continue to use."
Maybe you and your family grew fond of having movie or game nights. Let the realization stick that fun doesn't have to cost money.
Our savings rate is at an all time high of 33%. "Everyone proved to themselves that they can save money, that they are capable of living on less. I hope they take that to heart and say 'Look at me… that was pretty amazing," said Mecham.
So you've been saving. Pat yourself on the back! But how can you maintain these delightfully frugal habits now that the world is opening up and you may be inclined to spend more? The simple answer is intentionality.
Continuing to save
According to Mecham, the message to send yourself isn't don't spend, rather it's asking yourself how and where you do want to spend. "Be really clear on what you DO want to spend your money on. How much do you want to spend and why? Go after that versus shaming yourself for what you think you're not supposed to do." If you love it, spend money on it, he said.
It's possible you will eat out more — now that you can — because you love it, but you can and should still remember how you survived without it.
Ask yourself: What was I doing — that worked and allowed me to save — that I can keep doing.
Commit to being as intentional about food shopping as the pandemic forced you to be. Still make that shopping list, stick to it, and refrain from dawdling in-store.
Continue practicing those DIY beauty skills you honed during quarantine.
And even if you're now having more fun outside the home, you can still dedicate one or two weekends a month for strictly freebie fun, recommends Aliche. Create a schedule for yourself and ask, what things are we going to do this weekend for, say, $10 or less?
"The bright side of learning habits is that maybe you don't employ them all the time, but they won't be forgotten and can be activated when need be," noted Aliche.
It's really about choosing to integrate pandemic takeaways into your (not quite) post-pandemic life. "You don't know until you know, and you have that realization: Wait, I do spend too much on that, I could be saving more," said Aliche. "In order to maintain the habits, you have to be intentional."
There have been nearly 200,000 COVID-19 related deaths in the US.
Because of distancing and quarantines, it's going to be more difficult for people to get flu vaccines.
The combination of both viruses could lead to terrible results.
Beth R. Smolko, DMSc, PA-C, is the founding program director and current department chair for Frostburg State University’s PA Medicine Program in rural western Maryland.
This is an opinion column. The thoughts expressed are those of the author.
Counting the cost of COVID-19 will take years, possibly decades. But the aftershocks of the pandemic are coming sooner.
These second-order effects will be first felt by our children in the re-emergence of vaccine-preventable diseases and vulnerable adults who have abandoned preventive health maintenance and chronic care management.
As flu season starts to come into focus, worries over visiting medical offices to get the annual vaccine could exacerbate our medical emergency — leading to a perfect storm that could leave many more Americans sick.
COVID-19 is only going to complicate flu season
I know firsthand the toll that a bad flu season can take on our already strained healthcare system. As a physician assistant, or PA, I've provided care to patients where there is little buffer between the patient and the onslaught of disease. This year we are facing catastrophic conditions for our healthcare system.
When patients believe they have the flu, they often go to an urgent care clinic or to their primary care provider's office. Some patients, with mild to moderate symptoms, can recover at home while others require emergent treatment.
This fall – similar to the spring when we first experienced staggering death tolls from COVID-19 – we will have two deadly diseases, influenza and COVID-19, infecting the population. Last spring there was a difference though; many people had gotten their annual flu vaccine in the months prior to the onset of COVID.
I know, all too well, the impact COVID-19 has on the body. I was diagnosed with the virus in March. I had headaches, muscle tension, difficulty breathing, and fevers that climbed to 106 degrees. I went to an urgent care clinic and eventually, the emergency room. I was one of the fortunate patients who did not require a ventilator and was not admitted to the hospital for care and treatment. With access to quality care via telemedicine, I continue to recover at home with lingering fevers, headaches, cough, and shortness of breath.
As both a patient and as a healthcare provider, I feel compelled to highlight the absolute necessity for everyone to get an influenza vaccine this year. It may well represent the difference between life or death for you and others. Vaccines are crucial to protecting public health. Unfortunately, due to COVID-19, we know many people are skipping or delaying them.
A combination of lockdowns, social distancing, and extreme caution have led to a sharp decline in vaccinations rates across the country during this pandemic. Many patients have chosen to stay home and skip medical appointments because they are cautious and concerned about exposure to the virus. They missed necessary appointments for themselves, their children, and new babies – who are particularly vulnerable -- in the hopes of staying safe.
The decline in rates of childhood immunizations is particularly troubling. New York City, which was overwhelmed by the coronavirus in March and April, reported that in the two months following the shutdown, vaccinations for children older than two declined by 91%. In August, a national study by Orlando Health found that two in three parents are afraid to take their children in for routine vaccinations – even though 84% of those parents say they know vaccines are necessary to protect their children from a host of diseases.
As the flu season overlaps with COVID-19, the disruption to the usual distribution methods for the flu vaccine are a major cause for concern. During a normal flu season, universities and offices hold flu shot clinics; providers talk to their patients about the vaccine at wellness visits; and pharmacies offer quick and easy walk-up flu shots.
Because of COVID-19, there will be fewer convenient options for patients to get their flu shots as people's everyday routines and behaviors have changed. We are all simply staying away from places where flu vaccines are routinely organized, advertised, or administered.
During the 2018-2019 flu season, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, influenza caused an estimated 43 million symptomatic illnesses and 650,000 hospitalizations. Preventing hospitalizations this year is particularly important to help make sure that as many beds as possible are available for patients with severe illness. Plus, fewer cases of the flu will help to take some strain off an already overworked and exhausted healthcare workforce.
Now more than ever, vaccines are essential. Americans must hold the line against vaccine-preventable disease. Our healthcare system cannot afford an outbreak of measles, mumps, rubella, polio, hepatitis, tetanus, diphtheria, pertussis, meningitis or a worse-than-usual flu season on top of a pandemic, especially as many children will be heading back to school in the coming months.
The healthcare workforce has felt and deeply appreciated all the expressions of support for frontline healthcare workers. Beyond gratitude though, we need you to help prevent the spread of disease. On behalf of my PA colleagues and healthcare workers across the country, please ensure that you are getting the vaccines you and your family need to stay well.
Beth R. Smolko, DMSc, MMS, PA-C is the president and chair of the American Academy of PAs Board of Directors. She is the founding Program Director and Department Chair for Frostburg State University's PA Medicine Program in Maryland.
Bill Gates speaks to "Fox News Sunday" anchor Chris Wallace in a Fox News interview that will air on September 20, 2020.
Fox News
Microsoft founder Bill Gates said that the government's travel ban earlier this year may have made the coronavirus outbreak in the US worse.
Speaking to Fox News in an interview that will be aired on Sunday, the billionaire said that the ban made thousands of people rush back into the country from overseas.
Those people returned to a lack of safety measures like testing and quarantines, helping the virus to spread, Gates said.
"We created this rush, and we didn't have the ability to test or quarantine those people," Gates told "Fox News Sunday" anchor Chris Wallace.
Microsoft founder Bill Gates said the travel ban implemented by President Trump earlier this year may have accelerated the spread of the coronavirus in the US.
Speaking to Fox News in an interview that will be aired on Sunday, Gates said that the ban made thousands of people rush back into the country, but a lack of safety measures upon their return caused the virus to continue spreading.
"And so that seeded the disease here. You know, the ban probably accelerated that, the way it was executed."
"March saw this incredible explosion — the West Coast coming from China and then the East Coast coming out of Europe, and so, even though we'd seen China and we'd seen Europe, that testing capacity and clear message of how to behave wasn't there," Gates added, according to Fox News.
This is not the first time Gates has been critical of the government's handling of the pandemic.
Speaking to Insider's Hilary Brueck, Gates also said that the coronavirus testing system is "worthless" and that it would be the first thing he'd fix if he were in charge.
In an interview with CBS News in July, Gates said that "serious mistakes were made" in how the virus was handled, adding that reopenings and mask compliance were two of the main issues.
"We actually had criteria for opening up that said you had to have cases declining and we opened up with cases increasing," Gates said, according to CBS News.
"We somehow got masks as this politicized thing ... and some like, harbinger of freedom, that just covering your mouth was awful."
The director-general of Russian space corporation Roscosmos claimed this week that Venus is a "Russian planet."
"Resuming Venus exploration is on our agenda. We think that Venus is a Russian planet, so we shouldn't lag behind," Dmitry Rogozin told reporters on Tuesday.
Rogozin also revealed the country's plans to send its own mission to Venus, on top of an already-proposed joint venture with the United States called "Venera-D."
The head of the Russian space agency has staked the country's claim on Venus, saying this week that it is a "Russian planet."
Dmitry Rogozin, who is the director general of Russian space corporation Roscosmos, revealed that the country plans to send its own mission to Venus.
This would be on top of an already-proposed joint venture with the United States called "Venera-D" that would include sending an uncrewed space mission to the planet in either 2026 or 2031.
Speaking to reporters at an international helicopter exhibition in Moscow on Tuesday, Rogozin said: "Our country was the first and only one to successfully land on Venus. The spacecraft gathered information about the planet — it is like hell over there," according to The Times.
"Resuming Venus exploration is on our agenda. We think that Venus is a Russian planet, so we shouldn't lag behind," he added, CNN reported.
"Our hoped-for impact in the planetary science community is to stimulate more research on Venus itself, research on the possibilities of life in Venus' atmosphere, and even space missions focused to find signs of life or even life itself in the Venusian atmosphere," Seager said, according to CNN.
Venus is the second furthest planet from the Sun and is considered one of the hottest in our solar system.
The planet's atmosphere is made up almost entirely of carbon dioxide and is the second brightest object in the night sky, after the moon.
The Soviet Union became the first country to successfully land a spacecraft on Venus in 1970. The Venera 7 was one of many probes to be sent to the planet and became the first to transmit data from there back to Earth.
Although it made a successful soft landing, it melted within seconds.
Its successor Venera 9 — also launched by the Russians — took the first and only image of the Venusian surface from the ground-level perspective in 1975.
The country plans to send its own mission to Venus between 2021 and 2030, Rogozin said, according to CNN.
Mark Haefele — chief investment officer at UBS Wealth Management, which oversees $1.4 trillion in assets — highlighted five ways investors can position their portfolios for the uncertain months ahead.
While the timeline for a vaccine is unknown, Haefele expects an economic recovery next year and said now is the time for investors to pivot into stocks that will benefit.
He also said that opportunities can be found in gold and sustainable investments.
Investors waiting for a large correction to dive into the market may be disappointed, Haefele said, especially if a vaccine is announced sooner than expected.
With a blurred vaccine timeline and uncertain US election ahead, portfolio construction can be intimidating.
But Mark Haefele — chief investment officer at UBS Wealth Management, which oversees $1.4 trillion in assets — says investors holding cash on the sidelines and waiting for a large correction "run the risk of disappointment," particularly if a vaccine arrives sooner than expected.
In a recent note to clients, Haefele broke down five pro-active measures investors can make now to position portfolios for coming months.
(1) Take advantage of upcoming volatility
Although Haefele expects near-term volatility, he's confident about the longer-term trajectory for the economy and said that investors should "put excess cash to work straight away."
Cautious investors can use near-term volatility to build up positions for the long term. This can be done through a "disciplined phasing-in strategy," or through options or structured solutions.
(2) Position for a rotation into values and cyclical stocks
The economic rally will broaden beyond the growth and mega-cap tech names that have dominated the market recently, said Haefele.
While he said the timing of the rally is uncertain, he thinks now is the right time for investors to look to position into areas like US mid-caps stocks, emerging-market value stocks, and global industrials.
(3) "Hunt for yield"
Investors will need to work especially hard to find yield in an environment of record-low interest rates. One strategy is to seek income generation with high-dividend paying stocks, said Haefele.
Outside of equities, Haefele said US dollar-denominated emerging-market sovereign bonds, green bonds, and Asian high-yield bonds provide opportunities for yield.
Haefele also said that broad commodity indexes will rise in the months ahead, and cyclical commodities will rise as the economy begins to recover. He added: "Gold also continues to look attractive in a portfolio context in an environment of negative real interest rates and elevated geopolitical uncertainty."
(5) Invest in sustainability
As economies recover from the pandemic they will spend more on "green initiatives," said Haefele. Investors can gain exposure to sustainability by investing in multilateral development bank or green bonds, or investing in stock themes that align with the UN Sustainable Development Goals, he added.
In the days creeping up to my high school's March 12 school closure announcement, my dad had begun to be increasingly concerned about the rapidly rising coronavirus cases. With other parents, he emailed school officials asking them to shift to remote learning options.
The initial plan was that remote learning would just be three weeks and we would return to the classroom on April 6. But students never got to finish the 2019-20 year in person. Despite the setback, we were optimistic that the summer heat would kill coronavirus and life would be back to normal by the time the fall start to the school year came around.
Now as classes have begun to restart, we can see that coronavirus cases are sliding but still dangerously high. In fact, America recently surpassed over 6.5 million cases.
Part of the persistently high number of new cases can be attributed to caution fatigue and the desire to return to normalcy. At the beginning of April, we were all eager to play our part in stopping COVID-19 and willing to stay at home for a few weeks.
But with no end date in sight, people have begun to feel the dangers of COVID-19 have somehow lessened. On my Instagram feed, the mask-less vacation pictures made it look as if there wasn't a pandemic at all.
But as schools reopen it's important to remember the pandemic isn't over and as a current student, I think the push for in-person learning is a mistake. And there are some clear ways to keep kids and teachers safe, while also providing a good education.
The Trump administration pushed schools to come back
For months, the Trump administration has tried to pressure schools into offering in-person instruction.
"Education leaders need to examine real data and weigh risk. … Risk is involved in everything we do, from learning to ride a bike to riding a rocket into space and everything in between," DeVos said.
Trump later threatened to cut off federal funding for schools that don't reopen, arguing virtual learning was "terrible" last school year. Despite the threat, it later became clear Trump has no authority to cut off funding.
Trump does have a point that the remote learning experience is not as great as in-person schooling. Last year, I, along with many of my peers, witnessed firsthand the awkward silences on Zoom in place of classroom discussions and found lesson plans cut short.
But instead of criticizing schools that are being cautious, the Trump administration should work together with them to create better remote learning environments. Despite hiccups, teachers and administrators are trying their best and need support from the federal government, not bullying.
Helping parents balance school and work
The push for in-person schooling is also based on the valid concern around the difficulties parents face balancing work and kids' assignments. My mom had to help my sister, who is currently in second grade, with classes on Zoom and daily work during spring and joked that she had found a third job — apart from being a scientist and parent — as a part-time teacher.
There is no magical win-win scenario in this situation, but what employers can aim to do is lessen the burden on employees and be flexible with those who are trying to balance full-time parenting and full-time work.
For students that ultimately feel like the only place they can learn in is the school building or families who can't work remotely and don't feel comfortable leaving their kids alone, then going back to school this fall would be the only option. But it certainly should not be full-time like DeVos has suggested.
Flexible plans that allow for remote learning and in-person options, dictated by local officials, offer a better way forward. For instance, North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper moved the state forward with Plan B (increased social distancing and schools and buses not at maximum capacity) and allows districts to choose Plan C (only remote learning).
It's about keeping students — and families — safe
Making sure that students get the education they need is important, but plans for schooling in the middle of a pandemic should put one thing first: safety. While it was reported that kids experienced lower death rates (which Trump incorrectly translated to mean "the children aren't affected"), older school staff and family members of students are still at great risk.
If my sister or I got sick from in-person schooling, we would be putting my 81-year-old grandma who lives with my family at risk. My parents, who both work full-time, would have to take time off to take care of us. Getting sick would also mean taking time off of school and being weeks behind, which would have a more detrimental effect on our education.
As schools reopen and experience a wave of new cases in fall or winter that forces them to close as well, then schools will be even more underprepared for remote learning.
Until the middle of July, my high school had been saying that they planned for 50% of students to return to school each day. The possibility of going back to school was terrifying as the same problems that caused schools to shut down for the rest of the 2019-2020 school year will exist for the upcoming school year: there is no vaccine, coronavirus cases are on the rise in many states, and cramming students into classrooms or buses together will certainly increase the number of cases among students.
Before we were notified that we could choose the option of online instruction during the 2020-2021 school year (which now has turned into full remote learning), my dad instructed my sister and me to make sure to bring two masks to school (disposing of one during lunch), to shower and wash our hair as soon as we got home, and even suggested we should buy face shields for added protection.
With a vaccine still likely months away, the best we could do was to be prepared to take rigorous safety measures. For young kids like my sister, it can be hard to follow these guidelines during the whole school day.
Until a vaccine is available, coming to school in-person is not safe and many families, including mine, will remain unnecessarily impacted.
Victoria Feng is a high school journalist based in Illinois. Her work has appeared in Women's Health, New York Magazine, Digital Trends, and more. Victoria's freelance work focuses on teens and identity, especially as it relates to social justice.
Former Defense Secretary Jim Mattis gave a moving and pointed tribute to the legacy of singer, songwriter and former enlisted sailor Bill Withers Thursday night at the annual "Lone Sailor" awards sponsored by the US Navy Memorial.
In the virtual ceremony, Withers, who died in March at age 81, was honored posthumously with the "Lone Sailor" award. Mattis, a retired Marine four-star general and former commander of US Central Command, was also honored with the award for his contributions to the sea services.
Retired Rear Adm. Frank Thorp IV, president of the memorial, said that Withers, the three-time Grammy Award winner who recorded the timeless hits "Lean On Me" and "Ain't No Sunshine," enlisted in the Navy at age 17 out of Slab Fork, West Virginia, and served for eight years as an aviation mechanic.
His widow, Marcia Withers, said her husband's Navy service "gave him discipline" and "a sense of pride he carried through life."
"During these troubled times, many have gravitated to Bill's music" for comfort and inspiration, she said, adding that he would have been honored "to be chosen alongside a man like Gen. Mattis."
Bill Withers.
Michael S. Schwartz/Getty Images
In his recorded remarks accepting the award, Mattis took up a similar theme on the lasting impact of Withers' music for the current generation in an era marked by divisive turmoil.
He cited "Lean On Me" for its message of service to others and a cause greater than self as emblematic of the sea services.
In a scathing June essay for The Atlantic, Mattis elaborated on his ongoing concerns: "Donald Trump is the first president in my lifetime who does not try to unite the American people — does not even pretend to try. Instead, he tries to divide us."
"We are witnessing the consequences of three years of this deliberate effort," Mattis said, in reference to the nationwide protests that sprang up after the May 25 death in Minneapolis of George Floyd.
In his tribute to Withers, Mattis never mentioned Trump, but instead quoted from Ralph Waldo Emerson: "Great men, great nations, have not been boasters and buffoons but perceivers of the terror of life and have manned themselves to face it."
"I wish that I had served alongside Bill Withers, because the manhood he demonstrated was not the childish egocentric example we see too often in today's news cycles," Mattis said.
— Richard Sisk can be reached at Richard.Sisk@Military.com.
Netflix's "The Social Dilemma" explores our deeply-entrenched societal addiction to social media and what large tech firms stand to gain from our engagement on the platforms.
The film has been among the most-watched programs since it was released on the service on September 9 and features commentary from top industry figures and critics.
The docudrama is sobering to watch, but the credit reel features tips and tricks on how to cut down on phone use.
The suggestions include refusing to click on recommended posts and videos while surfing the web and uninstalling apps that you feel are wasting your time.
A new Netflix documentary paints an alarming and sobering picture of the extent of that addiction and how social networks have capitalized on it, catapulting tech companies into global powerhouses in the process. "The Social Dilemma" explores different aspects and effects of the online world, including the lucrative attention-economy, addictive recommendation algorithms, misinformation, political polarization, and more.
The doc features ex-Google design ethicist and president of The Center For Humane Technology Tristan Harris, computer scientist Jaron Lanier, author Shoshana Zuboff, ex-Facebook director of monetization Tim Kendall, data scientist and author Cathy O'Neil, Asana co-founder and ex-Facebook engineering lead Justin Rosenstein, early Facebook investor Roger McNamee, and many others.
You might want to throw your phone across the room by the end of the hour-and-a-half-long docudrama. But fret not! The last five minutes is actually semi-uplifting as the industry experts dole out steps you can take to limit how much you use your phone and the addicting technology that lives in it.
We've rounded them up below — take a look:
Don't click on videos or posts that are recommended to you.
Jaron Lanier in New York City in 2019.
Mike Coppola/Getty Images for Tribeca Film Festival
Recommendation algorithms have become somewhat of a secret sauce for tech platforms. They are what keep users engaged on the apps, queuing up related content for when you finish reading a post or watching a video. For example, the recommendation algorithm for TikTok — the uber-popular video-sharing app that's currently embroiled in a standoff with the Trump administration — is the shining jewel of the service that has captivated millions of young users.
Author and computer scientist Jaron Lanier, who has come to be known as the founding father of virtual reality, said that instead of letting the algorithms guide you, it's better to search for the next video you want to watch.
"Always choose," he says in the documentary. "That's another way to fight."
Install a Chrome extension that can undo recommendations on platforms, said ex-YouTube engineer Guillaume Chaslot.
A man, not Chaslot, is pictured above with a device.
Jaap Arriens/NurPhoto via Getty Images
There is a slew of such extensions available, such as one that blocks recommended videos and comments on YouTube.
The interviewer in the documentary comments that Chaslot is trying to undo something he helped create: Chaslot was a co-creator of YouTube's recommendation algorithm before he left Google in 2013.
Turn off notifications on apps that aren't pinging you with important or timely information.
Tristan Harris at Collision in New Orleans in 2018.
Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile via Getty Images
This is a good way to set boundaries between you and the social networks beckoning to you from inside your phone, documentary subjects agreed, including Harris, ex-Facebook operations manager Sandy Parakilas, ex-head of user experience at Mozilla Aza Raskin, and Rosenstein.
Uninstall apps that you don't use or that you feel are wasting your time.
Asana co-founder Justin Rosenstein in Dublin in 2014.
Stephen McCarthy / SPORTSFILE via Getty Images
Rosenstein said he does that with social media and news apps.
Don't use Google: Use an alternative search engine.
The French service was the default search engine on Huawei P40 devices in Europe.
Esra Hacioglu/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images
Chaslot said heuses Qwant since it "doesn't store your search history."
Before you share a piece of content online, "fact-check, consider the source, do that extra Google."
Renee DiResta during a Senate hearing in 2018.
Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call/Getty Images
Renee DiResta, research manager at Stanford Internet Observatory, said that if something seems like it's solely trying to "push your emotional buttons, it probably is."
This tip perhaps carries even more weight leading up to the upcoming 2020 presidential election, as tech firms scramble to police misinformation on their platforms.
Don't click on clickbait.
Omar Marques/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images
When you click on "clickbait" — or stories with incendiary headlines that falsely advertise the true content of the article — you're feed an existing, broken system, according to Rosenstein. News publishers have been forced to adapt to these tech platforms' algorithms, he said, changing the kinds of stories they run based on what gets the most eyeballs online.
Follow people on social media that you don't agree with, said data scientist and author Cathy O'Neil.
OLIVIER DOULIERY/AFP via Getty Images
Some experts say social media has exacerbated political polarization, another adverse side effect caused by tech platforms, according to the documentary.
Another school of thought is that though social media sites can be polarizing, it's not entirely their fault: US politics were already polarized, as The Verge's Casey Newton reported.
Contrary to O'Neil's advice, a 2018 study provided evidence that following those with opposing views online can actually increase political polarization, though the study did have several limitations.
Don't let your kids use social media.
A teenage girl is depicted in "The Social Dilemma."
Netflix
Several of the technologists featured in the documentary stood firmly by this rule. Alex Roetter, a former senior vice president of engineering at Twitter, said his kids don't use social media at all. "It's a rule," he said. Ex-Facebook director of monetization Tim Kendall also said he is adamant about it: "We don't let our kids have really any screen time," he said.
Jonathan Haidt, a New York University social psychologist and author, said if you are going to let your kids sign onto social media, wait until high school. "Middle school's hard enough," he said in the program.
Teen phone addiction is represented in a startling scene during the dramatized portion of "The Social Dilemma." At one point, the young daughter is visibly craving her phone after her mother locks each family member's device in a glass case during dinner. The daughter sneaks away from the table and wacks the case with a wrench, cracking it open to hungrily retrieve it, much to the horror of her mother.
Leave all of your devices outside of the bedroom at a fixed time each night.
Neil Godwin/Future via Getty Images
Haidt laid this tip out as a way for families to set boundaries for phone use in the house. He suggested that at a fixed time — perhaps half an hour before you go to sleep — you should leave your phone somewhere else in your home.
Deleting your social media account can lead to progress, Lanier said.
Demonstrators on the east lawn of the Capitol ahead of Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg's testimony before a hearing on the protection of user data on April 10, 2018.
Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call/Getty Images
He acknowledged it was unrealistic to expect everyone to do so, but he advised that even some people deleting their accounts and freeing themselves of the "manipulation engines" could help start a societal dialogue around the topic.
These are merely tips for cutting down on using your phone and the addictive technology and social media apps therein, but a whole slew of factors will need to work in tandem before we see any real change, such as massive public pressure and a desire from within these tech companies to reform, according to the technologists and experts in "The Social Dilemma."
Stephanie Smolders and her partner have spent the last four years working from home while traveling around the world. Whether poolside at a hotel or on the beach, they've managed to bring in a steady income by growing their business from small freelance gigs into projects that generated $15,000 a month.
Now, she shares her tips with Business Insider on how she made money entirely remotely and other ways to generate an income during the pandemic.
"There are many ways you can start making a little extra money on the side while on lockdown," Smolders said. "And the best thing is that you can do it without leaving the comfort of your own home."
Gaslighting is a form of mental and emotional manipulation, often occuring when someone tries to convince you that your memory is wrong and that you're losing touch with reality.
In the workplace, gaslighting can look like a manager not inviting you to a meeting then getting upset when you don't show, or a coworker insisting you never handed in an assignment when you know you did.
If you think someone may be gaslighting you at work, keep meticulous records and notes of your encounters with them, and consider reaching out to HR if it escalates.
If you're struggling, call the SAMHSA National Helpline, 1-800-662-HELP (4357), or reach out to the Crisis Text Line by texting HOME to 741741.
Did you ever feel like you were losing your mind at work because someone insisted that a conversation took place with you that you have no recollection of? Is it possible you really did say that you would finish up a project even though you knew you had to get out by 5 p.m. to make it to your kid's soccer game? Chances are, you experienced gaslighting at work.
What is gaslighting?
Gaslighting is when someone insists on something you know to be false, thereby making you question your own recollection. In some ways, it's a form of manipulation and bullying in that it invalidates what you know to be true, and can make you feel powerless. Gaslighters are excellent at twisting the facts and taking real information and using it against others.
When there's gaslighting in the workplace, it will most likely be done by someone in a position of power and authority, or someone who is well-liked, making the victims less likely to call out this toxic coworker. And the more it goes unchecked, the more you can end up second-guessing yourself as to what is reality and what is not.
Here's what you need to know about gaslighting, and what you can do to stop it if it should happen to you or a team member.
How to recognize gaslighting at work
There's a big difference between someone who's a micromanager or nitpicks your work, and someone who is a gaslighter. The gaslighter doesn't want you to improve or succeed — they're out to sabotage you. They will accuse you of being confused or mistaken, or that you took something they said the wrong way because you are insecure. They might even manipulate paper trails to "prove" they are right.
Some signs that you may be the victim of gaslighting at work:
You know you turned in a project, but the gaslighter insists you never gave it to them.
The gaslighter says mean or even sexist/racist things to you, but always out of earshot of others so there's no proof. If you report it, they deny it, or even turn the accusation around on you.
In front of others, the gaslighter acts like your best friend or biggest fan; when you're alone, they berate you.
The gaslighter, which could be a coworker in this case, lies blatantly to your face about why they didn't complete a project — even if they know that you know they took a three-hour lunch.
You feel like you have to do extra to prove your worth to the gaslighter and have no idea of what's expected of you.
You can tell someone has been in your space, moving things around, or even on your computer, but you don't have proof.
You are the only one not included in a team email or meeting invite, or intentionally kept out of the loop. Then when you don't respond or show up, you are reprimanded.
When someone calls out the gaslighter, they deny, get confrontational, and become defensive.
How to expose a gaslighter
Keep meticulous records. Put every verbal conversation or encounter with that person into an email saying something like, "Just to recap, here is what we spoke about." Then list the bullet points. If you are gaslighted, keep written records of that, too, so that you have notes in case you decide to report it.
Try to speak with the suspected gaslighter. It is possible that there have been some legitimate miscommunications or that your supervisor is a bit overstretched and is not intentionally gaslighting you.
You can try having an honest conversation about how you feel and show proof and share examples of when you've felt like you were gaslighted. Just don't expect an admission of guilt if the person is purposely gaslighting you — if anything, they will become even more adamant.
The good part of this outcome is that you can document that conversation as another example should you decide to pursue a complaint.
Enlist others. Chances are if someone is gaslighting you, they may be doing it to your colleagues as well. Make sure you confide in people that you trust and feel them out. If others are in agreement that someone is engaging in gaslighting in the workplace, perhaps you can get together to compare notes and consider a sit-down with HR.
Take it to the next level. Follow your company's procedures for reporting harassment, whether it's going to that person's boss, or going to the HR department. Bring all of your documentation, and if you have others in the same boat, ask if they'd be willing to come with you.
Move on. Hopefully, you will be able to get some kind of resolution, but if the company doesn't back you up, you should probably consider a new position. Yes, it's very unfair, but staying in a toxic environment isn't good for your sanity or health.
Ziwe Fumudoh is a 28-year-old comedian, writer, and performer based in Brooklyn, New York.
She's the creator and host of a weekly Instagram Live comedy show where she interviews controversial guests, like Alison Roman, Alyssa Milano, and Rose McGowan, and "baits" them with race-related questions to expose their biases.
Fumudoh began her comedy career as an intern for Comedy Central, and has written for shows including "The Colbert Report" and "Desus & Mero," as well as outlets like The Onion, Reductress, and The Cut.
Fumudoh says she learned the hustle never stops in the entertainment industry, and that it's up to her to create the art she wants to see.
Comedy is a notoriously hard industry to break into, and for women and people of color, it's often even more difficult. So, what exactly does it take to smash through, produce excellent work, and earn recognition?
As for most comedians, for Brooklyn, New York-based Ziwe Fumudoh, the answer isn't sexy: It takes time, a great deal of laboring behind the scenes, and making a lot of bad art until it becomes good.
"There's a lot of work that goes into being successful," she said. "I find that now people ask, 'You're blowing up, are you surprised?' And I'm like, I've been doing this in shame for several years, with no attention whatsoever. I'm not surprised; I'm thankful. But this has all been by design."
As 28-year-old Fumudoh takes a short break from her popular Instagram Live show to write a book, she chatted with Business Insider to offer advice on making a name for yourself in the world of comedy.
Lesson 1: Make the art you want to see, and continuously refine it
Ziwe Fumudoh.
Corbin Chase
Fumudoh's recent visibility as a performer and comedian is due in large part to her weekly Instagram Live comedy show, which she began in June, where she asks interviewees questions meant to expose their racial biases. She's had high-profile guests including actress and activist Rose McGowan, cook Alison Roman, and actress Alyssa Milano; former reality TV stars; comedic up-and-comers; and even controversial social media influencers like Caroline Calloway.
Throughout the show, she asks loaded questions like, "Can you name five Black people?" "What do you qualitatively like about Black people?" and "How have you recently decolonized your mind?" The conversations are timely and relevant, given the resurgence of the Black Lives Matter movement and the divisive anti-racism politics surrounding the upcoming election, but the show's concept isn't groundbreaking — mainly because Fumudoh has been building upon it for the last four years.
In 2017, while working at entertainment company Above Average, she created a web series called "Baited With Ziwe," in which she interviewed her white coworkers about race to make them uncomfortable.
"Why?" she asks in episode one. "Because we all feel uncomfortable already, so let's just laugh about it."
She went on to produce her own iteration of the show out of pocket on her YouTube channel, expanding her interviews to include Black people and people of color, such as writer Gary Richardson and comedian Aparna Nancherla. When the pandemic hit, Fumudoh saw her peers creating their own versions of recurring shows via Instagram Live and was inspired to adapt her own concept to fit a platform she enjoyed — one that also required little production effort.
"This is an ever-evolving idea that strays away from the initial concept; the similarity is that I'm the host of all of them," Fumudoh said. "As a performer, artist, and comedian, you're always evolving, so the things I created right after Hillary Clinton lost the election in 2016 are totally, radically different than four years after the fact, because I've grown as a human being, and my worldview has changed and, thus, my art has changed."
Lesson 2: Make bad art until it becomes good
The evolution of Fumudoh's comedy is evident in her career itself. She was born in Massachusetts to Nigerian immigrant parents, then moved to Illinois for college. After studying poetry, film, and African-American studies at Northwestern University (where she started her own comedic publication, Purp Magazine), Fumudoh landed an internship at Comedy Central, writing jokes for shows like "The Colbert Report."
But even landing the coveted position — and getting a joke used on air during her second week at the job — didn't guarantee success.
"What people don't tell you about pursuing a career in the arts is that everything they do for a long time is terrible," she said. "It's through being consistently bad over several years, half a decade, a decade, that you become very good. But you have to spend a lot of time with your bad art before you write anything of value."
She advises holding down a side job (or three) to stay afloat while you sharpen your skills, putting yourself out there without holding back, and pushing through rejection.
"I had a restaurant job I hated, and while I was there, I would tweet — and I blew up on Twitter as a result of having a lot of free time at a barbecue hut in Union Square," Fumudoh said. "If you want a career in the arts, you have to prepare for a very long time of eating crow. But the positive side is that, then, you have a career in the arts, and you get to spend your life creating and getting paid for that, which I think is the ultimate grift."
Lesson 3: Don't get comfortable
Ziwe Fumudoh.
Corbin Chase
The hustle never stops in entertainment, and neither can you, Fumudoh says.
"You've never got this in the bag," she said. "There's always more work to be done. That's why you pick a field you're actually passionate about."
"If you're an American and you aren't born with a debilitating amount of generational wealth, you're going to be working yourself into a grave, so it's best to find a project or something you can do that's a life's passion."
So if and when you do land a choice comedy gig, it's not permission to coast. To help guide her vision and purpose, Fumudoh says she constantly asks herself, "What's next? How can I continue growing and expanding my art in the universe I'm trying to create?"
Since those early Comedy Central and barbecue hut days, Fumudoh's creative pursuits have been multifaceted, to say the least. She's written for BET late-night show "The Rundown with Robin Thede" and Showtime series "Desus & Mero," as well as penned articles for outlets like The Cut, Reductress, The Onion, and Vulture. Pre-pandemic, she hosted "Pop Show," a live show at Union Hall where she invited New York comedians to perform original pop songs. She's done voiceover for animation; she co-hosts the Crooked Media podcast "Hysteria"; and this year, she put out Generation Ziwe, a musical comedy album featuring tracks like "Make it Clap for Democracy," "AOC Bamba," and "Universal Healthcare."
"Hopefully I sell a variety show that features these interview components [of my YouTube videos and Instagram Lives]," she said. "Time will tell, but ultimately, I'm trying to push each facet of my art forward and just trying to create. I'm one of those people who works on nine different projects at a time, because that's how I feel most stimulated. So whatever version of that exists as we head into 2021, that's what I'll be doing."
Lesson 4: Don't alter yourself to fit whatever comedy is successful at the time
Key to making it in comedy is by being you, Fumudoh says. You have to find your voice, your values, and your particular brand, then prioritize honing that. Fumudoh says that when she started out, she found she was "constantly trying to sound like a white dude."
"But there is no version of Ziwe that is a successful white male," she said. "What I've found over time is that I'm able to perform comedy that is radical and bombastic because I'm more self-assured in my own personal voice. You're never going to be good at pretending to be someone else; all you can do is be yourself."
"Do the thing, put yourself out there, be vulnerable, accept that you might be bad, but know that this is part of your journey. Find a good network of people who enjoy doing what you do and enjoy creating like you create, and collaborate with them."
Lesson 5: Invest the money from your paid jobs into your passion projects
PHOTO
Fumudoh says the most important lesson she learned from her Comedy Central internship was to consistently work on her own pursuits. After all, the goal is to make your passion projects a full-time career.
"I've always been writing comedy professionally for other people in conjunction with working on my own stuff," Fumudoh said. "I work for hire as a writer and actor so that I can invest in myself; I'm investing in my creative properties knowing I'll eventually get a big payoff. That's the way to feel the most fulfilled — when you have complete and total creative control."
Other than viewers "tipping" her via Venmo, Fumudoh doesn't make money from her Instagram Live show, just as she didn't make money off her self-produced "Baited" videos. She produced her music album entirely with money she made working on "Desus & Mero," she says.
And if the past is any indication of her future, she'll probably use the income from her upcoming book to produce a new iteration of her Instagram Live show. Whatever's to come for Fumudoh, though, what's most important to her is the process of creating.
"None of this was really popping off one, two, or three years ago. I was like, 'I'm just going to do whatever makes me feel fulfilled.' So I'm trying to keep that same energy as I move forward in my career," she said. "All I want to do on this earth is self-actualize as an artist and feel like I left my soul on the table with everything I've created."
Michelle Juergen is a Los Angeles-based freelance writer, editor, copywriter, copyeditor, and ghostwriter. Connect with her on Instagram and Twitter.
Millions of people have filed for unemployment during the pandemic, creating a national jobs crisis.
After the Great Depression, the New Deal created the first Works Progress Administration (WPA), an initiative to hire millions of Americans for unfilled jobs, and we could do it again.
Michael Rosenbaum, a former White House economist and Harvard fellow, is founder and CEO of Arena.
This is an opinion column. The thoughts expressed are those of the author.
America is mired in a huge and alarming employment crisis.
I am not just referring to the more than one million workers and freelancers who filed new unemployment claims last week. Or the fact that this is the 22nd consecutive week that such filings topped that mark.
I am also referring to the more than 5.9 million unfilled jobs in the US as of the end of June, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Herein lies the crisis. Businesses across the country are looking for candidates. They cite not just the lack of skilled workers for their openings, but the lack of workers period.
A commonly argued solution would be to advise unemployed Americans to apply for these unfilled jobs. But the problem is much more complicated. There is a massive misalignment between workers and living-wage jobs with career trajectories. This is the real employment crisis – one we need to solve.
A new new deal
The answer is a Works Progress Administration 2.0, a new social compact based on lessons we have learned the last time we had a disruption as massive as the one we are now seeing.
As a reminder, 75 years ago, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt's New Deal created the first WPA as a mechanism for the country to emerge from the Great Depression. Under the initiative, millions of Americans were hired to construct public buildings, roads, bridges, and other physical infrastructure essentials.
Part of our present situation can be directly informed by that precedent. The American Society of Civil Engineers estimates that America needs to invest some $4.5 trillion by 2025 to repair the nation's bridges, roads, and other infrastructure deficiencies.
Much like back then, the WPA 2.0 would be a comprehensive jobs creation partnership between the government and the private sector that focuses on the industries that are currently driving the growth of our nation's economy and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future.
The most visible of these industries are tech, healthcare, trades, and entrepreneurship. In fact, the World Economic Forum predicts that 53% of US employees will require significant re-skilling by 2022, with the majority of emerging jobs in those industries.
Consider that technology and healthcare — two of the most robust sectors of our current economy — have long-standing vacancies, and the worker shortages are only expected to grow over the next decade. For example, healthcare occupations are projected to grow 14%, adding 1.9 million jobs by 2028. On the technology front, jobs are projected to grow 12% in that same time, adding to the current gap of one million open tech jobs in the U.S.
In the skilled trades, we also see more available jobs than workers. According to the Associated General Contractors of America, 81% of construction firms have reported difficulty in filling salaried and hourly craft positions, and 65% of firms estimate that it will be as difficult or more difficult to hire over the next 12 months.
The overwhelming majority of these jobs pay mid-to-high five figures to start and, of particular note, do not (and arguably should never) require a four-year-university education. So it's time our policies absorb this reality and focus on aligning people to these opportunities.
With this WPA 2.0 plan, we achieve both short-term and long-term gains with respect to our essential infrastructure. By matching individuals to pathways into skilled trades and launching them into these projects, we can aggressively tackle current deficiencies. At the same time, we will be significantly increasing the number of people in our nation who possess ultramodern knowledge, skill, and capabilities to strategically build and maintain our infrastructure moving forward.
But this modern, re-conceived WPA will have a more profound impact. It will chip away at the significant backlog of technology work needed by the public sector. It will strengthen our healthcare sector in ways that ultimately reduce costs for all. And, most importantly, it will create permanent pathways that can transition people from stagnant and low-paying industries into industries and career pathways that will endure and grow.
Work smarter
The new social compact I am proposing provides two essential structures – first, smart technology to help people efficiently find the careers that are most likely to work for them, and second, a comprehensive national apprentice program that allows individuals to work and collect salaries as they develop expertise.
The apprenticeship component would include a mechanism to accurately identify who would be exceptional in each role, and an investment both in a job and in the upskilling necessary for each exceptional individual to ramp up. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, there were 25,000 registered apprenticeships in the US in 2019, a 128% increase from just a decade ago. Still, it is only a drop in the bucket. Scaled up appropriately, we can make a significant impact on filling the roles that are the engine of our economy, while enabling millions who have been left behind by our current winner-take-all economy to pursue careers where they can thrive, grow, and excel.
In fact, instead of just writing checks to the recently unemployed and sending no-strings-attached money to businesses, the government can invest in creating jobs and pathways into these careers in a way that will unlock massive productivity and growth in our economy. Unemployed Americans will still be receiving financial support but doing so in the context of a job, and a pathway into a life and a career that provides happiness, dignity, and security.
Smart technology makes this happen effectively and efficiently. The power of predictive analytics and machine learning can be applied to the applicant-job matching process to reduce bias and remove reliance on traditional input-focused criteria. This helps employers hire for outcomes and helps individuals find pathways to jobs where they can succeed regardless of their background and current skill levels.
The bottom line is that the new social compact I am proposing gives us the means – and the roadmap – to solve America's employment crisis, and more importantly to restructure our economy to one that unlocks the productivity of all of our talents. We just need the will and the investment. Any economic policy that does not consider this, that does not provide pathways to upwardly mobile careers, will be money thrown away on a temporary respite, leaving us with the same problems and less money to address them in the months and years ahead.
Michael Rosenbaum, a former White House economist and Harvard fellow, is founder and CEO of Arena, which uses predictive analytics to improve and enhance workplace recruitment, retention and diversity.
It's become known as the "PMRC Senate hearing," or the "Tipper Gore-Frank Zappa hearing," or the "rock-porn hearing."
It was September 19, 1985, smack dab in the middle of the Reagan era. Moral panics were the order of the day.
Sen. Al Gore's wife, Tipper, was upset that a Prince album she bought for her daughter had risque lyrics. She literally made a federal case out of it.
As politicians and their wives implicitly threatened the music industry and the First Amendment, the unlikeliest trio of musicians — avant-garde composer Frank Zappa, hair-metal howler Dee Snider, and safe-as-milk singer-songwriter John Denver — passionately defended artistic freedom before the federal government simply because it needed to be done.
But in the end the censors got what they wanted. "Objectionable" records received a warning label, and rappers — not heavy-metal bands — were the most likely to be labeled.
This is an opinion column. The thoughts expressed are those of the author.
It's become known as the "PMRC Senate hearing" or the "Tipper Gore-Frank Zappa hearing" or the "rock-porn hearing."
To me, they'll always be the hearing where Al Gore sarcastically asked Twisted Sister's Dee Snider if his band's fan club, the "Sick Motherf------ Fans of Twisted Sister," was a Christian group.
It was September 19, 1985, smack dab in the middle of the Reagan era. Moral panics — including claims that heavy-metal music and Dungeons and Dragons were somehow the root cause of real issues like child sex abuse and teen suicide — were the order of the day.
The hearing on "objectionable" rock lyrics was one of the most widely publicized committee hearings in Senate history. But rewatching the nearly five-hour hearing now, it seems more like a DC satire about puritanical censorship, farcical conflicts of interest, and members of the World's Greatest Deliberative Body clutching their proverbial pearls over a Prince record.
As politicians and their wives implicitly threatened the music industry and the First Amendment, the unlikeliest trio of musicians — avant-garde composer Frank Zappa, hair metal howler Dee Snider, and safe-as-milk singer-songwriter John Denver — passionately defended artistic freedom before the federal government, simply because it needed to be done.
Despite the absurdist trappings, the PMRC hearings deserve a revisit on their 35th anniversary as a reminder that there's always societal tension between the principles of free expression and the limits of acceptable discourse.
These hearings show how people with power can determine certain forms of expression to be vile, antisocial, and beyond the pale. History has proved these particular censors wrong, but history often repeats itself. That's why it's so crucial to always hold the line on defending the right to express unpopular speech.
The first 'OK, boomer' moment
It all started when Tipper Gore bought her 11-year-old daughter a copy of Prince's "Purple Rain." The smash-hit album was also the soundtrack to a widely publicized R-rated film.
Both the film and soundtrack were controversial for their sexual content. "Darling Nikki," a song whose first verse contains a lyric about female masturbation, so mortified Mrs. Gore in the presence of her adolescent daughter that she took action.
In short order, the Parents Music Resource Council, or PMRC, was formed. Its members included other wives of senators, wives of cabinet members, and wives of prominent DC businessmen.
In her 1987 book, "Raising PG Kids in an X-Rated Society," Gore wrote an opening sentence that unintentionally revealed the folly of her crusade.
"Like many parents, I grew up listening to rock music and loving it … but something has happened since the days of 'Twist and Shout,'" Gore wrote, referring to the oft-covered early rock-and-roll song.
The selection of "Twist and Shout" is odd because while somewhat more coy in the manner of most early-'60s songs, the idea behind it is clearly sexual. The Beatles performed arguably the most popular rendition of the song, in which a primally ecstatic John Lennon shreds his vocal cords beckoning a woman to "come on, come on, come on, baby, now." The song climaxes with the entire group harmonizing on a drawn-out musical orgasm: "Ah, ah, ah, ah, wow!"
In essence, Tipper Gore gave us the original, literal "OK, boomer" moment: a liberal boomer making a federal case out of pop-music lyrics and album covers.
It was not "censorship," the members of the PMRC would repeatedly insist. It was merely helping parents make informed decisions about the music they allowed their children to listen to.
Like the rating system used by the Motion Picture Association of America, the PMRC wanted the Record Industry Association of America to have records, tapes, and CDs labeled for their objectionable content.
Critics pointed out that music and movies were vastly different forms of media. In 1985 the Motion Picture Association of America rated about 350 movies a year. By contrast the RIAA estimated 25,000 songs a year were released, as well as thousands of album covers. The volume of music was simply too massive to rate like the MPAA did movies.
To helpfully narrow it down for America's parents, the PMRC put out the "Filthy Fifteen," a list of songs that were part of what Gore called "the twisted tyranny of explicitness in the public domain."
Hard rockers of note (AC/DC, Motley Crue, Twisted Sister, Def Leppard), and metal bands of little note (Venom, Mercyful Fate) made the list. So did mainstream pop singers Cyndi Lauper, Sheena Easton, and Vanity.
Also making the list of songs supposedly infecting the youth of America was Madonna's "Dress You Up," which in 1999 would be featured in the ultimate in mainstream advertising, a Gap commercial.
The record industry, meanwhile, had good reason to stay on the good side of the PMRC.
The RIAA lobbied hard for a tax on blank cassettes, arguing that tape dubbing was eating into the industry's profits. The Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation happened to be the venue where that legislation would be considered. Coincidentally, committee members Sen. Al Gore (D-TN), Sen. Ernest "Fritz" Hollings (D-SC), and chairman John Danforth (D-MO) were all married to PMRC members.
Given the financial threat, the RIAA was willing to throw basic principles of free expression under the bus if it meant Congress was going to vote their way, quickly, on the blank-tape tax.
When the committee called for hearings on problematic music lyrics, PMRC members, child-health experts, and religious figures were invited to testify. It's unclear which popular musicians were invited, but the only ones to show up and tell the government this was none of their business were Zappa, Snider, and Denver.
The hottest committee hearing in town
The room was packed with reporters, so many that one senator called it "the largest media event I've ever seen."
Although Gore claimed she and the PMRC neither wanted nor asked for a Senate hearing — and both the PMRC and the committee's members would repeatedly insist that the hearing was not about censorship or any government action — Sen. Hollings gave the game away in his opening comments about "porn rock."
"If I could find some way to constitutionally do away with it, I would," Hollings said. Another senator supported record labeling as "moral suasion," not censorship.
Sen. Paula Hawkins (R-FL) broke with the typical Reaganite conservative orthodoxy of preaching "personal responsibility" by lamenting that parents whose kids take drugs or commit violence have been unfairly held responsible for their children's behavior. When it came to the pernicious influence of rock lyrics, for Hawkins, personal responsibility was too much to ask. She literally waved off concerns about artists' rights of free expression under the First Amendment.
Hawkins also repeated the canard about how much more explicit rock had become in the 30 years since Elvis Presley's televised hips scandalized the previous generation of puritanical parents.
"Subtleties, suggestions, and innuendo have given way to overt expressions and descriptions of often violent sexual acts, drug taking, and flirtations with the occult," Hawkins said.
Just as Tipper Gore did when invoking "Twist and Shout," Hawkins' nod to the seemingly more "innocent" era of Elvis revealed an ignorance of musical history that wouldn't have been be such a big deal had she not been using her Senate bully pulpit to argue the value of one type of music versus another.
The "innocent" rock of 1950s Elvis was directly inspired by artists who sang about flirtations with the occult, alcohol abuse, and murder. Elvis at times covered those artists, or ripped them off, depending on who you ask.
Among the most influential songwriter-performers to inspire the future King of Rock and Roll were two bluesmen of the Mississippi Delta — the capital of the blues and Elvis' birthplace.
A 2012 study by Elizabeth Langdon at Cleveland State University found that music has indeed grown more explicit in its sexual content, but "the sexual attitudes and behaviors (and related outcomes) of adolescents do not appear to be following suit at the national level," which should serve "to dispel perceptions or concerns of large-scale negative media effects."
When it came time to make their case before the government, Tipper Gore and Susan Baker, wife of then-Treasury Secretary James Baker, testified on behalf of the PMRC, as did Reverend Jeff Ling, a pastor at a local Virginia church, who read salacious lyrics about bondage, incest, and "anal vapors."
A child psychiatrist testified that the notorious "Son of Sam" serial killer David Berkowitz was known to listen to Black Sabbath, once fronted by the most frightening-to-parents avatar of '80s metal, Ozzy Osbourne.
Suggestive album covers were displayed. The campy — even for its time — Twisted Sister music video for "We're Not Gonna Take It" was played as evidence of violence in rock.
Then the defense took the stand.
Frank Zappa testifies at the Senate hearings on rock lyrics in 1985.
The first witness for the First Amendment was Frank Zappa, who sought to cut through the bullshit pretense that this hearing was anything other than a government action toward regulating protected speech.
"I've heard some conflicting reports on whether or not people on this committee want legislation. I understand that Senator Hollings does," Zappa said before being cut off by Sen. Danforth, who admonished him to focus on his own testimony and not ask the senators any questions.
Sen. James Exon (D-NE) jumped in at that point, telling Zappa that he might be willing to support legislation that makes the music industry "voluntarily" clean up its act.
"The PMRC proposal is an ill-conceived piece of nonsense which fails to deliver any real benefits to children, infringes the civil liberties of people who are not children, and promises to keep the courts busy for years, dealing with the interpretation and enforcement problems inherent in the proposal's design.
It is my understanding that, in law, First Amendment Issues are decided with a preference for the least restrictive alternative. In this context, the PMRC's demands are the equivalent of treating dandruff by decapitation."
Zappa said the PMRC's complete list of demands "reads like an instruction manual for some sinister kind of toilet-training program to house-break all composers and performers because of the lyrics of a few."
He took dead aim at the inherent conflict of interest in senators hosting a group comprising their wives while debating "a tax bill that is so ridiculous the only way to sneak it through is to keep the public's mind on something else: 'Porn rock.'"
Zappa said the whole issue was a cover for "trade-restraining legislation, whipped up like an instant pudding by the Wives of Big Brother."
The senators were not impressed. Sen. Slade Gorton (R-WA) called Zappa "boorish" and said he'd give the First Amendment a bad name, if he had any understanding of it.
Singer John Denver testifies at the Senate hearings on rock lyrics on September 19, 1985.
Next up was John Denver. The same John Denver whom Dee Snider later described as the "mom-American-pie-John-Denver-Christmas-special-fresh-scrubbed guy."
Denver was an openly devout Christian, the kind of person who fit the profile of someone who'd be outraged by rock lyrics poisoning the minds of the youth.
In his statement, Denver said clearly that a government-policed record-labeling system would "approach censorship," which he unequivocally opposed.
He spoke firsthand of his experiences with censorship and the absurdity of authority figures determining the value of song lyrics.
One of Denver's signature songs, "Rocky Mountain High," was banned from some radio stations, supposedly because of drug references. But there were no drug references. The song was about the "elation" and "joy of living" that comes from spending a "moonless and cloudless night" in the Rocky Mountains, according to its author.
"What assurance have I that any national panel to review my music would make any better judgment?" Denver asked the senators.
Denver referred to a "self-appointed moral watchdog" as something counter to the ideals of a democratic society. He even likened the suppression of words and ideas to Nazi Germany.
Then, dramatically, Denver excused himself from the hearing because he had a previously scheduled meeting with NASA in an attempt to get himself sent into space on the space shuttle Challenger.
Twisted Sister singer Dee Snider testifies at the Senate hearings on rock lyrics on September 19, 1985
The last to testify was Twisted Sister's Dee Snider. Now 65, he's the only rock star to testify that day who is still alive. Zappa died of prostate cancer in 1993, at the age of 52, while Denver died when an experimental plane he was piloting crashed in 1997. He was 53.
"I believe the PMRC — or the senators whose wives were in the PMRC — invited me to make a mockery out of me in front of the world," Snider told me via Skype from his home in Belize in July.
Zappa brought two of his kids, Moon Unit and Dweezil — both preteen Twisted Sister fans — to DC for the hearing. Snider brought his father, a cop and veteran.
When Snider sat down before the committee, his appearance alone was jarring. While Zappa and Denver were short-haired and suit-clad, the over-6-feet-tall Snider showed up in jeans, a tank top, sunglasses, and some of the biggest blond '80s rock hair you're likely to ever see.
Perhaps more shocking was his opening statement, which led off with a declaration that he's a married father, a Christian, and neither drinks nor does drugs.
In his testimony he called some of the statements made about his music "character assassination" and addressed Tipper Gore personally for what he says was a misrepresentation of his song "Under the Knife."
The PMRC had interpreted its lyrics as being about sadomasochism, bondage, and rape. The guy who wrote them says they're about fear of surgery and that the only objectionable content existed "in the mind of Mrs. Gore."
Of the violence in the "We're Not Gonna Take It" video that had scandalized senators, Snider said that it was comical, and directly inspired by Roadrunner–Wile E. Coyote cartoons.
"The beauty of literature, poetry, and music is that they leave room for the audience to put its own imagination, experience, and dreams into the words," Snider testified, adding that the "supposedly well-informed adults" in the PMRC had completely and unfairly misinterpreted the lyrics, demonstrating plainly the folly of regulating rock lyrics.
"There is no authority who has the right or the necessary insight to make these judgments. Not myself, not the federal government, not some recording industry committee, not the PTA, not the RIAA, and certainly not the PMRC," Snider said.
Sen. Gore opened his questioning of Snider by asking what the initials S.M.F. — Twisted Sister's fan club — stood for.
"It stands for the Sick Motherf------ Friends of Twisted Sister," Snider testified.
"Is this also a Christian group?" Gore asked, to a smattering of laughter.
"I don't believe profanity has anything to do with Christianity," Snider said.
Thirty-five years later, Snider recalled the moment.
"This was the Reagan years. Conservatives were reigning, and Al Gore was very much a conservative Dem," Snider said. "He changed his cloak when he started with [Bill] Clinton, and suddenly he was Mister Hipster."
"There was a point when I was doing my testimony — I think I said his wife had a dirty mind — if he could have me taken out and shot, he would have. His eyes were so hostile and infuriated because I was taking them at every turn. No matter what they tried to throw at me, I had an answer for it — except for the name of the fan club."
Snider decided to just answer plainly about SMF and not make excuses for it.
He recalled what he described as Gore's condescending questions as part of "that self-righteous bullshit that he just exuded then."
When it was said and done, it's unlikely that many minds were changed by the hearing. Although, despite the protestations to the contrary, quite a few senators and witnesses had explicitly argued in favor of government action.
As Sen. Exon put it at one point that day: "Mr. Chairman, if we're not federal regulation and we're not talking about federal legislation, what is the reason for these hearings in front of the Commerce Committee?"
Sen. Al Gore (D-TN) speaks at the Senate hearings on rock lyrics on September 19, 1985.
This "private action" of the PMRC-Senate hearings produced swift results.
The RIAA agreed to work with the PMRC on labeling objectionable content with a sticker reading "Parental Advisory: Explicit Lyrics."
Tipper Gore, who always insisted she was anti-censorship, in her book exhorted readers to file petitions with the FCC to "request inquiries into the license renewals" of TV and radio stations that broadcast "excessively violent" content.
Huge retailers like Walmart would not sell "labeled" records, period, cutting out a huge slice of the marketplace for "labeled" artists. Some smaller stores were threatened with eviction if they stocked "labeled" records.
The city of San Antonio barred "labeled" artists from performing. Maryland and Pennsylvania debated bills that would require retailers to personally label objectionable content and keep it in an "adults-only" area of their shops.
Dead Kennedys singer Jello Biafra was prosecuted in California over "Distribution of Harmful Material to Minors." The PMRC released a statement in support of putting the punk-rock singer in jail over his album cover. According to Eric Nuzum, the author of "Parental Advisory: Music Censorship in America," Tipper Gore personally took credit in interviews for Biafra's prosecution. The case was eventually dismissed by a judge.
Though groups like 2 Live Crew and N.W.A. were about to spark their own free-speech controversies, in 1985, hardcore gangsta rap was still in its very earliest stages.
And while the PMRC hearings mostly focused on heavy metal and sexually suggestive pop songs, according to Nuzum, a 1994 survey found 8% of all CDs wore the "Parental Advisory" sticker. Of these just 13% were heavy metal records, while rap represented 51% of "labeled" content.
Censorship by any other name
The collapse of the record industry, which began over 20 years ago, has made "Parental Advisory" labels quaint. But the threat posed by the ideas that inspired them remains.
Censorship stigmatizes art and the artist. It makes transgressive ideas less available and turns arbitrary authority to unelected and unaccountable actors.
Diving into this 1985 time capsule is instructive in showing just how fevered arguments over the boundaries of free expression almost always are. These hearings also demonstrate how moral panics cause wild overreactions, ill-advised and damaging government action — always conducted with a sense of altruistic moral superiority.
It's no coincidence that in the years since Congress has held hearings on the supposedly society-destroying influence of rap lyrics, video games, and the TV show "Beavis and Butthead."
It's kind of ridiculous that Zappa, Denver, and Snider proved to be the common-sense civics experts in a room full of people at, or adjacent to, the levers of power. But these were the heroes we needed at the moment: the scary rocker, the gentle folkie, and the smartass weirdo composer.
An illustrative punctuation mark of the PMRC hearings came with the release of Zappa's 1987 album, "Jazz From Hell," on which a chain of Pacific Northwest department stores slapped an "Explicit Lyrics" warning label.
President Donald Trump returns to the White House on September 18, 2020 in Washington, DC. Trump traveled to Minnesota for a campaign event earlier in the day, before learning of the death of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
Win McNamee/Getty Images
President Donald Trump said in a tweet on Saturday he had the "obligation" to nominate a replacement for the late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg "without delay."
Before she died, Ginsburg told her granddaughter in a statement that her "most fervent wish is that I will not be replaced until a new president is installed."
Ginsburg died on Friday at the age of 87 following complications from metastatic pancreatic cancer.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell confirmed Friday the Senate will vote on a nominee put forward by the president.
President Donald Trump is planning to nominate a replacement for the late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg within the "coming days," ABC News reported. A similar report, also citing sources close to the president, from CNN likewise suggested that Trump was "eager" to nominate a replacement.
The White House declined Business Insider's request for comment on the reports, but Trump said in a tweet on Saturday he had the "obligation" to fill the seat "without delay."
"We were put in this position of power and importance to make decisions for the people who so proudly elected us, the most important of which has long been considered to be the selection of United States Supreme Court Justices," he wrote in addition to tagging the Republican National Committee Twitter account. "We have this obligation, without delay!"
Ginsburg, who spent 27 years as an associate justice on the nation's highest court, died Friday at the age of 87 following complications from metastatic pancreatic cancer, the Supreme Court announced. According to an NPR report, days before her death, Ginsburg dictated a statement to her granddaughter that said her "most fervent wish is that I will not be replaced until a new president is installed."
The president was told about Ginsburg's death during a campaign event in Minnesota, ABC News noted.
"Wow. I didn't know that. I just — you're telling me now for the first time," he told reporters about learning of her death. "She led an amazing life. What else can you say? She was an amazing woman. Whether you agree or not, she was an amazing woman who led an amazing life. I'm actually sad to hear that. I am sad to hear that."
According to ABC News, sources "close to the president and with direct knowledge of the situation" said Trump's list of potential nominees was "very short," and said included at least one woman. US Circuit Judge Amy Coney Barrett is a leading contender, two sources told ABC News. Earlier this month, Trump released a list of 20 potential Supreme Court nominees, which included Barrett.
The list also included Texas Sen. Ted Cruz who on Saturday said in a tweet, "we risk a constitutional crisis if we do not have a 9-Justice Supreme Court, particularly when there is such a risk of a contested election."
When Justice Antonin Scalia died in February 2016, the Republican-controlled Senate refused to vote to confirm President Barack Obama's nominee, Merrick Garland, as Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell argued "the American people should have a voice in the selection of their next Supreme Court Justice."
"Therefore, this vacancy should not be filled until we have a new president," McConnell said at the time.
A simple majority is needed to confirm a Supreme Court Justice to the bench, and Republicans hold a majority with 53 seats. As Business Insider reported late Friday, Sens. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Susan Collins of Maine said they wouldn't vote to confirm a replacement until after the election.
Other GOP senators, like outgoing Sens. Lamar Alexander and Pat Roberts, and Utah Sen. Mitt Romney, have been considered additional potential swing votes, Business Insider previously reported. During his first term, Trump has successfully nominated two justices to the court: Neil Gorsuch in 2017 and Brett Kavanaugh in 2018.
Rep. Doug Collins (R-Ga.) speaks during a House Judiciary Committee hearing on Capitol Hill earlier this summer.
Graeme Jennings - Pool/Getty Images
Just hours after the passing of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, US Rep. Doug Collins attacked the late justice's position on abortion on Twitter.
Collins tweeted Friday, "RIP to the more than 30 million innocent babies that have been murdered during the decades that Ruth Bader Ginsburg defended pro-abortion laws."
During President Trump's impeachment hearings earlier this year, Collins was a staunch defender of the president, delivering impassioned speeches and jousting with House Democrats throughout the proceedings.
Collins is currently embroiled in a heated special election for the US Senate seat held by appointed Sen. Kelly Loeffler, a Republican.
Just hours after the passing of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on Friday, Rep. Doug Collins unleashed a harsh attack on her abortion record during her 27-year tenure on the court.
As condolences and tributes poured in from across the political spectrum, including statements by President Donald Trump and Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden, Collins' tweet stood out as it sharply criticized Ginsburg on one of the most polarizing issues in American society.
"RIP to the more than 30 million innocent babies that have been murdered during the decades that Ruth Bader Ginsburg defended pro-abortion laws," Collins tweeted Friday night. "With @realDonaldTrump nominating a replacement that values human life, generations of unborn children have a chance to live."
In 1973, Roe v. Wade legalized abortion in the US and granted women a constitutional right to the procedure; social conservatives have been plotting to overturn the decision for decades.
Ginsburg has famously been a strong defender of women's reproductive rights while on the court. During her Senate confirmation hearings in 1993, Ginsburg explicitly made her opinions known on her judicial philosophy regarding the right to choose whether or not to have an abortion.
"It is essential to woman's equality with man that she be the decisionmaker, that her choice be controlling," Ginsburg said to senators on the Judiciary Committee. "If you impose restraints that impede her choice, you are disadvantaging her because of her sex."
Earlier this year, Ginsburg vigorously questioned the arguments presented by supporters of a Louisiana law that forced doctors performing abortion procedures to have admitting privileges at local hospitals, according to CNN. The law was struck down 5-4; Ginsburg and the liberal bloc of justices including Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor, and Elena Kagan, were joined by Chief Justice John Roberts, according to The New York Times. If kept in place, the law could have reduced the number of abortion clinics in Louisiana to just one clinic.
Collins, a staunch ally of Trump, frequently jousted with House Democrats during the president's impeachment proceedings earlier this year, is currently running in a highly competitive special election for the US Senate seat in Georgia currently held by appointed Sen. Kelly Loeffler, a fellow Republican. Loeffler was appointed to the seat by Republican Gov. Brian Kemp after Sen. Johnny Isakson retired for health reasons last year, and Collins is running for the seat over the objections of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and the National Republican Senatorial Committee.
Today's low-yield environment established three conditions likely to lift the stock market for months, Jim Paulsen, chief investment strategist at The Leuthold Group, said in a client note.
The S&P 500 performs the best when yields sit in their lowest quartile, Paulsen highlighted.
Low-yield environments are the only ones in which the S&P 500 still notches average monthly returns even when earnings decline.
The prospect of yields staying low for a prolonged period "provides an excellent foundation for the S&P 500," Paulsen said.
Today's historically low bond yields may rankle some, but they set up an opportune environment for those holding stocks, according to Jim Paulsen, chief investment strategist at The Leuthold Group.
Even as stocks sit near record highs, many are sticking to bonds as a safe-haven play. The trend has kept yields at record-lows through the pandemic, lessening their relative appeal in the eyes of nervous investors. However, Paulsen advised clients in a Friday note that the low-yield environment should pull even the most risk-averse toward equities.
Here are the three ways Paulsen expects record-low yields to boost stocks higher.
For one, the S&P 500 performs the best when yields are in their lowest quartile. Annualized total returns reach 19.8% for the index when yields are so low, compared to just 9.5% in the second-lowest quartile and 5.4% in the second-highest quartile. The benchmark index also posts monthly losses less frequently when yields are at their lowest, Paulsen highlighted.
"In spite of widespread angst during much of this low-yield era, it has produced superior stock market returns with the lowest frequency of market declines," he said.
Low-yield environments also set the market up to perform better through earnings season, the strategist said. The S&P 500's monthly return totals 24.4% on an average annualized basis when earnings-per-share rise and yields sit in their lowest quartile. That's the second-highest average gain, only losing out to the scenario when yields are in their highest quartile.
Perhaps more surprising is how the market outperforms when earnings decline and yields are at their lowest. While all other yield quartiles see S&P 500 average annualized monthly returns turn negative, the index gains 10.7% on months when profit fall and yields are in their lowest quartile.
"Unlike any other time, if yields are very low, the stock market has historically done well whether economic and earnings activity improves or worsens. An extremely low-yield environment has proved to be rarefied air for the stock market," Paulsen said.
Additionally, S&P 500 earnings decline far less frequently when yields are in their lowest quartile. The index's trailing 12-month EPS falls just 32% of the months when yields are at their lowest, compared to nearly 40% when yields are in their middle two quartiles and nearly half of the time when yields are in their highest quartile, according to Paulsen.
Best for tech
Finally, low-yield environments are a boon for the market's biggest driver: tech giants. Similar to the trend seen for the entire S&P 500, the index's tech sector performs best on average when bond yields are in their lowest quartile. The sector's monthly gains are the smallest when yields are in their middle two quartiles.
Yet the most notable trend for tech stocks in low-yield environments is their relative durability even when earnings decline. While earnings increases boost the sector's average monthly return to 15.3% in the lowest-yield environment, months of earnings declines still give way to an average return of 12.2%.
Since tech stocks have driven major indexes' rallies — and brief slumps — over the past few months, their outperformance in low-yield environments stands to lift the broader market so long as yields stay low.
"The 10-year bond yield has never been lower and, based on post-war data, it would need to rise above 3.3% before exiting the first quartile," Paulsen wrote.
He continued: "The combination of extraordinarily low bond yields and the prospect of an earnings revival in the coming year provides an excellent foundation for the S&P 500, in general, and, in particular, its primary leaders — technology stocks."
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Dr. Mahendra Amin, a physician accused of performing unnecessary and unwanted hysterectomies in an immigrant detention facility in Georgia, is not a board-certified OB-GYN, The Daily Beast reported.
Amin was identified as the doctor named in a complaint filed to the Office of the Inspector general on behalf of a whistleblower who previously worked as a nurse in the Irwin County Detention Center
A spokesperson for the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology (ABOG) told the Daily Beast that its records show that Amin is not certified by the organization.
The American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS) confirmed to Business Insider Amin was also not certified by any of its 24 member boards.
While board certification is a voluntary process, physicians often pursue certification to expand their skillset and establish credibility with patients.
Dr. Mahendra Amin, the physician accused of performing unwanted or unnecessary gynecological procedures at an immigrant detention facility, is not certified by the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology (ABOG), The Daily Beast reported.
On Monday, several immigration advocacy groups representing a whistleblower filed a complaint to the Office of the Inspector General, alleging "jarring medical neglect" and the occurrence of unwanted and unnecessary hysterectomies at the Irwin County Detention Center in Ocilla, Georgia.
In the complaint, Dawn Wooten, a licensed practical nurse who was previously employed by the center and is represented by Project South and Government Accountability Project, reported witnessing a large number of hysterectomies performed on immigrant women detained in the facility.
"Everybody he sees has a hysterectomy—just about everybody," Wooten said of one doctor who she described as "the uterus collector." Three lawyers cited by NBC News later identified the physician as Dr. Mahendra Amin.
Wooten also said she believed the women in the center did not "really, totally, all the way understand" what was happening to them during the procedures.
The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency did not respond to Business Insider's request for comment.
An attorney for Amin "vehemently" denied Wooten's allegations in a statement to The Washington Post.
"Dr. Amin is a highly respected physician who has dedicated his adult life to treating a high-risk, underserved population in rural Georgia," attorney Scott Grubman said in a statement to The Post. "We look forward to all of the facts coming out and are confident that, once they do, Dr. Amin will be cleared of any wrongdoing."
Amin is not a board-certified OBGYN — and he's faced lawsuits in the past
A spokesperson for ABOG told The Daily Beast that its records show that Amin is not certified by the organization as an OB-GYN — and the American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS) confirmed to Business Insider that Amin was not certified by any of its 24 member boards.
"He is NOT, N-O-T, one of our doctors. He is not certified by any of our boards. That's all we have to say," said Susan Morris, Associate Vice President of Communications at ABMS.
Board certification, unlike state licensure, is not required, but physicians often pursue board certification to expand their skillsets and assure patients of their specialty training.
According to the organization's website, ABOG-certified doctors must pass a qualifying written exam to demonstrate "the special knowledge and skills required for medical and surgical care of women" and pass a certifying oral exam that reviews physicians' previous cases and tests their ability to treat different conditions.
Amin, The Daily Beast reported, has maintained an active license with the Georgia Composite Medical Board and has practiced in Douglas, Georgia for at least twenty years. In addition to working in his own private practice, he has served as the medical director for the labor and delivery department at Irwin County Hospital.
According to court records obtained by the outlet, Amin has settled lawsuits with at least two former patients or patients' families. In one case, Amin was accused of discharging a pregnant patient when her test results showed "life-threatening abnormal lab values." After returning to the hospital with contractions, bleeding, and high blood pressure, the suit alleges, the patient received an emergency cesarean section and died thereafter.
In a court filing, the Daily Beast reported, Amin denied any knowledge of the "abnormal" lab values.
Dr. Mehandra Amin could not be reached for comment.
