'A perfect storm'
| 'A perfect storm'  The conservative Covid-19 culture wars just took a new twist.
Greg Abbott, the Republican governor of Texas, is banning any entity in the state, including private businesses, from imposing vaccine mandates. He wants to wipe out President Joe Biden's efforts to require vaccines for government workers, large employers and health care staff that cover around 100 million Americans and are intended to end the contagion.
Texas now threatens to cause mass confusion. Large firms based in the state like Southwest Airlines and AT&T (which owns CNN) were in the process of moving toward vaccine mandates. Abbott's move also seems certain to lead to unnecessary infections and deaths, given the potency of the Delta variant, the fact that kids under 11 still can't be vaccinated in the US and large numbers of adults have refused the shot.
But the governor is one of the most prominent US conservatives who say that while vaccines are effective and safe, Americans have a basic constitutional right not to take them. The right of others to work in a safe environment seems not to count. Such arguments are wildly popular with Republican voters, and Abbott needs support as he faces several challenges from his right as he gears up for his reelection year. If he wins another term, he'll enter the upper tier of potential GOP presidential candidates (at least those who aren't named Trump).
His positioning is a reminder of how the meaning of conservatism has changed. After all, Texas prides itself in dismantling barriers to business. Its unfettered conservative capitalism has ignited economic boom times, even if low taxes weaken public services. But now it wants to order corporations around.
The pandemic has shown that principle and public health often come second to politics. Most top conservatives now operate on the basis of WWTD? What would Trump do? The world and America China will test thousands of blood samples from the city of Wuhan for clues to the origin of Covid-19.
And two Australian teenagers were charged with allegedly killing 14 kangaroos.
A Wyoming coroner declared that influencer Gabby Petito died from strangulation.
 'A perfect storm' The supply chain nightmare is jacking up prices for consumers and slowing the global economic recovery, Moody's Analytics warned in a report Monday. "Border controls and mobility restrictions, unavailability of a global vaccine pass, and pent-up demand from being stuck at home have combined for a perfect storm where global production will be hampered because deliveries are not made in time, costs and prices will rise and GDP growth worldwide will not be as robust as a result," it said. Postcard from Jerusalem For a few short hours in Jerusalem this week, the Trump band got back together for a glitzy reunion gig, writes CNN's Hadas Gold from Jerusalem.
"There goes the royal family," one attendee quipped as Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner were inundated with hellos and selfie requests.
At the brand-new Museum of Tolerance, highlights from the signing of the Abraham Accords played as the former President's daughter and son-in-law, former Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin, former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and other Trump administration alumni mingled with the rich and powerful over ceviche, steaks and plenty of drinks.
Huge, black-fringed table lamps towered over the curious selection of guests -- including NFL star Peyton Manning and FIFA President Gianni Infantino -- at one of several open bars.
The whole event had an "Alice in Wonderland" feel, as if those present had tumbled through the looking glass and into an alternate reality in which Donald Trump was still President of the United States and Benjamin Netanyahu was still Prime Minister of Israel.
In theory, this was a launch party for the Friedman Center for Peace Through Strength, an organization founded by the former US Ambassador to Israel, David Friedman, which seeks to advance the Abraham Accords -- the September 2020 deal, brokered by the US, to normalize relations between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Sudan and Morocco.
In practice, it felt like a Trump reunion, and a campaign event for Pompeo, who received an award recognizing his work on the Abraham Accords, while assiduously avoiding reporters.
Many attendees wished out loud that Pompeo would run for US President in 2024 -- something he is reportedly considering, if Trump doesn't run again.
"We need to order the Pompeo wine!" said a diplomat's wife at the bar, on learning that some of the drinks on offer were from the Psagot winery, located in an Israeli settlement in the West Bank that named one of its reds after Pompeo last year.
Others were even more explicit. "Time ran out on the Trump administration, and we saw some of your achievements backslide, but hopefully President Pompeo will continue that path," billionaire philanthropist Sylvan Adams, a co-chair of the event, said to huge applause. Read the full story here.  A statue of Christopher Columbus in central London was doused with red paint Tuesday after Columbus Day was celebrated in the US. (Reuters) Thanks for reading. View in browser | All CNN Newsletters
Want to easily manage your newsletter subscriptions?
Copyright © 2021 Cable News Network, Inc. A WarnerMedia Company, All rights reserved.
Our mailing address is:
Want to change how you receive these emails?
| |||||||||||
