January 1, Republican Governor: “Time to start blaming the unvaccinated”

Good morning Americans,

Governor of Alabama Kay Ivey said that it’s “time to start blaming the unvaccinated folks” for the spike in Covid-19 cases. “Folks are supposed to have common sense,” Ivey said. “But it’s time to start blaming the unvaccinated folks, not the vaccinated folks. It’s the unvaccinated folks that are letting us down.” Roughly a third of Alabama’s eligible population has received a vaccine, one of the lowest rates in the country. Ivey pointed out that almost all of the new Covid hospitalizations are among the unvaccinated. “These folks are choosing a horrible lifestyle of self-inflicted pain,” she said.

Cleveland’s Major League Baseball team, known as the Indians since 1915, has selected a new name. The team will be called the Guardians, effective at the end of the 2021 season. The organization has been debating a new name for the past year. Just last month, the list of potential new monikers was over 1,200. While some fans have taken to social media to criticize the new name, the club said the process included 140 hours of interviews with fans, community leaders, and front office personnel. The team’s owner Paul Dolan said he decided to change the name after last year’s social unrest, sparked by the killing of George Floyd.

Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch requested that the Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade, urging the high court to allow a controversial state law that would ban most abortions after 15 weeks. “The conclusion that abortion is a constitutional right has no basis in text, structure, history, or tradition,” Fitch wrote. Mississippi enacted the bill in 2018, but it has been entangled in legal battles ever since. The state’s only abortion clinic is still currently in operation.

General Motors is once again recalling roughly 70,000 electric vehicles due to a possible fire hazard. The Chevrolet Bolt’s battery may catch fire when the car is parked. GM does not currently have a fix for the issue, which has been tied to at least nine fires since 2020. The Bolt is currently the only electric vehicle that the company sells in North America, though additional models are sold in other countries. The safety risk comes just as GM is working to expand its EV sector. The company plans to invest $35 billion to produce 30 different electric vehicles, 20 of which are slated for the US market.

A typhoon could hit Tokyo next week, just days after the start of the Olympics. The Joint Typhoon Warning Center says there’s a “medium chance” for “potential tropical development.” The storm is forming in the Philippine Sea and is expected to travel west as the weekend continues. Some Olympians see a silver lining in the impending storm, namely the surfers who had concerns over the weak waves of Tsurigasaki Beach. “There’s going to be good waves, there’s a strong typhoon here off the coast of Japan, and we know that the waves are getting bigger,” International Surfing Association president Fernando Aguerre said.

Tom Barrack, the chair of former President Donald Trump’s inaugural committee, was ordered to be released from jail on a $250 million bail. Barrack, who was arrested on Tuesday, was one of three individuals charged with conspiring to influence U.S. policy on the UAE’s behalf during Trump’s 2016 campaign and his presidential term. Barrack has not yet entered a plea in this case, though a spokesman said he will plead not guilty. Barrack is charged with conspiracy, obstruction of justice, and making multiple false statements during a June 2019 interview with federal agents.

Be well,

Fraser Dixon

Sources

• Republican governor says ‘time to start blaming unvaccinated’ for rise in cases
• Cleveland’s baseball team goes from Indians to Guardians
• Mississippi asks US Supreme Court to overrule Roe v. Wade
• GM again recalls its US electric vehicles over fire threat
• Typhoon threatens to hit Tokyo just days into the Olympics
• Trump inaugural committee chair to be released on $250M bail