Thursday, May 13 top stories
It is Thursday, May 13. Here are today’s top stories.
The CDC announced today that it no longer recommends masks for Americans who are fully vaccinated — both outdoors and indoors.
To make that clear, the CDC is saying no masks are needed for the fully vaccinated, meaning anyone who has waited at least two weeks after receiving the second dose of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine or one dose of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.
The CDC said the recommendations do not apply to buses, planes, hospitals, prisons, or homeless shelters.
ABC News pointed out that the CDC is taking a very different position compared with just two weeks ago in which it said masks should be used indoors for those who are fully vaccinated.
ABC said the CDC explained that data from the last few weeks shows that vaccines work in the real world, stand up to the variants, and makes it unlikely that vaccinated people can transmit the virus.
Now comes the complicated part — there will be barefaced people walking and you won’t know if they are fully vaccinated or not. There are states that still have mask restrictions, so how will they update their rules going forward? That’s something to look at with announcements by your local and state officials.
The CDC director said unvaccinated people should still wear masks and get vaccinated right away because of the risk of severe illness or death or spreading the illness to others.
News reports said Colonial Pipeline paid $5 million in cryptocurrency to a cybercrime group called DarkSide to resolve a ransomware attack that forced its major pipeline to shut down.
Colonial said its pipeline service has resumed, but that it will take several days for deliveries to return to normal.
A ransomware attack is when hackers gain control of your computer systems or steal sensitive data and requires payments before handing it back to you.
Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va) said the U.S. needs to ramp up its cyber defenses and that if Americans knew how many ransomware attacks were happening every day, it would blow our minds.
President Biden was asked if he is aware that a ransom was paid, and he said “no comment.”
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CNBC reported that $365 billion was wiped off the entire cryptocurrency market after Tesla CEO Elon Musk tweeted that Tesla would no longer accept car purchases using bitcoin because of environmental concerns.
It was an about-face because Musk announced in February that Tesla would accept Bitcoin for car purchases and that the company purchased $1.5 billion worth of bitcoins.
Bitcoin depends on computers that require a tremendous amount of energy (electricity) to solve very complex mathematical puzzles in order to complete transactions.
CNBC said although the value has plunged recently, Bitcoin is still up 400% compared with a year ago.
News reports from Mississippi said former NFL quarterback Brett Favre still owes $600,000 because he never showed up to several events where he was supposed to give a speech.
AP News explained that a 2020 audit of Mississippi government spending found that an agency paid $1.1 million to Favre’s company for the speeches, but he never showed up. Favre has already paid $500,000 back and promised to repay the rest, but there’s still the remaining $600,000. The money came from the state’s TANF (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families) program.
The audit in Mississippi led to several indictments of other officials who were accused of misusing the funds, but Favre hasn’t been accused of a crime.
Today a 40-year-old Marine Corps officer, Christopher Warnagiris, was arrested and charged with assaulting police officers at the January 6 Capitol attack. He is the first active duty service member to be charged in the riot.
The Justice Department said video footage shows Warnagiris pushing a police officer who tried to close doors guarding the Capitol’s East Rotunda doors.
The Marine Corps issued a statement today saying they want to be clear that “there is no place for racial hatred or extremism in the Marine Corps.”
That is all the top stories for today. See you tomorrow and stay with the light.
https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1392602041025843203
Brett Favre: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/brett-favre-owes-mississippi-600-000-speaking-fees-events-he-n1267066
Colonial Pipeline: https://www.axios.com/colonial-pipeline-ransom-hackers-7d9ec5d9-f730-47ec-ab13-6994c284388b.html
CDC: https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/fully-vaccinated-americans-return-life-masks-cdc/story?id=77665771
Marine Corps Officer: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2021/05/13/capitol-riot-marine-corps-officer-charged-role-jan-6-attack/5075571001/