December 30, 2021

Iran state TV says Tehran launched rocket into space

Source: AP

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran on Thursday announced it launched a satellite carrier rocket bearing three devices into space, though it’s unclear whether any of the objects entered orbit around the Earth.

The state TV report, as well as others by Iran’s semiofficial news agencies, did not say when the launch was conducted nor what devices the carrier brought with it. However, the launch comes amid difficult negotiations in Vienna over Iran’s tattered nuclear deal.

Previous launches have drawn rebukes from the United States. The U.S. State Department, Space Force and the Pentagon did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Ahmad Hosseini, a Defense Ministry spokesman, identified the rocket as a Simorgh, or “Phoenix,” rocket. He said the three devices were sent up 470 kilometers (290 miles).

Read more: https://apnews.com/article/space-launches-business-europe-vienna-tehran-328de0d544eb750117c902883d162771

December 30, 2021

Schwarzenegger and Shriver divorce final after 10 years

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Arnold Schwarzenegger and Maria Shriver’s marriage is officially over more than 10 years after the award-winning journalist petitioned to end her then-25-year marriage to the action star and former California governor.

A Los Angeles judge finalized the divorce on Tuesday, court records show.

The pair had been married since 1986 when Shriver filed for divorce in 2011 after Schwarzenegger disclosed he had fathered a child with a member of their household staff years earlier.

The revelation set off a tabloid frenzy, but Schwarzenegger and Shriver handled their divorce quietly and without lobbing accusations in court or in public.

Read more: https://apnews.com/article/entertainment-lifestyle-california-journalists-arnold-schwarzenegger-0b6dc640685d16346cf8cbe68719a707

December 30, 2021

SEC: Payday loan scheme bilks investors out of millions

MIAMI -- The owner of a Miami-based payday loan company bilked hundreds of investors out of millions of dollars and repaid others with money he acquired from a Ponzi scheme, according to a newspaper report and federal regulators.

About 500 investors, many from South Florida’s Venezuelan American community, were taken in by Efrain Betancourt Jr.'s sales pitch of high-interest returns on their investments in his short-term loan operation Sky Group USA, the Miami Herald reported.

The Securities and Exchange Commission in Miami filed a lawsuit against Betancourt, 33, and his company in September, the report noted. The agency accuses Betancourt of committing securities violations in a scheme that authorities describe as “affinity fraud.”

In addition to the SEC complaint, a half-dozen other lawsuits and arbitration cases have been filed against Betancourt, according to the newspaper. He has not been criminally charged.

Read more: https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/sec-payday-loan-scheme-bilks-investors-millions-81970281

December 30, 2021

Boston workers organize against vaccine mandate as thousands face termination

A group of city workers are organizing to fight Mayor Michelle Wu’s vaccine mandate, announced last week, which removes the option for city workers to get regularly tested instead of getting vaccinated against COVID-19, unless they qualify for a medical or religious exemption.

Approximately 2,300 city employees and contractors are out of compliance and face termination unless they present proof of vaccination by Jan. 15, according to a spokesperson from Wu’s administration. Proof of a second dose will be required by Feb. 15.

“They really have removed choice. It’s either do what we say, or we’ll make you do it,” said Shana Cottone, a Boston Police sergeant and president of Boston First Responders United, a grassroots group of city employees formed in July of last year. “If you don't do it, we will take everything away from you, and we will ruin you so that you are nothing.”

Cottone’s group is in the preliminary stages of preparing a legal challenge to the mandate, planning to demand that city employees return to their jobs without vaccination and receive financial damages.

Read more: https://www.wgbh.org/news/local-news/2021/12/29/boston-workers-organize-against-vaccine-mandate-as-thousands-face-termination

December 30, 2021

NH court fines Dover woman for threatening to kneel on the neck of a 9-year-old Black boy

A New Hampshire court ruled Wednesday that a Dover woman violated the state’s Civil Rights Act when she called a 9-year-old Black child a racial slur and threatened to kneel on his neck, according to a statement from the New Hampshire attorney general’s office.

Kristina Graper was prohibited from contacting the victim or his family and fined $2,500 with all but $500 suspended if the 51-year-old complies for three years with court orders, which include refraining from further violations of the Civil Rights Act, according to the statement.

The judge found that Graper threatened physical force against and terrorized the victim because of his race, according to the attorney general’s office.

Graper’s race was not mentioned in court documents.

The court reached this conclusion after Graper defaulted by not filing a response to the attorney general’s complaint, according to the statement.

Read more: https://www.boston.com/news/local-news/2021/12/29/nh-dover-woman-threatening-to-kneel-on-neck-of-9-year-old-black-boy/

December 30, 2021

Beverly COVID meeting ends in chaos

BEVERLY — An attempt at discussing mask and vaccine mandates ended before it even began Tuesday afternoon, with members of the public taking over and preventing an attempt to call a Beverly Board of Public Health meeting to order.

More than 350 people were in attendance when the board tried holding a virtual meeting over Google Meet at 3 p.m. The agenda called for discussions on mask and vaccine mandates, conversations that have also played out in surrounding communities.

Officials attempted to call the meeting to order but failed to gain control of the online session. Then, after all city officials left the meeting, the session continued uninterrupted for close to an hour, led by a mask mandate opponent who ran a list of speakers based on who’s hands were raised, providing a Lord of the Flies-esque moment for the unusual meeting.

“Once it starts in one place then it’s going to be in another. Then it’s going to be in another, then it’s going to be in another,” Mark Cucinelli said of mask mandates “Next thing you know, it’s the supermarkets. It’s the CVS.”

Read more: https://www.salemnews.com/coronavirus/beverly-covid-meeting-ends-in-chaos/article_24955c58-6818-11ec-9705-b7c1c41f45e0.html

December 30, 2021

R.I. representative slammed for tweeting she lost 'a black friend' to critical race theory

Rhode Island state Representative Patricia Morgan has tweeted a lot about critical race theory, a frequent target of criticism from the Republican of West Warwick. But a post on Tuesday got a lot more attention than usual, much of it quite critical.

“I had a black friend,” Morgan tweeted. “I liked her and I think she liked me, too. But now she is hostile and unpleasant. I am sure I didn’t do anything to her, except be white. Is that what teachers and our political leaders really want for our society? Divide us because of our skin color? #CRT”

CRT stands for critical race theory. The post earned heaps of online scorn, with nearly three thousand people quote-tweeting replies within a few hours.

“My favorite part of this tweet is ‘a,’” one person wrote.

“why would you tweet this lmaoooo,” another tweeted.

“If you don’t believe in judging others by their skin color, then how come you assumed your former friend has a problem with you because you’re white?” asked writer Jelena Woehr. “If she was white would you think that?”

Read more: https://www.bostonglobe.com/2021/12/28/metro/ri-representative-slammed-tweeting-she-lost-black-friend-critical-race-theory/

December 30, 2021

Sharon schools to pay former superintendent $750,000 for discrimination claim

SHARON, Mass. (AP) — A former Massachusetts superintendent will receive $750,000 to settle racial discrimination allegations that a suburban Boston public school committee retaliated against her by voting not to renew her contract just days after she complained of racial discrimination.

Victoria Greer was hired as the Sharon school district’s first Black woman superintendent in February 2017. She was also the first person of color to hold the role.

A statement from the committee and Greer’s lawyers said the committee will rescind and expunge the vote to not renew her contract, and agreed her contract ended “by mutually agreed-upon terms,” while in turn, the committee admits no wrongdoing, The Patriot Ledger reported Wednesday.

Last year, Greer had nine months left in her contract when the committee voted to not renew it and placed her on leave during a closed-door meeting.

Read more: https://www.boston.com/news/local-news/2021/12/29/sharon-schools-to-pay-former-superintendent-750000-for-discrimination-claim/

December 30, 2021

Make those who don't get vaccinated pay $500

by Dr. Hayward K. Zwerling


MASSACHUSETTS IS AGAIN experiencing a COVID-19 surge and our hospitals are overwhelmed, mostly with unvaccinated patients.

As a practicing physician who takes care of many high-risk diabetic patients, I ask all my patients about their COVID-19 vaccination status. I explain to my unvaccinated patients that the benefits of vaccination far exceed the risk, both at the individual and societal level.

Unfortunately, this conversation only convinces a minority of the unvaccinated to get vaccinated and I have found that their decision is usually a political or tribal decision, not a scientific decision. My experience is concordant with survey data which has found that the best predictor of vaccination status is political affiliation.

Recent social experiments have found that “incentives” have failed to convince most unvaccinated people to become vaccinated. However, “disincentives,” such as employment mandates, are an effective means of convincing a majority of unvaccinated patients to become vaccinated.

Read more: https://commonwealthmagazine.org/opinion/make-those-who-dont-get-vaccinated-pay-500/

December 30, 2021

Massachusetts House employee tests positive after reporting to Beacon Hill this week

A Massachusetts House employee who tested positive for COVID-19 had most recently reported to work in person on Beacon Hill on Monday, Speaker Ron Mariano’s office said Wednesday afternoon.

The disclosure comes after two House employees who were last in the Massachusetts State House on Dec. 22 subsequently tested positive for the coronavirus. The names of the infected individuals were not released due to health privacy concerns, according to the messages shared with MassLive by Mariano’s office.

The State House has remained largely shuttered to the public since the onset of the pandemic. A House official on Wednesday did not answer MassLive questions about how the Omicron variant may have altered return-to-work plans.

In both messages to elected officials and staffers this week, Keith Johnson — the House’s director of employee engagement — said all close contacts were notified. Johnson said the definition of a close contact is based on Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidance.

Read more: https://www.masslive.com/politics/2021/12/massachusetts-house-employee-tests-positive-after-reporting-to-beacon-hill-this-week.html