Covid-19's full death toll is nearly three times higher than reported, WHO data suggests

(CNN)About 14.9 million people around the world died as a direct or indirect result of Covid-19 in the period between January 1, 2020, and December 31, 2021, according to new estimates from the World Health Organization -- nearly three times more deaths than were officially reported.

There were 5.4 million Covid-19 deaths reported to WHO during that timeframe, resulting in an excess mortality estimate of 9.5 million more deaths than what was reported.

"Excess mortality is the difference between the number of deaths that have been recorded and those that would be expected in the absence of the pandemic," said Samira Asma, assistant director-general for the Data, Analytics and Delivery for Impact Division of WHO.

The 14.9 million deaths include "deaths directly attributed to Covid-19 that were reported to WHO, deaths directly attributed to Covid-19 that were not counted or reported ... deaths indirectly associated with the pandemic due to the wider impact on health systems and society," Asma explained. The figure also subtracts any deaths that were avoided due to changes in social behaviors, such as fewer fatalities from car wrecks because of lockdowns or travel restrictions.

https://www.cnn.com/2022/05/05/health/covid-excess-mortality-who-data/index.html

Blinken tests positive for coronavirus, State Department says

Secretary of State Antony Blinken has tested positive for the coronavirus, the State Department announced Wednesday, becoming the latest member of President Biden’s Cabinet to contract the virus.

Blinken tested positive Wednesday afternoon and “is experiencing only mild symptoms,” the State Department said. He is “fully vaccinated and boosted” and will maintain a virtual work schedule while isolating at home for an unspecified length of time, it added.

Blinken was among the more than 2,000 attendees at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner last weekend. Biden also attended. White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters Wednesday afternoon that the two have not been in close contact according to the guidelines released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“He has not seen the president in several days, and he is not considered a close contact,” Psaki said of Blinken.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/05/04/blinken-covid-positive/

Data Broker Is Selling Location Data of People Who Visit Abortion Clinics

A location data firm is selling information related to visits to clinics that provide abortions including Planned Parenthood facilities, showing where groups of people visiting the locations came from, how long they stayed there, and where they then went afterwards, according to sets of the data purchased by Motherboard.

(snip)
The country may also see an increase in vigilante activity or forms of surveillance and harassment against those seeking or providing abortions. With this aggregated location data available to anyone on the open market, customers could include anti-abortion vigilantes as well. Anti-abortion groups are already fairly adept at using novel technology for their goals. In 2016, an advertising CEO who worked with anti-abortion and Christian groups sent targeted advertisements to women sitting in Planned Parenthood clinics in an attempt to change their decision around getting an abortion. The sale of the location data raises questions around why companies are selling data based on abortion clinics specifically, and whether they should introduce more safeguards around the purchase of that information, if be selling it at all.

“It's bonkers dangerous to have abortion clinics and then let someone buy the census tracks where people are coming from to visit that abortion clinic,” Zach Edwards, a cybersecurity researcher who closely tracks the data selling marketplace, told Motherboard in an online chat after reviewing the data. “This is how you dox someone traveling across state lines for abortions—how you dox clinics providing this service."
(Snip)

The company selling the data is SafeGraph. SafeGraph ultimately obtains location data from ordinary apps installed on peoples’ phones. Often app developers install code, called software development kits (SDKs), into their apps that sends users’ location data to companies in exchange for the developer receiving payment. Sometimes app users don’t know that their phone—be that via a prayer app, or a weather app—is collecting and sending location data to third parties, let alone some of the more dangerous use cases that Motherboard has reported on, including transferring data to U.S. military contractors. Planned Parenthood is not the organization performing the data collection nor benefiting from it financially.
https://www.vice.com/en/article/m7vzjb/location-data-abortion-clinics-safegraph-planned-parenthood

Alec Baldwin's Lawyer Says 'Rust' OSHA Report "Exonerates Mr. Baldwin"

An attorney for Alec Baldwin said today that Wednesday’s report by the New Mexico safety regulators “exonerates” his client. The report cites “serious management failures” by the Rust production company in its investigation of the on-set shooting that killed DP Halyna Hutchins and badly injured director Joel Souza last year.

“We are grateful to the New Mexico Occupational Health and Safety Bureau for investigating this matter,” Luke Nikas wrote in a post on Baldwin’s Instagram page (see it below). “We appreciate that the report exonerates Mr. Baldwin by making clear that he believed the gun held only dummy rounds and that his authority on the production was limited to approving script changes and creative casting. Mr. Baldwin had no authority over the matters that were the subject of the Bureau’s findings of violations, and we are pleased that the New Mexico authorities have clarified these critical issues. We are confident that the individuals identified in the report will be held accountable for this tragedy.”

The report concludes that Rust Movie Productions LLC’s management “knew that firearm safety procedures were not being followed on set and demonstrated plain indifference to employee safety by failing to review work practices and take corrective action.”

Environmental Cabinet Secretary James Kenney said Wednesday that “there were serious management failures and more than sufficient evidence to suggest that if stardard industry practices were followed, the fatal shooting of Halyna Hutching and the serious injury to Joel Souza would not have occurred. … This is a complete failure of the employer to follow recognized national protocols that keep employees safe.”

https://deadline.com/2022/04/alec-baldwin-lawyer-says-osha-report-exonerates-baldwin-1235007363/

Angry traveler threatens Jet Blue employee over delayed flight

Store owner shot girl who was waiting to take photo with Easter bunny while firing at shoplifters

VICTORVILLE, Calif. (KABC) -- A man has been arrested for mistakenly shooting a 9-year-old girl as he chased two shoplifters out of his store in a Victorville mall Tuesday evening, authorities say.

Marqel Cockrell, a co-owner of Sole Addicts, fired multiple shots in the shoplifter's direction but missed and struck the girl instead, according to the Victorville Police Department. Cockrell fled the scene after the shooting and was later found by Nevada Highway Patrol.

The 20-year-old, of Adelanto, was booked at the Clark County Jail for attempted murder and is being held on $1,000,000 bail. He'll likely face extradition back to California.

(snip)

Social media posts that appear to be from the girl's family say she was shot twice in the arm while in line to get her picture taken with the Easter bunny. She is expected to be OK.

https://abc7.com/victorville-mall-shooting-arrest-shoplifters/11744517/

A call, a text, an apology: How an abortion arrest shook up a Texas town

Calixtro Villarreal’s phone rang Saturday afternoon, about 48 hours after his client, Lizelle Herrera, was arrested and charged with murder — over what local authorities alleged was a “self-induced abortion.”

It was Gocha Ramirez, the district attorney in Starr County, Tex., a remote area on the border with Mexico. Herrera should never have been charged, Ramirez told the lawyer, according to a person familiar with the situation, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe private interactions.

The district attorney reiterated that sentiment in a text he sent the next day to an acquaintance. “I’m so sorry,” he wrote in the message, which was reviewed by The Washington Post. “I assure you I never meant to hurt this young lady.”
(snip)

However, interviews with several people in the South Texas community closely following the situation, as well as statements from leaders in the Texas antiabortion movement, suggest this was not part of a broader antiabortion strategy, but instead a hasty error by a first-term Democratic district attorney. Herrera’s husband -- who filed for divorce on the same day as her arrest -- is being represented by a prosecutor in the district attorney’s office, raising questions about potential conflicts of interest.

(snip)

Her husband, Ismael Herrera, filed a divorce petition on April 7, the same day as her arrest, according to court documents. They married in 2015, when she was 19 years old, and stopped living together on or about Jan. 1, according to the records. The separation occurred less than a week before the “self-induced abortion” described in her indictment. The couple have two sons, according to the records.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2022/04/13/texas-abortion-arrest/

Denver business owner to implement 'crime spike fee' to recover shoplifting losses

Derek Friedman owns several Sportsfan and Sock 'Em Sock Emporium stores in the Denver metro area. He told 9NEWS his stores along the 16th Street Mall and his Sportsfan location on Federal Boulevard have seen an increase in crime. 
(Snip)
 "When you look at the shoplifting and the overall theft increase it’s six figures [in losses], which is staggering for a company our size, to have that much just walk out the door," he said. "So that’s why we implement this small fee to attempt to recover some of it." 
(Snip)
"I think what’s particularly troublesome is the situations where you have people that walk in, grab several things, are asked if they’re ready to check out, and they just walk right out and they have no fear of repercussions," Friedman said. 

Friedman said applicants willing to work at those locations have dwindled, and he isn't surprised. While he knows he won't recover all of the money his business has lost, he hopes crime rates decrease for the sake of his employees. 

"I think the thing that is toughest is when you get a call from a young lady that works for you and she’s sobbing because someone has just threatened with a plumbing wrench and walked out with a few pair of socks," he said.

https://www.9news.com/article/news/local/denver-business-owner-crime-spike-fee/73-53de5333-8cac-4e6b-a00c-e16e7db5cc39

78-year-old thrown to ground, Tased by Westminster police while suffering medical condition, lawsuit

Clayton Shriver was on a shopping trip at Walmart when he started feeling ill and went to sit and wait for his partner inside the store’s fast-food chain restaurant, according to the lawsuit.
When Shriver entered McDonald’s, the lawsuit states that he mistakenly sat down at a seat that was designated as a non-seating area due to COVID-19.

The lawsuit states that Shriver suffers from many serious medical and emotional health conditions, including multiple closed head injuries and traumatic brain injuries, memory loss, organic mood disorder, hearing loss, and several other medical conditions.

At that time, a staff member told Shriver that he needed to purchase something or leave the store. Shriver was unable to hear what the staff was saying to him due to his medical condition, according to the lawsuit.

Shriver believed the staff could not understand him and he began to raise his voice, according to the lawsuit, and explained that he needed medical help.

The lawsuit states that Westminster police officer Michael Owen, who was already at Walmart for an unrelated reason, responded to McDonald’s due to a call by Walmart loss prevention.

The lawsuit says that when Owen arrived at McDonald’s, observed Shriver sitting in the “no sitting” area while speaking loudly. The lawsuit alleges that Owen was unable to hear what Shriver was saying.

Shriver then provided Owen with his name and said he was suffering from a medical condition, according to the lawsuit.
Shriver said he heard McDonald’s staff complaining to Owen about him, which is when he said he put his arms up and said, “Wait a minute, I’m in terrible pain.” The lawsuit states that Shriver then heard that he was being asked to leave, so he stood up and told Owen, “Okay, I’ll go to my car.”

Shriver then started to walk out of McDonald’s, according to the lawsuit, and that’s when Owen grabbed Shriver and threw him to the ground.

The lawsuit claims that Owen placed handcuffs on Shriver, who stiffened up in pain and tried to roll over. That’s when Owen allegedly grabbed his Taser and used it on Shriver.
(Snip)

https://kdvr.com/news/local/78-year-old-thrown-to-ground-tased-by-westminster-police-while-suffering-medical-condition-lawsuit-says/

'Outcome reached' in trial of Kim Potter, ex-officer charged in Daunte Wright's death

A Minneapolis jury reached an "outcome" on Thursday in the trial of Kim Potter, a former police officer charged with fatally shooting Daunte Wright, a Black motorist — accidentally, she's claimed, by grabbing her gun instead of a Taser.

Hennepin County Judge Regina Chu is expected to reveal the outcome — reached by a panel of two Asian Americans, one Black person and nine white people — between 1:30 p.m. and 2 p.m. CST.
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/outcome-reached-trial-kim-potter-ex-officer-charged-daunte-wrights-dea-rcna9408

I'm a betting woman so I'm going to go ahead and say hung jury. I doubt they will re try her.