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| Presented By Bank of America |
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| Axios AM |
| By Mike Allen ·May 24, 2021 |
| ☕ Good Monday morning. Smart Brevity™ count: 1,380 words ... 5 minutes. Edited by Zachary Basu. ⚡ Breaking: Blinken to Middle East ... Secretary of State Tony Blinken tweeted this morning that he will travel "to Jerusalem, Ramallah, Cairo, and Amman to meet with the parties to support their efforts to solidify a ceasefire." |
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| 1 big thing: New battle over kids' screen time |
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| Illustration: Shoshana Gordon/Axios |
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| After a year of screen-time amnesty, many kids will resist disengaging from devices and reentering real life as summer camps and other activities reopen, Axios' Kim Hart writes in her "Tech Agenda" column. - Why it matters: Digital content, including social media, has addictive qualities.
Kim's take: Like many parents, I'm embarrassed to admit how much screen time my kids have become accustomed to over the past year. - They're glued not only to Minecraft, but YouTube videos of other people playing Minecraft.
- They zone out in front of Disney+ and Netflix shows after school work, while my husband and I try to finish up our own work.
- Getting them to shut off the tablets ends up in an epic power struggle.
Here are some strategies recommended by child psychologists for parents trying to reduce their kids' screen time. - Include the child: Allow a child to have a say in resetting time limits.
- Change the routine: Distract kids with alternative activities, such as going for a family walk, playing outside or visiting a park.
- Use a timer: Once you set expectations about screen time limits, set a kitchen timer, use a timer app or set your home's WiFi to cut off.
- Give incentives.
- Be age-appropriate: School-aged kids often rely on laptops and tablets for schoolwork, so try not to make that time count against the screen-time limits. Consider household rules of turning off screens an hour before bed and not taking devices into bedrooms overnight.
- Model desired behavior: Try to cut back your own screen time and frame it as a positive change, not a punishment.
Share this story. - Go deeper: The American Academy of Pediatrics has templates for screen-time contracts.
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| 2. "Axios on HBO": Biden pushes electric cars |
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| Photo: "Axios on HBO" |
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| On "Axios on HBO," White House national climate adviser Gina McCarthy called for a practical rather than idealistic approach to getting Americans to change their routines to save the planet. - McCarthy told me that with all the lost jobs, "Now is not the time to sit them down and say: 'Let's talk about climate. How can you sacrifice?' ... [I]t's never going to be a winning strategy. Right now, it's ridiculous."
Why it matters: Electric vehicles have had a luxury image. But McCarthy took me for a spin in an electric Chevrolet Bolt before the interview, as part of an effort to show electric vehicles can be an economical part of the average American's future. McCarthy — the head of the EPA under President Obama, and now in a new job created by President Biden — noted that change is hard, because people love their routines. - "They don't want to have to do research on things like cars," she added. "They just want 'em to be what they used to be. And if you want to make the kind of shift that we need for climate, you've got to be optimistic about the future."
Watch a clip. - See more of my interview with Gina McCarthy on "Axios on HBO," on HBO and HBO Max.
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| 3. NYPD steps up patrols after anti-Semitic attacks |
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| Screenshot: CNN |
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| The NYPD's Hate Crime Task Force launched an investigation into a pair of anti-Semitic incidents in Brooklyn on Saturday night, Axios' Zachary Basu reports. - The NYPD says 195 hate crimes were reported in the city between Jan. 1 and May 16 — an increase of 71% from the same period last year. The true total is likely higher, since many incidents go unreported.
What's happening: Three suspects are wanted for harassing a group of Orthodox Jews outside of a synagogue in Borough Park and allegedly yelling, "Free Palestine — kill all the Jews,'' according to Assemblyman Simcha Eichenstein. - The same group is suspected to have assaulted and yelled anti-Semitic language at two Jewish teenagers 45 minutes later, NBC New York reports.
Mayor Bill de Blasio met yesterday with the NYPD and Jewish community leaders in Borough Park, a neighborhood with a large Orthodox Jewish community, to discuss strategies to combat hate crimes. - "The attacks we saw in Brooklyn ... were pure, unbridled anti-Semitism," de Blasio tweeted.
The big picture: After Israel-Gaza hostilities resumed, vandalism and harassment fueled by anti-Semitism and Islamophobia spiked throughout the U.S. and Europe. |
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| A message from Bank of America |
| Working together to create jobs for our community |
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| Expanding access to skill-building programs and resources can create a pipeline of talent in local communities. Bank of America is working with local organizations to fuel economic opportunity — including a $25M investment in community colleges, HBCUs and Hispanic-serving institutions. |
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| 4. Feds may police vaccine rewards |
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| Illustration: Annelise Capossela/Axios |
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| Carrots that employers are offering employees to get vaccinated could run afoul of federal law if rewards are too big, Axios' Bob Herman writes. - Why it matters: Instead of mandating COVID vaccination, more companies are offering employees cash, paid time off, and other financial incentives to get the shot.
What's happening: Dollar General, Kroger, Petco, Target, Walmart, the Maryland state government, and many other companies have offered cash stipends to workers who get vaccinated. - The bonuses usually don't exceed $500.
The twist: The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission hasn't issued updated guidance, so there's no clear standard for how large those rewards can be without violating federal disability, anti-discrimination, and privacy laws. - The EEOC told Axios the update on "COVID-19 employer vaccine incentives and other issues is ongoing."
Share this story. |
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| 5. Like "a Jason Bourne plot": Plane diverted to nab reporter |
| In 2017, Belarus police detain journalist Roman Pratasevich in Minsk. Photo: Sergei Grits/AP The Putin-backed "strongman president of Belarus sent a fighter jet to intercept an [Ireland-based Ryanair] airliner traveling through the country's airspace ... and ordered the plane to land in the capital, Minsk, where a prominent opposition journalist aboard was then seized," the N.Y. Times reports (subscription). - "The stunning gambit by Aleksandr G. Lukashenko, a brutal and erratic leader who has clung to power despite huge protests against his government last year, was condemned by European officials, who compared it to hijacking."
Lead of the day ... "It has all of the elements of a Jason Bourne plot: A commercial flight carrying a dissident journalist is intercepted by a MiG-29 fighter jet under orders from the strongman president of Belarus," the N.Y. Times writes in a sidebar. - "This protagonist is very much real. His name is Roman Protasevich."
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| 6. Wuhan mystery: New doubts on virus origin |
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| Security personnel keep watch outside the Wuhan Institute of Virology during a WHO visit in February. Photo: Thomas Peter/Reuters |
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| "Three researchers from China's Wuhan Institute of Virology became sick enough in November 2019 that they sought hospital care," The Wall Street Journal reports from previously undisclosed U.S. intelligence. - Why it matters: The new reporting "could add weight to growing calls for a fuller probe of whether the Covid-19 virus may have escaped from the laboratory."
In a letter published in the journal Science, leading researchers called last week for a renewed investigation of COVID origins. 🥊 Fauci doubts: "No, I am not convinced about that," Anthony Fauci said at a PolitiFact event this month when asked if he was confident COVID developed naturally. - "I think we should continue to investigate what went on in China until we continue to find out to the best of our ability what happened."
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| 7. Black-owned businesses gain confidence |
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| Illustration: Annelise Capossela/Axios |
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| Digital campaigns supporting Black-owned businesses have slowed in the year since George Floyd's death, but some owners say they're now more confident of growth than ever before, Axios' Hope King reports. - Why it matters: News outlets, social media and e-commerce platforms rushed to find ways to support the Black community, including the promotion of Black-owned businesses — but it was never clear whether that support was authentic or whether it would last.
Searches for "Black-owned businesses" peaked on Google during the first week in June last year, and have seen spikes every few months since. The last was in February, during Black History Month. - Yelp, which compared "identity attribute" terms such as "Black-owned," saw search interest grow by more than 12,000% in June year-over-year. Growth is still high now, but not as dramatically high — up close to 480% as of March, the company tells Axios.
Keep reading. |
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| 8. Beto's back! Mulls run for Texas gov |
| Beto O'Rourke speaks in Austin during a May 8 protest against Republican legislators' push for new voting restrictions. Photo: Mikala Compton/Reuters Beto O'Rourke is considering a campaign for Texas governor, three years after becoming a Democratic breakout star, and a year after crashing back to Earth in a short-lived presidential run, AP reports. - But O'Rourke, who announced for president on the cover of Vanity Fair, is being quiet about it. He says he hasn't ruled out anything, but isn't saying much else.
A top aide said O'Rourke, 48, hasn't ruled out challenging Gov. Greg Abbott (R) in 2022 — but has taken no formal steps toward a campaign, like calling donors or recruiting staff. |
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| 9. Havana Syndrome: "American officials under silent attack" |
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| Illustration: Timo Lenzen for The New Yorker. Used by kind permission |
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| Beginning in 2016, the well-sourced Adam Entous writes in The New Yorker, CIA and State Department officials described being bombarded by buzzing in their heads: [W]hat began with several dozen spies and diplomats in Havana now encompasses more than a hundred and thirty possible cases, from Colombia to Kyrgyzstan ... At least four of the cases involve Trump White House officials, two of whom say they had episodes on the Ellipse. The C.I.A. accounts for some fifty cases. The rest are mostly U.S. military and State Department personnel and their family members. "Top officials in both the Trump and the Biden Administrations privately suspect that Russia is responsible," Entous reports: Their working hypothesis is that agents of the G.R.U., the Russian military's intelligence service, have been aiming microwave-radiation devices at U.S. officials to collect intelligence from their computers and cell phones, and that these devices can cause serious harm to the people they target. Yet during the past four years U.S. intelligence agencies have been unable to find any evidence to back up this theory. Keep reading. |
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| 10. ⛳ 1 swing thing: Phil thrills |
| Photo: Chris Carlson/AP Phil Mickelson — who, at 50, became golf's oldest major champion in history — walks up the 18th fairway during the final round of yesterday's PGA Championship on Kiawah Island, S.C. |
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| A message from Bank of America |
| $25 million for jobs of the future |
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| Bank of America's $25 million jobs initiative provides Black and Hispanic-Latino individuals access to skills and training needed for jobs of the future. The initiative involves partnerships with 21 community colleges, HBCUs and Hispanic Serving Institutions. |
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| 📬 Please invite your friends, family, colleagues to sign up here for Axios AM and Axios PM. |
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