🥁 Axios PM: Elon Musk unbound

Plus: How you can help Kentucky | Monday, December 13, 2021

Open in app View in browser   Presented By Capital One   Axios PM By Mike Allen ·Dec 13, 2021 Good afternoon: Today's PM — edited by Justin Green — is 480 words, a 2-minute read.     1 big thing: Omicron derails holiday parties Illustration: Allie Carl/Axios   Omicron is messing with plans for in-person corporate holiday parties. Why it matters: Many firms that have gone ahead with parties despite the rise of the COVID-19 variant have had to deal with case spikes, Erica Pandey reports for Axios What's Next. Dozens of attendees of a 120-person company Christmas party in Oslo, Norway, were infected, many with Omicron. Between the lines: A popular new option is putting the ball in workers' courts by planning hybrid parties. Colorado's Quantum Metric Inc. told The Wall Street Journal it's throwing a virtual party, with optional smaller live parties in cities where it has satellite offices. Some companies are forgoing the party altogether and giving workers cash to expense holiday celebrations.     2. 🚀 The "year of Elon Unbound" Cover photo: Mark Mahaney for TIME Quick: Describe Elon Musk in one sentence! TIME takes this crack at it in the cover story revealing the magazine's 2021 Person of the Year: This is the man who aspires to save our planet and get us a new one to inhabit: clown, genius, edgelord, visionary, industrialist, showman, cad; a madcap hybrid of Thomas Edison, P.T. Barnum, Andrew Carnegie and Watchmen's Doctor Manhattan, the brooding, blue-skinned man-god who invents electric cars and moves to Mars. "Musk has spent a lifetime defying the haters; now, it seems, he's finally in position to put them in their place," TIME writes. "For 2021 was the year of Elon Unbound." Musk tells TIME he and his eligible children are vaccinated and that "the science is unequivocal," but that he opposes vaccine mandates: "You are taking a risk, but people do risky things all the time," he says of the unvaccinated. "I believe we've got to watch out for the erosion of freedom in America." Keep reading.     A message from Capital One The COVID-19 pandemic's impact on lower earners     The recently published Capital One study, Marketplace Index: The Road to Recovery, paints a picture of how the pandemic affected lower earners. Key numbers: 55% of people earning less than $25,000 a year reported feeling less secure in their jobs now than they did early in the pandemic. Read more.     3. Catch up quick Vice President Harris charges an electric car in Brandywine, Maryland, today as she unveils the Biden-Harris Electric Vehicle Charging Action Plan. Photo: Michael Reynolds/EPA via Getty Images   President Biden will travel to Kentucky on Wednesday to survey the state's tornado damage. USA Gymnastics and the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee reached a $380 million settlement with hundreds of U.S. gymnasts abused by former national team doctor Larry Nassar. Netflix picked up the most Golden Globe nominations, despite vowing to boycott the ceremony next year unless reforms are implemented. Go deeper.     4. How you can help This aerial view shows homes hit by a tornado in Dawson Springs, Kentucky.  Photo: Scott Olson/Getty Images A quick guide from Axios editor Laurin-Whitney Gottbrath, who's based in Louisville, Kentucky. Donate Western KY Red Cross Disaster Relief United Way of Kentucky The Salvation Army International Medical Corps Team Western Kentucky Tornado Relief Fund: First expenditures include funeral and burial expenses for families who lost loved ones. CARE is accepting donations to get food, water, and emergency cash vouchers to Kentuckians. Several local organizations in affected states, including Kentucky, Arkansas and Illinois are accepting monetary and other donations. Desiray Cartledge, 3, stands in the rubble of her house in Dawson Springs, Kentucky, on Sunday. Photo: Austin Anthony for The Washington Post via Getty Images Give blood Find a blood drive near you. Those in Kentucky can also check out kybloodcenter.org. Be smart: Before donating to any organization you're not familiar with, check out their profiles and rankings on sites like GuideStar and Charity Navigator.     A message from Capital One The initiative cooling down Richmond's hottest areas     Capital One has partnered with the Arbor Day Foundation and Groundwork RVA to plant 300 new trees in Richmond's hottest, least resourced areas. Here's why: The trees are poised to ease the heat island effect disproportionately impacting historically underserved neighborhoods. Learn more.   Like this email style and format? Bring the strength of Smart Brevity® to your team — more effective communications, powered by Axios HQ.   Axios thanks our partners for supporting our newsletters. If you're interested in advertising, learn more here. Sponsorship has no influence on editorial content. Axios, 3100 Clarendon B‌lvd, Suite 1300, Arlington VA 22201   You received this email because you signed up for newsletters from Axios. Change your preferences or unsubscribe here.   Was this email forwarded to you? Sign up now to get Axios in your inbox.   Follow Axios on social media: