newyorkpost--2020-12-18--De Blasio’s rancid school bus deal moves ahead

Will any elected city official push back against Mayor de Blasio ’ s latest nonprofit boondoggle , the purchase of a campaign donor ’ s failing school bus company ?
Monday evening , eight members of the city ’ s Panel for Education Priorities voted to OK a five-year , $ 890 million contract with a newly created city-owned nonprofit , NYCSBUS , that has zero experience with the work in question , transporting special-needs schoolchildren .
Five members abstained — an unusually high number for the PEP .
The NYCSBUS board ( controlled by Schools Chancellor Richard Carranza ) @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Reliant Transportation , which had been providing the special-needs transport — and whose owner gave $ 100,000 to one of de Blasio ’ s political schemes a few years back .
Reliant actually paid the city $ 2 million in the sale , because the firm ’ s $ 18 million in admitted liabilities exceed its $ 16 million in assets .
How likely is it that the seller got the better of the deal — and why not just let some other school-bus company buy it out ?
Hazel Crampton-Hays , a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ says Stringer “ will scrutinize this contract when we receive it to ensure accountability , fiscal responsibility and the safe transportation of our children to and from school.
” But she had no comment on the shadiness of de Blasio ’ s deal bailing out a major donor ’ s company .
Yet the City Charter only lets Stringer block contracts if he says he suspects possible corruption in the contracting process or that the vendor is crooked .
Otherwise , the mayor can order the contract registered .
And the comptroller seems @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ re told behind the scenes that City Hall moved to create NYCSBUS and buy out Reliant when the company told officials it planned to abandon its 900 routes and strand thousands of special-needs kids .
It seems Team de Blasio didn ’ t think it could hire another company in time .
But then why wouldn ’ t the mayor ( who once vowed to offer the “ most transparent government ” ) just say so ?
Instead , he ’ s said this move is all about transporting the kids more @ @ @ @ @ @ @ still thinks his money-burning ferry system is a winner , too . )
His minions insist taxpayers won ’ t be on the hook for Reliant ’ s $ 142 million pension liability , though City Hall plans to hire the company ’ s entire workforce .
But the union is threatening a strike if its members aren ’ t held harmless by the switchover .
This rancid deal calls out for serious investigation : City Council hearings , a state investigation and a hard look by any prosecutor with jurisdiction .

Will any elected city official push back against Mayor de Blasio’s latest nonprofit boondoggle, the purchase of a campaign donor’s failing school bus company?
Monday evening, eight members of the city’s Panel for Education Priorities voted to OK a five-year, $890 million contract with a newly created city-owned nonprofit, NYCSBUS, that has zero experience with the work in question, transporting special-needs schoolchildren. Five members abstained — an unusually high number for the PEP.
The NYCSBUS board (controlled by Schools Chancellor Richard Carranza) the next night voted to buy out Reliant Transportation, which had been providing the special-needs transport — and whose owner gave $100,000 to one of de Blasio’s political schemes a few years back.
Reliant actually paid the city $2 million in the sale, because the firm’s $18 million in admitted liabilities exceed its $16 million in assets. How likely is it that the seller got the better of the deal — and why not just let some other school-bus company buy it out?
Hazel Crampton-Hays, a spokesperson for city Comptroller Scott Stringer, says Stringer “will scrutinize this contract when we receive it to ensure accountability, fiscal responsibility and the safe transportation of our children to and from school.” But she had no comment on the shadiness of de Blasio’s deal bailing out a major donor’s company.
Yet the City Charter only lets Stringer block contracts if he says he suspects possible corruption in the contracting process or that the vendor is crooked. Otherwise, the mayor can order the contract registered. And the comptroller seems unwilling to state the obvious.
We’re told behind the scenes that City Hall moved to create NYCSBUS and buy out Reliant when the company told officials it planned to abandon its 900 routes and strand thousands of special-needs kids. It seems Team de Blasio didn’t think it could hire another company in time.
But then why wouldn’t the mayor (who once vowed to offer the “most transparent government”) just say so? Instead, he’s said this move is all about transporting the kids more efficiently. (Then again, he still thinks his money-burning ferry system is a winner, too.)
His minions insist taxpayers won’t be on the hook for Reliant’s $142 million pension liability, though City Hall plans to hire the company’s entire workforce. But the union is threatening a strike if its members aren’t held harmless by the switchover.
This rancid deal calls out for serious investigation: City Council hearings, a state investigation and a hard look by any prosecutor with jurisdiction.


newyorkpost--2020-12-18--Mets’ free agent pitching options after Trevor Bauer include a clear best fit

James McCann is the second significant free-agent acquisition for the ...

Trevor Bauer is the splashiest name among starting pitchers available in the free-agent market, but Mets president Sandy Alderson might have dropped a subtle hint recently that his focus is elsewhere.
On a Zoom call to introduce James McCann as the team’s new catcher, Alderson was asked about the possibility of upgrading third base. Alderson answered, “Is it as glaring a need as a third or fourth starter? I don’t think so.”
If the Mets are looking toward the middle of the rotation, Bauer — who last season won the NL Cy Young award with the Reds — isn’t their guy. But Masahiro Tanaka, James Paxton, Jake Odorizzi and Corey Kluber are four names that fit the profile. The Post asked two major league talent evaluators for help in evaluating each.
Masahiro Tanaka
Pros: The right-hander has been durable, averaging 30 starts in the past four non-pandemic seasons. In 10 starts for the Yankees last season, he pitched to a 3.56 ERA and 1.167 WHIP, with a commitment to not issuing walks.
“I think he’s a perfect No. 3 guy,” said a talent evaluator from a NL team. “He’s proven that he’s not affected by the bright lights of pitching in a big market.”
A second talent evaluator placed Tanaka as the clear best option in the pool that also includes Paxton, Kluber and Odorizzi.
Corey Kluber, Jake Odorizzi and Masahiro Tanaka AP (2), Charles Wenzelberg/NY Post
“[Tanaka] has pitched in New York and he’s pitched well in the playoffs,” the second talent evaluator said.
Now 32 years old, Tanaka’s average fastball velocity increased a tick from 91.1 mph in 2019 to 92.1 last season.
Cons: Tanaka, similar to Seth Lugo, has been pitching with a torn ligament in his right elbow that could pop at any time and necessitate Tommy John surgery.
“But one would think if it was going to blow it would have blown by now,” the talent evaluator from the NL team said.
James Paxton
Pros: He would bring balance to the Mets’ rotation as a second left-hander, joining David Peterson. The 32-year-old Paxton is regarded by many as the top remaining lefty starter on the free-agent market.
“I have always liked Paxton, even when he was in Seattle, I thought this guy was going to win a few Cy Youngs,” the second talent evaluator said.
Paxton also has the benefit of two seasons in New York, with the Yankees. In 2019, he pitched to a 3.82 ERA and 1.281 WHIP in 29 starts.
Cons: Paxton’s durability has been a significant issue during a career in which he never has thrown more than 160 ¹/₃ innings in a season. After undergoing back surgery last offseason and dealing with a strained flexor tendon in his elbow in 2020, the lefty pitched to a 6.64 ERA in five starts.
“I was real concerned about [Paxton] last year, the velocity was way down, and sure enough he was injured,” the talent evaluator from the NL team said. “It was down pretty significantly and the Yankees weren’t saying much about it.All you had to do was watch him and you knew something wasn’t right.”
Jake Odorizzi
Pros: The right-hander was an All-Star with the Twins in 2019 and would be reunited with pitching coach Jeremy Hefner, who was previously an assistant with Minnesota. Odorizzi doesn’t have a huge fastball, but compensates by receiving very good horizontal movement with the pitch.
“Odorizzi’s talent doesn’t match the other three, but he knows how to pitch,” the second evaluator said.
Cons: Odorizzi barely pitched last season after taking a batted ball to the chest and dealing with a blister problem after accepting the Twins’ qualifying offer worth $17.8 million.
“If you have money to spend and you can give [Odorizzi] a two-year deal for $16 million and take a chance,” the second talent evaluator said. “If it doesn’t work you can just sweep it under the rug. I think that is OK and the Mets are in position to do that now with a new owner.”
Corey Kluber
Pros: The former Indians ace has won two Cy Young awards and might have the highest upside of all the available starting pitchers not named Trevor Bauer. In his last full season, Kluber went 20-7 with a 2.89 ERA and 0.991 WHIP for the Indians in 2018.
Cons: Kluber turns 35 in April and has dealt with shoulder injuries the last two seasons that have limited his availability. The right-hander pitched only once last season for the Rangers, after appearing in seven games for the Indians the previous year.
“[Kluber] has got a ton of mileage on him, he’s pitched in a lot of high leverage situations,” the talent evaluator from the NL team said. “You just don’t know.”


newyorkpost--2020-12-18--NHL, union reach tentative deal for 2021 season

The National Hockey League and players reached a tentative deal Friday to hold a 56-game season in 2021 , pending @ @ @ @ @ ’ s executive board and Canadian health officials .
The season would start Jan. 13 @ @ @ @ @ confirmed the sides have an agreement , pending the approval of various executive boards .
@ @ @ @ @ ’ s board is meeting Friday night to discuss , while the league ’ s @ @ @ @ @ on the plan soon .
Approval from health officials in the five Canadian provinces that @ @ @ @ @ before the NHL can go ahead with the season .
Training camps for the seven @ @ @ @ @ 31 and then Jan. 3 for the other 24 teams .
It ’ s unclear @ @ @ @ @ their home arenas or in “ hub ” cities , though an all-divisional schedule is @ @

There is the critical outstanding issue of whether Canadian health authorities will permit the NHL’s seven teams north of the border to play out of their home cities, but the league and the NHL Players’ Association appear to have resolved all other transition issues and COVID-19 protocols relating to the 2020-21 season.
Thus, a Jan. 13 puck drop on a 56-game season, preceded by training camps that would commence Jan. 3, remains on target, though sources have indicated the date could still be pushed back, depending upon resolution of the Canadian issue.
The league’s Seven Dwarfs, the teams that did not participate in the 24-team Stanley Cup tournament this past season, would be authorized to open camps on Dec. 30.The Board of Governors will schedule a vote this weekend to ratify the agreement that was forged through weeks of negotiations, interrupted by the league’s attempt to revise a portion of the six-year collective bargaining agreement that was adopted in July. The NHLPA had a conference call of the executive board Friday night, though it is unknown whether a vote of that body or of the full membership has been scheduled.
Sources indicated that teams will carry taxi squads of between four and six players who will practice and travel with the varsity while receiving their full AHL salaries. Salary-cap implications regarding recalls related to COVID-19 issues remain unclear. It is also unclear how the league will treat players who test positive and what the threshold would be for postponing games in the event of a team breakout.
Canadian health agencies and government bodies at the federal, provincial and local level have been loath to grant professional sports teams and revenue-generating collegiate sports programs the same largesse as has the United States federal government and state and local boards.
The Blue Jays played the 2020 baseball season using Buffalo as their home base. The Raptors have relocated to Tampa for the start of the 2020-21 NBA season. If the league is unable to strike a deal with the proper authorities, two options appear to be on the table for the NHL’s Canadian franchises.
One would entail creating a hub location, likely in Edmonton, in which the Oilers, Flames, Canucks, Jets, Senators, Maple Leafs and Canadiens would play in a self-contained division for at least the start of the season.
The other would involve relocating the seven teams to alternate sites in the U.S., two of which could conceivably be Long Island and Newark, given the availability of one-team arenas and practice rinks either on site or within hailing distance.
Neither alternative is particularly favorable for players, coaches and staff, who would have to move, presumably leaving families behind.
If the clubs relocate to the U.S., the NHL would have to adjust its proposed, geographically realigned divisions — which includes a Canadian division — for the season. The league intends for intradivisional play only in order to minimize travel as much as possible.
The NHL is hoping that this issue will be resolved by Monday or Tuesday of next week.


newyorkpost--2020-12-18--Nancy Meyers’ daughter furious about loving tribute to her mother

Nancy Meyers ’ daughter Hallie Meyers-Shyer set social media ablaze this week when she posted a scathing note about a glowing tribute to her mother ’ s work in New York Magazine .
The piece by writer and Meyers superfan Rachel Handler was entitled “ A Chaotic Taxonomy ” of Meyers ’ films , and lovingly laid out the “ language ” of the Meyers movies , including things like , “ a prevailing sense of hopefulness thanks to a protagonist overflowing with moxie ” and “ Goldie Hawn in a massive white sweater.
” It also gave the films @ @ @ @ @ @ @ certain number of “ wine glasses ” according to how classically Meyersian Handler assessed each one to be .
Meyers-Shyer posted a long missive against the piece on her Instagram , calling the article “ sexist , ” and saying it “ reduced ” her mother ’ s movies to a wineglass score .
While Meyers-Shyer ’ s post was liked by celebrities like Reese Witherspoon , Mindy Kaling , and “ Saturday Night Live ’ s ” Chloe Fineman , her ire could be construed as sour grapes because Handler said that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a movie called “ Home Again , ” suggesting that her mom might have hand more of a hand in guiding the the flick than her official “ producer ” title suggested .
“ Trying to pass my film off as my mother ’ s is disrespectful , false , and harmful to the career I am trying to build , ” Meyers-Shyer wrote .
Handler makes clear in the article that Meyers-Shyer directed the 2017 flick — which starred Witherspoon — and that Meyers co-produced it , and explains it was included @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and unfolds like an uncanny-valley version ” of a Meyers movie .
Witherspoon and Meyer-Shyer sat for an interview with Handler for a different article as part of the mag ’ s “ Nancy Meyers week.
” In it , Witherspoon says that Meyers did help out on the set of “ Home Again , ” saying , “ We were shooting my close-up in the kitchen … and Nancy shouted , ‘ CUT !
Just give me a minute ; something is off.
’ She spoke with director Hallie [ Meyers-Shyer ] @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , and then she walked directly behind me to a vase of the bright blue hydrangeas and gently rearranged them … The flowers were perfect for the next take .
”

Nancy Meyers’ daughter Hallie Meyers-Shyer set social media ablaze this week when she posted a scathing note about a glowing tribute to her mother’s work in New York Magazine.
The piece by writer and Meyers superfan Rachel Handler was entitled “A Chaotic Taxonomy” of Meyers’ films, and lovingly laid out the “language” of the Meyers movies, including things like, “a prevailing sense of hopefulness thanks to a protagonist overflowing with moxie” and “Goldie Hawn in a massive white sweater.” It also gave the films a good-natured grade, awarding them a certain number of “wine glasses” according to how classically Meyersian Handler assessed each one to be.
Meyers-Shyer posted a long missive against the piece on her Instagram, calling the article “sexist,” and saying it “reduced” her mother’s movies to a wineglass score.
While Meyers-Shyer’s post was liked by celebrities like Reese Witherspoon, Mindy Kaling, and “Saturday Night Live’s” Chloe Fineman, her ire could be construed as sour grapes because Handler said that Meyers-Shyer had only “technically directed” a movie called “Home Again,” suggesting that her mom might have had more of a hand in guiding the flick than her official “producer” title suggested. “Trying to pass my film off as my mother’s is disrespectful, false, and harmful to the career I am trying to build,” Meyers-Shyer wrote.
Handler makes clear in the article that Meyers-Shyer directed the 2017 flick — which starred Witherspoon — and that Meyers co-produced it, and explains it was included in the ranking because “it feels and unfolds like an uncanny-valley version” of a Meyers movie.
Witherspoon and Meyer-Shyer sat for an interview with Handler for a different article as part of the mag’s “Nancy Meyers week.” In it, Witherspoon says that Meyers did help out on the set of “Home Again,” saying, “We were shooting my close-up in the kitchen … and Nancy shouted, ‘CUT! Just give me a minute; something is off.’ She spoke with director Hallie [Meyers-Shyer] for a few minutes in quiet tones, and then she walked directly behind me to a vase of the bright blue hydrangeas and gently rearranged them … The flowers were perfect for the next take.”


newyorkpost--2020-12-18--Stephen Colbert’s Joe Biden interview a real joke

‘ Late Show ” host Stephen Colbert actually managed to set a new record for wet media kisses delivered to Joe Biden in his long sit-down with the prez-elect : He didn ’ t just offer a free pass on the federal investigation of Hunter Biden , he portrayed questions on the issue as victimizing the Biden family .
Yes , Colbert is a late-night talk-show host , not a journalist .
But remember how much flak “ The Tonight Show ” host Jimmy Fallon got for being too nice in his September 2016 interview of then-GOP-nominee Donald Trump ?
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ Biden , the CBS host had a chance to break news and do the public a service by asking real questions of the next commander-in-chief .
But this is how Colbert brought up the Hunter Biden scandal : “ You know that the people who want to make hay here in Washington are going to try to use your adult son as a cudgel against you .
How do you feel about that and what do you have to say to those people ?
” “ I ’ m not concerned about any @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
It ’ s used to get to me , ” Biden responded .
“ And he ’ s a grown man .
He is the smartest man I know , I mean , in pure intellectual capacity .
And as long as he ’ s good , we ’ re good.
” Colbert kept on the topic — to try to make Biden look even more the victim .
“ As a father , I understand that and I admire that .
But in terms of your job as president , can @ @ @ @ @ @ @ who will be using this as an attack on you when it is such a personal attack because it ’ s about family ?
” “ If it benefits the country , yes .
I really mean it , ” Biden said , to which the fawning Colbert responded , “ You ’ re a better man than I. I ’ m not sure if I could do that.
” In other words , Colbert spent his valuable time with Biden tossing softballs the equivalent of “ why do you think your critics @ @ @ @ @ @ @ he have pushed on ?
Well , Biden has said he never discussed Hunter ’ s business dealings with him ; e-mails The Post recovered from Hunter ’ s laptop suggest that ’ s not true .
In one e-mail , an executive from Burisma , the Ukrainian company on whose board Hunter sat , offers thanks for an introduction to the then-vice president .
Another outlined an agreement with a Chinese company , with 10 percent to be “ held by H for the big guy ?
” How about asking Joe @ @ @ @ @ @ @ guy ” ?
In fact , not one reporter has posed that question to the next president .
Will the “ real journalists ” ever do any better than the late-night jokester ?

‘Late Show” host Stephen Colbert actually managed to set a new record for wet media kisses delivered to Joe Biden in his long sit-down with the prez-elect: He didn’t just offer a free pass on the federal investigation of Hunter Biden, he portrayed questions on the issue as victimizing the Biden family.
Yes, Colbert is a late-night talk-show host, not a journalist. But remember how much flak “The Tonight Show” host Jimmy Fallon got for being too nice in his September 2016 interview of then-GOP-nominee Donald Trump?
Granted a lot of face time with Biden, the CBS host had a chance to break news and do the public a service by asking real questions of the next commander-in-chief.
But this is how Colbert brought up the Hunter Biden scandal: “You know that the people who want to make hay here in Washington are going to try to use your adult son as a cudgel against you. How do you feel about that and what do you have to say to those people?”
“I’m not concerned about any accusations that have been made against him. It’s used to get to me,” Biden responded. “And he’s a grown man. He is the smartest man I know, I mean, in pure intellectual capacity. And as long as he’s good, we’re good.”
Colbert kept on the topic — to try to make Biden look even more the victim.
“As a father, I understand that and I admire that. But in terms of your job as president, can you reach across the aisle to people who will be using this as an attack on you when it is such a personal attack because it’s about family?”
“If it benefits the country, yes. I really mean it,” Biden said, to which the fawning Colbert responded, “You’re a better man than I. I’m not sure if I could do that.”
In other words, Colbert spent his valuable time with Biden tossing softballs the equivalent of “why do you think your critics beat their wives?”
What might he have pushed on? Well, Biden has said he never discussed Hunter’s business dealings with him; e-mails The Post recovered from Hunter’s laptop suggest that’s not true. In one e-mail, an executive from Burisma, the Ukrainian company on whose board Hunter sat, offers thanks for an introduction to the then-vice president. Another outlined an agreement with a Chinese company, with 10 percent to be “held by H for the big guy?”
How about asking Joe if he’s “the big guy”?
In fact, not one reporter has posed that question to the next president. Will the “real journalists” ever do any better than the late-night jokester?


newyorkpost--2020-12-18--‘The Stand’ Series Premiere Recap: Don’t Fear the Remake

A world-ending pandemic and the rise of a sadistic demagogue ?
In this economy ?
Yeah , The Stand , Stephen King ’ s best and best-loved book , hits different in 2020 .
Appropriately enough , so does its new CBS All Access adaptation .
Despite its gargantuan length and sprawling cast of characters ( we ’ re talking Game of Thrones , practically ) , King ’ s book , previously adapted by ABC in 1994 , has a plot that ’ s simplicity itself .
A government-made virus escapes from a military base and wipes out 99 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , after which the survivors are caught in a war for their lives and souls between a kindly centenarian named Mother Abigail ( Whoopi Goldberg ) and a grinning demon in human form called the Dark Man , Randall Flagg ( Aleksander Skarsgård ) .
The titular “ stand ” refers to the good survivors standing up against Flagg and his minions , and it ’ s on this segment of King ’ s story , not the slow rollout of the apocalyptic pandemic , that showrunners and cowriters Benjamin Cavell and Josh @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to focus .
A lot of other little details change too , but the decision to start the story in medias res and fill in the gaps with flashbacks changes , well , everything .
The first character we meet—and I can already hear book purists ’ eyes rolling in their heads about that—is Harold Lauder ( Owen Teague ) , a nerdy teen nursing a nasty love-hate crush and a Boulder-sized chip on his shoulder .
Only we don ’ t know that when we first see him : At that point @ @ @ @ @ @ @ stiff helping to clear the dead bodies rotting where they lay , a task so gross he can ’ t keep his breakfast down .
But the other members of this post-apocalyptic cleanup crew take a shine to the kid , offering words of encouragement when he barfs , sharing their dreams of opening up a drive-in movie theater when the survivors of the world-destroying plague get the power back on , even nicknaming him “ Hawk.
” It ’ s the kind of thing a guy could get used to , as @ @ @ @ @ @ @ But in the Before Times , Harold is just a dork , a geek , a bullying victim , and a peeping tom , not necessarily in that order .
Judging from his bedroom decor—posters for King Crimson and Eraserhead , a copy of Naked Lunch—Harold actually has pretty good taste , not that this manifests itself in his fussy slicked-back hairdo , his pretentiously formalized manner of speaking , or his habit of creeping on his former babysitter Frannie Goldsmith ( Odessa Young ) , to whose photo he jerks off in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ as “ embittered.
” You look at that stack of rejection letters nailed to this aspiring writer ’ s wall , you look at the kid himself , and you think “ Yeah , I get it.
” It ’ s this nasty side of Harold—the side that studies a photo of Tom Cruise to learn how to fake a smile—to which the Dark Man appeals , beckoning him in the form of a wolf with the neon-lit promise of sexy ladies…and vengeance .
Against whom ?
Against Frannie , for starters .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ glimpse of , she comes across as a perfectly normal college kid , friendly to her ailing dad—gosh , there sure is a nasty bug going around !
—until the worst happens and it falls to her to prepare the man for burial and put him in the ground out back , since no one else is left alive to do it .
No one but Harold , that is ; she lashes out at him as a nuisance when he shows up to offer his condolences ( a weird thing that must @ @ @ @ @ @ @ just died in the span of a week ) , but then comes around to him when he saves her from suicide and devises a plan to travel to the CDC headquarters in Atlanta in search of other “ immunes ” and the scientists who are surely still working to beat the virus .
There ’ s a lovely scene between the two of them after he forces her to puke up the pills she took , in which they cuddle together , listening to Black Sabbath ’ s plaintive “ Changes.
” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ see Frannie in Boulder however many months or weeks later , she ’ s visibly pregnant and in a relationship with someone who ’ s distinctly not Harold .
With whom , then ?
Main Character Number Three , Stu Redman ( James Marsden ) .
A Texas native , Stu first appears in an Army medical center , where a kindly doctor ( played by Hamish Linklater ) explains to him that his whole town has been quarantined , that everyone brought to the medical center with him has died , and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the infection makes him key to any hope of a cure or vaccine .
Turns out Stu was present at the gas station where one Charles Campion ( Curtiss Cook Jr. ) , a soldier at a top-secret bioweapons facility , crashed his family station wagon , bearing his dead wife and baby and a whole wagonload of killer germs .
At the end of the episode we see that Campion ( and the virus inside him ) had a helping hand , or boot , from the Dark Man , who held @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and wound up magically riding in the back seat as he sped away from the locked-down base .
Creepy !
But Stu doesn ’ t know any of that , of course .
He ’ s mainly concerned with getting out of his situation alive , a prospect that becomes more remote when he ’ s suddenly relocated to a CDC facility in Stovington , Vermont , with a nasty gun-toting “ doctor ” named Cobb ( Daniel Sunjata ) suddenly inserting himself into Stu ’ s routine .
Eventually the nice doctor @ @ @ @ @ @ @ comes to kill Stu and successfully kills the nice doctor before Stu gets the better of him and escapes .
Stu is then beckoned to the facility ’ s command center by a four-star general named Starkey , played by a previously unannounced J.K. Simmons .
Starkey semi-apologizes to Stu for all he ’ s been through , reads snippets of “ The Second Coming ” by W.B .
Yeats ( weirdly leaving out “ the center can not hold ” for some reason ) , then kills himself , allowing Stu to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ there ’ s our fourth main character , the Dark Man himself .
He ’ s a liminal presence , a figure on the fringes of the characters ’ nightmares , a boot in the door , a hitchhiker on the side of the road , a man in worn-out boots strolling down the road to the tune of “ The Stranger ” by Billy Joel .
When you finally get a good look at his face , as he sits in Campion ’ s back seat playing with his soon to be @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a smile that could curdle milk .
Aleksander Skarsgård , man—that ’ s some good casting .
So that ’ s what The Stand 2020 is .
I can tell you what it isn ’ t , though : It isn ’ t anything like Stephen King .
I mean , the characters are all there , sure , and the story beats too , albeit shuffled ; what I ’ m talking about is ( paraphrasing Barton Fink here ) That Stephen King Feeling .
King , as he himself has written @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Danse Macabre , nearly always establishes a situation-normal status quo , then introduces some world-ending catastrophe or soul-eating demon-thing that overturns the whole Apollonian apple cart .
You have to see little George Denbrough make his toy boat , kiss his big brother goodbye , and head out into the rain in his yellow slicker before you can meet Pennywise the Dancing Clown , you know ?
It ’ s the most King-feeling thing in all his work : You set up the house of cards , and then you knock it down @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Stand , the house of cards was the entirety of human society—specifically the American subsection thereof—and the knocking down was performed by Captain Trips .
And boy , was it ever !
For my money there ’ s no more thrilling section in all the King books I ’ ve read than the opening quarter or so of The Stand , where we meet all our main characters as civilization stumbles , crumbles , and completely collapses around them .
Hell , they don ’ t even need to be main characters at @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that simply follows the virus across the country from one random person to the next , establishing the virus as history ’ s most lethal chain letter , that ’ s just gleefully dark and frightening .
It ’ s as good as King gets .
And The Stand ’ s 2020 TV adaptation will not be going there at all , it seems .
It is , to put it mildly , a bold choice .
And you know what ?
I like bold choices where adapting Stephen King is concerned !
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ tend to be the most boring ; even in a case like the recent Hulu series Castle Rock , which was not a straight adaptation at all but an attempt to do for King ’ s oeuvre what Noah Hawley ’ s Fargo did with the Coen Brothers ’ filmography , the effort to nail all those little King-isms came at the cost of doing anything actually memorable , let alone frightening .
( I ’ m old school in that I think horror TV shows are supposed to be scary .
Go @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Stanley Kubrick ’ s The Shining : It ’ s very much Stanley Kubrick ’ s The Shining , not Stephen King ’ s , and it just so happens to be one of the greatest movies ever made ; King , of course , despises it .
So no , a lack of fidelity isn ’ t going to get on my nerves per se .
It never does !
So I ’ m not interested in comparing chapter and verse , describing what the series got “ right ” and “ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the broad strokes .
In the end , it ’ s all in the execution .
And in this early going at least , the execution is intriguing enough to keep me watching .
The fading between times and places , the freeform mixture of “ now ” and “ then , ” gives the show the feel of a dream , or a nightmare ( several of which punctuate the action , after all ) .
The lush , traditional score ( no John Carpenter knockoffs here ) by Nathaniel Walcott and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ feeling .
Will it last ?
Or , in the absence of the harrowing rise of the superflu plague , will the flashback/flashforward device wear out its welcome before the real action kicks in ?
These are open questions , but compared to “ Why the hell am I watching this ?
” , they ’ re questions I don ’ t mind asking at all .
Sean T. Collins ( @ theseantcollins ) writes about TV for Rolling Stone , Vulture , The New York Times , and anyplace that will have @ @ @ @ @ @ @ family live on Long Island .
Watch The Stand Episode 1 ( `` The End '' ) on CBS All Access

A world-ending pandemic and the rise of a sadistic demagogue? In this economy? Yeah, The Stand, Stephen King’s best and best-loved book, hits different in 2020. Appropriately enough, so does its new CBS All Access adaptation. Despite its gargantuan length and sprawling cast of characters (we’re talking Game of Thrones, practically), King’s book, previously adapted by ABC in 1994, has a plot that’s simplicity itself. A government-made virus escapes from a military base and wipes out 99% of the world’s population, after which the survivors are caught in a war for their lives and souls between a kindly centenarian named Mother Abigail (Whoopi Goldberg) and a grinning demon in human form called the Dark Man, Randall Flagg (Aleksander Skarsgård).
The titular “stand” refers to the good survivors standing up against Flagg and his minions, and it’s on this segment of King’s story, not the slow rollout of the apocalyptic pandemic, that showrunners and cowriters Benjamin Cavell and Josh Boone (who directs) have chosen to focus. A lot of other little details change too, but the decision to start the story in medias res and fill in the gaps with flashbacks changes, well, everything.
The first character we meet—and I can already hear book purists’ eyes rolling in their heads about that—is Harold Lauder (Owen Teague), a nerdy teen nursing a nasty love-hate crush and a Boulder-sized chip on his shoulder. Only we don’t know that when we first see him: At that point, he’s just another working stiff helping to clear the dead bodies rotting where they lay, a task so gross he can’t keep his breakfast down. But the other members of this post-apocalyptic cleanup crew take a shine to the kid, offering words of encouragement when he barfs, sharing their dreams of opening up a drive-in movie theater when the survivors of the world-destroying plague get the power back on, even nicknaming him “Hawk.” It’s the kind of thing a guy could get used to, as Harold himself writes in his journal.
But in the Before Times, Harold is just a dork, a geek, a bullying victim, and a peeping tom, not necessarily in that order. Judging from his bedroom decor—posters for King Crimson and Eraserhead, a copy of Naked Lunch—Harold actually has pretty good taste, not that this manifests itself in his fussy slicked-back hairdo, his pretentiously formalized manner of speaking, or his habit of creeping on his former babysitter Frannie Goldsmith (Odessa Young), to whose photo he jerks off in a fashion that can only be described as “embittered.” You look at that stack of rejection letters nailed to this aspiring writer’s wall, you look at the kid himself, and you think “Yeah, I get it.” It’s this nasty side of Harold—the side that studies a photo of Tom Cruise to learn how to fake a smile—to which the Dark Man appeals, beckoning him in the form of a wolf with the neon-lit promise of sexy ladies…and vengeance.
Against whom? Against Frannie, for starters. The second main character we get a glimpse of, she comes across as a perfectly normal college kid, friendly to her ailing dad—gosh, there sure is a nasty bug going around!—until the worst happens and it falls to her to prepare the man for burial and put him in the ground out back, since no one else is left alive to do it. No one but Harold, that is; she lashes out at him as a nuisance when he shows up to offer his condolences (a weird thing that must be, when billions of people have just died in the span of a week), but then comes around to him when he saves her from suicide and devises a plan to travel to the CDC headquarters in Atlanta in search of other “immunes” and the scientists who are surely still working to beat the virus. There’s a lovely scene between the two of them after he forces her to puke up the pills she took, in which they cuddle together, listening to Black Sabbath’s plaintive “Changes.” And changes abound, because when we see Frannie in Boulder however many months or weeks later, she’s visibly pregnant and in a relationship with someone who’s distinctly not Harold.
With whom, then? Main Character Number Three, Stu Redman (James Marsden). A Texas native, Stu first appears in an Army medical center, where a kindly doctor (played by Hamish Linklater) explains to him that his whole town has been quarantined, that everyone brought to the medical center with him has died, and that his continued survival and resistance to the infection makes him key to any hope of a cure or vaccine. Turns out Stu was present at the gas station where one Charles Campion (Curtiss Cook Jr.), a soldier at a top-secret bioweapons facility, crashed his family station wagon, bearing his dead wife and baby and a whole wagonload of killer germs. At the end of the episode we see that Campion (and the virus inside him) had a helping hand, or boot, from the Dark Man, who held open the door so Campion could escape and wound up magically riding in the back seat as he sped away from the locked-down base. Creepy!
But Stu doesn’t know any of that, of course. He’s mainly concerned with getting out of his situation alive, a prospect that becomes more remote when he’s suddenly relocated to a CDC facility in Stovington, Vermont, with a nasty gun-toting “doctor” named Cobb (Daniel Sunjata) suddenly inserting himself into Stu’s routine. Eventually the nice doctor falls ill, an equally sick Cobb comes to kill Stu and successfully kills the nice doctor before Stu gets the better of him and escapes. Stu is then beckoned to the facility’s command center by a four-star general named Starkey, played by a previously unannounced J.K. Simmons. Starkey semi-apologizes to Stu for all he’s been through, reads snippets of “The Second Coming” by W.B. Yeats (weirdly leaving out “the center cannot hold” for some reason), then kills himself, allowing Stu to flee.
Then, of course, there’s our fourth main character, the Dark Man himself. He’s a liminal presence, a figure on the fringes of the characters’ nightmares, a boot in the door, a hitchhiker on the side of the road, a man in worn-out boots strolling down the road to the tune of “The Stranger” by Billy Joel. When you finally get a good look at his face, as he sits in Campion’s back seat playing with his soon to be dead baby, he’s got a smile that could curdle milk. Aleksander Skarsgård, man—that’s some good casting.
So that’s what The Stand 2020 is. I can tell you what it isn’t, though: It isn’t anything like Stephen King. I mean, the characters are all there, sure, and the story beats too, albeit shuffled; what I’m talking about is (paraphrasing Barton Fink here) That Stephen King Feeling. King, as he himself has written about extensively in his treatise on horror Danse Macabre, nearly always establishes a situation-normal status quo, then introduces some world-ending catastrophe or soul-eating demon-thing that overturns the whole Apollonian apple cart. You have to see little George Denbrough make his toy boat, kiss his big brother goodbye, and head out into the rain in his yellow slicker before you can meet Pennywise the Dancing Clown, you know? It’s the most King-feeling thing in all his work: You set up the house of cards, and then you knock it down.
In the book version of The Stand, the house of cards was the entirety of human society—specifically the American subsection thereof—and the knocking down was performed by Captain Trips. And boy, was it ever! For my money there’s no more thrilling section in all the King books I’ve read than the opening quarter or so of The Stand, where we meet all our main characters as civilization stumbles, crumbles, and completely collapses around them. Hell, they don’t even need to be main characters at all: There’s a chapter that simply follows the virus across the country from one random person to the next, establishing the virus as history’s most lethal chain letter, that’s just gleefully dark and frightening. It’s as good as King gets.
And The Stand’s 2020 TV adaptation will not be going there at all, it seems. It is, to put it mildly, a bold choice. And you know what? I like bold choices where adapting Stephen King is concerned! The most slavish recreations of his work tend to be the most boring; even in a case like the recent Hulu series Castle Rock, which was not a straight adaptation at all but an attempt to do for King’s oeuvre what Noah Hawley’s Fargo did with the Coen Brothers’ filmography, the effort to nail all those little King-isms came at the cost of doing anything actually memorable, let alone frightening. (I’m old school in that I think horror TV shows are supposed to be scary. Go figure!) Compare and contrast with Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining: It’s very much Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining, not Stephen King’s, and it just so happens to be one of the greatest movies ever made; King, of course, despises it.
So no, a lack of fidelity isn’t going to get on my nerves per se. It never does! So I’m not interested in comparing chapter and verse, describing what the series got “right” and “wrong” about the details or even the broad strokes. In the end, it’s all in the execution. And in this early going at least, the execution is intriguing enough to keep me watching. The fading between times and places, the freeform mixture of “now” and “then,” gives the show the feel of a dream, or a nightmare (several of which punctuate the action, after all). The lush, traditional score (no John Carpenter knockoffs here) by Nathaniel Walcott and Mike Mogis contributes beautifully to that dreamy feeling. Will it last? Or, in the absence of the harrowing rise of the superflu plague, will the flashback/flashforward device wear out its welcome before the real action kicks in? These are open questions, but compared to “Why the hell am I watching this?”, they’re questions I don’t mind asking at all.
Sean T. Collins (@theseantcollins) writes about TV for Rolling Stone, Vulture, The New York Times, and anyplace that will have him, really. He and his family live on Long Island.
Watch The Stand Episode 1 ("The End") on CBS All Access


newyorkpost--2020-12-18--Mask and makeup combos perfect for NYE, outdoor parties

Holiday celebrations look different this year , but if you ’ re going to gather outside , you might as well jazz up your look from the neck up .
Whether you ’ re toughing it out under a heat lamp at an outdoor restaurant for New Year ’ s Eve or catching up with pals at a backyard bash this winter , consider stepping up your mask and makeup game .
Now that lips are hidden beneath those trusty face coverings , focus on enhancing the eyes with a flash of colorful eyeliner or shadow .
Jewelry can spice @ @ @ @ @ @ @ or statement earring will take your look from basic to bold .
Get inspired with three party-ready combos featuring fabulous , head-turning masks and accessories to help ’ em pop .
It ’ s time to kiss this year goodbye !
Since lipstick seems to be a thing of the past , let this mask be your way of paying homage to the look — and an NYE midnight kiss .
Like in pre-mask life , you don ’ t need much else when you ’ ve got a dramatic red lip , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ shimmery and simple : highlighter on the lids and cheeks plus long , defined lashes .
The future is bright , so ring in 2021 with over-the-top rainbow , glitter and shine .
Add a flick of flashy eyeliner for a bit of edge or pop on a coat of candy-colored mascara to unleash your inner ‘ 90s club kid .
Since you ’ ll likely be partying out under the stars , this spangled mask is the perfect combo of sparkle and shine to get you noticed .
Add strong earrings and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a swipe of gold shimmer to let the stars stand out .

Holiday celebrations look different this year, but if you’re going to gather outside, you might as well jazz up your look from the neck up.
Whether you’re toughing it out under a heat lamp at an outdoor restaurant for New Year’s Eve or catching up with pals at a backyard bash this winter, consider stepping up your mask and makeup game. Now that lips are hidden beneath those trusty face coverings, focus on enhancing the eyes with a flash of colorful eyeliner or shadow.
Jewelry can spice things up, too: A barrette or statement earring will take your look from basic to bold.
Get inspired with three party-ready combos featuring fabulous, head-turning masks and accessories to help ’em pop.
Pucker Up
“Pucker Up Lilac Glitz” in lilac mask, $65 at JuliaClancey.com; Rose Gold Rhinestone Pearl Snap Clips, $14.99 for two at Icing.com; “2021 Linear Drop” earrings in cubic zirconia, $5.99 at Claires.com; Clé de Peau Beauté “Magical Moonlight” luminizing face enhancer, $95 at Saks.com; Nars “Climax” mascara, $24 at Sephora.com Courtesy of the brands
It’s time to kiss this year goodbye! Since lipstick seems to be a thing of the past, let this mask be your way of paying homage to the look — and an NYE midnight kiss. Like in pre-mask life, you don’t need much else when you’ve got a dramatic red lip, so keep the rest of your vibe shimmery and simple: highlighter on the lids and cheeks plus long, defined lashes.
Neon glow
The Mighty Company Glitter face mask in lime, $25 at Nordstrom.com; Tasha bobby pin pack, $20 at Nordstrom.com; Urban Decay Heavy Metal glitter eyeliner in “Stage Dive,” $21 at Sephora.com; “Mint Crème” Your Way mascara, $22 at MelowayMakeup.com; “Simon” hoop earrings, $225 at NickhoRey.com Courtesy of the brands
The future is bright, so ring in 2021 with over-the-top rainbow, glitter and shine. Add a flick of flashy eyeliner for a bit of edge or pop on a coat of candy-colored mascara to unleash your inner ‘90s club kid.
Starry sight
Star mask, $9.83 at RedBubble.com; “Or Antique” Ombre Première eye shadow, $36 at Chanel.com; Bow scrunchie, $16.50 at JCrew.com; “Madeline” beaded earrings by Mignonne Gavigan, $225 at NeimanMarcus.com; L’Oreal Paris Infallible Flash Cat Eye waterproof liquid eyeliner, $10.99 at Ulta.com Courtesy of the brands
Since you’ll likely be partying out under the stars, this spangled mask is the perfect combo of sparkle and shine to get you noticed. Add strong earrings and a classic, sleek cat eye with a swipe of gold shimmer to let the stars stand out.


newyorkpost--2020-12-18--Max Rose might be the centrist mayoral candidate NYC desperately needs

Staten Island ’ s soon-to-depart congressman , Max Rose , is already eyeing his second ...

There was a time when someone like Max Rose would have been considered an ideal candidate for mayor. The question is whether even the catastrophic consequences of allowing the left to run the city into the ground is enough to make it possible for someone viewed as a centrist Democrat to have a chance.
Rose, who was defeated for re-election to Congress from his district in Staten Island and a slice of Brooklyn last month, is wasting no time in shifting his attention to a run for City Hall.
And, in theory, there might be a path to victory for someone like him. After all, two terms of Mayor de Blasio’s incompetence should have Democrats turning to a centrist next year.
The left-wing belief in “bail reform” and contempt for the police has led to a rise in crime. And the sheer arbitrary insanity of the city and state’s pandemic policies has heightened economic misery and wrecked public education.
Gotham has been left beaten and bleeding by leftist delusions and is in sore need of some sane government not dictated by the myths of critical race theory or the demands of Democratic Socialist ideologues.
Most of the leading Democratic contenders for mayor, like city Comptroller Scott Stringer or Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams, are offering more of the same. Polls show an outlier like entrepreneur and former presidential candidate Andrew Yang may offer a less ideological alternative. But Rose offers the possibility of a throwback to an earlier era of New York politics.
Throughout much of the 20th century, the Democratic Party maintained its grip on power by nominating white ethnic New Yorkers from the outer boroughs who disdained liberal elites. Those candidates could count on support from the working-class voters who were the backbone of the party.
Ed Koch was the kind of Democrat who could appeal to those voters. And after the disastrous four years of the late David Dinkins’ mayoralty, first Rudy Giuliani and then Mike Bloomberg proved that not only could New York be pulled back from the abyss and thrive as never before, but that candidates not in thrall to the hard left could still win elections here even if they called themselves Republicans or independents.
Is Rose the man who could pick up where they left off?
A feisty yet wonkish intellectual and a decorated Army veteran, Rose was a brilliant choice for the Democrats to win a traditionally Republican House seat in 2018. During the last two years, Rose did his best to try to thread the needle of retaining support in a district that voted for Donald Trump while maintaining his standing as a blue-state Democrat. He did that by rightly blasting de Blasio as a terrible mayor and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s “Green New Deal” as “socialist” while also voting to impeach the president. But in a normal political year, he was still too liberal for Staten Island and lost.
On the other hand, despite the city’s crying need for a centrist option in 2021, he might be too conservative to win a mayoral primary as crowded as the one that appears to be shaping up for next year.
The political landscape of New York has shifted to the left since the Koch era and even that of Giuliani and Bloomberg. The GOP once might have been able to take advantage of the Democrats’ swing to the far left, but it has all but disappeared outside of Staten Island.
Rose is a novice when it comes to city politics and administration. And though he supported Bloomberg’s presidential run, he also said (in an effort to re-establish his progressive credentials) that Dinkins was the greatest mayor during his lifetime and embraced some of the same destructive policies as some of his competitors.
New York needs a mayoral candidate who will fearlessly take on the left, embrace law enforcement and economic development and stop pretending that more cant about social justice will fix what’s wrong with the city.
Such a candidate might not win but someone has to stand up for the values of ordinary middle- and working-class New Yorkers. If Max Rose is at least willing to try, we can only wish him luck.
Jonathan S. Tobin is editor in chief of JNS.org.


newyorkpost--2020-12-18--Leonard Fournette is back causing fantasy football headaches

The Post is fielding fantasy football questions from readers heading ...

Few things have worked out as planned for anyone in 2020. Why should the fantasy production from the Buccaneers’ backfield be any different?
In a flurry of high-profile offseason acquisitions by Tampa Bay, one was landing former Jaguars running back Leonard Fournette. In his first three seasons, he was among the most productive in the NFL — when healthy.
He was to share a backfield with incumbent Ronald Jones, who was largely pedestrian in his first two seasons. Jones couldn’t even shake fully free of a committee with the (cough) immortal (cough) Peyton Barber.
It was only a matter of time before Fournette took the reins, right? Why go out and get him otherwise? How would Jones, just another guy, compete with a former fourth-overall draft pick? Who was the offensive catalyst on a team that came within a whisker of the Super Bowl in his rookie season?
Of course, this is 2020, and with COVID-19 canceling the bulk of the offseason, it might take a bit longer than normal. But then Fournette had a huge game in Week 2 — nearly doubling Jones’ carries and dwarfing his production. Maybe the shift would come sooner than expected?
Yet that was one of just two games this season in which Fournette got the bulk of carries. Fournette has dealt with some injury issues, but that alone doesn’t explain the massive gap in carries, yards and efficiency — Jones: 180-900 (5.0 yards per carry); Fournette: 69-271 (3.9 ypc).
Leonard Fournette Charles Wenzelberg/New York Post
Needless to say, it became apparent the Fournette Transition was not going to happen. The Madman has spent weeks shedding what shares we had where we could, across 39 leagues — with just a rogue roster or two still stuck with him. This seemed a wise strategy as Fournette’s usage continued to drop — he was even a healthy scratch last week.
But this is 2020, in which every expectation is turned on its head. Now Jones likely will miss Sunday’s game after surgery on his pinky plus being placed on the COVID-19 list as a close contact. That puts Fournette back in play during fantasy semifinals week.
If Jones can’t go, It will either be Fournette or some committee that could include LeSean McCoy, Ke’Shawn Vaughn or Kenjon Barner. None of these rate in the same category as Fournette other than McCoy, and that would be Four Years Ago McCoy, at best, not the McCoy who will suit up Sunday.
So back to Fournette we go. But do be aware, the Falcons are not among the generous to fantasy RBs, allowing the seventh fewest PPR points. even Jones would have been a Flex option, but not a must-start, and at this point Fournette rates lower than Jones.
We’ll play him over the Wayne Gallman, J.D. McKissic types. But not over even disappointing options like Clyde Edwards-Helaire, Ezekiel Elliott or J.K. Dobbins.
So just to recap, here’s Fournette’s projection progress: eventually good, good now, not good now, not good ever, maybe good again. Leonard Fournette, he is so very 2020.


newyorkpost--2020-12-18--FDA approves Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine

FDA approves Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine

Moderna ’ s COVID-19 vaccine was granted approval by the Food and Drug Administration on Friday night — yet another glimmer of hope as infections continue to ravage the country .
The vaccine is now the second to get the OK for use in the US behind Pfizer-BioNTech , whose shot was approved on Dec. 11 .
Moderna ’ s vaccine has been approved for use in people aged 18 and older .
Earlier this week , the FDA said Moderna ’ s vaccine was shown to be 94 percent effective in a 30,000-person clinical trial and did not pose @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the availability of two vaccines now for the prevention of COVID-19 , the FDA has taken another crucial step in the fight against this global pandemic that is causing vast numbers of hospitalizations and deaths in the United States each day , ” FDA Commissioner Stephen M. Hahn , M.D .
said in a statement .
“ Through the FDA ’ s open and transparent scientific review process , two COVID-19 vaccines have been authorized in an expedited timeframe while adhering to the rigorous standards for safety , effectiveness , and manufacturing quality @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the American people have come to expect from the FDA , ” he said .
“ These standards and our review process , which are the same we have used in reviewing the first COVID-19 vaccine and intend to use for any other COVID-19 vaccines , included input from independent scientific and public health experts as well as a thorough analysis of the data by the agency ’ s career staff.
” The agency ’ s advisory board voted unanimously to recommend its approval following an all-day hearing Thursday .
Health and Human @ @ @ @ @ @ @ doses of Moderna ’ s vaccine will be shipped out to states next week .
Dr. Anthony Fauci , the nation ’ s top infectious disease expert , said inoculations could be administered as soon as Monday or Tuesday .
The Massachusetts-based biotechnology company ’ s shot is administered in two doses 28 days apart .
Pfizer is also a two-dose shot , given 21 days apart .
Both shots use so-called messenger mRNA , genetic material that spurs an immune response to coronavirus by directed the body to create a tiny amount @ @ @ @ @ @ @ light for Moderna comes after the US shattered daily records for new cases , deaths and hospitalizations on Wednesday .
Coronavirus infections are surging in the US , where 17 million cases and 311,000 deaths have been recorded since the start of the pandemic , according to the latest data from Johns Hopkins University .
More than 75 million infections and 1.6 million deaths have been recorded worldwide .
Other vaccines — including from Novavax , Johnson & Johnson and AstraZeneca — are in Phase 3 clinical trials .

Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine was granted approval by the Food and Drug Administration on Friday night — yet another glimmer of hope as infections continue to ravage the country.
The vaccine is now the second to get the OK for use in the US behind Pfizer-BioNTech, whose shot was approved on Dec. 11.
Moderna’s vaccine has been approved for use in people aged 18 and older.
Earlier this week, the FDA said Moderna’s vaccine was shown to be 94 percent effective in a 30,000-person clinical trial and did not pose any major safety problems.
“With the availability of two vaccines now for the prevention of COVID-19, the FDA has taken another crucial step in the fight against this global pandemic that is causing vast numbers of hospitalizations and deaths in the United States each day,” FDA Commissioner Stephen M. Hahn, M.D. said in a statement.
“Through the FDA’s open and transparent scientific review process, two COVID-19 vaccines have been authorized in an expedited timeframe while adhering to the rigorous standards for safety, effectiveness, and manufacturing quality needed to support emergency use authorization that the American people have come to expect from the FDA,” he said.
“These standards and our review process, which are the same we have used in reviewing the first COVID-19 vaccine and intend to use for any other COVID-19 vaccines, included input from independent scientific and public health experts as well as a thorough analysis of the data by the agency’s career staff.”
The agency’s advisory board voted unanimously to recommend its approval following an all-day hearing Thursday.
Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said 5.9 million doses of Moderna’s vaccine will be shipped out to states next week.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert, said inoculations could be administered as soon as Monday or Tuesday.
The Massachusetts-based biotechnology company’s shot is administered in two doses 28 days apart. Pfizer is also a two-dose shot, given 21 days apart.
Both shots use so-called messenger mRNA, genetic material that spurs an immune response to coronavirus by directed the body to create a tiny amount of coronavirus spike proteins.
The green light for Moderna comes after the US shattered daily records for new cases, deaths and hospitalizations on Wednesday.
Coronavirus infections are surging in the US, where 17 million cases and 311,000 deaths have been recorded since the start of the pandemic, according to the latest data from Johns Hopkins University.
More than 75 million infections and 1.6 million deaths have been recorded worldwide.
Other vaccines — including from Novavax, Johnson & Johnson and AstraZeneca — are in Phase 3 clinical trials.


newyorkpost--2020-12-18--Florida’s Keyontae Johnson speaks in touching video after scary collapse

The Florida Gators star , who collapsed on the court during a game on Dec. 12 and was hospitalized , posted a video message to Twitter on Friday thanking those who helped him get through a scary time .
Along with the video , the junior tweeted , “ God said my work here ain ’ t done.
” “ First and foremost , I ’ d like to thank God .
I know y ’ all have been sending your prayers out the last few weeks and me and my parents are very grateful for all the prayers that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ said in the video .
“ To all the doctors and medical staff at Tallahassee Memorial and UF Shands , I just want to say thank you for all the support y ’ all gave me , especially the lady that was in the gym at Florida State.
” Johnson , who in the video wore wearing a shirt that read , “ Write Your Own Story ” , had been in a medically induced coma , but was able to FaceTime with his parent earlier this week , according to the school @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in a statement on Thursday that Johnson was “ showing truly encouraging signs of progress.
” Johnson , the preseason player of the year in the SEC , collapsed during a game at rival Florida State .
He was rushed to Tallahassee Memorial Hospital before being transferred to UF Health on Monday .
What caused him to collapse is not yet clear .
“ To my Gator nation , and the UF athletic family , I just want to thank you for all the prayers that y ’ all gave out to me @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Gators .
”

Keyontae Johnson is speaking and thankful.
The Florida Gators star, who collapsed on the court during a game on Dec. 12 and was hospitalized, posted a video message to Twitter on Friday thanking those who helped him get through a scary time. Along with the video, the junior tweeted, “God said my work here ain’t done.”
“First and foremost, I’d like to thank God. I know y’all have been sending your prayers out the last few weeks and me and my parents are very grateful for all the prayers that have been going out,” Johnson said in the video. “To all the doctors and medical staff at Tallahassee Memorial and UF Shands, I just want to say thank you for all the support y’all gave me, especially the lady that was in the gym at Florida State.”
Johnson, who in the video wore wearing a shirt that read, “Write Your Own Story”, had been in a medically induced coma, but was able to FaceTime with his parent earlier this week, according to the school. Florida athletic director Scott Stricklin said in a statement on Thursday that Johnson was “showing truly encouraging signs of progress.”
Johnson, the preseason player of the year in the SEC, collapsed during a game at rival Florida State. He was rushed to Tallahassee Memorial Hospital before being transferred to UF Health on Monday. What caused him to collapse is not yet clear.
“To my Gator nation, and the UF athletic family, I just want to thank you for all the prayers that y’all gave out to me,” Johnson said. “Go Gators.”


newyorkpost--2020-12-18--No, Edward Snowden doesn’t remotely deserve a pardon from President Trump

President Trump polled his aides on Thursday about whether he ...

No one will ever accuse President Trump of being overly careful in his exercise of his pardon power.
So it makes sense that advocates of Edward Snowden, the man responsible for the most damaging classified leak in US history, are mounting a last-minute push to get the president who pardoned Sheriff Joe and Roger Stone to issue his most outrageous and indefensible pardon yet.
It’s a transpartisan alliance. Glenn Greenwald, Snowden’s journalistic partner and foremost advocate, has, of course, been banging the drum. Rose McGowan has urged Trump to be “punk as f - - -” and pardon Snowden in defiance of “DC Cult Leaders a k a politicians” who “hate the truth.”
Renegade Democratic Rep. Tulsi Gabbard is on board, as are libertarian Trump loyalists Rand Paul and Matt Gaetz.
As Trump’s presidency winds down and his clout on Capitol Hill diminishes, his sweeping power to grant clemency will be even more alluring to him, and he said over the summer that he’s considering a Snowden pardon.
If the pardon can be sold to Trump as a way to stick it to the Deep State on his way out the door, anything is possible. Why go to the trouble of firing CIA Director Gina Haspel or FBI Director Christopher Wray if he can signal his contempt for their ilk by bringing a bête noire of the US national-security apparatus in from the cold with a stroke of his pen?
Working for a National Security Agency contractor, Snowden stole massive amounts of classified material and began sharing it with journalists in 2013. When the Justice Department filed criminal charges, he fled to Russia, which kindly provided him asylum and then permanent residency.
Snowden is a self-styled whistleblower. He says he was motivated by his constitutional qualms about an NSA bulk-data-collection program and his disgust with official deceptions about the program.
None of this holds up. If Snowden wanted to be a genuine whistleblower, he could have pursued concerns about the NSA program through lawful avenues, instead of fleeing the country and purloining so many documents that authorities still can’t be sure how much he stole.
The Snowden disclosures were much more wide-ranging than the NSA program, in fact so wide-ranging that it’s almost impossible to keep track.
As Harvard law professor Jack Goldsmith has asked, why did Snowden’s devotion to the Constitution require him to disclose details of how we spy on other countries, how we cooperate with Sweden and Norway to spy on Russia, or an NSA program called MasterMind to respond to cyberattacks?
None of these programs or actions raises any constitutional issues whatsoever. Exposing them makes sense only as sheer nihilism (i.e., Snowden was in a position to steal the information, so why not take it and disclose it?) or as a calculated act of hostility to US national-security policy as such.
Snowden’s defenders say not to worry, Snowden and the journalists reporting on his documents have been careful not to disclose anything needlessly damaging to America and its allies.
But there is no reason that the responsibility for protecting sensitive information involving no crimes or government misconduct should, via Snowden’s theft, have been transferred from US officials to assorted reporters and editors.
It’s also naive to believe that Snowden was allowed to make a home in Vladimir Putin’s Russia without the government exploiting his trove of secrets.
The president’s pardon power is plenary, but that doesn’t mean it should be wielded with no standards whatsoever. Traditionally, the Justice Department looks for contrition when reviewing possible exercises of clemency.
Not only does Snowden exhibit none, we don’t even know the full scope of his offense, and he remains a fugitive through the good offices of an enemy of the United States.
Surely, Trump will be bombarded with bad ideas in the final days of his presidency, but pardoning Edward Snowden has to rank among the worst.
Twitter: @RichLowry


newyorkpost--2020-12-18--A top Biden aide’s gaffe exposes the truth about any real chance for future bipartisan deals

Pentagon officials have been ordered to halt cooperation with President-elect ...

The latest Beltway kerfuffle involves Jen O’Malley Dillon, Joe Biden’s campaign manager and incoming deputy chief of staff, calling Republicans “f - - - - ers” and Senate Republican chief Mitch McConnell “terrible.”
Republicans who seemed not to mind at all when Donald Trump said horrible things about Democrats are up in arms. Democrats who screamed about Trump’s misbehavior are . . . saying the same thing I just said about Republicans in order to defend or excuse Dillon’s remarks.
There is an animating idea behind the words Dillon spoke, but it’s not the one people have been arguing about since Glamour released its interview with her. People seem to think it might have been a shot across the GOP bow or a message to McConnell. I seriously doubt that. In fact, I’d bet $1,000 it was an unguarded mistake.
Dillon was famous among the press corps during 2019 and 2020 for her refusal to make herself a public figure as Biden sought the presidency — the focus was to be kept on the candidate and the message.
She wasn’t the new Carville, the new Axelrod, the new anybody. You probably had no idea she existed until this week, even though she was atop one of the most successful campaigns in modern political history.
Her surprising invisibility and that of other Biden staffers were key elements of the iron discipline and long-range thinking that made the Biden campaign one of the most sheerly competent political machines we’ve ever seen.
Dillon was trying to make a point. She did it badly, but it wasn’t about how awful the other team is. It was about how wonderful, how idealistic, how visionary Joe Biden is.
Consider the offending quotation: “The president-elect was able to connect with people over this sense of unity. In the primary, [Democratic] people would mock him, like, ‘You think you can work with Republicans?’ I’m not saying they’re not a bunch of f - - - - ers. Mitch McConnell is terrible. But this sense that you couldn’t wish for that, you couldn’t wish for this bipartisan ideal? [Biden] rejected that. From start to finish, he set out with this idea that unity was possible, that together we are stronger, that we, as a country, need healing, and our politics needs that too.”
In some sense, Dillon was saying that her boss is wiser and more far-seeing than she could ever be — and wiser than partisan Democrats who do not understand the value of believing in a message of unity and healing.
Thursday, Dillon acknowledged she “used some words that I probably could have chosen better.” The question is, what about the idea behind the words? Is it really true that healing and unity will be key to a Biden administration?
One should never say never, but I’d bet another $1,000 the “bipartisan ideal” she talked about is a fantasy. Generally, true bipartisanship has always been the exception rather than the rule. You can count the important bipartisan moments in modern American history on two hands.
The parties came together to support an active strategy against the Soviets to support democracy in Europe after the Second World War. They came together to support Ronald Reagan’s tax reform in 1986, the Americans with Disabilities Act in 1989, welfare reform in 1996 and the No Child Left Behind education bill in 2001.
The last genuine moment of bipartisanship in recent American history helps explain why there has been so little of it since — the vote to authorize the war against Iraq in 2002, which garnered support from half the Democrats in the upper chamber.
The 18 years since have seen the ideological split of the parties harden and sharpen to a rapier’s edge. The narrow results of the 2020 election give us no reason to think anyone in either party aside from Biden is going to have much of an incentive to deal.
Therefore, Biden’s message is either foolish or canny. If he thinks he can slide along that rapier’s edge and get himself some deals just because he’s a more pleasant guy, then he’s probably foolish.
But if he thinks he can use his PR pitch about reaching out as a kind of cudgel against Republicans — by saying he did everything he could and they just want to see the nation burn, and thereby hasten the journey of suburban voters into the Democratic camp — then he might be on to something.
jpodhoretz@gmail.com


newyorkpost--2020-12-18--Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Guest House’ on Netflix, a 2020 Pauly Shore Vehicle That’s Too 1989 for Its O

Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Guest House’ on Netflix, a 2020 Pauly Shore Vehicle That’s Too 1989 for Its Own Good

A Pauly Shore vehicle in 2020 is as likely as anything else that happened this year , I guess — and that includes a new Crocodile Dundee movie .
Eyerolls ; shrugs ; a general yeah-sure-why-not-ness .
Guest House arrives on Netflix ripe and ready to reanimate long-dead memories of the Weaz-ullll , buuuddy , as Pauly plays a stoner-slacker who ’ s barely changed since MTV stopped showing music videos .
Sometimes , we see celebs late in their career enjoy a credible resurgence and a sniff at Oscar immortality , so maybe we should give this movie the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ STREAM IT OR SKIP IT ?
The Gist : Sarah ( Aimee Teagarden ) and Blake ’ s ( Mike Castle ) house-hunting is over : This .
Is .
The .
Place .
It ’ s spacious , the kitchen is UHH-MAY-ZINGGG and it has a gigantic party-friendly backyard with a pool and patio .
But what does the agent from Hindpokin Realty regret to inform them ?
The guest house occupant is Randy Cockfield ( Pauly Shore ) , a cocaine-huffing eternal partyguy who ’ s like R. Crumb ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Stifler , a Rob Schneider character in a Happy Madison production and , I dunno , Jack Black voicing a cartoon elephant who wears a Hawaiian shirt ?
Except less interesting .
The house is too alluring for the young couple , though .
They could probably have Randy-Pauly legally removed from the property , but this isn ’ t reality , it ’ s a movie that won ’ t work in the least if any logic is applied to it .
There ’ s a moving-in montage in which Sarah lines @ @ @ @ @ @ @ pickled vegetables , so they ’ re obviously Millennials .
One day , they follow a trail of discarded food wrappers from their cupboard back to the guest house .
This will not do .
Blake assures Sarah that he ’ ll kick this glorified squatter from the grounds , but soon enough , Randy-Pauly brings out the worst in reformed hardy-partier Blake , and they end up sitting among the non-renter/squatter ’ s collection of swords , pirate hats and assorted sarcofagi smoking weed out of a big old penis bong .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ they persevere .
Blake proposes , Randy-Pauly interrupts and almost ruins it , Sarah accepts .
SIX MONTHS LATER , a subtitle blurts .
Blake and Sarah are planning the wedding .
Randy still hasn ’ t moved out .
In fact , he ’ s having naked-babe ragers in the middle of the night and when Blake goes out to break it up he instead ends up waaaayyyyyyyy-stiiiiiiiiiiiiddddd in a whoa-dude par-tay montage that concludes with explosions and flames .
Randy-Pauly makes sure Blake is the one who gets arrested and subsequently @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ( ! )
.
It becomes a war of attrition .
Blake gets fired from his job at a skateboarding firm ?
Company ?
Conglomerate ?
Owned by a nut named Shredd ( Steve-O ) .
Randy-Pauly gets a restraining order and exploits plot holes , etc .
Meanwhile , Sarah contemplates dumping Blake as she stands in the kitchen next to her dishwasher with the giant , obtrusive handle .
Why would anyone put up with such shenanigans ?
Why would anyone not buy the dishwasher with the recessed handle ?
I @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
What Movies Will It Remind You Of ?
: Grandma ’ s Boy .
Please don ’ t take that as flattery .
Performance Worth Watching : Playing Sarah ’ s intimidating Army Ranger father , Billy Zane gives off some terrifying Steven Seagal vibes .
Memorable Dialogue : This film , in one line : “ Randy has fallen , and I can ’ t get up !
” — Randy-Pauly Sex and Skin : Gratuitous full-frontal ladies and manbutts ; Pauly has a genital confab with a woman in “ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Our Take : Guest House isn ’ t even half-assed , quarter-assed or penny-assed .
This thing is barely -assed at all .
Consider my expectations met .
It is , however , lazy , sexist , homophobic and completely unaware of any societal changes since 1989 .
The script seems cobbled from the top 50 least-read Barstool blogs ( “ That walking foreskin got me fired , ” “ You need to toss that boy out like a used tampon , ” “ Randy Cockfield ” ) and the film appears to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ jug of elementary-school classroom paste .
It features repetitive gags , Pauly Shore shitting his pants , possum antics set to generic nu-metal and an ending swamped in unconvincing sentimental slop .
It fits nicely into Shore ’ s filmography , although it makes Encino Man look like Raging Bull .
I truly , honestly believe Shore could do some reasonably substantial acting when asked , but Guest House is content to urp up the same old Pauly persona from 30 years ago , and the results are dire .
If you want @ @ @ @ @ @ @ deep , maybe you ’ ll find a Millennials-v-Gen X war of attrition to ponder ( an opportunity that slips by like vomit on a downhill slip- ’ n-slide ) .
You ’ re more likely to slam the digging bucket into the sewage line and end up with a faceful of excrement .
I ’ m sorry to say that Pauly Shore ’ s first comedy vehicle in eons is not particularly satisfactory .
Our Call : SKIP IT .
Seriously , you don ’ t want to bang your hips into @ @ @ @ @ @ @ one with the recessed handle is the same price !
John Serba is a freelance writer and film critic based in Grand Rapids , Michigan .
Read more of his work at johnserbaatlarge.com or follow him on Twitter : @ johnserba .

A Pauly Shore vehicle in 2020 is as likely as anything else that happened this year, I guess — and that includes a new Crocodile Dundee movie. Eyerolls; shrugs; a general yeah-sure-why-not-ness. Guest House arrives on Netflix ripe and ready to reanimate long-dead memories of the Weaz-ullll, buuuddy, as Pauly plays a stoner-slacker who’s barely changed since MTV stopped showing music videos. Sometimes, we see celebs late in their career enjoy a credible resurgence and a sniff at Oscar immortality, so maybe we should give this movie the benefit of the dou-
GUEST HOUSE: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?
The Gist: Sarah (Aimee Teagarden) and Blake’s (Mike Castle) house-hunting is over: This. Is. The. Place. It’s spacious, the kitchen is UHH-MAY-ZINGGG and it has a gigantic party-friendly backyard with a pool and patio. But what does the agent from Hindpokin Realty regret to inform them? The guest house occupant is Randy Cockfield (Pauly Shore), a cocaine-huffing eternal partyguy who’s like R. Crumb’s brother in the Crumb documentary cross-pollinated with Stifler, a Rob Schneider character in a Happy Madison production and, I dunno, Jack Black voicing a cartoon elephant who wears a Hawaiian shirt? Except less interesting.
The house is too alluring for the young couple, though. They could probably have Randy-Pauly legally removed from the property, but this isn’t reality, it’s a movie that won’t work in the least if any logic is applied to it. There’s a moving-in montage in which Sarah lines the shelves with her artisanal jars of pickled vegetables, so they’re obviously Millennials. One day, they follow a trail of discarded food wrappers from their cupboard back to the guest house. This will not do. Blake assures Sarah that he’ll kick this glorified squatter from the grounds, but soon enough, Randy-Pauly brings out the worst in reformed hardy-partier Blake, and they end up sitting among the non-renter/squatter’s collection of swords, pirate hats and assorted sarcofagi smoking weed out of a big old penis bong. Sarah is UNAMUSED.
And yet, they persevere. Blake proposes, Randy-Pauly interrupts and almost ruins it, Sarah accepts. SIX MONTHS LATER, a subtitle blurts. Blake and Sarah are planning the wedding. Randy still hasn’t moved out. In fact, he’s having naked-babe ragers in the middle of the night and when Blake goes out to break it up he instead ends up waaaayyyyyyyy-stiiiiiiiiiiiiddddd in a whoa-dude par-tay montage that concludes with explosions and flames. Randy-Pauly makes sure Blake is the one who gets arrested and subsequently meets a cop played by Lou Ferrigno (!). It becomes a war of attrition. Blake gets fired from his job at a skateboarding firm? Company? Conglomerate? Owned by a nut named Shredd (Steve-O). Randy-Pauly gets a restraining order and exploits plot holes, etc. Meanwhile, Sarah contemplates dumping Blake as she stands in the kitchen next to her dishwasher with the giant, obtrusive handle. Why would anyone put up with such shenanigans? Why would anyone not buy the dishwasher with the recessed handle? I have no answers for any of this.
What Movies Will It Remind You Of?: Grandma’s Boy. Please don’t take that as flattery.
Performance Worth Watching: Playing Sarah’s intimidating Army Ranger father, Billy Zane gives off some terrifying Steven Seagal vibes.
Memorable Dialogue: This film, in one line: “Randy has fallen, and I can’t get up!” — Randy-Pauly
Sex and Skin: Gratuitous full-frontal ladies and manbutts; Pauly has a genital confab with a woman in “Tommy Lee’s sex swing.”
Our Take: Guest House isn’t even half-assed, quarter-assed or penny-assed. This thing is barely -assed at all. Consider my expectations met.
It is, however, lazy, sexist, homophobic and completely unaware of any societal changes since 1989. The script seems cobbled from the top 50 least-read Barstool blogs (“That walking foreskin got me fired,” “You need to toss that boy out like a used tampon,” “Randy Cockfield”) and the film appears to be edited with the stick from a jug of elementary-school classroom paste. It features repetitive gags, Pauly Shore shitting his pants, possum antics set to generic nu-metal and an ending swamped in unconvincing sentimental slop.
It fits nicely into Shore’s filmography, although it makes Encino Man look like Raging Bull. I truly, honestly believe Shore could do some reasonably substantial acting when asked, but Guest House is content to urp up the same old Pauly persona from 30 years ago, and the results are dire.
If you want to haul out the backhoe and dig deep, maybe you’ll find a Millennials-v-Gen X war of attrition to ponder (an opportunity that slips by like vomit on a downhill slip-’n-slide). You’re more likely to slam the digging bucket into the sewage line and end up with a faceful of excrement. I’m sorry to say that Pauly Shore’s first comedy vehicle in eons is not particularly satisfactory.
Our Call: SKIP IT. Seriously, you don’t want to bang your hips into that big old handle, and the one with the recessed handle is the same price!
John Serba is a freelance writer and film critic based in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Read more of his work at johnserbaatlarge.com or follow him on Twitter: @johnserba.
Watch Guest House on Netflix


newyorkpost--2020-12-18--Didi Gregorius as DJ LeMahieu fallback creates tantalizing Yankees scenario

Didi Gregorius appears to be open to a reunion with ...

Every now and then, a caller to sports talk radio makes you think.
Of course, the likelihood of that phenomenon increases when the caller is Didi Gregorius.
The popular former Yankees shortstop, who spent 2020 with the Phillies, generated buzz Thursday when he went on “The Michael Kay Show” (on 98.7 FM ESPN New York) and spoke of his former team, saying, “All I can say is I had a really good time playing there. But at the end, it’s in their hands. Who knows what’s going to happen in the future with [DJ] LeMahieu or with the Yankees and all that stuff? They’re making their decision of what they plan to do.”
The Yankees plan to re-sign LeMahieu as long as common economic ground can be found — you might have heard they’re cutting payroll in the wake of the financially hurtful 2020 — and pay no mind to the deliberate nature of these negotiations. You’ll notice that none of the top free agents have signed yet as the players and owners try to determine the shape and schedule of the 2021 campaign.
If the two sides can’t reach a compromise, though, would the Yankees actually be better off diversifying their LeMahieu funds among, say, Gregorius and Masahiro Tanaka?
I’d still take my chances with LeMahieu. Yet the notion tantalizes as a Plan B.
When we last saw Gregorius in pinstripes, he was slow to recover from the Tommy John surgery he underwent in the fall of 2018. His abbreviated 2019 saw a decline on both sides of the ball, and that led to the Yankees parting ways with the man who had succeeded Derek Jeter better than anyone could have reasonably expected.
DJ LeMahieu, Didi Gregorius Charles Wenzelberg/NY Post, AP
In 2020, reunited with his first Yankees skipper, Joe Girardi, in Philadelphia, Gregorius looked far more like his old self, slashing .284/.339/.488 in 60 games (yes, he played in every game) while slightly improving his defense.
Picture him giving the Yankees’ lineup some badly needed lefty balance. Allowing Gleyber Torres to move back to second base. Tweeting with those likably silly emojis after every Yankees victory.
Then envision Tanaka returning to provide his dosage of reliability and leadership to the Yankees. Doesn’t excite you as much? You’re still sore over his lousy October? Eh. I say he deserves a mulligan after a year that challenged him greatly, between some personal adversity during the shutdown and the concussion he suffered just moments after spring training 2.0 began. For sure, the Yankees badly could use more starting pitching depth.
These are nice images … except they don’t include LeMahieu, the Yankees’ top performer of the past two seasons and a top four finisher in the American League Most Valuable Player voting both years, a feat to which only he can boast in that time frame. An icon of durability, consistency and versatility on a team not possessing an abundance of those attributes.
You can find red flags if you search for them. LeMahieu’s 2020 expected slugging percentage, based on exit velocity and launch angle, was .462 (thanks, Baseball Savant), a considerable drop from the actual .590. His defense slipped a touch at both third base and second base, and he’s 32. Then again, the 30-year-old Gregorius carries some concerns, too, with an actual slugging percentage of .488 and an expected .396. And Tanaka, also 32, could just be slipping, with the playoffs Exhibit A.
I’d go with the best player of the bunch, which LeMahieu is at this juncture, and count on more arbitrage aptitude to find starting pitching depth and lefty hitting (and I think Brett Gardner will return for a pay cut). That doesn’t mitigate how curious I’d be to see a Yankees club with a superior defensive alignment as well as better offensive equilibrium, not to mention the ginormous standing ovation Gregorius would get at Yankee Stadium with fans once again occupying it.
Thanks to Sir Didi from Curacao for calling in. Maybe he’ll wait out the Yankees-LeMahieu staring contest, just like the rest of us.


newyorkpost--2020-12-18--Virginia man arrested for killing nurse mom and her husband

A Virginia man has been arrested for allegedly killing his mother , a beloved nurse in her community , and her husband after the couple went missing , authorities said .
Officers responded to Sandra Powell-Wyche ’ s home in Richmond Wednesday where they found she and her husband , Curtis Wyche , were shot to death , WWBT reported .
Powell-Wyche was reported missing after she failed to show up to work at Westminster Canterbury Richmond on Tuesday .
Her husband was last seen at their home Sunday , Richmond police said .
Cops later arrested Powell-Wyche ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the bodies Wednesday .
He ’ s been charged with homicide and use of a firearm .
Additional charges are pending .
A motive for the shootings is unknown .
Powell-Wyche was described as a nurse who everyone loved .
“ She brought joy to those she served and those with whom she served , ” Westminster Canterbury Richmond President and CEO , John Burn , told WWBT .
“ We are very sad about her loss , ” “ She was always sweet and always smiling , ” said one co-worker .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ day she made me laugh and that ’ s what I will miss about her – that smile .
”

A Virginia man has been arrested for allegedly killing his mother, a beloved nurse in her community, and her husband after the couple went missing, authorities said.
Officers responded to Sandra Powell-Wyche’s home in Richmond Wednesday where they found she and her husband, Curtis Wyche, were shot to death, WWBT reported.
Powell-Wyche was reported missing after she failed to show up to work at Westminster Canterbury Richmond on Tuesday.
Her husband was last seen at their home Sunday, Richmond police said.
Cops later arrested Powell-Wyche’s son, Trevon Powell, after discovering the bodies Wednesday.
He’s been charged with homicide and use of a firearm. Additional charges are pending.
A motive for the shootings is unknown.
Powell-Wyche was described as a nurse who everyone loved.
“She brought joy to those she served and those with whom she served,” Westminster Canterbury Richmond President and CEO, John Burn, told WWBT. “We are very sad about her loss,”
“She was always sweet and always smiling,” said one co-worker. “Whenever I was having a bad day she made me laugh and that’s what I will miss about her – that smile.”


newyorkpost--2020-12-18--On brink of shutdown, Congress passes 2-day extension to mull COVID-19 relief

Sign up for our special edition newsletter to get a daily update on the coronavirus pandemic .
Congress passed a stopgap , two-day spending bill Friday night to avert a partial government shutdown , a measure that will buy time for ongoing negotiations over a $ 900 billion COVID-19 economic relief package .
The House and Senate passed the bill allowing the funding deadline to extend from Friday to the end of Sunday .
The extension came on the brink of a midnight government shutdown , and gives Congress more time to finish a year-end spending agreement and coronavirus aid @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to President Trump ’ s desk to be signed into law .
After months of fruitless negotiations , optimistic party leaders earlier in the day said they believed they were “ very close ” to passing the aid bill , which includes a $ 300 per week federal boost to unemployment and more small business loans .
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell ( R-Ky. ) said early in the day he was “ even more optimistic now than I was last night , ” but Democrats launched a concerted campaign to block an @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Pennsylvania to insert language to end five emergency Federal Reserve lending programs created in the March CARES Act .
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin is shutting down the programs at the end of December , but Toomey ’ s language goes further , by barring the Fed from restarting the lending next year , and Democrats say the provision would tie Biden ’ s hands and put the economy at risk .
Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin also blocked an effort from his fellow Republican Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri to deliver $ 1,200 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ he and socialist Democrat Sen. Bernie Sanders have been pushing .
Citing deficit concerns , Johnson said the checks would be “ mortgaging our children ’ s future.
” Lawmakers had been hoping to tack the funding package onto the $ 1.4 trillion government spending bill before funding lapses at 12:01 a.m. Saturday .
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and McConnell reportedly instructed their staff to come to a final agreement by 5 pm after more than nine months of inaction .
As the death toll continues to reach new daily records and the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ days to come to an agreement on how much should be spent on key sticking points like direct stimulus checks and money for broke state and local governments .
An estimated 12 million people will lose their unemployment insurance the day after Christmas if Congress fails to extend provisions from the March CARES Act that expanded benefits .
Millions will also face the threat of losing their homes if a federal eviction moratorium lapses at the end of the month .

Sign up for our special edition newsletter to get a daily update on the coronavirus pandemic.
President Trump signed a stopgap, two-day spending bill Friday night to avert a partial government shutdown, a measure that will buy time for ongoing negotiations over a $900 billion COVID-19 economic relief package.
The House and Senate passed the bill earlier Friday; it allows the funding deadline to extend from Friday to the end of Sunday.
The extension averts a midnight government shutdown, and gives Congress more time to finish a year-end spending agreement and coronavirus aid package.
After months of fruitless negotiations, optimistic party leaders earlier in the day said they believed they were “very close” to passing the aid bill, which includes a $300 per week federal boost to unemployment and more small business loans.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said early in the day he was “even more optimistic now than I was last night,” but Democrats launched a concerted campaign to block an effort by GOP Sen. Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania to insert language to end five emergency Federal Reserve lending programs created in the March CARES Act.
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin is shutting down the programs at the end of December, but Toomey’s language goes further, by barring the Fed from restarting the lending next year, and Democrats say the provision would tie Biden’s hands and put the economy at risk.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi AFP via Getty Images
Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin also blocked an effort from his fellow Republican Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri to deliver $1,200 checks to individuals — a measure both he and socialist Democrat Sen. Bernie Sanders have been pushing.
Citing deficit concerns, Johnson said the checks would be “mortgaging our children’s future.”
Lawmakers had been hoping to tack the funding package onto the $1.4 trillion government spending bill before funding lapses at 12:01 a.m. Saturday.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and McConnell reportedly instructed their staff to come to a final agreement by 5 pm after more than nine months of inaction.
As the death toll continues to reach new daily records and the holiday season approaches, Congress has just days to come to an agreement on how much should be spent on key sticking points like direct stimulus checks and money for broke state and local governments.
An estimated 12 million people will lose their unemployment insurance the day after Christmas if Congress fails to extend provisions from the March CARES Act that expanded benefits.
Millions will also face the threat of losing their homes if a federal eviction moratorium lapses at the end of the month.
With Post wires


newyorkpost--2020-12-18--Jets’ Connor McGovern isn’t amused by tanking supporters

The Jets are even the butt of jokes in obits ... .

The Jets overhauled their offensive line last offseason in the hope a unit that was a source of constant change in 2019 would be stabilized.
Instead, the only constant has been change.
Through 13 games, the Jets have had eight different starting offensive line combinations — one shy of their 2019 mark — because of injuries, with center Connor McGovern the only lineman to start all 13 games this season heading into Sunday’s matchup against the Rams.
“There’s been adversity and adversity’s going to make us stronger,” McGovern said Friday. “I think it’s a good base platform to grow on.”
Of course, during the course of the Jets’ 0-13 season, their injuries haven’t been limited to just the offensive line. McGovern has been the Jets’ offensive ironman of sorts — their only player, period, to start all 13 games. The lack of continuity is just one of a growing list of reasons why the Jets have the league’s 32nd-ranked offense in both yards and points.
The Jets’ Connor McGovern AP
But McGovern did not want to offer up any excuses, nor did he want to entertain the idea that all the losing is good for the Jets because of what it could mean in terms of landing the No. 1 draft pick.
“I don’t put my body through this, I don’t think anybody on the Jets puts their body through it, to lose,” McGovern said. “It might be easy for somebody sitting on the couch, eating pizza, chips and dip, to say they should keep losing, but if they’ve ever strapped the pads on, that sounds like an impossible thing for me to do. I’m going to do whatever I can to win.”
For McGovern, that has meant playing through a hamstring injury that nearly kept him out of the Jets’ Week 3 game against the Colts after it knocked him out of a loss to the 49ers the week before. He has played 772 of 792 offensive snaps (97.5 percent) this season, nearly 100 more snaps than the next closest player — guard Greg Van Roten, who played 689 snaps (87 percent) before going on injured reserve after Week 13.
Adam Gase on Friday was reminded of McGovern’s starting streak and said not to jinx it before lauding the center’s preparation and communication. McGovern heard his snap count and knocked on the wooden podium at which he was standing.
“I take a lot of pride in it,” McGovern said. “It’s rare that somebody that’s a good offensive lineman is just going to sit out and let a little nick or an injury stop him from playing. It’s part of the position, you take pride in that. You gotta be a tough dude to play in the trenches. It’s 65-80 fights in a game and that’s what your mindset is.
“I was always told there’s a difference between being hurt and injured. As long as you’re hurt, you can keep playing offensive line. So that’s kind of the mentality I’ve always taken to it.”
While uncertainty surrounds the Jets this offseason, facing potential quarterback and head coaching changes and perhaps even more roster overturn, McGovern is a safe bet to return in the middle of the Jets’ offensive line next season. The three-year, $27 million contract he signed last offseason includes guaranteed money in 2021, not to mention the consistency he has delivered the Jets in a season in which he has been surrounded by anything but.
“Honestly, I think it’s been a good growing year for me,” he said. “I’ve seen a lot of personal growth, starting off a little bit rougher than I have from the past and playing at a much higher level here in this homestretch and being the player the Jets paid me to be and hopefully more than the Jets paid me to be.”