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- EntertainmentDeadline
Rebecca Ramsey Dies: Visual Effects Producer On ‘Watchmen’, ‘Spider-Man 3’ & More Was 53
Rebecca Ramsey, whose dozens of visual effects credits include Watchmen, The Hunger Games and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, has died. She was 53. Ramsey passed on March 7 from complications related to a fall in her home, according to her longtime friend, Jenny McShane. Ramsey was a producer and EP of VFX, VR/AR/MR, 3D stereo, […]
555555 reactions - PoliticsThe Week
The noble lie about masks and coronavirus should never have been told
Those of you of a certain age will doubtless remember a time when it was universally acknowledged that wearing masks would not protect you or anyone else from the coronavirus pandemic. By "certain age" here I mean all living Americans born on or before April 1, 2020, which according to my notes is when it became possible to express a contrary position in polite society.This was always nonsense. The White House is now suggesting that all of us should wear masks whenever we leave our houses. We are even stealing vast stockpiles of them from the Germans, who have been wearing them in public for around a month on the rather more numerous occasions when their leaders exempt them from house arrest. People who can't get proper masks (apparently the kind people wear when they spray for bugs) are being encouraged to make their own. If nothing else, this has given tedious DIY addicts something else to be self satisfied about. No one cares how quaint and interesting you think the piece of cloth meant to protect you from a disease is, okay?Whether the journalists and other apparent experts who enthusiastically spread this apparent lie about masks knew it was false is very much an open question. Some of us found it odd that the same people were also saying that masks should be reserved for use by medical professionals. If masks don't do anything, why do doctors and nurses need them? Are they an ornamental part of a dress uniform? The mind reels.Regardless of the personal honesty of those involved in it, this propaganda campaign should never have been conducted in the first place. It is one thing to debate what should be empirical questions, such as the efficacy of wearing protective equipment in an attempt to forestall the spread of viral infections; it is another for people to bang on about whatever the latest current corona wisdom is with the same tedious certainty that not long ago made us a nation of Logan Act scholars and experts on the non-existent criminal law implications of the emoluments clause. These manias do roughly as much for public health as those kids — there was at least one in every first-grade class — who relentlessly ssshh everyone else in line do to improve schoolyard behavior.The 180-degree shift in acceptable public opinion about masks is in line with how the rest of this crisis has unfolded. Masks won't help. Everyone needs a mask. It's not worth shutting down travel to and from China over the virus, and Trump is just being a xenophobe here. Trump should have done more to prevent the virus from coming to these shores. It's less dangerous than the flu; calling it less dangerous than the flu is a right-wing meme, perhaps even (one shudders) "misinformation." Human beings can't even transmit the virus directly to one another; it originated with animals in Chinese open-air "wet" food markets. Talking about the wet markets is racist, except when Dr. Fauci does it.Can we please stop talking this way? As I write this our paper of record is all but publicly rooting for the failure of anti-malarial drugs that appear to have been successful in treating some coronavirus patients. It is not against "science," whatever that may be, for the president or anyone else to observe that certain medicines or treatments have worked. It is not for science, either. It's just a fact that may or may not have limited application depending upon what happens over the next few months. A bit more epistemic humility would be welcome all around.As would more of I will bluntly call adult behavior. We must put an end to the idea that the best way to get through this crisis is to say things we know are not true in the hope of getting people to behave a certain way. This means not saying masks are useless when what you really mean is, "Masks are in short supply, please consider before you start hoarding them whether you really need them at present and if so how many." Ditto the painfully relentless attempts to give young people the impression that they are horribly likely to die from the new virus. Even in Italy, the country with the worst measured fatality rate so far, around 86 percent of all the deceased have been aged 70 or older, and 50 percent were at least 80. We do not need to zero in on statistical anomalies or otherwise engage in scaremongering. It should be enough to say, "Even though you are very unlikely to die from coronavirus, remember that you could contract the disease and spread it to more vulnerable people without even experiencing symptoms, so please don't revel with 5000 strangers at the beach and then run home to give Grandma a hug."This is how grown-ups talk to one another.More stories from theweek.com Social distancing is going to get darker 5 brutally funny cartoons about Trump's TV ratings boast Principals are disappointed with NYC Zoom ban
- CelebrityRobb Report
Paris Hilton Once Owned One of the Coolest Supercars Ever. Now It’s Up for Sale.
With low miles and high street cred, the former reality star's rare Lexus LFA is now available through an Ohio dealership.
- PoliticsUSA TODAY
Fact check: Did the Obama administration deplete the federal stockpile of N95 masks?
During the presidency of Barack Obama, the national stockpile was seriously taxed as the administration addressed multiple crises over eight years.
- LifestyleCar and Driver
View Photos of the 2021 Rivian R1S
View Photos of the 2021 Rivian R1SFrom Car and Driver
- BusinessYahoo Money
Coronavirus stimulus checks: When to expect up to $1,200, what you need to do, and more
Many Americans will get government checks to help them weather money challenges from the coronavirus outbreak. Here’s what you need to know.
- BusinessBloomberg
Ventilator Tycoon Adds $3.7 Billion to Wealth on Demand Rush
(Bloomberg) -- As the coronavirus pandemic wrecks economies, markets and fortunes, three founders of a company that makes ventilators have added a combined $7.3 billion to their wealth this year.Shenzhen Mindray Bio-Medical Electronics Co. shares have climbed 41%, fueled by a surge in demand for the life-saving devices. Covid-19, the disease caused by the virus, has flooded hospitals worldwide with patients struggling to breathe.Chairman Li Xiting, a Singapore citizen and the city-state’s richest man, has added $3.7 billion to his net worth this year and has a $12.7 billion fortune, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. That puts him among the top five gainers in the world. Jeff Bezos -- the world’s richest person -- is up $3.4 billion, while Bill Gates is down $15.3 billion.The global health crisis has exposed a shortage of ventilators -- the equipment health-care providers rely on to keep critically sick patients alive. While companies from Ford Motor Co. to General Motors Co. rush in to help ramp up production, Mindray’s board secretary Li Wenmei said that global demand is at least 10 times what’s available at hospitals. New York is just a few days away from exhausting its supply, according to state Governor Andrew Cuomo.The death toll worldwide has exceeded 53,000 while infections have topped 1 million. Italy and Spain are the most impacted in Europe, but the disease has also spread rapidly across the U.S., where President Donald Trump warned of 100,000 deaths or more.The Society of Critical Care Medicine estimates that 960,000 patients would need ventilator support in the U.S., but the nation only has about 200,000 such machines. In Italy, the country with the most number of fatalities, a severe ventilator shortage has forced doctors to triage patients.Until late last month, Mindray’s ventilators didn’t have approvals in the U.S. market but the Food and Drug Administration authorized their use under an emergency rule designed to help ease the shortage. That move has also boosted the prospects of Mindray.That authorization is “providing opportunities for Chinese ventilator products to enter the U.S. market quickly,” analysts led by Tian Jiaqiang at Citic Securities Co. wrote in a research note this week.Mindray, which makes 3,000 ventilators a month, isn’t the only manufacturer of the machine in China. Beijing Aeonmed Co. also got FDA authorization last month, according to the regulator’s website. Shares of Jiangsu Yuyue Medical Equipment & Supply Co., another maker, have rallied 98% this year in Shenzhen, boosting its market value to $5.7 billion.Giant RivalsThough Mindray, with a market capitalization of $44 billion, is dwarfed by medical-device giants like Dublin-based Medtronic Plc, the Chinese firm has the potential to expand its market share, said Nikkie Lu, an analyst with Bloomberg Intelligence.“It’s had a very good track record,” with its products able to enter markets like Europe and Hong Kong, she said.In an earnings filing this week, Mindray said orders from Europe especially have increased dramatically, with Italy purchasing the first batch of almost of 10,000 pieces of equipment including ventilators and monitors.The company, which has 17 subsidiaries in China and operations in 30 countries, makes health monitoring systems, ventilators, defibrillators, anesthesia machines and infusion systems. The firm has a direct sales team in the U.S. and long-time global partners include Mayo Clinic, the Johns Hopkins Hospital, Massachusetts General Hospital and Cleveland Clinic, according to its annual report.Not ForeverThe boost to the wealth of Mindray Chairman Li, who founded the firm in 1991 along with Xu and Cheng, contrasts with the erosion in net worth of his peers in Asia. Li Ka-shing, Hong Kong’s richest man, has lost $7.1 billion this year as the city fights a recession from the double-whammy of the pandemic and last year’s political protests. Singapore reported the biggest economic contraction in a decade in the first quarter, and expects a severe recession for the year.The ventilator boom won’t last forever, said Bloomberg Intelligence’s Lu. As more societies age, demand will grow for breathing-support devices, but not to match the scale seen during this crisis, she said.“Sales will definitely drop after the outbreak.”(Updates wealth numbers and case tally)For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.
