Juneteenth 2021: a new major holiday in the USA

Less than two days ago, the US government approved a new federal holiday for the USA. It is called Juneteenth, or June 19. The annual tradition falls on Saturday this year. The tradition commemorates the day in 1865 when former American slaves in Galveston, TX; were finally informed of President Abraham Lincoln's January 1, 1863, Emancipation Proclamation and the end of the Civil War. President Joe Biden signed legislation on June 17 for the Juneteenth National Independence day holiday. Biden believes that this action will go down as "one of the greatest honors"; of his presidency. In addition, the holiday is the first federal holiday established since Martin Luther King Jr. day in 1983. June 19 becomes the eleventh federal holiday recognized by the US federal government. Since Juneteenth falls on a Saturday this year, most federal employees will observe the holiday on June 18. Opal Lee is the activist who campaigned to establish Juneteenth as a federal holiday. She was in East Room, for the ceremony with members of the Congressional Black Caucus. Currently, there are only a handful of states that observe Juneteenth as a paid holiday. Furthermore, The legislation for this new federal holiday gained momentum following Black Lives Matter protests sparked by the police killing of George Floyd last year. It was also spurred after Democrats won the White House and control of the House of Representatives, and the US Senate. The bill passed the House on June 16, with a 415-14 vote. African Americans have been celebrating Juneteenth as their own Independence Day since the late 19th century, according to the National Juneteenth Observance Foundation. President Biden wants Americans to use the Juneteenth holiday, as a day of reflection and action. Biden lauded members of Congress for the bipartisan effort, which is a big change from the recent fighting between Republicans and Democrats on the infrastructure bill. Also, the term Juneteenth is a blend of the words June and nineteenth. Juneteenth holiday's origin came from Union Maj. Gen. Gordon Granger and his troops arriving at Galveston on June 19, 1865, with news that the war had ended and that the enslaved were now free. Many Fortune 500 companies will add Juneteenth to their calendars for the first time, while also committing billions of dollars to initiatives designed to combat institutional racism. Amazon is sponsoring several Juneteenth events this weekend, including the inaugural Juneteenth Unityfest; a series of musical performances; speeches and other live shows that will be livestreamed nationwide on Saturday. Apple is giving US corporate employees a day off on June 18. The company's retail stores and support centers will maintain regular operating hours over the weekend. In this penultimate paragraph, more companies are celebrating the holiday in different ways. Chipotle is giving customers an opportunity to help close the racial wealth gap by donating to Project 10X, an initiative for racial equity created by the Local Initiatives Support Corporation. Google is eliminating meetings on Friday to honor Juneteenth. Instacart is observing Juneteenth as a company holiday; and a "day of reflection" on June 18. General Motors is celebrating Juneteenth as a day of service for its workers. Facebook employees will have the option to take a paid day off of work, on June 18. In closing, it is good to see companies are celebrating the new holiday in different ways. Microsoft is honoring Juneteenth on Monday, June 21 by inviting all its global employees to join in a day of "exploration, learning, and engagement." Lyft is honoring Juneteenth as a paid day off for the second consecutive year. Enjoy the picture above of the Juneteenth flag. Good night!

Tokyo Olympics could happen in July 2021, amid major protests

In early March 2020, the WHO (world health organization) declared covid-19 a pandemic. Since the pandemic started fifteen months ago, there are three countries that have experienced the most cases. The three countries are the United States, India, and Brazil. Japan stands at #34 in the number of covid-19 cases, according to worldometers.info website. The Tokyo Olympics are scheduled from July 23, 2021 to 8-8-2021. The Olympics were canceled in 2020, due to the coronavirus disease outbreak. Even though Japan stands at #34, protests were held in Tokyo to cancel the summer Olympics last month. The Covid-19 pandemic is continuing to worsen in Japan. Shockingly, the country has fully vaccinated about 2-3% of its population. The final decision about the Olympic Games is a high-stakes game of chicken, between Japan and the International Olympic Committee. The Japanese government has the upper hand, above the IOC (International Olympic Committee). IOC member Dick Pound told a magazine that the event would take place, even if Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga asked that it be canceled. In contrast, Suga retorted that the Olympics would not take place if 80% of the Japanese population wanted the games to be canceled. Four new sports will be making their Olympic debut: Karate, skateboarding, sport climbing and surfing. Baseball and softball are returning to the Olympic program, after previously being cut. The city of Tokyo is thirteen hours ahead of New York City, and 16 hours ahead of Los Angeles. This time difference means that the games will not happen live in the US, unless it is at 1 am in USA. NBCUniversal will air close to 7,000 hours of Olympic coverage on TV, and streaming video. Furthermore, NBC will use two broadcast networks; six cable networks; and multiple streaming platforms to show the global games in Tokyo. The Olympic games will have 41 sporting events. NBC will show popular competitions, including the USA men’s basketball team’s chase for a 16th gold medal, women’s basketball, women’s soccer, swimming and gymnastics. More than 5,000 hours will stream on NBColympics.com. The cable sports network, NBCSN; will broadcast more than 440 hours and USA Network will broadcast more than 380 hours. Frankly, it will be super hard to watch all that olympic coverage. In this penultimate paragraph, the protests will be discussed further. The IOC has determined that athletes cannot protest inside stadiums, during ceremonies or at podiums during the Olympic Games. The protest ban will be in place when athletes are inside stadiums, at ceremonies, and on podiums. At least 10,000 volunteers dropped out of participating in the Olympics, which is likely due to fears of contracting COVID-19. IOC experts believe that at least 80 percent of athletes and resident of Olympic Village will be fully vaccinated, by 7-23-2021. Also, the Olmpic games may take place without Japanese fans. In closing, the fans from other countries have been barred from attending the Olympic games. Without the fans from any country, the games will be less exciting to watch. Viewership may be quite lower than usual, in TV ratings for NBC and other worldwide networks. A recent Associated Press poll claimed that 60-80% of Japanese respondents want the games called off. More than 15,000 athletes from 200 countries are slated to travel to Japan for the games. Lets hope for better health conditions in Japan with Covid-19, if the games are to happen.