Ex-Mets manager Mickey Callaway accused of sexually harassing reporters

Former Mets manager Mickey Callaway aggressively pursued at least five women who work in sports media, sending three of them inappropriate photographs and asking one of them to send nude photos in return, according to a report by The Athletic on Monday.

The report of such harassment is the second in three weeks with tentacles extending to the Mets, who fired general manager Jared Porter in January after ESPN reported he had sent a female journalist unsolicited lewd text messages while working for the Cubs in 2016.

The 45-year-old Callaway, who is now the Angels pitching coach, was cited in The Athletic report for inappropriate conduct with three female reporters during his Mets tenure. Callaway was hired by then-general manager Sandy Alderson in October 2017 and lasted two seasons in the job. Callaway had previously served five seasons as Indians pitching coach. Alderson, who in November returned to the Mets as team president, also hired Porter.

According to The Athletic, Callaway’s behavior spanned at least five years with three different teams. The women spoke to the web site on the condition they not be identified.

The report described a pattern in which Callaway contacted the women through email, text messages, social media or a combination of the three. In a response to the allegations, Callaway wrote to The Athletic: “Rather than rush to respond to these general allegations of which I have been made aware, I look forward to an opportunity to provide more specific responses. Any relationship in which I was engaged has been consensual and my conduct was in no way intended to be disrespectful to any women involved. I am married and my wife has been made aware of these general allegations.”

The Athletic reported that in August 2018 the Mets investigated an incident involving Callaway that occurred before he was hired. But the Mets provided no further information on the situation, including whether Callaway was disciplined and the nature of the incident.

One New York-based reporter said Callaway asked for her phone number, and after she provided it for professional purposes, the manager began sending her shirtless selfies “two or three times a week” for a month. He requested the reporter send him pictures.

“He would come up to me and massage my shoulders in the dugout when he thought no one was looking,” she told The Athletic. “For a month he would text me asking for nude pics. I started talking to people [who were in the media] and they said this isn’t an isolated thing.”

The woman said the text messages didn’t stop, even after Callaway was fired as Mets manager; he texted her upon accepting his new position in Anaheim, telling her people with the Angels had asked about her and commented on how “hot” she was.

A second female reporter, ” told The Athletic that Callaway repeatedly contacted her through email, after she declined to provide him her phone number.

In one email, Callaway wrote: “Let’s go get drunk. I will tell you what’s going on with the team.”

“He was pressing me to have drinks with him in exchange for news,” the female reporter told The Athletic. “He was pressing me to, or at least it felt like it. I felt like, well, this guy is a source; coffee in broad daylight seems a little safer.”

Another female journalist said that during one of her only one-on-one interviews with Callaway shortly after the Mets hired him, he put his leg up on a railing to “peacock her,” thrusting his crotch near her face. She told The Athletic she remembered being scared because there was nobody around to help her and she needed Callaway’s input to report the story.

“I knew right away this is what I would be dealing with,” she said. “I got warned he was gross [beforehand].”

The reporter also indicated she received shirtless photos from Callaway.

Two other female reporters who knew Callaway from Cleveland also told The Athletic of inappropriate advances by the then-pitching coach.

https://nypost.com/2021/02/01/mickey-callaway-ex-mets-manager-accused-of-sexual-harassment/

>>12796234

Bill Gates

@BillGates

When it comes to preventing pandemics, scientific tools alone aren’t enough. We also need new capabilities, including a global alert system and infectious disease first responders (or what I like to call a pandemic fire squad): http://gatesnot.es/3arvuZZ

https://twitter.com/BillGates/status/1356374923078369281

Lin Wood

What can we do non-violently within the law to fight back to reclaim our freedom?

1. Pray, pray, pray. Pray Psalms 35, 37, 140-145.

1. Tell your friends who think the election was legal to go get a mental health examination. They are the ones who are crazy or willfully ignorant.

1. Call a Communist a Communist. Do not be intimidated - exercise your free speech to the maximum extent allowed by law.

1. Make sure you do not buy anything made in China. When you a find a cell phone made in America, throw away your iPhone. In the meantime, do not spend a dime with Apple, Google, Amazon, Walmart, or other major companies who do business with the enemy. Cut off their money. Boycott them.

1. Write members of the military and tell them you love the fact that they will never dishonor their oath to defend the Constitution, freedom, and the People.

1. Injustice inflicted on one is injustice inflicted on all. Stand up for your fellow Patriots. If one is being mistreated or harassed for their belief in freedom and support of President Trump, flood the enemy with emails and voice mails with words supporting your fellow Patriot and decrying injustice. Stand up for your fellow Patriots. Let your voice be heard over and over again.

1. Turn off your television. Do NOT watch any mainstream media. None of their movies, comedies, game shows, or other meaningful mind junk.

1. Read books that tell you how to effectively battle Communism and lawfully resist a color revolution.

1. Don’t be afraid to wear a MAGA cap. The enemy is scared to death of them.

1. Consider selling your stocks before the enemy intentionally crashes the market to steal your money. 401(k)’s are worth $0 under communism. Buy precious metals and land.

More to follow.

https://t.me/s/linwoodspeakstruth

Reserve Bank Australia to pump extra $100b into economy; ASX rises as Robinhood forced to raise more cash

The Reserve Bank has kept its cash rate target on hold at a record low of 0.1 per cent, as expected.

Key points:

Spot silver jumped to an eight-year high, above $US30 an ounce

The RBA will pump $200b into the economy to assist with its recovery

The ASX 200 has risen 2.6pc since the year began

At its first meeting of the year, Australia's central bank kept its three-year rate target near zero, a rate which will apply to the RBA's term funding facility.

It also decided to extend its so-called "money printing" (or quantitative easing) program by purchasing an additional $100 billion worth of bonds, issued by the Australian Government and states and territories.

The RBA will make these purchases at a rate of $5 billion per week from mid-April, when its current bond purchase program expires.

Back in November, when it last cut interest rates, the RBA pledged to buy $100 billion in long-term government bonds over six-month period in an attempt to boost inflation.

In total, the RBA has committed to purchasing $200 billion worth of government bonds.

By 3:05pm, the Australian dollar slipped to 76.32 US cents (down from 76.58 US cents).

Meanwhile, the local share market has risen for their second day in a row, as retail investors expanded their social media-fuelled battle with Wall Street to drive silver prices to an eight-year high.

The benchmark ASX 200 was up (+1.4pc) to 6,753. The broader All Ordinaries index had jumped by a similar level to 7,017 points.

'Uneven' recovery ahead

Overall, the RBA was cautiously optimistic about Australia's economic recovery from COVID-19.

"The outlook for the global economy has improved over recent months due to the development of vaccines," RBA governor Philip Lowe said his post-meeting statement.

"While the path ahead is likely to remain bumpy and uneven, there are better prospects for a sustained recovery than there were a few months ago."

On one hand, the economy was benefitting from lower unemployment (down to 6.6 per cent) and strong retail spending.

Dr Lowe expects the economy to return to pre-pandemic levels by the middle of this year, and for GDP to grow by 3.5 per (both this year, and in 2022).

However, the governor warned that inflation was growing at its "slowest rate on record", and the jobless rate would remain higher than it had been for the past two decades — and would fall to 6 per cent by December, and 5.5 per cent by the end of next year.

He emphasised the RBA would not raise Australia's benchmark interest rate until 2024 "at the earliest".

ASX rises for second consecutive day

On the Australian market, seven out of every 10 stocks traded higher, with Afterpay (+7.9pc), Tabcorp (+8.1pc), Credit Corp (+6.5pc) and Webjet (+6.2pc) among the best performers.

On the flip side, Unibail Rodamco Westfield (-7.3pc), Blackmores (-3.8pc), Pro Medicus (-1.9pc) and A2 Milk (-3.4pc) suffered heavy losses.

Temple & Webster shares dropped (-4pc) to $10.60. This was after the online furniture retailer announced its first-half revenue jumped (+118pc) to $161.6 million.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-02-02/robinhood-gamestop-silver-asx-wall-street-surge/13071976

19-year-old hospitalized in ICU days after receiving second Pfizer vaccine

It has still not been confirmed with certainty that the inflammation was developed as a side-effect to the vaccination

A 19-year-old was hospitalized with myocarditis – inflammation of the heart muscle – five days after receiving his second dose of the coronavirus vaccine, Terem emergency medical clinic reported Monday.

According to the clinic, it has still not been confirmed that the inflammation was developed as a side effect of the vaccination. However, a number of COVID-19-related myocarditis cases have been reported, according to the US National Institutes of Health.

“The fact that the symptoms started immediately after the vaccination raises the suspicion that an immunological reaction may have caused the inflammation,” said Dr. Abdulhadi Farojeh, a Terem medical director.

The young man received treatment at a Terem center in Modi’in on Sunday night before being transferred for further treatment to Shamir Medical Center in Tzrifin.

From when he had received the second dose, he had experienced an accelerated heartbeat, along with shortness of breath and sharp pains that were radiating down his left arm, according to Terem’s Dr. Badarnih Bahaa.

Terem took blood tests that revealed the heart inflammation.

Without treatment, myocarditis can lead to cardiac arrhythmia and even death.

The 19-year-old had no underlying medical conditions prior to the event.

In general, most people who are vaccinated have mild if any side effects, according to the Health Ministry. The ministry shared a report on Monday evening that showed only 6,575 reported side effects out of 2,768,200 people who had received a first dose of the Pfizer vaccine by January 27, and only 3,592 reported side effects out of 1,377,827 people who received a second dose.

“It should be emphasized that most of the symptoms were mild and fleeting,” the ministry said.

https://www.jpost.com/health-science/19-year-old-hospitalized-with-heart-inflammation-after-pfizer-vaccination-657428

ASIO devoting more resources to growing threat of extreme right-wing domestic terror

Department of Home Affairs Secretary Mike Pezzullo says ASIO is devoting more resources to dealing with the growing threat of extreme right-wing domestic terrorism and white supremacist ideologies.

"Something like 40 per cent of their caseload at the moment relates to what might broadly be described as extreme right-wing or white supremacist terrorism and ASIO's a very effective, capable service and is keeping a close eye on that phenomenon," he said.

"Given global trends, in the United States very self-evidently, supremacist groups. In Europe, you see different manifestations of the same phenomenon and obviously, we're very watchful of developments here as well.

"There are international linkages and online platforms, there are trans-national groupings who support one another and share material. It's no different - in some respects - from other forms of violent extremist ideology whereby technology… can be used to connect people whose purposes are otherwise very nefarious."

https://www.skynews.com.au/details/_6228151022001

https://twitter.com/HalSparks/status/1355949456890286081