Wednesday, August 25, 2021
Setting Boundaries for The Biggest Podcaster In The World Joe Rogan / It was A $100 Million Dollar-Deal
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Spotify hoped he would bring much of that audience along with him when he signed exclusively to the platform in 2020 in a reported $100 million deal, giving it the reach and power needed to take over the podcasting industry. Although Spotify hasn’t given specific numbers detailing Rogan’s listenership since he came on board, it has repeatedly boasted about his success. The company confirmed that he quickly became the platform’s biggest podcaster after jumping to Spotify. He “stimulated new user additions, activated first time podcast listeners, and [has] driven favorable engagement trends, including vodcast consumption,” the company wrote in a February 2021 earnings release. In April, it said Rogan’s show had “performed above expectations” in regards to adding new users to the platform and engagement.
However, a new data investigation by The Verge finds that the powerful podcaster’s influence has waned since he went behind Spotify’s wall. His show has declined as a hype vehicle for guests, and Rogan’s presence as a mainstay in the news has plummeted.
Because Spotify doesn’t share how many plays each podcast gets, or how many unique listeners regularly tune in, we looked instead at a secondary metric: how much of a promotional boost Rogan gives his guests. To do this, we pulled data from the analytics tool Social Blade to track the Twitter following of every guest who went on Rogan’s podcast between December 2019 and July 2021. Guests generally see a surge of new followers after appearing on the show, with some gaining as many as 18,000 new followers in the week following their chat, and that effect has grown over time as The Joe Rogan Experience gained popularity. While we can’t attribute every new follower to Rogan — guests might have been on a media tour to promote a new movie or book, for instance — the bump after a Rogan appearance is constant.
We found that prior to going exclusive, from December 2019 to November 2020, Rogan’s guests could expect to gain around 4,000 Twitter followers in the week after their episode premiered. After he went exclusive, that number declined by half to around 2,000, suggesting a drop in listeners. . .
You can see the totality of our findings below. We plotted the average number of followers gained month by month. The drop doesn’t look monumental, due to the presence of a couple outlier months, but broadly, you can see that following Rogan’s move to going exclusive, his guests gain fewer followers on average. Even the best months as a Spotify exclusive show only rival the worst months when his show was widely available.
We attempted to look into this for Instagram, as well, but Social Blade only had data on about half of the guests — not enough to create a complete picture of the trends. (Still, we saw that the number of followers gained on Instagram declined significantly for those available.)
That's An Order To Over-Rule Objections: Pentagon: US troops must get their COVID-19 vaccines IMMEDIATELY
Pentagon: US troops must get their COVID-19 vaccines ASAP
WASHINGTON (AP) — Military troops must immediately begin to get the COVID-19 vaccine, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said in a memo Wednesday, ordering service leaders to “impose ambitious timelines for implementation.”
More than 800,000 service members have yet to get their shots, according to Pentagon data. And now that the Pfizer vaccine has received full approval from the Food and Drug Administration, the Defense Department is adding it to the list of required shots troops must get as part of their military service.
The memo, which was obtained by The Associated Press, does not dictate a specific timeline for completing the vaccinations. But it says the military services will have to report regularly on their progress. A senior defense official said that Austin has made it clear to the services that he expects them to move quickly, and that this will be completed in weeks not months.
“To defend this Nation, we need a healthy and ready force,” Austin said in the memo. “After careful consultation with medical experts and military leadership, and with the support of the President, I have determined that mandatory vaccination against coronavirus disease...is necessary to protect the Force and defend the American people. . .
Defense officials have said it’s critical for troops to get the vaccine because they live and work closely together and outbreaks could hamper the U.S. military’s ability to defend America..Guard officials have said all along that it is very difficult to assess how many of their citizen soldiers have gotten a vaccine. And only now will they be able to begin actually tracking the number with more precision as Guard members report to their drill weekends this fall. . .Austin’s decision to mandate the vaccine fulfills a vow he made earlier this month to require it no later than mid-September, or immediately upon FDA licensure, whichever came first.
> Austin in the memo noted that the new requirement will allow for exemptions that are consistent with the current policies for all the other vaccines. Permanent exemptions include serious medical reactions to the vaccine, immune deficiencies such as HIV infection, and “evidence of existing immunity” by a serologic antibody test or “documentation of previous infection or natural infection presumed.”
> There also are administrative exemptions, including one for religious reasons. The religious exemption is granted by the military services based on their policies, and it appears to be relatively rare. The decision is made by commanders based on consultation with medical personnel and chaplains.
> The Navy and the Marine Corps said they have had zero religious exemption requests for other vaccines in recent years and the Air Force said there were few. The Army was not able to provide any data.
> A little over half of the U.S. population is fully vaccinated with one of the country’s three options, from Pfizer, Moderna or Johnson & Johnson.
MORE DETAILS > LOLITA C. BALDOR
One Disability Down - Many More To Go! > There's No Excuse for The City of Mesa Newsroom For Organizational Disability or Recruiting New Talent
The City of Mesa Reaffirms its Commitment in Celebrating and Serving People of All Abilities
August 24, 2021 at 8:48 am"The City of Mesa is maintaining its promise to serve people of all abilities. The Mesa Parks, Recreation and Community Facilities Department has once again received the Certified Autism Center designation from the International Board of Credentialing..."
Grasping At Straws: 3 Cyber Ninjas Got Covid Causing A Delay in Arizona's Bogus 'Forensic Audit'
WHOA! Contractors working for Cyber Ninjas, who was hired by the Arizona State Senate, examine and recount ballots from the 2020 general election at Veterans Memorial Coliseum on May 1, 2021 in Phoenix, Arizona. The Maricopa County ballot recount comes after two election audits found no evidence of widespread fraud.
Florida man catches COVID, delaying $6M Arizona vote “audit”
Officials are unsure if the partisan exercise will produce a full report.
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In a development that’s sure to fan the flames of a thousand conspiracy theories, a report from the presidential election “audit” in Arizona has been delayed because COVID-19 has swept through the private company running the show.
“The team expected to have the full draft ready for the Senate today, but unfortunately, Cyber Ninjas CEO Doug Logan and two other members of the five-person audit team have tested positive for COVID-19 and are quite sick,” Arizona Senate President Karen Fann said in a statement. It’s not clear whether any of the people were vaccinated against the virus.
Though state Republicans launched the spectacle, politicians from both parties have panned the so-called audit. Election experts have called the exercise “deeply reprehensible," saying that it more closely resembles a “clown show” than an audit. The Maricopa County Board of Supervisors, all but one of whom are Republicans, said in a letter, “Your ‘auditors’ are in way over their heads.”
The company doing the “audit,” Cyber Ninjas, does not have any experience auditing elections, and its CEO does not appear to be nonpartisan. . .Maricopa County, which has become a focal point for the partisan review, conducted two audits earlier this year and found no evidence of voter fraud. . .Cyber Ninjas’ workers haven’t limited their investigation to the voting machines, either. They literally have been grasping at straws, reportedly checking absentee ballots for bamboo fibers because they think fake ballots were brought in from Asia, according to the Associated Press. The partisan review is being funded by $150,000 of Arizona taxpayers’ money and $5.7 million in private funds. Overstock.com founder and former CEO Patrick Byrne donated $1 million and planned to raise $2.5 million more. Byrne is being sued by Dominion Voting Systems for defamation over his claims that the company’s machines were involved in voter fraud.
Whatever the report ends up producing, it will have no bearing on the outcome of the 2020 presidential election, though it will certainly spawn more disinformation that conspiracy theorists can latch onto as definitive proof that they are correct, no matter what is being discussed. . ."
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US House passes voting rights bill, restoring critical provision of landmark law...Bill that requires places with history of discrimination to be under federal supervision passes 219-212
US House passes voting rights bill, restoring critical provision of landmark law
Bill that requires places with history of discrimination to be under federal supervision passes 219-212 – but could fail in the Senate
The bill now faces an uncertain future in the US Senate, where it needs the support of 10 Republican Senators to overcome the filibuster and pass. While Senator Joe Manchin, a key Democratic swing vote, supports the bill, just one Republican, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, has indicated that she does.
The House passed a similar version of the legislation in 2019, gaining just one GOP vote, but it never passed the Senate, which was then under GOP control.
The legislation is one of two pillars of congressional Democrats’ push to protect voting rights. It sets a 25-year look-back period for assessing voting rights in jurisdictions. If courts have documented at least 15 voting rights violations in a state over that period, the state will have to get any change in voting rules approved by the federal government before it goes into effect (if the violation is committed by the state as a whole only 10 violations are required to trigger federal oversight).
The updated formula comes eight years after the US supreme court said the formula in the law that determined which states were subject to pre-clearance was outdated and struck it down. Voting advocates have said that ruling, in a case called Shelby County v Holder, has offered states a green light to discriminate against Black voters.
“Old battles have indeed become new again. While literacy tests and poll taxes no longer exist, certain states and local jurisdictions have passed laws that are modern day barriers to voting,” Terri Sewell, an Alabama Democrat who represents Selma in Congress, said on the floor of the House Tuesday.
The states that would have to get election changes approved are Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and Texas, Peyton McCrary, a former Justice Department historian, testified earlier this month. . .
>
The law also outlines several procedures that would be subject to federal pre-clearance everywhere in the country, including changes to voter ID laws, reductions in polling locations and changes in policies that determine who gets removed from the voter rolls.
Republicans decried the measure as unnecessary, saying it gives the federal government too much power to oversee elections. . .
During debate on the bill, Democrats scoffed at the notion that the bill was not needed. They noted it came as Republican lawmakers across the country have taken up hundreds of bills to enact voting restrictions. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi described it as “the worst voter suppression campaign in America since Jim Crow”. . .
> Beyond the John Lewis bill, Democrats are also trying to pass the For The People Act, sweeping legislation that would outlaw severe partisan gerrymandering, set minimum requirements for early voting and require automatic, same-day and online voter registration, among other measures. Voting rights experts say both measures are needed to fully protect voting rights, though Democrats have not unveiled a plan to get either around the filibuster.
Source: Sam Levine
MESA ACTIVE TRANSPORTATION SURVEY RESULTS > The survey was open from April 5, 2021 until May 9, 2021.
Transportation Advisory Board
5:30 p.m.
City Council Chambers (lower level)
57 E. First Street
Advisory board meetings operate on a hybrid system.
Public participants are welcome to attend in person or via Zoom.
Members of the public can address the Board in the following ways:
- Attend a meeting in person. Participants may complete a blue comment upon arrival at the meeting.
- Submit an online comment card at least 1 hour prior to the start of the meeting.
- The live meeting may be watched via Zoom at https://mesa11.zoom.us/j/5301232921.
- If you want to speak at the meeting, you will need to indicate on the comment card that you would like to speak during the meeting, and you will need to call 888-788-0099 or 877-853-5247 (toll free) using meeting ID 5301232921 and following the prompts, prior to the start of the meeting. You will be able to listen to the meeting; and when the item you have indicated that you want to speak on is before the Board, your line will be taken off mute and you will be given an opportunity to speak.
For help with the online comment card, or for any other technical difficulties, please call 480-644-2099.
The Transportation Advisory Board (TAB) is an eleven-member committee of citizen volunteers who meet bi-monthly to consider various traffic and transportation matters.
The Board hears from citizens and other affected property owners, reviews the reports and recommendations of the Transportation staff, and makes recommendations concerning traffic and transportation matters to the City Council.
If you have questions regarding the Transportation Advisory Board, please call (480) 644-2160.
| Board Members | Date Appointed | Term Expires |
|---|---|---|
| Megan Neal, Chairperson | June 2018 | June 2024 |
| David K Winstanley, Vice Chairperson | June 2019 | June 2022 |
| Dave Bergner | June 2019 | June 2022 |
| Ryan Wozniak | June 2020 | June 2023 |
| Sam Gatton | June 2018 | June 2024 |
| Georgina Marin | June 2019 | June 2022 |
| Melissa J Vandever | June 2019 | June 2022 |
| Rodney Jarvis | June 2020 | June 2023 |
| Michelle McCroskey | October 2020 | June 2023 |
| Mike James | June 2021 | June 2024 |
| Quintin Evans | August 2021 | June 2023 |
Transportation Advisory Board Minutes and Agendas | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Flash News: Ukraine Intercepts Russian Kh-59 Cruise Missile Using US VAMPIRE Air Defense System Mounted on Boat. Ukrainian forces have made ...
