Once again, Mayor Jane Castor will surrender the key to the City of Tampa on Jan. 29 to a band of marauding pirates aboard the Jose Gasparilla, a replica pirate ship used in this faux invasion.

The event celebrates the legend of Jose Gaspar (nicknamed Gasparilla), a mythical Spanish pirate captain who supposedly operated in southwest Florida. It was founded in 1904 by the all-male, all-white Krewe of Gasparilla, made up Tampa’s leading founders. That group bears little resemblance to today’s roster of more than 50 diverse krewes. It took nearly 90 years, but the parade became more inclusive starting in 1992 and now include Latin krewes, female krewes, Black krewes and ones based on various ethnic, cultural and historical themes or charity causes

Hundreds of thousands of people will pack the streets of downtown Tampa for Saturday’s alcohol-free Children’s Gasparilla and even more are expected for the big Gasparilla parade on Jan. 29. There are also related parties, exhibits and other debauchery.

That’s because Gasparilla season involves much more than the big parades. The following is a list of Tampa Bay area Gasparilla-related events to help you get into the mood to pillage and plunder.

Official Gasparilla events
Children’s Gasparilla Extravaganza: The alcohol-free, family friendly Gasparilla event includes a bicycle and pedestrian safety rodeo (11 a.m.-1 p.m.), air invasion (noon-3:15 p.m.), preschooler’s stroll (1-2 p.m.), a parade (3:30-6 p.m.), night time air invasion (6-6:30 p.m.) and a “Piratechnic Finale” (6:30-7 p.m.). Free. 11 a.m.-7 p.m. Saturday. Downtown Tampa, Bayshore Boulevard, Tampa. 813-251-3378.

Gasparilla Pirate Fest: Pirate Fest features numerous stages with live entertainment pre- and post-parade in Curtis Hixon Waterfront Park (Ashley and Twiggs), and MacDill Park (Ashley and Whiting). Entertainment lineup for 2022 has not yet been announced. Free. 9 a.m.-8 p.m. Jan. 29. Curtis Hixon Park, 600 N Ashley Drive, Tampa. 813-251-3378.

EventFest-Gasparilla Brunch 2022: Feast on a family style brunch as you watch the Ye Mistic Krewe of Gasparilla invade Tampa aboard the Jose Gaspar Pirate Ship. $98, $78 children. 10 a.m.-1 p.m. Jan. 29. Tampa Convention Center, 333 S Franklin St., Tampa. 813-251-8844.

Gasparilla Invasion and Parade of Pirates: The fully rigged Jose Gasparilla emerges at the south end of Hillsborough Bay followed by hundreds, if not thousands, of boats. The vibrant Gasparilla Flotilla then makes its way across Hillsborough Bay and into Seddon Channel (between Davis Island and Harbour Island). 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m. Jan. 29. 1315 Severn Ave., Tampa. Then, from 2-6 p.m. Jan. 29 the Gasparilla Parade start point at Bay to Bay Boulevard and Bayshore Boulevard, the parade of more than 140 units winds its way down historic Bayshore Boulevard. It continues along Bayshore to Brorein Street, turns east on Brorein, then north on Ashley Drive. The parade ends at Cass Street and Ashley Drive.

Source consulted www.tampabay.com

The federal website where Americans can request free COVID-19 began accepting orders Tuesday — one day sooner than initially announced — as the White House looks to address nationwide shortages.

As of Tuesday, the website COVIDTests.gov is providing tests at no cost, including no shipping fee, but supplies are limited to just four free tests per home.

As he faced criticism for low inventory and long lines for testing, President Joe Biden announced last month that the U.S. would purchase 500 million at-home tests to launch the program and on Jan. 13, the president announced that he was doubling the order to 1 billion tests.

But Americans shouldn’t expect a rapid turn-around on the orders and they will have to plan ahead and request the tests well before they meet federal guidelines for when to use a test.

The White House said “tests will typically ship within 7-12 days of ordering” through the U.S. Postal Service, which reports shipping times of 1-3 days for its first-class package service in the continental United States.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends at-home testing when experiencing COVID-19 systems including fever, cough, sore throat, respiratory symptoms and muscle aches, five days after potential COVID-19 exposure, or as part of test-to-stay protocols in schools and workplaces.

“Certainly if you’re going to gather with family, if you’re going to a gathering where people are immunocompromised or where they’re elderly or where you have people who might be unvaccinated or poorly protected from a vaccine that might be an opportunity you want to test,” said Dr. Rochelle Walensky, the CDC director, last week.

Officials emphasized that the federal website is just one way for people to procure COVID-19 tests. Starting on Jan. 15, private insurance companies were set to be required to cover the cost of at-home rapid tests, allowing Americans to be reimbursed for tests they purchase at pharmacies and online retailers. That covers up to eight tests per month.

The White House said the four-test limit on website orders will be applied to each residential address and will apply to the first tranche of 500 million tests. It estimates the cost of purchasing and distributing the first block of tests at $4 billion.

Officials said they are cognizant that any launch of a website carries some risks — and memories of the disastrous roll-out during the Obama administration of Healthcare.gov are still fresh — but said they believe they are well-positioned to handle expected demand for tests.

Source consulted https://chicago.suntimes.com/

Esas tropas fueron enviadas a Kazajistán el 6 de enero para restaurar el orden durante las protestas y disturbios que marcaron un punto de inflexión en la exrepública soviética.

Hace unos días, Kazajistán fue el escenario de unos disturbios sin precedentes desde su independencia en 1991. Causaron decenas de muertos y cientos de heridos, y al menos 12.000 personas fueron detenidas. El jueves (13.1.2022), las tropas lideradas por Rusia su retirada de Kazajistán, donde se desplegaron la semana pasada para restaurar el orden durante las protestas y disturbios que marcaron un punto de inflexión en la antigua república soviética de Asia central.

Una ceremonia solemne con los soldados de la OTSC (Organización del Tratado de Seguridad Colectiva), una alianza militar liderada por Rusia, tuvo lugar por la mañana en Almaty, capital económica de Kazajistán.

Fuente consutada | Dw

En la publicación que dio origen a esta demanda, el abogado afirmaba que el COVID-19 había sido creado en un laboratorio de China para dañar las economías del mundo.
Una jueza peruana admitió este miércoles (12.01.2022) a trámite una demanda de un abogado contra el fundador de Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg, al que reclama una indemnización de 300.000 dólares por haberle suspendido 30 días su cuenta en esta red social tras difundir información sin confirmar sobre el COVID-19.

Fuente consutada / DW

Appointments for COVID-19 tests are unavailable at several free sites in the Twin Cities amid growing concern over the omicron surge of the pandemic.

Vault Health is experiencing unprecedented demand at its free state testing sites at the same time workers' coronavirus infections are hurting its capacity to collect and process tests. Spokeswoman Kate Brickman said people with at-home tests can help by using them first, ahead of the expiration date, rather than saving them and coming to test sites.

"Just as people are physically hoarding tests as demand for testing soars, people are also now hoarding test appointments," Brickman said.

Demand comes amid a stunning increase in coronavirus activity in Minnesota, which reported a record 19.1% positivity rate of diagnostic testing in the seven-day period ending Jan. 3. The state on Tuesday also reported 29,487 coronavirus infections and 28 COVID-19 deaths detected over the weekend.

Minnesota's seven-day infection rate is 46th lowest compared with other states, but mostly because of the rapid spread of the omicron variant elsewhere, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Minnesota's infection rate is higher now than it was last fall when it had the nation's worst rate.

Omicron infections in other states and countries have produced lower rates of severe COVID-19 than earlier strains of the coronavirus, and Minnesota health officials hope that pattern will continue.

Source consulted www.startribune.com

La France fait face à une cinquième vague de l'épidémie de Covid-19, poussant le gouvernement à prendre de nouvelles mesures. Suivez ici toute l'actualité liée à la situation sanitaire en France ou dans le monde.

Source consulted www.cnews.fr/

Tesla instala 81 unidades de su proyecto Megapack en una ciudad de Texas

Según la empresa, todas las instalaciones establecidas en la ciudad de Angleton tienen una capacidad total de 200 megavatios por hora.

La compañía estadounidense Tesla reveló este 6 de enero un nuevo depósito de almacenamiento de energía, al instalar un total de 81 unidades del proyecto Megapack en la ciudad de Angleton, en Texas (EE.UU.).

Según la empresa, todas las instalaciones montadas tienen una capacidad total de 200 megavatios por hora.

Desde Tesla esperan que el proyecto proporcione apoyo sostenible a la red eléctrica del estado y reduzca su dependencia de los combustibles fósiles, teniendo en cuenta los cortes de energía que se registraron en Texas a lo largo de tres días en febrero del año pasado durante una tormenta invernal.

En aquel entonces, el fracaso del sistema de electricidad local conllevó a que millones de hogares y negocios se quedaran sin electricidad, entre otras consecuencias del temporal, que incluso dejó víctimas mortales.

El portal Electrek detalla que la empresa de Elon Musk ya fue aprobada como un distribuidor de energía en Texas. Aparte de este proyecto, Tesla tiene negocios energéticos pendientes en el mismo estado, incluidos los techos solares y las baterías Powerwalls en una nueva comunidad que se está construyendo en la ciudad de Austin.

Tesla presentó el proyecto Megapack en julio de 2019 como una fuente para apoyar centrales de generación eléctrica.
Cada unidad de Megapack tiene una capacidad de 3 megavatios por hora y puede formar proyectos de gran escala de hasta un gigavatio por hora. El sistema fue diseñado de manera adaptable a los parámetros de un sistema energético individual.
Megapack se conecta con Powerhub, una plataforma avanzada de monitoreo y control de servicios comunales y microrredes eléctricas, y puede integrarse en Autobidder, la plataforma de autoaprendizaje de Tesla para el comercio automático de energía.

Fuente consultada https://actualidad.rt.com/