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USA Today
09-04-2025
- Politics
- USA Today
Lynch: Thankfully, some things won't change at Augusta National, not on Fred Ridley's watch
Lynch: Thankfully, some things won't change at Augusta National, not on Fred Ridley's watch AUGUSTA, Ga. — There was a time, not too distant in the rear view, when Augusta National was known for defending norms that were, even then, unpalatable. An ignoble example of such was raised by Chairman Fred Ridley in opening remarks at his annual pre-Masters press conference Wednesday, when he cited the 50th anniversary of Lee Elder becoming the first Black man to compete in the Masters, then in its 39th staging. 'Lee's inspiration, his courage and spirit remain truly an inspiration for all of us. We never will forget his enduring legacy that made golf a better game for everyone,' Ridley said. Much has changed at Augusta National since then. The membership isn't exactly a rainbow coalition but is considerably more diverse than the monochrome monolith of yore, and its creation of the Latin America Amateur, the Asia-Pacific Amateur, the Augusta National Women's Amateur and the Drive, Chip and Putt make a case for the most exclusive club in the game having become the game's most inclusive force. The Chairman's press conference is golf's State of the Union, since if the actual governing bodies believe in a higher power, then it's undoubtedly whoever occupies the position. Encyclicals issued from the altar at Augusta National carry influence far beyond these grounds and this week, every syllable is parsed for meaning that can sometimes lay a couple layers beneath the surface. The closest thing to a theme that emerged in Ridley's comments was a defense of norms, a timely issue given the tumult beyond the gates. The first norm he sought to protect was the authority of the sport's governing bodies. The USGA and R&A have announced new specifications to be adopted in 2028 that will reduce, or at least stall, the distance a golf ball can travel. That decision, reached after a lengthy and intense discussion process — has been under attack by the PGA Tour and the PGA of America, the latter disingenuously pretending it was not sufficiently consulted. It was, it just didn't care for the decision reached after those consultations. Ridley made clear there will be no daylight between the Masters and the USGA and R&A. 'Once again, I am here reaffirming our support of the governing bodies and their efforts to address the issue of distance,' he said, going on to describe the process as 'deliberative and collaborative.' Translation: the Masters will adopt a modified ball, as will the Open and U.S. Open, potentially leaving the PGA Championship (already the runt of the major litter) standing alone among premier events. It also forces the Tour to consider the domino effect on its product. If players use one ball for 48 or 49 weeks, but another for the four that define legacies, then how vulnerable are Tour events in advance of those majors as players stay home to bed in a new ball? The next norm to which the chairman turned his impressive bouffant was the integrity of competition, which is compromised by both slow play and the nature of LIV Golf. 'Playing without undue delay, as the rules and the game's traditions dictate, is an essential skill of golf at all levels,' he intoned. 'Golf is a special game because it requires us to be considerate while also being competitive. Respecting other people's time, including, importantly, the fans who support the game, is a fundamental courtesy.' A wry British scribe duly noted Sunday's spectacle of kids pacing off putts and using AimPoint at the Drive, Chip and Putt and asked whether the Chairman would be doing anything 'to encourage these young players to get a bloody move on.' Ridley pointed out that blame lies with the professionals on TV whose behavior the kids imitate, but said action is coming: 'I think it's safe to assume that next year at the Drive, Chip & Putt you will see some sort of time limitations placed on the competition.' He restated his skepticism of LIV's competitive purity since team and individual tournaments are played currently, complicating how to best assess performance. While other majors have fashioned exemption criteria for LIV's top players, Ridley said the Masters will not. It's an invitational, and LIV's Joaquin Niemann has been invited the past two years, he said. He didn't mention that the reasons cited for the two invites conspicuously omitted any mention of his play on LIV at all. One of Augusta National's most prized internal norms is its reverence for past champions, which presents a thorny issue this week. At a time when baseless fear is being whipped up about foreigners with criminal records entering the U.S., a criminal foreigner has a Masters tee time at 10:59 a.m. Thursday. Angel Cabrera, the 2009 champion, is 55 years old and hasn't competed here since 2019. During his absence, he served 30 months in prison for domestic assault in his native Argentina. 'We certainly abhor domestic violence of any type,' Ridley said by way of necessary preamble. He followed with a praiseworthy (and necessary) statement for a moment when too many are eager to contort judicial processes to their preferred outcome. 'Angel has served the sentence that was prescribed by the Argentine courts, and he is the past champion, and so he was invited,' he said. Augusta National is the kind of place that calls to mind the author E.B. White, who once wrote admiringly of people who wind the clock daily as a contribution toward order and steadfastness. That's oddly comforting these days, when norms are casually dispensed with, when most every entity in golf seems overly reactive or outright panicked, when traditions are turned over for demographic engagement, when the focus is more often on the depth of a pocketbook rather than its power, when a considered process is considered passé. For that at least, we ought to be thankful that there are some aspects of this place that won't be changing. At least not on Ridley's watch.
New York Times
19-03-2025
- Health
- New York Times
Trump Administration Considers Scaling Back H.I.V. Efforts at C.D.C.
During his first term, President Donald J. Trump unveiled a bold initiative to end the H.I.V. epidemic in the United States by 2030 by focusing on 57 jurisdictions with the most urgent needs. The plan, which Mr. Trump announced in 2019 at a State of the Union address, surprised advocacy groups. But it was widely lauded, and successful. By 2022, the plan had driven down new infections nationwide by 30 percent in adolescents and young adults, and by roughly 10 percent in most other groups. This time around, the Trump administration's stance on H.I.V. appears to be much the opposite. The Department of Health and Human Services is now considering shutting down the H.I.V. prevention division of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and shifting some of its activities to a different agency, according to federal officials. The C.D.C. provides funds to states and territories for detecting and responding to H.I.V. outbreaks, prevention, syringe exchange, expanded testing in emergency rooms and education and awareness. Roughly one in four new diagnoses of H.I.V. is made with agency funds. The administration's plan has not yet been finalized, and its potential timing is unclear. 'It's not 100 percent going to happen, but 100 percent being discussed,' said a federal official who was not authorized to speak to the media about the matter. H.I.V. prevention efforts, including clinical trials, in much of the world have already been halted with the gutting of the U.S. Agency for International Development. And some federal funding for prevention and treatment was cut because the grants were related to transgender people, who are among those at highest risk of H.I.V. In addition, the National Institutes of Health has terminated funding for dozens of related studies, including those on H.I.V. in children; the role of substance use; and increasing the use of preventive therapies among underserved groups, such as Black women. The first Trump administration's H.I.V. plan focused on helping many of these groups. The initiative aimed to prevent infections in poor Black communities, and among gay and bisexual men and transgender women, some of the groups with the highest risk of contracting H.I.V. 'It was not his constituency,' Adm. Brett Giroir, who served as deputy secretary of health and human services in the first Trump administration, said in an interview last fall. But 'the president was wildly supportive of that.' The states where the initiative's efforts were focused cut new infections overall by more than 20 percent by 2022. 'That's exactly what we were trying to do, and we did it,' Admiral Giroir said on Tuesday. The first Trump administration also enforced government-held patents on preventive drugs to negotiate better deals from the manufacturers. 'These actions made a real difference,' said Jeremiah Johnson, executive director of the advocacy organization PrEP4All. But, he added, 'it doesn't seem like the current administration is motivated by prior accomplishments.' The administration is considering a tentative plan to move some of the C.D.C.'s prevention programs to the Health Resources and Services Administration. That agency funds state and local health departments and community-based groups providing H.I.V. services, including through the signature Ryan White program. 'H.H.S. is following the administration's guidance and taking a careful look at all divisions to see where there is overlap that could be streamlined to support the president's broader efforts to restructure the federal government,' said Emily G. Hilliard, the department's deputy press secretary. No final decision has been made, she added. Some organizations welcomed the possibility of moving prevention programs to H.R.S.A., which could provide comprehensive H.I.V. and maternal health services — so long as the C.D.C. continued to lead surveillance efforts and treatment guidelines. 'Providing new funding to H.R.S.A. opens up new possibilities for efficiencies in biomedical prevention of H.I.V. and other sexually transmitted infections,' said David C. Harvey, executive director of the National Coalition of STD Directors. But other experts were deeply concerned about the potential loss of C.D.C. involvement. 'H.R.S.A. and their Ryan White program are terrific but focus on H.I.V. care and treatment,' said Mitchell Warren, executive director of AVAC, an advocacy group. 'They do not engage in H.I.V. prevention as a priority, which is why C.D.C.'s prevention focus is so critical.' Michael Ruppal, executive director of the AIDS Institute, said officials at H.R.S.A. didn't have expertise in how public health prevention was administered and measured. 'The leadership that's within the C.D.C. and all the institutional knowledge there, we need it in the field — the states need it, the communities need it,' Mr. Ruppal said. His organization helps Florida counties, including seven of the 57 high-risk jurisdictions included in the 2019 initiative, plan H.I.V. services. 'It just seems like it's counterproductive to his personality to let this happen to this program after he put his name on it,' he said, referring to Mr. Trump. Some public health experts worried about the N.I.H. cutting grants for studies of stigma and prevention, particularly those involving some L.G.B.T.Q. populations. Most new H.I.V. infections are among gay and bisexual men, and transgender women. 'That's where the epidemic is, and if you are not there, you are not addressing the epidemic,' said Dr. Chris Beyrer, director of the Duke Global Health Institute. About 7 percent of the N.I.H. budget goes to H.I.V. research, but some Republican lawmakers have suggested that funding for H.I.V. should be commensurate with its national prevalence of less than 0.4 percent. 'That certainly would not be enough to continue the research toward a vaccine, which we need, and toward a cure,' said Dr. Beyrer, who serves as an adviser to the H.I.V. Vaccine Trials Network. Given the changes to H.I.V. programs within the United States and abroad, public health organizations will need a new paradigm in order to continue their work. That may involve companies negotiating purchase agreements directly with states and large nonprofits, or it may entail completely new models of partnership. 'We've got to snap out of any paralysis or any disbelief or shock, and we've really got to look at what needs to be built in the future,' Mr. Warren said. 'One of the biggest tragedies in all of this would be if we let this narrative be written entirely by people who don't understand science or health care or research or foreign assistance,' he added.
Yahoo
10-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Banker Mark Carney to Replace Justin Trudeau as Canada's Prime Minister and Liberal Party Leader
Economist and former Governor of the Bank of England Mark Carney has been elected to succeed Justin Trudeau as Liberal Party leader and Canada's prime minister. The election comes at a critical time in foreign relations between Canada and the United States, as both nations impose historic tariffs and prepare for an impending trade war. Carney won 85.9% of the Liberal Party votes. Over 150,000 voted in the election, according to the New York Times. More from Variety Jimmy Kimmel Roasts Trump for Claiming Biden Spent '$8 Million on Making Mice Transgender': 'Are They So Dumb They Don't Know How to Google?' 'Hamilton' Cancels Kennedy Center Run Amid Trump Takeover: 'Some Institutions Should Be Protected From Politics' Trump's Address to Congress Draws 36.6 Million Viewers, Up 13% From Biden's 2024 State of the Union 'America is not Canada. And Canada never, ever, will be part of America in any way, shape or form,' Carney said Sunday in his acceptance speech in reference to President Donald Trump's claims that he will make Canada the 51st U.S. state. 'We didn't ask for this fight, but Canadians are always ready when someone else drops the gloves.' Carney continued, 'So Americans should make no mistake. In trade, as in hockey, Canada will win.' His inauguration is anticipated to take place as soon as this week. Carney is expected to call federal elections shortly after he takes office since he doesn't currently hold a seat in Parliament. Outside of turbulent foreign relations, the election comes at a critical time in Hollywood as the entertainment industry faces unprecedented uncertainty due to AI and plummeting profits. Trudeau was very popular among Hollywood liberals, who will no doubt be watching if he pursues media a la Barack and Michelle Obama. Carney spent 13 years as an investment banker with Goldman Sachs in 1990s and 2000s, so he's most likely familiar with the media and entertainment business. Best of Variety New Movies Out Now in Theaters: What to See This Week Oscars 2026: First Blind Predictions Including Timothée Chalamet, Emma Stone, 'Wicked: For Good' and More What's Coming to Disney+ in March 2025
Yahoo
05-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Trump delivers address to joint session of Congress. What do we think?
President Donald Trump addressed a joint session of the U.S. Congress, in a not-State of the Union State of the Union speech, at 9 p.m. on Tuesday. It's the first big speech of Trump's second term ― and we want to know what you think. Send us a letter to the editor at with "Trump speech" in the subject line (we may publish it online and in print), take our (totally unscientific) poll — or both. We ask for letter writers' email addresses, home addresses and daytime phone numbers for verification purposes; that information won't be published. When is Trump's address to Congress? And why it's not called State of the Union This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan, what do you think of Trump address to Congress? | Letters
Yahoo
05-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Trump delivers address to joint session of Congress. What do we think?
President Donald Trump addressed a joint session of the U.S. Congress, in a not-State of the Union State of the Union speech, at 9 p.m. on Tuesday. It's the first big speech of Trump's second term ― and we want to know what you think. Send us a letter to the editor at with "Trump speech" in the subject line (we may publish it online and in print), take our (totally unscientific) poll — or both. We ask for letter writers' email addresses, home addresses and daytime phone numbers for verification purposes; that information won't be published. When is Trump's address to Congress? And why it's not called State of the Union This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan, what do you think of Trump address to Congress? | Letters
