Tim Anaya
Senior Director of Communications and the Sacramento Office
Winner – The Flowbee. Remember that great contraption you could plug into your vacuum cleaner and give yourself a haircut at home that they used sell on late-night informercials in the 1990’s? Long forgotten, the Flowbee made a big comeback this week thanks to, of all people, George Clooney. Last weekend on “CBS Sunday Morning,” Clooney admitted that he has cut his hair at home for years using the Flowbee. He demonstrated his Flowbee prowess in an interview with Jimmy Kimmel this week.
Loser – Americans who want “to be home for Christmas”: Those who thought Thanksgiving would be the last “virtual” holiday of 2020 got a rude awakening this week from the Centers for Disease Control, who this week urged Americans not to travel for Christmas. “Cases are rising. Hospitalizations are increasing, Deaths are increasing. We need to try to bend the curve, stop this exponential increase,” CDC Covid-19 incident manager Dr. Henry Walke said this week.
Evan Harris
Media Relations and Outreach Manager
Winner – E-commerce. According to the National Retail Federation, online shopping from Black Friday through Cyber Monday on Nov. 30, 2020, jumped up 44 percent compared to last year. The coronavirus shutdowns.
Loser – Soccer Fans. Last week, Argentine soccer legend Diego Maradona passed away at 60-years-old. Maradona had his share of issues off the field, but he led Argentina to a World Cup victory, played for, and even coached many of the top teams in Europe.
Rowena Itchon
Senior Vice President
Winner: Pine Mountain, Atascadero, California. The 3-sided monolith has made an appearance in our state after materializing in Utah and Romania. Hats off to Atascadero which is now enjoying its 15 minutes of fame.
Losers: The 600,000 unemployed Californians on backlog waiting for their unemployment checks, while inmates, gangs, and other fraudsters enjoy themselves at taxpayer expense.
Kerry Jackson
Fellow, Center for California Reform
Winner: The Babylon Bee. As much fun as the witty writers and editors of the satire site had during the Trump years, they’re will have an even better time during a Biden presidency.
Losers: The growing list of elected officials, from California Gov. Gavin Newsom to the mayors of Austin, San Jose, and Chicago, and others, who have violated their own pandemic rules. Worse than their hypocrisy is the implied message that they must know something the rest of us haven’t been told. Their credibility is suffering.
McKenzie Richards
Development Associate
Winner: California churches. In a case regarding the restrictive pandemic lockdown policies on religious places of worship, the Supreme Court of the United States recently ruled in favor of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn. As a result, the United States District Court for the Central District of California vacated an order against Pasadena’s Harvest Rock Church.
Loser: Santa Claus. For the safety of Santa Claus, his elves, and American children, some malls are requiring Santa Claus to wear a mask. Although a great photo opportunity to memorialize 2020, Saint Nicholas’ jolly smile will be hidden behind a mask (that is, unless he uses a plastic face shield instead).
