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Earlier this year, a new variant of COVID-19 began spreading globally. Some of those infected with the new variant, nicknamed Nimbus, reported an uncomfortable side effect known as razor blade throat. By spring, the variant was present in the United States, and by May, it began to gain a foothold when compared to other circulating variants. But as of last week, Nimbus has jumped to be the dominant strain of COVID-19 in the U.S. Heres what you need to know. What is Nimbus? As Fast Company previously reported, Nimbus is the nickname given to the NB.1.8.1 lineage of COVID-19. Nimbus is a subvariant of Omicron. The World Health Organization (WHO) says that Nimbus was first detected in January 2025 and soon after began circulating around the globe. The Nowcast tracker operated by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) shows that by the week ending March 15, NB.1.8.1 was already detected in America. At that point, it accounted for a minuscule amount of COVID-19 cases in the country. Yet by the week ending April 26, NB.1.8.1 accounted for about 2% of all cases. In May, Nimbus began to assert its rise to dominance. By the week ending May 10, NB.1.8.1 had risen to 5% of cases in the United States. That share jumped to 10% by May 24. By the week ending June 7, NB.1.8.1 accounted for 24% of COVID-19 cases in America, and, most recently, for the week ending June 21, it accounted for 43% of all COVID-19 cases in America, making it the now dominant variant in the U.S. Which U.S. states is Nimbus in? Just because Nimbus is now the most dominant COVID-19 variant in America doesnt mean it is circulating in all states. But it also could be. The uncertainty of where Nimbus is circulating is because a lower number of sequences are being reported to the CDC than in the past. This makes it harder for the CDC to determine where and to what extent COVID-19 variants are spreading in America. Because of this lack of sequencing reporting, the CDC cautions that its Nowcast datas precision in the most recent reporting period is low. Today cites sequence data shared with the Global Initiative on Sharing All Influenza Data (GISAID) database that shows NB.1.8.1 has now been reported in 18 states as of June 25. Those states include: Arizona California Colorado Hawaii Illinois Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Nebraska New Jersey New York Ohio Rhode Island Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington That is four more states than GISAID data showed NB.1.8.1 earlier in June. The four new states where the variant has been detected this time around are Michigan, Nebraska, Texas, and Utah. What are the symptoms of NB.1.8.1 Nimbus? The symptoms of Nimbus are much the same as other symptoms of COVID-19. However, there are reports of people saying they feel more harsh throat pain with Nimbus than with previous variants. This throat pain is nicknamed razor blade throat because it feels like you are swallowing razor blades. Symptoms can include: Body aches Congestion Cough Fatigue Fever or chills Headache Loss of smell Loss of taste Runny nose Shortness of breath Sore throat What can I do to protect myself from Nimbus? The precautionary measures you can take to mitigate the risk of contracting Nimbus are the same as those you would take for any other COVID-19 variant. The CDC says these measures include: Staying up to date with COVID-19 vaccines Practicing good hygiene Make sure there is fresh, circulating air flowing through any spaces you are in. One way to help circulate fresh air through a space is by opening windows at home or in the office Precautionary steps are important as Nimbus, like previous COVID variants, can be deadly. According to WHO data from the seven-day period ending June 8, there were 228 reported COVID-19-related deaths globally. A majority of those deaths128 of themoccurred in the United States.
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E-Commerce
As record heat waves hit much of the U.S., the Senate is about to pass a bill that will decimate clean energyand take away our best shot at curbing extreme weather and climate disasters. But while the headlines are dire, most Americans dont realize how close we are to a thriving clean energy economyand what a dramatic impact that would have on averting the worst impacts of climate change. The clean energy revolution I served in the White House Climate Policy Office under President Biden. Since leaving the White House, it has become painfully clear that we failed to convince the American people of the urgency of the climate crisis and that clean energy is our path to a secure, thriving future. Yet in the background, the U.S. has quietly launched a clean energy revolutionin March, for the first time in U.S. history, clean energy generated more electricity than fossil fuels in a single month. Twice as many Americans now work in clean energy than in fossil fuels. In the past four years, the U.S. catalyzed over $860 billion in private clean energy investments and announced 400,000 new clean energy jobs. And we were reigning in the climate crisis, on track to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by more than 50% by 2030 and by 100% by 2050. But that progress is now being threatenedand there will be profound consequences. To pay for Trumps tax cuts for the richest Americans, Congress is on the verge of passing a budget bill that will add $3 trillion to the deficit, gut the clean energy economy, and eliminate our chance at averting future climate disasters. But it hasnt passed yet. And its not too late to try to convince Congress to back off these extreme measures. Giving China a leg up By harnessing sun, wind, and other clean sources, the U.S. was on track for 100% of our electricity to come from clean energy by 2035. In the past four years, the U.S. doubled solar power, enough to run 40 million homes. Last year, 93% of new electricity generation came from clean energy. In that same period, $127 billion was invested in 900 new clean manufacturing facilitiesmost in red statesto produce everything from wind turbines and heat pumps to electric vehicles. Now, just five months into the Trump administration, the Republican budget bill will end that growth if its passed by Congress. It will eliminate tax credits that help families, schools, and churches cut their energy bills with solar, geothermal, and energy efficiency. The EV tax credit will end. The bill kills solar and wind farms, eliminates hundreds of thousands of jobs, undermines U.S. manufacturing, and gives China a leg up on clean energy. Meanwhile, it expedites permits for dirty, higher-cost fossil fuels. In exchange for tax breaks for the wealthiest, Trump will increase consumer energy costs and hurt national security. In anticipation, solar companies that were thriving six months ago are now going bankrupt and laying off workers. At stake are almost a million existing and new jobs through 2030, over $522 billion in planned clean energy investments, and our opportunity to curb future climate disasters. Maintaining legacy power Todays political crisis is about consolidating and maintaining legacy power and money. During his campaign, Trump made a deal with fossil fuel executives that for $1 billion in campaign donations hed decimate environmental regulations, expedite oil and gas permits, expand their tax advantage, and cut the clean energy economy off at its knees. Since the Supreme Courts 2010 Citizens United ruling, oil and gas lobbying has grown 75-fold. In 2023, when consumer energy bills skyrocketed and climate disasters caused $182.7 billion in damages, ExxonMobil, Chevron, Shell, and BPs profits exceeded $100 billion. Now, the fossil fuel industry is getting what it paid for. Since January, large-scale clean energy and electric vehicle factories with investments of $14 billion have been canceled or downsizedleading to 10,000 jobs lost. The largest steel plant in America abandoned plans to replace its fossil fuel furnaces with clean hydrogen. Offshore wind projects that could power millions of homes were canceled. And even the most popular consumer energy efficiency program, EPAs Energy Star, which generated $40 billion in consumer energy savings at a price tag of just $32 million a year, has been eliminated. In March, Congress passed a bill that prevents California from transitioning to electric vehicles by 2035 (a policy 11 other states adopted). This action by the President and Congress predictably raises consumer costs and makes households less economically secure in a country where one in four Americans and one in two low-income Americans already struggle to pay their energy bills. Ending clean energy tax credits will make rooftop solar at home more expensive. Without new solar and wind farms, consumer prices will spike as data centers and AI demand more power. Climate crisis Dismantling the clean energy sector and amping up fossil fuels will also intensify the climate crisis. Disasters like Hurricane Helene in North Carolina and the Los Angeles wildfires will only grow in frequency and power. Record-breaking extreme heat, like Phoenixs 70 days above 110 degrees Fahrenheit or Salem, Oregons 117-degree Fahrenheit temperatures, will become the norm. Climate disasters are already causing property insurance ratesnbsp;to skyrocket and carriers to leave markets. All major property insurance companies now have climate scientists on staff to minimize the financial risk of climate disasters to their bottom line (while at the same time they invest more than a half a trillion dollars per year in fossil fuel assets that cause climate change). In February, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell testified before the Senate that if you fast-forward 10 or 15 years, there are going to be regions of the country where you cant get a mortgage because of climate change. To hide the climate truth, FEMA has been directed to stop collecting climate disaster data. And this is just the beginning. Earth systems could collapse, choking food production, leading to loss of land, and causing mass migration and conflict, even here at home. This is supposed to be our decade of action to keep global temperature increases under 1.5 degrees Celsius. Instead, were tearing down institutions that could grow a thriving clean energy economy.
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E-Commerce
Stephen Miller, the hard-line Trump adviser who helped craft some of the administrations most aggressive immigration enforcement policies, is apparently profiting from the tools that make them possible, a new report finds. According to financial disclosures cited in a new report by the Project on Government Oversight, Miller is one of a dozen current White House staffers invested in Palantir, the data analytics firm whose contracts with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) have made it the top-performing stock in the S&P 500 this year. His stakevalued between $100,001 and $250,000is the largest among staffers. Ethics experts say the investment raises serious concerns, given Palantirs deepening relationship with DHS and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), agencies central to policies Miller continues to influence. If he hasnt stepped over the line, hes just on the verge of it, Virginia Canter, counsel for ethics and anticorruption at Democracy Defenders Fund, told the Project on Government Oversight as part of its report. I just dont think anybody would be comfortable with him keeping this stock. An anonymous White House official tells Fast Company that Miller in fact owns a number of stocks that surpass the legal threshold that could constitute a conflict of interest, but he has maintained to the White House ethics office that he has, and will continue to, recuse himself from official matters that could affect those stocks. In a statement to Fast Company, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said the Trump administration is committed to transparency around such disclosures, insisting, President Trump, Vice President Vance, and senior White House staff have completed required ethics briefings and financial reporting obligations. (Palantir did not respond to Fast Companys request for comment on the ethical implications of Millers investment.) Palantirs ties to DHS and ICE date back to the early 2010s. The company supplies software that helps organize criminal investigations and track the movements of immigrants. During Trumps second term, those ties have only strengthened. Palantir has become a more mature partner to ICE, according to internal company communications obtained by 404 Media. In January, the company secured a $30 million contract to build ImmigrationOS, a system that monitors immigration cases from identification to removal and provides near real-time visibility into self-deportation, government records show. That visibility fits neatly into the broader crackdown on immigration now underway, a campaign in which Miller plays a central role. Last month, he joined Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem in setting an aggressive new enforcement benchmark: 3,000 immigration arrests per day. Thats triple the daily average from the start of Trumps second term, according to Axios. As of Monday, ICE was detaining 59,000 immigrantsmore than 140% of the agencys official detention capacity of 41,500 beds, CBS News reports. Given Millers direct involvement in shaping enforcement policyand Palantirs growing role in executing itits not surprising that his financial interest in the company is setting off alarms among government ethics experts. Miller could easily cross an ethical line in his work, for example, if he were in a meeting involving DHS officials talking about whether the data analytics capability of DHS needs to be improved or changed in some way, knowing full well that Palantir would be the beneficiary,” Don Fox, former general counsel of the Office of Government Ethics, told the Project on Government Oversight. Still, investors remain bullish: Palantirs stock hit an all-time high on June 24, just one day after news of Millers stake became public.
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E-Commerce
Theres a myth that to be a good leader, you need to be the smartest person in the room. As a result, many leaders struggle to admit that they dont have all the answers. Theyre reluctant to ask for help and end up struggling in silence. This reluctance is normalits a fear-based response to not wanting to look incompetent to your team or superiors. But there is a way you can ask for help that strengthens your position as a leader, rather than undermines it. What you gain when you ask for help Reluctance to ask for help isnt just pride: its often about perception. And this concern isnt entirely unfounded. One study found that male leaders risked being perceived as less competent when they asked for a lot of help. In contrast, their female counterparts in the same study didnt experience a significant drop in perceived competence when seeking help. However, researchers cautioned that it isnt actually whether or not you ask for help, but how you ask. The same study noted that asking for help is critical for leaders to learn and improve. And the benefits of asking for help far outweigh the perceived risks. Harvard Business School researchers Alison Wood Brooks and Francesca Gino found that our mindset around seeking guidance is misguided. We might think that others will see us as less capable, but the opposite is true. In their study, Brooks and Gino found that when we ask others for advice, they view us as more competent. It signals that we value their expertise and dont overestimate ourselves, which is a sign of self-awareness. Moving beyond perceptions, asking for help is also likely to yield better performance results. By utilizing the knowledge, expertise, and insight of your team, you expand your collective problem-solving capacity. Leveraging peoples strengths to solve complex problems is the hallmark of a competent leader. Learning to practice strategic vulnerability Theres a term for what effective leaders do when they admit they dont know everything: strategic vulnerability. Rather than appearing inept or oversharing indiscriminately, asking questions positions you to lead through vulnerability. Thats because you demonstrate that it has a purpose, which is to empower others, utilize their expertise, build trust, and spark collective solutions. Harvard Professor Amy Edmondson, a leading expert on psychological safety, says the simple admission of I might miss something here, I need to hear from you lays a foundation of a psychologically safe environment. By modeling fallibilitynot ineptitude, you create an environment where people feel safe to speak up, ask questions, and share their opinions and ideas. These are all the fundamental elements of a high-performing team. As Edmondson highlights in her research, an environment with high levels of psychological safety is one with fewer mistakes, less duplication, and less fear and anxiety. When you ask questions as a leader, you appear accessible and approachable. This creates the space for others to do the same, fast-tracking the discovery and recovery from mistakes or potentially more fatal decisions. As a leader, you set the tone: what you do becomes the behaviors that you accept, which your team then reinforces. Asking questions models curiosity and humility. When people feel like you value their input, they can see how their contributions matter to the bigger picture. This builds trust, loyalty, and a sense of meaningfulness into the everyday functions of work. Strategic vulnerabilitywhen you do it rightflips the script from looking incompetent to empowering your team. It also beats pretending you have all the answers. How to ask for help without losing authority Asking for help is crucial to your leadership success. But how can you do so without looking incompetent? The key is to be intentional about when and how you ask. Here are some practical ways to ask for help that maintain (and even enhance) your credibility: Frame the problem as a shared challenge Without shifting accountability, frame the goal or problem as a collective one, rather than a personal failing. This enlists the help of your team’s collective brainpower, and doesnt look like you’re simply palming the problem off. Rather than, “I have no idea how were going to launch this new product successfully,” say “Were entering new territory herelets put our heads together to brainstorm how we can do this successfully.“ Lean on the expertise of others Highlighting the knowledge and expertise of the people around you shows respect, and lets them know their contributions matter. Simple framing it as I know youre experienced in Xcan you help me understand this better? goes a long way in showing others you value them and their expertise. Be specific and solution-focused Vague pleas can sound like panic, so be clear about what kind of help you need. Reframe Im lostI need help, to Im not fully convinced our project X plan covers everything. Could you review it and see if were missing anything? This makes the ask direct and specific, clearly showing the intended outcome. It shows youve got a handle on the situation, but see opportunities to close the gaps and make improvements. Use confident humility in your wording Phrases like Id love your take on this or Lets hash this out together convey optimism and authority, alongside openness. Youre inviting others to contribute, creating a collective opportunity to problem-solve while demonstrating youre confident enough to be humble. The goal is to affirm the other persons ability while acknowledging your limitations (without undermining yourself). Connect requests clearly to situations Sometimes you can soften the ask by pointing to an external issue rather than your personal skills. This isnt about making excuses but clarifying that anyone in your situation would need input. For exampe, The client has requested a change to the usual scope, its not something we usually docan I get your insight to find a solution? This demonstrates the complexity of the challenge, not your incapacity as a leadershifting focus onto what you need to solve together, and how that persons expertise is beneficial. Ultimately, leadership isnt about knowing everything. Its about how and when to leverage the strengths of those around you to create outcomes that are greater than the sum of their parts. When you combine clear intention with a thoughtful ask, you open the conversation to solve complex problems you alone couldnt accomplish. And you create a culture where its safe to speak up, ask questions, and ask for help. The only dumb question is the one you didn’t (skillfully) ask.
Category:
E-Commerce
Five months into its second term, the Trump administration has cut billions of dollars in healthcare, foreign aid, and other social spending. The presidents proposed budget seeks to eliminate more than $160 billion in additional discretionary spending. The result of these cuts will be an onslaught of need across U.S. and global communities. In our lifetime, there hasnt been a greater opportunity for philanthropy to make an impact. Every philanthropic family and foundation has its own idiosyncrasies. At the same time, a few widespread and unconstructive habits continue to hold the sector back from having the impact needed in this moment. Donors are too risk-averse in how they approach their giving All donors want to ensure impact. But for many, this desire to steward resources effectively leads to a cumbersome, overly cautious approach that misses innovative opportunities. The most pressing problems we are facing as a society are thorny and multilayered, made more so by our current political environment. These problems require new, innovative solutions. That means taking more risks on untested ideas and organizations. Because of this dynamic, such organizations, usually headed by community leaders, are most often underserved. Donors tend to concentrate their grantmaking on a handful of blue chip organizations or on ones that have had the time to accumulate significant evidence on the effectiveness of their approach. A track record of success is of course great, but donors who dont also consider new approaches for which there is not yet evidence are unintentionally stifling innovation. Calibrating risk to incentivize both positive outcomes and innovation is essential. Donors are too risk-tolerant after grants have been made Once donors commit to a plan, too many are slow to change courseeven when conditions have changed or their approach is falling short. In philanthropy, there is a fundamental difference between leading with ideology versus leading with impact. Many philanthropists commit to an ideology around how to address a particular problem and funnel time, attention, and resources into their chosen approach without taking an honest and hard look at whats working and what isnt. For some, this can be about wanting to honor a particular philanthropys legacy or reputation. Others are held back by the all-too-human desire to avoid failure. But in a lot of these cases, too many philanthropists are sacrificing impact to save face. The savviest donors avoid this by being open about their failures, continually questioning their own biases, and diversifying the voices they are listening to in an effort to bring a more critical lens to their work. Donors dont think creatively enough about how to make an impact outside of giving While check-writing is the core of philanthropic work, all donorsindividuals, families, foundationshave an array of additional ways they can impact the issues they care about. Too few are using those tools. One example of a highly effective tool is advocacy. Savvy donors engaging in advocacy recognize that the policy conditions and public funding related to the issues they care about are incredibly impactful and can create leverage for the dollars they are giving. A second example is how aggressively donors are activating their peers. The savviest donors are activating money that is currently sitting on the sidelines as part of the solution. And there are many more examples ranging from how donors use their platform to elevate the voices of the communities they are impacting, to donors leveraging mission-aligned investing and more. At a moment when the need for philanthropy far outstrips the sectors capacity, the most effective donors are finding ways to create leverage that amplifies their giving. Solving the most pressing social challenges we face has never been more complex. Unfortunately, theres no one secret sauce to effective philanthropy. There are, however, common mistakes that too many donors make, while those who avoid these tendencies are seeing real impact. Now is the moment for donors to shed these unconstructive habits.
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E-Commerce
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