(We Chinese in America Media Editor Tang Zhao, February 14, 2022) The number of marriages in the United States has soared this year as the pandemic eases. The picture shows the newlyweds getting married at a California beach on Valentine's Day last year. (Getty Images)

The new Covid 19 epidemic has entered its third year. Looking back at the early outbreak of the epidemic, people lived a life of isolation, and many newcomers dared not hold weddings. Now that indoor activities are gradually opening, couples who can’t bear the joy are scrambling to choose wedding dresses, churches, floral arrangements, photographers, and wedding singers, but with inflation, this year's weddings cost a fortune.

According to a study by The Wedding Report, a wedding market research agency, 2.5 million weddings are expected to be held across the country in 2022, the highest record since 1984, which will stimulate all wedding-related industry chains. As the epidemic slows, the supply chain tightens. It is also reflected in the wedding industry.

"We expect each couple to have a 10% to 15% increase in their budgets," Shane McMurray, founder of The Wedding Report, said in an interview with CBS' MoneyWatch. The average cost of each wedding this year has risen from $24,000 before the epidemic to $27,000. Coupled with the help of inflation, wedding professionals have expressed that the cost will increase, and price increases are inevitable.

In addition, some newlyweds who were originally scheduled to get married in 2020 or 2021 were forced to postpone their wedding date to 2022 due to the epidemic, but their weddings were still calculated at the previous relatively cheap rates. Under the trend of price increases, some wedding venues can only accept the loss.

Take Brooklyn Winery, a famous wedding banquet hall in New York City, for example. The cost of ingredients, waiters and all kinds of things has risen, but they do not charge the increased fees to guests who booked before the epidemic.

“All of our costs have gone up, but we’ve adjusted as much as possible to avoid passing those costs on to our guests,” said Rachel Sackheim, chief operating officer of the Brooklyn winery. We still have to re-evaluate because we can't bear the effects of inflation on our own."

Sackham pointed out that for those who signed up before inflation, the operators are bound to take a large part of the loss "because we can't increase their prices."

To organize more weddings to balance the income, the industry also encourages newcomers to get married on weekdays and avoid non-holidays or weekends, which is not only more cost-effective for newcomers, but also more flexible in date selection; Sackham said: "Newcomers who insist on getting married on weekends, whether it’s a wedding dress, a wedding or a flower, the cost will be higher.”

(Source: Compiled from Online Information)

(We Chinese in America Media Editor Tang Zhao, February 13, 2022) Boston’s mayor, a Harvard graduate and the first Chinese Mayor in Boston has received a lot of attention on the political stage. Recently, Mayor Michelle Wu held an online public meeting through Instagram live broadcast but was criticized by people who were dissatisfied with the COVID 19 epidemic prevention measures. (Image taken from Instagram)

Some states and cities in the United States have gradually eased epidemic prevention restrictions, but Michelle Wu said that Boston would not lift the mask mandate in public schools before the end of the month; in addition, Boston will implement vaccine passport measures for indoor restaurants and bars, and ask companies, schools, and public officials to enforce mandatory preventive measures.

Michelle Wu's strict epidemic prevention measures triggered a strong backlash. The teachers' union went on strike, restaurants and businesses complained, and Boston residents were also very dissatisfied.

When Michelle Wu opened an Instagram live broadcast, the audience immediately asked: "Why do you hate children, teachers, police officers?", "Please stop the indoor vaccination mandate, this is just discrimination and deprivation of people's freedom."

Although Michelle Wu said that she would answer any questions, and ultimately ignored negative questions; she saw someone sending tiger stickers, so she whispered, “Happy Year of the Tiger.”

Viewers dissatisfied with the epidemic prevention policy continued to write "Mandatory order creates division and isolation", "Will the injunction expire?", "You ruined Boston" and so on.

The Boston Public Safety Union protested Michelle Wu's epidemic prevention measures in front of the city hall a few days ago. Although the epidemic prevention measures were not popular, Michelle Wu still insisted on implementing them.

"The data shows that Boston's vaccine booster and epidemic prevention policies have worked, and the outbreak caused by Omicron has eased," Michelle Wu said: "The best way to ensure that hospital capacity is relieved and community diagnoses are reduced is through vaccines and boosters."

The Boston Police and Consumers Union has filed a lawsuit against Michelle Wu’s epidemic prevention order, and the appeals court temporarily blocked the implementation of the order.

The Massachusetts Department of Health said unvaccinated faculty members could re-engage in classrooms after a 46 percent drop in the rate of confirmed cases, and the Boston teachers' union criticized the city's mandatory vaccine order.

Boston City Hall will hold a public hearing next week to discuss whether to make vaccinations mandatory for city employees but admitted that the city council has limited binding power over union consultations.

Although the Biden administration is unhappy, many liberal states and cities have lifted epidemic prevention restrictions, and at least eight blue states governed by Democrats will follow or intend to implement them in the next few weeks.

(Source: Compiled from Online Information)

(We Chinese in America Media Editor Tang Zhao, February 13, 2022) Someone in the Super Bowl is super "cool"! Charter flights and private large boxes of one million dollars drive unlimited business opportunities. The richest people in the United States have recently chartered flights to Los Angeles, causing traffic jams at several major local airports, and planes must queue for at least an hour before taking off. (Photo provided by the operator)

Among the chartered people are business millionaires, celebrities, and Chinese tech upstarts. Not only did they spend tens of thousands of dollars to charter the plane, and the six people on the plane ate two or three thousand dollars, but they also used one million dollars to rent the stadium box. For this group of people, time is money and money is enjoyment.

Regional airports in Southern California, such as Burbank and Van Nuys, were busy this weekend with too many charter flights. It takes a long time for each plane to enter the airport, and all planes must apply for the departure time and queue in advance, otherwise the sudden expansion of charter passengers cannot be accommodated.

Linda Xu, who is engaged in the charter business, said that it has been very busy since the 9th and reached its peak on the 12th. There are so many guests on charter flights that the plane is too busy. The plane must fly several times a day. “Every day, I just hope to get the permission to take off and land. It is difficult to take off and land on time due to congestion recently.” A guest requested to take off at 12:00, but it took off at 1:15. Fortunately, most of the guests could understand. Most of the guests on the Super Cup charter flight are relatively young, most of them are business millionaires, there are also celebrities, most of them are white, and there are also Chinese tech upstarts in Northern California. The number of passengers depends on the size of the aircraft, usually three or five people, and there are also medium-sized aircraft that can accommodate 13 people.

She said that now because of rising oil prices and labor, the cost of charter flights is also rising. During the Super Cup, the supply of aircraft is in short supply, and the overall price has risen by about 20%. Generally, the cost of a charter flight with a journey of less than 1 hour is more than 30,000 dollars, and the flight from the east costs about 60,000 to 80,000 dollars, depending on the aircraft model. Jets were too busy to line up, and some guests had to charter on gas-turbine-powered planes.

The menu ordered by six people on a charter flight back and forth can easily cost 2,000 to 3,000 yuan. (Image provided by the operator)

Also, the charter fee does not include in-flight meals. Ordering ordinary steak, salad, and seafood on the plane costs about 300 dollars per person, and some customers specify certain types of cheese of certain years will be more expensive. For example, a group of six guests ordered additional caviar, which cost 2,000 to 3,000 dollars for a meal. Some specific brands of caviar need to be transferred from all over the world. Usually what the guests want to eat, the charter companies are responsible for delivering the meal.

Linda said that unlike Americans, who used chartered flights as a means of transportation, focusing on practicality and light and healthy diet, Chinese chartered passengers generally ask for more, such as fish from a particular region, wine from a certain year, and tea from a certain region. Wait, some also have requirements on the age and birthplace of the flight attendant and require signing a non-disclosure agreement.

(Source: World Journal Network)

(We Chinese in America Media Editor Tang Zhao, February 12, 2022) More than 200 dead birds have been found on a street in Pembrokeshire, Wales, in a horrifying scene, but the exact cause of death is unknown. (Photo from NBC News )

British media reported that the scene was discovered by driver Michaela Pritchard at about 8 pm local time on the 10th while driving between the villages of Waterston and Hazelbeach.

Pritchard said the scene, described as a "massacre", was horrific, and she said she didn't want to be there, so she called the local council directly to report.

Others said they heard a loud bang and then several bird carcasses rained down on their cars. Another member of the public also said that before the birds fell from the sky, he heard loud noises and suspected electric shocks, but the sound was not as loud as lightning.

A spokesman for Dragon LNG, a gas company based in the region, said there were no unusual conditions at the plant that day. Other speculations about the birds' deaths include being electrocuted or being chased by predators before they hit the ground.

Pembrokeshire Council later confirmed that about 200 starling carcasses had been removed from the road, but the cause of death was not known.

(Source: Compiled from Online Information)