You Might Want to Rethink

The United Airlines passenger who fell ill on a flight last week and died did indeed have coronavirus ... yet United has not notified passengers they may be at risk for COVID.

The Jefferson Parish Coroner's Office in Louisiana released the passenger's cause of death -- he died from acute respiratory failure and COVID-19. The passenger -- a 69-year-old Los Angeleno -- died at a New Orleans hospital following an emergency landing.

As TMZ reported, the passenger's wife was overheard telling people on the plane that her husband had COVID symptoms, including a loss of taste and smell as well as shortness of breath. It appears the man did not tell the truth before boarding when asked if he had COVID symptoms.

One of the passengers on the flight -- EMT Tony Aldapa -- administered CPR for 45 minutes before the plane landed. He says United contacted him a few days ago and said it was turning the flight manifest over to the CDC and they would either get in touch with him or he could call them.

The incident occurred 8 days ago, and Tony says although he's had symptoms he tested negative as recently as Monday. He's getting another test today.

We've spoken with other passengers who say they have still not been contacted by anyone about the flight or the danger of contracting COVID onboard.

Helen Keller might be coming under fire for her white privilege -- but an institution bearing her name thinks that's a misguided view of Helen's history, and wants to change the conversation.

Sue Pilkilton, director of the Helen Keller Birthplace Museum in Tuscumbia, AL (THE all-things-Helen-Keller spot in the country) tells TMZ people shouldn't be focusing on Helen's skin color ... but more so on her accomplishments, and all the good she did for others.

She says Helen's legacy is tied to activism, education and breaking barriers for hearing and sight-impaired people of all races, genders and status -- and all the chatter about white privilege detracts from her life's work.

It's interesting ... the Museum goes on to say that because Helen overcame so much despite her disabilities it pretty much overshadows her skin color, which the Museum believes shouldn't be the benchmark on how we talk about her.

Here's another thing -- Sue tells us speculation Helen was wealthy or came from a family of great means is a misconception ... explaining that, yes, her family did receive income from a cotton plantation -- but they were far from aristocrats or big ballers.

The point Black disability rights advocate Anita Cameron made over the weekend -- to mixed reaction -- was that, money aside, Helen was likely patched through to the right people as a result of being white ... whether she knew it or not. For what it's worth, the museum thinks that would be an inaccurate headline for her life.

Pilkilton says much of Helen's schooling and education was facilitated by charitable orgs and other philanthropic folks who saw potential in her ... and the museum feels like her white privilege had little if anything to do with that.

It's a road rage incident straight outta the movies, but a Canadian woman thought she was gonna die for real when this truck driver repeatedly slammed into her tiny sedan.

The terror went down in Winnipeg when a woman named Kiana Jobo said this guy in a Chevy Colorado pickup truck boxed her in at an intersection and got extremely aggressive before following her and ramming her Hyundai.

You can hear Kiana's panic, understandably, in the video her passenger recorded ... you see the truck coming at her from all sides, and at one point her passenger window shatters prompting Kiana's friend to yell, "This guy's trying to kill us!"

Kiana says he hit her so hard she slammed into parked cars ... before she was finally able to escape by speeding away and blowing through stop signs. She did report him to cops who say he'll be charged with dangerous operation of a vehicle.

What sparked this madness? Kiana says the truck driver got pissed because she inched up too close behind him in an intersection where she was trying to make a left. From there she says he started "honking his horn and flipping me off,"

The police chief says there is no bodycam footage and the officer should have been wearing a face covering due to the pandemic, and he's extending an invitation to sit down personally with the man to hash things out.

A Black man was yanked from his family and put in handcuffs in a mall because he matched the description of an alleged credit card fraudster ... but cops had the wrong guy.

This happened Saturday at the Lynnhaven Mall in Virginia Beach, where the guy in question was in the food court with his family when, suddenly, a cop comes up behind him and slaps on cuffs -- seemingly without any explanation other than to say he wants to talk outside.

The man and his wife, who recorded the encounter, were understandably pissed as cops walked him out of the mall in front of several other people -- it amounted to a humiliating perp walk for the man ... who, again, was NOT the guy cops wanted.

Eventually, the officer releases the man ... who's irate. His wife stuck around for an explanation, and it's this -- VBPD got a call about a Black man with dreads wearing all black using stolen credit cards ... who was accompanied by a child wearing red. The real suspect was also driving a black truck, which the wife repeatedly notes they do not own.

Interestingly enough, while the cop explains all this ... the wife pans the camera to her right and sees cops talking to another party with that same matching description. Long story short, the cop here jumped the gun and did apologize.

Too little too late though ... the family is outraged, as they say the whole situation was handled incorrectly -- cops didn't ask questions or assume innocence, and instead treated him as the culprit immediately. As the pissed of man repeatedly yelled at the cops ... this is why people are protesting for Black Lives Matter.

VBPD says it understands the family's anger, and is looking into the incident to see if the officer's actions were warranted -- but also points out he was respectful throughout the incident.

A horse pulling a carriage in NYC suddenly went down in a heap this weekend -- but rather than get the animal checked out, the carriage driver kept on truckin'.

This scary incident went down Sunday in Central Park, and eyewitnesses tell NYCLASS (New Yorkers for Clean, Livable and Safe Streets) the horse was pulling its carriage with the driver and a couple of passengers in tow ... when it collapsed on a slippery, icy road.

Pretty dangerous sitch for the horse ... but, apparently, the driver (and spokesperson for Carriage Cavalry) got the horse back up on its feet, loaded his passengers back inside and continued on like nothing happened. No vet check for the horse ... according to the witnesses.

The advocacy group, NYCLASS, is pissed and says it's organized a protest Sunday to decry the cruel treatment of the horse. It's been a longstanding issue in NYC -- the care for those horses used to pull so-called hansom cabs for millions of Central Park tourists.

While they're a familiar sight and tradition in Manhattan, many feel it's time to hang up the reins and stop using the horses this way.

If Santa Claus is gonna come to town, successfully, he's gonna have to keep a better eye out for power lines ... and he's damn lucky some mere mortals saved his ass this time.

A man dressed as Saint Nick had to be helped down by firefighters Sunday morning in Sacramento after he somehow got his sleigh powered parachute vehicle snagged in some utility wires ... leaving him awkwardly dangling, helmet still on and all.

As for how this happened, apparently the guy's a local who often gets airborne with his motorized aircraft, and he was trying to do something nice for the kids by handing out candy canes from the sky. Seems one of his reindeer led him astray and straight into this.

Santa wasn't harmed, which is noteworthy as this screw-up could've gone awry in a hurry. Sacramento Metro and CHP responded to the scene, and were able to successfully roll out the hook and ladder to rescue the dude ... shutting off power to about 200 residents in the process. Of course, they also poked some fun at the situation on social media.

The jolly one should count himself lucky -- SMF told local outlets that the way he hit the wires and how he was positioned in his seat didn't allow for an electric current to zap him

Shaquille O'Neal says everyone needs to chill about his "booty" comment to Megan Thee Stallion -- saying he was just showing love, not trying to smash.

People went crazy recently over a comment Shaq left while watching Megan Thee Stallion twerk it out during an Instagram Live.

The comment? "Watching that booty."

Yeah ... even his son, Shareef, commented ... saying, "I feel you pops."

So, was Shaq shooting his shot? The Diesel says it was just a compliment and nothing more.

"This is what happened America … I was in [the IG Live session]. Somebody said, 'What are you doing in there?' And, I typed what I typed. I wasn’t trying to hit on her."

When asked if Meg responded to Shaq's comment, O'Neal downplayed it ... saying, "I don't know, I didn’t even check."

Mmmmmmmhmmmmm ...

There's more ... Shaq also heaped praise on LaMelo Ball -- saying the #3 overall pick in the 2020 NBA Draft is straight ballin' right now.

He's right -- did you see that pass Melo hit during a pre-season game the other day? Good lord!

And, to cap it off ... Shaq also tried out a motorized tricycle (also called a standing scooter) -- and props to whoever made it, because it ran with some zip, even with a giant like O'Neal riding on it!

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez just gave an awesome break-down of what's in the COVID vaccine, what it'll do and how it works ... this after getting the shot herself.

The New York Congresswoman hopped on IG Sunday to both document the Pfizer vaccine being administered to her by a health pro, as well as explain it ... which is truly helpful, since she talks in terms most people can understand, using a stellar analogy.

Check it out ... AOC says the vaccine being rolled out right now is NOT the actual virus, unlike other vaccines we take which often contain a dead version of the virus to train our bodies on how to recognize and fight it. This time around, we're getting a blueprint.

Rep. Ocasio-Cortez characterizes it this way -- rather than having a live burglar break into your home and you learning how to ward him off in the moment, we're getting a photo of the burglar in hopes of being able to recognize it before said crook fully infiltrates.

That "photo" we're getting through this vaccine, as AOC illustrates, is called the mRNA of COVID (aka SARS-CoV-2), and it's meant to be a forewarning to the real McCoy. That way, if/when you come into contact with the virus ... your body's already prepped to stamp it out.

Denmark's decision to kill off all of their minks, out of fear the animals could spread a mutated version of COVID-19, is coming back to bite them -- because the little bastards are rising out of their graves, and slaughtering them might've been illegal to begin with.

A month ago, Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen handed down a national order to cull the country's 15-million-plus population of minks that were scattered about in farms all throughout the country ... and the farmers who sell off their fur agreed and did just that.

The reason ... scientists discovered minks could catch COVID-19 from humans, have it mutate within their own bodies, and then transmit it back to people, which government officials feared could screw up vaccination efforts. So, they called the shot and wiped 'em all out.

Not all of the dead minks -- most of which were suffocated with CO2 -- were able to be incinerated ... millions had to be buried in mass trenches at said farms and elsewhere in the country ... which might've been a bad idea, 'cause they're literally back from the dead.

Gasses released from their dead bodies have been forcing their remains back above ground, and it's grossing people out. Not only that, but there've been concerns burying so many minks at once has compromised the drinking water supply in parts of Denmark.

Adding insult to injury, lots of farmers who agreed to go along with the PM's order are hurting and fear their business will forever be ruined ... since they killed off their product line. Not only that, it's now clear the Prime Minister didn't technically have the authority to order the deaths of an entire population of species ... which is forcing some major backpedaling and catch-up as far as legislation. They're apparently working to pass a law that retroactively gives the PM that power ... even though she didn't have it at the time.

The Danish Parliament agreed this weekend it's probably best to dig up 4 million of those dead minks and to burn them properly ... but thing is, that won't happen for at least another 5 months, when it's deemed safe to do so.

The PM has also apologized for the rushed decision, saying she was just doing what she thought was right for her people to keep them safe.

The United Airlines passenger who appears to have died from COVID-19 complications was laid out in the middle of the floor and getting CPR in a compact area -- which is now seen on video.

TMZ has obtained footage of the moment fellow passengers stepped in to do chest compressions on the man -- who fell unconscious earlier this week while United Flight 591 was up in the air and on its way to L.A. from Orlando.

As we reported, passengers say the man's wife said, during the emergency, her husband had various symptoms, including a loss of taste and smell and shortness of breath, yet he did not disclose this before boarding.

As you can see, it was a tense scene as passengers in surrounding rows looked on while one of three trained professionals administered CPR for almost an hour before the plane could land in New Orleans and get the man to a hospital, where he ultimately died.

One of those people who was rotating in to help was EMT Tony Aldapa, who gave us his first-hand account ... and it sounds like he was willing to risk potential exposure to help save the man's life.

No one knows for certain if the man had the virus -- but some of the passengers believe he did ... and also fear they may have been infected.  Tony tells us they took the man's mask off but replaced it with an oxygen mask. Still, it creates lots of worry for those on board.

It's a huge problem that has mostly gone unaddressed until now ... the fact that there's virtually no way of weeding someone out who might have COVID from getting on a plane and putting everyone else's life at risk. The honor system is only as good as the honesty of the passengers, and that's clearly a problem.

A woman suspected of shoplifting at a grocery store in central California got dragged out by security -- and by that, we mean she was literally yanked across the tile floor like a mop.

This wild incident went down Wednesday at a WinCo in Visalia, CA -- where this woman and a male friend were allegedly caught red-handed trying to make off with some pricey tequila.

What happened next was brutal, according to eyewitnesses who captured some of the mayhem on camera. The woman, 27-year-old Victoria Vargas, was manhandled by the security personnel and literally pulled by the arms out of the store ... all while she screamed.

You can hear the guy recording say it's illegal for them to do that, but the fellas doing the dragging didn't seem to care. The action then went outside, where things got chippy with folks who didn't appreciate how Vargas was being dealt with.

It looks like a couple guys try to jump in and help her fight off the security guards, but security held their ground and kept the woman pinned until cops eventually arrived.

Vargas and her alleged male accomplice were arrested and booked for robbery, conspiracy to commit a crime and a slew of other charges. Unclear if they've posted bond yet.

COVID has ravaged communities across the country, but we haven't heard much about the struggles of the good folks in Beverly Hills and Malibu ... that is until now.

Adam Carolla joked about the 2 upscale towns, but there was a message in his sarcasm ... he thinks many of the COVID restrictions are absurd, nonsensical and impossible to unearth the logic behind them.

Adam was on his way to Mastro's Saturday night to outdoor dine, despite the fact that most parts of L.A. County are now prohibiting dining at restaurants, period.

He's railed on this before, but this time Adam really leans in and makes his case. Adam, who has 14-year-old twins, is head-scratching over school closures despite what he says is a lack of evidence that keeping them open would be COVID unsafe.

London is in COVID free fall, as thousands of travelers crammed into train stations for the Xmas holiday ... this as a new, more virulent mutation of the virus rips across the country.

The size of these crowds is alarming, as this new form of the virus infects the population. The mutant virus spreads 70% faster than the original. Scientists think the vaccine will still work on the mutation, but they're not sure.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who was in mortal danger himself after contracting the virus earlier this year, was pushing to relax COVID restrictions, but he's abandoned that effort.

As for the new strain, it accounted for 28% of the COVID cases in London back in November, but this month it accounts for 62% of the cases.

The government imposed travel bans Saturday, but apparently, thousands of travelers didn't get the memo, because the train stations throughout London were jammed.

The Netherlands, Belgium, France, Italy and Germany have suspended flights to England because of the COVID mutation.

The Game and Blueface's manager, Wack 100, squared up against two white men and held his own ... this after they allegedly hurled an epithet, which Wack says sparked the brawl.

Sources tell TMZ ... Wack was at Primo Burgers in Lancaster, CA Saturday when he encountered a couple of guys whom we're told were burning rubber behind him.

We're told Wack asked them to stop, as he feared they'd lose control of the car. The response we're told he allegedly got from them in return -- "Mind your f****** business [epithet]." Our Wack sources say the men proceeded to get out of their vehicle, at which point Wack got out too ... ready to defend himself.

It's important to note ... the video does not contain any epithets. You see the two guys swing on Wack, who fends off their blows and strikes back ... actually connecting with one guy and making him fall back on his ass and bleed a bit.

The other guy tries to come at him with a little rooster step, and Wack prepares to trade fists with him too -- but it looks like the fight stops there as more people show up to see what all the commotion is about. They say they're gonna get his plates, and Wack encourages it.

We're told Wack ended up leaving without further incident. Wack himself tells TMZ ... "It's fine," so it sounds like the fellas let things be on the street, sans any police involvement.

Helen Keller -- the first deafblind person to get a college degree -- is being skewered by an activist who calls her yet another privileged white lady who gets the hero's story in America.

Anita Cameron -- a Black disability rights activist -- was quoted calling Keller "just another, despite disabilities, privileged white person" who gets all the shine when discussing famous disabled people in history, while failing to mention achievements by her Black counterparts.

Anita's quote was included in a recent TIME magazine piece analyzing the way Helen's life is taught in schools -- which often excludes pivotal chapters of her adult life ... in which she proved, in some folks' eyes, to be pretty progressive and "radical" for her day.

Of course, people sunk their teeth into the quote calling her privileged -- including several big shots from the right, courtesy of Donald Trump Jr., Mary Vought, Ted Cruz and more ... who say the idea of criticizing Keller for being white and achieving what she did is bonkers.

Sen. Cruz writes, "This is INSANE. Woke Lefties are now attacking Helen Keller?? As 'just another, despite disabilities, privileged white person'?? There are many adjectives one can use to describe the extraordinary Helen Keller. 'Privileged' is not one of them."

While the remark on its face might sound a little out there, Anita's point might be lost on some folks -- and perhaps even on TIME itself, as it went on to note critics of Keller's point out she flirted with the eugenics movement ... almost tying Anita's outrage to just that.

It sounds like Anita feels like part of the reason we know about Helen Keller -- and how she was able to succeed as much as she did to begin with -- might be in large part due to the fact she was white and wealthy, which went a long way back late 1800s and early 1900s. HK's family had deep ties in the South, and her dad was even a captain in the Confederate Army. And yes, they were chummy with the former slaveholding crowd.

Now, Keller is unique because she was first deafblind person to achieve incredible things -- but that, too, might also be because she was white. Take, for example, Geraldine Lawhorn, who was the first deafblind African American to get a college degree.

She was born in 1916, and was alive during Helen's own lifetime ... but wasn't able to get her degree until 1983 at age 67. Helen, by contrast, got it at age 24 in 1904. Another deafblind POC of note is Haben Girma, who was the first to graduate from Harvard Law School in 2010.

A teenager who died from COVID-19 this year passed in a much more graphic manner than initially thought ... because the walls of his hospital room were drenched in blood.

13-year-old Peyton Baumgarth's coronavirus death in late October was well-documented, but photos recently shared by his mother, Stephanie Franek, show just how gruesome his final moments were as doctors and hospital staff tried life-saving measures that ultimately failed.

The kid had been put on a ventilator after going to a St. Louis hospital. Sure enough, he'd contracted the virus ... but his condition went from bad to worse in just days -- leaving him in need of a therapy called ECMO to level out his plummeting oxygen levels.

For some reason, after the treatment, Peyton started to hemorrhage in his chest, at which point he started having terrible coughing episodes that required emergency surgery. As docs tried replacing the ECMO tubes in his neck, the blood that had pooled there began spraying everywhere as they attempted to resuscitate him and get him breathing.

Peyton ultimately died, and his mother captured photos of the aftermath -- which included blood spatter all over the walls and machinery around his bed.

Stephanie's story serves as a cautionary tale -- she says she never thought she'd lose her son, despite underlying conditions he had that put him more at risk for respiratory issues. Friends and family of Peyton's have started a GoFundMe to help with funeral expenses.