Federal judge mulls contempt charge against Michael Flynn

https://www.politico.com/news/2020/05/13/judge-appoints-retired-judge-to-represent-flynn-prosecution-256509

Judge Emmet Sullivan named a former judge to weigh the issue after the Justice Department filed a motion to dismiss the case against the former Trump national security adviser.

 

A federal judge is signaling that he might pursue perjury or contempt charges against former national security adviser Michael Flynn over his effort to abandon a guilty plea to a charge of lying to the FBI.

Sullivan’s order also directed the retired judge, John Gleeson, to recommend whether Flynn should face a criminal contempt charge for perjury — apparently for declaring under oath at two different court proceedings that he was guilty of lying to the FBI, before he reversed course in January and claimed he had never lied.

Devin Nunes Defamation Lawsuit Hits Snag as Judge Rules He Needs to Identify What's Actually Defamatory

https://www.newsweek.com/devin-nunes-defamation-lawsuit-hits-snag-judge-rules-he-needs-identify-whats-actually-defamatory-1503894

On Tuesday, a Trump-appointed Iowa federal judge threatened to dismiss a defamation lawsuit brought by the family of California Republican Representative Devin Nunes against Hearst Magazines, the publisher of Esquire, and journalist Ryan Lizza.

Trump-appointed U.S. District Judge C.J. Williams said he'll throw out the lawsuit if the family doesn't specify precisely how Lizza's article in Esquire magazine inaccurately portrayed the congressman and his family.

 

Breaking down 'Obamagate,' Trump's latest theory about the 'deep state' and Obama's role in the Russia investigation

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/05/13/politics/trump-obama-obamagate-russia/index.html

Trump's latest rhetoric about "Obamagate" matches a well-established pattern.

Some misconduct related to the Russia investigation has been uncovered, and several former FBI officials have been chided for their handling of certain aspects of the probe. But Trump has repeatedly exaggerated the breadth of the wrongdoing or latched onto unproven accusations that even some members of his own administration have struggled to publicly explain or defend.

The Justice Department's inspector general has detailed major problems with the FBI's use of Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act warrants against former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page. The inspector general also concluded that the most salacious claims about Trump and Russia, first made in the Steele dossier, had not been proved.

To Trump's credit, he said early on that there were improprieties with FBI surveillance. But when the watchdog report came out in late 2019, many of the President's specific claims were debunked, even if he was right about the big picture. (Much like his current messaging, Trump called this kerfuffle "Spygate," and said in 2018 that it "could be one of the biggest political scandals in history.")

For instance, the inspector general found that the FBI's decision to investigate several Trump campaign associates was legally justified and unaffected by bias. Yet even after the report came out in December, the President has continued to claim that the Russia probe was illegal and biased.

Attorney General William Barr also disputes that conclusion from the inspector general, and previously ordered a review of the Russia probe, led by US Attorney John Durham. That investigation is ongoing.

Donald Trump Trails Governors By Almost 30 Points in Coronavirus Approval Poll

https://www.newsweek.com/donald-trump-trails-governors-30-points-coronavirus-approval-poll-1503705

President Donald Trump trails state governors by almost 30 points in a new coronavirus approval poll published Wednesday.

The latest survey from The Washington Post and the University of Maryland found that almost three-quarters (73 percent) of Americans felt their state governor had a "good" or "excellent" reaction to the COVID-19 pandemic.

By comparison, only 46 percent approved of the president's handling of the coronavirus outbreak—putting him 27 points behind state leaders.

 

Ignoring ban, hundreds of ultra-Orthodox crowd Lag B’Omer fires in Jerusalem

https://www.timesofisrael.com/hundreds-of-haredim-crowd-jerusalem-streets-to-illegally-mark-lag-bomer/

Prime minister orders police to crack down on gatherings in capital and Beit Shemesh amid warnings that incidents could lead to fresh outbreak of coronavirus

317 ultra-Orthodox men freed after breaking into holy site, defying virus rules

https://www.timesofisrael.com/317-ultra-orthodox-men-freed-after-breaking-into-holy-site-defying-virus-rules/

Hundreds of ultra-Orthodox men arrested Tuesday evening after breaking into a shuttered holy site at Mount Meron were released Wednesday morning to their homes.

Each of the 317 detainees received a fine for violating coronavirus regulations designed to prevent mass gatherings.

 

Israeli doctors using ventilators on virus patients sparingly, but split on why

https://www.timesofisrael.com/israeli-doctors-using-ventilators-on-virus-patients-sparingly-but-split-on-why/

Some experts maintain the machines can cause damage to a certain type of COVID-19 sufferers, while others say noninvasive measures were preferred all along

 Israeli doctors are increasingly sparing in the use of ventilators for coronavirus treatment, with some expressing fears that the breathing machines can cause harm. “There’s a sentiment that we’re trying to delay ventilation unless we really have to,” Eyal Zimlichman, chief medical officer at Sheba Medical Center in Ramat Gan, told The Times of Israel, adding that this has been the case since mid-April.

 

 

‘A pretty scary thing’: NY on edge over mystery child illness tied to virus

https://www.timesofisrael.com/a-pretty-scary-thing-ny-on-edge-over-mystery-child-illness-tied-to-virus/

Some 100 kids in state are suffering inflammatory syndrome believed to be related to COVID-19; governor says parents ‘are very concerned about this, and they should be’

 

קורונה נדירה בארץ פגעה בילדים, אחד נפטר; 'כולם חרדים'

https://www.kikar.co.il/359724.html

התפתחות נדירה מאוד של נגיף הקורונה, הפוגעת דווקא בבני נוער, הגיעה לאחרונה לישראל; עד כה היא התגלתה בגופם של שישה ילדים - כולם חרדים - אחד מהם למרבה הצער אף נפטר (אקטואליה)

 

Breaking down 'Obamagate,' Trump's latest theory about the 'deep state' and Obama's role in the Russia investigation

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/05/13/politics/trump-obama-obamagate-russia/index.html

President Donald Trump and his allies added a new dimension this week to their "deep state" conspiracy theory, directly accusing former President Barack Obama of leading a supposed "coup" to sabotage the Trump presidency.

 

Seizing on a viral hashtag, Trump dubbed the alleged scandal "Obamagate" and has been flooding the zone promoting exaggerated theories and false claims since the weekend. In the President's view, he was the victim of the "biggest political crime in American history" and the Obama appointees who he claims tried to undermine his administration deserve jail time for their misdeeds.

Trump ramped up his rhetoric over the weekend after Obama criticized the Justice Department for dropping its criminal case against former Trump national security adviser Michael Flynn. Trump's new focus on Obama also served as a diversion from the coronavirus pandemic, as the nationwide death toll passed 80,000 and the unemployment rate tripled to a staggering 14.7%.

Conspiracy theorists are falsely claiming that the coronavirus pandemic is an elaborate hoax

https://theconversation.com/conspiracy-theorists-are-falsely-claiming-that-the-coronavirus-pandemic-is-an-elaborate-hoax-135985

Since March 28, conspiracy theorists — “coronavirus deniers” — have been using the hashtag #FilmYourHospital to encourage people to visit local hospitals to take pictures and videos to prove that the COVID-19 pandemic is an elaborate hoax.

The premise for this conspiracy theory rests on the baseless assumption that if hospital parking lots and waiting rooms are empty then the pandemic must not be real or is not as severe as reported by health authorities and the media.

 

Why a Second Wave of Covid-19 Is Already a Worry

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-04-24/why-a-second-wave-of-covid-19-is-already-a-worry-quicktake

3. So how does a virus come back?

There are a number of possibilities. In the case of influenza, there’s the onset of cool weather, a factor that may affect the coronavirus, too. Or the pathogen can mutate. This is another feature of flu, which mutates more or less constantly. In the fall of 1918, a second wave of the historic influenza outbreak occurred and caused most of the deaths in the pandemic. Some researchers believe it was brought about by a mutation that made the virus again unrecognizable to most people’s immune systems. Another important variable is the movement of the virus to populations that haven’t been exposed before and don’t have immunity. In addition, the World Health Organization said on April 24 that there’s no evidence yet that people who have recovered from Covid-19 and have antibodies are protected from a second infection.

 

1918 Pandemic Influenza: Three Waves

https://www.cdc.gov/flu/pandemic-resources/1918-commemoration/three-waves.htm

 There were 3 different waves of illness during the pandemic, starting in March 1918 and subsiding by summer of  1919. The pandemic peaked in the U.S. during the second wave, in the fall of 1918. This highly fatal second wave was responsible for most of the U.S. deaths attributed to the pandemic.

Are the Jews racist?

אמת ליעקב בראשית פרק ט פסוק כה
(כה) ויאמר ארור כנען עבד עבדים יהיה לאחיו51.
הנה ישנן משונאינו מאומות העולם הטוענים שכלל ישראל היא אומה גזענית, שהרי התורה אומרת שכנען ארור והוא יהיה עבד עבדים לאחיו, הרי שהשפילה התורה את גזע כנען למדרגת עבד. אבל האמת ודאי היא לא כן, דהא זה ברור שדעת התורה היא כנגד גזענות, וכבר הוכחתי זה בחידושי לעיל בפרשת בראשית [א' פכ"ב] מלשון המשנה בסנהדרין [דף ל"ז ע"א]: מפני מה נברא האדם יחידי שלא יאמר אדם לחבירו אבא גדול מאביך, הרי שבדוקא שינה הקדוש ברוך הוא במין האדם משאר המינים וברא רק אדם יחידי כדי שלא יבואו בני האדם לידי מדה מגונה זו. אלא שלפ"ז צריכים לבאר את פעולתו של נח במה שהוריד את כנען למדרגת עבד והשפילו משאר מין האדם, והרי זה לכאורה פעולה גזענית טהורה.
אבל באמת אין לזה שום שייכות עם גזענות, דגזענות פירושה שגזע אחד מתנשא מעל גזע אחר בגלל מוצאו ויחוסו וכאילו שהוא נוצר "מחומר" עילאי וטוב יותר וכדומה, אבל כאן הטעם שחילק ביניהם נח היה משום מדותיו המושחתות של חם ובנו כנען, ומדות אלו הנחיל הוא לבניו אחריו וכמו שאמרו חז"ל [פסחים דף קי"ג ע"ב]: חמשה דברים צוה כנען את בניו כו' אהבו את הגזל ואהבו את הזימה ושנאו את אדוניכם ואל תדברו אמת, ומכיון שראה נח מדות כאלו אצל משפחת כנען, מאז קילל אותם שישארו עבדים כל ימי חייהם ולא יבואו בקהל ישראל.
וכמו כן הוא מה שאנו אומרים "אתה בחרתנו מכל העמים", ששונאי ישראל טענו שמזה אנו מראים כאילו אנו חושבים את עצמנו למיוחסים יותר מאומות העולם, ודאי אין זה משום שדת ישראל גזענית היא חס ושלום, אלא שאנו אומרים שמכיון שאנו ירשנו מדות מהוגנות וישרות מאבירי דעה כאלו כמו אברהם יצחק ויעקב, ואנו עמדנו בהר סיני וקבלנו תורת ה' מפי משה רבינו, ממילא אנו בני מעלה יותר משאר העמים, כי הרי אנו שיפרנו את עצמנו במדות טובות ובהתקרבות להשי"ת, אבל הרי כל מי שרוצה יכול להתגייר ולהצטרף אלינו ואז גם הוא יכול לומר על עצמו "אתה בחרתנו מכל העמים", מה שאין זה אמת בשאר האומות הגזעניות שלא מרשים לאחד מן החוץ להצטרף אליהם.