Trump Covid: President downplays virus on leaving hospital

 https://www.bbc.com/news/election-us-2020-54427390

 Donald Trump says he has overcome the coronavirus - and you can, too.

In his video message from the White House, a mask-less Trump tells the American public: "Don't be afraid of it. You're going to beat it."

And so the president's message in the final weeks of his re-election campaign takes shape. He contracted the coronavirus because he was an out-front leader and he "had to do that".

"Nobody that's a leader would not do what I did," he said.

It is a message almost messianic in its undertones - one that the rest of his party is amplifying. The president has suffered and overcome, and will lead the nation to a promised land beyond the virus.

Trump mounts bizarre and misleading White House return despite warnings

 https://edition.cnn.com/2020/10/06/politics/donald-trump-coronavirus-white-house-biden/index.html

 A strongly medicated President Donald Trump bolted from his VIP hospital bubble Monday, staging a bizarre White House comeback that included an irresponsible mask removal and a reckless pronouncement there is nothing to fear from Covid-19, which has already killed 210,000 Americans.

His actions show him, if anything, entrenched deeper in denial over the virus than ever before and more committed to trashing scientific protocols that could slow the pandemic.

Antibodies, Remdesivir, Vitamin D: Unpacking Trump’s COVID-19 treatment

 https://www.jpost.com/health-science/antibodies-remdesivir-vitamin-d-unpacking-trumps-covid-19-treatment-644408

 US President Donald Trump’s physician, Sean P. Conley, released a memo Friday afternoon saying the president had received an investigational antibody cocktail and was taking a number of vitamins and minerals to help keep him healthy. The president was also administered the FDA-approved drug Remdesivir.

Specifically, Trump received a single eight-gram dose of Regeneron’s polyclonal antibody cocktail, REG-COV2, Conley said, and the company confirmed in a statement sent to The Jerusalem Post. The company’s website explains that REG-COV2 is a combination of two monoclonal antibodies designed specifically to block infectivity of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.

Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky, 92, diagnosed with coronavirus

 https://www.jpost.com/health-science/rabbi-chaim-kanievsky-92-diagnosed-with-coronavirus-644267

 "We should pray for the healing of Shmaryahu Yosef Chaim Kanievsky son of Pasha Miriam."

 One of the leading rabbis of the non-hassidic haredi world, Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky, 92, has been diagnosed with coronavirus.

"Following a change in the body temperature of the great rabbi, he was examined and found positive for coronavirus," his spokesperson said in a statement.

 

Major Torah leaders: Keep coronavirus directives on Sukkot

 https://www.jpost.com/health-science/major-torah-leaders-keep-coronavirus-directives-on-sukkot-644110

 Two top haredi (ultra-Orthodox) rabbis have sent a letter to their constituents calling on them to keep the Health Ministry’s coronavirus regulations over the Sukkot holiday, which starts Friday at sundown.

Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky and Rabbi Gershon Edelstein, the two leading rabbis of the non-hassidic haredi world, have instructed that people should pray as much as possible in open spaces and that “anyone who can help make this possible will be greatly rewarded.”

Suicide and repentance

 Bereishis Rabba (65:22): Jakum of Zeroroth was the nephew of R. Jose b. Jo'ezer of Zeredah.5 Riding on a horse he went before the beam on which he [R. Jose] was to be hanged,6 and taunted him: ‘See the horse on which my master has let me ride, and the horse upon which your Master has made you ride.’ ‘If it is so with those who anger Him, how much more with those who do His will,’ he replied. ‘Has then any man done His will more than thou?’ he jeered. ' If it is thus with those who do His will, how much more with those who anger Him,’ he retorted. This pierced him like the poison of a snake, and he went and subjected himself to the four modes of execution inflicted by the Beth Din: stoning, burning, decapitation, and strangulation. What did he do? He took a post and planted it in the earth, raised a wall of stones around it and tied a cord to it. He made a fire in front of it and fixed a sword in the middle [of the post]. He hanged himself on the post, the cord was burnt through and he was strangled. The sword caught him, while the wall [of stones] fell upon him and he was burnt. Jose b. Jo'ezer of Zeredah fell into a doze1 and saw his [Jakum's] bier flying in the air. By a little while he has preceded me into the Garden of Eden,’ said he..

Michael Cohen on Proud Boys: In Trump's mind, this is his army

Trump's Proud Boys comment at debate sparks pushback, outrage; Tim Scott asks him to clarify

 https://www.foxnews.com/politics/reaction-trump-proud-boys-comment-presidential-debate

 President Trump's reaction to a question about far-right white supremacist groups during Tuesday's first 2020 presidential debate quickly drew reactions ranging from pushback to anger from politicians and pundits, as South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, a fellow Republican, said the president needed to correct his statement.

 

 

Proud Boys: who are the far-right group that backs Donald Trump?

 https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/sep/30/proud-boys-who-are-far-right-group-that-backs-donald-trump

 During the debate, Trump was asked repeatedly by the moderator, Chris Wallace, to condemn violence by white supremacists and rightwing groups, such as armed militias.

When Trump asked specifically who he should be addressing, Biden prompted him by saying the Proud Boys.

Trump then addressed the Proud Boys, saying: “Proud Boys, stand back and stand by! But I’ll tell you what, somebody’s got to do something about antifa and the left.”

Members of the group immediately celebrated the president’s comment in posts on social media and rightwing discussion-board platforms such as Telegram and Parler. One Proud Boys group added the phrase “Stand Back, Stand By” to their logo. Another post was a message to Trump: “Standing down and standing by sir.”

 

 

I'm Smart

The First 2020 Presidential Debate Was Nasty, Brutish and Long

 https://time.com/5894588/presidential-debate-analysis-chaos/

It did not take long for the first presidential debate of the 2020 general election to spiral totally out of control. President Donald Trump simply would not stop talking—badgering, heckling, taunting and sniping at both his opponent and the moderator. Finally, Joe Biden could only blurt, “Man, would you shut up?”

Trump, of course, did nothing of the sort.

It was, in a way, a perfect metaphor for the Trump presidency: two professionals sighed and remonstrated and strained to enforce the rules, while Trump gleefully ignored them and refused to back down, putting on a show of dominance and creating a fact-free haze that made substance hard to discern. It wasn’t pretty, but had you landed fresh from Mars knowing nothing about American politics—lucky you!—you would have gotten an accurate sense of both candidates’ dispositions, if not their policy positions.

“That is simply not true,” Biden kept insisting, as Trump called him an idiot, smeared his family and concocted wild conspiracy theories about everything from the Obama administration to the upcoming election. “It’s been totally discredited.” Yet neither the Democratic nominee nor Wallace managed to wrest back control of the proceedings, and Biden struggled to land sharp attacks on Trump’s weaknesses.

Trump Declared War On Decency, Democracy Last Night | Morning Joe | MSNBC

Judge Sullivan Hears Flynn Case. Flynn's Lawyer Says She Met with Trump and Discussed Pardon!

 https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog-september-30-2020/

Israel’s virus czar Ronni Gamzu tells cabinet ministers that Haredi Israelis are 2.5 times more likely to test positive for the coronavirus, indicating an incredibly high rate of infection in their communities.

Some 28.6 percent of virus tests administered in Haredi communities returned a positive answer in recent days, he tells the coronavirus cabinet, compared to 13.4% in Arab communities and 11.9% in the rest of the country.