Biden has fought a pandemic before. It did not go smoothly.

 https://www.politico.com/news/2020/05/04/joe-biden-contain-h1n1-virus-232992

It was April 2009 and the 3-month-old Obama administration was desperately grappling with the worst economic collapse since the Great Depression when homeland security adviser John Brennan arrived at the Oval Office to warn the president and Vice President Joe Biden of a new crisis: H1N1, the swine flu virus, was showing signs of rapid spread in Mexico, while cases were popping up in California and Texas.

Brennan pointed out that the Spanish flu — the deadliest pandemic in U.S. history — was an H1N1 strain. “It made their eyebrows go up,” Brennan says now, recalling Biden’s reaction in particular.

Body of President Raisi to be moved to city of Mashhad on Tuesday

 https://edition.cnn.com/middleeast/live-news/raisi-iran-president-helicopter-crash-05-20-24/index.html

The body of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and the other victims of Sunday's helicopter crash will be transferred on Tuesday from Tabriz to the northeastern city of Mashhad, where Raisi was born, according to Fars news. 

A large public ceremony is scheduled to take place at a prayer hall in Tabriz at 4 p.m. local time on Monday, Fars news reported. 

Therapeutic nihilism

 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Therapeutic_nihilism#:~:text=Therapeutic%20nihilism%20is%20a%20contention,of%20their%20ills%20through%20treatment.

Perer Watson (Modern Mind) writes that one of Freud's radical ideas was that treating disease was beneficial.

A less familiar aspect of Viennese intellectual life that helped shape Freud’s theories was the doctrine of ‘therapeutic nihilism.’ According to this, the diseases of society defied curing. Although adapted widely in relation to philosophy and social theory (Otto Weininger and Ludwig Wittgenstein were both advocates), this concept actually started life as a scientific notion in the medical faculty at Vienna , where from the early nineteenth century on there was a fascination with disease, an acceptance that it be allowed to run its course, a profound compassion for patients, and a corresponding neglect of therapy. This tradition still prevailed when Freud was training, but he reacted against it. 13 To us, Freud’s attempt at treatment seems only humane, but at the time it was an added reason why his ideas were regarded as out of the ordinary. Freud rightly considered

Stefanik Rages at Fox News Host For Bringing Up Her Past Trump Hatred

 https://www.thedailybeast.com/elise-stefanik-rages-at-fox-news-host-shannon-bream-for-bringing-up-her-past-trump-hatred?ref=home?ref=home

Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) attacked Fox News Sunday host Shannon Bream on Sunday after Bream brought up a December 2022 New York Times article that chronicled Stefanik’s transformation from a moderate Republican to a Donald Trump acolyte—one that cited Stefanik’s own public comments attacking Trump.

Iran's President Raisi killed in helicopter crash

https://www.jpost.com/breaking-news/article-801726

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi was killed in a helicopter crash in the country's northwest on Sunday, Iranian state media agencies and government officials reported on Monday morning.

Raisi's death was reported along with the deaths of Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, among others. According to Mehr, all passengers on board were killed.

The other officials who were killed include Seyyed Mohammad Ali Ale-Hashem, the Islamic Republic's representative to the East Azerbaijan province, and Malek Rahmati, the province's governor. The aircraft's pilot and co-pilot were also killed.

Helicopter carrying Iran’s president suffers ‘hard landing’

 https://www.politico.com/news/2024/05/19/helicopter-iran-president-hard-landing-00158791

A helicopter carrying Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi suffered a “hard landing” on Sunday, Iranian state media reported, without elaborating. Some began urging the public to pray for Raisi and the others on board as rescue crews sped through a misty, rural forest where his helicopter was believed to be.

The likely crash comes as Iran under Raisi and Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei launched an unprecedented drone-and-missile attack on Israel just last month and has enriched uranium closer than ever to weapons-grade levels. Meanwhile, Iran has faced years of mass protests against its Shiite theocracy over an ailing economy and women’s rights — making the moment that much more sensitive for Tehran and the future of the country as the Israel-Hamas war inflames the wider Middle East.

Aircraft carrying Iranian President Raisi crashes, state media says

 https://edition.cnn.com/middleeast/live-news/raisi-iran-president-helicopter-crash/index.html

Rescuers have not reached the crash site of a helicopter carrying Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, and have no update on their status, according to Iran government spokesperson Ali Bahadori Jahromi. 

Netanyahu rival Benny Gantz says he’ll quit Israel’s war Cabinet on June 8 unless new Gaza plan devise

 https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/netanyahu-rival-benny-gantz-says-ll-quit-israels-war-cabinet-june-8-un-rcna152916

Benny Gantz, a member of Israel’s three-man war Cabinet, has threatened to resign from the government if it doesn’t adopt a new plan for the war in Gaza, a move that would leave Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu more reliant on his far-right allies.

His announcement on Saturday escalates a divide within Israel’s leadership more than seven months into a war in which it has yet to accomplish its stated goals of dismantling Hamas and returning scores of hostages abducted in the Oct. 7 attack.

Gantz spelled out a six-point plan that includes the return of scores of hostages, ending Hamas’ rule, demilitarizing the strip and establishing an international administration of civilian affairs. It also supports efforts to normalize relations with Saudi Arabia.

Left-wing organization to compensate farmer

 https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/390175

The Beit Shemesh Magistrate's Court ordered the left-wing organization 'Kerem Navot' to compensate Tzvi Bar-Yosef, an owner of an agricultural farm near Neve Tzuf, after claiming that he is a "violent person".

In the verdict, it was determined that there is no evidence that Bar Yosef acted in physical violence himself, and it was even hinted that the international sanctions imposed on him were based on 'hearsay evidence' received from Israeli left-wing activists.

Gantz's ultimatum for the Prime Minister

 https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/390157

Minister Benny Gantz made a statement to the press Saturday evening in Kfar Maccabiah.

"The unity brought great achievements, we gave our soldiers on the front a sense of partnership in our fate, but recently something went wrong. Vital decisions were not made. Leadership actions required to ensure victory were not taken," he said.

"A small minority took control of the ship that is Israel and is sailing it towards the rocks. I am here today to tell the truth. And the truth is hard: while Israeli soldiers exhibit supreme bravery on the front - some of the people who sent them to battle act in cowardice and irresponsibility."

Iran’s regime slated to execute innocent young Jew on Monday

9https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/iran-news/irans-regime-slated-to-execute-innocent-young-jew-on-monday-801589

The Islamic Republic of Iran’s opaque judicial system is expected to execute a young Iranian Jew on Monday for an altercation involving his self-defense that led to the death of a Muslim man, the Jerusalem Post has confirmed.

Gantz to Netanyahu: If you don't change course by June 8 we will withdraw from the government

 https://www.jpost.com/breaking-news/article-801652

Minister-without-portfolio Benny Gantz gave Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a deadline until June 8 to come up with a more clear war program or Gantz will withdraw from the government.

Gantz listed six objectives that Netanyahu must adopt or face his withdrawal from government:

Benjamin Netanyahu Confronted With Ultimatum and Deadline

 https://www.newsweek.com/benjamin-netanyahu-confronted-ultimatum-deadline-1902219

Benny Gantz, a member of Israel's war cabinet, threatened to resign his centrist party from the government if Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu does not give him a plan on how to deal with the conflict in Gaza by June 8.

A mystery illness stole their kids’ personalities. These moms fought for answers.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/wellness/2024/05/12/down-syndrome-regression-disorder-mothers-support/

But because people with Down syndrome have an extra chromosome 21, they have extra copies of these immune genes — which appear to dysregulate and ramp up the immune system’s response. The result, Espinosa said, is a body that acts like it’s “constantly trying to fight a virus that is not there.”