Jim Acosta yells at Trump that he’s been president for 3 years when he blames Obama

Defense Leaders Back Navy Secretary's Firing of Captain Over COVID-19 Warning. His Sailors Cheered Him as He Left His Ship

https://time.com/5815610/sailors-cheer-navy-captain-fired-coronavirus/

 U.S. defense leaders are backing the Navy’s decision to fire the ship captain who sought help for his cornonavirus-stricken aircraft carrier, even as videos showed sailors cheering him as he walked off the vessel.

Videos went viral on social media Friday, showing hundreds of sailors gathered on the ship chanting and applauding Navy Capt. Brett Crozier as he walked down the ramp, turned, saluted, waved and got into a waiting car.

Acting Navy Secretary Thomas Modly abruptly fired Crozier on Thursday, saying the commander created a panic by widely distributing a memo detailing the escalating virus outbreak on his ship and pleading his leadership for help. Modly said Crozier “demonstrated extremely poor judgment” in the middle of a crisis.

Acosta to Trump: Who dropped the ball on pandemic preparation?

Trump fires intelligence community watchdog who told Congress about whistleblower complaint that led to impeachment

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/04/03/politics/trump-fires-inspector-general-michael-atkinson/index.html

President Donald Trump on Friday fired Intelligence Community Inspector General Michael Atkinson, who had told Congress about the whistleblower complaint that led to Trump's impeachment, the President told Congress in a letter obtained by CNN.

Atkinson will leave his job in 30 days, Trump told the House and Senate Intelligence committees, and he has been placed on administrative leave effective immediately, according to a congressional source.

Trump did not name a permanent successor.

 

Fact check: Georgia governor says we only just learned people without symptoms could spread coronavirus. Experts have been saying that for months

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/04/02/politics/fact-check-georgia-gov-brian-kemp-coronavirus-no-symptoms-stay-at-home/index.html

Atlanta (CNN)Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp said on Wednesday that new information on the spread of coronavirus influenced his decision to issue a stay-at-home order. In particular, Kemp pointed to what he said was the recent discovery that the virus can be spread by people who are not exhibiting symptoms.

Alarm, Denial, Blame: The Pro-Trump Media’s Coronavirus Distortion

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/01/us/politics/hannity-limbaugh-trump-coronavirus.html?algo=top_conversion&fellback=false&imp_id=352627997&imp_id=996661251&action=click&module=trending&pgtype=Article&region=Footer

The pervasiveness of the denial among many of Mr. Trump’s followers from early in the outbreak, and their sharp pivot to finding fault with an old foe once the crisis deepened, is a pattern that one expert in the spread of misinformation said resembled a textbook propaganda campaign.

 

Yochai Benkler, a professor at Harvard Law School and co-author of a book on political manipulation called “Network Propaganda,” said that as the magnitude of the virus’s effects grew and the coverage on the right shifted, Mr. Trump’s loyalists benefited from having told people not to believe what they were hearing. “The same media that’s been producing this intentional ignorance is saying what they’ve always been saying: ‘We’re right. They’re wrong,’” he said. “But it also permits them to turn on a dime.”

Step 1: Blame China

Step 2: Play down the risks

 

 

Jared Kushner Is Going to Get Us All Killed

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/02/opinion/jared-kushner-coronavirus.html

Reporting on the White House’s herky-jerky coronavirus response, Vanity Fair’s Gabriel Sherman has a quotation from Jared Kushner that should make all Americans, and particularly all New Yorkers, dizzy with terror.

 

According to Sherman, when New York’s governor, Andrew Cuomo, said that the state would need 30,000 ventilators at the apex of the coronavirus outbreak, Kushner decided that Cuomo was being alarmist. “I have all this data about I.C.U. capacity,” Kushner reportedly said. “I’m doing my own projections, and I’ve gotten a lot smarter about this. New York doesn’t need all the ventilators.” (Dr. Anthony Fauci, the country’s top expert on infectious diseases, has said he trusts Cuomo’s estimate.)

 Even now, it’s hard to believe that someone with as little expertise as Kushner could be so arrogant, but he said something similar on Thursday, when he made his debut at the White House’s daily coronavirus briefing: “People who have requests for different products and supplies, a lot of them are doing it based on projections which are not the realistic projections.”

 

Kushner has succeeded at exactly three things in his life. He was born to the right parents, married well and learned how to influence his father-in-law. Most of his other endeavors — his biggest real estate deal, his foray into newspaper ownership, his attempt to broker a peace deal between the Israelis and the Palestinians — have been failures.

Undeterred, he has now arrogated to himself a major role in fighting the epochal health crisis that’s brought America to its knees. “Behind the scenes, Kushner takes charge of coronavirus response,” said a Politico headline on Wednesday. This is dilettantism raised to the level of sociopathy.

No 'magic pill': The fight over unproven drugs for coronavirus

https://www.politico.com/news/2020/04/02/coronavirus-drugs-fda-162411

The Food and Drug Administration’s rush to greenlight unproven malaria medicines to fight the coronavirus may derail clinical trials of other potential cures for the deadly virus.

Right now, dozens of potential therapies — from antivirals to antibodies taken from the blood of coronavirus survivors — are being tested in people. The first results from these studies could come within months if drugmakers enroll the thousands of patients needed to complete the research.

But with the malaria drugs chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine available by prescription from any doctor, and the president touting them as coronavirus treatments at his daily briefings, enlisting volunteers to enroll in clinical trials of other potential therapies may be a tough sell.

Yes, We Need to Measure Lives Against Money. Here’s How.

https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2020/04/02/coronavirus-economy-reopen-deaths-balance-analysis-159248

When can America reopen from its coronavirus shutdown? The answer depends how you weigh human health against the economy. We asked experts how to think about the tricky calculus.

Doctor Drops Some Coronavirus Truth Bombs On Fox News, Lights Up Twitter

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/doctor-rishi-desai-fox-news_n_5e8578ecc5b6f55ebf47e55b

 A doctor’s no-holds-barred analysis of coronavirus testing shortcomings is going viral ― not just because of his blunt talk but because of where he made his case: live on Fox News.

Dr. Rishi Desai, chief medical officer of the Osmosis website, vigorously shook his head “no” as Fox News host Martha MacCallum mentioned, as President Donald Trump has, that there were supposed to be millions of tests available. She also said people were still waiting for a quick test for COVID-19. 

Desai responded with a fact-check.

“Yeah, they’re working on it,” he said. “They should’ve been working on it for months.”

 

ההכרעה נפלה: אין בעיה להתפלל במרפסות

https://www.kikar.co.il/354446.html

לאחר הפולמוס ההלכתי בנוגע לתפילות דרך המרפסות, הגר"מ שטרנבוך הכריע שמותר. ומסביר את התנאים הנדרשים לכך, איך קוראים בתורה ואיך 

 zהכהנים נושאים את כפיהם

Israeli Corona Forces / צה"ל = צבא הקורונה לישראל

\

BS"D

IDF: Israeli Corona Forces 

/ צה"ל: צבא הקורונה לישראל

~~~~~~~~~~~~

ver.1:  https://firstamendmentactivist.blogspot.com/2020/04/military-corona-threat.html

~~~~~~~~~~~~

"T'zva Ha'Karona Le'Yisroel?" *** "Israeli Corona Forces"?

8 Nissan 5780 °°  April 3, '20 (v.2, updated)


By Binyomin Feinberg,

FeinbergBinyomin@gmail.com

~~~~~~~~~~~

1.  Last week we mentioned the hypocrisy of the Israeli government in allowing the Army to be exempt from the same Coronavirus health precautions most of the world is taking seriously. We quoted the informative non-response we received from the Health Ministry (https://firstamendmentactivist.blogspot.com/2020/03/corona-concerns.html, https://daattorah.blogspot.com/2020/03/corona-concerns.html ).

2.  What we didn't quote was the blistering critique launched against the Army brass - from within and without - over their reckless disregard of human life, national security, and compliance with the very same basic lifesaving hygiene guidelines the government is requiring of the entire country.  Reportedly, the Army had been continuing to draft about 700 to 900 Israelis a day, in the midst of the international and national epidemiologic crisis (according to a mother of a female Army recruit, quoted in Arutz Sheva, March 21). Furthermore, as reported by Arutz Sheva, the Army deems itself exempt from basic Coronavirus infection-control precautions, even denying soldiers the very right to protective gear, reportedly to avoid scaring recruits. Thirdly, and most ominously, IDF General (Res.) Yitzchak Brick, on Facebook, raised the alarm over the tens of thousands of "home front" soldiers return home nightly, after mingling in the military by day without restrictions, thereby advancing the spread of the virus throughout Israeli society (reported in that same Arutz-7 expose). This, courtesy of the same government now greatly curtailing just about everyone else, all in the name of fighting Corona. Currently, the biggest epidemiologic threat to Israeli residents appears to be  Army brass themselves, who (perhaps out of  subconscious nostalgia for the ill-fated self-esteem of the Yom-Kippur War Labor regime) put the entire country at risk.

~~~~

Drafting Girls Continues, Unrelentingly:

3.  "Chomosaich" volunteers recently came into contact with an 18 y/o religious girl, Ofek E., who, for technical reasons (apparently somewhat beyond her control), had been switched to a non-religious school. As is recent Army policy, they targeted her for a "Rayon Dat" (often taking the form of a religiosity interrogation), and then a "Shimu'ah" (a "hearing" akin to an indictment, essentially ordering her to enlist in the Army). Her repeated pleas to recognize her religiosity as basis for securing her legal right to an exemption from military service were rejected, and early this week she was ordered to enlist on Sunday, April 5. 

Update:

4.  After the posting of the first version of this report, we received late word that Ofek's draft date has been deferred a couple of weeks, until after Pesach. 

5.  This may have been related to the closing of the Jerusalem draft offices this week, due to Coronavirus.  It is noteworthy that as recently as last Thursday, the Jerusalem draft offices were open for business.

6.  We like to remind our readers about the management choices of the Jerusalem draft office. We've previously reported on the antireligious Head of the Jerusalem Draft Office, Col. Keren Levy (see our brief report in the Jewish Press, Sept.13,'19, as well as https://daattorah.blogspot.com/2019/08/another-religious-girl-and-her-idf-vet.html;   https://daattorah.blogspot.com/2019/08/alh-report-2-28-augviolating-vineyard.html;   https://daattorah.blogspot.com/2019/09/violating-vineyard-update.html ).

Ms. Levy is the draft official who bullied the mother of a religious girl simply seeking a religious exemption, Avigail Leah Hausband, in February of '19, threatening:

"I will decide if your daughter is religious. I will profane (or "violate", "achalel et ha'Kerem") "The Vineyard," and I will start with your daughter."

In a subsequent phone conversation with the Lishkas HaGiyus, the office confirmed that the then ongoing effort to draft Avigail - by forcing her into a Rayon Dat - despite her being undeniably religious - was being directed by the very same Keren Levy.

One noteworthy facet of that unforgettable government vendetta was that it was orchestrated in a manner literally placing the life of the mother (who'd been fighting cancer for seven years) at serious risk. The fact that the mother, a Ba'alas Teshuva, served as a captain in the Israeli Air Force didn't insulate her or her family from this ongoing Israeli government hate-crime.

Thank G-d, their attempt to "violate the vineyard" failed. Ultimately, with the assistance of Shalhevet and Shomrei Torah, Avigail took legal action and obtained her religious exemption, without sacrificing her religious principles by submitting to a Rayon Dat.

7.  Please daven for Ofek bas Ester, and all of the other girls, both religious girls (like Ziva bas Mazel and Olga Shamilov), as well as other girls, who are still being pursued, duped, harassed, or persecuted by Israeli draft officers.

Perhaps we should also daven that these draft officials immediately experience a massive priority shift, so that they stop chasing teenage girls for their "legal" human-trafficking quotas, in the midst of the Coronavirus epidemic -- and while Israelis are under the threat of some 150,000 rockets being upgraded to become guided-missiles R"L (drastically raising their lethality level; please read the full article at the MEF link below).

8.  Note the sheer absurdity of drafting girls, or boys, into the Army in the midst of an unprecedented epidemic, when the Army itself has been outed (by one of their own) as infecting the Israeli population with Coronavirus, via its own soldiers.

9.  Also note the sheer wickedness of drafting girls, and even religious girls, in blatant violation of Torah law, and basic human decency - despite the global manifestations of Divine Wrath that we are all currently enduring, to one extent or another.  Our Sages warn us that the wicked refuse to repent even at the Gates of Hell. (Infamously, the European experience eloquently testified to that Chazal.)

10.  Consider how external  threats have not disappeared in the New Corona Order, e.g. see "Iran's New Guided Rocket Kit Is Certain to Raise Tensions with Israel" by Michael Peck, in The National Interest, March 21, 2020 (https://www.meforum.org/60610/irans-new-guided-rocket-kit). Those who are responsible for allowing the drafting of girls into the military ought be warned that G-d has many ways to exact Justice. We need to daven that we and others not suffer as a result.

~~~

11.  The gravest epidemiologic concern right now may be the threat to the viability of the healthcare system, as Netanyahu has so eloquently articulated. How his hawkish posture balances with the recklessness of his own military brass is an interesting question. Perhaps this is yet another small part of his ongoing campaign to posthumously validate the timeless maxim of Rabbi Meir Kahane, HY"D, "Israel 

doesn't have an Arab problem -- Israel has a Jewish problem."  Instead of shutting down the whole country, perhaps just replacing Army brass may do the trick (as long as the replacement team isn't even more cocky).  Or, given current events within the government, perhaps Corona will perform that task for us.

12.  What's at the root of this lemming-like recklessness? Perhaps sheer secularist arrogance... "Kochi  v'Otzem Yadi." Or perhaps there's another, more calculated agenda afoot.

13.  Whatever the reasons, the fact is that Torah observant Jews have an obligation and opportunity to reach out to the broader non-religious Jewish community on this issue, as well as regarding our shared opposition to forcibly drafting girls into the often lawlessly immoral, exploitive military.

14.  We need not unite with non-religious Jewry to speak to their concerns. And, remember, it is not the non-religious Jews who pose the primary spiritual and physical threats, it's the core of diehard antireligious Jews that are much of the primary source of our problems.

~~~~~~~

15.  Regarding the escalating Corona crisis, we suggest circulating the crucial information regarding ventilator alternatives at this link. These low-tech improvised but effective ventilator devices can save many, many lives, globally.  (Those with accurate, updated information about their manufacture and distribution are requested to update us.)

https://www.kare11.com/article/news/health/coronavirus/going-full-on-macgyver-u-of-m-doctor-creates-makeshift-ventilators-to-battle-covid-19/89-ecf8ced9-fd76-478b-ad6e-ae3aeab50b4a

 ~~~~~~
To check for updates,   please visit the Adar Update link:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Z2nuHMNh-CQ3Te2MdV04dmFfkkmQ0TLNKElS9JT6yJc/edit?usp=sharing
~~~~~ 

Wishing all of our upstanding readers around the world an uplifting and safe Shabbos and Pesach,

Pakistan re-arrests four men acquitted in Daniel Pearl murder case

https://www.jpost.com/Diaspora/Antisemitism/Pakistan-re-arrests-four-men-acquitted-in-Daniel-Pearl-murder-case-623475

  Pakistani authorities ordered on Friday four men, including a British militant, convicted of the 2002 murder of US journalist Daniel Pearl, to be detained for three months despite a lower court's ruling to overturn their convictions.

 

Police deploy in force as virus-struck Bnei Brak becomes ‘restricted zone’

https://www.timesofisrael.com/police-deploy-in-force-as-virus-struck-bnei-brak-becomes-restricted-zone/

Over 1,000 officers set up checkpoints to close off ultra-Orthodox city; police official says some residents will be removed to quarantine, troops can use ‘proportionate force’

The Far Right Is Looking for Miracles and Scapegoats to Bail Us Out of the Coronavirus Crisis

https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2020/04/far-right-conspiracy-fauci-security-miracle-cure-scapegoat-coronavirus.html

The U.S. government is now providing a security detail for infectious diseases expert Dr. Anthony Fauci because as his stature has grown as one of the pillars of the American response to the pandemic, so have the rumblings of the far-right, conspiracy-theory wing of President Donald Trump’s support. The 79-year-old has been the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases for more than 35 years, working with numerous administrations on infectious disease preparedness and response, ranging from HIV/AIDS to SARS and H1N1. To most Americans, that is a comforting sign of the experience and expertise that you would look for and appreciate in, say, the doctor who was treating your family. To conspiracy-minded Trump supporters, those decades of experience and public service are an indicator of something sinister: the anti-Trump deep state.

Fauci given security detail after threats: Source

https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/fauci-security-detail-threats-source/story?id=69933965

Dr. Anthony Fauci, someone millions of Americans are trusting to help them deal with the coronavirus crisis, has now had to be given increased security after threats to his safety, a source familiar with the matter told ABC News.

 

Fact-checking coronavirus briefing: Trump says scarves 'better' than masks, exaggerates Europe travel restriction

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/04/02/politics/fact-check-trump-coronavirus-briefing-april-2/index.html

 President Donald Trump made fewer false claims than usual at Thursday's coronavirus briefing, ceding the floor to administration officials for extended periods and trading his usual inaccuracy for some vague musings and boasts.

Trump did, however, offer some more medical advice that is not endorsed by experts, this time claiming that thick scarves make for more effective protective masks than masks themselves. He also repeated his exaggeration that he had cut off travel from Europe.

Here's our fact check:

Brooklyn’s Orthodox neighborhoods have high rates of coronavirus

https://www.jpost.com/Diaspora/Brooklyns-Orthodox-neighborhoods-have-high-rates-of-coronavirus-623455

The record of positive COVID-19 tests in the five boroughs shows that Borough Park, Crown Heights, Williamsburg and Midwood all have above-average positive test rates.

 

I’m an ultra-Orthodox rabbi. We are not criminals.

https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/im-an-ultra-orthodox-rabbi-we-are-not-criminals/

I am Haredi.

I am the principal of a Haredi school network.

If you read the media both in Israel and around the world, you would conclude that I am a criminal who violates the rules of the state and doesn’t care about the lives of others.

I see the way people are writing about me and my community on social media. I hear the way people are talking about me and my community on the radio.

And it is extremely painful.

Tucker Carlson Doesn't Think America Should Let Medical Experts Make Coronavirus Decisions

https://www.newsweek.com/tucker-carlson-doesnt-think-america-should-let-medical-experts-make-coronavirus-decisions-1495898

 Fox News host Tucker Carlson on Thursday lashed out at the medical establishment for allegedly failing the country with their handling of the coronavirus outbreak and questioned why America is allowing them to make pandemic decisions.

In his heated Tucker Carlson Tonight monologue this evening, Carlson said it is "bewildering" that the U.S. have let public health officials decide the country's COVID-19 response. Carlson then questioned whether it would have made more sense to quarantine only the elderly and immunocompromised citizens rather than issue stay-at-home orders for the entire population.

"It's clearly a conversation we should've had before we locked the entire country down and put 10 million people out of work. But we didn't have that conversation," he said. "Instead, we outsourced the decision to public health officials, and that is the strange irony of the moment we're living through."

Carlson then declared that "one of the main lessons of this crisis is that the public health establishment failed us badly."

Coronavirus crisis in France sparks antisemitic conspiracy theories

https://www.jpost.com/Diaspora/Antisemitism/Coronavirus-crisis-in-France-sparks-antisemitic-conspiracy-theories-623458

Disease-related antisemitic conspiracy theories haven't been seen in France since the plagues of old. But with the new coronavirus pandemic, the strain is re-emerging.

 

Quebec Hasidic Jewish community under quarantine due to coronavirus oubreak

https://www.jpost.com/Diaspora/Quebec-Hasidic-Jewish-community-under-quarantine-due-to-coronavirus-oubreak-623438

The region's public health department noted that there have been 10 confirmed cases of coronavirus discovered among members of the Tosh Hasidic community.

 

Coronavirus: US Navy removes Captain Brett Crozier who raised alarm

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-52145230

 

The commander of the USS Theodore Roosevelt has been removed after saying the US Navy was not doing enough to halt a coronavirus outbreak on board the aircraft carrier.

But acting US Navy Secretary Thomas Modly said the commander "exercised extremely poor judgement".

On Thursday, Mr Modly told reporters that Capt Crozier was being fired for allegedly leaking the letter to the media.

He said the letter "created the impression the Navy was not responding to his questions".

"It creates the perception the Navy is not on the job; the government is not on the job. That's just not true."

Trump passes the buck as deadly ventilator shortage looms

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/04/02/politics/donald-trump-ventilators-leadership-coronavirus/index.html

Navarro said the President had ordered General Motors to manufacture ventilators in "Trump time -- which is as fast as possible," even though the President rebuffed calls for weeks from critics to fully utilize the Defense Production Act to surge their manufacture. On Monday, the President said that Ford had agreed to repurpose production lines to build 50,000 ventilators in 100 days.

"Trump time" is not going to be fast enough for New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who said on Thursday his state has about six days at the current "burn rate" of ventilators.

"It's very simple: A person comes into the ICU unit. They need the ventilator, or they die. It's that basic proposition," Cuomo said during a CNN town hall on the coronavirus.

Cuomo said the state had bought 17,000 ventilators but they have yet to be delivered because they are coming from China and 50 states and the federal government are competing for the equipment. New York has only 4,000 ventilators in the state, Cuomo said.

"Obviously, nobody would say that this was the best way to do it," Cuomo said, "to have 50 states compete, but that's where we are."

 

DeSantis risked the lives of Floridians

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/04/02/opinions/desantis-risked-the-lives-of-floridians-louis/index.html

Despite surging numbers of fatalities in New York and Washington and a rising tide of Florida editorial boards demanding action, DeSantis did not issue a statewide stay-at-home order until April 1. That made Florida the last state with more than 5,000 coronavirus cases to implement a statewide shutdown.

"Unlike some other governors, DeSantis ignored the obvious for too long, and Floridians likely are sicker for it," the Miami Herald said in a scathing editorial. "His statewide essential-services-only order, though welcome, is indeed, too late."

On March 22, the same editorial board has issued another action under the pointed headline: "Coronavirus is killing us in Florida, Gov. DeSantis. Act like you give a damn."

 

Jewish doctor urges Israel to follow his off-label coronavirus treatment

https://www.jpost.com/diaspora/jewish-doctor-urges-israel-to-follow-his-off-label-coronavirus-treatment-623355

  Dr. Vladimir Zelenko, a Jewish family medical practitioner from Monroe, New York, who claims to have an off-label treatment for the  coronavirus, sent a letter on Wednesday to Health Ministry director-general Moshe Bar Siman Tov, urging him to follow his protocol.

 While some anecdotal studies indicated that these drugs might be effective, other doctors have criticized Dr. Zelenko’s protocol, saying that more research is needed, and warned about the drug's side effects. Another point of criticism was that not all of Zelenko’s patients were formally diagnosed with COVID-19 because of a shortage of tests. 

 “He reports that after a follow-up period of eight days, there have been no deaths, no incubation and only four hospitalizations,” Dr. Dinerstein added. “So there you have it, a bunch of patients, no firm diagnostic information, no ages, no co-morbidities, and a follow-up period that is several days shy of adequate. Could he be right? Perhaps, but this report doesn't clarify.”

https://www.chicagotribune.com/coronavirus/ct-nw-nyt-coronavirus-vladimir-zelenko-hydroxychloroquine-cure-20200402-s4rwdsfi5ncx7oyxoiwgmoml7y-story.html

 Zelenko’s treatment arrived at a useful moment for Trump and his media supporters, who have at times appeared more interested in discussing miracle cures than testing delays or ventilator shortages.

Sean Hannity, the Fox News host, quickly promoted Zelenko’s claims on his TV and radio shows. Mark Meadows, the incoming White House chief of staff, called Zelenko to ask about his treatment plan. And Rudy Giuliani, Trump’s personal lawyer, praised him in a podcast interview this week for “thinking of solutions, just like the president.”

Few people have been as hopeful about hydroxychloroquine as Trump, who has enthusiastically promoted it for weeks as “very effective” and possibly “the biggest game changer in the history of medicine” —even as health experts have cautioned that more research and testing are needed.

In virus epicenter NYC, disaster guru puts blame squarely on Trump White House

https://www.timesofisrael.com/in-virus-epicenter-nyc-disaster-guru-puts-blame-squarely-on-trump-white-house/

 I think President Trump continues to be talking about the preposterous idea that somehow the state and city do not know what they need,” Redlener said. “He keeps questioning the needs expressed by the city.” He called the president’s recent consideration of a mandatory quarantine for New York “kind of an inappropriate suggestion” and said that he was happy the president decided not to go through with the idea.

What the Nurses See: Bronx Hospital Reels as Coronavirus Swamps New York

https://www.wsj.com/articles/what-the-nurses-see-bronx-hospital-reels-as-coronavirus-swamps-new-york-11585702641

The pandemic has hit the borough hard, and Christina Norstein has witnessed things she never has before

why was Rivka afraid of her husband - two views

העמק דבר בראשית פרק כד פסוק סד
(סד) ותשא רבקה וגו' ותרא את יצחק. בעודו עומד ומתפלל והי' אז כמלאך אלהים נורא מאד, וכמבואר ברבה שראתה ידיו שטוחות בתפלה, על כן נבעתה מאד:
ותפל מעל הגמל. מרוב פחד ואימה, אמנם לא ידעה ממי היא מתפחדת, ואלו לא היתה יושבת עם העבד על גמל אחד, והיתה יושבת מאחוריו עד שראתה שאח"כ האיש הולך לקראת העבד ועומד ומדבר עמו ככל אדם, והי' דעתה מתקרר בתוך כך, עד שבהודעה אח"כ מי הוא האיש הי' כבר סר הפחד ממנה, אבל בהיותה יושבת עם העבד, ובתוך הפחד שאלה את העבד:
העמק דבר בראשית פרק כד פסוק סה
(סה) ותאמר אל העבד. אחר שפסק מתפלה, וראתה שאותו האיש שנתפעלה ממנו הולך לקראתם, על כן שאלה, מי האיש הלזה. אשר אני מתפעל ומפחד ממנו, וכמבואר בב"ר על לשון הלזה, משמעו אדם מאוים ונורא, על כן כששמעה ממנו שהוא אישה, ותקח הצעיף ותתכס. מרוב פחד ובושה כמו שמבינה שאינה ראויה להיות לו לאשה, ומאז והלאה נקבע בלבה פחד ממנו, ולא היתה עם יצחק כמו שרה עם אברהם, ורחל עם יעקב, אשר בהיות להם איזה קפידא עליהם או שינוי דעה לא בושו לדבר רתת לפניהם, משא"כ רבקה. וכל זה הקדמה להסיפור שיבוא בפרשת תולדות שהיו יצחק ורבקה מחולקים בדעות, ומכ"מ לא מצאה רבקה לב להעמיד את יצחק על דעתה בדברים נכוחים כי היא יודעת האמת כי עשו רק ציד בפיו, וכן בשעת הברכות, וכל זה הי' סיבה מהקב"ה שיגיעו הברכות ליעקב דוקא באותו האופן וכאשר יבואר במקומו טעם הדבר, ואלו היתה רבקה עם אישה כמו שרה ורחל עם אנשיהן, לא הי' מגיע בזה האופן, והכל בהשגחה פרטית מראש שתגיע רבקה ליצחק בשעה שתבהל ממנו, ויצא אחרית דבר כפי רצונו ית':

מדרש אגדה (בובר) בראשית פרשת חיי שרה פרק כד סימן סד
ותפל מעל הגמל. נפילה ממש, ובאותה נפילה איבדה בתוליה

 ילקוט שמעוני תורה פרשת חיי שרה רמז קט
ותפול מעל הגמל [כ"ד, ס"ד] לפי שראתה ברוח הקדש שעתיד לצאת ממנו עשו הרשע נזדעזעה ונעשית מוכת עץ ויצא ממנה דם בתולים מיד אמר הקדוש ברוך הוא לגבריאל רד ושמור את הדם שלא יסריח ולא יהיה בו מום בא יצחק עליה ולא מצא לה בתולים חשדה מאליעזר אמר לה בתולותיך היכן הן אמרה לו כשנפלתי מן הגמל נעשיתי מוכת עץ אמר לה שקר את מדברת אלא אליעזר פגע בך ונשבעה לו שלא נגע בה הלכו ומצאו העץ צבוע דם מיד ידע יצחק שהיא טהורה אמר הקדוש ברוך הוא מה אעשה לעבד הזה שהיה חשוד אמר למלאכי השרת הכניסוהו חי בגן עדן הוא אליעזר בן נמרוד והוא תמיה גדולה יצחק יצא מגן עדן חי ואליעזר נכנס לגן עדן חי:

Pakistan overturns murder conviction in Daniel Pearl slaying

https://www.timesofisrael.com/pakistan-overturns-death-sentence-for-briton-convicted-over-daniel-pearl-murder/

  A Pakistani court Thursday overturned the murder conviction of a British Pakistani man found guilty of the 2002 kidnapping and murder of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl. Instead, the court found Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh guilty of the lesser charge of kidnapping and sentenced him to seven years in prison.

In January 2011, a report released by the Pearl Project at Georgetown University following an investigation into his death made chilling revelations, claiming that the wrong men were convicted for Pearl’s murder.

The investigation, led by Pearl’s friend and former Wall Street Journal colleague Asra Nomani and a Georgetown University professor, claimed the reporter was murdered by Khalid Sheikh Mohammad, the alleged mastermind of the September 11 2001 attacks, not Sheikh.

Trump's Covid-19 reelection strategy

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/04/01/opinions/trump-covid-19-response-reelection-strategy-lockhart/index.html

All of this confirms that while the president was slow off the mark to respond to the pandemic, he was always working off a political plan that had his reelection as the top priority.

In January and February his administration didn't see a political benefit in getting out ahead of this. In late March as the cases grew, that changed. But judging from his actions, it's still politics and reelection that are largely driving his response.

 

Boston Globe Editorial Board: Trump 'Has Blood On His Hands' | The Last Word | MSNBC

National Stockpile Of Emergency Equipment Nearly Gone, Trump Says

https://www.forbes.com/sites/marleycoyne/2020/04/01/national-stockpile-of-emergency-equipment-nearly-gone-according-to-report/#119de12f88be

 Topline: The national stockpile of personal protective equipment (PPE), including gloves, masks and gowns needed to shield healthcare workers from coronavirus exposure, is nearly gone, Trump said Wednesday—an increasingly dire problem as the number of reported infections swells to 200,000 nationwide.

 

Maddow: Lack Of US National Coronavirus Policy Is Insane. And Fatal. | Rachel Maddow | MSNBC

Aircraft Carrier Capt. Begs Navy For Help As 93 Sailors Test Positive For COVID-19 | All In | MSNBC

Cuomo to Dr. Gupta: You were right about this Covid-19 symptom

הידבקות ליצמן: הרבי מגור, נתניהו וראש המוסד - לבידוד

https://www.kikar.co.il/354179.html

לאחר חצות לילה הודיעו בלשכת שר הבריאות כי השר ורעייתו חלו בקורונה וצמרת המדינה נכנסה לסחרחורת • ראש הממשלה וראשי מערכת הבריאות ייכנסו לבידוד, כך גם גם האדמו"ר מגור