Shushvin - what is it?

Berachos (61a) And he brought her to the man.21 R. Jeremiah b. Eleazar said: This teaches that [God] acted as shushvin(best man) to Adam. Here the Torah teaches a maxim of behaviour, that a man of eminence should associate himself with a lesser man in acting as best man, and he should not take it amiss.

It is also translated as bridesmaid. but the gemora also describes it as bridal loans

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[1] רמב"ם הלכות זכיה ומתנה פרק ז הלכה א

מנהג פשוט ברוב המדינות שבזמן שישא אדם אשה משלחין לו ריעיו ומיודעיו מעות כדי שיתחזק בהן על ההוצאה שמוציא באשתו ובאים אותן הריעים והמיודעים ששלחו לו ואוכלין ושותין עם החתן בשבעת ימי המשתה או במקצתן, הכל כמנהג המדינה, ואלו המעות שמשלחין נקראין שושבינות, ואותם ששלחו המעות ואוכלין ושותין עם החתן נקראים שושבינין.

[2] רמב"ם הלכות זכיה ומתנה פרק ז הלכה ב

השושבינות אינה מתנה גמורה, הדברים ידועים שלא שלח זה עשרה דינרין בשביל שיאכל וישתה בזה ולא שלח אלא מפני שבדעתו היה שאם ישא הוא אשה יחזור וישלח לו כמו ששלח לו, לפיכך אם נשא זה אשה ולא החזיר לו השושבינות הרי זה תובעו בדין ומוציא ממנו.

[3] רמב"ם הלכות זכיה ומתנה פרק ז הלכה ג

ואין יכול לתבעו עד שישא כדרך שנשא הוא, כיצד ראובן שנשא בתולה ושלח לו שמעון שושבינות ואח"כ נשא שמעון אלמנה, אינו יכול לתבוע להחזיר לו השושבינות שהרי אומר לו איני מחזיר לך אלא בבתולה כמו שנתת לי, וכן אם שלח לו בנשואי אלמנה אינו יכול לתובעו להחזיר לו בנשואי בתולה.

Former National Security Officials: The “Unmasking” List Could Be Bad News for Mike Flynn

https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2020/05/donald-trump-mike-flynn-unmasking

The “unmasking” controversy is in a sense the official kickoff of the Trump campaign, a sequel to “Obama was born in Kenya” and Hillary’s emails. It was unveiled when Richard Grenell, the acting director of national intelligence who’s long been a highly politicized Trump loyalist, declassified a list of Obama administration officials who requested to “unmask” an American citizen anonymously identified in intelligence reports, who turned out to be Michael Flynn. Against the backdrop of Flynn’s changing legal fortunes, Trumpworld has latched onto the document to rewrite the Russia saga and seemingly absolve the former national security adviser of wrongdoing, which he pleaded guilty to, propping him up as a martyr, targeted in a witch hunt by Trump’s political enemies. It’s a made-for-media story that former national security officials say, is essentially a fiction. “I think it is a desperate and manipulative attempt to turn into a scandal what was appropriate action taken by senior officials,” a former national security official told me.

The declassified list, which Republican senators Ron Johnson and Chuck Grassley released earlier this week, reads as a who’s who of the Obama administration, featuring James Clapper, James Comey, Samantha Power, and even former vice president and Trump’s presumptive challenger in the 2020 election, Joe Biden. But despite the seemingly nefarious undertone of the process known within the intelligence community as “unmasking,” former officials familiar vehemently assert that it is commonplace. “You can’t do your job without it,” Michael Morell, the former acting director of the CIA during the Obama administration and host of the Intelligence Matters podcast, said, noting that he made such requests to the National Security Agency several times a month during his tenure to better understand the underlying intelligence in reports.

 

Watchdog's dismissal puts Pompeo on the hot seat

https://www.politico.com/news/2020/05/16/watchdog-dismissal-mike-pompeo-261871

State’s inspector general, Steve Linick, had been investigating allegations involving Pompeo, New York’s Eliot Engel, the Democratic chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said following news of Linick’s ouster. A congressional aide added that Pompeo and his wife are accused of improperly directing a political appointee to run personal errands for them.

 

Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) offered a mixed assessment of Linick in a statement on Saturday, noting that he had filled the job after the Obama administration left it vacant for several years. "Although he failed to fully evaluate the State Department’s role in advancing the debunked Russian collusion investigation, those shortcomings do not waive the president’s responsibility to provide details to Congress when removing an IG," Grassley said. "As I’ve said before, Congress requires written reasons justifying an IG’s removal. A general lack of confidence simply is not sufficient detail to satisfy Congress."

Trump: Coronavirus testing may be ‘overrated’ and reason for high U.S. case count

https://www.politico.com/news/2020/05/14/trump-coronavirus-testing-high-case-numbers-259524

“And don’t forget, we have more cases than anybody in the world,” he added. “But why? Because we do more testing. When you test, you have a case. When you test, you find something is wrong with people. If we didn’t do any testing, we would have very few cases.”

 

Trump said the news media had refused to report his “common sense” explanation for the country’s high case numbers. He repeated the misleading claim that the U.S. has tested more people than other countries, sidestepping the reality that testing as a share of the population is lower than in other countries.

The Biden campaign issued a statement Thursday evening criticizing the president‘s comments and his response to the crisis.

“With his statement today, President Trump has once again demonstrated that he is more concerned with his poll numbers and his reelection than he is with safeguarding American lives and delivering real economic recovery — both of which every expert tells us can only happen with adequate testing capacity to track and stop this disease,“ the statement said.

Trump: Without Coronavirus Testing ‘We Would Have Very Few Cases,’ Here Is The Reaction

https://www.forbes.com/sites/brucelee/2020/05/15/trump-without-doing-covid-19-coronavirus-testing-we-would-have-very-few-cases-here-is-the-reaction/#38544a1b518c

In a speech on Thursday at Owens and Minor, a medical supply distributor located in Allentown, PA, President Donald Trump wondered whether testing for Covid-19 coronavirus is “overrated.” He then proceeded to say, “And don’t forget, we have more cases than anybody in the world. But why? Because we do more testing.”

Next, he clarified: “When you test, you have a case. When you test, you find something is wrong with people. If we didn’t do any testing, we would have very few cases.”

There someone goes again, bringing up science. The argument is that the virus will keep on infecting, keep on spreading, and keep on killing people, even if you ignore it. It’s not as if the virus is clenching it’s spikes and hoping, “please test that person, please test that person,” so that it can then infect someone. It’s not as if COVID-19 is a debatable condition or something that can’t make you sick or kill you. It’s real and it’s the opposite of spectacular.

Trump Says That Virus Testing May Be 'Overrated' | Morning Joe | MSNBC

McConnell’s Rush to Protect Businesses Endangers Everyone Else

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/15/opinion/coronavirus-liability-business-safety.html?action=click&module=Opinion&pgtype=Homepage

As Congress gears up for the next installment of its stimulus package, Mr. McConnell has drawn a line: No more money for anyone until businesses get immunity from liability during the pandemic. The demands being debated include making it harder to claim that a business is at fault for a worker’s or customer’s infection, protecting businesses that are making personal protective equipment like masks for the first time, and protecting employers against privacy lawsuits if they disclose a worker’s infection.

The problem is that immunity doesn’t just shield the worst actors; it also punishes the best, by giving a competitive advantage to the businesses that decide to cut corners at the expense of worker and customer health and safety.

Consider what happened in Utah, which passed a bill immunizing businesses from pandemic-related litigation in most cases and issued only advisory guidelines. The next day, the Utah Press Herald reported that two businesses had told their employees to disregard the guidelines, and even ordered those who had tested positive for the coronavirus to report to work. At one of the businesses, nearly half of all employees tested positive.

Why Hospitals in NYC Have Abandoned Hydroxychloroquine

https://www.ny1.com/nyc/all-boroughs/news/2020/05/07/hospitals-in-nyc-abandon-hydroxychloroquine-treatment-touted-by-trump-

Hospitals began using the drug early on in hopes it could calm the overactive immune response to COVID-19. But now that little proven benefit has been found, many doctors here in New York have moved on.

Just days ago, Mount Sinai changed course.

"As of last week, we stopped using hydroxychloroquine as a routine medication in our hospital based upon the cumulative experience in our hands and in others, and recommendations by the FDA that it should not be used outside of clinical trials,” said Dr. Charles Powell, chief of the Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine at the Mount Sinai Health System and CEO of the Mount Sinai-National Jewish Health Respiratory Institute.

It wasn’t just Trump: Governor Andrew Cuomo also expressed optimism about hydroxychloroquine’s potential. But studies, including one that looked at 600 patients in the New York City area, were inconclusive.

 

Drug Combo with Hydroxychloroquine Promising: NYU Study

https://www.ny1.com/nyc/all-boroughs/news/2020/05/12/nyu-study-looks-at-hydroxychloroquine-zinc-azithromycin-combo-on-decreasing-covid-19-deaths

 Researchers at NYU's Grossman School of Medicine found patients given the antimalarial drug hydroxychloroquine along with zinc sulphate and the antibiotic azithromycin were 44 percent less likely to die from the coronavirus.

"Certainly we have very limited options as far as what we have seen work for this infection so anything that may work is very exciting," said Dr. Joseph Rahimian, Infectious Disease Specialist at NYU Langone Health.

Dr. Rahimian says patients in the more critical stages of infection did not fare as well.

And he cautioned that more research is needed - in particular a randomized controlled trial - to prove how and how well the drug combination works.

Meanwhile, a study in the Journal of the American Medical Association on Monday found that treating patients only with hydroxychloroquine, azithromycin, or both did not reduce hospital deaths. 

The study by the State Health Department and the SUNY Albany School of Public Health involved 1,500 patients.

Supreme Court Heading Towards Big Ruling Against Trump on Tax Returns, Says High Court Veteran

Trump’s Absurd Claim ‘If We Didn’t Do Any Testing, We Would Have Very Few Cases’ | Deadline | MSNBC

Which One of These Is Obamagate? | The Daily Social Distancing Show

President Trump recently coined the term "Obamagate," but which one of Obama's many controversial scandals was he referring to? #DailyShow #Obamagate #TrevorNoah

Trump Can't Quit Us

Cornered by the coronavirus, Trump returns to a familiar strategy: Attack Obama

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/05/16/politics/trump-coronavirus-strategy-attack-obama/index.html

 With the death count from the coronavirus rising and its economic fallout deepening, President Donald Trump is trying to fire up his base and divert the national conversation by promoting a baseless conspiracy that casts his predecessor, Barack Obama, as the architect of a plot to subvert his presidency.

The ginned up scandal, or "Obamagate" as Trump has branded it, turns on alleged requests made by members of the Obama administration to "unmask" an individual, who turned out to be Michael Flynn, mentioned in classified intelligence reports. A common and legal process, it has been employed more often under Trump than during Obama's time in office.

This week the Trump administration and Republican senators made the decision to declassify and release the names of Obama officials who made requests that might have resulted in Flynn's "unmasking." The officials would not have known the name of the individual until after their ask was answered. Flynn would go on to become Trump's national security adviser before being fired -- by the President -- for lying to White House officials about his Russia contacts.

Doctors are contradiction to bitachon?

אמת ליעקב ויקרא פרק כו פסוק יא

(יא) ונתתי משכני בתוככם.

עיין רמב"ן כאן שהאריך בענין מדת הבטחון, ודעתו היא שעל פי האמת אסור לו לאדם לשאול ברופאים אלא ישליך על ד' יהבו, וסיים כי ברצות ה' דרכי איש אין לו עסק ברופאים, ועיי"ש שביאר באריכות. והנה החובת הלבבות [עיין שער הבטחון פרק ד'] סובר שעל האדם להשתדל עד כמה שיכול להרפא בדרך הטבע, ועיי"ש. והנה נדמה בעינינו כי לדעת חובת הלבבות צריך הוא האדם לסייע כביכול להקב"ה - שעל ידי הסיבה הזאת יוכל לפרנסו, וכן מבינים רוב בני העולם ודומים הם כי הרמב"ן הוא המחמיר בנדון זה. אבל המעיין בחובת הלבבות יראה כי הוא הנהו המחמיר בזה, אלא שהוא סובר כי כל ענין ההתעסקות הוא מפני יישוב העולם1 והרי זו מצוה ככל מצות שבתורה, ולפיכך כותב הוא שהאדם לא ישנה את מלאכתו ואף שרואה הוא שאינו מצליח במלאכתו זאת. אבל לדעת הרמב"ן אדרבה - אם האדם אינו בתכלית השלימות נמסר הוא למערכות הטבע ואז צריך הוא לעבוד באמת כדי להתפרנס על ידי זה, כי כן כתב לענין רפואה שאחרי שבא אל הרופא הרי הרופא צריך להזדקק לו כי הוא נמסר להנהגה הטבעית, וכדמצינו בשלהי ברכות [דף ס' ע"א] דהמתפלל אחר מ' יום שיהא זכר ה"ז תפלת שוא, ואעפ"כ האמהות התפללו2 מפני שלפי הנהגתם הנס היה אצלם לטבע ונשתנה דינם, ודו"ק3.

והנה לפי דברי רמב"ן אלו יש לפרש מה דמצינו בגמרא במסכת יומא [דף פ"ה ע"ב] שנחלקו כמה תנאים מנא לן שפקוח נפש דוחה את השבת, וכל א' הביא מקור אחר לזה, וכגון מעבודה וממילה וכדומה, ועיי"ש. ולעיל בפרשת כי תשא [ל"א פט"ז] ביארתי מדוע בכלל צריך פסוק מיוחד לזה - הא קי"ל וחי בהם ולא שימות בהם, ועיין מש"כ שם להלכה. אבל בדרך הדרוש י"ל לדעת הרמב"ן דעל פי האמת לא היה האדם צריך להתעסק ברפואות כלל, ולפיכך היה עולה על הדעת שמצות שבת תחייבנו להעמיד את הענין על אמיתו ולא נדחה את השבת, וע"ז באו התנאים האלו ולימדו שאין זה דחיית איסור בלבד אלא מצוה ממש וכמו מילה ועבודה שדוחין את השבת, ודו"ק.

A third of hospital patients develop dangerous blood clots

https://www.bbc.com/news/health-52662065

Up to 30% of patients who are seriously ill with coronavirus are developing dangerous blood clots, according to medical experts.

The professor's blood sciences team in the hospital has been analysing samples from patients showing how coronavirus is changing their blood making it much more sticky. And sticky blood can lead to blood clots.

Steve Linick: Trump fires state department inspector general

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-52688658

Mr Trump said Mr Linick no longer had his full confidence and that he would be removed in 30 days.

Mr Linick had begun investigating Secretary of State Mike Pompeo for suspected abuse of office, reports say.

Democrats say Mr Trump is retaliating against public servants who want to hold his administration to account.

 

President Trump Ousts State Department Watchdog, Marking Another Inspector General Fired During the Pandemic

https://time.com/5837818/trump-fires-steve-linick-state-department-watchdog/

(Washington D.C.) — President Donald Trump has fired the State Department’s inspector general, an Obama administration appointee whose office was critical of alleged political bias in the agency’s management. The ouster is the latest in a series of moves against independent executive branch watchdogs who have found fault with the Trump administration.

Are We Still Pro-Life?

https://mishpacha.com/inscrutable-by-design/

The current crisis provides an example of this danger. We are comrades-in-arms with the pro-life movement, aren’t we? And, when years ago, Republicans railed against the so-called “death panels” that were purportedly a part of Obamacare’s vision for the American healthcare system, we Orthodox Jews felt they were kindred spirits, didn’t we?

Yet, it has been so very unsettling to now see longtime ostensible proponents of the pro-life position suddenly begin to speak a different language, to find people who’ve advocated cherishing life at both its beginning and end suddenly downplaying preservation of life as a supreme value and attaching an economic price tag to the healthcare and longevity of people in their sixties and seventies.

As I noted above, the questions of when and how much and how quickly to begin easing up on the lockdown are complex ones given the human toll on both sides of the equation. If poskim were to be consulted by government in this decision-making process, I have no idea how they would rule on those questions.

But I do know this: Every posek in the world has clearly ruled during this crisis that preservation of life is paramount. They have instructed repeatedly that we must closely heed the directives of the very “majority of scientists, especially health officials, doctors, and epidemiologists” whom Prager sneeringly dismisses, and that not only that Orthodox writer’s missed trips to museums and zoos must yield, but when necessary, the kol Torah and tefillah of Klal Yisrael too.

 

White House ramps up PR campaign to improve Trump's image

https://us.cnn.com/2020/05/16/politics/trump-coronavirus-vaccine-image/index.html

CNN's election poll released this week showed former Vice President Joe Biden leading Trump 51% to 46% nationally among registered voters. But in an encouraging sign for Trump, 52% of those voters in key battleground states favored the President compared to 45% who backed Biden.

 

Sweden Stayed Open. A Deadly Month Shows the Risks.

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/05/15/world/europe/sweden-coronavirus-deaths.html?action=click&module=Top%20Stories&pgtype=Homepage

No two countries are exactly alike, making comparisons inexact. Luck, travel patterns and personal actions play a role, not just government policy. 

Swedish officials chose not to implement a nationwide lockdown, trusting that people would do their part to stay safe. Schools, restaurants, gyms and bars remained open, with social distancing rules enforced, while gatherings were restricted to 50 people. 

Two months later, it has not been the worst-case scenario many envisioned. Covid-19 deaths have disproportionately hit the elderly and those in nursing homes, as is the case in most countries, but hospitals have not been overwhelmed. As with the rest of the world, it will be months, or even years, before the full picture of mortality emerges.

“It is clear that mortality in Stockholm has been a lot higher than you would expect from a normal year,” said Martin Kolk, a demographer at Stockholm University. “But we will have to wait and see what happens. It’s a very big difference if we continue to see excess mortality for six more months, or if it will be back to normal levels in a few weeks.”

There Are Sensible Ways to Reopen a Country. Then There's America's Approach

https://time.com/5836607/reopening-risks-coronavirus/

Much of the blame for that disarray falls on Trump himself. The President has repeatedly undermined the guidance of his own public-health officials, fomented antiquarantine protests on Twitter and politicized cautious positions taken by some governors. On May 7, the AP reported that the Administration had “buried” more detailed CDC advice to states on how to safely reopen.

Trump’s erratic political response to the public-health crisis reflects his own leadership style, but also the larger challenge of America’s cultural idiosyncrasies. Americans are uniquely attached to our civil liberties. It’s difficult to imagine South Korea’s contact-tracing program—a massive, state-run surveillance system that tracks and records the movements of every citizen—flying on U.S. soil. The same is true of Chinese officials’ reopening of Shanghai Disneyland. While the first day back at the Happiest Place on Earth was successful, attendees willingly scanned QR codes on their phones, allowing the government to monitor their exact where-abouts in case of future outbreaks.

 

US church sues after bible study 'Zoombombed' by child abuse

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-52668124

A California church is suing video chat company Zoom after a hacker allegedly hijacked a virtual Bible study class to post graphic images of child abuse.

The company pointed to its "recently updated security features", adding that Zoom users should not widely share meeting access and passwords "as appeared to be the case" with the church group.

Americans' Trust in Mass Media Edges Down to 41%

https://news.gallup.com/poll/267047/americans-trust-mass-media-edges-down.aspx

 Although trust in the media has edged down this year, it is well above the record low of 32% in 2016 when Republicans' trust dropped precipitously and drove the overall trust reading down during the divisive presidential campaign. Republicans' trust is still at a very low level and a wide gap in views of the media among partisans persists as 69% of Democrats say they have trust and confidence in it, while 15% of Republicans and 36% of independents agree.

Former federal judge who brought down the 'Teflon Don' steps into Flynn case

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/05/14/politics/john-gleeson-profile/index.html

An esteemed former federal judge himself, Gleeson, 66, entered the discourse around the Flynn case on Monday, when he and two other former Justice Department officials wrote in The Washington Post that among the steps US District Judge Emmet Sullivan could take would be to "appoint an independent attorney to act as a 'friend of the court,' ensuring a full, adversarial inquiry."

Saying the case "reeks of improper political influence," they wrote that "if prosecutors attempt to dismiss a well-founded prosecution for impermissible or corrupt reasons, the people would be ill-served if a court blindly approved their dismissal request. The independence of the court protects us all when executive-branch decisions smack of impropriety; it also protects the judiciary itself from becoming a party to corruption."

 

Why Donald Trump's idea that he saved millions of lives is laughable

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/05/11/politics/donald-trump-coronavirus-quarantine/index.html

It's obvious what he is doing. Cherry-picking a jaw-dropping number -- 2.2 million! -- to frame the deaths of more than 100,000 Americans as not all that bad, all things considered. (Worth noting: On April 21, Trump said this: "Now we're going toward 50 -- I'm hearing, or 60,000 people. One is too many. I always say it. One is too many, but we're going toward 50 or 60,000 people. That's at the lower -- as you know the lower (end of the projections) was supposed to be 100,000 people.")

Sessions responds to Trump attack: 'I do not and will not break the law'

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/05/08/politics/jeff-sessions-donald-trump-obligated/index.html

Sessions said in a statement that he recused himself because he was abiding by the law.

"To not recuse myself from that investigation, of which I was a target as a senior campaign official and a witness, would have been breaking the law. I do not and will not break the law," Sessions. "I did the right thing for the country and for President Trump. If I, as a target of the investigation, had broken the law by not recusing myself, it would have been a catastrophe for the rule of law and for the President."

 

The President was asked during a Friday morning call to "Fox & Friends" if there would have been a Russia probe had Bill Barr, the current attorney general, been attorney general during the start of the Trump administration.

"No, there wouldn't be. He would have stopped it immediately. ... Jeff Sessions was a disaster. I made him -- I didn't want to make him attorney general but he was the first senator to endorse me so I felt a little bit of an obligation," Trump said.

Roy Cohn Trump's role model

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roy_Cohn

Representation of Donald Trump and Rupert Murdoch

In 1971, businessman Donald Trump moved to Manhattan, where he became involved in large construction projects.^[39] In 1973, the Justice Department accused him of violating the Fair Housing Act in 39 of his properties.^[40][41] The government alleged that Trump's corporation quoted different rental terms and conditions and made false "no vacancy" statements to African Americans for apartments it managed in Brooklyn, Queens, and Staten Island.^[42]

Thirty Workers, Four USDA Inspectors Dead Amid Meat Plant Coronavirus Outbreaks

https://time.com/5836973/usda-inspector-meat-workers-dead-coronavirus/

A fourth U.S. Department of Agriculture food safety inspector died Wednesday from Covid-19, according to a union official, amid an outbreak of the virus in the nation’s meat processors.


President Donald Trump issued an executive order April 28 directing meatpackers to reopen and the USDA announced Friday that 14 processing facilities were reopening. Schelling didn’t provide details on when the deceased inspector contracted the virus.

Lindsey Graham Rejects Trump's Call to Force Obama to Testify in Russia Investigation

https://www.newsweek.com/lindsey-graham-rejects-trumps-call-force-obama-testify-russia-investigation-1504145

Trump has repeatedly called on Congress to force Obama to testify over what he alleges —without evidence—was a conspiracy against his administration. Trump has called the purported scandal "worse than Watergate" but has declined to offer specifics when asked to explain the charges.

Hannity: Why did the Obama administration's unmasking requests jump threefold from 2013 to 2016?

Here’s what ‘unmasking’ means, the phrase used in the Michael Flynn controversy

https://nypost.com/2020/05/13/heres-what-unmasking-means-the-phrase-in-the-michael-flynn-controversy/

Why unmasking in the news now:

In the Flynn case, Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak was overheard talking to a “masked” individual about the possibility of lifting sanctions imposed by the Obama administration.

Obama-era officials asked intelligence agencies to reveal the American’s name and found out it was Flynn, then an adviser to President-elect Trump.

This week, acting Director of National Intelligence Richard Grenell declassified a list of 23 officials who sought to “unmask” or learn Flynn’s identity during the probe into Russian interference in the 2016 election.

The Trump administration and some Republicans have accused the Obama administration of acting inappropriately in requesting the information.

However Grenell’s memo, which was released by Republican senators, notes that the “unmasking” was approved through the NSA’s “standard process.”

 

'Obamagate': Trump seeks to draw Biden into conspiracy theory

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/may/13/donald-trump-obamagate-conspiracy-theory-biden-flynn-unmasking

Grenell, a Trump ally, declassified and sent the list of names to Republican senators.

“I am providing a revised list of identities of any officials who submitted requests to the National Security Agency at any point between 8 November 2016 and 31 January 2017 to unmask the identity of former National Security Adviser, Lieutenant General Michael T Flynn,” read a memo from Gen Paul Nakasone, director of the National Security Agency, released by Grenell.

 

Unmasking is a routine practice used to identify a person anonymously referred to in an intelligence document. It takes place hundreds of times a year, without controversy.

Flynn was under scrutiny because of his conversations with the Russian ambassador about sanctions.

The list of officials released by Grenell includes former ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power, former director of national intelligence James Clapper, former FBI director James Comey and former CIA director John Brennan. The last name on the list, from 12 January 2017, is Biden.

Wisconsin Governor Says State is the 'Wild West' After Court Blocks Stay-at-Home Order Extension

https://www.newsweek.com/wisconsin-governor-stay-home-extension-blocked-1503962

 In a majority ruling, reported by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel yesterday, Chief Justice Patience Roggensack said: "If a forest fire breaks out, there is no time for debate. Action is needed. The governor could declare an emergency and respond accordingly.

"But in the case of a pandemic, which lasts month after month, the governor cannot rely on emergency powers indefinitely."

The Wisconsin Supreme Court ruling was issued a day after a Marquette University Law School poll found that 69 percent of state voters felt the state was right to close schools and non-essential businesses, as well as restricting public gatherings.

 It also revealed that a 64 percent majority approved of Gov. Evers response to the coronavirus pandemic, while only 32 percent disapproved.

 

Trump collaborated with Obama to fire Flynn

https://www.vox.com/2017/12/2/16727988/trump-michael-flynn-fbi-lies-obstruction

 

President Donald Trump in a tweet on Saturday said he fired his former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn because Flynn lied to the vice president — and the FBI.

If that is indeed the case, that means Trump knew that Flynn had lied to the FBI when he asked FBI Director James Comey to drop his inquiry into Flynn and then fired Comey when he failed to do so.

“I had to fire General Flynn because he lied to the Vice President and the FBI,” Trump said in a midday tweet. “He has pled guilty to those lies. It is a shame because his actions during the transition were lawful. There was nothing to hide!”

Trump's rebuke of Fauci encapsulates rejection of science in virus fight

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/05/14/politics/donald-trump-anthony-fauci-science-coronavirus/index.html

 

Fauci's transgression is to base his evaluations -- after decades of public service and expertise fighting HIV/AIDS, Ebola, Zika and anthrax -- on facts and logic that conflict with Trump's chosen version of reality. Fauci has long said that only the virus can decide when normal life -- things such as NFL games and schools reopening, for instance -- will be safe again.

 

The gulf between Trump's approach and scientific rationality is expected to be further underscored Thursday with House testimony from Dr. Rick Bright, who says he was ousted from his job developing a coronavirus vaccine because he questioned Trump's enthusiasm for hydroxychloroquine, an unproven treatment for Covid-19. Bright will warn, according to his prepared testimony, that the US could face "unprecedented illness" and the "darkest winter in modern history" if it doesn't do a better job of preparing for a second wave of the pandemic.

Sweden records highest number of coronavirus deaths for three weeks as it announces plan to hire 10,000 more nursing assistants after pandemic exposed care home failures

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8315851/Sweden-records-highest-number-coronavirus-deaths-three-weeks.html

Sweden recorded its highest number of coronavirus deaths in three weeks, with 147 more fatalities.

It comes as Swedish authorities plan to permanently hire up to an additional 10,00 staff to address shortcomings in elderly care exposed by the virus. 

Sweden's coronavirus deaths have fluctuated over the past week, with figures dramatically falling before a huge surge in new deaths on Wednesday.

 

Fears of 2nd virus wave rise as 300 arrested in Meron; 2,000 gather in Jerusalem

https://www.timesofisrael.com/fears-of-2nd-virus-wave-rise-as-200-arrested-in-meron-2000-gather-in-jerusalem/

About 1,000 residents of the ultra-Orthodox Jerusalem neighborhood of Mea Shearim crowded the city’s streets late Monday, ignoring the ban. Bonfires and gatherings were also reported in Beit Shemesh and the incidents drew an angry rebuke from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who ordered a police crackdown on the illegal celebrations on Monday night.

'We sacrificed the economy on the altar of health'

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/280224

Outgoing Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon (Likud) was interviewed by Israel Hayom and questioned on his opinion of the government's handling of the coronavirus crisis.

"Even if there is a second wave of the coronavirus, there's no way we can go back to the way we did things until now," he said. "They were the right steps to take at the time, but bear in mind that we sacrificed the economy on the altar of health. It's not possible to shut down the economy again even if there is a second wave. It's not just impossible; it's dangerous."

 

Significance for all of history of Eve being taken from Adam

Alshech (Bereishis 2:24): It would appear that the lesson we learn from the verse “ to this one is called woman – that it applies specifically to Adam and Eve who was actually taken from his body but not to future couples that would be born from them. That is why the Torah states next “Therefore a man should leave … and cleave to his wife”. In other words that this relationship applies all couples of men and women  that would ever exist that they should leave….That is because Adam  contained all the souls that would eventually come into the world in potential as is noted in Shemos Rabbah (40:3) and Avos deRabbi Nosson (31:3) regarding the verse Job (38:4) “Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Similarly Eve Adam’s wife contained the souls of all women who would ever exist. In other words Adam and Eve included all the souls of Mankind and thus all the couples. As a result of this, the unity that existed between Adam and Eve exists in all future couples. Because they all had  their souls together from the very beginning and they are only lacking becoming one flesh  . this is the lesson to be learned. You should also note that the reason G-d created Eve from Adam and not from dirt was in order that the man should leave his parents and cleave to his wife which would not be true if she was made from dirt. That is because they would not have the natural attachment as we mentioned before. Alternatively we can say that Adam prior to having Eve taken from him had potentially all the souls of males that would ever exist and all the souls of women were contained in the rib. And according to the view that man was created with two faces, women’s souls were contained within the female face. Either way Adam and Eve were connected to all future couples by being one body Secondly the souls of the males were related to the yud. which is nature of man and that is why the word ish (man) is spelled with a letter “yud” . In contrast Women and the feminine nature is hey which is why the word women (isha) is spelled with a letter “hey”. To get to the point, it is possible to give her a name based on the body that she was taken from or based on the soul.  From the aspect of the body she could have been called adamah (dirt) because she was taken from Adam. But that is impossible because she was not from the dirt but rather she was derived from Adam’s bone and flesh, Therefore she was  given the name because of the soul. That is because the souls of the males and females were together in the first creation, and then the female aspect was made into a new entity. So it is better to call her isha (woman) to indicate she had been taken from the ish (man)  thus indicating both aspects. The predominance of the male souls and that they constitute a couple  that is why the verse contines with “therefore a man should leave” because the soul of all men is united with her soul in man. Regarding her he will desire her that is because desire comes from the soul and not from the body. Or Alternatively it can be said “This time … that is to say don’t be surprised  that a male can come from a female  because now there is unity in that she is bone of my bone … However from the aspect of the female and not from the male  she is not from the male essence  because it doesn’t say that she was made from the man but that she was taken from the man. That is he had certain potentials relevant to her in him from which she was taken. Consequently  she was not made from his male essence but rather from the feminine essence that he contained. Thus she was not from the male but only from his  bone and flesh. But the meaning of that she was taken from the male means from the properties of the rib.  Or we can say “This time “ alone is needed to indicate that bone of my bone and flesh from my flesh makes a relationship  with Adam and she was not made from dirt but from him. All this relationship requires is the reality that she is bone of his bone. Otherwise why state “And to this one he called woman because she was taken from the man” It was because all future couples were present in me and in all couples the souls of the man and woman are bound together. It is because of that fact that with all couples the man should leave his parents.  But  if someone says he doesn’t want to leave his parents. He only needs to be told what it says in Nida (31a) that the father and the mother make the body of their child while G-d makes the soul.  So if he is claiming that only in the case of Adam and Eve that the man should cleave to the woman but all future cases  why should they leave their parents and cleave to a stranger (an unrelated woman)?  To this the reply is that the facts are the opposite so that he should leave his parents because of what we have already explained. The proof is that cleaving to his wife is not in order that they  to produce a soul but rather to produce one flesh. In other words, a  man and his wife produce the body  while G-d makes the soul.  Thus the three are partners in producing children. Therefore how is it conceivable that their son should  cleave to them  the parents and not with his true mate who is related by her soul, that was united in Adam before Eve was taken  from him as we explained. This relationship is alluded by the fact that men search for a wife while women don’t search for a husband. Because woman was taken from Adam  and thus she is something he lost.and he needs to search for her and then cleave to her. Thus she was always his wife but he temporarily lost her, Alternatively from the aspect she constitutes his lost property, that from the first couple and for ever after, we have the concept of bashert (the daughter of ploni is destined to him) and she was lost to him sometime after he was born and therefore he needs to search and find her

Trump says Dr Fauci's warning 'not acceptable'

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-52656959

US President Donald Trump has said a sobering warning by his top infectious diseases expert about lifting pandemic restrictions too soon was unacceptable.

He accused Dr Anthony Fauci of wanting "to play all sides of the equation" in his testimony to lawmakers on Tuesday.

The president said he was especially dissatisfied with Dr Fauci's caution around reopening schools too quickly.

Lawyer appointed by Judge Sullivan to offer arguments in Flynn case already has slammed Trump WH's 'improper political influence'

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/judge-sullivan-appoints-third-party-to-present-arguments-against-flynn-consider-holding-him-in-contempt

D .C. District Court Judge Emmet Sullivan issued an unusual order Wednesday appointing a law firm partner "to present arguments in opposition to the government's motion to dismiss" the matter -- and to consider whether the court should hold Flynn in contempt for perjury.

The partner, retired federal judge John Gleeson, has openly criticized the Trump administration's handling of Michael Flynn's case, raising concerns that he was selected to improperly bolster Sullivan's efforts to keep the Flynn case alive even though both the government and defendant want it dismissed.

Sullivan has previously suggested Flynn may have committed treason, in a bizarre 2018 courtroom outburst, and seemingly confused key details about Flynn's overseas lobbying work.

The precise reasons for the perjury review were not clear in Sullivan's order. Last year, Flynn abruptly abandoned his plan to provide testimony against a former associate, after admitting that he had lied on federal forms required under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA). Flynn has said he received constitutionally inadequate legal advice.

 

Trump clashes with Fauci over virus reopening as global death toll nears 300,000

https://www.timesofisrael.com/trump-clashes-with-fauci-over-virus-reopening-as-global-death-toll-nears-300000/

US president at odds with top medical adviser over opening schools as US surpasses 83,00 fatalities; UN predicts worst global economic downturn since Great Depression

 Trump, speaking to reporters at the White House, said he found Fauci’s latest call for a highly cautious reopening “not acceptable.”

 

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.