Thursday, July 9, 2020

The Psychopath in Chief


The Book To Stop Trump's Re-Election? 'Art Of The Deal' Co-Author On Why New Tell-All Scares Trump


Names


Professor doubles down on prediction model of Trump's chances in 2020

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/professor-doubles-down-on-prediction-model-showing-trump-having-91-percent-chance-of-winning-election-despite-polls


Despite recent polls that identify Joe Biden as the heavy favorite in 2020, a political science professor is still standing by his prediction model that shows President Trump having a "91 percent" chance of winning in November.
Mediaite reported on Wednesday that Stony Brook Professor Helmut Norpoth is doubling down on his "Primary Model,” which has correctly predicted five out of the past six elections since 1996 and every single election but two in the past 108 years.
“The Primary Model gives Trump a 91 percent chance of winning in November,” Norpoth said. "This model gets it right for 25 of the 27 elections since 1912, when primaries were introduced."
As Mediaite noted, the two elections the model failed to predict was the 1960 election of John F. Kennedy and the 2000 election of George W. Bush.

Norpoth's model examines the results of presidential primaries as the strongest indicator as to the outcome in the general election, not the polls that dominate the political discussion. According to Norpoth, Biden is in a much weaker position than Trump because of his poor showing in the first two primary races.

While the "Primary Model" hands Trump his reelection, national polls suggest Biden will win handily in November. The Real Clear Politics average shows the former VP besting the sitting president by 8.7 points. In the latest Fox News poll, Biden has a 12 point lead over Trump.

New public transport restrictions come into effect

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/283264


As of Thursday morning, new significant restrictions on public transport come into effect as part of government efforts to fight coronavirus.
The main limitation affects bus drivers who may transport only up to 50% of the maximum amount of passengers able be seated in a given vehicle. The windows must be open with the air conditioners operating.
Weekday public transport will end at 22:00 and will run until Shabbat begins and on Saturday night will continue even after 22:00.

NY ultra-Orthodox are acting like they have herd immunity. Could they be right?

https://www.timesofisrael.com/ny-ultra-orthodox-are-acting-like-they-have-herd-immunity-could-they-be-right/

 The front page of the June 26 issue of Der Yid, one of the most widely circulated Yiddish newspapers among New York’s ultra-Orthodox communities, made the point loud and clear. “And so it was after the plague.” 

That sentiment appears to be guiding life in Brooklyn’s ultra-Orthodox communities, where nearly four months after the virus first arrived, synagogues and camps are open, religious schools resumed classes before closing for summer break and wedding halls are packed again, sometimes in violation of city and state rules designed to slow the spread of disease.
Continued gatherings of ultra-Orthodox Jews drew criticism from New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio and others in the city this spring who said the communities were not doing their part to stop the spread of the virus. But inside the communities, the overwhelming perception is that most people have had the virus and may now be immune. 

“We have paid a terrible price in order to achieve this statistic that is more than double that of our neighbors in Flatbush, and certainly much more than that of New York City, or for that matter any other community in the country,” the Gedaliah Society wrote on May 20. “This high rate of past infection community wide will, with the help of [God], protect us from the virus reactivating and spreading again locally, which would thereby put the vulnerable at high risk.”

And behind the veil of normalcy — and the pain of loss — linger deep and unsettling questions about how safe the community really is.
One concern is that older people and others who are at higher risk may be continuing to isolate for fear of infecting themselves now that the communities have relaxed their restrictions.
Few of those people, who may have isolated themselves earlier and more fully than others, are likely to have antibodies.
“That’s the one thing that really scares me,” Hayum, the nurse practitioner, said. “That a lot of the people who were locked up for three months have no antibodies, which means if there is a second wave, they’re going to be very vulnerable.”

Tulsa sees Covid-19 surge in the wake of Trump's June rally

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/07/08/us/tulsa-covid-trump-rally-contact-tracers-trnd/index.html


The city of Tulsa is experiencing a surge in coronavirus cases, a little over 2 weeks after President Donald Trump held a campaign rally in an indoor arena there.
Dr. Bruce Dart, Executive Director of the Tulsa Health Department, said in a press conference on Wednesday there are high numbers being reported this week, with nearly 500 new cases in two days and trends are showing that those numbers will increase.
There had been a 20% decline in new Covid-19 cases the week of June 28 through July 4.
The Tulsa Health Department reported 266 new cases on Wednesday, bringing the total number in the county to 4,571. There are 17,894 cases in Oklahoma and 452 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University's tally of cases in the United States.
When asked if the cases in Tulsa are going up due to the rally on June 20, Dart said that there were several large events a little over two weeks ago.
"I guess we just connect the dots," Dart said.
 
Trump campaign communications director Tim Murtaugh told CNN, "There were literally no health precautions to speak of as thousands looted, rioted, and protested in the streets and the media reported that it did not lead to a rise in coronavirus cases. Meanwhile, the President's rally was 18 days ago, all attendees had their temperature checked, everyone was provided a mask, and there was plenty of hand sanitizer available for all. It's obvious that the media's concern about large gatherings begins and ends with Trump rallies."

Wednesday, July 8, 2020

Trump says he disagrees with CDC school reopening guidelines, calls them 'impractical'

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/trump-says-he-disagrees-with-cdc-school-reopening-guidelines-calls-them-impractical


“I disagree with @CDCgov on their very tough & expensive guidelines for opening schools,” Trump tweeted Wednesday. “While they want them open, they are asking schools to do very impractical things.”
 
The president did not explicitly detail which CDC recommendations he takes issue with, though CDC Director Robert Redfield has encouraged all schools to “do what they need” to reopen.

Trump warns stocks will 'disintegrate' if he loses. But stocks are climbing as Biden pulls ahead

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/07/08/investing/biden-trump-stock-market-election/index.html

 President Donald Trump is warning a blue wave in November will crash into Americans' investment portfolios. Wall Street, however, is hardly cowering at the prospects of a Democratic sweep.
"If you want your 401k's and stocks, which are getting closer to an all time high (NASDAQ is already there), to disintegrate and disappear, vote for the Radical Left Do Nothing Democrats and Corrupt Joe Biden," Trump tweeted Monday.
The ominous warning stands in stark contrast with the view from Wall Street. Investors seem totally unfazed by the political troubles of Trump, whose surprise 2016 election win set off a boom in the stock market.
 

Vindman to retire from military. His lawyer blames White House 'campaign of bullying, intimidation and retaliation'

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/07/08/politics/vindman-retiring-alleged-white-house-retaliation/index.html


 "The President of the United States attempted to force LTC Vindman to choose: Between adhering to the law or pleasing a President. Between honoring his oath or protecting his career. Between protecting his promotion or the promotion of his fellow soldiers," Pressman said in a statement to CNN. 

It is "absurd and frightening" for the White House to be involved in promotions at this level, the source added.

Israel had coronavirus firmly in its grasp, only to see it slip away

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/07/08/middleeast/israel-coronavirus-second-wave-netanyahu-intl/index.html
 For months, Israel appeared to be an international model of coronavirus success.
With early travel restrictions and sweeping closures, the Startup Nation had largely contained the spread of Covid-19, recording a mortality rate that was far better than many countries in the Western world. As coronavirus tore across the United States and Europe, Israel was comfortably moving towards reopening.

'Lying, Cheating Failure’: New Book By Trump's Niece Casts Trump As Traumatized Narcissist | MSNBC


Mary Trump's disturbingly credible assessment of her 'dangerous' Uncle Donald

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/07/08/opinions/mary-trump-book-dangerous-donald-dantonio/index.html


 No one will ever fully explain Donald Trump: the cruelty, the vanity, the insecurity converted to massive overconfidence. However, in "Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World's Most Dangerous Man," his niece Mary L. Trump comes closer than anyone to describing the making of a seemingly heartless person who won his way to the White House.

 On page after page of this book, to be published next Tuesday, the author relies on her perspective as an insider and her expertise as a psychologist to reveal the family dynamic that produced a person capable of the kind of outrageous acts Trump has committed. This is, after all, a man who used insult, racism, and lies to gain and maintain power. A president whose leadership contributed to lethal fiascos involving asylum-seeking children, hurricane victims and, now, a pandemic made far worse by his bungling. Through it, he has seemed immune to feelings of regret, grief and empathy.

Once a source of pride, Israel’s virus response now a cautionary tale for world

https://www.timesofisrael.com/once-a-source-of-pride-israels-covid-response-now-a-cautionary-tale-for-world/

 
After inspiring worldwide praise, Israel’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic has now emerged globally as a blueprint for how not to reopen the economy too fast as a second wave of infections, worse than the first, sweeps the nation.
While many countries had looked to Israel’s early closing of borders and initial flattening of the curve as a guide, recent international reports have focused negatively on the Jewish state, asking what went wrong and how that can be avoided in other countries.