Jewish American Heritage Month

Posted By admin on April 26, 2020

Image: Matt Marshall, a leader of the Three Percenters militia movement, wearing the boogaloo Hawaiian shirt uniform at an anti-quarantine protest in Olympia, Washington (Getty)

God help us if Mark Zuckerbergs next congressional hearing is on the subject of the Bloody Insurrection of 2020. As HuffPostfirst reported,a scourge of far-right extremist accounts on Facebook appear to be gearing up for a meme-inspiredcivil war amid the covid-19 outbreak.

The Tech Transparency Project (TTP), a research group focused on exposing large platforms misconduct and influence, released a reportfinding that 125 Facebook groups are promoting the boogaloo, a term far-right groups use to refer to a wishful Civil War sequel. The boogaloo appears to have mutated from a joking 4chan meme into a real-life movement of militiamen (Boojihadeens) late last year. But the TTP found a surge in boogaloo interest over the past few months, correlating with social distancing measures. According to the report, over 60 percent of the Facebook groups cropped up in the past three months and, as a whole, have attracted over 36,000 members in the last 30 days.

Boogaloo promoters have been attending anti-quarantine protests, events with ties to pro-gun activists. The report says that the Boojahideen have been hearing dog whistles from the president lately, greeting his LIBERATE tweets with cheers. TTP found that some members of private boogaloo Facebook groups reacted to the presidents rhetoric with memes of celebration, it reads, and traded details of anti-quarantine protests in Richmond, Virginia, and Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

In total, these Facebook groups boast 72,686 members, although the report did not verify how many members overlap between groups. One merch page, the Thicc Boog Line, admins at least 11 other boogaloo groups.

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The vast majority are private, TTP notes. One post screenshot grabbed by TTP crowdsources tips on homemade explosives. It begins:

Lets talk grenades, flash bangs, and other things you can throw at the enemy. Lets just say that you didnt want to get the paperwork in order to possess certain things that go boom or can act as a room clearer/stunner.

Is there anything you can buy to make your own flash bangs?

The report suggests this isnt just casual dabbling in violent fantasies. The groups have uploaded CIA handbooks, military manuals, and the bomb assembly manual The Anarchist Cookbook. One 133-page-plus planning document reviewed by the TTP reportedly identifies strongholds like national guard depots, police stations, and factories that produce munitions as very solid targets and proposes taking out rail lines and ports to sabotage shipments. The TTP found that one Arkansas fan of several boogaloo pages was arrested earlier this month after allegedly livestreaming a hunt to kill a police officer on Facebook Live.

Boogaloo advocates reportedly include Matt Marshall, a leader of the militia group Three Percenters, named for the disputed belief that only three percent of Americans fought in the Revolutionary War. According to the Anti-Defamation League, Marshall suggested that followers wear the Hawaiian shirt, the mark of the Boojahideen, to anti-quarantine protests.

Slides included in the report also outline a propaganda strategy proposing that boogaloo insurgents stick to Revolutionary War-related emblems such as the Gadsden flag, rather than anarchism emblems, which the media will portray as black and scary.

YouTube is also culpable. As of this writing, Top 5 Boogaloo Gunsa guide to firearms posted on April 15th by a user with 2.35 million subscribersremains live with over 300,000 views. The idea being that a boogaloo is something really bad happens, its a tyrannical government, the narrator, in a Hawaiian shirt, explains, and youve gotta take to the streets and take care of business, protect your family, protect your neighborhood, protect your citizens. He proceeds to review an automatic assault rifle (which, he remarks, has been a popular item at recent unnamed rallies).

YouTube told Gizmodo that we have strict policies regarding content featuring firearms, and quickly remove content that violates those policies when flagged by our users, but added that the boogaloo video doesnt violate their firearms content guidelines.

Facebook was made aware of the boogaloo activity in February, the report notes, after NBC reached out to the company and received the following response:

Weve been studying trends around this and related terms on Facebook and Instagram. We dont allow speech used to incite hate or violence, and will remove any content that violates our policies. Well continue to monitor this across our platform.

Boogaloo groups mentioned in the report are still active. Gizmodo has reached out to Facebook and will update the post if we hear back.

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Report: Over 100 Militant Groups Have Been Promoting Second Civil War on Facebook - Gizmodo

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Posted By admin on April 26, 2020

Syracuse University's Student Association in a virtual meeting passed a resolution Monday condemning conservative figure Ben Shapiro's planned speech at the school this fall, the college's paper the Daily Orange reported.

The lengthy resolution also branded Shapiro as a "white supremacist." In one rather jaw-dropping paragraph, student leaders added that "not only is Ben Shapiro a white supremacist, but he is homophobic, transphobic, xenophobic, ableist, and classist. It is inappropriate to bring someone on our campus that [sic] has actively disrespected our very own students through his language and actions."

The students' argument? "Shapiro's generalistic and harmful comments about Arabs and Palestinians promote white supremacy. When it comes to discrimination against Arabs and Palestinians, whilst Arab is considered to be an ethnicity and Palestinian is considered to be a nationality, both groups are generally racialized and discriminated [against] based on skin tone."

Oddly the same paragraph acknowledges that Shapiro "himself is Jewish and has been targeted by white nationalist terrorists" and adds that he "has not explicitly stated that the white race is better."

It's worth noting that the Boston Globe issued a correction last fall after one its columnists erroneously called Shapiro's news site, The Daily Wire, a "white supremacist-adjacent alt-right outpost."

"Because of a reporting error, the @Large column in today's Arts section, which is printed in advance, mischaracterizes the conservative media outlet The Daily Wire." Shapiro's outlet added that the correction reads, "Its founder, Ben Shapiro, has spoken out against the alt-right. The Globe regrets the error."

The Daily Wire went further in a report about the correction:

As TheBlaze has frequently reported, Shapiro is no stranger to such attacks from left-wing college students, as he's endured smears and protests amid many speaking events at schools across America over the last several years.

According to Campus Reform, one student association member during a video meeting expressed support for the resolution, said Syracuse is a private college, and added: "we do not follow the First Amendment ... Well, we do not have to follow the First Amendment. As members of the Student Association, it would be very ill-informed of us to ignore students crying out and saying they feel unsafe and to put our political beliefs and values over safety."

The resolution concluded by requesting that "the University take whatever measures are necessary to prevent [Shapiro's] event from taking place."

The student association's finance board approved the College Republicans' $39,000 request to invite Shapiro to Syracuse, the Daily Orange said, adding that he's is scheduled to come to the campus in early October.

The College Republicans' executive board released a statement rejecting the resolution, saying the organization "emphatically" disputes the notion that Shapiro is a white supremacist, the Daily Orange reported.

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Ben Shapiro branded as 'white supremacist' by student leaders who condemn his planned speech: 'We do not have to follow the First Amendment' -...

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Posted By admin on April 26, 2020

September 1996.

Its unsettling. Youre over 50, youre Jewish, you walk into Zabars expecting that old time Yiddish flavor behind the counter, but all the lox men are Chinese. Well, almost all: a sprinkling of Hispanics, an African American here and there, and yes, an occasional Jew. What was I to do?

So, I sold my CPA practice and crossed the barrier between work and play. Id always been a fish lover as a sportsman, chef and gourmet diner. When a close friend called and told me that Zabars was advertising in The New York Times for a part-time lox-slicer, I applied for the job, was interviewed by Mr. Saul Zabar himself, and GOT IT. After 40 years in the world of finance, I traded my suit, tie, calculator and computer for whites, a plastic apron, a sleek, slicing knife and I love it. With two days on and five off, I cant wait to get back to work each week. Id almost do it for nothing (only kidding Mr. Zabar).

The afternoon before my return each week, I anticipate trimming my first salmon of the day carefully cutting away that deliciously chewy surface of the side, exposing the glossy undersurface of the fish; removing the pin bones with needle nose pliers and gliding my vinyl-gloved hand, back and forth, over its new oily surface a truly sensuous experience. Nothing at all like the graphite in my pencil gliding along the surface of an accountants worksheet.

On the job I thrive on managing customer anxiety, promoting smoked-fish awareness. I explain you need around two ounces per person; salmon are like people, some a little darker than others, but all delicious. Have a taste! Like wine, its all in the taste.

Perhaps I could be at the forefront of a movement to bring Jewishness back to New Yorks appetizing counters; to stem the tide of this changing of the lox-guard taking place at appetizing stores citywide. On second thought, Im probably not ethnic enough for this role, although I do have, in Sam, an exceptional teacher of Yiddishkeit.

Sam, the worlds oldest living Jewish lox slicer works directly to my right. To illustrate his wisdom I offer the time he watched as I waited on a woman who had already spent more than she could afford, but succumbed to a luscious piece of sable, cautioning me, emphatically, not to exceed six ounces. I stopped slicing at six ounces, leaving a small piece of the fish. When the customer departed, Sam spoke.

Watch what Im telling you, he said. You never leave an end of the fish. You put it in the order. She wouldnt say anything. And God forbid she really didnt want it, then you could take it out. A PROFESSIONAL NEVER LEAVES AN END. I vigorously defended my position relating her strict instructions, but Sam was not moved. He looked on high, thought for a moment and spoke.

You know, you may not be wrong, but youre not right either.

I think Ill have to consult the Talmud to understand the philosophical depth of his comment. However, I dont leave ends anymore.

Ive brought a new dimension to the END game. I teach my customers that ends arent really ENDS at all. Theyre BEGINNINGS! Smoked fish is usually sliced from tail to head the closer to the head, the more succulent the meat. The end is really the beginning, the tastiest part of the fish. If its good eating youre after, its BEGINNINGS all the way. As a bonus, if you buy a chunk unsliced, its $2.00 per pound off the regular price. I tell my customers, WHY NOT GET THE BEST FOR LESS?

Although Sams slices are substantial and lusty, he doesnt slice thin, and thin is in. To my left works the Chinese master slicer, Lien Sheng Wang, whose blade glides through the Nova with effortless strokes producing thin salmon leaves of elegant symmetry. They lay on the parchment paper like sculpture. Im drawn to Wangs slicing technique, but I wonder: If I slice the Chinese way, will Sam think Im betraying my heritage? Ill have to weigh this carefully. Also, I must overcome the headaches caused by Sams talking Jewish to me in my right ear while Wang talks Chinese/English to me in my left. I cant understand either of them. When they speak simultaneously, oy vey!

This much is certain. Until now, Ive never been so appreciated, applauded, complimented and admired. As a practicing CPA, Ive saved clients hundreds of thousands of dollars. Did anyone ever ask to take my picture or tell me what an artist I am?

For this recognition I had to become a LOX-MAN at Zabars where, instead of dispensing free tax advice, I give out free tastes of honey-baked salmon; where I reveal to customers in the best Yiddish style I can muster: LOX MEANS SALTY, NOVA MEANS NOT.

Len Berk worked for 26 years behind the lox counter at Zabars.

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The end is actually the beginning and other life lessons from the Zabar's lox counter - Forward

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Posted By admin on April 26, 2020

Photo Credit: Jewish Press

Question: The Covid-19 pandemic has put an end to almost all public gatherings; hence, much of Jewish congregational ritual has come to a halt. Is there a way to make up for everything we missed?

M. Goldman

Answer: The advantage of tefillah btzibbur cannot be made up. But since were not davening in shul due to matters beyond our control, we must rely on the rule of anus Rachmona patrei Heaven absolves us from not having performed a mitzvah if we were prevented from fulfilling it due to matters beyond our control.

In addition to not being able to daven with a minyan, most of us were unable to take a haircut before Pesach as is customary. The Mechaber (Orach Chayim 531:1, based on Moed Katan 14a) writes: Its a mitzvah to cut ones hair on the eve of the Yom Tov. We know this from the Gemara (Moed Katan ad loc.), which states that a person may not cut his hair on Chol HaMoed since he should have done so before Yom Tov and not entered it in an unkempt state.

This year, it was impossible for most people to get haircuts before Passover since barbershops were closed. So what should we do now that we are past Passover and in the Sefirah period during which were not supposed to take haircuts?

The Mechaber (infra 531:3) writes that a person may not cut his hair on Chol HaMoed even if he was precluded from getting a haircut before Passover due to matters beyond his control. The Mishna Berurah (sk 5) explains that people who see him after the haircut wont know about his circumstances and will assume that one is allowed to take haircuts on Chol HaMoed. So he cant take a haircut on Chol HaMoed even though it wasnt his fault that he didnt take one before Yom Tov.

The Mechaber (infra 531:4, citing Moed Katan 13b), however, notes that the following people are exceptions to the rule: a person released from captivity who had no time to cut his hair before Yom Tov, a person who was excommunicated and then released from his ban on Yom Tov, a person who vowed not to cut his hair and was released from his vow on Yom Tov, and a person who came from overseas on Chol HaMoed or on the eve of Yom Tov but had no time before Yom Tov to cut his hair.

The Mishnah Berurah (531:14) explains regarding the last exception that theres a difference between one who traveled abroad for his livelihood and one who traveled abroad for pleasure. We offer more leniencies to the former.

The Torah tells us regarding Joseph (Genesis 41:14): Vayishlach Paroh, vayikra et Yosef, vayeritzuhu min habor vayegalach vayechalef simlotav va yavo el Paroh Then Pharaoh sent and called for Joseph, and with haste they brought him up from the dungeon, and he shaved and changed his clothing and he came to Pharaoh. Even though Joseph was only appearing before a king of flesh and blood, he took a haircut and put on a clean set of clothes. How much more so should we do the same when we appear on Yom Tov before Hashem, the king of kings.

But what should all of us do now that its Sefirah and we havent cut our hair in quite some time?

Not cutting ones hair during Sefirah is a minhag that isnt found in the Talmud. And since were all living under the same pandemic, no one who sees his fellow taking a haircut will think that taking a haircut during Sefirah is fine. He will understand that unusual circumstances are at play. So theres room theoretically to be meikel.

On the other hand, perhaps we should be stringent. Were not supposed to appear before Hashem on Yom Tov as menuvalim (in a state of disgrace), but Yom Tov is over, and our Sages proscribed cutting ones hair during Sefirah.

There is room for leniency, though. Rabbi Yitzchak Yosef, the chief rabbi of Israel (in Yalkut Yosef, Hilchot Sefirat HaOmer no. 36, p. 430) differentiates between cutting ones hair and shaving; there are various leniencies if a person finds it very difficult not to cut his hair. He notes that among Sefardim there is a tendency to be more lenient.

Even if we would be lenient this year, though, that leniency would only extend to one haircut. Surely, one would not be allowed to take another haircut until Sefirah (i.e., the part of Sefirah during which one observes mourning practices) is over.

(To be continued)

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Q & A: Making Up For What We Missed (Part I) - The Jewish Press - JewishPress.com

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Posted By admin on April 26, 2020

While returning home on Saturday from mailing some letters, I pulled up behind a car at a stop light which had a bumper sticker with an American flag and the words United We Stand. The phrase comes from a longer saying, United we stand, divided we fall. The quote goes all the way back to Aesop (620-564 B.C.) and his fables of The Four Oxen and The Bundle of Sticks. The phrase was first made popular in this country in 1768 by John Dickinson in his song Liberty Song.

In a discussion about Satan, Jesus makes the observation: If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand. (Mark 3:24, 25)

Abraham Lincoln picked up on Jesus words on June 18, 1858, at the Illinois State Capital in Springfield, in his acceptance speech for the Republican nomination for the U.S. Senate. Over the years, it has become known as the House Divided speech.

Our nations response to the coronavirus pandemic has given a new twist to the familiar saying United we stand, divided we fall. Someone, I am not sure who, made the comment that our countrys response to the pandemic threat might be described as Coming Together Apart. In order to combat COVID-19, we have had to pull together to meet the challenge, while at the same time practicing social distancing. People are finding creative ways to simultaneously accomplish both of these goals.

For our nation to defeat the COVID-19 threat, it is imperative that everyone be a responsible citizen by practicing social distancing and following the practices suggested by the medical experts. In the Jewish Talmud, the Golden Rule is stated in the negative: What is hateful to you, do not do to your fellowman. This is the entire law; all the rest is commentary. In this vein, a responsible citizen is a person who does not do that which is personally hurtful to others. Or a responsible citizen is one who does not do that which might personally cause ones neighbor to catch COVID-19.

The media is filled with illustrations of how people are practicing coming together apart. Birthdays are celebrated with car possessions or neighbors social distancing, singing Happy Birthday. People meet friends in an outside setting while social distancing. A number of groups to which Diane belongs are meeting by Zoom. I would expect that traffic on the internet has dramatically increased since the stay at home directive was given. People have found creative ways to come together apart to applaud medical workers, police officers, EMTs, mail carriers, truckers, and others who have stepped up to help our nation deal with the challenges the pandemic presents.

Coming Together Apart is not a new concept. In fact, the problem has been with us for generations. Paul was the apostle to the Gentile world. He started churches in what is now known as the Middle East. How was he to keep in contact with the members of the churches he started? Pauls answer to the problem was letters. We have in the New Testament several letters that Paul wrote to specific churches, but which circulated among all the Pauline churches. In them, he makes reference of specific persons to whom he sends greetings, shares common concerns, and addresses problems. He also brought all the churches he founded together by taking a collection for the poor in Jerusalem.

Churches across our land have discovered new ways to come together while staying apart. The church that Diane and I attend broadcasts its service live every Sunday morning. Diane and I watch it on Facebook Live. It is interesting to see the comments that appear to the right of the screen. Former members who have moved away now are able to watch the churchs service in real time. Over the last several weeks, those leading the service have been exploring what it means to have a virtual worship service.

During the pandemic we are all learning what it means for us and others to come together apart.

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Response to coronavirus is coming together apart | Columnists - Rincn Latino

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Posted By admin on April 26, 2020

The woman who inspired Netflix hit Unorthodox has revealed that she was forced to sell her eggs to make some quick cash after fleeing Williamsburgs Satmar Hasidic community.

Writer Deborah Feldman entered an arranged marriage at 17 years old and left the ultra-orthodox Jewish sect when she was 23 with her 3-year-old son in tow.

Her memoir, Unorthodox: The Scandalous Rejection of My Hasidic Roots has been turned into a Netflix miniseries. Now, Feldman who lives happily in Berlin with her son explains how she struggled for money with no family or support when she first left Williamsburg.

She told fans during a Reddit Q&A on Thursday: I was engulfed in panic for pretty much the first three years after leaving. I always felt like I was teetering on the edge of a cliff, about to drop down into an ignominious fate of homelessness and starvation. But my strategy was always to take it day-by-day, keep expectations low, and think outside the box in terms of my resources for survival.

At one point that meant selling my eggs in order to hang on financially for a few more months.

Feldman believes life would have been easier in Europe with a social welfare system. The consequences of living in that kind of desperation are far-reaching, they still impact my life today.

The show strays from Feldmans book, as lead character Etsy played by Israeli star Shira Haas runs off to Berlin a year into her marriage after her husband asks for a divorce, just as she discovers shes pregnant.

Feldman said she wanted to let the story go, set it freeI dont want to carry it on my shoulders alone for the rest of my life. Asked if she still speaks to her ex-husband, Eli, whom she divorced in 2012, she said: My sons father left the community less than a year later. He is happily remarried today, living a secular life and has regular contact with his son.

On the contrary, she added: My biological family sent me hate mail asking me to commit suicide.telling me they had already prepared my grave and couldnt wait to dance on it.

However, she said she had no regrets about anything, adding: The best thing about my life right now is honestly EVERYTHING.

She has not been back to the US since leaving in 2014 and doesnt speak to her family.

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"Unorthodox" writer details struggle to flee Hasidic community - Page Six

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Posted By admin on April 26, 2020

Netflixs new limited seriesUnorthodoxis a fantastic new TV show to binge. Based (loosely) on a 2012 memoir authored by Deborah Feldman, Unorthodox is told in four episodes. The critically-acclaimed series is about a girl raised in a Hasidic Jewish community. Recently, the Unorthodox team has been speaking up about why it was so important to show that community accurately.

Making Unorthodoxis a twenty-minute short made up of cast and crew interviews, as well as shots from behind-the-scenes of the filming of the Netflix show.

In it, Unorthodoxco-creator Karolinski describes the community Unorthodox portrays. The Satmar Jews, she explains, are a Hasidic community. The founders came from the town of Satmar, Hungary, to settle in Brooklyn, New York. What made the Satmar Jews different from other Orthodox communities: the founding members were mostly Holocaust survivorsarriving in the U.S. after World War II.

Karolinskis co-executive producer Anna Winger said that depicting these people accurately was significant for Unorthodox. She said in the short:

It was very important to us to get not just the look and feel and costumes and rituals and everything correct, but to inhabit the ideas of the these characters worlds in a way that felt authentic.

Winger also talked toVarietyabout what it meant to bring authenticity to Unorthodox.

This is a community that is a post-Holocaust revival, she explained. We definitely speak to that.

Both Winger and her co-creator Karolinski are Jewish. They made the decision [to] only cast Jewish actors in Jewish roles. Part of the reason? The Satmar Jews speaker a very specific Yiddish dialect. Winger, therefore, wanted people who either spoke Yiddish or had a familiarity with it, had a feeling for the language.

People like me never saw ourselves reflected back in the stores told in popular culture, memoir author and Unorthodox consultant Deborah Feldman said. That made it all the more important to get the details right.

Unorthodox director Maria Schrader also was interviewed in the short documentary.

You have to go beyond clich, beyond our projection onto what the life might be in a community like this, she explained.

I think this is the first show ever to accurately portray the Hasidic community, Michal Birnbaum, a member of the Unorthodoxcast said in Making Unorthodox. She grew up in an Orthodox community herself.

The Unorthodox creators knew it was imperative to hire people with experience living in Orthodox Jewish communities.

We knew it was so important to get people on board not just as actors but behind and in front of the camera who are from this community, Karolinski said inMaking Unorthodox. One of the first people on the project was Eli Rosen. He is an actor, translator, and specialist when it comes to Yiddish, according to Karolinski. Winger chimed in that Rosen was Unorthodoxs spirit guide.

I would have been lost without this advice,director Maria Schrader added about Rosen.

Karolinski also explained the entire team took two research trips to New York. The main character in Unorthodox, Esty Shapiro, grows up in Willamsburg, Brooklyn.

Schrader described the Brooklyn trips as a hunt for impressions, for feeling atmosphere just taking things in.

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'Unorthodox' Director on Portraying the Hasidic Jewish Community: 'You Have to Go Beyond Clich' - Showbiz Cheat Sheet

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Posted By admin on April 26, 2020

The legacy of the coronavirus pandemic, if written today, would be the unspeakable tragedy of hundreds of thousands of dead worldwide, major cities under lockdown, millions suddenly out of work, the largest economic stimulus package in US history, and the heroic sacrifices of workers who kept hospitals and supply lines running.

And it would be impossible to tell this story without discussing the ways in which President Donald Trump left the US utterly unprepared. As the novel coronavirus spread across China and into other countries, Trump ignored myriad warnings of an impending public-health and economic catastrophe. He spent weeks downplaying the threat, assuring Americans he had everything under control even as his administration struggled to develop effective tests needed to diagnose and treat the infected.

The US is now the epicenter of the pandemic. There will be more to the story than the sheer number of people killed by the virus, the economic catastrophe it induced, and Trump's bungled handling of the pandemic.

All historic crises have byproducts that ripple through time. Some are predictable; some are unexpected. Celebrations surrounding the end of World War I exacerbated the Spanish flu pandemic in the US. World War II would lead to the mass production of penicillin, the first antibiotic. The Great Recession fostered enhanced financial protections for Americans. The 9/11 terrorist attacks catalyzed the longest war in US history.

This pandemic will also change society in irrevocable ways.

With more than 46,000 people already dead in the US and millions unemployed in a matter of weeks, the crisis is pushing Americans to embrace new perspectives about which safeguards the country should have in place including universal healthcare in case something of this magnitude strikes again.

And as New Yorkers gather at their windows each night at 7 p.m. to cheer for front-line healthcare workers, it's also possible this crisis as depressing and draining as it's been will inspire a new generation of doctors, nurses, and scientists.

The pandemic is exposing many of America's flaws, particularly the dangers of hubris and the toxicity of the movement against science. It's raising questions about the status of the US as a global power.

And there are rising concerns that public-health tracking by the government will cause constitutional debates down the line. As with 9/11's aftermath, the coronavirus has sparked a new debate regarding the tradeoffs between liberty and security.

At the moment, it's impossible to know where this crisis will lead. The US does not yet have a robust system of testing in place for the virus, meaning the country lacks a full picture of the scale of the outbreak within its borders. But we can gain perspective on where this road might take us, and maybe even find hope, by examining the ways America changed in earlier crises.

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Coronavirus will change America forever. Past crises offer hints of what's to come. - Business Insider - Business Insider

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Posted By admin on April 26, 2020

The Trump administration is ramping up its outreach to governors after insisting it was up to states to scale coronavirus testing. Vice President Mike Pence lead a conference call with the nations governors Monday morning in response to calls for a national testing strategy to help secure in-demand supplies like testing swabs and chemical reagents.

The call comes a day after Trump announced that he would be using the Defense Production Act to compel one company to manufacture swabs. Officials and health experts say the country needs to dramatically scale its testing infrastructure if it is going to safely roll back restrictions and reopen businesses without risking a major spike in infections.

The U.S. has reported about 785,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and more than 42,000 deaths as of Monday night, according to a tally from Johns Hopkins University.

Here are the latest developments in the coronavirus crisis in the U.S.:

President Donald Trump said Monday that he is temporarily suspending immigration to the United States in response to thecoronavirus pandemicand the "need to protect jobs."

In a tweet Monday night, the president attributed the suspension to an "attack from the Invisible Enemy" and the "need to protect the jobs of our GREAT American Citizens."

He added that would sign an executive order temporarily suspending immigration, NBC News reports.

A senior administration official tells NBC News the move "had been under consideration for a while," and that the details of the ban "will be forthcoming." The official said the order could be signed as soon as this week.

Trump previouslybarred travel from China and Europeto stop the spread of the coronavirus.

It's not clear from the president's tweet whether the order would bar non-U.S. citizens from traveling to the country for purposes such as business or to visit family.

Boeing and at least one other U.S. heavy-equipment manufacturer resumed production and some states rolled out aggressive reopening plans Monday, despite nationwide concerns there is not enough testing yet to keep the coronavirus from rebounding.

The reopenings came amid economic gloom, as oil futures plunged below zero on Monday and stocks and Treasury yields also dropped on Wall Street.

In a dispute that has turned nakedly political, President Donald Trump has been agitating to restart the economy, singling out Democratic-led states and egging on protesters who feel governors are moving too slowly.

Some states mostly Republican-led ones have relaxed restrictions, and on Monday announced that they would take further steps to reopen their economies.

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp announced that gyms, hair salons, bowling alleys and tattoo parlors were among businesses that could reopen Friday, as long as owners followed strict social distancing and hygiene requirements.

Texas on Monday began a week of slow reopenings, starting off with state parks, while officials said that later in the week, stores would be allowed to offer curbside service.

Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee announced Monday that businesses across most of the state would begin reopening as early as next week, although the order did not cover counties with the largest cities, including Nashville, Memphis, Knoxville and Chattanooga. Both states are led by Republicans.

Republican West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice said Monday that he would allow hospitals to begin performing elective procedures if the facilities met an unspecified set of criteria, while Democratic Colorado Gov. Jared Polis said Monday that he would let his statewide stay-at-home order expire next week as long as strict social distancing and other individual protective measures continued.

But governors from many other states said they lacked the testing supplies they need and warned they could get hit by a second wave of infections, given how people with no symptoms can still spread the disease.

Dr. Deborah Birx said Monday there is no evidence the coronavirus is becoming more or less adaptive to the human body as it spreads from human to human. "We dont have any indication that its less able to spread," she said.

Massachusetts has become a hot spot of coronavirus infections and is drawing the concern of federal officials and promises of aid from hard-hit New York. The state's death toll is poised to double in less than a week to over 2,000.

Officials are scrambling to boost hospital capacity and trace new infections to curb the spread of the disease.

Vice President Mike Pence said Sunday that the White House is closely watching the Boston area. The coordinator of the federal coronavirus task force said officials are very much focused on Massachusetts.

How Coronavirus Has Grown in Each State in 1 Chart

New York has quickly become the epicenter of the American coronavirus outbreak. This chart shows the cumulative number of cases per state by number of days since the 10th case.

Hundreds of protesters in Pennsylvania defied a ban on mass gatherings to stage an anti-shutdown rally at the state Capitol in Harrisburg.

Flag-waving protesters some with masks, some without ignored social distancing guidelines to call on Gov. Tom Wolf to end the shutdown of businesses deemed nonessential and to get nearly 1.4 million Pennsylvanians back to work. Others protesters drove around the block, horns blaring.

The Harrisburg protest is among several demonstrations taking place Monday around the country amid a growing national movement against stay-at-home orders designed to slow the spread of the coronavirus.

A Patriots' Day Rally organized by opponents of Arizona's business closures was underway at the statehouse in Phoenix.

In Nashville, Tennessee, and in Augusta, Maine, protesters also gathered to urge their governors to reopen their states.

"Business owners are being forced to layoff employees while the unemployment system is failing those laid off as the economy free falls," said organizers of Mainers Against Excessive Quarantine in statement. "This is a recipe for disaster with many in our society helpless. We cannot stand by and watch our neighbors suffer while the government considers prolonging these painful conditions."

In Missouri, protesters were encouraged to flood the streets of downtown Kansas City and demand that businesses be allowed to open up, people allowed to work, and lives returned to normal, according to a flyer advertising the event.

The protesters contend the stay-at-home orders are unnecessary and are seriously damaging the economy.

In states such as Oklahoma, New Hampshire, Texas, Maryland and Virginia, small-government groups and supporters of right-wing causes have united behind a deep suspicion of efforts to shut down daily life to slow the spread of COVID-19. Frustrated protesters have also visibly ignored social distancing rules while holding signs and protesting together.

A viral video shows a health care worker standing in front of a protesters truck in Denver, Colorado. Protesters demanded an end to state stay-at-home orders meant to help slow the spread of the coronavirus.

The U.S. borders with Mexico and Canada will be closed to non-essential travel for at least another month.

Acting Secretary Chad Wolf of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security announced Monday that the three nations have agreed to extend restrictions initially imposed in March that are aimed at curbing the spread of COVID-19.

Wolf says the restrictions would be extended for 30 more days. Canada announced the agreement between Ottawa and Washington on Friday.

Commercial traffic continues over both borders.

In addition, citizens of all three nations are not being turned away if they are trying to return home. But it does mean a further ban on trips for tourism, shopping and recreation as well as any other activities deemed non-essential.

"As President Trump stated last week, border control, travel restrictions and other limitations remain critical to slowing the spread and allowing the phased opening of the country, Wolf said in a statement.

President Donald Trump announced that both southern and northern U.S. borders would close temporarily to slow the spread of the coronavirus.

New York City wont allow public events in June, including three of the citys major annual celebrations. It includes the National Puerto Rican Day Parade, the Celebrate Israel parade and the Pride parade on its 50th anniversary.

Mayor Bill de Blasio says the events would be canceled or at least postponed, saying Monday it was a painful but necessary step as the city continues to fight the coronavirus.

They will be back, and we will find the right way to do it, he said.

The Pride parade began in 1970 as a way to commemorate the Stonewall rebellion the year before, when a police raid at the Stonewall Inn bar sparked a resistance by gay men, bisexuals, lesbians and transgender people and led to the development of more extensive and militant LGBTQ activist groups than the U.S. had seen before.

David Correa, interim executive director of Heritage of Pride, told CNBC it wasnt easy to cancel the parade, especially given the economic hit LGBTQIA+ businesses will take from it, but our top priority remains the health and well-being of all those that participate with us.

The Puerto Rico and Israel parades are also touchstones in a city that has the largest Jewish population outside Israel and the biggest Puerto Rican community off the island.

He admits its a risk, no question, but says that its not possible to wait until September.

Former FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb said Monday that some states are ready to slowly reopen in the beginning of May even though the U.S. likely wont have broad-based testing for thecoronavirusin place until September.

It's a risk, there's no question it's a risk," Gottlieb said in an interview on the TODAY show. "I mean, we won't have the testing that we want until September, I think, in terms of kind of broad coverage. You're still going to see high positivity rates heading into May.

Governors in more than a dozen states have extended their orders into May even as they face increased pressure to begin reviving their economies. Gottlieb warned that the U.S. wont have the optimal amount of testing and contact tracing in place to do the work of tracking down everyone who is sick, or who might have been in contact with people who [are] sick.

We're not going to be there. We're not going to be there in May, we're not going to be there in June, hopefully we'll be there by September, Gottlieb said.

Still, he said it's just not realistic to wait until the fall to reopen.

If we wait until we have sort of the optimal framework for testing, we'll be waiting until the fall and that's just not going to be possible from an economic, social or public health standpoint, he said.

The Trump administration and Congress expect an agreement Monday on an aid package of up to $450 billion to boost a small-business loan program that has run out of money and add funds for hospitals and COVID-19 testing.

As talks continued, President Donald Trump said theres a "good chance" of reaching a bipartisan agreement with Democrats.

"We are very close to a deal," Trump said Sunday at the White House.

Along with the small business boost, Trump said the negotiators were looking at "helping our hospitals," particularly hard-hit rural health care providers.

The Senate is scheduled for a pro forma session Monday, but no vote has been set.

The House announced it could meet as soon as Wednesday for a vote on the pending package, according to a schedule update from Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md.

The unofficial holiday celebrating all things cannabis arrives Monday as the nations emerging legal marijuana market braces for an economic blow from thecoronaviruscrisis, with many consumers reducing spending or going underground for deals.

It was supposed to be a long weekend of festivals and music culminating on April 20, or 4/20, the code for marijuanas high holiday. Instead, it has been reduced to an online replica because of stay-at-home orders to curb the pandemic.

Virtual parties and video chats are replacing vast outdoor smoking sessions to mark the rise of legalization and celebrate cannabis culture. The origins of the annual celebration are believed tied to a group of Northern California high school friends, who used the code as slang for smoking pot in the early 1970s.

"Stay home," the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, or NORML, said bluntly. San Francisco Mayor London Breed threatened arrests: "We will not tolerate anyone coming to San Francisco for 4/20 this year."

How Coronavirus Has Grown in Each State in 1 Chart

New York has quickly become the epicenter of the American coronavirus outbreak. This chart shows the cumulative number of cases per state by number of days since the 10th case.

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US Coronavirus Updates: Trump Says Hes Temporarily Suspending Immigration to US - NBC Bay Area

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Posted By admin on April 26, 2020

(JNS)The presidency of Donald Trump has shaped coalition talks between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Blue and White Party chairman Benny Gantz. For weeks, the chief stumbling block holding up a unity government deal was Gantzs attempt to delay or block Israeli implementation of Trumps peace plan, which green lights the implementation of Israeli law over parts of Judea and Samaria.

Gantz argued that there was no reason to rush ahead, in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic. Israel should wait six months until the danger passes and then figure out how to proceed. Netanyahu rejected Gantzs position. He insisted that Israel apply its laws to the Jordan Valley, the northern Dead Sea, and the Israeli communities in Judea and Samaria as soon as the joint U.S.-Israeli mapping committee completes its work, by early July at the latest.

Netanyahu, whose position carried the day, was right to view the issue as urgent. To understand just how urgent it has become, we need to consider Trumps political challenges, seven months before the presidential election in November.

In the midst of the coronavirus pandemonium, major issues have fallen by the wayside. In Israel, no one remembers that Netanyahus criminal trial was supposed to begin two weeks ago. In America, almost no one noticed that Wisconsin held Democratic presidential primaries on Tuesday between former vice president Joe Biden and socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders. Sanders decision to withdraw from the race following his defeat in Wisconsin would have been the story of the week a month ago. But in the event, no one really cared.

The coronavirus will decide the outcome of the race.

The spread of the pandemic across the United States has reshuffled the political deck. Until the pandemic broke out, the U.S. economy was prospering and Trump was reaping the rewards of the record unemployment, booming stock market and optimistic economic forecasts. His election rallies drew tens of thousands of supporters, whether they took place in the very red South Carolina or very blue California.

Then the coronavirus arrived. The virus upended Trumps electoral strategy and compelled him to change his basic governing philosophy. Trump is a rhetorical pugilist and a policy iconoclast. He thrives in appearances before a mass audience where he rallies large crowds while resonating their frustration with Washingtons ruling class. The coronavirus has made rallies impossible.

As for his programmatic iconoclasm, the pandemic has compelled Trump to embrace scientific experts, even as they, like their counterparts in the economic and national security spheres, have provided incorrect information and assessments about the coronavirus.

Trump rejected the expert opinion of the foreign policy experts and the economic experts in forging his successful foreign policies and economic policies. But given the massive uncertainty about the nature and danger of the coronavirus, ignoring scientific advice is far riskier a prospect, particularly in the midst of a public health crisis.

The problem is that the scientific experts themselves have built up a terrible track record. Dr. Anthony Fauci, the head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and a member of Trumps coronavirus task force, said in January that the virus wasnt a significant threat to the U.S. Currently, Fauci and his expert colleagues in the federal medical bureaucracy are downplaying the potential of medicines that seem to work in treating the virus.

For instance, Fauci reportedly opposes recommending the use of drug combinations including hydroxychloroquine, which has brought positive results to coronavirus patients worldwide. They reportedly argue that the drugs, developed to treat other ailments, havent been tested as rigorously as drugs generally are tested before being used for new purposes.

Likewise, despite the fact that the U.S. has the ability to perform 500,000 coronavirus tests a day, last week only 100,000 were being performed daily because the Food and Drug Administration wont permit the use of tests produced by private firms.

In other words, in the midst of a pandemic that has shuttered the U.S. economy, the experts are gumming up the works for freeing people to return to their jobs and restart the economy.

Democrats for their part are not crediting Trump for his willingness to defer to experts. Rather, as is their wont, the Democrats are moving the goalposts. Several Democratic governors have been using the pandemic as a means to score political points against Trump. Cuomo for instance, repeatedly accused Trump of responsibility for the shortages in medical protective equipment and respirators in New Yorkdespite the fact that the federal government has been rushing massive quantities of supplies to New York and New Jersey to keep up with demand.

On Jan. 29, against the advice of many medical experts, including the World Health Organization, Trump shut down air traffic from China to the United States.

Cuomo, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Biden and the media attacked the move as racist. Cuomo, who demanded that the gates of America remain open to Chinese travelers, now accuses Trump of having ignored and downplayed the threat the coronavirus posed to the United States.

Cuomo and his fellow Democratic politicians are lavishly supported by the media in their efforts to rewrite the history of the past two months. This week, for instance, theAssociated Presspublished an article that rewrote the history of the past two months. TheAParticle stated everyone was worried about the coronavirus except Trumpincluding Pelosi, who urged San Franciscans to participate in Chinese New Years celebrations in San Franciscos Chinatown.

Whereas the Democrats and the media are going out of their way to protect China from criticism, it works out that Chinas behavior has been far more ominous than even its critics first alleged.

It is widely recognized that the Chinese regime waited two months to tell the world that the virus is transferred between humans and is exceedingly infectious. This week theNew York Postreported that, while lulling the world into complacency, from late January to late February, the Chinese regime barred foreign medical supply companies with manufacturing plants in China from exporting their medical equipment. For instance, Chinese officials barred the U.S. firm 3M from shipping protective gear to the United States. China seized all of the coronavirus-relevant equipment for itself.

Even worse, according to administration officials who spoke to theNew York Post, from late January until late February, the Chinese bought $1.2 billion worth of medical protective gear. This included two billion masks and more than 25 million protective suits.

In other words, while China was hiding the dangers of the made-in-China virus from the world, they were buying up the worlds supply of protective gear and thus ensuring that when the virus began striking the rest of the world, the rest of the world would lack the means to protect itself.

Last week, Holland, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Poland and Australia reported that the protective gear and virus detection tests they purchased from China were defective. Wednesday, Finland reported its Chinese gear was defective.

Despite this, since the pandemic broke out, the Democrats and the liberal media have served as a megaphone for Chinese propaganda. They parroted the Chinese data regarding the Chinese infection and death rate despite the fact that U.S. intelligence agencies reported that the Chinese data are fraudulent.

Their motivation is obvious. They seek to paint Trump as incompetent. In light of their efforts, not only does Trump need to manage the crisis based on the advice of experts that have wrongly assessed the virus from the beginning, he needs to do so in an environment where his opponents are working with China to undermine public trust in his leadership.

This then brings us back to the elections. In Israel, the unemployment rate rose from 3 percent to 25 percent in two weeks. According to economist Stephen Moore, U.S. unemployment rates are likely as well to rise from 3.5 percent at the end of February to 23 percent by the end of the month. Ten million new Americans registered as unemployed in the last week of March, the largest weekly figure in U.S. history by a factor of more than 10.

To successfully lead the United States through the crisis, while facing a concerted effort by the media, China and Democrats to undermine the publics trust in him, Trump needs to figure out a way to get the U.S. back to work within weeks while minimizing the infection and death rate even as he is receiving bad advice from his experts.

This brings us back to Israel, where the stakes in Trumps success couldnt be higher.

On April 7,Forbesreported that Iran has deployed an array of anti-ship missiles and large rockets overlooking the Strait of Hormuz. Whereas Trump refuses to cancel U.S. economic sanctions against Iranwhile offering Iran humanitarian assistance in handling the coronaviruslast week Biden said that if he is elected president, he will cancel the U.S. economic sanctions on Iran. The Democratic Party is committed to returning the United States to the nuclear deal.

Last week, eight Democratic senators sent a letter to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo asking him to restore U.S. aid to the Palestinian Authority.

All of this seems unrelated to the coronavirus, but of course, it isnt. It is clear that the same courage that enabled Trump to reject the advice of failed experts on Iran and the Palestinians is required in the war on the coronavirus. If Trump does not find the advisers that will help him to successfully shepherd the United States through the coronavirus crisis and save the U.S. economy from depression and collapse, the coronavirus will beat him in November.

This means that Netanyahu is right. We cannot know if Trump will beat the virus or if, with the lavish support of the Democrats, the experts and the media, the virus will beat him.

What is clear is that the future of Israel-U.S. relations, like the fate of Irans nuclear weapons program, will be determined by Trumps ability to win the war against the coronavirus.

Caroline Glick is an award-winning columnist and author of The Israeli Solution: A One-State Plan for Peace in the Middle East.

This article first appeared inIsrael Hayom.

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