thehuffingtonpost--2020-04-29--The Presidential Public Health Failure History Forgot

The Specter Of The Spanish Flu

President Gerald Ford receives a swine flu vaccine from his White House physician, William Lukash, on Oct. 14, 1976. David Hume Kennerly/Courtesy Gerald R. Ford Library
When health experts warned the president that a dangerous virus had emerged in the United States, he took swift action to protect the public.
No, not Donald Trump and the coronavirus, or Barack Obama and H1N1 influenza in 2009, or even Woodrow Wilson and the 1918 Spanish flu epidemic. The year was 1976, the president was Gerald Ford, and what followed illustrates the peril of trying to lead a country through a public health emergency.
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On Feb. 4, 1976, Army Pvt. David Lewis, 19, collapsed and died after ignoring doctor’s orders and participating in a five-mile nighttime march at Fort Dix in New Jersey. Several weeks before, the Army had noticed many personnel at Fort Dix had contracted a respiratory illness, and brought in state and federal health officials to investigate.
Nine days after Lewis’ death, the federal Center for Disease Control (now the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) determined that influenza, specifically swine flu, had felled the young soldier. Although there had been isolated cases of swine flu in the United States since 1930, those people caught the virus from pigs. There had been no evidence of the virus passing from person to person.
As many as 500 people at Fort Dix had been exposed to the virus, including 14 who became ill. Lewis would prove to be the only person on Earth known to die from swine flu that year, and U.S. health authorities found no additional human-to-human cases of swine flu. The World Health Organization and other nations also did not detect additional transmissions.
But public health officials were terrified of the possibility of a viral pandemic, like the one that had killed 50 million people worldwide and 575,000 in the United States in 1918: the Spanish flu, which was also an H1N1 strain of influenza. The Spanish flu was highly contagious and deadly, and so much time had elapsed since 1918 that Americans younger than 50 had no natural immunity to the virus.
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Inside the federal health care bureaucracy, top officials immediately started formulating plans for a major vaccination campaign. Within just a few weeks, Ford announced to the nation that his administration would buy enough vaccine doses to inoculate about 200 million people and oversee a national vaccination program. Eventually, the Democrat-led Congress endorsed the program with two new laws.
Nothing on that scale had ever been attempted, even for polio or smallpox. That well-intentioned response still stands as one of the worst public health failures in U.S. history.
The biggest difference between Ford’s failed swine flu program and Trump’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic is that Ford tried to do too much, while Trump has resisted stronger public health actions from the beginning.
Less than one-quarter of the population received the swine flu inoculation, and the vaccine itself was associated with a paralyzing immune disorder called Guillain-Barré syndrome, which caused more deaths than the virus it was supposed to prevent.
All medicines can cause side effects, including vaccines. Immunization programs like those for polio and smallpox are designed with that in mind, and with an aim toward protecting far more people than they harm. In the case of swine flu, there were only risks and no benefits, because an outbreak never occurred.
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The Specter Of The Spanish Flu
Ford was only 5 years old during the Spanish flu pandemic, but the devastating outbreak loomed large in the cultural memory, as did the especially deadly pandemics of seasonal influenza during the winters of 1957-1958 and 1968-1969, when schemes to immunize the U.S. population failed.
The matter rapidly moved from the federal health agencies to the White House, driven by David Mathews, the secretary of health, education and welfare, Theodore Cooper, assistant secretary for health, and CDC Director David Sencer, each of whom favored an aggressive response. (In 1979, the Department of Health, Education and Welfare, also known as HEW, was split into the departments of Health and Human Services and Education.)
Six weeks after Lewis died at Fort Dix, Mathews wrote the White House Office of Management and Budget director, James Lynn, with dire warnings about a looming swine flu outbreak.
“There is evidence there will be a major flu epidemic this coming fall. The indication is that we will see a return of the 1918 flu virus that is the most virulent form of flu,” Mathews wrote on March 15. “In 1918, a half million people died. The projections are that this virus will kill one million Americans in 1976.”
One million deaths would amount to nearly 60 times the fatalities caused by the seasonal flu each year at the time.
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This article draws from a book titled “The Swine Flu Affair: Decision-Making on a Slippery Disease,” published in 1977 by Richard Neustadt and Harvey Fineberg of Harvard University at the behest of the Department of Health, Education and Welfare. HuffPost also reviewed documents from the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library and Museum, contemporary reporting by The New York Times and The Washington Post, and an account of the campaign published in 2006 by Sencer and Donald Millar, who was the director of Ford’s immunization program.
Health officials led by the HEW’s Cooper provided Mathews and Ford with a range of options that included a national vaccination program, doing nothing at all and several alternatives in between. But the language in that March 13 memorandum from the HEW strongly suggested that the Ford administration do something big and fast.
“The situation is one of ‘go or no go.’ If extraordinary measures are to be undertaken, there is barely enough time to assure adequate vaccine production and to mobilize the nation’s health care delivery system,” the memo read. “Any extensive immunization program would have to be in full-scale operation by the beginning of September and should not last beyond the end of November 1976. A decision must be made now.”
Ford announces the national swine flu immunization program in the White House press briefing room on March 24, 1976. Also shown are polio vaccine pioneers Jonas Salk (left) and Albert Sabin (right) and the secretary of health, education and welfare, David Mathews (far right). Ricardo Thomas/Courtesy Gerald R. Ford Library
After meeting with his health officials and outside scientists at the White House on March 22 and March 24, Ford made a fast decision to vaccinate the entire country.
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“I think you ought to gamble on the side of caution. I would always rather be ahead of the curve than behind it,” Ford told Neustadt and Fineberg for their book.
Ford was facing a difficult reelection campaign. Former California Gov. Ronald Reagan was dogging him with a Republican primary challenge, and the looming general election against the Democratic former governor of Georgia, Jimmy Carter, was not far off. Swine flu didn’t end Ford’s presidency, but it didn’t help, either.
Decisiveness And Haste
Ford held a press conference March 24 to announce the swine flu vaccination program. In addition to senior health officials and White House aides, Ford was flanked by two pioneers of the polio vaccine, Jonas Salk and Albert Sabin, who endorsed the plan. So did the American Medical Association and the Red Cross.
“One month ago, a strain of influenza sometimes known as swine flu was discovered and isolated among Army recruits at Fort Dix, New Jersey,” Ford told reporters that day. “The appearance of this strain has caused concern within the medical community, because this virus is very similar to one that caused a widespread and very deadly flu epidemic late in the First World War.”
“I have been advised that there is a very real possibility that unless we take effective counteractions, there could be an epidemic of this dangerous disease next fall and winter here in the United States,” he continued. “Let me state clearly at this time, no one knows exactly how serious this threat could be. Nevertheless, we cannot afford to take a chance with the health of our nation.”
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From Ford’s perspective, this potential crisis and the complexity of responding to it presented a strong possibility of a no-win situation. Do nothing, or very little, and he risked the lives of Americans during what happened to be an election year. Attempt a major national initiative, and he risked failure. The chances that neither would happen and there would be no swine flu epidemic weren’t deeply considered.
“This administration can tolerate unnecessary health expenditures better than unnecessary death and illness,” Sencer wrote in a March 1976 memo.
Yet, there was no unnecessary death or illness except what the vaccine itself caused. Nine months after it was announced, the vaccination program died an unceremonious death and Ford’s presidency earned another black mark.
Dissent Unheeded
Ford believed he had unanimous consensus from health officials and outside scientific advisers to move forward with the vaccination program. But there were those in the CDC, HEW and the broader medical community who favored a more cautious approach but were ignored.
At the White House meeting that included Salk and Sabin, however, when Ford asked for dissenting views, the attendees remained silent. Moreover, Mathews and Cooper overhyped the comparisons to the Spanish flu outbreak, to the chagrin of Sencer and others. Even Sabin would later recant his support for the vaccination program in a New York Times op-ed, joining those who favored manufacturing and stockpiling the vaccine until evidence showed swine flu had spread.
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Considering the messages Ford received from those whom he relied on and the potential for carnage on the scale of 1918, it’s no surprise the president wanted to take bold action.
But the problems with Ford’s program — and skepticism about it — had been evident almost from the beginning.
Drugmakers had just completed producing large supplies of the seasonal flu vaccine and would need to quickly ramp up production of a new vaccine. Some congressional Democrats, such as Rep. Henry Waxman (Calif.), viewed the plan dubiously. There was no infrastructure in place to manage a national immunization campaign, and the HEW would have to invent one in just months and coordinate planning with state and local health agencies.
The press also wasn’t convinced. After Ford concluded his March 24 press conference, Mathews, Cooper, Sencer, Salk and Sabin stayed behind to talk with reporters. Just minutes after hearing Ford’s presentation, reporters promptly posed questions that foreshadowed the immunization program’s ultimate failure.
Reporters asked about the capacity of the drug industry to make enough doses of the vaccine. They asked about harmful side effects. They asked about the federal government’s ability to quickly and capably implement Ford’s plan. They asked how much the vaccine would cost patients. And they asked about objections from medical experts to mass vaccinations.
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Insurers Throw Up A Roadblock
The first sign of a problem that would ultimately delay the vaccination program for months came on April 8, when the pharmaceutical company Merck’s liability insurance company, Chubb, told the drugmaker its coverage would end if Merck participated in the vaccination program.
This issue worsened as the insurance industry refused to cover any of the vaccine manufacturers, which in turn told federal authorities they wouldn’t sell them vaccine without protection, even after Ford personally intervened. This delayed the vaccination program for months until Congress acceded to Ford’s demands for a law that would indemnify drugmakers and make the federal government responsible for any legal damages resulting from vaccinations.
In the meantime, the drug companies had begun manufacturing the vaccine. But even here, there was trouble. Parke-Davis (now part of Pfizer) produced 2 million vaccine doses for the wrong type of influenza, setting back production by a month or more. The drug company and the CDC blamed each other.
Those reporters at Ford’s March announcement and their sources outside the White House turned out to be prescient. An immunization program slated to begin in September slipped into October due to myriad problems, and it was over by December amid meager participation and growing evidence of a connection between the vaccine and Guillain-Barré syndrome.
The public also wasn’t on board. Although a Gallup poll released in August 1976 found that 93% of Americans knew about the swine flu vaccination program, only 53% had planned to get immunized. Scary public service announcements about the swine flu apparently hadn’t worked.
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When the ill-fated vaccination program finally started on Oct. 1, it didn’t take long for more problems to come.
Three elderly people in Pittsburgh died on Oct. 11 after receiving the vaccine, leading city and county officials there to suspend all vaccinations for swine flu and seasonal flu. A handful of jurisdictions followed. Although authorities later determined the fatalities weren’t caused by the swine flu vaccine, public trepidation about the immunization program ― and media scrutiny of it ― grew as more than 40 people died after being vaccinated that month.
To quell worries, Ford and his family were inoculated for swine flu on Oct. 14, an event that was televised and photographed. Although Carter didn’t publicly criticize Ford’s immunization efforts, he pointedly declined to be vaccinated.
The immunization program was finally underway. But Carter narrowly defeated Ford on Election Day, leaving swine flu as Ford’s legacy.
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Severe Side Effects
The next month, Minnesota health officials began to notice another disturbing trend when they recorded the first known instance of Guillain-Barré in a vaccinated patient. Minnesota had been especially aggressive in carrying out immunizations and had vaccinated nearly two-thirds of adults in the state. The number of known Guillain-Barré cases grew to 54 by Dec. 14, when the CDC published findings from 10 states.
Two days later, Mathews and other federal officials advised Ford to suspend swine flu vaccinations, and the president agreed. In addition, the snafu about vaccine safety also led the Ford administration to halt all flu inoculations, and they didn’t resume until the early days of the Carter administration. The CDC, New York City, New Jersey and Connecticut all reported a decline in other immunizations during the swine flu campaign and attributed that to resources being diverted from efforts to prevent other infectious diseases, like measles.
Ten months, hundreds of millions of dollars and a single death later, the National Influenza Immunization Program was over and could only be viewed as a ”fiasco,” as New York Times editorial writer Harry Schwartz put it on Dec. 21.
In retrospect, as Richard Krause, a senior National Institutes of Health official under Ford, Carter and Reagan, wrote in 2006: “The Fort Dix outbreak was a false alarm, and the American public and much of the scientific community accused us of overreacting. As someone noted, 1976 was the first time we had been blamed for an epidemic that did not take place.”
The parallels between the present-day coronavirus pandemic and Ford’s misbegotten swine flu campaign are limited. Though it proved unnecessary and even misguided, the Ford administration was trying to prevent a major outbreak before it happened. The coronavirus was already in the United States before the Trump administration took any action to halt its spread, and its management of the pandemic may well be recalled by history even more unfavorably than Ford’s.
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In addition, the H1N1 flu ― including the Spanish flu, the swine flu and the flu that hit the U.S. in 2009 ― was well-understood in 1976, unlike the strain of coronavirus now spreading around the globe. Likewise, drug companies had the capability of developing influenza vaccines after decades of preparation for seasonal flu outbreaks.
The most significant connection between the 1976 outbreak-that-wasn’t and the 2020 coronavirus pandemic is arguably politics and public opinion. Ford tried to do too much, and he paid for it. Trump hasn’t tried to do enough, and people are dying.
Johnny Carson, the host of “The Tonight Show” and a major cultural force in late 20th-century American culture, provided perhaps the best epitaph for Ford’s gambit.
Three weeks after the the swine flu vaccination efforts were discontinued and just 13 days before the end of Ford’s presidency, Carson appeared in a sketch as his long-running clairvoyant character, Carnac the Magnificent. As Carnac, Carson would hold up sealed envelopes to his forehead and “guess” the answer to questions written on slips of paper within.
On the night of Jan. 7, 1977, Carson guessed, “the swine flu vaccine.” The question? “Name a cure for which there is no known disease.”


thehuffingtonpost--2020-04-29--U.S. Coronavirus Deaths Top 60,000 — Trump's Predicted Maximum

More than 60,000 people in the U.S. have now officially died from the coronavirus , data compiled by Johns Hopkins University shows .
The increasingly grim figure exceeds predictions President Donald Trump made just last week when he sought to frame a maximum of 50,000 to 60,000 total deaths as a win for America and a validation of his administration ’ s highly criticized pandemic response .
“ We did the right thing because if we didn ’ t do it , you would have had a million people , a million and a half people , maybe 2 million @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ 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 , ” he continued .
“ But we ’ re going toward 50- or 60,000 people .
That ’ s at the lower — as you know , the low number was supposed to be 100,000 people .
We — we could end up at 50 to 60.
” It ’ s unclear how Trump arrived at “ 50- @ @ @ @ @ @ @ upper limit .
The U.S. death toll was 42,000 on April 20 , the day he made the claim .
And the actual number of coronavirus-related deaths , not just the official count recorded in hospitals , is likely far higher .
A Washington Post analysis suggests the White House fundamentally misunderstands the math behind the COVID-19 models — which isn ’ t outside the realm of possibility , given Trump ’ s other actions in times of crisis .
This is a president who altered a weather map to change a hurricane @ @ @ @ @ @ @ could disrupt hurricanes by nuking them , and floated the idea of injecting disinfectant to cure disease .
Trump ’ s predicted death toll also failed to account for a potentially more dangerous second wave of the virus later this year that could require a more forceful response if it coincides with flu season .
CDC Director Robert Redfield warned of that prospect in a Washington Post story last week .
Asked to respond , Trump dismissed the possibility and insisted Redfield had been misquoted .
“ There ’ s a possibility that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ nation next winter will actually be even more difficult than the one we just went through , ” Redfield told the Post .
“ And when I ’ ve said this to others , they kind of put their head back , they don ’ t understand what I mean .
”

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More than 60,000 people in the U.S. have now officially died from the coronavirus, data compiled by Johns Hopkins University shows.
The increasingly grim figure exceeds predictions President Donald Trump made just last week when he sought to frame a maximum of 50,000 to 60,000 total deaths as a win for America and a validation of his administration’s highly criticized pandemic response.
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“We did the right thing because if we didn’t do it, you would have had a million people, a million and a half people, maybe 2 million people dead,” Trump said. “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,” he continued. “But we’re going toward 50- or 60,000 people. That’s at the lower — as you know, the low number was supposed to be 100,000 people. We — we could end up at 50 to 60.”
It’s unclear how Trump arrived at “50- or 60,000” deaths as a plausible upper limit. The U.S. death toll was 42,000 on April 20, the day he made the claim. And the actual number of coronavirus-related deaths, not just the official count recorded in hospitals, is likely far higher.
Illustration: Rebecca Zisser/HuffPost; Photos: Getty
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A Washington Post analysis suggests the White House fundamentally misunderstands the math behind the COVID-19 models — which isn’t outside the realm of possibility, given Trump’s other actions in times of crisis. This is a president who altered a weather map to change a hurricane’s path, wondered if we could disrupt hurricanes by nuking them, and floated the idea of injecting disinfectant to cure disease.
Trump’s predicted death toll also failed to account for a potentially more dangerous second wave of the virus later this year that could require a more forceful response if it coincides with flu season.
CDC Director Robert Redfield warned of that prospect in a Washington Post story last week. Asked to respond, Trump dismissed the possibility and insisted Redfield had been misquoted.
“There’s a possibility that the assault of the virus on our nation next winter will actually be even more difficult than the one we just went through,” Redfield told the Post. “And when I’ve said this to others, they kind of put their head back, they don’t understand what I mean.”


thehuffingtonpost--2020-04-29--Sen. Tammy Duckworth Says Trump Values TV Ratings Over Health Of West Point Cadets

Sen. Tammy Duckworth ( D-Ill. ) blasted President Donald Trump ’ s decision to bring 1,000 West Point cadets back to campus during the coronavirus pandemic so that he can give a speech to the graduating class .
“ Trump ’ s reckless decision to gather 1,000 Cadets at West Point for a speech puts our future military leaders at increased risk — all to stroke his own ego , ” Duckworth , an Iraq War veteran and Purple Heart recipient , said in a statement Wednesday .
“ Our troops need stable , consistent leadership during volatile times like @ @ @ @ @ @ @ his own photo ops and TV ratings over their health and safety .
I urge President Trump to evaluate the potential consequences of this vanity speech and reconsider holding the event.
” In mid-April , Trump suddenly announced that he would be giving the commencement speech on June 13 at the U.S. Military Academy ― which sits not far north of New York City , a COVID-19 hot spot .
“ He ’ s the commander in chief , that ’ s his call , ” Sue Fulton , a West Point graduate @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s board of visitors , told The New York Times last week .
Previously , cadets had been told to stay home after spring break as COVID-19 spread around the country .
But on Wednesday , the Army and West Point both confirmed that the academy will be holding an in-person graduation ceremony .
Cadets will be returning from their homes all across the U.S. to the state hardest hit by the virus .
West Point said in its statement that this year ’ s procession “ will look different from recent graduation @ @ @ @ @ @ @ requirements.
” Rep. Jackie Speier ( D-Calif. ) also tore into Trump ’ s latest of many reckless decisions regarding the virus .
“ He ’ s forcing the creation of crowds in hopes of generating applause and adulation .
It ’ s always about him , ” Speier told HuffPost on Tuesday .
“ That ’ s why we have almost 1 million infected and over 50,000 Americans dead .
”

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Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) blasted President Donald Trump’s decision to bring 1,000 West Point cadets back to campus during the coronavirus pandemic so that he can give a speech to the graduating class.
“Trump’s reckless decision to gather 1,000 Cadets at West Point for a speech puts our future military leaders at increased risk — all to stroke his own ego,” Duckworth, an Iraq War veteran and Purple Heart recipient, said in a statement Wednesday. “Our troops need stable, consistent leadership during volatile times like these, not a Commander-in-Chief who values his own photo ops and TV ratings over their health and safety. I urge President Trump to evaluate the potential consequences of this vanity speech and reconsider holding the event.”
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In mid-April, Trump suddenly announced that he would be giving the commencement speech on June 13 at the U.S. Military Academy ― which sits not far north of New York City, a COVID-19 hot spot.
“He’s the commander in chief, that’s his call,” Sue Fulton, a West Point graduate and former chairwoman of the academy’s board of visitors, told The New York Times last week.
Previously, cadets had been told to stay home after spring break as COVID-19 spread around the country. But on Wednesday, the Army and West Point both confirmed that the academy will be holding an in-person graduation ceremony. Cadets will be returning from their homes all across the U.S. to the state hardest hit by the virus.
West Point said in its statement that this year’s procession “will look different from recent graduation ceremonies due to current force health protection requirements.”
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Rep. Jackie Speier (D-Calif.) also tore into Trump’s latest of many reckless decisions regarding the virus.
“He’s forcing the creation of crowds in hopes of generating applause and adulation. It’s always about him,” Speier told HuffPost on Tuesday. “That’s why we have almost 1 million infected and over 50,000 Americans dead.”


thehuffingtonpost--2020-04-29--FBI Documents Reveal Communication Between Roger Stone, Julian Assange

WASHINGTON ( AP ) — Weeks after Robert Mueller was appointed special counsel in the Russia investigation , Roger Stone , a confidant of President Donald Trump , reassured WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange in a Twitter message that if prosecutors came after him , “ I will bring down the entire house of cards , ” according to FBI documents made public Tuesday .
The records reveal the extent of communications between Stone and Assange , whose anti-secrecy website published Democratic emails hacked by Russians during the 2016 presidential election , and underscore efforts by Trump allies to gain insight @ @ @ @ @ @ @ would embarrass Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton .
The documents — FBI affidavits submitted to obtain search warrants in the criminal investigation into Stone — were released following a court case brought by The Associated Press and other media organizations .
They were made public as Stone , convicted last year in Mueller ’ s investigation into ties between Russia and the Trump campaign , awaits a date to surrender to a federal prison system that has grappled with outbreaks of the coronavirus .
In a June 2017 Twitter direct message cited in the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ issue was “ still nonsense ” and said “ as a journalist it doesn ’ t matter where you get information only that it is accurate and authentic.
” He cited as an example the 1971 Supreme Court ruling that facilitated the publishing by newspapers of the Pentagon Papers , classified government documents about the Vietnam War .
“ If the US government moves on you I will bring down the entire house of cards , ” Stone wrote , according to a transcript of the message cited in the search warrant affidavit @ @ @ @ @ @ @ charges dropped I don ’ t know of any crime you need to be pardoned for — best regards .
R. ” Stone was likely referring to a sexual assault investigation dropped by Swedish authorities .
Assange , who at the time was holed up in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London , was charged last year with a series of crimes by the U.S. Justice Department , including Espionage Act violations for allegedly directing former Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning in one of the largest compromises of classified information in U.S. history .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ who is imprisoned in London and is fighting his extradition to the United States , responded to Stone ’ s 2017 Twitter message by saying : “ Between CIA and DoJ they ’ re doing quite a lot .
On the DoJ side that ’ s coming most strongly from those obsessed with taking down Trump trying to squeeze us into a deal.
” The records illustrate the Trump campaign ’ s curiosity about what information WikiLeaks was going to make public .
Former White House adviser Steve Bannon told Mueller ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Stone about WikiLeaks because he had heard that Stone had a channel to Assange , and he was hoping for more releases of damaging information .
Mueller ’ s investigation identified significant contact during the 2016 campaign between Trump associates and Russians , but did not allege a criminal conspiracy to tip the outcome of the presidential election .
“ I have no trepidation about their release as they confirm there was no illegal activity and certainly no Russian collusion by me during the 2016 Election , ” Stone said .
“ There @ @ @ @ @ @ @ evidence that I had or knew about the source or content of the Wikileaks disclosures prior to their public release.
” Stone was among six associates of Trump charged in Mueller ’ s investigation .
He was convicted last year of lying to House lawmakers , tampering with a witness and obstructing Congress ’ own Russia probe .
A judge in February sentenced Stone to 40 months in prison in a case that exposed fissures inside the Justice Department — the entire trial team quit the case amid a dispute over the recommended @ @ @ @ @ @ @ General William Barr , who said the president ’ s tweets about ongoing cases made his job “ impossible .
”

Roger Stone exits federal court Washington, Friday, Nov. 15, 2019. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez) ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON (AP) — Weeks after Robert Mueller was appointed special counsel in the Russia investigation, Roger Stone, a confidant of President Donald Trump, reassured WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange in a Twitter message that if prosecutors came after him, “I will bring down the entire house of cards,” according to FBI documents made public Tuesday.
The records reveal the extent of communications between Stone and Assange, whose anti-secrecy website published Democratic emails hacked by Russians during the 2016 presidential election, and underscore efforts by Trump allies to gain insight about the release of information they expected would embarrass Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton.
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The documents — FBI affidavits submitted to obtain search warrants in the criminal investigation into Stone — were released following a court case brought by The Associated Press and other media organizations.
They were made public as Stone, convicted last year in Mueller’s investigation into ties between Russia and the Trump campaign, awaits a date to surrender to a federal prison system that has grappled with outbreaks of the coronavirus.
In a June 2017 Twitter direct message cited in the records, Stone reassured Assange that the issue was “still nonsense” and said “as a journalist it doesn’t matter where you get information only that it is accurate and authentic.”
He cited as an example the 1971 Supreme Court ruling that facilitated the publishing by newspapers of the Pentagon Papers, classified government documents about the Vietnam War.
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“If the US government moves on you I will bring down the entire house of cards,” Stone wrote, according to a transcript of the message cited in the search warrant affidavit. “With the trumped-up sexual assault charges dropped I don’t know of any crime you need to be pardoned for — best regards. R.”
Stone was likely referring to a sexual assault investigation dropped by Swedish authorities. Assange, who at the time was holed up in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London, was charged last year with a series of crimes by the U.S. Justice Department, including Espionage Act violations for allegedly directing former Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning in one of the largest compromises of classified information in U.S. history.
According to the documents, Assange, who is imprisoned in London and is fighting his extradition to the United States, responded to Stone’s 2017 Twitter message by saying: “Between CIA and DoJ they’re doing quite a lot. On the DoJ side that’s coming most strongly from those obsessed with taking down Trump trying to squeeze us into a deal.”
Stone replied that he was doing everything possible to “address the issues at the highest level of Government.”
Wikileaks founder Julian Assange leaves in a prison van after appearing at Westminster Magistrates Court, for an administrative hearing in London, Monday, Jan. 13, 2020. (Dominic Lipinski/PA Wire via AP) ASSOCIATED PRESS
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The records illustrate the Trump campaign’s curiosity about what information WikiLeaks was going to make public. Former White House adviser Steve Bannon told Mueller’s team under questioning that he had asked Stone about WikiLeaks because he had heard that Stone had a channel to Assange, and he was hoping for more releases of damaging information.
Mueller’s investigation identified significant contact during the 2016 campaign between Trump associates and Russians, but did not allege a criminal conspiracy to tip the outcome of the presidential election.
In a statement Tuesday, Stone acknowledged that the search warrant affidavits contain private communication, but insisted that they “prove no crimes.”
“I have no trepidation about their release as they confirm there was no illegal activity and certainly no Russian collusion by me during the 2016 Election,” Stone said. “There is, to this day, no evidence that I had or knew about the source or content of the Wikileaks disclosures prior to their public release.”
Stone was among six associates of Trump charged in Mueller’s investigation. He was convicted last year of lying to House lawmakers, tampering with a witness and obstructing Congress’ own Russia probe.
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A judge in February sentenced Stone to 40 months in prison in a case that exposed fissures inside the Justice Department — the entire trial team quit the case amid a dispute over the recommended punishment — and between Trump and Attorney General William Barr, who said the president’s tweets about ongoing cases made his job “impossible.”
____


thehuffingtonpost--2020-04-29--Coronavirus Is Bringing A Big, Permanent Change To Food Benefits

The death of her significant other meant Page would have to get by with only her meager Social Security disability benefits , and she would have to find a new place to live .
She calls it a new chapter in her life .
Last week , Page got good news : Missouri had applied for a waiver to let SNAP recipients buy their groceries online , and the U.S. Department of Agriculture had approved the request .
A spokesperson for the Missouri Department of Social Services said SNAP recipients would be able to use their cards online within the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Page to order groceries for delivery ― and she ’ ll be able to shop from home , just like pretty much everybody else is now doing .
“ Being able to order groceries online with my EBT card and have them delivered to my house will be a HUGE improvement in my situation , ” Page said in an email .
“ It gives me more independence and lets me retain some dignity .
I should be able to take care of myself and it ’ s a little bit humiliating to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ low-income individuals living with disabilities , the grocery store struggle may soon become a thing of the past .
Because of the coronavirus pandemic , the USDA has been rapidly adding states to its pilot program testing the feasibility of letting SNAP recipients use their EBT cards online , ahead of an eventual nationwide rollout .
Online ordering may still have been a bit of a luxury back when Congress last overhauled SNAP rules in 2018 , but it ’ s become a routine part of life and a necessity for more households @ @ @ @ @ @ @ people to stay at home .
Lawmakers told the USDA to allow online redemption of SNAP benefits nationwide , but never set a deadline .
The coronavirus has seemingly kicked the program into high gear .
“ Online purchases , whether or not they are made through SNAP , can increase access to fresh foods for customers in rural and urban communities alike who are not near , or able to travel to , a fresh-food retailer , ” Rep. Mike Conaway ( R-Texas ) , the former chair of the House Agriculture @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on the topic .
Amazon and Walmart are the only two retailers that accept online SNAP payments in every state where the program operates .
The benefits can only be used to buy the food ― delivery fees have to be paid separately .
And if the time slots for delivery or pickup are all taken , then there ’ s not much good the option can do .
One SNAP recipient in Staten Island , New York , said she had been unable to get a delivery slot for the past six @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is “ profoundly medically complex , ” with panhypopituitarism ― a deficiency in his endocrine system ― and an acquired brain injury .
Charles said her son has already been to the hospital 11 times this year for pneumonia that resulted from saliva getting in his lungs .
The last thing he needs is a new acute respiratory illness .
Last month , Charles placed a pickup order for groceries from a nearby supermarket .
She had to place the order a week in advance to get a time slot .
When she @ @ @ @ @ @ @ manager told her that if she was using an EBT card , she still had to go inside the store to pay for the food .
She couldn ’ t just pick it up curbside like everyone else ― essentially defeating the purpose of ordering online .
Virginia is not one of the states that the USDA has approved for online transactions , but a spokesperson for the state ’ s Department of Social Services said it had submitted a request .
“ Our EBT vendor will be able to support this request @ @ @ @ @ @ @ received support from participating retailers , some of which already offer on-line ordering and curbside pickup and payment , ” the spokesperson said .
Charles has basically been homebound to care for her son for the past several years .
With everyone else now stuck at home and worrying about the safest way to get their groceries , it ’ s as though the rest of society has caught up to her dilemma .
She doesn ’ t think food delivery should be out of reach for people who get help with their @ @ @ @ @ @

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Jeanne Page of Springfield, Missouri, lost her partner of 26 years to pneumonia at the end of January. It was right before her birthday, and right before their favorite team won the Super Bowl.
“He and I had already planned our Super Bowl snacks,” she said.
Page, 60, went from planning what to eat to figuring out how to eat.
The death of her significant other meant Page would have to get by with only her meager Social Security disability benefits, and she would have to find a new place to live. She calls it a new chapter in her life.
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She signed up for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and was quickly approved. But the benefits could only be redeemed in-store, and Page has severe agoraphobia, an anxiety disorder that makes it difficult to leave the house.
She soon learned she couldn’t use her food benefits to buy groceries online, either. So she began a cumbersome process of getting her next-door neighbor approved to use the benefits to buy groceries on her behalf.
And then a pandemic hit, pushing many people who never thought twice about going to the grocery store to avoid it as much as possible.
Last week, Page got good news: Missouri had applied for a waiver to let SNAP recipients buy their groceries online, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture had approved the request. A spokesperson for the Missouri Department of Social Services said SNAP recipients would be able to use their cards online within the next month. The change will allow Page to order groceries for delivery ― and she’ll be able to shop from home, just like pretty much everybody else is now doing.
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“Being able to order groceries online with my EBT card and have them delivered to my house will be a HUGE improvement in my situation,” Page said in an email. “It gives me more independence and lets me retain some dignity. I should be able to take care of myself and it’s a little bit humiliating to ask my neighbors for help.”
For low-income individuals living with disabilities, the grocery store struggle may soon become a thing of the past. Because of the coronavirus pandemic, the USDA has been rapidly adding states to its pilot program testing the feasibility of letting SNAP recipients use their EBT cards online, ahead of an eventual nationwide rollout.
Food benefits were originally distributed on color-coded stamps; the shift to online retail is reminiscent of the transition from stamps to electronic benefit cards finalized in the early 2000s.
Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue has said online ordering will “go a long way” in helping Americans follow social distancing guidelines laid out by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The online pilot program started in New York last April and expanded to Washington state at the beginning of the year. The USDA has since made online benefits available in Alabama, Iowa, Nebraska, and Oregon. They’re pending in Arizona, California, the District of Columbia, Florida, Idaho, Kentucky, Missouri North Carolina, Texas, Vermont and West Virginia.
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More than half of the 35 million SNAP recipients nationwide live in the states that have signed up for online ordering, the USDA said last week.
People wearing protective masks stand in line for a supermarket in New York City on April 16. Alexi Rosenfeld via Getty Images
Online ordering may still have been a bit of a luxury back when Congress last overhauled SNAP rules in 2018, but it’s become a routine part of life and a necessity for more households, especially since the government has urged people to stay at home. Lawmakers told the USDA to allow online redemption of SNAP benefits nationwide, but never set a deadline. The coronavirus has seemingly kicked the program into high gear.
When the stay-at-home orders are rescinded, SNAP benefits will still be online. There has been little opposition to the policy.
“Online purchases, whether or not they are made through SNAP, can increase access to fresh foods for customers in rural and urban communities alike who are not near, or able to travel to, a fresh-food retailer,” Rep. Mike Conaway (R-Texas), the former chair of the House Agriculture Committee, said at a 2016 hearing on the topic.
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Demand for grocery delivery and pickup has surged, with companies like Instacart planning to hire hundreds of thousands more workers to meet a crush of new orders.
Amazon and Walmart are the only two retailers that accept online SNAP payments in every state where the program operates. The benefits can only be used to buy the food ― delivery fees have to be paid separately. And if the time slots for delivery or pickup are all taken, then there’s not much good the option can do. One SNAP recipient in Staten Island, New York, said she had been unable to get a delivery slot for the past six weeks.
But there are probably a lot of people who receive food benefits whose lives would be significantly easier if they could shop for groceries on the internet. Nationwide, 81% of SNAP households include someone who is a child, elderly or disabled.
As news about the highly contagious coronavirus got more and more ominous, Lisa Charles, a single mom in Crozet, Virginia, wanted to avoid going to the grocery store if she could.
She said her 12-year-old son is “profoundly medically complex,” with panhypopituitarism ― a deficiency in his endocrine system ― and an acquired brain injury. Charles said her son has already been to the hospital 11 times this year for pneumonia that resulted from saliva getting in his lungs. The last thing he needs is a new acute respiratory illness.
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Last month, Charles placed a pickup order for groceries from a nearby supermarket. She had to place the order a week in advance to get a time slot. When she got to the parking lot, a manager told her that if she was using an EBT card, she still had to go inside the store to pay for the food. She couldn’t just pick it up curbside like everyone else ― essentially defeating the purpose of ordering online.
Rather than take her son who uses a wheelchair and his 5-year-old brother into the store, she went home empty-handed.
Virginia is not one of the states that the USDA has approved for online transactions, but a spokesperson for the state’s Department of Social Services said it had submitted a request. “Our EBT vendor will be able to support this request by June 1, and we have received support from participating retailers, some of which already offer on-line ordering and curbside pickup and payment,” the spokesperson said.
Charles has basically been homebound to care for her son for the past several years. With everyone else now stuck at home and worrying about the safest way to get their groceries, it’s as though the rest of society has caught up to her dilemma. She doesn’t think food delivery should be out of reach for people who get help with their groceries from a social program.
“It’s ridiculous,” she said. “It is not a luxury.”


thehuffingtonpost--2020-04-29--GOP Group Highlights Donald Trump's Dystopian Coronavirus Response

President Donald Trump ’ s ongoing attempt to rewrite his widely panned response to the coronavirus pandemic is the focus @ @ @ @ @ s new attack ad .
Trump rates his handling of the crisis as a “ @ @ @ @ @ the high TV ratings of daily coronavirus task force briefings and claims to have been @ @ @ @ @ in the video ― titled “ Dystopia ” ― that the anti-Trump Lincoln Project released @ @ @ @ @ need a president upon whom they can rely on for factual information regarding the state @ @ @ @ @ the group captioned the 30-second clip .
It called out Trump for delivering daily doses @ @ @ @ @ nonsense.
” Trump last week pondered injecting disinfectant as a possible cure for COVID-19 , @ @ @ @ @ virus .
He later claimed he was just being sarcastic .
Lincoln Project founder George @ @ @ @ @ to White House counselor Kellyanne Conway , has since helped the mocking nickname “ President @ @ @ @ @ Twitter :

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President Donald Trump’s ongoing attempt to rewrite his widely panned response to the coronavirus pandemic is the focus of a Republican group’s new attack ad.
Trump rates his handling of the crisis as a “10,” boasts about the high TV ratings of daily coronavirus task force briefings and claims to have been “right a lot” in the video ― titled “Dystopia” ― that the anti-Trump Lincoln Project released online Tuesday.
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Check it out here:
“Americans need a president upon whom they can rely on for factual information regarding the state of the nation,” the group captioned the 30-second clip. It called out Trump for delivering daily doses of “dangerous and ill-informed nonsense.”
Trump last week pondered injecting disinfectant as a possible cure for COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus. He later claimed he was just being sarcastic.
Lincoln Project founder George Conway, who is married to White House counselor Kellyanne Conway, has since helped the mocking nickname “President Pine-Sol” trend worldwide on Twitter:
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So is President Pine-Sol going to hold another press briefing tomorrow? — George Conway, Noble Committee Chair (@gtconway3d) April 28, 2020


thehuffingtonpost--2020-04-29--How Coronavirus Created The Perfect Conditions For Conspiracy Theories

The coronavirus pandemic has led to a flood of rumors and conspiracy theories across social media platforms and group chats — and they ’ re having consequences in the real world .
People have drunk cleaning products , attempted to burn down cellphone towers and showed up at protests brandishing anti-vaccine signs .
Although social media has struggled with misinformation from the start , rarely has it presented such an urgent threat to public safety on such a global scale .
There ’ s a couple of factors .
One is that we ’ ve never really had a global @ @ @ @ @ @ @ know is changing as quickly as it is .
It ’ s almost like we ’ re on quicksand and the absence of information that we can really hang onto means that we have these information voids .
That ’ s where we ’ re seeing this misinformation circulate .
Every week we ’ ve seen a different type of rumor .
The earliest ones were the kind of WhatsApp and text messages saying , “ Oh my god , there ’ s going to be a lockdown.
” The thing is that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ truth , and every single week when we see these rumors circulating , it comes from a place of everybody being frightened .
It doesn ’ t matter your education level , it doesn ’ t matter really where you are or what you believe ― everybody is looking at this unprecedented situation and is desperately seeking information that will reassure them .
Because we don ’ t have much of that information , we ’ re seeing misinformation spread .
You know when we think back to the 2016 election , there @ @ @ @ @ @ @ traditional fake-news site created with headlines that said , “ Pope Endorses Donald Trump.
” We now have less of that kind of content and a lot of what we ’ re seeing is rumors circulating in closed Facebook groups or WhatsApp groups .
Earlier on , there were rumors about lockdowns , rumors about “ 10 things you need to know ” ― like if you can ’ t hold your breath for 10 seconds , that means you ’ ve got coronavirus .
Not low-level misinformation , but there was nothing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to life .
In the last two to three weeks , however , we ’ ve seen a lot more traffic around conspiracy theories which have been present since January .
Whether it ’ s about the 5G phone masts causing coronavirus or Bill Gates trying to microchip everybody or this virus was actually created in a lab as a bioweapon , that stuff has really come to prominence .
I would argue that has happened at a point where people are starting to feel really out of control and people are looking @ @ @ @ @ @ @ been turned upside down .
People are turning to these simple narratives and we ’ re seeing them take hold .
It ’ s gone from pretty low-level rumors about how to treat potential symptoms or how to prevent it , into much more of “ where does this come from and what does this mean.
” We ’ re seeing kind of an intersection with anti-vaxxer movements because the next phase here is people starting to think about the vaccine .
Last week , in particular , we ’ ve seen a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Even in the protest movements , we ’ re seeing intersections with anti-vax groups who already had online networks and now have become activated .
I mean certainly .
On the financial side , we ’ ve seen a ton of people buying up coronavirus-related URLs and domains .
We ’ ve seen people trying to sell testing kits that are not actually there .
We ’ ve seen people trying to take people ’ s information and phishing attacks .
In many ways , the tactics we ’ re seeing here are @ @ @ @ @ @ @ It ’ s just now we ’ re seeing them connected to coronavirus because people are scared and they ’ re more likely to click on something coronavirus related .
It ’ s the most effective way to use those old-fashioned scam tactics to get people to give away their information or to click on sites that will drive financial gain .
I think the platforms , quite rightly , have done more on coronavirus than I ’ ve ever seen them do before .
But at the same time , I worry @ @ @ @ @ @ @ oversight around what they ’ re taking down .
You can read the policies and say , “ Oh great , Twitter now has much stronger positions around taking down tweets if somebody goes against scientific advice.
” In theory , that makes perfect sense .
But they ’ re taking down a ton of stuff globally , and I don ’ t know what they ’ re taking down and who ’ s making those decisions .
On one hand , I think the strongest steps they ’ ve taken should be @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is the absence of oversight and absence of independent researchers to ascertain the impact of these takedowns .
The level of conspiracies that still exist on YouTube I really struggle with , but at the same time , who ’ s studying this and really understanding what the harm might be ?
What we don ’ t have is longitudinal data about these conspiracies .
My fear is if we ’ ve got 18 months of conspiracies about Bill Gates , where does that lead us to as a society ?
We have @ @ @ @ @ @ @ than if one particular piece of content breaks the rules .
Well , we ’ re in the same position as we were in after 2016 .
We just won ’ t have an archive of information .
Every day the team finds stuff and then if we don ’ t screen-grab it quickly enough , it gets taken down .
Right now we ’ re in this huge natural experiment of a global story where misinformation is having serious impacts on real-world behavior .
As researchers , we simply won ’ t @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , how well it spread and how audiences changed their behavior because of it .
It kind of breaks my heart that most of the lessons from 2016 people have been shouting about , nobody moved on them enough and the platforms didn ’ t create environments where that kind of sharing of information could happen .
Facebook has set up its oversight committee but I don ’ t actually think it ’ s started yet .
We ’ ve got this huge infodemic , but nothing has really changed .
In terms @ @ @ @ @ @ @ two years ’ time ?
The answer is very few .
A lot of this misinformation will have been taken down , and we won ’ t even know that it was ever there in the first place .

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The coronavirus pandemic has led to a flood of rumors and conspiracy theories across social media platforms and group chats — and they’re having consequences in the real world. People have drunk cleaning products, attempted to burn down cellphone towers and showed up at protests brandishing anti-vaccine signs. Although social media has struggled with misinformation from the start, rarely has it presented such an urgent threat to public safety on such a global scale.
Protesters hold banners and chant against state government measures intended to curb the spread of COVID-19 during an Open California rally on April 26, 2020, in San Diego. Sean M. Haffey via Getty Images
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HuffPost talked with Claire Wardle, co-founder of First Draft, a nonprofit organization that monitors misinformation, about why these falsehoods are proliferating during the pandemic and whether we can learn from their spread.
What is it about this particular event that’s made it so conducive to misinformation and disinformation?
There’s a couple of factors. One is that we’ve never really had a global story like this, where what we know is changing as quickly as it is. It’s almost like we’re on quicksand and the absence of information that we can really hang onto means that we have these information voids. That’s where we’re seeing this misinformation circulate.
Every week we’ve seen a different type of rumor. The earliest ones were the kind of WhatsApp and text messages saying, “Oh my god, there’s going to be a lockdown.” The thing is that wasn’t that far from the truth, and every single week when we see these rumors circulating, it comes from a place of everybody being frightened. It doesn’t matter your education level, it doesn’t matter really where you are or what you believe ― everybody is looking at this unprecedented situation and is desperately seeking information that will reassure them. Because we don’t have much of that information, we’re seeing misinformation spread.
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It’s also this moment where almost everybody has got access to a phone or computer, and everybody is consuming and sharing more information around one single topic. It’s no surprise in that environment we’re seeing a lot of rumors, falsehoods and misleading information.
You mentioned initially there were those text messages that circulated false information. Has the spread of misinformation changed during the outbreak?
You know when we think back to the 2016 election, there were a lot of fears about the traditional fake-news site created with headlines that said, “Pope Endorses Donald Trump.” We now have less of that kind of content and a lot of what we’re seeing is rumors circulating in closed Facebook groups or WhatsApp groups. Earlier on, there were rumors about lockdowns, rumors about “10 things you need to know” ― like if you can’t hold your breath for 10 seconds, that means you’ve got coronavirus. Not low-level misinformation, but there was nothing that really felt like it was harmful to life.
In the last two to three weeks, however, we’ve seen a lot more traffic around conspiracy theories which have been present since January. Whether it’s about the 5G phone masts causing coronavirus or Bill Gates trying to microchip everybody or this virus was actually created in a lab as a bioweapon, that stuff has really come to prominence. I would argue that has happened at a point where people are starting to feel really out of control and people are looking for explanations for why their world has been turned upside down. People are turning to these simple narratives and we’re seeing them take hold.
It’s gone from pretty low-level rumors about how to treat potential symptoms or how to prevent it, into much more of “where does this come from and what does this mean.” We’re seeing kind of an intersection with anti-vaxxer movements because the next phase here is people starting to think about the vaccine. Last week, in particular, we’ve seen a lot more misinformation around Bill Gates. Even in the protest movements, we’re seeing intersections with anti-vax groups who already had online networks and now have become activated.
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Have you seen a rise in people trying to profit off this virus and use it for personal amplification and gain?
I mean certainly. On the financial side, we’ve seen a ton of people buying up coronavirus-related URLs and domains. We’ve seen people trying to sell testing kits that are not actually there. We’ve seen people trying to take people’s information and phishing attacks. In many ways, the tactics we’re seeing here are the tactics that we always see. It’s just now we’re seeing them connected to coronavirus because people are scared and they’re more likely to click on something coronavirus related. It’s the most effective way to use those old-fashioned scam tactics to get people to give away their information or to click on sites that will drive financial gain.
In terms of how platforms are addressing this, Facebook issued a statement that they put a warning label on 40 million posts just in March alone, but there’s still clearly rampant misinformation on the platform. How platforms are adapting to this is the problem. Is it just kind of too big to control?
It’s a huge question because I think for the last three-and-a-half years, there’s been a lot of conversations about whether platforms are doing enough. We also haven’t really figured out how as a society we feel about different types of speech.
I think the platforms, quite rightly, have done more on coronavirus than I’ve ever seen them do before. But at the same time, I worry that there is a complete absence of oversight around what they’re taking down. You can read the policies and say, “Oh great, Twitter now has much stronger positions around taking down tweets if somebody goes against scientific advice.” In theory, that makes perfect sense. But they’re taking down a ton of stuff globally, and I don’t know what they’re taking down and who’s making those decisions.
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On one hand, I think the strongest steps they’ve taken should be in some way applauded. My concern is the absence of oversight and absence of independent researchers to ascertain the impact of these takedowns. The level of conspiracies that still exist on YouTube I really struggle with, but at the same time, who’s studying this and really understanding what the harm might be? What we don’t have is longitudinal data about these conspiracies. My fear is if we’ve got 18 months of conspiracies about Bill Gates, where does that lead us to as a society? We have to think about the longer term rather than if one particular piece of content breaks the rules.
When this is all over, what are the key questions that you and other researchers are going to look back on about how misinformation spread and how platforms addressed this?
Well, we’re in the same position as we were in after 2016. We just won’t have an archive of information. Every day the team finds stuff and then if we don’t screen-grab it quickly enough, it gets taken down. Right now we’re in this huge natural experiment of a global story where misinformation is having serious impacts on real-world behavior. As researchers, we simply won’t be able to study what was there, how well it spread and how audiences changed their behavior because of it.
It kind of breaks my heart that most of the lessons from 2016 people have been shouting about, nobody moved on them enough and the platforms didn’t create environments where that kind of sharing of information could happen. Facebook has set up its oversight committee but I don’t actually think it’s started yet. We’ve got this huge infodemic, but nothing has really changed. In terms of what lessons will be learned in two years’ time? The answer is very few. A lot of this misinformation will have been taken down, and we won’t even know that it was ever there in the first place.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.


thehuffingtonpost--2020-04-29--LA County Nursing Students Forced To Choose Between Delaying Graduation Or Risking COVID-19 Infectio

LA County Nursing Students Forced To Choose Between Delaying Graduation Or Risking COVID-19 Infection

Damian Dovarganes/Associated Press Students at a nursing program operated by Los Angeles County 's Department of Health Services are required to continue their clinical rotations in hospitals in order to graduate on time , even as other nursing schools have transitioned to online simulations in response to the coronavirus .
Most hospitals are no longer allowing nursing students to come in for clinicals .
Because students require near-constant supervision , their presence in facilities overwhelmed by COVID-19 can create more work for nurses than it can provide relief .
With limited supplies of personal protective equipment , hospitals throughout the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ home and avoid putting themselves at an unnecessarily high risk of contracting the virus or spreading it to others .
Because of this , several states , including California , have loosened restrictions on in-person clinical hours to allow nursing students impacted by the pandemic to graduate on time .
But in Los Angeles County , where there are more than 20,000 confirmed cases of the coronavirus , the College of Nursing & Allied Health ( CONAH ) is still sending students into several county-owned hospitals for unpaid clinical rotations .
Of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , several do not have health insurance or live with elderly parents , who are particularly vulnerable to serious illness or death from COVID-19 .
There are plenty of students who are eager to continue their clinical rotation , even throughout the pandemic .
But few are being forced to choose between accepting that risk and delaying their ability to graduate and earn an income as a nurse .
The Association of American Medical Colleges , which called for medical schools to pause clinical rotations back in March , emphasized in later guidance @ @ @ @ @ @ @ hospitals should do so on a voluntary basis .
There is no comparable guidance for nursing students , who have frequent interaction with patients in hospitals .
CONAH students returned to the county hospitals earlier this month after an extended spring break .
Some of the nurses appeared surprised , and at times , annoyed by their presence , several students told HuffPost .
“ They ’ re letting you guys come back ?
” a nurse said to one student , who recalled the interaction in an interview .
“ We felt @ @ @ @ @ @ @ into the hospital .
Everybody ’ s kind of on edge , ” said the student , who , like others interviewed for this story , requested anonymity due to fear of retaliation .
Another nurse urged a different CONAH student to try to convince the school to suspend clinical rotations .
A third nurse who works at a hospital in Los Angeles that is not currently taking students told HuffPost in a text message that nursing students “ are not helpful ” during the pandemic .
The stress and anxiety most nurses @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to teach students , said the nurse , who requested anonymity out of fear of retaliation .
“ We would prefer [ students ] to stay home and not spread the virus , ” she said .
CONAH Dean Mildred Gonzales said that the school ’ s faculty supervise students and are mindful of not creating extra work for nurses .
Hospital administrators , she said , have told her they want help from nursing students during the pandemic .
Because of the pandemic , the school has paused rotations in intensive care @ @ @ @ @ @ @ students to work on the medical surgical floor .
CONAH provides students with surgical masks so that they are not cutting into the hospital ’ s supply of personal protective equipment , Gonzales said .
As student nurses who are apprehensive with the crisis , this is also the time , perhaps , to think and reflect if the nursing profession is for you .
Mildred Gonzales , dean of the College of Nursing And Allied Health “ For those who are afraid and anxious of coming back to clinical due to potential @ @ @ @ @ @ @ you that this is the profession wherein we face and care for patients with numerous disease conditions and sometimes with unknown etiology in a daily basis , ” Gonzales wrote .
“ As nurses ( your faculty ) , this is our calling .
We go to the hospital to take care of patients as the need arise .
As student nurses who are apprehensive with the crisis , this is also the time , perhaps , to think and reflect if the nursing profession is for you , ” Gonzales continued .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ cited California Gov .
Gavin Newsom ’ s creation of a new program called California Health Corps as part of the reason for the school sending students in for clinicals .
At the end of March , the governor called on all licensed health care professionals , medical retirees , members of medical disaster response teams and medical and nursing students to sign up to get placed in a facility that needs support .
Although the Health Corps program is open to nursing students , those who get accepted are paid and participation @ @ @ @ @ @ @ [ Newsom ’ s ] order , we are resuming clinical earlier than our previous schedule , ” Gonzales wrote in an email .
But unlike members of the Health Corps , students at CONAH do not get paid to help out at hospitals and they don ’ t have much of a choice in whether to subject themselves to the risk .
If they don ’ t go into their assigned hospitals for clinicals , they will have to push back their graduation date , which means they will go even longer @ @ @ @ @ @ @ as a nurse .
Students were initially told they would not be asked to treat COVID-19-positive patients or those suspected of having the virus .
Asked if that policy could change if the coronavirus overwhelmed the hospitals , Gonzales said the school would have to “ evaluate ” the situation .
Even under the current policy , students are still at risk of contracting the virus from asymptomatic patients .
At least one student has treated a patient who later tested positive for COVID-19 , Gonzales acknowledged .
There are currently coronavirus patients @ @ @ @ @ @ @ assigned .
Some students who can ’ t afford their own place live with elderly parents .
If they were salaried nurses , students told HuffPost , they could afford to move out or at least find another place to stay during the pandemic .
For now , they resort to precautions like changing clothes in the garage after a shift at the hospital and avoiding being in the same room of the house as family members , two students said in interviews .
The school gave students until April 17 to decide @ @ @ @ @ @ @ students pulled out and will have to finish their coursework next semester , Gonzales said .
Some of the students who decided to complete the semester only did so because they couldn ’ t afford to postpone completing their degree .
If any of the students who are trying to make it through clinical end up deciding they can no longer do it , their only option will be to withdraw and redo the entire semester .
Students who withdraw are not typically guaranteed a spot in future semesters .

Students at a nursing program operated by Los Angeles County's Department of Health Services are required to continue their clinical rotations in hospitals in order to graduate on time, even as other nursing schools have transitioned to online simulations in response to the coronavirus. Damian Dovarganes/Associated Press
A nursing school operated by Los Angeles County’s Department of Health Services is requiring nursing students to continue their clinical rotation in county-owned hospitals, even as other nursing programs in the country have transitioned to online education in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
Most hospitals are no longer allowing nursing students to come in for clinicals. Because students require near-constant supervision, their presence in facilities overwhelmed by COVID-19 can create more work for nurses than it can provide relief. With limited supplies of personal protective equipment, hospitals throughout the country have encouraged nursing students to stay home and avoid putting themselves at an unnecessarily high risk of contracting the virus or spreading it to others. Because of this, several states, including California, have loosened restrictions on in-person clinical hours to allow nursing students impacted by the pandemic to graduate on time.
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But in Los Angeles County, where there are more than 20,000 confirmed cases of the coronavirus, the College of Nursing & Allied Health (CONAH) is still sending students into several county-owned hospitals for unpaid clinical rotations. Of the nearly 200 students in the nursing program, several do not have health insurance or live with elderly parents, who are particularly vulnerable to serious illness or death from COVID-19.
There are plenty of students who are eager to continue their clinical rotation, even throughout the pandemic. But few are being forced to choose between accepting that risk and delaying their ability to graduate and earn an income as a nurse. The Association of American Medical Colleges, which called for medical schools to pause clinical rotations back in March, emphasized in later guidance that medical students who do assist in hospitals should do so on a voluntary basis. There is no comparable guidance for nursing students, who have frequent interaction with patients in hospitals.
CONAH students returned to the county hospitals earlier this month after an extended spring break. Some of the nurses appeared surprised, and at times, annoyed by their presence, several students told HuffPost. “They’re letting you guys come back?” a nurse said to one student, who recalled the interaction in an interview. “We felt like we were walking on eggshells going into the hospital. Everybody’s kind of on edge,” said the student, who, like others interviewed for this story, requested anonymity due to fear of retaliation. Another nurse urged a different CONAH student to try to convince the school to suspend clinical rotations.
A third nurse who works at a hospital in Los Angeles that is not currently taking students told HuffPost in a text message that nursing students “are not helpful” during the pandemic. The stress and anxiety most nurses are dealing with would impact their ability to teach students, said the nurse, who requested anonymity out of fear of retaliation. “We would prefer [students] to stay home and not spread the virus,” she said.
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CONAH Dean Mildred Gonzales said that the school’s faculty supervise students and are mindful of not creating extra work for nurses. Hospital administrators, she said, have told her they want help from nursing students during the pandemic. Because of the pandemic, the school has paused rotations in intensive care units and operating rooms, instead assigning students to work on the medical surgical floor. CONAH provides students with surgical masks so that they are not cutting into the hospital’s supply of personal protective equipment, Gonzales said.
In the past, students at CONAH would go to campus and use the school’s secure computers to select a patient and research their conditions. But because campus is now closed and students can’t access patient information at home, their only chance to prepare is to get to the hospital an hour early.
“Normally, you would try to find people with a problem you want to learn more about,” another student told HuffPost. “Now we try to just choose one that’s safest for us,” she said. “I, personally, try to find patients who don’t have a fever.”
Students get their temperatures checked before entering the facility and are given surgical masks each day, but they aren’t allowed to wear N95 masks. Surgical masks prevent students from spreading their own germs but, unlike N95s, do little to protect them from others.
“As student nurses who are apprehensive with the crisis, this is also the time, perhaps, to think and reflect if the nursing profession is for you.” - Mildred Gonzales, dean of the College of Nursing And Allied Health
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As the risk of the coronavirus started to become apparent last month, CONAH administrators sent students home for an extended spring break in accordance with California’s shelter-in-place order. The school would eventually resume with “web-based presentations,” Gonzales wrote in an email. But midway through their break, Gonzales emailed students again, summoning them back into the hospitals for clinical rotations.
“For those who are afraid and anxious of coming back to clinical due to potential exposure, I want to reiterate to you that this is the profession wherein we face and care for patients with numerous disease conditions and sometimes with unknown etiology in a daily basis,” Gonzales wrote. “As nurses (your faculty), this is our calling. We go to the hospital to take care of patients as the need arise. As student nurses who are apprehensive with the crisis, this is also the time, perhaps, to think and reflect if the nursing profession is for you,” Gonzales continued.
“I was insulted by it,” the second student said of the dean’s email.
“I was pissed,” a third said.
Gonazles told HuffPost she did not intend to put students down or suggest that people with concerns are not fit to be nurses.
In her email to students, Gonzales cited California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s creation of a new program called California Health Corps as part of the reason for the school sending students in for clinicals. At the end of March, the governor called on all licensed health care professionals, medical retirees, members of medical disaster response teams and medical and nursing students to sign up to get placed in a facility that needs support. Although the Health Corps program is open to nursing students, those who get accepted are paid and participation is voluntary.
“In line with [Newsom’s] order, we are resuming clinical earlier than our previous schedule,” Gonzales wrote in an email. But unlike members of the Health Corps, students at CONAH do not get paid to help out at hospitals and they don’t have much of a choice in whether to subject themselves to the risk. If they don’t go into their assigned hospitals for clinicals, they will have to push back their graduation date, which means they will go even longer without the ability to earn an income as a nurse.
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Students were initially told they would not be asked to treat COVID-19-positive patients or those suspected of having the virus. Asked if that policy could change if the coronavirus overwhelmed the hospitals, Gonzales said the school would have to “evaluate” the situation. Even under the current policy, students are still at risk of contracting the virus from asymptomatic patients. At least one student has treated a patient who later tested positive for COVID-19, Gonzales acknowledged. There are currently coronavirus patients in the wards where CONAH students are assigned.
Nursing students understand they are choosing to enter a profession that carries health risks — and they are ready to take on that risk once they are working nurses with health insurance and income, several CONAH students said in interviews. Students aren’t just worried about their own safety — they have to factor in the risk of exposing their loved ones to COVID-19.
The third student said she sometimes thinks about worst-case scenarios. What if she catches the virus at the hospital, brings it home and her partner gets sick and dies? “I think carrying that burden for the rest of my life would be too much weight,” she said.
Some students who can’t afford their own place live with elderly parents. If they were salaried nurses, students told HuffPost, they could afford to move out or at least find another place to stay during the pandemic. For now, they resort to precautions like changing clothes in the garage after a shift at the hospital and avoiding being in the same room of the house as family members, two students said in interviews.
For the students in the program who are parents, being summoned into the hospital poses an additional problem: finding child care and a way to pay for it. Los Angeles County Unified School District closed schools back in March and the hospitals “can only accommodate childcare for employees,” Gonzales wrote in an email. A nonprofit affiliated with one of the county hospitals has since offered to help students with child care, Gonzales told HuffPost.
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The school gave students until April 17 to decide whether to continue the semester. Twenty-six students pulled out and will have to finish their coursework next semester, Gonzales said. Some of the students who decided to complete the semester only did so because they couldn’t afford to postpone completing their degree. If any of the students who are trying to make it through clinical end up deciding they can no longer do it, their only option will be to withdraw and redo the entire semester. Students who withdraw are not typically guaranteed a spot in future semesters.
Until recently, California’s Board of Registered Nursing required nursing students to complete 75% of their clinical hours in-person in direct contact with patients. Because most hospitals are not allowing student nurses in their facilities during the COVID-19 crisis, that requirement would have made it impossible for many nursing students to graduate on time. In March, the deans of several nursing schools in California called on the governor to temporarily lower the in-person requirement to 50%. Ryane Panasewicz, a nursing student at West Coast University, started a Change.org petition with a similar demand, which received more than 137,000 signatures.
The lobbying effort worked. Earlier this month, California modified its requirements to allow students who do not have access to in-person clinical training at a hospital within 50 miles of their campus to complete half of their clinical training hours through online simulations. But by the time the state relaxed its rules, CONAH administrators had already reached an agreement with several county-owned hospitals for students to continue in-person clinicals.
“I feel like we’re disposable to [the Department of Health Services],” the second student said. “Is it going to take a student getting sick for them to change their minds?”


thehuffingtonpost--2020-04-29--Conservative Pundit's Hot Take On Coronavirus Lockdown Gets The Slapdown It Deserves

Conservative pundit Dennis Prager made an outlandish statement against the coronavirus lockdown that came back to bite him , drawing considerable mockery and scorn on social media from both sides of the aisle .
PragerU , a website that Prager himself founded , tweeted a quote card Tuesday featuring a quote from the controversial commentator : “ The lockdown is the greatest mistake in the history of humanity.
” Critics pounced on the claim by suggesting other historical events ( some serious and others for comic effect ) that could be more worthy of the title .
Lockdowns and social @ @ @ @ @ @ @ been credited with slowing the spread of the virus that has killed almost 60,000 people in the United States alone .
Prager , meanwhile , responded to some of the criticism under the PragerU Twitter thread .
“ For those who confuse ‘ mistake ’ with ‘ evil , ’ Dennis said over and over that the worldwide lockdown is not an evil , ” he wrote , referring to himself in third person and citing an episode from his radio show .
“ It is a mistake .
They are not synonyms.
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ library at Alexandria , European colonialism , the 1914 alliances that provoked the Great War , the Weimar left and center failing to unite against Hitler and the Orioles trading Schilling , Harnish and Finley for Glenn Davis , https : //t.co/CRtIjXzrt8 — David Simon ( @ AoDespair ) April 28 , 2020 Hi @ TwitterSupport , This is COVID-19 disinformation , per your new policy .
Do your thing , please .
— Stay-at-Home Jedi ( @ JediCounselor ) April 28 , 2020 Yah those with no training in epidemiology know best @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the below would be cheered by you : Health experts in 1918 said `` CANCEL PARADE !
DANGER ! ''
Prager types said `` PARADE !
FREEDOM ! ''
40,000 of these folk died in a week -after infecting 1000s more .
pic.twitter.com/hgM6626jAw — Kurt Eichenwald ( @ kurteichenwald ) April 28 , 2020 I worked for the same conservative media co. @ DennisPrager works for .
Prager is no dummy .
He can ’ t believe this .
But this is what sucks about conservative media .
You get rewarded for being @ @ @ @ @ @ @ I did it at times too .
It ’ s wrong .
It ’ s dishonest .
https : //t.co/K2DBC9pOqj — Joe Walsh ( @ WalshFreedom ) April 28 , 2020 Thank you , sir .
After years of slamming my own head in a closet door for pleasure , I too believe history only began a few months ago .
— Mike Drucker ( @ MikeDrucker ) April 29 , 2020 bottle up the confidence it takes to put this take on a graphic and use it to propel your life https @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ) April 28 , 2020 The moral poverty of the people holding themselves out to be moral instructors has reached supercritical mass .
https : //t.co/fA8lxwGQHS — Tom Nichols ( @ RadioFreeTom ) April 28 , 2020 Let ’ s assume it ’ s a mistake .
The biggest in human history ?
The reparations on Germany after WWI ?
Sending Lenin back to Russia ?
Carve out for slavery in the US Constitution ?
The Fire of Alexandria ?
Canceling Firefly ?
https : //t.co/qGxbu0tUBu — Jonah Goldberg ( @ JonahDispatch ) @ @ @ @

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Conservative pundit Dennis Prager made an outlandish statement against the coronavirus lockdown that came back to bite him, drawing considerable mockery and scorn on social media from both sides of the aisle.
PragerU, a website that Prager himself founded, tweeted a quote card Tuesday featuring a quote from the controversial commentator: “The lockdown is the greatest mistake in the history of humanity.”
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Critics pounced on the claim by suggesting other historical events (some serious and others for comic effect) that could be more worthy of the title.
Lockdowns and social distancing measures implemented in other countries have been credited with slowing the spread of the virus that has killed almost 60,000 people in the United States alone.
Prager, meanwhile, responded to some of the criticism under the PragerU Twitter thread.
“For those who confuse ‘mistake’ with ‘evil,’ Dennis said over and over that the worldwide lockdown is not an evil,” he wrote, referring to himself in third person and citing an episode from his radio show. “It is a mistake. They are not synonyms.”
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Does your “University” have a history dept.? — Antoine Fantoine (@theneedledrop) April 29, 2020
Never mind the burning of the library at Alexandria, European colonialism, the 1914 alliances that provoked the Great War, the Weimar left and center failing to unite against Hitler and the Orioles trading Schilling, Harnish and Finley for Glenn Davis, https://t.co/CRtIjXzrt8 — David Simon (@AoDespair) April 28, 2020
PragerU: Making Trump University look like Harvard. — Elad Nehorai (@PopChassid) April 28, 2020
Dude, it’s the 35th anniversary of New Coke, have some respect. https://t.co/H5SYfia2lA — tedfrank (wear a mask 😷 ) (@tedfrank) April 28, 2020
Hi @TwitterSupport,
This is COVID-19 disinformation, per your new policy.
Do your thing, please. — Stay-at-Home Jedi (@JediCounselor) April 28, 2020
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Google "history". — Cody Johnston (@drmistercody) April 28, 2020
Yah those with no training in epidemiology know best about public health crises.
Im sure the below would be cheered by you: Health experts in 1918 said "CANCEL PARADE! DANGER!"
Prager types said "PARADE! FREEDOM!"
40,000 of these folk died in a week -after infecting 1000s more. pic.twitter.com/hgM6626jAw — Kurt Eichenwald (@kurteichenwald) April 28, 2020
I worked for the same conservative media co. @DennisPrager works for. Prager is no dummy. He can’t believe this. But this is what sucks about conservative media. You get rewarded for being outlandish, for enraging your audience. I did it at times too. It’s wrong. It’s dishonest. https://t.co/K2DBC9pOqj — Joe Walsh (@WalshFreedom) April 28, 2020
I dunno - slavery seemed kind of bad. — Tim Fullerton (@TimFullerton) April 28, 2020
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It is a right-wing death cult. https://t.co/jNQPNfrlZp — Matt Ortega (@MattOrtega) April 28, 2020
An awful, inconsiderate, and wrong take. — Autumn Johnson (@LegallyAutumn) April 28, 2020
Thank you, sir. After years of slamming my own head in a closet door for pleasure, I too believe history only began a few months ago. — Mike Drucker (@MikeDrucker) April 29, 2020
Not slavery? Not the Holocaust? Not... anything else? https://t.co/9rYnEKZXbS — Katie Hill (@KatieHill4CA) April 29, 2020
Galaxy Brain stuff from the University of Prager. https://t.co/YqSqeCNCG9 — Frank Luntz (@FrankLuntz) April 28, 2020
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bottle up the confidence it takes to put this take on a graphic and use it to propel your life https://t.co/NZ0QOnNWgQ — Steadman™ (@AsteadWesley) April 28, 2020
Wow, and I never thought there'd be a dumber university in human history than Trump University https://t.co/tl1vfEj7Od — Will Bunch Sign Up For My Newsletter (@Will_Bunch) April 28, 2020
The moral poverty of the people holding themselves out to be moral instructors has reached supercritical mass. https://t.co/fA8lxwGQHS — Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) April 28, 2020
imagine having this take when season 8 of game of thrones exists https://t.co/EMo1lmiQJA — Grace Segers (@Grace_Segers) April 28, 2020
Let’s assume it’s a mistake. The biggest in human history? The reparations on Germany after WWI? Sending Lenin back to Russia? Carve out for slavery in the US Constitution? The Fire of Alexandria? Canceling Firefly? https://t.co/qGxbu0tUBu — Jonah Goldberg (@JonahDispatch) April 28, 2020


thehuffingtonpost--2020-04-29--De Blasio Defends Public Scolding Over Rabbi's Funeral As 'Tough Love'

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said he has “ no regrets ” about publicly calling out members of a Jewish community who packed Brooklyn ’ s streets for a rabbi ’ s funeral Tuesday night amid the coronavirus outbreak , calling his criticism an act of “ tough love ” that was not intended to discriminate as some have accused .
“ If in my passion and in my emotion I said something that was in any way hurtful , I ’ m sorry about that .
That was not my intention .
But I also want to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ about calling out this danger and saying we ’ re going to be dealing with it very , very aggressively , ” he said at a press conference Wednesday .
The mayor ’ s response followed him reprimanding on Twitter those gathered for the event and warning that he had directed police to issue a summons or make arrests .
His tweet ignited fury that he chose to publicly single out this mass gathering as opposed to others .
Earlier in the day Tuesday , crowds had gathered in the city ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Navy ’ s Blue Angels and the Air Force ’ s Thunderbirds to honor health care workers .
The Orthodox Jewish Public Affairs Council shared a photo of that flyover event on Twitter and asked where the city ’ s police force was to disperse the crowds .
The photos attached to this tweet is of today in NYC .
Where was @ NYPDnews ?
Oops .
It ’ s not Hasidim so there is no media and no tweets from you either .
BTW there is no distancing at Domino Park in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ funerals of just 15 Hasidim in Willi .
pic.twitter.com/dNptnaYF00 — OJPAC ( @ OJPAC ) April 29 , 2020 Jonathan Greenblatt , the head of the Anti-Defamation League , and Councilmember Chaim Deutsch , who represents an area of Brooklyn with a large Orthodox Jewish population , separately condemned the mayor for generalizing the city ’ s entire Jewish community as having participated in the funeral .
“ The few who don ’ t social distance should be called out — but generalizing against the whole population is outrageous especially when so many @ @ @ @ @ @ @ at the mayor .
What ?
?
?
This has to be a joke .
Did the Mayor of NYC really just single out one specific ethnic community ( a community that has been the target of increasing hate crimes in HIS city ) as being noncompliant ?
?
Has he been to a park lately ?
( What am I saying - of course he has ! )
https : //t.co/LYKnUZm2Mc — Councilman Deutsch ( @ ChaimDeutsch ) April 29 , 2020 De Blasio denied that he had unfairly targeted one religious @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ a long-held relationship with the Orthodox Jewish community.
” He went on to say that the crowds gathered in Brooklyn were unlike anything he had ever seen .
It was “ by far the largest gathering in any community of New York City of any kind that I had heard of or seen directly or on video since the beginning of this crisis , and it ’ s just not allowable , ” he said .
“ No , it ’ s not like people gathering in the park .
It was @ @ @ @ @ @ @ if the way I said it in any way gave people a feeling of being treated the wrong way , that was not my intention , ” he added .
“ It was said with love , but it was tough love .
It was anger and frustration.
” “ There were thousands of people crammed on one block , ” he said .
“ People have to be accountable for their own actions , regardless of what neighborhood , ethnicity , where they come from .
We can not have what we @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of any size and for any reason have been banned in New York amid the coronavirus outbreak which has sickened more people in the state than any other in the country .

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New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said he has “no regrets” about publicly calling out members of a Jewish community who packed Brooklyn’s streets for a rabbi’s funeral Tuesday night amid the coronavirus outbreak, calling his criticism an act of “tough love” that was not intended to discriminate as some have accused.
“If in my passion and in my emotion I said something that was in any way hurtful, I’m sorry about that. That was not my intention. But I also want to be clear, I have no regrets about calling out this danger and saying we’re going to be dealing with it very, very aggressively,” he said at a press conference Wednesday.
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Tipster says this is the Williamsburg funeral today of Rabbi Chaim Mertz who died from COVID-19 pic.twitter.com/wsTvCrlzpb — Reuven Blau (@ReuvenBlau) April 29, 2020
The mayor’s response followed him reprimanding on Twitter those gathered for the event and warning that he had directed police to issue a summons or make arrests. His tweet ignited fury that he chose to publicly single out this mass gathering as opposed to others.
Earlier in the day Tuesday, crowds had gathered in the city’s streets to watch a flyover by the Navy’s Blue Angels and the Air Force’s Thunderbirds to honor health care workers. The Orthodox Jewish Public Affairs Council shared a photo of that flyover event on Twitter and asked where the city’s police force was to disperse the crowds.
The photos attached to this tweet is of today in NYC. Where was @NYPDnews? Oops. It’s not Hasidim so there is no media and no tweets from you either. BTW there is no distancing at Domino Park in Williamsburg but @NYPD90Pct breaks up even funerals of just 15 Hasidim in Willi. pic.twitter.com/dNptnaYF00 — OJPAC (@OJPAC) April 29, 2020
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Jonathan Greenblatt, the head of the Anti-Defamation League, and Councilmember Chaim Deutsch, who represents an area of Brooklyn with a large Orthodox Jewish population, separately condemned the mayor for generalizing the city’s entire Jewish community as having participated in the funeral.
“The few who don’t social distance should be called out — but generalizing against the whole population is outrageous especially when so many are scapegoating Jews,” Greenblatt tweeted at the mayor.
What???
This has to be a joke. Did the Mayor of NYC really just single out one specific ethnic community (a community that has been the target of increasing hate crimes in HIS city) as being noncompliant?? Has he been to a park lately? (What am I saying - of course he has!) https://t.co/LYKnUZm2Mc — Councilman Deutsch (@ChaimDeutsch) April 29, 2020
De Blasio denied that he had unfairly targeted one religious population, arguing that he has had “a long-held relationship with the Orthodox Jewish community.” He went on to say that the crowds gathered in Brooklyn were unlike anything he had ever seen.
It was “by far the largest gathering in any community of New York City of any kind that I had heard of or seen directly or on video since the beginning of this crisis, and it’s just not allowable,” he said. “No, it’s not like people gathering in the park. It was thousands of people.”
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“I regret if the way I said it in any way gave people a feeling of being treated the wrong way, that was not my intention,” he added. “It was said with love, but it was tough love. It was anger and frustration.”
Police Commissioner Dermot Shea, who said 12 summons were issued to people attending the funeral, echoed de Blasio’s concerns.
“There were thousands of people crammed on one block,” he said. “People have to be accountable for their own actions, regardless of what neighborhood, ethnicity, where they come from. We cannot have what we had last night.”
All non-essential gatherings of any size and for any reason have been banned in New York amid the coronavirus outbreak which has sickened more people in the state than any other in the country.