csmonitor--2020-04-15--No quick exit: US military plans for 'new normal' in COVID era

The U.S. military is bracing for a months-long struggle against the coronavirus , looking for novel ways to maintain a defensive crouch that sustains troops ' health without breaking their morale – while still protecting the nation .
Unlike talk in the Trump administration of possibly reopening the country as early as May , military leaders are suggesting that this summer may be the best-case scenario of tiptoeing toward a return to normal activities .
Even that is uncertain , and for now the focus is on adjusting as the pandemic 's threat evolves .
`` We are going to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ even over the coming months the virus is n't going to go away .
We 're going to have to be able to operate in a COVID environment , '' Deputy Defense Secretary David Norquist said recently , referring to the disease caused by the novel coronavirus .
Officials have frozen most forces in place overseas , stopped troops and their families from moving to new assignments , and cut back access to the Pentagon .
The military services have halted or restricted recruit training , canceled major exercises , and isolated troops @ @ @ @ @ @ @ new Space Force has delayed a satellite launch , and the Navy this week postponed the return of the USS Harry S. Truman , keeping the aircraft carrier at sea to shield its crew from virus exposure at home .
These steps to protect the force have parallels in civilian society , but a far-flung military ca n't function by staying at home .
`` This will be a new way of doing business that we have to focus in on , '' says Air Force Gen. John Hyten , vice chairman of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ We 're adjusting to that new world as we speak today . ''
The notion of `` normal '' in the military may never be the same .
`` We 've all deployed and fought enemies abroad , however , today 's enemy is here in our communities , '' said Lt. Gen. Brad Webb , commander of the Air Force 's training and education command .
`` We do n't know what 'new normal ' will look like until we get to the other side . ''
Defense Secretary Mark Esper has @ @ @ @ @ @ @ time to determine when to begin lifting restrictions on the military , and he has faced little public pressure – from military families or the White House – to rush things .
In civilian society , there is an open split between those like President Donald Trump who want the country reopened soon to mitigate economic damage and those , including many state governors , who fear reopening prematurely will undermine progress against the virus .
Gen. Mark Milley , chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff , said the the pandemic has @ @ @ @ @ @ @ creating instability in some countries , that the U.S. military can not return to business as usual .
`` We have got to take a hard look at how we as a military , we as a Department of Defense , conduct operations in the future , '' he said .
In a further sign of uncertainty , Mr. Esper said on Tuesday that he will extend a `` stop movement '' order halting what are called permanent change-of-station moves by troops and their families .
He did not say how long he @ @ @ @ @ @ @ protecting troops and originally set to expire May 11 .
If it continues into the summer , military members with children could face serious hardship , since they need time to settle and enroll their children in new schools .
Coronavirus has been less deadly in the military than in the rest of American society , but the number of confirmed cases is still rising .
As of Tuesday the total exceeded 2,600 , up from 1,521 a week earlier .
Two troops have died of the disease – a National Guard member @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Monday .
Even after the number of the military 's coronavirus cases crests , a degree of uncertainty about restoring normalcy will linger .
The Navy 's top doctor , Rear Adm. Bruce Gillingham , says the virus wields a `` secret power '' that the military must take into account as it adjusts in the weeks and months ahead .
`` What we 've learned , certainly in the Navy with regard to COVID-19 , [ is ] that stealth , in the form of asymptomatic transmission , is this adversary 's @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
`` And so we recognize that despite really our best efforts , we 're going to have to learn how to operate with the virus . ''
Mr. Webb , the Air Force training commander , said his service is doing about 99 % of its recruiting online rather than with traditional in-person pitches .
And while the way ahead is n't clear , he said , `` I think we have the opportunity now to never go back to old ways . ''
For the Army , a major priority is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for war .
Prior to the coronavirus crisis , more than half of the brigades were at high readiness levels , but in the past month training has significantly slowed down .
`` We 're in good shape but you 've got to be able to turn it back on , '' said Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy .
He says that increased coronavirus testing capabilities will allow the Army to test units and then send them out for large battalion and company-sized exercises where they can remain in a bubble .
`` We @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , and that 's where you 're going to have to manage the risk until there 's a vaccine , '' he said .
`` We 're preparing ourselves to do just that . ''
Even as they take precautions , defense officials are eager to bat down any idea that they are so focused on protecting troops ' health that the force has been weakened or is unable to fight if needed .
`` I do n't want anyone out there in the world to think that somehow the U.S. military 's @ @ @ @ @ @ @ not , '' Mr. Milley said last week .
This story was reported by The Associated Press .
AP writer Lolita C. Baldor contributed to this report .
Editor ’ s note : As a public service , the Monitor has removed the paywall for all our coronavirus coverage .
It ’ s free .

The U.S. military is bracing for a months-long struggle against the coronavirus, looking for novel ways to maintain a defensive crouch that sustains troops' health without breaking their morale – while still protecting the nation.
Unlike talk in the Trump administration of possibly reopening the country as early as May, military leaders are suggesting that this summer may be the best-case scenario of tiptoeing toward a return to normal activities. Even that is uncertain, and for now the focus is on adjusting as the pandemic's threat evolves.
"We are going to need to change and adapt, because even over the coming months the virus isn't going to go away. We're going to have to be able to operate in a COVID environment," Deputy Defense Secretary David Norquist said recently, referring to the disease caused by the novel coronavirus.
Officials have frozen most forces in place overseas, stopped troops and their families from moving to new assignments, and cut back access to the Pentagon. The military services have halted or restricted recruit training, canceled major exercises, and isolated troops in the most sensitive units. The new Space Force has delayed a satellite launch, and the Navy this week postponed the return of the USS Harry S. Truman, keeping the aircraft carrier at sea to shield its crew from virus exposure at home.
These steps to protect the force have parallels in civilian society, but a far-flung military can't function by staying at home.
"This will be a new way of doing business that we have to focus in on," says Air Force Gen. John Hyten, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. "We're adjusting to that new world as we speak today."
The notion of "normal" in the military may never be the same.
"We've all deployed and fought enemies abroad, however, today's enemy is here in our communities," said Lt. Gen. Brad Webb, commander of the Air Force's training and education command. "We don't know what 'new normal' will look like until we get to the other side."
Defense Secretary Mark Esper has been consistent in saying it will take time to determine when to begin lifting restrictions on the military, and he has faced little public pressure – from military families or the White House – to rush things. In civilian society, there is an open split between those like President Donald Trump who want the country reopened soon to mitigate economic damage and those, including many state governors, who fear reopening prematurely will undermine progress against the virus.
Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the the pandemic has spread so far and wide, potentially creating instability in some countries, that the U.S. military cannot return to business as usual.
"We have got to take a hard look at how we as a military, we as a Department of Defense, conduct operations in the future," he said.
In a further sign of uncertainty, Mr. Esper said on Tuesday that he will extend a "stop movement" order halting what are called permanent change-of-station moves by troops and their families. He did not say how long he will extend the order, aimed at protecting troops and originally set to expire May 11. If it continues into the summer, military members with children could face serious hardship, since they need time to settle and enroll their children in new schools.
Coronavirus has been less deadly in the military than in the rest of American society, but the number of confirmed cases is still rising. As of Tuesday the total exceeded 2,600, up from 1,521 a week earlier. Two troops have died of the disease – a National Guard member in March and a Navy sailor on Monday.
Even after the number of the military's coronavirus cases crests, a degree of uncertainty about restoring normalcy will linger. The Navy's top doctor, Rear Adm. Bruce Gillingham, says the virus wields a "secret power" that the military must take into account as it adjusts in the weeks and months ahead.
"What we've learned, certainly in the Navy with regard to COVID-19, [is] that stealth, in the form of asymptomatic transmission, is this adversary's secret power," he told reporters. "And so we recognize that despite really our best efforts, we're going to have to learn how to operate with the virus."
Mr. Webb, the Air Force training commander, said his service is doing about 99% of its recruiting online rather than with traditional in-person pitches. And while the way ahead isn't clear, he said, "I think we have the opportunity now to never go back to old ways."
For the Army, a major priority is keeping combat brigades healthy but also ready for war. Prior to the coronavirus crisis, more than half of the brigades were at high readiness levels, but in the past month training has significantly slowed down.
"We're in good shape but you've got to be able to turn it back on," said Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy. He says that increased coronavirus testing capabilities will allow the Army to test units and then send them out for large battalion and company-sized exercises where they can remain in a bubble.
"We're going to have to do that, and that's where you're going to have to manage the risk until there's a vaccine," he said. "We're preparing ourselves to do just that."
Even as they take precautions, defense officials are eager to bat down any idea that they are so focused on protecting troops' health that the force has been weakened or is unable to fight if needed.
"I don't want anyone out there in the world to think that somehow the U.S. military's readiness is significantly degraded. It is not," Mr. Milley said last week.
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This story was reported by The Associated Press. AP writer Lolita C. Baldor contributed to this report.
Editor’s note: As a public service, the Monitor has removed the paywall for all our coronavirus coverage. It’s free.


csmonitor--2020-03-27--Daily for March 27, 2020

Daily for March 27, 2020

It was 1 o ’ clock in the morning when it struck .
Winston Morelock and his wife , Wilma Faye , were in bed in their home in East Nashville that they ’ d shared for 42 years .
The tornado sirens pierced through the night , and then they stopped .
There was no sound , Mr. Morelock recalls , and then “ all at once it was on top of us.
” Broken glass , chunks of wood , and parts of the ceiling flew everywhere .
Mr. Morelock pulled the mattress over himself and his wife @ @ @ @ @ @ @ their house was ripped away by the swirling storm .
“ The next morning , at first light , when I saw what was left of our home , I fell apart and started to cry , ” Mr. Morelock says .
“ I was in shock .
Shaking all over .
Crying .
We came so close to death.
” A cluster of tornadoes swept through middle Tennessee before dawn on Tuesday , March 3 , killing at least two dozen people , with thousands of buildings damaged or destroyed and streets @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Many more were left without power and some have just recently gotten it back on .
It was the kind of natural disaster that typically makes the national news for days .
Hordes of volunteers quickly flooded the streets where the tornado struck , moving debris , helping residents salvage belongings , and setting up food stations to help sustain those picking through the wreckage of their lives .
But Nashville – and the Morelocks , who are both in their 70s – soon faced another crisis : a pandemic .
And @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to tell everyone to go home .
[ Editor ’ s note : As a public service , all our coronavirus coverage is free .
No paywall . ]
On March 5 , just two days after the tornado , Tennessee Gov .
Bill Lee announced that the state had its first confirmed case of the novel coronavirus .
The patient resided in Williamson County , just south of Nashville .
Just a few days later , Davidson County , which contains Nashville , confirmed its first case .
Now , Tennessee has @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in Davidson County .
When calls for social distancing swept the nation as concerns about the coronavirus rose earlier this month , middle Tennessee was still reeling from the tornadoes .
Houses were still roofless , people were still crashing on friends ’ and family ’ s couches or in hotels , and volunteers were still gathering by the hundreds to help with the recovery .
This community , primed to show up physically for one another in a time of need , now grapples with an unprecedented challenge .
How does a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a pandemic at the same time ?
“ With the tornado , it ’ s about rolling up your sleeves and getting dirty and helping your neighbor out and moving stuff .
Now we ’ re talking about keeping yourself [ isolated ] , ” says William Swann , director chief of Nashville ’ s Office of Emergency Management .
“ So how do we keep things moving and keep balance ?
...
It ’ s going to take a lot of prayer and a lot of hard work and a lot of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ tornadoes , volunteers quickly swarmed the devastated neighborhoods looking for ways to help .
Roving bands toting chainsaws made quick work of downed trees blocking the roads .
Volunteers set up sandwich-making stations so residents wouldn ’ t have to think about how to eat while surveying the damage to their homes .
Nonprofit organizations already engaged in the affected communities , like Gideon ’ s Army in North Nashville , quickly organized to canvass the neighborhoods to check on residents and determine what more needed to be done .
In the days @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , an organization that served as a sort of clearing house for volunteers in the wake of the tornadoes , saw some 26,000 people sign up to volunteer on their website , says Lindsey Turner , director of communications at Hands On Nashville .
Over the following weekend , people were actually told to stay home , find other ways to help , or volunteer at a later date because volunteers had overwhelmed the system .
So many people had shown up that the streets became clogged and it was difficult for utility @ @ @ @ @ @ @ power and do the heavier lifting .
“ The turnout from this city and the way that they have all come together , it has been incredibly overwhelming , ” says Carter Jane Pond .
Her apartment building in the Germantown neighborhood of Nashville was sideswiped by the tornado .
Over the weekend after the tornado , Ms. Pond recalls , hundreds of volunteers showed up to her apartment building .
Several of them helped Ms. Pond and her boyfriend move all of their salvageable belongings into a storage unit in about five @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in the closet packing up all of our clothes , two people in the bathroom , three people unmounting our television , two people in the kitchen , ” in addition to the couple and a friend , she says .
“ Empathy can be very overwhelming .
It was truly a sight to behold.
” All of those hands made quick work of the small-scale debris cleanup , says Mr. Swann , and the city was able to shift to the heavy equipment phase two weeks after the tornado .
FEMA joined @ @ @ @ @ @ @ throughout the area for survivors to come apply for federal disaster assistance .
But over the weekend , FEMA reduced those in-person activities , allowing tornado survivors to apply online or via the phone without going to a recovery center .
At the same time , the governor called for all schools in Tennessee to close last week to help mitigate the spread of COVID-19 , the disease caused by the novel coronavirus .
And since Monday , March 23 , Nashville has been under a “ safer at home order , ” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ residents to stay home .
Still , volunteer efforts continued , even amid that changing tone .
The focus had shifted from debris removal to donations , and organizations like Hands On Nashville , Gideon ’ s Army , and others established distribution centers for tornado victims to pick up donated food and supplies .
Initially those spaces operated somewhat like a free grocery store , staffed with volunteers , says Tee Wilson , director of communications at Gideon ’ s Army .
But as concerns spread , it quickly became apparent that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention would make it impossible to continue to rely on large groups of people in the same warehouse together .
“ It ’ s definitely frustrating in a lot of ways because we were in the thick of responding to lots and lots of disparate kinds of needs , and suddenly [ the coronavirus ] hit and we had to completely reevaluate and are still in the process of reevaluating how it is volunteers can help in the recovery effort , ” Ms. Turner of Hands On @ @ @ @ @ @ @ definitely a work in progress , and everything is changing so quickly.
” As the second week after the tornado came to a close , Hands On Nashville shifted to a drive-up model , where volunteers work in smaller groups and deliver requested supplies to visitors ’ cars .
In North Nashville , Gideon ’ s Army opted for a delivery model , bringing supplies to those affected by the tornado .
The tricky part is getting the word out and checking on people who the organization hasn ’ t already connected with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ volunteer coordinator for Gideon ’ s Army .
Immediately following the tornado , Gideon ’ s Army had volunteers canvassing the directly and obviously affected neighborhoods , but the plan was to repeat that and go farther into areas that had lost power or that the tornado impacted in another indirect way .
With face-to-face contact reduced to a minimum , fewer volunteers bucking social distancing measures , and not many masks or other protection tools available , that isn ’ t really possible anymore .
Instead , Gideon ’ s Army has @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to build a network and a hotline for people to request assistance for themselves and others .
But that doesn ’ t mean prioritizing tornado recovery over coronavirus prevention or halting their work , says Ms. Briefs .
“ When we see this pandemic , we just think , OK , it ’ s time to level up , ” she says .
“ How do we need to be more creative to support our community as effectively as possible ?
” For Tom Larson , the tornado and the coronavirus have truly @ @ @ @ @ @ @ tornado hit , Mr. Larson had Airbnb guests staying upstairs in his home in East Nashville .
When he realized this wasn ’ t just any storm , the guests , Mr. Larson , and his wife , Misty , hurried into the basement .
As Mr. Larson turned to close the door , it was yanked out of his hand by the tornado and the winds threatened to pull him along with it .
His guest – a preacher – grabbed onto his robe and pulled him to safety .
“ The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Larson says .
Most of the Larsons ’ home was destroyed , taking their Airbnb income with it .
And more financial woes were yet to come .
Like many in Nashville , Mr. Larson is a musician – a drummer – and plays gigs around Music City .
Music is the backbone of Nashville ’ s culture , and underpins its vibrant tourist industry .
Any night of the week , residents and visitors alike have lots of music to choose from , and Airbnb does a brisk business in the city @ @ @ @ @ @ @ week , many music venues and bars began to close even before being ordered to by the city .
All of Mr. Larson ’ s gigs were canceled .
Service workers also reliant on the tourist economy have begun to be laid off as businesses shutter for the pandemic .
This leaves questions about how these residents might be able to afford rebuilding .
“ This is really pressing on us , and it ’ s so confusing , ” Mr. Larson says .
“ We ’ re just taking it day to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ coronavirus was not top of mind until she and her boyfriend had moved into a new apartment last week .
“ The tornado was my priority No .
1 , ” Ms. Pond says .
“ It feels like now that I ’ m in a home and finally have a second to breathe , I am actually taking coronavirus seriously.
” Still , she adds , after living in a hotel since the tornado , the couple had no food and lacked some necessities lost in the tornado , so excursions have @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the area , the Morelocks have been staying alone in a hotel .
They wear masks whenever they are out and about , prepare their own meals at the hotel , are mindful to wash their hands and stay away from other people as much as possible .
“ It is very worrisome , ” Mr. Morelock says .
“ We have a lot of stress about the tornado and insurance , plus the virus.
” Still , he says , surviving the tornado strengthened his beliefs , and , “ I have @ @ @ @ @ @ @ these problems somehow.
” Editor ’ s note : As a public service , all our coronavirus coverage is free .
No paywall .

When tornadoes are only the first of your worries Collapse
It was 1 o’clock in the morning when it struck. Winston Morelock and his wife, Wilma Faye, were in bed in their home in East Nashville that they’d shared for 42 years.
The tornado sirens pierced through the night, and then they stopped. There was no sound, Mr. Morelock recalls, and then “all at once it was on top of us.”
Broken glass, chunks of wood, and parts of the ceiling flew everywhere. Mr. Morelock pulled the mattress over himself and his wife just as the roof and side of their house was ripped away by the swirling storm.
“The next morning, at first light, when I saw what was left of our home, I fell apart and started to cry,” Mr. Morelock says. “I was in shock. Shaking all over. Crying. We came so close to death.”
A cluster of tornadoes swept through middle Tennessee before dawn on Tuesday, March 3, killing at least two dozen people, with thousands of buildings damaged or destroyed and streets impassable with debris and downed power lines. Many more were left without power and some have just recently gotten it back on.
It was the kind of natural disaster that typically makes the national news for days. Hordes of volunteers quickly flooded the streets where the tornado struck, moving debris, helping residents salvage belongings, and setting up food stations to help sustain those picking through the wreckage of their lives.
But Nashville – and the Morelocks, who are both in their 70s – soon faced another crisis: a pandemic. And this crisis meant the city would have to tell everyone to go home.
John Partipilo View caption Hide caption Winston Morelock and his wife Wilma Faye were still shaken after a tornado shredded their home in East Nashville, March 3, 2020. "I thought we were dead but God had his hand around us".
[Editor’s note: As a public service, all our coronavirus coverage is free. No paywall.]
On March 5, just two days after the tornado, Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee announced that the state had its first confirmed case of the novel coronavirus. The patient resided in Williamson County, just south of Nashville. Just a few days later, Davidson County, which contains Nashville, confirmed its first case. Now, Tennessee has more than 900 confirmed cases, many in Davidson County.
When calls for social distancing swept the nation as concerns about the coronavirus rose earlier this month, middle Tennessee was still reeling from the tornadoes. Houses were still roofless, people were still crashing on friends’ and family’s couches or in hotels, and volunteers were still gathering by the hundreds to help with the recovery.
This community, primed to show up physically for one another in a time of need, now grapples with an unprecedented challenge. How does a city deal with a natural disaster and a pandemic at the same time?
“With the tornado, it’s about rolling up your sleeves and getting dirty and helping your neighbor out and moving stuff. Now we’re talking about keeping yourself [isolated],” says William Swann, director chief of Nashville’s Office of Emergency Management. “So how do we keep things moving and keep balance? ... It’s going to take a lot of prayer and a lot of hard work and a lot of patience.”
A surge of volunteers
In the hours after the tornadoes, volunteers quickly swarmed the devastated neighborhoods looking for ways to help. Roving bands toting chainsaws made quick work of downed trees blocking the roads. Volunteers set up sandwich-making stations so residents wouldn’t have to think about how to eat while surveying the damage to their homes. Nonprofit organizations already engaged in the affected communities, like Gideon’s Army in North Nashville, quickly organized to canvass the neighborhoods to check on residents and determine what more needed to be done.
In the days following the tornadoes, Hands On Nashville, an organization that served as a sort of clearing house for volunteers in the wake of the tornadoes, saw some 26,000 people sign up to volunteer on their website, says Lindsey Turner, director of communications at Hands On Nashville. Over the following weekend, people were actually told to stay home, find other ways to help, or volunteer at a later date because volunteers had overwhelmed the system. So many people had shown up that the streets became clogged and it was difficult for utility vehicles to get through to restore the power and do the heavier lifting.
“The turnout from this city and the way that they have all come together, it has been incredibly overwhelming,” says Carter Jane Pond. Her apartment building in the Germantown neighborhood of Nashville was sideswiped by the tornado.
Over the weekend after the tornado, Ms. Pond recalls, hundreds of volunteers showed up to her apartment building. Several of them helped Ms. Pond and her boyfriend move all of their salvageable belongings into a storage unit in about five hours.
“There were two people in the closet packing up all of our clothes, two people in the bathroom, three people unmounting our television, two people in the kitchen,” in addition to the couple and a friend, she says. “Empathy can be very overwhelming. It was truly a sight to behold.”
Getting creative
All of those hands made quick work of the small-scale debris cleanup, says Mr. Swann, and the city was able to shift to the heavy equipment phase two weeks after the tornado. FEMA joined the effort too, setting up booths throughout the area for survivors to come apply for federal disaster assistance. But over the weekend, FEMA reduced those in-person activities, allowing tornado survivors to apply online or via the phone without going to a recovery center.
At the same time, the governor called for all schools in Tennessee to close last week to help mitigate the spread of COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus. And since Monday, March 23, Nashville has been under a “safer at home order,” which closes all nonessential businesses and encourages residents to stay home.
Still, volunteer efforts continued, even amid that changing tone. The focus had shifted from debris removal to donations, and organizations like Hands On Nashville, Gideon’s Army, and others established distribution centers for tornado victims to pick up donated food and supplies.
Initially those spaces operated somewhat like a free grocery store, staffed with volunteers, says Tee Wilson, director of communications at Gideon’s Army. But as concerns spread, it quickly became apparent that adhering to social distancing guidelines set by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention would make it impossible to continue to rely on large groups of people in the same warehouse together.
“It’s definitely frustrating in a lot of ways because we were in the thick of responding to lots and lots of disparate kinds of needs, and suddenly [the coronavirus] hit and we had to completely reevaluate and are still in the process of reevaluating how it is volunteers can help in the recovery effort,” Ms. Turner of Hands On Nashville says. “It’s definitely a work in progress, and everything is changing so quickly.”
As the second week after the tornado came to a close, Hands On Nashville shifted to a drive-up model, where volunteers work in smaller groups and deliver requested supplies to visitors’ cars. In North Nashville, Gideon’s Army opted for a delivery model, bringing supplies to those affected by the tornado.
The tricky part is getting the word out and checking on people who the organization hasn’t already connected with, says Kate Briefs, disaster relief volunteer coordinator for Gideon’s Army. Immediately following the tornado, Gideon’s Army had volunteers canvassing the directly and obviously affected neighborhoods, but the plan was to repeat that and go farther into areas that had lost power or that the tornado impacted in another indirect way. With face-to-face contact reduced to a minimum, fewer volunteers bucking social distancing measures, and not many masks or other protection tools available, that isn’t really possible anymore. Instead, Gideon’s Army has shifted to a virtual system, working to build a network and a hotline for people to request assistance for themselves and others.
But that doesn’t mean prioritizing tornado recovery over coronavirus prevention or halting their work, says Ms. Briefs. “When we see this pandemic, we just think, OK, it’s time to level up,” she says. “How do we need to be more creative to support our community as effectively as possible?”
John Partipilo View caption Hide caption Tom Larson surveys the damage to his East Nashville home, March 4, 2020. He and his wife Misty are staying in a nearby rental. The couple was heartened by the number of volunteers who came out to help in the tornadoes' wake. "Now because of the virus no one can help even if they wanted to," says Mr. Larson. "It's mind boggling."
“Taking it day to day”
For Tom Larson, the tornado and the coronavirus have truly been a one-two punch.
When the tornado hit, Mr. Larson had Airbnb guests staying upstairs in his home in East Nashville. When he realized this wasn’t just any storm, the guests, Mr. Larson, and his wife, Misty, hurried into the basement. As Mr. Larson turned to close the door, it was yanked out of his hand by the tornado and the winds threatened to pull him along with it. His guest – a preacher – grabbed onto his robe and pulled him to safety.
“The tornado was so traumatic,” Mr. Larson says.
Most of the Larsons’ home was destroyed, taking their Airbnb income with it. And more financial woes were yet to come.
Like many in Nashville, Mr. Larson is a musician – a drummer – and plays gigs around Music City. Music is the backbone of Nashville’s culture, and underpins its vibrant tourist industry. Any night of the week, residents and visitors alike have lots of music to choose from, and Airbnb does a brisk business in the city – especially in East Nashville.
Last week, many music venues and bars began to close even before being ordered to by the city. All of Mr. Larson’s gigs were canceled. Service workers also reliant on the tourist economy have begun to be laid off as businesses shutter for the pandemic. This leaves questions about how these residents might be able to afford rebuilding.
“This is really pressing on us, and it’s so confusing,” Mr. Larson says. “We’re just taking it day to day.”
“A second to breathe”
For Ms. Pond, the coronavirus was not top of mind until she and her boyfriend had moved into a new apartment last week.
“The tornado was my priority No. 1,” Ms. Pond says. “It feels like now that I’m in a home and finally have a second to breathe, I am actually taking coronavirus seriously.”
Still, she adds, after living in a hotel since the tornado, the couple had no food and lacked some necessities lost in the tornado, so excursions have been necessary.
Despite having family in the area, the Morelocks have been staying alone in a hotel. They wear masks whenever they are out and about, prepare their own meals at the hotel, are mindful to wash their hands and stay away from other people as much as possible.
“It is very worrisome,” Mr. Morelock says. “We have a lot of stress about the tornado and insurance, plus the virus.”
Still, he says, surviving the tornado strengthened his beliefs, and, “I have faith that God will help us with these problems somehow.”
Editor’s note: As a public service, all our coronavirus coverage is free. No paywall.


csmonitor--2020-03-27--House passes $2.2T rescue package, rushes bill to Trump

Acting with exceptional resolve in an extraordinary time , the House rushed President Donald Trump a $ 2.2 trillion rescue package Friday , tossing a life preserver to a U.S. economy and health care system left flailing by the coronavirus pandemic .
The House approved the sweeping measure by a voice vote , as strong majorities of both parties lined up behind the most colossal economic relief bill in the nation 's history .
It will ship payments of up to $ 1,200 to millions of Americans , bolster unemployment benefits , offer loans , grants and tax breaks to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ more to states , local governments and the nation 's all but overwhelmed health care system .
`` Today we 've all acknowledged our nation faces an economic and health emergency of historic proportions , '' said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi .
President Donald Trump said he would sign the bill immediately .
With exceptional resolve in an extraordinary time , the House on Friday debated a $ 2.2 trillion package tossing a life preserver to a U.S. economy and health care system left flailing by the coronavirus pandemic , even as one @ @ @ @ @ @ @ swift passage .
Democratic and Republican leaders were working in tandem and hoping to quickly pass the measure by voice vote to accommodate members scattered around the country and reluctant to risk flying back to the Capitol .
There were hand sanitizers at the end of each aisle in the chamber , where most lawmakers sat scattered apart from one another .
There was no doubt the House would give overwhelming final congressional approval to the largest economic bailout legislation in U.S. history .
For the most part , Democrats who saw a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ who considered it ladened with waste were set to back the measure for the greater good of keeping the economy alive .
But libertarian Rep. Thomas Massie , R-Ky. , was threatening to slow action by demanding a roll call vote .
That would force many lawmakers to make the journey to Washington to cast a vote on legislation that is certain to pass anyway , and it infuriated President Donald Trump and lawmakers from both parties .
Mr. Trump , who is certain to sign the legislation , tweeted that Representative Massie @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and said he should be drummed out of the GOP .
`` He is a disaster for America , and for the Great State of Kentucky ! ''
Mr. Trump wrote .
Mr. Massie , who opposes the massive bill , was in the chamber during the debate , chatting occasionally with others and checking his phone .
He did not respond to reporters ' repeated efforts to reach him .
Posting on Twitter , he cited a section of the Constitution that requires a majority of lawmakers – some 216 of them @ @ @ @ @ @ @ conduct business .
The debate was mostly conciliatory , with members of both parties praising the measure as a rescue for a ravaged nation .
The lecturns in the chamber 's well were wiped down between many of the speeches .
`` While no one will agree with every part of this rescue bill , we face a challenge rarely seen in America 's history .
We must act now , or the toll on lives and livelihoods will be far greater , '' said Rep. Kevin Brady , R-Texas .
`` We @ @ @ @ @ @ @ said Rep. Gerald Connolly , D-Va. `` We have no time to engage in ideological or petty partisan fights .
Our country needs us as one . ''
But still , there were outbursts .
Freshman Rep. Haley Stevens , D-Mich. , donned pink latex gloves and yelled well beyond her allotted one minute , saying she was speaking `` not for personal attention but [ to encourage you ] to take this disease seriously . ''
Much of what she said could not be heard above Republican shouts .
Numerous high-ranking Republicans @ @ @ @ @ @ @ persuade him to let the voice vote proceed , according to a top House GOP aide .
They included House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy , R-Calif. , and Rep. Mark Meadows , R-N.C. , whom Mr. Trump has chosen as his new chief of staff .
The aide spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe private conversations .
Democratic leaders urged lawmakers who are `` willing and able '' to come to the Capitol to do so .
And members of both parties were clearly upset with Mr. Massie .
`` Heading @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Because of one Member of Congress refusing to allow emergency action entire Congress must be called back to vote in House , '' Rep. Peter King , R-N.Y. , wrote on Twitter .
`` Risk of infection and risk of legislation being delayed .
Disgraceful .
Irresponsible . ''
South Dakota GOP Rep .
Dusty Johnson posted a selfie of himself and three other lawmakers from the upper Midwest traveling to Washington on an otherwise empty plane .
Friday 's House session followed an extraordinary 96-0 Senate vote late Wednesday .
The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ enough .
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said Thursday the economy `` may well be in recession '' already , and the government reported a shocking 3.3 million burst of weekly jobless claims , more than four times the previous record .
The U.S. death toll from the virus rose to 1,300 .
It is unlikely to be the end of the federal response .
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said issues like more generous food stamp payments , aid to state and local governments and family leave may be revisited in subsequent legislation @ @ @ @ @ @ @ direct payments to individuals and make way for a flood of subsidized loans , grants and tax breaks to businesses facing extinction in an economic shutdown caused as Americans self-isolate by the tens of millions .
It dwarfs prior Washington efforts to take on economic crises and natural disasters , such as the 2008 Wall Street bailout and President Barack Obama 's first-year economic recovery act .
But key elements are untested , such as grants to small businesses to keep workers on payroll and complex lending programs to larger businesses .
Policymakers @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Administration may become overwhelmed , and conservatives fear that a new , generous unemployment benefit will dissuade jobless people from returning to the workforce .
A new $ 500 billion subsidized lending program for larger businesses is unproven as well .
The bill finances a response with a price tag that equals half the size of the entire $ 4 trillion-plus annual federal budget .
The $ 2.2 trillion estimate is the White House 's best guess of the spending it contains .
The legislation would provide one-time direct payments to Americans of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ $ 75,000 a year and $ 2,400 to a married couple making up to $ 150,000 , with $ 500 payments per child .
Unemployment insurance would be made far more generous , with $ 600 per week tacked onto regular state jobless payments through the end of July .
States and local governments would receive $ 150 billion in supplemental funding to help them provide basic and emergency services during the crisis .
The legislation also establishes a $ 454 billion program for guaranteed , subsidized loans to larger industries in hopes @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in lending to distressed businesses , states , and municipalities .
All would be up to the Treasury Department 's discretion , though businesses controlled by Trump or immediate family members and by members of Congress would be ineligible .
There was also $ 150 billion devoted to the health care system , including $ 100 billion for grants to hospitals and other health care providers buckling under the strain of COVID-19 caseloads .
Republicans successfully pressed for an employee retention tax credit that 's estimated to provide $ 50 billion to companies @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 50 % of workers ' paycheck up to $ 10,000 .
Companies would also be able to defer payment of the 6.2 % Social Security payroll tax .
A huge tax break for interest costs and operating losses limited by the 2017 tax overhaul was restored at a $ 200 billion cost in a boon for the real estate sector .
An additional $ 45 billion would fund additional relief through the Federal Emergency Management Agency for local response efforts and community services .
This story was reported by The Associated Press .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ public service , the Monitor has removed the paywall for all our coronavirus coverage .
It ’ s free .

Acting with exceptional resolve in an extraordinary time, the House rushed President Donald Trump a $2.2 trillion rescue package Friday, tossing a life preserver to a U.S. economy and health care system left flailing by the coronavirus pandemic.
The House approved the sweeping measure by a voice vote, as strong majorities of both parties lined up behind the most colossal economic relief bill in the nation's history. It will ship payments of up to $1,200 to millions of Americans, bolster unemployment benefits, offer loans, grants and tax breaks to businesses large and small and flush billions more to states, local governments and the nation's all but overwhelmed health care system.
"Today we've all acknowledged our nation faces an economic and health emergency of historic proportions," said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
President Donald Trump said he would sign the bill immediately.
With exceptional resolve in an extraordinary time, the House on Friday debated a $2.2 trillion package tossing a life preserver to a U.S. economy and health care system left flailing by the coronavirus pandemic, even as one maverick Republican threatened leaders' plans for swift passage.
Democratic and Republican leaders were working in tandem and hoping to quickly pass the measure by voice vote to accommodate members scattered around the country and reluctant to risk flying back to the Capitol. There were hand sanitizers at the end of each aisle in the chamber, where most lawmakers sat scattered apart from one another.
There was no doubt the House would give overwhelming final congressional approval to the largest economic bailout legislation in U.S. history. For the most part, Democrats who saw a taxpayer giveaway to big business and Republicans who considered it ladened with waste were set to back the measure for the greater good of keeping the economy alive.
But libertarian Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., was threatening to slow action by demanding a roll call vote. That would force many lawmakers to make the journey to Washington to cast a vote on legislation that is certain to pass anyway, and it infuriated President Donald Trump and lawmakers from both parties.
Mr. Trump, who is certain to sign the legislation, tweeted that Representative Massie is "a third rate Grandstander" and said he should be drummed out of the GOP. "He is a disaster for America, and for the Great State of Kentucky!" Mr. Trump wrote.
Mr. Massie, who opposes the massive bill, was in the chamber during the debate, chatting occasionally with others and checking his phone. He did not respond to reporters' repeated efforts to reach him. Posting on Twitter, he cited a section of the Constitution that requires a majority of lawmakers – some 216 of them – to be present and voting to conduct business.
The debate was mostly conciliatory, with members of both parties praising the measure as a rescue for a ravaged nation. The lecturns in the chamber's well were wiped down between many of the speeches.
"While no one will agree with every part of this rescue bill, we face a challenge rarely seen in America's history. We must act now, or the toll on lives and livelihoods will be far greater," said Rep. Kevin Brady, R-Texas.
"We have no time to dither," said Rep. Gerald Connolly, D-Va. "We have no time to engage in ideological or petty partisan fights. Our country needs us as one."
But still, there were outbursts.
Freshman Rep. Haley Stevens, D-Mich., donned pink latex gloves and yelled well beyond her allotted one minute, saying she was speaking "not for personal attention but [to encourage you] to take this disease seriously." Much of what she said could not be heard above Republican shouts.
Numerous high-ranking Republicans called Mr. Massie in an attempt to persuade him to let the voice vote proceed, according to a top House GOP aide. They included House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., and Rep. Mark Meadows, R-N.C., whom Mr. Trump has chosen as his new chief of staff. The aide spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe private conversations.
Democratic leaders urged lawmakers who are "willing and able" to come to the Capitol to do so. And members of both parties were clearly upset with Mr. Massie.
"Heading to Washington to vote on pandemic legislation. Because of one Member of Congress refusing to allow emergency action entire Congress must be called back to vote in House," Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., wrote on Twitter. "Risk of infection and risk of legislation being delayed. Disgraceful. Irresponsible."
South Dakota GOP Rep. Dusty Johnson posted a selfie of himself and three other lawmakers from the upper Midwest traveling to Washington on an otherwise empty plane.
Friday's House session followed an extraordinary 96-0 Senate vote late Wednesday. The bill's relief can hardly come soon enough.
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said Thursday the economy "may well be in recession" already, and the government reported a shocking 3.3 million burst of weekly jobless claims, more than four times the previous record. The U.S. death toll from the virus rose to 1,300.
It is unlikely to be the end of the federal response. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said issues like more generous food stamp payments,aid to state and local governments and family leave may be revisited in subsequent legislation.
The legislation will give $1,200 direct payments to individuals and make way for a flood of subsidized loans, grants and tax breaks to businesses facing extinction in an economic shutdown caused as Americans self-isolate by the tens of millions. It dwarfs prior Washington efforts to take on economic crises and natural disasters, such as the 2008 Wall Street bailout and President Barack Obama's first-year economic recovery act.
But key elements are untested, such as grants to small businesses to keep workers on payroll and complex lending programs to larger businesses.
Policymakers worry that bureaucracies like the Small Business Administration may become overwhelmed, and conservatives fear that a new, generous unemployment benefit will dissuade jobless people from returning to the workforce. A new $500 billion subsidized lending program for larger businesses is unproven as well.
The bill finances a response with a price tag that equals half the size of the entire $4 trillion-plus annual federal budget. The $2.2 trillion estimate is the White House's best guess of the spending it contains.
The legislation would provide one-time direct payments to Americans of $1,200 per adult making up to $75,000 a year and $2,400 to a married couple making up to $150,000, with $500 payments per child.
Unemployment insurance would be made far more generous, with $600 per week tacked onto regular state jobless payments through the end of July. States and local governments would receive $150 billion in supplemental funding to help them provide basic and emergency services during the crisis.
The legislation also establishes a $454 billion program for guaranteed, subsidized loans to larger industries in hopes of leveraging up to $4.5 trillion in lending to distressed businesses, states, and municipalities. All would be up to the Treasury Department's discretion, though businesses controlled by Trump or immediate family members and by members of Congress would be ineligible.
There was also $150 billion devoted to the health care system, including $100 billion for grants to hospitals and other health care providers buckling under the strain of COVID-19 caseloads.
Republicans successfully pressed for an employee retention tax credit that's estimated to provide $50 billion to companies that retain employees on payroll and cover 50% of workers' paycheck up to $10,000. Companies would also be able to defer payment of the 6.2% Social Security payroll tax. A huge tax break for interest costs and operating losses limited by the 2017 tax overhaul was restored at a
$200 billion cost in a boon for the real estate sector.
An additional $45 billion would fund additional relief through the Federal Emergency Management Agency for local response efforts and community services.
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This story was reported by The Associated Press.
Editor’s note: As a public service, the Monitor has removed the paywall for all our coronavirus coverage. It’s free.


csmonitor--2020-05-12--Facing down jail and wealthy foes, Arab rights defenders soldier on

Yet Arab democrats say their struggle remains winnable .
“ You must never feel broken or powerless , ” says Sayed Alwadaei , a Bahraini rights activist , “ because that is the entire aim of repression and intimidation ; to make you overlook your own power to hold people to account.
” “ These regimes have the support of the West , they have money , they have armies , and they have the latest technology , ” says Khalid Ibrahim , director of the Gulf Center for Human Rights .
“ We only have the word .
And @ @ @ @ @ @ @ message out.
” Western governments rarely talk about Arab human rights these days .
Consumed by political divisions at home , they are more likely to praise autocratic regimes than challenge them .
And the United States and Europe enable the regimes ’ crackdowns with money , weapons , and technology .
If today the world order is shaking , the Arab world has been feeling the foreshocks for nearly a decade .
In the wake of the 2011 Arab Spring has come an anti-democratic counterrevolution that rages on .
In November , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Cairo coffee shop .
The raid received no media coverage .
They remain in prison , like hundreds of rights defenders and journalists across the region .
On a December Thursday in a nondescript Cairo apartment building , a table is spread with plastic containers of Egyptian morning mainstays – fava beans , taamiya , scrambled eggs , and falafel .
And a box of Dunkin ' donuts .
Reporters at the online newspaper Mada Masr are gathering for a tradition observed in newsrooms across the world : the end-of-week staff breakfast .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ gossip fill the air .
There are no obvious signs of the police raid a few weeks earlier that led to the brief detention of the paper ’ s top editors – except , that is , the bolted front door .
At Egypt ’ s last independent media outlet , which reports in a country that jails more journalists than almost any other , displaying normalcy is not just a coping mechanism , it ’ s a moral code .
“ We live and work like any other news organization .
We @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , ” says Sharif Abdel Kouddous , an editor .
That sort of stubborn determination is common to reporters and human rights defenders throughout the Middle East who are fighting – and sometimes defeating – a wave of repression .
As Europe , Latin America , and even the United States witness a steady erosion of democratic norms and institutions , Arab activists and journalists are embroiled in an all-out war in defense of those values , facing arrest , sham trials , even torture .
If today the world order is shaking @ @ @ @ @ @ @ terms , has been feeling the foreshocks for nearly a decade .
In much of the region , which less than 10 years ago experienced an awakening of political and personal freedoms , culture , and the media , activism has become a matter of life or death .
For in the wake of the 2011 Arab Spring protests to end autocratic rule and foster democracy has come an anti-democratic counterrevolution that rages to this day .
In the belief that democracy in one Arab state is a threat to all , regimes @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on political activity and media .
One of the fiercest campaigns continues under President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in Egypt , funded by Gulf allies , who has jailed 60,000 political prisoners and dozens of journalists , according to Human Rights Watch .
Western governments rarely talk about human rights in the Arab world these days .
Consumed by political divisions at home , and lately by the coronavirus pandemic , they are more likely to praise autocratic regimes than challenge them .
The silence has an impact .
In late November , Egyptian @ @ @ @ @ @ @ arrested three independent journalists : Solafa Magdy , Hossam al-Sayyad , and Mohamed Saleh .
Their detentions received no domestic or international media coverage .
Today they remain in prison in cramped conditions and denied medical care , like hundreds of rights defenders and journalists across the region .
Meanwhile , America and Europe continue to enable Arab regimes ’ crackdowns with money , weapons , and technology .
Canadian and French firms have sold software to the United Arab Emirates , Saudi Arabia , and Egypt that those governments have used to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and media outlets , internet watchdogs say .
Former U.S. National Security Agency employees have been widely reported as saying they worked with the UAE to monitor and spy on journalists and rights defenders .
The technology has aided regimes ’ use of anti-terror laws that criminalize as “ terrorism ” Facebook posts that are merely critical of the government .
In the words of one veteran Arab activist , “ it is as if in the battle between David and Goliath , Goliath was given a rocket-launcher.
” “ These regimes have @ @ @ @ @ @ @ have money , they have armies , and they have the latest technology .
What do we have ?
” asks Khalid Ibrahim , co-founder and director of the Beirut-based Gulf Center for Human Rights .
“ We only have the word .
And it is our duty to get the message out any way we can.
” One person fighting to get the word out is Gamal Eid , among the last human rights defenders operating in Egypt .
His Cairo-based Arabic Network for Human Rights Information ( ANHRI ) , which @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is now consumed with defending the growing number of Egyptians jailed for “ terrorism.
” From 2013-17 , ANHRI dealt with around 300 cases a year , but in 2018 and 2019 its caseload surpassed 500 a year .
Today few organizations or lawyers are willing to defend the increasingly varied range of Egyptians brought before the courts as “ terrorists.
” Many who dare to defend activists , such as human rights lawyer Mohamed el-Baqer , end up being arrested themselves .
Mr. Eid and his staff fear that if they shutter @ @ @ @ @ @ @ pretrial detention will go undefended , undocumented , and unseen .
“ If it wasn ’ t for us , these people would be lost to the system forever , ” says an ANHRI lawyer who requested anonymity .
“ We are their last , and only , hope.
” ANHRI defends suspected members of the former Muslim Brotherhood , which backed the government that General Sisi overthrew in a 2013 coup .
It also defends a growing number of young liberal Egyptians who once supported Mr. Sisi but are now persecuted for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ line .
“ We can not turn our backs on each other because of ideological differences , ” says Mr. Eid .
“ That is how the regime wins , ” he sighs .
ANHRI has paid a heavy price .
Its lawyers have been arrested , and Mr. Eid says he has been attacked by suspected regime agents twice in recent months , leaving him with cracked ribs .
He now carries pepper spray , constantly glancing over his shoulder in public .
But , he says , looking out from his @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , “ The people are with me , they thank me every day for our work .
That is my motivation and my protection.
” Activism endures , too , even in the oil-rich Gulf , where citizens must maneuver under the iron grip of monarchs who repress political life and speech with more impunity and brutality than governments anywhere else in the region .
On paper , the Gulf Arab governments seem unstoppable , thanks to their enormous wealth and decades of shared military and economic interests with Western countries that do @ @ @ @ @ @ @ with any criticism , let alone action .
With rights organizations shuttered and traditional activists in jail , democracy and social justice have one last champion : individual Gulf citizens .
Concerned citizens are now on the front lines for human right in Saudi Arabia , the UAE , Bahrain , and elsewhere , using social media to stand up for their communities and challenge official narratives .
They are being assisted by activists and exiles abroad providing organization , advocacy , and communications and cybersecurity knowhow .
“ Mobilization on social media @ @ @ @ @ @ @ lobby on certain issues , ” says Mr. Ibrahim of the Gulf Center for Human Rights in Beirut .
The end result : even with rights defenders in jail and the press muzzled , the truth is getting out , sustaining international scrutiny of the image-conscious monarchies .
In Saudi Arabia , the death in prison last month of leading rights defender Abdullah al-Hamid , reportedly for lack of medical care , triggered international condemnation .
Last year , public pressure forced the reversal of a death sentence imposed on peaceful activist Israa @ @ @ @ @ @ @ jailed Saudi women activists like Loujain Halhoul , tarnishing the image of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman .
Such is the work of Sayed Alwadaei .
After taking part in pro-democracy protests in Bahrain during the Arab Spring , Mr. Alwadaei was assaulted by government agents , tortured , and imprisoned for six months ; he still bears scars on his forehead .
In 2012 , he fled to the U.K. From London , Mr. Alwadaei founded the Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy ( BIRD ) , a network of citizens @ @ @ @ @ @ @ abroad working to pressure Bahrain ’ s rulers to release activists , improve prisoner conditions , and challenge Western governments ’ unwavering support for Manama .
BIRD carries the voice of prisoners and survivors to the international media and to the United Nations , sharing recordings of prisoner phone calls and firsthand testimonies of torture , abuse , and prison conditions .
It has swayed public opinion at home and in the U.K. , a key Bahrain supporter .
Mr. Alwadaei has changed the conversation , linking the monarchy to rights abuses , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for the king .
During a 2018 U.K. parliamentary debate calling attention to “ continuing human rights abuses in Bahrain , ” MPs criticized London ’ s “ failed ” policies and singled out Mr. Alwadaei for his “ bravery and tenacity.
” “ The moment they see their names mentioned in a report on torture or their image portrayed as torturers , they will think twice before they commit an abuse again , ” Mr. Alwadaei says from London .
The coronavirus pandemic has only highlighted the urgent need for independent voices @ @ @ @ @ @ @ regimes struggle to confront the virus and invoke emergency powers to suppress information contradicting their claims of “ victory , ” journalists and activists are seeking to provide dependable information .
In Cairo , Mada Masr is a lone dissenting voice challenging the pro-regime media chorus that at first downplayed the virus and now only praises the government ’ s response .
Its journalists have reported on the limited availability of tests , explored life under quarantine lockdown in rural villages , described how doctors and nurses are braving the front lines without @ @ @ @ @ @ @ at the National Cancer Institute .
Meanwhile , Gulf activists have reported on the dangers Asian laborers face in crowded housing , and are mounting campaigns pressuring Egypt , Saudi Arabia , and Bahrain to release political prisoners amid concerns the virus will spread in crammed jails .
Despite lamenting Western indifference to their fate , Arab democrats and rights defenders say their struggle remains winnable .
In fact , they like their odds .
For if they can keep the flame of democracy and freedoms alive in the darkest of times , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
“ You must never feel broken or powerless , because that is the entire aim of repression and intimidation ; to make you overlook your own power to hold people to account , ” says Mr. Alwadaei .
“ Sometimes vulnerability means opportunity , and you can turn it to your favor.
” At Mada Masr , the young journalists say they have a simple strategy to survive a regime that bullies the press , blurs the lines between fact and fiction , denounces the media as “ enemies , ” and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ : Stay above the fray .
The publication embodies classic journalistic principles : to analyze events and publish “ a record of life in Egypt at a time of great social and political change ” without taking sides , says managing editor Mohammed Hamama .
“ We are not activists ; we are witnesses , ” he insists .
“ What we deem deserves to be witnessed , documented , and commented on for the Egyptian people and future generations – we report it.
” At the Mada Masr office , you would @ @ @ @ @ @ @ directed toward President Sisi or his government .
The newspaper ’ s reports carefully weigh what the government does and says , always willing to give credit where it ’ s due .
The same edition might carry praise for the regime ’ s “ ingenious ” universal health care plan and a report on a corruption scandal involving Mr. Sisi ’ s inner circle .
Mada Masr reporters say the need for solid journalism is more important than their own personal feelings , no matter how great their outrage .
Mr. Hamama @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to journalism during the heady days of the Arab Spring .
But while the turbulent post-revolutionary period and 2013 military coup led others to give up or emigrate , the Mada Masr staff became convinced that Egypt needed independent journalism more than ever .
To survive amid widespread arrests of journalists and the nationalization of most private media , they adapt .
When the government blocked their site , they provided readers with work-arounds .
When authorities pressured advertisers to withdraw funding , they offered “ memberships ” to readers , inviting them @ @ @ @ @ @ @ community of concerned Egyptians .
Mada Masr journalists held to the belief that they were too small to be worth jailing .
But in late November , police stormed the paper and drove off with chief editor Lina Atallah , Mr. Hamama , and reporter Rana Mamdouh .
The three were convinced they would not see the light of day for a year , if ever .
Since 2014 , authorities have routinely subjected detainees to months or years of pretrial detentions .
And due to crowding and poor conditions , a prison @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Egypt .
Mada ’ s readers alerted Western reporters in Cairo .
They called their embassies , and diplomats queried the Interior Ministry .
After 90 minutes , a “ miracle , ” in Mr. Hamama ’ s word : The police car returned and dropped the reporters at the office .
They were released without charge .
Two days later , U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo condemned the raid in a rare public rebuke of the Sisi regime .
The cost-benefit for the government shifted ; arresting Mada ’ s reporters @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is more trouble than it ’ s worth for now .
But what if the government ’ s thinking changes again ?
“ That is what we are all wondering , ” Mr. Hamama says , sitting on the iron balcony of Mada ’ s office .
“ We don ’ t know if or when the regime will change its calculations and we will be arrested for good.
” He shrugs .
“ So we might as well continue .
”

Yet Arab democrats say their struggle remains winnable. “You must never feel broken or powerless,” says Sayed Alwadaei, a Bahraini rights activist, “because that is the entire aim of repression and intimidation; to make you overlook your own power to hold people to account.”
“These regimes have the support of the West, they have money, they have armies, and they have the latest technology,” says Khalid Ibrahim, director of the Gulf Center for Human Rights. “We only have the word. And it is our duty to get the message out.”
If support for democratic norms and institutions is eroding in the West, where does that leave rights activists and journalists in the Arab world? Seventh in our global series “Navigating Uncertainty.”
Western governments rarely talk about Arab human rights these days. Consumed by political divisions at home, they are more likely to praise autocratic regimes than challenge them. And the United States and Europe enable the regimes’ crackdowns with money, weapons, and technology.
If today the world order is shaking, the Arab world has been feeling the foreshocks for nearly a decade. In the wake of the 2011 Arab Spring has come an anti-democratic counterrevolution that rages on. In November, Egyptian police arrested three journalists at a Cairo coffee shop. The raid received no media coverage. They remain in prison, like hundreds of rights defenders and journalists across the region.
On a December Thursday in a nondescript Cairo apartment building, a table is spread with plastic containers of Egyptian morning mainstays – fava beans, taamiya, scrambled eggs, and falafel. And a box of Dunkin' donuts.
Reporters at the online newspaper Mada Masr are gathering for a tradition observed in newsrooms across the world: the end-of-week staff breakfast.
As they break bread, laughter and gossip fill the air. There are no obvious signs of the police raid a few weeks earlier that led to the brief detention of the paper’s top editors – except, that is, the bolted front door.
Why We Wrote This If support for democratic norms and institutions is eroding in the West, where does that leave rights activists and journalists in the Arab world? Seventh in our global series “Navigating Uncertainty.”
At Egypt’s last independent media outlet, which reports in a country that jails more journalists than almost any other, displaying normalcy is not just a coping mechanism, it’s a moral code.
“We live and work like any other news organization. We won’t let repression change us,” says Sharif Abdel Kouddous, an editor.
That sort of stubborn determination is common to reporters and human rights defenders throughout the Middle East who are fighting – and sometimes defeating – a wave of repression.
As Europe, Latin America, and even the United States witness a steady erosion of democratic norms and institutions, Arab activists and journalists are embroiled in an all-out war in defense of those values, facing arrest, sham trials, even torture.
If today the world order is shaking, the Arab world, in tectonic terms, has been feeling the foreshocks for nearly a decade.
In much of the region, which less than 10 years ago experienced an awakening of political and personal freedoms, culture, and the media, activism has become a matter of life or death. For in the wake of the 2011 Arab Spring protests to end autocratic rule and foster democracy has come an anti-democratic counterrevolution that rages to this day.
In the belief that democracy in one Arab state is a threat to all, regimes flush with petrodollars have cracked down mercilessly on political activity and media. One of the fiercest campaigns continues under President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in Egypt, funded by Gulf allies, who has jailed 60,000 political prisoners and dozens of journalists, according to Human Rights Watch.
SOURCE: Committee to Protect Journalists | Karen Norris/Staff
Goliath with a rocket launcher
Western governments rarely talk about human rights in the Arab world these days. Consumed by political divisions at home, and lately by the coronavirus pandemic, they are more likely to praise autocratic regimes than challenge them.
The silence has an impact.
In late November, Egyptian police raided a Cairo coffee shop and arrested three independent journalists: Solafa Magdy, Hossam al-Sayyad, and Mohamed Saleh. Their detentions received no domestic or international media coverage. Today they remain in prison in cramped conditions and denied medical care, like hundreds of rights defenders and journalists across the region.
Meanwhile, America and Europe continue to enable Arab regimes’ crackdowns with money, weapons, and technology. Canadian and French firms have sold software to the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt that those governments have used to block the websites of human rights organizations and media outlets, internet watchdogs say. Former U.S. National Security Agency employees have been widely reported as saying they worked with the UAE to monitor and spy on journalists and rights defenders.
The technology has aided regimes’ use of anti-terror laws that criminalize as “terrorism” Facebook posts that are merely critical of the government.
Amr Nabil/AP/File View caption Hide caption Egyptian photojournalist Mahmoud Abu Zeid, known by his nickname Shawkan, gestures in a soundproof glass cage inside a makeshift courtroom in Tora prison in Cairo, July 28, 2018. He was arrested in August 2013 while taking photographs of the government's violent dispersal of a sit-in by supporters of ousted Islamist President Mohammed Morsi. Shawkan was released March 4, 2019.
In the words of one veteran Arab activist, “it is as if in the battle between David and Goliath, Goliath was given a rocket-launcher.”
“These regimes have the support of the West, they have money, they have armies, and they have the latest technology. What do we have?” asks Khalid Ibrahim, co-founder and director of the Beirut-based Gulf Center for Human Rights. “We only have the word. And it is our duty to get the message out any way we can.”
Activists as “terrorists”
One person fighting to get the word out is Gamal Eid, among the last human rights defenders operating in Egypt.
His Cairo-based Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI), which once worked to reform police practices, is now consumed with defending the growing number of Egyptians jailed for “terrorism.”
From 2013-17, ANHRI dealt with around 300 cases a year, but in 2018 and 2019 its caseload surpassed 500 a year.
Today few organizations or lawyers are willing to defend the increasingly varied range of Egyptians brought before the courts as “terrorists.” Many who dare to defend activists, such as human rights lawyer Mohamed el-Baqer, end up being arrested themselves.
Mr. Eid and his staff fear that if they shutter their doors, Egyptians being held in pretrial detention will go undefended, undocumented, and unseen.
“If it wasn’t for us, these people would be lost to the system forever,” says an ANHRI lawyer who requested anonymity. “We are their last, and only, hope.”
ANHRI defends suspected members of the former Muslim Brotherhood, which backed the government that General Sisi overthrew in a 2013 coup. It also defends a growing number of young liberal Egyptians who once supported Mr. Sisi but are now persecuted for failing to toe the regime’s line.
“We cannot turn our backs on each other because of ideological differences,” says Mr. Eid. “That is how the regime wins,” he sighs.
Taylor Luck View caption Hide caption Gamal Eid, veteran Egyptian rights activist and director of the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information, on the balcony of his Cairo office, December 19, 2019.
ANHRI has paid a heavy price. Its lawyers have been arrested, and Mr. Eid says he has been attacked by suspected regime agents twice in recent months, leaving him with cracked ribs.
He now carries pepper spray, constantly glancing over his shoulder in public. But, he says, looking out from his balcony onto the bustling Cairo street below, “The people are with me, they thank me every day for our work. That is my motivation and my protection.”
Gulf citizens step up
Activism endures, too, even in the oil-rich Gulf, where citizens must maneuver under the iron grip of monarchs who repress political life and speech with more impunity and brutality than governments anywhere else in the region.
On paper, the Gulf Arab governments seem unstoppable, thanks to their enormous wealth and decades of shared military and economic interests with Western countries that do not dare risk the sheikhs’ stability with any criticism, let alone action.
With rights organizations shuttered and traditional activists in jail, democracy and social justice have one last champion: individual Gulf citizens.
Concerned citizens are now on the front lines for human right in Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain, and elsewhere, using social media to stand up for their communities and challenge official narratives.
They are being assisted by activists and exiles abroad providing organization, advocacy, and communications and cybersecurity knowhow.
“Mobilization on social media has been key to raise awareness and lobby on certain issues,” says Mr. Ibrahim of the Gulf Center for Human Rights in Beirut.
The end result: even with rights defenders in jail and the press muzzled, the truth is getting out, sustaining international scrutiny of the image-conscious monarchies.
SOURCE: Freedom House | Jacob Turcotte/Staff
In Saudi Arabia, the death in prison last month of leading rights defender Abdullah al-Hamid, reportedly for lack of medical care, triggered international condemnation.
Last year, public pressure forced the reversal of a death sentence imposed on peaceful activist Israa al-Ghomgham. And Western media repeatedly reference jailed Saudi women activists like Loujain Halhoul, tarnishing the image of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
Such is the work of Sayed Alwadaei.
After taking part in pro-democracy protests in Bahrain during the Arab Spring, Mr. Alwadaei was assaulted by government agents, tortured, and imprisoned for six months; he still bears scars on his forehead. In 2012, he fled to the U.K.
From London, Mr. Alwadaei founded the Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy (BIRD), a network of citizens and activists in his home country and abroad working to pressure Bahrain’s rulers to release activists, improve prisoner conditions, and challenge Western governments’ unwavering support for Manama.
BIRD carries the voice of prisoners and survivors to the international media and to the United Nations, sharing recordings of prisoner phone calls and firsthand testimonies of torture, abuse, and prison conditions. It has swayed public opinion at home and in the U.K., a key Bahrain supporter.
Mr. Alwadaei has changed the conversation, linking the monarchy to rights abuses, and inspiring people to question Western backing for the king. During a 2018 U.K. parliamentary debate calling attention to “continuing human rights abuses in Bahrain,” MPs criticized London’s “failed” policies and singled out Mr. Alwadaei for his “bravery and tenacity.”
“The moment they see their names mentioned in a report on torture or their image portrayed as torturers, they will think twice before they commit an abuse again,” Mr. Alwadaei says from London.
Meli Petersson Ellafi /TT News Agency/Reuters/File View caption Hide caption Omar al-Qahtani (L) and Saudi human rights advocate Yahya Assiri hold up the Right Livelihood Awards for imprisoned Saudi human rights defenders Abdullah al-Hamid, Waleed Abu al-Khair, and Mohammad Fahad al-Qahtani at a ceremony at the Vasa Museum in Stockholm, November 23, 2018.
Covid-19 raises the stakes
The coronavirus pandemic has only highlighted the urgent need for independent voices in the Arab world.
As Arab regimes struggle to confront the virus and invoke emergency powers to suppress information contradicting their claims of “victory,” journalists and activists are seeking to provide dependable information.
In Cairo, Mada Masr is a lone dissenting voice challenging the pro-regime media chorus that at first downplayed the virus and now only praises the government’s response.
Its journalists have reported on the limited availability of tests, explored life under quarantine lockdown in rural villages, described how doctors and nurses are braving the front lines without protective gear, and chronicled an outbreak at the National Cancer Institute.
Meanwhile, Gulf activists have reported on the dangers Asian laborers face in crowded housing, and are mounting campaigns pressuring Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Bahrain to release political prisoners amid concerns the virus will spread in crammed jails.
Bearing witness
Despite lamenting Western indifference to their fate, Arab democrats and rights defenders say their struggle remains winnable. In fact, they like their odds. For if they can keep the flame of democracy and freedoms alive in the darkest of times, they say, the future bodes well.
“You must never feel broken or powerless, because that is the entire aim of repression and intimidation; to make you overlook your own power to hold people to account,” says Mr. Alwadaei. “Sometimes vulnerability means opportunity, and you can turn it to your favor.”
At Mada Masr, the young journalists say they have a simple strategy to survive a regime that bullies the press, blurs the lines between fact and fiction, denounces the media as “enemies,” and polarizes the nation using a with-us-or-against-us narrative: Stay above the fray.
The publication embodies classic journalistic principles: to analyze events and publish “a record of life in Egypt at a time of great social and political change” without taking sides, says managing editor Mohammed Hamama.
“We are not activists; we are witnesses,” he insists. “What we deem deserves to be witnessed, documented, and commented on for the Egyptian people and future generations – we report it.”
At the Mada Masr office, you would be hard-pressed to hear insults or complaints directed toward President Sisi or his government. The newspaper’s reports carefully weigh what the government does and says, always willing to give credit where it’s due.
The same edition might carry praise for the regime’s “ingenious” universal health care plan and a report on a corruption scandal involving Mr. Sisi’s inner circle.
Mada Masr reporters say the need for solid journalism is more important than their own personal feelings, no matter how great their outrage.
Mr. Hamama and the Mada Masr staff were drawn to journalism during the heady days of the Arab Spring. But while the turbulent post-revolutionary period and 2013 military coup led others to give up or emigrate, the Mada Masr staff became convinced that Egypt needed independent journalism more than ever.
To survive amid widespread arrests of journalists and the nationalization of most private media, they adapt.
When the government blocked their site, they provided readers with work-arounds. When authorities pressured advertisers to withdraw funding, they offered “memberships” to readers, inviting them to support the news while forging a community of concerned Egyptians.
Catch and release
Mada Masr journalists held to the belief that they were too small to be worth jailing. But in late November, police stormed the paper and drove off with chief editor Lina Atallah, Mr. Hamama, and reporter Rana Mamdouh.
The three were convinced they would not see the light of day for a year, if ever. Since 2014, authorities have routinely subjected detainees to months or years of pretrial detentions. And due to crowding and poor conditions, a prison term can be a death sentence in Egypt.
Mada’s readers alerted Western reporters in Cairo. They called their embassies, and diplomats queried the Interior Ministry. After 90 minutes, a “miracle,” in Mr. Hamama’s word: The police car returned and dropped the reporters at the office. They were released without charge.
Two days later, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo condemned the raid in a rare public rebuke of the Sisi regime.
The cost-benefit for the government shifted; arresting Mada’s reporters and subjecting them to years in prison is more trouble than it’s worth for now.
But what if the government’s thinking changes again?
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“That is what we are all wondering,” Mr. Hamama says, sitting on the iron balcony of Mada’s office. “We don’t know if or when the regime will change its calculations and we will be arrested for good.”
He shrugs. “So we might as well continue.”


csmonitor--2020-05-19--Europe’s Marshall Plan for its neediest countries

One moment of extraordinary leadership during the pandemic came in mid-April with a moment of extraordinary humility .
The president of the European Commission , Ursula von der Leyen , gave a “ heartfelt apology ” to Italy for Europe ’ s failure to support it when the coronavirus had overwhelmed the Italian health system .
“ Now everyone has realized that we must protect each other , ” said Ms. von der Leyen , adding that the apology must be followed up with results .
One month later , an extraordinary result has begun to emerge .
On Monday @ @ @ @ @ @ @ economies , Germany and France , proposed that the European Union provide $ 545 billion in grants to help the economic recovery and reconstruction of member states hit hardest by the virus .
Top of the list are Italy , Spain , and Greece .
The Franco-German initiative , which still requires approval by all 27 EU states , has been likened to the Marshall Plan , the massive aid sent to Europe by the United States after World War II .
Yet the proposed grants would be more than three times that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s dollars .
Besides the size of the proposal , the other extraordinary aspect is a humble acceptance by Germany to allow the European Commission to borrow the $ 545 billion on financial markets .
As Europe ’ s wealthiest country , Germany has long opposed the EU taking on debt that it says would be paid back largely by German taxpayers .
Until now the EU ’ s response to the crisis has been to offer only loans to member states , some of them with conditions .
To justify Berlin ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that the damage from COVID-19 is the worst crisis that the EU has faced in its history .
The Continent , which is the world ’ s largest single market , may be facing a long recession .
“ Such a crisis also requires the appropriate answers , ” she said .
The pandemic was also not the result of any country ’ s failure to manage its economy well .
This helps remove the “ moral hazard ” of the EU borrowing money and giving it to the neediest countries .
Germany @ @ @ @ @ @ @ at a time when the economic downturn could add to the rise of populism and nationalism .
The EU ’ s core mission is to prevent the kind of destructive nationalism that led to two wars in the 20th century .
Its leaders also worry that one impact of the coronavirus might be a rise in economic inequality between states , perhaps leading to a split-up of the EU .
The plan to take on debt is seen as a “ Hamilton moment ” for Europe .
In its early days , the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Secretary Alexander Hamilton arranged for the federal government to assume the debts of the states after the Revolutionary War .
For Europe , a unifying moment was gained after it witnessed extreme suffering in Italy and then one leader , Ms. von der Leyen , apologized .
Now the humble admission of indifference may result in a generous plan to make a difference .

One moment of extraordinary leadership during the pandemic came in mid-April with a moment of extraordinary humility. The president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, gave a “heartfelt apology” to Italy for Europe’s failure to support it when the coronavirus had overwhelmed the Italian health system.
“Now everyone has realized that we must protect each other,” said Ms. von der Leyen, adding that the apology must be followed up with results.
One month later, an extraordinary result has begun to emerge.
On Monday, the Continent’s two largest economies, Germany and France, proposed that the European Union provide $545 billion in grants to help the economic recovery and reconstruction of member states hit hardest by the virus. Top of the list are Italy, Spain, and Greece.
The Franco-German initiative, which still requires approval by all 27 EU states, has been likened to the Marshall Plan, the massive aid sent to Europe by the United States after World War II. Yet the proposed grants would be more than three times that of the Marshall Plan in today’s dollars.
Besides the size of the proposal, the other extraordinary aspect is a humble acceptance by Germany to allow the European Commission to borrow the $545 billion on financial markets. As Europe’s wealthiest country, Germany has long opposed the EU taking on debt that it says would be paid back largely by German taxpayers. Until now the EU’s response to the crisis has been to offer only loans to member states, some of them with conditions.
To justify Berlin’s turnaround, Chancellor Angela Merkel explained that the damage from COVID-19 is the worst crisis that the EU has faced in its history. The Continent, which is the world’s largest single market, may be facing a long recession. “Such a crisis also requires the appropriate answers,” she said.
The pandemic was also not the result of any country’s failure to manage its economy well. This helps remove the “moral hazard” of the EU borrowing money and giving it to the neediest countries.
Germany and France want to strengthen European solidarity at a time when the economic downturn could add to the rise of populism and nationalism. The EU’s core mission is to prevent the kind of destructive nationalism that led to two wars in the 20th century. Its leaders also worry that one impact of the coronavirus might be a rise in economic inequality between states, perhaps leading to a split-up of the EU.
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empower and uplift daily. By signing up, you agree to our Privacy Policy Already a subscriber? Log in to hide ads.
The plan to take on debt is seen as a “Hamilton moment” for Europe. In its early days, the U.S. gained a unifying identity when Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton arranged for the federal government to assume the debts of the states after the Revolutionary War.
For Europe, a unifying moment was gained after it witnessed extreme suffering in Italy and then one leader, Ms. von der Leyen, apologized. Now the humble admission of indifference may result in a generous plan to make a difference.


csmonitor--2020-05-13--Home theater: Comedies to lighten your lockdown

It has always been my particular pleasure to champion older movies that might be discoveries for some and remembered treasures for others .
This is especially true when it comes to comedies .
Times and tastes may change but funny is still funny .
I can think of few comedies that are better picker-uppers than the three I ’ m highlighting for this week ’ s column : “ Tootsie , ” “ Lost in America , ” and “ Duck Soup.
” From the get-go , in their own very different ways , they take you to a better @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ ve seen these films many times and , if anything , they improve with age .
What was new the first time around becomes cherishable on repeated viewings .
Editor ’ s note : As a public service , all our coronavirus coverage is free .
No paywall .
Dustin Hoffman had perhaps his greatest movie role to date in “ Tootsie ” ( 1982 ) as Michael Dorsey , a New York actor deemed so “ difficult ” by his agent ( played to the hilt by Sydney Pollack , the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s become unemployable .
In desperation , secretly dressed in drag , he auditions for a soap opera and lands the part .
As “ Dorothy Michaels , ” playing a hospital administrator , he becomes the star of the show , all the while keeping his real identity under wraps .
Gender-bending complications ensue , including his attraction to one of the show ’ s actresses , Julie , who warms to Dorothy as a confidante .
Julie is marvelously played by Jessica Lange , who won the best supporting actress @ @ @ @ @ @ @ year that she was also nominated for best actress for her harrowing and polar opposite performance as Frances Farmer in “ Frances.
” And there ’ s Julie ’ s widowed father Les ( Charles Durning ) , who is smitten with “ Dorothy.
” The entire cast is tiptop , including Bill Murray as Michael ’ s playwright roomie , Teri Garr as Michael ’ s understandably frazzled girlfriend , and Dabney Coleman as the TV show ’ s lecherous director .
During its making , “ Tootsie ” was notorious for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and Pollack were continually at odds ( despite the film ’ s smash success , they never worked together again ) , and the script was worked over by many more writers , including Elaine May and Barry Levinson , than the two who were credited , Murray Schisgal and Larry Gelbart .
Given all this dissension , one might reasonably have expected a disaster , and yet not only is “ Tootsie ” a classic comedy , but also , of all things , a seamless classic comedy .
It ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ disguised yearning for Julie pulls him apart .
When the jig is finally up , he tries to calm her outrage by telling her , “ I was a better man with you as a woman than I ever was as a man.
” Hoffman gives a line that might otherwise sound sappy a deep wellspring of emotion .
( Rated PG ) Albert Brooks , as performer , writer , and director , is one of the most original comic talents in the history of American show business .
He came from @ @ @ @ @ @ @ radio comedian father , Harry Einstein , who had the wit , or the chutzpah , to name his son Albert .
His best movies as a director and co-writer are “ Real Life ” ( 1979 ) , a deadpan satire about a supremely annoying documentary filmmaker who intrudes on a family ’ s privacy ; “ Modern Romance ” ( 1981 ) , where Brooks plays a supremely annoying film editor trying to win back his girlfriend ( Kathryn Harrold ) ; and his masterpiece , “ Lost in America ” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ David , a cocky Los Angeles ad executive who , denied a promotion to vice president , chucks it all , liquidates his assets , buys an RV , and with his doting , befuddled wife , Linda ( Julie Hagerty ) , sets out on the road “ Easy Rider ” -style .
Things , needless to say , do not go as planned .
One of the funniest scenes of all time comes right after Linda has lost their life savings at a Vegas casino .
David frantically tries to convince @ @ @ @ @ @ @ slow-burn exasperation by Garry Marshall , to give the money back to the couple as a “ bold ” publicity gimmick .
Perfection .
( Rated R ) Leo McCarey ’ s “ Duck Soup ” ( 1933 ) is the funniest Marx Brothers movie and also , in its own vaudeville-gone-haywire way , one of the best antiwar satires ever made .
Groucho plays Rufus T. Firefly , the president of the embattled state of Freedonia , and Chico and Harpo play spies hired to undermine him .
The brothers never worked @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of their routines – the famous “ mirror ” scene where Groucho and Harpo mimic each other ’ s movements – is unmatched .
( Unrated ) These films are available to rent on Amazon ’ s Prime Video , YouTube , Google Play , and iTunes .

It has always been my particular pleasure to champion older movies that might be discoveries for some and remembered treasures for others. This is especially true when it comes to comedies. Times and tastes may change but funny is still funny. I can think of few comedies that are better picker-uppers than the three I’m highlighting for this week’s column: “Tootsie,” “Lost in America,” and “Duck Soup.” From the get-go, in their own very different ways, they take you to a better place and keep you there. I’ve seen these films many times and, if anything, they improve with age. What was new the first time around becomes cherishable on repeated viewings.
Editor’s note: As a public service, all our coronavirus coverage is free. No paywall.
“Tootsie”
Why We Wrote This Film critic Peter Rainer wants you to laugh. “I can think of few comedies that are better picker-uppers than the three I’m highlighting for this week’s column,” he says, recommending movies featuring Dustin Hoffman, Albert Brooks, and the Marx Brothers.
Dustin Hoffman had perhaps his greatest movie role to date in “Tootsie” (1982) as Michael Dorsey, a New York actor deemed so “difficult” by his agent (played to the hilt by Sydney Pollack, the film’s director) that he’s become unemployable. In desperation, secretly dressed in drag, he auditions for a soap opera and lands the part. As “Dorothy Michaels,” playing a hospital administrator, he becomes the star of the show, all the while keeping his real identity under wraps.
Gender-bending complications ensue, including his attraction to one of the show’s actresses, Julie, who warms to Dorothy as a confidante. Julie is marvelously played by Jessica Lange, who won the best supporting actress Oscar for this film in the same year that she was also nominated for best actress for her harrowing and polar opposite performance as Frances Farmer in “Frances.” And there’s Julie’s widowed father Les (Charles Durning), who is smitten with “Dorothy.”
The entire cast is tiptop, including Bill Murray as Michael’s playwright roomie, Teri Garr as Michael’s understandably frazzled girlfriend, and Dabney Coleman as the TV show’s lecherous director.
During its making, “Tootsie” was notorious for production problems on the set. Hoffman and Pollack were continually at odds (despite the film’s smash success, they never worked together again), and the script was worked over by many more writers, including Elaine May and Barry Levinson, than the two who were credited, Murray Schisgal and Larry Gelbart. Given all this dissension, one might reasonably have expected a disaster, and yet not only is “Tootsie” a classic comedy, but also, of all things, a seamless classic comedy.
It’s also unexpectedly touching. Michael’s disguised yearning for Julie pulls him apart. When the jig is finally up, he tries to calm her outrage by telling her, “I was a better man with you as a woman than I ever was as a man.” Hoffman gives a line that might otherwise sound sappy a deep wellspring of emotion. (Rated PG)
“Lost in America”
Albert Brooks, as performer, writer, and director, is one of the most original comic talents in the history of American show business. He came from a showbiz family, with a famous radio comedian father, Harry Einstein, who had the wit, or the chutzpah, to name his son Albert. His best movies as a director and co-writer are “Real Life” (1979), a deadpan satire about a supremely annoying documentary filmmaker who intrudes on a family’s privacy; “Modern Romance” (1981), where Brooks plays a supremely annoying film editor trying to win back his girlfriend (Kathryn Harrold); and his masterpiece, “Lost in America” (1985), where he plays David, a cocky Los Angeles ad executive who, denied a promotion to vice president, chucks it all, liquidates his assets, buys an RV, and with his doting, befuddled wife, Linda (Julie Hagerty), sets out on the road “Easy Rider”-style.
Things, needless to say, do not go as planned. One of the funniest scenes of all time comes right after Linda has lost their life savings at a Vegas casino. David frantically tries to convince the casino owner, played with impeccable slow-burn exasperation by Garry Marshall, to give the money back to the couple as a “bold” publicity gimmick. Perfection. (Rated R)
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“Duck Soup”
Leo McCarey’s “Duck Soup” (1933) is the funniest Marx Brothers movie and also, in its own vaudeville-gone-haywire way, one of the best antiwar satires ever made. Groucho plays Rufus T. Firefly, the president of the embattled state of Freedonia, and Chico and Harpo play spies hired to undermine him. The brothers never worked better together, and at least one of their routines – the famous “mirror” scene where Groucho and Harpo mimic each other’s movements – is unmatched. (Unrated)
These films are available to rent on Amazon’s Prime Video, YouTube, Google Play, and iTunes.