newyorkpost--2020-10-19--Evo Morales’ socialist party claims victory in Bolivia’s presidential election

LA PAZ , Bolivia — Evo Morales ’ party claimed victory in Bolivia ’ s presidential election as official results trickled in from Sunday ’ s high-stakes redo of last year ’ s annulled ballot that saw the leftist leader resign and flee the country .
More than nine hours after polls closed , barely 6 % of all ballot boxes had been counted and they showed Morales ’ handpicked successor , Luis Arce , trailing a conservative rival .
But with a private quick count of sampled polling stations favoring Arce by a wide margin , even interim President @ @ @ @ @ @ @ — recognized that the socialist movement looked set to return to power in what looked to be a major jolt to South America ’ s beleaguered left .
“ I congratulate the winners and I ask them to govern thinking in Bolivia and in our democracy , ” Áñez said on Twitter .
Bolivians have long been accustomed to quick preliminary results in presidential elections .
But after allegations of fraud and days of unrest marred last year ’ s ballot , newly installed electoral authorities had been appealing for patience , reminding @ @ @ @ @ @ @ days to declare a winner .
While voting was peaceful , the long wait Sunday night for results fueled speculation that something was awry .
Adding to intrigue , publication of two exit polls was also withheld after private pollsters said they didn ’ t trust their own survey results .
Morales broke the tense silence by declaring Arce the winner .
Later , two pollsters said a quick count of official tally sheets at select polling stations showed Arce had garnered more than 50 % of the votes , compared to 31 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the top finisher of four rival candidates .
“ We ’ ve recovered our democracy , ” Morales said in brief remarks from exile in Argentina .
“ Lucho will be our president.
” Appearing a few minutes later , Arce took a less strident tone and appealed for calm , saying he would seek to form a government of national unity .
“ I think the Bolivian people want to retake the path we were on , ” Arce declared around midnight surrounded by a small group of supporters , some of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the country ’ s Indigenous roots .
The early official results favored Mesa , a former journalist and historian , with 49 % compared to 33 % for Arce .
Prior to voting , polls showed Arce ahead but lacking enough votes to avoid a November runoff , where conservative voters would ’ ve likely rallied behind Mesa .
To win in the first round , a candidate needs more than 50 % of the vote , or 40 % with a lead of at least 10 percentage points over the second-place @ @ @ @ @ @ @ surge in growth and reduction in poverty as Morales ’ economy minister for more than a decade , would face an uphill battle trying to jumpstart growth this time .
The coronavirus , which led authorities to postpone Sunday ’ s election twice , has hit the impoverished , landlocked Bolivia harder than almost any other country on a per capita basis .
Nearly 8,400 of its 11.6 million people have died of COVID-19 .
Arce also faces the challenge of emerging from the long shadow of his former boss , who remains @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , UK-educated economist to mount a strong campaign .
Morales was barred from running in Sunday ’ s election , even for a seat in congress , and faces prosecution on what are seen as trumped-up charges of terrorism if he returns home .
Few expect the sometimes-irascible politician to sit by idly in a future Arce government .
Bolivia , once one of the most politically volatile countries in Latin America , experienced a rare period of stability under Morales , the country ’ s first Indigenous president .
A boyhood llama @ @ @ @ @ @ @ grower ’ s union , Morales had been immensely popular while overseeing an export-led economic surge .
But support was eroding due to his reluctance to leave power , increasing authoritarian impulses and a series of corruption scandals .
He shrugged aside a public vote that had set term limits , and competed in the October 2019 presidential vote , which he claimed to have narrowly won outright .
But a lengthy pause in reporting results fed suspicions of fraud and nationwide protests followed , leading to the deaths of at least 36 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ suggested he leave , Morales resigned and fled the country .
Morales called his ouster a coup and a non-elected conservative government has ruled ever since .
Sunday ’ s vote is an attempt to reset Bolivia ’ s democracy .
All seats in the 136-member Legislative Assembly were also up for grabs and expected to echo the results of the presidential race .
“ Bolivia ’ s new executive and legislative leaders will face daunting challenges in a polarized country , ravaged by COVID-19 , and hampered by endemically weak institutions , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ America , a Washington-based human rights advocacy organization .
Voting appeared to be peaceful , with long lines at some polling places but little of the hustle and bustle of past election days .
Voters appeared to be wearing masks and following physical distancing restrictions .
Morales initially urged his followers to patiently wait for the results , saying from his refuge in Argentina that they should not be provoked into violence .
“ The great lesson we should never forget is that violence only generates violence , and with that , we @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Morales led Bolivia from 2006 until 2019 and was the last survivor of the so-called “ pink wave ” of leftist leaders that swept into power across South American during a commodities boom .
Although outrage with corruption fueled a resurgence in right-wing politics , notably in Brazil , Arce ’ s victory is bound to reenergize the left , whose anthem of economic justice has broad appeal in a region poverty is expected to surge to 37 % this year , according to the United Nations .
In the end , Arce @ @ @ @ @ @ @ series of errors by Morales ’ enemies .
Áñez , a conservative senator , proclaimed herself interim president amid last year ’ s tumult and was accepted by the courts .
Her administration , despite lacking a majority in congress , set about trying to prosecute Morales and key aides while undoing his policies , helping prompt more unrest and polarization .
“ A lot of people said if this is the alternative being offered , I prefer to go back to the way things were , ” said Andres Gomez , a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Áñez dropped out at as a candidate for Sunday ’ s presidential election while trailing badly in polls .
That boosted Mesa , who governed Bolivia following the resignation in 2003 of former President Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada amid widespread protests .
The Trump administration , which celebrated Morales ’ departure as a watershed moment for democracy in Latin America , has been more cautious as Morales ’ handpicked successor surged in the polls .
A senior State Department official this week said the U.S. is ready to work with whomever Bolivians select @ @ @ @ @ @ @

LA PAZ, Bolivia — Evo Morales’ party claimed victory in Bolivia’s presidential election as official results trickled in from Sunday’s high-stakes redo of last year’s annulled ballot that saw the leftist leader resign and flee the country.
More than nine hours after polls closed, barely 6% of all ballot boxes had been counted and they showed Morales’ handpicked successor, Luis Arce, trailing a conservative rival.
But with a private quick count of sampled polling stations favoring Arce by a wide margin, even interim President Jeanine Áñez — an archrival of Morales — recognized that the socialist movement looked set to return to power in what looked to be a major jolt to South America’s beleaguered left.
“I congratulate the winners and I ask them to govern thinking in Bolivia and in our democracy,” Áñez said on Twitter.
Bolivians have long been accustomed to quick preliminary results in presidential elections. But after allegations of fraud and days of unrest marred last year’s ballot, newly installed electoral authorities had been appealing for patience, reminding voters that they have up to five days to declare a winner.
While voting was peaceful, the long wait Sunday night for results fueled speculation that something was awry. Adding to intrigue, publication of two exit polls was also withheld after private pollsters said they didn’t trust their own survey results.
Morales broke the tense silence by declaring Arce the winner. Later, two pollsters said a quick count of official tally sheets at select polling stations showed Arce had garnered more than 50% of the votes, compared to 31% for former President Carlos Mesa, the top finisher of four rival candidates.
“We’ve recovered our democracy,” Morales said in brief remarks from exile in Argentina. “Lucho will be our president.”
Appearing a few minutes later, Arce took a less strident tone and appealed for calm, saying he would seek to form a government of national unity.
“I think the Bolivian people want to retake the path we were on,” Arce declared around midnight surrounded by a small group of supporters, some of them in traditional Andean dress in honor of the country’s Indigenous roots.
The early official results favored Mesa, a former journalist and historian, with 49% compared to 33% for Arce.
Prior to voting, polls showed Arce ahead but lacking enough votes to avoid a November runoff, where conservative voters would’ve likely rallied behind Mesa. To win in the first round, a candidate needs more than 50% of the vote, or 40% with a lead of at least 10 percentage points over the second-place candidate.
Arce, who oversaw a surge in growth and reduction in poverty as Morales’ economy minister for more than a decade, would face an uphill battle trying to jumpstart growth this time.
The coronavirus, which led authorities to postpone Sunday’s election twice, has hit the impoverished, landlocked Bolivia harder than almost any other country on a per capita basis. Nearly 8,400 of its 11.6 million people have died of COVID-19.
Arce also faces the challenge of emerging from the long shadow of his former boss, who remains polarizing but whose support enabled the low-key, UK-educated economist to mount a strong campaign.
Morales was barred from running in Sunday’s election, even for a seat in congress, and faces prosecution on what are seen as trumped-up charges of terrorism if he returns home. Few expect the sometimes-irascible politician to sit by idly in a future Arce government.
Bolivia, once one of the most politically volatile countries in Latin America, experienced a rare period of stability under Morales, the country’s first Indigenous president.
A boyhood llama herder who became prominent leading a coca grower’s union, Morales had been immensely popular while overseeing an export-led economic surge. But support was eroding due to his reluctance to leave power, increasing authoritarian impulses and a series of corruption scandals.
He shrugged aside a public vote that had set term limits, and competed in the October 2019 presidential vote, which he claimed to have narrowly won outright. But a lengthy pause in reporting results fed suspicions of fraud and nationwide protests followed, leading to the deaths of at least 36 people.
When police and military leaders suggested he leave, Morales resigned and fled the country. Morales called his ouster a coup and a non-elected conservative government has ruled ever since.
Sunday’s vote is an attempt to reset Bolivia’s democracy. All seats in the 136-member Legislative Assembly were also up for grabs and expected to echo the results of the presidential race.
“Bolivia’s new executive and legislative leaders will face daunting challenges in a polarized country, ravaged by COVID-19, and hampered by endemically weak institutions,” said the Washington Office on Latin America, a Washington-based human rights advocacy organization.
Voting appeared to be peaceful, with long lines at some polling places but little of the hustle and bustle of past election days. Voters appeared to be wearing masks and following physical distancing restrictions.
Morales initially urged his followers to patiently wait for the results, saying from his refuge in Argentina that they should not be provoked into violence.
“The great lesson we should never forget is that violence only generates violence, and with that, we all lose,” he said.
Morales led Bolivia from 2006 until 2019 and was the last survivor of the so-called “pink wave” of leftist leaders that swept into power across South American during a commodities boom.
Although outrage with corruption fueled a resurgence in right-wing politics, notably in Brazil, Arce’s victory is bound to reenergize the left, whose anthem of economic justice has broad appeal in a region poverty is expected to surge to 37% this year, according to the United Nations.
In the end, Arce may have benefited from overreach and a series of errors by Morales’ enemies. Áñez, a conservative senator, proclaimed herself interim president amid last year’s tumult and was accepted by the courts. Her administration, despite lacking a majority in congress, set about trying to prosecute Morales and key aides while undoing his policies, helping prompt more unrest and polarization.
“A lot of people said if this is the alternative being offered, I prefer to go back to the way things were,” said Andres Gomez, a political scientist based in La Paz.
Áñez dropped out at as a candidate for Sunday’s presidential election while trailing badly in polls. That boosted Mesa, who governed Bolivia following the resignation in 2003 of former President Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada amid widespread protests.
The Trump administration, which celebrated Morales’ departure as a watershed moment for democracy in Latin America, has been more cautious as Morales’ handpicked successor surged in the polls. A senior State Department official this week said the U.S. is ready to work with whomever Bolivians select in a free and fair vote.


newyorkpost--2020-10-19--Fauci says he is ‘absolutely not’ surprised that Trump got COVID-19

White House coronavirus task force member Dr. Anthony Fauci said he is “ absolutely not ” surprised that President Trump @ @ @ @ @ in an interview that aired Sunday night on CBS ’ “ 60 Minutes , ” @ @ @ @ @ assessment after seeing the lack of safety measures against the bug at the Sept. 26 @ @ @ @ @ Coney Barrett ’ s Supreme Court nomination .
“ When I saw that on TV @ @ @ @ @ Oh my goodness , ’ ” Fauci recalled in the interview .
The infectious disease @ @ @ @ @ a completely precarious situation ” with no social distancing and limited mask-wearing .
“ Nothing @ @ @ @ @ that , ” Fauci said .
“ That ’ s got to be a problem @ @ @ @ @ it turned out to be a super spreader event.
” But a significant number of @ @ @ @ @ s attendees — including Trump , White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany and former New @ @ @ @ @ — later tested positive for the coronavirus .

White House coronavirus task force member Dr. Anthony Fauci said he is “absolutely not” surprised that President Trump contracted COVID-19.
Fauci, in an interview that aired Sunday night on CBS’ “60 Minutes,” said he came to that assessment after seeing the lack of safety measures against the bug at the Sept. 26 Rose Garden ceremony announcing Amy Coney Barrett’s Supreme Court nomination.
“When I saw that on TV, I said, ‘Oh my goodness,’” Fauci recalled in the interview.
The infectious disease expert called the event “a completely precarious situation” with no social distancing and limited mask-wearing.
“Nothing good can come out of that,” Fauci said. “That’s got to be a problem — and then sure enough it turned out to be a super spreader event.”
It’s unclear where the White House outbreak began.
But a significant number of the Rose Garden ceremony’s attendees — including Trump, White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany and former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie — later tested positive for the coronavirus.


newyorkpost--2020-10-19--Braves see ‘start of something special’ despite NLCS loss

Cody Bellinger ’ s presence in the NLCS had largely been an ...

There was a trace of sadness in Freddie Freeman’s voice, but also optimism.
“It’s an emotional time when the season ends, especially like this,” the Braves first baseman said Sunday night after his team’s 4-3 loss to the Dodgers in Game 7 of the NLCS. “But that group in that clubhouse, this is the start of something special.”
It’s a Braves team that lost significant starting rotation pieces during the season, including team ace Mike Soroka to a torn Achilles, but still came within three innings of reaching the World Series.
The Braves led 3-2 in the sixth inning when Dodgers’ pinch-hitter Kiké Hernandez hit a game-tying homer against reliever A.J. Minter. Cody Bellinger’s blast the following inning against Chris Martin put the Braves behind for good.
Freeman, Ronald Acuña Jr., Ozzie Albies, Dansby Swanson and Travis d’Arnaud form the nucleus of a lineup that will be expected to keep the Braves as a title contender next season.
“With our young guys, we took a huge step forward this year,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “We hadn’t won a postseason series and we won two and we got within a game of the World Series. We’re taking strides in the right direction and we did it with our young players and the experience that we got.
“I don’t know what next spring will bring and where we’ll be in our world, but we are in good shape here, with the experience we got, the players we have coming, a lot of our young players grew up a lot these last three months and I am excited as can be about the future of this organization and this club.”
Freeman, who had an MVP caliber season, is among the best active players never to have reached the World Series. He finished the NLCS with a 1.168 OPS and likely would have been the series MVP if the Braves won.
Freeman hit just .200 with one homer last postseason, when the Braves were eliminated by the Cardinals in the NLDS.
“Freddie is healthy this postseason and last year he wasn’t,” Snitker said before the game. “After going into the shortened season he had a phenomenal year and he just kept right on going. I would love to get to the World Series, where the world could see how great a player this guy is.”


newyorkpost--2020-10-19--Giants’ C.J. Board avoids the worst after frightening moment

The Giants , before securing their first win of the season by holding on to beat Washington 20-19 on Sunday , had to endure a frightening moment at MetLife Stadium .
All indications are wide receiver C.J .
Board will be fine after a hit that had him carted off the field .
Board , with 13:14 remaining in the third quarter , was hit by safety Deshazor Everett while attempting to haul in a pass .
Board did not hold onto the ball and never got back to his feet .
“ I was on the field , I @ @ @ @ @ @ @ didn ’ t see the collision , but I heard the collision , ’ ’ receiver Darius Slayton said .
“ I knew it was a good hit , and then I looked over there , and I saw him .
First thing I did was pray for him .
Obviously , stuff like that is a little unnerving.
’ ’ Board was attended to by Giants medical personnel and was placed on a stabilization board to keep his neck secure .
He was diagnosed with a concussion and a sprained neck and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ evaluation .
“ The one thing I can say , good news-wise : Even on the field , he was moving , he was conscious , he was responding , he was feeling , he was moving all his extremities , ’ ’ coach Joe Judge said .
“ The feedback I was given was pretty positive.
’ ’ When Washington scored with 13 seconds left in the first half , it continued a brutal trend for the Giants defense , a unit at its worst late in halves .
The defense has @ @ @ @ @ @ @ chances inside the two-minute warning .
“ That has been one of our issues so far , ’ ’ DT Leonard Williams said .
“ It ’ s definitely something we need to work on.
’ ’ The first-quarter sack of Daniel Jones was the 12.5 career sack against the Giants for DE Ryan Kerrigan .
… LB Blake Martinez and DL Dexter Lawrence were both evaluated for concussions in the second quarter and were able to return to the field .
… Rookie CB Darnay Holmes ( neck ) was forced out @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Adrian Colbert was inactive , meaning Julian Love was taken out of mothballs and moved back in as the No .
3 safety .
Love had good coverage but did not make a play on the ball in the end zone , as he failed to prevent TE Logan Thomas from coming down with a lob pass for a touchdown in the closing seconds of the first half .
CB James Bradberry ’ s first-quarter interception of Kyle Allen , plus Bradberry ’ s 19-yard return , set the offense up on the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ short touchdown drive .
“ I just wanted to make sure I didn ’ t drop it , ’ ’ Bradberry said .
“ That ’ s kind of why I double caught it .
We were in a cover-three zone and pretty much took my drop , and I was in the right place at the right time .
’ ’

The Giants, before securing their first win of the season by holding on to beat Washington 20-19 on Sunday, had to endure a frightening moment at MetLife Stadium.
All indications are wide receiver C.J. Board will be fine after a hit that had him carted off the field. Board, with 13:14 remaining in the third quarter, was hit by safety Deshazor Everett while attempting to haul in a pass. Board did not hold onto the ball and never got back to his feet.
“I was on the field, I was running a route, so I didn’t see the collision, but I heard the collision,’’ receiver Darius Slayton said. “I knew it was a good hit, and then I looked over there, and I saw him. First thing I did was pray for him. Obviously, stuff like that is a little unnerving.’’
Board was attended to by Giants medical personnel and was placed on a stabilization board to keep his neck secure. He was diagnosed with a concussion and a sprained neck and was taken to the hospital for further evaluation.
“The one thing I can say, good news-wise: Even on the field, he was moving, he was conscious, he was responding, he was feeling, he was moving all his extremities,’’ coach Joe Judge said. “The feedback I was given was pretty positive.’’
When Washington scored with 13 seconds left in the first half, it continued a brutal trend for the Giants defense, a unit at its worst late in halves. The defense has allowed 44 points this season in 11 chances inside the two-minute warning.
“That has been one of our issues so far,’’ DT Leonard Williams said. “It’s definitely something we need to work on.’’
The first-quarter sack of Daniel Jones was the 12.5 career sack against the Giants for DE Ryan Kerrigan. … LB Blake Martinez and DL Dexter Lawrence were both evaluated for concussions in the second quarter and were able to return to the field. … Rookie CB Darnay Holmes (neck) was forced out in the second quarter. … S Adrian Colbert was inactive, meaning Julian Love was taken out of mothballs and moved back in as the No. 3 safety. Love had good coverage but did not make a play on the ball in the end zone, as he failed to prevent TE Logan Thomas from coming down with a lob pass for a touchdown in the closing seconds of the first half.
CB James Bradberry’s first-quarter interception of Kyle Allen, plus Bradberry’s 19-yard return, set the offense up on the Washington 27-yard line and led to a short touchdown drive. “I just wanted to make sure I didn’t drop it,’’ Bradberry said. “That’s kind of why I double caught it. We were in a cover-three zone and pretty much took my drop, and I was in the right place at the right time.’’


newyorkpost--2020-10-19--Victim cries foul as NYC’s infamous ‘Black widow’ makes parole: ‘She’s an animal’

On Friday , it will be 30 years to the day since three gunshots rang out over East 69th Street on the Upper East Side , and Mary-Louise Hawkins ran out of her apartment to find her married , millionaire boyfriend , George Kogan , dying on the sidewalk .
Fiercely private since the sensational Oct. 23 , 1990 murder , Hawkins has kept her silence until now — because Barbara Kogan , the vengeful wife who paid for those three bullets , is getting out on parole .
“ She ’ s an animal , ” Hawkins told The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ tabloids as the “ Black Widow.
” “ Barbara is extremely good at manipulating people — even parole officers.
” Kogan , 77 — who notoriously had her hair done as her estranged husband died in an operating room at a New York hospital , and who eluded justice for the next two decades before finally being arrested in 2008 — will be paroled next month after only 12 years behind bars .
The state is springing her despite a farcical , July 7 parole hearing , in which she claimed she never @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s $ 4 million life insurance policy .
She also claimed she was shocked to learn he ’ d been shot , a transcript of the proceeding reveals .
“ Actually , when he was murdered , I was so astounded , ” Kogan told two parole board members via videoconference from Taconic Correctional Facility in Bedford Hills , NY — flatly contradicting her 2010 plea to conspiracy to commit murder and grand larceny .
“ I didn ’ t even — I didn ’ t think it was me , ” insisted @ @ @ @ @ @ @ bespoke , funereal clothes she ’ d wear to court .
“ I thought , ‘ What is going on here ?
” Kogan ’ s claimed befuddlement , her clean prison discipline record , and her brusque apology — “ I feel horrible , okay ?
” she snapped at one point — were apparently enough to convince the parole board that she can be safely released back into society .
But Hawkins , who was 28 years old at the time Kogan , 49 , was murdered , is not convinced @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Hawkins has married and made a new life for herself overseas , though she would return to Manhattan frequently , to meet with prosecutors , testify before three grand juries , and help prosecutors convict Barbara ’ s drug-addled divorce lawyer , Manuel Martinez , of arranging the hit for $ 40,000 .
In the 20 years it took for her to see a prison cell , Barbara Kogan , meanwhile , waged a war of harassment , Hawkins told the parole board in a victim impact letter she shared with The Post @ @ @ @ @ @ @ parents ’ unlisted telephone number and occasionally dialed them in the middle of the night in order to catch them off guard — to remind them yet again that she wanted the money and valuables she thought George had left behind , ” she wrote the parole board .
Hawkins hoped to escape the press and Kogan ’ s wrath when she fled to Europe three years after the murder , in 1993 .
But “ just as I would begin to breathe , ” she told the board , “ thinking I @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Barbara or one of her hirlings would call unexpectedly with more than a hint of malice.
” The cruelty and senselessness of George Kogan ’ s end has also never left Hawkins .
“ You have no idea what real panic and despair is until you see someone you love lying face down in a pool — no , a torrent of blood , ” she wrote the parole board .
The 44-caliber , hollow-point or so-called “ cop killer ” bullets “ were designed to do maximum damage to the internal organs @ @ @ @ @ @ @ board .
Two of the bullets would be recovered from Kogan ’ s body , and the third , which passed through him , from the sidewalk .
The revolver itself disappeared forever , back into the waistband of a man in a bright green baseball cap who walked calmly from the scene and has never been caught .
“ Go get Mary-Louise , I ’ m dying , ” the stricken Kogan told the doorman — his last words , Hawkins told The Post .
“ The doorman banged on my front @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s been an accident ” Hawkins remembered in a recent phone interview .
“ There was blood everywhere .
I thought he ’ d been in an accident .
But there were three bullet holes in his back ” she said .
“ That ’ s when I lost it.
” “ It ’ s the wife !
” witnesses have said Hawkins screamed over Kogan ’ s body .
“ He was a sweetie , ” Hawkins told The Post of George Kogan .
“ He was a big kid , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ wanted a nice , quiet life .
He loved music , art , architecture , photography … but he had never had a life , ” despite the millions in real estate he inherited and managed , she said .
Born into a family that owned a prosperous chain of department stores in Puerto Rico , Kogan had little self-esteem as a kid .
“ His mother lavished attention on his older brother , who was better looking , ” Hawkins said .
“ He told me his mother used to call him @ @ @ @ @ @ @ he ran into this woman , ” Hawkins said of Barbara , who had met the wealthy George when they were both young college students in Manhattan .
Hawkins spoke to The Post on condition that any details that could identify her — her current name , her husband ’ s name , even which country they live in — be omitted from the story .
She has remained wary not only of Kogan , but of the press , which had camped outside her door after her Brown University yearbook photo was @ @ @ @ @ @ @ York ’ s tabloids .
In the weeks after the murder , hate mail , and overtures from talk show hosts who “ felt her pain , ” flooded her mailbox .
Random inmates wrote from jail , promising to rape her as soon as they got out .
Grief-stricken , she contemplated suicide .
“ I had been cast as someone ’ s mistress — the tarted-up young lady , ” even though the Kogans had been estranged for two years prior to the murder , and Barbara herself had taken a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Hawkins insists she had never pursued George in the months after meeting the Kogans in 1988 , when they hired her as a publicist for their chic new Madison Avenue antiques store .
At first , George reminded her of her own father .
“ He started showing up at my door early in the morning with my favorite coffee cake , and he ’ d walk me to work , and talk to me about how miserable he was , ” she said .
The couple ’ s two sons , William @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on their own , leaving the Kogans ’ apartment on E. 74th Street feeling like the tomb of a moribund marriage .
“ She wouldn ’ t let George in the bedroom with her , ” Hawkins said of Barbara .
“ He was sleeping in the spare room , ” she said .
“ George told me Barbara called him fat , and said that he disgusted her — just like his mother had said .
“ When I met him he was so miserable , he was slowly killing himself by @ @ @ @ @ @ @ He wouldn ’ t want to go home — he would wander the streets buying food .
He had his route — ramen noodles , cookies.
” Then , “ he would go home , and listen to music and weep and eat.
” Smitten by Hawkins , Kogan told his wife he wanted a divorce .
It was early 1989 when he served her with papers and moved into Hawkins ’ one-bedroom , E. 69th street apartment .
His new life was a happy revelation .
George had spent the previous 25 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ $ 100,000 of his money each year on clothes , jewelry and beauty treatments , including daily visits to a hairstylist , Hawkins said .
“ He was amazed when he realized I washed my own hair , ” Hawkins remembered with a laugh .
“ He would say , ‘ Don ’ t you need me to make you an appointment ?
’ I ’ d say , ‘ For what ?
’ I ’ d say ‘ Watch this ’ — and I washed my own hair.
” Hawkins and Kogan @ @ @ @ @ @ @ future .
“ We were going to go to Italy , and look for a property , and develop a hotel , ” she said .
The day he was shot , he and Barbara were going to flesh out a final divorce agreement , after nearly two years of rancorous negotiations .
“ He woke up that morning , looked out the window , and it was pouring rain , ” Hawkins remembered .
Still , he needed to go out , to the grocery store .
He was coming back with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
“ I ’ ll be right back , ” he had told Hawkins .
“ You ’ ve done a lot of work , madam , ” one of the parole board members congratulates Kogan at the end of the hearing , after reviewing her record of treatment programs , and the volunteer counseling work she has done while in prison .
“ It takes a lot to muster up the strength and endurance to continue on after trauma , ” the parole board member says .
“ We will take that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ adds , “ You ’ re laughing .
Did I say something that offended you ?
” “ Okay .
Very good , ” the parole board member says .
‘ We ’ re going to deliberate , write our decision , and send it to your attention.
” Hawkins thinks she knows what Kogan found amusing .
“ She ’ s laughing because she fooled them — and she knows she has , ” Hawkins said .
Ten days after the hearing , the parole board signed its decision and notified Hawkins @ @ @ @ @ @ @ was to make sure she stays away from her sons , because she will coerce them and try to get them to feel sorry for her .
“ They ’ ve been through enough , ” Hawkins said .
The decision can not be appealed , notes police widow Diane Piagentini , who blames Gov .
Cuomo ’ s lenient parole board appointees for the inexplicable release of her husband ’ s Black Revolutionary Army assassin , Herman Bell .
Amazingly , the parole board even recently released a convict who had murdered @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Perry Bellamy , was sprung despite denying committing the crime during his parole board hearing .
“ Where is justice ?
” Piagentini asked , after she was told of the Kogan parole .
“ Right now , there is no justice .
I know .
It boggles your mind , ” said the widow , who believes the state is offloading older inmates with reckless abandon , just to lower costs .
He , fellow convicted cop-killer Anthony Bottom , and murderer-rapist Samuel Ayala are among the new parolees who have prompted @ @ @ @ @ @ @ bill giving the Legislature more oversight over the parole board .
“ If he ’ s letting out cops killers , ” Piagentini told The Post of the governor , “ that means the flood gates are just open .
”

On Friday, it will be 30 years to the day since three gunshots rang out over East 69th Street on the Upper East Side and Mary-Louise Hawkins ran out of her apartment to find her married millionaire boyfriend, George Kogan, dying on the sidewalk.
Fiercely private since the sensational Oct. 23, 1990, murder, Hawkins has kept her silence until now — because Barbara Kogan, the vengeful wife who paid for those three bullets, is getting out on parole.
“She’s an animal,” Hawkins told The Post of the woman reviled in the tabloids as the “Black Widow.”
“Barbara is extremely good at manipulating people — even parole officers.”
Kogan, 77 — who notoriously had her hair done as her estranged husband died in an operating room at a New York hospital, and who eluded justice for the next two decades before finally being arrested in 2008 — will be paroled next month after only 12 years behind bars.
The state is springing her despite a farcical July 7 parole hearing in which she claimed she never had designs on her estranged husband’s $4 million life insurance policy.
She also claimed she was shocked to learn he’d been shot, a transcript of the proceeding reveals.
“Actually, when he was murdered, I was so astounded,” Kogan told two parole board members via videoconference from Taconic Correctional Facility in Bedford Hills, NY — flatly contradicting her 2010 plea to conspiracy to commit murder and grand larceny.
“I didn’t even — I didn’t think it was me,” insisted the Black Widow — nicknamed for the bespoke funereal clothes she’d wear to court.
“I thought, ‘What is going on here?’”
Kogan’s claimed befuddlement, her clean prison discipline record, and her brusque apology — “I feel horrible, okay?” she snapped at one point — were apparently enough to convince the parole board that she can be safely released back into society.
But Hawkins, who was 28 years old at the time Kogan, 49, was murdered, is not convinced.
***
Over the past 30 years, Hawkins has married and made a new life for herself overseas, though she would return to Manhattan frequently, to meet with prosecutors, testify before three grand juries, and help prosecutors convict Barbara’s drug-addled divorce lawyer, Manuel Martinez, of arranging the hit for $40,000.
In the 20 years it took for her to see a prison cell, Barbara Kogan, meanwhile, waged a war of harassment, Hawkins told the parole board in a victim impact letter she shared with The Post.
“She managed to obtain my parents’ unlisted telephone number and occasionally dialed them in the middle of the night in order to catch them off guard — to remind them yet again that she wanted the money and valuables she thought George had left behind,” she wrote the parole board.
Hawkins hoped to escape the press and Kogan’s wrath when she fled to Europe three years after the murder, in 1993.
But “just as I would begin to breathe,” she told the board, “thinking I was finally free of her, either Barbara or one of her hirelings would call unexpectedly with more than a hint of malice.”
The cruelty and senselessness of George Kogan’s end has also never left Hawkins.
“You have no idea what real panic and despair is until you see someone you love lying face down in a pool — no, a torrent of blood,” she wrote the parole board.
The .44-caliber, hollow-point bullets, so-called “cop-killer” rounds, “were designed to do maximum damage to the internal organs,” she noted to the parole board.
Two of the bullets would be recovered from Kogan’s body, and the third, which passed through him, from the sidewalk.
The revolver itself disappeared forever, back into the waistband of a man in a bright green baseball cap who walked calmly from the scene and has never been caught.
“Go get Mary-Louise, I’m dying,” the stricken Kogan told the doorman — his last words, Hawkins told The Post.
“The doorman banged on my front door and said, ‘Come quickly, there’s been an accident,’” Hawkins remembered in a recent phone interview.
“There was blood everywhere. I thought he’d been in an accident. But there were three bullet holes in his back,” she said. “That’s when I lost it.”
“It’s the wife!” witnesses have said Hawkins screamed over Kogan’s body.
***
“He was a sweetie,” Hawkins told The Post of George Kogan.
“He was a big kid,” she said.
“He just wanted a nice, quiet life. He loved music, art, architecture, photography … but he had never had a life,” despite the millions in real estate he inherited and managed, she said.
Born into a family that owned a prosperous chain of department stores in Puerto Rico, Kogan had little self-esteem as a kid.
“His mother lavished attention on his older brother, who was better looking,” Hawkins said. “He told me his mother used to call him fat and lazy.
“Then, he ran into this woman,” Hawkins said of Barbara, who had met the wealthy George when they were both young college students in Manhattan.
“And she utterly destroyed him.”
Hawkins spoke to The Post on condition that any details that could identify her — her current name, her husband’s name, even which country they live in — be omitted from the story.
She has remained wary not only of Kogan, but of the press, which had camped outside her door after her Brown University yearbook photo was splashed across the front pages of New York’s tabloids.
In the weeks after the murder, hate mail, and overtures from talk show hosts who “felt her pain,” flooded her mailbox.
Random inmates wrote from jail, promising to rape her as soon as they got out. Grief-stricken, she contemplated suicide.
“I had been cast as someone’s mistress — the tarted-up young lady,” even though the Kogans had been estranged for two years prior to the murder, and Barbara herself had taken a State Department worker as a lover.
Hawkins insists she had never pursued George in the months after meeting the Kogans in 1988, when they hired her as a publicist for their chic new Madison Avenue antiques store.
At first, George reminded her of her own father.
“He started showing up at my door early in the morning with my favorite coffee cake, and he’d walk me to work, and talk to me about how miserable he was,” she said.
The couple’s two sons, William and Scott, were grown and living on their own, leaving the Kogans’ apartment on East 74th Street feeling like the tomb of a moribund marriage.
“She wouldn’t let George in the bedroom with her,” Hawkins said of Barbara.
“He was sleeping in the spare room,” she said.
“George told me Barbara called him fat, and said that he disgusted her — just like his mother had said.
“When I met him, he was so miserable, he was slowly killing himself by eating,” she said.
“He wouldn’t want to go home — he would wander the streets buying food. He had his route — ramen noodles, cookies.”
Then, “he would go home, and listen to music and weep and eat.”
Smitten with Hawkins, Kogan told his wife he wanted a divorce.
It was early 1989 when he served her with papers and moved into Hawkins’ one-bedroom, East 69th Street apartment.
His new life was a happy revelation.
George had spent the previous 25 years married to a woman who spent $100,000 of his money each year on clothes, jewelry and beauty treatments, including daily visits to a hairstylist, Hawkins said.
“He was amazed when he realized I washed my own hair,” Hawkins remembered with a laugh.
“He would say, ‘Don’t you need me to make you an appointment?’ I’d say, ‘For what?’ I’d say, ‘Watch this’ — and I washed my own hair.”
Hawkins and Kogan were in love, and planning their future.
“We were going to go to Italy, and look for a property, and develop a hotel,” she said.
The day he was shot, he and Barbara were going to flesh out a final divorce agreement, after nearly two years of rancorous negotiations.
“He woke up that morning, looked out the window, and it was pouring rain,” Hawkins remembered.
“I hate days like this,” he grumbled.
Still, he needed to go out, to the grocery store. He was coming back with bags of groceries when he was shot.
“I’ll be right back,” he had told Hawkins.
***
“You’ve done a lot of work, madam,” one of the parole board members congratulated Kogan at the end of the hearing, after reviewing her record of treatment programs, and the volunteer counseling work she had done while in prison.
“Thank you,” Kogan answered.
“It takes a lot to muster up the strength and endurance to continue on after trauma,” the parole board member said. “We will take that into consideration as well.”
Then he added, “You’re laughing. Did I say something that offended you?”
“No,” Kogan answered.
“Okay. Very good,” the parole board member said.
‘We’re going to deliberate, write our decision, and send it to your attention.”
Hawkins thinks she knows what Kogan found amusing.
“She’s laughing because she fooled them — and she knows she has,” Hawkins said.
Ten days after the hearing, the parole board signed its decision and notified Hawkins by mail.
“I’m disgusted, I really am,” Hawkins told The Post.
“My main goal was to make sure she stays away from her sons, because she will coerce them and try to get them to feel sorry for her.
“They’ve been through enough,” Hawkins said.
The decision cannot be appealed, notes police widow Diane Piagentini, who blames Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s lenient parole board appointees for the inexplicable release of her husband’s Black Revolutionary Army assassin, Herman Bell.
Amazingly, the parole board even recently released a convict who had murdered a parole officer.
That inmate, Perry Bellamy, was sprung despite denying during his parole board hearing that he committed the crime.
“Where is justice?” Piagentini asked, after she was told of the Kogan parole.
“Right now, there is no justice. I know. It boggles your mind,” said the widow, who believes the state is offloading older inmates with reckless abandon, just to lower costs.
Bell killed officers Joseph Piagentini and Waverly Jones in 1971, leaving Diane Piagentini a young widow.
He, fellow convicted cop-killer Anthony Bottom and murderer-rapist Samuel Ayala are among the new parolees who have prompted outraged state lawmakers to push a new bill giving the Legislature more oversight over the parole board.
“If he’s letting out cop-killers,” Piagentini told The Post of the governor, “that means the floodgates are just open.”


newyorkpost--2020-10-19--Giants’ unconventional triumph could spark turnaround

The most poignant observation of an afternoon slog at MetLife Stadium came from the visiting coach , Riverboat Ron Rivera , who turned a good chunk of America ’ s football-watching public apoplectic when he decided to go for a two-point conversion late in this rock fight , rather than kick an extra point and go for overtime .
“ The only way to learn to win , ” the coach of the Washington Football Team would say , by manner of explanation , “ is to play to win.
” That probably provides little consolation for Washington fans who @ @ @ @ @ @ @ half of what became a 20-19 Giants victory .
But it is a reminder that even in a clash of anti-titans , 1-4 against 0-5 , there is a lesson to be learned .
Neither of these teams is good enough to beat most of the other teams in the league .
But that doesn ’ t mean you don ’ t try to make winning plays .
Sometimes the seeds for future success are sown on forgettable afternoons like this one .
The Giants have spent most of this season playing just @ @ @ @ @ @ @ — or , put another way , just poorly enough that most of those fourth quarters that went awry did so for a reason .
But winning is always preferable to losing .
“ Every game has a storm , ” Giants coach Joe Judge said .
“ You have to fight through the storm.
” Said Leonard Williams : “ I was tired of seeing sad faces in the locker room.
” There are still so many issues facing this team .
You can torture yourself as a fan .
You can @ @ @ @ @ @ @ there , the Bears game could ’ ve gone differently , the Rams game could ’ ve gone differently .
You can surely believe the Cowboys game last week in Arlington , Texas , could ’ ve gone differently .
You can look at the deplorable roster of NFL East teams and repeat the age-old adage of sporting optimism : Why not us ?
And that ’ s fine .
That ’ s as it should be .
That also doesn ’ t take away from the fact that the Giants were the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ afternoon , and not just because Riverboat Ron decided to hit on 18 .
The Giants won despite accounting for only 112 passing yards ; the cadets running the triple option at West Point are generally the only ones who win games that way in 2020 .
They won despite being unable to seize the game in the second half against a Washington team that seemed so ready to be seized .
There was the weekly awful turnover from Daniel Jones , a pick in the Washington end zone that , by rights @ @ @ @ @ @ @ but was still an inexplicably poor decision by a quarterback whose decision making continues to be a grave concern .
And they won despite allowing a late touchdown that , by rights , should have forced an overtime they wanted no part of , because they ’ d been blown off the line of scrimmage relentlessly for the better part of an hour .
Still — and this really does matter — they won .
They won , in the end , because given one chance to fulfill the credo of Riverboat Ron @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s quarterback , Kyle Allen , made a terrible mistake ( that no doubt made Giants fans wince , because they could see their own quarterback easily make such a blunder ) and fumbled a ball at midfield that was scooped up by Tae Crowder and run back 43 yards for a touchdown with 3:29 to go .
Crowder — the last pick in the last NFL draft , reigning holder of the title of “ Mr .
Irrelevant ” — saw the ball , grabbed the ball , ran with the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to win doesn ’ t always need to be as complicated as advanced astrophysics .
“ Right place , right time , ” Crowder would say later .
“ Trying to make a play for my team.
” That is the seed .
That is the beginning .
You make enough of these plays you can win a few games .
String enough of those wins , and maybe you build something again to replace the football eyesore we ’ ve grown all too familiar with .
Play to win , even at @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Maybe see if it can travel to Philadelphia four days from now .

The most poignant observation of an afternoon slog at MetLife Stadium came from the visiting coach, Riverboat Ron Rivera, who turned a good chunk of America’s football-watching public apoplectic when he decided to go for a two-point conversion late in this rock fight, rather than kick an extra point and go for overtime.
“The only way to learn to win,” the coach of the Washington Football Team would say, by manner of explanation, “is to play to win.”
That probably provides little consolation for Washington fans who saw its defense fairly own the second half of what became a 20-19 Giants victory. But it is a reminder that even in a clash of anti-titans, 1-4 against 0-5, there is a lesson to be learned. Neither of these teams is good enough to beat most of the other teams in the league.
But that doesn’t mean you don’t try to make winning plays. Sometimes the seeds for future success are sown on forgettable afternoons like this one. The Giants have spent most of this season playing just well enough to lose in agonizing fashion — or, put another way, just poorly enough that most of those fourth quarters that went awry did so for a reason.
But winning is always preferable to losing.
(NOTE TO TANK FANS: This is the law. Sorry. You can provide all the evidence you want that tanking can work out in the long run. Don’t want to hear it. Tanking stinks.)
“Every game has a storm,” Giants coach Joe Judge said. “You have to fight through the storm.”
Said Leonard Williams: “I was tired of seeing sad faces in the locker room.”
There are still so many issues facing this team. You can torture yourself as a fan. You can say, play here and a play there, the Bears game could’ve gone differently, the Rams game could’ve gone differently. You can surely believe the Cowboys game last week in Arlington, Texas, could’ve gone differently.
You can look at the deplorable roster of NFL East teams and repeat the age-old adage of sporting optimism: Why not us?
And that’s fine. That’s as it should be. That also doesn’t take away from the fact that the Giants were the beneficiaries of some great good fortune Sunday afternoon, and not just because Riverboat Ron decided to hit on 18. The Giants won despite accounting for only 112 passing yards; the cadets running the triple option at West Point are generally the only ones who win games that way in 2020.
They won despite being unable to seize the game in the second half against a Washington team that seemed so ready to be seized. There was the weekly awful turnover from Daniel Jones, a pick in the Washington end zone that, by rights, should have been overturned on review but was still an inexplicably poor decision by a quarterback whose decision making continues to be a grave concern.
And they won despite allowing a late touchdown that, by rights, should have forced an overtime they wanted no part of, because they’d been blown off the line of scrimmage relentlessly for the better part of an hour.
Still — and this really does matter — they won.
They won, in the end, because given one chance to fulfill the credo of Riverboat Ron Rivera, they did it. Rivera’s quarterback, Kyle Allen, made a terrible mistake (that no doubt made Giants fans wince, because they could see their own quarterback easily make such a blunder) and fumbled a ball at midfield that was scooped up by Tae Crowder and run back 43 yards for a touchdown with 3:29 to go.
Crowder — the last pick in the last NFL draft, reigning holder of the title of “Mr. Irrelevant” — saw the ball, grabbed the ball, ran with the ball. Seems simple. But playing to win doesn’t always need to be as complicated as advanced astrophysics.
“Right place, right time,” Crowder would say later. “Trying to make a play for my team.”
That is the seed. That is the beginning. You make enough of these plays you can win a few games. String enough of those wins, and maybe you build something again to replace the football eyesore we’ve grown all too familiar with. Play to win, even at 0-5. Start something. Build something. Maybe see if it can travel to Philadelphia four days from now.


newyorkpost--2020-10-19--50 Cent urges followers to ‘vote for Trump’ over Biden tax plan

Click to email this to a friend ( Opens in new window ) Click to share on Twitter ( Opens in new window ) Click to share on Facebook ( Opens in new window ) The 45-year-old rapper on Monday urged his social media followers to “ VOTE For TRUMP ” after seeing figures related to Joe Biden ’ s tax plan .
The Queens-bred artist bashed the Democratic presidential nominee ’ s plan , which would raise tax rates for corporations and people making $ 400,000 or more per year .
He posted a photo from what looked like @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that under the plan , high earners in New York City could face combined federal and state tax rates of 62 percent .
“ WHAT THE F–K !
” he wrote .
“ ( VOTE ForTRUMP ) IM OUT , F–K NEW YORK.
” 50 Cent then wrote : “ I don ’ t care Trump doesn ’ t like black people 62 % are you out of ya f–ing mind.
” The endorsement came after the rapper in 2016 posted that he hoped Trump wouldn ’ t win the presidential election .

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Photo by Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images for Starz Entertainment LLC; Photo by MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images
When it comes to dollar bills, rapper 50 Cent is going MAGA.
The 45-year-old rapper on Monday urged his social media followers to “VOTE For TRUMP” after seeing figures related to Joe Biden’s tax plan.
The Queens-bred artist bashed the Democratic presidential nominee’s plan, which would raise tax rates for corporations and people making $400,000 or more per year.
He posted a photo from what looked like a CNBC broadcast, citing studies stating that under the plan, high earners in New York City could face combined federal and state tax rates of 62 percent.
“WHAT THE F–K!” he wrote. “(VOTE ForTRUMP) IM OUT, F–K NEW YORK.”
He added: “The KNICKS never win anyway.”
50 Cent then wrote: “I don’t care Trump doesn’t like black people 62% are you out of ya f–ing mind.”
The endorsement came after the rapper in 2016 posted that he hoped Trump wouldn’t win the presidential election.


newyorkpost--2020-10-19--Poll worker fired for turning away voters with Black Lives Matter shirts

A Memphis poll worker was fired after turning away early voters who had been wearing “ Black Lives Matter ” @ @ @ @ @ t Breathe ” shirts .
Tennessee law prohibits voters wearing apparel with the name of @ @ @ @ @ .
Clothes with statements on them , however , are permitted .
Shelby County Election @ @ @ @ @ the poll worker thought the anti-police brutality statements were tied to the Democratic Party .
@ @ @ @ @ , ” said Thompson .
“ They were not supposed to be turned away.
” @ @ @ @ @ voters were told to leave .
Voters are showing up in droves ahead of Election @ @ @ @ @ , with turnout up 52 percent from 2016 and 87 percent from 2012 .
Early @ @ @ @ @ on Saturday .
Any instances of intimidation , threats or coercion should be reported to @ @ @ @ @ board of elections .
Violators can face fines and imprisonment .

A Memphis poll worker was fired after turning away early voters who had been wearing “Black Lives Matter” and “I Can’t Breathe” shirts.
Tennessee law prohibits voters wearing apparel with the name of a candidate or political party. Clothes with statements on them, however, are permitted.
Shelby County Election Commission spokeswoman Suzanne Thompson said the poll worker thought the anti-police brutality statements were tied to the Democratic Party.
“That was pretty bad,” said Thompson. “They were not supposed to be turned away.”
It was unclear how many voters were told to leave.
Voters are showing up in droves ahead of Election Day in the Volunteer State, with turnout up 52 percent from 2016 and 87 percent from 2012.
Early voting in New York begins on Saturday. Any instances of intimidation, threats or coercion should be reported to poll workers or the state board of elections. Violators can face fines and imprisonment.
With AP


newyorkpost--2020-10-19--Polish gym declares itself a church to avoid coronavirus restrictions

Isn ’ t your body supposed to be the temple ?
A Polish gym has worked out a way to stay open under new coronavirus restrictions — by rebranding as a church .
“ Because fitness classes aren ’ t allowed , starting today we ’ re offering religious gatherings for members of the Church of the Healthy Body , ” the Atlantic Sports club in Krakow said in a Facebook post on Saturday .
“ Hard to believe ?
In this world everything is possible.
” Manager Marta Jamróz also dubbed the gym ’ s trainers “ the elder @ @ @ @ @ @ @ move comes after Poland shuttered most gyms and pools in an effort to curb a recent surge in COVID-19 infections , Agence France-Presse reported .
The measures also require restaurants to close early nationwide , while weddings are banned and some schools in virus hot spots have switched to remote learning .
However , church services are still allowed in the devout Catholic country — as long as faithful wear masks and stick to an attendance limit .
A couple hundred people gathered in Warsaw on Saturday to protest the rules against the @ @ @

Isn’t your body supposed to be the temple?
A Polish gym has worked out a way to stay open under new coronavirus restrictions — by rebranding as a church.
“Because fitness classes aren’t allowed, starting today we’re offering religious gatherings for members of the Church of the Healthy Body,” the Atlantic Sports club in Krakow said in a Facebook post on Saturday.
“Hard to believe? In this world everything is possible.”
Manager Marta Jamróz also dubbed the gym’s trainers “the elder council” in the post.
The move comes after Poland shuttered most gyms and pools in an effort to curb a recent surge in COVID-19 infections, Agence France-Presse reported.
The measures also require restaurants to close early nationwide, while weddings are banned and some schools in virus hot spots have switched to remote learning.
However, church services are still allowed in the devout Catholic country — as long as faithful wear masks and stick to an attendance limit.
A couple hundred people gathered in Warsaw on Saturday to protest the rules against the fitness industry.


newyorkpost--2020-10-19--Biden has absolutely nothing to add when it comes to fighting COVID-19

The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases across the globe exceeded ...

During his town hall last week, Joe Biden made a startling admission: “You can’t mandate a mask.” This was puzzling, because he had spent August badgering President Trump to implement a national mask mandate.
The confusion is of a piece with the ex-veep’s wider struggle to explain what, exactly, he would have done differently in response to the pandemic were he the one in power.
He claims to have foreseen the seriousness of this pandemic in an op-ed in January. But the piece he wrote warned generally against cuts to the National Institutes of Health, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Agency for International Development — cuts that never happened.
On March 23, 2020, with the pandemic in full swing, Biden released a video urging the president to act swiftly. But he never spelled out what action the president was supposed to swiftly take that Trump hadn’t done. His suggestions — activating the National Guard and the Defense Production Act — had already been implemented by Team Trump.
In his video, Biden touted South Korea’s response and noted that the country’s sophisticated testing obviated the need for a lockdown.
South Korea tracked people who were potentially positive using their credit cards and CCTV in stores. The government then published all of the movements of COVID-positive Koreans online, so others could compare their own itineraries and know if they were exposed.
Sophisticated? Sure — but also creepy as all hell. Was Biden suggesting that his administration would have taken the same Orwellian steps? By the way, South Korea did end up having to partially lock down in April, May and again in August, when cases spiked.
Today, the problem is less what a hypothetical President Joe Biden would have done in March than about what a hypothetical President Joe Biden would do should America experience a second wave. During his town hall, Biden kept tying openings to federal spending and resources: If only Trump had spent more, we could stay open.
Huh? There’s little evidence that money would solve the problems of teachers’ unions making unreasonable demands, such as no new charter schools, before they allow public schools to open.
As it is, the Biden-Harris campaign offers nothing but unscientific blame. In August, Kamala Harris commented, “There’s a reason [the virus] has hit America worse than any other advanced nation. It’s because of Trump’s failure to take it seriously.”
In fact, America’s death rates are in line with many other Western countries, including Spain, Britain, Italy and Sweden. Our implementation of lockdowns and mask compliance are also comparable to many developed states.
So what should America do differently now?
Europe is grappling with a second wave. Different countries are reacting differently. French President Emmanuel Macron had promised through the summer not to shut down again but now has implemented a limited lockdown. Meanwhile Sweden, which had never locked down to begin with, is considering a mellow version of it.
If America starts to experience large spikes again, what would Biden do? We need real answers, not vague platitudes.
In America, the president only has so much control over what the response to a pandemic should be. For better or worse, Trump has respected federalism and allowed governors and mayors to respond depending on their jurisdictions’ circumstances and popular tolerance for lockdowns.
But a president does have sway, and if Biden wants to push for more lockdowns, the American people need to know that. He can also be asked to comment on whether he believes schools should be open — not just how much money he will throw at teachers and their unions in hope that they will show mercy to parents and kids.
There’s a persistent conspiracy theory, often seen on social media, that suggests that all of the local coronavirus restrictions will end with the election, as if they exist to make Trump look bad. It doesn’t make a lot of sense, as many places in the world are doing similar lockdowns with no thought about how that affects Trump. But Biden can put this idea to bed by telling us what he will actually do about coronavirus, as it exists today, if elected.
Americans deserve the truth.
Twitter: @Karol


newyorkpost--2020-10-19--Imminent vaccine could make all of Biden’s COVID promises irrelevant

For all of Joe Biden ’ s boasts of how much better than President Trump he ’ d handle the pandemic , it ’ s starting to look like he won ’ t have to prove it — thanks to Trump .
Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar now says access to COVID therapies and even a vaccine could be just weeks away , meaning life could be well on its way back to normal by Inauguration Day .
Four vaccine-makers are in final stages of clinical trials ; Manhattan-based Pfizer , the furthest along , predicts its vaccine @ @ @ @ @ @ @ soon as mid-November .
Indeed , it thinks it ’ ll know in just about a week and a half if its formula is effective .
Then , it ’ ll just need to provide the Food and Drug Administration with two months of data verifying the drug ’ s safety and prove its manufacturing capability .
By January , many Americans — OK , perhaps not all — may have already gotten the vaccine .
Biden , meanwhile , has been trying to cast doubt on the vaccine ’ s safety , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ scares people into not taking it .
He didn ’ t bother to put out his own anti-virus plan until July , and even then , he basically just echoed Trump .
Biden still talks of national mask mandates and social distancing if he ’ s elected , but by the time the next presidential term begins , the crisis may well be fading .
Far from attacks , Trump deserves great credit for that .
He pushed massive funding for research , cleared red tape and got firms moving fast .
Biden @ @ @ @ @ @ @ off-base ; they may soon be irrelevant .

For all of Joe Biden’s boasts of how much better than President Trump he’d handle the pandemic, it’s starting to look like he won’t have to prove it — thanks to Trump.
Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar now says access to COVID therapies and even a vaccine could be just weeks away, meaning life could be well on its way back to normal by Inauguration Day.
Hear, hear.
Four vaccine-makers are in final stages of clinical trials; Manhattan-based Pfizer, the furthest along, predicts its vaccine could be ready for emergency-distribution approval as soon as mid-November. Indeed, it thinks it’ll know in just about a week and a half if its formula is effective.
Then, it’ll just need to provide the Food and Drug Administration with two months of data verifying the drug’s safety and prove its manufacturing capability. By January, many Americans — OK, perhaps not all — may have already gotten the vaccine.
Biden, meanwhile, has been trying to cast doubt on the vaccine’s safety, which will only slow recovery if it scares people into not taking it. He didn’t bother to put out his own anti-virus plan until July, and even then, he basically just echoed Trump.
Biden still talks of national mask mandates and social distancing if he’s elected, but by the time the next presidential term begins, the crisis may well be fading.
Far from attacks, Trump deserves great credit for that. He pushed massive funding for research, cleared red tape and got firms moving fast. Biden’s barbs aren’t just off-base; they may soon be irrelevant.


newyorkpost--2020-10-19--The media ‘cover’ Joe Biden the way a protection racket does

Joe Biden is the most cosseted presidential candidate in memory .
He has run a minimalist campaign that has avoided the press as much as possible , while the press hasn ’ t been braying for more access and answers , but eager to avoid anything that could be discomfiting to the campaign .
Never before have the media been so openly fearful of asking or reporting something that might hurt a presidential candidate .
What are supposed to be the animating values of our adversarial press — informing the public , getting answers , holding the powerful to account @ @ @ @ @ @ @ protection racket that is coverage of Joe Biden .
Even the lowest common denominator of news — simply being interesting — has been tossed aside .
Boring and uneventful is the new newsworthy .
This presumably isn ’ t how they teach it in journalism school , but no one has had trouble adjusting .
The tendency reached a new level in the media ’ s handling of New York Post reports on e-mails obtained from a laptop that Hunter Biden reportedly left off at a Delaware repair shop .
Here was a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ keep a couple of newsrooms busy .
Are the e-mails , putting Hunter Biden ’ s sleazy overseas business dealings in a more sinister light , legitimate ?
Did Hunter really take the laptop to the shop and forget about it ?
And , more important , what do the e-mails say about what Joe Biden knows or should have known about Hunter ’ s work that depended so heavily on proximity to the vice president ?
Instead , the press has been uninterested at best and hostile at worst .
It ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
The media have deployed their bomb-disposal unit for fear that a potentially explosive story might detonate .
What Biden has to say about the e-mails is inherently of interest .
Yet he wasn ’ t asked about it at his ABC News town hall last week .
Never mind that his response would have made headlines afterward and the clip would have been shown in every TV segment about the debate .
Subsequently , CBS reporter Bo Erickson betrayed his profession by asking Biden his response to The Post story on a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ : “ I have no response , it ’ s another smear campaign , right up your alley , those are the questions you always ask.
” No one rallied to Erickson ’ s defense .
Instead , respectable figures on the center-left shamed Erickson for having asked a politician an unwelcome question — which the day before yesterday would have been considered Journalism 101 .
Much of the press has pronounced the Post story debunked without doing any work to debunk it and believes as a matter of faith that it is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ has been reporting on how The Post reported the story , as the press works to discredit media outlets that don ’ t toe the correct political line — you know , just like Woodward and Bernstein did it during Watergate .
This tendency toward “ anti-reporting ” has long characterized Biden coverage .
The New York Times took 19 days to cover Tara Reade ’ s sexual-assault allegation against him , not wanting to burden its readers with information about a newsworthy charge too quickly .
The media has dutifully pushed back @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ban fracking , even though Biden himself has said at times that he wants to ban fracking .
Any Biden misstep is quickly explained away .
The press doesn ’ t seem to mind that the campaign is prone to declare “ lids ” — or the end of the candidate ’ s public day — early and often .
Why would the press want more access to a candidate it isn ’ t covering so much as carefully shielding from scrutiny with the finish line of Nov. 3 in sight ?
Usually @ @ @ @ @ @ @ good copy , who provide drama and color .
In its hatred and fear of President Trump , though , reporters have thrown in their lot with the dull and meandering Biden , bringing to the effort all the complacency and pointed incuriosity they can muster .

Joe Biden is the most cosseted presidential candidate in memory.
He has run a minimalist campaign that has avoided the press as much as possible, while the press hasn’t been braying for more access and answers, but eager to avoid anything that could be discomfiting to the campaign.
Never before have the media been so openly fearful of asking or reporting something that might hurt a presidential candidate. What are supposed to be the animating values of our adversarial press — informing the public, getting answers, holding the powerful to account — have all been subordinated to the protection racket that is coverage of Joe Biden.
Even the lowest common denominator of news — simply being interesting — has been tossed aside. Boring and uneventful is the new newsworthy. This presumably isn’t how they teach it in journalism school, but no one has had trouble adjusting.
The tendency reached a new level in the media’s handling of New York Post reports on e-mails obtained from a laptop that Hunter Biden reportedly left off at a Delaware repair shop.
Here was a story with enough mysteries and plotlines to keep a couple of newsrooms busy. Are the e-mails, putting Hunter Biden’s sleazy overseas business dealings in a more sinister light, legitimate? Did Hunter really take the laptop to the shop and forget about it? And, more important, what do the e-mails say about what Joe Biden knows or should have known about Hunter’s work that depended so heavily on proximity to the vice president?
Instead, the press has been uninterested at best and hostile at worst. It’s the opposite of a feeding frenzy. The media have deployed their bomb-disposal unit for fear that a potentially explosive story might detonate.
What Biden has to say about the e-mails is inherently of interest. Yet he wasn’t asked about it at his ABC News town hall last week. Never mind that his response would have made headlines afterward and the clip would have been shown in every TV segment about the debate.
Subsequently, CBS reporter Bo Erickson betrayed his profession by asking Biden his response to The Post story on a tarmac. He got slammed by Biden: “I have no response, it’s another smear campaign, right up your alley, those are the questions you always ask.”
No one rallied to Erickson’s defense. Instead, respectable figures on the center-left shamed Erickson for having asked a politician an unwelcome question — which the day before yesterday would have been considered Journalism 101.
Much of the press has pronounced the Post story debunked without doing any work to debunk it and believes as a matter of faith that it is Russian disinformation. Rather, the focus has been reporting on how The Post reported the story, as the press works to discredit media outlets that don’t toe the correct political line — you know, just like Woodward and Bernstein did it during Watergate.
This tendency toward “anti-reporting” has long characterized Biden coverage. The New York Times took 19 days to cover Tara Reade’s sexual-assault allegation against him, not wanting to burden its readers with information about a newsworthy charge too quickly.
The media has dutifully pushed back against the idea that Biden wants to ban fracking, even though Biden himself has said at times that he wants to ban fracking. Any Biden misstep is quickly explained away. The press doesn’t seem to mind that the campaign is prone to declare “lids” — or the end of the candidate’s public day — early and often.
Why would the press want more access to a candidate it isn’t covering so much as carefully shielding from scrutiny with the finish line of Nov. 3 in sight?
Usually, the media love candidates who make good copy, who provide drama and color. In its hatred and fear of President Trump, though, reporters have thrown in their lot with the dull and meandering Biden, bringing to the effort all the complacency and pointed incuriosity they can muster.
Twitter: @RichLowry


newyorkpost--2020-10-19--Cuomo’s budget recklessness is already causing pain

Gov .
Andrew Cuomo claims he ’ s trying to forestall economic “ damage ” by delaying steps to plug the state budget gap , but watchdogs , schools and local governments are right to warn of major pain from his delay itself .
And , by the way , that gap ( Cuomo says it ’ s $ 30 billion over two years ) isn ’ t soon vanishing : Monday , Comptroller Tom DiNapoli reported sales tax receipts alone are down $ 2.8 billion this year .
“ I ’ m not going to do any damage [ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s economy until you tell me that is the last resort , ” the gov says .
OK , we ’ ll tell you : “ It ’ s the last resort , Gov !
” Cuomo hopes if Joe Biden wins the White House and Democrats take over the Senate they ’ ll quickly rush him billions to bail him out .
Yet “ even if there is a large federal aid package , it ’ s very unlikely it will cover the whole gap , ” warns David Friedfel of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ as Cuomo waits , schools , towns and counties might put off necessary steps , causing more hardship later .
Cuomo ’ s “ delay has deleterious effects , ” argue watchdogs from both sides of the political spectrum ( the CBC , the New York Public Interest Research Group , Common Cause , Reinvent Albany and the League of Women Voters ) .
“ Recipients of state funding may be delaying actions that they should be taking now.
” Cuomo , to his credit , has curbed outlays somewhat already but fears @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is , there ’ s just no way to avoid more hits from the budget ax ; the longer he waits , the worse it ’ ll be .
Besides , didn ’ t he just write a book on leadership ?

Gov. Andrew Cuomo claims he’s trying to forestall economic “damage” by delaying steps to plug the state budget gap, but watchdogs, schools and local governments are right to warn of major pain from his delay itself.
And, by the way, that gap (Cuomo says it’s $30 billion over two years) isn’t soon vanishing: Monday, Comptroller Tom DiNapoli reported sales tax receipts alone are down $2.8 billion this year.
“I’m not going to do any damage [like budget cuts] to the state’s economy until you tell me that is the last resort,” the gov says. OK, we’ll tell you: “It’s the last resort, Gov!”
Cuomo hopes if Joe Biden wins the White House and Democrats take over the Senate they’ll quickly rush him billions to bail him out. Yet “even if there is a large federal aid package, it’s very unlikely it will cover the whole gap,” warns David Friedfel of the independent Citizens Budget Commission.
Plus, Biden’s “budget priorities don’t include permanent rolling bailouts,” adds Empire Center fiscal expert E.J. McMahon.
And as Cuomo waits, schools, towns and counties might put off necessary steps, causing more hardship later.
Cuomo’s “delay has deleterious effects,” argue watchdogs from both sides of the political spectrum (the CBC, the New York Public Interest Research Group, Common Cause, Reinvent Albany and the League of Women Voters). “Recipients of state funding may be delaying actions that they should be taking now.”
Cuomo, to his credit, has curbed outlays somewhat already but fears backlash if he goes further. Trouble is, there’s just no way to avoid more hits from the budget ax; the longer he waits, the worse it’ll be.
Besides, didn’t he just write a book on leadership?


newyorkpost--2020-10-19--Rays have one more giant foe to slay

Rays have one more giant foe to slay

The Rays beat the Yankees in eight of their 10 ...

ARLINGTON, Texas — One more giant to slay.
The Rays rode the third-lowest (or 28th-highest) payroll in baseball all the way to the World Series. They outlasted the Yankees (No. 1) in the American League Division Series. Then they withstood a crazy comeback from the Astros (No. 4) in the AL Championship Series.
In order to capture the first Commissioner’s Trophy in their 23-year history, the Rays must solve the Dodgers, owners of the second-highest payroll as well as the best record overall.
“I think for us, we know that we can play with anybody. We know that we have as good talent as anybody else regardless of payroll,” Rays outfielder Austin Meadows said Monday at Globe Life Field. “We’ve shown that all year.”
For sure, with the best regular-season record in the American League, the Rays hardly snuck in here through some expanded-playoff backdoor. To the contrary, securing the top seed didn’t get them the usual bye out of the wild-card round (they swept the Blue Jays), and after eliminating the Yankees, they had to take on an Astros club that woke up after a 29-31 regular season.
The Rays speak with pride about the way they do things. Center fielder Kevin Kiermaier, who said he’ll be good to go after missing time in the ALCS with a left hand contusion, proclaimed, “We want to finish this the right way, our way,” and for the Rays, that means deploying their roster depth and versatility to rarely post the same starting lineup, or not necessarily to go to the same guy for the save, or lift a starting pitcher with a low pitch count because their data informs them it’s time for a change.
“We think what we’re doing is maximizing our roster the best we can,” manager Kevin Cash said. “There’s not much odd about that.”
Cash posited that he didn’t believe he and his players used the payroll disparity as fuel. Rather, “It’s the talent of the rosters we’ve gone up against. … I think you take it as, we’ve been fortunate enough to get through three good clubs. We’re going to be challenged here for the fourth.”


newyorkpost--2020-10-19--The left’s favorite way to rebut foes: Silence them

The left is showing its favorite way of rebutting foes : by trying to silence them .
And it ’ s not just The Post stories about Hunter Biden ’ s revealing e-mails .
Twitter locked The Post ’ s account on Oct. 14 , soon after the stories began appearing , and , as of Monday , had yet to unlock it .
Facebook similarly moved to hide the stories — no doubt fearing they might reflect badly on Joe Biden .
And never mind that neither of the Bidens has denied the authenticity of the e-mails or their @ @ @ @ @ @ @ an exec from Ukrainian energy company Burisma ( which employed him to the tune of $ 50,000 a month ) to meet his father when he was vice president and point man for Ukraine policy .
Or that , as FCC Chief of Staff Matthew Berry has noted , Iran ’ s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei is free to use Twitter to spread his anti-Semitic hate .
Or that National Intelligence Director John Ratcliffe just refuted claims by the left , including House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff ( D-Calif. ) , that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” “ Hunter Biden ’ s laptop is not part of some Russian disinformation campaign , ” Ratcliffe said Monday .
“ The intelligence community doesn ’ t believe that , because there is no intelligence that supports that .
And we have shared no intelligence with Adam Schiff or any member of Congress.
” Sounds more like “ disinformation ” by .
.
.
Schiff & Co .
The Post isn ’ t Big Tech ’ s only victim : Twitter also cracked down on White House COVID adviser Dr. Scott Atlas @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
And , of course , the left doesn ’ t resort just to digital silencing : At a San Francisco rally this weekend against Twitter ’ s censorship of The Post , an anti-speech thug punched one protester in the mouth .
And more than 100 other counterprotesters , some wielding glass bottles , made sure the rally was canceled even before it began .
All of which has got to make folks wonder : What is it they don ’ t want you to hear ?

The left is showing its favorite way of rebutting foes: by trying to silence them. And it’s not just The Post stories about Hunter Biden’s revealing e-mails.
Twitter locked The Post’s account on Oct. 14, soon after the stories began appearing, and, as of Monday, had yet to unlock it. Facebook similarly moved to hide the stories — no doubt fearing they might reflect badly on Joe Biden.
And never mind that neither of the Bidens has denied the authenticity of the e-mails or their contents — which showed Hunter arranged for an exec from Ukrainian energy company Burisma (which employed him to the tune of $50,000 a month) to meet his father when he was vice president and point man for Ukraine policy.
Or that, as FCC Chief of Staff Matthew Berry has noted, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei is free to use Twitter to spread his anti-Semitic hate. Or that National Intelligence Director John Ratcliffe just refuted claims by the left, including House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), that the stories were just “Russian disinformation.”
“Hunter Biden’s laptop is not part of some Russian disinformation campaign,” Ratcliffe said Monday. “The intelligence community doesn’t believe that, because there is no intelligence that supports that. And we have shared no intelligence with Adam Schiff or any member of Congress.” Sounds more like “disinformation” by . . . Schiff & Co.
The Post isn’t Big Tech’s only victim: Twitter also cracked down on White House COVID adviser Dr. Scott Atlas, blocking his post questioning mask mandates.
And, of course, the left doesn’t resort just to digital silencing: At a San Francisco rally this weekend against Twitter’s censorship of The Post, an anti-speech thug punched one protester in the mouth. And more than 100 other counterprotesters, some wielding glass bottles, made sure the rally was canceled even before it began.
All of which has got to make folks wonder: What is it they don’t want you to hear?


newyorkpost--2020-10-19--Steve Madden says jail time didn’t earn him any industry clout

Click to email this to a friend ( Opens in new window ) Click to share on Twitter ( Opens in new window ) Click to share on Facebook ( Opens in new window ) Steve Madden — the shoe guru who ’ s collaborated with Cardi B , Ja Rule and Katy Perry — says he doesn ’ t view his time in prison as giving him street cred with musicians .
“ No , no , the answer is no … And anybody who thinks that deserves any credit is a schmuck .
It ’ s a horrible @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on the upcoming podcast “ The Originals.
” “ I ’ m not proud of it , but I ’ m not ashamed , ” said Madden of his time served for a 2002 conviction on securities fraud and money laundering .
He discusses the events in a new memoir , “ The Cobbler : How I Disrupted an Industry , Fell From Grace & Came Back Stronger Than Ever.
” “ I tell this story because it ’ s like one of those things that — everybody knows about it anyway .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ it.
” The company began a major rebound upon his release .

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Steve Madden — the shoe guru who’s collaborated with Cardi B, Ja Rule and Katy Perry — says he doesn’t view his time in prison as giving him street cred with musicians.
“No, no, the answer is no … And anybody who thinks that deserves any credit is a schmuck. It’s a horrible thing,” Madden tells Andrew Goldman on the upcoming podcast “The Originals.”
“I’m not proud of it, but I’m not ashamed,” said Madden of his time served for a 2002 conviction on securities fraud and money laundering.
He discusses the events in a new memoir, “The Cobbler: How I Disrupted an Industry, Fell From Grace & Came Back Stronger Than Ever.”
“I tell this story because it’s like one of those things that — everybody knows about it anyway. And so you might as well demystify it.”
The company began a major rebound upon his release.


newyorkpost--2020-10-19--Jets might end up the worst team in NFL history

During the second half of Sunday ’ s 24-0 Jets loss to ...

The 2020 Jets are on pace to be arguably the worst team in NFL modern history.
Let that swirl around your head for a minute.
No, this is not hyperbole. The 0-6 Jets are heading toward finishing as one of the worst teams ever, maybe the worst team ever, barring a dramatic turnaround.
The Jets have 10 games left, so there is time. But is there hope? Of the Jets’ remaining games, seven are against teams that are currently .500 or better. Two of those games against teams under .500 are against the Patriots. Does anyone expect the Jets to beat the Patriots? They have three games against teams in first place.
In other words, an 0-16 record is very much in play.
If the Jets accomplish (is that the right word?) that feat, they would become the fourth team to go winless since the 1970 merger. They would join the 1976 Buccaneers (0-14), the 2008 Lions (0-16) and the 2017 Browns (0-16) as the only teams to not taste victory in a season.
Let’s start by looking at those three teams and how the Jets stack up against them.
The 2017 Browns were the most recent winless team. They appear to be better than these Jets. Those Browns played close games. Their average margin of loss was 11 points. The Jets are losing by an average of 18.3 points per game. That Browns team also was supposed to be bad. That was part of the Paul DePodesta “Moneyball” experiment during which they were going to lose big for a few years to load up on draft picks. This Jets team has been bad by accident, not design.
The 2008 Lions were a really, really bad team. But they scored more points than these Jets. They averaged 16.8 points per game. The Jets are averaging 12.5 points per game. The Lions also had Calvin Johnson at wide receiver, a building block for the future. The Jets can only hope tackle Mekhi Becton is that guy, but you can’t say that yet. Johnson had 1,221 yards receiving and 12 touchdowns that year. The Jets do not have an individual player who compares.
The final winless team is the 1976 Buccaneers, widely considered to be the leader in the clubhouse when it comes to the worst-ever discussion. Amazingly, the Jets might be worse. Pro Football Talk pointed out that the Jets are on pace to have a worse total point differential than the Buccaneers, who have the record at -287 points. The Jets are at -110 right now, on pace for -293. Now, the Jets are doing that in a 16-game schedule as compared to a 14-game schedule for Tampa Bay. But that record has stood since 1976 and plenty of teams have played 16-game seasons since then. The record for a 16-game season is -274 by the 1981 Colts.
Digging in on the numbers, the Bucs were worse offensively at 8.9 points per game. The Jets are scoring 12.5 points per game. The Jets have lost games by an average of 18.3 ppg. The Bucs lost by 20.5 ppg. The Bucs defensive scoring numbers are slightly better at 29.4 ppg vs. the Jets’ 30.8.
Those Buccaneers were an expansion team, led by quarterback Steve Spurrier. Rookie Lee Roy Selmon gave them hope on defense. The current Jets are probably still slightly better than them, but that is not a conversation you even want to be in.
Tampa scored two offensive touchdowns in its first six games. The Jets have scored six in their first six games, a stunning number. It is even worse when you consider that three of those touchdowns came during garbage time, one was a 46-yard run by Sam Darnold on a busted play and one was a screen pass that Jamison Crowder broke free on.
The Jets can hold out hope for a turnaround and avoid becoming known as one of the worst teams ever. People were wondering if the 2019 Dolphins would join the list last year when they started 0-7. Then, they beat the Jets and went 5-11. A year later, the Jets saw up close how much better they are in the 24-0 Jets loss Sunday.
For now, though, the Jets are much closer to the ’76 Bucs than they are to any team in the current standings.
As bad as it gets
Here is how the Jets compare statistically to some of the worst teams in modern NFL history (since 1970), including each team’s total and average differential:
Team W-L PPG OPPG Dif. Avg. dif.
1976 Bucs 0-14 8.9 29.4 -287 20.5
2008 Lions 0-16 16.8 32.3 -249 15.6
2017 Browns 0-16 14.6 25.6 -176 11.0
2009 Rams 1-15 10.9 27.3 -261 16.3
1981 Colts 2-14 16.2 33.3 -274 17.1
2020 Jets 0-6 12.5 30.8 -110 18.3


newyorkpost--2020-10-19--Steve Bing worth just $300,000 at time of death

Steve Bing — who inherited $ 600 million from his real-estate developer grandfather at the age of 18 — only had about $ 300,000 left to his name at his death , leaving him relatively broke , a new article in Town & Country reveals .
Bing committed suicide in Los Angeles in June at the age of 55 .
In September , a judge ruled that his estate would be administered by Kira Kerkorian , his daughter with tennis pro Lisa Bonder .
The money was meant to be bequeathed to the Clinton Foundation , but the estate has @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , a Hollywood producer , had substance abuse issues , but according to the article had been sober for several months before his death and had been speaking with a therapist twice a day .
He had also reconnected with Damian , his son with actress Elizabeth Hurley .
“ There were two of him , ” an ex-lover told the mag .
“ He could be charming , generous , kind , the life of the party , but at the end of the day he went home alone .
He was @ @ @ @ @ @

Steve Bing — who inherited $600 million from his real estate developer grandfather at the age of 18 — only had about $300,000 left to his name at his death, leaving him relatively broke, a new article in Town & Country reveals.
Bing committed suicide in Los Angeles in June at the age of 55. In September, a judge ruled that his estate would be administered by Kira Kerkorian, his daughter with tennis pro Lisa Bonder. The money was meant to be bequeathed to the Clinton Foundation, but the estate has several debts to settle first.
Bing, a Hollywood producer, had substance abuse issues, but according to the article had been sober for several months before his death and had been speaking with a therapist twice a day. He had also reconnected with Damian, his son with actress Elizabeth Hurley.
“There were two of him,” an ex-lover told the mag. “He could be charming, generous, kind, the life of the party, but at the end of the day he went home alone. He was a very lonely guy.”


newyorkpost--2020-10-19--Commission will mute mics during final debate between Trump and Biden

The Commission on Presidential Debates has decided to mute microphones to allow each candidate the opportunity for uninterrupted remarks during this week ’ s final forum .
The mute button will be featured at the start of each 15-minute segment during opening comments , according to the commission .
After that time , both mics will be turned on without a mute option to enable debate .
The rule change follows the first debate between President Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden that devolved into a frequently interrupted shouting match .
Thursday ’ s debate in Nashville had originally @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and Biden .
The commission scrapped the second match after Trump contracted COVID-19 and refused to participate in a proposed virtual affair .
In place of the nixed debate , the two candidates held dueling town halls .
In the first debate , held in Cleveland — which Trump claimed he won — the president interrupted either Biden or Fox News moderator Chris Wallace 145 times , according to a network analysis .
Biden , for his part , interrupted a total of 67 times , according to the same Fox analysis .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ voiced concerns over the possibility of a debate rule change allowing mic feeds to be cut .
But despite the change of course , Trump campaign manager Bill Stepien said later Monday that the president will still debate Biden .
“ President Trump is committed to debating Joe Biden regardless of last-minute rule changes from the biased commission in their latest attempt to provide advantage to their favored candidate , ” Stepien said in a statement .

The Commission on Presidential Debates has decided to mute microphones to allow each candidate the opportunity for uninterrupted remarks during this week’s final forum.
The mute button will be featured at the start of each 15-minute segment during opening comments, according to the commission. After that time, both mics will be turned on without a mute option to enable debate.
The rule change follows the first debate between President Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden, which descended into a frequently interrupted shouting match.
Thursday’s debate in Nashville had originally been planned as the third between Trump and Biden. The commission scrapped the second match after Trump contracted COVID-19 and refused to participate in a proposed virtual affair.
In place of the nixed debate, the two candidates held dueling town halls.
In the first debate, held in Cleveland — which Trump claimed he won — the president interrupted either Biden or Fox News moderator Chris Wallace 145 times, according to a network analysis.
Biden, for his part, interrupted a total of 67 times, according to the same Fox analysis.
Trump’s re-election campaign earlier Monday voiced concerns over the possibility of a debate rule change allowing mic feeds to be cut.
But despite the change of course, Trump campaign manager Bill Stepien said later Monday that the president will still debate Biden.
“President Trump is committed to debating Joe Biden regardless of last-minute rule changes from the biased commission in their latest attempt to provide advantage to their favored candidate,” Stepien said in a statement.
With Post wires


newyorkpost--2020-10-19--Jeff Bridges reveals lymphoma diagnosis

Jeff Bridges reveals lymphoma diagnosis

Click to email this to a friend ( Opens in new window ) The iconic actor , 70 , made the announcement on Twitter Monday night , writing , “ As the Dude would say … New s–t has come to light.
” “ I have been diagnosed with Lymphoma .
Although it is a serious disease , I feel fortunate that I have a great team of doctors and the prognosis is good .
I ’ m starting treatment and will keep you posted on my recovery.
” “ I ’ m profoundly grateful for the love and support @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Bridges continued .
“ Thank you for your prayers and well wishes .
And , while I have you , please remember to go vote .
Because we are all in this together.
” Several celebrities chimed in to offer Bridges messages of support , like George Takei , who wrote , “ You ’ re a fighter .
You can beat this.
” “ Sending you and your family love and healing , ” Patricia Arquette added .
Non-Hodgkin lymphoma made up just over four percent of all new cancer cases in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Institute , which adds that the disease has a 5-year relative survival rate of nearly 73 percent .

Jeff Bridges has revealed that he’s battling lymphoma.
The iconic actor, 70, made the announcement on Twitter Monday night, writing, “As the Dude would say … New s–t has come to light.”
“I have been diagnosed with Lymphoma. Although it is a serious disease, I feel fortunate that I have a great team of doctors and the prognosis is good. I’m starting treatment and will keep you posted on my recovery.”
“I’m profoundly grateful for the love and support from my family and friends,” Bridges continued. “Thank you for your prayers and well wishes. And, while I have you, please remember to go vote. Because we are all in this together.”
Several celebrities chimed in to offer Bridges messages of support, like George Takei, who wrote, “You’re a fighter. You can beat this.” “Sending you and your family love and healing,” Patricia Arquette added.
Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma made up just over 4 percent of all new cancer cases in 2020, according to the National Cancer Institute, which adds that the disease has a five-year relative survival rate of nearly 73 percent.