socialobserver: April 2021

Friday, April 30, 2021

Pandemic Inspector General Warns of Oversight Breakdown

By BY ALAN RAPPEPORT from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/3xH1ILY

What to Know About the 147th Kentucky Derby

By BY MELISSA HOPPERT AND JOE DRAPE from NYT Sports https://ift.tt/2S9tP5U

Tom Brady Charted a New Path. Aaron Rodgers Struggles to Do the Same.

By BY BEN SHPIGEL from NYT Sports https://ift.tt/3eOcxmH

Judge and Cole Dominate as Yankees Crush Tigers

By BY THE ASSOCIATED PRESS from NYT Sports https://ift.tt/3xBuzkH

Looking for a Weekend Excursion? Try Craft Shop Hopping

By BY DEBORAH NEEDLEMAN from NYT T Magazine https://ift.tt/2QOAi5X

MoMA Blocks Protesters Who Planned to Demonstrate Inside

By BY ZACHARY SMALL from NYT Arts https://ift.tt/3xLZMBV

Thursday, April 29, 2021

Giants trade down with Bears, who take Justin Fields.

By BY KEN BELSON from NYT Sports https://ift.tt/3gQnRkI

Eagles trade up to take Heisman winner DeVonta Smith.

By BY BEN SHPIGEL from NYT Sports https://ift.tt/3u6dBJ3

Patrick Surtain II to Denver makes it back-to-back corners.

By BY EMMANUEL MORGAN from NYT Sports https://ift.tt/3eFPryp

A troubled vaccine manufacturer, Emergent BioSolutions, announces a shake-up while projecting record revenues.

By BY SHERYL GAY STOLBERG AND CHRIS HAMBY from NYT World https://ift.tt/3nxovoJ

Republicans in Florida pass an extensive bill of voting restrictions.

By BY PATRICIA MAZZEI AND NICK CORASANITI from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/3xA1V3l

Panthers dial up CB Jaycee Horn, the first defensive player off the board.

By BY KEN BELSON from NYT Sports https://ift.tt/3aQpETj

Biden will meet with South Korea’s president on May 21.

By BY MADELEINE NGO from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/3vt0xO6

Corrections: April 30, 2021

By Unknown Author from NYT Corrections https://ift.tt/3vujvnt

Quotation of the Day: Hauling Loads, With Pets at Their Side

By Unknown Author from NYT Today’s Paper https://ift.tt/3xAHx2c

The Lions pick up Oregon OT Penei Sewell.

By BY BEN SHPIGEL from NYT Sports https://ift.tt/3nwIVOH

América Latina tras un año de pérdidas por la COVID-19

By BY JULIE TURKEWITZ AND MITRA TAJ from NYT en Español https://ift.tt/3t61YjK

The two top-rated wide receivers are off the board.

By BY EMMANUEL MORGAN from NYT Sports https://ift.tt/3aQo9Vb

Florida Republicans Pass Voting Limits in Broad Elections Bill

By BY PATRICIA MAZZEI AND NICK CORASANITI from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/3u9s5aU

Ja’Marr Chase will reunite with Joe Burrow in Cincinnati.

By BY KEN BELSON from NYT Sports https://ift.tt/3u7qthV

Shake-Up at Covid Vaccine Manufacturer That Tossed Millions of Doses

By BY SHERYL GAY STOLBERG AND CHRIS HAMBY from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/3vvCWfL

New top story from Time: More Than 100 Injured in Stampede at Israeli Religious Festival

(JERUSALEM) — More than 100 people were injured, dozens critically, in a stampede at a Jewish religious gathering in northern Israel attended by tens of thousands of people, Israel’s main rescue service said early Friday.

Magen David Adom tweeted that it was treating 103 people, including 38 in critical condition. Israeli media had earlier reported that a grandstand collapsed, but the rescue service said all the injuries happened in a stampede.

Israeli media reported that up to 38 people were killed, but the rescue service did not immediately respond to a request for confirmation. The Ynet news website was among those reporting the figure, and published a photo appearing to show several bodies.

Tragedy in Meron: MDA is fighting for the lives of dozens wounded, and will not give up until the last victim is evacuated.

38 are in critical condition and still in the field
6 in critical condition who were evacuated
18 injured severely
2 moderately
39 lightly pic.twitter.com/xUWStFYqQh

— Magen David Adom (@Mdais) April 30, 2021

The Israeli military said it had dispatched medics and search and rescue teams along with helicopters to assist with a “mass casualty incident” in the area. It did not provide details on the nature of the disaster.

The incident happened late at night and there were conflicting reports. Videos circulating on social media showed large numbers of ultra-Orthodox Jews packed together in tight spaces.

Tens of thousands of people, mostly ultra-Orthodox Jews, had gathered at the foot of Mount Meron to celebrate Lag BaOmer, a Jewish holiday honoring Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai, a 2nd century sage and mystic who is buried there.

It was the first huge religious gathering of its kind to be held legally since Israel lifted nearly all restrictions related to the coronavirus pandemic. The country has seen cases plummet since launching one of the world’s most successful vaccination campaigns late last year.

Health authorities had nevertheless warned against holding such a large gathering.

But when the celebrations started, the Public Security Minister Amir Ohana, police chief Yaakov Shabtai and other top officials visited the event and met with police, who had deployed 5,000 extra forces to maintain order.

Ohana, a close ally of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, thanked police for their hard work and dedication “for protecting the well-being and security for the many participants” as he wished the country a happy holiday.

Netanyahu is struggling to form a governing coalition ahead of a Tuesday deadline, and the national tragedy is sure to complicate those efforts.

Patrick Surtain II has a PS2 controller pendant.

By BY ELENA BERGERON from NYT Sports https://ift.tt/3sZerG4

Roger Goodell’s armchair is coming to Cleveland.

By BY KEN BELSON from NYT Sports https://ift.tt/2QAmWKM

Roger Goodell gave his first public statement on the Deshaun Watson investigation.

By BY KEN BELSON from NYT Sports https://ift.tt/331BWUs

Patrick Surtain II is among those following their fathers to the N.F.L.

By BY EMMANUEL MORGAN from NYT Sports https://ift.tt/2Shp5LJ

Palestinian Vote Delayed, Prolonging Split for West Bank and Gaza

By BY PATRICK KINGSLEY from NYT World https://ift.tt/330dpir

Draft prospects show their style on the red carpet.

By Unknown Author from NYT Sports https://ift.tt/3e1rClF

Where’s Trevor Lawrence?

By BY KEN BELSON from NYT Sports https://ift.tt/3nCbFpk

Wednesday, April 28, 2021

“America will not back away from our commitment to human rights and fundamental freedoms.”

By BY LARA JAKES from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/2QFdV2T

“In the 1990s, we passed universal background checks and a ban on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines that hold 100 rounds that can be fired in seconds. We beat the N.R.A. Mass shootings and gun violence declined. But in the early 2000s, that law expired and we’ve seen the daily bloodshed since.”

By BY LINDA QIU from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/2Sggfhr

Pet Peeves

By BY DEB AMLEN from NYT Crosswords & Games https://ift.tt/2QxtCcA

New top story from Time: ‘America Is On the Move Again.’ Joe Biden Delivers His First Major Presidential Speech

President Joe Biden has attended dozens of presidential addresses to Congress since he first came to Washington in 1973. But after nearly half a century of being an audience member, he finally got the speaking slot Wednesday night to lay out his own vision for the country.

“America is on the move again,” he said during his roughly hour-long remarks. “Turning peril into possibility. Crisis into opportunity. Setback into strength.”

Biden seized the opportunity to boast about his Administration’s accomplishments, highlighting how Americans have received over 220 million shots of the COVID-19 vaccines in his first 100 days in office, which he called “one of the greatest logistical achievements this country has ever seen.”

Like the rest of Biden’s presidential milestones, this one was altered because of the pandemic. The audience in the House chamber, usually more than 1,000 people, including all members of Congress and multiple Supreme Court justices, was limited to just 200. Since most of Biden’s Cabinet was watching on television— just Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and Secretary of State Antony Blinken attended in person— there was no need for the usual “designated survivor.” Chief Justice John Roberts was the sole representative for the judicial branch, and the handful of Democratic Senators who attended had their names drawn by lottery. Attendees were seated apart from each other to accommodate social distancing, with a maximum of three people in one row.

Still, Biden’s speech, which he had spent weeks honing with director of speechwriting Vinay Reddy and longtime advisor Mike Donilon, illuminated how the very catastrophe that kept him from delivering to a full audience was also shaping his presidential agenda. His speech largely focused on economic priorities, and he outlined the American Families Plan, his $1.8 trillion proposal to raise taxes on the wealthy to pay for affordable childcare, paid leave, and access to education. If implemented, the plan would offer universal preschool for three- and four-year-olds and two years of free community college, and create a national paid leave program. This proposal is the third prong of Biden’s $6 trillion plan to bolster the post-pandemic economy by combating inequality and climate change. He signed the first part, the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan, into law on March 11. In the past month, has also called for a $2 trillion bill that would create millions of jobs and repair the country’s infrastructure, hailing it in his address to Congress as a “blue-collar blueprint to build America.”

In total, these proposals would be the biggest investment in clean energy in U.S. history and the largest federal investment in the U.S. economy since Lyndon Johnson’s Great Society.

Biden has calculated he has the political capital to push these plans through in a narrowly divided Congress because the pandemic’s exacerbation of societal inequities has increased Americans’ need and desire for federal intervention. A Gallup poll from September 2020 found that 54 percent of Americans wanted government to do more to address the country’s problems, a 7 percentage point increase from the prior year. 56 percent of independents held that view, the highest number since 2001. Both the infrastructure plan and the American Families Plan amassed over 60 percent support, according to a Monmouth poll released April 26.

“This is one of those rare opportunities in American history for Presidents to achieve big things,” says Timothy Naftali, former director of the federal Richard Nixon Presidential Library and a historian at New York University. “They don’t happen that often and they usually happen during a moment of crisis when weakness on the part of the other party has created a political vacuum. And into that vacuum Joe Biden has stepped.”

Biden urged Congress to act on police reform in time for the one year anniversary of George Floyd’s murder at the hands of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin. “We need to work together to find a consensus,” he said. “We have to come together. To rebuild trust between law enforcement and the people they serve. To root out systemic racism in our criminal justice system.” House Democrats have passed the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, which includes provisions that would establish a national standard to operate police departments, require law enforcement to collect data on police encounters, and put a federal ban on chokeholds. But the bill would require at least ten Republican votes in the Senate, and its fate is uncertain.

Biden signaled he was open to compromise on immigration— the issue that has garnered his lowest approval ratings as the number of illegal border crossings reached a two decade high in March and the system struggled to handle an influx of unaccompanied minors. Biden said lawmakers should pass the immigration reform bill he sent to Congress on his first day in office, which includes a pathway to citizenship for 11 million undocumented immigrants. But he said both parties must work together. “If Congress won’t pass my plan, let’s at least pass what we agree on,” he said. He also attempted to reach out to Republicans on infrastructure, after they released their own infrastructure plan as an alternative to his. “We welcome ideas,” he said.

But all of these proposals remain a heavy lift for a narrowly— and bitterly— divided Congress. The last time Congress convened a joint session nearly four months ago, a violent mob stormed the Capitol to try and prevent certification of Biden’s election victory. (Right before his speech, Biden met with the Senate and House Sergeants at Arms, who are responsible for security, and the architect of the Capitol.) Notably, Biden did not call for any filibuster reform during his speech, which would enable him to pass his agenda along party lines.

Biden concluded by invoking the rhetoric of the President he has been reading about since before his inauguration: “In another era when our democracy was tested, Franklin Roosevelt reminded us: In America, we do our part,” Biden said. “That’s all I’m asking. That we all do our part.”