Brennan: Health Crisis Could Lead to National Security Issues | Morning Joe | MSNBC

Former CIA Director John Brennan weighs in on the president's return to the White House and his concerns over the president's health and what it could mean for national security. Aired on 10/06/2020.

Trump's Ridiculous Covid Stunt Sets the Country Back Even Further

Donald Trump's claims that Americans shouldn't cower in fear of the Coronavirus will absolutely cause people to get this virus who otherwise would not have done so. He is being reckless and careless, and Republicans are cheering him on every step of the way. Ring of Fire's Farron Cousins explains what's happening.

Michelle Obama Criticizes Trump in New Campaign Video

Former first lady Michelle Obama is making her closing message to Americans in a campaign video released less than one month before Election Day, imploring voters to "vote for Joe Biden like your lives depend on it."

Activist Who Lost Father to Covid Says Trump’s White House Photo Op Was Like “Sci-Fi Horror Film”

As the highest-profile coronavirus patient in the world returns to the White House while still infectious and a danger to others, we speak with activist Kristin Urquiza, whose father died from Covid-19 earlier this year. She says President Trump’s minimizing of the disease is a slap in the face to families who have lost loved ones. “I was appalled,” says Urquiza. “Every single person out there who’s lost a loved one to COVID, who has seen up close and personal what this virus can do, felt the same way.” Urquiza, who spoke at the Democratic National Convention in August about her father, is co-founder of Marked by Covid, a project elevating the stories of Americans who have died in the pandemic.

“Don’t Be Afraid of Covid”: Trump Removes Mask & Fuels Misinformation Effort after Hospital Release

Shocking medical experts, President Trump has returned to the White House while still infectious with the coronavirus and after more than a dozen people in Trump’s orbit have already tested positive for Covid-19. Emergency room physician Dr. Dara Kass says she was “horrified” by President Trump’s dismissive attitude toward a pandemic that has killed more than 200,000 people in the United States. “I had this virus,” says Dr. Kass. “I never left my bedroom without an N95 mask on my face, because I was petrified of giving it to my friends and family.”

Infected White House Journalist: They're Not Taking It Seriously

The New York Times White House correspondent Michael Shear tested positive for Covid-19. He says the White House has not reached out to him for contact tracing efforts.

Coronavirus : Donald Trump annonce qu'il sortira de l'hôpital dans quelques heures

LE FIGARO: Le président américain a annoncé la nouvelle sur Twitter. «N'ayez pas peur du Covid», a-t-il ajouté.

Donald Trump a annoncé sur Twitter qu'il quitterait l'hôpital à 18H30 (00H30 à Paris). Testé positif au Covid-19 en fin de semaine dernière, il avait été hospitalisé samedi 3 octobre. » | Par Le Figaro | lundi 5 octobre 2020

Même le Covid-19 ne peut pas changer Donald Trump» [€]

How to Become a Forever-Trumper

To become a Muslim, one has to take the shahada, or testimony of faith. This testimony of faith is stated in Arabic and in the language of the convert. It goes like this: I testify that the is no god but Allah and I testify that Prophet Muhammad is the final Messenger of Allah.

To become a Forever-Trumper, the testimony of faith would read something like this: I testify that there is no god but Mammon and I testify that President Trump is Mammon’s final messenger.

There are five pillars of the Islamic faith. They are as follows:

1. The statement of faith, or the shahada. 2. Salah, or prayer, offered five times a day in the direction of Mecca. 3. Zakat, or alms, the obligatory portion of a Muslim’s surplus wealth. 4. Sawm, otherwise known as fasting in Ramadan, and also at other times throughout the year. 5. Completing the Hajj, or pilgrimage to Mecca, at least once in a lifetime for all able-bodied men and women as long as they can afford it.

The five pillars of Trumpism are as follows:

1. The statement of faith, namely that ‘there is no god but Mammon and that Trump is Mammon’s final messenger’. 2. Worshipping five times a day at the altar of Trump, in the direction of Mar-a-Lago. 3. Alms for the 1%. 4. Keeping a sound diet of burgers and Coke. 5. Performing the pilgrimage to Mar-a-Lago at least once in a lifetime for all able-bodied males, staying in a Trump-owned hotel along the way and in the vicinity of Mar-a-Lago while performing the pilgrimage.

Doing these things will give you the key to Trump’s paradise, ensure eternal salvation for the Forever-Trumper, and ensure the continued enrichment of the messenger’s family here on earth.

© Mark Alexander

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White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany Tests Positive for Covid-19 | Craig Melvin | MSNBC

The White House press secretary, Kayleigh McEnany, released a statement on Twitter that she has tested positive for Covid-19 after “testing negatively consistently” since Thursday. Her statement notes she had “no knowledge” of Hope Hicks’ diagnosis prior to holding the White House briefing. Aired on 10/05/2020.

As Trump Seeks to Project Strength, Doctors Disclose Alarming Episodes

THE NEW YORK TIMES: The president made a surprise outing from his hospital bed in an effort to show his improvement, but the murky and shifting narrative of his illness was rewritten again with grim new details.

WASHINGTON — President Trump sought to dispel any perception of weakness on Sunday with a surprise and seemingly risky outing from his hospital bed to greet supporters even as his doctors once again rewrote the official narrative of his illness by acknowledging two alarming episodes they had previously not disclosed.

The doctors said that Mr. Trump’s blood oxygen level dropped twice in the two days after he was diagnosed with the coronavirus, requiring medical intervention, and that he had been put on steroids, suggesting his condition might be more serious than initially described. But they insisted that his situation had improved enough since then that he could be released from the hospital as early as Monday. » | Peter Baker and Maggie Haberman | Sunday, October 4, 2020; Updated: Monday, October 5, 2020

Ana Kasparian: This Is America

Fashion Designer Kenzo Takada Dies after Catching Covid-19 Aged 81

THE GUARDIAN: Takada was the first Japanese designer to make a mark on the Paris fashion scene

The Japanese fashion designer Kenzo Takada has died in Paris after contracting Covid-19, a spokesperson has announced. He was 81.

Takada, known best by his first name, was the first designer from Japan to break into the city’s exclusive fashion milieu in the 1970s.

His prêt-à-porter designs with their trademark profusion of bright colours, flowers and jungle prints were a far cry from the traditional Parisian mode of the time, when chic salon presentations were largely prim and proper affairs.

Kenzo, who died at the American hospital on Sunday, was famous not only for his clothes, but went on to create a global brand of perfume and skin products. At the time of his death he was acting honorary president of the Asian Couture Federation. » | Kim Willsher in Paris | Sunday, October 4, 2020

Melania Trump Caught on Tape Trashing Immigrants and Christmas

The country was reminded yesterday that Melania Trump is just as vile and nasty as the rest of the Trump family. CNN aired audio recordings of Melania that were recorded by her friend where Melania can be heard complaining about the fact that she had to do the Christmas decorations for the White House, and then she went into a profane tirade when speaking about the children locked up along our southern border. Ring of Fire's Farron Cousins explains what's happening.

Trump Releases Hospital Video as Covid Misinformation Spikes | DW News

US President Donald Trump has spoken out for the first time from the hospital where's being treated for COVID-19. He released a video message on Twitter, adding that the coming days will be the real test of his fight against the coronavirus. Earlier, the president's doctor also said he was doing well. But follow up questions shifted to focus on the timing of Trump's infection and diagnosis.

A White House Long in Denial Confronts Reality

THE NEW YORK TIMES: The infections were a byproduct, former aides said, of the reckless and top-down culture of fear that Trump created at the White House and throughout his administration.

WASHINGTON — As America locked down this spring during the worst pandemic in a century, inside the Trump White House there was the usual defiance.

The tight quarters of the West Wing were packed and busy. Almost no one wore masks. The rare officials who did, like Matthew Pottinger, the deputy national security adviser, were ridiculed by colleagues as alarmist.

President Trump at times told staff wearing masks in meetings to “get that thing off,” an administration official said. Everyone knew that Mr. Trump viewed masks as a sign of weakness, officials said, and that his message was clear. “You were looked down upon when you would walk by with a mask,” said Olivia Troye, a top aide on the coronavirus task force who resigned in August and has endorsed former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr.

In public, some of the president’s favorite targets were mask-wearing White House correspondents. “Would you take it off, I can hardly hear you,” Mr. Trump told Jeff Mason of Reuters in May, then mocked Mr. Mason for wanting “to be politically correct” when he refused. » | Annie Karni and Maggie Haberman | Saturday, October 3, 2020

Germany Marks 30th Anniversary of Re-unification | DW News

Germany is marked 30 years of the country's reunification on Germany's national holiday. The country's President Frank-Walter Steinmeier gave the keynote speech at the official ceremony in Potsdam, near Berlin in an event that was significantly scaled down due to the coronavirus pandemic.

German Re-unification: How Two Countries (Sort of) Became One | Unpacked

30 years ago, Germany's reunification meant dealing with the fundamental rivalry of the 20th century: capitalism versus communism. The triumphant advance of capitalism was the defining element of the transformation and integration of the new federal states. But did the connection to the Federal Republic really bring the promised 'blooming landscapes'? Or did some things even changed for the worse? Thirty years after reunification, there is still a lot to do.

Bible Belt Atheist | Op-Docs | The New York Times

In this short documentary, a former Pentecostal preacher starts a secular congregation in the heart of the Bible Belt.

Macron Says Islam ‘In Crisis’, Prompting Backlash from Muslims

French President Emmanuel Macron has called "radical Islam" the biggest threat to French society. He also claimed, "Islam was in crisis around the world". Macron has outlined proposals for a new anti-separatism law aimed at improving integration and combatting religious divisions in the country. Al Jazeera’s Natacha Butler reports.

Germany’s Far Right Reunified, Too, Making It Much Stronger

THE NEW YORK TIMES: Thirty years after Germany came back together, the former East has become the stronghold of a once-marginalized movement that now sits in Parliament.

BERLIN — They called him the “Führer of Berlin.”

Ingo Hasselbach had been a clandestine neo-Nazi in communist East Berlin, but the fall of the Berlin Wall brought him out of the shadows. He connected with western extremists in the unified city, organized far-right workshops, fought street battles with leftists and celebrated Hitler’s birthday. He dreamed of a far-right party in the parliament of a reunified Germany.

Today, the far-right party Alternative for Germany, known by its German initials, AfD, is the main opposition in Parliament. Its leaders march side by side with far-right extremists in street protests. And its power base is the former communist East.

“Reunification was a huge boost for the far right,” said Mr. Hasselbach, who left the neo-Nazi scene years ago and now helps others to do the same. “The neo-Nazis were the first ones to be reunified. We laid the foundation for a party like the AfD. There are things we used to say that have become mainstream today.”

As it marks the 30th anniversary of reunification on Saturday, Germany can rightly celebrate being an economic powerhouse and thriving liberal democracy. But reunification has another, rarely mentioned legacy — of unifying, empowering and bringing into the open a far-right movement that has evolved into a disruptive political force and a terrorist threat, not least inside key state institutions like the military and police. » | Katrin Bennhold | Saturday, October 3, 2020