I don’t know if there’s been a threat but I noticed Pittsburgh police stationed outside synagogues in Shadyside and Squirrel Hill. It was Yom Kippur, evidently the holiest day of the Jewish calendar. It is also the city—Squirrel Hill is the neighborhood—where the Tree of Life synagogue shooting occurred[1] and that the Federal Bureau of Investigation has named a “white supremacist hub.”[2]
Pandemic
It shouldn’t even remotely be a surprise, but this is very much the wrong time to need medical care in any area where COVID-19 vaccine refusal is substantial. There has been an avalanche of stories[3] that I’m frankly still catching up on and I’m just guessing the Justice Department lawyers will have plenty of ammunition for arguing the state has a compelling interest in Joe Biden’s vaccine mandate.[4]
National
Timothy Bella, “Alabama man dies after being turned away from 43 hospitals as covid packs ICUs, family says,” Washington Post, September 12, 2021, https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2021/09/12/alabama-ray-demonia-hospitals-icu/
Paula Aceves, “The Fake Vaxx Card Next to You,” New York, September 14, 2021, https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2021/09/nyc-vaccine-mandate-fake-cards-are-booming.html
Betsy Phillips, “I was supposed to have life-saving surgery. Tennessee’s covid-19 surge cost me a hospital bed,” Washington Post, September 14, 2021, https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/09/14/tennessee-covid-19-surge-hospital-beds-surgery/
Sarah Pulliam Bailey, “This pastor will sign a religious exemption for vaccines if you donate to his church,” Washington Post, September 15, 2021, https://www.washingtonpost.com/religion/2021/09/15/pastor-donate-vaccine-religious-exemption/
Jenny Deam, “A Boy Went to a COVID-Swamped ER. He Waited for Hours. Then His Appendix Burst,” ProPublica, September 15, 2021, https://www.propublica.org/article/a-boy-went-to-a-covid-swamped-er-he-waited-for-hours-then-his-appendix-burst
Rebecca Boone, “COVID-19 surge forces health care rationing in parts of West,” ABC News, September 16, 2021, https://abcnews.go.com/Health/wireStory/idaho-rations-health-care-statewide-covid-surge-continues-80056295
Pennsylvania
Julia Felton, “Breakthrough covid cases jump in Allegheny County,” Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, September 15, 2021, https://triblive.com/local/breakthrough-covid-cases-jump-in-allegheny-county/
Julia Felton, “Feds seize 2 shipments of fake covid vaccination cards in Pittsburgh,” Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, September 15, 2021, https://triblive.com/local/regional/officers-seize-2-shipments-of-fake-covid-vaccination-cards-in-pittsburgh/
Amy Hudak, “Wait times growing at Pittsburgh area hospital emergency rooms,” WPXI, September 16, 2021, https://www.wpxi.com/news/top-stories/pittsburgh-area-hospitals-seeing-longer-wait-times-care/FEH2ZZNSIBF45N37WFRJW7563A/
Gig economy
Levi Sumagaysay, “Uber, Lyft and other gig companies facing fights over Prop. 22 in California — and in states where they want to replicate it,” MarketWatch, September 16, 2021, https://www.marketwatch.com/story/gig-companies-facing-fights-over-prop-22-in-california-and-in-states-where-they-want-to-replicate-it-11631734329
Infrastructure
Mike DeBonis, “Joe Manchin gets all the attention. But Kyrsten Sinema could be an even bigger obstacle for Democrats’ spending plans,” Washington Post, September 15, 2021, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/sinema-reconciliation-manchin/2021/09/15/8c583f96-162d-11ec-9589-31ac3173c2e5_story.html
Amber Phillips, “How the Senate parliamentarian could make or break Democrats’ spending bill,” Washington Post, September 16, 2021, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2021/09/16/senate-parliamentarian-elizabeth-macdonough-reconciliation/
Donald Trump
Alisha Rahaman Sarkar, “Trump predicts America will cease to exist in three years in rambling Newsmax interview,” Independent, September 15, 2021, https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/trump-sean-spicer-newsmax-america-b1920400.html
Jennifer Rubin, “Milley’s revelation about Trump leaves us with five questions,” Washington Post, September 15, 2021, https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/09/15/milley-revelation-leaves-us-with-five-questions/
Elise Viebeck and Rosalind S. Helderman, “Pennsylvania GOP lawmakers approve wide-ranging subpoenas for personal information of 2020 voters,” Washington Post, September 16, 2021, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2021/09/15/pennsylvania-gop-election-probe-subpoena-trump/
Karoun Demirjian and John Wagner, “Biden comes to Milley’s defense after revelation top general, fearing Trump, conferred with China to avert war,” Washington Post, September 16, 2021, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/milley-defended-china-call/2021/09/15/3393fa18-1645-11ec-b976-f4a43b740aeb_story.html
Roman Catholic Church
Elisabetta Povoledo, Richard Pérez-Peña, and Ruth Graham, “Pope Weighs In on Calls to Deny Communion to Biden Over Abortion,” New York Times, September 15, 2021, https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/15/world/europe/pope-francis-biden-abortion.html
Afghanistan
Shabana Basij-Rasikh, “My father refused to be a refugee. I turned him into one. I’m remembering his garden,” Washington Post, September 16, 2021, https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/09/16/shabana-basij-rasikh-afghanistan-fathers-garden/
- [1]Campbell Robertson, Christopher Mele, and Sabrina Tavernise, “11 Killed in Synagogue Massacre; Suspect Charged With 29 Counts,” New York Times, October 27, 2019, https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/27/us/active-shooter-pittsburgh-synagogue-shooting.html↩
- [2]Ryan Deto, “The FBI declared Pgh. a new hub for white supremacy. That ignores decades of history,” Pennsylvania Capital-Star, November 16, 2020, https://www.penncapital-star.com/civil-rights-social-justice/the-fbi-declared-pgh-a-hub-for-white-supremacy-it-has-a-long-history-already/; Ewan Palmer, “FBI Warn White Supremacist Activity in Pittsburgh Among Highest in Country,” Newsweek, November 13, 2020, https://www.newsweek.com/pittsburgh-white-supremacist-fbi-far-right-1547149↩
- [3]Timothy Bella, “Alabama man dies after being turned away from 43 hospitals as covid packs ICUs, family says,” Washington Post, September 12, 2021, https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2021/09/12/alabama-ray-demonia-hospitals-icu/; Rebecca Boone, “COVID-19 surge forces health care rationing in parts of West,” ABC News, September 16, 2021, https://abcnews.go.com/Health/wireStory/idaho-rations-health-care-statewide-covid-surge-continues-80056295; Jenny Deam, “A Boy Went to a COVID-Swamped ER. He Waited for Hours. Then His Appendix Burst,” ProPublica, September 15, 2021, https://www.propublica.org/article/a-boy-went-to-a-covid-swamped-er-he-waited-for-hours-then-his-appendix-burst; Amy Hudak, “Wait times growing at Pittsburgh area hospital emergency rooms,” WPXI, September 16, 2021, https://www.wpxi.com/news/top-stories/pittsburgh-area-hospitals-seeing-longer-wait-times-care/FEH2ZZNSIBF45N37WFRJW7563A/; Betsy Phillips, “I was supposed to have life-saving surgery. Tennessee’s covid-19 surge cost me a hospital bed,” Washington Post, September 14, 2021, https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/09/14/tennessee-covid-19-surge-hospital-beds-surgery/↩
- [4]Hayley Fowler, “Biden’s COVID vaccine mandate ‘raises more questions than it answers.’ What to know,” Sacramento Bee, September 10, 2021, https://www.sacbee.com/news/coronavirus/article254119523.html; Joan E. Greve and Richard Luscombe, “‘Have at it’: Joe Biden dares vaccine mandate opponents to take him on,” Guardian, September 10, 2021, https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/sep/10/joe-biden-vaccine-mandates-coronavirus-covid; Michael Hiltzik, “Here’s why Biden’s vaccine mandate is right — and should stand up to legal challenges,” Los Angeles Times, September 10, 2021, https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2021-09-10/bidens-vaccine-mandate-is-the-right-thing; Annie Linskey et al., “Biden announces sweeping new vaccine mandates for businesses, federal workers,” Washington Post, September 9, 2021, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/vaccine-mandate-federal-employees/2021/09/09/1c1ce9dc-116b-11ec-882f-2dd15a067dc4_story.html; Annabelle Timsit, “GOP governors threaten to sue over mandates; Biden says, ‘have at it,’” Washington Post, September 10, 2021, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2021/09/10/republican-governors-sue-biden-vaccine-mandate/↩