No coronavirus cabinet meeting planned as cases spike near 3,000 – The Jerusalem Post (Israel surrenders to Covid-19 deaths and illnesses – political cost to protect people… too high?)

Source: No coronavirus cabinet meeting planned as cases spike near 3,000 – The Jerusalem Post

‘We want them infected,’ Trump HHS appointee said in email pushing to expose infants, kids and teens to Covid (Charge them with negligent homicide)

Top Trump appointees at the Department of Health and Human Services repeatedly pushed this summer to adopt a Covid-19 strategy in the U.S. that would keep businesses open while expose “infants, kids, teens” and others to the virus in an attempt to achieve so-called herd immunity, according to emails obtained by House lawmakers. Source: ‘We want them infected,’ Trump HHS appointee said in email pushing to expose infants, kids and teens to Covid

L.A. County hits record 131 daily COVID-19 deaths – Los Angeles Times

Though the overall reported new case count, 21,411, was inflated by a backlog of about 7,000 test results that were reported late, “these are nonetheless extraordinary numbers, and they represent transmission that continues to be out of control,” said L.A. County public health director Barbara Ferrer.

The previous record for the highest number of cases in a single day in L.A. County was 13,507, set on Friday. The old high-water mark for deaths was 93, set Tuesday, according to an independent Times tally.

“Every hour, on average, two of our neighbors, family members and friends are dying from COVID-19, and the virus is rampant in all neighborhoods,” Ferrer said during a briefing Wednesday. “We have the most difficult road yet in front of us, and I encourage everyone to stay home as much as possible, protect your families and friends and take every precaution that’s available to you.

Source: L.A. County hits record 131 daily COVID-19 deaths – Los Angeles Times

Six largest veterans groups call for VA secretary’s firing | TheHill

he American Legion, Veterans of Foreign Wars, Disabled American Veterans (DAV), AMVETS, Paralyzed Veterans of America and Vietnam Veterans of America wrote in a letter to the White House that Wilkie had lost the trust of veterans over the conclusions in the bombshell report and that his actions could prevent people from seeking care from the VA.

“This is a tremendous breach of trust among veterans and Secretary Wilkie must be held accountable,” they wrote. “His actions not only threaten to deter veterans from seeking care at VA, but also undermine the efforts of VA staff who have been working to bring an end to sexual harassment throughout the department.”

“[S]exual assault and harassment have no place in the VA or our society as a whole,” the groups added. “As the Secretary has refused to take responsibility for his documented wrongdoing in this matter, we, the leaders of the undersigned veterans service organizations, call on you to take further action by immediately removing him from office.”

Source: Six largest veterans groups call for VA secretary’s firing | TheHill

Billions Spent on U.S. Cyberdefenses Failed to Detect Giant Russian Hack – The New York Times

So far, though, President Trump has said nothing, perhaps aware that his term in office is coming to an end just as it began, with questions about what he knew about Russian cyberoperations, and when. The National Security Agency has been largely silent, hiding behind the classification of the intelligence. Even the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, the group within the Department of Homeland Security charged with defending critical networks, has been conspicuously quiet on the Russian mega hack.

Mr. Blumenthal’s message on Twitter was the first official acknowledgment that Russia was behind the intrusion.

Trump administration officials have acknowledged that several federal agencies — the State Department, the Department of Homeland Security, parts of the Pentagon as well as the Treasury and the Department of Commerce — had been compromised. Investigators were struggling to determine the extent to which the military, intelligence community and nuclear laboratories were affected.