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Norwegian Journalist: “I Would Love to Die” From AstraZeneca Vaccine if it Helps Others

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AP

A Norwegian journalist bizarrely claimed she would “love to die from the AstraZeneca vaccine” if it meant other people in Europe were not discouraged from taking it.

The AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine has been temporarily pulled by numerous countries across Europe, including Spain, France, Portugal, Cyprus, Austria, Denmark, Slovenia and Norway, due to reports of blood clotting and several deaths of people who took the jab.

The statement was made in the headline of Linn Wiik’s article(LINK HERE), which literally translates as “I would love to die from the AstraZeneca vaccine.”

“Some must be sacrificed in the war against the corona,” she wrote. “That’s the way it is in all wars. This time it may well be me.”

Wiik  continues by saying, “People get blood clots and die of cerebral hemorrhage every year.”

“But even if it turns out that it is the AstraZeneca vaccine that has caused blood clots or cerebral hemorrhage, I have no doubt: If I get the offer, I will take it anyway,” she continued.

“Because sorry to say it so bluntly: Someone has to sacrifice in order for the rest to be safe.”

Trevor Noah-Hosted Grammy Awards Ratings Worst Ever By a Mile

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recording academy

JOHN NOLTE

We now have the final-final-final Grammy ratings and what we find is yet another catastrophe for the entertainment industry. Just two weeks after the Golden Globes hit an all-time low by losing 62 percent of its viewers, the Grammys lost 53 percent. Only 8.8 million people were interested in watching The Worst People In The World celebrate themselves. This is a jaw-dropping collapse from 18.7 million over last year and 19.9 million in 2019.

Up until Sunday, the least-watched Grammy in history was 17 million viewers in 2006.

In the all-important 18-49 demographic that decides advertising rates, the Grammys scored a horrible 2.1, compared to a 5.4 in 2020 and a 5.6 in 2019.

Two weeks ago, when the bottom fell out of the Golden Globes, the fake entertainment media actually tried to blame that annihilation on the controversy surrounding the fact that the Hollywood Foreign Press Association [HFPA] – the group in charge of the Globes – found itself in a scandal for not having one black person among its 87 members. The bubbled idiots in the entertainment media actually believed Americans cared so much about that so-called scandal, they boycotted the show.

Now, while I am among those who thinks it is outrageous that in the 21st century the HFPA does not have a single black member, I am not so bubbled and shielded from the Real World that I believed everyday Americans cared about such things. In fact, I would guess that 98 percent of Americans did not even know about the uproar…. Which brings me to my overall point…

What is the fake entertainment media’s excuse for the Grammys’ humiliating, catastrophic ratings-collapse?

To put Sunday night’s failure in perspective, throughout the 80s, the Grammys pulled in around 30 million average viewers. Throughout the 90s, it dropped to around 25 million on average. Now it’s down to single digits, fewer than nine million! In one year, the number was cut more than in half!

Watch below: 

The collapse certainly wasn’t due to a lack of a line-up. I don’t know who any of these fucking people are, but the far-left Variety was sure excited about their Sunday night appearance: Bad Bunny, Black Pumas, Cardi B, Brandi Carlile, Mickey Guyton, Haim, Brittany Howard, Miranda Lambert, Lil Baby, Chris Martin, John Mayer, Maren Morris and Roddy Ricch. Also, so-called superstars like Beyonce and Taylor Swift were up for Grammys and won some stuff.

What more do you want?

Well, therein lies the problem. This is all the music industry has to offer. The night’s biggest stars – Beyonce, Taylor Swift, Cardi B, and Trevor Noah – are all off-putting, joyless, polarizing, and no fun whatsoever. They each have their niche fans among the Woke Gestapo, but no goodwill from the rest of the country – which is most of the country.

All I know is that when I was coming of age, the Grammys, the MTV Music Awards, the Golden Globes, the Oscars, the Emmys… these shows were fun. The celebrities were cool. The hosts sought to entertain rather than lecture. Oh, sure, every once in a while a Jane Fonda or Richard Gere would use the spotlight to preach, but that was the exception, now preaching and lecturing and hectoring and moral preening is the norm.

Celebrities aren’t cool anymore. They aren’t fun. They’re all strident, opinionated, intolerant tools of the establishment. They hate us, and as you can see from the ratings, we are more than happy to hate them right back.

Breitbart

Man Allegedly Kills Four People After Argument Over Stimulus Check

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Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department via AP

AWR HAWKINS

An Indianapolis man allegedly shot and killed four people Saturday following an argument over the Biden Administration stimulus check.

ABC News reports 25-year-old Malik Halfacre allegedly argued with his girlfriend over the check then shot and killed four people ages “7, 23, 35, and 44.”

Halfacre’s girlfriend was also shot but survived. She told police what happened and also let them know Halfacre had allegedly taken the couple’s 6-month-old daughter after the shooting.

The daughter was found at Halfacre’s sister’s house the next day, and his sister let law enforcement know one of Halfacre’s friends was allegedly helping him hide. Shortly thereafter, police discovered Halfacre “in the attic of an Indianapolis home” where he was arrested.

Halfacre allegedly told police he and his girlfriend “were arguing because he wanted some of her stimulus check.”

According to Fox 59, “Halfacre was accused of shooting a man five times on the city’s north west side in early 2017 but was released from custody in 2018 after pleading guilty to a lesser charge.”

WMBF explains Halfacre’s wounded girlfriend sought help from a neighbor Saturday night after Halfarce fled the scene.

The neighbor identified the wounded girlfriend as Jeanettrius Moore. Moore worked at a beauty supply store to support herself and her two daughters. The neighbor said Moore told her that “her baby daddy shot her. And he shot her, her mother and the kids. She said she was the only person who got away.”

Breitbart

The Meghan-Harry-Oprah Event and a Look at the History of the Royal Family

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The Royal Family of the United Kingdom. Photo Credit: aptonline.org

By: Fern Sidman

As the Meghan-Harry- Oprah interview story continues to generate ink, especially in the UK tabloids, one can only look back in retrospect to see who the winners and losers are. Clearly, the UK Royal Family took a punch to the gut as did Meghan Markle and hubby Harry, also known as the Sussexes. Yes, folks, both “institutions” came out smelling pretty odious and there was no side that garnered all the sympathy and accolades. Both the Royal Family and the renegade pair who are enjoying life in sunny California with their son Archie and another on the way had their share of stalwart supporters and unrelenting detractors.  So, in the end, no one won the prize for victimhood or virtue. The contest was definitely deadlocked.

Fear not, folks. At the end of every good story there always seems to be some winners. This time the loving cup and tons of those “Benjamins” printed at the US Mint goes to both iconic television personality Oprah Winfrey and of course, the executives over at Netflix.

The versatile Oprah who has vast experience in television production, the film industry and much more is already a multi-billionaire, but the $8 million that CBS forked over for the licensing agreement to air the interview definitely helped to bulk up her already gargantuan bank account. And let’s not forget the fact that she will have gone down in interview history as reeling in a big one while taking in the stream of praise that has come her way.

And for the folks at Netflix? That’s an easy one. One can only imagine a formidable group of executives from Netflix rubbing their hands together in glee as their eyes morphed into neon dollar signs while watching the Oprah interview. Oprah asked the Sussexes whether they have every watched the mega-hit known as “The Crown.” A loaded question right there as the series has catapulted Netflix to the front of the line as one of the premier movie and series producers and has garnered heartfelt paeans from just about every corner of the earth where there is a television.

So, just having Meghan and Harry saunter out to the interview set and mesmerize the world with revelations about the Royal Family that are beyond shocking is more than enough to motivate the average watcher to give some serious consideration to subscribing to Netflix in order to slake their insatiable hunger for the entertainment industry’s dramatic take on the history of the Royal Family.

And, of course, the mere mention of the series “The Crown” on both the Oprah interview and in the interview that late night CBS television talk show host James Corden did with Harry a few weeks back certainly can’t hurt when it comes to marketing the blockbuster series. Although the statistics have not been thoroughly researched, I would surmise that Netflix walked off with at least a few hundred thousand more subscribers, considering that 17 million people globally tuned into the Oprah-Meghan-Harry event.

Turning our attention to the focus of the interview which did reveal much about the machinations of the UK royal family it is noteworthy to review a bit of history about the family, so that one can get a better grasp on who they are and what they mean to the British Empire and the many countries that comprise the commonwealth of nations that recognize the leadership of the monarchy.

Even though the House of Windsor looks and sounds very British with their “stiff upper lip” and “carry on” attitude, the royal family has a very weak British blood line in their DNA. As a matter of fact, the royal family has way more German blood and practice more German traditions than they do on the British side.

The House of Windsor as we know it today began in 1917 when the family changed its name from the German “Saxe-Coburg & Gotha.” Queen Elizabeth’s grandfather, King George V, was the first Windsor monarch, and today’s working royals are the descendants of King George and his wife, Queen Mary.  King George’s mother, Queen Alexandra had both Danish and German blood coursing in her veins and had German blood on his father’s side. Queen Mary was known as the princess of Teck, in the Kingdom of Württemberg in Germany, even though she was born and raised in the United Kingdom. Her parents were Francis, Duke of Teck, who was of German extraction, and Princess Mary Adelaide of Cambridge, who was a granddaughter of King George III. Rumor has it that Queen Mary even spoke English with a German accent.

Before 1917, members of the British Royal Family had no surname, but only the name of the house or dynasty to which they belonged. … The family name was changed as a result of anti-German feeling during the First World War, and the name Windsor was adopted after the Castle of the same name. German bombers were called “Gothas”, in reference to their manufacturer, Gothaer Waggonfabrik

This all stems back to Queen Victoria and Prince Albert whose 63 year reign placed its indelible mark on the United Kingdom.  Both Victoria and Albert were of German lineage. Queen Victoria was the last British monarch of the House of Hanover (as in Germany) and the Saxe-Coburg and Gotha dynasty became part of the family in 1840 when Victoria married Prince Albert of that dynasty. Victoria was succeeded by her son Edward VII in 1901, upon her death. He was known as a descendant of the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha as well.

To this day, the royal family on the Emerald Isle still practice such German traditions like opening up gifts on Christmas Eve rather than on Christmas Day.

With the advent of World War II and the subsequent abdication of King Edward VIII (aka, David), the royal family did everything in its power to publicly dissociate with Germany. Because the two countries were in the midst of ferocious battle during both world wars, it was thought best to treat Germany as the enemy that it was.

Interestingly, history has recorded that the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, (also known as the former King Edward VIII and his American wife, Wallace Simpson) traveled to Nazi Germany during World War II where they were feted by Adolf Hitler and prominent members of the Third Reich.  There has been much speculation on whether Edward’s trip with his wife to Nazi Germany was meant to show the world that at least one country in Europe recognized him as the King of the British Empire and his wife as his royal consort, deserving of adulation and tremendous respect.

Another piece of information that has rocked royal historians to the core is a most interesting one.   Prince Phillip of Greece and Denmark who later became the royal consort to the current monarch, Queen Elizabeth (and abandoned his foreign royal title and was granted a strictly British prince title by his wife in the early days of their marriage) was the only male heir of his mother, Princess Alice and his father Prince Andrew. His sisters all married Nazi officers.  Redeeming the family from its connection to the Nazi party was Philip’s mother, Princess Alice. Although she also spoke German, she ended up back in Greece during World War II and helped Greek Jews escape from the Nazis who had invaded the country.

The Royal Family, however, has over the last thousand years, successfully navigated life’s turbulent highways. Although it has taken some serious bruises along the way, somehow, the pageantry of the monarchy has captivated people from across the globe and kept it in its favor.  Despite the consistent presence of the Republicans faction in the UK that calls for the end of the monarchy, the House of Windsor still prevails and remains a much loved institution in the British empire.

 

IDF general: Next war will bring 2,000 missiles a day on Israel

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By David Isaac, World Israel News

Home Front Commander Gen. Uri Gordin gave a dire warning during an address at the B’Sheva Conference in Jerusalem on Monday regarding the threat awaiting Israel in the next war.

“In the next war the State of Israel is expected to absorb about 2,000 missiles and rockets that will be launched at it every day and will challenge all military and civilian systems alike,” Gordin said.

Israel faces missile threats on multiple fronts. In Lebanon, there are an estimated 150,000 missiles controlled by Hezbollah. The terror group is engaged in an ongoing effort to make its arsenal more precise.

Hamas is also working to build up its missile arsenal and routinely launches rockets at Israel from the Gaza Strip.

In Iran, which has repeatedly threatened to bomb Israel out of existence, a new “missile city” was just announced. It also has started enriching uranium, a key ingredient in nuclear weapons.

 

Gordin, who assumed his command in 2020, said that the missile option is one Israel’s enemies will turn to because they can’t beat Israel on the battlefield.

“Therefore, they are trying to transfer the battle to the second front, which is our home – physical damage to cities, towns and villages and damage to our spirit through psychological warfare. They must understand that even on the house front they will meet a determined and cohesive iron fist,” Gordin said.

Gordin has addressed the danger from missiles before. In a Maariv interview in Sept. 2020, he said Hezbollah has “created a powerful threat to Israel in the field of rockets and missiles… This is a rocket quantity that no country in Europe has, and these are very significant capabilities that will meet us if war breaks out.”

“There is no doubt that if a war breaks out, the Home Front will be very involved in it, because that is what our enemies have chosen,” Gordin told Maariv.

“This is worrying, so we take a lot of action, some of it in the area of ​​protection. We have many defensive programs, some launched, some less so.”

‘Mank’ leads Oscar nominations in a year of record diversity

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In this image released by Netflix, Amanda Seyfried, left, and Gary Oldman appear in a scene from "Mank." (Netflix via AP)

(AP) — After a pandemic year that shuttered movie theaters and upended the movie business, Academy Awards nominations on Monday went to two female filmmakers for the first time, to a historically diverse slate of actors and to David Fincher’s lead-nominee “Mank,” a traditional kind of Oscar contender — an old Hollywood homage — in very untraditional year.

Fincher’s “Mank,” a black-and-white, period drama about “Citizen Kane” screenwriter Herman Mankiewicz, easily topped nominations for the 93rd Academy Awards — delayed two months by the coronavirus pandemic — with 10 nominations, including best picture, best director, acting nods for Gary Oldman and Amanda Seyfried, and a host of others for its lavish craft.

Nominations were spread among a wide variety of contenders. Six films, all of them also up for best picture, score six nods: “Judas and the Black Messiah,” “Nomadland,” “Minari,” “Sound of Metal,” “The Trial of the Chicago 7” and “The Father.” Also nominated for best picture was Emerald Fennell’s “Promising Young Woman.”

History was made in the best director category. Only five women have ever been nominated before. For the first time, two were this year. Chloé Zhao got a nod for her elegiac road-trip drama “Nomadland” alongside first-time feature filmmaker Fennell for her pitch black #MeToo revenge comedy. “Never going to stop crying,” Fennell, also nominated for best screenplay, said on Twitter.

Zhao, the first woman of color nominated for best director, is the most nominated woman in a single year in Oscar history. She was also tipped for the film’s adapted screenplay, editing and as a producer in the best picture category. The other directing nominees were Lee Isaac Chung for the tender family drama “Minari,” Fincher for “Mank” and Thomas Vinterberg for his heavy-drinking Danish tragicomedy “Another Round.”

For performers, it’s the most diverse group of nominees ever — and a far cry from the all-white acting nods that spawned the #OscarsSoWhite hashtag five years ago. Nine of the 20 acting nominees are people of color, including a posthumous best-actor nomination for Chadwick Boseman (“Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom”), as well as nods for Riz Ahmed (“Sound of Metal”), Steven Yeun (“Minari”), Viola Davis (“Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom”) and Andra Day (“The People vs. Billie Holiday”) and supporting nominations for Daniel Kaluuya and Lakeith Stanfield (“Judas and the Black Messiah”), Leslie Odom Jr. (“One Night in Miami”) and Yuh-Jung Youn (“Minari”).

“We have to recognize how hard these people have worked,” said Day, nominated for her performance as Billie Holiday. “We have to recognize their talent.”

“When you hear your own name it’s a weird feeling,” said Ahmed, the first Muslim nominated for best actor. “I just quietly gave thanks and felt some gratitude.”

Davis, who won for her performance in 2016’s “Fences,” landed her fourth Oscar nomination, making her the most nominated Black actress ever. Yeun is the first Asian American ever nominated for best actor. “Judas and the Black Messiah,” Shaka King’s powerful Black Panther drama, is the first best-picture nominee with an all-Black producing team (King along with Ryan Coogler and Charles D. King). Overall, a record 70 women were nominated for 76 Oscars, the academy said.

The other nominees for best actress are: Carey Mulligan (“Promising Young Woman”); Frances McDormand (“Nomadland”); Vanessa Kirby (“Pieces of a Woman”). The remaining nominee for best actor is Anthony Hopkins for the dementia drama “The Father.”

With moviegoing nearly snuffed out by the coronavirus, the best-picture nominees had hardly any box office to speak of: $14.1 million in U.S. and Canada ticket sales. For the first time, Hollywood’s biggest and most sough-after awards belong to movies that were almost entirely seen at home.

“We learned a lot of hard lessons last year, but a nice one was that people will find a way to go to the movies, even if they can only go as far as their living rooms,” said Aaron Sorkin, writer-director of “The Trial of the Chicago 7,” in a statement.

Netflix, as expected, led all studios with 35 nominations. The streaming service is still hunting its first best-picture winner, and this year has two shots in “Mank” and “The Trial of the Chicago 7” — a movie Paramount Pictures sold off during the pandemic. Netflix led last year, too, with 24 nominations, but came away with just two wins

Other streamers were in the mix. Amazon Studios, in particular, was well represented with “Sound of Metal,” “Borat Subsequent Moviefilm” and “One Night in Miami” — leading to 12 nominations overall. Both Apple TV+ (“Wolfwalkers,” “Greyhound”) and Disney+ (“Soul,” “Onward”) landed their first nominations. The film that tried to lead a box-office revival — Christopher Nolan’s “Tenet” — walked away with nominations for production design and visual effects.

The nominations were announced from London by presenters Nick Jonas and Priyanka Chopra Jonas. The Academy Awards would typically have happened by now but this year will be telecast April 25. The film academy said Monday that the show will be held at both its usual home, the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles, and the city’s railway hub, Union Station.

This year’s awards season — typically a monthslong circuit of screenings, cocktail parties and schmoozing — has been entirely virtual, taking much of the buzz and predictability out of the Oscars. Eligibility was extended to early 2021 releases and to movies that bypassed theaters.

“In our industry there is nothing more traditional than the Academy Awards, which hopefully sends a sign of hope that we will get out of this,” said Oldman in a statement. “The Oscars are such a sign that normalcy still exists.”

Among the films that had hoped for a better result Monday was Spike Lee’s “Da 5 Bloods” — which was nominated only for its score. Just eight out of a possible 10 movies were nominated for best picture, leaving out “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,” Regina King’s “One Night in Miami” and Golden Globe winner “Borat Subsequent Moviefilm.”

Despite the best-picture snub for “Borat,” Sacha Baron Cohen, who created the title character, was still a nominee for his supporting role as activist Abbie Hoffman in “The Trial of the Chicago 7,” and “Borat” star Maria Bakalova was nominated for best supporting actress. Also nominated in the category: Glenn Close for “Hillbilly Elegy” and Olivia Colman for “The Father.”

The most competitive category might have been documentary, where “Collective,” “Crip Camp: A Disability Revolution,” “The Mole Agent,” My Octopus Teacher” and “Time” ultimately landed nominations. “Collective,” the Romanian documentary about investigative journalism and government corruption, became just the second film nominated for both best documentary and best international film. The other international film nominees were “Quo Vadis, Aida?,” Bosnia and Herzegovina; “Another Round,” Denmark; “Better Days,” Hong Kong; and “The Man Who Sold His Skin,” Tunisia.

The nominees for best animated feature: “Onward”; “Over the Moon”; “A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon”; “Soul”; “Wolfwalkers.”

The film academy and ABC will hope that the nominees can drum up more excitement than they have elsewhere. Interest in little golden statuettes has nosedived during the pandemic. Ratings for a largely virtual Golden Globes plunged to 6.9 million viewers — a 64% drop from 2020 — last month. Though on Sunday the Grammys managed to break through the Zoom trap.

With the notable exception of fueling streaming subscriber growth, the pandemic has been punishing for the movie industry. Production slowed to a crawl, blockbusters were postponed or detoured to streaming and thousands have been laid off or furloughed.

But the outlook for Hollywood has recently brightened as coronavirus cases have slid and vaccines have ramped up. Movie theaters are reopening in the U.S.’s two largest markets, New York and Los Angeles. And several larger movies — including the Walt Disney Co.’s “Black Widow” (May 7) — are scheduled for May and beyond.

___

AP National Writer Jocelyn Noveck in New York and Jamia Pugh in Los Angeles contributed to this report.

Terror group appoints first woman to its ruling junta

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Members of the new Hamas political bureau in Gaza, with Jamila al-Shanti in the front row, Mar. 14, 2021. (Hamas website)

By Paul Shindman, World Israel News

The Hamas terror group that controls Gaza announced Sunday that it had appointed the first woman to its ruling politburo.

The secret internal elections saw 20 Hamas personalities appointed to the political board including Jamila al-Shanti, 65, a former member of the Palestinian legislature and the widow of Hamas co-founder Abdel Aziz Al-Rantisi.

“For the first time, one of the sisters was elected to the political bureau of the movement,” Hamas said in a statement announcing its decision.

Al-Shanti’s husband was seen as a Hamas hardliner who rejected peace with Israel and said the Iran-backed terror group would fight Israel until it was defeated and replaced with an Islamic Palestinian state. Al-Rantisi was assassinated by Israel in 2004 during the second intifada when Hamas was carrying out deadly waves of suicide bombings and rocket attacks on Israeli civilians.

The appointment of al-Shanti may be a Hamas move to calm the angry backlash in Gaza last month following the decision by a Hamas-appointed Islamic judge that required unmarried women show their “guardian’s” approval in order to travel. Most Arab countries in the region have eliminated the draconian measure that forces women to get permission from a senior male in their family in order to move outside the household.

Qatar, a major sponsor of Hamas that pumps millions of dollars of cash into Gaza monthly in order to help keep Hamas in power, is the only Arab country in the Gulf to maintain Islamic guardianship over women.

Every four years Hamas holds secret internal elections for its leadership in what it calls its own style of “democracy.” In a close race, incumbent Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar won re-election in a runoff vote after he was almost defeated by Nizar Awadallah, a Hamas veteran seen as being closer to Iran than Sinwar.

Sinwar himself is a convicted terrorist who was jailed for masterminding the murder of Israelis but released in the 2011 prisoner exchange for kidnapped IDF soldier Gilad Shalit.

Arabs want to stop Six Day War memorial for fallen paratroopers

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Soldiers stand at attention during a ceremony marking the 50th anniversary since the recapture of the Old City in the Six Day War, May 23, 2017. (Flash90/Hadas Parush)

By Paul Shindman, World Israel News

Residents of an Arab neighborhood in Jerusalem are opposing the renovation and expansion of a memorial to IDF paratroopers who fell in the battle for the city in the 1967 Six Day War, Channel 11 reported Sunday.

Located in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood between the city center and the Hebrew University on Mt. Scopus, the initial memorial was set up after the war with a plaque to commemorate the 11 members of the 71st Paratroopers Regiment who were killed in battles in the area as the troops fought to liberate the Old City.

A larger memorial wall was inaugurated in 1985 next to the original monument that expanded the list to add the names of all 183 of the battalion’s fallen since 1946.

Two weeks ago the Jerusalem Municipality approved a plan to rehabilitate and expand the monument funded by the Paratroopers’ Veterans Association that will see an amphitheater with several hundred seats.

Residents of the neighborhood object to the move in what they call a step towards turning Sheikh Jarrah into a Jewish neighborhood, while for the battalion’s veterans, there can be no other place, the report said.

Former platoon commander Yoram Zamush described how Jordanian army snipers firing from a local mosque killed one of his soldiers on the spot right in front of the memorial.

“Since then we have established a portion of privately owned land in Jerusalem to the memory of our comrades,” Zamush said. “This land, in our point of view, is holy ground.”

Local resident Saleh Diab told Zamush it was fine for a memorial to the Israeli soldiers, but said “I can walk [here] and make a symbol for all of our martyrs.”

“I was born here and played right here,” Diab said, motioning at the site of the memorial. “All this wasn’t here.”

Ori Klanner, head of the 71st Regiment veterans, said the memorial should be beyond politics.

“As paratroopers who remember what happened here and want future generations …to remember what went on here, there should be here a nice and respectable place… this is what happened here, this is history, and we want to honor it,” Klanner said.

The Association for Civil Rights in Israel petitioned against the plan, saying there was no need for such a large memorial site because the Ammunition Hill memorial park dedicated to the entire paratrooper brigade is only 700 meters (half a mile) away.

“I don’t want to live with the dead all my life,” said former deputy mayor Pappa Allo of the left-wing Meretz Party. “Let’s think of how to live together.”

Zamush and Klanner were not moved by the arguments of Diab and Allo, with Zamush maintaining that “we are committed to the heritage of our friends the fighters.”

Sheikh Jarrah has a notorious connotation for many Israelis. During the 1948 War of Independence Arab forces attacked a convoy that was on its way through the neighborhood to Hadassah Hospital on nearby Mt. Scopus.

Known as the Hadassah medical convoy massacre, 78 Jews, mostly doctors and nurses, were killed and many of the bodies were burned beyond recognition.

Mizrahi and Sephardic Passover Resources During Covid-19

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Illustrative: a traditional Passover Seder plate is seen at Congregation Beth El in Tyler, Texas, on the first night of Passover. (AP/Dr. Scott M. Lieberman, File)

ha-Layla hazeh: Sephardic Customs and Readings for the Pesah Seder. Sephardic Education Center

Online Sephardic Passover Agada: Hebrew, Ladino & English.

Seattle Vaad Passover Guide, 2020

How to Host a Virtual Seder During a Pandemic. Ten tips for creating a meaningful and fun online seder experience. Jewish Boston

The Art of Virtual Gathering: Passover 2020. Haggadot.com

A Different Pesach: Ideas for the Solo Seder

4 Sephardic Recipes for ‘Safer at Home’ Passover Seder. Jewish Journal

A global hour of Sephardic Passover Insights with Sephardic Rabbis from around the world including: Rabbi Daniel Bouskila (LA), Rabbi Moshe Benzaquen (LA), Rabbi Nissim Elnevace (NYC), Rabbi Eli Abadie (NYC), Rabbi Daniel Kahana (NYC), Rabbi Ben Hassan (Seattle), Rabbi Naftali Haleva (Turkey), Rabbi Ilan Acoca (New Jersey), & Rabbi Benito Garzon (Israel).

Enjoy JIMENA’s carefully curated collection of authentic Pesach recipes and food articles from our favorite Mizrahi and Sephardic food bloggers and editors.

Starters

Karatie, Egyptian Matzah
Jewish Journal

Israeli Salad with Tehina
My Jerusalem Kitchen

Turkish Albondigas de Pirasa (Leek Meatballs)
Tablet Magazine

Moroccan Fish Stew
Tori Avey

Haroset

Iraqi, Libyan and Iranian Style Haroset
KQED, Bay Area Bites

Yemenite Haroset
JIMENA Yemenite Experience

Algerian Haroset
Washington Times

Syrian Dried Apricot Haroset
Too Good to Passover

Main Courses

Syrian Veal Breast Stuffed with Spiced Ground Meat
NPR

Algerian Boulettes (meatballs) with Greenpeas
Too Good to Passover

Lebanese Stuffed Potatoes (Vegan)
May I Have That Recipe

Indian Tomato Eggplant Lamb Curry
Levana Cooks

Yemenite Beef and Tomato Stew
Alan Divack’s (Mostly Food) Blog

Desserts

Pastel de Nuez, Sephardic Walnut Cake
May I Have That Recipe

Turkish Honey Soaked Almond Cake
The Boreka Diary on The Global Jewish Kitchen

Boulicunio, Sephardic Sesame Cookies
Bendichas Manos

Brazil’s Bolsonaro picks 4th health minister as COVID rages

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Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro walks past his Health Minister Eduardo Pazuello, left, and President of the Sanitary Agency Antonio Barra Torres before a ceremony to sign a law that expands the federal government's ability to acquire COVID-19 vaccines, at Planalto presidential palace in Brasilia, Brazil, Wednesday, March 10, 2021. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)

(AP) — Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro on Monday picked his fourth health minister since the COVID-19 pandemic hit, amid the worst throes of the disease in the country yet and after a series of errors decried by public health experts.

Marcelo Queiroga, the president of the Brazilian Society of Cardiology, will replace Eduardo Pazuello, an active-duty army general with expertise in logistics who landed the position last May despite having no prior health experience.

Earlier Monday, Pazuello acknowledged in a press conference that Bolsonaro aimed to replace him. The first candidate for the job, cardiologist Ludhmila Hajjar, rejected it.

Pazuello’s departure means ushering in Brazil’s fourth health minister during the pandemic, although he has presided over the ministry for the longest period of the three to date. The revolving door signals the challenges for the government of Latin America’s largest nation to implement effective measures to control the virus’ spread — or even agreeing which measures are necessary.

 

Pazuello’s two predecessors left the position amid disagreements with Bolsonaro, who criticized broad social distancing and supported the use of an unproven anti-malarial drug to treat the disease. He continues to hold those positions, despite health experts’ admonishments and studies showing the drug has no effect on COVID-19.

Pazuello proved more compliant. Immediately after taking the job his ministry backed use and distribution of the malaria pill. On several occasions, he said that his boss tells him what to do, and he obeys.

“The conversation (with Queiroga) was excellent. I already knew him from a few years back. He has everything it takes to do nice work, continuing what Pazuello has done up until today,” Bolsonaro told supporters at the entrance of the presidential residence in Brasilia, adding there will be a transition period of up to two weeks with the outgoing and the incoming minister.

“Pazuello’s work was well done in the management part. Now we are in a phase that is more aggressive in the fight against the virus,” Brazil’s president said.

Brazil has recorded almost 280,000 deaths from the virus, almost all of which were on his watch. The toll has been worsening lately, with the nation currently averaging more than 1,800 deaths each day. Health care systems of major cities are at the brink of collapse, and lawmakers allied with Bolsonaro have proposed suitable replacements for Pazuello, while threatening to step up pressure for an investigation into his handling of the crisis.

The country’s top court is also investigating Pazuello for alleged neglect that contributed to the collapse of the health care system in Amazonas state earlier this year. That probe will now be sent to a low court judge.

Weeks later, in a particularly embarrassing episode, his ministry accidentally dispatched a shipment of vaccines intended for Amazonas state to neighboring Amapa state, and vice versa, after confusing the abbreviations for each state.

Finally, Pazuello has faced intense criticism for Brazil’s slow vaccine rollout. According to Our World in Data, an online research site that compares official government statistics, only 5.4% of Brazilians have been vaccinated. Almost all were shots from Chinese biopharmaceutical firm Sinovac, which Bolsonaro repeatedly cast doubt upon.

Pazuello’s health ministry also delayed its decision to purchase the vaccine from Sao Paulo state’s government until it was left with no other option to start immunization in January.

The only vaccine deal Pazuello had signed at the time, for 100 million doses of the AstraZeneca jab, has brought few shots to the arms of Brazilians so far. His ministry has since scrambled to cobble together agreements with other suppliers, recently concluding deals to acquire the Pfizer and Sputnik V shots.

Pazuello said in the press conference that he would not resign, and insisted there will be continuity with whomever assumes his position.

Cardiologist Hajjar had already revealed that Bolsonaro interviewed her to replace Pazuello. She told television channel Globo News that science has already ruled against treatments Bolsonaro and his legions of supporters continue to champion, like drugs to fight malaria and parasites, and that the country needs to adopt more restrictive measures on activity. She said she declined the position.

“He needs to choose someone he trusts, who is aligned with him, his ideas, his vision, and with the government’s desire. And I’m certainly not that person,” she said.

Hajjar forecast between 500,000 and 600,000 total deaths, not to mention long-term consequences, unless Brazil changes course.

Queiroga has already called Bolsonaro “a great Brazilian.” His social media channels have not made any criticism of the president’s handling of the pandemic and pushed for a quick vaccine rollout.

What’s In It for NYC as Biden Signs $1.9T Covid Relief Bill

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ap

By: Ilana Siyance

President Joe Biden signed a $1.9 trillion stimulus package on Thursday.

The federal coronavirus relief package will include about $6 billion in local aid to New York City, $6.5 billion to the MTA, and relief for restaurants, small businesses and entertainment sites.  The stimulus passed in the House and Senate despite unanimous Republican opposition.

Mayor Bill de Blasio lauded the package saying, “Take stock of this moment, everyone, because it’s extraordinary,” de Blasio said. “The biggest action by the federal government for the people of this country since the New Deal.”

“There’s funding for vaccines, funding for schools, funding to bring our schools back strong in September, funding to help our restaurants survive and thrive, and the wonderful initiative Save our Stages — which I know was a particular labor of love for Senator Schumer — bringing back Broadway, Off-Broadway, so much of the culture that makes New York City great,” de Blasio said.

As per Patch, eligible New Yorkers can prepare to receive a $1,400 stimulus check, with direct deposit payments starting the week of March 17, and paper checks being sent out the week after.  To be eligible, individuals will need to earn $75,000 or less, or single parents earning up to $120,000 and couples with household income of under $160,000.  Eligible couples filing taxes jointly can get $2,800, and eligible dependents can also add on $1,400 each.  The child tax credit is also being increased from $2,000, to a new max of $3,600 per child under 6 and $3,000 per child between the ages of 6 and 16 for 2021.  This will primarily benefit individuals earning under $75,000 a year, or $150,000 as a couple.

The plan also extends federal unemployment payments of $300 per week through Sept. 6.  The proposed $15 federal minimum wage increase did not get passed with the bill.  The stimulus also targets help for the MTA, helping the agency avoid the mass transit cuts warned against for months.  Debt-ridden taxi drivers can also look forward to the taxi medallion relief fund.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo hailed the passage of the “historic” bill.  “This legislation confronts the dual health and economic crises created by the war on COVID by providing much-needed relief to lift New York families out of dire economic straits, critical funds to expand and accelerate New York’s growing vaccination efforts and targeted relief for state and local governments,” Cuomo said in a statement.

 

The ‘Quick Ascension’ of New NYC Schools Chancellor, Melissa Ross Porter

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By: Benyamin Davidsons

Meisha Ross Porter started her first day as the new NYC Schools Chancellor on Monday.

Porter, 47, will replace former Chancellor Richard Carranza at the same salary of $363,346, having been appointed by Mayor Bill de Blasio.  Porter has become a rising star in the city’s Department of education, jumping to a “quick ascension”, despite less than 2 years as an actual teacher.  Critics wonder if Porter has enough experience to run the biggest school system in America.

As reported by the NY Post, in 1997, Porter, formerly a community organizer, joined the DOE, helping to create the Bronx School for Law, Government and Justice.  She worked as assistant to founding principal David Banks for roughly three years.  Then she started teaching English at the school.  In 2003, only a year and a half later, her teaching days ended with her appointment as assistant principal.  Just six months later, she was promoted to principal after Banks left to start a network of all-boys’ public schools.  “It was a quick ascension, but there was no one better to lead that school,” Banks told The Post. “Nobody was more committed, nobody knew more about the school, beside me, than her. She was the heart and soul of the place — the two of us were.”  In 2015, after ten years as principal, she was appointed as superintendent of all the schools in the Bronx, and now she will begin serving as NYC Schools Chancellor.

Unlike other DOE superintendents, however, Porter never earned a permanent teaching license.  At that time, she didn’t need one to become a school administrator, as per the state education department. The state rules now say that three years of prior teaching experience are required.  In fact, under laws set in 2014, most NYC educators cannot become principals without at least seven years of teaching or other instructional posts.

“She’s been in the right place at the right time, but she’s good,” Banks commented. “The DOE is a $32 billion industry responsible for overseeing buses, food and everything else. You’re not the top teacher, you’re running the entire system,” Banks added.  “Meisha has been a wonderful educator. She cares deeply about kids and families. She knows how to improve schools, and get the community to buy in.”

In response to the Post’s request for comment, spokespersons for City Hall and the DOE wrote:  “The NY Post’s desperate and racist attempt to undermine her qualifications is disgraceful. She is more than qualified with over 20 years of on-the-ground experience in the school system she is leading and we will not entertain these patently false claims”.

 

Major European nations suspend use of AstraZeneca vaccine

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. (AP Photo/Daniel Cole)

(AP) — A cascading number of European countries — including Germany, France, Italy and Spain — suspended use of AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine Monday over reports of dangerous blood clots in some recipients, though the company and international regulators say there is no evidence the shot is to blame.

AstraZeneca’s formula is one of three vaccines in use on the continent. But the escalating concern is another setback for the European Union’s vaccination drive, which has been plagued by shortages and other hurdles and is lagging well behind the campaigns in Britain and the U.S.

The EU’s drug regulatory agency called a meeting for Thursday to review experts’ findings on the AstraZeneca shot and decide whether action needs to be taken.

The furor comes as much of Europe is tightening restrictions on schools and businesses amid surging cases of COVID-19.

Germany’s health minister said the decision to suspend AstraZeneca shots was taken on the advice of the country’s vaccine regulator, the Paul Ehrlich Institute, which called for further investigation into seven cases of clots in the brains of people who had been vaccinated.

“Today’s decision is a purely precautionary measure,” Jens Spahn said.

French President Emmanuel Macron said his country will likewise stop dispensing the vaccine until at least Tuesday afternoon. Italy also announced a temporary ban, as did Spain, Portugal and Slovenia.

Other countries that have done so over the past few days include Denmark, which was the first, as well as Ireland, Thailand, the Netherlands, Norway, Iceland, Congo and Bulgaria. Canada and Britain are standing by the vaccine for now.

In the coming weeks, AstraZeneca is expected to apply for U.S. authorization of its vaccine. The U.S. now relies on Pfizer’s, Moderna’s and Johnson & Johnson’s shots.

AstraZeneca said there have been 37 reports of blood clots out of more than 17 million people vaccinated in the 27-country EU and Britain. The drugmaker said there is no evidence the vaccine carries an increased risk of clots.

In fact, it said the incidence of clots is much lower than would be expected to occur naturally in a general population of this size and is similar to that of other licensed COVID-19 vaccines.

The World Health Organization and the EU’s European Medicines Agency have also said that the data does not suggest the vaccine caused the clots and that people should continue to be immunized.

“Many thousands of people develop blood clots annually in the EU for different reasons,” the European Medicines Agency said. The incidence in vaccinated people “seems not to be higher than that seen in the general population.”

The agency said that while the investigation is going on, “the benefits of the AstraZeneca vaccine in preventing COVID-19, with its associated risk of hospitalization and death, outweigh the risks of side effects.”

Blood clots can travel through the body and cause heart attacks, strokes and deadly blockages in the lungs. AstraZeneca reported 15 cases of deep vein thrombosis, or a type of clot that often develops in the legs, and 22 instances of pulmonary embolisms, or clots in the lungs.

The AstraZeneca shot has become a key tool in European countries’ efforts to boost their sluggish vaccine rollouts. It is also pillar of a U.N.-backed project known as COVAX that aims to supply COVID-19 vaccines to poorer countries. That program continues unaffected by the European suspension.

Pfizer’s and Moderna’s vaccines are also used on the European continent, and J&J’s one-shot vaccine has been authorized but not yet delivered.

Dr. Michael Head, a senior research fellow in global health at the University of Southampton in England, said there is no data yet to justify suspending the AstraZeneca vaccine and called the decision “baffling.”

“Halting a vaccine rollout during a pandemic has consequences,” Head said. “This results in delays in protecting people, and the potential for increased vaccine hesitancy, as a result of people who have seen the headlines and understandably become concerned.”

Spahn, the German health minister, defended the country’s decision, saying, “The most important thing for confidence is transparency.” He said both first and second doses would be suspended.

Germany has received slightly over 3 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine, and about half of those have so far been administered, compared with almost 7 million of the Pfizer shot and about 285,000 from Moderna.

German authorities have encouraged anyone who feels increasingly ill more than four days after receiving the shot — for example, with persistent headaches or dot-shaped bruises — to seek medical attention.

The head of the Spanish Medicines Agency, Maria Jesús Lamas, said Spain detected its first case of clots on Saturday. She said the ban was “not an easy decision” because it further slows the nation’s vaccination campaign, but it was the “most prudent” approach.

Almost 940,000 people in Spain have received the AstraZeneca shot.

Some European countries, meanwhile, have begun reimposing restrictions in a bid to beat back a resurgence in infections, many of them from variants of the original virus.

In Italy, 80% of children nationwide couldn’t attend classes after stricter rules in more regions took effect on Monday. In Poland, bolstered restrictions were applied to two more regions, including Warsaw. Paris could go into lockdown in a matter of days because intensive care units are getting swamped with COVID-19 patients.

And calls are growing in Germany to “ pull the emergency brake” in regions where cases are rising.

NYC’s Hospital for Special Surgery Gifted $35 Million for Expansion

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The Hospital for Special Surgery has plans to build a new 12-story waterfront building over the FDR Drive. The $200 million project is the heart of a proposed $300 million modernization of the HSS campus. Photo Credit: hhs.edu

By Hellen Zaboulani

Philanthropist Marina Kellen French has donated $35 million to the Hospital for Special Surgery.

The top rated facility for musculoskeletal health and orthopedics, founded in 1863, will use the gift to undertake an impressive expansion.  As reported by the NY Post, the New York institution has plans to build a new 12-story waterfront building over the FDR Drive.  The $200 million project is the heart of a proposed $300 million modernization of the HSS campus.

The mini-tower, for which groundbreaking is set for October, is slated to add 100,000 square feet of floor space for the hospital and provide more private patient rooms.  The expansion will not add any hospital beds, but will increase the hospital’s operating capacity by about 25 percent.  Operating rooms will be redone to add efficiency, and doctors’ offices and clinical and research facilities will be reconfigured.

“It positions HSS to do what we do best well into the future. It will allow us to give our patients who come from around the world the very best care through the next set of decades,” said HSS CEO, Louis A. Shapiro, who called it a “transformative” addition to the campus.

The HSS campus already includes over ten buildings on the East River between East 71st and 75th streets.  The new 12-story building will connect to the hospital’s existing main building, with a third-floor sky bridge over East 71st Street. The plan received approval under the city’s Uniform Land Use Review Procedure, back in the 1990s and already has the needed permits.  “We’ve owned the air rights for years and now, we’re finally able to do this,” said HSS surgeon-in-chief emeritus Dr. Thomas P. Sculco. “It will be amazing for our patients, not only for the facilities, but for the views they’ll have over the East River.”  The hospital has been eyeing such a project for decades.

Sculco credited Mrs. French for making the dream a reality.  “Amazing — it was in the beginning of the pandemic, [when we were] struggling to keep the hospital afloat,” he recalled. “That’s when Marina stepped up and said, ‘we want to make a difference.’ ”

“Marina has been unbelievably generous to us over the years,” Sculco said. “Her foundation’s total gifts to us, including this latest, total over $60 million.” French is vice president of her parents’ foundation, the Anna-Maria & Stephen Kellen Foundation. The tower will also bear her parents’ names.

White House: Joe Biden Will Continue Working with Andrew Cuomo Despite Scandals

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AP

CHARLIE SPIERING

The White House on Monday confirmed President Joe Biden would continue working with Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) despite a series of sexual harassment accusations and covering up the number of deaths in nursing homes.

“We don’t want the people of New York or any state to be impacted negatively,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said. “We will continue to work with a range of governors, including Gov. Cuomo, who I would expect will join the call tomorrow.”

Cuomo remains the head of the National Governor’s Association and leads the weekly coronavirus response call with the White House.

Psaki conceded the reported details of the accusations were concerning.

“New developments seem to happen every day, we find them troubling, the president finds them troubling, hard to read,” Psaki said.

But she again pointed to the independent investigation into Cuomo’s behavior by Attorney General Letitia James.

“The investigation needs to be both quick and thorough, consistent with how serious these allegations are,” Psaki said.

Psaki said it was up to the NGA to decide Cuomo’s future as head of the organization and up to New York legislators to decide his future as the Governor of New York.

“It’s up to the NGA to determine if that’s where they want to see things moving forward,” she said.

Biden indicated Sunday evening he would wait until the investigation into Cuomo’s behavior was complete before passing judgment on the New York Governor’s future.

On Sunday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) said Cuomo should “look inside his heart” to decide if he should resign while Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) and Adam Schiff (D-CA) both said Cuomo needs to resign.

Cuomo’s staffers reportedly stopped coming to the office in light of the scandals.

Breitbart

Rothman Orthopaedics in New York Opens Flagship Office in Manhattan

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MANHATTAN, NY, TUESDAY, MARCH 16, 2021Rothman Orthopaedic Institute, an internationally-recognized leader in orthopaedic care, announces the opening of its new flagship office in Manhattan, NY on Tuesday, March 16th, 2021. Located at 645 Madison Ave (3rd and 4th Floors) and near multiple subway lines, this state-of-the art space will treat all orthopaedic issues—both non-operatively and surgically—for the spine, hip & knee, hand & wrist, foot & ankle as well as sports medicine.
“This office opening represents another significant milestone for Rothman – New York,” said Alexander R. Vaccaro, MD, PhD, MBA, President of Rothman Orthopaedic Institute, Richard H. Rothman Professor and Chairman of the Department of Orthopaedics, and Professor of Neurosurgery at Thomas Jefferson University and Hospitals. “In two years, we went from one location to now four locations which include two large, flagship locations and we look forward to continuing to bring the best musculoskeletal care to this region.”
Modeled after Rothman’s large offices in Philadelphia, PA and Southern New Jersey, the 20,000 sq. ft. Upper East Side location will include 15 exam rooms, orthotics, an injection suite, x-ray and an area dedicated to physical and hand therapy. This will allow Rothman Orthopaedic patients to receive the highest quality of treatment and service all under one roof.
“We are thrilled to continue our growth of Rothman in the New York market,” said Michael Smith, MD, co-leader of Rothman – New York. “This location will allow more patients convenient access to some of the best orthopaedic providers in the world, and we’re excited to open this brand new facility and the expansion of our practice in the city.”
Physicians and their subspecialties at this office include:
  • Dr. Grigory Arutyunyan – Orthopaedic Spine, Neurosurgery
  • Dr. Meghan Bishop – Sports Medicine
  • Dr. Brandon Erickson – Sports Medicine
  • Dr. Eric Grossman – Joint Replacement
  • Dr. Melody Hrubes – Non-Operative Sports Medicine
  • Dr. Joseph Lee – Orthopaedic Spine
  • Dr. Daniel Seigerman – Hand & Wrist
  • Dr. Michael Smith – Orthopaedic Spine, Neurosurgery
  • Dr. Justin Tsai – Foot & Ankle
Rothman Orthopaedics expanded into New York in 2018 and has three other locations: two in Westchester County (Harrison and Tarrytown) and another in lower Manhattan (Gramercy). Rothman Orthopaedic patients are treated at 36 locations across New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and now Florida, with high-quality, compassionate and affordable musculoskeletal care that is supported by the latest evidence-based medicine. For more information about Rothman Orthopaedics please call 1-888-636-7840 or visit www.RothmanNY.com.
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About Rothman Orthopaedic Institute:
Rothman Orthopaedic Institute is a world-leader in the field of orthopaedics providing communities in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York and most recently in Florida through its new partnership with AdventHealth. Rothman Orthopaedics provides high-quality, compassionate and affordable musculoskeletal care that is grounded in evidence-based medicine—the results of which will exceed expectations.
Rothman Orthopaedic Institute orthopaedists treat patients at 36 office locations, three of which include orthopaedic urgent care clinics. Rothman also has surgical privileges at 58 facilities across the tristate region. With experts in nine orthopaedic sub-specialties including spine, hip and knee, foot and ankle, shoulder and elbow, hand and wrist, sports medicine, physical medicine and rehabilitation, orthopaedic oncology and trauma, Rothman Orthopaedic Institute is recognized for excellence in clinical treatment methods, research, education and technology.
Consistently recognized as national and regional “Top Docs,” Rothman Orthopaedic Institute is proud to be the official team physicians for the Philadelphia Eagles, Phillies, 76ers, the iconic Radio City Rockettes, The Big East Conference, as well as over 40 college and high school teams.
For more information about Rothman Orthopaedic Institute, please visit www.RothmanOrtho.com.