A Beloved Bar Owner Was Skeptical About the Virus.  Then He Took a Cruise.  —  Joe Joyce oversaw JJ Bubbles, a welcoming tavern in a conservative corner of Brooklyn, for 43 years until he died of Covid-19.  —  Decades before he would embark on a cruise to the Mediterranean …

A Key G.O.P. Strategy: Blame China.  But Trump Goes Off Message.  —  Republicans increasingly believe that elevating China's culpability for spreading the coronavirus may be the best way to improve their difficult election chances.  The president is muddying the message.

Coronavirus Testing Needs to Triple Before the U.S. Can Reopen, Experts Say  —  Average Daily Coronavirus Tests in the U.S.  —  Level needed to safely  —  reopen  —  152 tests  —  tests per 100,000 people  —  Current level  —  45 tests  —  tests per 100,000 people  —  Level to reopen

Trump's ‘LIBERATE MICHIGAN!’ tweets incite insurrection.  That's illegal.  —  Federal law bans advocating the overthrow of government.  —  President Trump incited insurrection Friday against the duly elected governors of the states of Michigan, Minnesota and Virginia.

U.S. sent millions of face masks to China early this year, ignoring pandemic warning signs  —  U.S. manufacturers shipped millions of dollars of face masks and other protective medical equipment to China in January and February with encouragement from the federal government …

The Coronavirus in America: The Year Ahead  —  There will be no quick return to our previous lives, according to nearly two dozen experts.  But there is hope for managing the scourge now and in the long term.  —  The coronavirus is spreading from America's biggest cities to its suburbs …

IT'S TIME TO BUILD  —  Every Western institution was unprepared for the coronavirus pandemic, despite many prior warnings.  This monumental failure of institutional effectiveness will reverberate for the rest of the decade, but it's not too early to ask why, and what we need to do about it.

Michael Cohen Is Writing a Secret Tell-All to ‘Spill the Beans’ on Trump  —  The former Trump fixer is being released early from prison and is pissed and willing to dish on the president.  —  BEAST INSIDE  —  Michael Cohen has been spending his time behind bars writing an explosive tell …

Contamination at CDC lab delayed rollout of coronavirus tests  —  The failure by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to quickly produce a test kit for detecting the novel coronavirus was triggered by a glaring scientific breakdown at the CDC's central laboratory complex in Atlanta …

SC to reopen public beach accesses, retail stores that closed under coronavirus crackdown  —  COVID-19: What you need to know now  —  South Carolina will reopen public beach accesses and retail stores next week that were closed under orders to slow the spread of coronavirus, The Post and Courier has learned.

Parties race to break deadlock over funds for desperate businesses  —  Democratic leaders and the Trump administration are racing to cut a deal on the next tranche of coronavirus aid this weekend after a key small business relief fund expired.  —  Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer …

Donald Trump's Coronavirus Death Cult Takes to the Streets  —  “LIBERATE MINNESOTA!”  “LIBERATE MICHIGAN!”  “LIBERATE VIRGINIA, and save your great 2nd Amendment.  It is under siege!”  These Friday tweets from President Donald Trump condemning coronavirus restrictions by Democratic governors came less …

How Millions of Women Became the Most Essential Workers in America  —  One in three jobs held by women has been designated as essential.  —  Every day, Constance Warren stands behind the cold cuts counter at a grocery store in New Orleans, watching the regular customers come and go.

‘Republican AOC’ Laura Loomer gains steam in congressional run  —  A Florida hurricane may be about to hit Washington, DC.  —  Laura Loomer, a 26-year-old conservative provocateur running for Congress in the Sunshine State, is gaining strength with activists and donors buzzing about the possibility …

Trump allies press administration to unleash lawsuits against lockdowns  —  As President Donald Trump uses the bully pulpit to press state and local governments to ease their virus-related lockdowns, conservative activists and religious leaders are urging his administration to go further …

Trump's ‘liberate’ tweets were reckless and arrogant.  Now imagine if Obama had sent them.  —  Republicans in Congress spent the past decade sensationalizing and politicizing the actions of President Barack Obama.  But don't take my word for it.  —  “LIBERATE VIRGINIA, and save your great 2nd Amendment.

Memo to America's Governors:  —  After insisting that he had absolute power to decide when to reopen the American economy, President Donald Trump has turned over to all of you what he initially called “the biggest decision I've ever had to make.”  —  Trump is often guilty of hyperbole, but he's right in this case.

Nearly two-thirds of Americans think Trump acted too slowly to fight coronavirus  —  A Pew survey found 65 percent of Americans think Trump responded to Covid-19 too slowly.  —  Nearly two-thirds of Americans believe President Donald Trump acted too slowly in responding to the coronavirus …

Do testicles make men more vulnerable to the coronavirus?  —  Men contending with coronavirus infection may have a pair of vulnerabilities that could increase their risk of longer, more severe illness: their testicles.  —  A pilot study that tracked the clearance of the virus from patients in Mumbai …

Elon Musk is tech Covidiot No. 1 during coronavirus pandemic  —  After working as a journalist for over 20 years, much of it in the celebrity world, I have found that whatever age a person becomes famous is the age when his or her maturity (usually) stops.  —  But something a little different happens …

Senate battle hinges on four races  —  Democrats are racing to broaden their path to the Senate majority in November, while Republicans are spending heavily in an effort to hold their control over the chamber.  —  With 200 days to go until Election Day, the Democrats' path …

Lone passenger on U.S. flight gets VIP treatment: ‘Welcome aboard, Bob’  —  “Hi Bob,” the pilot said with a wave to the jet's sole passenger, who filmed the experience.  “I'm just making a video,” Bob Pitts said.  “Talking to myself.  There's nobody to talk to.”

Amazon Is Poised to Emerge From the Pandemic Stronger Than Ever  —  Earlier this week, a French court, responding to union complaints that Amazon.com Inc. wasn't doing enough to protect warehouse workers during the pandemic, ordered the company to stop selling nonessential items there.