Total nonsense!: At Democratic Convention, lies, conspiracy theories and meanness fill third night

 https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/democrat-convention-lies-conspiracy-theories-liz-harrington

 Former President Barack Obama spoke of sitting in the Oval Office, but he left out the part where he plotted with Biden to get the “right people” from the FBI to investigate his successors.

 Through lies and deceit Democrats have weaponized government, criminalized dissent, and launched conspiracy theory after conspiracy theory to wield against anyone who had the audacity to go to work and serve in a duly-elected president’s administration.

Former RNC chairman joins anti-Trump Lincoln Project

 https://www.foxnews.com/politics/former-rnc-chairman-joins-anti-trump-group-lincoln-project

 The first Black chairman of the Republican National Committee, Michael Steele, is joining the anti-Trump group Lincoln Project, which endorses Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden and is working to oust the president's supporters in Congress.

RNC tries to rewrite pandemic history, casting Trump as decisive leader

 https://www.politico.com/news/2020/08/25/rnc-trump-covid-19-401387

 

The Republican National Convention put President Donald Trump’s response to the coronavirus pandemic front and center on opening night, depicting him as a decisive leader who marshaled resources, forcefully responded to the deadly threat, and “moved mountains” to save American lives.

What it didn’t say is that the United States, with more than 5 million cases and more than 175,000 dead, with schools and businesses still closed and millions unemployed, has had one of the worst records on the pandemic in the world. Or that Trump repeatedly downplayed the virus threat until it had already spread throughout the country unchecked, and that to this day he inexplicably asserts that it will one day magically disappear.

But numerous public health experts, including top scientists whom Trump has diminished or contradicted, have said that the president failed, tragically, to mount a coordinated national response using the basic building blocks of public health, including a widespread, efficient and accessible national testing program.

 

FDA chief issues mea culpa for his plasma treatment claims

 https://www.politico.com/news/2020/08/25/fda-chief-plasma-benefits-criticism-401514

 FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn issued a mea culpa late Monday, conceding that he had overstated the benefits of convalescent plasma as a treatment of coronavirus at a press conference last weekend with President Donald Trump.

 “I have been criticized for remarks I made Sunday night about the benefits of convalescent plasma. The criticism is entirely justified,” the commissioner said in a string of tweets. “What I should have said better is that the data show a relative risk reduction not an absolute risk reduction.”

While the therapy is considered safe, plasma has not yet been proven effective against the coronavirus. 

In a statement released Sunday, the FDA said plasma “does not yet represent a new standard of care based on the current available evidence.”

 The commissioner’s actions Sunday, which came after Trump accused the FDA of slow-walking the therapy to harm his reelection, renewed many public health experts' fears that the administration will rush through a Covid-19 vaccine without proof that it works.

Hasidic group in New York urges members to wear masks in public

 http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/285890

 The Bobover Hasidic movement in New York City has called on its members to adhere to state social distancing regulations, and to wear masks whenever they are unable to maintain a six-foot distance from others in public.

In a statement released by Congregation Khal Shaarei Zion Bobov, the movement implored its members over the age of 60 or who have serious medical conditions – including heart problems, diabetes, or respiratory problems – to take special precautions to avoid becoming infected with the coronavirus.

In addition, the movement urged all members to adhere to state regulations, including social distancing, or, in situations where that is not possible, to wear masks.

Minister: We oppose sale of ‘even one screw’ of the F-35 to UAE

 https://www.timesofisrael.com/minister-we-oppose-sale-of-even-one-screw-of-the-f-35-to-uae/

 Last week, the Yedioth Ahronoth daily reported that the US planned to sell the fifth generation F-35 stealth fighter jet to the UAE as part of a recently announced normalization agreement between Jerusalem and Abu Dhabi. Netanyahu quickly denied the report as fake news, though US President Donald Trump and other senior American officials later confirmed that Washington was indeed considering selling the aircraft to the UAE and that the normalization deal was a significant factor in that decision.

 

'Parade of dishonesty:' GOP convention night 1 fact check

F.D.A. ‘Grossly Misrepresented’ Blood Plasma Data, Scientists Say

 https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/24/health/fda-blood-plasma.html?action=click&module=Top%20Stories&pgtype=Homepage

 Mr. Trump called it a “tremendous” number. His health and human services secretary, Alex M. Azar II, a former pharmaceutical executive, said, “I don’t want you to gloss over this number.” And Dr. Stephen M. Hahn, the commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, said 35 out of 100 Covid-19 patients “would have been saved because of the administration of plasma.”

What’s more, many experts — including a scientist who worked on the Mayo Clinic study — were bewildered about where the statistic came from. The number was not mentioned in the official authorization letter issued by the agency, nor was it in a 17-page memo written by F.D.A. scientists. It was not in an analysis conducted by the Mayo Clinic that has been frequently cited by the administration.

Dr Anthony Fauci warns against rushing out vaccine

 https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-53899908

 Speaking to Reuters news agency, Dr Anthony Fauci also said doing so could hurt the development of other vaccines.

US President Donald Trump is reportedly considering plans to put out a vaccine before it has been fully tested.

Such a move could boost his chances of re-election in November's presidential election.

Democrats accuse the US president of being prepared to endanger American lives for political gain.

On Saturday, President Trump tweeted that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) "is making it very difficult for drug companies to get people in order to test the vaccines".

Jerry Falwell Jr quits Liberty University role amid sex scandal

 https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-53897647

 But after Liberty University announced Falwell Jr had resigned and then reversed his decision, he finally confirmed he had quit his job.

Jerry Falwell Jr took an indefinite leave of absence earlier this month after posting a photo of himself with trousers unzipped on Instagram.

Further scandals have since emerged, including from someone who claimed to have had a sexual relationship involving Mr Falwell Jr and his wife.

A vocal supporter of US President Donald Trump, Mr Falwell Jr took over at the college in 2007 after the death of his father, Jerry Falwell.

Fact check: First night of the Republican National Convention features more dishonesty than four nights of DNC

 https://edition.cnn.com/2020/08/24/politics/republican-national-convention-first-night-fact-check/index.html

 The Republican National Convention started off with a parade of dishonesty, in stark contrast with last week's Democratic convention. While CNN also watched and fact-checked the Democrats, those four nights combined didn't have the number of misleading and false claims made on the first night of the Republicans' convention.

Here are some of the most noteworthy falsehoods from night one of the RNC.

 

The United Arab Emirates cannot have it both ways

 http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/285838

The United Arabic Emirates’ revolutionary recognition of Israel is now a fact of life.

At the same time, UAE pours $51 million per year, with no strings attached, into the UNRWA budget.

This makes the UAE the fifth-largest contributor to UNRWA in the world, and the largest donor to UNRWA among the Arab nations.

The UAE is fully aware that UNRWA uses 54% of its allocations to finance a new school system which invokes “the right of return by force of arms.”*

For UNRWA, the call to violence has been ongoing for many years.

 

UAE said to scrap meet with Israel, US envoys after Netanyahu panned F-35 deal

 https://www.timesofisrael.com/uae-said-to-scrap-meet-with-israel-us-envoys-after-netanyahu-panned-f-35-deal/

The United Arab Emirates reportedly canceled a trilateral meeting with Israel and the US last week in retaliation against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s public opposition to Washington’s brewing sale of F-35 fighter jets to Abu Dhabi.

A New York meeting of the three countries’ UN envoys celebrating the normalization of Israel-UAE ties had been scheduled for Friday, the Walla news site said in a report Monday.

But in the lead-up to the gathering, Netanyahu spoke out against the US sale of advanced weaponry to the UAE, following reports that he had agreed to pull opposition to the deal in exchange for normalization.

 The Gulf state will also hold off on other high-level meetings with Israel until Netanyahu’s position is clarified, the report said.

 

UAE cancel celebratory three-way meeting with Israel, US representatives

 http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/285836

 The United Arab Emirates have cancelled an official three-way meeting between US Ambassador to the UN Kelly Kraft, Israeli UN representative Gilad Erdan, and UAE representative Lana Zaki Nusseibeh.

According to a Walla! NEWS report, the reason for the cancellation was Dubai's dissatisfaction with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu's objection to the sale of American F-35 to the Gulf state.

The three-way session, initiated by Kraft, was meant to be a celebratory event in honor of the recently-signed agreement between Israel and the UAE, with members of the media on hand and a photo session planned followed by an official statement by the sides. The meeting had been agreed upon and specifics of the event worked out when the UAE representative contacted the US embassy to inform them they were cancelling participation until further notice.