The Politics of Science Fraud - nonsense digested from a nonsensical article

 https://mishpacha.com/the-politics-of-science-fraud/

THE POLITICALLY CHARGED field of climate science has been beset by data manipulation by leading research centers. And now there is evidence that politics has crept into the search for cures to COVID-19, argues Dr. Norman Doidge in a lengthy article in Tablet, “Hydroxychloroquine: A Morality Tale.”

That VA study, however, proved highly flawed. It had ignored a crucial confounding factor: Those patients receiving HCQ in the study were much sicker than those who did not. At that time, HCQ was only approved for use as a desperation measure for seriously ill patients. Dr. Anthony Fauci was still recommending doing nothing for patients quarantined at home.

 On July 1, the Henry Ford Medical Center in Detroit published in the International Journal of Infectious Diseases a study of patients in which the severity of illness was fully taken into account, which showed that HCQ reduced the mortality hazard (mortality over a fixed period of time) by 66 percent. Another study from Italy at the end of July found the same 66 percent reduced mortality rate.

 

Studies In Italy Offer New Evidence of HCQ Role in Saving Lives

 https://yated.com/studies-in-italy-offer-new-evidence-of-hcq-role-in-saving-lives/

 A wave of new evidence from studies in Italy, Belgium and the United States showing the effectiveness of hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) in reducing death from Covid-19, is spiking public demand for the drug even as the FDA continues to block its release and Americans die.

The following events bear out Dr. Atlas’ grim assessment. On August 10, ignoring the wealth of new HCQ-supporting data coming out of studies in Italy, Belgium and New Jersey, the FDA denied Henry Ford Hospital’s urgent request for emergency use approval (EUA) for HCQ.

The Hospital made the request after its clinical trials found an impressive 51% reduction in deaths if HCQ was begun within 24 hours of admission to hospital. These findings were supported by studies led by Dr. Peter McCullough’s team from Balyor Cardiac and Vascular Hospital in Dallas. The Baylor data showed prophylactic benefits of HCQ given to hospital workers who were exposed daily to Covid during the course of their work.

 

Critics Fault Henry Ford Hydroxychloroquine Study Methodology, Conclusion

 https://wdet.org/posts/2020/07/15/89828-critics-fault-henry-ford-hydroxychloroquine-study-methodology-conclusion/

 A recent Henry Ford Health System study finding COVID-19 patients treated with hydroxycloroquine were less likely to die from the virus is drawing skepticism from some medical professionals. 

Critics say the research is an “observational study” that did not make use of random control groups. Steven Nissen, chief academic officer of the Heart & Vascular Institute at the Cleveland Clinic, says the study’s methodology preordained its conclusion. 

In a randomized study, “you assign people to get one therapy or another and then find out how they do,” Nissen said. This study, however, “was what’s known as an observational study, where you look at people who got the drug compared to people who didn’t.”

Nissen says the Henry Ford patients not given hydroxychloroquine based on risk of side effects were already more likely to die from the virus. The Henry Ford researchers counter that they used different dosing methods than other studies.

When a gadol errs and says he is fallible

Wolf Blitzer Interview of Bill Barr: A Train Wreck of Lies re Election Interference, Double Voting

Carter affirms safety of mail-in voting after Barr and White House cite him to diminish it

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/09/04/politics/carter-vote-by-mail-safety-barr-white-house/index.html 

Jimmy Carter is pushing back on efforts by Attorney General William Barr and the White House to use the former Democratic president's work studying voting by mail to discredit the practice.

"I approve the use of absentee ballots and have been using them for more than five years," Carter said in a statement Thursday.

He also contextualized his findings from a mail-voting commission in 2005 that Barr and White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany have employed to disparage voting by mail.

 Speaking to CNN's Wolf Blitzer on Wednesday, Barr had referenced the "fundamental problem" that "the bipartisan commission chaired by Jimmy Carter and James Baker said ... that mail-in voting is fraught with the risk of fraud and coercion."

McEnany had asserted earlier Thursday that Carter "said in 2005, as part of a bipartisan commission, absentee ballots remain the largest source of potential voter fraud."

But Carter on Thursday pointed to a statement last May from the Carter Center endorsing the use of mail-in ballots. Using the findings from the 2005 commission report, that statement argued "that where safeguards for ballot integrity are in place ... there was little evidence of voter fraud."

Trump’s vote-twice comments outrage media, which amplify his message

 https://www.foxnews.com/media/trumps-vote-twice-comments-outrage-media-which-amplify-his-message

 Had Trump merely issued his 130th warning about mail ballot fraud, it wouldn’t have made much news, maybe one paragraph in a story. But he knows from long experience that when he crosses the line, goes over the top, the resulting furor can last several days, even a week, getting the media and political world chattering about the very issue he wants to spotlight.

[ And if he shot someone to demonstrate he is above the law that is also acceptable to his supporters]

 

 

 

 

Trump called American war dead ‘losers’ and ‘suckers’, report alleges

 https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/sep/03/trump-american-war-dead-losers-suckers-report

A new report details multiple instances of Donald Trump allegedly making disparaging remarks about members of the US military who have been captured or killed, including referring to the American war dead at the Aisne-Marne American Cemetery in France in 2018 as “losers” and “suckers”.

The allegations were first reported Thursday in the Atlantic. A senior Defense Department official with firsthand knowledge of events confirmed some of the remarks to the Associated Press, including the 2018 cemetery comments.

The defense official said Trump made the comments as he declined to visit the cemetery outside Paris during a meeting following his presidential daily briefing on the morning of 10 November 2018.

 Trump himself told reporters on Thursday the story was false. “To think that I would make statements negative to our military and fallen heroes when nobody has done what I’ve done,” for the US armed forces, Trump said. “It’s a total lie ... It’s a disgrace.”

Netanyahu secretly okayed F-35 jet sales to UAE, report claims

 https://www.timesofisrael.com/netanyahu-secretly-okayed-f-35-jet-sales-to-uae-report-claims/

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has privately removed any opposition to the sale of American F-35 fighter jets to the United Arab Emirates, despite repeated assurances that he is against the deal, according to a New York Times report published late Thursday.

The report, which cites unnamed sources involved in the talks, claims that along with the ultra-advanced jets and Reaper drones, the deal also includes radar-blocking EA-18G Growler jets, which could erode the effectiveness of Israel’s air defense capabilities and put the UAE at a considerably military advantage.

 

Netanyahu supported sale of F-35s to UAE

 http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/286577

 Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu privately went along with a plan for the Trump administration to sell advanced weapons to the United Arab Emirates, despite publicly saying later that he opposed the arms deal, officials familiar with the negotiations told The New York Times on Thursday.

 

Netanyahu Privately Condoned U.S. Plan to Sell Arms to U.A.E., Officials Say

 https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/03/us/politics/israel-uae-weapons.html?action=click&module=Top%20Stories&pgtype=Homepage

 The package being pushed by the Trump White House — which could shift the military balance in the Middle East — includes an electronic warfare plane, the EA-18G Growler.

 Mr. Netanyahu chose not to try to block the deal as he took part in a broader effort in recent months to secure a diplomatic breakthrough normalizing relations between Israel and the Emirates, the officials said. President Trump announced the initiative to great fanfare last month, without mentioning the arms discussions that were proceeding on a parallel track.

Donald Trump accidentally revealed something very important in a tweet

 https://edition.cnn.com/2020/09/03/politics/donald-trump-president-2020/index.html

But every once in a while, Trump unwittingly reveals something important about himself in a tweet. And that happened on Wednesday, with this tweet from Trump himself (bolding is mine):

"The Dow Jones Industrial just closed above 29,000! You are so lucky to have me as your President. With Joe Hiden' it would crash"

 "You are so lucky to have me as your President," is, on its face, a remarkable thing for a president to say. In fact, it's inconceivable that any past president would say that.

Why? Because past presidents have understood that serving as president is both an honor and a public trust. That to be trusted by 330 million Americans with representing their interests both domestically and internationally is a massive gift that should humble anyone who ascends to the office. It is, without question, the highlight and honor of anyone's life who gets to serve.

Trump, as his tweet on Wednesday makes crystal clear, views things very differently. In his mind, he is doing the country a favor in serving as president. He sees the presidency as an inconvenience -- one he is only willing to take on because he believes only he can fix what ails the country.

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