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.

Trump's ex-colleagues open up about his history of lies

Evil

Rush Limbaugh: Biden’s ‘Flawless’ DNC Speech ‘Had to Be Taped’

 https://www.thedailybeast.com/rush-limbaugh-says-bidens-flawless-dnc-speech-had-to-be-taped

 On Thursday night, a series of Fox News hosts and commentators readily acknowledged that Joe Biden “blew a hole” in President Donald Trump’s depiction of him as a demented old man by delivering a highly effective speech at the Democratic National Convention. Even Laura Ingraham had to admit that Biden “beat expectations.” 

Rush Limbaugh has a different theory. 

The conservative radio host who not so long ago received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from Trump during a State of the Union address, spent his show Friday pushing the notion that Biden did not, in fact, deliver his speech live.

 

 

 

FDA authorizes plasma treatment despite scientists' objections

 https://www.politico.com/news/2020/08/23/plasma-treatment-coronavirus-fda-trump-400390

 Outside experts and former officials have accused FDA of caving to White House pressure during the pandemic — most notably in its decision to authorize emergency use of hydroxychloroquine for treating Covid-19 infection despite limited evidence. The agency later pulled the authorization after randomized clinical trials found it provided no benefit, but Trump as recently as this weekend complained about the agency's reversal.

Hahn, a longtime cancer doctor, declined to contradict the president's claims about plasma being "very effective" on the press briefing stage Sunday night. "If you are one of those 35 out of 100 people who these data suggest survive as a result of it, this is pretty significant," he said.

 The data from the expanded access program is not a randomized controlled clinical trial, making it difficult for scientists to eliminate other factors in patients' recovery. Two randomized trials cited in the FDA's emergency use authorization, in China and the Netherlands, were both halted.

The Chinese trial could not enroll enough patients. The Dutch trial ended after sponsors found "no difference in mortality, hospital stay or day-15 disease severity."

 But other outside experts — including at least four former FDA chiefs — have urged the agency to hold off an emergency authorization until there is clear data that plasma works.

"Let's get the trials done & if the results are life saving, let's make it standard of care, thus benefiting hundreds of thousands to millions," former FDA Commissioner Robert Califf tweeted this week. "If not we can avoid the huge expense & effort & keep looking for best treatments."

Covid-19 Live Updates: A Plasma Treatment Is Authorized, but the Big Prize for the White House Is a Vaccine

 https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/23/world/covid-19-coronavirus.html

 The fast-tracking could come before Phase 3 trials are complete, raising concerns. Italy reported its highest case count since May 4. Life in China, where the pandemic began, is returning to normal.

 Trump aides, meeting with lawmakers, reportedly said a vaccine would be approved before the election.

• Trump hails the F.D.A.’s authorization of blood plasma as a treatment, despite the lack of clinical trials.

 

Trump authorizes plasma treatment amid attacks on FDA

 https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/aug/23/coronavirus-donald-trump-plasma-treatment-fda-deep-state-navarro

On Saturday, Trump tweeted: “The deep state, or whoever, over at the FDA is making it very difficult for drug companies to get people in order to test the vaccines and therapeutics. Obviously, they are hoping to delay the answer until after 3 November. Must focus on speed, and saving lives!”

The “deep state” conspiracy theory holds that a permanent government of bureaucrats exists to thwart the president’s agenda. Former Trump campaign manager and White House adviser Steve Bannon, an enthusiastic propagator of the theory, has also said it is “for nut cases” and “none of this is true”.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called Trump’s tweet “scary” and “beyond the pale”.

 Shortly after being challenged on his claims about plasma treatment compared to caution from officials including FDA commissioner Hahn, Trump ended the briefing.

 

US allows emergency use of blood plasma treatment for coronavirus patients

 https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-53884710

•  But several experts, including Anthony Fauci, a member of the White House's coronavirus task force, have expressed reservations about the robustness of studies so far.
• The FDA has already approved the use of plasma transfusions on coronavirus patients under certain conditions, like those who are gravely ill or taking part in clinical trials.
• In a tweet on Saturday, President Trump said "the deep state, or whoever, at the FDA is making it very difficult for drug companies to get people in order to test the vaccines and therapeutics.
• "Obviously, the are hoping to delay the answer until after [the US presidential election]," he added.

 

Trump calls Covid-19 treatment ‘historic,’ Dr. Gupta isn’t convinced

Mark Meadows responds to secret Trump family tapes

Zakaria to Kushner: Didn't Netanyahu outsmart you?

Trump's Unfitness for Office per his Sister Maryanne Trump Barry and his DHS Appointee Miles Taylor

Trump-O-Meter

 https://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/promises/trumpometer/?ruling=true

 Tracking President Donald Trump's campaign promises: The Trump-O-Meter is PolitiFact's meter for tracking 100 promises President Trump made during his 2016 campaign. (We tracked President Barack Obama’s promises when he was in office, too.) For each campaign promise, our reporters research the issue and then rate it based on whether the promise was achieved: Promise Kept, Promise Broken, Compromise, Stalled, In the Works or Not Yet Rated. We rate the promise not on the president's intentions or effort, but on verifiable outcomes.

Israel's Netanyahu Accepts Proposal for Budget Negotiation Extension, Avoiding New Election

 https://time.com/5882803/netanyahu-budget-negotiations/

 Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced Sunday that he had accepted a proposal to extend budget negotiations, preventing the government from collapsing and plunging the country into a new election.

In a nationally televised address, Netanyahu said that now was not the time to drag the country into a fourth parliamentary election in less than two years.

“Now is the time for unity. Not for elections,” he said.

Netanyahu and his rival and coalition partner, Benny Gantz, had faced a Monday night deadline to agree on a budget. Otherwise, the government would have collapsed and automatically triggered a new vote.

'A horrific rape which lasted for hours'

 http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/285744

 The complaint initially drew little media attention, until two men suspected of taking part in the rape were arrested last week.

Now, police say that a total of 11 suspects have been arrested in connection with the case, with investigators working to identify more suspects involved in the rape.

Nine of the suspects now in custody are minors - 17-year-olds - with two adults also in custody.

The arrest of one of the suspects, a 27-year-old resident of the coastal city of Hadera, was extended Sunday by five days.

In addition, police have arrested a woman employed by the hotel on suspicion of obstruction of justice.

Dem senator calls on Trump to denounce QAnon conspiracy theory

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/dem-senator-calls-on-trump-to-denounce-qanon-conspiracy-theory 

 Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., the ranking Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, on Sunday called on President Trump to disavow the far-right conspiracy movement QAnon – just days after the president said supporters of movement “love our country.”

Warner called the conspiracy theory movement, which has gained popularity among a small faction of Republicans, a "fringe group” that is “potentially a threat.”

“The idea that the president of the United States is embracing these folks and says just because they like him and they love our country is very bizarre,” Warner said on NBC’s “Meet The Press.” “

 

 

 

CIA Dir John Brennan, John Durham, Steve Bannon and Bill Barr's Bogus October Surprise

Israel mediated sales of NSO spyware to UAE, other Gulf nations – report

 https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog-august-23-2020/

Company said to have sold hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth to Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Oman, and the emirates Abu Dhabi and Ras al Khaimah

 The Israeli government mediated the sale of spyware made by the Israeli firm NSO Group to the United Arab Emirates and other Gulf nations, the Haaretz daily reports.

According to the report, there have been sales worth hundreds of millions of dollars over the past few years to Gulf countries. Those nations, according to the report, are handled by a special department within NSO that is the most profitable in the company.

 The spyware has been implicated in the gruesome killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who was dismembered in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in a 2018 incident that has also been linked to the crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman.

Trump, Pence campaign events signal lax approach to virus

 https://apnews.com/6dbd1dbde3986d3ff51f4fe9d9deaa38

 Sitting and standing shoulder to shoulder, some without face masks, hundreds of supporters of President Donald Trump jammed into an airplane hangar for an Arizona campaign event this week, ignoring the advice of Trump’s own health experts.

Like his boss, Vice President Mike Pence went mask-less in Iowa last week as he reached across a barrier to autograph a half-dozen familiar red Trump campaign hats, literally crossing the line of vulnerability outlined by the coronavirus task force he heads.

The episodes, along with similar ones in New Jersey, Florida and Wisconsin, project a confusing message to the public even as Trump and Pence are trying to secure the confidence of Americans during a global pandemic and in the lead-up to the November election.

 “This was supposed to be just a quick, little small gathering,” Trump said, joking that “We’re supposed to have 50 people, right?”

“We’ll call it a peaceful protest, that way we can do whatever we want,” Trump added.

“This is like a rally,” Trump added, before telling supporters: “I hereby grant you a pardon.”

Ibn Ezra - the king is the central authority not the Sanhedrin or rabbis

17:8

כי יפלא ממך דבר. עם השופט ידבר בעבור היות עדות שנים להמית המת וזה פי' בין דם לדם בין דם נקי לדם חייב:

Should something be too difficult for you Scripture here addresses the judge. The sense of the verse is: “If it be still hard to decide, after receiving the testimony of the two witnesses, whether to execute the accused…” (this is the meaning of between blood and blood: to decide whether the execution would be an act of innocent bloodshed, or culpable bloodshed).

 17:9

ואל השופט. הוא המלך שכתב משנה התורה מיד הכהנים:

the magistrate here denotes the king, who has written a copy of the Torah 

 He teaches that this is not about zakein mamre but someone who disobeys the king

ומת האיש ההוא. בית דין ימיתוהו והטעם וכל ישראל ישמעו ויראו וכאשר הזכיר השופט באר המשפטים שהוא חייב לשמרם:

that man will die The Court will execute him, the reason being that All Israel should hear, and fear. Having mentioned the sovereign [comment on : 9], Scripture now lists the laws that he is obliged to keep.

Police arrest seven more suspects in gang-rape of 16-year-old in Eilat

 https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/police-arrest-third-suspect-in-gang-rape-of-16-year-old-in-eilat-639536

  Police arrested seven teenagers suspected of being involved in the rape of a 16-year-old while she was vacationing in Eilat, bringing the number of those who have been detained to 11.

Trump dismisses secret audio of sister calling him ‘cruel': ‘Who cares?’

 https://www.foxnews.com/politics/trump-dismisses-secret-audio-of-sister-calling-him-cruel-who-cares

 President Trump dismissed secret audio recordings released Saturday evening of his older sister Maryanne Trump Barry saying he had “no principles” and was "cruel."

 “Every day it’s something else, who cares?” President Trump said in a statement, according to the Washington Post. “I miss my brother, and I’ll continue to work hard for the American people. Not everyone agrees, but the results are obvious. Our country will soon be stronger than ever before.”

‘It was great’: In leaked audio, Trump hailed low Black turnout in 2016

 https://www.politico.com/news/2020/08/21/trump-black-voters-turnout-2016-398520

 In a private meeting inside Trump Tower days before his inauguration, Donald Trump told a group of civil rights leaders something most Republicans wouldn’t dare publicly acknowledge: lower turnout among Black voters did, in fact, benefit him in the 2016 presidential election.

"Many Blacks didn’t go out to vote for Hillary ‘cause they liked me. That was almost as good as getting the vote, you know, and it was great,” the president-elect said, according to an audio recording of the meeting shared with POLITICO.