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.

 

The 8 most sensational quotes from secret recordings of Trump's sister

 https://www.politico.com/news/2020/08/22/wapo-trumps-sister-said-he-has-no-morals-people-cant-trust-him-400224

Donald Trump “has no principles” and people “can’t trust him” according to his eldest sister, the first rebuke of the president from any of his siblings to be made public since he ascended to the presidency.

In secretly recorded audio published by the Washington Post on Saturday, Maryanne Trump Barry, a retired federal judge, talks candidly to the president's niece, Mary Trump, about her relationship with her brother, apparently unaware that she is being recorded.

 

 

 

Smerconish: This teenager may shield Joe Biden in the future

AP FACT CHECK: Trump's Distortion on Dems and the Pledge

 https://www.usnews.com/news/politics/articles/2020-08-22/ap-fact-check-trumps-distortion-on-dems-and-the-pledge

 TRUMP: “The Democrats took the word GOD out of the Pledge of Allegiance at the Democrat National Convention. At first I thought they made a mistake, but it wasn’t. It was done on purpose. Remember Evangelical Christians, and ALL, this is where they are coming from-it’s done. Vote Nov 3!” — tweet Saturday.

THE FACTS: That's a misleading accusation. The central programming of the convention featured the entire pledge, complete with “under God.”

The first night of the Democratic National Convention, Joe Biden's grandchildren said the pledge, followed by the convention's chorus of "The Star Spangled Banner.” On the second night, it's stated by a diverse group of Americans; same with the third night. On the fourth night, it's recited by Cedric Richmond Jr., the son of Rep. Cedric Richmond of Louisiana. “Under God” was in each rendering. The convention also devoted a segment to showcasing Biden’s religious faith.

During two caucuses before the evening conventions started, the Muslim Delegates and Al lies Assembly and the LGBTQ Caucus meeting, both Tuesday, left out “under God,” from the pledge.

HK manual on Energy Permission asked of Ch-i,R"L

 

BS"D

This page of the Health Kinesiology manual helps expose an important misrepresentation of Szmerla in his book, AMIH; in particular, his whitewash for HK practitioners asking "energetic permission" - which is actually attributing "will" to the energy (Ch-i in HK). The link to Ch-i is explained at the beginning of the manual -regarding the foundational force on which the HK system is predicated. Accordingly, this also helps debunk his dismissal of the Avoda Zorah concerns of Rav Belsky (e.g. see note, pg. 75-77, cf. 29).

~~~~

Alsp see: (posted Parshas Shoftim, 5780 )

On the occasion of the  Yahrtzeit of the Steipler Gaon ZT"L we posted
"Theological Detoxification"   http://daattorah.blogspot.com/2020/08/bsd-insights-from-parshas-shoftim-on-of.html

https://firstamendmentactivist.blogspot.com/2020/08/theological-detoxification.html
  (Aug 20, 2020)

To clarify a few points:

A book promoting heretical or idolatrous ideas must be avoided even if it may hypothetically contain some truth or useful information.

In the case of the aforementioned book, "Alternative Medicine In Halacha," there is an additional motivation to comply with the prohibition to read such books: it's well-packed with distortions of both realia (metziyus) and Halacha, and is replete with a generous supply of the standard new age absurdities.

Even though his approach is antithetical to Judaism, some wonder: is it possible one can manipulate a universal Life Force energy without Halachic objections that the aforementioned author involves?

One first would need to establish the existence of such a created force, then a mechanism of using it, if any, then determine if and how it would be permitted according to Torah. So far, the author and his fellow travelers failed on every count.

For questions/ Shailos please contact: Tomim Tih'yeh:

US: 845.642.1679

Israel: 03.721.3337

______
To check for future articles on related matters, see the Tomim Tih'yeh link:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1w3JvM-6srFWCAspYhfaccBbEoF6P6ru5yC1wCdx_VIE/edit?usp=sharing

Court orders Donald Trump to pay legal fees in Stormy Daniels suit

 https://edition.cnn.com/2020/08/22/politics/stormy-daniels-trump-judge-order/index.html

 A California Superior Court judge has ordered President Donald Trump to pay $44,100 to Stephanie Clifford, also known as Stormy Daniels, to reimburse her attorneys' fees in the legal battle surrounding her nondisclosure agreement.

"Dodgy" DeJoy Testifies to the Senate: His "Credibility" Reminiscent of Manafort, Pompeo & Bannon

‘You Got to Be the Last Guy He Talks To.' The Rise and Fall of Trump Adviser Steve Bannon

 https://time.com/5882072/rise-and-fall-of-steve-bannon/

 After Donald Trump won the U.S. election in November 2016, some Republicans hoped that the new President would mellow in office and moderate his hardline campaign positions. Steve Bannon saw it as his job to make sure that didn’t happen.

 Bannon, a former investment banker and right-wing documentary filmmaker who served as one of Trump’s principal advisers during the final months of his campaign, moved into the West Wing in January 2017, taking over an office at a crucial hallway intersection steps from the Oval Office. His perch allowed him to see nearly everyone visiting then-chief of staff Reince Priebus on one side, and Trump’s son-in-law and senior advisor Jared Kushner on the other.

 Bannon’s official new title was chief strategist, and he saw himself as besieged by ideological rivals trying to slow-walk Trump’s controversial campaign promises to build a border wall, gut trade deals, and ban Muslims from entering the country. His ascent was seen by many as bringing the fringe voices of white nationalists and the alt-right directly into the West Wing. He spent hours on calls with GOP donors and reporters painting Priebus as beholden to the old Republican establishment and Kushner as a Democrat in Trump’s house. He lasted seven months, before being pushed out for leaking about palace intrigue and refusing to cede access and control to Trump’s second chief of staff, John Kelly.

Bannon’s time in the White House may have been short, but it was influential. Within a few weeks of moving in, Bannon helped launch Trump on the hardline policy path he has rarely deviated from since. Bannon, along with senior advisor Stephen Miller, pushed for the hasty freeze of the U.S. refugee program and the halt in immigration from seven majority Muslim countries, moves that were later challenged in court and required revisions. He kept a white board on the wall next to his desk and put green check marks next to actions that weakened international trade agreements like the Trans-Pacific Partnership and North American Free Trade Agreement.

Trump accuses Democrats of 'trying to steal the election' with insistence on mail-in voting

 https://www.foxnews.com/politics/trump-accuses-democrats-trying-to-steal-election

'This is going to be the greatest scam in history,' president says. 'This will be the most fraudulent election in history.'

In an exclusive interview with Fox News' Sean Hannity, President Trump argued Thursday that Democrats are "trying to steal the election" through their fervent support for and facilitation of mass mail-in balloting.

"They are talking about sending 51 million ballots out to anybody who, you know, nobody knows who is going to get them," the president said on "Hannity". "It's a horrible thing. It's a fraudulent election. Everybody knows it, you don't even have to know politics to know it.

 

 

America’s Closest Allies Reject Trump Administration's Iran Bid at U.N.

https://www.usnews.com/news/world-report/articles/2020-08-20/americas-closest-allies-reject-trump-administrations-iran-bid-at-un 

 "That the closest Western allies of the U.S. unambiguously reject the legitimacy of using the snapback procedure set in [U.N. Resolution] 2231 confirms their commitment to the JCPOA, their opposition to the maximum pressure policy against Iran," Gerard Araud, France's most recent ambassador to the U.S., who also served as ambassador to the U.N. and Israel, tweeted shortly after the decision. "And says a lot about the world status of the U.S. today."

 The U.S. attempted last week to adopt a resolution that would have extended an arms embargo against Iran – set to expire in October – but failed to receive the support necessary in the Security Council. Only the Dominican Republic backed the U.S. resolution.

Judge rules against Trump in tax records subpoena fight

 https://edition.cnn.com/2020/08/20/politics/donald-trump-new-york-tax-records/index.html

 A federal judge on Thursday said New York state prosecutors could have access to President Donald Trump's accounting records for a criminal investigation, siding harshly against the President.

The ruling by US District Judge Victor Marrero follows a landmark Supreme Court decision this summer that appeared to set up potentially lengthy delays on subpoenas for Trump's records. Yet the ruling on Thursday snaps attention back to the ongoing criminal probe of Trump's business dealings, and revives the possibility that Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance could reach the records before the presidential election.

"Justice requires an end to this controversy," Marrero wrote.

Trump has already appealed. He's asking the Second Circuit Court of Appeals for emergency help as he tries to stop the subpoena from being enforced next week.

 

But Marrero rejected Trump's attempt to use the court system for more delays. He built into his ruling a prohibition for Trump to revise his lawsuit as a way to keep it alive even if he's lost additional rounds in court.

Trump's legal strategy to "enable the clock to run," Marrero wrote, "amounts to absolute immunity through a back door, an entry point through which not only a President but also potentially other persons and entities, public and private, could effectively gain cover from judicial process."

Bannon Indicted by SDNY for "Build the Wall" Fraud. Will He Flip on Trump or Await a Pardon?

Pompeo aims fury at Europe as Iran sanctions snapback bid rebuffed

 https://www.timesofisrael.com/pompeo-aims-fury-at-europe-as-iran-sanctions-snapback-bid-rebuffed/

 European powers rejected a US bid to reinstate sanctions on Iran and torpedo the 2015 nuclear deal, drawing an accusation from Washington that they were “siding with the ayatollahs.”

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo also feuded with Russia, which responded to the US move by asking for an open Security Council meeting Friday to discuss the extension of sanctions relief under the deal.

 

Chris Wallace says Biden blew 'a big hole' in Trump's 'mentally shot' claim with DNC acceptance speech

 https://www.foxnews.com/politics/chris-wallace-reaction-joe-biden-dnc-speech

Joe Biden accepted the Democratic nomination for president Thursday night with an "enormously effective" speech that "blew a hole" in President Trump's characterization of the former vice president, "Fox News Sunday" host Chris Wallace said.

"Remember, Donald Trump has been talking for months about Joe Biden as [being] mentally shot, a captive of the left," Wallace said during Fox News special coverage of the Democratic National Convention. "And yes, Biden was reading from the teleprompter and a prepared speech, but I thought that he blew a hole, a big hole, in that characterization."

 

Kushner's secret push to sell F-35 jets to UAE causes frustration among US agencies and lawmakers

 https://edition.cnn.com/2020/08/20/politics/kushner-uae-israel-f-35-fighter-jet/index.html

 A secret push by President Donald Trump's senior adviser Jared Kushner to sell advanced arms -- including F-35 stealth fighter jets -- to the United Arab Emirates has caused confusion and frustration among agencies and congressional committees that would normally be involved in such a sale but have been left in the dark.

Kushner is supporting the administration's discussions with the UAE about the potential advanced arms sale, which have been led by the NSC Senior Director for the Middle East, Miguel Correa, a senior administration official said. 

 Reports of a possible arms deal surfaced Tuesday when one of Israel's leading newspapers alleged there was a "secret clause" in Israel's deal to normalize relations with the UAE -- one that would allow the UAE to buy billions of dollars in advanced military hardware from the US, including drones, F-35 stealth fighters and other weaponry. 

 Kushner was directly involved in discussion with the Emirates and the Israelis in the lead up to the agreement last week, he told reporters.

Steve Bannon pleads not guilty after indicted in 'We Build the Wall' case

 https://www.foxnews.com/politics/steve-bannon-pleads-not-guilty-after-indicted-in-we-build-the-wall-case

 Trump, hearing of the charges, tried to distance himself from his former adviser. Trump said he feels  “very badly” his former adviser was arrested for defrauding donors and called the project “inappropriate.” He said he hadn't dealt with Bannon, who also worked on his 2016 campaign, in "a very long time."

"I feel very badly. I haven't been dealing with him for a very long period of time," Trump told reporters. "I haven't been dealing with him at all."

The president said he didn’t “know anything about the project at all” but also said he “didn’t like” it.

“I thought it was being done for showboating reasons,” Trump said.

 

Steve Bannon, three others charged with fraud in border wall fundraising campaign

 https://edition.cnn.com/2020/08/20/politics/bannon-build-the-wall-indictment/index.html

 New York federal prosecutors on Thursday charged President Donald Trump's former adviser Steve Bannon and three others with defrauding donors of hundreds of thousands of dollars as part of a fundraising campaign purportedly aimed at supporting Trump's border wall.

Bannon, 66, was arrested on a boat Thursday off the Eastern coast of Connecticut by federal agents along with officials from the United States Postal Inspection Service, according to the agency and a law enforcement official. He will make his initial court appearance in New York later Thursday, according to the US attorney's office. Bill Burck, an attorney for Bannon, declined to comment.

The four men are indicted for allegedly using hundreds of thousands of dollars donated to an online crowdfunding campaign called We Build the Wall for personal expenses, among other things. Bannon and another defendant, Brian Kolfage, promised donors that the campaign, which ultimately raised more than $25 million, was "a volunteer organization" and that "100% of the funds raised...will be used in the execution of our mission and purpose," according to the indictment unsealed Thursday.

New COVID-19 cases in Orthodox communities elicit concern

 https://www.jpost.com/diaspora/new-covid-19-cases-in-orthodox-communities-elicit-concern-639273

 Over the past week, the reports have come fast and furious.

One overnight sports camp for boys in Pennsylvania had an outbreak of COVID-19, sending eight boys back to their home communities on Long Island and several more to Baltimore, where others had contracted the virus after attending weddings or coming into contact with those who did.

 

As the summer comes to a close and families prepare for a new school year and the High Holidays, government officials and leaders in the Orthodox community are monitoring new cases in Orthodox communities across the New York City area and down the East Coast. They say the cases, though small in number at the moment, could spiral out of control, derailing plans to reopen schools with in-person instruction and hold in-person services for the holidays.

The UAE and F-35s story isn’t over just because Israel doesn’t like it

 https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/the-uae-and-f-35s-story-isnt-over-just-because-israel-doesnt-like-it-639173

 The controversy over the possibility that the United Arab Emirates could purchase F-35 jets has continued despite a very firm denial by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. And that’s because, well, Netanyahu doesn’t really have the final say here.

Following reports that such arms purchases will be part of the peace deal between the UAE and Israel, the Prime Minister’s Office released an unusually detailed statement, including a timeline of the multiple times that Netanyahu and Ambassador to the US Ron Dermer raised their objections to the F-35 being sold to any other country in the Middle East, even if it has a peace treaty with Israel.

Israel needs to realize UAE will use F-35 jets against Iran, not Israel

 https://www.jpost.com/opinion/israel-needs-to-realize-uae-will-use-f-35-jets-against-iran-not-israel-639255

 Those jets are not meant to be used against Israel but, rather, against Iran, our common enemy - Israel has never been at war with the UAE.

Trump: UAE F-35 jets deal ‘under review’ despite Israeli concerns

 https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/trump-uae-f-35-jets-deal-under-review-despite-israeli-concerns-639318

 The US is considering selling F-35 stealth fighter jets to the United Arab Emirates, US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday night.

Trump’s comments came two days after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu detailed multiple occasions in which he told US officials he opposes such a sale. Netanyahu denied reports the deal is part of the normalization agreement between Israel and the UAE, and a White House source confirmed it is not in the peace deal.

West Bank settlers: Netanyahu duped us on annexation

 https://www.ynetnews.com/article/HkETQccfv

 Leaders of Israel's settler movement say Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has defrauded them of their long-held dream of annexing the parts of the West Bank as part of the country’s normalization deal with the United Arab Emirates.

 Their anger could be a problem for right-wing Netanyahu, whom they accuse of repeatedly floating the idea of annexation only to cave in to international pressure when the terms of the UAE deal required him to walk back his promises.