Netanyahu freezing construction in Judea and Samaria

 http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/285960

 Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has frozen new housing construction in Israeli towns in Judea and Samaria, withholding new housing permits for the expansion of Israeli towns for more than half a year.

The Civil Administration’s Higher Planning Committee, which is charged with providing housing permits for construction of new units in Area C of Judea and Samaria, was slated to convene this week, but the meeting was cancelled – the latest in a string of cancellations.

 Settlement leaders from the Yesha Council blasted the repeated delays.

“For more than half a year not a single housing unit has been approved in the area, and we haven’t been given a final date for the convening of the committee. We now find ourselves in the midst of a construction freeze in Judea, Samaria, and the Jordan Valley.”

Trump says Biden will ‘hurt God’. What can he mean by that?

 https://www.jpost.com/opinion/trump-says-biden-will-hurt-god-what-can-he-mean-by-that-639935

 During a campaign speech made from that tarmac at the Cleveland, Ohio airport last week, President Donald Trump said that his presumptive Democratic opponent in the November election, Joe Biden, will “Take away your guns, take away your Second Amendment. No religion, no anything. Hurt the Bible. Hurt God. He’s against God. He’s against guns. He’s against energy.”

One could, of course, dismiss Mr. Trump’s syntactically incorrect statement as a stream-of-consciousness rant – a speech that was meant to convey passion rather than fully developed, concrete ideas. We are, however, talking about the Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces of the United States, an individual who enjoys complete control over the US nuclear arsenal – so let’s give this campaign speech a little more thought.

 

The Ford Administration Rolled Out a Vaccine Program Right Before the 1976 Election. It Backfired—And Not Just Politically

 https://time.com/5882949/trump-coronavirus-vaccine-election-history/

Howard Markel, director of the Center for the History of Medicine at the University of Michigan, remembers getting the shot as a high school sophomore: “Everyone went to school gyms or large areas, and I remember vividly my mother making us go, and waiting in line, and saying ‘this is ridiculous.'”

 “Things like the small increased risk of GBS from the 1976 vaccine become…convenient for post-hoc justification of those pre-existing fears,” says Jonathan M. Berman, author of the forthcoming history of the anti-vaxxer movement Anti-vaxxers: How to Challenge a Misinformed Movement. “Later studies showed that there was likely no link, but already wary parents and anti-vaxxers see it as a justification for the fear.”

On the other hand, the 1976 controversy “does provide important lessons,” Berman argues. “When vaccination decisions appear politically motivated, it can undermine trust.”

The fact that even people who are not generally anti-vaccine are worried about the safety of a COVID-19 inoculation means it’s all the more important that a coronavirus vaccine is not rushed, argues Markel. “This is a very touchy issue,” he says, “so this [vaccine] has to be rolled out exactly right.”

 

Pompeo dives into GOP confab from Jerusalem, defying precedent and possibly law

 https://www.timesofisrael.com/from-jerusalem-pompeo-dives-into-race-defying-precedent-and-possibly-the-law/

 Casting aside his own advice to American diplomats and bulldozing a long tradition of secretary of state non-partisanship, Mike Pompeo plunged into the heart of the US 2020 presidential race Tuesday with a speech from Jerusalem supporting Donald Trump’s reelection. The address was roundly condemned by Democrats and others as an inappropriate breach of decades of diplomatic precedent and a possible violation of federal law prohibiting executive branch employees from overt political activism while on duty. Indeed, Pompeo himself had reminded State Department staffers of those restrictions only last month. Yet he went ahead with the speech, which was recorded in Jerusalem during an official visit to the Middle East, over strident objections, complaints of hypocrisy and the threat of a congressional investigation.

Mike Pompeo Outrages Diplomats, Imperils U.S. Foreign Policy With RNC Speech | MSNBC

Dr. Gupta breaks down the effects of convalescent plasma

RNC speaker pulled for tweeting anti-Semitic conspiracy theory

Why So Many Trump Felons? MAGA Leader Confronted On Live TV | The Beat With Ari Melber | MSNBC

FDA chief apologises for overstating benefits of plasma on Covid-19

 https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-53911565

FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn came under fire after his agency on Sunday gave emergency authorisation to use convalescent plasma on Covid patients.

Echoing President Donald Trump, Mr Hahn touted the treatment as life-saving.

Scientists quickly questioned the data provided by Mr Hahn, who suggested plasma could reduce deaths by 35%.

This claim exaggerated preliminary findings from a clinic at the Mayo Clinic.

"I personally could have done a better job and should have done a better job at that press conference explaining what the data show regarding convalescent plasma," Mr Hahn told CBS News on Tuesday.

 

Fact-checking the second night of the RNC

 https://edition.cnn.com/2020/08/25/politics/rnc-night-two-fact-check/index.html

 As we noted in our fact check on Monday, the first night of the Republican National Convention featured more misleading and false claims than all four nights of the Democrats' convention combined.

Tuesday's "Land of Opportunity" line-up included first lady Melania Trump, speaking from the newly renovated Rose Garden, and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who pre-recorded his remarks from Jerusalem where he is on a diplomatic visit.

CNN is watching and fact-checking those speeches and the rest of tonight's remarks here, so check back in for updates.

Ultra-Orthodox publicist sentenced to 17 years in prison for rape

 https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/ultra-orthodox-publicist-sentenced-to-17-years-in-prison-for-rape-639659

 Matti Ben-David, an ultra-Orthodox director of a Jerusalem-based advertising agency, was sentenced on Sunday to 17 years in prison for sexual assault against six ultra-Orthodox women he employed, according to Ynet.

In addition to the prison sentence, Ben-David was ordered to pay NIS 470,000 in compensation to the complainants.

Response-to-R-Shmuel-Kamenetzky

Response to R. Shmuel Kamen... by yadmoshe

More nonsense!Delusional Democrats' lies and misleading claims take center stage on second night of convention

 https://www.foxbusiness.com/politics/delusional-democrats-lies-and-misleading-claims-take-center-stage-on-second-night-of-convention

 Clinton suggested that had the Trump administration done a better job of controlling the pandemic, unemployment would be lower than it is today.

However, Clinton conveniently left out that Democrats, including Joe Biden, demanded early in the pandemic that governments close economies across the country. The coronavirus did not force businesses to close—government bureaucrats did.

Further, many of the states with the highest COVID-19 death tolls are led by members of the Democratic Party, like Andrew Cuomo in New York, and none of them are controlled directly by President Trump, who can in most instances do nothing more than issue suggested guidelines for states to follow.

Clinton also failed to mention that Democrats are the ones who have insisted the United States pursue policies that discourage people from returning to work, like paying unemployed Americans more money to stay home than they earned when they had jobs. Or a radical plan put forward by Kamala Harris, Biden’s choice for vice president, that would send Americans $2,000 per month until the pandemic ends, plus an additional three months.

These policies, more than any others, are responsible for the unemployment rate remaining higher than it ought to be. If Democrats really want people to go back to work, then they should stop calling for workers to continue being paid to stay home.

In one of the most outrageously dishonest moments of the night, a video promoting Biden alleged that Trump, despite the public health crisis caused by the coronavirus, is “still trying to get rid of the Affordable Care Act” and “take … health care away” from Americans at risk.

Although it’s true that President Trump has continued to call for the elimination of the ACA and is fighting in court to have much of the law struck down because, according to the administration, it’s unconstitutional, Trump has repeatedly said ObamaCare should be replaced with something better, not merely eliminated.

The examples of misinformation listed above are just the tip of the iceberg.

In one presentation after another, Democrats showed on Tuesday night that they are not interested in providing voters with a positive vision for the future of the United States—or even just telling the truth.

Their election strategy for 2020 is simple: Say and do anything possible to beat Donald Trump, regardless of how dishonest they must be to accomplish their goal.

Trump still 'humiliated' by brother Fred Jr dumping mashed potatoes on his head when he was 7, says niece Mary

 https://meaww.com/donald-humiliated-mary-trump-father-fred-trump-jr-dumped-mashed-potatoes-potus-head-7-years-old

 Stephanopoulos asked Mary about an incident that happened when the president was young and which ended in Donald receiving a head full of mashed potatoes. "Yes. Yeah. That's one of our favorite family stories. They were really young kids, and I think Donald was maybe 7. And one of his favorite things to do was torment my Uncle Rob, who was a couple years younger. And it was, you know, my grandmother's cooking dinner, and getting the table ready, and Donald was just being merciless. And Maryanne and my dad could not get him to stop," she said. 

 She added: "And finally, my dad had no other option but to pick up a bowl of mashed potatoes and just dump it on his little brother's head. And it ended the -- it ended the fight. But I think it also started something, because Donald was humiliated by it, as evidenced by the way he reacts to the story now, is no sense of humor about it whatsoever."