First night of RNC 2020 was very effective, to media's dismay  —  The first night of the Republican National Convention was, all in all, sensationally effective — and effective in ways that the mainstream media and its Twitter chatterers clearly found it impossible to understand.

The rabbi who is neighbor to Mark and Patricia McCloskey speaks out: ‘They are bullies’  —  When Rabbi Susan Talve heard that Patricia and Mark McCloskey would be among the speakers addressing the Republican National Convention, she decided she could no longer stay quiet.

Jerry Falwell Jr. resigns from Liberty University.  Again.  —  (RNS) — Jerry Falwell Jr., the embattled president of Liberty University and one of President Donald Trump's most vocal supporters, formally resigned from the evangelical Christian university founded by his father Monday evening …

Jacob Blake's father says son's paralyzed from waist down after police shooting in Kenosha  —  The police shooting of Jacob Blake, 29, in Kenosha, Wisconsin, is drawing national attention, including this protest Monday in Minneapolis, where George Floyd was killed by police earlier this year.

'He's going to be unleashed': Republican DOJ appointees urge against Trump second term  —  A group of onetime Republican presidential appointees who served as senior ethics or Justice Department aides are endorsing Joe Biden for president, warning that Donald Trump has “weaponized” …

Kimberly Guilfoyle trashed California.  She goes way back with two of the state's most important Democrats.  —  Early in her speech at the Republican National Convention on Monday night, Kimberly Guilfoyle used her home state as an ominous warning.  —  “If you want to see the socialist …

F.D.A. ‘Grossly Misrepresented’ Blood Plasma Data, Scientists Say  —  Many experts — including a scientist who worked on the Mayo Clinic study — were bewildered about where a key statistic came from.  —  At a news conference on Sunday announcing the emergency approval of blood plasma …

A Black Vice Mayor In Virginia Urged A Police Chief's Firing.  Now She Faces Charges.  —  A white Portsmouth resident filed the charges against Lisa Lucas-Burke, who called for the ouster of city Police Chief Angela Greene.  —  A mounting political and racial controversy stemming …

Melania Trump is about to give her biggest speech in four years.  The Trump campaign hopes she can be its secret weapon.  —  On the eve of her big speech headlining the second night of the Republican National Convention, first lady Melania Trump appeared in front of the White House to talk up her husband's record on women.

The Platform the GOP Is Too Scared to Publish  —  Republicans have decided not to publish a party platform for 2020.  —  This omission has led some to conclude that the GOP lacks ideas, that it stands for nothing, that it has shriveled to little more than a Trump cult.  —  This conclusion is wrong.

President Erdogan's Meeting with Hamas Leadership  —  The United States strongly objects to Turkish President Erdogan hosting two Hamas leaders in Istanbul on August 22.  Hamas is designated as a terrorist organization by the U.S and EU and both officials hosted by President Erdogan are Specially Designated Global Terrorists.

Wildfire haze, record heat and pollution combine to make Denver air quality dangerous for all  —  Colorado health officials recommend constructing “safe rooms” for protection against penetrating particulates pollution  —  Beyond wildfire smoke, the air quality in Denver has deteriorated …

Redwoods survive wildfire at California's oldest state park  —  BOULDER CREEK, Calif. (AP) — When a massive wildfire swept through California's oldest state park last week it was feared many trees in a grove of old-growth redwoods, some of them 2,000 years old and among the tallest living things on Earth, may finally have succumbed.

New Jersey Budget Eyes $1 Billion in New Taxes, Most From Millionaires  — Borrowing for revenue drops by more than half, to $4 billion  — Shortened nine-month fiscal year looking brighter after all  —  New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy on Tuesday proposed more than $1 billion in new taxes …

Trump's Scare Tactics Aren't Working on Women in the Suburbs  —  CORNELIUS, N.C. — A few years back, in the middle of the day in the middle of a week in the spring, in the parking garage of an upscale mall in Charlotte half an hour south from her house here in the suburbs, Susan Sandler was attacked.