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.

Trump Administration Insider: President Wanted to ‘Maim’ Migrants  —  Miles Taylor, former DHS chief of staff, recalls the moment he said to himself “what the f*ck is happening” during a Trump meeting.  Plus, the gang shits on night one of the RNC.  —  You thought what happened on-screen during …

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.

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 …

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 …

California is a failed state.  How do we know?  They're moving to Arizona in droves  —  Driving across Arizona, it's hard not to notice a surge in California license plates.  The reason for this is becoming more apparent every day.  California is a failed state.

Gail Sheehy, Journalist, Author and Social Observer, Dies at 83  —  In a raft of books, notably “Passages,” she examined cultural transformations as well as the interior lives of public figures.  —  Gail Sheehy, a journalist who plumbed the interior lives of public figures for clues …

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.

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 …

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.

An RNC Speaker Said Cops Would Be ‘Smart’ to Racially Profile Her Own Son  —  “Statistically, my brown son is more likely to commit a violent offense over my white sons,” anti-abortion activist Abby Johnson said in a YouTube video earlier this year.  —  CS

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 …

Terminating payroll tax could end Social Security benefits in 2023, chief actuary warns … WASHINGTON — The federal government's ability to pay Social Security benefits could stop by mid-2023 if President Donald Trump were to permanently terminate the payroll tax and not offer another revenue source …

Pro-Trump boat rally draws thousands in Bristol … The rally was an unusual show of Republican support in a region of the state that leans strongly blue.  —  Bristol resident Tony Avila is a loyal Trump supporter, but he was still surprised to see such a long line of boats pass Colt State Park …

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.