More than 7 million unemployed people will lose their jobless benefits on Monday after federal programs expire, according to the Washington Post.
Why it matters: The expiration of benefits comes as the Delta variant continues to weigh on the U.S. economy.
By the numbers: The U.S. added only around 235,000 jobs last month, according to the latest job’s report.
It was significantly fewer than economists expected and the smallest increase since January.
The big picture: The Century Foundation estimated last month that 7.5 million workers receiving two federal unemployment assistance programs will cut off from aid.
It also determined that the cutoff will disproportionately affect people of color and women.
When an Oklahoma doctor told the media horror stories about hospitals jammed with patients who self-medicated themselves with ivermectin right into the emergency room, it was a hit.
Rolling Stone ran with choice bits of the story, which appears to have originated with Oklahoma TV station KFOR-TV.
“The ERs are so backed up that gunshot victims were having hard times getting to facilities where they can get definitive care and be treated,” Dr. Jason McElyea said.
But the bombshell report soon went bust. The doctor who offered a graphic depiction of chaos had not been on the job for a while, and the hospital where he worked said there was no truth to the claim that ivermectin patients were crowding out everyone else.
“Although Dr. Jason McElyea is not an employee of NHS Sequoyah, he is affiliated with a medical staffing group that provides coverage for our emergency room. With that said, Dr. McElyea has not worked at our Sallisaw location in over 2 months,” read the statement from Northeastern Hospital System Sequoyah.
BREAKING: Rolling Stone 'Horse Dewormer' Hit-Piece Debunked After Oklahoma Hospital Says No Ivermectin Overdoses https://t.co/ULktNdai20
“NHS Sequoyah has not treated any patients due to complications related to taking ivermectin. This includes not treating any patients for ivermectin overdose,” the statement read.
“All patients who have visited our emergency room have received medical attention as appropriate. Our hospital has not had to turn away any patients seeking emergency care.”
“We want to reassure our community that our staff is working hard to provide quality healthcare to all patients. We appreciate the opportunity to clarify this issue and as always, we value our community’s support,” the statement concluded.
McElyea had painted those taking ivermectin as farmers who figured they could take the medicine they gave their animals.
“Growing up in a small town, rural area, we’ve all accidentally been exposed to ivermectin at some time. So, it’s something people are familiar with. Because of those accidental sticks, when trying to inoculate cattle, they’re less afraid of it,” he said, according to KFOR.
He claimed ambulances were paralyzed with the load of ivermectin cases.
“All of their ambulances are stuck at the hospital waiting for a bed to open so they can take the patient in and they don’t have any, that’s it,” said McElyea. “If there’s no ambulance to take the call, there’s no ambulance to come to the call.”
McElyea said only doctors should decide what medicines anyone should take.
“You have to ask yourself, ‘If I take this medicine, what am I going to do if something bad happens?’ What’s your next step, what’s your backup plan?” the doctor said.
“If you’re going to take a medicine that could affect your health, do it with a doctor on board. Make those decisions with a thoroughly vetted opinion. There’s a lot of schooling that goes into that. It’s not just something you look on the internet for and decide if it’s the right dose.”
The Food and Drug Administration has cautioned against taking the animal dewormer as a treatment for COVID-19. Podcaster Joe Rogan recently listed ivermectin as one of the drugs he took when he tested positive for the virus. He has since said he has tested negative.
The Brazilian health regulator suspended the use of over 12 million doses of Chinese-made vaccines on Sept. 4 over being produced in an unauthorized plant, according to an official statement.
Authorities said the ban was “a precautionary measure” to prevent “possible imminent risk.”
“The manufacturing unit … was not inspected and was not approved by Anvisa in the authorization of emergency use of the mentioned vaccine,” the country’s federal health regulator Anvisa said on Saturday.
A day previously, Sao Paulo’s Butantan Institute, a local biomedical center founded by the state government, sent an alert to Anvisa. The institution was to fill and finalize 25 batches of 12.1 million doses upon their arrival in Brazil, under a partnership with China’s Sinovac.
Another 17 batches, totaling 9 million doses produced in the same plant, were on their way to Brazil, Butantan told the regulator.
The regulator has now issued a 90-day ban and is investigating the plant and the manufacturing process.
Brazil launched its vaccine rollout earlier this year with the vast majority of administered vaccines from Sinovac. More shots from other manufacturers have since come online.
Health Minister Marcelo Queiroga said on Aug. 25 that people aged 70 or older or who have a weak immune system will be eligible for a third dose, starting Sept. 15—preferably with the Pfizer vaccine.
Diana dos Santos, 71, received two shots of the Sinovac vaccine but now refuses to leave home until she gets her booster.
“I can’t go out like before and I’m still afraid of all of this,” Santos told The Associated Press. “I will feel safer [with a booster].”
Chinese officials have maintained the vaccine protects against the Delta variant, particularly preventing hospitalizations and severe cases.
Brazil has reported over 580,000 deaths from the virus, but the country has seen a fall in both death rate and active cases in the past two months.
CBS News reported that congressional and NGO sources, say “multiple planes that are ready to take American citizens and green card holders out of the country are being denied permission to leave by the Taliban.”
The report notes that a State Department email confirms that the flights have permission to land in Qatar “if and when the Taliban agrees to takeoff.”
“The Taliban is basically holding them hostage to get more out of the Americans,” CBS quotes a senior congressional source.
"The Taliban is basically holding them hostage to get more out of the Americans," a senior congressional source told CBS News. 3/
Newly released satellite images show six commercial airplanes at Mazar-i-Sharif airport in northern Afghanistan that are not being allowed to depart by the Taliban. American citizens and Afghan interpreters are reportedly waiting to board the flights. 📸: @Maxarpic.twitter.com/Ov7kB3z5VP
Rep. Michael McCaul (R-TX), the ranking GOP member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, also told Fox News Sunday that the Taliban has initiated a hostage situation.
“We have six airplanes at Mazar Sharif Airport, six airplanes with American citizens on them as I speak, also with these interpreters, and the Taliban is holding them hostage for demands right now,” McCaul said.
“They’re going to demand more and more, whether it be cash or legitimacy as the government of Afghanistan,” McCaul added.
Watch:
STUCK ON PLANES: @RepMcCaul says Americans and Afghan interpreters have been held hostage by the Taliban for days at the Mazar-i-Sharif International Airport in Afghanistan. #FoxNewsSundaypic.twitter.com/2gJfxNTIfJ
Meanwhile, more details have emerged of the Biden State Department reportedly blocking the private flights with Americans on board from leaving Afghanistan, purely to save face because they were unable to get them all out.
One source deeply involved with the evacuation efforts told Fox News “This is zero place to be negotiating with American lives. Those are our people standing on the tarmac and all it takes is a f****ing phone call.”
“If one life is lost as a result of this, the blood is on the White House’s hands. The blood is on their hands,” the source further noted, adding: “It is not the Taliban that is holding this up – as much as it sickens me to say that – it is the United States government.”
TRUMP WAS RIGHT: In August 17th Interview He Predicted Taliban Would Hold Americans Hostage for Ransom — And Now They Have
This didn’t have to happen! These hostages must be saved! We must demand accountability!
Americans have been held hostage for days in Afghanistan by the Taliban but Joe Biden and Kamala haven’t made any moves to stop the Taliban. Weakness. If this happened under Trump, there‘d be fire and fury, the likes of which would‘ve ensured it never happened to begin with.
New data from George Barna reveals that while 69% of American adults identify as “Christian,” only six percent actually have a biblical worldview. These findings, says Barna, show that Americans are not taking obedience to Jesus seriously—and the research should also lead us to be cautious when interpreting political data.
“Too often,” says George Barna, “it seems, people who are simply religious, or regular churchgoers, or perhaps people who want a certain reputation or image embrace the label ‘Christian,’ regardless of their spiritual life and intentions. ’Christian’ has become somewhat of a generic term rather than a name that reflects a deep commitment to passionately pursuing and being like Jesus Christ.”
George Barna’s Findings on American Christians
George Barna is the lead researcher at the Cultural Research Center (CRC) at Arizona Christian University. This report, the latest in CRC’s American Worldview Inventory 2021, was released Aug. 31 and categorizes people into five groups:
“The differences in the belief and behavioral profiles of these groups are revealing,” says Barna, noting that the first striking aspect of the research is the “dramatic range” of beliefs that can fall under the label “Christian.”
Sixty-nine percent of American adults, or 176 million people, fall into the first group, which is simply Americans who identify as “Christians.” However, only nine percent of the people in this group actually have a biblical worldview.
People who call themselves Christians have a number of beliefs consistent with the Bible’s teachings, including God created the world and rules over it, God cares about our moral choices, and God gives people unique callings. However, self-identified Christians also have a number of beliefs that are inconsistent with the Bible’s teachings. Some of these are that all religions are equal, the Holy Spirit is not a personal being, and people can earn their way to heaven by being good.
Americans are withdrawing their approval of President Joe Biden amid the swift Taliban takeover and the spread of the COVID-19 delta variant, according to The Washington Post-ABC News’ latest poll.
Biden is now 7 points under water in net approval rating, with a 51% majority disapproving of his job performance and just 44% approving. That is nearly a full flip from the 8-point positive approval rating in the June version of the poll (50% approve, 42% disapprove), according to the Post.
The handling of the Afghanistan withdrawal is a clear reason for the sinking of support. An overwhelming majority of Americans (60%) disapprove of Biden’s handling of the withdrawal, with just 30% approving.
It is not just about the fact Biden withdrew troops from Afghanistan en masse by Aug. 31 either, because 77% support that decision. It was specifically the way he withdrew, as a majority opinion on the withdrawal (52%) supported the withdrawal but disapprove of how he handled it. Just 26% supported the withdrawal and how he handled it.
The deaths of 13 U.S. service members from a reported ISIS-K suicide bombing in the final week of the withdrawal is deal-breaker for the majority of adults, as a 53% majority says “Biden bears either a ‘great deal’ or a ‘good amount’ of the blame for the attack, according to the Post.
The biggest drop in support is among independents, but Democrats, too, have slumped in their support of the president. A large majority of independents now disapprove of Biden’s job performance (57%), a 14-point rise from a minority of 43% in June. Even Democrats, while largely in the president’s corner, have shaved 8 points of his approval (94% in June to 86% now).
Republicans have remained roughly the same, squarely negative in their view of Biden (89% now and 88% in June).
The COVID-19 pandemic is another sore point among Americans. After holding 62% support on his administration’s handling of the pandemic in June, Biden now has just 52% support on his COVID-19 response.
“The swiftness by which Biden’s approval rating has gone from net positive to net negative is not unprecedented but puts him in a small group of presidents who have found their popularity plummeting in their first year in office,” according to the Post’s poll analysts. “Trump was net negative in Post-ABC polls within months of his inauguration in 2017, as was President Bill Clinton, whose administration got off to a stumbling start before he won reelection in 1996.
“But for most other recent presidents, including Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, George W. Bush and Barack Obama, net negative numbers came in their second, third or fourth years in office.”
This is not the only poll that has soured on the Biden presidency of late.
The impact will reach the RealClearPolitics polling average this month. Last month, Biden was just an average of 2.8 points under water in his overall favorability rating (49.2% unfavorable and 46.4% favorable).
Biden’s job approval average on RealClearPolitics before this weekend was4.1 points in the way of disapproval (49.3%) versus approval (45.2%).
The Washington Post and ABC News polled 1,006 adults Aug. 29-Sept. 1 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.Related Stories:
