April 18th, 2021 • 3h 22m
Shownotes
Every new episode of No Agenda is accompanied by a comprehensive list of shownotes curated by Adam while preparing for the show. Clips played by the hosts during the show can also be found here.
Let Us Out!
Quebec is sending megaphone trucks into the streets to encourage vacinations
Ontario Lockdown Rules
Please see the link to the newest round of lock down in the Province of Ontario.
This has gone beyond nuts.
I already carry a letter from my employer to be out and about (being in the transportation industry, we are considered essential service, and my employer has its own police force)
Interprovincial travel
Starting Monday, the province is setting up checkpoints at all interprovincial borders. Ontario will limit access to border crossings between Ontario and Manitoba and Quebec.
Travellers who are coming into Ontario for work, medical care, transportation of goods and exercising indigenous treaty rights will be exempted.
Stay-at-home order
The stay-at-home order, which went into effect on April 8 and was expected to last for 28 days, will now be extended for an additional two weeks. It will now be a six-week long order that will last until May 20 at least.
Residents must remain at home at all times, with exceptions for essential purposes, such as going to the grocery store or pharmacy, accessing health care services, for exercise or for essential work.
Businesses across the province must ensure that any employee who can work from home, does work from home.
Outdoor gatherings limited
Starting Saturday, all outdoor social gatherings and organized public events will be prohibited, except for members of the same household. A person who lived alone could join one other household.
All outdoor recreational amenities such as golf courses, basketball courts and playgrounds, will be closed.
Retail capacity slashed
Non-essential stores must open no earlier than 7 a.m. and close no later than 8 p.m., including hardware stores, alcohol retailers, and those offering curbside pickup or delivery.
Capacity limits for in-person shopping in all retail settings where in person shopping is permitted, including supermarkets, grocery stores, convenience stores and stores that primarily sell food and pharmaceutical products, will be limited to 25 per cent capacity.
Places of worship
Starting Monday, capacity at weddings, funerals and religious services will be limited to 10 people indoors or outdoors.
Drive-in services will be permitted.
Non-essential construction
The government says non-essential construction will close, including construction at shopping malls, hotels, and office towers.
New Enforcement Measures
For the first time in Ontario since the pandemic started, police officers will have the authority to require people to provide their home address and purpose for not being at their residence.
Police will have the ability to stop vehicles to inquire about and reason for people leaving their homes.
Later Timothy
Thanks for keeping me sane,
MDHHS - MDHHS extends epidemic order, strengthens mask requirement for children; Order expands mask requirement to children ages 2-4 as recommended by American Academy of Pediatrics
Sat, 17 Apr 2021 17:42
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: April 16, 2021
CONTACT: Bob Wheaton, 517-241-2112
LANSING, Mich. - Today, the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) extended its Gatherings and Mask epidemic order. The Order - which preserves the strongest public health order in the Midwest - is designed to balance day-to-day activities while controlling the spread of COVID-19 and saving Michiganders' lives. It includes expansion of mask requirements to children ages 2 to 4 to further protect the state's residents.
Although progress has been made, it is crucial that Michiganders continue to mask up and socially distance as the state takes steps to get back to normal.
Expanding the mask rule to children ages 2 to 4 requires a good faith effort to ensure that these children wear masks while in gatherings at childcare facilities or camps. It takes effect April 26, 2021. This addresses the increase in cases among younger Michiganders and follows recommendations from the American Academy of Pediatrics and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidance.
"Michigan continues to implement smart health policies and mitigation measures to fight the spread of COVID-19," said Elizabeth Hertel, MDHHS director. "This includes the requirement to wear a mask while in public and at gatherings, limits on indoor residential social gatherings larger than 15 people with no more than three households, and expanded testing requirements for youth sports. Additionally, the most important thing people can do right now is to get the safe and effective COVID-19 vaccine to protect themselves and their families, and help us eliminate this virus once and for all."
As of today, 29.5% of Michigan residents 16 and older had been fully vaccinated for COVID-19 and 44% had received at least a first dose.
"More than 5.5 million doses of the safe and effective COVID vaccines have been administered in Michigan, and we are well on our way to vaccinating at least 70% of Michiganders ages 16 and up," said Dr. Joneigh Khaldun, chief medical executive and chief deputy for health at MDHHS. "However, I continue to be incredibly concerned about our state's COVID-19 data. We are still very much fighting this pandemic and seeing concerning trends in new cases and hospitalizations. Michiganders need to be using every tool in our toolbox right now to get these cases and hospitalizations down. Just because something is open and legal does not mean you should be doing it. We all must continue doing what works to slow the spread of the disease by wearing masks, washing our hands, avoiding crowds and indoor gatherings, and making plans to get the safe and effective COVID-19 vaccine as soon as possible."
MDHHS had been closely monitoring three metrics for stabilization or declines over the past several weeks. Michigan's metrics have been increasing for the past few weeks, although the rate of increase is declining. The presence of more infectious variants, such as the B 1.1.7 variant, threatens progress in control of the epidemic and MDHHS will be monitoring data closely. In recent days:
Positivity rate: had increased for eight weeks but has seen a recent 5-day decline to 17.1%. However, this metric remains up 390% from the mid-February low and remains above the December peak of 14.4%. Statewide case rate: This metric has increased over the past eight weeks to 613.9 cases per million. The rate is more than 475% higher than the low in mid-February but remains below peak of 737.8 cases per million on Saturday, Nov 14. Hospital capacity: The percent of inpatient beds dedicated to those with COVID-19 is now at 18.8%. This metric peaked at 19.6% on Tuesday, Dec. 4, and is up 373% from the February low. "Nurses are exhausted. Many hospitals are close to 100% capacity. RNs around the state are being put in the impossible situation of having to decide which patient to attend to. Nurses are working up to 18 hours at a time, often without breaks," said Jamie Brown, president of the Michigan Nurses Association. "We are begging for everyone in the community to do their part. Stay home. Wear a mask. Get a vaccine when you are able. We are barely able to keep our heads above water. We are in crisis. We need our communities' help."
"We know that wearing a mask significantly reduces the spread of infection and should be part of the comprehensive strategy to reduce COVID-19-including for children age 2 and up," said Michigan Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics (MIAAP) President Dr. Matthew Hornik. "Use of masks does not restrict oxygen in the lungs even in children, it is recommended to wear a mask with layers to filter droplets effectively."
The order extension is through May 24. An infographic that highlights order requirements can be found on Michigan's COVID-19 website.
Information around this outbreak is changing rapidly. The latest information is available at'¯Michigan.gov/Coronavirus'¯and'¯CDC.gov/Coronavirus. To learn more about the COVID-19 vaccine, visit'¯Michigan.gov/COVIDVaccine.'¯
# # #
Greg Abbott Speculates Texas Has Herd Immunity - The New York Times
Sun, 18 Apr 2021 11:15
Health | Has Texas achieved herd immunity? ''There is no way on God's green earth,'' an expert says. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/11/health/texas-herd-immunity-governor.html People waiting in line to enter a vaccination site at a high school in Houston last month. Credit... Go Nakamura for The New York Times Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas may have been overly optimistic on Sunday when he said on Fox News that his state could be ''very close'' to herd immunity '-- the point where so much of the population is immune to Covid-19, either from being vaccinated or previously infected, that the virus can no longer spread.
''When you look at the senior population, for example, more than 70 percent of our seniors have received a vaccine shot, more than 50 percent of those who are 50 to 65 have received a vaccine shot,'' Mr. Abbott, a Republican, told Chris Wallace. Mr. Wallace had asked why statewide infection, hospitalization and death rates were more under control than in other states, in spite of Texas reopening many activities and eliminating mask mandates.
The governor added, ''I don't know what herd immunity is, but when you add that to the people who have immunity, it looks like it could be very close to herd immunity.''
Michael Osterholm, an epidemiologist and director of the University of Minnesota's Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy, said, ''There is no way on God's green earth that Texas is anywhere even close to herd immunity.''
He added: ''Look no further than Michigan and Minnesota, which have much higher rates of vaccination than Texas. And we're already seeing widespread transmission.''
About 19 percent of people in Texas are fully vaccinated, while Michigan has 22 percent and Minnesota has 24 percent.
Estimates of what it would take to reach herd immunity have edged up since the pandemic began, ranging from requiring immunity in 60 percent to more than 90 percent of the population to halt transmission.
No one is sure what the level should be, Dr. Osterholm said. ''Anybody who will tell you exactly what the level of herd immunity is, is also likely to want to sell you a bridge.''
He predicted that within a few weeks or a month, Texas and other parts of the southern and western United States would see cases rising the way they are now in the Upper Midwest and Northeast.
A major factor in the relentless spread of the coronavirus is the increasing proportion of cases caused by the virus variant first identified in Britain and known as B.1.1.7, which is more contagious than the form of the virus that first emerged.
That variant ''surely resets the meter'' and makes herd immunity harder to achieve, Dr. Osterholm said. Additional variants could further complicate the forecast.
''These variants are game changers,'' he said. ''They really are. It's really remarkable.''
Do we really still need to wear masks outside?
Sun, 18 Apr 2021 11:16
One of the last times I stepped outside my Brooklyn apartment without a mask on was in early spring 2020, just before the state issued a mask mandate. I remember because as my dog peed on a tree, a neighbor asked me pointedly where my mask was. Where I live, almost everyone wears a mask when they go outside. If a person sipping from an iced coffee with their mask pulled down approaches someone else on the sidewalk coming the other way, they will usually yank the mask back up, as if they’ve been caught partially dressed. The other day I noticed a woman sitting on a hill in the middle of a field with her face covered. There was no one near her.
For a while now, this has felt a little unnecessary, if understandable, given that we were still learning things about the virus and were trying to be as careful as possible. But now, as we’ve come to know more about the virus, as vaccinations are ramping up, and as we’re trying to figure out how to live with some level of COVID in a sustainable way, masking up outside when you’re at most briefly crossing paths with people is starting to feel barely understandable. Look: I believe masks (and even shaming) are indispensable in controlling the spread of the coronavirus. Despite early waffling, public health experts are virtually unanimously in support of them and have remained so even as our early dedication to scrubbing surfaces and Cloroxing veggies wound down.
In other words, as the pandemic has progressed, so has our understanding of what safety measures are truly most useful, and which aren’t worth the alcohol wipes. And I would like to calmly suggest that now is the time we should consider no longer wearing masks when we walk around outside.
I am not suggesting this simply because I am very sick of wearing a mask at all times outside my home. When it comes to coronavirus spread, evidence shows that being outdoors is very, very safe. A paper published in Indoor Air looked at 1,245 cases in China and found just one instance of outdoor transmission, which involved people having a conversation, which means they had to be close to one another for some period of time and face to face. According to data from the Health Protection Surveillance Centre, shared earlier this month with the Irish Times, of 232,164 cases in Ireland, just 262 were associated with “locations which are primarily associated with outdoor activities.” That is, about 0.1 percent. A meta-analysis published online in November in the Journal of Infectious Diseases suggests it’s possible the upper bound of cases potentially contracted outdoors is higher; it estimates that the total is less than 10 percent. When I called Nooshin Razani, an author on that report and an associate professor of epidemiology and biostatistics at the University of California, San Francisco, she emphasized that the real number of instances of outdoor transmission was “probably lower” than 10 percent, since the cases she and her team counted were sometimes murky: cases that occurred at construction sites, or summer camps where people were sharing bunks. That is, these scenarios likely involved some indoor time as well. They also tended to involve people who were spending time together over a period of days. “Most of the cases that happened outdoors had something about the circumstances you could point to and say, ‘That was a risk,’ ” says Razani. Just one case involved joggers—who were jogging together. Still, Razani said she couldn’t comment on whether it was OK to go maskless on a sidewalk where you’re able to mostly, but not perfectly, stay distanced from others. In an article in National Geographic by science writer Tara Haelle, other experts note that yes, we have data that the outdoors is very safe, and yet, if you can’t distance, even briefly, you might want to pull up your mask, partly out of respect, and also just to be safe.
I have to say: I don’t agree! It’s true that nothing is 100 percent safe. But because little particles floating through the air are a main concern with COVID, the outdoors is very, very safe. Anything you exhale will just be diluted very quickly, especially if you’re moving around. Yes, the coronavirus can spread in other ways. As Razani said, “If you’re right next to someone and you spit on them outdoors, it’s not going to magically protect you from their spit.” But that comment illustrates that the risk of getting COVID while briefly coming within 6 feet of someone outside is so small that your exchange of fluids would almost have to be purposeful. Zain Chagla, an infectious diseases physician with McMaster University, recently wrote an op-ed in the Toronto Star noting that last summer’s outdoor gatherings coincided with an all-time low of cases in the city. While it’s important to mask in outdoor crowds or if you’re hanging out close to someone in a park, Chagla explains, the main message should be that the outdoors is a safe place to be. He gave me a rough sense of how unlikely outdoor transmission is in the scenario where you’re walking unmasked on the sidewalk and briefly pass someone. First, you or the person you’re passing would have to happen to have an asymptomatic infection, he explained, and then everyone would have to be exhaling and inhaling at just the right moment, and also, exchanging enough particles to actually seed another infection: “You’re talking about a probability of getting hit by a car, and being struck by lightning.”
So why is it still officially considered best practice to do what Monica Gandhi, an infectious disease doctor at UCSF, says “almost becomes ridiculous” as vaccinations increase? Whether we wear masks at all times outside has become a combination of politics and regional attitudes toward the virus—not science. Early on in the pandemic, wearing a mask became a symbol that you took the virus seriously and were willing to listen to public health officials; not wearing one was a symbol that you valued personal freedoms and, weirdly, the president of the United States. And maybe in the beginning of the pandemic, it made sense to mask up as much as possible—we were in an emergency, and it felt sort of appropriate to signal to one another that we all understood the seriousness of this virus. But masks shouldn’t go on being a blunt-force declaration of safety; we should embrace their nuanced use, starting with the idea that they might be overkill in some settings outdoors. This is especially true for people who have been fully vaccinated, and for whom wearing a mask in an already very-low risk setting is more of a show of participation in pandemic society than a medical necessity. “What I’m saying is really heterodoxy in San Francisco,” says Gandhi, who has authored multiple papers on just how important masks are. “Here, if you don’t wear a mask, everyone glares at you.” But she noted that on a recent trip to Austin, Texas, she saw lots of masks inside but not really outdoors. Such a world was possible. “I was so fascinated—I was like, you know what, this is consistent with biology.”
Gandhi thinks that there should be a clear threshold at which cities that have outdoor mask mandates lift them entirely. That threshold could be 10 hospitalizations per 100,000 people, she suggests, with 40 percent of people having received their first vaccine dose. (She based this in part on a piece she co-wrote for the Washington Post.) With that potential standard in mind, Gandhi wrote in a follow-up email, “many states could do this now!” To be clear, the choice of when to do this should not be based on one person’s quick calculation; her point and mine is that public health officials would do well to figure out a science-based way to ease the mask restrictions where it makes sense, without lifting them entirely. And those cautious souls living in places with no mandates at all should consider joining their neighbors going for walks without masks. Gandhi also thinks that adjusting the recommendation would help engender more trust in public health officials, by letting people know they aren’t being asked to take precautions arbitrarily. She says she has written the San Francisco Department of Public Health in her capacity as a mask researcher asking for more nuanced guidance for outdoor masking but has not heard back.
While I’m not superinterested in breaking my city’s social norms—especially while our cases are still high—our collective agreement to mask up obsessively outdoors comes at a cost. Masking can be exhausting. It makes recreation really annoying, especially as the weather warms. It makes it difficult to escape, even temporarily, from the pandemic. It deprives us of seeing one another’s smiles! I’m aware that these are also arguments deployed by those who decry all masking, even indoors. But the point is that masking shouldn’t be about signaling what side you’re on—it should be about using a tool in response to risk. Being overly vigilant about masks when they are not important makes it more difficult to keep wearing them when they are. Also, I fear that it is making us look a little ridiculous.
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As mask mandates end, Oregon bucks trend with permanent rule
Sun, 18 Apr 2021 11:47
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) '-- As states around the country lift COVID-19 restrictions, Oregon is poised to go the opposite direction '-- and many residents are fuming about it.
A top health official is considering indefinitely extending rules requiring masks and social distancing in all businesses in the state.
The proposal would keep the rules in place until they are ''no longer necessary to address the effects of the pandemic in the workplace.''
Michael Wood, administrator of the state's department of Occupational Safety and Health, said the move is necessary to address a technicality in state law that requires a ''permanent'' rule to keep current restrictions from expiring.
''We are not out of the woods yet,'' he said.
But the idea has prompted a flood of angry responses, with everyone from parents to teachers to business owners and employees crying government overreach.
Wood's agency received a record number of public comments, mostly critical, and nearly 60,000 residents signed a petition against the proposal.
Opponents also are upset government officials won't say how low Oregon's COVID-19 case numbers must go, or how many people would have to be vaccinated, to get the requirements lifted in a state that's already had some of the nation's strictest safety measures.
''When will masks be unnecessary? What scientific studies do these mandates rely on, particularly now that the vaccine is days away from being available to everyone?'' said state Sen. Kim Thatcher, a Republican from Keizer, near the state's capital. ''Businesses have had to play 'mask cop' for the better part of a year now. They deserve some certainty on when they will no longer be threatened with fines.''
Wood said he is reviewing all the feedback to see if changes are needed before he makes a final decision by May 4, when the current rules lapse.
Oregon, a blue state, has been among those with the country's most stringent COVID-19 restrictions and now stands in contrast with much of the rest of the nation as vaccines become more widely available.
At least six states '-- Alabama, Iowa, Mississippi, Montana, North Dakota and Texas '-- have lifted mask mandates, and some never implemented them. In Texas, businesses reopened at 100% capacity last month.
In January, Virginia became the first in the nation to enact permanent COVID-19 workplace safety and health rules.
''While the end of this pandemic is finally in sight, the virus is still spreading '-- and now is not the time to let up on preventative measures,'' Democratic Gov. Ralph Northam said following the announcement.
Besides mask and distancing requirements, Oregon's proposal includes more arcane workplace rules regarding air flow, ventilation, employee notification in case of an outbreak, and sanitation protocols.
It dovetails with separate actions issued by Democratic Gov. Kate Brown, using a state of emergency declaration, requiring masks in public statewide '-- and even outside when 6 feet (1.83 meters) of distance can't be maintained '-- and providing strict, county-by-county thresholds for business closures or reductions in capacity when case numbers rise above certain levels.
More than a third of Oregon's counties are currently limited to indoor social gatherings of six people, and the maximum occupancy for indoor dining, indoor entertainment and gyms is 25% capacity or 50 people, whichever is less. And many schools are just now reopening after a year of online learning.
The workplace rule is ''driven by the pandemic, and it will be repealed,'' Wood said.
''But, it might not need to go away at exactly the same time the State of Emergency is lifted,'' he said, referring to Brown's executive orders.
Amid pandemic frustration and deprivation, the issue has gained a lot of attention. A petition on change.org opposing the rule gained nearly 60,000 signatures and spread on social media, drawing even more interest to the proposal. More than 5,000 public comments were sent to the agency, smashing its previous record of 1,100.
''The majority of comments were simply hostile to the entire notion of COVID-19 restrictions,'' Wood said. ''The vast majority of comments were in the context of, 'You never needed to do anything.'''
Justin Spaulding, a doctor at the Cataract & Laser Institute of Southern Oregon, is among those who raised concerns about the proposal in public comments.
''I do not understand these new guidelines for business. If we put these into effect we will only continue to blunt the recent drop in business,'' he wrote. ''We have a large subset of patients that are unwilling (or) hostile with the current guidelines, and making them permanent will only make it worse.''
For Thatcher, the GOP state lawmaker, the most concerning part is ''OSHA's lack of clarity'' on when the rules will be lifted.
Officials said they have every intent to repeal the rule, and that decision will be made based on a complex mix of factors, including case counts, vaccination rates, case severity and advice from the Oregon Health Authority.
''It will be a complicated assessment when we do it, and I would say it is impossibly complicated to do in advance,'' Wood said.
'--
Cline is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.
Vaccines and such
No vax line of the day
I like your new approach for telling people you won’t be getting the vaccine. I’ve been doing the
same thing only I tell them, “no, I’m a Covid survivor.” Immediately disarms them and they switch
to virtue signaling mode. “Oh my gosh?! You poor thing! How bad was it?!” I play it up or down as
necessary.
Doctor of Philosophy in the field of Leisure Science
18 Reasons I Won't Be Getting a Covid Vaccine
Sun, 18 Apr 2021 11:48
A few friends have asked my thoughts on the covid jab(s) so I thought it was time to write an article on the topic.
All my friends had not heard most of the details I shared, so I figured you might appreciate hearing some of what I told them.
Knowing how contentious this issue is, part of me would rather just write about something else, but I feel like the discussion/news is so one-sided that I should speak up.
As I always strive to do, I promise to do my best to be level-headed and non-hysterical.
I'm not here to pick a fight with anyone, just to walk you through some of what I've read, my lingering questions, and explain why I can't make sense of these covid vaccines.
THREE GROUND RULES FOR DISCUSSION
If you care to engage on this topic with me, excellent.
Here are the rules...
I am more than happy to correspond with you if...
You are respectful and treat me the way you would want to be treated.
You ask genuinely thoughtful questions about what makes sense to you.
You make your points using sound logic and don't hide behind links or the word "science." In other words, make a kind, level-headed argument (links welcome), but don't just post a link and say "read the science." That's intellectually lazy.
If you do respond, and you break any of those rules, your comments will be ignored/deleted.
With that out of the way, let me say this...
I don't know everything, but so far no one has been able to answer the objections below.
So here are the reasons I'm opting out of the covid vaccine.
#1: VACCINE MAKERS ARE IMMUNE FROM LIABILITY
The only industry in the world that bears no liability for injuries or deaths resulting from their products, are vaccine makers.
First established in 1986 with the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act, and reinforced by the PREP Act, vaccine makers cannot be sued, even if they are shown to be negligent.
The covid-vaccine makers are allowed to create a one-size-fits-all product, with no testing on sub-populations (i.e. people with specific health conditions), and yet they are unwilling to accept any responsibility for any adverse events or deaths their products cause.
If a company is not willing to stand behind their product as safe, especially one they rushed to market and skipped animal trials on, I am not willing to take a chance on their product.
No liability. No trust.
Here's why...
#2: THE CHECKERED PAST OF THE VACCINE COMPANIES
The four major companies who are making these covid vaccines are/have either:
Never brought a vaccine to market before covid (Moderna and Johnson & Johnson).
Are serial felons (Pfizer, and Astra Zeneca).
Are both (Johnson & Johnson).
Moderna had been trying to "Modernize our RNA" (thus the company name)--for years, but had never successfully brought ANY product to market--how nice for them to get a major cash infusion from the government to keep trying.
In fact, all major vaccine makers (save Moderna) have paid out tens of billions of dollars in damages for other products they brought to market when they knew those products would cause injuries and death--see Vioxx, Bextra, Celebrex, Thalidomide, and Opioids as a few examples.
If drug companies willfully choose to put harmful products in the market, when they can be sued, why would we trust any product where they have NO liability? In case it hasn't sunk in, let me reiterate...3 of the 4 covid vaccine makers have been sued for products they brought to market even though they knew injuries and deaths would result.
Johnson & Johnson has lost major lawsuits in 1995, 1996, 2001, 2010, 2011, 2016, 2019 (For what it's worth, J&J's vaccine also contains tissues from aborted fetal cells, perhaps a topic for another discussion)
Pfizer has the distinction of the biggest criminal payout in history. They have lost so many lawsuits it's hard to count. You can check out their rap sheet here . Maybe that's why they are demanding that countries where they don't have liability protection put up collateral to cover vaccine-injury lawsuits.
Astra Zeneca has similarly lost so many lawsuits it's hard to count. Here's one . Here's another ...you get the point. And in case you missed it, the company had their covid vaccine suspended in at least 18 countries over concerns of blood clots, and they completely botched their meeting with the FDA with numbers from their study that didn't match.
Oh, and apparently J&J (whose vaccine is approved for "Emergency Use" in the US) and Astrazenca (whose vaccine is not approved for "Emergency Use" in the US), had a little mix up in their ingredients ...in 15 million doses. Oops.
Let me reiterate this point:
Given the free pass from liability, and the checkered past of these companies, why would we assume that all their vaccines are safe and made completely above board? Where else in life would we trust someone with that kind of reputation?
To me that makes as much sense as expecting a remorseless, abusive, unfaithful lover to become a different person because a judge said deep down they are a good person.
No. I don't trust them.
No liability. No trust.
Here's another reason why I don't trust them.
#3: THE UGLY HISTORY OF ATTEMPTS TO MAKE CORONAVIRUS VACCINES
There have been many attempts to make viral vaccines in the past that ended in utter failure, which is why we did not have a coronavirus vaccine in 2020.
In the 1960's, scientists attempted to make an RSV (Respiratory Syncytial Virus) vaccine for infants.
In that study , they skipped animal trials because they weren't necessary back then.
In the end, the vaccinated infants got much sicker than the unvaccinated infants when exposed to the virus in nature, with 80% of the vaccinated infants requiring hospitalization, and two of them died .
After 2000, scientists made many attempts to create coronavirus vaccines.
For the past 20 years, all ended in failure because the animals in the clinical trials got very sick and many died, just like the children in the 1960's.
You can read a summary of this history/science here .
Or if you want to read the individual studies you can check out these links:
In 2004 attempted vaccine produced hepatitis in ferrets
In 2005 mice and civets became sick and more susceptible to coronaviruses after being vaccinated
In 2012 the ferrets became sick and died. And in this study mice and ferrets developed lung disease.
In 2016 this study also produce lung disease in mice.
The typical pattern in the studies mentioned above is that the children and the animals produced beautiful antibody responses after being vaccinated.
The manufacturers thought they hit the jackpot.
The problem came when the children and animals were exposed to the wild version of the virus.
When that happened, an unexplained phenomenon called Antibody Dependent Enhancement (ADE) also known as Vaccine Enhanced Disease (VED) occurred where the immune system produced a "cytokine storm" (i.e. overwhelmingly attacked the body), and the children/animals died.
Here's the lingering issue...
The vaccine makers have no data to suggest their rushed vaccines have overcome that problem. In other words, never before has any attempt to make a coronavirus vaccine been successful, nor has the gene-therapy technology that is mRNA "vaccines" been safely brought to market, but hey, since they had billions of dollars in government funding, I'm sure they figured that out.
Except they don't know if they have...
#4: THE "DATA GAPS" SUBMITTED TO THE FDA BY THE VACCINE MAKERS
When vaccine makers submitted their papers to the FDA for the Emergency Use Authorization (Note: An EUA is not the same as a full FDA approval), among the many "Data Gaps" they reported was that they have nothing in their trials to suggest they overcame that pesky problem of Vaccine Enhanced Disease.
They simply don't know--i.e. they have no idea if the vaccines they've made will also produce the same cytokine storm (and deaths) as previous attempts at such products.
As Joseph Mercola points out...
" Previous attempts to develop an mRNA-based drug using lipid nanoparticles failed and had to be abandoned because when the dose was too low, the drug had no effect, and when dosed too high, the drug became too toxic. An obvious question is: What has changed that now makes this technology safe enough for mass use?"
If that's not alarming enough, here are other gaps in the data--i.e. there is no data to suggest safety or efficacy regarding:
Anyone younger than age 18 or older than age 55
Pregnant or lactating mothers
Auto-immune conditions
Immunocompromised individuals
No data on transmission of covid
No data on preventing mortality from covid
No data on duration of protection from covid
Hard to believe right?
In case you think I'm making this up, or want to see the actual documents sent to the FDA by Pfizer and Moderna for their Emergency Use Authorization, you can check out this , or this respectively. The data gaps can be found starting with page 46 and 48 respectively.
For now let's turn our eyes to the raw data the vaccine makers used to submit for emergency use authorization.
#5: NO ACCESS TO THE RAW DATA FROM THE TRIALS
Would you like to see the raw data that produced the "90% and 95% effective" claims touted in the news?
Me too...
But they won't let us see that data.
As pointed out in the BMJ , something about the Pfizer and Moderna efficacy claims smells really funny.
There were ''3,410 total cases of suspected, but unconfirmed covid-19 in the overall study population, 1,594 occurred in the vaccine group vs. 1,816 in the placebo group.'' Wait...what?
Did they fail to do science in their scientific study by not verifying a major variable?
Could they not test those "suspected but unconfirmed" cases to find out if they had covid?
Apparently not.
Why not test all 3,410 participants for the sake of accuracy?
Can we only guess they didn't test because it would mess up their "90-95% effective" claims?
Where's the FDA?
Would it not be prudent for the FDA, to expect (demand) that the vaccine makers test people who have "covid-like symptoms," and release their raw data so outside, third-parties could examine how the manufacturers justified the numbers?
I mean it's only every citizen of the world we're trying to get to take these experimental products...
Why did the FDA not require that? Isn't that the entire purpose of the FDA anyway?
Good question.
Foxes guarding the hen house?
Seems like it.
No liability. No trust.
#6: NO LONG-TERM SAFETY TESTING
Obviously, with products that have only been on the market a few months, we have no long-term safety data.
In other words, we have no idea what this product will do in the body months or years from now--for ANY population.
Given all the risks above (risks that ALL pharmaceutical products have), would it not be prudent to wait to see if the worst-case scenarios have indeed been avoided?
Would it not make sense to want to fill those pesky "data gaps" before we try to give this to every man, woman, and child on the planet?
Well...that would make sense, but to have that data, they need to test it on people, which leads me to my next point...
#7: NO INFORMED CONSENT
What most who are taking the vaccine don't know is that because these products are still in clinical trials, anyone who gets the shot is now part of the clinical trial.
They are part of the experiment.
Those (like me) who do not take it, are part of the control group.
Time will tell how this experiment works out.
But, you may be asking, if the vaccines are causing harm, wouldn't we be seeing that all over the news?
Surely the FDA would step in and pause the distribution?
Well, if the adverse events reporting system was working, maybe things would be different.
#8: UNDER-REPORTING OF ADVERSE REACTIONS AND DEATH
According to a study done by Harvard (at the commission of our own government), less than 1% of all adverse reactions to vaccines are actually submitted to the National Vaccine Adverse Events Reports System (VAERS) - read page 6 at the link above.
While the problems with VAERS have not been fixed (as you can read about in this letter to the CDC ), at the time of this writing VAERS reports over 2,200 deaths from the current covid vaccines, as well as close to 60,000 adverse reactions.
"VAERS data released today showed 50,861 reports of adverse events following COVID vaccines, including 2,249 deaths and 7,726 serious injuries between Dec. 14, 2020 and March 26, 2021." And those numbers don't include (what is currently) 578 cases of Bell's Palsy .
If those numbers are still only 1% of the total adverse reactions (or .8 to 2% of what this study published recently in the JAMA found), you can do the math, but that equates to somewhere around 110,000 to 220,000 deaths from the vaccines to date, and a ridiculous number of adverse reactions.
Bet you didn't see that on the news.
That death number would currently still be lower than the 424,000 deaths from medical errors that happen every year (which you probably also don't hear about), but we are not even six months into the rollout of these vaccines yet.
If you want a deeper dive into the problems with the VAERS reporting system, you can check this out , or check this out .
But then there's my next point, which could be argued makes these covid vaccines seem pointless...
#9: THE VACCINES DO NOT STOP TRANSMISSION OR INFECTION
Wait, what?
Aren't these vaccines supposed to be what we've been waiting for to "go back to normal"?
Nope.
Why do you think we're getting all these conflicting messages about needing to practice social distancing and wear masks AFTER we get a vaccine?
The reason is because these vaccines were never designed to stop transmission OR infection. If you don't believe me, I refer you again to the papers submitted to the FDA I linked to above.
The primary endpoint (what the vaccines are meant to accomplish) is to lower your symptoms.
Sounds like just about every other drug on the market right?
That's it...lowering your symptoms is the big payoff we've been waiting for.
Does that seem completely pointless to anyone but me?
It can't stop us from spreading the virus.
It can't stop the virus from infecting us once we have it.
To get the vaccine is to accept all the risk of these experimental products and the best it might do is lower symptoms?
Heck, there are plenty of other things I can do to lower my symptoms that don't involve taking what appears to be a really risky product.
Now for the next logical question:
If we're worried about asymptomatic spreaders, would the vaccine not make it more likely that we are creating asymptomatic spread? If it indeed reduces symptoms, anyone who gets it might not even know they are sick and thus they are more likely to spread the virus, right?
For what it's worth, I've heard many people say the side effects of the vaccine (especially the second dose) are worse than catching covid.
I can't make sense of that either.
Take the risk.
Get no protection.
Suffer through the vaccine side-effects.
Keep wearing your mask and social distancing...
And continue to be able to spread the virus.
What?
It gets worse.
#10: PEOPLE ARE CATCHING COVID AFTER BEING FULLY VACCINATED
Talk about a bummer.
You get vaccinated and you still catch covid.
It's happening in Washington State
It's happening in New York
It's happening in Michigan
It's happening in Hawaii
It's happening in several other states too .
It happened to 80% of 35 nuns who got the vaccine in Kentucky . Two of them died by the way.
In reality, this phenomenon is probably happening everywhere, but those are the ones making the news now.
Given the reasons above (and what's below), maybe this doesn't surprise you, but bummer if you thought the vaccine was a shield to keep you safe.
It's not.
That was never the point.
If 66% of healthcare workers in L.A. are going to delay or skip the vaccine...maybe they aren't wowed by the rushed science either.
Maybe they are watching the shady way deaths and cases are being reported...
#11: THE OVERALL DEATH RATE FROM COVID
According to the CDC's own numbers, covid has a 99.74% survival rate.
Why would I take a risk on a product, that doesn't stop infection or transmission, to help me overcome a cold that has a .26% chance of killing me--actually in my age range is has about a .1% chance of killing me (and .01% chance of killing my kids), but let's not split hairs here.
With a bar (death rate) that low, we will be in lockdown every year...i.e. forever.
But wait, what about the 500,000 plus deaths, that's alarming right?
I'm glad you asked.
#12: THE BLOATED COVID DEATH NUMBERS
Something smells really funny about this one.
Never before in the history of death certificates has our own government changed how deaths are reported.
Why now, are we reporting everyone who dies with covid in their body, as having died of covid, rather than the co-morbidities that actually took their life?
Until covid, all coronaviruses (common colds) were never listed as the primary cause of death when someone died of heart disease, cancer, diabetes, auto-immune conditions, or any other major co-morbidity.
The disease was listed as the cause of death, and a confounding factor like flu or pneumonia was listed on a separate line.
To bloat the number even more, both the W.H.O. and the C.D.C. changed their guidelines such that those who are suspected or probable (but were never confirmed) of having died of covid, are also included in the death numbers.
Seriously?
If we are going to do that then should we not go back and change the numbers of all past cold and flu seasons so we can compare apples to apples when it comes to death rates?
According to the CDCs own numbers , (scroll down to the section "Comorbidities and other conditions") only 6% of the deaths being attributed to covid are instances where covid seems to be the only issue at hand.
In other words, reduce the death numbers you see on the news by 94% and you have what is likely the real numbers of deaths from just covid.
Even if the former CDC director is correct and covid-19 was a lab-enhanced virus (see Reason #14 below), a .26% death rate is still in line with the viral death rate that circles the planet ever year.
Then there's this Fauci guy.
I'd really love to trust him, but besides the fact that he hasn't treated one covid patient...you should probably know...
#13: FAUCI AND SIX OTHERS AT NIAID OWN PATENTS IN THE MODERNA VACCINE
Thanks to the Bayh-Dole Act, government workers are allowed to file patents on any research they do using tax payer funding.
Tony Fauci owns over 1,000 patents (see this video for more details ) , including patents being used on the Moderna vaccine...which he approved government funding for.
In fact, the NIH (which NIAID is part of) claims joint ownership of Moderna's vaccine.
Does anyone else see this as a MAJOR conflict of interest, or criminal even?
I say criminal because there's also this pesky problem that makes me even more distrustful of Fauci, NIAD, and the NIH in general.
#14: FAUCI IS ON THE HOT SEAT FOR ILLEGAL GAIN-OF-FUNCTION RESEARCH
What is "Gain-of-Function" research?
It's where scientists attempt to make viruses gain functions--i.e. make them more transmissible and deadlier.
Sounds at least a touch unethical, right?
How could that possibly be helpful?
Our government agreed, and banned the practice.
So what did the Fauci-led NIAID do?
They pivoted and outsourced the gain-of-function research (in coronaviruses no less) to China--to the tune of a $600K grant.
You can see more details, including the important timeline of these events in this fantastically well-researched documentary .
Mr. Fauci, you have some explaining to do...and I hope the cameras are recording when you have to defend your actions.
For now, let's turn our attention back to the virus...
#15: THE VIRUS CONTINUES TO MUTATE
Not only does the virus (like all viruses) continue to mutate, but according to world-renowned vaccine developer Geert Vanden Bossche (who you'll meet below if you don't know him) it's mutating about every 10 hours.
How in the world are we going to keep creating vaccines to keep up with that level of mutation?
We're not.
Might that also explain why fully vaccinated people are continuing to catch covid?
Why, given that natural immunity has never ultimately failed humanity, do we suddenly not trust it?
Why, if I ask questions like the above, or post links like what you find above, will my thoughts be deleted from all major social media platforms?
That brings me to the next troubling problem I have with these vaccines.
#16: CENSORSHIP...AND THE COMPLETE ABSENCE OF SCIENTIFIC DEBATE
I can't help but get snarky here, so humor me.
How did you enjoy all those nationally and globally-televised, robust debates put on by public health officials, and broadcast simultaneously on every major news station?
Wasn't it great hearing from the best minds in medicine, virology, epidemiology, economics, and vaccinology from all over the world as they vigorously and respectfully debated things like:
Lockdowns
Mask wearing
Social-distancing
Vaccine efficacy and safety trials
How to screen for susceptibility to vaccine injury
Therapeutics, (i.e. non-vaccine treatment options)
Wasn't it great seeing public health officials (who never treated anyone with covid) have their "science" questioned?
Wasn't it great seeing the FDA panel publicly grill the vaccine makers in prime time as they stood in the hot-seat of tough questions about products of which they have no liability?
Oh, wait...you didn't see those debates?
No, you didn't...because they never happened.
What happened instead was heavy-handed censorship of all but one narrative.
Ironically, Mark Zuckerberg can question vaccine safety , but I can't?
Hypocrite?
When did the first amendment become a suggestion?
It's the FIRST amendment Mark--the one our founders thought was most important.
With so much at stake, why are we fed only one narrative...shouldn't many perspectives be heard and professionally debated?
WHAT HAS HAPPENED TO SCIENCE?
What has happened to the scientific method of always challenging our assumptions?
What happened to lively debate in this country, or at least in Western society?
Why did anyone who disagrees with the WHO, or the CDC get censored so heavily?
Is the science of public health a religion now, or is science supposed to be about debate?
If someone says "the science is settled" that's how I know I'm dealing with someone who is closed minded.
By definition science (especially biological science) is never settled.
If it was, it would be dogma, not science.
OK, before I get too worked up, let me say this...
I WANT TO BE A GOOD CITIZEN
I really do.
If lockdowns work, I want to do my part and stay home.
If masks work, I want to wear them.
If social distancing is effective, I want to comply.
But, if there is evidence they don't ( masks for example ), I want to hear that evidence too.
If highly-credentialed scientists have different opinions, I want to know what they think.
I want a chance to hear their arguments and make up my own mind.
I don't think I'm the smartest person in the world, but I think I can think.
Maybe I'm weird, but if someone is censored, then I REALLY want to hear what they think.
Don't you?
To all my friends who don't have a problem with censorship, will you have the same opinion when what you think is censored?
Is censorship not the technique of dictators, tyrants, and greedy, power-hungry people?
Is it not a sign that those who are doing the censoring know it's the only way they can win?
What if a man who spent his entire life developing vaccines was willing to put his entire reputation on the line and call on all global leaders to immediately stop the covid vaccines because of problems with the science? What if he pleaded for an open-scientific debate on a global stage?
Would you want to hear what he has to say?
Would you want to see the debate he's asking for?
#17: THE WORLD'S LEADING VACCINOLOGIST IS SOUNDING THE ALARM...
Here is what may be the biggest reason this covid vaccine doesn't make sense to me.
When someone who is very pro-vaccine, who has spent his entire professional career overseeing the development of vaccines, is shouting from the mountaintops that we have a major problem, I think the man should be heard.
In case you missed it, and in case you care to watch it, here is Geert Vanden Bossch e , explaining:
Why the covid vaccine may be putting so much pressure on the virus that we are accelerating it's ability to mutate and become more deadly.
Why the covid vaccines may be creating vaccine-resistant viruses (similar to anti-biotic resistant bacteria).
Why, because of previous problems with Antibody Dependent Enhancement, we may be looking at a mass casualty event in the next few months/years.
If you want to see/read about a second, and longer, interview with Vanden Bossche, where he was asked some tough questions, you can check this out .
If half of what he says comes true, these vaccines could be the worst invention of all time.
If you don't like his science, take it up with him.
I'm just the messenger.
But I can also speak to covid personally.
#18: I ALREADY HAD COVID
I didn't enjoy it.
It was a nasty cold for two days:
Unrelenting butt/low-back aches
Very low energy.
Low-grade fever.
It was weird not being able to smell anything for a couple days.
A week later, coffee still tasted a little "off."
But I survived.
Now it appears (as it always has) that I have beautiful, natural, life-long immunity ...
...not something likely to wear off in a few months if I get the vaccine.
In my body, and my household, covid is over.
In fact, now that I've had it, there is evidence the covid vaccine might actually be more dangerous for me.
That is not a risk I'm willing to take.
IN SUMMARY
The above are just my reasons for not wanting the vaccine.
Maybe my reasons make sense to you, maybe they don't.
Whatever does makes sense to you, hopefully we can still be friends.
I for one think there's a lot more that we have in common than what separates us.
We all want to live in a world of freedom.
We all want to do our part to help others and to live well.
We all want the right to express our opinions without fearing we'll be censored or viciously attacked.
We all deserve to have the access to the facts so we can make informed decisions.
Agree or disagree with me; I'll treat you no differently.
You're a human just as worthy of love and respect as anyone else.
For that I salute you, and I truly wish you all the best.
I hope you found this helpful.
If so, feel free to share.
If not, feel free to (kindly) let me know what didn't make sense to you and I'd be happy to hear your thoughts too.
Stay curious and stay humble.
Until next time,
Christian PS. If you think I studied this topic well, think about how much thought I would put into helping you with your health . Helping people with their health is what I do all day, every day.
PPS. Health can't be injected, but it can be earned .
Notre Dame forced vax policy
If you want to use any of this information, I'd appreciate it if I was kept anonymous.
I am a current student at the University of Notre Dame and two weeks ago they announced that all undergraduate students must be vaccinated to enroll for school in the fall. It's absolutely absurd. I'm currently trying to go through the religious exemption process but they are so strict with what is required that I might not be granted it.
They had a vaccine drive last week and got 90% of the student body vaccinated. What restrictions were lifted? They re-installed the basketball hoops outside and you can walk outside without a mask on.
Obviously, I don't wear a mask outside anyway. I walked by our university president last weekend without it on and he didn't say anything about it. In fact, he said hello to me. It's all about optics.
A lot of similar-minded people to me (anti-covid, free thinkers) got the jab without question. They took the easy way out. It's pathetic how jiddy everyone is about this experimental drug.
TYFYC,
Nick
Vaccine orgasm
So happy that you guys are back! I really missed you! Particularly when I heard the J&J news days after receiving the vaccine myself. I really needed a deconstruction on that one, and you definitely provided!
I have a funny anecdote about one of the Chinese vaccines, not sure which one. My best friend's mom lives in the Dominican Republic. She is a woman of almost 80 years. She, like many older Dominicans, was unhappy that her only option was the Chinese vaccine. She was ranting to my friend, doctors, nurses, anyone who would listen, that the Chinese gave them the virus, and now they were giving them the vaccine.
So when the big day came for her first shot, my friend called her to make sure she was doing ok.
She seemed much calmer and less agitated. She was no longer ranting about the Chinese, lol. She claimed, no real side effects....except....
Hours after getting the vaccine, she had an orgasm! Then the next morning, another one! Without any sexual contact at all! After YEARS of not having any sexual pleasure!
As you can imagine, my friend and I have been giggling ever since. Not sure it was related, although her mom definitely thinks it was! Anyway, just one more anecdote....
Hope you guys are well! TYFYC
Arlys
Informed consent
Blood clots as prevalent with Pfizer and Moderna vaccine as with AstraZeneca's: study - MarketWatch
Fri, 16 Apr 2021 11:10
A study by Oxford University found the number of people who receive blood clots after getting vaccinated with a coronavirus vaccine are about the same for those who get Pfizer PFE, +1.16% and Moderna MRNA, -0.10% vaccines as they are for the AstraZeneca AZN, +1.99% vaccine that was produced with the university's help. According to the study, 4 in 1 million people experience cerebral venous thrombosis after getting the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine, versus 5 in 1 million people for the AstraZeneca vaccine. The risk of getting CVT is much higher for those who get COVID-19 -- 39 in a million patients -- than it is for those for get vaccinated. AstraZeneca's vaccine use has been halted or limited in many countries on blood clot concerns.
CEO of World's Largest Vaccine Manufacturer Urges US President to Lift Embargo of Raw Materials - Sputnik International
Fri, 16 Apr 2021 13:04
India12:11 GMT 16.04.2021Get short URL
India has been registering record numbers of COVID-19 cases every day over the past two weeks and, in the wake of this, a number of states have been forced to reintroduce lockdown-like curbs on movement.
The chief executive officer of the world's biggest vaccine maker, the Serum Institute of India (SII), Adar Poonawalla has urged US President Joe Biden to lift an official ban on raw material exports out of the US.
Taking to Twitter, Poonawala tagged the US President so that the vaccine production can be accelerated.
Respected @POTUS, if we are to truly unite in beating this virus, on behalf of the vaccine industry outside the U.S., I humbly request you to lift the embargo of raw material exports out of the U.S. so that vaccine production can ramp up. Your administration has the details. ðð
'-- Adar Poonawalla (@adarpoonawalla) April 16, 2021'The request from Poonawala comes days after AstraZeneca, the developer of the coronavirus vaccine being made by the Serum Institute of India (SII) and sold as Covishield, sent a legal notice to the Pune-based company that deliveries would be delayed.
According to Poonawala, they hope to increase Covishield production to 110 million doses per month from June. SII has already delivered more than 100 million doses to India and exported around 60 million doses to other countries.
Meanwhile, a glut of stories that ambulances are having to queue outside hospitals, bodies are piling up outside crematoriums and graveyards for hours, and basic medical facilities are seemingly crumbling in parts of the country because of a shortage of hospital beds and ventilators are reported every day.
According to the government, India on Thursday witnessed 217,353 cases, a new record daily surge in cases. Several states, including Maharashtra, Delhi, and Punjab, have imposed strict measures to keep a check on rising cases.
There Shouldn't Be Vaccine Patents in a Health Crisis. Most Americans Agree: Waive Them.
Sat, 17 Apr 2021 15:06
Scientists, community members, and activists rally outside of Moderna's headquarters as part of a global action day for fair access to vaccines in Cambridge, Mass., on March 11, 2021.
Photo: Jessica Rinaldi/The Boston Globe via Getty Images
The extremity of Covid-19 vaccine apartheid cannot be overstated. As of mid-February, the United States had acquired enough vaccines for three times its total population, while in 130 countries, not a single vaccine shot had been administered. This is no accident, but the direct and long-predicted result of a vaccine production and access model tied to privatized intellectual property and entrenched medicine monopolies.
The majority of Americans want President Joe Biden to act to end this intolerable vaccine inequality. Sixty percent of U.S. voters said they wanted Biden to endorse a motion at the World Trade Organization that would waive patent barriers and other crucial intellectual property protections on Covid-19 vaccines, according to a new poll from Data for Progress and the Progressive International. This would enable a significant expansion of global production and rollout, while disrupting the extraordinary profiteering of pharmaceutical leviathans in a death-dealing pandemic.
The refusal on the part of major pharmaceutical companies and Western powers to ensure the sharing of vaccine patent and production information has been an immeasurable moral failure, not to mention a most foolish approach to a pandemic in need of a global response. The new poll also makes clear that, for Biden, blocking vaccine sharing is not even a popular position. Seventy-two percent of registered Democrats want the president to remove patent barriers to speed vaccine rollout and reduce costs for less affluent nations.
At present, WTO rules over intellectual property mean that most countries are barred from producing the leading vaccines that have been approved, including those by Pfizer, Moderna, and Johnson & Johnson, which are U.S.-produced. Last October, South Africa and India brought a proposal to the WTO for a temporary waiver that would apply to certain intellectual property on Covid-19 medical tools and technologies until global herd immunity is reached.
It garnered majority support from member states: A hundred countries support the proposal overall, and 58 governments now co-sponsor it; 375 civil society organizations, including Doctors Without Borders, Oxfam, and Amnesty International have signed a letter in support.
The waiver was blocked, however, by a small number of wealthy nations and blocs, including the U.S., the U.K., and the EU, that chose instead to leave vaccine production in the hands of only a few pharmaceutical companies, which, through public-private partnerships, have ensured priority access to the rich countries in turn.
There are no legitimate grounds for maintaining patent barriers in this health crisis unless you're a pharmaceutical giant making billions or, of course, a Western power invested in maintaining global power through neoliberalization, market monopolies, and racialized capitalism. The strongest advocates of intellectual property protections in medicine, Bill Gates chief among them, have offered no ethical basis for the current status quo beyond vague gestures to protecting ''innovation.''
Even a self-interested approach, that sees the devastating economic possibilities of a mutating virus turning the pandemic into something endemic, should make the necessity of a patent waiver clear. The commitment to monopoly medicine is, in this sense, ideological.
The WTO waiver proposal needs backing by a consensus of the the organization's 164 members to pass. It was under President Donald Trump that the U.S. blocked the patent waiver: a move that came as no surprise for an administration of white nationalists, which proudly left the World Health Organization. A change of tack by the Biden administration, which rejoined the WHO on Day One, could go a long way in pushing other wealthy countries to follow suit.
The Data for Progress and the Progressive International poll makes clear that Biden has a popular mandate in acting against vaccine apartheid. Burcu Kilic, research director of the access to medicines program at Public Citizen and member of Progressive International's Council, called on Biden to ''listen to Americans who put him in power'' and ''do the right thing.''
Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., chair of the Senate Budget Committee, responded to the poll saying the U.S. should be ''leading the global effort to end the coronavirus pandemic.'' According to Sanders, ''a temporary WTO waiver, which would enable the transfer of vaccine technologies to poorer countries, is a good way to do that.'' More than 60 lawmakers have added their signature to a letter pushing Biden to save lives through a global vaccination drive.
For an entire year, public health organizations and civil society groups have en masse urged an internationalized pandemic response of open-sourced research and medical tools. Such calls for cooperation and equity were swiftly quashed, in no small part thanks to the work of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. As Alexander Zaitchik noted in a crucial piece for The New Republic, Gates's long history of intellectual property crusading enacted a Covid-19 vaccine response in line with a status quo ''defined by a zero-sum vaccination battle that has left much of the world on the losing side.''
I'm not the first to highlight the colonialist regime that has shaped this unequal vaccine scenario. Sharon Lerner reported for The Intercept that countries including Argentina, South Africa, Brazil, and Turkey, which hosted Pfizer vaccine trials, have been shut out of sufficient vaccine access. The same extractive practices that have historically enriched Western powers through the direct expense and suffering of colonized peoples continue to this day with most deadly consequences '-- vaccine apartheid among them.
Whether Biden, no enemy to neoliberalism, will take a stand against the approach of canonized philanthropist Gates is not yet clear. It's now undeniable that U.S. voters, alongside the broad public health community, want him to.
WARNING: Man Proves That Covid-19 Tests Are Cancerous! |
Sat, 17 Apr 2021 15:50
The alarm is on!
Maybe we turned the alarm on with the anti-covid vaccines, but this guy and his video went viral. He warns that the COVID-19 tests are hazardous.
Join The True Defender Telegram Chanel Here: https://t.me/TheTrueDefender
It is worse than you can imagine. We could assume that something wasn't right, but this is just too much'... When the authorities force millions of people to test for the virus repeatedly, someone with more consciousness would ask what really is happening.
Well, what is that thing? What can we find on those nasal swabs only with a few analyses?If we can get infected in the supermarket by keeping 5 feet distance, why do they have to jam the nasal swab to our noses that it touches our brains?
Are they testing the virus's presence, or are they putting inside us something else?
We have one statement, the tests aren't accurate at all. Can you recall the time when Elon Musk took four tests? They resulted in two positive and two negative samples.
The man in the video showed what really is going on! Perhaps he cracked the code.
Below, you can see a 2 minutes long video, where we can hear his attitude and explanation about the COVID-19 tests.
The Cancer.gov.website confirmed that Ethylene Oxide is highly toxic and causes cancer. Read their report.
Ethylene Oxide
A model of the ethylene oxide molecule. What is ethylene oxide?
At room temperature, ethylene oxide is a flammable colorless gas with a sweet odor. It is used primarily to produce other chemicals, including antifreeze. In smaller amounts, ethylene oxide is used as a pesticide and a sterilizing agent. The ability of ethylene oxide to damage DNA makes it an effective sterilizing agent but also accounts for its cancer-causing activity.
How are people exposed to ethylene oxide?
The primary routes of human exposure to ethylene oxide are inhalation and ingestion, which may occur through occupational, consumer, or environmental exposure. Because ethylene oxide is highly explosive and reactive, the equipment used for its processing generally consists of tightly closed and highly automated systems, which decreases the risk of occupational exposure.
Despite these precautions, workers and people who live near industrial facilities that produce or use ethylene oxide may be exposed to ethylene oxide through uncontrolled industrial emissions. The general population may also be exposed through tobacco smoke and the use of products that have been sterilized with ethylene oxide, such as medical products, cosmetics, and beekeeping equipment.
Which cancers are associated with exposure to ethylene oxide?
Lymphoma and leukemia are the cancers most frequently reported to be associated with occupational exposure to ethylene oxide. Stomach and breast cancers may also be associated with ethylene oxide exposure.
How can exposures be reduced?
The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration has information about limiting occupational exposure to ethylene oxide.''
It is something that I don't want to have inside my organism. Maybe I am not some expert or scientist, but no one wants a chemical inside them.
Numerous websites showed how worried they were about this issue! WebMD was one of them. Read their report.
In 2005, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency considered banning ethylene oxide in new sterilizing facilities because of the cancer risk it posed to residents who lived around the plants.
''We also considered prohibiting the use of ethylene oxide for new facilities, which would necessitate the use of an alternative sterilization process,'' reads the proposed rule, published in the federal register on Oct. 24, 2005.
Ultimately, under pressure from industry, and with the EPA's acceptance of companies' claims they were doing everything feasible to cut their emissions, the agency failed to act '-- worried about disrupting a key part of the process of sterilizing medical equipment in the U.S.
Fast-forward to 2019, and what's past looks a lot like prologue.
Once again, the EPA is considering new restrictions on ethylene oxide sterilization because of the cancer risks it poses. Once again, the sterilizing and medical device industries are pushing back, warning of harm to patients if ethylene oxide is restricted. Federal lobbying disclosures show medical device makers and sterilizers have spent more than $1 million over the past 12 months lobbying Congress and the EPA on ethylene oxide issues.
There's a big difference this time around, though: public awareness.
''Nobody in the last 40 years has been pressuring from the outside that there are community exposures from this,'' said Peter Orris, MD, a professor and chief of occupational and environmental medicine at the University of Illinois at Chicago.
Greater appreciation of the environmental health threat has '-- for the first time '-- raised an outcry from residents in Georgia, Illinois, and elsewhere who've been exposed to ethylene oxide pollution '-- sometimes for decades '-- without any real warning that it was near them or could be dangerous.
In 2018, the EPA published a report that flagged 109 census tracts across the U.S. as having higher cancer risks, mostly due to ethylene oxide. Three of those census tracts are in the metro Atlanta area '-- two are in Fulton County, just south of Smyrna, and the third is in Newton County in Covington.
Orris first encountered ethylene oxide when he was a regional medical officer for the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. In the 1980s, he investigated cases of hospital staff getting lightheaded and dizzy and having other neurologic symptoms working around tabletop sterilizing devices that used ethylene oxide gas. The sterilizing devices '-- which look a bit like big microwaves '-- were leaking, making people who worked near them ill.
In learning about the gas, he recalls, ''I finally concluded that you just couldn't do this because every amount of exposure contributes to cancer risk.''
The outrage from exposed communities has federal regulators and device makers seriously rethinking a question that's been hanging over the sterilization industry for decades: Can ethylene oxide be replaced?
A resolution pending before the American Medical Association's Board of Trustees urges the nation's doctors to push for substitutes to ethylene oxide sterilization ''that are currently available'' and do not cause cancer. It also urges hospitals and other health care facilities, when considering buying medical devices, to choose those that are the most effective for patients and safest for the environment.''
Also, ThermoScientific shared their examination of the Ethylene Oxide presence on the masks and nose swabs.
The current worldwide pandemic has impacted every aspect of our lives, which we are struggling to bring back to what we consider 'normal.' We have seen an impact on our social habits, our way of working and our economical balance, along with a changed perception on health. There has also been increased attention on the value of healthcare and medical device manufacturers, and the sudden dramatic increase of personal protective equipment (PPE) demand like face masks, gloves and protective suits.
Sterilization processes have always been essential for medical device industries but now they are assuming an even greater relevance for limiting infections, especially in an emergency situation of single-use device shortage.
One of the most adopted sterilization processes uses ethylene oxide (EO), a highly reactive, toxic and flammable gas capable of sterilizing at ambient temperature, preserving those medical devices which cannot be exposed to moisture or high temperatures '-- like the ones made of polymers, plastics or those containing electronic components. The EO sterilization is assumed to play an important role in the battle against COVID-19, but, due to its intrinsic hazardous nature and carcinogenic effect on human beings, very high attention must be paid on possible residual levels.
During the pandemic, a shortage of filtering facepiece respirators has led some health care facilities to sterilize PPE for reuse. However, the Washington State Department of Labor & Industries issued a warning stating that EO sterilization is not approved by federal OSHA for use on personal protective equipment and should not be used to sterilize filtering facepiece respirators for reuse because this extremely hazardous toxic chemical poses a severe risk to human health.
This position is supported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) which states, ''Ethylene oxide is not recommended as a crisis strategy for cleaning filtering facepiece respirators as it may be harmful to the wearer.'' In this scenario, it becomes even more critical to rely on efficient and sensitive testing methods to ensure no residual EO is present on PPE and medical devices in general.
EO is absorbed by many materials, for this reason, following sterilization the item must undergo aeration to remove any residual. Guidelines have been promoted regarding allowable EO limits for devices that depend on how the device is used, how often, and how long in order to pose a minimal risk to patients in normal product use1.
Additionally, during the EO sterilization process, it is also possible the formation of 2-chloroethanol (or ethylene chlorohydrin, ECH)2, which is classified as a hazardous substance very toxic by inhalation and skin absorption.
The headspace (HS) sampling technique coupled with GC-FID analysis is a simple approach to quantify possible residues of ethylene oxide and 2-chloroethanol compounds in solid materials, with almost no sample preparation required.
ISO 10993.7-2008 (Biological evaluation of medical devices) and Chinese National Standards3,4 are reference guidelines setting limits for ethylene oxide and 2-chloroethanol in a variety of different materials. In particular, the residual limit for ethylene oxide on face masks is set to 10 µg/g.''
We ask you to share the information with the world! It is crucial!
WARNING: Man Proves That Covid-19 Tests Are Cancerous!
Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) | If You Make or Buy a Fake COVID-19 Vaccination Record Card, You Endanger Yourself and Those Around You, and You Are Breaking the Law
Sun, 18 Apr 2021 12:22
If You Make or Buy a Fake COVID-19 Vaccination Record Card, You Endanger Yourself and Those Around You, and You Are Breaking the LawThe Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG) and the FBI are advising the public to be aware of individuals selling fake COVID-19 vaccination record cards and encouraging others to print fake cards at home. Fake vaccination record cards have been advertised on social media websites, as well as e-commerce platforms and blogs.
Vaccination record cards are intended to provide recipients of the COVID-19 vaccine with information about the type of vaccine they received, and when they may be able to receive a second dose of the vaccine. If you did not receive the vaccine, do not buy fake vaccine cards, do not make your own vaccine cards, and do not fill-in blank vaccination record cards with false information. By misrepresenting yourself as vaccinated when entering schools, mass transit, workplaces, gyms, or places of worship, you put yourself and others around you at risk of contracting COVID-19. Additionally, the unauthorized use of an official government agency's seal (such as HHS or the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)) is a crime, and may be punishable under Title 18 United States Code, Section 1017, and other applicable laws.
Because individuals may use fake vaccine cards to misrepresent themselves as vaccinated, we strongly encourage businesses, schools, places of worship, and government agencies to follow CDC guidance and continue to maintain social distancing and use personal protective equipment. If you did receive the vaccine, we recommend you do not post photos of your vaccine card to social media websites'--your personal information could be stolen to commit fraud. For more information about the dangers of sharing your vaccination status on social media, see
https://www.fbi.gov/contact-us/field-offices/elpaso/news/press-releases/fbi-el-paso-warns-about-not-posting-your-cdc-covid-19-vaccination-card-on-social-media-platforms
https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/blog/2021/02/social-media-no-place-covid-19-vaccination-cards
To report suspicious activity involving fake vaccination record cards, please contact the appropriate government agency in your state or jurisdiction, HHS-OIG (1-800-HHS-TIPS or www.oig.hhs.gov); or the Internet Crime Complaint Center (www.ic3.gov).
Pfizer Marketing
Norwegian doctor on Pfizer payroll blood clot origin
The Norwegian Dr. Pål André Holme who first published the AZ vaccine blood-clotting side-effects**, which led to a stop in AZ vaccination in Norway and other Northern European countries,
did not disclose a total of 100k USD of work related reimbursements from Bayer and Pfizer over the past 5 years as a potential conflict of interest in his article in NEJM regarding the blood-clotting*
This does not mean that there are not problems with the AZ vaccine, nor that the Pfizer is safer over the long term - in fact it may also be that the vaccines are not great, but that the long term effects of COVID are also harmful, so may still be better off getting the vaccine.
NB my parents in Belgium have just received a first dose of AZ - for sure a lot safer than getting COVID for 70 year olds - as for my self, I'm not sure: untested mRNA or less safe AZ...
mvh
Laurens
States see rise in unused vaccines as demand flattens, shifting focus to hesitancy
Sat, 17 Apr 2021 17:49
In the beginning, there were tens of thousands of calls for coronavirus vaccination slots.
The residents trying to make appointments at the Kanawha-Charleston Health Department in January overtaxed the rural West Virginia community's telephone provider, causing a temporary system outage.
''No amount of phone capability was going to match the public's demand,'' Dr. Sherri Young, the county's health officer, said.
But over the last few weeks, she's seen a shift. The clinic still vaccinates up to 100 people per day, but the center's waitlist has shortened. The number of no-shows at an April 10 drive-thru clinic was the highest the department had seen.
Now, Young said, ''you almost have to reach out to get appointments.''
West Virginia, the first state in the nation to widely vaccinate residents of long-term care facilities, is now among the first to confront the question of what happens when demand begins to taper off.
The state's coronavirus response czar, Dr. Clay Marsh, said a number of local health departments have asked the state to pause sending additional doses until they can use up their backlog.
''We're seeing vaccine hesitancy more than we've seen before,'' he said. And amid a recent rise in coronavirus cases to levels not seen since late February and with the state still well short of herd immunity, he added, ''We are very worried about what could happen to West Virginia if we don't really vaccinate enough of our population.''
On Feb. 14, West Virginia reported that nearly 98 percent of the vaccine doses the state had received from the federal government had been administered. By April 15, that figure had fallen to nearly 72 percent. The drop of about 26 percentage points is the steepest in the nation, according to an NBC News analysis of data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Louisiana, Montana and Wyoming are also among states seeing the greatest slowdowns.
Public health officials say there are many reasons for the rising surplus of vaccine doses sitting on shelves. Before vaccine production ramped up, providers often maxed out quickly as residents at the greatest risk from the virus scrambled to book scarce appointments. But as availability continues to swell, there are new challenges: how quickly front-line workers are able to push out the shots, whether those who want to get vaccinated face barriers in doing so '-- and, most significantly, hesitancy among some residents to get vaccinated at all.
Recent polling shows that although vaccine hesitancy is on the decline, 17 percent of Americans still want to ''wait and see'' before getting a shot, a figure that rises to 24 percent among Black Americans. Doctors and nurses say it's still common to hear from patients fearing complications that they're not ready to make an appointment. Public health officials and front-line workers say that not all of that opposition derives from concerns of safety or effectiveness. Polls show Republicans are among the most likely to say they won't receive a jab at all.
The CDC figures showing a drop in the share of vaccinations administered in many states does not yet reflect the potential impact of the federally recommended pause this week on the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, as officials investigate whether the inoculation contributed to rare blood clots. Although public health workers said the suspension is a sign of transparency, they're bracing for a potential fallout that could deter those who were already reluctant.
Now, health care workers in states that have seen a slowdown in demand are planning for the work they'll have to put in to bring more people through their doors.
In Wyoming, which experienced the second largest overall drop in vaccine doses used after West Virginia, public health officials are ramping up their focus on messaging.
''With schools and most businesses open, it may be harder for some people to see the personal need for vaccination,'' Kim Deti, a spokesperson for the Wyoming Department of Health, said.
A Cheyenne-Laramie County Health Department nurse administers Wyoming's first shot of the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine to Terry Thayn, a nurse for the department, on Dec. 15, 2020, in Cheyenne, Wyo. Mead Gruver / AP fileLouisiana State Health Officer Dr. Joseph Kanter said the number of doses administered has been ''fairly steady'' as supply to the state has increased, when the goal is to see a rise in vaccinations.
''Whatever hesitancy that existed before was a little bit plastered over because supply was so limited,'' he said.
While West Virginia is coping with a steep drop in the share of shots administered, some states have struggled to whittle down their stockpiles since the beginning. At their peaks, Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, Arkansas and Tennessee used less than 85 percent of their doses, and as of April 15 they've used less than 70 percent, the lowest in the nation.
Alabama has seen a 13 percentage point decrease in shots administered. Dr. Karen Landers, assistant state health officer at the Alabama State Department of Health, said part of the reason may be because there's a perception that improved case numbers in the state means the risk of contracting the coronavirus isn't as high.
''Covid is still here and still circulating,'' she said. ''We need to have everyone vaccinated.''
In January, Mississippi's appointment site struggled to handle the surge of statewide demand for doses at massive drive-thru clinics. Now, open slots linger in the thousands. In Hinds County, Mississippi's most populous county, more than 5,000 windows were unreserved as of Friday afternoon.
Mississippi's State Health Officer Dr. Thomas Dobbs said on Tuesday that in some areas the state's ''uptake is not quite as rapid as before.'' The health agency will shift more vaccines to doctor's offices and focus resources on areas with low vaccination rates.
A health care worker arrives to administer a dose of the Moderna Covid-19 vaccine as part of an initiative to reach rural Mississippians without reliable transportation in Ruleville, Miss., on March 4, 2021. Rory Doyle / Bloomberg via Getty Images fileDr. Andrea Phillips, a physician in Jackson, Mississippi's capital, said there aren't enough patients at her small practice to use all of the doses recently sent by the state. Earlier this month, a local church reached out asking if she would coordinate a vaccination event, to help ensure each shot would be claimed.
One parishioner volunteering at the site initially declined to get vaccinated. The woman was unsure whether being prone to seizures would lead to complications. Phillips explained how her condition could put her at greater risk if she contracted the virus and the woman decided to get the shot.
Beyond hesitancy, spotty internet access and lack of transportation are persistent barriers in Mississippi, particularly for Black residents and those in rural areas. Serious illness or mobility issues can also make it harder for those who are among the most vulnerable to the disease to reach vaccination sites. Phillips has made home visits but said there are more people to reach.
''The fact that people don't get online and sign up for something, or sit in a line, does not mean they don't want the vaccine,'' she said.
Phillips drew laughs from staff members when she asked whether they should set up an information table outside of a local nightclub. But she made it clear she was serious. The clubs are still packed on weekends, she pointed out.
Part of that, she believes, derives from a series of contradicting messages.
Gov. Tate Reeves has urged residents to get vaccinated and received the shot himself on camera. But he's also directed barbs at President Joe Biden, who criticized his decision to lift the state's mask mandate.
Phillips believes the removal, despite Reeves encouraging Mississippians to exercise their individual choices and wear a mask, ''signals to people we're OK'' and there's less urgency to get vaccinated.
One-on-one conversations with trusted health care providers or community leaders might be the key in tipping the undecided toward vaccination.
Kanter, the Louisiana state health officer, said the ''sweet spot'' is ''people who haven't written off the vaccine,'' but aren't ''quite ready'' to get it yet.
That's where Tara Gallion, who works as a nurse at the Delta Health Center, which provides low-cost care in the Mississippi Delta, has found success. She said it's not uncommon to have lengthy conversations with patients reluctant to get vaccinated.
She doesn't miss the opportunity to ask neighbors, or relatives bringing older relatives to the clinic, if they're interested too.
Last week, she offered the shot to two women who brought their mother to the clinic. At first, they resisted.
''They felt like they were young and invincible,'' Gallion said.
She asked them a series of questions. Both told her they had children and worked in retail.
Gallion told them the vaccine wasn't just for them '-- it was to stay healthy and protect their families.
''If you do get it, you'll have something to help your body fight against it,'' she said.
The prodding worked, but there's a question of how many will make it to this step.
While people of varying political backgrounds have been vaccinated, surveys about vaccine views show the push has not been spared from the nation's polarization.
''Politicization is a concern, of course,'' Deti, the Wyoming health department spokesperson, said.
A March poll from the Kaiser Family Foundation found that Republicans were the most likely to express vaccine hesitancy; almost 30 percent responded ''definitely not'' when asked whether they would receive the shot.
That could leave states with strong Republican bases, like West Virginia, at a greater disadvantage.
Medical professionals wait for the first students to arrive during a vaccination event at the University of Charleston in West Virginia on April 8, 2021. Stephen Zenner / SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images fileKen Reed and his wife, Tally, run a pharmacy chain in the eastern region of West Virginia. Reed, who is also a Republican state legislator, said some in the communities they serve will ''quietly'' get vaccinated, but ''still fuss.''
He often appeals on social media that vaccinations are a pathway to easing restrictions. On occasion, he tries to nudge those on the fence by letting them know when doses are available.
Some will respond, ''Yes, I'll get the vaccine just to speed this up.''
Others, he said, see their refusal as keeping in lockstep with what Reed considers libertarian beliefs about limited government. Some view the urgings from government officials to become vaccinated as an infringement, or being ''told what to do,'' he said. It's a subset he's not sure can be convinced by presenting evidence of vaccination trials or answering questions.
After a year of attempting to drive down the pandemic, the recalcitrance is draining.
''It's starting to bump heads a little bit,'' he said.
But there's little choice to do anything else but try to break through.
New Funds To Boost Genomic Sequencing Of Coronavirus Variants : Shots - Health News : NPR
Sun, 18 Apr 2021 12:36
Lab assistant Tammy Brown dons personal protective equipment in a lab at the University of Maryland School of Medicine in Baltimore. She works on preparing positive coronavirus tests for sequencing to discern variants rapidly spreading throughout the country. Michael Robinson Chavez/The Washington Post via Getty Images hide caption
toggle caption Michael Robinson Chavez/The Washington Post via Getty Images Lab assistant Tammy Brown dons personal protective equipment in a lab at the University of Maryland School of Medicine in Baltimore. She works on preparing positive coronavirus tests for sequencing to discern variants rapidly spreading throughout the country.
Michael Robinson Chavez/The Washington Post via Getty Images The Biden administration will send $1.7 billion to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and local and state governments and other research efforts, starting early next month to find and track coronavirus variants lurking in the United States. Already, the more contagious U.K. variant, B.1.1.7, is now the dominant strain in this country, fueling surges in Michigan and the Northeast.
"Our goal is to get that money out as fast as possible to help states in all the many ways that they need to be able to expand their own sequencing capacity," said Carole Johnson, the White House COVID-19 testing coordinator, in an interview with NPR.
The U.S. has been flying blind in the race between vaccination efforts and the spread of new coronavirus variants that could potentially spark another deadly nationwide surge and reduce effectiveness of the vaccines. U.S. public health officials have been operating with incomplete information because of an inadequate viral genomics surveillance system.
Friday's announcement details how the funds '-- which were part of the $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill passed last month '-- will be distributed. The largest share of funds '-- $1 billion '-- will go to the CDC, states and cities to bolster their existing surveillance efforts.
The rest will go to longer-term initiatives, including $400 million to create Innovative Centers of Excellence in Genomic Epidemiology, which will be research partnerships between state health departments and academic institutions. An additional $300 million will go to build a "national bioinformatics infrastructure" to handle the flood of data.
Before the coronavirus, genomic sequencing of viruses in the U.S. was aimed largely at tracking foodborne illnesses. The value of genomic sequencing was a "lesson learned" from COVID-19, Johnson said. The pandemic has forced that U.S. system to adapt, and the funding approved by Congress should build up the scientific infrastructure to deal with whatever comes next, she added.
"This is both about today and about building for the long term," Johnson said. "Today's investment ... is about helping us fight COVID but is also about helping us continue to transform how public health works to combat outbreaks of all kinds going forward."
When the U.K. variant first emerged, the viral surveillance system in the U.S. was woefully lacking in resources, especially compared with other countries.
Beginning in 2014, CDC received $30 million per year for a program called Advanced Molecular Detection to build capability and capacity at the agency and the states for laboratory science and epidemiology. "At the time, we thought this was a huge win because it was new money, but in retrospect, it was completely anemic," Scott Becker, executive director of the Association of Public Health Laboratories, said via email to NPR.
In early February, U.S. laboratories were only sequencing perhaps 5,000 to 8,000 coronavirus samples per week. The CDC said the agency has now boosted that to close to 15,000 per week. But many experts estimate the country should be sequencing at least 25,000 per week, if not many more.
Public health experts welcomed Friday's announcement.
"The Biden plan makes sense and is practical," Becker wrote. Not only does it boost surveillance capacity, but it also "looks towards building partnerships across sectors to foster innovations so that we can keep pace with science and technology."
But some question whether this boost in funding is coming fast enough, especially with cases surging in many places and variants spreading quickly.
"With the money going out in May, I'd like to see a timeline of expectations for how quickly sequencing is going up," said Heather Pierce, senior director for science policy at the Association of American Medical Colleges. "There is an urgent need to increase the sequencing by several fold in places where cases are high and rising (like Michigan), and a month or two ramp-up period will put us behind where we needed to be months ago."
Pierce noted that one area that needs immediate attention is the sequencing of every "breakthrough case," which are cases in which people get infected even though they have been vaccinated. The CDC said at least 5,800 such breakthrough infections have been reported so far.
"We need to know whether infection after vaccination is the result of the vaccines, the variants, or some characteristic of the individuals who become infected," Pierce wrote in an email to NPR.
Others said sequencing needs to be focused strategically.
"More is better '-- but in addition to random sampling we need to do targeted sequencing of hospitalized people, immune-compromised and previously vaccinated people," said Mara Aspinall, a professor of medical practice expert at Arizona State University. "And we have to work globally on this issue."
Still, the funding is an important investment in the CDC, said Gigi Gronvall, a senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security.
"What I was most worried about in the beginning of this process was that some new entity was going to be created that would analyze genomic information but would be not directly connected to CDC," she said. "That entity would probably fail but take a while and a lot of money with it in the process. This is the time to modernize and strengthen public health, and that begins with strengthening CDC."
The nation needs a "CDC-led national strategy" for sequencing, agreed David Relman, a microbiologist at Stanford University, "where questions are defined at the national level, question-asking coordinated at the state level, and data from states integrated in a strategic manner."
It's important these kinds of efforts continue to receive support going forward, said Jennifer Nuzzo, a senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security.
"For this to work, there will need to be sustained funding," Nuzzo said. "I am concerned about building up an infrastructure using emergency funds. We have seen over and over again that capacities require sustained investment."
U.S. Government Reaches Agreement With Wario64 to Announce COVID Vaccine Availability
Sun, 18 Apr 2021 13:29
WASHINGTON '-- The United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has reached an agreement with popular video game deals twitter account Wario64 to announce COVID-19 vaccine availability nationwide.
''We're taking vaccine distribution very seriously as we want to reach as many people as possible and that means working with existing systems in order to get them out efficiently. At this time, there is no better way to alert people of an item's availability than through Wario64's Twitter account,'' explained Dr. Fauci at a press conference. ''We expect to see millions of Americans gain access to the vaccine in the coming weeks and, through our partnership with Wario64, we should even be able to reach underserved communities, like gamers.''
According to recent polling, both Democrats and Republicans have universally praised the decision by the CDC.
''It's really great because I'm actually trying to grab the vaccine and the PS5, so I put on tweet notifications and I'm killing two birds with one stone,'' said one respondent. ''The only thing I'm worried about is mixing vaccine culture with gamer culture. I've already seen a bunch of console war bullshit with the Moderna people against the Pfizer people and it's getting really intense. And then, of course, there's the Johnson & Johnson people who just want that little kid vaccine.''
When asked to comment, Wario64 said that Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze for the Nintendo Switch is available for $49.99 through Amazon for the next 48 hours.
Variants
Variants explained
The explanation of the variant phenomena is :
Because the virus has not been legitimately isolated, when someone attempts to perform an isolation/ identification of the virus they will not get a match to the sars cov2 (because it's not possible).
So every isolation / match attempt is the spawn of a fake variant. There are an infinite number of potential fake variants.
See Dr Tom Cowan , Dr Andrew Kaufman, Dr Kelly Brogan, and others.
Dimension B
Over 50% Of Liberal, White Women Under 30 Have A Mental Health Issue. Are We Worried Yet? | Evie Magazine
Fri, 16 Apr 2021 10:16
It's a common tactic of the politically charged on either side (and normally perceived as a cheap one at that) to take the particular adherents of an ideology and equate that diehard worship to mental illness.
Conservatives label younger liberal generations as snowflakes or as having Trump derangement syndrome if they didn't like the past president; liberals and progressives label right-leaning individuals or conservatives as racists, bigots, misogynists, etc. Resorting to this type of lowbrow behavior might once have been seen as an excuse not to address the actual issues or beliefs at hand, but now ad hominem attacks are more common than not.
But what if what was once a cheap shot or a personal insult has actually been found to bear scientific correlation between the individuals who hold progressive ideologies and an increased risk of mental illness? That's exactly what Pew Research has found '-- and all politics aside, the shocking diagnosis of over 50% of liberal women with some form of mental health medical diagnosis is a public health concern that no one seems to be discussing, let alone taking seriously.
Women and Mental Illness
For whatever reason, we're not talking about the risk of mental illness women in general face, especially compared to men.
Women are 40% more likely to develop depression than men. Due to lower levels of serotonin, we're also more likely to have anxiety and depression because of that deficiency. There are also certain life experiences, like childbirth for example, which can lead to these diagnoses. 1 in 7 women will be diagnosed with postpartum depression in the year following childbirth. Postpartum depression in particular is a condition that leaves its victims feeling powerless and without confidence or assurance in their own abilities as a mom or caregiver '-- many women with postpartum depression describe feeling like failures.
Women are 40% more likely to develop depression than men.
Conditions like depression and anxiety thrive in silence, but there also seems to be a lack of confidence in women when it comes to knowing our own bodies, and instead our mental problems are written off as being too overly ''emotional.'' (Think about how many times someone has described you or another woman as emotional.) While hormones do obviously play a role in the development of mental health, for better or for worse, it's possible to minimize or downplay the risks our mental health is facing if they're written off as a ''hormonal'' issue, whether it's our medical professionals or even ourselves engaging in that mindset.
But biology and hormones aside, what about the choices we actively engage in? The behaviors we indulge, the beliefs and convictions we hold as more important than all the others? The people we spend our time with, the actions we devote our energy to, and the news we consume? Is that negatively impacting our mental health, or even more importantly, leading to medical diagnoses?
Here's What the Study Found
The study in question '-- which, by the way, isn't from a news source or media outlet but Pew Research for heaven's sake '-- is, when all's said and done, pretty damning.
Interestingly enough, the study, which is titled Pew American Trends Panel: Wave 64, was dated March 2020 '-- over a year ago. Yet it took a Ph.D. candidate in political science posting about the study on Twitter for it to garner even a smidge of attention.
The study, which examined white liberals, moderates, and conservatives, both male and female, found that conservatives were far less likely to be diagnosed with mental health issues than those who identified as either liberal or even ''very liberal.'' What's more, white women suffered the worst of all. White women, ages 18-29, who identified as liberal were given a mental health diagnosis from medical professionals at a rate of 56.3%, as compared to 28.4% in moderates and 27.3% in conservatives.
Zach Goldberg, the doctoral candidate in question, consolidated the study's info in a set of visuals and posted them to a thread on Twitter. But it's important to note that he clarified the following: ''I didn't write this thread to mock white liberals or their apparently disproportionate rates of mental illness (and you shouldn't either). Rather, this is a question that's underexplored and which may shed light on attitudinal differences towards various social policies." He's right.
Dr. Lyle Rossiter, a board-certified psychiatrist who's treated mental disorders for over 30 years, agrees and adds that white liberalism thrives on supposedly championing ''workers,'' ''minorities,'' ''the little guy,'' ''women,'' and the ''unemployed,'' who they continuously see as ''wronged, cheated, oppressed, disenfranchised, exploited, and victimized'' with little to no agency of their own (A view that often mutates into the infantilizing and patronizing of certain groups within a narrative).
When those raised to think reality is subjective bump up against objective reality, there can be mental health consequences.
The people responsible for these crimes? As Rossiter tells it: ''poverty, disease, war, ignorance, unemployment, racial prejudice, ethnic and gender discrimination, modern technology, capitalism, globalization, and imperialism. In the radical liberal mind, this suffering is inflicted on the innocent by various predators and persecutors: 'Big Business,' 'Big Corporations,' 'greedy capitalists,' 'U.S. Imperialists,' 'the oppressors,' 'the rich,' 'the wealthy,' 'the powerful,' and 'the selfish'.''
That's pretty much an exhaustive list of every grievance and every perpetrator that progressives see as responsible for these injustices which plague our disenfranchised communities while moderates and conservatives seemingly sit idly by unconcerned with anything but their own privilege.
But as the study exemplifies, the champions of these causes (white women in particular) aren't exactly living the liberated utopia they believe we all should be living.
Taking It Seriously
It's truly unfortunate that so many women are facing these kinds of issues, and that this prevalence of mental illness among progressive women might be being weaponized for political purposes. If there's one thing this topic deserves, it's delicacy and empathy. We should feel compassion for these women, especially if we've struggled with mental health ourselves.
But at the heart of the matter is this: Progressivism is an ideology that supposedly demands equality for all, and one that keeps score to an exhausting degree. The privilege between social classes, between races, between men and women, between religious and non-religious, and more, all have to be constantly monitored, and ''inequality'' has to be exposed for the purposes of ''accountability.'' That kind of behavior isn't just unrealistic, it's unsustainable. In all honesty, it's understandable that anxiety and depression thrive in these kinds of environments when we're focusing on every minute, problematic issue in our world and not able to take comprehensive, productive action to solve all these problems.
Progressivism demands equality for all and keeps score to an exhausting, unsustainable degree.
There's also the unrelenting focus on oppression, verbal violence, and micro-aggressions. We know that building resiliency against hardship is the best weapon against depression and anxiety, yet progressive ideology forces its followers to wallow in feelings of helplessness and victimhood. Instead of empowering women and minorities with self-knowledge, strength of character, and resilience to hardship, progressivism encourages victims to stay in a place of fear and helplessness.
Closing Thoughts
It's not just significant that the women suffering from mental health issues are white (though we'll get to that) but especially that they're so young. The age range of those most affected was 18-29. These women are students, employees, moms, daughters, wives, and friends. They have goals and ambitions, yet who knows how hampered their day-to-day lives are by the conditions they've been diagnosed with.
But it's also key that white individuals are usually at the forefront of these movements, whether or not they're the group being adversely affected. As most of us know by now, white guilt and savior narratives are pretty much as bad as any genuinely racist agenda because it robs the very group they're trying to help of their own voice.
We should be having the difficult conversations this topic requires. But if you take a quick look at the state of our political discourse nowadays, we might not be ready for it.
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Climate Emergency
41 887.8298 pounds of Carbon per show x 2
Washington State bans gas cars by 2030 '' the earliest in the US - Electrek
Sat, 17 Apr 2021 14:57
It's 100% agenda 21, you've just been inundated with the propaganda bud. Electric cars can't operate outside of the grid, energy costs will rise exponentially if everyone is "charging their cars",they have short range, travel is extremely inconvenienced due to the long charge times etc. They want to tax these cars per mile, on top of energy taxes, on top of premium registration fees etc. This is coming from the people who are advocates, they want to restrict your movement to urban areas.
Scientific American joins trend, will call climate change 'climate emergency'
Sun, 18 Apr 2021 14:03
By Cortney O'Brien, Fox News
April 14, 2021 | 4:15pm | Updated April 14, 2021 | 4:16pm
Enlarge Image A man on a rooftop looks at approaching flames as the Springs fire continues to grow on May 3, 2013 near Camarillo, California. Getty Images
Scientific American has joined the growing list of news outlets who are upgrading the term climate change to a ''climate emergency.'' In its warning, SA compares climate change to someone losing their breath and being rushed to the hospital in the COVID-19 pandemic.
''The planet is heating up way too fast. It's time for journalism to recognize that the climate emergency is here,'' SA writes in their statement on Tuesday.
The statement, co-authored by Columbia Journalism Review, the Nation, the Guardian, Noticias Telemundo, Al Jazeera, Asahi Shimbun and La Repubblica, insists that the word ''emergency'' best describes the current predicament.
''Why 'emergency'? Because words matter. To preserve a livable planet, humanity must take action immediately. Failure to slash the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere will make the extraordinary heat, storms, wildfires and ice melt of 2020 routine and could 'render a significant portion of the Earth uninhabitable,''' warned the January Scientific American article.
The groups insist their take is based on science, not politics. But skeptics observe that the climate terms just appear to be changing with the wind.
Climate change is also being blamed by outlets like MSNBC for the crisis at the U.S.-Mexico border. According to anchor Ayman Mohyeldin, climate change is urging migrants to make their way into the U.S. because natural disasters are ''making the farmland and agricultural base '... that much harder to sustain the economic needs of a country that has 17 million people.''
President Biden has signed several climate change executive orders and promised aggressive spending on that front during his campaign. Conservative concerns over Biden's approach were compounded with his nomination of Deb Baaland for interior secretary, due to her sponsorship of the far-left Green New Deal and endorsement of a fracking ban.
Freedom of Speech Irony
Freedom of Speech Irony
Congratulations to YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki, for winning the Freedom of Expression award that Youtube sponsored
War on Guns
Coming for 2A
Get out of the spin cycle machine Wes. No one is going to 'come for the 2nd amendment'
First of all, you can only amend the constitution, not remove.
Second of all, the 2nd amendment doesn't GIVE us any rights, it limits the government's rights.
It will take 2/3 of states to ratify an amendment. Do you REALLY think there is that many states that will ratify it?
Seriously?
So no. This is just part of Big Tech and Media keeping you busy and draining you for profits.
Cop on Tasers
I was a cop for 13 years and was taser trained at two different departments. In a high stress situation, it is possible for someone with little training to confuse the gun for a taser, because the basic functions are the same. Both have a grip and a trigger and in a fight or flight situation, you're not going to notice weight. We were trained to keep our taser on the opposite side of our gun belt, so there is an "unnatural draw," meaning the muscle memory is different for drawing a taser and gun. My gun was on my right hip and my taser was on my left side, just to the left of my belly button, so I would have to cross my body to draw it.
However, the officer was obviously untrained and/or has found herself away from high stress situations in her career just based on the way she freaked out. From what I've read, that department keeps their tasers on their off hand, so if you're right handed you draw your taser from the left side with your left hand. That should eliminate the confusion, which is why I think this officer hasn't trained in drawing her taser. At minimum, she should draw it at least once a day to complete a "spark test" (basically taking the cartridge off, pulling the trigger for a second, to ensure it is working).
One counter argument I've heard is that she was yelling, "Taser, taser, taser!" as an order for someone to tase him. We were trained to yell, "Taser, taser, taser!" because the taser, when fired, makes a pop, like a small caliber gun. We yell that to tell all the other officers that may have their guns out that the pop they are about to hear is a taser and not to shoot the person.
Any producers in Minneapolis need to get out before the city burns down....and a legitimate "stay safe" to any who decide to stay.
It Sure Looks Like CBS News Edited Body Cam Footage to Omit a Key Frame in Adam Toledo Shooting by Matt Vespa
Sun, 18 Apr 2021 12:25
Minneapolis is about to blow up over as the Derek Chauvin trial draws closer to its conclusion. Chauvin is the former police officer at the center of the death of George Floyd which set off a whole summer of rioting, unrest, and looting throughout the country. Brooklyn Center, which is in the greater Minneapolis area, is also on edge after the police-involved shooting of Daunte Wright. And now, we have another officer-involved shooting in Chicago. Adam Toledo was just 13 years old but was armed with a handgun. It's a terrible incident. It's sure to ignite more protests. The shooting occurred last month. Mayor Lori Lightfoot urged patience and calm as the evidence is reviewed:
"It was excruciating," an emotional Mayor Lightfoot said when asked for her reaction to viewing the body camera footage. "This is not something you want children to see."
"You're going to see that officer spring into action to try to revive Adam, to call for medical assistance... I've had experience of investigating a number of police involved shootings in my earlier career. I know that most officers go through their whole career and they never fire their weapon in the line of duty. I also know that every time that it's happened, it's extraordinarily traumatizing for them."
"People will have a range of emotions when they see these videos," Lightfoot noted before adding "I hope that people express themselves peacefully."
It's horrible to watch, but Toledo was armed. It's clear in the footage, but if you were to watch CBS News' clip'--that frame is omitted. It would seem the hatchet crew at the network went to work to construct yet another false narrative. They went after Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis over a non-existent pay-to-play scheme involving Publix, the state's largest grocery chain who contributed to his campaign, and a vaccine distribution deal. We've seen the full exchange between DeSantis and the reporter who tried to lob this grenade. It blew up in CBS' face, but they've doubled down because they're all terrible people. This instance is no different (via The Federalist):
Full video here. *At best*, CBS News looked at an explosive issue like a controversial police shooting & prioritized mobile screen viewing optimization over showing the full body camera footage (and thus edited out a key fact leading up to the shooting).https://t.co/b1P814LGjN
'-- Jerry Dunleavy (@JerryDunleavy) April 16, 2021CBS News deceptively cropped body camera footage that showed a 13-year-old boy holding a gun before he was fatally shot by Chicago police in March.
A law enforcement officer fatally shot Adam Toledo during an encounter in response to gunshots heard on a police scanner. Police said Toledo ignored ''verbal directions, fled, used significant force, and was armed with a semiautomatic pistol,'' which is why the officer fired.
Body cam footage released this week appears to show Toledo holding a weapon moments before he was shot, but CBS News posted a clip to its website and Twitter page that cropped out the footage showing the teen's alleged firearm.
Now is not the time to be playing games or trying to manufacture fake 'woke' narratives about policing. I know you good people already know this, but for some'--like those in the liberal media'--never let a crisis go to waste, even if it means fomenting a situation where a whole city is set ablaze over a lie.
Was Adam Toledo's nickname 'Lil Homicide'? Truth behind wild rumors about 13-year-old killed in police shooting | MEAWW
Sun, 18 Apr 2021 12:32
After the Civilian Office of Police Accountability (COPA) released the bodycam footage of 13-year-old Adam Toledo being fatally shot by a police officer, it was discovered that the teenager had his hands up before the shot was fired. Also, the police's claim of Adam's shooting being an 'armed confrontation' was countered as Adam appears unarmed in the video footage.
Meanwhile, some Twitter users and media publications are pointing out that Adam Toledo's friends are offering their tributes to him calling him names like 'Lil' Homicide' and 'Bvby Diablo'. It is being speculated that these names indicate the teenager's involvement with a gang. In a tweet thread on Friday, April 15, 2021, journalist Andy Ngo wrote, "Tributes to deceased armed teen Adam Toledo by his friends refer to him by his gang names, "Lil' Homicide" and "Bvby Diablo."
READ MORE
Adam Toledo death: Body-camera footage shows 13-year-old had his hands up when police shot him
Who was Adam Toledo? Chicago boy, 13, fatally shot in the chest during 'armed confrontation' with police
Was Adam Toledo part of a gang?A series of photos and screenshots shared by Andy Ngo shows the tributes dedicated to Adam Toledo by his friends, where they often refer t to him as 'Lil' Homicide' or 'Bvby Diablo'. "Rest In Peace. Lil Homicide, 5.26.07 - 3.29.2021," says a tribute painting on a t-shirt. Another photo, which shows Adam clicking a mirror selfie, goes with the captions, "Dam wtf my (N-word) B.I.P bvby Diablo f**k that pigs", "Long live bvby Diablo Fto 50k" and "F**k 12 b**** a** ***** gunned down a kid, Long live bvby Diablo".
A photo shared by a certain Jose Arriaga shows Adam Toledo posing in the streets, and goes with the caption "Rest In Peace bvby diablo". The photo was also updated with the frame of a gun. A series of photos from Adam's funeral was also shared with the caption, "buhh it's like dis 5eva. until we meet again my boy....LIL HOMICIDE GANG TILL MY HEART STOPS...IMissYouu nn ILoveYouu...long live da real.. #justiceforadamtoledo, Sincerely, Jesse."
A section of Twitter users explicitly pointed out that a teenager named 'Lil Homicide' might have been at the risk of violating justice or committing crimes. "You're right leftists, Lil Homicide sounds like the nickname of a perfectly innocent guy who would obey gun control laws in Chicago," sarcastically tweeted author Tim Young.
"Adam Toledo was missing from his house for days. Where were his parents? His street name was a Lil Homicide. Where were his parents. 2:37 AM with a gun in his hand. Where were his parents? I don't care about his age. He would've killed you if he had the chance," tweeted Conservative writer Carmine Sabia.
One user questioned his parenting, "Where were the adults in this 13 year old's life that leave him armed, unsupervised at 2-3 in the morning, with a 21 year old prohibited possessor? How did he get the gun or the nicknames "Bvby Diablo" & "Lil Homicide?"
Another wrote, "A child." Also known as "Lil Homicide." Passing no judgement on this case, but 13 year olds in this country are doing despicable things. "Child" is an excuse for none of them."
You're right leftists, Lil Homicide sounds like the nickname of a perfectly innocent guy who would obey gun control laws in Chicago.
'-- Tim Young (@TimRunsHisMouth) April 16, 2021Adam Toledo was missing from his house for days.Where were his parents?
His street name was a Lil Homicide.
Where were his parents.
2:37 AM with a gun in his hand.
Where were his parents?
I don't care about his age. He would've killed you if he had the chance.
'-- Carmine Sabia (@CarmineSabia) April 15, 2021.@DLoesch is on fire on Hannity tonight!Where were the adults in this 13 year old's life that leave him armed, unsupervised at 2-3 in the morning, with a 21 year old prohibited possessor?How did he get the gun or the nicknames "Bvby Diablo" & "Lil Homicide?
'-- ðºð¸ðºð¸ðºð¸Mike A K A Proof ðºð¸ðºð¸ðºð¸ðºð¸ðºð¸ (@ProofBlog) April 16, 2021"A child." Also known as "Lil Homicide." Passing no judgement on this case, but 13 year olds in this country are doing despicable things. "Child" is an excuse for none of them.
'-- Mike Piper (@MikePipe36) April 16, 2021Around 2:30 am on March 29, Adam Toledo was pursued on foot by a police officer who responded to a call of shots being fired. Upon arrival, he found Adam and another suspect at the scene. While Adam was chased and fatally shot, the other person ran away from the police. He was identified as 21-year-old Ruben Roman Jr. of Edgewater, who had pleaded guilty to illegal gun possession in 2019 and was arrested in Evanston. He was later arrested and charged with a misdemeanor count of resisting arrest.
'You have still knowingly shot an unarmed child'A major section of Twitter users is condemning those who are highlighting Adam Toledo's nickname trying to show the teenager's possible involvement with a gang.
"Even if their nickname was allegedly ''Lil Homicide,'' you have still knowingly shot an unarmed child. Even if they ran, you have still knowingly shot an unarmed child. Even if it is 2 in the morning, you have still knowingly shot an unarmed child," a user tweeted.
Another wrote, "This is ghoul shit. Every white boy on this website has had a screenname like "XxBloodKiller420xX" or some stupid shit like that when they were 13. Pretending that a 13 year old being called "Lil'Homicide" means they were some hardened killer is just apologia for child murder"
"So now you're justifying the slaughter of a 13 year old child. Your cruelty knows no end," one user lashed out at journalist Andy Ngo.
Another user responded, "Get the f**k out of here with this lil homicide nonsense. I don't give a f**k what his nickname was. He was an unarmed CHILD and he was murdered in cold blood. Sincerely, 40 yr old white woman."
Even if their nickname was allegedly ''Lil Homicide,'' you have still knowingly shot an unarmed child.Even if they ran, you have still knowingly shot an unarmed child.
Even if it is 2 in the morning, you have still knowingly shot an unarmed child.
'-- Col. Boozy Badger (@BoozyBadger) April 16, 2021This is ghoul shit. Every white boy on this website has had a screenname like "XxBloodKiller420xX" or some stupid shit like that when they were 13. Pretending that a 13 year old being called "Lil'Homicide" means they were some hardened killer is just apologia for child murder https://t.co/mlIgkVHwhc
'-- Bat'ko (@batko_anarkhiya) April 16, 2021So now you're justifying the slaughter of a 13 year old child. Your cruelty knows no end.
'-- Sophie (@florida_sophia) April 16, 2021Get the fuck out of here with this lil homicide nonsense. I don't give a fuck what his nickname was. He was an unarmed CHILD and he was murdered in cold blood. Sincerely, 40 yr old white woman
'-- Julia Sugarbaker is speaking (@JDSugarbaker) April 16, 2021 If you have a news scoop or an interesting story for us, please reach out at (323) 421-7514
Indy FedEx Shooter Identified As 19-Year-Old Known to Locals and Previously Interviewed by FBI -- Looks Like Chris Wray Dropped the Ball Once Again!
Sun, 18 Apr 2021 13:33
Eight people were killed late last night after a shooter opened fire inside a FedEx Facility near the Indianapolis Airport on Thursday night.
IMPD says 8 people have died and multiple others were injured in the mass shooting at the FedEx facility in Indy. pic.twitter.com/CwVCqEhmyn
'-- WRTV Indianapolis (@wrtv) April 16, 2021
Two witnesses and FedEx workers described the shooting.
TRENDING: WATCH: Rep. Maxine Waters Protests Past Curfew in Brooklyn Center, Calls for BLM to Get 'More Confrontational' if Chauvin is Acquitted
#Indianapolis FedEx Shooting '' Eye witness interviews.
Timothy Boillat and Jeremiah Miller
ð¥: @IndyFirstAlert pic.twitter.com/eT9bYZBtaY
'-- John Curtis (@Johnmcurtis) April 16, 2021
The gunman then took his own life.
This afternoon Brandon Scott Hole was identified as the shooter and a former employee at the FedEx facility.
According to John Cardillo, Hole was known to police and the FBI.
FedEx shooter ID'd as 19-year-old Brandon Scott Hole
''Hole and his potential for violence were known to local and federal authorities''
The FBI dropped the ball on another one. https://t.co/ovbQIt3RZx
'-- John Cardillo (@johncardillo) April 16, 2021
Did the FBI know in advance the identity of Indianapolis killer Brandon Scott Hole? Just like Ahmad Al Aliwi Alissa. And the Pulse Nightclub shooter. San Bernardino terrorists. Boston Marathon bombers. Garland Texas shooters. Parkland High School shooter. Fort Hood shooter. Etc.
'-- First Words (@unscriptedmike) April 16, 2021
The FBI questioned Hole last year.
Via The AP:
FBI agents last year interviewed the gunman who fatally shot eight people at a FedEx facility in Indianapolis, the bureau said Friday, as investigators searched the home of the 19-year-old former FedEx employee'...
'...The shooter was identified as Brandon Scott Hole of Indianapolis, Deputy Police Chief Craig McCartt told a news conference. Investigators searched a home in Indianapolis associated with Hole and seized evidence, including desktop computers and other electronic media, McCartt said.
Paul Keenan, the special agent in charge of the FBI's Indianapolis field office, said Friday that agents questioned Hole last year after his mother called police to say that her son might commit ''suicide by cop.'' He said the FBI was called after items were found in Hole's bedroom but he did not elaborate on what they were. He said agents found no evidence of a crime and that they did not identify Hole as espousing a racially motivated ideology.
Out There
Tic Tac sightings
Naval fleet projection technology
ONLY seen over water
Pilots believe what they saw with INSTRUMENTS, not naked eye
multi-sensor spoofing
The Navy's Secretive And Revolutionary Program To Project False Fleets From Drone Swarms
Sun, 18 Apr 2021 12:04
The U.S. Navy has been quietly developing what could be one of the most important, transformative, and fascinating advances in naval combat, and warfare in general, in years. This new electronic warfare "system of systems" has been clandestinely refined over the last five years and judging from the Navy's own budgetary documents, it may be operational soon, if it isn't already. This secretive new electronic warfare "ecosystem" is known as Netted Emulation of Multi-Element Signature against Integrated Sensors, or NEMESIS.
NEMESIS is not just some 'paper program.' From publicly available, but obscure documents we've collected, it's clear that, for years, the Navy has been developing and integrating multiple types of unmanned vehicles, shipboard and submarine systems, countermeasures and electronic warfare payloads, and communication technologies to give it the ability to project what is, in essence, phantom fleets of aircraft, ships, and submarines. These realistic-looking false signatures and decoys have the ability to appear seamlessly across disparate and geographically separated enemy sensor systems located both above and below the ocean's surface. As a result, this networked and cooperative electronic warfare concept brings an unprecedented level of guileful fidelity to the fight. It's not just about disrupting the enemy's capabilities or confusing them at a command and control level, but also about making their sensors tell them the same falsehoods across large swathes of the battlespace.
Another way of looking at it is NEMESIS shifts from traditional electronic warfare tactics, in which multiple electronic warfare systems execute individual electronic attacks on multiple enemy sensors to achieve largely individual or localized effects, to a very diverse set of networked electronic warfare systems cooperatively making electronic attacks on huge portions of an enemy's sensor network. That network may stretch across large distances and multiple warfighting domains. In doing so, it achieves a cohesive set of far more unified, powerful, and convincing effects.
It sounds like science fiction, but it is anything but'--it's the next quantum leap in the quiet, but ferocious struggle to control the invisible domain of electronic warfare.
The Invisible WarElectronic warfare (EW) has become an essential part of military strategy over the better part of the last century. This has only become more pronounced in recent decades as military systems have increasingly migrated into the digital age.
NATO's simplest definition of electronic warfare is as follows:
The purpose of EW is to deny the opponent the advantage of, and ensure friendly unimpeded access to the electromagnetic spectrum. EW can be applied from air, sea, land, and space, and target communication and radar systems. It involves the use of electromagnetic energy to provide improved understanding of the operational environment as well as to achieve specific effects on the modern battlefield.
Electronic warfare encompasses a huge variety of operations and tactics, such as disrupting enemy communications and preventing your own from being disrupted. Maybe the most well-known form of EW has to do with jamming enemy radar systems, but there are many forms of electronic warfare that don't involve traditional jamming. These include detecting, spoofing, and distracting enemy sensor systems and denying them the opportunity to successfully target friendly forces to varying degrees.
Cyberwarfare tactics and the ability to actually disrupt enemy sensors, networks, and command and control systems at the software level are a highly critical emerging realm of warfare that in some cases can cross over and become blended with electronic warfare tactics. Even the use of directed energy weapons can be part of a force's electronic warfare bag of tricks.
Although it is the least visible component of a present-day military's order of battle and overall capabilities, and much of the details of exactly what capabilities exist and how they are realized remains in the shadows, electronic warfare is becoming one of the most important facets of modern warfare. As a result, future combat will occur just as much in this invisible spectrum as the visible one.
The Cold War Gave Birth To Modern Electronic WarfareElectronic warfare, as we understand it today, is not new. The U.S. military has been deploying EW technologies that go beyond simple jamming since at least the mid-20th Century. Stealth technology would never have been so successful without electronic warfare backstopping it during combat operations. In fact, the only engagement in which an F-117 was ever shot down occurred on the only night of the aircraft's use during Operation Allied Force when electronic warfare support was not available.
EW, at least how we understand it in modern, advanced terms, dates back much farther, to the height of the Cold War when the CIA launched the PALLADIUM project, which deployed radar spoofing systems and submarine-launched balloons carrying metallic radar reflectors in order to stimulate and probe Cuba's Soviet-made air defenses. The effort was part of a grander objective to understand how vulnerable the A-12 Oxcart'--the CIA's progenitor of the SR-71 Blackbird and the first aircraft to integrate stealthy attributes as a driving factor in its design'--would be to enemy air defenses. You can read all about this fascinating bit of history in this past piece of ours.
Lockheed Martin
An A-12 Oxcart.
Considering that the CIA possessed the capability 65 years ago to clandestinely launch airborne radar reflectors from submarines and combine them with electronic warfare capabilities that could simulate or spoof the presence of American fighter aircraft on the most advanced Soviet radar systems of the era, it isn't hard to use one's imagination to ponder what is possible today. We know that EW capabilities have evolved drastically in step with advances in sensor, emitter, and computer processing technologies and the increasingly potent data networks that integrate and fuse their capabilities with other systems and platforms. NEMESIS is the next evolutionary leap in this regard, and a particularly huge one at that.
Electrons Not BombsThe U.S. Navy's leadership has stated repeatedly that developing a major leap in EW capabilities has been a vital area of research over the last decade. On Oct. 29, 2013, then-Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) Admiral Jonathan Greenert, the service's top officer, said as much when he spoke at a convention of the Association of Old Crows (AOC).
At the conference, Greenert told attendees that the Navy was looking for ways to move away from traditional weaponry and turn instead more heavily towards electronic warfare and information warfare. ''We've got to evolve this paradigm,'' he said, adding that electronic warfare could essentially replace kinetic warfare in many situations:
"We're using the electromagnetic spectrum as a domain and as a means, and we understand and grasp it. We have to figure out how we can beat things electronically first. Why do we spend all this money kinetically if we can jam, spoof, or do otherwise? We need to prepare the fleet to enact an electronic warfare plan the same way they think of a communications or surface warfare plan."
In 2015, the National Interest published an op-ed titled ''Winning the Airwaves: Sustaining America's Advantage in the Electromagnetic Spectrum,'' in which authors Bryan Clark and Mark Gunzinger wrote that America had failed to maintain its electromagnetic spectrum (EMS) superiority since the end of the Cold War. This failure had allowed ''China, Russia and other rivals with an opportunity to field systems that target vulnerabilities in sensor and communication networks the U.S. military has come to depend on. As a result, America's once significant military advantage in the EMS is eroding, and may in fact no longer exist,'' they said.
The same authors produced a 2015 white paper for the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments (CSBA) think tank detailing how America could regain EMS superiority, writing that the Department of Defense ''now has the opportunity to develop new operational concepts and technologies that will allow it to 'leap ahead' of its competitors and create enduring advantages in EMS warfare.'' The document lists NEMESIS as one such technology, but does not disclose any further details about the program.
Two years earlier, however, budget documents show that the Navy was beginning to develop a highly integrated constellation of next-generation systems for spoofing or fooling distributed sensors and the platforms that host them.
NEMESIS GenesisAn electronic warfare development program known as Netted Emulation of Multi-Element Signature against Integrated Sensors or ''NEMESIS'' first emerged in Navy Research, Development, Test & Evaluation Budget Item Justification documents in the service's budget proposal for the 2014 Fiscal Year, which it published in April 2013. In that and subsequent budget requests, NEMSIS appeared under the program elements ''PE 0602271N / Electromagnetic Systems Applied Research'' and ''PE 0603271N / Electromagnetic Systems Advanced Technology.''
In these budget documents, the Navy describes NEMESIS as a ''System of Systems (SoS) able to coordinate distributed EW resources against many adversary surveillance and targeting sensors simultaneously" which "will benefit the warfighter by providing platform protection across the battlespace against many sensors, creating seamless cross-domain countermeasure coordination, and enabling rapid advanced technology/capability insertion to counter emerging threats.''
More specifically, the Fiscal Year 2014 Electromagnetic Systems Applied Research RDT&E Budget Item Justification states that NEMESIS ''addresses the need to generate the appearance of a realistic naval force to multiple adversarial surveillance and targeting sensors simultaneously.''
DoD
Later in that same document, a more detailed description of the program states that NEMESIS consists of ''reconfigurable and modular EW payloads, Distributed Decoy and Jammer Swarms (DDJS), effective acoustic countermeasures (CM), and Multiple Input/Multiple Output Sensor/CM (MIMO S/CM) for false force generation to both above and below water sensors.''
The 2018 and 2019 budget justifications state that "Nemesis expendable decoys and prototype system hardware will be completed and delivered for field testing" and that demonstrations of these expendable decoys "will be conducted during fleet experimentation, as well as during focused field and laboratory tests."
DoD
A Shadowy NEMESISThere is little publicly available information surrounding NEMESIS aside from these unclassified budgetary documents and a few publications and presentations that mention the program, usually to a very limited degree. Many specifics about the NEMESIS system remain unknown, but the documents help add context to the budget line item justifications we've presented above.
On April 9, 2014, Bob Smith, Director of Disruptive Technologies at the Office of Naval Research (ONR) gave a presentation at the National Defense Industrial Association's 15th Annual Science and Engineering Technology Conference that described several innovative Navy prototype research programs, or INPs. A slide from the presentation offered a basic, but absolutely impressive overview of the NEMESIS program while of course stating ''Additional details classified.''
ONR
The presentation stated that NEMESIS worked against distributed sensor systems in order to confuse or spoof an enemy force's surveillance and targeting systems. That document also said that the NEMESIS system ''enables rapid advanced technology/capability insertion for emerging threats'', meaning that NEMESIS could be quickly modified and upgraded to counter the latest capabilities that are still under development.
At the time, ONR said that NEMESIS addressed current limitations of traditional EW systems and multiple items on the United States Pacific Command (PACOM) Integrated Priority List (IPL), a list of the Pacific Command's highest priorities for ensuring its forces are capable of accomplishing their missions.
According to the same ONR presentation, NEMESIS consisted of "modular and reconfigurable EW payloads" including "decoy and unmanned air and surface platforms" based on the ONR's Science & Technology and Future Naval Capabilities programs. NEMESIS combined functionality and capabilities from Code 31: Information, Cyber and Spectrum Superiority; Code 33: Mission Capable, Persistent and Survivable Naval Platforms; and Code 35: Aviation, Force Projection and Integrated Defense.
Shortly after that ONR presentation, the publicly available 2015 Navy Program Guide offered a definition of NEMESIS in its appendix, stating that NEMESIS could ''synchronize electronic warfare (EW) affects across a variety of distributed platforms to create coherent and consistent EW effects" and that "NEMESIS emphasis is on the coordination and synchronization of EW capabilities and tactics against sensors in many scenarios.''
That same guide also stated that development of NEMESIS began in 2014 and was an interdisciplinary project involving well-known research centers, such as the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and ONR:
In 2013 the Navy approved NEMESIS as a FY 2014 INP New Start. Initial NEMESIS activity involved planning discussions among the Office of Naval Research, the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, fleet commands and analysts, acquisition programs of record, government laboratories and warfare centers, the Defense Advanced Research Programs Agency, and federally funded research and development centers and university affiliated research centers.
To ensure NEMESIS is addressing current and future threats to naval battle group operations, threat assessments were initiated with the Intelligence Community, and a Navy Warfare Development Command NEMESIS war game will be conducted in 2015.
Navy.mil
On Feb. 4, 2015, Dr. Thomas Killion, then-Director of Technology at the Office of Naval Research, gave a presentation at the ONR Naval Future Force Science and Technology Expo. In that presentation, NEMESIS is listed as a current Innovative Naval Prototype (INP) program alongside some of the Navy's most important leading-edge weapons development initiatives, including the Electromagnetic Railgun, the Large Displacement Unmanned Underwater Vehicle, the Integrated Topside information operations and communications suite, and the Autonomous Aerial Cargo Unmanned System.
ONR
The Navy's 2015 Program Guide also mentions that the Navy conducted a war game in 2015 to test the NEMESIS system. Another budget document, the 2017 RDT&E Project Justification document for the Navy's "Space and Electronic Warfare (SEW) Architecture/Engineering Support" program, states that this war game took place in late February 2015:
NEMESIS War Game: This Office of Naval Research (ONR) sponsored war game was conducted by NWDC and completed 23-26 Feb 2015. The primary purpose of the war game was to obtain fleet stakeholder input into the requirements for and design of a classified ONR Innovative Naval Prototype. The results of this effort will be used to design prototypes that could eventually be fielded as a Navy program of record.
That document also states that the NEMESIS war game which took place in 2015 "consisted of multiple events designed to explore innovative concepts and technologies associated with EMW", or electromagnetic warfare, and "obtain fleet stakeholder input into the requirements for and design of a classified ONR Innovative Naval Prototype." The descriptions of this war game appear to describe a seminar or "tabletop" exercise designed to formulate initial ideas for developing such a system, but exact details of the war game remain unknown.
The 2017 Navy Program Guide states that dedicated hardware for NEMESIS was developed in 2016 and that NEMESIS was expected to be demonstrated at full capability in late 2018:
NEMESIS has been in development since 2014, including close collaboration with the Office of Naval Research, the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, fleet commands and analysts, acquisition programs of record, government laboratories and warfare centers, the Defense Advanced Research Programs Agency, and federally funded research and development centers and university-affiliated research centers. During 2016, NEMESIS capabilities began hardware development, technique and software migration and field testing at the sub-system level. In FY 2017-2018 flight and at-sea testing will be conducted on integrated system level capabilities in preparation for graduation demonstrations in late FY 2018.
The guide goes on to list the NEMESIS system's developers: Georgia Tech Research Institute, Johns Hopkins' Applied Physics Lab, Massachusetts Institute of Technology's (MIT) Lincoln Lab, the Naval Undersea Warfare Center, the Office of Naval Research, and the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command. The Navy just recently rebranded Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command as the Naval Information Warfare Systems Command.
Navy.mil
EW SwarmsWhile the exact components of the NEMESIS system remain unknown, there are some hints about what types of decoys and swarms could make up such a system. In a 2017 Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments (CSBA) white paper titled ''Winning in the Gray Zone: Using Electromagnetic Warfare to Regain Escalation Dominance," authors Bryan Clark, Mark Gunzinger, and Jesse Sloman described the various elements that made up EW ecosystems then in development, such as NEMESIS and DARPA's System of System Integration Technology and Experimentation (SoSITE).
The document described swarms of expendable unmanned aerial systems that ''incorporate cognitive processing and coordinate their actions through communication networks,'' meaning they can share data in real-time and operate semi-autonomously to jam an adversary's sensors, act as or release decoys, gather targeting information, and detect and map air defense networks.
Launching waves of these UAVs could extend U.S. forces' sensor networks, confuse or obscure enemy defenses, provide a resilient communications network, coordinate and assign targets for weapons salvos, and even ''provide targets to hypersonic weapons that have a very short time-of-flight," the paper explained.
Aside from providing fire and communications support, the NEMESIS system was said to be capable of creating viable false targets that would "increase the number of potential targets" an adversary would have to engage. These false targets would "mimic the RF emissions and radar returns of real platforms" and include infrared decoys and "concepts and capabilities to simulate the computer network activity of deployed forces." The NEMESIS system even included underwater "high-fidelity acoustic decoys" which can generate "additional targets for the enemy to investigate or attack," according to the CSBA white paper. These acoustic decoys could include radio emulators and simulate propeller noise or other propulsion systems, as well as specific equipment on surface ships and submarines.
The CSBA said these decoys could increase the size of the forces or amount of munitions an enemy force would have to respond with, ideally making that adversary less willing to risk a larger use of its assets. What that means is that this EW system can not only disrupt an adversary's tactics, but to some extent also dictate his battlefield decision-making.
The CSBA report described how these effects could be achieved using small unmanned EW systems launched from either high altitude balloons or undersea platforms, such as submarines or unmanned underwater vehicles (UUVs) to create these electronic warfare effects:
Launching EMW expendables at higher altitudes is another approach to extending their ranges and endurance. Launching small EMW UAVs, missiles, or munitions from very high altitude (60,000 to 120,000 feet) balloons could be a less expensive option than using a missile. High altitude balloon technologies are very mature and may cost significantly less than other delivery methods. Furthermore, defeating balloon-delivered EMW expendables would likely require SAMs that can reach very high altitudes. Using these expensive SAMs to defeat large numbers of balloons'--some which might be decoys'--could be costly and operationally impractical for aggressors.
Another innovative delivery method for EMW expendables could be from undersea platforms, which may be the best use of undersea payload capacity in general. [...] Undersea platforms could be one of the most effective methods to deliver EMW expendables because they can closely approach enemy coastlines and targets. This allows shorter-range expendables to be employed, which are less expensive, smaller, and can be carried in higher numbers than larger payloads like cruise missiles.
Numerous sea and submarine-launched UAVs and autonomous swarm systems have already been developed or are in development. Small drone swarms can also be launched from virtually any type of ship and from shore, and even aircraft, as well. In fact, the Navy already has a swarming electronic warfare capability in the form of the ever-evolving Miniature Air Launched Decoy (MALD). But pairing various platforms, from radar reflector and electronic warfare payload-carrying balloons and swarms of drones of different sizes and performance capabilities, and networking them together to work cooperatively to confuse, spoof, and/or blind enemy sensors dispersed over a wide area is clearly what this system is all about.
The Office of Naval Research has been testing a small, low-cost rotary-wing drone known as Nomad, described as ''a highly affordable expendable design'' that can be deployed without the need to ensure it returns to its parent vessel. The Nomad can be launched from tubes using a CO2 ejection system that can fit on a variety of platforms and tests of this compact UAV have found that ''multiple Nomads can safely operate in the same airspace and fly in a coordinated fashion.''
USN
Nomad undergoing testing.
One of the only non-Navy mentions of the NEMESIS program found online is in a NavalDrones.com article from 2017, which describes the Nomad specifically as being part of the NEMESIS system. While that claim is unconfirmed on an official level, the Naval Research Laboratory has publicly disclosed tests of the Nomad system without mentioning NEMESIS. Still, given that many of the NEMESIS documents state that ''Distributed Decoy and Jammer Swarms (DDJS)'' are an integral part of the system, it's possible, if not probable, that Nomad and swarms of other small drones are part of this highly sophisticated and networked electronic warfare capability.
The 2017 CSBA paper also cites a wide range of other unmanned systems that could hypothetically be integrated into the NEMESIS system, although it remains unknown which specific expendables are used:
Small expendables in development or use today include the Switchblade precision missile, which is in use with Special Operations Forces; small UAVs such as the Coyote UAV, used in the Navy's Low-Cost UAV Swarming Technology (LOCUST) program; and loitering munitions like the Lockheed Martin Fire Shadow. Expendables have also been integrated with launch platforms. The Navy is developing a submarine-launched version of the Blackwing UAV, which is similar to the Switchblade. Furthermore, the U.S. Air Force has deployed the Miniature Air-Launched Decoy (MALD) since the 1990s.
The aforementioned LOCUST would be one of the most obvious platforms to execute major parts of the NEMESIS concept. The Navy has been experimenting with this highly deployable swarming drone capability for years and the airframes are highly adaptable and can be launched from almost anywhere.
Lockheed Martin has been also developing small unmanned aerial vehicles such as the tiny Outrider micro-aircraft, which can be launched from canisters that fit inside submarine missile tubes. The Naval Research Laboratory has tested all-electric folding wing drones designed to launch from torpedo tubes using existing launch systems. Glimpses of other similar systems in development have been offered over the last few years, including ones designed to carry infrared and electro-optical payloads.
Northrop Grumman has tested electronic warfare drones dropped from EA-18G Growlers inside canister deployment systems and air-launched electronic warfare enabled swarming munitions are set to become a major staple of aerial warfare.
Earlier this year, the Office of Naval Research issued a special notice for a research opportunity to develop a ''Long Endurance Advanced Off-board Electronic Warfare Platform,'' or LEAP. This program was listed under two of the same codes as NEMESIS, ONR Code 35: Aerodynamics, Autonomy, Flight Dynamics & Control, as well as Code 31: Electronic Warfare. The proposed vehicle design to be researched was for a ship-launched, long-range expendable decoy that can carry modular EW payloads.
Swarms of small unmanned surface vessels and even undersea vessels seem to fulfill aspects of NEMESIS' cross-domain capability as well. But leveraging swarms of smaller and somewhat expendable aerial drones and munitions that can work in conjunction with larger, less numerous, and more advanced platforms allows the NEMESIS concept to cover large geographical areas associated with modern naval combat and to distribute EW capabilities in a more resilient and decentralized manner than in the past. In doing so, it also allows for these swarms and the various dissimilar nodes that can make up the NEMESIS system at any given time to create fleets of ships and aircraft that aren't really there across a huge area as well as execute more mundane tasks, such as jamming individual enemy emitters or working as sacrificial decoys for enemy weapons themselves.
All of this could, and eventually will, also be networked with existing, more traditional electronic warfare systems such as those mounted on the Navy's surface combatants. In particular, this could be networked with the SLQ-32 SEWIP and the new and shadowy SLQ-59 that has recently arrived on some of the Navy's vessels. The Navy's EA-18G Growler could also act as a major component in this EW ecosystem and as a forward command and control node.
It's also worth remembering that NEMESIS, or at least parts of it, would also be an incredible and obvious intelligence collecting tool when it comes to probing and evaluating an enemy's defenses and recording its electronic order of battle. This could be done even in peacetime, very much in the same vein of PALLADIUM so many years ago, but on a much larger and more elaborate scale.
Evolution Of A RevolutionIn Fiscal Year 2015, the NEMESIS program expanded beyond the Navy's PE 0602271N / Electromagnetic Systems Applied Research program and began appearing in the budget line justification documents of several additional programs in subsequent fiscal years. During the next fiscal cycle, the Navy's Electromagnetic Systems Applied Research program continued to work on NEMESIS as it had in prior years. Then, in Fiscal Year 2017, the program's budget increased significantly ''due to hardware procurement and conducting field experiments of NEMESIS technologies.''
DoD
The Fiscal Year 2017 RDT&E Project Justification for the NEMESIS work conducted by Navy program PE 0603271N / Electromagnetic Systems Advanced Technology states that Fiscal Years 2017 and 2018 are dedicated to ''the integration and demonstration of these new technologies''.
DoD
In Fiscal Year 2018, NEMESIS appeared on two new Navy research program elements titled ''PE 0602792N / (U)Innovative Naval Prototypes(INP) Applied Research'' and ''PE 0603801N / (U) Innovative Naval Prototypes (INP) Advanced Technology Development.'' Those programs' goals for that fiscal cycle, respectively, were:
PE 0602792N / (U)Innovative Naval Prototypes(INP) Applied Research: Complete the Nemesis project by finishing research efforts to develop and mature technologies in multiple areas that will be used to assess the feasibility of Nemesis to coordinate Electronic Warfare (EW) operations across distributed EW systems. Technologies being matured include swarming vehicle operations, distributed resource mission control, multi-domain coordinated operations and advanced RF component and subsystems technologies. These emerging technologies are being designed and developed for prototype Nemesis systems which will be capable of performing coordinated EW operations across distributed EW systems.
PE 0603801N / (U) Innovative Naval Prototypes (INP) Advanced Technology Development: Complete the Nemesis project, previously funded in 0603271N Electromagnetic Systems Advanced Technology Development, by designing and building prototype Nemesis payloads that implement industry standards for software, hardware, and firmware interfaces. Nemesis expendable decoys and prototype system hardware will be completed and delivered for field testing. Demonstrations of Nemesis platforms and payload will be conducted during fleet experimentation, as well as during focused field and laboratory tests.
These budgetary documents state that the Innovative Naval Prototype programs "represent game-changing technologies with the potential to revolutionize operational concepts. They are disruptive in nature as they would dramatically change the way naval forces fight. INPs push the imagination of our nation's technical talent to deliver transformational warfighting capabilities."
DoD
In Fiscal Year 2019, funding continued to decrease in both the PE 0603271N / Electromagnetic Systems Advanced Technology and PE 0602271N / Electromagnetic Systems Applied Research programs due to the fact that the NEMESIS program was now being developed under the Innovative Naval Prototypes programs, suggesting it has advanced beyond research and development and is now working towards an operational state.
Electronic Warfare: The Next GenerationThe very existence of NEMESIS proves that a revolution in electronic warfare is well underway. If the capabilities we've described can be gleaned from scant publicly available information, there are no doubts that more advanced NEMESIS components and capabilities remain classified. It is also likely that some components of the system have existed long before they began to be integrated with other platforms under the NEMESIS program. Above all else, that is what NEMESIS does: it pulls together various leading-edge EW concepts and networks them together for a combined electronic warfare fight the likes of which we have never seen before.
As more nations develop and refine their advanced integrated sensor networks, next-generation EW "systems of systems" such as NEMESIS will become more vital to protecting the U.S. and allied assets and for giving them a leg up by being able to directly manipulate what the enemy believes is occurring on the battlespace based on their own sensors' data. As such, NEMESIS can help level the playing field against increasingly capable sensor networks, whether by blinding certain parts of those networks while spoofing others or by having the enemy fire its treasured weaponry at ghosts in the sea and in the air. Even a formation of what appears to be an incoming bomber force on radar and a puzzling group of bright signatures on infrared sensors could draw the enemy's attention away from critical parts on a real offensive.
Yes, much of this sounds almost like magic, and it is probably the closest thing the military has to it, but going by even the limited information we were able to uncover about NEMESIS, it really does represent the evolutionary next great leap in electronic warfare'--one that will elevate this murky art from a supporting aspect of military operations to a primary offensive and defensive one.
Tyler Rogoway contributed extensively to this feature.
Contact the editor: Tyler@thedrive.com
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The Purge
Jan 6 Mitnick 2.0
https://www.latimes.com/politics/story/2021-03-25/judges-weigh-whether-to-ban-capitol-riot-suspects-from-internet
"Prosecutors have moved to bar at least five defendants in the Capitol insurrection from going on social media platforms or even going online at all, according to a review of court filings by The Times. Those defendants are awaiting trial dates that will be months away as the Justice Department grapples with one of the most complex and all-consuming investigations in its history."
"Beyond the legal and ethical challenges at issue, Faruqui confronted simple practical ones. After prosecutors warned that Williams might use the internet to destroy evidence such as social media postings and direct others to do the same, he ruled that she must stay off the internet and use only a flip phone to make necessary calls. But then came the question of whether Williams could even watch TV.
A prosecutor at the hearing pointed out that smart TVs can access the web. The judge noted even some refrigerators are now connected online. A back-and-forth ensued over how Williams might be able to watch television while awaiting trial. It lasted a while. There was chatter about the Netflix app.
The judge finally ruled that Williams could watch television under the supervision of her mother, and that tapping into the device’s web function could send her right back to jail."
Noodle Gun
NPR noodle gun
Knight of the Iguana here again- Maybe it's time to bust out the "national treasure" jingle. So Celeste Headlee is one of those NPR journalists who have been floating around forever. Last January, she passed around a open letter to all NPR station Gener Managers called " An Anti-Racist Future: A Vision and Pan for the transformation of Public Media". I'm not sure how widely this has been read and adopted, but it explains NPR's increasing weirdness.
Here the money quote-
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
For too long, public radio has pursued objectivity as a value, and sought to present news in an unbiased, neutral way. Objectivity, however, doesn’t exist.
Every person brings their own experience and perspective into the newsroom, which informs the work they do. The opinions of reporters, editors, and producers in the industry shape what stories are published, and how they sound and are told. The pursuit of objectivity denies this reality. And leads to the silencing of journalists whose subjective reality — being Black, or trans, or working class, for example — leads to them being labeled as incapable of being objective.
With increased transparency we can earn the trust of the public we serve — longtime listeners and future listeners alienated by not seeing themselves reflected in coverage — rather than assuming their trust is ours to lose.
Implementation:
End the pursuit of objectivity, and instead pursue fairness, transparency and accuracy
West Virginia Governor To Sign Bill Banning Biological Men From Competing In Women's Sports
Sat, 17 Apr 2021 14:53
In his coronavirus briefing Wednesday, Republican Gov. Jim Justice of West Virginia announced he plans to sign a new measure to protect middle and high school sports, banning biological men and women from participating in sports of the opposite sex.
''Personally I feel that absolutely, I just can't get through my head that it is the right thing for us at a middle school level or a high school level in our state for me not to support the bill,'' Justice said.
The Republican-majority Senate in West Virginia approved the bill, HB 3292, at a vote of 18 to 15 last week. The House of Delegates approved it at a vote of 80 to 20. The measure would mandate county school districts ''confirm the sex of [the] pupil at time of birth prior to pupil's participation in single-sex interscholastic athletic events'...''
Families would be required to provide an original birth certificate and a signed doctor's statement, which the West Virginia Secondary Schools Activities Commission would review.
In March, Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson signed a bill to ban biological men and women from competing in sports of the opposite sex. Shortly after, Hutchinson vetoed legislation to ban doctors from performing genital mutilation or prescribing hormone blockers for minors. Lawmakers in a variety of states, such as Kansas, have put forth bills to ban transgender athletes from competing in sports intended for the opposite biological sex.
A portion of the West Virginia bill expands the focus to college sports, but it is unclear whether this provision will make its way through the passage. Del. Amy Summers, who is the Republican majority leader, said she worries the ''NCAA could retaliate and not host a tournament here'' upon inclusion of the college provision. Gov. Justice seems to concur, noting in his press conference that ''we could come back into a special session and retroactively look back at it.''
The NCAA announced Monday it will pull championships out of any states that ban transgender athletes from participating in a sporting event not in alignment with their biological sex. The organization pulled seven championships out of North Carolina in 2016 after a bill passed to ensure biological men and women go to the bathroom of their sex.
It seems some Republicans in West Virginia are wavering, given the immense power the NCAA is wielding around on a partisan basis.
You Have to Read This Letter - Common Sense with Bari Weiss
Sat, 17 Apr 2021 14:54
I was planning to publish a roundup today of the many thoughtful responses to Paul Rossi's essay. I'm going to save that post for Sunday, because I was just sent this letter that has my jaw on the floor. It was written by a Brearley parent named Andrew Gutmann.
If you don't know about Brearley, it's a private all-girls school on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. It costs $54,000 a year and prospective families apparently have to take an ''anti-racism pledge'' to be considered for admission. (In the course of my reporting for this piece I spoke to a few Brearley parents.)
Gutmann chose to pull his daughter, who has been in the school since kindergarten, and sent this missive to all 600 or so families in the school earlier this week. Among the lines:
If Brearley's administration was truly concerned about so-called ''equity,'' it would be discussing the cessation of admissions preferences for legacies, siblings, and those families with especially deep pockets. If the administration was genuinely serious about ''diversity,'' it would not insist on the indoctrination of its students, and their families, to a single mindset, most reminiscent of the Chinese Cultural Revolution.
I'm pasting the whole thing below.
Meantime, I'm going to ask Andrew Gutmann to join Paul Rossi and me for our subscriber-only conversation this coming Tuesday night. I hope he'll join. Details about that event will be in Sunday's post.
I promise: this newsletter won't be exclusively about education. But my gosh is it a wild right story to follow right now. . .
See you Sunday.
April 13, 2021
Dear Fellow Brearley Parents,
Our family recently made the decision not to reenroll our daughter at Brearley for the 2021-22 school year. She has been at Brearley for seven years, beginning in kindergarten. In short, we no longer believe that Brearley's administration and Board of Trustees have any of our children's best interests at heart. Moreover, we no longer have confidence that our daughter will receive the quality of education necessary to further her development into a critically thinking, responsible, enlightened, and civic minded adult. I write to you, as a fellow parent, to share our reasons for leaving the Brearley community but also to urge you to act before the damage to the school, to its community, and to your own child's education is irreparable.
It cannot be stated strongly enough that Brearley's obsession with race must stop. It should be abundantly clear to any thinking parent that Brearley has completely lost its way. The administration and the Board of Trustees have displayed a cowardly and appalling lack of leadership by appeasing an anti-intellectual, illiberal mob, and then allowing the school to be captured by that same mob. What follows are my own personal views on Brearley's antiracism initiatives, but these are just a handful of the criticisms that I know other parents have expressed.
I object to the view that I should be judged by the color of my skin. I cannot tolerate a school that not only judges my daughter by the color of her skin, but encourages and instructs her to prejudge others by theirs. By viewing every element of education, every aspect of history, and every facet of society through the lens of skin color and race, we are desecrating the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and utterly violating the movement for which such civil rights leaders believed, fought, and died.
I object to the charge of systemic racism in this country, and at our school. Systemic racism, properly understood, is segregated schools and separate lunch counters. It is the interning of Japanese and the exterminating of Jews. Systemic racism is unequivocally not a small number of isolated incidences over a period of decades. Ask any girl, of any race, if they have ever experienced insults from friends, have ever felt slighted by teachers or have ever suffered the occasional injustice from a school at which they have spent up to 13 years of their life, and you are bound to hear grievances, some petty, some not. We have not had systemic racism against Blacks in this country since the civil rights reforms of the 1960s, a period of more than 50 years. To state otherwise is a flat-out misrepresentation of our country's history and adds no understanding to any of today's societal issues. If anything, longstanding and widespread policies such as affirmative action, point in precisely the opposite direction.
I object to a definition of systemic racism, apparently supported by Brearley, that any educational, professional, or societal outcome where Blacks are underrepresented is prima facie evidence of the aforementioned systemic racism, or of white supremacy and oppression. Facile and unsupported beliefs such as these are the polar opposite to the intellectual and scientific truth for which Brearley claims to stand. Furthermore, I call bullshit on Brearley's oft-stated assertion that the school welcomes and encourages the truly difficult and uncomfortable conversations regarding race and the roots of racial discrepancies.
I object to the idea that Blacks are unable to succeed in this country without aid from government or from whites. Brearley, by adopting critical race theory, is advocating the abhorrent viewpoint that Blacks should forever be regarded as helpless victims, and are incapable of success regardless of their skills, talents, or hard work. What Brearley is teaching our children is precisely the true and correct definition of racism.
I object to mandatory anti-racism training for parents, especially when presented by the rent-seeking charlatans of Pollyanna. These sessions, in both their content and delivery, are so sophomoric and simplistic, so unsophisticated and inane, that I would be embarrassed if they were taught to Brearley kindergarteners. They are an insult to parents and unbecoming of any educational institution, let alone one of Brearley's caliber.
I object to Brearley's vacuous, inappropriate, and fanatical use of words such as ''equity,'' ''diversity'' and ''inclusiveness.'' If Brearley's administration was truly concerned about so-called ''equity,'' it would be discussing the cessation of admissions preferences for legacies, siblings, and those families with especially deep pockets. If the administration was genuinely serious about ''diversity,'' it would not insist on the indoctrination of its students, and their families, to a single mindset, most reminiscent of the Chinese Cultural Revolution. Instead, the school would foster an environment of intellectual openness and freedom of thought. And if Brearley really cared about ''inclusiveness,'' the school would return to the concepts encapsulated in the motto ''One Brearley,'' instead of teaching the extraordinarily divisive idea that there are only, and always, two groups in this country: victims and oppressors.
l object to Brearley's advocacy for groups and movements such as Black Lives Matter, a Marxist, anti family, heterophobic, anti-Asian and anti-Semitic organization that neither speaks for the majority of the Black community in this country, nor in any way, shape or form, represents their best interests.
I object to, as we have been told time and time again over the past year, that the school's first priority is the safety of our children. For goodness sake, Brearley is a school, not a hospital! The number one priority of a school has always been, and always will be, education. Brearley's misguided priorities exemplify both the safety culture and ''cover-your-ass'' culture that together have proved so toxic to our society and have so damaged the mental health and resiliency of two generations of children, and counting.
I object to the gutting of the history, civics, and classical literature curriculums. I object to the censorship of books that have been taught for generations because they contain dated language potentially offensive to the thin-skinned and hypersensitive (something that has already happened in my daughter's 4th grade class). I object to the lowering of standards for the admission of students and for the hiring of teachers. I object to the erosion of rigor in classwork and the escalation of grade inflation. Any parent with eyes open can foresee these inevitabilities should antiracism initiatives be allowed to persist.
We have today in our country, from both political parties, and at all levels of government, the most unwise and unvirtuous leaders in our nation's history. Schools like Brearley are supposed to be the training grounds for those leaders. Our nation will not survive a generation of leadership even more poorly educated than we have now, nor will we survive a generation of students taught to hate its own country and despise its history.
Lastly, I object, with as strong a sentiment as possible, that Brearley has begun to teach what to think, instead of how to think. I object that the school is now fostering an environment where our daughters, and our daughters' teachers, are afraid to speak their minds in class for fear of ''consequences.'' I object that Brearley is trying to usurp the role of parents in teaching morality, and bullying parents to adopt that false morality at home. I object that Brearley is fostering a divisive community where families of different races, which until recently were part of the same community, are now segregated into two. These are the reasons why we can no longer send our daughter to Brearley.
Over the past several months, I have personally spoken to many Brearley parents as well as parents of children at peer institutions. It is abundantly clear that the majority of parents believe that Brearley's antiracism policies are misguided, divisive, counterproductive and cancerous. Many believe, as I do, that these policies will ultimately destroy what was until recently, a wonderful educational institution. But as I am sure will come as no surprise to you, given the insidious cancel culture that has of late permeated our society, most parents are too fearful to speak up.
But speak up you must. There is strength in numbers and I assure you, the numbers are there. Contact the administration and the Board of Trustees and demand an end to the destructive and anti-intellectual claptrap known as antiracism. And if changes are not forthcoming then demand new leadership. For the sake of our community, our city, our country and most of all, our children, silence is no longer an option.
Respectfully,
Andrew Gutmann
List of liberal, progressive companies that you should boycott
Sun, 18 Apr 2021 11:59
The definitive list of left-wing companies that you should boycott
Once upon a time, the Cardinal rule of business was to never even discuss politics, yet nowadays, more and more large comporations are brazenly chosing to alienate half of the country by taking sides against Donald Trump, against Republicans, by attacking voting integrity laws, by pushing for censorship of conservative speech, and/or by reinforcing the Democrat's toxic culture war, including pushing the false and racist narrative of systemic racism. These companies are like a "woke parallel government" that threaten our country and our freedoms.
Many companies have been threatened by radical activists into supporting the Marxist hate group Black Lives Matter, and other race-mongering groups such as the ACLU and the Southern Poverty Law Center. Out of fear, some companies have surrendered to the mob by posting a quick tweet or burying a pandering web page, while others have clearly gone above and beyond a little lip service, by making huge donations to go along with vitriolic rhetoric. In order to get on this boycott list, a company had to do more than just post a quick statement. You might say, the squeakiest wheel gets the grease!
Most of the companies on this list are run by or employ rabid Democrats who have smeared Trump and/or have donated heavily to Democrats. Some have pulled advertising from FOX network shows, are anti-2nd Amendment, anti-1st Amendment, have furthered anthropogenic global warming hysteria, are pushing to tear down gender constructs, etc. Some companies have pushed for the right to vote without an ID, thus encouraging fraud, and thus helping Democrats win elections, all while parroting the false and inflammatory lie that requiring an ID is a "return to Jim Crow."
Our freedoms are under assault by these monopolistic companies. This is why we MUST take action. Show them what 74 million + consumers can do to their profit margins. It's your patriotic duty. And be sure to let them know why you cancelled them! The founder of Gab says that we must create our own economy. Our boycotts matter and they have impact. Just ask Super Bowl advertisers, Gillette, Goodyear or Walmart.
What can you do to resist (where applicable)?
1) Call and email them to let them know that you do not support their left-wing agendas! Hound them to support good causes, such as the American Center for Law and Justice, Gun Owners of America, the Heritage Foundation, the America First Policy Institute, the NRA, the RNC, and to advertise on and support the good media outlets.
2) Support other companies instead, in particular, smaller, regional or local ones, especially those headquartered in Republican dominated cities or states. If you can't boycott all of these companies, then take note of our "WORST" in category companies. If a large company is not mentioned on this page, then there's a good chance that they are apolitical and thus can be supported. IMPORTANT: When faced with a choice of companies that are all on this list (for example, major credit card companies), pick the one that you find least offensive that we have not targeted as "WORST" in category. Also, keep in mind that there are ways to partially boycott a company . Examples: If you're a Coca-Cola addict, then stop buying Coke for 2 to 4 weeks. Do not buy food, drinks or NFL attire if you attend NFL, NBA or MLB games. Sneak your own food and drinks onto flights with airlines on this list. Buy personal care items, vitamins, etc from good online retailers instead of our boycotted grocery stores. Use open source software instead of Microsoft software. Feel free to liberally demand refunds, discounts, and return of products bought from these left-wing companies.
3) Let us know if we're missing a large company that fits our criteria to be on this evergrowing list. Provide article links if possible. Also let us know about the good companies. We depend on your research.
4) Look the other way if you see their stores being looted and destroyed by BLM and ANTIFA -- Don't call the police! In most states, mere failure to report a crime isn't a crime in itself. However, there are some exceptions. Don't feel sorry for these companies. Most of these companies have cheered on and/or financed the mobs that continue to loot and ransack their stores, and through advertising dollars, they continue to financially support the media that lovingly justifies the riots.
5) Consider the content on this page as public domain. On your own website, blog or social media page, 1) Copy and repost this list as your own, 2) Or just post a link to this page, 3) Or (in case this page is ever down) post a link to these older archived pages. Just keep in mind that this page is constantly being updated, usually on a daily basis. Sometimes companies flip on us, as was the case with L.L. Bean and Goya Foods. Follow us on Minds or Gab to track the most important updates. Oh, and if you're a coder, then create an app for conservative shoppers!
6) Sell any individual stock that you may own in these left-wing companies, or if you continue to hold shares, then at least vote against all leftist board members, and spread the word on social media to other shareholders.
7) "Cut the cable" or at least scale back your cable TV package! Stop supporting the Marxist media networks: MSNBC, CNN, CBS, ABC, NBC, HBO, TBS, Comedy Central, ESPN, etc.
8) Join the movement away from Big Tech. Support alt-tech news, social media and browser.
NEWS ALERT: Amazon.com is our #1 boycott target!!!
Cancel your Amazon Prime membership and shop elsewhere.
NEWS ALERT: Trump calls for boycott of select companies!!!
Major League Baseball, Delta Airlines, Coca Cola, JPMorgan Chase,
Viacom CBS, Citigroup, Cisco, UPS.
TIP: To search for a specific company on this page, using your keyboard, hit Ctrl + F then type the name or part of the name that you are searching for.
= Denotes anti-Trump or anti-Republican agenda
= Denotes threat to first Amendment
= Denotes anti-second Amendment agenda
= Denotes a most highly offensive company that we have selectively targeted for boycott
Click to jump to a category:
Biggest Tech Tyrants | More Social Media | eCommerce | Web Hosting | Internet Search Related | Jobs-Career-Learning | Fund Raising | Business Tools | Computer Hardware / Software | Real Estate | Automotive | Travel Accomodations | Air Travel & Other Travel | Ride Sharing | Car Rental | Food Delivery / Home Cooking | Parcel Delivery / Moving | Personal Care | Food | Pets | Grocery Stores | Beverages | Restaurants | Communication | Media / Entertainment | Investing / Banking | Insurance | Credit Cards | Big Box | Office Supplies | Hardware | Camping / Sports | Footwear | Clothing | Sports | Gaming | Dating / Meeting | Pharmacy / Drugs / Healthcare | Beauty | Fitness | Large Appliances | Other | Websites | Organizations | Propaganda Outlets
BIGGEST TECH TYRANTS!!!
Amazon.com - (see our detailed review of Amazon) - Amazon is a dangerous threat to free speech and they're our #1 boycott target! Huge Dem donors, censorship, 'woke', Seattle-based.
Alphabet > Google > YouTube - (see our detailed review of Google) - Company is a dangerous threat to Democracy. Huge dem donors, censorship, 'woke', never-Trumpers. Use alt-tech instead.
Facebook (owns Instagram, WhatsApp) - (see our detailed review of Facebook) - Banned Trump, banning conservatives, censoring speech, etc. Switch to alt-tech (Gab, Minds, Parler, Telegram).
Twitter - In a vile attack on free speech, banned President Trump's account. Twiter is a clear and present threat to free speech. Twiter is also closing conservative's accounts (Mike Lindell, Laura Loomer, etc), censoring conservative speech, and run by unapologetic anti-Trump propagandist(s). Headquartered in the fascist city of San Francisco, which we automatically boycott. Switch to Gab, Minds and/or Parler for alternatives to Twitter and Facebook.
Apple - In a vile attack on free speech, Apple removed the Parler App from their App Store. Censors Telegram and others. Run by unapologetic anti-Trump propagandist(s). Apple CEO Tim Cook (D) voiced opposition to Georgia's voter reform law. Facilitates donations to Southern Poverty Law Center, a left-wing organization. Supporters of the discriminatory #BlackOutTuesday
UPDATE: Karma strikes back. The very radical left who Apple supports have looted and ransacked their stores during the George Floyd riots.
Microsoft (owns GitHub, Linked In)- (see our detailed review of Microsoft) - Banned Gab, anti-Trump, huge Dem donors, racists, BLM, Bill Gates, etc. Use open source software..
MORE SOCIAL MEDIA
TikTok - Left-wing censorship no different than Twitter, Facebook and Google. Vowed to censor content that can't be verified or conclusively fact-checked. TikTok laughably claims that it stays out of news and politics.
Pinterst - Pinterest bans pro-life group, blacklists Christianity-related terms and Bible verses. Joined other leftists in opposition of Georgia's much needed voting reforms.
Soundcloud - Took down anti-mass migration podcasts, insanely calling them "hate speech".
SnapChat - In a vile attack on free speech, locked President Trump's account. Use Telegram.org instead.
Twitch - In a vile attack on free speech, disabled President Trump's account.
Imgr - Staff full of SJW's.
Tumblr - Run by anti-Trump propagandist(s)
Reddit - Run by anti-Trump propagandist(s). Blocking BitChute links.
Flickr - CEO is anti-Trump.
NextDoor - Left-wing moderators censoring conservative speech by deleting comments, shutting down discussions. Nextdoor is based in the fascist city of San Francisco.
City-Data - Forum moderators are famous for banning users in the forum section due to speech that doesn't fit their agenda. City-Data banned people from debating pros and cons of vaccines.
ECOMMERCE
Etsy - Opposed Georgia's much needed voting reform bill. Banned people from selling "Stop the Steal" merchandise, yet perfectly OK with anti-Trump "Not my president" merchandise. CEO Josh Silverman pushes the systemic racism narrative. Donated 1 million dollars to Black Lives Matter movement related causes and openly supports the Marxist hate group Black Lives Matter. Etsy also selectively highlights black-owned businesses, thus discriminating against people of all other skin pigmentations. Etsy also ran a woke commercial featuring a gay black male couple at Christmas dinner.
Ebay - Founder is an anti-Trump propagandist
PayPal (owned by Ebay) - Terminated the hosting company Epik for hosting the free speech social media site Gab. Pledged $530 million "to support black and minority-owned businesses in the United States and foster diversity, amid worldwide protests over racial injustice", thus legitimizing the George Floyd riots and discriminating against businesses owned by people of other skin pigmentations. Instead, support bitcoin payments.
Venmo (owned by PayPal) - Banned Laura Loomer. Banned Gab. Instead, support bitcoin payments.
Stripe - Stopped processing payments for Trump campaign website. Banned Gab. Instead, support bitcoin payments.
Shopify - Banned Gab. Donations of $500,000 to among others, the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund and $250,000 to Campaign Zero (which aims to limit police from using force). Instead, support bitcoin payments.
Minted - Pulled advertising from Tucker Carlson for supporting merit-based immigration.
Square - Banned the free speech social media site Gab. Instead, support bitcoin payments. Joined other leftists in opposition of much needed voting integrity bills. Co-founded by twit, Jack Dorsey.
Coinbase - Banned the free speech social media site Gab. Instead, support bitcoin payments.
Bitpay - Banned the free speech social media site Gab. Instead, support bitcoin payments.
Affirm - Ended its relationship with My Pillow and removed the product from the platform. Mike Lindell called it "100% cancel culture."
WEB HOSTING & RELATED
(No brainer: Use Epik.com)
GoDaddy.com - (see our detailed review of GoDaddy) - (also owns MediaTemple, SmartName, Outright accounting app, Mad Mimi, Elto, Marchex, Worldwide Media, FreedomVoice VOIP, ManageWP, Host Europe Group, Sucuri, Main Street Hub, Plasso, Cognate, Sellbrite, Over, UniRegistry, and Neustar domain registrar) - Enemies of free speech, anti-Trump, anti-gun. Register your domains AND host with Epik.com instead.
SquareSpace - In a vile attack on free speech, SquareSpace shut down Dr. Simone Gold's website for speaking the truth about COVID-19. Instead use Epik.com for webhosting, domain registration, etc.
WordPress - Deplatformed the conservative blog site ConservativeTreeHouse.com from their web hosting service. Predictably, WordPress is headquartered in the fascist city of San Francisco. Instead use Epik.com for hosting and more.
LeadPages webhosting - Refuses to host conservative boycott websites, but perfectly OK with liberal boycott sites. Instead use Epik.com for webhosting, domain registration, etc.
Voxility - Left-wing censorship! Banned 8Chan.
Cloudfare - Banned 8Chan.
INTERNET SEARCH RELATED
Mozilla (Firefox) - (see our detailed review of Mozilla) - Dangerous, anti-Trump, threat to free speech. Switch to the Brave browser to protect yourself from censorship.
Bing (owned by Microsoft) - Yet another lefty search search engine. A simple "news" search for terms like "election" or "Trump" will produce a stream of lefty links by NYT, Wash Post, ABC, Politico, The Guardian, etc. Use 4conservative.com or qWant.com instead.
DuckDuckGo.com - Yet another lefty search search engine. DDG has merely partnered with other left-wing sites like Bing, Yahoo and Wikipedia to produce 'their' search results. A simple "news" tab search for "election" recently turned up article links to CNN, Wash Post, ABC, Politico, CBS, USA Today as the top 7 results. A simple web search for "Trump" produced left-wing news articles at the top of the page by the same lefty "news" outlets. Not surprisingly, the people at DuckDuckGo are rabid Democrat donors. Use 4conservative.com or qWant.com instead. Use TheLibertyDaily, CitizenFreePress, Populist.press for news aggregator sites.
SearchConservative - Don't let the name fool you. We do not recommend this site. It's merely another left-wing site in disguise. A search for "global warming" turns up propaganda sites such as a Tom Steyer page, Wikipedia's page and videos such as the CBS 60 Minutes propaganda piece "Terrifying Proof of Global Warming", a National Geographic propaganda video, as well as hysteria from Pope Francis. A search for "Donald Trump" under "News" produces many results from the alt-left propaganda site Yahoo News and ZERO results from the trusted sites we recommend. Use 4conservative.com or qWant.com instead.
DogPile - Yet another lefty search search engine that is quite literally a dogpile. A simple "news" search for terms like "election" or "Trump" will produce a stream of lefty links. Use 4conservative or qWant.com instead. Use TheLibertyDaily, CitizenFreePress, Populist.press for news aggregator sites.
NewsGuardTech (browser add-on) - Self-promoted as a 'trust tool' that reviews news sites, but is nothing more than another attempt by liberals to blacklist conservative speech. The browser add-on laughably gives left-wing sites like CNN and Huff Post stellar ratings, but smears conservative sites with a warning due to "lacking in credibility and transparency" or "failing to maintain basic standards of accuracy and accountability" and to "proceed with caution". Remove this add-on if it comes pre-installed on Internet Explorer, which you should also not be using in the first place. Switch to the Brave browser.
JOBS, CAREER, LEARNING RELATED
SkillShare - Donated to the NAACP, the ACLU, the Marxist hate group Black Lives Matter and other race mongering organizations, as well as an organization that purports to "defend the rights of journalists" (AKA defends left-wing DNC activists who masquerade as "unbiased journalists").
TaskRabbit - Anti-Trump.
Linked In - (owned by Microsoft) Senior vice-president joined other leftists in opposition of Georgia's much needed voting reform law.
CareerBuilder - Pulled advertising from Tucker Carlson for supporting merit-based immigration.
Babbel - Pulled advertising from Tucker Carlson.
Indeed.com - Pulled advertising from Tucker Carlson for supporting merit-based immigration.
FUNDRAISING
GoFundMe - Banned Laura Loomer. Removed the fundraiser for Kyle Rittenhouse's legal defense, but ALLOWS numerous fundraisers for the Marxist hate group Black Lives Matter. Therefore we can extrapolate that GoFundMe is against citizens defending property, is anti-gun, anti-police, supports Marxism and leftist mobs. Later GiveSendGo allowed the campaign on its platform. Also, Subscribestar has been courting people banned on Patreon.
Patreon - Bans conservatives. Headquartered in the fascist city of San Francisco. Instead use Subscribestar or GiveSendGo.
Fundly - Also removed Kyle Rittenhouse's fund raiser. Also allows numerous Black Lives Matter fundraisers. Later GiveSendGo allowed the Kyle Rittenhouse campaign on its platform. Lots of conservatives seem to be using Subscribestar.
BUSINESS TOOLS
Salesforce - Blocked service to customers who sell firearms. Salesforce joined other leftists in opposition of Georgia's much needed voting reforms. HEAVY Democrat donors. Individuals at Salesforce donated $697,317 to the Joe Biden campaign. CEO Marc Benioff had a sitdown with AOC.
Yelp - Run by multiple anti-Trump propagandist(s). CEO Jeremy Stoppelman signed a letter opposing Trump. Has aligned itself with Black Lives Matter. Will display a warning for restaurants that are merely accused of racism. No trial. Headquartered in the fascist city of San Francisco.
DocuSign - Donated $500,000 to support the NAACP and "social justice causes".
Eventbrite - Falsely announced cancellation of Million MAGA March in order to supress turnout for the rally. CEO, Julia Hartz joined other leftists in opposition of Georgia's much needed voting reforms.
Techtonic - In response to the George Floyd riots, announced that they would recruit 100 black and Latinx coders for its paid apprenticeship program, thus discriminating based on race rather than merit.
IPG Interpublic Group - Obsessed with "diversity and inclusion" AKA discrimination against people who may be more qualified but have the wrong skin pigmentation.
Dropbox - Anti-Trump. Donated $500,000 to the Marxist hate group Black Lives Matter. Joined other leftists in opposition of Georgia's much needed voting reforms.
COMPUTER HARDWARE / SOFTWARE
Cisco - Donald Trump has specifically called for a boycott of this obnoxious left-wing company! Cisco joined other leftists in opposition of Georgia's much needed voting reforms. Fired employees for posting negative comments about the Marxist hate group Black Lives Matter in the comment section of virtual all-hands meetings.
IBM - IBM's CEO joined other leftists in opposition of Georgia's much needed voting reforms. Pulled advertising from Laura Ingram for criticizing David Hogg. Openly supports the Marxist hate group Black Lives Matter and promotes the divisive lie of "systemic racism" in America.
Symantec - Dropped business with NRA. Anti-virus software is free these days. And unless you're a really stupid computer user, Windows 10 almost doesn't even need anti-virus software.
Samsung - Pulled advertising from Tucker Carlson for supporting merit-based immigration.
SanDisk - Pulled advertising from Tucker Carlson for supporting merit-based immigration.
Dell Technologies - Voiced opposition to Texas making much needed voting reforms similar to Georgia's.
Qualcomm - Run by anti-Trump propagandist(s)
Hewlett-Packard - Opposed Georgia's much needed voting reform bill.
Intuit (TurboTax) - Opposed Trump ending DACA program.
Sony - Essentially incited violence by tweeting "All lives will not matter until Black lives matter". Released a Black Lives Matter theme for the PlayStation 4, and donated to the Marxist hate group. Also donating Minecraft proceeds to the hate group.
Adobe - Donated $1 million to the Equal Justice Initiative to fight the lie of systemic racism. Use open source software alternatives instead.
REAL ESTATE
Zillow (owns Trulia) - Opposed Georgia's much needed voting reforms.
Trulia - CEO is anti-Trump.
Realtor.com - Pulled advertising from Sean Hannity for supporting Roy Moore (R) for Senate and for supporting the presumption of innocence.
AUTOMOTIVE
Stellantis N.V. (owns Jeep, Dodge, RAM, Fiat, Chrysler, Peugeot, Lancia, Alfa Romeo, Citron, Lancia, Maserati) - Opposed Republican-backed legislation to repair Michigan's broken voting system. Jeep super bowl ad was an underhanded attack on Republicans and a parroting of the Democrat's victory message. And they hired Trump-hating, fake blue-collar worker, Bruce Springsteen (D) as their spokeshole. Stellantis is a Netherlands based company.
General Motors - (see our detailed review of General Motors) - Anti-Trump, anti-Republican, America-is-racist nonsense. You are actually more patriotic if you buy a Japanese car!
Cars.com - Pulled their advertising from Hannity for talking about Seth Rich. Use AutoTrader instead because they seem to have better quality buyers anyway.
Goodyear / Dunlop Tires - Banned MAGA hats, pro-police and "all lives matter" attire, but is OK with attire from the Marxist hate group Black Lives Matter in their workplace and had no mention of banning Biden/Harris attire. President Trump himself says "Don't buy Goodyear tires". Trump even removed Goodyear tires from the presidential limo. Goodyear later lied.
Jaguar - Pulled advertising from Tucker Carlson for supporting merit-based immigration.
Land Rover - Pulled advertising from Tucker Carlson for supporting merit-based immigration.
Volvo - Pulled advertising from Sean Hannity for his support of Roy Moore (R) for Senate and for Hannity's supporting of the presumption of innocence.
Ford - Opposed Republican-backed legislation to repair Michigan's broken voting system. You are actually more patriotic if you buy a Japanese car! Our democracy is at stake!
Audi - Commercial promotes wage gap myth. However, as of June 9, 2020, Audi did not respond to BLM demands for money.
Infiniti - In addition to tweeting support for the Marxist hate group Black Lives Matter, Infiniti pledged to donate undisclosed amounts of money to undisclosed organizations.
BMW - Tweeted support for the George Floyd protests (AKA riots) and pledged to donate an undisclosed amount to the NAACP.
Hyundai - Donated 1 million dollars to the Marxist hate group Black Lives Matter.
Subaru - Donated $500,000 to the Equal Justice Initiative. Subaru is also making changes with regard to its "diversity training" and hiring practices, presumably discriminating against people of other skin pigmentations who might otherwise be better qualified.
Mazda - Pledged to donate an undisclosed amount of money to the Thurgood Marshall College Fund, thus discriminating against students of other skin pigmentations.
Mercedes - "We're making a donation to the NAACP Legal Defense Fund".
KIA - Ads promoting the anthropogenic global warming lie.
NOTES: As of June 9, 2020, only a few car makers had resisted siding with the angry BLM mob by keeping silent: Alpha Romeo, Audi, Kia, Maserati, Tesla and Volvo.
Jaguar/Land Rover, Ford, Lexus, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Toyota, Volkswagon gave lip service statements to an inquiring SJW mobster who pressed them for donation information. Honda did not make a donation but has a prior history of making donations to charities based on skin pigmentation.
POSITIVE: Toyota supported Trump's legal fight against California over emissions standards / global warming hysteria.
TRAVEL ACCOMODATIONS
Expedia (also owns VRBO, Hotels.com, Travelocity, Trivago, Orbitz, Hotwire) - (see our detailed review of Expedia) - They hate Trump, guns, and love BLM, critical race theory and safe spaces. Use PriceLine.com, vacationrenter.com, homestay.com, outdoorsy.com (RV stays).
Airbnb - (see our detailed review of Airbnb) - Huge Dem donors, anti-Trump, racist policies, 'woke", supports BLM, San Francisco-based. Instead use vacationrenter.com, homestay.com or outdoorsy.com (RV stays), Motel 6, Priceline.com.
Marriott Hotels - CEO and co-founder have both voiced opposition to Trump. Marriott also banned all donations to 147 Republicans who voted to oppose the 2020 election. We recommend Motel 6, a Trump resort or Sands / Venetian owned stay if you're in Vegas, or any stay that is not on our boycott list.
Loews Hotels - Loews cancelled a Senator Josh Hawkey (R) fundraiser in Orlando, and insinuated that Hawkey was to blame for the Capital building protest. "We are horrified and opposed to the events at the Capitol and all who supported and incited the actions," said Loews. Boycott ALL Loews locations.
Trip Advisor - Pulled advertising from conservative Laura Ingram's show because she dared challenge David Hogg. Also virtue signaling commercials.
Choice Hotels (including Comfort, Sleep Inn, Clarion, MainStay Suites, WoodSpring Suites, Rodeway Inn, EconoLodge) - Donated over 2 million dollars to the Biden / Harris campaign. For cheap stays, we recommend Motel 6 or any stay that is not on our boycott list. Book a Trump resort or Sands / Venetian owned stay if you're in Vegas.
Best Western - Stopped offering discounts to NRA members. We recommend Motel 6 for cheap stays. Book a Trump resort or Sands / Venetian owned stay if you're in Vegas.
Hilton Hotels - Reports are that Hilton refused to allow people in town for the Million Maga March to stay at the Capitol Hilton in Washington DC, even if they had already checked in.
Hyatt Hotels (and other brands including Andaz, Alila, Thompson Hotels, Exhale Spa & Fitness, joie de vivre hotels, Destination Hotels) - Refuses to rent premises to conservative groups that they conveniently label "hate groups". Openly supports the Marxist hate group Black Lives Matter, actively promotes the media/ democrat lie of "systemic racism" in America. Hires, promotes and retains employees based on "diversity" instead of simply qualifications. Has vowed to make purchases from minority-owned businesses, especially black-owned businesses, thus discriminating against businesses owned by people of other skin pigmentations. For cheap stays, we recommend Motel 6 or any stay that is not on our boycott list. Book a Trump resort or Sands / Venetian owned stay if you're in Vegas.
Wyndham Hotels - Attacked NRA members by ending discount programs. We recommend Motel 6 for cheap stays. Book a Trump resort or Sands / Venetian owned stay if you're in Vegas.
MotorCity Casino Hotel (owned by Ilitch Holdings) - Opposed Republican-backed legislation to repair Michigan's broken voting system. Support Dominoe's instead.
Virtuoso - Luxury Travel Advisors - Banned Trump Hotels from its hotel partners and no longer offers the 10 hotels that operate under the Trump brand.
AIR TRAVEL & OTHER TRAVEL
Delta Airlines (owns Endeavor Air) - Donald Trump has called for the boycott of Delta. Why is an airlines acting as left-wing political activists? Delta's CEO, Ed Bastian, opposed Georgia's voting reform bill, calling it ''unacceptable and does not match Delta's values.'' Logical Translation: Delta wants people to be able to fraudulently vote without ID. Delta also ended business with the NRA. Delta supports the Marxist hate group Black Lives Matter with BLM pins. Do not fly with Delta under any circumstances.
American Airlines - Not an Airlines, but a left-wing political action group that tries to dictate public policy. AA voiced opposition to Georgia's much needed voting reform bill by saying, "We are strongly opposed to this bill and others like it" -- this was without even having read the bill! AA pushed for Texas to allow boys to play girls sports and take away their scholarships. When Trump supporters chanted "USA", the pilot threatened to "dump people off" in the middle of Kansas. AA also allows their flight attendants to wear ''Black Lives Matter'' pins, thus promoting the Marxist hate group, domestic terrorism, racism and anti-police politics. AA is also creating a "diversity pin" for all employees to wear on the job. Remember, diversity means discrimination based on race rather than hiring based on merit. Heavy Democrat donors in 2016.
United Airlines (including United Explorer credit card) - United repeated the Democrat's and media's false narrative that Georgia voting reform bill "infringes on the right to vote". United attacked NRA members by ending discount programs. United suspended a pilot for criticizing Hillary Clinton. United PAC's donate more to Democats than Republicans. United also appears to be on track to not just discriminate, but potentially put passengers at increased danger. How? By using race and gender quotas in choosing who they train as pilots! 50% of trainees will be "people of color" and women. Will they then hire based on race and gender instead of merit? United Explorer credit card - Pulled advertising from Tucker Carlson for supporting merit-based immigration.
Southwest Airlines - Southwest produced a response to Georgia's voter reform bill, that could be interpreted as lip service. While SW did not specifically call out the bill, they didn't need to. Their response was sufficient enough for the media mob to use it as ammunition against the bill. We give SW credit for donating more to Republicans than Democrats.
JetBlue - Opposed Georgia's much needed voting reform bill.
Celebrity Cruises - Anti-Trump ad. Instead, vacation in any red state resort town. UPDATE: Karma strikes back! Coronavirus and Democrat shutdowns have devastated this Democrat company.
Carnival Corp - Opposed Georgia's much needed voting reform bill. Instead, vacation in any red state resort town. UPDATE: Karma strikes back! Coronavirus and Democrat shutdowns have devastated this Democrat company.
RIDE SHARING
Lyft - Co-founders and CEO joined other leftists in opposition of Georgia's much needed voting reforms. Banned Laura Loomer. Gave 1 million to the ACLU in response to Trump's travel ban. Leftist company from the fascist city of San Francisco. There are many alternatives.
Uber - Banned Laura Loomer. Asked President Trump to cancel his Muslim travel ban. Began a $3 million legal fund for Muslim immigrant drivers. CEO, Dara Khosrowshahi joined other leftists in opposition of Georgia's much needed voting reforms. Opposes Trump ending the DACA illegal alien amnesty program. Don't be fooled by reports that officials and staffers for Trump prefer Uber. Uber is still another leftist company from the fascist city of San Francisco. There are many alternatives.
VEHICLE RENTAL
CarRentals.com - Owned by Expedia, one of the worst of the worst companies.
Enterprise rental cars - Dropped business with NRA.
Hertz - Attacked NRA members by ending discount programs
Avis Budget Group - Attacked NRA members by ending discount programs
Penske - Opposed Republican-backed legislation to repair Michigan's broken voting system.
FOOD DELIVERY / HOME COOKING
GrubHub.com (owns BiteGrabber, Eat24, Seamless, LevelUp, Tapingo, AllMenus, MenuPages) - (see our detailed review of Grubhub) - CEO is a rabid never-Trumper. Pick up food in person!
Postmates - Founder and CEO Bastian Lehmann obnoxiously parrots left-wing politics on Twitter (anti-police, pro-ACLU, pro-RBG, calls for waiting until after the election to replace RBG, refuses to accept grand jury verdict in Breonna Taylor case, etc). Company Twitter feed calls for "justice in our communities, marching for change", thus supporting the violence that BLM and ANTIFA bring, as well as their radical messages, including defunding the police. ALTERNATIVE: Get off your lazy ass and pick up food in person! According to a survey, almost 30% of delivery drivers admit to taking food from an order. Furthermore, a delivery driver is one additional person who handles the bag and could have COVID-19.
DoorDash - CEO, Tony Xu joined other leftists in opposition of much need voting reforms. Perpetuates the lie of "systemic racism" and discriminates. Did not charge delivery fees to black-owned restaurants in 2020, thus discriminating against businesses owned by people of other skin pigmentations. Donated $500,000 to the Marxist hate group Black Lives Mater. ALTERNATIVE: Get off your lazy ass and pick up food in person! According to a survey, almost 30% of delivery drivers admit to taking food from an order. Furthermore, a delivery driver is one additional person who handles the bag and could have COVID-19.
UberEats - Waived delivery fees for black owned businesses in 2020, thus discriminating against businesses owned by people of other skin pigmentations. Features cross-dresser in one of their woke commercials. ALTERNATIVE: Get off your lazy ass and pick up food in person! According to a survey, almost 30% of delivery drivers admit to taking food from an order. Furthermore, a delivery driver is one additional person who handles the bag and could have COVID-19.
InstaCart - Joined other leftists in opposition of much needed voting integrity bills.
Ruby Tuesday - Pulled advertising from Laura Ingram for criticizing David Hogg.
Blue Apron - Pulled advertising from Laura Ingram for criticizing David Hogg. CEO, Linda Findley Kozlowski joined other leftists in opposition of Georgia's much needed voting reforms via a petition started by the not so nonpartisan group Civic Allianc. Use PeachDish or one of these other companies.
Rachel Ray - Pulled advertising from Laura Ingram for criticizing David Hogg.
Thrive Market - Donated $50,000 to the Marxist hate group Black Lives Mater. Will also match employee donations 2 - 1.
PARCEL DELIVERY / MOVING COMPANIES
UPS - Donald Trump has called for a boycott of this obnoxious left-wing company! Donating 3.2 million to various SJW organizations based on black skin pigmentation, thus discriminating against people of other skin pigmentations. UPS lost the contents of a package shipped to Tucker Carlson containing damning documentation about Joe Biden. UPS later "found" the contents and offered no explanation.
FedEx - Began severing ties with the Washington Redskins and asking others to sever ties with the sports team because they wouldn't change their name. Sever ties with FedEx!
Allied Van Lines - Stopped offering discounts to NRA members.
PERSONAL CARE
Unilever and its many brands including Ben & Jerry's, Breyer's, Ragu, Lipton tea, Klondike ice cream, Degree, Axe, Dove soap, etc - (see our detailed review of Unilever) - Huge Dem donors, anti-Trump, diversity obsessed, America is racist, pro-censorship, BLM donors, anti-voter ID, etc.
Harry's Razors - Cancelled advertising on the conservative Michael Knowles Show. Harry's gives pathetic anti-men, morality lectures and is obsessed with LBGTQ. They might as well hold up a sign saying, "We hate you, our customers".
Proctor and Gamble and its many brands - Runs ads in support of protests (AKA riots) and the Marxist hate group Black Lives Matter. On their website they promote the hysterical notion that racial inequality is an "inescapable reality" in America. Gillette (owned by Proctor and Gamble) - ran a virtue signaling intersectionality commercial depicting 42 out of 43 white males as having undesirable behavior. 5 of 7 males depicted as showing desirable behavior were black. Studies show that by eradicating masculinity, you help eradicate right wing and populist voting blocks. Hopefully Gillette has learned their lesson.
Pantene Shampoo (owned by Proctor and Gamble) - Ran a commercial supporting transgender children.
Just For Men - Pulled advertising from Tucker Carlson for supporting merit-based immigration.
Dollar Shave Club - Donated $100,000 to the Marxist hate group Black Lives Matter.
Dr. Bronner's soap - Supports ILLEGAL immigration.
FOOD
Penzey's Spices - Spent a whopping $700,000 on anti-Trump Facebook ads. Called Trump voters "racists". We call the people at Penzy's "bigots". Absolutely boycott this company for life. Use SpicesInc.com or just about any other brand.
Wonderful Co. - (Fiji water, POM Wonderful and Wonderful Pistachios) - Owners, Stewart and Lynda Resnick have made endless donations to Democrats, including Joe Biden (D), Mitt Romney (RINO), Nancy Pelosi (D), Kamala Harris (D), Adam Schiff (D), Diane Feinstein (D), etc. They even hosted a Michael Bloomberg (D) fundraiser in their own home. To grow their pistachios, they use more water than every home in Los Angeles combined.
Lifeway Foods - Vile, disgusting CEO Julie Smolyansky trashed President Trump. Trash Julie Smolyansky by boycotting her company.
Ferrero (owns Nestle, Nutella, Tic Tac candies, Butterfinger, Crunch bars, Baby Ruth, etc) - Pulled advertising from Laura Ingram for criticizing David Hogg. Attacked Trump saying, "Tic Tac respects all women. We find the recent statements and behavior completely inappropriate and unacceptable." If Tic Tac actually "respected women" then they would have spoken out about Joe Biden and defended Tara Reade. Instead, TicTac USA has posted NO tweets in defense of women in response to the allegations against Biden, nor Biden's hair sniffing. The people at Ferrero / Tic Tac are typical left-wing hypocrites / globalists. Ferrero also preaches the usual hysteria that America is systemically racist.
Mondolez International (owns Nabisco) - Oreo Cookies, Belvita, Chips Ahoy!, Ritz, TUC, Triscuit, LU, Club Social, Sour Patch Kids, Barny, and Peek Freans; chocolate brands Milka, C´te d'Or, Toblerone, Cadbury, Green & Black's, Freia, Marabou, Fry's, and Lacta, Trident, Dentyne, Chiclets, Halls, Stride, Jell-O, Tate's Bake Shop, Tang. Molendez International opposes Trump. Mondelez International moved it's operations to Mexico. Also felt the need to Tweet "trans people exist". Donated $500,000 to NAACP and the Marxist hate group Black Lives Matter.
Fritos Lay (see under "Beverages / Alcohol" > Pepsi) - Giving rabid never-Trumper Snoop Dog a co-starring role in their Tostitos commercials. Snoop has said to Trump voters "if you're still with him, f--k you." Snoop Dog has also attacked Kanye West for not falling in line with other black people who hate Trump. And so we say f--k Snoop Dog and f--k Fritos Lay.
Kellogs - Stopped advertising on Breitbart.
Land O'Lakes - Withdrew its financial contributions to conservative Steve King (R).
Black Rifle Coffee - Promoted as veteran-owned and serving "people who love America". Sounds like a pitch to Republicans gun owners. However, the owner donated $500 to Obama (later claimed to have "lost a bet"), and refused to voice support for Kyle Rittenhouse, saying "We do not support legal advocacy efforts". Keep in mind that fortune 500 companies have been loudly supporting and donating millions of dollars to a Marxist hate group, and loudly supporting armed robber George Floyd (now a "legal" matter). Always pay attention to what companies DO or refuse to do -- not what they SAY!
Intelligentsia Coffee - Joined other leftists in opposition of much needed voting integrity bills.
Ragu pasta sauces - See under "Personal Care" > Unilever. Worst company.
Mars Inc (Uncle Ben's Rice) - We have no idea how the word "Uncle" is racist, but this is the lunacy of the left. Mars Inc caved in to the angry BLM mob and is changing the name to Ben's Original.
JM Smucker Company (Dunkin' Donuts, Folgers, Smucker's, Jif peanut butter, Laura Scudder's, Crisco, Santa Cruz Organic, R.W. Knudsen Family, Hungry Jack, Meow Mix, Milk Bone, Kibbles n'Bits, Natures Recipe, 9Lives, Rachel Ray Nutrish, Cafe Bustolo, Martha White, Bick's, Five Roses, truRoots, Sahale Snacks, Pup Peroni, Robin Hood, Shirriff) - Due to what Smucker describes as "recent events", they donated half a million dollars to fight what they call "discrimination and racial injustice", thus perpetuating the false notion of systemic police racism. Smucker is also "committed" to reducing greenhouse gases, thus perpetuating the hysterical and refuted notion that humans are causing the planet to warm and that CO2 is dangerous. As far as switching to more costly energy, we say let 'em waste their money.
Tyson Foods - Imports hundreds of unvetted Muslims to work in its packing plants nationwide.
Emmy's Organics - In response to the George Floyd riots they donated 100% of one week's worth of profits to the NAACP "to amplify the voices of those who need to be heard".
Wawa - Caved in to the angry BLM mob by allowing employees to wear BLM pins while at work.
Goya Foods - The CEO Robert Unanue is the lone good guy, and probably solely responsible for the heavy Republican donations from company individuals. The company's majority 9 member board voted to censure their CEO, then laughably claimed that "politics is not part of our business". Who are they kidding? In reality, right-wing politics is not part of their business. They obviously hate Trump. Until the 'woke' leftists are removed from Goya's board of directors, we cannot support Goya.
Ben & Jerry's - (See under 'Personal Care" > Unilever)
PET RELATED
Pet Smart > Chewey - Stopped selling My Pillow products because CEO Mike Lindell questioned the integrity of the 2020 election. Shop at Menards.com or other apolitical company instead.
JM Smucker > Nutrish - (See JM Smucker under "Food") - Pulled advertising from Laura Ingram for criticizing David Hogg. Shop at Menards.com or other apolitical company instead.
Purina (Petcare) - Withdrew financial support for conservative Steve King (R).
GROCERY STORES
Whole Foods Market - Owned by Amazon.com. Need we say more?
Kroger (Fry's, Food 4 Less, Ralph's, Vitacost.com, etc) - Cancel culture: Stopped selling My Pillow products because CEO Mike Lindell questioned the integrity of the 2020 election. In response a year of 'awakening' (translation: BLM riots), Kroger plans to hire and make donations based on skin pigmentation, thus discriminating against people who don't have the right skin pigmentation. Plans to encourage and get associates to vote. Remember that people who aren't motivated to vote, usually vote (D). That's why companies like Kroger want to 'rock the vote'. Don't forget that you can partially boycott a company. For example, order personal care items online from Walgreens. Order vitamins from iHerb (seems to be an apolitical company).
H-E-B (HEB) Grocery Stores - Cancel culture: Stopped selling My Pillow products because CEO Mike Lindell questioned the integrity of the 2020 election. Don't forget that you can partially boycott a company. For example, order personal care items online from Walgreens. Order vitamins from iHerb (seems to be an apolitical company).
Coborn's - Cancel culture: Stopped selling My Pillow products because CEO Mike Lindell questioned the integrity of the 2020 election, an act of free speech. Don't forget that you can partially boycott a company. For example, order personal care items online from Walgreens. Order vitamins from iHerb (seems to be an apolitical company).
Food Lion - Banned employees from wearing American flag masks because they're "offensive".
Wawa - Allow their employees to wear BLM pins and facemasks, thus supporting the Marxist hate group .
Albertsons's, Safeway, Vons - Someone brought to our attention this propaganda flyer that suggests that these grocery stores might be supporting activists who want to prevent the US from simply enforcing immigration laws.
BEVERAGES / ALCOHOL
Coca-Cola (owns Dasani, Sprite, Monster, Powerade, AHA, Minute Maid, Fanta, Vitamin Water, FuzeTea, Gold Tea, Schweppes UK, Simply, Fairlife ice iream, etc) - (see our detailed review of Coke) - Trump says to boycott Coke. Racist company, anti-Republican, globalists, NAACP donors, pro-censorship, etc.
PepsiCo (owned products) - Left-wing CEO, Indra Nooyi said that people were in mourning after the 2016 election. Pepsi also began severing ties with the Washington Redskins and even asked others to sever ties because the sports team would not change their name. Pepsi also promoted a hate video of Tucker Carlson mispronouncing Kamala Harris' name, but felt no need to address Joe Biden's mispronunciation of her name.
Gatorade (owned by Pepsi) - Donated $500,000 to various groups including the ACLU and the Marxist hate group Black Lives Matter.
Corona beer - Giving rabid never-Trumper Snoop Dog a starring role in their commercials. Snoop has said to Trump voters "if you're still with him, f--k you." Snoop Dog has also attacked Kanye West for not falling in line with other black people who hate Trump. And so we say f--k Snoop Dog and f--k Corona beer. Instead consider Molson / Coors.
Pernod-Ricard (Absolut Vodka, Malibu, Jameson, Kahlua, etc) - One giant race-mongering French company lecturing Americans! Creating an app for consumers to identify 'hate speech' on social media (AKA intimidation, censorship and cancel culture by brownshirts). Donated 1 million dollars to "combat racial injustice and promote economic prosperity for black-owned businesses", thus discriminating against businesses owned by people of other skin pigmentations, and furthering the racist narrative that America is systemically racist.
Fiji water - See under "FOOD" > Wonderful Co.
Gallo Winery - 95% of its contributions go to Democrats. Nancy Pelosi's #1 donor.
Sam Adams - Dedicated a beer to Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg and feminism.
Budweiser - Supported #blackouttuesday, thus solidarity with the Marxist hate group Black Lives Matter.
Montauk Brewing Company - Supports the Marxist hate group Black Lives Matter.
Heineken - Supports open borders. Instead consider Molson / Coors.
Keurig Dr. Pepper (Snapple, Schweppes USA) - Owns Keurig, which we boycott. (see under 'Other").
Soda Stream - Gave rabid Trump-hater, Snoop Dog a starring role in their commercial.
RESTAURANTS
Starbucks - (see our detailed review of Starbucks) - Rabid Trump haters, SJW's, huge Dem donors, enemies of free speech.
Sonic Drive-In - (see our detailed review of Sonic) - This company is a slap in the face to the people of Oklahoma. Huge Dem donors.
Little Ceasars Pizza (owned by Ilitch Holdings) - Opposed Republican-backed legislation to repair Michigan's broken voting system. Support Dominoe's instead.
Papa John's Pizza - Pulled advertising from Tucker Carlson for supporting merit-based immigration. Fired its CEO for criticizing the NFL. Use Dominoes instead.
Red Lobster (owned by Golden Gate Capital, which is headquartered in the fascist city of San Francisco) - Pulled ads from Tucker Carlson for supporting merit based immigration, yet hypocritically continues to advertise on MSNBC despite homophobic and transphobic tweets by Joy Reid and on-air homophobic statements by Mika Brzezinski.
Arby's, T.J. Cinnamon's - 96% of parent company donations go to Democrats.
IHOP - Pulled advertising from Tucker Carlson for supporting merit-based immigration.
Chic-Fil-A - Donated to the despicable, far-left organization the Southern Poverty Law Center. For fast food, perhaps go to Jimmy John's, In-N-Out Burger, Dominoes. UPDATE: We love the circular firing squad! Georgia leftists are now boycotting Chic-Fil-A for not fulfilling their latest ransom demand: To speak out against Georgia's voter ID law. Proof that leftists are never ever satisfied.
McDonald's - Punishes executives who hire too many whites or too many men. Withdrew from the conservative American Legislative Exchange Council under liberal pressure. Supports the Marxist hate group Black Lives Matter. Donated $1 million to the NAACP and the National Urban League. In a commercial, McDonald's listed the cop-assaulting Michael Brown as someone they stand in solidarity with. McDonald's labeled four cops as "bad apples" before they have even been put on trial. For fast food, perhaps go to Jimmy John's, In-N-Out Burger, Dominoes.
Wendy's - Donated $500,000 for what they call "to support social justice", thus reinforcing the systemic lie of systemic racism in America.
SweetGreen - Joined other leftists in opposition of much needed voting integrity bills.
&Pizza - Offered to pay employees who want to protest over armed robber George Floyd. Boycott this company! Use Dominoes instead.
Red Hen Restaurant, Lexington, VA - Bigotted co-owner Stephanie Wilkinson refused to serve Sarah Huckabee Sanders. Even other bigoted employees felt "uncomfortable" with Sanders being there. Normally we don't bother with small businesses, but they earned this mention.
COMMUNICATION
AT&T (owns Warner Media, CNN) - Top parent company of CNN, the radical left-wing propaganda network. AT&T cut off political funding to Republicans who support Trump. Voiced opposition to Georgia's much needed voting reform law. AT&T also blocked Trump campaign texts in order to influence the election. Employees and PAC's at AT&T donated a whopping $956,331 more to Biden than to Trump, and donated 122% more to Democrats.
Verizon - Cut off political donations to Republicans who support Trump. Blocked Trump campaign texts in order to influence the election. Dem donors. Employees and PAC's donated 4 times more to Biden than Trump. Verizon owns the alt-left propaganda site Yahoo.
T-Mobile - Pulled advertising from Tucker Carlson for supporting merit-based immigration. Blocked Trump campaign texts in order to influence the election. Pushing critical race theory. UPDATE: Karma strikes back. The very radical left who T-Mobile supports have looted and ransacked their stores during the George Floyd riots.
Time Warner - Bundles CNN with basic cable. Appears to blocks emails from sites like GunBroker.com , Parler.com and Minds.com. Employees and PAC's are huge Democrat donors.
Earthlink - Refuses to advertise on Breitbart News.
MARXIST MEDIA / ENTERTAINMENT / PROPAGANDA
ViacomCBS (owns CBS, MTV, VH1, Nickelodeon, BET, Country Music Channel, Comedy Central, Showtime, Smithsonian Channel, Logo TV, TV Land, Simon & Schuster and Paramount Pictures. Parent company owns Showcase Cinemas) - See our detailed review of ViacomCBS - Trump says to boycott! Huge Dem propagandists, Dem donors, and racists. Cut or at least reduce the cable!
Disney (owns ABC, Hulu, Lucas Film) - See our detailed review of Disney - Huge Dem donors, Dem propagandists, racists, anti-2nd Amendment, promote critical race theory. Cut or at least reduce the cable! Avoid Disneyland!
NetFlix - HUGE Democrat donors and woke leftists!!! CEO said "Trump would destroy much of what is great about America.'' Created a racist "Dear white people" SJW video attacking white people for being white. Made a movie that idolizes far-left 60's rioters in order to embolden BLM. Reed Hastings donated to the Joe Biden campaign. Hired the Obamas to create content. Appointed Susan Rice to the board of directors. Liberals use Netflix to dliver propaganda to our youth. Headquartered in the alt-left Silicon Valley. Absolutely boycott NetFlix for life!
Comcast / NBC Universal (owns Xfinity, DreamWorks SKG, Comcast, Peacock, streaming) - Opposed Georgia's much needed voting reform bill. Top parent company of MSNBC, the radical left-wing communist propaganda network. Voiced opposition to Georgia's much needed voting reform law. Employees and PAC's at Comcast donated a whopping $933,087 more to Biden than to Trump. Is trying to poison the minds of the American voter to the left. Cut ties with conservative, Matthew Schlapp. Trump himself hates this merged company. Comcast cut off political donations to Republicans who support Trump.
DreamWorks SKG - 72% owned by 3 leftists. David Geffen donated 400K to the anti-Trump Lincoln Project and well as to tons of other (D)'s. Steven Spielberg (D) is a never-Trumper who furthered the left's absurd lie that the media is somehow under assault by Trump (as the MSM has a virtual monopoly on TV, and dominates print and tech) and he compared Trump to Nixon. Jeffrey Katzenberg said of Trump, "Worst nightmare I could ever imagine doesn't come close". If you purchase Dreamworks SKG meda, you are essentially funding the Democrat party.
Hulu (1/3 owned by Comcast / NBC Universal) - Pulled advertising from Laura Ingram for criticizing David Hogg.
Vimeo - Vimeo is owned by IAC, whose Chairman and Senior Executive, Barry Dliler, is a rabid Trump-hater. Vimeo removes conservative content. Use Rumble and/or BitChute instead.
Spotify - Banned Joe Rogan's interviews with conservatives such as Alex Jones. Since then has banned 42 episodes in total. Luxembourg-based holding company.
Showcase Cinemas - Owned by National Amusements, which owns 79.4% of the left-wing propaganda conglomerate ViacomCBS (see under "MEDIA / ENTERTAINMENT / PROPAGANDA").
AMC Theaters - CEO Adam Aron joined other leftists in opposition of much needed voting integrity bills.
FINANCIAL / INVESTING / BANKING / LOANS
(No-brainer: Bank and invest with Charles Schwab)
JP Morgan Chase (including Chase Bank) - (see our detailed review of JP Morgan Chase) - Donald Trump has called for the boycott of this company! Use Charles Schwab for investing / banking instead.
Bank of America, including Merrill Lynch - (see our detailed review of B of A / Merrill Lynch) - Orwellian spies: ESG score, handed over data to Feds, anti-gun. Use Charles Schwab for investing / banking instead.
Capital One - Continues to hire vile, never-Trumpers, Samuel L. Jackson and Alec Baldwin as their spokesholes. Heavy democrat donors. Samuel L. Jackson has said so many vile and profane things about Trump that if you are a Republican, you have absolutely NO business doing business with Capital One. Individuals at Capital One donated $305,221 more to Biden than to Trump. We recommend Charles Schwab for banking. Schwab does not have ATM's, however they waive ATM fees. Otherwise use a credit union or any regional bank that is apolitical and not privately owned ala Stanford Financial.
Signature Bank - Called on President Trump to resign, and said that they will not do business with any members of Congress who voted to disregard the electoral college. Do not do business with Signature Bank! We recommend Charles Schwab for investing and banking. Schwab does not have ATM's, however they waive ATM fees. Otherwise use a credit union or any regional bank that is apolitical and not privately owned ala Stanford Financial.
Wells Fargo - Joined other leftists in opposition of much needed voting integrity bills. Donated a whopping $1,191,530 to Joe Biden! Nancy Pelosi's #3 donor. We recommend a credit union or any regional bank that is apolitical and not privately owned ala Stanford Financial.
CitiBank - Paused all donations from its political action committe to Republicans who support Trump. Opposed Georgia's much needed voting reform bill. We recommend Charles Schwab for banking. Schwab does not have ATM's, however they waive ATM fees. Otherwise use a credit union or any regional bank that is apolitical and not privately owned ala Stanford Financial.
Morgan Stanley (owns E trade) - Cut off all contributions to Republicans who voted to overturn the 2020 election. Switch to Charles Schwab. Note that Morgan Stanley is not the same company as JP Morgan Chase, one of our very most hated companies.
Fidelity - According to Project Veritas, Fidelity's charitable organization blocked clients from making donations to conservative journalism organization Project Veritas. Fidelity employee and PAC donations to Democrats surpassed Republican donations in 2020. This is a no-brainer. Close out your Fidelity account and move to Charles Schwab. While you're at it, set up a Charles Schwab bank account too.
Goldman Sachs - Stopped donations to pro-Trump Republicans. Joined other leftists in opposition of much needed voting integrity bills.
BlackRock INC - A 'woke' left-wing company that pushes for lefty policies on climate change, race, and sex. CEO Larry Fink demanded that Congress certify Joe Biden as president. Opposed Georgia's much needed voting reform bill. Instead invest in Schwab funds.
Commerce Bancshare (owns Commerce Bank) - Paused all donations to Republicans who support Trump. Close out your Commerce Bank account. We recommend Charles Schwab for banking. Schwab does not have ATM's, however they waive ATM fees. Otherwise use a credit union or any regional bank that is apolitical and not privately owned ala Stanford Financial.
Deutsche Bank - Stopped doing business with Trump. Opposed Georgia's much needed voting reform bill. We recommend Charles Schwab for banking and investing.
First National Bank of Omaha - Dropped business with NRA. We recommend Charles Schwab for banking. Schwab does not have ATM's, however they waive ATM fees. Otherwise use a credit union or any regional bank that is apolitical and not privately owned ala Stanford Financial.
U.S. Bank - Refuses to advertise on Breitbart News. In response to its branches being vandalized and burned down in Minneapolis over armed robber George Floyd, US Bank is providing $100 million annually to black businesses or organizations (thus discriminating against people of other skin pigmentations). Translation: Riots and arson gets rewarded. We recommend Charles Schwab for banking. Schwab does not have ATM's, however they waive ATM fees. Otherwise use a credit union or any regional bank that is apolitical and not privately owned ala Stanford Financial.
Western Union - Opposes Trump ending the DACA illegal alien amnesty program.
NerdWallet - Pulled advertising from Tucker Carlson for supporting merit-based immigration.
Edward Jones - In response to the George Floyd riots, EJ pledged to increase diversity among its financial advisors and senior leadership, thus hiring based on skin pigmentation rather than merit. We don't ever recommend full-service brokerages anyway. They're all too expensive! Use a Charles Schwab self-directed account instead. No-brainer!
Vanguard - Company opposed Georgia's much needed voting reform law. We recommend Charles Schwab for banking and investing.
T. Rowe Price - Joined other leftists in opposition of much needed voting integrity bills. We recommend Charles Schwab for banking and investing.
Synchrony - Joined other leftists in opposition of much needed voting integrity bills.
Morningstar - CEO joined other leftists in opposition of Geogia's much needed voting reform law. BTW, never ever ever pay for financial research. Just buy inded funds! Simple! No research required.
Ariel Investments - Opposed Georgia's much needed voting reform bill. Buy Schwab index funds instead.
M&T Bank - Opposed Georgia's much needed voting reform bill. We recommend Charles Schwab for banking and investing.
FirstMark Bank - Joined other leftists in opposition of much needed voting integrity bills.
Loop Capital - Joined other leftists in opposition of much needed voting integrity bills.
Advent Capital Management LLC - Opposed Georgia's much needed voting reform bill. We recommend Charles Schwab for banking and investing.
Quicken Loans and Rocket Mortgage - CEO Jay Farmer opposed Republican-backed legislation to repair Michigan's broken voting system.
Mass Mutual - CEO joined other leftists in opposition of voting integrity bills.
Betterment - CEO, Sarah Kirshbaum Levy joined other leftists in opposition of voting integrity bills.
TD AmeriTrade - In 2018 pulled advertising from Tucker Carlson for supporting merit-based immigration, then falsely and laughably claimed to be "politically neutral". TD AmeriTrade's founder gave $315,000 to Joe Biden's campaign. However, the founder Joe Ricketts, pledged $1 million to a pro-Trump super PAC. And most importantly, since then, TD AmeriTrade has been bought out by Charles Schwab, who we like! Just open an account with Schwab. If you already have a TD AmeriTrade account don't change anything. You're now under sensible ownership in Charles Schwab.
INSURANCE
Progressive Insurance - Chairman has poured tens of millions of dollars into alt-left organizations such as the ACLU and MoveOn.org. 99% of its political contributions go to Democrats. Donates to Planned Parenthood. Advertises on the left-wing ABC show GMA.
MetLife - Attacked NRA members by ending discount programs
Liberty Mutual Insurance - Pulled advertising from Laura Ingram for criticizing David Hogg. Virtue signlaing commercials saying that "We get that no two people are alike".
Voya Financial - Pulled advertising from Tucker Carlson for supporting merit-based immigration.
Pacific Life insurance - Pulled advertising from Tucker Carlson for supporting merit-based immigration.
Allstate - Stopped advertising on Breitbart.
AIG - Joined other leftists in opposition of much needed voting integrity bills.
RobinHood - Pledged $500,000 to the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund.
THE BIG 4 CREDIT CARD COMPANIES
Discover Card - Company opposed Georgia's much needed voting reform bill. This vile company is a threat to the 1st and 2nd Amendments and we have selectively chosen to pick it off! Discover outrageously stopped accepting transactions at web host Epik.com. Also outrageously blocked its card holders from making any donations on the Christian crowdfunding site GiveSendGo for Kyle Rittenhouse. Imagine your credit card company telling you what you can and cannot spend money on! Discover also donated 5 million dollars specifically to black owned businesses, thus discriminating against businesses owned by people of other skin pigmentations. Discover employees and/or PAC's are heavy democrat donors. So are the other three CC companies, but Discover was the most lopsided Democrat donor. Destroy your Discover card, then pick the least offensive CC company.
VISA - Not only banned the free speech social media platform Gab, but also blacklisted Gab's CEO and his family for merchant processing! Employees and/or PAC's donated about 50% more to Democrats than Republicans. Instead pick the least offensive CC company. VISA parrots the left's Goerge Floyd narrative, America is racist, blah blah blah. VISA also donated 10 million dollars to Black and African American students, thus discriminating against students of other skin pigmentations.
Mastercard - Suspeded political donations to Republicans. Opposed Georgia's much needed voting reform bill. Employees and/or PAC's donated about 50% more to Democrats than Republicans. Blacklisted conservative author Robert Spencer of Jihad Watch. Let us know if MasterCard has banned any companies.
American Express (owns Kabbage)- Cut off political donations to Republicans who support Trump. Opposed Georgia's much needed voting reform bill. In fact, Amex CEO Ken Chenault started the movement, along with Ken Frazier of Merck. Employees and/or PAC's donated about 50% more to Democrats than Republicans. Let us know if Amex has banned any companies.
BIG BOX STORES / OTHER RETAIL
Amazon - See under "Tech Tyranny".
Walmart - (see our detailed review of Walmart) - Anti-Trump, anti-Republican, pro-Clinton Foundation, discriminates, supports BLM, anti-guns. CEO laughably and falsely claims "We are not in the business of partisan politics." Shop elsewhere.
Target - Company and CEO opposed Georgia's much needed voting reform bill. Donated to the Marxist hate group Black Lives Matter. Donated $10 million "in an effort to advance social justice". Permited transgender people to use the bathroom of their choosing. Has since installed single occupancy bathrooms after MAGA boycott cost them 20 million dollars. Target sells a racist book that states "Dear God, Please help me to hate White people." People at Target donated $195,259 more to Biden than to Trump. Instead consider CVS, Uline, Walgreens, Overstock.com, etc. UPDATE: Karma strikes back. The very people who Target discriminates in favor of have looted and ransacked their Philly store during the Philadelphia riots. Also, again in 2021 in Minneapolis. Also Vandalizd store in Oakland on 4/16/2021.
Bed, Bath & Beyond - Cancel culture: Stopped selling My Pillow products because CEO Mike Lindell questioned the integrity of the 2020 election. Removed Ivanka Trump's products from their website. In Minneapolis, BB&B was handing out black lives matter signs, thus promoting Marxism. Shop at Menards.com or other apolitical retailer.
Costco - Reportedly stopped selling Palmetto cheese after founder accurately called BLM a "terror organization". Costco donating $25 million to support Black-led financial institutions and community development initiatives, thus discriminating against people of all other skin pigmentations.
Kohl's - Cancel culture: Stopped selling My Pillow products because CEO Mike Lindell questioned the integrity of the 2020 election. Openly discriminates by hiring and making product purchases based on skin pigmentation.
K-Mart - Stopped selling Trump products.
Sears - Stopped selling Trump products. Thankfully on the verge of going under.
Best Buy - Cut off donations to Republicans who support Trump. Opposed Georgia's much needed voting reform bill. CEO signed an open letter in support of DACA. Supports Council of American Islamic Relations, which funds Muslim terrorist groups. Instead use Overstock.com. UPDATE: Karma strikes back. The very radical left who Best Buy supports have looted and ransacked their stores during the George Floyd riots.
Wayfair - Pulled advertising from conservative Laura Ingram for criticizing David Hogg. Cancel culture: Stopped selling My Pillow products because CEO Mike Lindell questioned the integrity of the 2020 election. Employees are far leftists who support illegal immigration.
Ikea - To reward the George Floyd rioters, Ikea donated 3 million dollars to various organizations including the Equal Justice Initiative and 100 Black Men of America. Ikea is so hypersensitive that they reprinted their entire 2021 catalog because they amazingly thought this photo was somehow racist!
Colony Brands - Cancel culture: Stopped selling My Pillow products because CEO Mike Lindell questioned the integrity of the 2020 election, an act of free speech.
Dollar General - Cancel culture: Stopped selling My Pillow products because CEO Mike Lindell questioned the integrity of the 2020 election, an act of free speech. UPDATE: Karma strikes back. A DG store in Minneapolis got looted and ransacked by the BLM mob in April of 2021.
JC Penny - Cancel culture: Stopped selling My Pillow products because CEO Mike Lindell questioned the integrity of the 2020 election, an act of free speech.
Finerhut - Cancel culture: Stopped selling My Pillow products because CEO Mike Lindell questioned the integrity of the 2020 election, an act of free speech.
Kinney Drugs - Cancel culture: Stopped selling My Pillow products because CEO Mike Lindell questioned the integrity of the 2020 election, an act of free speech.
Barnes & Noble - 98% of its political contributions go to Democrats.
Crate & Barrel - 83% of its political contributions go to Democrats.
Overstock.com? - Overstock posted what we believe is just a lip service webpage to appease the BLM mob. Overstock heavily favored donations to Republicans from 2006 to 2018, however in 2020 they all but cut off donations (if data for 2020 is complete). Overstock is nowhere near as offensive as Amazon, so if you're looking for an online 'big box' store, we recommend Overstock.com with caution.
Shop HQ - Stopped selling My Pilliow because Mike Lindell supports Trump.
B&H Photo and Video - This New York City-based company removed an employee from his position for voicing opposition to the Black Lives Matter Marxist hate group movement on social media. Instead shop with Overstock.com or other politically neutral company. While not perfect, cdw.com is a better alternative for electronics, including cameras.
Full Compass - Co-founder Susan Lipp donated $1,000 to help Wisconsin Democrat Tammy Baldwin get elected into the senate, thus putting our country in jeopardy with Dems in control of the house and senate. Instead shop with Overstock.com or other more politically neutral company. While not perfect, cdw.com is a better alternative for electronics, including cameras.
OFFICE SUPPLIES
(No-brainer: Buy from Uline)
Office Depot - Pulled advertising from Laura Ingram for criticizing David Hogg. Big Democrat donors. Buy from Uline instead.
Staples - Big Democrat donors in 2020. Buy from Uline instead.
HARDWARE
Home Depot - (see our detailed review of Home Depot) - Home Depot is far from perfect. Although we prefer Ace Hardware and Menards over Home Depot, for now, we support Home Depot only in the short term.
Lowes Home Improvement - Lowes is starting to get onto our radar. While the company had historically donated heavily to Republicans, the gap has narrowed over the last 4 years. The company also donated a whopping 25 million dollars to "minority owned businesses" in "historically underserved communities", which sounds like code for picking and choosing based on skin pigmentation. What is Lowes doing for displaced rust belt factory workers? We give Lowe's credit for so far for not joining the not so nonpartisan group Civic Alliance. We prefer Ace hardware and Menards over Lowe's.
84 Lumber - Promoted illegal immigration.
CAMPING / SPORTS
Patagonia - (see our detailed review of Patagonia) - This company is sh**. Instead support Cabela's and Bass Pro Shops, Sportsman's Warehouse.
Camping World - Told fans who agree with Trump to shop elsewhere. For once we agree with a lefty company. Don't ever support this company! Instead support Cabela's and Bass Pro Shops, Sportsman's Warehouse.
REI Mountain Equipment - Cheif Customer Officer, Ben Steele joined other leftists in opposition of Georgia's much needed voting reforms. Dropped business with NRA -- Imagine a mountain equipment retailer being against guns! Instead support Cabela's and Bass Pro Shops, Sportsman's Warehouse. UPDATE: Karma strikes back big! The very radical left who REI supported, looted and ransacked their Santa Monica location during the George Floyd riots.
Foot Locker - 100% of party donations go to democrats. Giving 200 million dollars to black-owned businesses, black communities, will buy more black-owned brands, etc, thus discriminating against all other races. Race over merit. UPDATE: Karma strikes back! The very people who Foot Locker supports, regularly loot and destroy their stores. LOL
Dick's Sporting Goods - Anti-2nd Amendment. Instead support Cabela's and Bass Pro Shops, Sportsman's Warehouse.
FOOTWEAR
Nike (also Jordan Brand, Foamposite, Converse) - (see our detailed review of Nike) - Despicable anti-American company. Consider other bands such as NewBalance, Dr. Scholls, Denali, etc.
Converse (owned by Nike) - Honors 11-year old drag queen in advertisements.
Adidas - (also owns Salomon shoes, Taylormade golf, Maxfli) Unapologetically supports the Marxist hate group Black Lives Matter right at the top of their website in bold letters. They are so rabidly obsessed, that their shoes play second fiddle to BLM! Consider other bands such as NewBalance, Dr. Scholls, Denali, etc.
Tom's Shoes - Donated $100,000 to the Marxist hate group Black Lives Matter and other organizations "fighting for racial justice", thus reinforcing the lie of systemic racism in America.
Keen Shoes - Pushing leftist nonsense: Global warming hysteria, systemic racism, diversity (AKA discrimination), supports the Marxist hate group Black Lives Matter.
Puma - Pushing the usual systemic racism nonsense. Donated in excess of 3 million dollars to "work on criminal justice reform" (AKA dismatle the justice system) and for "issues affecting the LGBTQIA+ community".
Doc Martin - Donated to the Marxist hate group Black Lives Matter and other race mongering groups in order to "fix" systemic racism.
Foot Locker - See under "Camping / Sports"
Deckers - Donated $500,000 to organizations including the Marxist hate group Black Lives Matter.
CLOTHING
Under Armour - Required white employees to watch racist anti-white "training" videos. Pulled out of the Trump manufacturing group. CEO voiced opposition to Georgia's much needed voting reform law.
Nordstrom - Dropped Ivanka Trump's line. In Minneapolis, Nordstrums was handing out black lives matter signs, thus promoting Marxism. Opposed Georgia's much needed voting reform bill. UPDATE: Karma strikes back. The very radical left who Nordstrum supports have looted and ransacked their stores during the George Floyd riots, as well as on 8/9/2020 during the Chicago looting spree.
Burlington Coat factory - Removed Ivanka Trump products from their website. Joined other leftists via CivicAlliance's opposition to Gerogia's voting integrity bill, along with other Republican bills.
Gucci - Donated half a million dollars to a gun control rally. UPDATE: Karma strikes back. The very radical left who Gucci supports have looted and ransacked their stores during the George Floyd riots, as well as during the 8/9/2020 Black Lives Matter looting spree in Chicago.
Neiman Marcus - Removed Ivanka Trump's products from their website. UPDATE: Karma strikes back. The very radical left who Neiman Marcus supports have looted and ransacked their stores during the George Floyd riots.
Macy's - Pulled Ivanka Trump's line after Trump won. UPDATE: Karma strikes back. The very radical left who Macy's supports have looted and ransacked their stores during the George Floyd riots as well as during the 8/9/2020 Chicago black lives matter looting spree.
Belk - Removed Ivanka Trump's products from their website.
Marshall's - Removed Ivanka Trump signs inside their stores.
T.J. Maxx (also owns Sierra Trading Post, Marshall's, Home Goods, Home Sense) - Donating $10 million to organizations such as the NAACP in order to "support racial justice and equity", thus promoting the false narrative of systemic racism. Removed Ivanka Trump signs advertising Ivanka Trump merchandise. UPDATE: Karma strikes back. The very radical left who T.J. Maxx supports have looted and ransacked their Santa Monica store during the George Floyd riots.
Shoes.com - Dropped Ivanka Trump's line. UPDATE: Now bankrupt!
Deisel - Took stand against Trump's wall.
Abercrombie & Fitch (also Hollister, Gilly Hicks) - CEO joined other leftists in opposition to Georgia's much needed voting reform law.
Hollister - Pushing racial discrimination & social justice hysteria and pushing to make kindergarten and elementary schools inclusive of LBGTQ.
Levi Strauss - CEO, Chip Bergh joined other leftists in opposition of Georgia's much needed voting reforms. Donated $100,000 to the ACLU and $100,000 to Live Free USA (an organization working to end incarceration). Along with leftist Michael Bloomberg, donated 1 million dollars to anti-gun groups. Headquartered in the fascist city of San Francisco, which we automatically boycott.
Calvin Klein - 100% of company donations go to Democrat party.
Estee Lauder - 95% of its contributions go to Democrats. Joined other leftists in opposition of much needed voting integrity bills.
Kenneth Cole - CEO joined other leftists in opposition of much needed voting integrity bills.
Guess - 98% of its contributions go to Democrats.
HSN - Stopped selling the Trump Home line of home furnishings.
ShopStyle - Stopped selling Ivanka Trump line.
L. L. Bean - This company flipped and went full Democrat in 2018.
Columbia Sportswear - Obsessed with racism. Preaches the lie of systemic racism in America, donated to the NAACP legal defense fund (but not to the ACLJ), rushed to endorse Bubba Wallace.
H&M - Donated $500,000 to NAACP, ACLU and Color of Change, thus excluding people of other skin pigmentations.
Ganni - Donated $100,000 to the Marxist hate group Black Lives Matter, the NAACP, and the ACLU.
Everlane - Donated $75,000 to the Equal Justice Initiative and the ACLU. Promotes the Marxist hate group Black Lives Matter. Headquartered in the fascist city of San Francisco, which we automatically boycott.
Gap brands (Athleta, Banana Republic, Old Navy, Gap) - Donated $250,000 to the NAACP and Embrace Race (which dangerously reinforces in children the notion of racial division and the need for wealth distribution). Picking employees based on black skin pigmentation rather than merit.
Spanx - Donated $200,000 to the Marxist hate group Black Lives Matte, the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund and The Minnesota Freedom Fund (bailing criminals out of jail).
For Love and Lemons - Raised $90,000 for the Marxist hate group Black Lives Matter, The Bail Project, the ACLU and the NAACP Legal Defense Fund.
TechStyle Fashion Group - Donated $150,000 to the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, the ACLU and to the Marxist hate group Black Lives Matter.
SCOTTeVEST - Pulled advertising from Tucker Carlson for supporting merit-based immigration.
Balance Athletica - Donated $30,000 to two organizations that futher the hysterical narrative of racial injustice.
Aritzia - "Stands in solidarity with"the Marxist hate group Black Lives Matter. In support of Jacob Blake they closed all of their US stores for one day. Investing 1 million dollars "to expand and strengthen our Diversity and Inclusion Program here at Aritzia", thus discriminating against people of other skin pigmentations who might otherwise be more qualified.
CatBirdNYC - Rabidly supports the Marxist hate group Black Lives Matter and the lie about sytemic racism.
LuluLemon - Donated $100,000 to the Minnesota Freedom Fund (to bail people out of jail) Also donated $250,000 to groups including the NAACP, the Marxist hate group Black Lives Matter and Reclaim the Block.
Tory Burch - Joined other leftists in opposition of much needed voting integrity bills.
Richer Poorer - Joined other leftists in opposition of much needed voting integrity bills.
Everlane - Founder joined other leftists in opposition of voting integrity bills.
Marc Jacobs - Supports the Marxist hate group Black Lives Matter. UPDATE: The very Marxists that Marc Jacobs supports, looted their Beverly Hills store.
American Eagle - Pledged to $500,000 to the NAACP Legal Defense Fund.
Fabletics - Donated to the ACLU.
Stitch Fix - Pulled advertising from Laura Ingram for criticizing David Hogg.
SPORTS
NFL - Anti-American, racist, race-mongering, political organization. Dumping 250 million dollars into criminal justice reform (AKA dismantling the justice system), police reforms (AKA defund the police, preventing police from policing), and economic and educational advancement (AKA only advancement for people based on skin pigmentations). To fool people, the NFL gave it a happy name "Inspire Change". If you watch the NFL then don't pay for NFL Network or buy NFL clothing. If you insist on going to games then sneak in your own food and drink. Put less money into the pockets of these Marxists.
NBA - Filled with rabidly racist players who hate Trump. Separate-but-equal black anthem. Hypocritical apologists for Chinese slave labor. Lebron shuts up and dribbles for China.
WNBA - Loudly and obnoxiously support the Marxist hate group Black Lives Matter. Atlanta Dream players pushed to get Kelly Loeffler out of office by actively supporting radical opponent, Raphael Warnock.
Major League Baseball - MLB is a Democrat party aligned league. In a blatant attack on Republicans and fair elections, MLB pulled the all-star game out of Georgia after the state made much needed voting reforms to stamp out fraud (voter ID required, restrictions on voting by mail, etc). Hypocritically, MLB requires ID to pick up tickets! MLB's commissioner reportedly made the decision after consulting with Stacey Abrams, LeBron James and Rev. Al Sharpton. MLB also openly supports the Marxist hate group Black Lives Matter.
PGA, LPGA - PGA pulled out of having the PGA Championship at Trump Bedminster in New Jersey. Moment of silence to honor armed robber George Floyd, and supports the Marxist hate group Black Lives Matter.
USA Women's National Soccer Team - Do not represent America. Kneeling, removing "United" from "United States" on their uniforms, preaching BLM hate while falsely claiming to be apolitical, etc. Just a national embarrassment. Hopefully the Olympics are just cancelled.
USA Men's National Soccer Team - Do not represent America. Openly supports the Marxist hate group Black Lives Matter on their uniforms, endorses the vile company Nike, perpetuates the lie of systemic racism in police and in everyday life, then laughably claim that they are "not political". Just a national embarrassment. Hopefully the Olympics are just cancelled.
NHL - Shamelessly kneeling for the national anthem in order to further the false narrative that America is systemically racist.
XFL - Allow kneeling for the national anthem. Obviously the prisoners are running this prison too.
Major League Soccer - Openly supports the Marxist hate group Black Lives Matter.
Premier League - Players wear a "No Room For Racism badge" on their shirts and kneel in acknowledgment of the Marxist hate group Black Lives Matter.
NCAA - Allow social justice messages on jerseys, thus promoting racism, division and false narratives. Kneeling for the national anthem.
NASCAR - Has become a microcosm of the Democrat party.
NWSL (women's soccer) - Openly supports the Marxist hate group Black Lives Matter.
MLL - Allowed 4 black players to hijack the national anthem to promote the Marxist hate group Black Lives Matter, then the entire league capitulated.
Formula 1 - Racers supporting the Marxist hate group Black Lives Matter, spreading lies about systemic racism, blah blah blah.
StubHub - Tod Cohen, General Council for StubHub is an anti-Trump propagandist.
GAMING
EA Games - Supportsthe Marxist hate group Black Lives Matter by donating 1 million dollars to "the fight for racial justice in the U.S. and against discrimination around the world."
Nintendo - Supports the Marxist hate group Black Lives Matter.
Pokemon - Supports the Marxist hate group Black Lives Matter.
Scopely - Donated 1 million dollars to the Marxist hate group Black Lives Matter, the NAACP and others.
UbiSoft - Donated $100,000 to the NAACP and the Marxist hate group Black Lives Matter.
Play Station - Released a black lives matter theme for Play Station 4, thus legitimizing the Marxist hate group.
Square Enix - Donated $250,000 in addition to matching employee donations to the Marxist hate group Black Lives Matter and other charities.
Niantic - Donating 10 million dollars to Black Lives Matter causes. BLM is a Marxist hate group.
Insomniac Games - Against Trump's travel ban.
Sony, Mojang (Minecraft) - See our description of Sony under our "Tech" category.
ThatGameCompany - Donated $20,000 to the NAACP and the Marxist hate group Black Lives Matter.
Bungee - Donated to the Equal Justice Initiative, which works to "end mass incarceration, excessive punishment, and racial inequality" (AKA the left's dangerous goal of tearing down the justice system), promotes the Marxist hate group Black Lives Matter via Destiny 2 items.
Devolver Digital - Donated $65,000 in support of the Marxist hate group Black Lives Matter.
Pokemon Co. - Donating $100,000 to the Marxist hate group Black Lives Matter.
Sony - (See under Computer Hardware / Software)
DATING / MEETING
Tinder / OKCupid- Does not offer race-based filters. News alert: It's not 'racist' to have racial dating preferences. Blocked Mozilla Firefox when Mozilla's then CEO Brendan Eich opposed gay marriage. Donating money to causes related to the Black Lives Matter Marxist hate group movement.
Tinder - Run by anti-Trump propagandist(s)Zoosk - Stands with the Marxist hate group Black Lives Matter, and donated $5,000 to the NAACP.
Bumble - Supports the Marxist hate group Black Lives Matter, committed 1 million dollars to the NAACP, the Southern Poverty Law Center, etc. Does not offer race-based filters. News alert: It's not 'racist' to have racial dating preferences.
Grindr - In response to the Black Lives Matter Marxist hate group movement, Grindr removed race-based filters. News alert: It's not 'racist' to have racial dating preferences.
Meetup - CEO is anti-Trump. Alt-left site that created #Resist meetup groups to resist Trump.
PHARMACY / DRUGS / HEALTH CARE
Merck - Donald Trump has specifically called for a boycott of this obnoxious left-wing company! Merck's CEO Ken Frazier is a never-Trumper. Frazier quit President Donald Trump's council of manufacturing, based on the Charlottesville lie, falsely accusing Trump of "intolerance and extremism". In response Trump Tweeted "Now that Ken Frazier of Merck Pharma has resigned from President's Manufacturing Council, he will have more time to LOWER RIPOFF DRUG PRICES!" Merck affiliates donated 5.5 times more money to Biden than to Trump
Pfizer (including Chapstick, Robitussin, Advil, Bextra, Celebrex, Diflucan, Lyrica, Viagra, Preparation-H, etc) - Withheld positive vaccine trial results for weeks until after the 2020 election clearly in order to hurt Trump. Informed Biden campaign before Trump administration. CEO Albert Bourla was irrirated when Trump said a vaccine rollout announcement might come before the election and bothered over it "looking like" Trump developed his company's vaccine. Pfizer affiliates donated 3.5 times more to Biden than Trump. Pulled Robitussin advertising from Tucker Carlson for supporting merit-based immigration. Pfizer took jabs at Trump in a program that aired on Nat Geo. Use alternate products whenever possible. Do not support this left-wing company.
Johnson & Johnson - Pulled advertising from Laura Ingram for criticizing David Hogg. Opposed Georgia's much needed voting reform bill.
Eli Lilly & Company - Opposed Georgia's much needed voting reform bill.
Jenny Craig - Pulled advertising from Laura Ingram for criticizing David Hogg.
Miracle-Ear - Pulled advertising from Laura Ingram for criticizing David Hogg.
Takeda Pharmaceuticals (makers of Entyvio) - Pulled advertising from Tucker Carlson for supporting merit-based immigration.
SmileDirectClub - Pulled advertising from Tucker Carlson for supporting merit-based immigration.
Zenni Optical - Pulled advertising from Tucker Carlson for supporting merit-based immigration.
Blue Cross / Blue Shield - Opposed Republican-backed legislation to repair Michigan's broken voting system. Stopped all donations to all Republicans who voted against the certification of Joe Biden. Woke Super Bowl commercial calling for women to be given 50% of 'the stage' -- instead of hiring based on merit.
Cleveland Clinic - Discriminates based on race. Wants to give 1 million jobs to one group of people based on their skin pigmentation.
Warby Parker - Donated 1 million dollars to "fight systemic racism", thus furthering the lie of systemic racism in America.
UnitedHealth Group - Furthering the left's anti-police narrative. Donated to George Floyd's children. NO donations to children of fallen police officers.
Kaiser Permanente - Ran a commercial featuring a drag queen teaching children.
Nature's Bounty Vitamins - It's time to start picking off companies that sponsor left-wing, anti-Trump propaganda programs like CBS This Morning. Buy other brands and shop with a politically neutral store such as iherb.com.
Henry Ford Health Systems - Opposed Republican-backed legislation to repair Michigan's broken voting system.
BEAUTY
Sephora - Sephora cancelled all future partnerships and cut ties with beauty influencer Amanda Ensing for being a conservative. Shop at Walgreens, Overstock, BigLots, or CVS instead.
Honesty Beauty - Founded by Hollywood leftist Jessica Alba. Donated $100,000 to the NAACP Legal Defense Fund and the Equal Justice Initiative. Shop at Walgreens, Overstock, BigLots, or CVS instead.
Anastasia Beauty - Donated 1 million dollars to various SJW groups including the Marxist hate group Black Lives Matter, The NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund, Black Visions Collective, and The Marshall Project. Shop at Walgreens, Overstock, BigLots, or CVS instead.
Glossier - Donating $500,000 to organizations that are "focused on combating racial injustice," and $500,000 to black-owned beauty brands (thus discriminating against brands owned by people of other skin pigmentations). Shop at Walgreens, Overstock, BigLots, or CVS instead.
FITNESS
Strava - Up is down, and left is right at Strava. The leftist co-founders of Strava were 'deeply disturbed' by a few outlier protesters at the capitol and predictably blame Trump, but have absolutely no problem with months and months of BLM / ANTIFA rioting rioters, who they claim "peacefully demonstrated". Then these 'woke' co-founders laughably and arrogantly declared "This is not about politics". It's no surprise that this company is headquartered in the fascist city of San Francisco.
Peloton - Joined other leftists in opposition of much needed voting integrity bills. Donated $500,000 to the NAACP Legal Defense Fund and encouraged others to donate to the Marxist hate group Black Lives Matter.
Bowflex - Pulled advertising from Tucker Carlson for supporting merit-based immigration.
Nautilus - Dropped sponsorship of Tucker Carlson for supporting merit-based immigration.
Whoop - Donated $20,000 to the Equal Justice Initiative. Is working to "improve diversity" (AKA hiring based on race rather than merit), and working to "promote racial justice", thus furthering the lie of systemic racism in America.
Fitbit (owned by Google) - Donated to the Marxist hate group Black Lives Matter and the anti-police-terror project.
Crossfit - CEO Eric Roza joined other leftists in opposition of much needed voting integrity bills.
LARGE APPLIANCES
(No brainer: Buy Whirlpool brands)
General Electric - GE is majority owned by the Chinese company, Haier. GE cut off funding to Republicans who support Trump. GE opposed Georgia's much needed voting reform bill. Cut off purchases of GE appliances! We like Whirpool, which also owns Maytag, KitchenAid, Consul, Brastemp, Amana, Bauknecht, Jenn-Air, Roper, Indesit and other major brand names. Whirlpool is headquatered in Berrien County, Michigan, where 53.7% voted for Trump in 2020.
OTHER COMPANIES, INDIVIDUAL PRODUCTS
Ancestry.com - Pulled advertising from Tucker Carlson for supporting merit-based immigration. There are numerous other companies that do DNA testing and for probably much cheaper.
23andMe - Donated to the Marxist hate group Black Lives Matter.
Hallmark Cards - Took sides against Josh Hawley (R) and Roger Marshall (R) by asking them to return campaign donations to Hallmark's PAC, and said that Hawley and Marshall "do not reflect [Hallmark's] values". Boycott Hallmark because of their left-wing agenda.
PaperSource - Joined other leftists in opposition of much needed voting integrity bills.
Seventh Generation - Joined other leftists in opposition of much needed voting integrity bills.
Newell Brands - Joined other leftists in opposition of much needed voting integrity bills.
Steelcase office furniture - Joined other leftists in opposition of much needed voting integrity bills.
Warby Parker - Joined other leftists in opposition of much needed voting integrity bills.
Zola - Joined other leftists in opposition of much needed voting integrity bills.
Guggenheim Museum, NY - Disrespected Melania Trump.
DOW Chemical - Stopped donations to Republicans who voted to object to the certification of Joe Biden (two years for House Republilcans and up to 6 years for Republican Senators).
Keurig Coffee Machines - Pulled advertising from Sean Hannity for supporting Roy Moore (R) for Senate and for supporting the presumption of innocence. Joined other leftists in opposition of Georgia's much needed voting integrity bill. Destroy your Keurig machine.
Martha Stewart's crap - 99% of contributions go to Democrats. Martha does a commercial with rabid Trump-hater, Snoop Dog.
Mattress Firm - Stopped selling My Pillow products.
Mattel - Furthering the false narrative of systemic racism in America. Plans to discriminate more based on skin pigmentation. Donated $250,000 to the NAACP.
Monster Company (owns Beats Headphones) - Partners with Colin Kaepernick and Bubba Wallace. 'nuff said.
The Bouqs - $20,000 to Campaign Zero, "an organization devoted to ending police brutality" which we all know really means they're just plain anti-law & order because systemic racism in police is a lie.
Lego (toys) - Sided against police by pulling advertising for police related toys and donated 4 million dollars to "fight racism", including donations to children based on skin pigmentation.
Eaze - $25,000 donation to the NAACP.
Lokai products - Supports the Marxist hate group Black Lives Matter right at the top of their website.
Magla Products (Stanley tools, Mr. Clean) - 100% of its contributions go to Democrats.
Matchstick Ventures - Plans to hire based on skin pigmentation rather than merit. Plans to invest in companies simply because they are led by founders or founding team members who are black instead of merit.
Printify - Dropped allowing Kyle Rittenhouse's family from selling "Free Kyle" merchandise.
Jennifer De Chiara Literary Agency - Fired an employee for having Gab and Parler accounts. Jennifer De Chiara is evidently a bigot who is offended by free speech, yet hypocritically and arrogantly claims to believe in "unity" and "equality"! Let's hope her little company gets sued.
Gibson Guitars - CEO James 'JC' Curleigh signed a petition started by not so nonpartisan group Civic Alliance.
Melville House - Torturing terrorists works! But Melville House is at odds with Trump over treatment of terrorists.
Cards Against Humanity - Launched a campaign to buy border land to resist Trump's wall.
Nielsen Holdings - If you thought that a TV ratings company is unbiased, you would be wrong. Nielsen Holdings CEO, David Kenny joined other leftists in opposition of Republican's voting integrity bills.
WEBSITES (that might fool some)
Snopes.com - Self-promoted as a "fact-checking site" is actually a liberal mouth piece.
Wikipedia - Founder is an anti-Trump propagandist. Wiki is financially supported in part by grants from left-leaning foundations. Writers are left-wing propagandists who use other leftists and left-wing outlets as "sources". Wiki tries to further left-wing agendas such as anthropogenic global warming hysteria, anti-conservative narratives, lying by omission regarding hydroxychloroquine, etc. Click here for further details. Use conservapedia.com instead!
Politifact - Self-promoted as a "fact-checking site" is actually a liberal mouth piece.
RationalWiki.org - A very irrational far left-wing comedy site. Use conservapedia.com instead!
Merriam-Webster - Left-wing dictionary. Spends their time on Twitter resisting Trump. Added one of the definitions of the word "preference" to include "offensive" in order to fall in line with leftists who get offended if anyone claims that being LBGTQ is a choice. Defined "color-blind" as having a racist connotation, thus flying in the face of Martin Luther King. And Merriam-Webster actually defines global warming as "widely predicted to occur due to [humans]", thus furthering the lie that the debate is over and the science is settled.
Urbandictionary.com - Run by woke leftists.
ORGANIZATIONS
League of Conservative Voters - Far-left liberal group that donates heavily to democrat party and pushes the usual race-card BS, climate change nonsense, etc.
Lincoln Project - Laughably claims to be run by Republicans. It is obvious that this anti-Trump propaganda organization is either run by Democrats and/or RINO Republicans.
SAG-AFTRA - Left-wing political union. Wants to discipline / expel Trump.
Consumer Federation of America - Anti-NRA.
League of Women Voters of the U.S. - Anti-NRA group. Remember, organizations claiming to be just women's organizations are always Democrat women's organizations.
Girl Scouts - Capitulated to the Democrat mob when they took down a tweet congratulating ACB. The self-censoring women running Girl Scouts are absolutely ignorant and cowardly -- not courageous and confident, as they purport to build such character in young girls.
Boys & Girls Clubs of America - Opposed Georgia's much needed voting reform bill.
AARP - Supports gun control and Obama Care. Instead join AMAC.
The Ford Foundation - Opposed Georgia's much needed voting reform bill.
Anti-Defamation League - Politicized organization. Deafening silence or weak response to CNN and MSNBC figures, Ice Cube and others comparing Trump to Hitler. Weak defense of Trump. Called Trump a "troubling political figure", paroted media crafted hysteria about Trump regarding enforcing immigration laws, etc.
The Ad Council - CEO Lisa Sherman of this non-profit signed a petition started by the not so nonpartisan group Civic Alliance.
Edward R. Murrow Lifetime Achievement Award - Leftists patting each other on the back. Useless award for left-wing propagandists like Lester Holt.
CivicAlliance.com - We view as just another left-wing political action group disguised as "nonpartisan". Read our review of this group.
Aside from the obvious propaganda outlets such as CNN, MSNBC, CBS, ABC, NBC, NY Times, Wash Post, etc, here are perhaps less obviouis left-wing mouthpieces:
NPR - Left-wing. Just one of endless examples.
New England Journal of Medicine - The once respected medical journal has become infected by left-wing politics. NEJOM called for Trump to be voted out.
Forbes - Despite being listed as a "right-center bias" site by MediaBiasFactCheck, Forbes showed their true colors when they deleted Michael Shellenberger piece that debunked climate change alarmism. And Forbes Magazine is compiling a list of companies that hire former Trump administration officials in order to encourage people to boycott those companies until they're fired.
PBS - Left-wing.
Market Watch - Virtually all writers are 'woke' never-Trumpers based in blue cities like NYC, Los Angeles, etc. Site is click bait hysteria anyway -- Like the National Enquirer of "business news" sites. Instead buy, hold and rebalance index funds, and ignore the day to day news, as Peter Lynch recommends.
Discovery Channel - CEO, David Zaslav joined other leftists in opposition of Georgia's much needed voting reforms via the not so nonpartisan group Civic Alliance.
ESPN - Taking left-wing political stands instead of just doing sports. 80% owned by the left-wing Walt Disney Company.
HBO - No longer a movie channel, but a democrat party propaganda channel. Owned by the left-wing ViacomCBS.
ShowTime - No longer a movie channel, but a democrat party propaganda channel. Sh--Time. Owned by the left-wing ViacomCBS.
Comedy Central - No longer comedy -- Now "Democrat Central". Owned by the left-wing ViacomCBS.
NatGeo - Air propaganda shows with one-sided global warming agendas, virtue signaling shows, has shows designed to persuade viewers to reject the death penalty. Aired a show about North Korea, in which they portrayed Trump trying to negotiate peace with Kim Jong-un as a bad thing (AKA "coddling a dictator"). Honored leftists such as Greta Thunberg, race-monger Amanda Gorman, and Parkland anti-gun activist Emma Gonazalez for "women's history month". Attacked Trump in their vaccine documentary. 73% owned by the left-wing Walt Disney Company.
QVC - Dropped Ivanka Trump products from its website.
HSN - Dropped My Pillow because Mike Lindell supports Trump.
The Shopping Channel - Dropped My Pillow because Mike Lindell supports Trump.
Shop HQ - Stopped selling My Pillow products because CEO Mike Lindell questioned the integrity of the 2020 election.
AP - Associated press is a left-wing media outlet that has a policy of capitalizing the word "black" but not the word "white" when referring to racial groups. When Yahoo reposts AP stories, that's when you know that AP is left-wing.
Bleacher Report - Left-Wing Politics Report.
SB Nation - Left-Wing Politics Nation.
TheScore - The Left-Wing Politics.
Scientific American - Turning science into shameless left-wing politics. Prime example: Racist dog whistle article essentially calling for violence in order to "fix systemic racism".
Lancet Medical Journal - Endorsed an anti-hydroxychloroquine 'study' that wasn't peer reviewed, then later retracted their endorsement. It reasons that the people at Lancet must be either incompetent or willfully deceptive. One can't help but wonder if this blunder was purposeful to hurt Trump -- which if true, would have been at the expense of lives.
DrudgeReport - If you haven't gotten the memo by now, this once centrist news link site has collapsed into just another left-wing propaganda site no different than CNN or MSNBC. Matt Drudge is a Trump-hating lefty. Instead use Populist.press, CitizenFreePress.com or TheLibertyDaily.com
Yahoo Sports / Finance (also under Verizon) - Mouthpiece of the far-left. Their 'news' articles are obvious far-left-wing propaganda, but so are their sports and finance articles. In advance of the 2020 election, Yahoo removed the comment section below their propaganda articles so that readers cannot fact check them or voice dissenting opinions. Use TheLibertyDaily, CitizenFreePress, Populist.press for news aggregator sites. Use 4conservative or qWant.com for general searches. Use this list for individual news sites.
Click here for a small list of good companies that we like.
Grading the election pollsters.
For a list of companies that support planned parenthood use this site.
Article: Why masks, lockdowns and outdoor dining bans don't help in stopping the spread of COVID-19
Article: The Debunking of anthropogenic climate change
Article: How liberals change language in order to control the debate
FAQ -- CONTACT -- FOLLOW US ON: MINDS - GAB
BTC
Mastercard Now Requires 'Documented Consent' From Adult Sites
Sat, 17 Apr 2021 13:52
Mastercard just changed its rules for adult sites, announcing that it will require "clear, unambiguous and documented consent" for content on all of the platforms using it as a payment processor.
The company announced the new rules in a blog post on Wednesday. "The banks that connect merchants to our network will need to certify that the seller of adult content has effective controls in place to monitor, block and, where necessary, take down all illegal content," John Verdeschi, Mastercard's senior vice president of customer engagement and performance, wrote.
Other requirements will include "documented age and identity verification for all people depicted and those uploading the content; content review process prior to publication; complaint resolution process that addresses illegal or nonconsensual content within seven business days; and appeals process allowing for any person depicted to request their content be removed."
The company blamed smartphones and fast Wi-Fi that make uploading images easy'--which have been around for at least a decade'--for making this change now. But payment processors have a long history of discrimination and hostility toward sex work.
The latest major example of this kind of discrimination came in December, when Visa, Mastercard, and Discover all revoked services from Pornhub following claims about sex trafficking on the platform from a New York Times opinion piece that's been used by anti-porn extremists to further their message against the adult industry. This decision to cut off Pornhub hurt many of the performers using the platform as a source of income. When platforms go down or stop allowing adult content, it inevitably puts the people using those sites at more risk for exploitation.
Since December, Pornhub has enacted stricter rules around what gets uploaded, and is working with third party organizations to keep non-consensual and child abuse imagery off the platform. While PayPal, Square, Stripe and Apple Pay haven't allowed merchants to use their services to pay for firearms for years, last year Mastercard was the branded card for Cabelas, a store that sells an array of assault weapons.
It's not clear from Verdeschi's announcement how the company plans to treat the many social media and retail websites that work with Mastercard and sell adult content, but aren't strictly "adult sites," such as Amazon or Etsy.
Mastercard did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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OTG
Death of the newsroom: End of journalism as we know it - Press Gazette
Fri, 16 Apr 2021 11:55
This article first appeared in Reaction.
This may come across as a clich(C) but it's true: I became a journalist because I watched a film about a couple of journalists bringing down the most powerful man in the world without firing a gun.
I refer of course to All the President's Men, the movie and the book had me hooked. It wasn't, though, just the sight of Dustin Hoffman and Robert Redford working in tandem or seeing how the real-life Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward pieced together the jigsaw that would topple President Richard Nixon. It was their interaction and the way they would discuss, plan, collaborate, with their colleagues, young and old.
Their working environment seemed to be imbued with a team spirit, a chemistry, a bonding that was magnetic. Years later, I was not disappointed: the newsrooms of the Sunday Times, Daily Express, Sunday Express, Independent, Independent on Sunday, Observer, Evening Standard '' all places where I hung my metaphorical trilby and grubby raincoat, leaned back in the chair, put worn soles up on the table and lobbed paper balls into a wastebasket '' were the same as theirs. And they were brilliant.
So to read that Reach, owners of the Mirror, Express, Star and more than 100 regional titles, is planning on closing most of its newsrooms so that staff will in future work remotely from home or over a laptop in a coffee bar, and venture into the office only for occasional meetings, is genuinely upsetting news.
I'm all for technological progress, but this really is a case where something profound is being lost. It says that those at the top of the organisation '' even the very name Reach conveys a message, no longer implying the transmission of news but just as easily applying to the selling of advertising '' don't get it. They don't understand. They don't know what it's like to be on the floor when a major story breaks, when everyone literally stops what they're doing and gathers round the TV screens and within seconds orders are being barked, stories spiked, running orders changed, reporters and photographers dispatched, and sheer adrenaline takes hold.
They will say that I betray my age, that not so much appears in print these days so you can forget a front page having to be redrawn. That's as may be, but news websites still have priorities and headlines '' everything needs to be urgently rejigged.
The newsroom is much more than covering the occurrence of a terrorist outrage or disaster or some political storm. It's about a buzz, an intangible chemistry, an intoxicating smell, of people, young and old, sparking off each other, sharing ideas and leads, bits of information and yes, having a gossip and a laugh. It's the media equivalent of the City trading floor and the football changing room. It's where ''it'' happens.
Reach says management has surveyed the workforce and they've said they're perfectly happy being at home. To which my response is that they would of course say that.
Let's face it, in the last year, hands up who has missed the daily commute? This isn't about the daily grind, as bad as that is. Neither does it concern digital platforms that have never had a collective hub, which is how we're meant to refer to large, open offices. They're set up differently and to their credit the more enlightened are doing their best to try and inculcate tomorrow's journalists with student and trainee programmes.
No, I am talking about newspapers. This announcement from Reach marks another dip in the downward path of the newspaper.
Call me old-fashioned, and Reach and others certainly will, but I refuse to budge. I can think of countless occasions when a news editor came over to my desk and murmured something or scribbled a message or asked me to look at something on the screen; when we've met quickly in a huddle and agreed a route forward; when someone has overheard a colleague and suggested they look at this or that. Many is the time I've pulled up a chair with a fellow reporter and joined forces, pooling notes, writing a piece, together. Don't tell me any of that can be replicated via WhatsApp or Zoom.
At the centre of this wonderful, vital space is the news editor and their assistants '' controlling, driving, monitoring. Everything revolves around ''the desk''. It's in everybody's sight, constantly. By looking across you can sense the mood, know if there's a big story breaking, pick up the vibe, feed off the energy. There is, too, the black humour, the sharp wit, the jibe that leavens even the bleakest moments.
It's possible to be critical and say there's no place for such behaviour, not in this age of woke. To which I would rejoinder and say it's all too easy when you're alone, in your spare room, to get lost in your thoughts, to let the misery pile up. Journalists deal with bad stuff, with graphic descriptions and horrible pictures. That's not to say it's not taken seriously, but sharing pain is better than having to cope on your own. We're human beings, we belong together.
Having run newspapers and dealt with the other side '' the non-editorial hierarchy '' I know how they think. I've had to impart tough news to newsrooms, to relay details of cuts, of redundancies and lack of pay rises. It's not easy, as addressing any shop floor with information it doesn't want to hear is not easy.
But journalists are also not afraid to challenge, to ask awkward questions '' that's what they do for a living. Managements dread it, they hate having to stand there and deal with people who are articulate and quick thinkers and no respecters of status. It's uncomfortable '' which is why they make the editor do their dirty work. Reach's leaders will be all too aware that pressing ''send'' to distant, invisible, scattered workers is a much more amenable experience.
Make no mistake. Something profound is being lost and we will be the poorer for it.
Chris Blackhurst is a writer, commentator and strategic communications adviser. He served as editor of the Independent from 2011 to 2013.
Picture: Telegraph/Eddie Mulholland
Ransomware Attack Creates Dutch Cheese Shortages | Threatpost
Fri, 16 Apr 2021 12:15
Not a Gouda situation: An attack on a logistics firm is suspected to be related to Microsoft Exchange server flaw.
An Easter weekend ransomware attack on a food-logistics firm in the Netherlands has caused shortages of prepackaged cheese in supermarkets across the country.
The largest Dutch grocery store chain had some bad news for a cheese-mad nation.
''Due to a technical malfunction, there is limited availability on the prepackaged cheese,'' the Netherlands' largest grocery chain, Albert Heijn, announced on its website.
Transport company Bakker Logistiek confirmed it was attacked, adding that store shelves would still get stocked, but things might move a bit slowly while they work through the cyber-incident.
''We can deliver less, but it does not lead to empty shelves in the store,'' Bakker Logistek director Toon Verhoeven said.
Microsoft Exchange Server AttacksIn a local media report spotted by Bitdefender, Verhoeven said he suspected the attackers gained a foothold through a Microsoft Exchange server vulnerability. That would make Bakker Logistek just the latest victim in an onslaught of attacks against Microsoft Exchange servers following the disclosure of the ProxyLogon group of security bugs.
Microsoft announced in early March it found several zero-day bugs being used to attack on-premises Microsoft Exchange servers that included full dumps of email boxes, lateral movement, APT attacks and more.
Not long after, ransomware was added to the list of tactics used in the attacks.
Bakker Logistiek was able to regain control of its systems, according to Bitdefender, which added that the company didn't comment on whether they paid the ransom or not.
Experts agree paying a ransom doesn't necessarily guarantee a positive outcome. Limor Kessem, executive security advisor for IBM Security, explained in a recent Threatpost roundtable focused on ransomware that in some instances paying the demand could even land a company in legal trouble if the ransom is paid to a group backed by a nation-state on a sanctions list.
It's a tangled mess for any company which falls victim to ransomware, but unfortunately, it's one Kessem explained is going to continue to be a problem until the security community can ''break the business model'' altogether.
At least cheese-deprived Dutch families got some ''Gouda'' news.
Ever wonder what goes on in underground cybercrime forums? Find out on April 21 at 2 p.m. ET during a FREE Threatpost event, ''Underground Markets: A Tour of the Dark Economy.'' Experts from Digital Shadows (Austin Merritt), Malwarebytes (Adam Kujawa) and Sift (Kevin Lee) will take you on a guided tour of the Dark Web, including what's for sale, how much it costs, how hackers work together and the latest tools available for hackers. Register here for the Wed., April 21 LIVE event.
Mary Beth Pfeiffer on Twitter: "The folks at YouTube, who think they know best, have updated their medical misinformation policy. IVM & HCQ are off the menu. Step out of line, censor cops strike. Legit medical debate is being squelched. Free spee
Sun, 18 Apr 2021 14:02
Mary Beth Pfeiffer : The folks at YouTube, who think they know best, have updated their medical misinformation policy. IVM & HCQ are off'... https://t.co/nErz6Ok61o
Wed Apr 14 15:56:13 +0000 2021
China
'China kon alle gesprekken van mobiele KPN-klanten afluisteren' | Binnenland | Telegraaf.nl
Sat, 17 Apr 2021 13:25
Huawei was in staat om zowel binnen KPN als vanuit China 'ongeautoriseerd, ongecontroleerd en ongelimiteerd KPN-mobiele nummers af te luisteren'', inclusief die van ministers, toenmalig minister-president Jan Peter Balkenende en Chinese dissidenten.
Afgetapte nummersTevens had Huawei inzicht in de database met afgetapte telefoonnummers. Dat is in strijd met de Telecommunicatiewet.
De bevindingen van het interne rapport waren zo explosief dat werd gevreesd voor het lot van KPN Mobiel als die zouden uitlekken. 'Het voortbestaan van KPN Mobiel is ernstig in gevaar omdat mogelijk vergunningen worden ingetrokken of overheid en bedrijfsleven hun vertrouwen in KPN opzeggen indien bekend wordt dat de Chinese overheid ongecontroleerd mobiele KPN-nummers kan afluisteren en het netwerk kan platleggen'', staat in het rapport.
'Geen indicatie'KPN zegt geen indicatie te hebben dat klanten in het verleden zijn afgeluisterd of dat Huawei klantgegevens heeft ontvreemd. Volgens het telecombedrijf heeft geen enkele leverancier 'ongeautoriseerde, ongecontroleerde en ongelimiteerde'' toegang tot de netwerken en systemen. Ook Huawei ontkent de aantijgingen met klem.
Volgens KPN is er 'in alle jaren nooit geconstateerd dat er door Huawei klantgegevens zijn ontvreemd uit onze netwerken, dan wel onze klantsystemen, of dat er is afgeluisterd.'' 'Als dat wel zo was geweest, hadden we de bevoegde autoriteiten en onze klanten hierover zeker ge¯nformeerd en maatregelen genomen richting de leverancier'', staat in een reactie.
RisicoanalyseDe risicoanalyse van Capgemini heeft er destijds wel toe geleid dat KPN een voorgenomen uitbesteding van het volledige onderhoud van zijn mobiele kernnetwerk niet heeft doorgezet. 'Ten aanzien van de geconstateerde risico's uit de analyse in de desbetreffende systemen en processen is in 2010 een verbeterplan opgesteld en direct uitgevoerd.''
KPN doet tot op de dag van vandaag dit onderhoud zelf, met ondersteuning van deskundigen van meerdere partijen. Volgens de telecomaanbieder gelden voor alle leveranciers, waaronder naast Huawei ook Ericsson en Nokia, dat zij moeten voldoen aan strikte veiligheidsrichtlijnen.
'Geen toegang'Huawei neemt in een reactie afstand van de in het artikel geschetste situatie. 'Huawei-medewerkers hebben geen ongeautoriseerde toegang gehad tot het netwerk en de data van KPN, noch gegevens onttrokken aan dat netwerk'', zo klinkt het. Huawei werkte onder de 'expliciete autorisatie'' van KPN. Daarbij waren de Huawei-medewerkers tijdelijk in dienst van KPN.
'De personen waarnaar het Volkskrant-artikel verwijst (de Huawei-medewerkers in dienst van KPN - red.), vielen naar ons inzicht in deze laatste categorie'', aldus de onderneming. 'De facto, werkten deze mensen dus voor KPN, wat de constateringen vanuit het rapport in een ander daglicht plaatst.''
Verder wijst Huawei erop dat in de vijftien jaar dat het bedrijf in Nederland actief is, het nog nooit door overheidsinstanties is aangesproken op ongeautoriseerd handelen. 'Dit terwijl het rapport kennelijk al meer dan tien jaar in het bezit is van de inlichtingendiensten'', aldus Huawei.
Lunch UpdateDagelijks tijdens de lunch een update van het belangrijkste nieuws.
Ongeldig e-mailadres. Vul nogmaals in aub.
Lees hier ons privacybeleid.
3 kids or more: Chinese researchers call to ABANDON birth limits to ensure immigration-fed US can't outperform Beijing by 2050 '-- RT World News
Sun, 18 Apr 2021 11:34
China must ''fully liberalize'' its birth-control policy to increase its labor force in the upcoming decades and compete with such countries as the US economically, a paper published by the People's Bank of China says.
Beijing should pay close attention to the fact that the country's birth rate is declining, while its population is aging fast, the researchers argued. The research, which was published this week by China's central bank as part of its working paper series, suggests that the country's main economic rival, the US, is undergoing "favorable changes" in working population rates, largely through mass immigration.
Based on statistics and forecasts by the United Nations '' which might even overestimate China's reproduction rate, according to the researchers '' the report suggests that in the next three decades, China's population will decrease by some 32 million people. At the same time, US may add 50 million people to its population by 2050.
Also on rt.com World population set to shrink rapidly triggering 'radical power shift', warns new bombshell report Furthermore, the researchers warned that China's labor force is set to shrink, while the US will see an expansion. And unlike China, the US will have the benefit of ''skilled immigration.''
While China had 70.6% of its population in the labor force as of 2019, compared with the US rate of 65.2%, that advantage is predicted to drop to 3.2 percentage points from 5.4 percentage points by 2035, the paper said. By 2050, the US will swing to a 1.3 percentage-point advantage over China in the labor-force rate, the authors predicted, adding:
For [China] to narrow the gap with the United States in the past four decades, it relied on cheap labor and huge numbers of people... What will we rely on in the next 30 years? This is worth our thoughts.
China's population is projected to reach its peak in 2030, with 1.46 billion people, but will drop to 1.4 billion in 2050, the researchers said, adding that the proportion of elderly people will continue to grow. They also warned that another economic rival, India, will soon have more working hands, as it's predicted to surpass China and become the world's most populous country around 2027.
Also on rt.com Illegal US border crossings surge to highest level in two DECADES The authors argued that China's government must quickly change its family-planning policies: ''Our country must clearly recognize the changes in the situation... firmly seize the precious time window, change concepts, comprehensively implement policies, and respond effectively.'' Beijing ''must fully liberalize childbirth'' allowing ''three births and above,'' the paper said.
In fact, women should be encouraged to have more babies, the researchers added, calling on both the government and society to create a ''good reproductive environment,'' improving childbirth, healthcare and school systems.
Earlier this year, China's Ministry of Public Security released a report that said the number of newborns in the country plummeted by 15% in 2020 amid the Covid-19 pandemic and increasing economic uncertainty.
The world's most populous nation has had restrictive child policies for decades. In 2013, the strict one-child policy was relaxed, with the state now allowing families to have a maximum of two children.
Also on rt.com So much for a Covid baby boom: A big drop in the number of kids being born shows what happens if you scare people about the future Think your friends would be interested? Share this story!
Single sheet of 4x8 plywood now costs more than $65 | Western Investor
Sun, 18 Apr 2021 12:06
As of April 9, a basic SPF (spruce, pine, fir) two-by-four cost a record high of $1,132 per thousand board feet, according to the Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development's weekly B.C. lumber price tracking.
This compares to an average of $532 a year ago and to $372 in pre-pandemic 2019. The price was up nearly $100 from a week earlier.
''A sheet of [4-foot by 8-foot] half-inch plywood costs $65 today. It was $51 a few days ago,'' said contractor Brian Barker of Sunshine Coast Roofing Ltd. on April 12, as he prepped a roof for more than 50 sheets of plywood.
A standard eight-foot 2x4 is now more than $7 after tax, he added.
The price of standard plywood panels hit $1,223 per thousand board feet on April 9, up from $1076 a week earlier and twice the price from a year ago.
And there appears little relief in sight.
In a podcast hosted by Canadian Forest Industries, Keta Kosman, owner of Madison's Lumber Reporter, said she is expecting the pace to continue for as much as the next couple of years - and not just because the pandemic sparked a boom in the repair and remodeling market. In 2020, millennials made up the largest cohort of first-time buyers for the first time, Kosman notes.
"So, we're now having a large demographic entering the housing market that has nothing to do with the pandemic. So, it's very positive [for lumber producers]," she said. "Definitely through this year, there will not be a slowdown, and potentially also through 2022.''
Lumber prices are now at all-time highs in both Canada and the US, and builders estimate the rising wood costs would nail an extra $10,000 to $20,000 onto the price of a new house.
"We do expect the lumber prices to stay quite elevated for quite a period of time," said Kevin Lee, CEO of the Canadian Home Builders' Association.
Russia
A pipeline deal could help end Putin's Ukraine war
Fri, 16 Apr 2021 13:07
The Russian-led conflict in eastern Ukraine's Donbas region and the construction of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline from Russia to Germany are the two most contentious issues on the Euro-Atlantic security agenda today. Each is at a dangerous impasse. Linking the two would broaden the space for negotiation and provide opportunities for potential trade-offs. This could lead to a resolution that would be in the interest of all parties.
The alternative is clear: a perpetuation of conflict. Russia is currently deploying more troops to its border with Ukraine. Efforts through the Minsk and Normandy processes to restore Ukrainian sovereignty over occupied east Ukraine have utterly failed. There is no prospect on the horizon for an end to the violence that has claimed an estimated 14,000 lives thus far.
US sanctions on Nord Stream 2 (NS2) have been effective to date in delaying completion of the project, but they do not come cost-free. Rather, they come at the price of straining US''German relations at a time when such ties need to be rebuilt. And, of course, NS2 sanctions also do further damage to US relations with Russia.
There may be opportunities for a new approach. Revulsion in Germany over the poisoning and imprisonment of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny has cast a shadow over NS2. This leverage will not last forever. The best place to deploy it is not in stopping NS2, whose harm to European energy security, thanks to concerted efforts by the EU and key partners such as Poland, has diminished in recent years. Rather, the leverage should be used to secure a much more important aim: Russia's withdrawal from eastern Ukraine.
There would, of course, be no war in eastern Ukraine without Russian instigation. Russian forces have no right to be there. But there they are. And there they will stay until the Kremlin determines it is in its interests to withdraw them. Nothing proposed thus far outweighs the Kremlin's desire to maintain its hold on the Donbas region as a pressure point on Ukraine. Putting NS2 on the table could change that.
NS2 is a prestige project for Putin. German relations hold a special place for him. It is hard to imagine the Kremlin not doing everything in its power to avoid the prospect of dismantling eleven billion dollars worth of NS2 pipe now in the Baltic.
Yet NS2 is not a done deal, despite being 95% completed. Even if Gazprom were able to circumvent sanctions and finish construction late this year as it intends, broader US sanctions imposed in December 2020 could, if enforced, block insurance and certification that would enable gas to actually flow.
NS2 has until now served the Kremlin's geopolitical purposes by creating a rift between Germany and the US and between Germany and other partners, such as Poland, the Baltic States, and Ukraine. But being in bed with Gazprom is an embarrassment for Germany after the poisoning of Navalny. Furthermore, the Greens oppose the project on environmental grounds and may well be in a position to kill it as part of a future government after German elections in September.
Recently, the European Parliament has again called for an end to the project. Even the French Minister for European Affairs has stated that NS2 could be scrapped as a response to the Navalny poisoning.
Given all this flack, the Kremlin may determine that ending its hold over the Donbas in return for securing agreement to allow NS2 to operate would be in its interest. NS2 is now poisoning Russian relations with Germany; there may be an appetite in the Kremlin to reverse that.
COVID-19 and the fall of energy prices have put serious financial burdens on Russia. The cost of the Donbas occupation might be something that the Kremlin, after seven years, may be interested in shedding. Given the devastated state of occupied Donbas, the Kremlin may see an advantage in its return to Kyiv's control, thus making it Ukraine's problem to fix.
Sanctions alone will not compel Russia to withdraw from eastern Ukraine. But relief of sanctions related to NS2 and the Donbas as part of a broader package leading to more normal economic relations with the West may serve the Kremlin's purposes.
The Kremlin may also see the inclusion of a few million voters from the currently occupied Donbas into the Ukrainian political system as an important plus. These voters could be expected to be more mindful than other Ukrainians of the need to take Russian interests into account.
Of course, the Kremlin would have to explain a policy shift on Ukraine to the Russian public. The Kremlin needs to avoid the optic of being seen as abandoning Russian-speaking ''compatriots.'' But opinion polls indicate that average Russians have become wary of foreign adventures. The Kremlin's PR machine is up to the task of spinning a deal as a victory for Russia, if so ordered.
NS2 at its core was always about diverting gas flows from Ukraine and cementing Russian-German energy and economic ties, not about major new Russian gas supplies for Europe. Following Russia's cutoff of gas flows through Ukraine in 2009, the EU and individual members like Poland took steps to address the threat of Russian efforts to dominate the European gas market. Poland, for example, has built significant LNG import facilities on its Baltic coast and is completing a gas pipeline with Norway. As a result, Poland is no longer at the mercy of Russia for its natural gas.
Ditte Juul-Jorgensen, Director General for Energy for the European Commission, stated flatly in February that the EU does not need the NS2 project to ensure security of natural gas supply. Rather, she noted that investments made over the past decade on LNG terminals, interconnectors, and storage had secured adequate gas supplies to meet EU needs without NS2. The accelerating push in the EU to transition to renewables under the Green Deal has also served to make the NS2 project even more of a redundancy.
The US was right to oppose NS2. But timing is everything. If the Trump administration had been serious about stopping NS2, it should have done so in summer 2017 when the Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions (CAATSA) legislation became law and NS2 construction had still not begun.
But the US missed the boat. Secretary Tillerson gave a pass to the NS2 project and that pass, in the form of State Department ''guidance'', remained in effect for years after he left. European energy companies, which at Gazprom's behest had put up five billion dollars to finance half of NS2 construction, were thus deprived of clear grounds upon which to exit.
Enter Congress, belatedly, which passed mandatory sanctions in December 2019 targeting pipe-laying vessels involved in NS2. The Swiss pipe-laying company Allseas immediately pulled out, halting the project. But by this time, NS2 was largely completed.
Meanwhile, the impasse in occupied east Ukraine has centered around the Kremlin's insistence on a federalized ''special status'' for the region. This would undermine Ukrainian statehood. For any deal to happen, the Kremlin will have to accept the decentralized status now in place in all regions of Ukraine as sufficient. That would be a major concession. Unless something more is put on the table, such as a green light for NS2 and better trade and economic prospects for Russia, there is no prospect the Kremlin will accept such terms.
Furthermore, the occupied territory should be turned over to OSCE interim administration. Following a reasonable interval, elections supervised by the OSCE should be held in the territory under Ukrainian law. Ukraine would then assume full control. Once that happens, the US would end sanctions on NS2 and the US and EU would end sanctions related to Russia's aggression in eastern Ukraine.
Germany's decision to move forward with NS2 even after Russian aggression in Crimea and the Donbas was a cynical move. It is therefore incumbent on Germany to help fix the mess they helped create. The Navalny poisoning should be a motivator. There is a precedent: German diplomacy played a constructive role in late 2019 in helping Ukraine obtain guaranteed volumes for transit of Russian gas for the subsequent five years. Germany should reaffirm its commitment to ensure that significant volumes of gas would continue to transit Ukraine after NS2 is online.
Getting Donbas back on its terms would be a big win for Ukraine. Naftogaz would suffer from a drop in gas transit revenue when NS2 comes online, but it is already adjusting for that. Indeed, the natural gas relationship with Russia has been such a source of corruption in Ukraine since independence that a lessening of these ties is far from all bad. Germany and the EU should also pledge to explore using the Ukrainian gas transit system as a future conduit for hydrogen gas, as that source is developed. That would soften the financial blow.
If all countries were led by angels, there would be no need for diplomacy. Demanding that the Kremlin do what is right, but without making it worth their while, will lead nowhere except to a perpetuation of conflict. The current spike in tension in eastern Ukraine makes the danger clear and threatens to torpedo potential progress in other vital areas in US-Russian relations, such as arms control. It is time for a new paradigm.
A potential NS2-for-Donbas deal would be in the interest of all parties. And if the Kremlin were to reject it, then the path of more sticks and fewer carrots remains open.
Colin Cleary is a retired Senior US Foreign Service Officer. He was Director for Energy Diplomacy for Europe in the Energy Bureau at the State Department. He also served as Political Counselor at US Embassy Kyiv and Science Counselor at US Embassy Moscow.
Originally published by Atlantic Council.
The statements, opinions and data contained in the content published in Global Gas Perspectives are solely those of the individual authors and contributors and not of the publisher and the editor(s) of Natural Gas World.
US has 'low to moderate confidence' in reports of Russian bounty on US troops | Russia | The Guardian
Sun, 18 Apr 2021 14:04
US intelligence agencies have only ''low to moderate confidence'' in reports last year that Russian spies were offering Taliban militants in Afghanistan bounties for killing US soldiers.
The reports in the press citing intelligence sources sparked outrage and demands from Democrats for the Trump administration to confront the Kremlin over the issue.
Unveiling a raft of sanctions against Russia on Thursday, US officials said that the allegations of Russian bounties was not one of the grounds for imposing the measures, but a warning had been sent to Moscow that there would be a punitive response if such incentives were found to have been paid in the future.
US intelligence had ''low to moderate confidence'' in the reporting on bounties because ''it's based in part on detainee reporting and because of the difficult operating environment in Afghanistan'', a senior administration official told reporters.
''There is an assessment that Russian intelligence officers did seek to encourage Taliban attacks against US and coalition personnel, including through financial incentives and compensation,'' the official added. ''But because of the low to moderate confidence element of this, our focus is on sending a clear message to Russia about the steps the United States would take in response to such behavior if it were to continue.''
The New York Times reported last June that the intelligence assessment on Russian bounties in Afghanistan was briefed to Trump and was discussed at the national security council in March 2020. White House officials were said to have drawn up options for retaliation against the Kremlin, but no action was taken.
The reporting at the time said it was unclear whether any such bounties had actually been paid to the Taliban, but the reports strengthened widespread suspicions of Trump's motives, based on the former president's consistent reluctance to publicly criticise Vladimir Putin.
The Virginia senator Tim Kaine, who was the Democratic vice-presidential candidate in 2016, said in June: ''Trump was cozying up to Putin and inviting him to the G7 all while his administration reportedly knew Russia was trying to kill US troops in Afghanistan and derail peace talks with the Taliban.''
Clips
VIDEO - HUH? Rep. Nadler Says Demos Need to Pack the Court 'To Rectify the Great Injustice That Was Done in Packing the Court' | MRCTV
Sun, 18 Apr 2021 12:30
Rep. Jerry Nadler - the same Jerry Nadler who maintained that Antifa isn't a real thing, just to tell you what we're dealing with here - claimed on the Capitol steps Thursday that Democrats need to pack the court in order to "rectify the great injustice that was done in packing the court," in a display of mental gymnastics that, even in the world of 2021 politics, is still a wonder to behold.
"As our country has grown, so should the Supreme Court. Thirteen justices for 13 circuits is a logical progression...and to rectify the great injustice that was done in packing the court,'' the New York Democrat said.
''It's a nice number'...it's a proper number. It matches the number of circuits. It has historically. And it also will enable us to do justice and to rectify the great injustice that was done in packing the court,'' Nadler bafflingly claimed.
Related: Biden, Capitol Dems Summon Dark Spectre of Supreme Court Packing With a New Bill
''Some people will say we're packing the court. We're not packing it '' we're unpacking it. Senator McConnell and the Republicans packed the court over the past couple of years,'' he added.
Rep. Nadler on his bill to expand the Supreme Court: "As our country has grown, so should the Supreme Court. 13 justices for 13 circuits is a logical progression...and to rectify the great injustice that was done in packing the court." https://t.co/Z1gC6BePs8 pic.twitter.com/sb0gJGEFMA
'-- ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics) April 15, 2021Not only is this a mind-blowingly illogical mental rat maze to try to justify Democrats adding more seats to the Supreme Court to stack it for political gain while they hold both the White House and Congress, it's also patently untrue.
For anyone not paying a modicum of attention over the past year, Trump and the Republicans did not ''pack'' the Supreme Court. On the contrary, Trump simply fulfilled a constitutional duty of the Office of the President to nominate a replacement to fill a vacancy '' most recently, the one left by the death of liberal justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. The fact that Trump had the chance to fill three of these vacancies during his four-year term as president doesn't constitute ''court-packing,'' but rather simply means Democrats didn't like it.
Conversely, what Democrats are now trying to do by intentionally expanding the court and adding seats to ''pack'' them with left-leaning justices is the actual definition of court-packing, which originated as a legislative proposal by President Franklin D. Roosevelt to add seats to the bench and stack it with judges who'd support his New Deal policies to ram through terrible ideas like Social Security.
But never mind history, facts, and a basic understanding of the U.S. Constitution - Nadler here thinks standing in front of a microphone and simply saying words is all the logic he needs - and he's counting on you to be ignorant enough to buy it.
VIDEO - FTC charges St. Louis chiropractor with making fake COVID claims | ksdk.com
Sun, 18 Apr 2021 12:12
The FTC said Eric Nepute and his company baselessly claimed Wellness Warrior products with vitamin D and zinc were scientifically proven to treat or prevent COVID-19
ST. LOUIS COUNTY, Mo. '-- A St. Louis County chiropractor is the first person in the U.S. charged under a new law meant to protect Americans from fraudulent claims about COVID-19.
Eric Nepute and Quickwork LLC are facing 10 counts in federal court of violating the COVID-19 Consumer Protection Act and the Federal Trade Commission Act. In its case, the FTC said Nepute and his company '' which operate several Nepute Wellness Center locations in St. Louis County '' baselessly claimed his products with vitamin D and zinc were scientifically proven to treat or prevent COVID-19.
''I feel that I have not done anything wrong," Nepute said in a statement to 5 On Your Side through his attorneys. "I encourage everyone to live a healthy lifestyle during this unprecedented time. My attorneys are reviewing the complaint and I have no further comments at this time."
This is the first case the FTC has brought under the new law, which was passed by Congress in 2020.
''With this case, the Commission has quickly put to use its new authority to stop false marketing claims related to the pandemic,'' Acting Chairwoman Rebecca Kelly Slaughter said.
5 On Your Side first spoke with Nepute last April when a video he posted on Facebook got millions of views. In the video, he recommends viewers drink tonic water and take zinc as a ''preventative'' measure.
"Have about 3 to 4 ounces a day of that Schweppes tonic water and take at least 50 to 100 milligrams of zinc. I'll say that again, 50 to 100 milligrams of zinc. Do it every day as a preventative,'' Nepute said in the video.
The chiropractor did tell viewers this wasn't medical advice, his "disclaimer," a point he reiterated when he spoke to 5 On Your Side in a phone call last year.
"I've never made one claim at all that any of these nutrients cures or prevents coronavirus,'' Nepute said.
But the FTC disagrees.
According to the commission's complaint, Nepute and his company marketed vitamin D and zinc products under the brand name ''Wellness Warrior'' and claimed they were as effective '' or more '' than vaccines that are currently available.
The FTC said among Nepute and Quickwork's bogus claims were that "COVID-19 patients who get enough vitamin D are 52% less likely to die," than those who get enough vitamin D are 77% less likely to get the disease and that his Wellness Warrior vitamin D product is more effective at preventing COVID-19 than approved vaccines.
''The defendants' claims that their products can stand in for approved COVID-19 vaccines are particularly troubling: we need to be doing everything we can to stop bogus health claims that endanger consumers,'' Slaughter said.
The FTC sent a letter to Nepute in May 2020 warning him about making the efficacy claims, which weren't backed up by scientific data.
''Despite receiving the warning letter, Nepute continued marketing vitamins and mineral products '' specifically Wellness Warrior vitamin D and zinc '' as proven immunity boosters that effectively treat or prevent COVID-19,'' the FTC said in a news release Thursday.
The FTC is looking to fine Nepute and Quickwork up to $43,792 for each violation of the COVID-19 Consumer Protection Act, according to the commission's complaint.
Besides fining Nepute and his company, the FTC is looking to ban them from making similar baseless health claims in the future, ''unless they are true and can be substantiated by competent and reliable scientific evidence.'' The commission also wants to ban Nepute and Quickwork from falsely claiming to have scientific proof that vitamin D and zinc can help prevent or treat COVID-19.
''People can claim anything. But it doesn't mean that it's true and it may take some time for them to be held accountable,'' said Rebecca Phoenix, an investigator with the Better Business Bureau. She likens fake COVID-19 treatments to modern-day snake oil, with their salesmen often directly contradicting CDC guidance.
''You really need to look for scientific research, particularly when you are considering any kind of a health product.''
You can read the FTC's full complaint against Nepute and Quickwork online here.
VIDEO-Christine Lagarde on Twitter: "Our work on a possible #digitaleuro continues. I told @Reuters that the feature citizens say they would value most is privacy, but they don't want such a digital currency to be anonymous. Read more about what we hear
Sun, 18 Apr 2021 11:55
Christine Lagarde : Our work on a possible #digitaleuro continues. I told @Reuters that the feature citizens say they would value most'... https://t.co/KOc0QrSvv8
Fri Apr 16 09:35:47 +0000 2021
Alexander Bremin çè¾ç : @Lagarde @Reuters Bitcoin: CBDCs:Monetary Policy ð' Monetary Policy ð'Private ð'... https://t.co/PBbTtzLqnj
Sun Apr 18 11:52:05 +0000 2021
Tuur Crypto : @Lagarde @Reuters Can you send use the rough data of the investigation because we do not want your conclusion..we want the facts.
Sun Apr 18 11:49:53 +0000 2021
Tomas Vlasak : @Lagarde @Reuters How about how much inflation should be in digital euro? At least 2% right ? To benefit government'... https://t.co/oBthbLoVhc
Sun Apr 18 11:41:25 +0000 2021
' ¸MANOMACHINE' ¸ : @Lagarde @Reuters I hope you folks know that your idea of controlling every aspect of human activity is a well docu'... https://t.co/TH0Zy0qrW8
Sun Apr 18 11:37:20 +0000 2021
Steven : @Lagarde @Reuters Whom are you trying to fool ???
Sun Apr 18 11:35:33 +0000 2021
Zed 777 : @Lagarde @Reuters Hopefully this will fail. If not, it leads inexorably towards tyranny.
Sun Apr 18 11:34:34 +0000 2021
Steven : @Lagarde @Reuters Ridiculous! ''Consultation'' of 8000 !? That's almost half the EU!? ð
So, it's absolutely legitimat'... https://t.co/19L1gxwWi1
Sun Apr 18 11:30:34 +0000 2021
Rafa : @Lagarde @Reuters Privacy but not anonymity. Huh? That sounds like "Just censor me please!"
Sun Apr 18 11:25:02 +0000 2021
brutoid : @Lagarde @Reuters https://t.co/tZhAekWD5a
Sun Apr 18 11:23:32 +0000 2021
Aume Daan : @Lagarde @Reuters We do not want digital money! I forbid that.
Sun Apr 18 11:23:19 +0000 2021
R''dolphFenz : @Lagarde @Reuters so every other crypto alternative to any freaking thing you do is good for us, thanks
Sun Apr 18 11:23:02 +0000 2021
Pallas Athena : @Lagarde @Reuters A revolution is coming and the Fascist EU will be gone
Sun Apr 18 11:21:47 +0000 2021
Pallas Athena : @Lagarde @Reuters You are wrong. We want it anonymous
Sun Apr 18 11:20:10 +0000 2021
VIDEO - PBS's Woodruff Asks Boehner If GOP 'Demonizing' Pelosi Is 'Sexist' | Newsbusters
Sun, 18 Apr 2021 11:45
On Thursday's PBS NewsHour, host Judy Woodruff pushed the sort of identity politics often employed by liberals as she fretted that it is "sexist" to be sharply critical of a liberal politician if she is a woman, as if men never receive similar scrutiny.
The PBS host brought up the issue as she interviewed former Republican House Speaker John Boehner as part of his book promotion tour. Boehner had been criticizing some of his more conservative GOP colleagues in the House who were antagonistic toward him when he was Speaker.
While lauding most members of Congress in both parties as well-intentioned. he took another shot at conservatives as he added: "But, you know, there's about 10 percent of Congress that are on the far left and on the far right that have different ideas, you know. They're about creating chaos, conflict, draw attention to themselves, raising cash, and going their own separate ways."
After Boehner bashed conservatives twice in his answers to two different questions, instead of making any pushback from the right, Woodruff tried to prod more conservative-bashing as she followed up:
Speaking of raising cash, I want to ask you about House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. You actually have some good things to say about her. You compliment her toughness -- you say she may turn out to be the most powerful Speaker in history. But my question is: Republicans have raised a lot of money demonizing her. Is that sexist?
Boehner -- who has been getting a positive reaction from the liberal media for bashing his own party -- pushed back in this case and defended Republicans:
Oh, that's not sexist at all. It's just a lot of Republican voters and independent voters don't really care for her style of San Francisco liberal policies. And so, over the years, you know, became the face of the opposition. Listen, was the face of the opposition for a while -- I know what it's like. Paul Ryan went through this as well. You know, it's politics. It has nothing to do with identify politics in any way, shape or form.
As Woodruff followed up, she invited more critiques of Republicans on issues like the Q'Anon conspiracy theory and President Donald Trump's refusal to admit defeat in the election, with no critiques of Democrats.
At one point earlier in the interview, after Boehner referred to some of his conservative colleagues as "knuckleheads" for pushing back on his leadership, Woodruff accepted his trashing of conservatives as she followed up: "And you spent a lot of time talking about the knuckleheads, but you're also complimentary. You say most members of Congress are not charlatans. So does it bother you that the public approval of Congress is so low? We just looked at it -- it's in the 30's right now."
This episode of PBS NewsHour was paid for in part by Consumer Cellular. You can fight back by letting advertisers know how you feel about them sponsoring such content.
Transcript follows:
PBS NewsHour
April 15, 2021
JUDY WOODRUFF: Which party gave you a harder time when you were Speaker?
JOHN BOEHNER, FORMER HOUSE SPEAKER: Oh, hell, it was the Republicans. You know, the Democrats, they were the minority party in the House when I was Speaker. The Republicans -- we were the majority party. And on any given day, I would have 210, 215 solid Republican votes. But in all, I'd probably have two or three dozen knuckleheads that I had to deal with who were part of the "Always Say No Caucus."
WOODRUFF: And you spent a lot of time talking about the knuckleheads, but you're also complimentary. You say most members of Congress are not charlatans. So does it bother you that the public approval of Congress is so low? We just looked at it -- it's in the 30's right now.
BOEHNER: Well, yes, it does bother me, but those numbers really haven't changed a whole lot over the decades that I've been around. Listen, 90 percent of the colleagues that I've worked with -- Democrat and Republican -- good, honest, decent people trying to do their best for their constituents and for the country. But, you know, there's about 10 percent of Congress that are on the far left and on the far right that have different ideas, you know. They're about creating chaos, conflict, draw attention to themselves, raising cash, and going their own separate ways.
JUDY WOODRUFF: Speaking of raising cash, I want to ask you about House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. You actually have some good things to say about her. You compliment her toughness -- you say she may turn out to be the most powerful Speaker in history. But my question is: Republicans have raised a lot of money demonizing her. Is that sexist?
BOEHNER: Oh, that's not sexist at all. It's just a lot of Republican voters and independent voters don't really care for her style of San Francisco liberal policies. And so, over the years, you know, became the face of the opposition. Listen, was the face of the opposition for a while -- I know what it's like. Paul Ryan went through this as well. You know, it's politics. It has nothing to do with identify politics in any way, shape or form.
VIDEO - Clinical specialists
Sun, 18 Apr 2021 11:44
G0n3Crazy Published April 13, 2021 1 rumble
Rumble '-- Specialist Talks about Covid 19 testing
26m31sImpeachment and Clinical TrialsThe Voice From the Car
2m59sOrthopaedic Rehab Specialists - 3/16/21WSYM
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2m21sClinical studies about the carnivore dietbigcitymom$0.02 earned
2m31sOrthopaedic Rehab Specialists, P.C. - 1/11/21WSYM
20sNew COVID-19 vaccine clinical trialWFTX
41sBBB warning about clinical trial scamsKMGH
20sRestoration Carpentry specialistsRavenhill
2m07sINOVIO's Phase 2 clinical trial underwayKGTV
VIDEO - Jack Posobiec on Twitter: "Maxine Waters is marching in Brooklyn Center tonight and told people to take to the streets if Chauvin is acquitted https://t.co/RemfvCCLAn" / Twitter
Sun, 18 Apr 2021 11:10
Jack Posobiec : Maxine Waters is marching in Brooklyn Center tonight and told people to take to the streets if Chauvin is acquitted https://t.co/RemfvCCLAn
Sun Apr 18 04:14:53 +0000 2021
Tommy Gavin : @JackPosobiec She needs to disappear
Sun Apr 18 11:09:55 +0000 2021
lemontwist : @JackPosobiec Maxine Waters caused the chaos at the Capital's Jan 6 violence
Sun Apr 18 11:09:28 +0000 2021
Delbert Grady : @JackPosobiec In between the lines she's encouraging Mayhem on the streets when he's acquitted ...
Sun Apr 18 11:08:41 +0000 2021
VIDEO - (50) Scalise Confronts Fauci With Migrant Detention Pics: ''Does this look like social distancing to you?'' - YouTube
VIDEO - WATCH LIVE: Biden meets with Japanese prime minister, first guest to White House - YouTube
VIDEO - (48) New Rule: Give It to Me Straight, Doc | Real Time with Bill Maher (HBO) - YouTube
VIDEO - butterdog: "@adam another slip for the archives?" - No Agenda Social
Sat, 17 Apr 2021 14:49
The social network of the future: No ads, no corporate surveillance, ethical design, and decentralization! Own your data with Mastodon!
VIDEO - ðð¨ð...CanAditudeð¨ð...ð on Twitter: "ð--¥Ontario, Canada is now officially a police stateð--¥ https://t.co/cBP8kCTG16" / Twitter
Sat, 17 Apr 2021 14:44
ðð¨ð...CanAditudeð¨ð...ð : ð--¥Ontario, Canada is now officially a police stateð--¥ https://t.co/cBP8kCTG16
Fri Apr 16 21:00:57 +0000 2021
rafuhrim : @CanAditude Are you a subject or a free citizen?Reject these Karens. Reject these dictators. https://t.co/ZFftFlgWbz
Sat Apr 17 14:44:22 +0000 2021
оÑноÑÑÑийÑÑ Ðº ÑеÐÑиÐ>>иÑм : @CanAditude Ah the replies here are typical.Laugh and mock your neighbor while the fire burns up the building bel'... https://t.co/YU1xaeExJD
Sat Apr 17 14:43:53 +0000 2021
Thomas Morris Jr. : @CanAditude Any chance you can move the Hockey Hall of Fame a few hundred miles South?Guess i can scrap my summer plans.
Sat Apr 17 14:43:40 +0000 2021
ðmebitch : @CanAditude Yea aight
Sat Apr 17 14:42:16 +0000 2021
VIDEO - moneycontrol on Twitter: "The #Covid_19 mutant strain is more infectious with a new hiding place: the lungs. Even the RT-PCR test is failing to detect the virus. Here's all you need to know '¤µ¸ #CoronaSecondWave #RTPCR https://t.co/CHs8bxi0K3"
Sat, 17 Apr 2021 14:42
moneycontrol : The #Covid_19 mutant strain is more infectious with a new hiding place: the lungs. Even the RT-PCR test is failing'... https://t.co/HimWukqjeI
Sat Apr 17 11:53:37 +0000 2021
Leena Dhuped : @moneycontrolcom People need to be more educated and informed .Thank u so much for this eye opener video
Sat Apr 17 12:39:52 +0000 2021
VIDEO-Robby Starbuck on Twitter: "The White House is now supporting the Chinese Communist Party line that our founding documents are racist. It cannot be overstated how disgusting this is. https://t.co/ULL4CXl4b1" / Twitter
Fri, 16 Apr 2021 21:10
Robby Starbuck : The White House is now supporting the Chinese Communist Party line that our founding documents are racist. It canno'... https://t.co/4JdSCsEhZJ
Fri Apr 16 16:56:02 +0000 2021
VIDEO - TheSinEye: "@adam was right on the money pointing out how Tyl'..." - No Agenda Social
Fri, 16 Apr 2021 12:30
@ adam was right on the money pointing out how Tyler Perry was using Pfizer's (paid) PRopaganda. So here's an actual influencer ( I think, because I don't know her) who says she was offered money by two companies to get the shot.
Nice.
