1361: Variant Factories

"Unvaccinated people are potential variant factories," Dr. William Schaffner, a professor in the Division of Infectious Diseases at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, told CNN Friday.

Link

Saw a sticker while driving on a pole that said forced vaccines no and had a number 158 soi googled ... whole shit I did not know they had powers in law to this extend you have to be kidding right ? Arrest u pin u down strip u all for the public health bring back the Gestapo they where teddy bears.

http://classic.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/wa/consol_act/pha2016126/s158.html

PUBLIC HEALTH ACT 2016 - SECT 158

158 . Enforcement of requirement to undergo medical observation, medical examination

(a) to apprehend and detain the person to whom the direction applies (the relevant person ) and take the relevant person to a place where the person is required to undergo medical observation, medical examination or medical treatment or to be vaccinated in accordance with the direction; and

(b) to detain the relevant person at the place where he or she is required to undergo medical observation, medical examination or medical treatment or to be vaccinated in accordance with the direction; and

(c) to restrain the relevant person —

(i) to enable a medical observation, medical examination or medical treatment to be carried out; or

and

(d) to remove anything (including underwear) that the relevant person is wearing, if —

(ii) the relevant person is given a reasonable opportunity to remove the thing himself or herself, and refuses or fails to do so.

(2) A direction under section 157(1)(j) to undergo medical examination or medical treatment or to be vaccinated authorises —

(a) in the case of a direction to undergo medical examination —

(i) the carrying out of that medical examination in accordance with the direction; and

(ii) the testing of any sample obtained or taken in connection with that medical examination;

and

(b) in the case of a direction to undergo medical treatment —

(i) the giving of medical treatment to the relevant person in accordance with the direction; and

(ii) the testing of any sample obtained or taken in connection with that medical treatment;

and

(c) in the case of a direction to be vaccinated, the vaccination of the relevant person.

(3) If any action taken under subsection (1) involves the removal of an item of clothing —

(a) it must be done with decency and sensitivity and in a manner that gives to the relevant person the degree of privacy and dignity that is consistent with ensuring compliance with the direction; and

(b) the authorised officer or police officer taking the action and any other person present while it is done (excluding any person who is carrying out any medical examination or medical treatment or vaccinating the relevant person) must, if practicable, be of the same gender as the relevant person; and

(c) the number of people present while it is done (excluding a person who is present under paragraph (d)) must be no more than is reasonably necessary to ensure that the direction is complied with effectively and to ensure the safety of all present; and

(d) if the relevant person is a child or an impaired person, it must, if practicable, be done in the presence of a responsible person or some other person who can provide the child or impaired person with support and represent his or her interests.

(4) This section does not limit section 161.

AustLII: Copyright Policy | Discla

The gene editing system CRISPR-Cas9 can be injected into the blood and directed to the liver to treat patients with a rare condition, according to a recent study.

Why it matters: The ability to edit genes directly in a patient's body expands the list of possible diseases and conditions researchers can try to target with CRISPR-based therapies.

Driving the news: Preliminary but promising results from a small trial in six people indicate a one-time CRISPR-Cas9 treatment led to a decrease in the misfolded protein that causes the condition transthyretin amyloidosis (ATTR).

Link

A bipartisan proposal in the U.S. House would ban the farming of mink fur in the United States in an effort to stem possible mutations of the coronavirus, something researchers have said can be accelerated when the virus spreads among animals.

The bill introduced this week is an effort from Reps. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., and Nancy Mace, R-S.C. It would prohibit the import, export, transport, sale or purchase of mink in the United States.

Researchers have said that spread of COVID-19 among animals could speed up the number of mutations in the virus before it potentially jumps back to people.

Last year, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control issued new guidance to curb the spread of the coronavirus between minks and humans. The agency warned that when COVID-19 starts spreading on a mink farm, the large numbers of animal infections means “the virus can accumulate mutations more quickly in minks and spread back into the human population.”

Denmark reported last year that 12 people had been sickened by a variant of the coronavirus that had distinct genetic changes also seen in mink.

“What we want to do is ban the inhumane practice of farming mink for fur,” Mace said Friday during an interview with The Associated Press. “At the same time, it’s also a public health crisis, so it helps fix both of those situations.”

Link

Canadian National Anthem Revised With Gender-Neutral Language

The Canadian national anthem is now more gender-neutral, after a bill that changes the lyrics passed the country's Senate.

The second line of "O Canada," which has said the nation inspires patriotism "in all thy sons," will now read "in all of us."

This has been in the works for a long time. According to the CBC, "Since 1980, when O Canada officially became the country's anthem, 12 bills have been introduced in the House to strip the gendered reference to 'sons,' which some have argued is discriminatory."

<i>Link</i>

D.C. Attorney General Karl Racine has subpoenaed Facebook for records related to the platform’s handling of coronavirus misinformation as part of a previously undisclosed investigation into whether the tech giant is violating consumer protection laws.

What he is demanding: Racine, a Democrat, is calling on Facebook to release by the end of next week an internal study it conducted looking into vaccine hesitancy among its users, as first revealed by news reports in March.

The subpoena, filed June 21, also calls on Facebook to provide records identifying all groups, pages and accounts that have violated its policies against Covid-19 misinformation and documents detailing how many resources the tech giant has devoted to the cause.

Link

Roughly 7,000 health care workers across the state who were hired during the pandemic must be terminated if they aren’t fingerprinted for state-mandated background checks before July 20, the Connecticut Department of Public Health is warning in urgent memos being sent to nursing homes, home health agencies, chronic disease hospitals and other health care facilities.

Link

China's commerce ministry on Tuesday imposed export quotas on flour made from wheat, corn and rice to help stabilize domestic grain prices and guarantee the country's grain security.

The quota restriction was in addition to a 25% export tax on wheat flour announced by the finance ministry a day earlier. It gave no grace period. The ministry earlier removed a 13% tax rebate on exports of grains and flour.

According to Reuters News Service, the decision surprised most wheat flour exporters, who are expected to cancel some shipments to buyers in southeast Asia.

"It will be a bad year for us. The policy was a complete surprise. Many mills will have to breach contracts," Dong Yuefei, a sales manager with Shandong Banqiu Flour Mill, a major exporter, told Reuters.

The policy change highlights Beijing's mounting concern over its supplies and rising food prices in a tight global wheat market after drought cut production in major producing countries, including Australia and Canada.

Link

I deliver food to restaurants and I can give some inside information to the shortage of food and food products. My warehouse has a hard time getting product from vendors because they all suffer from the same problem. Chicken is out because there are no drivers to drive the chickens to the processing plant. Cups are out because there is a shortage of cardboard to put the cups in because the cardboard factory can only run 2 shift and can't keep up with demand. Heize ran out of 57 sauce for 4 months because theh couldn't get glass for whatever reason. The worker shortage affects every aspect of the supply chain. So many people are collecting unemployment that every industry is hurting for workers. Cheers, Brentt

(CNN)The tiny town of Lytton has come to hold a grim record. On Tuesday, it experienced Canada's highest-ever temperature, in an unprecedented heat wave that has over a week killed hundreds of people and triggered more than 240 wildfires across British Columbia, most of which are still burning.

Lytton hit 49.6 degrees Celsius (121.3 degrees Fahrenheit), astounding for the town of just 250 people nestled in the mountains, where June maximum temperatures are usually around 25 degrees. This past week, however, its nights have been hotter than its days usually are, in a region where air conditioning is rare and homes are designed to retain heat.

Link

Mom sent a photo showing the aftermath of a thunderstorm last night which dropped the temp from over 100 to 80 deg.

Thanks guys.

PARIS -- World leaders, philanthropists and organizations have pledged at least $40 billion at an international conference in Paris to boost gender equality, as women and girls worldwide have been deeply affected by the consequences of the pandemic.

U.N. Women’s Executive Director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka welcomed the pledges at the three-day Generation Equality Forum that started Wednesday.

The summit "is about change. It is about moving from making promises to telling us what you are going to do for the situation of women to change,” she said.

Link

The letter – signed by the environment or energy ministers of Austria, Denmark, Germany, Luxembourg, and Spain – points to “shortcomings” in a report by the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre published on 2 April, which concluded that nuclear energy is safe.

“Nuclear power is incompatible with the Taxonomy Regulation’s ‘do no significant harm’ principle,” the ministers wrote, urging the Commission to keep nuclear out of the EU’s green finance rules.

“We are concerned that including nuclear power in the Taxonomy would permanently damage its integrity, credibility and therefore its usefulness,” they warned.

Link

Peer-reviewed analysis places the European death toll at more than 70,000

Link

I just heard the clip from yesterday’s NA of Granholm talking about the beaches of Lake Michigan

and the water level rise. She’s full of crap. The water level rose the last few years due to heavy

SNOW in Canada and the upper Great Lakes. If Lake Superior has heavy ice melt, it makes it’s way

down to Lake Michigan and the lake levels rise. We have had to move a couple houses away from the

bluff, but this is a cyclical process. Houses were falling in the lake in the 70s and 80s and

people still kept building as close as possible to the lake. When I was in high school (2000s) they

were talking about the Great Lakes drying up as the lake levels were low and everyone decided to

build closer to the water. I get the feeling that since the lake is down 16” this year and will

continue on this cycle, people will forget and build close to the water again and we can revisit

this problem in the future. There’s even some plots of land from the 90s that are for sale, yet

fully submerged under water. Best price!

Listen to episode 1361 where the clip about water levels rising everywhere reminded me of my teenage years 2006-2010 where the news was all about the declining record low levels of lake water BECAUSE OF GLOBAL WARMING.

Then in 2011-2014 Chicago had record level winter storms, one of which shut down lake shore drive for 2 days. That was the time around the country when the polar vortex stuff got played again as a result of global warming.

Now, Lake Michigan is up to record high levels and that is blamed on global warming. It’s incredible how everything is blamed on climate change and they just pivot to each event as a result of global warming.

Oh and look at this chart, already heading down from the record high of 2020. I can write the news story already for 2028. “LAKE MICHIGAN IS DRYING UP DO TO RISING TEMPERATURES”

Hi Adam,

I've got a local report on the lithium battery "warehouse" fire in Morris IL. The fire was in an abandoned papermill. A company called Superior Battery Inc. had acquired the building last October. They were using this property, which had been abandoned for decades, to store about 200 tons of lithium batteries. Nobody in the city administration knew this was happening. The company only had a corporate filing with the state of Illinois, no filings with the town. These batteries were imported from China and being sold on sites like offerup. The company name is the same as a legitimate battery manufacturer in Kentucky. The fire department ended up pouring cement on the fire to contain it.

On an unrelated topic, a family member of mine works in the local chemical plant, one of the largest in the Midwest, and says they are having trouble getting the raw materials to make surfactants. People might want to stock up on soap in case of a future shortage.

Please don't read my name if you share this note on the show.

Thanks,

Kerry

Putin boldly claimed his navy could have attacked the ship in the Black Sea because the West knows "full well that they can't win in that war".

During his annual “Direct Line” call in show, in which citizens can submit queries for the president, he spoke of how the “period of unipolar world is over”.

“No matter what sanctions are imposed on Russia, no matter what the scaremongering, Russia is developing and in some respects our country has surpassed the European countries and even the US,” he said.

While Putin said the nation would not be taking steps that would be harmful to themselves, he said if boundaries were crossed, they would find “asymmetrical ways” to respond.

“I hope the United States will change this attitude not only towards us, but also towards their other allies,” he said.

Putin went on to say that the world was “changing dramatically” - something he said the United States understood.

Link

AUSTIN (KXAN) — A 416-page book released just a month ago is causing waves in Texas and beyond.

Texas-sized drama over Penguin Random House’s “Forget the Alamo: The Rise and Fall of An American Myth,” began Friday, after the Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum in Austin pulled out of a discussion of the book just hours before it was set to begin.

The museum explained its board of directors, which includes conservative state lawmakers Gov. Greg Abbott, Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan, and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, were behind the decision to shut down the discussion, which had a reported 300 RSVPs.

Link

Listener since early 2017 after finding the show through Jen Briney. Donate when able. Amazing product regardless.

I am writing to give a bit of counter-balance and other perspective on the Millennial work ethic.

Personal background: 25 yr old male. Parents separated & divorced while in middle/early HS. 1 younger brother.

Mother is public school teacher, 15 yrs.

Dad is retired UPS delivery driver of nearly 35 yrs. Also a Teamsters Union Rep.

I have worked at multiple warehouse jobs, going from walk-on to weekend supervisor in 4 years, leaving due to a massive lack of staffing & other opportunities. Since then have done mostly pizza delivery and am currently going back to college to get my Air Traffic Control College certification.

The Millennial work ethic you stated on the show being influenced by social media is definitely true. My current supervisor at my job is routinely on his phone when there is work that could be done. (Supervisor just turned 21 last week.)

However one thing that was not mentioned is that Millennials have no MOTIVATION to go farther. We all recognize it, but I would like to show a cause. I know this is not news to you but might as well throw my 1/2-cent in.

Think about it: We are a generation where a plurality of our population lives with their parents, who normally are taking care of us with free rent and an open key to the fridge(I am in this camp, due to covid & college). We are a generation with a depleting desire to reproduce, evident in the declining birthrate in the US & the rise of fur babies; as well as marriages declining in favor of long-term relationships. We are a generation who saw our parents, growing up in the last generation of near full scale automation and a non-dependency on foreign imports (The rise of Chinese labor force and exports happened towards our births).

Right now, I am currently looking for a new job but with college about to finish for me, and the eventual entry into my FAA ATC job, roots are something I find scared of personally. As well as I can remember my dad on a regular basis coming home from UPS after a 12 hour shift falling into a heap into the chair to take off his 2 pairs of socks and old brown shoes. He'd complain about the hot Florida sun and the hot brown clothes and how every day was getting just a bit harder, especially when amazon started giving UPS a bunch of business.

He used to tell me that a salary job will only lead you to working 70 hours a week. That it wasn't worth it.

Of all the things I remember, this has stuck with me.

The Millennials value personality. We enjoy a 9-5 job so we can leave when we desire. It is a big reason why I personally enjoy the delivery work I am doing right now even with the drain on my personal car. It is honestly very appealing.

Going back to the original points,

We have no need to save(short-sighted-ly as it is) with no other mouths to feed besides our own and the ones we decide to feed as well. We see no career to enter without major investment of which we feel no motivation to since we have no savings to be able to live off of and push for. And we see the industry that brought forward our parents sent away to a place we don't care about since we have what we need before us.

We are also incredibly pessimistic. I know I am.

We are hopeless and see the eventual heat death of the universe as the only way the world will end. So smoke 'em while you got 'em and say fuck the man, I am going to die soon in the grand scheme of it all anyways.

Or, at least that is how I feel about it.

Regardless of the origin, the outcome is that my generation is not planting roots anywhere because we have no need to.

TYFYC

Trans and credit cards name change

When I did it 9 years ago, a card you already had you had to provide the court name change doc and a license of some type with the name one it.

New accounts generally you need to have your name updated with your social security number as they check the name to the number.

But no you can not just tell a card or bank you want a different name than you legal name. So mastercards system is very new.

When I did it, the hardest and longest job was updating account names

LGY ITM

Allie Jade The one true official transgender of No agenda “accept no substitutions, of quality by going with any other brand of trans” “now with lemon

Link to Article

Archived Version

Sun, 04 Jul 2021 12:57

No Spin News with Bill O'Reilly Published June 29, 2021 4,642 Views 231 rumbles

Rumble '-- Compilation of Democrats calling for defunding the police.

24sJoe Biden Has Odd Moment As He Starts Whispering Into MicNo Spin News with Bill O'Reilly

28sDemocrats support Defunding The Police.House Republicans

1m36sSUPERCUT: Dems Support Defunding The Police...!!!!Top Viral Media

1m36sSUPERCUT: Dems Support Defunding The PoliceBonginoReport

40sPsaki Suggests Republicans Support Defunding The Police, Not DemocratsNo Spin News with Bill O'Reilly

1m18sPsaki Says It's Republicans Who Actually Support Defunding The PoliceNo Spin News with Bill O'Reilly

59sPROOF Biden Does Support Defunding PoliceSmooth Media

43sPROOF: Democrats Only Support Police When It's Politically ConvenientThe Charlie Kirk Show

1m29sBongino Rips Liberals and Media Over Support For Defunding PoliceMr Producer Media

3m51sSEN. KENNEDY: 'If You Support Defunding Police, You've Tested Positive for Stupid'Benny Johnson$0.05 earned

Link to Article

Archived Version

Sun, 04 Jul 2021 12:48

Features Pricing Your Impact For Teams Resource Center More (844) 844-1322

Features Pricing Your Impact For Teams Resource Center Support Downloads Mobile Apps Community Forum About Us Contact Us Host Meeting Join Meeting Customer Care: (844) 844-1322

Link to Article

Archived Version

Sun, 04 Jul 2021 12:46

Federal Protection of ''Oath Keepers'' Kingpin Stewart Rhodes Breaks The Entire Capitol ''Insurrection'' Lie Wide Open

Support Revolver By Going AD-FREE

CHECK OUT THE NEWS FEED '-- FOLLOW US ON GAB '-- CHECK OUT THE MERCH STORE

Hey Republicans, you can crack open the entire story of January 6, 2021 (''1/6'') with one simple question: what relationship do the FBI and Army Counterintelligence have with Stewart Rhodes?

Yale Law School '04 graduate Elmer ''Stewart'' Rhodes, III.

Stewart Rhodes is the founder, boss and kingpin of the Oath Keepers.

The Oath Keepers, we are told, are America's largest militia, the most prominent antigovernment group in the United States, and the preeminent right-wing domestic extremist insider threat to the entire U.S. military.

Whatever the truth of these hyperbolic claims, the fact remains: the Oath Keepers are the most extensively prosecuted paramilitary group alleged to be involved in 1/6. Indeed, it was the alleged ''pre-planned assault'' on the Capitol by Stewart Rhodes's alleged Oath Keepers lieutenants that was used as the key talking point to try to convert the day's events from a protest into an ''insurrection.''

But Stewart Rhodes is not simply a key figure in the Oath Keepers. Stewart Rhodes is the Oath Keepers, according to Oath Keepers board member Richard Mack.

Elmer Stewart Rhodes III '-- a one-time Army paratrooper, disbarred Yale lawyer, constitutionalist, gun enthusiast, and far-right media star '-- founded the group called the Oath Keepers in 2009. Since then, he has ridden crosscurrents of American anger and strife that ran from scrubby Western deserts to angry urban protests right into the Capitol rotunda.

'...

Mack said he and others also raised concerns about the Oath Keepers' participation in violent protests'...

He said it had become clear that the board had no real power. ''[Stewart Rhodes] is the Oath Keepers. It's hard to separate the two,'' Mack said. ''It's his organization, and he can do what he wants to do.''

Other dissenting voices found that they were no longer welcome. Jim Arroyo, the vice president of the Arizona chapter, said relations began to fray over Rhodes' insistence on total control.. . [ Buzzfeed]

A mere indictment of Stewart Rhodes, today, for the same conspiracy charges alleged against his underlings, would collapse the entire ''threat'' of the Oath Keepers that the country has heard so much about. From NPR:

Rhodes is the central figure of the organization. He is the founder, leader and center of gravity for the group. In theory, then, an indictment against Rhodes could lead to the group's collapse.

The Justice Department argues that Stewart Rhodes both substantially organized and activated an imputed plan to use violence, on 1/6, in real-time, through a series of encrypted Signal messages beginning at 1:38 p.m., as Trump concluded his rally speech on the National Mall, and 62 minutes before Oath Keepers lieutenants allegedly formed a ''military stack'' to rush the Capitol doors.

These facts alone, as alleged, are more than legally sufficient to secure an indictment of Stewart Rhodes. We will walk you through the mountains of direct and circumstantial evidence built on top of these allegations, but readers must understand this: the only reason Stewart Rhodes is not in jail *right now* is because of a deliberate decision by the Justice Department to protect him.

Indeed, it is unclear whether the FBI has even sought to search Stewart Rhodes's residence, personal belongings, or electronic devices, other than a single iPhone allegedly seized on the streets from agents in unmarked FBI vehicles in late April (since returned). For reasons discussed below, there is good reason to suspect the FBI will pursue a tightly controlled and very limited scope of investigation into Stewart Rhodes,. Beyond that narrow scope, they may not want the information they are likely to find.

Why doesn't anyone at the FBI or DOJ want him?

If 1/6 was an ''insurrection,'' why protect the one man who, more than any other individual referenced in the charging documents of the 530+ open criminal cases, comes closest to the media's ravenous description of a ''lead insurrectionist?''

Is it possible that the Oath Keepers, the most prominent antigovernment group in the United States, has been run, in effect, by the United States government itself '-- and nobody has mentioned it until now?

Revolver News generated tremendous discussion and controversy with our previous piece exploring the possibility that some of the unindicted individuals referred to in the 1/6 charging documents may be undercover agents or informants.

With this piece, we intend to focus this discussion on a single individual, Person One; i.e., Stewart Rhodes '-- the leader of the Oath Keepers.

If it turns out that Stewart Rhodes has had a relationship with the federal government, the implications would be nothing short of staggering.

For Stewart Rhodes is not just a senior member of the Oath Keepers, he is the Oath Keepers. Given the fact that the Oath Keepers are the major paramilitary organization imputed (by government and media alike) to be responsible for the most serious and egregious elements of the so-called 1/6 insurrection, it follows that it would not only be fair, but necessary to conclude that in an essential respect the 1/6 event was planned and orchestrated by elements of the government itself.

In other words, 1/6 was not the result of an intelligence failure as FBI Director Christopher Wray, the US Senate, and the media tells us. Rather, 1/6 was the result of an intelligence set-up.

The following questions should be shouted from every megaphone, every street corner, and every Congressional lectern until the American people get full and complete answers:

Does the FBI now, or has it ever, maintained a formal or informal relationship or point of contact with Stewart Rhodes, whether directly or indirectly, including through intermediaries?Do any other Federal counterintelligence equities, whether in military, intelligence or law enforcement, including but not limited to Army Counterintelligence, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) the Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF), or otherwise, maintain or have they ever maintained a formal or informal relationship with Stewart Rhodes, whether directly or indirectly, including through intermediaries?If such a confidential relationship did exist between Stewart Rhodes and one or more U.S. counterintelligence equities, how do the FBI and other responsible agencies reconcile the enormous gravity of this omission from their previous deflections, non-answers, and boilerplate that they had ''no actionable intelligence'' before 1/6?If such a confidential relationship did exist between Stewart Rhodes and one or more U.S. counterintelligence equities, does this explain the FBI and Justice Department's failure to pursue criminal actions against Stewart Rhodes in similarly high-profile ''right-wing conspiracy plots'' in which Rhodes appears to have played a similarly driving role?More specifically, did the FBI or any other U.S. counterintelligence equities maintain a discrete or confidential relationship with Stewart Rhodes during the 2014 Bundy Ranch standoff? Was this fact dispositive in the Justice Department's decision to charge 19 defendants '-- including certain of Stewart Rhodes's alleged Oath Keepers underlings '-- for conspiracy to obstruct a legal proceeding, and to spare Rhodes of similar charges?Has the FBI even procured a search warrant for Stewart Rhodes's personal residence and home electronics? If so, on what dates and what specific categories of evidence were sought?If Stewart Rhodes is subsequently arrested after the date of this report (given the pressure these revelations are likely to generate), how does the Justice Department explain its failure to indict Stewart Rhodes on conspiracy charges for nearly six months, when its declared purpose for seeking bail denial for simple trespassers was the DOJ's stated need to prevent ''the immediate danger to the community'' defendants allegedly posed? Given that multiple Oath Keepers were charged before the January 20th inauguration citing the need to stop their ''immediate danger,'' why did the DOJ not file immediate charges against Rhodes, and then make a superseding indictment later in time, as is their routine practice in 1/6 cases? Stewart Rhodes and the ''Shock and Awe'' Standard

Before we turn to Stewart Rhodes' statements and behavior leading up to and during 1/6, it is important to keep in mind the so-called ''shock and awe'' standard of prosecution applied to those actually indicted for 1/6 related crimes.

Lead 1/6 prosecutor Michael Sherwin explains this ''Shock and Awe'' standard in his own words:

Here is a partial transcript of Shwerin's interview above:

Sherwin: I wanted to ensure, and our office wanted to ensure, that there was shock and awe. That we could charge as many people as possible before [January] 20th. And it worked because we saw through media posts that people were afraid to come back to D.C., because they were like, 'If we go there, we're going to get charged.'

'...

We wanted to take out those individuals who were thumbing their noses at the public for what they did'...

Narrator: Sherwin told us that the most serious cases so far focus on about two dozen members of far right militias.

In this article we focus our scrutiny and our suspicion on one individual, Person One, otherwise known as Stewart Rhodes, the leader of the paramilitary Oath Keepers group. In keeping with the structure of our previous report, we will examine the as-of-yet unindicted Mr. Rhodes' actions and statements in light of the Shock and Awe standard of prosecution described above.

But we emphasize a caveat from our previous report:

It is essential here to make an important note of clarification. The purpose of this analysis here is not to aid in the prosecution of any of these unindicted co-conspirators. Rather, our aim is to point out that, given the standards of indictment applied to those actually indicted, it is very strange and indeed suspicious that certain unindicted co-conspirators have managed to avoid indictment. This does not necessarily mean that we approve of the standard of indictment itself. Quite the contrary, the aggressive standard of indictment and prosecution, through an unimaginably broad application of ''conspiracy'' charges, is immoral, unjust, and absurd.

The same applies to this piece, and to Mr. Rhodes himself. Revolver harbors no ill-will toward Mr. Rhodes and we are not interested in calling for his indictment. Our interest in Mr. Rhodes is limited solely to our interest in the question of Federal foreknowledge of and possible involvement in the events of 1/6.

Finally, to get a more concrete sense of what the Shock and Awe prosecutorial standard looks like in practice, we once more offer the case of George Tanios. Though in truth we could just as easily have picked one of the several hundreds of political prisoners being detained and subjected to third-world level abuse in prison.

Readers may recall from an earlier Revolver report that George Tanios and his companion Julian Khater have been charged with nine criminal counts for actions taken on 1/6 just outside the steps of the U.S. Capitol building.

READ MORE: Assault Charges Spell Problems for DOJ, FBI in Officer Sicknick Case

The most serious charge was assault on an officer with a dangerous weapon, arising from Khater's alleged use of Tanios's chemical spray to tag Officer Sicknick and two other officers in the face.

READ MORE: MAGA Blood Libel: Why Are They Hiding the Medical Report?

There, Tanios: (1) did not go in the Capitol; (2) did not use any bear spray himself; (3) had bear spray in his backpack and when his buddy Khater reached in to take it out, Tanios actively tried to stop him; and (4) in the end, it turns out, as prosecutors now acknowledge, his buddy never even used the bear spray.

And still, the DOJ has slapped this 39-year-old sandwich shop owner, George Tanios, with 60 years worth of stacking ''conspiracy'' charges because he said, ''Hold on, hold on, not yet, not yet.''

As we proceed to consider the case of still unindicted Stewart Rhodes, keep in mind this George Tanios ''Shock and Awe'' standard of prosecution.

Stewart Rhodes's Alleged Overt Acts

We will now chronicle Stewart Rhodes's path from Election Day to so-called ''Insurrection Day,'' as alleged by the Justice Department.

The first cited event comes from a November 9th video conference on the platform GoToMeeting. According to the Oath Keepers indictment, Rhodes (Person One) said the following to his Oath Keeper followers in the meeting:

We're going to defend the president, the duly elected president, and we call on him to do what needs to be done to save our country. Because if you don't guys, you're going to be in a bloody, bloody civil war, and a bloody '' you can call it an insurrection or you can call it a war or fight .

The DOJ alleges that Rhodes (Person One) ''called upon his followers to go to Washington D.C,'' in order to let the President know ''the people are behind him'' and to prepare for, among other things, fights against Antifa:

PERSON ONE told his followers they needed to be prepared to fight Antifa, which he characterized as a group of individuals with whom ''if the fight comes, let the fight come. Let Antifa '' if they go kinetic on us, then we'll go kinetic back on them. I'm willing to sacrifice myself for that. Let the fight start there. That will give President Trump what he needs, frankly. If things go kinetic, good. If they throw bombs at us and shoot us, great, because that brings the president his reason and rationale for dropping the Insurrection Act.

Talk of the ''Insurrection Act'' is commonplace in Rhodes' communications with his Oath Keepers followers. What he seemed to convey is that the Oath Keepers should be primed for an insurrection and to stand-by armed, just in case Trump offered some (undefined) signal. This of course is an effective technique (common to agents provocateurs and other informants) to keep followers psychologically primed for violent action without making any explicit and direct command to do so. From the DOJ:

PERSON ONE continued, '' I do want some Oath Keepers to stay on the outside, and to stay fully armed and prepared to go in armed, if they have to . . . . So our posture's gonna be that we're posted outside of DC, um, awaiting the President's orders. . . . We hope he will give us the orders. We want him to declare an insurrection, and to call us up as the militia. ''

One week after Election Day, in a November 10 public post on OathKeepers.org, Rhodes told his followers to ignore ''D.C.'s ridiculous anti-gun laws'' should they perceive a signal that President Trump has called them up as a militia:

Our men will be standing by, awaiting the President's orders to call us up as the militia, which would override D.C.'s ridiculous anti-gun laws (by federal statute, all Americans from age 17-45 are subject to being called up as the militia by the President, and all military veterans are subject to being called up until age 65 because of our training and experience). '' Stay tuned for further details.

Rhodes further primed his followers for the possibility of major conflict, assuring them that ''skilled special warfare veterans'' will be ''standing by armed, just outside D.C., as an emergency QRF'' to step in with heavy weaponry, if necessary:

Oath Keepers will also have some of our most skilled special warfare veterans standing by armed, just outside D.C., as an emergency QRF in the event of a worst case scenario in D.C'...

Reading this, one sees how Stewart Rhodes' actions and behavior feed into the very worst narratives about 1/6 '-- narratives used to smear all patriots who participated in the event, and even all Trump supporters more broadly.

The situation looks even worse once one understands what exactly a ''QRF'' or ''Quick Reaction Force'' does.

In its proper military context, a Quick Reaction Force refers to a military unit that carries bombs, explosives and firearms around in cars, trucks or mobile units to enter violent situations with heavy weaponry:

Rhodes does not explicitly talk about his planned QRF comprised of ''skilled special warfare veterans standing by armed'' also having explosives. But explosives are both a common feature of QRFs in a military sense, and in fact Rhodes's alleged Ohio Oath Keeper underling, the bar owner Jessica Watkins, was said to have had bomb-making instructions somewhere, whether physical or on a computer, when police arrested her.

Note that Jessica did not allegedly possess bomb-making materials, but bomb-making instructions. It could have been something she looked up because Stewart Rhodes was telling the group to form QRFs. We may never know. More than five months later, other than those recovered from a single phone, Rhodes's personal communications from his own electronic devices still apparently haven't been recovered.

What we know is this: Jessica Watkins was arrested on January 19. Stewart Rhodes is still a free man.

In that same November 10 public post referenced above, Stewart Rhodes concluded his message to his followers with a note from a ''friend from Serbia'' indicating ''WHAT WE THE PEOPLE MUST DO.'' This message, among other things, included calls to ''gather in the capital,'' ''storm the Parliament'' and engage in ''complete disobedience'' even though ''I know, not nice, but it must be done.'' And in so proceeding, the message assures, ''no barricades will be strong enough to stop them, nor the police determined enough to stop them.''

On December 6, 2020, less than a month before 1/6, Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes said the following:

Show the world who the traitors are, and then use the Insurrection Act to drop the hammer on them. And all of us veterans who swore that oath''until you're age 65, you can be called up as the militia to support and defend the Constitution. He [President Trump] needs to know from you that you are with him, [and] that if [Trump] does not do it now while he is commander in chief, we're going to have to do it ourselves later, in a much more desperate, much more bloody war. Let's get it on now''while he is still the commander in chief .

Watch:

On December 14, 2020, three weeks before 1/6, Rhodes continued to prime his membership of military veterans with the understanding that patriots would have to fight a ''bloody civil war'' after Trump conceded if Trump did not begin the ''bloody civil war'' before he left office:

Strike now. If you [President Trump] fail to act while you are still in office, we the people will have to fight a bloody civil war and revolution against these two illegitimate Communist China puppets, and their illegitimate regime, with all of the powers of the deep state behind them, with nominal command of all the might of our armed forces (though we fully expect many units or entire branches to refuse their orders and to fight against them)'...

And later in the same post:

If you [President Trump] fail to do so, we the people will have to fight a bloody revolution/civil war'...

In case any of his followers may have missed it, on December 23, 2020, Rhodes continued yet again with ''Act Now! Do NOT Wait for Jan 6'':

If you fail to do your duty, you will leave We the People no choice but to walk in the Founders footsteps, by declaring the regime illegitimate, incapable of representing us, destructive of the just ends of government'... And, like the Founding generation, we will take to arms'..., we will declare our independence from that puppet regime'...

There are millions of American patriots standing ready. Do not forsake them. Do not leave them to have to do it all themselves.

The FBI and DOJ are well aware of all these data points, and have been since at least the middle of January 2021.

As early as one week before 1/6, Rhodes gathered all of his top lieutenants together in Signal chat group ''DC OP: Jan 6 21'':

55. At least as early as December 31, 2020, WATKINS, KELLY MEGGS, JAMES, MINUTA, PERSON ONE, PERSON THREE, PERSON TEN, and others known and unknown joined an invitation-only encrypted Signal group message titled ''DC OP: Jan 6 21'' (hereinafter the ''Leadership Signal Chat'').

By January 2, 2021, Rhodes was getting regular updates on the vaunted ''ferry plot'' that the media made so much hoopla about as a domestic terror threat. From Law & Crime:

Hours before Senate Republicans killed an independent commission to investigate the Jan. 6th siege, federal prosecutors disclosed communications about how Oath Keepers allegedly plotted to storm Washington, D.C. with guns by boat by way of the Potomac River.

Rhodes's own alleged Oath Keeper lieutenant was giving him constant updates on the so-called ''ferry plot's'' status, right there in the Leadership Signal Chat:

68. On the evening of January 2, 2021, at about 5:43 p.m., KELLY MEGGS posted a map of Washington, D.C ., in the Leadership Signal Chat, along with the message, ''1 if by land[,] North side of Lincoln Memorial[,] 2 if by sea[,] Corner of west basin and Ohio is a water transport landing !!'' KELLY MEGGS continued, ''QRF rally points[.] Water of the bridges get closed.''

The DOJ even references a Stewart Rhodes's January 4, 2021 OathKeepers.org article as evidence of the Call To Action that alleged Oath Keepers 1/6 conspirators responded to in coming to the Capitol:

12. On January 4, 2021, PERSON ONE posted an article to the Oath Keepers website encouraging Oath Keeper members and affiliates to go to Washington, D.C., for the events of January 5-6, 2021, stating: ''It is CRITICAL that all patriots who can be in DC get to DC to stand tall in support of President Trump's fight to defeat the enemies foreign and domestic who are attempting a coup, through the massive vote fraud and related attacks on our Republic. We Oath Keepers are both honor-bound and eager to be there in strength to do our part.''

13. In his January 4 post, PERSON ONE also observed: ''As we have done on all recent DC Ops, we will also have well armed and equipped QRF teams on standby, outside DC, in the event of a worst case scenario, where the President calls us up as part of the militia to to assist him inside DC. We don't expect a need for him to call on us for that at this time, but we stand ready if he does (and we also stand ready to answer the call to serve as militia anytime in the future, and anywhere in our nation, if he does invoke the Insurrection Act).''

14. PERSON ONE named PERSON TEN to be the leader of his group's operations in Washington, D.C., on January 6, 2021.

On January 4, Stewart Rhodes's operations commander, ''Person 10,'' checks into the ''QRF hotel.'' Recall that QRF (Quick Reaction Force) is a military term that Rhodes evidently employs to refer to Oath Keepers' stash of weapons to be used if/when called upon.

Person 10's room in the ''QRF hotel'' was reserved and paid for by '-- Stewart Rhodes:

82. On January 4, 2021, PERSON TEN checked into the Hilton Garden Inn in Vienna, Virginia. The room was reserved and paid for using a credit card in PERSON ONE's name.

The day before 1/6, Stewart Rhodes himself checked in to the ''QRF hotel'' where his lieutenants all set up the day before.

85. On January 5, 2021, PERSON ONE and MINUTA separately traveled to the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area and checked into the Hilton Garden Inn in Vienna, Virginia.

So much for the highlights regarding Rhodes' activities leading up to 1/6.

The following presents a sample of Stewart Rhodes' activity and communications on the day of 1/6. All of the following excerpts are from the indictment linked above.

105. At 1:25 p.m., PERSON ONE messaged the Leadership Signal Chat, ''Pence is doing nothing. As I predicted.'' About 15 minutes later, he sent another message, stating, ''All I see Trump doing is complaining. I see no intent by him to do anything. So the patriots are taking it into their own hands. They've had enough.''

106. At 1:48 p.m., PERSON ONE sent a message to the Leadership Signal Chat informing the group that he was on his way to the Capitol.

Note how the specificity suddenly drops off in paragraph 106. Every other text in this indictment is a direct quote. And then suddenly, for no reason, the specific words of the text are not quoted. Instead, we just get the paragraph ''informing the group that he was on his way.'' Well, what exactly did he say? How did he say it? Was it just ''On my way''? Was it enthusiastic encouragement? Were there direct orders or stronger suggestions?

114. At 2:03 p.m., the administrator of the ''Stop the Steal J6'' Zello channel directed the group, ''You are executing citizen's arrest. Arrest this assembly, we have probable cause for acts of treason, election fraud . . . .''

115. At 2:06 p.m., PERSON ONE sent another message to the Leadership Signal Chat asking for PERSON TEN's location before stating, ''I'm trying to get to you.''

119. At 2:14 p.m., PERSON TEN wrote to the Leadership Signal Chat, ''The have taken ground at the capital[.] We need to regroup any members who are not on mission.''

120. At 2:15 p.m., PERSON ONE placed a phone call to KELLY MEGGS, which lasted approximately 15 seconds

123. At 2:24 p.m., KELLY MEGGS placed a phone call to PERSON ONE, which lasted approximately 2 seconds.

124. At 2:25 p.m., PERSON ONE forwarded PERSON TEN's message (''The have taken ground at the capital[.] We need to regroup any members who are not on mission.'') to the Leadership Signal Chat and instructed: ''Come to South Side of Capitol on steps'' and then sent a photograph showing the southeast side of the Capitol.

Kelly Meggs, one should recall, is among those Oath Keepers indicted on February 19.

At 2:35 p.m., Meggs along with several others joined together to form the so-called ''military stack'' formation that we hear so much about in the press. Prosecutor Michael Sherwin makes a huge deal of the so-called stack in the ''Shock and Awe'' interview we addressed above.

The following gives a sense of Rhodes' activity leading up to the stack formation at 2:35 p.m. (again from the indictment):

126. 2:31 p.m., PERSON TEN placed a phone call to PERSON ONE, which lasted approximately 5 minutes and 25 seconds. 127. At 2:32 p.m., KELLY MEGGS placed a phone call to PERSON ONE, which lasted approximately 1 minute and 37 seconds. 130. At 2:33 p.m., JAMES placed a phone call to PERSON TEN, which lasted approximately 49 seconds.

At around 4 p.m. the Oath Keepers come out of the Capitol and allegedly gathered around Stewart Rhodes:

One additional charged member of the group has denied knowing that Person One was on the Capitol grounds on January 6, 2021. However, publicly available photographs and video show someone consistent in appearance with Person One on the east side of the Capitol on the afternoon of January 6, 2021. At one point, around 4:00 p.m.'--as many rioters were exiting the Capitol'--a large group that included co-defendants Kelly Meggs, Connie Meggs, Graydon Young, Laura Steele, other members of the stack, and other individuals wearing ''Oath Keepers'' clothing and insignia who also stormed the Capitol gathered around Person One and stood around waiting for at least ten minutes in that location.

Note that at this time, Trump was continually telling protesters to stop and go home. At 4:17 p.m., Trump tweeted:

This was a fraudulent election but we can't play into the hands of these people. We have to have peace. So go home. We love you. You're very special. You've seen what happens. You've seen the way others are treated that are so bad and so evil. I know how you feel, but go home, and go home in peace.

Rhodes never made such a tempering statement on 1/6 in any of these filings, despite the fact these Oath Keepers lieutenants were all allegedly recruited to and trained as Rhodes' militia, under Rhodes' alleged organizational command.

In fact, that very night of 1/6, as members of his own militia were dejected about the day's events, Rhodes reassured them that they had done the right thing. At 7:41 p.m., three hours after the last protester left the Capitol, Rhodes texted the Leaders chat:

The founding generation Sons of Liberty stormed the mansion of the corrupt Royal Governor of Massachusetts, and trashed the place. They also jumped on board a ship carrying East India Tea, and dumped it in the harbor. We are actually in a far more deadly situation given the FACT that enemies foreign and domestic have subverted, infiltrated, and taken over near every single office and level of power in this nation. We have one FINAL chance to get Trump to do his job and his duty. Patriots entering their own Capitol to send a message to the traitors is NOTHING compared to what's coming if Trump doesn't take decisive action right now. It helped to send that message to HIM. He was the most important audience today. I hope he got the message.

As we conclude this section, it is important to take stock of the material presented so far. Given the above selection of Stewart Rhodes's actions and words leading up to and on 1/6, and given that Rhodes is the leader of the major militia group associated with 1/6 '-- why no indictment for Rhodes?

This pressing and decisive question cannot be considered in isolation. Instead, as we have argued throughout this series, it must be considered in light of the maximally severe standard of ''Shock and Awe'' prosecution applied to those indicted for 1/6 crimes. After having looked at Rhodes's statements and actions leading up to 1/6, and noting that a sandwich shop owner George Tanios faces 60 years for the utterance ''no, no, not yet,'' is it not bizarre that Mr. Rhodes hasn't yet been indicted?

At the time of writing, countless Americans are being held in prison under abusive and unjust conditions for minor if not non-existent offenses related to 1/6. The reason for such severity is the notion that 1/6 was an attempt at an insurrection, an organized and planned attempt to ''siege'' the Capitol and obstruct the healthy functioning of our democracy. And yet, when we examine the evidence, it appears that the overwhelming share of ''insurrectionist'' words and actions associated with 1/6 come from the Oath Keepers organization. How then do we explain hundreds of Ordinary Joes rotting in prison and George Tanios facing 60 years in light of the leader and founder of the Oath Keepers, Stewart Rhodes, being charged with nothing?

Now is the time to emphasize another caveat. While we strenuously disagree with Rhodes's rhetoric about ''bloody civil war'' and insurrections, the purpose of this is not to take issue with or criticize all of the Oath Keepers' beliefs. Some of the Oath Keepers' stated beliefs seem very reasonable '-- their stated resistance to totalitarian overreach, skepticism about the 2020 Presidential election, support for the 2nd Amendment and so forth.

Precisely because many patriots will find much of the Oath Keepers' beliefs reasonable and attractive, we have no doubt that many members of the Oath Keepers organization are good, well-meaning patriots (and many veterans) who simply found the wrong outlet and organization to fight against the corrupt ruling class of our country.

We sympathize with these patriots and the position they're in. But the reality is that it is very unlikely that any organization or militia with the stated purpose of the Oath Keepers to recruit law enforcement officers and veterans can help but become, in effect, a honeypot trap. And this is what we believe the Oath Keepers is at the highest organizational level, and we believe the overwhelming share of evidence indicates that Stewart Rhodes's primary purpose is to fulfill this deceptive function on behalf of elements within the government.

Finally, we re-emphasize our earlier caveat. The purpose of this expose is not to target Mr. Rhodes personally nor are we interested in him being indicted. Our interest is in the federal infiltration, involvement and foreknowledge of 1/6.

In the following section, we will draw upon the information above among other important details and observations to make a more focused legal case for conspiracy that could be the basis of the indictment of Mr. Rhodes. The notion that it would be difficult to put together such an indictment is simply not sustainable. Again, the purpose here is not to encourage Rhodes' indictment per se but to draw careful attention to the by now unavoidable conclusion that he's being protected. The following section is especially important for the army of regime media ''fact checkers'' who inevitably will descend like hyenas upon this groundbreaking, dangerous, and yet vitally important investigative piece.

Understanding the Prosecution (or lack thereof)

The first Oath Keepers arrests were made on January 19, the day before President Joe Biden's inauguration. These high-profile Oath Keepers arrests generated Inauguration Day proof, it seemed, that at least a handful of the 1/6 participants engaged in activities that might be described as ''insurrectionist.''

Three self-styled militia members charged in the Jan. 6 breach of the U.S. Capitol began soliciting recruits for potential violence within days of the 2020 presidential election, later training in Ohio and North Carolina and organizing travel to Washington with a busload of comrades and a truck of weapons, U.S. authorities alleged Wednesday.

The arrests this weekend of several people with alleged ties to far-right extremist groups, including the Oath Keepers, the Proud Boys and the Three Percenters, suggest that the riot was not an entirely impulsive outburst of violence but an event instigated or exploited by organized groups. Hours of video posted on social media and pored over by investigators have focused on individuals in military-style gear moving together.

'...

The indictments come one day after Acting U.S. Attorney Michael R. Sherwin said that investigators are turning their focus to whether militia groups and individuals in several states may have coordinated or planned ahead of time to commit criminal acts. Law enforcement officials have focused on the Oath Keepers, the nativist Proud Boys, and Three Percenters, another anti-government group that takes its name from the bogus claim that only 3 percent of the colonists supported the American Revolution against the British.

From those January 19 arrests until the present day, Stewart Rhodes features prominently as the star of every Oath Keepers indictment. That includes four superseding indictments to add new defendants and new charges.

It is important to recall that the specific charge against the indicted Oath Keepers on 1/6 is not simply or even primarily, as is widely assumed, ''storming of the Capitol.'' Rather, the indicted Oath Keepers mentioned above first and foremost face charges of conspiracy to obstruct Congress:

Three individuals associated with the Oath Keepers, a paramilitary organization focused on recruitment of current and former military, law enforcement, and first responder personnel, were indicted today in federal court in the District of Columbia for conspiring to obstruct Congress, among other charges.

Jessica Marie Watkins, 38, and Donovan Ray Crowl, 50, both of Champaign County, Ohio; and Thomas Caldwell, 65, of Clarke County, Virginia, were indicted today in federal court in the District of Columbia on charges of conspiracy, obstructing an official proceeding, destruction of government property, and unlawful entry on restricted building or grounds, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 371, 1512, 1361, and 1752. Watkins and Crowl were arrested on Jan. 18; Caldwell was arrested on Jan. 19. All three individuals originally were charged by criminal complaint. The maximum penalty for Obstructing an Official Proceeding is a sentence of up to 20 years in prison.

The reason this is relevant is that one not need to have entered the Capitol for the conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding to apply. All that needs to be shown for an indictment is that an individual entered into the criminal conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding and took a so-called ''overt action'' in furtherance of that conspiracy.

It is especially interesting, then, to compare the government's descriptions of the words and actions of Stewart Rhodes with its descriptions of other indicted Oath Keepers whose actions constitute ''overt actions'' required in the government's minds to indict for this particular alleged criminal conspiracy '-- that is, obstructing the Senate proceeding. To start with, we encourage the reader to review the previous section chronicling Rhodes's actions and behavior leading up to and on 1/6 in some depth.

For now, we turn our attention to a remarkable government document expressing opposition to indicted Oath Keeper Thomas Caldwell's motion for bail.

Pay particular attention to the government's understanding of the conspiracy for which Caldwell is indicted, as well as the language the government uses to describe Oath Keepers founder and leader Stewart Rhodes:

Evidence that the government will disclose to the defense this week'--a Signal chat called ''DC OP: Jan 6 21'''--shows that individuals, including those alleged to have conspired with the defendant, were actively planning to use force and violence. The participants in this chat include: Person One, Kelly Meggs, Jessica Watkins, and regional Oath Keeper leaders from multiple states across the country'...

So here the government references Stewart Rhodes (Person One) as a participant in a Signal chat ''DC OP'' (and boy was it ever) whose participants, again, according to the government, were ''actively planning to use force and violence.'' The especially remarkable thing is that Caldwell, the subject of the indictment itself, is not even a member of the Signal chat, whereas the unindicted Stewart Rhodes is.

The government document continues:

The chat discusses members and affiliates of the Oath Keepers coming to Washington, D.C., for the events of January 5-6, 2021, to provide security to speakers and VIPs at the events. There is no discussion of forcibly entering the Capitol until January 6, 2021. However, there is talk about being prepared for violence'...''

Person One also says, ''Highly recommend a C or D cell flashlight if you have one. Collapsible Batons are a grey area in the law. I bring one. But I'm willing to take that risk because I love em'...''

These messages echo the words of Person One in the call for action he posted to the Oath Keepers website on January 4, 2021, in which he stated: ''It is CRITICAL that all patriots who can be in DC get to DC to stand tall in support of President Trump's fight to defeat the enemies foreign and domestic who are attempting a coup, through the massive vote fraud and related attacks on our Republic. We Oath Keepers are both honor-bound and eager to be there in strength to do our part,'' including ''prepar[ing] to do whatever must be done to honor our oaths[.]'' (ECF No. 18 at 2.) These statements and messages all show that the co-conspirators joined together to stop Congress's certification of the Electoral College vote, and they were prepared to use violence, if necessary, to effect this purpose.

The prosecution concedes that there is no explicit discussion of forcibly entering the Capitol, but then notes that there is talk of being prepared for violence. Rather than reference anything that Caldwell (the defendant) said, the government cites Stewart Rhodes's talk about coming prepared for violence with collapsible batons. And then the government uses the specific phrase ''call to action'' to describe Rhodes's call to patriots to go to DC. The government concludes by saying that the aforementioned statements and messages all demonstrate a conspiracy to stop congressional certification.

We leave aside whether the government's claim that such statements and actions establish a conspiracy in their own right. That is not the central issue here. The issue is that the government essentially claims Caldwell is part of a conspiracy and yet overwhelmingly cites not Caldwell's but Caldwell's Oath Keeper commander Stewart Rhodes' communications and ''calls to action'' as establishing said conspiracy. At this juncture we are not saying that either Caldwell or Rhodes is justly guilty of conspiracy. Rather, we are pointing out the glaring discrepancy in the fact that Caldwell is indicted and Rhodes, the leader of the Oath Keepers whose communications and actions are said to establish the conspiracy, remains free and unindicted.

Again, why is the government protecting Rhodes?

It gets even worse. Federal prosecutors continue:

It does not matter whether they planned to use this violence to support the president when he invoked the insurrection act or to attack the Capitol if the vice president allowed the certification to go forward'--under either scenario, they were plotting to use violence to support the unlawful obstruction of a Congressional proceeding.

Again, this is a remarkable position for the government to have given the repeated and numerous instances in which Rhodes would psychologically prime his followers for bloody violence just in case President Trump gave some unspecified signal activating the Insurrection Act. A more comprehensive list can be found in the previous section. For convenience, here are a few selected from the previous section:

We're going to defend the president, the duly elected president, and we call on him to do what needs to be done to save our country. Because if you don't guys, you're going to be in a bloody, bloody civil war, and a bloody '' you can call it an insurrection or you can call it a war or fight.

'...

PERSON ONE told his followers they needed to be prepared to fight Antifa, which he characterized as a group of individuals with whom ''if the fight comes, let the fight come. Let Antifa '' if they go kinetic on us, then we'll go kinetic back on them. I'm willing to sacrifice myself for that. Let the fight start there. That will give President Trump what he needs, frankly. If things go kinetic, good. If they throw bombs at us and shoot us, great, because that brings the president his reason and rationale for dropping the Insurrection Act.

'...

PERSON ONE continued, ''I do want some Oath Keepers to stay on the outside, and to stay fully armed and prepared to go in armed, if they have to . . . . So our posture's gonna be that we're posted outside of DC, um, awaiting the President's orders. . . . We hope he will give us the orders. We want him to declare an insurrection, and to call us up as the militia.''

'...

[Person 1] Our men will be standing by, awaiting the President's orders to call us up as the militia, which would override D.C.'s ridiculous anti-gun laws (by federal statute, all Americans from age 17-45 are subject to being called up as the militia by the President, and all military veterans are subject to being called up until age 65 because of our training and experience). '' Stay tuned for further details.

Rhodes further primed his followers for the possibility of major conflict, assuring them that ''skilled special warfare veterans'' will be ''standing by armed, just outside D.C., as an emergency QRF'' to step in with heavy weaponry, if necessary:

Oath Keepers will also have some of our most skilled special warfare veterans standing by armed, just outside D.C., as an emergency QRF in the event of a worst case scenario in D.C...

It is remarkable to read the above statements in light of the government's own stated position that:

It does not matter whether they planned to use this violence to support the president when he invoked the insurrection act or to attack the Capitol if the vice president allowed the certification to go forward'--under either scenario, they were plotting to use violence to support the unlawful obstruction of a Congressional proceeding.

And yet if this is the case, how on earth does one explain Caldwell's indictment and Oath Keepers founder and kingpin Stewart Rhodes' lack thereof?

The Caldwell prosecution's opposition to bail motion continues:

The Signal chat referenced above shows that the group'--which included at least two individuals alleged to have conspired with Caldwell'--was activating a plan to use force on January 6. At approximately 1:38 p.m., Person One wrote, ''All I see Trump doing is complaining. I see no intent by him to do anything. So the patriots are taking it into their own hands. They've had enough.'' At 2:14 p.m., an individual leading the coordination of the security details run by the Oath Keepers on January 5-6 stated, ''The have taken ground at the capital[.] We need to regroup any members who are not on mission.'' Person One then reposted that message and instructed the group: ''Come to South Side of Capitol on steps'' and then sent a photograph showing the southeast side of the Capitol. At 2:41 p.m., Person One posted another photograph showing the southeast side of the Capitol with the caption, ''South side of US Capitol. Patriots pounding on doors[.]'' At approximately 2:40 p.m., the individuals in the ''stack,'' to include co-defendants Kelly and Connnie Meggs, Jessica Watkins, Graydon Young, Laura Steele, Donovan Crowl, and Sandra Parker, forcibly entered the Capitol through the Rotunda door in the center of the east side of the building.

The above passage begins with government reference to the Signal group ''activating a plan to use force'' on January 6th. Stewart Rhodes was not only a member of the Signal group ''activating a plan to use force'': the document goes on to directly quote Rhodes, multiple times, to support its claim of such activation.

U.S. Attorney Michael Sherwin, who propounded the ''Shock and Awe'' standard of prosecution, made a very big deal about this 2:40 p.m. moment when the Oath Keepers formed a ''military stack'' and went into the U.S. Capitol. Meanwhile, we have seen that Sherwin's own Justice Department argues in public filings that the whole thing was activated, at least in part, by the still-unindicted Stewart Rhodes.

The passage below, which immediately follows the passage excerpted above and concludes the DOJ's argument for ''The Evidence of the Conspiracy'' section, again reads like the entire DOJ case is against Stewart Rhodes, not his indicted alleged Oath Keepers underling Thomas Caldwell:

Kelly Meggs has denied that any one in particular made the decision or gave the command for the group to enter the building. One additional charged member of the group has denied knowing that Person One was on the Capitol grounds on January 6, 2021. However, publicly available photographs and video show someone consistent in appearance with Person One on the east side of the Capitol on the afternoon of January 6, 2021. At one point, around 4:00 p.m.'--as many rioters were exiting the Capitol'--a large group that included co-defendants Kelly Meggs, Connie Meggs, Graydon Young, Laura Steele, other members of the stack, and other individuals wearing ''Oath Keepers'' clothing and insignia who also stormed the Capitol gathered around Person One and stood around waiting for at least ten minutes in that location.

And so we see that the government seems to assign culpability to ''one additional charged member'' on the basis of possibly knowing that Person One (Rhodes) was on the Capitol grounds on 1/6. And the government further goes on to stipulate that many of the co-defendants all gathered around to meet Person One (Rhodes) after exiting the Capitol, clearly suggesting Rhodes as the leader and organizer. And indeed, he's the founder and head of the organization to which these co-defendants allegedly belong.

The government has, in effect, built its case against the 16 Oath Keepers in large part by saying ''We know you're guilty of conspiracy because we definitely know your leader Stewart Rhodes is guilty of conspiracy, and it looks like you were following your leader.''

But Stewart Rhodes is not even charged. He is still just ''Person One.''

Almost as strange as Rhodes' apparent protection from indictment is the complete lack of curiosity or skepticism as to why. Indeed, even as Revolver's previous investigative report gained nationwide attention for suggesting that some of the unindicted persons named in charging documents were federal operatives, no media source to our knowledge has directed its suspicions at Oath Keepers founder and kingpin, Stewart Rhodes.

In early March, there was a barrage of headlines indicating Stewart Rhodes's days were numbered.

On March 9, we had ''Oath Keepers Leader Stewart Rhodes Directed Followers During Capitol Riot, Prosecutors Allege.''

No one in broadcast or print media found it odd that: (1) this a conspiracy case; (2) federal prosecutors have pinpointed (in Caldwell's bail motion document) Rhodes as a person who directed the conspiracy, in real-time; and (3) a key alleged director of the entire conspiracy is not actually indicted in the conspiracy.

On March 10, ABC News came in strong with ''Federal prosecutors appear to home in on Oath Keepers founder for alleged role in Capitol attack''.

On March 25, Daily Beast bolted in, frothing at the mouth: ''Violence on Jan 6. Wasn't Enough for Oath Keepers Leader: New Docs''.

On March 26, Voice of America compensated for the lack of explanation for Rhodes's total prosecutorial freedom by upping the ante: maybe they are weighing sedition charges! See e.g., ''Prosecutors Shift Focus to Possible Seditious Conspiracy in Capitol Insurrection Probe''.

By late April, regime media seemed dejected, almost resigned to what an insurmountable challenge it was for prosecutors to indict Stewart Rhodes.

On April 20, the LATimes bemoaned ''Prosecutors' challenge in Capitol riot probe: The Oath Keeper who didn't go inside''.

Although the Regime Media has not bothered to register any suspicion at Rhodes' seeming protection, the collection of headlines above implicitly suggests the media is resting on two possible innocent explanations '-- both of which can be easily dismissed.

The first possible objection is that the government is just having a difficult time indicting Stewart Rhodes because he did not technically go inside the Capitol. As we have shown previously in this section, this possible objection is destroyed by the prosecutors' own arguments. Indeed, the main indictment against the Oath Keepers is not storming the capitol or trespassing, but rather conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding (Senate certification). This does not require entering the Capitol.

Thomas Caldwell is not alleged to have gone inside the Capitol, and was indicted in the alleged conspiracy anyway. Furthermore, as we have seen above in this section, the prosecutors repeatedly refer to Stewart Rhodes' communications, statements and actions to establish the basis for the very conspiracy for which they charged his underling Thomas Caldwell.

Not only did Thomas Caldwell not go in the U.S. Capitol, the prosecutors argue that Stewart Rhodes' actions '-- and Thomas Caldwell's proximity to those actions '-- are sufficient to pursue bail denial for Thomas Caldwell.

The second possible objection is that Rhodes has not been charged because the government is upping the ante and going for a full blown sedition conspiracy. But this doesn't explain why Rhodes wouldn't be indicted on lesser conspiracy charges right away, along with the 16 others. The DOJ could simply file a superseding indictment, and t ack on additional charges later, while Rhodes is already arrested.

This is not a RICO case . You don't need any more evidence than you already have to indict Stewart Rhodes. All you need is agreement to the conspiracy and an overt act. You have his ''agreement'' a thousand ways from Sunday, all stipulated above.

Need some overt acts? In the indictment alone, here's a quick review based on material already presented in this article:

Overt acts by Stewart Rhodes in paragraphs 35, 55, 85, are all before January 6, and barely include the full range referenced. Then, in the ''Overt Acts'' specifically on the day of 1/6, the prosecutors allege (in the Caldwell bail document) Stewart Rhodes committed Overt Acts in furtherance of the conspiracy occurred in the section ''Overt Acts: The January 6 Operation'' section in paragraphs 100, 104, 105, 106, 112, 113, 115, 120, 124, 126, 127, 163, 164 and 165.

In the present political and legal environment the Stewart Rhodes conspiracy charge is perhaps the single easiest indictment to bring in all of modern American history. We invite legal experts from CNN, New York Times etc. to try their best to read the Oath Keepers court docket and explain, formally, how there are not facts alleged sufficient to bring an indictment against Stewart Rhodes.

For the cherry on top, consider the following headline from March 10: Defense Secretary announces 2,300 National Guard troops will stay in DC for TWO more months as it's revealed Oath Keepers leader 'planned to use force and violence to storm the US Capitol'.

That was the headline everywhere. The Justice Department's arch-nemesis, Stewart Rhodes, summoned like a Great Phantom Menace, wreaking havoc on downtown Washington from his cave in Afghanistan. From the Daily Mail:

Defense Secretary announces 2,300 National Guard troops will stay in DC for TWO more months as it's revealed Oath Keepers leader 'planned to use force and violence to storm the US Capitol'

U.S. prosecutors on Monday revealed they have new evidence tying the Oath Keepers to plans to use 'force and violence' during the Capitol riotsIt includes texts from the far-right militia's leader Stewart RhodesThey were found in texting app Signal in a chat named 'DC OP: Jan 6 21''All I see Trump doing is complaining. I see no intent by him to do anything,' Rhodes allegedly said in one textHe has not been publicly charged in connection with the breach of the CapitolIt comes as D.C. law enforcement says the threat to the Capitol remainsOn Tuesday, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin formally approved an extension of the National Guard deployment for another two monthsClose to 2,300 troops will continue to provide security in D.C. until May 23If the DOJ wanted to go for sedition charges, it would have been far more advantageous to indict Rhodes five months ago, because Rhodes would be in a much weaker legal and financial position. He'd be fighting sedition charges while he's already breaking down under the weight of conspiracy charges.

And come to think of it, is the government not worried that this allegedly dangerous leader of the ''nation's largest militia'' might pose a flight risk post 1/6?

How about a security risk?

Was the DOJ not worried that Stewart Rhodes's hyped up so-called radicalized paramilitary organization would plan ''another'' domestic terror attack? Rhodes texted to all of his lower-level lieutenants that 1/6 was ''NOTHING compared to what's coming.'' The Justice Department ruthlessly indicted and moved to deny bail those who received that text '-- why is Rhodes being protected?

For a fuller answer to this disturbing question, we conclude our exhaustive analysis of Rhodes's relationship with 1/6, and go back further in his biography.

The federal protection he seems to enjoy in relation to 1/6 indictment is nothing new, and in fact reflects a curious pattern in Rhodes's life spanning decades.

Who is Elmer ''Stewart'' Rhodes III?

The November 2020 issue of The Atlantic contained a strangely prescient biography of Stewart Rhodes: ''A Pro-Trump Militant Group Has Recruited Thousands of Police, Soldiers, and Veterans: An Atlantic investigation reveals who they are and what they might do on Election Day.''

The piece, published two months before 1/6, described Rhodes as a ticking time tomb of a latent national security threat to the 2020 U.S. election. According to The Atlantic biography, after a long stint in the Army's 72nd Airborne unit, Rhodes was allegedly discharged from service with a fractured spine, and found himself a 28 year-old car valet with no college education. In 1993, down and out, Rhodes then allegedly accidentally shot himself in the face with a loaded handgun, going blind in one eye. Through a still little-understood sequence of events, Stewart Rhodes went from down and out, to community college, to Yale Law School, arguably the most selective academic institution in the country. From the Atlantic:

Rhodes was a little-known libertarian blogger when he launched the Oath Keepers in early 2009'... Rhodes had joined the military just out of high school, hoping to become a Green Beret, but his career was cut short when he fractured his spine during a parachute training jump. After his discharge, he worked as a firearms instructor and parked cars as a valet. In 1993, he dropped a loaded handgun and it shot him in the face, blinding him in his left eye. The brush with death inspired him, at 28, to enroll in community college. He went on to the University of Nevada at Las Vegas, where he graduated summa cum laude, and then to Yale Law School.

Almost none of these details have actually been corroborated, according to Buzzfeed:

An Army spokesperson said they could not verify Rhodes' service because it would have taken place too long ago; the National Archives said it is not processing service records requests during the pandemic.

Even the FBI has appeared skeptical of Stewart Rhodes's ascension from 28-year old car valet with one eye and no college education to a prize-winning Yale School Law graduate turned founder of America's largest militia. A January 9, 2014 Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) document refers to Stewart Rhodes's background from paratrooping to Yale with only the words ''allegedly,'' along with redacting every other detail that could prove useful to corroborating such history:

This is a frequent pattern. The FOIA has four consecutive pages of wholly redacted blocks. Not a single detail, apparently, is suitable for public consumption.

What little is unredacted from the FBI records on the Oath Keepers and Stewart Rhodes is replete with references to undercover informants and FBI surveillance absolutely swarming the group since its early years. Recall that ''CHS'' refers to Confidential Human Source:

The academic world's apparent top expert on the Oath Keepers, Sam Jackson, also appears to have fallen short of independently confirming the official timeline of Rhodes's mythical ascent from Army paratrooper to 28 year-old car valet in Montana with zero college education, to Yale Law School, then [Insert 4-Year Black Hole], then voila, the most prominent antigovernment group in the country. From YouTube:

''It's not entirely clear what his background was immediately before starting the group,'' Sam Jackson concludes. ''He talked a little bit about why he formed the group. But one thing worth noting is, all of my research focuses on all of the communications that the group puts out. So it's all things that they could strategically decide to reveal and it isn't necessarily indicative of what really happened, if you want to make that distinction.

The blog from which the Oath Keepers sprouted was filled with the kind of fire and venom commonly associated with what is now known as ''Fedposting'' '-- outrageous, incendiary rhetoric that is technically lawful, but is also prone to generating leads for the FBI to pursue when the informant's loyal followers amplify the rhetoric or formulate plans to take such rhetoric seriously.

For example, in a May 2009 Oath Keepers blog post, Rhodes responded to an alleged ''delicate metro-sexual male student'' who said he would follow immoral orders by military superiors by saying: ''At that moment, I understood what H. L. Mencken meant when he said 'every normal man must be tempted at times to spit on his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin to slit throats.'''

Now, there is no bigger critic of social justice warrior poseurs taking the form of ''delicate metro-sexual males'' than Revolver. However, the issue here is that Rhodes' behavior and context eerily and overwhelmingly appears to fit the pattern of a government informant or agent, dating back many years before the events of 1/6.

Typically, informants will put out such rhetoric as a honeytrap, and then report their own overzealous followers and adherents to Federal law enforcement. They collect checks for jailing their own well-intentioned patriot ''comrades'' whose lapses in judgment, intelligence, or self-control lead them one step too far down the path of escalating keyboard warrior rhetoric.

This was exactly the shtick, incidentally, of another high-profile right-wing ''shock jock'' patriot leader, Hal Turner, who was revealed to be a self-admitted ''deep undercover intelligence operative'' for the FBI. Incidentally, Hal Turner's tenure with the FBI ended within mere months of Stewart Rhodes's starting of the Oath Keepers:

They called him ''Valhalla.''

But it was more than a nickname.

For more than five years, Hal Turner of North Bergen lived a double life.

The public knew him as an ultra-right-wing radio talk show host and Internet blogger with an audience of neo-Nazis and white supremacists attracted to his scorched-earth racism and bare-knuckles bashing of public figures. But to the FBI, and its expanding domestic counter-terror intelligence operations in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks, Turner was ''Valhalla'' '' his code name as an informant who spied on his own controversial followers.

'...

''I was not some street snitch,'' Turner said in one of several lengthy interviews at the Hudson County Jail, where he was kept until the terms of his bail were worked out in October '-- terms that prevented him from talking to reporters after his release. ''I was a deep undercover intelligence operative.'' [NorthJersey.com]

A good example of how FBI informants such as Hal Turner repeatedly got loyal followers indicted for amplifying rhetoric coming from the informer is an email from Hal Turner to his handler, FBI Agent Stephen Haug, where he notes: ''Once again, my fierce rhetoric has served to flush out a possible crazy'':

I wrote an opinion piece on my site today in which I opine about 46 US Senators who I believe should be removed from office on July 4 for betraying their constituents and this nation.

An anonymous person, posting on the outside, third-party visitor comments area of my web site wrote:

''Im going to kill senator feinfold on July 4th, may thomas paine smile upon me and alexander hamilton bless my cause. praise the lord and pass the ammunition.''

Once again, my fierce rhetoric has served to flush out a possible crazy.

From the very outset of Stewart Rhodes's founding of the Oath Keepers, to his actions in advance of and on the day of 1/6, Stewart Rhodes's entire career has been a case study in ''fierce rhetoric'' wherein Rhodes repeatedly rallies his followers to take action, and everyone gets indicted but him.

Perhaps the most notable example of this is the Rhodes's involvement in the so-called Bundy Ranch affair in 2014.

In the early years of the Oath Keepers, from 2009-2013, Stewart Rhodes's provocations were mostly limited to keyboard warrior activities, such as encouraging military veterans to disobey orders from their superiors en masse. It's worth noting if his adherents followed Stewart Rhodes's dictates, they would be arrested or court-martialed. Rhodes's rhetoric would ''serve to flush out a possible crazy,'' in Hal Turner's words.

Then, in October 2013, Stewart Rhodes announced the Oath Keepers would be ''operationalized'' into special on-the-ground teams modeled after the U.S. Special Forces.

In April 2014, rancher Ammon Bundy set off a nationwide flashpoint for patriots versus the Federal government when his family stood their ground in defying orders by the Bureau of Land Management. In response, Stewart Rhodes put out a call for all Oath Keepers special teams to fly to Nevada's Bundy Ranch to help the Bundy family in an armed standoff, even if that meant violently resisting unconstitutional orders issued by the Federal government.

Rhodes flew in, made speeches and promises for protection, then caused mass dissension within the Bundy Ranch and panic in the ranks by telling the group an Obama drone strike was imminent:

Media outlets reported on conflict between different factions of Bundy supporters. A ''wild, paranoid rumor'' that Attorney General Eric Holder was preparing a drone strike against them caused Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes to remove his men from the supposed ''kill zone.'' In a recorded video, other Bundy supporters talked openly of shooting Rhodes for what they viewed as ''desertion'' and ''cowardice.'' Rhodes later described one situation as ''this close from being a gunfight.'' He recounted another situation in which he said a man drew a gun on a member of another militia.

Rhodes was then booted from Bundy Ranch by the unanimous vote of other militiamen on site, who openly described him as a likely FBI informant or federally-sponsored agent provocateur.

An incredible video clipped below shows all the hallmarks of a classic Stewart Rhodes sequence: a call to arms for Oath Keepers to stop a Federal enforcement action; threats of a bloodbath, then throwing other people out in front to be the footsoldiers of any armed or violent resistance.

Note that the entire Bundy family '-- including father Cliven and son Ammon, as well as friend of the family Ryan Payne who personally got Stewart Rhodes ejected, were all arrested for conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding (a similar charge for 1/6). Even though Stewart Rhodes flew in to help that obstruction, and a number of Rhodes's fellow Oath Keepers were arrested for their activities, Stewart Rhodes got off scot-free, even though he gave every appearance of acting as a chief organizer and instigator:

In March of that year, federal officials began to round up Bundy's cattle. One of his sons was arrested and cited for misdemeanors. Word spread, and members of militant groups from across the country poured in to support the Bundys, leading to an armed standoff near the Interstate 15 overpass.

Rhodes implored members and other supporters to come to Nevada or at least to make donations to the cause. ''Whatever you can send will be a blessing for the Patriots out there in the Nevada landscape,'' read a notice on the Oath Keepers' website. ''Just as in any military combat operation, the supply lines are extremely important for victory.''

Heavily armed Oath Keepers from around the country heeded the call.

Rhodes made the most of what had quickly become a media circus, holding multiple press conferences and appearing regularly on cable news networks wearing the group's merchandise and displaying its Oath Keepers flag. The government, eager to avoid bloodshed, released the cattle, handing a huge victory to the protesters. But almost immediately afterward, Bundy started making racist comments, and conservative media dropped his cause. Within days, Rhodes pulled the Oath Keepers out, claiming he was concerned about the possibility of a government drone strike.

According to three former group members, the Bundy standoff had been a bonanza for the organization. Membership soared, two of them said, and donations poured into the group's PayPal account. But despite pledges to support other militant groups involved in the standoff, little if any money ever reached them, according to Gary Hunt, who helped to lead a coalition of those groups.

''It was bullshit,'' said Hunt, who characterized the Oath Keepers as deserters. Local militant groups banned them from returning, telling them ''You're lucky that you're not getting shot in the back.''

Retired Marine sergeant and tea party activist Jerry DeLemus was one of many from around the country who had answered Rhodes's call to action, driving nearly 3,000 miles from New Hampshire to Nevada, where he was made head of security, according to blog posts on the Oath Keepers' site.

Two years later, DeLemus was arrested by the FBI on a variety of charges related to the standoff.

His wife, Sue DeLemus, a Republican member of the New Hampshire House of Representatives, remembers the phone ringing a few days later. ''Rhodes had one of his men call me and say, 'Sue, it's so sad. We want to help you. You can call us any time,''' she said. ''What a joke. They never provided any help at all.''

Jerry, who eventually pleaded guilty to conspiracy and interstate travel in aid of extortion, is still serving out a seven-year sentence.

''How come Stewart isn't in prison?'' Sue asked. ''He was there. He told everyone to come.'' [Buzzfeed]

Rhodes would repeat this shtick in various permutations from 2015 and 2016 with similar outings, like the Kim Davis affair and the Malheur National Wildlife Reserve stand-off. To fully go into these events would fall outside the scope of this study.

What is especially interesting to note, however, is the frequency with which Stewart Rhodes justifies his involvement in events with the pretext of providing bodyguard services, or ''personal security'' services. This was the same justification he gave to Sheriff Arpaio, who would later be probed by the FBI and indicted, and the same excuse Rhodes would later give to get close to Roger Stone, who the FBI has been eagerly pursuing for another round of indictments, as well as Alex Jones, Michael Flynn, and other VIPs at the November-December 2020 ''Stop The Steal'' events.

For what it's worth, providing ''security support'', free of charge, to leaders of ''extremist groups'' is by far the most popular cover story used by undercover FBI and Army counterintelligence operatives to gain personal access to VIP leaders of a network being spied on by government agencies. There is certain intel you only get by being up close, all day. For example:

-Tupac Shakur's personal bodyguard was an FBI informant.-Fred Hampton's personal bodyguard was an FBI informant.-Malcolm X's personal bodyguard was an FBI informant.-The personal bodyguard of the Aryan Nations key leader Richard Butler was an FBI informant.-Even the chief of security for JFK investigator Jim Garrison was an FBI informant.

Put simply, dissident organizations can expect a lot of free offers for volunteer bodyguard services right before something very bad happens. And volunteering bodyguard services is precisely what Stewart Rhodes claimed he was doing to explain his presence around D.C. during the November-December ''Stop the Steal'' events.

The Bind

Revolver's previous investigative report generated tremendous attention and created a national conversation about the possibility of federal infiltration, incitement, and foreknowledge in relation to the events of 1/6.

If our first piece helped to focus the conversation about 1/6 on the possibility of federal infiltration and incitement, we hope this piece will focus the question of possible federal infiltration and incitement on Oath Keepers founder and boss Stewart Rhodes.

Perhaps there are innocent explanations to the facts and arguments supplied throughout this piece. If Stewart Rhodes has such answers, we are happy to entertain them in good faith. Again, this isn't ultimately about Stewart Rhodes, this is about the United States Government '-- and the possibility that key and senior militia figures involved in the 1/6 event are in fact operatives of some (perhaps rogue) element of the national security state. After all, the national security state, with a compliant regime media, is using 1/6 to justify its domestic war on terror against patriotic American citizens. The stakes are high and the public deserves to know the truth, no matter how embarrassing or how dirty.

The virtual absence of real investigative journalism is part of the reason our national security state has gotten away with taking away so many of our liberties, and so fast. Revolver is happy to fill in this gap and operate on the cutting edge.

It is astonishing to us that no one had thought to bring up the Michigan kidnapping plot in light of 1/6. The Michigan plot involved the same action (storming of the state capitol) and one of the same major militia groups (Three Percenters). Not only was that plot heavily infiltrated (at least 5 of the 18 plotters turned out to be fed operatives), but the FBI agent who oversaw that infiltration operation got promoted to the DC office where he went on to oversee the 1/6 investigation. The parallels were remarkable, and it is still more remarkable that no journalist thought to ask whether there could have been similar infiltration in 1/6 '-- specially in the key militia groups implicated in the most egregious and spectacular elements of 1/6.

Similarly, no one in the national security state or in the Regime media expected some scrappy investigative news outlet to shine the spotlight on Stewart Rhodes in the way that we have. But, unfortunately for them, we have done just that. And now, the very fact that there will be increased attention on Stewart Rhodes's case in light of this context creates a strategic dilemma for both the DOJ/FBI (and whatever agency Rhodes might be associated with) and the regime media alike. We call this strategic dilemma ''The Bind.''

''The Bind'' is as follows:

On the one hand, by the Biden Administration's own logic, there is perhaps the greatest prerogative in all of modern American history to arrest and indict Stewart Rhodes right now. All of the key answers to the alleged Oath Keepers conspiracy '-- and by extension the so-called pre-planned assaults on the ''Temple of Democracy'' '-- are likely to be found in his records, on his electronic devices, and in the process of his prosecution.

Further, the apparent national imperative to arrest and indict Stewart Rhodes intensifies with each passing day. The Pentagon has identified the Oath Keepers '-- which is little more than a vessel for one man, Stewart Rhodes '-- as the only right-wing extremist group featured twice on its ''symbols of extremism'' chart. The Oath Keepers are also front and center, right next to the ISIS flag.

In essence, if 1/6 were truly like 9/11 (laughable, but that's how the government is treating it), then the Pentagon itself is by implication positioning Stewart Rhodes almost as its Osama Bin Laden figure:

Any junior U.S. Attorney could simply pick out one of the sixteen already filed criminal complaints alleging conspiracy (18 U.S.C. 371) against Stewart Rhodes's underlings, simply swap out ''Person 1'' with ''Stewart Rhodes,'' and secure the single easiest indictment in modern American history.

One would think there should be a phalanx of angry U.S. Attorneys all pining for the career prize of being the one who took down Stewart Rhodes.

But therein lies the bind: if Stewart Rhodes (as we strongly suspect) is a federal operative, or was in communication with federal operatives, or was under the surveillance of Feds, the entire artifice of 1/6 lies comes crumbling down .

They need Stewart Rhodes's communications if they really want to figure out what happened on 1/6, but if those communications become part of the Discovery Production of the trial case, and Stewart Rhodes was in communications with Federal assets, then it's game over for the Justice Department.

They look ridiculous if they don't prosecute Stewart Rhodes, but if they do, and he's a Fed, then he has leverage to squeal on them.

All of this was fine before this Revolver report, when Stewart Rhodes was just Person One, and the media left him alone. But now the cat is out of the bag and the spotlight is on Mr. Rhodes and the government's seeming protection of him.

So what are they to do? They could hope that this piece gets censored or simply doesn't pick up traction. Perhaps they could get disinformation agents of various kinds to muddy the water and shift the narrative away from Rhodes himself. The national security state can certainly expect help from the (heavily infiltrated?) regime media.

But what if this isn't enough? If this report generates sufficient attention, there will be real pressure for answers regarding why Stewart Rhodes hasn't been prosecuted.

If Rhodes has government handlers in the FBI or some other agency, very difficult questions could arise (and possibly are arising at this very moment). The handler's job would be to get Rhodes to accept some charges, to assuage an increasingly skeptical public, but assure Rhodes that while they might sound serious, they won't amount to much. Once the public pressure and scrutiny subsides, they can reduce the charges over time and it won't be a big deal.

The key point is this: the government would have to hit Rhodes with an indictment sufficient to assuage the public but also do so in a manner that Rhodes doesn't expose his possible relationship with the FBI or other agencies, thereby blowing open the whole plot.

It's a delicate bind and requires finesse.

On first glance, the reader might think we have set up something of an unfalsifiable thesis. After all, if we're arguing that the fact Rhodes hasn't been prosecuted points to the likelihood he is a federal operative, we can't have it both ways. If he remains unindicted we can cite this as evidence for our thesis; and yet, we are now saying that the publication of this very piece might change the strategic dynamic such that he ends up indicted.

This objection misses the point. Irrespective of what happens going forward in terms of indictments, we believe that the evidence provided in this article overwhelmingly suggests Rhodes is a federal operative of some kind. The fact that he hasn't been indicted as of June 30, 2021, in light of additional context provided above, is the argument.

We at Revolver realize that this is an evolving story set in motion, and have an interest in understanding and gaming out possible threads of development in any case.

In the immortal words of President Trump, ''we'll see what happens.'' And Revolver will be on top of it every step of the way.

Support Revolver By Going AD-FREE

Support our war chest with a monthly subscription and enjoy a faster, minimal Revolver.News reading experience.

Link to Article

Archived Version

Sun, 04 Jul 2021 12:44

Bannons War Room Published May 12, 2021 12,944 Views 1178 rumbles

Rumble '-- Darren Beattie and Steve Bannon take a deeper look into the investigations surrounding January 6th.

48m55sEpisode 1,069 '' The Untold Stories of The Revolution Pt. 1Bannons War Room

4m29sTipping Point - Cheney Versus Stefanick with Darren BeattieOne America News Network

4m31sThe Rising Technocracy with Darren BeattieOne America News Network

4m38sDarren Beattie Predicts How The Media Is Going To Spin His Explosive Jan. 6 StoryBannons War Room

4m52sTipping Point - Exposing the Russia Hoax with Darren BeattieOne America News Network

6m24sSteve Bannon interviews Darren BeattieBannons War Room

4m40sTipping Point - Violence in Blue Cities with Darren BeattieOne America News Network

4m47sAmerica's Corrupt Ruling Class with Darren BeattieOne America News Network

4m47sOAN Interview with Darren Beattie: America's Corrupt Ruling ClassRevolver News

5m22sTipping Point - Darren Beattie on Federal Foreknowledge of Jan 6thOne America News Network

Link to Article

Archived Version

Sun, 04 Jul 2021 12:43

ShrimpZoo : Chuck Todd at msnbc has a meltdown because some people wont get vaccinated ðŸ¤...ðŸ>>''‚¸ 🆠🂠https://t.co/W0Glw5W3NR

Fri Jul 02 04:16:35 +0000 2021

Victor Ordu : @shrimpzoo You're free to gamble with your life. I have just one, so I won't.

Sun Jul 04 07:21:01 +0000 2021

Ministry of Truth (ÐÑавда) (ç'Ÿç†) : @shrimpzoo @chucktodd I don't need your opinion to know better than to get the experimental Frankenstein genetic ce'... https://t.co/5qFTH55C3j

Sun Jul 04 06:17:40 +0000 2021

Dick : @shrimpzoo Het Chuck...now do HCQ...a year ago...

Sun Jul 04 05:43:19 +0000 2021

John Tokalenko : @shrimpzoo No means NO.And, "the only people dying are the unvaccinated" is an UTTER LIE.

Sun Jul 04 05:27:01 +0000 2021

Tammy : @shrimpzoo Sham on you is more like it. You make a living spreading misinformation.

Sun Jul 04 05:26:18 +0000 2021

GuTTedPoSSuM : @shrimpzoo Australian politicians aren't getting the jab wyd? https://t.co/D8ng1RTSL2

Sun Jul 04 04:58:52 +0000 2021

convid21 : @shrimpzoo Your a Journalist right ....Why don't you use Investigative Powers to find any Proof of Claim that the'... https://t.co/Vwd0Wrshpy

Sun Jul 04 02:56:44 +0000 2021

convid21 : @shrimpzoo It's like you take out Insurance on your Car in case somebody damages "your" Car, but then demand everyb'... https://t.co/G0q4fe2qDo

Sun Jul 04 02:52:08 +0000 2021

convid21 : @shrimpzoo Hey F'witIf you're NOT protected after taking the Bill Shot, then why are you taking the Bill Shot ?In'... https://t.co/aZ1CTKybta

Sun Jul 04 02:45:34 +0000 2021

HUD45 : @shrimpzoo Chuck who?

Sun Jul 04 02:18:54 +0000 2021

Gerald Vestal : @shrimpzoo You shake a finger at me and I see that as a threat.

Sun Jul 04 00:02:19 +0000 2021

FluffyDogsRock : @shrimpzoo Frankly, I don't know how @chucktodd sleeps at night. Perhaps he should take a peek at the Vaers database?

Sat Jul 03 22:59:39 +0000 2021

J-Hart : @shrimpzoo Keep that same energy about obesity.

Sat Jul 03 22:50:51 +0000 2021

Taylor : @shrimpzoo Mostly vaccinated people are dying, cause this fake vaccine comprises your immune system, don't do It! F'... https://t.co/CrfpyGCLWs

Sat Jul 03 21:35:56 +0000 2021

Jack Sucks : @shrimpzoo Fuk you Chuck. CBER Plans for Monitoring COVID-19 Vaccine Safety and EffectivenessSteve Anderson, PhD'... https://t.co/gB1UTX1EB5

Sat Jul 03 20:54:42 +0000 2021

RaNae - President- Elect : @shrimpzoo We know EXACTLY WHO YOU WORK FOR!! China 🇨ðŸ‡" News

Sat Jul 03 20:50:34 +0000 2021

RaNae - President- Elect : @shrimpzoo YOU ARE A FEAR MONGER!!! PEOPLE WRE DYING FROM THE VACCINE ðŸ'‰ AND YOU BETTER LOOK IN THE FUCKING MIRROR S'... https://t.co/J5hMEl0z9h

Sat Jul 03 20:50:18 +0000 2021

seth fathom : @shrimpzoo https://t.co/vC8psBmyUs

Sat Jul 03 20:49:12 +0000 2021

Amsterdam : @shrimpzoo Paid to lie.

Sat Jul 03 20:25:36 +0000 2021

Sharon L : @shrimpzoo Mind controlled mebe

Sat Jul 03 19:48:10 +0000 2021

FlaMimi : @shrimpzoo Chuck Todd ,has been misinformed,people who have the vaccine are dying too

Sat Jul 03 18:48:04 +0000 2021

Link to Article

Archived Version

Sun, 04 Jul 2021 12:36

L 🤺 : When she says the "cops budget" it's actually COPS (Community Oriented Policing Services) which comes from the 1994'... https://t.co/60z5GMNzSf

Sun Jul 04 00:20:31 +0000 2021

Link to Article

Archived Version

Sun, 04 Jul 2021 12:34

A San Francisco Bay Area zoo is inoculating its big cats, bears and ferrets against the coronavirus as part of a national effort to protect animal species using an experimental vaccine.

Tigers Ginger and Molly were the first two animals at the Oakland Zoo to get the vaccine this week, the San Francisco Chronicle reported Saturday. The doses were donated and developed by veterinary pharmaceutical company Zoetis in New Jersey.

Alex Herman, vice president of veterinary services at the zoo, said none of the animals have gotten the virus, but they wanted to be proactive. Tigers, black and grizzly bears, mountain lions and ferrets were the first to receive the first of two doses. Next are primates and pigs.

In a press release, she said the zoo has used barriers for social distancing and staff have worn protective gear to protect susceptible species. "We're happy and relieved to now be able to better protect our animals with this vaccine," she said.

A tiger receives a COVID-19 vaccine at the Oakland Zoo in Oakland, Calif. Tigers are trained to voluntarily present themselves for minor medical procedures, including COVID-19 vaccinations. The Oakland Zoo is vaccinating its large cats, bears and ferrets against the coronavirus using an experimental vaccine being donated to zoos, sanctuaries and conservatories across the country. AP Zoetis is donating more than 11,000 doses for animals living in nearly 70 zoos, as well as more than a dozen conservatories, sanctuaries, academic institutions and government organizations located in 27 states, according to the press release.

The San Diego Zoo started inoculating primates in January after a COVID-19 breakout among a troop of gorillas at its Safari Park.

More Great apes share 98% of their DNA with humans and are especially susceptible, as are felines. Confirmed coronavirus cases include gorillas, tigers and lions at zoos, and domestic cats and dogs.

Link to Article

Archived Version

Sun, 04 Jul 2021 12:33

Coming up in the next {{countdown}} {{countdownlbl}}

Coming up next:

{{nextVideo.title}}

{{nextVideo.description}}

Skip to this video now

Transcript for Scientists race to preserve Italian Alps

Now to northern Italy and the melting glacier scientists are trying desperately to save. They're adding hundreds of thousands of feet of protective covering to block the sun's heat and tonight the warning from experts about climate change to the rest of the world. Here's ABC's Julia Macfarlane. Reporter: Summer in the Italian alps and a desperate race against time. In a bid to delay the snow melting climate experts in northern Italy are now shielding the endangered presena glacier with massive sheets of cloth and covering some 120,000 square meters. Authorities say around 70% of the snow can be saved over the summer with the protective cover aimed at reflecting the sun's rays. The best thing we can do is to extend the lifetime of these glaciers by some years but really not much more than that. Reporter: In the alps climate change and the increase in global temperature is threatening ski resorts and livelihoods. ABC's James Longman witnessed glaciers melting at an alarming rate on Mont blanc, western Europe's highest mountain. We often think of climate change as taking place on the outer reaches of our world. From green land, the Antarctica, islands in the Indian ocean, but what's happening here on Mont blanc shows that the changes are happening much closer to home. Reporter: Around the world global warming is causing glaciers and sea ice to melt at a rapid rate. One geologist based in Italy telling us that if the trends continue, future scenarios predict that a majority of the world's glaciers could be gone by the year 2100. An alarming prediction. Julia Macfarlane, thank you.

This transcript has been automatically generated and may not be 100% accurate.

{"duration":"1:34","description":"Climate experts are trying to preserve the Presena Glacier by covering it with cloth to reflect the sun.","mediaType":"default","section":"ABCNews/WNT","id":"78655152","title":"Scientists race to preserve Italian Alps ","url":"/WNT/video/scientists-race-preserve-italian-alps-78655152"}

Link to Article

Archived Version

Sun, 04 Jul 2021 12:32

'I'm embarrassed to be American': Shocking campus video from Georgetown sees students struggle to articulate pride in the US on July 4 as woke politics rip through schoolsStudents from Georgetown and American Universities were asked if they felt proud to be AmericanMajority of students said they were not proud to be American with some adding they were 'embarrassed'Upon being asked if they thought the United States of America was the greatest country in this world, most agreed it was good as a white person but not overall When asked if they could name a better country, none couldBy James Gordon For Dailymail.com

Published: 20:41 EDT, 3 July 2021 | Updated: 02:47 EDT, 4 July 2021

A group of students from Washington D.C. struggled to say whether they were 'proud' of the United States, with the majority of those questioned by a reporter seemingly embarrassed by their country.

The simple question was posed by Ophelie Jacobson, a reporter with Campus Reform, a conservative news website just ahead of the July Fourth holiday.

Jacobson walked around the wealthy suburb of Georgetown which is also home to the liberal Georgetown University.

Students from Georgetown and American Universities were asked if they felt proud to be American

The majority of students said they were not proud to be American with some adding they were 'embarrassed'

One woman who was interviewed said she felt 'embarrassed to be an American every day' when asked whether she was proud.

'I think a lot of things about this country are really embarrassing, just like'...racist history, colonization, and even currently with what's going on with politics the cops,' she explained during the five minute video.

'I think that's a complicated question for me,' another student said. 'I think most of the time, no...at least over the past four years, it's been tricky to love to be an American.'

'I wouldn't say I'm as proud as I was, but there is still a little bit of country pride,' another female student added with a glimmer of hope. 'I'd say it's the greatest country at the Olympics!'

An African-American student said that being a black person meant she 'experienced a lot of oppression that comes with that.'

'What is there to be proud about if you're black? There's still a lot of stuff that goes on for black people,' one woman responded.

Another woman agreed saying 'a lot of times, it's just embarrassing' to be American because the country claims 'to support everyone, but'...we continue to support Israel, which is dislocating quite a few Palestinian people, which is sad.'

Upon being asked if they thought the United States of America was the greatest country in this world, most agreed it was good as a white person but not overall

When asked if they could name a better country, none could

'What is there to be proud about if you're black? There's still a lot of stuff that goes on for black people,' one woman responded.

Another said the U.S. economy 'just cares about money' rather than people.

'I'm from Georgia, and I never would have learned had I not taken those classes, just about the way the justice system works and zoning laws and I think college really opened my eyes to a lot of these things,' another woman, a student of American University, says in the video.

None of those interviewed would agree with the statement that the U.S. is the 'greatest country in the world,' but neither could any of the subjects questioned name a 'better country than the United States.'

'To be a white person, it's pretty good to live here. But overall, I don't think it's the greatest country in the world,' one student said.

'America is not really known for being the most hospitable place,' another added. ' Even though we have a reputation where it's like come here and be what you want to be and do what you want to be, it's not really the most welcoming to most people.'

But when asked if there was a more welcoming country than the U.S., she was unable to provide an answer.

One woman said a 'there's probably a tiny European country that's thriving' could be better than America, while another said, 'Europe', despite it being an entire continent rather than a country.

Several of those interviewed also said they would happily give up their U.S. citizenship and just return to the country for vacations.

'I feel like our economy just cares about money and not people' said one woman, interviewed here

Black people who were interviewed has a negative view of the country when asked if they were proud of it

Advertisement

Link to Article

Archived Version

Sun, 04 Jul 2021 11:49

21st Century Wire : So, this just happened... https://t.co/Vve1R0y5OU https://t.co/kxfwufkOL7

Fri Jul 02 16:52:25 +0000 2021

Lycaon Pictus : @21stCenturyWire Direct violation of the Nuremberg code.

Sun Jul 04 11:40:11 +0000 2021

Nobody special - for entertainment purposes only : @21stCenturyWire Trump put in STRONG religious freedoms.

Sun Jul 04 10:23:19 +0000 2021

Adam : @21stCenturyWire Sounds like ''less probation time if you get a castration'' for a sex offender.

Sun Jul 04 10:22:46 +0000 2021

Link to Article

Archived Version

Sun, 04 Jul 2021 11:04

Visitors walk around the outside of the Alamo in San Antonio. Jill Torrance/Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption Jill Torrance/Getty Images Visitors walk around the outside of the Alamo in San Antonio.

Jill Torrance/Getty Images Remember the Alamo? According to Texas lore, it's the site in San Antonio where, in 1836, about 180 Texan rebels died defending the state during Texas' war for independence from Mexico.

The siege of the Alamo was memorably depicted in a Walt Disney series and in a 1960 movie starring John Wayne. But three writers, all Texans, say the common narrative of the Texas revolt overlooks the fact that it was waged in part to ensure slavery would be preserved.

"Slavery was the undeniable linchpin of all of this," author Bryan Burrough says. "It was the thing that the two sides had been arguing about and shooting about for going on 15 years. And yet it still surprises me that slavery went unexamined for so long."

In their new book, Forget the Alamo, Burrough and co-writers Chris Tomlinson and Jason Stanford challenge common misconceptions surrounding the conflict '-- including the notion that Davy Crockett was a martyr who fought to the death rather than surrender.

"Most academics now believe, based on Mexican accounts and contemporary accounts, that, in fact, [Crockett] did surrender and was executed," Burrough says.

The story of the Alamo has been central to the "whole Texas creation myth," Burrough says. But he adds it's past time to look critically at the "heroic Anglo narrative" associated with the site.

"One of the reasons that it matters most is that Latinos are poised to become a majority in Texas, according to census data," he says. "So if there's ever been a time for there to be a robust civic conversation ... about this, about the place of the Alamo in our history, about Texas history itself, we hope it was now."

Interview Highlights On how Texas history often fails to address slavery

It still surprises me that slavery went unexamined for so long. But then you have to understand: The Texas revolt, for 150 years, was largely ignored by academics, in part because it was considered d(C)class(C), it was considered provincial, and because the state government of Texas, much as they're doing now, has for 120, 130 years, made very clear to the University of Texas faculty and to the faculty of other state-funded universities that it only wants one type of Texas history taught ... and that if you get outside those boundaries, you're going to hear about it from the Legislature.

On how Mexican Americans were largely written out of Texas history

The Tejanos, who were the Texians' key allies and a number of which fought and died at the Alamo, were entirely written out of generations of Texas history [as it was] written by Anglo writers. This was mirrored very much in the kind of ethnic cleansing that went on after the revolution in which hundreds of Tejanos were pushed out of San Antonio, in Victoria and existing towns, their lands taken, laws passed against their ability to marry white women and hold public office.

On the myth that the Alamo defenders fought to the death

[Mexican Gen. Antonio L"pez de] Santa Anna is coming north with 6,000 troops. [The Alamo defenders have] maybe 200 guys at essentially an indefensible open-air Spanish mission. There has always been this great mystery of why on earth [Lt. Col. William] Travis and [James] Bowie stay, and the best argument there is probably because they believe reinforcements would be forthcoming. Every other day they send off these plaintive, dramatic letters asking for reinforcement that, by and large, never came.

But the truly perplexing thing is that in the two weeks leading up to the arrival of Santa Anna's forces in San Antonio, Travis and Bowie are getting almost daily warnings of the progress. They know they're coming and yet still they stay there. It makes absolutely no sense of why they stayed there, except for the fact that these are men who, by and large, have never been in war. You get a sense that Travis never really believes something bad can happen to him. I mean, the idea that Mexican soldiers would show up and kill them all just seems like a notion that he never really accepted, that somehow something would happen to spirit them all the way to safety. And of course, it doesn't happen. And of course, this leads to one of the great myths, which is the bravery of the Alamo defenders, how they fought to their death and everything. And when you look at the facts, they never made a conscious decision to fight to the death. There was no line in the sand drawn. ...

What we now know is because Mexican accounts '-- accounts from Mexican officers and soldiers '-- a number of them, a dozen of them have come to light over the last 50 years, show that between a third and a half [of] the Texas defenders actually broke and ran. They ran out into the open where they were unceremoniously run down and killed by Mexican cavalry. Now, neither we nor the academic authors who first found this say that this means anybody was a coward. It was just that the place was overrun. It wasn't like every man fought to his death in place, as generations of historians have taught us.

On how the 1960 John Wayne movie The Alamo perpetuated these myths

[Wayne] made the movie basically because he wholeheartedly believed that America was falling apart, that it was going to the dogs and that somebody needs to stand up for what are today called "patriotic values," "family values," "American values." And it's also pretty clear ... [Wayne] was ardently pro-Nixon in the 1960 presidential campaign and ardently anti-Kennedy and in his mind, believed that this type of huge shout-out of American patriot values could somehow defeat John F. Kennedy.

The movie, most reviewers would tell you, is a mess. It perpetuates every hoary Alamo myth. And yet it spoke to a certain cross section of American and international viewers. It was really the thing that more than anything, caused the Alamo to become the international icon that it's become.

On how the Anglo-centric narrative of the Alamo history has affected Latino kids

Mexican American kids can grow up in Texas believing they're Americans, with the Statue of Liberty and all that, until seventh grade when you were taught, in essence, that if you're Mexican, your ancestors killed Davy Crockett, that that's kind of the original sin of the Texas creation myth. It has been used just anecdotally for generations to put down Mexican Americans, a big beefy white guy going up to the little Mexican guy and punching him in the arm and saying, "Remember the Alamo," that type of thing.

To an amazing degree, maybe because the Texas media [are] still dominated by Anglos as well as the Texas government, that viewpoint has just never really gotten into the mainstream. ... By and large, any time you've had any type of Latino voice come out and question the traditional Anglo narrative, they've been shouted down.

Roberta Shorrock and Joel Wolfram produced and edited this interview for broadcast. Bridget Bentz and Molly Seavy-Nesper adapted it for the web.

Link to Article

Archived Version

Sun, 04 Jul 2021 10:59

A San Francisco Bay Area zoo is inoculating its big cats, bears and ferrets against the coronavirus as part of a national effort to protect animal species using an experimental vaccine.

Tigers Ginger and Molly were the first two animals at the Oakland Zoo to get the vaccine this week, the San Francisco Chronicle reported Saturday. The doses were donated and developed by veterinary pharmaceutical company Zoetis in New Jersey.

Alex Herman, vice president of veterinary services at the zoo, said none of the animals have gotten the virus, but they wanted to be proactive. Tigers, black and grizzly bears, mountain lions and ferrets were the first to receive the first of two doses. Next are primates and pigs.

In a press release, she said the zoo has used barriers for social distancing and staff have worn protective gear to protect susceptible species. "We're happy and relieved to now be able to better protect our animals with this vaccine," she said.

A tiger receives a COVID-19 vaccine at the Oakland Zoo in Oakland, Calif. Tigers are trained to voluntarily present themselves for minor medical procedures, including COVID-19 vaccinations. The Oakland Zoo is vaccinating its large cats, bears and ferrets against the coronavirus using an experimental vaccine being donated to zoos, sanctuaries and conservatories across the country. AP Zoetis is donating more than 11,000 doses for animals living in nearly 70 zoos, as well as more than a dozen conservatories, sanctuaries, academic institutions and government organizations located in 27 states, according to the press release.

Click here to view related media. click to expand

The San Diego Zoo started inoculating primates in January after a COVID-19 breakout among a troop of gorillas at its Safari Park.

Great apes share 98% of their DNA with humans and are especially susceptible, as are felines. Confirmed coronavirus cases include gorillas, tigers and lions at zoos, and domestic cats and dogs.

Link to Article

Archived Version

Sat, 03 Jul 2021 18:39

By Kelly Murray and Elizabeth Joseph, CNN

Updated 2:25 PM EDT, Sat July 03, 2021

(CNN) A standoff overnight between Massachusetts State Police and "several heavily armed men" in the woods ended Saturday morning with 11 arrests, authorities said.

The ordeal, which started during a police traffic stop, led to the shutdown of part of Interstate 95 and a shelter-in-place order for the surrounding area on a busy holiday weekend, police said.

The standoff lasted almost nine hours, but police were able to resolve the situation "through a combination of negotiation and tactical measures," including the use of armored vehicles, Massachusetts State Police Col. Christopher Mason said at a press conference.

All arrested individuals surrendered without incident, police said. Mason said a number of firearms were seized, but he declined to say how many.

Middlesex County District Attorney Marian Ryan said authorities are working on identifying the men, who told investigators they are from Rhode Island. Ryan said the men were likely to appear in court on Tuesday on firearms and other charges deemed appropriate.

The confrontationThe situation started around 1:30 a.m., when a state trooper saw two vehicles in the breakdown lane with their hazard lights on, Mason said.

The men claimed to be "from a group that does not recognize our laws," according to a statement from the Wakefield Police Department.

The men were wearing what Mason described as tactical vests and military style uniforms, along with body cameras, and they were carrying a mixture of long rifles and pistols. The men indicated they were traveling from Rhode Island for "training," according to Mason.

The trooper on scene requested driver's licenses and firearms licenses, but the individuals either said they didn't have them, or didn't have them in their possession, Mason said.

At some point during this interaction, a number of the individuals ran into the woods with their firearms, Mason said. Police established a perimeter, and two people were initially arrested in the woodline, one of whom was armed, according to Mason.

Massachusetts State Police said in a tweet around 5:30 a.m. that members of the group were "refusing to comply with orders to provide their information and put down their weapons."

Mason said he was not aware of any specific demands by the group and that negotiators engaged with them to learn more.

"Through our hostage negotiation team, we are talking with the subjects -- some that are in the woods, some that are in the vehicles in the breakdown lane where the original interaction occurred -- and we are hopeful that we are able to resolve this peacefully with them," Mason said during the standoff.

Of the 11 ultimately arrested, two suspects were located in the vehicles, state police said.

The group's self-professed leader wanted it known that their ideology is not anti-government, Mason said.

"I'm not going to talk about what their forum is, and what their ideology is -- I think they've been pretty vocal on social media about who they are and what they espouse. I'm not going to propagate that -- they can define that for themselves," Mason said.

Residents of Wakefield and Reading were urged to shelter in place during the standoff. The shelter in place has since been lifted, and the roadway is back open.

Authorities swept the two vehicles and the woods to search for more weapons.

Kristen Setera, FBI Boston spokeswoman, said the FBI is "fully engaged with our state and local partners."

CNN's Lechelle Benken, Tanika Gray and Ganesh Setty contributed to this report.

Link to Article

Archived Version

Sat, 03 Jul 2021 17:39

John Cardillo : HOLY SHIT!This is real and it's terrifying. This is who American oligarchs really are. https://t.co/tlI9V5we3Q

Fri Jul 02 12:48:27 +0000 2021

Cory : @johncardillo @realjuliasong What the !!!!!! Commie loving multi multi.multi billionaires wow..

Sat Jul 03 17:36:26 +0000 2021

Tony Simon : @johncardillo WTF! Difficult to believe!

Sat Jul 03 17:34:01 +0000 2021

Richard ''Dick'' Fuld : @johncardillo Wtf ?

Sat Jul 03 17:13:30 +0000 2021

Jason : @johncardillo Time for the old man to retire. #buybitcoin

Sat Jul 03 17:13:03 +0000 2021

Nick Figaro, Manager to the stars! : @johncardillo Playing by their rules: if you can't beat 'em, buy 'em.

Sat Jul 03 17:09:15 +0000 2021

Link to Article

Archived Version

Sat, 03 Jul 2021 12:27

Der Informant' : 🇺🇸 The Vaccine Dance ðŸ¤...🏼''‚¸#Clownsworld https://t.co/UGYSyThXK9

Sat Jul 03 05:35:59 +0000 2021

ðŸŸDieter Scholz🟠: @DerInformant_ https://t.co/Z9uBmfF9OD

Sat Jul 03 11:34:46 +0000 2021

Mosi88 : @DerInformant_ Mit was wurde sie denn ....?

Sat Jul 03 09:54:50 +0000 2021

hop : @DerInformant_ The Vaccine Dance can...https://t.co/40RDvW2fSP

Sat Jul 03 08:57:19 +0000 2021

angenehm : @DerInformant_ @SirajAHashmi

Sat Jul 03 08:56:46 +0000 2021

Link to Article

Archived Version

Sat, 03 Jul 2021 11:54

After World War II'--the deadliest conflict in human history'--countries sought to ensure the world never again devolved into such horrific violence.

World leaders created a series of international organizations and agreements to promote global cooperation on issues including security, trade, health, and monetary policy. The United States has championed this system'--known as the liberal world order'--for the past seventy-five years. During this time, the world has enjoyed unprecedented peace and prosperity.

But these institutions are far from perfect, and today they are struggling to address new sources of disorder, such as climate change and a deadly pandemic. What's more, democracy is on the decline around the world, authoritarianism is on the rise, and countries like China are deliberately chipping away at the liberal world order, creating parallel institutions of their own. Faced with these challenges, will the liberal world order survive? If a new system emerges, what will that mean for freedom, peace, and prosperity worldwide?

In this module, we will

outline the authority and limitations of the UN Security Council in ensuring global peace;explore the challenges of holding governments accountable for violating international law;evaluate the success of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund in promoting trade, development, and economic stability;investigate how the World Trade Organization has contributed to a decades-long boom in free trade; andlearn about the role of the World Health Organization in safeguarding global health and its shortcomings in coordinating an effective international response to crises like the COVID-19 pandemic.

Link to Article

Archived Version

Sat, 03 Jul 2021 11:48

Link to Article

Archived Version

Fri, 02 Jul 2021 16:01

Exxon Mobil has apologized after one of its lobbyists talked about undermining climate action in an undercover video. Richard Drew/AP hide caption

toggle caption Richard Drew/AP Exxon Mobil has apologized after one of its lobbyists talked about undermining climate action in an undercover video.

Richard Drew/AP Indiscreet comments made by an Exxon Mobil lobbyist to undercover activists may figure prominently in upcoming congressional hearings about the role of oil companies in the battle against climate change.

Video clips released by the Greenpeace investigation project Unearthed show Keith McCoy, the oil giant's senior director for federal relations, talking frankly about Exxon Mobil's lobbying strategies. Channel 4 from the United Kingdom first reported the comments.

McCoy was tricked by the activists who said they were job recruiters. He talked about working with "shadow groups," supporting a carbon tax that he believes will never happen and influencing senators to weaken climate elements of President Biden's infrastructure plan.

"Joe Manchin, I talk to his office every week," McCoy bragged to the interviewer. He called the Democratic senator from West Virginia a "kingmaker" and discussed how "on the Democrat side we look for the moderates on these issues" in their efforts to stop policies that could hurt the company's business.

An Exxon lobbyist was caught in an undercover video by Greenpeace, and it was broadcast on Britain's Channel 4. He describes the company's efforts to undermine President Biden's climate and infrastructure proposals.

Channel 4 via YouTube Exxon Mobil Chairman and CEO Darren Woods said in a statement that McCoy's comments don't represent his company's views. "We condemn the statements and are deeply apologetic for them, including comments regarding interactions with elected officials," he said.

Exxon Mobil says it supports the goals in the Paris climate agreement and is committed to addressing climate change.

Woods also said the comments are "entirely inconsistent with the way we expect our people to conduct themselves."

On LinkedIn, McCoy wrote, "I am deeply embarrassed by my comments and that I allowed myself to fall for Greenpeace's deception. My statements clearly do not represent ExxonMobil's positions on important public policy issues."

McCoy's profile on the site showed he was still employed at the company as of Thursday morning.

The blunt comments come at a sensitive time for Exxon MobilExxon Mobil has new board members focused on climate change and a well-documented history of sowing doubt about the issue. Climate activists were quick to jump on the comments as proof the company and the broader oil industry have not changed.

"Now people know exactly what is happening behind the scenes," said Lori Lodes, executive director of Climate Power. She called on senators to ignore the industry's "deceptive practices and get to work on a strong reconciliation package that delivers on Biden's promise of 100% clean electricity and reducing pollution."

Lindsay Meiman of the climate activist group 350.org said, "We demand Congress immediately investigate Exxon and fossil fuel companies' climate crimes, and make polluters pay for their destruction."

Rep. Ro Khanna, a Democrat from California, says he will hold a hearing this fall about "climate disinformation & the coordinated attack on scientific truth among polluters and their lobbyists."

Khanna, who chairs the House Oversight and Reform Subcommittee on the Environment, says he will ask the CEOs of Exxon, Chevron and other fossil fuel companies to testify.

It should be an interesting hearing. Among McCoy's comments to the undercover activists, he said Exxon Mobil has a playbook for dealing with hearings like what Khanna plans. He said they usually send trade group representatives to be "the whipping boy."

Khanna says he will subpoena executives if they refuse to appear themselves.

Link to Article

Archived Version

Fri, 02 Jul 2021 14:29

Internet-connected "smart" devices are increasingly available in the marketplace, including a growing industry of devices that monitor the human body. The authors of this report examine this emerging collection of Internet of Bodies (IoB) technologies; explore benefits, risks, and ethical implications; survey the nascent regulatory landscape; and make recommendations to balance IoB risks and rewards.

Research QuestionsWhat are the benefits, security and privacy risks, and ethical implications of the growing Internet of Bodies (IoB)?What is being done to regulate the IoB and the data collected by its devices?What can be done to balance the risks and rewards of the IoB?Internet-connected "smart" devices are increasingly available in the marketplace, promising consumers and businesses improved convenience and efficiency. Within this broader Internet of Things (IoT) lies a growing industry of devices that monitor the human body and transmit the data collected via the internet. This development, which some have called the Internet of Bodies (IoB), includes an expanding array of devices that combine software, hardware, and communication capabilities to track personal health data, provide vital medical treatment, or enhance bodily comfort, function, health, or well-being. However, these devices also complicate a field already fraught with legal, regulatory, and ethical risks. The authors of this report examine this emerging collection of human body''centric and internet-connected technologies; explore benefits, security and privacy risks, and ethical implications; survey the nascent regulatory landscape for these devices and the data they collect; and make recommendations to balance IoB risks and rewards.

Key FindingsGovernance of IoB devices is managed through a patchwork of state and federal agencies, nonprofit organizations, and consumer advocacy groupsThe primary entities responsible for governance of IoB devices are the FDA and the U.S. Department of Commerce.Although the FDA is making strides in cybersecurity of medical devices, many IoB devices, especially those available for consumer use, do not fall under FDA jurisdiction.Federal and state officials have begun to address cybersecurity risks associated with IoB that are beyond FDA oversight, but there are few laws that mandate cybersecurity best practices.As with IoB devices, there is no single entity that provides oversight to IoB dataProtection of medical information is regulated at the federal level, in part, by HIPAA.The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) helps ensure data security and consumer privacy through legal actions brought by the Bureau of Consumer Protection.Data brokers are largely unregulated, but some legal experts are calling for policies to protect consumers.As the United States has no federal data privacy law, states have introduced a patchwork of laws and regulations that apply to residents' personal data, some of which includes IoB-related information.The lack of consistency in IoB laws among states and between the state and federal level potentially enables regulatory gaps and enforcement challenges.RecommendationsThe U.S. Commerce Department can put foreign IoB companies on its "Entity List," preventing them from doing business with Americans, if those foreign companies are implicated in human rights violations.As 5G, Wi-Fi 6, and satellite internet standards are rolled out, the federal government should be prepared for issues by funding studies and working with experts to develop security regulations.It will be important to consider how to incentivize quicker phase-out of the legacy medical devices with poor cybersecurity that are already in wide use.IoB developers must be more attentive to cybersecurity by integrating cybersecurity and privacy considerations from the beginning of product development.Device makers should test software for vulnerabilities often and devise methods for users to patch software.Congress should consider establishing federal data transparency and protection standards for data that are collected from the IoB.The FTC could play a larger role to ensure that marketing claims about improved well-being or specific health treatment are backed by appropriate evidence.Funding for this report was provided by a generous grant from Jacques Dubois. The research was conducted by the Center for Global Risk and Security.

This report is part of the RAND Corporation Research report series. RAND reports present research findings and objective analysis that address the challenges facing the public and private sectors. All RAND reports undergo rigorous peer review to ensure high standards for research quality and objectivity.

Permission is given to duplicate this electronic document for personal use only, as long as it is unaltered and complete. Copies may not be duplicated for commercial purposes. Unauthorized posting of RAND PDFs to a non-RAND Web site is prohibited. RAND PDFs are protected under copyright law. For information on reprint and linking permissions, please visit the RAND Permissions page.

The RAND Corporation is a nonprofit institution that helps improve policy and decisionmaking through research and analysis. RAND's publications do not necessarily reflect the opinions of its research clients and sponsors.

Document DetailsCopyright: RAND CorporationAvailability: AvailablePrintFormat: PaperbackPaperback Pages: 36List Price: $19.00Paperback Price: $15.20Paperback ISBN/EAN: 9781977405227DOI: https://doi.org/10.7249/RR3226Document Number: RR-3226-RCYear: 2020Series: Research ReportsExploreRelated TopicsBrowse by SeriesBrowse by AuthorsStay Informed RAND Policy CurrentsGet weekly updates from RAND.

CitationFormat: Chicago Manual of Style RAND Corporation Style ManualLee, Mary, Benjamin Boudreaux, Ritika Chaturvedi, Sasha Romanosky, and Bryce Downing, The Internet of Bodies: Opportunities, Risks, and Governance. Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation, 2020. https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RR3226.html. Also available in print form.

Lee, Mary, Benjamin Boudreaux, Ritika Chaturvedi, Sasha Romanosky, and Bryce Downing, The Internet of Bodies: Opportunities, Risks, and Governance, Santa Monica, Calif.: RAND Corporation, RR-3226-RC, 2020. As of July 02, 2021: https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RR3226.html

Link to Article

Archived Version

Thu, 01 Jul 2021 22:57

Erin O'Toole : Whatever happened in Winnipeg, it's clear Trudeau is trying to cover it up. Here's what we know so far... https://t.co/GqmIytiFrD

Wed Jun 30 15:21:17 +0000 2021

Karl Morant 🍁🍊ðŸ§ðŸ'ª : @erinotoole https://t.co/8eC88GMcYE

Thu Jul 01 22:57:15 +0000 2021

Dexter Fishborne says #FreePalestine 🇵🇸 🌾🖖🧠: @erinotoole Racist

Thu Jul 01 22:51:07 +0000 2021

Link to Article

Archived Version

Thu, 01 Jul 2021 21:47

Link to Article

Archived Version

Thu, 01 Jul 2021 21:46

Sammy RangelExecutive DirectorCo-founder

Sammy Rangel is an author, social worker, peace activist, speaker, trainer and father. His autobiography, "Fourbears: The Myths of Forgiveness," chronicles his life from the physical and sexual abuse he endured as a child to his path of self-destruction that culminated in a 15 1/2-year prison sentence. In 2012, Sammy founded Formers Anonymous, a national self-help group based on the 12-step model for people addicted to street life and violence. In May 2015, he participated in the TEDxDanubia Conference: Balance On the Edge held in Budapest, where he spoke about the power of forgiveness.

In 2017, he was honored in a special tribute to Everyday Heroes in the Global Campaign Against Violent Extremism. Sammy holds a Master of Social Work from Loyola University-Chicago. He previously served as a program director for a youth outreach program in his hometown of Racine for 16 years. He is also a second-degree black belt, practices mixed martial arts, and is a singer on a Native American drum.

Angela KingPrograms DirectorCo-founder

Angela King's expertise in disengagement and de-radicalization from violent extremism stems from her personal experience as a disenfranchised, bullied youth who was recruited by neo-Nazi skinheads. She quickly ascended inleadership within the violent far-right extremist movement, where shedeveloped woman-centric propaganda and forged ties to some of the world'smost violent far-right extremist organizations. Following her arrest andincarceration in 1998 for her part in an armed robbery of a Jewish-ownedstore, Angela earned an early release from prison and rejected her former lifeof hate. For nearly two decades, she has been a prominent public speaker andconsultant who has received recognition and awards from the HolocaustDocumentation and Education Center and the Anti-Defamation League (ADL),among others, for her tireless work to counter violent extremism, reduceprejudice and build communities of justice. She received a Master of Arts inInterdisciplinary Studies with a focus on inequality in U.S. social systems fromthe University of Central Florida in 2009.

Dimitrios KalantzisDirector of Communications

Dimitrios Kalantzis is a trained journalist with 10 years of experience in print and digital news. He has won numerous state AP awards for both his individual and collaborative work. Most recently he was the managing editor of a daily newspaper located in a part of the country that partisan news outlets have been trying to understand since 2016. In the beginning of his journalism career, Dimitri helped launch a hyperlocal news site where he would eventually write the site's most-read story; it was was about the Westboro Baptist Church's tour of Chicago where they protested among other things, a progressive synagogue for installing a woman rabbi. Before becoming a journalist, Dimitri spent four years working at a group home for at-risk teenagers in Chicago. In addition to a bachelor's degree in English, Dimitri has a master's degree in public affairs reporting. He believes that our greatest achievements come in the pursuit of truth and justice.

Brad GallowayResearch Analyst/Case Manager, ExitUSA

Bradley J. Galloway was a fixture in the North American right-wing extremist movement for 13 years and was the president of a racist skinhead gang for five of those years. It is these lived experiences that play a role in his work in combating violent extremism. In addition to his work with Life After Hate, Brad is also a Research and Intervention Specialist at the Organization for Prevention of Violence (OPV), and is a fourth-year undergraduate student in Criminology and Criminal Justice at the University of the Fraser Valley (UFV). He is a Research Assistant on a number of projects that are funded by Public Safety Canada and the Canadian Network for Research on Terrorism, Security and Society (TSAS). Brad has also served as a consultant for Google, Moonshot CVE, and the Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD), among others. His primary research interests include right-wing extremism and terrorism, preventing and countering violent extremism, and the roles of former extremists in combating violent extremism.

Brett JacobsonProgram Supervisor, ExitUSA

Brett Jacobson is a licensed social worker in Illinois with case management andmental health counseling experience in the prison system. His desire to helppeople springs from his time in the Illinois Army National Guard while on a deployment for Operation Iraqi Freedom. After witnessing the aftermath of sectarian violence and small children begging for food and water in the harsh Iraqi desert, Brett knew his purpose was to help ease suffering in the world. When he returned home after that 12-month deployment, Brett went back to Northern Illinois University where he worked on organizing several events around religious dialogue. He went on to earn bachelor's degrees in psychology, sociology, and philosophy. In order start his family, Brett spent three years working in the manufacturing sector and as a stay-at-home dad before going back to get his master's degree in social work. For the last five years, he has worked in Illinois Department of Corrections at the Sheridan Correctional Center as a case manager and then supervisor for Treatment Alternatives for Safe Communities (TASC). With TASC he helped inmates prepare for reentry back into society. Before joining Life After Hate, Brett was a Mental Health Professional providing both group and individual psychotherapy inside the Sheridan Correctional Center.

Lauren ManningOutreach Specialist, ExitUSA

At the age of 16, Lauren Manning lost her father, whom she was extremely close to. By 17, she was a disaffected youth who, feeling like she was lacking structure at home, joined the white supremacist sub-culture of violent far-right extremism. After graduating high school, Lauren was homeless and made a half-hearted attempt to leave the hate group she'd joined. After being savagely beaten by fellow gang members, Lauren joined an even larger hate group. In 2012, Lauren's disengagement from the violent far-right and sobriety came on the heels of the murder of another member and close friend. It was then that she made the conscious decision to disentangle her identity from violent far-right extremism. Lauren serves as a public speaker, and mentor for those disengaging from violent extremism. In her spare time, she can be found zip lining, bungee jumping, or seeking out the next thrill.

Robert –rellTraining Consultant, ExitUSA

Robert –rell, an expert in the field of violent extremism prevention, was instrumental in helping us expand ExitUSA to the program it is today. Robert served as the program Director for ExitUSA and lead the team for more than three year. He helped develop the framework for the online Exit consultations and trained the staff in digital exit work. Before he joined Life After Hate, Robert spent 15 years helping people disengage from political extremism and criminal gangs. He helped launch several other Exit programs in Europe, including in his native Sweden. Robert is a member of the European Commission's Radicalization Awareness Network, where he co-chairs the working group RAN Exit. In April 2016, Robert was a guest speaker at a TEDx event, where he presented, A Way Out From Violent Extremism.

Link to Article

Archived Version

Sun, 04 Jul 2021 13:00

Major heat wave in Europe

2003 European heat waveDifference in average temperature (2000, 2001, 2002 and 2012) from 2003, covering the date range of 20 July '' 20 August

[1]DateJuly 2003 ( 2003-07 ) '' August 2003 ( 2003-08 ) LocationEuropeTypeHeat waveDeaths70,000The 2003 European heat wave led to the hottest summer on record in Europe since at least 1540.[2] France was hit especially hard. The heat wave led to health crises in several countries and combined with drought to create a crop shortfall in parts of Southern Europe. Peer-reviewed analysis places the European death toll at more than 70,000.[3]

The predominant heat was recorded in July and August, partly a result of the western European seasonal lag from the maritime influence of the Atlantic warm waters in combination with hot continental air and strong southerly winds.[citation needed ]

By country [ edit ] France [ edit ] Public sign in

Paris that reads: "To find a Parisian victim of the heat wave, the city of Paris has established a toll-free number: ...".

In France, 14,802 heat-related deaths (mostly among the elderly) occurred during the heat wave, according to the French National Institute of Health.[4][5] France does not commonly have very hot summers, particularly in the northern areas,[6] but eight consecutive days with temperatures of more than 40 °C (104 °F) were recorded in Auxerre, Yonne in early August 2003.[7] Because of the usually relatively mild summers, most people did not know how to react to very high temperatures (for instance, with respect to rehydration), and most single-family homes and residential facilities built in the last 50 years were not equipped with air conditioning. Furthermore, while contingency plans were made for a variety of natural and man-made catastrophes, high temperatures had rarely been considered a major hazard.

The catastrophe occurred in August, a month in which many people, including government ministers and physicians, are on holiday. Many bodies were not claimed for many weeks because relatives were on holiday. A refrigerated warehouse outside Paris was used by undertakers as they did not have enough space in their own facilities. On 3 September 2003, 57 bodies were still left unclaimed in the Paris area, and were buried.[8]

The high number of deaths can be explained by the conjunction of seemingly unrelated events. Most nights in France are cool, even in summer. As a consequence, houses (usually of stone, concrete, or brick construction) do not warm too much during the daytime and radiate minimal heat at night, and air conditioning is usually unnecessary. During the heat wave, temperatures remained at record highs even at night, breaking the usual cooling cycle. Elderly persons living by themselves had never faced such extreme heat before and did not know how to react or were too mentally or physically impaired by the heat to make the necessary adaptations themselves. Elderly persons with family support or those residing in nursing homes were more likely to have others who could make the adjustments for them. This led to statistically improbable survival rates with the weakest group having fewer deaths than more physically fit persons; most of the heat victims came from the group of elderly persons not requiring constant medical care, and/or those living alone, without frequent contact with immediate family.[citation needed ]

That shortcomings of the nation's health system could allow such a death toll is a controversy in France. The administration of President Jacques Chirac and Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin laid the blame on families who had left their elderly behind without caring for them, the 35-hour workweek, which affected the amount of time doctors could work, and family practitioners vacationing in August. Many companies traditionally closed in August, so people had no choice about when to vacation. Family doctors were still in the habit of vacationing at the same time. It is not clear that more physicians would have helped, as the main limitation was not the health system, but locating old people needing assistance.[citation needed ]

The opposition, as well as many of the editorials of the French local press, have blamed the administration. Many blamed Health Minister Jean-Fran§ois Mattei for failing to return from his vacation when the heat wave became serious, and his aides for blocking emergency measures in public hospitals (such as the recalling of physicians). A particularly vocal critic was Dr. Patrick Pelloux, head of the union of emergency physicians, who blamed the Raffarin administration for ignoring warnings from health and emergency professionals and trying to minimize the crisis. Mattei lost his ministerial post in a cabinet reshuffle on 31 March 2004.[citation needed ]

Not everyone blamed the government. "The French family structure is more dislocated than elsewhere in Europe, and prevailing social attitudes hold that once older people are closed behind their apartment doors or in nursing homes, they are someone else's problem," said St(C)phane Mantion, an official with the French Red Cross. "These thousands of elderly victims didn't die from a heat wave as such, but from the isolation and insufficient assistance they lived with day in and out, and which almost any crisis situation could render fatal."[9]

Moreover, the French episode of heat wave in 2003 shows how heat wave dangers result from the intricate association of natural and social factors. Although research established that heat waves represent a major threat for public health, France had no policy in place. Until the 2003 event, heat waves were a strongly underestimated risk in the French context, which partly explains the high number of victims.[10]

Below are statistics for the month of August 2003 in France.

LocationAvg high °CAvg low °CAug'03 high °CAug'03 mean °CAug'03 low °CMax temp °CMax mean °CMax low °C2''13 Aug'03 high °C2''13 Aug'03 low °CHigh >35°C daysHigh >30°C daysMean >30°C daysLow >25°C daysLow >20°C daysAuxerre25.814.132.525.017.541.132.023.339.321.11119923010Bastia29.319.433.228.223.137.930.825.033.923.4731331231Biarritz24.717.028.224.019.840.631.023.531.621.336125013Bordeaux27.115.732.125.819.440.731.523.538.021.41220628013Boulogne-sur-Mer20.514.923.320.016.834.829.524.127.719.2050706Grenoble26.414.033.124.816.539.529.220.237.617.7122302702Lille23.313.826.621.115.536.628.220.832.218.33901103Lorient22.613.428.021.815.637.529.321.033.018.441101504Lyon27.216.033.626.820.040.531.223.238.421.51125830017Marseille28.718.734.028.222.437.731.226.635.822.91229531228Metz24.813.631.023.816.539.530.422.337.419.1111621804Montpellier28.918.532.226.821.436.129.624.633.321.4227031027Nancy24.713.231.323.716.139.329.122.237.218.0111601903Nantes25.014.230.123.717.239.231.323.835.019.671322006Nice27.720.531.227.523.735.031.427.732.425.3122431631N®mes30.618.436.028.521.040.530.824.338.521.22230822022Paris25.015.729.924.418.839.532.525.536.822.6913817211Rennes24.313.729.823.116.839.531.824.034.319.161321904Saint-‰tienne26.313.832.024.917.839.330.022.637.019.6111912507Strasbourg25.414.131.924.416.838.529.220.836.618.6101802404Toulouse27.916.534.027.020.040.731.823.938.821.41527829015Tours25.413.731.424.517.539.831.222.637.321.21114521010Portugal [ edit ] In Portugal, an estimated 1,866 to 2,039 people died of heat-related causes.[11][failed verification ] 1 August 2003 was the hottest day in centuries, with night temperatures well above 30 °C (86 °F). At dawn that same day, a freak storm developed in the southern region of the country. Over the next week, a hot, strong sirocco wind contributed to the spread of extensive forest-fires.[12][13] Five percent of Portugal's countryside and 10% of the forests (215,000 hectares[5] or an estimated 2,150 km2 (830 sq mi)), were destroyed, and 18 people died in the flames. In Amareleja, one of the hottest cities in Europe, temperatures reached as high as 48 °C (118 °F).

Luxembourg [ edit ] In Findel, Luxembourg, the temperature reached 37.9 °C (100.2 °F) between 8 and 12 August, making it the country's highest temperature since records began in 1947.[14]

Netherlands [ edit ] About 1,500[5][15] heat-related deaths occurred in the Netherlands, again largely the elderly. The heat wave broke no records,[citation needed ] although four tropical weather-designated days in mid-July, preceding the official wave, are not counted due to a cool day in between and the nature of the Netherlands specification/definition of a heat wave.[15] The highest temperature recorded this heatwave was on 7 August, when in Arcen, in Limburg, a temperature of 37.8 °C (100.0 °F) was reached, 0.8 °C below the national record (since 1904). A higher temperature had only been recorded twice before. On 8 August, a temperature of 37.7 °C (99.9 °F) was recorded, and 12 August had a temperature of 37.2 °C (99.0 °F).[16]

Spain [ edit ] Initially, 141 deaths were attributed to the heat wave in Spain.[17] A further research of INE estimated a 12,963 excess of deaths during summer of 2003.[17] Temperature records were broken in various cities, with the heat wave being more felt in typically cooler northern Spain.

Record temperatures were felt in:

Jerez, 45.1 °C (113.2 °F)Girona, 41 °C (106 °F)[18]Burgos, 38.8 °C (101.8 °F)[19]San Sebastin, 38.6 °C (101.5 °F)[19]Pontevedra, 36 °C (97 °F)[20]Barcelona, 36 °C (97 °F)[21]Sevilla, 45.2 °C (113.4 °F) (the 1995 record was 46.6 °C (115.9 °F))[22]Italy [ edit ] 546 deaths. The summer of 2003 was among the warmest in the last three centuries,[23] and the maximum temperatures of July and August remained above 30 °C (86 °F).[23] The high humidity intensified the perception of heat and population suffering.[23] Several reports about strong positive temperature anomalies exist '' for instance from Toscana[24] and Veneto.[25] Temperatures rose far above average in most of the country and reached very high mean values especially in terms of heat persistence. The weather station of Catenanuova, in Sicily, had a monthly mean of 31.5 °C (88.7 °F) in July 2003, with an absolute maximum of 46.0 °C (114.8 °F) on 17 July, with monthly mean maximum temperatures of 36.0 °C (96.8 °F), 38.9 °C (102.0 °F) and 38.0 °C (100.4 °F) in June, July, and August 2003, respectively.[26]Some days, the increase in power consumption, paired with a 800MW reduction of the electricity imported from France, itself coping with the heat wave, compelled the Italian power companies to set up Rolling blackouts.[27]

Germany [ edit ] In Germany, shipping could not navigate the Elbe or Danube, as a result of low water levels. Around 300 people'--mostly elderly'--died during the 2003 heatwave in Germany.[5]

Switzerland [ edit ] Melting glaciers in the Alps caused avalanches and flash floods in Switzerland. A new nationwide record temperature of 41.5 °C (106.7 °F) was recorded in Grono, Graub¼nden.[28]

United Kingdom [ edit ] The United Kingdom experienced one of its hottest summers on record with temperatures well above average. However, Atlantic cyclones brought cool and wet weather for a short while at the end of July and beginning of August before the temperatures started to increase substantially from 3 August onwards. Several weather records were broken in the United Kingdom, including a new record for the country's highest ever recorded temperature of 38.5 °C (101.3 °F) at Faversham in Kent on 10 August, which remained the highest recorded temperature in the UK until the heatwave in July 2019. This was the first occasion on which temperatures exceeding 100 °F (38 °C) have ever been officially recorded in the UK.[29] Scotland also broke its highest temperature record with 32.9 °C (91.2 °F) recorded in Greycrook in the Scottish borders on 9 August.

Due to a number of deaths, the UK government released its Heat Health Watch system, issuing warnings if temperatures rise above 30 °C in the day and 15 °C at night.[30] According to the BBC, over 2,000 people more than usual may have died in the United Kingdom during the 2003 heatwave.[31]

The tarmac melted on part of the M25 between Junctions 26 and 27,[32] and rails buckled from expansion on the hottest day in England in 13 years, while 2 teenaged boys drowned while trying to escape the excessive heat.[33]

Ireland [ edit ] The summer of 2003 was warmer than average in Ireland, but the heat was far less pronounced there than in the rest of Europe. August was by far the warmest, sunniest, and driest month, with temperatures roughly 2 °C above average. The highest temperature recorded was 30.3 °C (86.5 °F) at Belderrig, County Mayo on 8 August.[34][35][36]

Sweden [ edit ] Remarkably, Scandinavia saw a cooler August in 2003 than the previous year when comparative temperatures were very high for the latitude, as the hot air parked over continental Europe. Only far southern Sweden saw any type of heatwave effect in the country, with the average high of Lund for August being 23.9 °C (75.0 °F), which is a very warm temperature average for August.[37] In spite of this, Sk¥ne County stayed below extremes of 30 °C (86 °F), indicating a more subtle kind of heat. The records from 1997 and 2002 held up all throughout the country, and the warmest temperature was 30.8 °C (87.4 °F) in Stockholm on 1 August, which was higher than the warmest Irish temperature. Although a comparatively low exposure to the heatwave this is to be expected given the greater continental influence. When compared with the 1961''1990 averages the 2003 August month was still a couple of degrees warmer than a normal August in the southern third of the country.

The bulk of the heat wave in Sweden was instead seen earlier in July in the central and northerly parts of the country, where Stockholm had a July mean of 20.2 °C (68.4 °F) with a high of 25.4 °C (77.7 °F) which although very warm was not record-setting.[38] The warmest summer temperature was set on 17 July in the northern city of Pite¥ with 32.8 °C (91.0 °F), which although it is very hot for such a northerly coastal location, was largely unrelated to the latter central European intense heat wave. In northern Sweden, August temperatures are rarely warm due to the decreased exposure of the low but everlasting sun during the summer solstice. As a result, temperatures there peak in July if it is a warm summer.

Effects on crops [ edit ] Crops in Southern Europe suffered the most from drought.

Wheat [ edit ] These shortfalls in wheat harvest occurred as a result of the long drought.[citation needed ]

France '' 20%Italy '' 13%United Kingdom '' 12%Ukraine '' 75% (unknown if affected by heatwave or an early freeze that year)Moldova '' 80%Many other countries had shortfalls of 5''10%, and the EU total production was down by 10 million tonnes, or 10%.[citation needed ]

Grapes [ edit ] The heatwave greatly accelerated the ripening of grapes; also, the heat dehydrated the grapes, making for more concentrated juice. By mid-August, the grapes in certain vineyards had already reached their optimal sugar content, possibly resulting in 12.0°''12.5° wines (see alcoholic degree). Because of that, and also of the impending change to rainy weather, the harvest was started much earlier than usual (e.g. in mid-August for areas that are normally harvested in September).

The wines from 2003, although in scarce quantity, were predicted to have exceptional quality, especially in France. The heatwave made Hungary fare extremely well in the Vinalies 2003 International wine contest: a total of nine gold and nine silver medals were awarded to Hungarian winemakers.[39]

Effects on the sea [ edit ] The anomalous overheating affecting the atmosphere also created anomalies on sea surface stratification in the Mediterranean Sea and on the surface currents, as well. A seasonal current of the central Mediterranean Sea, the Atlantic Ionian Stream (AIS), was affected by the warm temperatures, resulting in modifications in its path and intensity. The AIS is important for the reproduction biology of important pelagic commercial fish species, so the heatwave may have influenced indirectly the stocks of these species.[40]

See also [ edit ] 2006 European heat wave2010 Northern Hemisphere heat waves2010 Sahel famine2012 North American heat wave2015 European heat waves (in German)2018 European heat waveDroughtHeat wave2019 European heat waveReferences [ edit ] ^ https://web.archive.org/web/20051013071340/http://www.met.reading.ac.uk/~swrmethn/summer2003/heatwave2003_reading_incfigs.pdf ^ WMO: Unprecedented sequence of extreme weather events '' News '' Professional Resources '' PreventionWeb.net ^ Robi, Jean-Marie; Cheung, Siu Lan K.; Le Roy, Sophie; Van Oyen, Herman; Griffiths, Clare; Michel, Jean-Pierre; Herrmann, Fran§ois Richard (2008). "Solongo". Comptes Rendus Biologies. 331 (2): 171''178. doi:10.1016/j.crvi.2007.12.001. ISSN 1631-0691. PMID 18241810. ^ http://www.earth-policy.org/Updates/2006/Update56.htm Archived 11 March 2009 at the Wayback Machine Earth Policy Institute article; data for more countries: http://www.earth-policy.org/Updates/2006/Update56_data.htm Archived 8 July 2009 at the Wayback Machine ^ a b c d "European summer heatwave 2003". Met Office. n.d. Archived from the original on 23 October 2008. ^ CIA-The World Factbook, https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/france/ [1] ^ "Historical stats for Auxerre August 2003". M(C)t(C)o Climat . Retrieved 16 February 2017 . ^ "France buries its unclaimed dead". BBC News. 3 September 2003 . Retrieved 11 July 2019 . ^ www.time.com ^ 32. Poumad¨re, M., Mays, C., Le Mer, S. and Blong, R. (2005), The 2003 Heat Wave in France: Dangerous Climate Change Here and Now. Risk Analysis, 25: 1483''1494. doi:10.1111/j.1539-6924.2005.00694.x [2] Archived 18 September 2013 at the Wayback Machine ^ "Archived copy" (PDF) . Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 June 2009 . Retrieved 6 July 2009 . CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) ^ "Portugal Dirio" (in Portuguese). Portugaldiario.iol.pt. Archived from the original on 12 January 2008 . Retrieved 15 March 2010 . ^ InterScience ^ "Forte chaleur au Luxembourg - Record de la temp(C)rature maximale pour le mois de juillet" (in French). MeteoLux . Retrieved 23 July 2019 . ^ a b "View Article". Eurosurveillance. Archived from the original on 13 March 2010 . Retrieved 15 March 2010 . ^ KNMI, Klimatologie; Job Verkaik; Jon Nellestijn; Rob Sluijter. "KNMI '' Daggegevens van het weer in Nederland". Archived from the original on 11 August 2009 . Retrieved 6 August 2009 . ^ a b "La ola de calor de 2003 coincidi" con un incremento de 13.000 muertes". El Pa­s. Madrid. 29 June 2004 . Retrieved 2 August 2016 . ^ History for Girona, Spain Weather Underground. 13 August 2003. Last Retrieved 9 February 2007. ^ a b "Valores extremos '' Agencia Estatal de Meteorolog­a '' AEMET. Gobierno de Espa±a" (in Spanish). Aemet.es. Archived from the original on 17 March 2010 . Retrieved 15 March 2010 . ^ History for Vigo, Spain. Weather Underground. August 2003. Last Retrieved 9 February 2007. ^ History for Barcelona, Spain. Weather Underground. 13 August 2003. Last Retrieved 9 February 2007. ^ "Agencia Estatal de Meteorolog­a '' AEMET. Gobierno de Espa±a" (PDF) (in Spanish). Inm.es. 27 February 2010. Archived from the original (PDF) on 29 September 2007 . Retrieved 15 March 2010 . ^ a b c "L'ondata di calore dell'estate 2003". Ministero della Salute, L'ondata di calore dell'estate 2003. Ministero della Salute. Archived from the original on 20 July 2011 . Retrieved 23 April 2011 . ^ [3] ^ "(Analisi meteo-climatica inverno 2002/2003)". Archived from the original on 16 May 2011 . Retrieved 23 April 2011 . ^ "Table I '' Daily temperature readings" (PDF) . Osservatorio delle Acque (Water Monitoring) Annual data. Dipartimento dell'Acqua e dei Rifiuti. 2003. p. 45 . Retrieved 23 April 2011 . ^ "Caldo record, in arrivo altri blackout elettrici". ^ "MeteoSwiss '' Switzerland". Archived from the original on 3 May 2008. ^ https://www.independent.co.uk/environment/100-f-britains-hottest-day-99871.html ^ "Great weather events: Temperatures records fall in summer 2003". Met Office. 19 November 2008. Archived from the original on 16 May 2007 . Retrieved 15 March 2010 . ^ "Deaths up by 2,000 in heatwave". BBC News. 3 October 2003 . Retrieved 3 December 2011 . ^ "Who, what, why: When does tarmac melt?". BBC. 15 July 2013 . Retrieved 9 August 2018 . ^ Pook, Sally (7 August 2003). "Rails buckle and roads melt in heat". The Telegraph . Retrieved 9 August 2018 . ^ "Met ‰ireann '' Monthly Weather Bulletin (June 2003)" (PDF) . Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 November 2011 . Retrieved 13 October 2011 . ^ "Met ‰ireann '' Monthly Weather Bulletin (July 2003)" (PDF) . Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 November 2011 . Retrieved 13 October 2011 . ^ "Met ‰ireann '' Monthly Weather Bulletin (August 2003)" (PDF) . Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 April 2012 . Retrieved 13 October 2011 . ^ "Temperature & Cloud statistics for Sweden '' August 2003" (PDF) (in Swedish). SMHI . Retrieved 29 February 2016 . ^ "Temperature & Cloud statistics for Sweden '' July 2003" (PDF) (in Swedish). SMHI . Retrieved 29 February 2016 . ^ "Union des oenologues de France". Oenologuesdefrance.fr. Archived from the original on 9 April 2010 . Retrieved 15 March 2010 . ^ "Effects of 2003 heatwave on the Sea Surface in Central Mediterranean". Ocean-sci.net . Retrieved 15 March 2010 .

Link to Article

Archived Version

Sun, 04 Jul 2021 12:55

Social and evolutionary psychology theory

Terror management theory (TMT) is both a social and evolutionary psychology theory originally proposed by Jeff Greenberg, Sheldon Solomon, and Tom Pyszczynski[1] and codified in their book The Worm at the Core: On the Role of Death in Life (2015). It proposes that a basic psychological conflict results from having a self-preservation instinct while realizing that death is inevitable and to some extent unpredictable. This conflict produces terror, which is managed through a combination of escapism and cultural beliefs that act to counter biological reality with more significant and enduring forms of meaning and value.[1][2]

The most obvious examples of cultural values that assuage death anxiety are those that purport to offer literal immortality (e.g., belief in afterlife, religion).[3] However, TMT also argues that other cultural values '' including those that are seemingly unrelated to death '' offer symbolic immortality. For example, values of national identity,[4] posterity,[5] cultural perspectives on sex,[6] and human superiority over animals[6] have been linked to death concerns. In many cases these values are thought to offer symbolic immortality either a) by providing the sense that one is part of something greater that will ultimately outlive the individual (e.g., country, lineage, species), or b) by making one's symbolic identity superior to biological nature (i.e. you are a personality, which makes you more than a glob of cells).[7]Because cultural values determine that which is meaningful, they are also the foundation for self-esteem. TMT describes self-esteem as being the personal, subjective measure of how well an individual is living up to their cultural values.[2]

TMT is derived from anthropologist Ernest Becker's 1973 Pulitzer Prize-winning work of nonfiction The Denial of Death, in which Becker argues most human action is taken to ignore or avoid the inevitability of death. The terror of absolute annihilation creates such a profound '' albeit subconscious '' anxiety in people that they spend their lives attempting to make sense of it. On large scales, societies build symbols: laws, religious meaning systems, cultures, and belief systems to explain the significance of life, define what makes certain characteristics, skills, and talents extraordinary, reward others whom they find exemplify certain attributes, and punish or kill others who do not adhere to their cultural worldview. Adherence to these created "symbols" aids in relieving stresses associated with the reality of mortality.[8] On an individual level, self-esteem provides a buffer against death-related anxiety.

Background [ edit ] The idea of death, the fear of it, haunts the human animal like nothing else; it is a mainspring of human activity'--activity designed largely to avoid the fatality of death, to overcome it by denying in some way that it is the final destiny for man.

Ernest Becker, 1973[9]

Cultural anthropologist Ernest Becker asserted in his 1973 book The Denial of Death that humans, as intelligent animals, are able to grasp the inevitability of death. They therefore spend their lives building and believing in cultural elements that illustrate how to make themselves stand out as individuals and give their lives significance and meaning. Death creates an anxiety in humans; it strikes at unexpected and random moments, and its nature is essentially unknowable, causing people to spend most of their time and energy to explain, forestall, and avoid it.[10]

Becker expounded upon the previous writings of Sigmund Freud, S¸ren Kierkegaard, Norman O. Brown, and Otto Rank. According to clinical psychiatrist Morton Levitt, Becker replaces the Freudian preoccupation with sexuality with the fear of death as the primary motivation in human behavior.[11]

People desire to think of themselves as beings of value and worth with a feeling of permanence, a concept in psychology known as self-esteem. This feeling counters the cognitive dissonance created by an individual's realization that they may be no more important than any other living thing. Becker refers to high self-esteem as heroism:

the problem of heroics is the central one of human life, that it goes deeper into human nature than anything else because it is based on organismic narcissism and on the child's need for self-esteem as the condition for his life. Society itself is a codified hero system, which means that society everywhere is a living myth of the significance of human life, a defiant creation of meaning.[12]

The rationale behind decisions regarding one's own health can be explored through a terror management model. A 2008 research article in Psychological Review proposes a three-part model for understanding how awareness of death can ironically subvert health-promoting behaviors by redirecting one's focus towards behaviors that build self-esteem instead: "Proposition 1 suggests that conscious thoughts about death can instigate health-oriented responses aimed at removing death-related thoughts from current focal attention. Proposition 2 suggests that the unconscious resonance of death-related cognition promotes self-oriented defenses directed toward maintaining, not one's health, but a sense of meaning and self-esteem. The last proposition suggests that confrontations with the physical body may undermine symbolic defenses and thus present a previously unrecognized barrier to health promotion activities."[13]

Evolutionary backdrop [ edit ] Terror management theorists consider TMT to be compatible with the theory of evolution:[14] Valid fears of dangerous things have an adaptive function that helped facilitate the survival of our ancestors' genes. However, generalized existential anxiety resulting from the clash between a desire for life and awareness of the inevitability of death is neither adaptive nor selected for. TMT views existential anxiety as an unfortunate byproduct of these two highly adaptive human proclivities rather than as an adaptation that the evolutionary process selected for its advantages. Just as human bipedalism confers advantages as well as disadvantages, death anxiety is an inevitable part of our intelligence and awareness of dangers.

Anxiety in response to the inevitability of death threatened to undermine adaptive functioning and therefore needed amelioration. TMT posits that humankind used the same intellectual capacities that gave rise to this problem to fashion cultural beliefs and values that provided protection against this potential anxiety. TMT considers these cultural beliefs (even unpleasant and frightening ones, such as ritual human sacrifice) when they manage potential death anxiety in a way that promotes beliefs and behaviors which facilitated the functioning and survival of the collective.

Hunter-gatherers used their emerging cognitive abilities to facilitate solving practical problems, such as basic needs for nutrition, mating, and tool-making. As these abilities evolved, an explicit awareness of death also emerged. But once this awareness materialized, the potential for terror that it created put pressure on emerging conceptions of reality. Any conceptual formation that was to be widely accepted by the group needed to provide a means of managing this terror.

Originally, the emergence of morality evolved to facilitate co-existence within groups. Together with language, morality served pragmatic functions that extended survival. The struggle to deny the finality of death co-opted and changed the function of these cultural inventions. For example, Neanderthals might have begun burying their dead as a means of avoiding unpleasant odors, disease-infested parasites, or dangerous scavengers. But during the Upper Paleolithic era, these pragmatic burial practices appear to have become imbued with layers of ritual performance and supernatural beliefs, suggested by the elaborate decoration of bodies with thousands of beads or other markers. Food and other necessities were also included within the burial chamber, indicating the potential for a belief system that included life after death. In many human cultures today, funerals are viewed primarily as cultural events, viewed through the lens of morality and language, with little thought given to the utilitarian origins of burying the dead.

Evolutionary history also indicates that "the costs of ignoring threats have outweighed the costs of ignoring opportunities for self-development."[15] This reinforces the concept that abstract needs for individual and group self-esteem may continue to be selected for by evolution, even when they sometimes confer risks to physical health and well-being.

Self-esteem [ edit ] Self-esteem lies at the heart of TMT and is a fundamental aspect of its core paradigms. TMT fundamentally seeks to elucidate the causes and consequences of a need for self-esteem. Theoretically, it draws heavily from Ernest Becker's conceptions of culture and self-esteem (Becker, 1971;[16] Becker, 1973[17]). TMT not only attempts to explain the concept of self-esteem, it also tries to explain why we need self-esteem.[18] One explanation is that self-esteem is used as a coping mechanism for anxiety. It helps people control their sense of terror and nullify the realization that humans are just animals trying to manage the world around them. According to TMT, self-esteem is a sense of personal value that is created by beliefs in the validity of one's cultural worldview, and the belief that one is living up to the cultural standards created by that worldview.[18]

Critically, Hewstone et al. (2002) have questioned the causal direction between self-esteem and death anxiety, evaluating whether one's self-esteem comes from their desire to reduce their death anxiety, or if death anxiety arises from a lack of self-esteem.[19] In other words, an individual's suppression of death anxiety may arise from their overall need to increase their self-esteem in a positive manner.[19]

Research has demonstrated that self-esteem can play an important role in physical health. In some cases, people may be so concerned with their physical appearance and boosting their self-esteem that they ignore problems or concerns with their own physical health.[20] Arndt et al. (2009) conducted three studies to examine how peer perceptions and social acceptance of smokers contributes to their quitting, as well as if, and why these people continue smoking for outside reasons, even when faced with thoughts of death and anti-smoking prompts.[20] Tanning and exercising were also looked at in the researchers' studies. The studies found that people are influenced by the situations around them.[20] Specifically, Arndt et al. (2009) found in terms of their self-esteem and health, that participants who saw someone exercising were more likely to increase their intentions to exercise.[20] In addition, the researchers found in study two that how participants reacted to an anti-smoking commercial was affected by their motivation for smoking and the situation which they were in. For instance, people who smoked for extrinsic reasons and were previously prompted with death reminders were more likely to be compelled by the anti-smoking message.[20]

Self-esteem as anxiety buffer [ edit ] An individual's level of self-consciousness can affect their views on life and death. To a point, increasing self-consciousness is adaptive in that it helps prevent awareness of danger. However, research has demonstrated that there may be diminishing returns from this phenomenon. Individuals with higher levels of self-consciousness sometimes have increased death cognition, and a more negative outlook on life, than those with reduced self-consciousness.[21]

Conversely, self-esteem can work in the opposite manner. Research has confirmed that individuals with higher self-esteem, particularly in regard to their behavior, have a more positive attitude towards their life. Specifically, death cognition in the form of anti-smoking warnings weren't effective for smokers and in fact, increased their already positive attitudes towards the behavior.[22] The reasons behind individuals' optimistic attitudes towards smoking after mortality was made salient, indicate that people use positivity as a buffer against anxiety. Continuing to hold certain beliefs even after they are shown to be flawed creates cognitive dissonance regarding current information and past behavior, and the way to alleviate this is to simply reject new information. Therefore, anxiety buffers such as self-esteem allow individuals to cope with their fears more easily. Death cognition may in fact cause negative reinforcement that leads people to further engage in dangerous behaviors (smoking in this instance) because accepting the new information would lead to a loss of self-esteem, increasing vulnerability and awareness of mortality.[22]

Mortality salience [ edit ] The mortality salience hypothesis (MS) states that if indeed one's cultural worldview, or one's self-esteem, serves a death-denying function, then threatening these constructs should produce defenses aimed at restoring psychological equanimity (i.e., returning the individual to a state of feeling invulnerable). In the MS paradigm, these "threats" are simply experiential reminders of one's own death. This can, and has, taken many different forms in a variety of study paradigms (e.g., asking participants to write about their own death;[1] conducting the experiment near funeral homes or cemeteries;[23] having participants watch graphic depictions of death,[24] etc.). Like the other TMT hypotheses, the literature supporting the MS hypothesis is vast and diverse. For a meta analysis of MS research, see Burke et al. (2010).[25]

Experimentally, the MS hypothesis has been tested in close to 200 empirical articles.[25] After participants in an experiment are asked to write about their own death (vs. a neutral, non-death control topic, such as dental pain), and then following a brief delay (distal, worldview/self-esteem defenses work the best after a delay; see Greenberg et al. (1994)[24] for a discussion), the participants' defenses are measured. In one early TMT study assessing the MS hypothesis, Greenberg et al. (1990)[4] had Christian participants evaluate other Christian and Jewish students that were similar demographically, but differed in their religious affiliation. After being reminded of their death (experimental MS induction), Christian participants evaluated fellow Christians more positively, and Jewish participants more negatively, relative to the control condition.[26] Conversely, bolstering self-esteem in these scenarios leads to less worldview defense and derogation of dissimilar others.[26]

Mortality salience has an influence on individuals and their decisions regarding their health. Cox et al. (2009) discuss mortality salience in terms of suntanning. Specifically, the researchers found that participants who were prompted with the idea that pale was more socially attractive along with mortality reminders, tended to lean towards decisions that resulted in more protective measures from the sun.[27] The participants were placed in two different conditions; one group of participants were given an article relating to the fear of death, while the control group received an article unrelated to death, dealing with the fear of public speaking.[27] Additionally, they gave one group an article pertaining to the message that "bronze is beautiful," one relating to the idea that "pale is pretty," and one neutral article that did not speak of tan or pale skin tones.[27] Finally, after introducing a delay activity, the researchers gave the participants a five-item questionnaire asking them about their future sun-tanning behaviors. The study illustrated that when tan skin was associated with attractiveness, mortality salience positively affected people's intentions to suntan; however, when pale skin was associated with attractiveness people's intentions to tan decreased.[27]

Mortality and self-esteem on health risks [ edit ] Studies have shown that mortality and self-esteem are important factors of the terror management theory. Jessop et al. (2008) study this relationship within four studies that all examine how people react when they are given information on risks, specifically, in terms of the mortality related to the risks of driving.[28] More specifically, the researchers were exploring how participants acted in terms of self-esteem, and its impact on how mortality-related health-risk information would be received.[28] Overall, Jessop et al. (2008) found that even when mortality is prominent, people who engage in certain behaviors to improve their self-esteem have a greater chance of continuing with these activities.[28] Mortality and self-esteem are both factors that influence people's behaviors and decision-making regarding their health. Furthermore, individuals who are involved in behaviors and possess motivation to enhance their self-worth are less likely to be affected by the importance placed on health risks, in terms of mortality.[28]

Self-esteem is important when mortality is made salient. It can allow people a coping mechanism, one that can cushion individuals' fears; and thus, impacting one's attitudes towards a given behavior.[22] Individuals who have higher levels of self-esteem regarding their behavior(s) are less likely to have their attitudes, and thus their behaviors changed regardless of mortality salient or death messages.[22] People will use their self-esteem to hide behind their fears of dying. In terms of smoking behaviors, people with higher smoking-based self-esteem are less susceptible to anti-smoking messages that relate to death; therefore, mortality salience and death warnings afford them with an even more positive outlook on their behavior, or in this instance their smoking.[22]

In the Hansen et al. (2010) experiment the researchers manipulated mortality salience. In the experiment, Hansen et al. (2010) examined smokers' attitudes towards the behavior of smoking. Actual warning labels were utilized to create mortality salience in this specific experiment. The researchers first gave participants a questionnaire to measure their smoking-based self-esteem.[22] Following the questionnaire, participants were randomly assigned to two different conditions; the first were given anti-smoking warning labels about death and the second control group were exposed to anti-smoking warning labels not dealing with death.[22] Before the participants' attitudes towards smoking were taken the researchers introduced an unrelated question to provide a delay. Further research has demonstrated that delays allow mortality salience to emerge because thoughts of death become non-conscious.[22] Finally, participants were asked questions regarding their intended future smoking behavior.[22] However, one weakness in their conduction was that the final questionnaire addressed opinions and behavioral questions, as opposed to the participants level of persuasion regarding the different anti-smoking warning labels.

[ edit ] Many people are more motivated by social pressures, rather than health risks. Specifically for younger people, mortality salience is stronger in eliciting changes of one's behavior when it brings awareness to the immediate loss of social status or position, rather than a loss, such as death that one can not imagine and feels far off. However, there are many different factors to take into consideration, such as how strongly an individual feels toward a decision, his or her level of self-esteem, and the situation around the individual. Particularly with people's smoking behaviors, self-esteem and mortality salience have different effects on individuals' decisions. In terms of the longevity of their smoking decisions, it has been seen that individuals' smoking habits are affected, in the short-term sense, when they are exposed to mortality salience that interrelates with their own self-esteem. Moreover, people who viewed social exclusion prompts were more likely to quit smoking in the long run than those who were simply shown health-effects of smoking. More specifically, it was demonstrated that when individuals had high levels of self-esteem they were more likely to quit smoking following the social pressure messages, rather than the health risk messages. In this specific instance, terror management, and specifically mortality salience is showing how people are more motivated by the social pressures and consequences in their environment, rather than consequences relating to their health. This is mostly seen in young adult smokers with higher smoking-based self-esteems who are not thinking of their future health and the less-immediate effects of smoking on their health.

Death thought accessibility [ edit ] Another paradigm that TMT researchers use to get at unconscious concerns about death is what is known as the death thought accessibility (DTA) hypothesis. Essentially, the DTA hypothesis states that if individuals are motivated to avoid cognitions about death, and they avoid these cognitions by espousing a worldview or by buffering their self-esteem, then when threatened, an individual should possess more death-related cognitions (e.g., thoughts about death, and death-related stimuli) than they would when not threatened.[30]

The DTA hypothesis has its origins in work by Greenberg et al. (1994)[24] as an extension of their earlier terror management hypotheses (i.e., the anxiety buffer hypothesis and the mortality salience hypothesis). The researchers reasoned that if, as indicated by Wegner's research on thought suppression (1994; 1997), thoughts that are purposely suppressed from conscious awareness are often brought back with ease, then following a delay death-thought cognitions should be more available to consciousness than (a) those who keep the death-thoughts in their consciousness the whole time, and (b) those who suppress the death-thoughts but are not provided a delay. That is precisely what they found. However, other psychologists have failed to replicate these findings.[31]

In these initial studies (i.e., Greenberg et al. (2004); Arndt et al. (1997)[32]), and in numerous subsequent DTA studies, the main measure of DTA is a word fragment task, whereby participants can complete word fragments in distinctly death-related ways (e.g., coff_ _ as coffin, not coffee) or in non death-related ways (e.g., sk_ _l as skill, not skull).[33] If death-thoughts are indeed more available to consciousness, then it stands to reason that the word fragments should be completed in a way that is semantically related to death.

Importance of the DTA hypothesis [ edit ] The introduction of this hypothesis has refined TMT, and led to new avenues of research that formerly could not be assessed due to the lack of an empirically validated way of measuring death-related cognitions. Also, the differentiation between proximal (conscious, near, and threat-focused) and distal (unconscious, distant, symbolic) defenses that have been derived from DTA studies have been extremely important in understanding how people deal with their terror.[34]

It is important to note how the DTA paradigm subtly alters, and expands, TMT as a motivational theory. Instead of solely manipulating mortality and witnessing its effects (e.g., nationalism, increased prejudice, risky sexual behavior, etc.), the DTA paradigm allows a measure of the death-related cognitions that result from various affronts to the self. Examples include threats to self-esteem and to one's worldview; the DTA paradigm can therefore assess the role of death-thoughts in self-esteem and worldview defenses. Furthermore, the DTA hypothesis lends support to TMT in that it corroborates its central hypothesis that death is uniquely problematic for human beings, and that it is fundamentally different in its effects than meaning threats (i.e., Heine et al., 2006[35]) and that is death itself, and not uncertainty and lack of control associated with death; Fritsche et al. (2008) explore this idea.[36]

Since its inception, the DTA hypothesis had been rapidly gaining ground in TMT investigations, and as of 2009, has been employed in over 60 published papers, with a total of more than 90 empirical studies.[30]

Death anxiety on health promotion [ edit ] How people respond to their fears and anxiety of death is investigated in TMT. Moreover, Taubman-Ben-Ari and Noy (2010) examine the idea that a person's level of self-awareness and self-consciousness should be considered in relation to their responses to their anxiety and death cognitions.[21] The more an individual is presented with their death or death cognitions in general, the more fear and anxiety one may have; therefore, to combat said anxiety one may implement anxiety buffers.[21]

Due to a change in people's lifestyles, in the direction of more unhealthy behaviors, the leading causes of death now, being cancer and heart disease, most definitely are related to individuals' unhealthy behaviors (though the statement is over-generalising and certainly cannot be applied to every case).[37] Age and death anxiety both are factors that should be considered in the terror management theory, in relation to health-promoting behaviors. Age undoubtedly plays some kind of role in people's health-promoting behaviors; however, an actual age related effect on death anxiety and health-promoting behaviors has yet to be seen. Although, research has demonstrated that for young adults only, when they were prompted with death related scenarios, they yielded more health-promoting behaviors, compared to those participants in their sixties. In addition, death anxiety has been found to have an effect for young adults, on their behaviors of health promotion.[37]

Terror management health model [ edit ] The terror management health model (TMHM) explores the role that death plays on one's health and behavior. Goldenberg and Arndt (2008) state that the TMHM proposes the idea that death, despite its threatening nature, is in fact instrumental and purposeful in the conditioning of one's behavior towards the direction of a longer life.[13]

According to Goldenberg and Arndt (2008), certain health behaviors such as breast self-exams (BSEs) can consciously activate and facilitate people to think of death, especially their own death.[13] While death can be instrumental for individuals, in some cases, when breast self-exams activate people's death thoughts an obstacle can present itself, in terms of health promotion, because of the experience of fear and threat.[13] Abel and Kruger (2009) have suggested that the stress caused by increased awareness of mortality when celebrating one's birthday might explain the birthday effect, where mortality rates seem to spike around these days.[38]

On the other hand, death and thoughts of death can serve as a way of empowering the self, not as threats. Researchers, Cooper et al. (2011) explored TMHM in terms of empowerment, specifically using BSEs under two conditions; when death thoughts were prompted, and when thoughts of death were non-conscious.[33] According to TMHM, people's health decisions, when death thoughts are not conscious, should be based on their motivations to act appropriately, in terms of the self and identity.[33] Cooper et al. (2011) found that when mortality and death thoughts were primed, women reported more empowerment feelings than those who were not prompted before performing a BSE.[33]

Additionally, TMHM suggests that mortality awareness and self-esteem are important factors in individuals' decision making and behaviors relating to their health. TMHM explores how people will engage in behaviors, whether positive or negative, even with the heightened awareness of mortality, in the attempt to conform to society's expectations and improve their self-esteem.[27] The TMHM is useful in understanding what motivates individuals regarding their health decisions and behaviors.

In terms of smoking behaviors and attitudes, the impact of warnings with death messages depends on:

The individuals' level of smoking-based self-esteemThe warnings' actual degree of death information[22]Emotion [ edit ] People with low self-esteem, but not high self-esteem, have more negative emotions when reminded of death. This is believed to be because these individuals lack the very defenses that TMT argues protect people from mortality concerns (e.g., solid worldviews). In contrast, positive mood states are not impacted by death thoughts for people of low or high self-esteem.[39]

Leadership [ edit ] It has been suggested that culture provides meaning, organization, and a coherent world view that diminishes the psychological terror caused by the knowledge of eventual death. The terror management theory can help to explain why a leader's popularity can grow substantially during times of crisis. When a follower's mortality is made prominent they will tend to show a strong preference for iconic leaders. An example of this occurred when George W. Bush's approval rating jumped almost 50 percent following the September 11 attacks in the United States. As Forsyth (2009) posits, this tragedy made U.S. citizens aware of their mortality, and Bush provided an antidote to these existential concerns by promising to bring justice to the terrorist group responsible for the attacks.

Researchers Cohen et al. (2004), in their particular study on TMT, tested the preferences for different types of leaders, while reminding people of their mortality. Three different candidates were presented to participants. The three leaders were of three different types: task-oriented (emphasized setting goals, strategic planning, and structure), relationship-oriented (emphasized compassion, trust, and confidence in others), and charismatic. The participants were then placed in one of two conditions: mortality salient or control group. In the former condition the participants were asked to describe the emotions surrounding their own death, as well as the physical act of the death itself, whereas the control group were asked similar questions about an upcoming exam. The results of the study were that the charismatic leader was favored more, and the relationship-oriented leader was favored less, in the mortality-salient condition. Further research has shown that mortality salient individuals also prefer leaders who are members of the same group, as well as men rather than women (Hoyt et al. 2010). This has links to social role theory.

Religion [ edit ] TMT posits that religion was created as a means for humans to cope with their own mortality. Supporting this, arguments in favor of life after death, and simply being religious, reduce the effects of mortality salience on worldview defense. Thoughts of death have also been found to increase religious beliefs. At an implicit, subconscious level, this is the case even for people who claim to be nonreligious.[40][41]

Mental Health [ edit ] Some researchers have argued that death anxiety may play a central role in numerous mental health conditions.[42] To test whether death anxiety causes a particular mental illness, TMT researchers use a mortality salience experiment, and examine whether reminding participants of death leads to a greater number of behaviors associated with that mental illness. Such studies have shown that reminders of death lead to increases in compulsive handwashing in obsessive-compulsive disorder,[43] avoidance in spider phobias and social anxiety,[44] and anxious behaviors in other disorders, including panic disorder and health anxiety,[45] suggesting the role of death anxiety in these conditions according to TMT researchers.

Criticisms [ edit ] This section

needs expansion. You can help by

adding to it.

( January 2016

) Psychologists, especially evolutionary psychologists, have argued against terror management theory.[46][47][48][49][50] One scholar commented that the field of psychology would be advanced by a study of paralyzed states caused by anxiety that would only be alleviated with the reworking of a person's mental state.[51] These authors instead explain human behavior is selected to urge people to avoid situations likely to lead to death. This suggests that mortality salience effects reflect adaptive responses to solve specific life-threats rather than an unconscious attempt to avoid this realization.

Prevalence of death [ edit ] Since findings on mortality salience and worldview defense were first published, other researchers have claimed that the effects may have been obtained due to reasons other than death itself, such as anxiety, fear, or other aversive stimuli such as pain. Other studies have found effects similar to those that MS results in '' for example, thinking about difficult personal choices to be made, being made to respond to open-ended questions regarding uncertainty, thinking about being robbed, thinking about being socially isolated, and being told that one's life lacks meaning.[52] While these cases exist, thoughts of death have since been compared to various aversive experimental controls, such as (but not limited to) thinking about: failure, writing a critical exam, public speaking with a considerable audience, being excluded, paralysis, dental pain, intense physical pain, etc.[52]

With regards to the studies that found similar effects, TMT theorists have argued that in the previously mentioned studies where death was not the subject thought about, the subjects would quite easily be related to death in an individual's mind due to "linguistic or experiential connection with mortality" (p. 332).[52] For example, being robbed invokes thoughts of violence and being unsafe in one's own home '' many people have died trying to protect their property and family. A second possible explanation for these results involves the death-thought accessibility hypothesis: these threats somehow sabotage crucial anxiety-buffering aspects of an individual's worldview or self-esteem, which increases their DTA. For example, one study found increased DTA in response to thoughts of antagonistic relations with attachment figures.[52]

Meaning maintenance model [ edit ] The meaning maintenance model (MMM) was initially introduced as a comprehensive motivational theory that claimed to subsume TMT, with alternative explanations for TMT findings. Essentially, it posits that people automatically give meaning to things, and when those meanings are somehow disrupted, it causes anxiety.[35] In response, people concentrate on "meaning maintenance to reestablish their sense of symbolic unity" and that such "meaning maintenance often involves the compensatory reaffirmation of alternative meaning structures".[35] These meanings, among other things, should "provide a basis for prediction and control of our...environments, help [one] to cope with tragedy and trauma...and the symbolic cheating of death via adherence to the enduring values that these cultures provide".[35]

TMT theorists argue that MMM cannot describe why different sets of meaning are preferred for a symbol by different people, and that while they may exist, "different [(i.e., more concrete)] types of meaning have different psychological functions".[52] For example, MMM theorists argue that all types of meaning are basically equal, and yet one could not compare the likelihood of defensive responses resulting from exposure to a deck of cards containing black hearts with something like the September 11 attacks.[52] TMT theorists argue, essentially, that unless something is an important element of a person's anxiety-buffering worldview or self-esteem, it will not require broad meaning maintenance.[52]

In sum, TMT theorists believe that MMM cannot accurately claim to be an alternative to TMT because it does not seem to be able to explain the current breadth of TMT evidence.[52] As an example, TMT theorists assert that mortality salience would not be a threat to meaning, since our eventual demise is a necessary condition of life. Therefore, it should not cause an individual to engage in general meaning maintenance. MMM also makes no attempt to explain why threatening meaning increases DTA.[52]

Offensive defensiveness [ edit ] Some theorists have argued that it is not the idea of death and nonexistence that is unsettling to people, but the fact that uncertainty is involved.[53] For example, these researchers posited that people defend themselves by altering their fear responses from uncertainty to an enthusiasm approach.[52] Other researchers argue for distinguishing fear of death from fear of dying and, therein, posit that ultimately the fear of death has more to do with some other fear (e.g., fear of pain) or reflects fear of the unknown.[54]

TMT theorists agree that uncertainty can be disconcerting in some cases and it may even result in defense responses, but note that they believe the inescapability of death and the possibility of its finality regarding one's existence is most unsettling. They ask, "'Would death be any less frightening if you knew for certain that it would come next Tuesday at 5:15 p.m., and that your hopes for an afterlife were illusory?'....Would you rather be certain that death is the end, or live with the uncertainty that it might not be?" They also note that people actually seek out some types of uncertainty, and that being uncertain is not always very unpleasant.[52] In contrast, there is substantial evidence that, all things being equal, uncertainty and the unknown represent fundamental fears and are only experienced as pleasant when there is sufficient contextual certainty.[54][55] For example, a surprise involves uncertainty, but is only perceived as pleasant if there is sufficient certainty that the surprise will be pleasant. Consider a box received on a birthday from a trusted family member as compared to the box received at the end of the film "Seven" (which contains a severed head).

Though TMT theorists acknowledge that many responses to mortality salience involve greater approaches (zealousness) towards important worldviews, they also note examples of mortality salience which resulted in the opposite, which offensive defensiveness cannot account for: when negative features of a group to which participants belong were made salient, people actively distanced themselves from that group under mortality salience.[52]

Evolutionary psychology, coalitional psychology, and TMT [ edit ] Several critiques have been proposed against TMT from evolutionary psychologists '' for reasons including that fear is an adaptive response in individuals that has come about as a result of natural selection; without these adaptations human beings would have never been able to avoid maladaptive situations.[14] Thus, it is unlikely that people would have psychological ways of slowing-down anxiety.[14] In response, TMT theorists argue that this critique is mixing up fear related to immediate danger with anxiety related to thoughts of threats that will or may occur eventually.[14] TMT is talking about the protection that self-esteem and cultural worldviews offer against the threat of unavoidable death in the future. While anxiety may be adaptive in avoiding entering a dangerous place (e.g. because a predator may be waiting), this doesn't mean that anxiety must be adaptive in all cases.[14] For a more comprehensive review of TMT and evolutionary psychology, see Landau et al., 2007.[14] Similar evolutionary critiques have been raised by researchers exploring uncertainty and unknowns (see for reviews[54][55]).

Coalitional psychology (CP) is presented as another alternative to TMT, which proposes that there is an evolutionary tendency to seek safety in groups (coalitions) as a reaction to adaptive threats.[56] People already a part of coalitional groups seek to protect their membership by exhibiting their value to the group.[56] TMT theorists answer by arguing that CP:

cannot account for the fact that virtually all cultures have a supernatural dimension;it does not explain why cultural worldview defense is symbolic, involving allegiance to both specific and general systems of abstract meaning unrelated to specific threats, rather than focused on the specific adaptive threats it supposedly evolved to deal with;it dismisses TMT's dual process account of the underlying processes that generate MS effects without providing an alternative of any kind or attempting to account for the data relevant to this aspect of the TMT analysis andthe experiments testing hypotheses derived from CP do not provide compelling or unique support for CP,it cannot account for a host of empirical findings supporting hypotheses derived from TMT that could never be deduced from CP.[14]Replication failure [ edit ] In addition to the criticisms from alternative theoretical perspectives, Many Labs 4 failed to replicate mortality salience results in one TMT study. A large scale effort to test the theory[57] failed to obtain support for the mortality salience effect on worldview defense, i.e. a greater preference for an essay writer adopting a pro-U.S. argument than an essay writer adopting an anti-U.S. argument. The test is a multi-lab replication of Study 1 of Greenberg et al. (1994).[24] Psychologists in 21 labs across the U.S. re-executed the original experiment, among a total of 2,200 participants. In response to the Many Labs 4 paper, Tom Pyszczynski (one of the founding psychologists of TMT), stated ML4 "deviated from their pre-registered protocol and failed to mention these deviations" and further "failure to follow their (highly justified) preregistered protocol has led to incorrect conclusions that have become widely publicized and have inadvertently done more damage than good to our common goal of improving psychological science."[58]

See also [ edit ] Anxiety buffer disruption theoryCognitive dissonance '' Stress from contradictory beliefsDeath anxiety (psychology) '' Anxiety caused by thoughts of deathFlight from Death '' a documentary film based on Ernest Becker's work and terror management theoryMemento mori '' Artistic or symbolic reminder of the inevitability of deathReferences [ edit ] ^ a b c Greenberg, J., Pyszczynski, T. & Solomon, S. (1986). "The causes and consequences of a need for self-esteem: A terror management theory". In R.F. Baumeister (ed.), Public Self and Private Self (pp. 189''212). Springer-Verlag (New York). ^ a b Solomon, S.; Greenberg, J.; Pyszczynski, T. (1991). "A terror management theory of social behavior: The psychological functions of self-esteem and cultural worldviews". Advances in Experimental Social Psychology. 24 (93): 159. ^ Jonas, E.; Fischer, P. (2006). "Terror management and religion: evidence that intrinsic religiousness mitigates worldview defense following mortality salience". Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 91 (3): 553''567. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.91.3.553. PMID 16938037. S2CID 45201747. ^ a b Greenberg, J.; Pyszczynski, T.; Solomon, S.; Rosenblatt, A.; Veeder, M.; Kirkland, S.; Lyon, D. (1990). "Evidence for terror management II: The effects of mortality salience on reactions to those who threaten or bolster the cultural worldview". Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 58 (2): 308''318. CiteSeerX 10.1.1.454.2378 . doi:10.1037/0022-3514.58.2.308. ^ Zhou, X.; Liu, J.; Chen, C.; Yu, Z. (2008). "Do children transcend death? An examination of the terror management function of offspring". Scandinavian Journal of Psychology. 49 (5): 413''418. doi:10.1111/j.1467-9450.2008.00665.x. PMID 18489534. ^ a b Goldenberg, J. L.; Pyszczynski, T.; Greenberg, J.; Solomon, S. (2000). "Fleeing the body: A terror management perspective on the problem of human corporeality". Personality and Social Psychology Review. 4 (3): 200''218. doi:10.1207/s15327957pspr0403_1. S2CID 31331978. ^ Solomon, S.; Pyszczynski, T.; Greenberg, J. (2015). The Worm at the Core: On the Role of Death in Life. Random House. ^ Arrowood, Robert B. and Pope, J. Brian (2014). "Terror management theory: A theoretical perspective on orgination, maintenance, and research". CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) ^ Becker, p. ix. ^ Becker, pp. ix''xiv. ^ Levitt, Morton (July 1974). "Reviewed work(s): The Denial of Death by Ernest Becker", Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, Vol. 414, USA-USSR: Agenda for Communication, pp. 200''201. ^ Becker, p. 7. ^ a b c d Goldenberg, J. L.; Arndt, J. (2008). "The Implications of death for health: A terror management health model for behavioral health promotion". Psychological Review. 115 (4): 1032''1053. doi:10.1037/a0013326. PMID 18954213. ^ a b c d e f g Landau, M. J.; Solomon, S.; Pyszczynski, T.; Greenberg, J. (2007). "On the compatibility of terror management theory and perspectives on human evolution" (PDF) . Evolutionary Psychology. 5 (3): 476''519. doi:10.1177/147470490700500303 . ^ Koole, Sander L.; van den Berg, Agnes E. (2004). "Paradise Lost and Reclaimed". In Greenberg, Jeff; Koole, Sander L.; Pyszczynski, Tom (eds.). Handbook Of Experimental Existential Psychology. New York: Guilford Press. p. 91. ISBN 978-1-59385-040-1 . Retrieved 2013-08-18 . ^ Becker, Ernest (1971). The birth and death of meaning (2nd ed.). New York, NY: The Free Press. ^ Becker, Ernest (1973). The Denial of Death (1st ed.). New York, NY: The Free Press. ^ a b Pyszczynski, T.; Greenberg, J.; Solomon, S.; Arndt, J.; Schimel, J. (2004). "Why do people need self-esteem? A theoretical and empirical review". Psychological Bulletin. 130 (130): 435''468. doi:10.1037/0033-2909.130.3.435. PMID 15122930. S2CID 1780005. ^ a b Hewstone, M.; Rubin, M.; Willis, H. (2002). "Intergroup bias". Annual Review of Psychology. 53: 575''604. doi:10.1146/annurev.psych.53.100901.135109. PMID 11752497. S2CID 11830211. ^ a b c d e Arndt, J.; Cox, C. R.; Goldenberg, J. L.; Vess, M.; Routledge, C.; Cooper, D. P.; Cohen, F. (2009). "Blowing in the (social) wind: Implications of extrinsic esteem contingencies for terror management and health". Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 96 (6): 1191''1205. doi:10.1037/a0015182. PMID 19469596. ^ a b c Taubman-Ben-Ari, O.; Noy, A. (2010). "Self-consciousness and death cognitions from a terror management perspective". Death Studies. 34 (10): 871''892. doi:10.1080/07481187.2010.496685. PMID 24482853. S2CID 24026354. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Hansen, J.; Winzeler, S.; Topolinski, S. (2010). "When the death makes you smoke: A terror management perspective on the effectiveness of cigarette on-pack warnings". Journal of Experimental Social Psychology. 46 (1): 226''228. doi:10.1016/j.jesp.2009.09.007. ^ Pyszczynski, T.; Wicklund, R. A.; Floresku, S.; Koch, H.; Gauch, G.; Solomon, S.; Greenberg, J. (1996). "Whistling in the dark: Exaggerated consensus estimates in response to incidental reminders of mortality". Psychological Science. 7 (6): 332''336. doi:10.1111/j.1467-9280.1996.tb00384.x. S2CID 12709488. ^ a b c d Greenberg, J.; Pyszczynski, T.; Solomon, S.; Simon, L.; Breus, M. (1994). "Role of consciousness and accessibility of death-related thoughts in mortality salience effects". Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 67 (4): 627''637. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.67.4.627. PMID 7965609. S2CID 37679370. ^ a b Burke, B. L.; Martens, A.; Faucher, E. H. (2010). "Two decades of terror management theory: A meta-analysis of mortality salience research". Personality and Social Psychology Review. 14 (2): 155''195. doi:10.1177/1088868309352321. PMID 20097885. S2CID 206682555. ^ a b Harmon-Jones, E.; Simon, L.; Greenberg, J.; Pyszczynski, T.; Solomon, S.; McGregor, H. (1997). "Terror management theory and self-esteem: Evidence that increased self-esteem reduces mortality salience effects". Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 72 (1): 24''36. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.72.1.24. PMID 9008372. S2CID 32261410. ^ a b c d e Cox, C. R.; Cooper, D. P.; Vess, M.; Arndt, J.; Goldenberg, J. L.; Routledge, C. (2009). "Bronze is beautiful but pale can be pretty: The effects of appearance standards and mortality salience on sun-tanning outcomes". Health Psychology. 28 (6): 746''752. doi:10.1037/a0016388. PMID 19916643. ^ a b c d Jessop, D. C.; Albery, I. P.; Rutter, J.; Garrod, H. (2008). "Understanding the impact of mortality-related health-risk information: A terror management theory perspective". Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin. 34 (7): 951''964. doi:10.1177/0146167208316790. PMID 18453389. S2CID 10585949. ^ a b Hayes, J.; Schimel, J.; Ardnt, J.; Faucher, E. (2010). "A Theoretical and Empirical Review of the Death Thought Accessibility Concept in Terror Management Research". Psychological Bulletin. 136 (5): 699''739. doi:10.1037/a0020524. PMID 20804234. ^ Trafimow, David; Jamie S. Hughes (September 2012). "Testing the Death Thought Suppression and Rebound Hypothesis". Social Psychological and Personality Science. 3 (5): 622''629. doi:10.1177/1948550611432938. S2CID 146202248. ^ Arndt, J.; Greenberg, J.; Pyszczynski, T.; Solomon, S. (1997). "Subliminal exposure to death-related stimuli increases defense of the cultural worldview". Psychological Science. 8 (5): 379''385. doi:10.1111/j.1467-9280.1997.tb00429.x. S2CID 145101319. ^ a b c d Cooper, D. P.; Goldenberg, J. L.; Arndt, J. (2011). "Empowering the self: Using the terror management health model to promote breast self-examination". Self and Identity. 10 (3): 315''325. doi:10.1080/15298868.2010.527495. S2CID 140520175. ^ Pyszczynski, T.; Greenberg, J.; Solomon, S. (1999). "A dual-process model of defense against conscious and unconscious death-related thoughts: An extension of terror management theory". Psychological Review. 106 (4): 835''845. doi:10.1037/0033-295x.106.4.835. PMID 10560330. ^ a b c d Heine, S. J.; Proulx, T.; Vohs, K. D. (2006). "The meaning maintenance model: On the coherence of human motivations". Personality and Social Psychology Review. 10 (2): 88''110. CiteSeerX 10.1.1.434.4237 . doi:10.1207/s15327957pspr1002_1. PMID 16768649. S2CID 899167. ^ Fritsche, I.; Jonas, E.; Fankh¤nel, T. (2008). "The role of control motivation in mortality salience effects on ingroup support and defense". Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 95 (3): 524''541. doi:10.1037/a0012666. PMID 18729692. ^ a b Bozo, –.; Tunca, A.; Şİmşek, Y. (2009). "The effect of death anxiety and age on health- promoting behaviors: A terror-management theory perspective". Journal of Psychology: Interdisciplinary and Applied. 143 (4): 377''389. doi:10.3200/JRLP.143.4.377-389. PMID 19606644. S2CID 9927722. ^ Abel, Ernest; Kruger, Michael (2009). "Mortality Salience of Birthdays on Day of Death in the Major Leagues". Death Studies. 33 (2): 175''184. doi:10.1080/07481180802138936. PMID 19143110. S2CID 8439436. ^ Routledge, C.; Ostafin, B.; Juhl, J.; Sedikides, C.; Cathey, C.; Liao, J. (2010). "The effects of self-esteem and mortality salience on well-being, growth motivation, and maladaptive behavior". Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 99 (6): 897''916. CiteSeerX 10.1.1.465.8476 . doi:10.1037/a0021431. PMID 21114350. ^ Heflick, Nathan; Goldenberg, J. (2012). "No atheists in foxholes: Arguments for (but not against) afterlives buffer mortality salience effects for atheists". British Journal of Social Psychology. 51 (2): 385''392. doi:10.1111/j.2044-8309.2011.02058.x. PMID 21995319. ^ Jong, Jonathan; Halberstadt, Jamin; Bluemke, Matthias (2012). "Foxhole atheism, revisited: The effects of mortality salience on explicit and implicit religious belief". Journal of Experimental Social Psychology. 48 (5): 983''989. doi:10.1016/j.jesp.2012.03.005. ^ Iverach, Lisa; Menzies, Ross G.; Menzies, Rachel E. (2014). "Death anxiety and its role in psychopathology: reviewing the status of a transdiagnostic construct". Clinical Psychology Review. 34 (7): 580''593. doi:10.1016/j.cpr.2014.09.002. ISSN 1873-7811. PMID 25306232. ^ Menzies, R.E.; Dar-Nimrod, I. (2017). "Death anxiety and its relationship with obsessive-compulsive disorder". Journal of Abnormal Psychology. 126(4): 367''377. ^ Strachan, Eric; Schimel, Jeff; Arndt, Jamie; Williams, Todd; Solomon, Sheldon; Pyszczynski, Tom; Greenberg, Jeff (2007-08-01). "Terror Mismanagement: Evidence That Mortality Salience Exacerbates Phobic and Compulsive Behaviors". Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin. 33 (8): 1137''1151. doi:10.1177/0146167207303018. ISSN 0146-1672. ^ Menzies, R.E.; Sharpe, L.; Dar-Nimrod, I. (2021). "The effect of mortality salience on bodily scanning behaviors in anxiety-related disorders". Journal of Abnormal Psychology. 130(2): 141''151. ^ Proulx, Travis (2003). Absurdity as the source of existential anxiety : a critique of terror management theory (Thesis). University of British Columbia. doi:10.14288/1.0076908. ^ Leary, Mark R.; Lisa S. Schreindorfer (2002). "Unresolved Issues With Terror Management Theory" (PDF) . ^ Kirkpatricka, Lee; Carlos David Navarreteb (2006). "Reports of My Death Anxiety Have Been Greatly Exaggerated: A Critique of Terror Management Theory from an Evolutionary Perspective". Psychological Inquiry. 17 (4): 288''298. CiteSeerX 10.1.1.574.4267 . doi:10.1080/10478400701366969. S2CID 144262438. ^ Buss, David (1997). "Human Social Motivation in Evolutionary Perspective: Grounding Terror Management Theory". Psychological Inquiry. 8 (1): 22''26. CiteSeerX 10.1.1.387.7436 . doi:10.1207/s15327965pli0801_3. ^ Wong, Paul T. P.; Adrian Tomer (2011). "Beyond Terror and Denial: The Positive Psychology of Death Acceptance". Death Studies. 35 (2): 99''106. doi:10.1080/07481187.2011.535377. PMID 24501830. S2CID 1067025. ^ "Normative Bias and Adaptive Challenges" (PDF) . ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Pyszczynski, T.; Greenberg, J.; Solomon, S.; Maxfield, M. (2006). "On the unique psychological import of the human awareness of mortality: Theme and variations". Psychological Inquiry. 17 (4): 328''356. doi:10.1080/10478400701369542. S2CID 143508018. ^ McGregor, I.; Zanna, M. P.; Holmes, J. G.; Spencer, S. J. (2001). "Compensatory conviction in the face of personal uncertainty: Going to extremes and being oneself". Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 80 (3): 472''488. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.80.3.472. PMID 11300580. S2CID 9025151. ^ a b c Carleton, R. Nicholas (June 2016). "Fear of the unknown: One fear to rule them all?". Journal of Anxiety Disorders. 41: 5''21. doi:10.1016/j.janxdis.2016.03.011 . PMID 27067453. ^ a b Carleton, R. Nicholas (April 2016). "Into the unknown: A review and synthesis of contemporary models involving uncertainty". Journal of Anxiety Disorders. 39: 30''43. doi:10.1016/j.janxdis.2016.02.007 . PMID 26945765. ^ a b Navarrete, D.C.; Fessler, D.M.T. (2005). "Normative bias and adaptive challenges: A relational approach to coalitional psychology and a critique of terror management theory". Evolutionary Psychology. 3: 297''325. CiteSeerX 10.1.1.132.5201 . doi:10.1177/147470490500300121. S2CID 14311881. ^ Klein, Richard A.; Cook, Corey L.; Ebersole, Charles R.; Vitiello, Christine; Nosek, Brian A.; Ahn, Paul; Brady, Abbie J.; Chartier, Christopher R.; Christopherson, Cody D.; Clay, Samuel (2017-01-12). "Many Labs 4: Replicating Mortality Salience with and without Original Author Involvement". ^ Chatard, Armand & Hirschberger, Gilad & Pyszczynski, Tom. (2020). A Word of Caution about Many Labs 4: If You Fail to Follow Your Preregistered Plan, You May Fail to Find a Real Effect. 10.31234/osf.io/ejubn. DOI: 10.31234/osf.io/ejubn Bibliography [ edit ] Becker, Ernest (1973). The Denial of Death, The Free Press. ISBN 0-02-902380-7Pyszczynski, Thomas; Solomon, Sheldon; Greenberg, Jeff (2003). In the Wake of 9/11: The Psychology of Terror, American Psychological Association. ISBN 1-55798-954-0Solomon, Sheldon, Greenberg, J. & Pyszczynski, T. (1991) "A terror management theory of social behavior: The psychological functions of esteem and cultural worldviews", in M. P. Zanna (Ed.) Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, Volume 24, Academic Press, pp. 93''159. ISBN 0-12-015224-XFurther reading [ edit ] Curtis, V.; Biran, A. (2001). "Dirt, disgust, and disease: Is hygiene in our genes?". Perspectives in Biology and Medicine. 44 (1): 17''31. CiteSeerX 10.1.1.324.760 . doi:10.1353/pbm.2001.0001. PMID 11253302. S2CID 15675303. Darwin, C. (1998) [1872]. The expression of the emotions in man and animals. 3rd edition. London: Harper Collins. Florian, V.; Mikulincer, M. (1997). "Fear of death and the judgment of social transgressions: a multidimensional test of terror". Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 73 (2): 369''80. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.73.2.369. ISSN 0022-3514. PMID 9248054. Goldenberg, J.L.; Pyszczynski, T.; Greenberg, J.; Solomon, S.; Kluck, B.; Cornwell, R. (2001). "I am not an animal: Mortality salience, disgust, and the denial of human creatureliness". Journal of Experimental Psychology. 130 (3): 427''435. doi:10.1037/0096-3445.130.3.427. PMID 11561918. Goldenberg, J.L.; Pyszczynski, T.; Greenberg, J.; Solomon, S. (2000). "Fleeing the body: A terror management perspective on the problem of human corporeality". Personality and Social Psychology Review. 4 (3): 200''218. doi:10.1207/S15327957PSPR0403_1. S2CID 31331978. Greenberg, J.; Pyszczynski, T.; Solomon, S. (1986). "The causes and consequences of a need for self-esteem: A terror management theory". In R. F. Baumeister (ed.). Public Self and Private Self. New York: Springer-Verlag. pp. 189''212. Greenberg, J.; Pyszczynski, T.; Solomon, S.; Rosenblatt, A.; Veeder, M.; Kirkland, S. (1990). "Evidence for terror management theory. II: The effects of mortality salience on reactions to" (Fee required) . Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 58 (2): 308''318. CiteSeerX 10.1.1.454.2378 . doi:10.1037/0022-3514.58.2.308. ISSN 0022-3514. 13817, 35400000600727.0100 (INIST-CNRS) . Retrieved 2007-07-27 . those who threaten or bolster the cultural worldview Greenberg, J.; Solomon, S.; Pyszczynski, T. (1997). "Terror management theory of self-esteem and cultural worldviews: Empirical assessments and". Advances in Experimental Social Psychology. 29 (S 61): 139. doi:10.1016/s0065-2601(08)60016-7. conceptual refinements Hansen, J; Winzeler, S; Topolinski, S (2010). "When death makes you smoke: a terror management perspective on the effectiveness of cigarette on-pack warnings". Journal of Experimental Social Psychology. 46: 226''228. doi:10.1016/j.jesp.2009.09.007. Hirschberger, G.; Florian, V.; Mikulincer, M. (2003). "Striving for romantic intimacy following partner complaint or partner criticism: A terror". Journal of Social and Personal Relationships. 20 (5): 675''687. doi:10.1177/02654075030205006. S2CID 144657212. management perspective Judis, J.B. (August 27, 2007). "Death grip: How political psychology explains Bush's ghastly success". New Republic. Lazarus, R.S. (1991). Emotion and adaptation. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-506994-5. Mikulincer, M.; Florian, V.; Hirschberger, G. (2003). "The existential function of close relationships. Introducing death into the science of love". Personality and Social Psychology Review. 7 (1): 20''40. doi:10.1207/S15327957PSPR0701_2. PMID 12584055. S2CID 11600574. Pyszczynski, T.; Greenberg, J.; Solomon, S. (1997). "Why do we need what we need? A terror management perspective on the roots of human social motivation". Psychological Inquiry. 8 (1): 1''20. doi:10.1207/s15327965pli0801_1. Pyszczynski, T.; Greenberg, J.; Solomon, S. (1999). "A dual process model of defense against conscious and unconscious death-related thoughts: An extension of terror management theory". Psychological Review. 106 (4): 835''845. doi:10.1037/0033-295X.106.4.835. PMID 10560330. Rosenblatt, A.; Greenberg, J.; Solomon, S.; Pyszczynski, T.; Lyon, D. (1989). "Evidence for terror management theory: I. The effects of mortality salience on reactions to". Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 57 (4): 681''90. CiteSeerX 10.1.1.457.5862 . doi:10.1037/0022-3514.57.4.681. ISSN 0022-3514. PMID 2795438. those who violate or uphold cultural values Royzman, E.B.; Sabini, J. (2001). "Something it takes to be an emotion: The interesting case of disgust". Journal for the Theory of Social Behavior. 31 (1): 29''59. doi:10.1111/1468-5914.00145. Shehryar, O.; Hunt, D.M. (2005). "A terror management perspective on the persuasiveness of fear appeals". Journal of Consumer Psychology. 15 (4): 275''287. doi:10.1207/s15327663jcp1504_2. Simon, L.; Arndt, J.; Greenberg, J.; Pyszczynski, T.; Solomon, S. (1998). "Terror management and meaning: Evidence that the opportunity to defend the worldview in response". Journal of Personality. 66 (3359''382): 359''382. doi:10.1111/1467-6494.00016. hdl:10150/187250 . PMID 9615422. to mortality salience increases the meaningfulness of life in the mildly depressed Simon, L.; Greenberg, J.; Harmon-Jones, E.; Solomon, S.; Pyszczynski, T.; Arndt, J.; Abend, T. (1997). "Terror management and Cognitive-Experiential Self-Theory: Evidence that terror management occurs in the experiential system". Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 72 (5): 1132''1146. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.72.5.1132. PMID 9150588. Greenberg, J.; Koole, S. L.; Pyszczynski, T. (2004). Handbook of experimental existential psychology. Guilford Press. ISBN 978-1-59385-040-1. Pyszczynski, T.; Solomon, S.; Greenberg, J.; Maxfield, M.; Cohen, F. (2004). "Fatal attraction. The effects of mortality salience on evaluations of charismatic, task-oriented, and relationship oriented leadership". (unknown). Van Tilburg, W. A. P.; Igou, E. R (2011). "On the meaningfulness of existence: When life salience boosts adherence to worldviews". European Journal of Social Psychology (Submitted manuscript). 41 (6): 740''750. doi:10.1002/ejsp.819. hdl:10344/5416 . Gutierrez, C. (2006). "Consumer attraction to luxury brand products: Social affiliation in terror management theory". Discusses TMT at length

Griffin, R. (2007). Fascism & Modernism. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 978-1-4039-8783-9. TMT and self-esteem

Pyszczynski, T.; Greenberg, J.; Solomon, S.; Arndt, J.; Schimel, J. (2004). "Why do people need self-esteem? A theoretical and empirical review". Psychological Bulletin. 130 (130): 435''468. doi:10.1037/0033-2909.130.3.435. PMID 15122930. S2CID 1780005. Schmeichel, B.J.; Gailliot, M.T.; Filardo, E.A.; McGregor, I.; Gitter, S.; Baumeister, R.F. (2009). "Terror management theory and self esteem revisited: The roles of implicit and explicit self-esteem in mortality salience effects". Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 96 (5): 1077''1087. doi:10.1037/a0015091. PMID 19379037. S2CID 13740871. External links [ edit ] This audio file was created from a revision of this article dated 23 November 2019

( 2019-11-23

), and does not reflect subsequent edits.

Link to Article

Archived Version

Sun, 04 Jul 2021 12:42

The HSE has admitted a greater risk of blood clotting in younger people still exists for the AstraZeneca vaccine, but that risk is now outweighed by a need to speed up public vaccination.

A new modelling study published in the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control's (ECDC) medical journal has concluded that the dangers presented to younger people by the AstraZeneca vaccine are greater than the benefits.

The study, published in the weekly edition of the Eurosurveillance journal, models four months of a vaccine distribution strategy in France involving Vaxzevria (commonly called AstraZeneca) from May 2021, and concludes that using the vaccine on the entire adult population there would avert 10 deaths from Covid among 18-39-year-olds, but would be associated with 21 deaths from blood clotting in the same age grouping over the same time period.

''Our results highlight the clear benefit of the distribution of Vaxzevria towards the population aged 55 years and older and provide valuable insight for public health decision making,'' the study concludes.

Last April, the National Immunisation Advisory Committee's (Niac) recommended that AstraZeneca should only be given to people over the age of 60 in Ireland due to the risk of very rare blood clots and the fact older people are more susceptible to severe Covid infection than their younger counterparts.

The move followed a wave of similar decisions across other European health bodies as details of the clotting risk solidified.

However, in light of dire projections earlier in the week from Nphet concerning the potential spread of the Delta variant of Covid-19, the HSE announced that from Monday, July 5, all 18-34-year-olds will be able to avail of Janssen vaccines, administered by 750 pharmacies.

From Monday, July 5, all 18-34-year-olds will be able to avail of Janssen vaccines, administered by 750 pharmacies. File picture: AP/David ZalubowskiFrom Monday 12 July, that age cohort will also be able to register with the HSE for an appointment in a vaccination centre for an AstraZeneca vaccine and some limited supplies of Janssen.

The overall aim is to prevent an overwhelming rise in transmission of the new variant with so much of the population still either partially or totally unvaccinated.

Purely voluntary

However, the HSE has now said that the offer of an AstraZeneca or Johnson & Johnson jab to the younger cohort is purely voluntary.

"If someone aged 18 to 34 would prefer to get their vaccine at a HSE vaccination centre, they can wait and register online later this month,'' a spokesperson said. In the case of those who choose to opt for the AstraZeneca or Janssen shots, ''getting either of these vaccines will mean they will be vaccinated earlier'', they said, than if they wait to get the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine.

The HSE said that the risk of rare blood clotting from Astrazeneca and Janssen, known as adenoviral vector vaccines, is one per 100,000 for those aged over 50, and double that, or two per 100,000 for those aged younger than 50.

That rare clotting, known as Thrombocytopenia Syndrome (TTS), has a case fatality rate of between 17% and 20%, it said.

''People receiving Vaxzevria are advised of the very rare risk of blood clots, the symptoms to look out for and to seek urgent medical attention,'' the spokesperson said.

''Healthcare professionals are also aware of this and the investigation and management of such cases.''

Link to Article

Archived Version

Sun, 04 Jul 2021 12:41

Unvaccinated people do more than merely risk their own health. They're also a risk to everyone if they become infected with coronavirus, infectious disease specialists say.

That's because the only source of new coronavirus variants is the body of an infected person.

"Unvaccinated people are potential variant factories," Dr. William Schaffner, a professor in the Division of Infectious Diseases at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, told CNN Friday.

"The more unvaccinated people there are, the more opportunities for the virus to multiply," Schaffner said.

"When it does, it mutates, and it could throw off a variant mutation that is even more serious down the road."

All viruses mutate, and while the coronavirus is not particularly mutation-prone, it does change and evolve.

Most of the changes mean nothing to the virus, and some can weaken it. But sometimes, a virus develops a random mutation that gives it an advantage -- better transmissibility, for instance, or more efficient replication, or an ability to infect a great diversity of hosts.

Viruses with an advantage will outcompete other viruses, and will eventually make up the majority of virus particles infecting someone. If that infected person passes the virus to someone else, they'll be passing along the mutant version.

If a mutant version is successful enough, it becomes a variant.

But it has to replicate to do that. An unvaccinated person provides that opportunity.

"As mutations come up in viruses, the ones that persist are the ones that make it easier for the virus to spread in the population," Andrew Pekosz, a microbiologist and immunologist at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, told CNN.

"Every time the viruses changes, that gives the virus a different platform to add more mutations. Now we have viruses that spread more efficiently."

Viruses that don't spread cannot mutate.

Variants have arisen all over the world -- the B.1.1.7 or Alpha variant was first seen in England. The B.1.351 or Beta variant was first spotted in South Africa. The Delta variant, also called B.1.617.2, was seen first in India. And the US has thrown up several of its own variants, including the B.1.427 or Epsilon lineage first seen in California, and the B.1.526 or Eta variant first seen in New York.

Already, one new variant has swept much of the world. Last summer, a version of the virus carrying a mutation called D614G went from Europe to the U.S. and then the rest of the world. The change made the virus more successful -- it replicated better -- so that version took over from the original strain that emerged from China. It appeared before people starting naming the variants, but it became the default version of the virus.

Most of the newer variants added changes to D614G. The Alpha variant, or B.1.1.7, became the dominant variant in the US by late spring thanks to its extra transmissibility. Now the Delta variant is even more transmissible, and it's set to become the dominant variant in many countries, including the U.S.

The current vaccines protect well against all the variants so far, but that could change at any moment. That's why doctors and public health officials want more people to get vaccinated.

"The more we allow the virus to spread, the more opportunity the virus has to change," the World Health Organization advised last month.

Vaccines are not widely available in many countries. But in the U.S., there is plenty of supply, with slowing demand. Just 18 states have fully vaccinated more than half their residents, according to data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

"Currently, approximately 1,000 counties in the United States have vaccination coverage of less than 30%. These communities, primarily in the Southeast and Midwest, are our most vulnerable. In some of these areas, we are already seeing increasing rates of disease," CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky told a White House briefing Thursday.

"Every time we see the virus circulating in the population, particularly a population that has pockets of immune people, vaccinated people, and pockets of unvaccinated people, you have a situation where the virus can probe," Pekosz said.

If a virus tries to infect someone with immunity, it may fail, or it may succeed and cause a mild or asymptomatic infection. In that case, it will replicate in response to the pressure from a primed immune system.

Like a bank robber whose picture is on wanted posters everywhere, the virus that succeeds will be the virus that makes a random change that makes it look less visible to the immune system.

Those populations of unvaccinated people give the virus the change not only to spread, but to change.

"All it takes is one mutation in one person," said Dr. Philip Landrigan, a pediatrician and immunologist at Boston College.

Link to Article

Archived Version

Sun, 04 Jul 2021 12:31

Canadian athletes will be singing new lyrics at sports events. Here, Benjamin Thorne of Canada celebrates after winning bronze in the Men's 20km Race Walk final at the IAAF World Athletics Championships in 2015 in Beijing. Patrick Smith/Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption Patrick Smith/Getty Images Canadian athletes will be singing new lyrics at sports events. Here, Benjamin Thorne of Canada celebrates after winning bronze in the Men's 20km Race Walk final at the IAAF World Athletics Championships in 2015 in Beijing.

Patrick Smith/Getty Images Updated at 10:10 p.m. ET

The Canadian national anthem is now more gender-neutral, after a bill that changes the lyrics passed the country's Senate.

The second line of "O Canada," which has said the nation inspires patriotism "in all thy sons," will now read "in all of us."

This has been in the works for a long time. According to the CBC, "Since 1980, when O Canada officially became the country's anthem, 12 bills have been introduced in the House to strip the gendered reference to 'sons,' which some have argued is discriminatory."

The bill's supporters are thrilled, such as Independent Ontario Sen. Frances Lankin, who sponsored the bill. She tells the broadcaster: "I'm very, very happy. There's been 30 years plus of activity trying to make our national anthem, this important thing about our country, inclusive of all of us. ... This may be small, it's about two words, but it's huge ... we can now sing it with pride knowing the law will support us in terms of the language. I'm proud to be part of the group that made this happen."

Mauril's bill to make O Canada gender neutral passed third reading in the Senate tonight - another positive step towards gender equality. #inallofuscommand

'-- Justin Trudeau (@JustinTrudeau) February 1, 2018This bill was introduced in the House of Commons in early 2016 and passed there in June of that year. It was the "dying wish of Liberal MP Mauril Belanger," the Canadian press reports. "Belanger pushed the legislation for years, but it took on far greater urgency after he was diagnosed with ALS, or Lou Gehrig's disease, following the 2015 federal election."

But it has faced significant opposition in the Senate. The bill that passed is primarily composed of sheet music of the anthem.

It will become law following a formal royal assent, the Canadian press reports. Some conservative opponents of the bill are critical of the way it was passed. Lankin "introduced a controversial motion in the Senate Tuesday evening that would effectively shut down debate and immediately move to a vote on the bill," reports the CBC.

Interestingly, "O Canada" actually started out as a gender-neutral song. According to The New York Times, the second line was originally "True patriot love thou dost in us command." It's not clear why, or at what point, the lyric was changed.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called it "another positive step towards gender equality."

Francophones aren't changing their version of the anthem. As the National Post points out, the French lyrics take a much different approach from the English ones. The newspaper gives this English translation:

"O Canada! Land of our ancestors. / Your brow is covered with glorious flower garlands. / Because your arm knows how to wield a sword / And knows how to carry a cross / Your history is an epic / Of brilliants exploits / And your valour is steeped in faith / Protect our homes and our rights / Protect our homes and our rights."

Link to Article

Archived Version

Sun, 04 Jul 2021 12:28

Roughly 7,000 health care workers across the state who were hired during the pandemic must be terminated if they aren't fingerprinted for state-mandated background checks before July 20, the Connecticut Department of Public Health is warning in urgent memos being sent to nursing homes, home health agencies, chronic disease hospitals and other health care facilities.

The nursing home industry, however, is hoping for an extension considering the staffing shortages it and health-related industries are experiencing.

July 20 marks the date when Democratic Gov. Ned Lamont's public health and civil preparedness emergencies are currently scheduled to expire. The fingerprint checks were suspended last year under one of Lamont's executive orders to help stop the spread of COVID-19.

Gov. Ned Lamont speaking at a press conference to address healthcare workers needing to be fingerprinted for state-mandated background checks. TNS via Getty Images''Seven thousand workers who have not been fingerprinted by July 20, 2021 will not be eligible for continued employment in direct-care positions unless they are fingerprinted before the executive order expires,'' said Christopher Boyle, a spokesman for the public health agency, in a statement. Those fingerprinted on or before July 20, but are still awaiting their results, can be hired under ''provisional status.''

''The statutory requirement for a background check is not new and is an important measure to ensure the health and safety of nursing home residents. We strongly encourage employers and their 7,000 workers to book appointments now,'' Boyle said. The 7,000 include those hired from March 23, 2020 through May 19, 2021.

Health care facilities, especially nursing homes and home health care agencies, have been struggling to fill job openings and say they cannot afford to lose staff. There's also concern from the nursing home industry about whether the Connecticut State Police, which is responsible for conducting fingerprint-based criminal history records checks for direct care employees at long-term care facilities, has the capacity to address the large backlog that developed during the pandemic in time for the state's looming deadline.

R.N Natalie O'Connor exits Hartford HealthCare at Home and makes her way to a hospital car to visit patients for in their homes mobile vaccinations in Bloomfield, Connecticut on February 12, 2021. AFP via Getty Images''We support the plan and are working collaboratively with DPH, but the ambitious schedule, as we're nearing the deadline, it's becoming increasingly apparent that the state police barracks can't deliver the capacity to address the backlog,'' said Matthew Barrett, president and CEO of the Connecticut Association of Health Care Facilities and the Connecticut Center for Assisted Living. Barrett, who has heard of appointments being filled up at some barracks, said he hopes state public health officials will extend the deadline until September, which he said is still an ambitious goal.

''There is a full-blown background check going on. The only piece that is not going on is the fingerprinting piece, and we support doing that and we support an ambitious plan and we believe in getting it done by September,'' he said, explaining that terminating thousands of workers later this month would be ''severe'' for both the employees and their employers.

''The consequences are severe and harsh, so it's much more reasonable to extend the deadline than to allow that to happen, especially given the ongoing and chronic staffing shortages that nursing homes continue to experience in Connecticut,'' he said. Many facilities in the state, according to Barrett, have recently stopped taking new admissions because they don't have enough staff. He could not provide a specific number.

Home health agencies are reporting similar challenges. On Thursday, Coco Sellman, founder and CEO of Allume Home Care in Watertown, which specializes in helping medically fragile children and adults, said there are currently dozens of children stuck waiting in hospitals because they require continuous skilled nursing to leave and there aren't enough clinicians to provide the needed home care services.

Boyle said there are currently no plans to extend the deadline, noting that DPH is monitoring appointments daily.

''While some barracks are booked, other barracks have plenty of open appointments,'' he said. ''We urge people to take advantage of available appointments.''

DPH and the State Police implemented a special fingerprinting schedule in June for the 7,000 workers and have been ''messaging heavily'' to long-term care employers and the affected staff about the need to complete the fingerprinting before July 20, he said.

''We have been advertising the availability of appointments, including instructions for making appointments, and we have held several webinars to answer questions,'' Boyle said. ''Appointments are available daily in 10-minute increments at several State Police barracks throughout the state.''

Link to Article

Archived Version

Sun, 04 Jul 2021 12:24

World leaders, philanthropists and other organizations have pledged to provide at least $40 billion at an international conference in Paris to boost gender equality, as women across the world have been deeply affected by the consequences of the pandemic

By SYLVIE CORBET

June 30, 2021, 6:26 PM

' 3 min read

US former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton delivers her speech during an international conference aims to fast-track the road to gender equality and mobilize millions of dollars to achieve the long-sought goal quickly, at the Louvre Carrousel in Paris, France, Wednesday, June 30, 2021. UN Women's Executive Director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka said in an interview with The Associated Press that the underfunding of women's programs and the slow implementation of a 150-platform to achieve gender equality adopted by the world's nations in Beijing in 1995 "leaves a lot of women in a situation where they will never really realize their true and full potential." (AP Photo/Michel Euler)

PARIS -- World leaders, philanthropists and organizations have pledged at least $40 billion at an international conference in Paris to boost gender equality, as women and girls worldwide have been deeply affected by the consequences of the pandemic.

U.N. Women's Executive Director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka welcomed the pledges at the three-day Generation Equality Forum that started Wednesday.

The summit "is about change. It is about moving from making promises to telling us what you are going to do for the situation of women to change,'' she said.

French President Emmanuel Macron said that over the past year and half, an extra 47 million women fell into poverty amid the pandemic, and millions of others were deprived of treatment, contraception and the possibility of choosing for themselves. ''While they were on the frontline of the fight against COVID, women are the first victims of this health crisis,'' he said.

The conference aims at tackling and funding all issues that impede women's rights -- forced marriage, gender-based violence, leaving school, work inequality, losing out on innovation and technology '-- and ensuring their sexual and reproductive rights and health.

Bill and Melinda Gates' namesake foundation announced it will spend $2.1 billion in the next five years on health and family planning programs, economic empowerment projects and other initiatives.

The Ford Foundation announced a $420 million investment to tackle threats to women's rights caused by COVID-19. The World Bank committed to funding programs in 12 African states.

The conference, co-organized by the U.N., France and Mexico, is mostly held virtually, but some heads of state, U.N. officials and women's right activists were also attending in person in Paris.

Meant to mark the 25th anniversary of the 1995 Beijing World Conference on Women, during which nations made major commitments to achieve gender equality, it was delayed from last year because of the coronavirus.

Former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, who famously said in Beijing that ''human rights are women's rights, and women's rights are human rights,'' came to Paris to encourage younger generations to continue fighting.

''Now looking back, I believe we have made progress not near enough, and that we have to recommit ourselves to going even further. But we also need the power to claim the rights,'' she said. ''Rights without power adds up to very little."

U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris, speaking via videoconference, highlighted threats to democracy around the world.

''Democracy is in peril. Strongmen have become stronger. Human rights abuses have multiplied,'' she said. ''And who gets hurt when democracies fall? When democracies falter? ... Well, women and girls are among those who suffer.''

Harris previewed US commitments to ''reinforce our institutions'' in ways that will create ''tangible results that improve the lives of women in the United States and women around the world,'' without providing details.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres denounced what he described as a current ''pushback'' from some world leaders, political, economic and religious movements across the world.

''We must push back against the pushback'', he said. ''We must win that ideological battle against conservative forces.''

Link to Article

Archived Version

Sun, 04 Jul 2021 12:02

A few weeks ago, yet another Twitter troll tried to come at Richard Marx.

''Richard's pronouns are has/been,'' tweeted a critic by the name of Jake Coco.

Marx quickly fired back: ''Yours are 'has not been.' ''

That exchange was typical for hit musician Marx, whose detractors regularly creep out of the digital mud to make cracks about his 1980s mullet and ask, ''Where is he now?''

''My favorite is 'washed up,''‰'' Marx, 57, tells The Post. ''Whenever I get called 'washed up,' I tweet a picture of my beach house. 'You mean like this kind of washed up?' ''

No amount of success is an inoculation against the trolls. But as his new book ''Stories to Tell: A Memoir'' (Simon & Schuster), out Tuesday, makes clear, the singer-songwriter is having the last laugh.

He's rich, happily married to former MTV veejay Daisy Fuentes, and at peace with his place in music history, which has included 14 No. 1 songs both as a solo artist and a writer for many others.

Richard Marx in 1989 at the height of his solo career. Picture Alliance via Getty ImagesIn fact, Marx has had more success than many casual fans may know, due to an almost Forrest Gump-like ability early in his career to pop up at major musical moments.

Remember the chant in Lionel Richie's 1983 smash ''All Night Long (All Night)?'' That's actually Marx and two others singing, ''Tam bo li de say de moi ya. Hey, jambo jumbo'' '-- a job he got as a young backup singer.

During a break in the recording, Marx approached Richie and asked what the lyrics meant.

''Jambo is Swahili for 'hello,''‰'' Richie told him, before leaning in close. ''The rest, my man'‰'... I just made that s''t up.''

Lionel Richie was Marx's first mentor, convincing him to get out of Chicago and move to LA to start his music career. Marx later played and sang backing vocals on an album for Richie. Getty ImagesThat's also Marx on Whitney Houston's 1985 debut album, doubling the voice of Teddy Pendergrass '-- weakened from a car crash a few months earlier '-- on the duet ''Hold Me.''

And that's him on the live version of ''Guilty'' by Barbra Streisand and Barry Gibb. Gibb had forgotten to sing a line, so Marx was hired to imitate his voice later in the studio, singing in falsetto, ''It oughta be illegal.''

''No one was any wiser,'' Marx writes.

Born in 1963 in Chicago, Marx was destined for a career in music. His mother was a big-band singer and his father was a successful jingle writer.

''I watched my father every day when he couldn't wait to go to work,'' Marx says. ''He had a high-pressure career, and all I remember is him dying to get to work.''

As a young boy, Marx performed a Monkees song in front of his classmates and knew right then that he wanted to work in music.

''I guess somewhere in that brief two and a half minutes something inside me clicked because I never lived another single second wondering what I wanted to do with my life,'' he writes.

Marx began writing songs, and by the time he was in high school, he had cut a four-song demo.

'I don't have an addictive personality. I didn't smoke a joint until I was 50.'

Richard Marx on avoiding the classic rock 'n' roll pitfallsThrough a friend of a friend who knew a guy, Marx was able to get his tape in front of Lionel Richie. A few weeks later, Marx was home when the phone rang. It was Richie himself.

The singer, then with the Commodores, liked Marx's songs and singing voice.

''You can't have a real career in the music business if you stay in Chicago,'' Richie told the then-senior in high school. ''Move to LA and things will start happening for you.''

Marx did just that in the spring of 1981 and began landing gigs as a backup singer.

While working on a session for Kenny Rogers, Marx overheard the singer saying he needed more songs for his 1984 ''What About Me?'' album. Marx went home to his small LA apartment that night and, on a Yamaha keyboard, wrote ''Crazy.''

Marx filled in for Barry Gibb on ''Guilty,'' his duet with Barbra Streisand, after the Bee Gee forgot to sing a line. Getty ImagesAt the next session, he summoned the courage to play it for Rogers, and the bearded superstar loved it enough to record it. It turned into a No. 1 country hit.

Marx soon began eyeing a solo career, and in 1984 put together a new four-song demo that he shopped to record labels. They all passed, with one asking, ''Have you considered another profession?''

Finally, Marx got his music in front of an executive at Manhattan Records and was quickly signed.

The first single, ''Don't Mean Nothing,'' from his eponymous debut album came to Marx as he was driving.

''It began as a guitar riff in my head, and then lyrics started to join the melody,'' he writes.

Marx has had 14 No. 1 hits both as a solo artist and a composer for other artists, including Kenny Rogers (''Crazy'' in 1984) and Luther Vandross (''Dance With My Father'' in 2004). He also wrote Keith Urban's No. 5 country hit, ''Everybody.'' Getty Images (2); FilmMagicThe song quickly became a radio and MTV smash.

''It really was a case of me going into a 7-Eleven on Tuesday and no one knowing or caring who I was, and the next day I walked into an LA mall and had 50 people following me,'' Marx says. ''It was such a life lesson in that it happened so fast.''

His follow-ups, ''Should've Known Better'' and ''Hold On to the Nights'' '-- a No. 1 song in 1988 '-- blasted him further into stardom.

Marx was opening for REO Speedwagon and Night Ranger at the time, and as his songs climbed the charts, it became clear more and more of the crowds were there to see him, not the headliners.

Despite his meteoric rise, Marx says he never indulged in the rock 'n' roll lifestyle.

''I think it was partly about never wanting to disappoint my parents,'' he says. ''Also, I don't have an addictive personality. I didn't smoke a joint until I was 50.''

Marx met his first wife, actress and dancer Cynthia Rhodes, in 1983, who kept him honest during the rock 'n' roll years. Ron Galella Collection via Getty ImagesHe was also spoken for. Marx had a longtime girlfriend in Cynthia Rhodes, an actress and dancer whom he'd met while recording a demo song for the 1983 John Travolta film ''Staying Alive.'' (The couple married in 1989 and divorced in 2014.)

Throughout his career, Marx rarely appeared in the tabloids and the closest he came to scandal was a mild, 1990 on-air dust-up with MTV's Adam Curry. Marx's low-key and stable lifestyle may have dinged him when it came to his image.

''Guys from Motley Crue and artists of those times came with legit stories,'' Marx says. ''They were partiers and poster boys for debauchery, and I just wasn't. I wasn't going to try and pretend, and what was left wasn't terribly interesting. Who wants to write about a guy who's well-adjusted and focused on his work?''

Although Marx considers himself a rock artist, his public image '-- as well as a string of hit ballads '-- seemingly left him caught between worlds. He wasn't ''pretty'' enough for pop, he writes, and not tough enough for rock.

Whatever genre he was, plenty of listeners were digging it.

His sophomore album, 1989's ''Repeat Offender,'' sold more than 5 million copies, thanks in part to the smash piano ballad ''Right Here Waiting.''

Marx married former MTV veejay Daisy Fuentes in 2015 after being enamored with her on television. Getty ImagesHe continued releasing albums and writing hits for other artists, including 2004's Grammy-winning ''Dance With My Father'' by Luther Vandross and Keith Urban's 2007 No. 5 country hit ''Everybody.''

Lately, he also become a bit of a Twitter celebrity, with more than 300,000 followers. He's active on the social media platform, weighing in on politics and occasionally poking gentle fun at himself. When one father tweeted that his son had heard ''Right Here Waiting'' for the first time, Marx tweeted back, ''How'd the rest of his dental appointment go?''

''I saw Twitter as an opportunity to be funny or self-deprecating, which is a component of my life-long personality,'' Marx says.

Twitter has also gifted him with something else: his new wife.

Marx first spotted Daisy Fuentes on MTV in the early 1990s.

''Daisy was stunning. Physically, as gorgeous as it gets, but she had this other quality that exuded through the TV screen. She seemed cool,'' he writes.

Fast forward to 2013, when the pair exchanged quips on Twitter. Marx eventually direct-messaged Fuentes, and they began dating. The two married in 2015.

And although Marx seemingly has it all, he says it does irk him that some people, like those Twitter trolls, still afford him no respect.

''I won't deny that I find it frustrating,'' he says. ''But for the most part, it's coming from people who feel insecure. I've never heard a successful person refer to someone as a 'has been.' The [trolls] never stop to think what 'has been' means. Has been wealthy. Has been successful. Has been all around the world.

''They'll say, 'You're not as famous as you used to be,''‰'' Marx says. ''It's like, 'Yeah, so?' ''

Link to Article

Archived Version

Sun, 04 Jul 2021 10:53

(CNN) The tiny town of Lytton has come to hold a grim record. On Tuesday, it experienced Canada's highest-ever temperature, in an unprecedented heat wave that has over a week killed hundreds of people and triggered more than 240 wildfires across British Columbia, most of which are still burning.

Lytton hit 49.6 degrees Celsius (121.3 degrees Fahrenheit), astounding for the town of just 250 people nestled in the mountains, where June maximum temperatures are usually around 25 degrees. This past week, however, its nights have been hotter than its days usually are, in a region where air conditioning is rare and homes are designed to retain heat.

Smoke rises from a fire at Long Loch and Derrickson Lake in Central Okanagan in Canada on June 30.

Now fires have turned much of Lytton to ash and forced its people, as well as hundreds around them, to flee.

Scientists have warned for decades that climate change will make heat waves more frequent and more intense. That is a reality now playing out in Canada, but also in many other parts of the northern hemisphere that are increasingly becoming uninhabitable.

Roads melted this week in America's northwest, and residents in New York City were told not to use high-energy appliances, like washers and dryers '-- and painfully, even their air conditioners '-- for the sake of the power grid.

In Russia, Moscow reported its highest-ever June temperature of 34.8 degrees on June 23, and Siberian farmers are scrambling to save their crops from dying in an ongoing heat wave. Even in the Arctic Circle, temperatures soared into the 30s. The World Meteorological Organization is seeking to verify the highest-ever temperature north of the Arctic Circle since records there began, after a weather station in Siberia's Verkhoyansk recorded a 38-degree day on June 20.

Visitors at Humayun's Tomb in New Delhi, India, on a hot day on June 30 amid a heatwave.

In India, tens of millions of people in the northwest were affected by heat waves. The Indian Meteorological Department on Wednesday classified the capital, New Delhi, and cities in its surrounds as experiencing "severe extreme heat," with temperatures staying consistently in the 40s, more than 7 degrees higher than usual, it said. The heat, along with a late monsoon, is also making life difficult for farmers in areas like the state of Rajasthan.

And in Iraq, authorities announced a public holiday across several provinces for Thursday, including the capital Baghdad, because it was simply too hot to work or study, after temperatures surpassed 50 degrees and its electricity system collapsed.

Experts who spoke with CNN said it was difficult to pinpoint exactly how linked these weather events are, but it's unlikely a coincidence that heat waves are hitting several parts of the northern hemisphere at the same time.

A man stands by fans spraying mist along a street in Iraq's capital, Baghdad, on June 30.

"The high pressure systems we're seeing in Canada and the United States, all of these systems are driven by something called the jet stream '-- a band of very strong winds that sits way above our heads, at about 30,000 feet where the planes fly around," Liz Bentley, Chief Executive at the UK's Royal Meteorological Society, told CNN.

Bentley explained the configuration of the jet stream is preventing weather systems from moving efficiently along their normal west-to-east path.

"That jet stream has become wavy, and it's got stuck in what we call an Omega block, because it's got the shape of the Greek letter Omega, and when it gets in that, it doesn't move anywhere, it blocks it," Bentley said. "So the high pressure that's been building just gets stuck for days or weeks on end, and these Omegas appear in different parts of the northern hemisphere."

In the US, the same thing happened in mid-June in the Southwest, breaking records in Mexico and places like Phoenix in Arizona. A couple weeks later, a dome of high pressure built over the Northwest, toppling records in Washington, Oregon and southwest Canada.

"So we've seen these unprecedented temperatures '-- records being broken not just by a few degrees, being absolutely smashed," Bentley said.

Scientist says this could happen every year by 2100There is a growing acceptance among some political leaders that climate change is a driving force behind fueling many extreme weather events, particularly for heat waves and storms.

"Climate change is driving the dangerous confluence of extreme heat and prolonged drought," US President Joe Biden said Wednesday. "We're seeing wildfires of greater intensity that move with more speed and last well beyond traditional months, traditional months of the fire season."

Scientists are working on sophisticated tools that can rapidly assess just how much climate change may have contributed to a particular weather event.

"We carried out a quick attribution study to get some fast answers to 'What is the role of climate change?'" said UK Met Office meteorologist, Nikos Christidis, who has been developing simulations to carry out such analysis.

"We found that without human influence, it would be almost impossible to hit a new record and such a hot June in the region," he said, referring to an area including those affected in Canada and the US.

Christidis said in the past, without human-caused climate change, extreme heat in the Northwest US or Southwest Canada would have occurred "once every tens of thousands of years." Presently, it can occur every 15 years or so, Christidis said.

And if greenhouse gas emissions continue? Christidis said as often as every year or two by the turn of the century.

Historic heat wave in the Pacific Northwest

A couple and their dog lie in the shade Monday in Portland, Oregon. Portland had another record-high temperature on Monday: 116 degrees.

Cora Richardson cools off in a fountain Tuesday at Riverfront Park in Spokane, Washington. According to the National Weather Service, Spokane experienced its hottest day on record Tuesday as temperatures reached 109 degrees, breaking a previous high of 108 degrees set in 1964.

Firefighters check on a man in Spokane's Mission Park on Tuesday.

People escape the heat Tuesday at a cooling center in Spokane.

A woman shops for perishable items at a grocery store in Portland on Monday. The food was covered with a layer of plastic to keep in the cool air.

Children cool off in the Salmon Springs Fountain in Portland on Sunday.

A man experiencing homelessness sleeps in the Portland sun on Monday. Nonprofit groups have also been opening cooling centers to help people in Portland and other Oregon cities.

Emily Beers and Craig Patterson cool off Sunday in a pool set up in front of Patterson's home in Vancouver, British Columbia.

Cliff divers line up along the Clackamas River at Portland's High Rocks Park on Sunday.

Everett Clayton looks at a digital thermometer that reads 116 degrees while walking to his apartment in Everett, Washington, on Sunday.

An abandoned pint of ice cream melts in Portland on Sunday.

People rest at a cooling center that was set up at the Oregon Convention Center in Portland on Sunday.

Paramedics respond to a heat-exposure call in Salem, Oregon, on Saturday.

People play beach volleyball at Seattle's Golden Gardens Park as the sun sets on Thursday.

Several countries, including the US, United Kingdom and those in the European Union, recently increased their commitments '-- some by a long way '-- but many scientists and activists say they still don't go far enough to keep global average temperatures within 1.5C above pre-industrial levels. World leaders pledged in the 2015 Paris Agreement to aim for this limit in order to stave off the more most catastrophic impacts of climate change.

Climate groups have also urged Canada to increase its commitments and wean itself off oil and gas.

"This is literally the deadliest weather on record for the US Pacific Northwest and far southwest Canada region. The losses and the despair as a result of the extreme heat and devastating fires in Canada are a reminder of what's yet come as this climate crisis intensifies," said Eddy P(C)rez, Climate Action Network Canada's manager for international climate diplomacy.

"Canada is experiencing historic climate-induced losses and damages while at the same time not doing its fair share to combat dangerous climate change. As an oil and gas producer, Canada is still considering the expansion of fossil fuels which is directly attributed to the global temperature rise."

CNN's Anna Chernova contributed to this report from Moscow and Manveena Suri contributed from New Delhi.

Link to Article

Archived Version

Sun, 04 Jul 2021 02:07

At least three claims over serious side effects of Oxford-made vaccine AstraZeneca have been upheld in Norway, resulting in financial compensation. Dozens more are expecting a ruling in connection with coronavirus-jab reactions.

The Norwegian System of Patient Injury Compensation (NPE) will make payments to three applicants badly affected by the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine, it announced on Friday. It officially confirmed that the vaccine, currently suspended in the European country, has resulted in severe cases of blood clots and low platelet counts in these patients, one of whom died.

Among those who suffered badly from the shot '' later removed from the national vaccination program due to serious side-effects '' are health workers who were prioritized to be vaccinated. The two women were hospitalized in March and one of them, who was in her 40s, died. Another applicant, an unnamed man in his 30s, is still suffering from severe immune reactions.

''I was admitted to hospital with great pain. It was frightening to follow the news about others who had just died from the same vaccine,'' he told NPE.

Officials are now calculating the exact amount of compensation, the body's director Rolf Gunnar Jorstad announced, saying that direct connections between the vaccine and its receivers' deteriorated conditions have been established and medically confirmed. The family of the deceased woman will also receive payment for her funeral, he said.

In total, 77 compensation claims related to side effects of Covid vaccines have been received in Norway. Over 50 of those concern AstraZeneca, while there are also complaints about Pfizer and Moderna shots. Eight of the 77 applications involve fatal cases.

At the same time, more than 16,000 reports of suspected side effects of anti-Covid vaccination have been recorded by the end of June, NRK media reported, citing the Norwegian Medicines Agency. While many people complain of relatively mild symptoms such as fever, headache, fatigue and dizziness, more serious medical consequences, including blood clots, bleeding, paralysis and severe allergic reactions with anaphylaxis, have also been reported.

Also on rt.com Covid-19 vaccines by Johnson & Johnson and AstraZeneca should be excluded over potential side effects '' Norwegian health experts 794 people in Norway have died with coronavirus. Some 4.2 million vaccine doses have been administered, with over 1.5 million people now being fully vaccinated. Many have received Oxford-AstraZeneca shots earlier this year but, within weeks of the launch of the vaccination campaign, the Norwegian Institute of Public Health (NIPH) recommended that the government stop using it, following reports of potentially fatal, rare blood clots. AstraZeneca was then completely removed from the national vaccine rollout, while NIPH has also expressed concerns over another, the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.

If you like this story, share it with a friend!

Link to Article

Archived Version

Sat, 03 Jul 2021 21:15

Privacy

Link to Article

Archived Version

Sat, 03 Jul 2021 20:18

Ricardo A Zimerman , Daniel N Fonseca , Michael N Correia , Renan N Barros , Dirce C Onety , Karla Cristina P Israel , Emilyn O Guerreiro , Jose Enrique M Medeiros , Raquel N Nicolau , Luiza Fernanda M Nicolau , Patricia S da Silva , Rafael X Cunha , Maria Fernanda R Barroco , Raysa WS Paulain , Claudia E Thompson , Andy Goren , View ORCID Profile Flavio A Cadegiani doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.06.28.21259661

AbstractIntroduction: Proxalutamide, a second generation non-steroidal antiandrogen (NSAA), primarily developed for castration-resistant prostate cancer, demonstrated reduction in 28-day mortality rate of 77.7% in hospitalized COVID-19 patients in a double-blind, placebo-controlled, two-arm randomized clinical trial (RCT), through intention-to-treat (ITT) analysis. However, the intriguingly high 28-day mortality rate of patients that did not complete the 14-day treatment with proxalutamide, compared non-completers of the placebo arm and overall placebo arm, raised the hypotheses of the existence of non-neglectable differences between ITT and on-treatment (OT) analysis in terms of drug efficacy. Despite the inherent limitations of OT analysis, we aimed to respond to unanswered questions regarding the drug efficacy when the 14-day treatment with proxalutamide was complete, and secondarily understand the causality relationship between treatment interruption and mortality rate. Methods: This is a post-hoc exploratory analysis of a double-blinded, randomized, placebo-controlled, prospective, multicentric, two-arm RCT of 300mg-daily 14-day proxalutamide therapy for hospitalized COVID-19 patients not requiring mechanical ventilation, using OT population, i.e., excluding patients that did not complete treatment or interrupted at least 24 hours before death. Patients above 18 years old with confirmed COVID-19 not presenting kidney, liver, or heart failure were eligible. The primary outcome was 8-point COVD-19 ordinal scale at day 14. Secondary outcomes included 28-day 8-point COVID-19 ordinary scale, 14-day and 28-day all-cause mortality rate, and median hospital length. Results: In total, 580 patients completed the 14-day treatment or died during treatment, including 288 patients in the proxalutamide arm and 292 patients in the placebo arm, with similar baseline characteristics between groups. The 28-day all-cause mortality rate was 4.2% in the proxalutamide group and 49.0% in the placebo group. The mortality risk ratio (RR) was 0.08 (95% CI, 0.05-0.15), with a number needed to treat (NNT) of 2.2 to prevent death. The median hospital length stay after randomization was 05 days (interquartile range - IQR = 3 to 7.2 days) in the proxalutamide group and 09 days (IQR = 6 to 15 days) in the placebo group (p < 0.001). The 28-day all-cause mortality rate of patients that received proxalutamide but interrupted treatment before 14 days was 79.3%, while those that received placebo and interrupted before 14 days was 52.8% (p = 0.054 between groups).Conclusion: The reduction in 28-day all-cause mortality rate with 14-day proxalutamide treatment for hospitalized COVID-19 patients was more significant treatment completers (92%), compared to the reduction when all patients enrolled in the proxalutamide arm were considered (77.7%). However, the magnitude of statistical significance of the reduction in all-cause mortality and the NNT were similar between the OT and ITT analysis. The apparent high mortality risk rate with early interruption of proxalutamide treatments suggests that strategies for treatment compliance should be reinforced for future RCTs with proxalutamide. (NCT04728802)

Competing Interest StatementKintor Pharmaceuticals, Ltd. manufactures and plans to market proxalutamide, and has an investigational new drug (IND) application under United States Food and Drugs Administration to conduct a Phase 3 study for proxalutamide for COVID-19. Applied Biology, Inc. has patents pending regarding antiandrogen therapy for COVID-19. Dr. Goren, Dr. McCoy, and Dr. Li are employees of Applied Biology, Inc. Dr. Cadegiani has served as a clinical director for Applied Biology, Inc. Dr. Wambier has served as an advisor to Applied Biology, Inc. The other authors have no conflict of interest to declare.

Clinical TrialNCT04728802

Funding StatementKintor Pharmaceuticals, Ltd. manufactures and plans to market proxalutamide, and has an investigational new drug (IND) application under United States Food and Drugs Administration to conduct a Phase 3 study for proxalutamide for COVID-19. Applied Biology, Inc. has patents pending regarding antiandrogen therapy for COVID-19. Dr. Goren, Dr. McCoy, and Dr. Li are employees of Applied Biology, Inc. Dr. Cadegiani has served as a clinical director for Applied Biology, Inc. Dr. Wambier has served as an advisor to Applied Biology, Inc. The other authors have no conflict of interest to declare.

Author DeclarationsI confirm all relevant ethical guidelines have been followed, and any necessary IRB and/or ethics committee approvals have been obtained.

Yes

The details of the IRB/oversight body that provided approval or exemption for the research described are given below:

The study was approved by an ethics committee and registered in clinicaltrials.gov (NCT04728802), and also approved by Brazilian National Ethics Committee, approval number 4.513.425; CAAE 41909121.0.0000.5553; Comite de Etica em Pesquisa (CEP) of the Comite Nacional de Etica em Pesquisa (CONEP) of the Ministry of Health (MS). (CEP/CONEP/MS).

All necessary patient/participant consent has been obtained and the appropriate institutional forms have been archived.

Yes

I understand that all clinical trials and any other prospective interventional studies must be registered with an ICMJE-approved registry, such as ClinicalTrials.gov. I confirm that any such study reported in the manuscript has been registered and the trial registration ID is provided (note: if posting a prospective study registered retrospectively, please provide a statement in the trial ID field explaining why the study was not registered in advance).

Yes

I have followed all appropriate research reporting guidelines and uploaded the relevant EQUATOR Network research reporting checklist(s) and other pertinent material as supplementary files, if applicable.

Yes

Data AvailabilityData is available in case request is approved by the research team.

Copyright

The copyright holder for this preprint is the author/funder, who has granted medRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity.

It is made available under a CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 International license.

Link to Article

Archived Version

Sat, 03 Jul 2021 14:02

A massive REvil ransomware attack affects multiple managed service providers and their clients through a reported Kaseya supply-chain attack.

Starting this afternoon, the REvil ransomware gang, aka Sodinokibi, targeted MSPs with thousands of customers, through what appears to be a Kaseya VSA supply-chain attack.

At this time, there eight known large MSPs that have been hit as part of this supply-chain attack.

Kaseya VSA is a cloud-based MSP platform that allows providers to perform patch management and client monitoring for their customers.

Huntress Labs' John Hammond has told BleepingComputer that all of the affected MSPs are using Kaseya VSA and that they have proof that their customers are being encrypted as well.

"We have 3 Huntress partners that are impacted with roughly 200 businesses encrypted," Hammond told BleepingComputer.

Kaseya issued a security advisory on their help desk site, warning all VSA customers to immediately shut down their VSA server to prevent the attack's spread while investigating.

"We are experiencing a potential attack against the VSA that has been limited to a small number of on-premise customers only as of 2:00 PM EDT today.

We are in the process of investigating the root cause of the incident with an abundance of caution but we recommend that you IMMEDIATELY shutdown your VSA server until you receive further notice from us.

Its critical that you do this immediately, because one of the first things the attacker does is shutoff administrative access to the VSA."

In a statement to BleepingComputer, Kaseya stated that they have shut down their SaaS servers and are working with other security firms to investigate the incident.

Most large-scale ransomware attacks are conducted late at night over the weekend when there is less staff to monitor the network.

As this attack happened midday on a Friday, the threat actors likely planned the time to coincide with the July 4th weekend in the USA, where it is common for staff to have a shorter workday before the holidays.

REvil attack spread through auto-updateBleepingComputer has been told by both Huntress' John Hammond and Sophos' Mark Loman that the attacks on MSPs appear to be a supply chain attack through Kaseya VSA.

According to Hammond, Kaseya VSA will drop an agent.crt file to the c:\kworking folder, which is being distributed as an update called 'Kaseya VSA Agent Hot-fix.'

A PowerShell command is then launched to decode the agent.crt file using the legitimate Windows certutil.exe command and extract an agent.exe file to the same folder.

PowerShell command to execute the REvil ransomwareSource: RedditThe agent.exe is signed using a certificate from "PB03 TRANSPORT LTD" and includes an embedded 'MsMpEng.exe' and 'mpsvc.dll,' with the DLL being the REvil encryptor.

Signed agent.exe fileThe MsMPEng.exe is an older version of the legitimate Microsoft Defender executable used as a LOLBin to launch the DLL and encrypt the device through a trusted executable.

The agent.exe extracting and launching embedded resourcesSome of the samples add politically charged Windows Registry keys and configurations changes to infected computers.

For example, a sample [VirusTotal] installed by BleepingComputer adds the HKLM\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\BlackLivesMatter key to store configuration information from the attack.

Advanced Intel's Vitali Kremez told BleepingComputer that another sample configures the device to launch REvil Safe Mode with a default password of 'DTrump4ever.'

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon]"AutoAdminLogon"="1""DefaultUserName"="[account_name]""DefaultPassword"="DTrump4ever"

Huntress continues to provide more info about the attack in a Reddit thread.

In a statement to BleepingComputer late Friday night, Kaseya said they found the vulnerability that was used during the attack and that a patch will be released as soon as possibly.

"While our investigation is ongoing, to date we believe that:

Our SaaS customers were never at-risk. We expect to restore service to those customers once we have confirmed that they are not at risk, which we expect will be within the next 24 hours; Only a very small percentage of our customers were affected '' currently estimated at fewer than 40 worldwide. We believe that we have identified the source of the vulnerability and are preparing a patch to mitigate it for our on-premises customers that will be tested thoroughly. We will release that patch as quickly as possible to get our customers back up and running." - Kaseya.

BleepingComputer has sent followup questions regarding the vulnerability but has not heard back at this time.

Ransomware gang demands a $5 million ransomA sample of the REvil ransomware used in one of these attacks has been shared with BleepingComputer. However, it is unknown if this is the sample used for every victim or if each MSP received its own ransom demand.

The ransomware gang is demanding a $5,000,000 ransom to receive a decryptor from one of the samples.

Ransom demandWhile REvil is known to steal data before deploying the ransomware and encrypting devices, it is unknown if the attackers exfiltrated any files.

MSPs are a high-value target for ransomware gangs as they offer an easy channel to infecting many companies through a single breach, yet the attacks require intimate knowledge about MSPs and the software they use.

REvil has an affiliate well versed in the technology used by MSPs as they have a long history of targeting these companies and the software commonly used by them.

In June 2019, an REvil affiliate targeted MSPs via Remote Desktop and then used their management software to push ransomware installers to all of the endpoints that they manage.

This affiliate is believed to have previously worked with GandCrab, who also successfully conducted attacks against MSPs in January 2019.

This is a developing story and will continue to be updated.

Update 7/1/21 10:30 PM EST: Added updated statement about vulnerability.

Link to Article

Archived Version

Sat, 03 Jul 2021 12:23

A group of five EU member states led by Germany have sent a letter to the European Commission asking for nuclear energy to be kept out of the EU's green finance taxonomy.

The letter '' signed by the environment or energy ministers of Austria, Denmark, Germany, Luxembourg, and Spain '' points to ''shortcomings'' in a report by the European Commission's Joint Research Centre published on 2 April, which concluded that nuclear energy is safe.

''Nuclear power is incompatible with the Taxonomy Regulation's 'do no significant harm' principle,'' the ministers wrote, urging the Commission to keep nuclear out of the EU's green finance rules.

''We are concerned that including nuclear power in the Taxonomy would permanently damage its integrity, credibility and therefore its usefulness,'' they warned.

The letter is undated but EURACTIV understands it was sent to the Commission on Wednesday (30 June). Signatories include: Svenja Schulze (Germany), Leonore Gewessler (Austria), Dan J¸rgensen and Simon Kollerup (Denmark), Carole Dieschbourg (Luxembourg), Teresa Ribera Rodr­guez and Nadia Calvi±o Santamar­a (Spain).

It argues that the European Commission's assessment of the safety of nuclear power installations is flawed.

''We were disconcerted to learn that in the opinion of the Joint Research Centre (JRC), there were no indications that the high-risk technology that is nuclear power is more damaging to human health and to the environment than other forms of energy generation, such as wind and solar energy,'' the ministers wrote.

''Nuclear power, however, is a high-risk technology '' wind energy is not. This essential difference must be taken into account,'' they insisted, saying the Commission report deliberately ignored the possibility of a serious incident.

The European Commission's in-house scientific body, the Joint Research Centre, released its much-awaited report on nuclear power on 2 April, just before the Easter break.

Its conclusions were clear: nuclear power is a safe, low-carbon energy source comparable to wind and hydropower, and as such, it qualifies for a green investment label under the EU's green finance taxonomy.

''The analyses did not reveal any science-based evidence that nuclear energy does more harm to human health or to the environment than other electricity production technologies,'' the JRC report said.

Nuclear energy advocates saw the report as a green light for a potential nuclear renaissance in Europe and called on the European Commission to take the necessary steps to include nuclear in the taxonomy.

A green investment label under the EU taxonomy would lower the cost of new nuclear projects, said Jessica Johnson, communications director at Foratom, the trade association representing the nuclear industry in Brussels.

But the five EU countries dispute this, saying the inclusion of nuclear in the taxonomy would undermine its credibility.

''Many savers and investors would lose faith in financial products marketed as 'sustainable' if they had to fear that by buying these products they would be financing activities in the area of nuclear power,'' the ministers warned.

In addition, the letter said the JRC report also ''disregards the life-cycle approach'' to environmental risk assessment when it comes to geological storage of nuclear waste.

''After more than 60 years of using nuclear power, not one single fuel element has been permanently disposed of anywhere in the world,'' the letter pointed out, saying there is currently ''no operational experience with deep geological repositories for high active waste''.

The European Commission had three months to submit the JRC report to the scrutiny of two expert committees '' the first on radiation protection and waste management under Article 31 of the Euratom Treaty, and the second on environmental impact by the Scientific Committee on Health, Environmental and Emerging Risks.

Those evaluations are expected to be made public today.

They will be ''rigorous,'' an EU spokesperson told EURACTIV at the time, saying that ''the credibility of this assessment is crucial.''

[Edited by Zoran Radosavljevic]

> Read the full letter below or download here.

Joint ministerial letter_AT_DE_DK_LU_ES

Link to Article

Archived Version

Sat, 03 Jul 2021 11:45

Meg Kinnard

The Associated Press

Published July 2, 2021 Updated July 2, 2021

Getting audio file ...

Audio for this article is not available at this time.

This translation has been automatically generated and has not been verified for accuracy. Full Disclaimer

A bipartisan proposal in the U.S. House would ban the farming of mink fur in the United States in an effort to stem possible mutations of the coronavirus, something researchers have said can be accelerated when the virus spreads among animals.

The bill introduced this week is an effort from Reps. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., and Nancy Mace, R-S.C. It would prohibit the import, export, transport, sale or purchase of mink in the United States.

Researchers have said that spread of COVID-19 among animals could speed up the number of mutations in the virus before it potentially jumps back to people.

Story continues below advertisement

Last year, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control issued new guidance to curb the spread of the coronavirus between minks and humans. The agency warned that when COVID-19 starts spreading on a mink farm, the large numbers of animal infections means ''the virus can accumulate mutations more quickly in minks and spread back into the human population.''

Denmark reported last year that 12 people had been sickened by a variant of the coronavirus that had distinct genetic changes also seen in mink.

''What we want to do is ban the inhumane practice of farming mink for fur,'' Mace said Friday during an interview with The Associated Press. ''At the same time, it's also a public health crisis, so it helps fix both of those situations.''

''Knowing that there are variants, and being someone who cares about the humane treatment of animals, this is sort of a win-win for folks,'' she added. ''And I believe that you'll see Republicans and Democrats on both sides of the aisle work on this together.''

According to Fur Commission USA, a non-profit representing U.S. mink farmers, there are approximately 275 mink farms in 23 states across the United States, producing about 3 million pelts per year. That amounts to an annual value of more than $300 million, according to the commission.

There have been several mink-related coronavirus cases in the U.S. In December, a mink caught outside an Oregon farm tested positive for low-levels of the coronavirus. State officials said they believed the animal had escaped from a small farm already under quarantine because of a coronavirus outbreak among mink and humans.

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a mink on a Michigan farm ''and a small number of people'' were infected with a coronavirus ''that contained mink-related mutations,'' something officials said suggested that mink-to-human spread may have occurred.

Story continues below advertisement

While mink-to-human spread is possible, CDC officials said ''there is no evidence that mink are playing a significant role in the spread of SARS-CoV-2 to people.''

Our Morning Update and Evening Update newsletters are written by Globe editors, giving you a concise summary of the day's most important headlines. Sign up today.

", "

Save time by making it easy to scan all the latest stories on topics you follow in one place.

", "

", "

"].join("");var content2 = [ "

", "

", "

Adding topics. Click on the + symbol to save the topic to your Following page.

", "

", "

(Step 1 of 3)

", "

"].join("");var content3 = [ "

", "

", "

Clicking on the topic's name will bring you to a page where you can view all the articles that pertain to that topic.

", "

", "

(Step 2 of 3)

", "

"].join("");var content4 = [ "

", "

", "

", "

Access your following topics by clicking on your display name. The number in your display name indicates the number of new articles you haven't read from your following topics.

", "

", "

(Step 3 of 3)

", "

"].join("");var contentMarkup = [content1, content2, content3, content4];function createTourtip() { var relatedTopics = document.querySelector("#main-content-area .pb-f-topics-article-related .c-topic-group__body ul"); var topicPageTitle = document.querySelector(".o-primary-header--section .c-topic"); // If the following topics buttons are present on the page, set up the tourtips if (relatedTopics || topicPageTitle) { var modifier = relatedTopics ? 'darwin-arc6134--article' : 'darwin-arc6134--topic-page' var dataAnalyticsClick = JSON.stringify({ testId: "arc6134", type: "button", feature: "topic tour tip", label: "show tooltip" }); var el = relatedTopics ? document.createElement("li") : document.createElement("div"); el.classList.add("darwin-arc6134"); el.classList.add(modifier); el.innerHTML = "

"+contentMarkup[0] + "

"; relatedTopics ? relatedTopics.appendChild(el) : topicPageTitle.appendChild(el); // Remove follow topics onboarding messages and activation tooltips setTimeout(function() { var onboardingMessages = document.querySelectorAll(".c-topic-group__body .c-onboarding-message"); var tooltips = document.querySelectorAll(".c-topic-group__body .c-tooltip"); console.log("[ARC-6134]: onboardingMessages: ", onboardingMessages); Array.from(onboardingMessages).forEach(function(el) { el.parentNode.removeChild(el); }); Array.from(tooltips).forEach(function(el) { el.parentNode.removeChild(el); }); }, 3000); }}function analyticsPush(type, panel, action) { if (type === "simple") { analyticsLayer.push({ "event": "simpleEvent", "simpleEvent": { "testId": "arc6134", "action": "view tour slide", "label": "slide "+panel } }); } if (type === "click") { analyticsLayer.push({ "event":"clickEvent", "clickEvent": { "testId": "arc6134", "feature": "topic tour tip", "type": "button", "label": action, } }); }}function tourtipActions() { // Open tourtips var container = document.querySelector(".darwin-arc6134"); var activateIcon = document.querySelector(".js-tourtip-activate"); var tourtipContainer = document.querySelector(".darwin-arc6134__tourtip"); activateIcon.addEventListener("click", function() { if (!container.classList.contains("darwin-arc6134--open")) { container.classList.add("darwin-arc6134--open"); tourtipContainer.removeAttribute("hidden"); keepInViewport(); localStorage.setItem("tgam.tourtip_icon_clicked", true); analyticsPush("click", 1, "show tooltip"); analyticsPush("simple", 1, ""); } }); // Advance tourtip panels tourtipContainer.addEventListener('click', function(e) { var tourtipPanel = tourtipContainer.getAttribute("data-panel"); var activateIcon = document.querySelector(".js-tourtip-activate"); var el = e.target || e.srcElement; var action = el.getAttribute("data-action"); if (action === "next") { tourtipPanel++; analyticsPush("simple", tourtipPanel, action); } else if (action === "prev") { tourtipPanel--; analyticsPush("simple", tourtipPanel, action); } else { tourtipPanel = 1; tourtipContainer.setAttribute("hidden", true); container.classList.remove("darwin-arc6134--open"); tourtipContainer.classList.remove("darwin-arc6134__tourtip--leftOut"); tourtipContainer.classList.remove("darwin-arc6134__tourtip--rightOut"); activateIcon.classList.remove("darwin-arc6134__tourtip--leftOut"); activateIcon.classList.remove("darwin-arc6134__tourtip--rightOut"); tourtipContainer.classList.remove("js-tourtip--centred"); tourtipContainer.style.removeProperty("left"); } analyticsPush("click", tourtipPanel, action); tourtipPanel === 4 ? tourtipContainer.classList.add("darwin-arc6134__tourtip--last-panel") : tourtipContainer.classList.remove("darwin-arc6134__tourtip--last-panel"); tourtipContainer.innerHTML = contentMarkup[tourtipPanel-1]; tourtipContainer.dataset.panel = tourtipPanel; });}function init() { console.log("[ARC-6134] init"); var testIsEnabled = /token=arc6134/.test(window.location.search); console.log("ARC-6134 testIsEnabled: ", testIsEnabled); var testGroup = userTestGroup(); if (testGroup === "variant" || testIsEnabled) { setUnitState("arc6134", "variant"); console.log("[ARC-6134] test group: variant"); createTourtip(); tourtipActions(); intersectTourtip(); } if (testGroup === "control") { console.log("[ARC-6134] test group: control"); setUnitState("arc6134", "control"); }}init(); }]); } window.tgam.darwin.tests.after.push(dwExecute_UXTestARC6134); })();

Catch up on today\'s news in one email

'; if (section !== '') { document.getElementsByClassName('c-article-body')[0].className += ' newsletterpromo'; var newNode = document.createElement('div'); newNode.setAttribute("id", "newsletterpromo"); var count = -1; for (i = 0; i

' + newsletterSection[section][i].name + '' + newsletterSection[section][i].duration + '

' + newsletterSection[section][i].body + '

Signed up

'; count++; } } newsletterContainer += '

We have more than 20 newsletters.

Explore'; newsletterContainer = newsletterContainer.replace(/newslettercards/g, newsletterClass[count]); newNode.innerHTML = newsletterContainer; var relatedArticles = document.getElementsByClassName("pb-f-related-articles")[0]; relatedArticles.insertBefore(newNode, relatedArticles.childNodes[0]); pushNewsletterPromoAnalytics('display'); } } // Signup to newsletter function newsletterSignup(newsletterKey, elementId) { var darwinState = getDarwinState() || {}; var email = darwinState.cem1504.email || ''; var endpoint = "https://gamservices" + (!window.tgam.env.isProd ? ".stg2" : "") + ".theglobeandmail.com/usermanagement/api/v3/user/newsletters/" + newsletterKey + "?email=" + encodeURIComponent( email); fetch(endpoint, { method: "POST", credentials: "include", headers: { "Content-Type": "application/json;charset=UTF-8", Accept: "application/json" } }) .then(function (response) { return response.json() }) .then(function (responseData) { //show signup success and hide signupbtn document.getElementById("newsletterpromo-success" + elementId).removeAttribute("hidden"); document.getElementById("newsletterpromo-btn" + elementId).setAttribute("hidden", "hidden"); pushNewsletterPromoAnalytics('signup'); }) } // get user's email address function getUserEmail() { var endpoint = "https://gamservices" + (!window.tgam.env.isProd ? ".stg2" : "") + ".theglobeandmail.com/usermanagement/api/v3/user"; fetch(endpoint, { method: "GET", credentials: "include", }) .then(function (resp) { return resp.json(); }) .then(function (data) { setDarwinState('cem1504', 'email', data.user.email); }) .catch(function (err) { console.warn("fetch error"); }) } // push analytics function pushNewsletterPromoAnalytics(action) { analyticsLayer.push({ "event": "clickEvent", "clickEvent": { "testId": "cem1504", "feature": "newsletterpromo", "action": action, "type": "test", "label": action, "variantName": "experience", "segmentName": "sub" } }); } // render captcha // function observeCaptcha() { // // load site Recaptcha: // var TEMP_SUBS_KEY = window.tgam.env.isProd ? '6Ldg98QUAAAAAGpmQUudHXpFoU7WiSPKU9HbntVX' : // '6LdcJ8IUAAAAAEf6RdHPe6PaIoGds9IbvsvTWmLO'; // window.tgam.api.loadRecaptcha() // .then(function () { // window.tgam.api.executeCaptcha("newsletter_signUp") // .then(function (response) { // if (response === "invalid") { // console.log("Fail") // } else if (response === "valid") { // getUserEmail(); // showArticleNewsletters(); // } // }); // }); // // load subs domain Recaptcha: // window.tgam.api.loadRecaptcha(TEMP_SUBS_KEY); // }

Link to Article

Archived Version

Sat, 03 Jul 2021 11:40

(AP) '-- One Southwest Missouri hospital official is telling anyone making disparaging remarks about the COVID-19 vaccine to ''Shut up'' as state officials ask for federal help dealing with a surge in cases that has some counties urging new precautions.

Deep vaccine resistance has allowed the delta variant, first identified India, to take hold in the state, straining hospitals, particularly in the Springfield area.

''If you are making wildly disparaging comments about the vaccine, and have no public health expertise, you may be responsible for someone's death. Shut up,'' tweeted Steve Edwards, who is the CEO of CoxHealth in Springfield.

CoxHealth and the city's other hospital, Mercy Springfield, were treating 168 COVID-19 patients Friday, up from 31 on May 24, before the surge began, said Aaron Schekorra, a spokesman for the Springfield-Greene County Health Department. He said that 36 of them were on ventilators.

Erik Frederick, the chief administrative officer of Mercy Springfield, also turned to Twitter in an effort to bolster vaccinations, noting that they prevent deaths.

''So if you're vaccinated there is a light at the end of a tunnel,'' he said. ''If you're unvaccinated that's probably a train.''

State data shows that 44.6% of residents have received at least one shot, far short of the 54.7% rate nationally. And in more than 60 Missouri counties, less than 30% of the population had received their first shot, according to state data.

The situation has grown so dire that Missouri health officials announced Thursday that they were asking for federal help from newly formed surge response teams.

Meanwhile, St. Louis and St. Louis County health departments along with health officials in Jefferson County begged even immunized people to resume mask-wearing in public, citing the threat of the delta variant.

The Jefferson County Health Department's advisory said children are being exposed to COVID-19 as they resume normal activities without protection. During the last two weeks, the number of new cases had increased 42%, with the highest number of cases among 10'' to 19-year-olds.

''This is concerning,'' the advisory said, ''since most of that age group is eligible for the vaccine, but only 10.82% have completed the full series of vaccination.''

In the southeast part of the state, the Stoddard County Public Health Center this week asked residents to get vaccinated as officials grapple with climbing COVID-19 cases, including an outbreak at a nursing facility, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports.

The center said Thursday it was monitoring 33 cases '-- ''up from the 5-10 we've been experiencing over the last few months.'' The health center said an outbreak at a nursing facility in Advance made up a ''large portion'' of cases, and that one resident who tested positive had died.

Link to Article

Archived Version

Sat, 03 Jul 2021 10:57

De aanval is mogelijk begonnen bij Kaseya, een leverancier van ict-beheersoftware. Het Nationaal Cyber Security Centrum roept bedrijven op het product VSA, dat gebruikt wordt voor beheer op afstand, uit te schakelen. Volgens het NCSC is het product breed in gebruik bij beheerpartijen, die ict-steun verlenen aan andere bedrijven.

Huntress Labs heeft inmiddels acht zogeheten managed service providers (dienstverleners) ge¯dentificeerd die kampen met ransomware-incidenten. Die maken allemaal gebruik van VSA. Volgens het cyberbeveiligingsbedrijf zijn 200 bedrijven, die klant zijn bij deze managed service providers, door de hack getroffen.

ReparatiesoftwareHoewel nog niet vaststaat dat VSA de bron is van de aanval, raadt Kaseya organisaties ten sterkste aan het direct uit te schakelen. Vannacht meldde het bedrijf dat er tot dan toe minder dan veertig bevestigde slachtoffers onder zijn eigen klanten waren. Het zijn bedrijven die de software op hun eigen apparatuur hebben draaien. De VSA-software die door Kaseya als een abonnement wordt aangeleverd aan klanten, ook wel SaaS genoemd, is vermoedelijk niet getroffen door de aanval. Het softwarebedrijf denkt ook de zwakke plek te hebben gevonden die de hackers hebben uitgebuit en brengt snel reparatiesoftware uit.

LosgeldHuntress Labs verwacht dat het aantal getroffen bedrijven nog sterk zal oplopen. In welke landen de bedrijven precies zijn getroffen is niet duidelijk, maar het gaat in ieder geval om de Verenigde Staten. Het losgeld dat de hackers vragen, kan volgens Huntress Labs bij sommige bedrijven oplopen tot 5 miljoen dollar.

'žDit is een van de ingrijpendste - niet door een staat uitgevoerde - aanvallen die we ooit hebben gezien en het lijkt puur bedoeld om geld afhandig te maken'', zegt Andrew Howard van het Zwitserse Kudelski Security tegen Bloomberg. Volgens hem is er haast geen betere manier om schadelijke software (malware) te verspreiden dan via vertrouwde ict-dienstverleners.

Russische hackersDe groep die achter de hack zit, staat volgens cyberbeveiligingsbedrijf Recorded Future bekend als REvil. Die zat ook achter de hack bij vleesverwerkingsbedrijf JBS, waardoor vorige maand een aanzienlijk deel van de Amerikaanse vleesverwerkingsindustrie werd stilgelegd. Het bedrijf betaalde $11 miljoen losgeld na de cyberaanval.

Die aanval kwam niet lang na een grote cyberaanval tegen het Amerikaanse Colonial Pipeline. Door die hack moest een belangrijke oliepijplijn tijdelijk worden platgelegd, waardoor er tekorten aan benzine bij tankstations ontstonden en de brandstofprijzen flink stegen. Ook hiervan worden Russische hackers verdacht, met de naam DarkSide.

DFT DagelijksElke ochtend het belangrijkste financile nieuws.

Ongeldig e-mailadres. Vul nogmaals in aub.

Lees hier ons privacybeleid.

Link to Article

Archived Version

Fri, 02 Jul 2021 21:26

Daan de Wit : Voor het coronamuseum'Dit zijn de symptomen van de deltavariant: 'Je zou kunnen denken dat je een gewone verkoudh'... https://t.co/LRcnSN3cnp

Thu Jul 01 10:48:46 +0000 2021

Johan : @DaanDeWit Verkoudheid, het zal je maar overkomen. De grond valt onder je weg en het enige wat je nog kunt denken i'... https://t.co/0rYWmXEEy1

Fri Jul 02 18:19:58 +0000 2021

Gert Bloemen : @DaanDeWit https://t.co/z9xpqaG8Os

Fri Jul 02 14:06:32 +0000 2021

melissa : @DaanDeWit Verschrikkelijk zou dat zijn! Je zou maar denken dat het nog bestond'... zo'n 'normale' verkoudheid. Maar n'... https://t.co/K6wTdQJCDG

Fri Jul 02 11:26:40 +0000 2021

Marjanne : @DaanDeWit En nu al dramatisch gaan verkondigen dat de verschrikkelijke deltavariant in opkomst is ! Is zeker net z'... https://t.co/WM29jWsBKt

Fri Jul 02 10:56:21 +0000 2021

H'­•mert ðŸ'‰ MD PhD : @DaanDeWit @viruswaarheid Totdat je met je ongevaccineerde lichaam met een buis in je keel op de IC ligt, dan lijkt'... https://t.co/VrPurZAVCH

Fri Jul 02 10:52:05 +0000 2021

Jaap JANZ ðŸ‡"🇱 ðŸ"¸'ðŸŒ : @DaanDeWit @JohnnyBG19 Volgens mij had ik de #deltavariant al in de zomer van 2015.

Fri Jul 02 10:01:41 +0000 2021

Link to Article

Archived Version

Fri, 02 Jul 2021 19:21

The other comics called him ''Little Ball of Anger'' '-- semi-affectionately, never to his face '-- a man flammable by bearing and branding, it seemed, with his taekwondo muscles and a scorching conviction that the Bible had some holes.

''Noah was 600 years old and a drunk!'' Joe Rogan told his Los Angeles crowds some two decades back, in one favored bit about the implausibility of the scriptural ark. Then he'd spar afterward with a waitress who was raised Catholic '-- and mindful of divine wrath.

''Stand back,'' Eleanor Kerrigan, the Comedy Store waitress who became a comedian herself, would say to Mr. Rogan, blessing herself as he left the stage. ''You're going to burst into flames.''

''It's not sacrilegious!'' Mr. Rogan protested, according to Ms. Kerrigan. ''You're not hearing what I'm saying!''

Now, for better or worse, many millions of people are hearing what Joe Rogan is saying. He's still not sure they're always getting the joke. But he has yet to burst into flames.

Image Mr. Rogan, left, with Duncan Trussell on an episode of ''The Joe Rogan Experience.'' Credit... Getty Images Mr. Rogan, 53, is one of the most consumed media products on the planet '-- with the power to shape tastes, politics, medical decisions '-- a fact well-known to legions of men under 40, nonsensical to the many Rogan-unaware over 50 and befuddling, by his own admission, to the man himself. His podcast, ''The Joe Rogan Experience,'' is effectively a series of wandering conversations, often over whiskey and weed, on topics including but not limited to: comedy, cage-fighting, psychedelics, quantum mechanics and the political excesses of the left. The show was licensed to Spotify last year in an estimated $100 million deal, boosted by a conceit that can at times seem self-fulfilling: The host is dangerous, at least in the way that comedians like to be dangerous. He should probably not be taken at face value, except when he should, and the discerning listener should be trusted to tell the difference. And if the establishment had its way, Mr. Rogan would surely be chastened, ''canceled,'' reeled in.

''I got through the net,'' he said in one recent episode, cursing before ''net'' in what felt like a statement of purpose, ''and I'm swimming in open waters.''

It can all feel like something of a system breakdown in his telling, at once a testament to the trust deficit plaguing mainstream institutions and the durable allure of convincing people they are listening to something subversive and undiluted.

In 2019, Mr. Rogan said his podcast was downloaded about 190 million times in a month. Some single episodes have reached tens of millions, including interviews with Elon Musk, the Tesla chief executive whose rollicking, joint-smoking appearance coincided with a discernible slip in the company stock price, and Alex Jones, the far-right conspiracy theorist with whom Mr. Rogan has long been friendly. The most popular host in cable news, Tucker Carlson of Fox News, might expect about three million live viewers per night.

''We worship this guy,'' Kristian Khoury, a 20-year-old student at Oklahoma State University, said of Mr. Rogan, ticking off favorite episodes after joining a friend to see him perform stand-up in Houston in May. ''I would do anything to do what he does.''

What Mr. Rogan does can be difficult to categorize neatly, his standing as audio's zeitgeist-iest voice sustained by a heap of surface contradictions.

He is a generous listener who seems to share every half-thought aloud. He is publicly outraged by ''recreational outrage.'' He is, depending on the audience, the jock or the scholar, the bully or the aggrieved. His podcast uniform '-- bicep-hugging T-shirt, headphones pressed against a bare scalp '-- calls to mind a high-school wrestling coach who commandeered the AV room.

He is a comedian equally liable to discuss the coronavirus, intelligently, with an epidemiologist and discuss epidemiology, less intelligently, with another comedian. He makes market-moving recommendations for dietary supplements, CBD-infused beverages, nonfiction '-- an Oprah for the Creatine-taking set or a Schwarzenegger for the Native American history buff, depending on the day. He also says he is not to be trusted as a ''respected source of information.''

Mr. Rogan's celebrity makes enough sense to those who know him. He had ascended across the decades as a comic, sitcom actor and cage-fight commentator for the U.F.C.

Image Mr. Rogan interviewing Alistair Overeem, a U.F.C. fighter, in Las Vegas. Credit... Getty Images What is different now '-- exhilarating to his fans, alarming to others '-- is the social capital he managed to accumulate while proudly defying the traditional gate-keeping strictures of mainstream fame. It is a story of persistence, timing and a keen feel for the prevailing cultural winds. He started recording himself nearly a dozen years ago for a live web assemblage of hundreds, and people listened. Then more. There were no network censors. His first sponsor was a sex toy.

''He didn't need Hollywood,'' said Dom Irrera, a comedian and longtime friend. ''Joe's got his own thing.''

And that thing has grown hulking enough to collide, occasionally, with institutions as varied as the White House and the British monarchy. After Mr. Rogan suggested in the spring that young healthy people need not get vaccinated against the coronavirus '-- before later stressing that he is ''not an anti-vaxx'' person and shouldn't be considered a medical authority, anyway '-- his comments drew condemnations from the Biden administration and Prince Harry, another Spotify podcaster. ''If you say you disagree with me, I probably disagree with me too,'' Mr. Rogan said in semi-self-defense. ''I disagree with me all the time.''

The episode crystallized a central tension in the show's success: whether his megaphone carries with it a higher responsibility, one he has said he never wanted.

Some in comedy, to say nothing of politics, do not extend him the benefit of the doubt. ''I view having a large platform,'' the comedian Amy Schumer, a supporter of progressive causes who has been a Rogan podcast guest, said pointedly, ''as an opportunity to help people.''

While Mr. Rogan has said he did not vote for Donald J. Trump in either of his campaigns, praising Bernie Sanders (a 2019 podcast guest) and promoting left-wing policy like a universal basic income, he has proved uniquely skilled in the kind of cultural combat that lifted the former president: projecting shared disdain for elite groupthink and liberal hypersensitivity. ''You can never be woke enough '-- that's the problem,'' Mr. Rogan complained in May, riffing on the perils of cancel culture and suggesting that ''it'll eventually get to 'straight white men are not allowed to talk.'''

Yet there is also a hitch in this construction, the bracing counterexample that is Joe Rogan, White Man Talking: He has long said what pleased him, offended polite society and warned of the reputational risks in pursuing such a life. For his sins, he has been burdened with a staggering fortune and a global reach.

''The power of what he's created, he doesn't have to be afraid of getting canceled,'' said Andrew Dice Clay, a friend of Mr. Rogan's and comedy's most famously cancelable export of the 1980s and 1990s. ''He's all good.''

And where's the danger in that?

'People Will Watch'Joe Rogan's position was clear: The show was harmless. No one was being forced to tune in. And if it was all so terrible, why were so many people entertained?

''Everybody keeps harping on this rat thing,'' he said, defending himself on Bill Maher's ''Politically Incorrect'' in 2001, as the host and his other guests laced into ''Fear Factor,'' the Rogan-hosted reality hit that had competitors munching on buffalo testicles and lying in pits of vermin on prime-time television. ''So you lie, and you're covered with rats. They don't do anything to you.''

Mr. Maher likened the program to a snuff film. Mr. Rogan assured him that the participants enjoyed themselves, more or less, and that the audience most certainly did. ''If it's exciting and if it's entertaining, people will watch,'' he said. ''If it's not, it'll go away.''

Such is the through-line in much of Mr. Rogan's arc '-- an instinct for keeping people on the hook, just curious enough to stick around for the next contestant challenge, the next joke, the last 20 minutes of a three-hour conversation with Quentin Tarantino.

''I remember Googling him and being kind of confused,'' said Lawrence Lessig, a Harvard law professor and campaign finance reform advocate who appeared on the podcast in 2018, recalling his first exposure to it. ''Maybe there were two Joe Rogans.''

His entertainment career began early, with a magic act on Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco when he was 7 or 8. Mr. Rogan had moved there with his mother, he has said, after living in Newark with a now long-estranged father who was prone to violence. (Mr. Rogan, who rarely speaks extensively to print publications, declined to be interviewed.)

After another move to the Boston area, a decorated teenage taekwondo career and a stint at the University of Massachusetts Boston before dropping out, Mr. Rogan edged into stand-up in 1988, when friends coaxed him onstage one night and he took to it. His biggest early break came when he moved to Los Angeles, securing a cast role on the sitcom ''NewsRadio,'' which ran from 1995 to 1999. Mr. Rogan played a conspiracy-minded everyman named Joe.

Image Mr. Rogan, standing second from left, in a scene from ''NewsRadio.'' Credit... NBCUniversal But he found his strongest sense of community at the Comedy Store, earning a reputation as the volatile, musclebound pool shark whose martial arts demonstrations in the club's kitchen left this much unsaid: ''You have to be out of your mind,'' said Mr. Clay, then a fellow Store regular, ''to mess with Joe Rogan.''

He took such care of his body that he rarely drank heavily or smoked marijuana, announcing himself an expert in other vices, claiming that he possessed the largest private collection of pornography in the world. When one skeptic questioned how this could be proved, the man recalled, Mr. Rogan delivered a two-word affirmation that sounded convincing enough: ''Trust me.'' (A Rogan spokesman said, ''If there was ever a comment like this made, it was in the context of a joke.'')

Often, puckish shouting matches would follow him offstage, with Mr. Rogan insisting, loudly, on the genius of Led Zeppelin, or the stupidity of comics who watched the Lakers instead of the U.F.C., or his earnest belief that man never made it to the moon. Some patrons seemed to enjoy getting a rise out of him, too. ''Salt is a mineral! Salt is a mineral!'' Mr. Rogan was heard yelling at a woman in attendance one night. Nobody was quite sure why.

''He's screaming, 'Salt is a mineral!' I go, 'Joe everybody knows that,''' Ms. Kerrigan, the waitress-turned-comedian, recalled warmly. ''He says, 'That's not what she said!' I'm like, 'You have to calm down.'''

Image Mr. Rogan performing a set at the Comedy Store in 2003. Credit... Carlo Allegri/Getty Images Onstage, frenetic and trim, Mr. Rogan was the kind of stand-up who would today probably try to find a way to get himself booked on ''The Joe Rogan Experience,'' dissecting the animal impulses of men or the wonders of dating unintelligent women. ''The kind of girl when you look deep in her eyes, you see the back of her skull,'' he said in one bit.

He made a point of wearing flappy clothes that often obscured his physique. ''He specifically wore loose-fitting clothing on purpose to not draw attention to that,'' said Shayma Tash, a friend and comedian who has known Mr. Rogan since the 1990s, recalling that he once advised her not to wear ''distracting'' tight clothes onstage, either.

Attire notwithstanding, some comics could find Mr. Rogan's performative belligerence tiresome, privately referring to him and his brawny friends and followers as the ''Cobra Kai.''

Even today, many comedians are reluctant to speak critically of Mr. Rogan in public, conscious of his present platform and zealous fans '-- and well-versed in his capacity to unsettle presumed adversaries even before he had such power.

''He just had that vibe where I don't want to have too long a conversation with him because I don't want to say the wrong thing,'' remembered John Caparulo, a comedian and former club doorman who said he admired Mr. Rogan at the time but has since taken a dim view after some in the podcaster's orbit antagonized Mr. Caparulo publicly. ''He's just a guy who can flip out. And then where are you?''

Mr. Caparulo recalled a fellow comic passing him at the door one night while Mr. Rogan was onstage. ''He goes, 'There he is,''' Mr. Caparulo said, '''the unhappiest millionaire.'''

As a professional exercise, Mr. Rogan's penchant for confrontation and patience-testing did him far more good than harm, an intuitive fit for a profile-raiser like ''Fear Factor.'' ''It's very rare that you'll have a host who will fight with your contestants,'' said Matt Kunitz, one of the show's executive producers. ''Joe would fight with our contestants. We would have to literally run out of the control room and separate them.''

Image Mr. Rogan hosted ''Fear Factor'' for seven seasons. Credit... Getty Images Friends tend to cite twin personal developments that seemed to leaven the experience of being around Joe Rogan: He has been with his now-wife, Jessica '-- with whom he has three children '-- for some two decades, after long speaking openly about the uselessness of marriage. (''Everybody who knows me says there's, like, me pre-children and post-children,'' Mr. Rogan told his friend Dave Chappelle on the podcast in May. ''I'm so much nicer.'')

And he determined that marijuana was a fine choice after all.

''I've never seen pot help somebody like it helped him,'' Mr. Irrera, the comic, said.

''We would just be like, 'Oh, God, I hope he has his edibles today,''' Mr. Kunitz recalled. ''That would mellow him out.''

Not everything changed. A few years ago, Mr. Kunitz said, he ran into Mr. Rogan while vacationing in Hawaii. ''He's matured a lot,'' Mr. Kunitz reasoned. ''I said, 'You still believe man didn't land on the moon?'''

Mr. Rogan promised to send him some video clips that NASA doesn't want you to see.

'Men Are Not Represented'Mr. Rogan, crusader against cancel culture, carried off perhaps the first celebrity cancellation of the modern internet age. It is generally considered a righteous one.

In 2007, Mr. Rogan stepped onstage at the Comedy Store to confront another comic, Carlos Mencia, over longstanding allegations that Mr. Mencia had stolen jokes from other comedians. A friend filmed the exchange, and Mr. Rogan posted clips of it online, spliced with damning footage of Mr. Mencia performing versions of jokes that others had done first.

''I'm a real comic, bro,'' Mr. Rogan told him, wearing a backward hat and what appeared to be the ''College'' shirt from ''Animal House,'' as the crowd hollered. Initially, the Comedy Store sided with Mr. Mencia '-- the more successful act at the time, with his own show on Comedy Central '-- banning Mr. Rogan from the club. Mr. Rogan has said his agency, which counted Mr. Mencia as a client, dropped him, too.

But as the video went viral, around the dawn of the viral video era, Mr. Mencia's reputation would irretrievably sag. In a recent interview, he sounded resigned to his historical fate. ''For the majority of comedians, he was looked at '-- still is '-- as a kind of hero to the cause,'' Mr. Mencia said. ''It is ironic that a guy who is now saying you shouldn't cancel anybody at least started the building of his podcast by canceling me.''

Image Carlos Mencia performing at the Comedy Store in 2007. Credit... Michael Bezjian/WireImage Though ''The Joe Rogan Experience'' would not debut until 2009, the Mencia affair was central in establishing its founding ethos: mischievous, boundary-less, merrily punching up. The friend who filmed the Mencia conflict, Brian Redban, became Mr. Rogan's initial co-host. Listeners were encouraged to visit joerogan.net to find discounts on ''the Fleshlight,'' the show's masturbatory advertiser.

These modest beginnings '-- built around unstructured conversations about stand-up, or political hucksterism, or why women wear heels (in the opinion of men) '-- enshrined what has remained the podcast's defining technical feature: an absence of curation, or any discernible editing, as if such filtering would amount to a form of censorship, doomed to cheapen the product.

And that product, increasingly, positioned the host as lifestyle sage '-- an ideal toward which listeners might reach, physically and intellectually, if they could only read the right books and swing the right kettlebells '-- a vision of a certain kind of manhood.

''Aspire to be the person you pretend to be,'' Mr. Rogan counseled in one episode, ''when you're trying to get laid.''

He has appeared to attribute his own popularity to an underserved market, recently recalling the bafflement of advertising professionals over his audience demographics. ''They're like, 'Jesus Christ, he's got like 94 percent men. Like, what is going on here?''' Mr. Rogan said in May, probably exaggerating the figure a bit. ''I'm like, 'It's because they're not represented. Men are not represented.'''

For listeners, the attachment is visceral, communal '-- a ''monoculture of free-thinkers,'' as Marc Maron, the fellow podcaster and comedian, has said of the Rogan-inclined masses, tweaking a group that can descend on its targets as an online bloc.

Comics say they have become instantly recognizable to new fans as far afield as Australia after appearing on Mr. Rogan's show. Shanna Swan, a reproductive epidemiologist who was a guest in the spring, said she received a message afterward from a Rogan-lover desperate to deliver him a handmade samurai sword. Authors have seen long-published works rocket back to relevance.

''I'd never heard of the guy,'' the writer S.C. Gwynne said, recounting his confusion in 2019 when his publicist called to ask why sales for ''Empire of the Summer Moon,'' his 2010 book about the Comanche Indian tribe, were spiking. It seemed that Mr. Rogan had posted about it on Instagram. Weeks later, Mr. Gwynne went on the show. ''In October of the next year, I just got an absolutely gigantic royalty check,'' he said. ''To me, that is the power of Joe Rogan.''

In interviews, fans repeatedly cite Mr. Rogan's willingness to air any perspective, however provocative, especially those shunned or overlooked by traditional news organizations. ''It's the sort of questions I think about when I go to sleep at night,'' said Stephanie Jones, 27, waiting to see Mr. Rogan perform in Austin, Texas, in May. She attributed her decision to get vaccinated against Covid to Mr. Rogan's discussion about immunocompromised people on the podcast.

Mr. Rogan has described having a ''love-hate relationship with conspiracies,'' and his contempt for opinion-policing can cut both ways: He was, for instance, far earlier and louder than most legacy media outlets in raising the possibility that the pandemic originated with a leak from a Chinese laboratory, a prospect that has attracted fresh scrutiny from the Biden administration.

But his theorizing is also something of a volume business, validated by the hits and unimpeded by the misses. Mr. Rogan is less likely to dwell on the debunking of hypotheses he floats, like the baseless notion that the Clinton family was somehow connected to the 2016 murder of Seth Rich, a Democratic National Committee staff member.

Mr. Rogan can sound most animated when mining the intersection of sports and social mores. He has repeatedly disparaged Fallon Fox, who in 2013 became the first openly transgender athlete in mixed martial arts, making the sorts of remarks (''she's not really a she'') that advocates find repugnant and many listeners delight in hearing someone say without apology.

''When Joe Rogan comes after you, it's not just him,'' Ms. Fox said by email. ''With every insult he made toward me, he was signaling to his followers that directing transphobic insults and slurs toward me was acceptable.''

Some progressives noted experiences like Ms. Fox's in criticizing Bernie Sanders for appearing on the podcast during the 2020 Democratic primary, especially after the campaign began promoting Mr. Rogan's kind words about him ahead of the Iowa caucuses.

In fact, in a race focused largely on perceived electability against Mr. Trump, granting the interview was seen internally as a fairly easy call, a way to reach independents or even conservative-leaning voters who might rarely hear from Mr. Sanders otherwise.

''Happy to go on there again,'' Faiz Shakir, a Sanders adviser and the 2020 campaign manager, said in a recent interview. ''The whole idea is to talk to people who don't always agree with you and to persuade them.''

'I'm Not Joking' Image Mr. Rogan's show is now exclusive to Spotify. Credit... Getty Images Over the past year, Mr. Rogan has made two big moves.

One was intuitive enough: He relocated with his family from Los Angeles to Austin, declaring the former overcrowded and overtaxed. ''It's 'Keep Austin Weird,''' said Steve Adler, the city's mayor and a recent Rogan podcast guest, reciting a favored local slogan. ''He fits in.''

The second leap presented more of a branding snag. By agreeing to stream full episodes exclusively on Spotify, a media behemoth based in Stockholm, Mr. Rogan codified the podcast's evolution from impish underdog to bankable juggernaut.

The show saw an initial audience dip as listeners were compelled to download Spotify (for free) to hear him, and Mr. Rogan's ubiquity on YouTube has seemed to wane some. Now, beneath abridged clips still permitted to appear on the site, users often accuse Mr. Rogan of selling out.

Plainly sensitive to any perception that he answers to suits, Mr. Rogan has by turns assured his audience of his unchallenged creative control and addressed Spotify employees who have expressed dismay at the company's association with him.

''If you're a 23-year-old woke kid and you're working for this company, you think you're going to put your foot down,'' he said last October. ''I get it.'' He urged such employees to ''listen to some of the lyrics'' in the less saintly music available on Spotify, too.

But among top Spotify leadership, people familiar with the company say, the notion that Mr. Rogan presents any kind of regrettable executive headache is laughable. Though some die-hards may grumble '-- like fans of Howard Stern, perpetually convinced he's gone soft '-- Mr. Rogan's following remains young, loyal and increasingly global. So central is he to the company's fortunes that the podcast is listed as its own category on the app: Sports. Music. News and Politics. Joe Rogan.

The question now, as Mr. Rogan settles into his kingmaking phase, is how he might like to use his capital. He does seem to like the idea of people coming to him, in every sense, and the power that flows from commanding a platform so large that even those who might feel more comfortable elsewhere '-- elected officials, scientists, the occasional journalist '-- recognize that ignoring him would be irresponsible.

As the pandemic began enveloping the United States in March 2020, Michael Osterholm, the director of the University of Minnesota's Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy, made what he said would become his final plane trip of the year to appear with Mr. Rogan and warn his listeners. ''Realizing that there would maybe be many in his audience who wouldn't agree that this was going to be a problem, I felt like this would be the best opportunity to get that information out,'' Dr. Osterholm said in an interview. ''It was, without a question, the most pushback I've ever received on anything I ever said publicly.'' (The epidemiologist said he has offered to return for another conversation with Mr. Rogan, so far in vain.)

More often, Mr. Rogan has taken care to promote comedians in his circle, making explicit his goal of expanding the comedy footprint in Austin and opening his own club. Friends have teased him about being his generation's Johnny Carson, the host whose blessing could mint stars overnight, and his new address has already produced a gravitational drift among comics of a certain ilk.

''All these comics are moving there to be near him '-- you want to talk about leeches, parasites,'' Mr. Clay said. ''Let the guy breathe. What are you, parked outside his house? Waiting for him to go, 'You wanna be on the show today?'''

And so, there is now a kind of Rogan sub-economy of comedian-podcasters whom he helped gain exposure, their public personas likewise built in part around scorning political correctness and the institutions associated with it '-- a heady cultural space where it can feel as though left and right converge. When The New York Times emailed one such Rogan friend, Tim Dillon, asking to chat about the host, Mr. Dillon responded with an expletive and posted the exchange to his hundreds of thousands of followers on social media. What followed was a striking testament to Mr. Rogan's eclectic constituencies and their assessment of his treatment in the press.

''New York Times Gearing Up for Hit Piece on Joe Rogan,'' read one segment chyron on the right-wing One America News Network.

''Clearly the knives are out for him,'' Krystal Ball, a left-wing commentator, said on ''Rising,'' the popular establishment-bashing web series she co-hosted until recently.

''If the word 'misinformation' does not appear in the first '-- I'll say '-- first three paragraphs,'' pledged Saagar Enjeti, Ms. Ball's more conservative studio-mate, ''I will eat my own sock on camera.'' (His move.)

Yet if there is any long-term challenge to Mr. Rogan's standing, it is not in saying something so spicy that a newspaper scolds him, or Spotify drops him, or the White House wags its collective finger. It is in running out of things to say.

Relaxing recently at an outdoor bar in Austin after a stand-up set '-- flanked by a muscular associate who stepped in to tell an encroaching reporter, ''If you don't know him, that's not a good idea'' '-- Mr. Rogan bore the markings of a person at peace, staying past 1:30 a.m. to accept praise and kibitz with friends. He held forth beside a game of cornhole, near some skinny-jeaned locals, with a man in close range clutching what looked like a plastic bag full of supplements. He mugged for a few pictures. He danced, briefly, to ''Superfreak'' with an arm in the air, disco-style. Everyone laughed at his jokes.

Here was the guy who caught the car, bought it and piled his buddies in for a road trip to the summit of influence. And it is hard to punch up from the top.

In one episode that week, Mr. Rogan '-- whose enduring efforts to identify cultural overreach can sometimes leave him reaching, as well '-- had lamented the timidity of modern comedies. His argument: Today's America would never allow films like ''Superbad'' or ''Step Brothers,'' raunchy if functionally harmless hits from the late 2000s, to sniff the big screen.

But the ascendant forces of cancellation would not stop there. This is where Mr. Rogan found himself wondering about future gag orders on straight white men '-- and the purported logical extension after that, which would have the privileged class barred from going outdoors, as a kind of reparations, ''because so many people were imprisoned for so many years.''

''I'm not joking,'' Mr. Rogan said.

He seemed to be joking a little. And maybe that uncertainty is its own reward.

''There's a lot of people,'' he said moments later, eye-rolling those who shame the un-woke, ''that are taking advantage of this weirdness in our culture.''

Kitty Bennett contributed research.

Link to Article

Archived Version

Fri, 02 Jul 2021 16:15

'‚ITCOIN '‚RAH 🇸ðŸ‡>>🌋 : @Stoeney1 @UnderSecStateP @nayibbukele Where in the world is NoodlemanTime to bring it back @adamcurry @THErealDVORAK

Fri Jul 02 15:55:33 +0000 2021

Link to Article

Archived Version

Fri, 02 Jul 2021 16:04

N Engl J Med. 2021 Apr 21 : NEJMoa2104983.

Tom T. Shimabukuro, M.D.,

Shin Y. Kim, M.P.H.,

Tanya R. Myers, Ph.D.,

Pedro L. Moro, M.D.,

Titilope Oduyebo, M.D.,

Lakshmi Panagiotakopoulos, M.D.,

Paige L. Marquez, M.S.P.H.,

Christine K. Olson, M.D.,

Ruiling Liu, Ph.D.,

Karen T. Chang, Ph.D.,

Sascha R. Ellington, Ph.D.,

Veronica K. Burkel, M.P.H.,

Ashley N. Smoots, M.P.H.,

Caitlin J. Green, M.P.H.,

Charles Licata, Ph.D.,

Bicheng C. Zhang, M.S.,

Meghna Alimchandani, M.D.,

Adamma Mba-Jonas, M.D.,

Stacey W. Martin, M.S.,

Julianne M. Gee, M.P.H., and

Dana M. Meaney-Delman, M.D., the CDC v-safe COVID-19 Pregnancy Registry Team

*From the Immunization Safety Office, Division of Healthcare Quality Promotion (T.T.S., T.R.M., P.L. Moro, L.P., P.L. Marquez, C.K.O., C.L., B.C.Z., J.M.G.), and the Arboviral Diseases Branch, Division of Vector-Borne Diseases (S.W.M.), National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases, the Division of Birth Defects and Infant Disorders, National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities (S.Y.K., V.K.B., C.J.G., D.M.M.-D.), the Division of Reproductive Health, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (T.O., K.T.C., S.R.E., A.N.S.), the World Trade Center Health Program, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (R.L.), and the Epidemic Intelligence Service (K.T.C.) '-- all at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta; and the Division of Epidemiology, Office of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, Food and Drug Administration, Silver Spring, MD (M.A., A.M.-J.).

Corresponding author.

Address reprint requests to Dr. Shimabukuro at the Immunization Safety Office, Division of Healthcare Quality Promotion, National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1600 Clifton Rd., Atlanta, GA 30329, or at

vog.cdc@orukubamihst.

*The members of the CDC v-safe COVID-19 Pregnancy Registry Team are listed in the

Supplementary Appendix, available at NEJM.org.

Copyright (C) 2021 Massachusetts Medical Society. All rights reserved.

This article is made available via the PMC Open Access Subset for unrestricted re-use, except commercial resale, and analyses in any form or by any means with acknowledgment of the original source. These permissions are granted for the duration of the Covid-19 pandemic or until revoked in writing. Upon expiration of these permissions, PMC is granted a license to make this article available via PMC and Europe PMC, subject to existing copyright protections.

This article has been

cited by other articles in PMC.

Supplementary MaterialsGUID: D96D5592-993D-410D-98B7-3859C600DE0F

GUID: B57039C2-9B49-4819-8E97-C8AF5CEB81EF

GUID: 38EC32FB-796D-441B-A050-D0FFB5EC9C3F

AbstractBackgroundMany pregnant persons in the United States are receiving messenger RNA (mRNA) coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) vaccines, but data are limited on their safety in pregnancy.

MethodsFrom December 14, 2020, to February 28, 2021, we used data from the ''v-safe after vaccination health checker'' surveillance system, the v-safe pregnancy registry, and the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) to characterize the initial safety of mRNA Covid-19 vaccines in pregnant persons.

ResultsA total of 35,691 v-safe participants 16 to 54 years of age identified as pregnant. Injection-site pain was reported more frequently among pregnant persons than among nonpregnant women, whereas headache, myalgia, chills, and fever were reported less frequently. Among 3958 participants enrolled in the v-safe pregnancy registry, 827 had a completed pregnancy, of which 115 (13.9%) resulted in a pregnancy loss and 712 (86.1%) resulted in a live birth (mostly among participants with vaccination in the third trimester). Adverse neonatal outcomes included preterm birth (in 9.4%) and small size for gestational age (in 3.2%); no neonatal deaths were reported. Although not directly comparable, calculated proportions of adverse pregnancy and neonatal outcomes in persons vaccinated against Covid-19 who had a completed pregnancy were similar to incidences reported in studies involving pregnant women that were conducted before the Covid-19 pandemic. Among 221 pregnancy-related adverse events reported to the VAERS, the most frequently reported event was spontaneous abortion (46 cases).

ConclusionsPreliminary findings did not show obvious safety signals among pregnant persons who received mRNA Covid-19 vaccines. However, more longitudinal follow-up, including follow-up of large numbers of women vaccinated earlier in pregnancy, is necessary to inform maternal, pregnancy, and infant outcomes.

The first coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) vaccines available in the United States were messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccines: BNT162b2 (Pfizer''BioNTech) and mRNA-1273 (Moderna). In December 2020, the vaccines were granted Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as a two-dose series, 3 weeks apart for Pfizer''BioNTech and 1 month apart for Moderna, and were recommended for use by the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP).1-4 Pregnant persons were excluded from preauthorization clinical trials, and only limited human data on safety during pregnancy were available at the time of authorization. However, pregnant persons with Covid-19 are at increased risk for severe illness (e.g., resulting in admission to an intensive care unit, extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, or mechanical ventilation) and death, as compared with nonpregnant persons of reproductive age.5 Furthermore, pregnant persons with Covid-19 might be at increased risk for adverse pregnancy outcomes, such as preterm birth, as compared with pregnant persons without Covid-19.6 The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and ACIP, in collaboration with the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and the American Academy of Pediatrics, have issued guidance indicating that Covid-19 vaccines should not be withheld from pregnant persons.7-9

Postauthorization monitoring in pregnant persons is necessary to characterize the safety of these new Covid-19 vaccines, which use mRNA, lipid nanoparticles, and state-of-the-art manufacturing processes. Furthermore, establishing their safety profiles is critical to inform recommendations on maternal vaccination against Covid-19. We report preliminary findings of mRNA Covid-19 vaccine safety in pregnant persons from three U.S. vaccine safety monitoring systems: the ''v-safe after vaccination health checker'' surveillance system,10 the v-safe pregnancy registry,11 and the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS).12

MethodsMonitoring Systems and Covered PopulationsV-safe Surveillance System and Pregnancy Registry V-safe is a new CDC smartphone-based active-surveillance system developed for the Covid-19 vaccination program; enrollment is voluntary. V-safe sends text messages to participants with weblinks to online surveys that assess for adverse reactions and health status during a postvaccination follow-up period. Follow-up continues 12 months after the final dose of a Covid-19 vaccine. During the first week after vaccination with any dose of a Covid-19 vaccine, participants are prompted to report local and systemic signs and symptoms during daily surveys and rank them as mild, moderate, or severe; surveys at all time points assess for events of adverse health effects. If participants indicate that they required medical care at any time point, they are asked to complete a report to the VAERS through active telephone outreach.

To identify persons who received one or both Covid-19 vaccine doses while pregnant or who became pregnant after Covid-19 vaccination, v-safe surveys include pregnancy questions for persons who do not report their sex as male. Persons who identify as pregnant are then contacted by telephone and, if they meet inclusion criteria, are offered enrollment in the v-safe pregnancy registry. Eligible persons are those who received vaccination during pregnancy or in the periconception period (30 days before the last menstrual period through 14 days after) and are 18 years of age or older. For persons who choose to enroll, the pregnancy registry telephone-based survey collects detailed information about the participant, including medical and obstetric history, pregnancy complications, birth outcomes, and contact information for obstetric and pediatric health care providers to obtain medical records; infants are followed through the first 3 months of life. Details about v-safe and v-safe pregnancy registry methods have been published previously.10,11

VAERS The VAERS is a national spontaneous-reporting (passive-surveillance) system established in 1990 that is administered by the CDC and the FDA.12 Anyone can submit a report to the VAERS. Health care providers are required to report certain adverse events after vaccination, including pregnancy-related complications resulting in hospitalization and congenital anomalies, under the conditions of the EUAs for Covid-19 vaccines1,2; the CDC encourages reporting of any clinically significant maternal and infant adverse events. Signs and symptoms of adverse events are coded with the use of the Medical Dictionary for Regulatory Activities (MedDRA), version 23.1.13 We used a pregnancy-status question in the VAERS form and a MedDRA code and text-string search to identify reports involving vaccination in pregnant persons.14

OutcomesV-safe outcomes included participant-reported local and systemic reactogenicity to the BNT162b2 (Pfizer''BioNTech) vaccine and the mRNA-1273 (Moderna) vaccine on the day after vaccination among all pregnant persons 16 to 54 years of age and among nonpregnant women 16 to 54 years of age as a comparator. For analysis of pregnancy outcomes in the v-safe pregnancy registry, data were restricted to completed pregnancies (i.e., live-born infant, spontaneous abortion, induced abortion, or stillbirth). Participant-reported pregnancy outcomes included pregnancy loss (spontaneous abortion and stillbirth) and neonatal outcomes (preterm birth, congenital anomalies, small size for gestational age, and neonatal death) (Table S1 in the Supplementary Appendix, available with the full text of this article at NEJM.org). In the VAERS, outcomes included non''pregnancy-specific adverse events and pregnancy- and neonatal-specific adverse events.

Statistical AnalysisDemographic information and pregnancy characteristics are described for both v-safe and VAERS participants. Descriptive analyses were performed with the use of v-safe survey data for persons who identified as pregnant through February 28, 2021 (35,691 persons); persons enrolled in the v-safe pregnancy registry who were vaccinated through February 28, 2021 (3958 persons); and VAERS reports involving pregnant women received through February 28, 2021 (221 persons). Local and systemic reactogenicity was compared between persons who identified as pregnant and nonpregnant women. Descriptive analyses were conducted with the use of SAS software, version 9.4 (SAS Institute). All activities were reviewed by the CDC and were conducted in accordance with applicable federal law and CDC policy.

ResultsV-safe Surveillance: Local and Systemic Reactogenicity in Pregnant PersonsFrom December 14, 2020, to February 28, 2021, a total of 35,691 v-safe participants identified as pregnant. Age distributions were similar among the participants who received the Pfizer''BioNTech vaccine and those who received the Moderna vaccine, with the majority of the participants being 25 to 34 years of age (61.9% and 60.6% for each vaccine, respectively) and non-Hispanic White (76.2% and 75.4%, respectively); most participants (85.8% and 87.4%, respectively) reported being pregnant at the time of vaccination ( Table 1 ). Solicited reports of injection-site pain, fatigue, headache, and myalgia were the most frequent local and systemic reactions after either dose for both vaccines ( Table 2 ) and were reported more frequently after dose 2 for both vaccines. Participant-measured temperature at or above 38°C was reported by less than 1% of the participants on day 1 after dose 1 and by 8.0% after dose 2 for both vaccines.

Table 1Characteristics of Persons Who Identified as Pregnant in the V-safe Surveillance System and Received an mRNA Covid-19 Vaccine.*

CharacteristicPfizer''BioNTech VaccineModerna VaccineTotalnumber (percent)Total19,252 (53.9)16,439 (46.1)35,691 (100)Age at first vaccine dose16''19 yr23 (0.1)36 (0.2)59 (0.2)20''24 yr469 (2.4)525 (3.2)994 (2.8)25''34 yr11,913 (61.9)9,960 (60.6)21,873 (61.3)35''44 yr6,002 (31.2)5,011 (30.5)11,013 (30.9)45''54 yr845 (4.4)907 (5.5)1,752 (4.9)Pregnancy statusPregnant at time of vaccination16,522 (85.8)14,365 (87.4)30,887 (86.5)Positive pregnancy test after vaccination2,730 (14.2)2,074 (12.6)4,804 (13.5)Race and ethnic group' Participants with available data14,32013,23227,552Non-Hispanic White10,915 (76.2)9,982 (75.4)20,897 (75.8)Hispanic1,289 (9.0)1,364 (10.3)2,653 (9.6)Non-Hispanic Asian972 (6.8)762 (5.8)1,734 (6.3)Non-Hispanic Black371 (2.6)338 (2.6)709 (2.6)Non-Hispanic multiple races315 (2.2)292 (2.2)607 (2.2)Non-Hispanic other race76 (0.5)56 (0.4)132 (0.5)Non-Hispanic American Indian or Alaska Native40 (0.3)54 (0.4)94 (0.3)Non-Hispanic Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander33 (0.2)31 (0.2)64 (0.2)Unknown race or unknown ethnic group309 (2.2)353 (2.7)662 (2.4)Table 2Frequency of Local and Systemic Reactions Reported on the Day after mRNA Covid-19 Vaccination in Pregnant Persons.*

Reported ReactionPfizer''BioNTech VaccineModerna VaccineTotalDose 1(N=9052)Dose 2(N=6638)Dose 1(N=7930)Dose 2(N=5635)Dose 1(N=16,982)Dose 2(N=12,273)number (percent)Injection-site pain7602 (84.0)5886 (88.7)7360 (92.8)5388 (95.6)14,962 (88.1)11,274 (91.9)Fatigue2406 (26.6)4231 (63.7)2616 (33.0)4541 (80.6)5,022 (29.6)8,772 (71.5)Headache1497 (16.5)3138 (47.3)1581 (19.9)3662 (65.0)3,078 (18.1)6,800 (55.4)Myalgia795 (8.8)2916 (43.9)1167 (14.7)3722 (66.1)1,962 (11.6)6,638 (54.1)Chills254 (2.8)1747 (26.3)442 (5.6)2755 (48.9)696 (4.1)4,502 (36.7)Fever or felt feverish256 (2.8)1648 (24.8)453 (5.7)2594 (46.0)709 (4.2)4,242 (34.6)Measured temperature '‰¥38°C30 (0.3)315 (4.7)62 (0.8)664 (11.8)92 (0.5)979 (8.0)Nausea492 (5.4)1356 (20.4)638 (8.0)1909 (33.9)1,130 (6.7)3,265 (26.6)Joint pain209 (2.3)1267 (19.1)342 (4.3)1871 (33.2)551 (3.2)3,138 (25.6)Injection-site swelling318 (3.5)411 (6.2)739 (9.3)1051 (18.7)1,057 (6.2)1,462 (11.9)Abdominal pain117 (1.3)316 (4.8)160 (2.0)401 (7.1)277 (1.6)717 (5.8)Injection-site redness160 (1.8)169 (2.5)348 (4.4)491 (8.7)508 (3.0)660 (5.4)Diarrhea178 (2.0)277 (4.2)189 (2.4)332 (5.9)367 (2.2)609 (5.0)Vomiting82 (0.9)201 (3.0)77 (1.0)357 (6.3)159 (0.9)558 (4.5)Injection-site itching103 (1.1)109 (1.6)157 (2.0)193 (3.4)260 (1.5)302 (2.5)Rash20 (0.2)18 (0.3)22 (0.3)18 (0.3)42 (0.2)36 (0.3)These patterns of reporting, with respect to both most frequently reported solicited reactions and the higher reporting of reactogenicity after dose 2, were similar to patterns observed among nonpregnant women ( Figure 1 ). Small differences in reporting frequency between pregnant persons and nonpregnant women were observed for specific reactions (injection-site pain was reported more frequently among pregnant persons, and other systemic reactions were reported more frequently among nonpregnant women), but the overall reactogenicity profile was similar. Pregnant persons did not report having severe reactions more frequently than nonpregnant women, except for nausea and vomiting, which were reported slightly more frequently only after dose 2 (Table S3).

Most Frequent Local and Systemic Reactions Reported in the V-safe Surveillance System on the Day after mRNA Covid-19 Vaccination.Shown are solicited reactions in pregnant persons and nonpregnant women 16 to 54 years of age who received a messenger RNA (mRNA) coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) vaccine '-- BNT162b2 (Pfizer''BioNTech) or mRNA-1273 (Moderna) '-- from December 14, 2020, to February 28, 2021. The percentage of respondents was calculated among those who completed a day 1 survey, with the top events shown of injection-site pain (pain), fatigue or tiredness (fatigue), headache, muscle or body aches (myalgia), chills, and fever or felt feverish (fever).

V-safe Pregnancy Registry: Pregnancy Outcomes and Neonatal OutcomesAs of March 30, 2021, the v-safe pregnancy registry call center attempted to contact 5230 persons who were vaccinated through February 28, 2021, and who identified during a v-safe survey as pregnant at or shortly after Covid-19 vaccination. Of these, 912 were unreachable, 86 declined to participate, and 274 did not meet inclusion criteria (e.g., were never pregnant, were pregnant but received vaccination more than 30 days before the last menstrual period, or did not provide enough information to determine eligibility). The registry enrolled 3958 participants with vaccination from December 14, 2020, to February 28, 2021, of whom 3719 (94.0%) identified as health care personnel. Among enrolled participants, most were 25 to 44 years of age (98.8%), non-Hispanic White (79.0%), and, at the time of interview, did not report a Covid-19 diagnosis during pregnancy (97.6%) ( Table 3 ). Receipt of a first dose of vaccine meeting registry-eligibility criteria was reported by 92 participants (2.3%) during the periconception period, by 1132 (28.6%) in the first trimester of pregnancy, by 1714 (43.3%) in the second trimester, and by 1019 (25.7%) in the third trimester (1 participant was missing information to determine the timing of vaccination) ( Table 3 ). Among 1040 participants (91.9%) who received a vaccine in the first trimester and 1700 (99.2%) who received a vaccine in the second trimester, initial data had been collected and follow-up scheduled at designated time points approximately 10 to 12 weeks apart; limited follow-up calls had been made at the time of this analysis.

Table 3Characteristics of V-safe Pregnancy Registry Participants.*

CharacteristicPfizer''BioNTech VaccineModerna VaccineTotalnumber (percent)Total2136 (54.0)1822 (46.0)3958 (100)Age at first vaccine dose' 20''24 yr17 (0.8)19 (1.0)36 (0.9)25''34 yr1335 (62.5)1238 (67.9)2573 (65.0)35''44 yr777 (36.4)560 (30.7)1337 (33.8)45''54 yr7 (0.3)5 (0.3)12 (0.3)Race and ethnic group'Non-Hispanic White1663 (77.9)1463 (80.3)3126 (79.0)Hispanic164 (7.7)151 (8.3)315 (8.0)Non-Hispanic Asian225 (10.5)138 (7.6)363 (9.2)Non-Hispanic Black24 (1.1)26 (1.4)50 (1.3)Non-Hispanic multiple races42 (2.0)30 (1.6)72 (1.8)Non-Hispanic American Indian or Alaskan Native5 (0.2)1 (0.1)6 (0.2)Non-Hispanic Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander6 (0.3)3 (0.2)9 (0.2)Missing data or participant declined to answer7 (0.3)10 (0.5)17 (0.4)Timing of first eligible dosePericonception: within 30 days before last menstrual period55 (2.6)37 (2.0)92 (2.3)First trimester: <14 wk615 (28.8)517 (28.4)1132 (28.6)Second trimester: '‰¥14 and <28 wk932 (43.6)782 (42.9)1714 (43.3)Third trimester: '‰¥28 wk533 (25.0)486 (26.7)1019 (25.7)Missing data1 (<0.1)01 (<0.1)Covid-19 infection during pregnancyNo Covid-19 infection2084 (97.6)1779 (97.6)3863 (97.6)Before vaccination32 (1.5)24 (1.3)56 (1.4)'‰¤14 days after first eligible dose of vaccination3 (0.1)7 (0.4)10 (0.3)>14 days after first eligible dose of vaccination9 (0.4)3 (0.2)12 (0.3)Missing data8 (0.4)9 (0.5)17 (0.4)Among 827 participants who had a completed pregnancy, the pregnancy resulted in a live birth in 712 (86.1%), in a spontaneous abortion in 104 (12.6%), in stillbirth in 1 (0.1%), and in other outcomes (induced abortion and ectopic pregnancy) in 10 (1.2%). A total of 96 of 104 spontaneous abortions (92.3%) occurred before 13 weeks of gestation ( Table 4 ), and 700 of 712 pregnancies that resulted in a live birth (98.3%) were among persons who received their first eligible vaccine dose in the third trimester. Adverse outcomes among 724 live-born infants '-- including 12 sets of multiple gestation '-- were preterm birth (60 of 636 among those vaccinated before 37 weeks [9.4%]), small size for gestational age (23 of 724 [3.2%]), and major congenital anomalies (16 of 724 [2.2%]); no neonatal deaths were reported at the time of interview. Among the participants with completed pregnancies who reported congenital anomalies, none had received Covid-19 vaccine in the first trimester or periconception period, and no specific pattern of congenital anomalies was observed. Calculated proportions of pregnancy and neonatal outcomes appeared similar to incidences published in the peer-reviewed literature ( Table 4 ).

Table 4Pregnancy Loss and Neonatal Outcomes in Published Studies and V-safe Pregnancy Registry Participants.

Participant-Reported OutcomePublished Incidence*V-safe Pregnancy Registry' %no./total no. (%)Pregnancy loss among participants with a completed pregnancySpontaneous abortion: <20 wk15-1710''26104/827 (12.6)'Stillbirth: '‰¥ 20 wk18-20<11/725 (0.1)§Neonatal outcome among live-born infantsPreterm birth: <37 wk21,228''1560/636 (9.4)¶Small size for gestational age23,24'–3.523/724 (3.2)Congenital anomalies25**316/724 (2.2)Neonatal death26' ' <10/724Adverse-Event Findings on the VAERSDuring the analysis period, the VAERS received and processed 221 reports involving Covid-19 vaccination among pregnant persons; 155 (70.1%) involved nonpregnancy-specific adverse events, and 66 (29.9%) involved pregnancy- or neonatal-specific adverse events (Table S4). The most frequently reported pregnancy-related adverse events were spontaneous abortion (46 cases; 37 in the first trimester, 2 in the second trimester, and 7 in which the trimester was unknown or not reported), followed by stillbirth, premature rupture of membranes, and vaginal bleeding, with 3 reports for each. No congenital anomalies were reported to the VAERS, a requirement under the EUAs.

DiscussionThis U.S. surveillance review of the safety of mRNA Covid-19 vaccines during pregnancy and the periconception period indicates that some pregnant persons in the United States are choosing to be vaccinated against Covid-19 in all trimesters of pregnancy. Solicited local and systemic reactions that were reported to the v-safe surveillance system were similar among persons who identified as pregnant and nonpregnant women. Although not directly comparable, the proportions of adverse pregnancy and neonatal outcomes (e.g., fetal loss, preterm birth, small size for gestational age, congenital anomalies, and neonatal death) among participants with completed pregnancies from the v-safe pregnancy registry appear to be similar to the published incidences in pregnant populations studied before the Covid-19 pandemic.15-26 Many participants in the v-safe pregnancy registry were included in the phase 1a (highest) priority group for Covid-19 vaccination owing to their work as health care personnel.27 V-safe participation is voluntary, and registration information is not uniformly available at all vaccination locations, although information about the surveillance system is included on the EUA fact sheets for health care providers and patients. Thus, comparisons of the proportions of vaccinated women with these outcomes to previously published estimates are limited by likely differences between these populations in age, ethnic group, and other social, demographic, and clinical characteristics that are known to be associated with pregnancy and neonatal outcomes. However, such comparisons are helpful to provide a crude sense of whether there are any unexpected safety signals in these early data. At the time of this analysis, just 14.7% of persons who identified as pregnant in the v-safe surveillance system had been contacted to offer enrollment in the pregnancy registry.

Other limitations should also be noted. As with all participant-reported surveillance systems, mistakes in completion of v-safe health surveys can result in misclassification of participants as pregnant; as a result, data for local and systemic reactions that participants reported to the v-safe platform may include some reports from nonpregnant persons. Participants are not required to complete surveys at the same time every day, and our ability to assess onset or duration of adverse events, such as fever, is limited. The registry data are preliminary, are from a small sample, and describe mostly neonatal outcomes from third-trimester vaccination; the findings may change as additional pregnancy outcomes are reported and the sample size increases, which may facilitate detection of rare outcomes. We were unable to evaluate adverse outcomes that might occur in association with exposures earlier in pregnancy, such as congenital anomalies, because no pregnant persons who were vaccinated early in pregnancy have had live births captured in the v-safe pregnancy registry to date; follow-up is ongoing. In addition, the proportion of pregnant persons who reported spontaneous abortion may not reflect true postvaccination proportions because participants might have been vaccinated after the period of greatest risk in the first trimester, and very early pregnancy losses might not be recognized. Whereas some pregnancies with vaccination in the first and early second trimester have been completed, the majority are ongoing, and a direct comparison of outcomes on the basis of timing of vaccination is needed to define the proportion of spontaneous abortions in this cohort. Because of sample-size constraints, both pregnancy and neonatal outcomes were calculated as a proportion instead of a rate.

Our preliminary analysis uses participant-reported data and has limited information on other potential risk factors for adverse pregnancy and neonatal outcomes. The VAERS is subject to the limitations of passive surveillance.12 Despite EUA mandatory reporting requirements and CDC guidance on VAERS reporting, there is probably substantial underreporting of pregnancy- and neonatal-specific adverse events. We also do not know the total number of Covid-19 vaccine doses administered to pregnant persons, which further limits our ability to estimate rates of reported adverse events from VAERS data. Among pregnancy-specific conditions reported to the VAERS after Covid-19 vaccination, miscarriage was the most common. This is similar to what was observed during the influenza A (H1N1) pandemic in 2009 after the introduction of the 2009 H1N1 inactivated influenza vaccine, where miscarriage was the most common adverse event reported by pregnant persons who received that vaccine.28

In addition to vaccination protecting women against Covid-19 and its complications during pregnancy, emerging evidence has shown transplacental transfer of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) antibodies after maternal Covid-19 vaccination during the third trimester, which suggests that maternal vaccination might provide some level of protection to the neonate.29-32 However, we do not have data on antibody transfer and level of protection relative to the timing of vaccination. The CDC and the FDA are continuing to monitor and disseminate information about the safety of mRNA and additional types of Covid-19 vaccines in pregnant persons.

Early data from the v-safe surveillance system, the v-safe pregnancy registry, and the VAERS do not indicate any obvious safety signals with respect to pregnancy or neonatal outcomes associated with Covid-19 vaccination in the third trimester of pregnancy. Continued monitoring is needed to further assess maternal, pregnancy, neonatal, and childhood outcomes associated with maternal Covid-19 vaccination, including in earlier stages of pregnancy and during the preconception period. Meanwhile, the present data can help inform decision making about vaccination by pregnant persons and their health care providers.

AcknowledgmentsWe thank the v-safe participants, the members of the Oracle v-safe development team for their contributions, and the members of the CDC COVID-19 Response Team for their support.

NotesThe findings and conclusions in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official position of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) or the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Mention of a product or company name is for identification purposes only and does not constitute endorsement by the CDC or the FDA. All authors are U.S. government employees or U.S. government contractors and do not have any material conflicts of interest. Oracle provided in-kind technical support to build and maintain the v-safe after vaccination health checker infrastructure for data capture and messaging to participants.

This article was published on April 21, 2021, at NEJM.org.

A data sharing statement provided by the authors is available with the full text of this article at NEJM.org.

FootnotesDisclosure forms provided by the authors are available with the full text of this article at NEJM.org.

References1.

Food and Drug Administration. Fact sheet for healthcare providers administering vaccine (vaccination providers): emergency use authorization (EUA) of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine to prevent coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)

. 2021. (https://www.fda.gov/media/144413/download).2.

Food and Drug Administration. Fact sheet for healthcare providers administering vaccine (vaccination providers): emergency use authorization (EUA) of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine to prevent coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)

. 2021. (https://www.fda.gov/media/144637/download).3.

Oliver SE, Gargano JW, Marin M, et al. The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices' interim recommendation for use of Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine '-- United States, December 2020. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 2020; 69 :1922-1924. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar] 4.

Oliver SE, Gargano JW, Marin M, et al. The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices' interim recommendation for use of Moderna COVID-19 vaccine '-- United States, December 2020. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 2021; 69 :1653-1656. [PubMed] [Google Scholar] 5.

Zambrano LD, Ellington S, Strid P, et al. Update: characteristics of symptomatic women of reproductive age with laboratory-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection by pregnancy status '-- United States, January 22''October 3, 2020. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 2020; 69 :1641-1647. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar] 6.

Allotey J, Stallings E, Bonet M, et al. Clinical manifestations, risk factors, and maternal and perinatal outcomes of coronavirus disease 2019 in pregnancy: living systematic review and meta-analysis. BMJ 2020; 370 :m3320-m3320. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar] 12.

Shimabukuro TT, Nguyen M, Martin D, DeStefano F. Safety monitoring in the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS).

Vaccine 2015; 33 :4398-4405. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar] 16.

American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists' Committee on Practice Bulletins '-- Gynecology. ACOG practice bulletin no. 200: early pregnancy loss.

Obstet Gynecol 2018; 132 ( 5 ):e197-e207. [PubMed] [Google Scholar] 17.

Practice Committee of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine. Evaluation and treatment of recurrent pregnancy loss: a committee opinion.

Fertil Steril 2012; 98 :1103-1111. [PubMed] [Google Scholar] 18.

Hoyert DL, Gregory ECW. Cause-of-death data from the fetal death file, 2015-2017.

Natl Vital Stat Rep 2020; 69 ( 4 ):1-20. [PubMed] [Google Scholar] 19.

MacDorman MF, Gregory ECW. Fetal and perinatal mortality: United States, 2013.

Natl Vital Stat Rep 2015; 64 ( 8 ):1-24. [PubMed] [Google Scholar] 20.

Panagiotakopoulos L, McCarthy NL, Tepper NK, et al. Evaluating the association of stillbirths after maternal vaccination in the Vaccine Safety Datalink. Obstet Gynecol 2020; 136 :1086-1094. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar] 21.

Ferr(C) C, Callaghan W, Olson C, Sharma A, Barfield W. Effects of maternal age and age-specific preterm birth rates on overall preterm birth rates '-- United States, 2007 and 2014.

MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 2016; 65 :1181-1184. [PubMed] [Google Scholar] 23.

Boghossian NS, Geraci M, Edwards EM, Horbar JD. Morbidity and mortality in small for gestational age infants at 22 to 29 weeks' gestation.

Pediatrics 2018; 141 ( 2 ):e20172533-e20172533. [PubMed] [Google Scholar] 24.

Francis A, Hugh O, Gardosi J. Customized vs INTERGROWTH-21st standards for the assessment of birthweight and stillbirth risk at term.

Am J Obstet Gynecol 2018; 218 : Suppl :S692-S699. [PubMed] [Google Scholar] 25.

Update on overall prevalence of major birth defects '-- Atlanta, Georgia, 1978''2005.

MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 2008; 57 :1-5. [PubMed] [Google Scholar] 27.

Dooling K, McClung N, Chamberland M, et al. The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices' interim recommendation for allocating initial supplies of COVID-19 vaccine '-- United States, 2020. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 2020; 69 :1857-1859. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar] 28.

Moro PL, Broder K, Zheteyeva Y, et al. Adverse events following administration to pregnant women of influenza A (H1N1) 2009 monovalent vaccine reported to the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System. Am J Obstet Gynecol 2011; 205 ( 5 ):473.e1-473.e9. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar] 30.

Gray KJ, Bordt EA, Atyeo C, et al. COVID-19 vaccine response in pregnant and lactating women: a cohort study. Am J Obstet Gynecol 2021. March24(Epub ahead of print). [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar] 31.

Paul G, Chad R. Newborn antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 detected in cord blood after maternal vaccination '-- a case report.

BMC Pediatr 2021; 21 :138-138. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar] 32.

Gill L, Jones CW. Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) antibodies in neonatal cord blood after vaccination in pregnancy.

Obstet Gynecol 2021. March8(Epub ahead of print). [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Link to Article

Archived Version

Fri, 02 Jul 2021 16:00

The ''full'' approval of Pfizer's and Moderna's COVID-19 vaccines will almost certainly boost sagging vaccination rates in the U.S., though the Food and Drug Administration's decision might not come until the end of the year.

The Pfizer Inc. PFE, +0.37% and Moderna Inc. MRNA, -0.74% vaccines, along with Johnson & Johnson's JNJ, +0.77% COVID-19 shot, have received emergency-use authorization, a less rigorous category of approval granted by the FDA that allowed the vaccines to be distributed more quickly during a critical stage of the public health emergency.

Though an FDA decision isn't required until the end of the year, people are already evaluating how a formal approval would impact lagging vaccination rates in the U.S. amid a murky landscape for required immunization in the U.S.

More than 153 million people in the U.S., or roughly 46% of the total population, have voluntarily chosen to get vaccinated, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

But a recent slowdown in U.S. immunizations has led to dozens of incentive programs that aim to encourage people to get a shot by offering them lottery tickets, free doughnuts, and extra vacation days or paid time off from employers like American Airlines Group Inc. AAL, -0.44% and McDonald's Corp. MCD, +0.66% . (Some of these programs are already shutting down, often due to waning interest.)

All signs point to a boost, whatever its magnitude, in the ongoing COVID-19 vaccination campaign in the U.S. if and when the vaccines are formally approved.

Approval will allow drug manufacturers to advertise their vaccines and, in some cases, set their own prices. It may also mean that employers and schools will have an established legal precedent to require vaccination, and it could tip people in the wait-and-see category to get vaccinated once they know the vaccines have gone through a more rigorous regulatory screening.

''A third of people who are unvaccinated said that they'd be more likely to get the vaccine if '... one of the vaccines received full approval from the FDA,'' said Liz Hamel, director of public opinion and survey research at the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, which has studied COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy.

A full FDA approval could help the lagging vaccination rate in the U.S.

About 12% of unvaccinated people in the U.S. are part of the wait-and-see group, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. They tend to be young adults and Black adults.

For some people, approval sounds safer than emergency authorization. ''We hear people say, it's just experimental at this point. It's not approved yet,'' Hamel said. ''They hear terms like 'emergency,' and then they are just still cautious.''

Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson said the state needs full approval to combat vaccine hesitancy. ''It was approved as emergency use,'' the Republican told ''Face the Nation'' this weekend. ''And so, for that reason, you can't mandate it.''

An FDA approval for a COVID-19 vaccine requires six months of follow-up data from the clinical trial, three times the two months' worth of follow-up data used to inform emergency authorization.

The regulator has 60 days after the companies submit their applications to decide if it is going to grant ''priority review,'' a designation that requires the federal agency to make a decision whether or not to approve the vaccine within six months. Pfizer said it submitted its application on May 7; Moderna followed, on June 1, with its submission.

Between 6% and 7% of unvaccinated Americans say they'll get a shot only if they are required by an employer or a school, or to travel. While some employers already require vaccinations '-- the Houston Methodist hospital system in Texas went to legal lengths to enforce its vaccine mandate, and Morgan Stanley MS, -0.48% is reportedly requiring immunization for returning employees '-- these kinds of requirements are not the norm.

The U.S. military, with its 1.3 million active-duty members, has not required vaccination but has suggested mandatory vaccination would be on the table once a vaccine, or vaccines, is fully approved. President Joe Biden has said he would leave that decision in the hands of the military brass.

''Some people will respond to incentives, and some will respond to requirements,'' the Kaiser Family Foundation's Hamel said.

We'll see TV ads promoting vaccines.

Right now, drug companies are limited in what they are allowed to say about their vaccines based on the rules of emergency authorization. They can't advertise the vaccines to the public or to prescribers '-- or proactively explain the safety and effectiveness of their shots.

''You essentially have to stick to the script that's in the EUA,'' said Cody Powers, a COVID-19 vaccine expert at ZS, a pharmaceutical consulting firm. ''You can't make explicit claims about safety and effectiveness.''

If and when FDA approvals are granted, companies like Moderna and Pfizer may stay cautious in their approach to marketing COVID-19 vaccines in the U.S. There likely will be worries about corporate profit motivations during a global pandemic.

''If they feel like they're jeopardizing both their own perception and the success of overall inoculations in the U.S., they might step back,'' Powers said.

Drug manufacturers usually start with disease-awareness campaigns for new products and then later launch brand campaigns that seek to either raise awareness of their particular offering or to differentiate it.

But this moment in time is very different. The American public already knows about the vaccines and their makers. In fact, many people are well-versed in efficacy rates from the clinical trials and even how the FDA regulatory process works. That means we already have perceptions of each vaccine, whether that's sillier ones, like the TikTok idea that Pfizer's vaccine is for ''hot'' people, or the more worrisome view that the Johnson & Johnson single shot is not as ''good'' as the two-dose mRNA vaccines.

''When you can make claims about the vaccine, then all the promotional machinery around that claim turns on,'' Powers said. ''It's a really weird situation for most manufacturers, where they're actually having to make decisions about whether to just roll with what they've inherited or try to change people's perceptions.''

The price of at least one vaccine may eventually go up.

Moderna will also gain more control over the pricing of its vaccine once it is approved, according to remarks made earlier this month by CEO St(C)phane Bancel.

The price of Moderna's shot works out to $15 per dose, in comparison with the $19.50 charged by Pfizer. A primary difference in the pricing rationale is that Moderna (and J&J) received funding from the National Institutes of Health for their clinical trials, while Pfizer did not. That's why Pfizer, which developed its vaccine with the German biotech company BioNTech BNTX, -0.18% 22UA, -0.71% , had more price-setting freedom.

With approval, ''we should be able to go into the private market,'' Moderna's Bancel told investors. ''The price is pretty low because at the time the deal was done there was no clinical data.'' '-- Jaimy Lee

Colleges are going to lead the way when it comes to requiring vaccines in educational settings.

Hundreds of colleges in the U.S. have announced vaccine requirements for students and, less often, employees. But full FDA approval is expected to broaden both the number of schools mandating vaccination and the scope of the requirements in place.

The California Institute of Technology said it will start requiring vaccination for students, faculty and staff once full approval is granted. Others including Pennsylvania State University are incentivizing students to get vaccinated, offering the chance to win a $1,000, or Barnes & Noble gift cards, or a football signed by the Penn State head coach. The school is also ''strongly encouraging'' everyone in its community to get vaccinated.

''There's a lot of indication that there are other universities that are [awaiting full FDA vaccine approval] to mandate,'' said Dorit Rubinstein Reiss, a professor at the University of California Hastings College of the Law.

University administrations, faculty and students are eager to return to some semblance of normalcy '-- and widespread vaccination could be key to this effort. The American College Health Association, which represents college health and wellness professionals, said in May that if campuses require vaccination and transmission in the off-campus community is low, then testing, masking and distancing requirements could be relaxed.

That said, it's likely going to take longer before we see widespread vaccination requirements for K-12 students. Pfizer's vaccine most likely won't be authorized for children 6 and over until autumn. (It was authorized in early May for 12- to 15-year-olds.)

States have the power to mandate vaccination as a condition of attending public or private school, but the courts are likely to limit states to mandating vaccines that have full FDA approval, according to Lawrence Gostin, director of the World Health Organization Collaborating Center on National & Global Health Law.

It's unlikely the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention would recommend a school mandate until there's more data on the impact of the vaccine on young children, Gostin wrote in an email. The CDC is recommending that children and teens who are at least 12 get the vaccine.

In a recent opinion piece published in JAMA, Gostin and two co-authors said they worried that COVID-19 vaccine mandates for children could create public backlash that would undermine the vaccine rollout. Once there's longer-term safety data, including what is called ''post-marketing surveillance data'' on the vaccine, and high public acceptance of it, Gostin said he expects the CDC to recommend vaccination in children as a condition of going to school in person. '-- Jillian Berman

More employers '-- or at least several more '-- will make vaccination a requirement.

Heated emotions, worker shortages and legal questions have turned employer vaccination mandates into a tricky topic.

Full FDA approval might prompt more mandatory vaccination policies, but don't expect a wave of companies requiring staff to get COVID-19 shots, said attorney Patricia Pryor.

''I don't think it will be a lot more, quite honestly,'' said Pryor, a principal at law firm Jackson Lewis, where she represents company management. ''When we are in the situation we are in now, where employers are desperate to find workers, a lot of them can't take the practical risk of chasing workers out.''

Even now, with emergency authorizations in place, guidance from federal workplace regulators and a recent court decision backing Houston Methodist's mandatory vaccination policy are already clearing the way for bosses to insist on vaccination for in-person work.

Nevertheless, polling suggests many businesses aren't forcing the issue. Just 3% of companies in a recent survey said they were requiring shots, and a 4.8% national average of small businesses said they were doing the same, according to Census Bureau data.

Even if it does little more than chip away at the margins, a full FDA stamp of approval could both sway management at some companies to consider a mandate and persuade some reluctant workers to get their shots, while dissuading others from seeking to fight the requirement in court, Pryor observed.

The now-dismissed lawsuit challenging the Houston Methodist system's policy, as well as several other pending cases, argue employers cannot mandate vaccinations that are available only under emergency-use authorization. The case is being appealed. At least 150 workers have lost their jobs as a result of the hospital-system mandate.

It's possible hospitals and healthcare providers will be the source of most future COVID-19 vaccine mandates, Pryor said. But that doesn't make hospitals immune to larger economic forces. ''They, like everyone, have that labor-shortage issue, and they'd better have a plan in place to address it,'' she said. '-- Andrew Keshner

International travel mandates are setting the tone for airlines and cruise operators, but broad requirements aren't expected in the U.S.

With Americans on the move again, pressure has built on travel companies to come up with policies toward vaccination.

Here's how complicated some of the airline policies are:

' American Airlines Group Inc. AAL is not requiring vaccinations for staff or passengers, though a spokesperson said in a statement that the company is encouraging employees to get vaccinated and that employees will be required to do so if they are traveling to a destination that mandates COVID-19 immunization.

' Delta Air Lines Inc. DAL is requiring new but not current employees to be immunized. It doesn't expect the U.S. government to require vaccines for domestic travel, but other countries might, according to a spokesperson.

That said, dozens of countries are requiring American travelers to be vaccinated, including Bermuda, Ecuador, Greece and France, according to reports.

And Celebrity Cruises Inc., a privately held cruise line, recently said all of its ships will have vaccinated crew members, and all guests from the U.S. who are at least 12 years old must be vaccinated, beginning Aug. 1. A ship that set sail on Saturday was the first to leave a U.S. port in more than a year, the company said.

Link to Article

Archived Version

Fri, 02 Jul 2021 15:58

Richard Brock | Jan 03, 2008

China's commerce ministry on Tuesday imposed export quotas on flour made from wheat, corn and rice to help stabilize domestic grain prices and guarantee the country's grain security.

The quota restriction was in addition to a 25% export tax on wheat flour announced by the finance ministry a day earlier. It gave no grace period. The ministry earlier removed a 13% tax rebate on exports of grains and flour.

According to Reuters News Service, the decision surprised most wheat flour exporters, who are expected to cancel some shipments to buyers in southeast Asia.

"It will be a bad year for us. The policy was a complete surprise. Many mills will have to breach contracts," Dong Yuefei, a sales manager with Shandong Banqiu Flour Mill, a major exporter, told Reuters.

The policy change highlights Beijing's mounting concern over its supplies and rising food prices in a tight global wheat market after drought cut production in major producing countries, including Australia and Canada.

Reduced exports from China could raise prices of staples like flour and bread in southeast Asia, which already faces reduced shipments from drought-hit Australia, the world's second-largest wheat exporter.

India last week scrapped import duties on wheat flour, to try to keep a lid on prices.

China became a major wheat and wheat flour exporter last year as high freight rates and record world wheat prices made U.S and Australian wheat uncompetitive in southeast Asia.

China's exports of wheat flour rose to more than 1 million metric tons in 2007, up sharply from only 200,000 tons in 2006, analysts estimated.

The shift to exporting flour, rather than bulk grain, came after Beijing stopped issuing fresh export quotas for wheat and corn in the second half of 2007, in an effort to curb inflation.

Editor's note: Richard Brock, The Corn And Soybean Digest's Marketing Editor, is president of Brock Associates, a farm market advisory firm, and publisher of The Brock Report.

Link to Article

Archived Version

Fri, 02 Jul 2021 15:40

U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen speaks during a news conference, after attending the G7 finance ministers meeting, at Winfield House in London, Britain June 5, 2021.

Justin Tallis | Reuters

WASHINGTON - Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen announced Thursday that a group of 130 nations has agreed to a global minimum tax on corporations, part of a broader agreement to overhaul international tax rules.

If widely enacted, the GMT would effectively end the practice of global corporations seeking out low-tax jurisdictions like Ireland and the British Virgin Islands to move their headquarters to, even though their customers, operations and executives are located elsewhere.

"For decades, the United States has participated in a self-defeating international tax competition, lowering our corporate tax rates only to watch other nations lower theirs in response. The result was a global race to the bottom: Who could lower their corporate rate further and faster? No nation has won this race," said Yellen in a statement on the accord.

"Today's agreement by 130 countries representing more than 90 percent of global GDP is a clear sign: the race to the bottom is one step closer to coming to an end," Yellen said.

The deal also reportedly includes a framework to eliminate digital services taxes, which targeted the biggest American tech companies.

In their place, officials agreed to a new tax plan that would be linked to the places where multinationals are actually doing business, rather than where they are headquartered.

Much of the groundwork for adopting a GMT has already been laid by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, which released a blueprint last fall outlining a two-pillar approach to international taxation.

The OECD Inclusive Framework on Base Erosion and Profit Shifting, known as BEPS, is the product of negotiations with 137 member countries and jurisdictions.

Yellen's announcement did not include the actual rate at which the GMT would be set, but the Biden administration has pushed for at least 15%.

G-20 finance ministers and central bank governors are scheduled to meet in Venice, Italy, later this month, and the international tax plan is expected to be high on the agenda.

The GMT agreement represents a key part of what President Joe Biden has called "a foreign policy for the middle class."

The strategy, devised in part by Biden's national security adviser Jake Sullivan, emphasizes how foreign policy and domestic policy can be integrated into a new middle ground between the traditional conservative and liberal approaches to global affairs.

"Foreign policy for the middle class" aims to ensure that globalization, trade, human rights and military might are all harnessed for the benefit of working Americans, not solely for billionaires and multinational corporations, but not for abstract ideological reasons either.

Link to Article

Archived Version

Fri, 02 Jul 2021 15:39

''Facebook has said it's taking action to address the proliferation of COVID-19 vaccine misinformation on its site,'' Abbie McDonough, director of communications for Racine, told POLITICO. ''But then when pressed to show its work, Facebook refused. AG Racine's investigation aims to make sure Facebook is truly taking all steps possible to minimize vaccine misinformation on its site and support public health.''

In response to the subpoena, Facebook spokesperson Andy Stone said in a statement that the company has "removed more than 18 million pieces of content on Facebook and Instagram that violate our COVID-19 and vaccine misinformation policies, and labeled more than 167 million pieces of COVID-19 content rated false by our network of fact checking partners."

Misinformation efforts under the microscope: Facebook and other tech companies have faced immense pressure from Democratic leaders in Washington to crack down more forcefully against misleading news about the pandemic, which they fear have contributed to widespread vaccine hesitancy and anti-masking sentiment.

Republicans, meanwhile, have skewered Facebook for over-policing claims about the origin of the virus. The company recently announced it would no longer take down posts claiming Covid-19 was man-made, as first reported by POLITICO, a move that came amid surging speculation that the virus may have accidentally leaked from a lab in China.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, the tech giant has taken steps to combat coronavirus misinformation, including expanding the pool of health posts the platform will label as misleading and surfacing reliable information about the virus from global health authorities to users.

Link to Article

Archived Version

Fri, 02 Jul 2021 15:38

An east Melbourne suburb will soon make it illegal for cats to roam free from their owner's home under a new 24-hour cat curfew.

Cats will be required to remain inside residential private properties, but can venture into the front and back yards and garages, in a bid to keep felines off the streets.

Knox City Council is encouraging cat owners to create cat enclosures or cat-proof fences before the local government law is enforced in October.

7News understands the Knox City Council will issue warnings in the first six months of the curfew, but after that will impose fines if a cat is spotted outside a property.

An AU$91 fine will be handed down if it's a first warning, but owners could be fined up to AU$545 for continuous breaches.

''Either we'd have to build another fence to section it off or we'd have to cover the whole backyard, which would be expensive,'' local cat owner Charlotte Jensen told 7NEWS.

Knox City Council will also conduct random door knocks to check for unregistered pets, with an AU$330 fine for failure to do so.

Link to Article

Archived Version

Fri, 02 Jul 2021 15:38

A Florida anti-censorship law threatening to fine social media platforms if they censor political candidates or discriminate on a viewpoint basis was blocked by a federal judge, who said it would threaten their editorial judgment.

Florida SB 7072, signed into law by Republican Governor Ron DeSantis in May, was scheduled to go into effect on July 1. On Wednesday evening, however, US District Court Judge Robert Hinkle issued an injunction blocking it.

The preliminary injunction is a victory for Silicon Valley and a setback for conservatives in Florida's government who had advocated for the measure as a way to rein in Big Tech's alleged liberal agenda https://t.co/uTrkIV0Ncv

'-- CNN (@CNN) July 1, 2021Hinkle was responding to a lawsuit by two Silicon Valley trade associations, NetChoice LLC and Computer & Communications Industry Association, who argued that the law violated their First Amendment rights by ''interfering with the providers' editorial judgment, compelling speech, and prohibiting speech,'' among other things.

''Balancing the exchange of ideas among private speakers is not a legitimate governmental interest,'' Hinkle argued in the 31-page ruling, nor is ''leveling the playing field'' by promoting speech on one side of the issue or another.

He also agreed with the plaintiffs that the ''actual motivation'' for the law was hostility towards Big Tech's ''perceived liberal viewpoint,'' citing public statements DeSantis made about the bill.

The judge says Gov. DeSantis' extensive public remarks about how Florida's social media rules were meant to attack the perceived liberal bias of tech companies really torpedoed any chance that it could be permissible under the First Am. pic.twitter.com/jSqT6HrzW7

'-- Brad Heath (@bradheath) July 1, 2021The judge went even further, arguing that social media platforms need to exercise ''editorial judgment'' much like the traditional media in order to curate their content, without which their sites would become ''unacceptable'' and ''useless'' to most users.

Platforms sometimes block users for ''engaging in fraud, spreading a foreign government's disinformation, inciting a riot or insurrection, providing false medical or public-health information, or attempting to entice minors for sexual encounters,'' Hinkle wrote, listing the grounds Silicon Valley has invoked to ban thousands of people over the past several years '' including then-President Donald Trump in January.

Also on rt.com New law enables residents de-platformed by Big Tech to sue for up to $100,000 in Florida Social media companies have used Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act to claim blanket immunity from content liability lawsuits, on grounds of being platforms and not publishers '' a distinction Hinkle's explanation seems to erase.

While DeSantis himself has not commented on the case '' apparently focusing on the ongoing search and rescue operations at the collapsed condominium in Surfside '' his office told the Daily Caller they are ''disappointed'' by the ruling and plan to ''immediately'' appeal the case to the Eleventh Circuit.

The appeals court has sided with DeSantis over Hinkle once before, in a 2020 case where the judge appointed by President Bill Clinton had ruled a law requiring convicted felons to pay fines, fees and restitution before getting their voting rights back was unconstitutional.

Think your friends would be interested? Share this story!

Link to Article

Archived Version

Fri, 02 Jul 2021 15:23

Trump's former spokesman, Jason Miller, is leading the platform, he confirmed via text. Former Trump campaign spokesperson Tim Murtaugh is involved as a consultant on the app.

Trump's involvement with the project is unclear as is whether or not he will set up an account on GETTR and use it.

''The former president is going to make his own decision, it's certainly there and ready for him should he make the decision '-- we would welcome that. There is an account reserved for him and waiting for him but that's a decision for him to make,'' said a person involved with the app.

The former president has been looking for alternative ways to engage with his base online after having been booted off Twitter and suspended from Facebook. And his prior effort to engage online'--through the launch of a professional blog'--ended quickly amid widespread ridicule and poor readership. This new venture may also raise questions about privacy, including whether it harvests information about its users' Twitter followers.

GETTR is one of the highest-profile projects in a larger ecosystem of pro-MAGA tech and social media platforms that have blossomed on the right, largely fueled by a sense that Big Tech is attempting to silence conservative and pro-Trump ideology from being disseminated online. In recent months, it was widely reported that the Trump team was searching for a platform on which to re-establish his online presence, either by buying a company outright and rebranding it as his exclusive platform, or becoming a featured draw.

The GETTR app first went live on the Google and Apple app stores in mid-June and was most recently updated Wednesday. It's been downloaded more than one thousand times on each.

A description for GETTR on the app stores calls it a ''non-bias social network for people all over the world.'' The app is rated ''M'' for mature, meaning it is recommended for users 17 and older.

The name GETTR was inspired by the words ''Getting Together.'' Posts will be 777 characters long, the app will host videos up to three minutes in length, and will also be capable of hosting livestreams, the person working on the app said. Headquarters for the app are located in New York.

GETTR's user interface appears similar to that of Twitter. Initial promotional materials for GETTR on the app stores displayed posts of users celebrating the House of Representatives no longer requiring masks on the floor of the chamber.

Initial trending topics on the app included the hashtags ''#trump,'' ''#virusorigin,'' ''#nra'' and ''#unrestrictedbioweapon.'' Those tags refer to the newfound and still unproven refrain from Republicans that China created the Covid-19 virus in a lab as a bioweapon.

But the similarities with Twitter don't end there. GETTR's app also claims to offer new users the ability to ''import copies of your content from Twitter to GETTR.'' And evidence on the site indicates that the new platform is also allowing users to import their actual Twitter followers '-- who somehow end up with GETTR accounts of their own.

For example, Republican Senate candidate Sean Parnell in Pennsylvania, had over 175,000 followers on GETTR as of Thursday afternoon, despite only joining the platform Thursday. His follower count on GETTR is identical to his follower count on Twitter.

The same goes for Murtaugh, Trump's former 2020 communications director, who had amassed over 220,000 followers on both GETTR and Twitter as of Thursday afternoon.

''Tweets are up to the point you join, it won't continuously suck them in. The idea is we want people to move from Twitter to Gettr,'' said the person involved with the app. The person added that the app does not harvest the users current Twitter followers for the app, and again noted it is in Beta.

Twitter spokespeople declined to comment on whether GETTR violated any of its policies by allowing users to scrape data off its site. A representative for GETTR did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Whether GETTR will succeed is dubious at best. Their last attempt to replicate his twitter feed, a site called ''From The Desk of Donald Trump'', was widely derided as nothing more than a blog, barely received any web traffic, and shut down less than a month later.

Link to Article

Archived Version

Fri, 02 Jul 2021 14:46

The gene editing system CRISPR-Cas9 can be injected into the blood and directed to the liver to treat patients with a rare condition, according to a recent study.

Why it matters: The ability to edit genes directly in a patient's body expands the list of possible diseases and conditions researchers can try to target with CRISPR-based therapies.

Driving the news: Preliminary but promising results from a small trial in six people indicate a one-time CRISPR-Cas9 treatment led to a decrease in the misfolded protein that causes the condition transthyretin amyloidosis (ATTR).

ATTR occurs when the abnormal protein is produced in the liver and then builds up on tissues, primarily nerves and the heart.The levels of protein dropped an average of 87% in three people who received a higher dose of the therapy in a Phase I trial in the UK and New Zealand, researchers at Intellia Therapeutics and Regeneron reported last weekend in The New England Journal of Medicine. Existing ATTR treatments can reduce protein by 80% but have to be administered regularly.The trial results don't yet indicate whether symptoms of the disease are alleviated.

Researchers will "intensively follow" the trial participants for at least two years to monitor them for any side effects from the treatment, says Intellia CEO John Leonard.The big picture: CRISPR therapies are being developed and studied for a range of diseases and conditions.

One approach, in which cells are removed, edited and put back into the body, is being studied to treat people with sickle cell anemia but it is expensive and involves bone marrow transplants.Another uses viruses or virus-like particles to deliver the editing machinery into the body and is being investigated to treat a hereditary blindness disorder.Similar to some COVID-19 vaccines, the new study uses lipid nanoparticles to deliver mRNA instructions for a person's cell to produce the enzyme that cuts the DNA so the gene is inactivated and the abnormal protein is no longer produced. Unlike a virus vector, the mRNA doesn't stay in the body. But delivering the gene editing system to some cells without it being degraded remains a challenge for the field.

In the ATTR trial, the target was cells in the liver, which acts as a filter and readily picks up the nanoparticles, whereas other cells, for example, in the brain, present a difficult barrier to foreign materials, Leonard says.Ideally, a solution can be developed that has the virus' ability to more easily enter cells and the nanoparticles' short-lasting nature, he says.What to watch: Leonard says in addition to continuing to study the AATR therapy in pursuit of FDA approval, Intellia is looking at whether the mRNA approach could be applied to treat sickle cell anemia and eliminate the need for bone marrow transplants.

They're also interested in whether the system can be used to produce proteins lacking in diseases like hemophilia and for alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency that underlies inherited emphysema.Go deeper: CRISPR co-discoverer on the gene editor's pandemic push (Axios)

Link to Article

Archived Version

Fri, 02 Jul 2021 14:42

Unemployment rate rises to 5.9%Americans for Tax Reform President Grover Norquist provides insight into President Biden's plans for the minimum wage.

U.S. employers added more jobs than expected last month as additional states announced plans to wind down extended unemployment benefits.

Nonfarm payrolls increased by 850,000 workers in June as the unemployment rate ticked up to 5.9%, the Labor Department said Friday. Analysts surveyed by Refintiv were expecting the addition of 700,000 and the unemployment rate to fall to 5.7%. May's reading was revised higher by 24,000 jobs to 583,000.

The stronger than expected report "may be a sign that some of the temporary labor shortages holding back the employment recovery are starting to ease," said Andrew Hunter, senior U.S. economist at research firm Capital Economics. "The acceleration in employment growth was driven by sectors most closely affected by the continued return to normalcy."

CITIES SEEING THE FASTEST UNEMPLOYMENT RECOVERY

Sizable job gains were seen in leisure and hospitality (+343,000), public and private education (+269,000), professional and business services (+72,000), retail trade (+67,000), and other services (+56,000). Industries including construction and healthcare saw little change.

The jobs gains came as at least 26 states have ended or announced plans to end the $300 per week supplemental unemployment benefits that are scheduled to expire in September. Additionally, average hourly wages in June increased 3.6% year over year, helping lure laborers back to work.

Still, there were signs that the "recovery remains slow and uneven," said Sameer Samana, senior global market strategist at Wells Fargo Investment Institute. He pointed to the average workweek shrinking 0.1 hour to 34.7 hours and the labor force participation rate holding steady at 61.8%.

There were 6.8 million, or 4.4%, fewer workers than in February 2020, just before the COVID-19 pandemic caused much of the economy to shut down.

GET FOX BUSINESS ON THE GO BY CLICKING HERE

Friday's report was "an all-out positive" from a markets perspective, said Seema Shah, chief strategist at Principal Global Investors. Still, she says the report doesn't clarify whether the Federal Reserve will soon begin to taper its asset purchase program and raise rates.

"The 'will they, won't they' Fed question still stands, but at least today's number isn't triggering major navel gazing," Shah said.

Link to Article

Archived Version

Fri, 02 Jul 2021 14:39

Fog blankets Sydney Harbor on Friday. The city is under lockdown as Australia battles outbreaks of the delta variant. (Saeed Khan/AFP/Getty Images)

SYDNEY '-- Facing outbreaks of the contagious delta variant and a floundering vaccination campaign, Australia moved Friday to further seal itself off from the world as its earlier success in tackling the coronavirus continued to unravel.

Officials agreed to halve the number of people permitted to enter the nation under an already strict border policy that bars entry to nearly everyone except returning citizens, residents and their immediate families, who must quarantine for two weeks in a hotel at their own expense.

Covid paradise Australia faces nationwide outbreak as 'gilded cage' is tested by delta variant

Prime Minister Scott Morrison, who has come under fire for a slow vaccination rollout, said further restricting international arrivals was ''a prudent action while we remain in this suppression phase of the virus.''

''The delta strain is more contagious and so we're seeking to take precautionary steps to overall reduce the risk,'' he told reporters in his first public appearance since he began quarantining at his official residence in Canberra two weeks ago after attending the Group of Seven summit in Britain.

Unlike many countries where the virus has long circulated in the community, Australia has pursued an aggressive suppression strategy of zero transmission, with low tolerance for even single-digit daily cases.

''To a sense we're prisoners of our own success,'' Morrison said.

Effective July 14, the number of international arrivals will be cut to about 3,000 a week, dimming repatriation hopes for some 34,000 Australians stranded overseas and many more who want to visit their loved ones but can't get on a flight. The approach '-- which Morrison indicated would persist at least until year-end '-- has earned the country the tags ''hermit kingdom'' and ''Fortress Australia.''

People trying to reach Australia now often need to pay sky-high fares '-- often business-class tickets '-- as the strict entry caps prevent airlines from flying at full capacity.

Australia deputy leader fined for not wearing a mask as delta outbreak triggers lockdown

''Australia has heavily restricted entry of its own citizens in a way that no other democratic nation has,'' said Sophie McNeill, an Australian researcher with Human Rights Watch.

The clampdown comes as recent incidents, including several breaches of hotel quarantine, have led to the virus circulating in the community again after months of near-zero cases in most parts of the country. In recent days, millions of Australians have been plunged into lockdown just as vaccinated Americans are ditching masks and Europe is lifting bans on travelers.

People line up for coronavirus vaccinations in Homebush, west of Sydney, on Thursday. Australia's vaccine rollout is far behind that of most global peers. (Jenny Evans/Getty Images)

Australians abroad expressed exasperation at the tighter entry caps.

Kumi Miranda, a dual citizen living in Sri Lanka, hasn't seen her two sons, aged 22 and 25, who are studying in Melbourne, since December 2019.

''I cannot visit them due to the exorbitant airfares and hotel quarantine costs. Today's decision is truly devastating for me,'' said Miranda, who is fully vaccinated and said she is struggling to understand why home quarantine isn't an option.

''We're paying the price of a bungled-up vaccination plan. That is simply not fair. The rest of the world is opening up.''

Ron Thorp, 54, an Australian living in Britain, has been trying for months to get back to see his father, who has terminal cancer.

''He's 81 years old. I don't have a lot of time obviously. I can't wait another 18 months. He can't either,'' Thorp said in a phone interview. ''Even if we get a flight, there's the small matter of being able to return. We're not guaranteed that if we get into prison island we'll be able to get out again.''

Many airlines have stopped flying to Australia because the border closures have made the routes unprofitable. Thorp was booked to fly with Thai Airways in December. The flight was canceled.

Only about 6 percent of Australia's population is fully vaccinated, the lowest rate in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. One factor in the slow rollout is that Australian officials advised against using the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine in anyone under 60 because of the remote risk of blood clots.

Sufficient supplies of the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines to complete the rollout aren't due to arrive until later in the year.

Johnson & Johnson says its coronavirus vaccine is effective against delta variant

The feeble vaccination campaign and return to lockdowns stands in contrast to Australia's much-vaunted success earlier in the pandemic, when much of the country had gone months without restrictions, with people free to gather on beaches, in stadiums and in shopping malls, mask-free.

''We've squandered the head start we got in 2020. It has been a policy disaster,'' Tim Soutphommasane, a political commentator and professor at the University of Sydney, wrote in the Guardian on Friday. ''Australia can't defeat the pandemic by jumping in and out of lockdown, or by sealing ourselves indefinitely from the rest of the world.''

Morrison on Friday outlined a pathway to switch from virus suppression to focusing on reducing the risk of serious illness, but that plan hinges on an as-yet undecided target on vaccinations.

Read more:

Australia's coronavirus outbreak puts millions in lockdown

Covid paradise Australia faces nationwide outbreak as 'gilded cage' is tested by delta variant

Sydney locks down parts of city in race against outbreak of delta variant

Link to Article

Archived Version

Fri, 02 Jul 2021 14:36

Top White House officials are mobilizing to defend Vice President Kamala Harris amid a gusher of leaks about dysfunction and infighting in her office.

Driving the news: White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain told Axios in a statement: "The President's trust and confidence in her is obvious when you see them in the Oval Office together." Biden senior adviser Cedric Richmond said in an interview late Thursday night: "It's a whisper campaign designed to sabotage her."

Details: Their responses came after Axios approached the White House with new reporting about growing tensions between West Wing officials and the Harris team, including chief of staff Tina Flournoy.

Some White House officials have been frustrated by a series of missteps from Harris and increasingly public bickering in her orbit, which spilled out in a Politico story on Wednesday. Flournoy's old boss, former President Bill Clinton, came to her defense with a statement calling her "an extraordinary person."Why it matters: 2024 is the elephant in the room. While Biden aides overwhelmingly believe he'll be the Democratic nominee, they also know he'd be 81 when seeking re-election.

An operation sometimes visibly out of sync with Biden's '-- and missteps during a recent trip to the U.S.-Mexico border, following a scrutinized interview with NBC's Lester Holt '-- have reignited questions from Harris' 2020 primary bid.Harris would be the presumptive nominee if Biden didn't run. Administration sources believe it would be nearly impossible to unseat the first African American woman vice president.Yet many Democrats, including some current senior administration officials, are concerned she could not defeat whomever the Republican Party puts up '-- even if it were Donald Trump.

One Democratic operative tells Axios' Alayna Treene that most Democrats aren't saying, "'Oh, no, our heir apparent is f***ing up, what are we gonna do?' It's more that people think, 'Oh, she's f***ing up, maybe she shouldn't be the heir apparent.'"Some Democrats close to the White House are increasingly concerned about Harris's handling of high-profile issues and political tone deafness, and question her ability to maintain the coalition that Biden rode to the White House, sources tell Axios' Hans Nichols. What we're hearing: Relations between the West Wing and the Vice President's office are tense.

Several administration officials used "shitshow" when describing Harris' office, and contrast her operation with disciplined, virtually leakproof Biden aides.Some Biden officials view the Harris operation as poorly-managed and staffed with people who don't have long-term relationships with her. They feel she's gotten bad advice from her press and communications shop and think it's telling that she's already lost two advance aides and a digital director.Case in point: A few months ago, what should have been a no-brainer of a press request came to the vice president's office. Forbes wanted to feature Harris on the cover of its "50 Over 50" issue '-- saluting her rise to be the "first woman, the first Black person, and the first South Asian-American to become U.S. vice president."

After concluding that Flournoy had been sitting on the request '-- a characterization that an aide to the V.P. flatly disputes, explaining that she was simply nailing down details before sharing it with a larger White House circle '-- ultimately the West Wing intervened to get an answer for Forbes.The vice president ended up participating '-- and getting glowing treatment. But Biden advisers couldn't understand why it had to be this hard, people familiar with the incident tell Axios. What they're saying: Harris' senior adviser, Symone Sanders, and deputy chief of staff Michael Fuchs defended Harris and Flournoy. Harris' team notes the president has entrusted the V.P. with a portfolio that includes voting rights, migration from Central America, space, labor, broadband, small-business assistance and women in the workforce.

"People are not fighting every day," Sanders said. "There's not consternation among aides. That is not true. ... I hear that there are critics. Those who talk often do not know and those who know usually are not the ones talking."Fuchs dismissed criticisms of Flournoy and Harris as "rumors" and "not true," and said they've shown integrity and leadership as the pandemic added more hurdles to an already difficult job.Klain praised Harris and her team as "off to the fastest and strongest start of any Vice President I have seen," and said "her talents and determination have made a huge difference" already.

"She's delivering for the American people on immigration, small business, voting rights, and economic growth," Klain said. "The results speak for themselves: a decline of border arrivals from the Northern Triangle, improved vaccine equity, and increased economic opportunities for women."Richmond called Harris a "staunch advocate for the Biden-Harris agenda," and said demand for her participation in events remains high.

He said no one's brought complaints about her or her team to him. And he said it's unfair to compare any vice president's staff to a president's staff '-- much less Biden's team, which includes some advisers who've worked for him for decades and served in three White Houses."You can't hold the vice president's team to that standard," Richmond said. "But I think they're good, I think they're busting their tails and I think the VP is executing all her assignments and taking on her issues." Of the narrative against Harris, he said: "At some point it just becomes, one person says something long enough and it becomes an urban legend. It doesn't have to be credible. It doesn't have to be real. Someone says something and it can just snowball.""Not one named person. That's what bothers me most. We're in a day where the stakes are high. You'd just hope if there's a legitimate criticism they'd put their name next to it."

Link to Article

Archived Version

Fri, 02 Jul 2021 14:26

As the networking of humans and machines shows to have incredible promise towards improving overall health and well being for generations to come, the Internet of Bodies (IoB) also runs the risk of enabling a global surveillance state, the likes of which the world has never seen.

The Internet of Bodies ''might trigger breakthroughs in medical knowledge ['...] Or it might enable a surveillance state of unprecedented intrusion and consequence'' '-- RAND Corporation report

Following the launch of its ''great reset'' agenda, the World Economic Forum (WEF) made a push for the global adoption of the IoB, which risks enabling an authoritarian surveillance apparatus that can manipulate human behavior to achieve its desired outcomes.

According to a recent RAND corporation report, the IoB ''might trigger breakthroughs in medical knowledge ['...] Or it might enable a surveillance state of unprecedented intrusion and consequence.''

The IoB ecosystem is part of the Fourth Industrial Revolution that the World Economic Forum (WEF) wishes to harness for its ''great reset'' agenda.

''One silver lining of the pandemic is that it has shown how quickly we can make radical changes to our lifestyles ['...] Populations have overwhelmingly shown a willingness to make sacrifices'' '-- Klaus Schwab, WEF Director

Conceived over five years ago and launched in June, 2020, the so-called great reset agenda promises to give us a ''better world'' of more sustainability and equity if we agree to ''revamp all aspects of our societies and economies, from education to social contracts and working conditions.''

Such radical changes would require a complete shift in our thinking and behavior, and what better way to modify our behavior than to monitor every move we make through a connected network of digital tracking devices?

According to RAND, ''Greater connectivity and the widespread packaging of IoB in smartphones and appliances'--some of which might collect data unbeknownst to the user'--will increase digital tracking of users across a range of behaviors.''

''Increased IoB adoption might also increase global geopolitical risks, because surveillance states can use IoB data to enforce authoritarian regimes'' '-- RAND Corporation report

Internet of Bodies Examples, RAND CorporationThe WEF is fully behind widespread adoption of the IoB despite recognizing the enormous ethical concerns that come with having ''an unprecedented number of sensors attached to, implanted within, or ingested into human bodies to monitor, analyze, and even modify human bodies and behavior.''

''It's now time for the Internet of Bodies. This means collecting our physical data via devices that can be implanted, swallowed or simply worn, generating huge amounts of health-related information'' '-- Xiao Liu, WEF

Knowing that the Internet of Bodies can be used to control human behavior while gaining access to the most sensitive health, financial, and behavioral data of every person on the planet, the Davos elite ''urges stakeholders from across sectors, industries and geographies to work together to mitigate the risks in order to fully unleash the potential of the IoB,'' according to a WEF report from July, 2020.

''After the Internet of Things, which transformed the way we live, travel and work by connecting everyday objects to the Internet, it's now time for the Internet of Bodies,'' wrote Xiao Liu, Fellow at the WEF's Center for the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

''This means collecting our physical data via devices that can be implanted, swallowed or simply worn, generating huge amounts of health-related information.''

If you think that the idea behind contact tracing apps is just for tracking people infected by viruses, think again

But while having ''access to huge torrents of live-streaming biometric data might trigger breakthroughs in medical knowledge or behavioral understanding,'' the RAND Corporation warns that the IoB could also ''enable a surveillance state of unprecedented intrusion and consequence.''

According to RAND, ''Increased IoB adoption might also increase global geopolitical risks, because surveillance states can use IoB data to enforce authoritarian regimes.''

For example, this is the same ecosystem that is allowing the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to collect DNA data from its Uyghur population, so the authoritarian regime can further spy on, imprison, and sterilize an entire ethnic minority, among other horrible atrocities.

Examples of Internet of Bodies (IoB) Technologies, WEFBut if you want to see how the IoB fits into a great reset, like the one the WEF is touting, look no further than China's social credit system that ''uses enormous amounts of aggregated data, including health records, on individuals to determine their trustworthiness and to incentivize desired behaviors,'' according to RAND.

A population that knows it is being watched will change its behavior to conform to the norms, and its citizens will police themselves.

Thus, the IoB is a tool that can serve multiple purposes '-- it can revolutionize healthcare for the benefit of all; it can be used to monitor, track, and prevent global crises before they manifest, and it can be turned into an apparatus for manipulating human behavior in order to achieve the desired outcomes of the global elite.

Contact tracing is also a tool for complete social control, keeping tabs on a nation's so-called deplorable or undesirable citizens.

Think social justice policing via contact tracing '-- not just through mobile phones, but tracking chips implanted in the human body.

Today, the WEF is fully behind the use of the IoB, and actively supports digital health passports (CovidPass) and contract tracing apps (CommonPass).

If you think that the idea behind contact tracing apps is just for tracking people infected by viruses, think again.

The same technology was used by the CCP to develop an app that literally alerts citizens with a warning when they come within 500 meters of someone who is in debt, according to the WEF ''Global Risks Report 2019.''

''The app has created what's essentially a map of 'deadbeat debtors,' according to Chinese state media, and shows you the debtor's exact location, though it's unclear if the displayed information includes a name or photo.''

So, while the WEF urges greater IoB use and contact tracing, the technology is not just for tracking the spread of a virus.

Contact tracing is also a tool for complete social control that keeps tabs on a nation's so-called deplorable or undesirable citizens.

Think social justice policing via contact tracing '-- not just through mobile phones, but tracking chips implanted in the human body.

''Widespread IoB use might increase the risk of physical harm, espionage, and exploitation of data by adversaries'' '-- RAND Corporation report

Internet of Bodies Risks, RAND CorporationThe RAND report also warned that ''widespread IoB use might increase the risk of physical harm, espionage, and exploitation of data by adversaries.''

''You no longer need to be MI6 and issued a Walther PPK in order to assassinate someone; you just need to gain access to their medical devices'' '-- Richard Staynings, Cylera

Indeed, if state-sponsored hackers or criminal organizations were to gain access to a medical device used by a high-profile target, the hackers could simply switch it off and assassinate their target.

As Richard Staynings, Chief Security Strategist at Cylera, once told The Sociable, ''You no longer need to be MI6 and issued a Walther PPK in order to assassinate someone; you just need to gain access to the medical devices that are keeping that individual alive.''

On top of the geopolitical risks, the RAND report warned that the IoB could also ''increase health outcome disparities, where only people with financial means have access to any of these benefits.''

However, this seems an unlikely scenario because the WEF doesn't like to see one nation gain too much power. It prefers balance. It wants every country to follow the rules. It wants a technocratic Utopia.

''Authoritarianism is easier in a world of total visibility and traceability, while democracy may turn out to be more difficult'' '-- WEF report

As such, the WEF would like to see the IoB regulated uniformly across the globe, and the Davos elite routinely call for its ethical governance, but that doesn't mean the surveillance would go away.

Not at all.

It just means that everybody would be spied on equally after having consented to the Draconian measures dressed-up as serving the greater good.

At its heart, the IoB is dependent upon collecting tons of biometric data, which will ''allow new forms of social control,'' according to the WEF Global Risks 2019 report.

The WEF concluded two years ago that ''authoritarianism is easier in a world of total visibility and traceability, while democracy may turn out to be more difficult.''

Now, the WEF wants to exploit the Fourth Industrial Revolution under the great reset agenda, and it has massive support from the media, world leaders, and captains of industry alike.

Klaus Schwab, founder and director of the WEF, had already called for the great reset back in 2014 (see video above), but decided in June, 2020, that this was the year to enact the scheme because the coronavirus crisis had presented a ''rare but narrow window of opportunity.''

And in order to make the Davos elites' globalist Utopia a reality, universal trust in the increasingly invasive uses of emerging technologies will be required.

If you are willing to believe that a global, un-elected body of bureaucrats based in Switzerland has your best interest at heart, then you are willing to accept that your corporeal autonomy, physical privacy, and mental freedom may be compromised to serve the greater good.

Brazil says 'no' to great reset: 'Totalitarian social control is not the remedy for any crisis'

A skeptical look at the 'great reset': a technocratic agenda that waited years for a global crisis to exploit

A timeline of the great reset agenda: from foundation to Event 201 and the pandemic of 2020

Your digital identity can be used against you in the event of a great reset

Hackable humans can become godlike or fall to digital dictators lording over data colonies: WEF insights

'Authoritarianism is easier in a world of total visibility': WEF report

Tech arms race 'will give corporations, governments the ability to hack human beings': Yuval Harari at WEF

Medicine or poison? On the ethics of AI implants in humans

Link to Article

Archived Version

Fri, 02 Jul 2021 04:16

Juanita Broaddrick : WTF???? This just popped up on My FB page when I posted the Babylon Bee tweet. Who the hell does Zuckerberg think'... https://t.co/hgKIrGqN7v

Thu Jul 01 22:01:03 +0000 2021

Bigpez : @atensnut I've deleted the app from all my devices. Facebook has become a priggish organization not worthy of our support.

Fri Jul 02 03:54:03 +0000 2021

renee : @atensnut https://t.co/S4wevu31Qk

Fri Jul 02 03:51:25 +0000 2021

OutofCali : @atensnut I agree that you should get expert help.

Fri Jul 02 03:50:02 +0000 2021

Pilgrim : @atensnut Once upon a time or so I figured @Facebook rescued mefrom being triggered'... https://t.co/w1n10GG0aj

Fri Jul 02 03:43:47 +0000 2021

Link to Article

Archived Version

Thu, 01 Jul 2021 20:55

Carly : Just the Catholic Church getting what it deserves today in Canada. https://t.co/fNBlErjL7N

Thu Jul 01 20:28:05 +0000 2021

SunshineSusieQ 🇨ðŸ‡... 🥂 : @prettyplusmore The Catholic church will never fully get what it deserves. And I think its the tip of the iceberg'... https://t.co/2mkHTQ7cc8

Thu Jul 01 20:49:28 +0000 2021

I and H : @prettyplusmore Oooohhhh

Thu Jul 01 20:32:31 +0000 2021